GQ_jumper

I'm not saying he's the ONLY responsible party, but he IS responsible for being a world class jackass. Lemme ask you this . . . when is the last time YOU did something that people 5,000 miles away got so upset about they killed people at random over? Never? My point exactly. Jones was doing this for the explicit purpose of pissing off people int he middle-east. He's a jackass that isn't helping anyone. Actually I have been involved in things that have later down the line been the cause of people losing their life. Anytime I do my job well the usual third order of effects is that somebody on our side is going to lose their life. Does it suck? Yes. Were they people I cared for? Yes Do I regret anything I did? No. Thats part of life when you deal with the middle east, human life is very cheap over here. You're right, the guy is a waste of life and doesn't deserve the oxygen he steals from the rest of us that put it to good use. Should we really blame him for a bunch of idiots doing what they do? If he hadn't burned those books, they would've found another reason to riot. Why do we always have to assign blame to someone? And the quote at the beginning of your post....honestly didn't really prove a point considering you are pointing a finger at Mr. jones for inciting a riot, that one goes both ways! Take care, i'm off to bed. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

And what have WE done in Iraq that we should be considered animals for? Who is "we" BTW, have you been to Iraq? And our reasons for being in Afghanistan have nothing to do with conquering the country, there is a lot more at stake there than most people realize. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

Or how bout we point the finger at the cave-dwelling jackholes that think violence is an acceptable answer to somebody having a dissenting opinion of your religious views? Everybody in this part of the world is an over-sensitive baby, they cry over the slightest thing and feel that violence is the only way to make up for it. I've seen families kill each other over here over things so minuscule most right minded people wouldn't give it a second look. There is a reason this region is still living in the stone age despite having the natural resources to thrive. Maybe we should blame the creators of South Park for 9-11 because they made fun of all the world's religions at some point. Honestly I'd be willing to bet that the media was straining to find a reason behind the protests and just threw in the book burning to make news. All this does is make the west less sympathetic to their plight. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

When the armies of all nations stop recruiting teenagers, then we might expect maturity in soldiers. Mature old geezers don't make good grunts. We need to bring the recruitment standards back up, I'm tired of serving with dirtbags who shouldn't be in uniform in the first place. We also need to stop babying the recruits and actually try to instill some level of discipline in our young soldiers instead of constantly softening initial entry training to accommodate the more fragile psyches of the younger generation. The military would be a much better place if I could knock some sense into idiots like that every once in a while instead of talking to them kindly about what they did wrong like a father figure. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

Nigel you are absolutely right, and if you don't want to have your daily life interrupted by the government you are free to travel by other means. Based on your line of thinking a Police officer enforcing the speed limit would be a form of intervention from the government we should be free from as well, am I correct? Apparently the reading comprehension section of the SAT raped your brain of any ability to grasp the basic meaning of a passage. I'll go ahead and skip discussing this further with you since you've lowered yourself to insulting undertones in your replies. When you want to talk like a grown up come find me. It used to mean that. What you espouse is loser talk. Loser talk really? Wow, you sure burned me. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

This isn't directed at Bill, I just wanted to ask the general populace on here a quick question. How is anything the TSA is doing a violation of your rights, liberties, freedoms, etc.? Where in the constitution are we guaranteed the right to commercial air travel? When you buy a plane ticket you are agreeing to undergo whatever searches are imposed upon travelers so why are people complaining about these things? They are not guaranteed the privilege to be able to fly by any law. People EXPECT things because air travel has become the norm because everyone wants to be somewhere RIGHT NOW and refuse to take slower forms of transportation. No rights are being violated, you said you were OK with the TSA searches when you bought the ticket and your consent was implied by the purchase. Yes I understand the TSA is populated by social rejects who lack a basic education and common decency, but if you don't want to deal with them you don't have to fly. And all the self-righteous around here accusing those who understand and agree with the searches of being brainwashed drones who give up their liberties are full of shit. We want to fly, and we want to fly safely, and I don't mind having someone grope my balls or look under my clothes with a scanner if it means I can sleep soundly on my flight. Just because you're an American doesn't mean you get whatever you want, get over yourselves. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

sshhh, or they'll get ill adviced ideas about potus..Quote HAHA!!! I'm just sayin....I used to have a friend when I was younger and more stupid who was a 1LT that made himself extra money on the weekends selling pills. And I wasn't the slightest bit surprised when the Army treated me like a suspect when they started asking about him. I chose to spend time with him and I deserved to get treated like a criminal for it. Until I cleared my name I was put through the works and never once made myself out to be a victim in the situation, I deserved it. As did these people mentioned in the article. it would be nice if people for once accepted responsibility for their actions. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

