Smokin

If you read the original story of his conviction in the AF times, it sounds like complete BS that he was convicted in the first place. The article specifically said that there was zero physical evidence, it was he said she said. That by itself should raise some eyebrows; how do you come to a conclusion beyond a reasonable doubt when there is zero evidence? Then you add on the fact that his wife was sober and agreed with his story so it was actually a 2v1 including a sober wife against an admittedly drunk woman. BS flags are all over this case, yet this guy was still put in prison. Sounds like a witch hunt to me. General Franklin is one of the good guys and I'm glad to see our leaders stick out their necks for what they know is right. I just hope it doesn't cost him (and us) his future in the AF. Finally, how are our elected leaders so ignorant? “I just think the system is messed up if a general can overturn a case like this with a stroke of a pen,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill. Do you think she knows that she and her peers are actually in charge of the laws that allow this?

True, but there were also a significant number of M1 Carbines and 1911's issued, among other weapons that use magazines. I see it as really more of a trivia thing than something to get upset about. Like the difference, as mentioned above, between the terms rifle and gun; a slightly less than interesting fact but not really important as long as you don't time travel back to Marine basic training in 1942.

It doesn't really matter what your lease says as far as a military clause; the previously mentioned federal law trumps your lease. That's why they passed the law. Since you gave them the requisite 30 days notice, you cannot legally be charged a penalty for leaving early. If they try to charge you, they are violating federal law and their lawyer probably knows this. However, if you have not had written or electronic proof that you gave this notice, I would do that ASAP so they can't try to claim you didn't give notice. From what you're saying, it sounds like the landlord is not the most reputable, so I would also make sure you take pictures or video of the apartment as you're leaving in case they try to claim damages from your deposit.

Once Green... Anyone know if the River Rats have started a fund?

Pulling money from an IRA of any type should be a last resort. I just refinanced my VA loan at 3.25%. That is .25% above historical inflation. Average for the stock market is ~10%. That means that you're pissing away 6.75% per year of whatever you withdrew from your IRA for the down payment. An adjustable rate will be the best right now, but if you're planning on selling when you move, you'll probably lose money anyway after realtor fees, taxes, etc anyway and would likely be better off renting. If you need to pull money out of your IRA to buy a house, maybe you should re-evaluate why you are buying a house, especially if you're going to sell it in three years (that's generally not a good investment). Rent now, save up your money, and buy a house at the next base when you can afford it.

We've had women in the military for years without having to sign up for the draft, why would that change now just because a few more jobs open up? Double standards are only bad when white men benefit from them; as long as minorities or 'oppressed' people benefit, they're fine.

A bunch of those say desk drawer or similar areas where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy and was specifically excluded from search by the SecDef letter. Sounds like OSI should be investigating the inspectors as well.

Once the second amendment is gone, the rest are free for the taking.

Masking the masters for promotion boards is great, but we've been through this cycle before. The story ends with good dudes getting screwed because they trusted big blue to not change its mind a year prior to their board meeting. I think it would take something drastic, like stopping TA, to make it stick.

nsplayer is right, civilians don't face the same dangers cops do. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/25/empire-state-building-shooting-nypd-bullets-shot-all-nine_n_1830007.html Just think, if the police had been limited to the same seven bullets, they could have only shot 7 or 8 bystanders. Sounds like NY needs one more gun law...

Good on that flight doc; getting ambien from some flight docs is like pulling teeth. If you have a fear of ambien, no one is forcing you to take it. I'm pretty sure that the radar dish sitting three feet in front of my family jewels is doing far worse than an occasional ambien anyway.

If you want to have a rational discussion on firearms, tell me rationally why my rifle cannot have a bayonet lug or a stock that is adjustable? Explain to me why we are even having a conversation about 'assault weapons' if you want to talk rationally. Since 1982, there have been 513 mass shooting deaths (3 or more victims). Since 1982, there have been roughly 105,000 accidental drownings in the US. Formal swimming lessons decrease the risk of drowning by more than 50%. A federally mandated swimming lesson program would save roughly 100x as many lives as gun control even if gun control stopped all mass shootings. No one is talking about an issue that is 100x more lethal than my assault rifle. Why is that?

Why is it impossible to make a point here without you accusing others of having to dumb it down in order to understand it? Do you really think that I am actually proposing a solution where every single person in America basically works for free for a year? Did I say this situation must be fixed in a year? I am merely illustrating the point of how spending is THE problem (not just part) and it will not get fixed by raising taxes within reason. There are these things called analogies and examples that people use to get a point across. Just because someone uses an analogy does not mean they are incapable of understanding the complexity of the issue. You are correct that the issues are not as simple as family finances, but they are not quantum physics either. Congress has not passed an actual budget in years because, like a teenage girl with her dad's credit card, they are unable to control their spending. Oh, sorry, another simplified analogy. That obviously means that I have no understanding of the situation and should defer to your implied superior intellect because I have to dumb things down to the point of ridiculousness to understand.

You are correct.

When we are in debt more than an entire year's GDP, I argue we have a spending problem regardless of our taxes. Raise federal income tax to 100% for all tax brackets with no deductions allowed and a year from now we're still in debt. How is this not a spending problem regardless of our tax levels?

