Political discourse

Give Veterans More Than Lip Service

by Bill Brenner November 11, 2011 Coping tools

People on Facebook and Twitter are honoring U.S. veterans with words of gratitude and awe. All well and good, but not nearly enough for the countless vets who suffer in silence. Mood music: [spotify:track:0dOg1ySSI7NkpAe89Zo0b9] In so many ways, we continue to treat our veterans like shit. We let so many of them live on the streets, without proper shelter or medication for the mental illnesses they caught from watching comrades get ripped apart by shrapnel…  [Read More]

Christian Intolerance Or Universal Snobbery?

by Bill Brenner November 7, 2011 Communication Skills

Though I’m a devout Catholic, I sometimes shake my head in disgust over how some of my Christian brothers and sisters behave. I’ve mentioned before how some in my church community are quick to judge other people and how others seem to think you have to be a member of a specific political party to be entitled to Christ’s love. Democrats are often labeled as abortionists. A friend shared this cartoon this morning and I…  [Read More]

Learn From My Mistakes

by Bill Brenner November 4, 2011 Addiction

In all my efforts to get sane a few years ago, I did a lot of stupid things. I’m sharing it with you here so you don’t make the same mistakes: Mood music: http://youtu.be/l4Xx_vjGnlo –Don’t try to control your compulsive binge eating problem by fasting. You won’t make it through the morning, and then you’ll binge like you’ve never binged before. –Don’t mix alcohol with pills that have the strength of four Advil tablets in…  [Read More]

Can’t We All Just Get Along?

by Bill Brenner October 19, 2011 Communication Skills

Man, is this fighting between the Occupiers and Tea Party people getting nasty. Yesterday, my wife posted something about the occupy movement and poked some nerves. Mood music: There was this comment from our cousin Ed: “I’m sorry Erin, it’s hard for me to compare the Tea Party movement — a political party with an agenda — to a bunch of bored kids trying to find themselves and making US pay for it! I applaud…  [Read More]

Judith Miller: The Liar’s Journalist

by Bill Brenner October 15, 2011 Adventures in writing

Judith Miller is one of many reasons I left mainstream journalism years ago. I forgot about her until Fox News decided to run this piece of filth about the BlackBerry outage and cyber terrorism. If you want to see a true specimen of fear-based journalism, read that article. In it, she takes the recent BlackBerry outage, which was the result of tech failure and not terrorism, and connects it to cyber terrorism anyway, despite the…  [Read More]

Axl Rose: Still A Jackass

by Bill Brenner October 10, 2011 Communication Skills

Guns n Roses singer Axl Rose is still a jackass after all these years. Consider the following: Mood music: From the metal news site Blabbermouth.net: GUNS N’ ROSES‘ continual tardiness is making things rough for concert promoters and fans alike, with long waits for Axl Rose just as much a definite at a the band’s concert as hearing “Paradise City” or “Welcome To The Jungle”. At the Rock In Rio concert on October 2, GUNS N’ ROSES came onstage two hours late despite having…  [Read More]

God Hates Gays? Dummy

by Bill Brenner October 7, 2011 Communication Skills

This is a semi-sequel to the last post. This is a picture that says so much, and it appeals to my Revere sensibilities: To all the idiots who keep telling us that God hates certain people, including gays, I refer you to the following posts… Gay Haters Or Just Idiots?   Racists AND Idiots   Depression and Being Gay   One More Thing About Being Depressed and Gay… Now put your stupid signs away and go home.

Faith: An Excuse To Duck Personal Responsibility?

by Bill Brenner October 5, 2011 Communication Skills

A friend and reader is unconvinced when it comes to my posts about surrendering to a higher power as part of recovery from addiction. Here’s what she said: “Bill while I agree with a lot of what you say in this article. I fail to see the “surrender to a higher power model.” In fact, that is one of the many flaws I find in AA styled groups. I have no addictions (well maybe caffeine),…  [Read More]

Mentally Ill Behind Bars

by Bill Brenner October 4, 2011 Communication Skills

Came across a disturbing report by Steve Visser in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that clearly illustrates how far we have to go in getting the mentally ill the help they need. Mood music: The headline: Mentally ill inmates languish in local jails From the article: Detention Officer Terroyanne Harris considers the inmates she oversees on 3 North as much patient as prisoner. They suffer from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress and other mental illnesses. Some walk aimlessly around…  [Read More]

Racists AND Idiots

by Bill Brenner September 26, 2011 Political discourse

I’ve received some interesting feedback to Friday’s post about the gay soldier who was booed during the most recent Republican debate. Instead of repeating all the background, I refer you to the post “Gay Haters Or Just Idiots?” I suggested that there was more stupidity than racism going on, but I’m thinking these comments from a couple friends are painfully true as well: Mood music: Joe Yuska: “What made this so egregious was that after…  [Read More]

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