Cougar_ml

umm, what? The topic is discussing something that's extremely rare to be issued to anyone, requires an act that many of the recipients of the ribbon don't survive. I fail to see any type of correlation between an item that is presented for acts of heroism and only in very rare occasions compared to an item that is literally issued to pretty much every soldier that goes through basic training (if you include the M16 variants with the M4). Trying to relate something that "looks military" to something presented to very few members of the military or governmental agency and then only in the most courageous of occasions is a very bad correlation. Not to mention the AR15 has been available to civilians on the open market for nearly as long as the military has been using it, whereas medals and ribbons have no civilian equivalent because they are awards, not basic issued items. Or if you want to look at it another way, a soldier may place personal significance on an M4 if it was the weapon he was issued, but in the end he had to give it back, because it was just a tool provided for use by the military to accomplish a purpose. Ribbons and medals are not given back to the military because those are the way the military shows it's gratitude and appreciation for what you did, a job well done, or just the fact that you completed some type of assignment, like the Korean Defense ribbon. Anyone who is stationed in South Korea for a set amount of time receives this ribbon. Those that aren't assigned there don't, simple as that. Anyone can buy the ribbon, it's one of the most common ribbons in the Army to get, as quite a few people end up over there. So would I be upset to see one sold on ebay? Not really. Like I said, it's common. There are literally millions of them out there in circulation, as it's been getting issued for over half a century, and we have tens of thousands of soldiers that get stationed in South Korea every year (with a 1 year rotation) Compare that to the Medal of Honor. There have been just over 3500 of them issued since it was created. It requires a whole heck of a lot more to earn than just living somewhere else for a year. Of those 3500, only 70 are still alive. Many receive it posthumously, and their family receives it. Typically those receiving it do so because their actions saved many other lives. To those who were saved, how exactly do you thank a person that died or nearly dies to save your life? Is there really anything a person can do to pay back that debt? I personally don't think so. Thus the medal is a representation of the greatest debt the military can have to an individual for their actions. To see something like that being sold is an insult to the memory of those that have died, and to the living that very nearly died. If you purchased an Iron Cross and claimed to have any connection to it other than spending money to get it, then yes, it would be stolen valor. If you bought it as part of a larger collection just to show all the different medals that were issued then no it wouldn't be. Don't get me wrong, I can see both sides of the argument. On one hand there are people that are really into having things as collectors items even if they have no personal value on their own, but have them simply to show all the ones that are available. It seems kind of stupid to me why anyone would want to own something like this with no type of personal connection. I really don't see the point of collecting little pieces of cloth and metal that cost a few cents to make, blowing hundreds of dollars in the process, but different people have different ideas on what's collectable or not. On the other hand you have people that buy this type of thing in order to lie about it. They claim to have some personal connection, whether it be their own, family, or friend. Just because there will be individuals out there that will try to use it for some personal gain of some type doesn't mean that the people who won't do anything to abuse ownership of it shouldn't be able to easily acquire it. To those that have a personal connection to a military/governmental agency award, and know people who have literally died in order to receive the award, to have something with that type of personal meaning being available for anyone who wants to spend the $7 plus shipping to get it and then abuse the significance of the medal is absolutely horrifying, disgusting and heart wrenching. To those that don't have that type of connection, it's no big deal, who really cares, it's just a piece of metal and cloth. To them it doesn't stand for the courage and sacrifice (potential or otherwise) that an award like this actually represents.

Some things were not meant to be collected by those that did not earn them. Think of being presented with a trophy for being the MVP during a sports year, then finding out everyone else has the trophy too because they bought it on ebay. Kind of diminishes the significance of receiving it.

If a ribbon/medal has been earned, it is presented to the individual/family at no charge. If one gets lots you can put in a request and they'll give you a new one. If there is some valid reason for a person to have one in their possession, then they can make a request through the proper channels and receive one. I'm sure there are some legitimate reasons for a person that hasn't earned one or had one presented to the family to be in possession of some of these ribbons or medals, but I don't know what they might be. I think in this case it wasn't just the ribbon, but the fact that it was being sold off as a complete presentation of everything that would go along with the ribbon to someone that earned it in the line of duty.

If it's a genuine set that was issued to an agent, then yes, someone needs to take it out of circulation. If it's not a set that was presented to an agent/family, then all you are doing is giving money to a guy with obviously little regard for the importance of this set/medal, and even encouraging him to sell more of them. Providing profit to those who are doing something that lacks ethics/moral character isn't the best way to encourage them to stop their behavior. We all have things that make us upset, and need to vent occasionally about them, insulting people who are worked up about something that has personal importance to them isn't necessarily the nicest way to handle them. So what are his options about it really? Buy it and dispose of it, the seller will just assemble another set through whatever sources they made this one. End result, monetary gain to scumbag seller, no downside to seller. Complain to ebay, get a response saying that it doesn't violate ebay policy, and go pound sand. No downside to seller. Complain to seller about how they are diminishing the meaning of what they are selling. Seller won't be guilted into removing sale because they obviously don't care in the first place. At worst, seller feels slightly bad, but tells person complaining to go pound sand or ignore them. Complain online on forum where there are many like minded people. Relieves some stress/frustration about it and gets some support from like minded individuals. End result, he feels better that the entire world hasn't turned to scumbags like the seller, but no downside to seller.

So they're going to give victims knives that are useless to use to defend themselves, where the criminal will have plenty of time to grind a point on theirs before showing up. Brilliant I say, absolutely brilliant!!! If this doesn't solve their knife problem then nothing will.

I think it's closer to a cube root than square

I vote 2-6, depending on what I'm using it for. 5 and 6 would make great crumbles for other stuff. 4 is about right for sandwiches and burgers 2 and 3 are good for eating straight out of the pan.

Even if it's been professionally repaired, it's still not the same as a vehicle that's never been damaged. Especially newer cars with their crumple zones and all that stuff. I would be honest with the potential buyer and relay the information given to you by the FIL that it had been seriously damaged, but professionally repaired and driven lots of miles since, and let the buyer make his own decision. It might not bring in the absolute best money, and there might be no signs that it was ever damaged before, but that's no reason not to be honest about it.

My mother's cousin's daughter (or in simpler terms, my second cousin) argued with her daughter for almost half an hour that it was too cold outside to go out without a coat and warmer clothes. Finally gave up arguing and let her daughter go outside dressed how she was. 30 seconds later daughter came back inside because it was too cold, and got dressed appropriately for the weather. Sometimes it's less stressful and a lot easier to let people figure things out for themselves.

The further you get into liberalistan around here the fewer wally worlds that actually stock firearms. I think the one in the article does, but I know the one on the other end of town does not.

You just used that one. Come on, you can do better than that

I'm only around 2500, which is pretty amazing considering how few threads I actually respond to.

So it a hotdog a sandwich or not?

This came across my facebook, Keanu Reeves answers fan questions while playing with puppies. Not really a joke, but not sure where else it really fits other than Random Postings, but this should have it's own thread

it's from last year, don't scare me like that I thought it was happening a second time (not that far from me)