Military's refusal to discharge lesbian a new Catch-22

By GottaLaff

Don't Ask Don't Tell is not only unfair and ridiculous, it's now becoming a joke:

Lt. Robin R. Chaurasiya wasn't exactly asked, but she told anyway: She is a lesbian, and in a civil union with another woman.

Her commander at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, Lt. Gen. Robert R. Allardice, could have discharged her under the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Instead, he determined in February that she should remain in the Air Force because she acknowledged her sexual orientation for the purpose of "avoiding and terminating military service."

Convoluted enough for you?

Chaurasiya says that is not why she "told".

Let's recap: Nobody asked, but she told, after which someone told on her, and then she told her commander, after which she would have been discharged had the military decided against it, because they think she told without being asked so she could get out for having told.

Clear?

Okay, let's start again.

A guy she once dated, a former service member, shared a group e-mail with her commander. Chaurasiya mentioned she was a lesbian in that e-mail. There was an investigation, after which she told her commander, in a memo, that she was gay.

"I want to be respected for it, and if I am going to be disrespected I don't want to be here," Chaurasiya said in an interview.

But she didn't get into a relationship or out herself just to get a discharge.

"My intention is not to get out," she said. "But if I am going to be kept in and treated unfairly either from my peers or by the military itself . . . then I want to be loud about it to bring about the change, or I do not want to be here."

Chaurasiya has managed to turn DADT into a well-deserved, albeit bad, punch line.

Peeping Tom Cops Out Gay Servicewoman

Power hungry brown shirts. This whole thing stinks of them being pissed because she didn't acquiesce to their demands. I hope they lose everything. Petty bastards.

Jene Newsome played by the rules as an Air Force sergeant: She never told anyone in the military she was a lesbian. The 28-year-old's honorable discharge under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy came only after police officers in Rapid City, S.D., saw an Iowa marriage certificate in her home and told the nearby Ellsworth Air Force Base.

Newsome and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint against the western South Dakota police department, claiming the officers violated her privacy when they informed the military about her sexual orientation. The case also highlights concerns over the ability of third parties to "out" service members, especially as the Pentagon has started reviewing the 1993 "don't ask, don't tell" law.

"I played by 'don't ask, don't tell,'" Newsome told The Associated Press by telephone.

"I just don't agree with what the Rapid City police department did. ... They violated a lot of internal policies on their end, and I feel like my privacy was violated."

(snip)

The Rapid City Police Department says Newsome, an aircraft armament system craftsman who spent nine years in the Air Force, was not cooperative when they showed up at her home in November with an arrest warrant for her partner, who was wanted on theft charges in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Newsome was at work at the base at the time and refused to immediately come home and assist the officers in finding her partner, whom she married in Iowa - where gay marriage is legal - in October.

Police officers, who said they spotted the marriage license on the kitchen table through a window of Newsome's home, alerted the base, police Chief Steve Allender said in a statement sent to the AP. The license was relevant to the investigation because it showed both the relationship and residency of the two women, he said.

"It's an emotional issue and it's unfortunate that Newsome lost her job, but I disagree with the notion that our department might be expected to ignore the license, or not document the license, or withhold it from the Air Force once we did know about it," Allender said Saturday. "It was a part of the case, part of the report and the Air Force was privileged to the information."

Theft? Wanted on a no immediate threat type crime? The fracking woman was at work, and you want her there now? If the person you're looking for isn't there, why don't YOU come back at a time the person whose cooperation you want finds convenient?

VIDEO: Retired Air Force General Suggests Strip Searching All Young Muslim Men

By GottaLaff

Hey everyone, remember civil rights? The days when the word "profiling" was whispered, because it had such a negative connotation? Well, folks, say good-bye to yesteryear. Now a retired Air Force general says the P Word right out loud, with the gusto of a... very scared man:



He's into younger guys? Who'd a thunk it?

To quote KagroX (David Waldman):

Gen. McInerney wants the weenie, and I celebrate him for it. He Fondles for America.

One might call it "reaching out", if one were feeling especially generous. Or rather, reaching around.

Okay, you're right. I'll stop now.

Palin blames the military

By GottaLaff

Blaming the military should ingratiate her to servicemen and women everywhere:

(click on image to enlarge)

Yes, it's the fault of the U.S. Air Force that she didn't meet, greet, quit halfway and blow off her adoring fans. Why does she hate our troops? But at least she's going to hold a public event in Alaska... somewhere.

Mudflats takes it from here:

All eyes will refocus on Alaska to see how we react to our former governor who quit her job to go on a book tour, return to Alaska looking for love ON that very book tour. The question is, where will this supposed future public event be?

But wait! There's more Barbie McLipSchmutz fun! Celtic Diva posts her livetweets of Not Ghost Writer's latest book signing at Elmendorf Air Force Base, a must-read.

Preview: Her friends were the only people of color there. One member of that family was a 13-year-old girl who was wearing an Obama tee shirt and managed to get a wrist band. Guess how she was treated?

Kim Chatman, who filed the AK Fund Trust Ethics Complaint that should have gone to a hearing by now, decided to take her three teenagers and get some signatures from Palin.

