人生行路 — The Journey of Life

Today’s Sunday edition of Stars and Stripes reports that Rep. Lincoln Davis (D-TN), introduced H.R. 4497 earlier this month looking to end gambling on U.S. military bases overseas. The bill’s short title is Warrant Officer Aaron Walsh Stop DOD-Sponsored Gambling Act, so named for an Army Warrant Officer who committed suicide over a gambling addiction that the military apparently never treated.

This looks mostly like a fundamental misunderstanding of why the armed forces provide slot machines and alcohol on base: it keeps the problems on base as opposed to out among foreign nationals. Nobody’s trying to ban alcohol or tobacco from military exchanges or bars, and those combined kill far more of our people and administrative resources than gambling. If he didn’t get the treatment, figure out why and address the issue there.

There’s a good amount of talk going around concerning 7th Fleet liberty restrictions, but let me clarify something here.

I’ve been a DIVO for almost six months now (arr, salty Ensign!!), and I’ve never signed a liberty plan. Period. So no, they’re not around here, so stop assuming that they are just because we’re in Seventh Fleet.

The blame the DIVO portion on the second page of the thread, however, is priceless.

ht: Fewl

Navy Times all over Kitty Hawk like a cheap Hong Kong suit

Other than the whole Hong Kong rejection deal, the Navy Times has had Kitty Hawk in the news twice on morale issues. First was some sort of movie ban. The second is an article on individual liberty plans (ILPs), which according to local rumor here in Sasebo have been the trend in Yokosuka for quite a while now. IT2 “Jim” has more detail in multiple posts.

Sasebo shooting suspect kills himself

The big news Friday night for personnel on duty was the very real possibility that they’d be stuck on base for the weekend while Sasebo police try to find a Japanese man who came into a sports club (gym) with a shotgun and started shooting at people. Two dead, six injured. He killed himself outside a Catholic church. One article which I can’t find right now speculated that organized crime was creeping into Sasebo from Fukuoka, but this looks like an isolated case of psychological illness.

Naval Academy ex-Chaplain gets 12 years confinement (10 suspended) in plea agreement

I couldn’t find much detail on the sentence, but perhaps I could get the record of trial on this one and find out. Nonetheless, the LA Times seemed to have the most detail available, including a remark where his defense counsel says he’ll probably serve 18 months. One assumes that the journalists completely skipped over the term “dismissal.” Newsweek, meanwhile, commits the cardinal sin of calling a midshipman, “cadet.”

Somebody broke the television in my guys’ berthing the other day in some drunken rage. Based upon the colorful diagonal streaking across the LCD screen, I’m convinced that the damage is irreparable unless one could just replace the LCD part. The cost of that would only justify getting them a new TV, which we did more quickly than I would have anticipated. Still yet, I doubted the move in that maybe the guys would find some value in peace and quiet rather than having the tube…er…screen making noise all day.

So a fellow DIVO and I are given a blank check and get assigned to hit up the exchange and get the guys a television. We buy a television, get back, and get it installed. Later on in the day, I’m told to check on the guys and the television. I get there, the television is installed…and off. A bunch of guys are just resting there, couches towards the TV.

I’m confused. Is the television working?

“Oh yeah, sir, the television’s working. We just started liking to be able to sleep during lunch hour.”

Who knew?