Original Post Date: March 24, 2010
This legislation will just subsidize people's horrible eating habits. Now since insurance companies will have to cover a person no matter how horrible their diet effected their health. Why care about costs of cholesterol medication, blood pressure medication, etc.. when the government is going to send you a subsidized check to help pay for them? Now, I will be paying for the average American's horrible health along with their horrible diet with my tax dollars.
I found out my cholesterol level was almost 300 at age 27. My doctor told me I should "reduce" my intake of red meat, and dairy. Also I would be on two separate medications for the rest of my life. I could have accepted this I my fate and burden the health care industry with my rising health care costs. However, I finally became a vegan, my cholesterol dropped by half, and I do not take any medications. Actually I was able to stop taking two previous medications for acid reflux....
I am glad that people that have genetic, or contagious diseases will not be denied health care. There are many other great points in this bill. However, the bill did not have to be 2,000 plus pages and cost over a 1 Trillion dollars we do not have in this country. My health care bill would be pretty simple....
1. Stop eating like crap and getting your dinner out of a window.
2. Exercise every week.
3. The government should start subsidizing healthy foods to help poorer communities. Stop subsidizing the beef and diary industries.
4. tort reform
5. Allow insurance companies to compete across state lines like car insurance companies.
American's diet is breaking the back of our health care and this bill will just further it. Just like bad drivers get higher car insurance costs or lose insurance all together. People with bad diets need to take responsibility for their bad diets. After the individual tries everything in their own power to improve their health, then the government should step in and help them.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Getting completely screwed over
Original Post Date: October 1, 2009
We sent the following to consumeraffairs.com and also to 3 local news stations tonight. We will also be filing a complaint against both Taylor Bean & Whitaker & Bank of America w/ the BBB. Just thought I would post it on here, too, in case anyone else has any ideas of where else we should send this to.
In case you are not aware, Taylor Bean & Whitaker (also known as TB&W) was one of the largest mortgage companies in the US before they were raided by the FBI in August 2009.
In November 2008 I obtained a VA loan with Taylor Bean & Whitaker mortgage company. Although I had planned on just paying my home owners' insurance and property taxes once a year when they were due, I was told by my broker that the VA required those payments to be averaged into the loan and paid monthly into an escrow account with my lender (TB&W). When I decided to refinance in July 2009, I had $911.55 in my escrow account with TB&W. My broker suggested I refinance with TB&W because he said they would be able to transfer that escrow money to my new loan instead of requiring it up front, so I agreed. However, when it came time to sign the refinance papers on July 25, 2009, my broker told me that TB&W had not been able to transfer my escrow money after all, so $1081.68 was added into my loan for new escrow, but that within 30 days TB&W would send me a refund check of $911.55 for my old escrow account. Of course I have never received this check yet, but that is not even the worst of my concerns at this point.
In August, after TB&W was raided by the FBI and suspended from making or servicing most loans, I began getting notices from many different companies claiming they now owned my loan. The first notice was from Colonial Bank dated August 12, 2009. The second notice was from Roundpoint Mortgage Servicing Corporation, also dated August 12, 2009. When I called Roundpoint, the person I talked to could not give me any information about my loan (how much it was for total, how much was in my escrow account, what my interest rate was, etc.), but told me to send my usual payment to them anyway. After I searched online, I found many people reporting Roundpoint was a scam, so it was lucky I had not sent them any money. Finally, I got a call from Bank of America stating that they had my loan. For a few seconds I felt relieved, until I asked for my account information and realized they had all the information for my OLD loan before I refinanced. $911.55 in my escrow account, my old interest rate, etc.
I explained to Bank of America that I had refinanced and that loan they had the information for no longer existed. They told me it must be some mistake they would get figured out soon and not to worry about it. However, after a couple of weeks, I started getting delinquency notices from Bank of America stating that I was overdue, I owed them 2 months worth of mortgage payments, I would lose my house if I did not pay, etc. Every time I would call them and explain the situation to a new person and be told not to worry about it, yet the notices kept coming. We even received a notice stating that if we do not pay them by October 16, 2009, they are going to start foreclosure proceedings! Finally we faxed them our settlement statement from our refinance to prove that the old loan no longer exists. Our title company also talked to a Bank of America representative by phone, and also faxed proof to Bank of America that the loan they are claiming we owe them money for has been refinanced, but the delinquency notices and threats from Bank of America are still coming.
