Tag: Veterans

Saudi Lobbyists Paid for 500 Rooms at Trump Hotel, Duped Veterans

Buck Banks

500

“Lobbyists representing the Saudi government reserved blocks of rooms at President Trump’s D.C. hotel within a month of Trump’s election in 2016 — paying for an estimated 500 nights at the luxury hotel in just three months,” the Washington Post reports. “The visits were part of an unorthodox campaign that offered veterans a free trip to D.C.– then sent them to Capitol Hill to lobby against a law the Saudis opposed.”

U.S. Veterans Suicide Rate Rises by Nearly a Third

Buck Banks

32%

The suicide rate among American veterans jumped by nearly a third since 2001, outpacing the wider U.S. population, according to a Department of Veterans Affairs study. Between 2001 and 2014, veteran suicides increased by 32 percent, while civilian suicides increased by 23 percent in the same time period. After controlling for factors like age and gender, this meant veterans faced a 21 percent greater risk for suicide than those who had not served in the armed forces.

PensitoWire

Pensito Editors

Verbatim

Trish

The economy really sucks. Now I hate to point fingers at anybody, but the present administration probably had a lot to do with that. And the way I see it, they’re not going to quit doing it until they bring this country to its knees. So I think we should all rise up and we should stop this administration from what they’re doing because they’re destroying this country. They’re driving us into bankruptcy so that they can impose socialism on us…

— GEICO ad man R. Lee Ermey, commenting at a U.S. Marines Toys for Tots rally. If you think GEICO should can this asshat, let them know. Suggested subject line: “Can the Asshat.”

John McCain on Repealing DADT: Gay People Aren’t Fit to “Live, Eat, Sleep, or Fight’ Alongside Straight Service Members

Trish

If you’re wondering what very poorly disguised homophobia sounds like, check out John McCain. And a little newsflash for the senator: no amount of “studying” and holding hearings will turn back time. The world has changed, Pops, and your opinion of gay people, which apparently includes the idea that they are inherently less able than straight people to control their sexual urges (maybe like the situation you’re more familiar with, being married to one woman but screwing another?) and force themselves on straight people who are not interested in them, is sheer biogotry. And one last thing: I wouldn’t want to live, eat, sleep, or fight alongside you either.