tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post5904901633785690288..comments2024-03-15T23:25:52.517-07:00Comments on the joy of sox: Thoughts Prompted By The Red Sox Foundation's Association With "Run To Home Base"allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04673233312198832937noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-8646717548855850872010-06-09T12:18:52.464-07:002010-06-09T12:18:52.464-07:00I had Zinn in my comment at first, but I wanted so...I had Zinn in my comment at first, but I wanted someone who could be at Fenway in 15 minutes if necessary, and it seemed like Chomsky fit the bill better (or more many more years, including recently).allanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04673233312198832937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-68917126272737836412010-06-09T11:51:22.577-07:002010-06-09T11:51:22.577-07:00Footnote: Howard and I went to Sox games now and t...<em>Footnote: Howard and I went to Sox games now and then. I share in a season ticket plan. I just inadvertantly punched up an e-mail from Hward, April 2008. I'd been bitching about Terry Francona's nature of playing relief pitching by the book, not gong with the hot hand, having certain pitchers for particular situations and innings. Howard e-mailed back: "Yes, sometimes Francona's tactics are frustrating, like when he takes a pitcher out who's been pitching beautifully and puts in, not Okajima or Papelbon, but Timlin and Tavarez." Smart baseball man, too, Howard Zinn.</em><br /><br />--http://www.jimsullivanink.com/content/view/1704/51/johngoldfinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09322562737172405323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-69785832517170478852010-06-09T11:03:50.046-07:002010-06-09T11:03:50.046-07:00Thanks for these links, L; since I come from a cou...Thanks for these links, L; since I come from a country without much in the way of a strong military tradition, except perhaps for UN service, a lot of these issues are fairly new for me in terms of how to figure out what I think about them. Before I moved to the US, my job involved a lot of work with UN military operations, which involve their own internal contradictions...Garethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08544047015325046422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-76070925464036484912010-06-09T10:07:08.262-07:002010-06-09T10:07:08.262-07:00Oops, wrong link. That was Volunteers for Peace, a...Oops, wrong link. That was Volunteers for Peace, also an excellent group. Veterans For Peace is <a href="http://www.veteransforpeace.org/" rel="nofollow">here</a>.laura khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05524593142290489958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-31547892491781471802010-06-09T10:06:07.328-07:002010-06-09T10:06:07.328-07:00Gareth, thanks, now I understand what you mean. I ...Gareth, thanks, now I understand what you mean. I thought you meant that it was difficult for you to reconcile your beliefs. For veterans and military families, yes, that's something else. It's a shame, because it divides us.<br /><br />Groups like <a href="http://vfp.org" rel="nofollow">Veterans for Peace</a> and <a href="http://ivaw.org" rel="nofollow">Iraq Veterans Against the War</a>, and of course MFSO, which I linked to above, are so important for that.laura khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05524593142290489958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-19608232094729615192010-06-09T10:03:24.010-07:002010-06-09T10:03:24.010-07:00I wonder if Howard Zinn, for instance, was ever of...<i>I wonder if Howard Zinn, for instance, was ever offered the opportunity (other local academics have certainly thrown out first pitches).</i><br /><br />I wish I could send this post and ask him. :(laura khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05524593142290489958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-87738262819643593292010-06-09T09:58:24.480-07:002010-06-09T09:58:24.480-07:00I think what I meant to say was that I find that a...I think what I meant to say was that I find that a difficult line to walk sometimes in conversation with at least some veterans who have different political stances from me, and who don't necessarily think I can separate my views on military action from support for them as veterans (indeed them as people). <br /><br />My neighbour, who I like on a great many other levels including his most generous skills with a breakfast skillet, has a bit of a hard time with this and can't quite process the fact that I've donated to veterans' causes while objecting to the campaigns on which those same veterans served!Garethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08544047015325046422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-36117593565970576672010-06-09T09:56:53.137-07:002010-06-09T09:56:53.137-07:00That's an excellent point, re Chomsky, Zinn, S...That's an excellent point, re Chomsky, Zinn, Sheehan. Especially Zinn, such a fixture in Boston, and as John says, a veteran himself! But having any of these folks throw out a ceremonial pitch would be considered controversial, political, statement-making. <br /><br />Cindy Sheehan of all people should be unassailable. But no. The warmongers have tarred her is a wacko, unhinged by grief.laura khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05524593142290489958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-23030436059454933722010-06-09T09:54:35.552-07:002010-06-09T09:54:35.552-07:00I agree entirely on your point re Cindy Sheehan an...I agree entirely on your point re Cindy Sheehan and/or Noam Chomsky: just as I don't mind the military folks throwing out the first pitch I would embrace the political diversity of either of the above or indeed many others, although of course many other people would object vociferously. I wonder if Howard Zinn, for instance, was ever offered the opportunity (other local academics have certainly thrown out first pitches).Garethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08544047015325046422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-16903688431113032772010-06-09T09:54:30.306-07:002010-06-09T09:54:30.306-07:00Gareth, excellent comment.