Meanwhile, I began getting statements for my NEW loan from Taylor Bean & Whitaker as if nothing was wrong and they were doing business as usual! I called them and they insisted they do still own my new loan, and said that they will try to "pull back" my old loan from Bank of America, whatever that means. When I asked about the $911.55 they owe me from my old escrow account, they claimed that they did transfer it over to my new loan, so they don't owe me any money!
I am nervous to send TB&W any more money because of all the articles I have read about them not paying people's bills out of their escrow accounts. Both my insurance and my property taxes are due in November. I have already paid most of this money to TB&W TWICE now, the $911.55 of escrow in my old loan which has never been refunded to me, and the $1081.68 of escrow in my new loan. I am concerned that in November I will have to pay all this money a THIRD time, directly to my insurance company and Pima County because I have doubts TB&W will pay them when they are due. I have called both my insurance company (State Farm), and the Pima County Treasurer's Office about my concerns. State Farm said they would make a note on my account of this and notify me if my mortgage company does not pay it. The Pima County Treasurer's Office said they could not do this, but said I could check on their website to see if it gets paid. However, the woman I spoke to from the Pima County Treasurer's Office then told me that if I pay it and then my mortgage company later pays it that I will be "out of luck," because the Pima County Treasurer's Office will not refund my payment to me or credit my account to be applied to next year's taxes.
I have contacted several lawyers, but none of them will even meet with me. They all just say they don't handle cases like this. I also called the VA Regional Office in Phoenix, but as soon as they found out it was a Taylor Bean & Whitaker loan, the person on the phone said they were directed to tell anyone with a Taylor Bean & Whitaker loan to "handle it through the banks." I have two months worth of mortgage payments sitting in my checking account now, because I don't know who to send them to. I have never been late on a mortgage payment before this, and I have a good credit record, but now I am afraid of losing my house and having my credit ruined over this situation. I don't know what to do at this point, please help!.. .... ..
We sent the following to consumeraffairs.com and also to 3 local news stations tonight. We will also be filing a complaint against both Taylor Bean & Whitaker & Bank of America w/ the BBB. Just thought I would post it on here, too, in case anyone else has any ideas of where else we should send this to.
In case you are not aware, Taylor Bean & Whitaker (also known as TB&W) was one of the largest mortgage companies in the US before they were raided by the FBI in August 2009.
In November 2008 I obtained a VA loan with Taylor Bean & Whitaker mortgage company. Although I had planned on just paying my home owners' insurance and property taxes once a year when they were due, I was told by my broker that the VA required those payments to be averaged into the loan and paid monthly into an escrow account with my lender (TB&W). When I decided to refinance in July 2009, I had $911.55 in my escrow account with TB&W. My broker suggested I refinance with TB&W because he said they would be able to transfer that escrow money to my new loan instead of requiring it up front, so I agreed. However, when it came time to sign the refinance papers on July 25, 2009, my broker told me that TB&W had not been able to transfer my escrow money after all, so $1081.68 was added into my loan for new escrow, but that within 30 days TB&W would send me a refund check of $911.55 for my old escrow account. Of course I have never received this check yet, but that is not even the worst of my concerns at this point.
In August, after TB&W was raided by the FBI and suspended from making or servicing most loans, I began getting notices from many different companies claiming they now owned my loan. The first notice was from Colonial Bank dated August 12, 2009. The second notice was from Roundpoint Mortgage Servicing Corporation, also dated August 12, 2009. When I called Roundpoint, the person I talked to could not give me any information about my loan (how much it was for total, how much was in my escrow account, what my interest rate was, etc.), but told me to send my usual payment to them anyway. After I searched online, I found many people reporting Roundpoint was a scam, so it was lucky I had not sent them any money. Finally, I got a call from Bank of America stating that they had my loan. For a few seconds I felt relieved, until I asked for my account information and realized they had all the information for my OLD loan before I refinanced. $911.55 in my escrow account, my old interest rate, etc.
