This Memorial Day, The Story About My Dad’s Death In Vietnam Gained A New Chapter

Marine portrait of Michael John Kelly
PFC Michael John Kelly (1948-1968)

Memorial Day is for remembering those who served who didn’t make it back home alive. We honor their sacrifice.

Millions of people have just as many stories about their lost loved ones. For years I believed one story about what happened when my father was killed. Only recently I found out what I knew wasn’t the whole story.

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The Bill Of Rights Says No One Has To Stand For The Anthem

image of students giving Bellamy salute in 1941
Forced Patriotism circa 1941

I never liked being forced to do something especially if I had major moral issues about it. I had a telemarketing job where I had to sell stuff I knew people didn’t need to buy. As a kid, I hated having to recite the pledge of allegiance and as an adult I refuse to recite it and I don’t stand the for the national anthem. It isn’t because I hate my country, it’s because I love my country and want it to do better. If the pledge and anthem mean anything it’s my right to address my grievances with my government like not standing for the national anthem.

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Removing Confederate Statues One Step In Acknowledging Historical Mistakes

image of Statue of the traitor Robert E. Lee in Richmond, VA.
Statue of the traitor Robert E. Lee in Richmond, VA.

New Orleans, Charlottesville, and Baltimore are the latest flash points in countering white supremacy efforts to sanitize our history. Confederate statues and monuments have been removed or there are plans to remove them. Some people complain that such actions are erasing history but in fact removing Confederate statues is one step in acknowledging our historical mistakes.

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Islamophobic Anti-Refugee Meme Debunked

a smaller version of the False meme about Muhammad

A conservative friend of mine posted an Islamophobic anti-refugee Meme on Facebook the other day. The text on the image claims that the Prophet Muhammad, the Jesus of Islam, was taken in by the Jewish city of Medina and within five years he had driven out, killed, or enslaved all the Jews. The accusation sounded so ridiculous I had to try and verify it. Of course the ‘facts’ in the meme were very wrong.

A copy of the meme is to the right of this article (and a full size version is at the end of this post) but if you can’t see the image below is the full quote used:

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