I find it a very hard...Gareth, excellent comment. <br /><br /><i>I find it a very hard line to walk at times, objecting to the principle of military action but wishing to be supportive of those, including my next-door-neighbour, who have sacrificed an awful lot in some cases and who aren't getting the care they now deserve.</i><br /><br />I suggest that it's not difficult at all. You support the care and rights of veterans, and you would like to see fewer veterans created. <br /><br />It's no more contradictory than, for example, my being a feminist and supporting women's rights, and supporting peace, and supporting women's rights within the military. <br /><br />Never let anyone tell you that supporting peace is different from supporting the troops. I want every single one of those troops brought home, alive and intact. I want them to have full care for whatever they need after they come home. What could be more supportive than that?laura khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05524593142290489958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-43284573707012068262010-06-09T09:49:09.792-07:002010-06-09T09:49:09.792-07:00Howard Zinn was also no stranger to the precincts ...Howard Zinn was also no stranger to the precincts of Kenmore Square. And a WW2 vet....johngoldfinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09322562737172405323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-46446955488662663002010-06-09T07:06:42.883-07:002010-06-09T07:06:42.883-07:00I don't really mind the military folks who thr...<i>I don't really mind the military folks who throw out the first pitch, although I don't really enjoy the accompanying narrative about protecting my freedom.</i><br /><br />I wonder when the last peace activist, maybe someone like Cindy Sheehan, threw out a pitch at Fenway Park.<br /><br />Noam Chomsky has worked about 2 miles from Fenway for decades. I doubt he ever got a call.allanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04673233312198832937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-39410179360581296752010-06-09T06:57:41.098-07:002010-06-09T06:57:41.098-07:00New York Times, April 24, 2010:
A year ago, Speci...<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/health/25warrior.html?hp" rel="nofollow">New York Times, April 24, 2010</a>:<br /><br />A year ago, Specialist Michael Crawford wanted nothing more than to get into Fort Carson’s Warrior Transition Battalion, a special unit created to provide closely managed care for soldiers with physical wounds and severe psychological trauma.<br /><br />A strapping Army sniper who once brimmed with confidence, he had returned emotionally broken from Iraq, where he suffered two concussions from roadside bombs and watched several platoon mates burn to death. The transition unit at Fort Carson, outside Colorado Springs, seemed the surest way to keep suicidal thoughts at bay, his mother thought.<br /><br />It did not work. He was prescribed a laundry list of medications for anxiety, nightmares, depression and headaches that made him feel listless and disoriented. His once-a-week session with a nurse case manager seemed grossly inadequate to him. And noncommissioned officers — soldiers supervising the unit — harangued or disciplined him when he arrived late to formation or violated rules.<br /><br />Last August, Specialist Crawford attempted suicide with a bottle of whiskey and an overdose of painkillers. By the end of last year, he was begging to get out of the unit.<br /><br />“It is just a dark place,” said the soldier, who is waiting to be medically discharged from the Army. “<b>Being in the W.T.U. is worse than being in Iraq.</b>”<br /><br />Created in the wake of the scandal in 2007 over serious shortcomings at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Warrior Transition Units were intended to be sheltering way stations where injured soldiers could recuperate and return to duty or gently process out of the Army. There are currently about 7,200 soldiers at 32 transition units across the Army, with about 465 soldiers at Fort Carson’s unit.<br /><br />But interviews with more than a dozen soldiers and health care professionals from Fort Carson’s transition unit, along with reports from other posts, suggest that the units are far from being restful sanctuaries. <b>For many soldiers, they have become warehouses of despair, where damaged men and women are kept out of sight, fed a diet of powerful prescription pills and treated harshly by noncommissioned officers.</b> Because of their wounds, soldiers in Warrior Transition Units are particularly vulnerable to depression and addiction, but many soldiers from Fort Carson’s unit say their treatment there has made their suffering worse. ...