Random Rants ': No, YOUR thread titles suck!

[Lexicus]

When a beheaded equestrian statue of Franco, flagship of a critical exhibition about the dictatorship, is bombarded with eggs, defiled with rainbow paintings and Catalan flags, and is thrown to the ground and thence taken away, the Francisco Franco Foundation threatens to sue the Barcelona Town Hall both for exhibiting the beheaded statue and allowing it to be further defaced.

How? How? How can such a 'foundation' exist, and how can it be tolerated? Why is the dictator still buried in his glorious mausoleum built with forced labour while so many have rotten away in unmarked communal graves in fields and roads that no longer lead anywhere?

This country refuses to face a shameful past that it only managed to get over by pretending to forget about it.

Good question. It's things like this that make me sympathize with tankies. Sending these people to the gulag is by far the easiest way to deal with them.

 

[Commodore]

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-national-guard-bonus-20161020-snap-story.html
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-national-guard-bonus-20161020-snap-story.html

Nearly 10,000 soldiers, many of whom served multiple combat tours, have been ordered to repay large enlistment bonuses — and slapped with interest charges, wage garnishments and tax liens if they refuse — after audits revealed widespread overpayments by the California Guard at the height of the wars last decade.

Investigations have determined that lack of oversight allowed for widespread fraud and mismanagement by California Guard officials under pressure to meet enlistment targets.

But soldiers say the military is reneging on 10-year-old agreements and imposing severe financial hardship on veterans whose only mistake was to accept bonuses offered when the Pentagon needed to fill the ranks.

“These bonuses were used to keep people in,” said Christopher Van Meter, a 42-year-old former Army captain and Iraq veteran from Manteca, Calif., who says he refinanced his home mortgage to repay $25,000 in reenlistment bonuses and $21,000 in student loan repayments that the Army says he should not have received. “People like me just got screwed.”

In Iraq, Van Meter was thrown from an armored vehicle turret — and later awarded a Purple Heart for his combat injuries — after the vehicle detonated a buried roadside bomb.

This story is absolutely disgusting to me. So the California National Guard decided to commit fraud, but it's the soldiers they signed up with those fraudulent activities who are being punished and threatened with wage garnishments and tax liens? All I really have to say to the government is smart move (sarcastically). Yeah, let's just keep doing things to piss off the people who actually have the experience and skills necessary to start a competent insurgency against the government. These kinds of attacks on veterans are becoming increasingly common, and I'm starting to think we need to start organizing and getting some kind of social movement going to make sure we get everything the government promised us for putting our lives on the line for them. It's not our fault if the government made promised they now realize they can't keep.

 

[JohannaK]

It isnt the government backtracking on its promises, but rather determining that officials were not at liberty to make the promises they made, it seems to me. It seems to me it is the afforementioned officials who should have to put up with this.

 

[shadowplay]

Wealthy offspring who keep saying "my father..."

 

[The_J]

Just checked the website for a festival which will be in one month, and it's already sold out .

 

[Kyriakos]

^Is it that barbaric german festival then?
Wait, that one was this month, right?

 

[Takhisis]

Do they speak Greek? No? They're all barbaric.

When a beheaded equestrian statue of Franco, flagship of a critical exhibition about the dictatorship, is bombarded with eggs, defiled with rainbow paintings and Catalan flags, and is thrown to the ground and thence taken away, the Francisco Franco Foundation threatens to sue the Barcelona Town Hall both for exhibiting the beheaded statue and allowing it to be further defaced.

How? How? How can such a 'foundation' exist, and how can it be tolerated? Why is the dictator still buried in his glorious mausoleum built with forced labour while so many have rotten away in unmarked communal graves in fields and roads that no longer lead anywhere?

This country refuses to face a shameful past that it only managed to get over by pretending to forget about it.

Take the bulls from the newly-reinstated bullfights and send them down the road to Madrid so that the Foundation folks can taste some Spanish culture.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-national-guard-bonus-20161020-snap-story.html

Nearly 10,000 soldiers, many of whom served multiple combat tours, have been ordered to repay large enlistment bonuses — and slapped with interest charges, wage garnishments and tax liens if they refuse — after audits revealed widespread overpayments by the California Guard at the height of the wars last decade.

Investigations have determined that lack of oversight allowed for widespread fraud and mismanagement by California Guard officials under pressure to meet enlistment targets.

But soldiers say the military is reneging on 10-year-old agreements and imposing severe financial hardship on veterans whose only mistake was to accept bonuses offered when the Pentagon needed to fill the ranks.

