Slashdot Mirror
Military Seeks Approval to Develop Space Weapons
ranson writes "The New York Times is reporting that U.S. Air Force officials are seeking Bush's Approval to begin researching and developing space arms. While analysts feel this move will be unwelcome in the international community, military officials believe that "Space superiority ... is our destiny, ... our vision for the future.""
Probably. Who knows with Captain Coo-Coo Bananas in charge?
Sugapablo
"It will be a great day when our schools get all the money they need
and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber."
-- Unkown.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Shouldn't this article fall under the Political tag (of which I block).
Its not science yet, its a request for funding. Buts lets go ahead and bash America for what China, Russia, and the EU would do in a heartbeat.
I expect sensationalism from Drudge Report, not slashdot.
Enjoy,
It's just the normal noises in here.
Yes - as long as we can't or won't do anything about it...
A fine is a tax you pay for doing wrong and a tax is a fine you pay for doing all right.
No kidding...
They should change the name back to "Department of War" to better reflect the current mission.
Or, maybe "Department of Lining Halliburton's Wallet" if they felt particularly candid....
This isn't about "winning", it's about not provoking the rest of the world to hate us
Here's a little bit of a news flash: people hate us because we're on top of the world militarily, economically, and politically. It's envy, pure and simple.
The Europeans hate us because we had the nerve to get up and leave the oppressive regimes running the joint.
The Arabs hate us because they believe they're supposed to be running the world -- after all, it was only a few millenia ago that Arabs were on top scientifically and culturally.
The Africans hate us because of slavery, even though Africa is the only continent where slavery is still practiced.
The Japanese hate us because they thought they were supposed to be running the world by now. Oh, and there was that thing about two nuclear bombs.
In short, everybody is going to hate us anyway no matter what we do so long as we're on top, so we might as well do as we please without worrying about whether or not we ever win a popularity contest. Everybody thinks we're out to take over the world. We're accused of it regularly. So fine, let's just go ahead and do it. If we're going to be hated for doing something we aren't doing, we might as well just do it and reap the benefits of doing so. It's not like it's going to change world perception of us, now, is it?
But cheer up! In a century or so, the Chinese might be calling the shots worldwide. I hear they're real into the concepts of freedom. After all, didn't they prove that when they ground democracy protestors into the pavement?
Everybody loves to call the U.S. the Great Satan. Nobody really stops to think that, without us, your alternatives might be Hitler, Stalin, or a Chinese government willing to slaughter thousands of their own citizens who were merely demanding freedom. And then pretend nothing every happened.
Yep, people hate us...because they have no more use for us now that we've taken out the all the bad guys. Who was it who was screaming so loudly for us to come and defend them when Saddam invaded Kuwait? Oh, yeah, the Saudis...the same lot that's demanding we leave their terroritory. Who was it screaming for us to defend them when the Russians were threatening Berlin? Oh yeah, the Europeans. Who was is yelling for the U.S. to come save their bacon when Panzers were storming Paris? Oh yeah, the ever-grateful French. It seems the world loves to call us when something dangerous or dirty needs to be done, but after that, we're supposed to just go away and let everyone else run things. Sorry, ain't gonna happen.
The U.S. may not be perfect, but we're a damned sight better than anything else that's come into being on this blue and green ball. If someone else thinks they can do a better job, by all means let them step up and go play GloboCop for the rest of the world. Last time the U.S. decided to get introverted and isolationist, a German painter got busy and eventually instigated the deaths of around 100 million human beings.
So basically we're damned if you do, damned if you don't. Remind me again why I'm supposed to give a damn whether or not the world likes us?
In the end they will lay their freedom at our feet and say to us, Make us your slaves, but feed us. - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Of course we can set it as high as we want... But people want to directly reap the fruits of their own labor rather then "hope" for an average sum payout by the government. So while communism sounds warm and fuzzy, it's history of sucess is anything but glowing.
Asking everyone to collectively work as a team in communism willingly is like asking everyone to sing "kum bi ya" and make peace. While it's not "impossible", it IS highly improbable.
I really wish fuck-tards such as yourself would get off your hight and might horse and face reality and human nature that forms it in everyday society.
Life is not for the lazy.
You are right about it being false pretense, and you are certainly right that nobody should have to die. But it wasn't about oil. It was about shaking up the dynamic in the middle east and drawing fire from home. Perhaps you're not as smart as you think you are, and Bush isn't as stupid. Nobody thought this would help the oil situation, and predictably, it has hurt it. Maybe you should get your opinions from somewhere other than a protest poster.
Your president is a moron and you are celebrating that fact. I do not approve of my prime minister, John Howard, but at least he is intelligent.
I didn't vote for Bush, I voted for the Libertarian candidate, so fuck off with your pretentious bullshit. Believe me, right or wrong, nobody of any backbone in America cares what you think. Even those of us who want a more respectable Republic which stays out of other nation's business want it because it's the right thing to do, not because we give a shit about your opinion. If anything, I'm sorry that doing the right thing would even give the hint that we care about what you think of us. Historically, people have respected America because we used to stand for some ideals. But nobody has ever liked or respected us because we were nice people who politely took suggestions from British penal colonies.
For all you Americans out there imagine that China or another country openly proposed space based weapons. Imagine your reaction at that.
More to the point, how the hell would you react when China makes that announcement? Because they will. My guess is you'll be thinking: "Shit, I wish it were the Americans making that announcement if somebody had to!"
Well, it does have to be somebody. And you'll be lucky if it's us. So think about the reality of the world before you go throwing your smug shit at us Americans. There are tons of other countries who would make your life a miserable hell had they risen to the level of power America has, and it's largely thanks to us that you can afford to be such an prick about your superior pacificm because you don't have to think about defending yourselves. As things go historically, we're pretty innocous for a hegemon.