Othin

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Winters @ Mar. 20 2003,07:30)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Denoir, The point i was trying to make in the iraq thread is that there are multiple threads that are bashing the US People not the Gov't. I am sure if i came on and started to bash based on ethnicity and race i would be banned quickly, This is pretty much the same thing, you lock a thread about the french citing "there is enough french bashing in the media" but then you let people call americans whatever they want. I am just asking for a fair deal. I am not trying to make trouble, i like this forum.<span id='postcolor'> Quoted for posterity. I enjoy discussing things with people who have a polar opinion to my own. I'd also like to think that I'm open minded and have a sense of humor about it. BUT I don't enjoy the "snipers" who constantly and consistantly take shots and nothing is done about it.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Warin @ Mar. 19 2003,20:16)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Othin @ Mar. 20 2003,05:15)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (denoir @ Mar. 19 2003,20)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Hmm. The MSNBC and BBC live feeds from Baghdad (same camera) are completely out of synch.. they don't match at all. Strange.<span id='postcolor'> Because obviously they're using the same relays.... Â <!--emo& And actually Foxnews and BBCworld are matching up. Â I'm watching all the cars run the redlights (seriously).<span id='postcolor'> I suppose when you think there are cruise missiles around, you arent going to worry too much about getting a ticket for running a red light <span id='postcolor'> War is NO reason to disobey the RULES OF THE ROAD.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (denoir @ Mar. 19 2003,20:09)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Hmm. The MSNBC and BBC live feeds from Baghdad (same camera) are completely out of synch.. they don't match at all. Strange.<span id='postcolor'> Because obviously they're using the same relays.... And actually Foxnews and BBCworld are matching up. I'm watching all the cars run the redlights (seriously).

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Jester983 @ Mar. 19 2003,19:33)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Fox news was saying that right before the air strikes began there was a guy on the radio in baghdad and as soon as they started, he was cut off and someone said in arabian "This is the day you have been waiting for." <span id='postcolor'> Command Solos are pretty

Well the thing is, it was a Target of Opportunity. This gives them a chance to hit something they felt was a threat, and to also let the Iraqi military know that the gloves are officially off now, don't get comfortable.

Ari Fleisher came out and said "The opening stages of the disarmament of Iraq have begun. The President will brief the nation at 1015est."

Air Raid Sirens and AAA fire in Bagdhad.

French site to send Bush peace pretzels Bretzels for Bush Thought this was pretty funny. Â Hope he gets them! Â EDIT Damnit, posted before I was done.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (OxPecker @ Mar. 19 2003,15:56)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I don't like pretzels much, I prefer cashews, or CCs with salsa dip. Do you guys have Burger Rings in your country, or are they an Australian thing?<span id='postcolor'> We have onion rings, not sure if that's the same thing. They're rings of onion which are dipped in a batter then fried.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Warin @ Mar. 19 2003,14:18)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (FallenPaladin @ Mar. 19 2003,22:31)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">It`s just about Bretzels  I suggest everybody here grabs a few for himself and drinks a good beer: "Prost!"  <span id='postcolor'> Can you believe there is nowhere in this godforsaken little town I live to get a good soft pretzel  I love hte ones they bake with the sea salt on them. Very salty, very tasty. *drools*<span id='postcolor'> YES! I haven't had one of those in forever. The huge pieces (?) of salt are soooo good. I love to eat them with a good sweet/hot mustard (like the type you get with those sausage packs they sell around the winter holidays).

An Iraqi's conversation with an anti-war protester I agree with him though, there is far to much ping-ponging and simplistic Nikolodean diplomacy going on!

The Arrogant Empire Pretty well written article, I'm curious to see everyones thoughts on it. I think it raises a few interesting questions. Will the rest of world (read Europe) be happy with a more diplomatically engaged United States? That is to say that we make no cuts in our defense budgets, military manpower, or military R&D. Is the issue just the brash (anti)diplomacy of the current administration, or is it the overwhelming force of the military? Can the wounds caused by this administration be healed? Americans have a short memory but will everyone scorned as of late?

