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Canadian Ex-Minister Calls For Serious ET Study

Nom du Keyboard writes "A former Canadian Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister wants Canada to hold public hearings on Exopolitics - relations with Extraterrestrials - to avoid the possibility of intergalactic war. Unfortunately he also proposes starting a 'Decade of Contact', which seems to mean spending a whole lot of public money on UFO education. Is he on the right track here, that we can't afford to ignore the rest of the Universe any longer?" From the article: "The United States military are preparing weapons which could be used against the aliens, and they could get us into an intergalactic war without us ever having any warning ... The Bush administration has finally agreed to let the military build a forward base on the moon, which will put them in a better position to keep track of the goings and comings of the visitors from space, and to shoot at them, if they so decide."

479 comments

  1. "Intergalactic war", huh? by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 5, Insightful


    Wow... a new low. The aliens must be laughing themselves sick at our hubris. The possibility that our weapons might prove a threat to a culture capable of mere interstellar travel (let alone "intergalactic") is about the same as an ant colony against the U.S. Army.

    --
    ____

    ~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey

    1. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Ry-Dawg · · Score: 1

      It would be kind of like pointing at a tank, yelling, "boom!!" and hoping for the best.

      IF there really are ETs here, they've done a dang good job of hiding from us, and if they have the technology to hide that well, they likely have the technology to wipe us out at a whim.

      Go Canada. Maybe this is where all the money for our 'Army' has gone : P

      (I am Canadian btw, I can say that)

      --
      rydawg --
    2. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by EvilEddie · · Score: 0

      This is a super new low for slashdot. Posting the ramblings of a demented 80 year old. Next it will be relevant quotes from Grandpa Simpson.

    3. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by syukton · · Score: 1

      I'm pretty sure that a six-stage nuclear device capable of a multi-gigaton blast is a serious threat to anything and everything.

      Having a vehicle that goes real fast (or folds space, or whatever) doesn't mean it will be durable. Those NASCAR cars are a great example of this concept; sure, they go fast, but they're made with fiberglass bodies that shatter upon touching anything at normal operating speeds.

      --
      Reinvent the wheel only at either a lower cost, greater effectiveness, or your own personal enrichment and satisfaction.
    4. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by GigsVT · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That's probably important to talk about too.

      Like "How not to get exterminated by a vastly superior race should they vist us".

      Us waving our collective penises^Wweapons at a visitor could get us in some real shit.

      --
      I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
    5. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Chuck+Chunder · · Score: 1
      I'm pretty sure that a six-stage nuclear device capable of a multi-gigaton blast is a serious threat to anything and everything.
      Without a way to deliver that to them I think the modern term for using such a weapon is "suicide bombing".
      --
      Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
    6. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by GigsVT · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You don't think that a race that's figured out faster than light travel hasn't also figured out simple fission/fusion weapons that we figured out 70 years ago?

      --
      I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
    7. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by NoMoreNicksLeft · · Score: 1

      We're pretty good at those too, actually.

    8. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by sinij · · Score: 1

      >> I'm pretty sure that a six-stage nuclear device capable of a multi-gigaton blast is a serious threat to anything and everything.

      Given we get to go to war with somebody that can reach us, given that we find where they come from... How are we going to get that 'six-stage nuclear device' to where it deals any damage? From where I we ether let hostal alliens kill us or help them kill us by nuking them ON OUR OWN planet.

    9. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Hey+Pope+Felcher+.+. · · Score: 2, Informative

      I'm pretty sure that a six-stage nuclear device capable of a multi-gigaton blast is a serious threat to anything and everything.

      And I'm pretty sure an arsenal of anti-particles would be a fairly serious threat to a siz-stage nuclear device.

      I'm also pretty sure an energy shield an order of magntitude greater than the device would help dissipate any explosion

      Indeed I'm fairly sure a device to change the direction of said six-stage nuclear device capable of a multi-gigaton blast would render the weapon fairly useless.

      In fact I'm pretty sure that there a myriad of ways of making any weapons we have as deadly a small white tissue.

    10. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by SoSueMe · · Score: 1

      I can see my shares in Alcan going through the roof!

    11. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The technologies might be very different.

    12. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Reality+Master+101 · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Have you not read the Arthur C. Clarke short story "rescue party"? It was his first story he sold, if I'm not mistaken. He had an amusing line once about (paraphrase), "People who say this is their favorite story of mine get a cooler and cooler reception as the years go on." :D

      All sci-fi geeks should read it. Considering it's around 60 years old, you have to forgive a bit of old technology, but the story holds up really well.

      It's a very interesting "what if" story about first contact.

      --
      Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
    13. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by B3ryllium · · Score: 1

      It's theoretically possible that a culture capable of attaining interstellar/intergalactic travel may have been able to eliminate almost all forms of conflict. They may not see a need for weapons.

      However, such a culture could possibly be very physically delicate, so they would probably need to invest a lot of research into cosmic radiation shielding, which (when taken to extremes) could completely shield them from anything we could through at them. Even rocks.

    14. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by suitepotato · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Forget fusion weapons. They'd not need more than a few stray rocks large enough to survive atmospheric friction. Boom, boom, boom. End of human civilization.

      If there was the slightest chance we were building up towards a war with an offworld power we'd need much more advanced technologies and we'd not be hearing about them in the open press. That should go without saying for all but the most deluded.

      I'm not sure which is crazier... the idea that we could use known technology to fight an alien power capable of warp-style travel or the idea that the government believes this. This is loonier than Saddam believing his weapons people that they were working on WMDs long after they stopped.

      --
      If my grammar and spelling are off, I am [distracted/tired/careless] (take your pick)
    15. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Maybe they will just exterminate the lesser species on Earth

      Is that any way to talk about the UN and the French?

    16. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      small why tissues have decimated the feline populations around the world.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Every_time_you_mastur bate..._God_kills_a_kitten

    17. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by utnow · · Score: 5, Interesting

      If you've never read "Ender's Shadow" then I highly suggest it. The biggest problem in defending yourself against an enemy in space is that it can come from virtually any direction (on earth you have to defend yourself on a 2d surface... slighly more complicated with aircraft are involved but still essentially a 2d plane of attack). In space the planet is mearly a dot and an attack can from any angle.

      So if you intend to protect the planet, you have to protect the entire sphere. If you want to take the attack 'away from home' as would be advisable if using a huge nuke as you suggest, then you have to move the defence sphere outward. As you move it out, you increase the surface that you must protect exponentially. It's virtually impossible (virtually... don't hop down my back about a general statement) to defend yourself against a space offensive due to this feature of battle in space. The only way to win is to be on the attack.

    18. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      LOL, a nuke, that's about as useful in space as a hucking the metal it's made out of at them, it'll be difficult to nuke someone in a vacuum since you know, your kind of depending on particles being able to hit each other. Furthermore, having a really fast ship counts for a lot, here's why, you fire a nuke at their home planet, assuming you can just look up at the stars and decide which one it is, it gets there in a hundred billion years from now, the radioactive isotope your using has gone from multi-gigaton, to less exothermic energy than I dunno water in water.

      Let's continue though, they warp up to the planet, fire at us with their clearly non-multi-gigaton weapons, apparently they spent all their time developing fast ships and are still using muskets in space (premise for an anime series?) and firing at out planet with their muskets from LEO, we fire a nuke at the ship, they warp home. Best case scenario, you take out their invading armada *somehow* but you still have a big fucking problem, they still have a plent somewhere, that can still come back with more ships to attack us again whenever they feel ready, and we have no way to retaliate against their planet - go back to the NASCAR pit, get off Slashdot, whoever gave you a geek badge should be smacked with a large trout.

    19. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by saskboy · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      Trying to defend ourselves with early 21st century technology is certainly pointless. Unless we possess 30th century technology in a time lab, and have phasers, photon torpedos, and force shields in development.

      More seriously though, I heard someone describe the threat of an object accelerated to nearly the speed of light, and aimed at the earth. The resulting explosion would tear a hole right through the planet and make life unlivable. In theory any civilization out there would do this to us, before we gained the ability to do the same to them - given lowest violent human common denominators. Humans are only as ethical as our slimiest violent criminals like the kind that flew planes into towers, or plant bombs outside of buildings. It might be a good thing that humans can't travel very fast, and very easily, or we'd have every nutcase trying to destroy the earth and actually succeeding simply by ramming their .9 Lightspeed Buick Century 3000 through the earth.

      --
      Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
    20. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Bun · · Score: 1

      I'm also pretty sure an energy shield an order of magntitude greater than the device would help dissipate any explosion

      What exactly would be the nature of this 'energy field'? You've been watching way too many sci fi movies.

      --
      "Anyone that has ever gotten an idea based on any of my work and done something better with it-good for you."--J.Carmack
    21. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      boo a Buick Century would fall apart long before it could blow through the Earth.

      An older Buick Roadmaster on the other hand...

    22. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by HanzoSpam · · Score: 5, Funny

      The aliens must be laughing themselves sick at our hubris.

      If they laugh themselves sick, are they eligable for treatment in the Canadian free health-care system?

      --

      Progressivism: Parasites helping parasites to help themselves - to other people's stuff.
    23. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by bensafrickingenius · · Score: 4, Funny

      Forget fusion weapons...

      Yeah, you're all forgetting all we'll need is a copy of Sasser on a diskette! Wait -- they're an advanced civilization, after all... better make that a flash drive.

      --
      I am not left-handed, either!
    24. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by mark-t · · Score: 2, Insightful
      What exactly would be the nature of this 'energy field'?
      Magic.

      That is, magic in the sense that the term is used in Clarke's Third Law.

    25. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by SpaceLifeForm · · Score: 1
      Perhaps that is the plan.

      --
      You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.
    26. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by shibashaba · · Score: 1

      Maybe the fact that we haven't found any substantial evidence of aliens means that they're less advanced then we are. And just because they have the technology to travel to Earth from some distant universe doesn't necessarilly mean they have any decent weapons or protections against types of weapons they've never seen before or developed. The Chinese developed and used gunpowder for fireworks hundreds of years before anybody made a gun with it.

      I'm all for the idea of building a base on the moon, I just don't like the idea of Bush being in charge of it. I wonder if we really are, I haven't seen any info on one though. Our military is already struggling for cash with the war in Iraq and I thought there was some treaty about having weapons in space.

      And whose to say another civilization would have any interest whatsover in our planet if they have the technology to come here? As unique as Earth is, more likely than not, the living conditions on another planet and lifeforms would be completely different than here.

      --
      ---------- Open Source is capitalism applied to IP.
    27. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Ford+Prefect · · Score: 1

      Thanks for that - it's probably one of the few Clarke short stories I hadn't read. I was expecting a twist in the tail, too... ;-)

      : digs out his paperback collections of 1950s-1960s SF short stories again. Ace!

      --
      Tedious Bloggy Stuff - hooray?
    28. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by zephc · · Score: 3, Funny

      If they come, we'll just round up the aliens and throw 'em into a volcano. Yeah, that sounds plausible!

      --
      "I would say that 99 per cent of what my father has written about his own life is false." - L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
    29. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by FuturePastNow · · Score: 1

      The aliens must be laughing themselves sick at our hubris.

      The aliens don't like to be anthropomorphized.

      --
      Give a man fire, and you warm him for the night. Set a man on fire, and you warm him for the rest of his life.
    30. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by stevens · · Score: 2, Funny
      If they laugh themselves sick, are they eligable (sic) for treatment in the Canadian free health-care system?

      Yes, but they have to wait for six months for an MRI like the rest of us socialist suckers.

    31. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by orkysoft · · Score: 1
      I'm pretty sure that a six-stage nuclear device capable of a multi-gigaton blast is a serious threat to anything and everything.

      If those "aliens" can travel faster than light, why would you assume they can't just displace the entire nuke straight into hyperspace; blast, radiation, the lot? They might just have no idea of fair play...

      (Bonus points for whoever recognizes the reference I made!)

      --

      I suffer from attention surplus disorder.
    32. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Or the 40+ million capitalist suckers in the US who don't get access to MRI's at all.

    33. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Ex-MislTech · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Trip I don't think I can agree with you enough .

      I served in the US military on a weapons test platform built on a
      old DLG destroyer renamed a CG cruiser class, think vietnam era .

      The ship was nearly 25 yrs old and in bad shape .

      Needless to say we are not anywhere near a 100% target rate .

      Taking it a step further, if we have had more than one shuttle blow
      up just trying to fly we are in VERY sad shape if a alien race
      did decide to take us out .

      I think what you see in "War of the Worlds" would be a friggin joke compared to
      pinpoint strikes from space by a Instellar Battleship with multiple fusion reactors .

      Cloaking technology maybe ??? I think if they didn't want us to see them they
      could do that as well, even our gimp tech has stealth .

      We have a weak version of the cloak due to a US general wanting the predator tech .

      I think the might just bombard the earth with short lived radiation that affects certain
      DNA strands and leave the planet completely unscathed but devoid of humans .

      What they "could" do is so far and beyond what we can imagine, we would be stunned .

      Hell one guy in scooter could fly by and release a bio weapon and we wouldn't even know,
      imagine what their molecular biologists could design .

      Poof bye humans !

      We better hope that so called aliens that can wormhole across the universe are friendly or else
      we are so very very screwed .

      Ex-MislTech

      --
      google "32 trillion offshore needs IRS attention"
    34. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by whitehatlurker · · Score: 1
      I had forgotten that story was Clarke's. For some reason I had thought that was Asimov's. It doesn't ring the way a lot of Clarke's work does for me.

      "People who say this is their favorite story of mine get a cooler and cooler reception as the years go on."
      I can't find this quote online (even paraphrased), but I can hear him saying that. My favorite A C Clarke quote is his 69th Law.

      --
      .. paranoid crackpot leftover from the days of Amiga.
    35. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      More seriously though, I heard someone describe the threat of an object accelerated to nearly the speed of light, and aimed at the earth. The resulting explosion would tear a hole right through the planet and make life unlivable.

      Ummm, no. Humans currently do this all the time - it's called a particle accelerator. This is an ordinary, everyday thing at CERN, the RHIC at Brookhaven National Laboratory, and lots of other places.

    36. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by orkysoft · · Score: 1

      30th Century technology? Maybe we'll have flying cars by then!

      Speaking about flying cars, accelerating a Buick to .9c would cost a tremendous amount of energy.

      --

      I suffer from attention surplus disorder.
    37. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Ex-MislTech · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      I think 40 million is a little on the conservative side .

      I am thinking it is more than that, corporate provided health care is at a
      all new low and the 35,000 just cut at GM , and the 20,000+ to be cut at Delphi
      as the "first" domino effect of it are joining those ranks .

      The DOT COM BUST alone put I don't know how many ppl out of work, but
      I am pretty sure it is a huge number .

      Also in the US alone illegal immigrants is now over 35 million .

      When GM shutters 9 plants, ppl are not buying cars from them, and ppl
      in general are finding times a bit thin unless they are top of the tier .

      The lowly worker serfs are left to pick up the scraps .

      If they cant ship the jobs overseas they will ship ppl here from overseas
      under the absolutely wonderful unlimited L1 visa program .

      I am beginning to think it is just a race to the bottom, and we have no
      idea how low the bottom is if we cannot compete with countries that have
      few to near zero workers rights .

      So I am pretty sure ur 40 million is quite conservative .

      Ex-MislTech

      --
      google "32 trillion offshore needs IRS attention"
    38. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by c · · Score: 1
      Unless we possess 30th century technology in a time lab, and have phasers, photon torpedos, and force shields in development.

      Well, not really, but we do have Troy working for us.

      c.

      --
      Log in or piss off.
    39. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Akaihiryuu · · Score: 1

      Sure we have a way to deliver them...all you gotta do is load them up on the Prometheus or an X-302. Multi-gigaton naquadah and naquadria warheads aren't that difficult to build, SG-1 has made quite a few of them. ;) Seriously, I think this guy has been watching way too much sci-fi. Don't get me wrong, I love Stargate, but sheesh!

    40. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Gentlewhisper · · Score: 1


      LOL, a nuke, that's about as useful in space as a hucking the metal it's made out of at them, it'll be difficult to nuke someone in a vacuum since you know, your kind of depending on particles being able to hit each other. Furthermore, having a really fast ship counts for a lot, here's why, you fire a nuke at their home planet, assuming you can just look up at the stars and decide which one it is, it gets there in a hundred billion years from now, the radioactive isotope your using has gone from multi-gigaton, to less exothermic energy than I dunno water in water.


      Why don't we install FTL drives into the warheads then?

    41. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But if they destroyed the Earth, there would be no more Slashdot nerds for the hot alien females to sleep with!

    42. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      Nah, it's all about the bastards lining up to be the, for one, the ones who welcome our new ant overlords.

      Hell, if Christians are lucky, the aliens won't arrive and smash all their idols and make them worship new gods.

      If we're lucky, they won't be foolishly worshing any leftover caveman day ignorosavage fantasies about how the universe came to be.

      If we're lucky.

      Very lucky...

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    43. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      Well, good old Gordo Cooper's got the wrong stuff as far as aliens go, too. So there is precidence.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    44. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Tim+C · · Score: 1

      Any civilisation sufficiently advanced to have created a ship that can travel intergalactic distances in meaningful time periods (eg a few years, rather than billions) is likely to have also invented weaponery quite capable of reducing the Earth to smoking rubble.

      Those NASCAR cars are a great example of this concept

      Those NASCAR cars are:

      1) built for speed, not durability
      2) are not designed or required to survive in a combat situation
      3) are our tech, and cannot be compared to as yet unknown alien tech

    45. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well, remember when the aliens tried to kill us all on July 3rd a few years ago? Yet because they had a collective mind race (or at least a psychic race where no one could hide thoughts) they never had any problems with computer security.

      And need I remind you, because of that, it sucked to be them!

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    46. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      uh, i understand what you're saying but ...

      "As you move it out, you increase the surface that you must protect exponentially"

      Really? Surface area is proportional to r squared (4 * pi * r^2). Hardly exponential. You knew that right?

    47. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by emurphy42 · · Score: 1
      If those "aliens" can travel faster than light, why would you assume they can't just displace the entire nuke straight into hyperspace; blast, radiation, the lot? They might just have no idea of fair play...
      (Bonus points for whoever recognizes the reference I made!)
      Cowboy Bebop?
    48. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by emurphy42 · · Score: 1

      Yes, but those are, well, particles. How much damage would various macroscopic masses do if they struck the earth at, say, 0.9*c?

    49. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by cacepi · · Score: 1

      The possibility that our weapons might prove a threat to a culture capable of mere interstellar travel (let alone "intergalactic") is about the same as an ant colony against the U.S. Army.

      Shhh! Do you want them to hear us?! They could be flying above us at this very minute!!

      Shut up about the Army and its moon base!!!

      Sincerely,

      Dick Cheney

      P.S. - George says "Don't mess with Texas," you liberal pinko computer geek.

    50. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by dwandy · · Score: 3, Funny

      When we get attacked by the Nascarians, just stay to their right ... you'll have lots of warning as they make three left turns to get back to you.

      --
      If you think imaginary property and real property are the same, when does your house become public domain?
    51. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Reality+Master+101 · · Score: 1
      I can't find this quote online (even paraphrased), but I can hear him saying that.

      I'm (almost) positive I read the quote in a book of short stories in the mid 80s, which was when I first read the story. He said it in an introductory paragraph.

      --
      Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
    52. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Babbster · · Score: 1

      It's virtually impossible to defend yourself against a space offensive due to this feature of battle in space.

      Feature? I'd call that a bug.

    53. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by NitsujTPU · · Score: 1

      I've never read the book.

      Lets look at our perceptions of space, as we work with mathmatics.

      1D space will increase linearly.
      2D with the square.
      3D with the cube.
      4D with a 4D hypercube.
      So on and so forth.

      I don't mean to be rude, but I honestly see no difference. None of this is exponential (constant^n), and unmanagable. This is all merely increasing in complexity with the number of dimensions, which seems perfectly reasonable to me.

    54. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ummm, yes.

      Particles are hitting us at near the speed of light all day long, even without particle accelerators. You knew that right?

      But there is a slight difference in energy between a single particle accelerated to 0.9c, and say, 1969 VW Beetle accelerated to 0.9c.

      Whan that bug hits the windshield, it will make an earth shattering kaboom.

    55. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Lifewish · · Score: 1

      Not quite. In a 1D universe the space won't increase at all - it'll be two dots moving outwards. In a 2D universe it'll increase linearly - the circumference of a circle is 2*pi*radius. So in our 3D universe it'll increase quadratically.

      --
      For the love of God, please learn to spell "ridiculous"!!!
    56. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by fyngyrz · · Score: 5, Insightful
      And just because they have the technology to travel to Earth from some distant universe doesn't necessarilly mean they have any decent weapons or protections against types of weapons they've never seen before or developed.

      If you are able to place yourself in space, at any relative velocity, at any location relative to another object (which is basically the definition of successful space travel, no matter what the means), then you should probably also be able to place an object, for instance a nice, dense lump of lead with a steel jacket, at any relative position and velocity to another object, in this case, let's say, Earth. Launch position may be arbitrarily distant, if you accept additional time-to-target.

      So. Object (eventually, if you like) weighing, say, 1 kiloton (to give you some perspective, the USS Ronald Reagan, an aircraft carrier, is about 77 kilotons), comes into Earth's atmosphere at a relative velocity of, oh, say 1,000,000 K/sec, coming straight down (to minimize friction and time-in atmosphere.) Object impacts military target, for instance, the Pentagon. Washington, and large amount of the surrounding area, is now missing in action, and we have a large crater (probably a new opening on the sea, actually, thought I've not done the math) we should probably get around to dealing with. The radiation and blast effects may require a slight delay, perhaps, oh, I don't know, a few centuries.

      Total cost to those accidental discovers of space travel? Some lead or other dense material, a steel or other relatively tough jacket, and whatever space drive resources it takes to get to where launching it delivers enough energy to target. But remember — if they can get here and arrange a relative stop, then they can just as easily get anywhere else in the solar system at any other relative velocity. If they decide we're toast... we're toast, and there isn't squat we can do about it.

      Basically, the fact is if you assume interstellar space travel with any vehicle larger than a telephone booth, then you have to assume military superiority as well, and to a degree that is difficult to comprehend and requires no additional technology beyond moving inert materials around.

      Sorry to burst your bubble. ;-)

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    57. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by CrowScape · · Score: 1

      Don't need an energy field. All you need are good sensors (be it RADAR or whatever) and either a hit-to-kill or explode-to-kill interception system or directed energy weapon. Either one and that nuclear device ain't getting close enough to do damage. This is all stuff that we either have already developed or are close (within decades) to having in the field.

      --
      common sense: noun
      What those who are ignorant of the subject matter think; usually wrong.
    58. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by NitsujTPU · · Score: 1

      How exactly are you working that out?

      2 dots moving outwards, you would still need to protect the line between the dots.

      In 2D, I'd think that you'd have to protect the area of the object. If not, you'd at least want an offensive on the no-mans land between the two parties, which is again, an area, not a perimeter. I don't think that merely protecting the perimeter is a safe strategy.

    59. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by pipingguy · · Score: 1


      Surely a superior intergalactic race would have MUCH larger penises (possibly even using them to pull cars) than us and would laugh, Kang and Kodos-like at our puny demonstrations of testosterone.

      Psst: start building up the board-with-a-nail-in-it arsenal.

    60. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by NitsujTPU · · Score: 1

      Oh, anyway, that would still require you to protect a surface that is hyperplanar in the space, so my argument stands, it just becomes (distance occupied)^(dimensions figting in, - 1).

    61. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      Nah, we can always open our bag of tricks and actually build a cobalt bomb "continent buster".

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    62. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Right, the initial poster either meant 'quadratically' instead of 'exponentially' or didn't know what he was talking about. Moving on...

    63. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by JonathanR · · Score: 1

      Vogon shock'n'awe

    64. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Farscape?

    65. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      GM's a bad example to go by. Yes, no one is buying from GM, but they are buying from Toyota, Honda, etc. and all these companies are building plants in the US and employing the workers that GM is laying off. GM is hurting because it is paralysed by union contracts, not because of outsourcing. Other than GM, the US auto industry is growing.

    66. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      why stop there? They might even have a weapon to cause our Sun to go super-nova.

      Pffff...please.. Why take out one planet when you get take out all nine in one shot?

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    67. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Lifewish · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Well, in a 1D universe, it'd be impossible for stuff to get past your forces without completely obliterating them... :)

      You raise a good point - defence in depth is a wonderful thing. However, it's also very expensive in terms of forces, for the very reason you point out. This is why trench warfare was so common back in the day - manning every square mile of no-man's land would require far too many troops. In practice, the standard strategy was to man a fixed thickness of perimeter (the area of which would tend to the thickness multiplied by the circumference as the radius increased) with a few reserve companies to react to any surprises.

      Of course, this 2D model of warfare became less useful as access to the third dimension of conventional warfare increased. Paratroopers and stealth bombers, not to mention bloody big rockets, have more or less killed trench warfare.

      --
      For the love of God, please learn to spell "ridiculous"!!!
    68. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by chronicon · · Score: 1
      >I'm pretty sure that a six-stage nuclear device capable of a multi-gigaton blast is a serious threat to anything and everything.

      Without a way to deliver that to them I think the modern term for using such a weapon is "suicide bombing".

      Oh we wouldn't have to get that extreme, we'll just send it through the Stargate...

    69. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Ex-MislTech · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      By the time the moonbase is built it will be more like 20 years .

      I think we could send robots to the moon to dig tunnels and setup power panels
      to extract oxygen from the lunar soil/rock, but it is STILL gonna be decades
      before the seething bureaucracy can go from first square to last square .

      Bush and his family will be a distant memory, Ppl are not going to elect
      another republican according to the polls so your gonna get Billary or Skerry.

      We are hitching rides to ISS right now due to the shuttle problems .

      I do not take the US seriously when it comes to anything anymore,
      and I was born and raised here, and live here now 40 yrs on .

      I served in the military, and one word comes to mind, "FUBAR" .

      I worked on Missile Guidance Radar for a Experimental weapons test platform SM2-ER.

      Another word comes to mind "sad", they loaded a missile with the vertical launch
      bit set for a Aegis class cruiser , they damn thing did a hard turn in front
      of the ship and damn near hit the masthead where I was standing wearing a gas mask
      as a observer . I nearly crapped my pants .

      The turnover rate on my ship was over 70% it was so bad .

      Power tripping senoir military, Dear john letters, drunken madness at every port,
      we had a few suicides and a few suspected shark feedings of ppl that were not liked .

      When at sea hard steamin we were 12 on 12 off 7 days a week with heavy seas as often as calms ones .

      For a lot ppl the military is not there first choice, it is their last choice .

      We were the 2nd most underway ship on the east coast in the late 80's, and
      our Mustang Capt was bucking for Admiral . So we'd go float every chance he got .

      Advice to ppl, join the military if you FULLY understand what your getting into,
      talk to a lot of former military before you take the plunge .

      Advice for ppl join the navy, careful who you piss off, 1,000 miles from land at night
      you too can be shark food .

      Ex-MislTech

      --
      google "32 trillion offshore needs IRS attention"
    70. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by saskboy · · Score: 1

      "accelerating a Buick to .9c would cost a tremendous amount of energy."

      Precisely why there'd be such a large explosion from a large massive object like a Buick slamming into something at nearly light speed.

      --
      Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
    71. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by hoggoth · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Oh hell, you don't need to image any of that weaponry. All they'd have to do is fling rocks at us from orbit and pretty much wipe us out. You know what kind of bang rocks make when they hit at 28,000 miles an hour?

      --
      - For the complete works of Shakespeare: cat /dev/random (may take some time)
    72. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by NitsujTPU · · Score: 1

      But, even in trench warfare, there were multiple rows of trenches, right? There were also troops and hospitals and such behind the trenches. There were occupation forces inside cities in there. Couldn't one view planets as being equivalent to such cities, only stragegically far more important because of the difficulty of the intelligence task of analyzing a planet's stragetic stance?

      At that point, you'd have to argue that your occupation expands as a band across your holdings, or am I still missing something here?

    73. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by nharmon · · Score: 1

      Dude, do you have a license plate that says D-Fense?

    74. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Cpt_Kirks · · Score: 1

      You're over engineering the issue. Why not use that most basic of weapons, a rock? Instead of lead wrapped in steel, why not use a nice nickel-iron asteroid?

      Nothing to make, just give it push...

    75. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by gonz · · Score: 1
      If you want to take the attack 'away from home' as would be advisable if using a huge nuke as you suggest, then you have to move the defence sphere outward. As you move it out, you increase the surface that you must protect exponentially.

      Actually the surface area of a sphere is a function of r^2, so it increases polynomially, not exponentially. Even if you were measuring volume, it would still be merely cubic. Please!

      -Gonz

    76. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think this is an allusion to Scientology.

    77. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by elucido · · Score: 1

      Maybe the fact that we haven't found any substantial evidence of aliens means that they're less advanced then we are.