The days OCONUS TDY should be on the virtual MPF under duty history. It keeps track of all the TDYs you've ever been on and the tracking system seems to have gotten better since DTS took over all TDYs. Short tour credit is not as simple as hit 365 days, get one point. We're not back under the old system of 300 days in 18 months. Does not have to be consecutive, but if you hit 300 days within 18 months, you should get a/another short tour credit and your STRD will be reset to when you arrived back at home station. As to the question about guys with short tour credit getting hit up for a non-vol 365, I haven't personally heard of that yet. All the guys I know who have been non-vol'd did not have short tour credit.

If you are going to do a partial boil (boil around 3 gallons, then add in tap water to make it 5), a 4-5 gallon pot will be plenty big enough and will be easier to store. You won't need a wort chiller because you can put the extra tap water in the fridge (inside your sanitized and sealed bucket/carboy) the night before and have 70 degree wort within 69 seconds of finishing the boil. But many brewers prefer to do full boils once they get the hang of it. It requires a bigger pot and a wort chiller, but you will end up with better beer. As schokie said, you're going to get out of the hobby what you invest in it. If you only want to spend $69 on a Mr Beer kit, you're going to have homebrew, but it won't be nearly as good as beer you could make if you invested the time and money. Ignoring the equipment costs, my beer costs me less per pint than a comparable beer would at the store, but including the equipment makes it much more expensive. But there is some satisfaction knowing that I haven't bought a beer at the store (except for roll calls) since I started brewing.

Looks like a fairly good kit, but you will eventually find the 5 gallon pot to be too small. That pot will be fine for partial boils where you add bottled water at the end, but after you brew a few batches, you will likely want to do full boils even with partial grain kits. Consider looking at a kit that does not include a pot and just use the biggest pot you have for the first few batches. Then buy a nice 8 gallon pot and a wort chiller when you're ready. As with any hobby, if you're willing to spend more, you will have more fun. But brewing is one hobby where it is pretty easy to upgrade as you go. That way, it's also not such a shock to the budget. I started out with a $150 kit for my first two beers and have probably spent around $1K on equipment now just buying one or two things at a time over the past year.

You can regulate airplanes all day and everyone knows people will still have access to them. What we really need is an excise tax on aviation fuel. That will make it cost prohibitive for people to be able to fill them up, then kids won't be able to borrow/steal them. Or maybe publish a map to everyone's house who owns a plane. Think how many lives will be saved. Won't someone please think of the children!?!

Sounds like that instructor needs a new wife.

Interesting article in Rifleman this month about the XD-S and all the engineering issues they had to overcome to make a light but reliable .45 cal. Makes me wonder if the XD-S will really be as reliable as their other weapons.

Iraq used chem weapons and we didn't invade for 13 more years (also something that people who claim it was an invented war from made up political intel conveniently forget). That red line is really more of a general guideline... Like Windshear said, seems like this must have been a false report, or greatly exaggerated (tear gas maybe?), as no major outlet is carrying the story. As Patton said 'never believe the first report you hear, especially if it happened at night.'

Just closed yesterday with Dave, worked out great. Our total cost of refinancing was actually a net gain. Dropped our rate to 3.25, we will get a check from our escrow, and the lender credit is basically funding our new escrow. Overall, a free refinance that will save us about $40K over the length of our mortgage and drops our payments by $150/month. As others have said, the closing was in our house, which was obviously much easier than getting someone to watch the kids while we went to a bank to close. For comparison, we had previously looked at Navy Federal and their closing costs were in the ballpark of $7K for a VA refi.

She might be able to get away with the fact that it was not in a condition that could be "readily restored to shoot" since someone would have to fix whatever they found broken in it and manufacture new ammunition or convert it to modern ammunition.

I get your point, but the government can only control its income to a certain extent. If the tax rates are all doubled, the total revenue will not double because people will make and spend less, the economy will slow down, and the national taxable income will decrease. Quadruple taxes and you will have either a revolution, a completely failed economy, or both. So, if you attack my simplification, don't over simplify in your counter-argument. Apparently my idea of a general principle in civil government participation was taken alternately as a 'this is a law we should pass' and a "softball" approach. I said nothing about combat zone tax exclusions; obviously if you are risking your life for your country, you should have a say in how the country is run. But contrary to Joe's swing and a miss at my softball pitch, I also never said anything about amount of taxes paid other than zero or greater than zero. It just pisses me off that we currently have people in this country who are physically and mentally capable of work yet chose to instead live off the the government. If unemployment went back to how it started under King FDR where people who wanted an unemployment check were put to work building roads and such, I bet we wouldn't have to extend unemployment benefits to TWO YEARS. You want a check? Here's a shovel, get to work. Strange, unemployment claims just dropped by 90%. All I'm saying is that people should contribute to the governance of their country before they're able to vote themselves more benefits at someone else's expense. If you break into your rich neighbor's house and steal his wallet, you're a criminal. But vote for a politician who does the same thing with taxes simply because the rich guy is successful and works harder and it is perfectly fine.