What’s interesting in the news today?
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1. I saw the same thing during the Clinton years. Whenever politicians decide it’s time to reduce forces, these sort of things happen.
From FoxNews “The number of U.S. soldiers forced out of the Army because of crimes or misconduct has soared in the past several years as the military emerges from a decade of war that put a greater focus on battle competence than on character.
Data obtained by The Associated Press shows that the number of officers who left the Army due to misconduct more than tripled in the past three years. The number of enlisted soldiers forced out for drugs, alcohol, crimes and other misconduct shot up from about 5,600 in 2007, as the Iraq war peaked, to more than 11,000 last year.
The data reveals stark differences between the military services and underscores the strains that long, repeated deployments to the front lines have had on the Army’s soldiers and their leaders.”
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2. If shutting a few lanes on the GW get’s you an Inquisition style investigation, shouldn’t shutting down lanes all over the state get ya’ one too? After all NJ is getting snow again today. Running out of salt will close way more than 2 lanes on the GW.
From WFB “The Obama Administration has not approved a waiver that would allow New Jersey quick access to tons of salt for ice-covered roads at a port in Maine despite the state being at dangerously low levels.
Townsquare Media reported that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) denied the state’s request for a waiver of the Jones Act, a 1920 law requiring that all cargo and passengers moving between points in the United States be transported on American vessels.
A waiver would have allowed New Jersey to get the salt within days from a foreign transport in Searsport, Maine.”
“We were pursuing a waiver, but we’ve been advised we wouldn’t get one,” Dee said. “It seems unlikely we will get it.” DHS did not respond to multiple requests for comment.”
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3. Surprised? Me neither.
From Variety “Despite its Biblical inspiration, Paramount’s upcoming “Noah” may face some rough seas with religious audiences, according to a new survey by Faith Driven Consumers.
The religious organization found in a survey that 98% of its supporters were not “satisfied” with Hollywood’s take on religious stories such as “Noah,” which focuses on Biblical figure Noah. Faith Driven Consumers has been tracking the viability of major Hollywood films courting faith-based audiences this year.”
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Wandering Views 
May culture always eclipse class.
http://prospect.org/article/when-culture-eclipses-class
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#2. I am never surprised by tha actions of a bureaucracy. They don’t operate by logic or necessity. They operate by policy.
I don’t usually see Hollywood produced Biblical pictures. I saw “The Passion of the Christ”. Our church will have a special showing of “The Son of God”. But I won’t attend that. I maysee it at another time.
The last Hollywood type Biblical movie I saw was “Samson and Delilah”. I saw it three times on the same trip. We flew our C-54 up to Thule. At each stop -Goose Bay, Sandestrm Fiord (BW-8) and Thule- we would show the movie in the mess hall. At a point,Samson swimming in a pool, we had to stop the film and change rolls.
Those were interesting times for a 21 year old guy.
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1. Not surprising, standards were lowered during the Iraqi war as recruitment became more difficult. Now that numbers have to be lowered, the armed forces can afford to re-enforce standards.
2. This policy has been in place for quite some time. Its not Obama’s fault any more than its Calvin Coolidge’s fault for allowing it to be passed in the first place. Once a rule is in place, bureaucracy takes over.
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Anon would be me HRW
Interesting story making the social media rounds today. A Cheveron fracking well exploded and the nearby residents were given a coupon for a free pizza as compensation.
http://iacknowledge.net/fracking-well-explodes-killing-a-man-and-chevron-offers-locals-pizza-coupons/
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