Researcher Warns That Military Must Prepare For "Mutant" Future

Mutant Powers? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-31 06:24 · Score: 2, Insightful

Why is it we can't get mutants out of our own labs but our enemies are going to be able to do this just like that?

I want my mutants!

Re:Mutant Powers? by kelemvor4 · 2012-12-31 06:45 · Score: 1, Troll

Why is it we can't get mutants out of our own labs but our enemies are going to be able to do this just like that?
I want my mutants!
Rules and Regulations. That's why.
Re:Mutant Powers? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-31 07:12 · Score: 2, Insightful

Mutants already exist, they don't care about people , They have a collective name:
Lawmakers., They work in Washington DC
Be careful , because if you think you found an honest lawmaker, you might yourself be a mutant
Re:Mutant Powers? by SuricouRaven · 2012-12-31 08:42 · Score: 1

Expendable test subjects.
Re:Mutant Powers? by 1s44c · 2012-12-31 09:18 · Score: 1

But seriously. How would you retire from that?
The normal way that all weapons of war are retired when the war ends.
Anyone accepting these implants, enhancements, or whatever should understand that it's a one way thing. They are giving up their life to become a weapon of war.
Re:Mutant Powers? by lxs · 2012-12-31 09:35 · Score: 1

The normal way that all weapons of war are retired when the war ends.
Sold to a third world dictator?
Sounds bad.
Re:Mutant Powers? by 1s44c · 2012-12-31 09:57 · Score: 1

The normal way that all weapons of war are retired when the war ends.
Sold to a third world dictator?
Sounds bad.
I meant death. But that would indeed be worse.
Re:Mutant Powers? by zakeria · 2012-12-31 12:30 · Score: 1

because Americans live in fantasy world, whilst everybody else lives in 2021 mofo...
Re:Mutant Powers? by hot+soldering+iron · 2012-12-31 13:53 · Score: 4, Interesting

You morons. I WAS a weapon. By the end of my training I would have have killed a bus full of nuns and orphans with a spoon, if so ordered. I wouldn't have cared about nationality or skin color or if they were good looking, just if they were the designated target or not. That's the wonder of intense psychological conditioning. Helsinki Syndrome isn't just a made up thing, it's the core of all intense military conditioning programs, and it sinks in even worse if you have Asperger Syndrome. It took me years to readjust to civilian life after separation.from the service. How did they de-militarize me? Gave me a two minute briefing about how I would be charged and tried by a military court if I talked about any classified actions I'd been a part of. Period. They stamped my paperwork, gave me my final paycheck, and said I had 24 hours to get off post.
If there had been any hardware installed in me, they would have removed it or destroyed it, and only left something functioning (at bare minimal levels) if it was life-critical. The hardware may be military, but the biological portion is under contract. A pretty nasty contract, but still a legal binding agreement. If they perform any "elective medical procedures" you can be sure that they'll have the DOD's ass covered, and yours will be flapping in the breeze. And before someone mentions it: Secret medical experiments on troops (and civilians) are a f*cking tradition,for the military. Laws won't change that. You think that breaking a few laws means anything to a corp of cold-blooded killers?

--
When you want something built, come see me. If you want correct grammar and spelling, get a F*ing liberal arts student.
Re:Mutant Powers? by rtb61 · 2012-12-31 15:51 · Score: 1

Conditioning, you either choose or refuse, conditioning is just an excuse of the morally weak. As for mutant powers. There is no way psychopath leaders could ever trust their minions with those powers beyond the fantasies of Hollywood. Psychopaths would only allow themselves those powers but they would not really trust genetic scientists to experiment on them. So all in all, reality is, it is a catch 22.
Which is why psychopaths like automated killing machines so much. Death by a drone fired missile, with a propaganda based 100% perfect track record of murdering, under law innocent suspects (innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, the law is the law and propaganda is just bullshit).

--
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
Re:Mutant Powers? by jamstar7 · 2012-12-31 16:11 · Score: 1

Conditioning, you either choose or refuse, conditioning is just an excuse of the morally weak. As for mutant powers. There is no way psychopath leaders could ever trust their minions with those powers beyond the fantasies of Hollywood. Psychopaths would only allow themselves those powers but they would not really trust genetic scientists to experiment on them. So all in all, reality is, it is a catch 22.
Which is why psychopaths like automated killing machines so much. Death by a drone fired missile, with a propaganda based 100% perfect track record of murdering, under law innocent suspects (innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, the law is the law and propaganda is just bullshit).
Sounds like you've never been in the military. The GP and GGP are correct. Back in the day, during the draft, if you fought the conditioning, you could get a dishonorable discharge and the Army threatened that if that happened, they'd ruin your life. Sometimes, they'd do it, too.

--
Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
Re:Mutant Powers? by rtb61 · 2012-12-31 17:38 · Score: 1

Back in the day I was asked the question what would you do if an officer became a threat to the general public, my answer was, shoot them. While it earned my some disturbed looks, the answer was legally correct. My morality was in place prior to the military and remained as firmly in place during and after the military. You are who you are and remain nobodies slave as long as you have the courage and choose not to be a slave, your life bloody own it.

--
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
Re:Mutant Powers? by Stephan+Schulz · 2013-01-01 09:37 · Score: 1

Bombs are still exploding in Germany, kills about ten people every year.
While old bombs are still found daily in Germany, very few of them explode, even fewer explode under uncontrolled conditions, and there is about one incident per decade where humans are hurt - mostly members of the bomb disposal squad.

--
Stephan
Re:Mutant Powers? by Jerome+from+Layton · 2013-01-01 18:04 · Score: 1

Helsinki? I thought that was Stockholm Syndrome in which a person put in a strange (new) environment will acquire the characteristics of that environment. The earlier definition was becoming supportive of one's captors, but the concept is broader.
Re:Mutant Powers? by RockDoctor · 2013-01-02 03:39 · Score: 1

The normal way that all weapons of war are retired when the war ends.

