Insist that you are a vegetarian and protest anytime your roommate eats meat. Then leave "Slim Jim" wrappers on the floor and lie on the bed holding your stomach everytime your roommate walks in. If he/she asks about the wrappers, say you know nothing about them.
Get some hair. Disperse it around your roommate's head while he/she is asleep. Keep a pair of scissors by your bed. Snicker at your roommate every morning.
Every time your roommate walks in yell, "Hooray! You're back!" as loud as you can and dance around the room for five minutes. Afterwards, keep looking at your watch and saying, "Shouldn't you be going somewhere?"
Trash the room when your roommate's not around. Then leave and wait for your roommate to come back. When he/she does, walk in and act surprised. Say, "Uh-oh, it looks like, THEY, were here again."
Every time you see your roommate yell, "You son of a..." and kick him/her in the stomach. Then buy him/her some ice cream.
Set your roommate's bed on fire. Apologize and explain that you've been watching too much "Beavis & Butthead." Do it again. Tell him/her that you're not sorry because this time, they deserved it.
Put your glasses on before you go to bed. Take them off as soon as you wake up. If your roommate asks, explain that they are Magic Dream Glasses. Complain that you've been having terrible nightmares.
Eat lots of "Lucky Charms." Pick out all the yellow moons and stockpile them in the closet.If your roommate inquires, explain that visitors are coming, but you can't say anything more, or you'll have to face the consequences.
Set up meetings with your roommate's faculty advisor. Inquire about his/her academic potential. Take lots of notes, and then give your roommate a full report. Insist that he/she do the same.
"Drink" a raw egg for breakfast every morning. Explain that you are in training. Eat a dozen donuts every night.
Every Thursday, pack up everything you own and tell your roommate you're going home. Come back in an hour and explain that no one was home. Unpack everything and go to sleep.
Every time you wake up, start yelling, "Oh, my God! Where the hell am I?!" and run around the room for a few minutes. Then go back to bed. If your roommate asks, say you don't know what he/she is talking about.
Draw a tiny, black spot on your arm. Make it bigger every day. Look at it and say, "It's spreading, it's spreading."
Buy a McDonald's "Happy Meal" for lunch every day. Eat the straw and the napkin. Throw everything else away.
Buy a plant. Sleep with it at night. Talk to it. After a few weeks, start to argue with it loudly. Then yell, "I can't live in the same room with you," storm out of the room and slam the door. Get rid of the plant, but keep the pot. Refuse to discuss the plant ever again.
Buy a Jack-In-The-Box. Every day, turn the handle until the clown pops out. Scream continuously for twenty minutes.
Hang up pictures of chickens all over the room. If your roommate eats eggs, yell at him/her and call him/her a cannibal.
Buy some knives. Sharpen them every night. While you're doing so, look at your roommate and mutter, "Soon, soon...." or "Not Happy...... Feeling Stabby"
Lock the door while your roommate is out. When he/she comes back and tries to unlock it, yell, "Don't come in, I'm naked!" Keep this up for several hours. When you finally let your roommate in, immediately take off all of your clothes, and ignore your roommate.
Bring in potential "new" roommates from around campus. Give them tours of the room and the building. Have them ask about your roommate in front of him/her, and reply, "Oh, him/her? He/she won't be here much longer."
If your roommate comes home after midnight, hit him/her on the head with a rolling pin. Immediately go to bed, muttering, "Ungrateful little..."
Pile dirty dishes in your roommate's bed. Insist that you don't know how they got there.
Collect hundreds of pens and pile them on one side of the room. Keep one pencil on the other side of the room. Laugh at the pencil.
Feign a serious illness for two weeks. Have a priest come to your room and visit you. Write out a will, leaving everything to your roommate. One day, miraculously "recover." Insist that your roommate write out a will, leaving everything to you. Every time he/she coughs, excitedly say, "Oooh, are you dying?"
Live in the hallway for a month. Afterwards, bring all of your stuff back into the room and tell your roommate, "Okay, your turn."
Keep a tarantula in a jar for three days. Then get rid of the tarantula. If your roommate asks, say, "Oh, he's around here somewhere."
Tell your roommate, "I've got an important message for you." Then pretend to faint. When you recover, say you can't remember what the message was. Later on, say, "Oh, yeah, I remember!" Pretend to faint again. Keep this up for several weeks.
Bowl inside the room. Set up tournaments with other people in the building. Award someone a trophy. If your roommate wants to bowl too, explain that he/she needs bowling shoes.
Walk backwards all the time. Then pretend to trip and hurt yourself. Fake an injury and go through a long, painful recovery. Start walking backwards again.
