Army is running a recruiting fair in Astrodome

[RamboLiberal]

Thom Hartmann is reporting this now. Unfucking believable!

[henslee]

1. I knew this one was coming. Swear. Actually, quite inevitable.

[Lars39]

4. Yep. Some at DU predicted this.

Sometimes I hate it when predictions here come true. :(

[KamaAina]

41. By "some" you mean "KamaAina and others", right?

I just freepin' knew it! I don't even get to enjoy being right! :grr:

[Lars39]

42. Isn't it horrible when we can start predicting with 100% accuracy

the actions of these fecking fascists?

[henslee]

45. Only sophisticated minds can empathize/ put themselves in

others shoes objectively.

[Lars39]

46. The evolved versus the un-evolved is how it seems.

:banghead:

[Imagevision]

52. Got a link?

[txaslftist]

2. Seriously??

What the fuck?!?!

[shireen]

3. CALL YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS!!!!!

I just called Mikulski.

[Neocondriac]

5. Honestly....

...Is anyone suprised.They have been working out of Labor Ready offices throughout the U.S. for months.

[FreedomAngel82]

6. Disgusting!

These people just lost everything and they don't care! They've been through hell and the military is still trying to recruit for war! SICK FUCKS! GO HOME AND LEAVE THESE PEOPLE A LONE!!

[Sugar Smack]

8. I'll never again ask, "How low can they sink?"

There are no words for this.

[WePurrsevere]

16. I know....

everytime I've asked that they manage to come up with something even lower. Sadly our no longer asking won't stop them from going ever lower and lower though.

IMO only getting ALL votes counted and the TRUTH out there will give us a chance to bring America back to the once great and admired country she was and I truly believe she can be again.

[mattomjoe]

7. Wow, now this REALLY is working out quite well for them!

:sarcasm:

[castiron]

9. Gawd, I hope this backfires in unprecedented ways.

[Halliburton]

10. This must Elaine Chow's plan

to get the refugees back to work!

[WePurrsevere]

11. OMG... That's disgusting and horribly unfeeling...

:nuke: :wow: :nuke:

[KharmaTrain]

12. Where Else Do Some Of These People Go Now?

Be assured the "welcome mat" in Houston won't be there long and soon many young men will be forced to find some form of income. They won't be able to "slip" into the existing neighborhoods of Houston or any other city and will have no real place to call home. It's a tough choice...but three squares and a bit of stability is not a bad thing for some right now.

Recently I met a young hispanic man...we were on a flight from LA to Chicago. He was 18...this wasn't just his first plane ride, but his first night away from his family. He was headed for a 4-year hitch in the Navy. The reason was the money and stability was something he couldn't find in East LA, and that the military at least offered him something to build on. Honestly, what options does this young man have? Especially in Repugnican America???

While I'm against this war, I'm not against the military. Many here need to better understand there's a difference between those who decides who fights and dies and those who do the actual fighting and dying.

As usual, the tendency to flit from one issue and dovetail it into another dilutes the focus in this place.

[FlaGranny]

15. It comes across as ghoulish.

I doubt that any young men and women do not know they can join the military in order to "survive" economically by endangering their own lives.

[KharmaTrain]

18. And Their Not Endangered On The Streets?

Remember that many of these dislocated people come from a city that was 30% lived under the poverty line. Who know what percentage barely lived above that. The areas hardest hit were some of the poorest in the city and there will be little for these people to return to for quite some time.

So what's the alternative? Moving into the slums of Houston or Dallas or Detroit or Chicago? That's what will happen...it did in the 1927 flood...and these people will be outcasts in whatever city they move into. They're threats to existing and scarce jobs and resources.

I agree the military presence seems ghoulish, but that is nothing compared to the hell these people have come through and the uncertain future they face. The military isn't all evil, and maybe some fresh blood can root out the culture of racism and right wing ideology.

[Kolesar]

33. Texas boasts 250000 new jobs/2yrs and a record-low unemployment rate

I expect that those relocating to Texas will do well in time. Ohio absorbed many DPs after WW2, who were people whose homes were destroyed in Europe. There were opportunities in Ohio then. I hope they get the emotional support and counseling that they need.

