Oh, his Mom says he’s nice. Ok, no problem here.
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Very good point. He clearly has some problems, and they don’t need to have anything to do with being a vet.
I agree that all that ammo and no gun for it definitely looks he was transporting it to someone else. Whether it was someone who exists in real life or not.
I like the pawn shop idea, it seems plausible, I really hope this was that or similar. But the radios, and all those magazines… Should we be worried about someone wandering around with that riffle, 22 (?) clips and 1 (?) partner short?
Marine vet found to be on NYC subway whilst carrying huge stash of weapons
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…a shotgun, a cache of ammunition, a frickin’ laser and a machete.
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Are you sure, that doesn’t seem right? Again I’m fairly certain the found applies to the weapons. He wasn’t found to be on the subway, he was found to be carrying weapons. I’m pretty sure that “Marine vet on NYC subway found to be carrying a lot of weapons.” is the correct grammar, or I could be found to be wrong. it has happened before. 
The official story uses found applied to what he was carrying
“A former Marine was arrested on the subway in Brooklyn after police found he was carrying a duffel bag containing a shotgun, a cache of ammunition, a laser and a machete, law enforcement sources say.”
he was arrested on the subway, he was found to be carrying
The shotgun is stainless and with the shorter barrel for self defense use. The stainless version is popular for people living on boats or along the ocean.
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I’m reporting for Aspergers Today - the fact that a subway train could have been damaged in a shootout is clearly the most important aspect of the story for our readership - questions about how this incident happened must be asked e.g. what is the make of the engine, what voltage is used to power the motor, what is the stall torque, will the train be OK?
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That’s a very deliberate and prominent part of the whole Marine mystique; you’re never an *ex-*Marine. Guys (and it’s almost exclusively guys who make a big deal about this) who signed up for a single tour of duty in their twenties, in peacetime, slap Semper Fi bumper stickers on their cars for the rest of their lives.
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That’s downright socialist. Going round suggesting what folks need rather than what they want? For shame.
So, he had a shotgun and a machete? Check my math on this, but I think that makes two weapons, only one of which is a gun. That’s certainly more weapons than I am carrying with me, but does it really qualify as “a whole lot”?
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various machine gun and handgun magazines,
Sigh - media ignorance or bias to use emotional language to get people excitable?
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Who needs a laser with a SHARK, but people seem to want them.
No, his mom says that he has mental health issues, and that he feels like he has to “protect New York” because he feels responsible for letting 9/11 happen. While I guess it’s appropriate that he was arrested, I really hope he gets the help he deserves instead of spending time in jail. It sickens me to know that our veterens don’t get the help they need from the VA - hearing stories of wait times of months or years, especially for mental health problems… it’s just horrible what the Republicans have done to underfund the VA. They need to be held accountable. John McCain should resign.
Is it bad that when I read the headline I thought it was Marine vet as in a guy that treats sick whales?
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My (Marine) uncle hit the beach at Iwo Jima and survived, and later jumped out of a shot-up transport plane without a parachute into dense jungle and survived. He is a very kind man, generous with children and strangers, who cares about the environment and human rights. He is not violent (unless you count hunting, fishing and self-defense as “violence” in this context).
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WWII was back before the top brass decided that they didn’t want just soldiers, they wanted killing machines. Boot camp used to just be about conditioning and training, and especially in WWII many soldiers received the bare minimum of each because the need for boots on the ground was so overwhelming.
Modern boot camp is much harsher, and puts a much greater focus on mentally “conditioning” soldiers to think and behave certain ways. Their identities are stripped down, they are dehumanized, they are robbed of their individuality, they are taught to conform and obey without question or to suffer punitive physical and mental abuses. It makes for an effective cog in the war machine, but it doesn’t exactly produce a well adjusted human.
It also helps that we no longer conscript soldiers - when you force someone to leave their family behind and fight for you, they’re less willing to suffer abuses quietly.
When you instead incentivize “volunteers” with desperately needed financial assistance, or pressure them to fulfill a societal expectation of “manhood” and “patriotism” and dutiful obligation, they’re much more tractable and put up with greater abuses. If they complain, you can throw their willingness to volunteer in their face, shaming them for wanting to “give up”, for being “pussies” and “faggots” and “cowards”.
And even beyond the immediate abuses of their instructors and fellow soldiers, there’s the societal repurcusions of “washing out”. How can they face their family if they don’t make it through boot camp? What will their friends think? Or worse - how will they pay for college, or pay for the new house, or support their spouse who got laid off, or afford healthcare for their chronically ill child/parent/sibling?
No, they’ll tough it out. They’ll take the abuse in quiet desperation. They can’t afford not to. They can’t afford to lose money, or face, or pride, or identity, or respect. True, no one is “forcing” them to sign up - but society tells them they have no other real option, so what’s the difference?
Hence, the military gets away with brainwashing their soldiers in ways they never could have in the first half of the 20th century.
If by “bad” you mean “awesome” then YES.
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Can I assume your bootcamp experience is watching Full Metal Jacket on IFC?
Can I also assume the last time you met someone that served in the military was when Recondo told you that abandoned refrigerators aren’t something to play inside?
That said, I didn’t serve. I could have, but I didn’t. (Why do Navy recruiters always want to visit your home?) Do I know veterans? Yes. Do I know combat veterans? Yes. From WWII all the way through Afghanistan and Iraq. The military is made of people. It’s made up of people just like you and me. No better. No worse. People join for all sorts of reasons. From the old stand-bys of patriotism and adventure, to wanting college paid for when they get out. Personally, the volunteers I know all wanted to college money, and left after their 4 year commitment was over (and in one case, got pulled back to Iraq because of stop-loss. (He didn’t even make it half-way through his first semester.)).