While your roommate is out, glue your shoes to the ceiling. When your roommate walks in, sit on the floor, hold your head, and moan.
Explain to your roommate that you're going to be housing a prospective student in the near future. One day, bring in a pig. If your roommate protests, hug the pig and tell your roommate that he/she hurt its feelings. Watch T.V with the pig, eating lots of bacon.
Make a sandwich. Don't eat it, leave it on the floor. Ignore the sandwich. Wait until your roommate gets rid of it, and then say, "Hey, where the hell is my sandwich!?" Complain loudly that you are hungry.
Punch a hole in the T.V. Sit and watch it anyway, complaining about the poor picture quality.
Wear a cape. Stand in front of an open window for about an hour every day. Then, one day, when your roommate is gone, go outside and lie down underneath the window, pretending to be hurt, and wait for your roommate to return. The next day, start standing in front of the window again.
Collect potatoes. Paint faces on them and give them names. Name one after your roommate. Separate your roommate's potato from the others. Wait a few days, and then bake your roommate's potato and eat it. Explain to your roommate, "He just didn't belong."
Fill an empty shaving cream can with whipped cream. Use it to shave, and then spray some into your mouth. Later on, complain that you feel sick. Continue this process for several weeks.
Cover your bed with a tent. Live inside it for a week. If your roommate asks, explain that "It's a jungle out there." Get your roommate to bring you food and water.
Keep a vacuum cleaner in the middle of the room. Look at it with fear for a few days. Then stay out of the room entirely, opening the door only a crack and whispering to your roommate, "Psst! Is it gone?"
Break the window with a rock. If your roommate protests, explain that you were hot. Open and close the broken window as you normally would.
Throw darts at a bare wall. All of a sudden, act excited, telling your roommate that you hit the bull's eye.
Send flowers to your roommate, with a card that says, "I'm sorry. It won't happen again." When you see them, start ripping up the flowers. Repeat the process for a few weeks.
Call your roommate "Clyde" by accident. Start doing so every so often. Increase the frequency over the next few weeks, until you are calling him "Clyde" all the time. If your roommate protests, say, "I'm sorry. I won't do that anymore, Murray."
Hire a night watchman to guard the room while you are sleeping.
Move everything to one side of the room. Ask your roommate if he knows how much an elephant weighs, and look at the floor on the empty side of the room with concern.
Practice needlepoint every night. At one point, grab your thumb and scream, "Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!" Cry hysterically for a few minutes, and then go to bed. Sob and sniff all night.
When your roommate comes in, pretend that you are on the phone, screaming angrily and shouting obscenities. After you hang up, say, "That was your mom. She said she'd call back."
Every time your roommate comes in, immediately turn off the lights and go to bed. When he/she leaves, get up and loudly yell, "Okay, guys, you can come out now."
Start wearing a crown, all the time. If your roommate tells you to take it off, say, "What the hell do you think you are? A king?"
Sit in front of a chess board for hours, saying nothing, doing nothing. Then, look up and say, "I think this game goes a lot faster with two players."
Talk back to your "Rice Krispies." All of a sudden, act offended, throw the bowl on the floor and kick it. Refuse to clean it up, explaining, "No, I want to watch them suffer."
Sit up. Say, "time to make the donuts." Leave. Do this often.
Every five minutes, get up, open the door, peek out, close the door and look relieved.
Express an extreme fear of sunlight. Move away from and flinch at areas of the room that are sunny.
Pick up the phone every five minutes and say, "hello." Look confused and hang up.
Unwrap a candy bar. Eat the wrapper and throw the chocolate away.
When listening to the radio, sing along with different lyrics and a different tune.
Address your roommate by a different name every time you talk to him or her
Constantly drink from an empty glass.
Every time you handle something of your roommate's, use a tissue or gloves.
While unlocking your door with the key, complain that the engine won't start.
Name your animal crackers. Mourn for them after you eat them.
Get a pet rabbit. At a designated time every day, take the rabbit into the bathroom and engage in loud shouting matches. If your roommate inquires, refuse to discuss the situation.
Try to make meals using your roommate's electric blanket.
Put black tape over the eyes of the people in your roommate's pictures. Complain that they were staring at you.
Everytime your roommate falls asleep, wait ten minutes, wake him or her up and say, "it's time to go to bed now."
WHY?
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
What do I want?
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "An answer":
I mean, I don't know what you want. You signed up for this job. Its not like you were drafted in to being a firefighter. You are paid for it.
####
What do I want?
Let's start with what I DON'T want.
