Serin
Lurker
My life is Movement, constant movement...like going downhill without brakes.
Posts: 97
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Post by Serin on Oct 22, 2008 15:56:09 GMT -5
Been busy. Working on a new forum, too.
Sorry about the delay!!
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Post by Nixie on Oct 22, 2008 17:31:31 GMT -5
YOU'RE ALIVE! *glomps*
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sheth
Newbie
Passive
Posts: 21
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Post by sheth on Oct 22, 2008 18:21:59 GMT -5
Hey, I think even I remember you, and I just got back for like, first time in MOOOONTHS a few days ago. Cool.
>>... << *jumps onto pile* MOAR!
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Post by Kristal Rose on Oct 22, 2008 22:28:53 GMT -5
Yay yay. Creating a forum? Are you still hanging out with the lizards and bats these days? Written any in months/years?
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Post by Tenjen on Oct 23, 2008 1:07:37 GMT -5
Heya Serin!
(slams himself into dogpile)
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Serin
Lurker
My life is Movement, constant movement...like going downhill without brakes.
Posts: 97
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Post by Serin on Oct 23, 2008 5:07:01 GMT -5
Can't....breathe!
Well, i'm almost done with my journalism school, actually.
And the other forum i've been bisy with was made by a bunch of breakaway TFS's.
Well, thanks for the replies!
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Post by Kristal Rose on Oct 23, 2008 5:32:36 GMT -5
That villainy quote is something I often have to point out to conspiracy thinkers.
Journalism school? Does this mean you'v been out of the service and failed to inform us people worrying about you?
Last I heard you were like on a two week leave back home or something.
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Serin
Lurker
My life is Movement, constant movement...like going downhill without brakes.
Posts: 97
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Post by Serin on Oct 23, 2008 5:49:28 GMT -5
Well, I am reclassing from Air Defense, my old job when I was in Ft. Lewis, to Public Affairs. I'm currently in Maryland, but will soon be on the road, then stationed at Ft. Riley.
I'm still in the military, though.
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Post by Kristal Rose on Oct 23, 2008 6:17:48 GMT -5
Ft. Lewis was in Iraq? Where's Ft Riley?
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Post by Nixie on Oct 23, 2008 12:54:40 GMT -5
Ft. Lewis is in Washington, somewhere between Seattle and Olympia. Cly's husband went there before he was sent to Iraq. Dunno about Ft. Riley, though.
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Serin
Lurker
My life is Movement, constant movement...like going downhill without brakes.
Posts: 97
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Post by Serin on Oct 23, 2008 14:42:04 GMT -5
Fort Riley is in Kansas. It's near my home, but Kansas is known for it's messed up weather.
Yes, I am back from Iraq. Have been since June. See how out of touch I am?
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Post by Kristal Rose on Oct 24, 2008 0:10:01 GMT -5
Yep yep.
How are you doing journalism college and service at the same time?
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Serin
Lurker
My life is Movement, constant movement...like going downhill without brakes.
Posts: 97
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Post by Serin on Oct 24, 2008 5:18:23 GMT -5
It's not Journalism college, though the studies are almost exactly alike.
It's the Defense Information School, based in Fort Meade, Md. I am now officially trained as a 46Q, a public affairs specialist. Basically, a journalist/PR guy for the army.
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Post by Kristal Rose on Oct 24, 2008 21:17:36 GMT -5
Oh no, you've really become the enemy now (no personal offense meant). If it was hard enough to talk straight about what you were going though earlier, it will be impossible now. It's hard to be sceptical of spin when it's your job to create it. Our radio journalists were arrested as conspiracy protestors themselves trying to cover protests of the republican convention. They asked the police for a better suggestion, and the police suggested being embedded in the police. ..The same police busting groups for protest crimes they hadn't committed yet. Journalists seem to be the first targets in such affairs these days. He who controls the news controls the nation. Since the 70's it's been the policy of the news to slight the notion that people really die in wars. Nothing to vote against then. Only the BBC has been slightly impartial, so now the networks give us british accent newscasters to renew our trust.
