DraconisRex

We had this one SGT 1st Class who had just gotten out of a D.I. Unit. Thought he was the answer to all of our problems. We put up with his crap for about two weeks, before we got my 1st LT to sit back and watch. By the time he got done with that SGT 1st CLass, our maintenance bay was in tip-top shape. Through no help of our own -- the LT made him do it by himself. He chilled out good and proper after that....

Little Melissa comes home from first grade and tells her father that they learned the history of Christmas. "Christmas Day is for Christians and we're Jewish," she asks, "will God get mad at me for giving someone a Christmas card?" Melissa's father thinks a bit, then says, "No, I don't think God would get mad. Who do you want to give a Christmas card to?" "Osama Bin Laden," she says. "Why Osama Bin Laden," her father asks in shock. "Well," she says, "I thought that if a little American Jewish girl could have enough love to give Osama a Christmas card, he might start to think that maybe we're not all bad, and maybe start loving people a little bit. "And if other kids saw what I did and sent Christmas cards to Osama, he'd love everyone a lot. And then he'd start going all over the place to tell everyone how much he loved them and how he didn't hate anyone anymore." Her father's heart swells and he looks at his daughter with new found pride. "Melissa, that's the most wonderful thing I've ever heard." "I know," Melissa says, "and once that gets him out in the open, the Marines could blow the daylights out of him."

quote:Originally posted by Paddy Gregory: Bovine = cattle Ovine = sheep 7 ducks, 10 chickens... About the same.... quote:Sheeple, I like that, it's so fitting. The government doesn't have to do all that much to make people into sheep, they're already pretty bovine to begin with, but I would have to say that should such a revolution occur it wouldn't have a very good chance of succeeding unless it was in the form of a military coup, and that has its own problems.Depends on the type of military coup. Some of our best soliders are old-timers in local, private militias. They scare the government far more than any of us semi-current soldiers, and with good reason.

quote:Originally posted by Dragon Lady: Develop a taste for extremely spicy food that you can only eat a very small amount of. It works, at least most of the time. I eat jalape├▒o peppers out of the jar, though I might have to get something a bit hotter soon.Oh, come on -- the doctor already has me on 150mg of Zantac... If I followed that instruction, he'd be replacing my stomache in a month... (Goat stomaches are a lot smaller, though, and take awhile to stretch out.... Forced diet... Let me think about it...)

quote:Originally posted by Cmdr Chavik: Push away from the table. I do. When I get full.

quote:Originally posted by Grayfox: ahhhh no way... cmon you had to have done an NTC rotation??? we always did ours in july or august. i went in weighng about 195, and after a month of pounding pickets wearing full gear (flak vest, kevlar, LBE, weapon, 20lb picket pounder) i came back weighng a sveldt 170... and being the tallest man in the squad, guess who got to be picket pounder??? it would work methinks... if not we'll give you a billy martin funeral Nah, I'm out now, but instead of a Billy Martin, how about just giving me a Martini?

quote:Originally posted by TheBunny: quote:Originally posted by Rm: You can't be serious??? As far as security goes, IE is about as airtight as an open window... Open windows are easier to see out of then no windows. Like the lady said, "I don't *Do* Windows." Or, to coin a phrase, "No Windows beats Open Windows every time..."

Netscape is Netscape and I.E. is I.E. I use Mozilla, simply because it actually works without freezing my system for the heck of it (I.E. does that), and Netscape can take 2 minutes to load while getting ready to enter a URL (I.E. can take a minute.) Mozilla takes 10-seconds, mostly being background-tasked by Linux. I've more or less divorced Microsoft, although I keep a gaming computer running with it. After 19-years of marriage, we just couldn't seem to get a stable working relationship. So, I tossed in the towel, and filed for immediate seperation, and started an affair with her younger sister, Windy98..... (I can't figure out how to state that Windy98 works well on my laptop without it sounding wrong....)