I explained to Bank of America that I had refinanced and that loan they had the information for no longer existed. They told me it must be some mistake they would get figured out soon and not to worry about it. However, after a couple of weeks, I started getting delinquency notices from Bank of America stating that I was overdue, I owed them 2 months worth of mortgage payments, I would lose my house if I did not pay, etc. Every time I would call them and explain the situation to a new person and be told not to worry about it, yet the notices kept coming. We even received a notice stating that if we do not pay them by October 16, 2009, they are going to start foreclosure proceedings! Finally we faxed them our settlement statement from our refinance to prove that the old loan no longer exists. Our title company also talked to a Bank of America representative by phone, and also faxed proof to Bank of America that the loan they are claiming we owe them money for has been refinanced, but the delinquency notices and threats from Bank of America are still coming.
Meanwhile, I began getting statements for my NEW loan from Taylor Bean & Whitaker as if nothing was wrong and they were doing business as usual! I called them and they insisted they do still own my new loan, and said that they will try to "pull back" my old loan from Bank of America, whatever that means. When I asked about the $911.55 they owe me from my old escrow account, they claimed that they did transfer it over to my new loan, so they don't owe me any money!
I am nervous to send TB&W any more money because of all the articles I have read about them not paying people's bills out of their escrow accounts. Both my insurance and my property taxes are due in November. I have already paid most of this money to TB&W TWICE now, the $911.55 of escrow in my old loan which has never been refunded to me, and the $1081.68 of escrow in my new loan. I am concerned that in November I will have to pay all this money a THIRD time, directly to my insurance company and Pima County because I have doubts TB&W will pay them when they are due. I have called both my insurance company (State Farm), and the Pima County Treasurer's Office about my concerns. State Farm said they would make a note on my account of this and notify me if my mortgage company does not pay it. The Pima County Treasurer's Office said they could not do this, but said I could check on their website to see if it gets paid. However, the woman I spoke to from the Pima County Treasurer's Office then told me that if I pay it and then my mortgage company later pays it that I will be "out of luck," because the Pima County Treasurer's Office will not refund my payment to me or credit my account to be applied to next year's taxes.
I have contacted several lawyers, but none of them will even meet with me. They all just say they don't handle cases like this. I also called the VA Regional Office in Phoenix, but as soon as they found out it was a Taylor Bean & Whitaker loan, the person on the phone said they were directed to tell anyone with a Taylor Bean & Whitaker loan to "handle it through the banks." I have two months worth of mortgage payments sitting in my checking account now, because I don't know who to send them to. I have never been late on a mortgage payment before this, and I have a good credit record, but now I am afraid of losing my house and having my credit ruined over this situation. I don't know what to do at this point, please help!.. .... ..
.. .... ..
Footprints in the Sand
Original Post Date: June 28, 2009
I was listening to my playlist and thought of this poem.
Footprints in the Sand
One night a man had a dream. He dreamed
he was walking along the beach with the LORD.
Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.
For each scene he noticed two sets of
footprints in the sand: one belonging
to him, and the other to the LORD.
When the last scene of his life flashed before him,
he looked back at the footprints in the sand.
He noticed that many times along the path of
his life there was only one set of footprints.
He also noticed that it happened at the very
lowest and saddest times in his life.
This really bothered him and he
questioned Jesus about it:
"LORD, you said that once I decided to follow
you, you'd walk with me all the way.
But I have noticed that during the most
troublesome times in my life,
there is only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why when
I needed you most you would leave me."
The LORD replied:
"My son, my precious child,
I love you and I would never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering,
when you see only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you."
by Carolyn Joyce Carty
I was listening to my playlist and thought of this poem.
Footprints in the Sand
One night a man had a dream. He dreamed
he was walking along the beach with the LORD.
Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.
For each scene he noticed two sets of
footprints in the sand: one belonging
to him, and the other to the LORD.
When the last scene of his life flashed before him,
he looked back at the footprints in the sand.
He noticed that many times along the path of
his life there was only one set of footprints.
He also noticed that it happened at the very
lowest and saddest times in his life.
This really bothered him and he
questioned Jesus about it:
"LORD, you said that once I decided to follow
you, you'd walk with me all the way.
But I have noticed that during the most
troublesome times in my life,
there is only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why when
I needed you most you would leave me."
The LORD replied:
"My son, my precious child,
I love you and I would never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering,
when you see only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you."
by Carolyn Joyce Carty
HELP the CPR FUND!!
