sexual misconduct – MASTER OF NONE

November 30, 2021

The Canadian Armed Forces Fights Human Nature

Gen. Wayne Eyre — shown here addressing a repatriation ceremony at the Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea in 2018 — was named chief of defence staff last month. He replaced Art McDonald, who stepped aside following claims of sexual misconduct. (Jung Yeon-je/Associated Press)

MND & CDS Set to Apologize to Sexual Misconduct Victims

”Each human being shall have all of these in him, and they will constitute his nature. In some, there will be high and fine characteristics which will submerge the evil ones, and those will be called good men; in others the evil characteristics will have dominion, and those will be called bad men.”
Mark Twain

This entry was prompted by a response of a Military Mom who will not be accepting the upcoming apology from the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) regarding cases of sexual harassment and misconduct. The following is to hopefully put the unique nature of serving in the CAF into context. It is not to excuse abhorrent behavior, it is more of a ‘It is what it is’ treatise.

Newly enlisted Canadians have their first contact with the real CAF when they pass through ‘The Green Door’ for the start of Basic Training. It is the beginning of an experience which cannot accurately be described to the ‘civvies’. They enter a world totally foreign to their previous life unless they have been coached through time in Cadets or by family military members.

To be honest, it’s not all honour and integrity. Quite a bit of the military experience is ugly and will bring out the worst of a human being due to the very nature of the beast. For this article, the focus will be on the taboo subject of sex in the military.

Think for half a second, what is going to happen when you throw a group of fit young men and women together? There are any number of reality TV shows broadcast that take all the mystery out of that question. So in that group mentioned, many are far away from home for the first time; they are under peculiar, incredible stress; they are living, breathing, working, partying with each other in a unit which is in many ways tighter than their family bonds. Toss in liberal amounts of alcohol during infrequent down times and what exactly do you think is going to happen?!?

They’re going to fuck like sex crazed bunnies!

The CAF has a very high men to women ratio, more so in the Army/Navy versus the Air Force. When there is a ten or twenty to one ratio even the wallflowers get second looks. An amazing transformation occurs when women are out of Combats and ready for a night out. It is quite natural that military women get hit on a lot by military men. It is literally a numbers game and incidentally the vast majority of them end up married to those military men.

But there are plenty of guys (and gals) just looking for a good time. Again, how many websites like Tinder, Grindr, Lov, etc. are dedicated to casual, no-strings sex? The military has their own terms for casual hookups such as, your ‘deployment wife’, your ‘ship wife’, ‘Pig in the Port’, etc. Military life puts particular stressors on people and they relieve themselves just like everyone else does.

Men get ‘handsy’ but it gets excused because it just happens in the Mess when they are tipsy. Women get slutty and start playing the boys off against each other because they like the fuss they create. Men make sexual moves on women and/or men because they thought they had ‘the sign’. The members of military units are literally cheek by jowl at times for months on end. The human psyche has to unburden itself and at times in a very ugly sexual fashion.

The Medical Infirmary (MIR) at CFB Kingston used to have a genital warts Parade each Wednesday. Most young men or women at that point were probably having ‘Buyer’s Remorse’ regarding their hookups. As for those sexual liaisons, many of them could probably be termed sexual assault due to the fact that the women were probably blitzed out due to alcohol. If a girl is almost passed out, it would be difficult to state that she was a 100% willing participant. The smart ones employ a stalwart Wing Man to protect them when they black out. The guy was probably just as drunk but of course that is no excuse. To be honest, what percentage of sexual episodes society wide do not have some element of substance enhancers to help lubricate the situation?

So what’s the solution for the CAF for them to curb what seems to be rampant sexual harassment? Even at the highest levels it is a problem as evidenced by the numerous, high profile cases of the most senior officers being guilty of sexual offences. These offences of a sexual nature seem endemic to the military despite many years of concerted effort to wipe it out.

When women first came into the CAF, this was one of the reasons people wanted to keep them out. But that ship has sailed and women are here to stay. The Russians used women in combat due to manpower shortages but they were segregated to their own all female units. That would be impractical for the CAF. The only viable solution is to recognize that members of the CAF are recruited from Canadian society at large and that they are human beings who come encumbered with all that entails.

Human nature is human nature despite Operation Honour, despite official apologies, despite the howling of the aggrieved. The CAF does take offences of a sexual nature very seriously and there is zero tolerance for the true predators. They are punished severely as they should be.

