If we needed any more evidence that parental notification legislation is long overdue in Washington State, we just got it. In a story making news this week,
This is how Life News manipulates people.
What isn’t in the headline is that her rapist was her step-father so PP called the police.
Morning After, by Lindsay Bottos (x)
Wow.
Look I’m not one to usually believe in conspiracy theories but it sounds like there’s some crazy shit going on here. Between all the weird stuff that went down w/ Tamerlan and Dzokhar when they were being pursued by the police to now the person the FBI was talking to being killed during questioning… it’s all just a wee bit weird.
Most of these people are just spewing their opinion on what they think is right or wrong for everyone. There is hardly any fact involved and when there is, it’s often misinformation or studies that have been debunked or doctored videos.
Look I get that you’ve been force fed this stuff probably since you were born and it’s likely you haven’t had much sex education and don’t have a very positive view of sexuality to begin with (I know I’m completely generalizing here but you know who I’m talking about) that really doesn’t mean you get to shit all over people because they don’t abide by your narrow view of morals.
I will never understand how so many people are so damn sheltered and have no understanding of the struggles women have and still face regarding their reproductive rights and how it plays a larger role in our autonomy and survival. I just don’t get it.
you can say “if you dont fully support abortion, you’re anti-choice.”
but I can say “if you’re not fully against abortion, you’re anti-life.”
Nope.
Those who are pro-life want to force women* through pregnancy, therefore taking away the choices a woman* has….
Yup. I support a choice between abortion, adoption, or parenthood. I am not against adoption or parenthood therefore I am not anti-“life”. Duhhh.
The religious right often wages campaigns of harassment, intimidation and outright violence against First Amendment plaintiffs.When it comes to the Bill of Rights, the First Amendment, which forbids the establishment of a state religion by the government even if a majority supports it, is something most of us heartedly support.
But not all. The religious right despises the First Amendment, since it’s constantly foiled their efforts to inject Christian doctrine into government. And when they’ve lost in court, religious conservatives in the U.S. have often waged campaigns of threats, harassment and outright violence against First Amendment plaintiffs, in the hopes of intimidating them into backing down and achieving by mob violence what they can’t achieve under the law.
Last year, the Freedom from Religion Foundation contacted two public school districts in Pennsylvania, in New Kensington and Connellsville, to demand the removal of large stone Ten Commandments monuments prominently placed on school property. When the schools chose to fight, the FFRF and its local plaintiffs, including current students, filed a lawsuit.
As often happens in these cases, FFRF plaintiffs asked to have their identities concealed because they feared harassment and retaliation from the community. It was a well-founded fear, since some of them had already been receiving threats on social media. On a Facebook page supporting the New Kensington school, one person encouraged others to “slam the shit out of the bitch” who filed the lawsuit. Another commenter asked, “Have the families involved in the lawsuit been identified? I cannot believe anyone living in the community would participate in such a worthless cause. Someone needs to send that group back to Wisconsin with several black eyes!”
Because of threats like this, the court granted the request for anonymity, finding that “this basis upon which the Does fear disclosure is substantial and that there is a substantial public interest in ensuring that litigants not face such retribution in their attempt to seek redress for what they view as a Constitutional violation, a pure legal issue.” In response, Republican state representative Tim Krieger filed a bill… that would eliminate the right of plaintiffs to sue anonymously over religious symbols on public property.
Thankfully, Krieger’s understanding of federalism is as abysmal as his grasp of the Bill of Rights: the FFRF lawsuit was filed in federal court, where state laws have no effect. Still, the ugly, bullying intent behind his bill is obvious: the unsubtle hope is to encourage bullying and retribution against First Amendment plaintiffs, to “punish” them for standing up for the Constitution.
The story of high school activist Jessica Ahlquist, previously reported by Greta Christina on AlterNet, is another example. After speaking out against an illegal prayer banner in her public school (and winning in court), Ahlquist received vivid, violent threats on social media, and even in a handwritten letter. Some of the threats were so serious she was temporarily given a police escort for protection.
These two stories are just the most recent and high-profile examples of the kind of harassment and intimidation of church-state plaintiffs that’s been going on literally for decades. Countless other stories could be cited, like these:
Darla Kay Wynne. A Wiccan living in the town of Great Falls, South Carolina in 2004, Darla Kay Wynne was disturbed by sectarian Christian prayers before town council meetings. On one occasion, when she deliberately came late to avoid the prayer, she was denied the opportunity to speak at the meeting even though she had previously signed up to do so and was listed on the official agenda. When she asked for members of other religions to have an opportunity to give the prayers, that too was denied; the mayor, Henry Starnes, said, “This is the way we’ve always done things and we’re not going to change.” When she refused to stand for one of the prayers, several people told her she “wasn’t wanted” and “should leave town.”
Wynne filed a lawsuit, Wynne v. Town of Great Falls, which she easily won based on existing precedent. In response, as reported by a South Carolina newspaper, The State, someone broke into her home and decapitated her pet parrot, leaving a note next to the body that read, “You’re next!” Several of her cats were also killed, and her tiny Yorkshire terrier was beaten.