Original Post Date: October 8, 2008
My wife posted this on her blog, go to this website and help out a good cause. http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces
Hi, everyone. Most of you know I have been working w/ CPR Fund rescue for a few months now & I really really like them a lot. Right now we are trying to win the $100,000 shelter giveaway contest, the top 10 groups in the country will get $10,000 each. Please help us win! Go to the link below, type in CPR Fund in the search area, click vote, then type in the animal you see in the little picture to confirm your vote. It only takes like 30 seconds. Here is the link:
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces
This contest is going on until December, you can vote from your computer once per day, so please vote often & if you know others who will vote please pass this info on to them, too! Thanks!
UPDATE: I was wrong about the top 10 shelters in the country getting $10,000 each. There is one $25,000 winner, one $10,000 winner, & FIFTY FOUR state winners that get $1,000 each. So we have an even better chance than I thought of at least getting something. Please vote for us :-)
My wife posted this on her blog, go to this website and help out a good cause. http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces
Hi, everyone. Most of you know I have been working w/ CPR Fund rescue for a few months now & I really really like them a lot. Right now we are trying to win the $100,000 shelter giveaway contest, the top 10 groups in the country will get $10,000 each. Please help us win! Go to the link below, type in CPR Fund in the search area, click vote, then type in the animal you see in the little picture to confirm your vote. It only takes like 30 seconds. Here is the link:
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces
This contest is going on until December, you can vote from your computer once per day, so please vote often & if you know others who will vote please pass this info on to them, too! Thanks!
UPDATE: I was wrong about the top 10 shelters in the country getting $10,000 each. There is one $25,000 winner, one $10,000 winner, & FIFTY FOUR state winners that get $1,000 each. So we have an even better chance than I thought of at least getting something. Please vote for us :-)
Undecided Independent Voters.....dumbest people on earth..who I am voting for
Original Post Date: Jan 6, 2008
It is just me but are undecided independent voters just annoying to watch? It irritates me that the news media puts so much emphasis on these people. Take for instance the undecided voters in New Hampshire. I was watching a group of them getting interviewed on the Today Show and they were asked who they were at least learning towards to vote and some said they were probably going to be undecided all the way up to the ballot box. Yea, that is exactly how I want my next president to be picked, by some slap jaw yokel making his mind up at the last minute. I feel the same way with the way Iowan Democrats feel that the best way to pick the next president is to put everyone room and peer pressure people to vote for your candidate.
These voters have had since September 5, 2007 (when Fred Thompson the last candidate to throw his hat in) to at least be leaning towards someone. To say that with all the information out there on the internet, TV, magazines, and other media outlet; where in this day of age you can just "google" a person's name and find out everything good and bad about them; where they stand on all the issues and what experience they have in the political arena; that these people still don't have at least have a person they are leaning towards just shows how really stupid these people are. They either are that stupid or they just want to be on TV.
I have at least decided.
I consider myself an an independent that leans both left and right on certain issues. I am more conservative on issues like gun control, health care, immigration, and government spending. I personally feel that abortion should be illegal however I don't base my entire decision on who to vote for on this issue. I am more liberal when it comes to the death penalty, animal welfare, and the environment.
With all those issues going through my mind I have consider voting for Guliaini, Hunter, Romney, Paul and Thompson. I have even considering changing my party and voting for Obama and Edwards. Guliani seems to be more intrusive it terms of how he governed New York (even though in some cases it work very well). Hunter is out after Iowa. Romney seems to just saying what he thinks people want to hear (Also this might be superficial but out of his 5 children not one is at least in the National Guard). I disagree with Paul's foreign policy. Thompson I could see voting for. Obama is too left on issues like Health Care, Immigration and it is hard for me to vote for a man that doesn't have any foreign policy experience and if he truly wanted to end this war he would have NOT voted several times for the funding.
However I personally feel with that McCain is the closest candidate that believes in my views. I supported the surge and it took guts for McCain to do the same because during that time it look like political suicide for him to support it. He is the only republican candidate that realizes the importance of global warming. He supports putting more international pressure on the region of Darfur. He has the highest rating of any republican candidate on animal welfare issues. He has repeatedly crossed party lines and has supported issues that he knew could be political suicide with republican voters because he believe in them. Even though I don't agree with everything he says I feel he is the closest to my overall stance on issues and I personally like his character. Also out of all the candidate he has visited Iraq (to see the situation first hand) more than any other candidate. Edwards, Thompson and Giuliani have never went to Iraq. Obama and Romney has been there once, Clinton three times, and finally McCain has been there 6 times since the war began.
