Hypocrisy.

I'd just like to briefly state a few observations.

1- If there were a Republican President in office and the economy was still in the state it is (and has been) and so many other agendas of the administration had been unpopular and virtually bombed then focusing on yet ANOTHER social issue would never fly. The Democrats would crucify the Republicans for trying to force their morals onto a government entity and there would be no end to the dissent.

Democrats would be beating a drum of injustice and whining that the Republicans are just trying to assuage the indignation of a new demographic so they weren't failing at everything. Shouldn't you complete at least one goal successfully before moving on to five-hundred others?

2- Don't Ask/Don't Tell shouldn't have ever needed to be in place because your sexual orientation should never have bearing on your career. EVER. If so many homosexuals think they need to be recognized in the military then maybe they need to move to a career where your sexual orientation is a key component.

3- I've said this before. DADT is not an issue of eradicating ignorance. It's a housing/logistical issue. If men can't be housed with women then why would gay men be housed with straight men? Separate but equal facilities are available when people don't have to be split in five different ways. A gay men's barracks, straight men's barracks, gay women's barracks, straight women's barracks, transexual barracks, and what about bisexuals and those people who just aren't sure? This is ridiculous, folks. RIDICULOUS.

3- Quit forcing people to be one acronym or another. LGBTQ? Seriously. Live and let live.

I feel like we're going down the drain so very, very quickly.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

It's been a million years since I've written. Luckily, I feel like getting back into the swing of things. Enjoy :)

There is a reason "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is in place, and it certainly isn't meant to oppress any one type of person. Military work spaces should be completely devoid of any sexual orientation for organizational reasons. Next thing you know tax payers have to build six different kinds of barracks separating Homosexual Males from Heterosexual Males from Transgender Males and then all over again on the female side; instead of just one male and one female. Can you imagine six different sets of berthings and showers on an aircraft carrier? Sure, they're huge... but you have to have room for more than just personnel.

What we should be spending money on it classes that teach "Live and Let Live." It's none of my business, or anyone's business, if the person next to me is gay or not. As long as their doing their job not really anything matters. If we focused on people's capabilities instead of their personal choices we would all just be humans with resumes. Sexual preferences are meant to stay between you, your significant other and whomever you believe will be judging you in the end.


Either way, this all gets back to my usual points...

Do your job well.
Be responsible for yourself and no one else.
Live and let live.

Pot Calling the Kettle Black

Hillary Clinton released an ad in Texas that focuses on handling a crisis. Her ad says something to the effect of "who do you want answering the phone" when a crisis comes. And then she says..... “We need a president who is tested and ready to lead in a dangerous world and who can draw on years of real-world experience,” Clinton said at the Waco rally. “There’s a big difference between giving a speech on national security and giving orders as commander in chief.”

Ok.

Great.

Brilliant deduction.

Moron.

WHAT CRISIS EXPERIENCE DO YOU HAVE?! New York has been crisis free since the 9/11 days, and when her Hubby was in office there wasn't a single major U.S. crisis to think about, and even the international ones were minuscule compared to what's happened in the past eight years. Sure, ok, she's been a Senator and helped deal with the war. Big whoop. She's never had to make an executive decision in her life, she's never been anything more than a 1 in 100 yes or no vote, she's never had to make an on-the-spot, shit-may-hit-the-fan-when-i-do-this-wrong call.

Eleven people have gone into the White House without 'defense crisis experience' Excepting all those wonderful President's who served in various branches of the military, there are a couple of people who didn't any defense experience at all. Thank you all 32 Presidents who did . And for the record, Bill Clinton wasn't one of them so Hillary can't even claim Military Wife experience in dealing with defense emergencies.

So, Hillary Clinton, my Sir-Points-Out-the-Obvious-A-Lot Award of the Day goes to you. Because you're right. There's a huge difference between giving a speech on National defense and giving orders as commander in chief" and hot damn, i hope the buck doesn't stop with you. If you're in Texas and are a democrat.... which shouldn't happen in the first place, just kidding! anyway.... will you please vote for Obama in the primary? Ugh.

Harold & Kumar Suck.

Ok, so you've heard me rant about that new Harold & Kumar movie. [reference: I'm speechless Dec 2007?] Well, the New York Times has picked up the story. Their story focuses on the idea that Guantanamo has made its place in pop-culture an irrevocably negative one. But Gitmo hasn't made its place at all... the media has made Gitmo's place. If Gitmo had any say in the matter everyone would understand the truth and I wouldn't have much subject matter for this here blog-thing.

