Making tomorrows Military today

I'm back... pukin' rowdy!

2005-08-13T20:44:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lame comeback (from Varsity Blues, for those of you who care). The way of recruiting has been kicking me in the teeth and various other appendages for the past couple of weeks.

I must say that S. Douglas Smith needs a serious ass kicking... again. I have been on this guys ass in the past, and this time it is no exception. This position (USAREC PAO) damn near needs to be a Cabinet Level Appointment so they get someone with at least a miniscule amount of intelligence about what he says and how it affects the recruiters he works for.

This article (un:mikeunruh@hotmail.com pw: fredderf567 thanks bugmenot.com) uses his own words against us in the field. His words are used as battlecries for the Opt-out campaigns all across the country. I am getting a little tired of school administrators bowing to political pressure from their friends from the political left to push recruiting farther and farther outside the school campus.

Right now, most schools are no problem. They understand that we have a job to do and we work well with the office staff and the guidance staff. People usually understand, when we contact them, that we are doing our job and usually treat us with some speck of respect. If I call a young lady 6 times in a year, I am not really doing my job well.

Aileen Brousseau was dumbfounded when military recruiters called her house six times last year to speak to her daughter Maeze, a junior at Coral Reef Senior High.

The woman wants it to be so horrible. 6 times. 30 seconds a phone call, assuming a typical conversation. 3 minutes of her life taken up. That is 1/175,200 of a year folks.

Brousseau believes schools should be for education, period. ''This [opt-out] clause is perverse,'' she said. ``It has nothing to do with education. . . . The kids should not be hassled.''

weird. Opt-out (defn)- to remove information from a certain list. Perverse- obstinate in opposing what is right, reasonable, or accepted. The grand rewrite: This removal of information of a list (recruiter school list) is not right or reasonable. I love catching people with their own words.

My brain is still seeing various DD forms in my sleep at present. I will post more. I promise.

Still Alive

2005-07-31T20:40:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the light posting, but my brain has taken a nosedive over the last few days. I will be back online in a few days.

Lets kick the pants out of an article

2005-07-24T09:12:00.000-05:00

Lake Tahoe!

Military recruiters aggressive with teens

On March 13, Jimmy Coalter and his family were celebrating his 18th birthday with a turkey Thanksgiving-like dinner when the phone rang. It was a military recruiter asking if the teenager-turned-adult ever considered enlisting.

"We were eating dinner and he called," Coalter recalled. "My mom said 'hang up on him' so I did and he called right back."

This is aggressive?

Since there isn't a recruiting station in Tahoe, recruiters from Carson City and Placerville make trips up to the basin. Staff Sgt. Jeremy Funk, an Air Force recruiter in Placerville, hits South Lake Tahoe twice a month. He visits the high school and Lake Tahoe Community College to speak with interested students.

He also asks businesses if he can post a flier describing the benefits of enlisting in the Air Force, such as 100 percent tuition assistance for college and a possible $12,000 signing bonus.

Funk has been working the county for seven months enlisting a dozen future soldiers. It's on target, Funk said, since he works in a rural county and has an expectation of enlisting at least one future soldier a month.

This is aggressive?

Whittell High School graduate Patrick Rafferty decided to join the Navy this year after some indecision. He said $4,000 was pledged to him for signing up although he hasn't received the money. Money for college tuition was also promised.

A recruiter visited his campus but "he really didn't talk me into my decision. I just made it on my own," he said.

He leaves for boot camp Aug. 7.

"I don't like the feeling of being in combat," he said. "I would have probably joined the Army if it wasn't for the war."

None of this is aggressive. These journalists do not know what aggressive is. The kid in the last paragraph was promised a 4,000 bonus for enlisting AND completing his initial training, known as A-School for the navy (AIT for the army, etc). OF COURSE he has not received the money. He still has a chance of getting injured and not being able to commit to the Navy. If we were giving money willy-nilly like this journalist-Field General wants, recruiters would have no such thing as DEP losses. Then it would become a desertion thing. The field general journalist would then cry foul that the military was getting the local police to do their dirty work of getting people into boot camp. We cannot win with these people.

My call to all of the local journalists: spend a day, not a phone call, with your local recruiter. The field guys. Not the Station Commander. Spend it with the guy kissing babies and shaking hands every day. Follow him (or her, don't e-mail me) to see what the street recruiter goes through. From getting people in to getting soldiers out, the days are getting longer and longer, but more and more rewarding.

This week has been nice and long for my office. We have people ready to join, but issues keep coming up. No one is doing well in my area this month. All of the media attention is starting to wear on each of the branches.

Good natured ribbing

2005-07-21T22:33:00.000-05:00

I love these:

Anyone else have any good political cartoons?

11 pages of RSS feeds from Yahoo yielded no good articles on recruiting. It seems that the fresh meat of the Army missing mission is now stale and the journalists have moved on.

More "stay away from my kid!" version 1.2

2005-07-11T22:16:00.000-05:00

So.

I wonder how many times this stuff is going to kick up before it sparkles and fades.

I love mis-information. I wish I had this laundry list of info on a kid. (bolded will be what we are required to receive from schools)

The new database will be managed by BeNow Inc. of Wakefield, Mass., a private database marketing firm, and will include the following information for each student: name, date of birth, gender, address, Social Security number, e-mail address, ethnicity, telephone number, grade point average, education level (by proxy, we only get seniors and we know what year they grad), name of college attending, and any relevant information about expressions of interest in enlisting in the military.

If I could get every e-mail address of every student, I would not call a single person. I would be an e-mailing foo'! If I had an SSN on each person, well, I would do anything different. You can pretty much guess gender.

And the conclusion:

International Action Center
39 West 14th Street, Room 206
New York, NY 10011

Support Mumia Abu-Jamal: http://www.millions4mumia.org/

Who is this dipstick? He is a cop killer. You can argue what you want, but he was the REASON that a cop was killed. He was shot and a cop what shot while he was in a fight with said cop. If he pulled the trigger matters not in the same way that the lefties want to blame Bush for... well... everything. If this cop killer did this in 1978? Why hasn't be been on the receiving end of a lethal injection when he is on Death Row? Don't ask me.

Does anyone with a brain live in San Francisco?

2005-07-11T21:52:00.000-05:00

Goodness.

I am sick of this line:

"Wiping away tears, Sheehan said that the recruiter who persuaded her son to join the Army four years earlier promised Casey he would never see combat and reneged on most of the signing bonus he was guaranteed."

I call Bull. A bonus is written in a contract. That contract will either say you get a bonus or you don't. It also has a block that is WELL explained which verifies that the contract is full and correct, that all verbal promises are written in the contract. If you initial that block, then you are saying that the contract is correct. The recruiter does not guarantee you anything. MEPS and the processors who write up your contract guarantees you things set out by the Dept of (insert branch). If the contract is in error, you have the option of getting out of your contract, accepting the error and continuing in the service, or trying to force the branch to obligate themselves to the contract.

I have never seen or heard of anyone getting screwed out of a deal with the military. If you only get 50% of your bonus up front and the rest over x number of years, then that is the deal. That is what you signed up for. IF you do not obligate to your end of the contract, you do not get the rest of your money. Period. You have to do the time to get paid. Simple as that. I smell a rat in her story.

There are so many other things in this story that I could pick apart, but I am tired tonight. It is all the same counter recruitment crap that is trying to get a foothold. My guess is that it will stop at the end of the summer.

I am going to do my best over the summer to piss off each and every activist parent on my list of schools. I urge each and every recruiter out here with me to get on your cold call lists and hit them up. Lets get to 100% contact of your senior market before school starts.

I guess the NG needs that girl after all

2005-07-11T21:44:00.000-05:00

Wow...

I had no idea. 20 months straight of missing mission nationally. Holy batpoop Batman!

The NG is behind significantly because their recruiters are not trained how to recruit during a war where they are being used. It is as simple as that. They are still selling from the late 90's playbook. The playbook that says that if you join the NG, you will not go to war, you will get college cash and be a weekend warrior.

Kids are not that dumb. IF they are told they are going to defend their country and then get to come back and go to college, I am sure that the guard would not miss it's missions nationally. The guard is doing well here. The local armory is not down any troops.

Oh boy. I bet the news media is going to have a field day with this one.

The NG is on a girl's ass!

2005-07-10T00:41:00.000-05:00

Woo!

Linky

This dumbass girl. She was drilling and getting paid every month by the PaNG. Then, magically (I bet once her unit received a deployment assignment) she claims that the recruiter lied and she vanished. Now, in an unprecedented move (at least to an active duty recruiter) they put a warrant out on her ass! God I would KILL to do that.

I cannot confirm or deny that a cop buddy of mine has accompanied me on a home shipping visit. The thought was that we would both open our back doors and give the ultimatum of "choose a seat". It turned out that the kid was ready for Boot Camp. Thank goodness.

More haters

2005-07-10T00:40:00.000-05:00

I love this stuff.

Military Families Speak Out is back at it again, this time in Unemployment RIDDEN Michigan. With over 7% of Michigan out of work, these Momrons (I coined that yesterday, you can all use it in your daily life if you choose, just give me credit. I accept cash or paypal) want their kids to stay at home, just to live off of the system.

Momron in action... "Oh, no. He's not going," Diane Oleksyn, 40, said of her 17-year-old son, Brandon Benson. "He's my hockey player. He's going to be a Red Wing."

Wait for it....

Wait....

Idiots. Both her and her son. He is going to be a Red Wing my ass. He needs to get his JUMP WINGS. Or his Air Warfare wings.

I bet I can call the local recruiting office there, and the kid has sent in lead card after lead card. He wants to be in just like his brother, who is a Marine. Good luck bud.

Used War Salesman... I think NOT

2005-07-10T00:03:00.000-05:00

I am getting a little pissed off with the Chickenhawk crap.

For those of you who do not know, a chickenhawk is someone who is for the war, but will not volunteer themselves or their children for the conflict.

This page went a little too far... I am no used war salesman.

What is the obsession with Jenna Bush being on the front line? Can someone tell me? The freaking News went batshit crazy when a suicide bomber came along side a convoy and killed 5 female marines and a female Navy Medic. Do these sick bastards want more women killed in combat? Oh... It is ok if it is some rich, snotty person who is killed, gender be damned. If it is a dirt grunt from the Red State South it does the media no good, therefore, it seems to me, they do not care.

You show me a puff piece on CNN about the Iraq war, and I will show you a nice, crisp, 1 dollar bill.

Any Takers?

Quotey Quote Quotes

2005-07-10T00:01:00.000-05:00

This is going to be a list of quotes that I find that show me the thoughts in Journalists minds.

"I have no qualms about saying my daughter won't fight, nor does she. The Bush administration justified the war with rhetoric about weapons of mass destruction that didn't make sense at the time and has since been proven exaggerated, if not outright bogus." The Bozeman Daily Chronicle

Just a list of drivel from some folks near Minneapolis, Captain Ed from Captain's Quarters needs to smarten up some of his neighbors.

Well crap. It is the weekend and there are not that many links to good stuff. I will find more later.

Enjoy what is left of your weekend!

Sniffing out the politics

2005-07-02T09:21:00.000-05:00

Some Soldier's Mom posted a comment that got me thinking last night. I started replying to it but I decided to make it into a post.

Why are parents pissed about schools giving their kids info to the military? Really? The schools give a list of their students to local governments for safety in case a student goes missing, a fire, etc. Schools get paid large sums of money to provide their school lists to colleges and universities that SPAM THE PISS out of you. The schools are not the local yoko schools either. Using 8 years ago data, the schools were places that no one has ever heard of, universities that have only been around for 3 or so years, etc. I understand marketing. I understand that they need people too. But come on.

Then there is the list to the local recruiter. It costs me nothing (now) with the NCLB. We are required to have three things according to the NCLB: student's name, addy and phone. No SSN, nothing else. Some schools are a little "liberal" with what they give us. I have one school that will print out the entire 9-12 list with mom's name, dad's name, ssn, everything that the school knows about the student.

So why is it ok for the universities to have the info and the recruiters cannot? Here is my guess. M.O.N.E.Y. Mr Larry Sykes from this post has been outed. He is not just some local crony military dude like they wanted you to believe. He is the freaking Toledo public schools president as noted on this site. What the hell? So he is pushing saying "I think it comes down to dollars and cents for the recruiters," when it smells to me that it is dollars and cents TO THE SCHOOL DISTRICT.

The jackasses that own this press release are a front organization. They are a front for a company called Working Assets, which from this page you find this paragraph (I will hand it to them, they at least put it at the top)

Working Assets was established in 1985 to help busy people make a difference in the world through everyday activities like talking on the phone. Every time a customer uses one of Working Assets' donation-linked services (Long Distance, Wireless and Credit Card), the company donates a portion of the charges to nonprofit groups working to build a world that is more just, humane, and environmentally sustainable. To date, over $47 million has been raised for progressive causes.

Who are these "progressive causes" you say?

Since 1985, Working Assets has generated over $47 million for progressive nonprofits, including Greenpeace, Oxfam America, Rainforest Action Network, Human Rights Watch, Planned Parenthood, ACLU and People for the American Way, among many others.

Each year Working Assets supports nonprofit groups in five categories: Economic & Social Justice, Environment, Civil Rights, Peace & International Freedom and Education and Freedom of Expression. In 2004 alone, Working Assets raised nearly $7 million in donations for worthy causes.

What the hell is this? The ACLU? Jay, get on these guys! We at least have a by proxy link between the ACLU and anti-recruitment now. I am on the asses of the Board of Directors of this working assets place. The first one is Lawrence Litvak. This dood is the manager for Working Assets, and also the treasurer at the Tides Center. Check out how the Tide's Center gets money to all of the people that are left and in power in this country.

The CEO's name is Laura Scher. Her hands touch salesforce.com as well. So if you are planning on using that company, don't. Beth Sawi is also on the board. She is not really a nutjob, that I can find.

Oh wow. Lookie what I found. BuyBlue.org is a website that has a list of all companies that donate to the left. Make sure you take a look at it prior to buying stuff from a new company. They want you to use it to buy blue, but at least you can buy red as well.

I will have to work on this more as the weekend goes along.

More "stay away from my kid!"

2005-06-30T23:04:00.000-05:00

Toledo, OH.

“We have to do a better job because it is essential that parents know their rights,” Larry Sykes said. “I have seen recruiters sway kids with promises of what they can do after they enlist. But once they are in, [the recruiters] have very little or no control over where the student is sent.”

Yep. We do that. We tell them that we cannot give them a guarantee where they will go except for basic training and technical school. but yet, somehow, we are blamed when the kid is a dirtbag. I recieved a phone call from a mother yesterday blaming me that her son was popped on a drug test for marijuana. It is always the easiest to blame the recruiter instead of the family member.

Can any military recruiter out there tell me when they recieved a bonus for putting someone in? Mr Sykes thinks we do...

“I think it comes down to dollars and cents for the recruiters,” Mr. Sykes added.

Talking out of his ass. Typical. And he says that he was prior Army. What a shame.

Sometimes even Generals need to be quiet

2005-06-30T22:58:00.000-05:00

Link

Please do not inflate the media's ego by telling them that recruiting is going to suffer NEXT YEAR. You don't know poo about poo, especially next year's poo.

Favorite line segment:

"It's very important that you and your colleagues use your considerable influence to explain to the American people and to those that are influencers out there how important it is for our young people to serve this nation at a time like this," Schoomaker told the senators.

"Some of us do that every day, general," replied Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a Navy pilot and prisoner of war during Vietnam.

Oh please McCain. You may be a "friend" of the military, but lately you are pushing yourself to the political center. All over a little pissing contest you have with Bush over having your ass kicked in South Carolina and elsewhere in 2000. If you do not watch out, it will happen again when whoever runs with Rove pulls out all of the stops against you. Until you get back in line with the rest of the party you will be labeled a troublemaker.

Happy Mission Day!

2005-06-30T21:28:00.000-05:00

I am going to get down to the nitty gritty with this article. This is an editorial at least. My first problem is that the writer is attacking the President's one line: "To those watching tonight who are considering a military career, there is no higher calling than service in our Armed Forces." I applaud the man for putting the idea out there in such a public manner.

Then the author then puts his uneducated 2 cents in:

How to replenish the ranks during a bloody war with no end in sight? Among the options, each with drawbacks:

-Recruiting more women. Opening more jobs to women would help fill the ranks, but it would also bring women closer to combat. Already, many conservatives say the Army has gone too far, citing incidents such as last week's ambush in Fallujah, where three servicewomen died.

Bring it on. Right now, we have to recruit 7 upper mental group women to get 1 lower female seat. Women have proven themselves. HOWEVER, if you want to play with fire, the female soldier/sailor/marine/airman needs to be held to the EXACT same standards for physical testing including the Physical Readiness exams.

-Lowering standards. Recruiters are already taking more high school dropouts and recruits who score lower on aptitude tests. But research shows such recruits are harder to train, more likely to be discipline problems and less likely to complete their first tours.