Sold to a third world non-socialist dictator?
FTFY
Do you not think that the American upper class knows how to keep any vestige of hope from their down-trodden masses.

--
Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"

nuff said by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-31 06:28 · Score: 1

"California Polytechnic State University,
San Luis Obispo
College of Liberal Arts
Philosophy Department
Ethics + Emerging Sciences Group"

http://ethics.calpoly.edu/Greenwall_report.pdf

Re:nuff said by bhcompy · 2012-12-31 06:45 · Score: 1

An ethics professor at a polytechnic university discusses the ethics and consequences of supersoldier engineering. What's the problem?
Re:nuff said by jerquiaga · 2012-12-31 06:57 · Score: 2

Not sure I understand. Isn't this what philosophers are supposed to do?
Re:nuff said by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-31 08:00 · Score: 1

they're not qualified to assess technical feasibility or estimated development timeline of the things they're hypothesizing about.
might as well be warning about the philosophical dangers of alien invasion but for the pop sci press abbreviates and sensationalizes it into something imminent and real when it's not
Re:nuff said by NicBenjamin · 2012-12-31 08:21 · Score: 1

You mean pretend that something completely normal, totally routine, and not-at-all-different is the end of the world? I suppose that is actually slightly more useful to the human race then arguing about Nietche.
Most of the stuff they're worried about is common to all forms of technology. The V-22 Osprey must killed 30 Marines before they got the computer flight controls working right. People started using drugs to enhance their military performance roughly 30 seconds after they discovered coffee. Arms races are equally old. None of these things are particularly good, but it's not like policy-makers need new conceptual tools to deal withan Arms race just because the Arms being raced are actual mutant, super-strong Arms and not H-Bombs.
The only one that actually requires anyone to think differently is the possibility that a soldier enhanced the right way would count as a bio-weapon, but that's almost certainly overblown. If something promising actually seems like it would violate international law it's likely everyone else will want that something too, and said something will be easy to legalize.
Re:nuff said by NicBenjamin · 2012-12-31 08:40 · Score: 1

That ethics professors don't understand current military ethics, and are therefore not qualified to comment on how military ethics are likely to change in ligh of new technical developments.
in this case if you simply replace the scare-words like "mutant," and "bio-weapon" with older military technologies like "machine-gun," or "metal monoplane," that changed everything pretty much every sentence he wrote still works. This means that pretty much everything he wrote is going over very old ground in military terms. Arms races, dangerous R + D, etc. are still arms races and dangerous R + D even if the actual arms being raced/researched are human arms, instead of a new airframe.
They might have a point with bio-weapons and international law, but the problem here is that Philosophy Professors are obsessed with the precise meanings of definitions in ways the rest of thew world isn't. To a Philosophy Prof determining whether a bio-enhanced human violates a treaty that was only supposed to ban chemical agents and germ warfare is a fascinating way to spend an afternoon. An international lawyer will only agree that it does so if the plain language of the text explicitly says so, and if he is actually forced to agree a specific, militarily useful, enhancement counts as a bioweapon his immediate reaction will be to call the Russians/Chinese/etc. and get the treaty changed. After all, they have militaries too.

20 years ago by OffaMyLawn · 2012-12-31 06:28 · Score: 1

If the possibility of becoming a mutant existed 20 years ago, I probably would have given a military career more thought.

Or a cyborg. Either way, yeah, I'm willing to bet a lot more of us would have considered it.

Re:20 years ago by Cro+Magnon · 2012-12-31 06:52 · Score: 1

It would have been kewl if I'd gotten the ability to smash tanks with rays from my eyes. Or even retractable claws that could cut through steel. But, with my luck, I would have wound up with 7 fingers on each hand.

--
Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
Re:20 years ago by OffaMyLawn · 2012-12-31 06:59 · Score: 1

Or that, yeah. That was the next thought I had right after I posted, that I would be the unlucky recipient of some worthless mutation, like webbed toes or something. And not even the good kind of webbing, like spider webbing between them.
Re:20 years ago by Jeng · 2012-12-31 07:10 · Score: 1

The military has been conducting experiments on soldiers for at least 20 years.
A sampling.
http://www.livescience.com/12991-10-outrageous-military-experiments.html

--
Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
Re:20 years ago by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2012-12-31 08:47 · Score: 1

Only twenty years? People (?) have been doing this at least for a century.

--
Ezekiel 23:20

NO! by fred911 · 2012-12-31 06:29 · Score: 1

Not the Ninja Turtles!

--
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B - D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2

This is why by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-31 06:30 · Score: 1

This is why these things should be developed in secret at great expense to the taxpayers, by secret shadowy organizations, using only death row inmates will kill chips so they don't misbehave.

Re:This is why by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-31 10:28 · Score: 1

Dead and resurrected Vietnam vets are also a sure bet. A high-tech support truck is also a necessity.

International law? by Concerned+Onlooker · 2012-12-31 06:31 · Score: 1

"Tweaked troopers could run afoul of international law..."

This happens fairly often already. Are they saying it would be much worse? Also, what is the scenario for having these mutants here in our own country?

--
http://www.rootstrikers.org/

Re:International law? by beschra · 2012-12-31 06:36 · Score: 1

I'm thinking an expansion of the definition of GMO.

--
It is unwise to ascribe motive
Re:International law? by Bieeanda · 2012-12-31 08:21 · Score: 1

'Secret' base in a large city and themed vehicles.

The revolution is coming... by TonTonKill · 2012-12-31 06:33 · Score: 1

Someone please tell me which corp is producing the Neuropozyne so I can invest while the shares are cheap.

WCPGW by mspohr · 2012-12-31 06:37 · Score: 1

Obligatory:
What could possibly go wrong?

--
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?

Re:WCPGW by Trepidity · 2012-12-31 06:52 · Score: 1

Especially since some of the research seems to be focusing on how to reduce soldiers' critical thinking and ethical scruples. That's been going on for a while in other ways: after realizing that a lot of soldiers purposely fired above their enemies' heads due to an intrinsic distaste for shooting people, a lot of military training has been focused on overcoming the (otherwise generally desirable) "not a psycho who wants to put a bullet in another human" reflex. Could get a lot more problematic if it's actually drugs and/or genetic engineering...

