On Monday, a park in Staten Island became the staging ground for a Memorial Day military exercise gone very wrong. Ten people were treated for minor injuries after a landing Osprey aircraft carrying Marines whipped up debris and sent tree limbs flying onto spectators below.
Although it’ll take months to deploy 30,000 additional US troops into Afghanistan, the military has already dispatched a deadly fleet to the theater of combat: drones. Hopefully these aren’t the easily hackable ones. |AP|
Well, $25.95 to be exact. According to the Wall Street Journal, “intelligence officials” (ha!) said that that Iraqi militants, who were of course “Iranian-backed,” successfully hijacked live video feeds from the U.S. military’s Predator drones using “off-the-shelf software” like SkyGrabber. Read more »
The New York National Guard vandalized the Bushwick-Willamsburg border and surrounding areas, recently plastering up these recruitment flyers on light poles. The standards for admission to the Armed Forces have dropped significantly, and now, GEDs aren’t even required or citizenship for that matter, just a “permanent resident card.” In addition to promises of a $20,000 bonus and “PAID job training,” the flyer describes involvement with the Guard as ‘PART TIME (only 1 weekend a month & 2 wks a year).” That of course is true when there’s NOT major wars going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, that has already stretched our military to the hilt—this poor guy from Queens was killed last week when his humvee rolled. Although it doesn’t say it anywhere, those who join up will have to put in at least a year in Iraq. What used to be a fun way for New York residents to stay in shape, is now a surefire ticket to the frontlines of a war without an end depending on the policies of the next commander in chief. With only 27 days to go till the election, the misguided youth might want to wait and see who actually wins, it could mean the difference between getting your head blown off in Baghdad or getting hit with paintballs in the Catskills.
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With recruitment still at an all time low despite a $200 million a year ad campaign that includes sleekly designed posters, video games, and Facebook pages, the Army has a new strategy for attracting human fodder for Iraq: “a combination recruiting center/video arcade/retail store.” As if the Armed Forces recruiting station in Time Square proper wasn’t enough of an imprint to ensnare would be soldiers, they plan on opening a massive space that is basically a glorified arcade: “The 14,500-square-foot center will be a multimedia extravaganza with high-tech gadgetry, including flight simulators and life-size soldier video games. This new initiative that hopes on “building “brand experiences” that give potential recruits a taste of military service”—sans the threat of losing limbs or their lives—comes on the heels of the Army hiring it’s first ever CMO (chief marketing officer) to help boost recruitment goals. No so surprisingly this particular branch of the military is finding it increasingly difficult to get even the really dumb people to join, even after drastically lowering it’s admission standards. |NYP|
Thanks to a “Dinkins-era ban on nuclear-powered Navy ships entering New York Harbor,” Fleet Week’s fleet is continuing to shrink. Ever since Dinkins refused the the Navy’s plan for a “home port” in Staten Island to avert a nuclear disaster should an accident occur in such a densely populated area, the aquatic based brand of the armed forces has honored the ban and won’t show up unless there’s “explicit invitation from the city’s mayor.” |NYSun|
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