Is there any doubt as to the outcome?
The Citadel is considering a request from an admitted student that she be allowed to wear a hijab in keeping with her Muslim faith, a move that would be an unprecedented exception to the school’s longstanding uniform requirements.
If the request for the traditional Muslim hair covering is granted, it apparently would be the first exception made to the Citadel’s uniform, which all cadets at the storied public military college in South Carolina are required to wear at nearly all times. (At beaches, for example, college rules stipulate that, “Cadets will change into appropriate swimwear upon arrival and change back into uniform when departing.”) A spokeswoman said that to her knowledge, in its nearly 175-year history, the school has never granted a religious, or other, accommodation that resulted in a change to the uniform…
… (Current Citadel Cadet) Pinelli wrote about a cadet whom he admires, a young man with cerebal palsy. “As you can imagine, one with such a physical condition would face challenges meeting the standard for physical fitness. Instead of showing up seeking a different set of rules, he jumped right into a challenge that was a perpetually uphill battle. Instead of saying he shouldn’t have to pass the PT test because of his disability, he failed it time and again and suffered the ramifications of holding himself to the same standard as the rest of the Corps.” He did not give up, and ultimately passed the test.
I realize that I am approaching this from the perspective of a godless heathen, but this is a simple choice. You are either part of the Corps, or you aren’t. There is a reason for the uniform. It symbolizes that the group is one, a team that is identical in appearance and motivation. When you demand a uniform exemption, you are basically saying that your religion is more important to you than the Corps. I don’t care if you’re a Jew with a yarmulke, a Sikh with a turban, a Muslim with a hijab, or a Catholic with rosary beads. You can dress as you wish on your own time. If you VOLUNTARILY join the Corps, you abide by the rules of the Corps.
If one wishes to practice religion, they are certainly free to do so. Whether that involves sacrificing goats, dancing around a bonfire nude, or handling snakes, enjoy yourself. This is America, and you can have whatever wacky religious beliefs you want. But it shouldn’t influence the rest of the group, and by demanding this exemption, that’s precisely what they are doing. If a religious belief is so important to you that you can’t abide dressing in the required uniform without your religious headgear, then, in my opinion, you shouldn’t be allowed to join. Go to another school and dress however you want.
And it seems that every other cadet has managed to abide by the rules and regulations. Indeed, according to the article, there have been several Muslim students who attended the Citadel and managed to conform to the rules of the school with no issue. Of course, there always has to be one special princess who starts laying demands on the school. The Citadel made a huge mistake in even considering this. They should have flatly turned down the request right off the bat. All this does is ensure more scrutiny, and now, I’m sure, all of the various activist groups are getting involved. There’s no doubt in my mind that the school will eventually cave, and this will be seen as great “progress.”
Remember, godless progressives will fight tooth and nail to ensure that you can’t have a bible in a POW/MIA display, but if you do not wish to have a cadet that wants to wear primitive religious headgear? They’ll agitate for that all goddamn day. I eagerly await the press release from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation condemning this. Which, of course, will never happen, because they are only concerned about the evil Christians.
I could even have the barest smidgen of a glimmer of consideration for this amongst fully qualified troops. But as a boot? Get the hell out of here. Shave your head like everyone else.
Your idiotic meme of the week:
A thing that I quite enjoy doing is checking out social media for stupid, leftist-driven memes, which purport to sum up enormously complex social, economic, and political comments with cute pictures and phrases, which obviously come absolutely nowhere near explaining the topic being discussed. And while both braindead liberals and dummy conservatives do it, I get the vast majority of my material from more liberal websites. Here we have a great example of the modern dumbfuckery that passes for intellectual rigor these days.
I’m sure our readers have figured out what’s funny about this, but if you haven’t, here it is: Old Dwight D up there very much “bombed the shit out of them.” Not only was he around when we turned Dresden into glass, he was the main man when the Battle of Normandy kicked off. That little adventure produced a staggering 200,000 German casualties. So Dwight may have hated war, but he sure waged the shit out of it.