--
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
Re:WCPGW by NicBenjamin · 2012-12-31 08:55 · Score: 1

No modern military wants a soldier with poor critical thinking skills and no ethical scruples. What they want is a soldier who applies all his critical thinking skills to the mission at hand, in the context of the larger campaign, and instinctively follows military ethics. Guys who are unethical and don't think things through tend to go to the nearest village and massacre everyone the second after a successful Taliban Ambush, which is not acceptable.
The TMS tech you're talking about is intended to enhance critical thinking by eliminating distractions while on-duty. The idea is that if you don't get bored and start thinking about Star Wars your reaction-time will get better, and everyone is more likely to survive an ambush. Therefore they turn off the part of your brain that rants against Lucas.

Sounds like the plot of a book by deathguppie · 2012-12-31 06:38 · Score: 1

For a more in depth look into the imaginary future of mutant cyborg warfare might I suggest the Germline series by T. C. McCarthy.

--
once more into the breach

Re:Sounds like the plot of a book by KnightElite · 2012-12-31 06:56 · Score: 1

Agreed, this series is excellent, and takes a very interesting look at exactly this sort of thing.

Or, instead, you could... by rbrander · 2012-12-31 06:42 · Score: 1

...note that in industrial civilization, riches accrue to those who best stimulate human ingenuity and productivity through peaceful trade and development, not to those who can enslave the most serfs, and that the entire basis of military arms races is basically a "caveman" mentality, obsolete since before WW1, really: https://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/01/09-6

The justification for arms races was, throughout the nuclear arms race, that we must beat the other team to the capability; except that *taking the lead* in that race is what guarantees the race to happen at all. None of the competitors in the nuclear arms race ever wanted to use one, or did; they understood that their use would make them a target, not a victor.

Bolstered by this realization, you could instead propose treaties, with open development of such technologies, and monitoring of capabilities with the spectre of a ruinously expensive and dangerous race beginning if security around secret weapons development *ever* slips.

Nah. Never happen. Too much money involved.

Re:Or, instead, you could... by Fesh · 2012-12-31 06:59 · Score: 1

Been tried before... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Naval_Treaty
Only takes one player breaking the rules to overturn the whole thing.

--
--Fesh
Kill -9 'em all, let root@localhost sort 'em out.
Re:Or, instead, you could... by dkleinsc · 2012-12-31 06:59 · Score: 1

riches accrue to those who best stimulate human ingenuity and productivity through peaceful trade and development
As nations, yes-ish. As individuals, no.
For example, if I have a great idea for a new technology, and somebody takes my idea and patents it before I do, then they get the riches and I don't, even though I had the ingenuity. Similarly, if I started out broke, and didn't have the funds to go through the process of patenting my idea, then I'm going to have to:
- Sell it to somebody who does (and then they get most of the profit and rather than me)
- Go to work for somebody who does (and then it's a work for hire and they get almost all the profit)
- Take out a business loan (and then the bank gets a significant portion of the profit rather than me, and can steal my idea)
- Try to start using the idea as a trade secret (and again, a bank or venture capitalist or something similar gets some of the profits), with a significant risk that somebody else will figure out the same idea, patent it, and then sue me into the ground and thus reap all the profits of the idea.
It's very profitable to take other people's stuff: That's why some people and organizations do just that whenever they think they can get away with it.

--
I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
Re:Or, instead, you could... by rbrander · 2012-12-31 07:06 · Score: 2

Sure, except we haven't un-invented nuclear weapons, which remain kind of a trump over things like teenage mutant ninja soldiers since few mutations prevent you from being vaporized if sufficient joules are radiated into your mutant molecules.
So my treaty would be not so much ironclad (little naval joke there) as uranium-clad, involving capital cities becoming smoking holes, etc.
Already kind of here, really, The journalist I cited, Gwynne Dyer, as also passed along the joke told by military planners world-wide: "Q: What are the implications of nuclear Pakistan falling to radical jihadist revolutionaries? A: Traffic jam in the skies over Islamabad as five nuclear powers race to begin the bombing."
Re:Or, instead, you could... by rbrander · 2012-12-31 07:09 · Score: 1

Agree on all counts. I was very definitely speaking of nations. However, even here, you'll note that you are more *likely* to get rich inventing a new mousetrap these days, than by leading your neighbours to declare war on the suburb a mile over and attempting to take their houses and women. "Conan vs. SWAT" never became a successful comic.
Re:Or, instead, you could... by rbrander · 2012-12-31 07:26 · Score: 1

Such a shame, really. When the world ended because of chemical and biological weapons that couldn't be stopped, flattened by nuclear wars....no, wait, none of that ever happened. Agreed, if you make a treaty that says "if you prepare for war, you'll have one immediately"...and then don't actually attack Japan when it starts building ships, then, yeah, they'll just break the treaty.
If you actually attack, on the other hand, the "Pax " situations have lasted for centuries on end.
Re:Or, instead, you could... by rsierpe · 2012-12-31 08:14 · Score: 1

Been tried before... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Naval_Treaty
Only takes one player breaking the rules to overturn the whole thing.
If economics theory teaches us something, is that in that specific scenario, when situation depends on parties "not breaking" a certain rule, they'll certainly do so, because everyone is expecting the others to do so. Basically, if you intend to make it be governed by some sort of laws or treaties, parties will break those at their first chance
Re:Or, instead, you could... by TFAFalcon · 2012-12-31 08:18 · Score: 1

Well your first statement is correct, that nations that are based more on trade and production are the ones that are the richest. But at the same time your caveman neighbor can conquer you if you don't spend money on an army. Sure it won't make him rich for long, but it will also destroy you. So as long as not every nation in the work is 'sane', arms races will kind of necessary for survival.
Wasn't the justification for the US/USSR arms race the desire to have the other guy bankrupt himself through overspending on the military? And it worked. The Soviet Union did spend itself into oblivion. Unfortunately the US didn't notice that and continued to spend vastly too much money on it's military, while starting a few wars to stop it's soldiers from feeling to bored.
Re:Or, instead, you could... by ultranova · 2012-12-31 10:25 · Score: 1

...note that in industrial civilization, riches accrue to those who best stimulate human ingenuity and productivity through peaceful trade and development, not to those who can enslave the most serfs, and that the entire basis of military arms races is basically a "caveman" mentality, obsolete since before WW1, really: https://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/01/09-6

And yet both the richest country in the world and the one most likely to depose it are both built on enslaving serfs for the benefit of the few.

