Article by: RANDY FURST ,(Minneapolis?) Star Tribune Updated: March 10, 2015 - 10:00 PM
"Heavy hitters in U.S. media joined prominent First Amendment scholars to file two amicus briefs challenging last summer’s jury verdict that favored former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura in his defamation trial in St. Paul.
The friend-of-the-court media brief, filed with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, characterizes the $1.3 million jury award to Ventura as unprecedented, with no basis in common law.
The scholars’ filing faults U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle’s instructions to the jury.
The briefs support Taya Kyle, widow of Chris Kyle, author of the bestselling memoir “American Sniper.”
Ventura’s lawyers convinced the jury in a 10-2 decision that he had been defamed by Chris Kyle, who wrote in the book that he punched Ventura and knocked him down in a California bar after Ventura made disparaging remarks about Navy SEALs and the U.S. government.
Ventura denied the incident happened.
He was awarded $1.8 million, including $500,000 for defamation and $1.3 million for Kyle’s unjust enrichment. Taya Kyle, who oversees her husband’s estate, has appealed the decision to the 8th Circuit.
The brief by 30 media organizations, filed Tuesday, is signed by Floyd Abrams, a well-known First Amendment attorney who represented the New York Times in the Pentagon Papers case.
They said they are concerned about the negative impact on media organizations of “unjustified and potentially crippling awards” such as this one.
The other brief, written on behalf of eight scholars and filed Monday, includes Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the School of Law at the University of California Irvine.
Joseph Daly, emeritus professor of law at Hamline University, who has followed the Ventura case, said that the amicus signers are “extremely impressive and without a doubt the Eighth Circuit judges will read these amicus briefs very, very carefully.”
Among the news organizations that signed the media brief are the New York Times, the Washington Post, the American Society of News Editors, National Public Radio, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the Minnesota Newspaper Association.
In challenging the $1.3 million unjust enrichment award, Abrams contends it is unprecedented in a libel case for jurors to award a portion of the book profits to Ventura.
“An award of profits has nothing to do with the harm suffered by the plaintiff; it is punishment, plain and simple,” he wrote.
The media brief questions the assumptions in the verdict but does not challenge the $500,000 defamation award.
However, the scholars in their amicus brief, written by attorney Leonard Niehoff, urge the 8th Circuit to reverse the entire jury decision, contending that the threshold of defamation is very high and that Judge Kyle gave the jury improper instructions.
Niehoff wrote that to prove defamation, Ventura had to prove that Chris Kyle knew his account was false or had serious doubts about it, but recklessly wrote it anyway.
Niehoff said Judge Kyle did not adequately explain the issue, and when jurors submitted follow-up questions he did not properly answer them.
Court Anderson, one of Ventura’s lawyers, said he had not yet read the amicus briefs. But he added, “We’re confident the jury verdict will be upheld by the 8th Circuit. This case has never been a case of the media publishing an inaccurate statement. Instead this case is about a first-person account from Mr. [Chris] Kyle that the jury found to be a complete fabrication.”
Randy Furst • 612-673-4224
Twitter: @randyfurst"
Hmmm. So, supposedly there were witnesses in McP's that night.
I think Kyle was a liar based on my experience. I never met him, but I've certainly met the type to spout off "unfverifiable" stories.
Frankly, the fact that Chris Kyle's story is wildly popular irritates the fuck out of me. Foreign Policy Journal lays it out better than I could ever hope to.
Showing posts sorted by date for query navy. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query navy. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Sunday, February 01, 2015
American Sniper
I read the book . I saw the movie. I've read a few articles and reviews online. I didn't really hate the book or the movie. What I hated was the fact that I've lived 45 out of my over 50 years in San Diego and I call bullshit. That's because I know of these guys and they bullshit a lot, and they back each other's bullshit up. I'm not doubting that Chris Kyle believed in all that jingoistic bullshit and I don't doubt that he killed a shitload of Iraqis. Or that he loved his wife and kids and Texas and the USA and blhah blah zipityfuckindoodah. The movie made me want to drink copious amounts of tequila.
Dude has been proven a liar in court. I also got the idea that his wife is the kind of Navy wife that turned me off to Navy wives forever.
I am a retired veteran's wife and I was born here in San Diego and have lived here for MOST of my life and was single for a long time. I know how full of crap many military guys are. I've seen and heard shit that wives don't see and hear. I've worked on a base, a couple in fact. I'm not a veteran and never thought that was a realistic goal for me. I have asked quite a few young, active military guys why they joined and very few spout the kind of uber-patriotic nonsense that oozes out of the book or the movie. Their girlfriend broke their heart or their girlfriend got pregnant or they timed out of foster care or they wanted to go to college on the GI bill or there just weren't any JOBS back home. Or my favorite- they wanted to be in the MPs so they could go be a cop back home when they got out.
Frankly, I'm a much bigger Michael Moore fan than I am a Clint Eastwood fan and Eastwood became just another asshole like Charleton Heston in my mind when we were reminded of the incident where he said he would shoot MM if MM ever came to his door.
Dude has been proven a liar in court. I also got the idea that his wife is the kind of Navy wife that turned me off to Navy wives forever.
I am a retired veteran's wife and I was born here in San Diego and have lived here for MOST of my life and was single for a long time. I know how full of crap many military guys are. I've seen and heard shit that wives don't see and hear. I've worked on a base, a couple in fact. I'm not a veteran and never thought that was a realistic goal for me. I have asked quite a few young, active military guys why they joined and very few spout the kind of uber-patriotic nonsense that oozes out of the book or the movie. Their girlfriend broke their heart or their girlfriend got pregnant or they timed out of foster care or they wanted to go to college on the GI bill or there just weren't any JOBS back home. Or my favorite- they wanted to be in the MPs so they could go be a cop back home when they got out.
Frankly, I'm a much bigger Michael Moore fan than I am a Clint Eastwood fan and Eastwood became just another asshole like Charleton Heston in my mind when we were reminded of the incident where he said he would shoot MM if MM ever came to his door.
And oh by the way, Fried Green Tomatoes is streaming on Netflix right now.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
7 Marines die in training accident
Crash was 1 of deadliest for Marines in years
By JULIE WATSON
The Associated Press
"SAN DIEGO — A collision that killed seven Marines in one of the Marine Corps' deadliest aviation training accidents in years occurred over a sprawling desert range favored by the U.S. military because its craggy mountains and hot, dusty conditions are similar to Afghanistan's harsh environment.;;;"
"...It was the fifth aviation accident since March involving the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing headquartered at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego. Throughout the Navy and Marine Corps, there have only been two other aviation training accidents in the past five years involving seven or more deaths, according to the military's Naval Safety Center..."
