patrick.net

I indirectly know a Hispanic guy who was kicked out of the Marines training for using marijuana. He claims it was discrimination because he is Hispanic, but doesn't deny smoking weed. That was about 2 years ago.

If they ban people from the military for using marijuana, how will they find anyone at all? A recent poll showed that over half of the population has tried it.

Today, I was at my nephew's ceremony for completing Marine OTS. There were about 300 in the class. From what I saw, the Marines do not seem to have a problem. All of them looked like weightlifters.

The Army gets the worst recruits out of all the branches by a wide margin based on my observations living near major military installations.

1337irr says

The Army gets the worst recruits out of all the branches by a wide margin based on my observations living near major military installations.

Army tends to be ripe for programs like this past one informally called McNamara's Morons: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_100,000

But there has been technological and material advances in the Pentagon which provide a lot of margin as far as troop readiness (relative to the average Chicom marine, Russian regular army, Iranian revolutionary guard terrorist, etc.)

You can set up a warfighting organization to be that effective with enough borderline-dummy-proof safeguards and accommodations

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I took a short trip to Oceanside, California last year. On one of the radio stations the community was doing a fund raiser for school supplies for the base's children. Try raising kids on a grunts salary.

ad says

Army tends to be ripe for programs like this past one informally called McNamara's Morons: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_100,000

Cool factoid, thanks for that.

Misc says

I took a short trip to Oceanside, California last year. On one of the radio stations the community was doing a fund raiser for school supplies for the base's children. Try raising kids on a grunts salary.

"You;ll make more money than working at McD's!"

Not if you factor that the McD's workweek is only 40 hours.

Overwork and Fatigue from undermanned ships has been a USN problem for years now.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/a-sailors-life-overworked-undertrained-understaffed-stressed-out

Add to that active servicemen are no longer joining the Reserves due to the Military turning to their Reserves to plug recruiting gaps. AND, the routine maintenance that doesn't get done while underway, is made up during port calls...

“What's more concerning to me is that the report said the days were even longer and more difficult when they're in port and back home,” Waltz told the Washington Examiner. “And the number of instances they're citing where the ships tie up to the pier, yet the crew is canceling vacations with their family and canceling leave after they've been gone for six months because they've got so much backlog maintenance.”

https://news.usni.org/2023/03/01/navy-reserve-struggling-to-recruit-new-sailors-playing-up-benefits

HeadSet says

Marine OTS

@HeadSet What does OTS stand for? I didn't find it in a search.

ad says

The Army gets the worst recruits out of all the branches by a wide margin based on my observations living near major military installations.

This is true in my experience too. I spent considerable time at both Fort Bragg (Soon to be fort liberty because Bragg was a confederate corps commander) and Camp Lejuene and where Fort Bragg was a 'diverse' shit hole college campus Camp Lejuene was what a military base should be like. From my perspective the army was taking any one they could get whereas the Marines recruited high calibre youths.

Patrick says

HeadSet says

Marine OTS

HeadSet What does OTS stand for? I didn't find it in a search.

I should have wrote "OCS" which is "Officers Candidate School." If you saw the movie "Officer and a Gentleman," that was OCS for the Navy. My nephew did Marine OCS at Quantico.

My Brother and I sent our Brother a letter while he was in basic training, it was mailed in a "Gay Club Of America" or return address like that. It was a gag envelope that looked like it had a legit letter head from an organization for Queers. We found at a gag shop or it might have been Spencers at the mall.

Our brother told us, they called him in and grilled him for hours about his sexual orientation without ever telling him about the letter that was mailed to him. Finally after not getting anywhere with their line of questioning but perplexing and confusing our brother, they finally showed him the letter. My brother opened it and saw it was a letter from us. His commanding officers thought it was way funnier than he did.

Funny if that were today he would have been promoted to Joint Chief of Staff just at the first sight of the envelope no questions asked.

Misc says

Try raising kids on a grunts salary.

