Click, perv.A teacher in France protests against CPE (Contrait de Première Embauche), a law which would make it easy for companies to fire young people. Published in Belgium's "De Standaard" 29 March 2006. (When I first saw it, I thought it was a Jean-Louis David painting from the French Revolution.)
2 Comments:
Jim Olson said...
Thats exactly the problem, isn't it. There are no protests. Not one. During the Vietnam war, students were so agressive that Commencement was canceled in 1970 at Boston University. There has been NOT ONE student-led uprising at Boston University.
Where is the public outrage? Where are the dissenters and the fomenters and the drop-outers and the peaceniks of our generation and younger? Where are the people singing of love and peace?
It's not that the students don't care, they do. They care about lots of things. Last year, 475,000 hours worth of community service caring at BU alone. But why aren't there burning cars and burning bras? Is noone paying attention? Or has it gotten so complicated or so risky that everyone is afraid to say that the EMPEROR HAS NO CLOTHES?
Sat Oct 14, 08:25:21 PM 2006
Bob Merkin said...
Well, you're dexaggerating. There've been protests, and big 'uns. The website I filched these attractive young topless protesters from had aerial shots of the DC Mall, and that was a Metric Bunch of head tops (quite a few bald and gray and white).
I guess I have to remove my Pollyanna mask and speak to The Draft. Universal (giggle) Military Conscription of college-age males during the Vietnam War really was the kerosene that inflamed US campuses.
The Draft ended and was replaced by the All-Volunteer military in 1971.
I shall now take a few moments to roll around on the floor laughing at the government's use of that phrase "All-Volunteer."
These are volunteers the way I make a Free Choice to fall Down rather than float Upwards after I leap out a high window.
Nevertheless, today, a guy in college can stay in college for as long as he can financially and academically swing it. He doesn't have the 900-pound gorilla of the Selective Service System riding around on his shoulders electronically inspecting his Grade Point Average.
So the question you raise -- well, everyone on campus is ripshit against the Iraq War, but Disorder on Campus apparently historically requires (literally) the slight addition of a gun pointed to your head.
Issues:
1. In Israel, Universal Conscription includes Women.
2. HEY U.B.! Is this a True Thing, or a False Myth?
During the Cold War and Divided Germany, if a draft-age male from anywhere in West Germany could live in West Berlin, then he couldn't be drafted in the West Germany military? I've heard that Legend, never have been able to verify it. If True, how did that work?
3. Man-on-the-Ground in the Alps: What's the latest flavor and color of Universal Military Conscription in CH?
The Dragon of the USA Draft was never slain, it's just sleeping and snoring. On every USA male's 18th birthday, he must by law still register with the Selective Service System (with a form available at the post office).
[HEY DUDES!
NOW YOU CAN REGISTER ON-LINE!!!
IS THAT AWESOME OR WHAT??]
NOW YOU CAN REGISTER ON-LINE!!!
IS THAT AWESOME OR WHAT??]
Refusing to register with SSS is still a serious federal crime, although I don't know how aggressively the Justice Department prosecutes it. My GUESS is that they trade the threat of prison for ... Ta-Da! the opportunity for the dude to All-Volunteer for the Military!
I don't like a lot of the things the Bush Administration does because they're Toxic and Don't Work.
But refusing even to consider bringing the draft back ... that's Toxic to America, but it WORKS politically. It keeps the campuses quiet.
That's one promise by a president we can trust. As long as Bush keeps our soldiers in Iraq, he ain't ever going to bring back the draft.
And of all the lessons we learned or mis-learned from Vietnam, that's the most pathetic lesson of all. We didn't learn to pick our wars wisely. We learned not to go to war again while there was a military draft.
So (in case some Youth out there is wondering) only the desperate and the poor "choose" to risk their lives in our post-Vietnam wars.
Where are the sons of the wealthy? They were lining up to enlist, or showing up to be drafted, during World War II. Nobody wanted to be left behind in civilian clothes.
The millionaire's son who served in Navy combat in the Pacific was a huge part of how Kennedy beat Nixon in 1960. Nixon, from a relatively poor (Quaker) family, was a Navy officer in the Pacific, too, but supply, no combat.
So as long as the world still tolerates war, it's one fine lesson versus one perverted lesson. If you don't want riots in the streets:
A. Only fight wars that have the overwhelming support of all classes of people.
or
B. Never rely on the draft to meet your military manpower requirement.
Since 1971, our political scoundrel elite, from both parties, has chosen B. That's so despicable, so vile. Kill the poor kids. Save the kids of the wealthy.
