Guard Dog

I really don't think the US would have. The whole not negotiating with terrorists thing is taken pretty seriously by the US government. Not that I think it is always the best policy, but in this case it would have been appropriate. LOL. You gave the Russians all of our nuclear weapons ORBATs to boost your start treaty. You gave safe haven to IRA terrorists for years, stood by whilst a section of your community funded and armed them, then your judiciary put obstacles in the way of their extradition when they sought sanctuary there. Puh-leez. That's a mighty high horse you got yourself there. I was just about to point this out. Obama could not sell the Brits out fast enough. But, in typical spineless liberal fashion he's never seen a free country he likes or an enemy he does not want to kiss up too. As an American I am more than disgusted at watching him bowing and groveling bofore the worlds despots.

Completely agree. That halftime show Prince put on was the best ever. He may be old and a little weird but he knows how to put on a show.

Been sick as a dog for the past week. Self medicating with expensive bourbon and cheap OTC cold medicine. Watched Supwerbowl, great game, mediocre commercials, lousy haftime show.

So true.

Did you ever read any of Al Gores writing? I think he is arguing for a return to feudalisim. You might not be far off!

Not to speak for Joe, but I doubt there was a specific reason. My wife and I have arguments where I get so angry I end up slamming my fists down on counters. Sometimes I literally shake with rage. Now I've never really been close to hitting her, I don't think I could ever forgive myself if I did that, but I imagine very few married couples don't hit that frustration level at times. The crazy part is the actual point of the argument is rarely as important as the total breakdown of reasonable communication skills. My wife was the first person I told about being raped at age 13 by my friend's alcoholic father. She was making fun of me for it in an argument. I'm not going to repeat what she said so don't bother. Ok I must admit that really was asking for it. You don't take someones trust and use it against them like that. I'm not saying it was right but... well it is a little more understandable. My wife told her lawyer I was abusive, that was a lie. She persisted until she found out that Florida was a no fault state and it did not help her in the least even if it were true. My lawyer told me that was a standard divorce tactic and to not make it seem true by rising to that bait.

The only one who got away who I ever miss was my wife. At least how we were in the beginning. In the year or two leading up to the divorce it was just terrible. I don't know if it was a flaw in either or both of us that caused it to fail like Enoch said. We were undergoing a really hard time financially and bad times tend to bring out the worst in people. At the end we were like two scorpions in a jar, fighting to the very death, but only because we were in the jar. If I could have it back like it was in the beginning I'd take it, hell I'd give up anything for that. I think thats the reason I will not even consider marriage again and tend to break off relationships that get too close to that. No matter how compatable you think you are with someone you are only one good crisis away from hell on earth. Ok I'm rambling a bit, I think Wals was right, the ones that got away did so for a reason.

Some of the responses on this thread.....

Ditto what Enoch & Monte said. I would not use an e-reader for textbooks or manuals, or even cook books because I write in them, post-its etc. But I did buy a Kindle a few weeks ago and I must admit I do like it. I have over 2000 books in my house, two whole rooms have bookshelves for wall decorations (and they don't look that good). Something had to give. If I'm going to keep buying books at least the ones on the kindle don't take up space.

I did a final walk down on a new cell site we built for Sprint today. It's on Mud Island, a little tourist attraction just west of downtown Memphis. How the heck that little ball of dirt became a tourist attraction is beyond me. But I did have lunch at the Rendevouz which is really the only reason to go downtown unless you're going to a Grizzlies or Redbirds game.

Knob Creek mmmmmmmmmm good stuff Life is too short to not drink from the top shelf!

I went fishing in the Hatchee river today. I caught three smallmouth that were big enough to fillet. Very shortly I'll fry them up with some steamed white rice and sauteed zuchinni. After that I'll sit on my front porch with a glass of Knob Creek bourbon poured straight up and neat and look at the stars. Life is good!

Good luck Shryke, I hate moving. I'm a little hung over this morning. I stopped at the VFW on the way home for a short libation then got bloody serious about t when I got home. I had a 12 pack of guiness draft in the fridge and now all I have to show for it is a box of empty bottles.

True enough Wals; my apologies Enoch, I had a few too many before I started surfing the web last night. Heck I probably should apologize to somone over at the OOTP boards too, I was a little nasty there too.