People are attracted to each other and that attraction can lead to acts of a sexual nature. Put a group of them under incredible stress, throw in some un-inhibitors, usually in the form of copious amounts of alcohol and bad stuff can happen. To remedy this, the leaders of the CAF need to recognize when situations are likely to get out of hand and then take positive action. As an example, woman Petty Officers would turn back a Junior Rank at the Brow before stepping ashore due to their choice of attire. Or, as the trend has become, military social events are not all about getting black-out drunk anymore.

Unfortunately, despite best efforts, bad decisions will be made and the Base Padre will continue to have visits from teary eyed Privates.

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February 4, 2021February 5, 2021

General Vance’s Fall From Grace

When you point the finger, more fingers point back at you

The Sexual Smear is Mightier than the Sword

So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
John 8:7

***Feb 05 Update – Global News is now reporting that The Canadian Forces National Investigation Service (CFNIS) has opened an investigation into possible improper behaviour on the part of the former CDS. There was also an important change to the narrative regarding the mystery military woman where the relationship between the two is now described as ‘intimate’. No extra information is provided that would lead us to believe the two were having sexual relations, neither person has claimed they were hooking up. Maybe Global could quit with the yellow journalism and the smearing campaign until some actual information from the investigation is made public.***

After nearly 40 years of dedicated service to Canada, General Jonathan Vance will be retiring from the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) under a cloud of sexual misconduct charges. Another former high ranking sailor, Vice Admiral Mark Norman, might be feeling some schadenfreude now that his ‘buddy’ who helped toss him under MV Asterix is getting some comeuppance.

To briefly summarize the Global News article, the former Chief of Defence Staff has been accused of sending a 2012 email (three years before he became the CDS) to a female Corporal that contained the suggestion of ‘the prospect of going to a clothing optional vacation destination with her.‘ No context was provided regarding their full exchanges and the Corporal never filed an official complaint but a comment was sent to the CAF Ombudsman. The other incident was reported to Global News via a third party. Sometime in 2019, it appears that Gen Vance had been ‘sexting’ with a female subordinate whom he had previously dated back in 2001. They also seem to have privately met at least three times outside of work over the last couple of years. Gen Vance says nothing sexual happened. Global News contacted the mystery military woman who confirms these facts and wishes to remain anonymous.

Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jonathan Vance speaks during a news conference on the findings of the Statistics Canada Survey on Sexual Misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces in Ottawa on Nov. 28, 2016. – Chris Wattie / Reuters

The irony has not been lost on people that one of the first major actions of Gen Vance upon becoming CDS was to launch Operation HONOUR which was the CAF’s response to a damning April 2015 Deschamps Report alleging ‘endemic sexual misconduct throughout virtually all levels of the Canadian Forces.’

By the way, there is no regulation which says you cannot have consensual sex with anyone else in the CAF. There are time and place orders such as while on deployment, you should not be in each other’s direct chain of command, no professional reprisals or rewards should result from the relationship, and in the Navy you were supposed to ‘declare’ your relationship to your Chain of Command (COC). Back in the 80’s, an officer was not supposed to be hooking up with Non Commissioned Members (NCMs). Thankfully, that stupid order was rescinded.

There is a lot to unpack here, so I will start with a few of my thoughts in no particular order:

People are disappointed that Gen Vance appears to be ‘cheating’ on his wife, Kerry Vance, despite the lack of evidence of actual sexual relations. To that I say, so what? If the guy is cheating/thinking about cheating on his wife it is literally no business of yours or anyone else’s. Of course, there are work considerations to be mindful of which if that is taken care of then there is no argument other than morals. The relationship between a husband and his wife is theirs to deal with. Maybe the wife is a total bitch. Maybe they have an open marriage. You live your life and they can live theirs.

As an aside, the hiding of information like this was used by the military to turf homosexuals and lesbians back during the Cold War. The reasoning was a Soviet agent could compromise a service member and blackmail them. So if the CAF found out about your non-heterosexual orientation they would rescind your security clearance and boot you out.

People point to the unbalanced power structure between Gen Vance and the unnamed female subordinate saying it perpetuates the culture of military sexual misconduct. Up in the rarified air of the top ranks, you are literally only going to have lower ranks to fraternize with. In Gen Vance’s case, everyone is subordinate to the CDS. What is the solution, make every high ranking member take a vow of eternal celibacy? Maybe the CAF could hire escorts when the boys/girls feel urges so they don’t have to resort to other military members. Is there a possibility of abuse, well duh, that’s all of human history and don’t tell me it’ll be any different if it was a woman instead of a man with the upper hand. People form relationships with those they spend the most time with ie. the people at work because they share similar interests, understand what each other are going through, proximity, etc.

