Far East Cynic

My Canadian counterpart has a word for you:

If you’re  an American citizen reading this, and roughly seven out of ten you are, this is a week for unmitigated fucking panic. And you really should be scared. You are, to put it politely, utterly screwed. You’re fucked in ways that neither God or man ever intended.

However, you shouldn’t feel all that lonely. In destroying the world’s greatest economy, you’re going to take the rest of us down with you. If nothing else, you’ll have a lot of company on the way down the sinkhole. If nothing else, you have that to feel good about. Your adventures in creative banking have managed to do what communism and fascism couldn’t, actually end the world.

One of the great things like I like to hear during times like these is that “nobody could have forseen it being this bad.”

In a word, horseshit.

And if that is not enough, Tony Blair has a message for all you assholes whose names start with Rep….and end with (R):

If we were in Britain right now!

H/T Andrew Sullivan.

Unbelievable.

Today is simply one of those days, that I thought would never happen.

I thought the markets were going to rise today, given that the news of an agreement on the bailout had been accomplished. I was in and out of various meetings and conference calls today, but every time I came back to a TV , I saw the news was worse and worse.

Because the bill went down to defeat in the House. Because both Nancy Pelosi and the House Republicans are stupid.

Now mind you, I’ve had mixed feelings about the bill and the process. On the one hand, I’m not thrilled about seeing my mutual funds incinerate themselves. On the other, it seems to my uneducated mind that the bailout was a case of solving the immediate problem today-and kicking the long term problem down the road. So I can understand the “just let the market” prevail theory.

For me, there are several warning flags that make me suspicious of the latter theory however:

1) Newt Gingrich likes it. That should make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Gingrich has never been in favor of anything that benefits the average working man or woman. He’s too wedded to the ideological purity of his ideas.

2) The “House Republicans” are opposed to it. Who the hell are these guys? The same bunch who have voted against legislation that has meaning to me. And in the aggregate-are in general obscenely rich. A guy who went to college with me is one of those “House Republicans” now. He’s an OK guy but his track record as a committee head-on veterans affairs- leaves a lot to be desired. He drank the Dr Chu Koolaid……….

3) The unseemly way John McCain dragged it into Presidential politics. He suspended his campaign? To defend the bozos listed above? If anything his intervention created this 770 point drop in the market? Thanks asshole-thanks a lot. Will McCain share in the blame since he wanted to share in the credit?

4) Thanks to the abdication of responsibilities by corporations over the years and the encouragement of those same conservatives-we are all stock investors now-whether we know it or not. So to sell Wall Street down the river is to sell ourselves down the river. It is not just stocks either-wait till the banks stop giving mortgages and cut all of our credit card limits. Laugh now-but a lot of people won’t be laughing then.

However-I still want to know how the government is supposed to make money here on these mortgages. What if, what if, houses as a whole are overvalued to begin with?

I mean the house we bought is pretty nice-but I’ll be damned if I know how its worth the money we paid for it. I had a better house in the 90’s for half the money. In California, people are driving 75-100 mile commutes because they cannot get anything affordable inside that radius. A 2000 sq foot house is worth 500,000 dollars? A working couple can afford a 3000 dollar a month house payment? Salaries have not tripled over the last 10 years.

So the thought of the government becoming a guarantor of even more mortgages than it already is-is more than a little scary.

The problem is though is that these same individuals created a world where the market represents the only way to get decent returns on your money. Interest rates are low, bonds are not hacking it, and besides saving rates are low in the US anyway. These same folks who say they are standing on principle- are the ones who empowered us to become stock market investors by pulling us into the market via 401K’s. Pensions were a thing of the past and Social Security was for poor people. Got to control all that “entitlement spending”. ( You are goddamn right I’m entitled-F**K you! Pay me!).

Plus, thanks to globalization-the same panacea Mr Gingrich sold us-we all get sick when one gets sick.

Which in the end is why these assholes in Congress need to pass this bill. It is kind of like Iraq-a war we supposedly must support, even though the people we are supporting are not really worthy of that support. I’m told over and over again that just letting them fail is not an option.

Oh and by the way-if we did end the war in Iraq, it would probably free up money for the bailout.

Bottom line-this is like hard medicine. No says taking it is easy. But it has to be done if we want to survive. There will be plenty of time for jail sentences for all the villains later. Including those living and working on Capital Hill and 1600 PA avenue.