--
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
Re:Or, instead, you could... by Jeng · 2012-12-31 14:06 · Score: 1

Bankrupting the enemy was not the strategy, it was having better weapons and more of them, but that did accidentally bankrupt the enemy.
So the motivation was to have really good weapons and enough of them that we could threaten the USSR enough that they would be too scared to do anything offensively.
We just happened to bankrupt them when they tried to keep pace, oops, there went that cash cow for the defense industries.

--
Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
Re:Or, instead, you could... by jamstar7 · 2012-12-31 16:28 · Score: 1

The main problem is, the guy on the other side might not be as 'calm and rational' as you are. In fact, he might jump at the chance to let you disarm so he can whack you out that much easier.

Never appeal to somebody's better nature. They just might not have one...

--
Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.

Slow news day? by OneAhead · 2012-12-31 06:43 · Score: 1

n/t

The next horror blockbuster by fph+il+quozientatore · 2012-12-31 06:46 · Score: 1

Can't wait for Mutants vs. Zombies!

--
My first program:

Hell Segmentation fault

Re:The next horror blockbuster by Indras · 2012-12-31 08:18 · Score: 1

Can't wait for Mutants vs. Zombies!
I believe that game was called Fallout.

--
The speed of time is one second per second.

Wrong problem by Animats · 2012-12-31 06:47 · Score: 1

Somehow, I doubt this is the problem.

War is not won by Rambos. Even special-ops types aren't built like Arnold. War is won by people who make the right decisions under pressure and have the skills and endurance to carry them out.

Re:Wrong problem by amicusNYCL · 2012-12-31 06:53 · Score: 1

War is not won by Rambos. Even special-ops types aren't built like Arnold. War is won by people who make the right decisions under pressure and have the skills and endurance to carry them out.
Right. So what happens if you have a man who is calm and is capable of very high-quality tactical decisions while under fire, but who doesn't have the endurance or strength of the people you want him to lead? Wouldn't it be nice if you could just give him that endurance and strength, rather than try to find a way to move that tactical ability into a bigger body?

--
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
Re:Wrong problem by vlm · 2012-12-31 07:21 · Score: 1

Wouldn't it be nice if you could just give him that endurance and strength
Bio is risky but we have centuries long tradition of war profiteering by manufacturing all manner of APCs, tanks, traditional aircraft, attack choppers, etc.
Its not the Spartan 300 anymore.
"hmm the C.O. isn't strong enough to fire an arrow beyond 100 yards... could use a magic potion to make him a SuperArcher... nah F it issue him a M16 and be done with it"
"hmm the C.O. is getting tired out on long pack marches.... we could bioengineer the 6 million dollar man's legs on to him... nah F it issue him a HMMVW with command radios and be done with it."

--
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Re:Wrong problem by rbrander · 2012-12-31 07:30 · Score: 1

I'm sure Ghengis Khan had to do a lot of wrestling and so forth as a kid, but Julius Caesar, a patrician from birth, probably never had to touch one of the lowlife brutes he commanded, much less beat one up with his fists to establish his leadership.

Or so they insist, anyway by Empiric · 2012-12-31 06:47 · Score: 1

Too late. Soulless biological automatons have already overrun much of Europe.

--
~ Whence do you come, slayer of men, or where are you going, conqueror of space?

Re:Or so they insist, anyway by IceNinjaNine · 2012-12-31 07:43 · Score: 1

Kpop?
Re:Or so they insist, anyway by Empiric · 2012-12-31 09:02 · Score: 1

That would be one variant. Sorting the overall horde pragmatically is left as an exercise for the reader.

--
~ Whence do you come, slayer of men, or where are you going, conqueror of space?

I think the article means to say... by joocemann · 2012-12-31 06:50 · Score: 1

... that foreign countries should be prepared for the US Military to have a mutant future.

Its not like the rest of the world considers their militaries so ridiculously important to invest in constant cutting edge future tech innovation all the time in all aspects of war. The US may do this, but the rest of the world will still be pretty happy with their 1990s tanks and 2000s satellite technology.

queue the slashdotter with one article pointing at one small research project in one country claiming 'not *necessarily*'.... in 3----2----1..... OH DAMN! Not absolutely 100% necessarily black and white! Holy crap! I was 0.000000001% wrong and you were 0.000000001% cool for pointing that out! (Sorry.. I'm preempting all this because I'm habituated to these 'not necessarily' slashtards).

Re:I think the article means to say... by ElectricTurtle · 2012-12-31 07:11 · Score: 3, Insightful

The US military has been shaped by paranoia about a preemptive strike ever since Pearl Harbor. They don't want to be caught a decade behind and short on forces ever again, especially just to salve the conscience of some whiny hippies.

--
I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
Re:I think the article means to say... by vlm · 2012-12-31 07:28 · Score: 1

The US military has been shaped by paranoia about a preemptive strike ever since Pearl Harbor. They don't want to be caught a decade behind and short on forces ever again
Aka sept 11th 2001
Enough money has been spent that we can't ack or recognize a failure without really bad things happening to the messenger. But it seems to be true, however much of a thoughtcrime it may be to consider it. You could ague the same idea WRT the recent unpleasantness with the dead ambassador.

