(no subject)
Damn but its good to be home. Let's hear it for long, hot showers with assorted scented bath products, thick nubbly bath towels and climate control.
The past few days have been rather entertaining, really. When I was'nt bored out of my mind, or completely utterly exhausted and lying in a pool of my own sweat...
What with revelations coming out of Iraq over the past year about boys with guns behaving badly and being splashed over the front page of the world's media, and the upcoming IMF/World Bank meetings in September, the powers that be have decided that we should all get lessons in how to behave when toting firearms in uniform. Especially when there might be reporters nearby.
Special emphasis was placed on how to behave when dealing with loud, rambunctious mobs with sticks and stones while toting firearms in uniform in the presence of the reporters, especially reporters belonging to any number of 24-hour news services...
Its been entertaining, and I have to wonder, just how much life imitates Hollywood these days, considering how a good half (about 3 hours worth) of the "training videos" we had to watch were basically clips from such classics of modern cinema as Black Hawk Down or We Were Soldiers, followed by commentary from the trainers.
Following the videos, we got to role-play. Which was kinda fun, if you could ignore the sweat, the heat and random stuff weighing more than a small child strapped to various parts of your anatomy. It was especially fun gunning down the "protesters" as a "negative example". And then there was the scenario where we had to stop an "ambulance" from racing through a road-block. Especially when it turns out said "ambulance" was supposed to be carrying many things that go "BOOM".
I am now a certified jack-booted capitalist stormtrooper. Riots suppressed. Workers oppressed. Go me!
Think I'll go back to playing with toy soldiers now...
The past few days have been rather entertaining, really. When I was'nt bored out of my mind, or completely utterly exhausted and lying in a pool of my own sweat...
What with revelations coming out of Iraq over the past year about boys with guns behaving badly and being splashed over the front page of the world's media, and the upcoming IMF/World Bank meetings in September, the powers that be have decided that we should all get lessons in how to behave when toting firearms in uniform. Especially when there might be reporters nearby.
Special emphasis was placed on how to behave when dealing with loud, rambunctious mobs with sticks and stones while toting firearms in uniform in the presence of the reporters, especially reporters belonging to any number of 24-hour news services...
Its been entertaining, and I have to wonder, just how much life imitates Hollywood these days, considering how a good half (about 3 hours worth) of the "training videos" we had to watch were basically clips from such classics of modern cinema as Black Hawk Down or We Were Soldiers, followed by commentary from the trainers.
Following the videos, we got to role-play. Which was kinda fun, if you could ignore the sweat, the heat and random stuff weighing more than a small child strapped to various parts of your anatomy. It was especially fun gunning down the "protesters" as a "negative example". And then there was the scenario where we had to stop an "ambulance" from racing through a road-block. Especially when it turns out said "ambulance" was supposed to be carrying many things that go "BOOM".
I am now a certified jack-booted capitalist stormtrooper. Riots suppressed. Workers oppressed. Go me!
Think I'll go back to playing with toy soldiers now...