Admiral Buzby is quoted in the article saying something to the effect that the media has "turned up the gain" to distort the truth coming out of Gtmo. Which is exactly what happens. They take the menial details that could be construed as negative (i.e. fences, uniforms, dirt in the recreation area) and turn it into a huge issue. Yeah, there's wire fences, after all we are detaining these people for the safety of the public. Yes, Gitmo has banana rats and lots of iguanas. Yes, some of the detainees are kept in cells. But they're not running around in orange inmate wear. And the banana rats are actually kind of cute.... and vegetarians; who also make a squeaky sound when you accidentally run them over in your suburban at night because they're crossing the road in hordes. Anyway, the point is... The New York Times spends 3/4 of the article focusing your attention on the bad press that Gitmo is getting. I would pay good money to see the New York Times print the news releases that actually come out of Gitmo and all the things that Admiral Buzby says about Gitmo. A sound bite would be even better! Mainly because the Admiral has a voice like God, and who doesn't believe a man who sounds like that?

Anyway, if the New York times wants to run around stating the obvious.... Gitmo gets bad press. And perpetuate that cycle its their right to do it. Also, if they want to quote people who feel sympathy for the detainees that's there right too. I will simply exercise my right to laugh at them. A lot. And to laugh at those people who are being sucked into the negative propaganda trap that the detainees create through their lies. Those detainees, and their cohorts, would not hesitate to murder every bleeding-heart-sympathy-having-lie-believing-pity-feeling-person out there.

Finally, Gitmo is not a prison. It is a detention center. I've been over this before [reference: legally & transparently, Jan 2008]. If it were a prison they would all be convicted men... on their way to the chair (ok, that last part is wishful thinking). It's a detention center that complies to every clause in the Geneva Convention to the letter. It is transparent, it is humane, and in a couple of years somebody will thank the men and women who are keeping it open and operating properly.

p.s. The article mentions that the people who are stationed at Gitmo drink to much. As a former bartender in Gitmo all I can say about that is .... Uh.... Duh. It's a bunch of twenty-something year olds who behave the same as anybody else their age . Just about every where you go 20-somethings drink too much. That goes for any civilian community or any military installation.

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In Other News, I got to talk to a good friend of mine last night and that was awesome. I love feeling reaffirmed in the fact that I'm not crazy and the world isn't completely without hope. Dr. Lefever also helped reaffirm my hope in the human race this morning. God Bless her, she's brilliant. Dallas in two days. I am more excited than I could possibly explain. Also, I've got a few job interviews coming up in other places out of town, stay tuned for details. :)

Berkeley's City Council Sucks. A Lot.

This is retarded. Who in their right mind would actually vote to remove a Marines recruiting station from their city? What kind of hippy-freak-pinko-commie-bastard take action against the Marines and grants a protesting permit to some anti-war protest group? Who the hell do they think they are to tell their fellow American that they're not welcome?!

Anti-Discrimination Law in the City means that the military with a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy needs to be kicked out?! ANTI-DISCRIMINATION ISN'T JUST FOR GAY PEOPLE. Anti- discrimination is supposed to help all people feel like we're all humans. Not just make the ones who dress in drag feel better. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (to any normal human being) simply translates into "Please Don't Wear Glitter Into Work or Hit On Your Superiors" Is that really so hard?!

The Marines are the men and women who defend Berkeley, California's right to say all that bullshit... so how do they thank them?! By making them un-welcomed second class citizens. Extremism and condescension won't fix a damn thing in your ridiculous liberal city. I hope the Marines do NOT abandon their post at the recruiting station and that a number of protesters end up really angry because they see their young men and women walking into that office to volunteer their lives and time to a cause much greater than any petty liberal agenda.

That City Council is the most ridiculous group of tunnel-visioned-extremist liberals in the world right now. The bigger picture is that your stupid city needs to be well-rounded and accepting of all people... not just the bleeding-heart-gay-social programs loving-"anti-discriminatory" liberals.

God Bless that one man who voted against the other eight.

Berkeley, California's City Council can go SCREW Themselves.

UPDATE: Here's the response of S.C.'s Senator to the debacle... and the ramifications for the City Council making the Marines into "uninvited and unwelcomed visitors." Check it.