--
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Re:I think the article means to say... by c0lo · 2012-12-31 07:38 · Score: 1

The US military has been shaped by paranoia about a preemptive strike ever since Pearl Harbor. They don't want to be caught a decade behind and short on forces ever again, especially just to salve the conscience of some whiny hippies.
Oh, really? Only since and because Pearl Harbour you say? Well, how about this whiny hippy?

I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.

--
Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
Re:I think the article means to say... by ElectricTurtle · 2012-12-31 10:06 · Score: 1

One man's perspective, tinged with his own political bias. Never mind that there were others who served right alongside him who drew different conclusions from the same experiences.

Besides which, you're grossly missing the point. We're not talking about what any given person thinks about US foreign policy, but about why the US military has kept higher force numbers and more modern equipment. The military from the end of the Civil War to World War 2 was pretty low key in both equipment and numbers (with a brief exception on the latter during WWI for obvious reasons). It was this weakness that was targeted at Pearl Harbor, and it was a weakness recognized and never forgotten by successive strategists. As such, the US is probably the most prepared nation on earth to react against a preemptive strike. You can argue the value of that, or collateral matters (as you attempted to do) such as what all that infrastructure is kept busy doing waiting for the next Pearl, but I think the supremacy of US preparedness is inarguable.

--
I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
Re:I think the article means to say... by ElectricTurtle · 2012-12-31 10:12 · Score: 1

It's not really a good analogy because the steps taken by the DoD following Pearl were substantive to addressing what actually happened. The US military is exceedingly better prepared to handle a preemptive strike than before Pearl, but the National Security infrastructure is an empty gesture. It doesn't substantively prepare for future attacks, but it does act as a power grab disenfranchising the simple citizenry.

--
I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
Re:I think the article means to say... by joocemann · 2012-12-31 11:29 · Score: 1

How is having spent way less, and still spending less going to 'catch up'? I"m not sure if you've ever done any math or watched a race before, but if you enter a race going slow and you're going faster now, but still slower than the leader, you're not catching up.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures
Yes... not necessarily. But realistically, functionally, and sensibly, YES. STFU AC slashtard.

Re:Then we need to start developing a mutant cure by chris.alex.thomas · 2012-12-31 06:55 · Score: 1

sounds familiar somehow.....Thor perhaps?

Stupid fucking name. by Haxagon · 2012-12-31 06:56 · Score: 4, Insightful

Calling this "mutant powers" is trivializing this entire issue. It makes light of the fact that millions of people are using stimulants and nootropics that lie in a legal gray area pertaining to employment and schoolwork. Calling this "mutant powers" is the most inappropriate thing you could do.

Re:Stupid fucking name. by turkeydance · 2012-12-31 09:23 · Score: 1

old news: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Ivanovich_Ivanov with some Stones: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcB-JTAZQow
Re:Stupid fucking name. by Culture20 · 2012-12-31 09:24 · Score: 1

So you're not a true believer?
Re:Stupid fucking name. by l0ungeb0y · 2012-12-31 13:03 · Score: 1

It's very appropriate as it's the new standard of Government Publication Policy to refer to everything in as dramatically characterized a manner as possible so that civil servants and political types can understand it. Using references to popular media such as comic books, TV and Movies is highly recommended to insure the greatest comprehension and retention on information comprehension by 6 year olds, Members Congress and the Military.
Consider the following proposed report title: "Future Risks of the Rise in Use of Stimulants and Nootropics in the MIlitary", see ... it almost bores one to sleep just reading that bit. Now consider this "Future Mutant Powers in the US Military Present Potential Dangers!" -- Wow! Our Freedom Fighters are going to be Mutants with Heat-Ray Eyes!?!?! How Kick Ass is that! Let's give you buckets of cash to make this happen!

Re:started in the 1960s by vlm · 2012-12-31 06:57 · Score: 2

Kind of not really

The speed thing is for aircraft pilots "as necessary" only. Never heard of your average grunt getting stimulants beyond coffee and retail energy drinks (monster, red bull, etc)

The suppressant is a joke that went out of style around the time of coed army units, I'm guessing 70s / post vietnam era. Other than wedding cake, no scientifically proven substance like that exists, and you don't want to know the details but rest assured there was absolutely no suppression of that type going on in the 90s, not the recruits, not the drill instructors, not in the regular units, absolutely not. Anyone claiming that obviously was at the wrong bases in the 90s.

You can get kicked out by failing PT, and I knew guys during the drawdown in the 90s who got kicked out (if they need warm bodies, there's a lot of "look the other way", but if they need to kick 2 guys out for every slot due to the drawdown, well, things get a little more strict). What I'd like to know is the obvious solution to failing PT seems to be roids plus a little exercise, so does .mil test for roids in addition to the random drug tests (and note that I was in .mil in the 90s and never got random tested, I wonder if its as rare now or more common or ?)

--
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger

And PTSD by jameshofo · 2012-12-31 07:00 · Score: 1

Seriously we cant even get over the mental issues that soldiers face, and it's horribly underfunded to accommodate the vast number of people who "shrug it off" because there's already a strain on the system. This is probably a better thing to solve with technology than possibly pertinently destroying our own gene pool.

--
Good leaders run toward problems, bad leaders hide from them.

God schmod, I want my monkeyman! by Thud457 · 2012-12-31 07:09 · Score: 1

Stupid Chinese.
Should be building Axel Pressbutton clones that would build iPads 27 hours a day as long as you keep jazzing their pleasure center.
I'm pretty sure .sig does not apply in this case...

--

the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Re:started in the 1960s by IceNinjaNine · 2012-12-31 07:19 · Score: 1

in USA, drugs ("speed" and similar) and nutrition (e.g. sexual desire suppressant in food) to alter behavior has been going on since Viet Nam war at least

Amphetamines yes, I've seen the cites. Sexual desire suppressant? Don't tell me you bought into the whole 'saltpeter' horse shit. That was debunked a long time ago.

Re:Ridiculous article by Sparticus789 · 2012-12-31 07:22 · Score: 1

Because the cease fire from Operation Desert Storm DID NOT have any provisions concerning U.N. weapons inspectors verifying that the chemical weapons which Iraq had in their possession were not being used. Or did you miss that part of the cease fire agreement?

