http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2006 by the authors Fri, 27 Oct 2006 19:05:52 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/23/113734.php#comment-463773 "deep down no one in America really gives a rat's ass about a bunch of people dying in Iraq. Half of us think they deserve it and the other half aren't paying attention most of the time." Dave Nalle 47 year old font designer/historian 463773@blogcritics.org Fri, 27 Oct 2006 19:05:52 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/23/113734.php#comment-463707 "And as I've said many times before, what fucking use would a 47 year old font designer/historian be in Iraq?" - Dave Nalle --------------------------- 52-YEAR OLD FEMALE SOLDIER KILLED IN IRAQ By DINESH RAMDE - Associated Press Writer - 09/29/06 MILWAUKEE -- Sgt. 1st Class Merideth Howard, 52, a turret gunner in the Army Reserve's 405th Civil Affairs Battalion, became on Sept. 8 the oldest female U.S. soldier killed in action since military operations began in Afghanistan and Iraq. A car bomber slammed into her vehicle, killing her and Staff Sgt. Robert Paul, 43, of The Dalles, Ore. For Howard, age was never an issue, said her husband, Hugh Hvolboll, who moved with her to the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha in 2004. "She did anything she wanted to," he said. Howard held undergraduate and master's degrees in marine biology. When she discovered she was prone to seasickness, she switched careers and became a firefighter in Bryan, Texas, becoming the city's first female firefighter in 1978. She was about 5'4" but she made up for her size with determination and a strength that matched her burly co-workers, recalled Bryan Fire Department Chief Mike Donoho. Even so, some question why a woman her age would be called up to active duty. Her 78-year-old uncle, Herbert Kurtz, said he felt Howard was too old to dodge bullets. "I was drafted in the Korean War. Heck, at this rate, maybe they'll draft me again," he said. Of the 66 women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, 51 are 30 or younger, according to Judy Bellafaire, chief historian for the Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation in Washington, D.C. Four women, aged 41 to 44, were the oldest casualties before Howard. Howard's friends and family say she knew the risks when she joined the Army Reserves in 1988. She planned to retire in two years at the 20-year mark, they say. "She had beautiful blue eyes," Hvolboll said. "We hit it off right away, like we'd known each other for years." The couple dated for 14 years, marrying in December 2005 only when Howard found out she was being called up. Howard's lasting legacy, her husband said, is the love she had for friends, family and life. -------------------------- Kinda puts your phoney "I'm too old" excuse into perspective...ehe, Nalle? 463707@blogcritics.org Fri, 27 Oct 2006 15:43:47 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/23/113734.php#comment-381587 Lets not get crazy now...MY ARMY has enough "goofballs" in it who don't really want to be here. A draft would make this problem even worse! I'm sure 1 in 10 potential draftees would be intelligent, hard working kids with goals in life...but they're not worth the other 90%!! That 90% can stay on the couch and keep complaining about a 'lack of jobs' 381587@blogcritics.org Sun, 4 Jun 2006 09:12:40 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/23/113734.php#comment-379516 I think you missed the first part of my statement, Chris. I'm against all forms of conscription. But universal conscription is better than a draft like we had in Vietnam. And universal conscription with options other than the military is even better. But all forms of conscription are still violations of fundamental individual liberty. Dave 379516@blogcritics.org Wed, 31 May 2006 19:23:37 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/23/113734.php#comment-379504 But wouldn't that be embracing some socialist ideals on your part then, Dave? Job Corps, Peace Corps - not exactly your raging capitalism is it? 379504@blogcritics.org Wed, 31 May 2006 18:49:59 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/23/113734.php#comment-379440 Very true, Ruvy. I'm against all conscription on principle, but if you must have it at all it needs to be universal and ideally offering more options than just service in the military. Having organizations like Job Corps and the Peace Corps as part of the system would be a very good thing. Dave 379440@blogcritics.org Wed, 31 May 2006 17:16:03 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/23/113734.php#comment-379395 It's starting to look like these comments belong on the "chickenhawk" article by Mr. Nalle, gentlemen. Whatever else he might have been Pat Tillman was no chickenhawk. I'll say this much about compulsory military service and attending university. It is a lot fairer to all involved if all kids who hit 18 have to serve in the military, and can then attend university, if they wish, with generous stipends from