I am still left with more than a couple of questions though:

a) We took a bank holiday once, why can’t we take a “Stock Market” holiday-say for about ten days or so. Freeze stock prices where they were, ( Would that had been done on Friday), take the pressure off and come up with a better solution. Seems to me the stock market news creates problems of its own-that without the news of falling stock prices and plummeting 401K’s would allow saner voices to prevail. Why can’t the President of the US do that? Or Congress?

2) Would this be such a big deal, if corporations still had defined pension and annuity plans? So that investors in the market were really just speculators-who deserved whatever came to them? Remember-the radical change in retirement systems and the advent of the IRA helped include us all in the problem-and the good times that went before it?

3) Why is it, that Nancy Pelosi always has to fuck things up? This trend was in place long before she became speaker. Until the Democrats can produce better we are in big trouble. Bitch.

4) I’ve already said my piece to my Congressman-and told him via e-mail to get off his ass and pass the bill. What is amazing is the Alfred E. Newman reactions of so many people who think that they can just say to hell with it and they won’t get burned. Today was Wall Streets reaction by telling you all to go drop dead. Enjoy working for many more years than you should have to.

5) I wonder if I could take my remaining money and buy a very small apartment in Thailand, live frugally, and enjoy the pleasures of another kind of investing?

Oh and Newt? Bite me!

George Washington arrives in Yokosuka:

And Koizumi bows out of the Diet-so as to make a place for his son.

Not trying to be anti-social, but we have been busy unpacking box after box-and I have been dealing with the S.O. in tears as one of her prize hibachis and or plates comes out of a box in pieces.

It takes time to sort though the baggage of one’s life-properly or mistakenly acquired. Please stay tuned.

And if you can tell me where the bastards packed the brackets for the mirror, I would be appreciative…….

To get you in the mood for the next Cold War.

Since it was made readily apparent that both Presidential candidates favor Georgian and Ukranian membership in NATO…….

Which will, in turn, royally piss the Russians off………

And in order for NATO’s Article V to have any real deterrent value-some kind of a credible deterrent will need to be in place.

Welcome back to the Cold War-at least it came with beer and peanuts!

My God grant you rest and peace.

Paul Newman Dead at 83……….

I loved Paul Newman. I loved his movies, I loved his acting style, I loved his brilliance both on and off the screen.

The world is a poorer place today.

And I’m back. The last couple of days have been a blur.

Slept most of Wednesday. The nurse told me that she was starting the anesthetic, asked me to roll over-next thing I knew I was in the recovery room and the S.O. was trying to talk to me. That’s scary.

Then yesterday, our shipment came. I had to work because of seeing the Dr. the day before which meant that the S.O. got a solo exposure to the species moving person-lazy Americanus variant. Spent most of yesterday trying to calm her down and sooth her feelings. I have to agree with her though-on a scale of worthlessness-these guys were right there at the bottom. I had to redo just about everything they set up for one thing-and second there are still things we are trying to find even though the box count was correct. Don’t even ask about the condition of the house right now, it is a mess. All weekend will be spent digging out and hearing the S.O. whine. And I do mean whine.

Watched the debate tonight. My judgment-McCain won on points. He did not hit one out of the park-but he did what he wanted to, he got Obama rattled and angry. Which when you are Obama-holding your own is not good enough. You have to crush the liar before he gets on a roll. And McCain told some whoppers tonight-but he got away with it.

Three things Obama did NOT call McCain on though and it hurt:

1) The surge is not the issue. Concede that it worked-but it worked to no good purpose. The Iraqis are still Arabs-and still not able to get their stuff together. Six years now- and they still suck. The surge did not change that dynamic-and thus we cannot leave. Surge or no-the Iraqis are still consistently worthless. Obama never got a chance to say that. He was right about it being a drain on the US though-but the point got lost in the noise. FTI. Obama should have also pointed out that McCain was for the Iraq strategy for longer than he was for the surge-I don’t understand why Obama did not seize on that-its on the record. FTI.

2) He got in a mud wrestle over negotiating. What he never pointed out is that the Administration is negotiating-with all of the nations of the Axis of evil. And its shown more improvement than invading Iraq did. Missed opportunity for Obama.

3) John McCain says he cares for and will care for veterans. Yet his voting record on veterans issues sucks with a capital “S”. How could Obama let that free slap in the face to McCain go by unused?

