[Arab News] Police say two men dressed as Santa Claus have robbed a guard at Stockholm's royal castle of his assault rifle.
Police front man Anders Krook says the duo attacked the guard in the early hours of Friday morning, entering his security zone by the castle and beating him up before fleeing the scene with his loaded AK5 rifle.
A colleague came to the guard's aid and he was not seriously injured. Krook says the robbers were dressed in Santa hats and masks. They made no attempt to enter the castle, which is not the royal family's residence. There are no suspects in the case.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
A little less strategy, manuvering and marching and a little more hand-to-hand methinks.
[Emirates 24/7] A Dubai court has sentenced an Emirati student to four months in jail for taking a compatriot girl to a friend's house and kissing her while she was asleep.
The Dubai Court of First Instance sentenced the 19-year-old boy AM for three months in jail for kissing the girl and one month for trespassing into his friend KS's villa, reports Gulf News.
Prosecutors accused AM of trespassing into KS's houses and damaging the door knob in the process. He was also accused of assaulting KS when he tried to send him out.
The accused admitted of trespassing and breaking the door knob before the court.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
[Emirates 24/7] A Kuwaiti man poured abuses on the local police before including US president Barak Obama in his fit of anger sparked by a road accident with another car, the Arabic language daily Alanba reported on Friday.
Maddened by the crash, the man got out of his car and started to swear incessantly at the other driver, attracting a police patrol which happened to be passing in Jahraa area in Kuwait City, the paper said.
"When a police man tried to calm him down, he started to swear at the Kuwait police and the state security," it said.
"The police man did not give up and kept trying to calm him down...in the end the man said 'Goddamn Obama....you want more..."
Americans usually say that while reading the news.
The paper said the unidentified man was arrested but it quoted a police source as saying his arrest was because of his insults, not "for cursing Obama."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
The next step towards escalation probably would have been shoe throwing.
A tsumami warning was issued, but only a very small one developed. Seems like the stresses on the western Pacific plates are undergoing some adjustment - another big(ger?) one could come soon at some nearby 'gap' in activity.
A powerful 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck off the western Pacific nation of Vanuatu on Sunday, triggering a small tsunami exactly six years after giant waves killed 220,000 people around the Indian Ocean.
The quake struck at 12:16 am on Sunday (1316 GMT Saturday), and the initial tsunami warning covered Vanuatu, Fiji and the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia. There were no reports of damage or casualties.
The USGS revised its initial readings for the magnitude and distances involved, after first recording the quake at 7.6. Three aftershocks of 5.6, 5.5 and 5.1 magnitude came in the two hours afterwards, it said.
#1
MERRY XMAS + HAPPY NEW YEAR to You + All in the RB also.
As for the Quake, nothing here save for RUMBLING NOISES - LOCAL FAULTLINES here around Agana/Hagatna move-n-sway but IMO barely strong enough to be felt, even by loyal Madonna fans such as Moi.
Personally I am reminded once again of the coming KAMALEN EVENT, as due to a minor WESTPAC Space Rock impact - "MINOR" TO THE REST OF THE WORLD + EARTH HISTORY, BUT IMPOR EVEN ONE LIVES ON GUAM-WESTPAC + as per 1960's-70's GUAM TAOTAMONAS.
Iff my Dreams/Visions of KAMALEN hold true, among other its important to GUAM because most of Guam's NON-USDOD ECON ACTIVITIES, i.e. HOTEL ROW + TAMUNING + AGAT + CAPITAL CITY[also read, ME] are on the tsunami side as wrought by Kamalen.
And then thereth NAVMAR = NAVAL BASE, GUAM.
KAMALEN is only the beginning or first of several EVENTS.
GOD THE "GREAT EQUALIZER/BALANCE" = US MILPOL POWER WEAKENED IN THE PACIFIC VEE "RISING CHINA" but is recoverable.
SUNDAY SCHOOL > "THE MIGHTY LAID LOW, THE LOW RAISED HIGH".
[1980's MIKHAIL "Iff the USSR = East/Orient, etc. cannot be brought up to the standards of the US = NATO/West, the Latter will be brought down to the standards of the Former" GORBACHEV + GORBY-ISM here].