Legally & Transparently

On January 2nd this year, I did one of the coolest things I've ever done in my life. I got to take a tour behind the wire of the Joint Task Force Guantanamo Bay (JTF). What that means is that at about 1030am, January 2nd I was standing not more than ten feet from a group of "unlawful enemy combatants" (a.k.a. the men who would have killed me and the entire tour group and guards if the fence and some M16's weren't in the way) who were praying in their recreation area. It was absolutely the most moving, reaffirming, empowering event that I've ever experienced.

We started the day with a briefing in one of the administrative buildings that is behind the Roosevelt Gate, which separates Naval Station Gitmo from JTF Gitmo. The briefing was the same brief they give to the men and women who come to work at the JTF, just minus the classified information. The Chief of Staff and every other major player in the running of the camps was there to inform our group of what exactly their section does and how they do it. We reviewed the meals, medical, and recreation of the detainees extensively. We also got to eat the same lunch that the detainees were eating that day. And, if I may say so, it was actually great food. Meatloaf, veggies, wheat bread, cake, an orange, apple juice, salad, and water. All of this is just one part of the 5000 calorie a day- religious and health conscious- diet the detainees get.

Speaking of health conscious, the detainees get the greatest health care on the planet. There is a fully staffed hospital with all the latest in modern technologies inside. A detainee died recently from colon cancer.... but it wasn't because it couldn't be treated, it was because he refused treatment in hopes that his death could make the JTF look bad. Everything from advil to muscle relaxers to x-rays to full surgical procedures can and has been performed on detainees who have needed medical help. There is no expense that is spared and no second wasted when one of the detainees has an ailment. On the other hand, the United States Residents of Guantanamo Bay often have to wait days to get on a plane to go see a specialist in Jacksonville if anything goes wrong. In particularly dire situations sick Americans can be Med-Evac'd over Cuba to a hospital but that's a last resort. I find great irony in the fact that the citizens the detainees want to kill have a lot more trouble keeping themselves healthy than the detainees do. But if we didn't their lawyers would hear all about it and we'd be the bad guys.... fortunately that's not the case.

During the briefing they explained that the JTF GTMO is not a prison, it is a detention center where things are operated "legally and transparently". Basically, a place where people who are a danger to the missions can be held until the fight is over.... just like the Geneva Convention says. They also explained that people (cough, cough liberals) often make the mistake of saying they want to close Guantanamo Bay. Closing Guantanamo Bay means they want to shut down the world's oldest overseas military base, and the only U.S. Military installation on the soil of a country with which we have no diplomatic relations. Basically, if you want it closed, at least know what you're talking about... they want the JTF closed, not Guantanamo Bay.

We reviewed some of the bad press that the JTF gets, the Chief of Staff informed us that anyone who has asked for a tour and briefing about the facilities has gotten it. Also, many of the groups who bad mouth the JTF have been sent numerous invitations and turned them down (hint: it rhymes with Amnesty International).

One particularly interesting fact they gave us is that the United States has never, ever released detained enemy combatants during a time of war.... never. Until JTF Gitmo was opened, now the US has released more detainees than it keeps. Although a few have gone back to the fight, an overwhelming amount return to their lives.

The final thing that was stressed in the briefing was that no matter how many concessions we have to make for these men, no matter how normal their everyday lives seem, no matter how much they try to convince us they're normal... they are dangerous men who want(ed) to kill Americans.

The briefing took about an hour then we started the tour. We began in Camp 4 which is the most "compliant" of the camps. Meaning that in Camp 4 the detainees are given the most freedom possible without sacrificing the safety of the guards or the mission. Camp 5 is a maximum security camp, as is Camp 6. Although Camp 6 was originally built as a "medium security facility" the Government learned very quickly that there is no such thing as a medium security terrorist. The detainees are constantly trying to find ways to harm and humiliate the guards, they're constantly trying to find ways to harm themselves so that it gets into the media, and they're constantly working together.

Because of the no isolation, no incommunicado, no solitary confinement policy the detainees are allowed to talk to each other all of the time. In fact, I even got to hear some of them talking to each other. Their ability and right to communicate with each other allows for the detainees to maintain their plotting and planning at JTF Gitmo. The same organization that is hidden in the mountains of the middle east, makes it's way 5000 miles across the globe to manifest itself in the place where the entire mission is to stop that group. Thus comprimising the safety of the guards.

It's mind-blowing to me to think that there are men and women down in the JTF who walk the same fifty feet of hallway for ten hours a day, being taunted, yelled at, unable to retaliate, bored out of their minds and sacrificing their safety for the rest of us and who in the US really cares? Not a whole lot of people. We go about our nice lives never stopping once during the day to pray for a single soldier, or think about finding someway to contribute to the effort.