Marine Raiders throughout history are renowned for their ability to accomplish seemingly impossible missions. The fact that Raiders take care of their own, in life and in death, is a major contributor to their audacity and mission accomplishment.
After 73 years, Sgt. John C. Holladay, a Marine Raider killed in action during World War II, was brought home and laid to rest with sith military honors in his hometown of Florence, S.C., April 4.
The ceremony took place at the Florence National Cemetery where Holladay was placed in his permanent resting place. The funeral cascade was led by a large group of patriotic motorcycle riders from the Patriot Guard. At the cemetery, his family was met by service members saluting and dozens more patrons waving American flags in support.
During World War II, Holladay was assigned to Company B, 1st Marine Raider Battalion, 1st Marine Raider Regiment, who fought battles against Japanese positions along the Pacific front where he was killed.
Welcome home, Sergeant Holladay. This is the best thing about the United States military: Nobody gets left behind. It may take a while, but we will bring our troops home. Well done.
BERLIN — Turkey’s president found himself in choice company when he fixed upon an obscure German law to attempt to punish a popular comic who had satirized him in crude terms. The same law, dating from 1871, had also been used to silence critics of the Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi of Iran and the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.
Devised during an era of ruffled majesties, the law allows prosecution in Germany for insulting a foreign leader, but only with the consent of the government. It also presented Chancellor Angela Merkel with a dilemma: She could either compromise on cherished values of free speech or risk further roiling relations with a leader she needs to stem another potentially chaotic flood of refugees to Europe again this year.
On Friday, Ms. Merkel gave President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey what he was seeking. She announced that prosecution of the satirist, Jan Böhmermann, could proceed — even as she added that the law allowing it would be repealed.
The attempt to split the difference did little to appease criticism that Ms. Merkel had blinked in the staring contest with Mr. Erdogan. “We just experienced the beginning of the end of Chancellorship #Merkel,” wrote another satirist, Oliver Kalkofe, on Twitter. “I am ashamed by the lack of spine.”
I really thought my shock at just how bad a leader Angela Merkel was had reached its peak, but she continues to amaze me. Not only has she allowed her country to be overrun with millions of foreigners who have not the slightest intention of assimilating into the German culture, now she is colluding with foreign leaders to prosecute her own citizenry. Merkel has bribed Erdogan with millions of Euros in hopes that he will stem the refugee tide, since Germany lacks the spine to stem it itself. Now, he’s using that weakness against her. “Nice border you have there…be a shame if something happened to it.”
Merkel is attempting to assuage fears in her country by just saying, “Hey, I’m just saying let’s have a judge look at it.” This is such a contemptible dodge. It’s similar to what shyster lawyers try to do here in the States. In the meantime, this comedian has already lost his TV show, and now faces years of litigation that will certainly bankrupt him. The intended punishment of silence has already been meted out. Everything else is just a formality.
You don’t think the message is received all over the country because of this act? Every single commentator has taken note. You think any other guy is going to stick his head up and risk jail, fines, or court costs that drive them into ruin? That is the true cost of such censorship. It isn’t what happens to the one guy, it’s the self-silencing of everyone else. There will be no other criticism of Erdogan. There will be no criticism of Islam. There will be no criticism of the tidal wave of “refugees” swallowing Germany whole. This is what the Islamic agitators do: haul the “offenders” into court for years and years of costly litigation, with no cost to their own side, and prevent anyone else from daring to make the same mistake.
This is EXACTLY what Mark Steyn went through in Canada with the Maclean’s magazine trial. It didn’t matter that the magazine eventually won, as even the Islamists who took them to court acknowledged. In a subsequent interview with the Canadian Arab News, Khurrum Awan stated that, although all of the complaints were dismissed, “We attained out strategic objective—to increase the cost of publishing anti-Islamic material.”
