Didn't the army fire a bunch of guys who were fluent in Arabic and familiar with the culture because they were gay? Seems that I heard something about that.

Maybe I don't have the story straight (so to speak).

Regards,

Alan

Every ship and naval station was assigned a four-letter code (perhaps all military stations). Guantanamo Bay's code was GTMO, ergo Gitmo. My memories of Gitmo. I was on an aircraft carrier. She anchored in the Bay. Security was over the top--frogmen and all, we were told. So, there I am one day at the landing waiting for a launch back to the ship; and here comes this little wooden boat, gaily colored, chugging past the ship and nobody pays it any attention. And I knew enough not to ask the obvious question; this, of course, is the military bureaucracy. The boat docks at the landing and there are a few Cuban guys selling pineapples. They "skinned" it and cut down the thorny greens on top (what is that called?) into a cone shape that you held onto while eating the fruit. It was so sweet and juicy that I still (almost) salivate when I think of it. Absolutely delicious! Then there was the Cuban beer at the service clubs. Called Hatouey or something akin to that. I just recently learned that this was the name of a Cuban patriot from aways back. One bottle would be like water, the next like whiskey. How do you say "quality control" in Spanish? Then the Cuban workers on base, especially the women. You could look, drool, and wish. But one word to her was an instant report and a mast. The big problem was on the bus that went around the base. One day a gorgeous young woman sat down next to me and started giving me a lovely "Yanqui, I'm gonna give you a stiffy" smile. Any place else and I would have asked her, "What are you doing now that you've quit your career in modeling?" Works. Then there was the story about "fence pussy" in the lighthouse area. Americans couldn't go into town (Santiago de Cuba, if I remember correctly), so prostitutes would come to the lighthouse area, make their deals, bend over, and back into the fence. I don't know if this is true or not, but it makes for a great story.

In my next post I'll tell you about cleaning the E Division head.

The Japanese internment was set in motion by FDR's Executive Order 9066. The internment authority was the Alien Enemy Control Unit of the Department of Justice. Edward Ennis, wartime director of the Unit, was also spokesman for the ACLU. He argued the cases in the lower courts and when they reached the United States Supreme Court he wrote the briefs for the Solicitor General. The internment cases were decided in 1943 and 1944. 900 Alaskan Aleuts were also interned. None of the lawyers who represented the Japanese-Americans had the backing of the national ACLU. Earl Warren, California's Attorney-General at the time, supported the evacuation.

Legalized Racism: The Internment of Japanese Americans: by Anupam Chander --
      http://www.chander.com/docs/internment.pdf

Justice at War: Civil Liberties and Civil Right During Times of Crisis, by Peter Irons

Farewell to Manzanar: A True Story of Japanese American Experience During and After the World War II Internment, by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston

Eisenhower is said to have stated that Earl Warren was "the biggest damned-fool mistake I ever made". But America is a better place due to some of the Warren court's monumental decisions. For more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Warren

The ACLU is a different story; it picks and chooses its cases well. See one example: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE6DB113AF933A2575AC0A96F948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=3

Here's an interesting angle on the "torture" that the US is alleged to have used. Apparently, according to a recent story in the New York Times, the interrogation tactics used were more-or-less copied from the Chinese Communist handbook for questioning American prisoners-of-war during the Korean war.

I remember during that war we heard a lot of politicians say that these tactics showed how evil those Chinese Communists actually were.

Well Muddy,

As we all know, fear can turn into white-hot anger.

Here's another angle on the USA and torture. Apparently, our tax dollars are paying for the spread of other countries using torture.

According to this story on USA Today, US agents are teaching Mexican police in the city of León torture techniques. This has become a huge scandal in Mexico, where the drug war has caused many deaths and what is beginning to look more and more like the beginnings of a civil war.

Here is a part of the video that was played on Mexican television that has caused such an uproar.

Another reason why foreign aid sucks. Not that foreign aid ever doesn't suck.

Everytime I think of foreign aid I think of the book "The Mouse That Roared" by Leonard Wibberley

Don't even get me started on Mexico and drugs