Chelsea Manning has been freed from the Fort Leavenworth military prison, according to a US Army spokesperson:
In January she tweeted that she wanted to move to Maryland after being released, a state where she previously lived. On Monday she tweeted: "Two more days until the freedom of civilian life ^_^ Now hunting for private #healthcare like millions of Americans =P".
Manning will remain on active army duty while her military court conviction remains under appeal. She will have healthcare benefits but will be unpaid, the army says. An online campaign set up by her attorney has raised $150,000 (£115,725) to pay for her living expenses for the first year after her release. If the appeal is denied, she could be dishonourably discharged from the army, US media say.
The mentioned Chelsea Manning Welcome Home Fund. Also at NPR, NYT, and CNN.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Thursday May 18 2017, @02:06AM (7 children)
What? Hey, where are my free health benefits? How come soldiers get that and civilians don't? Soldiers are superior citizens or something?
This worship of our military has reached scary levels. Seems to have totally blinded many to the failures of force. Funny how so many can blithely overlook that the Middle East is a mess, and that the West has done more harm than good there ever since the Ottoman Empire fell. So what's the military plan for an enemy like Climate Change? Deny that it's a problem? Throw up their hands and say that's one for civilians to handle?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 18 2017, @02:27AM (1 child)
Out of Zoloft again I see.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Thursday May 18 2017, @03:44AM
No healthcare benefits, you know.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 18 2017, @02:31AM (3 children)
Soldiers get shit pay. When I worked at a defense contractor they regularly ran fundraisers and donation drives for deployed soldier's families. It was all PR to hype the company's patriotism to ingratiate themselves with the customer - yes that's literally how they referred to the DoD, as "the customer."
I couldn't believe that it worked because it was essentially shining a spotlight on the fact that soldiers were not paid enough to support a family. Which is counter to all the patriotic rhetoric and hero-worship lip-service that our politicians and much of the brass pay to "the troops" on a constant basis.
So I don't begrudge them VA health benefits, even retired soldiers (and Manning is getting health benefits because she is still technically employed). The problem isn't that soldiers get reasonable good healthcare by default, its that the rest of us do not.
(Score: 2) by pnkwarhall on Thursday May 18 2017, @03:23AM (2 children)
Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 18 2017, @05:57AM
By the Pentagon's own estimate, thousands of military families live in poverty. Despite recent salary increases, many enlisted men and women say they can't afford food and other basic needs.
http://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-a-2003-01-15-5-thousands-67286427/380364.html [voanews.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 18 2017, @10:02AM
When you have presented evidence that you have swapped your current gig for an enlistment, that will be a starting point for me to accept your claim.
If you go in as a buck private and serve out your enlistment, that will add credence to your boosterism for the credibility of the USA's aggressor force as an exemplary employer.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 18 2017, @06:59AM
What? Hey, where are my free health benefits? How come soldiers get that and civilians don't?
They are not free, health benefits are part of the employment contract between the state and the soldier.
So what's the military plan for an enemy like Climate Change? Deny that it's a problem? Throw up their hands and say that's one for civilians to handle?
Uhhh.... yes? These are radically different spheres of expertise we are talking about, operating military hardware does not exactly have transferable skills in climate research or political science.