Yep. Threaten, bankrupt, and intimidate. Message received. And now it’s happening in Germany. It’s a damn shame. Angela Merkel is, at heart, the same totalitarian East German Marxist she grew up as, and it’s shocking to me that there hasn’t been an open revolt in Germany.
Follow me on Twitter as I fight for gender equality:
https://twitter.com/BKactual/status/719963626598064128
Well, there go my weekend plans:
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, April 15 (UPI) — Four suspected smugglers have been detained as U.S. authorities seized 1,110 kilograms of cocaine worth $32.7 million in Caribbean waters.
In a joint operation, the crews of the Coast Guard cutter Richard Dixon and naval vessel USS Shamal apprehended a Colombian and three Venezuelan men, who were taken for questioning to Department of Justice offices in South Florida.
During a routine patrol April 7, a maritime patrol aircraft spotted a suspicious-looking 30-foot blue-hulled go-fast vessel, 150 miles south of La Romana, Dominican Republic.
Coast Guard and U.S. Navy crews were dispatched to intercept the vessel, and fired warning shots before boarding the alleged smuggler’s boat.
I’m assuming our Coast Guard was out there because this was near Puerto Rico? Someone help me out there. Seems a bit off the beaten path for our Coast Guard, although I’m not sure how far out they go on routine patrols.
Absurd lawsuit permitted to proceed thanks to idiot judge:
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – A lawsuit can go forward against the maker of the rifle used in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, a judge ruled Thursday.
Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis said that a 2005 federal law protecting gun-makers from lawsuits does not prevent lawyers for the victims’ families from arguing that the semi-automatic rifle is a military weapon and should not have been sold to civilians.
Lanza, 20, killed 20 first-grade students and six educators on Dec. 14, 2012 with a Bushmaster XM15-E2S rifle that his mother had bought legally. Lanza killed his mother, Nancy Lanza, at their Newtown home with a different gun before going to the school a few miles away, and then killed himself as police arrived.
The families of nine children and adults killed at the Newtown school and a teacher who survived the attack are suing Remington Arms, the parent company of Bushmaster Firearms, which made the weapon used in the school shooting.
Lawyers for Remington Arms sought to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the federal law shields gun manufacturers from most lawsuits over criminal use of their products. They said Congress passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act after determining such lawsuits were an abuse of the legal system.
Joshua Koskoff, a lawyer for the families, argues there is an exception in the federal law that allows litigation against companies that know, or should know, that their weapons are likely to be used in a way that risks injury to others.
You know who agrees that this is insane? Yes, that guy! But just like Angela Merkel in the above story, the intent is clear here: Drive Remington into bankruptcy by forcing it to defend itself against long and costly litigation.
Imagine the possibility this would open up for other lawsuits. Why, that drug company should have known that oxycodone was too powerful for my druggie son. Give me a billion dollars. Why, that car company should have known that the Humvee is a military vehicle that shouldn’t be sold to civilians. It caused a car accident; give me a billion dollars. The possibilities for litigation are endless. This is especially galling because it targets the gun industry, one of the most heavily regulated industries on the planet. They have made a product that multiple layers of lawmakers have deemed legal.
This should have been thrown out when it first came up. A ridiculous ruling.
In the aftermath of the senseless shooting Saturday night that left former defensive end Smith dead – and Smith’s wife, Racquel, wounded — amid a beef linked to a traffic accident, the New Orleans Saints coach is pleading for more gun control.
He isn’t merely talking about tighter laws. If Payton had his druthers, we’d live in a country without guns.
“Two hundred years from now, they’re going to look back and say, ‘What was that madness about?’ “ Payton said. “The idea that we need them to fend off intruders … people are more apt to draw them (in other situations). That’s some silly stuff we’re hanging on to.”…
…“I’ve heard people argue that everybody needs a gun,” he said. “That’s madness. I know there are many kids who grow up in a hunting environment. I get that. But there are places, like England, where even the cops don’t have guns.”