      This arguement makes no sense. If they are less advanced we'd discover them first, and if they are more advanced they already have discovered us.

      Just like we can scan radio and certain ways, they may have even greater scanning abilities, for all we know they might be able to read our brainwaves and predict our behavior on a level which would make even an attempt to fight back futile. If the aliens can read your thoughts, well its already over, trying to use a slingshot isnt going to work if the alien knows more about the slingshot than you do.

    78. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Basically, the fact is if you assume interstellar space travel with any vehicle larger than a telephone booth, then you have to assume military superiority as well
      Well, let's hope they're Time Lords then!

    79. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dude, do you have a license plate that says D-Fense?

      Probably. That's why he's an Ex-MislTech.

    80. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Lifewish · · Score: 3, Interesting

      But, even in trench warfare, there were multiple rows of trenches, right?

      Yes. But only a few miles thickness of trench was manned, iirc. See my earlier comment about this. There's no point manning a trench 200 miles away from the actual warzone.

      There were also troops and hospitals and such behind the trenches.

      Yes. But their prevalence was a function of the area of the trenches, not of the area the trenches were protecting. And, as I already mentioned, the area of the trenches was approximately a linear function of the length of the defended area's perimeter. There were occupation forces inside cities in there. Couldn't one view planets as being equivalent to such cities, only stragegically far more important because of the difficulty of the intelligence task of analyzing a planet's stragetic stance?

      There's no good short-term military reason to hold cities. The main short-term reasons for attempting to hold them are a) it makes for bad PR to lose them and b) it's a bitch to win them back (city warfare 0wns). Neither of these reasons apply to dead planets (no-one cares even if you do nuke the bastards). Planets with a large population will be able to support their own defence force. The only slight complication is lines of supply, but planets would tend to be far more self-sustaining than cities. Obviously in the long term cities are essential sources of high-tech products, but shipping raw materials to, and finished goods from, another planet is not terribly plausible (and unnecessary if the planet is dead) so this reason evaporates.

      Planets are not the cities of space, they're the lush valleys. Wonderful places to live, but relatively indefensible and not worth fighting over if they're not occupied.

      At that point, you'd have to argue that your occupation expands as a band across your holdings, or am I still missing something here?

      On the whole, the concept of "holdings" in space isn't very useful. Yes, you could build bases on asteroids and the like but, if you made it too difficult for enemies to drive you off, they could just nuke the hell out of you with no real repercussions.

      Given the cost and time lag of transporting stuff in space (assuming no warp drives, which would open up an entirely different tactical bag of weasels), the areas you'd be defending would be a limited number of high-density, almost entirely self-sufficient population centres which would be extremely remote from each other. Rather than defending these as a group (i.e. trying to protect the entire solar system) it makes much more sense to defend them individually, in which case the problem reduces to the 2D defence previously discussed.

      The only exception I can think of to this approach is stuff like asteroid belt mining and so on. With these, you'd effectively just have to accept that your operation was indefensible and attempt to move with extreme stealth, relying on the massive volume of the belts to protect you.

      --
      For the love of God, please learn to spell "ridiculous"!!!
    81. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by qeveren · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Um... 1,000,000 Km/s? They've got to be pretty advanced to get a projectile up to 3+ times the speed of light...

      --
      Don't just stand there, get that other dog!
    82. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by megan_of_wutai · · Score: 1

      Whilst I don't dispute your reasoning I do think it might be a bit hard to accelerate a 1 kiloton mass to 1000000 km/sec...

      Hint: the speed of light is 299792 km/sec.

    83. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by fyngyrz · · Score: 1
      Because some postulated forms of space travel don't have "push." So something relatively small, the right vector, and the right velocity, and you're done. I wasn't so much over engineering as I was generalizing against almost any form of space transportation.

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    84. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by nonother · · Score: 1

      ah south park

    85. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by shibashaba · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but if they're all living in caves with no powerful radios, satellites, spacecraft flying at us or anything else there isn't much to pick up with seti for example. We've taken pictures and such of the few planets closest to us but beyond that the only way we could tell detect aliens would be by picking up radio signals. Or they could just land here, but thats pretty much the only way for us to tell.

      --
      ---------- Open Source is capitalism applied to IP.
    86. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by NitsujTPU · · Score: 1

      Wow, you've really thought this out. Good points.

    87. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by fyngyrz · · Score: 1
      Well, the subject is "intergalactic" travel, right? Either they live as long as a sun, or they can achieve super-luminal velocities (or accumulate the energy equivalent as the object nears C... as Tau gets extreme, effective mass grows and we assume E=mc2.) Or they aren't here at all, which is actually my take on it, but what do I know?

      Still, I have no problem with the kinetic energy deliverable by a dense object traveling at 1/2 or 3/4ths C, so if you'd like to postulate that said intergalactic travelers can't break C in "real space", work with that instead. I think Washington's still gone. :-)

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    88. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Guppy06 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You're assuming that maneuver technology will outstrip detection technology. Once you start talking about detection vs. interception, things can get easier or harder depending on the manuever and detection technologies in play. But assuming near-future technology, though you're playing with three-dimensional volumes, it is very, very hard to be undetected in space. Unlike the vagrancies of dealing with the atmosphere, you will stand out against a hard vacuum, something that's about as "black body" as you're going to get. You will reflect microwaves, you will give off heat, the only question is whether or not somebody is looking for you.

      Once you're spotted, it's nothing but your delta-v against his, a classic battle of maneuver that even ancient, primitive humans like Sun-Tzu could tell you about.

      Basically, the scenario you're talking about is similar to what happened in the US Civil War; with railroads, etc. allowing for rapid movement of forces, as fast or even faster than your scouts could report back enemy movements, battles tended to happen around fixed locations where the attacker wanted to go (otherwise something would have happened to the Army of Northern Virginia somewhere between Sharpsburg and Gettysburg). However, since then we've improved upon the hot air balloons used in the Civil War with radios, airplanes, and even satellites, all mitigating the advantages of hiding your movements behind terrain. Pearl Harbor happened only because nobody could see over the horizon at the time.

      There is no terrain in space. You might gain some sort of surprise coming in with the sun at your back, but first you have to get to the sun undetected.

    89. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by fyngyrz · · Score: 1
      Maybe so. On the other hand, we're assuming they came here from another galaxy. (hint: Intergalactic war.) So they can already accelerate something pretty darned well. The whole idea of viable intergalactic travel may require that we discard the presumption that C is the max attainable velocity.

      Acceleration may not even be the issue. If they travel via a method that allows them to set relative velocity and position at the end of a trip arbitrarily, no acceleration would be required.

      As I said above, though, I'm perfectly happy with the amount of energy sub-luminal velocities can impart to an object. 1/2 C will do the job just fine, I'm thinking.

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    90. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Trigun · · Score: 1

      Do you want to know where your money has gone? Buying million dollar missiles from Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and GE, then dropping them on shantytowns in the desert is not a financial stroke of genius, especially when you could have done the same thing with a steel drum filled with diesel fuel and nitrate. Even with fuel at $2 bucks a gallon, it's a much better bet.

    91. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by orkysoft · · Score: 1

      Nope. Hints: It's not Japanese, or a TV show or movie or comic.

      --

      I suffer from attention surplus disorder.
    92. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by RabidMoose · · Score: 1
      Oh we wouldn't have to get that extreme, we'll just send it through the Stargate...

      It's a fargate, from the makers of Findependence Day

    93. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by adlib24 · · Score: 2, Interesting
      I'm just throwing this out there....so let's say I accept that we are not the only intelligent life in the unvierse.

      BUT what if we end up being THE advanced civilization gallivanting about the solar system and eventually (read millenia) galaxy....

      How do we really know we are the dumb, slow ones in the universe? A priori it seems just as likely we are the smart ones.

      I mean Earth's creativity could be truly unique. We could be the only ones who invented war...and weapons of mass distruction...the Chinese finger trap...missle defense systems...Kevlar body armour...traffic jams...pop music...ICBMs...reality TV...

      Well seriously, DESPITE our intelligence, what if all the fears and worries about a first strike/contact on earth end up being reversed? adlib24

    94. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Cpt_Kirks · · Score: 1

      Ah, you're over engineering again. Remember KISS.

      "Push" can mean many things. A laser directed at an asteroid "pushes" it. Convertional or nuclear (antimatter?) devices exploded on an asteroid push it.

      You might not need a bug push. A nudge might do it.

    95. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Thangodin · · Score: 2

      Uh, yeah... Hellyer has wandered into the land of the rubber room and the tight long vests.

      Any civilization that could reach us wouldn't have to. It's not like we're a threat, or that we have anything they would need. Dead, terraform candidate planets would probably be a lot more attractive to them than this place. Why not just mine asteroids and build orbitals? Why send occupied craft at all? This crap is like religion--limited human minds conceiving of advanced intellects as being the same as us. Like the God of most religions, they are obsessed with us, and want to control us and the world we live on. We saw it in Star Trek, Kirk's speech to one Superior Race after another about how we've moved beyond them. Even Babylon 5 did this shtick--I couldn't believe that after all his bitching about Star Trek, Harlan Ellison consulted on a series that repeated the only plot idea that Rodenberry ever had. That's when I knew Ellison was a complete has-been, and had gone legally brain dead somewhere in the mid 70's.

      If you're going to talk about an advanced race, use a little imagination, for Christ's sake. If you want to impress me, describe an advanced alien race that behaves like one, not like some ancient roman throwback. Why the hell would they give a rat's ass about what happens on some little mudball in the unfashionable arm of the galaxy? (thank you, Douglas Adams, for exercising the gift of perspective.) They would be going after Mars, not Earth. What makes you think that they'd even like our atmosphere, let alone our biosphere? As for Earth, they'd show up with an outrageous display of overwhelming force, just to let us know they're not taking us over, not because they can't, but because they don't want to, and then say, offhand, "You know, you really are semi-evolved monkeys. It's right here in your DNA. Work on that. Get over yourselves. And if you get your shit together, we might even let you have a piece of the new planet we're building."

      This stuff is pathetic. It's not even good science fiction. But then, the bright lights of the various defense departments are still working on remote viewing and telekinesis. And to think that these guys haven't done drugs. I say, go for it, drop a tab or two. It's not like it could do any harm, from the looks of it. Ground control to Major Tom...

    96. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Lisandro · · Score: 1

      Basically, the fact is if you assume interstellar space travel with any vehicle larger than a telephone booth, then you have to assume military superiority as well.

          Are you saying that Bill & Ted could be Earths' saviors?!

    97. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by petard · · Score: 1
      The possibility that our weapons might prove a threat to a culture capable of mere interstellar travel (let alone "intergalactic") is about the same as an ant colony against the U.S. Army.

      I disagree. More like a bacteria colony against the U.S. Army. The vast majority would be incapable of harm. Most of those that were capable of harm would kill themselves off before making a dent. Some could be deadly while thriving. What kind of bacteria would we be? Who knows.

      One thing's right whether you think of us as ants or bacteria in that scenario: our possibilities of diplomacy are nil.
      --
      .sig: file not found
    98. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by thelizman · · Score: 1

      I was in the Army.

      One time, during a field excercise, I set up my hooch on an ant pile. Six fucking bottles of calamine lotion and three bags of ant killer later, two things were definately known:

      1. Ant's can't be killed.
      2. Soldiers who receive more than 2500 ant bites need prompt medical attention and weeks of recovery.

      So I say to the aliens, bring it on...

    99. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The radiation and blast effects may require a slight delay,

      crater, thermal etc., i understand, but why radiation? it's not just a big kinetic bang/impact?

    100. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The biggest problem in defending yourself against an enemy in space is that it can come from virtually any direction (on earth you have to defend yourself on a 2d surface... slighly more complicated with aircraft are involved but still essentially a 2d plane of attack). In space the planet is mearly a dot and an attack can from any angle.

      This is ridiculous. The planet is not a "dot" in space, it's the surface of a sphere, same sphere that you're defending parts of the surface of in normal conditions. To show just how silly your reasoning is, consider defending a country half the size of the earth. A 2d plane, right? Consider defending a country taking up the rest of the earth. Also a 2d plane, right? But defend both at the same time, and, whoops, according to you now we have a "dot" that can be attacked in some amazing new manner.

      Nope, try again!

      So if you intend to protect the planet, you have to protect the entire sphere. If you want to take the attack 'away from home' as would be advisable if using a huge nuke as you suggest, then you have to move the defence sphere outward. As you move it out, you increase the surface that you must protect exponentially.

      Hardly! Do you even know what "exponentially" means?

      It's virtually impossible (virtually... don't hop down my back about a general statement) to defend yourself against a space offensive due to this feature of battle in space. The only way to win is to be on the attack.

      What pointless blanket statements.

    101. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by blonde+rser · · Score: 1

      Just to be clear Canada does not have a free health care system. We have a single tier health care system. To have insurance you must either a) have a job that covers it, b) be on some form of social assistance or c) pay for it yourself. This means if you work a contract job or several part time jobs (or your employer gives you full time hours but lists you as part time) you do not have health insurance unless you pay for it yourself.

    102. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by utnow · · Score: 1

      Last time I checked... that little number after the ^ is what 'math people' call an 'exponent'. You'll learn about that next year in algebra.

      If you wanted to JUST protect the surface area of the planet... radius 3,963 miles (plus change) you'd be responsible for defending an area of roughly 197,259,435 square miles. Now I assume you don't want this massive battle (involving your gigaton nukes) to take place on the surface of the planet in New York city. So you would want to push it out... say we get them only 20 miles up. Now we're talking about a surface of 199,255,470 square miles. By meeting the enemy only 20 additional miles before they reach the surface of our planet, we've increased the size of the battle-front by nearly 2 million square feet... and 20 miles is only as high as your average weather balloon will fly.

      So in summary... I just retold you what you knew already. My appologies. But you really should know what you're talking about before you correct people... especially when it involves 7th grade math.

      "In mathematics, a quantity that grows exponentially is one that grows at a rate proportional to its size. This means that for any exponentially growing quantity, the larger the quantity gets, the faster it grows."

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exponential_growth

      I realize that this isn't THE exponential function... but I was describing exponential growth. Perhaps that's the source of the confusion.

    103. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by James_Aguilar · · Score: 1

      What he is saying is that the aliens may not use "thrust" or any kind of explosive device to travel, so they may not be able to "push" as you say it. He's not overengineering, you are, otoh, oversimplifying.

    104. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by James_Aguilar · · Score: 1

      Absolutely not. First, OSC sucks now, he stopped being any good at all when he wrote the first Shadow book. Second, you do not have to have a sphere. One highly mobile ship could theoretically defend the whole planet if it could shoot fast enough and do enough damage. Similarly, several very powerful weapons to up, north, south, east, west, and down would be able to protect the entire sphere (The minimal number of weapons to give total coverage without movement is four, arranged in a triangular pyramid.). Third, even assuming the fleet needs to be in a spherical formation, you do not have to expand the sphere to take the attack away from home. You just leave the original sphere at home and send another group of ships to attack.

    105. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, Scientology.

    106. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by adolfojp · · Score: 1

      Looks like someone has been reading Heinlein science fiction lately ;-)

    107. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by andreyw · · Score: 1

      ...because we don't have them. To get an idea of how advanced human transportation is - there are still *steam engines* in service in a certain large country which has become the darling of many an IT HR department.

      Nevermind horse and buggy for even less developed parts of the world.

      Last I checked, space travel means riding on top of a controlled chemical explosion.

    108. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Lifewish · · Score: 1

      Wow, you've really thought this out. Good points.

      Actually, that was pretty much random stuff off the top of my head. Thanks for the compliment tho :P

      As I think a couple of people have mentioned, if you find that sort of stuff interesting then the Ender series by Orson Scott Card is excellent. In particular, "Ender's Shadow" for space warfare and "Shadow of the Hegemon" for ground warfare, although you'd probably want to read the original "Ender's Game" first.

      --
      For the love of God, please learn to spell "ridiculous"!!!
    109. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by killeena · · Score: 1

      Unless Microsoft is handling our space defense.

      --
      Freedom would be not to choose between black and white but to abjure such prescribed choices. -Theodor Adorno
    110. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by NitsujTPU · · Score: 1

      Haven't read it, perhaps I should.

    111. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by fyngyrz · · Score: 1
      My understanding is that you'd get ultraviolet, infrared, ionizing radiation, flash, fireball, EMP, ground shock waves, atmospheric shock waves, huge dumps of particulates into the atmosphere and associated interference with solar radiation, "energetic" weather, secondary (but major) lightning and plasma effects, acid rain... "sucks" won't cover it.

      Something hitting that hard comes apart into particles going every which way, including into each other. Highly annoyed particles. Lots of energy is released in the process, and I'm not sure that the effects would be much different at all from a really, really, really big nuke, though I don't think we can make nukes that big, at least, not yet.

      However, I am only an interested layman (hence my way overguestimating the speed and mass required... looking it over later, it turns out I gave an example that would destroy the planet. Whoops. Sorry. :-) I'm sure there are some serious physics types laughing at me right now, and perhaps one of them can give you a completely accurate summary of the results of a big kinetic impact. I just know it is very, very, very bad and you might rather have had a nuke go off, at least the ones we have had in inventory, just a hundred megatons or so.

      It boils down to how massy the impactor is, and how fast it is going.

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    112. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by rubycodez · · Score: 1

      How is any such system going to defend against the most obvious form of attack against a planet, an attack with kinetic energy? Give a mile or more diameter asteroid sufficent velocity and send to collide with earth and what could we do about it with less than a year warning? Nothing, that's what.

    113. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Riktov · · Score: 1

      >>
      The possibility that our weapons might prove a threat
      >>

      But can't we still still match them with our superior intellect?

    114. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by mikkom · · Score: 1
      Forget fusion weapons. They'd not need more than a few stray rocks large enough to survive atmospheric friction. Boom, boom, boom. End of human civilization.
      Exactly. If the US has a weapons station at the moon, how about shooting it down from the orbit.

      The situation is so similar to the one with indians (in both north and south america) and european conquerors that it is really scary. Indians never knew anything about other more advanced civilizations on the other side of the sea and when they arrived, they welcomed them as gods in south america and tried to fight with them in north. Look what happened.
    115. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      dude, you seriously need to read your own post...

      since I'm too lazy to create an account, (lost mine 5 years ago, tragic...) or look up any of your math...

      well, it looks to me like you need to review either your 2nd or 3rd grade math.

      Let's think now.
      As a "useful" example you talked about moving the "battle" 20 miles above the surface of the Earth. (means nothing: same battle)

      THEN you moaned about the staggering 1% increase in area needing to be defended?!?!? (yes, I am aware of the scale we are dealing with.)

      Seriously, just keep watching Power Rangers or whatever it is you do...

    116. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I know this is pointless...

      I saw a Formula One car completely disintegrate at the one race I've ever attended. The driver walked away in less than two minutes.

      I've seen the same kind of thing on TV with NASCAR many times. (but no COMPLETE DISINTEGRATIONS)

      What exactly were your points 1) and 2) again?

    117. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, it was a crummy little conference with no one to watch it, look at the video. It was obvious that they just finally convinced an ex official and used his name to get into the headlines, to draw more attention to the subject. Thats understandable, unfortunately the old guy seemed nuttier than a bag of peanuts. But laser weapons aren't joke matterial anymore really. A simple search on popular mechanics will bring up a few examples of currently released projects http://www.popularmechanics.com/search?searchKeywo rds=Laser+Weapon&x=0&y=0. Imagine the ones they havent released. Couple that with videos of other shit like this http://www.unexplainable.net/artman/publish/articl e_2261.shtml (click on picture in middle) recorded on NASA sats and other shit like this http://www.azfamily.com/cgi-bin/video/wmPlayer.pl? title=www.azfamily.com/20040716_UFO.wmv&vsect=News . And last, but most certainly not least, check out President Eisenhowers farewell address to the nation http://www.disclosureproject.org/videogallery.htm. Fucking creepy I say.

      The clincher will be when we finally get to the moon like our president says we will. What will go up first, a science lab, or a military/security installation?

    118. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also in the US alone illegal immigrants is now over 35 million .

      And this isn't Mexico's problem how? Can I obtain free health care in Mexico by illegally crossing into their country? You know, I was pretty pissed off when I was in Germany a couple of years ago and I had to pay for my health care there, instead of some overpaid, underworked German footing the bill for me. All kidding aside, all the "free" means is that someone else is being stuck with your bill. Why don't you quit mooching off of us and pay for it yourself?

      Seriously, I was laid off in the dot-com bust. I do consulting to pay the bills and have several kids. My wife's teacher health care doesn't cover any of us, so I have a medical savings account that I put money into and it's not like I have a lot of it. I pay cash at the doctors office and negotiate to get a good rate (cash now beats fighting with some insurance company for three months and then possibly getting your money, though I've had an occasional dentist want more money for taking cash - naturally, they don't get my business).

      So can you please explain why I should pay for you to go to the doctor whenever you want for no cost to you when it took money I didn't have to get my daughter's cavity filled last month? And no, I won't be in on your racket either. I don't have a flat-screen TV (had a 15-year-old 19" up until this summer), don't have an XBox for the kids, drive a 12-year-old good mileage car and don't have credit card debt.

      My life may suck compared to yours, but at least I'm not some pathetic socialist vampire sucking off of others...

    119. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Jasper__unique_dammi · · Score: 1

      uhm, "space tactics" is probably much more complicated. hint: gravity orbits may play a large role, being close in space may not mean you can reach each other to dock or shoot each other, what about each others speed? In that sense there is some terain, the planets and sun as potential wells.

    120. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by SamSim · · Score: 1

      Actually the surface area of the sphere increases with the square of distance. Sorry to pick nits, but I'm tired of people using "exponentially" as a synonym for "really darn fast". It has a definite mathematical meaning and that ain't it.

    121. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by salemnic · · Score: 1

      Oh come on. Polls this early in the game mean nothing. And I think you're wrong, it will be closer to 50 years before they even start on anything like a moonbase.

      Although, your stories about the US Army are quite interesting.....

      s

    122. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As long as they're not working at Wal-Mart, where they won't be paid enough to afford insurance, or one of thousands of other similar employers. Or maybe they're self-employed, and not doing enough business to afford the astronomical single-person or family plan costs. Or maybe they're contract, and forgot to realize that what they were paying as part of a group plan is peanuts compared to many of those self-employed plans, and didn't raise his rates enough.

      Sure, you could get one of those "discount" plans, where you get to see the doctor they tell you to see, along with the other 10,000 people on the plan, and the earliest appointment you can get for your sniffles is next month.

      Maybe I'm just bitter, since I'm one of those "unlucky" ones... two MRIs and a spinal tap, and I'm still going blind for reasons unknown. Well, I guess I can get a job making little paper flowers outside of Walmart for a buck, I bet those people get paid enough to get insurance, right?

    123. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by sg_oneill · · Score: 1

      Or have These guys channel them using brain beams, or with dolphins or ghost pirates or something.

      --
      Excuse the Unicode crap in my posts. That's an apostrophe, and slashdot is busted.
    124. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Guppy06 · · Score: 1

      "hint: gravity orbits may play a large role,"

      Any race capable of serious interplanetary transport (let alone interstellar) isn't going to be that affected by gravity wells. The more you're affected by (or worse yet, rely upon) gravity, the less delta-v you must have and the more predictable your path will be. All your enemy has to do is put a chaff cloud on an intercept course with you, something to perforate your hull as you go through, and that ends that.

      "being close in space may not mean you can reach each other to dock or shoot each other, what about each others speed?"

      If you can't shoot at them, they can't shoot at you. If they actually want to do anything to you, they'll have to match velocity vectors with you sooner or later.

      "what about each others speed?"

      Your velocity vector isn't as important as your ability to alter it. A straight line is a straight line, the important part is your ability to deviate from that straight line, or else all your enemy has to do is put something in your way.

      "In that sense there is some terain,"

      Even if you are seriously affected by gravity wells such as those around planets (in which case, you're probably already screwed), the important part here is terrain's ability to mask your movement. Having to go around an obstacle isn't as harmful as your enemy seeing you go around said obstacle, seeing you manuever, seeing what acceleration your craft is capable of, and extrapolating your destination within a certain radius with the help of Galileo, or Newton at most.

    125. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by ScrewMaster · · Score: 1

      You should read Pournelle and Niven's Footfall. The not-so-friendly aliens in that book use inertial weapons against the world's militaries: basically rocks with guidance systems dropped from orbit. Cheap, and by their standards simple, and very destructive.

      In any event, your original point is valid, and I can't see any military organization on this planet being willing to assume that a race capable of interstellar flight wouldn't be potentially dangerous. I mean, throughout history wars have started over misunderstandings between human beings, and odds are the cultural and linguistic gap between, say, the United States and the Soviet Empire will be tiny compared to humanity and any true alien visitors we may receive. Hell, nobody outside those respective governments really knows just how close the Cold War really came to going nuclear. Now magnify the diplomatic and communications difficulties that existed between those two powers by some unknown (but presumably large) factor, and then see just how comfortable you feel having an alien vessel (or fleet) with entirely unknown (but terrifyingly advanced) capabilities in orbit around Earth. No thanks.

      Some of the other posters have gone off on tangents about how evolutionary theory does | does not assure us that "truly advanced" aliens will | will not be peaceful | warlike. Useless, woolly thinking: the truth of the matter is that anyone or anything with more on the ball than you is a threat. Period. The only question is how to eliminate the threat, and that requires detailed knowledge of the potential enemy that we might not have time to acquire. All sciences tend to advance in relation to each other ... if he has an interstellar drive odds are his weapons are also up to snuff. Computing? Our best military-grade encryption should be considered useless. What do we do? Probably we'd wait for communications to be established, but what if all the enemy wants is time to get his cloaked attack satellites into orbit? What do we do? The presumption of friendliness due to "advancedness" would be stupid.

      Put it this way: the United States has more raw military capability than any other nation for the moment, and that makes us a potential threat whether we ever use it or not. We may say that we won't use it, but how many of you believe us? How many of you would try to eliminate all of us if you could get away with it? And we, at least, are human beings just like you. The mere existence of weapons implies the potential for use, no matter who owns them.

      Furthermore, don't forget that we humans are a fractious bunch, and if these hypothetical aliens decided, for example, to ally themselves exclusively with only one nation (China, say, or the U.S., or Russia) that in and of itself could start nukes flying, no matter how friendly the aliens themselves might be. The (correct) presumption would be that any significant advances in scientific or technological capability could have military application. Suppose, for example, these friendly aliens taught their newfound allies how to build a defensive force field to protect their cities from nuclear attack. A pre-emptive strike by that nation's own enemies might seem necessary.

      It is possible, I suppose, that the aliens might be like the ones in Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End. Those beings monitored and guided us for centuries, and ultimately for our benefit (at least according to Clarke.) But I wouldn't hold your breath.

      --
      The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
    126. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by stfvon007 · · Score: 1

      Except hes not talking about a 1D universe, just about defending a 1D area. (a person is practicing his archery skills in an empty field with a power line running through it. the rest of the neighborhood dosnt care unless the power line gets hit. (Not exactly 1D but close enough)) There may be other areas in existance, but we dont care about them.

      --
      All misspellings and grammatical errors in the above post are intentional and part of my artistic expression.
    127. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by fyngyrz · · Score: 1
      You should read Pournelle and Niven's Footfall.

      I've read them both. The approach was different here. Orbit, or close approach, are not required. The OP made a remark about weapons development which I was countering. If you look over the original context, I think you'll see why I took the approach I did.

      "... grandfather liked it," said Chester, averting his eyes from a lithograph titled Rush Hour at the Insemomat.

      Read that (The Great Time Machine Hoax) too, along with everything else Keith Laumer ever published. :-)

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    128. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by fyngyrz · · Score: 1
      Gah. Sorry about the first sentence, that was an editing fragment that slipped by me — I saw it right after I hit "submit." If I'd had more coffee, that would have read "I've read Footfall." I do read anything Niven writes, individually or collaboratively.

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    129. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by D2Deek · · Score: 1

      So. Object (eventually, if you like) weighing, say, 1 kiloton (to give you some perspective, the USS Ronald Reagan, an aircraft carrier, is about 77 kilotons), comes into Earth's atmosphere at a relative velocity of, oh, say 1,000,000 K/sec, coming straight down (to minimize friction and time-in atmosphere.)

      Three times the speed of light? Suuuuuure.

      A 1KT mass at a "mere" 50,000 kps (one sixth the speed of light) would impact with a force orders of magnitude greater than all of the nuclear weapons ever manufactured by man. It's what you call an extinction event. And at that delta-v it doesn't matter what angle it strikes...you're toast, period.

    130. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by cygnus · · Score: 1
      The possibility that our weapons might prove a threat to a culture capable of mere interstellar travel (let alone "intergalactic") is about the same as an ant colony against the U.S. Army.
      and we all know about the ant overlords.... HAIL, ANTS!
      --
      Just raise the taxes on crack.
    131. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by fyngyrz · · Score: 1

      Read the thread. This has already been covered several times, several ways.

