WAY OT, but what really scares me is not dollars nor doubles in trouble, but the fact that our dollars don't seem to buy us reliable military small arms YET!
My baby son just completed USMC basic training at Parris Island. He did well; was platoon honor grad, shot Expert, came out a Pfc.--"pretty good for a college boy," as his senior DI told me.
He was issued a new FN-USA-made M16A1, which he nicknamed "Sandy" because she jammed at even the sight of sand (PI is made of sand). During the "Crucible" section, in a night live fire exercise, he found the target, squeezed off, and got a CLICK. Cleared the weapon as per training, and got a CLICK. One CLICK later, he rolled over on his back, stripped the weapon, relubed, and finally got his CRACK, CRACK, CRACK--minutes late. Swears to me that he spent about two hours preparing Sandy for the situation--strip, clean, lube, clean--as trained.
Now that scares the CRAP out of me. Told him to get hold of a Jungle Gun as soon as he was allowed, and then I got him a Ruger KP345 for when he's allowed a sidearm (which may be only when he's on leave). Not exactly precision arms, but they never just go CLICK.
I'm an old fart and had hoped to NEVER hear this M16 story again. But I've heard it from both Afghanistan and that other sandy place. What gives in the Republic, anyway? I know there's plenty wrong (like always), but why in Hell can't we get the basics, like rifles and VA healthcare for our troops right?
