An Old Timer’s Christmas Wish -Reprint Nov 2012

By Carl R. ToersBijns

Life in the late 50’s and early 60's was simple as there was a limited amount of income coming in for a lot of families who lived on the minimum wage. The economy was fair and crime was low but the pay for those lucky to be employed was low. The cost of living was rising and the only way one could survive is to have both parents working so they can consolidate their income to meet their needs. Only a few families could afford to celebrate the holidays and then, on a very limited level. The cold war was looming and the air raid drills were real in school and in the city.
The holidays were always celebrated with vigor and blessings of all that we were thankful for either during the holidays or the entire year. Thanksgiving is a special occasion where we could express our appreciation for the good things in life and the ability to pursue our own version of happiness down the road.
Anxiously waiting, we could hardly wait for the arrival of Christmas. The economy was so bad, it was hard to earn a dollar and more stressful just to make ends meet as jobs were hard to find and parents were struggling to make ends meet. Living on meager wages, we stretched the food thus it was urgently important that we saved every bit of scraps we had and make a meal from the leftovers the next day's supper. Money tight and clothes worn out, we made sure we had what we needed to get by for Christmas as we wanted this holiday to be special as we just had a baby girl in the family and she was a treasure to say the least.
However, when it came, it was a simple celebration focusing on God, the birth of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit. Gifts were meager tokens of our appreciation for our blessings. We did not splurge or attempt to buy any more than we could afford. Times were tough and it was like that all over in America and not just in Ohio.
Growing up in the ghetto tenements of the south end of Columbus Ohio during the early 60's was ethnically challenging and a time for constant friction and controversy. Racial issues in our neighborhood continued to dominate our family's daily strife as the black and white environment we lived in was frequently falling short for reaching a harmonious relationship. Witnessing the racial wars and conflicts grew us closer together as we saw how cynical and ridiculous adults behaved related to the world being black or white. The deployment of the Ohio National Guard into our neighborhood heightened our awareness of how divided we really stood on life. Those who knew how to live in harmony were ridiculed and those who spewed hatred into every direction were martyred by their own in their respective neighborhoods.
Learning slowly the perils of mixing racial relationships in this side of town could end up inside a hospital emergency room waiting for the doctor to stitch you up after you just survived a razor blade attack on your body thinking to yourself "what did I do to deserve this".
Thinking more of the offspring’s state of mind and personal wellness than the impact on adults, kids these days endured much harassment and bullying inside the school and playgrounds.
Life in the 70’s was not so simple as before as there was the end of the Vietnam war that left many homeless and traumatized because of the conflict and shock they were involuntarily inflicted by and sadly left untreated to fend for their own with no help from the government upon discharge of service. The music was rocking with big name bands and the mood was laid back as the world tried to find peace with the nuclear war still hanging over our heads and communism spreading like wildfires in Asia and Eastern Europe.
Life in the 80’s was much different from the 70’s as things began to come together and the world seemed to have settled down a bit. The economy seemed to have picked up and more jobs were available and more plenty in Ohio and other places. Moving to New Mexico to follow my parents, it was a new journey that allowed me to leave all my troubles behind and start fresh with a new mindset that allowed me to gather my thoughts and heal my aching heart for all the misery and pain I had left behind to start anew.
The 90’s brought more joy and the families I once knew to be far apart were coming together as we saw a new direction and new hope for changing some of the things that had happened in the past. Stability was a main ingredient and the ability to launch new ideas and new challenges grew into a reality unmatched by anything in the past.
The coming of the new millennium brought more opportunities and happiness. Children, my children, were growing into adults and having families of their own makes the heart fonder of the good things that happen in life with faith and hope coming from above. The world seemed to get better and the air was filled with fresh feelings of hope and prosperity for many.
But the happiness was short lived as the morning of 9/11 revealed that America was again engaged in war but this time, the war had come to New York City and the Twin Towers were assaulted by radical Islamic terrorist flying two large commercial aircraft into the gigantic and elevated skyscrapers making them easy targets to hurtle into with loaded fuel and innocent Americans unaware that danger had came from above and brought them immediate hell, death and disaster.
Recovering from the Twin Tower disaster was most difficult for Americans. Their own sovereignty had been endangered by small groups of radicals preying on large commercial ports of entry and landmarks that represented America’s power and influence throughout the world and Christianity. No longer safe inside the own territorial borders, the new Homeland Security Agency promulgated policies that would invade the privacy of our lives forever as new technology advanced body [scans] searches and the detection of weapons and other contraband determined by the TSA coming onboard aircrafts.
Moving to the Grand Canyon state in late 2005 brought a new element of hatred into our lives. The subject of illegal immigration had invaded Arizona politics and statutory legislation as well as regulations.
Suburban and rural neighborhoods were once again divided and many left to avoid the persecution of laws that focused on legal and illegal residence status that had been ignored by the federal government for years if not decades and now making a political impact for those running for elected office.
Families became divided under SB 1070 as the law demanded ICE detainments and eventual deportations and compliance with the laws of the land. Congress offered no resolution as states drafted their own immigration laws to control their sovereignty and borders within their control.
Then almost inconspicuously, some of the old ideology from the 60’s crept back into our lives and on television and newspapers. The country elected a black president for the first time and the world [as we knew it] inside America rocked with a renewal of racism as many could not understand, accept or conform to the new ideology created by those born in earlier decades that all men are created equal regardless of race, creed, color or nationality and that anyone could be president if they get the electoral votes to win the office.
