The Pentagon policy of allowing transgender members of the military to serve openly just began October 1.
Army officials have announced that the first ten soldiers have formally asked to be recognized in their new gender.
The Sensible Futures Party.
Our platform:
1) phase out fossil fuel production according to the general template given here
2) a community garden in every suburb -- use eminent domain to take over vacant lots
3) redirect the military toward climate change mitigation work
So I registered at https://presidentialopenquestions.com/ and asked this question. I hope we can get a million people or so to vote for the question I submitted. I know dip about social media and youtubing and whatnot, but I think this is a question that, if asked in public, changes a lot of public discussion.
How crazy is Donald Trump, or more appropriately, how far outside of the mainstream of US politics is he?
This week over at The Intercept, Robert Mackey posted a piece about Trump's policy proposal to use the US military as the muscle to seize the oil resources of Middle Eastern countries.
His article recounts the many occasions that Trump has touted this policy in interviews and suggests that we can "better understand what Trump really is," by viewing him through this lens.
To give you a flavor of the commentary that Mackey is referring to, here is a condensed version of some of Trump's word salad that Mackey quotes from an appearance on the Bill O'Reilly show (emphasis mine):
"In the old days, when you had wars, you win, right? You win. To the victor belong the spoils. So when we go to Iraq, we spend $1.4 trillion so far and thousands of lives are lost, right? And not to mention all the poor guys and gals with one arm and no arm and all the problems, right? ... I like the old system better: You won a war, you stay there, and you keep the oil. And you know, then those people will not have died in vain. Forget the money we spent, they will not have died in vain. ... You stay and protect the oil, and you take the oil and you take whatever is necessary for them and you take what’s necessary for us and we pay our self back $1.5 trillion or more. We take care of Britain, we take care of other countries that helped us, and we don’t be so stupid."
Mackey goes to some effort to demonstrate that Trump is a lunatic version of Smedley Butler's nightmare.
Military.com announced yesterday the release of a new TriCare policy which includes some coverage of treatment for transgender people. TriCare governs medical treatment for military members, their family, and retirees.
The move gives the health care system's regional contractors the go-ahead to cover some transgender care starting Oct. 6.
After a delay that has lasted several months the Pentagon is planning to publicly announce the repeal on its ban on service by transgender troops on July 1.
Top personnel officials plan to meet as early as Monday to finalize details of the plan, and Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work could sign off on it by Wednesday, according to a Defense official familiar with the timetable but who spoke on condition of anonymity because officials were not authorized to speak publicly about it. Final approval would come from Defense Secretary Ash Carter, and the announcement will be on the eve of the Fourth of July weekend.
Some folks never served. In fact, a LOT of folks never served. So as a result they don't understand why veterans think the way they do. They see the issues and can't understand why a veteran might think the solution different. In some cases, it can lead to outright disrespect and failure to try to understand the other side.
#BernieVeep? "@TulsiGabbard gave Bernie Sanders an endorsement. He gave her a platform on war + peace. https://t.co/uUYctOKJVG " MUST READ!
A caveat here. I am NOT a career soldier. While I loved my time of service, and still do love my country, I only have spent four years in the service. I was for many years before joining what is known as a "Military Hobbyist". Military History has always fascinated me and since I was 14 I've spent time studying it. I am currently about to return to college to finish my History degree. I also joined the Military when I was 32 years old.
Preparatory to ending the ban on transgender military service, which is expected to happen this Spring, the Department of Defense has proposed a new rule in regard to TRICARE benefit coverage.
This proposed rule seeks to comprehensively update TRICARE mental health and substance use disorder benefits, consistent with earlier Department of Defense and Institute of Medicine recommendations, current standards of practice in mental health and addiction medicine, and our governing laws. The Department of Defense remains intently focused on ensuring the mental health of our service members and their families, as this continues to be a top priority. The Department is also working to further de-stigmatize mental health treatment and expand the ways by which our beneficiaries can access authorized mental health services. This proposed regulatory action is in furtherance of these goals and imperative in order to eliminate requirements that may be viewed as barriers to medically necessary and appropriate mental health services.
