You know what's funny is that in the Cheyenne Moutain facility they have a room titled Stargate. It's actually a room for top brass, but everyone gets a kick out of it the first time you ask to see it and they ever so seriously take you to the room.
Also with Opensource, nobody is forcing you to upgrade. If you don't like what they're doing you can refuse to upgrade and not suffer any detriment or you can just fork it and start your own branch.
I've done the war thing with the Army. I much prefer the defensive nature of the systems that I use now. You really cannot use them to attack other countries, you can however use them to defend your country.
I know it's bad form to reply to my own post, but as to the MMORPG problem I had another epiphany. The main difference is that in those games you aren't trying to send all the data from a maxed out processor over the internet, it's just sending a lot of little bits of data. You're just sending your position in the world and your actions within it. If you were going to do on the supercomputer level you would be sending not only that, but all the weather that you generated around you, the windspeed of your legs moving through the air, the amount of pressure your foot is exerting on the ground and all the other minutia of the world around you. That would make the MMO server effectively a router, however they are not all of that is pre-programmed. You're not generating every little detail of the world around you every instant that you play. With a supercomputer you're basically sending all the data from the processor from one node to the next or in other words each processor is generating their little bit of the world and telling that little bit of the world to the rest of the simulation in real time.
MMORPG is real time as far as the human mind is concerned. If you look at all of them they have a latency counter too, they suffer badly sometimes from that problem. Hell the new supercomputer systems are not even real time, they have problems with latency as well. That's usually what the limiting factor as far as computing nodes is, the farther you space nodes out, or the more hops that they take over the fabric all has latency. For instance, one of our old SGI machines is limited to 2048 processors (SGI claims 512) because the NUMA link interface is too spread out beyond that. Of course that's running over copper with electrical signalling, newer systems use fiber which is very fast over the line, but the bottle neck is in the connections. So yet again we run into the problem of latency being the limiting factor. They even have specialized routers in them that are designed to be transparent to the overall machine, but beyond a certain number of hops you still have latency. I wish I could post diagrams and say a little more, but I'm already treading into the "trade secrets" ground. The difference between real-time simulation and an MMORPG though is a little more sticky problem. Think of it like this, the MMORPG connects to a main server, that server has the world running on it, it keeps track of all the other players in the game. The client computer merely syncs with that server, it doesn't do anything other than present the world to the end user and take the data from the server and display it on the screen. There really isn't a strong emphasis on real-time as compared to a weather simulation. When you're running these huge simulations you have multiple independent processes and threads all going through the machine at the same time, all to achieve one single end result. I'm sorry if I'm not doing too well at making sense, I have a little trouble explaining it because I'm more of a visual person. The best I can really say is that the comparative complexity of the problems between the two is vast. Someone out there that's a little better with words feel free to step in and help me out here. Now, when we all have fiber running to every computer connected to the internet maybe then the distributed systems become more of a reality. Another problem that I see with distributed systems though is the variation in hardware. When the programs get written for the supercomputing platforms there is an expectation of sameness for the hardware. All the processors, all the memory, all the fabric links, all the buses, all the ASICS, everything is the same from one point to another. Intelligently identifying hardware differences and exploiting them for real time simulation would be a real trick if someone could pull it off. Hmmm, my firefox spell check seems to think I'm British.
Your smug is showing, I work with one on a daily basis for the government in the missile defense arena. Hell in two months I'm going to be building one of those new IBM machines, we just signed the purchase with IBM. Yes I said that I'm going to be building one, IBM is not allowed in our building. I don't even have to rent nodes of it, we have it all to ourselves. It's not the applications or the hardware that is the problem, it's the latency. I don't care how fast your internet connection is, you cannot match the interconnect fabric of these machines. If you want to parse out little bits of data to a vast number of computers using the spare cycles of home computers is great, I'm not trying to downplay that. You just cannot run them in parallel and do real time simulations on them. That is why we have these huge monolithic computers. Let me give you two examples: Protein folding, not parallel and also not time sensitive. More of a when you finish I'll give you a new problem to chew on. Tracking millions of orbits from shit in space, very parallel requires correct timing low latency transactions between CPU nodes. Also needs results as events occur, there's no room for "When your done I'll give you a new one". Working out the problems with star travel as the original parent said is a grand idea using a distributed system, running the simulations in real time to actually have an idea of whether or not those solutions will work is where computers such as the ones I work with come in.