The likes of the infamous Klux Klux Klan were reborn geographically and demographically as the hatred spewed up everywhere with provocation to incite racial hate crimes through written dialogues and detestable language and social media cartoons. Muslims sought shelter inside their mosques as they became targets of a new generation of haters and degenerates. Gangs grew inside our large cities and crime took a rise that would fill our prisons to the brim of hell’s own periphery of insanity and madness. Black killing blacks and inter-racial killings that had no boundaries or honor.
There was also a significant change in the way we celebrate our holidays nowadays. Compared to the old ways where we focused on Christ, the angels and the celebrated music as our means to find happiness and peace with God, we are losing the bonds we established so hard in the past. Commercialism invaded our ideology of celebrating the holydays focusing on gifts and other self fulfilling presents that were meant to please oneself rather than others.
The spirit of giving had changed to the spirit of receiving and ignoring the giving aspect of a most worthy cause to celebrate the birth of Jesus. It appeared the word “reborn” had taken a new meaning as it again divided our neighborhoods through extreme ideologies and biases. Xboxes and large screen televisions invaded the homes as the Holy Bible was put on pause and stashed away in a drawer somewhere collecting dust and ignorance by those who chose to cast it aside for personal pleasure and addictive entertainment. Technology was swallowing life into a vacuum that would be difficult to recover from if at all.
After every Thanksgiving after 2001, the mood on the street never changed, it was naïve to believe that with Christmas nearing and only a few weeks away, there would be peace and joy throughout the world and angels singing hymns to bring the faithful gathers together for a song or two. Caroling in our streets during Christmas used to be a common event but is hardly happening anymore, anywhere in America today.
The economy was so bad, it was very hard find a good job and to earn top dollar for good work done. Life was becoming more stressful just to make ends meet as jobs were hard to find and parents were struggling to make ends meet. Savings accounts depleted and Wall Street taking a deep tumble into corruptive practices and financial troubles, the earnings of a life’s savings disappeared for many Americans.
The newly elected president in 2008 ended one of the Middle East wars and promised to end another in Pakistan. These senseless wars have been fought for decades and as these fine and honorable young men and women came home, they found empty hearts and pockets leaving them at the mercy of a struggling economy and high unemployment rate. Many experienced PTSD from the war and received no assistance for such service as they were discarded and many left homeless for service to their country and injured in the line of duty. Many came home broken in spirit and mind as they suffer irreparable harm to their wellness
After the elections of 2012, fifty states have filed petitions to secede from the union. A re-elected president ponders how to heal the nation. The citizens’ viewpoints are different than those elected in Washington DC and wish to rule their own way of life began to appear in society just like it did before the start of the notorious American Civil War. Although symbolic in nature, they represent the truthful feelings of the many as they struggle with the social and political conflict that impairs them daily to be productive and gainfully employed as the economy and debt has faltered to a new low each day we go on.
The world appears to be riding on the shoulders of Satan and Judas as it has been turned upside down in morality and tranquility. The lyrics sung in the past have been replaced with slogans of war, violence, corruption and power as the government struggles to meet the solutions to its humongous debt and our burdensome fiscal cliff is ready to fall off into the ocean and drift towards the economically dominant Republic of China that today holds our debt as collateral and owns what we once had as our own. Our national security and defense at jeopardy, we pray change will come from Congress and reshape our journey to financial and economic independence once again.
The spirit of Christmas has dwindled down to a silent wish for hope. Hope that America will wake up from this nightmare and turn it around with those same ingredients our founding father had to birth this nation. A dire need to re-birth America will require strength and courage by those elected as leaders as we journey and navigate these dire straights to hell.
Negativity is ascending as hope dissipates into thin air. It appears the electoral vote is now in direct disagreement with the popular vote and people are upset their candidates lost. So in the end I have a Christmas wish that would end all the fighting and all the misery inside our country and in our neighborhood.
My wish is to restore the faith in God that built this great nation. Allow the pledge of allegiance to return back to the classrooms and stop banishing the words of in “God we Trust” from the lips of our children. Let us find the courage to again place our hands crossing our hearts as our Flag passes by and represents what is the greatest nation on earth, indivisible and under God. Reestablish patriotism as it was once before and bring home our men and women in uniform and keep them safe with support to assist them back into civilian livelihood and become good civilians again.
My wish is to rebuild and rekindle our spirits that allowed us to feel good about ourselves and others as friend and neighbor rather than enemy or foe. Stop the fighting, the racism, and the hatred and become good neighbors again. Let our children live in peace and love each other unconditionally.
My wish is a return to good economics and stop sending jobs elsewhere around the world to allow us to prosper again and make us free. Free from the slavery that these conditions impose on us as we must follow involuntarily the whims of those in power that benefit from free labor of men and cheap products that need to be replaced often to increase the profits.
My wish is an end to these chains of entitlement feelings and give each man or woman an opportunity to work for a living and support those whom they love. Free those enslaved and dependent on government services and put them back into the hands of themselves so they may become self-reliant again and earn and learn the meaning of self-responsibilities, self-efficiency and self-support.
My wish is to heal America and bring us all back together again. Stop the violence and bring a level of sanity back into our lives. Allow each one individual the rights conceived by our Constitution and let no man or woman alter the meaning of our “Bill of Rights” to shadow and destroy the main fiber of our nation.
My wish is to stop the congressional bickering and unite this nation as a one party family that will heal all wounds and bring us together again and bring our nation back into a resolved condition and strength with reserves independent from foreign powers or influences.
My wish is to bring peace, hope and faith into our lives and allow us to be a nation whole once again and without the division we have today. Bring back contentment and allow us the bliss we so desire in God’s name and spirit and bring us together into one accord.