I don't want to have to tell someone that their loved one has died
I don't want to see a dead child ever again
I don't want to risk my life needlessly
I don't want to be lied too by the mayor AGAIN
I don't want to be lied about by our mayor AGAIN
I don't want to see another house lost to fire because we didn't have enough men
All because
Our mayor took us from 17 to 12 and that resulted in a part time engine house
Our mayor payed almost $30 million for a $12 million parking garage
Our mayor wanted a 'free security system'
Our mayor hired his relatives
Our mayor wanted 'a camera system'
Our mayor buys crap like a bus with no title
and more
I do want
Honesty in our elected officials
A city Council that LISTENS to us
A city council that aren't just bobbleheads
A city council that does the job they were elected to
A mayor who puts safety of the public FIRST
A mayor that doesn't look at the Fire dept as desposable assets
A mayor who LISTENS to the experts (Like the Lloyds study)
A mayor who remembers which union helped when he got into office ($3.5 MILLION over 7 years)
A mayor who does not bad mouth us (behind our backs)
A mayor that doesn't treat our Constitution like a baby treats diapers
Oh and by the way. "You signed up for this job. Its not like you were drafted in to being a firefighter. You are paid for it." might sound good in your head, but our Armed Forces 'signed' up as well. And get paid for it. So what you said applies to them as well. Still feel good about yourself?
If you don't like what I write, DON'T READ it.
Dan Emplit WBFD
AKA Don Quixote
I mean, I don't know what you want. You signed up for this job. Its not like you were drafted in to being a firefighter. You are paid for it.
####
What do I want?
Let's start with what I DON'T want.
I don't want to have to tell someone that their loved one has died
I don't want to see a dead child ever again
I don't want to risk my life needlessly
I don't want to be lied too by the mayor AGAIN
I don't want to be lied about by our mayor AGAIN
I don't want to see another house lost to fire because we didn't have enough men
All because
Our mayor took us from 17 to 12 and that resulted in a part time engine house
Our mayor payed almost $30 million for a $12 million parking garage
Our mayor wanted a 'free security system'
Our mayor hired his relatives
Our mayor wanted 'a camera system'
Our mayor buys crap like a bus with no title
and more
I do want
Honesty in our elected officials
A city Council that LISTENS to us
A city council that aren't just bobbleheads
A city council that does the job they were elected to
A mayor who puts safety of the public FIRST
A mayor that doesn't look at the Fire dept as desposable assets
A mayor who LISTENS to the experts (Like the Lloyds study)
A mayor who remembers which union helped when he got into office ($3.5 MILLION over 7 years)
A mayor who does not bad mouth us (behind our backs)
A mayor that doesn't treat our Constitution like a baby treats diapers
Oh and by the way. "You signed up for this job. Its not like you were drafted in to being a firefighter. You are paid for it." might sound good in your head, but our Armed Forces 'signed' up as well. And get paid for it. So what you said applies to them as well. Still feel good about yourself?
If you don't like what I write, DON'T READ it.
Dan Emplit WBFD
AKA Don Quixote
Warning VERY DISGUSTING!
These pictures have been making the rounds on facebook. Hopefully someone will recognise the..... individuals in the pictures and they will spend a VERY long time in a very small cell with a very...... friendly cellmate.
Animal torture is one of three indicators for a serial killer to be.
Dan Emplit WBFD
Animal torture is one of three indicators for a serial killer to be.
Dan Emplit WBFD
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Pythons.... and NOT the Colt kind
####
Pythons have stranglehold on Florida Everglades ecosystem
It sounded like a joke when the news first hit in 2000: Giant Burmese pythons were invading the Everglades. Now scientists have measured the real impact of the arrival of this voracious species, and the news is troubling.
In areas where the pythons have established themselves, marsh rabbits and foxes can no longer be found. Sightings of raccoons are down 99.3%, opossums 98.9% and white-tailed deer 94.1%, according to a paper out Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"What if the stock market had declined that much? Think of the adjectives you'd use for that," says Gordon Rodda, an invasive-species specialist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) who published research in 2008 showing that Burmese pythons could conceivably expand across the southern portion of the United States.
Burmese pythons are native to Southeast Asia, but accidental and deliberate release of snakes kept as pets in Florida have allowed them to find a new home there. They can grow up to 16 feet long and weigh up to 150 pounds. The first reports of Burmese pythons in the Florida Everglades began in the 1980s; a breeding population wasn't confirmed there until 2000.
Since then, the numbers of pythons sighted and captured in the Everglades have risen dramatically. According to Linda Friar with Everglades National Park, park personnel have captured or killed 1,825 pythons since 2000.
Now researchers have shown that just as python populations established themselves, the native mammals of the regions began to decline — severely.
People working in the Everglades knew they were seeing fewer mammals, but only when the hard numbers came in was it clear just how devastating the decline has been.
