Tembo Derriere - the logo

Tembo Derriere - the logo

Saturday, December 15, 2012

US Gun Control


Calls for more US gun control will come to nought. Not while the right to self defence is firmly and historically entrenched, not while their own government is stockpiling massive amounts of lethal ammunition http://www.naturalnews.com/036847_ammo_purchases_government_stockpiling_media_lies.html and building concentration camps http://www.apfn.org/apfn/camps.htm. Not while a large part of the population do not trust their "elected" officials; not while bankers and financiers are allowed to escape justice; not while people believe they will have to look after themselves when "all hell breaks loose.
No the problem is not gun control but self control; the majority of people don't want to use their guns to attack but to defend; its the others who are willing to kill that are the problem. Here endeth the lesson.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Will we remember them?


Remembrance Day - We will remember them...or will we?




For the first time in many years I will not be attending a remembrance Day service, I won't be marching with the old guys; not out of disrespect but as my own protest to veterans treatment by the government. Some have decided to attend without wearing their medals, I only have two so who would notice? Below is part of a blog I did three years ago.
 ...and in the morning we will remember them. Excellent turn out these days for the Remembrance Day ceremonies. Notice how the average age of parade participants is getting younger? We don't just have WWII veterans taking part, there are cadets from all three services (considering just how little government support there really is for the cadets these days and how little pay the volunteer officers receive, but that is a blog for another day); younger veterans from service experience ranging from Korea in the 50s to Afghanistan today and theatres of operations (war!) from then til now and all over the world. We parade to remember those with whom we served, those 
who did not make it back, those who did but were damaged, and to remember ourselves.
Why did we serve? I joined the British Army in 1969. I did not need to - I had a job at a newspaper in Bolton; it was a chance to do something different, to get a trade and experience. Let me be frank here, nobody joins the military to make a sacrifice. I get tired of hearing about servicemen making the "ultimate sacrifice" that makes it sound like a voluntary act, it is not.
A soldier is trained and is part of a team - platoon, company, regiment, squadron, ship - a team that can be more than family. An infantryman relies on his mates and they rely on him, it is these mates that one gives one's life for and they would do the same for him. Extreme acts of bravery are usually for self and mates' preservation, so is the day to day routine. Being a serviceman is a job, a profession, a career, a way of life; we train to do our job well. It keeps us alive. We know that "it can never happen to us", otherwise the fear can become too great. Training and experience helps to overcome the fear but it does not go away, fear keeps you alive, it is a balancing act.
Nobody I that I knew would say that they joined to sacrifice themselves for their country. Nobody.
Nobody joins to ensure freedom for the folks back home.
How can fighting in Iraq, or Afghanistan, or Northern Ireland back in the day ensure freedom of speech, freedom to vote, back in UK or Canada or USA or wherever. Fighting to overcome an invader is another matter. Don't get me wrong we go into active service with open eyes, we know that politicians put us there, and we know it is up to us to get us out of there. So soldiers fight - to live. Some actually enjoy it and take pride in a job well done and look forward to the next action, but they are not there to sacrifice themselves. No way.
That is why we serve.
What about the other casualties? The wounded. The ones we don't hear about or see.
For every soldier killed in Afghanistan 10 are wounded. Many tragically so. But they are just statistics to the government. And they are shamefully treated. Reservists even more so; they get only a fraction of the "compensation" that a regular serviceman receives yet the risk is the shame. After three years the military can cut them loose if they are not well enough to serve, and on a pittance of a pension. 
And now the Canadian government has max’d out the amount an injured serviceman can receive. Not only that  but they get a reduced lump sum they are expected to invest. 
Shame on the government and shame on us for not making this a major issue. How many are blinded; lose limbs, disfigured...who knows, nobody is saying. How do they support them selves when discharged? They have families to support on the poor pension they receive.
We will remember them? They need more than that.
The Brits are as bad if not worse. I witnessed families put on the breadline and practically homeless when the soldier father/husband was discharged due to injuries. Having to rely on the service charity organisations.
James 2:12 If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?" Indeed.
Where am I going with this?Servicemen do not sacrifice themselves for their country - their country sacrifices them for ideals, for oil, for mistaken beliefs, to remove non-existant weapons of mass distruction.
So when we parade or watch the parades every 11 November remember the fallen, the wounded, those still in service and think there but for the grace of God go I.
We will remember them.