Admiral’s Retirement on Hold During Video Investigation

Several sources report that Rear Admiral Larry Rice’s February 1 retirement has been put on hold while his role in the USS Enterprise “XO Movie Night” video brouhaha is investigated.  Rice was one of two commanders of the Enterprise, and CAPT Honors superior, when the videos that caused Honors’ dismissal were aired.

The USS Enterprise, in the meantime, has left on its scheduled deployment.  CAPT Dee Mewbourne reportedly promised to boost morale by other means:

The new commander of the USS Enterprise on Thursday promised karaoke and video games to boost crew morale instead of the raunchy videos…

Obama Administration Sued for Not Transferring Land, Cross

In an interesting twist to a long-running legal case, the VFW has sued the Executive Branch of the US government for failing to comply with an act of Congress supported by the Supreme Court.

The Mojave Cross has been in dispute for some years.  The privately-erected cross on government land was the subject of a lawsuit, Buono v Salazar.  In 2003 the US Congress transferred the land surrounding the Mojave Cross to the VFW in an attempt to eliminate the issues in conflict.  The 9th Circuit court of appeals said the Mojave Cross was unConstitutional and the land transfer was an invalid attempt to circumvent their ruling.

In April of last year, the US Supreme Court overturned that decision, saying the appeals court “erred.”  SCOTUS remanded the case to the 9th Circuit.

The cross was torn down by vandals shortly after the ruling, and the site remains empty because  Read more

Bill Would Permit Religious Symbols in Military Memorials

With frequent, long-lasting, and repeated lawsuits against military memorials with religious symbology, US Congressmen have proposed legislation that would explicitly permit just such memorials.

Rep. Duncan Hunter…introduced the War Memorial Protection Act in response to the federal Ninth Circuit Court’s Jan. 4 ruling, declaring the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial unconstitutional. Joining Hunter as co-sponsors are Congressmen Brian Bilbray of Solana Beach and Darrell Issa of Vista.

All three Congressmen are from the San Diego area.  Several members of Bilbray’s family are reportedly memorialized at the Mount Soledad cross that inspired both the lawsuit and the legislation.

Also noted at the Religion Clause.

Astronauts and Fighter Pilot Traditions: Traveling Playboys

After a scandal involving “inappropriate” photos in a commercial airline cockpit, this site covered the fighter pilot tradition of putting risqué photos in cross country mission planning materials.  It appears the Apollo astronauts did the same thing.

On January 13th an auction house is planning to start selling off artifacts from a variety of space missions, including a Playboy centerfold:

Vintage color calendar photo of Playboy Playmate Miss August 1967, DeDe Lind, which was stowed away in the Apollo 12 command module Yankee Clipper during its November 1969 voyage to the moon…

The topless image is an original taken from one of the 1969 calendars published by Playboy and features the month Read more

Commander Reassigned over Opposition to DADT Repeal

The WorldNetDaily previously reported on the anonymous objection by an Army commander to the repeal of the policy known as “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” and his request to be reassigned rather than be an agent for that change.

The WND is now reporting that he was reassigned to a staff position in accordance with his wishes.  Unfortunately, the officer may reveal a fault in his chosen course of action:

He said many of the men under his command share his views.

The men (formerly) under his command are now without his moral leadership.  For their benefit, may another man of moral character take his place.

Via the Army Chaplaincy Blog.

Michael Weinstein’s Words Defend Sarah Palin

Not since Michael Weinstein declared Sarah Palin a “misogynist” have those two names been placed together with such controversy as they were this week.  Now, amazingly enough, Weinstein’s example is being used to defend…Sarah Palin.

Sarah Palin is apparently being taken to task by some for appropriating (or misusing) the term “blood libel.”  From a public video:

Especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.

From the Christian Science Monitor,  Read more

Morality and the Military, Part 2

Alan Sears of the Alliance Defense Fund has an interesting article at the Christian Post entitled Morality and the Military, covering much of the recent discussion on the policy most often known as “Don’t ask, don’t tell.”

The repeal of DADT was wrong not, primarily, because the changes it will bring will radically transform both the U.S. military and its relationship with key allies all over the world, and inevitably undermine the security and defenses of our nation. Nor even because it was passed over the vehement objections of the great majority of America’s fighting servicemen whose daily lives and service it will soon and drastically impact.

No, ultimately there’s only one reason to oppose the repeal – and it is, of course, the reason that almost no politician or military officer is willing or able to say, right out loud.  Read more

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