History's Garbage Dump - TANSTAAFL

Heinlein wrote something to the effect that "a nation that can not control its own borders is no longer a nation". The NFL seems to think that borders are not good:

NFL rejects Border Patrol ad

By Stephen Dinan and Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published February 14, 2007
The National Football League refused to run a recruitment ad for the U.S. Border Patrol in last week's Super Bowl program, saying it was "controversial" because it mentioned duties such as fighting terrorism and stopping drugs and illegal aliens at the border.
"The ad that the department submitted was specific to Border Patrol, and it mentioned terrorism. We were not comfortable with that," said Greg Aiello, a spokesman for the NFL. "The borders, the immigration debate is a very controversial issue, and we were sensitive to any perception we were injecting ourselves into that."
The NFL's rejection didn't sit well with Border Patrol agents, who called it a snub of their role in homeland security and said it was "more than a little puzzling."
"The NFL missed a golden opportunity to reach countless patriotic citizens who want to answer the call to help prevent another terrorist attack on American soil," said T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, the union that represents the agency's nonsupervisory personnel...... The Border Patrol ad asks for "the right men and women to help protect America's southwest borders." It lists duties as preventing "the entry of terrorists and their weapons," blocking "unlawful entry of undocumented aliens" and "stopping drug smuggling."
The ad does not mention the ongoing immigration debate in Washington or touch on contentious subjects such as amnesty, a guest-worker program or legalization........

I'm not much of a sports fan. As a young soldier I raced bicycles (long before the Army had an official team), and still enjoy watching the occasional race. I sail, and enjoy following the America's Cup standings. If a Hollyweird sentry asked me to prove I'm American by talking about football or baseball, I'd be in deep shit. After reading the article cited above, I'm even less interested in pro football.

Charles posted this on LGF:

Can we really support these troops?

During a heated debate in a class I teach on social justice, several US Marines who had done tours in Iraq told me that they had “sacrificed” by “serving” in Iraq so that I could enjoy the freedom to teach in the USA. Parroting their master’s slogan about “fighting over there so we don’t have to fight over here,” these students proudly proclaimed that they terrorized and killed defenseless Iraqis. They intimated that their Arab victims are nothing more to them than collateral damage, incidental to their receipt of some money and an education.

Sunday, February 11— A room full of students listened as a US Marine told of the invasion of Baghdad and Falluja and how he killed innocent Iraqis at a check point. He called them “collateral damage” and said he had followed the “rules.”

A Muslim-American student in front of him said “I could slap you but then you would kill me.” A young female Muslim student gasped “I am a freshman; I never thought to hear of this in a class. I feel sick, like I will pass out.”

I knew in that moment that this was what the future of teaching about justice would include: teaching war criminals who sit glaring at me with hatred for daring to speak the truth of their atrocities and who, if paid to, would disappear, torture and kill me. I wondered that night how long I really have in this so called “free” country to teach my students and to be with my children and grandchildren.

The American military and mercenary soldiers who “sacrificed” their lives did not do so for the teacher’s freedom to teach the truth about the so-called war on terror, or any of US history for that matter. They sacrificed their lives, limbs and sanity for money, some education and the thrills of the violence for which they are socially bred. Sacrificing for the “bling and booty” in Iraq or Afghanistan, Philippines, Grenada, Central America, Mexico, Somalia, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, or any of the other numerous wars and invasions spanning US history as an entity and beginning with their foundational practice of killing the Indians and stealing their land.

Many of the classes that I teach now include students who “served” in the US military and security corporations. There are also many students who intend to join the US military upon completion of a degree because with the degree they get a bigger “sign on” bonus of ten to fifty thousand dollars. Their position is supported by many of the student body, who, vegetating according to the American Plan, believe they should “support their troops.”

The excuses that they give for joining or intending to join the US military terrorist training camps are first and foremost motivated by a desire for money.

One student proudly said that he is willing to kill for money, a better standard of living and an education. Another student, who had done two tours of duty to the Empire in Iraq, justified killing and torture, citing the importance of staying on top as the world’s number one super power so that his family could have the highest standard of living and unlimited access to the world’s oil supplies.

