LovetoCamp

That was after hundreds of our Merchant Mariners were hijacked by the British in international waters. Commerce was stolen and men were kidnapped and impressed into the British Navy. I think I would rather fight alongside Johnny Taliban Lyndh than be in the British Navy in the early 1800s. The British were supplying the Indians in the Northwest Territories with guns and whiskey and inciting them to attack and butcher the poor helpless farmers up and down the frontier who were only trying to scratch a living out of a couple acres of dirt. We sent a couple of patrols to the North, Why would we even want to annex someplace like Quebec to the north, when Las Vegas was waiting for us out West?

Who's the most hated nation. Who cares what Ted Kennedy and the lying goofball from canada have to say or think. All you have to do is look at the millions, and millions, of people trying to get into the USA. Nobody's trying to get out. Even the people who spit out the hate, the anarchists, activists, and other goofballs, don't want to leave. They just want to talk. Blah, blah, blah, Who cares what they think? I hate Canada. Now what are you going to do to fix it? Get on it. Make it like I want it to be.

Competing for high schoolers time has got to be a challenge for every crew in the country. We've switched from being a Venturing Crew to a Sea Scout Ship. From what I understand, we can take advantage of the best of both programs. To deliver the program, they have to want to be there, so there's got to be an interest in the activities and some social goings on also. If you get a group of friends in the crew, better still, several groups of friends of both sexes, you've won half the battle. Interesting, challenging Program, involving a bunch of friends at a convenient time and location, there you go. We went to the Sea Scouts because there's an advanced structure to it. Some great program ideas, sailing, powerboating, scuba, advancement, ceremony, uniforms, and the nautical thing. On the Venturing side, we're a Junior Olympic Rifle Team. The youth decided that next season, they want to treat the program like a high school sport. We're going to practice much more and travel at least once a month to a tournament somewhere. "Eat, Sleep, Shoot" (I see a tee-shirt idea). In the summer we're going to sail and patrol the river. The alos now to make Skipper Trail Pounder happy, once a month they will have to iron thier uniforms, shine their shoes, polich their belt buckls, and board my Landship for ceremony and training. I ought to make a mpeg of the Landship and the kids boarding, all uniformed up, and doing the double salute. Then our Crew Leaders took charge of their crews (Port Crew & Starboard Crew) for training. We had a consultant in working on the marlinspike seamanship, powerboat safety, history of Sea Scouts, and Sea Scout Advancement. We're growing, I've been told by my Port Crew Leader that he's bringing two friends Sunday night, a male and a female. Another young man from another troop in our area is bringing a friend. Knowing I got newbies coming, we'll do what we do best, we'll break out the Air Rifles and have experienced shooters teach them the prone. Let's see, read from a manual or shoot 10 Meter Air for 2 hours, hmmm toughy. They'll sign up. We're going Sailing next Saturday. We're joining another ship for a Weekend of Sailing on the big lake on the 28th. Having a business meeting to have a business meeting just can't get it done.

My younger brother is an Air Force Staff Sergeant and has been continuously in and out of Afghanistan, Iraq, and places in between since our country was savagedly attacked by Al-Quaida and their knowing accomplices on Sept 11. He's got a vest and a side arm, but my kids and I say a prayer for him every night. That's his mission. If he is killed. I will be devasted. But, I will understand. If I was killed in 1990, my folks would (I hope) have been crushed, but would have understood my mission. Being that I thought I was John Wayne reincarnated, I had to soldier and take care of soldiers. But, if my civilian brother or one of my sons wanted to go make some quick bucks and said he was going to tool around the Sunni Triangle looking for jobs, I'd still have him in a death-grip of a headlock. I wouldn't let go until he changed him mind and headed to The North Slope in Alaska instead. Why did Mr. Berg let him go over there by himself like that?

Roger that.

Have an Olympics. Have a box of Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medals ready to present. Build a three level platform and play the National Anthem. Can we still play the National Anthem? Swimming Race, Shot Put, Discuss, Sprints, hurdles, Marathon (a short one), relays, cycling, soccer, archery, air rifle, you get the picture.

We'll have to check the supply room and see if we have an Atheist Patrol shoulder patch now that there's two of you.

on another thread, it mentions that the two poorest counties in the United States are located at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. It states on the charity web site that per capita income is approximately $10000 per year. That is half of where the poverty line sits, but it is still a substantial income to a lot of the rest of the world.

This is going to cost FOG some serious money if he starts Plumbing again.

"Last year papers were found in Iraqi intelligence headquarters documenting Saddam's feverish efforts to establish a working relationship with al-Qaida. In response to Iraq's generous invitation to pay all travel and hotel expenses, a top aide to Osama bin Laden visited Iraq in 1998, bearing a message from bin Laden. The meeting went so well that bin Laden's aide stayed for a week. Iraq intelligence officers sent a message back to bin Laden, the documents note, concerning "the future of our relationship." In addition, according to Czech intelligence, a few months before the 9-11 attacks, Mohammed Atta met with Iraqi intelligence agents in Prague. Finally, a Clinton-appointed federal judge, U.S. District Court judge Harold Baer, has made a legal finding that Iraq was behind the 9-11 attacks -- a ruling upheld by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals last October. When some judge discovers a right to gay marriage in a 200-year-old document written by John Adams, Americans are forced to treat the decision like the God-given truth. But when a federal judge issues a decision concluding that Iraq was behind the 9-11 attacks, it is a "misperception" being foisted on the nation by Fox News Channel."

