Public Education vs The Military

Stuck in traffic yesterday I saw a bumpersticker that said...

"Wouldn't the world be a better place if education had all the funding it needed and the military had to hold bakesales to buy tanks."

At first it made me smile but then I had to think a little what a crock!!!!

I have been on both sides of the fence, I spent 20+ years in the Navy and also several years teaching when I got out.

I have a few thoughts about that.

I saw a lot of waste in the military, any organization that is as large as the Military is has some waste but in the Military we tried to control it when we found it. Sure I remember the $800 toilet seat and the $600 hammer. And although those were the militaries fault, those who were really responsible for that were the contractors the Military hired to build the weapon systems. Those were expenditures hidden in thousands of pages of equipment costs. In time the government accounting agencies would have found them but some young reporter looking for a scoop found it first.

I also so a lot of waste in the public education sector. And not just in equipment and expenditures. There was a lot of waste in the personnel sectors.

Here is some of the comparisons I have seen.

In the military its up or out. You either continue to improve, to take on more challenging assignments, and be successful at what you do or you are released and sent home. Not the same in the education world. Most schools are set up like any other organization a leader, (the principle), a second in command, (the asst principles) and groups or departments with department heads leading those groups. In the Navy its CO, XO, Dept heads and so on. In my years in the Navy I worked long hours and took the most challenging jobs to be better than my contemporaries so that I could be advanced however, in the education world, a teacher can do thirty years as a teacher and never ever do a day of overtime. I witnessed first hand teachers turning down the job as Dept Head because they didn't want the chance that they would have to stay late one day to attend a Dept Head meeting. On several occasions the job of Dept Head went to the junior person in the Dept because thats who was left to refuse the job. In the Navy Junior Officers fought over who would get collateral duties so they could impress the CO. In the education world I saw teachers fight over collateral duties but it was for who had to take them they just did not want the work. I heard the argument that if teachers got paid what Officers in the Military did they would be willing to spend the extra time, but a new officer and a new teacher make about the same but the new officer will put in ten times the work that a teacher does. I knew teachers that could beat students out of the building when the last bell rang. Not a moment more. Why do we employ teachers, give them annual raises and continue to pay for their continued education if they are not going to strive to be the best. And remember this is on top of only having to work 9 out of 12 months. Teachers are paid for the summer months even though school is out most places.

Next is equipment. In the Navy, I had to account for my computer, of TVs ar VCRs or any other piece of gear all the time. If it came up missing their was an investigation, if I was at fault I had to pay for it and it was reflected on my annual evaluation. In the school system, at least the one I was in, the school couldn't account for all the audio visual equipment nor the computers it had. If your classroom was issued a computer and it came up missing an investigation report was written and that was all that happened, no penalty for loosing the computer, even if it was the teachers fault. Little accountability, I would bet that if it was to be investigated most school systems see a high turn over for those type of items.

And what do the schools do with the money they get for repairs and upkeep? In the Navy a good paint job on a shore based facility could last for a couple of years, at a school that same paint job would be lucky to last a complete year. Why, because the students are not held accountable for their actions. Deface school property and it might get you detention or even suspension, do it in the military and its a possible court martial. But the students don't get caught, why is that? The teachers don't care. They are not watching for students doing something illegal, they aren't paid for that, but in a round about way they are. If they didn't have to keep cleaning and painting the walls that money could go for something else.

And sports, my favorite subject. My children played high school sports and did well but I always thought that the new uniforms and equipment they used every year was not in keeping with the rest of the schools budget. When was the last time the schools Debate Team got a uniform, or the Key Club or any other team or club that represents the school as well as or even better then the sports teams? Seldom.

And what about the bake sales? When was the last time a teacher in a school put his or her life on the line? I know I know, some schools are like War zones, bull.... they are not and never will be. I taught in one of those inner city schools where teachers were afraid to go in the halls and I never once had a problem with the students and I went out in the halls all the time. Or does a teacher defend the freedoms and priciples this country was built on? Heck no. They have a hard time teaching it, just listen to what some of them teach your children. If not for the military, this country might still be flying the Union Jack or speaking German, or Russian, or Japanese or worse of all French. Thank God we are not, the schools would have a hard time teaching it.

The military isn't perfect but it is a lot better than our school systems, why don't we over haul them and pay for those teachers willing to put the effort out. They would have to constantly show improvement, be responsible for the students and equipment and be good citizens. If this were to happen I think you would see a better education system with a better budget.