Yet another soldier-student said that there would always be wars and someone had to do it. The ”it” is killing, rape, and plunder for profit. Some of the soldier-students agreed that military terrorism was thrilling. Stopping and killing people at checkpoints in order to maintain a comfortable lifestyle in the USA was worth the risk of being killed or maimed. Little did they know that the very education they would kill for could include a course on social justice in which they would be compelled to examine their motives, beliefs and actions in an evil, illegal, immoral and unjust invasion and occupation of a people who never hurt or harmed them or any of their fellow citizens.

To be fair, in this week’s discussion in class there was some mention that some of the student’s intentions had been honorable at the time that they joined the military. They wanted to “help other people”. A few woman students who want to join the military commented that they would be working to “free and defend” people here and abroad. However, for the most part and by their own admission, personal financial gain was their main focus in signing on. Their bottom line was getting the money and their thrills by joining and belonging to the biggest terrorist organization in the world, the USA.

As I've said many times before, the most annoying thing about our oath of service is that we are pledged to defend, with our very lives if need be, the right of some people to be absolutely insufferable assholes. I'm going to be sending a message to the university to that effect.

I maxed a test out of English 100, but was forced to take a Lit & Comp course. The instructor one day read a poem:

The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner
by Randall Jarrell

From my mother's sleep I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from the dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.

This was, IIRC, in 1981. The teacher then went into a lengthy moonbat interpretation of this poem. I, the only veteran in the class and possibly the college, who had seen crewmen that were hosed out of a helo, suggested a different view. For that and the abiding dislike of Eudora Welty that I developed, I received a failing grade and had to re-take the class- with another (and much better) instructor.

Addendum from an LGF discussion thread:

#135

American Soldier 2/14/2007 09:57AM PST

Bringing out the wanna-be-dead:
In W.W.II, the Swiss defended their neutrality by fighting off the Luftwaffe; both sides using Messerschmitt 109s. Now, the Swiss are looking at adoption of another Nazi idea-

Swiss may expand assisted suicide law
1 hour, 18 minutes ago
A ruling by Switzerland's highest court released Friday has opened up the
possibility that people with serious mental illnesses could be helped by doctors
to take their own lives. Switzerland already allows physician-assisted
suicide for terminally ill patients under certain circumstances. The Federal
Tribunal's decision puts mental illnesses on the same level as physical
ones.
"It must be recognized that an incurable, permanent, serious mental
disorder can cause similar suffering as a physical (disorder), making life
appear unbearable to the patient in the long term," the ruling said.
"If the death wish is based on an autonomous decision which takes all circumstances into account, then a mentally ill person can be prescribed sodium-pentobarbital and
thereby assisted in suicide," it added.
Various organizations exist in Switzerland to help people who want to commit suicide, and assisting someone to die is not punishable under Swiss law as long as there is no "selfish motivation" for doing so.
The judges made clear in their ruling that certain conditions would have to be met before a mentally ill person's request for suicide assistance could be considered justified. "A distinction has to be made between a death wish which is an expression of a curable, psychiatric disorder and which requires treatment, and (a death wish) which is based on a person of sound judgment's own well-considered and permanent decision, which must be respected," they said.
The case was brought by a 53-year old man with serious bipolar affective disorder who asked the tribunal to allow him to acquire a lethal dose of pentobarbital without a doctor's prescription. The tribunal ruled against his request, confirming the need for a thorough medical assessment of the patient's condition.
Whether any Swiss physician would be prepared to prescribe a lethal dose of pentobarbital to a mentally ill person remains unclear. The country's national ethics commission could not be reached for comment late on Friday.
Switzerland is one of a number of countries in Europe that allow assistance to terminally ill people who wish to die.
Netherlands legalized euthanasia in 2001 and Belgium in 2002, while Britain and France allow terminally ill people to refuse treatment in favor of death.
Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press.
Copyright © 2007 Yahoo! Inc.
All rights reserved.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070203/ap_on_re_eu/switzerland_assisted_suicide_1
Mentally ill persons with suicidal ideation are usually not in a place where they can make anything remotely like a rational decision. And, as they say, suicide is a permanent solution to problems that are usually temporary.



