Well, he doesn't. Look at the comic strip that was seen today in so many newspapers;
How dare that lazy lasagna eating cat not support our troops! Just kidding, I should thank Veterans day for bringing out a good Garfield strip. That's probably the first funny Garfield comic strip I ever read.
Sure enough there has been many complaints already. Like this one from an angry Vet's mother.
I am convinced that this is an intentional act of emotionally slaughtering our Heroes, our fallen soldiers and the few Americans we have left that trust in the Red White and Blue. This comic strip should not have been posted even in it's random intention.
Though I can't blame her. I mean, it does seem Jim Davis is only capable of doing something good by accident. Or just about anything by accident. I mean, do you want to talk about inappropriate Garfield comic strip placements. This was the Garfield strip for Martin Luther King Day in 1989
Which was actually the very first MLK day in most places. So just take that for the numbers. And to further show that Jim Davis is all about stumbling onto lucky coincidences, the President this cat was named after also didn't like Mondays... but did like the troops.
Garfield's one and only executive order was to give executive government workers the day off on May 30, 1881, in order to decorate the graves of those who died in the Civil War.
Executive Order May 28, 1881
Dear Sir: I am directed by the President to inform you that the several Departments of the Government will be closed on Monday, the 30th instant, to enable the employees to participate in the decoration of the graves of the soldiers who fell during the rebellion.
Very respectfully, J. Stanley Brown, Private Secretary.
Addressed to the heads of the Executive Departments, etc.
Though, given the fact that he was also assassinated on one, it really was is less liked day of the week. Just makes you think... doesn't it?
Oh wait, you actually need a reference for that one. Otherwise you'd just think it's fucking weird.
Okay, let's just go over this whole situation again. A strip that could be taken as a political message about our position in this war. Though, in this even, Jim Davis did want to make sure folks realized this was just some horrible accident in when it was placed into the paper and meant no harm and apologized.
Dear Friends, Fans, and Veterans:
In what has to be the worst timing ever, the strip that runs in today's paper seems to be making a statement about Veteran's Day. It absolutely, positively has nothing to do with this important day of remembrance.
Regarding today's Garfield comic strip, it was written almost a year ago and I had no idea when writing it that it would appear today — of all days. I do not use a calendar that lists holidays and other notable days, so when this strip was put in the queue, I had no idea it would run on Veteran's Day. What are the odds? You can bet I'll have a calendar that lists EVERYTHING by my side in the future.
My brother Dave served in Vietnam. My son James is a Marine who has had two tours of duty, both in Iraq and Afghanistan. You'd have to go a long way to find someone who was more proud and grateful for what our Veterans have done for all of us.
Please accept my sincere apologies for any offense today's Garfield may have created. It was unintentional and regrettable.
Jim Davis
But still, you have to admit that Garfield is pretty fucking annoying. That Christmas special is the most atrocious Christmas specials around. I wouldn't be surprised if Jim Davis' son ends up killing him as it plays in the background.
But sure enough, people still read it. There's something like 6500 daily newspapers in the world and Garfield is still in about 2600 of them. And I mean, who can blame them for sticking to such cutting edge comedy like dealing with a Cat Brush
I also have to wonder how hard it is to keep making a comic strip about a mouthy cat. I heard that Jim Davis and the Guy who does Heathcliff actually get together for an annual lunch to discuss doing cat cartoons.
INDIANAPOLIS—Jim Davis, creator of Garfield, the popular comic strip featuring a thoughtful but feckless cat, met with the guy who does Heathcliff Thursday for their annual luncheon to discuss the cat-cartooning process. "It was really good to see the guy who does Heathcliff. He looks the same as he did last year," Davis said. "He's one of the only people I can really talk to about doing cat cartoons." The guy who does Heathcliff was not asked to comment.
Yes, it's CatComicCon. I'm already booking my room for next year.
Hey, how about a joke? Why don't Iraqi women sleep with our troops? Because they always say they're going to pull out but never do. Boooyah!
No wait, it's because we rape them first. Either way, today I got no mail and the library was closed. What a way to celebrate and honor our troops by making sure that we aren't allowed to look up history via books with the closing of libraries.