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23rd Medical Battalion - South Vietnam

Stealing Valor the book trailer

Stealing Valor is Wasted Honor - Stolen Valor is the law

BOOK LINK

As a Vietnam Veteran, in the United States Army, I have observed the practice of Stolen Valor in various practices whether it be minor in nature or major in the manner of exaggerating the military record as it is defined on the DD214. I served with honor from July 1967 to July 1969 and as an MOS Medical Specialist Corpsman, I have seen or witnessed great heroism that should never be understated or slighted by the insult or disrespect of those who never saw combat or worn the uniform with Honor. Anyone who wears medals, ribbons, patches or symbols not earned is an impostor and should be challenged as being such a person.

Stealing Valor is a mini-book on the 2013 Stolen Valor Act passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama. It is in fact, the second edition of the first Act passed in 2006 and struck down as being unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2012. There is much controversy around the law as it, in fact, criminalizes lying when the lies facilitate profit, financial gains or a means to promote something that has a monetary value.

The issue of Free Speech is the center of the book as it differentiates the meaning of the phrase - Stolen Valor. Various examples are cited and the book is a great stepping stone for further examinations of the law that is still sitting sideways with many veterans and organizations - In fact, some national organizations are actively referring imposters or alleged impostors to vigilante committees that review the military history of the person identified to be a fake- a fraud and an opportunistic person seeking self-important or financial gain for self. Consider this a guidebook, a resource for reference and let it open up your mind on the matter.