The only standard that needs to be removed is the tattoo screening policy. That is the mosasininene policy that we have. We already have low enough standards. However, some of the most driven recruits and S/S/A/M's are in that CAT 4 category or just above. You really cannot judge completely on aptitude, but our standards are low enough.

-Ending anti-gay discrimination. Enlisting openly gay soldiers would mean repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" rule, which has led to 10,000 servicemembers being forced out since 1993. The military and Congress oppose the repeal.

I am no fan of intermingling of homosexual and straight in combat or in the military in general, but we could have an entire division of homosexuals in the Army. I am picturing the scene from South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut with "Operation Get Behind in the Darkies". I do not believe that will happen. If it does, I will paint my recruiting office a nice shade of pink.

-Enlisting more non-citizens. As today's front-page Cover Story relates, thousands of non-citizens are enlisting with the promise of expedited path to U.S. citizenship. A surge in non-U.S. soldiers, however, would give the U.S. military a mercenary flavor.

I only wish we could get Hispanicanic crowd to come in my office. I think that we should ADVERTISE the fast track to citizenship for joining. As a matter of fact, if someone wants to join and they are here illegally, I think they should be able to join under a tempoary work visa. After 2 years of proven service in the military, then gepermanentnent resident status. After 4, US citizen. If you are willing to work for this country, I am willing to work for you and let you work arm in arm with me.

-Raising enlistment incentives. The Army has offered shorter enlistments and is about to ask Congress for approval to raise the top enlistment bonus to $40,000. Money might prove to be the most powerful tool, but that risks having the poor shoulder U.S. battles even more than in past conflicts.

I am so tired of this "the poor are fighting Bush's war" B.S. I have attacked this subject before. If "poor" folks are fighting, it is because they are the only ones willing to fight in the Entitlement Generation. I am "part" of this generation. I got the entitlement knocked out of me. I know that this is part of the class warfare that has spurred the Democratic Party, but why take it to the military? We, the military, are not pawns. IF you do not want the poor fighting the war, pay us more. That then ends the argument. IF the military is paid more, thereby competing with entry level jobs (not just through "incentive packages" which company'spanys do not put a price tag on) people would have a higher propensity to enlist.

This brings me to my last point. This month's unemployment figures are at 5.1%. The last time the Army had troubles recruiting was in the late 90's tech boom when every kid thought and pretty much could get out of high school and work for a dot com. Our unemployment rate Aprilapril 9Januarynuary 99 was from 4.3-4.5%. This was the last time that the army had troubles. Yes, you are right, the war has something to do with getting those that taht "want money for college". But those other booger eaters that only only get entry level jobs for the rest of their days are sticking with changing oil for 20 years and no advancement to even assistant manager instead of talking to a recruiter about the military. One of the disadvantages of pushing for "x million new jobs" is that the new jobs are weighted to the lower end, which it has to be. If a company hired 5 new executives at 100 grand, they could hire 20 new oil changers at 25k. If they hire executives, they get complained (by certain dems) about because they are not focusethen teh little man. And the Dems will then turn and say that the only jobs that are being created are little guy jobs. The same little guys that vote for them.

I hope everyone's mission day was good. If it wasn't, keep charging. It will change with hard work. If you are in charge, give your recruiters a night off.

I have two words for these folks

2005-06-29T22:20:00.000-05:00

Press release

Leave My Child Alone Coalition Urges Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to Start National 'Do Not Call' List for Military Recruiting
Wednesday June 29, 6:00 am ET

BOLINAS, Calif., June 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Leave My Child Alone coalition called on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to establish a National Do Not Call List to safeguard family privacy from unwanted military recruitment.

This initiative is in response to recent revelations that the Pentagon, in violation of the Family Education Right to Privacy Act (FREDA), created and now uses a mega-database of private information on 30 million Americans ages 16 to 25, without anyone's consent. The updated www.leavemychildalone.org web site shows parents how to "Opt Out" of such Pentagon lists.

"Millions applauded when the FCC formed a Do Not Call List for consumers. Now we need the armed forces to create one to protect our children's privacy," says Megan Matson, founder of the Mainstream Moms Operation Blue (the MMOB) and member of LeaveMyChildAlone.org coalition. "The Pentagon has no right to pressure our kids to enlist -- that should be a private, family decision."

While the coalition maintains that such a database of minors shouldn't exist at all in this age of data theft and security breaches, it is committed to providing families with the tools they need to remove their children's information from the military recruitment portion of those lists.

Updated daily and distributed monthly to military recruiters, the mega-database (known as Joint Advertising and Marketing Research and Studies, (or JAMMERS) was consolidated and is managed by a private marketing firm, BeNow Inc., of Wakefield, Mass. The database consists of information such as cell phone numbers, e-mail addresses, height, weight, ethnicity, and areas of study. LeaveMyChildAlone.org coalition believes that by failing to notify and invite public comment before JAMMERS' began in 2002, as required by law, the Pentagon is in violation of the Privacy Act.

Screw you. (MilitantWife edited me to the more pussified saying)

These whiney, candy assed little wimps cannot handle a freaking phone call from one of the most polite, professional salesmen in the WORLD. Hey folks, if you do not scream at us, call us names, or tell us that your kid is going to college when he cannot even spell his name right and he is #141 of 142 graduating in his class, we usually will only call you once in the fall, once in the spring, and once near or just past graduation. If you are an ass you will get more phone calls. We like killing you with kindness. If your kid wants to be in the military and he creates a lead somehow, we will call until YOUR CHILD tells us that he is not interested.

Speaking of JAMMERS, I only WISH I had something like this. No one has any access to what they are talking about.

Oh... the favorite... wait for it...

"The Pentagon has no right to pressure our kids to enlist -- that should be a private, family decision."

(insert whiney tone here) We don't like recruiters! We want this to be an uninformed decision on a career! (/winey tone) Their booger-eating-moron of a son who licks the window of the short bus, has no people or life skills at all who can make a 35 on the ASVAB (or even 31 right now... CAT 4 Baby!) is going to the Univ. of Illinois. I see that happening. He cannot even hear about the advantages of the military. Screw him. Let him bag groceries for the rest of his life and live off of my tax dollars. (disclaimer: bagging groceries is an honorable job for someone 16-20... and I appreciate them immensely)

I am going to put the contact info lady's name just so when she google's her name, I will be the first hit. Felicity Crush Julie Pezzino... see my two words above for you. Unedited.

in a word... Booyah!

2005-06-29T21:55:00.000-05:00

We told you guys that we would get this turd turned around. All of the branches made it this month.

The J.F. Mam's are over. I am sure that the Army is going to inflate it's goals over the next three months to make up their defecit. I hate looking over into the next office and seeing them working so late, but they made their mission early this month and they were just happy as they could be.

My office doubled it's mission attainment this month. That has been a great weight off my shoulders. We are rolling.

Congrats to all of the other recruiters out there!

For all of you in IL miffed by the SCOTUS

2005-06-29T21:18:00.000-05:00

Get on the phone, call Steve Rauschenberger's office tomorrow and tell him that you are behind him and his idea for a bill to limit Government's ability to take your private property for private gain.

His office phone number is 847.622.1049

Thanks to the Peoria Pundit, and by proxy, Rich Miller.

Best Press release EVER!

2005-06-28T19:32:00.000-05:00

From Freestar Media

Press Release

For Release Monday, June 27 to New Hampshire media
For Release Tuesday, June 28 to all other media

Weare, New Hampshire (PRWEB) Could a hotel be built on the land owned by Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter? A new ruling by the Supreme Court which was supported by Justice Souter himself itself might allow it. A private developer is seeking to use this very law to build a hotel on Souter's land.

Justice Souter's vote in the "Kelo vs. City of New London" decision allows city governments to take land from one private owner and give it to another if the government will generate greater tax revenue or other economic benefits when the land is developed by the new owner.

On Monday June 27, Logan Darrow Clements, faxed a request to Chip Meany the code enforcement officer of the Towne of Weare, New Hampshire seeking to start the application process to build a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road. This is the present location of Mr. Souter's home.

Clements, CEO of Freestar Media, LLC, points out that the City of Weare will certainly gain greater tax revenue and economic benefits with a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road than allowing Mr. Souter to own the land.

The proposed development, called "The Lost Liberty Hotel" will feature the "Just Desserts Café" and include a museum, open to the public, featuring a permanent exhibit on the loss of freedom in America. Instead of a Gideon's Bible each guest will receive a free copy of Ayn Rand's novel "Atlas Shrugged."

Clements indicated that the hotel must be built on this particular piece of land because it is a unique site being the home of someone largely responsible for destroying property rights for all Americans.

"This is not a prank" said Clements, "The Towne of Weare has five people on the Board of Selectmen. If three of them vote to use the power of eminent domain to take this land from Mr. Souter we can begin our hotel development."

Clements' plan is to raise investment capital from wealthy pro-liberty investors and draw up architectural plans. These plans would then be used to raise investment capital for the project. Clements hopes that regular customers of the hotel might include supporters of the Institute For Justice and participants in the Free State Project among others.

# # #

Logan Darrow Clements
Freestar Media, LLC

And the DUH award goes to...

2005-06-24T22:17:00.000-05:00

ABC News!

I must say, just the headline made me want to get up and smack a pollster.

Poll Finds Most Oppose Return to Draft, Wouldn't Encourage Children to Enlist

Hmmm. No one in the military wants a return to the draft! Hell even Donald Rumsfeld does not want a draft! I do not know anyone who wants a draft! My favorite line from this one is:

"...although men, older Americans and Republicans were most likely to say it's a good idea, an AP-Ipsos poll found."

Wait a minute. Most likely? That sounds a little subjective, Don't you think?

Funny.

Draft Counselors are popping back up. This time they are trying to get their hands on the community early.

Oh well.

First day back

2005-06-23T22:05:00.000-05:00

Oh my goodness. I show up and wow. My office was in complete disarray. The recruiters have done a great job pushing themselves further than ever, but they did not do ANY admin.

The first thing that I noticed was the notice on the wall about the Marine recruiter in Washington. Basically it said, watch what you are going.

There was nothing really interesting today with the exception of the "National Database". Hey folks, we already have a database. It is broken down by stations, but instead of a company doing the leg work, we do. National Recruiting will do mass mailouts to every senior we have on file sometime around February, right before Spring Break, peddling phone cards if you call in to get it activated. The only difference is that we have to let each of the other branches know that we put someone in the service. We are all in the same geographic location so it is pretty easy. It saves their time, and our DEP family's time.

I suspect that this is just another ploy to push back the No Child Left behind act. Ah well.

I will let you know more tomorrow. I think that the Militantwife and I are going to go camping this weekend for a little R&R, now that I can enjoy myself off of convalescence leave.

Back from Formula None

2005-06-22T09:45:00.000-05:00

Oh boy. What a weekend.

For starters, my family and I were treated like royalty. We ended up sitting in the terrace suites where they pamper you like no other. We had a police- escorted motorcade to the race in the morning, basically the best tickets money cannot buy, food, drinks, open bar, everything within about 20 feet. It looked to me like this was going to be an "overload weekend" where things are just so good that you end up getting numb to how good you really have it at the moment.

Boy was I wrong.

For all of you NAS(ty)CAR fans out there, F1 is a different breed. These are all prototype cars, where you can have an advantage over the next guy. F1 you cheer for teams by name, drivers by name, not "that #8 car" like I hear so often. It is all competition, all the time. So Michelin showed up with an inferior tire because no teams choose to test in America. Michelin was having trouble keeping their tires from blowing out through turn 13 (or turn 1 for the Indy 500 fans out there) because the speed combined with the banked surface, new track surfacing, etc.

So there we are, sitting through the Formula BMW race, The Corral of Cars were beautiful, and we made it back in time to sit down, turn on the speed channel in the Penthouse to the news. Michelin did not want to race because of turn 13. None of us knew what would happen next.

The parade lap began. Out goes the Bridgestone teams: Ferrari, Minardi and Jordan. Then after about 3 or so minutes, the Michelin teams come out. Toyota first, then Williams, then the rest. The parade laps were over, the Formation came up to the line, and off they went to warm up the tires. Ok we are going to race. Happy boy. Happy Family (not that REALLY bad Chinese Food dish) .They all come around turn 13 and what happens. All of the Michelin teams pull into the pits. At this point it looked like it was going to be a "we are going to change our tires and you cannot do anything about it" so we waited for the green light and all of the teams would fly out of the pits. Um... come on guys. Come out. We finally could get the camera to focus down there and we saw the BAR team taking the cars into the Garage. Oh no. What the hell is going on now?

So we got to see a Ferrari Test Session. Yes there were two other teams out there. But come on, it would be like An Olympian and a Special Olympian with Ferrari and Minardi/ Jordan. No excitement. No anything. It was horrible.

So now the FIA is charging the teams with multiple counts in the Int'l Sporting Court for their actions.
? failed to ensure that they had a supply of suitable tyres for the race
? wrongfully refused to allow their cars to start the race
? wrongfully refused to allow their cars to race, subject to a speed restriction in one corner which was safe for such tyres as they had available
? combined with other teams to make a demonstration damaging to the image of Formula One by pulling into the pits immediately before the start of the race
? failed to notify the stewards of their intention not to race, in breach of Article 131 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations.

I must say that I agree with the charges. The teams RUINED the experience for over 100,000 fans at Indy, and millions on millions around the world. I still had a good time. All of the other stuff overshadowed the race. I can always say that I was at the race that No one raced.

Our families are now gone. They all flew back to their respective homes and we are back to normal here. I go back to work tomorrow as well. It will be a bad time. Things have been going well at work lately from what I have heard. I should have a good amount to talk about recruiting wise when I get back in the saddle.

Forwards... the Blog way

2005-06-13T21:40:00.000-05:00

To my surprise this morning, I am now part of the "cool kids". Guy at Snugg Harbor has pinned me with one of these Meme things. I read it as chain letter spam, but I will participate. I have not really thought about this subject before, so without further adieu...

1. What's the last popular tune that got stuck in your head?

Just Be from DJ Tiesto. That is not so terribly popular, but it lives with me, even if I just think about the song... Damn you Guy!!!! Ugh...

2. What popular tunes do you most dread to hear, because they get stuck in your head?

The Zoom-Zoom kid and song from the Mazda Commercials. That freaking jingle just gets in my head and never goes away.

One thing that I do all of the time is sing "The Tonight Show" theme music back when Johnny Carson was hosting it. There was a guy that I worked with that started it and I do it now. Grr!

3. When last you were in a commercial establishment, and their "courtesy" music caused a tune to get stuck in your head:
a. Where were you?
b. What was the tune?
c. Did you complete the transaction you'd gone there for, or did you flee screaming and vowing never to return?

At the local BMW dealership sitting... patiently... waiting for my car to emerge from the back with all of the new goodies attached. I could not tell you what the tune was, but it was hideous. I had to go drool on the show cars (mmmm.... nice cars... also a MB and Porsche dealership) to get the tune out.

4. When last a television commercial caused a tune to get stuck in your head:
a. What was the commercial for?
b. What was the tune?
c. Did you shrug it off, or vow never again to patronize the establishment?

For all of the WLS fans out there: 1-8-7-7 KARS-4-KIDS... K-A-R-S KARS-4-KIDS

I hate that song, yet I sing along with it all of the time. Jake Hartford, the turd on one of the morning weekend shows, is said to be one of the voices on the song. I want to choke him for that. If not, then he loses turd status.

5. What is your usual recourse when a tune gets irritatingly, stubbornly, maddeningly stuck in your head?

Kick and scream until I can get to the nearest radio.

6. What five bloggers would you like to afflict, ah, infect with this meme?

I will be the official killer of this meme...um... forward.

Thanks for playing.

Democrats kicking the draft card again

2005-06-12T18:30:00.000-05:00

I knew it would come to this.

Joseph Biden, the top Democrat of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made the prediction after new data released by the Pentagon showed the US Army failing to meet its recruitment targets for four straight months.

"We're going to have to face that question," Biden said on NBC's "Meet the Press" television show when asked if it was realistic to expect restoration of the draft.

I love it when the draft is brought up. I have such a good plan. The draft is such a good recruiting tool. If you do it right, say... 10,000 people a month. Publicize the piss out of that policy, but do not actually draft anyone. People will line up in droves outside of recruiting stations to get into the branch of choice. All of the recruiting manuals have a section for the Draft.

But while admitting that restoring the draft would be politically "very difficult," Senator Patrick Leahy, the ranking Democrat of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said something will have to be done because the situation with recruitment was not likely to improve.

"If you think you have trouble getting recruits today, you're going to have far more trouble six months from now," Leahy predicted on CBS's "Face the Nation" program. "It is not going to get better. That's going to get worse."

Anyone remember Campaign 2004 when Kerry kept pushing the back Door Draft issue? I love it now. Only the Legislature can turn on the draft. I am certain that it will not happen. They will keep throwing money at it. That is the Governments way. They will cut the bonuses for the Navy and Air Force because they are doing ok now, but that will push them to issues later on. Here is an interesting thought... oh... snap...

