What is the worst thing you have ever done?

You are only human

Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 8, 2018

If you can forgive others, as a human, maybe it is time to think of God's capacity to forgive you.

This morning I was reading something on Camp Lejeune The Globe "Restored to fellowship with God through grace, love" by Lt. Matt Schilling Combat Logistics Battalion 26.

What is the worst thing you have ever done? Have you experienced God’s forgiveness? Or, in contrast, do you fear that God will not forgive you? I invite you to consider the example of Peter. You may remember that though he was one of the twelve disciples, he denied Jesus three times, even invoking a curse on himself and swearing that he did not know Jesus. And yet Jesus forgave him. In John 21:15-19, we read the remarkable account of how God’s great mercy was shown to Peter.

First, Jesus asked Peter three times, “Do you love me?” In doing so, he graciously gave Peter the opportunity to publicly reaffirm his love for Christ, demonstrating his grief and repentance over his sin. The story reveals that though Peter sinned greatly, he was restored to fellowship with Jesus.

Jesus also gave Peter a very important task, “Tend my sheep.” Yes, Jesus entrusted the care of his followers to Peter despite his earlier failure, so great and complete is the forgiveness he bestows.

Lt. Schilling goes on to write about being forgiven for our sins. But most wonder if they can be forgiven for other things, that are not sins. Can you be forgiven for being a simple human?

Many times we do things, doing the best we can at the time, with the best intensions, only to have things turn out terribly wrong. Afterwards, we run all kinds of alternative scenarios, trying to figure out what we should have done. All fine and good when it is a thought but the brutal reality is, as a human, what we think we had the power to do, would have been physically impossible.

By the grace of God we find it easier to forgive others for what they do, or do not do. By the will of our own minds, we put up a barrier to forgiving ourselves. 

If you feel you are unworthy of being forgiven, please read about the Roman Centurion who humbled himself in front of his men asking Jesus to heal his servant.

Read about how Jesus faced someone over and over again, thinking they too were unworthy of being forgiven, but He showed them love and compassion.

Understand that what is in your core, compassion, courage and a will to serve others, is not evil. It is a gift that comes with a heavy price because the more you care about others, the more you will grieve. It is also what gives you the power to feel joy more than others. 

Know what causes you emotional pain is not because of weakness, but because of the strength of your soul. Rely on that strength, seek healing, forgive yourself and #TakeBackYourLife from PTSD. 

Here are a couple of videos to explain more.

There is suddenly a lot of talk about "moral injury" and combat PTSD. It is survivor's guilt adding to what is known as PTSD but unlike other causes of PTSD, this one is harder to heal from. The good news is, you were not judged by God but He has put what you need to heal already in your soul. It is our job to connect you to it again. Contact Point Man International Ministries to show you the way.

National Guardsmen and Reservists have the same wounds as active duty troops but they come back home without the same support. They grieve just as much but for many, they are also risking their lives as police officers and firefighters.

Vietnam veterans have been healing from what their service did to them and they know what it is to grieve. Combat PTSD is different from other types. We only know about this wound of war because they fought for everything available today for all veterans. If you have PTSD understand this one message. You are not stuck the way you are and your life can get better. PTSD caused the change in you. Change again!

“If it weren’t for Sgt. Bass, I probably would have killed myself,”

Nash County deputy honored for service

Rocky Mountain Telegram
BY LINDELL JOHN KAY
Staff Writer
Friday, December 7, 2018

“If it weren’t for Sgt. Bass, I probably would have killed myself,” the veteran said, according to reports

A Nash County deputy has been recognized for his life-saving compassionate community service.

Sgt. Scott Bass was recognized as Deputy of the Year earlier this week by the Nash County Board of Commissioners. Bass has convinced suicidal gunmen to surrender without violence and appeared on national television for helping a woman find a quicker way to work than walking, often in inclement weather.

Employed with the county since 2010, Bass has served primarily in the Patrol Division and was promoted to sergeant last year.

During the short ceremony to recognize Bass, Chief Deputy Brandon Medina described him as being kind and compassionate with a very generous heart.

Bass' heroism and care for the people he serves as a deputy has been repeatedly demonstrated by his actions.

In 2017, Bass and other deputies responded to the call of a missing and possibly suicidal person.