*sigh*
By JULIE WATSON
The Associated Press
"SAN DIEGO — A collision that killed seven Marines in one of the Marine Corps' deadliest aviation training accidents in years occurred over a sprawling desert range favored by the U.S. military because its craggy mountains and hot, dusty conditions are similar to Afghanistan's harsh environment.;;;"
"...It was the fifth aviation accident since March involving the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing headquartered at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego. Throughout the Navy and Marine Corps, there have only been two other aviation training accidents in the past five years involving seven or more deaths, according to the military's Naval Safety Center..."
*sigh*
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Sorry about the spiders, Maine
Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011
"BATH, Maine (AP) - A Navy shipbuilder in Maine says it had to fumigate a warehouse and part of a warship because a shipment of parts from the West Coast contained about two-dozen venomous black widow spiders...."
We have brown widows also.
We have brown widows also.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Afghan Military Pilot Guns Down 8 NATO Troops
VOA atricle.
Meanwhile, Afghan officials say troops have recaptured 71 of the 488 inmates who used a 300-meter-long tunnel to escape from a prison in southern Kandahar province on Sunday.
Nifty.
Navy Ship Attacked by Somali Pirates Returns to San Diego
Last Update: 8:03 am
Hmmm, I wonder how many dingbats in the bars will fall for the "I captured a pirate, 'cause I'm a SEAL story?"
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Rape rampant in US military
Statistics and soldiers' testimonies reveal a harrowing epidemic of sexual assault in the US military.
Dahr Jamail Last Modified: 21 Dec 2010 13:22 GMT
Sexual assault within the ranks of the military is not a new problem. It is a systemic problem that has necessitated that the military conduct its own annual reporting on the crisis.
A 2003 Air Force Academy sexual assault scandal prompted the department of defense to include a provision in the 2004 National Defense Authorization Act that required investigations and reports of sexual harassment and assaults within US military academies to be filed. The personal toll is, nevertheless, devastating.
Military sexual trauma (MST) survivor Susan Avila-Smith is director of the veteran’s advocacy group Women Organizing Women. She has been serving female and scores of male clients in various stages of recovery from MST for 15 years and knows of its devastating effects up close.
“People cannot conceive how badly wounded these people are,” she told Al Jazeera, “Of the 3,000 I’ve worked with, only one is employed. Combat trauma is bad enough, but with MST it’s not the enemy, it’s our guys who are doing it. You’re fighting your friends, your peers, people you’ve been told have your back. That betrayal, then the betrayal from the command is, they say, worse than the sexual assault itself.”
On December 13, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other groups filed a federal lawsuit seeking Pentagon records in order to get the real facts about the incidence of sexual assault in the ranks.
The Pentagon has consistently refused to release records that fully document the problem and how it is handled. Sexual assaults on women in the US military have claimed some degree of visibility, but about male victims there is absolute silence.
Pack Parachute, a non-profit in Seattle, assists veterans who are sexual assault survivors. Its founder Kira Mountjoy-Pepka, was raped as a cadet at the Air Force Academy. In July 2003 she was member of a team of female cadets handpicked by Donald Rumsfeld, at the time the secretary of defense, to tell their stories of having been sexually assaulted. The ensuing media coverage and a Pentagon investigation forced the academy to make the aforementioned major policy changes.
Report reveals alarming statistics
Mountjoy-Pepka often works with male survivors of MST. She stated in a telephone interview that four per cent of men in the military experience MST. “Most choose not to talk about it until after their discharge from the military, largely because the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in over 60 percent of MST cases is too overwhelming,” she informed Al Jazeera.
Last week the Pentagon released its “annual report on sexual harassment and violence at the military service academies”. At its three academies, the number of reports of sexual assault and harassment has risen a staggering 64 percent from last year.
The report attributes the huge increase to better reporting of incidents due to increased training and education about sexual assault and harassment. Veteran’s Administration (VA) statistics show that more than 50 percent of the veterans who screen positive for MST are men.
According to the US Census Bureau, there are roughly 22 million male veterans compared to less than two million female vets.
In Congressional testimony in the summer of 2008, Lt. Gen. Rochelle, the army chief of personnel, reported the little known statistic that 12 percent (approximately 260) of the 2,200 reported rapes in the military in 2007 were reported by military male victims.
Due to their sheer numbers in the military, more men (at a rough estimate one in twenty), have experienced MST than women.
Shamed into silence
Billy Capshaw was 17 when he joined the Army in 1977. After being trained as a medic he was transferred to Baumholder, Germany. His roommate, Jeffrey Dahmer, by virtue of his seniority ensured that Capshaw had no formal assignment, no mail, and no pay. Having completely isolated the young medic, Dahmer regularly sexually assaulted, raped, and tortured him.
Dahmer went on to become the infamous serial killer and sex offender who murdered 17 boys and men before being beaten to death by an inmate at Columbia Correction Institution in 1994.
Capshaw reflects back, “At that young age I didn’t know how to deal with it. My commander did not believe me. Nobody helped me, even though I begged and begged and begged.”
The debilitating lifelong struggle Capshaw has had to face is common among survivors of military sexual assault.
Later during therapy he needed to go public. Since then he says, “I’ve talked to a lot of men, many of them soldiers, who are raped but who won’t go public with their story. The shame alone is overwhelming.”
In 1985 Michael Warren enlisted in the navy and for three years worked as a submarine machinist mate on a nuclear submarine. One day he awoke to find another soldier performing fellatio on him.
He recollects with horror, “I was paralyzed with fear. I was in disbelief... shame. When I reported it to the commander he said it was better for me to deal with it after being discharged. Nobody helped me, not even the chaplain. The commander at the processing centre wouldn’t look me in the face. When I filled out my claim later they didn’t believe me. It’s so frustrating.”
Armando Javier was an active duty Marine from 1990 to 1994. He was a Lance Corporal at Camp Lejeune in 1993 when he was raped.
Five Marines jumped Javier and beat him until he was nearly unconscious, before taking turns raping him. His sexual victimization narrative reads, “One of them, a corporal, pulled down my shorts and instructed the others to ‘Get the grease’. Another corporal instructed someone to bring the stick. They began to insert the stick inside my anus. The people present during this sadistic and ritual-like ceremony started to cajole, cheer, and laugh, saying “stick em’ – stick-em’.”
