Gun s are dangerous

Even in the hands of those professionally trained to handle firearms, there are STILL significant dangers. Allowing untrained people to trade in guns is all the more dangerous.

Wanting out of the army

Army prosecutors said Pvt. Jonne T. Wegley, 19, wanted out of basic training at Fort Benning, Ga., so badly that he offered a fellow recruit $5,000 and a job to shoot him in the left leg so he could get out of the Army with a medical disability. He figured he’d still be able to use his right leg to drive. Instead of barely wounding Wegley, however, the bullet from the M-16 rifle mutilated his left leg. He needed 25 surgeries, a total reconstruction of his knee and multiple skin grafts, and he suffered nerve damage so severe that he has no control of his left foot. On top of that, a court martial sentenced him to four months’ confinement and a dishonorable discharge. Wegley’s attorney, Maj. John Calcagni, admitted his client’s scheme was unnecessary, explaining all he had to do to get kicked out of the Army was to tell his sergeant that he refused to train. (Columbus, Ga.’s Ledger-Enquirer)

Conservatives Continue to Reinvent the Meaning of The Word "Stupid."

From Boing Boing

U.S. Army Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook says Obama can't be president because he hasn't proven he was born in the United States. Therefore, he [Cook] refuses to be deployed to Afghanistan.

[Cook] and his lawyer Orly Taitz have filed a lawsuit so the Major does not have to go to war and fight in Afghanistan because that would be, ”in violation of international law by engaging in military actions outside the United States under this President’s command.”

Birthers insist that a giant conspiracy has taken place. The birth certificate showing that Obama was born in Honolulu in August 1961 is fake, they say. Birthers are also certain that some kind of time travel treachery has been undertaken by shadow pinko government agents, who warped themselves back to 1961 to insert notices in the Honolulu Advertiser and the Honolulu Star Bulletin saying that "Mr. and Mrs. Barack H. Obama" gave birth to a son on August 4, 1961.

Heh heh. What an idiot. And what an idiot lawyer. Even if Barack wasn't a legitimate President of the U.S., the soldier still has to follow the orders of his commanding officer - and that's not Barack - that's a General somewhere up the chain of command.

If it weren't for conservatives, we'd have only about half of the stupid in this world to enjoy. Thanks, morons.

Polluting the Armed Forces

From Acerbic Politics

Army Charity A Disappointment?

It's hard to tell who's at fault here, but it sure is disappointing that groups we depend on to support our active-duty soldiers and veterans can't carry out their duty responsibly.

From an investigation by AP via Yahoo News...

From 2003 to 2007, the charity, also known as AER, packed $117 million into its own reserves while spending just $64 million on direct aid, records show. By contrast, smaller Navy and Air Force charities both put far more of their resources into aid than reserves. Also, more than 90 percent of AER's aid was given as no-interest loans, not outright grants.

Though tax-exempt and legally separate, AER operates largely under Army control, the AP found. Soldiers are squeezed for contributions, often rewarded for them in violation of regulations, and sometimes delayed in transfers or promotions when loans aren't repaid.

And do you know who else does this? The Red Cross. They hoard the donations they receive, pay huge salaries to their executives, and never give direct aid to victims of any emergency. It is not an organization that I will support.

Iraqi Army Training - Both Sad and Funny

Soldier Recruiting Poster

Enlist Now

Did You Know - Army Deserters

President Bush is not only delusional about achieving success in Iraq, he's also delusional about the capabilities of our all volunteer army. The following is from the New York Times - click here to read the whole story...

Army prosecutions of desertion and other unauthorized absences have risen sharply in the last four years, resulting in thousands more negative discharges and prison time for both junior soldiers and combat-tested veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Army records show.

The increased prosecutions are meant to serve as a deterrent to a growing number of soldiers who are ambivalent about heading — or heading back — to Iraq and may be looking for a way out, several Army lawyers said in interviews.

Political Cartoons

Goerge in the Army

This would be a totally new experience for the Prez- serving in the armes forces. Oh, that's right - he did once - before he went AWOL.