the government, AFTER doing their hitch. That is more or less the system we have here and it generally results in a more serious, more mature university student. Had America had such a system in the early sixties, the anti-war movement would have developed very differently, and the universities today might not be inhabited by the denizens of the infantile left. 379395@blogcritics.org Wed, 31 May 2006 15:37:32 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/23/113734.php#comment-379388 "An awful lot of people had very good reasons for not supporting or participating in Vietnam and those reasons don't necessarily apply when dealing with other conflicts but were specific to the Vietnam war." - Dave Nalle, at the keyboard from his fortified compound in Texas "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake." - John Kerry, testifying before congress in 1971 against the Vietnam War 379388@blogcritics.org Wed, 31 May 2006 15:18:41 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/23/113734.php#comment-379372 TommyD, have you ever considered that Vietnam ended over 30 years ago, and that what we fought for there and what we might be fighting for in the War on Terror are different things? You know it is possible to oppose one war and to support another. An awful lot of people had very good reasons for not supporting or participating in Vietnam and those reasons don't necessarily apply when dealing with other conflicts but were specific to the Vietnam war. Dave 379372@blogcritics.org Wed, 31 May 2006 14:42:33 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/23/113734.php#comment-379363 Ted Nugent is an asshole chickenhawk if I've ever seen one. Ted talks his tough talk about killing deer and wild boar and "Ay-rab ragheads" (i've heard him say so on the radio). However, when big bad Ted Nugent had his opportune time to back up his macho posturing by hooking up with the infantry in Vietnam, he discovered that fighting the yellowman in the jungles of 'Nam just wasn't his thing. Mmmmmmm? Rush Limbaugh is no different. Rush stirs up the hatred for people who are against America's imperial wars of aggression while selling the myth that the killing and dying for 'Merrikan "freedom" 8,000 miles away in Iraq is every red-blooded 'Merrikan's God-bound duty. Everyone, that is, except Rush himself, of course, who found that the dirty, bloody and deadly fighting in Vietnam just wasn't for dear old Rush after all. Mmmmmmmm. And, btw, Afghanistan is still a fucking mess today, barely different from when the Taliban ruled there and most likely will not get any better. Opium production flourishes more than ever before. Afghanis hate the Americans more than ever. What did Pat Tillman die for? 379363@blogcritics.org Wed, 31 May 2006 14:30:22 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/23/113734.php#comment-379228 MCH, you were young enough to serve in Desert Shield too. Did you volunteer? Or do you not care about the people of Kuwait the same way you don't 'give a damn' about the people of Iraq? And as for putitng my money where my mouth is, you have some very strange ideas of where my mouth is. My mouth is opposed to military interventionism, so if I was to put my 'money where my mouth is' during Desert Shield it would have been to protest the war as a matter of principle. BTW, how much money have you donated to anti-war protest groups, and how much time have you spent on the protest lines? Dave 379228@blogcritics.org Wed, 31 May 2006 09:31:11 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/23/113734.php#comment-379221 "And as I've said many times before, what fucking use would a 47 year old font designer/historian be in Iraq?" Aw, but Nalle, you were only 33 during Desert Shield, well below the limit for enlistment. Would've been a perfect opportunity to put your money where your mouth is. 379221@blogcritics.org Wed, 31 May 2006 09:20:22 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/23/113734.php#comment-379100 We have no draft now, and the government had reasons for offering deferments then. Why don't you take it up with Secretary MacNamara - he's still alive. And as I've said many times before, what fucking use would a 47 year old font designer/historian be in Iraq? I guess I could improve the font used for stenciling numbers on tanks. But even that job they wouldn't need me in the field for. If they sent me there I'd be putting real soldiers at risk trying to protect me. Though I'll say here and now that I'll gladly provide any font customization that active duty servicemen need in the field for free. And my eldest daughter will be 18 in 4 years. If the military wants her they're welcome to try to convince her to join. I'll be behind them alll the way. Dave 379100@blogcritics.org Tue, 30 May 2006 23:37:54 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/23/113734.php#comment-379026 "A student deferment is not 'hiding out'." - Dave Nalle It is considering the fact that a college dorm 10,000 miles from Vietnam is almost as safe as a fortified compound 