LINK

Never got around to posting this, couple good zingers in it, "Gravy SEALs", for example. Those internet posters that have never experienced war, or training, got serious burns from this article.



It’s not right versus left: it’s Dunkin’ versus Krispy Kreme, battling for the soul of the country

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Pundits and YouTubers these days love to warn of the inevitable civil war, as they sit in their comfortable, air-conditioned home studios, sowing division and unrest. And it is true: in recent years, America has faced a growing epidemic that threatens not only the health of its citizens but also the stability of society. But it’s not right versus left: it’s Dunkin’ versus Krispy Kreme, battling for the soul of America. Our nation’s obesity crisis has reached alarming levels, with a significant portion of the population struggling with weight-related issues.

However, I’d argue the physical limitations…

It is no secret that America is battling the bulge. According to a recent Pentagon study, 77 percent of young Americans do not qualify for military service due to being drug-addled, fat, crazy or some combination of the above. Another study from late last year showed that 20 percent of active-duty military are too fat for active duty.

With fast-food chains on every corner and sedentary lifestyles becoming the norm, our waistlines have expanded at a frightening rate. The thought of a physically unfit population engaging in a civil war is hilarious. Just go to Disneyland or Atlanta International Airport, look at all the people laboring from point A to point B and imagine everyone around you in battle. Your mounted division is a bunch of fatties on Rascal mobility scooters.


Logistically speaking, the girth of the nation also presents a significant challenge in war. Amazon and DoorDash are not going to be able to resupply your forces when they’re on the waddle. The transportation of troops, supplies and equipment would be a nightmare. Military vehicles would need to be reinforced to accommodate the extra weight. The cost of fuel would skyrocket. Pilots would have to make multiple trips just to transport a fraction of the troops. Picture the chaos of trying to airlift a team of Gravy SEALS.

Have you toured any of those battlefields from the last Civil War? It’s exhausting. I recently went to one in Franklin, Tennessee, and I was melting under the sun, dying for some water, after about five minutes listening to the guide talk about how they walked all night long and then had to run uphill with all their gear another two miles for the final approach.

General Francis Herron led a four-day, 120-mile march over the Ozark Mountains in December 1862. The average foot soldier was able to walk thirty miles carrying a forty-pound pack. In the years since, we invented the drive-thru pharmacy so you don’t have to shuffle from your 4×4 to the checkout while you get your heart disease prescription.

Some fat dude squeezed into a plate carrier will always inevitably say, “Well, I’ve got guns and that’s all I need.” This only shows how little you know about war. It’s about gaining ground and conquering territory and engaging in warfare in different environments. War is kinetic. Everyone can’t provide covering fire — someone has to be maneuvering. Fit people with guns will beat fat people with guns every time. Your fat ass is just an expensive loot drop for someone equally equipped and in shape.

Eventually you’re going to have to move — and if you don’t require a forklift to get out of your home, you’ll probably be stalked and butchered like a three-legged gazelle on the Serengeti. It’s highly unlikely you’ll be able to walk miles on end to go meet up with the boys for the next battle. Hard to storm the Capitol if Beth Israel amputates your foot.


Imagine the letters home:

Dearest Mother, We lost the battle for the River Ranch Costco. In fact we never made it. Some of the guys’ moms couldn’t drop them off — they said the gas prices were too high. For those of us who did make it, we got lost immediately. Someone mentioned navigating by land using a map and compass — but how would we use those without the internet? After a grueling ten-minute march in full gear with only our Hot Pockets to sustain us, we collapsed, too exhausted to continue. Who knew that my Call of Duty skills would not translate to the actual battlefield. We lost Ralphie. He had a heart attack while putting up his pop tent. It’s one thing to be a fat cop. It’s another to be a fat soldier. War is Hell.

Napoleon Bonaparte famously said, “Fat people do not belong in war.” If wars were decided by eating contests — maybe I’d fear the coming civil war. Perhaps it’s time for the nation to focus on shedding pounds rather than shedding blood. After all, a healthy and united America is far more powerful than fat, crazy and depressed one.

This article was originally published in The Spectator’s February 2024 World edition.

I’ve talked it about it for years. The “convenience” lifestyle. For many people, even cooking a meal is too laborious. It’s the same for these little shits on college campuses supporting Palestine. You wouldn’t make it 2 days under Hamas rule. So many 20 somethings bitch about our country. Ok then, move, GTFO. You don’t know how good you have it. Go do some push ups or something.

It’s pathetic, and what does our military do? Lower standards. Brilliant approach

quote:

Originally posted by Poacher:
It’s pathetic, and what does our military do? Lower standards. Brilliant approach

Oh, there's a lot of Guys in the Military that are still as tough as coffin nails!

I just had lunch the other day with a good friend of mine's son.
Marine Corps Captain who is just finishing up his "pipeline" and will be headed off to 3rd Reconnaissance Bn soon.
I'll be in Camp Pendleton in a few days hanging out with some bad-asses from 1st MarDiv.

There's still tough guys out there willing to make the sacrifice.
And yes, way back when there were some slobs too.

I’m a member of Walrus Team 6. We’re doing a tactical assault on the local donut shop in the morning.

All you need do is watch what happens when the power is out for 24 hours. Most people are going crazy.

Take a look from around the globe of what it's like to live in spots with ongoing conflict. Then add in just how easy almost all of us have it.

Nope, most people would fold as soon as the internet goes down.

I'm fit, but I'm old and have no interest in being involved in a two way range.

They might be fat at the start, but they'll be skinny or dead by the end.

We do have a very unhealthy population. Any war would be fought by the poor unfortunates who are actually ambulatory. The obese will watch online and be full of opinions that involve more aggressive actions.

