Have you ever thought that by far the easiest way to launder money is via political contributions? Did you know that all senior officers in the military – one star generals and above – must get Congressional approval as they earn each of their stars. That means they are as much politicians as any elected official – if not more so. Is it any wonder, seeing how things are going in Iraq? Our military personnel are politicians, not military officers.
Only a dozen Universities in the country have athletic programs that make a profit. The several hundred others, in order to compete, must use a great deal of funds from their general endowment funds just to keep their sports programs competitive. These same Universities get 80% of their scientific and engineering research funding from the federal government. If the athletic programs were downsized to realistic proportions like they were thirty years ago, they wouldn’t need so much money from the government. The government is, in actual fact, funding all the college sports programs in the nation. Not only are the professional style football teams of the University of Texas et al bankrupting virtually every other university in the nation, but they’re robbing from the military, and undermining the national defense.
We need to know exactly how much this homeland defense is costing the taxpayers. Having a hundred thousand military reservists working full time is OK, but only if they are absolutely necessary. Just because the civilian agencies responsible for security at the airports aren’t doing their jobs doesn’t mean the federal government should do it for them. It’s unconstitutional for the government to use federal active duty or reserve military personnel on domestic missions. Unless an extremely serious threat can be proven to still exist, the military has no business participating in what they claim is defense of our homeland.
As the world economy drifts ever deeper into recession, other political divisions will inevitably arise. Communism and totalitarianism thrive on poverty. Russia’s dalliance with a free market economy was less than a disaster only because the economic environment in the rest of the world was so strong. Recession has weakened the legs of the Russian economy, to the point of collapse. Similar conditions exist on virtually every continent. Weak political institutions make way to extremism, and the resolution of the world community of nations to eradicate the terrorism menace suffers the consequences. Get ready for Communism everybody.
The United States military must not fail in their purpose, to defend the American way of life. The American people must not fail in their support of the military, and their objectives overseas – however vague or ill defined. We must have faith in the military, and this faith must be bolstered by actions across the entire population. Say a little prayer for bin Laden too, that his huge investments in the military industrial complex will give him a good retirement in Palm Springs. What? Didn’t you know that he was trained by the CIA? Bin Laden is a hero in many circles because his activities in Afghanistan brought the Iron Curtain down. George Bush senior owns him big time and, as we all know, Boy George Jr. pays his daddy’s debts.
The most important thing is to get everybody involved. The Selective Service should set physical fitness standards for all ages, forcing public schools and colleges to raise the bar on fitness.
Athleticism must become the norm rather than the exception. Every home needs a treadmill in front of the TV. Every neighborhood needs a Home Depot on the corner.
Traditionally, Americans have looked to technology to win our wars. That’s important, but we should devote more attention to the human factors. We need stronger, more independent, more confident military personnel. We need leaders not followers; we need teamwork not technology. We need Arnold in the White House.
Yes, Austrian Arnold and all his Nazi Republican friends. I wonder what his nice Kennedy wife feels about that; seeing as the odds are that the modern day “New World Order” Nazis killed JFK and Bobby. . .
The “three strikes and your out” rule is unconstitutional. Those so considered should be inducted into the military and be used in drug interdiction. Their pay and benefits will go to the victims. A military tribunal can decide, after a minimum of ten years of hard service, if they can return to civilian status. If they want to. All those architects and engineers who make their living off of building prisons, and paying off politicians to stiffen penalties for crimes can be the first people in this new prison release program.
The “don’t ask don’t tell” rule is a disaster. Homosexuals in the military should be allowed to have their own units, if they so desire. Likewise with women, who should be allowed to serve in any combat arms position and every effort should be made to apply technology to make up for any shortcomings, e.g. in upper body strength. Congress must enact legislation giving women further reduction in fitness standards to compensate for their top heavy breast implanted profiles. We want “peace on Earth,” grunt the marines – and the air force cadets, ravaging the female service members with no fear of repercussions from their superiors.
The military is wasting its money in advertising for new recruits. This money should be given instead as bonuses to existing or retired service members who sponsor others to enlist. Of course, most Viet Nam veterans are homeless and on the streets, but there ARE many young homeless people they could recruit for a little extra cash. Friends will be billeted together at the same installation, if at all possible. Gays can serve in the same units and be billeted together too.
Nor should there be any more huge sign up bonuses. These individuals will earn two year associates degrees, or even bachelor’s degrees if they remain in the service for a second tour of duty, in programs coordinated with higher education. If they stay in the service for six whole years the government should let them get their Ph.D.’s. With the quality of post graduate education as it is, they’ll have more than enough time for their military duties, raising a family, and even voting for the President after the polls have closed on election day.
Students who remain at one of the service academies more than one year should not have to pay back any of their education. These are valuable individuals with solid training, and they will be required to work with local national guard or reserve units with the expectation (not requirement) they become full time service members once their education is completed. If they really are allergic to the military, they will be given extra points for federal job placement, especially with the postal service. If you’re really good you can work for the U.S. Forest Service and help cut down, burn or otherwise eradicate virgin growth forests all over America. Chastity is a sin in heathen, godless, down with the Ten Commandments America.