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Longinius @ Mar. 19 2003,12:42)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">"Since speaking out about an illegal action performed by the military is required of all service members, the government does not have a compelling enough interest to justify the suppression of the speech under the Supreme Court's strict scrutiny doctrine. Â Additionally, there has been no law passed by Congress to suppress such speech, and if it were passed, the Court would strike it down on the grounds that it was not narrowly tailored enough in advancing the government's interest over the individual's interest in free speech." If a government ever went so far as to plant evidence in a conflict of this nature, do you really think that: 1. They would use soldiers who would even consider talking about it? 2. Think twice about using any means necessary to make sure the news didnt get out? 3. Make sure that if the news got out, it was quickly disregarded as yet another "conspiracy theory"?<span id='postcolor'> Well, if we're going to go sprinting through the realms of baseless conjecture, maybe the government could also: 1. Use robots. They could be programmed not to tell. 2. Time travel, I've already said to much. 3. Hold the families of all the soldiers hostage so that they wouldn't dare tell the truth. Hey wait, isn't someone already doing this??? It would be no small task to plant the amount of evidence needed. There would have to be so many people involved (whoever is working in the weapons depot state side, the crewmembers of the cargo planes needed to transport it, same for ground transportation people) in the "evidence planting" that it would be a self defeating secret operation. Regardless, I'm sure there is alot of document destruction (and preservation, but shhh) going on about Iraq right now. Probably alot of frantic phone calls from outside of the country also.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Schoeler @ Mar. 19 2003,12:23)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Many Intelligent Things<span id='postcolor'> *ding* That is the correct answer. Thank you.

He should get back into acting. I thought he was great in the Hot Shots, Hot Shots part Deux, and The Big Lebowski!

FSPilot. I think you're taking this a little bit more seriously then it warrants. I'm an American (in the military no less) and I found it funny. I think it's a bit of innocent humor and as far as I'm concerned it's no worse then the 90808373709 websites that have sprung up in the last few weeks with French jokes, flash cartoons, etc. The whole situation is stupid to begin with, someone is trying to make light of it and have fun. I'm all for it.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (toadeater @ Mar. 17 2003,17:42)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I heard the French are renaming American Cheese to Bad Cheese.<span id='postcolor'> That's <span style='color:red'>P</span><span style='color:white'>A</span><span style='color:blue'>T</span><span style='color:red'>R</span><span style='color:white'>I</span><span style='color:blue'>O</span><span style='color:red'>T</span> cheese to you Mister!!

7--></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Winters @ Mar. 17 2003,077)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Othin @ Mar. 17 2003,01:34)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">The Arrogant Empire Pretty well written article, I'm curious to see everyones thoughts on it. I think it raises a few interesting questions. Will the rest of world (read Europe) be happy with a more diplomatically engaged United States?  That is to say that we make no cuts in our defense budgets, military manpower, or military R&D.  Is the issue just the brash (anti)diplomacy of the current administration, or is it the overwhelming force of the military? Can the wounds caused by this administration be healed?  Americans have a short memory but will everyone scorned as of late?<span id='postcolor'> I do NOT have a short memory nor do most Americans.<span id='postcolor'> I'm going to go ahead and disagree with you on that.  The  U.S. has a historical tendancy of forgetting both the good and bad that has happened.  Does the United States still treat Japan or Germany as enemies of the state?  No, Japan is one of our closest allies these days.  On the other side of the coin (Euro?) we seem to be forgetting that we stood shoulder to shoulder with France in the past. My point was that we in the past haven't held a grudge.  Will Europeans do the same? EDIT: Forgot to add that I'm also an American.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Ex-RoNiN @ Mar. 16 2003,15:16)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">This is from my mate in the British Army, hope it helps </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">only Ghurkas can join the Ghurkas m8 apart from the UK appointed troop officers that is As far as western Armies go you will find near enough all of them support the same system as us, in that you have to be from that country to join it, in the main that is because of security reasons. In the UK we operate along them lines, our policy is that you have to have been resident in the Uk for 5 years or more and if you are not a UK national you need a letter from your embassy stating that you do not owe any military service to your own country first, then it is all down to security checks etc as to whether you get in. Nearly all NATO armies operate along similar lines. <span id='postcolor'><span id='postcolor'> Hmm, that I did not know. I assumed that the U.K. was like the U.S. in that you can join the military as a way of becoming a citizen. My division in bootcamp had a German girl and Vietnamese girl that weren't yet citizens of the U.S.