--
sudo make me a sandwich

For clear understanding.. by 3seas · 2012-12-31 07:25 · Score: 1

We need to create mutant solders to protect us from the mutant solders who mutiny.

I think they coved this in a few syfy channel movi by Joe_Dragon · 2012-12-31 07:32 · Score: 1

I think they coved this in a few syfy channel movies

Re:started in the 1960s by war4peace · 2012-12-31 07:36 · Score: 2

I call this bullshit. If you drink two gallons of water, chances are that your electrolytes go awry. You might even die. Second, no mtter how much water you hold, you can only pee so much. Also, hint: average urine density (should be between 1010 and 1025). Lower than 1010, you're a suspect because it means you drink too much water for some reason, so a blood test is requested.

--
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)

The X Files coved stuff like this by Joe_Dragon · 2012-12-31 07:36 · Score: 1

The X Files coved stuff like this

I think that someone has been reading... by sconeu · 2012-12-31 07:49 · Score: 1

Unfortunately, what they've been reading is a little too much X-Men.

--
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.

Bullshit by ohpleez · 2012-12-31 07:53 · Score: 1

Bullshit galore for the average bullshit brain.

Why bother? by Jessified · 2012-12-31 07:55 · Score: 1

We should make a legislative framework that will outline the boundaries of such a program, sort of like the Geneva Conventions. Then countries like the US would never violate those rules.

Seriously. What's the point in even talking about it? the US is just going to do whatever it feels like.

uh, let's see. mutant meat. aha!-- guns. next.. by swschrad · 2012-12-31 07:57 · Score: 1

the military has what amounts to big-ass guns and bombs of all types, sufficient to take down mutant meat marching. next problem, please...

--
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?

Wrong date guys by aepervius · 2012-12-31 08:07 · Score: 1

It is soon the 1st January, not the 1st April. Except in comic book there is no such a thing as a mutant power. At all. Not even physically possible from the law of thermodynamic or newton's law.

What COULD happen is that somebody graft some biomechanic prothese giving an advantage like better muscle, drug implant or even eye sight enhanced and protected against flashbang, but that's nothing which could not be done by the "1st country" in term of military science. In fact I content a full mechanical device by the ease of removal replacement and mass fabrication make more sense. In fact I contend that it is probably the other country of the world which should worry about what the USA is brewing in their labs.

--
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org

Re:Wrong date guys by SuricouRaven · 2012-12-31 08:51 · Score: 1

If you're doing surgical mods, I rather like the idea of fitting hydraulic valves on major blood vessels.
Solder get their leg blown off? Femoral artery constricts, circulation cuts off. Enough to keep them alive until the fight is over and medic arrives.

Re:started in the 1960s by filthpickle · 2012-12-31 08:08 · Score: 1

yeah, on the slim chance that anyone is thinking of taking the GP's advice....it absolutely will not work. The only way I would trust to beat a urine test is to not give them your urine. Which is possible if it is a private sector test and you are clever. Is not as easy for the military ones (some poor bastard has to stand there and watch you piss from my understanding.)

Forgot a word damn by aepervius · 2012-12-31 08:10 · Score: 1

last sentence should read "In fact I contend that it is probably the other country of the world which should worry about what the USA is brewing in their drone labs." IOW A military of drone controlled by a few hundred maybe a few thousand guy the other world away.

--
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org

oblig. by filthpickle · 2012-12-31 08:12 · Score: 1

Khan!

Arms Race by devnullkac · 2012-12-31 08:21 · Score: 1

So many jokes, so little time...

Can a soldier with 4 arms be more devastating on the modern battlefield? How about 6?
Perhaps the submitter meant to suggest that arms will replace legs as a means of racing across the battlefield?

--
What do you mean they cut the power? How can they cut the power, man? They're animals!

Re:started in the 1960s by anglico · 2012-12-31 08:23 · Score: 1

When I did urine drug screens for the CHP at my lab, one recruit's sample was refused. He said they called him and said to do it again, it was too diluted.

Re:started in the 1960s by Jeng · 2012-12-31 08:33 · Score: 1

I have used this method in the past, but with two additional steps that cover your comment.

Lots of water, but also eat very well and take vitamins with the water. You want the test to find what you just consumed, not what you took last night.

You are correct about two gallons being close to lethal so not quite that much water.

--
Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.

I don't mind. Just don't make me wear tights! by chronokitsune3233 · 2012-12-31 08:33 · Score: 1

Captain America made them look good.

I wouldn't.

--
I have been a captive in America my entire life. Everybody and everything uses customary units instead of metric.

Odds Of That Versus by Greyfox · 2012-12-31 08:39 · Score: 1

I think it potentially more likely that future wars include remotely-controlled (and possibly semi-autonomous) terminator style robots, driven by soldiers for whom the interface looks very much like a current Battlefield video game. But you know, mutant superpowers would be cool too. I'm working on my first one now, but it's not going so well. It doesn't even feel a little hot in here, does it?

--

I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

Re:started in the 1960s by ae1294 · 2012-12-31 08:40 · Score: 1, Funny

(some poor bastard has to stand there and watch you piss from my understanding.)

This is why I never understood the mil's problem with the gays.. Officer Gaylord was always polite and willing to go the extra mile and shake your dick off for you after the piss test. That kind of dedication to such a crap detail really goes to show just how far gays can excel in a military environment as team members and friends with benefits for the enlisted man...

those that know them best... by Thud457 · 2012-12-31 08:42 · Score: 1

Don't forget this pinko pussy.

--

the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Re:those that know them best... by ElectricTurtle · 2012-12-31 09:57 · Score: 2

The difference being Eisenhower knew what he was doing. His restraint with regard to DoD policies/procurement etc. were based on a lifetime of deep knowledge and experience. This is quite a different thing from somebody who has an ideological position against the military who has no idea what it needs and what it doesn't, but they're sure they need less of it, you know, because... reasons.