<br /><br />***allanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04673233312198832937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-61542887444697079142010-06-09T06:49:10.287-07:002010-06-09T06:49:10.287-07:00Excellent post: the reflexively supportive associa...Excellent post: the reflexively supportive association with the military (I especially dislike the flyovers) is something that makes me uncomfortable, the more so since I'm not actually American. Sport, it seems to me, is one of those great ways to unite people - certainly been a wonderful way for me to feel a part of Boston - but the political gloss added by the decision to align more-or-less unquestioningly with the idea of military-as-good is unfortunate at best. <br /><br />I don't really mind the military folks who throw out the first pitch, although I don't really enjoy the accompanying narrative about protecting my freedom. Of course, I'd be happy if the announcer said, "wouldn't it be nice if this fine veteran received the support she deserves from the government who sent her overseas," or something even more critical, but that's simply because it happens to tally better with my political leanings...<br /><br />I find it a very hard line to walk at times, objecting to the principle of military action but wishing to be supportive of those, including my next-door-neighbour, who have sacrificed an awful lot in some cases and who aren't getting the care they now deserve.Garethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08544047015325046422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-63197355236742999472010-06-09T05:15:16.007-07:002010-06-09T05:15:16.007-07:00it was probably always a bit like this
It was alw...<i>it was probably always a bit like this</i><br /><br />It was always like this, and worse. You can trace reports on the disgusting conditions in VA hospitals straight back to the Civil War. <br /><br />World War I was among the worst ever for war profiteering - companies contracted to supply the troops (on both sides), who would then pocket the money and supply boots with cardboard soles (good for dying in the trenches) and rations mixed with sawdust. <br /><br />In the present day, reporters aren't even allowed in Walter Reed Hospital anymore without an appointment and a tour guide. Denzel Washington recently donated $2 million dollars to build a new wing and buy new equipment. His generosity is moving and it's a great thing, but why is it needed?laura khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05524593142290489958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-50199110631468567112010-06-09T05:07:13.991-07:002010-06-09T05:07:13.991-07:00Yes you are being too political.
And I'm GLAD...Yes you are being too political.<br /><br />And I'm GLAD!<br /><br />Good points all around. Being the son of a WWII vet, I have no problem remembering and honoring those who have served for our benefit. But I think it can be done without glorifying the act of war itself, which is an abomination to all of humanity, especially to those who have the least to say in the matter, the least to gain, and the most to lose.SoSockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15982944966573089279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-81551068849615824472010-06-09T04:32:16.369-07:002010-06-09T04:32:16.369-07:00Becomes a Canadian and boom! I'm just glad to...Becomes a Canadian and boom! I'm just glad to politics back in the blog where it belongs.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-74513685214906327072010-06-08T21:25:18.503-07:002010-06-08T21:25:18.503-07:00Great post. Totally was going to quote what L alre...Great post. Totally was going to quote what L already quoted. I "love" the double standard set where praising the military is seen as a sign of character/strong moral spirit/etc. but criticizing/speaking out is seen as being a fucking pinko hippie whacko.<br /><br />As usual, always reminds me of Propagandhi lyrics...they're just so true and so much more succinct and great than I could ever be.