As I sit here noticing the lack of noticeable action going on in the world today, I find myself thinking about something from a couple weeks ago that annoyed me greatly but I chose not to write about it at the time for some reason or another. There were reports in the news regarding the military enforcing even stricter anti-porn policies for troops at the behest of groups that oppose that sort of thing. I’m sure they’re trying to ban R-rated movies, video games, and every other piece of bit of entertainment that is supposedly the cause of all the wrong in the world because that’s what they do. Their currently trying to force the military to not only ban hardcore porn (which it has) but also to ban softcore material like Playboy and whatever they mean by the term “All-American entertainment”. What the hell does that even mean? Stupid people with stupid agendas, and there’s no real reason for me to attempt to sugarcoat it with anything other than basic terms. Stupid.
This isn’t even really about porn though that’s what all the hoopla is about at the moment. It’s about troops being allowed to have something to get their minds off the bullshit they’re all involved in right now. If the military was putting a gun to someone’s head ordering them to look at smut, I’d have a problem with it. Instead, they’re taking away something that seems to make at least some of the troops happy (see below). So long as no one’s getting killed partaking in whatever entertainment these people want to take part in, I don’t care. The argument is that porn has a similar effect on soldier’s minds as drugs which is of course laughable, and this next statement might make me sound like I’m crazy but you know, I doubt that infantryman is thinking about Christy Canyon while they’re walking through some street in Iraq on patrol. He’s probably thinking about his friend that just got two of his limbs blown off or the other one that died, or maybe he’s concerned about staying alive. The very idea that we need to take more away from these people is sick. If it relieves stress, let them have it. It’s not like we’re doing anything for the guys that come back and kill themselves because of the mental trauma, so I’m all for giving troops anything that’ll make them content in the slightest at this point.
One of the things I like to post about the most in this blog is when people have their priorities off kilter. Pointing that out makes me happy, because if I can get at least one person to say in regards to someone I’m writing about “That person needs a reality check” then I’ve done my job. There are few things I hate in life as much as I hate people pushing their way of life or views on other people. You want to talk about it? Fine. Don’t try to change laws in regards to it though. Don’t make it so that a specific person loses their personal choice to do something because you decided it was wrong for them.
Lets keep going though here because as I said, porn’s not the only issue. There’s a law you should know about. It’s called General Order Number 1a, or GO-1a for short. It prohibits conduct “prejudicial to the maintenance of good order and discipline of all forces.” Basically, it means troops shouldn’t have anything beyond their gear, a gun, clean clothes and a toothbrush. The Humane Society is even fighting this thing because troops aren’t allowed pets, because I guess it’s bad for morale for a soldier to be around something that wasn’t armed with a gun or could possibly be trying to kill them. Think that’s bad? Soldiers have confirmed — and I hope you’re sitting down reading this one — that the government has ordered independent contractors to shoot and kill any pets on military bases. Absurd. But it’s happened.
Meanwhile, read one reporter’s take from the San Francisco Gate regarding her experience with helping her friend get porn to troops, only to find out later it was illegal to do so.
SF Gate - Porn Is a TERRORISTIC TOOL~!
