The Following article IS A LESSON in representative clarity of US America as an unrepentant empire, with all the resulting nationalism and militarism that extends down from that and with those manifestations embraced. Invisible to most, an unobstructed view of the language of that nationalism and, by the nature of this beast, the foundation of all permanent war.

And the remorse of a vision unfulfilled!
- NNOMY


10/19/2021 /  Wes O'Donnell / Managing Editor, Edge. Veteran, U.S. Army & U.S. Air Force - If we don’t figure out why soon, it will become a national security crisis.

Movies have always had an unhealthy influence on me. I came of age in Ronald Reagan’s neon-tinted 1980s, complete with big hair and big action heroes. My role models were people like Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando, Sylvester Stallone in Rambo, and Carl Weathers in Predator.

Even James Cameron’s Colonial Marines from 1986’s Aliens made militarism cool well before the word “tacticool” (a portmanteau of tactical and cool) was invented in 2004.

These over-the-top action heroes glorified the unstoppable might of the American military; no doubt an effort to save face after the Vietnam War. Even Oliver Stone’s Platoon, arguably an anti-war movie, taught me about self-sacrifice.

For me, joining the military was a grand adventure – A hero’s journey

Joining the Army seemed like an adventure; I thought “I’ll live my action movie fantasy and get college money while I’m at it.” At that age, I didn’t give a millisecond of thought to my own mortality. After all, as 80’s action movies illustrated, bad guys have horrible aim.

When my Army recruiter in Texas used to talk about his job in artillery, his eyes sparkled. It was clear that he loved his job (or at least loved blowing things up). But my mind was firmly set on the infantry, due in part to some weird fascination with hyper-masculine men saying catchphrases and shooting bad guys from the hip.

Kids from my generation rushed into military service. Morale was high. By the mid-90s the Soviet Union had collapsed, and our military had just defeated the fifth-largest army in the world in Desert Storm. Twenty years after the end of Vietnam, America was back in the winner’s circle.

But only a shockingly small percentage of today’s young people are considering joining the military. To be clear, my generation, GEN X, was born between 1964-1981, Millennials 1981-1997, and Gen Z 1997 to present.

So, as a member of Generation X, how does my decision to join the Army, (and later the Air Force), differ from today’s youth? And what’s stopping them from considering the military as a viable career option, or at least considering the military as a transition between high school and college?

The Mothers Against War Fund raises more than two decades by addressing the effects of war conflicts.

February 19 2024 / Sandra Torres Guzmán / Primera Hora / Translated into English - Educating for peace was converted into a life mission by psychologist Sonia Margarita Santiago Hernández, who dedicated her time and effort to educating the people about the effects of war conflicts through the Madres anti-war organization.

It is the lesson she got from her parents who, from a young age, instilled in her a charitable feeling for the common causes that affect the well-being of the communities, a path that continued when she entered the university and then into her adulthood.

Born in Naranjito and resident in Dorado for more than three decades, Sonia Margarita recalls her humble origin when “my parents strengthened me within the Catholic Church with a profound feeling of Christian charity in praxis, meaning that it was not a question of going every Sunday to mass but what we did”.

“It was the experience of life, what it is to be Christian. For example, in activities to support people without a home or people who need our support in any way”, related the daughter of Ángel Santiago Aponte and Aurora Hernández Ortega.

Her entry into the University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras in 1966 coincided with the Vietnam conflict (1955-1975), a cause that motivated her to join a committee "to resist mandatory military service."

The “opt-out” provision in SB-1081 is deceptive and entrapment

March 10, 2024 / Edward Hasbrouck / Resistance News - A bill to automatically register draft-age applicants for California driver’s licenses with the Selective Service System (SSS) has been set for its first first hearing in Room 1200 of the State Capitol Annex “Swing Space” building, 1021 O St. in Sacramento (2 blocks south of the Capitol) in Sacramento at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 9, 2024, before the Senate Committee on Transportation. Only in-person testimony will be accepted, with no remote testimony or livestream, but written testimony can be submitted until April 1, 2024.

