HeloDude

Your friend is not the type of voter the Dems are counting on during an election year. He is expendable.

Dude, are you new here or something? When the politicians get involved it's always a huge knee-jerk reaction that is taken to the extreme. Sexual harassment and assault was illegal 7 years ago, and yet we were allowed to have Maxim's on the desk, say 'so to speak' (which I think is just a stupid saying anyway), mention 6.9 seconds, have funny Friday patches, etc. But yet, not everyone was sexually harassing females and not every female was feeling sexually harassed. But in typical fashion, the leadership was told by the politicians to fix the problem and so the leadership went overboard to cover their ass. All the leadership had to do was investigate and prosecute as necessary those 'specific' instances of sexual harassment and assault, and discipline/remove the leadership involved as necessary if they weren't doing a good job. So hate to say it man, it's your line of thinking that has caused all these issues, whether you wanted it go forward to this level or not. I can be against sexual harassment and assault while at the same time saying 'so to speak' once in a while after a sexual innuendo or mention that I ran my 1.5 in 11 min and 6.9 seconds without offending anybody (male or female)...but since it was deemed as 'potentially' offensive, the knee-jerk reaction was to end all of it without only dealing with specific instances where there were problems. And I'm not sure if you realize this or not, but anytime you, I, or somebody else is teased or is the topic of a joke, then it can be considered offensive. If my buddy teases me about my car being old, is he harassing me of my disabled brother who I give money to and hence why I can't afford a new car? If we make fun of someone because it looks like they didn't get much sleep the night before, are we offending them because maybe they are having PTSD issues and can't get a good night's sleep? I can give more examples if necessary, but I think you get the idea. Should we outlaw all joking in the military, or just be sensible and and deal with issues when the come up? That also goes along with people either directly telling the other person to cut it out or using the chain of command/IG complain process as necessary? The leadership is turning this military gig more and more into an everyday job and that's how more and more people will begin to treat it--like a 9-5 job, do what's needed, skip out on the going away parties after work hours, put your self interests first above the mission because leadership doesn't have your back...

I share the thoughts in your post...but weren't you one of the guys on here recently talking about how bad things were before the recent crack-down? This is how progressiveness works--it literally keeps 'progressing' until guys that supported the original measure start scratching their heads at what's now going on because it gets so fvcked up. If I've mistaken you for one the other guys on here then I apologize...

From NBC News... Obama admin. knew millions could not keep their health insurance I'm sure Jay Carney will spin this into something else...probably blame the Republicans. No question--we have the best politicians money can buy!

I am so glad I'm past the half-way point in my career.

Mom, 4 kids dead in Brooklyn stabbing Shame to hear...and this is barely making the news. Had the murderer used an AR-15 instead of a knife, then this would be front and center in the headlines and politicians would be using it to further an ideological agenda. Just something to think about...

Good on you man. I'm all about helping buds in need. But my question still stands--what happens when someone is 'tasked' with doing something (such as planning a holiday party, gay pride luncheon, etc) when it goes against their conscience? You volunteered (I'm assuming) to help out...what about when guys don't volunteer and take issue with the event? Of course it's out of control...but none of us should be surprised, I know I'm not. Go back a couple years and look at old threads--most of us predicted this would happen in one form or another. To be honest and to be quite fair though, I don't have any problems with a gay pride month in the military any more than I do with black heritage month, women's month, asian american month, blah blah blah. They all single out a certain group, which like you mentioned, we have been told not to do. But what does make the gay issue worse is that when black troops were open up to all career fields, integrated with the rest of the troops, etc, well that was it as official policy was concerned (somebody please correct me if I'm wrong though as I have not researched this history that closely). Obviously racism was still occurring on a case by case basis that were much more numerous early on but improved greatly over the years. But now, 2 gay guys can room together in a pod when downrange, a gay guy and a straight guy can room together (same combos for the women), but yet I can't room with a chick or shower with them. So the politicians and leadership advanced the story that 'sexual orientation and gender do not matter', but only for certain instances, not for all of them. When the military is ran by politicians, this is what you get...not saying we shouldn't be run by civilians, just saying I wish politics didn't influence what our military is supposed to do. I know I know...always been that way, always will be that way.

This. Though I'm sure it's someone's O-4 board soon and I think that was what mat was referring to--would someone volunteer for this/not say they wouldn't do it all because they fear not getting a DP, etc? Guarantee there's quite a few people out there who fall into this category.

