"What effect must it have on a nation if it learns no foreign languages? Probably much the same as that which a total withdrawal from society has upon an individual." --G.C. Lichtenberg
I saw this tidbit at WTF Is it Now??, "Army offering sh*tloads of cash to get soldiers to re-enlist." Before clicking on the link, I imagined the sums that would need to be involved to get rational human beings to be away from their families in a distant, hostile desert.
Turns out it's "lump payments of between $5,000 and $10,000 for enlisting for at least three years of additional Army service."
Out of the $100+ billion we're spending on the Iraq adventure, keeping the RPG fodder people on the ground was deemed to be worth an additional $63 million, less than KBR made overcharging for Kuwaiti gasoline.
I don't know what makes me sicker, that there are people out there for whom such a pittance would be enough to endure up to three more years under enemy fire, or that $63 million is all the Pentagon thinks they're worth. posted by David at 1/07/2004 07:58:00 AM ::
