Canada closed to resisters

A story on Yahoo News caught my attention as it said war resisters, welcomed during the Vietnam era, are treated differently as no U.S. troop member from the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars seeking legal residency in Canada, either as a refugee or on humanitarian grounds, has been successful.

Army officials said more than 20,000 soldiers have deserted since 2006 – since the first President Bush’s war. Some deserters face court-martial but the majority are discharged on less-than-honorable terms.

Canadian government guidance issued to immigration officers in 2010 requires them to consult supervisors on U.S. military cases and spells out desertion is a crime that may render those who've left the military as criminally inadmissible to Canada.

“Before the Civil War, Canada was at the top of the Underground Railroad, said Author Margaret Atwood. “If you made it into Canada, you were safe unless someone came and hauled you back. This was also true during the Vietnam War for draft resisters.”

War Resisters International shares the following concerns about the practices of the all-voluntary force in America. I know just about everyone I served with joined because, like me, I didn’t have the money or grades for college

The procedure for recognizing conscientious objectors of the present all-volunteer military is solely in the hands of the military, and therefore is not independent and impartial, as required by Commission on Human Rights resolution 1998/77;

In practice, conscientious objectors who are denied the right to conscientious objection and who refuse orders to deploy are sentenced to prison;

The denial of educational benefits and other forms of discrimination against those who fail to register for a potential draft under the Military Selective Service Act is a violation of the right the education, and also amounts to punishment without trial;

The military has access to private data of high school students for recruitment purposes, which is a violation of the right to privacy;

Counter-recruitment activists face intimidation and arrest from police, military, and university authorities, which amounts to a violation of the right to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and;

The military's "stop loss" orders to extend the length of military employment contracts without the consent of the soldier are a violation of the Forced Labor Convention.

Because our Armed Forces are voluntary, a lot of the rules for protection under the Uniform Code of Military Justice just don’t apply.  Another Catch-22 for new recruits!  Someone should tell them.

A chance to act globally

It’s no secret I am ready to leave Boston, Mass. My family is finding it difficult to understand why I would return. One week after high school graduation, I moved to California, and then to New York City, the U.S. Navy and a journalist career that took me through 18 states. I haven't lived in Colorado full-time for 25 years.

But I am homesick – even more so in my 50ish years. I miss my friends, the mountains, weather … But what I miss most is the friendliness of the West.

Boston is a huge city squashed in a small area and it is not known for its human compassion. A 24-year-old woman pushed a 72-year-old woman yesterday who was crowding her and killed her. The senior citizen fell, cracked her head, and died. 

There are between 5-10 shootings every week. Three pre-teen boys were shot while riding their bikes this month!

Oh, you’ll see the happy sports photos but they hide the fact every person there hates the other!

Bostonians do not smile. If I happen to make eye contact and smile there are two responses: 1) WTF??! 2) Complete surprise which usually does prompt a smile.

Neighbors do not talk to each other. There might be some small talk while you’re shoveling snow together - the snowfall has to be about 10 feet for that to happen. But they seem fearful to get close to any one but family. And don’t get me started on the road rage because of traffic Massholes, a name New Englanders gladly embrace. Go figure.

There is an opportunity this Saturday, July 11, at 9 a.m. PT, 12 p.m. ET to join with thousands of people world-wide in a Global Compassion Meditation presented, free, by Deepak Chopra.

You can sign up here: https://chopracentermeditation.com/gm?utm_source=Campaign&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Global%20Meditation&utm_content=Registrant%20Email%20150710

The Compassion Meditation unites all participants with ‘one common intention: To turn around the rising tide of disconnection in the world and, through renewed empathy and love, reconnect to what truly matters’: Humans, animals, all inhabitants of this Planet Earth!

I plan to participate in the global community and hope you all have time to do so. The future of our existence is in peril.  (No guilt there. Lol)

Wish my rapist was called out

Despite sleeping through the night Tuesday for the first time since mid-April due to pain, (thanks to new meds!) I am again plagued with nightmares of my rape, still unacknowledged by the U.S. Navy. I never thought I would be triggered by America’s Favorite Father Bill Crosby!

I was waiting (into my second hour) for my MRI at the VA Hospital in West Roxbury, Mass., and the news of Cosby, again being silent on the rape accusations of 40 women, came on the TV in the waiting room. All of a sudden, I became very emotional.  Tears started flowing to my embarrassment.

As part of my treatment which I am now being denied through continued one-on-one therapy by the famed Boston VA, I let those tears flow during my MRI. I tried the process of getting through my feelings, but was having trouble.

After the MRI, I sought help, from no less than 11 people, to find out where the area (Boston) Vet Center was located. (That’s where the head of VA Mental Help recommended I go for psychiatric help now, which btw are not federally funded and have no psychiatrist on staff. It also costs me $19 and seven transfers from bus to subway to bus to get there. And nearly all Vet Centers are filled with 1) Men, and 2) Men who are still on the streets, not great for a survivor of MST!)

I went to the chapel and cried some more. Finally I went to the West Rox Mental Health Department for help. That took another three people and they called my psychiatrist. As it is 10 hours later, I don’t think she will call back any time soon to help!  Frustrating to say the least! I called the crisis line to reach out and feel better enough to write.

But, I digress into venting … My main problem with the whole Crosby affair are the statements by his counsel while trying to stop the newly released ADMISSION from the lying “role model” from being unsealed.  

Attorney George M. Gowen III reportedly argued “it would be terribly embarrassing for the material to come out,” adding it would be “very hurtful for his family, business associates, friends, and charities as they did not know.”  

So all this hoopla thanks to one man: Judge Eduardo Robreno, who reportedly was “guided by the sense Mr. Cosby had fashioned himself as a moral guide with pronouncements that offered his views on, among other things, child-rearing, family life, education and crime. The stark contrast between Bill Cosby, the public moralist, and Bill Cosby, the subject of serious allegations concerning improper (and perhaps criminal) conduct is a matter as to which The A.P. — and by extension the public — has a significant interest,” the judge wrote in a memorandum issued Monday. BOO YAH!

Tough shit if it is hurtful to his family, friends and business associates! I have no sympathy for them at all. Crosby was getting the ‘Ludes from somewhere!! Someone knew, and kept silent, (ALLOWED) in the past four decades, that he was drugging and raping women!

I often wonder how many other sailors were assaulted by my rapist due to me.

My former therapy friend, who is also triggered by Crosby, said of course we are affected when other women’s cases are being vindicated.

The lying aspect is just close to my heart and life as a victim of Military Sexual Trauma – it has only taken 30 years to get me to a stalled, unable to get a straight answer, Catch-22 state. But at least I am sober!