The Santa Fe Does. In 2000, in the case Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, the Supreme Court struck down student-selected, school-endorsed prayer at high school football games in Santa Fe, Texas. As in FFRF’s Pennsylvania cases, the lower courts allowed the plaintiffs to file anonymously to protect them from harassment. The wisdom of that measure was soon demonstrated because employees of the school district apparently spent considerable effort trying to figure out who the plaintiffs were. The judge was forced to issue a further order, threatening criminal contempt if there was “any further attempt on the part of District or school administration… parents, students or anyone else, overtly or covertly to ferret out the identities of the Plaintiffs in this cause, by means of bogus petitions, questionnaires, individual interrogation, or downright ‘snooping.’”
The McCollums. Vashti McCollum, her husband John and her son Jim were at the center of one of the earliest and most important First Amendment cases of the 20th century: McCollum vs. Board of Education, a 1948 Supreme Court ruling striking down a “released-time” policy in Illinois that allowed clergy to come to a public school to teach religious education classes to students during the school day.
While the case was going on, the McCollum family was threatened and ostracized by their community. They received harassing and threatening messages, including one that read, “There is no room for you nor yours here. God damn you sons and daughters of bitches…. If you think you can boss us around What fun We are going to have.” On one Halloween, a mob broke into the house and threw rotten fruit and vegetables at the family. Vashti was abruptly fired from her job as a phys-ed teacher at the University of Illinois at Champaign. Jim McCollum and his brothers were beaten up while going to and from school. Most shockingly, the McCollum family’s cat was lynched and hanged from a tree.
The Bells. In 1981, in the Oklahoma community of Little Axe, school officials allowed a Baptist religious group, the Son Shine Club, to meet in the school building before the start of the day. The buses dropped students off at school 30 minutes before the start of class, and those who didn’t want to attend the religious meetings had to wait outside the building, even if it was raining or freezing cold.
Joann Bell and another local parent, Lucille McCord, were both Christians but of different denominations, and didn’t want their children exposed to Baptist preaching on school time. When they filed a lawsuit with the help of the ACLU, Bell v. Little Axe, retribution was swift and vicious.
Joann Bell was assaulted by a school employee who smashed her head repeatedly against a car door; he was only fined, and the community rallied around him and raised money to pay the fine. The Bells’ home was burned to the ground; fire marshals ruled it to be arson, but no arrest was ever made. McCord’s son raised goats, which an unknown person slashed and mutilated with a knife. Both of them received threatening letters, including copies of their own obituaries. The Bells got a phone call from someone who said he would break into Joann Bell’s house, tie up her children, rape her in front of them, and then “bring her to Jesus.” The local superintendent, Paul Pettigrew, said, “The only people who have been hurt by this thing are the Bells and McCords… They chose to create their own hell on earth.”
Although most of these champions of the Constitution persevered through harassment and threats, sadly, that isn’t always the case. Sometimes the persecution is too severe to bear, as in the case of the Dobriches, an Orthodox Jewish family who filed a lawsuit in 2005 challenging pervasive Christian influence in their Delaware school district, including explicitly sectarian prayers at parent-teacher meetings and graduation ceremonies, special privileges given to children in Christian clubs, and Bibles handed out at elementary school.
When Mona Dobrich complained on behalf of her son, Alex, a group calling itself the “Stop the ACLU Coalition” publicized the Dobriches’ home address and phone number, and they received so many threats, harassing messages and anti-Semitic hate letters that they were essentially hounded out of their community. They ended up moving to another county, and their daughter had to drop out of Columbia University because of the financial strain they were under.
Another church-state plaintiff driven out of her town was Melinda Maddox, a Roman Catholic resident of Brewton, Alabama who joined in a 2001 lawsuit challenging theocratic judge Roy Moore’s illegal placement of a Ten Commandments monument in the state judicial building. During her honeymoon, someone shot out the windows of her house; her car was vandalized, and she received violent threats like “You should be hog-tied and thrown in the Escambia River.” Her parents, both of whom were battling cancer, received threatening and harassing phone calls as well. When she asked community leaders to condemn the threats, they instead counseled her to drop out of the case. The strain destroyed her marriage and her legal firm, forcing her to relocate to Mobile. In spite of this, she says she would do it all over again.
(Source: senyasenechka)
An ultra-Orthodox Jewish women belonging to the religious sect ‘Women of Lease’ with their children in Mea Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem, Israel, 25 February 2013, during celebrations of the joyous holiday of Purim. Purim is a celebration of the Jews’ salvation from genocide in ancient Persia, as recounted in the Book of Esther, and many religious Jews drink openly during the holiday. (Credit: EPA)
Kid over my shoulder: What are you looking at? Muslims dress so weird, wow.
lo don’t we have to go in and liberate these women?