Extreme shame and trauma compelled him not to disclose the crime to anyone except a friend in his unit. He wrote in his account, “My experience left me torn apart physically, mentally, and spiritually. I was dehumanized and treated with ultimate cruelty, by my perpetrators… I was embarrassed and ashamed and didn’t know what to do. I was young at that time. And being part of an elite organization that values brotherhood, integrity and faithfulness made it hard to come forward and reveal what happened.”
The reality of being less equal
Women in America were first allowed into the military during the Revolutionary War in 1775 and their travails are as old. Drill instructors indoctrinate new recruits into it at the outset by routinely referring to them as “girl,” “pussy,” “bitch,” and “dyke.”
A Command Sergeant Major told Catherine Jayne West of the Mississippi National Guard, “There aren’t but two places for women - in the kitchen or in the bedroom. Women have no place in the military.”
She was raped by fellow soldier Private First Class Kevin Lemeiux, at the sprawling Camp Anaconda, north of Baghdad. The defense lawyer in court merely wanted to know why, as a member of the army, she had not fought back.
The morning after the rape, an army doctor gave her a thorough examination. The army’s criminal investigation team concluded her story was true. Moreover, Lemeiux had bragged about the incident to his buddies and they had turned him in. It seemed like a closed case, but in court the defense claimed that the fact that West had not fought back during the rape was what incriminated her. In addition, her commanding officer and 1st Sergeant declared, in court, that she was a “promiscuous female.”
In contrast, Lemeiux, after the third court hearing of the trial, was promoted to a Specialist. Meanwhile his lawyer entered a plea of insanity.
He was later found guilty of kidnapping but not rape, despite his own admission of the crime. He was given three years for kidnapping, half of which was knocked off.
The long term affects of MST
Jasmine Black, a human resources specialist in the Army National Guard from June 2006 to September 2008 was raped by another soldier in her battalion when she was stationed in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. She reported it to her Sexual Assault Response Coordinator (SARC) and the Military Police, but the culprit was not brought to book.
After an early discharge due to MST and treatment at a PTSD Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program (PRRTP) facility, she was raped again by a higher-ranking member of the air force in February 2009.
Administrator for a combat engineering instruction unit in Knoxville, Tennessee, Tracey Harmon has no illusions. “For women in the military, you are either a bitch, a dyke, or a whore. If you sleep with one person in your unit you are a whore. If you are a lesbian you are a dyke, and if you don’t sleep with other soldiers you are a bitch.”
Maricela Guzman served in the navy from 1998 to 2002 as a computer technician on the island of Diego Garcia. She was raped while in boot camp, but fear of consequences kept her from talking about it for the rest of her time in the military. “I survived by becoming a workaholic and was much awarded as a soldier for my work ethic.”
On witnessing the way it treated the native population in Diego Garcia, she chose to dissociate from the military. Post discharge, her life became unmanageable. She underwent a divorce, survived a failed suicide attempt and became homeless before deciding to move in with her parents. A chance encounter with a female veteran at a political event in Los Angeles prompted her to contact the VA for help. Her therapist there diagnosed her with PTSD from her rape.
The VA denied her claim nevertheless, “Because they said I couldn’t prove it … since I had not brought it up when it happened and also because I had not shown any deviant behavior while in the service. I was outraged and felt compelled to talk about what happened.”
While it will go to any length to maintain public silence over the issue, the military machine has no such qualms within its own corridors. Guzman discloses, “Through the gossip mill we would hear of women who had reported being raped. No confidentiality was maintained nor any protection given to victims. The boys’ club culture is strong and the competition exclusive. That forces many not to report rape, because it is a blemish and can ruin your career.”
The department of defence reported that in fiscal year 2009, there were 3,230 reports of sexual assault, an increase of 11 percent over the prior year.
However, as high as the military’s own figures are of rape and sexual assault, victims and advocates Al Jazeera spoke with believe the real figures are sure to be higher.
Veteran April Fitzsimmons, another victim of sexual assault, knows what an uphill battle it is for women to take on the military system. “When victims come forward, they are ostracized and isolated from their communities. Many of the perpetrators are officers who use their ranks to coerce women to sleep with them. It’s a closely interwoven community, so they are safe and move fearlessly amongst their victims.”
Her advice to women considering joining the US military?
“The crisis is so severe that I’m telling women to simply not join the military because it’s completely unsafe and puts them at risk. Until something changes at the top, no woman should join the military.”
This is the first in a two part series on sexual harassment in the US military. The second part in the series will be published in the coming week.
Research support was provided by the Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute.
Dahr Jamail Last Modified: 21 Dec 2010 13:22 GMT
Sexual assault within the ranks of the military is not a new problem. It is a systemic problem that has necessitated that the military conduct its own annual reporting on the crisis.
A 2003 Air Force Academy sexual assault scandal prompted the department of defense to include a provision in the 2004 National Defense Authorization Act that required investigations and reports of sexual harassment and assaults within US military academies to be filed. The personal toll is, nevertheless, devastating.
Military sexual trauma (MST) survivor Susan Avila-Smith is director of the veteran’s advocacy group Women Organizing Women. She has been serving female and scores of male clients in various stages of recovery from MST for 15 years and knows of its devastating effects up close.
“People cannot conceive how badly wounded these people are,” she told Al Jazeera, “Of the 3,000 I’ve worked with, only one is employed. Combat trauma is bad enough, but with MST it’s not the enemy, it’s our guys who are doing it. You’re fighting your friends, your peers, people you’ve been told have your back. That betrayal, then the betrayal from the command is, they say, worse than the sexual assault itself.”
On December 13, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other groups filed a federal lawsuit seeking Pentagon records in order to get the real facts about the incidence of sexual assault in the ranks.
The Pentagon has consistently refused to release records that fully document the problem and how it is handled. Sexual assaults on women in the US military have claimed some degree of visibility, but about male victims there is absolute silence.
Pack Parachute, a non-profit in Seattle, assists veterans who are sexual assault survivors. Its founder Kira Mountjoy-Pepka, was raped as a cadet at the Air Force Academy. In July 2003 she was member of a team of female cadets handpicked by Donald Rumsfeld, at the time the secretary of defense, to tell their stories of having been sexually assaulted. The ensuing media coverage and a Pentagon investigation forced the academy to make the aforementioned major policy changes.