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    132. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Darby · · Score: 1

      Last time I checked... that little number after the ^ is what 'math people' call an 'exponent'. You'll learn about that next year in algebra.

      When you're this completely wrong, you might think about not trying to be a complete dick about it.

      In laymans terms, the exponent is a constant the variable keeps being raised to the *same* power. That is a geometric progression.

      If the exponent were the variable, like say e^x then it would be exponential.

    133. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Ambient+Sheep · · Score: 1

      E. E. "Doc" Smith?

    134. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by D2Deek · · Score: 1

      The aliens must be laughing themselves sick at our hubris. The possibility that our weapons might prove a threat to a culture capable of mere interstellar travel (let alone "intergalactic") is about the same as an ant colony against the U.S. Army.

      If there were any advanced alien species out there with interstellar travel, we wouldn't have been allowed to survive this long. This is not out of evil, or imperialist tendencies, but simple self-preservation.

      For the same reason, should we reach the interstellar-travel stage, we would not allow other species to develop to a point where they are even a potential threat.

      Even if one would like to believe that other species would be benevolent, when you're dealing with the survival of your whole species you simply cannot afford to be wrong. It's just not an option.

      And if there exist aliens who came before us (unlikely, for a host of reasons not limited to the fact that our planet was not colonized by them millions of years ago), then we don't even want them to know we're here -- they probably wouldn't even notice swatting us.

    135. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Electr!c_B4rd_Qu!nn · · Score: 0

      There's Trekkie, and then there's this. And since when did the US Military want a foward operating base on the Moon? And since when did we get the means to shoot at anything in space? Ok ok, one rocket in a comet doesn't make us ready for an Intergalactic Invader....but we do have the Men In Black...right?

      --
      " i r 1337. j00 a l0z3r "
      That talk kinda makes you cry, doesn't it?
      That's right..cry those nerdly tears
    136. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by orkysoft · · Score: 1

      Nope. A different author...

      --

      I suffer from attention surplus disorder.
    137. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Nebu · · Score: 1

      How do we really know we are the dumb, slow ones in the universe? A priori it seems just as likely we are the smart ones.

      It's a question of statistics. The universe has existed a lot longer than humans have. As a rough estimate, the universe has been around for 15 billion years, and life has existed on earth for about 3 billion years.

      Assuming that our technological progression is average (and really, we can't make any other assumptions since we have no other species to compare with), the usually, if life on another planet was more advanced, it probably existed longer than us, and if they are less advance, they probably existed for a shorter period of time.

      Not having much information on the probability of life spontaneously coming into existence, let's just assume that the probability is uniform with time (which is unrealistic at the beginning, because there was probably no life during the high temperature levels of the big bang, but the temperature levelled off relatively quickly).

      So, assuming uniform probability, for each form of life, it seems much more probably that it came into existence between 15 billion years ago and 3 billion years ago, than it coming into existence between 3 billion years ago and now.

      That's why it's likely that if we encounter intelligent life, it'll be more advance than us.

    138. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Jasper__unique_dammi · · Score: 1

      Good point, it all depends on the capabilities of the spacevessels. I wasn't to nice with the "hint" thing.

      I do think in the future there will probably be little hiding. (though there is a lot of space out there, and a lot of stuff (asteroids, comets) that isn't your enemy)

      But dont underestimate the uses gravity, further away it may be small, but closeby it peaks, making it usefull for getting those delta v's.

      I've done some math, suppose the spacecraft can accelerate at 10.0 m/s^2 (earth gravity) (yes, i am assuming it isnt dragonball z space combat for the aliens yet)
      which is realistic, it will bring you up to relativistic (relative)speed in a year, good enough for space travel
      (300 000 000/10.0)/(3600*24*365.25)=0.95
        (classical mechanics good enough, will actually be like 200 000 000 or something)

      and obviously these kinds of accelerations occur because of gravity in space.
      (its close to it near earth surface)
      Dont know wether they'll use it in space combat though, they could send seeking missiles with much more acceleration. (which would be undodgeable by ships)

    139. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by srussell · · Score: 1
      The biggest problem in defending yourself against an enemy in space is that it can come from virtually any direction
      Yeah, this is a problem. Well, this is conjunction with the fact that the Earth is, effectively, an immovable object. With that knowledge, it becomes relatively easy to destroy all life on a planet. If you can't move, you can't dodge, and the most effective weapon against an object that can't dodge is a kinetic bomb.

      With some reasonable CPU power, you can calculate pretty accurately the position of the Earth at a given point in the near future. If you know that, it is pretty cheap to wipe out the planet. All you need to do is grab a big rock and accelerate it toward where the Earth will be when you calculate the rock will get there. If you get it going a reasonable percentage of C, we'd have practically no warning.

      You could even get creative and -- by choosing the size of your rock and/or the velocity upon impact -- cause an Event that would mostly wipe out the higher life forms, or just cause significant disruption to the humans. And if you missed, you could try it again... what are we going to do about it? We can't move the planet, and anything coming at us that fast won't be detectable in time to do anything about it.

      Incidentally, in Ender's Game the weapon had a side effect of being a planet-buster, which is what made Ender's gambit effective. Their weapons were Magic -- if all he'd had were some nukes, or any weapon we could build with today's technology, it wouldn't have mattered (much) that he could get through their defenses. Sure, he could have caused them some trouble, but he wouldn't have been able to wipe out their planet and (thereby) end the war. A kinetic bomb wouldn't have been such an exciting climax to the story, or let Ender surprise everybody with his tactic, though.

      --- SER

    140. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      PEOPLE, you stupid fuck! There is no such thing as a "psn"!

  2. Hmm... by MikeSty · · Score: 3, Funny

    Looks like Canada's finally doing something about illegal aliens.

  3. Is this serious? by mikapc · · Score: 1

    I can't believe it if it is.

    1. Re:Is this serious? by fiannaFailMan · · Score: 1
      Is this serious? I can't believe it if it is.
      I think that's part of the problem the guy's trying to overcome. It's almost impossible for anyone in authority to have a serious discussion about this without being laughed at. It's like a teacher trying to get the message about teenage pregnancy through to a classroom full of giggling teenagers who won't take it seriously.
      --
      Drill baby drill - on Mars
    2. Re:Is this serious? by elfguy · · Score: 1

      It's one guy with a few wacky supporters. This is nothing like the DMCA. He just happens to have been a politician 40 years ago.

    3. Re:Is this serious? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was always a sceptic, but I have to say, when I saw the nasa movies of the tether incident, well, I really don't know anymore.

    4. Re:Is this serious? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's like a teacher trying to get the message about teenage pregnancy through to a classroom full of giggling teenagers who won't take it seriously

      except, of course, that teen pregnancy is a demonstrateably real phenomenon, whereas you have to take what others have said on faith in order to believe in aliens.

    5. Re:Is this serious? by (negative+video) · · Score: 1
      It's definitely serious.

      And I'm helping him investigate E.T. My assignment is a detailed investigation of Drew Barrymore. <shiver>

    6. Re:Is this serious? by fyngyrz · · Score: 2, Funny
      except, of course, that teen pregnancy is a demonstrateably real phenomenon, whereas you have to take what others have said on faith in order to believe in aliens

      *cough*religion*cough*

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
  4. Feh. by Pig+Hogger · · Score: 1

    He was minister 40 years ago. He could very well be a member of the Hells'eimers now...

    1. Re:Feh. by Feyr · · Score: 1

      the fact he was a minister 40 years ago just shows how age can affect judgment. not that politicians are bright to start with.

      this guy is a loony, someone put him in a bin (that's a hell of a better use of my money than spending it on alien stuff)

  5. Oh man... by ovit · · Score: 1

    All I can say is WOW.

    WOW.

    1. Re:Oh man... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      World of Warcraft?

  6. Money by kryten_nl · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Yes, this is a much better way of spending money, then seriously studying the DMCA before you copy it from the US.

    --
    For the perfect anti-Unix, write an OS that thinks it knows what you're doing better than you do and let it be wrong.
    1. Re:Money by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What can you expect from a country that bans the hiring of white males and gives billions to people because of things the Catholic church did to them? Canada is a joke.

  7. Canada, eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Money? Afford? Shit, just hook me up with an ounce of hydroponic pot. Everytime I blaze I get smoked out by those bastards. They're nothing but intergalactic hash fiends, I have observed.

  8. Wow, this Canadaian pol is off his rocker. by ivaldes3 · · Score: 1

    He's totally lost it. -- IV

    --
    http://www.LinuxMedNews.com Revolutionizing Medical Education and Practice.
  9. meh by grumpygrodyguy · · Score: 4, Funny

    Any ET that Bush can shoot down isn't worth knowing anyway.

    --
    The government has a defect: it's potentially democratic. Corporations have no defect: they're pure tyrannies. -Chomsky
    1. Re:meh by Tatarize · · Score: 1

      Exactly, an Intergalactic war that involves the aliens continuing to come here and get shot down by a pea shooter. They'd have to be greys(withoutmatter).

      --

      It is no longer uncommon to be uncommon.
    2. Re:meh by emagery · · Score: 1

      Heh, as much as I enjoy making fun of the bush, it wouldn't be HIM doing the shooting... consider him a generational late comer to the scene who is best characterized as the comically dense nephew to our little productions main villian. The foil, or something... If you are to believe all the exmilitary deathbed confessions going around these days, we've been shooting at them for a long time, and have had a few notable successes... I, of course, am in no position to know either way... But, let us say, for argument's sake, that its all true; that given roman depictions of fiery shields in the sky, and funky lookin stick figures chalked on rock by native americans which look eerie like our current sociocultural fad monsters, and they HAVE been hanging around for 1000s of years... why oh why would anyone worry about them invading NOW? If our privatized alien-tech interests (no--if you believe everything else, then you're obligated also to believe that its no longer in gov't/military hands, but in private hands with 'connections' to people within the gov't/military who are not representative of the whole) do instigate a war, I frankly would bet on the aliens' tech capacity being a tad more surgical than our own... i.e., I would expect them to have a greater ability to disassociate the good guys from the bad guys and keep collateral damage down, maybe even to 0. Really, I wish I knew what was going on. Whether it's aliens or just us coming up with inertialess black weapons (as they have been seen and videotaped doing their laws-of-physics-deaf maneuvers) (and frankly, the implications are worse if we have it than if just THEY have it), I just hate not knowing. *whine*

  10. The Minister needs his meds. by jcr · · Score: 2, Insightful

    How sad that a simple case of senile dementia gets publicized like this. The media should leave him alone.

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    1. Re:The Minister needs his meds. by Bobke · · Score: 1

      If I'm not mistaking this is the same Canadian ex-defence minister who commented on the tether incident footage. He didn't look mentally disturbed at all, probably because the footage itself is absolutely amazing. A real eye-opener.

    2. Re:The Minister needs his meds. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which part of TFA are you referring to? The "defensive" military moonbase part?

    3. Re:The Minister needs his meds. by eclectic4 · · Score: 1

      Lumping the Disclosure Project with Scientology is a fine example of how to quash critical thought on the matter of UFO's and the reality of intelligent beings in the universe. Scientology was the dream of a science fiction writer to convince the easily swayed via indoctrination of falsities for profit. Yes, there are many in the UFO field that do this too, but not the Disclosure Project. They are a nonprofit organization merely attempting to provide truth. The difference should be obvious. If "...over 400 government, military, and intelligence community witnesses testifying to their direct, personal, first hand experience with UFOs, ETs, ET technology, and the cover-up that keeps this information secret." isn't enough to even lift an eyebrow, then I would suggest reading "UFOs and the National Security State: Chronology of a Coverup, 1941-1973" by Richard M. Dolan and Jacques F. Vallee. An astounding book based merely on research of our governments own statements, documents, etc... showing that there is far more knowledge in this area than many who simply consider anyone who has done the research and realize the possibility of the reality of UFO's and the enormous impact it would have on all humanity as... "demented". That's an ignorant and very easy thing to say. Bravo. I would not consider you stupid, just ignorant. I wonder if I could do the same and do nothing more than merely call you demented for commenting on something you know nothing about and get modded up. Probably not...

      --

      "The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel Boorstin
    4. Re:The Minister needs his meds. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you invoking Formosa's Law? Probably a good idea.

  11. Ha by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    The US government cant fight off a bunch of dude with AKs and home made bombs, and this guy from Canada thinks we are building a moon base?

    1. Re:Ha by vertinox · · Score: 1

      The US government cant fight off a bunch of dude with AKs and home made bombs, and this guy from Canada thinks we are building a moon base?

      Not if the moon's current residents have anything to say about it!

      --
      "I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
      -Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
    2. Re:Ha by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's genius! We draw alien ire on their own turf (moon) while we remain safe on earth.

  12. Don't worry, SG-1 will save us by MythosTraecer · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yes, the US government has been in a secret war with the G'ould for around 8 years now, but the SG-1 team is always around to keep the government honest. Well, at least until General O'Neill and Samantha Carter moved on to other jobs...

    --

    --Mythos
    1. Re:Don't worry, SG-1 will save us by seann · · Score: 1

      so sam isan't going to be on season 9?

      --
      I'm a big retard who forgot to log out of Slashdot on Mike's computer! LOOK AT ME.
    2. Re:Don't worry, SG-1 will save us by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's Goa'uld, not G'ould.

    3. Re:Don't worry, SG-1 will save us by Moridineas · · Score: 1

      she is afaik...she was pregnant i believe, thus the short absence

    4. Re:Don't worry, SG-1 will save us by MythosTraecer · · Score: 1

      Good point, I forgot the correct spelling. General Hammond always pronounced it "Gould," and that clouded my spelling. Ah, General Hammond, now he was a general everyone respected...

      --

      --Mythos
    5. Re:Don't worry, SG-1 will save us by Ironix · · Score: 1

      It's no coincidence that SG-1 is filmed in Vancouver, Canada. =p

      --
      Still #1 -- Lonely Gay Geek
    6. Re:Don't worry, SG-1 will save us by seann · · Score: 1

      He kind of looked like a turtle, abiet, a respectable turtle.

      --
      I'm a big retard who forgot to log out of Slashdot on Mike's computer! LOOK AT ME.
    7. Re:Don't worry, SG-1 will save us by StarManta.Mini · · Score: 1

      Yeah, she's back in now - she just missed out on the first few episodes due to Amanda Tapping being pregnant.

    8. Re:Don't worry, SG-1 will save us by Anonymous+Cowpat · · Score: 1

      That would be General and Lt. Colonel O'Neill.

      Oh, er, I just blew the lid off the long term story arc to keep them in scripts for the next 8 seasons, didn't I?

      --
      FGD 135
    9. Re:Don't worry, SG-1 will save us by Akaihiryuu · · Score: 1

      Actually she made a couple of short appearances in the first couple of episodes, but she was never actually present at the SGC. Mitchell was just talking to her remotely with a webcam. ;P

    10. Re:Don't worry, SG-1 will save us by Akaihiryuu · · Score: 1

      O'neill started off in Stargate the movie and SG-1 as a full Colonel. He was promoted to brigadier general in New Order (Season 8), and he was promoted to major general between Moebius and the first episode of season 9 (Hammond retired, and O'neill was promoted to replace him). We never actually got to see him being promoted, or see him turn over the SGC to Major General Landry, so it happened sometime in the several months between Moebius and Avalon.

    11. Re:Don't worry, SG-1 will save us by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yes, the 'general' O'Niell I made reference to is the one of which you speak, I was under the impression that he was a Brigadier General... anyway, not relevant.
      Lt. Colonel O'Niell isn't the same person... cast your grey-matter (not an Asgard) over your 'female-characters-who-hold-the-rank-of-Lt-Colonel ' list. Right, good, see the joke now? It was a rather weak one, I admit.

  13. press release by BushCheney08 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Note that the source is PRWeb. This isn't news, it's a press release for those organizations listed at the bottom.

    --
    Be a real patriot: Question authority. Think for yourself. Formulate your own conclusions.
    1. Re:press release by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      You're not actually trying to suggest that most news isn't [occasionally re-written] press releases anyhow, are you?

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  14. Yes, we canadians have a sence of humor... by fa1uzure · · Score: 4, Funny

    Im assuming this is a joke...

    1. Re:Yes, we canadians have a sence of humor... by Dr+Caleb · · Score: 1

      I think Mr. Hellyer is being serious. I'm not sure if I should be scared that my Death Ray is incomplete, or sorry for this poor man's mental condition. He was a good Minister of Defense, way back when.

      --
      "History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme." Mark Twain
    2. Re:Yes, we canadians have a sence of humor... by unbeatable73 · · Score: 0

      Unfortunatlely, we have no sence of speeling iether(i before e except after c, right?).

    3. Re:Yes, we canadians have a sence of humor... by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      Yes you do but I also hope you all have some compassion. It is my guess that this gentleman has perhaps slipped a little. I mean he is 82 years old. I am actually sorry that this made Slashdot. I hope for the most part people will be kind to him and not ridicule him too much.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    4. Re:Yes, we canadians have a sence of humor... by adlib24 · · Score: 1

      obligatory Canadian rub... This is NOT a joke. ;) adlib24

    5. Re:Yes, we canadians have a sence of humor... by HungSoLow · · Score: 1

      *clears throat* Don't you mean 'humour'?

  15. *sigh* by Lab+Wizard · · Score: 1
    Just fodder for Americans to use in fermenting the "contempt for Canada" climate down there.

    What is PRWeb, anyhow? A web-based equivalent of a tabloid? Never heard of it before.

    1. Re:*sigh* by gordgekko · · Score: 1

      It's been around since at least 1996. It's essentially a pay-for-placement news release service.

      --
      You want to know who isn't running Firefox 2.x? They spell it "definately" and "rediculous".
    2. Re:*sigh* by slashdot.freak · · Score: 1

      As an American living and working in Canada I can tell you 99% of Americans don't devote 2 brain cells to Canada and Canadians in general. I read a Canadian new paper article recently about anti-American neo-political racism "to the bone" and how Canadians can disagree on most everything but are united in their thoughts about the US and Americans. Thankfully, this has not been my experience in Canada. However, many I know seem to think that Americans have negative impressions and thoughts for Canadians. What rubbish. Let's talk this over a few beer, ehh?

  16. Christ... by gordgekko · · Score: 2, Funny

    Proving yet again that former Canadian ministers are no less looney than the former secretaries/administration officials of past American presidencies.

    Since my tax dollars are going to be wasted no matter what, I'd prefer they waste them on something more important -- such as money for Quebec ad agencies or corrupt government officials -- then holding parliamentary hearings on ET diplomacy.

    --
    You want to know who isn't running Firefox 2.x? They spell it "definately" and "rediculous".
    1. Re:Christ... by flyingsquid · · Score: 1
      Proving yet again that former Canadian ministers are no less looney than the former secretaries/administration officials of past American presidencies.

      Past presidencies? What about the current one? If you put this guy in charge of the White House, could you possibly get a government that was any more detached from reality? The White House is busy pushing Creationism, claiming that Iraq isn't a total disaster while the generals draw up plans for withdrawals, lauding Brown for doing a "heck of a job" while completely bungling the hurricane response, claiming that America is all about freedom while locking up people without trial and torturing them, and still trying to draw a connection between Iraq and 9-11.

      This fruit-loop would fit right in.

  17. I live in Canada by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I was expecting this to be a more recent minister... but only slightly relieved that he was a minister 40 years ago.

    I soon expect a Dept of EXO Relations to be announced to secure the alien vote in the upcoming election.

  18. The Canusk Have it Right at Last! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Of course the Canadians are right - they knew
    all the time. The spitting and cursing of
    American jr. high hockey teams, the search for
    secret CIA landing sites in Alberta, the avian
    flu in Maitoba - all plots by the Americans
    and George Bush. God bless Dudley Doright!

  19. Senile Old Man Says Crazy Things! by Senjutsu · · Score: 1

    This, and other shocking stories, in this week's edition of Duh Magazine.

  20. Men in black by LeninZhiv · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "UFOs, are as real as the airplanes that fly over your head."

    Mr. Hellyer went on to say, "I'm so concerned about what the
    consequences might be of starting an intergalactic war, that I just
    think I had to say something."


    Let me get this straight:

    Among the things this guy is persuaded of then is that aliens walk
    among us already, that the US government knows about it and has
    apparently enough alien technology in its possession to be able to
    wage war between galaxies (a pretty amazing feat for one little
    planet, wouldn't you say? Even with a base on our moon!), while still
    being able to keep the general population persuaded that we have not
    made contact.

    Wasn't Will Smith in that movie? And here I was under the impression that
    the US was no longer even capable of manned spaceflight (other than
    hitch-hiking with the Russians).

    All chuckling aside, even though according to his Wikipedia
    biography the man has a long history of UFO advocacy, he's also 82
    years old and I am inclined to think that despite a distinguished
    career the question of senility has to be raised. Still, anyone
    should count themselves lucky to be giving public speaches at 82 in
    the first place.

    1. Re:Men in black by BushCheney08 · · Score: 4, Funny

      ...(a pretty amazing feat for one little planet, wouldn't you say? Even with a base on our moon!)...

      That's not a moon... : p

      --
      Be a real patriot: Question authority. Think for yourself. Formulate your own conclusions.
    2. Re:Men in black by Ceriel+Nosforit · · Score: 4, Insightful

      UFO means Unidentified Flying Object. We as geeks respect original definitions. Unidentified extraterrestrial spacecraft in flight are a subcategory of UFOs, if they exist.
      The existense of UFOs is not doubted, but claiming a UFO is extraterrestrial is unfounded.

      While at it, there's no reason to claim extraterrestrial life is intelligent either when we're yet to communicate with any.
      We have no reason to say that something intelligent necessarily is alive either. Our own development of AI should at the very least indicate this.
      We have no reason to beleive a hypothetic extraterrestrial intelligence has biological needs we can relate to, so we can't assume they would act like we do. For example, we have no reason to assume that if they had any interest in this planet we would be the center of their attention.

      Being a skeptic is all fine and dandy, but jumping to unfounded conclusions isn't, even when the jump is miniscule. There are lots of things we simply don't know yet, and we should absolutely not prentend we do.

      --
      All rites reversed 2010
    3. Re:Men in black by digidave · · Score: 1

      It basically means that Canadian politicians are persuaded by conspiracy theories while American politicans are bought by corporations.

      Americans must be jealous.

      --
      The global economy is a great thing until you feel it locally.
    4. Re:Men in black by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Among the things this guy is persuaded of then is that aliens walk
      among us already,


      Not only that, but one of them is actively protesting the current US President as well as opposing the leading Democratic presidential candidate.

      You'd think they could do a better job disguising than that...

    5. Re:Men in black by Gentlewhisper · · Score: 1

      Among the things this guy is persuaded of then is that aliens walk
      among us already, that the US government knows about it and has
      apparently enough alien technology in its possession to be able to
      wage war between galaxies (a pretty amazing feat for one little
      planet, wouldn't you say? Even with a base on our moon!), while still
      being able to keep the general population persuaded that we have not
      made contact.


      Damned, the Canadians just foiled our plans! Time to signal back to my mirror in the Cylon headquarters...

    6. Re:Men in black by emagery · · Score: 1

      Yeah, whatever else you may read here, anyone who says 'intergalactic' is aptly demonstrating the extent to which they do NOT understand space at all... they're just throwing together what words they know and in attempt to sound credible... granted, anything that moves between galaxies would be 'intergalactic' its just not a reasonable concept at this time.

    7. Re:Men in black by emagery · · Score: 1

      someone says: "While at it, there's no reason to claim extraterrestrial life is intelligent either when we're yet to communicate with any." ... now let our own example come into this... How long have we been singing into space like an innocent baby robin? Hmm... 100 years or so? A little over? Now, here we having discovered this beautiful new potential called 'Quantum Entanglement' which, so far, has allowed several experiments to successfully 'teleport' information, faster than the speed of light, simultaneously between two particles... with no wave, radiation, or emission of any sort (at least that we currently are able to detect (which is just as well for this argument)) After only a 100 years broadcasting. So let's say that in another 50 we'll have pretty much mastered its use and we stop emitting altogether. As far as anyone else is concerned, we just winked out... however, our 'loudness' to date is certainly a beacon to anyone who happens to be passing by the tens of thousands of stars within range of our earliest broadcasts to date. Now, to complete this windbag extravaganza, assume this is a natural progression within races... and so other culture, 1000 lightyears away did the same 'winkout' about 900 years ago. Meaning, their last 'loud' communication passed us by about 60 years before we even started listening/caring. You have to understand, space is big... and electromagnetic transmissions need time to get from point A to B... we've only been listening for a very short period of time, and even if there were 100000 alien civilizations (of technological note, that is) in our galaxy, the odds of our being here and listening at exactly the same time as they were sending, making light of the travel time difference, of course, when our own natural progression may end emission usage on our world within the next century (a blip in space-time)... you see my point. Also consider the fact that we have no problem shooting tranqs into the treetops and catching the primates that fall out, but don't feel terribly compelled to give them all our technology or set up political dialogue with babboon cliques, now do we? Heh. Your argument is not invalid, but you can't really ignore mine either.

    8. Re:Men in black by ShadowMarth · · Score: 1

      Perhaps it's not senility, perhaps it's more like the recent Watergate revalation. He wanted to get it off his back before he died.

    9. Re:Men in black by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We as geeks respect original definitions.

      I always get kind of pissed of when someone lumps all geeks into one big pile and then claims to speak for them. Especially when making some completely nonsensical claim. Like, oh, this one!

      I respect good definitions. Whether they're original or not has relevancy only if it has any bearing on whether people will understand me. If nobody still uses the "original definition" I'm not the last moron to stay with it and try to convince the world to get back to it. Words are just words, and they mean what we say they mean. There's nothing magical about a definition just because it happened to be the first one.

      I bet you're the one who always posts the first "It's cracker, not hacker!" post...

    10. Re:Men in black by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it's a space station!

    11. Re:Men in black by SamSim · · Score: 1
      there's no reason to claim extraterrestrial life is intelligent either

      I'm reminded of something Arthur C. Clarke once said. Either 1) there is intelligent life out there, or 2) there isn't. In either case, the notion is absolutely staggering.

  21. Best creative US-bashing to date! by ScentCone · · Score: 1

    That "forward base" on the moon bit is priceless, really... everything with the rest of the universe would be great if not for Bush! Why, if Kerry had won, there wouldn't be any risk of intergalactic war at all! But now, well... time to start stockpiling cans of chili and whatnot, I suppose. What's interesting isn't that a former Canadian defense minister said (or things) this, it's that there aren't 100 Canadian slashdot users screaming how not them this is. Well, it's early yet.

    --
    Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    1. Re:Best creative US-bashing to date! by adminsr · · Score: 1

      That's US-bashing??? It seems to me that the Canadians are bashing themselves by just letting this guy speak where the media can hear him!

    2. Re:Best creative US-bashing to date! by Dr+Caleb · · Score: 1
      What's interesting isn't that a former Canadian defense minister said (or things) this, it's that there aren't 100 Canadian slashdot users screaming how not them this is. Well, it's early yet.

      Please. When Pat Buchannan flaps his lips, do you think it reflects badly on you? We're all grownups here. Screaming that 'it's not us!' just re-inforces that it is us! ;)

      --
      "History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme." Mark Twain
    3. Re:Best creative US-bashing to date! by disc-chord · · Score: 1

      Please. When Pat Buchannan flaps his lips, do you think it reflects badly on you? We're all grownups here. Screaming that 'it's not us!' just re-inforces that it is us! ;)

      Judging by his attitude and comments, I'd suspect he agrees with Buchannan (or some other God-Only-Loves-America-Because-He-Drives-A-Ford Fundie). So, bad example.

    4. Re:Best creative US-bashing to date! by ScentCone · · Score: 1

      When Pat Buchannan flaps his lips, do you think it reflects badly on you?

      Well, he's been doing it for so long, that I just assumed it was sort of a constant, like gravity. After a while you just stop feeling the way it weighs you down. It's the innovative, freshly new crazy stuff (like exo-diplomacy concerns within the retired Canadian government circles) that sort of stick out. That, and actual media coverage thereof!

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
  22. ::quickly checks date:: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Is it April 1st already?

  23. Crackpot doesn't speak for this Canadian by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    By his own admission, this guy was "not in the loop". Take with a pound of salt (since it's obvious he took many grains of Crack).

    1. Re:Crackpot doesn't speak for this Canadian by zegron · · Score: 1

      ROFLOL!!