I expect more has been spent on PR than on translators. In the 1950's National Geographic magazine read like an ad for an international war machine, though I'm sure 1950's readers were too trusting to see they were reading crafted propoganda. I have little hopes that military PR will suggest solutions like negotiations, inspections, and other non-military courses of action that may be more appropriate.
Well, hopefully you don't come out too jaded or self-indoctrinated from this, and retain some balanced integrity. Hopefully you don't imagine further recruitment to be our eternal answer.
While I'm on my rave, let me condemn armed drones and drones/sattelites used for targetting. If it were all hand-to-hand combat, soldiers would stick more to causes they sincerely believed in.
I hear a majority of polled US soldiers stationed in Iraq say they would join the resistance if they themselves were Iraqis. This is the sort of thing the american public should be aware of when having any say in political decisions.
The news we get here is actually terribly poor. Only the liberal news even gives real footage of things like doors kicked in. The impression one could get, if they really tried to glean details, is that places like Baghdad are in check-point lock-down, that 10's of 1000's of locals are in jail to prevent their potential rsistance, and that most of the armed forces are protecting the oil industry.
The network news offers nothing to confirm or deny that situation. The mainstream portrayal of the war here is entirely about whether democracy and consumer commerce are prospering there.
For any thinking person, that suggests huge upheaval or even retaliation if we were to suddenly pull out entirely, and endless fatiguing effort to keep up the status quo.
If the military is really about protecting oil (from sabotage or abduction?), I suggest that the answer is to demand an entirely different sort of constitution of the Iraqis, one in which they 'must' renationalize their oil, charge what they want, and spread dividends equally to all national residents. Who would attack the oil then? Only some minority group wanting to be the political majority. And what would that cost us? Nothing! It really doesn't matter who owns the oil if they all sale it for whatever the market will bear. ..unless that 'who' is non-resident international corporations.
As I see it, the military is the arm of industry, and even then could serve a higher purpose being employed building new infrastructure like Iraqi power-plants and transcontinental electrical-superconductor transmission lines that can be upgraded to solar over the upcoming decades.
..or you could just send out postcards of tanks covered in garlands of flowers and servicemen hugging baby goats.
Who do you imagine your audience will be anyhow? API, anaylysts, lobbies, the american public, occupied residents?
I was dismayed you ever got involved in this racket in the first place, and am more dismayed you are to become their spokesperson. I don't blame you. Once you were there, it only makes sense to pursue your passion for writing in whatever form you could find. I would have rather you just got out as quick as you could then pursued a degree in fiction authorship.
Now that you're there though, I can only hope you serve the interests of the world and humanity above special interests paying your salary. As is, youve signed up to endorse the military, whethar the military is the best answer or not. I couldn't even endorse teddy bears under such conditions.
But you're there now. Make the best of it. Perhaps you can write fiction for radio free america radio-plays instead, some place were you can sneak in understanding and compassion, or otherwise uplifting entertainment, without making policy judgements in one direction or the other. You could even affect administration from within if you use some sublimated common-sense.
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Serin
Lurker
My life is Movement, constant movement...like going downhill without brakes.
