privacy v. the military

[movie zombie]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/washpost/20050623/tc_washpost/pentagon_creating_student_database

more food for thought.....


peace, movie zombie

 

[movie zombie]

yes, and we all know how well the ''opt out'' process works every day, don''t we?!

how will the pentagon pick its marketing victims? by median income in a zip code or school district? students with lower grades? by ethnic background? will they be checking medical records? will they design their pitch to meet the student''s profile? will school districts with lower ''leave no child behind'' test scores be targeted? will they also be checking family income? how long will they keep this information on file? who will be allowed access to it? will they in turn sell it? what about identity theft of such a young person''s information that can be used years later?

peace, movie zombie

 

[IrishEyes]

Well, well, well.....

They need to add another category to this... IF THE PERSON IS ALREADY IN THE MILITARY!!! I''ve been in for 5 years already and I''ve been called twice by a recruiter: "uh,yeah, hi Lisa. My name is Sgt. so and so, and I was wondering if you ever thought about joining the military??" ME: " Yes. Check your records, I''ve been in for 5 years. I got back from Iraq last year. Thank you for bothering me on my cell phone while I''m having dinner. Have a nice evening"

This would not be necessary if the Dept. of defense and Bush administration had PLANNED BETTER for the Iraq war, sending far too little troops in, resulting in umpteen hundreds of extensions and bad morale and feelings toward the military. Stop-losses didn''t help the situation. Now you have alot of ticked off troops who don''t want to be in anymore (myself included), and people who we can''t even pay enough to join. So now we resort to picking on high school kids by invading their privacy and harrassing them on their cell phones while they are at basketball practice. Good job.

But hey, I hope it works. More people signing up means my husband has a lesser chance of going back!

 

[AGBF]

Date: 6/23/2005 9:49:20 PM
Author: IrishEyes

They need to add another category to this... IF THE PERSON IS ALREADY IN THE MILITARY!!! I''ve been in for 5 years already and I''ve been called twice by a recruiter: ''uh,yeah, hi Lisa. My name is Sgt. so and so, and I was wondering if you ever thought about joining the military??'' ME: '' Yes. Check your records, I''ve been in for 5 years. I got back from Iraq last year. Thank you for bothering me on my cell phone while I''m having dinner. Have a nice evening''

...
So now we resort to picking on high school kids by invading their privacy and harrassing them on their cell phones while they are at basketball practice. Good job.

Thanks for this glimpse into another world. I have never seen a military recruiter or received a phone call from one. How do they decide whom to call? Where do they get the names and phone numbers? If it were random from a phone book, wouldn''t I be called, too?

Deb

 

[movie zombie]

i''m sure they already have done their demographics, deb. also, i think this calling of potentials didn''t happen so much until ''no child left behind'' made it mandatory that schools give up the private info. also, as IE pointed out, there hasn''t really been a need to make those phone calls until ''recently''. the way i remember it, one didn''t get a call unless you had gone in at some point to get info ''cause you were thinking of joining. they''d get all your contact info and then start hounding you. but that was years back before we invaded iraq.

once in the military data base, always in the military data base.......

peace, movie zombie

 

[IrishEyes]

Yup, movie zombie is right, that''s the way it used to be. I guess that''s how they still call me, because when I went in for some info (before 9/11 and the war), they get all your contact information. Unfortunately, they still don''t have me as "already enlisted a long time ago" in some of their records, so they still contact me from time to time to see if I want in

. If I had never gone in for info 5 years ago, they probably wouldn''t call me, as I''m 25 and been out of hs for awhile now. Right now they are picking on kids from 18- about 23ish.

It''s really annoying when they call, it''s like a bad telemarketing call. They real bugger is that they call me on my cell phone

 

[AGBF]

Date: 6/24/2005 11:54:09 PM
Author: IrishEyes
It's really annoying when they call, it's like a bad telemarketing call. They real bugger is that they call me on my cell phone

I think it's your patriotic duty to contact the recruiters and update your phone number with them. Maybe you could leave the number of an army base to which you have been attached. That is the professional way to handle this. After all, the army base (being military) could speak the same language as the recruiters!