[txindy]

51. If they can bring military recruiters in, they can bring other recruiters

Non-military recruiters. The military may not be "all evil," as you say, but this isn't about the military. It's about getting Junior's recruiting numbers up and sending more boots to Iraq for an illegal war. The veterans of that war have enough trauma to deal with. The ones that survive the war, that is. How do you think the survivors of Katrina would handle that on top of the trauma of Iraq? Not too well, I think. To put it mildly.

[Kerrytravelers]

36. They're being recruited because the numbers are low.

The numbers are low because when someone signs up, there is a good chance they will shipped off to fight for *'s oil, be it in Iraq or the next country we invade.

It is not to give these people three square meals. They are taking advantage of people in a time of crisis.


EDITED TO ADD:

My father was one of those "poor boys" during Vietnam who found himself in the military. I know the miltary isn't evil, but those who are being coherced into joining now often return with stories of how they were promised so many things... only to find out they were all empty promises. This very same thing happened to a dear friend of our who was going through a terrible time in his life. Now he's stuck and is crossing his fingers who won't die for *'s worthless cause.

[qanda]

43. I don't believe that people who are in shock and without many options

Are in a position to make an informed decision of that magnitude. It hasn't been more than a few days since some of them were rescued. Is this really the best place and time for this to occur? I guess Barbara Bush would think so, but it rings cold and callous to me.

[txindy]

50. A bit of "stability" is fine. Think they'll find that in Iraq? I don't.

And they won't be stationed anywhere else. These men and women have 'Cannon Fodder' written all over them.

This isn't about "stability."

[NYC]

55. Out of the frying pan, into the fire.

After surviving this natural disaster, I don't think a battlefield would be the desired destination.

Create jobs for them, if that is what it takes. There are many services undone in America, overlooked or neglected for lack of money (priorities). Make work for these people. Don't turn them into the new Okies.

[bushisanidiot]

13. Will they be issued guns or mops?

just asking..

never underestimate a pissed off "refugee" with a mop in his hand

[PA Democrat]

14. Disgusting vultures

preying on people who are still in shock and in no position at this time to be making a decision like agreeing to become cannon fodder for Bush.

[the old gringo]

17. attribution?

Is there a link to an article about this? Any attribution?

[bunny planet]

19. Is it possible that this was planned before the disaster and has now been

cancelled. It does kind of nicely fit in with their potential plans to have a poverty draft however.

[KyndCulture]

20. I KNEW it... my partner and I said this last weekend.

All those young men and women who are homeless it's like a goddamn buffet...

:nuke:

[jokerman93]

21. completely predictable n/t

[Walt Starr]

22. Has this been confirmed yet? n/t

[fryguy]

23. no home, no work, and survived a natural disaster?

then why not join and put yourself smack into a man-made disaster area..... and consider this - Iraq is a dry-heat!

[BlueJac]

24. Those fuckers will stop at nothing!

:kick:

[OhioChick]

25. I knew this would happen

:grr:

Anyone have any links concerning this, yet?

[Walt Starr]

26. AGAIN, WHERE IS THE CONFIRMATION?????

Sorry, one quip on a talk radio show does not a fact make.

[librechik]

29. yes please, somebody besides Thom get this press release?

[shireen]

30. i'm trying to track it down.

Thom got it from an email from Democracy Radio. I called them and they're trying to track down the person who wrote the email. I also called the Houston Chronicle tip desk -- they had heard the same rumor and are trying to source it. Thom is usually a very credible and reliable source of news, but this is so outrageous that it needs to be confirmed.

[shireen]

35. THIS IS NOT CONFIRMED!

Diane Shamus sent the message out *asking* for activists with contacts at the Astrodome to check it out. It was not intended as a definitive statement. She heard that the job fair was being held a couple of blocks away at the Toyota Center, and was trying to find out if evacuees are being encouraged to go there.

But there are reports, she says, that some National Guard have been informally trying to recruit.

She's trying to track down more info. If I hear back from her, I'll post it at DU.

[defiant1]

27. These people have nothing....

Any option, at this point, should be considered.

[tgnyc]

28. Join the Army. We'll feed you!

[KyndCulture]

34. Can't you just hear them... we'll feed your mama too

you can send your paycheck home to your family...

until we send you home in a box that is.