A high-ranking member of the military, the missing man was located down a secluded path. He was armed. Bass began to reason with the man and ordered the other deputies to fall back, putting himself between a suicidal man with a gun and his fellow law enforcement officers.

Another time in 2017, Bass, while in Raleigh attending specialized training, ate lunch with a friend.

After leaving the restaurant, Bass was about to pull away in his marked patrol car when a man ran up and said a business was being robbed.

"Without hesitation, Sgt. Bass responded to the business and apprehended the suspect, holding him until proper authorities arrived," Medina said.

In February, Bass responded to a call for service where he again spoke with a military veteran who was having a hard time coping with life.

"Being a veteran himself, Sgt. Bass was empathetic and provided the necessary assistance as soon as he recognized that he was dealing with someone suffering from severe mental distress," Medina said.

read more here

Florida veterans showing up for others

Florida Veterans in the News

David Smith riding new wave of veteran-advocates in the Florida Legislature

Orlando Rising
Scott Powers
12/05/2018

Republican state Rep. David Smith will be heading to Tallahassee with a broad platform of ambitions covering education, the economy and the environment, but the retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel gets particularly excited about prospects he sees to improve the lot for Florida’s military veterans.

Smith was elected Nov. 6 to succeed Jason Brodeur in representing House District 28 in east Seminole County. Riding in with him in this class are state Reps. Anthony Sabatini of Howie-in-the-Hills, Elizabeth Fetterhoff of Deland, Tommy Gregory of Sarasota, and Spencer Roach of North Fort Myers, all military veterans, joining returning lawmakers such as Paul Renner of Palm Coast.

They have restarted a veterans’ caucus in the Florida House, Smith said.

“I think there is going to be new excitement to address issues for veterans,” Smith said. “The one thing I’m committed to is systemic solutions. I don’t want band-aid solutions or give-away programs. They don’t work and they’re insulting to veterans.”

Specifically, Smith is looking at creating a state contracting set-aside preference for veteran-owned businesses, much as currently exists for women- and minority-owned businesses. There are plenty of models out there, including a federal program, state programs in Texas, California, and North Carolina, and a patchwork of local programs.

Smith said that the University of Central Florida’s contracts for construction of its downtown campus features a 10 percent set-aside for veterans’ businesses. Smith’s willing to start much smaller at the state, perhaps 1 percent, and work toward 3 percent.

He has filed no bills yet, saying he’s taking his time. Like other state representatives, he’s also waiting for his committee assignments.

“That’s one of the things I campaigned on,” Smith. “One of the differences I have even with Gov. [Rick] Scott is I think Florida is not as veteran-friendly as it could be as relates to veterans’ businesses. I want to be an advocate for those veterans in the Legislature.”
read more here

Meet the Palmetto resident who was inducted into Florida Veterans Hall of Fame

Bradenton Herald
BY JAMES A. JONES JR.
December 7, 2018

MANATEE
Carl Hunsinger of Palmetto, chairman of the Manatee County Veterans Council, was among 20 vets inducted into the Florida Veterans Hall of Fame this week in Tallahassee.

Carl Hunsinger has been inducted into the Florida Veterans Hall of Fame. He is shown above with Lee Washington, Manatee County veterans service officer, Gov. Rick Scott, and the Florida Cabinet. Hunsinger is retired from 30 years service in the U.S. Air Force, and is a tireless advocate for the Manatee County veterans community, provided photo

Hunsinger, 63, a retired U.S. Air Force chief master sergeant and veteran of 26 months of combat service in Iraq and Kuwait, was the only Manatee County resident among the 20 inductees honored by Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet.

“I was surprised when I got the call that I had been selected about 9 a.m. one morning around Thanksgiving,” Hunsinger said. “I said, ‘What?’ ”

In 2004, he led a team of 160 enlisted airmen providing gun truck security in Mosul, Iraq.

Hunsinger was in Mosul when one of the American dining facilities was bombed, killing 24 and wounding 70 others.
read more here

Maryland Veteran Lives on Roof Waiting for Santa

Man sleeps on roof for 12 days for toy drive

Cecil Whig
By Katie Tabeling
9 hrs ago

Mangini is also a veteran, as he served with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division in the late 1970s. In his own way, living up on the roof during Christmastime is a way to pay tribute to those in the military who are currently stationed in Afghanistan, Iraq or other far-flung places. Mangini himself never served overseas, but said his tent is “a mansion” compared to what he lived in while training. He’s willing to bet his current living conditions are miles better than active-duty troops.