With all those conflicting stances I have on issues, I found a candidate I that can support. I can hardly believe a person where their primary is less than a week away still doesn't know who they are voting for. If I could say one thing to them I could encourage them NOT to vote because I don't really want a person that didn't take this process seriously and do their homework months before to help pick the next leader of the free world. I mean you don't need to know exactly who but at least have it narrowed down to two people or be leaning in one direction.
It is just me but are undecided independent voters just annoying to watch? It irritates me that the news media puts so much emphasis on these people. Take for instance the undecided voters in New Hampshire. I was watching a group of them getting interviewed on the Today Show and they were asked who they were at least learning towards to vote and some said they were probably going to be undecided all the way up to the ballot box. Yea, that is exactly how I want my next president to be picked, by some slap jaw yokel making his mind up at the last minute. I feel the same way with the way Iowan Democrats feel that the best way to pick the next president is to put everyone room and peer pressure people to vote for your candidate.
These voters have had since September 5, 2007 (when Fred Thompson the last candidate to throw his hat in) to at least be leaning towards someone. To say that with all the information out there on the internet, TV, magazines, and other media outlet; where in this day of age you can just "google" a person's name and find out everything good and bad about them; where they stand on all the issues and what experience they have in the political arena; that these people still don't have at least have a person they are leaning towards just shows how really stupid these people are. They either are that stupid or they just want to be on TV.
I have at least decided.
I consider myself an an independent that leans both left and right on certain issues. I am more conservative on issues like gun control, health care, immigration, and government spending. I personally feel that abortion should be illegal however I don't base my entire decision on who to vote for on this issue. I am more liberal when it comes to the death penalty, animal welfare, and the environment.
With all those issues going through my mind I have consider voting for Guliaini, Hunter, Romney, Paul and Thompson. I have even considering changing my party and voting for Obama and Edwards. Guliani seems to be more intrusive it terms of how he governed New York (even though in some cases it work very well). Hunter is out after Iowa. Romney seems to just saying what he thinks people want to hear (Also this might be superficial but out of his 5 children not one is at least in the National Guard). I disagree with Paul's foreign policy. Thompson I could see voting for. Obama is too left on issues like Health Care, Immigration and it is hard for me to vote for a man that doesn't have any foreign policy experience and if he truly wanted to end this war he would have NOT voted several times for the funding.
However I personally feel with that McCain is the closest candidate that believes in my views. I supported the surge and it took guts for McCain to do the same because during that time it look like political suicide for him to support it. He is the only republican candidate that realizes the importance of global warming. He supports putting more international pressure on the region of Darfur. He has the highest rating of any republican candidate on animal welfare issues. He has repeatedly crossed party lines and has supported issues that he knew could be political suicide with republican voters because he believe in them. Even though I don't agree with everything he says I feel he is the closest to my overall stance on issues and I personally like his character. Also out of all the candidate he has visited Iraq (to see the situation first hand) more than any other candidate. Edwards, Thompson and Giuliani have never went to Iraq. Obama and Romney has been there once, Clinton three times, and finally McCain has been there 6 times since the war began.
With all those conflicting stances I have on issues, I found a candidate I that can support. I can hardly believe a person where their primary is less than a week away still doesn't know who they are voting for. If I could say one thing to them I could encourage them NOT to vote because I don't really want a person that didn't take this process seriously and do their homework months before to help pick the next leader of the free world. I mean you don't need to know exactly who but at least have it narrowed down to two people or be leaning in one direction.
What I am thankful for...
Original Post Date: November 26, 2007
I hope this day finds you surrounded by family and friends, even if its just one special someone. For those who have answered the call and are overseas (or soon will be) during this holiday season, you are in my prayers. Again Happy thanksgiving and remember no matter how bad your day, month, or year is going at this point. We still live in one of the greatest countries in the world and we need to be thankful for everything that makes us happy in our lives.
