Received this variant of the draft e-mail today:

“Well I just found out about this bit of bullshit. Read and pass along.
That is, unless you WANT to get shot full of holes in Iraq.

Mandatory draft for boys and girls (ages
18-26)starting June 15, 2005, is something that
everyone should know about. This literally effects
everyone since we all have or know children that will
have to go if this bill passes.

There is pending legislation in the house and senate
(companion bills: S89 and HR 163) which will time the
program’s initiation so the draft can begin as early
as spring, 2005, just after the 2004 presidential
election. The administration is quietly trying to get
these bills passed now, while the public’s attention
is on the elections, so our action on this is needed
immediately. Details and links follow. This plan,
among other things, eliminates higher education as a
shelter and includes women in the draft Also, crossing
into Canada has already been made very difficult.

Action you can take:
Please send this on to all the parents and teachers
you
know, and all the aunts and uncles, grandparents,
godparents. . . And let your children know – – it’s
their future, and they can be a powerful voice for
change! This legislation is called HR 163 and can be
found in detail at this website:
http://thomas.loc.gov/
Just enter in “HR 163” and click search and will bring
up the bill for you to read. It is less than two pages
long.

If this bill passes, it will include all men and ALL
WOMEN from ages 18 – 26 in a draft for military
action. In addition, college will no longer be an
option for avoiding the draft and they will be signing
an agreement with Canada which will no longer permit
anyone attempting to dodge the draft to stay within
it’s borders. This bill also includes the extension of
military service for all those that are currently
active. If you go to the select service web site and
read their 2004 FYI Goals you will see that the
reasoning for this is to increase the size of the
military in case of terrorism. This is a critical
piece of legislation, this will effect our
undergraduates, our children and our grandchildren.
Please take the time to write your congressman and let
them know how you feel about this
legislation.
www.house.gov www.senate.gov
Please also write to your representatives and ask them
why they aren’t telling their constituents about these
bills and write to newspapers and other media outlets
to ask them why they’re not covering this important
story. $28 million has been added to the 2004
selective service system budget to prepare for a
military draft that could start as early as June 15,
2005. Selective service must report to Bush on March
31, 2005 that the system, which has lain dormant for
decades, is ready for activation.

Please see
www.sss.gov/perfplan_fy2004.html
to view the Selective Service System annual
performance plan, fiscal year 2004. The pentagon has
quietly begun a public campaign to fill all 10,350
draft board positions and 11,070 appeals board slots
nationwide. Though this is an unpopular election year
topic, military experts and influential members of
congress are suggesting that if Rumsfeld’s prediction
of a “long, hard slog” in Iraq and Afghanistan (and
permanent state of war on terrorism) proves accurate,
the U.S. may have no choice but to draft.

www.hslda.org/legislation/national/2003/s89/default.asp

entitled the Universal National service Act of 2003,
“to provide for the common defense by requiring that
all young persons (age 18-26) in the United States,
including women, perform a period of military service
or a period of civilian service in furtherance of the
national defense and homeland security, and for other
purposes.” These active bills currently sit in the
committee on armed services. Dodging the draft will
be more difficult than those from the Vietnam era.
College and Canada will not be options. In December,
2001, Canada and the U.S. signed a “smart border
declaration,” which could be used to keep would-be
draft dodgers in. Signed by Canada’s minister of
foreign affairs, John Manley, and U.S. Homeland
Security director, Tom Ridge, the declaration involves
a 30 point plan which implements, among other things,
a “pre-clearance agreement” of people entering and
departing each country. Reforms aimed at making the
draft more equitable along gender and class lines also
eliminates higher education as a shelter.
Underclassmen would only be able to postpone service
until the end
of their current semester. Seniors would have until
the end of the academic year.

What to do:
Tell your friends, Contact your legislators and ask
them to oppose these bill. Just type “congress” into
the aol search engine and input your zip code. A list
of your reps will pop up with a way to email them
directly. We can’t just sit and pretend that by
ignoring it, it will go away. We must voice our
concerns and create the world we want to live in for
our children and grandchildren.”

It’s false. Draft Fears Fueled by Inaccurate E-mails.

This isn’t a meme; it’s a virus! There should be a word for it, like a malicious meme… malmeme? v-meme? Haha. I am too tired right now. Anyway, I don’t like how lies propagate so quickly.