Guard Dog

You did better than me then. It took me that long to make Corporal. My MOS was small. For almost a year and a half of the time I was eligible there was no cutting score for Lance Corporal to Corporal. When it finally came it was so low a crap ton of guys made it. I was one of the most senior lance corporals around, 3 years in grade, and here were all these guys with 18 months in the suck getting promoted with me. I was annoyed! A little anyway. Not too much because I'd already decided to walk away when my EAS came up. But on the Pros and Cons, like you said, subjective. My first unit in the fleet were hardasses about it. But the second was the exact opposite. Top Aeslin said if you show up on time, look presentable, do your job and don't bitch that will get you 4.5. Do all that an run a first class PFT will get you 4.6. Do that and shoot expert will get you 4.7. To get that extra .1 I learned a lesson early on: volunteer for the s--t detail you probably would have been put on anyway. You're doing it no matter what. Might was well get some goodwill from it.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/20/politics/disputed-election-crisis-trump/index.html THIS is why no one trusts the media. Every damned Presidential election this crap comes out. What if the President refuses to leave? We've been doing this s--t for 244 years now. We've had 45 Presidents, some of which were bigger scoundrels that this current jackass and every one of them (that didn't die in office) walked away when voted or term limited out. This crap still surfaces with the only difference being which side they are trying to stir up angst in. It's just enough already. If Trump loses and wants to sue everyone in sight then let him. There will still be an inauguration on 1/20/2021. This is where the media fails. They are not reporting news they are telling a story. And it's a horror story designed to keep people scared of the imaginary hobgoblins.

Scientists identify 37 recently active volcanic structures on Venus Venus needs more CO2. Not hot enough yet

They were subjective. That is a fact. In my case I got what I deserved every time. In fact the very first score I got in the fleet turned my whole life around. Our company Gunny told me since I seemed content to be average he was giving me an average score. Man that bothered me . He gave me 4.2 4.2. That really upset me. But, I started taking my work and the Marine stuff more seriously after that and never got less that 4.8 after .

Rabid dog indeed. And they were nowhere near a federal courthouse or any other federal monument or property.

1) They acted rather stupidly. Owning a firearm is a big responsibility. Primarily knowing when to use it. Protesters on the common use street are not a threat, The common use streets of a private gated neighborhood are not the exclusive property of any one homeowner. Protesters on your exclusively private property are a threat and they would have been justified in not just pointing but opening fire. AFAIK the protesters did not set foot on their exclusively private property nor did any damage to it. The couple WERE verbally threatened however, AFTER they confronted them. But for the confrontation it might not have happened but the protesters had already committed one crime just being there. 2) No one's hands in this situation are clean. The prosecutor deciding to charge only the homeowners means this is not about seeking justice rather grinding a political axe. The fact that she is seeking felony charges and lengthy prison terms for only one party in a situation where everyone did wrong is pretty despicable. I wish I were on that jury. There is not chance I'd convict. But this will never see a courtroom IMO. This is a campaign issue and after the election it will probably go away. If I am correct how disgusting is that? Even the criminal justice system is just a political tool.

If you had been with me on Saturday night I think you would have gone out and gotten very drunk somewhere. These were not dumb men. They were not confederate flag waving Sean Hannity fans. Every last one of them has served in wartime and saw action in countries with real tyranny. Yet are somehow blind to it happening here in the land they thought they were protecting. This is purely my own opinion here. People fail to understand how terrible a terrible thing is if they like the outcome. They don't like Antifa and BLM, and protests. So sending in federal officers to shut them down is a positive outcome in their opinion. They refuse to see that even if the outcome is desirable the way it came about was terrible. To make matters worse one of the members of our post actually drove to Bunkerville in 2014 to join the protest in the Cliven Bundy mess. This is what boggles the mind the most. HE correctly calls the actions of the BLM as heavy handed big government tyranny all while arguing the abuse of the monuments EO in Oregon is justified. The only difference is who is ordering the abuse. IMO they came from the same government. Governments enable terrible people to do terrible things. Everyone is arguing about who gets to hold the rabid dog's leash. Maybe it's time we got rid of the rabid dog.

HA! Only if you have three names. Two names or fewer and your life didn't mean a damn thing!

I really don't know about this one. I can only speak for my own experience in the branch I was in. But I never saw, nor heard of ANYTHING like that. Shady was a dark green Marine. His experience may have been very different from mine. But from what I saw; it would not be correct to call the Marine Corps a true meritocracy, but it was pretty close. Promotions were blind up to Sergeant. You made the cutting score or you didn't. Your MOS proficiency, conduct, rifle marksmanship, and physical fitness were the only things anyone gave a damn about. Take care of those four things and everything else took care of itself. No one cared if you were light green, medium green, or dark green. Run fast, shoot straight, do your job well. You will go far.