Iraqi and Afganistan Prisoners

The insurgents fighting the war in Iraq and those fighting the war in Afganistan, particularly those that now reside in Guantanimo or anthor prison camp, have been bringing up their rights under the Geneva Convention. There have also been several prominant legal teams that have come to the rescue of these prisoners attempting to afford them not only rights under the Geneva Convention but also rights that American citizens deserve.

I would argue that they are not eligible for treatment under the Geneva Convention and they absolutely are not eligible for rights reserved for American citizens.

First the Geneva Convention places restrictions on who is deemd to be a Prisoner of War.

A. They must be, as stated by the geneva Convention:
"Members of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict as well as members of militias or volunteer corps forming part of such armed forces. "

The insurgents are not members of the Armed Forces of the conflict the Afgan army and the Iraqi army both had unifoms and military units.

B. Or they must fall into one of the following, as stated by the geneva Convention:
"Members of other militias and members of other volunteer corps, including those of organized resistance movements, belonging to a Party to the conflict and operating in or outside their own territory, even if this territory is occupied, provided that such militias or volunteer corps, including such organized resistance movements, fulfil the following conditions:
(a) That of being commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates;
(b) That of having a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance;
(c) That of carrying arms openly;
(d) That of conducting their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war. "

This says they must carry arms openly and they must have a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance.
At no time do the insurgents meet these requirements.

So what are they? Two ideas come to mind. If they are not soldiers, they could be spies or they could be mercenaries.
Spies are, by Geneva Convention defenition:
"A member of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict who, on behalf of that Party and in territory controlled by an adverse Party, gathers or attempts to gather information shall not be considered as engaging in espionage if, while so acting, he is in the uniform of his armed forces."

Mercenaries are, by Geneva Convention defenition:
"1. A mercenary shall not have the right to be a combatant or a prisoner of war.
2. A mercenary is any person who:
(a) is specially recruited locally or abroad in order to fight in an armed conflict; (b) does, in fact, take a direct part in the hostilities; (c) is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a Party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar ranks and functions in the armed forces of that Party; (d) is neither a national of a Party to the conflict nor a resident of territory controlled by a Party to the conflict; (e) is not a member of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict; and (f) has not been sent by a State which is not a Party to the conflict on official duty as a member of its armed forces."
"A mercenary does not have the right to be a combatant or a prisoner of war."

As listed above, the prisoners we have taken and the enemy we fight are not eligible for protection under the Geneva Convention. Those we fight are not Soldiers they are criminals and should be given a trial for commiting War Crimes.

Many of the legal representatives for the prisoners are arguing that they should be released. That they have commited no crime. I disagree they took up arms in a war without uniform and therefore are mecenaries not eligible for protection.

Americans, Brits and other supposed Allies have also been caught in the battle fighting for the other side. Its a shame they ever make it off the battlefield. But since they do, they should be tried for treason and if found guilty, hung.

Lets put the shoe on the other foot and suppose that an American GI, abiding by all the rules for soldiers, as listed above, were captured by the insurgants. Would he be humanely treated, would he be cared for, would he be provided legal councel?

Wait, there have been American soldiers captured and what was there treatment at the hands of the insurgents? Brutaly butchered and thrown out on the road!!!

No the time has come to throw down the book and treat the insurgents as they should be treated. Like the gutless terrorists they really are.

Thoughts on Martin Anderson

If you read my profile you can see I live in Panama City, Fl. The area is not know as a hot bed of political activity however one incedent a few moths back has thrown us into the lime light, the death of a teenager in the local juvenile offender bootcamp. His name was Martin Anderson.

Martin died at the hands of the guards of the camp. Why Martin died is still up in the air. Initially it was thought he died from complications of sickle cell. A second autopsy says he died from suffocation by the guards. Whatever the reason the results are tragic. A young man is dead.

The parents are now suing for 60 million dollars. WOW, thats a lot. The price we pay for a young man defending our country is only a few hundred thousand dollars, why is Martin worth more than the soldiers and sailors that give their lives?

And I have to think about what Martin did to get the treatment from the guards that led to his death. I am suspecting that Martin was not doing what he was told to do. That Martin was probably mouthing off. Troubled teens seem to do that a lot.

And I have to look at the parents, his mother, Gina Jones and his father Robert Anderson, why is it that troubled teens seem to come from familys that are broken? If it were not a broken family maybe his mother and father would have the same name. And one of the other youths that witnessed the incedent is Aaron Swartz, his mother is Shuana Manning. Aaron was a member of the boot camp also, do we see a trend?

Martins mom and dad have been on TV nonstop and they have been very active in the social circles lately pushing for reform and justice. I have one major question.... where were they when Martin was getting in trouble? Good teens do not go to the boot camp. The boot camp is for teens that have been in trouble with the law, more than once. Were they there for him everyday trying to keep him out of trouble? Did they put as much effort into Martins life as they have put into his death?