Shooting targets is an Olympic Sport. Sawing off heads is violence.

Rooster, (This message has been edited by Trail Pounder)

It would take a lot of Moral Courage for a PFC to stand up to a MI Captain or some GS-9 Special Agent and say, "No Sir, that is an illegal order and I refuse to carry it out." How many 20 year olds would refuse and how many would see the guidance given them as contributing to the intel mission? I'm all argued out on this one. I'm disgusted, but not surprised, that these perfumed corporate colonels are laying the blame on 21 year old privates.

This has me so mad, I put ice in my coffee this morning.

I just wanted to point out that these troops were (at least they should have been) briefed extensively on Muslim and Iraqi culture. So they might have the knowledge of what would be humiliating to these men. I can imagine the military issuing little "Here's what you shouldn't do with Muslim males" books and these soldiers thought it would be fun to break these rules. So these 7 bad eggs were supposedly briefed extensively on iraqi and muslim culture, but the officers are stating in front of congress that they are the most un-trained, un-qualified bunch of 95 Charlies in the history of prison guards. The were briefed extensively on culture, but not briefed or trained at all on basic handling of prisoners. eeeeeerrrrr.........doesn't wash. The folks tasked with extracting intelligence from these fine upstanding iraqi gentlemen, had directed these guards, convinced them their mission was to assist and now they're being hung out to dry by their officers. That's what I'm smelling.

FOG, Those laws are for Fat Old Guys.....

C'mon, you were an officer, do you really believe that 6 rogue MPs would violate what they know their job description to be, their general orders, the UCMJ, and everything else to take and strip a POW bare and take a polaroid gawking at his genitals and have them pile up naked. I just don't buy it that we have 6 extremely stupid soldiers serving in the same place at the same time. They wouldn't have done this without being told to and now their being sacrificed. I've known plenty of Military Police Sergeants and not one of them would have stood by one second for this. There's some brass involved here.

The leaders can be co-registered. The committee could be the same. The CO can be the same. To keep the females registered, the crew will need to have at least two Venturers primarily registered with the crew and the others could be co-registered with the troop. They could surely meet on the same meeting nights. I would add that on outings or whenever the G2SS dictates a female advisor needs to be present. On a positive note, the females would have a pretty captive audience for all the tabletop displays they need to create on their way to their Silver Award.

I stand by my possible overstatement. Would you like to bet on it Rooster?

There is absolutely no way, and I mean no chance at all, that this Pvt E-2 Englund, and her E-3 and E-4 buddies did this on their own. A couple lower enlisted MPs are going to get 6-8 Iraqi killers to strip and pile up. Don't think so. They were acting with guidance from someone they believed had the authority to order this type of treatment. Captain, Colonel, Special Agent.......

According to an AP article, The brass is going ahead with this "6 rogue lower-enlisted" thing. I'm not buying it. If this is a Military Police Company, than there exists platoon leaders, a company commander, battalion commander who should be taking the fire. This entire unit should be sacked and its colors burned. I don't believe for an instant 6 PFCs took it upon themselves to act like this. If the intelligence folks and MP officers are hanging these 6 out to dry......I can see a herd of pencil neck officers doing this, I just can't imagine them actually getting away with it. Makes me sick thinking about it, the covering it up and blaming a private. It would make me want to throw someone else's medals over a fence.

If I sounded like I was excusing the actions of the lower enlisted, it was unintentional. If these Privates and Specialists carried out what they know to be illegal orders, than they need to spend some quality time in Leavenworth, along with their NCOs, and ESPECIALLY every single officer that ordered this type of junk and every officer that didn't stop it. Something doesn't smell right. Who is that female Specialist's C.O.? It needs to start there. WHAT WE DON'T NEED IS THIS BOONDANGLE INDICTING OUR ENTIRE MILITARY AND OUR COUNTRY BEING JUDGED BY THE LEFT-WING MEDIA, IRAQIS, AND ESPECIALLY CANADIANS.

The prisoners my unit took in the Desert I, were treated with nothing but respect, regardless of what rumors were then flying regarding how our POWs and downed fliers were being treated. We heard they were being abused early on. None of our lower enlisted guys and NCOs were anything but professional, we disarmed them, we gave them water, and we gave them a MRE and herded them up until the MPs took them away. Unless the US Army changed so drastically in 14 years, I doubt it, than these lower enlisted and NCOs were getting direction from higher. They would NEVER NEVER do this kind of crap on their own on a scale such as this. This was some kind of program coming from a LOT higher up than PFCs and Specialists. Bank on it.

Thanks Lonnie, This year I have Obstacle Course on my brain. Rope Climb....cargo net....Over the wall....tires....slalom....hurdles....

A&E had an A&E Original Movie several years back titled, "The Crossing". Jeff Daniels played George Washington leading our fabulous ancestors across the Deleware River in the dead of night to whip some Hessian butt!!! I'm going to find that Johnny Tremain DVD soonest. Being ever mindful of a well rounded education for my growing 6 year olds, tonight, we've rented an educational video, "The Sands of Iwo Jima".