Perhaps instead of closing down the library, we should close down armed service out post. Or perhaps not bomb that Yemen school building in honor for those who died in the past. Or not. I guess we just need to remember.. that fat has a sick sense of humor.
And suicide is painless. Oops. Better not mention that here considering the suicide rates of veterans. Oh wait.. no, I won't get on that subject cause.. that's just wrong wrong wrong.
Though, perhaps I should restate that whole enjoyment of this comic strip. No, no. You see, I am capable of separating my revulsion to imperialism and wars of conquest and suppression with those feelings of somber reflection for those largely thrust into their roles in history and of course lies of massive amounts of foreign tale by recruiters.
This comic strip is a whole lot better than when he killed Garfield. Perhaps since it is Veterans day... for at least another couple of hours, I should leave you with this strange Garfield video that relates to those rednecks who just love to talk about supporting our troops
Support Your Troops Cause They Can't Support Themselves
You know all those Ads on TV telling you how you'll learn great life lessons and a shit ton of job experience that will help you in life by joining the armed forces? Well.. yeah. That was all bullshit. I do hope you realized that.
After Brooks Douan finished serving in Iraq for the Marine Reserves, he returned home in October 2008 to battle something many civilians had already been fighting: unemployment.
To survive, the 24-year-old took temporary jobs in his home state of South Carolina. He donned a pumpkin costume during Halloween for extra cash. He took a temporary gig as a photographer, but he was let go shortly. The economy was to blame, the studio owners told him.
When Douan eagerly signed up for the military in high school, recruiters told him veterans were coveted hires in the civilian workplace, targeted by employers for their hard work ethic and discipline. Now, in the toughest economic times since the Great Depression, Douan is finding veterans are not immune to the woes of the economy.
"I thought it would be easier for me to find work because people would be like, 'Oh you're a veteran, you served your country,' " he said. "But now, I don't think it makes one bit of a difference."
For months, the unemployment levels for veterans has been prompting concern among government officials and the nonprofit world trying to help veterans readjust to civilian life. Some politicians have been pushing for legislation that would help returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan find jobs. Others have been addressing startling rates of homelessness among veterans -- a number that could surge, some advocacy groups say, if the unemployment issue is ignored.
Unemployment for veterans from 18 to 24 hit 21.6 percent in 2009, slightly higher than the unemployment rate of 19.1 percent for their civilian counterparts, according the most recent March report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Of all the veterans from past wars, soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan have experienced higher rates of joblessness, the BLS reports on its web site.
Reserve and Guard members left jobless
Daniel Hutchison, 28, loves building homes.
"I always enjoyed working with my hands," he explained.
During the housing boom before the recession came, he worked 60 hours a week. Sometimes, he had to turn down jobs because he was so busy. The money was good, he says.
But when Hutchison returned from Iraq in December 2008 after working as a emergency medical technician in the Army National Guard, he applied for dozens of jobs without any luck. He's not alone. About 10 percent of veterans from 25 to 34 are unemployed, the BLS reported.
Theodore Daywalt, president of VetJobs.com, a national nonprofit that aids veterans in the job search, says unemployment rates among young veterans have increased because members of the National Guard and Army Reserve are serving longer stints abroad. They are also being called overseas more often. Soldiers are finding their jobs no longer exist when they return home, Daywalt said.
VetJobs.com polled 700 members of the Tennessee National Guard brigade in Afghanistan and discovered 320 of them don't have jobs waiting for them when they return.
"We have made our members of National Guard third-class citizens," Daywalt said. "We want them to fight for the country, and yet we make it impossible for them to get good jobs."
Bob Madden, assistant director for the National Economic Commission at the American Legion, said his organization will put on almost 250 career fairs across the country this year to help returning former find jobs.
"It's bad," Madden said. "It definitely needs to be addressed. We need to figure out how to solve these problems."