Posts: 97
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Post by Serin on Oct 25, 2008 2:00:21 GMT -5
I'll try to answer your comments the best that I can. But just so you know, I have to disagree with some things that you've said. Oh no, you've really become the enemy now (no personal offense meant). If it was hard enough to talk straight about what you were going though earlier, it will be impossible now. It's hard to be sceptical of spin when it's your job to create it. We don't create 'spin', in the sense of political campaigns or advertisements. For one, creating spin usually leads to the scandals you hear about from the media community, and can lead to some nasty charges of slander, libel, or other legal charges. Political campaigns can do it because they, unlike media outlets, aren't providing news. I actually find it easier to speak my mind and express myself than I did before. Before, it was my job to monitor my systems and do what my chain of command directed. Which at times could seriously get on my nerves. As a PA, though, a free flow of ideas is appreciated, and those ideas can sometimes affect the newspaper you work with. Journalists seem to be the first targets in such affairs these days. He who controls the news controls the nation. Quite true. However, a lot of the journalist targeted, like Steven Glass or Geraldo Rivera, do something to obtain the ire of the community. Though it only is my personal observation, and not a statistic, Geraldo is treated like a sort of live grenade in the military ever since repeated incidents in 2001 and 2003, both with war coverage. Since the 70's it's been the policy of the news to slight the notion that people really die in wars. Out of respect for the families of the deceased. The recent media outrage for people not allowed near funerals was because the military wishes to give the families time to grieve. We still report the loss of life. But we give the family time to cope first before anyone can send the reporters to stick a microphone in their face. I have little hopes that military PR will suggest solutions like negotiations, inspections, and other non-military courses of action that may be more appropriate. It's just our duty to inform. Technically, any soldier can suggest anything to their chain of command using the 'open-door' policy, as long as it's within reason, and they haven't found help anywhere lower on the chain of command. Well, hopefully you don't come out too jaded or self-indoctrinated from this, and retain some balanced integrity. Hopefully you don't imagine further recruitment to be our eternal answer. Well, either this blanket reply can tell you I have become indoctrinated, or it can tell you I have gained some experience in the matter of replying to people. And my integrity is still my own. Integrity keeps you out of lawsuits, and usually makes for better stories than cheating, anyways. As for an 'eternal answer', I think it would be for humanity to get off it's obsession with criminal and fatal stupidity and just get along with one another. The impression one could get, if they really tried to glean details, is that places like Baghdad are in check-point lock-down, that 10's of 1000's of locals are in jail to prevent their potential resistance, and that most of the armed forces are protecting the oil industry The network news offers nothing to confirm or deny that situation. The mainstream portrayal of the war here is entirely about whether democracy and consumer commerce are prospering there. For any thinking person, that suggests huge upheaval or even retaliation if we were to suddenly pull out entirely, and endless fatiguing effort to keep up the status quo. We're limited to what we can say in the media, but we try to give as much information as we can without hurting the troops. What the media reports, however, we cannot change. We can only give them the news, and let them do with it as they will. I don't like a lot of massive media outlets, mainly because they all tend to radically shift in their view. Fox is highly conservative, MSNBC is highly liberal, CNN tends to shift one way or the other and most newspapers don't fare much better. As I see it, the military is the arm of industry, and even then could serve a higher purpose being employed building new infrastructure like Iraqi power-plants and transcontinental electrical-superconductor transmission lines that can be upgraded to solar over the upcoming decades. One difference: we don't get paid every time we restore power or clean water to a city. We usually end up doing it for free. As for the 'higher purpose', we are helping people out in Iraq by returning services and stability. It's my personal wish that we can simply stop taking weapons out into the streets, or ride around in armored humvees for fear of being shot or blown apart by IED's. But as long as the hateful, extremist mindset still prevails and causes men to hurt innocent civilians and U.S. soldiers, then we have to take every measure to make sure we're safe, and they pay for their crimes. Who do you imagine your audience will be anyhow? API, analysts, lobbies, the American public, occupied residents? I wouldn't use the term 'occupied,' but technically our audience is all of those listed above. The military needs to get it's story to everyone it can. We tell the American taxpayer, because they deserve to know about their armed forces. We inform the nations where the military is involved, to know why we are there. The military wants to present itself to the world, within reason. That's my job now. I was dismayed you ever got involved in this racket in the first place, and am more dismayed you are to become their spokesperson. I don't blame you. Once you were there, it only makes sense to pursue your passion for writing in whatever form you could find. I would have rather you just got out as quick as you could then pursued a degree in fiction authorship. Now that you're there though, I can only hope you serve the interests of the world and humanity above special interests paying your salary. As is, you've signed up to endorse the military, whether the military is the best answer or not. I couldn't even endorse teddy bears under such conditions. But you're there now. Make the best of it. Perhaps you can write fiction for radio free America radio-plays instead, some place were you can sneak in understanding and compassion, or otherwise uplifting entertainment, without making policy judgments in one direction or the other. You could even affect administration from within if you use some sublimated common-sense. I just did what I wanted to. The news is the gateway of information in our society, even with the rise of blogs and personal pages. I still believe that a person in the business can affect the world around him with the news, and not even just by using spin or scandal to change the perceived world. There are, literally, billions of stories to be told, around the world. I just want to be one of the people who tells them.
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