  24. Weapons are always a bad idea by xiando · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Weapons in the hands of people who can use them without asking the people and who can not be held accountable for their actions is always a very bad idea. Does Weapons in Space have anything to do with any kind of alien threat? Could it be that the "war on aliens" is just a step further in the "war on freedom" eh, I mean "war on terrorism"? It may be a good idea to read up on this and related issues.. Oh, btw. Look forward to the fake alien invasion that is planned in a few years... (remember this out when it is presented to you as the real thing on your mainstream TV channels in a few years)

    1. Re:Weapons are always a bad idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually this brings up a very scary principle, rules don't apply in space - laws don't apply, if you wanted to say, fire a nuke into an Iranian city - space would be the place to do it. Even talk of the US putting weapons in space is horrifying, there are no reprecussions for their actions - you just start nuking places you don't like until everyone bows down, people speak up? You nuke them.

    2. Re:Weapons are always a bad idea by geminidomino · · Score: 1

      Agreed. What we need is a crack elite multinational force of anti-extraterrestrial military forces.

      No, Not the UN. I'm referring to... ... ...

      X-COM!

  25. Our Lax Pot Laws at Work by Quirk · · Score: 3, Funny
    Sounds like this guy retired from public life and took to the wicked weed we grow. Then too it's the tail end of mushroom season and maybe he stumbled upon one of the better patches of psilocybe magic mushrooms.

    I like to think our superior recreational drugs (with the sadly missed exception of peyote) and excellent beer are the drawing cards for aliens throughout the 'verse.

    It's good to know one of our retired politicians is projecting our world renowed good Canadian manners outward toward our interglactic neighbours.

    --
    "Academicians are more likely to share each other's toothbrush than each other's nomenclature."
    Cohen
    1. Re:Our Lax Pot Laws at Work by Obstin8 · · Score: 1
      I like to think our superior recreational drugs (with the sadly missed exception of peyote) and excellent beer are the drawing cards for aliens throughout the 'verse.

      Sadly missed indeed. I used to love Peyote, and Thai Sticks, (real) Honey Oil, and that wet Jamaican ghanja that smelled like old socks.

      Sigh...

      Time to throw on some old Floyd, maybe Meddle. Or some old Hawkwind...

      Look at.. all the colours... far out....

  26. It's a brillant idea really by Liquidrage · · Score: 1

    But it sadly won't work.
    I'd much rather politicans spend time arguing over something like this that does not matter, then have them spend time figuring out new ways to tax us, to limit our freedoms, to wage war (OK, he's Canadian, maybe this one doesn't apply), and to spend our tax money.

    Oh, that Mr. Hellyer is a sly fellow indeed.
    Hopefully, we can get it going down here in the States.

  27. That Movie by kai.chan · · Score: 5, Funny

    Did you not watch that movie?? The aliens would die from all the germs and bacteria that humans are immune to! Simply coughing and sneezing at them will be our ultimate weapon. There is absolutely nothing to worry about!

    1. Re:That Movie by SapphireSnowdrop · · Score: 1

      Really? I thought they all died from playing oldie's music. =/

    2. Re:That Movie by sconeu · · Score: 1

      Nope, not all oldies. Only Hank Williams.

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    3. Re:That Movie by SapphireSnowdrop · · Score: 1

      Wow, I havn't seen that movie in forever. I'm not sure which would be more frightening, that actually happening; or us building a base on the moon thinking we can shoot aliens out of the sky.

    4. Re:That Movie by adlib24 · · Score: 1
      Alas, nothing, nothing at all... :( .... [adlib24 returns to mundane Holiday shopping, online billpay, Mideast peace crisis, yaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn,...]

      adlib24

  28. Hellyer by pipingguy · · Score: 1


    From: http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2005-10-06/news_s tory8.php

    An outspoken man even while in office, Hellyer writes and lectures about his economic ideas. His knowledge of UFOs comes mostly second-hand, from books like The Day After Roswell - although, impressively, he had the cachet to look up the military men listed in the book to get the straight goods. He admits such matters didn't cross his mind when he was in office. "I was too busy trying to streamline the armed forces, improve morale and save taxpayers' money."

    Aside from dedicating a UFO landing pad in St. Paul, Alberta, during the 67 Centennial, Hellyer's involvement was nil. He did, however, seem genuinely impressed by the testimony of pilots and colonels, and the implications of UFO secrecy. "The time has come to lift the veil of secrecy and let the truth emerge, so that there can be a real and informed debate about the most important problem facing our planet today." This got him a standing ovation.

    The day ends with a press conference right after, in room 23. Hellyer doesn't have much more to say about ETs, but his views on the inside workings of government tell a lot about why a veteran politican would buy the notion of an ET cover-up. He recalls Harper's editor Lewis Lapham's theory of two governments, the permanent and the provisional, with the work of those elected always being undone by permanent appointees.

    "In effect, permanent government runs things," he says. "We say we live in a democracy, but why do we call it democracy when, in effect, the people who are running it are not elected?"

  29. Oh, sure, make fun of the guy by lheal · · Score: 1

    But when the Mother Ship is orbiting your puny planet, you will see the error in your decadent ways.

    http://www.malcolm-x.org/docs/abt_noix.htm

    --
    Raise your children as if you were teaching them to raise your grandchildren, because you are.
  30. oblig. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    *puts on tinfoil hat*

    I for one welcome our canadian extraterrestrial masters.

    Feels like we just entered the twilight zone...

  31. Most appropriate by chris_eineke · · Score: 1

    I, for one, welcome our alien overlords.

    --
    "All you have to do is be fragile and grateful. So stay the underdog." Chuck Palahniuk, Choke
  32. Re:Thanks by Ry-Dawg · · Score: 1

    Yeesh, it seems that all some people want to do is complain about stuff.

    Grow up man. Write an email to the editors or something. Don't pollute Slashdot comment space with this garbage.

    --
    rydawg --
  33. Whoa! by scott_karana · · Score: 1

    Not to be too off-topic, but shouldn't that submitter's nickname be "Nom de clavier"? I hate Franglish with a passion.

  34. Excuse me, a WHAT base? by Nom+du+Keyboard · · Score: 1
    The Bush administration has finally agreed to let the military build a forward base on the moon, which will put them in a better position to keep track of the goings and comings of the visitors from space, and to shoot at them, if they so decide.

    Excuse me, but it's about how far to the Moon?

    And it's about how much farther to anything else at all interesting, let alone the rest of the Universe?

    Hard to call that one much of a Forward Base.

    --
    "It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
    1. Re:Excuse me, a WHAT base? by SpaceLifeForm · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Not if the target is Earth.

      --
      You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.
  35. WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No, seriously, how come this guy made it to be a in politics?

    1. Re:WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I jump here from Uncylopedia and had to double check that I hadn't ended up back there in some new part that only looked like Slashdot.

  36. Little problem... by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 1

    When^H^H^H^Hif the $sys$alleged interstellar beings come here, they'll frankly reprimand us for spending too much money on contacting them and too little on solving local problems like war, world hunger, diseases, etc etc.

    Seriously, what's the point of contacting alien intelligence, if our very human nature is greedy, stupid, and self-destructive? I'm sure "they" are much better without knowing us.

    Now, speaking seriously, i think this guy read too much scientology/heaven's gate/raelian propaganda.

  37. This is why you should join the EU by DataCannibal · · Score: 1

    Here in Europe we send our wacko ex-politicians to serve on the EU commision. Neil Kinnock... Chris Patten.. Edith Cressant..Martin Bangemann

    Maybe you Canadians should come back to the bosom of the mother country and then you'd be able to do the same.

    Actually thinking about wierdo things that the EU spends vast amounts of money on, trying to make contact with aliens doesn't sound quite as crazy as it first appears.

    --
    No but, yeah but, no but...
    1. Re:This is why you should join the EU by fiannaFailMan · · Score: 1

      Chris Patten a 'wacko?' Why?

      --
      Drill baby drill - on Mars
  38. Heroin, Cocaine, LSD MDMA by rawwa.venoise · · Score: 0

    Are these people on drugs?
    Seriously, the only reason to set up a base in the moon is to achieve faster planetary control and not the other way around. I mean, are aliens so retarded to not get any decent weapon to destroy a base in the moon in a single strike? If we can land a probe in an asteroid i guess they can shoot several "missiles" from Jupiter to hit the Moon.
    So seriously, only if physics come up with some sort of shield this can be effective. If Bush is going on with this, we are going to see a second Cold War and this time with China.

    So i gonna sugest them to take some Mushrooms and some acids to travel into Neptune and make peace with the aliens for all mankind safety ...
    Peace

  39. Seth Shostak chimes in ... by Checkered+Daemon · · Score: 1

    "(Discussing our first contact with aliens) is a bit like iguanas on the
    Galapagos Islands sitting around trying to figure out how to treat the
    first human visitors. Should we offer them dead flies, or live flies?
    Shall we line up the flies in a row? How shall we defend ourselves?
    All of that is irrelevant."
                    -- Seth Shostak, astronomer with the SETI project

    1. Re:Seth Shostak chimes in ... by Beautyon · · Score: 1

      Actually, this is not at all like Iguanas discussing a visit from the first humans.

      Seth Shostak doesn't believe, unilke the Iguanas in that example that are more initelligent than he is, that aliens can get here at all, whilst the Iguanas understand that first of all there ARE humans, and they CAN get to the Galapagos Islands by whatever bizarre means they can (incomprehensible to the Iguana brain jet aircraft / boats), and they had better at the very least think about what they should do when they inevitably they arrive suddenly. They offer flies. That makes perfect sense. Man would offer political treaties. Same sort of thing.

      Seth Shostack and his merry band of unscientific researchers will not even think about the possibility of aliens already being here, much less look at the evidence. They think they have a complete grasp on the universe and how it works.

      That puts them on the same level as the 'scientists' in the 1800s who didn't believe that meteors came from space.

      It also makes them less intelligent than Iguanas.

      There. I said it twice.

      --
      ATH0 Bitcoin: 1DnwFLXczVZV8kLJbMYoheUrpqHesjxrSi
    2. Re:Seth Shostak chimes in ... by TrekkieGod · · Score: 1
      that went way over your head, dude.

      Regardless if Shostack believes they can get here or not, that quote merely says that preparing for their arrival is worthless even if you do believe they'll one day get here. The point is that they're bound to be vastly different from us, and we know nothing about them. If iguanas offered you flies...well...first, you wouldn't recognize it as an offering, second, even if you did, it's worthless to you. Maybe when you offer 'political treaties' to those aliens, they'll take all the noise coming from your mouth as a tremendous insult and kill you on the spot. Maybe they won't recognize us as intelligent, and figure that all that we've built is no different than a beaver building a dam. Maybe they're not interested in meeting other intelligent beings, and just stopped by to get a drink of water while they're on the way to the next star. You don't know what they want, you don't know how they think, how can you possibly prepare?

      --

      Warning: Opinions known to be heavily biased.

    3. Re:Seth Shostak chimes in ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The point is that they're bound to be vastly different from us

      That is SETI dogma. We dont know anything about these people, except that some of them appear to be bipedal, scientific and...people.

      We should be making some sort of preparation, wether its in conditioning people to get ready for this event or thinking about how we are going to attempt to communicate. Doing nothing is just completely absurd.

      That is the true point of the Iguana analogy; the steps you as the primitive are taking now. SETI are saying "don't take any steps; give us all your money". That is extremely stupid and unscientific given the facts about UFOS.

  40. intergalactic war by plams · · Score: 1

    intergalactic war

    Maybe we should work out this FTL problem before using such terms.

  41. Who? by Kohath · · Score: 1

    Intergalactic aliens at war with the USA? Ok. I understand that.

    But who (or what) are these Canadians?

    1. Re:Who? by rk · · Score: 1

      Hockey. Back Bacon. Rush.

  42. Wizdom for skeptics and believers by Danathar · · Score: 1

    Just because you believe in something does NOT mean it's true

    Many people believe in an all powerful being responsible for the creation of the Universe. Some would consider THAT to be wacky belief as well.

    Note: Don't try to extrapolate the above statements that I am either A) An Atheist or B) a believer in visiting extraterrestrials or a skeptic of them

    But I AM open minded to other beliefs and don't engage in ad-hominem logical fallacies which what people on both sides who are'nt open minded engage in.

    1. Re:Wizdom for skeptics and believers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why should I read anything you post here when you obviously can't use apostrophes correctly? I call your education into question.

      Because, after all, what is truth?

    2. Re:Wizdom for skeptics and believers by Danathar · · Score: 1

      Very true...misuse of the apostrophe does irritate people.

      What does education have to do with "Truth"?

    3. Re:Wizdom for skeptics and believers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Was just being sarcastic. Take it as a joke. I fully agree that one's belief in something makes not a lick of difference whether that something actually exists or doesn't. I had to tell that to a friend who said that some field of science I was interested in was "just a belief!"

  43. A special message from Haliburton by frovingslosh · · Score: 1

    Those crazy Canadian hosers! They should blindly trust our administration. We have good secret inteligence which we can't release for security reasons that the aliens are working on weapons of planetary destruction and it is our duty to destroy them in just in case they maybe might do something against us. We must destroy them! Why do they hate us and distrust us? It must be hatred for our economy. So to protect us the administration is doing all it can to destroy that economy, but in the meantime we must destroy the Interplanetary Axis of Evildoer, before they actually do any evil. Anyone who can't see the logic of that must be locked away in our secret prisons. Sure people will be locked away in secret prisons, all records of the activity will be classified secret, and there will be torture and the occasional (frequent) death. But that's the price we pay to live in a free society.

    --
    I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
  44. The Man is 82 Years Old by evenmoreconfused · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Paul Hellyer was born in 1923 and has a history of jumping parties and even forming breakaway splinter parties when the mood took him.

    The "article" -- which as others have pointed out, is really a press release -- seems to deliberately muddle some mainstream speechs about the weaponization of space and the ballistic missile defense shield with some cockamamy stuff about aliens and moonbases.

    I bet the UFO nuts are delighted that the mainstream media bit on this one.

    --
    No. Well...maybe. Actually, yes. It really just depends.
  45. lmao by cyberbob2010 · · Score: 1

    intergalactic? hmm...and how does he think we are gonna get to any other galaxy to fight this war? (much less any other PLANETS!!)

    --
    We seldom regret saying too little but often regret saying too much.
  46. It's not really a Forward Base by Nom+du+Keyboard · · Score: 1
    It's not really a Forward Base up there on the Moon. That's just the cover story. It's really the next secret CIA prison for terrorists.

    As quoted by Mr. R. U. Kidding, "Let's see those human rights pansies find this one. What do you mean Google has Moon maps already on line?"

    --
    "It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
  47. As a Canadian... by Mr.+Flibble · · Score: 1

    I think most of the people I know (who know of this former MP) feel that this former minister is a little nutty. The only people I know that don't seem to believe that his is off kilter also believe taht the world trade center towers were not attacked by planes, but by elite commando teams from the U.S. government. (Sadly, I am not joking about that... They really believe this...)

    I think that we should all sit down and watch Carl Sagan's COSMOS as a viable alternative to this former ministers suggestions.

    --
    Try to hack my 31337 firewall!
  48. Shoot the messenger by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Quite frankly, this is an instance when the messenger *should* be shot. There are any number bizarre stories, but most choose to filter to increase the signal. So, why the hell was this posted and who the hell is the submitter?

    It's a press release for christ's sake (who btw was an extraterrestrial)

  49. Brought to you by Weekly World News and Report by austad · · Score: 1

    This guy has obviously just read every UFO conspiracy theory ever published and believed it all. It takes a lot of balls to get up in front of everyone and claim that we are going to war with aliens, you gotta give him some credit for that.

    But, even though he sounds like a nutcase, maybe some of what he speaks of it true. I've often thought that the military does much more space stuff than NASA does, and it's not outside the realm of possibility that the military will be the first to have a secret moon base. I once read that what the govt releases now is tech that is 20 years old. So if you think we'll have a moon base in 20 years, maybe we have one now.

    But Intergalactic war?? Jebus.

    --
    Need Free Juniper/NetScreen Support? JuniperForum
  50. "Intergalactic War" might do us some good... by Ninwa · · Score: 2, Interesting

    To be honest I thin this world could use a good "intergalactic war". At worse we all die. At best the World unites and countries gain a sense of brotherhood. Maybe I'm naive but I'd like to think humanity would put aside its differences if there was ever a threat to itself... other than itself.

    Bah who am I kidding.

    1. Re:"Intergalactic War" might do us some good... by Ninwa · · Score: 1

      Thin: What my fingers arn't. -- Think*

    2. Re:"Intergalactic War" might do us some good... by Nom+du+Keyboard · · Score: 1
      At best the World unites and countries gain a sense of brotherhood.

      And the phrase, "Say what you like about him, but at least he's human," comes into common usage on this planet.

      --
      "It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
    3. Re:"Intergalactic War" might do us some good... by shibashaba · · Score: 1

      I doubt it, people in the Mid East and religious fanatics all over the world would believe that the Aliens are god and that they're here to save them. Some countries in spats of arrogance will try to arrange peace treaties most likely and the French will surrender first. I wonder though how long it would take people in Africa and some communist countries to even get the news.

      --
      ---------- Open Source is capitalism applied to IP.
    4. Re:"Intergalactic War" might do us some good... by pipingguy · · Score: 1


      They just don't fing like they used to, eh?

  51. Re:Best creative US-bashing to date! Vacuum by Nom+du+Keyboard · · Score: 1
    there aren't 100 Canadian slashdot users screaming how not them this is.

    And a 100 Canadian Slashdot users cried out as one -- and were suddenly silenced.

    Sound doesn't travel well on the Moon.

    --
    "It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
  52. I call blogs**t by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I saw a link to this somewhere earlier today and when I read it, I doubted it was for real. A Google news search lists a grand total of 3 links (well, probably 4 now) and not one even qualified as a minor (let alone) major news source.

    I'll bet the article is a fake designed by neo-cons (like the US, the Canadian conservative right has also been infiltrated by neo-cons) to bias thinking about a once hugely popular Liberal government ("see, them Liberals is crazy people"), especially since a federal election was all but announced yesterday.

  53. Re:Thanks by Nom+du+Keyboard · · Score: 1
    Once again our WONDERFULL admins/moderators are bringing us truly important and not to mention relevant news.

    Spoken by a man who can't get his own stories posted on /.

    --
    "It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
  54. It's not the aliens we fear in space by TheGuano · · Score: 1

    Clearly, it's the Chinese. And the idea of having US weapons in space certainly scares the bejeezus out of them, which is why they're pouring so much effort into their own "peaceful" spaceflight program.

  55. New nickname for this guy? by Kamel+Jockey · · Score: 1

    Maybe we should call him Minister Moonbeam!

    --
    In case of fire, do not use elevator. Use water!
  56. Hmmmmm ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Shooting to the aliens if necesary ? Hmmmm ... what are they smoking ?

  57. Smart move. by dangitman · · Score: 1
    Think about it - Cheney, Dubya, Kim Jong-Il, Fidel Castro, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hillary Clinton. Do you really think they come from our planet? The aliens have already infiltrated and control political power across the globe.

    The first "intergalactic" war will actually be a civil war fought on our home planet. Look at the lengths they go to in trying to hide the cubic nature of time, making up elaborate spherical myths, and inventing fictional characters like Einstein. They want to keep you educated stupid so they can manipulate you.

    --
    ... and then they built the supercollider.
  58. Thanks a lot Mr. Hellyer by mark-t · · Score: 1
    (sigh)

    I can only hope that this person won't be seriously seen in any way as representing the country I live in.

  59. Damn by 4D6963 · · Score: 1
    Before there can be an "intergalatic" war, or even realtions with the extraterrestrials, we should get in contact with any of them. It's like, we're probably not gonna get in contact with any of them within the next 3 centuries, but still they spending time and money on that kind of bullshit, quit watching TV damnit, we're not closer to encountering aliens than we were two hundred years ago, rather spend time and money on global warming, cuz that's gonna happen much earlier than any eventual encounter with extraterrestrials.

    some people just have no idea of what priorities are..

    --
    You just got troll'd!
  60. The QUAKE4 DEMO is here!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Off topic, so what?! It was important news, and my download is almost finished!!! :)

  61. April Fools??? by wideBlueSkies · · Score: 1

    Last time I checked, the calendar said it was November 25, not April 1.

    wbs.

    --
    Huh?
  62. Why are they always ahead of us? by felto · · Score: 1

    Why does everyone think that IF we find another life form (ET) they will be so far ahead of us technology wise? Couldn't it be the other way around? What if we find life on another planet, and they are fairly far behind us? what if they just discovered electricity, etc.
    it just seems every time someone talks about ET they are 1000+ years ahead of us and can kick our asses.

    --
    ...None because fish don't eat ice cream
    1. Re:Why are they always ahead of us? by Pitr · · Score: 1

      It's more like, if they can get HERE, they're way ahead of us. It would take very advanced tech to cover interstellar distances in any reasonable time.

      And if they've only just discovered electricity, we won't be able to detect them anyway.

      --

      --Not to be worried, Pitr fix.
    2. Re:Why are they always ahead of us? by felto · · Score: 1

      right, if THEY discover us, but maybe one of NASA's projects will work(hehe almost said that with a straight face) or SETI will find somthing/someone, and hey maybe they are in the exact same place we are.

      --
      ...None because fish don't eat ice cream
  63. So, they figured it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We've pretty much figured out projectile weapons to the point that we now have doggone good bullet-proof-vests. That won't help you if you get hit with an APDS DU round, now will it?

    So just because they might have "figured out simple fission/fusion weapons" doesn't mean they can deal with a few gazillion joules of energy suddenly appearing 50 meters off the port quarter of their space ship.

    1. Re:So, they figured it out by Cromac · · Score: 1

      "bullet proof" vests don't exist. There is body armor that can prevent or reduce some injuries but there aren't any "bullet proof" vests. Any vest a cop or soldier is wearing isn't "bullet proof" to a common hunting rifle. How exactly is it going to "suddenly appear" off their port quarter? Did the military invent Star Trek style transporters and it didn't get reported on Slashdot? You don't suppose they have something just a tad better than radar and will pick up any missile heading towards them long before it's a threat do you?

    2. Re:So, they figured it out by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 5, Insightful


      So just because they might have "figured out simple fission/fusion weapons" doesn't mean they can deal with a few gazillion joules of energy suddenly appearing 50 meters off the port quarter of their space ship.

      "Suddenly appearing", huh? Exactly when did we develop teleportation technology? Oh, that's right...we haven't.

      Any culture capable of interstellar travel should be more than capable of detecting and either sidestepping or shooting down whatever we lob at them with our pathetic chemical rockets.

      --
      ____

      ~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey

    3. Re:So, they figured it out by TropicalCoder · · Score: 0

      "Suddenly appearing", huh? Exactly when did we develop teleportation technology?

      ...we'll use cloaking technology, of course!

    4. Re:So, they figured it out by martalli · · Score: 1

      The only realistic comparison of technology mismatch I can summon is the appearance of Europeans in the Americas. They certainly had the technology to move small amounts of people (a few hundred or less) in a boat, and impressive military technology (armor, cavalry, handguns). They wwere nonetheless outmatched by the weaponry and mases of the Aztecs... As it happens, it was the disease brought by the Europeans and the Aztecs own superstition that undid them.

      The Europeans prevailed in many smaller conflicts in the Americas in a similar way. The native Americans did not maximize their own natural advatages...often because they lacked the proper advantage.

      While native American populations were decimated, even wiped clean (Hispanola, Cuba), many other populations suffered through the Europeans and eventually threw off their yoke. In many places, this was because of good organization and a fairly strong, entrenched civilization (Asia).

      In other words, we may stand a fair chance against "aliens"...at least in the short term. Would an instant hostile response be appropriate? I think that is the question really being raised. Canada is hoping to preempt trigger-happy America.

      Aliens trying to take advantage of us and our resources seems much more likely than simple trying to wipe us out. Just as people tramp through the Amazon looking for gold, unmined by the natives, we may find oursevles cought up in the search for some resource we have been diregarding. The results maybe nearly as bad as attempted genocide, however.

      Well, after years of nothing from the seti project, I am not inclined to join Canada in its search. Why not instead look for resources in the asteroid belt?

    5. Re:So, they figured it out by OBeardedOne · · Score: 1

      If instantaneous travel is actually physically possible, then I find it tantalising to think that we could stumble across it very soon or could have done so at some stage in the past century. The principles of most inventions incur the "but of course!" or "why didn't I think of that!" statement with many educated/intelligent people.

      Supposing instantaneous travel is in fact possible, then it's not too much of a stretch of the imagination to think that Mr Big Brain might have formulated a theory for accomplishing the feat which in turn could lead to the manufacture of a device capable of doing so. A dedicated effort to put cash and manpower into developing the technology may see (or have seen) it's manufacture in very little time.

      So. Mr Big Brain formulates the idea and the device is ready to use by say, 1950. Humans are then able to travel to any point in the galaxy near instantaneously packing guns, bombs, nukes, bad hairdos and a superior attitude. We stumble across a "paradise" world where the rivers run with chocolate and there's aphrodite-esque chicks running around and they like our bombs...

      My point is that if ftl is possible then perhaps we are just waiting to discover how to make it possible. And when and if we finally do discover how, we might just say "but of course!" and realise we had the technology to do so decades before. Thus making it not such a huge stretch of the imagination to think that those with limited technological capacity might be our first peaceful/hostile visitors.

      Sooon maybe. I'm still tinkering...

      OBeardedone.

    6. Re:So, they figured it out by h4rm0ny · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The Europeans prevailed in many smaller conflicts in the Americas in a similar way. The native Americans did not maximize their own natural advatages...often because they lacked the proper advantage.

      What they lacked was unity. If all native american tribes worked together against European invaders, the settlers would have been kicked off the continent. However, the Europeans were able to take the country piece by piece. Now of course modern mankind is all united and could never be susceptible to one faction (let's hypothetically call this entity a "nation") forming alliances, accepting bribes or declaring a neutrality, so aliens couldn't possibly pick and choose their battles at a time scale to suit them.

      Aliens trying to take advantage of us and our resources seems much more likely than simple trying to wipe us out.

      Interesting question - would a race of beings / being capable of interstellar travel have anything to learn from us as a species? It's hard to imagine us having an edge in Physics. Just about concievable we had some minor insights into Chemistry they could borrow (note I'm basing this on the lowest levels of technology a race would require for interstellar travel). Our biology is the only thing that I can concieve of even being of remotely possible interest to them. More abstract things could be of interest, though. Maybe they're interested in our philosophies and cultural values. Imagine the irritation to the World's rich and powerful, when the super advanced aliens arrive and say "Take us to your musicians."

      --

      Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
    7. Re:So, they figured it out by mikkom · · Score: 1
      Aliens trying to take advantage of us and our resources seems much more likely than simple trying to wipe us out.

      Interesting question - would a race of beings / being capable of interstellar travel have anything to learn from us as a species?
      Even if you can't (or don't) want to learn anything, slaves are always a good thing to have. Especially if they are of "lesser race" so they can be killed or tortured without any guilt if they don't obey you.
    8. Re:So, they figured it out by h4rm0ny · · Score: 1


      Even if you can't (or don't) want to learn anything, slaves are always a good thing to have. Especially if they are of "lesser race" so they can be killed or tortured without any guilt if they don't obey you.

      We don't need to travel interstellar distances to acquire slaves so I don't see why an alien species would. Allowing for an ethical system that considered slavery okay for "lesser races" akin to humans using beasts of burden, you have to ask what humans would be so much cheaper / better at than automated systems. We've long since replaced horses with tractors, cars and bikes. A more advanced civilisation might have more advanced needs, but are they likely to be looking for the equivalent of horses or the equivalent of cars. Do they want humans solving their technical problems or computers?

      Assuming that an alien species did want a biologically based slave race, why come all this way for humans? Give us another fifty years and we will be able to created an engineered sub-race for ourselves if we want (I hope we don't). Therefore, I'd expect aliens to have that capacity too. With human's need for long dormant periods (sleep), slow development cycle (five to six years before being capable of even basic tasks), low reproduction cycle, too weak for heavy tasks, too big for delicate tasks; quite frankly, they aren't worth the shipping costs.

      With heavy elements available on countless worlds, the only thing worth plundering Earth for is information, whether philosophical, mathematical, or our DNA. All of which is more efficiently achieved by saying: "can we have that please, here's a high-temperature super-conductor."

      I suppose there could be a use for us as entertainment, assuming Aliens had a vaguely similar psychology to us. But if so, then we're probably more fun to watch in our native environment, in which case they're probably absorbing the Internet right now, and I'd just like to say a big "HELLO!" to our friends from Hyperspace and all the fans of "H4rm0ny's Life." Thanks,

      -H,.

      --

      Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
    9. Re:So, they figured it out by martalli · · Score: 1
      Interesting question - would a race of beings / being capable of interstellar travel have anything to learn from us as a species?

      I don't think it is what they would want from us, but what resource they might want from the Earth. Just imagine they come looking for something useless to us at our technological level (eg., 'dilithium crystals' or whatnot). Maybe they would just want our oxygen to replenish their stock on quick trips. Perhaps they could use our sun as a gravity sling for massive slow moving cargo ships, disrupting the planets' orbits. My point is that they might not care a hoot about us, but that in the process of using our resources bring great harm to the Earth and humanity. I wonder if a big gun on the moon will help us in the gravity sling situation...

