Chat (Cookies and tea allowed in this room) Showing 51-100 of 2,921

[[deleted user]]

hey whats up? im bored! lol sry im weird to! :P

[Stephanie]

Naw, not weird. I'm kind of bored too. You could take a look at our contest. Maybe write something for it or look at the stories.

[[deleted user]]

i wrote a poem already, and im no good at short stories. have u done anything for them?

[Stephanie]

I posted a short story. I may or may not to a poem. You could always read the short stories though....

[[deleted user]]

yeah i guess so! lol
right now im copying a bunch of recipes out of a lbrary cookbook, UGH its taking so long! lol

[Stephanie]

I bet! That's dedication right there.

[[deleted user]]

Jaz, try to write a short story! it's easier than i thought! and hey i suck at poems, so what's the harm? I wrote a poem for dirt in my eye but by the time i got to a computer i couldnt p;ost it, it was over (i was out of town)

[Rachael]

you do not suck at poems, Averi!

[Caitlan]

haha you do NOT suck at poems...if anyone does its me...and also, you are amazing at writing short stories...unlike me...

[[deleted user]]

aw thanks :P ahh, but you see, you have not seen my poems! lol

[M]

Al's good. She has the makings of a contemporary Edgar Alex Poe.

[Caitlan]

lol i like how you did that with the name lol

[[deleted user]]

lol, M, true.... true.

[Edward]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACwNav...

Anybody have characters with split personalities?

[Stephanie]

Hey guys, here's a group I just made. It focuses on reviewing books. I'd love to have you! More topics will be added and anyone can review.

http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/4...

[Edward]

Who remembers their younger siblings being born?

[Stephanie]

Not me.

[[deleted user]]

Me! I was ten when my lil sis was born, and eight when my lil bro was born :P

[Edward]

My younger brother was born two weeks ago. I'm seventeen.

[Stephanie]

Congratulations!

[Edward]

Thank you. He's an oddly serious baby; my cousin didn't look nearly so severe when she was born.

[Caitlan]

:) haha nice

[[deleted user]]

That's awesome!!! hahaha, serious babies are good. sometimes. :P

[Kymela]

Our cousin was very, very happy. Until the babysitter did something and most likely lied about what actually happened...She's still happier than most I've seen. She chatters a lot.

[Edward]

Torando right outside the neighborhood. Quick, in the hall, take down any portaits and loose nails, and don't forget to grab a deck of cards!

[Kymela]

Hilarious, Dude. You realise how much I was involuntarily shaking? I wouldn't have been able to play.

[Kymela]

My favourite actress died yesterday. :( I was looking forward to a new season.

[Kymela]

Yes. She was the most awesome Doctor Who companion EVER. As evidenced by her not only reprising the role in the new series, but also having her own show. I'm gunna miss seeing more Sarah Jane. T_T

EDIT: This just made me cry. She didn't even tell Tom she was sick when they agreed on making more audio shows? Why Lis, why? I also saw a very sad cartoon of K-9 with his head down saying, 'Good-by, miss-tress.' :'(

[Edward]

So, nine days later ... should I slice up a pineapple? I'm making some flower-tasting coffee if anyone wants some.

So, big and scary noise from outside screeches over your neighborhood that could signal a potential danger to your house or maybe just prove very distracting to whatever it is you're doing at the time anyway. There is a tornado warning out, but it sounds nothing like a tornado except in how loud and senseless it is. What do you do?

[Edward]

Bin Laden is dead. That changes things somewhat.

[Edward]

It also explains why our cars were obsessively search when we entered base the past day or two.

[[deleted user]]

entered basee???

[Stephanie]

Are you in the army, Edward?

[[deleted user]]

lol, i was wondering the same thing :P

[Edward]

Army? My father is a marine.

[[deleted user]]

ohh. cool......

[Stephanie]

Ah, I see. Okay. That makes sense.

[Edward]

Given my little profile picture, why did you say Army?

[Stephanie]

Well, army, marines, I figured either word would work in the situation.

[Edward]

Eh, it doesn't. "We're marines, not soldiers," is something you hear often around here. If you want to be generic try Armed Forces or troops. It may seem petty, but there is actually a huge difference between the Army and the Marine Corps. Plus a sibling rivalry, like the Cubs and Sox - you don't want to be mistaken for the other.

