Az, ol' buddy, I think you need to lighten yourself up a little.
Just because you may be getting tense from my response doesn't mean i am. Trust me, i enjoy this stuff.
Laurence knows at least one other service-academy attendee pretty well and frankly, between you two I appreciate his perspective better.
Everyone's entitled to an opinion.
Congressional nominations are but one of several ways to get into a service academy.
Congressional nominations are the way most people get in. I didn't go into the outliers. If someone says they went to the academy, you could ask them which congressman sent them, and most likely you'll get a name shortly following. Are you saying you assumed i was one of the exceptions? BTW, as with most of the cadets, most minorities get in via vanilla congressional nominations just like everyone else, though some atheles are, of course, recruited via scholarship. Also, those who get into the prep school were also most likely congressional nominations. Nords, nominations come first, appointments might or might not come next. Those who dont get directly into the academy sometimes make it into the prep school. That process is independent of whether one got a congressional nominations or not.
Soilders are pawns of our leaders. I personally dont believe killing each other is a good solution to solving problems. I think it is a sad, last resort solution to solving problem that, when done, declairs to everyone loudly "I"m a failure, and now i'm going to solve my problem in the most barbaric and mindless way by killing people". Yes, I understand you're likely in the narrow-minded majority that probably thinks it is a good solution to solving problems and you probably chuckled with glee like a little kid when the media on TV was talking about our "shock and awe". I often find myself alone, tortured by logic that for some strange reason, most other people didn't get. Some gifts can be lonely.
So you found a story about a soilder who saved two other soilders, all three of which were trying to kill someone else from another country? Its as if you think those soilders, men, from those other countries also dont have families.
Patton's said a lot of things, and I thought this merited another sixty seconds of research. "No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country." ......... I looked at this Patton quote site for "self protection" and "self preservation" but I didn't find those words there.
So you dont think by that statement, Patton isn't recognizing the importance of living as being better than dying? hehe, ok. I know how
I would have taken that advice!
While I'm all for a judicial dose of self-protection and self-preservation, I admit that I would much prefer to conclude my life as an illogical reckless corpse than to continue living it as someone who stood by & watched someone else lose their life. I just hope I get to choose wisely.
Well, if I ever see a stone with your name on it and a touching story to go along with it, i'll be sure and take the time to read it and momentarily reflect on your bravery. As soon as i'm done, i'll continue going about living the only life i'm going to get.
Unlike posters who next read "Good talking with you, have a nice life" from me, you seem to be fairly bright & articulate. Hopefully you have the character to go with those characteristics, because otherwise I'd sure hate to be working under or even near you when you execute your plans for GS-14 world domination. You have the potential to be an even more positive influence on people than the negative example you've been setting so far. What you do with that potential is up to you.
Nords, as i understand it, your reputation here isn't impeccable either. I pride myself in honestly above all else. You know for everyone one person here that admitted they dont give charity beyond taxes, there was probably 10 others that dont either, that lack both the honesty and
courage to admit just the same.
If my goal was to people please, there's a good chance i'd be one of your favorites here. I'm known at work as a really nice guy. I can be anything i want to be with the blink of an eye. To use an analogy, in RL/work, i'm Garth Brooks. On these boards, i'm Chris Gaines.
I have plenty of character and I am a law abider. In fact, my job is enforcing environmental law and I do that job quite well. There are stories of men who do just atrocious things everywhere all around us. I was just told yesterday of a story where men were dragging women out of the superdome at night, and raping/killing them. Those are your horrible men. I am a law abider and i harm no one.
I'll let someone else tackle the subjects of puppies & kitties.
There is no story. There are too many "pets" and feral animals, fact and end of story. It is literally either you realize that or you don't. Yes, there's a population at large that doesnt understand things such as perscribed burns (where burning a forest is actually good for it) or having hunters go in and freely kill a deer population for its health. That takes a level of dynamic some people just dont have.
Most people would probably think they're helping the feral cat problem when they set a bowl of food outside their house or place of business when in fact, they're just helping propogate the spread of more disease and suffering.
![:-\](https://www.early-retirement.org/sk/forums/images/smilies/undecided.gif "Undecided :-\")
