Recent content by Semper Fidelis

In Our Image: America's Empire in the Philippines (1990) by Stanley Karnow is a strong primer for anyone interested in a deep dive into the foundational elements of today's "insurgent activities" in the Philippines; an excerpt from a review by Publishers Weekly provides a teaser/hint on how...

My folks were in the generation sandwiched between Korea & 'Nam - too young for one, too old for the other. And their parents came of age in the Depression. Which means that I grew up on a military base, feeling poor and wearing thrift shop/handmade clothes, eating home-cooked meals, riding a...

I'm old school, minimalist - in the habit of packing light for high mobility, but if given time/money, I favor using a modular approach - starting with a foundational pouch and tacking it on increasing "levels" of bags. So for the basic pouch, whatever I take has to fit in something the size of...

Yes & Yes - Tolerance is a virtue. If a potential spouse is going to be "adamantly opposed" (intolerant) about something I enjoy, is important to me, legal and hurts no one - then that bodes ominously for the success of our marriage. It'd be the first of many, many things I'd end up giving up...

Kodiaz, I think you've hit on it - you and your co-workers have jobs that require extreme focus for extended periods of time. And given that you've been doing this for 13 years, you've acquired certain "tools" along the way that enable you to concentrate. The vulnerability you are feeling is in...

Am I alone in feeling "troubled" by the thought that "using key data on firearms" (purportedly to "nab unscrupulous gun dealers") could potentially be perverted into a kind of "information-gathering" that will be used in a way that invades our privacy and constitutional rights? Or am I reading...

HA!!! (Like I'm going to name a few here, let alone because you demand it.) Must drive you insane, eh? Having all the answers but knowing very little after all. shootinstudent - your "discussion style" is tiresome; your "arguments" persist in being circuitous, so there's nothing I can tell...

But this is incorrect. Nukes are not genocidal by nature - they are genocidal by how they're deployed. I believe I said SURGICALLY, not strategically nuke targets I never named the location of the targets, so how do you know it would kill millions? I didn't say that I didn't understand the...

I agree. He's really not saying anything different; just that he'd uphold whatever and everything the state law requires.

Glimpse, have you seen this? http://www.packing.org/state/washington/#statecar_law You'll want to double-check though, that this hasn't changed in the last few months - they often do!

shootinstudent, you've taken my point in a completely different direction. I never once referred to genocide or suggested we nuke a whole race of people. Please re-read my post. I point to insurgent/terrorists who have declared war on America and who would kill anyone who does not embrace...

Tokugawa, you couldn't have summed up better for me: Whilst I would prefer to default to my inclination for grounded prose and rational musings, I believe it's a complete waste of energy trying to make sense of these lunatics or engaging at a level of "we're so above it all." Only one thing...

Channeling my psychic friends... Prediction: TSA is tomorrow's FEMA. Too broken to fix; hurts those they're supposed to help.

Hmmm. Maybe the "middle ground" between the CP and LP is one we can establish as the "CSP" - "Common Sense Party." Sign me up.