[Stephanie]

Lol. All right. I'll have to remember that next time. Armed Forces, not Army.

[Edward]

Okay. I could explain the difference between centralized command (Army) and decentralized command (Marine Corps), but I don't think y'all want a lecture.

[Stephanie]

I've never heard centralized and decentralized command applied to the Armed Forces. I curious. Go ahead, please.

[[deleted user]]

actually, what is the difference?? Im interested to know too :)

[Edward]

Basically centralized command is focused on making sure everyone within an operation works well with eachother "decreasing internal fog and friction." This requires subordinates to report to surperiors before doing something, and thus reduces the tempo at which the body can operate. (They change plans slower because they have to keep asking the captain what to do if the plan doesn't work exactly right, which they never do.) This results in attrition warfare, which was the basic warfare of the WWI trenches - have a larger force with better weapons and you'll simply outlast your enemy. Sometimes the Army does have a more maneuver based assaults - like the Normandy Invasion - but those are long-shot gambles because if it goes too far awry the soldiers are trained to wait for further orders, which would have been nonsense on a large battlefield like that.

(A lot of things did go wrong with the Normandy Invasion, but it was things like packs flying off and landing in the wrong part of the battlefield. Their orders of where to go and where to assault remained intact and the enemy had good reason to not think we were going to attack.)

Decentralized command focuses on fast tempo, adjusting to the situation in a snap-decision, and increasing enemy fog and friction. Instead of reporting to the officer to find out what to do once the plan goes wrong, the NCOs are told why they are fighting for a particular objective so that squads can constantly adjust in a moment. This allows for what is called maneuver warfare, which is more about undermining enemy strengths. This intentionally creates chaos in the battlefield so that the enemy can't quite see the bigger picture of our plans. The drawback is an increase of friendly-fire incidents, but in actuality the over all casualty rate for maneuver warfare forces is much less than those for attrition warfare.

This difference is actually one of the many reasons we won the Revolutionary War. The British forces relied on their commanders, which gave our snipers something to aim for. Our forces were made of militias from different states, so decimating one part of the force in no way cripples the rest of it.

It's also why marines tend to do more with less than the Army. Just had to take a crack at them.

[[deleted user]]

Thats awesome!! So basically the decentralized command is more... direct? like, without all the red tape and rules and everything.. its more they know there GOAL and will do whatever they need to get there, compared to centralized command which is all rules and captains and no responsibility on your part, its more of only one person really knows the objective and everyone has to work together to get there. right?

[Edward]

More or less. Centralized command the enlisted know what they're doing and how to do it. Decentralized command enlisted and NCOs know what they're doing and why they're doing, leaving room for improvisation.

I have a book called The Last Hundred Yards: The NCOs Contribution to Warfare completely advocating maneuver over attrition. Later I found out the Corps uses maneuver and the Army uses attrition, which is when I made my decision about which to join in about a year.

Mind you centralized command is useful in certain situations. Army is mostly an occupational force because centralized command works best in a known terrain - like when you establish a base. Decentralized command is better for assaults, because it undermines the enemy's strength at less cost of life on both sides.

[Edward]

That's one thing that annoyed me about the Inheritance Cycle. Roran got in trouble for "disobeying orders twice." Okay, the second time he balantly disobeys his captains orders, but the first time he was given command of a squad and had to adjust to fit the situation. Without an officer to receive orders from and without telecommunications he had the responsibility to alter his orders. As rebels and undoubtedly a smaller force, they must adapt decentralized command structure to take on the Empire.

Actually, Star Wars - a universe rife with logical falacies - is better in this sense because it showed how the rebels ... stood a chance against ... the Empire. Okay, suddenly the Inheritance Cycle looks like a fusion of Lord of the Rings and Star Wars.

[[deleted user]]

I never thought of that before. But i understand what you mean... even if you don't do something to the letter, its still something you had to do to get the job done, right? I would rather decentralized command, it seems more flexible and powerful.

what one are you joining?

[Edward]

The Marine Corps. I'm not going to have Papa's job though ... I'm thinking combat engineer.