Some military experts say they believe some companies are reluctant to hire people in the National Guard or Army Reserve because they may leave for duty again. Companies cannot afford those kinds of abrupt changes in an economic downturn, experts say. The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act was passed in 1994 to ensure that soldiers would have their jobs when they returned, but some employers have found loopholes around the law, these experts say.
The number of complaints filed under the law have risen from 1,226 complaints in 2007 to 1,389 complaints in 2008, according to the most recent USERRA report released in 2009.
PTSD, wrong skills hinder job hunt
After 15 months in Iraq, Shane Hornbeck, 24, of Portland, Oregon was shot by a sniper. He is decorated with a Purple Heart. But none of that matters in the job search, he says.
Like many soldiers trying to secure a job, he is having trouble translating some of his military skills into the civilian workplace.
He's been unemployed since 2008. He suffers from post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.
"A lot of people think TBI (traumatic brain injury) and as soon as they hear that, they think I'm broken," Hornbeck said.
The gloomy economic climate has been difficult for soldiers, say sociologists who have studied how soldiers transition into the civilian workplace. One disadvantage soldiers have in the job search is the stigma surrounding highly publicized conditions such as PTSD, says Morten G. Ender, a professor of sociology at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
Sociology professor Meredith Kleykamp at the University of Maryland, College Park, says veterans traditionally have been preferred over civilians in job hiring. In her study, she created fictitious resumes with comparable skills for veterans and nonveterans and applied to entry-level positions advertised online. More employers responded back to a veteran than a nonveteran, she said.
However, Kleykamp said some veterans' skills, such as working on a tank, might be not be directly applicable to a civilian job. Veterans who had experience with clerical work or engineering had an easier time finding a civilian job.
"Part of the challenge veterans face is that everything isn't equal," she said. "The kinds of experience they may have attained may not be the kind of experiences that translate into the work world."
Kevin Grafeld, a 25-year-old who served in the Marines, felt defeated after unsuccessfully looking for a job for more than two years. Now he is receiving assistance from Wounded Warriors Projects, a nonprofit that is putting him back in school for his associate's degree. Grafeld is hopeful the degree will help him find employment.
He says he's barely getting by after exhausting his savings last August. His career future may be uncertain and his financial prospects are shaky, but Grafeld says he wouldn't take back the time he served in Iraq.
"It's been my life's dream to serve my country," Grafeld said.
So getting shot in the head by a sniper and having a trinket to show for it doesn't carry much weight in the civilian market? Not to mention that it may very well hurt the chances of a job candidate? Color me surprised but I'm pretty sure that's not what was advertised in the commercials looking for people to enlist.
I'm not really surprised when infantrymen don't get a job after finishing a tour. If you find it as something of news that military overtly lies to poor and mostly uneducated people to get them to join with promises that make no sense, then perhaps I have a bridge to sell you.
The army said it would give me strength for today, strength for life. Though, I guess they never made any promises as to a job for life. Or a promise that I would actually make it back from the war in one piece. It's not like I've been a massive supporter of the "The troops". I usually make fun of them because they are the folks who fell in for those lies like trying to kill giant lava monsters that the ads had.
Pay heed, when the military tells you all your job skills you learn in the service have real world value and will help you get a civilian job, they're making shit up so you sign the dotted line. Have you ever noticed that in those ads where they show how the same jobs can be parlayed into civilian life they only show examples from technical and medical jobs that your average target audience for this ad will never qualify for.
When you think about it, Military recruiters are hardly different than Scientologists. They tell candidates that they have potential but need special training. After completing an easy test the candidate is told that he scored exceptionally high. If only he would sign up he'll get to fly to Comanche. At least he won't have to be deployed in a Crusader.
Where I would normally be laughing at a news piece like this, I'm sort of bummed right now. It is the poor uneducated people that are suckered into joining the armed forces. So those very same people get no jobs afterward. It's not comedy. It's just a sad grim reality in this economy.
It really does confirm the idea that military enlistment is an exploitative war on the poor. Though, let's face it, with today's modern combat of predator drones, troops are pretty useless in war as well. A military record seems to add up to being nothing more than a criminal record.