Low military pay is a myth. One of the reasons for the popularity of that myth is most reporting only looks at basic pay. However, that does not include "allowances" which are not taxed and do not show on a W2. For example, that new Marine will get about $3600 base pay, plus a $1600 untaxed quarters allowance ($2000 if married), plus other allowances based on specialty. My nephew is unmarried, and his total pay will be just under $6,000 per month. This pay will increase substantially over the next few as he gets promotion in rank. Also, medical and dental are free. If one makes the military a 20-year career, one can retire in his/her 40s with a million-dollar annuity.

The Quarters Allowance is based on location. If a new Lieutenant was stationed in LA, his starting Quarters Allowance would be $3,000 per month ($3,500 if married or was paying any child support or alimony).

Tenpoundbass says

My Brother and I sent our Brother a letter while he was in basic training, it was mailed in a "Gay Club Of America"

I did that something similar to a fellow Lieutenant when I was at Alus AFB. This guy had just been transferred to Langley AFB, so as a joke I got some letterhead stationery from the Base Hospital and sent him a letter. The letter stated that he was reported as a contact from several people who had AIDS, none of whom were female. That joke worked better than expected, as he immediately took the letter to his commander without first reading it all the way through to see the last line "a copy of this letter has been sent to your mother" and that the signature was "Colonel Jose Bagg." I heard later that his commander knew it was a joke right away but played along. When my buddy finally figured it out 2 days later, he called me just to yell "Hose Bag!" into the phone and hang up.

My nephew was booted out of the Marines when they found marijuana in his car as he was returning to base. While he continued to smoke weed, he later moved on to other drugs and died of a heroin overdose at the age of 43.

My nephew was very handsome, had a lot of personality and talent. All of that was thrown away because of his drug use. Needless to say, drugs is a killer. Marijuana is a gateway drug for virtually everyone that ends up like my nephew.

Military Officials: Diversity Training Makes Soldiers Feel "Included"

Top military officials in the Biden Administration recently attempted to defend far-left “diversity” training in the military, claiming that such sessions make all soldiers feel more “included.”
https://www.zerohedge.com/military/military-officials-diversity-training-makes-soldiers-feel-included

RayAmerica says

My nephew was very handsome, had a lot of personality and talent. All of that was thrown away because of his drug use. Needless to say, drugs is a killer. Marijuana is a gateway drug for virtually everyone that ends up like my nephew.

But given the extremely widespread use of marijuana and the relatively small number who do hard drugs, but I don't think that it's much different than alcohol.

RayAmerica says

Marijuana is a gateway drug for virtually everyone that ends up like my nephew.

No it's not! Marijuana is a drug that should be scrutinized more but for reasons that is never mentioned. And the biggest reason for avoiding it is that it sucks your drive, resolve, gumption, ambition, and perseverance from you. If your not limited in your use of it. Chronic use of it should be avoided, and since it's easy to become a chronic user, it's best avoided.

If the youth were honestly leveled with on those dangers, I think more people would avoid it. But telling them it's a gateway drug and other hyperbolic reasons does more damage than good. For those that smoke Pot and really love it. They don't ruin their high with opiates, barbiturates, and stimulants. Many potheads don't even drink. If you drink a beer on an empty stomach late in the evening and drink just one beer. You feel like you're going to get the whirly woos and heevie jeevies.

And most junkies I have known swore off Pot, they don't like it, because it sucks the drive to acquire ill-gotten funds to feed their hard drug drive.

Patrick says

But given the extremely widespread use of marijuana and the relatively small number who do hard drugs, but I don't think that it's much different than alcohol.

Every single hard drug user that I have ever known, all started out by smoking marijuana. Marijuana is an introduction into the drug culture.

Diversity is a psychological strategy and it may just work. Get enough people together who believe the world should be united as one and they will go after any one/group/country that does not believe.

RayAmerica says

Every single hard drug user that I have ever known, all started out by smoking marijuana. Marijuana is an introduction into the drug culture.

Well if there was no such thing as weed then you might be saying Aspirin was the gateway drug. Every drug user tried aspirin before doing hard stuff.

