A Veteran Reflects on Memorial Day

So it is Memorial Day.

As a War on Terror veteran (Army), I often feel somber on Memorial Day and Veterans Day.

I do not fault people for using the day off from work to have fun with their families, host barbecues or otherwise enjoy the day.

But, I have a problem that people seem to have forgotten — or to just not care — that we are a country at war, that our freedom is on the line, that the only reason any of us can go to the house of worship of our religion, can go to gay nightclub or listen to music or otherwise do what we want with our lives or with our time is that a small percentage of our country is in the U.S. military fighting for our freedom against a worldwide terrorist element fueled by bigotry, evil, irrational hatred and a narcissistic and sadistic obsession at doing bad things to others.

So out with a group the other day, a woman I know said to a man I know, “My mother got so angry watching the Republican debates. They kept talking about terrorism. It’s not the most important issue!”

In a colossally wacko, wild, out-of-control election season  in which the bedroom behavior of two perpetual tabloid headline subjects, business magnate and reality star Donald Trump and former President of the United States Bill Clinton, has been discussed far too much and the ascension of insipid state laws meant to protect women and girls from the nonexistent threat of transgender people in restrooms, I wish there was more discussion of terrorism, a real issue and a real threat, not a fake issue and a contrived threat, like the genitalia of Clinton, Trump and transgender people.

Please allow me to rephrase that for emphasis:

Terrorism = Real Issue and Real Threat

Genitalia of Clinton, Trump and Transgender People = Not a Real Issue or Threat

So while enjoying your day off, please take a moment to remember all of the brave men and women fighting for our freedom and those who lost their lives doing so and to honor their service by acknowledging the the existence of the evil they fight against.

Film “Don’t Breathe” Has a Disabled Vet for a Villain!

They actually made a film in which a disabled Army veteran is the villain, and the audience is supposed to root for the people who broke into his house and knocked him out to rob him!
As I have entertainment industry aspirations, I tell myself not to criticize other people in the industry too much, but I seriously hope everyone involved with this movie dies from an incredibly painful paper cut and burns in Hell!
But, you know what else? This is the reason we have so much viewership of foreign films in this country! This is why we have a growing universe of direct-to-online films and web series made without the meddling, insipid influence of the major entertainment industry, colloquially referred to as “Hollywood!”
And, meanwhile, movie theaters sell less tickets every year, and the entertainment suits in their offices wonder why.
In a way, as a producer of an upcoming YouTube web series, I should rejoice in how utterly clueless and arrogant in their clueless condition the mainstream entertainment industry is for it is only because of the rapid recent increases in technology making it more feasible for people to produce and distribute shows and movies we created without having to get a deal with a major film studio or having to deal with how out-of-touch they are about giving the audience entertainment we actually want that all of us outsiders have this opportunity to fill this vacuum and have our low-budget but more original works to be seen and appreciated by people.

 

the eve of st. agnes

romanticism

This poem hinges on the superstition that virgins might receive visions of their future husbands on St. Agnes’ Eve.  Here’s the brutal story of St. Agnes herself:

According to tradition, Saint Agnes was a member of the Roman nobility born c. 291 and raised in a Christian family. She suffered martyrdom at the age of twelve^[2] or thirteen during the reign of the Roman EmperorDiocletian, on January 21 304.

The Prefect Sempronius wished Agnes to marry his son, and on Agnes’ refusal he condemned her to death. As Roman law did not permit the execution of virgins, Sempronius had a naked Agnes dragged through the streets to a brothel. As she prayed, her hair grew and covered her body. It was also said that all of the men who attempted to rape her were immediately struck blind. When led out to die she was tied to…

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