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Asks Atheist Tornado Survivor If She ‘Thanked The Lord’
(Source: foodphotosets)
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Faggot: Inside Marine Corps Boot Camp, And How The Stark Reality of Boot Camp Has Not Caught Up With Change [TW: Homophobia, Anti-Gay Bigotry and Discrimination, Graphic Explicit Language, Verbal Abuse]
What is Marine Corps boot camp really like? According to an email that a current recruit sent to a bunch of his friends, it’s a lot of being called a “faggot” by your drill instructors. And, if you happen to be brown-skinned, a lot of being called “terrorist.” Not to mention “beast mode” workouts.
After the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” act banning gays in the military was repealed in 2011, the Marine Corps’ top officer, Gen. John Amos (who argued against the repeal) said he was “very pleased with how it has gone.” The Marine Corps even brought the media along to a recruiting event at a gay rights center. But the current reality does not appear to be so loving for cadets.
The email below comes from someone currently attending USMC boot camp. (We’ve verified its authenticity and removed identifying details, but left it otherwise intact.) It’s no surprise that boot camp involves lots of cussing from drill instructors—but this section seemed a bit, well, retrograde: “Don’t ask Don’t Tell. Shit may have been repealed, but the USMC sure hasn’t adapted. We’re called faggots 10-50 times a day. ‘You think that’s yelling? That’s sweet faggot.’ ‘Yeah, you would think that’s a pushup, faggot.’ etc. Any time we fuck something up, the DI’s tell us ‘you stupid fucking thing. That’s more wrong than two boys fucking.’ One captain, when giving an ethics class, and talking about how one mistake can change your life/ identity told the entire company ‘you can be a bridge builder your entire life, but you suck one dick and you’re a cocksucker till you die.’”
In addition to rolling out the red carpet to gays interested in devoting their lives to their country, the Marine Corps has gone out of its way to note its tolerance for Muslims in the midst of America’s endless War on Terror. Abuhena Saifulislam, the Marines’ first Muslim chaplain, became a PR machine during the George W. Bush administration, giving “hundreds” of interviews aimed at “personifying the notion that there is nothing incompatible about serving both Islam and the US military.”
According to our boot camp guy, however, there may be something incompatible about appearing to possibly be a Muslim to a Marine Corps drill instructor. From the letter: “The one indian looking kid in the platoon gets ripped by the DI’s day one they started calling him a terrorist, a cabbie, and a small shop owner. ‘[Name] are you a fucking terrorist?’ ‘no sir’ ‘well, if you were a terrorist, you wouldn’t admit to it now would you?’ ‘no sir’ ‘so you’re probably a fucking terrorist.’ ‘aye sir’ ‘because you look like a fucking terrorist, why aren’t you driving a fucking cab like the rest of your people?’ ‘this recruit doesn’t know sir.’ ‘I know though, because you’re a fucking terrorist.’ Anytime he gets mail the DI’s don’t say his name and instead go ‘oh, great, more terrorist mail.’ and drop it on the ground like they don’t want to get anthrax, or pretend to listen to it like it’s a timebomb. When he answers questions wrong about our classes, they go, ‘you know why you don’t know the answer?’ ‘no sir’ ‘because your brain is full of fucking terrorist information, that’s why.’ ‘aye sir.’”
Indians, terrorists, cab drivers, faggots, “soup sandwiches.” The Marine Corps is vigilant to all threats. The full letter is below. Enjoy:
Bros + [friends],
sent this to [friend] to forward to all of you. I have very little time to write letters. I get through 1 or 2 a week. So, sorry for the delays in responding, I’ll get you all back individually, but figured this would be the best way pass on shit I’d end up copying and pasting to each of you anyway
Days start at 0400 and end at 2000 on the dot. Wake up w a few hours of pitch dark and go to sleep when it’s still light out.
We get out of the “racks” (bunks), get dressed at the same time, “scuzz the house” (fold our towels, align our extra boots/shoes make our racks, sweep the floor while squatting w a hand brush), then go to the chow hall. When we go to chow, like everywhere we go, we march to the drill instructor’s cadence. Every time we fuck something up (a movement, not screaming loud enough, not holding our rifles properly etc) we get the old “you don’t want to yell? Ok, fuck you, run and touch the trees, ok run back the other way, etc” not so fun at 0430
Chow is pretty Good. Looks like it’s US Foods, actually. I see the trucks all over the place and chuckle to myself (on the inside) every time… […] After chow we go to PT (physical training) This shit is awesome. It absolutely smokes me, which I wasn’t expecting. Some days it’s circuits like: run 1/4 mile, do 20 burpees, run 1/4 mile, do 40 body squats, run 1/4 mile, abs, run, pull-ups, repeat. Yeah, there are plenty of “fat disgusting pieces of shit.” (as the DI’s call them) but all that means is they go slower. If you go at your personal max pace, you’re guaranteed to be dead at the end.
Other PT workout will be crossfit stations w a run at the end, and sometimes it’s just as long (6 mile) march w/ 40 lbs on our backs. Those are whack, though, bc we go slower than [friend] getting up the stairs to [friend]’s apartment.
