Recommended Reading - 08/08/06

• Preparing for Martial Law - Jill @ Brilliant at Breakfast reports that President Bush is trying to secretly federalize the National Guard, a move that the National Governors Association is trying to put a stop to.  This is the kind of thing a dictator would do, by the way.
• Might as well face it, they’re addicted to porn… - SpinDentist @ The All Spin Zone reports on a poll revelling what I’ve suspected all along — that there are quite a large number of self-identified Christians involving themselves with porn.  This may be why so many rightwingers are so interested in what everyone else is doing in their bedrooms.
• ABC’s Good Morning America covers story of gay Arabic speaker kicked out of military - John in DC @ AmericaBlog has a link to ABC’s Good Morning America video coverage of the story.  I’ve seen the story reported on several liberal blogs, including Pandagon, but this is the first main stream media coverage I’ve seen.  I have to agree with John that it does appear that the military does seem more interested in it’s witch hunt for homosexuals than in helping itself and in stopping the terrorists.
• Senate ratifies Europe cybercrime convention - Michael Hampton @ Homeland Stupidity reports that as of last Thursday night, “the U.S. can now spy on your Internet activity at the request of a foreign government — even if you are only doing things completely legal.”  It’s called the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime.  What does that mean?  It’s a treaty which requires its signatories to pass laws against breaking into computer systems, child pornography, Internet fraud, computer viruses, denial of service attacks and related crimes.
  

  The treaty requires the U.S. to turn over data stored by Internet Service Providers, and provide real-time interception of your Internet traffic, at the request of a foreign government, whether the offense the foreign government is investigating is a crime in the U.S. or not.

  “That means that countries that have laws limiting free speech on the Net could oblige the F.B.I. to uncover the identities of anonymous U.S. critics, or monitor their communications on behalf of foreign governments,” wrote Electronic Frontier Foundation activist coordinator Danny O’Brien. “American ISPs would be obliged to obey other jurisdictions’ requests to log their users’ behavior without due process, or compensation.”

  “And it applies not just to ‘cyber’ crimes but to digital evidence of any crime, so foreign governments now may begin using U.S. law enforcement to help them gather evidence in all kinds of cases,” wrote Cato Institute Director of Information Policy Studies Jim Harper.

• Gunning for PBS - Steve Aqui @  Donklephant writes about the GOP’s targeting of funding for NPR and PBS and how the GOP would prefer both would just disappear.  Steve points out how hypocritical the GOP is with it’s big tax cuts and it’s attempts to eliminate the estate tax and yet it claims there’s no money to help handicap children or pay for public radio and television or reduce the deficit.

Tags: PBS, NPR, GOP, Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime, ABC, Good Morning America, Christians, George W. Bush, National Guard, National Governors Association, EFF

More Locals Go Off To War

I learned today that one of the people I work with, not a co-worker, but a user/cliet, has been “tapped” by the Reserves to go to Iraq. She didn’t seem particularly excited about it and “congrats!” really didn’t fit. I’m really not sure what to say to someone up close and personal when they tell you they’re going to war. She’s not a relative or a close friend; otherwise, it would have been easy as I would have been bawling and hugging her and praying to God for her safety, which is really what I wanted to do at the moment she said it outloud. However, that really didn’t seem very professional.

So, I guess I’ll just try to get as much of her project finished for her as I can before she has to go since it seemed so important to her and I’ll do it with a little less grumpiness too, even when I think she’s asking me to do the impossible. I mean, she’s going to war, the least I can do is get her impossible clinical application to talk to the other impossible clinical application before she goes.

Tags: Iraq, National Guard

How The Pentagon Supports Our Re-enlisted

The Pentagon has reneged on its offer to pay a $15,000 bonus to members of the National Guard and Army Reserve who agree to extend their enlistments by six years, according to Sen. Patty Murray (D-Seattle).

The bonuses were offered in January to Active Guard and Reserve and military technician soldiers who were serving overseas. In April, the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs ordered the bonuses stopped, Murray said.

“This is outrageous,” the senator said in a telephone interview. “It makes me angry that this administration has broken another promise to our troops.” [“When a bonus isn’t a bonus”]

What I want to know is if those Active Guard, Reserve, and military technician soldiers, who extended their enlistments because of the bonus, now have the opportunity to rethink their end of the deal and change their mind. If not, it sounds a little like bait and switch to me and more than a bit illegal. No wonder recruitment is at a 30-year low.

Hat tip to John in DC at AmericaBlog.

Tags: Pentagon, National Guard, Army Reserves

Where, Oh, Where Are Louisiana’s National Guardsmen?

The below appeared on a website for a local Nawlins news show on August 1, 2005:

JACKSON BARRACKS — When members of the Louisiana National Guard left for Iraq in October, they took a lot equipment with them. Dozens of high water vehicles, humvees, refuelers and generators are now abroad, and in the event of a major natural disaster that, could be a problem.

“The National Guard needs that equipment back home to support the homeland security mission,” said Lt. Colonel Pete Schneider with the LA National Guard.

Col. Schneider says the state has enough equipment to get by, and if Louisiana were to get hit by a major hurricane, the neighboring states of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida have all agreed to help. [“LA National Guard Wants Equipment to Come Back From Iraq” (WGNO-TV)]

Somehow I think Mississippi, Alabama and Florida are going to be left with their own troubles after Hurricane Katrina. Why did they take their high water vehicles to Iraq? What am I missing here?

Anyway, it’ll take months to ship the equipment back once they decide what to ship back, if they decide to ship it back before the troops return home at all. This is a big oopsie, in my opinion, but then who thought New Orleans would be hit like this? I know I’d gotten a bit smug and cocky about hurricanes in my 30+ years of weathering them out.

Tags: National Guard, Hurricane Katrina