I thought Obama did better than I expected-but not good enough to sway undecided voters. Which like Iraq-just not losing is not the same as victory. Another thing McCain should have been called on because there is no “victory” in Iraq-just a point where the place becomes stable enough that we can declare peace with honor and go home.

If I could have asked John McCain one question it would be this, “Why do you love Arabs more than you love Americans?”

One final unrelated point. I am sick to death of hearing how the US has such a high business tax rate. And Ireland does not. Ireland does not have to pay for defense and wars that allow them to do business over seas safely. American business does. So yea we get a higher rate-because we allow other countries to free load off us and our foreign policy. Compare Ireland’s defense budget to ours-and include the cost of financing a forever war in Iraq in the computation. Then add in Obama’s points about loop holes.

Then one will understand it. It is the cost of doing business.

Oh and John, stop calling me “your friend”. You are not. You were in 2000, but this guy in 2008 bears no resemblance to him. When you vote for the GI Bill the first time-AND introduce repeal of the USFSPA-then I’ll think about being your friend. Till then you and Obama are just slimy politicians. Got it?

Got to get back to the whining now……………….

Who says I hate women?

Because I don’t.

I’m always amused when people throw the M word at me. The word is thrown around so often, and it so often completely misused. Misogynistic mean to have hatred of women.  The Misogynistic definition makes the word seem like it shouldn’t be used very often.  Are there really people our there that hate women?  I suppose there are some evil women in the world that deserve to be titled this way.  Their actions most likely speak for themselves.

However, most men are like me-they don’t hate women. Just the opposite-they love ‘em and cannot get enough of them. And most, like me, were raised to be polite to women, use the word Ma’am,  hold the door, pay for dinner on a date. Its the way of the world.

To believe that their are roles that men should play and roles that women should play is not, by definition, misogynism. It is an acknowledgment that men and women are different and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Its also not a use of the “M” word to marvel at the irony of the fact that men have simple needs and want to be rewarded for doing what the women want them to do. With sex. Often. If more women understood and acted in accordance with that guiding principle-the world would be a better place.

And it would seem, statistically at least, a lot of men agree with me.

At least on the whole sex should be more often thing. Which is probably why some societies are happier than others. They broke the code.

Again though, it does not mean that men hate women just because they are disappointed with them.

It just means that there is only so much disappointment they are going to tolerate, with out getting back to what’s really important.

Taking care of their needs. Themselves. In what ever way is appropriate for their own values.

That’s not hatred of women either. It is the law of supply and demand.

And like the taxpayers-they hate giving bailouts with out return.

How could anyone hate this?

I know I certainly cannot!

Elitist that is. The problem is not that Obama thinks he is better than all of us-he just can’t effectively communicate it in terms Americans understand-in other words, he can’t sell it.

Kind of like me and blogging. I know I’m smart-smarter than a lot of people-definitely smarter than these guys-but it matters not a whit if you can’t use that intellect to bend others to your will.

Which is what President Bartlet had to say to Senator Obama:

BARTLET: Because the idea of American exceptionalism doesn’t extend to Americans being exceptional. If you excelled academically and are able to casually use 690 SAT words then you might as well have the press shoot video of you giving the finger to the Statue of Liberty while the Dixie Chicks sing the University of the Taliban fight song. The people who want English to be the official language of the United States are uncomfortable with their leaders being fluent in it.

Which results in things like this happening:

I didn’t expect you to be getting beat by John McCain and a Lancôme rep who thinks “The Flintstones” was based on a true story.

The next Vice President?

The best advice he could get-found right here. Maybe the “angry left” has a right to be angry:

BARTLET Well … let me think. …We went to war against the wrong country, Osama bin Laden just celebrated his seventh anniversary of not being caught either dead or alive, my family’s less safe than it was eight years ago, we’ve lost trillions of dollars, millions of jobs, thousands of lives and we lost an entire city due to bad weather. So, you know … I’m a little angry.

OBAMA What would you do?