Deb

 

[movie zombie]

oh, you devil, deb! what an excellent idea!

peace, movie zombie

 

[IrishEyes]

Regarding the calling thing, that''s funny you mention that because I actually did call them once!! I called back a recruiter and told him the number of the unit that I''m in, the number of the recruiter I went in through and all my info, etc. I said I just didn''t want to be called anymore. They said ok, some time went by, and I GOT ANOTHER CALL!!!!!

The thing with the military that alot of people don''t see is that they are extremely disorganized, at least the army! Honestly, you would be scared if you saw how things operated (or don''t!) in that organization! Paperwork, omg, they are the biggest tree-killers...paperwork gets "lost" all the time. You talk to one general or officer, only to find out a week later that they either forgot the conversation, or they left post and now you need to tell your story all over again to someone else. It takes awhile to be taken seriously by commanders (most of them, some are pretty good), even if you are a high-ranking NCO. And if they owe you money, FORGET IT!!! It takes weeks, sometimes months to get the money you are owed.

again, this is a generalization, not a consistent truth. Many units are different, many branches are different. But this is my experience, and several others experiences. After awhile you just roll your eyes and get used to it!

 

[AGBF]

IrishEyes,

have you read any of the books by the son of Alexander Haig? His first name escapes me at the moment (Douglas?), but I absolutely adore his work. If you haven''t read the first book, rush to the library and get it. I love all of them, but the first one is especially great! I''ll go look up his name on Amazon and report back. Sgt. Pepperfield, who can make things happen, is his right arm. She makes mincemeat of any officer who crosses her! What a great character she is!

Deb

 

[AGBF]

Date: 6/25/2005 7:13:23 PM
Author: AGBF
have you read any of the books by the son of Alexander Haig? His first name escapes me at the moment (Douglas?), but I absolutely adore his work. If you haven't read the first book, rush to the library and get it. I love all of them, but the first one is especially great!

Just back from Amazon. His name is Brian Haig and his first book was Secret Sanction. Being a compulsive reader, I had trouble tearing myself away from all the Amazon reader reviews of the book. I will say that members of the JAG who reviewed the book say that the book is full of errors. One recommended that Mr. Haig read the book (the title of which I promptly forgot) which gives the rules on courts martial!

Other readers don't like Mr. Haig's moral message or the fact that he calls Clinton a draft dodger. (Brian Haig is a West Point graduate and a soldier.) I gladly overlooked any of these deficits that I even noticed. His protagonist, Sean Drummond, has a very self-deprecating sense of humor which goes a long way with me. If a man can laugh at himself and his lack of machismo, I fall for him. But then I tend to agree that every woman loves a fascist. (Was that me? Did I say that?)

Deb

 

[AGBF]

Date: 6/25/2005 1:53:11 PM
Author: IrishEyes
Regarding the calling thing, that''s funny you mention that because I actually did call them once!! I called back a recruiter and told him the number of the unit that I''m in, the number of the recruiter I went in through and all my info, etc. I said I just didn''t want to be called anymore. They said ok, some time went by, and I GOT ANOTHER CALL!!!!!

You weren''t listening, IrishEyes! You went about this in entirely the wrong way! Just call them with your new phone number! You were clearly giving them far too much information. There was no way they could process all that, so they dumped it. What did you expect to happen? Call, say you are interested in joining but are never called back. Explain that want to be called at your NEW phone number!

Deb, shaking her head

 

[IrishEyes]

Haha Deb, I got you now!!

Yup, that''s my downfall, I''m always too honest!

I''ll have to get that book next time I go to the bookstore, thanks for the recommendation!

and yes, I agree...most women do fall for the fascists, hehehe