<br /><br /><i> “On this Day of Remembrance let us not kneel and pray for the dead. Let us stand and activate for the living, to rescue those about to die"</i><br /><br />And the whole middle/end of <a href="http://americasarmy.ca/" rel="nofollow">this ditty</a>..."decades of bilge water that you’ve let us pump into your homes" - i.e. white hats last sunday at the sox game. all sorts of the rah-rah military recognition things that occur throughout the season, etc. etc.timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12041184236514293677noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-26405939875305917022010-06-08T19:55:49.891-07:002010-06-08T19:55:49.891-07:00Wow - great post, Redsock, thanks! Couldn't ag...Wow - great post, Redsock, thanks! Couldn't agree more. The 'Frontline' show called 'The Wounded Platoon' was absolutely awesome - it's still online. Makes you weep. And I agree - it was probably always a bit like this. And this photo essay on 'the Marlboro Marine', the guy in that famous Fallujah photo, is amazing: http://www.mediastorm.com/publication/the-marlboro-marine.MacLeodCartoonshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02508412401089448874noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-10281502081784873012010-06-08T14:01:54.659-07:002010-06-08T14:01:54.659-07:00Although "invasion" and "occupation...Although "invasion" and "occupation" and "slaughter" are more accurate terms, what has been going on in Afghanistan is now <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2010-05-27-longest-war-afghanistan_N.htm" rel="nofollow">the longest war in US history</a>.<br /><br />(Iraq is currently #3. Another 18 months and it will be #2.)allanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04673233312198832937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-14947003875764236462010-06-08T12:51:12.000-07:002010-06-08T12:51:12.000-07:00There is something deeply weird about raising fund...There is something deeply weird about raising funds privately to care for wounded veterans and their families.<br /><br />Of course, there's something deeply weird about sending people off to battle with star wars weaponry but armor insufficient to protect soldiers from roadside bombs.<br /><br />Is it possible that for all our patriotic sanctimony about our warriors, there is also a deep counter-current of hatred for these same soldiers, sailors, and Marines? Hatred that they do what we won't? Hatred that they are officially lionized and we aren't? Hatred that they are often without any other options and we aren't? Hatred that they do what we say even when we don't really think what we say is right?<br /><br />Maybe hatred explains why we expect veterans to fend for themselves, disappear, be invisible. That's what they were before they signed up! We celebrate Veterans' Day, the thinking may go, so why won't they just STFU and stop making us feel guilty?johngoldfinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09322562737172405323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-19788623245733459722010-06-08T12:11:56.220-07:002010-06-08T12:11:56.220-07:00Good links!
Military Families Speak Out says: Su...Good links! <br /><br /><a href="http://mfso.org" rel="nofollow">Military Families Speak Out</a> says: Support Our Troops - Bring Them Home Now - Take Care of Them When They Get Herelaura khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05524593142290489958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-75321219005189709362010-06-08T11:57:59.844-07:002010-06-08T11:57:59.844-07:00http://www.thenation.com/article/disposable-soldie...http://www.thenation.com/article/disposable-soldiers<br /><br />http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joshua-kors/when-the-army-uses-enhanc_b_536727.html<br /><br />Apropos of the army mistreating its soldiers.Philiphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11371983674011809680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-13946829250746433952010-06-08T11:18:20.138-07:002010-06-08T11:18:20.138-07:00Expressing support for the military is the default...<i> Expressing support for the military is the default setting for mainstream society, part of our normal discourse. However, speaking out against military activities -- or simply mentioning a few facts -- well, that's injecting politics into the world of sports, and could we please just focus on the game for a few hours, Mr. Bleeding Heart? I cannot begin to tell you how much this pisses me off.</i><br /><br />It happens on every level, including to players. When a player spouts off about veterans and servicepeople, brave men and women, defending blah blah blah, they are caring, upstanding, proud Americans. When Carlos Delgado expressed his desire *peace*, and signed a call to end US bomb testing at Vieques, Puerto Rico, he was lambasted, boo'd, hated. <br /><br />I saw a columnist wonder if anyone would want to sign Delgado "with his history". I was pleased to see a letter to the editor asking why such "history" - valuing peace over war - should possibly affect Delgado's career.laura khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05524593142290489958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-16117834547796856932010-06-08T11:04:47.872-07:002010-06-08T11:04:47.872-07:00Thanks for this.Thanks for this.laura khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05524593142290489958noreply@blogger.com