Anyway, in Camp 5 the tour group walked into one of the pods (one of those 50 ft long hallways with the cells in it) to look at one of the living spaces. At the end of the hallway one of the detainees starts yelling, "It is so cold! I am so freezing! ...... what group is it?" He's whining and complaining about having air conditioning and then wondering what group is listening to him. Once he finds out which group it was he'll be sorely disappointed. The point of whining that loudly is so that the media or whomever is coming through thinks he's got it so bad down there. Fortunately, his complaints fell on deaf ears, I was with a group of the wives and daughters of the men who work in the camps and we couldn't care less how cold he is.

Its hard to put into words the impression that the tour made on me. It's one of those things where "wow" isn't even an ambiguous enough word to encompass everything that goes through my mind about what happens inside that wire. "A war is being waged mentally and emotionally everyday" and that's just astounding. My passion and fervor for my personal crusade to support the JTF has been refueled and is even more important to me than ever. I feel like I have the information and the experience to shoot down anybody who is fabricating seditious lies about the operation. Freedom is actively being defended at the JTF, and it's comforting to know that the entire operation from the top down and vice versa is a well-thought out, constantly evolving operation. Despite the long work hours, and the discouragement that comes along with dealing with detainees day in and out I hope that one day the people who work there can look back and realize what a service they have done for their Country.

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There's no In Other News this time around.... simply because my blog was just that important.... go read it again. :)

Lean-Mean-Moving-Machine: The Modern Navy Brat

Well, I've got a ton of laundry to do, some packing that desperately needs done and papers that I ought to be writing but instead I find myself poised in front of my computer with way too much on my mind.

Navy Brats lead an odd life. The true oddity of it didn't really come to light until recently. Not only am I really, really, really have difficultly dealing with the "So Where Are You From?" question; I have noticed that grappling with the whole what-do-I-do-after college thing has been complicated by my Navy Bratness.

First, when the Military asks you to move every two years for a totally of twenty years you get more used to change than you do consistency. Which is why being in Norfolk for an entire FOUR YEARS is driving me absolutely batty. The only way I've dealt with it is by getting out of state as often as possible, and moving houses each year. Also, moving around like that gives you a really poor idea of where exactly you're from... Allow me to explain. I was born in Maine (but, shhhhhh, we don't talk about that) and then lived in 13 different places since then, including three different high schools. My driver's license is from Texas, I pay taxes in Virginia, my parents are Pennsylvania residents, but PA won't give me residency because I've never lived there for more than 18 months. My siblings have the same problem. Audrey and Jackson are born in Pennsylvania but have Gitmo Driver's Licenses, Sammy was born in Florida and has been to seven schools in thirteen years.

The military has deprived us of our quintessential "hometowns". We've got no where to relate to and essentially we're the product of about twenty different environments. The problem is that when my answer is "Oh, I'm from the Navy" civilians give me that whole head-cocked-to-the-side confused look. So I've resorted to being from Texas. 1- I graduated from High School there, 2- My driver's license is from there and 3-it's technically the place I lived the longest (it beats VA, by a month... not counting my college years)

The reason I don't say I'm from Virginia? Oi, let's not even get into that. Suffice to say that the Commonwealth of Virginia is not Emily's kind of state. It's simply somewhere I'm going to school at, and getting the hell out of quickly.

Secondly, I've never been given the choice of where to move to. The Navy asks my Dadman & Mommy for their top choices for the next duty station, the Navy checks the open positions and then Emily, Audrey, Jackson and Samuel tag along for the ride. You adapt, you cooperate, you assimilate but you most certainly to not choose.

You may argue and say that I chose to go to Old Dominion. However, I did not. I was given the option of going to a school that gave me a scholarship or moving to Japan with my parents. Which isn't nearly as magnanimous of a decision as where to go after school. The biggest difference between the two is that now I don't have limiting factors. With the degree I'll have I could basically work in any city in the nation, and a large number of cities internationally. So how did I solve this problem?

Well, technically, I haven't. Although, I did kind of arbitrarily pick Dallas, Texas... but really for not that many good reasons. I'm still very very very confused about where to go. My Mommy keeps asking... "Why Dallas?" and my basic response is... "uh, because it's in Texas and I have friends there."

Normal civilian kids don't have to deal with this crap! They've got hometowns! Or cities they've dreamed of moving to for years. For Navy kids, we've already lived in those cities, and we've never been any where at all for years. In fact, it's absolutely terrifying to think I may get stuck in one city for the rest of my entire life. What the hell do you do then?! The military didn't train me how to handle the same people for the next eighty years. They trained me to be an exceptionally efficient and flexible moving machine. I can pack up and move cross country in less than a week, but sure as hell can't handle being in one spot for too long.

