Walsingham

Patton was a falsetto voiced jackass. My grandfather encountered an American officer who emulated Patton with his revolvers, on D-Day. They were receiving 88 fire, and Grandad mildly remarked "What are you all got up like that for? D'you think there's a war on?"

Bang on about the talcum powder (/baby powder). Keep your feet and other bits dry, so I'm told. I don't know about the US Army, but we Brits are absolutely packed out with AA batteries. Most modern kit uses them, and you get scads of them. Don't worry about local customs. Stuff gets flown in by special delivery. Just don't bother sending booze. You'll only get teh pooor buggers into trouble. I think. It really depends where they are, and what their CO is like.

Now that Im goinbg through training I have a slightly different perspective. the physical standard for women are basically the minimum possible. The standards for men are basically just an added margin because we ought to be able to. As for women not being goood enough, my last serious girlfriend was a woman, ex-Army and a sometime professional bodyguard. I dare say she'd whup most of you nervous nellies hands down. I met a female captain teh other day who runs the toughest all terrain marathons in the world. All this tosh about women not being incapable is pure bushwah.

Neat idea on the local paper. Nothing to make them laugh like that, I'd imagine. Also, if you send fod, keep in mind that things break or get soaked. Individually wrapped sweets are quite good, provided they don't melt.

sadly, one sometimes just has to buy a new mouse.

Given that hitting a six means hitting a ball over the boundary there's every chance of a ball heading in your direction as a spectator. In any event, watching cricket is an event, rather than a sports watching thing. Or should be. One goes to sit in a deckchair, drink pimms or tea or beer, and chat. It's basically like going fishing, but without any danger of having to exert yourself.

Don't forget that as a cricketer, 90% waiting around is perfectly fun. Seriously though, joining the Army for giggles is never going to work out well... Now, joining it to do a job, well fair enough.

In your own time, 007...

Dude, you're mental. You think conventional war is nothing but charging around in a FPS? It's 90% being told to hurry up and wait, 5% trying to find a decent latrine, 3% pr0n or talking about pr0n, and 2% pants-wetting terror. Then you get hit by indirect fire. I have this verified by several relatives, and two ex-girlfriends.

Tell me kid, you ever dance with a velociraptor by the pale moonlight?

Just about the best movie ever, my all-time favorite. Travis Bickle is based on a real example, teh guy who wanted to assassinate Nixon. Except the poor chump was completely rubbish.

I'd disagree. The Sovs captured Afghanistan using a wealth of special forecs and other shenanigans within 72 hrs. The Russo-Finnish war was fought conventionally for many weeks. Viz the Karelian peninsula fighting. It was only further north that you had hit and run strikes. Moreover you had compelte encirclement of Russian forces to the point where they died fighting.

So, what you're basically saying is that some old biddy/drugged up stoner thought he saw a guy with a gun, panicked, and the cops arrested some guy at random?

Pr0n is certainly going to be well received. But also just writing about lots of the little things. Who's repainting their house, what the weather has been like, it all allows you to escape back home and away from your troubles. Music is also a massive lifesaver, as well as comedy. If the situation gets really dire send him something completely and utterly pointless, like a hawaiin shirt, christmas lights, or a junior lieutenant.

Not really safe for the forums, gentlemen.

We have women doing combat roles in the Army. If they can do that, which is substantially more physical, then they can do SWAT. The question of different standards is moot. We have different standrads for different ages, for example. Tough jobs need to be smart about who they recruit not just exacting. The real question about SWAT is the ridiculous increase in the number of SWAT units in the USA over the last few years. Even one horse towns now have a SWAT team. I've heard cops themselves saying that in small departments it is divisive, and skews the culture of policing towards violence.

I thought heaven came after death.

You mean like "Be wary of lending anything to winkles. They can be a little shellfish." ?

I've been struck by manners a couple of times today, and in recent weeks. What set me thinking was the fact that my local takeaways started giving me free stuff when I pop in. i don't pop in regularly, so the only other thing which occurred to me was it must be because I'm polite. I may stagger in sideways on occasion, but I say please and thank you. Today I was on a packed train, and noticed a teenage girl with her feet up on the seat next to her while a good dozen people were standing. Being English no-one said anything, but a scorching amount of glacing and eyebrow adjusting semaphored around the message that this girl was clearly the kind of thing one should hang from a lamp-post upside down. Which got me thinking that this individual who was clearly image conscious was oblivious to the fact that everyone thought she was a Camden flat.* In the same journey the train emptied slightly and I took a seat, but at the next stop many people got on. After a minute or so I noticed, and rising, offered my seat to a lady who was standing. The lady declined, but this provoked an outburst of 'well done's from all and sundry, and 'where are you from? Ah you see, good lad's. Then of course there was the incident with the woman crying for help. I deduce from this three things 1. It is immensely satisfying to display good manners. Apart from anything else it gets you free food. 2. Women should sharpen up their manners. Equality means you have to assist those genuinely weaker than you, like th eldery or infirm. 3. If there IS a general decline in good manners it only makes it more sensible to use them. Thoughts? Stories? *Rhyming slang. I may have just invented it.

Sounds like you're helping. Good man. EDIT: thought of a slogan/motto today - Everyone stumbles. Not everyone has to fall. (By which I mean reach out a steadying hand once in a while.)

It doesn't happen until three minutes after the fuse is lit when i'm looking right down on it? Also, in spite of the anticipatory buzz, most of the time it's a disappointment. Gorth's point I'd amend slightly. That isyour consciousness is capable of suppressing the multifarious competing demands of the hardware, like hunger and rest, but it only has a finite capacity to do so. Thus finding a drive no longer has to be suppressed is pleasurable. However, because we're talking about competing drives, this definition explains why people are not happy when they're rich. You never run out of things you need to suppress.

Oh man, now I have to cook lunch.

I don't see the connection between consciousness and killer whales.

Nonsense! Why that's just ...huh? That noise at window! Wurrr-oooooo Wurrooo! Aaaaaagh!