I would love it if somebody with Eisenhower's abilities were in charge again and could intelligently make the armed forces leaner without gutting them. DoD could really use that.

--
I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit

Lol by lightknight · 2012-12-31 08:47 · Score: 1

Unleash the giant tentacle monster!

--
I am John Hurt.

Re:uh, let's see. mutant meat. aha!-- guns. next.. by SuricouRaven · 2012-12-31 08:49 · Score: 1

Great for invading, but modern war isn't really about invasion. You can't just carpet-bomb cities any more. There's a lot more peacekeeping and urban combat now. High-tech toys can be very useful in those situations, and are still in their infancy. We don't even have a bullet-proof vest that can be worn unobtrusively.

Re:started in the 1960s by LoRdTAW · 2012-12-31 08:56 · Score: 1

The whole salt peter myth along with other secret drugs in food and vaccinations is just that, a myth. There might have been clandestine testing of stimulants to enhance awareness or stamina but I have not researched any of that. Most likely those are more myths or conspiracies.

The suppressed sex drive is stress is related to stress and sleep pattern changes and is most noticeable during boot camp. Imagine being thrust into an intense physical and combat training course for 10 weeks where you under total control of a drill sergeant. Then add to that there is little if any privacy in barracks and little personal time. So stress and sleep pattern changes kill libido, not secret drugs slipped into food. After basic training you are assigned to a post, maybe overseas. By then your body has adjusted to the routines and your libido returns. I have quite a few friends who were in various military branches and they no problem seeing "action" off post if you get my meaning.

Ask any married couple with kids, their sex drive can drop because of the stress from work and child rearing coupled with a decrease in privacy due to kids constantly being around.

Re:The Era of the Human Soldier is over by dpidcoe · 2012-12-31 08:57 · Score: 1

Obligatory xkcd: http://what-if.xkcd.com/5/

Two things occur to me... by roc97007 · 2012-12-31 09:05 · Score: 1

(1) someone has been watching too many episodes of Beauty and the Beast. Or, (2) there's some really screwy secret experimentation going on. But if (2), why would we even hear about possible protocols to contain? (You'd think they would be secret too.)

--
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.

Re:No liability whatsoever...HELL YEAH by 1s44c · 2012-12-31 09:20 · Score: 2

We are not responsible for other country's disproportionate responses to our defensive capabilities.

Offensive capabilities.. Other countries are not going to be offended by you defending yourself, they will be offended by you attacking others.

Mutant Irony by Paul+Fernhout · 2012-12-31 11:19 · Score: 2

http://www.pdfernhout.net/recognizing-irony-is-a-key-to-transcending-militarism.html
"Biological weapons like genetically-engineered plagues are ironic because they are about using advanced life-altering biotechnology to fight over which old-fashioned humans get to occupy the planet. Why not just use advanced biotech to let people pick their skin color, or to create living arkologies and agricultural abundance for everyone everywhere? ... There is a fundamental mismatch between 21st century reality and 20th century security thinking. Those "security" agencies are using those tools of abundance, cooperation, and sharing mainly from a mindset of scarcity, competition, and secrecy. Given the power of 21st century technology as an amplifier (including as weapons of mass destruction), a scarcity-based approach to using such technology ultimately is just making us all insecure. Such powerful technologies of abundance, designed, organized, and used from a mindset of scarcity could well ironically doom us all whether through military robots, nukes, plagues, propaganda, or whatever else... Or alternatively, as Bucky Fuller and others have suggested, we could use such technologies to build a world that is abundant and secure for all. "

So, what we need is the right sort of mutants...

--
A 21st century issue: the irony of technologies of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity.

What a Strangelove by Wolvenhaven · 2012-12-31 11:33 · Score: 1

Mr. President, we must not allow... a mutant soldier gap!

--
Orwell was an optimist.

Re:started in the 1960s by IceNinjaNine · 2012-12-31 14:07 · Score: 2

Oh, we were fed the same line when I was in the US Army. Snopes says 'no', and to be honest I think any suppression was due to exhaustion from four hours of sleep and twenty hour training days.

The Men Who Stare at Goats by manu0601 · 2012-12-31 16:06 · Score: 2

Prepare for sci-fi grade stuff the ennemy may prepare? This remind me of The Men Who Stare at Goats.

Re:started in the 1960s by jamstar7 · 2012-12-31 16:20 · Score: 1

Oh, we were fed the same line when I was in the US Army. Snopes says 'no', and to be honest I think any suppression was due to exhaustion from four hours of sleep and twenty hour training days.

That's how I remember basic training/AIT. A big day in the Army started at 0330, and the drill instructors seemed to think you'd wasted 3 and a half hours already on something as trivial as sleep.

--
Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.

Re:started in the 1960s by Phrogman · 2012-12-31 16:33 · Score: 1

Oh I hear ya. CFB Cornwallis (known as Wally-world at the time by its inmates) was exactly that. 3-4 hours sleep was the norm, and the days were brutal.
Fun Times!

--
"The first time I got drunk, I got married. The second time I bought a chimpanzee, after that I stayed sober" Arian Seid

Re:started in the 1960s by drinkypoo · 2013-01-01 00:42 · Score: 1

If you drink two gallons of water, chances are that your electrolytes go awry. You might even die.

I've drunk much more than two gallons of water in a day without taking salt pills. I salt my food liberally, though. This is not such a bad idea as it sounds because I cook it, it's not some bullshit processed food already made of a ton of salt. If you're taking in more salts, then you can drink a fuckton of water in a pretty short period of time. My first job was following the steam train up the mountain in Felton, and I definitely had to take salt tablets and drink more than two gallons of water in a day on occasion there and I was a teenager ferchrissakes.

I do know someone who drank enough water to have seizures and almost die. He wasn't consuming anything but water.

You can put some salt and lemon in your water and then you can drink as much as you like.

