Rights for Everybody, Except You.

I'm almost certain it was Rachel Maddow who brought up this point: If rights were really rights, how can you decide, all of the sudden they're up for grabs?  If it is my "right" to exist, to pursue happiness, liberty, etc, then there ought to be no exception whatsoever to that deal.  I think it's important to note that no group of oppressed people has ever gained rights denied by their oppressor without both a long fight, and some power transfer from the oppressor to the oppressed. 

The big bully in the playground who is always stealing the lunch money from the nerdy kid (OK, me), always wins.  Because the bully is stronger than the other kid, the weaker kid loses.  The bullied do not get to decide on what terms they may be bullied.  Albeit a farcical example, I maintain that it is a prime example for what is going on today in civil rights issues, women's rights, and bi-partisanship politics as a whole.  The money never belonged to the bully, and the bully's own lunch money was never at risk to begin with.  Against all good judgement whatsoever, I watched a clip of Ann Coulter regarding the repeal of DADT on YouTube.  "Putting girls and gays in the military, we're not taking the military seriously," are actually words that came flying out of her mouth. 

Warning! This clip may cause you to have a severe anxiety/rage episode, before playing, remove all sharp objects from arm's length.

Girls and gays are going to ruin the military?  The problem I have with this is that when you have someone whose function is to say outlandish things, and you are passing that off as news, the uninformed people who watch "entertainment news" are not even close to getting the actual truth. 

I must also add as a disclaimer that I'm an avid Rachel Maddow Show fan, because even though I'm super-liberal, the information she presents is the truth, not just some insane opinions. 

But back to the clip.  They're saying that most of the people who wanted DADT to be repealed are against the military.  Seriously?  Most of the people who fought so hard for DADT are or were IN the military!  How can someone be a vocal advocate for a policy that discriminates against who they are?! 

For the purposes of continuing with my analogy of the schoolyard bully, the LGBT service members who are subjected to unfair, discriminatory policy never tried to take away the rights of the heterosexist patriarchal oppressors.  They just did their jobs, lied about who they were, faced losing their careers, and died on the battlefield along with their straight peers.  The bully's rights were never in question, so why should the other kid's?

*It is also important to mention that I am also vehemently against bullying, and that in the end, the bully almost always ends up divorced, overweight, unhappy, and with a terrible comb-over. 

"Don't Ask, Don't Care!"

Admittedly, I stole the idea for the title from Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC yesterday. On his program yesterday, he had military consultants who were senior military leadership who essentially said that it's sort of ironic, because for the most part the CURRENT philosophy is that not only don't they ask, but nobody cares!

Well the amendment to the Defense act was passed in the house, so as long as the whole kit-n-caboodle makes it through, and the culminating Dept of Defense study, which is I'm sure just a series of "command climate surveys," we will finally have an end to probably the dumbest law ever.

I will now go back and explain a bunch of jargon one may not necessarily be familiar with without a military background. A command climate survey is a battery of annoying emails that get repeatedly forwarded out that almost every participant fills out, but all feel it never actually gets read or tallied on any scorecard ANYWHERE.

I posted a thing on facebook a while back which loosely said, "when did the beeswax of my sex life become the government's sex-life to mind?" I am sick of this even being an issue at all.

Today on Countdown, some moron from the American Family Association, which is, I'm certain another benign title for some Pat Robertson-esque right wing ridiculous regime, actually had the stones to say that if DADT is repealed, we will have a bunch of Cpl Klingers (of MASH) running around and destroying the military.

Seriously? Are you out of your freaking mind? In case you were unaware, I can assure you, when one joins the military, there is no clothing option for drag. Everyone gets issued the same hideous uniform that we all hate collectively. It's ugly, but we're all the same. We come from different cities, backgrounds, education levels, languages, family dynamics, but the only thing that matters is that we all get trained to do the job we volunteered for, and we all wear the clothes that our employer assigned us to wear. Nobody cares who you sleep with, so long as it doesn't conflict with your mission.

I'm traditionally the type of individual who remains remarkably opinionated, particularly with matters that don't concern me, but on this one, get a grip...



Below is my post:

Shayna King: If YOU ran an essentially volunteer organization, whose primary purpose is to "fight and win wars" as we are taught, AND had massive shortages of people, why then would you want to exclude potentially helpful personnel? I love that they liken DADT to the fact that it took 5 years to integrate races. I'd go to war wit...h ANYBODY as long as they could do their job. I personally think that the beeswax of my sex life should never be my boss's burden to mind, REGARDLESS.

See More

White House backs compromise on gays in military - Yahoo! News

news.yahoo.com

A proposal to step up the repeal of the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military but still allow the Pentagon time — perhaps even years — to implement new policies won the White House's backing on Monday after administration officials met with gay rights activists.

