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Conquering the LaGrange Points?
3laws_safe writes "For decades, people have dreamed about building colonies at the five LaGrange points, intersections in space where gravitational and centrifugal forces balance out to provide orbital stability. But now, the official magazine of the U.S. Space Command advocates seizing control of the LaGrange points before other nations do it. From the article: 'We face the need to control the chokepoints of the solar system.' Arthur C. Clarke, who depicted a LaGrange colony in his classic 1961 novel A Fall of Moondust, is not very happy about this. He argues we should not 'export national rivalries beyond the atmosphere.' Is he right? Or should we prepare for the fact that such rivalries are inevitable, even in space?"
because someone covertly and dishonestly evil is that much better? grow up.
Ever hear of water?
"That's not even wrong..." -- Wolfgang Pauli
I could tell I was at L5 even before I fully awoke. At L5 your thoughts escape as they are born, not like every other mundane place in the old Earth-Moon neighborhood where your thinking rattles around inside your skull for hours before it can achieve escape velocity. At L5 you don't need any artificial dampers on the synapse. It's like standing in the slipstream of an open hovercar and trying to shout as your words are ripped away. You cannot finish a coherent line of thought. Ideas are just snatched away aborning. There was never any chance for setting up permanent stations at L5 as was hoped for ninety years or so, no more than my chances of winning the Nobel-Hitachi Peace Prize.
Why they wanted me to get, therefore, to L5 at all was beyond me. It was a lousy frigging place for a meeting or a powwow or a war council. Bad for negotiating, eating, listening, crapping, remembering to wipe. Everything useful and productive which humankind has done or can aspire to do wasn't worth a rat fart at L5. It was only good for floating around and drooling.
But I managed to think those thoughts as I was awakening at L5, only because I am the undisputed heavyweight champion when it comes to maintaining coherency during psychic meltdown. In that at least, I had an advantage.
So I awoke.
I stretched out and yawned, then reached up to dim the lights with one hand, rubbing my eyes with the other. I looked around. Kuim was not in sight. Probably in the hydrocloset driving the plasteel bus. The compartment was empty - I remembered - we were the only passengers. That must have cost some coin, filthy lucre I knew the speedfreak beancounters at the Department would never allow. Must be from the off-budget funds, or commandeered. I rang for the hostess. David Trump III had a gourmet's obsession with fresh fruits, as I recalled. There should be fresh grapefruit aboard. That and three fingers of black rum, the color of molasses and almost as thick, that would drive the howling demons of Morpheus finally from my medulla.
No hostess. I rang again, then I unleashed myself and kicked up to the galley. The bitch was probably on the bridge oiling the captain's joystick. I opened doors until I found the bar, and I was hunting among the canned goods when I noticed the door to the bridge. Was open, ever so slightly. With my well-honed discretion, I yanked it open, expecting to find the crew orbiting each other in a compromising formation. Nobody. I got a creepy feeling, the same one I get when my turbocycle goes bumptybump over some furry pedestrian on the Coast Road. I flung myself into the captain's seat and flipped open his mike.
"Kuim!" I barked. The sound whizzed around and came back to me unabsorbed. I clicked through all the cams on board. There was no one in any compartment.
Odd but strangely in keeping with the past, from the summons to active (put that in quotes, on second thought) weaseling to the k-man, to the Arkady model renegade. None of it made any sense yet. Perhaps it never would. In situations like this, they used to teach in Camp, sort out the clues. Rank them according to reliability, probability, past history, intelligence gathered and intelligence bought, borrowed or wrung out with a meat hook. Make a battle plan and three backups. Allow for all eventualities. Bullshit, all that. In the real arena of jumping weasels, you quickly learned that confusion
was the enemy, and the way to deal with the enemy was with firepower, to soften up the unknown with a few thousand rounds of osmium fulminate slugs followed by carbon steel hail bomblets. Unfortunately, all I had brought with me was the old Colt 9mm and two spare clips. Hardly enough to hold off a space assault. On the other hand, the technowarriors would be aghast at the havoc which a thirty-credit lead slug from a sixty-year-old pistol can wreak on its way through your average hull in space. If you remembered to file a nice little x on the nose, which I had.