If I was riding in a car full of drug dealers I wouldn't be too offended if the police pulled the car over and put me through the works with the drub dealers. You're only as good as the company you keep. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

And I agree that they look at these sort of things, which as I said before is fucking wrong. It is also an act of cowardice by our leaders trying to hide the real warriors to improve our public image. We need to stop letting officers run the Army and start taking our advice from old crusty, bitter enlisted soldiers that resemble Clint Eastwood's character from Grand Tourino. THAT is what a soldier should be like, but maybe with a little less angry racism! History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

Part of it has to do with a vetting process that has nothing to do with the act, but rather the image of a Medal of Honor recipient. While I'm not 100% certain I agree with that as a part of the criteria, I think Staff Sgt. Giunta is a perfect example of what they're attempting to do there. Do not get me wrong, I think there are hundreds of acts of heroism performed by our troops every day, but when they give the Medal of Honor to somebody, they also have to be 100% certain that person can't be ridiculed for their motivations or attitudes and that person also understands the example he is now required to maintain. It's not like handing out a Dancing with the Stars trophy. Imagine the enormous weight and burden it places on the recipient for the rest of his life. Ya know those sports stars that get caught doing something iffy and they say, "Hey, I'm not a role model"? A Medal of Honor recipient can't ever say that; ever. Let me start by saying this rant isn't directed directly at Quade but at the criteria he proposed for selecting a MoH recipient. This statement is wrong on so many levels. A vetting process to ensure the MoH recipient is worthy BEYOND their actions, have people lost touch with reality? Well here is a quick lesson in it. The military isn't supposed to be the adult version of the boy scouts, I hate to break it to people but our job as soldiers is to kill other human beings. Not make peace, not make friends, not impress the public with little canopy formations over air shows, every soldier is a trained killer. They don't teach us to use our weapons to make peace, we train to aim them at human shaped targets and put rounds through them. And this attitude that people are trying to perpetuate about how we have to be role models if wrong. Yes we have to carry ourselves as professionals because of the type of organization we are in, but taking away from the valorous acts of a soldier because they don't represent what you think would be a good example is pathetic. All the best warriors I know were infamous for shooting off at the mouth, getting in trouble because they constantly buck the chain of command, having insanely short tempers, getting in fights, and the such. I'm sure all the self-proclaimed military "experts" that infect this forum are going to disagree and draw from their vast experience of doing nothing with their lives that is military related to try and refute this, but you can ask any soldier worth his weight and they'll tell you that they don't trust someone who has never broken the rules. On a separate note congratulations to SSG Giunta, he definitely deserves his day in the sun. Hopefully he decides to make a career out of his service. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

I'm gonna go ahead and wade through the usual mindless SC retard dribble and get back to the main point of the thread. As much as that guy deserves to rot in prison for what he did we wouldn't be hearing about stories like this if people would let justice be served by the authorities instead of profiting off everything. If the parents weren't trying to make a quick buck off their kid getting run over they wouldn't be subject to the counter-suit. The asshole is doing his time, let him rot, what does raking in a couple grand do? Will money really make you forget about your lost family member, because if so you're a pretty sorry excuse for a human being. There is no benefit to the parents to sue, justice has been served, all these frivolous lawsuits based on criminal proceedings only serve to clog up the legal system. I feel truly sorry for their loss but I'm dissappointed in them for their decision to sue. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

Sorry but I've watched missions suffer too many times due to the inability of the Air force to complete even the simplest tasks. They are the masters of getting everything for doing little to nothing. I've had to work in joint units along side of them and the people that populate their ranks are a joke with the exception of the select few who belong in a better unit. They have MOSs that guarantee you'll never have to do anything combat related and they somehow manage to pay over inflated bonuses to people who contribute nothing to our efforts while those of us who get paid to shed blood get table scraps. I'll fly with a Marine or Naval aviator any day, but if I were CinC the Air Force would be facing some pretty damned rough times right now. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