I was in high school in Daytona FL when that happened. I saw it, but I did not realize what had happened until we went back inside. I thought they had just cut the rocket boosters loose too early. Very sad. I can't believe it's been so long, it does not seem that way.

I'd rather be dead than live in a human stew like that. Heck, Memphis is too doggone big for my tastes.

Guys, call me a pessismist here but there is no grand Jeffersonian republican democracy on the other side of this. I suspect Iran is up to it's neck is stirring this up. Cui bono? The MB. I suspect the government that rises from this will be far fare worse if Mubaraks regime does not survive.

I see, speaking of intellectually lazy, are you actually using the title of a book that I'll wager large you have never read to cast aspersions on it's ideas? Your use of the terms "Sowell and his ilk" makes your opinions of the man pretty plain. You know what bugs me about the left is the smug certitude that economic (and therefore human) behaviour is something that can or should be tightly controlled. The folks who think that way are often the same ones who entertain the hubristic notions that they know better than everyone else how everyone should be living their lives. Speaking of reading you should take a look at Hayeks masterpiece "The Road to Serfdom". It was published in the '40s but is frighteningly relevant now in the age of Obamanomics. It can be had for free on google books.

I bet you are, the Sox are LOADED this season. Barring injury or complete pitching breakdown I'm guessing you are going to have a happy October this year.

Watching football and making spaghetti and drinking beer. Thats what I'm doing today!

I should imagine he's far too excited to sit down and write it out. He's like a kid at his birthday party on this one. Tearing around his flat shouting "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee". The amusing thing is that LoF hasn't actually said a word in this thread. Maybe he has, hmmmm?

I hear you about the real estate situation Hurlie. I've come to the conlusion thet there is no way I can accept the job I was offered in Maryland. I can't afford to buy a new place (at least not one I'd want) and not sell my house here in TN, and I can't afford to sell this place because the most generous estimates of what i can get are about $50k under what I owe. In short, I'm trapped... like a rat....squeak squeak. But it's ok though, I really did not want to lose this place, I'm just now getting everything just the way I like it. This spring I'm going to clear some of the woods behind the house and plant peach trees. I have not formally tuned down the job yet and I alsmost hate to do so because it will be the second time I've done that, i doubt there will be a third. But it's ok, I'm happy where I'm at for the first time in many years. You know Hurlshot, you live in the most expensive part of CA bar none. Have you ever thought about moving? Sacramento, Modesto, or someplace like that might be a lot easier for you,

That is just not how it's done here Wals. And I seriously doubt it's going to change. Women can do anything they want to do except serve in the Infantry. Literally every other field is wide open and they can climb from Private all the way to Commandant of the Marine Corps. It's not because women don't make good Marines, it's because 99.99999% of WM (who I'll goon recod and say are the fittest women in America as a group) simply are NOT physically able to do the job. That is just how it is. Men and women are physically different for those of you who have not noticed yet. BTW, if you haven't figured that out you REALLY need to talk to Shryke or Slug, cause you need to get laid.

I don't think anybody here is suggesting that women can't serve in war zones on active service. This is a role-related issue. With respect you are missing the point slightly. And in most western armed forces bayonet technicians (inf) are usually on the lowest payscales. The technical roles (like Guard Dog working in aviation tech) tend to get articifer NCO status and higher pay increments to recognise their training and skills. The role we're talking about is infantry and armour. The pointy bit. It's just different. Like Shady said, you are paid according to your rank and time in service, your MOS has nothing to do with it. In many ways, having a MOS like I had works against you. It is a small field and it is very hard to make rank. You need to wait for someone to die, get discharged or transfer to get promoted. I was a Lance Corporal for almost four years with excellent PFT scores, Pros & Cons (Proficiency & Conduct scores) and I shot expert every time I qualified. If I was in the infantry I'd have made Corporal in half that time. I've always told everyone interested in the USMC, if you think you might want to make a career of it, do your first tour in the Infantry. You can make rank quickly and you have your choice of jobs once you re-enlist. Plus having that experience gives you the inside track on making Warrant Officer boards or later on selection to ranks like First Seargent or Seargent Major.

Things have changed then. When I was in they were exempt. Of course I turned my rifle in almost seventeen years ago. That is an eternity in the Corps, a lot has certainly changed. Do they (WMs) have to go to MCT now? They were exempt from that too.