    10. Re:So, they figured it out by h4rm0ny · · Score: 1


      If they need oxygen and have enough energy for interstellar travel, they'd probably be best off stopping by an ice world (say Europa) and taking Oxygen from the old H2O. Nice and compact (easier than vacuuming up lots of Earth's atmosphere) and probably less filtering. The Sun-Slingshot idea is a great idea but we'd have to be talking ships of a staggering mass before they caused any harm.

      I think the concern of the Canadian minister in the original article was not so much that a lack of guns on the moon would make us defenceless against the aliens, but that the presence of weapons in space might make the aliens bother to flatten us.

      --

      Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
  64. Conspiracy theory by phorm · · Score: 1

    I wonder what spiked the sudden interest in extrarrestrial issues and politics? Is there something we don't know, or is it just pandering to those that believe in the possibility?

  65. forward base by in_fla · · Score: 1

    This lunar base - wouldn't it be 'forward' only for 14 of 28 days regardless where the alien menace was?

  66. Aliens are probably not on drugs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    are aliens so retarded to not get any decent weapon to destroy a base in the moon in a single strike?
    No, they just don't waste their ammo... they simply count the number of moons (hint: there's one) orbiting their target planet - and approach Earth from the other side. Best cover they ever got, and no one's going to claim there could ever have been any intelligent life on that world...
    1. Re:Aliens are probably not on drugs by rawwa.venoise · · Score: 0

      hey, they are alredy among us ... Of course they would set up the base on the dark side of the moon ...

  67. After you have wiped the froth from your mouth... by Beautyon · · Score: 1

    ...go and read the Cometa Report Part 1 and part 2. (two PDFs) in their entirety.

    Not preparing for this inevitable event is like not shoring up the levees or not building an underground bolt-hole when you live in Tornado Alley.

    --
    ATH0 Bitcoin: 1DnwFLXczVZV8kLJbMYoheUrpqHesjxrSi
  68. Danikenite by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You know, I saw a taped lecture given by this guy on a tvo program two weeks ago. When he first started speaking I remember thinking to myself "what a nut." As he went on, tho', he started citing his sources and he started to sound really credible. Of course, he then went off into Danekenite (thanks to David Brin for the term) style speculation with the "intergalactic Quarantine" and "Forward Bases."

    Over all he came off goofy.

    J

    OT: if you follow the TVO link you will see link to a lecture "WWII: The Russian Perspective." It's fantastic. Watch it if you like the subject of history.

  69. We need our wizards and shamans to help!!!! by Hepneck · · Score: 1

    Tomorrow, in Sonoma, AZ, a group of wizards and shamans will be gathering together to cast a protective spell to help our extraterrestrial allies. Napoleon Dynamite will be there to lead the proceedings, bring your crystals, moonboots, and positive mental attitudes to help in this dark time of need. Remember, only you can prevent intergalactic war.

    --
    You may all go to Hell and I will go to Texas - Davy Crockett
  70. Well, we really ought to let them know we're here by sycomonkey · · Score: 1

    If "they" are out there at all, they would have to be looking pretty hard to see us. Our electromagnetic transmissions, which only started 100 years ago and so couldn't possibly have reached any habitable star systems yet, are excedingly weak compared to the glare of our own sun, so are very likely not going to be picked up by anything. We ought to, if we think we're ready (I'm not so sure about that myself), put a probe out as fast as we can, into deep interstellar space, with some sort of nuclear battery, that would occasionally (oh, maybe once or twice a decade) BLAST an obviously intellegent, yet effiecient, signal into space, like, to pull something straight from Contact, prime numbers. Or some sort of representation of Pi. Something. There's no reason to think that there are no aliens, and there's no reason to think they'd be initialy hostal. They'd probably see us as trade partners, assuming their society still uses (or has begun to use) money.

    Of course we have better things to spend public money on, so hopefully some rich eccentric guy will do the honors, assuming we as a planet can agree to such a proposition.

    --
    --The universe will not be altered by forum threads, even those which are very wry. --Tycho Brahe (Penny Arcade)
  71. Giant extra-planetary rocks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We, having to spend large amounts of fuel/electricity on any weapons aimed at destroying any presumed hostile aliens, wouldn't stand a chance. A decent space-faring and war-like race wouldn't even need ammo, they'd just haul a load of giant rocks into declining earth orbits.

    Not that they'd need more than two, or anything. One to cause a tsunami/blotting out of the sun for the earth, another one to smash the future moon base to smithereens.

  72. I had to check three times... by Anita+Coney · · Score: 1

    .... just to make absolutely certain I wasn't reading BBSpot's "Slashdot Story Generator" by mistake.

    --
    If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
  73. Dude by vga_init · · Score: 1

    What aliens? Before we get government programs and spend public funding on programs and policies to properly deal with extraterrestrials, shouldn't we first prove they exist? I'm not saying they can't be out there, but all of our best attempts to find them have yielded negative results.

    Also, in light of other issues that government has to deal with, this sort of thing is a real joke. I honestly believe that there are more important things to be delt with.

    That being said, however, I appreciate their foresight; for all I know these initiatives might help save humanity. I feel the odds of that are infinitesimal, though...

  74. You just gotta wonder about...... by 3seas · · Score: 1

    ....not whether or not there is intelligent life outside of our popular belief otherwise, but of the apparent ignorance of those who think they need to be prepaired to battle with such life that would obviously have such technology, experience and understanding of the human species as to not let us advance enough to present such a possibility of being a threat.

    Like the mentality the US seems to want want to impose on the rest of the world.

    I'd imagine such life would be far better skilled at techniques of deception, easy to apply and safe from proof, then we as a species has yet to master even the kindergarden level of. And this is not contrary of those who claim alien life exist, but have no proof of it....

    Then there is the big picture.... What its all about. In the simplest of terms "survival" the survival of conscious intelligent life needed to maintain the ever expanding matter in existance (what all exist in existance), in all the forms matter can be made to exist in.

    When you are the only thing existing, how do you know you are not dying? By knowing you are growing!

    What assurance do you have that such important conscious life will continue to exist, unless you help to cultivate it, farm it, influence it as well as make matter in space for it to exist on, like this galaxy containing this planet..

    Only when the level of mans intelligence reaches the level required of entering the civilization of the universe, will it be allowed to.

    There is no place for war mongers in the civilization of the universe, any more then there is a place in todays society for roman numeral mathmatics, magic spells, flat planets center of the universe.

    exopolitics? what is that supposed to be?

  75. Where's Tom Cruise when you need him? by j.a.mcguire · · Score: 1

    Somebody took war of the worlds too seriously.

  76. For this one article... by fizzup · · Score: 1

    The "politics" hat should have been wrapped in tinfoil.

  77. Election time in Canada by publicStatic · · Score: 1

    A note for non-Canadian readers:
    The current, minority federal government will likely be defeated in a non-confidence vote next week, and we will have a winter election. Traditionally, parties try to score electoral points by pointing out flaws in their opponents' past government (eg.. Liberals remind us of Brian Mulroney), but publicizing Paul Hellyer is an inspired move by the Conservatives.
    This will be more fun than Hockey!

    1. Re:Election time in Canada by whitehatlurker · · Score: 1
      This will be more fun than Hockey!

      Well, nastier anyway. At least we have the Vanier / Grey Cup weekend before all the politians break loose from their straight jackets.

      --
      .. paranoid crackpot leftover from the days of Amiga.
  78. The Martians Are Coming! by astrosmash · · Score: 1

    The same PRWeb that carried the news of Andy Kaufman's triumphant return from the dead? How exciting!

    According to this, it sounds like the Martian ambassador was annoyed that he couldn't get an audience with the president back in May, so I'd say an attack is imminent.

    --
    ENDUT! HOCH HECH!
  79. This is a warning by Xamataca · · Score: 2, Funny

    YoU f00l StOOpid e4rthLiNgS wilL ReGR6T all THIS BABBlin6!!!


    supergalactic.conquerers@tauceti.org

    --
    ***Game Over***Insert Coin***
  80. ehmmm 42 ?? most likely by PermanentMarker · · Score: 1

    Oke' it was quite a hype idependence day, but now seriously imagine you're an advanced alian civilization. So you have invented quantum based teleportation, in which you mentaly travel trough dark energy or dark space; to get in a wink (or wonk) everywhere in the universe.

    Then why would you be intrested in a planet with to many apes on it? Harvesting materials, no think twice, there is enough raw material everywhere in the universe. Would you like to expiriment with our race, naah no if they ever played games like simcity then they now it's quite boring.

    So first the big question would be WHY ???
    would we be of any interrest to a more advanced race of alian species.


    In reality, It's rather that we would like to believe nice stories, tricks of magicans and UFO's, sadly we humans enjoy to be missleaded (for example take politics, or insurance companies). It's even scary to sea how easily people can be hypnotised to make them belief something.. (oops we might turn out to be hardwired fools :) )

    When you think more about this, there would be only a few answers why would they come to visit us:

    >They see our hopless civilization, finish it a bit sooner, without radiation.

    >They just wonder why apes seam to like traffic jams.

    >They might think, that they might be able to teach apes something, so we would be some fun to them on their 3d TV. (He let's take a look at this genius, he thinks quarks exist) just for the fun of it

    >They might be interrested in our various forms of ART, or rather be puzled why we like it. That would be the most positive encounter i gues; as we might survive it

    >They wonder our genetics; how is it possible that we didn't evolve like them?



    BUT most likely of all :

    They are looking for why the answer was 42, and are looking for the real question see :

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Answer_to_Life,_t he_Universe,_and_Everything

    --
    I know you're out there. I can feel you now. I know that you're afraid. You're afraid of us. You're afraid of change.
    1. Re:ehmmm 42 ?? most likely by mailtomomo · · Score: 0

      would we be of any interrest to a more advanced race of alian species.

      the same interest as studying how civilisation rise and fall on Earth : studying how a whole intelligent specy rise (but will those stupid hu-mans fall ? what fate belong to ours almost-lovely hairless monkeys ? stay tuned and come back next millenium for our new reality show "When monkeys talk" ! )

      ( or studying how intelligence can emerge. or even looking for a new basic approach to come technology ( or maths [...]))

  81. Attacking Aliens? by HaMMeReD3 · · Score: 1

    I dont think bush wants a moon base to attack aliens, I think it's more for the fact that a moon base would be able to strategically bomb any part of the earth with minimal effort at some point of every day.

    Yeah, and if the aliens do come, they'll come from the ground after having been in the earth for millions of years and just raise shit up until they get the flu, or they'll realize a little to late that they are allergice to water, cause we all know aliens are incredibly stupid and make no sense.

  82. NOT a case of dementia. by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 3, Funny

    Check out TFA and read one of the three "non-government organizations":

    http://www.disclosureproject.org/

    They're conspiracy theorists, and apparently they have followers around the world.

    Let's remember that another UFO-believing group, the Church of Scientology, got famous followers like John Travolta, Tom Cruise, etc.

    Cults happen.

  83. Never... by Bun · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...have I been embarassed to be Canadian...until now.

    --
    "Anyone that has ever gotten an idea based on any of my work and done something better with it-good for you."--J.Carmack
    1. Re:Never... by stonedonkey · · Score: 2, Funny

      As my President Bush once said, "Is our children learning?"

      Welcome to the club!

    2. Re:Never... by chiok · · Score: 1

      Umm, Celine Dion didn't do it for you, but this did? *blinks*

    3. Re:Never... by Gerhardius · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      You must not remember people like Renee Simard and Wayne & Schuster: they were embarrassing for Canadians. Seriously though, Paul Hellyer has always been kind of a nutcase and to be honest I though he was long dead. Hellyer was the genius behind unification of the Armed Forces, as well as Defence Minister when the Forces took a budget reduction from which they have never recovered. I wonder why anyone is listening to him now except for the over-rated positions he has held in the past.

    4. Re:Never... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All of you are fools. It's a damn press release. It's not news. Anyone can write a press release and send it for free to PRWEB.

    5. Re:Never... by dubbreak · · Score: 1

      Count me on that..

      What happened to the normal ways of wasting money? With the huge self raise for BC politicians that almost happened I thought we were moving more towards the rest of the world in how our gov't wastes money. I thought the amazingly expensive (and failed) gun registry was somewhat embarrasing yet proudly Canadian, but this is rediculous..

      We should be wasting money on things more Canadian like protecting beavers and making backbacon/canadian bacon a regional name, so that it is only truely "canadian bacon" if it came from the great white north.

      We don't need to worry about aliens anyhow.. there is no way they can stand up to our diesel subs and amazing space tech inovation (we'll grab them with a Canadarm!).

      --
      "If you are going through hell, keep going." - Winston Churchill
    6. Re:Never... by matt20 · · Score: 1

      Don't fret. Jimmy Carter was also quoted.

    7. Re:Never... by TropicalCoder · · Score: 0

      I was embarrased to have Jean Cretien as Prime Minister when living abroad

      Ran across this when I googled to ensure correct spelling of his name...

      Rearranging the letters of 'Jean Cretien' (Prime Minister of Canada) gives: Inane Reject

      http://www.anagramgenius.com/archive/jeancr.html
    8. Re:Never... by thelizman · · Score: 1

      You've clearly never heard of the intransitive plural subjunctive tense before...

    9. Re:Never... by smackdotcom · · Score: 1

      I take it you perhaps weren't around during the Trudeau years?

      --

      In a world without walls, there is no need for Windows.

    10. Re:Never... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We've apologized repeatedly for Celine Dion and Brian Adams.

  84. As another Canadian.... by kaladorn · · Score: 1

    It scares me more than a little that you know people with such a slight grasp of reality that they'd think US Commandos destroyed the twin towers. I suppose all the major news stations collaborated? This defies description.

    This is a day of national embarassment on many fronts.

    --
    -- Mal: "Well they tell you: never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious."
    1. Re:As another Canadian.... by Mr.+Flibble · · Score: 1

      One of the guys I believe has paranoid schitophrenia, and the other just loves conspiracy theories. Strange, but there are people out there like that. I find that most people with a similar bent like the "Art Bell" radio program.

      --
      Try to hack my 31337 firewall!
  85. SPACE WARS by FidelCatsro · · Score: 1

    Earth :We come in peace
    Alien : WHAT , My mother is not
    Earth: Um .. I mean we are friendly
    Alien : That's it , how dare you say my grandma did that to a horse
    Earth : Oh god , feck off , this is silly
    Alien : Thank you , have a cookie
    Earth : oh cheers.
    Alien : That's is slime-ball , My wife has always been faithful . Prepare for a face full of Nuclear powered Laser Dematerialisation

    --
    The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
    1. Re:SPACE WARS by Kiaser+Wilhelm+II · · Score: 1

      Do you ever realize that none of your posts are even remotely funny?

      --
      Lord High Crapflooder The Right Honourable Vlad Craig Esther McDavenpherson III
      Destroyer of Mercatur.Net
    2. Re:SPACE WARS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nope , obviously someone finds them funny . You really suck at trolling . come criticise me when your income can beat 500,000 in GBP

  86. Public Funding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Subsidize powerbooks so Jeff Goldblum can lead us to victory! The aliens will be dashed against the fury of a veritable orchard of powerboooks!

  87. base on the moon? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hellyer warned, "The United States military are preparing weapons which could be used against the aliens, and they could get us into an intergalactic war without us ever having any warning. He stated, "The Bush administration has finally agreed to let the military build a forward base on the moon, which will put them in a better position to keep track of the goings and comings of the visitors from space, and to shoot at them, if they so decide."

    Okay, is that thing about the Bush administration true, or is that just his demented idea?
    Because if that's true, that's very, very frightening... and I mean for REAL reasons.

  88. Cue the X-Files Theme by Gryle · · Score: 1

    Enter Mulder and Scully to the Canadian Field Office...

    --
    Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not entirely sure about the universe - Einstein
  89. Well, what did you expect? by yesheh · · Score: 1

    This is, after all, an ex-Trudeauian... And we all know how much Trudeau loved Americans.. look at his friendship with Cuba.. Fidel even bothered to show up for Trudeau's funeral. Well, actually Trudeau did have values (they're just not mine)... But this isn't about Trudeau in the first place... I don't think the UFOs will like this....

  90. This is funny... by jswalter9 · · Score: 1

    But it would be so much funnier if he turned out to be right. :)

    --
    Retired from software... maybe. Sort of.
  91. Bring it on! by nittacci · · Score: 1

    It's better that we fight the aliens over there than here on our soil. Oh wait... never mind. I guess a preemptive attack against a spacefaring race is sort of out of the question. Let's just hope the first human they run into isn't named "Bush".

  92. Aliens... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    hate our freedom.

  93. Ok.. This guy must not have much to. by Ragingguppy · · Score: 1

    This guy must not have much to do in his retirement years. I mean really. He must be subscribe to some pretty interesting magazines if this is waht he is worried about. I mean really. He was a minister in 1962. The guy must be 90 years old by now.

    But really this is the story that slashdot posts. The one that I posted yesterday about the guy who stuck it to his bank. They don't post. At least my story comes from a credible news paper.

    sheesh

  94. FAKE NEWS -- It's a press release not real news! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Execuse me, but to the slashdot editor, this is fake news. This is satire.

    This never happened.

    This news has been released by PRWEB, a press release agency. Anyone could post a press release using PRWEB.

    This is not news, it's a press release made out to look like news.

  95. Errrr, The Onion? by Logger · · Score: 1

    Please tell me the Onion is the original source of this article.

  96. If they into contact with an alien species: by guardianfox · · Score: 1

    If Bush's USA came into contact with an extra-terrestrial species: ET's labeled terrorists, Billions of dollars into waging war against terror, rainbows, and other abstract concepts. Earth destroyed just before Bush realizes that the ET's have no oil anyway. If France came into contact with an extra-terrestrial species: France surrenders. Everyone else enjoys peaceful relationship with the ET's, but France surrenders anyway. If the U.N. came into contact with an extra-terrestrial species: Aliens leave after five minutes of listening to the arguing. Arguing continues until sun finally burns out. If Canada came into contact with an extra-terrestrial species: "You guys want a beer, eh?" Shortly after, ET's help set up inter-stellar transmission network so they can watch hockey every saturday night.

  97. screaming across the galaxy to Earth, where... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Shouldn't we wait until we know that their entire space fleet can't be swallowed by one of our small dogs?

  98. How fun... by IllogicalStudent · · Score: 1

    See what we as a country can achieve with laxed pot laws :) ?

    --
    But Maaa! Everyone else has a .sig !
  99. Re:Speaking of which... by symbolic · · Score: 1


    When I hear proposals like this, what comes to mind is not an effort to further the benefit of mankind, but to provide a means of revenue for a company whose CEO happens to be friends with "people in high places".

  100. war with aliens?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    wow, now I'm embarassed to say I'm a Canadian... a pending war with aliens? yikes!

    I only though GWB was this crazy - it's just that he and his buddies would stand to profit from such a war if it were ever to occur.

  101. Maybe not so funny by ivoras · · Score: 1

    Maybe the intention os the statement(s) is not so funny. Look at it this way: if you take out the little-green-men motif out of the story, what he's saying is that the US has become a liability and that if the current track of ignorant leaders (and ignorant folks that elects them) continues, global world peace is in danger.

    --
    -- Sig down
  102. Hellyer's a wacko by reformhead · · Score: 2, Informative

    I've been a politico in Canada for nearly 20 years professionally. On and off Parliament Hill - mostly on. Paul Hellyer is a certifiable wacko. Full stop. Anyone who knows anything about Canadian politics knows Hellyer's record. He was first elected in 1949 - around the time Strom Thurmond first became a U.S. Senator. Hellyer is about as swift - even though Senator Thurmond is two years gone. Indeed, the colourful Senator could probably best Hellyer in a debate were they both to square off today - Thurmond in a casket and Hellyer in the flesh.

    Pay this man no mind whatsoever. He's an idiot who once had a job with a title. Talent or smarts are not prerequisites in politics, after all.

  103. Speculation on ET is absurd. by Vellmont · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You can't plan for something you know nothing about. Anyone speculating about whether ET will be war-like, peaceful, care about us, or not care about us is engaging in the art of "making shit up". Our basis for understanding intelligence is almost entirely based on ourselves and how we think, act, behave, and look at the world. Much of this is based on our underlying brain structure and not on culture. We all have emotions and much of our being is based on that.

    But yet when we even look at a Jellyfish it's extremely different from us (and even so, very similar in terms of underlying biology). Will ET have better technology (tools) than us? Well, based on our own experience with technology you'd think that anyone capable of solving the problem of inter-stellar travel certainly would have a far better understanding of physics than us. But I fear when I even say that I'm also probbably practicing the art of "making shit up".

    The point is that planning for any of this is just absurd, and that's ignoring the fact that we have no idea if there even IS intelligent life elsewhere, much less life that's interested in coming here. I don't believe this kind of question is one of science, but of philosophy. That doesn't mean it's not an interesting or important question, but just one we can't find an actual answer to. Devoting money to it makes about as much sense as to devoting money to trying to find god.

    I think a more sane approach would be trying to find out if there IS intelligence life elsewhere. That means putting more money into SETI searches for instance. I personally doubt whether UFOs (the alien spacecraft type) exist, but you'll never find them if you don't look. Because of this I think it's important for such a survey to have a dual purpose. Put money into mapping asteroids (and as a side effect maybe you can look for UFOs, or maybe other purely astronomical phenomenon).

    --
    AccountKiller
    1. Re:Speculation on ET is absurd. by emagery · · Score: 1

      Werner von Braun said, notably, [and here paraphrased] that there would be four prime excuses for soaking up huge amounts of money (25+billion a pass) for space based weapons. First, it would be sold to the public that the reason was to defend us against the Russians... so far, so good. Then, he said, it would be some 'fanatic' or 'unstable' faction that we needed defense against... if you potentially include terrorism in this classification, he's 2 for 2... 3rd, he said, would be asteroids, and [oddly], 'finally' aliens. And that no one of these campaigns would have a shred of truth to it. It was said... make of it what you will.

  104. illogical by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Apart from the fact a civilization of intergalactic travel capabilities would just lough about it, the assumption that every alien race would prove to be hostile to us proves either paranoia or old fashioned militaristic brainwashing.

  105. Really and truly sad by xihr · · Score: 2, Insightful

    He also stated flat out that we are already being visited. This isn't prudency about considering how we might react and what we should do if we make contact; this is pure crackpottery.

    1. Re:Really and truly sad by mh101 · · Score: 0, Troll

      It's not "pure crackpottery"... didn't you see that popular documentary that came out several years back? IIRC, it was titled "Men In Black." You should be able to find a copy in your local video store.

      --
      Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
  106. Awesome by NitsujTPU · · Score: 1

    You know, I feel guilty, but I have to laugh at this:
    The United States military are preparing weapons which could be used against the aliens, and they could get us into an intergalactic war without us ever having any warning ... The Bush administration has finally agreed to let the military build a forward base on the moon, which will put them in a better position to keep track of the goings and comings of the visitors from space, and to shoot at them, if they so decide.

    I feel bad laughing at someone who's clearly flipped his lid, but still... it's funny.

  107. Google by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think everyone is going on tangents here. We all know that the aliens have already infiltrated our society and posing as Google. With their advanced search technology, they plan to slowly take over the world without any casualties. Think like an alien, my friends.

  108. Obligatory Calvin and Hobbes Quote by Databass · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
    The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes

    1. Re:Obligatory Calvin and Hobbes Quote by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      "Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
      The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes

      All joking aside, if you were an interstellar species and you encountered a species which couldn't even tolerate members of itself with different coloured skin, would you want to meet them?

      I really don't think, as a whole, humanity is "ready" to meet extra-terrestrial intelligence.
    2. Re:Obligatory Calvin and Hobbes Quote by mh101 · · Score: 1

      Depends on their motive for coming to Earth...

      For building friendships and fostering interplanetary relationships, then staying away is smart.

      If conquest is your goal, however...


      --
      Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
    3. Re:Obligatory Calvin and Hobbes Quote by 808140 · · Score: 1

      Honestly, any species that has the technology to bridge the interstellar gulf is not going to have any trouble whatsoever destroying the lot of us. I mean, really. Is it worth spending money trying to plan for that eventuality?

      To paraphrase that guy from the War of the Worlds, it wouldn't be a war anymore than there's a war between men and maggots.

  109. Its the weed! by bshellenberg · · Score: 1

    I've been trying to explain to my friends in Washington state, our weed REALLY IS good shit! This is proof of it.

    --
    Karma: Neutered
  110. Bah. by Cedric+C.+Girouard · · Score: 1
    It's not going to be a problem, being that come monday, Canada will not have a government anymore.

    The opposition has made a motion of distrust earlier this week, and will vote on monday, forcing elections before the end of the current mandate, and paralyzing all government activity until the election of a new government.


    So this will be thwarted very quickly.

    --

    Marriage is considered capital punishment for the theft of a goat in some third world countries...

  111. First things first by sdkaneda · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Perhaps we should refine meaningful and tactful relations with different cultures on our own planet before taking on the extraterrestrial ones?

    --
    #roses { color: #ff0000; } #violets { color: #0000ff; }
  112. The black government and real aliens by iendedi · · Score: 3, Funny
    Wow... a new low. The aliens must be laughing themselves sick at our hubris. The possibility that our weapons might prove a threat to a culture capable of mere interstellar travel (let alone "intergalactic") is about the same as an ant colony against the U.S. Army.
    Well, maybe, except you should consider that the U.S. black government has significantly more science and technology than exists in the public eye. This is not tin-foil-hat material, it is real and significant. Complete unified field theories, gravo-magnetic energy, weaponry and propulsion and on and on... Don't believe me? You have that option, of course.

    As for aliens? Do some research on the net. It will become very clear that what we are likely dealing with is a previously emmigrated human species, having left about 10,000 years ago after creating a nuclear winter right here. They come back, and for them it's like planet of the apes - the primitive tribes (sub-humans) of their time have risen up, built an oil-based economy and are in the process of riding the same rail-road of destruction that they did. Sound spectacularly crazy? Heh... Reality has a funny way of doing that sometimes...

    Here is a decent place to start to get a taste. From this neutral site, you can google around and go deep into tin-foil-hat territory, or alternatively, you can investigate the real evidence in a scientific manner. There is a lot of both on the net.

    I am actually pretty surprised that here on Slashdot, this article recieves such a mocking response. Skeptisism is good, but laughing is simply playing into the black propaganda to keep you from looking there. Looking there is good and healthy, it just may change the way you see things.
    --

    It is your personal duty to fight for what is right on a daily basis. Ignoring injustice is identical to approving
    1. Re:The black government and real aliens by iendedi · · Score: 2, Funny
      I forgot to mention the politics of this affair. They are interesting indeed. Please consider the following:

      If you accept the premise that aliens are, in fact, previously emmigrated human civilizations, then many interesting conclusions and questions can quickly be derived. Some of them I won't expand on in detail, but will leave to the reader to think about as an exercise.
      • The nature of the previous advanced civilization was likely not civilization on a massive scale such as exists today. In other words, the advanced civilizations were smaller and more elitist, with the inevitible conclusion that massive industrialized manufacturing did not exist on the scale that it does today. If you draw conclusions from this, some of them will be that advanced computer/electronics is probably not part of the technology inventory of the aliens as such technology requires massive efforts with a huge population base to achieve.
      • As humans themselves, some of them would likely be similar enough to terrestrial humans to walk among us. Some, perhaps not, having racial characteristics from 10,000 years in space that would appear truly alien to us. But some, still looking terrestrial would be able to creep in and quietly integrate into our society.
      • Terrestrial governments would certainly be aware of the true nature of the aliens (extra-terrestrial human nations) and would view them as such. If you think America is paranoid over nations like Russia (in the past), China and Iran (current), just imagine how they would view an invisible, highly advanced and very ancient nation that is outside of it's sphere of influence.
      • As humans, extra-terrestrial governments would be sympathetic to earth and would not be interested in harming the planet. But they may well be mad as hell over our abuses of mother earth.
      • the list goes on and on...

      As a side note, one should consider religious traditions in the light of ancient nuclear wars. Traditions such as kosher foods may well be simply a way of attempting to minimize exposure to toxins in the environment. Think on this for a while.
      --

      It is your personal duty to fight for what is right on a daily basis. Ignoring injustice is identical to approving
    2. Re:The black government and real aliens by cobras2 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "I am actually pretty surprised that here on Slashdot, this article recieves such a mocking response."

      Uh.. yeah.. well, just because I read on average something like 5 books a month, and just because they're mostly science fiction, doesn't mean I actually think there's any other intelligent life out there - except for the slight possibility of other human life out there.

      I am not an evolutionist. I believe the earth is only about 6,000 years old. Now, it's possible that people made space ships and travelled to other planets or maybe even galaxies in that time, but, well, the lack of archeological evidence is interesting. Not enough, I think, to entirely disprove any ideas of past space flight ability.. but certainly enough to throw shadows of doubt.

