gunnergoz

Between the family stirring things up to get closure and the media tail wagging the dog, a sort of synergy develops and eventually a political side comes out too. Families want answers, media wants drama, politicians want votes and to avoid scandal, etc, etc, ad infinitum, ad nausem. So I would think.

RIP, Michael - sincere thanks for your service, not that mere words are enough to convey our feelings. Condolences to your family. Finally some closure for them and the nation.

Well, if God had wanted us to use count in tens, he would have...wait a minute, is this a trick of some kind?

That was no mistake, that was the Martian Intelligence Agency's work. All these people walking around with MIA T-shirts are trying to tell us something, you know...

Or wearing a Smokey the Bear hat...

Good to hear that you haven't beamed up yet, John. Get well soon, ya hear?

And it tells us that the Marines have some precedent for ignoring at least the first incident when a Marine is caught in possession of child porn...which is one too many for my sensibilities. Again, it seems to be a case where the "needs of the service" outweigh what is right, logical or even in the service's long-term best interest. AFAIC there should be a policy of zero-tolerance for child porn in the military.

To boot him out of the Corps? Perhaps...it would be up to the CO, I would think, to decide if he would get informal or formal punishment for possessing the child porn. Apparently he was not drummed out after the first outbreak of weirdness. That alone says some things about the CO/Powers That Be who had to make the decision about what to do next...either they were covering their six or were oblivious to the signs that this particular Marine was a few rounds shy of a full clip... It does make you wonder how much of this aberrational behavior is tolerated, too.

I've had no problem with them after several purchases. Did they not send you an email with the code you need to activate the game? Also, you might want to check and see if they have a support department, not just the sales staff which is obviously outsourced. The support staff may be outsourced as well, but at least they should know of what you ask. And did you set up a My Games account on the Gamers Gate website? I think that is part of what needs to be done. BTW I just logged in and pre-ordered myself so I'm pretty sure its working fine.

OK, I know that this sort of thing happens now and again, but if this recruiter really ignored the family in order to get another recruit for his quota, that is truly unconscionable. http://www.ocregister.com/articles/fry-marine-camp-2507106-recruiter-training And if the Marines failed to do a basic psychological battery on him once he'd urinated in his canteen, well then they too can take part of the booby prize here, AFAIC.

I was just reading that the executives and top management of US banks and corporations are now believed to collect one third of the total of all the salaries in the whole of the USA. Must be nice! http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/141481/executives_receive_one-third_of_all_pay_in_the_u.s./

Here's some coverage of a recent armaments show in Russia: http://englishrussia.com/?p=3454#more-3454 Mostly old stuff, but still interesting to some of us. And I always marvel at the extensive forests in that part of the world (can you tell I live in Southern California?)

Great job Kuni, thanks for sharing it with us! I really enjoyed your photos and captions. Its too bad the Russian government is going back to the behavior and attitude of the past but what else can we expect from a bunch of KGB die-hards?

Yeah, this thing is too damn expensive and complex to be used for simple crowd control...it's going to be used by guys on the pointy end of the spear, hopefully to their satisfaction. I'm a bit curious to see how it works in foul weather and extreme cold, though. A lot of hi-tech stuff fails in wet tropical and really frigid environments. Not to mention how atmospherics might affect the laser rangefinding.

I suspect there are a number of situations that crop up in places like Iraq or Afghanistan where such a weapon would be just the right fit. The question is, will the troops find it worth the trouble to lug it and its ammo around until it will be useful? And will it stand up to abuse in the field while it waits for its moment of glory? The Army and Marines have gotten much smarter of late about field-testing things and issuing them quickly when they work. I hope this is the case with the XM25. Unless, of course, the contractor for it has a lot of lobbying juice in DC...Its funny how many white elephants have managed to survive with the right lobbying going on behind them.

Sci fi maybe but still cursed with uniforms having that stupid camo that really dosn't do what its supposed to in most parts of the world..."universal" patterns are usually a crock but this one sucks more than most.

Pretty amazing site and records. An obsession with bureaucracy can have its utility at times!

This thread won't have any real zest to it until Kettler bestows his unique perspective.

He was our "Uncle Walter" and will be sorely missed. He exemplified professionalism in reporting. Today's news shows are 99% opinion and speculation while Cronkite had it the other way around (actually, he almost never speculated or gave personal opinions except in one or two celebrated and historic instances.) He could be the model for a new generation, if we could but somehow separate news from profit in the media. Truly one of the "Greatest generation" and I fear we shall never see his likes again. RIP my trusted friend.

That's what I'm hearing some critics are saying - one called it about the best film circulating right now.

Definitely a C-130 with wing tanks. Unmistakable profile from nose radome to tail and horizontal stabilizers. But a surprising number of junked C-47's present, too.

That is one definition, but not the only one in my way of looking at things. Heroes can also stand up to tyrants and religious zealots, fight for human rights in the face of sure assassination, and some other scenarios, including wartime ones.

All I know is that they are using the money that taxpayers gave them to put back into the lending market, to make more profits for themselves. And so we will pay them interest on the money that we payed taxes to give them in the first place. Assuming they lend any out to ordinary businesses and individuals...which seems unlikely. The banking system is a bit like religion, with priests, secret mantras and formulas and holy places. If you are not a priest or acolyte, you don't get much but promises. While they get fat and own all the property in the country. We should have let them go bankrupt...

I did not like TRL at all because it was nothing like what I've read about the Pacific war, based upon reading a great many memoirs. "Too Artsy" would cover it pretty well, yes. And at the complete end of my "don't like" scale, we have the abysmal "Windwalkers" which has to be a low point in PW films IMHO.

Thanks for letting me know about this one, I really want to see it after watching the trailer.