Report reveals alarming statistics
Mountjoy-Pepka often works with male survivors of MST. She stated in a telephone interview that four per cent of men in the military experience MST. “Most choose not to talk about it until after their discharge from the military, largely because the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in over 60 percent of MST cases is too overwhelming,” she informed Al Jazeera.
Last week the Pentagon released its “annual report on sexual harassment and violence at the military service academies”. At its three academies, the number of reports of sexual assault and harassment has risen a staggering 64 percent from last year.
The report attributes the huge increase to better reporting of incidents due to increased training and education about sexual assault and harassment. Veteran’s Administration (VA) statistics show that more than 50 percent of the veterans who screen positive for MST are men.
According to the US Census Bureau, there are roughly 22 million male veterans compared to less than two million female vets.
In Congressional testimony in the summer of 2008, Lt. Gen. Rochelle, the army chief of personnel, reported the little known statistic that 12 percent (approximately 260) of the 2,200 reported rapes in the military in 2007 were reported by military male victims.
Due to their sheer numbers in the military, more men (at a rough estimate one in twenty), have experienced MST than women.
Shamed into silence
Billy Capshaw was 17 when he joined the Army in 1977. After being trained as a medic he was transferred to Baumholder, Germany. His roommate, Jeffrey Dahmer, by virtue of his seniority ensured that Capshaw had no formal assignment, no mail, and no pay. Having completely isolated the young medic, Dahmer regularly sexually assaulted, raped, and tortured him.
Dahmer went on to become the infamous serial killer and sex offender who murdered 17 boys and men before being beaten to death by an inmate at Columbia Correction Institution in 1994.
Capshaw reflects back, “At that young age I didn’t know how to deal with it. My commander did not believe me. Nobody helped me, even though I begged and begged and begged.”
The debilitating lifelong struggle Capshaw has had to face is common among survivors of military sexual assault.
Later during therapy he needed to go public. Since then he says, “I’ve talked to a lot of men, many of them soldiers, who are raped but who won’t go public with their story. The shame alone is overwhelming.”
In 1985 Michael Warren enlisted in the navy and for three years worked as a submarine machinist mate on a nuclear submarine. One day he awoke to find another soldier performing fellatio on him.
He recollects with horror, “I was paralyzed with fear. I was in disbelief... shame. When I reported it to the commander he said it was better for me to deal with it after being discharged. Nobody helped me, not even the chaplain. The commander at the processing centre wouldn’t look me in the face. When I filled out my claim later they didn’t believe me. It’s so frustrating.”
Armando Javier was an active duty Marine from 1990 to 1994. He was a Lance Corporal at Camp Lejeune in 1993 when he was raped.
Five Marines jumped Javier and beat him until he was nearly unconscious, before taking turns raping him. His sexual victimization narrative reads, “One of them, a corporal, pulled down my shorts and instructed the others to ‘Get the grease’. Another corporal instructed someone to bring the stick. They began to insert the stick inside my anus. The people present during this sadistic and ritual-like ceremony started to cajole, cheer, and laugh, saying “stick em’ – stick-em’.”
Extreme shame and trauma compelled him not to disclose the crime to anyone except a friend in his unit. He wrote in his account, “My experience left me torn apart physically, mentally, and spiritually. I was dehumanized and treated with ultimate cruelty, by my perpetrators… I was embarrassed and ashamed and didn’t know what to do. I was young at that time. And being part of an elite organization that values brotherhood, integrity and faithfulness made it hard to come forward and reveal what happened.”
The reality of being less equal
Women in America were first allowed into the military during the Revolutionary War in 1775 and their travails are as old. Drill instructors indoctrinate new recruits into it at the outset by routinely referring to them as “girl,” “pussy,” “bitch,” and “dyke.”
A Command Sergeant Major told Catherine Jayne West of the Mississippi National Guard, “There aren’t but two places for women - in the kitchen or in the bedroom. Women have no place in the military.”
She was raped by fellow soldier Private First Class Kevin Lemeiux, at the sprawling Camp Anaconda, north of Baghdad. The defense lawyer in court merely wanted to know why, as a member of the army, she had not fought back.
The morning after the rape, an army doctor gave her a thorough examination. The army’s criminal investigation team concluded her story was true. Moreover, Lemeiux had bragged about the incident to his buddies and they had turned him in. It seemed like a closed case, but in court the defense claimed that the fact that West had not fought back during the rape was what incriminated her. In addition, her commanding officer and 1st Sergeant declared, in court, that she was a “promiscuous female.”
In contrast, Lemeiux, after the third court hearing of the trial, was promoted to a Specialist. Meanwhile his lawyer entered a plea of insanity.
He was later found guilty of kidnapping but not rape, despite his own admission of the crime. He was given three years for kidnapping, half of which was knocked off.
The long term affects of MST
Jasmine Black, a human resources specialist in the Army National Guard from June 2006 to September 2008 was raped by another soldier in her battalion when she was stationed in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. She reported it to her Sexual Assault Response Coordinator (SARC) and the Military Police, but the culprit was not brought to book.
After an early discharge due to MST and treatment at a PTSD Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program (PRRTP) facility, she was raped again by a higher-ranking member of the air force in February 2009.
Administrator for a combat engineering instruction unit in Knoxville, Tennessee, Tracey Harmon has no illusions. “For women in the military, you are either a bitch, a dyke, or a whore. If you sleep with one person in your unit you are a whore. If you are a lesbian you are a dyke, and if you don’t sleep with other soldiers you are a bitch.”
Maricela Guzman served in the navy from 1998 to 2002 as a computer technician on the island of Diego Garcia. She was raped while in boot camp, but fear of consequences kept her from talking about it for the rest of her time in the military. “I survived by becoming a workaholic and was much awarded as a soldier for my work ethic.”
On witnessing the way it treated the native population in Diego Garcia, she chose to dissociate from the military. Post discharge, her life became unmanageable. She underwent a divorce, survived a failed suicide attempt and became homeless before deciding to move in with her parents. A chance encounter with a female veteran at a political event in Los Angeles prompted her to contact the VA for help. Her therapist there diagnosed her with PTSD from her rape.
The VA denied her claim nevertheless, “Because they said I couldn’t prove it … since I had not brought it up when it happened and also because I had not shown any deviant behavior while in the service. I was outraged and felt compelled to talk about what happened.”
While it will go to any length to maintain public silence over the issue, the military machine has no such qualms within its own corridors. Guzman discloses, “Through the gossip mill we would hear of women who had reported being raped. No confidentiality was maintained nor any protection given to victims. The boys’ club culture is strong and the competition exclusive. That forces many not to report rape, because it is a blemish and can ruin your career.”
