Reason #47: Soldier Bling

Wouldn't you know it - they end Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and a month or so later, they're letting 'em wear jewelry!

Apparently wearing bracelets commemorating friends who've been killed in action is a pretty widespread practice in the Marine Corps - so widespread, in fact, that the Corps naturally had no choice but to ban them outright because of their negative impact on, and I'm quoting here, "standardization and uniformity".

While this is a totally reasonable notion and is in no way a microcosm of everything I object to about the armed forces, Commandant Gen. Jim Amos has now decided to allow the bracelets after all. Whether this means the terrorists have finally won remains to be seen.