      Secondly, like has already been mentioned, I don't see any reason for any kind of society that can attain interstellar space flight to be afrai of us - whether you're talking black projects or not is irrelevant. The only reason they might have to be afraid of us is if they came down on the ground; space flight capabilities wouldn't mean ground combat capabilities, necessarily.

      But, furthermore, I don't understand how the Canadian government (and btw, I am Canadian and also singularly unimpressed by a lot of the government we've had for the last.. oh.. 100 years or so) or, actualy, I suppose, one particular member of it, thinks that preparing to defend ourselves if necessary is likely to provoke a war.

      Umm, does the fact that there are guys patrolling in armed boats around the oceans surrounding the US make France more likely to get into a war with the US? No. Why not? well because, France knows those boats are there primarily for defense, not offense.

      Anyone intelligent enough to have developed space flight is bound to be intelligent enough to know that weapons aren't necessarily there because the owners *want* to use them. Don't go trying to feed me any balogny about super intelligent and highly advanced races being completely peaceful; that's laughably unlikely (and besides, there being any aliens is pretty unlikely already).

      Finally, even if they did decide to just bomb us instead of saying "hi, what are the guns for?" first, that would probably mean that they wouldn't have been particularly averse to the idea of bombing us even if we hadn't had the guns. And who knows, maybe the guns actually would come in handy.

      Anyway, my major point is, try to keep the line between purely wild conjecture, possibilities, and probablities, a little more visibly drawn.

      --
      Early bird may get the worm.. but the second mouse gets the cheese.
    3. Re:The black government and real aliens by jlinc · · Score: 1

      So they're down here browbeating George Bush every day? Like an extraterrestrial emmissary from the Sierra Club? PS - Good little capitalists would acquire this technology you describe so that they could make lots and lots of money for themselves. Why keep it secret?

    4. Re:The black government and real aliens by flyingsquid · · Score: 1
      Well, maybe, except you should consider that the U.S. black government has significantly more science and technology than exists in the public eye. This is not tin-foil-hat material, it is real and significant.

      Its true. There is a Black Covert Secret Shadow Government. Its run by an elite council of high-level ninjas and a central database computer with the names and addresses of all the people in the world. They coordinate their efforts in broad daylight and nobody even notices. They control the oil prices and the stock market and what comes on TV when. They control everything. You all think you are all so smart and you all laugh but really they are laughing at you because you are so ignorant and naive and because believe all the lies when they tell lies you on the radio and TV and books and radio so go ahead and laugh.

      You wouldn't believe the technology they are hiding from us. Teleportation. Crops that can feed the whole world three times over. Limitless free electric field energy. Alien mind-control parasites. Genetically engineered mutant supersoldiers with psychic powers who can think you dead from fifty feet away. Trees that grow missiles and ammunition to fuel their wars. Frictionless sandpaper. Beer that makes you smart and funny, instead of just thinking you are. TV remote controls that never get lost.

      You think you know so much and have it all figured out. But go ahead and keep doing that Because thats just the way they like it.

    5. Re:The black government and real aliens by iendedi · · Score: 1
      o they're down here browbeating George Bush every day? Like an extraterrestrial emmissary from the Sierra Club? PS - Good little capitalists would acquire this technology you describe so that they could make lots and lots of money for themselves. Why keep it secret?
      To stay alive?
      --

      It is your personal duty to fight for what is right on a daily basis. Ignoring injustice is identical to approving
    6. Re:The black government and real aliens by Cl1mh4224rd · · Score: 1
      They coordinate their efforts in broad daylight and nobody even notices. They control the oil prices and the stock market and what comes on TV when. They control everything.
      I'm pretty sure they're responsible for missing underpants, too. It's all part of their agenda...
      --
      People will pass up steak once a week, for crap every day.
    7. Re:The black government and real aliens by iendedi · · Score: 1
      Its true. There is a Black Covert Secret Shadow Government. Its run by an elite council of high-level ninjas and a central database computer with the names and addresses of all the people in the world. They coordinate their efforts in broad daylight and nobody even notices. They control the oil prices and the stock market and what comes on TV when. They control everything. You all think you are all so smart and you all laugh but really they are laughing at you because you are so ignorant and naive and because believe all the lies when they tell lies you on the radio and TV and books and radio so go ahead and laugh.
      Well, actually, the NSA has significantly better databases and snooping tech than you are indicating. The NSA is definitely in the black (mostly). Insofar as modern mafias are tightly integrated with intelligence communities, your reference to ninjas almost makes sense. Yakuza certainly has a hand in the black. But mostly, the shadow government is a feudal system, with many discreet warring factions. This is a result, mostly, of the deep paranoia and high secrecy - which culminates in concentrations of black power around certain sources of income and/or technologies. Other than that, I more or less agree with you.
      You wouldn't believe the technology they are hiding from us. Teleportation. Crops that can feed the whole world three times over. Limitless free electric field energy. Alien mind-control parasites. Genetically engineered mutant supersoldiers with psychic powers who can think you dead from fifty feet away. Trees that grow missiles and ammunition to fuel their wars. Frictionless sandpaper. Beer that makes you smart and funny, instead of just thinking you are. TV remote controls that never get lost.
      Teleportation? Such as the space-time warping achieved through the use of extremely high-energy torroidal magnetic fields (ala Philidelphia experiment?). Yes.

      Crops that can feed the world three times over? Already exist, white tech... Profit motives create starvation, not lack of crops.

      Limitless free electic-field energy? Most definitely. ZPE and other sources have been and continue to be stomped on quite obviously. The oil cartels will not allow such things at this time. Frankly, world economic stability is at risk from such technologies so it makes some sick sense.

      Alien mind-control parasites? I don't know about alien, and parasite may not be the right word, but...

      Your ideas are starting to get weird after that, but I like the beer that makes you smart and funny - that would be a good seller.

      You think you know so much and have it all figured out. But go ahead and keep doing that Because thats just the way they like it.
      Actually, what they really like to do is take the stuff they want to be secret, mix it with ridiculous garbage and make a movie out of the synthesis. Put it into the public eye as obvious fiction so that anyone who claims such things exist look like lunatics that believe that the fiction in movies is real... Clever clever boys!
      --

      It is your personal duty to fight for what is right on a daily basis. Ignoring injustice is identical to approving
    8. Re:The black government and real aliens by iendedi · · Score: 1
      I am not an evolutionist. I believe the earth is only about 6,000 years old. Now, it's possible that people made space ships and travelled to other planets or maybe even galaxies in that time, but, well, the lack of archeological evidence is interesting. Not enough, I think, to entirely disprove any ideas of past space flight ability.. but certainly enough to throw shadows of doubt.
      6000? Not 300? Maybe it's only 2 days old - a simulation that was checkpointed and restarted 2 days ago (our subjective time).

      6000 years? So, core samples from ice in antarctica that shows seasonal snowfall for hundreds of thousands of years? Faked? God has quite a sense of humor ;-)

      Who knows.
      --

      It is your personal duty to fight for what is right on a daily basis. Ignoring injustice is identical to approving
    9. Re:The black government and real aliens by DrEasy · · Score: 3, Funny
      I am not an evolutionist. I believe the earth is only about 6,000 years old.
      It's really not my habit to disagree abrasively with anyone BUT: you are a smart person (I could tell by checking out your web site), as a Slashdot reader you are a geek and therefore probably have strong logical reasoning skills (and you program in Perl for cryin' out loud!), not to mention a good understanding of scientific facts. HOW could YOU of all people ever believe in such fairytales?

      There's nothing wrong with having religious beliefs, but it is important, in this day and age, to draw the line between mythology (which can be beautiful and moving, and has its place in every religion, but it is just that) and reality.

      I sincerely hope I didn't hurt your feelings, but Slashdot is the one place I hoped not to have to read things like this.

      Guess I'm gonna get my first ever flamebait mod for this, but this is a cause worth some sacrifice...

      --
      "In our tactical decisions, we are operating contrary to our strategic interest."
    10. Re:The black government and real aliens by flyingsquid · · Score: 1
      I'm pretty sure they're responsible for missing underpants, too. It's all part of their agenda...

      Now you're just being ridiculous.

    11. Re:The black government and real aliens by cobras2 · · Score: 1

      >6000? Not 300? Maybe it's only 2 days old - a simulation that was checkpointed and restarted
      >2 days ago (our subjective time).

      See, now you're rejecting things out of hand just because of your own assumptions (that the world is older than 6,000 years).

      >6000 years? So, core samples from ice in antarctica that shows seasonal snowfall for hundreds
      >of thousands of years? Faked? God has quite a sense of humor ;-)

      No, it doesn't show snowfall for hundreds of thousands of years. How can you prove that snow is a hundred thousand years old? Even carbon dating is a questionable method, but as far as I know they don't even use that on the snow at the south pole. In fact, as far as I know - which I already admitted isn't a whole lot, on the subject of antarctic snowfall - the only reason they think that snow is that old is because it never snows down there, so they figure it would take that long for it to build up. I'm just suggesting that maybe it *used* to snow a whole lot more - or, maybe, it all got there at the same time. Instead of this sill idea of everything always being the same (uniformitarianism), i.e. the amount of snow that falls each year.

      >Who knows.

      Indeed. I consider myself to be at least a mediocre computer expert, and at this point, I'm somewhat unimpressed with a lot of the things that many so-called experts in *any* field get away with saying, if it just so happens to be something popular to say.

      Evolution theory makes more sense from a politcal and (im)moral point of view than it does from a scientific point of view.

      What I mean is, evolution is more comfortable for man than this theory of a God who has the right to judge the earth; if evolution is true you don't have to wait until you're married to have sex, or to not get drunk, or to be faithful to your spouse.. because who's going to stop you? It seems fairly clear that a lot of people have a vested interest in keeping the evolution theory going for their own comfort, whether or not it is true.
      In fact, if it *is* true, that would be all the more reason to stick up for it - why live a self-sacrificing life if there's no possible benefit? Why not just party and do whatever you feel like, if all that waits at death is cessation of existence?

      Like I say, your basic philosophy on life makes a lot of difference in how you see the world - and in how you intepret what you see in the world, whether it be drunkenness, fornication, or antarctic ice core samples :)

      --
      Early bird may get the worm.. but the second mouse gets the cheese.
    12. Re:The black government and real aliens by flyingsquid · · Score: 1
      Well, actually, the NSA has significantly better databases and snooping tech than you are indicating. The NSA is definitely in the black (mostly). Insofar as modern mafias are tightly integrated with intelligence communities, your reference to ninjas almost makes sense.

      Of course it makes sense. What is the defining characteristic of a Shadow Government? It operates in the shadows. How does a Shadow Government enforce its will and crush opposition? Covert assassinations. Who else is more qualified to run a Covert Black Shadow operation than a cadre of elite ninjas? Of course, it did not start out that way. Initially the ninjas were merely hired guns. I mean in the figurative sense. Ninjas don't use guns. After all they are ninjas. But eventually The Powers That Be found that instead of controlling the ninjas, the ninjas controlled them. The ninjas tended to move up in the power structure while the higher echelons of the Shadow Government tended to die or disappear with unusual frequentcy. The result? Shadow Coup. This took many years and yet it was over before they knew what had happened and who had done it.

      Think about it. Who could assassinate Kennedy without leaving a trace of their hand? Who could kill Princess Di and not be caught? Ninjas.

    13. Re:The black government and real aliens by iendedi · · Score: 1

      Hmph... I guess I have to agree...

      And if you take a look at Bush Sr's track record, I think it is safe to say, he was definitely one of the first ninjas to take a lead position... Interesting reference to Kennedy, btw...

      --

      It is your personal duty to fight for what is right on a daily basis. Ignoring injustice is identical to approving
    14. Re:The black government and real aliens by davebert · · Score: 1
      As a side note, one should consider religious traditions in the light of ancient nuclear wars. Traditions such as kosher foods may well be simply a way of attempting to minimize exposure to toxins in the environment. Think on this for a while.


      Or maybe it was to prevent food spoilage in desert conditions? And arguably later it became convenient for the priests of one religion to use it as a way of limiting contact between their followers and those of neighbouring religions.
    15. Re:The black government and real aliens by iendedi · · Score: 1
      >6000? Not 300? Maybe it's only 2 days old - a simulation that was checkpointed and restarted
      >2 days ago (our subjective time).

      See, now you're rejecting things out of hand just because of your own assumptions (that the world is older than 6,000 years).
      Not at all. I was, instead, saying that it could just as easily have been created 300 years ago. There is considerable physical evidence (geologic, fossil, radiocarbon, etc..) that shows that the earth is billions of years old. If it were created in such a way that we couldn't tell the difference, it would be just as easy to create it 300 years ago to look that way as it would be to create it 6000 years ago to look that way. Hell, it could have been created 2 days ago and our own memories are as much a synthesis as the surroundings around us. That was my point. If you believe in creationism, you must accept these possibilities as equally likely to any arbitrary starting point.

      Evolution theory makes more sense from a politcal and (im)moral point of view than it does from a scientific point of view.

      What I mean is, evolution is more comfortable for man than this theory of a God who has the right to judge the earth; if evolution is true you don't have to wait until you're married to have sex, or to not get drunk, or to be faithful to your spouse.. because who's going to stop you? It seems fairly clear that a lot of people have a vested interest in keeping the evolution theory going for their own comfort, whether or not it is true. In fact, if it *is* true, that would be all the more reason to stick up for it - why live a self-sacrificing life if there's no possible benefit? Why not just party and do whatever you feel like, if all that waits at death is cessation of existence?
      While hiding behind materialism, evolution and science is certainly a way in which people may rationalize away guilt, I think you are making a mistake in waving evolution away. Evolution is a provable science today. DNA analysis can show, beyond a shadow of a doubt, different specialized adaptations in members of the same animal species that inhabit different parts of the globe. Farmers can selectively breed features in and out of both animals and plants. And the list goes on. Regardless of whether you believe in intelligent design, it is absolutely clear that the mechanics of natural selection do exist and are in operation today. Period. It can not be argued.

      Now, I am not saying that intelligent design is not in operation. It very well may be, and if it is, it is probably manifest in a much more beautiful and profound fashion than we realize. The idea of panspermia is a damned good one. The idea that an intelligence exists that is so advanced that it could design a few small bacterial cells to throw at a lifeless rock and watch those cells flower into our modern world is a much grander wand of god than "poof, now it all exists". I would like to think that God's poetry contains such beauty, myself.
      --

      It is your personal duty to fight for what is right on a daily basis. Ignoring injustice is identical to approving
    16. Re:The black government and real aliens by iendedi · · Score: 1
      Or maybe it was to prevent food spoilage in desert conditions? And arguably later it became convenient for the priests of one religion to use it as a way of limiting contact between their followers and those of neighbouring religions.
      Well, let's take a look at a couple of things. How about shellfish? You do realize that shellfish absorb toxins in the ocean (and would accumulate radioactive waste in effected areas) - this is one of the primary reasons that shellfish are dangerous today (toxin absorbtion) - but interestingly, there were no such toxins in the oceans thousands of years ago (or so we are led to believe). So what possible food spoilage problems in desert conditions do shellfish have? Does the religious border argument make sense either? Seems to me, the toxin issue makes TOO MUCH SENSE.

      How about the bleeding of stock animals? Same issue, really...

      What about pork? Pigs eat anything, you can't stop them. Again, in a toxic environment, it seems to me that pork would be particularly dangerous because of the diet of the animal.

      It is an interesting point to ponder.
      --

      It is your personal duty to fight for what is right on a daily basis. Ignoring injustice is identical to approving
    17. Re:The black government and real aliens by cobras2 · · Score: 1

      > I sincerely hope I didn't hurt your feelings,

      Certainly not - I hope (and, in fact, pray :) ) that I will never be so closed-minded as to question my own beliefs, and someone else doing so is even less surprising. I like that one quote from Neverwinter Nights (when you talk to Aribeth at the beginning of the second part of the main storyline) which went something like: "It is never wrong to question; what matters is your answers."

      Now, hopefully I can at least give you something to think about...

      >It's really not my habit to disagree abrasively with anyone BUT: ... HOW could YOU of all people ever believe in such fairytales?

      Because, from my understanding of geology (which I freely admit isn't the best in the world), it is possible that the world is a whole lot younger than evolutionists say it is.

      And on the flip side, I can see some good arguments as to why it's *not* as old as they say - I would actually like to get into some good discussions with a geologist sometime to find out how well these arguments stand up.

      For one thing, if the world is 4 billion years old let's say (I don't remember for sure what the mainstream theory of evolution says, but if I remember correctly it's somewhere around that), then obviously the sun is at least as old. The sun happens to burn fuel at a ridiculous rate, which isn't surprising since it's basically a ball of fire. Now, if the sun is burning, that means it's getting smaller, which means it used to be bigger (obviously), so *FOUR* billion years ago (which is a really fricking long time) it's bound to have been big enough to cause problems for the solar system, isn't it? An interesting question.
      Now, that (or other similar questions) doesn't necessarily prove the earth is young (I don't have the time to argue the point at the moment, unfortunately :p Real life - and Mercedes Lackey's "Take a Thief" beckon). But basically, from what I have seen and read, I see no good indication that proves the earth is as *old* as the evolutionists say - and personally, I have started from the assumption that the Bible is correct until someone proves it wrong. Some could argue that that's a stupid starting position, but I can also argue that starting from the position that it's wrong until proven right is equally stupid - and besides, in anything provable, the bible has so far been correct (by all means, point it out to me if you think that's not true - as I said, I hope that I will never hesitate to ask questions because I am afraid of the answers).

      >There's nothing wrong with having religious beliefs, but it is important, in this day and age, to
      >draw the line between mythology (which can be beautiful and moving, and has its place in every
      >religion, but it is just that) and reality.

      Do you believe in aliens?
      I don't.
      They don't make a lot of sense if you believe in a creator who wrote the bible - he'd have mentioned them, I think. It's *possible*, I suppose, that he made aliens too. But I doubt it.

      Do you believe in fire breathing dragons?
      I do.
      Have you heard of Dinosaurs? That's a new name, and I think they used to be called dragons.
      And breathing fire? Well, why not? There are bugs that can breathe fire (bombadier beetles).
      And since I don't believe that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago, that's not a problem for me. Besides, the bible talks about dinosaurs - "Behemoth" is a creature it mentions, who is a very large land animal. Ah hah, an Elephant! Err, no. it says Behemoth has a tail like a cedar tree, in the bible (Elephants do not have tails like cedar trees. More like a cedar twig...). Can you think of any large land animal besides a dinosaur, which has a tail like a cedar tree? Rhinocerous? Hippopotamus(sp)? I can't - and how on earth would the guys who actually wrote the book know what on earth a behemoth was, if dinosaurs all died millions of years before they (whoever it was that wrote Job) were born?
      And, if dinosaurs

      --
      Early bird may get the worm.. but the second mouse gets the cheese.
    18. Re:The black government and real aliens by cobras2 · · Score: 1

      Oh.. and.. two other things; one, sorry if the last post was a little long :p but, I had a few things to say.

      And two, just so you know, the fact that I don't believe aliens are even a remote possibility doesn't mean I am uninterested in space travel or science fiction, much to the detriment of my free time, which of course usually gets split between computer games and reading. I just finished David Drake's 'With the Lightnings', John Ringo's 'Through the Looking Glass', and John Ringo + Tom umm... Kratman?'s 'Watch on the Rhine', and that was just the last couple of weeks worth of reading :)

      Incidentally, if you haven't heard of John Ringo (what?! get out there and read his books! for the most part, they rock, although personally I would prefer a lot less immorality i.. sleeping around), he alo has some interesting things to say about Global Warming.. I believe he has a rant up about it on his website.
      Umm.. on second thought, after looking for it again, I don't see it there.. well, it *Was* there.. and it's an interesting read if you can find it. This is the website, I dunno if it's still there or not and don't have time to look around for it myself at the moment, sorry:

      http://johnringo.com/Unpublished/

      (there's a number of other interesting articles there too, and although I don't agree with everything he says, I certainly appreciate the amount of thought he puts into his writing.)

      --
      Early bird may get the worm.. but the second mouse gets the cheese.
    19. Re:The black government and real aliens by RichardX · · Score: 1

      Hi there,
      It's really nice to see that you appear to be very willing to question your views - always a healthy thing.
      Regarding the age of the earth, you can find a good explanation of why it is known to be considerably older than 6000 years at the Talk Origins Age Of The Earth FAQ and a collection of more in depth FAQs on relevant subjects here. Of particular interest should be the Solar FAQ which will address your concerns about the age/lifespan of our sun, and this article on 'How the Sun Shines'.

      These are by no means exhaustive, or even highly detailed articles on the subjects - indeed, they touch barely the tip of the iceberg in terms of evidence avaliable for the age of our planet, but it should certainly give you a good introduction to the material.

      Furthermore, I also have to take you up on your claim that "in anything provable, the bible has so far been correct". For starters, there's a fairly extensive list of conflicts between the bible and known science and history here - and while some of them may seem pedantic, of concern only to the ultra-literalist, there are plenty of others which are problematic at any level of interpretation. Also, there's a rather long list of promises and prophecies which have failed here, and some 360-odd instances of the bible contradicting itself here - and just to assure you no foul play is afoot, while those lists are on the Skeptics Annotated Bible website, that site is merely a standard King James Version with additional sidenotes - by all means, use your own copy of the KJV if you don't trust it.

      Anyways, I may not agree with your views or opinions, but I must say I have the highest respect for the fact that you are willing to question them. All too often I see people with religious believes cover their ears and start going "lalalala! I can't hear you!" when their beliefs are challenged, so kudos for actually inviting a challenge :)

      --
      Curiosity was framed. Ignorance killed the cat.
    20. Re:The black government and real aliens by DrEasy · · Score: 1

      You put a lot of thought and effort in your reply, so the least I can do is reply to it myself!

      I think our main point of divergence is that you seem to say that one *has to* adhere to a complete set of beliefs over another one: for example, you seem to say that one is either a creationist or an evolutionist. How about considering them for what they are: theories? The difference is that the theory of evolution is a scientific one, i.e. it is falsifiable: you are absolutely welcome by the scientific community to use scientific rigor and methodology to poke holes in it. Interestingly enough, in your own post you take that exact stance with the theory of creation, so you have decided to have a scientific attitude toward your religious belief, which I think is healthy.

      I do not have the place here to go through all the scientific arsenal (biology, astronomy, chemistry, geology, take your pick!) and evidence that you can use to prove that the planet is WAY WAY older than 6000 years (that's very easy, and you wouldn't even need to date the planet very precisely to that effect, the order of magnitude is that different). I don't know why you are choosing to conveniently dismiss the methodology and technology (such as carbon-dating for example) that is available to that effect.

      The allegories, metaphors and guidelines in sacred books can be extremely profound and insightful, but ultimately one should use his own judgement in the face of possibly contradictory evidence. Think for yourself!

      --
      "In our tactical decisions, we are operating contrary to our strategic interest."
    21. Re:The black government and real aliens by killjoe · · Score: 1

      I don't know about the jews but the muslims don't eat pork because they don't eat any animals that eat meat (except sea food).

      I don't know if this helps you theory or hurts it but they eat shellfish.

      --
      evil is as evil does
    22. Re:The black government and real aliens by cobras2 · · Score: 1

      Prelude note whih I actually am writing now just after finishing the rest of this:

      Umm.. well, anyway, I hope I'm not rambling here, it's sort of late and I probably shouldn't be writing at this hour.. I need to get myself a designated writer to send me to bed when I'm too sleep-deprived to safely write :D

      "Not at all. I was, instead, saying that it could just as easily have been created 300 years ago. There is considerable physical evidence (geologic, fossil, radiocarbon, etc..) that shows that the earth is billions of years old. If it were created in such a way that we couldn't tell the difference, it would be just as easy to create it 300 years ago to look that way as it would be to create it 6000 years ago to look that way. Hell, it could have been created 2 days ago and our own memories are as much a synthesis as the surroundings around us. That was my point. If you believe in creationism, you must accept these possibilities as equally likely to any arbitrary starting point."

      Ah, okay, I see what you're saying.. you're thinking that I mean all that "considerable evidence" was purposely created to make us think that the earth is billions of years old, when it's actually 6000?

      That's not what I am saying. What I am saying is much more offensive to evolutionists than that ;)
      And, hopefully, a little bit more logical.
      I am saying that all that supposed evidence that the world is billions of years old is nothing of the sort, and that it is an either intentional or unintentional result of the assumptions people make when they start off doing things. Like carbon dating, for instance. I don't know enough about it to be absolutely certain one way or the other, mind. But from what I do know, I suspect that it wouldn't be hard for scientists to argue that things are millions of years old if they want to; and at the same time, I think it is possible for them to argue that things are only six thousand years old. *Science* is about *observable* facts; the fact that we are here simply means we were created. How exactly it was done is much harder to distinguish, and if you really *want* to believe it, you can look at that very same evidence and see it in two (more, actually) entirely different ways that things could come about.
      For instance, we have fossils which we discover under dirt and which we date as being certain ages. How are these thingsdated? No, not always by carbon dating. It seems that they are frequently dated based on what layer of rock they are found in. Umm, okay. So how do you tell how old the layer of rock is? Well, see, this particular layer of rock usually has this particular kind of fossil in it...

      That sounds like circular reasoning to me. If it isn't, please explain.

      Furthermore, Evolution does not offer any actual method for the original creation of life, except that it spontaneously arose out of rock soup. I had heard that the spontaneous generation of life was a theory that went out in the 13th century or so (like, before the flat-earth theory), but I guess not.

      "Evolution is a provable science today. DNA analysis can show, beyond a shadow of a doubt, different specialized adaptations in members of the same animal species that inhabit different parts of the globe. Farmers can selectively breed features in and out of both animals and plants. And the list goes on. Regardless of whether you believe in intelligent design, it is absolutely clear that the mechanics of natural selection do exist and are in operation today. Period. It can not be argued."

      That's micro evolution.
      I believe in micro evolution.
      What I don't believe is *macro* evolution, which says that everything came from a turnip.
      I don't see how it can be possible for turnips to turn into dogs, or dogs to turn into people, and that *hasn't* been proven in a lab. There are plenty of problems with macro evolution.
      micro != macro.
      Sure, you can keep adding billions worth of years in order to make those ludicrously low chances seem less

      --
      Early bird may get the worm.. but the second mouse gets the cheese.
    23. Re:The black government and real aliens by iendedi · · Score: 1

      Well, the unwritten implication is that the jewish concept of kosher food may have been passed down through oral tradition from a time when there were intense levels of poisons in the environment and encoded into judaic law as that religion emerged, what 3000 - 4000 years ago?

      There has always been a great debate about both the age of, and purpose of, the concept of jewish kosher food. The same is not true for islam, as islam emerged much later and has it's roots in both judaism and christianity.

      --

      It is your personal duty to fight for what is right on a daily basis. Ignoring injustice is identical to approving
    24. Re:The black government and real aliens by cobras2 · · Score: 1

      "Anyways, I may not agree with your views or opinions, but I must say I have the highest respect for the fact that you are willing to question them. All too often I see people with religious believes cover their ears and start going "lalalala! I can't hear you!" when their beliefs are challenged, so kudos for actually inviting a challenge :) "

      Indeed. Unfortunately, I find it's quite the same no matter what religion you're talking about, and in fact, pretty well the same when you're talking about atheists and/or evolutionists; most would rather just not listen than to bother thinking about it.

      Anyway, thanks for the links and I will definitely take a look at them.

      As for the skeptics thingie umm well.. there may be some interesting things in there, but like you said, most of them are just plain silly (for instance, "Of all clean birds ye shall eat. But these are they of which ye shall not eat: ... the bat.--Dt.14:11, 18" So what? Who says bats are not birds? Umm.. today's scientists. There is no reason for the definition of a bird not to be "anything with wings" if we wanted it to be, it's a case of definition, not of the bat being incorrectly classified)... of course this is just a cursory glance.

      Also interesting to note the promise that God made to Abram about his seed being numbered like the stars.. many people (christians included) seem to think that was supposed to mean there would be as many Israelites as the stars. That could easily be a figurative number, not a literal number; but, I don't think that's what it was. *I* think God used signs in the stars to show Abram the story of the gospel, i.e. he explained to him about his *seed* ("as in one seed, not many seeds" like it explains in Galatians 3 I think it was), Jesus Christ. Not seed as in Israel would be as great in numbers as the stars, but rather his seed as in Jesus Christ (which it says in Galatians, so I'm not just pulling this theory out of my hat) would be explained in the stars.Also, right after th bit about the seed and the stars, it says "Abram believed and it was counted unto him for righteousness" - it also says in the new testament "there is ONE name by which men shall be saved, the Lord Jesus Christ"; Abram's believing God in that his descendants would be great in number would not be counted to him for righteousness. If God was talking about Jesus when he said that, however, then Abram's believing Him would be counted for righteousness (which it was). If you don't believe me read Galatians, because that's what Paul says about the passage there :)

      Anyway, just an example of how some of those skeptic things are based on theology which isn't necessarily right, i.e., I agree with their points but they don't do anything to disprove the bible, just certain incorrect doctrines that some people claim come from the bible :)

      --
      Early bird may get the worm.. but the second mouse gets the cheese.
    25. Re:The black government and real aliens by cobras2 · · Score: 1

      "The allegories, metaphors and guidelines in sacred books can be extremely profound and insightful, but ultimately one should use his own judgement in the face of possibly contradictory evidence. Think for yourself!"

