Don

...zing! what do you call half the statisticians at the bottom of the ocean....50% there percentages and pie charts will only get you so far in life

hmmm...at first glance, this appeared to be my correction...maybe I'm seeing this wrong I do apologize for grossly UNDER quoting the salary thing though

I already corrected the "38k" reference - "strike 1" No Extra Duties, as stated - strike 2 Critical personnel...that plays to your "select few" argument you are using against me - strike 3 Your punctuation sucks - strike 4-lost count anything else you want to nit pick at to help yourself out here. You've proven nothing other than your chances of winning an argument would be better if you took it up with a 6 year old

Pre 80's talk = loss We're in the now "slick" and I can talk about my experiences which appear to be a little more up to date as I was discharged all of 2 years ago where I have no recollection of performing any extra duties...nor did I have a problem catching free flights... and to answer the missing flight, ever hear of a leave extension. Bitterness because not understanding how to work the system doesn't win you much, just bitterness about the service it seems. I've worked with plenty of folks like you who were disillusioned by what they thought the service was all about. And, my estimate error aside, you can clearly see from the benefits calculator above, total compensation far exceeds $38k About the only thing you were right about was the bonus part, but much like the civilian world, you get rewarded more for having a more advanced rating...once again, maybe you should have chosen a better career path.

Taken from http://www.defenselink.mil/militarypay/mpc...lators/RMC.aspx Compensation calculator for single E5 living in San Diego Your Results Monthly Basic Pay $2,334.90 BAS $323.87 BAH $1,680.00 Cash Total $4,338.77 Annual Basic Pay $28,018.80 BAS $3,886.44 BAH $20,160.00 Total $52,065.24 Tax Advantage monthly 498.17 annually 5,977.99

E3/E4's which is your 2 year, no college guys, do not make anywheres close to 38K. E5 after month 30, got the records to back it. There was extremely high advancement rates back in 98-00 Military members do not fly anywhere for free. MAC flights my friend, look into it. You show up to any air station and they have flights transporting everywhere. I went home back to San Diego at least twice a year and paid $0.00 per flight Rent is free only living on base, and bring a lot of restrictions with it. Including, inspections of property whenever the management wants, cleanups, etc... Rent is in fact free when using BAH...once again, try some research. I had anapartment in Clairemont (San Diego) and got about a $1,500 allowance for rent. And that was with no dependents. Married folks get a little more than that. Knew plenty of people in the mid 20's that had a family and were home owners off base No military does not get a 7K bonus. Sure some specialty MOS's get a bonus at re-enlistment time, but not in the 7K per year range. You do in fact get signing bonuses and reenlisment bonuses as well (like $26,000 tax free for a 4 year contract) What other lies you got? Way to ignore that not only do these men and women do these jobs to keep the military going, but they also have the honor of being shot at and abused by politicians like Hilary, obama, murtha, etc... How many more well thought out counterpoints might you have...? Don't feel bad though, many people talk far out of their ass when they've never served and totally rely on what they think is news from unqualified sources

I totally agree that statistics can be a lot of fun and a completely bullet proof branch of mathematics. Traditionally the military has always been way behind civilian pay which is wrong...but there are a multitude of benefits and variables that can more even out the field and a lot of these were raised under Clinton. Did he do all of them and raise them enough...I would say no...but explain to me this...how many civilians do you know that are 2 years removed from high school that can pull down 38k base pay, make no rent payments or medical for that matter, fly just about anywhere in the US for free and make a bonus of roughly 7k a year tax free...all with no college education...I can name one... So in summary, my original statement sticks as is without the added subject matter you felt necessary to toss in there to "win" your argument.

I was actually in the Navy during Clintons reign and he did make quite a few improvements. We saw more pay raises and med reform under him than the military had seen in a while.

Trust me, we busted our asses and and I was probably away from home 80% of the year getting the company I work for going...and whats the reward...? A big "thanks for the tax dollars, sucker!" the beauty is that people still stick to party affiliation when they know damn good and well that these politicians could care less about their constituents. Been that way for years, but god forbid you ever bring in the possibility of a third party...because maybe they don't have the same rhetoric as the common politician

Oh I feel you...I was due for a bonus in the $XX,XXX range...guess thats a ludicrous expectation whereas bonuses in the millions make way more sense...bonuses paid in part by my taxes...

I can second that...as a service connected vet with full medical benefits, I would be leery of using the current VA system just because they are so overwhelmed because they are notoriously under staffed. basically a chop shop. unless you've dealt with it, you really can't understand it. It's a system that needs a complete overhaul. But as long as ORV parks are being built and kids get wooden arrows supplied we can all live dumb as hell and happy.

John McCain...snap

"things will get worse before they get better"...unless you have pals that will turn a blind eye while you hand out money that those working hard earned...don't worry though, this will go to some senate hearing and fade away because the general public has an attention span of the normal work week

I just don't like the PRESIDENT here... way to appoint a corrupt member of the fed reserve into the cabinet...and kudos for all of you that actually believed the "Change" slogan...just a bunch of sheep lining up for the slaughter

Just saying its not an Obama bashing film which some might assume

Don't let the title completely fool you, it's more a story on the government as a whole...and don't worry, it's from the same folks that made "End Game", the video that picked apart Bush. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7535755025025800195

If his production can push us over the top, it's worth every penny......"if"

Hardy should bring back #89

Throw us a bone here... Throwbacks 4...Evvv...Errrr

Some people just take life too seriously

To kind of piggy back on that, TO usually only runs into big trouble when QB's get big ego's. If there's no one to butt heads with he may just turn Randy Moss on us and behave for a while (minus the behavioral clause in the contract). But seriously, he lived with McNabb and their egos clashed, Garcia got his ego bruised by TO, and Romo all of a sudden because the next big thing in his own head and wanted the spotlight from TO and look how well that ended. There are none of these personalities in Buffalo so maybe this all just works itself out, he gets as much attention on the field that is allowable to win games without getting irresponsible and he instills some winning attitude to the young guys. No one has ever questioned his competitiveness or work ethic, so if they can cool the drama, we should be okay

If he decides to live locally, you know there's no risk of sit ups in the drive way during the off season...one sign this might work is he was quoted saying "The only people that really matter are the people that are in my inner circle" and the Bills are known for circling a thing or two (besides the drain the past few years)

1. Your are correct 2. It is a play on the Get your popcorn ready and to most accurately copy that, it helps to have the same cadence when you deliver it

Now now, we need new material

Maybe we can start giving him ammo for the press conferences...because whether you love or hate the move, we are going to get more attention than we've had in a long time, especially us out of state folks