“These bonuses were used to keep people in,” said Christopher Van Meter, a 42-year-old former Army captain and Iraq veteran from Manteca, Calif., who says he refinanced his home mortgage to repay $25,000 in reenlistment bonuses and $21,000 in student loan repayments that the Army says he should not have received. “People like me just got screwed.”

In Iraq, Van Meter was thrown from an armored vehicle turret — and later awarded a Purple Heart for his combat injuries — after the vehicle detonated a buried roadside bomb.

This story is absolutely disgusting to me. So the California National Guard decided to commit fraud, but it's the soldiers they signed up with those fraudulent activities who are being punished and threatened with wage garnishments and tax liens? All I really have to say to the government is smart move (sarcastically). Yeah, let's just keep doing things to piss off the people who actually have the experience and skills necessary to start a competent insurgency against the government. These kinds of attacks on veterans are becoming increasingly common, and I'm starting to think we need to start organizing and getting some kind of social movement going to make sure we get everything the government promised us for putting our lives on the line for them. It's not our fault if the government made promised they now realize they can't keep.

Hmmmm, let's see, as far as I understand the law the money will be returned, but since the government is the employee and many soldiers such as this Van Meter have already made expenditures of their own relying on that money the gov't can be estoppelled from claiming that money and/or be forced to pay damages. It all depends on whether these ‘nearly 10,000 soldiers’ could be reasonably believed to have had no idea they were being overpaid illegally which, at least from that article, seems to be the case.

Separately, some administrative and/or judicial proceedings against those officials who started this should already have begun.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

It really is disgusting how Battlefield 1's campaign talks too much about respecting the stories of those who served and died, while displaying an experience that does not have a shred of historical accuracy. Like a theme park ride touted as a war memorial.

 

[Commodore]

It isnt the government backtracking on its promises, but rather determining that officials were not at liberty to make the promises they made, it seems to me. It seems to me it is the afforementioned officials who should have to put up with this.

Exactly, but that's not what's happening. Personally, I think the government should still have to honor those promises that were made illegally (since the soldiers who received those bonuses were under the impression they were totally legit) and recoup the money from the state of California since it was the California National Guard that committed the fraud and they act as agents of the state of California, not the federal government.

But my point about the government going back on its promises was more of a reference to the constant attempts by Congress to reduce veterans' benefits and gut the VA. And they aren't just trying to do this for future veterans, they want to reduce the benefits for all veterans, even though we have contracts that say we were promised those benefits in exchange for our service. Hell, they already took away tuition assistance for Reserve and National Guard soldiers. That screws my brother-in-law over because that was the only reason he joined the Army Reserve and it was something that was promised to him in his contract. Now if he wants tuition assistance he has to try to go active duty. I've also heard rumblings that Congress wants to take away the GI Bill for Reservists and the Guard as well. I can only wonder how long it will be before they start trying to take away benefits from active duty soldiers and veterans who served on active duty?

 

[JohannaK]

Oh, sorry I am rather uninformed on the issue as a whole but that does seem awful at best, and unlawful at worst.

 

[Lohrenswald]

It struck me just now that I have no dignity

I feel pretty disgusted by myself

 

[Synobun]

It struck me just now that I have no dignity

Is that an STD?

 

[Lohrenswald]

I had a couple of other thoughts

That I gave up a long time ago, but didn't realise it. I don't really intend to even try at this point.

Also all my dreams and ambitions are dead and buried

 

[Kyriakos]

I had a couple of other thoughts

That I gave up a long time ago, but didn't realise it. I don't really intend to even try at this point.

Also all my dreams and ambitions are dead and buried

Have you tried listening to Curt Cobain music, aka Nirvana?

 

[The_J]

Wanted to move one of the benches in the gym, and first rammed it against my left foot (where the big toe nail already has a nice purple-ish colour since 3 weeks), and afterwards against my right foot.
Yeah, felt pretty stupid.

 

[Lohrenswald]

I don't really like the teen spirit song

also I forgot to renew my monthly ticket thing and was "fined" like 1000 crowns, which is more than 100 USD

 

[choxorn]

Have you tried listening to Curt Cobain music, aka Nirvana?

Kurt. His first name is spelled with a K.

 

[Kyriakos]

Oc then.

 

[Arakhor]

How does a Greek of all people use a C where a K would suffice?

 

[Takhisis]

He's a Roman.