--
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"

Re:started in the 1960s by war4peace · 2013-01-01 01:20 · Score: 1

Water has a Median Lethal Dose of 90g/kg. Two gallons is 9000g, therefore lethal for a body weighting 100kg. And it's not about whether you take salt tablets or not, it's about intracranial pressure, which is physics. You can't cheat out of that. ...Well who knows, maybe your brain is smaller and you don't feel the symptoms :)

--
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)

Re:started in the 1960s by Charliemopps · 2013-01-01 03:30 · Score: 1

Go ahead... try another method. This isn't something I have to worry about anymore, I'm an adult now... lol. But I never failed a test in my youth and I took dozens. I drank 2 gallons of water and felt no ill health effects. I believe the mistake you're making is thinking that you're retaining 2 gallons of water. You're not. You're pissing constantly... that's the entire point. And no, you shouldn't just beer bong a gallon of water... You drink it a normal pace. it'll probably take you the whole hour to finish it. You'll probably be peeing 10 min in.

If you have a test coming up in a week or two, just drink something acidic like grapefruit juice or lemonade. A pitcher full every day for a couple of days before the test. Then the gallon of water the day of. You'll piss completely clear. You don't have to think it's safe, it doesn't matter. This is how people do it, and have done it for years. It's very easy. Swapping the urine works, but it's a lot more gross, you have to get the urine, and the DO check you over sometimes... and there's always the "Watch you pee" kind of tests. They can reject my pee for being "Too diluted" all they want. They can't fire me for abusing water.

Ironic but Asymetric due to Fragilities by m.shenhav · 2013-01-01 03:52 · Score: 1

I can see the Irony you refer to and its a good point. But unfortunately the situation is not so simple because technology is frequently far easier to use for destruction then creation. Certain systems have fragilities which could be lethal under errors; For example, regardless of the intention of the implementation of biotechnology - Ecologies can exhibit unexpected response to randomness. Bringing fragility into the picture as some very Clever People have Noted would force us to review our risk management system completely.

Centralize technological decision making and each Human Error will be magnified (as with financial network that is centralized and is fragile to the collapse of one or two big institutions). Decentralize technological decision making and you have the danger of agents acting for their own benefit to burden society with the Risks of their enterprises (as with people administering antibiotics too quickly - something that statistically benefits them and endangers the population). If there was ever a time to start bringing the concepts of Antifragility and Subsidiarity Principle into socioeconomic, techno/scientific and political discourse.... its Now.

Re:started in the 1960s by war4peace · 2013-01-01 05:53 · Score: 1

I don't do any drugs nor have I ever been in the military so I don't need to try any method. I'm just telling you what is happening there, scientifically.

--
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)

Re:started in the 1960s by IceNinjaNine · 2013-01-01 05:56 · Score: 1

Wally-word. I like that! :) I was at Fort Dix, otherwise known as Fort Disneyland.

Re:started in the 1960s by rubycodez · 2013-01-01 06:15 · Score: 1

not just pilots, for example snipers were given amphetimines. "No such substance exists", yes it does and it is quite common, it's called "saltpeter" (potassium nitrate)

You must be young....

Not likely to happen... by DumbSwede · 2013-01-01 10:57 · Score: 1

There might be some small attempts to do this, but it will be so vilified that no developed nation would be able to do it to any great degree. Automated free roving killing machines will be FAR easier in the near future and politically acceptable as well, as you are not dehumanizing/exploiting your own citizens to achieve your goals. Plus I don't care how outlandish your mutant enhancements are short of Wolverine regenerative powers, MACHINES, BULLETS and BOMBS will splatter you just like any other flesh based entity.

The future is automated or remote controlled killing machines -- bank on it.

--
Letter To Iran

Re:Not likely to happen... by TuxWithoutPants · 2013-01-01 13:47 · Score: 1

Plus I don't care how outlandish your mutant enhancements are short of Wolverine regenerative powers, MACHINES, BULLETS and BOMBS will splatter you just like any other flesh based entity.
Star fish splitting powers, blow them up and (original X number of pieces) keeps coming at you.

Mutant Powers by Jerome+from+Layton · 2013-01-01 18:28 · Score: 1

Organizations and societies have been trying to develop or select the "ideal" person for the last few millenia. See the various statues and bass reliefs for the evidence. Humans, however, are not uniform but vary in several characteristics. Lysenko and the Nazis are two recent examples of trying to develop or select the ideal person; both failed. The US military height-weight standards favor those with Cromagnon features (long limbs, short torso, slender) and actively discriminate against the rest. So, if the person is built along Neanderthal lines, don't count on a military career. It doesn't matter if he was the fellow who could haul that 1200 pair cable and not be bothered by the cold water he was wading through. One term and he's gone. Buying cloths off the rack? Forget about it!

Short version : nothing new. by RockDoctor · 2013-01-01 22:52 · Score: 1

scenarios:
Botched enhancements ... spawn pricey lawsuits;

Didn't I hear something about "Gulf War Syndrome" recently, or wasn't it the families of ex-soldiers who died while sueing about being used as crash radiation dummies in atom-bomb tests?

"Check" on that one.

troopers could run afoul of international law, potentially sparking a diplomatic crisis every time the U.S. deploys troops overseas.;

Haven't I been awake and aware since the late 1970s? Yes. so there's a "check" on that one too.

(But - doesn't the US decry "international law", except when it suits them (copyright, one direction of intellectual property law, etc)? So, which way do they want it?)

enhancements [] provoke disproportionate responses by [] enemies, resulting in a potentially devastating arms race

What were those foreign nuclear weapons deployed 20 miles east of the house I grew up in, as well as 30 miles SW? Oh yes - a thoroughly non-devastating (for Americans) arms race that was likely to turn me into radioactive powder.

"Check" on that one too.

Situation normal : all fucked up.

--
Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"

nice by KingBenny · 2013-01-03 15:28 · Score: 1

to see the question wether or not the us army will be on a campaign somewhere is not even a question
gives the rest of us mutants a lot of hope for the future

--
Free speech was meant to be free for all... how can anyone grow up in a nanny state ?

Slashdot Mirror

Researcher Warns That Military Must Prepare For "Mutant" Future

121 of 179 comments (clear)