Tenpoundbass says

No it's not! Marijuana is a drug that should be scrutinized more but for reasons that is never mentioned. And the biggest reason for avoiding it is that it sucks your drive, resolve, gumption, ambition, and perseverance from you

Oh bullshit. When I was in college, I would smoke weed on Friday night, come up with a bunch of ideas for my VLSI (chip design) projects at night, write them down, on Saturday I'd over over my notes, realize 90% of what I thought was a "good idea" was either unworkable or just plain stupid, Sunday I'd take off entirely, and Monday through Friday I implemented the 10% of my ideas that were good.

My professor thought I was a genius.

People who wake and bake, they're burnouts but drugs don't effect everybody in the same way. When I RARELY get stoned now, I read, I can't sleep on the stuff, I stay up all night reading and learning.

Drug use is too complicated to nail any particular thing as the 'gateway'. The gateway tends to be the release of inhibition from precautionary wisdoms from those who have been there, done that, but survived.

Drugs are viruses that cloak themselves by inducing denial and masking effects on the basis of the pleasure trade off. Along with the physical addiction, they become psychologically embedded and the users defend them, even in the face of impairment and diminished survival functions. Unfortunate casualties of La Guerre.

Ceffer says

The gateway tends to be the release of inhibition from precautionary wisdoms from those who have been there, done that, but survived.

The problem I think, is the bullshit propaganda around it. The government warned that "marijuana use is dangerous" - no it's not. Ever seen that silly film Reefer Madness? It's a common thing to get stoned and watch that film to laugh at how ridiculous it is. When you're 20 and smoke up and realize just how much BS you were taught about the drug, you begin to wonder if there's not BS around ALL drugs.

Well, no - it's not all BS. Heroin will kill you. Don't take heroin. The first time you do it, you will get brain damage. To get to that original high, you need more of the drug next time, and it's not exactly the same high, because you have brain damage from doing it ONCE. It's called "chasing the dragon". I cannot emphasize enough, don't do heroin, ever. I knew a few people who did heroin in college, who were dead before I left college.

Any drug I've tried, I researched before trying it. I've done mushrooms, once. It was basically what I expected but it was far too intense for me. I will never do LSD, it doesn't appear to ever leave your body. Marijuana isn't a big deal, but you can become dependent on it, you should NEVER do it more than once a week. If you use it more often that that, it will make you an idiot over time.

richwicks says

Marijuana isn't a big deal, but you can become dependent on it,

Then it is a "big deal."

richwicks says

you should NEVER do it more than once a week. If you use it more often that that, it will make you an idiot over time.

That sounds like a good argument against using MJ at all. Almost like telling someone to limit Marlboros to one per day.

richwicks says

When I was in college, I would smoke weed on Friday night, come up with a bunch of ideas for my VLSI (chip design) projects at night, write them down, on Saturday I'd over over my notes, realize 90% of what I thought was a "good idea" was either unworkable or just plain stupid, Sunday I'd take off entirely, and Monday through Friday I implemented the 10% of my ideas that were good.

My professor thought I was a genius.

Sounds like you shared your stash with your professor.

HeadSet says

richwicks says

Marijuana isn't a big deal, but you can become dependent on it,

Then it is a "big deal."

richwicks says

you should NEVER do it more than once a week. If you use it more often that that, it will make you an idiot over time.

That sounds like a good argument against using MJ at all. Almost like telling someone to limit Marlboros to one per day.

There's no physical addiction with marijuana.

The good properties of marijuana is it makes your more thoughtful, more compassionate, and more introspective - or at least it does for me. If a person on cannabis is violent on it, they are a psychopath. When I'm stoned, the concept of harming ANYTHING becomes absolutely repulsive to me.

I'm not advocating that people use it or even try it. Like I said, it effects me sort of uniquely. Many people who use it say "well, it helps me sleep", I have NEVER had this reaction to it. It makes me think and it keeps me awake.

HeadSet says

Sounds like you shared your stash with your professor.

Oh hell no.

Look, if I had 1/8th of an ounce of marijuana, I would use that over an entire year. It doesn't take much to get me stoned and I do not like being too stoned at all.