I wrote a blog very similar to this, probably two years ago, but it's main focus was on not being equipped to deal with my surroundings, not the lack of experience in picking my location. I wish I still had it but, dammit, MySpace deleted it.

In short, I'm confused out of my cotton-pickin' mind. And yes, I blame it on the Navy. Despite the innumerable wonderful things the military has done and continues to do for my family... training the children to be good decision makers is sure as hell not one of them.

Got any good city suggestions? Lemme know.

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In Other News, I made the mistake of calling one of my ex-boyfriends last night. What possessed me? I believe that can be blamed on a substance called.... Coors Light. Did the conversation go badly? No, but that's not the point. On the upside, Thanksgiving is this week and I'll get to see my sister and whole extended family. Another plus, I've been talking to a very good friend of mine who is overseas a whole lot. I cannot wait to see him next semester. : ) Man, I can really be a girl sometimes.

Dr. Lefever Cried in Class Today

[07 Nov 2007 Wednesday]

10:39 AM - Norfolk, VA

She's one of the most amazing and profoundly intelligent professors I've met in my time at ODU. One of those women who seems to have complete control over herself and her environment. But today, while giving an example of what our rhetoric speeches ought to be like... she cried.

As she delivered the Gettysburg Address, she got to the end...

"It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. "

...and tried really hard not to but she cried. It was probably for her husband who is a psychiatric doctor overseas right now caring for soldiers. She could also have been crying for the soldiers all over the world who have died in an effort to preserve the concept of a Nation, and the concept of right.

It's also possible that she was crying simply because the Gettysburg Address is still eerily relevant during today's war on terror. Whatever her reasoning was, she really got to me. And made me wonder why more people don't connect things in the past with the events of today.
History isn't an episodic time line of individual events. It's a continuous flow of events that blend from on into the other.

There is a reason why people say that history repeats itself.

While we may not be involved in a literal civil war, all the bi-partisan bickering that's going on and undermining our efforts overseas might as well equate to a civil war. The whole country should pause, take two steps back and really look at what we're doing. There are a lot of men who are "hallowing" a lot of ground out there right now... and we really ought to do something about that.

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Gettysburg Address
Abraham Lincoln November 19th, 1863

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Damn Signs & the Crazy Lady

[27 Aug 2007 Monday]

6:53 PM - Norfolk, Virginia

Current mood: annoyed

I've seen so many "Support the Troops, Stop the War" signs it makes me sick. What makes you think that stopping this war is supporting our troops? What makes you think a sign in your front lawn does anything but mark you as slightly politically opinionated? What makes you think that the troops know you're supporting them with your little sign?

First, pulling out of the war would be a premature admission of defeat. The troops are making progress, and by being there and making process they're honoring the effort and memory of every American Hero who has died in any war. To pull out early would mean that their sacrifice and contribution meant little because serving our political agenda is more important than completing the objective they worked and died for.

That sign in your yard means you took the time to pick it up and stick it in the ground. Okay, great. Now go take the time to get on www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil and leave our boys in uniform a message telling them how much you support them. Go get on www.OperationUSOcarepackage.org or AnySoldier.com and send a very deserving soldier a piece of home. Would you spend some of your precious time and/or hard-earned money to support these guys or is your sign enough? Because if it is enough, you're delusional.

You make ask why I'm so passionate about a stupid sign. It's because I got yelled at today. I mean yelled at like finger pointing and everything because I made a comment to a friend of mine at a cross-walk. Some lady turn around and said " Your conservative opinion is what's ruining this nation. If you would shut your mouth and realized how much your president f'd up you'd realize those signs and bumper stickers are the only sane voice America has."Well excuse the fuck out of me but if bumper stickers and signs are the only sane voice we've got well, then the phrase "hell in a handbasket" is a gross understatement.

And "my" president? Look, crazy lady, just because you didn't vote for him doesn't make him singularly "my" president. The second time around there were no glitches, the democrats just couldn't produce a strong enough candidate and the relatively quiet majority won out and we got G. Dub. It's called a democratic process not an emily-picks-who-runs-the-free-world process.

Also, if we had voted Kerry in it would have been a tragedy. During the civil war they kept Lincoln despite his unpopularity because he ran the slogan "Don't switch horses midstream." Switching to Kerry three years ago would have been like switching from a horse to a goat midstream. Translated into normal people words.... very bad juju.