Oh and did you know that a parent has to agree for a child to be sent to the boot camp since it is an alternative program? Gina or Robert put him there so I would think they are guilty of contributing to the death. But then again if Martin was given the proper upbringing with discipline and a religious background maybe he would not have been there.

The bottom line is that Martin was a thug, he was sent to the bootcamp for being a thug, he acted like a thug at the bootcamp, the guards had to physically restrain him and he died because of it. Martin and his family are the main offenders here. Not the guards, not the system.

Lets put the blame where it belongs.

The Military and Politicians

Its election time again. The campaigns have started and the politicians are coming out with their promises and the issues they support.

I take my elctions very seriously. I voted by absentee ballot when I was deployed and I always try to make it to the poll on election day. I look at the issues and see where the politicians stand on issues that effect me and my community. If its an incumbant I try to see how they have voted or at least how they have attempted to follow through on past campaign promises.

But being from a military background I llok to see if they have prior military service and if they are in support of the military.

Why is a military background important? The military stresses three core values, Honor, Courage and Commitment. If an elected official has that in his or her background then at least they are familiar with those terms. So many of our elected officials have no Honor, nor Commitment and mostly they lack Courage.

Take a look at the elected officials that are being investigated, not a one has any military experiance. That lack of Honor, to be able to take advantage of the system, and the lack of Courage to stand up to potential temptations is a key factor in bringing our government back to where it should be. The Commitment is to work for the people that an elected official represents and not for self interest or special interest.

I'm not saying that military experiance will prevent problems in the government but it couldn't hurt.

I also believe that anyone in an elected position has a hard time relating to what our men and women in uniform are going through. Its easy for some to say "lets get out now", they don't have that Commitment to stay and see a job to its completion. They don't have the Courage to stay the course. The war on terrorism is very difficult, we face an enemy that hs no uniform and has changed the way war is fought. We see daily reports on how many Americans have been killed since the start of the war but we never see statistics on how many insurgents have been killed. We are now over 2500 Americans dead since the start of the war, those with no military experiance see that as a large number, those with experiance know that ten times that many were lost in single battles in WWI and WWII.

I am looking for the military factor in the election this year, I think all military personnel should do the same thing, active, retired or an honorable veteran, it does make a diiference and so can we. Those of us who have served or are serving make up the largest single voting block in the country, lets see if we can't make an impact in the upcoming elections.

The World Cup

No matter who you were routing for in the Wold Cup you had to be happy about the outcome.

France lost!!!!!!

It just so happened that Italy won, it could have been Germany or Brazil or Spain, didn't matter, France lost!

And what a bunch of bad sports, their was no excuse for the head butt to the chest. Several announcers posed the thought that maybe the officials should have let him continue to play with a yellow card since it was his last game and he was such a legend. I my mind the official got it right, red card and gone.

I have written about how the French are and now its starting to come out, they are spoiled and think they are above the rest of the world. They think rules are not for them. When the rest of the world imposes sanctions on a country, the French are the ones that go behind the back of the rest of the world and break the rules.

Even in the Olympics they have been scandalized. If you remember the French were the ones that made a deal with the Russians to score ice skaters low from the US and Canada so that the Russian and French skaters could place high. One of the French officials was banned from the sport for life.

So like politics now we have it again in the sporting world, the French have no rules and they do not play well with others. Three cheers for the Italian soccer team and three cheers for the Officials. It came out well and the good guys won.

Illegal Immigrants

The sky is falling yelled Chicken Little. And its the same for everyone that is screaming about the mass of illegal immigrats crossing our borders. They want them all to be sent right back home.

I want to give a little background and then a solution I think everyone can agree with.

The true figures show that illegal immigrants do little to affect our economy or social security or the tax base. For the most part they work hard, they contribute to our society and the majority of them do eventually become law abiding citizens, paying taxes.

Most of the tax evaders are natural born Americans. In fact even if the illegals are not paying annual taxes they are paying sales taxes and thus contributing to our taxes.

Taking jobs, not so. The true American system is a free market system based on competition. The individual with the best product at the lowest cost will win. If our "illegals" can provide a service that "Americans" are not willing to provide then they are providing a service.

In fact, I had my house reroofed recently and an "American" owned and operated company gave me an estimate of $5,000 I then went down and hired a crew of "Latino" roofers, they did the job for just under $2,000. I guess I am the bad guy, I didn't give my fellow Americans the extra $3,000 that I have now used for things for my family.

