is a draft imminent?

[tim929]

Glad you finally agree

with me that it takes some serious dedication to learn about the system in order to make a difference in one's

country. Are you going back on your claim now that everything is "simple" to understand?

Yes...I am

standing on my claim that it is simple.I have a life...I work,have a scocial life and various responsabilities,just

like every other American.It didnt take me a lifetime to understand politics.Just alittle bit of personal

involvement from time to time and a genuine concern for the state of my community.It realy doesnt take a masters

degree to "get it," it just takes alittle effort and a desire to know whats going on.Talking with friends,reading

the paper once in a while,listening to other peoples oppinions...

It helps alot if you start with some idea of

whats supposed to be going on in the first place.And thats where our education system fails.Ous schools fail to

properly develop the knowledge of citizenship in our young people.In high school,you have plenty of time on your

hands to be able to learn what America is all about.And as we get older,many of these things become more and more

important to YOUR standard of living.It therefore stands to reson that a person would take and interest in the

workings of government.

I have a very close friend whos family came here after being run out of the

Philipines.They came to this country with exactly forty dollars and the clothes on thier backs.Not only do they

speak better english that the average American,they are extremely involved politicaly.My friend is a captain in the

U.S. Army...and is fiercely proud to serve and defend his adopted country.He is also very active in the state

political scene and his wife served with (party name deleted) as a fund raiser and local deligate to the party

convention.These people have children,responsabilities,jobs and so forth...but they are still very involved in the

process.

The fact is that they were raised under a dictatorship and they understand all too well the inportance

of personal involvement in the system.The average American is...for lack of a better term...to lazy to get

involved.We leave it to others because we dont want to spend alittle time.It frustrates them to no end to see

apathetic people who dont bother to get involved or vote.

If you ask people who have become U.S. citizens,you

will get largely the same response.People who came here from the Baltic states,asia,Russia and so forth will roll

thier eyes at the apethy of Americans.These people take thier freedom very seriously.Why dont we?

Okay...my

T.V.dinner is getting cold....

[Biohazard]

...it just takes

alittle effort and a desire to know whats going on...

My point exactly. Easier said than done for

many, at least to the point where it would induce the degree of change you've discussed above.

[koolking1]

UrbanSurvival.com:

"Its Real: Prison Labor for the Military

We received an interesting news tip

yesterday - and one that we find quite interesting. It has to do with official plans of the US Army to enact

something called the "Civilian Inmate Labor Program." The general idea is that with troop manpower running low, and

local demand for prisoner housing running high, the US Army can pick up some cheap labor from the Federal Bureau of

Prisons and perhaps State prisons.

As you may recall, we reported a few weeks back that we've heard that

troops are in such short supply in Iraq that ordinary seamen off Navy Trident subs are being given quickie training

as sentries, rather than serving on strategic missile platforms, and off they go to Iraq. Now, with the receipt of

the Army plans to use federal prisoners for labor, we have to ask what kind of picture this paints of the

military's state of readiness?

Specifics of the program, outlined in official Army Regulation 210-35 at

http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/r210_35.pdf include some of the following:

The newest set of

changes quietly went into effect 14 February 2005.

The unclassified regulations describe their purpose as

follows: "This regulation provides Army policy and guidance for establishing civilian inmate labor programs and

civilian prison camps on Army installations. Sources of civilian inmate labor are limited to on– and off–post

Federal corrections facilities, State and/or local corrections facilities operating from on–post prison camps

pursuant to leases under Section 2667, Title 10, United States Code (10 USC 2667), and off–post State corrections

facilities participating in the demonstration project authorized under Section 1065, Public Law (PL) 103–337.

Otherwise, State and/or local inmate labor from off–post corrections facilities is currently excluded from this

program."

"(2) Under no circumstances will the following types of inmates be permitted in the Civilian Inmate

Labor Program: (a) A person in whom there is a significant public interest as determined by the corrections facility

superintendent in coordination with the installation commander. (b) A person who has been a significant management

problem in their current corrections facility or in another facility. (c) A principal organized crime figure. (d) An

inmate convicted of a sex offense or whose criminal history includes such conduct. (e) An inmate convicted of a

violent crime or whose criminal history includes such conduct. (f) An inmate convicted of the sale or intent to

distribute illegal drugs who held a leadership position in any drug conspiracy, or has been involved with drugs

within the last 3 years while in prison. (g) An escape risk. (h) An inmate who poses a threat to the general public

as determined by the corrections facility superintendent in coordination with the installation commander. (i) An

inmate declared or found insane or mentally incompetent by a court, administrative proceeding, or physician, or

under treatment for a mental disease or disorder. (j) An inmate convicted of arson. (k) A Federal inmate convicted

while on active duty, presently serving a sentence for that conviction.

In short, this seems to be a low key

program, perhaps driven in part by state facilities that are trying to find "creative ways" to offload minimum

security inmates because of the huge number of prisoners in US prisons today. Nevertheless, some of the wording is

troubling:

Chapter 3 Establishing Civilian Inmate Prison Camps on Army Installations 3–1.