I wish I were in Cuba. I wish I were surrounded by barbed wire and communism and around people who knew there was a mission to be completed and far, far away from the hippy, freak, pinko, liberal crazies who make me wish I carried the righteous frying pan of God to beat them with.

Don't get me wrong, I love liberals. They give me an opinion to bounce my own ideas off of, if there were no liberals and we all had the same right wing ideas this would be some odd form of communism. However, partisanship is what gives us democracy and I happen to really like democracy. Thus, I really like liberals. It's the crazies that give them a bad name, that's all. Ranting has made me hungry. Somebody write me and tell me I'm not off my rocker.

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In other news, today was my last first day of school. I'm officially a college senior who loves her classes (despite the amount of them).

I Love When the Range is Hot

[16 Aug 2007 Thursday]

1:54 AM Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

There is something to be said about waking up at 0800 to the National Anthem being played over loud-speakers and then immediately hearing the sound of 50-cals going off on the range in the distance. It's comforting? reassuring? relaxing? most American thing ever? Pick one.

I leave for Norfolk in a little more than two days and I'm not sure I'm ready to go back. I've gotten used to my job schedule and my online school schedule and my diving schedule and my social schedule and things like the range. I've gotten used to appreciating things because of the great irony that is Guantanamo Bay.

Digression... let's take a quick look at this irony thing. 1- this place is gorgeous, but the detained enemy combatants can't see outside their designated areas.... 2- i'm a free law abiding American, but the camps have Comedy Central and I don't.... 3- I get to be online whenever I want ranting about whatever I want and somewhere on this same island there are people who aren't allowed to because it's a national security threat... 4- i snorkel and drink and hang out and take pictures and do all those amazing wonderful things that Americans get to do right next to the people who wanted to take all of this away from me.

What's going to kill me is when I go back to the states and see just how apathetic and silly the general public is. Also, i start my Civic Engagement and Political Media class (or some crap like that) and this one girl always upsets me. Last semester she called everyone who works in GTMO "murdering traitors" and I went ballistic. I can't imagine how crazy i'll go if she says it this semester, or even something like that. I might just have to choke a bitch.

I've made some of the best friends i've ever had down here and if some girl who thinks she knows everything insults them and my Dad... I really would have no self-control or composure about myself. I love my friends down here. They're honestly some of the most amazing people I've ever met in my entire life. This summer would have been a complete bust if I didn't have them. The best part about them is that when i leave it's not going to be a traumatic depressing experience... down here it's just how things go. When you're dealing with civilians they don't understand that people come and go and when your friend leaves it's not the end of the world. They get sad and start behaving oddly... with friends who are military (or at least brats) you don't have to worry about losing your friend, you're just sending them away so you've got a house to stay at in another city.

There are hundreds of people down here itching to get off island... and here I am, unhappy to be going. 5 on the irony list... those of us down here voluntarily want to stay and those on orders cannot wait to be gone.

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In other news, other than all this staying/going craziness and some other major stressors, I've been uncharacteristically happy lately. I think it's the addition of a certain person to my social scheme. Also, I still miss somebody who left at the beginning of the summer something fierce. He made quite the impression.

A Little Crazy ... but I Like It

[31 Jul 2007 Tuesday]

1:40 AM

Charlie Daniel's apparently wrote this... and even if he didn't... i'm still pretty proud of whomever did. As a disclaimer it's involves some name calling, which I don't think indicates an informed opinion and it's even further right than I usually am (which is hard to do). Anyway, enjoy.

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An Open Letter To The Hollywood Bunch

Ok, let's just say for a moment you bunch of pampered, overpaid, unrealistic children had your way and the U.S.A. didn't go into Iraq.
Let's say that you really get your way and we destroy all our nuclear weapons and stick daisies in our gun barrels and sit around with some white wine and cheese and pat ourselves on the back, so proud of what we've done for world peace.
Let's say that we cut the military budget to just enough to keep the National Guard on hand to help out with floods and fires.

Let's say that we close down our military bases all over the world and bring the troops home, increase our foreign aid and drop all the trade sanctions against everybody.
I suppose that in your fantasy world this would create a utopian world where everybody would live in peace. After all, the great monster, the United States of America, the cause of all the world's trouble would have disbanded it's horrible military and certainly all the other countries of the world would follow suit. After all, they only arm themselves to defend their countries from the mean old U.S.A.