The army, navy and marine corps reserves also fell short of their monthly goals by 18 percent, six percent and 12 percent respectively, according to the figures.

Recruitment at the Army National Guard was down 29 percent while the Air National Guard fell short 22 percent.

According to the office mates, the Navy Reserve has been WAY worse until the active and Reserve Navy came together. The Marine Reserves are doing ok, just a bad month, and the Army Reserve is plagued with the same issues. The Army and Reserve look the same and on the street, the entitlement kids will not talk to them. The National Guard and Air NG get a Yearly quota vice a Monthly. The NG usually makes their yearly mission somewhere around April-May.

Any one ever notice that Bin Laden mixed together would be Biden? Just a thought.

Journalist sticking to her guns

2005-06-10T22:30:00.000-05:00

He...He.... He...

I must say that this woman has Gov. Blago's "Testicular fortitude". The lady who wrote the article that charged me up yesterday, is defending her story.

Her defense is based off a few e-mails that ran the gamete from the recruiters were right to recruiters should be banned. The loudest critics were Gregory Gadow and Ted Fitch, a website designer for MJM and Associates.

With feelings about military recruiters in our high schools running hot, many, Gregory Gadow, Ted Fitch and others included, called for action against the recruiters (who did not return requests for interviews), for going beyond the call to fill their quotas.

Here is my favorite section of her article.

They accused the teen, his mother, and the other relatives and friends who witnessed pieces of Axel's experience of lying. They called the boy a wimp and worse. And, without knowing anything about her, they called his mother a control freak for tracking her boy to Seattle and, with her daughter's help, springing him from the testing center.

She did not actually say anything rebutting the statements made in her e-mail. From the outside, driving a far distance to get your kid from doing what he wanted seems a little controlling. The boy could be a wimp. He might be a wimp. He had his mom, at the very least, tell the recruiters that he was not interested. That to me is not masculine. Which in male form, could be defined as a WIMP.

He had to run away from his own mother to join the Marines and so did his son, wrote Michael G. Jackson, Col., USMC (retired). Who signed off with: "If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it's in English, thank a U.S. Marine."

You can see from her writing the last line of that paragraph that she does not understand how the Military works, does not appreciate it and wants nothing to do with the military.

I am sick:

And, after 12 years as a U.S. Army recruiter, Lonnie Dotson offered these tips (assuming that the teen truly does not want to join):

"Call the recruiting station commander, the recruiters' commanding officer and/or the command sergeant major and complain.

Hmmm... All ours will do is send down an e-mail saying "good job, but cool your jets a little"

Call or write your elected official -- the military will drop everything to respond.

I will Smack you in an instant for that one. Let me tell you one thing... if you pull that with one recruiter, we have ways... oh do we have ways... lead cards are easy to create. I will go to Army.com, Navy.com, Airforce.com, 1-800-go-guard.com, marines.com, gocoastguard.com, and put your name, address and phone number into each. That is 6 hungry recruiters that will call you and call you. Oh, and don't forget changing the zip code... then you have different cities recruiters calling you.

Fail the written test on purpose.

Can't do anything about that one.

Fail the physical, tell the recruiters you take mind-altering drugs, or that you're a convicted felon waiting for your parole to finish.

We verify... Especially if you are a lead.

And lastly, call a reporter."

I hope you call one of my local reporters. They are usually taken out for lunch at least once a month by at least one of the services. We like to have as many people on our side as we can... they are called Centers of Influence. This recruiter needs his ass kicked. It seems as if he is a favorite of the Seattle News Media. Dotson however served VERY honorably in Vietnam, so his ass only needs to be kicked... a little.

We then find out that Axel is staying at home at Community College. WIMP. WUSSASS.

I love that word.

Army looks to raise bonuses to 40K

2005-06-09T23:57:00.000-05:00

Coolness.

WASHINGTON — The Army wants to double the top cash bonus for new recruits to $40,000 in an effort to stem a continued recruiting shortfall in the midst of the Iraq war.

As another incentive, the Army is proposing a pilot program to provide up to $50,000 in home mortgage help for recruits who sign up for eight years of active duty, Lt. Col. Thomas Collins said in an interview Thursday. Congress must approve both plans.

Alright. This will not help the fact that kids nowadays do not believe in giving back to your country. This will just get people into the seats without getting to the problem. There is no way to fix the problem in the short run, so, like always, if you throw money at the problem, the problem tends to go away.

How many recruits have mortgages when they come in? Are they going to take away BAH for those Soldiers? If they don't, then you have issues about Private Pile and Private Benjamin getting 2 different pays, which is why the Army did not want to give reparations to Reservists and National Guard soldiers.

Marine recruiter kidnaps applicant

2005-06-09T18:45:00.000-05:00

Oh My Gawd! This has to be the worst story that I have ever read.

I am going to show all of my readers how you can see that the kid wanted to join.

First, the Marines had this kids phone number, name and birthday. How you ask? He was a LEAD! This kid wanted something. He went to the website, sent in a card to get a keychain, etc. The recruiters were admittedly happy, they had a damn LEAD! Woohoo! It is a kick ass day when we get a lead in.

Second, after the Mom said that her son did not want to talk, somehow the kid ended up at a marine recruiting event. These Pull-up contests always drum up interest. It gets at kids soul.... Competition. People who are marines are marines for a reason. They do not even like being in the same class as the military. They want it to be the other 3 branches... And then the marines above all of them. It is just normal to them. And they want kids with that same tenacity. This one did. And he had the fortitude to stand up against mom. The kid found the Marines. Do any of you believe that the Mom would have given any contact information to the Marines? She already said that she refused to answer the Marines calls.

The thought of the mom giving this account makes me laugh and throw up in my mouth a little. She said...

At about 3:30 in the morning, Alex was awakened in the motel and fed a little something. Twelve hours later, without further sleep or food, he had taken a battery of tests and signed a lot of papers he hadn't gotten a chance to read. "Just formalities," he was told. "Sign here. And here. Nothing to worry about."

This stinks. If you are STUPID enough to sign something without reading it, you deserve what it is that you signed. I am betting that the kid was ready to go, wanted to join, was ready to join, and then...

Then, with her grown daughter in tow, she high-tailed it south, frantically phoning Axel whose cell phone had been confiscated "so he wouldn't be distracted during tests."

Axel's grandfather was in the hospital dying, she told the people at the desk. He needed to come home right away. She would have said just about anything.

But, even after being told her son would be brought right out, her daughter spied him being taken down a separate hall and into another room. So she dashed down the hall and grabbed him by the arm.

Yep. No phones allowed at the MEPS site. Mom lied to the Government. I bet that the desk watch called the Marine office, they talked to the kid and he said... get me sworn in before I talk to them. It just so happened that the sister had a keen eye. So. Now. Not only has the kid's life been screwed up, but the recruiter WASTED OVER A YEAR with this little asshole just to not have him stand up to his mom at the time that he needed to.

A little clue to anyone who wants to be a recruiter: this crap happens everyday in recruiting. It does not help that this made the news, but with a little training and reading past the hippie talk (Mom grew Organic Lettuce for Seattle Restaurants) you can see that this is just an extreme case of No Authority to Buy.

Ode to missing Goal

2005-06-09T17:24:00.000-05:00

Oh the mission...
How elusive you are...
You have been so good to me and so bad to others...

It happened again. Even with a goal reduction nationally, the Army still could only come up with 75% of the asses in seats. It would have been 63%, but National shifted the target to the summer.

I have to file a bit of a complaint abut the numbers around the divorces that all of the stories are touting. Guess what? When you leave, things change. Mommy turns into daddy and when daddy returns, Dad has to adjust to being just someone in the house for a couple of weeks while Mom is letting him get back to having the job that he was taken away from. This is very hard on alot of the guys coming back. If they are not ready to come back and not "come home" so to speak, it can be very stressful. Even beyond that, it can be downright hate filled. These poor guys are coming back from a stressful situation, to come back to a different stress-filled environment.

And then you run into cheating wives. The story that this woman tells is not an isolated event. Granted it is a navy story, but those boys have been dealing with deployments forever. It is not a new thing like it is for the army. So now the divorce rate is going up in the army. Who'da thunk it? When you take away a partner for a long time, the dreams of what the partner is like, especially after an extended period, become so grandiose that the partner cannot match the dream. And coming back into the marriage with a letdown is not a good foot to start on.

Nice. Another Anti-recruiting site. This one looks a little better, I must admit, than the counter-recruiting website. One thing that I appreciate is the breakdown for the MGIB. I tell everyone about the issues surrounding the MGIB. There is always the (SERVICE NAME HERE) College Fund that will kick your MGIB benefits up to a certain amount. (ie, the Army College Fund is 50,000. Technically it is only 14,000 because it kicks the 36000 up to 50000)

For all of the military members that come by my humble abode, here is a list (granted it is only 4) of bands that are against military recruiting. Please help me out by not buying any of their music. If you have to have your fix, download it.
Anti-Flag
Darkest Hour
Rise Against
Thought Riot

from this editorial, I am a little miffed. I am going to pick apart a couple of statements

Although the recruitment figures are falling, the demand for military personnel remains high, leading to great pressure on military recruiters to keep the ranks supplied. This pressure has led to many reports of aggressive and unscrupulous tactics by recruiters to sign up young people, including forging high school diplomas, pursuing mentally challenged high-schoolers, and encouraging potential recruits to lie about drug use and arrests.

There have been no major diploma controversies since 1999 when the Chicago Navy Recruiting District was involved in a Homeschool Diploma scandal where diplomas that were issued by a homeschool agencies were taken as "Tier 1" and given the full educational Qualifications. There were a TON of recruiters (like 40 from my Navy source) that were sent to office hours "Captain's Mast" to Navy people including supervisors and front line people. We do not "pursue" mentally challenged applicants. We call people from a list. We do not know if they are challenged or not. If they are and are interested, we will usually test them. That will put the Kibash on their dreams normally. If it does not and they are interested, it is MY OBLIGATION to give that person the opportunity to serve his country. The definition of "mentally challenged" is so diluted now that it is like a liberal calling a conservative "extreme" it just does not have any teeth. Lying about drugs and arrests. Not only are kids sly, but they will lie to you a million times. We, in my office, have a questionnaire that we make the kid fill out, sign and date it. That is how we cover our asses when it comes to arrests and drugs. If he will put his signature on a lie, then he is the one with no integrity, not the recruiter.

The recent death of Minnesota State Senator Becky LoureyÂs son Matt, who died in combat in Iraq, underscores one of the inequities that many people see in who goes to war and who stays home. The sons and daughters of the powerful and the well-connected do not often end up in the military, so LoureyÂs death was an anomaly.

Can someone explain this one to me? Where does this guy get this from Anyone remember the big-hoopla following Mayor Richard Daley's Son enlisting (yes ENLISTING) in the Army. If that is not a "powerful and the well-connected" ending up in the Army, I do not know what is. The problem is that the powerful and well connected children do not feel that they need to give back to the country. It is not that Daddy is keeping recruiters away. It is the kid is treating recruiters like crap and we don't want to deal with his tongue.

More recruiters not keeping it in their pants. I am not saying anything here... but it seems that Marine Recruiters are always involved. I am sure it is because they are usually more physically fit that the rest of the recruiting force, but the recruiting force needs to keep it in the pants. This school is looking for ANY reason to kick us out, and now they have a reason.

Army raises J.O. age limit.

Cool.

Unrest in the Phillipines

2005-06-07T21:25:00.000-05:00

Check out this article.

ECHOING an earlier warning by the Armed Forces, the Philippine National Police yesterday said the controversies and scandals rocking the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo were but a prelude to a larger scheme to overthrow it.

Wow. I have not heard anything in the news media about the unrest in the Phillipines.

On Monday, the military brass said enlisted men were being recruited for the supposed destabilization try.

GASP! Why is this not on World News Tonight???

It seems as if this is all over a scandal developing from Gambling Payoffs involving the president, and other members of government. Hmmm. Instead of Adscam, they have GamScam...

Official Slap your Co-Worker Day

2005-06-06T20:32:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is the official Slap Your Irritating Co-workers Holiday: Do you have a co-worker who talks nonstop about nothing, working your last nerve with tedious and boring details that you don't give a damn about? Do you have a co-worker who ALWAYS screws up stuff creating MORE work for you? Do you have a co-worker who kisses so much booty, you can look in their mouth and see what your boss had for lunch? Do you have a co-worker who is SOOO obnoxious, when he/she enters a room, everyone else clears it? Well, on behalf of Ike Turner, I am so very very glad to officially announce tomorrow as SLAP YOUR IRRITATING CO-WORKER DAY! There are the rules you must follow:

-You can only slap one person per hour - no more.
-You can slap the same person again if they irritate you again in the same day.
-You are allowed to hold someone down as other co-workers take their turns slapping the irritant.
-No weapons are allowed...other than going upside somebody's head with a stapler or a hole-puncher.
-CURSING IS MANDATORY! After you have slapped the recipient, your "assault" must be followed with something like "cause I'm sick of your stupid-a$$ always messing up stuff!"

If questioned by a supervisor [or police, if the supervisor is the irritant], you are allowed to LIE, LIE, LIE! Now, study the rules, break out your list of folks that you want to slap the living day lights out of and get to slapping.....and have a great day

***I am in no way responsible for any lawsuits or arrests caused by said Holiday****

About time!

2005-06-01T23:31:00.000-05:00

Link

The feds are now pulling federal money from law schools. I am not so sure that fed money goes to high schools or how much, but they need to do this on the secondary school level.

Blame the Media for Military Recruiting Crisis

Hard hitting article! Go take a minute and read it. There are some important points there that we on the street hear and see everyday.

And another one is off to Boot Camp!

And Daddy is not happy. I read this one through and there are some glaring problems with his story. A 2 year program for the AF? Hmmmm... I am not so sure that there is one. I cannot recall any 2 year program now. But that is not the issue. If the kid has a back problem and CHOSE to not tell anyone, he is the one without integrity. If the recruiter tells you something that you feel is incorrect, then you are at fault for not following your core values that Mr Air Force should have. They got him the Dental tech job he wanted, they told him he would not have to go to basic training. He is not there. He is at a 4 week.... oh... I got it. He signed up for Operation Blue to Green. There you go. Congrats son. That is what happens when you tell the air force you are getting out to join the army and have second thoughts. I will bet you hard earned CASH that is what happened. I am going to put this guy's name in my post so when he googles his name this blog comes up. JOSHUA OWENS. You sorry ass excuse of a soldier and airman. Here is the link to the Warrior Transition Course that Daddy is so pissed that his son is at. Looks like a summer camp to me! Cry Baby.

I will be in the Out of Commission log for the next couple of days with the second of two surgeries. I will try to interact with you, but if my comments ramble more than normal, it is the drugs.

Getting a little pissed, part 2

2005-05-26T20:52:00.000-05:00

My post below has taken on a life of its on.

Enough of a life that I decided to take on some extra things that have come up in the comment section.

The question that I posed that is causing the commotion is: How do you get the top quality High Schoolers to enter the enlisted military.

My first thought was to afford more officer programs to the enlisted. The problem is that you cannot just throw more officers into the fray. It makes too many chiefs and not enough indians, even though that is not a politically correct saying anymore. But you get my drift.

Second was to remove "outside" recruiting for ROTC units. This could work, but it has downfalls. Guy at Snugg Harbor has a great point about Mustangs (officers who were enlisted prior to getting their commission). "I can not recall having met or served with any who were anything less then outstanding." It is very true. Why is that? For one, they are already proven military leaders. If you are selected for an Officer program from the enlisted ranks, your Commanding Officer and 2 other officers have to recommend you, and you have to show your ability through evaluations, advancement potential, etc. This then fills the officer corps with the finest people, field tested and proven.

If you cut out the ability of seniors in High School to apply for ROTC, yes some will go to college, but the ones that want to be officers in the military will go enlisted because they know that they can be officers only that way. If you cannot get into the service academy, then you have to go into an enlisted commissioning program.

The last pro is that more than likely, the mustang officers would then stay in longer, give up their commissions less and cost the military less, because they would not have to replace as many officers over the years.

To the Cons: You could end up with an "inbred" organization. This inbreeding is the result of not getting "fresh meat" from outside sources. The thought process behind that is a little flawed as I see it, but it is still a con. IF you do not bring in officers from other worlds outside of the military, you can end up with officers that only think inside the box. Inside of the box thinking is never good, but if you are an outside of the box thinker in the military, you are considered a Maverick. (and there is no Goose to back you up) So you have to have shakers in the military. Only once in a blue moon do the shakers ever make it to the positions that shaking actually make any difference, but I digress.

So how, nationally, do we get that kid? We already have incentive programs that are great. 12,000 bonuses for most advanced programs, 20k for special operations. Faster advancement potential, advanced paygrades, college credits for most programs, and usually if you are in demand in the military, you are in demand outside of the military, which means better jobs post-military.

Duty. Honor. Courage. Respect. Loyalty. Integrity. Commitment. Service. Excellence.