The hearing on April 9th will be only the first of several, if the bill moves forward, but will set the tone for debate on the bill.

Here’s what you can do:

•  Testify in person at the hearing in Sacramento on April 9th. (Witnesses typically are allowed only 2-3 minutes each at the open mike at a hearing like this, but while you are in Sacramento you can visit your state Senator and Assembly representative to ask them to oppose SB-1081. If you have more than you can say in two minutes, you can submit a more detailed statement in advance, and summarize it in person, which calls more attention to your written submission.)
  
  
• Organizations (including California and national organizations) and individuals can submit letters of opposition to SB-1081 by April 1st.
  
  
• Californians can contact your state Senators and Assembly members (at their district offices if you can’t make it to Sacramento), to urge them to oppose SB-1081 or any similar bill in the Assembly. It’s especially important to contact members of the Senate and Assembly Transportation Committees.
  Read more ...

Looking Back: Soldiers are put at risk of dying in combat, but did not really volunteer for the job they are doing.

December 11, 2006 / John Hoff / The Minnesota Daily - Along a short stretch of Washington Avenue Southeast, you can join the army, the navy, and the Minnesota Army National Guard. It is amazing to walk into a recruiter's office with thoughts of joining the military. It is like bravely stepping through a portal in time and space, not knowing where you might end up. The recruiters are near campus because we are their logical market, just as we are a target demographic for goods and services like affordably priced Chinese meals and free pregnancy tests.

I am regular, full-time army to my bones. Still, I will not speak ill of other military branches, or part-time "weekend warriors" who, quite often these days, are called up to become full-time soldiers. But, for me, there was never any real choice except being regular army like my father. Cut me open with a bayonet, in just the right spot over my gall bladder, and I will bleed green. During a time of war, serving in the military can lay a foundation for a life in politics, public service or even be the beginning of bohemian world adventures. If I would criticize the army, it would be out of love.

Having said all that, let's discuss army recruiters and how they are the biggest, most dangerous liars on the face of the earth.

How unfortunate that the portal to such lofty public service is guarded by such accomplished liars. Some of the lies I witnessed in person, but others I heard about as part of my job. My specialty was army psych, which mostly involved caring for soldiers who tried to kill themselves. I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard a story about attempting suicide which, at some point, involved

2/13/2024 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / Draft Resistance News - A bill to require applicants for California driver’s licenses ages 16 through 25 to consent to registration with the Selective Service System for a possible military draft, SB 1081, has been introduced again in the California legislature.

The sole initial sponsor of SB 1081 is state Senator Bob Archuleta (D-Pico Rivera), who represents Senate District 30 in Los Angeles and Orange Counties.

With no legislation on Selective Service under active consideration in Congress, this California bill is the most significant legislative proposal related to Selective Service currently under consideration anywhere in the U.S. It will be the highest lobbying priority this year for the Selective Service System nationally and for its state director John A. Arbogast, local and state draft board members, and military reservists assigned to Selective Service support duty in California.

California is overwhelmingly the most populous state that doesn’t already require (or provide as a default) Selective Service registration for driver’s licenses for draft-age men. (Other such states include New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Oregon, and several other less populous states.) Since the repeal in 2020 of the former Federal requirement to register for the draft to receive Federal aid for higher education, the Selective Service System has relied almost entirely on state driver’s license laws to drive (pun intended) any limited compliance it is able to obtain with draft registration.

"California does not share driver’s license [information with the Selective service System] — so, hey, move to California and you’re basically exempted from being drafted."

[Testimony of Dr. Bernard Rostker, Director of the Selective Service System 1979-1981, to the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service, 24 April 2019.]

Like similar laws in some (but by no means all) other states, SB 1081 would allow applicants for driver’s licenses to “opt out” of being registered with the Selective Service System. But opting out would be incriminating official written evidence of knowledge of the registration requirement, which would otherwise be the hardest element for the government to prove in a criminal prosecution for “knowing and willful” failure or refusal to register for the draft. That makes the putative “opt out” option largely meaningless.