They should call 'em the Oklahoma City McVeighs because like Tim they'll come to the city and eventually bomb.

Buddies of mine who are vets of the 24th MEU say that the unit is staying a month or so extra. That's all I've heard about this. Naturally, they don't complain.

"At O'Hare International, runway 14R/24L is 13000 feet long, 200 feet wide. During peak times, planes depart or arrive (depending on the configuration of the airport at the time), every minute.

With that kind of traffic load, there's no way anyone can check the runways to see if some debris is on them.
"

Huge respect is paid to FODs, which is the term for runway debris. Most of the strips I've landed on are smaller, but a few have been testing ground for some automated debris detection devices that utilize radar and infrared to check for debris. they are damn sophisticated. They can locate a WORM, for goodness sakes-- I'm not joking.

I think they have one over in ORD if I'm not mistaken.

"Italian Americans Fight to Save AP..."

Fuck the AP!

Oh....

my bad....

This is a different AP...

"Having said that, I have no problem seeing (Bin Laden) dead"

Actually I would rather see him alive, with muttonchops, curly perm, and dressed in a powder blue polyester leisure suit.

OBL is just another silly looking self-conscious dude with a talent for an iconoclastic view the modern world and the personality of a saltine box, who obviously of his time alone, trying to find his little niche in this crazy world.

He's like the Napoloeon Dynamite of the Jihadi generation...

bedded many a supermodel

I can't say I've ever drank and then bedded a supermodel, but I can tell you that I have drank and then THOUGHT I bedded someone who at the time kinda looked supermodelish.

Usually these giddy thoughts come when waking up stinking and alone in some alleyway trash bin...

"Sound like a rational approach???"

Too bad Spock ain't POTUS.

They would be fanatical enough to nuke Iran

I am not a believer in this pre-emptive nuking, even Israel doing it. I don't think it will happen. Call me an old fashioned believer in reactive conventional war.

Goatman, I would not consider your example of "blocking the strait" the same thing as what would be attempted. Also the Khomenei days are gone.

That being said I don't believe the Iranians would block the strait. I would consider that a diversionary tactic and quite a clever one to be honest. But I do not doubt the Iranians would respond to any aggression in a unconventional and unique way.

BTW, don't take "Squid" the wrong way...

...squid.

"You seem so sure. Is your finger on the button?

I'm positive. Sinking a Navy ship is an act of war. As Zap said -- no matter who is president."

Oh, at that time we'd already BE at war, Goatman, seeing that Iran would only do this if they were attacked first by Israel or us. You see, bombing another foreign country is an act of war and an act of aggression. In this scenario, the US, beign the aggressor, would be wise to take their casualties like men without resorting to killing millions of civilians not even involved. If not, well, we're fucked. Know that. You see, people in this country fail to understand that fundamentally we can be destroyed without being obliterated, and no nuclear arsenal can protect against it.

So, you might say you're positive, but that word is so overused nowadays, isn't it?

It's true. But if only one of those ducks die by the hand of a Persian, Iran will become a parking lot. And they know it.

You seem so sure. Is your finger on the button?

"You guys wanna talk guitar i have only one thing to say:
DRAGONFORCE!
watch and your face will melt!"

Yeah, but for all time bombastic hair metal hilarity you can't beat NITRO!!!

Well, one way to keep Iran from doing this Vice-Admiral is not to bomb them in the first place.

Bunch of squids... LOL! There sitting ducks and they don't wanna even admit it...

Winning hearts and minds...

But slowly losing livers...

Ho-hum, another suicide....

"In 50 years, you'll turn into what Bangladesh is today."

Fortunately our entire country doesn't exist in a floodplain. We might sometimes be dumb, but we aren't THAT dumb. *burp*

What are you asking for, Civil War?

No one calls for Civil War. It just, one day, accidentally happens....

;)

"Questions about his patriotism were raised during the Democratic nomination fight, and Obama started wearing a flag pin on his lapel "

If I was running for President I would tattoo the constitution on my chest...

Not to remind others how patriotic I am

but rather

to remind myself each day in office where my mandate to lead comes from.

"What do you suggest?"

Unlike Larry, who should be commended for trying to respond in earnest to the question of one who likely will not be an active participant in an eventual response only called for in the back alleys of the odd leatherneck convention; I do not hold out hope for this country as long as the current political system is in place.

And at my rather advanced age of 47, having fought for a questionable cause, my soul is sold.

So I find myself engaged short-term in selfish pursuits, drinking, and piss-and-moaning like an old man with a hard-on for the good ol' days, when the men I shot at or shot at me were 2 dimensional shades registered by the two dimensional mind of youth.

However, that does not mean I don't lie.

I do.

I lie down like an animal and I wait...

I wait for the time I find my own time and place to yell, "Retreat??? Fuck no, I just got here!!!"

So just consider me, for the moment, your average loudmouthed libertarian online know-it-all who wants you to know that Johnny Walker says "hello".

And perhaps in the future, you'll come to consider me something else.

"Turnleft,

The US is the most powerful and prosperous county in recorded history.

Despite her faults, that fact remains true - and it obviously pisses you off greatly, which makes me happy."

And the goddam Titanic was the biggest most glorious motherfucking boat ever until she sank like a rock one night.

You'll be repeating the same mindnumbing platitudes as this country does the same.

Wake up and realize that we better start bailing FAST or we're fucked. I fought and sold my god-be-damned soul for this country, and I'm not letting it get completely screwed by a bunch of chickenshit pseudo-patriotic idealogues who are currently manning the wheel...

"Political correctness will be the downfall of our Country!"

That no doubt will be one of the excuses those ultimately responsible for it will make...

Here it is, folks, the current state of our Great Nation in a nutshell.

Sure we can bomb the fuck out of a third world country in less than a nanosecond, but it takes us seven goddam years of bullshit haggling and whining to even BEGIN replacing the collapsed buildings those third world countries were bombed to shit for in the first place.

What the fuck has gotten into this country? When did we all pussy out?

What this country needs is a big fucking tsunami to slap us back to our senses. I guarantee after that happens, all of us would get together and rebuild the trade towers in ten fucking minutes, and to boot, send a unmanned mission to goddam NEPTUNE to mine helium for inexhaustable fusion fuel by the end of the day.

The media would report it all to absolutely no television audience and some talking asshole from the White House would say how great FEMA is responding to a bunch of lackies as usual but we would know FULL FUCKING WELL that Americans finally decided to reclaim their country--they weren't in front of the TV watching it happen-- they were all out there on the front lines taking it back.