Article

2008-04-22 Home Front: WoT

Double number of ex-cons join the US army

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Posted by Steve White 2008-04-22 00:00|| || Front Page|| [6 views ] Top

#1 Lest not forget DILOMATIC IMMUNITY!?

Posted by JosephMendiola 2008-04-22 00:49|| 2008-04-22 00:49|| Front Page Top

#2 Looks like SKYNET is running low on BYTE SPACE again today.

Posted by JosephMendiola 2008-04-22 00:50|| 2008-04-22 00:50|| Front Page Top

#3 "Please look at those numbers: 511, up from 249. That's on a base of 80,635 total Army recruits in 2006. Do the math: from about 0.26% of recruits in 2006 to about 0.63% in 2007."

Do the math indeed. This sort of trick - making it seem like twice the whole (in this case, of the army) is affected when in fact it is a change which is a fraction of a percent and insignificant in terms of scientific validity- is standard fodder for the left when dealing with propaganda like this.

I can remember seeing CSPAN 2 about ten years ago and watching Ted Kennedy blathering on the floor of the Senate with an easle set up with a bar graph chart on it. The first bar looked to be about half the size of the second. Komrade Ted was going on and on about some huge increase, and I was interested until I realized that the first bar represented 1025 and the second 1050, and the bottom 99%+ of each bar was not on the poster. In other words, an insignficant increase. However, to the type who are his supporters, the bulk of whom are not capable of understanding statistics and would rely solely on the visual difference in a poorly done bar graph which did not show the actual statistical relationship, the difference would seem huge, affirming their precious narrative and reality be damned.

It is precisely this sort of trick which is used to support the agitprop of the left, and which leftists eat right up.

People like the author of this drivel should have taken a few math and stat courses, maybe they wouldn't have ended up being leftists.

Posted by no mo uro 2008-04-22 06:41|| 2008-04-22 06:41|| Front Page Top

#4 Hmmm, 0.63% - wonder how that compares to Congress, academia, or journalism?

Posted by DMFD 2008-04-22 06:55|| 2008-04-22 06:55|| Front Page Top

#5 Waxman said that while "providing opportunities to individuals who have served their sentences and rehabilitated themselves"

Does there not exist the possibility that Henry is right, and that some folks really do want to leave the past behind them and move on to a better life? What better way than in the service of your country?

Mrs. Bobby spent 10 years working in adult probabtion (supervising me on the side) and observed the 10-20% of people on probation were really sorry, did all the chores, cleaned up their act, and never came back. Leaving the 80-90% who did as little as possible to get off the hook and kept coming back to the same judge who warned them, "You're really gonna get it next time. I'm putting a red dot on your file, so I'll remember to revoke you next time." About the time we moved out east, the judge was up to the triple red-dot club. (Three 'last chances'.)

Posted by Bobby 2008-04-22 06:58|| 2008-04-22 06:58|| Front Page Top

#6 Have you taken the Tufte course on information display yet, No Mo?

Posted by Eric Jablow">Eric Jablow 2008-04-22 07:32|| 2008-04-22 07:32|| Front Page Top

#7 Good place for rehabilitation. I had a roommate that was caught running a chop shop and the judge said he would either go to prison for 10 years, or he could join the military for 4. He chose the military and really cleaned up his act and became a good soldier and civilian.

Posted by DarthVader">DarthVader 2008-04-22 07:40|| 2008-04-22 07:40|| Front Page Top

#8 I guess If you've served your debt to society you should be able to get on with your life.

Posted by Hupinese Turkeyneck4317 2008-04-22 07:58|| 2008-04-22 07:58|| Front Page Top

#9 Most of the moral waivers were for speeding tickets? Oooooo, that's really bad!*

* Clearly I'm going to spend an awfully long time in Hell given how I drive...