That will only get the kids in the door that need our core values.

Pantano is safe from the Wolves

2005-05-26T09:45:00.000-05:00

The good news came just minutes ago.

One of the biggest atrocities of the war has been put to rest. Lt. Pantano has been cleared of all charges. From all accounts, he did nothing wrong in the first place, with the noted exception of the dirtbag of his division that said that he did something wrong. There was only 1 voice saying that he did something wrong. The military did the right thing. They did the investigation, found that the charges were unfounded and they let him go.

Now on to filing false official statements on Marine Sgt. Daniel Coburn, but it looks like he already has immunity . Lets get him anyway!

Linky Love for today

2005-05-25T22:25:00.000-05:00

Again. Another school bites the dust!

Teh whole article centers around this school's problem with Gay Bashing and hate crimes. IT just throws the military into the fray to antagonize us.

Elete Media. I love this link. The lady who wrote it puts out the facts pretty well, but she could have left out the last paragraph. She did not interview any opposing views, but then again, she is not going for that. Her fact checker must have been out to lunch with this line...

but 16 year-olds who are not yet decided on their post-high school careers are highly impressionable, thus causing much angst amongst parents should their children unknowingly sign irrevocable documents committing them to service upon graduation.

I can only say this until I am blue in the face. Anyone under 18 years old HAS to have their parents concent to enlist. I know the military among us know that. But DAMN WILL THESE PEOPLE LISTEN??? We cannot enlist anyone without the recruiter being in front of BOTH parents, validate that they are, in fact, the parents of the child, sign swearing that and have both parents sign to GIVE THEIR CHILD THE AUTHORITY TO JOIN. We have to see it. That means that the parents have to see the recruiter, know it is happening and be ok with it enough to sign. I would show you the document, but alas, I am on convalesence leave and I am not going to go to my office, even if I could.

News release from CNA... about non-citizens in the military.... guess what? They are just as good as citizens, if not better. I almost wish that we had a spanish ASVAB. I bet that I could get 20% more applicants in my DEP Pool. Call that recommendation into the DoD from the Militant Pundit.

Ever feel like picking up your feet, putting on your teflon suit and wading through some BullS**t? I got one for you. This guy claims to be:

Chris White is an ex-Marine infantryman with experience as a recruiter-assistant. He is currently working on his doctorate in history...

Well, if you read what his "recruiter assistant" was... he was at home on the HomeTown Recruiter Assistance Program (RAP). We make those guys do things like Data Entry, school visits, and putting up posters. And that makes him a freaking EXPERT on recruiting. Love it. Just love it.

Cool ideas from a group called Business Executives for National Security (BENS). All of you former recruiters should have a comment on this! It is a VERY interesting read.

The Guard has it right

2005-05-24T22:07:00.000-05:00

I love this one. This woman says that her daughter was screwed into going to Boot Camp!

Woohoo! Finally someone went to Boot Camp! Throw a freaking party!

The Guard says recruits need to understand contracts are serious business...and they are under orders to enforce those contracts.
As for Kley, she now has a stress fracture in her heel...and will have to redo boot camp next month...she may be in for the duration of her eight year agreement.

Cry me a freaking river lady. Your daughter signed up for the NG, went to the drills and then got cold feet when she was supposed to do the hard stuff. She was under orders to go to Boot Camp. Unlike the active services, you do not join the IRR for the Delayed Entry Program. You join the Guard. Period. You go to the drills, get paid etc. Oh now when Boot Camp looms, you want out. Too bad, those orders are to boot camp, not a contract saying that you need to go to boot camp on this date.

Article 85 Desertion-

(a) Any member of the armed forces who--

(1) without authority goes or remains absent from his unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to remain away therefrom permanently;

(2) quits his unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to avoid hazardous duty or to shirk important service; or

(3) without being regularly separated from one of the armed forces enlists or accepts an appointment in the same or another on of the armed forces without fully disclosing the fact that he has not been regularly separated, or enters any foreign armed service except when authorized by the United States;

is guilty of desertion.

(b) Any commissioned officer of the armed forces who, after tender of his resignation and before notice of its acceptance, quits his post or proper duties without leave and with intent to remain away therefrom permanently is guilty of desertion.

(c) Any person found guilty of desertion or attempt to desert shall be punished, if the offense is committed in time of war, by death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct, but if the desertion or attempt to desert occurs at any other time, by such punishment, other than death, as a court-martial may direct.

I will say that A.2 applies.

Getting a little pissed

2005-05-24T22:01:00.000-05:00

Ok, I have heard it all.

Today on Eileen Byrne's show on WLS, a lady called in to agree with Bill Maher's Fruit comment I blogged about yesterday(her blog needs a bit of help, but we will let her pass). Well, she started in on recruiting saying that we, recruiters, are targeting minorities and poor people. My favorite quote was "no oil executive has lost their son in Iraq".

First off, I found this blog with the demographics (as of May 1) of those killed in Iraq.

Interestingly the deaths in Operation Iraqi Freedom reflect the racial composition of the U.S. population in 2000, with the exception of the Asian category (n=1048)::
Whites -- 731 (70%)
Black or African American -- 132 (13%)
Hispanic or Latino -- (12%)
Asian -- 22 (2%)
Other categories were 1% or less

Deaths from Operation Enduring Freedom are a bit more concentrated in the white category:
Whites -- 116 (83%)
Black or African American -- 9 (6%)
Hispanic or Latino -- 12 (9%)
Asian -- 1 (0.7%)
Other categories were 1% or less

Well. Ironic. The dying people (the only military that most people care about in America) match almost exactly the demographics of the USA! Wow!

We are not targeting anyone lady. Oh yes I am... 17-35 year olds that are mentally, physically, and morally qualified. Do I care where the guys I recruit come from? NOPE! I have been in a 3 million dollar house with an applicant who wanted to make his dad proud and not have his dad support him forever. I have been in a house where the mom ran out, dad forced the two boys to quit school, take care of HIM by working and doing all of the work around the house. The house was so dirty and filled with cigarette butts that we had to do the interview outside. I sat on the front porch and a board snapped underneath the weight of the applicant. You know what, I put them both in the military, got them a job that they loved, and they appreciate it. Their family appreciate it. They are both men now that love their country, love what they do for it, and love the feeling that they get when they come home.

Do oil executive's children join the military. Yep. What do they do? Anything. Most will be officers. Why? They have a better education in better schools. They have drive. Motivation.

I am going to hit the rant on button.

I was a kid in high school 8 years ago today. I graduated 5/24/97. I did not join the military because I was desperate for a job. I am what us in recruiting call a "Golden Nugget". I had a 99 on the ASVAB, high school athlete, physically fit, active in school, etc. I took the highest and best program that my branch has to offer. When I made it to the training, I was with some of society's best. I am still with some of society's best.

What am I getting at? Kids today are just like me in some ways. 95% of the kids like me are not going to join because their parents have indoctrinated them into believing that the only thing that will advance them in life is college. IT happens, we will not get into how college may or may not prepare you or your life. People are wanting more people from my demographic to join, but they do not want to give the incentives that will make people like me join. I joined because I needed discipline first and foremost, college opportunities, and a host of other things.

So the woman's decision on how to make more people like me to join is the Draft. She said explicitly that the draft is the only way to go. So, the republican party does not want a draft, the extreme left wing wants a draft to get back at the "oil executives" and the rich.

What can we do to get the brightest to join the enlisted ranks? Force the military to only pick up officers from the enlisted ranks and the Service Academies. That is one way. Not the best way by far, but it would work. Make ROTC units only have prior service people in them. Do not allow the ROTC to give scholarships to HS seniors. They do not deserve it. They deserve to go to Boot Camp. If you look at a cadet from the Academy and an ROTC grad from say, Texas A&M (no offense damn aggies) there is a TON of difference in the way that they walk, talk, act etc. An Academy grad could come out and be a CEO of a company within a couple of years. The ROTC punk needs to be taught the ropes when they get to their command.

I wonder how much the military spends on ROTC units?

Wow that rant did not go down the same line I thought it would...

In the News today

2005-05-23T21:24:00.000-05:00

"More people joined the Michael Jackson fan club," Maher said. "We've done picked all the low-lying Lyndie England fruit, and now we need warm bodies."- Bill Maher (Link)

I am telling you that Lyndie England has screwed recruiting forever. Nothing in recruiting affects it today. It always affects recruiting 6 months away. The England Story broke in January-ish, and look at it now. Recruiting is at a 3 year low for (all.. cough...) branches. I want this woman to burn. I do not care where, but she needs to be out.

I do not believe that Bill Maher should be fired. He usually supports the military. He is a comedian. He is calling England low-lying fruit, not all the rest of us.

Link

I think that I am going to pick apart 2 of these people who need to be contacted, and I might even contact them...

-- Kathy Allwein of Lebanon, Pa., whose son was told that his student loans would be paid after he enlisted. After two and a half years in the military and a tour in Iraq, he is being told that the loans are not eligible for repayment.- OOPS, busted... Campus Antiwar Network! Your son needed to get the Loan Repayment Program added to his contract. If he did not get it, he was the dumb one, not us. You can't blame the military for your son's stupidity.

-- Lou Plummer of Fayetteville, N.C. Lou's son, who recently separated from the Navy, was coached by recruiters on how to answer questions. Lou's 18-year-old daughter and 43 year old wife have both been contacted recently by recruiters.---Oh Snap! Got you too Lou. Your son, by your own website, was against the war in the Navy. Well, guess what. What he has to say now bears no fruit in my eyes. Navy Buddies... Lets find some Eisenhower Shippies and find all of the dirt on this "Drew Plummer". He was a Nuke Electrician. Come on boys. It is a small community! It costs over 250,000 to train a nuclear power sailor by the Navy. I do not believe this one. He did something else, something more. For all of us, article 134 is pretty much the catch all. Lets find it.

Here is a question for all of you. Do you have Asthma? If you do, you are disqualified for military service. 9 out of 10 moms tell their kids that when they are out of breath that they have Asthma, instead of telling them that they are a fat ass and to get off of the couch. Well, son, you do not have Asthma, you have lazy fat ass. If you say to the MEPS doctor that you have Asthma, you will be disqualified. We as recruiters know that, and we make sure that you know what Asthma is and if you have it or not. Mom is not a doctor in most cases. If that is coaching, then I am guilty. It is even in a video that the military processing station put out.

Link Link Link Link

If this is true, this asshat needs to be in jail forever. If it is false, this woman needs to be in jail even longer. These stories come around every once in a while. 90% of them end up being unfounded, someone just wanting to get someone in power in trouble, especially for telling them that they are not qualified. But since the recruiting world has a microscope on it, it made the news. According to the 3rd link, it sounds like the guy has done it before. He needs to fry.

I might get the red ass here:

The number of women in Army recruiting classes has dropped about 20 percent over the past five years.

Why the drop?

“It’s the war,” Army spokesman Douglas Smith said

This asshole Doug Smith is a dipshit. The story says he works for recruiting command. I hope he does not anymore. They asked about the drop over the LAST 5 YEARS! what does he blame it on? The war. Yup, give them the freaking quote of the year! Dumbass. I hope you lost your job for those three words.

It is getting worse!

2005-05-20T14:40:00.000-05:00

Here is another news article about people trying to get military recruiting off of High School Campuses.

The funny part is that Amy Hagopian is just another activist. She may be part of the PTA, but she teaches a class at the Univ of Washington on activism! Just another trumped news story trying to get public opinion on the wrong side of recruiting.

Nobody crawed up this soft spoken carpenter's ass in this USA Today's article, but with just a little sleuthing, you can see that he is part of the Counter Recruiting effort! I am getting sick of anyone who is quoted in the newspaper against something is part of a bigger organization! This makes me sick!

Opinions?

We already had the REAL ID act folks.

2005-05-20T10:02:00.000-05:00

Read this:

SEC. 7212. DRIVER'S LICENSES AND PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION CARDS.

(a) DEFINITIONS- In this section:

(1) DRIVER'S LICENSE- The term `driver's license' means a motor vehicle operator's license as defined in section 30301(5) of title 49, United States Code.

(2) PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION CARD- The term `personal identification card' means an identification document (as defined in section 1028(d)(3) of title 18, United States Code) issued by a State.

(b) STANDARDS FOR ACCEPTANCE BY FEDERAL AGENCIES-

(1) IN GENERAL-

(A) LIMITATION ON ACCEPTANCE- No Federal agency may accept, for any official purpose, a driver's license or personal identification card newly issued by a State more than 2 years after the promulgation of the minimum standards under paragraph (2) unless the driver's license or personal identification card conforms to such minimum standards.

(B) DATE FOR CONFORMANCE- The Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall establish a date after which no driver's license or personal identification card shall be accepted by a Federal agency for any official purpose unless such driver's license or personal identification card conforms to the minimum standards established under paragraph (2). The date shall be as early as the Secretary determines it is practicable for the States to comply with such date with reasonable efforts.

(C) STATE CERTIFICATION-

(i) IN GENERAL- Each State shall certify to the Secretary of Transportation that the State is in compliance with the requirements of this section.

(ii) FREQUENCY- Certifications under clause (i) shall be made at such intervals and in such a manner as the Secretary of Transportation, with the concurrence of the Secretary of Homeland Security, may prescribe by regulation.

(iii) AUDITS- The Secretary of Transportation may conduct periodic audits of each State's compliance with the requirements of this section.

(2) MINIMUM STANDARDS- Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall by regulation, establish minimum standards for driver's licenses or personal identification cards issued by a State for use by Federal agencies for identification purposes that shall include--

(A) standards for documentation required as proof of identity of an applicant for a driver's license or personal identification card;

(B) standards for the verifiability of documents used to obtain a driver's license or personal identification card;

(C) standards for the processing of applications for driver's licenses and personal identification cards to prevent fraud;

(D) standards for information to be included on each driver's license or personal identification card, including--

(i) the person's full legal name;

(ii) the person's date of birth;

(iii) the person's gender;

(iv) the person's driver's license or personal identification card number;

(v) a digital photograph of the person;

(vi) the person's address of principal residence; and

(vii) the person's signature;

(E) standards for common machine-readable identity information to be included on each driver's license or personal identification card, including defined minimum data elements;

(F) security standards to ensure that driver's licenses and personal identification cards are--

(i) resistant to tampering, alteration, or counterfeiting; and

(ii) capable of accommodating and ensuring the security of a digital photograph or other unique identifier; and

(G) a requirement that a State confiscate a driver's license or personal identification card if any component or security feature of the license or identification card is compromised.

(3) CONTENT OF REGULATIONS- The regulations required by paragraph (2)--

(A) shall facilitate communication between the chief driver licensing official of a State, an appropriate official of a Federal agency and other relevant officials, to verify the authenticity of documents, as appropriate, issued by such Federal agency or entity and presented to prove the identity of an individual;

This one is called the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 Sect 7212

Now read this:

SEC. 202. MINIMUM DOCUMENT REQUIREMENTS AND ISSUANCE STANDARDS FOR FEDERAL RECOGNITION.

(a) Minimum Standards for Federal Use-

(1) IN GENERAL- Beginning 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, a Federal agency may not accept, for any official purpose, a driver's license or identification card issued by a State to any person unless the State is meeting the requirements of this section.

(2) STATE CERTIFICATIONS- The Secretary shall determine whether a State is meeting the requirements of this section based on certifications made by the State to the Secretary. Such certifications shall be made at such times and in such manner as the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Transportation, may prescribe by regulation.

(b) Minimum Document Requirements- To meet the requirements of this section, a State shall include, at a minimum, the following information and features on each driver's license and identification card issued to a person by the State:

(1) The person's full legal name.

(2) The person's date of birth.

(3) The person's gender.

(4) The person's driver's license or identification card number.

(5) A digital photograph of the person.

(6) The person's address of principle residence.

(7) The person's signature.

(8) Physical security features designed to prevent tampering, counterfeiting, or duplication of the document for fraudulent purposes.

(9) A common machine-readable technology, with defined minimum data elements.

(c) Minimum Issuance Standards-

(1) IN GENERAL- To meet the requirements of this section, a State shall require, at a minimum, presentation and verification of the following information before issuing a driver's license or identification card to a person:

(A) A photo identity document, except that a non-photo identity document is acceptable if it includes both the person's full legal name and date of birth.

(B) Documentation showing the person's date of birth.

(C) Proof of the person's social security account number or verification that the person is not eligible for a social security account number.

(D) Documentation showing the person's name and address of principal residence.

(2) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS-

(A) IN GENERAL- To meet the requirements of this section, a State shall comply with the minimum standards of this paragraph.

(B) EVIDENCE OF LAWFUL STATUS- A State shall require, before issuing a driver's license or identification card to a person, valid documentary evidence that the person--

(i) is a citizen of the United States;

(ii) is an alien lawfully admitted for permanent or temporary residence in the United States;

(iii) has conditional permanent resident status in the United States;

(iv) has an approved application for asylum in the United States or has entered into the United States in refugee status;

(v) has a valid, unexpired nonimmigrant visa or nonimmigrant visa status for entry into the United States;

(vi) has a pending application for asylum in the United States;

(vii) has a pending or approved application for temporary protected status in the United States;

(viii) has approved deferred action status; or

(ix) has a pending application for adjustment of status to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States or conditional permanent resident status in the United States.