BARTLET GET ANGRIER! Call them liars, because that’s what they are. Sarah Palin didn’t say “thanks but no thanks” to the Bridge to Nowhere. She just said “Thanks.” You were raised by a single mother on food stamps — where does a guy with eight houses who was legacied into Annapolis get off calling you an elitist? And by the way, if you do nothing else, take that word back. Elite is a good word, it means well above average. I’d ask them what their problem is with excellence. While you’re at it, I want the word “patriot” back. McCain can say that the transcendent issue of our time is the spread of Islamic fanaticism or he can choose a running mate who doesn’t know the Bush doctrine from the Monroe Doctrine, but he can’t do both at the same time and call it patriotic. They have to lie — the truth isn’t their friend right now. Get angry. Mock them mercilessly; they’ve earned it. McCain decried agents of intolerance, then chose a running mate who had to ask if she was allowed to ban books from a public library. It’s not bad enough she thinks the planet Earth was created in six days 6,000 years ago complete with a man, a woman and a talking snake, she wants schools to teach the rest of our kids to deny geology, anthropology, archaeology and common sense too? It’s not bad enough she’s forcing her own daughter into a loveless marriage to a teenage hood, she wants the rest of us to guide our daughters in that direction too? It’s not enough that a woman shouldn’t have the right to choose, it should be the law of the land that she has to carry and deliver her rapist’s baby too? I don’t know whether or not Governor Palin has the tenacity of a pit bull, but I know for sure she’s got the qualifications of one. And you’re worried about seeming angry? You could eat their lunch, make them cry and tell their mamas about it and God himself would call it restrained. There are times when you are simply required to be impolite. There are times when condescension is called for!

Which would be fine if we actually chose a President, but we normally just choose a game show host.

H/T to Spike!

For a couple of days. Tomorrow I go to the doctor for one of those “exams”. You know the kind where you need someone to drive you home afterwards, because you are all doped up on anesthetics? Where did 7 years go?

So while I’m horizontal and God willing its only for a short while (I always get nervous when doctors administer anesthesia on me…..), here is a homework assignment:

Most people can name the Presidents, or most of them, few can name the Vice Presidents. This little video will compare Sarah Palin to every Vice President in US history. As Andrew Sullivan points out, “Well worth 12 minutes of your time. The Palin nomination is without historical precedent for her total lack of any salient qualifications as well as her refusal to engage the press in any meaningful way in a national election campaign. Truly surreal and utterly without precedent. Just listen to Lessig go through the history of the vice-presidents.” If you don’t have the time just remember this number-2 out of 46. That’s Sarah Palin’s rank from the bottom in this Veepstakes.

No quiz-we all just flunk the course if we all guess wrong because the electorate is in love with the myth-without understanding the reality of who she really is. “Just folks” my rear. Her story is not my story-nor is it most of America’s. Try telling that to the throngs who checked their good sense at the door.

Well not me. I watched a PBS special on Reagan last night-and anyone who thinks of Palin as a female Ronald Reagan, needs to go back and review the details of Regan’s life. She does not deserve to tie Reagan’s shoes-much less be that close to the office he once held. I shall not allow his memory to be disgraced by such a comparison.

Get thee back to Anchorage!

Kind of looks like this:

Why I really never got into the “joys of home ownership”. I forgot how you quickly become a slave to your house.

It is not that I cannot do things around the house-I can quite well thank you very much-it is just that I never enjoyed it. Not in my town house-not in Virgina Beach, not in Nevada-and not so much here in Shopping Mall USA.

The happiest times of my life were when I was in a BOQ where all I had to do was use the facilities-not fix them.

So its been an in and out day. Still can’t put Singapore out of my mind though-thought today about an evening hash run up by Seletar and the dark clouds of one of Singapore’s tropical rain showers threatening. It did not rain till the down down was over and we were all quite pleasantly toasted. Why I am thinking about the Lion City so much I am not sure-probably the idea of not taking a risk and having it turn out well, as I wrap plumbers tape and tighten wrenches.

Usually, one quick look at my finances disabuses me of the idea of just chucking it all and trying to find my way in the Lion City.  And the current financial crisis seems sure to disabuse that notion in the future.

I for one do not understand what just happened. After years of espousing the glories of the market, and the idea that government governs best when it governs least-has taken on almost a TRILLION DOLLARS in debt. On which it thinks it will make money. The same people who are getting foreclosed on have even less money now-how exactly does this help?

Of course, I was not exactly keen to see my savings and mutual funds melt down either-but I can’t help but wonder-are we simply kicking the can down the road?

Beats me.

It befuddles Tom Friedman too:

Think how much better off McCain would be today had he nominated Michael Bloomberg as his vice president rather than Sarah Palin. McCain could have said, “I’m not an expert on markets, but I’ve got one of the best on my team.” Instead of a V.P. to re-energize America, McCain went for a V.P. to re-energize the Republican base.