Posted by trailing wife ">trailing wife 2008-04-22 08:43|| 2008-04-22 08:43|| Front Page Top

#10 DMFD: It seems that at one time, I read somewhere that over 100 Congress-critters were involved in Civil or Criminal cases against them. IOW, fully about 20%+ of Congress has either committed a crime/civil boo-boo, or had been *accused* of doing that "no-no." Not sure if that stat was right, but I'd be willing to bet they were *worse* crimes (statistically) than our troops (e.g. DUI, Bribery, Extortion, "political favors", even murder).

Posted by BA 2008-04-22 08:56|| 2008-04-22 08:56|| Front Page Top

#11 I had to obtain a waiver before I could join the Air Force way back in 1980. I remember signing a waiver form and the recruiter took care of the legal end of it. IMHO this is much ado about nothing.

Posted by Cyber Sarge 2008-04-22 09:01|| 2008-04-22 09:01|| Front Page Top

#12  the waivers are a sign that the US military is stretched too thin.

Whotta surprise another agenda-driven non-article from the journalists at al-Guardian. And who better to provide the unsubstantiated projections other then the master of clap-trap himself Rep. Henry Waxman. Absent from this narrative is that the US military has never had a quota for the number of recruits that can be accepted via the Moral Waiver. Also absent is that all branches of the US military have had, and will continue to have, strict policies regarding recruits that have a criminal civilian record. And once enlisted, those that have felonies are subject to a higher degree of scrutiny. For instance, all braches of the military either highly restrict or prohibit Security Clearances for all those enlisted with felony records.

Posted by DepotGuy 2008-04-22 09:42|| 2008-04-22 09:42|| Front Page Top

#13 Well, since the suicidal looser meme did not work, now its back to Wellingtons "scum of the earth" meme.

These leftist, treasonous loosers never give up. The just dance the anti-American ghost dance that much harder until it all comes out the way they think they want.

Never mind us (sane people), God help the leftists if they actualy get what they are asking for.

Posted by N guard 2008-04-22 09:48|| 2008-04-22 09:48|| Front Page Top

#14 Number of crimes moved from lesser to felony status in the last 10 years?

How many are DUIs now classified as felonies in most states for second or even first offenses?

Posted by Procopius2k 2008-04-22 09:50|| 2008-04-22 09:50|| Front Page Top

#15 "non-cannabis-related drug offences"

Hasn't Obama admitted to taking hard drugs in addition to pot?

Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2008-04-22 09:56|| 2008-04-22 09:56|| Front Page Top

#16 The son of the Protagonist in Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaugherhouse Five" went straight after joining the miliary, so it's not as if this pinhead is ignorant of the "military service as penitence and redemption". He just chose to ignore it, and so is truly morally culpable.

Posted by ptah">ptah 2008-04-22 10:02|| http://www.crusaderwarcollege.org]">[http://www.crusaderwarcollege.org] 2008-04-22 10:02|| Front Page Top

#17 Hey, I saw The Dirty Dozen. I figure the war will be over in, what, like a week?

Posted by tu3031 2008-04-22 10:37|| 2008-04-22 10:37|| Front Page Top

#18 ...allowing sex offenders, people convicted of making terrorist threats, and child abusers...

taliban translators and agents defecting to the US army?

Posted by swksvolFF 2008-04-22 10:42|| 2008-04-22 10:42|| Front Page Top

#19 This is a good opportunity to again point out how, if the US had an offshore mercenary army, it could recruit the best and the brightest non-US citizens from around the world as light infantry.

In turn, we could pay them to pull guard duty in places like Bosnia, so our soldiers would be freed up to go to Iraq.

Mercenaries cost a lot less, and make good caulk for the cracks. Our soldiers are worth too much to have them doing stupid jobs when they could be working.

And nobody in their right mind is going to mess with a Gurkha, Sikh, or Samoan, no matter who they are working for.

Posted by Anonymoose 2008-04-22 11:27|| 2008-04-22 11:27|| Front Page Top

#20 I liked some of the points Steve made in his inline comments.

Wouldn't it be great if a GOP Congressman(perhaps McCain) would respond to The Nostril's remarks in the same manner?

