CALLING ALL VETERANS AND ACTIVE DUTY PERSONNEL

Army veteran banned from Old Navy store over

teen employee in Marine uniform

Joe Newby Social Issues Examiner inJune 22, 2012

Army veteran Aaron Bennett says he was banned from an Old Navy store in Jacksonville, Florida, after he pointed out a teen employee improperly wearing a Marine Corps uniform dress jacket complete with rank insignia, ribbons and a weapons badge, News4Jax.com reported Wednesday.

Bennett, who comes from a military family, knows that United States Code makes it illegal "to falsely represent oneself as having received any U.S. military decoration or medal." The law making that illegal is known as the Stolen Valor Act.

According to Bennett, when he informed the store manager, he was approached by a deputy and mall security, who said he was banned from the store.

Bennett said he was trying to honor the uniform, especially considering that Jacksonville is a Navy town.

"It's disgraceful, men have worked hard trying to earn that uniform and have died wearing that uniform," he said.

The story has also made it to the Stolen Valor website and Facebook page as well as Old Navy's Facebook page, where a number of people have expressed disgust with the company.

"My 'Marine Family' will no longer shop at your stores. Our veterans deserve better than the way Aaron Bennett was treated," wrote Susan Howell Parsons.

"Shame, shame Old Navy. I'm so sad your company would ban a veteran who was only pointing out YOUR mistake! Your staff needs to be educated!" exclaimed Judy Yoder.

According to New4Jax.com, Old Navy's corporate parent, Gap, Inc., released an apology:

"Old Navy has the utmost respect for the military and we're proud of our longstanding tradition of supporting American troops, including our own employees and their family members who serve. We believe there was a misunderstanding between a customer and a store employee and are looking into the matter. We're truly sorry for any misunderstanding or offense caused by this incident."

Bennett, however, says he doesn't accept the apology.

"It wasn't about the jacket. I was willing to let it go. I was done with it," he said. "The fact that they wanted to ban me from the store because I pointed out a total discrepancy, this being a Navy town, it dishonors a lot of people."

Visitors to Old Navy's Facebook page also rejected the apology.

"This so called 'apology' is nowhere near enough to make up for a former service member to be kicked out and banned for stating a Federal Law to a store manager so they could take the matter up with the employee," wrote Kevin Goff, who said that his wife would no longer shop at Old Navy.

"As an Army Combat Vet also if I had seen this employee and his so called 'fashionable coat' you would have had a completely different and much more public display," he added.

"Banning a VET for calling attention to inappropriate attire is unacceptable. I won't be shopping with them anymore. Nor Gap, Banana Republic, & Piperlime. You know they're owned by the SAME Corporation," added Tacinta Connor.

Old Navy customer service representatives were busy responding to the messages, claiming to have "the utmost respect for the military."

"We believe there was a misunderstanding between a customer and a store employee and are looking into the matter. We’re truly sorry for any misunderstanding or offense caused by this incident," Old Navy said.

Source:

http://www.examiner.com/article/army-veteran-banned-from-old-navy-store-over-teen-employee-marine-uniform

I guess it’s time to boycott this store. I know the Holidays are coming soon, but I feel that the above story is totally unacceptable from anyone, or anything. At least, can I get all the Veterans and Active Duty Personnel out there to boycott these jack-holes?

The Town of Huntington, New York (11743), November, 2013

 Election Day is coming fast! Let’s look at some numbers!

#1   Town Supervisor                            

       $162.9k **                                                           

       4 / $521.2k
#2   Town Attorney
       $149.8k **
       13 / $1,135.0k

#3   Highway Superintendent
       $146.9k**
       8 / $603.2k
#4   Planning Dir.
       $131.8k **
       21 / 1,455.3k
#5   Town Clerk
       $130.2k**
       8 / $496.6k
#6   Town Engineer
       $128.4k **                                                                  
       7 / $581.6k
#7   Parks Dept.
       $128.3k **
       9 / $639.4k  
#8   Public Safety

       $123.7k **
       27 / $2,029.7k

#9   Waste Mgmt.
       $121.1k **
       4 / $389.7k 

# "f-ing" 10     !Parking.! Meter! !Attendent!
                         !$93.7k! **
                         1 / $93.7k 
#11  Harbor Master
        $90.3k **
        6 / $410.3 
#12  Security Guard
        $90.2k **
        1 / $90.2k
#13  Ice Rink  Mgr.
        $77.4k **
        4 / $232.6k 
#14  Town Council Member
        $76.9k **
        9 / $464.6k  
#15  Hart Bus Driver
        $67.2k **
        17 / $1,142.4k
                                                          

  

Note: **All salary figure reflect full-time employment. They exclude       

 Health Care, Earned PTO, Retirement Funds, & Special Perks(if applicable). The total Department Budget figures are for the 

               titled office only; they are not for remote offices/locations, or 

               the general labor force.