10,000 miles from Iraq... 379026@blogcritics.org Tue, 30 May 2006 21:06:40 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/23/113734.php#comment-378776 Limbaugh? Stallone? Nugent? MCH, you might want to worry less about what people in the entertainment industry think. It's good for the heart. Awaiting your next quote from me taken out of context and lined up with something obscure I said three months ago to paint me as a lying hypocrite, --Suss 378776@blogcritics.org Tue, 30 May 2006 13:09:38 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/23/113734.php#comment-378750 A student deferment is not 'hiding out'. It's always been the normal process for Americans seeking an education to go from high school to college. If, in the case of someone like Stallone, that qualified them for a student deferment. That's just the way it works. The government provided these deferments specificaly because they wanted to make sure that people could complete their college educations. Suggesting that deferments like this are 'hiding out' implies that you have a strong anti-intellectual, anti-education streak going, MCH. Dave 378750@blogcritics.org Tue, 30 May 2006 12:34:28 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/23/113734.php#comment-378712 "You forgot Ted Nugent. Always makes me laugh when you lump him in with politicians." I wasn't listing politicians, Sussman, I listed "conservative chicken-hawks," which includes the ilk of Limbaugh and Nugent because of their phoney flag-waving, bellicose pro-war pontifications, and loud self-proclamations of patriotism. Another one would be Sylvester Stallone, who made a fortune with his Rambo movies, pretending to be a hero, but during Vietnam hid-out with student deferments; while many of the real heroes who couldn't afford to buy their way out, are homeless, living in cardboard shacks and suffering never-ending nightmares and PTSD. Always makes me laugh when you pretend to be more of an expert than you are... 378712@blogcritics.org Tue, 30 May 2006 11:02:21 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/23/113734.php#comment-378542 Forbes, Bennett and Limbaugh aren't exactly real politicians either. Dave 378542@blogcritics.org Tue, 30 May 2006 01:10:58 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/23/113734.php#comment-378537 You forgot Ted Nugent. Always makes me laugh when you lump him in with politicians. 378537@blogcritics.org Tue, 30 May 2006 01:05:58 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/23/113734.php#comment-378535 Do you ever give it a rest? And do you know that those people you list were in more of a position to buy or influence their way out of military service than an equal number of democrats or just a random sampling of people in that age range during the Vietnam era? The only one with obvious megawealth you list is Steve Forbes who did 6 years service in the National Guard with an honorable discharge. All the rest got legitimate draft exemptions just like thousands and thousands of others during the war. Dave 378535@blogcritics.org Tue, 30 May 2006 01:02:29 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/23/113734.php#comment-378527 "I have to point out that the rich and powerful generally aren't in the age range to volunteer for military service. In all but a very few cases - mostly in professional sports - people in the 18-25 age range that most recruits come from just don't have much money." Bullshit, Nalle. Most of the conservative chicken-hawks who dodged the draft during the Vietnam War were of military age with rich and powerful connections, buying their way out of it while those less fortunate died face down in the mud over there in their place. To name just a few: Dick Cheney, John Ashcroft, Paul Wolfowitz, Karl Rove, Newt Gingrich, Rush Limbaugh, Steve Forbes, Trent Lott, Phil Gramm, Bill Bennett, Dick Armey, et al... 378527@blogcritics.org Tue, 30 May 2006 00:33:30 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/23/113734.php#comment-378516 RIP PAT. WILL NOT FORGET YOU. 378516@blogcritics.org Tue, 30 May 2006 00:03:46 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/23/113734.php#comment-378496 I guess they've got better things to do. 378496@blogcritics.org Mon, 29 May 2006 22:51:21 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/23/113734.php#comment-378347 The last exchange aroused my curiosity about what the twins who are now 25 are doing. Jenna is teaching public school in DC. Barbara is working as in an AIDS clinic in Africa. Not exactly serving in Iraq, but certainly serving humanity in two of the more dangerous places on earth. Dave 378347@blogcritics.org Mon, 29 May 2006 17:55:04 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/23/113734.php#comment-378342 Sounds like a plan to me, Jet. They ought to volunteer to do something at the very least. I wouldn't want to see them with a gun in their hand, but they could do USO tours (stripping?) or do some humanitarian aid volunteer work or somesuch. Dave 378342@blogcritics.org Mon, 29 May 2006 17:45:48 EDT