"These were once very common animals in the Everglades, and now they're gone," says Michael Dorcas, a professor of biology at Davidson College in Davidson, N.C., and lead author on the paper.
The pythons aren't a danger to humans. The only known python attacks on humans in Florida have involved snakes kept as at-home pets, says Dorcas, who also authored a recent book, Invasive Pythons in the United States. Now coyotes and Florida panthers are believed to be affected, as well as birds and alligators.
The decrease in mammals is highest where python populations have been established longest, and more mammals are being sighted in areas where the pythons have only recently been documented.
Although scientists can't say conclusively that the decline is a result of python activity, there's good anecdotal evidence. "Last October, we found a 15-foot snake with an 80-pound doe inside it," Dorcas says.
The researchers base their findings on systematic nighttime road surveys done in the Everglades that counted both live and road-killed animals. Ten researchers traveled a total of nearly 39,000 miles from 2003 to 2011 and compared findings with similar surveys conducted in 1996 and 1997.
Mammals in Florida have no natural fear of large snakes because they haven't existed in the area for about 16 million years, when a boa-like snake that used to live there became extinct.
The loss of the mammals is devastating not only to those populations, but to all the animals that rely on them. It's possible that the decline in bobcats, foxes, coyotes and panthers is linked to the disappearance of their typical prey: rabbits, raccoons and opossums.
Pythons also are eating lots of birds. More than 25% of pythons found in the Everglades contain bird remains.
They also happily eat pets, including cats, dogs and some farm animals. Roosters and geese have been found in their stomachs.
And there's not much that can be done. These snakes are "notoriously hard to find and very secretive," Dorcas says. Because much of South Florida is a vast wilderness, the possibility of exterminating or even suppressing them doesn't seem promising, he says. "It's an ecological mess, and exactly what's going to happen down the road remains to be seen."
On Jan. 23, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service started the paperwork to ban the importation and interstate transportation of Burmese pythons, northern and southern African pythons and the yellow anaconda because they threaten the Everglades and other sensitive ecosystems.
These snakes are being listed as injurious species under the Lacey Act. Some reptile breeders and collectors, along with Republican lawmakers, argued the restriction constitutes job-killing red tape.
How far the snakes might expand their range is unknown. Research in 2008 showed they could possibly survive across the entire southern United States.
And research this month showed they could survive in saltwater, which had previously been believed to be a barrier to their expansion.
"All of Florida and much of the coastal plain of the southeastern United States is suitable habitat," Dorcas says.
####
The solution to this seems very simple to me.
1. STOP SELLING PYTHONS.
2. Open season on Pythons.
3. Sell licences at $30 a person.
4. Give a 'reward' of $1 a foot or some such.
It may take years, but it will at the very least keep them in check.
Dan Emplit WBFD
Pythons have stranglehold on Florida Everglades ecosystem
It sounded like a joke when the news first hit in 2000: Giant Burmese pythons were invading the Everglades. Now scientists have measured the real impact of the arrival of this voracious species, and the news is troubling.
In areas where the pythons have established themselves, marsh rabbits and foxes can no longer be found. Sightings of raccoons are down 99.3%, opossums 98.9% and white-tailed deer 94.1%, according to a paper out Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"What if the stock market had declined that much? Think of the adjectives you'd use for that," says Gordon Rodda, an invasive-species specialist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) who published research in 2008 showing that Burmese pythons could conceivably expand across the southern portion of the United States.
Burmese pythons are native to Southeast Asia, but accidental and deliberate release of snakes kept as pets in Florida have allowed them to find a new home there. They can grow up to 16 feet long and weigh up to 150 pounds. The first reports of Burmese pythons in the Florida Everglades began in the 1980s; a breeding population wasn't confirmed there until 2000.
Since then, the numbers of pythons sighted and captured in the Everglades have risen dramatically. According to Linda Friar with Everglades National Park, park personnel have captured or killed 1,825 pythons since 2000.
Now researchers have shown that just as python populations established themselves, the native mammals of the regions began to decline — severely.
People working in the Everglades knew they were seeing fewer mammals, but only when the hard numbers came in was it clear just how devastating the decline has been.
"These were once very common animals in the Everglades, and now they're gone," says Michael Dorcas, a professor of biology at Davidson College in Davidson, N.C., and lead author on the paper.
The pythons aren't a danger to humans. The only known python attacks on humans in Florida have involved snakes kept as at-home pets, says Dorcas, who also authored a recent book, Invasive Pythons in the United States. Now coyotes and Florida panthers are believed to be affected, as well as birds and alligators.
The decrease in mammals is highest where python populations have been established longest, and more mammals are being sighted in areas where the pythons have only recently been documented.