Presumption of promiscuity:
When I was 13, I certainly would have been most happy to participate in sex. Hey- it was the '60s (from what I can remember). Today, 11,12,13 year old girls in Texas are presumed to be engaging in sexual intercourse-

Texas Requires Cancer Vaccine for Girls

Feb 02 3:31 PM US/Eastern

By LIZ AUSTIN PETERSON
Associated Press Writer

AUSTIN (AP) -- Gov. Rick Perry ordered Friday that schoolgirls in Texas must be vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer, making Texas the first state to require the shots. The girls will have to get Merck & Co.'s new vaccine against strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV, that are responsible for most cases of cervical cancer.

Merck is bankrolling efforts to pass laws in state legislatures across the country mandating it Gardasil vaccine for girls as young as 11 or 12. It doubled its lobbying budget in Texas and has funneled money through Women in Government, an advocacy group made up of female state legislators around the country.

Details of the order were not immediately available, but the governor's office confirmed to The Associated Press that he was signing the order and he would comment Friday afternoon.

Perry has several ties to Merck and Women in Government. One of the drug
company's three lobbyists in Texas is Mike Toomey, his former chief of staff.
His current chief of staff's mother-in-law, Texas Republican state Rep. Dianne
White Delisi, is a state director for Women in Government.

Toomey was expected to be able to woo conservative legislators concerned about the requirement stepping on parent's rights and about signaling tacit approval of sexual activity to young girls. Delisi, as head of the House public health committee, which likely would have considered legislation filed by a Democratic member, also would have helped ease conservative opposition.

Perry also received $6,000 from Merck's political action committee during his re-election campaign. It wasn't immediately clear how long the order would last and
whether the legislation was still necessary. However it could have been
difficult to muster support from lawmakers who champion abstinence education and
parents' rights.

Perry, a conservative Christian who opposes abortion rights and stem- cell research using embryonic cells, counts on the religious right for his political base.
But he has said the cervical cancer vaccine is no different than the one that protects children against polio. "If there are diseases in our society that are going to cost us large amounts of money, it just makes good economic sense, not to mention the health and well being of these individuals to have those vaccines available," he said.

Texas allows parents to opt out of inoculations by filing an affidavit stating that he or she objected to the vaccine for religious or philosophical reasons. Even with such provisions, however, conservative groups say mandates take away parents' rights to be the primary medical decision maker for their children.

The federal government approved Gardasil in June, and a government advisory panel has recommended that all girls get the shots at 11 and 12, before they are likely to be sexually active.

The New Jersey-based drug company could generate billions in sales if Gardasil _ at $360 for the three-shot regimen _ were made mandatory across the country. Most insurance companies now cover the vaccine, which has been shown to have no serious side effects.

Merck spokeswoman Janet Skidmore would not say how much the
company is spending on lobbyists or how much it has donated to Women in
Government. Susan Crosby, the group's president, also declined to specify how
much the drug company gave.

A top official from Merck's vaccine division
sits on Women in Government's business council, and many of the bills around the
country have been introduced by members of Women in Government.


Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/02/02/D8N1PVG80.html
Gov. Perry- there's a helluva difference between an MMR shot for highly contagious childhood diseases, and one for HPV contracted through intercourse.

Jane also wrote about this, here:
http://www.thekidalog.com/seejanemom/2007/01/keep_your_laws_.html

UPDATE 2/7/07:
A news story tonight led me to IN SB0327 . This is legislation to make HPV vaccination mandatory for 6th-Grade girls in Indiana. Reports in the news say that the vaccine costs in excess of $300/dose. Someone has to pay the freight on that, and the implication is that schools or public health departments will have to pick up most of the tab. That will come straight out of your taxpaying wallets , whether your daughter is sexually active or not, or even if you don't have a school-age child of any gender. So of course I had to write letters:

Rep. ______-I strongly urge you to vote against any attempts to make HPV vaccination mandatory for Indiana schoolgirls. HPV transmission, unlike measles, mumps, rubella, and other diseases, is a behavioral issue. Hoosiers should not be required to vaccinate their children based on the assumption that all 12-year-old girls will engage in sexual activity, and other Hoosiers should not be required to pay for these expensive vaccinations.I would be happy to discuss this and any other medical issues that come before the legislature.
Regards,__________, RN