Were you born before 1985? According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's or even the early 80's, probably shouldn't have survived. Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint. We had no childproof lids or locks on medicine bottles, doors, or cabinets, and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets. Not to mention the risks we took hitchhiking. As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. Horrors! We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then rode down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the street lights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. No cell phones. Unthinkable! We did not have Playstations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, video tape movies, surround sound, personal cell phones, personal computers, or Internet chat rooms. We had friends! We went outside and found them. We played dodge ball, and sometimes, the ball would really hurt. We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. They were accidents. No one was to blame but us. Remember accidents? We had fights and punched each other and got black and blue and learned to get over it. We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out any eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's home and knocked on the door, or rang the bell or just walked in and talked to them. Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Some students weren't as smart as others, so they failed a grade and were held back to repeat the same grade. Horrors! Tests were not adjusted for any reason. Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected. The idea of parents bailing us out if we got in trouble in school or broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the school or the law. Imagine that! This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers, and inventors, ever. We had freedom, failure, success, and responsibility --- and we learned how to deal with it. Back then everything seemed great now life sucks! I wish I was a kid again!
Isn't this the truth!
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Some things have improved over time, others haven't. Clearly what was once OK and healthy but now can't be done any more for no good reason is a shame.
I for one, however, don't miss the brain damage from babies injesting lead paint, nor the poisoning from toddlers getting into meds or cleaning supplies, nor the horrible injuries from being thrown from the open bed of a truck or not wearing seat belts or being in child seats in cars, etc. Not all changes have been for the worse.
One of the best arguments I've ever heard in favor of child seats in cars is from hospitals that have treated premature babies. After several weeks of ICU care, the baby finally gets to go home. Unfortunately, it doesn't make it home becasue the mother decided to hold it in her arms and it went through the windshield in a wreck. /rant off
I for one, however, don't miss the brain damage from babies injesting lead paint, nor the poisoning from toddlers getting into meds or cleaning supplies, nor the horrible injuries from being thrown from the open bed of a truck or not wearing seat belts or being in child seats in cars, etc. Not all changes have been for the worse.
One of the best arguments I've ever heard in favor of child seats in cars is from hospitals that have treated premature babies. After several weeks of ICU care, the baby finally gets to go home. Unfortunately, it doesn't make it home becasue the mother decided to hold it in her arms and it went through the windshield in a wreck. /rant off
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Didn't you tell me to STFU and call me an "asshole" because I said an 18 yo hopefully did not breed before he killed his dumb ass?marsolais said:
Also, just wondering. I thought the military was keeping secret the ID of snipers to prevent revenge on their families. Is that just marines?
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wasent that long ago for me but i do miss it
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Thats somewhat true, btw, repost.
But also that generation, they are famous for the bogus lawsuits trying to make it rich. Plus they are the soccer moms of today cough yuppies.
[Apocalypse now]The horror, the horror[/Apocalypse now]
But also that generation, they are famous for the bogus lawsuits trying to make it rich. Plus they are the soccer moms of today cough yuppies.
[Apocalypse now]The horror, the horror[/Apocalypse now]
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Marsolais we might have different view on motorcycling, but that's the first post you've made that I agree with, the good ol days of actually leaving the house to make friends.
Still do! Love the flavor of good dirty hose water!marsolais said:
In my opinion, these are two very excellent points which are sorely lacking in the experiences of today's youth. Kids need to learn that not everyone can win the 1st place blue ribbon. Not everyone goes home happy. 2nd place is simply the 1st place loser. All men may be created equal, but from the first millisecond after the placenta is tossed in the trash we begin our journeys down inequality which extends until our deaths. Not everyone is a winner. Many are losers. Anyone can be a good winner, that's easy. It's being a good looser that is the challenge.
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Not smoking anything, reading news. The Baltimore Sun, April 18, 2004. Plus I'm about 10 years older than you, junior.TheWraith said:
FALLUJAH, Iraq - Taking a short breather Friday, the 21-year-old Marine corporal explained what it was like to practice his lethal skill in the battle for this city.
"It's a sniper's dream," he said in polite, matter-of-fact tones. "You can go anywhere and there are so many ways to fire at the enemy without him knowing where you are."
Sniping - killing an enemy from long distance with a single shot - has become a significant tactic for Marines in this Sunni Triangle city as three battalions skirmish daily with armed insurgents who can find cover among the buildings, walls and trees.
Marine sniper teams are spread in and around the city, working night and day, using powerful scopes, thermal imaging equipment and specially modified bolt-action rifles that allow them to identify and target armed insurgents from 800 yards or more.
Ancient strategy
Sniping experts - there are several here with the Marines - say there might not have been such a "target-rich" battlefield for such shooters since the World War II battle for Stalingrad, during which German and Russian snipers dueled for months.
As a military tactic, sniping is centuries old; the first snipers used bows and arrows. Leonardo da Vinci is said to have been a sniper against the Holy Roman Empire.
Weapons change, but the goal of the sniper remains the same: harass and intimidate the enemy, make him afraid to venture into the open, deny him the chance to rest and regroup.