This goes back to the old argument of not allowing women to be part of the military. Everyone knew there was going to be ‘playing’ around when the girls and boys were away together on deployment or exercise. Heck, I had a ship ‘wife’ for a time while I was at sea. We didn’t tell our Chain of Command because we were mature enough not to let it interfere with our work and frankly, it was no one else’s business.

Humans are humans. Put men and women together, add stress, add some alcohol, they have sex. To deny that is to deny human nature. To deny this does not happen frequently in the military is straight ignorance.

For the true victims of sexual harassment and misconduct, yes, that is intolerable and justice should be swift and harsh. This type of misconduct has happened in the past and will happen in the future. For example, down in the Chiefs and POs Mess on the ships, the women had to put up with a lot of grabby hands. ‘Oh, Jim just gets a little too touchy, feely when he’s been drinking‘. Thankfully, the dinosaurs are dying out and the worst of the abuse seems to be passing. But when you have humans working together, there will be all forms of mistreatment that will never be totally eliminated especially so in a military environment merely due to the nature of the work.

Oh, the damning email with the inappropriate sexual remark, well that’s straight out sexual assault! As for inappropriate emails, dig deep enough and everyone has done or said something risqué at some point. If you haven’t, what’s wrong with you? You know who is the worst for black humour and sexual joking? Female nurses. Hang out with them but not if you’re a shrinking violet and have tender ears. I do not see interminable witch hunts admonishing the nursing profession for their inappropriate sexual innuendos.

When the Op HONOUR edicts, power points, and Town Halls started rolling out many of the victims were things like the removal of girlie calendars in the workshops, the curtailing of off-colour jokes, and even the painting over of decades old artwork on ship bulkheads. Sure, it was good to clean up the pig sty atmosphere of too many men gathered together. In some of the larger messes onboard ship, the rumour was porn was playing on the TV 24/7. But when you sweep through with a dragnet of ‘sexual’ correctness, you destroy esprit de corps and everything becomes sterile.

The self righteous had better be careful playing this card too often. Women fought for decades for inclusion and equality in the CAF. But when they get treated like one of the ‘guys’ who knows what stray email or remark will pop up years later to be used as a bludgeon. If it was a problem, deal with it at the time, not multi-years later as a smear tactic. It does not help the image of women in the CAF. What man will ever trust to be alone with a woman for fear of some later accusation?

It is sad when people are so quick to judge and smear others with these moralistic witch hunts. They remind me of the reports of the never-ending Stalin era denunciations where everyone was looking over their shoulder and they lived in fear of the midnight knock on the door. No one is safe when such minor indiscretions can be trotted out to destroy someone’s career and reputation.

Frankly, I do not feel a military member should be so dehumanized as to be absolutely squeaky clean. They will be totally devoid of mercy, understanding, and general humanity. Believe me, I came across a few high ranking RCN pricks who perfectly fit this description and you do not want to be serving under them.

At the end the day, who is going to be hurt or helped by this third party’s vendetta? I am sure Kerry Vance is thrilled to have all this out in the public square with all the associated tongue wagging. The mystery military woman will be dragged into this and face unwanted humiliation and attention. The Corporal never made a formal complaint regarding a off-hand email remark from nearly a decade ago, so what justice will be served here? Military women, in general, lose because this just reinforces the general notion of women’s vindictiveness over minor actions. Last but not least, a decorated, honourable soldier gets to have his name raked through the mud after finishing four decades of faithful service to Canada.

Who gets to profit from these sorry revelations? The disgruntled third party gets to say ‘Ah-ha, got the bastard!‘ The tabloids who pose as our mainstream media get to run salacious stories and garner more clickbait hits. The sanctimonious get to cluck, shake their heads, and wag their fingers.

In my humble opinion, it is disgusting, improper, and unprofessional of Global News to have reported this story in the first place. Gen Vance is no longer the CDS and is retiring soon. Nothing criminal or even untoward happened. This is yellow journalism that used to be reserved for rags like the National Enquirer. This was a hit job, plain, and simple. Do some actual reporting Global and dig up the real reasons and motivations behind these revelations. While you are at it, maybe you could report on Justin and Sophie’s rocky relationship which seems to be the Hill’s worst kept secret but verboten territory.

Gen Vance’s former military enemies from Afghanistan must be laughing their heads off to hear he has been taken down because of a woman. The sexual smear is indeed mightier than the sword.

