[lbo-talk] Moderation

[queer dewd formerly known as ( )]

At 12:23 PM 1/13/2007, Doug Henwood wrote:

>On Jan 13, 2007, at 10:27 AM, Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
>
>>There is an obvious solution: make erotic investment in the Middle
>>East.  Like I said, Shi'ism comes with self-flagellation, if that's
>>what it takes.  ;->
>
>Hey I always thought some of those Opus Dei rituals were kind of
>cool, but doing it for God takes all the fun out of it.
>
>Doug

I have an "uncle" who was actually my aunt's boyfriend many years ago. 
Thing is, with our family, once you're in, you're in. We like to share our 
neuroses like that. I just talked with him about my partner getting work 
where he works, a government contractor that does armament, weapons, and 
artillery restoration for a military museum. He works at Aberdeen Proving 
Ground, which is a base that tests weapons. Apparently, a lot of A schools 
are there.

Most of the guys in this shop are ex-mil, like my uncle who was a Marine in 
Vietnam '72. Hi boss is an ex master sargeant from the army, retired '97. 
He says everyone's pissed. He says the soldiers grimly accept that they 
must do their job, but no one is enthusiastic about it and the general 
sentiment is it's all a big cock up, why the hell are we fighting for a lie.

Also, he encouraged my partner to become an instructor at the A school's a 
job that is being handed out to civilians these days. Says that the 
instructors complain a lot that the kids their recruiting are there and 
really don't want to be. It's a last resort and they are often there with a 
GED that the mil helped them get. They hate school and pretty much dislike 
the military, but they needed a job, many of them sick of being incessantly 
laid off from low-wage jobs.

Uncle R ain't no pacifist and waxes on about how it ought to be for a good 
cause like WWII. He was somewhat ambivalent about the torture issue, but 
was more of the mind that it was wrong b/c torture doesn't work that you 
shouldn't use it. You know, typical blue collar guy: hates management, 
likes to see management get tossed out on their ears during layoffs (a 
"there, how do YOU like it?" attitude) worries that the downsizing in wages 
is about foreigners lowering wages, that sort of thing.

but oh boy, in the heart of the military machine, these guys ain't happy. 
They blame it all on Shrub of course. Shrub's name is mud with these guys. 
They consider him a liar who is in it for his own self-interest. And 
honestly, the oddest thing about the conversation was not once did he 
mention oil. I thought that was odd, but there you have it.




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