Although scientists can't say conclusively that the decline is a result of python activity, there's good anecdotal evidence. "Last October, we found a 15-foot snake with an 80-pound doe inside it," Dorcas says.
The researchers base their findings on systematic nighttime road surveys done in the Everglades that counted both live and road-killed animals. Ten researchers traveled a total of nearly 39,000 miles from 2003 to 2011 and compared findings with similar surveys conducted in 1996 and 1997.
Mammals in Florida have no natural fear of large snakes because they haven't existed in the area for about 16 million years, when a boa-like snake that used to live there became extinct.
The loss of the mammals is devastating not only to those populations, but to all the animals that rely on them. It's possible that the decline in bobcats, foxes, coyotes and panthers is linked to the disappearance of their typical prey: rabbits, raccoons and opossums.
Pythons also are eating lots of birds. More than 25% of pythons found in the Everglades contain bird remains.
They also happily eat pets, including cats, dogs and some farm animals. Roosters and geese have been found in their stomachs.
And there's not much that can be done. These snakes are "notoriously hard to find and very secretive," Dorcas says. Because much of South Florida is a vast wilderness, the possibility of exterminating or even suppressing them doesn't seem promising, he says. "It's an ecological mess, and exactly what's going to happen down the road remains to be seen."
On Jan. 23, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service started the paperwork to ban the importation and interstate transportation of Burmese pythons, northern and southern African pythons and the yellow anaconda because they threaten the Everglades and other sensitive ecosystems.
These snakes are being listed as injurious species under the Lacey Act. Some reptile breeders and collectors, along with Republican lawmakers, argued the restriction constitutes job-killing red tape.
How far the snakes might expand their range is unknown. Research in 2008 showed they could possibly survive across the entire southern United States.
And research this month showed they could survive in saltwater, which had previously been believed to be a barrier to their expansion.
"All of Florida and much of the coastal plain of the southeastern United States is suitable habitat," Dorcas says.
####
The solution to this seems very simple to me.
1. STOP SELLING PYTHONS.
2. Open season on Pythons.
3. Sell licences at $30 a person.
4. Give a 'reward' of $1 a foot or some such.
It may take years, but it will at the very least keep them in check.
Dan Emplit WBFD
Monday, January 30, 2012
An answer
A friend Emailed me about a comment they overheard. Thought I would answer the comment even if it wasn't directed at me.
Dear Mayor:
What do I get paid to do?
I get paid to be here late at night when your Son or Daughter gets hit by a drunk driver and needs to be cut out of their car and taken to the hospital for emergency surgery.
I get paid to be here on Christmas (and every other holiday) when your neighbor’s house catches on fire and they need us to be there within minutes.
I get paid to be here during a blizzard, when nobody else can get to work, and respond to emergency calls.
I get paid to treat a gunshot wound in the middle of the night, even if that person has hepatitis, AIDS, HIV, or bedbugs.
I get paid to be here when it’s 100 degrees outside to help a elderly person having a heart attack who needs immediate emergency medical care.
I get paid to be here in the event that we have a terrorist attack (bombings of doctors offices, clinics, and places of worship are terrorist attacks) to protect the citizens of this city and the men and women working here or just visiting.
I get paid to put up and take down the barriers that hold back flood waters, In the cold driving rain.
I get paid to open a car door when a mother accidentally locks her infant inside.
I get paid to rescue people from the Susquehanna River, no matter what its state is.
I get paid to go on rope rescues where the slightest mistake can end my life.
I get paid to enter a burning building even if it is a Meth lab, abandoned, or a high rise.
But bureaucrats have no clue about what it means to respond to fires and shootings and fumes that might kill you.
Like Marines, firefighters put themselves in harm's way. After the 9/11 attacks, the Public SAW that. Do you remember?
I do more with less, eat cold meals (or don't get to eat), miss important events with my family, and put the lives of people I have never met above mine.
I love my job and only ask that you become familiar with exactly what I do before you make decisions that will affect my chances of survival.
We call ourselves Firefighters. We have earned that right.
What do you get paid to do???
Lie?
Cheat?
Steal?
Lie again?
Blame others?
Risk lives to fund YOUR pet projects?
Ignore Public safety? and again, and again, and again. The Lloyds study is there IN YOUR OFFICE. READ IT.
Ignore needed repairs for YEARS.
Lie AGAIN to get federal money for the demolition of the Sterling
Lie AGAIN to get tax forgiveness for a campaign contributor
And that is just a few thing YOU DO.
Dan Emplit WBFD
AKA Don Quixote
Dear Mayor:
What do I get paid to do?
I get paid to be here late at night when your Son or Daughter gets hit by a drunk driver and needs to be cut out of their car and taken to the hospital for emergency surgery.