Hmmm....philosophical question here: Can the AF tell you do something if it goes against your conscience? Not saying it goes against mine (I just wouldn't want to do it because I think all those 'heritage' months are stupid and hypocritical), but what if it's something you have a legitimate problem with? Like what if an atheist is asked to plan the 'Holiday/Xmas' party and well, that goes against their conscience? Chaplains aren't required to marry gay couples if it goes against their conscience.

Vertigo and his awesome avatar is right here. I seriously doubt the President was briefed on the specifics of a potential USMC uniform change. To be honest, I don't think the President has a clue what HHS is even doing with all their problems, must less a hat change. He doesn't seem to get involved with the details of many specific actions and then acts surprised when something isn't going right...Fast and Furious, IRS issues, Benghazi, Pentagon suspending death benefits, on and on. I think it's somewhat by design--if he doesn't know about it, then he can say it's not his fault. Everybody in the administration seems to be blaming the contractors for f'ing up the whole Obamacare website rather than taking any responsibility themselves. Standard politicians on both sides...but hey, we have the best politicians money can buy! Though it's a fun topic for a BO forum, I think the USMC hat is the least of our problems, including for those in Corps. ...but yes, the hat does look pretty gay.

Is that a specific question you have, or...? Yes, liberals. Or are you going to tell me this whole 'war on bullying' that we've been seeing the last 5 years or so is because of a conservative movement? If so, show me where I'm going wrong, and I'll retract. Ok dude, I'll do this methodically like I used to do with my students when they were struggling with an EPE or something: 1) Look at the zip code for this school...takes 3.69 seconds and you will find out that it is 76116. 2) Go do a google search for which Texas politician represents this zip code (I found this one is also 3.69 seconds)...comes up with 2 names, one is a Republican, and the other is a Democrat, Wendy Davis. 3) If you are unfamiliar with who Wendy Davis is, google her (another 3.69 seconds) and you will see that she is very liberal and was the woman who made national headlines for filibustering over 11 hours on the Texas Senate floor to fight for women to have abortions after the 6th month of pregnancy. Now, if that sounds like a conservative position, then I'm completely out of touch. She is very liberal (I doubt she is a staunch Libertarian) and thus I am not surprised that there just 'may' be some other liberals in her district who voted for her...just an idea? Come on man, this isn't rockery surgery. This would be like me questioning you if you said 'Conservatives are wanting prayer back in public schools in Rhode Island' and I responded with 'Conservatives'? 'In Rhode Island?' Ok, bonus since we're all friends here...though I disagree with a majority of her political views, I do think she (Wendy Davis) is fairly hot for a 50 year old politician and thus I won't mind seeing her on TV when she runs for Texas Governor in 2014. It's kind of like Fox News...people may disagree with their style of programming, political/ideological leanings...but you do have to admit, they have some smoking hot chicks on their network. And for those dudes into guys, there's Shepard Smith for you, who I think is gay anyway.

Cool--now Vertigo gets to start giving his comments 'up votes' again! Haha.

Bullying Complaint After Lopsided Football Score The liberals have gone full retard--you never go full retard.

Yes, yes I would and will. Doesn't make me feel more comfortable about living there. Agreed, though why live in a City/State (ie Chicago or Illinois) that makes it worse? It doesn't have to be the 'Redoubt Movement' as a lot of people don't agree with that philosophy (I agree with some of their points, others, not so much), but just where you want to be in general when things start going wrong.

Buys us getting out of Afghanistan, maybe? One can hope!

Well, I thought the Executive Branch of the US Federal Government was charged with enforcing all US laws...but this administration (and ones before it) seems to have a bit of a trouble doing that. Or are you going to tell me that the President and his departments are fully enforcing all of our immigration laws? Sorry, but when it comes to the federal government, I don't trust what they say just because it was written in some 'law'. By the way...when is my sister and her family going to see a $2500 decrease in their health insurance premiums? The liberals can't seem to answer that question.