[katinmn]

31. Exploiting the most vulnerable again. Why not college recruiters?

I'm sending this to Voices in The Wilderness http://vitw.org/cr/ which has counter-recruitment efforts on its web site.

Please forward to any counter-recruitment groups you know of.

[katinmn]

32. Houston Indy Media has info on this:

I hope the counter-recruitment folks from Houston were out in force. This was simply despicable.

http://houston.indymedia.org/news/2005/09/42973.php
Houston Independent Media Center

Military Recruiting of Katrina Victims
by Bill C Tuesday September 06, 2005 at 04:14 PM

According to a report from Diane Shamus of United Progressives for Democracy, military recruiters are having a job fair Wednesday at the Astrodome to try to sign up hurricane Katrina victims.

Anyone heard about this? Diane Shamis, of United Progressives for Democracy , says military recruiters are going after hurricane Katrina victims in the Astrodome Wednesday. See her note below.

Talk about preying on the victims! Absolutely disgusting.

I don't have any more information than this and have not received any confirmation, but if any of you can supply more details, please post a comment to this report here on Houston Indymedia.

If any of you need counter-recruiting materials, see:
United for Peace and Justice
American Friends Service Committee

-------
From Diane Shamis:

MILITARY RECRUITMENT - 9/7 JOB FAIR IN THE ASTRODOME
NO SCAVENGING THE GULF COAST CRISIS TO BOOST THE DEPLETED RANKS OF THE MILITARY!

Stop the military from preying upon the vulnerable! Come educate youth dislocated from their lives and communities - facing homelessness, joblessness and often hopelessness - about the false promises of recruiters!

Doling out food to the hungry crowds overflowing Houston's Astrodome, the National Guard has engaged in ad hoc recruiting in recent days. Tomorrow, September 7, 2005, the U.S. military is conducting a Job Fair in the Astrodome in a blatant effort to exploit the despair of masses of Americans evacuated from the Gulf Coast. Once signed up, even if purportedly to reconstruct their region, they could easily find themselves deployed to Iraq, left with medical coverage for only two for only combat-related injury and the expectations for training eviscerated.
And if they sign up on the promise of temporary relief, they could find themselves bound for extended tours of duty.

Download info from the formidable Counter-Recruitment resources on the United for Peace and Justice site. http://www.unitedforpeace.org. Come and speak truth to empower! Call for a real jobs program which employs people to of those in need, not to pander to corporate greed!

[shanti]

37. do you have a link for this?

i want to post this, but not without a link.

[shireen]

38. no link

it went out as email. See post 30 for details.

[GreenPartyVoter]

39. Please tell me that no one is falling for it.. that they are reaming out

the recruiters because their CIC is a *^%@#&*%^.

------------------------------------------------------
Save the Gulf:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=106&topic_id=22507&mesg_id=22507

Then save the nation!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/electionreform.htm

[Catchawave]

40. Who will be left to rebuild the Gulf Coast then?

I was hoping the able bodied would be recruited by Halliburton and other contractors to clean up and rebuild, and at much higher wages than basic military pay, though the families would have free health care.

Still these men and women are at the most vulnerable and already suffering from PTSD.

God, I hate this administration :(

[Gruenemann]

44. They stole my idea!

I was going to post it here as a tacky joke but never got around to it. Not surprised at all they're doing this.

[bobbieinok]

47. words fail me........

[Horse with no Name]

48. OKAY EVERYONE--SAW THIS ON wwltv

It is a JOB FAIR for these people...and the military has a booth.
But there are opportunities OTHER than the military.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

49. kick

kick

[KLF44]

53. What's the pitch they are giving?

If you want FEMA to help your family you are required to recruit? I would not put it past them.

[Kurovski]

54. Ah, yes, the "crush" to service.

Grind down those in grinding poverty, instant soldiers.

BushCo intends to make a permanant wartime economy, send jobs overseas, crush small business, reduce education to a form of indoctrination.

How many options are left?

[Rex]

56. Katrina wiped out their homes and lives

and now the Army will offer them a new one, complete with a tour to Iraq, three squares a day and all the war you could want! How can anyone refuse that!?!?! :crazy:

[latebloomer]

57. from one hell

to another.

Have we got a deal for you!!