About damn time....

Military Stressing Veterans' Counseling - washingtonpost.com: "Applicants for government security clearances will no longer have to declare whether they sought mental health counseling after serving in combat zones, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced yesterday."

Well, it's a baby step in the right direction.

The wording is still lame "strictly related to adjustments from service in a military combat environment" is not going to reassure many folks who are still on active duty. I'll give you an example: Airman Wingwiper deploys to the sandbox for 180 days and his marriage self-destructs when he comes home. Why is he seeking counseling? Does that meet the criteria? Will everyone think that? I'll tell you why that's important. The one absolute sure-fire way to get your clearance denied to to get caught in a lie on your SF86.

The effect of the current policy on security clearances and other special-access programs is that it drives folks to the chaplains. Some chaplains are excellent counselors. Some chaplains are not up to the challenge. (And some chaplains are rapists.)

I have a friend who took a bad shot in a war zone. He did not join the military and did not make the sacrifices he has made in order to kill innocent civilians. He went were he was sent, he did what he was told to do and the results were tragic. The USAF moved on and he didn't. He was saddled with nightmares and anger issues. He went to a chaplain for help because a chaplain's help was the best he could get without risking his career.

My personal take is that chaplains should stick to their area of expertise: religion. I would no sooner see a chaplain about battlestress issues than I would a fry cook.

I appreciate Secretary Gates' intentions, but he's still way short of the mark.

Money, Ideology, Coercion, Ego and Nationalism?

What Motivates a Spy to Betray His Country? Add Nationalism to the Equation - New York Times

Interesting piece in the NYT about a shift in the motivations for traitors.

First off, I want to be picky here about word use. Spying is a profession. Sure, spies tell lies and violate other countries' laws but spies are professionals who are serving their own nation. Traitors, on the other hand, are betraying their own country. I can respect a spy, I cannot respect a traitor.

The trend amongst traitors seems to be shifting away from money. According to the NYT article, approximately half of the new batch of traitors are motivated by ideology to their native country.

I disagree with the article on the importance of sexual compromise. It's always been part of the game. It's not new.

I recommend reading article.

Re-entry system parts shipped to Taiwan

Pentagon Admits Mistaken Arms Shipment - washingtonpost.com: "The nose cones, designed for a missile system that dates to the 1960s, were declared excess in March 2005 and shipped to a warehouse on an Air Force base in Wyoming, officials said. It is unclear whether they were placed in a classified storage area or how they were eventually mistaken for crates of batteries."

Honestly, if someone had asked me if this was possible I would have said "Hell no." So I guess I have revise (and lower) my opinion of my former co-workers. I am betting that these were time change items that had gone past service life and were returned to Hill AFB for the depot weenies to do whatever they do with them. How they got tagged at UH-1 batteries beats the hell out of me.

How the heck could anyone not notice we were missing forward sections to Mark 12 re-entry vehicles? (The Mark 12 is the assembly the contains the part that goes boom as well as support electronics.) It would seem to me that Mark 12 forward sections are accountable items.

The new sins are out!

Vatican Announces Seven New Deadly Sins | March 10, 2008 | AHN: "Mgr Girotti named the new mortal sins to be (1)genetic modification; (2) human experimentations, (3) polluting the environment; (4) social injustice; (5) causing poverty; (6) financial gluttony; and (7) taking drugs."

Maybe they're trying to drum up confessional business.

I am unclear as to why I am supposed to care what a Bronze Age myth (updated or not) says about how I live my life.

And while we're at it:

8) voting for anyone who voted in favor of the Patriot Act

9) SPAMMING

10) being a Yankee fan

...

Bad law to go with bad problem

Kentucky Lawmaker Wants to Make Anonymous Internet Posting Illegal - Video - WTVQ 36 - Lexington, Kentucky: "Kentucky Representative Tim Couch filed a bill this week to make anonymous posting online illegal."

Lawyers Rally Against Musharaff Government - New York Times

Lawyers Rally Against Musharaff Government - New York Times: "“Our struggle is to make Pakistan a state where the judiciary is independent, and what Musharraf did to the chief justice is an example of how under him no judge is ever independent,” Mr. Ahsan said to a crowd of lawyers who chanted for Mr. Musharraf’s resignation. The rally here on Saturday was part of a series of marketplace demonstrations between the capital, Islamabad, and this nearby city to show support for the lawyers movement. The lawyers are planning a week of anti-Musharraf demonstrations, called Black Flag Week after the protesters’ flags and armbands."

These are brave men and women. I hope they get a free country to live in.

Aromatherapy has no physical effects

Aromatherapy Effectiveness Questioned, Study: It Has No Physical Impact, But Lemon Scent Improved Mood - CBS News: "(CBS) Believers swear by aromatherapy, in which certain scents are supposed to have a positive effect on a person's mood or health.

But a recent investigation found that aromatherapy has no physiological effect on people at all."

This will in no way affect sales of aromatherapy products. It has never been about the evidence anyway. Aromatherapy is another pseudoscience with a legion of fact-resistant followers.