The U.S. Marines are incredibly adept at killing people. Most know 1,583 methods of killing somebody and re-arranging the victim’s body parts within five seconds. However, some were not taught a basic trait that encompasses all of humanity: when to keep your mouth shut.

Yesterday, the Chairman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff (U.S.), Marine General Peter Pace, made some statements that prove he does not know when to keep quiet. I suppose he feels that an 18-star general has the right to publicly berate individuals. They also have the right to practice an act that is not illegal in the U.S.: stupidity.

According to the New York Times:

The subject of gays and lesbians in the U.S. military is like the Energizer Bunny: it just keeps going and going. In the 1990s, an official program called "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" was implemented by the U.S. military. The subject was supposed to be closed.

However, according to the 10^th Annual Report of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), more than 10,000 gay or lesbian individuals have been released from their duties (active military or civilian defense positions) since 1994 because of their sexual orientation. In other words "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" is not the same as "Don’t Get Fired."

The reasons for not allowing gays into the U.S. military are preposterous. Most opponents of gay servicepeople assess that the homosexual soldier may become a hazard to his/her comrades because they are housed in the same areas and use the same shower facilities. They also maintain that during battle, a gay soldier may not be as good as a heterosexual because he may be distracted by the sea of males surrounding him.

I have seen many short videos of battles between the U.S. military and the Iraqi resistance. They are violent, quick and brutal. I doubt there has ever been one incident of a gay soldier, protecting himself behind a tank who stated to a soldier in front of him, "Nice ass, corporal."

Pace speaks of morals, yet he is the number one U.S. military person behind one of the most immoral acts in the history of our planet: the March 2003 invasion of Iraq. I have yet to hear him speak out about the millions of Iraqi citizens who have died since 1991 because of U.S. military activities and the keeping in place of the deadly embargo against Iraq. Maybe he thinks that is moral.

Homophobia is not exclusively a U.S. phenomenon. It is universal.

The Iraqi quisling government is masterful and it practices and condones the killing of gay Iraqis, all the time right under the noses of their U.S. bosses.

Ayatollah Sistani has published a fatwa calling for the deaths of all gay and lesbian Iraqis using the most vile methods available. The stooges have taken him at his word and have killed thousands of gay and lesbian Iraqis.

Some have fled to Britain and are attempting to bring to the world’s attention the current slaughter in Iraq. Nobody seems to care. Not one U.S. official has uttered a word about this genocide. Imagine if this happened under Saddam. The U.S. would be speaking of it 24 hours a day and demand his head. But, Saddam is dead and the current violence against gays in Iraq can not be attributed to him. In a way, Saddam’s death may be helpful in assessing the real criminals in Iraq. Since March 2003, the U.S. can no longer say, "Saddam did it."

Until about six months ago, there were some "safe" houses in Iraq for gays and lesbians where people would meet and discuss methods of leaving Iraq or keeping out of view of the Iraqi police and death squads. Today, most, if not all, of the safe houses have been discovered.

There are no exact figures of how many gays and lesbians have been killed in Iraq since the demise of the prior regime. But, it must be in the thousands.

Just last week, a U.N. report was released that stated in excess of 34,000 Iraqis had been killed in the first six months of 2005. An Iraqi stooge spokesman challenged the number. He said it was inaccurate because homosexuals were included in the number of dead. In other words, homosexuals are not human.

Where is the U.S. when statements like this come from their own appointed Iraqi traitors? There is only silence. This lack of response from the U.S. must mean only one thing: the government (Republicans and Democrats) must agree with the housecleaning of gays and lesbians in Iraq. Who are the real immoral people: homosexuals or the millions of people who ignore the massacre of Iraqi homosexuals? My feeble atheist brain can not understand how the roles of the players in this scenario have been reversed. Then again, I don’t read the Bible. To those homophobic Christians who cite the Bible for their bigotry, I am just as immoral as homosexuals. We are in the same boat. Oops, I shouldn’t have said that. Maybe, while in that boat, a homosexual will try to accost me. I won’t ask if he won’t tell.

As I wrote this piece, I received an e-mail message from a reader in Canada. He has something to say to General Pace. I’ll conclude with his remarks:

Afterword: Pace’s first name is Peter. In the U.S., this is a commonly-used slang name for "penis." Just think, he could be called "Penis Pace." It seems to have a good ring to it. Very appropriate as well.

Saturday/Sunday, February 3-4, 2007

TALKING MILKSHAKE HOLDS BOSTON HOSTAGE

By: Malcom Lagauche

www.malcomlagauche.com

In 1938, Orson Welles, then a young radio presenter for Mercury Theater on the Air, broadcast a Halloween special narration of the H.G. Well’s classic War of the Worlds. His depiction was so real that much of the U.S. panicked and thought the country was under attack from Martians.

A few days ago, a similar incident occurred in Boston, however, the results are even more preposterous than the migration of people in 1938 who listened to Orson Welles’ broadcast. The city of Boston was virtually shut down and brought to a standstill over the promotion of an obscure cartoon series that stars a talking milkshake whose comrades are a box of fries and a meatball.

Throughout Boston, and eight other U.S. cities, dozens of one-foot high blinking electronic devices were placed a few weeks ago. The cartoon on the devices included graphic-like figures making an obscene one-fingered gesture. Then, on Wednesday, for some unknown reason, Boston officials panicked and thought the devices may have been planted by terrorists.

According to the Associated Press:

The two people responsible for the placement of the figures in Boston (Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens) were apprehended and held a press conference. They gave a short response about hairstyles in the 1970s and appeared to be amused. However, authorities have promised to leave no stone unturned in prosecuting them. They could face up to five years in prison.

Public officials in Boston are irate and have blamed the couple for intentionally trying to terrorize the public. This is a problematic assumption considering that the figures had been prominently displayed for three weeks before any action was taken. Maybe Boston officials should be tried instead of the creative artists. After all, it was they who created a panic scenario, not Berdovsky and Stevens.

Throughout the day, TV stations showed the reactions of various law enforcement agencies in the U.S. to the Boston panic. In the Seattle, Washington area, authorities said the devices were "obviously not suspicious."

I saw an MSNBC video clip of King County Sheriff’s Sgt. John Urquhart discussing the issue. At first, he was serious and attempted not to defame Boston authorities, but he could not hold a straight face. He spoke a couple of words, then began snickering. He composed himself and before he could speak again, he broke out in raucous laughter. Despite there being a "blue line" under which police never criticize publicly their brothers and sisters in law enforcement, Urquhart could not contain his display of the silliness of the incident. When he was able to utter a coherent statement, he said, "People don’t need to be concerned about this. These are cartoon characters giving the finger."

Boston officials are red-faced. It cost the city $750,000 to implement its bogus shutting down of the city. Unfortunately, they will turn the situation around and try to put a couple of young, creative people in prison. It was the stupidity and errors in judgement of the city officials that created the panic, not a silly cartoon character giving a one-finger salute. This gesture now becomes a symbol that is applicable to all the Boston officials who are trying to disguise their embarrassment.