Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Guard Your Kids From Recruiters FEATURED ARTICLES - Army Lowers Standards, Increases Bonuses, But Still Falling Short of Recruiting Goal, Knight-Ridder - RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE When Marine Recruiters Go Way Beyond The Call, Seattle Post-IntelIigencer THE QUOTE: "If young people aren't enlisting, that tells me we are not doing the right thing over there (in Iraq). If our leaders can't see that, the damage will go deeper than it did in Vietnam." - - Retired US Army Lt. Gen. Marc Cisneros THE HISTORY: June 15th 1917 -- Emma Goldman &Alexander Berkman arrested & charged with conspiring to "induce persons not to register" for World War I U.S. military service. Both were sent to prison, then deported &banned from the land of the free. 1970 -- US Supreme Court rules any individual may object to military service on ethical and moral grounds and need not base their moral beliefs on an organized religion, if such convictions "are deeply felt", giving more responsibility to local draft boards. RHINO HERE: As the 2 articles excerpted & linked below tell, U.S. military recruiters are having a very hard time meeting their quotas & are employing new & very high pressure methods to convince young Americans that they should, "Be a man!" & "Make your parents proud!" But at the same time, in some instances, they're ignoring parents wishes to stop calling their homes to ensnare their kids. Rhino sez, read the Bottom Line, then "Spread the word! Guard your kids from the recruiters." Meanwhile, lets do what we can to end the shrub gang's war. If you haven't signed Congressman Conyers letter to the President, please do so right away. A half million Americans have signed it so far and the good Congressman is planning to hand deliver it this Thursday. It's quick and easy and posted at: Sign the letter (o/)(o/)(o/) Army Lowers Standards and Increases Bonuses, But Still Falling Short of Recruiting Goal by Joseph L. Galloway, Knight-Ridder, June 14, 2005 WASHINGTON - The U.S. Army probably will come up well short of the 80,000 new recruits it needs during fiscal 2005, despite adding a thousand more recruiters, boosting enlistment cash bonuses to a record $20,000, spending $200 million on upbeat television ads and beginning to lower its standards.Easing the strict standards that made the all-volunteer force such a success - in effect, trading quality for quantity - could complicate the Pentagon's ambitious plans to transform the Army into an agile, high-tech force in which ordinary soldiers are better equipped to act fast without waiting for orders from above. Creating that force "will require more ability and more competence, not less, for the soldier in tomorrow's Army," said retired Lt. Gen. Marc Cisneros of Corpus Christi, Texas. `"More troubling to me is the fact that lowering standards impacts on a moral issue," Cisneros said. "If young people aren't enlisting, that tells me we are not doing the right thing over there (in Iraq). If our leaders can't see that, the damage will go deeper than it did in Vietnam."... ...The Army confirmed recently that statistics show that divorce among Army officers has tripled since 2000, with a 75 percent increase in 2004 alone. The divorce rate among enlisted soldiers is up 75 percent. An Army commander told a Knight Ridder reporter that one of his junior officers was only half-joking when he told him: "Sir, you've got to give me at least enough time between deployments so I can get a divorce."... ... When America stopped drafting young men in 1973, it didn't abolish the vast Selective Service machinery that scooped up 15 million young men to fight in World War II and more than 20,000 a month to fight in Vietnam. It's all still in place, and American men still are required to register with Selective Service on their 18th birthdays or soon after. Failing to do so is a felony, and those who don't register can't obtain federal student loans or, in many states, even driver's licenses. It would take an act of Congress to crank up the whole thing, starting with local draft boards, which are still manned by unpaid volunteer appointees prepared to choose who in their neighborhoods will receive the letters that begin: "Greetings! Your friends and neighbors have selected you. ..."... MORE AT: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0614-03.htm (o/)(o/)(o/) 8:18:09 AM    comment

RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE - When Marine Recruiters Go Way Beyond The Call When Marine Recruiters Go Way Beyond The Call By Susas Paynter, Seattle Post-IntelIigencer, June 8, 2005 For mom Marcia Cobb and her teenage son Axel, the white letters USMC on their caller ID soon spelled, "Don't answer the phone!" Marine recruiters began a relentless barrage of calls to Axel as soon as the mellow, compliant Sedro-Woolley High School grad had cut his 17th birthday cake. And soon it was nearly impossible to get the seekers of a few good men off the line. With early and late calls ringing in their ears, Marcia tried using call blocking. And that's when she learned her first hard lesson. You can't block calls from the government, her server said. So, after pleas to "Please stop calling" went unanswered, the family's "do not answer" order ensued. But warnings and liquid crystal lettering can fade. So, two weeks ago when Marcia was cooking dinner Axel goofed and answered the call. And, faster than you can say "semper fi," an odyssey kicked into action that illustrates just how desperate some of the recruiters we've read about really are to fill severely sagging quotas. Let what we learned serve as a warning to other moms, dads and teens, the Cobbs now say. Even if your kids actually may want to join the military, if they hope to do it on their own terms, after a deep breath and due consideration, repeat these words after them: "No," "Not now" and "Back off!"... ...A single mom with a meager income, Marcia raised her kids on the farm where, until recently, she grew salad greens for restaurants. Axel's father, a Marine Corps vet who served in Vietnam, died when Axel was 4. Clearly the recruiters knew all that and more. "You don't want to be a burden to your mom," they told him. "Be a man." "Make your father proud." Never mind that, because of his own experience in the service, Marcia says enlistment for his son is the last thing Axel's dad would have wanted... MORE: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/paynter/227497_paynter08.html (o/)(o/)(o/) Rhino's Blog is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. Feedback & requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. (rhino@kifaru.com) See The Latest Greatest Political Cartoons      While You Read Rhino's Blog AT : http://www.rhinosblog.info Rhino's Other Web Sites: http://www.dreamcatchers.org  (Indigenous Assistance & Intercultural Dialog) http://www.kifaru.com  (Native American Relations Video Documentaries) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher. Tell a friend about Rhino's Blog 7:48:41 AM    comment

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