So what would get my attention from McCain? If he said the following: “My fellow Americans, I’ve decided for now not to continue the Bush tax cuts, because the most important thing for our country today is to get the government’s balance sheet in order. We can’t go on cutting taxes and not cutting spending. For too long my party has indulged that nonsense. Second, I intend to have most U.S. troops out of Iraq in 24 months. We have done all we can to midwife democracy there. Iraqis need to take it from here. We need every dollar now for nation-building in America. We will do everything we can to wind down our presence and facilitate the Iraqi elections, but we’re not going to baby-sit Iraqi politicians who don’t have the will or the courage to reconcile their differences — unless they want to pay us for that. In America, baby sitters get paid.”

What would impress me from Obama? How about this: “The Big Three automakers and the United Auto Workers union want a Washington bailout. The only way they will get a dime out of my administration is if the automakers and unions come up with a joint plan to retool their fleets to get an average of 40 miles per gallon by 2015 — instead of the 35 m.p.g. by 2020 that they’ve reluctantly accepted. I am not going to bail out Detroit with taxpayer money, but I will invest in Detroit’s transformation with taxpayer money, provided the management and unions agree to radical change. At the same time, while I will go along with the bailout of the banking system, it will only be on the condition that the institutions that got us into this mess accept sweeping reforms — in terms of transparency and limits on the leverage they can amass — so we don’t go through something like this again. To help me figure this out, I’m going to keep Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson on the job for a while. I am impressed with his handling of this crisis.”

Not to worry though-you’ll never hear them say those things. They are too busy worrying about who gets credit for the surge-that left a 90 billion surplus in the hands of Arabs who can’t or won’t help themselves, but on whose behalf we helped get ourselves to where we are today. Don’t think oil prices and the effect of a 4 trillion dollar war effort don’t play in all this some where.

Of course the domestic market bears the large share of blame-but then again, when was the President really paying attention to domestic matters though. We are at war you know.

Or as Friedman points out-some of the nation was at war the rest was at the mall:

In many ways, this election is about how we get our groove back as a country. We have been living on borrowed time and borrowed dimes. President Bush has nothing to offer anymore. So that leaves us with Barack Obama and John McCain. Neither has wowed me with his reaction to the market turmoil. In fairness, though, neither man has any levers of power to pull. But what could they say that would give you confidence that they could lead us out of this rut? My test is simple: Which guy can tell people what they don’t want to hear — especially his own base…….

George W. Bush never once — not one time — challenged Americans to do anything hard, let alone great. The next president is not going to have that luxury. He will have to ask everyone to do something hard — and I want to know now who is up to that task.

I’m not sure either one is.

On a side note though-CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN!

I’m a little punchy tonight-its going to be a long week.

There is a certain amount of satisfaction in this headline:

The Citadel Rallies to 37-24 Victory Over Princeton

Life is good!

To discuss politics….or even to blog for that matter.

This weekend began for me with waking up in palatial Skippy-estates, fully secure in the knowledge that I would be : a) Installing a new shower head-since the S.O. wants one of the ones like she had in Japan with the hose on it-never mind that we don’t do showers that way over here and I don’t really have the means to mount the hose on a self enclosed shower unit. I’ll be combing the aisles at Home Depot.

and B:) trying to get at least some semblance of order into the one room in the house that is mine-my man-cave. One of the good things about this house is that it has one with doors that can be fully closed to give me some peace and quiet.

I also awoke this morning with the realization that a half a world away-some people were already knee deep in a different version of the weekend:

Martini’s: one, extra dirty, the other with a twist. Caviar. A small cheese board. A prelude to wine. Baked salmon over a spicy sun-dried tomato pesto tagliatelle. Then dessert. A tight leather skirt. Sky high heels. Barely there lingerie revealing as much as it hides of the tanned fit little body underneath

Probably in one of those trendy little bars on Club Street too-bastard!

I’ve been thinking about Singapore all day today. Whenever the S.O. had herself engrossed in conversation about which curtain rod she wanted, or what to do about : (fill in the blank), I simply slinked along a cart length behind-while in my mind, I picture myself exiting the MRT at Orchard Road station (alone) , and skipping the crowded escalator to follow a cute young thing up the stairs, watching her skirt swish from side to side. To come to the base of the escalators, and decide, on a whim, to turn left and head to Wheelock Place and the Borders Book store within.

