DanG

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Everything posted by DanG

  1. DanG
    I don't understand why minirets are "symbols of Muslim religious intolerance" (from the linked article) but steeples are not "symbols of Christian religious intolerance". I would hope the Swiss people are not so bigoted as to pass this measure, but it's their country, if they want to be xenophobic pussies, then I guess that is their right. - Dan G
  2. DanG
    It's just not that easy. I totally agree that we need cuts and we need them now, but it's not going to happen like that. The only way such cuts can be made is slowly, over a long period of time. The healthcare debate is instructive. The Democratic plan calls for cuts to the Medicaid and Medicare budgets. But now the Republicans, who fought tooth and nail against Medicare and Medicaid in the 1960's, are holding the Democrats' feet to the fire over cuts they should be celebrating. When any politician proposes a cut to any program, he immediately gets labeled as "soft-on-whatever" by his opponents. I don't know what the solution is, but massive and immediate cuts will never happen no matter who is in charge. - Dan G
  3. DanG
    I think you could reasonably make the argument that it was terrorism. I disagree because that makes anything done with political motivation an act of terrorism. Then you have to define what is meant by "politial motivation". Was the DC sniper motivated politically? What if he had shot a soldier pumping gas off-Post? Does that guy get a Purple Heart? Even if you decide that all acts with a political component are terrorism, there is still the question of whether they are an act of war. To me, a single gunman, acting on personally held beliefs, and not acting as an agent of a foreign state or non-state actor, can't commit an act of war. He can murder a bunch of people, maybe even commit an act of terrorism, but it doesn't make it war. I think there is a big difference between the actions of your EOD friends, who intentionally put themselves in harm's way as part of their job, and people who happened to be soldiers being murdered by a nutcase while sitting in a Texas clinic waiting room. - Dan G
  4. DanG
    I think the better question is, "Which soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are not going to be provided with food, ammo, and fuel?" - Dan G
  5. DanG
    Just curious, did your friends die in a training accident? I'm not aware of any IEDs being deployed in the US. No disrespect to their service, I just don't understand what you mean. - Dan G
  6. DanG
    I guess I should have said that it is my opinion that this act was murder, not terrorism. I am very leary of labeling an act terrorism. In fact, since the target was a military installation, if the shooter is later determied to have acted on orders from a foreign combatant, then this act would be combat, not terrorism. The label terrorism, in my opinion, should be restricted to acts against civilian targets with no military value, and intended to cause fear in the civilian population. Guys shooting at soldiers with the intent to do military damage are not terrorists. But, like I said, I really think this was an act of mass murder by a disturbed individual. - Dan G
  7. DanG
    The Military Order of the Purple Heart is a private organization. There are government benefits that go along with being awarded a Purple Heart. For one thing, your classification at the VA is raised, meaning you get priority of care over people who were not wounded in combat. Burial rights are also affected IIRC. The history of the Purple Heart is very interesting, and the criteria has changed over the years. I do not believe those individuals killed or wounded at Ft. Hood should be awarded a Purple Heart. The current criteria requires being wounded by enemy action. Although many soldiers may see Field Grade Offficers as the enemy, last time I checked they weren't officially recognized as such. Awarding the Purple Heart to these victims will just serve to further dilute awards such as what's happened to the Bronze Star. If you award the PH to these victims, you'll have to give it to everyone killed while on duty, regardless of circumstances. This was murder, not combat. - Dan G
  8. DanG
    The earth shattering info is always just around the corner. The payoff is always so very close at hand. You can almost taste it, just wait a little longer, invest a liittle more... That's how confidence schemes work. - Dan G
  9. DanG
    I'm trying to drop it, why won't you? If you're doing a demo over a crowd (like at a football game or race), it doesn't matter if the crowd is in a rural area or not, the same rules apply. But like I said, not a topic for this thread. - Dan G
  10. DanG
    Well, football games and racetracks are not rural areas. But whatever, you're right, this thread is about something else. - Dan G
  11. DanG
    Maybe you should update your profile to shut people up. Unless it is up to date, in which case I wonder why you're doing what sound like PRO demos without a PRO rating. - Dan G
  12. DanG
    Dude, you're rebutting my anectode with words you put in other people's mouths. WTF? Here, I'll try it out on you: I call bullshit on your argument, so would George Washington, Confusious, and Jesus Christ. But you obviously know more about it than they do. And as far as the VA goes, I ruptured my eardrum this summer and called the VA to get an appointment with an ENT. Since I hadn't seen my primary care doctor there in over a year, I had to be reassigned to a new one (just getting assigned took a week), go in for an initial physical (one month wait even though when I actually went in I was the only patient in the whole Group there) and then let him make an appointment for me at ENT (another month or so). I went to my civilian doctor instead, but it still took two weeks to see a specialist. - Dan G
  13. DanG
    Possibly. But given the evidence in this thread, I highly doubt it. - Dan G
  14. DanG
    Having four places available to do an ultrasound, and actually getting an appointment at one of them (for a non-emergent case) are two totally different things. - Dan G
  15. DanG
    You don't understand basic math, do you? - Dan G
  16. DanG
    I guess I just don't see why any of that will have changed. There are always units preparing the deploy/redeploy. There was nothing magical about the day McChrystal made his recommendations. Again, how is making an informed decision turning his back on those in theater? - Dan G
  17. DanG
    I disagree that waiting to make a decision is turning his back on those in theater. It's not like those in theater are not getting the same logistical and command support they got before. If you're worried about morale, then the people doing the most damage to morale are the pundits and Republicans who are trying to convince everyone that Obama hates the troops. That shit is inappropriate at best. - Dan G
  18. DanG
    You might be suprised at what I would agree with. On the other hand, you'd probably disagree with me when I say that killing a bunch of baddies won't fix what's wrong with Afghanistan. Not that we shouldn't kill baddies, we should, but we have to do other things, too. And cut out the secret squirrel crap, what is it you propose? - Dan G
  19. DanG
    I'm not aware of the "winky emoticon" option. Care to elaborate? - Dan G
  20. DanG
    Do you believe in civilian control of the military? Or should the civilian Commander in Chief just do whatever the Generals tell him to do? - Dan G
  21. DanG
    Here's a list of numbers: 6, 2, 3, 2, 4, 3, 2, 10, 5, 2, 3, 4, 2 Can you describe this list? You might say the average is 3.7. You might also say that the numbers range from 2 to 10. BOTH WOULD BE CORRECT FOR THE SAME FUCKING LIST!!! Yes, I'm yelling because apparently you don't want to hear anything that doesn't fit your worldview. Please also note that I never said that I prefer that the US have a system similar to Canada's. All I said was that the wait times listed by the Canadian poster are also typical in the current US system. - Dan G
  22. DanG
    As opposed to the piece of crap generalizations about Canada's system, which, since they support your preconceived notions, you have no problem with. What the fuck ever. - Dan G
  23. DanG
    I know someone who's been trying to get an ultrasound for about three months. Yes, she has insurance. All the ultrasounds labs are either busy, or won't work with her other doctors or hospitals. But, like Ron likes to say, anecdotes do not equal data. And as far as Ron's data: 2-10 hours in Canada and an average of 3.75 hours in the US are entirely consistent with my statement that wait times are similar. I'll put my crack pipe down when you take a chill pill. - Dan G
  24. DanG
    Wait times like that are typical in the US, too. - Dan G
  25. DanG
    Am I the only one who's greatly enjoying that a thread called "A Day Without Personal Attacks" has now gone on for multiple days with nothing other than a couple guys lobbing personal attacks at each other? Go SC! - Dan G