The military has a big problem retaining officers beyond their initial commitment. We need to find ways to convince them to make the military a career. Allow career officers to take a year off, say every sixth year, to spend in a civilian position at a federal agency in the U.S. Allow those with over fifteen years of service to take a two year sabbatical at half pay to do whatever they like, in exchange for re- upping for ten more years. Career officers with small children can be relocated less frequently, to keep the kids in the same school system. Of course, Congress just voted to reduce the money the military gives to local school systems – so the school systems will be lobbying for military brats to be relocated often so somebody else is blamed for their bad education.
In bygone days a person convicted of a non-violent crime was given the option of serving their time in the military. That was a good program and it should be started up again. We owe people a fair chance at rehabilitation and the military is the best place for that to happen. Their criminal record should be cleared if they serve their time and get an honorable or medical discharge. People currently incarcerated should have such a chance too. They can elect to fight the drug wars in Columbia, Bogota, Miami, or Los Angeles.
Add this up: the Pentagon has just cancelled the Comanche helicopter program; and recently cancelled the Crusader artillery program; and announced plans last week to close 20% of all bases in the U.S. Meanwhile, the Department of Defense budget is at an all time high. Where’s all that money going? Iraq of course ~ did anybody plan on gutting the entire U.S. military capability just to get rid of one man, and to sniff around for Weapons of Mass Destruction that have been gone since 1990? Of course not; everybody thought it would turn out just like Israel.
Conducting a war half a world away is motivating a transition
from men to machines. It costs so much to fly each service member over there and back, not to mention medical costs, GI insurance, and other incidentals. Even the men who do participate are gusset’d up with mechanical and electronic tools that they are half way to looking like the Borg already. As fiscal pressures mount, this trend escalates. It starts with men operating machines remotely like video games, then becomes (as in the rollover image) men incorporating machines into their bodies to become more effective.
The U.S. forces in Iraq have begun to deploy a small army of robots to detect and defuse land mines. The manufacturers of these robots had a huge party celebrating the first robot that was destroyed by a land mine. The company said it was because they saved the life or a service member. The more likely explanation is that the Army will be purchasing a replacement robot, at $55,000 each. Industry makes the mines and the robots to blow up the mines, and nobody bothers to consider that the companies that built the land mines in the first place are as guilty of crimes against humanity as the most despotic ruler, of any nation, of any era. It’s astonishing to think that none of the millions who have been drastically disabled by a mine have never sued the perpetrators.
The war on terrorism has been a much welcomed boon for the media. There’s nothing quite like a good war to sell newspapers, increase listeners, and push up advertising revenue. It’s strange, however, that there have been absolutely no negative repercussions from this latest spate of terrorism. Typically, advertisers shy from plying their wares during particularly violent episodes, e.g. the start of the Iraq war. They don’t want to be associated with war in people’s minds. They don’t seem to be the least bit concerned about that possibility now. Evidently violence appeals to Americans now, just as they admire an obstinate, arrogant, conceited President.
Be that as it may, it is a well known inclination for the media to make things seem much more drastic or extreme than they really are. The Bush Administration complained about this kind of biased media coverage early in the war, making the situation seem worse than it really was. With the world on edge as much as it is lately, this gives the media ultimate power over everybody ~ investors run when acts of terror happen; terrorists are motivated to action when they see acts of other terrorists flashed around the world, making them an instant martyr. Governments cower when the media gets the public angry at something they have done. Soldiers get depressed to see how it’s all playing out state side, and have a hard time conducting their dangerous duties with the attentiveness necessary.
The military, like everybody else is outsourcing. Private security firms are making a fortune providing protection to contractors in Iraq. The contractors themselves are making easy money, under the less that vigilant auspices of the Army Corps of Engineers. Robots are being brought in to do as many jobs as possible. The U.S. forces are, in fact, doing everything possible but asking for help from the United Nations. A few nations have sent troops to help out, but always the U.S. demands to be in total control of the troops. That, of course, puts the non-American troops in far more danger than they need to be – if they were there as U.N. troops, or even under autonomous control, they would be quite safe. The British, for example, control 20% of the territory in Iraq and have suffered 2% as many fatalities or injuries as the American troops.
This is the military-industrial complex at its finest. The military holds the ground while industry moves in to rebuild all complex buildings destroyed during the invasion. It’s no wonder that the terrorists have started to perceive the civilian contractors as combatants themselves, because they are in fact just that – if not more so, because they are profiting from the situation far more than anybody else, especially the U.S. Army.
The medical-industrial complex is subtly behind the scenes as well. They are responsible for all the technological enhancements the soldiers have – cameras on their helmets, microphones with a small communication network with others in their squad; hand held GPS receivers; laser guided munitions, and remote piloted drones and robots. It’s likely that the medico’s are who keep the U.S. as the controlling military force there in Iraq, for just that reason – to field test a whole space of new medical technology designed to enhance the capabilities of soldiers on the battlefield.
Robot jet aircraft is the latest trend in military hardware. They can maneuver more deftly without having to worry about g-forces on fragile human flesh pilots, they have a higher payload because the human and all the life support systems are not necessary, and they exclude the cost of the pilot training – and pilot pay, benefits, and mortality expenses. Moreover, the general degradation of the human physiology can be allowed to progress as necessary, or even escalate. These are the same trends that have been driving the automation of factories, replacing expensive, undependable, inaccurate humans with machines and computerized controls. The greater the extent that any given process can be automated, the cheaper it is in the long run ~ even taking into account cheap overseas labor.