worry 080911
More Things to Worry About on Thursday
A female soldier is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed in combat, said a House subcommittee chair, and a retired colonel would like to see warnings to that effect on recruiting office doors . . . . . The federal appeals court has granted Roy Pearson his one free appeal (of the dismissal of his famous $54m dry-cleaned-pants lawsuit) . . . . . The F State is finally, finally, cracking down on elderly drivers by, um, allowing 80-and-older drivers to renew their licenses for just six years instead of eight! . . . . . "A culture of ethical failure" at the U.S. Dept. of the Interior is all over the news this morning, featuring direct kickbacks, contracts by favoritism, cocaine sales in one office, and several episodes of contractor-contractee sex (which is always bad, or, as the inspector general put it, "Sexual relationships with prohibited sources cannot by definition be arms-length [relationships]" . . . . . The people in rural Pennsylvania around the Flight 93 crash site are trying, with discretion and dignity this September 11th, to set up a sorta "disaster memorial loop" tourist strip, so that visitors can knock off the crash site, the nearby 2002 mine rescue site, and the nearby 1889 Johnstown flood site, all in one holiday trip! Today's Newsrangers: Karl Olson, Perry Levin, Larry Ellis Reed, Candy Clouston, Bob Pert
A female soldier is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed in combat, said a House subcommittee chair, and a retired colonel would like to see warnings to that effect on recruiting office doors . . . . . The federal appeals court has granted Roy Pearson his one free appeal (of the dismissal of his famous $54m dry-cleaned-pants lawsuit) . . . . . The F State is finally, finally, cracking down on elderly drivers by, um, allowing 80-and-older drivers to renew their licenses for just six years instead of eight! . . . . . "A culture of ethical failure" at the U.S. Dept. of the Interior is all over the news this morning, featuring direct kickbacks, contracts by favoritism, cocaine sales in one office, and several episodes of contractor-contractee sex (which is always bad, or, as the inspector general put it, "Sexual relationships with prohibited sources cannot by definition be arms-length [relationships]" . . . . . The people in rural Pennsylvania around the Flight 93 crash site are trying, with discretion and dignity this September 11th, to set up a sorta "disaster memorial loop" tourist strip, so that visitors can knock off the crash site, the nearby 2002 mine rescue site, and the nearby 1889 Johnstown flood site, all in one holiday trip! Today's Newsrangers: Karl Olson, Perry Levin, Larry Ellis Reed, Candy Clouston, Bob Pert
Comments
The military rape thing is pretty scary. My mom said someone tried to rape her once in a storage closet but she beat them over the head with a mop stick. That was 20-some years ago, though. You'd have thought they'd have done something to stem the problem. (Although, it makes you wonder if the person attracted to military life is just more likely to rape in general...or if something about their conditions makes them more likely to commit the crime.) Although, I figure it's just a handful of deviants.
Posted by Maegan on 09/11/08 at 11:29 AM
My mom did very well in the military, actually. And she has a handful of very close friends that she still sees that did as well/better than she did. There is definitely some sexual inequality in the military, but I don't think it is quite as bad as you make it sound Gary.
The incident I noted above happened while she was still in basic. Which was mid-70s. She retired in the mid 90s after 22 years of service. If she had been experiencing problems over & over again...she would surely have left before that. In an institution that allows little leeway for personal life (as in...we don't care that you just had a baby, you are to report for duty anyway), the military was very considerate of my mother's needs as a single parent. They granted her request to be transfered out of a unit that had been called up for Desert Storm 3 times, but not sent (false starts or something, the unit did eventually go, but my mother had been transfered by then). She asked for a position closer to home during that conflict b/c she was a single parent. They put her in a position that was about 30 minutes from home. She was even given some sort of award for her work during that time.
Anywho...like I said before...inequality - Yes. But a terrible job? The job supported her family for years when she had no other resources.
The incident I noted above happened while she was still in basic. Which was mid-70s. She retired in the mid 90s after 22 years of service. If she had been experiencing problems over & over again...she would surely have left before that. In an institution that allows little leeway for personal life (as in...we don't care that you just had a baby, you are to report for duty anyway), the military was very considerate of my mother's needs as a single parent. They granted her request to be transfered out of a unit that had been called up for Desert Storm 3 times, but not sent (false starts or something, the unit did eventually go, but my mother had been transfered by then). She asked for a position closer to home during that conflict b/c she was a single parent. They put her in a position that was about 30 minutes from home. She was even given some sort of award for her work during that time.
Anywho...like I said before...inequality - Yes. But a terrible job? The job supported her family for years when she had no other resources.
Posted by Maegan on 09/11/08 at 12:51 PM
Maegan, Please thank your mom and her friends for serving our country. I'm glad their experience was overall good.
Posted by BikerPuppy on 09/11/08 at 12:55 PM
Ditto on BikerPuppy's text above!
1) I remember a joke letter that was circulating some years ago that was from an octogenarian from FL to her daughter that ended, "Thank God I've still got my FL driver's license."
2) I spent 4 years on an aircraft carrier with aprox. 5,000 squids on board when deployed and not one, single case of rape the whole time!
1) I remember a joke letter that was circulating some years ago that was from an octogenarian from FL to her daughter that ended, "Thank God I've still got my FL driver's license."
2) I spent 4 years on an aircraft carrier with aprox. 5,000 squids on board when deployed and not one, single case of rape the whole time!
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 09/12/08 at 12:01 AM
Or perhaps not one reported case of rape, Expat. The insidious thing about this sort of attack is that many people often hide the fact it has happened to them, for fear of the social stigma, and unreasoned responses of people around them. I'm not insinuating that anything happened on your ship, but in general, it's a secret violence.
Posted by kingmonkey in Athens, Ontario on 09/12/08 at 11:32 AM
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