Special instruction was a mischaracterization on my part. It was a memo from the DHS to law enforcement agencies IIRC. I'm writing on an internet forum here. This isn't a EMES ( a type of document I frequently write at work) where I'm agonizing over every word choice. If the goal is to "help" vets with PTSD law enforcement is NOT the agency to reach out to. That would be the VA which is a complete and utter s--t show and always has been for as long as I've known about it. Not holding my breath because the US government is incapable of doing anything without totally f-----g it up. I once had a copy of that memo and it was moderately insulting. It wasn't so much WHAT was said as how but it's been a hell of a long time. Really the only thing I remember is that it happened and it was literally the first thing the DHS under Obama did. Not a good first step at all.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123992665198727459 It came from a 2009 DHS memo. The gist is local police should pay special attention to returning combat veterans, and other groups the left wingers might call "reactionary" (meaning not them IMO). It seems the DHS figured these sorts of people would be likely to be recruited into "militia groups" and other so called "domestic terrorists". It was worded in a rather blunt and ham fisted way that pissed off the American Legion and a lot of vets, myself included. Janet Napolitano apologized for it in an unapologetic kind of way.

Just a reminder there will be names on your ballot this November other than Trump & Biden

Many vets feel that the Democrats have been and still are disdainful and disrespectful of vets and the military in general. That opinion is not without some validation. But, obviously it does not apply to all Dems. Do you recall the Obama admin's "special instructions" to local police regarding veterans back in '09. That is still discussed to this very day.

People who don't fit neatly into one of the two established political categories in this country are hard for the ones who do to understand. The VFW is TRUMP country (capitals intentional). Half those old guys think he was sent by God himself to save us all and all he does is with divine mandate. Or something. Well, my opinions of the Orange Menace are well known to all of you. So, anyway they were going on about Trump and his executive orders and how it's about time someone took things in hand and what not. Of course I told them what I think. Next thing you know I'm being questioned, with some hostility, about how as a veteran I could support Biden. I don't I told them. In fact the only thing I hate more than the Republicans is the goddamned Democrats. For whatever reason that didn't resonate and it went on like that for a time. No hard feelings on my part. I'm not sure that is true all around. People really are too uptight about politics. It matters far less than most folks will admit.

Got into a political discussion at the VFW dinner last night. I was just conversing but it got... heated. I wonder if they will "forget" to invite me next time.

Now reading

Not to pick pepper from fly sh-t here but Obama WASthe one talking about a national security force as well armed as well equipped as the US Military. Remind me again what kind of gear is the US military equipped with? Of course that was back before he took office. Back when I was terrified he was a radical ideologue come to break it all and remake it in his image. The Obama we ended up getting was a run of the mill Democrat no worse than any I might name. Hell I'd trade Trump for him right now. The DHS (which should not even exist IMO) completely ignoring the law, the constitution, and 234 years of (mostly) precedent is pretty disgusting. Big Brother has always been peeking around the corner at us. Now he's out in the open laughing at us. No surprise it happens under Trump. You are right though, It IS surprising it's happening with do little outcry. The worst part is, now it's done. The next President will do it again and go even farther. #47 will go farther than that. As for me: F--k them. Enjoy your dictatorship everyone. When they come for me I will die and hopefully give a good account for myself before. Like I told you a few weeks ago. I don't know if it CAN be saved. People measure themselves for chains after all.

I always thought Lil Nas seemed like a good dude. I was right!

Assume it's true, comments only reflect on the people who make them. Because she said it does not make it the policy of BLM Toronto. It is only a reflection of her. Like I said nice lady eh? The original source described "controversial comments made by" with a link to the Sun story about a since deleted Facebook post. The source was RCP, Real Clear Politics. Now, you may have a handbook somewhere in your office listing the ideological disposition of every publication in the free world. I don't I'm afraid. However, even Mother Jones on one said and World Net Daily on the other will not print/publish anything that is demonstrably false. Their bias is taking a fact out of context and using that to tell a story that isn't true. Even with a grain of truth in it. I don't thing the Toronto Sun did that here whatever their slant is. The truth is there are no "reputable sources" of information aside from your own eyes and ears. I read the Washington Post on my Kindle every day and it is not there to inform the reader of the news. It is telling a narrative. A story. It reports and analyzes news that advances that narrative and downplays or even ignores news that does not or runs counter to their "story". That is exactly what Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, and every other one does. They are telling a story. All of the facts are true, not all of the facts are mentioned. The bias, while always in the presentation, is most prevalent in the omissions. A wise news consumer should read/watch multiple sources and get a larger view of what's going on. There is no neutral arbiter of what is true and what isn't. There is no pure source of facts. It's pointless to refer to a news source as "reputable" since technically none are. The absence of a story about these comments in "reputable" news sources does not indicate it didn't happen. The possibility that it did and they ignored it because it didn't suit the narrative is very, very real. Find a story that says "this did NOT happen" and I'd take that at face value. Mark Twain said it best "If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you're mis-informed."

Sad to see this

The founder of BLM Canada seems like such a nice lady: https://torontosun.com/2017/02/11/black-lives-matter-co-founder-appears-to-label-white-people-defects/wcm/2748a714-f567-4344-8c08-decfe73d1e52

Actually... he's not. It's not a lie if YOU believe it. He just believes a lot of s--t that isn't true and refuses to listen when people tell him what it true. That might actually be worse! Edit: I see three others beat me to the punch

Do they charge you separately for earthquake protection? In SFL there was a separate policy you had to buy for windstorm protection to cover hurricane damage. It was a ripoff too, nearly as much as your regular premium with a minimum deductible of $5k rather than whatever it was in your regular policy.

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After Boy Was Abandoned at Hospital, Peter Was Asked to Take Him for a Weekend-And Kept Him For a Lifetime