Women in Combat Roles

Military Occupational Specialties (MOSs) now open to females.

Truthfully, I don't know that it makes a difference who does what job as many of the above MOS will become obsolete within my generation, considering advent of drone strikes and all... But drone strikes are a topic that my comrade Jadon has more authority on, so I will leave that one to him

Anyway, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is removing the ban on women in combat positions. A lot of hulabaloo is on the facebook about why women should or should not have these jobs. Anyone who knows me has a pretty good idea what I think about the matter. Of course women should be allowed the same opportunities as our counterparts. Anyone should have access to these positions, which ultimately put a service member in a better position to advance his or her career.

Bear with me: I would like to take a moment to address the particular arguments that I have heard and my counter to them.

1) Women are not as physically competent as men.
Put a man and a woman who have both been training hard and of course the man will be stronger. He will also run faster. He has the advantages of testosterone and larger lung capacity. However, I don't see how this automatically excludes females. All these jobs have minimum physical requirements that need to be met: leave these standards the same and let the challenger attempt to try. Par exemple: if the requirement is "Drag 300 lbs 100 feet" and Susie Q can do this, let her. If she can't, she can hit the road with the Joe that couldn't do it either.

It's been my experience in the Army Reserves (even during active training), that there are plenty of out-of-shape males (and females) but there are rockstars, too. Truthfully, the physical requirements for basic training and combat medic are weak. I've been disgusted over the years by PT failings--it's not that hard: run two miles twice a week and do as many push-ups/sit-ups during three sets of TV commercials as you can every other day and you have a winning recipe for the APFT. But I digress.

2) It's a man's instinct to protect women. He'll lose his wits about him if he's fighting alongside a female.
Seems to me that a new kind of training needs to be implemented. Women that enter these MOSs shouldn't have in mind that she needs a protector. And anyway, aren't we all each other's keepers while in the service? Repetitive training with males and females playing both hero and injured needs to be put into place.
Seriously, men that have this issue, get over yourselves. Chivalry does not belong in the service. Professionalism does.

3) Sexual assault is already a problem, it will only get worse.
First off, if we really started treating females like equal counterparts then perhaps the scumbag soldiers committing these crimes might think twice before acting.
Second, since it's already a problem, the service needs to get more serious about this anyway and make examples out of the offenders by following the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and give the death penalty.

4) Women have periods. And they need to squat to pee. We can't have that out in the field.
Women often lose their periods when under stress. Or there's birth control that can allow her to not have a period at all. Or there are tampons that can be thrown away. Good grief, people.
And I would suggest to both males and females that they use the restroom before leaving the wire. If it's an extended mission, they can cut the top off the bottle to go. Or check this cool Go Girl device out; there are other devices out there like it. Peeing is not a big deal.


So yes, let women be in combat positions if they qualify. If a single female can't make the cut, get rid of her. Just allow the opportunity to be available.

You are the light and the dark.

My friends, the power is in your hands. 

I am no prophet.  I am not even terribly smart.  I make barely more than minimum wage, and I have a bachelor's degree.  I make no claims to knowledge, other than the familiar matrix of known knowns, known unknowns and unknown unknowns (the fourth, unknown knowns, is probably somewhere between instinct and the subconscious, but I can only speculate).

In reality, you are the person you want to be.  At any given moment, you have the power to choose gratitude or despair.  Greed or altruism.   Self interest or collective interest.  Forgiveness or hatred.  Acceptance or the illusion of control. 

You have this free gift of will.  Use it wisely.

As for me, I am alive, and it is a gift.  Empathy, gratitude, and the ability to practice compassion and kindness when I am feeling spiteful and angry are wonderful, always.  I will be a critic, I will be a skeptic, but at my core, I will always be an optimist.  It is the only way for me to live the life of my choosing.

Price Tag Ouch

With the new year comes a new deductible to meet. My employers cut benefits again. And although I try to do the responsible thing and have double insurance for my daughter because of her severe rheumatoid arthritis, insurance and pharmacies play games. That said, only one insurance is covering my daughter's medication and I have to pay full price until the deductible is met. The bill is over $1100 for just one month's supply. I'll have to pay full price for the next three months. I might be able to achieve some reimbursement from the secondary insurance, but it's so stinking hard to come up with the out-of-pocket costs initially.

Thinking about our healthcare system, I have some insight into the many, many problems with it. For all my capitalist ideas, I just don't think that healthcare should be a luxury that one has to afford as if it's comparable to dining out or traveling. People need good health to be productive members of society, to be contributing tax payers. Yes, many make poor health choices, but many do not--things just happen and people need help with healthcare. Insurances do a piss-poor job, spending astronomical amounts in overhead, paperwork and legal "blah, blah, blah" and it's ultimately the consumers (the patient and hospitals) that absorb the costs. There's some guy in an office making millions for declining medical necessities. Additionally, we just can't sit by and let people die or suffer because they can't afford healthcare. That's not what a progressed, civilized society does. SOMETHING needs to be done about it, but I'm at a loss for what that is exactly.

I have a lot of reservations about Obama's healthcare reform. A lot. I'm not his biggest fan. But I am hoping that it will bring the change that we need or at least start us in the right direction.