Politically I am an independent. I choose candidates that I support not by the party they belong to but by where specifically they stand on the issues that are important to me.

I try very much to keep an open mind. If someone had asked me who I would support in 08 if the two current front runners, Clinton and Giuliani matched up; I would have answered that I am undecided. That is of course if you had asked me before the 2nd Republican debate that occurred this past Tuesday.

Read the rest of this entry »

So the military sees fit to cut off soliders from one of the few avenues of stress reduction, entertainment, and communication with friends and family by banning 8 popular websites including Youtube, Photobucket and Myspace. Official CNN Article Here.

We already see how much the big brass and the executive office values their low level grunts. With reports of crappy health care, allowing low ranking soliders to take the fall for / in place of higher ranking officers and now this most recent slap.

Its a sad state of affairs when a solider has so few things to help maintain their sanity in times of war that they can no longer log on to a social website and try to unwind.

The pentagon would like you to think this is all in the name of operational security, and “bandwidth” cost, thats simply a bunch of hogwash.

If the true reasons for this ban included operational security the military would see to it that soliders did not access ANY website where they could transmit information back home or to the general public and they would make sure that this ban was enforced universally, not just on DOD computer networks.

The argument about bandwidth is relatively mute as well. Caps can be placed on internet activity, systems can be put fourth to monitor usage if this was really such a problem.

Whats more important, the moral and mental health of soliders fighting and dieing thousands of miles from their families or keeping the “bandwidth” free on a computer network?

From my time in the military and since, its been quite clear that there is a real lack of respect for the soliders that put themselves out on the lines everyday. Of course many will disagree and make statements like “our soliders are our most important element” Of course they are, so why not start treating them as such?

Instead the higher ups see fit to shuffling our young men and woman around as if they were a bag of votes in their political game. It makes me sick.

http://www.youtube.com/v/dKGfRIWeqb4

You never realize how much you enjoyed a place until you’re somewhere else. Don’t get me wrong, alot of stuff frustrated the hell out of me while I was living in St. Thomas, but there was alot to love too. Here is a youtube video I put together covering my time in the tropics.