I am thankful for .....
being married to Amanda, I know you always say that I am lying but you are the best thing that came into my life. That you have changed my life for the better 99.9% of the time.... even owning Diamond. That my life wouldn’t be the same without you and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
for my dogs. They made me realize sometimes you should take people at face value and hope for the best and you should be honest to the people you meet. That I don’t even remember how it felt when I didn’t ever want to own a dog. That no matter how bad my day might have been at least I know I have to friends that are always happy to see (or hear) me.
my brother Aaron that I will always remember playing everything from basketball, baseball, football, and other sports(sorry I still sucked, but you tried). When I was watching those old movies when I was home. It reminded me of how good of a brother you were and are to me. I am so happy you have Tyler in your home now. At least we know he will have a good father and will grow up in a good home.
my brother Shane. Even when I was pretty young, you talk to me about different things in history to current affairs. You treated me like I was an adult, and how no matter how different our views are we both realize how great our contributions to our country are. That I am so proud of you becoming what you always wanted to be. The students in your school don’t realize yet how luckily they are for having you as a teacher.
my brother Brian. Thank you for always playing military with me for hours in our backyard, and for being a best friend. I hope you know I regret not hanging out with you more while I was in high school. You would have been a better role model to me than some of the type of people I used to hang out with.
To my Mom, words don’t describe how much I am luckily to have you as my mother. You always had this way of making me not want to let you down, even when I was in high school. I know you didn’t intentionally do this, however sometimes that feeling helped me keep myself out of trouble.
To my Dad, 99,9% of everything you ever told me has turned out right so far. How I have to realize that I can do anything with my life, however everything has consequences and I have to live with them..good or bad. It made me turn my path in high school, where I almost didn’t graduate, was hanging out with some bad influences, to a career, finishing my degree, and having a wonderful family here in Tucson.
To all my other relatives. Grandpa Trueblood, for taking me fishing, from taking me for rides on your riding lawn mower, to talking to me about my military experiences now and sending me a card when I was overseas just with a couple of lines to show you cared. You are and always have been the grandpa you read about in books. To my Grandma Trueblood, I hope you you are finally at peace and thank you for teaching me it’s ok to make mistakes in my life. Grandpa and Grandma Borgo, some of my fondest memories are with you in New Jersey. When you both lived in Belleville, to when I was "trying" swim in Cape Manor, to when you welcomed my wife with opened arms while I was deployed, to your recent party where you found everything special even the case of mistaken identity in your photo album. I hope that Amanda and I are half as luckily as you two.
I don’t want to leave anyone out, but I need to get some sleep I work tonight. So to everyone else on both sides of my family, Borgos and Truebloods. I hope you know everyone in my family has had a piece in making me who I am. To my friends I still keep in touch with that might read this you are not forgotten I no matter how busy I get I hope you know I think about you guys everyday. That is what I am thankful for today. That my family and friends have been there for me during some of my toughest times.
Happy Thanksgiving and God Bless
I hope this day finds you surrounded by family and friends, even if its just one special someone. For those who have answered the call and are overseas (or soon will be) during this holiday season, you are in my prayers. Again Happy thanksgiving and remember no matter how bad your day, month, or year is going at this point. We still live in one of the greatest countries in the world and we need to be thankful for everything that makes us happy in our lives.
I am thankful for .....
being married to Amanda, I know you always say that I am lying but you are the best thing that came into my life. That you have changed my life for the better 99.9% of the time.... even owning Diamond. That my life wouldn’t be the same without you and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
for my dogs. They made me realize sometimes you should take people at face value and hope for the best and you should be honest to the people you meet. That I don’t even remember how it felt when I didn’t ever want to own a dog. That no matter how bad my day might have been at least I know I have to friends that are always happy to see (or hear) me.
my brother Aaron that I will always remember playing everything from basketball, baseball, football, and other sports(sorry I still sucked, but you tried). When I was watching those old movies when I was home. It reminded me of how good of a brother you were and are to me. I am so happy you have Tyler in your home now. At least we know he will have a good father and will grow up in a good home.
my brother Shane. Even when I was pretty young, you talk to me about different things in history to current affairs. You treated me like I was an adult, and how no matter how different our views are we both realize how great our contributions to our country are. That I am so proud of you becoming what you always wanted to be. The students in your school don’t realize yet how luckily they are for having you as a teacher.
my brother Brian. Thank you for always playing military with me for hours in our backyard, and for being a best friend. I hope you know I regret not hanging out with you more while I was in high school. You would have been a better role model to me than some of the type of people I used to hang out with.
To my Mom, words don’t describe how much I am luckily to have you as my mother. You always had this way of making me not want to let you down, even when I was in high school. I know you didn’t intentionally do this, however sometimes that feeling helped me keep myself out of trouble.