ELKTON — He has eyes that twinkle and a beard as white as snow. But unlike the Santa Claus described in “The Night Before Christmas” that shimmies down chimneys to leave presents, Bruce Mangini, of Landenberg, Pa., plans on staying on his rooftop until he can rally enough people to fill his “sleigh” with toys for families of veterans in need.

Mangini, 58, started living on the roof of the Elkton Veterans of Foreign Wars Elkton Memorial Post No. 8175 on Dec. 2 in a fundraising and awareness campaign called #BruceOnTheRoof

To protect himself from the wind and rain, he built a tent out of tarp and a blue gazebo and sleeps under an electric blanket on a cot his grandson chose for him. He comes down on occasion to walk around, per his doctor’s orders, and to go into the VFW to use the bathroom.

But for the most part, Mangini stays on the roof — and he’ll come down for good when his 12 days are up or when his trailer, parked nearby, is filled with toys, coats and non-perishable food donations.

“People say I’m crazy,” he said. “Well, I’ve been called that a lot in my life.”

Mangini likes to participate and organize charity events in the tristate region, like a motorcycle ride to fundraise for the Domestic Violence Center of Chester County, Pa., or coordinating with his cousin on a cookie baking and giveaway for veterans. But he’s always gravitated to Elkton after he established a friendship with Commissioner Mary Jo Jablonski and her family. After working with the Elkton VFW for other toy drives with the Steel Horse Guardians, a nonprofit charitable group of motorcyclists, he’s felt the need to continue paying it forward to Elkton.

“I don’t like talking negatively about nobody, but Elkton is a very small town, and it’s a struggling town that’s trying to do better,” Mangini said. “When I see a small town trying to do better, I want to jump in and help. Everybody needs a helping hand once in a while.”
read more here

The lessons Vietnam veterans have to teach those who serve

Police Officers should learn from Vietnam Veterans

Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 6, 2018

Yesterday I read an article that broke my heart. Then I thought about how it happened to other heroes that I spend most of my time with. They do not see themselves as heroes, but they are to me, especially my own husband.

Who wants to be a police officer? Job applications plummet at most US departments

The Washington Post
By Tom Jackman
December 4, 2018

Chuck Wexler talks to police chiefs frequently, as head of the Police Executive Research Forum think tank in Washington. Recently, he asked a roomful of chiefs to raise their hands if they wanted their children to follow them into a law enforcement career. Not one hand went up, he said.

Across the country, interest in becoming a police officer is down dramatically. In Nashville, job applications dropped from 4,700 in 2010 to 1,900 last year. In Seattle, applications have declined by nearly 50 percent, in a department where the starting salary is $79,000. Even the FBI saw a sharp drop, from 21,000 applications per year to 13,000 last year, before a new marketing campaign brought an upswing.

And retaining officers once they’ve joined is getting harder too. In a PERF survey of nearly 400 police departments about voluntary resignations, 29 percent of those who left their police job voluntarily had been on the force less than a year, and another 40 percent had been on the job less than five years. 

At a PERF gathering of police chiefs and commanders from across the country in Washington Tuesday, many attributed their declining numbers to a diminished perception of police in the years after the shooting and unrest in Ferguson, Mo., and an increase in public and media scrutiny of police made possible by technology and social media.
read more here

If you want to become involved in this kind of work, here are some things to consider.

First the obvious risk to your life followed by the actions of a few, being taken out on you. The second thing to consider is there is a valuable lesson you can learn from Vietnam veterans.

You may be too young to remember this, but you need to know so that you'll understand the rest of what you need to hear.

This is what most people heard about Vietnam veterans. 

"Everybody's heard of the My Lai massacre"

This was just part of Vietnam veterans being attacked when they came home, called baby killers an oh, so many other horrible things.

What they did not hear, was the other part of this story.