      Indeed: I only say the same to any who are raised in the public school system and learn evolution the same way many people learn religion :)

      Don't just accept what the professor says because he knows more than you. *Just* because he knows more than you doesn't make him right. Or the Pastor. Or the Pope (who, by the way, I positively denounce as being the head of the church, since I am a protestant and that's the point of being a protestant :) ). Or the president. Or whoever.

      Sure, it's *easier* to let someone else think for me... but, thanks very much, I'd rather see a car drive safely down the road first before I trust myself to it, and by the same token I'd rather know the basics of how carbon dating woks before I trust it, either. Because I have heard almost as much about the problems with carbon dating, myself, as I have about what makes it work properly, so until I know how it works for myself, I'm going to stick with the theory that works best under my current knowledge; which is young earth.
      Furthermore, and while this is not the only reason (as I have already mentioned) it's also not something I am willing to throw off instantly whenever another idea comes up, I *have* had prayers of mine answered in entirely unexpected and unlikely ways. Faith may be the f-word to some people, but despite how much I resent *needing* to rely on someone else sometimes, I also understand that it is necessary.

      But here's my theory; alway be willing to re-evaluate things. Never hesitate to ask a question because you're afraid of what the answer might tell you. And that goes for everybody, atheists and christians and buddhists and everybody. If you let other people do all your thinking for you, what are you but a machine?

      --
      Early bird may get the worm.. but the second mouse gets the cheese.
    26. Re:The black government and real aliens by iendedi · · Score: 1

      That's not what I am saying. What I am saying is much more offensive to evolutionists than that ;) And, hopefully, a little bit more logical. I am saying that all that supposed evidence that the world is billions of years old is nothing of the sort, and that it is an either intentional or unintentional result of the assumptions people make when they start off doing things.

      Well, there are literally hundreds of thousands of very educated scientists who, for hundreds of years, have put their entire lives into the study of these things. They do understand such things as radio-carbon dating and seasonal effects on rock formations and ice cores and whatnot. The fact is, you simply cannot argue that the proponderance of evidence for the continuing existance of planet earth over billions of years does not exist. It does. Go take a look at it instead of saying you aren't an expert. Really.

      That's micro evolution. I believe in micro evolution. What I don't believe is *macro* evolution, which says that everything came from a turnip. I don't see how it can be possible for turnips to turn into dogs, or dogs to turn into people, and that *hasn't* been proven in a lab. There are plenty of problems with macro evolution. micro != macro. Sure, you can keep adding billions worth of years in order to make those ludicrously low chances seem less low (because after all, 4.5 billion years is a *LONG* time, couldn't *ANYTHING* happen in that long?), but I for one am not convinced.

      Well, the fact is, your DNA is 99% the same as a chimpanzee and we have surprisingly accurate copies of fish DNA as well. In fact all living things share a tremendous amount of genetic material. What this indicates, very strongly, is that there was a time when our ancestors and those of other living things converged to the same creatures.

      The concepts of mutation and punctuated evolution are important ones. There is a natural randomness to the genotypes and phenotypes that exist within a population. Some of this randomness expresses itself because of variations in the genetic pool of the population and some of it expresses itself because of errors in combining DNA during mitosis or in mutation caused by radiation or other natural phenomena. The mutations will most often have no effect (genes that do not express) or effects that are terrible for the organism (missing limbs, problems with internal organs, etc..). However, ocassionally such mutations can result in a survival advantage for the recipient of the mutation. An example could be a gene in humans that accidentally mutated to reduce or eliminate melatonin production, resulting in very light skin humans - which is a survival advantage in cold snow-covered climates as it assists in hiding such humans. Some mutations produce morphological changes (changes in body shape). All of them would be minor and only after they accumulate over tens of thousands to millions of years would we see profound differences in organisms. This is how macro-evolution works. Micro-evolution, as you are using the term, is the process of weeding out irrelevant phenotypes that already exist in a genepool and selecting the most relevant. Macro-evolution, your term again, is the process of amplifying and spreading mutations that introduce new genes into the genepool. Both exist, are proven and cannot be argued.

      Really? Personally I would think it would be a lot more interesting to design a really cool computer from the get-go, if you knew how, rather than starting off with vacuum tubes and working your way slowly up from there. After all, if the Bible is to be trusted (and I have decided to trust it unless or until it's proven wrong - not by force of how many people in the world think it's right or wrong, but when someone proves to *my* satisfaction t

      --

      It is your personal duty to fight for what is right on a daily basis. Ignoring injustice is identical to approving
    27. Re:The black government and real aliens by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      LOL

      You are indeed a bringer of good news. If you are right, then all we have to do is wait a little bit for oil to grow back like wild weeds. After all, if the world is 6000 yo, and considering the position of oil in the layers of rock since the beginning, then in 500 years or so the stock would be replenished. lol

      Oh, and since carbon dating is wrong to such a degree, then in case of nuclear war the radiation would be gone in a couple of years. Wait, the radiation in Hiroshima isn't completely gone as of now so guess who's wrong.

      Your statements are so pathetic that they almost make me lose faith in human intelligence.

      Try reading something worthwhile like the half-life of carbon (which *is* a proven fact) instead of some stupid stories written by some ignorant primitive folks high on opium or worse.

      This wasn't even worth a reply actually. *sigh*

    28. Re:The black government and real aliens by mobby_6kl · · Score: 1

      >I read on average something like 5 books a month, and just because they're mostly science fiction [...] I believe the earth is only about 6,000 years old.

      How many volumes of the Bible are there, anyway?

    29. Re:The black government and real aliens by Khomar · · Score: 1

      Okay, I bit. I checked out the links that you provided, and quite frankly, I was disappointed with the quality of the criticisms. A vast majority of the issues raised are either a distrust of anything regarding faith or a misunderstanding of poetry, language, and metaphore.To address each issue would take far too long (I don't have a couple months to look into every item and refute them). If you will allow that miracles can happen, almost half of the complaints are moot. The Bible is a book about faith, is it not?

      Next, the author shows a complete misunderstanding of language and poetic structure. I can say that my love is as deep as the ocean... that doesn't meant that it is 45,000 feet deep, it means that it is very strong. When the Bible says that the earth shall not be moved, it is referring to the stability of the planet which relative to everything in our realm of existence, is very solid. Yes, the earth does move in space, but for the sake of poetry and in every day practical life, it does not. We often generalize when describing something by comparing it to something else (your eyes are as blue as the sky).

      If a list of this calibre was created refuting evolution, it would be dismissed without a second thought -- why waste time on it? It is nit-picky at best; ignorant at worst.

      --

      I believe in de-evolution. God made the world perfect, man fell, and its been going downhill ever since!

    30. Re:The black government and real aliens by codehoser · · Score: 1

      Your fundamental question comes down to whether or not to place your faith in science or in the Bible. It's clear that you're letting your ignorance of the natural world strengthen your belief in the Bible (the sun shrinking as it ages?). There's nothing terrible about a little ignorance -- no one knows everything! Recognize, though, that most of your questions have been properly answered already -- you just haven't found them.

      You should understand that the scientific method enables the evolution of ideas. People come up with crazy theories about how things work, and those theories are tested and retested many, many times under different circumstances, by different people in different times. Those theories that stand up to all of this scrutiny don't necessarily represent the "right" answers, but they are certainly our most accurate understanding of the world.

      The Bible is completely separate from all of this. There's no testable ideas, and nothing in the way of useful scientific knowledge or theories. It's a book of stories, which may be useful to some people as a moral foundation. You're doing yourself a great disservice in ignoring the thousands of years of scientific work done by our ancestors to bring you the world that we have today. Your questioning attitude toward the world is terrific -- but place your faith in science when seeking answers about the natural world, because it has as its very _core_ the kind of skepticism that you seem to (half) embrace. Keep questioning the answers, of course, but you're going to be a lot better off believing in the solid foundation of science than in, as someone put it, fairy tales.

      Kevin

    31. Re:The black government and real aliens by RichardX · · Score: 1

      Absolutely, By all means, the bible is a book of metaphor..

      Like when it says the earth was created in about 6 days? That's a metaphor. What it really means is it took about 4.6 billion years to get to it's present state. And when it says humankind was created by God? that's... also a metaphor. As is Noah's flood, Joshua's long day, the death and resurrection of Christ, the.. uh... existence of Christ?
      What are you actually left with? Marginally less concrete fact than you'll find in, say, The Da Vinci code, and a lot of metaphor and story telling.

      On the other hand, if you choose to take it literally (and hey, I don't make the rules. Most creationists I know DO choose to take it VERY literally), then you have to address the absurdities shown in the lists I linked to.

      Naturally, you might decide to take some kind of reasonable middle ground - after all, that seems like, well, a reasonable thing to do. You decide that some things are metaphor, and some aren't. But on what basis do you make that distinction? perhaps the ones that are obviously absurd and contradict what we know are metaphor? Thus leaving only ones that appear to support your position which you can claim are intended literally.. that's called data selection, and is a very dangerous position to get yourself into.

      --
      Curiosity was framed. Ignorance killed the cat.
    32. Re:The black government and real aliens by Dread_ed · · Score: 1

      "I believe the earth is only about 6,000 years old"

      The only question I would pose to you at this point is this: Tell me exactly where in the Bible it states how long Adam and Eve lived before the fall. Sure geneologies after the fall may calculate to 6000 rough years, but what about inside the Garden?

      And as for the rest of the post I completely agree. If you take the presence of space aliens as a given that would necessitate development of weapons to defend ourselves.

      --
      When the only tool you have is a claw hammer every problem starts to look like the back of someone's skull.
    33. Re:The black government and real aliens by Imposter_of_myself · · Score: 0

      I don't know if you'll see this - this post is getting older. I agree with you on the "young earth", it was created by God as described in Genesis - and not zillions of years ago. Yes, there are other conservative Christians that post to Slashdot ;-)

      The word of warning I have for you though, is something that a lot of Christians miss these days. The focus of the original post was about UFO's and ETs. Until recently, I thought the UFO/ET stuff was just junk - in actuality IT IS 100% REAL!!! Now hold on, I know what you are thinking - this guy is a loon - I am not! I got my head on straight and listened to what my Bible had to say!!! If you do not believe that the UFO/ET stuff is real - then you need to reread Ephesians 6:12. Point blank - the ETs are demons! I used to think that there was nothing else out there in the universe. That nothing could travel at the speed of light, and that the nearest star was Alpha Centauri and it takes light something like 4 years to get from there to the earth and that it would take humans 25,000 years to get there with present technology, and we can't observe "anyone" out there, so we must be "alone". If I am to believe my Bible, than the "evil rulers of the heavenly realms" should probably be viewed as today's ExtraTerrestials aka ETs. DO NOT FORGET THAT POINT, that is: ETs=demons! I would like to write more to you on this subject - I will not unless you say so. I want to write more, because I think this topic (UFO/ETs) will be coming to the forefront of the "mainstream" media REAL soon! There is more information that you should know!

    34. Re:The black government and real aliens by Thing+1 · · Score: 1
      We do! (The Stonecutters Song)

      All: Who controls the British crown?
      Who keeps the metric system down?
      We do! We do!
      Karl: Who leaves Atlantis off the maps?
      Lenny: Who keeps the Martians under wraps?
      Alien: We do! We do!
      All: Who holds back the electric car?
      Who makes Steve Gutenberg a star?
      We do! We do!
      Skinner: Who robs cavefish of their sight?
      Homer: Who rigs every Oscar night?
      All: We do! We do!

      --
      I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
    35. Re:The black government and real aliens by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Holy fuck. You are crazy. Richard Hoagland crazy. Art Bell guest crazy. That was the longest, most non-sensical, non-logical post I've read in ages. You need to take a basic class in logic, reasoning and critical thinking, and then reevaluate your position on all of these matters.

      "So far I have found Christianity (and I'm *not* catholic, just so you know) to be what makes the most sense"

      Holy fuck. I was born-and-raised christian, went to a christian grade-school (where evolution was taught, by the way) and raised in a red state. And let me tell you, Christianity and the bible specifically make the _LEAST_ sense of almost any understanding/explanation of the universe we inhabit. Most Christians I know understand that.

      You need some history. Even if you believe the bible to be the "word of God" one must realize it's been tainted by the hand of man. The "bible" is one of the most misused words in modern english. When you speak of the bible, to which book do you refer? Here's a quick list to refresh your memory:

      American Standard Version
      JPS The Holy Scriptures 1917
      Revised Standard Version
      New Revised Standard Version
      New World Translation
      Jerusalem Bible
      Lamsa Bible
      New American Bible
      New English Bible
      New American Standard Bible
      JPS Tanakh 1985
      New International Version
      New Jerusalem Bible
      New King James Version
      Recovery Version
      English Standard Version
      Holman Christian Standard Bible

      These are all just different versions just from the last /century/! Anybody who believes the word of the bible, letter for letter is simply ignorant of language, translation, and history.

      The "bible" was written by many, many, different men, of different cultures and values over many CENTURIES. It was also authored in many, many different languages and translated according to the values and understandings of the translator.

      The "bible" is probably the most SCHIZOPHRENIC tome in existence. On the one hand, you are to love your neighbor, and yet on the other, it's an eye for an eye. Forgive the harlot, yet stone your neighbor's wife. When one says "I believe in the bible," what one really means is, "I SELECTIVELY believe in the parts I want to believe in or was TAUGHT to believe in, in the language it was translated to, in the translation that I THINK is the most correct one."

      As I see it, if one selectively takes the "good" parts of the bible, it's not a bad guide to clean living. All that love your neighbor, obey the 10 commandments, honor your mother and father stuff makes for civility.

      But it is simply that. The bible chronicals interelationships and humanity. It is not designed as a guide to science. The bible was written by men with a very, very poor understanding of the universe.

      "If you can prove to me that the bible is incorrect, go right ahead."

      The bible proves _ITSELF_ to be incorrect. No matter which version you choose to believe in, it's littered with inconsistencies, logical fallacies and self-contradictions. To this very day, a large part of the reasoning behind the inclusion or exclusion of certain books of the bible is known ONLY to the inner workings of the Vatican, or lost to time. No explanation of many of these decisions has ever been given. Wikipedia (yes, I'm creating a new verb here!) "Gospel of Thomas" or "Apocrypha" for examples. What I'm saying is, if you "believe in the bible" you believe in words hand chosen by OTHER PEOPLE for you to believe in. This is indisputable fact.

      "But until someone can offer me good solid proof, not the kind of conjecture so oft-repeated that it becomes dogma as the idea of mankind arising from turnips which magically came to life out of rock soup..."

      Wow. that is the most ignorant, Dubya-type statement I've heard in ages. Rock Soup? I know this statement is tounge-in-cheek, but it belies the lack of thought and understanding typical of people of your ilk.

      I have difficulty under

    36. Re:The black government and real aliens by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Codehoser:

      Recognize, though, that most of your questions have been properly answered already -- you just haven't found them.

      I'm the guy that wrote the "Holy Fuck" reply to cobras2, and I just have to say that that is one of the most elegant and profound statements in ages. It' like you're channeling Ben Kenobi. ;-)

      I enjoyed your post, and thank you for tendering a reply to cobras2 in a much more elegant and softer fashion than I could bring myself to.

      "The Bible is completely separate from all of this. There's no testable ideas, and nothing in the way of useful scientific knowledge or theories. It's a book of stories, which may be useful to some people as a moral foundation. You're doing yourself a great disservice in ignoring the thousands of years of scientific work done by our ancestors to bring you the world that we have today. Your questioning attitude toward the world is terrific -- but place your faith in science when seeking answers about the natural world, because it has as its very _core_ the kind of skepticism that you seem to (half) embrace. Keep questioning the answers, of course, but you're going to be a lot better off believing in the solid foundation of science than in, as someone put it, fairy tales."

      Excellent post. I think I'll be bookmarking and quoting it in the future. Thanks!

    37. Re:The black government and real aliens by flyingsquid · · Score: 1
      This kind of silly mockery is just what they want. You're playing into the ninjas hands. Their silent, black-gloved, throwing-star-throwing, killing-stuff-with-their-bare-hands, ninja hands.

      Think about it. It all makes sense. Kennedy had connections to the old Black Government, the one lacking ninja skills. That's why he was killed. Johnson, his successor? Ninja. Total ninja. Sure, he comes off like a Texas farmboy. That is the brilliance of it all. It must have taken years of high-level ninja training to be able to hide his ninja skills so brilliantly. Civil rights legislation? Johnson was worried that segregation would keep out Asian ninjas. Many of the best ninjas are Asian. Because they invented ninja skills. Nixon? Part of the conspiracy, but clearly part of the non-ninja faction. If he were ninja, he wouldn't have gotten caught during Watergate. Clinton? Not a ninja. Hillary, though... cold blooded killer. Highest level ninja.

    38. Re:The black government and real aliens by cobras2 · · Score: 1

      "The only question I would pose to you at this point is this: Tell me exactly where in the Bible it states how long Adam and Eve lived before the fall. Sure geneologies after the fall may calculate to 6000 rough years, but what about inside the Garden?"

      Gen 5:3 "and Adam lived 130 years..." and Gen 5:4-5 "And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years; and he begat sons and daughters; and all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died."

      I am assuming here that when it says "930 years" it means 930 years from the time he was created. I suppose you might be able to argue that it means 930 years from the time he was kicked out of the garden, which could mean the world is however much older, but it seems much more likely that it dates from when he was created.
      Interesting to note, this means Adam could have been in the garden for anywhere up to a maximum of 110 years or so before he was kicked out, if you assume that cain and able were born after they left the garden, that they were close in age, and that they were around twenty when they died, and that Seth was born right away after that. That whole part of it is a bit iffy - I personally don't think it's extremely important how long Adam and Eve were in the garden, but it's interesting to note that it could have been quite a few years.

      --
      Early bird may get the worm.. but the second mouse gets the cheese.
    39. Re:The black government and real aliens by cobras2 · · Score: 1

      >Your fundamental question comes down to whether or not to place your faith in science or in the Bible.

      Evolution is not the only part of science. I did not say I refuse all of science. Evolution is only one theory. I happen to think it's wrong, and stupid to boot. That doesn't mean I don't believe in science.

      >It's clear that you're letting your ignorance of the natural world strengthen your belief in the Bible (the sun shrinking as it ages?).

      How can the sun not shrink as it ages? So far as I know, the way it works is for matter to be converted to energy somehow. Now, that may be incorrect, and maybe there's another explanation; but as I said, that is not the only reason I have for doubting the "4.5 billion years" age model.

      >There's nothing terrible about a little ignorance -- no one knows everything! Recognize, though, that most of your questions have been properly answered already -- you just haven't found them.

      On the othe hand, maybe I have, and it's you who haven't :)
      Questioning has to be done on both sides. Please don't patronize me.

      >You should understand that the scientific method enables the evolution of ideas. People come up with crazy theories about how things work, and those theories are tested and retested many, many times under different circumstances, by different people in different times.

      I understand the scientific method.

      >Those theories that stand up to all of this scrutiny don't necessarily represent the "right" answers, but they are certainly our most accurate understanding of the world.

      Of course. I am merely questioning (very blatantly and defiantly :) ) the currently most popular theory of origin in acedemic circles. That doesn't mean I despise science.

      >The Bible is completely separate from all of this. There's no testable ideas, and nothing in the way of useful scientific knowledge or theories.

      If the creation week is not testable, then neither is evolution...
      The rain of fire which is talked about as one of the plagues that was brought down on the egyptians, we would now assume to be meteorites. It is interesting to note that at the time of the KJV translation, many scoffers ridiculed the bible for this "rain of fire", claiming that since nothing like it had been observed in nature at the time, it was therefore poppycock. Now, however, we know that meteorites are possible.. and so now, of course, the skeptics claim that it was "just a plain old meteor shower" and had nothing to do with God..
      Ah, so if it's impossible, that proves it isn't true, and if it *is* possible, that proves it isn't true? hmmm... :)

      >You're doing yourself a great disservice in ignoring the thousands of years of scientific work done by our ancestors to bring you the world that we have today.

      I'm not ignoring thousands of years of scientific work. At the most I am ignoring hundreds - the theory of evolution is very new. Please, if you don't get anything else I am saying, get this: I am disputing EVOLUTION. Not all of science in general. Evolution is *one* theory, which just so happens to have pervaded many other areas of science, because it is such a broad and important theory.
      If you look at the world in other ways, namely creation science, it changes a lot of things, most especially in geology. But many of these things can be explained as well by creation science as by evolution - it just turns out looking very different depending how you look at it.
      That doesn't mean I dispute physics, or mathematics, or a whole lot of biology, or plenty of geology (some depends on evolution, some doesn't), or computer science for that matter :p
      Hopefully you get my point: I like science, I love science, I just don't think that the theory of evolution is correct.

      --
      Early bird may get the worm.. but the second mouse gets the cheese.
    40. Re:The black government and real aliens by cobras2 · · Score: 1

      "How many volumes of the Bible are there, anyway?"

      Umm.. I was talking about science fiction books.
      The Bible is not science fiction.
      Disagree with me if you please, but that is my position :)

      --
      Early bird may get the worm.. but the second mouse gets the cheese.
    41. Re:The black government and real aliens by cobras2 · · Score: 1

      >Well, there are literally hundreds of thousands of very educated scientists who, for hundreds of years, have put their entire lives into the study of these things.

      And George Washington's doctors were highly educated and motivated. And they wanted to save hish life. And they killed him, by bleeding him to death.
      I do not disagree that they are highly intelligent, trained, and motivated. I just disagree with some of their conclusions. Being smart does not necessarily make you right.
      Besides, if you wake up and smell the coffee, you'll realize there are also plenty of scientists around who disagree with many different parts of the evolution theory :)
      Not to mention, if you pay attention *at all* you will realize that creationists trying to get into geology or biology or anything that has even the slightest bit to do with evolution run into *major* opposition in universities today. i.e. it's pretty hard to find a well educated guy who doesn't believe in evolution.. but it's not (or at the very leats, not just) because evolution is right, it's because getting through school and remaining a creationist is.. difficult.

      >In fact all living things share a tremendous amount of genetic material. What this indicates, very strongly, is that there was a time when our ancestors and those of other living things converged to the same creatures.

      It can just as easily indicate that it was the same God who created them all and he saw no reason to make them totally different. How useful would fish be if we couldn't even eat them, because of biological differences, anyway?
      It might also be intersting to note the search for a "helpmeet" that occurred in Genesis. Adam was supposed to find someone to be his helper. He looked through all the animals, but none suited him.. if the animals had been *completely* different from him in every way possible, I should think he wouldn't have even bothered looking.
      Your perception depends on your eyes. And which shade of rose-coloured sunglasses you choose to wear.. Evolutionist, or Christian, or whatever else :) The tough part comes when you try to look at the sun without your sunglasses.

      >The emergence of that animal in the womb actually mirrors the evolution of the animal being created, much like god is reminiscing on the way that animal evolved every time a new one is conceived.

      Err.. what? Oh no, are you talking about that dumb thing where the fetus supposedly looks like a fish, amphibian, reptile, and then mammal (usful acronym: memorize FARM and you got it)?
      That idea was mostly based on a guy in the late 1800s who actually purposely doctored images of fetuses in the womb in order to make them look more like fish.. Those are not gill pouches, dude, they're cheeks...
      It's also interesting to ntoe that the FARM idea helps to dehumanize fetuses in many people's minds (here I pause for the collective groans of abortionists). Yes, I am also pro-life. I actually like to call it pro-choice, as in pro the baby's choice to live, myself, just to confuse everybody ;) ;)

      >God does not send a sperm that looks just like the dad (with head, feet, belly-button and all) into the womb to grow into a new man. He throws a seed and let's the seed bloom. Why would he do anything differently with a planet than he does with his most loved creaturess?

      Because he said he did.
      And my theory is that until you prove he *didn't*, I'm sticking with that.. which btw seems to be the same idea that evolutionists have; until I prove evolution wrong they'll stick with it. So in this case I see no difference between us except the starting point; I'm willing to guess you probably grew up learning evoltuion, whereas I grew up learning creation. Now we are adults (or at least I am, and judging from the intelligence of your post I assume you are too) and we have to come to our own conclusions.
      I hope I can say I am a scientist, a seeker of kowledge; the way my mind works is that I t

      --
      Early bird may get the worm.. but the second mouse gets the cheese.
    42. Re:The black government and real aliens by Raindance · · Score: 1

      This was a great, clear-headed post. Whomever you may be, please consider making an account so your writings get read by more people.

    43. Re:The black government and real aliens by Thing+1 · · Score: 1

      More evidence: the song lyrics posted were hosted at area51newmexico.com -- the ninjas are watching!

      --
      I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
    44. Re:The black government and real aliens by Nicolay77 · · Score: 1

      I liked the link. This kind of comments are the reason I read /. and the reason digg will not make this place a point in the past.

      --
      We are Turing O-Machines. The Oracle is out there.
    45. Re:The black government and real aliens by alphamugwump · · Score: 1

      I, alphamugwump hereby nominate the parent for troll of the week: posting about creation on slashdot, and getting rabid replies. Way to go!

    46. Re:The black government and real aliens by cobras2 · · Score: 1

      "posting about creation on slashdot, and getting rabid replies. Way to go!"

      Hey, is it my fault all these fundamentalist Evolutionists are rabid maniancs? ;) ;)

      --
      Early bird may get the worm.. but the second mouse gets the cheese.
    47. Re:The black government and real aliens by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      So in this case I see no difference between us except the starting point;
      Data, my dear boy, data. That is the difference between the two positions. From astrophysics to zoology, with every other thing in between points to the universe (and the earth) considerably older than 6000 years.

      Yes, I know, you choose not to beieve any theory/logic/model used to explain that data.

      You do so not because of a more compelling postulate that better fits all the data.

      You do so because of a more compelling faith in a creation theory (that does not fit the data, hence you question the interpretation of data.) And any "data" to support the creation theory would just as strongly support the FSM theory.

      For a theory to get scientific acceptance, it is not sufficient that Aaron wrote so, Aristotle believed so, or the Pope said so .

      Stratigraphy and Seriation, Dendrochronology, C14 dating, Potassium-Argon, Fission Track, Thermoluminescence dating, Archaeo- and Paleo-magnetism, OCR (oxidized carbon ratio) -- data/theory from all these suggests dates much much older than 6000 years. Even the worst-case error conditions and worst-case "data noise" would not close the gap between the predicted age and 6000 years.

      Apart from the first two, all these dating techniques are brought to you by physicists - the same group of folks who gave us the theory for the diode, the transister, the nuke, the microwave, .... , and the P4/G5 used to interpret your pearl code. As is of course your prerogative, you choose not to question their judgement in these matters.

      Now if the discussion about creationism was in a theological or philosophical class, that would be great (I am deeply spiritual.) But let us try to keep it out of science (yes, I am a scientist as well.)

      *Sigh*

    48. Re:The black government and real aliens by Imposter_of_myself · · Score: 0

      I do not know if you saw my post (tried to respond to you earlier). Again, I don't know if you'll get this. I read above where you don't believe they are even a remote possibility. I used to believe that same exact way, but now I see that they do exist - check out my previous post - it talks about Ephesians 6:12 - you'll want to read that, if you haven't.

    49. Re:The black government and real aliens by D2Deek · · Score: 1

      Regarding your Antarctic ice comments, it's not about how much snow is in a year, but that there are only four seasons in a year and they form an annual pattern, like tree rings (which also show a record of time lasting longer than 6000 years).

      In addition, it seems incredibly unlikely that the strength of the weak nuclear force, as demonstrated by the rate of decay of various radioactive elements, would have changed appreciably since the Earth was formed. The rate of decay of the Earth's uranium deposits tells us that the surface finally finished solidifying about 4.2 billion years ago -- after the so-called "heavy bombardment" stage.

      Geomagnetic combined with igneus rock deposition data also gives us a record of the Earth's magnetic field reversals going back billions of years.

      Radiocarbon dating can only be used to date living things though, not ices, and it is not particularly precise for creatures that died more than about 40,000 years or so ago IIRC. It's based on the amount of radioactive Carbon-14 in the bodies of creatures relative to the level of regular Carbon-12. During a creature's lifetime, the level remains _fairly_ constant (thus its inaccuracy) but after it dies the levels begin to drop due to radioactive decay.

