I like your screen name. Thanks for serving in the armed forces. I almost became a Marine when I was 19. I was a bodybuilding and scored outragously high on the ASVAB (sp?). I wished I had done it now but at the time I had an abusive, domineering Dad and was a bit inimidated that another dude would be barking out orders to me.
My real passion is human nature. Once this is fully understood, it becomes a lot easier to predict outcomes. My approach is based on statistical probability models of other country’s collective personality traits and trying to compare this to other historic events. It doesn’t mean I am always 100% right but for my family and friends it seems to work just fine :)
Thanks! I was just MikeUSAF before 2002 but my account was banned long ago for reasons still unknown to me. I pleaded with Jim and others to have my old screen name back and even tried bribery but they refused. :) I came back as MikeWUSAF where “W” is the first letter of my last name.
I grew up a fairly poor kid in a blue collar family. My father worked hard but there was four of us children, my mother and grandmother. I joined the Air Force to help pay for college and honorably separated after 10 years of service. I achieved my college degree, have rewarding professional career and no student loans at 31! Probability and statistics was not a friend to me in college. :)
I believe in the tried and true method of hard work and sacrifice. To that end, it infuriates me to hear politicians talk about levelling the playing field or making sure that everyone has the same opportunities. If you live in America you have the same opportunities as every other American. Some just have more advantages than others but we all have the same opportunities.
And now after all of this hard work and sacrifice I am told that I should feel bad for the income that I have obtained and should be taxed to death to pay for others who did not have the same opportunities. So much for the American dream...