I get paid to be here on Christmas (and every other holiday) when your neighbor’s house catches on fire and they need us to be there within minutes.
I get paid to be here during a blizzard, when nobody else can get to work, and respond to emergency calls.
I get paid to treat a gunshot wound in the middle of the night, even if that person has hepatitis, AIDS, HIV, or bedbugs.
I get paid to be here when it’s 100 degrees outside to help a elderly person having a heart attack who needs immediate emergency medical care.
I get paid to be here in the event that we have a terrorist attack (bombings of doctors offices, clinics, and places of worship are terrorist attacks) to protect the citizens of this city and the men and women working here or just visiting.
I get paid to put up and take down the barriers that hold back flood waters, In the cold driving rain.
I get paid to open a car door when a mother accidentally locks her infant inside.
I get paid to rescue people from the Susquehanna River, no matter what its state is.
I get paid to go on rope rescues where the slightest mistake can end my life.
I get paid to enter a burning building even if it is a Meth lab, abandoned, or a high rise.
But bureaucrats have no clue about what it means to respond to fires and shootings and fumes that might kill you.
Like Marines, firefighters put themselves in harm's way. After the 9/11 attacks, the Public SAW that. Do you remember?
I do more with less, eat cold meals (or don't get to eat), miss important events with my family, and put the lives of people I have never met above mine.
I love my job and only ask that you become familiar with exactly what I do before you make decisions that will affect my chances of survival.
We call ourselves Firefighters. We have earned that right.
What do you get paid to do???
Lie?
Cheat?
Steal?
Lie again?
Blame others?
Risk lives to fund YOUR pet projects?
Ignore Public safety? and again, and again, and again. The Lloyds study is there IN YOUR OFFICE. READ IT.
Ignore needed repairs for YEARS.
Lie AGAIN to get federal money for the demolition of the Sterling
Lie AGAIN to get tax forgiveness for a campaign contributor
And that is just a few thing YOU DO.
Dan Emplit WBFD
AKA Don Quixote
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
OK this is WRONG
What is wrong with us?
####
Marine's career threatened by controversial rules of engagement
By: Sara A. Carter | 01/23/12 8:05 PM
Joshua Waddell, a first lieutenant in the U.S. Marines, appeared on his way to a stellar career as an American military officer. The son of a retired Navy SEAL commander, Waddell was awarded a Bronze Star during his first tour of duty in Afghanistan and had returned for a second.
Then he made a decision in combat that military experts say has severely jeopardized his future in the corps.
But some military experts say the black mark on Waddell's record was undeserved, that he and other young American officers are being put in a difficult, if not impossible, situation by unreasonable rules of engagement foisted upon the military by politically sensitive commanders in the Pentagon.
The facts in Waddell's case are spelled out in Marine Corps documents. But how those facts should be interpreted is a matter of heated dispute.
On Nov. 1, Waddell, a 25-year-old executive officer with 3rd Battallion, 7th Marine Corps Regiment, was monitoring a surveillance camera in Sangin, Afghanistan, when he spotted a man who had been identified as a bomb maker working with area insurgents. Two days earlier, a sergeant from India Company had lost both legs and a hand when a bomb detonated in their area of operation. The man spotted on the camera was believed to be responsible.
After receiving permission from his battalion commanders, Waddell ordered Marine snipers to open fire on the man, and he was hit. A group of Afghans rushed to the man, put him on a tractor and attempted to flee. Waddell ordered the snipers to hit the engine block of the tractor, disabling it so the man believed to be a bomb maker would not escape. The tractor was hit but no civilians were injured.
Then, about three weeks later, the civilians who helped remove the wounded man from the area were found to be teenagers.
As a result, Waddell was demoted from executive officer, and the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Seth Folsom, determined he had violated rules of engagement that governed when Marines could fire, and at whom. Folsom said Wadell "is not recommended for promotion" and "in violation of [combat rules] during an engagement." The report stated that "noncombatant local nationals" were in the area of direct fire and that "the engagement resulted in a damaged local national vehicle."
A Marine brigadier general who reviewed the case was sympathetic to Waddell, whom he described as a "superb and heroic combat leader. But the general said the decision on whether Waddell should be promoted was "the commander's prerogative," noting that the battalion commander on the scene had lost "confidence in [Waddell's] abilities."
Marine Maj. Shawn Haney, spokesman for Marine Corps Manpower and Reserve Affairs, said Waddell's fitness report will go before a review board at the time of any promotion "and everything is under scrutiny, so Waddell will have a chance to defend himself against the accusations." Still, Haney conceded, Waddell's fitness reports play a "significant role in future promotions."