The department of defence reported that in fiscal year 2009, there were 3,230 reports of sexual assault, an increase of 11 percent over the prior year.
However, as high as the military’s own figures are of rape and sexual assault, victims and advocates Al Jazeera spoke with believe the real figures are sure to be higher.
Veteran April Fitzsimmons, another victim of sexual assault, knows what an uphill battle it is for women to take on the military system. “When victims come forward, they are ostracized and isolated from their communities. Many of the perpetrators are officers who use their ranks to coerce women to sleep with them. It’s a closely interwoven community, so they are safe and move fearlessly amongst their victims.”
Her advice to women considering joining the US military?
“The crisis is so severe that I’m telling women to simply not join the military because it’s completely unsafe and puts them at risk. Until something changes at the top, no woman should join the military.”
This is the first in a two part series on sexual harassment in the US military. The second part in the series will be published in the coming week.
Research support was provided by the Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Gah, hollyweird
I'm watching The King . I found myself irritated with some of the details. I'm trying to figure out why the filmmakers chose to focus on the rifle. Dude got out of the Navy. I've been here in this Navy town all my life and never met anybody who developed such an important relationship with his rifle and got out and kept his rifle. Especially if they got a dishonorable discharge, which is a given for this particular character. I'm irritated with the way Gael pronounced Chula Vista. I lived there, my kid was born there, & I've lived around squids my whole life. Even Hispanic squids pronounce it 'Chew-lah 'Vih-stah, not the Spanish pronunciation 'Shoe-lah 'Vees-tah. I've also never seen anybody tattoo their ship on themselves. "Tribal" silliness, gang signs, girl's names, all kinds of crap, but a ship? Puhleeeeeeeeeze! Captive on a fucking tin can for 6 and sometimes up to 9 months and they're going to put a picture of their cage on their body forever? What nonsense. To listen to the commentary is difficult enough for me because I find it annoying when the writers congratulate themselves on how fucking brilliant ("genius") they are. Their obvious disdain for ordinary people gets on my last nerve.
If the point of this movie is to horrify, disgust and paint a picture of a truly reprehensible character then the movie is a success. Gael García Bernal can play some really creepy parts, and William Hurt can do anything you put in front of him, but come on, this would have the movie walked out on, or the DVD pulled out of the player in a LOT of homes. If not for the actors' and actresses' performances this piece of shit wouldn't be worth a fiddler's fart. I just hope that I don't ever come face to face that whoever wrote this sick piece of crap.
Shit, I missed Chuck watching this thing? Oy. Chuck is way over the top, but it doesn't take itself seriously.
ps, I wonder how many residents of that cutthroat, hamburger grinder-like county of LA are aware of how close to death they are on a weekly basis? I know I'm aware of it now, but it's not something my stupid parents chose to inform me of.
If the point of this movie is to horrify, disgust and paint a picture of a truly reprehensible character then the movie is a success. Gael García Bernal can play some really creepy parts, and William Hurt can do anything you put in front of him, but come on, this would have the movie walked out on, or the DVD pulled out of the player in a LOT of homes. If not for the actors' and actresses' performances this piece of shit wouldn't be worth a fiddler's fart. I just hope that I don't ever come face to face that whoever wrote this sick piece of crap.
Shit, I missed Chuck watching this thing? Oy. Chuck is way over the top, but it doesn't take itself seriously.
ps, I wonder how many residents of that cutthroat, hamburger grinder-like county of LA are aware of how close to death they are on a weekly basis? I know I'm aware of it now, but it's not something my stupid parents chose to inform me of.
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Supreme Court hears case Wednesday on Navy sonar, whales
Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008
Court hears case Wednesday on Navy sonar, whales
By MARK SHERMAN Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court is weighing whether presidential power in wartime can override environmental concerns in a case that pits the Navy's submarine-hunting training against protection for whales.
Why do I get the feeling that the whales are going to lose this one?
Maybe because they're up against the US Navy and if the Navy loses, then the oil companies will feel like they are threatened?
Court hears case Wednesday on Navy sonar, whales
By MARK SHERMAN Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court is weighing whether presidential power in wartime can override environmental concerns in a case that pits the Navy's submarine-hunting training against protection for whales.
Why do I get the feeling that the whales are going to lose this one?
Maybe because they're up against the US Navy and if the Navy loses, then the oil companies will feel like they are threatened?
Monday, August 04, 2008
The Navy needs PR help
The Navy hopes to award the contract in September.
Oh OH OH, My hand's up, Pick me. Pick Me . Piiiiiiiicccckkk Meeeeeeeeeee.
BWWAAAA HAA Ha ha ha ha, just kidding.
Oh OH OH, My hand's up, Pick me. Pick Me . Piiiiiiiicccckkk Meeeeeeeeeee.
BWWAAAA HAA Ha ha ha ha, just kidding.
Friday, August 01, 2008
Dead whales and oil companies' seismic testing
Mmm, missed this last month.
Whales stranded off Madagascar
BBC News - news.bbc.co.uk
09 Jun 2008
Same old shit, different company.
Whatever.
Missed this one,
and this one
Shit. All of these articles go on and on about algae blooms and chasing fish, and eating sand and blah blah blah. Most of these mass beaching have one of two things in common:
Seismic testing (generally for oil or gas), or Navy Sonar testing in the area recently, both of which are so fucking loud that the bones in ceteceans' ears break.
I'm not a scientist, but I'm not a freaking idiot either. I became a liberal after taking business classes, how's that for defiant?
The militaries which depend upon oil probably don't want me connecting the dots, eh?
Fuck 'em. This planet is so fucked because of human activity.
Whales stranded off Madagascar
BBC News - news.bbc.co.uk
09 Jun 2008
Same old shit, different company.
Whatever.
Missed this one,
and this one
Shit. All of these articles go on and on about algae blooms and chasing fish, and eating sand and blah blah blah. Most of these mass beaching have one of two things in common:
Seismic testing (generally for oil or gas), or Navy Sonar testing in the area recently, both of which are so fucking loud that the bones in ceteceans' ears break.
I'm not a scientist, but I'm not a freaking idiot either. I became a liberal after taking business classes, how's that for defiant?
The militaries which depend upon oil probably don't want me connecting the dots, eh?
Fuck 'em. This planet is so fucked because of human activity.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
War and recruiting standards?