Later, I could clearly envision in my mind exiting the store-and feeling the heat hit my body like a wall-while becoming enveloped in the sights, sounds, and smells of early evening on Orchard Road. Leaving Borders, I look up-to see the giant screen at Shaw Place, showing the trailer for the latest movie. The sun, is drooping on the horizon and the taxis are moving down the street with passengers for the CBD.

While all the while-I sit here in Shopping mall USA, dodging fat women pushing orange shopping carts.

Can you say the words-”horrible mistake”? I knew you could.

<———————————————————————————————->

Dick Cheney owes me a 100 bucks!

That’s right-100 dollars.

While in the middle of moving he big things from the apartment, having hired a couple of guys and a truck. ( Don’t even ask how she guilted me into that, and yes, sex was NOT involved.   .  We started down the road that runs beside the Arsenal which leads to the stately Skippy Manor. Only we became one of about 20 cars in a line because the side gate was blocked by cop cars. ( The entrance road which the road we were on crossed). Found out later it was because Dick Cheney was passing through on his way to a fund raiser. He had stepped in for George W. Bush , since he had to stay in DC to mortage America’s future to bail out a few friends and keep my mutual funds from becoming Monopoly money.

The guys with the truck were happy-they were on the clock regardless.

So Dick-come out of your undisclosed location-YOU OWE ME MONEY!

<———————————————————————————–>

On the plus side-if I get the house the way she wants,  S.O. probably might make me do this:

Sure beats Irish foreplay!

<———————————————————————————————–>

One other cool thing I discovered this weekend is that the package store in this little burg-has a mix and match aisle-where you can take all kinds of different foreign beers and make a six pack out of it for one set price. Tried a 3 Smithwicks and 3 Tiger beer combination. All I need now is to grab a British newspaper and pretend I am drinking it at the Sportsman Bar on a Sunday afternoon. ( Another place I used to love to go on an Orchard Road excursion).

But that gets me thinking about Singapore again.

<————————————————————————————->

Which gets me to wonder what ever happened to E   A   L. He’s been under the weather of late.  Stopped by and left greetings. You should too.

<———————————————————————————–>

Finished two books. Book report to follow.

<———————————————————————————->

And could it be? That this may be the year my Cubbies finally take the pennant? ( The Pirates have a cozy place in last place-again!) I’ve been a Cubs fan for 30 years-watching Harry Carray got me hooked on them.  If so-it could be a different kind of October with me in my man cave watching the playoffs and the series-that second TV cannot come too soon!

<———————————————————————————–>

Off to sleep now-maybe to dream of a Singapore girl:

It only costs a little more to fly first class on the 380!

I came across this little tidbit a couple of days ago. I sent it over to Phibian because I knew he could capture in writing, the proper level of outrage that this particular type of thinking by our once great Navy deserves.

Go read the particulars over at Phibs’s place-here. I’ll wait for you to read it and come back.

If you are not outraged when you read that swill-then you have either never served in the military, or have missed the boat on what is fair and reasonable. If you are outraged-join the club. You should be.

This has particular meaning for me because I sat on two selection boards in my naval career-and this kind of thing corrupts the process. The last board I sat on had no minority markings on records-which is at it should be. “Best qualified” should mean exactly that. Regardless of skin color.

That the US Navy puts it in writing-and in effect creates a program of affirmative action is plainly disgusting. The services are supposed to be better than this.

This type of mis-direction by senior naval leadership has to be stopped. And it will be stopped if it sees the light of day, and the current bunch PPT wizards at our 3 and 4 star levels are made to understand that the armed forces are not a laboratory for someone else’s social agenda. The only way they will be made to understand is if they know that they cannot hide behind the veil of “better business practice”.

So spread the word. Write your Congressman. Write the Chief of Naval personnel. Write the CNO. Blog about it, talk to your friends about it. This is the kind of thing that people should be fired for. Its racism pure and simple. That’s right RACISM.  The Navy started down this path in 1993 by not sticking to its best instincts.

It happened with women-there were quotas in effect then-instead of what was planned which was to bring women in the force at entry levels and make them pay their dues and earn respect.  The more senior women whined-they were going to miss their golden opportunity.  So the Navy turned tail and reversed its common sense decision.

It is continuing to happen today. Good people of all skin tones will get screwed by a system that creates preferred customers.

Don’t let it stand. Demand that someone be fired. I have two nominations, here and here.

This is so wrong on so many levels. Speak out.