To start, I would just like to say that this is a rant, pure and simple. I decided to pick up a paper this morning to look up the goings on around my little island so that my wife and I could find something reasonably priced (or even free) to fill some time today and spend some much needed couple time together. Unfortunately, reading the news either depresses me or pisses me off. Today, it depressed AND pissed me off. So while my wife takes a nap, I decided to write out exactly what was pissing me off because writing is way cheaper than therapy and helps me calm down. So if you don't like reading the rantings of a 30-something white male, read no further.
The first thing that pissed me off: Christmas. What the hell happened to Thanksgiving? I realize it's this week, but I have seen Christmas decorations and such up since before Halloween! The Navy Exchange had a 30' tree up outside our local NEX/Commissary mall at the beginning of November. Don't get me wrong, I like Christmas. It's a time to relax and share with family members. Granted with the economy the way it is, I will be sharing lower priced things with my family, mostly of the aloha variety. But I read today that Santa will be making an appearance at four of the my island's six malls this weekend as opposed to the weekend after Thanksgiving (biggest shopping weekend of the year), or even the first weekend in December. Seriously? When did Christmas start overtaking Thanksgiving AND Halloween? Aside from Thanksgiving, Halloween is probably my favorite holiday as I get to dress up and act like a fool while giving candy to my neighborhoods' kids! And the sad thing is, I know that corporations are only fueled by consumers. People: stop encouraging the corporations by trying to buy Christmas themed stuff earlier and earlier every year! I want to celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving in their respective months without being reminded that Christmas is in December. At the rate things are going, Christmas themed items will be displayed in stores starting in September, which is way too soon for my tastes; September is my birth month, and I like to focus on me that month, dammit!
I read two articles about troops in Iraq and Afghanistan as well this morning. One article was the amount of food that troops in Iraq and Afghanistan will have for their Thanksgiving feast (244,854 lbs of turkey, 4,308 cans of cranberry sauce, 38,292 pies, etc). The next was the number of deaths for the last week in Iraq and Afghanistan (15 last week, 5,784 total for Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom combined). While it warms my heart to see that our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines are doing it up right for Thanksgiving, I'm saddened to see the second set of numbers I provided. Come to think of it, the first set of numbers makes me a little sad too, because I know what it's like to be eating Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner while on a deployment. Yeah, the food is great, but it sucks because you aren't with your family and friends. What makes these numbers even worse is a quote from President Obama while he was campaigning for president:
"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank."
I tried to take this promise to the bank, but it got declined due to non-sufficient funds. Notice how he worded this. It's the "first" thing he will do. First as in, first. Not after he and congress bail out the banks, automakers, etc. Not after he and congress take away our right to choose what appliances we can have in our homes in the interest of of energy conservation. Not after he and congress take away out right to determine how we pay for our health care. The war on terror started as a way to get revenge on Al Qaeda for attacking our home soil. Well now there's speculation that it was in fact a U.S. led job to scare the population into compliance with measures that take away our civil liberties that are guaranteed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The war in Iraq started as a preventive measure to ensure that Iraq would not use stockpiled weapons of mass destruction against, well, anybody. It has been proven time and again since we invaded Iraq that aren't WMD's in Iraq, and there never were WMD's in Iraq. After that, the party line for both Republicans and Democrats during President Bush's remaining time in office, and now President Obama's time in office is that we have to help them get back on their feet. When will the government realize that we are at the point where Iraq and Afghanistan will let us provide security and money to them without end until we we go broke? And all the while, OUR military members keep dying and getting severely wounded. Presidents Obama and Bush, I ask you, "Why?"
