Pi Day news: some rational writing to go w/the irrational number

OK, that title’s a reach. But here goes:

• Been wondering how to tackle all those veterans becoming freelance anti-ISIS fighters, but Marine and Fallujah veteran Ross Caputi did it best: “This is seriously alarming. These vets had no understanding of what they were participating in when they enlisted, and those who are joining militias to fight ISIS now are even more confused. I find Matthew VanDyke and his Christian army the Sons of Liberty International particularly frightening, and for exactly the same reasons that the Islamic State is so scary.”
• Toxics and military bases: Did you really think the water contamination in the film Semper Fi was an isolated case? Now they’re fighting the same fight for recognition at Fort McLellan. Do you know about more?
• The news from Canada continues depressing, with more asylum claims denied.
• And then there’s this case: the Fort Hood sergeant arrested for pimping his soldiers was a sexual assault response coordinator at the base. one of those positions created in response to the MST scandal – who used his access to vulnerable young woman to re-victimize them. Sounds like commands still aren’t taking seriously their need to make careful personnel decisions. A perfect campaign, I think, for Service Women’s Action Network and Protect Our Defenders.
• For happier news: Father Philip Berrigan, WWII veteran and angelic troublemaker thereafter, gets plenty of attention in this terrific New Yorker profile of the Plowshares movement, to this day still getting arrested at US nuclear facilities.
• Speaking of trouble, VFP anti-drone activists were doing the same last week at Creech AFB, and supporting all those drone pilots voting w/their feet. In the linked piece, Brandon Bryant is (again) the most prominent voice, but I also want to give a shout (and thus the video below) to Col. Ann Wright, who’s taking Berrigan and McAllister’s example in new, powerful directions.