quote:Originally posted by Kiran: Yes officers have to return salutes. It's a military courtesy. Sniper check....well, you're not SUPPOSED to salute an officer in the field because enemy snipers could see that and know who to kill....well, to do a sniper check, walk up to the nearest officer, render a salute and sound off with a loud and thunderous, "Sniper Check, SIR!" They really, really don't like that Officers are supposed to salute, but it's not like you can take them to court if they don't.... Government Property has no rights, and gets to pay taxes... Saluting in the field... One of the best ways to get rid of an (EDITED) officer is for the entire group to salute him while on a field mission. This is against regulations -- when the unit gets back to camp, the problem is proving it. There were a number of MIA officers in Viet Nam that no one seemed to know what happened to... Go figure.... When one of my Drill Sgts. told me to go find a box of grid squares, and I promptly tossed him a map, and told him, "Need some more, Drill Sgt.? Got plenty of maps...." He wasn't real happy with me, but I have to admit push-ups back then were good for the soul -- and the occasional smart mouth. (Remember a raw recruit asking a different D.I. which ones he wanted -- The D.I. tossed him a pair of scissors and a map, and made him cut out all the squares on it.... Bet he either kept his trap shut or knew exactly what a grid square was from then on!)

quote:Originally posted by Grayfox: wrap yourself in tinfoil and take a trip to death valley??? gauranteed youll sweat off 50 pounds in 2 days lol More like guaranteed to turn me back to the dust of the earth within 6-months, if I were to do that right now....