(C) TEMPORARY DRIVERS' LICENSES AND IDENTIFICATION CARDS-

(i) IN GENERAL- If a person presents evidence under any of clauses (v) through (ix) of subparagraph (B), the State may only issue a temporary driver's license or temporary identification card to the person.

(ii) EXPIRATION DATE- A temporary driver's license or temporary identification card issued pursuant to this subparagraph shall be valid only during the period of time of the applicant's authorized stay in the United States or, if there is no definite end to the period of authorized stay, a period of one year.

(iii) DISPLAY OF EXPIRATION DATE- A temporary driver's license or temporary identification card issued pursuant to this subparagraph shall clearly indicate that it is temporary and shall state the date on which it expires.

(iv) RENEWAL- A temporary driver's license or temporary identification card issued pursuant to this subparagraph may be renewed only upon presentation of valid documentary evidence that the status by which the applicant qualified for the temporary driver's license or temporary identification card has been extended by the Secretary of Homeland Security.

(3) VERIFICATION OF DOCUMENTS- To meet the requirements of this section, a State shall implement the following procedures:

(A) Before issuing a driver's license or identification card to a person, the State shall verify, with the issuing agency, the issuance, validity, and completeness of each document required to be presented by the person under paragraph (1) or (2).

(B) The State shall not accept any foreign document, other than an official passport, to satisfy a requirement of paragraph (1) or (2).

(C) Not later than September 11, 2005, the State shall enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Secretary of Homeland Security to routinely utilize the automated system known as Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, as provided for by section 404 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (110 Stat. 3009-664), to verify the legal presence status of a person, other than a United States citizen, applying for a driver's license or identification card.

(d) Other Requirements- To meet the requirements of this section, a State shall adopt the following practices in the issuance of drivers' licenses and identification cards:

(1) Employ technology to capture digital images of identity source documents so that the images can be retained in electronic storage in a transferable format.

(2) Retain paper copies of source documents for a minimum of 7 years or images of source documents presented for a minimum of 10 years.

(3) Subject each person applying for a driver's license or identification card to mandatory facial image capture.

(4) Establish an effective procedure to confirm or verify a renewing applicant's information.

(5) Confirm with the Social Security Administration a social security account number presented by a person using the full social security account number. In the event that a social security account number is already registered to or associated with another person to which any State has issued a driver's license or identification card, the State shall resolve the discrepancy and take appropriate action.

(6) Refuse to issue a driver's license or identification card to a person holding a driver's license issued by another State without confirmation that the person is terminating or has terminated the driver's license.

(7) Ensure the physical security of locations where drivers' licenses and identification cards are produced and the security of document materials and papers from which drivers' licenses and identification cards are produced.

(8) Subject all persons authorized to manufacture or produce drivers' licenses and identification cards to appropriate security clearance requirements.

(9) Establish fraudulent document recognition training programs for appropriate employees engaged in the issuance of drivers' licenses and identification cards.

(10) Limit the period of validity of all driver's licenses and identification cards that are not temporary to a period that does not exceed 8 years.

(11) In any case in which the State issues a driver's license or identification card that does not satisfy the requirements of this section, ensure that such license or identification card--

(A) clearly states on its face that it may not be accepted by any Federal agency for any official purpose; and

(B) uses a unique design or color indicator to alert Federal agency and other law enforcement personnel that it may not be accepted for any such purpose.

(e) Additional Powers of Secretary- The Secretary, in the Secretary's discretion--

(1) may, in addition to the requirements of subsection (b), prescribe one or more design formats for driver's licenses and identification cards that satisfy the requirements of this section in order--

(A) to protect the national security interests of the United States; and

(B) to allow for clear visual differentiation between categories of driver's licenses and identity cards (such as to differentiate between driver's licenses valid for multi-year terms and temporary driver's licenses); and

(2) may, in addition to the limitations described in subsections (c)(2)(C)(ii) and (d)(10), further limit the validity period of driver's licenses and identification cards in order to provide for periodic confirmation of principal residence address and lawful presence in the United States in a status described in subsection (c)(2)(B).

SEC. 203. LINKING OF DATABASES.

(a) In General- To be eligible to receive any grant or other type of financial assistance made available under this title, a State shall participate in the interstate compact regarding sharing of driver license data, known as the `Driver License Agreement', in order to provide electronic access by a State to information contained in the motor vehicle databases of all other States.

(b) Requirements for Information- A State motor vehicle database shall contain, at a minimum, the following information:

(1) All data fields printed on drivers' licenses and identification cards issued by the State.

(2) Motor vehicle drivers' histories, including motor vehicle violations, suspensions, and points on licenses.

SEC. 204. TRAFFICKING IN AUTHENTICATION FEATURES FOR USE IN FALSE IDENTIFICATION DOCUMENTS.

Section 1028(a)(8) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking `false authentication features' and inserting `false or actual authentication features'.

SEC. 205. GRANTS TO STATES.

(a) In General- The Secretary may make grants to a State to assist the State in conforming to the minimum standards set forth in this title.

(b) Authorization of Appropriations- There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for each of the fiscal years 2005 through 2009 such sums as may be necessary to carry out this title.

To use my favorite phrase: same shit, different sandwich. We just paid these windbag politicians to rewrite a freaking law that they already had. It was 18 months for compliance for the first act, now it is 3 years. Come 3 years from now, we will have another law that wastes more of your hard earned state taxes. This is CRAP people!

It looks like the only thing that is different is that the documents have to be verified before being used. IS that enough to get all up in arms about?

The Real ID act is just pandering

2005-05-19T22:06:00.000-05:00

This started out being a comment to Guy at Snugg Harbor but it is morphing into a post.

I think that the best way to control our borders is through another way. We do not need a fence or a National ID like Riverdog wants to see. The easiest way is to remove the incentive for crossing illegally in the first place, streamline the way to getting a green card, make it more cost effective to get a greencard, and arrest anyone who is caught employing illegals.

I have been beside friends who have dealt with the issues of getting a greencard. If you are not a lawyer, you cannot keep up with the constantly evolving American immigration laws. There is supposed to be a 6 month limit on how long it takes to receive a green card. It takes more than 2 years in most cases, often costing twice as much as it should. There is so much misinformation out there dealing with immigration, upto and including the Immigration interviewers themselves, that people end up getting screwed. So now, they are out 1200 bucks (more than likely more) and they are still illegal. You cannot expect to support yourself during that time and it puts immigrants in a hole when they get here.

So, what is the immigrant to do? He finds a company that will work him to the bone for peanuts and pays him under the table. This pay is not taxed, therefore the Gov't is not getting it's share to pay for things that the illegals use (schools, healthcare, etc) and it leaches the system. So, if those employers are held accountable for hiring illegals, then the illegal would be worse off, but the country would be better off.

So, how do we fix this? We do not Racist Vincente Fox's approval. We can do this quietly by enforcing the old rules. If someone is found, by ANY law enforcement Agency, to be employing Illegals, then the business is fined HEAVILY (I would say 100,000 bucks for each worker) that would go directly to the local school system. Do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars. Each of the Illegals would then be given the paperwork to make themselves legal. IF the paperwork is not filed within 5 working days, then deportation hearings would take place and the person would be deported no questions asked.

The real ID act is nothing more than posturing to the base. I am part of the base that they are commenting to. I think that they are way off base and need to look at the real problem.

What do you think?

Back from the Hospital!

2005-05-19T20:47:00.000-05:00

Well, I made it through surgery #1. I am not in too much pain. Thanks for all of the well wishes. I now have over a month of sniffing out attacks against recruiting and all of the other stuff that I might find interesting.

See all of you tomorrow.

Where the hell is PETA now????

2005-05-13T22:26:00.000-05:00

What the Hell?

Everyone go hug your dog. If you do not hug your dog now you will after reading this story. I do not care what was about to happen to the dog. I do not care if it was going to be euthanized. That is a living, breathing animal. Not only an animal, but a family member to most people.

Ok, now the bigger question is why was this allowed to happen? I do not mean in the school itself, but from the parents of the students. Here is my guess. I am not going to play the lib v. correct side (dig, dig, dig).

When the whole Schaivo case came up and everyone was talking about this whole "slippery Slope". I ask myself "Self, What in the hell do they man?" This is it. The line between living and death is becoming blurred. This dog, had a heartbeat. Had a soul, had a "family". It had done nothing wrong except be born at a time when he could either not be taken care of or had people who would not take care of him.

So, with no permission of his own, he was used as a science experiment. So this guy could "see the organs actually working". What is the difference in what he did and the work of a 5 year old child who kills a dog just to see it die? Isn't that #14 on the "are you a serial killer candidate" test? The difference is that this guy will get away with it under the guise of "Education". Oh... the best part... this fuck is a SUBSTITUTE! He is not even a real teacher! What the hell was he doing with his hands on a lesson plan? I am almost certain that he does not have any licenses to use or possess or execute Lab Animals. Utah Statute 76-9-301 (3)(c) says A person is guilty of aggravated cruelty to an animal if the person: (c) kills or causes to be killed an animal without having a legal privilege to do so.

Please call the Local Police Department's Chief of Police at (435) 528-7969,
the Sanpete County State's Attorney at:(435) 835-2103
Leonard Blackham (R-Sanpete Co.): (435) 436-8125

This guy needs to be thrown in Jail. The Law requires it.

I am a dog lover. I am pretty much an animal lover. I do not believe in PETA's ways or most of their oddball positions, but their name really needs to be put to use and make this guy fry.

Sorry for the light posting

2005-05-11T22:12:00.000-05:00

The posting will continue to be light for the next couple of days. I have not made it home until 9:00pm+ for the last 3 nights and I do not see it getting any better soon.

I am getting people in the military though! That part is good!

The posting will resume in full force this weekend!

I cannot believe what I am reading today

2005-05-08T10:00:00.000-05:00

Jay from Stop the ACLU pointed me in a direction that I had not thought about before. He said "hey see what you can find about the ACLU and military recruiting". Of course, I read that right before I had to go to my Headquarters for two days of training.

So, now back, firmly sitting on my deck blogging away, I find some links to the counter recruiting that I tore into before and the ACLU's agenda.

First off comes a story from Lansing, MI. Granted this is a college town too, so bear with that thought as well as reading this story. The story starts in with a couple of kids who came back from the military after being in for a while and hating it. The first is a girl named Moreno. She joined the National Guard after being told that she would not go to war at all. Well, that was 98, this is 05. She is now a civilian after transferring to the Air Force. She made it two weeks in AF boot camp and put in what it looks like it conscious Objector paperwork. So, this girl joins the NG, does not like what she sees on the horizon (deployments, actually having to work as a military member) so she jumps ship to the Air Force.

Hold the plate Missy. Lets examine this statement right here from down the page a little bit.

Once inside the boot camp, however, the mission statement can get a lot more graphic. Patricia Moreno, the Eastern High graduate who was told by a recruiter that Marines enlisting in 1998 would never see combat, told the following story of her Air Force training. Her training instructor asked some new recruits what they believed their primary purpose was in the U.S. Air Force. A girl stood up, Moreno recalled, and answered that it was to serve and protect. The instructor said that was partly true, but the real reason why youre in the Air Force is to kill people and blow shit up.

Bombs on target on time, sweetheart. But that is not what caught my eye. The fact that her story is now confused did. She now said that she enlisted in the Marines, not the National Guard like she said in the second paragraph. Interesting. A quick Google search of her name reveals that she has received the "Annual Young Adult Peacemaker Award" from Pax Christi Michigan. From their website,

works to bring about peace locally, nationally, and globally
through prayer, study, and action. We are rooted in spirituality, dedicated to studying issues of justice from the vantage point of all those involved, and espouse working for peace with justice through nonviolent conflict resolution.

Sounds like a Liberal Sect of the Catholic Church to me! Hmmm... I am not going to dig any deeper on them, but we can see where Ms. Moreno's base is, and she should have never been in the military in the first place if her values are that embedded into liberalism.

So, you read on and you see that the Board member for the ACLU is the lead against military recruiting. Theresa Melendez is the lady's name. No wonder she can be an ACLU board member. She only teaches TWO classes!!!! Why in the hell is this woman on staff? I know that there is someone who can teach those two classes. Waste of money if you ask me. So, she is working out of a basement of a "church" to try to stop military recruiting. She says that we "Target" people of color and low income. Guy from Snugg Harbor touched on this last week.

Oh, and did I mention, the test scores which were looked at differently depending on your ethnic background or gender in order to swell the ranks to "acceptable levels"? Or the modification of physical standards based on gender? (in order to reach that same end).
So, over the course of 30 some odd years we now have (ta-da!) a fully integrated military! With everyone working in harmony, and following orders, and after attending (your service's version of) Leadership Management Enlisted Training, why there are "leaders" aplenty just waiting to excel, awaiting for the opportunity for them to lead.

Racial background... damn right. We need the military to be just as integrated as the rest of the US. The Military needs to be a microcosm of the country it works for. Hopefully without the drug problems, but alas, they are still there. Lower income... I will say no we don't with a caveat. We do not recruit in lower income areas most times. Why? Well, it is mainly because of education. All of the branches are getting very, very technical. Gone are the days of handing someone a gun or a paint brush (Dig at my Navy Buddies). Our mission is to recruit 65%+ Upper Mental Groups. (ASVAB >50). Most people that walk into my office do not meet the minimum qualifications much less the advanced ASVAB score. I am not going to go into why, nor do I care. I wish the schools took better care of the kids, but that is another post.

So, we are at the ACLU is against the military trying to afford "people of lesser status" an opportunity to excel in life with little input. I would like that on a billboard.

A problem with the ACLU's logic is they never have been to a military base, never been to a Boot Camp, never really been around us military folks. And they are judging us.

Back to what this blog is about!

2005-05-03T22:11:00.000-05:00

Recruiting!

Only one of my guys made it into the military today. The other was a wash. Shhhhh..... it happens.

I saw these articles last night when I was blogging away. The first is this one, which I will attack first.

Damn right the NG is having trouble. They have been telling their people for years that they can be a weekend warrior, never to to war, and never do anything other than go to college and drill once during the summer.

MY HOW THE TIMES HAVE CHANGED. Yep, it is time to tell the truth boys. It is ok. People who are joining the army are joining to fight. If you are recruiting for the NG, just tell the kids that you are more than likely going on a deployment to the Big Sandbox, and then you get all of the benefits of being in the NG. People will appreciate it! Hell, they might even join.

The next one is this. I pretty much don't mind the article, but there are a few lines that bother me. First one...

"It's another indication of very poor planning for this whole war against Iraq," said Lawrence Korb, a former assistance defense secretary.

This freaking Yayhoo was a defense secretary from 81-85. I love it when people from 20 years ago let their opinions be known. You have no freaking clue about anything buddy. I have his Bio here. You can see that he has been at the Center for American Progress. From their homepage, you can see that they are a liberal whacko group. At least go to people who are in the know about troop levels and not who will give you the soundbite that you want. Assclown reporter.

The National Guard and Reserve soldiers make up at least one-third of the 135,000 American troops in Iraq.

At least 22 citizen soldiers died, nearly one-third of all U.S. losses in May. As a percentage of the month's death toll, that is about double what it had been in most previous months of the war. It also shows that the Guard and Reserve are bearing an increasing combat load.

Hmmmm... balance. Wow. 33% of the forces on the ground are reservists (notice how they are being more and more called "Citizen Soldiers" than reservists. I guess they are trying to get support for the reserves) and 33% of the casualties are reservists. Damn.... balance. It is amazing how a bullet/bomb, etc does not look at your affiliation to branch before it goes off.

Among the 22 citizen soldiers (there it is again) killed in May was Staff Sgt. William D. Chaney, of the Illinois Army National Guard. At age 59, he was the oldest soldier to die in Iraq since the invasion began.

Chaney, of Schaumburg, Ill., died May 18 at a U.S. military hospital in Germany of complications following surgery for a noncombat related condition that he developed while in Iraq. (bolds mine)

Poor guy. He died from a NON-COMBAT RELATED INJURY FOLKS!!! I know most do not read once they see his age, but it was in a hospital, in Germany, not dealing with combat. Amazing. May God rest your soul, brother.

Last one... from the KC Star (registration req'd go to BugMeNot.com for username and Pword). It is from the homeland, Illinois. It goes into the Solomon Act. Take it or leave it. It is what is bringing the Don't ask, don't tell policy back to the mainstream.

I say take it. The Supreme Court needs to butt out on this one. The Act basically says, "support us, or we won't support you". No ifs, ands or buts. If you want money from the federal Gov't, then you need to support the federal government policies. The people (through the legislation) said they wanted this, the president signed it. If it was not for Marbury v. Madison, there would be nothing for the Supreme Court to say. I say that needs to be repealed prior to the Solomon Act being overturned.