…“It was a large caliber gun. A .45,” Payton said. “It was designed back during World War I. And this thing just stops people. It will kill someone within four or five seconds after they are struck. You bleed out. After the first shot (that struck Smith’s torso), he took three more in his back.”
Payton paused, then continued with his theme.
“We could go online and get 10 of them, and have them shipped to our house tomorrow,” he said. “I don’t believe that was the intention when they allowed for the right for citizens to bear arms.”
Police shoot gangbanger who pointed gun at them, idiots protest:
CHICAGO (TheBlaze/AP) — More than 100 people have gathered in Chicago for a vigil and protest after the fatal shooting of a 16-year-old by a police officer.
The demonstrations Tuesday came a day after coroners say Pierre L. Loury died at a hospital.
Chicago Chief of Detectives Eugene Roy says the teen ran from a car believed to be connected to an earlier shooting. Roy says an officer chased the teen and an “armed confrontation” resulted in the officer shooting Loury. He says a weapon found at the scene was taken into evidence.
“The subject, who is deceased, shot by police, did bail from the car that led to a foot pursuit,” John Escalante, deputy superintendent for the Chicago Police Department, told WLS-TV. “I believe only one officer actually participated in the foot pursuit.”
“We do believe that this individual turned and pointed the handgun at the officer the handgun was recovered at the scene where the young man was shot,” Escalante added.
Escalante told WBBM-TV that while he was just 16, Loury was a documented gang member who had posted a picture of himself holding a gun on Facebook.
But Loury’s mother said her son didn’t have a gun. The boy’s stepfather says the family wants justice.
Pierre seemed like a really nice young man. Between the neck tattoo and the guns, I can say that this is a youngster well on his way to a promising future studying quantum theory before these pig cops brutally cut his life short. I. Want. Justice.
Cart, horse, something something:
WASHINGTON — The Army announced Friday the first 22 women to be commissioned as infantry and armor officers under new rules that open all ground combat jobs to females this year.
The move is a major step toward integrating women into so-called ground combat jobs, placing them in leadership roles in occupations that were never open to them.
The 22 women are near completion of their officer training and will be commissioned as second lieutenants in coming weeks. They need to successfully complete the specialty schools and meet the physical requirements before fully qualifying in the fields.
The military had expected only a small number of women to volunteer for the jobs, at least initially. The Marine Corps said about 200 women a year would likely join newly opened ground combat positions, including the infantry.
Just like last week, aren’t we getting a little ahead of ourselves? THEY STILL HAVE TO PASS THE COURSE. Why is the Army touting this before they even pass? To ask the question is to answer it.
Army recruiter busted for kiddie porn:
New Hampshire police arrested an Army recruiter on a child-pornography charge days after they confiscated electronic devices from his home.
Staff Sgt. Andrew Beezub turned himself in Tuesday night to Keene Police Department officials, the department said in a news release. Police executed a search warrant on his home and vehicle April 7; an arrest warrant went out early Tuesday.
The department received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in February regarding potential online child-porn activity and worked with the state attorney general’s office to pursue the investigation, the release states. Beezub, who is stationed at the Keen Recruiting Center, is charged with possessing child sexual abuse images, a felony.
For the bazillionth time, here’s my public service announcent to the kiddie porn guys: If you are on the internet looking for child porn, someone is watching you watch child porn. Just a friendly reminder. Even now, the fact that I Googled “Andrew Beezub child porn” probably means that someone is now monitoring me.
Accused Navy spy Edward Lin had lots of foreign friends:
Edward Lin, the U.S. Navy officer suspected of spying for China and Taiwan, had scores of friends in sensitive places, if the number of contacts who “endorsed” him for military and security “skills” on LinkedIn, the professional networking site, is any guide.
