candyman

Yeah there are plenty of Atheists in my unit but...they would never do something like that. We are get along and your beliefs are your own...if we make fun of each other its not even close to harsh and most of the time we actually have long discussions on out beliefs. I love the assumptions this guy is making too. I mean it almost seemed like he blames global warming on religion. If so then wtf? Dude, alot of religions have the opposite teaching in their messages. But that discussion is not going to happen because someone making generalizations like that is obviously closed minded. I am somewhat religious and I love science...as far as stuff that helps people and advances our society in some way, shape, or form. The LHC and other shit trying to prove the Big Bang theory is just a waste of time and money that won't help us one bit and, if the leading researchers on the damn project are to be believer (they are scientists), then the project is either being fought by time traveling particles that we actually haven't discovered yet or it could create a black hole. Wow...go science on that one! Either way these people are dicks. Not because they are atheist, you are allowed to believe what you want...they are just behaving like dicks. There is no good reason for their actions or their words other that to provoke or incite. I would call religious people dicks if they acted like that too. There is no call for this kind of thing to happen. This video doesn't prove anything other than what I like to call the theory of Dickish Humanity. Humans are dicks...end of theory. We can't like without fighting someone, feeling superior in our beliefs, or really anything else dickish for that matter. If someone doesn't follow this behavior patter they are either trying their best to fight it or else some dick hasn't put their dick in that persons ass yet so there is currently no dickish behavior.

I'm just trying to get out of GA and especially this unit. I guess we deploy to 'stan sometime but that will probably change. I have been trying to get into 4ID for a while now. My buddy came from them and said that they treat their generator mechanics very well which would be a major improvement. I think he was with their field artillery...

Wow a 92A? Ours were told that they had to reenlist or get out. We are losing our ENTIRE section of 92 workers in the motorpool...which makes total sense to someone only seeing numbers. Oh and the bar I go to all the time is FULL of contractors. Did you know they pay their bar tab with a government credit card because it is included in the expenses? Well, not exactly see they cheat around the system by saying the $80 is for food instead of a burger and shit tons of beer...and these are only the dudes that come down for 3 days max to check on the work. My NCO's keep bitching about the new army making things stupid but you know I really don't care? I am not the person they should be blaming. I can't change things...they are the generation that has/had that ability. And if the new Army is that bad I fear the NEWER Army that is around the corner...so maybe it is best that I get out.

WOOOO! Wisconsin metal! Everyone should be free to sell cookies...even Satan loves thin mints...

The recent opinions or what we are voting for and why along with the Occupy movement have led me to believe one thing...We WANT to be divided. People can't stand that others don't believe the things they do...and that goes for atheists too. I honestly give up on people. We waste money trying to prove our points for things that really don't have anything to do with actually helping humanity. Nobody is right...was are human and while science may be perfect we are not...so you can bet you ass that we fucked it up. I don't believe in evolution and neither did alot of people I went to college with. We still used it though...for fluids and thermodynamics, airflow, material selections, and all sorts of other shit...pretty much none of which had anything to do with evolution and we didn't give a fuck...or did bronze evolve into steel? I know alot of people in the medical profession that don't believe in evolution...they still do their jobs with some good damn efficiency. And I am not digging into you here but...people who don't believe things the way atheists do or the way evolution people do are often stereotyped...but isn't that wrong? No because self-justification will always live on in the hearts of men not caring about what they believe in at all. Again, we LOVE conflict and we WANT to be divided. Look I am not trying to piss you off like I said before...I am just telling you the truth. When humanity is dead we will all be right. Or if a time machine is invented and someone actually SEES EVOLUTION OR THE BIG BANG HAPPEN! And that will still not solve any of the worlds problems. Get me some real world leaders...not the ones that listen when Iran says "oh sure you can check all of our facilit...NO NOT THAT ONE! Naw we aren't hiding anything you just can't look in there...ever...". I want some no nonsense bastards that want to smash the real problems that actually affect us all in our daily lives...

All I gotta say about ANYONE going for a damn office is they I don't give 2 flying fucks about: Evolution vs. creation, damn abortions, or fucking gay people! We have more pressing matters at hand...and it has nothing to do with the legal status of your relationships when you are dick slapping each other in the kitchen while debating if your friend should keep her baby enough. Shit...it is all kind of secondary when it comes to things like the damn economy...which doesn't care where you put your dick...

