My gift? Peace of mind. I will be leaving the vine for no less than a year. My time on Newsvine has been absolutely riveting, unfortunately to the extent that it has become addictive. As moderation isn't my forte I feel it's best that I move on for a while. Thanks you all for a great time!

I'd be remiss if I left without giving you more reasons for you to disagree with me:

Lionel Messi is overrated.

Ron Paul 2012.

Daniel Craig is the best James Bond ever. Timothy Dalton is the second best.

Thanks again everyone.

Whats up with this? They're asking us if we'd refer others to the site. OK fair enough, but I answered the poll and didn't have the opportunity to elaborate and I didn't get any poll results either. If you'd like, feel free to share and explain your response to the poll here.

*written with a touch of s\*

We all know that our comments and articles are the most correct, ideally orchestrated, and insightful to be found on Newsvine. Our flawless thought processes, paired with our unparallelled mastery of the English language merge into what can only be described as some of the best political insight ever offered. Yet something is missing - a voice. What if the was a way to add credence to our already marvelous words by assigning a voice so majestic that even the fiercest idealistic rival would have difficulty disagreeing with our flawless statements? Here you can. Have fun.

On my first temporary duty assignment in the Alaska Air National Guard, I was fortunate enough to go to Italy. I'd spend two weeks there in April of 2006 with the majority of my colleagues. The hours were short, the luxuries were plentiful, and recreation was all around for the taking. It was a cake walk. In August of 2006 I found myself alone in an unusual place and in the midst of strangers, from both home and from abroad.

After a night in Anchorage, I, along with a group of unfamiliar Air Guard medical personnel, accompanied the Army en route to our contracted ride on a commercial plane. Our final stop, would be Mongolia. Mongolia is a somewhat abrupt flight of roughly 3,500 miles West of the Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage Alaska. As our plane flew East I couldn't help but think to myself, 'I don't think I'm going to like being TDY with the Army all that much.'

We refueled in New Hampshire, Reykjavik, Undisclosed, and Kirghistan before arriving in Ulaanbaatar over 38 hours later. Over a crudely developed road and about an hours ride by bus and an hours worth of fascinating scenery we arrived at our final destination. A city of tents that would serve as our home for the next unbelievably fascinating three weeks.

Armies of eight other nations would be there, to train with each other, learn from each other, and live and dine with each other. The United States and our hosts the Mongolian armies were well represented. As were armies from India, Thailand, Bangladesh, Fiji, Tonga, and South Korea. The mission of myself, the other Air Guard personnel (sans the handful of Security Forces who came along), and a few Army medics was to provide medical support for the representatives of these eight armies.

Aside from heat related injuries, and a common theme of gastrointestinal discomfort, the trip was relatively free from injury. Somehow I still managed to log some fairly long days. I did manage, however to acquire a couple of days off in the form of trips to Ulaanbaatar. We visited a hospital, a museum, a mall, and a Buddhist temple. The most memorable aspect of our trips to town was the traffic. Imagine Frogger (pedestrians) at the Kentucky Derby (cars).

Most of us can identify with language barriers. Very few of us can identify with living in a confined area housing armies of eight other nations. The Fiijans could speak English, and they could communicate with the Tongans. The Bangladesh could communicate with the Indians, and the Mongolians and South Koreans were sadly restricted to little more than pantomime. Cultural differences were just as prevalent but through it all there was a remarkable sense of appreciation and respect.

Toward the end of the exercises the Mongolians showcased their culture at a presentation featuring an incredible array of national talents. Contortionists (yowza), throat singers, and bowmen awed the other nations. An army of ancient Mongols rode up to the ceremony on horseback to salute their soldier, dignitary, and royal guests. With a few days left, many of the participating armies worked tirelessly to choreograph awe inspiring displays of cultural rituals in order to both thank our Mongolian hosts, and share with the fellow participating nations. To say the least, they did not disappoint.

Our last few nights were spent packed in the recreation tent. The Fiijans passed t-shirt kava kava tea around until we were comfortably numb and with the help of the Royal Tongan Marines they impressed with both songs from their culture and some familiar songs that even us Americans could stumble along with. Soldiers from the other nations soothingly drummed and hummed along. Not since have I experienced a more culturally enriching experience. I'd be surprised if I ever will.

Get smarter here! Well, something like that...possibly...maybe not..probably not...here's why not...

#10- IMO

Of course it's their opinion. Unless it's an undisputed fact backed by solid reference materials, or something that adds little to no value to the discussion, it should be an opinion. If you said it. It is now yours. That being said, nobody should need to preface their opinion, with the abbreviated version of "In my opinion.". It's redundant and it's an insult to our intelligence.