We learn a ton of martial arts, which is technically called MCMAP- marine corps martial arts program- bit I call it Karate and ninja training, which my DI’s don’t like one bit.
It started with boring punches and kicks, tiger shulman tae kwon do style, but now we’re learning throws, counters, elbows, stomps, bayonet attacks, bayonet defenses, etc. all of which we do at full speed and intensity on each other. (sometimes w pads but often not) IF the DI’s think we’re going easy on each other, they flip a shit.
The MCMAP shit is incorporated into our PT workouts, one of the best workouts we did was the martial arts conditioning course: 2 min of jab straight hook vs. a recruit w a pad throw a recruit over your shoulder, carry them back and forth btwn 2 cones 30 yards apart somersault (sp?) back and forth 30 yards apartment roundhouse kicks drag a recruit back and forth for 30 yards elbow strikes choke counters knee strikes run 1/2 mile punch blocks/throws crawl (low) in sand for 100 yards body squats run 1/4 mile
After we finished, when we thought we were done for the workout, we did a pull pushup/ab/mountain climber workout. again, the fat kids make it through bc they’ll get to a station and do the exercise like 5 times. But I beast mode it.
We also have done pugil sticks twice (google it.) fun as fuck. Get to wail away on a stranger w DI’s encouraging you to knock their head off. I’ll admit I’ve taken my share of blows, but on more than I’ve lost for sure. Some other fun PT shit has been the “confidence course”- a military-style ropes course, minus the B.S. safety harnesses. Google it. and the “obstacle course” which I think I explained to you all when I did it a while back for OCS. again, google it.
After PT we go back to the squad bay for a “PT shower” which is about 45 seconds under the water each, good enough to turn dirt to mud. Then we get dressed, march to chow, then go to class for the afternoon. Classes are boring as fuck (45 minutes on “honor” or an hour on sexual assault BS) or they’re fuckin’ sweet (combat care, USMC history, medal of honor stories, etc) they’re [name] middle school quality though… if that.
After classes we work on drill— very elementary version of what the dudes in the commercials do, throwing rifles in the air and shit. I can’t stand drill. Shit’s fucking dumb, but it takes up a lot of our time theses days. It’s supposed to “instill discipline” but you can’t tame the beast. I came here to learn how to hook, jab, stab, and shoot. Not walk in straight lines like some synchronized swimming shit. Oh well. […] Enough about that b.s. Some funny shit:
1) […]
2) […]
3) Don’t ask Don’t Tell. Shit may have been repealed, but the USMC sure hasn’t adapted. We’re called faggots 10-50 times a day. “You think that’s yelling? That’s sweet faggot.” “Yeah, you would think that’s a pushup, faggot.” etc. Any time we fuck something up, the DI’s tell us “you stupid fucking thing. That’s more wrong than two boys fucking.” One captain, when giving an ethics class, and talking about how one mistake can change your life/ identity told the entire company “you can be a bridge builder your entire life, but you suck one dick and you’re a cocksucker till you die.” Not much room for bitchassness. Even though only 10% of the corps is infantry, they treat everyone at about like they’ll be going to combat.
4) [Name]. This one younger kid from Philly took a shit ton of flak from the DI’s the first two weeks. So much so that he was saying “aye sir! aye sir!” in his sleep. One day, he got worked by the DI’s and after he was told to go back to the platoon. A DI came up to him and whispered “nobody fucking cares about you, [name], nobody is going to write to you. nobody is going to your fucking graduation.” [Name] broke, and started crying. The DI goes “yeah that’s right bitch,” then wipes the tears off [name] ‘s face licks them from his finger, and goes “yeah bitch”. Shit like that goes down every day except for the crying thing.
5) terrorist recruit. The one indian looking kid in the platoon gets ripped by the DI’s day one they started calling him a terrorist, a cabbie, and a small shop owner. “[Name] are you a fucking terrorist?” “no sir” “well, if you were a terrorist, you wouldn’t admit to it now would you?” “no sir” “so you’re probably a fucking terrorist.” “aye sir” “because you look like a fucking terrorist, why aren’t you driving a fucking cab like the rest of your people?” “this recruit doesn’t know sir.” ” I know though, because you’re a fucking terrorist.” Anytime he gets mail the DI’s don’t say his name and instead go “oh, great, more terrorist mail.” and drop it on the ground like they don’t want to get anthrax, or pretend to listen to it like it’s a timebomb. When he answers questions wrong about our classes, they go, “you know why you don’t know the answer?” “no sir” “because your brain is full of fucking terrorist information, that’s why.” “aye sir”
It’s impossible to remember all the funny shit that happens, it never ends. The DI’s are fucking hilarious every day, but it’s hard to explain, especially in writing. Let’s see… a few kids have gotten pretty fucked up during training . First, a kid in my platoon…got pissed at another recruit and pushed him. the recruit who got pushed, stood up and swung his rifle at my buddy, hitting him in the face w the muzzle. it ended up breaking my buddy’s eye socket, which dropped his eye. He’ll probably need facial surgery. He was put in a medical platoon to heal, which will take 4-6 weeks just to know whether he needs more work. He doesn’t go home and hardly earns any more means to communicate w family/ friends. Just sits there waiting to get better and restart training. the recruit who swung the rifle was taken from the platoon. Word was he could be charged w assault and put in the brig.