The upshot is that Waddell's career has been effectively blunted, his chance for promotion blocked.
Waddell is just one of hundreds of cases of troops who have suffered under stringent rules of engagement, said Jeff Addicott, a former senior legal adviser to U.S. Army Special Forces.
"We have hamstrung our military with unrealistic ROEs that do more harm to our soldiers than the enemy, and now a Marine's career is on the line because he disabled a tractor," Addicott said. "In many ways our military is frozen in fear of violating absurd self-imposed rules on the battlefield, How can you tell if it's a teenager or a man, a farmer or an enemy when you're fighting an insurgency?"
A Marine stationed in Afghanistan who does not know Waddell, but who has operated under the same rules, said, "The rules of engagement are meant to placate [President Hamid] Karzai's government at our expense. They say it's about winning the hearts and minds, but it's not working. We're not putting fear into the enemy, only our troops."
Waddell's father, Mark Waddell, who served more than 25 years in the military and retired as a commander of a Navy SEAL team, said his son and other Americans fighting in Afghanistan are being victimized by these rules.
"I feel what's happened to my son is a complete betrayal, and he isn't the only one," said Waddell, of Fort Worth, Texas. "Josh is a hero. We expect them to go out and make instantaneous combat decisions, then we Monday-morning quarterback their decisions. It's an outrage."
####
^ Edited for language
And WHAT THE HELL did he do wrong? Are we supposed to let a IED maker go because he may be rescued by teens?
Here is a review of the details:
Waddell was awarded a Bronze Star during his first tour of duty in Afghanistan and had returned for a second.
Military experts are calling the Rules of Engagement (ROE), "difficult, if not impossible"
He spotted a man who had been identified as a bomb maker working with area insurgents.
Two days earlier, a sergeant had lost both legs and a hand when a bomb detonated in their area of operation. The man spotted on the camera was believed to be responsible.
After receiving permission from his battalion commanders, Waddell ordered Marine snipers to open fire on the man, and he was hit.
A group of Afghans rushed to the man, put him on a tractor and attempted to flee. Waddell ordered the snipers to hit the engine block of the tractor, disabling it so the man believed to be a bomb maker would not escape. The tractor was hit but no civilians were injured.
"We have hamstrung our military with unrealistic ROEs that do more harm to our soldiers than the enemy, and now a Marine's career is on the line because he disabled a tractor," Jeff Addicott (a former senior legal adviser to U.S. Army Special Forces) said. "In many ways our military is frozen in fear of violating absurd self-imposed rules on the battlefield, How can you tell if it's a teenager or a man, a farmer or an enemy when you're fighting an insurgency?" (And IMHO, Why should we give a crap?)
A Marine stationed in Afghanistan who does not know Waddell, but who has operated under the same rules, said, "The rules of engagement are meant to placate [President Hamid] Karzai's government at our expense.
"I feel what's happened to my son is a complete betrayal, and he isn't the only one," said Waddell's father, Mark Waddell, who served more than 25 years in the military and retired as a commander of a Navy SEAL team. "Josh is a hero. We expect them to go out and make instantaneous combat decisions, then we Monday-morning quarterback their decisions. It's an outrage."
So because of some PC libtard political crap a heroic Marines career has been destroyed.
Here is two quotes from JFK to think about,
"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty."
And
"A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers."
Dan Emplit WBFD
USN 1986 - 1992
####
Marine's career threatened by controversial rules of engagement
By: Sara A. Carter | 01/23/12 8:05 PM
Joshua Waddell, a first lieutenant in the U.S. Marines, appeared on his way to a stellar career as an American military officer. The son of a retired Navy SEAL commander, Waddell was awarded a Bronze Star during his first tour of duty in Afghanistan and had returned for a second.
Then he made a decision in combat that military experts say has severely jeopardized his future in the corps.
But some military experts say the black mark on Waddell's record was undeserved, that he and other young American officers are being put in a difficult, if not impossible, situation by unreasonable rules of engagement foisted upon the military by politically sensitive commanders in the Pentagon.
The facts in Waddell's case are spelled out in Marine Corps documents. But how those facts should be interpreted is a matter of heated dispute.
On Nov. 1, Waddell, a 25-year-old executive officer with 3rd Battallion, 7th Marine Corps Regiment, was monitoring a surveillance camera in Sangin, Afghanistan, when he spotted a man who had been identified as a bomb maker working with area insurgents. Two days earlier, a sergeant from India Company had lost both legs and a hand when a bomb detonated in their area of operation. The man spotted on the camera was believed to be responsible.