My career as a German aviator so far.  Needless to say I need a bit more training.  I wasn't expecting that much torque  I think I actually crashed right behind where I started taxiing.  It was a blur, what with all the skidding along on one wing and all.  I'm somewhat disapointed in the training missions as they're just movies.  Oh well, back to the fray!

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Tex [uSMC] @ Mar. 14 2003,14:35)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Forgotten Battles does not have any updates yet as far as I know. And since FB includes Il-2 and all its updates, you are good to go at the moment. It only takes you half an hour? I can spend hours in Best Buy agonizing over 3 or 4 choices unless I know exactly what I want.<span id='postcolor'> Yeah, I just figured that out. I looked on the page and saw that there were updates past 1.0 and made an assumption, thanks for the heads up though. Tough going so far, in between getting used to the joystick and all the controls, I usually end up getting lost or spiriling out of control to the ground Still tons of fun though!

So I wandered into Best Buy today (first mistake) and decided I wanted to look at games (second mistake). Half an hour later I was dazedly stumbling out of Best Buy with a SaitekX45 combo, Forgotten Battles, Freelancer, and a 182 dollar hole in my pocket Anyways, what should I know about the game ahead of time? Are there any MUST HAVE downloads for it yet? The website is pretty confusing as to which downloads I need...

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (brgnorway @ Mar. 13 2003,21:21)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I'm just wondering - have any of you from US owned european cars? (no flamebaiting) <span id='postcolor'> I've always had a love for Audi's. My brother-in-law had an Audi Quattro and it was beautiful. It was AWD, leather interior, it had a computer-like system built in. It could get up and GOOOOOOOOOOOO. I just remember being really impressed with it when I was young. Before I took the orders for Japan I had decided to buy a new car and had narrowed it down to a Subaru Impreza WRX and an Audi S4. I ended up starting the paperwork on the S4 but cancelled it soon after. S4s are a beautiful car, you can up the horsepower by like a 100 with a new chip too To answer Red Oct's question. You can't import an American made (ie specs, even if it was a 2002 Toyota or Mercedes sold over here I couldn't bring it) car to Japan because of the difference in safety and emission features. I guess cars built on or before 1976 are grandfathered so it's ok.

Well, first of all, do you have a degree? Unless you already have obtained your college degree you're going to have to either join some sort of ROTC program, join as an enlisted and apply for an officer package after a few years served, or pay for college on your own, and join afterwards. If flying really is your dream job, then I would say go for Navy or Air Force. I've served with a squadron for the last two years and I can say with confidence that every single one of those guys loved their job. There are definately dues to pay when you're an Ensign and LTJG. As far as decided which branch, that is going to depend alot on what sort of family life you want to have, and which platform you would like to fly. I'm in the Navy myself, so I really can't offer you an unbiased opinion but if you're young and single the Navy is the way to go. Officers have a really good quality of life, and you'll get to see the world rather then sit at one base for the majority of your career. The downside to that is that you'll be out to sea for long periods of time. Just a few thoughts... Interesting fact about Army aviation. The warrant officers that fly the helos are mostly made up of former Navy enlisted 2nd classes.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (brgnorway @ Mar. 13 2003,18:26)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I'd like to ask you american fellas a question - are ex-military vehicles populare over there? I know it's a weird quiestion - but the reason for asking is that those who have over here usually repaint the vehicles in plain colour.<span id='postcolor'> Military vehicles are popular when people can get ahold of them in one piece (govt cuts alot of them up). Mostly you see them at car shows in original paint and fitting. State owned vehicles on the other hand are pretty popular and easy to obtain. You can get used police cars and forestry vehicles at auction. People pretty much always repaint these (and with the police cars I think you have to).