NO? "RUSSIA'S/GORBY'S POSH" KGB-FSB COMMIE BABE ANN LONGINOVA was an ADULT at PENN STATE, WHILE
ANNA CHAPMAN was NOT.
Months of inhumane solitary confinement are taking a toll on the US Army private suspected of passing secret government files to WikiLeaks, one of his supporters said late on Thursday after paying him a visit. No matter how bad it is, I'll bet there's a victim or two of his indiscretion whose health is way worse.
When told of the Pentagons statement that he indeed receives exercise, Mannings reply was that he is able to exercise insofar as walking in chains is a form of exercise. Hey, those rapid little baby-steps are quite a workout if you ask me.
As a precaution, prison authorities have decided not to issue Manning cotton sheets and instead have provided two blankets and a pillow made of material that cannot be torn into pieces. Save us some money and give him some regular sheets. And a belt.
Manning told his visitor that his blankets are similar in weight and heft to lead aprons used in X-ray laboratories, House said. Whoever came up with that one ought to work for the CIA.
#1
Much as I enjoy the thought of hearing about Bradass suffering, I do think there is more to the story.
I don't think a lowly private could have his hands on that much classified material. There has to be other higher-ups involved as well.
#3
Reportedly he was a PFC at a FOB East of Baghdad. At first I also thought it was odd that someone at a tactical base would have access to things of a more strategic nature until someone clued me in to an information sharing system that was available to practically the entire intelligence community.
So he was able to peruse it at will copying whatever he wanted and nobody was keeping track of who was accessing what, apparently.
#4
Even with intel sharing, Manning should not have had access to those diplomatic cables en masse. Multiple streams of info cross that classified network, but are generally segregated so that different people only have access to some streams.
However, the State Dept. failed to mark their cables with the correct classification, so they got routed with other classified materials. Manning (and others) got access to them as a result. He was the only traitorous scumbag to copy and distribute them however, so far as we know.
#5
If Mr. Assange did indeed have a backdoor into the DoD twenty or so years ago, he could have collected the older information himself... not to mention guiding Pvt. Manning's efforts.
#6
As bad as Mannings actions were, his superiors should not get away Scot free for failing to know and check what their underlings were doing. Responsibility would mean that a higher up or many higher ups should be accountable and held to account as well.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/25/2010 8:42 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Perhaps it is not the conditions of confinement that are eating away at his health. Perhaps Manning is developing a conscience about what he did.
#8
Maybe he thinks he'd be happier and healthier out in the general population of the brig? He may be in solitary for his own protection (and the military's) as much as anything else.
#17
"Even with intel sharing, Manning should not have had access to those diplomatic cables en masse. Multiple streams of info cross that classified network, but are generally segregated so that different people only have access to some streams."
There is a lot of security where I work. However, what I have seen is that blanket security access is granted only to the most senior people and janitors.
Nobody pays attention to these people and that's when we get into trouble.
Dont knock janitors. Most (in fact ALL where I work) who work in my govt agency have passed a CBI, are fingerprinted, and work for a living. Im not going to start insulting my betters in the "senior" intel community...but pushing paper and riding a desk springs to mind as occupational hazards.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/25/2010 21:38 Comments ||
Top||
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] West African leaders gathered for emergency talks on Friday on the crisis in Cote d'Ivoire with the United States searching for more UN troops and La Belle France offering Laurent Gbagbo a final chance to step aside.
The summit comes after a UN body demanded a halt to "atrocities" in Cote d'Ivoire and the Central Bank of West African States blocked Gbagbo's access to finances, putting a further squeeze on his bid to remain in power.
Much of the world, including the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society, has recognised Gbagbo's rival Alassane Ouattara as the winner in last month's elections, but the strongman has refused to budge in the face of mounting calls for him to leave.
As leaders arrived for the Economic Community Of West African States (Ecowas) summit, Nigeria's foreign minister sought to keep the pressure on Gbagbo, saying there would be no compromise on the bloc's demand that he step down.
"The question of compromise is not on the table," Odein Ajumogobia told AFP ahead of the special summit of the 15-member Economic Community of West African States.