After receiving permission from his battalion commanders, Waddell ordered Marine snipers to open fire on the man, and he was hit. A group of Afghans rushed to the man, put him on a tractor and attempted to flee. Waddell ordered the snipers to hit the engine block of the tractor, disabling it so the man believed to be a bomb maker would not escape. The tractor was hit but no civilians were injured.
Then, about three weeks later, the civilians who helped remove the wounded man from the area were found to be teenagers.
As a result, Waddell was demoted from executive officer, and the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Seth Folsom, determined he had violated rules of engagement that governed when Marines could fire, and at whom. Folsom said Wadell "is not recommended for promotion" and "in violation of [combat rules] during an engagement." The report stated that "noncombatant local nationals" were in the area of direct fire and that "the engagement resulted in a damaged local national vehicle."
A Marine brigadier general who reviewed the case was sympathetic to Waddell, whom he described as a "superb and heroic combat leader. But the general said the decision on whether Waddell should be promoted was "the commander's prerogative," noting that the battalion commander on the scene had lost "confidence in [Waddell's] abilities."
Marine Maj. Shawn Haney, spokesman for Marine Corps Manpower and Reserve Affairs, said Waddell's fitness report will go before a review board at the time of any promotion "and everything is under scrutiny, so Waddell will have a chance to defend himself against the accusations." Still, Haney conceded, Waddell's fitness reports play a "significant role in future promotions."
The upshot is that Waddell's career has been effectively blunted, his chance for promotion blocked.
Waddell is just one of hundreds of cases of troops who have suffered under stringent rules of engagement, said Jeff Addicott, a former senior legal adviser to U.S. Army Special Forces.
"We have hamstrung our military with unrealistic ROEs that do more harm to our soldiers than the enemy, and now a Marine's career is on the line because he disabled a tractor," Addicott said. "In many ways our military is frozen in fear of violating absurd self-imposed rules on the battlefield, How can you tell if it's a teenager or a man, a farmer or an enemy when you're fighting an insurgency?"
A Marine stationed in Afghanistan who does not know Waddell, but who has operated under the same rules, said, "The rules of engagement are meant to placate [President Hamid] Karzai's government at our expense. They say it's about winning the hearts and minds, but it's not working. We're not putting fear into the enemy, only our troops."
Waddell's father, Mark Waddell, who served more than 25 years in the military and retired as a commander of a Navy SEAL team, said his son and other Americans fighting in Afghanistan are being victimized by these rules.
"I feel what's happened to my son is a complete betrayal, and he isn't the only one," said Waddell, of Fort Worth, Texas. "Josh is a hero. We expect them to go out and make instantaneous combat decisions, then we Monday-morning quarterback their decisions. It's an outrage."
####
^ Edited for language
And WHAT THE HELL did he do wrong? Are we supposed to let a IED maker go because he may be rescued by teens?
Here is a review of the details:
Waddell was awarded a Bronze Star during his first tour of duty in Afghanistan and had returned for a second.
Military experts are calling the Rules of Engagement (ROE), "difficult, if not impossible"
He spotted a man who had been identified as a bomb maker working with area insurgents.
Two days earlier, a sergeant had lost both legs and a hand when a bomb detonated in their area of operation. The man spotted on the camera was believed to be responsible.
After receiving permission from his battalion commanders, Waddell ordered Marine snipers to open fire on the man, and he was hit.
A group of Afghans rushed to the man, put him on a tractor and attempted to flee. Waddell ordered the snipers to hit the engine block of the tractor, disabling it so the man believed to be a bomb maker would not escape. The tractor was hit but no civilians were injured.
"We have hamstrung our military with unrealistic ROEs that do more harm to our soldiers than the enemy, and now a Marine's career is on the line because he disabled a tractor," Jeff Addicott (a former senior legal adviser to U.S. Army Special Forces) said. "In many ways our military is frozen in fear of violating absurd self-imposed rules on the battlefield, How can you tell if it's a teenager or a man, a farmer or an enemy when you're fighting an insurgency?" (And IMHO, Why should we give a crap?)
A Marine stationed in Afghanistan who does not know Waddell, but who has operated under the same rules, said, "The rules of engagement are meant to placate [President Hamid] Karzai's government at our expense.
"I feel what's happened to my son is a complete betrayal, and he isn't the only one," said Waddell's father, Mark Waddell, who served more than 25 years in the military and retired as a commander of a Navy SEAL team. "Josh is a hero. We expect them to go out and make instantaneous combat decisions, then we Monday-morning quarterback their decisions. It's an outrage."
So because of some PC libtard political crap a heroic Marines career has been destroyed.
Here is two quotes from JFK to think about,
"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty."
And
"A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers."
Dan Emplit WBFD
USN 1986 - 1992
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