Filled with citations and other sources that cover the matter in more detail with specific cases, it opened the door to the discussing of stealing valor, when in fact, the person may be innocently doing something wrong but going about it the wrong way. On the other hand, there are examples of blatant and deliberate manipulations of the law before the passaged of the second act and how they benefitted from using their stolen valor to their own personal benefit and greed.

Lawlessness Strategy - the message

Lawlessness Strategy

As I plan to develop and design my own message on lawlessness in our country, I want to make sure you understand my motive and my decision to do so. Whether I make my point of relevance on this urgent matter is up to the reader and the energy of the content and context he or she takes the message.

Secondly, it is with high hopes that I will reveal the complete idea or concern expressed in the message to get you to think about it and share it without someone who has a common ground of concerns related to these matters. In all actuality, law and order effects everyone and impacts our lives much more than we ever realize until we break it down to where we are in the midst of this issue.

It is with some degree of certainty that the first part of my point of relevance is fairly simple. We are all worried about lawlessness and the chaos around us. I want to demonstrate its relevance over and over without being redundant but the reliance on the reader to buy into the matter is most important.

I can’t assume anything and to suggest the urgency of this topic can only be demonstrated by those who have been directly impacted by such behaviors on the street or in their neighborhoods. Relevance to the topic is based on your personal safety, your family’s wellness and welfare and your ability to cope and function without being victimized by lawlessness in your own space or world.

My words are mere illustrations and demonstrations that the threat is real and worthy of a few minutes of time to understand its severity and effect on your life. I cannot assume you don’t care about yourself or others. I should not take for granted that the world is a utopia with unicorns and purple flowers everywhere. It’s not and we know it to be hostile and dangerous.

How your life exists with peace or hate is up to you but having the intimate or specific knowledge of your surroundings gives you a distinct advantage of awareness needed to survive. In other words, we need to step up our game to be safer. This means a new attitude or intuition related to our well-being.

The main idea or strategy for me is to make this message clear that we are experiencing a dire and growing problem in our streets and communities. Through my own deductive reasoning, added by your own experiences as reported by crime reports, we can accumulate the awareness to the point where you are better informed and more aware of the perils that surround you today.

This is not a sermon or politically correct message – it is simply a time in space where you need to face the reality that things are drastically wrong and that it can be fixed if we stand together with the knowledge of what the problem is and how to address it.

We don’t have to know all the answers, we just need to know the approach to take to make it a stronger voice of clarity and concern with respect and simplicity that everyone can understand. Giving you access to these concerns makes you a more aware citizen and creates a better vigilance on the problem.

There are a lot of negatives in this message. The reason is based on the fact that violence, chaos, disruptive behaviors and such are not things we can write about in a positive light as they distort the severity if given in a brighter light than it deserves. If it is dark, we should call it dark.

The final word is yours. You can reject my words and message or your can accept them, modify them or discard them. The choice is entirely up to you. People may want to fill in the rest of the message as soon as they hear the idea and they might not like what they anticipate is coming but dealing with reality is still the best way to talk about it.

This is not a short-term event – this is a long-term epidemic. There are no quick solutions and there are questions that may not be answered right away but with persistence and perseverance, they will be answered. It can be intense for some and immense for others. Keeping it short and clear is the goal but some things have to be elaborated on for content and context to be a proper fit.

Furthermore, it tends to be less offensive at the start if people are not going to agree with the substance of the message.That means that in some cases, whatever is written can become offensive and cause disagreement but that is a positive thing – thinking is the best way to approach a problem.

If you check out before the end is written you have lost the connection while I at the same time, lost you as a reader. It is much harder to keep your attention than to write the message and keep you going. If I do it well and keep you informed, then the whole experience will pay off one way or another.

It is difficult to keep the tension tight. I can’t control  your mind but if you focus on the message and know where it is going, I have helped you get a better understanding of the problem. For me, that is a positive experience. If I underdeliver, I take the blame and if I over deliver, then it is not done so in vain. The whole experience can be up or down or even somewhere in the middle.

However, it is difficult to maintain tension for the amount of time necessary.  If listeners have to check out (or if you lose them and they mentally check out), it can be much harder to re-enter the listening experience.  Worst of all, if you promise well, but under-deliver, then the whole experience can be very negative.