Yesterday, (thurs 4-19) we ran the obstacle course. A kid about 5 people behind me jumped from an obstacle awkwardly and broke his leg like that dude from [town] ([friend] sent me a pic) I didn’t see the kid go down, but it was gruesome apparently. We waited for the parameds, then went right on training. Heard from a recruit in the kid’s platoon that he snapped his femur. Nasty. Not what I heard at first. But that’s way way worse. Another kid didn’t hold his rifle properly during the bayonet assault course hit a tire, lost control, couldn’t hold the rifle, and it bounced back and knocked his two front teeth out. Sucks to suck. […]
We have this shit called “incentive training” or IT which is fast and furious, impromptu workouts w/ one drill instructors when we fuck up for anything. They’re like 10-15 minutes of pushups cruces, mountain-climbers, high knees, planks, jumping jacks, and burpees. They’ll wreck anyone. If you put out, which you have to do, end up unable to hold yourself up, no matter what shape you’re in. […]
Sometimes, on days when we already have hard PT, I’ll have another 4 IT sessions. Beast mode. Gotta say I love it. Someone jacks up a drill movement we get IT. Someone talks in formation, IT. I moved my neck in formation once and got IT but that’s rare.
[…]
There are a number of kids who are “failing to adapt” but they’re coming around. I don’t have much to do w/ them though (other than getting IT’d for them and yelling at them as squad leader) There are leaders and followers, fat kids and beasts, smart kids and dumb fucks, guys who are squared away and guys who are “soup sandwiches”, understandable w 55 guys.
[There] is a black kid from [southern state] named [name]. He’s the definition of slave genetics. I call him Django. He’s dumb as rocks, but a PT animal. He keeps me motivated during PT, I teach him how to speak english better than a combo the old guy in “duck dynasty” and Big Black from “Rob and Big”.
Since most of you asked, I haven’t fired my rifle yet. We go everywhere with them and I sleep w my head between two of them. But we aren’t at “firing week” - it’s in two weeks. Then, we’ll pour rounds down range. While we haven’t shot, other platoons are on the range every day from sun up to sun down so there’s a maelstrom of gunfire blasting around the base all day. Pretty awesome sound.
No, we don’t even stand near female recruits. I wouldn’t want to anyway… they smell worse than we do. Only 3-4 per platoon are even attractive. We see them at church (which is required, basically) and rarely at the chow hall. That’s it.
Anyway, I gotta get a lift in before lights. If this didn’t come across, I love it down here. None of my big concerns became realities. I get to learn badass shit, workout constantly, and am rewarded for being as intense as physically/mentally as possible for 16 hours a day. Life’s good, hardly ever been as satisfied when I go to bed as I am now.
Thank you all for your letters. They mean a lot to me and keep me more motivated than you think. Sorry again for the lack of personal response, but I really get no time to write… I hope your’e all well. Take a shot for me when you’re closing tabs at 0400… I’ll be waking up to a barrage of hateful, hateful yelling.
All love… and as we say 100x a day… Kill!
[Name]
[Image by Jim Cooke. Photo via Getty]
Several decades ago, political activists on the religious right began to put together an “ideology machine”. Home schooling was a big part of the plan. The idea was to breed and “train up” an army of culture warriors. We now are faced with the consequences of their actions, some of which are quite disturbing.
According to the Department of Education, the home schooling student population doubled in between 1999 and 2007, to 1.5 million students, and there is reason to think the growth has continued. Though families opt to home school for many different reasons, a large part of the growth has come from Christian fundamentalist sects. Children in that first wave are now old enough to talk about their experiences. In many cases, what they have to say is quite alarming.
When he was growing up in California, Ryan Lee Stollar was a stellar home schooling student. His oratory skills at got him invited to home schooling conferences around the country, where he debated public policy and spread the word about the “virtues” of an authentically Christian home school education.
Now 28, looking back on his childhood, it all seems like a delusion. As Stollar explains:
“The Christian home school subculture isn’t a children-first movement. It is, for all intents and purposes, an ideology-first movement. There is a massive, well-oiled machine of ideology that is churning out soldiers for the culture war. Home schooling is both the breeding ground – literally, when you consider the Quiverfull concept – and the training ground for this machinery. I say this as someone who was raised in that world.”
Too frequently, Stollar says, the consequences of putting ideology over children include anxiety, depression, distrust of authority, and issues around sexuality. This is evident from the testimonials that appear on Home schoolers Anonymous, the website that Stollar established, along with several partners.
I feel the need to point out that public schools (and many private schools) also put ideology over the well-being of pupils, they just don’t get alarmist articles.
In particular, the caption for the image is ironic to the extreme, as public schools also “promote a very traditional family structure”.
