Holy Monkey Cows

Man o monkey, do I ever have homework tonight.

For Civics: transplant all the stuff from the past few days to index cards, find pictures for my stuff and put them on transparencies. This, of course, means a trip to Kinko's.
For Creative Writing: write yet another poem.
For Social Justice: write a two page essay on an abstract idea, due tomorrow.
For WR: make a powerpoint. Yes.
For Photo: make a photo gallery thing (don't ask) and print out more pictures.

AUGH!

And I'm here writing this LJ? I must be crazy. But, ha! Ima keep writing.

Learned some scary things about the draft today. For one thing, there's a bill before Congress that will make it MANDATORY that you join the military for several years between ages 18-26. Kinda like they do in Italy and Turkey. This applies to women to. Also, Canada is no longer an option as they have extradition treaties and can have draft dodgers deported. And lastly...if they reinstate the draft, which they'll probably do as I said if things haven't cleared up by the elections in January, it will apply to men AND women, ages 18-26--so no more of this "lets send our 18-19 year olds to battle." The fact that it can go all the way up to 26--think about it, TWENTY-SIX!!!!--means that college is no longer a suitable case for deferment, nor is pregnency in the case of women because by the time you're 26 the kid'll be at least five, and maternity leave is no longer allowed. The only surefire ways are A: have a shitload of money. B: medical reasons. C: run to Canada as soon as the re-instate the draft, don't wait until your name is called. D: religion.

Woot for the last one--Wiccans are pacifists!!!

I don't think you're allowed to be a "conscientous objector" anymore either.

Meanwhiles, we learned about Judaism in WR today--had a rabbi come in. And dude--Reform Judaism so totally rocks!! Not only is the entire religion liberal to some degree, Reform Judaism is the most liberal of the bunch and condone homosexuality, evolution, other relgions (except Satanism) and other such "liberal" stuff, AND they're not proseltizers, AND the rabbi had a lot of neato things to say about the Bible and the Torah. Finally, an interesting day in World Religions!

Fuck!!

Man, my brain is so fried. I can't think of anything for my two-page essay in Social Justice. I'm doing it on 1984 and how they use language to control the masses, but my brain just isn't working and I can't piece multiple thoughts together. I think my brain is falling out of my ears. Either that or it's been zapped to the point where I can't even think anymore. This is the only hw left today. Ugh.

So screwed. I can't think of what to write. And in the meantime I want to keep writing my new project--code name of Pentagram until I can think of a title. 1984. Language and Authority. Come on, brain.

This on top of the fact that I need to finish that PP, but can't until Jen sends me her information. Waugh!!

Mayhem Over, Now Important Things--Like "Caroline's Unofficial List of Ways to Escape the Draft"

The following is an unofficial list of ways to get out of the draft, should it be re-instated.

1: Religion--Buddhists, Hindus, and most pagan religions are pacifists by nature. Christians, Jews and Muslims can also share the wealth if they can prove that their interpretation of the religion prevents them from killing. I.E, Jehovah's Witnesses, Amish.

2: Medical--they are not going to let you into the military if you have medical problems, physical or mental. If you've taken LSD, they can't let you in either because of the risk of flashbacks. If you can prove, say, that you have depression, anxiety, or other minor mental health problems, they can't let you in.

3: Canada--this is only plausible BEFORE your number is called. Canada has an extradition treaty with the US, meaning they can extradite draft dodgers. So the only way for this one to work is to move to Canada as soon as possible after the draft is re-instated. If Canada is processing your Canadian citizenship, the US government can't call you up to fight in a war between a country you don't belong to (or will not belong to).

4: Europe--this is the only surefire "leave the country" way of escape. France and Britain, I believe, do not have extradition treaties, and considering their views on this war they'd likely never extradite a draft dodger anyway. If anything, they'd welcome you.

5: Money--obviously this only works if you have enough to bribe certain unorthodox government officials.

6: College--if you are in school, they can't send you anywhere. HOWEVER, they can call you up as soon as you're out.

7: Pregnancy--obviously only applies to women. They can't send you if you're pregnant or have a small kid. However, this decision, like any major decision, should not be made spur of the moment. It's not really ethical to get yourself pregnant just because you don't want to go to war, even if you think that war is unjust. It's unfair to you and the kid.

8: Hide Out--go underground and find a safehouse in America (not with relatives, they will track you down there). The problem with this is that you'll likely end up laying low and hiding for a long, long time.

9: Accept the Jail Time--it's only a few years anyway.

10: Familial Obligations--I'm not sure if this exists anymore persay, but we all learned from Saving Private Ryan that if you're the last male in the family they have to send you home/keep you home. For females, I suppose if you needed to take care of a family member--a sickly child/parent/grandparent, just an example--they couldn't send you anywhere.

11: Conscientous Objectors--another one I'm not sure of, especially considering the Bush Administration.

12: Gay--if you're gay, they won't send you, especially if you're a man. Even if they tried, you could argue that it would be putting you at risk of attack by your own troops, which unfortunately is an all too common problem in the military. Or you can always claim you're gay and find someone of the same sex who's willing to play along.

13: Good Connections--it's not what you know, it's who you know. Just look at Cheyney and Bush.

14: Alternatives--another Bush comparison. He got out of Vietnam by joining the National Guard. In that instance, it isn't really plausible, because even the National Guard have been called up. However, if you could join the police force, fire department, something else of the sort, they probably can't send you.

15: Political Affiliation--similar to religion. If your political party is pacifist, they can't send you.

Ok, I'm out. Anyone out there is willing to add to the list. This is serious stuff, people. The draft may come back, and it may not. Either way, it helps to be ready. If it does come back, I'm going to post this list again (and any new additions I can think of, or other people can think of). I'll attempt to get it published on a real website, and I'll send e-mails and fliers to people. In the meantime, I intend to educate myself on the matter--and so should you, if you're in the age range!!