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January 30, 2018

POLITICAL OBSERVER – Deuxième Partie

#METOO Morphing into #WHOISNEXT

The Canadian political scene continues to be rocked by numerous sexual allegations against men. Even the ultra-feminist Prime Minister Trudeau is back-pedaling on how to handle the allegations within his own party. There is talk of a ‘whisper’ network amongst Parliamentary staffers as to who is grabbsy after a few drinks. There is an ominous online threat that some powerful male political leader is next. Storm clouds have gathered and there is a seeping, impending dread across the nation of who will next be struck by the #metoo lightning bolt from the murky heavens.

What is disturbing is this narrative that all women coming forward (but staying anonymous in many cases such as with Patrick Brown) with sexual harassment allegations must be believed implicitly because no woman has ever lied, withheld key contextual facts, coloured the truth, or has had ulterior motives that would benefit themselves, organizations they are affiliated with, or causes they believe in. After all, they are made of sugar and spice and all things nice. Their word of events, sometimes decades in the past, is to be taken as gospel irrespective of how much alcohol or drugs may have been involved. No matter how many years have passed, you can take their word for the fact that with no evidence, corroboration, or police reports, they have lived in shame for upwards of decades reliving the gospel truth day after day so that no single iota of whatever happened could never be twisted. Never mind the seeming coincidence that these revelations all seem to hit at the most inopportune times in order to maximize the downfall of these men. Never mind that a court of law has cleared men like Jian Ghomeshi of all charges. Women because of the sheer fact that they are women must never be questioned as to their veracity in these matters.

Before you start slamming me for being generalistic, I am only quoting the virtue signaling of Prime Minister Trudeau, “It is our duty to listen to them and to believe them.” Ontario Premier Wynne, “I believe victims when they come forward” and all the various political voices who all immediately came out to support and implicitly believe these ‘brave’ anonymous women immediately upon word of the allegations. Look up each and every political response and prove me wrong. We had a little business with a fake hijab attack incident recently that embarrassed these same politicians who were falling all over themselves to support this poor Islamic girl. What ever happened to waiting for a complete investigation? I neither support nor defend Mr. Brown or these other men. I do support due process and the chance for the accused to face their accuser. I support taking allegations seriously and having them properly investigated by the authorities. By authorities, reporters don’t count as their motivations can easily lean towards the old practice of sensationalism for ratings. I take serious umbrage with wholesale believing the accuser before a proper investigation takes place. There is a reason Lady Justice is depicted with a blindfold. Also, since allegations such as these can have such dire obvious consequences to the accused, they shouldn’t be made public until charges are laid. Otherwise, it’s just an old fashioned lynch mob with a rope.

Ah, but many people are of the opinion that there is no such thing as ‘due process’ when it comes to politics. Throw the disgusting man out on his rear! Tar and feathers is too good for his kind of ilk! We don’t want his kind as our LEADER! We always knew there was something wrong with him! Believe the WOMEN! Believe the WOMEN! Those are the cries of the vengeful mob hunting for justice. How convenient that it is only when it comes to sex, that now we determine to hold politicians accountable for their leadership qualities. Politicians of all stripes and both genders commit atrocious blunders and boondoggles costing billions of taxpayer dollars all the time. But one little whiff of impropriety when it comes to the relationship of a man with a woman and somehow that is the tipping point.

The actions of the CTV reporters who investigated the Patrick Brown allegations are merely a modern version of yellow journalism and muckraking. They knew the likely consequences of their sensationalist ‘revelations’ a few months before a major election. That’s a lot of power to wield and easily a recipe for abuse. Every reporter will be clamoring to speak with all the office staffers about their experiences. What woman is going to deny she has never heard a coarse word, maybe had a hand linger on a shoulder a second too long, or had a pass thrown at her that was rebuffed? Ordinary actions have now become sinister, powerful ammunition used to support the feminist narrative that all men are rapists.

Every man, especially those in powerful positions, can now be anonymously accused of sexual wrong-doing without official sanction and it will be up to him to prove innocence as guilt will be implied and his reputation forever stained.

To quote a Medium.com author, Proudly Unaffiliated, ‘And I always thought that a Witch Hunt was about people hunting for witches. But it looks like that a Witch Hunt is really a hunt conducted by witches that are after men and their resources.’

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January 25, 2018January 27, 2018

POLITICAL OBSERVER

The famous ‘El pollo al Veladore’ woman located in Galvez Passage, Valparaíso, Chile

Patrick Brown’s Spectacular Fall off the Nightstand

***Update — The resignations are coming fast and furious now. Sport and Disabilities Minister Kent Hehr has resigned from the Federal Liberal cabinet pending investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct. Plus yesterday, the leader of the Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative Party, Jamie Baillie suddenly resigned with sexual harassment claims over his head.***

Let’s jump right into this!

