what did I win????

ahhhh hon...I know all TOO well how things go i'm an old timer at this

She has very nice breasts.

I see the thread has digressed into an ethical discussion of a paid defense force. What we fail to recognize is something the Greeks new all too well. The perks of being a part of a “paid” full-time defense force MUST include some measure of power and prestige.

But the reason power and prestige must exist is because this kind of defense force MUST give up a basic human right, the right to maintain and act in accordance with a personal conviction to a moral or ethical code.

The Greeks maintained a “sub-culture” which consisted of life-long soldiers. Their heirs were soldiers and both men and women understood their role and TOOK PRIDE, in maintaining a defense force as a way of life. For sacrificing their right to personal moral code, that entire community was given certain privilege and held a prestigious place in society.

Not so with our own defense force – as Sojourning_Soul so aptly pointed out. Not so with our own society as the phrase “don’t ask, don’t tell” indicates. Not so with our government who has little interest in a person when they are no longer a soldier.

Many people look at the military as a job option, as way to an education they might not otherwise be able to afford, but only a few reap the benefits that this JOB offers. In times of conflict, those who hold an opinion which opposes the conflict are ridiculed, in spite of the fact that this country has decreed a law supporting a basic human right to maintain their own moral code and to act in a manner consistent with that code.

We are not only arrogant, we are discriminatory, bigoted, and so well enculturated that a simple word like pride has lost it’s definition because it has become a part of a banner which required unconditional respect, even at the expense of basic human rights.