Chairborne Infantry reporting in. Just turned on my monitor and will be flying the drone to the target. Maybe with all the drones noone will even have to leave the house.

quote:

Originally posted by Appliance Brad:
All you need do is watch what happens when the power is out for 24 hours. Most people are going crazy.

I have said for a long time that if you want to cripple this country disrupt the phone service. Twenty four hours without their phones 80% of the population would be jumping off of buildings. I am grateful to have grown up in the era of land lines, party lines and pay phones. I could easily go back to that.

People today are too soft, literally and figuratively. It's a constant battle with my kids. They have NO idea how good they have it. At least we are on top of the sugary food issue; both of my kids are slim and I sincerely hope that they stay that way.

quote:

Originally posted by Appliance Brad:
I'm fit, but I'm old and have no interest in being involved in a two way range.

This ^^^^^

I, likewise, am relatively fit. Because I'm relatively fit for my age I have some idea of what it would mean to hump 30-40 lbs. of rucksack, gear, and rifle over distance.

Hell, just rucking 22 lbs. of weight vest 2-1/2 miles at a go in the summertime was mildly challenging. And that was in shorts and a tee.

Somebody recently posted to X:

quote:

A dexa scan of over 9,000 American man showed that 97% are above 15% bodyfat. 

The average was 27%!

What the fuck.

Is the bar really that low?

Yes: The bar really is that low.

I've two friends and a neighbor that have all experienced or are experiencing health issues—two of them potentially life-threatening. I've talked to all of them about what they need to do to correct the path they're on.

None of them are pursuing it.

quote:

Originally posted by bdylan:
The obese will watch online ...

I think not.

Strategically speaking, both sides would presumably be equally obese.

When it comes down to it, I don't mind being cannon fodder for the right circumstances. I've made my peace with my God and it's not like this life has a lot more for me at this point.

All of that would change PDQ. Life would be disrupted to an unimaginable degree. People would slim down whether or not they were trying.

I have never been in war, but I lived in the midst of a Civil War in Sri Lanka in 1985–86. What you say about gaining territory, marching 30 miles, providing covering fire and so on had nothing to do with Civil War as I saw it. It was more like a series of small scale attacks and counterattacks all over the country.

The two sides were the Sinhalese majority, who were Buddhist, and the Tamil minority, who were Hindu. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam, the LTTE, fought for independence from the Sinhalese government.

They invented the suicide bomber. Rajiv Gandhi was killed in 1991 when a young woman, dressed in the traditional sari, offered him a bouquet of flowers. And then she blew up.

When I was there, one of the really gruesome tactics was to turn portable radios into bombs and leave them scattered through Colombo, the main Sinhalese strong hold. Portable radios were still novelties in Sri Lanka, so people picked them up and turned them on. Often children.

Jaffna, the northernmost province comprising the tip of the teardrop shaped island, was the LTTE strong hold. The Sinhalese army tried to engage in pitch battles with the LTTE, but the rebels fought much like our rebels in the Revolution.

American will not have a Civil War. But if we did, I think it would resemble the Civil War in Sri Lanka. Fitness would not be a critical issue.

quote:

Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
People today are too soft, literally and figuratively. It's a constant battle with my kids. They have NO idea how good they have it. At least we are on top of the sugary food issue; both of my kids are slim and I sincerely hope that they stay that way.

I understand your statement but being slim is not equal to being healthy. I know more things people who have had heart problems that I do overweight people with similar problems.

Getting rid of sugar is good move, I wish I had done it earlier. If I were to do it over again I would avoid sugar and artificial ingredients as much as possible with my children.

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:
I’m a member of Walrus Team 6. We’re doing a tactical assault on the local donut shop in the morning.

I'm in, how do I join up

I think I know how it may turn out.

The fat ones are easier targets.

Kidding aside, I don't think most could comprehend what a civil war would turn their lives into as justjoe said.

By the same token, the last two wars we had here about half of the citizenry didn't want to get involved and wanted to remain neutral.

quote:

Originally posted by mrvmax:
I understand your statement but being slim is not equal to being healthy. I know more things people who have had heart problems that I do overweight people with similar problems.

You are correct, but, if you know more slim people who've have cardiovascular issues than your overweight acquaintances, you and they are statistical anomalies.

Obesity leads to increased risk of hypertension (high blood pressure), dyslipidemia (unbalanced cholesterol levels and triglycerides), Type 2 diabetes, inflammation that can lead to atherosclerosis, and sleep apnea—at a minimum.

Put another way: While thin does not necessarily mean healthy, "fat and healthy" is essentially an oxymoron.

I say "essentially" because there are those rare cases of overweight people who do not suffer the common ill effects of excess fat. They, like the smokers and drinkers that live to a ripe old age, are the exceptions that prove the rule.

Further: Some research is suggesting a whole host of metabolic dysfunctions that have commonly been attributed to "old age" may be due to nearly constantly elevated blood glucose (sugar), insulin resistance, rampant inflammation, and too much body fat. This runs the gamut from The Usual Suspects (above) to cancer and Alzheimer's Disease. (Ref: Lies I Taught In Medical School: How Conventional Medicine Is Making You Sicker and What You Can Do to Save Your Own Life, by Dr. Robert Lufkin, MD)

A friend and I were just discussing how easy we had it growing up compared to our parents and grandparents. Fortunately our parents made us work and understand why being familiar with hard work and self-reliance were so important. I’m not sure 1 in 100 of the current under 20 crowd could handle a truly stressful event like war, economic collapse, etc. It would be too pathetic to even be funny.