Freaking Lindie England

2005-05-02T22:52:00.000-05:00

At least this crap is over. I hope that she gets a cold, damp, lonely prison cell. She needs to have one in Antarctica.

Yup... The Army and Marines missed their missions once again. One thing that I hate is that the media is tying this to Iraq. It is not really Iraq. The other recruiting services are having issues as well and let me tell you why: the dreaded J.F. MAM's. It happens every year and you just have to work through it. Jan/Feb/Mar/Apr/May is the hardest time to recruit. You are dealing with FAFSA's coming back telling these dumbass kids that they make too much money tog et any from the Government. Then mommy is telling them that they will pay for community college. It just happens.

And then you hear about this story out in Denver. I must say that this must have been a new ass recruiter. You NEVER, EVER help get someone clean. AND never EVER tell someone to buy a Diploma! If you get one out side of your area, you have to get an education verification... and the Education guys will find your little lie. It takes one phone call. There is an interview with the CO for the recruiting battalion out in Denver. This guy is such a tool. I hope he sees this interview and just feels disgraced. He will never be in command again.

I will attack this more tomorrow when I get my 2 people in tomorrow!

New contest: 7 things

2005-05-01T00:36:00.000-05:00

I am going to steal this idea from a National Geographic I read at my doctor's office on Thursday.

The contest goes like this: I post a 7 things subject and you tell me what your 7 things are.

The first edition:
The 7 things that you miss about Childhood:

1. Innocence- self explanatory.
2. Athletic Ability- Yep. I was a soccer player. I do not think I could compete in a soccer game if I tried.
3. Time seemed to be infinite. Now, all I can do to get a break is take a vacation!
4. No worries about anything. Mom could handle anything and everything.
5. being able to play in the woods. I remember playing fort in the woods. We had a creek that ran a couple hundred of feet from my house. I would go back there, play in the creek all day trying to dam it up, all beaver style. Come home completely drenched, and love it.
6. Wide open imagination- being able to just look at a stick and think it was a sword.
7. no responsibility- see #4.

Tell me what your 7 things are that you miss about childhood.

Good weekend songs

2005-04-30T22:54:00.000-05:00

I am a techno dance junkie. Just to forewarn you guys. Here is a good list of songs that you might enjoy. Any comments of songs to add to the list/collection will promptly be listened to and more than likely bought at the local Best Buy.

1. DJ Tiesto- Just Be
2. Deepest Blue- Deepest Blue
3. Plug N'Play- Do it
4. JFK (Bad Habit Boys Remix)- Whiplash

From my Seattle Days, there is a radio station called KNHC. It is a High School radio station, but it has a kick ass website and the songs are great. Take a look at their top 20 list and you will get a good cross section of dance music for purchase...

One of the best stories in years

2005-04-30T22:00:00.000-05:00

There is a bit of Canadian Anti-Military Bias, but this story made me feel very lucky to be alive and in one piece.

Update: The militantwife says that there is no anti-military bias to the article. The thought behind calling it antimilitary was a line that the author said...

after the guy was injured.... she asks him why he did not commit suicide. Hell he just lived through D-Day and she is wanting him to talk about why he did not kill himself. That is completely idiotic if you ask me.

Little doctor visit today

2005-04-28T21:00:00.000-05:00

Wow. I went the doctor today. I have a Greek surgeon that I was referred to by my normal doctor for a hernia repair. I get there, and he tells me that I not only have one hernia that I knew of, had repaired once and has ruptured again, but now I have another one on the other side that needs to be repaired also.

So, two weeks from now I will be laid up in my bed with the little bell. I am going to hate being home and not being able to do any work around the house. I will sorely miss my yardwork.

I am back to work tomorrow. Tomorrow is Mission Day, so I will be pretty happy that I missed all of the stress this month. I will give you all of the juicy details tomorrow.

Enjoy!

Touchy subject

2005-04-28T13:00:00.000-05:00

No pun intended...

Gay folks in the military again. I am going to take a page from Gun-Toting Liberal. I am going to tell it like it is: no bull. If you don't like it, wait your 30 seconds and click away.

This is wrong on so many levels. I hate being lumped into the "MTV" Generation. According to this article (at least it is an opinion piece) we MTV'ers should just love the thought of a gay man serving next to us. Here is my problem with this. Young people are supposedly more liberal than the older folks in the world. That may be more because when you are young, you are supposed to want everything given to you, as in a socialist world... because your childhood usually is a socialist world. So now, at 17-20 yrs old, you decide to join the military, and usually your thoughts change. You learn that people that want everything given to them are just plain whiners. So military people are usually more conservative, unless they are the "bad" people/ workers that EVERY ONE of us has had in our division, platoon, etc, etc.

In the dirt of a desert, dark of a submarine, cheek to cheek in a C-130 or whatever... it is not a good idea to have someone who is looking at you as a sexual object (ask a woman in the service) instead of a brother that would give his life for you. I cannot feel any more strongly about a particular issue. I heard a story once about the first woman that threw a big fit about not being allowed on a submarine. It was not about wanting to serve on a submarine, it was about wanting to break the sub force. That is all the gays in the military crap is. It is the Gay Generation (that is what I am calling this time in our life) wanting to break the military. As soon as a gay man gets into the military, he will cut and run as soon as he gets called up to go to the big sandbox.

My last point comes from this article, and the other article above. It deals with the defense language school. I think that the reason we are losing alot of people from the defense language school is because liberal language arts people are closer to homosexual ideals than say, a diesel mechanic in the army or navy. It really makes me mad when the media, politicians and others do not look at the whole picture. If you look at the whole picture, you will see that males that are more feminine will be in the language world, vice the engineering and hands on workforce. How many homosexual car mechanics do you know? I didn't think that many.

Any thoughts? All opinions will be listened to...

freak hail storm

2005-04-26T22:04:00.000-05:00

Almost finished with the yard. Today I was adding more topsoil to the front yard before seeding it. Well, I was alomst finished.... and then got pelted by hail! I had my car out in the driveway, windows down, Roe Conn talking (download the Rubber Song from the site and Baby Mama from Fantasia Barrino (last year's american idol) and you will laugh your ass off!), me listening more than working. The inside of the car was all wet, all of the extra 50 bricks we picked up today... all soaked... all the dirt... now weighing twice the weight as before.

Nothing terribly exciting happened to me today. I am ready to get the yard finished and the wife off the back.

Yesterday was the 2nd anniversary for us. We decided to go cheap this year since we have spent so much cash on the yard. We went to a local restaurant that offers 2 dinners for 10.99 with a mail out coupon. We have not paid full price for too much in the last few months. I tend to watch SlickDeals.net to see what is for sale, or on sale, or especially things that are mispriced.

I bought the militantwife a set of irons (golf clubs, not the household appliance) for cheap on eBay. She wants to get started golfing so we can spend more time together. I suck at golf, but I would love to have her come with me on the weekends.

Modern Marvels is on the History Channel featuring Bunkers. NORAD has been featured and one cool one that I thought would be cool: the Titan Missile Museum. It is in Green Valley, AZ. If I am ever out there, I think that I will head that way.

Wow... random thoughts post. I guess this can be the random comments thread too.

Marvin Windows!

2005-04-25T22:47:00.000-05:00

Forever now my favorite window company. Clicking away on Blog Explosion (welcome 30 second Viewers!) I hear tires screeching on the TV. Lucky for me, TiVo has become my best friend. I rewind the commercial to see an 2001-pres BMW M3 (very similar to my car, just bigger engine) and a 300M chasing each other in the city streets blasting all the side street vendors. The M is fishtailing side to side and The Marvin window folks come into view. The M rails on the brakes, stops on a dime, with the shot just wide enough to see the M3 gills on the side. The window guys move it out of the way, and off it goes again!

Man-gasm.

I miss autocrossing. Anyone else a parking lot racer?

Is there a such thing as a good haircut anymore?

2005-04-23T20:01:00.000-05:00

Weekend update! I bought the militantwife a gift certificate to the local hair cutting place/spa. She and her friend went there today and were NOT satisfied. Far from it actually. Her friend had highlights done, and all that was done was her pocketbook got lighter. Her hair looks exactly the same. The wife got the highlights as well. Hers turned out well, but they cost my wallet 111.00. Yes one hundred eleven bucks. The reason it was so expensive is that I took her to the gal that normally cuts my hair, and that woman just butchered the MW's hair.

So the question is: Where do your ladies go to get their hair done? Mine is simple. 2 on the sides, take off the same on the top that you did on the side. Women are different

It is finally drying out here from the torrents of rain we had over the last few days. Yard work back on!

Took out the clubs today and got in 9 holes. Oh speaking of the devil, are any of you looking for Sporting Goods equipment? If so, go to the sports authority website and you can get 25% off of your purchase. That is right! 25% off. Just type in TSAFRIENDS (all caps, one word) for the discount. Plus, if you live in IL, they don't charge state tax! Try that one on for size. Hope you can come up with something to buy. Think of me when you are making your purchase.

Hope everyone enjoys your weekends!

Loonies back at it again

2005-04-21T22:20:00.000-05:00

Today I was out working in the yard. I am on vacation until next weekend. I tilled up my yard, bought about 200 stones to do some landscaping with, on and on. The militantwife came out and said... "What is the oath of enlistment?" I tell her (you guys can find it here). I ask why. She tells me that it is something I will want to blog about tonight.

So I finish working in the yard, come in and sit down to this article. The first thing that I notice is that Hanoi Jane's hubby is at it again. Thomas Hayden is one of those Liberal "minds" from way back. He is using his "clout" as an ex- California State Senator to drum up support for this PENNSYLVANIA woman whose son was killed in Iraq.

That would be all fine and dandy, if she wanted like a city street named for him. But what does she want... She wants Canada to take in Deserters from the US Military as "Refugees". To save you from going to a Canadian Government site, here is what they call a refugee:

Through its refugee protection system, Canada offers safe haven to persons with a well-founded fear of persecution, as well as those at risk of torture or cruel and unusual treatment or punishment. Canadas refugee protection system consists of two main components:

The Refugee and Humanitarian Resettlement Program, for people seeking protection from outside Canada; and
The In-Canada Refugee Protection Process, for persons making refugee protection claims from within Canada.

Some of you are saying "well... He would be prosecuted for desertion when he comes back right?" Damn right and let me be on the Court Martial jury. In 1951, the Geneva Conventions specifically went over refugees. (PDF file)My favorite part is this. (pg 16 of 56)

A. For the purposes of the present Convention, the term refugee shall apply to any person who:

(1) Has been considered a refugee under the Arrangements of 12 May 1926 and 30 June 1928 or under the Conventions of 28 October 1933 and 10 February 1938, the Protocol of 14 September 1939 or the Constitution of the International Refugee Organization; Decisions of non-eligibility taken by the International Refugee Organization during the period of its activities shall not prevent the status of refugee being accorded to persons who fulfill the conditions of paragraph 2 of this section;

(2) As a result of events occurring before 1 January 1951 and owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.

In the case of a person who has more than one nationality, the term the country of his nationality shall mean each of the countries of which he is a national, and a person shall not be
deemed to be lacking the protection of the country of his nationality if, without any valid reason based on well-founded fear, he has not availed himself of the protection of one of the countries
of which he is a national.

From webster.com

One entry found for persecute.

Main Entry: per·se·cute
Pronunciation: 'p&r-si-"kyüt
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): -cut·ed; -cut·ing
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French persecuter, back-formation from persecuteur persecutor, from Late Latin persecutor, from persequi to persecute, from Latin, to pursue, from per- through + sequi to follow -- more at SUE
1 : to harass in a manner designed to injure, grieve, or afflict; specifically : to cause to suffer because of belief
2 : to annoy with persistent or urgent approaches (as attacks, pleas, or importunities) : PESTER

Also from webster:

One entry found for prosecute.

Main Entry: pros·e·cute
Pronunciation: 'prä-si-"kyüt
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): -cut·ed; -cut·ing
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin prosecutus, past participle of prosequi to pursue -- more at PURSUE
transitive senses
1 : to follow to the end : pursue until finished prosecute the war with... vigor -- Marjory S. Douglas>
2 : to engage in : PERFORM
3 a : to bring legal action against for redress or punishment of a crime or violation of law <prosecuted them for fraud> b : to institute legal proceedings with reference to <prosecute a claim>
intransitive senses : to institute and carry on a legal suit or prosecution

Hmmmmmm..... Oprah... Uma... Persecute... Prosecute...

You decide. I can see that the Canadian Government is laughing all the way to the bank, assuming they flew Air Canada to Ottawa.

Lets examine some of the statements by the woman.... since I am feeling cheery tonight.

A teacher, disc jockey and musician when he enlisted, Baker never thought he'd be called up for overseas duty with U.S. military forces, she said. The National Guard, he assumed, was for natural disasters and the like. "Recruiters are very persuasive - always promising college support and extra money," she said.

What a dipstick. This guy was my age. I am damn certain that he thought he would never have to go to war if he went into the ARNG. None of us who graduated in the 1994-2000 time frame EVER thought we would see a war, much less a ground war with Iraq... again! Politics aside, we never thought it. Slick Willy was all about Cruise Missiles and Predator unmanned aircraft. The Navy and AF were going to walk away with the pie and leave all of the groundpounders in the dust. Well, we were, we did and in 2001, Don Rumsfeld had a plan for restructuring the military to be a mobile fighting force that could be deployed in small groups anywhere in the world at a moments notice instead of what we have now. Well, shit happens and the muck got deep. Here we are, the National Guard is called up, the reserves are called up, the groundpounders are hurting, wanting people to join and paying out the nose to get them. Damn right we are persuasive. That is our freaking job. We are Salesmen for goodness sakes.I have to be better than the next guy. That is all we have. So, this guy was in the NG, re-enlisted (probably in 2001, if my math is right) and went to fight. He did it on his own accord. By a couple of accounts, he did it because he needed a supplemental income or college loan payback (which is 65 grand folks, come sign up!) which ever one makes him sound more pitiful. From the common dreams link above:

When Baker's unit was activated for Iraq, he didn't want to go, Celeste said. But he was honor-bound by his sense of responsibility - to the men in his unit and to the commitment he'd made when he joined.

"I said, 'Should I take you to Canada?' " said Celeste, recalling her Vietnam-era experience of helping military defectors escape the country.

"He said, 'No, I'll just be court-martialed. I'm going to go do this and come home.' "

My kind of guy. Mom is a wingnut that wants him to ruin his life by deserting. He said no, I am going to do my job and be ok. He left. Hell it is pointed out many times that he was the FIRST PA-NG soldier to be killed. Poor guy. It sucks, but he is in a very small minority that come home to be honored as fallen heroes. This guy gave his life for more than just "Bush's war". Give this guy a little respect. Hey Celeste Listen to this: Let your son rest in peace, defending his country and his people he loved as family. He did not want to be your political springboard. You can see that in his actions. Your other moonbats you raised, got arrested for protesting the war as far away from PA as they could (San Francisco).

Ok. In my job, there is a policy in place that says that I cannot run for public office, participate in any political party affiliations, while in an official status. There has to be a similar thing for Philadelphia city workers. Oh wait... Philadelphia... the liberal hippy douche capital of the east coast. Anyway, if you want to contact Celeste, here is her phone number at work. I am sure she will not be happy if you call her and offer condolences. She will probably tell you that her son died in vain.

Weekend Update

2005-04-15T22:29:00.000-05:00

Whew. The "weekend". Even though I am working tomorrow for about 2 hours, it is still the weekend, and my vacation starts next Tuesday morning.

I would like to pass on a word of thanks to Guy@ Snugg Harbor for the kind words about me on his site. It is aways nice to see other veterans sticking together and trying to help the causes that we all seem to have the same ideas on.

This weekend is going to be a landscaping adventure. I had a very bad real estate agent and I was in a very bad position when I bought the house that I now call home. My agent did not really explain the avenues that I had when the house was extremely late being finished. It turns out that the developer was actually his boss at the real estate agency. So he forgot to tell me that I could pull out of the home buying process. So I lived in a hotel with the militant wife, our dog and 4 birds. (Imagine getting a hotel to agree on that one). So living in a hotel, starting work, house late, but livable, just not finished. So we moved in. Oops. They forgot to come back and finish this damn godforsaken place! And the lawn was not even graded. So, a year and a half later, we are finally getting around to tilling the yard up, grading the yard, and getting rid of the crabgrass from hell.

Anyone want to loan me a 10ft+ ladder so I can fix my roof this coming week?

No F1 this week. Looks like I will be hitting the links on Sunday!

Sucks

2005-04-04T22:26:00.000-05:00

The Illini Lost. Looks like we should have brought the Chief.

Oh Boy... here we go again

2005-04-04T20:18:00.000-05:00

Algore has finally gotten his hands on a broadcast company. I think I am going to find a special corner in the room for Algore.

First off, the AP says...

