The Army Sucks

I usually restrict this blog to how much celebrities suck. But it's really about much more than that. There's a philosophy behind all this snark. And that philosophy is this: the rich, powerful and famous suck, no matter who they are. They suck and they deserve to be told so by a smartass like me. When the revolution comes they'll make me a saint, and then they'll say horrible things about me, because I will have become rich and powerful, and I will deserve it.

Today I saw something that I liked. It's a little off topic, but it fits in with the overall philosophy of the site.

Soldiers in Iraq are putting together their own isp's because the net access the army provides sucks so much.

Since the military provides just 6 to 12 computers for every 1,000 or so troops, time limits of 10 to 15 minutes per day are often enforced at Morale Welfare Recreation Cafés (the complicated name for military internet cafés). Anyone who sorts through spam, reads forwarded articles and jokes, then tries to respond to “real” email knows 15 minutes isn't enough. Josh Hines, a soldier from Conway who recently returned from Iraq , confirmed that the Army lacks internet services and lamented the scarcity of entertainment options.
It should come as no surprise, then, that some enterprising military personnel have engineered an alternative. Hajjinets, the common term for troop-owned ISPs, have sprung to life on almost every base around Iraq. A typical Hajjinet is built and maintained by one or two soldiers and can provide nearly 24-hour internet access (until the region is stabilized and electrical lines can be installed, generators must occasionally be powered down for maintenance). Most Hajjinets are small, serving between 20 and 30 troops, but ISPs serving as many as 300 are known to exist. In a country wracked by war, where even the capital city receives only intermittent electricity, where people's lives are in constant peril, and where even basic necessities are scarce, this is no small victory.

It's a pretty long article. I think what they're doing is great. When the big telcos and the government finally get their shit together and start controlling our access to the net you'll see things like this popping up in your own neighborhood.

So more power to them.

Oh, and quit the damn Army, you buncha dumbasses. If the people in charge of it can't run an isp how the hell are they ever going to put Iraq back together? I've got no problem with soldiers...I have a lot of friends and family in the military. My problem is with the military itself. The time for that sort of centralized control and discipline is over.