Nomad888

Try this one on for size... I know of a child, when I was in grade school, who was so quiet that he refused to talk to anyone unless he was spoken to, and then only to answer the question. He rarely caused any trouble at all, and when he was involved in some sort of row, he would apologize profusely even if it wasn't his fault. This boy hated kneeling, and when he was young would cry whenever he saw a cross with Jesus' body on it. Even at school, he would NOT defend himself from even the smallest of bullies. Because of this, he would often come home bruised or desheveled in some way, and sometimes out of breath from having been chased home by some bully or group of harassers. As I understand it, his father was a strict Catholic, and his mother was a Southern Baptist that had converted to Catholicism when they were married. They didn't believe in spanking except in the most extreme of cases. Whenever he got into something or did something that he wasn't supposed to do, his father would make him kneel in front of the household cross and say 1 to 15 decades of the Rosary out loud for each offense. When Dad wasn't around, Mom would stand him in a corner and dare him to even so much as turn his head under the threat that Dad would be told and would punish him further if he did so. Whenever he struck back at any of his siblings, whether he was at fault or not, he (he was the oldest) and the sibling would be punished together and would be told to turn the other cheek rather than fight. Try as they might, the teachers at the Catholic school he went to were at a loss to explain why he was always in his own little world, and would balk at answering questions in front of his classmates. One of his younger brothers failed the first grade for this very same reason, he wouldn't participate in class. Then came that day when a young man at school took his bike from him, and rode it around him taunting him that he was going to keep it and that he knew he would do nothing about it. The young man was wrong. The boy suddenly became enraged and almost killed the young man. It took 3 teenagers to pull him off of the young man and hold him until he calmed down. The young man was sent to the hospital, and thank God he lived. After that, the boy became increasingly hostile to most everyone who had abused him. He even threatened to beat up his own mother at one point. He may have become a criminal, but he had seen his rebellious younger brother (not the one who failed the first grade) who was running with the street gangs and doing drugs and alcohol, getting into so much trouble that he decided not to go that way. He finally moved out of his parents home at the age of 19 (6 months after graduating High School) when he was drafted into the US Army. I have seen him since then, when he comes home to visit. He's married, but hasn't set foot in a church since that time, except for his daughter's baptism and first holy communion, and an occasional wedding or funeral. My 2 cents... Nomad888

Quote: "let's not forget Mel Gibson's scene toward the end of Braveheart when he cried out "FREEDOM"..." I agree. Then there're the various scenes in Patriot where young men marching against the British are shown being hit by cannon balls and having their heads, legs, and arms torn off during the battles. I'll be bringing my kids to see "The Passion", but I'll brief them before we go as to what led up to this brutality and why it had to happen this way. From what I've seen of the trailers and news sources, this one is going to be pretty gory, but the real thing was probably 10 times worse and twice as smelly. My 2 cents... Nomad888

NEVER!!! Kill for TWI just because they said so??? Not only no, but HELL NO!!! Sorry, but the US Marine Corps got to me first. Part of Marine training is that you NEVER kill or do harm to anyone without just cause. We have rules that we must follow concerning "Use of Deadly Force" which essentially state that you never use force greater than that necessary to prevent your enemy from killing you, your fellow Marines, or anyone under your protection. True, there is the unwritten rule that if your Commanding Officer makes a suggestion, you take it as though it's an order. However, there IS such a thing as an UNLAWFUL order, and if such is issued, it can be challenged via a process we refer to as "Request Mast" (other services have different names for it). UNLAWFUL ORDERS can be disobeyed in any branch of the US military, even if an unlawful order is issued by the President/Commander-In-Chief himself. This is why I find the story related earlier about the "former Marine" who was packing his equipment to go stalk and kill someone a little hard to swallow. A real Marine would not do so, as such an "order" is unlawful (Of course, who knows what someone might do if they are out for revenge, or brainwashed). As far as self defense, or family defense, I'd kill the perpetrator in a heartbeat if it became necessary - and I wouldn't even need a gun. I would otherwise disable the criminal and hold him/her for the police. My 2 cents... Nomad888

The wildest thing that ever happened to me was Vietnam. Talk about a wild experience, I thought Marine Corps boot camp was wild before they sent me there. Everything since then has been pretty tame by comparison. ;)--> My 2 cents... Nomad888