As someone who was homeschooled in the Quiverfull movement… This article is pretty accurate.
“Veiling is legitimized by the element of choice, and it is the presence or lack of choice that creates the context of whether the hejab frees a woman or objectifies her. Yet history, in all its intersections between the Old and New World, shows that patriarchy repeatedly finds a way to sneak in and impose itself on women’s dress, all in the name of “liberation.”
Leila Ahmed, an eminent scholar on gender and feminism in Islam, has argued that the linking between women and the veil as oppression “was created by Western discourse.” A seemingly progressive male-driven resistance developed, which urged women to abandon the veil as a means of emancipation was therefore a mirror image of the colonial narrative; it “contested the colonial thesis by inverting it – thereby also, ironically, grounding itself in the premises of the colonial thesis.” Back home in Europe and America, these same “liberating” men fought against female suffrage for the right to vote. Feminism, in many ways, became a passive aggressive tool by which to continue to control women within a patriarchal framework.
Veiling, conversely, became a symbol for resistance against invading colonialism, only truly becoming an issue for women when they felt their cultures come under attack. Far from reconciling themselves as symbols of female submission, women, throughout the history of Western intervention in the Middle East, have persistently covered themselves to make their presence known, to be seen in opposition to whatever powers would rather paint them anonymous and invisible.”- Revolution 2.12: The Revolution Will Not Be Veiled | Safa Samiezade’-Yazd
Read this.
![thepoliticalfreakshow:
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Faggot: Inside Marine Corps Boot Camp, And How The Stark Reality of Boot Camp Has Not Caught Up With Change [TW: Homophobia, Anti-Gay Bigotry and Discrimination, Graphic Explicit Language, Verbal Abuse]
What is Marine Corps boot camp really like? According to an email that a current recruit sent to a bunch of his friends, it’s a lot of being called a “faggot” by your drill instructors. And, if you happen to be brown-skinned, a lot of being called “terrorist.” Not to mention “beast mode” workouts.
After the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” act banning gays in the military was repealed in 2011, the Marine Corps’ top officer, Gen. John Amos (who argued against the repeal) said he was “very pleased with how it has gone.” The Marine Corps even brought the media along to a recruiting event at a gay rights center. But the current reality does not appear to be so loving for cadets.
The email below comes from someone currently attending USMC boot camp. (We’ve verified its authenticity and removed identifying details, but left it otherwise intact.) It’s no surprise that boot camp involves lots of cussing from drill instructors—but this section seemed a bit, well, retrograde: “Don’t ask Don’t Tell. Shit may have been repealed, but the USMC sure hasn’t adapted. We’re called faggots 10-50 times a day. ‘You think that’s yelling? That’s sweet faggot.’ ‘Yeah, you would think that’s a pushup, faggot.’ etc. Any time we fuck something up, the DI’s tell us ‘you stupid fucking thing. That’s more wrong than two boys fucking.’ One captain, when giving an ethics class, and talking about how one mistake can change your life/ identity told the entire company ‘you can be a bridge builder your entire life, but you suck one dick and you’re a cocksucker till you die.’”
In addition to rolling out the red carpet to gays interested in devoting their lives to their country, the Marine Corps has gone out of its way to note its tolerance for Muslims in the midst of America’s endless War on Terror. Abuhena Saifulislam, the Marines’ first Muslim chaplain, became a PR machine during the George W. Bush administration, giving “hundreds” of interviews aimed at “personifying the notion that there is nothing incompatible about serving both Islam and the US military.”
According to our boot camp guy, however, there may be something incompatible about appearing to possibly be a Muslim to a Marine Corps drill instructor. From the letter: “The one indian looking kid in the platoon gets ripped by the DI’s day one they started calling him a terrorist, a cabbie, and a small shop owner. ‘[Name] are you a fucking terrorist?’ ‘no sir’ ‘well, if you were a terrorist, you wouldn’t admit to it now would you?’ ‘no sir’ ‘so you’re probably a fucking terrorist.’ ‘aye sir’ ‘because you look like a fucking terrorist, why aren’t you driving a fucking cab like the rest of your people?’ ‘this recruit doesn’t know sir.’ ‘I know though, because you’re a fucking terrorist.’ Anytime he gets mail the DI’s don’t say his name and instead go ‘oh, great, more terrorist mail.’ and drop it on the ground like they don’t want to get anthrax, or pretend to listen to it like it’s a timebomb. When he answers questions wrong about our classes, they go, ‘you know why you don’t know the answer?’ ‘no sir’ ‘because your brain is full of fucking terrorist information, that’s why.’ ‘aye sir.’”
Indians, terrorists, cab drivers, faggots, “soup sandwiches.” The Marine Corps is vigilant to all threats. The full letter is below. Enjoy:
Bros + [friends],
sent this to [friend] to forward to all of you. I have very little time to write letters. I get through 1 or 2 a week. So, sorry for the delays in responding, I’ll get you all back individually, but figured this would be the best way pass on shit I’d end up copying and pasting to each of you anyway
Days start at 0400 and end at 2000 on the dot. Wake up w a few hours of pitch dark and go to sleep when it’s still light out.