Why you bunch of pitiful, hypocritical, idiotic, spoiled mugwumps. get your head out of the sand and smell the Trade Towers burning. Do you think that a trip to Iraq by Sean Penn did anything but encourage a wanton murderer to think that the people of the U.S.A. didn't have the nerve or the guts to fight him?

Barbra Streisand's fanatical and hateful rankings about George Bush makes about as much sense as Michael Jackson hanging a baby over a railing.

You people need to get out of Hollywood once in a while and get out into the real world. You¹d be surprised at the hostility you would find out here. Stop in at a truck stop and tell an overworked, long distance truck driver that you don¹t think Saddam Hussein is doing anything wrong. Tell a farmer with a couple of sons in the military that you think the United States has no right to defend itself. Go down to Baxley, Georgia and hold an anti-war rally and see what the folks down there think about you.Please visit Clarksville, Tennessee and the 101st Airborne and talk that SHIT, please visit those Real American's.

You people are some of the most disgusting examples of a waste of protoplasm I¹ve ever had the displeasure to hear about.

Sean Penn, you¹re a traitor to the United States of America. You gave aid and comfort to the enemy. How many American lives will your little, "fact finding trip" to Iraq cost? You encouraged Saddam to think that we didn't have the stomach for war. You people protect one of the most evil men on the face of this earth and won't lift a finger to save the life of an unborn baby.

Freedom of choice you say?

Well I'm going to exercise some freedom of choice of my own. If I see any of your names on a marquee, I'm going to boycott the movie. I will completely stop going to movies if I have to. In most cases it certainly wouldn't be much of a loss.

You scoff at our military who's boots you're not even worthy to shine. They go to battle and risk their lives so ingrates like you can live in luxury. The day of reckoning is coming when you will be faced with the undeniable truth that the war against Saddam Hussein is the war on terrorism.
America is in imminent danger. You¹re either for her or against her. There is no middle ground. I think we all know where you stand. I will stand with the soldiers, airmen, and sailors. The hard working men and women of this great country. Not the overpaid, pansy ass, Hollywood wimp wanna be's, and has beens, who can't hold a candle to real American's, the middle class blue collar workers.

What do you think? Boycott any Hollywood type that protest against the USA.

God Bless America

Charlie Daniels

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There are some changes going on in Gitmo that the press won't ever tell you about. The new Admiral is trying to give our guys a break by changing their duty sections and bringing more people down so they don't have to work so damn much in the camps. Rock on, Buzby... our guys deserve more of a break.

Complete Bullshit: Part 2

[01 Jul 2007 Sunday]

2:07 AM

Category: Life

I just got back from vacation stateside. Stacy's wedding was amazing (i've even got pictures up) and just being back in the states was nice. But I've been back in Gitmo for twelve hours now and have come to a realization. I love Gitmo... not because it's the greatest place in the world to live, but rather, because it gives me something to care about.

Obviously there are things (namely social issues) that you can care about stateside. But very few people do.

Exhibit A... When I was in Norfolk I was driving my Suburban, with my mom and two little brothers in it, down Church Street at 930 at night. Next thing we know six shots get fired off (that didn't sound like they came from an airsoft gun) on the other side of the row of houses next to us, or at the least damn close. The next day on the news I find out that what we heard was a 16 year old boy was shot to death in that same area. Want to know how much time they spent on that story on the news? Less than the time it's taking you to read this paragraph.

It shouldn't be commonplace that these things are happening! It should upset us, and instill some sense of immediacy that something ought to be done. Now I feel terrible because the only thing to cross my mind after hearing the story was a very selfish, "it's good we got out safe". (i also feel terrible about the fact that i put my little brothers any where near something like that) Humans don't care outside of our own bubbles! If I were being considerate I would have at least thought about the kids' family.

Down here though, there's a sense of immediacy. Almost daily I hear stories about the guys who work behind the fence having literal shit thrown at them, spit at, threatened with weapons. It makes me care. I care about these guys and their well-being, safety. It gets my adrenaline going and makes me desperately want to be able to kick a detainee in the head... or to make it possible for the people working back there to do it! Suddenly, I'm compelled to actually feel like I'm living... not just plodding along. There's more of a purpose to my job than just slinging beer, I'm one of eight bartenders down here who gives these people a place to relax and not have stuff thrown at them.