You are missing something...something that started long before these wars. The army and every other branch were all created to be self-reliable. You can't expect a mobile force to go out without any infrastructure. So, every position you can think of in the civilian world is in the army. Plumbers, carpenters, accountants, reporters, weathermen, garbage disposal, doctors, dentists, and so on and so forth. Once they are trained the cost of having them do their job as opposed to what it would be in the civilian world is far less. You don't pay them for overtime and they don't tack on any wages anywhere else. However, the civilian workforce has been growing even increasingly in our ranks...to a bad end. They are phasing out many army jobs because the civilians do it...starting at 3 times the pay for an entry level position and that doesn't include overtime pay and other crap like that. All military construction used to be done by the corps of engineers no matter how small the task...we currently have 25 different contractors on this post alone. Many jobs have been cut down because the civilians have taken over...like mine where they cut out many of the shops leaving my to be a glorified oil changer. Did I mention they get paid more that I do? Yes I did but I will say it again...at the last job fare my starting salary would be 4 times what the army pays me and on top of that I get overtime, paid vacations, housing payments, hotel arrangements in case of travel, fuel compensation, cell phone compensation...and that is the FUCKING STARTING SALARY! Not yelling at you...it just makes me mad every time I think about it. There have always been arguments throughout history all over the world asking for a smaller military force...but it never happens or ends well. Even in the "bloated" state the entire damn military is still less than 1% and the government wants to tell us that we are the burden? No, its the wartime equipment and it is the people buying things for the military when they haven't the first clue as to how the military works and it is the civilian contractors doing OUR DAMN JOBS! It is the effect that soldiers call the $200 toilet seat... And we don't make baseball bats. The military in general does far more than people realize but we don't jump around trying to take credit...that is not what we signed up for. Much of what we do would not be possible without the numbers that we have. In peace time we are just as active as we are in war time it just doesn't cost as much because relief items to help those in need are cheaper than guns and bombs. We are actually bound to the UN to provide monetary, medical, and personnel support when the "need" it. In other words, While what they are trying to do might not be inherently wrong but...it is a giant dick move. We don't just sit on our asses in peace time and we don't just sit there sharpening our knifes waiting to kill people. There are much more pressing issues in this country if we want to get it back on its feet and there are MUCH better places to make budget cuts. And just picture the awesomeness of at least 200,000 jobless troops entering the workforce in the next few years! Hey, they could always keep the military budget in their pockets with a high paying civilian job!

No offense taken man. I do understand that people want to trim the military too. However, even though I didn't vote for Obama I thought that at least his method of cutting would me a smarter one that Vietnam. Unfortunately it is exactly like Vietnam. In my case I have to tier scores on every exam, graduated distinguished honor graduate from my training, and have nothing negative on my record. I am barred from reenlistment despite all of that because they are using the same methods as they did after Vietnam. There is no discrimination between good soldier and bad soldier. They are cutting people according to rank...which means a shitty NCO might make it but a budding PFC will get cut. Even people with great service records that make the military run well are being cut. They simply opened up the flood gates and made reenlistment a "first come first serve" thing. Like I said I support cuts in a way...that is well though out and precise cuts that are meant to make a leaner, meaner military. That is not what is happening...with how they are doing this it is clear that this is merely a numbers game meant to quickly mean a goal number so some suit can go "hey look what we did". Would precise cuts take longer? Yes most definitely. That would be better in the long run though because they way they are doing will lead to an over cut of the military leading to boosted enlistment in the future...which will cost alot. Once a soldier is trained their upkeep pay is not that much...but putting them through MEPS, travel, Basic, travel again, AIT, and then more travel tends to run the bills up a bit. If they would wait for the dust to settle after the wars it would be better. Each MOS would be able to conduct some sort of count on their troops and could gather information from their service records. Bad soldiers would get cut, medical problems could be taken care of and discharged, people that want to retire and should retire would get the opportunity, and then the troops left would be tested in their MOS and the lowest scores would get cut. Either way you are going to hurt feelings but something like my way seems a bit more...practical...or at least would contain less jackassery...that is too a word!

Don't get me wrong we are probably more happy about that than people think. We just don't like it because it causes the government and probably others to look at us like extra crap that they have to get rid of. Not our equipment, not the large buildup of supporting contractors, not the extra infrastructure needed to keep up with a large and constant deployment of troops and equipment overseas...just the troops.