3 comments:
there is a funny scene in Farenheit 911 where Moore sands in front of the Senate asking Senators if their kids are going to iraq. Only one said yes, the others refused or said no. Ánd that was BEFORE the average American started to ask questions
The current buzz with the swiss Army is that they want to cut the budged and reorganize the whole thing. They are having major problems with the Draft nowdays. more and more potential Recruits have to be sent home because of medical reasons or their test results in reading or writing are so lousy theiy cant even be used as fusiliers and must be sent home.
The days of the good reputation of the Swiss Army are about to be over and maybe thats not a bad thing
There is a Theory -- I ain't saying I buy it -- but Experts in Defense Science ( = overpaid psychos in fine Italian suits with PhDs) believe a strong, effective national military is an important Tool For Regional Peace.
An example: If the Soviet Union had a better idea of how good the Finnish military was on its home turf, they wouldn't have tried to invade it in the 1930s.
So this Theory depends not just on having the effective strong Army, but also that all potentially hostile national neighbors KNOW that the defense military is good. Sort of Reverse Spying -- you WANT your neighbors to know how many soldiers and how many artillery pieces and how good an air force you have. You don't tell them everything, but for the Theory to work, and keep the neighbors from invading, you tell them a lot.
You also "invite" all your neighbors to peek down on you from satellites in orbit. Another part of this Theory is that a world where everybody snoops on everybody else, and sees lots of the other nation's military stuff from orbit, the less likely an agressor is likely to start an invasion based on crappy intelligence. (e.g., the Bush administration and Iraq.)
The corralary of this Theory is that if a nation's defense capabilities degrade, from strong to substantively weaker, it will invite -- tease, tempt -- aggressive, greedy neighbors to invade.
I imagine this very Theory is debated a great deal in the finer Swiss newspapers and news magazines.
What are the finer Swiss news magazines and newspapers? What's the classiest radio network? What's the smartest, most respected nightly TV news program? Is there a famous Swiss journalist, in any medium, whom almost all Swiss people trust to tell them The Truth? (In the USA it used to be the CBS TV guy Walter Cronkite.)
Yup, your theory may be true. Remember the old days during the Cold War when the Swiss had a reputation of being able to call over 100 000 men to arms within 24 hours and that every man has his rifle at home (that one is still true, but under heavy debate at the moment as the Greenies try to abandon this particular law) We had good military relationships with Israel back then. But the times are a-changing, as Dylan used to say, the Military wants to change its Leitbild and go for a new Mission Statement. they want to cut mandatory duty time, close military facilities etc. the worst thing is that they even have to to think about air defense, those F/A 18 fighter planes they bought some 15 years ago for 3.5 billion dollars (we Punk Kids protested heavily) are now hopelessly out of date. There is something going on with the Tanks as well , but I would have to ask my Pop the old Grenadier.
Swiss media ? no famous journalist, no Dan Rather or Walter Cronkite taking his glaees off and saying "the president is dead". there were in the old days of course, before effing private television came along.
the best newspaper is the NZZ Neue Zürcher Zeitung at www.nzz.ch. They have an english window on the site, check it out.
the best TV station is our public broadcasting SF1 and SF2. SF1 has very good news and news magazines on everything from medicine to arts and science and foreignn politics, SF2 has Lost, Desperate Housewives and all that crap. In Radioland we have public broadcasters DRS1 for the old poeple and the housewives playing easy listening and good plays on friday night, DRS2 for the classical crowd (too intellectual , but they play GG at times) and DRS3 fo da kidz.
outstanding programs on Tv include "Rundschau" on wednesdays at 9 pm and basically works like dateline or 60 minutes, but much better in quality. The other thing is of course the "Tagesschau" broadcasted every day at 1930 pm and is considered mandatory in every household for decades. In Radioland we have "Echo der Zeit on all 3 stations broadcasted at 6 pm with excellent background info and very good analisys of current events. If you think your german is good enough go to www.drs.ch where you can download it. You can also go to http://www.sf.tv where you can download some shows at http://www.sf.tv/var/videos.php
(I just noticed that they also stream or podcast a very popular show where poeple do nothing else but play cards for 20 minutes. That is very swiss I reckon) I am off to watch GG Hereafter now. have you seen it yet?
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