215 Time For Iraq Vets?
1 Comments Published by Charles Douglas on Friday, May 16, 2008 at 5/16/2008 08:12:00 AM.
More often then the expert-worshiping pooh-bahs of local establishment media would like to believe, wisdom truly does fall from the mouths of the meek here on the streets of Eureka:
(click here to leave a comment directly on the clip)
A surprisingly lucid Bruce Ogata makes a valid point (despite a valiant attempt at comic relief from Jumbo Nolan), especially given how one of the local dailies practically celebrated the hiring of an Iraq War vet by the EPD, not to mention the other vets going through the CR Police Academy. Given the paltry, if not laughable, local standards for education and training (six months as opposed to the college degrees required of officers in many central and southern California law enforcement agencies), it begs the question: How long until Fallujah-style tactics are deployed here on the streets of Humboldt County, especially with the multi-agency SWAT Team planwaiting in the wings?
This is especially troubling given the true butcher's bill of casualties from the war the press just can't stop pimping itself for. As revealed in another excellent excoriation of the prevailing "4,000" myth by Alex Cockburn, the true toll of American casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan is 655,000 dead and injured, as detailed in a report from those flaming radicals at the RAND think tank. That's an estimated 320,000 returning soldiers suffering from brain injuries and another 300,000 psychologically wounded with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (which just might have something to do with the estimated 1,000 suicide attempts per month among Iraq War vets).
But no, if one were to rely on the local establishment rags for all their information, they would think our local vets get a pat on the back, a medal, and a job running around Eureka with a gun, with no further attention required. Of course there aren't any homeless veterans around here, or anywhere in the U.S., if you were ignorant enough to trust the word of The Eureka Reporter's favored bloviator, Bill O'Reilly.
As with almost every subject in Humboldt County, the topic inevitably returns to the local economic engine, medical marijuana. Given the needs of returning vets for palliative remedies which don't turn them into lithium zombies or crazed prozac patients, does the decision by Arcata's City Council to pull the plug on the already-constructed and permitted Humboldt Medical Supply facility appear not just as part of the increasing tide of Yuppiecrat intolerance, but as a cruel revenge against suffering, stressed-out ex-soldiers who doubtlessly qualify under California Health & Safety Code 11362.5? Does Arcata care more about civil certificates for its well-off lesbians than about the imploding vets out there on the streets? The Eye might think so, but as for what the people will actually put up with, time will tell.
(click here to leave a comment directly on the clip)
A surprisingly lucid Bruce Ogata makes a valid point (despite a valiant attempt at comic relief from Jumbo Nolan), especially given how one of the local dailies practically celebrated the hiring of an Iraq War vet by the EPD, not to mention the other vets going through the CR Police Academy. Given the paltry, if not laughable, local standards for education and training (six months as opposed to the college degrees required of officers in many central and southern California law enforcement agencies), it begs the question: How long until Fallujah-style tactics are deployed here on the streets of Humboldt County, especially with the multi-agency SWAT Team planwaiting in the wings?
This is especially troubling given the true butcher's bill of casualties from the war the press just can't stop pimping itself for. As revealed in another excellent excoriation of the prevailing "4,000" myth by Alex Cockburn, the true toll of American casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan is 655,000 dead and injured, as detailed in a report from those flaming radicals at the RAND think tank. That's an estimated 320,000 returning soldiers suffering from brain injuries and another 300,000 psychologically wounded with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (which just might have something to do with the estimated 1,000 suicide attempts per month among Iraq War vets).
But no, if one were to rely on the local establishment rags for all their information, they would think our local vets get a pat on the back, a medal, and a job running around Eureka with a gun, with no further attention required. Of course there aren't any homeless veterans around here, or anywhere in the U.S., if you were ignorant enough to trust the word of The Eureka Reporter's favored bloviator, Bill O'Reilly.
As with almost every subject in Humboldt County, the topic inevitably returns to the local economic engine, medical marijuana. Given the needs of returning vets for palliative remedies which don't turn them into lithium zombies or crazed prozac patients, does the decision by Arcata's City Council to pull the plug on the already-constructed and permitted Humboldt Medical Supply facility appear not just as part of the increasing tide of Yuppiecrat intolerance, but as a cruel revenge against suffering, stressed-out ex-soldiers who doubtlessly qualify under California Health & Safety Code 11362.5? Does Arcata care more about civil certificates for its well-off lesbians than about the imploding vets out there on the streets? The Eye might think so, but as for what the people will actually put up with, time will tell.
Labels: alexander cockburn, arcata eye, bruce ogata, comedy, cr, epd, eureka reporter, iraq, jumbo nolan, marijuana, politics, swat, veterans