To my Dad, 99,9% of everything you ever told me has turned out right so far. How I have to realize that I can do anything with my life, however everything has consequences and I have to live with them..good or bad. It made me turn my path in high school, where I almost didn’t graduate, was hanging out with some bad influences, to a career, finishing my degree, and having a wonderful family here in Tucson.
To all my other relatives. Grandpa Trueblood, for taking me fishing, from taking me for rides on your riding lawn mower, to talking to me about my military experiences now and sending me a card when I was overseas just with a couple of lines to show you cared. You are and always have been the grandpa you read about in books. To my Grandma Trueblood, I hope you you are finally at peace and thank you for teaching me it’s ok to make mistakes in my life. Grandpa and Grandma Borgo, some of my fondest memories are with you in New Jersey. When you both lived in Belleville, to when I was "trying" swim in Cape Manor, to when you welcomed my wife with opened arms while I was deployed, to your recent party where you found everything special even the case of mistaken identity in your photo album. I hope that Amanda and I are half as luckily as you two.
I don’t want to leave anyone out, but I need to get some sleep I work tonight. So to everyone else on both sides of my family, Borgos and Truebloods. I hope you know everyone in my family has had a piece in making me who I am. To my friends I still keep in touch with that might read this you are not forgotten I no matter how busy I get I hope you know I think about you guys everyday. That is what I am thankful for today. That my family and friends have been there for me during some of my toughest times.
Happy Thanksgiving and God Bless
Withdrawal is Not an Option
Original post date: Jan 7, 2007
This was my descriptive essay in my Writing Class. If you have read any of my other blogs, you will probably notice some pieces of them in here.
The Iraqi Study Group has recently come out with a report recommending the withdrawal of combat troops in Iraq and increased diplomacy with Iraq's neighbors Iran and Syria. They share the view of the Americans that are getting tired of this war. They feel that the current escalation of sectarian violence between Iraqi ethnic groups is more of a problem for the Iraqi Government than for the United States. They believe that we need to focus our mission there on training the Iraqi military and police to secure their own country. They also want a timetable to withdraw all US forces in Iraq. Some even want a complete withdrawal of US troops by the end of 2007. Even though I agree that we need to provide the Iraqi Security Forces with the proper training to stop the violence, I also agree that we need to provide more troops in the country to quell the violence, not withdraw troops.
The US currently does not have enough troops in Iraq to quell the violence and train Iraqi Security Forces. We need to increase troop strength, however it will be a hard case to push to the American people. With the media biased against any good news, people have no idea that out of the 18 provinces in Iraq, 75% of casualties come from 4 of them: Al Anbar, Baghdad, Salah ad Din and Ninawa. These provinces are in the Sunni Triangle and the stronghold of US resistance by both former Baath Party, Al Qaeda loyalists and Iranian backed Shiite militias. We need to deploy more troops in each of the above four provinces quell the insurgency and focus on training the Iraqi military in those areas. We do need to allow the Iraqi Security Forces to be the on the front lines to quell the sectarian violence. The US military mission should be to secure the borders of Iraq to stop Al Qaeda and Iranian influence from escalating the violence.
Al Qaeda main goal in Iraq is to continue the civil war by promoting the Sunni minority to attack Shiite majority. According to a Newsweek article titled " Bin Laden's Iraq Plans," the terrorist leader has been diverting a large number of fighters from the anti-U.S. insurgency in Afghanistan to Iraq since 2003. Al Qaeda is trying to drive us out and put us on the defensive. They know from our recent past conflicts and deployment of troops ( Vietnam, Beirut, Somalia, and not invading Iraqi during the first Gulf War) that American's Achilles heel is its how its population reacts to casualties. Once they hit the magical number of US casualties, Americans will pull out of the war.