— March 16, 1968, 50 years ago — but not many know about the man who stopped it: Hugh Thompson, an Army helicopter pilot. When he arrived, American soldiers had already killed 504 Vietnamese civilians (that's the Vietnamese count; the U.S. Army said 347). They were going to kill more, but they didn't — because of what Thompson did.

For the most part, Vietnam veterans knew what they did and were honorable in horrible conditions.

They ended up hearing that Afghanistan is the longest war this country fought, but here is the truth on that part.

DCAS Vietnam Conflict Extract File record counts by INCIDENT OR DEATH DATE (Year) (as of April 29, 2008 )

Year of Death Number of Records 1956 - 1959 4

1960 5

1961 16

1962 53

1963 122

1964 216

1965 1,928

1966 6,350

1967 11,363

1968 16,899

1969 11,780

1970 6,173

1971 2,414

1972 759

1973 68

1974 1

1975 62

Mayaguez Incident

1976 - 1979 0

1980 - 1986 0

1987 1

1988 - 1989 0

1990 1

1991 - 1999 0

2000 - 2006 5

Total Records 58,220

Not that what was going on in 1968 excuses what happened, but you get the idea. This video is with MOH Sammy Davis Jr. and his wife Dixie. He is talking about what happened to him when he came home, just out of the hospital, after his actions were worthy of the Medal of Honor. It is cut in between one of the Nam Knights reading his citation, so that you can know the full power of his story, against what he came home to.



What I am getting at is simply, no matter how they were treated, they were always honorable, and like Sammy, did not give up on the American people, or themselves. Many went on to serve in other ways. 

Many more fought to make sure that no other veteran would ever, ever be treated like they were.

Because of their efforts, courage and dignity, they managed to provide such a powerful force for good that the government finally had to do something about PTSD. Everything that came afterwards, was due to them.

The thing is, they knew what was in their core and it was good. It was a desire to serve and a will to do whatever they could to prove who they really were inside. Today, they are cherished for obvious reasons, and now you know what the not so obvious ones are.

So, if you are a member of Law Enforcement already, thank you for what you do for us everyday, no matter how you are treated in return. You show up everyday knowing it could be your last day. You save people from criminals, rush toward gunfire, respond to accidents and ever increasing mental health crisis situations.

ORLANDO, Fla. - An Orlando police officer is being honored for saving the life of a veteran who was threatening to commit suicide.On Sept. 3, Officer Wesley Cook responded to the report of an armed, suicidal man who was holding a knife to his throat in the 400 block of West Amelia Street. 

This is not a job that people do because they do not care. It is a job you do because they care so much. It comes with a heavy price, so please, make sure that if you need help you ask for it. After all, you must know how important that is since you made it your career to help others.

Hope for a kinder, gentler America, do not let it rest

Looking back over the reports from the last few days, it was stunning to see five living presidents, with their wives, gathered together to say farewell to one.

Wonder what they were thinking? Wonder if they thought about their own funerals and what will be said by those who knew them, and what history told us about them?

Somehow, I think that President Bush knew what would be said about him, that in the end, was the most important thing that can be said of anyone. He was a good man!

The following is a great article but I pulled out a couple of things that stood out for me.

 At George H.W. Bush funeral, hope for a kinder, gentler America
Chicago Tribune
Dahleen Glanton
December 5, 2018 

President Donald Trump, from left, first lady Melania Trump, former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter attend the funeral of George H.W. Bush. (Alex Brandon/Getty-AFP)

"At this moment, we are desperately clinging to the promise that America once represented, hoping that somehow we can begin to live up to the greatness the world has come to expect of us and that we once expected of ourselves."

"Meacham called Bush “America’s last great soldier-statesman, a 20th-century founding father.” 

But Bush’s Texas minister, the Rev. Russell Levenson, told us not to consider this the end to an era.“It doesn’t have to be,” he said. “ Perhaps it is an invitation to fill the hole that has been left behind.” 

“My hunch is heaven, as perfect as it must be, just got a bit kinder and gentler,” he said in closing. 

I don’t know about heaven. But maybe America can be."

Have you heard enough excuses for veterans killing themselves yet?

When will the VA and DOD admit the awful truth?

Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 5, 2018

Yet again, a report came out about how bad it is for our veterans when they come home. Younger veterans are committing suicide in higher percentages, but the facts are missing.