And Social Security is doomed as it is anyway. If you are counting on that for retirement, then you don't have a retirement. It was a socialist program that failed to provide what it intended to. Just as an aside, did you know, convicted drug abusers and alcoholics can get full social security and disability benefits? We can support our criminals but not someone that works hard. Just thought you would want to know that.

Anyway that was a little background now for the solution.

All we want is for the immigrants to become citizens, to pay taxes and to contribute. My solution is for an immigrant to be able to walk up to the border, go into an office and enlist into the military of the United States. Upon the honorable completion of a four year tour, the immigrant is granted citizenship.

The military would be able to train, to educate and to "Americanize" the new citizen.

Will this do away with illegal immigrants? No but it might reduce the burden and at the same time assist us in defending this great land of ours.

But what about all the Spanish Language signs? Thats an issue for politicians, if you want English as the only language, tell your representative!!!

"The Frogs" France or The French

I was at breakfast this morning, one of the guys was discussing his trip with his wife to Napa Valley, when the discussion turned to France. I think it turned that way when I pointed out that French wines are actually made from American grape root stock. At this point another of the morning breakfast bunch pointed out how much he disliked the French and this is just another example of how we pulled their butt out of the fire again.

How so you say? Well the story goes like this, seems the French wine industry was devestated when aphids almost destroyed all the vineyards in France. American grapes they found out were immune to the aphid, so to beef up the resistance to the aphids American grape root stock was grafted onto French grape root stock. We saved them again. Were they grateful? Heck no! They still have a snobbish attitude toward American wine.

And that leads me to why do we tollerate the French as allies? When they need help, they are our best friends. Does WWI or WWII ring a bell? I believe if it had not been for the American fighting man the French would be speaking German now. How about Vietnam, I bet most of you did not know France had been fighting that war for half a century and getting their butts kicked regularly until the US agreed to take over, bailed them out again. I retired from the Navy and had many visits to French ports, of all the ports we saw those in fance were the rudest of them all. They hated Americans and all we represented.

Why do they hate us? I think its an inferiority complex. From the 16th through the 19th century, France was a world power. A colonial power. They colonized a large part of the world right along side the British. Then this upstart country, the USA, pops up. France supported the American Revolution, not because of the freedom or rights issues but because it was a weakening of the British Empire.

The French also supported both sides in the Civil War. That was a no loose situation to them. Everything is political, they have no values.

The French still see themselves as a world power even though they have none. Their military is a joke, their economy is nonexistant. They have no natural resources. But they still want to influence the world. They see themselves as the power they were 200 yrs ago. The news is they are not. Without help they can't even defend themselves.

So what have they done thats pissing every one off?

They supported Sadam Hussiens regime because they were getting kickbacks from the oil for food scandel and they were illegally selling him chemical plant technology and nuclear technology.

They refused to allow US bombers to fly over French air space in the short conflict with Libya because they had financial interests in Libya with Khadafi.

Now they are calling for reducing the sanctions the US and other Allies are wanting to impose on Iran, my guess is the French are selling the nuclear technology to Iran. Once again profit motivated.

I'm not supporting the French anymore. No more French wine, no more vacations to the French Riviera, no more Cannes film festival, no more French films, no more anything French!!! Let them see how much it hurts to alianate the Americans and the rest of the world. They either play right or they are on thier own.

Aruba

I can't seem to get away from the Natalie Holloway case. Every time I think its gone it raises its ugly head with new information or new suspects, something to pull me back in. Is that a bad thing? Not at all. We should never forget what happened!

We as Americans have the shortest memory of any group of people ever. One of our own, was kidnapped and disappeared, was she murdered, you know she was. Did the Aruban govt protect one of its own? You know they did. Are they laughing at us? Absolutely!

Why are they laughing? Because the tourism from the good ole USA never stopped. We stopped for a short time and then right back at them. They got away with it and we, in effect, paid them for it.

So what do we do? We stop going to Aruba!!! As long as it did not affect the bucks coming into their little country they are not going to solve this case. Make it hurt, make everyone any where in the world realize that if you hurt one of ours, there will be repricussions.

Do other countries or groups of people remember things better than the USA? OF course, a lot of what is going on in the Middle East is being based on the Crusades, thats been close to a thousand years ago, alot of the cultual warfare you see on the news is based on events centuries old. Here in the USA we forget really fast. Most of us don't care to remember that one of the largest abusers of American Soldiers in WWII was Mitsubishi. They took the soldiers that survived the Battan Death March and used them as slave labor. Looking at all the new Mitsubishis driving around you would think it never happened. I say its time to stop and take stock of what we stand for. We should be standing up for our own. Its time we stood up for Natalie.