Veterans have to face the prospect of unemployment like the rest of us. Though, I do have to wonder, if you aren't abusing the fuck out of the G.I. Bill and unemployment right now, you're a fucking scrub moron of a Vet. You should be using that shit as it's the only way you're ever going to dig yourself out of the hole of spending so much time over seas in an unjust war.
Fun Fact - The Republicans main argument against modernizing/expanding the G.I. Bill was that it would give the servicemen too good of a shot at success in the civilian world. Which would cause them to leave the military... Pretty fucked up, right?
Then again, there's always Blackwater. Literally the only job you can get outside of Blackwater if you were an infantryman would be a janitor because of all the shit you need to clean while you are a lower enlisted member of the army.
Doesn't that sound nice. Join Xe. Get paid big bucks to crusade for the Cristian cause, onward soldier. Remember that the difference between middle class and low class is whether you are two or one paychecks away from losing your home.
One guy I know that I went to school with went into intelligence thinking it would get him a nice job after, but it just gave him depression so now he's unemployed and psychologically damaged, but check out that sweet sweet security clearance, yo.
There's one thing military experience is good for and that's kitchen work. It usually means strong time management skills and a sense of urgency which is important for working in any busy restaurant.
It was a bit depressing watching Generation Kill and then seeing the interviews with the actual soldiers and half of them are PMCs and the other half are cops because those are the only jobs they can get. Considering how much the tax payers paid for their training for these killers to hone their skills, it sure does seem like a big waste.
Why hey, even our troops are supporting the troops or the government that sends them in..
It's sort of like going to prison. When you get out of prison, it's still not your place. You're so far removed from that life that you have trouble adapting. So most of them just end up going back to prison because they're at least someone there. When all you know of life is how to squeeze off a few rounds into that Hajji's head, how could you really go back to the modern world and see things like you did before? They at least know how to survive there. Till they stop even doing that due to some IED.
Did we just gloss over Vietnam? I guess the major difference is that people don't spit on them when they come home like they did during Vietnam.
Nam vets were and are completely unemployable. It's no wonder people were running from the draft. Of course people aren't going to hire veterans. After shit like that they are crazy for the rest of their lives. Who is a more attractive hire in a white collar entry level position?;
22 year old recent graduate from state school with liberal arts degree, worked in retail or something while in school.
22 year old recently discharged specialist, did 4 years of infantry or something, maybe got an "Associates" while on active duty from University of Phoenix or some other military-friendly pseudo school.
You tell me. Which one are you going to hire? It's pretty clear that the first one would be the choice of many. If the discharged dude was any degree of smart, he'd use the G.I. Bill to get some more schooling in as the new one is fairly decent.
Now that I think about it, I can't think of an example of welfare jockeys more successful than Troops who joined up and put in a full 20 years between 1975 and 2003. Tax-free salary, free housing, free health care for yourself and your family. Free food and booze and cigarettes and transit when deployed in Arizona or North Carolina. World travel and getting trashed and puking on defeated German or Japanese people. Retirement and full pensions with health care and housing by 38, and the only downside is 20 years of loyal service without taking some stupid facebook pictures of you taking shots off some dude's ass crack?
I guess the major downside to that is between those years, by the time you were 38 in a civilian profession you could easily be making $65-120,000 a year instead of $27,000. Though, let's not split hairs, $27,000 is a pretty good salary considering that you get free health care, dental and vision, free housing and a $250/mo food stipend, also what particular difference does it make if you make three times as much if you have to retire 20 years later at best.
Call it a guess, but I doubt that most dudes who join the military are the same kind of razor-sharp go-getters how are going to be pulling down six figures by their 30's. No offense, and really, if you're offended by that, please never read what else I say about soldiers.
So there you go. Now you know that you should really support your troops in other methods that are really needed. Like, say, giving them an application to Walmart the next time you're buying bulk socks.
This is going to be graphic. I'm warning you right now because I don't want to surprise you, but really, it should come to no surprise that war is not pretty. It's not like what you see in the movies. At least not all movies. There's some gritty ones every so often. For the most part Americans really white wash the images they see of war and fool themselves into thinking that War is nothing serious.
