Issue 108
News: Notes on the draft.
I recently turned 18. I can now legally go clubbing, and smoke (even though the odds I will are nil at this point.) One unfortunate thing about this birthday is that I have to register with Selective Services, especially with the very unnecessary quagmire that is Iraq going on after five years, even longer than most of the other wars we've gone through. My viewing of films like Tigerland and Casualties of War in recent weeks have made my worries about the draft more acute. Sure, it's unlikely that there will, in fact, be a draft, since the economy is so bad that the resources which would require the draft would be way too expensive even with all the absurd amount of money that the military recieves and that the public opinion is very much against the draft by now. One major problem with failing to register is, as the military states, in theory, that failure to register can add up to 5 years in prison and a fine of a quarter million dollars. Fortunately, the last time they actually tried to enforce that law, enlistment rates actually went down, so they most likely won't be trying that again. Hopefully, my physical fitness should be bad enough that the army wouldn't want me. Of course, my willingness to pretend to be a cross-dresser (although the days of Don't Ask Don't Tell appear to be numbered, thus making it unlikely to be an option for long) or severely mentally ill (which, considering that abnormal psychology is a minor obsession of mine, shouldn't be that hard) should also hamper my desirability in the military. I hope that one day this will not be an issue and that some future president has the sense to abolish Selective Services.
Band Name of the Day: The Casualties- From the film I mentioned in the essay and will review later. I am officially running low on ideas.
Film Idea of the Day: Cool School. A TV Series best described as Wayside School and Oz meets The Naked Lunch and Saved by the Bell. A teenager moves to a new town and has to go to one high school with an extremely surreal atmosphere and more bizarre faculty, including the psychotic principal who is prone to making bizarre rules (like creating school uniforms out of cheerleader outfits, skirt and all, for both males and females), a Heroin-addicted ex-carny History teacher, and an old, predatory, large, androgynous hermaphrodite of a gym teacher. All characters appearing in this paragraph are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely a disproof of any loving or sane god.
Film Review of the Day: Casualties of War. Michael J. Fox stars as a young private in 'Nam. When his troop captures a girl to be used as a sex slave, he faces a moral dilemma: Should he go along with it and lose all morality, or should he decline and risk being court-martialed for insubordination? Why am I asking you these questions? Why aren't you getting this movie?
Quote of the Day: "Here's how I feel about gays in the military: Anyone … dumb enough … to want to be in the military … should be allowed in. End of story. That should be the only requirement. I don't care how many push-ups you can do – put on a helmet, go wait in that fox hole. We'll tell you when we need you to kill somebody. I've been watching all these Congressional hearings and all these military guys and all the pundits going, "The esprit de corps will be affected, and we are such a moral …" Excuse me, but aren't you all a bunch of hired killers? Shut up! You are thugs, and when we need you to go blow the hell out of a nation of little brown people, we'll let you know. Until then … And don't tell me this is the military that protects our freedom – hey, ladies and gentlemen, there ain't no one out there who's a threat to us. They don't exist. Oh – I'm talking now only of countries we don't arm first. All right, if you want to split hairs, you got a point. "Bill, what about the nations we sell arms to and then blow the hell out of?" Okay, they might be scary for about a day!"
______Bill Hicks, Rant in E Minor
Link of the Day: A Site for both those of us who want to join the military and those of us who want to avoid it.
Tract Review: Poor Little Lamb. Jack tries to connect the 10th Plague with the Passion of Jesus.
I recently turned 18. I can now legally go clubbing, and smoke (even though the odds I will are nil at this point.) One unfortunate thing about this birthday is that I have to register with Selective Services, especially with the very unnecessary quagmire that is Iraq going on after five years, even longer than most of the other wars we've gone through. My viewing of films like Tigerland and Casualties of War in recent weeks have made my worries about the draft more acute. Sure, it's unlikely that there will, in fact, be a draft, since the economy is so bad that the resources which would require the draft would be way too expensive even with all the absurd amount of money that the military recieves and that the public opinion is very much against the draft by now. One major problem with failing to register is, as the military states, in theory, that failure to register can add up to 5 years in prison and a fine of a quarter million dollars. Fortunately, the last time they actually tried to enforce that law, enlistment rates actually went down, so they most likely won't be trying that again. Hopefully, my physical fitness should be bad enough that the army wouldn't want me. Of course, my willingness to pretend to be a cross-dresser (although the days of Don't Ask Don't Tell appear to be numbered, thus making it unlikely to be an option for long) or severely mentally ill (which, considering that abnormal psychology is a minor obsession of mine, shouldn't be that hard) should also hamper my desirability in the military. I hope that one day this will not be an issue and that some future president has the sense to abolish Selective Services.
Band Name of the Day: The Casualties- From the film I mentioned in the essay and will review later. I am officially running low on ideas.
Film Idea of the Day: Cool School. A TV Series best described as Wayside School and Oz meets The Naked Lunch and Saved by the Bell. A teenager moves to a new town and has to go to one high school with an extremely surreal atmosphere and more bizarre faculty, including the psychotic principal who is prone to making bizarre rules (like creating school uniforms out of cheerleader outfits, skirt and all, for both males and females), a Heroin-addicted ex-carny History teacher, and an old, predatory, large, androgynous hermaphrodite of a gym teacher. All characters appearing in this paragraph are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely a disproof of any loving or sane god.
Film Review of the Day: Casualties of War. Michael J. Fox stars as a young private in 'Nam. When his troop captures a girl to be used as a sex slave, he faces a moral dilemma: Should he go along with it and lose all morality, or should he decline and risk being court-martialed for insubordination? Why am I asking you these questions? Why aren't you getting this movie?
Quote of the Day: "Here's how I feel about gays in the military: Anyone … dumb enough … to want to be in the military … should be allowed in. End of story. That should be the only requirement. I don't care how many push-ups you can do – put on a helmet, go wait in that fox hole. We'll tell you when we need you to kill somebody. I've been watching all these Congressional hearings and all these military guys and all the pundits going, "The esprit de corps will be affected, and we are such a moral …" Excuse me, but aren't you all a bunch of hired killers? Shut up! You are thugs, and when we need you to go blow the hell out of a nation of little brown people, we'll let you know. Until then … And don't tell me this is the military that protects our freedom – hey, ladies and gentlemen, there ain't no one out there who's a threat to us. They don't exist. Oh – I'm talking now only of countries we don't arm first. All right, if you want to split hairs, you got a point. "Bill, what about the nations we sell arms to and then blow the hell out of?" Okay, they might be scary for about a day!"
______Bill Hicks, Rant in E Minor
Link of the Day: A Site for both those of us who want to join the military and those of us who want to avoid it.
Tract Review: Poor Little Lamb. Jack tries to connect the 10th Plague with the Passion of Jesus.
Labels: War
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