Perhaps the term "philosophical wars of attrition with enemies who love to kill and be killed" would be a more appropriate definition?

Your first sentence is spot on. The venal and ignorant nature of the electorate (your and my neighbors) is to a large degree at fault for the ease with which the behind the scenes folks can pick and market candidates. If 49% of the electorate was not getting a cheque from government and 50% of the remainder were not morons, we would have much different outcomes. Universal sufferage is at the base of the problem. If only taxpayers voted....as happened in colonial times....we would not have these problems.

I think we agree on much but not the mechanism. The candidates are not chosen by the public (neighbors), so their votes are irrelevant to the outcome. Whether it's tweedle dee or tweedle dumb, the "party" controls the winner. The media does brainwash with propaganda (thanks to Edward Bernaise) and distract from the existence of the "cabal", but no viable candidate for POTUS or the US con-gress represents the people.

"Couldn't disagree more with your insulting opinion on this. "
You need to get a thicker skin bub. It is your neighbors, these scumbag politicians use to get elected. There is an honest to god cabal between them, the press and the various organs of government like the schools etc to get them elected, but get elected they do. Our neighbors it is that gets them elected. Not just the inner city poor but well to do middle and upper middle white guilt ridden useful idiots that fall for one of the many feelings based pitches the libs vomit out. I cant tell you how many people over the years I have seen guilt ridden over having earned a good nest egg, even for being born white. They have been inculcated with the ridiculous notion that they somehow owe it to anyone who has less than them or is non white to enslave themselves to support them. People are filled with guilt these days and will vote for any populist race baiting lowlife that presents himself.

NealS: it's good to find another one, particularly with such a similar story. For me it was a business trip to DC in 90 and after a 3 day joint venture negotiation over a cobalt mine in N. Carolina, an evening of celebration around town and one of the guys wanted to stop at the Wall. The next 4 years were like being on the black diamond ski trail - no stopping, no going back. Even the nightmare of being called back to duty and no one listening that I was too old.
The arguments with the Docs that I didn't have PTSD, I refused to accept it. No-one in my life at the time even knew that I'd been in the service. But finding other Nam vets that I could relate with - that was hard. Like you, I put all of that away when I came back. got some degrees, got a good career, built my own company - but the cut-off jean jackets with patches picked up at the local Army/Navy store, alcohol - drugs, the ball caps just wasn't me.
But I found a few similar to me - it's better now.
Welcome Home bud.

Couldn't disagree more with your insulting opinion on this.

The government may in some minor ways reflect the public, but those who run for positions of power are selected by the insiders in the Dark Center. Voting is very nearly meaningless in this perverted, corrupted system. The insiders are not my neighbors; they are enemies domestic.
Those in positions of power who agree to just follow immoral orders whether in the military or not are not worthy of respect or admiration.

You are correct, but in singling them out you are placing yourself with the scum that spat on our soldiers coming back from VietNam. They didn't start the war, many were draftees. But non the less they were spat upon. Again, every society needs a military, their sole purpose is to kill people and break things. In the USA the politicians tell them what to do and where to go. They have no say in it. Remember when Clinton got inaugurated the first time. There was an air force flyover. He made a disparaging comment about the military but stopped when one of his underlings told him..."they are our military now". Yes the military is a part of the government the way a firearm could be considered a part of you, but if you point a pistol at someone and shoot them it is not the pistols fault they got hurt. It would be your fault. Unfortunately the government is a reflection of our collective, as it is elected. The government then is not some independent entity....but your neighbors.

And the military is part of the government.
Don't trust the ones with power.

I will have to take a little issue with you here on the military not being able to be ..."trusted to use technology for good purposes instead of purposes that are destructive to human life" . The job of the military is to kill people and break things. That is all, it is not a social program, meals on wheels, ameri-core, the peace core etc....It is the government that misuses them.

Interesting, but does that show stress is not the cause or, what seems more likely, that some people are better able to cope with it?

Interesting information, thank you. Part of the problem is that the whole issue like many others, has been turned into an industry involving big pharma; the results of which is the elephant in the room with many of the bizarre mass killing sprees that have littered the landscape. The Left of course ignores that aspect, uses the excuse to go on another pre-scripted anti gun rant, etc etc.

In any case just a note here to mention a remarkable healing modality that has become freely available and something valuable to add to one's repertoire of life skills. Long story short, Dr. Roger Callahan developed a set of techniques he named Thought Field Therapy ( TFT) which has proven itself to be much more effective than years of conventional therapy. He taught Gary Craig, an engineer, his process. Craig streamlined it into Emotional Freedom Techniques ( EFT); now widely available with tutorials, videos etc from a variety of sources like eftuniverse.com, masteringeft etc. It is useful for everything from recovering more rapidly from physical injury to all forms of trauma. One can apply it for themselves; there are also training programs for practitioners.

PTSD is largely baloney.
http://www.policefuturists.org/pdf/207.V...


As pointed out by Summerfield (2001), post-traumatic stress disorder “is an entity constructed as much from sociopolitical ideas as from psychiatric ones” and “...the story of post-traumatic stress disorder is a telling example of the role of society and politics in the process of invention rather than discovery” (p. 95).
Some people might expect that the elderly are vulnerable to psychological damage due to trauma. Wrong. Bonanno and his colleagues (2006) found that those 65 years of age and older were by far the most resilient age group within the population. The most vulnerable age group was those 25-34 years of age.
Some other variables operate as most might expect. For example, the rich did much better than the poor, and the educated did much better than the uneducated. Asians did far better than whites, African Americans, Hispanics, and other racial/ethnic groups.

McNally et al. (2003) show that strong social networks and high intelligence protect people against PTSD.

Furthermore, even those affected psychologically by trauma need not abandon hope. For example, “4 months after September 11th, the prevalence of PTSD in the population of Manhattan living below 110th Street as measured by two cross-sectional surveys declined to 34.1 percent of the prevalence of PTSD 1 month after the event.” (Galea et al., 2004). In other words, two thirds of those showing symptoms of PTSD a month after the event were not showing such symptoms three months later.

Seventh, in most studies, three-fourths of the populations exposed to trauma prove resilient. That bit of information, although it does not sell airtime or newspaper space, is vital to keep front and center in planning for mass casualty events.

Find the whole paper here, starting at page 130
"Stress and Psychological Effects" by Bernard H. Levin and Joseph A. Schafer in Schafer, J. A. and Levin, B. H. (Eds.) _Policing and Mass Casualty Events_. Washington DC: (2007) Federal Bureau of Investigation, pp. 128-140.
http://www.policefuturists.org/pdf/207.V...

Manchurian Candidate! Jason Bourne!

Yes.

Agree with you rmpirate, and the military can't be trusted to use technology for good purposes instead of puposes that are destructive to human life.