Ah... The thrill of the Uncle Sam watching out for us... Do you believe it? -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- SEAN HANNITY/CO-HOST: Finally tonight, is privacy about to take a back seat to national security? The Pentagon's Information Awareness Office is proposing a new computer database that would keep track of the electronic transactions of all of us, everyday people. The project is run by former national security adviser, Admiral John Poindexter. And the hope is to catch terrorists by monitoring things like credit card accounts, travel reservations. But would too many innocent people be caught in the dragnet? We're joined by retired Marine Colonel, Ed Badolato. Colonel, I want to get into what I think we ought be concerned about first. But we're talking about every purchase you make on a credit card, every magazine you buy, every prescription you get, every website you visit on your computer, e-mail message you receive, ATM action, every time you get on a commercial airliner, or toll, wherever -- this -- do you support this? ED BADOLATO, USMC COLONEL: Yes, I do. If we're going to be effective against terrorism, we're going to have to do this sort of data mining to find out who the bad guys are, what the bad transactions are, what they're planning. If we had had this before 9/11... HANNITY: Yes. BADOLATO: ...there wouldn't have been a 9/11. HANNITY: Well, I worry about like FBI files in the hands of bar bouncers, like when we have immoral presidents like Bill Clinton. But here's the problem we have right now. We don't enforce our immigration laws. We ought to do that first. We ought to, for example, pay special attention and scrutiny from people that come from nations that are -- you know, have been attributed terror. We don't have the courage to do that. But yet, we're going to go after every American first. And I think our priorities are skewed here. And I think we ought to do that first. BADOLATO: Well, a lot of people are putting this in the argument of going against Americans. We're not trying to do anything against Americans. We're trying to catch terrorists. This is how it's got to be explained. First things first. COLMES: Mr. Badolato, thanks for bringing Sean and me together on this issue. HANNITY: Oh, boy. COLMES: William Saffire had a great piece in "The New York Times" today. He's a civil libertarian of the highest order. You probably read it. And I urge people to really get a look at this. This is from John Poindexter, as William Saffire points out, the man who brought us the Iran-contra scandal, whose idea it was to sell missiles to Iran to pay for random -- a ransom for hostages, and then give the illicit proceeds to illegally support the Contras in Nicaragua. And now he's at it again. What would have happened on September 11 would not have happened if we had, as Sean pointed out, immigration laws, visa laws enforced, not data mining to look at every transaction of every American, sir. BADOLATO: Well, one of the things we have to understand is that technology is a lynchpin that's going to get us through this challenge of terrorism. We have to use our technology. This is where we're strong. This is where we can overcome the problems. We've got to break this code to figure out what can happen, not ex post facto, but before it happens. And this is why we're trying to but this program together. HANNITY: All right, we're going to continue this on the other side of the break. And remember, you can log on to Foxnews.com and you can become an Alan Colmes fan. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLMES: Welcome back to HANNITY & COLMES. I'm Alan Colmes. Colonel Badolato, the case has not been made that this is what caused September 11. I have not heard you prove that data mining like this will do it. This is the administration that brought us the TIPS program. They wanted us to spy on each other. This is the most secretive administration ever. There's a pattern of behavior here which I find alarming. And Americans who value their privacy need to be alarmed about it as well, and they are alarmed about it. Where is the proof that this would stop a terrorist attack, look at every transaction we as law-abiding citizens make? Where's that proof? BADOLATO: The proof will be in the fact that we can track illegal activities, Communists, terrorists, organized-type activities, plans for attacks, build up, various record files on these operations, and stop them before they start. COLMES: Isn't the issue people who are illegally coming into this country, people who violate their visas, people who the INS don't adequately detain, and/or send back, isn't that what we saw happen on September 11? What does that have to do with looking at personal e-mails, transactions, Internet transactions, books we take out of the library? It's an incredible overreaching of presidential, governmental authority. BADOLATO: A lot of that we're doing already. The FBI has the authority and is reading e-mails. The FBI has the authority and is looking at personal mail and activities of that nature when they get a court order saying this somehow has a potential terrorist connection. What we want to do is a larger scale. HANNITY: Yes, well first of all, just to answer Alan's point, you know, remember, the corrupt Clinton administration had private files in the hands of bar bouncers. And I have no doubt in my mind that they used those illegally, but that's a different issue for a different day. There are many things a federal government can do before considering this data thing. And while the left has resisted strong immigration laws and deportation of illegal immigrants, that's number one. Don't you think we ought to do those things first before we talk about the invasion into people's freedoms this way? BADOLATO: We are going to do those things first. And I think we are because of the fact... HANNITY: We're not. BADOLATO: ...that this activity we're talking about from Admiral Poindexter is so technically challenging, that it's not going to happen overnight. HANNITY: Well, but it's like a -- it's a big brother nightmare. BADOLATO: It's going to take a long period of time. HANNITY: I contend, if we did it right, and we controlled our borders, and we checked people coming in from other countries, if we really did these things, beefed up our intelligence community, we wouldn't need to do this to the American people. We wouldn't need to do it. BADOLATO: Sean, you have over a million illegals in this country right now. HANNITY: Find them. BADOLATO: How do you think we're going to find them? HANNITY: You don't think... BADOLATO: How do you think we're going to find them? HANNITY: But see, but we're not even making an effort to find them. And then Democrats, like Dick Gephardt, are offering amnesty again. BADOLATO: Of course. This system of being able to profile and look at what is going on electronically and so forth, is not meant to be used against ordinary citizens. HANNITY: But it might be if Bill Clinton gets back in office or Hillary gets into office. BADOLATO: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). HANNITY: Isn't that a danger? COLMES: He can't back in office. HANNITY: If Hillary gets back in office? I think it is. I don't want my private information in her hands. COLMES: By the way, there was never any proof that those files were used illegally. HANNITY: Sorry, I believe... COLMES: Well, there's been no proof of that. HANNITY: Sue me. COLMES: Thank -- could I? HANNITY: Sure. COLMES: Thank you, sir, thank you for being with us. That's all the time we have left for tonight. Remember, for news all day, stay with the Fox News channel. This is the network America trusts for fair and balanced news. Join us tomorrow night, 9:00 Eastern, for more HANNITY & COLMES. Thank you for watching us and have a great night.

Cadet, based strictly on what others have posted here (myself included), your post is accepable. In fact, a lot of what we have been discussing is the fact that America is screwed up, has no culture of its own anymore (for all intents and purposes), and its representatives do whatever their gut, loins, or palm-reader tells them to. There is little actual regard to what the people, this nation's owners, want them to do. You are right; we don't flame each other. Our great leader, the SC, has an excellent button called "delete", which can be used on any upstart that breaks that simple rule. My dad always says, "Government won't, managers won't, and workers don't." Between the lower federal courts, the Infernal Revenue Service (intentional misspelling), and this new Fatherland Security Act, we have very few rights. I am happy to see that the US Supreme Court is finally going to decide on the 2nd Amendment, and whether the term "militia" includes individual's rights. This may not go our way, based on how definitions have changed over the years... As far as other governments are concerned -- if they're staying out of our affairs, and those of other countries, I think we should basically leave them alone. We need to go back to the written law of the Constitution, not the anal sideways interpretation that prevails in the courts. Ah, but as far as the effectiveness of Congress, I think this says it best: quote:The opposite of pro is con, This is plainly seen, If progress means move forward, What must Congress mean? - Nipsy Russell, Matchgame '79