The U.S. patrol had a tip that Taliban fighters were lying in ambush, and a Marine had his weapon trained on the trees 70 yards away. "If you see anything move from there, light it up," Cpl. Braxton Russell told him.
Thirty seconds later, a salvo of gunfire and RPGs – rocket-propelled grenades – poured out of the grove. "Casualty! We've got a casualty!" someone shouted. A grenade had hit Lance Cpl. Joshua "Bernie" Bernard in the legs.
A Marine and son of a Marine, a devout Christian, Iraq war veteran and avid hiker, home-schooled in rural Maine, Bernard was about to become the next fatality in the deadliest month of the deadliest year since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
The website used a photo taken by the AP that was deemed to some to be lacking taste or tact. But it's getting a whole lot of shit right now.
theloon: @bouhammer - May God forgive photographer, AP, & all who have made $$$'s off of LCpl Joshua Bernard's death because I won't.
The Associated Press is distributing a photo of a Marine fatally wounded in battle, choosing after a period of reflection to make public an image that conveys the grimness of war and the sacrifice of young men and women fighting it.
Lance Cpl. Joshua M. Bernard, 21, of New Portland, Maine, was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade in a Taliban ambush Aug. 14 in Helmand province of southern Afghanistan.
The image shows fellow Marines helping Bernard after he suffered severe leg injuries. He was evacuated to a field hospital where he died on the operating table.
The picture was taken by Associated Press photographer Julie Jacobson, who accompanied Marines on the patrol and was in the midst of the ambush during which Bernard was wounded. She had photographed Bernard on patrol earlier, and subsequently covered the memorial service held by his fellow Marines after his death.
So in short, The AP has published the photo in spite of the family's request that they not...
Although that's a terrible picture that looks like it was pulled off a cell phone, this photo as well as other "tasteful" dead soldier photos should absolutely be published just to let people know that yes, this is in fact happening every goddamn day. It's amazing that for such a cruel and destructive society we're actually just a bunch of pussies.
You mean... sometimes ARE TROOPS die in war?!?! Oh, you're prepared to send your son off to die as long as no one actually sees it. I get it. Like the man said, if he didn't print this photo, people like his grandma will think war is what they see on TV.
This isn't me not supporting our troops. This is me showing you the gritty reality of war. Of what you suggest we must do to preserve our freedom in a war that has very little to do with our safety. So while the following image may be graphic, it's really no more graphic than things you've seen on television. Hell, Breaking Bad last season had a man's leg get blown clean off because of drug runners. This is very much tamer than that. I suppose the only difference is you know now that this guy didn't survive this.
But here it is. This is what War really is. Gritty, nasty and all around dangerous for anyone and everyone involved.
My sympathy goes out to the family of Joshua, but he died serving this country. While I do not believe in the cause of this aggression, I do believe that his life was needlessly sacrificed in a pointless battle. I don't believe that this image should be covered up. It's like censoring the Nadia tape. While I believe that got way too much hype, I do believe that this one should be a wake up call and a question as to why we're really there.
P.S. If you feel I'm offensive in my handling of this situation, please don't click on this blog on 9/11. Not unless you can handle my wacky sense of humor.
It's July and all through out it I'm making fun of the American culture. Why? Because I'm an unpatriotic piece of shit. I know. Either that or I just like mocking the hell out of the way people see ourselves, the nation and the situation we're in with foreign policy.
Anyone who has moronic family members (an redundant phrase) should be aware that they fill your inbox full of email forwards that they found amusing or have some sort of partially ignorant view on current affairs. Have it be only a slight understanding of the current war that is mainly limited to "SUPPORTING ARE TROOPS" to thinking they know how to end the budget situation that that no-birth-certificate-having-president-of-ours can't do.
So I'd like to share one forward that I came across to show how stupid these things are and that all of you who are sending them (all of America) should stop with them now. This is a great example of them.
Fwd: FW: The Real Meaning of Words
Love '
Sorrow
Innocence
Departure
Pain
Respect
Compassion
Friendship
Patience
Rescue
Best friends
Divine
"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...it's about learning how to dance in the rain."