Shayna King

:HAHA I also wanted to say (or lack thereof) but it was too many characters...People, it's not 1950, grow up, go back to worrying about how many plastic surgeries Heidi Pratt had today, and how you are capable of problems of luxury today. (puts soapbox away, exits left)


I received only one question from the nearly 450 people who have access to my page. Have I ever been assigned to a line unit or to Division? No, I have not. I'm a reservist, and my job is pretty specific to medical units. I understand that it still happens, but I've only ever been assigned to my reserve unit and to a few medical centers as part of an involuntary activation.

With regard to deployment, when a soldier is deployed, they are instructed not to have sex anyhow, so I really don't see what the homophobic hubbub is all about.

At any rate, I'm going to bed before I have either some form of aneurysm burst or break something. ;-)

Peace,
Shayna

what’s crackin?...me with the books!

Current mood:busy

Hola and good day!  So I don't remember where exactly I left off before, but i was probably whining about something or other. Life today is peachy.  I can't complain.  I figured out that i am not capable of being in a relationship at the moment. That's good to know.  I don't have to worry about some messy problems down the line, i guess.  My EMT class started this week.  It's ridiculous, I feel like i am in remedial EMT school.  whatev' as Rachel says so frequently.  I had my first test today and scored in the top 3, but since there are 25 in the class, that's not good enough for me, i have to ace the rest of the tests. It's not like they're really hard or in depth. 
I am being activated once more, this time stateside though.  12-18 mos in Fort Belvoir, VA.  So that's good, more CONUS time, which will carry me out to 18 mos left in the IRR at that point, and elections over with.  I just want to get the hell out of the army.  They told me I'm leaving sometime in July, but we all know how that goes.... 72 hours notice, anyone?

I don't get to spend time with my good friend, Special T, (or T-dawg, as i probably have never called her) The working different shifts and weird down-times makes keeping up to date a pain.  I shouldn't say it like that, because it's far from what i mean. I love spending time with her, but it's virtually impossible to synch schedules.

that's all i got folks, busy but happy!
Plug in and Rock out!
PS, Brian, yes i will come get my crap someday, i swear! miss u too!
-Adios, Shayna

TDY from hell

Current mood:melancholy

I am getting so fed up.  Whenever I actually care about something, it completely backfires in my face.  when i don't care about anything, i am numb to my surroundings and it doesn't feel like disappointment. 

I was told this week that i should write a song called "Shut the Hell UP!"

The lyrics could go like this:

If you're driving my van and the radio's on
shut the hell up cuz it's my favorite song
i don't care about how you grew up f'd
So let me alone, and shut the hell up.


We stayed in Stuttgart at what must have been German for "The Bates Motel."  Nobody would do anything the day we got there so the night after the blood drive, we got a group together and went to the Fest.  After the Fest, we took the train back and i almost got arrested for assault.  I kicked a german dude in the ankle. 

I never did find Bob's niece that works up there.  I guess i will email them and tell them to get her to call me.  I have to find this lady so i can sort out all this crap. 

I am going to stab the next idiot who asks me if i am going to extend.  I am serious.  I hate this hell hole.  Mike and Brian and Brian are not idiots.  almost everybody else is a retard.  that, or they frustrate me soooo much that i can't see straight anyway. 

Taylor told me that i should get promoted so i can tell other e5's to shut up to their face, but i said i do that already.  I hate this place.

So I'm a whiny beeoch you say....

Current mood:numb

ha ha. well i guess that's true.  Today sucked.  I guess my friend was right: if you want something done, give it to an already busy person!  Because right now, i am still at work.  no kidding.  i took a break
I think my breaking point was when i finally lost it.  I was rolling bags in the back, after i reprinted some stickers, and listening to some music.  The song made me just lose it.  I am not a crier, but i guess between everything (friends who completely ignore me, other people who won't leave me alone, not sleeping in about 3 days, constantly filling out occurrence reports, I miss Mike,  my dog died, etc) i just hit my emotional rock bottom.  Sometimes it feels like no body's listening.  I have surpassed the point where i don't care anymore, about anything really. 
I actually have to go back to work but i really just wanted to say that I am sorry if i am coming off as whiny.  What i mean to convey is that i have nothing left...no sympathy, no stamina for my menial job, no desire to be here anymore.  Maybe leaving won't be as hard as i thought.  It hurts when I go to talk to someone to vent or about something serious and they blow me off.  I'll miss this place, and even some of the people in it, but I would be ready to leave tomorrow if I had orders.  I try to find out who i can count on, but they all leave me hanging.  I am done.  I don't have any more anything to invest. I give up.