Ayo Gurkhali - the Gurkhas are coming

[grumbler]

Well it does indicate that this campaign has just been about retired Gurkhas.  The fight over existing and future Gurkhas has already been won.  If anything I think it's perverse that the government's position was that those who sign up for four years in 1997 are able to live in the UK while those who signed up before, regardless of length of service weren't.

And because it was about removing an inequity, I supported it.  I merely pointed out that continuing this procedure as is was counter-productive.

[grumbler]

Whoa talk about grumbler being a retarded asshole.

Woah talk about me being unsurprised to see Martinus jumping into a discussion he doesn't understand to deliver a random ad hom.

[grumbler]

The Ghurkas use a variety of the Greco-Bactrian/Indo-Greek/Indo-Scythian calendar and some of their weapons have roots in the period, and are thus fantastically awesome.    Good for them.

The stories my uncle used to tell about his service with the Gurkhas in WW2 (and especially about the things they did for "fun," like sneaking into a German camp at night and killing only the sleeping soldiers furthest from the entrance to their shelter, leaving the closest soldiers with the knowledge that the Gurkhas had stepped over them twice while entering and exiting) were pretty hair-raising.  Not sure how true they were, but they sounded pretty authentic.

The kukri is, indeed, of a very antique design.  It is an example of a tool/weapon that reached an apex of design so refined that it wasn't possible for any real improvements to be implemented, other than improving the materials.

[Queequeg]

The stories my uncle used to tell about his service with the Gurkhas in WW2 (and especially about the things they did for "fun," like sneaking into a German camp at night and killing only the sleeping soldiers furthest from the entrance to their shelter, leaving the closest soldiers with the knowledge that the Gurkhas had stepped over them twice while entering and exiting) were pretty hair-raising.  Not sure how true they were, but they sounded pretty authentic.

The kukri is, indeed, of a very antique design.  It is an example of a tool/weapon that reached an apex of design so refined that it wasn't possible for any real improvements to be implemented, other than improving the materials.

That story is among the most badass things I've ever heard.

Yeah, the kukri is awesome and ancient.  The Turks have something similar, a yataghan, from the same presumably Hellenistic or Aryan root.