"Something like a unity government or the sort of thing we have in Kenya and Zimbabwe are not on the table. We are resolute that Gbagbo has to step down."
The meeting of West African leaders will be their second special summit on Cote d'Ivoire this month after having suspended the country from the group at the first gathering and called on Gbagbo to cede power.
Some analysts have said the bloc could impose individual sanctions such as travel restrictions over the crisis, but officials have been tight-lipped over what will be on the table at the summit in the Nigerian capital Abuja.
The United States has also said it is talking with regional countries from Ecowas about boosting the 9,000-strong UN mission in Cote d'Ivoire.
French Foreign minister Michele Alliot-Marie said on Friday that Gbagbo could still step down honourably, but warned that time was growing short.
"Mr Gbagbo still has the possibility of leaving this situation with dignity by recognising what the results are and by handing over power," she told French radio.
"He has the right to a completely honourable exit ... but the more time passes and the more things get out of control and there's violence, the more this possibility distances itself."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
[Emirates 24/7] Saudi education authorities have decided to change the name of a local school called after a famous pre-Islam Arabian poet because he was not a Mohammedan, a newspaper in the Gulf Kingdom reported on Friday.
Hatem Al Tai School in the northern town of Hail has been changed into Hatem School on the grounds the poet Hatem Al Tai was Christian, Sharq daily said.
"Education sources said the decision to change the school's name was because Hatem Al Tai was a blasphemous man who had lived during the Jahiliyya era before Islam...several intellects in the city criticized the decision and considered it as an act of fanaticism, which is hated in Islam."
Hatem Al Tai was a famous pre-Islamic Jahiliyyah Arabian poet. He was a Christian and belonged to the Ta'i Arabian tribe in north Soddy Arabia.
Stories about his extreme generosity have made him an icon to Arabs up till the present day, as in the proverbial phrase "more generous than Hatem Al Tai."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Hatem Al Tai was a blasphemous man who had lived during the Jahiliyya era before Islam
Um, how can one blaspheme against future events that could not possibly have been known? Maybe the clerics can work that one out, as soon as they've solved how many djinns can dance on the head of a pin.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/25/2010 10:35 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
May he rest in peace.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/25/2010 11:14 Comments ||
Top||
#2
The attacks came in wave after wave, but the Japanese were beaten back with heavy losses. For four hours Gurung remained alone at his post, calmly waiting for each new onslaught, firing into his attackers at point blank range, determined not to yield an inch of ground. His comrades could hear him shouting: Come and fight a Gurkha!
The Japs should've taken the warning.
Quite a man...
#4
The article notes that Havildar Gurung was active in the movement to allow Ghurka retirees settle in the UK. He was at first rejected because "he did not have strong ties to the UK".
In my humble opinion, the UK would be far better off allowing any Nepalese who want to emigrate there to come in. They are largely Hindus, not Moslems. They make great fighters (like Gurung), and would be a great counterforce to the Muslim invasion.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/25/2010 12:54 Comments ||
Top||
#5
I gather that family kukris are inherited, so whichever of his descent gets that blade has his work cut out for him.
#6
What has Britain come to that a VC holder has an application to settle in the UK rejected?
No ties to Britain? That little piece of bronze is tie enough
Posted by: john frum ||
12/25/2010 13:04 Comments ||
Top||
#7
The Hmong were subject to abandonment and to eventual communist slaughter in SE Asia as well. Perhaps we too, share in the neglect and exploitation of bush and mountain peoples like the Sub-Saharan Khoikhoi, the American Indian and others. Something to ponder and reflect upon, particularly on this special day.
#8
john, exactly. I realize that Nepal was not part of the British Empire, but the Ghurkas fought for Britain. Any Ghurka veteran, not just VC winners, should be able to emigrate to the UK if they want to. Way ahead of Pakistanis. The UK would have far less trouble if they did that.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/25/2010 14:13 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Gurung later said: I had to fight because there was no other way. I felt I was going to die anyway, so I might as well die standing on my feet. All I knew was that I had to go on and hold them back. I am glad that helped the other soldiers in my platoon, but they would have all done the same thing.