Policy

statement It is not Army policy to solicit offers from correctional systems to establish civilian inmate prison

camps on Army installations. Nevertheless, the Army recognizes that these correctional systems may approach

installations to lease land on which to build corrections facilities, or to lease unoccupied facilities. The Army

will evaluate requests to establish civilian inmate prison camps on Army installations on a case by case basis.

These prison camps will house minimum and low security inmates, as determined by the correctional systems. However,

the Army’s primary purpose for allowing establishment of prison camps on Army installations is to use the resident

nonviolent civilian inmate labor pool to work on the leased portions of the installation.

The regulations are

not particularly complex, and are an interesting read if you have worries about the Army building prison camps at

which a nonviolent civilian could be impressed. Has as kind of World War II-ish kind of ring to it, doesn't

it?"

I've been doing a lot of travelling lately so haven't been posting. I did meet a whole bunch of GIs

in Ireland at the airport on their way to Afghanistan, one guy for his 3rd time hardly seems fair to me, oh well.

[belgareth]

While I am not at all opposed

to using prison labor in such a way, it is a disturbing reflection on the military's ability to recruit capable

people to serve in the armed forces. It does reinforce your notion that a draft is imminent.

[Biohazard]

It does

reinforce your notion that a draft is imminent.

Or that it's not. One can interpret that article as

.gov/.mil are doing everything they can to avoid a general draft. Anyhow, they better draft me soon, I might be too

old by the time they get around to re-instituting a draft!

[Biohazard]

Looks like more kids these days

aren't military material. I wonder if a draft was ever re-instated, would we suddenly have a spike in asthma

diagnoses?



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060312/..._sam_wants_you

Military

Shuns Many of Recruiting Age

By PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writer
17 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - Uncle Sam wants YOU, that famous Army recruiting poster says. But does he really? Not if you're a

Ritalin-taking, overweight, Generation Y couch potato — or some combination of the above.

As for that

fashionable "body art" that the military still calls a tattoo, having one is grounds for rejection, too.

With

U.S. casualties rising in wars overseas and more opportunities in the civilian work force from an improved U.S.

economy, many young people are shunning a career in the armed forces. But recruiting is still a two-way street — and

the military, too, doesn't want most people in this prime recruiting age group of 17 to 24.

Of some 32

million Americans now in this group, the Army deems the vast majority too obese, too uneducated, too flawed in some

way, according to its estimates for the current budget year.

"As you look at overall population and you start

factoring out people, many are not eligible in the first place to apply," said Doug Smith, spokesman for the Army

Recruiting Command.

Some experts are skeptical.

Previous Defense Department studies have found that 75

percent of young people are ineligible for military service, noted Charles Moskos of Northwestern University. While

the professor emeritus who specializes in military sociology says it is "a baloney number," he acknowledges he has

no figures to counter it.

"Recruiters are looking for reasons other than themselves," said David R. Segal,

director of the Center for Research on Military Organization at the University of Maryland. "So they blame the

pool."

The military's figures are estimates, based partly on census numbers. They are part of an elaborate

analysis the military does as it struggles each year to compete with colleges and companies for the nation's best

and brightest, plan for future needs and maintain diversity.

The Census Bureau estimates that the overall

pool of people who would be in the military's prime target age has shrunk as American society ages. There were 1

million fewer 18- to 24-year olds in 2004 than in 2000, the agency says.

The pool shrinks to 13.6 million

when only high school graduates and those who score in the upper half on a military service aptitude test are

considered. The 30 percent who are high school dropouts are not the top choice of today's professional,

all-volunteer and increasingly high-tech military force.

Other factors include:

_the rising rate of

obesity; some 30 percent of U.S. adults are now considered obese.

_a decline in physical fitness; one-third

of teenagers are now believed to be incapable of passing a treadmill test.

_a near-epidemic rise in the use

of Ritalin and other stimulants to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Potential recruits are ineligible

for military service if they have taken such a drug in the previous year.

Doctors prescribe these drugs to

about 2 million children and 1 million adults a month, according to a federal survey. Many more are believed to be

using such stimulants recreationally and to stay awake longer to boost academic and physical

performance.

Other potential recruits are rejected because they have criminal histories and too many

dependents. Subtract 4.4 million from the pool for these people and for the overweight.

Others can be

rejected for medical problems, from blindness to asthma. The Army estimate has subtracted 2.6 million for this

group.

That leaves 4.3 million fully qualified potential recruits and an estimated 2.3 million more who

might qualify if given waivers on some of their problems.

The bottom line: a total 6.6 million potential

recruits from all men and women in the 32 million-person age group.

In the budget year that ended last

September, 15 percent of recruits required a waiver in order to be accepted for active duty services — or about

11,000 people of some 73,000 recruited.

Most waivers were for medical problems. Some were for misdemeanors

such as public drunkenness, resisting arrest or misdemeanor assault — prompting criticism that the Army is lowering

its standards.

This year the Army is trying to recruit 80,000 people; all the services are recruiting about

180,000.

And about the tattoos: They are not supposed to be on your neck, refer to gang membership, be

offensive, or in any way conflict with military standards on integrity, respect and team work. The military is

increasingly giving waivers for some types of tattoos, officials said.