yes, as a former Marine myself, you are taught early on to use the phrase "former" in lieu of "ex".
i cringe when someone calls me an ex-marine. its the same as someone who hasnt served in the Marine Corps calling me a jarhead.

i think its time for a camera flash mob appearance.

this lady is wrong wrong wrong!

we shouldnt let our children out of our sites until we send them off to the front lines to fight wars.

at 10 years old, i would come home from school everyday, do homework, go outside and play, then make myself dinner.....all before my mom got home from work. these poor kids today are way too sheltered.

i do support giving kids on their own a cell phone. mostly because its almost impossible to find a working pay phone these days.

i already travel like this...somewhat.
i use a laptop sleeve (from timbuk2) that protects my laptop in my messenger bag. all i have to do to pass security check is to pull it out of my bag and lay it on xray machine.
http://www.timbuk2.com/tb2/products/laptop/classic-laptop-sleeve

yup!

wowhead.com

is where its at!

Those are a great concept.
I always end up placing my knife blade side up between the tines of the fork to avoid touching the table surface.