Thanks for bringing up the Obama thing first...I didn't want to. There have been some "classes" on not blaming our glorious leaders for what is happening. While I don't put the full blame on any single person they must share it and Obama didn't help at all. Most of the higher functions of the military are STILL trying to fight this because they know how to make the budget work...you know with them actually being in the military and all...which kinda helps... My buddy rushed the reenlistment office today and went from 91D here in a Signal BN to Fort Leonard Wood to be with the grunts...I am currently preparing for some world class ass kissing to try and stay in generators or move to prime power. Damn...Alaska is looking really nice right now compared to damn Fort "We are going to make you go to Airborne and Air Assault School" Campbell...

In total it is far more than 40,000 troops. And yes the Army has grown larger as it always does in war time. However, the issue many of us have is that it is just a sudden drop. There are people with multiple deployments that have given so much and they are just being dumped off. While it is their right to do this I fail to see how these extra troops are THAT much of a monetary burden. The war may be costing alot of money but the troops? Garrison is pretty cheap when you are not running all over the place and using ammo and ordering all the consumables that units need. When something happens again, that is a WHEN not an IF, they will need to expand the military again which cost an insane amount. Training soldiers is very expensive. This "boom you are gone" way of doing things is...well damn even for the Army which is known for being a bit harsh if seems like its REALLY harsh. They are still getting jets, ships, and testing equipment which draws alot from the budget and to be honest if probably costs just as much as keeping all these troops would...but they get rid of personnel instead. What sucks to us is that while layoffs in the last few years are common we have sat through budget cut after budget cut after budget cut. They have been hitting the military faster that it can keep up and we really have no voice in it. And as far as the humanitarian missions we have that covered. They are done in unison with the host nation military and with the invitation of the government. While we may not be armed with more than a few M9's they protect us. A small group of people tried to protest when I was in the Dominican Republic...and their own countrymen shut them down, the civilian countrymen that is. We were building school and filling them with supplies, clinics were built in the worse off areas of the country, and we had clinics rotating around doing medical, dental, and veterinary work for free where we helped anyone we could. Even the group in Haiti did well...and for humanitarian missions the military is set up perfectly. We have everything we need to rebuild, medical personnel to cover any situation, and the means to rapidly deploy almost anywhere in the world. If my only job in the Army was humanitarian missions I would be perfectly happy with that...

But its not really the troops that are taking all the money. There are far more civilian workers being paid alot by the military now than there ever was...jobs that lower paid soldiers already trained for the task could do. We already do humanitarian missions that the peace corps does...our recent one was much larger than they could handle because we have the personnel and the equipment. I know there is money for stuff...the budget must have been put together by a compulsive spender though...

So I am sure many of you have heard of the troop cuts that are being debated. No matter what your view of the military is I wonder what you are thinking of them? I am most likely being cut. This year they are cutting 40,000 troops NOT including the ones that leave as a result of normal circumstances. They haven't cut this hard since Vietnam...which means even fully qualified soldiers are being denied reenlistment or are being forced to change jobs IF they get a slot. Next year they are going to cut 50,000 more troops and maybe more and this might continue until 2017. This is really going to suck considering the wobbly job market is about to get punched with more than 90,000 troops in the next couple of years. I am just wondering about your opinions here...from both vets and people that haven't served. Is this the right way to go about fixing our budget? Is out military, less then 1% of the population even in over-strength, that much of a burden/too large to keep around? I don't want a pity party I can live no matter what...but I would rather keep my job and continue to serve but it seems like many people are determined to shrink the military as much as they can...

Stupid clusterfuck of inputs and outputs and cables...can't hook my damp tv to my home theater system because digital won't plug into damn av audio crap! WTF?

I find the silence kinda creepy when I glance in every day...I expected at least a tiny peep about the Iraq war ending, or the Iran thingy, or even the UN waffling over Syria. Even the rants seem to have dried up so I didn't feel comfortable starting one...one persons lunacy over a botched jack and coke on a friday could mean amusement for at least a handful of people, right? I mean seriously I think some attention could to be brought back by a jump start of topics.

In the last few months there haven't been too many "interesting" posts. Usually a few would peak my interest but recently it has been a majority of the "What are you thinking" kinds of threads and yeah...can't do those all too often. The military doesn't keep me off of the forum, although they are watching because I got a warning about facebook stuff (OOPS), its just that other sites are more infused with threads of alot of the current events so I gravitate there...although the conversation is not the same there as it is here...

Eating well does not mean eating healthy...to me eating well is a steak laced with fat and sides that are not always healthy. This could be in health and wellness because everyones idea of that term is different...

