There's some people trying to rebrand us military Brats. (If you aren't a Brat you may want to skip the rest of this) They want to change our name to Champs (Child Heroes Attached to Military Personnel). The Brat community is in a huge uproar over this for several reasons. The primary one being we never asked to be re-branded and have our identity taken from us. We are proud of our Brat label. We find it offensive to be called heroes. Those who serve are heroes, not those of us who were along for the ride. The people doing this present themselves as a non-profit out to help civilian kids better understand Brats. Truth is, once you look past the smoke and mirrors it's a for profit company, who has trademarked the name Champs and is currently touring Europe on the USO's dime. It's unclear what civilian children they are reaching in overseas DoD schools. To add insult to injury, neither of the people pushing this rebranding are, or have ever, been associated with or a part of the military life. Brats in both the US and Canada have started some pretty strong grassroots movements against this. Anyone wanting more information on this, message me.
I have a new dog, Jake. He's a small, 2 year old mastiff mix....small being a relative term. He's 64 pounds. For a mastiff, however, that's practically tiny. I'm not sure what his history is except that he was an owner surrender. It's very obvious though that he received some really good training. He's completely house broke. He has not picked up anything in the house except for the toys and bones I have specifically handed him. He's made no attempt to get on any piece of furniture, instead quite content to lay on the floor or his bed. He is already crate trained even. Personality-wise, he's a sweetie. Loves to play, though I will need to do some work with him on roughness. Typical big dog; he doesn't realize his size. Also have to break his tendency to jump up on people. He knows "sit" but isn't consistent with it. I'm not sure what other commands he knows yet so I'll be testing that this weekend. He also needs some training walking on a leash. Overall though, he's been a really good boy and he is still a bit of a puppy, after all.
I've come to realize I have a lot of friends who truly don't understand what a political moderate is. It's rather amusing.....and a bit sad. The idea that someone can have both liberal and conservative views, depending on the topic, simply does not compute with them. Typically what happens is if I disagree with them on one item, regardless of how many I might agree with them on, they immediately throw out the "you're just a liberal/conservative", the choice being whichever they consider to be an insult. And then there's the topics where I completely understand both sides and happily ride the fence. Sometimes I'm afraid my liberal or conservative friends' heads will explode. How could I possibly think anyone can or should find a middle ground compromise on something?? Perish the thought! However, the truth is, we moderates do exist.
It also amuses me when my liberal and conservative friends use the words of politicians to prove their point to me. Seriously, in case anyone who knows me has missed this, let me spell it out clearly right here.
I am an Independent because I do not believe in, or trust at all, either the Republicans or the Democrats. I do not believe a single word that comes out of any of their mouths. I do not believe any of our elected officials are interested in the welfare of the American people. I do believe they are concerned about their personal political power and pocketbooks.
Oh, and using Ted Cruz as your basis for good political fact.....to me that's pretty much like using Jim Baker as your basis for good religion. Has this man EVER made a wholly honest statement?
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