And if I haven't shown that I'm an asshole, let me dissect this one picture.
For some reason I can't help but laugh at how absurd this picture is. I think it's either the colorful whats-it toward the back or the fact that she is grief-stricken enough to lay on a grave site and cry but still has the sense of mind to lay a jacket down so the grass doesn't stain her dress and have a bottle of water handy in case she gets a little parched. Speaking of the dress, it's hilariously terrible and isn't helping the matter. Also what the fuck is she doing? Who does that? What tv show does she think she's on?
Looking up this dead love of her life I found the following:
Jimmy Regan followed a calling to the military, becoming a U.S. Army Ranger and serving double tours of duty in both Afghanistan and Iraq, earning a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and several other medals....Regan's stint in the Army was to end in February 2008, and he and McHugh planned to marry the next month. They were to move to the Chicago area, where her family lives, and he was going to become a social studies teacher and coach lacrosse
I dunno. Doesn't seem like he had all that much time for her anyway. Move on, home girl. Move on.
Well, I don't have any BBQ to attend and I'm taking the day sort of in. Cause why not, I work my ass off all the other times and no one remembers the Javi or anything. But then again, I'm not homeless and hungry like most of those we're suppose to be remembering today. So I can't complain, right. Doesn't mean I can't do what I typically do and get on my soap box and rant and rave. Indeeeeeeeeeed
Did you know that in the Soviet Union, Veterans were actually paid yearly based on the medals that they were awarded during their time in the army. I know, the horrors of socialism! If I was a vet sitting in the VA right now wacked out of my mind due to the horrors of war, I think I would much rather like to get a check I could cash in for a beer to numb the pain.
Since this is the day to remember those who fought in a war, why don't we take a look at them..
Me, not to sound unAmerican, but I can't say I don't give a blank respect check to anyone just because they fought in a war. Has any soldier kept me safe since WWII? Since then we've been fucking around in countries we had no place or business being in.
I feel bad for people who were drafted but I don't get why any volunteer enlisted would think they deserve respect. Especially any females enlisting. Why would you want respect for a mistake.
Support are troops!!!!!!!!! Unit it becomes financially incovenient. You want to really honor the memory of the troops that defended your "freedom"? Go to the VA hall today and do some work.
I talked to an Army Ranger and he hates Memorial Day because "people can act like they care once or twice a year then talk about how worthless we all are any other time." So it's the same mentality that I share with Valentines day.
I wonder what kind of lives these guys would have had if they had done the honorable thing and gone to prison instead of answering the draft.
Yeah, I know the drill, if I'm typing this in English, I should thank a veteran. If you're not reading this in English, well then... How is that possible?
Then again, if you're reading this blog at all thank the brave colonial pilots of galactica or the brave men and women who chose not to join in the mutiny on board the starship Dahak, depending on your brand of scifi.
We really need to reexamine the people we choose to "defend" our country. Most of them are mentally incapable of taking care of themselves. Why do I think they can take care of the country? You see them getting married left and right before they're shipped off so that they can carry this idea that they have someone back home to come to.
In most cases those significant others are out living their life while their troop spouse gets fucked over in the head or killed. Of course they're going to distract themselves from the idea of the person they love dying somehow. In most cases it's in the arms of someone else.
How mentally stable do you think our troops our when they get the shocking news that their loving spouse/significant other is getting nailed by someone else? Sure doesn't sound like this whole defending our troops thing, right.
But hey, we gotta welcome them back when they do come back, right? So hey, instead of a moment of silence or a thought or a prayer, how about you give that Vet some change the next time you see him on the off ramp of the freeway instead of pointing them out to your child and telling them "See Timmy, that's what happens when you don't finish school."
Once was a writer, tho, you see words to your left, so I guess I'm still that to some degree.
You can find my scribbles and mind ranting on this and various other places as a means to keep the creative, satirical and costco talk muscles worked out.
Was once apart of the tv industry, but I'm sure the NDA's are still in effect so let's move on from that. Now I spend my time slinging beer and keeping a building in one piece.
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