The power of the #metoo movement has dramatically claimed another man’s career. Patrick Brown, who was very likely going to be the next Premier of Ontario after the upcoming June election, went from star to pariah in about 12 hours from last night to this morning. Two anonymous women went directly to CTV reporters with separate sexual incidents with Brown from the past. The one lady was 18 when an alleged incident occured 10 years ago. The other had just turned 19 and was working at Brown’s constituency office in 2013. No police reports have ever been filed.

Upon the surfacing of the allegations, his entire campaign team quit. He held out for a few hours but the Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader resigned this morning citing one person isn’t important enough to hold up replacing a very unpopular Liberal provincial government.

Of course, every politician from Justin Trudeau to Kathleen Wynne is piling on with their predictable reaction messages. Zero tolerance to sexual misconduct, the women are so brave to come forward, ‘all Ontarians are responsible to “shine a light” on harassment and other behaviour’ are the appropriate media response lines. Even Andrew Scheer parroted carefully scripted buzz phrases but at least he mentioned that the allegations should be investigated fully.

When you read the statements of the women interviewed by CTV, on the face of it were any actual crimes committed? As to the first woman, she was 18 and Brown was 29 when they came across one another through a mutual friend at a bar 10 years ago. She and the friend accepted an invitation to go back to his place and continue drinking. The article makes a point of saying she was underage for Brown to be giving her alcohol as they were in Ontario. But she was already drinking in a bar, so it would be reasonable for the man to assume she was at least an adult (which she was) and of legal drinking age as bars check for that. She ended up drunk; agreed to go into his bedroom; there was a clumsy attempt at a blowjob supposedly initiated by him; she stopped and left; and he did not stop her from leaving. That just sounds like a hookup after picking up a girl from the bar. It is precisely this human activity that has made sites like Tinder, Bumble, Happn or their numerous spawns so popular. The woman was quoted as saying “He’s an old, single, politician preying on young girls. He’s just a sad person.” Where in the criminal code or even a moral code is it written that a 29 year old man is not allowed to pick up an 18 year old woman and try to have sex with her?

As for the second woman, she was just 19 and ended up working at Brown’s constituency office. He was 34 in 2013 when the alleged sexual assault took place. The woman had been at a bar getting plastered on free drinks from the people present. She and a male friend of Brown’s went back to his place to continue the party. She ended up alone with him in his bedroom; he tried to have sex with her; she declined and left; and he did not stop her from leaving. He subsequently asked her to join him on a paid trip to India which she declined. He gave her a raise that summer. She also returned to work for him the following summer as she saw the work as ‘a career opportunity‘. If you had been ‘assaulted’ by someone, would you continue to work for them at a somewhat minor summer job then return the following year?

The boss trying to sleep with the secretary is so cliché, the Chilean’s phrase for the practice is ‘El pollo al Velador‘ which translates to ‘Chicken on the Nightstand’. A two hour lunch is the norm in Chile, so that leaves plenty of time for a mid-day tryst between the boss and his favourite girl at a local flophouse.

Sexual misconduct is commonly defined as ‘an umbrella term for any misconduct of a sexual nature that is usually perpetrated against an individual without his or her consent. The misconduct can be of various degree, such as sexual impropriety, sexual transgression, sexual violation, and sexual exploitation.’ Employer/employee sexual relationships can certainly end up being classified under this definition. Brown making a play for his employee was not a particularly bright move, especially for a politician. But was it illegal or morally wrong if at the time he was operating under the impression that there was no harm/no foul happening? He sounded like a lonely guy who wanted a relationship at the office with a pretty, young girl. Generally, in today’s world, that’s a particularly stupid thing for the boss to try to do. But if he was only being persistent but backing away when told to with no repercussions to the woman, does that warrant stringing the man up for the crows?

Think of where society has gotten to with this #metoo and #timesup phenomenon. Within hours of anonymous allegations, a man was tried, judged, and had his career executed. He will undergo years of humiliation, spend thousands of dollars in legal fees, and will never fully clear his name or be respected ever again. The instigators of the Salem Witch trials would be impressed.

The message is that you better be as pure as freshly fallen snow with respect to your willy if you are running for political office. It’s obvious that even the hint of sexual impropriety is kryptonite to a male politician’s career. Strangely, the late crack smoking Mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford, was a Teflon man and still extremely popular despite all of his gaffes. They even tried to rename a stadium after him. It would be interesting to see if his alleged indelicacies with women would sink him in today’s climate.

Well, everyone loves a good kangaroo court and subsequent bonfire!

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Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.