inkbluesky

yellow light road

Study hard and party a little less because Kerry Was Right: bad students are getting stuck in Iraq

When Senator John Kerry said last fall that students who didn’t do well in school were more likely to “get stuck in Iraq,” he was immediately attacked for insulting the intelligence of U.S. troops. Of course, Kerry’s comment was entirely accurate—not because American soldiers in Iraq are dumb, but because the Pentagon, in seeking to overcome serious recruiting shortfalls, has enlisted growing numbers of high school dropouts.

I recently spoke about this with my friend Eli Flyer, a longtime Pentagon consultant on military recruiting, who painted a grim picture of the Army’s current recruiting strategy. In 2005, Flyer noted, the Army fell far short of its goal of attracting 80,000 enlistees. It managed to meet that same target last year by deploying about 1,400 new recruiters, by offering larger enlistment bonuses and other incentives, and by systematically lowering educational standards for new recruits. For example, the portion of non–high school graduates in last year’s enlistee pool was 27.5 percent, up from 17 percent in 2005. In the 1990s, non-grads (most of whom do have a G.E.D.) made up only about 5 percent of new Army recruits.

There has also been an increase in the number of recruits coming in with “moral waivers” for a criminal history (a story covered last year by the Los Angeles Times). Last year, one in ten recruits had a prior misdemeanor or felony conviction.

From personal experience it is simply a mistake to look at members of the military or any institutional sub-culture such as teachers, the police or clergy as some how scared societal cows that can’t be joked about. Like most groups of people most soldiers, sailors and Marines are good folks that work hard and try and do what’s right, but there have been and as this article points out there will likely be some bad eggs in the military for some time. Its not a good  situation for the professional career military as they have to put up with the less then educated, the trouble makers and outright felons. Not good for military morale or readiness in the long run.

NY seeks ban on iPod shuffle 

NY State Senator Carl Kruger wants to slap a $100 (£51) fine on pedestrians using MP3 players, mobile phones or Blackberries while crossing the road.

Two of his Brooklyn constituents had been killed after walking into traffic while listening to MP3 players in the last few months, Mr Kruger said.

Terribly tragic that those people were killed, but is the reasonable solution to fine everyone else. As with all fines if you don’t pay there is a bench warrant issued. So its not just the hundred bucks its being dragged into the judicial system which seems a little heavy handed. How about some signs at busy crosswalks - Morons take off your headphones and pay attention or you might die.