Now click on over to Celtic Diva's place and read the details.

Air Force Threatens to Expel Kids Who Don't Get H1N1 Vaccine

By GottaLaff

One of my Twitter pals, Allen McDuffee, has a rather eyebrow-raising post up at Truthout. Please read the whole thing, but here is the gist:

About 25,000 children in on-base Air Force daycare centers will be forced to receive the H1N1 vaccine or face being barred from school, Truthout has learned following reports from concerned parents. [...]

A parent at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, FL, speaking on condition of anonymity out of concern for reprisal against herself and her husband, was disturbed by the complete lack of confidence and answers from the center's administrators.

"What I got was a lot of 'shoulds.' It 'should' be fine. There 'should' be no problems with the vaccine."

"If they're not sure," she said, "why should I be?"

Please read the rest here.

Another day, another Air Force security lapse

By GottaLaff

Will they never learn? This is what, the third incident?

Three ballistic missile crew members in North Dakota fell asleep while holding classified launch code devices this month, triggering an investigation by military and National Security Agency experts, the Air Force said Thursday.

The probe found that the missile launch codes were outdated and remained secure at all times. But the July 12 incident comes on the heels of a series of missteps by the Air Force that had already put the service under intense scrutiny. [...]

The lapse, which involved a crew based at Minot Air Force Base, was serious enough, however, to prompt an investigation by the 91st Missile Wing, in conjunction with codes experts at the 20th Air Force, U.S. Strategic Command and the National Security Agency.

And it delivers another blow to the beleaguered Air Force.

Those crew members just needed a little shut eye. Maybe they should have snuggled up in one of the Air Force's "comfort capsules". They're so inviting, after all.

Military airplanes: "Comfort Capsules" vs. Troops' Squalor

By GottaLaff

I posted about the vaunted "comfort capsules". Counterterrorism funds are being used for these:

Now let's take a gander at what the troops get:

A government watchdog has uncovered pictures that suggest US troops on their way to battlefields in Afghanistan travel in squalor while top military and government officials are cocooned in "comfort capsules" with reclining leather seats and flat-screen TVs.

That should be plenty of incentive to get new, eager, fresh-faced recruits, doncha think?

Air Force wants counterterrorism funds for luxurious "comfort capsule"

By GottaLaff

As BushCo always likes to remind us, security first:

The Air Force's top leadership sought for three years to spend counterterrorism funds on "comfort capsules" to be installed on military planes that ferry senior officers and civilian leaders around the world, with at least four top generals involved in design details such as the color of the capsules' carpet and leather chairs, according to internal e-mails and budget documents.

How exciting, production has already started! Whew! Good! We wouldn't want anyone to travel in discomfort. I know that when I'm jammed into a stuffy, cramped seat in coach, I am grateful for the tax dollars that are going toward redecorating, providing a cushy atmosphere so in the future, I, too, can work and rest as if sitting on a cloud. That would be after I was cavity-searched and watch-listed. Yes, that's the kind of faith I have in our government. They care.

Air Force officials say the government needs the new capsules to ensure that leaders can talk, work and rest comfortably in the air. But the top brass's preoccupation with creating new luxury in wartime has alienated lower-ranking Air Force officers familiar with the effort, as well as congressional staff members and a nonprofit group that calls the program a waste of money.

Hey, these are not unreasonable requests. They're both practical and cost effective:

One request was that the color of the leather for the seats and seat belts in the mobile pallets be changed from brown to Air Force blue and that seat pockets be added; another was that the color of the table's wood be darkened.

Changing the seat color and pockets alone was estimated in a March 12 internal document to cost at least $68,240. [...]

[Gen. Robert H. McMahon] said he wanted to "create an environment that whoever was riding in that would be proud of," the government would be proud of and "the people of the United States" would be proud of.

I personally favor Meditation Mauve, but I tend to go for the feminine and inspirational. But tastes differ, and I respect their right to choose and be proud.

Except in a time of war.

Except when the country's economy is tanking.

Except when people are losing their homes, health care, jobs... and minds.

Air Force chiefs resigning

By GottaLaff


The Air Force is all shook up:

The military and civilian chiefs of the Air Force are resigning, U.S. officials said Thursday.

Defense officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said that Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne to step down. [...]

Press secretary Dana Perino said President Bush knew about the resignations but that the White House "has not played any role" in the shake-up. [...]

Wynne is the second civilian chief of a military service to be forced out by Gates.

Let's do an Air Force recap:

The Air Force has endured a number of embarrassing setbacks over the past year. In August, for instance, a B-52 bomber was mistakenly armed with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles and flown across the country. The pilot and crew were unaware they had nuclear arms aboard. [...]

Gates also has been trying to learn more about how fuses for Air Force ballistic missiles were mistakenly shipped to Taiwan. Gates was briefed last week on the conclusions of an internal investigation of that matter but the results have not been made public. [...]

In another incident, the Pentagon inspector general found in April that a $50 million contract to promote the Thunderbirds aerial stunt team was tainted by improper influence and preferential treatment. No criminal conduct was found.

Everything runs so smoothly under the War President. Speaking of things running smoothly, and slightly off topic because I feel like having fun, compare and contrast.