How bout we focus on the things like the first lady's trip to the Grand Canyon, and the date night in NY, the pres. even admitted to looking for excuses to fly in A.F.1. Now as for your proposed military cuts, the Air Force itself is a waste of funds, they are a joke a military organization, don't do anything asked of them and constantly waste money. Get rid of the Air Force. The Navy and Marines can pull the CAS duties, and we can contract civilians to do the personnel and equipment movements. And I would be willing to bet if we had contracts with money on the line for failing to move personnel and equipment ON TIME things would get done as opposed to the Air Force who has never once in my military career done something on time. I've even seen Air Force crews fake breakdowns to get a night off at a cool location and pretend to have mission critical repairs that can only be done at their home station which conveniently coincided with the concert they told us they would do everything necessary to make it to. And while we're on the topic of useless organizations, why do we spend millions on a parachute team that can't win anything and contributes nothing to the military? Nix the golden showers and we'd save a hefty chunk of change. Cowardice is punishable in the military anyways so shouldn't simply volunteering for that organization be considered an act of it? History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

You mean like John Stewart who the young Democrats actually consider to be a real news source?! History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

There is what matters. A round that can punch through more metal is completely worthless given the current wars we are engaged in. We need rounds that put people down at a distance of less than 25 meters, and something that cuts throughmetal fails miserably in this department. I will say though that this is not even close to being the first new 5.56 round in 30 years. We have been getting issued all kinds of other rounds in the last few years that do the job far better than the M855 round, or the new A1 round. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

Guess again buddy, I found a video the other day that was posted online shot by one of the people on the ship with a cell phone. It showed the people on the ship poised for an ambush and absolutely no gunfire prior to the soldiers fastroping in. Aww how cute, you made a little theory and it was shot down, don't get discouraged, lots of people fail at life. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

Thats the kind of stuff I was looking for, thanks. How far is that from Zurich? History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

Seriously though I really appreciate everyone's feedback, thanks guy and gals.

I was trying to throw Norway or Finland in the mix but I'm not sure if I'll have the money/time to head that far north, maybe I can knock Amsterdam off the list to make it happen. Overall I'm not sure anything good would come of a layover in Amsterdam, I have no desire to chase hookers and my career doesn't get along too well with the brownies they serve there! Shropshire, unfortunately I no longer own a sport rig or I would've thrown Emp. on the list. I've made 1100 jumps for work in the last two years and my sport rig was sitting unused the whole time to I cashed it in History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

That actually does sound like a really interesting trip, not sure if I'll be able to do it this time but I definitely want to keep that one in my back pocket. I'm flying into London this time because I have a friend I want to visit there, so we are basically moving southeast from London. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

The more I research the trip the more Prague keeps coming up as a place I need to get myself to. I just threw that one up on the list as well. I'm also hearing Greek islands a lot, I may have to extend my leave. Guess it helps that I've skipped the holidays for the last few years and I have 100 days of accrued leave waiting to be burnt up! History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

So after my buddy and I had a safari in Scottsdale, AZ last fall in which we killed the world's last surviving prehistoric moose, yeah it happened, don't judge! I had a pic but its too big to upload! We decided to do something again this summer and are headed to Europe. We are trying to put together our itinerary for the trip. So far we are looking at London, Amsterdam, Zurich, Budapest, Athens, and possibly somewhere in Romania mixed in there. Does anyone have any other suggestions? My goal for the trip is an equally balanced diet of outdoor physical adventures, and indoor frosty beverage related adventures! Thanks in advance everyone

Tell union laborers to stop demanding wages they dont' deserve for jobs that a high school dropout can do and maybe companies wouldn't be so deadset against the idea. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

My stomach churned at the thought of that woman getting another shot at ruining the GOP. I hope her and Ron Paul go off in search of a new career path prior to 2012. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

You know I'm really disappointed with some of the responses in this thread. I didn't realize that the skydiving community had gone from a group of people always willing to do anything for a good time to group of (fill in the blank) with no sense of humor. Get off you fucking high horses when you set foot in the bonfire, this place is where we come to have fun. And to everyone that contributed to the fun, you all rock!!! History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower