My point exactly, although I couldn't be bothered to list the steps :).

You're undervaluing the technical skills military members gain as part of their training. For example, I was a radioman (otherwise known as an electronics technician who does comms) and most submariners spend very little time "driving the boat." In addition to technical skills, I gained firsthand knowledge of marine operations that translate directly to the civilian world.

Smart employers recognize this, along with a host of other traits found in those who have served honorably in the military. These include an understanding of tiered authority (corporate chain of command), the proven ability to show up to work on time in a presentable manner, the ability to work with others on a team, an understanding that in any organization each individual's contribution has a direct impact on overall success, and the ability to maintain a security clearance. With respect to clearance maintenance, this can be quite important in many civilian occupations that aren't directly related to defense.

You'd be amazed how many Fortune 500 business leaders have served in the military...

Unless you're trying to buy one online via AT&T's site.

Have you actually tried plugging a New York City zip code into AT&T's site? Can you buy an iPhone after doing so?

Actually, his comment still doesn't make sense, as the graph at the top of TFA shows the iPhone at 4% of the market for all U.S.-based handsets (not just smartphones).

Okay, from TFA, here's a graph entitled Top 10 Mobile Phones in Use.

Speaking of false, that's bullcrap. You could have at least tried a simple Google query for smart phone market share before wasting keystrokes here.

What the heck are you talking about? <-- Note the pretty pie chart.

There's been a lot of coverage indicating problems with iPhones in New York, including one Gizmodo piece saying a 30% dropped call rate is apparently normal.

[sanity needed]

Wrong. Especially with regard to service members serving in deterrent-based roles, the premise of walking softly and carrying a big stick is precisely the reason you can sleep well at night. If you think for a moment that without standing armies and navies the whole world is going to suddenly reinvent human nature and play nice with one another, you're very sadly mistaken. This will be a fundamental part of human life as long as economic scarcity exists.

That sort of reasoning is quite common, but fundamentally flawed. The fact that there are complex relationships between government agencies and private sector companies is an inescapable reality, but it in no way reduces the need for the product being produced. If you want to gripe about the fairness of the defense bidding process, go right ahead. If you're trying to use this as a logical means of implying the product itself isn't needed, you're terribly wrong.

You're completely missing the point that as long as economic scarcity is a reality, without military spending to protect your economy you have no economy. As another poster put it, calling it dead weight is about as disingenuous as saying the same for the accounting department of a large company.

As for your comment on "trained killers," it's a rather poor attempt to mischaracterize the military as a whole. Yes, the objective on the field of battle is to kill the enemy. That said, whether a veteran serves two years or twenty, most go on to successful lives in the private sector or other areas of government. The lessons learned (life skills, discipline, respect) from any time spent in the military are extremely valuable in the "real world," and your flippant disregard for this fact only serves to illustrate your lack of thought or obvious bias on the matter.

ATDT++++1800MODITUP

how much I miss my original mod [NO CARRIER]