The Marines believe their snipers have killed hundreds of insurgents, although that figure alone does not accurately portray the significance of sniping. A sign on the wall of sniper school at Camp Pendleton, Calif., displays a Chinese proverb: "Kill One Man, Terrorize a Thousand."
"Sometimes a guy will go down, and I'll let him scream a bit to destroy the morale of his buddies," said the Marine corporal. "Then I'll use a second shot."
In negotiations aimed at ending the standoff in the city, the insurgents have demanded that the Marines pull back their snipers.
'Demoralize the enemy'
A shaky truce exists between the Marines who surround the city and the fighters within the circle. But the cease-fire allows the Marines to carry out defensive operations within the city, which among other things they define as allowing fire on insurgents who display weapons, break the curfew or move their forces toward U.S. troops.
While official policy discourages Marines from keeping a personal count of people they have killed, the custom continues. In nearly two weeks of conflict here, the corporal from a Midwestern city has emerged as the top sniper, with 24 confirmed kills. By comparison, the top Marine Corps sniper in Vietnam killed 103 people in 16 months.
"As a sniper, your goal is to completely demoralize the enemy," said the corporal, who played football and ran track in high school and dreams of becoming a high school coach. "I couldn't have asked to be in a better place. I just got lucky: to be here at the right time and with the right training."
The military has asked that sniper names not be published. Insurgents were said to have placed a bounty for the killing of any Marine sniper.
A Web site linked to the insurgents attempts to provide information on snipers and their family members. During Vietnam, the Viet Cong also put a bounty on snipers.
"If you're going to be a sniper," said the corporal, "you just have to accept the things that come with it."
Marine snipers, whose motto is "one shot, one kill," fire from rooftops in crowded urban areas of Fallujah, as well as exploring the city by foot. It sometimes takes hours to set up a shot, as the sniper hides in the distance, waiting for the right moment.
Marine officers credit the snipers, all of whom are enlisted men, with saving Marine lives by suppressing enemy fire and allowing their comrades greater freedom of movement.
"The snipers clear the streets for us," said Capt. Douglas Zembiec. "The snipers are true heroes."
Sniper teams have come under fire and suffered casualties. Marine intelligence suggests that the insurgents - using Russian- and Chinese-made rifles and optics - have their own sniper teams, but there have been no reports of Marines killed by sniper fire.
Unlike most Marines, the sniper sees his enemy before killing him. The enemy has a face.
Most combatants get only a glimpse of their enemies. The distance is too great, the spray of bullets too rapid.
But the sniper, with time to set up his shot, sees his victim more clearly through a powerful scope: Their faces, their eyes, the weapons in their hands. And their expression when the bullet hits "their center mass."
"You have to have a combat mind-set," said the corporal.
Unlike other infantry troops, the sniper thus has a greater confidence that his shot is not as likely to hit a civilian or a "friendly."
The corporal hopes to get back home by late fall in time to take his girlfriend to a college football game and go deer hunting with his father.
"When I go hunting for whitetail, it's for food and sport," he said. "Here, when I go hunting, it's personal, very personal."
You can quote liberal news all you want. I'm a Marine. Get a quote from Headquarters Marine Corps. "The Military" is not going to cut it. Get one of the Joint Chiefs to state they're classifiying SRB records. Some viable source from the Pentagon, doesn't matter. News traditionally misreport what "the military" is saying and doing.
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What a bitter bunch.
Lead doesn't kill children but it does make them stupider. And on my street I knew a small child that died due to some inattention from his teenage sister and the lack of a child proof cap. That family was also ruined. These aren't made up issues. They just look like it, now that the incidence has declined -- due to the very innovations maligned here.
And the lawsuit issue is a smokescreen. Safe products and competent Drs seldom face lawsuits. Insurance costs are driven by liability, not tort. But, hey, wouldn't you like to make money with no responsibility for your products? Just think of the corners you could cut then!
Most times, however, people play the lawsuit card to get out of doing some work they don't want to do anyway. Lots of people moan about being sued but a vastly smaller group ever are.
Lead doesn't kill children but it does make them stupider. And on my street I knew a small child that died due to some inattention from his teenage sister and the lack of a child proof cap. That family was also ruined. These aren't made up issues. They just look like it, now that the incidence has declined -- due to the very innovations maligned here.
And the lawsuit issue is a smokescreen. Safe products and competent Drs seldom face lawsuits. Insurance costs are driven by liability, not tort. But, hey, wouldn't you like to make money with no responsibility for your products? Just think of the corners you could cut then!
Most times, however, people play the lawsuit card to get out of doing some work they don't want to do anyway. Lots of people moan about being sued but a vastly smaller group ever are.
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That story was widely reported and just now is still on line on many papers. I am far from liberal BTW. If I was sniping islamic radicals--fortunate enough I should add-- I'd keep it on the down low.TheWraith said:
http://www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,Defensewatch_051204_Reckless,00.html
f2 benny, i'm a sniper as well and i work with marsolais. you'll have to excuse him, he's quite uppity. no we are not required to keep quite like most marines. after we are certified we are put into an fbi data base which is published on the internet for the public to see
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