The former vice president and longtime Internet champion

I cannot believe that they said "internet champion". We all know he invented the internet, but I would not put him into the Champion category any further than myself.

Wow... this one I have a phrase for you:

Central to their strategy is inviting Current's viewers to supply their own video content and helping them produce it using editing tools that Current will make available on its Web site.

High school news. Do any of you have a high school journalism class that broadcasts a "news show" from the school? That is edited by freaking failed journalists (those who cannot: teach) and fat kids who cannot get dates. Is that the target audience for this show?

Now we know Gore has lost complete touch with reality:

"The $100,000 television camera has become a $3,000 high-definition camera, and the $250,000 editing console has become a $1,000 Apple computer program," Gore said

Come on Al, no one uses Apple. Apple is another one of those esoteric OS's that attract the kids that do not fit in. (fat kids who cannot get dates... maybe... hmmmm...pattern developing?)

Last point. Come on Al... we see through the crap with this comment.

Gore, who narrowly lost the 2000 presidential election to George W. Bush, has publicly complained about the number of conservative voices dominating the airwaves.

Yet he insisted that Current will have no political agenda.

We know that you love Air America and you are wanting a piece of the pie, but this is better. You can indoctrinate the youth (which is your target audience... no?) all the while telling them that you just care abotu them and their future! Liars and the lying liars that tell them. Ask that asshat that put that on the front of his book.

Happy Mission Day, with much sadness

2005-03-31T20:43:00.000-06:00

Happy mission day! I did not make the mission again this month. I tried and I tried, but alas, my end of the monther, could not get a high enough score. Missed it by 3 ASVAB points.

On a couple of sadder notes, Terri died today. May her soul rest easier than her body did these last 2 weeks.

The Pope is not doing well. I am not Catholic, but I understand that the Pope is very influential and I listen whenever he talks. I feel that there is a secret red phone to God in the Vatican. I hope that he can recover from his infection.

Well... life goes on for the rest of us. Lets all hope that some good will come out of today.

Last ditch effort

2005-03-29T21:50:00.000-06:00

The Militantwife has been kicking around one last idea on how to get more people behind Terri. And it is this...

Where are the feminists! Hello! There is a man out there that says and continues to show that he considers Terri to be his property. The courts are set up so that this woman is his property, and he gets to make all decisions about said property.

How can the feminist world let this happen? Should we start an e-mail campaign to the National Orgainzation for Women? Let's all e-mail Helen Wall and tell her that Terri is not Michael's property.

How about it?

New Picture

2005-03-28T23:18:00.000-06:00

The picture more matches what the blog is about. You might have to hit refresh if you are a returning visitor. Let me know what you think.

GM is going to axe another line

2005-03-24T22:33:00.000-06:00

As you can see from the picture at the top of the page, I am a car LOVER. I am a lover of new, old, classic, and even vehicles that may not be able to be classified as cars.

With that said. GM missed the mark. Why do cars not make it in the world? 1. There is no market for them or 2. They are not cool. I would go out on a limb and say that both Buick and Pontiac have failed on both marks.

Lets go down the Buick line and contrast it with a better car in it's price and class line.

Rendezous- Lexus RX330 (only about 3 grand more for a FWD model, and a Lexus)

Rainier- Yet again,Lexus RX330 for only about 2 grand more.

Terraza- Dodge Grand Caravan (I can't believe I said that either) for 3 grand less

Lacrosse-Audi A4 1.8T

Lesabre- Audi A4 1.8T

The only one that I think that anyone can argue with is the Grand Caravan, but that is because I do not particularly like Minivans, but they are still good cars.

On to Pontiac. I always felt bad for Pontiac. They are like the kid brother of the football star quarterback. We want to be cool too, so we make the Pontiac Sunfire (Chevy Cavalier/ Cobalt), the G6, which is so much hype to try to get it sold that people went out and realized it was a new name for the Grand Prix. Speaking of the GP, it had it's niche, but it forgot to keep itself updated. All of the rest of the Pontiac line is a little off the wall (vibe, astek, etc) design wise. Just like the kid brother trying to be the black wearing trenchcoat wearing little brother. People say... "The GTO... The GTO!" Yeah... My BMW will smoke a GTO from a standing start and on the highway. It is 240hp, and the GTO is 315... I somehow do not believe it. I even went and test drove a GTO to see what happened. I felt like I was in a grandma car. It was not a driver's car. It could have been one. Now Pontiac ends up thinking "hey lets steal the 427!" That engine might be able to save the car, but if you are going to think about a new GTO (probably 45g) wouldn't you get the same engine in the new ZO6 Vette? I would. Or a Audi S4? Or a Mercedes C32 AMG? Or a BMW M3?

I don't know. Yes I do. Any of those. But the GTO.

Tell me your favorite cars and why...

I love it when Daily Kos dismisses the republican argument

2005-03-24T21:38:00.000-06:00

So I was reading Blogging Blago's Blunders in which he takes on the Schaivo issue by not taking it on. Good idea, but I cannot stand around. Kos, which I refuse to add any traffic to (find the link yourself) refers to this report (thank you abstractappeal.com)as the basis for their argument on why Michael Schaivo is an alright dude. Well, coming in as a conservative, I read it with a different eye and found a couple of statements that turned my stomach.

Mr. Pearse concludes that Michaels hearsay testimony about Theresas intent is necessarily adversely affected by the obvious financial benefit to him of being the sole heir at law and by the chronology of this case, specifically referencing Michaels change in position relative to maintaining Theresa following the malpractice award.

This to me shows that even back in 20 DEC 98, the court appointed guardians were thinking that he was a scumbag who wanted her $700,000 purse she received from a somewhat bogus case of malpractice. Michael sued an Obstrician for her eating disorder. Before he met her, she was 250. When they met she was 150. She continued her weight loss down to 110. Then she had her heart attack due to bulemia (it goes into the whole thing in the report). Did Michael not notice that she was bulemic? This was the height of the bulemia issue on TV even. He cannot claim ignorance on that one. The court pulled this guardian because of the conclusions that he made, by the way. Imagine that...

Another Good series of paragraphs on this case....

It has been suggested that in the case of incapacitated persons, particularly those who have not expressed an advance directive, the clear and convincing evidence standard for establishing the intent to discontinue artificial life support is insufficient and incongruous. The insufficiency, it is argued, is because of the possibility of using information that is not accurate, complete or even honest. The incongruity is related to the beyond a reasonable doubt standard that serves as the basis for decisions to convict and then execute capitol felons.

If persons unable to speak for themselves have decisions made on their behalf by guardians or family members, the potential for abuse, barring clear protections, could lead to a slippery slope of actions to terminate the lives of disabled and incompetent persons. And it is not difficult to imagine bad decisions being made in order to make life easier for a family or to avoid spending funds remaining in the estate on the maintenance of a person.

There is, of course, the other side of that slippery slope, which would be to keep people in a situation they would never dream of: unable to die, unable to communicate, dependent for everything, and unaware, being maintained principally or entirely through state resources and for reasons that may relate to guilt, fear, needs or wants of family members, rather than what the persons best wishes might otherwise have been.

And there is the chillingly practical, other public policy matter of the cost of maintaining persons diagnosed in persistent vegetative states and terminal conditions alive for potentially indefinite periods of time at what inevitably becomes public expense. Here the reasonable person standard, with respect to how one would want to be treated were they in Theresas shoes affects the discussion. This is not easy stuff, and should not be.

Does this nail the argument? Absolutely. Now which side do you fall on? Read the argument and decide, the post your comments here.

Da Chief

2005-03-24T20:38:00.000-06:00

I spent a couple of months with a "Native Activist" (his words not mine). He made one statement that made me decide that this is a "partisan" thing. Not republican or democrat, but some other internal parties to the native community that I, admittedly, know little about. He said that "some want the chief gone. Those are the guys that find it racist and find every other thing racist." Kind of like the "Jesse Jackson's" of the world who would accuse a rock of being racist. The other side does not care to make a big deal out of it. Why? Who knows.

So what does that mean? That we, "the white society" (his words again) do not want to be called racist because of the political (correctness) ramifications. I wish that we could get up enough convictions of our own to not cower to the most vocal of people.

Why are we so up in arms about the Chief? Who is it that is complaining about the Chief exactly? Lets bring in the natives and have them file their complaints.

What do I see? I see that the Chief is in Champaign, along with the University obviously. What else comes on universities? Dumb ass guys who have nothing better to do that to take up causes that they only care about because of two reasons. 1. The girl with the nice boobs and the great ass is going to the protest. Lets follow her and get involved. Maybe she will see us and talk to us. 2. The Studies professor is yapping about the protest and they think that if they are seen then there the grade will be easier. Now the girls that are involved usually care a little about something they are protesting about. Then they get emotionally involved, and congrats you have a lib.

Why is someone offended by the Chief? The basic premise is that he is in a dress that Natives would not be in. In all actuality, a PowWow is (my activist buddy told me this. If you know different, let me know) just a money making scheme that tribes developed back long ago when the white expansion moved into the native land. The "official" dances that were conducted for the spiritual side of the native religion were done in private and shared only with the tribe. So, what that comment said to me was that the image that today's natives have now is made up by their ancestors. If they are offended by the image that was portrayed by their ancestors, then take it up with their ancestors and not take it out on a small number of schools and teams that uses their symbols as a sign of unity and honor.

What do you think?

Today is the greatest

2005-03-24T19:50:00.000-06:00

Day of them all... Name that song and you get a yellow stickie of appreciation.

Today I found that one of the guys that I served with actually lives in town and is from here. It is ironic because I met his sister in law that explained his career, we talked about him and then she told me his name. Holy crap I served with him! I called him up and he did not really remember me I don't think. We talked and he said that he is going to come by the office and talk about some of the old times.

It is such a small world now that I am in the military. Not only do you meet at least 2 people a day who were in my branch, I am even finding people that I served with. Weird.

Pissed

2005-03-15T23:10:00.000-06:00

Damn Kansas Lawmakers. You make your decision. Post it up here. I am a Puppy Fan. What about you?

More on Terry Schaivo

2005-03-14T20:42:00.000-06:00

Well, I feel good. Maybe I helped do something. Maybe not. But I got this letter in the inbox today.

Thank you for contacting Governor Bush to ask for his help in the case of Terri Schiavo. He has asked me to respond on his behalf.

The Governor shares your concern for this young woman and has pledged to do whatever he can within the laws of Florida to protect her life. The next few weeks will be very difficult ones for Ms. Schiavo, her family and all of those who care about her. The Governor asks that you keep her and her family in your prayers during this difficult time. Again, thank you for writing Governor Bush about this important issue.

Sincerely,
L. O’Connor Office of Citizens’ Services

It was titled "Govenor Jeb Bush". I almost fell out of my chair. I know it is a form letter, but it makes me feel good.

What kind of crap is this?

2005-03-08T21:02:00.000-06:00

My goodness. What a day. I had to wake up at 5:00am to make it to Ft. Sheridan for a board. The militantwife (She wants to be called pinkcactus from now on) sends me a e-mail. Here is what is linked inside the e-mail.

I have been boiling since I read it. It is not bad enough that I have to work my arse off to get people to come into my office, talk to me and join. Now I have to deal with these moonbats.

As it states in the article. These guys come up to people who are joining the military and try to convince them that the military cannot help them attain their goals. Here is my problem with this "goal attainment" theory. Most of these guys are ex-military. They had the opportunities that they are now trying to keep from these kids. I am going to debunk the myths now:

For one thing, Murphy helped convince him that he could go to college to pursue his interest in criminal justice, and that there was no guarantee he'd get his request for assignment to military police. For another, he's worried about combat in Iraq.

Murphy, is a counter-recruiter. Him is a guy how enlisted in the marines while in high school and has to wait until he gets out of school to go to boot camp. First, the Marines, Navy and Army guarantee, in contract, what job you have, bonuses you receive, when you are leaving, and any other special schools you will have. The only one that you are your job first and a soldier/sailor second is the Navy. It is even in how they call each other... job rating first...then 1 or 2, signifying them being first class or second class petty officers. With the Army and Marines, you will get sergeant something or another. The only branch that does not guarantee your job in writing is the Air Force. They give you a top 3 choice, and the needs of the Air Force (at Boot Camp) dictate what job you will have. So 3 of the 4 branches guarantee you will be in the "Military Police", by your job.

Everyone is worried about combat in Iraq. Unless you are joining the Navy. They seem to be the only branch that is not taking the casualties than the other branches are. The Air Force is even taking casualties.

Back in early 2004, the Moonbat Lib that suggested the draft, Senator Hollings tried to say that it was just the poor who join the military under the guise of getting college paid for. The Montgomery GI Bill pays out $36,072, this year. It goes up each year. It is paid out in 36 monthly installments. In Illinois, the Illinois Veteran's Grant will give you 4 years tuition and books. Tell me that is not a good deal for kids. It is not just poor kids. I guess they are not talking about Illinois rich though. They are talking abut old money New England rich.

Ran across a good one today

2005-03-06T22:18:00.000-06:00

Skippy is obviously like that "one guy" that everyone has had in their division if you are in the military. This has to be one of the funniest lists that I have come across. Read it. Even if you are not in the military, you will get a good laugh. Just replace officers with bosses. It makes sense then.

Some of my favorites:

26. Never tell a German soldier that We kicked your ass in World War 2!

30. Not allowed to wake an Non-Commissioned Officer by repeatedly banging on the head with a bag of trash.

37. Our medic is called Sgt Larwasa, not Dr. Feelgood. (guilty here!)

48. I may not use public masturbation as a tool to demonstrate a flaw in a command decision.

78. I may not call block my chain of command.

89. Must not refer to the Commander as Dad.

There are 213 of these. Take a look.

Standing up for Terri Schaivo

2005-03-06T18:20:00.000-06:00

More news from the Schaivo front. I hope that the court gets its head out of its anus and think. This man is obviously just trying to kill his wife. He has already tried once according to some credible doctors (read: abuse) and now he is just trying to finish the job. I do not like to think that the courts of Florida are as stupid as they are, but this one is definitely making the argument.

I hope the parents get her divorced. This asshat does not deserve a penny from the insurance. Does anyone know if they have State Farm for life insurance? If so, does anyone know a State Farm adjuster in Bloomington? I bet that would end all of this silliness.

Flip out for Flipper

2005-03-05T23:12:00.000-06:00

Yahoo-AP is trying it's best to link the Navy's Submarines to an issue with some rough tooth dolphins. The USS Philadelphia is a 688i class Attack Submarine based out of Groton, CT. The ships usually operate with "passive" sonar. Passive sonar systems are designed to listen to sounds in the water, with hydrophones. These hydrophones do not send out any active noises at all. Submarines are designed to be quiet and hide.

There is an active sonar system on Attack Submarines. Here is why we know it was not used, according to the "press release"; the Phil was doing SEAL operations. If you are doing any work at all in the water around submarines and the active sonar fires off, you are deaf. Period. Sound travels significantly farther underwater with the same decibel level. So water basically amplifies the sound, without amplifying the sound, if you understand what I am saying. Less energy is required to push a liquid molecule into another than its gas counterpart. So if they hit the active, we would have some deaf ass SEALs.

Is there a problem with the Dolphins? Absolutely. Is it the submarines fault? I would guess not. We have a lot of submarines all around the world. Get used to it.

And what the hell is a necropsy? An autopsy on a dead thing? Is there a such thing as an autopsy on a living being?

F1 Season starts now.

2005-03-05T20:36:00.000-06:00

Everyone turn to Speed Channel. I believe it is channel 72 for every Insight Communications Customer. There is nothing else to watch tonight anyway. If you give F1 a chance, you will never go back to Nascar. I am not a Nascar fan, nor am I a fan of having a car number anywhere on your vehicle. Please don't do that.

If I could kick someone's ass

2005-03-05T19:35:00.000-06:00

This guy would be it. First off, let me premise this by saying that I try to prepare my Delayed Entry Program Personnel (the guys and girls that are waiting to go into the Military but cannot leave yet because there is not a slot at Boot Camp for them) the best that I can. I do not lie to them. I tell them how to get everything out of the Military. It is up to them to take it.

From this website that is linked above, Ron Jacobs titles it "Lies military recruiters tell" and starts off telling a story about a counterpart in the Army mass e-mailing (perfectly legal, BTW, I have done it as well) a student list from a university. In the e-mail it speaks of a program we call the "College Loan Repayment Program". This program pays off 33% of your college loans the first year you are in the military, 33% the second, and 33% the third. It pays off all loans up to $65,000. This program is only if you go enlisted. If you are talking Officer Programs, this is not a program we can sell, nor do we. It is guaranteed on a contract, along with your "ship date" (Boot Camp start date, for those of you in Rio Linda), your job, and (if any) bonuses you have. No ifs, ands or buts.

