Thursday, November 22, 2007

Perhaps This Is How Bush Plans To Balance The Budget


Is there any depth to which this callous administration will not sink???? Is this how we honor the troops???

The U.S. Military is demanding that thousands of wounded service personnel give back signing bonuses because they are unable to serve out their commitments.

To get people to sign up, the military gives enlistment bonuses up to $30,000 in some cases.

Now men and women who have lost arms, legs, eyesight, hearing and can no longer serve are being ordered to pay some of that money back.

One of them is Jordan Fox, a young soldier from the South Hills.


Fox was seriously injured when a roadside bomb blew up his vehicle. He was knocked unconscious. His back was injured and lost all vision in his right eye.

A few months later Fox was sent home. His injuries prohibited him from fulfilling three months of his commitment. A few days ago, he received a letter from the military demanding nearly $3,000 of his signing bonus back.

"I tried to do my best and serve my country. I was unfortunately hurt in the process. Now they're telling me they want their money back," he explained.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

My Uncle Speaks Out On Oil Spill


Here is my uncle's letter in today's Bee. (Notice how he has to copy me by getting his letter in a day after mine!)


A full and open investigation of the San Francisco Bay oil spill should have a primary goal of correcting the communication and navigation weaknesses by both shipping and the Coast Guard, which made this into such a tragic, harmful incident.
The obvious poor navigation even in the usual Bay fog by supposed experts against known and fixed obstacles is inexcusable. A qualified pilot should have easily provided a course well away from the wide bridge supports.
Good collision-avoidance systems have been available for years, especially for large vessels, and now even planes, to protect both a cargo and the environment. No ship should be allowed into busy shipping channels without such gear. A heavy fine in this case is certainly warranted.

Don Redmond,
Fresno