I was reading this from Nick Turse's book last night:
The report from the Criminal Investigation Command, or CID, tracks an increase from 23 reported gang incidents in fiscal 2005 to 60 in fiscal 2006, saying in part the new servicewide definition of gangs added more cases to the total.
And heard about this this morning:
Navy cites smoking as likely cause of carrier fire
By CHELSEA J. CARTER – 13 hours ago
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Smoking appears to have sparked a fire that caused $70 million in damage to the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington, Naval officials said Wednesday
US Navy calls MySpace kids an "Alien Life Force"
Posted by Xeni Jardin, September 28, 2007 10:00 AM permalink
You know, I read a lot of depressing shit, and I grew up in San Diego, so a lot of what's in this book comes as no surprise to me, but I gotta say the most depressing part of this book is the connection (that if you're ME, anyway, you could find) between the Defense Department's astronomical need for oil (fuel) and this fucked up war in Iraq. That and some recruiting has been privatized also, and not just for mercenaries.
Moving on, I read the newz today Oh boy...
When the newz steals, they steal BIG.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Bathtub Admirals
I laughed a LOT, I cried a little. It's one of the best books I've ever read. You don't need to know anything about the Navy to love it, but it helps. My husband complained that I snatched it away from him even though I promised him he could read it first. Tough. I told him I would have it finished before he came home from work. Turns out I couldn't put it down and I had it almost finished before he went to work this morning.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Mixed feelings this AM.
First the funny stuff. Amita Sharma has a lovely voice with slight inflections that are interesting to try to figure out. This morning on the local NPR station I really don't know where she was emotionally, but I was laughing my ass off:
San Diego Wants Blackwater to Make Training Facility Wheelchair Accessible
I can't stand Bonfiglio, & I love Mike Aguirre AND his brother.
Still plugging along until the isp sends the right driver. Dayang I miss reading y'all, but this thing is just sooooo slow. Oy. Be back soon. Vista is a pain in the ass so far.
Not happy with the Supreme Court this morning either:
Court rejects death penalty for raping children
By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 58 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court has struck down a Louisiana law that allows the execution of people convicted of a raping a child...
and
The Supreme Court on Wednesday also cut the $2.5 billion punitive damages award in the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster to $500 million.
and watch the Supreme Court be responsible for more dead cetaceans:
Supreme Court to decide Navy sonar appeal
Mon Jun 23, 2008 1:29pm
Seriously. Who does the Supreme Court protect in these cases? It ain't the whales.
San Diego Wants Blackwater to Make Training Facility Wheelchair Accessible
I can't stand Bonfiglio, & I love Mike Aguirre AND his brother.
Still plugging along until the isp sends the right driver. Dayang I miss reading y'all, but this thing is just sooooo slow. Oy. Be back soon. Vista is a pain in the ass so far.
Not happy with the Supreme Court this morning either:
Court rejects death penalty for raping children
By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 58 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court has struck down a Louisiana law that allows the execution of people convicted of a raping a child...
and
The Supreme Court on Wednesday also cut the $2.5 billion punitive damages award in the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster to $500 million.
and watch the Supreme Court be responsible for more dead cetaceans:
Supreme Court to decide Navy sonar appeal
Mon Jun 23, 2008 1:29pm
Seriously. Who does the Supreme Court protect in these cases? It ain't the whales.
Friday, June 06, 2008
Blackwater opens San Diego training center
Blackwater supporter attempting to intimidate protesters in San Diego last year. He looks like an old school fat ass chief. The kind of brainwashed meathead that I love to hate. Stubborn, stupid, and vicious. Probably divorced, or with a third world mail-order bride who meekly does his bidding without questioning and has never been encouraged to become independent of his stupid fat ass. Wonder if he knew about a contract that had already been signed ?
Blackwater opens San Diego training center
By ALLISON HOFFMAN Associated Press Writer
SAN DIEGO (AP) - A new counterterrorism training facility operated by military security contractor Blackwater Worldwide echoed with the grunts of Navy sailors, a day after a federal judge ordered the city to let classes begin.
The 24 trainees batted and punched each other Thursday as they learned basic strike tactics in a corner of the 61,000-square-foot converted warehouse in an industrial area near the U.S.-Mexico border.
For the next three weeks, they'll practice shooting inside a 25-yard indoor firing range and learn to wear sidearms safely while wriggling through ship hatches and up narrow ladders installed in white metal cargo containers stacked along one wall of the building to simulate a ship. Trainers from Blackwater will quiz them on distinguishing small boats carrying cargo from those carrying bombs.
The company sued last month because city officials refused to issue final occupancy documents without a vote by the planning commission, after building inspectors had already signed off on the necessary permits. Blackwater said it faced a Navy contract deadline and accused the city of caving to political pressure.
The company has been targeted by anti-war activists and Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., who opposed its proposed training camp for law enforcement in a remote mountain community east of San Diego. That project was dropped after firing ranges failed to satisfy noise restrictions, but Filner and others have raised concerns that Blackwater is simply seeking a foothold near the border that could serve as a base for providing private migrant or drug interdiction services to federal agencies.
Blackwater insists the warehouse was built to provide the Navy's "ship reaction force basic" training course as part of a $400 million contract. The program is part of an initiative to train sailors in counterterrorist defense tactics after the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in a Yemeni port.
"This facility supports our oldest customer," said company Vice President Brian Bonfiglio, referring to the military.
Blackwater trains sailors from East Coast bases at its headquarters in Moyock, N.C., where it offers an advanced course using model ships floating in a private lake. It developed the California warehouse to offer the introductory program to sailors from San Diego, Guam, Japan and other Pacific bases.
Bonfiglio acknowledged that Blackwater would gladly host other agencies, including the Border Patrol or Coast Guard, at the warehouse, located in an unmarked building within sight of the border fence and the Tijuana airport control tower beyond.
"If we had a bunch of Border Patrol vehicles parked outside, they'd accuse us of trying to take over the border," he said, only half-joking. "But I'd open up our doors to any law enforcement that needed training, if I could do it."
The company has been expanding its domestic law enforcement training business, opening an 80-acre police training center in Mount Carroll, Ill., in 2007 to complement its 7,000-acre complex in North Carolina.
At the same time, Blackwater, the largest private security firm in Iraq, has come under increased scrutiny for its work abroad. Its guards are under investigation by a federal grand jury in Washington for their involvement in the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians. The company is also under investigation for possible weapons smuggling, allegations Blackwater denies.
Weapons smuggling? Like, you know, taking over Khashoggi's trade?
Democratic activist Raymond Lutz said those inquiries can't be ignored when it comes to Blackwater's domestic operations.
"To put training in the hands of private profiteers means that you're giving up your ability to oversee what they're doing and when you give it up you lose control," Lutz said. "Why doesn't the Navy train its own people?"
Bonfiglio said his five trainers offer students a depth of counterterrorism experience the Navy couldn't match without pulling its own experts from other duties.
"What we do overseas needs to be separated from what we do in the United States," he said. "Here we put all of our effort into developing training facilities that are unmatched."
The pride of the facility is the mock warship area, where shipping containers are outfitted with red lights to simulate an onboard emergency and speakers blare clanking background noise during exercises.
On Thursday, workers were reinforcing a maze of wooden walls appended to the cargo containers at the request of city inspectors, who are still reviewing Blackwater's application to use the simulated ship area under an amusement-park ride permit, Bonfiglio said.
City lawyers said the company misled inspectors by applying for permits piecemeal and under the names of affiliated companies instead of making a single application to open a training center with firearms. District Court Judge Marilyn Huff ruled Wednesday that the company did not need to seek special approval because the area is already zoned for vocational school use.
The city has not said whether it will appeal.
2008-06-06 09:00:13 GMT
What won't be on TV in San Diego tonight.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
The bureaucratic behemoth DoD and your tax dollars
Let's see how the fuckers are spending your money today.
Tomgram: William Astore, Militarizing Your Cyberspace
posted June 05, 2008 10:49 am
...it's now proposing a massive $30 billion cyberspace boondoggle, as retired Air Force Lt. Col. William Astore writes below, that will, theoretically, provide the Air Force with the ability to fry any computer on Earth...
Attention Geeks and HackersUncle Sam's Cyber Force Wants You!
By William J. Astore
... Part of the Air Force's new "above all" vision of full-spectrum dominance, America's emerging cyber force has control fantasies that would impress George Orwell. Working with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Department of Homeland Security, and other governmental agencies, the Air Force's stated goal is to gain access to, and control over, any and all networked computers, anywhere on Earth, at a proposed cost to you, the American taxpayer, of $30 billion over the first five years...
Judge allows Blackwater to open San Diego center
By ALLISON HOFFMAN – 15 hours ago
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A federal judge Wednesday ordered the city to allow military contractor Blackwater Worldwide to begin using a new counterterrorism training center in a warehouse outfitted with an indoor firing range.
District Judge Marilyn Huff ruled that the company would suffer irreparable harm if it could not begin holding classes there for Navy sailors.
Frankly, I'm wondering who this judge, or her husband is playing golf with? So tell me again how judges interpret the law to benefit the people they are paid to serve?
Tomgram: William Astore, Militarizing Your Cyberspace
posted June 05, 2008 10:49 am
...it's now proposing a massive $30 billion cyberspace boondoggle, as retired Air Force Lt. Col. William Astore writes below, that will, theoretically, provide the Air Force with the ability to fry any computer on Earth...
Attention Geeks and HackersUncle Sam's Cyber Force Wants You!
By William J. Astore
... Part of the Air Force's new "above all" vision of full-spectrum dominance, America's emerging cyber force has control fantasies that would impress George Orwell. Working with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Department of Homeland Security, and other governmental agencies, the Air Force's stated goal is to gain access to, and control over, any and all networked computers, anywhere on Earth, at a proposed cost to you, the American taxpayer, of $30 billion over the first five years...
Judge allows Blackwater to open San Diego center
By ALLISON HOFFMAN – 15 hours ago
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A federal judge Wednesday ordered the city to allow military contractor Blackwater Worldwide to begin using a new counterterrorism training center in a warehouse outfitted with an indoor firing range.
District Judge Marilyn Huff ruled that the company would suffer irreparable harm if it could not begin holding classes there for Navy sailors.
Frankly, I'm wondering who this judge, or her husband is playing golf with? So tell me again how judges interpret the law to benefit the people they are paid to serve?
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Blackwater on the border
Virtual fence on Mexican border deemed insufficient
By ARTHUR H. ROTSTEIN
Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
So?
Blackwater still needs to feed from the government trough, and what better place than San Diego? Just what we need patrolling the border here, Blackwater.
There's just something about right-wing Christofacist zombies. Relentless fuckers, aren't they?
Duncky will come to their rescue. Lemon Chicken man does his best to secure bucks for all the boondoggles that defense contractors can dream up.
Rep Bob Filner, to his credit, has this to say
I have a question though. Why is Blackwater training sailors here? San Diego is one big huge Navy base.
By ARTHUR H. ROTSTEIN
Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
So?
Blackwater still needs to feed from the government trough, and what better place than San Diego? Just what we need patrolling the border here, Blackwater.
There's just something about right-wing Christofacist zombies. Relentless fuckers, aren't they?
Duncky will come to their rescue. Lemon Chicken man does his best to secure bucks for all the boondoggles that defense contractors can dream up.
Rep Bob Filner, to his credit, has this to say
I have a question though. Why is Blackwater training sailors here? San Diego is one big huge Navy base.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Local newz
Notice the wording of these headlines.
Marine wife accused of poisoning husband
Woman charged with first-degree murder for financial gain
Thurs., Dec. 15, 2005
Authorities: Wife Killed Marine Spouse For Breast Enhancements
Sommer Resists Extradition
POSTED: 9:03 am PST January 4, 2006
UPDATED: 7:05 am PST January 5, 2006
Well, can you imagine my surprise when this woman was released from prison yesterday?
Test clears woman of poisoning husband
Published: April 18, 2008 at 2:12 PM
SAN DIEGO, April 18 (UPI) -- Prosecutors in San Diego have dropped charges against a 34-year-old woman convicted in January of killing her U.S. Marine husband.
Cynthia Sommer was freed from the Los Colinas jail after spending two years and four months behind bars on charges of fatally poisoning Sgt. Todd Sommer with arsenic, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Friday.
In freeing Sommer, prosecutors said the conclusions of a new group of toxicology experts has cast doubt on poisoning as a cause of Sgt. Sommer's death.
District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis told a news conference Thursday "as soon as we had the information that pointed to reasonable doubt, we brought this case this afternoon to get the matter dismissed."
Sommer, 23, died in February, 2002 after collapsing at the couple's home at the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station.
At first doctors said he died of natural causes but tests later found high levels of arsenic in his liver and kidneys.
Court documents said a lab in Canada re-tested Sommers' tissue samples this month and found no evidence of arsenic.