      As for the length of time life has been evolving, it hasn't been 4.5 billion years. Life has only been on the planet for 3.6 billion, and the first multicellular life didn't appear until after the last Snowball event ended 620 million years ago. Before that time, all the life on Earth was stuff like bacteria and algae and the occasional protozoa..and they are still by far the dominant life forms on the planet.

      Really? Personally I would think it would be a lot more interesting to design a really cool computer from the get-go, if you knew how, rather than starting off with vacuum tubes and working your way slowly up from there.

      But that's not the equivalent of evolution. Equivalent would be the creation of a single "vacuum tube" with the capability to spontaneously develop into a vast supercomputer network. And that is a way cooler trick than designing a mere computer in the first place, wouldn't you say?

    50. Re:The black government and real aliens by CXI · · Score: 1

      You do realize that at the link provided they try to prove that an ancient civilization "destroyed itself in a nuclear holocaust" by linking to an article that untimately explains the nuclear event as a supernova bombardment, right?

      Ah, why am I even bothering. *sigh* Some people will believe anything.

  113. Uhmmm Sorry About All This... by rtrifts · · Score: 1

    As a Canadian, all I can say is... uhm...sorry about all of this. It WAS the sixties you know.

    To think that Paul Hellyer was serious considered as a potential leader of the Liberal Party of Canada at one point.

    Yikes!!

    --
    .Robert
    1. Re:Uhmmm Sorry About All This... by planetoid · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It doesn't matter, because this story is fake. Notice it was put out by PRWeb, an open-access news publishing service that just happens their articles are also published on Yahoo -- you may have seen them in the news a year or two ago when a rumor about Andy Kaufman still being alive was taken seriously by many people, a rumor that was given credence just because Yahoo! had mirrored it.

      What's sad is, I've only seen at most three or four other posts in this entire story pointing out the fakeness and past history of PRWeb, out of over 300 posts. No, no... what's sad is, Slashdot actually posting this story, as if the story had any credibility in the first place.

      --
      Slashdot requires you to wait longer between hitting 'reply' and submitting a comment.
  114. Men in black? try this by casemon · · Score: 1

    jokes aside, if you're at all serious about any of the facts that may exist back up the presumptions, check out this;

    http://www.disclosureproject.org/

    from their site;

    "The Disclosure Project is a nonprofit research project working to fully disclose the facts about UFOs, extraterrestrial intelligence, and classified advanced energy and propulsion systems. We have over 400 government, military, and intelligence community witnesses testifying to their direct, personal, first hand experience with UFOs, ETs, ET technology, and the cover-up that keeps this information secret."

    skeptics especially take a look. it's not all hullabaloo from backyard bumpkins with nothing better to do than make up stories about "men from the sky", rather it is testimony from people who America trusts with its defense, for example the same people who take care of nuclear weapons.

    I went as far as buying the DVD and considered it to contain very honest and real testimony.

  115. gee.... i'm torn.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm torn between "Wow! I guess SETI isn't serious enough" and "I want some of what he's been smoking."

  116. I'm Glad They Are Doing This by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I mean this is very serious business just like the Internet is serious business.

  117. Mental illness is hard by farbles · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Any of you who has had to cope with an aging loved one suffering from some form of geriatric psychosis or late late onset schizophrenia probably had the same reaction to this story that I did.

    Deep breath. Sigh.

    Here's the thing, for those of you fortunate enough to have not yet had the experience.

    Your loved one can be totally sane by all measure of the law and medicine, yet their life can be completely taken over by a delusion. My favorite aunt developed late onset schizophrenia which in her case manifested itself as hearing voices from all around her, a cabal of people out to get her. At first the family thought her stories were real - consistent tales about strange neighbours in her apartment complex and their lives - but after a time there was just too much of it and the stories didn't check out. There was no reclusive girl named Cynthia in the next apartment and her upstairs neighbours weren't putting cameras and speakers in the air vents.

    Anyway, to make a long story short, my aunt is still in charge of her own affairs, not in a hospital or care setting and by my non-professional lights mad as a hatter. She's moving for the third time in a year because the evil (imaginary) neighbours keep following her from building to building and never turns on lights or makes a sound because the evil neighbours start shrieking at her about it if she does. Her entire existence is one of fear and the only medical solution is some anti-psychotic pills that don't seem to do anything and a monthly geriatric worker visit.

    Now if I were to have told this story a different way, focussing on the kookiness rather than the human tragedy, you'd have all laughed. It would have been a comedy bit - the crazy cat lady or Mr Magoo's misinterpretations of his surroundings.

    With so many baby boomers getting older and from my personal first hand experience the medical field is pissing in the dark with regard to effective treatments, there are going to be a lot more news stories like this.

    The real bitch of it all is, you often cannot easily tell from listening to such a person what is real and what is not. Trip to Mars, delusion. Trip to pharmacy to pick up prescription, real or not?

  118. Otherwise known as "stealth" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What makes everyone think that just because a species can cross interstellar space they're as good at killing each other as humans are?

    1. Re:Otherwise known as "stealth" by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 2, Interesting


      To advance as far as they have, the species in question probably had to exterminate all competitors, just as our species out-performed, out-fought, and out-bred all the other competing hominids in our race's infancy. We're bloodthirsty and competitive because these traits enabled us to win the evolutionary race, and there is no reason to suppose that alien species didn't have to undergo a similar 'baptism-by-fire'.

      --
      ____

      ~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey

    2. Re:Otherwise known as "stealth" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      damn, haven't you seen any movies?

    3. Re:Otherwise known as "stealth" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What makes everyone think that just because a species can cross interstellar space they're as good at killing each other as humans are?

      Crossing space would require the storage of an enormous amount of energy, for propulsion, life support, etc.

      Once you have a large amount of potential energy available to you, it's not very hard to make a weapon out of it. Just release it all at once, be it a rock colliding with someone's head after falling off a cliff, or a quick chain reaction of fission events.

    4. Re:Otherwise known as "stealth" by mikkom · · Score: 1

      Usually you need to be in top of food chain of your population in order to be able to spend your time (let's say couple of hundred or thousand years) studying about things like space travel. That requires you to have means of destroying hostile, bigger than you predators or they will kill you before you can invent anything.

  119. Senility? by geneing · · Score: 4, Informative

    I checked wikipedia. The guy is 83 years oldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Hellyer. Maybe he is just not all here anymore...

  120. Many of the top authors by jd · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Have had their own pet scenarios that they repeatedly use in their stories. With Asimov, it was linked minds and robotics. For Arthur C Clarke, it has generally been a mix of Earth blowing up and the consequences of humans mixing with other civilizations.


    Actually, this last one is significant even if there are no aliens within contactable distance of Earth. There are extremely few positive cases of advanced human societies mixing with less advanced societies. The response has ranged from "cargo cults" to extermination campaigns to the utter collapse of native culture, followed by extreme chemical dependencies and other addictions. More than a few of the troubles in the Middle East, for example, have been due to extreme, prolonged culture shock. Many of the islands visited by Captain Cook, described as paradise at the time, are now little more than brothels with an ocean-front view for the rich.


    So, whilst I don't regard the call for an Interstellar protocol to be particularly useful in and of itself, IF we take this opportunity to look at how to communicate with others without causing damage, I would consider it a worthy investment of time and effort. If it leads to the undoing of the mindless destruction inflicted in the past, so this world can be the richer for the cultures that still exist, then it will have paid for itself many times over.


    If all it does is deter people from questioning how they treat others, then we'll keep paying an absurdly high price from something only a tiny handful will ever get anything from.

    --
    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
  121. The Infiltration Has Begun ... by rewinn · · Score: 1

    ... but the aliens are smart enough not to land their troops until they've fully assessed Earth's Mightiest Defenders: Gamers. Hence, their funding of games such as "Half-Life" and "Doom" to identify who they have to hit in the first wave.

    If you're consistently racking up a big score online: Watch Your Back!

  122. Another One With Blinders by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > Check out TFA and read one of the three "non-government organizations":
    > http://www.disclosureproject.org/

    Alright, go to that site and read up on it instead of just to spout some uninformed opinion... Do you believe everything you were spoon-fed in school?

  123. Visitors from space... by kronocide · · Score: 1

    I agree chances are good that there is life, maybe even life that we could recognize as intelligent, somewhere else in the universe. But what are the odds that we will ever cross paths?

    Someone told me recently that nuclear engines are being developed that could make the trip to Mars in six weeks (or something). After a quick calculation I pointed out to him that at that speed we could make Alpha Centauri (the closest star system) in... 80,000 years! Now that's progress that counts.

    There is also relativistic travel. If you continually accelerate at 1G, you could in theory cross the galaxy (~100,000ly) in a few decades. Of course, when you get back to Earth, ~100,000 years will have passed. And also, since you are travelling at close to light speed, you won't really see anything. You can only slow down to inspect a planet a few times if you want to return to Earth in your lifetime, and it will require planning far ahead, which is a problem since you will have no idea where there will be life. (Unless SETI delivers, that is.)

    So it may be a comforting thought that we are not alone in the universe, but maybe we don't need to put the intergalactic diplomacy initiative on this year's budget.

  124. Re:"Intergalactic war", huh? Yeah RLY. Mass by saskboy · · Score: 1

    Mr. AC,
    You forget that part of the problem isn't the speed, but the mass. A Prius packs more punch than possibly a proton.
    Projectiles from past the Pliedies cluster would have the penultimate power, since they'd have centuries to be accelerated a bit at a time to nearly c.

    --
    Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
  125. But what's important... by TheBlairMan · · Score: 1

    ...is that we're totally screwed if those intergalactic cruisers run Linux.

  126. Re:Speculation on ET by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Some good points... However, be aware that there are many people who have extra-terrestrial/extra-dimensional contacts. SETI makes certain assumptions that prohibit it to be ever successful -- it's a complete waste of time and energy unless you count people/organizations who have a benefit in having us believing that we are alone.

  127. In light of this... by ShagratTheTitleless · · Score: 0

    I think it is reasonable to expect at least a months break before any Canadiens call US leaders idiots. They may even have to absorb some shots from the rubber dog.

    --
    Sometimes at night I imagine the darkness is filled with horrible things with too many teeth, like Julia Roberts.
  128. ...look at what we would do though... by SauroNlord · · Score: 1

    Well, if WE are willing to place WMD's in space and shoot at our own civilians---how much would you bet that we would kill anything else that came near us? Assuming that these other aliens are just as frightened as we are--- there will be war... Imagine if we found another sapient civilization that has a reasonably master of the atom or inter stellar travel(which we are soon approaching..) --- do you think we would let them build these massive lasers within shooting distance of our earth?? HELL NO, we would blow them out of the water--- exactly what they would be thinking.

    Unless of course, we are smart enough to realize this symmetry in our political goals of WMD's...

    If we are willing to put WMD's in space, we can expect another civilization to do so as well. And we are both scared shitless of each other

  129. Entanglement by ajpr · · Score: 1

    I always wonder why we don't put our efforts into looking for entangled photons. If we could trap them, then surely we could communicate instantly with whatever civilisation sent them. Of course they might not exist by the time the photons get here...

  130. Cover-Up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You sound like a government official trying to cover up the truth. Why should we believe you??

    In fact, what if you are actually an alien posting on Slashdot trying to downplay your existence in our society??

    And while during the day, you lead Google in developing advanced search technology and slowly gain world domination under our very eyes??

    What if you also lead Microsoft in developing XBox360 to selectively burn our houses with the faulty power brick??

    I can see through you, alien, with my ninja observation techniques. If I am no longer around tomorrow, Slashdot, you will know that aliens are indeed amongst us.

  131. Re:Thanks by Trigun · · Score: 1

    Hey, you got a great website there. It looks just like mine!

  132. You people are missing the point!! by ChuckCaves · · Score: 1

    Arguing over whether we could destroy aliens is irrelevant to what the article is trying to say.

    I think the whole point of the article is that Canadians are completely off their rockers.

    I mean hey, Bryan Adams... Need more proof... Anne Murray... I could go on and on (Celine Dion) but I think we have enough evidence.

    We need to build a forward military base base on a small island in Lake Michigan in case we ever have to defend ourselves from such insanity... please... act before it's too late.

    1. Re:You people are missing the point!! by mh101 · · Score: 2

      Canadians are completely off their rockers.

      Close... the truth is that many of us Canadians actually are Extraterrestrials. You just named a few examples yourself. "Men In Black" is based on a true story, from little-known Canadian history.

      You may have heard of the Avro Arrow. In actuality, the Arrow was one of the first landing craft to arrive here, and the Avro Arrow "project" was started as a cover story. When it was determined to be too dangerous to have the craft still around and intact, the "project" was "scrapped" and all the craft were destroyed, and the general public was none the wiser.

      --
      Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
  133. Cook 'em And Eat 'em! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Certain South American indian tribes reacted to Spanish explorers by cooking and eating them. The Spanish never attempted to re-contact them or re-enter areas those indians occupied. All other tribes were killed off or conquered by the Spaniards.

  134. Alanis Morissette by thelizman · · Score: 1

    ... I mean, what was that about?

  135. they are already here?! by Mike_ya · · Score: 1

    I spent all that time running seti@home for nothing!

  136. +5 Funny? by Cl1mh4224rd · · Score: 1

    Sadly, the parent was being serious. I suppose that such a severe delusion can be quite humorous, but making such a disconnection with reality highly visible only allows it to breed...

    --
    People will pass up steak once a week, for crap every day.
    1. Re:+5 Funny? by iendedi · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Are you sure I am serious?

      That's some pretty heavy stuff to be serious about!

      If it's a joke, why is it so funny? That is an interesting question in itself...

      Hey dude... This is slashdot - things neither need to be real and serious nor fictional and funny. They can lie on the imaginary plane where reality and fiction create fractal interference patterns...

      --

      It is your personal duty to fight for what is right on a daily basis. Ignoring injustice is identical to approving
  137. What if the alien culture has no concept of weapon by James_Aguilar · · Score: 1

    In this case, intergalactic war could be very detrimental to an alien species.

  138. Consider your bubble burst by James_Aguilar · · Score: 1

    Assuming the alien culture has a societal background that allows them to think in terms of weapons and killing. Which (might) be quite an assumtion. Sorry to burst your bubble ;-)

    1. Re:Consider your bubble burst by dytin · · Score: 1
      Based on the theory of evolution, any sufficiently advanced species will have to be able think in terms of killing and weapons. If a species were to be created that was not able to kill, then it will also not be able to protect itself, and would probably be killed off by another species that can kill.

      It's possible that an extremely advanced civilization could have moved beyond the need to kill, and therefore does not any longer have the concept of killing and weapons. However, in order to become this advanced, they will have to have come from a background that included the concept of killing.

      I think if we ever come in contact with aliens, the one thing that we will be able to assume is that they are a species that has survived and evolved for millions of years, and therefore is capable of killing.

    2. Re:Consider your bubble burst by salemnic · · Score: 1

      Nonsense.

      There is nothing in the TOE that says you need to kill things to survive. Any herbivore could tell you that. All you need to be able to do is to RUN or HIDE. Preferrably both.

      Think of a race of sentient deer with opposable thumbs.

      Yes, I know that when you get down to living in one place you become easier to find, but who says you need to live in one place to become an advanced species.

      s

    3. Re:Consider your bubble burst by snilloc · · Score: 1

      Many herbivores, especially male, will not hesitate to kill your ass if you get too close. Moose, rhino, even deer.

    4. Re:Consider your bubble burst by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think the plants would argue that they are being killed by the herbivores feasting upon them.

      Not all plant consumption is lethal, admittedly, but much is.

      On the other hand, the anaerobes killed off by O2-spewing plants would argue that photosynthesizing autotrophs aren't nearly as benign as they appear.

      Of course, there are all sorts of other lethal plant-manufactured toxins and mechanisms which are much more obviously designed to injure and kill. And surviving anaerboes manufacture some of the deadliest toxins we humans know.

  139. the US approach by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    they made sure that the Arabs want to attack the US and
    they will make sure that the aliens will come at us.
    Self snobishness and small party business intereasts
    justify all the means.

  140. Letter to ET by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Dear ET
    I did not elect this idiot human, please don't assrape me,
    signed

    Dead human

    1. Re:Letter to ET by ChuckCaves · · Score: 1

      Awww... so you admit that you are Canadian eh? :-)

  141. It really IS all Bush's Fault! by ChePibe · · Score: 1

    Wow! I knew Bush could create hurricanes, tsunamis, tornadoes, and earthquakes, but until now I was entirely unaware that he could, almost single-handedly, cause "intergalactic" war! YEEE HAW TEXAS POWER!

    It's probably because he's trying to protect all the oil on the moon... Cheney's got some Halliburton contracts to tap the reserves up there.

    Bush should demand the Canadians immediately surrender all of their oil supplies, or we'll start a war with a bunch of maple-leaf bearing red and white space missiles aimed at incoming flying saucers. That'll teach 'em a lesson.

    (Note - Given previous treatment from mods, I feel compelled to say that the above is not a flame or troll post. I actually voted for Bush... and, for those that consider voting for him a flame or troll then, uh... I kinda regret it in a way? How's that for covering my bases?)

  142. These guys didn't need pranking... by GraZZ · · Score: 1

    So a bunch of Engineering student at U of T had been planning on pranking the UFO conference that this guy spoke at on Sept 25th. With spiffy aluminum foil crashed UFOs and little green men no less.

    They got stopped by campus police, but it was just as well... These guys have totally pranked themselves already :P

  143. Oppenheimer on ancient nuclear war and other stuff by iendedi · · Score: 1

    J. Robert Oppenheimer, (1904-1967) the Supervising Scientist of the Manhattan Project was giving a lecture at Rochester University seven years after the first atomic weapon was successfully detonated. After his lecture he opened the floor to a period of questions and answers.

    One student asked: "Was the bomb exploded at Alamogordo during the Manhattan Project the first one to be detonated?"

    Dr. Oppenheimer's answer was short but extremely telling. Dr. Oppenheimer said: "Well - yes. In modern times, of course."

    -------

    There is a ton more material out there on ancient nuclear wars. Just go google "ancient nuclear war" and see for yourself. Be objective. You might learn something.

    Alternate energy? Black projects? Black science? Oil cartels? Repressed energy technology? Science cover-ups? Murdered scientists? ... go google ... It is insane how much material exists. Just remember that the U.S. black budget is higher than most country's GDPs, and that is without counting the hidden revenue (such as CIA drug operations and whatnot - yea, again, tin-foil hat stuff, right?). Don't ridicule. Go find out for yourself.

    Fact can be and usually is, much stranger than fiction.

    --

    It is your personal duty to fight for what is right on a daily basis. Ignoring injustice is identical to approving
  144. Well... by Gorimek · · Score: 1

    I suspect the realities of interplanetary war will surprise every theoretician once it's in action. In other words, we're probably both very wrong. But I'd like to present an alternative view nonetheless.

    One of the oldest rules of war is that it's better to be higher. You want to control the heights. When the valley people fight the hill people, the hill people win. Sadly, being on a planet is the extreme case of not controlling the heights, when you fight someone spaceborne.

    One attacking space ship can, as you point out, be easily detected. That just means that you shouldn't try to attack that way. For one thing, there's really no good reason to ride along with your weapon. What if you just fling a bomb at your enemy planet? And note that a fairly small rock acts just like a nuclear bomb when dropped from outer space, and is very similar to a black body itself.

    You'll note that this is the same scenario as an asteroid in collision course with earth. Humanity has just started to discuss how to defend against one, with decades of warning. What if our enemy throws 10000 at us with very little warning?

    Being a populated planet seems to be the cosmic equivalent to being a very large and shiny sitting duck.

    1. Re:Well... by SRA8 · · Score: 1

      Clearly this warrants a pre-emptive strike on the Klingons.

    2. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You don't need 10000 asteroids -although that IS a very efficient way of bombing a planet, among other reasons there's likely to be almost zero radioactive impact, which is good if you want to take the planet alive.

      All you need to do is seed the planet with a suitable virus or disease and sit back. Small rocks might be good enough delivery vehicle and would be virtually undetectable. Any space-bearing adversary is likely to have enough patience to wait.

      If you are up against a truly advanced adversary, it's possible that they have mastered time control in which case there's no waiting as far as they are concerned. Even with our limited science, we human beings are close to major breakthroughs in this area. If we can do it, you can bet lots of other civilizations have already done so.

      It would be best to NOT make enemies out of such beings.

  145. bush & moon by M1FCJ · · Score: 1

    Actually making Bush in charge of the moon base is a brilliant idea! Then only thing we need is some nuclear bombs exploding in space between moon and the earth and Bush will be no longer a concern to us. OTOH. shame about the other civilizations...

  146. A great disturbance in the force.... by Brittix1023 · · Score: 1

    I sensed a great disturbance in the force..... It was as if 30 million Canadians had lost their dignity all at once.

  147. Re:Oppenheimer on ancient nuclear war and other st by Beautyon · · Score: 1

    Go find out for yourself.

    These people don't want to find out about anything. They are very good at one thing, programming computers; confront them with anything else, wether it be females or something outside of Science/SETI dogma they instantly reveal their true natures - pure autistic, vaccine damaged males.

    This is why they laugh in the face of something so utterly serious and fascinating; its an abnormal, innapropriate, autisim response.

    Normal males would immediately google to see if any of this was really true, because if it was, it would be as astonishing as it is interesting, but what you get instead is a kind of retarded nervous laughter.

    Every time this subject comes up on Slashdot the response is identical. It doesn't matter how many links you provide them; an autistic person doesn't have the capacity to engage with the material. Thats how your post got modded +5 funny by 100% of the mods who modded it. Birds of a feather flock together, and thats true here for sure.

    --
    ATH0 Bitcoin: 1DnwFLXczVZV8kLJbMYoheUrpqHesjxrSi
  148. Let me take care of it instead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have several years of experience dealing with the alien threat. I've beaten them on Mars, under our seas and in our self-contained cities. I've also beaten them in space, clad in robotic gear and kicked their asses when they tried the Biomass experiment. I was thinking about protecting earth once again but i really don't support the idea of copy protection installing drivers on my box. Just call me at 1-800-XCOM

  149. Re:Oppenheimer on ancient nuclear war and other st by iendedi · · Score: 1

    Excellent response. Thanks.

    --

    It is your personal duty to fight for what is right on a daily basis. Ignoring injustice is identical to approving
  150. Research query by MisterSquid · · Score: 1

    Many of the islands visited by Captain Cook, described as paradise at the time, are now little more than brothels with an ocean-front view for the rich.

    Strictly for purposes of . . . uh . . . anthropological research . . . I would like to know the names of these brot^H^H^H^H islands.

    ahem

    --
    blog
  151. Re:Oppenheimer on ancient nuclear war and other st by Beautyon · · Score: 1

    Its my pleasure...check this.

    And since we are trading links have you read COMETA?

    "In 1999 an important document was published in France entitled, UFOs and Defense: What must we be prepared for? ("Les Ovni Et La Defense: A quoi doit-on se préparer?"). This ninety-page report is the result of an in-depth study of UFOs, covering many aspects of the subject, especially questions of national defense. The study was carried out over several years by an independent group of former "auditors" at the Institute of Advanced Studies for National Defense, or IHEDN, and by qualified experts from various fields. Before its public release, it has been sent to French President Jacques Chirac and to Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. The report is prefaced by General Bernard Norlain of the Air Force, former Director of IHEDN, and it begins with a preamble by André Lebeau, former President of the National Center for Space Studies (Centre National D'études Spatiales), or CNES, the French equivalent of NASA. The group itself, collective author of the report, is an association of experts, many of whom are or have been auditors of IHEDN, and it is presided over by General Denis Letty of the Air Force, former auditor (FA) of IHEDN."

    Not surprisingly, this report has been totally ignored outside of France, where it was widely read.

    --
    ATH0 Bitcoin: 1DnwFLXczVZV8kLJbMYoheUrpqHesjxrSi
  152. Re:-1, Incorrect by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It is correct so you have to explain why it is not.

  153. Best thing to do is be a geek? by mattr · · Score: 1

    Funny how that article didn't mention the possibility that someone who once was so high up might know something we didn't.. though he is likely insane and it is probably bad for SETI and astronomy, heck it is not such a bad idea to think about the issue.

    You have to think about why an alien race might want to wipe out the Earth instead of say ignoring or enslaving it. Sparing talk about impossibilities, etc., it seems a likely reason might be that the human race was determined dangerous i.e. too warlike or curious for its own good, coupled with scientifically not being too far away (decades or centuries perhaps) from discovering a key cosmic technology for colonization like warp drive, spore launching and reconstitution, or some quite magical thing like messing with reality in this part of the galaxy. Whatever. Maybe it is just too much of a pain to deal with a planet that still has so much infighting after a couple centuries of industrialization.

    Anyway, aside from maybe becoming a physicist who could unlock those neat physical secrets, or a nanobiochemist who could eradicate disease or even one day make outer space a safe workplace for earthlings, it might be a good think to be an Internet geek. Writing free software and helping deploy communications and education nets around the world will help the world unify more quickly and at a more grass roots level, one could imagine. By reducing the human resources, funds, raw materials and time wasted by ignorance, disease and military spending, we can become more efficient as a planet which will likely make us less threatening while improving our chances of getting that cosmic tech, if it is possible, sooner. Also I think there is also maybe a problem with education in the first world. When we make money, we buy a nice car and a nice house, and so on, that's capitalism and it mostly works. But if you realize the time and money spent on leisure activities by all the members of a town might in fact be enough, if effectively applied, to have a massive impact on somewhere like say Cambodia or Bangladesh, you have to wonder. For example when I grew up I never saw video of what it looks like to walk around in cities around the world, it was all very vague, the non-America grey area. Now we have not only world globes, but a world net. Maybe cheap broadband in the U.S. sometime (I have 100Mbps in my small Tokyo apartment for $50/mo.). So I am thinking that a minimum amount of organization and activity, applied with on the ground intelligence and a unified, integrated outlook, could say take the wasted brain cycles of online geeks and maybe do something positive for the world. Something to think about next time you are searching for torrents anyway. BOINC is also maybe one of those things. Anyway, I once had a little fight with my dad when I tried to explain SETI some years ago and he said he didn't believe in aliens, flat out. My position is something like in Contact where the protagonist's father says something like, if there was nothing else out there but us, seems like it would be a lot of wasted space. The end of the fight was, I don't *want* to meet any bug eyed monsters! I suppose based on Starship Troopers imagery, and that is maybe what a lot of people deep down think. It is maybe silly to worry too soon about it, but on the other hand people will not think so if it happens. Like the spaceguard watch for incoming asteroids. Anyway the nice thing about the above outlined global, or "cosmic" thinking, which incidentally is put forth in science fiction maybe as early as the very entertaining Perry Rhodan space operas, is that it will help us now regardless of whether the aliens are coming or not. If they are already here (eek!) then we got problems folks, but still better to increase information sources and dialogues with people around the world.

  154. Someone had to say it ... by Awenner · · Score: 1

    I for one welcome our new Canadian overlords ...

    --
    When I grow up, I'm going to Bovine University!
  155. You're ignoring the elves! by Mozai · · Score: 1

    Londonderry, Briton: (AP) Former duke James Wendermite (who abdicated to his son in 1437) proposes to the King that political negotiations with elves and fairie-folk should be established. "We being known thee French are having relations secret with thee Seelie for generations anon," said the former Duke, "and wee be losing a diplomatic advantage greatly. Any humbly-man kens thar boogums and sprites in meadows nearby, and evidences of Pookas are seen by thee painting of the sky. Iffen wee deal not with the Seelie, war will come on our doorstep like a dragon."

    Commentators at the local pub "The Slashed Dotte" helpfully reported to the King examples of how fairie magic could construct trebuchets against which the Crown could mount no defense, and the deplorable state of his Majesty's infantry. "Aye been serving in me Lord's militia ever since I be 12," says local, "and I tain't seen nothin' that could stand agains' fairies. There be not enough iron for horseshoes for all the kings men, ne'er you mind a breastplate for each soldier, which is what we would needin'. Oooch, but then they be tricking our farmers, and we be food without. Why is not the King be making iron breastplates for every serf in his domain? Fairies be a threat most dire!"

    Duke Johnathan Wendermite apolgized for his father's behaviour later the same day.

  156. The aliens are already amongst us you dolts!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They've run the planet covertly for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. Bush, and all presidents, are alien hybrid descendents as are all the royalty of the world.

    The interstellar war will be a fake one. War is for profit, and the aliens already on earth will have something to gain by it. Just like they start all wars for profit. There'll be greater controls to be had, (a New World Order/Government), greater centralisation of power(to corrupt), the destruction of your earthly enemies, distraction as to what you are doing and who is behind it, not to mention all the money for military weaponry. It'll happen by 2012. I'm SERIOUS!!!!

  157. good move by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    speculating is actually a good move.
    lets say Russians build a plastic ufo replica and place it infront of their white house by the cover of the night. Imagine all the press hype and other governments' intels having fun. And it disappears on the next day (call in Coperfield). There goes the plausable denyability and later on aliens do go for the first contact.