I think it might effect me differently than it does to most people. I become hypersensitive and very empathic.

One of the things I used to do for fun (years ago), is that I would get stoned and go walking with my dogs. I had two Samoyeds. Just experiencing their enjoyment of going for a 10 mile walk is very enjoyable. I'd often go with my cousin and we'd just talk about we both thought about the world. We learned a lot from each other on those walks.

He's as knowledgeable as I am about geopolitics, but we have different overlaps in what we know and study. For me, marijuana is a thinking drug and extends my creativity, at the expense of making me the inability to do detailed work while on it. I cannot code for example when I'm stoned, but I can do high level design.

https://notthebee.com/article/wapo-the-military-is-facing-the-worst-recruiting-environment-since-right-after-the-vietnam-war-i-cant-imagine-why

It's almost like the idea of purging the unvaccinated Trump voter from the military and making conservatives feel unwelcome by focusing on wokeness and purging "white rage" at the behest of Mark Milley was a little ill-advised.

From last summer:

The military is struggling to find recruits right now, and the Army is no exception. With three months remaining in fiscal 2022, the service has only attained 40% of its enlisted recruiting goal, according to Army G-1 spokesperson Maj. Angel Tomko.

And that’s part of why Army Secretary Christine Wormuth issued a new policy authorizing troops to have small tattoos on their hands, ears and necks, Army officials explained Thursday morning.

Wormuth signed a directive Wednesday that expanded the service’s acceptable tattoo policy. The changes will be incorporated in the next update to AR 670-1, the Army’s appearance regulation.
https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2022/06/23/hand-ear-and-neck-tattoos-now-ok-for-soldiers-amid-recruiting-crunch/

RayAmerica says

My nephew was very handsome, had a lot of personality and talent. All of that was thrown away because of his drug use. Needless to say, drugs is a killer. Marijuana is a gateway drug for virtually everyone that ends up like my nephew.

Yep.

Marijuana is a gateway to being a lazy fucker.

I'd say out of everybody that develops a several-time-a-week marijuana habit, at least a third go on to become marginally employed losers. And of those, a significant number graduate to Meth.

For every "My cousin smoked weed 3x a week in School and got hired in his Senior Year and makes $150k at Tesla" there's 5 people's cousins who were going someplace but fucked it up because they got High and overslept or got Green Time Dilation and lost their decent job/school program, and end up working at the Piggly Wiggly 20 hours a week, sharing a trailer with at least one window with plywood over it, with some fat weed ho or living in Grandma's basement.

The absolute Gayest Thing is people who think Weed is subersive in Current Year.

HeadSet says

That sounds like a good argument against using MJ at all. Almost like telling someone to limit Marlboros to one per day.

"That's like saying somebody who drinks milk turns into an alcoholic"

Is Apples and oranges. Milk is a non-alcoholic beverage. Marijuana is a recreational drug, not a "Magic Healing Herb concealed by Big Pharma". Now that medical marijuana is legal in just about every state, how come they haven't cured systic fibrosis or whatever bullshit they claimed Marijuana disappeared.

The Milk Consumption leads to Alcoholism false comparison is like saying people who are insulin dependent are more likely to shoot up heroin because both are Parenteral, and ignoring the fundamental differences between a drug for glucose regulation due to an insensitive/non-functional pancreas and a nervous system receptor agonist.

The biggest "High" you will get from milk is a vague feeling of thirst or hunger satiation.

AmericanKulak says

"That's like saying somebody who drinks milk turns into an alcoholic"

That is not a quote from me, someone else made that irrelevant comparison.

HeadSet says

AmericanKulak says

"That's like saying somebody who drinks milk turns into an alcoholic"

That is not a quote from me, someone else made that irrelevant comparison.

Yeah, I know your stance. I was pivoting off it. Apologies for my lack of clarity.

A little Member Berry strain is great for sex though!

desertguy says

A little Member Berry strain is great for sex though!

What, in the same way that you get a girl liquored up so you can do her?