I was pleading with my scabrous left brain to recall wheth
It was bad enough that they had to learn enough geography to know where Iraq is; now they have to learn enough physics to know about LaGrange points? It's tough being an über-patriot.
Fucking try us dumbass. Bring it the fuck on if you've got the balls. We'll nuke you back to the stone age and not even blink you cocksucker.
Please do NOT export USA "way of life" as it was exported to Vietnam, Hiroshima, Nagazaki, Iraq, Afhganistan,.... (unending list.....)
They want you to either STFU or move out.
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Trolling the trolls since um...June 2005.
Vietnam and Iraq clearly did not attack America first (only in the alternate universe of the criminal-in-chief where the truth is spun of a web of lies). Their sovereignty was first invaded by America, and neither launched an offense against America, except as part of a regional civil war or protecting their own homeland.
How was the American way of life exported to Hiroshima and Nagasaki by using weapons of mass destruction to vaporize large numbers of civilians? I guess that would justify Iraq or Iran using weapons of mass destruction against us since we attacked Iraq and materially supported Iraq's slaughter of Iranians?
Once again, demonstrating the average American citizens' utter cluelessness. Have you bothered to review the former professions of the elected legislative body and the Supreme Court?
Once again, the Rush Limbaugh ditto heads demonstrates their mental acuity and grasp of rhetoric. North Korea has enough economic resources to recreate a physics experiment from the 1940's. You're actually claiming they would be able to hold the LaGrange highground? Posing that ridiculous argument in favor of the US is the same as posing the question, "How can you be against world peace? Do you hate non-Americans? Is that why you go overseas to kill them?"
The USPS is an awesome example of gov't appointed organization. Who else in the world can send correspondence among its citizens for only $0.37 USD??? If the USPS did such a horrible job delivering catalogs, commercial enterprises can move their business to UPS or FedEx. No, it doesn't look like it, you commie pinko, maligning a branch of the United States!
Only because America put the Secretary General in place, and US capitalist entities implemented the corruption. Yeah, I want those ethically pristine Americans like Tom DeLay and Dick Cheney establishing access to space... (Damn, I hope I didn't just scare the world into a struggle for outer space....)
There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, General Electric, and Exxon
...Fucking Liberal.
"radicals, members of the Sons of Liberty (who would be classified as terrorists today)" Hmmm did the Son's of Liberty bomb theater houses? Did they blow up shoppers at the market? Did they slaughter repair men. Did they intentianally murder as many ordinary working people as they could? Your accusation is wrong. You claim to know history? You know nothing of history or greatness. Washington was great for many reasons. The colonial army followed him with great loyalty. He won many victories, he won against the British. You want a perfect war. They don't exist. Mistakes happen in war as they do in life. He could have ruled the country through the military, he didn't. He could have rulled the country through politics, winning election after election (there were no term limits on the presedency then), but he choose the leave after his second term which set such a strong precident that legal enforcement was not needed untill many years after Washington died. You seem to think Washington was an inept man motivated by spite and a desire for creating his own Dynasty.You are like a man who when presented with a perl hurls it into the ocean cursing it.
Hey.. this is America, buddy. Just because we throw a kick-ass party and everyone wants to come doesn't mean everyone is invited. Tough shit.
What is your penile percentile?
Given the number of troll moderations you got today, it should be clear you're speaking to the wrong crowd. I find it really funny that they all get up and arms about free software, fair use, bad patent laws, etc. but if you mention something bad about Bush you get wacked in the head within seconds.
The topic in question has to do with people not getting along, wars, etc. What greater example can you get?
Generally, conservatives are not going to come out and say that. Honestly, the "Liberal poster" should probably not be living in the US because he quite obviously detests the country and even more so, its founding.
Modern liberal. Not to mention conservatives believe in bearing arms et al, while liberals do not (even if they go hunting every now and then...).