Yes, they are both college educated and have been working in their professions for close to 15 years, so fortunately they make more money than what you described. Keep in mind, people like my sister and brother-in-law, they're not asking for a government subsidy, however their rates will indeed go up anyways because of the new federal government regulations put on their insurance companies and employers. You cannot force insurance companies to cover parents' children longer, cover pre-exisiting conditions (and not charge them what the market says to charge them), force more coverage at no charge (ie birth control), etc without raising the rates for almost everybody else--there are not enough 'healthy/young' people (with money) to bring into the system to cover all these new outrageous expenses. So either the insurance company intentionally loses profit, employers pay more, and/or premiums and deductibles go up for people. It's another form of wealth redistribution and the people who will feel the tightest squeeze are the ones who work hard and don't qualify for subsidies (or enough subsidies to really make a big difference) and who aren't wealthy enough that paying an extra $3-5K/yr is no big deal. At this point, the government should have just passed another FICA type tax that put the poorest of the poor on Medicare and left everybody else's insurance alone. Then everybody would see the tax on their pay stubs and you'd have less government regulation on the insurance companies. That being said, even a program like this would bust eventually...just like Medicare. The problem is that there are millions of Americans who want something for nothing, and that something has to come from somewhere. You can keep raising taxes (assuming you don't cut anything else) to pay for these programs, but I think the myth of taxing your way into prosperity has been debunked. I also keep hearing 'well, other European countries make this work'...having spent a little time in Europe and having friends who are local there, I've learned that a more-so socialist type system only even at least somewhat works when you either have A) Nearly everyone on board with the system, from the top down and who work hard to good of community (something closer to Germany), or B) At the pointy end of a gun (former Soviet Union). Maybe we'll be closer to option A in the future, but we're definitely not there now. If not everyone is on board with the more 'communal' type system, then you run the risk of the thought experiment where everyone in class gets the same grade--eventually the really smart kids are less incentivized to do their best, the kids who rarely study are happy, and the kids in the middle realize that it's easier to be the kids who rarely study, and overall, everybody does worse. I'm not saying that this would happen over night, or ever get 100% to the point of full destruction, but I think it's safe to say that there is a growing culture in the US who are realizing that you don't have to work very hard to have a minimum standard of life which is decent (ie a roof over your head, food in your belly, a basic phone to communicate, some sort of healthcare, on and on)--and I don't think this helps you grow economically and as a society. And what makes it worse is that these people breed, and they breed quite a bit. And why? One reason is because there are even more government incentives to have children (I know it doesn't make sense to us, but a lot of people do see it this way). Anyways, I think people are going to see a big change in the healthcare world in the next few years. There will be more demand with not as much of an increase in supply, premiums will go up for many and will affect the people I mentioned above the hardest, and businesses will have a reduced incentive to grow their business to increase their profit. I'm sure the liberals will have somebody else to blame and then will argue for a single-payer type system which will then put us all on Medicare essentially...again, this single-payer type system struggles to work in cultures where this is more accepted (everybody goes along to get along)--not so much here, which I'm sure will mean it will be worse. Agree 100% on this one.

My sister and her husband will not receive any subsidies to offset their large premium increase because they don't qualify as low-income earners. Again, still waiting for someone to tell me when her family will see a $2500 decrease in their insurance costs...

Lear--you answered my question...with another question. To penalize you, I'll ask you another question: Has or would a military leader (Sq/CC, OG, WG, whatever) ever 'willingly sacrifice a subordinate's career to appease' one of their own military leaders/commanders?

Learjetter, you're not telling me that politics and public appearance had anything to do with this final decision, are you?

Looks like she's back: S&W MP-15 at Bud's LE for $759 and then you can get the $100 rebate. Still one of the best values around IMO. https://www.budspolicesupply.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=170

Let's just say quite a bit more than your 'cyber pay' Haha!

Lt. col. granted clemency in sex assault case to retire as major Lucky for me, you didn't take the bet and I get to keep my month's flight pay. Looks like you had the right call on this one man. That being said, I still think retiring him as a Major is BS...they're doing this because of his conviction that was thrown out (and the outrage caused because of it), not because of his affair 9 years ago. That's the military for you.

I'm still wanting to know when my sister's health insurance premiums will go down $2500/year? And if it won't, then why not? I'll wait for an answer.

Liberals have yet to get rid of it when they have been in charge...though I'll at least hand it to Washington and Colorado for legalizing marijuana...step in the right direction, but yes, definitely still a 'war on drugs' on the State level as well as the National level. Conservatives/Republicans are no better when it comes to this issue, and I would argue that they are usually much worse. But to answer your question directly, it's the liberal's war too if they don't stop it.