Even if your life or your family aren't being immediately threatened you should feel blessed to be where you are. Somewhere around you there's a risk that someone else is taking that makes your life a little cooshier (phonetically that would be koosh-ee-er). Whether it's a policeman, fireman, EMT, local volunteer at the soup kitchen, the goodwill lady... you name it. There are people out there who take do things so that the rest of us can sit around and hear about it on the news. Somebody will make that 16 yr old's mother a casserole and help her plan the funeral... they're taking a risk by stepping beyond their own bubble to help another human being who's having a rough time. It doesn't matter about the valence of the risk... the point is it's being taken!

Some people are even passionate about risk taking... i.e. the peace corps, missionaries, some military personnel. They literally make it their job to help other people out, to be considerate and sometimes to lay down there lives and try to stop those new stories from showing up so often. And these passionate people are often considered anomalys, like there's something wrong with them. No, there's nothing wrong with them... there's something wrong with the rest of us.

I will concede that sometimes there is simply nothing you can do. Although you can always write a letter to your Senator, and whether he reads it or not you'll still get a letter back and the sense that you at least tried. Trying is what separates the lackadaisical sheep from the men.

In other news, Michael Moore makes me want to vomit. This movie "Sicko" is ridiculous. He took a group of people to the one place in Cuba where there's any kind of health care system... and then he strategically cut out all of the footage (or maybe just didn't take it) of what i've been told Cuba is really like. He portrays the health care in Cuba like it's the greatest system in the world. Now, Mr. Moore, can you explain to me why a Cuban was willing to lose both his legs to come over the American side if Cuba is so great? Why would this man swim through barbed-wire, voluntarily want to be around us heathen Capitalists, and literally lose his legs if he had it so good on the Communist side? For the record, he's not the only one who wants in.

Again, I will make a slight concession. Health Care in America is no where near perfect... but neither is it in Canada. Do you know how long you have to wait to be treated for anything in a socialist health care system? Unless of course you've got a camera crew behind you. You can't call and make appointments in Cuba, you have to walk in and pray that you're the early bird. Michael Moore oversimplifies life elsewhere. He's not going to change America by lying to us all. Open your own eyes and see for yourself. Mr. Moore's telephoto lens is skewed worse than Bill O'Reilly's on a bad day... which can get pretty ridiculous sometimes.

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And in completely unrelated news... I have offically gotten rid of a person who made me feel like a selfish-self conscious-vengeful-insecure-spoiled little princess. Don't keep people in your life who make you feel like that... you're worth it, they're not. Now that i've written you a whole book, if you made it this far... Congratulations. If you made it this far and actually read the whole thing I sincerely hope it was worth your time. Good night, sleep sweet, and please don't be a lackadaisical sheep.

Complete Bullshit

[28 May 2007 Monday]

2:28 AM

Current mood: uncomfortable

Category: Life

You can search Google, Wikipedia, Ask.com, YouTube, Facebook and Myspace and you get nothing but biased bullshit about Guantanamo Bay. I look this stuff up because I'm concerned, not only for the men and women down here dealing with a traumatic work situation everyday but for America as a whole.

The Americans inside the camp put their lives on the line every time they walk into that camp and they get nothing but some bumper stickers and maybe a by-line of support from the American public. This place sucks for the people working down here. Sure it's in the Caribbean but when your work is an omnipresent stressor that you can't get away from it wears down on people. There's very little for the sailors, soldiers, marines and coast guard to do down here. As hard as MWR might try there's only so much they can do. Want to know why?

Because no one seems to care about these guys. Everyone seems to be so caught up with being politically correct, and doing things "like they've always been done" that nothing progresses! If there were American's who looked past their cushy lives and realized why we can live our lives the way we do, then the military might get the help and support it needs. The media and random oppinionated people mouth off because they can... great, awesome, exercise your right to an opinion...just please don't be regurgitating what you've been told!

People use words like "torture", "depraved", "inhumane" when describing this place and it's because they're TRAINED to use those words. The only deaths that have gone on here in Cuba were suicides... not because of the immense torture they were going through but because they organized it to make a point and humiliate the United States Government. It's called assymetrical warfare! [You know that whole concept of not marching at the enemy head-on, but using alternative methods (i.e. how we won the revolutionary war).]

While I'm down here I have preciously little to do other than work, sun bathe and read. (Yeah, I know it's tough.) This won't be my last little tangent against the mainstream idea of Gitmo. In the mean time, pray for our Sailors, Soldiers, and Marines. Don't just thank them and show your support on Memorial Day. And go find something to be passionate about.

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By the way, seeing Danny Glover get shot in the movie "Shooter" was the highlight of my day. Miss ya'll and see you soon.emily grace