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Bar Owner Fighting to Keep Sign Thanking Veterans

The owner of Johnny's Saloon in Huntington Beach, California, has been asked by the city to remove a sign on top of the establishment saluting veterans.  Although the rooftop sign is in violation of the City's rules, the owners of the bar argue it has never been a problem in the past.

"A sign that has been on this roof for 30+ years...A sign that has been spreading a positive message to Beach & Slater, our customers & making Veterans smile."

Johnny Kresimir, co-owner of the bar says that the city only gave them two days to remove the sign, or else they would have to pay a $940 fine.

"Every car dealership can do whatever they want where ever they want... but us little guys that want to spread a positive message get screwed?"  

According to the Johnny's Saloon facebook page, the owners of the bar are not going to make it an easy with for the city, "We are not going down without a fair fight!!!"

Matthew Harper, Huntington Beach Mayor, says that he would support granting a variance to allow the sign to remain standing.

What do you think?  Should the owners of Johnny's Saloon be forced to take down their sign thanking veterans? Or should the city let it slide?

Military Veterans Finding Work at World's Largest Coffee Chain

It is no secret that for most military veterans, finding work upon their return from duty is painstakingly difficult not an easy task.  In fact, the current unemployment rate amongst post 9/11 veterans is sitting at 9.2 percent, which is well above the nations 7.6 percent rate.  Is this simply because the many skills they acquired in military practice don't exactly translate into real world productivity?  Or is it because they are considered "damaged goods", unable to to perform the most mundane of tasks without having the thoughts of their troubled past interfere with their work?  Whatever the reason, our society as a whole has not been very considerate of this situation.

Yes, there are occasional job fairs specifically held for veterans in the pursuit of work, along with other events of that nature.  Yet, 207,000 former soldiers were still without work this past spring according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  One company is doing what they can to combat veteran unemployment, and actually sees it as a good business opportunity.

Starbucks, the worlds largest coffee chain is poised to hire 10,000 veterans and military spouses in the near future. Former Defense Secretary and current Starbucks director Robert Gates agrees that former soldiers sometimes have a difficult time translating their skills into the business world, however, he believes the "long term benefits are tremendous."  Gates also stated in reference to returning veterans, "this demographic represents one of the most underutilized talent pools in our country."  The positions being offered by Starbucks range from making drinks to managing supply chains.  Starbucks CEO, Jeff Schultz says that transitioning back to civilian employment can be a complicated matter, but believes that businesses can, and should help in a big way.  Schultz says, "Businesses have an obligation and a responsibility to do something about that and to meet these people more than halfway."  Gates added veterans can benefit their company because they are accustomed to working with diverse international partners and have a good understanding of other cultures.  

Is Starbucks taking a gamble on these former war heroes? Or are they making an impressive and strategic business decision?  Gamble or not, I believe it is most certainly a step in the right direction. 




sources: 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/06/starbucks-veterans_n_4223595.html

http://www.npr.org/2013/11/06/243325304/starbucks-is-latest-company-aiming-to-help-vets-land-jobs

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_23119419/young-war-veterans-struggle-find-jobs

http://money.cnn.com/2013/11/06/news/companies/starbucks-hiring-veterans/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2489031/Starbucks-hire-10-000-veterans-military-spouses-years.html

Veterans Visiting their Closed Memorials

CRUEL? 

OR 

JUSTIFIED?

The recent shut-down of the government has also lead to the closing of many government funded attractions such as zoos, parks, and most notably, memorials.  Many veterans have been denied access to the memorials which they fought so hard and risked their lives for to be a part of.  One would think that in the case of a government shut-down, military veterans would receive special permission to visit their closed memorial, however that is not the case.

At the war memorials in D.C., barricades were placed at the entrance of the memorial not only to keep out the tourists, but to keep out the veterans as well.  The barricades were moved aside several times by the veterans as they made their way into the park to see their cherished memorials, but every time they were quickly met by park rangers telling them they had to turn right back around.  Is denying veterans access to their war memorial a cruel act?  Or is it a justifiable act to maintain the law and treat the veterans and the tourists equally?

In New York, an undisclosed amount of war veterans were arrested at the Vietnam Memorial Plaza when they refused to leave after the 10 p.m. curfew along with several verbal warnings.  Police say that the veterans were reading the names out loud of all the deceased soldiers on the memorial to protest the 12th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan.  In this situation, the removal of veterans from a memorial seems justifiable.

With incidents such as this, it makes me wonder if most of these veterans really do just want to see their memorial, or if they really just want to create a publicity stunt and use this opportunity as a way of voicing their disagreement with the government in general.

Glory Hounds

http://animal.discovery.com/tv-shows/glory-hounds

The picture and video above is of K.C. Farrell, a current member of the United States Military, formerly positioned in Afghanistan.  K.C.'s position in the military is a handler, which means his role is to train dogs to sniff out bombs so that they can accompany him into battle and protect him and his unit from any form of planted explosives.  These dogs are referred to as MWD's, or Military Working Dogs (K-9's).  The picture posted above is a picture of K.C. and his dog who was recently and unfortunately killed in battle by an enemy explosive.  The link is a trailer video for a show on Animal Planet named Glory Hounds in which K.C. is featured in, and can be seen in multiple times throughout the video and the show itself.  I met K.C. through a friend of mine while he was home training another dog to take into the field.  I had a brief conversation with him about the Military and his experiences.

The conversation taught me about the unique relationships that are developed between the MWD's and their handlers, and how they are unlike any other relationship between a man and his dog.  The handlers literally trust their MWD's with their lives on a daily basis when in battle, and only make advances in the areas their dogs have first sniffed out.  The fact that these dogs have saved their handlers lives on multiple occasions, and constantly give their own lives for the sake of their handlers is what makes their relationships so unique, and simply unobtainable by the common man and his dog.  Obviously K.C. was still very upset over the loss of his dog and did not want to talk to me too much about it, but he did end the conversation by telling me Zora (his dog) was his best friend, and that losing her was one of the hardest things he has ever had to go through in his life.