Started on my leg sleeve...

Biodiesel is a far superior fuel pretty much all around. It could also be a byproduct of cleaning up emissions from power plants which people think would be a stupid idea so they won't even help fund it. Ethanol could be used but the vehicles actually need to be made to run ethanol...which basically means a whole new engine setup for vehicles including all new electronics...none of the vehicles now are set up right. You are right though. The reason I hate these energy solutions they are using is that they are using them irresponsibly and will destroy them. Wind farms and such will have maximized gains if used small scale. This fuel shit also needs to be localized and specialized. We have invested too much into a few things at huge levels and are not even close to using them to their full potential. I mean seriously if we are in such a "green" kick right now how come there are thousands of old power producing damns that are still shut down? They are everywhere and have only been maintained so as not to fall apart. Every little but helps...high taxes, shutting out whole industries at once, and setting up whole new and for the most part untested ones on a large scale,..well that will just ruin us. The way people are handling ethanol had killed crop rotation...what is green about that again? Well, still nothing...worst energy "solution" ever!

The only problem is that BOTH sides are not going to like what it means. A strong military going by the "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far," idea would need some work, immigration would need to be tightened, we would have to refocus our efforts in exports which would really pressure our crappy auto industry, the move might just kill ethanol if we do it right, and a few other things that I don't remember off the top of my head. The ethanol would die, hopefully, because small farms would make a comeback...and to do that you would need to kill the insane taxes put on farms for NOT giving up their corn or grain for ethanol. Obviously the ethanol issue is another point I would like them to take up. It sucks so much and is really a negative drain on...well just everything. It is hurting farms and small businesses like local grain providers and is also driving small farms out especially dairy farms that need to grow corn for their cattle feed. The state and federal government both tax my friends farm because they use all their corn for feed and won't give it up to ethanol. Each year the taxes rise and they are really struggling now just to keep their cows fed enough to milk because of how much they have had to give up. Small farms are the shit...they need to come back too.

We need to go back to the stances that we had back before WW1 and WW2. Close up shop and work on the home...if there is war we can loan shit out and just protect ourselves unless drawn in by something big. By loan shit out I mean they WILL repay us for the aid. It used to be a big money maker manufacturing things to help those civilized Europeans kill each other. It's not really even an immigration issue but...with open borders and such it is hard to take stock considering the insane violence in towns on the border. It's issues like people fearing for their families living in those towns that need attention...little things that all build up to a bigger problem.

Well...at least we can worry about this stuff...unlike Iraq, Iran, everywhere around Israel... Oh yeah and the country of Truman Show...I mean North Korea...

Just...not Obama...please... I was just amazed at how everyone thought he would be SO different from every other politician but then OOOPS! Yeah, just another jackass with the only difference being he was younger and someone turned the contrast knob on him when he was born...and that makes him better how? Sure I do agree with some of the things he did and I don't like others which means that he is EXACTLY like every other jackass we have had in office. Some parts good, some parts fuckup, and other parts will not be known because they never happened for one reason or another. NOTHING CHANGED! So by the power vested in me by the almighty internet I will seriously verbally kill anyone that says the word change or talks about it when referring to a candidate. Other than that I don't care about religion unless they are assholes which every religion AND non-religion have. War, it happens and although I am in the Army I really don't like it however I do see that it does have its place and can accomplish things...depending on how to do it. Gay marriage I don't care about...meaning fine but do we really need to do all that while the economy just sits there? You know that no matter what gay marriage will start a long battle and you also know that the economy is an impatient drama queen that will fuck us all. So...not to sound like I am totally against it but can you wait to get married until we figure out what our economic future looks like? I mean at least wait for the smart math people to either go "OH SHIT!" or "YAY!" before you begin your quest for expensive rings and a decadent hotel room in which to do the nasty after the vows are said. Also another issue needs to be dealt with...ethanol...it sucks donkey balls, is actually worse for the environment than regular gas, gets worse fuel economy, and is also hurting farmers and is driving up the price for both gasoline and corn which in turn is leading to higher food prices and less food shipped out to the needy. So could the government please stop funding it?

I make less than minimum wage and with my bills I live paycheck to paycheck...but it could always be worse. No matter what you change there will be tradeoffs that will always affect someone...and the mere mention of "the majority" or "the minority" makes me want to stab someone in the eye.

But LHC will prove space wrong once and for all by creating the biggest one right here on earth! Take that giant vacuum full of random shit!