Okay, I've called the YMCA, but have to wait until Jan 1 unless I want to pay $50 more for the account setup. Nothing personal, but I like saving my cash for more important things, like computer parts... Actually, we're going on vacation next week *IF* the cash is what we expect after the US Mofia has collected its protection money. Won't know until Friday.... But I will be taking the water aerobics after a couple of weeks of simply getting the muscles active again, by swimming (more like walking at first), rubberband/chair routines, some weights, etc., but all of this follows simple warm-ups. Thanks to all that responded -- any other suggestions I should think about?

Anybody know of any weight-loss programs that don't require bootcamp, fasting, two-gyms, and/or hospitalization to actually lose weight? Because of old Army injuries in my knee and my elbow, I can't run, walking hurts, and push-ups are a literal pain. I gotta take off about 50-pounds, soon, but need low-impact excercises to get enough weight off to where running may eventually become a possibility. I know the motto "No Pain, No Gain," but there is a vast difference between pain and "you're damaging equipment." Suggestions?

My late Mother's favorite joke is actually a visual gag -- just play-act it to get a feel for it... -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- This fellow slams on his brakes, and gets out of his car. Then he goes up to a house, and knocks on the door. A woman answers, and he says, "Ma'am, I think I just ran over your cat." She says, "Oh, what did it look like?" (Man immitates a terrified cat being squashed by a fast-moving vehicle.) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Come on guys (and ladies), I know y'all know some good jokes!

Go here. In the list of articles, click on the link (6th right now) with this thread's name. It will ask you for your year of birth and zip code. Then read the article. What do you think?

quote:Originally posted by Jaguar: No Dredd, just Officers, or if you are an officer, those officers that outrank you. We enlisted guys get tired right arms sometimes from all that saluting. I know EXACTLY what you mean about Ft Sill. I was in that damn hospital for 2 weeks in basic training. Pulled achilles tendon, pink eye, and namonia, was NOT at all fun, but when I was wheeling around in that wheelchair, my right arm got real tired saluting every doctor in the place. MADE ME NUTS!! To get around having to salute so much, I tended to over-load my arms so it was obvious that saluting was not a possibility. The officers hated it as much as us, from what I could tell. Duty is duty, but....

Sorry, guys... I misread the tone of the conversation. When I went back and re-read it, everything's cool. Guess that's what I get for trying to read stuff with very little sleep... It's interesting that the Bible seems to assert that the world was round -- that, to Flat Earth Soceities at the time (which still exist, despite proof to the contrary), is its own heresy. They either knew it, or someone made an accurate wild guess -- based on what the Egyptians and Chinese knew at the time, that fits in with part of my theories; just not sure what agent was the go-between.

...and I ask again, why are we arguing about the accuracy of the bible? You're not gonna change my beliefs, and I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna change your's.... I choose to believe. That is my choice, and I have to live with it regardless of what your choice is. This is directed to everybody, by the way. Quit arguing; that accomplishes nothing but bring blood pressure to new heights. Knock it off. This thread is about Mysteries of the Bible, not the Scientific Termination of the Bible. We're exploring what may have happened in these mysteries, on the assumption that the events described happened something like what was written. This is no different in this respect than critiquing any work of fiction or non-fiction -- The Bible is a book in this thread. Everyone quit getting defensive about whether it's true or not. It doesn't matter in this thread. If you want to argue that point, there are a number of science or religious forums elsewhere on the net -- choose one, and go there, but quit fighting.