The awful truth is they did not just fail this year, or last year, or five years ago, or even a decade ago. They failed for over 4 of them.

Billions spent every year and billions made by businesses and charities making a profit off of suicides. That should have been a clue but contracts continued to be written and paid for, along with funerals.

Police end up having to respond to someone finding a dead body, as well as respond when one of them is in a mental health crisis and someone called to get them help, only to have to draw their weapons against a veteran they came to help. That happened at least every week in 2017.

This year, there were 22 public suicides where veterans ended their private hell while making a point to let people be aware of what they had driven them to that point. Hoping like hell that someone would pay attention and do something before another veteran lost their life to suicide.

They saw more and more kicked out of the military. 2,300,000 at last count, right after more speeches about how the DOD claimed they were ready to help them heal.

Billions spent on "prevention training" that every member of the military had to take, yet every branch, every rank, every sex, every age group, lives though combat but dies afterwards by their own hands.

We see National Guards and Reservists, return home without a clue they can heal, so they lose hope before they even try to take control of their lives again.

How much are we willing to see while so many are oblivious to the charade? What expert has been fired for incompetence? What business has had to pay back the money they made off what they failed to deliver on? What charity has been held accountable for passing a slogan off as anything but something to benefit themselves?

It isn't as if they had no way of knowing.

Here is a direct quote from Wounded Times posted on May 29, 2009 about how it should have been known that if the DOD pushed resilience training, suicides would increase.

If you promote this program the way Battlemind was promoted, count on the numbers of suicides and attempted suicides to go up instead of down. It's just one more deadly mistake after another and just as dangerous as sending them into Iraq without the armor needed to protect them.

Yes, I predicted all this because I paid attention. I read reports and I listened to the veterans. No, I was not foolish enough to think the DOD or any of the "experts" would ever listen to someone like me, so not shocked this was ignored. The shocking thing is, they still have not figured it out!!!

It didn't matter that the experts over at RAND Corp investigated this "training" in 2013 and showed why it would not work. Not bad enough that in 2012, suicides hit over 500, or even bad enough they have remained an average of 500 a year since then. It was not even bad enough for them to grasp the concept these men and women were ready to die to save someone else, but did not seek help to save their own lives.

No, none of it was bad enough and today, we have a report where the VA and the DOD still say they have no clue!

Rising Suicide Rates Among Younger Veterans Trigger Alarm Bells at VA

Military.com
By Richard Sisk
December 4, 2018

Suicide rates among veterans 34 and younger have spiked in the last two years, leading the Department of Veterans Affairs to focus more on the 18-to-34-year-old age group than civilian programs for suicide prevention do, a top VA official said Tuesday.

She said another factor that has emerged in analyzing recent statistics has been the suicide rate among National Guard and Reserve veterans who never deployed to a combat zone.

Nearly four of the 20 veteran suicides a day were among National Guard and Reserve members who may have experienced trauma in national disaster duty, but were never in a combat zone, she added.

The number of suicides by veterans of all generations averages 22 each day. But "when we break down the numbers, the national numbers for veterans suicides, we're seeing an increased rate within 18-to-34-year-olds," said Dr. Keita Franklin, the VA's national director of suicide prevention.read the rest here

The thing to pay close attention to is this part

Franklin, who previously served as the Pentagon's Defense Suicide Prevention Office director, also noted that her civilian counterparts in suicide prevention are not facing the same rates of female suicides. "The fact that the female [veteran] rate is 1.8 times higher than their non-veteran counterpart is something we're concerned about."

I won a damn award back in 2008 for a video I did about National Guards and Reservists trying to deal with PTSD! So, if I knew, then why the hell didn't they know and do something about it? Like maybe what people like me had been doing for decades?

Did anyone ask her about how suicides increased within the military and in the veterans' community and they still do not know why? Did anyone ask how it is that after over a decade of "efforts" by the DOD and the VA, this is the outcome?

Notice the number of veterans living has dropped by over 4 million, but the rate went up? Now consider how many years, how many times we have heard "one too many" and how they were focused on doing something about it.

This is from the DOD up to June of this year.

And it is projected to remain about 500 for this year too when you look at the report, then factor in they have revised the numbers in the latest release.