We get out of the “racks” (bunks), get dressed at the same time, “scuzz the house” (fold our towels, align our extra boots/shoes make our racks, sweep the floor while squatting w a hand brush), then go to the chow hall. When we go to chow, like everywhere we go, we march to the drill instructor’s cadence. Every time we fuck something up (a movement, not screaming loud enough, not holding our rifles properly etc) we get the old “you don’t want to yell? Ok, fuck you, run and touch the trees, ok run back the other way, etc” not so fun at 0430
Chow is pretty Good. Looks like it’s US Foods, actually. I see the trucks all over the place and chuckle to myself (on the inside) every time… […] After chow we go to PT (physical training) This shit is awesome. It absolutely smokes me, which I wasn’t expecting. Some days it’s circuits like: run 1/4 mile, do 20 burpees, run 1/4 mile, do 40 body squats, run 1/4 mile, abs, run, pull-ups, repeat. Yeah, there are plenty of “fat disgusting pieces of shit.” (as the DI’s call them) but all that means is they go slower. If you go at your personal max pace, you’re guaranteed to be dead at the end.
Other PT workout will be crossfit stations w a run at the end, and sometimes it’s just as long (6 mile) march w/ 40 lbs on our backs. Those are whack, though, bc we go slower than [friend] getting up the stairs to [friend]’s apartment.
We learn a ton of martial arts, which is technically called MCMAP- marine corps martial arts program- bit I call it Karate and ninja training, which my DI’s don’t like one bit.
It started with boring punches and kicks, tiger shulman tae kwon do style, but now we’re learning throws, counters, elbows, stomps, bayonet attacks, bayonet defenses, etc. all of which we do at full speed and intensity on each other. (sometimes w pads but often not) IF the DI’s think we’re going easy on each other, they flip a shit.
The MCMAP shit is incorporated into our PT workouts, one of the best workouts we did was the martial arts conditioning course: 2 min of jab straight hook vs. a recruit w a pad throw a recruit over your shoulder, carry them back and forth btwn 2 cones 30 yards apart somersault (sp?) back and forth 30 yards apartment roundhouse kicks drag a recruit back and forth for 30 yards elbow strikes choke counters knee strikes run 1/2 mile punch blocks/throws crawl (low) in sand for 100 yards body squats run 1/4 mile
After we finished, when we thought we were done for the workout, we did a pull pushup/ab/mountain climber workout. again, the fat kids make it through bc they’ll get to a station and do the exercise like 5 times. But I beast mode it.
We also have done pugil sticks twice (google it.) fun as fuck. Get to wail away on a stranger w DI’s encouraging you to knock their head off. I’ll admit I’ve taken my share of blows, but on more than I’ve lost for sure. Some other fun PT shit has been the “confidence course”- a military-style ropes course, minus the B.S. safety harnesses. Google it. and the “obstacle course” which I think I explained to you all when I did it a while back for OCS. again, google it.
After PT we go back to the squad bay for a “PT shower” which is about 45 seconds under the water each, good enough to turn dirt to mud. Then we get dressed, march to chow, then go to class for the afternoon. Classes are boring as fuck (45 minutes on “honor” or an hour on sexual assault BS) or they’re fuckin’ sweet (combat care, USMC history, medal of honor stories, etc) they’re [name] middle school quality though… if that.
After classes we work on drill— very elementary version of what the dudes in the commercials do, throwing rifles in the air and shit. I can’t stand drill. Shit’s fucking dumb, but it takes up a lot of our time theses days. It’s supposed to “instill discipline” but you can’t tame the beast. I came here to learn how to hook, jab, stab, and shoot. Not walk in straight lines like some synchronized swimming shit. Oh well. […] Enough about that b.s. Some funny shit:
1) […]
2) […]
3) Don’t ask Don’t Tell. Shit may have been repealed, but the USMC sure hasn’t adapted. We’re called faggots 10-50 times a day. “You think that’s yelling? That’s sweet faggot.” “Yeah, you would think that’s a pushup, faggot.” etc. Any time we fuck something up, the DI’s tell us “you stupid fucking thing. That’s more wrong than two boys fucking.” One captain, when giving an ethics class, and talking about how one mistake can change your life/ identity told the entire company “you can be a bridge builder your entire life, but you suck one dick and you’re a cocksucker till you die.” Not much room for bitchassness. Even though only 10% of the corps is infantry, they treat everyone at about like they’ll be going to combat.
4) [Name]. This one younger kid from Philly took a shit ton of flak from the DI’s the first two weeks. So much so that he was saying “aye sir! aye sir!” in his sleep. One day, he got worked by the DI’s and after he was told to go back to the platoon. A DI came up to him and whispered “nobody fucking cares about you, [name], nobody is going to write to you. nobody is going to your fucking graduation.” [Name] broke, and started crying. The DI goes “yeah that’s right bitch,” then wipes the tears off [name] ‘s face licks them from his finger, and goes “yeah bitch”. Shit like that goes down every day except for the crying thing.