How many of you are in telemarketer jobs? Well, mine is kind of a telemarketer job at times. I have the Solomon Act (not amendment as the asshat Jacobs calls it) that allows me to contact people to get them into the military, and the federal Do-not call list does not apply to me. The No Child Left Behind Act allows me to go into every high school and college and get a list of names and phone numbers. Most schools supply addresses as well, which helps. I have an obligation to contact at least 85% of them. Guess what, kids want to join the military. They may not want to join a particular branch, but at least 20-30 percent want to join. Most of those kids cannot pass one of the Basic Enlistment sections (mental, moral, physical). On average, most kids who really want to join out of high school seek us out and say they are joining. We put in HS Seniors starting at the beginning of the 11-12 summer. I usually have my list of people set up to join about 3 months out for summer. All of them are HS seniors.

How many of you have "handshake" jobs? Where your job entails you get out of the office, meet people and do business that way? Another part of a recruiter. You will see us on college campuses. I have been called a baby killer before. (Funny story: I spun around, found the little moonbat lib PROFESSOR who called me that. I ask: "sir, what political party do you affiliate with?" Him: "I am a democrat." Me: " Do you believe in Abortion?" Him: moonbat drivel "yes" me: "well you are more of a babykiller than I am." I walk away. I got called to the Headquarters the next day to explain that one. Apparently he got a little pissed. But I won. I think..) I have a right to be there. I pay IL taxes. I can be there. Asshat, I pay for your electricity.

Jacobs then goes on a rant saying how not many schools give the ASVAB anymore. In Chicago alone, Yahoo says that there are 179 high schools. I bet it is probably less, around 120, so lets use 150 for arguments sake. Boston and Chicago are pretty close in size... Big at a bare minimum. 30 of those schools gave the ASVAB last year. 30/150= 20%. This year 19/150= 13% Big Shit. I have 28 high schools. Only 3 of them test. 3/28= 11%. Poor Boston. Cry me a freaking river! We actually do not use the ASVAB as a recruiting tool. We use the ASVAB as a way of kicking people off the list of people we have to call. If they are idiots, yay, I don't need to call them to find out if they are idiots. News Flash: recruiters also use yearbooks to find out who is overweight, use those magazines they give out at football games to nail who is overweight, the web to find out who has a criminal past, etc. We are a sly group. We do not like to waste our time.

"Don't ask, Don't tell" policy of the military. We have it. NEWS FLASH: The Gay thing is over. We don't need an gay marriage ban anymore. No one cares anymore. Queer eye has jumped the shark. It is happening everywhere. Ok, in today's culture, I admit, we are a bit more tolerant when it comes to gay folks. But in the military, we go a little beyond the normal meeting someone on the street. We have open showers in boot camp, multiple showers in the same area on ships and submarines, no showers in some cases on the battlefield, etc. We bond, as men, like a fraternity. The Navy says that their E-7 to E-9 Chief's Community as the "most exclusive fraternity". Frankly, I do not know if I would feel comfortable going on a deployment knowing that I had to go with someone who has "homosexual tendencies". That is more what we fear than actual penetration fears. These tendencies are what have been called "metrosexuality", being prissy, having to do more work because the man that you are expecting to physically work as hard as you do not putting forth the effort. I am making generalized statements here. I know. I don't care. This is my opinion based on the few gay fellows I have known in my day.

Now this site is right up on my list of people who need an ass kicking. Congrats Lindie England. You F*cked up Military Recruiting Forever. I am not going to bore you all with more pic from the prisoner questioning. I bet I could sell this asshole into the Military. Yeah, I am cocky.

Taped Formula 1 Australian GP qualifying is on. See you guys later.
MP

New format!

2005-03-05T16:47:00.000-06:00

Today is the first day of a new format. The Militantwife has been making a few templates in her spare time. She made this one for me today. She felt bad about the car club falling apart so she made me a car theme. Everyone thank her or give her feedback in the comment section. You rock babe!

I would like to thank peoriapundit.com for passing some kind words my way today. If anyone reading this site has not seen Bill in action, check out the link. He was right on target with his post about Matt Hale v. Lefkow and the murders. I know that we are supposed to not assume guilt. But, and this is a big but, we are citizens. We can say what we want, and when we want it. Unlike Judge Lefkow, we are not bound by "innocent until proven guilty". Anyway, go check out peoriapundit.com and Blogging Blago's Blunders. Carl was a recruiter in the past so he knows the ups and downs of this life.

Children left behind find comfort in failing tests

2005-03-01T21:53:00.000-06:00

Today I talked to a guidance counselor at one of my schools. We had a deep conversation about the No Child left behind act, the IL laws similar to NCLB, and other small topics.

Her graduating class of 2005 seniors is a grand total of 65. It is a rural school, kinda. It is within eyeshot of a larger city.

The problem with legislators making a law is that they do not see thing from the deckplate level. The Principal is getting worried about the PSAE. The PSAE is the standardized test given in the 11th grade to everyone, including Special Education students (so they do not feel left out, according to my source). The test is not an exit exam, it is not really anything to the kids, but everything to the staff. My source is even telling me that by 2015, if a certain percentage of the children do not pass, their students then go on a voucher system, financed by the school, for their local students to go somewhere else if they want. What does this mean to you the consumer?

First off, the small schools of the world that are doing things right (educating the kids) are going to be affected based soley on numbers. If the test show <90% get Satisfactory or better, then ALL of the students get an opprotunity to go to the larger city's district, as if they live there. So with my source school, 7 students (4 of them are special education that have to have the test read to them) have to get unsat scores and they lose funding.

Last year, a kid at her school made a 32 on the ACT. That will get you into most any school in the US, especially schools in IL. That same kid, because he knew the test did not count against him (colleges do not/cannot look at it, "Companies lobbied the state congress to have the PSAE on the transcript... so they can use it to hire kids" she said), failed the PSAE. Why try? Why not create a christmas tree of dots and sleep for 2 hours? Personal initiave and drive are not taught in schools. That is a perfect example.

So... what can we do to fix this? Easy. Make the PSAE 3/5 satisfactory or better to graduate. That is a 60% which is a "D-" right? If they do not pass the test, they stay another semester and take the exam again at christmas time. They fail again, bye-bye... you are left behind. You are not a child anymore.

There is also a test for 3rd graders. They are easy. IF you are a school teacher and you cannot modivate a 3rd grader, you may need a change of careers. Now we have to worry about the test. Same stakes. If they are <90% Sat or better, the school loses money on vouchers. Same Special Education requirements.

Vouchers are good for big cities, but horrible for rural schools or small city schools. If I were 15 again (ohhh... bad thought... nevermind) I would definitely go to the school 20 minutes away that had more to offer me, even driving by other schools to make sure I got an education that would help me get off the ground. If that happens to be the biggest school in the area, so be it. I would love to see a Math and Science Magnet School locally at least when I have kids. The University High Schools are ok, but I want Magnet Schools.

Amazing Race is about to boot their first person. Will Blog more about this topic later.

Freaking white Supremacists

2005-02-28T22:02:00.000-06:00

Ok maybe I cannot spell supremacists, but this has to be one of the most f-ed up stories I have ever heard of.

Last day of the month

2005-02-28T20:35:00.000-06:00

For all of you in recruiting out there, Happy Mission day!

I have a new recruiter. He is not from the area. What does this mean to us? Well, not only does he not really know how to recruit yet, I have to teach him the lay of the land too. I am not too terribly happy about that, but I am not from the area either, so the guy that trained me had to deal with the same thing.

I did not get to think about too much today in the way of blogging. Hell, I did not even go out for lunch today. It was two sandwiches and a diet coke for me.

Did you ever just hit a point in your life where your tastes just change on a dime? I am a moderator on a major car website. I was a board member of a local car club. I was an adenine for a small website. Then, from December to I would guess February 1, my tastes changed. No longer was I even remotely interested in Car Clubs anymore. I still love cars. I just hate the idea of clubs now. To put it in engineering/ car terms I was the propulsion/ engine of the club. Others were the steering to what I did. It became a pain in the ass when I became the propulsion and the steering. I do not have any experience in the corporate world, but I really hope it is not like my experience with this car club. Backstabbing, setting people up for failure, placing too much pressure on someone for no reason. If it is, I may not want to get into the real world.

I made this observation to one of my ex-board members and he put the blame directly on one member. I tend to agree with him. It made me really concentrate more on my leadership and leading tactics. The military would call me a "coach" mentor/leader. I like showing you how to do the job, yet remain the system expert and you always know where to go when you have questions. Ask a lot of questions and demand high quality. This is usually good, but really bad on your junior people that are not so junior. I have a junior guy now in my office; so it will not be such a big deal to him. However, in 6-10 months, he will need a new leadership style from me.

The new guy is older than me, but has less rank than I do. The weird part is that he came in the military the same age that I am now as a matter of fact. I do not really know how to take that one. It makes me feel good that I move up the latter so fast, but It put me in a predicament that the military does not do that often. Oh well, I am not complaining.

Tonight is payday for me. I hope that I am able to pay off a big deal to me this week. Maybe I can. I feel like the little engine that could... I think I can... I think I can...

Wish me luck!

A little miffed

2005-02-27T21:20:00.000-06:00

So I go out on a hunt for blogs. I find the Illinipundit, which I like. He is another downstater, which makes me feel good. For all of you non-Illinoisans, Illinois is more than Chicago. For you Chicagoans, Illinois is more than your freaking city. We are all tired of paying for it. You could annex, we would be happy.

/minirant

Anyway, I go through about 100 blogs... more than half of them are in other languages, and most are freaking ADS! what the hell? Can anyone pull these things? There has to be some sort of moderation on this website.

By now, the Oscars have just turned into background noise. I am still waiting for another political Rant!

Star Jones freaking sucks!

2005-02-27T19:49:00.000-06:00

So here I am all broken hearted, I came to see the Oscar Pre-Game and all I saw was Attention Whore Camera Hound Star Jones filling my TV. I wanted to see Hillary Swank being too skinny and all of the others who need tans and a cheeseburger... but what did I get? Hambone Star Jones.

The new under 5 sec Caddy commercials suck, but the cars look like they might be bad ass. An M5 contender, in speed alone from a Domestic car. I must say that I am impressed. I feel for the asshats that drive them in the SCCA though. Come on people, get a real sports car. Not a 4-door caddy.

Robin Williams is now on... I guess that the news got this one wrong too. I love it when the News gets things wrong. It makes my day. Is Shark Tale going to pick up the Oscar? I sure hope not. I think that Shrek Dos should pick this one up. Wow... The incredibles... Who would'a thunk it. Not I said the fly. Boy, Brad Bird looks like a wiener... and sounds like one too.

The furkids got to spend the day at the Dog park. They are both sacked out right now, snoring and kicking. The new dog park has a big mud hole in it right now. The boy ended up having a ton of mud on him after running through the hole to get the Frisbee. There were 3 other Border Collie owners there as well. I had a good time talking to them. It makes me feel good to see Border owners that actually take their pups out and lets them romp around. Two of the owners were playing Frisbee golf with their pups. I never understood Frisbee golf. At least here. The wind is pretty hellish at most times. I like to think of myself as an aspiring golfer. But the wind definitely plays a role in that. The Militantwife is not happy about the golf thing. She is happy with getting the kids out to the dog park as much as we can. They are getting a little spazzy at home lately.

Beyonce singing french... is there not anything that we cannot Americanize?

Will Chris Rock do any more politics?? IF so... I will be here!

Lets play a familiar song... Social security!

2005-02-23T21:32:00.000-06:00

Today was a long day of driving trying to put people in the Military. I started thinking about this whole Social Security problem that people of my age face in the not-so-distant future. I hear a lot of people that are the "airheads" (politicians that care about being on air than in the trenches of policy) of the Congress talking about social security like it ok and nothing needs to be done about it. I for one, do not believe them and I am here to prove them wrong with their own words.

#1-Here is a link to a 1997 report chaired by Dr. Edward Gramlich, of the Federal Reserve Board. Basically he said that there were issues with the way Social Security was ran and the way that the Baby Boomers were going to do when they hit the retirement ranks. Very dry, even the executive report was very dry. This report basically mirrors what President Bush is saying present day.

#2- 10/27/98- a report was introduced by John Breaux (D-LA) and Judd Gregg (R-NH) that listed Social Security reforms and retirement security enhancements. S 2313 and HR4256 were the two bills that tried to make part of social security (2% of the 12.4% Social Security tax-it makes sense to me 2% of your income, not 2% of 12%) into... well basically the Thrift Savings Plan that the Militant Pundit puts money into and most federal Employees follow my lead. As you can see, both of these bills were lost in committee. If you notice... this all happened right around the time of the impeachment buildup (Jan 7,1999 was the start of the trial- right about this time the judiciary Committee was investigating him hardcore.)

#3- President Bush was talking Social Security reform infront of a Joint Session of Congress February 28, 2001 stating:

Seven years from now, the baby boom generation will begin to claim Social Security benefits. Every one in this chamber knows that Social Security is not prepared to fully fund their retirement. And we only have a couple of years to get prepared. Without reform, this country will one day awaken to a stark choice: either a drastic rise in payroll taxes or a radical cut in retirement benefits. There is a better way. This spring I will form a presidential commission to reform Social Security. The commission will make its recommendations by next fall. Reform should be based on these principles: It must preserve the benefits of all current retirees and those nearing retirement. It must return Social Security to sound financial footing. And it must offer personal savings accounts to younger workers who want them. (Applause.) Social Security now offers workers a return of less than 2 percent on the money they pay into the system. To save the system, we must increase that by allowing younger workers to make safe, sound investments that yield a higher rate of return. Ownership, access to wealth and independence should not be the privilege of the few. They are the hope of every American, and we must make them the foundation of Social Security. (Applause.)
So here we are. Bush is taking on the same talking points from the Previous administration. Well then the times changed, we stopped talking about Social Security and started talking about Enduring Freedom and placing bombs on time on target.
In 2002, your friendly Militant Pundit has found Bill Clinton Supporting, in a way, changing Social Security. He even comes out and says to turn 1 or 2 percent away from the SSA and to the TSP! Holy Crap what a concept!
The next point I'd like to make is that I think we have to face honestly some long term reform issues. Maybe there ought to be a special commission the Democrats put together with people beyond our elected officials. When I left office, there was enough money to keep Social Security going till 2053, enough money to keep Medicare going tail 2027, through half the life of the baby boomers. I don't know what the latest numbers are going to show but they won't be good. If we don't modify the tax cut to have more tax cuts now but we reinstate fiscal responsibility over the long run, we're going to be in real trouble there. So, what's our option? If you don't like privatizing Social Security and I don't like it very much, but you want to do something to try to increase the rate of return, what are your options? Well one thing you could do is to give people one or two percent of the payroll tax, with the same options that Federal employees have with their retirement accounts; where you have three mutual funds that almost always perform as well or better than the market and a fourth option to buy government bonds, so you get the guaranteed social security return and a hundred percent safety just like you have with Social Security. Wow. I found that little Gem at the Massage Parlor's (AKA Clinton Library) website here. It was delivered 12/3/02 to the Democratic Leadership Council. Ok, I must admit, he is pushing for raising taxes, but at least he is saying that something needs to be done.
#4-Here is a long list of Democrat senators/reps saying that reforming Social Security is a good thing. These free republic guys get more money for research than I do...
More later...

Working on President's Day

2005-02-21T20:58:00.000-06:00

Why is there a holiday that most people do not get off? If we are going to have a holiday, then damn lets have it off.

It was a slow news day today. About the worst news that came out today was the news about some Moonbat Teacher that had his students write up letters to the soldiers and Marines (Big Difference, If you hear someone say Soldier talking about a Marine- correct them).

Where this guy went wrong is that he decided not to read the letters that the kids sent. If he did read the letters, then this asshat needs to be fired. Period.

If I got a box of letters saying how I was blowing up Mosques or killing civilians, I am sure I would be pissed. This Marine needs to find 20 of his buddies and write back to these kids and their faculity. Hell send a couple of pictures of what they are really doing. I would even suggest that the Marine Recruiters show up as well and let the kids know what is really going on. I am sure that people will say "they are just kids". I reply to that by saying that if kids can be exposed to Moonbattery, they can be exposed to the real world.

First one

2005-02-20T19:45:00.000-06:00

Trying out this for the first time.

Today is the first day I found the list from Paris Hilton's Cell. Why should we really care about this woman anymore? Why did we in the first place? Ok She is remotely hot (that is debatable), and she parties like a rock star. So what? Why did she become Fox's darling daughter enough so they would give her a show? I respected News Corp before that decision, then simple life 2 took us down another rung towards TV hell, and now we are at the firey gates with Simple Life 3. I never wanted to call Vin Diesel before today, but the taught did run through my mind to tell him to get a better Agent. That man must have been going through attention deficit disorder when he agreed to his new movie.

As to what this blog is about. I am in recruiting for one of the armed forces in Illinois. I have been doing it a while and I have been in the Military for a little over 7 years. I have seen alot in my day and I see alot more each day that I am out here. I plan on commenting on Illinois Politics that I see are getting out of hand, and let me tell you it happens. I am also going to comment on any military articles that I see out there. Sometimes there might be something else that I want to get on my soapbox about, so there you go. I hope you enjoy coming into my world.