                                              

The positions, salaries, and office budgets, above, are just a sampling of where your Town tax dollars go. When an employee of the Town’s Public Safety Department, "THE PARKING METER ATTENDENT", can earn over $100,000.00 per year with salary, benefits, and overtime, isn’t it time to take a closer look at who’s spending our hard earned cash?

                      WHAT WE HAVE

Most of these folks need to go home and let someone else take over.

                                                   

                                                WHAT WE NEED!                              

                                  
                                                           






        THE MADNESS*!

* Want to make $51,218.50 per year, plus benefits? The Town Planning Office needs a “Planning Aide”.

 More base numbers:

Table 1

Total number of Town employees	full time	700
Total number of Town employees	part time	216
Total Town operating expenses		$181, 264, 125.00
Total Town population		203,264 (2010 census)

Get out your calculators and do some good old multiplying and dividing.

Table 2

Total number of Town employees	916	$181, 264, 125.00 spent	$197,886.60 employee to expenditures ratio
Total Town population	203,264	$181, 264, 125.00 spent	$891.77 per person - annually

                                        What are we getting for our money?

·        We get roads that don’t get plowed correctly, or at all, during the winter.

·        We get a slew of “listed” tree trimmers and their supervisors who can’t seem to keep our streets clear after a storm.

·        We get a sewage plant that overflows when there’s a cloud in the sky.

·        We get a domino effect with the pot-holes in our streets, especially when gas, water, sewer, and drainage is worked on.

·        We get the top of Route 110 in Halesite still flooding even after the millions of dollars we’ve spent to fix the problem.

·        We get parking garages at the train station that have elevators that don’t work, have urine in all the corners, and structural damages that no one seems to able to address.

·        We get elected Town Officials who, along with their Town salaries, have second incomes that put them in the $250,000.00 range every year.

·        We get elected Town Officials who don’t know when it’s their time to go (probably due to the Town salaries they make).

·        We get Republicans who switch Parties simply to get elected for another term.

·        We get Democrats who switch Parties simply to get another term.

    

&   We get elected Officials and challengers who can’t resist using fear and smear  tactics to get elected, or re-elected, every November.  

&   We get at least two  Political Parties who feel no remorse in bastardizing the democratic process  inside their own committees.

JUST SAY…………..NO!

                             What needs to happen to change all this for the better?

·        We need strong voices from a third Party organization, or people with no Party affiliation.

·        We need to challenge how our Town governance works, and force the processes out of the dark recesses of “business as usual”.

·        We need someone who is ready, willing, and able to restructure our Town tax codes.

·        We need a Town Hall administration that refuses to keep borrowing money, and running up deficits.

·        We need term limits at all levels.

·        We need to stop padding the Town payroll with family members.

·        We need to have our elected Officials pay sole attention to Town business and not undertake outside interests for padding their incomes.

·        We need to bring the Town payroll under control and have salaries more reflective of the private sector.

·        We need folks who know how to negotiate contracts with the residents of Huntington in mind.

·        We need to put the hammer down on our Town’s criminal element. Suffolk County Police have most of them on speed dial.

·        We need positive, aggressive trimming of the “fat” in Town Hall.

There are some third Parties out there that are just lying in wait to be summoned forward. I have been going over some of their platforms and two of these organizations jumped off the page at me. The “Modern Whig Party” states to be pragmatic, centrist, common sense, and rational rather than ideological. They seem, on the surface, to embody the good points of the “Libertarian Party”, one of which involves giving the States more autonomy. Their stand on immigration, our borders defenses, our Armed Forces, and our Veterans makes takes a very logical, rational approach. The “Veterans Party of America” is very similar in its approach to government. It does give a lot more weight to the Military and to Military Veterans (I kind of like that). There are plenty of other political Parties to consider; Libertarian, Independent, Social Democrat, Green Party, Coffee Party, etc. The first two that I mentioned caught me interest because of their “don’t talk about it – get off your butt and do something about it” attitude. What a refreshing experience it would be to have a government that actually planned what they were going to do, and, then, did it.