© 2008 United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
For more go here
Yeesh, I'm so cynical at this point I wonder if it might have been poisoning that killed him and it was easier for the local authorities and NCIS to grab her instead of dealing with the real problem.
US Military Bases Known To Be Contaminated (ca. 1992) (From: Life in the Times)
The following 59 U.S. military bases were suffering from significant water or soil contamination a year ago, according to the Department of Defense's interpretation of its latest hazardous waste survey. DoD officials say not every base suffering such contamination is on the list, because information was not available for all bases. The list is based on the latest status report for DoD's Installation Restoration Program.
The IRP report contains no explanation of the problems at each base, so we asked each service to provide details. The Army did so. The Navy Chief of Information refused to help us gather the information...
Moffett Field NAS, CA
The major contaminants in the ground water are volatile organic compounds.
Whidbey Island NAS, WA...
Other Navy bases:
China Lake, CA
Indian Head NOS, MD
Jacksonville NAS, FL
Miramar NAS, CA (now MCAS Miramar)
Pabmont River NAS, MD
Toxic Trails: U.S. Military Bases and the Environment
November 29, 2000
Marine wife accused of poisoning husband
Woman charged with first-degree murder for financial gain
Thurs., Dec. 15, 2005
Authorities: Wife Killed Marine Spouse For Breast Enhancements
Sommer Resists Extradition
POSTED: 9:03 am PST January 4, 2006
UPDATED: 7:05 am PST January 5, 2006
Well, can you imagine my surprise when this woman was released from prison yesterday?
Test clears woman of poisoning husband
Published: April 18, 2008 at 2:12 PM
SAN DIEGO, April 18 (UPI) -- Prosecutors in San Diego have dropped charges against a 34-year-old woman convicted in January of killing her U.S. Marine husband.
Cynthia Sommer was freed from the Los Colinas jail after spending two years and four months behind bars on charges of fatally poisoning Sgt. Todd Sommer with arsenic, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Friday.
In freeing Sommer, prosecutors said the conclusions of a new group of toxicology experts has cast doubt on poisoning as a cause of Sgt. Sommer's death.
District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis told a news conference Thursday "as soon as we had the information that pointed to reasonable doubt, we brought this case this afternoon to get the matter dismissed."
Sommer, 23, died in February, 2002 after collapsing at the couple's home at the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station.
At first doctors said he died of natural causes but tests later found high levels of arsenic in his liver and kidneys.
Court documents said a lab in Canada re-tested Sommers' tissue samples this month and found no evidence of arsenic.
© 2008 United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
For more go here
Yeesh, I'm so cynical at this point I wonder if it might have been poisoning that killed him and it was easier for the local authorities and NCIS to grab her instead of dealing with the real problem.
US Military Bases Known To Be Contaminated (ca. 1992) (From: Life in the Times)
The following 59 U.S. military bases were suffering from significant water or soil contamination a year ago, according to the Department of Defense's interpretation of its latest hazardous waste survey. DoD officials say not every base suffering such contamination is on the list, because information was not available for all bases. The list is based on the latest status report for DoD's Installation Restoration Program.
The IRP report contains no explanation of the problems at each base, so we asked each service to provide details. The Army did so. The Navy Chief of Information refused to help us gather the information...
Moffett Field NAS, CA
The major contaminants in the ground water are volatile organic compounds.
Whidbey Island NAS, WA...
Other Navy bases:
China Lake, CA
Indian Head NOS, MD
Jacksonville NAS, FL
Miramar NAS, CA (now MCAS Miramar)
Pabmont River NAS, MD
Toxic Trails: U.S. Military Bases and the Environment
November 29, 2000
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Justices asked to hear Navy sonar, whales case
Bush administration asks Supreme Court to review ruling that limits use
Something tells me that the Sooopreme court justices won't be using teh Google search terms that they need to. It'll be all Homeland Security All The Time.
I've heard from more than one sailor that one of the few joys when you're stuck out at sea for what seems like forever is watching the dolphins.
Reed Saxon / AP
A gray whale dives off the Southern California coast near the Palos Verdes Peninsula on Jan. 16.
Evolution of the whale ear
MARINE MAMMAL AUDITORY SYSTEMS:
A SUMMARY OF AUDIOMETRIC AND ANATOMICAL DATA AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR UNDERWATER ACOUSTIC IMPACTS
Bush administration appeals Navy sonar case to Supreme Court
Joshua Pantesco at 8:50 AM ET
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
The Justice Department petition argues that the decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco jeopardizes the Navy's ability to train sailors and Marines for service in wartime.
MARINE MAMMAL AUDITORY SYSTEMS:
A SUMMARY OF AUDIOMETRIC AND ANATOMICAL DATA AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR UNDERWATER ACOUSTIC IMPACTS
Bush administration appeals Navy sonar case to Supreme Court
Joshua Pantesco at 8:50 AM ET
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
The Justice Department petition argues that the decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco jeopardizes the Navy's ability to train sailors and Marines for service in wartime.
Something tells me that the Sooopreme court justices won't be using teh Google search terms that they need to. It'll be all Homeland Security All The Time.
I've heard from more than one sailor that one of the few joys when you're stuck out at sea for what seems like forever is watching the dolphins.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Bush Exempts Navy From Environmental Law
(click on pic for C&L "Die, Whales Die!!!" post.)
Bush Exempts Navy From Environmental Law
PAULINE JELINEK | January 16, 2008 01:50 PM EST | AP
WASHINGTON — President Bush exempted the Navy from an environmental law so it can continue using sonar in its anti-submarine warfare training off the California coast _ a practice critics say is harmful to whales and other marine mammals.
How many times have I posted on this?
How many more days do we have to deal with this asshole? I knew he would get his way in less than six months, and the spoiled rotten fucktard piece of shit did.
Yes, I did just call the president of the US a FUCKTARD PIECE OF SHIT. We will have to deal with the world-wide devastation of this administration, stemming from the absolute fanatical worship at the altar of the "free market," for the rest of our lives, our kids lives, and if the planet can still sustain lives, our great great grand children's lives.
You don't get the connection between allowing the military to train and the "free market" neocon fucktards?
Cubby Holes.
You think the federal dollars are heading to San Diego study the health of the ocean?
Or to the military-industrial-congressional-complex?
Which WILL protect the profits of the privatization warriors.
Fuckers are making money on both sides of the "war on terra."
Upper management seems to think that they are playing with toy soldiers.
Not human beings.
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