Among those who endorsed Lin, a Taiwan-born officer assigned to a highly classified naval air reconnaissance unit in Hawaii until his secret arrest last year, are senior Taiwanese military officers and a Beijing-based venture capitalist specializing in “mobile internet applications and mobile games,” according to their LinkedIn bios. His American endorsers on the site include the second in command at the U.S. Naval Air Station, Guantanamo; the U.S. Pacific Fleet’s top intelligence analyst on Southeast Asia; a Navy congressional liaison officer; and fellow former aviators in his reconnaissance squad, including one now working at the Northrop Grumman Electromagnetic Systems Laboratory in Sacramento, California.
Among Lin’s Chinese contacts on LinkedIn was a former Washington, D.C.–based Taiwanese military attaché whose job was to “file intelligence reports on current statuses and events of U.S. Navy and Marine Corps to superiors in the home navy force.” Another Taiwanese who endorsed Lin listed himself as a current “security manager” for Apple who previously worked high up in Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense, where he was “responsible for U.S. and European think tanks engagement,” an intelligence-oriented billet…
Having foreign contacts is usually a big deal on a backgournd check. Lin apparently thought it was no big deal. The investigators apparently thought otherwise. I wonder how they leveraged Lin into spilling the beans?
…The Navy accused the officer, “a married man,” of procuring prostitutes on various occasions and having sex with “a woman not his wife,” a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
That’s good leverage.
Worst SecNav in American history:
It was an emotional day for former U.S. Sen. Carl Levin as dozens of national, state and city leaders, former neighbors, friends and colleagues gathered at the Renaissance Center today for the formal announcement that the Navy will name a destroyer in his honor.
Levin, who retired after 36 years in the Senate in 2015 as Michigan’s longest-serving senator, was honored by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus for his years of service as a longtime member and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. At today’s ceremony — against the backdrop of the Detroit River — Mabus and other leaders praised Levin as a man of integrity with deep concern for the military and to those who serve…
…He (SecNav Ray Mabus) noted that previous versions of the ship to be named the Carl M. Levin — an Arleigh Burke class destroyer DDG 120 — have been named for people with last names such as Roosevelt and Churchill, who he called heroes.
“Carl Levin is an American hero,” Mabus said.
Bahahahahaha. Yes, a hack politician who never served in the military is now an “American hero” worthy of having an American warship named after him. Ray Mabus is worse than herpes. Congressman Duncan Hunter is less than pleased.
Men being able to shower in a girl’s bathroom is the civil liberties battle of our time:
PORTLAND – The city of Pascagoula in Mississippi has a world-famous shipyard, building vessels for the U.S. military and private companies alike. When the ships are launched, dignitaries of all kinds normally flock for the commissioning ceremonies, but the state’s harsh new anti-gay laws may change that.
Last week, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced his decision to have the newly built USS Portland commissioned in its namesake town instead of where it was built, which was the original plan, reports CBS affiliate KOIN in Portland.
The future USS Portland was successfully launched at the Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard in Pascagoula on February 13. It had been scheduled to be christened and commissioned there on May 21.
However, Portland Mayor Charlie Hales canceled the trip after Mississippi enacted legislation criticized as allowing discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people.
Remember, if you don’t let the strange man with the penis shower in the locker room with your little girl’s swim team, the terrorists win. Holy crap.
This seems like a good place to nap:
ORANGE – Traffic came to a brief standstill on a busy street in Orange on Tuesday when a man stripped off his clothes and lay down in the roadway, police said.
Police received calls around 11:45 a.m. that a man was removing his clothing while walking in the 900 block of North Wanda Road at its intersection with East Collins Avenue, said Orange police Sgt. Sean O’Toole. The man was found lying in the roadway.
The man, who has not been identified, was taken to a local hospital for observation.
We here at SOFREP have obtained this exclusive photo of the man in question:
Nah, I’m kidding. That’s actually Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. But I can totally picture him losing it and doing something like this.
Twitter @BKactual.
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