                       Modern Whig Party

                                               Service and Solutions

I pick on the Town Of Huntington for a number of reasons. First, it’s my home town. Second, I’ve had it with Washington, so I’m turning my attention to local politics rather than National. Thirdly, I have seen the inner workings of Party politicking in this town, and I am disgusted at the total disregard some folks at the top have for even the most basic of democratic processes. I am also sick and tired of the arrogance that our elected Officials exude. Under our democratic form of governance, they are paid by us and work for us; not the other way around. Election Day is fast upon us, so I will try my best in the allotted time to voice my displeasure with the status quo.

Gun Control & the 2nd Amendment

                                   Commentary from We The Peeps 1 follows this oral diarrhea.

AS THE OLD SAYING GOES, "BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH (VOTE) FOR, AS YOU MAY GET IT." 

THE U.N. IS AND HAS BEEN ESSENTIALLY USELESS FOR YEARS.

                            You can kiss the U.S. Constitution goodbye if this goes through.
                                  
Civil War is Coming (THERE ARE MORE GUN OWNERS THAN SOLDIERS)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States reversed policy on Wednesday and said it would back launching talks on a treaty to regulate arms sales as long as the talks operated by consensus, a stance critics said gave every nation a veto.

The decision, announced in a statement released by the U.S.
State Department, overturns the position of former President George W. Bush's administration, which had opposed such a treaty on the grounds that national controls were better. On Wednesday, Obama Took the First Major Step in a Plan to Ban All Firearms in the United States. The Obama administration intends to force gun control and a complete ban on all weapons for US citizens through the signing of international  treaties with foreign nations. By signing international treaties on gun control, the Obama administration can use the US State Department to bypass the normal legislative process in Congress.

Once the US Government signs these international treaties, all US citizens will be subject to those gun laws created by foreign governments. These are laws that have been developed and promoted by organizations such as the United Nations and individuals such as George Soros and Michael Bloomberg. The laws are designed and intended to lead to the complete ban and confiscation of all firearms. It will never happen! The Obama administration is attempting to use tactics and methods of gun control that will inflict major damage to our 2nd Amendment before US citizens even understand what has happened.

Obama can appear before the public and tell them that he does not intend to pursue any legislation (in the United States) that will lead to new gun control laws, while cloaked in secrecy, his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton is committing the US to international treaties and foreign gun control laws. Does that mean Obama is telling the truth? What it means is that there will be no publicized gun control debates in the media or votes in Congress. We will wake up one morning and find that the United States has signed a treaty that prohibits firearm and ammunition manufacturers from selling to the public. We will wake up another morning and find that the US has signed a treaty that prohibits any transfer of firearm ownership. And then, we will wake up yet another morning and find that the US has signed a treaty that requires US citizens to deliver any firearm they own to the local government collection and destruction center or face imprisonment. This is not a joke nor a false warning.

As sure as government health care will be forced on us by the Obama administration through whatever means necessary, so will gun control. Please forward this message to others who may be concerned about the direction in which our country is headed; Straight into socialism if Obama has his way. We are being led like a lamb to the slaughter (Socialism/Dictatorship).
{The preceding was received in an e-mail.}

 
From the desk of We The Peeps 1:  

I, for one, will never “kiss the Constitution goodbye”. Maybe that comes from actually fighting for it. If you want to effect change on that level, join the process and earn it the old fashion way; work for it. Any one of us can write this drivel and beseech the recipients to forward it to everyone they know. If that is all the “game” you bring to the table, please, fold your tent and go home. President Obama is not going to take your big, bad guns away. He is sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States, and he is doing just that. The President is trying to make this Country a safer, more peaceful place to live. The oral diarrhea above does need forwarding with a caveat that the sender may not have all their oars in the water. And, may I suggest that these “authors” go back to school, and learn the English language, grammar, punctuation, and all.