The Iraqi Study Group supports diplomatic negotiations with Iran. This will only result in a dead end. Iran is backing Shiite militias to gain influence in Iraq. An in-depth TIME investigation based on documents smuggled out of Iran, meetings with U.S., British and Iraqi officials, as well as an Iranian agent, armed dissidents and Iraqi militia and political allies reveals that Iran had plans to influence Iraq before the U.S. invaded. Iran is militarily and economically supporting Abu Mustafa al-Sheibani and his network of insurgents as they commit violence against U.S. and coalition forces. Iran is also funding Hizballah and facilitating the import of sophisticated weapons that are killing and wounding U.S. and British troops
We can debate if Iraq was the good strategy in the overall war. In retrospect, I feel we should have waited to invaded Iraq and put more pressure on Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Also, I believe we should have put more pressure on Pakistan about quelling support for Al Qaeda in its country's tribal areas. However, there is no denying that Iraq is the central front on this War on Terror. Groups like Al Qaeda and countries like Iran are treating this like a Third World War. In the 1990's we tried to appease the terror groups in that region. We thought that if we tried to negotiate with Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and other countries that preach hatred towards the US that we could avoid a war. September 11, 2001 and the rhetoric that some leaders in that Middle East spew about the US should wake us up to the fact that appeasement will never be an option.
This was my descriptive essay in my Writing Class. If you have read any of my other blogs, you will probably notice some pieces of them in here.
The Iraqi Study Group has recently come out with a report recommending the withdrawal of combat troops in Iraq and increased diplomacy with Iraq's neighbors Iran and Syria. They share the view of the Americans that are getting tired of this war. They feel that the current escalation of sectarian violence between Iraqi ethnic groups is more of a problem for the Iraqi Government than for the United States. They believe that we need to focus our mission there on training the Iraqi military and police to secure their own country. They also want a timetable to withdraw all US forces in Iraq. Some even want a complete withdrawal of US troops by the end of 2007. Even though I agree that we need to provide the Iraqi Security Forces with the proper training to stop the violence, I also agree that we need to provide more troops in the country to quell the violence, not withdraw troops.
The US currently does not have enough troops in Iraq to quell the violence and train Iraqi Security Forces. We need to increase troop strength, however it will be a hard case to push to the American people. With the media biased against any good news, people have no idea that out of the 18 provinces in Iraq, 75% of casualties come from 4 of them: Al Anbar, Baghdad, Salah ad Din and Ninawa. These provinces are in the Sunni Triangle and the stronghold of US resistance by both former Baath Party, Al Qaeda loyalists and Iranian backed Shiite militias. We need to deploy more troops in each of the above four provinces quell the insurgency and focus on training the Iraqi military in those areas. We do need to allow the Iraqi Security Forces to be the on the front lines to quell the sectarian violence. The US military mission should be to secure the borders of Iraq to stop Al Qaeda and Iranian influence from escalating the violence.
Al Qaeda main goal in Iraq is to continue the civil war by promoting the Sunni minority to attack Shiite majority. According to a Newsweek article titled " Bin Laden's Iraq Plans," the terrorist leader has been diverting a large number of fighters from the anti-U.S. insurgency in Afghanistan to Iraq since 2003. Al Qaeda is trying to drive us out and put us on the defensive. They know from our recent past conflicts and deployment of troops ( Vietnam, Beirut, Somalia, and not invading Iraqi during the first Gulf War) that American's Achilles heel is its how its population reacts to casualties. Once they hit the magical number of US casualties, Americans will pull out of the war.
The Iraqi Study Group supports diplomatic negotiations with Iran. This will only result in a dead end. Iran is backing Shiite militias to gain influence in Iraq. An in-depth TIME investigation based on documents smuggled out of Iran, meetings with U.S., British and Iraqi officials, as well as an Iranian agent, armed dissidents and Iraqi militia and political allies reveals that Iran had plans to influence Iraq before the U.S. invaded. Iran is militarily and economically supporting Abu Mustafa al-Sheibani and his network of insurgents as they commit violence against U.S. and coalition forces. Iran is also funding Hizballah and facilitating the import of sophisticated weapons that are killing and wounding U.S. and British troops
We can debate if Iraq was the good strategy in the overall war. In retrospect, I feel we should have waited to invaded Iraq and put more pressure on Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Also, I believe we should have put more pressure on Pakistan about quelling support for Al Qaeda in its country's tribal areas. However, there is no denying that Iraq is the central front on this War on Terror. Groups like Al Qaeda and countries like Iran are treating this like a Third World War. In the 1990's we tried to appease the terror groups in that region. We thought that if we tried to negotiate with Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and other countries that preach hatred towards the US that we could avoid a war. September 11, 2001 and the rhetoric that some leaders in that Middle East spew about the US should wake us up to the fact that appeasement will never be an option.
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