uncle sam does not want you

a group of 130 retired military brass has organized and calls themselves "mission: readiness". they released last week's figures (in the post below, but before) about all the kids who are too fat to enlist. they got that data from the cdc. in 1987, 6 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds, or about 1 out of 20, were obese. In 2008, 22 years later, 23 percent of that age group — almost 1 out of 4 — was considered to be obese. from a footnote to a quarter of the population in a generation.

the military rejects the obese because there is no "safe" way for them to drop enough weight during basic training, if they could even get through it. a generation of kids who played on x-boxes instead of outside, they can't do push-ups, pull-ups or run.

using additional pentagon info, mission: readiness, led by general wesley clark, issued a document claiming that 75% of americans eligible for duty are unfit to serve.


the ineligible population breaks down this way:

• medical/physical problems, 35 percent.
• illegal drug use, 18 percent.
• mental category V (the lowest 10 percent of the population), 9 percent.
• too many dependents under age 18, 6 percent.
• criminal record, 5 percent.

put another way, only 4.7 million of the 31.2 million 17- to 24-year-olds in our country are fit to serve. of the larger number, only 12% are inclined to do so. my brain explodes trying to extrapolate that number then for realz.

2009 saw every branch of the military exceed its recruitment targets. it's the economy, stoopid, ya know? but when the job market improves and there are more openings at home depot, how many kids will still be lining up for desert camo togs? some of that also came from waivers. these may be issued for a guy with asthma who has translation skills or a petty drug offender who's good with a gun, like sarah palin's son. (ya know, the one ya don't hear about?)

the guys at mission: readiness foresee a crisis by 2030, much of it driven by the obesity epidemic.

the horny chinese soldiers dying as virgins (for lack of females in their demographic) and the angry muslim soldiers dying for virgins may not have much to fear in the near future. our kids are too fat to climb the rope ladder and too stoned or dumb to read the instructions on the parachute.