If space is curved as scientists persist, then if you go in a straight line long enough, you'll come back to where you started. If you're going the speed of light, you'll come back to when you started, so long as you don't run into any stars, planets, black-holes, quasars, etc., etc., etc. Ugggh... From the outside of curved space, what exactly does a sphere look like? Or a circle, or a square, or a dodecahedron? [ 12-15-2002, 06:18 AM: Message edited by: DraconisRex ]

quote:Originally posted by Kiran: You and a group of joes see an officer coming, so you spread out single file with about 10 feet or so between you. Well, you get the picture Of course that works both ways. I was going to eat lunch and went to BK...which was where all the brand new butter-bars decided to go after OCS graduation. They were leaving, I was coming in.That's a familiar story -- don't ever be walking past the medical section at 12:00 hours at Fort Sill. My God! Never seen so many officers in all my life! My arm got tired just passing that area, after all the saluting I got to do. Geez...

quote:Originally posted by Dragon Lady: Well I have faith in science. It is not, however, blind faith. Inductive reasoning can't give 100% proof, but it can be very good at predicting outcomes and that counts for something. Consider, if you will, technology. Now, it's possible that you're curled up in the fetal position in the corner of some cave amidst a race of extremely primitive humans that have less tool-using capability then apes and imagining this whole thing, or even that this world as you know it doesn't exist. I guess it's a risk you're going to have to take, whether or not to believe in science, reality as your senses interpret it, and all of that. I have faith in science because it works. Not total, nor blind faith, but faith none the less. It provides a way for us to prove things to the best of our abilities, and it's worked so far. That counts for a lot.Yes, science seems to work. When I have faith, though, my belief seems to work too, despite science, and I can't offer an explanation to you that will be understood. Perhaps it's simply my belief that I can affect things around me in His name that makes it possible. Mark 10:27: "And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible." It works for me -- I believe it, it works, end of story. Maybe it is sceintific, and I don't know it, but at the same time, maybe there is somebody or something that helps unexplainable things come to pass. I don't have a blind faith in God -- I follow Him with my eyes wide open. [ 12-14-2002, 03:16 PM: Message edited by: DraconisRex ]

My whole point to that psychotic explanation is that there is no real proof, because the universe seems to adjust itself to balance out to local conditions. Without religion, there is only life. With religion, there is at least the self-hope that life doesn't end just because the body ceases to function.

quote:Originally posted by IceCold: quote:A scientific truth is anything scientific that is actually true (not just "believed to be".) It doesn't need to be proven, as it is, by definition, already true. But is that not faith? No scientific principle is truth for they can be proven wrong, they are theories (an hypothesis that has been reinforced through multiple trials in an experiment. If religon must be proven why not science? Well, to my way of thinking, neither has been proven absolutely to even exist. The only thing I know is what I have experienced, but, much like role-playing, is it actually real? Or is it something else entirely? Before you answer this philosophical question, remember that proof under these conditions is impossible, for you have to prove to me that we're actually having a conversation, which you cannot do. I think I have fingers -- does that make it so? If I toss a rock through a window, will I actually get in trouble, or is it only the fact that that is the expected outcome which makes myself think it's in trouble? Again, prove it. Within the limits of the program called life we are given, nothing will ever actually be proven until we can share each others minds. Then comes the question -- is it your mind that I feel, or have I only been made to think it's your mind? Such questions, unless you are a god (or am I being made to think I am a god?) cannot be answered. We all have faith that we were born, that we will live until we don't, at which point we will die. Is that true? Prove it. [ 12-14-2002, 10:22 AM: Message edited by: DraconisRex ]

Whether you believe the Bible as the perfect Word of God, or as just a story, it's still fun to speculate of how things could have happened. Science may solve part of it some day. At the same time, we may destroy our planet in the next 10-years. Who knows? In a lot of respects, it doesn't matter, but anything which makes you think makes you smarter. Keep that gray matter going... You'll thank yourself later... quote: Just a thought, but it seams to me that traversing the bottom of a sea would be pretty slow, especially with children and wagons. I'm not an expert on underwater terrain, but I would think it's pretty rough and not at all easy to cross, if it would even be possible to cross at all (allowing, of course, for the waters having been parted). It depends on how rough the waters had been in that sea over the ages. In Exodus 14: "21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left." The sheer heat required to dry the sea-bed would be greater than atomic -- it would have to be highly focused, highly contained. Even with a dry sea-bed, it's still going to be rough terrain. But not that rough, when you compare it to the ocean. The number of men, women, and children were very high.