Posted by charger 2008-04-22 13:01|| 2008-04-22 13:01|| Front Page Top

#21 Next week these same media outlets will be decrying prejudice against convicted felons in the civilian workplace.

Posted by tu3031 2008-04-22 13:07|| 2008-04-22 13:07|| Front Page Top

#22 yet they want all felons to be able to vote.

Posted by Sninert Black9312 2008-04-22 13:31|| 2008-04-22 13:31|| Front Page Top

#23 while I agree that the number is not large, and this isnt really that big an issue in and of itself, lets not pretend its NOT a sign of stretching - how many waivers like this for either felonies or serious misdemeanors were being given out in 2000? And note its mainly the army and USMC, not the Navy or USAF. Is the army an intrinsically better place to reform ex-cons than the Navy? Or are the Armys recruiting goals more aggressive than the Navys, at a time when the army is less attractive to recruits than the Navy?

ISTR reading that discharges related to homosexuality under "dont ask, dont tell" have declined also. Now as a good liberal, thats fine with me, but Id be surprised if it was entirely due to a change of heart about the rights of gays on the part of the military.

Posted by liberalhawk 2008-04-22 14:01|| 2008-04-22 14:01|| Front Page Top

#24 LH,

The AF and Navy are downsizing, the same time the Army and Marines have finally been authorized by Congress to increase their size, by 50,000. Or does that not enter into your consciousness? When you have more than you need, you don't need to invest in more advertising/recruitment.

And as most have avoided the question previously posted, yes, there are more 'felonies' today which were lesser offenses just a few years ago. These media types don't spend a whole lot of time identify all those felonies that are included in the waivers. I suspect there are indeed some DUIs in the bunch. They also don't correlate the felonies to other classifications like ethnic background. Wouldn't that be interesting.

Posted by Procopius2k 2008-04-22 14:09|| 2008-04-22 14:09|| Front Page Top

#25 Now as a good liberal, thats fine with me, but Id be surprised if it was entirely due to a change of heart about the rights of gays on the part of the military.

It's the law. One the military didn't make, but Congress did. You'd like the military to ignore the laws of Congress? Remember that.

Oh, it goes, Section 8, United States Constitution -> Title 10 USC -> UCMJ -> Article 125 Sodomy and Article 78 Accessory After the Act [if you know you must report and act on it].

Posted by Procopius2k 2008-04-22 14:14|| 2008-04-22 14:14|| Front Page Top

#26 The media is upset that the ex-cons went into the military instead of becoming journalists???

Posted by darrylq 2008-04-22 15:18|| 2008-04-22 15:18|| Front Page Top

#27 non all ex cons are not goons and alot have street smarts that would fit in iraq. Se condly they usually are prtty tough fighters

Posted by sinse 2008-04-22 16:33|| 2008-04-22 16:33|| Front Page Top

#28 #6 Have you taken the Tufte course on information display yet, No Mo?

He's the "data-ink ratio" guy, right, Eric?

No, but I am intrigued.

Posted by no mo uro 2008-04-22 17:07|| 2008-04-22 17:07|| Front Page Top

#29 now its back to Wellingtons "scum of the earth" meme.

Ummm, sometimes "The scum of the Earth" is exactly what you want for a given job.

Posted by Redneck Jim">Redneck Jim 2008-04-22 17:46|| 2008-04-22 17:46|| Front Page Top

#30 He's the "data-ink ratio" guy, right, Eric?

He's also the guy who loves to bash the military and this administration openly, in his seminars. When he started it in one I attended I walked out, demanded and got a refund.

Posted by lotp 2008-04-22 19:04|| 2008-04-22 19:04|| Front Page Top

#31 ε or 2ε. What's the difference.

I'm sorry Tufte went all liberal on us.

Posted by Eric Jablow">Eric Jablow 2008-04-22 23:10|| 2008-04-22 23:10|| Front Page Top

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