Which leads me into the next thing I'm pissed about. I read an article this morning concerning military budget cuts. Some of the things on the table are an across the board pay freeze for military members, reduction in Tricare benefits (the military insurance provider for family members and retirees), reduction in retirement benefits, revamping retirement pay calculations, and delaying retirement benefits. I'm not even sure where to start with this. Seriously. Looking around the neighborhood where I live, I see that a lot of married service members live in a single income situation. It's not that the spouses don't want to work, it's just hard for a spouse to get and keep a decent paying job when their military member is moving every 3-5 years. What company would want to hire you for a decent amount of money if they know you will be moving on after you've been there long enough for them to train you but before they see a return on their investment in you? Therefore, the military member is the breadwinner in such a family group with the spouse often either being a homemaker or taking lower paying service industry jobs that traditionally have a high turnover rate anyway. Freezing the pay levels for three years would have disastrous consequences, as the cost of living goes up approximately 6% every year due to inflation. And I'm speaking of basic cost of living (groceries, rent/mortgage, gas, utilities, clothing, insurance payments). Throw in retirement pay calculated at less than 1/3 of the average for your last 5 years in the service and not receiving any retirement pay until you hit retirement age anyway. Who would want to stay in the service long enough to retire?
Now there are some people who will say that military members are compensated too much anyway, and a pay freeze is only right. To those of you who think that, I ask you to please spend a tour on a ship as part of the crew, or even better, a tour at one of the lovely camps we have in the middle east. Then come back and tell me that the military is overcompensated. There are studies out there that say there is now no gap between military compensation and civilian pay, and the military is in fact out pacing the civilian sector when it comes to pay increases. What those studies don't take into account are that the military member is often on call every second of every day, and that most work weeks for them are Sunday to Saturday, with 12 to 16 hours being the average length of their work day.
On to other military matters... This one saddened me. I read that the ACLU is a STAUNCH supporter of the Westboro Baptist Church. You know, the guys who protest at military funerals, holding up signs that say things like "God kills solders because America tolerates gays," and "God loves IED's." While I'm a firm supporter of the right to free speech, I do think that a measure of respect should be given to the fallen service member's family. They've lost a loved one, and they don't know what that loved one died for other than to further American interests. I know the WBC is nothing but a bunch of hate-fueled bigots, but come on ACLU. I thought you guys at least had some tact.
And finally... I promise, this is the last thing that is pissing me off. The TSA started rolling out the full body scanners last month. And naturally, Honolulu International is one of the airports that received one first. For those of you not aware, the full body scanners take some rather detailed pictures of you, which are viewed by an agent whom you aren't allowed to see. The purpose of these scanners is to show that you are not carrying anything under you clothing. They are more effective than metal detectors because they can see things that are non-ferrous as well as things that are. Now, I don't know about you, but when did it become ok for some goon to look under my wife's, my children's, and my clothes? Supposedly the images are wiped as soon as the security verification is complete, but how do we know that? We're supposed to take the word of an agency who's primary goal is to violate our civil rights? I just typed in the words "TSA saved body scans" into Google, and got back three news stories about two different occasions where they were not only saved, but leaked on the internet! Naturally, you can opt not to be scanned, but then you will have to submit to a pat down. And TSA agents have been instructed to be very aggressive with their pat downs. One news story recounts the tale of a woman who had a hand up her skirt, and another where their genitalia was firmly groped. I'd like to give you a definition:
Sexual assualt: unwanted sexual contact that stops short of rape or attempted rape. This includes sexual touching and fondling. (source: http://www.rainn.org/get-information/types-of-sexual-assault/was-it-rape)
Of course the TSA claims that this is not, in fact sexual assault as you are submitting to it voluntarily so that you can make it onto your plane and not have your travel plans interrupted. If only there was some word or phrase that defined the requirement of sexual favors to achieve a personal benefit... Oh. Right.
Sexual harassment: intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. (source: Paludi, Michele Antoinette; Barickman, (1991). Academic and Workplace Sexual Harassment. SUNY Press. pp. 2–5. ISBN 0791408299)
I don't know about you, but sexual assault and harrassment should not be a prerequisite in order for me to continue my travel plans. And before anyone asks, "Well why not drive?" the answer is that I live on an island more than 2500 miles from the nearest city in the continental U.S. There is no bridge, and even if there was, it would be so long that it would need gas stations and hotels built along it's length. I could feasibly take a boat, but I can't afford a cruise liner every time I want/need to go to the mainland, and considering the type of work my wife does and that I will hopefully be doing soon, we can't afford the time it would take to get back and forth.
And that, my friends, is that. If you've made it this far, thank-you for reading. I feel much better now.
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