5) terrorist recruit. The one indian looking kid in the platoon gets ripped by the DI’s day one they started calling him a terrorist, a cabbie, and a small shop owner. “[Name] are you a fucking terrorist?” “no sir” “well, if you were a terrorist, you wouldn’t admit to it now would you?” “no sir” “so you’re probably a fucking terrorist.” “aye sir” “because you look like a fucking terrorist, why aren’t you driving a fucking cab like the rest of your people?” “this recruit doesn’t know sir.” ” I know though, because you’re a fucking terrorist.” Anytime he gets mail the DI’s don’t say his name and instead go “oh, great, more terrorist mail.” and drop it on the ground like they don’t want to get anthrax, or pretend to listen to it like it’s a timebomb. When he answers questions wrong about our classes, they go, “you know why you don’t know the answer?” “no sir” “because your brain is full of fucking terrorist information, that’s why.” “aye sir”
It’s impossible to remember all the funny shit that happens, it never ends. The DI’s are fucking hilarious every day, but it’s hard to explain, especially in writing. Let’s see… a few kids have gotten pretty fucked up during training . First, a kid in my platoon…got pissed at another recruit and pushed him. the recruit who got pushed, stood up and swung his rifle at my buddy, hitting him in the face w the muzzle. it ended up breaking my buddy’s eye socket, which dropped his eye. He’ll probably need facial surgery. He was put in a medical platoon to heal, which will take 4-6 weeks just to know whether he needs more work. He doesn’t go home and hardly earns any more means to communicate w family/ friends. Just sits there waiting to get better and restart training. the recruit who swung the rifle was taken from the platoon. Word was he could be charged w assault and put in the brig.
Yesterday, (thurs 4-19) we ran the obstacle course. A kid about 5 people behind me jumped from an obstacle awkwardly and broke his leg like that dude from [town] ([friend] sent me a pic) I didn’t see the kid go down, but it was gruesome apparently. We waited for the parameds, then went right on training. Heard from a recruit in the kid’s platoon that he snapped his femur. Nasty. Not what I heard at first. But that’s way way worse. Another kid didn’t hold his rifle properly during the bayonet assault course hit a tire, lost control, couldn’t hold the rifle, and it bounced back and knocked his two front teeth out. Sucks to suck. […]
We have this shit called “incentive training” or IT which is fast and furious, impromptu workouts w/ one drill instructors when we fuck up for anything. They’re like 10-15 minutes of pushups cruces, mountain-climbers, high knees, planks, jumping jacks, and burpees. They’ll wreck anyone. If you put out, which you have to do, end up unable to hold yourself up, no matter what shape you’re in. […]
Sometimes, on days when we already have hard PT, I’ll have another 4 IT sessions. Beast mode. Gotta say I love it. Someone jacks up a drill movement we get IT. Someone talks in formation, IT. I moved my neck in formation once and got IT but that’s rare.
[…]
There are a number of kids who are “failing to adapt” but they’re coming around. I don’t have much to do w/ them though (other than getting IT’d for them and yelling at them as squad leader) There are leaders and followers, fat kids and beasts, smart kids and dumb fucks, guys who are squared away and guys who are “soup sandwiches”, understandable w 55 guys.
[There] is a black kid from [southern state] named [name]. He’s the definition of slave genetics. I call him Django. He’s dumb as rocks, but a PT animal. He keeps me motivated during PT, I teach him how to speak english better than a combo the old guy in “duck dynasty” and Big Black from “Rob and Big”.
Since most of you asked, I haven’t fired my rifle yet. We go everywhere with them and I sleep w my head between two of them. But we aren’t at “firing week” - it’s in two weeks. Then, we’ll pour rounds down range. While we haven’t shot, other platoons are on the range every day from sun up to sun down so there’s a maelstrom of gunfire blasting around the base all day. Pretty awesome sound.
No, we don’t even stand near female recruits. I wouldn’t want to anyway… they smell worse than we do. Only 3-4 per platoon are even attractive. We see them at church (which is required, basically) and rarely at the chow hall. That’s it.
Anyway, I gotta get a lift in before lights. If this didn’t come across, I love it down here. None of my big concerns became realities. I get to learn badass shit, workout constantly, and am rewarded for being as intense as physically/mentally as possible for 16 hours a day. Life’s good, hardly ever been as satisfied when I go to bed as I am now.
Thank you all for your letters. They mean a lot to me and keep me more motivated than you think. Sorry again for the lack of personal response, but I really get no time to write… I hope your’e all well. Take a shot for me when you’re closing tabs at 0400… I’ll be waking up to a barrage of hateful, hateful yelling.
All love… and as we say 100x a day… Kill!
[Name]
[Image by Jim Cooke. Photo via Getty]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/1fe91fd33bd65fa8fa7dfd03737b8e63/tumblr_mn6syoB1tS1qjo9duo1_500.jpg)