Did anyone ask how it is there were thousands of "awareness raisers" running around the country collected over a billion per year and the suicides still happen even though the veterans are fully aware of all of it?

It is time for us to demand answers, since Congress won't and reporters will not. How much longer are we going to all all of this to go on? When do we actually stand up and fight for the men and women who fight all of our battles?

I am tired of having to try to explain all of this to families when it is too late to do them any good, and then have some "experts" say they still do not know what the hell to do!!! We've known for over 4 decades! When will they? They won't as long as we just let them get away with saying whatever they want.

HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE!

Apple Discount store for us? Santa is that you?

Apple launches dedicated store for military and veterans with discounted iPhones, iPads, and more

9 to 5 Mac
Michael Potuck
Dec. 3rd 2018

Apple has today opened up a new online store for active military personnel and veterans to make purchasing its products at a discount more accessible. Different from its education pricing, eligible military customers will receive 10% off Apple products, and the new discounted pricing even includes iPhones, Apple Watch, accessories, and more.

Apple previously offered active military and veteran discounts in Apple Stores, but didn’t have a dedicated online store. It also mirrored the discounted education pricing, which meant no deals on products like iPhone, Apple Watch, Apple TV, accessories, and much more.

As reported by Steven Aquino, Apple’s new Veterans and Military Store webpage offers 10% off on what looks like all of its products. The new storefront comes just in time for the holiday season.

Apple shared the following statement with Aquino:

At Apple we are deeply grateful to the men and women of our armed forces. We’re proud to offer active military and veterans a new dedicated online store with special pricing as an expression of our gratitude for their brave service.

One great aspect to this military discount is that immediate family members can take advantage of it, proving especially useful for active military who are currently deployed.

The Veterans and Military Purchase Program (“Program”) is a benefit provided by Apple Inc. (“Apple”) to current and Veteran members of the U.S. Military, National Guard and Reserve. The Program is also offered to their immediate family members who also reside in their same household. The Program is intended for personal use only.read more here

Someone tell the DOD and the VA Pastor got hand to grow back...for Vietnam Veteran

The following is from Patheos, an Atheist website. Normally, I'm not really interested in what I end up getting links to involving what goes against what I believe, but at least we do agree on this one! 

It is about a stunt using a "Vietnam veteran" who had his hand magically grow back.

With Awful Re-enactment, Pastor Talks About Witnessing a Missing Hand Grow Back

Recently, John Kilpatrick was a guest on the show. He may be best known to readers of this site for speaking in tongues in church in order to defeat witchcraft. It went viral because of how absurd it was.

I guess Kilpatrick wants something even more embarrassing to top his Google results since he told Roth about a time he watched a real live miracle: He saw a Vietnam veteran’s missing hand grow back during a revival.

The story is told via an incredible reenactment. Seriously, you have to watch this.

Someone needs to alert Walter Reed and the VA so they can get moving on this one and then grow back limbs of all the amputees they have...Good Lord!

After veteran was shot by police, family takes police to court

Family of veteran shot and killed by Eugene Police seeks to take civil case to jury trial

KVAL 13 News
by Alex Hasenstab and KVAL.com Staff December 3, 2018

EUGENE, Ore. - Eugene Police responded to the home of Brian Babb on March 30, 2015, after his counselor called dispatchers and said she was afraid the veteran - suffering from PTSD - was going to harm himself with a firearm.

Forty minutes after police arrived, an officer said Babb pointed a rifle at him.

Eugene Police responded to the home of Brian Babb on March 30, 2015, after his counselor called dispatchers and said she was afraid the veteran - suffering from PTSD - was going to harm himself with a firearm. An officer shot and killed Babb less than an hour later. (SBG/File)

EUGENE, Ore. - Eugene Police responded to the home of Brian Babb on March 30, 2015, after his counselor called dispatchers and said she was afraid the veteran - suffering from PTSD - was going to harm himself with a firearm.

Forty minutes after police arrived, an officer said Babb pointed a rifle at him.

After demanding Babb drop his weapon, the officer fired a fatal shot.

The district attorney determined officers were justified in using deadly force.

Babb's family had a different reaction.

"We knew right away that something was seriously amiss," said Stephanie Babb, Brian's sister.

The family filed a civil suit, seeking monetary damages against the officers involved and the city.
read more here