#9- IMHO

Get freaking real they aren't fooling anybody. Their opinions aren't humble and if they were they probably wouldn't be worth casting out into the internet for all to see. In their mind it's Gospel and we all know it. Stand by your opinion or shut the hell up.

#8- Where's the down button?

Let's face it. Some comments just don't deserve a response. I don't like my alternatives of, well, telling on them, collapsing their comment (making it undeniably tantalyzing to expand), or trying to talk sense into the person (never works, we know this). With one click of the mouse I could at least make one small step in the fight to debunk their incredibly stupid statement. Please give us a down button so we can visibly send retarded opinions to the very depths of the hell where they belong.

#7- Obnoxious, twisted, spin infested headlines.

(Insert political figure you've probably never heard of here)(insert political party here) said (insert horrible thing here...probably off record, in passing, and out of context but I won't mention that)- Is the formula that reaches the top of the vine time and time again. It draws the ire of both sides and it "sells". No fun telling it like it is right?

#6- "Teabaggers", "Odummer", "RepubliCONS", "Obummer", "Republithugs", "Libbys", "Shrub"....ok shrub is actually kinda funny...

Name calling. Is this elementary school? I've seen more sophisticated fights in a sandbox. If you call any group of people a name, they won't have any respect for what you say. They will not want to engage in a civil discussion with you. If you have no interest in participating in a civil discussion, @!$%# off!

#5- "Racist!"

If they can spell, construct a complete sentence, and they're not demanding a birth certificate, tossing slurs around or calling for genocide they're probably not racist. Stop calling them that; It does not foster civil discussion. Give your fellow newsviner the benefit of the doubt.

#4- "So you're saying that..."

When people say this is it ever what you said, or meant, or even dreamed of? Of course it isn't. It's usually a drastic and unflattering twist of what you've said by someone who has absolutely no legitimate argument in an attempt to make you look bad. Terrible form. Take your fellow newviners words at face value and this will be a much happier place to converse.

#3- LOL

The third and final acronym to top my list is the ultimate giggly pre-teen acronym. It has no place among adults. Did whatever comment they just made really make them laugh out loud? Did it really? If yes I certainly hope it was funny, but it almost never is. A person's comment should stand alone as funny. If they need a tired adolescent acronym to prod you to hysteria they need to alter their timing or delivery instead. Congratulations. They've conquered step 1: Using the internet. Step 2: Figuring out that acting like an 11 year old on a forum for adult discussion is not cool. 

#2- Capitalizing EVERY other WORD that you FREAKING TYPE.

Is it too much to ask for the occasional italicized word or the sporadic word in bold? For some, yes. They choose to capitalize half their post. Their very ideas fall victim to their "typers tourettes", and what may have been a valid argument is now entirely cloaked in the bleak opacity of the standard and egregiously self righteous, "preachy rant" format. Fellow Newsviner drpaul summed it up perfectly: "that style really f*cks with the guy in my head that I can hear when I'm reading!".

#1- Blind partisanship.

Think of someone who affiliates themself to the opposing political party who you'd consider voting for. If you can't think of anyone, you might be part of the problem.

They're they are my friends and foes the top 10 things on newsvine that piss me off! Let me know if I forgot anything. Better yet, let me know what pisses you off, and have a safe Memorial day weekend!

I almost never agreed with Driftwood. She seemed to be on the site primarily to inflame. My polarizing tendencies didn't mesh at all with what she normally had to say or post since I'm a bit left leaning politically. I'm not even sure why she got banned from the site. I know that she posts some truly right-wing garbage but honestly it doesn't seem much different from a lot of the stuff that Soph (she's truly a lot of fun) and Carloz (also quite personable despite his undeniable Newsvine prestige) post from the far left perspective. Her posts just pandered to the opposite crowd. To her credit the last comment I saw her post was giving Obama credit for terminating OBL. I was truly astounded at her stance on the issue given the noble deviation from her political partys consensus of opinion. I've heard that she was provoked before unleashing the COH violation that got her banned...and I don't doubt it as her viewpoint was typically an unpopular one based on the contrasting opinion of the NV majority.

What I'm getting at is I miss critiquing DW's RW crap, and she always responded to me in a civil manner. I guess she lost it once. Everyone makes mistakes. Stifling such a strong voice based exclusively on authority is a tactic that I cannot embrace. Who is Batman without Joker? Who is Vader without Luke? Let's bring some balance back to the force. Bring her back. It might not always seem like it, but she's good for Newsvine.