A little man, but with balls the size of grapefruit.
Posted by: regular joe ||
12/25/2010 14:38 Comments ||
Top||
#10
Any Ghurka veteran, not just VC winners, should be able to emigrate to the UK if they want to.
[Arab News] The head of Haiti's voodoo religion appealed to authorities on Thursday to halt bloody lynchings of voodoo priests by people who blame them for causing the Caribbean country's deadly cholera epidemic.
Since the epidemic started in mid-October, at least 45 male and female voodoo priests, known respectively as "houngan" and "manbo," have been killed. Many of the victims were hacked to death and mutilated by machetes, Max Beauvoir, the "Ati" or supreme leader of Haitian voodoo, told Rooters.
"They are being blamed for using voodoo to contaminate people with cholera," Beauvoir said.
He said the killers accused voodoo priests of spreading cholera by scattering powder or casting "spells" and complained that local police and government officials were not doing enough to halt the lynchings and punish the killers. Voodoo is recognized and protected by the constitution as one of Haiti's main religions.
"My call is to the authorities so they can assume their responsibilities," said Beauvoir, who fears more attacks against voodoo devotees. Most of the lynchings occurred in the southwest of Haiti but also in the center and the north.
Since emerging in central regions in October, the cholera epidemic has destroyed Haiti's poor population, still traumatized from a January earthquake. It has killed well over 2,500 people and affected all of the nation's 10 provinces.
Cholera is mainly spread by contaminated water and food.
As the epidemic corpse count has risen, so too has popular fear and anger. Some Haitians have blamed Nepalese United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society peacekeepers for bringing cholera to a Caribbean nation where the disease had been absent for decades.
The UN mission in Haiti maintains there is no conclusive evidence to back this accusation, despite a report by an expert contracted by the French government that linked the infection to latrines at the Nepalese camp located beside a river.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
Posted by: Water Modem ||
12/25/2010 15:47 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Mikhail Margelov, head of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Russian Federation Council, said Friday that after ratifying the START treaty, Russia would in fact be able to enhance its nuclear arms potential.
"Americans will really have to reduce the number of (nuclear) warheads, while if we (Russia) want to reach the levels defined by the document, we will actually have to increase the amount of warheads," the RIA Novosti news agency quoted Margelov as saying.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
12/25/2010 15:48 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Russian senators to THINK ABOUT START ratification in January
#3
Obama and the Dems as well as Rep National Security advisors willing to join the Borg get schooled again. This is a one-sided deal that will inhibit ABM defense, Declare a Sense of Senate that says it does nothing of the sort (as we are assured by the Obamabots at State), then let the DUMA vote. Bet they decline? Better result
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/25/2010 21:07 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Actually, if the Russians build the Mistral to the specification of the first of the class, they will have a very nice helicopter carrier that is truly functional. I am not sure that I wish to see that, however, considering Russia's thuggish behavior in the Russian Near Abroad.
(KUNA) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday called the new START a "cornerstone" for Europe's security for the coming decades.
Speaking warmly of US President Barack B.O. Obama, Medvedev said in a televised appearance "under very difficult circumstances, he (Obama) managed to make the Senate ratify this document." The new START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), is a follow-up to the 1991 START I treaty, which expired in December 2009, START II and the 2002 Treaty of Moscow (SORT) due to expire in December 2012, which would reduces the number of operationally-inactive stockpile of nuclear warheads at both superpowers to 1,550 warheads each.
"Obama is a man who knows how to hear and to listen. A man who lives up to this standard, as he keeps his word," Medvedev pointed out.
He made the comments during a televised question-and-answer session with the heads of Russia's three leading television stations. The Russian Parliament, which was waiting for the treaty to be ratified by the US Senate, held a first reading of a ratification bill earlier today. The bill will need to pass three readings by the Duma, the lower house of parliament, a process that will continue at least through the end of January.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
New START "cornerstone" for Europe's security
Ahem. May I be the first to say WTF?
Security in the sense that Russia won't attack them? Isn't that sort of under Russia's control?