"...!$@$(*& (&^%%$$# *&@#@! !@$#^*( #@@^&(* !@#%&* !@)(^#@# !@%& (*^ +^$%@$#..." Yep, I still SIT! My 2 cents... Nomad888

When I was in the Corps (Marine Corps, that is... ), we used the term Newbie in Vietnam to describe someone who had just arrived, didn't know what was going on, and had to be briefed on the dangers of being in country before he got himself or someone else injured or killed. Later in my career, it was used by Vietnam Veterans to describe someone who had just joined a unit, didn't know what was going on, and was amusing to watch as he stumbled through everyday life - until he caught on anyway. :)--> Which ever definition applies to this site, I haven't figured out yet. We seem to have some of each. :D--> My 2 cents... Nomad888

Dizzydog, You've got the right idea about copyrights, with one exception. That exception being that if the poster of the material gives proper credit for the posted material as not being his/hers, and identifying the original author. As long as you give proper credit, everything is usually fine. The copyright holder, of course, has the right to ask you not to reference, or republish, his/her work in whatever forum you're in. If you ignore that request, then they can sue. Case in point, there was a web site a few years back (not Waydale or GreaseSpot) that posted entire chapters of a couple of VPW's books. TWI found out and demanded of this website that their copyrighted works be removed, which they were, under threat of lawsuit if they didn't comply. I don't know what happened after that, but that site is no longer in operation. In 99% of such cases, most authors don't mind being quoted as long as the proper credit for their work is given. They like it even more if you give information as to where you can buy a copy of their work. :)--> Then again, when you have a cult like TWI who are afraid to sell copies of any of their works to the public at large (Sorry, "believers" only!), you could end up with a royal mess if they decide to make you remove them from public view (sorry, too much light -- Bright light... Bright light... aaargh! I'm meltingggggggggggggg...). My 2 cents... Nomad888

Yup, I'm a window rattler. My wife claimed she wasn't a snorer until our 3 year old niece told her she did (she wouldn't believe me). She did it in the most cute way I've ever seen. My wife dozed off in the recliner at my Dad's house. Our niece walked up to the chair and stared at her for a few minutes. Then she touched her hand and when she woke up, she said, "Aunt Nomad777, you snore." "Aunt Nomad777" looked around and everyone there was looking at her, and trying not to laugh. She would admit she snored after that. :)--> That's my snorey and I'm sniffin' through it! My 2 cents... Nomad888

It doesn't sound like you're coming anywhere near our tent, so have a safe and prosperous trip! "See" you when you get back... My 2 cents... Nomad888

I was in the US Marine Corps (NOT to be mistaken in ANY way for the Way Corps) when I took the PFAL class, and I was still in when I left TWI. The Marine Corps (for that matter most any other Armed Forces branch) has the propensity to uproot a fellow every so often and send him/her elsewhere often in what seems to be the blink of an eye. That said, I seemed to be moving about every year and a half to 2 years on average, so I adopted "The Nomad" as my CB handle (showing my age, eh?). When I discovered the "wonders" of local BBS systems, and later the Prodigy on-line service in the mid '80s, I found barriers to using The Nomad as my on-line handle. For one, Nomad was usually already taken. So I massaged it through several variations. I even dropped it once to call myself Thumper for a while. When I found the WayDale EZboard back in 1997, I decided to try Nomad one more time. Again, it was taken, but they suggested I use the number 256 after it. I thought for a moment, and figuring that (according to E.W. Bullinger) since the number 8 is the number of super-abundance, and anything repeated 3 times is completed, I thought, "Why not! It's as good as their suggestion." So it was, that Nomad888 was born on the Waydale board, chippin in "My 2 cents..." wherever I feel it's needed, or if (like this post) I just want to comment. I'm still here, even though I did not migrate to the Greasespot Cafe until WayDale closed. I've since left the Corps, and TWI, and I've pitched my tent elsewhere in this world. I do occasionally log on under my real name, but just in case I ever need to be unrecognized, I still keep my real identity a secret (except for a few folks I trust). That's all there is to it... My 2 cents... Nomad888

Does that count? I'm not ill anyway. Isn't an ill eagle a sick bird? My 2 cents... Nomad888

I've only ran into one annoyance - so far... When you post a reply, or do a general post, a box comes up EVERY TIME and thanks you for contributing to the forum. Is that really necessary Paw? We know you're greatful, in fact, I'm greatful that you're doing this, but a "thank you" after every post will likely get tired after a while. More test results to follow... My 2 cents... Nomad888