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Surfing the Web at Work....and frivolous lawsuits.
Josh: too many topics per article. That's my opinion, anyway. On to the first topic: isn't it funny how, in 99.9 percent of cases where people are morally and/or ethically offended by whatever, money invariably makes it all better. Oh, and did you ever notice how they almost always say "it's not about the money." A Major of Marines I used to work with used to say "it's not just about the money, it's all about the money."— September 20, 2008 5:16 p.m.
San Diego Marine -- No Medal of Honor
PS: I'm not buying the racial bias thing, either. If anything, we in this country go to ridiculous lengths to avoid even the appearance of anything remotely resembling racial bias in this day and age. And yet, we can't go far enough to avoid it, can we? The race card: the gift that keeps on giving.— September 19, 2008 8:38 p.m.
San Diego Marine -- No Medal of Honor
As far as I know, there never has been, and more than likely never will be any training about what to do when a grenade lands next to you. Marines especially, don't fight for god, country, mom, apple pie or the big-breasted girl next door. Okay, maybe for the girl next door. They fight for each other. You don't have to train them to do things like throwing themselves on live grenades to save their brother Marines (Navy Corpsmen who deploy with the Fleet Marine Force are the same way). It's an automatic, instinctive reaction. It's the same one that drives a mother to fight and die for her child, a man for his wife, and so on. "greater love hath no man, than he lay down his life for his brother," and all that.— September 19, 2008 8:32 p.m.
Using Guns....and O.J. Simpson
I haven't been surfing in almost a decade (dang, where did the years go!?). It hasn't been until fairly recently that I began to notice all the shark attack stories and statistics (thank NATGEO for a lot of that). I figure in another few years, you won't be able to get me into the water. Got tapped to jury duty at the Vista courthouse. They had recently revamped the waiting area for jurors, and so if you had to wait to be called, it actually wasn't that bad, amenities-wise. Anyway, the case I got called to was a drunk driving case involving a Mexican guy. I got aggravated that he was in this country for most of his life (according to the records), and yet still had to have a translator. The fact that the Sheriff's Dept, Carlsbad and Oceanside PD, as well as the Highway Patrol had all been involved in the stop in the wee hours pretty much told me that he was guilty. When the judge asked me, I told him as much. Got the standard "don't you believe in innocence before being proved guilty" speech - like our judicial system actually works that way anymore, but I wasn't budging. All the cops from the different agencies didn't conspire to make him guilty of drunk driving and resisting arrest. I was excused from jury duty forthwith.— September 19, 2008 7:39 a.m.
Chargers and Referees
I've been a Chargettes fan since the early '70s, but they drive me crazy. Who was it that coined the phrase "once again, they managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory"? They could just as easily have been talking about my other team, the Padres. Maybe they were; who knows? Let's ask Matthew Alice. To me, if the Chargettes beat the Raiders, the Denver "chop block" Donkeys twice each in a season, it's a winning season. Even better if they can beat the best team money can buy, the New England Profiteers...er, I mean Patriots.— September 19, 2008 7:21 a.m.
San Diego Marine -- No Medal of Honor
Meg Ryan was excellent in that movie. I've got a "thing" for women in uniform anyway. I don't watch GI Jane for the content or the commentary! I know, TMI, right? Sorry. As both a former Navy man myself, and as a citizen/veteran, I'm having a hard time coming to grips with what I've read so far, including the citation and what his shipmates had to say. In the face of that evidence, there's no reason this Marine should not have been awarded the MOH. It is, however, not unusual in the history of the Medal of Honor. The prestige, the dignity, and the exclusivity of the MOH have, at times over the years, been diminished by awarding the MOH sometimes indiscriminately. It's been awarded for astounding bravery, often with the attendant ultimate sacrifice; and it's been awarded essentially for being in the right place at the right time. It's even been awarded for peacetime bravery. The MOH was at one time, specifically for noncommissioned officers and enlisted, and at other times, the only ones who appeared to be eligible were officers. I read about one multiple award recipient who was denied a third award because he had become an officer. Had he remained an enlisted man, he would have been awarded a third award. I forget which guy it was. Military and Congressional reviews in the early 1900's through the early 2000's have revealed a racial bias - a fairly widespread bias at that, against native Americans, black Americans, Japanese Americans, and other ethnic groups in the military, and not just with respect to awards. All that doesn't help his family and friends, as well as his fellow Sailors and Marines, but it's nothing new.— September 19, 2008 7 a.m.
Palin the Pain
Can we drop the whole bunch of them off over some desert island, preferably at 5,000 feet? Don't trust Obama any further than I can pick him up and throw him. Especially don't trust a Demon-rat president with a Demon-rat (welfare entitlement minded) otherwise do nothing Congress. Don't trust Mr. Corporate-beholden McCain, and if the fundagelicals are for her, I'm agin' her Sarah Palin. Ted Nugent for president!— September 6, 2008 5:41 p.m.
Don't Try Suicide (You're Just Gonna Hate it)
I don't know that I'd brand everyone that checked out by being stupid as a loser, necessarily. In many cases, people like that are usually young and, well, stupid. Been there, done that, got the road rash.— September 6, 2008 5:31 p.m.
Don't Try Suicide (You're Just Gonna Hate it)
I'm surprised people who knew the loser haven't stampeded onto your blog to rail against you for saying disparaging things about their precious little darling (son/brother/boyfriend/whatever).— September 6, 2008 8:20 a.m.
None
As O-sensei is reputed to have said, "the sword is your intention." Or words to that effect.— September 6, 2008 5:20 a.m.