The Constitution frequently gets lip service in Congress, but House Republicans next year will make sure it gets a lot more than that - the new rules the incoming majority party proposed this week call for a full reading of the country's founding document on the floor of the House on Jan. 6.
The goal, backers said, is to underscore the limited-government rules the Founders imposed on Congress - and to try to bring some of those principles back into everyday legislating. The Constitution covers about four pages, including all the amendments. This is the law of the land. It was designed to be read and understood perfectly well by the common man so that same common man would know when his government had run off the rails.
I would like to hear that the next items on the agenda will be a full reading of the Obamacare bill, followed by a full reading of the tax code.
I would then like to see an amendment to the Constitution requiring a full reading of all subsequent bills before all members of Congress each time before they are voted on.
Section 1. Each bill considered by the Congress shall be available for public inspection, by usual and ordinary means, for at least five days prior to any final vote of passage in either House.
Section 2. Each bill passed by the Congress shall be available for public inspection, by usual and ordinary means, for at least five days prior to being signed into law by the President, except when war or national emergency shall require immediate signature.
Section 3. Each bill passed by the Congress into law shall be limited to a single subject, which shall be expressed in its title.
Section 4. Each bill passed by the Congress shall identify by name the Representative or Senator responsible as principal sponsor for each provision, appropriation, emolument, or encumbrance within said bill; and no provision, appropriation, emolument, or encumbrance shall be considered law unless so identified.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/25/2010 10:13 Comments ||
Top||
#3
"Section 3. Each bill passed by the Congress into law shall be limited to a single subject, which shall be expressed in its title."
That's similar to what I said to Eric Cantor at his Christmas party for his donors, Steve, though I requested it as a House rule (amendments to the Constitution take too long).
We have such a constitutional provision here in Virginia (one subject per bill; don't think the title is involved), of which I reminded him. I also mentioned that as far as I'm concerned, "omnibus" is Congress-speak for "we're putting something over on you (the peasants voters)."
Dunno if the House can/will do that, but it would sure help!
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/25/2010 10:30 Comments ||
Top||
Posted by: Water Modem ||
12/25/2010 15:25 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
PEOPLES DAILY FORUM > CHINA PLEDGES REGULAR PATROLS NEAR DISPUTED ISLANDS [Nippon-claimed Senkakus = Sina-claimed Daoyus in East China Sea, but also as per SOUTH CHINA SEA.
AND
* SAME > TWO KOREAS TAKE TOUGH STANCES AS THINK -TANK WANS OF WAR. ICG = International Crisis Group.
ARTIC = SOUTH KOREA'S XMAS-TREE-AT-THE-DMZ IS STILL PO'ING THE NORTH.
D *** NG IT, "THE POWER OF SANTA = ELECTRICITY COMPELLS YOU"!
[THE EXORCIST's Linda Blair = Jim "GRINCH" Carrey here].
The launch of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, GSLV-F06, from Sriharikota ended in failure on Saturday, with the rocket bursting into a ball of fire as it ascended into the sky.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/25/2010 08:06 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
Posted by: john frum ||
12/25/2010 8:09 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Posted by: john frum ||
12/25/2010 8:12 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Posted by: john frum ||
12/25/2010 8:31 Comments ||
Top||
#4
The launch of GSLV-FO6 was originally scheduled for December 20 but it was deferred after a leak was noticed in one of the valves of the cryogenic engine during the pre-countdown tests.
ISRO scientists carried out extensive tests and hectic discussions over the past few days before deciding on today as the new date for the launch.
"The leak was within the tolerable limit. Some apprehensions were raised. However, after detailed discussions and tests, the scientists said the leak was not alarming," a United News of India (UNI) report had quoted ISRO sources as saying yesterday.
The Navy cruiser USS Port Royal is back in Pearl Harbor shipyard for more than $20 million in repairs -- on top of the $40 million spent to fix damage from a 2009 grounding and an $18 million refurbishment immediately before the warship ran aground.
The latest yard period, which began in September and is expected to end in late February, is to address cracks discovered in the aluminum alloy superstructures on all 22 of the Navy's Ticonderoga-class cruisers, officials said. The ships were commissioned between 1986 and 1994.
The Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, D.C., said cruiser hulls are made of steel and that superstructures -- everything above the main deck -- were fabricated using lighter-weight aluminum alloy 5456, a material that has been used by the Navy on deckhouses since 1958.
The superstructures of all the cruisers in the fleet are prone to "sensitization," which contributes to stress-corrosion cracking and worsens with age and heat, said Chris Johnson, a NAVSEA spokesman.
"At this point, all ships in the class are experiencing cracking issues that are related to sensitization," Johnson said in e-mailed answers to Star-Advertiser questions. "There have been various degrees of crack repair on every (cruiser) in the past year."
More than 3,000 cracks have been found on cruisers across the Ticonderoga class, he said. Destroyers and frigates have not experienced the problem, he said.
#1
If you like the aluminum superdtructuer, check out the upcoming Zumalt class destroyers, composites. while good for weight and RCS reduction, the ability to repair AND maintain that RCS is not easy. good news is that right now there are only 2 under contract, bad news is, they are way spendy. expect adding them to the USS Edsel class.
#2
I'm surprised that the Ticonderoga class used aluminum superstructures after the Belknap collided with the Kennedy in 1975. The resulting fire melted the superstructure to the main deck.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/25/2010 12:10 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Without the lightweight structure I suspect the class would be prone to "turning turtle". And that's without RCS considerations.
#4
I recall the Brits finding out that aluminum alloys were a no-no in the Falkland War when a frigate pretty much melted when it got set afire by a missle.
President Obama's repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy is already damaging the U.S. military.
An Army lieutenant colonel has asked to be relieved of command rather than order his troops to go through pro-homosexual indoctrination following the repeal of the policy, which required homosexuals to keep silent about their sexual preference.
Currently the commander of a squadron in the Army National Guard, the officer also has threatened to resign his commission rather than undergo "behavior modification" training intended to counter his religious convictions about homosexuality.
The Lieutenant Colonel sent the following letter to his commanding officer:
Subject: Request for Relief from Command due to Personal Moral Conflict with New Homosexual Policy
1. I respectfully request to be relieved of Command of XXX Squadron, XXX Cavalry prior to new policy implementation subsequent to the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." My personal religious beliefs and moral convictions do not permit me to treat homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle, compatible with military service, any more than adultery, illicit drug use, or criminal activity. I believe this lifestyle runs counter to good order and discipline in military units, and I refuse to sacrifice my belief system, protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, in order to fall in line with the command policy that will logically follow. This new policy will undoubtedly include mandatory sensitivity training as well as same-sex partner inclusion in Family Readiness Group activities and integration into the full spectrum of other military benefits, as well as a whole new category of discrimination standards and investigative procedures. I will not, as a commander, put my signature on a training schedule or other document recognizing or legitimizing any of these things that contradict my personal beliefs.
2. I would like to remain in the XXX Army National Guard until I am eligible for retirement (at 20 years and 0 days), which would be in the late summer of 2012, but on grounds of my religious beliefs, I will not attend sensitivity or behavior modification training consequential to this policy change, even if it means disciplinary action. I regret that I cannot continue to serve in the military further, but feel that my efforts would be insincere because my heart will no longer be in it."
"I will not be the person who forces this training on my soldiers," the officer, whose identity was being protected. He plans to go on the record as soon as he discusses his request with his chain of command.
The officer said he's aware of other officers who intend to resign their commissions.
"These people want to serve. I want to serve. I love my job, but I can't do this job once they begin to implement this policy."
Under the terms of the DADT repeal, the armed forces will not be permitted to allow open homosexuality in the service until the president, secretary of defense and head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff can certify that terminating DADT will not impair military readiness.
During the transition period that will precede certification, the military plans to require servicemen to attend mandatory training sessions intended to change their attitudes toward homosexuality.
"Very few soldiers are fine with open homosexuals in the service," said the officer. "I cannot believe the numbers jibe with what was published in the previous survey," referring to a study commissioned by the Pentagon to assess whether the military could safely repeal DADT.
"I did not give up my constitutional rights and freedom of religion when I joined the military. I don't believe in subjecting myself to all of the behavior modification and sensitivity training. They're going to try to push the position that this is an acceptable lifestyle."
Beyond concerns about violating his own conscience and the beliefs of his soldiers, the officer predicts several additional adverse consequences to repealing the military's ban on open homosexuality.
"I don't believe the steps they're taking allow a commander to maintain good order and discipline in a military unit. DADT was a compromise to allow homosexuals to serve as long as they kept it to themselves. Now they'll be able to throw their lifestyle in everybody's face and commanders won't be able to do anything about it."
The officer also predicted problems with retention and recruitment:
"I think it might not have an immediate, huge impact, but as enlistments expire you'll get people who vote with their feet and leave the service, and I don't believe the recruiting effort is going to offset the amount of people that leave. The military historically attracts a more conservative group of people who have certain principles and beliefs and swear an oath to the Constitution."
As previously reported, some experts predict as many as a quarter of Americans in military service will resign or leave earlier than planned because of the advent of open homosexuality. Nearly half of the Marine Corps respondents to the Pentagon survey said they would consider leaving the service earlier than planned.
The officer also predicted growing security problems as homosexuals become more prevalent in the service.
"One of the Army values is selfless service. Placing the good of the nation above personal desires is an essential trait of a good soldier, who may be called upon to give his or her life in the nation's defense. When you start trying to attract people who are so self-centered that they put living their lifestyle out in the open above the needs of their country and national defense, then you have a really dangerous combination.
"That's when you get instances like PFC Bradley Manning, who is a homosexual. Because of his personal beliefs and bitterness toward the military he decided to leak 150,000 sensitive wires that have done irreparable damage to our nation."
Manning, an openly gay soldier, reportedly sent many thousands of sensitive documents to the Wikileaks website out of anger over the military's ban on open homosexuality.
#1
Lets see if the Army treats Christian beliefs with the respect they have treated the muzzies and kwanzaa and all other moonbat religions....
Point of order to the JAG types. Don't ask don't tell was a policy to ignore the UCMJ. As I understand it, the UCMJ regs about gays was never repealed, just ignored by policy. Is that reg still standing??? Did the repeal of don't as just re implement the old reg of it being against the rules??
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/25/2010 11:29 Comments ||
Top||
#2
a quarter of Americans in military service will resign
That's a feature, not a bug - to those who have been promoting the new law.
#3
If the military does in fact REQUIRE "sensitivity training" about the gay life style, they may (and should) have a mutiny on their hands. It is one thing to openly allow gay people to serve (a bad idea, in my opinion). It is a completely different thing to force people to accept homosexuality as a valid life style. Yet I think that sensitivity training will be the next logical step, at least in the minds of gay activists.
This means that if a Sergeant yells at a gay soldier who has f*cked up, even if it is not because the soldier is gay, but just because he screwed up, the gay soldier will go running to the command Sensitivity Officer to complain. And the Sergeant will get sent to more re-education sensitivity training.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/25/2010 14:09 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Does indeed say something about our..... "professional military" when a reservist LTC "bets his bars" while senior Pentagon officers (who have nothing to lose), look the other way in phueching silence. A POX on all of you political careerists 'yes men' and gutless wonders. You have been revealed at long last!
#5
I don't have a problem with homos*xuals in the service. I don't have a problem with them being able to be open about it.
I DO have a problem with forcing others to condone and even affirm their status. It will inevitably lead to just the sort of thing Rambler mentions.
I suspect that the soldiers (heck, even the Marines) in general would be accepting of openly gay colleagues - AFTER they proved themselves willing and able to stand up to the abuse that everyone else does, in some shape or fashion (weaklings, v*rgins, pick a topic.) But our wussified leadership will 'protect' them from that, and thus degrade the potential ability of the whole service. (Again, in the eyes of such 'leaders' that's a feature, not a bug.)
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Months of inhumane solitary confinement are taking a toll on the US Army private suspected of passing secret government files to WikiLeaks, one of his supporters said late on Thursday after paying him a visit.
The Constitution frequently gets lip service in Congress, but House Republicans next year will make sure it gets a lot more than that - the new rules the incoming majority party proposed this week call for a full reading of the country's founding document on the floor of the House on Jan. 6.