It's not always about just how much data they can process. It's more about being able to do it quickly and in parallel. Say for instance you want to simulate a black hole. You have so much raw math that needs to be handled all at the same time, there's no way you can do this with current internet technology. Another example is a weather simulation, you have to take so many things into account all at once. That's why the compute nodes in supercomputers are connected by extremely high speed interconnects. They want all the CPUs in these things to have the latency of a local bus. Now if all they need to do is crunch raw data with no emphasis on parallel processes then yes, things like Folding@home are grand for that purpose.
That's pretty interesting. On a tangentially related note, a guy I work with just install Ubuntu as his first linux. A friend and I were talking about 8.04 and he overheard us, so he walked up and started asking questions about it which we answered. The next day he shows up to work and says that he installed it and is really liking it. What is this world coming to when a normal guy one day hears about linux and the next successfully installs it without asking the local nerds for help? It was really interesting, he said the hardest thing was burning the ISO, other than that he said it was easier to use and set up than windows. Trust me when I say that this guy is very very average when it comes to computer smarts, this was a huge leap for him and it was no trouble at all. That's how I know linux is heading mainstream.
I can tell you, but you may not want to go there. Apparently it's this place called myspace, I really don't recommend going there. Your eyes will want to vomit.
Yes they are among the best at limb replacement. Injured soldiers often times get experimental designs too. The medical field really is great about sending beta version drugs and things to the battlefield too. As I said synthetic blood, quick clot, better tourniquets, among many other things. Medicine is not my profession so I really don't know all of the stuff, just what I remember seeing in use. I would also like to mention that medics and doctors in the military are amazing. A lot of people don't realize this but a medic has no legal right to defend him/herself in combat, they can only defend their patients. I've also see people survive horrific injuries thanks to the quick way they go about treating people. One prime example is during my first tour of the desert we had a woman drive through the gate into the compound while under fire with a chuck of metal rammed through her abdomen and her left leg damned near severed. Yes she drove into the gate then promptly passed out after getting into somewhat safety. Thankfully we had a medivac helicopter standing by, from what I know she not only survived that, but came out mostly functional.
The mental stresses are reversible, just much harder to treat. I'm lucky in that I didn't have to seek out a professional because my wife is an incredible woman that has stood by me through the worst times. That and I have two little girls that need a daddy so I'm not about to let my own mind get in the way of being a good father to them. Really the best healing for the mind is to talk to someone about it, that's the problem too. Unless you've been there, you don't understand a thing about it so most don't talk to anyone. The wife wouldn't let me get away with that. Anyway they can be treated, you never fully recover, but you can lead a normal life.
I will say this about the military, and I would know as I was deployed to Iraq twice in the Army. The medical care is not bad and you don't pay for it while you're in the military. There are a lot of amputees out there with top notch prosthesis and they didn't pay a dime for them. Yes, there are a lot of horror stories about how bad the military can treat its wounded, and yes most of those are pretty true. The thing is though that they are actually a small percentage. Another thing that's cool about the military is that they are really good about pushing state of the art in medicine. Anything to keep wounded troops alive. Fake blood? Tested in the military. High speed care? Military. So on so forth. Oh and no they can't make you happy. I know, I have to live with that every damn day.
Actually I think you bring up an interesting point. Considering that the TSA has kept young children from their parents on the grounds of secondary searches, much to the distress of the children and parents I wonder what will keep some sick fuck from wanting to scan kids and get his jollies off from it. I know a guy that works for TSA and by his own admission as long as you have a pulse and can read at a third grade level you can work for the TSA, so I would imagine that the quality of people there is somewhat low. Personally I don't fly anymore unless it's for business and only then if I can't get out of it. I especially don't fly with my family, it's cheaper to drive and I don't have to put up with asshats that have a little authority. Trust us citizen! We have your best interests in mind!
That is an interesting idea, to see the genetic divergence that radiation may have caused. You call always look at Chernobyl though for a glimpse as to what radiation has done to the wildlife there. As far as I know, it hasn't affected it all that much. There is a higher incidence of fatal mutation, but over all what I have read is that it hasn't had a huge impact. Another site that you could look at is Rocky Flats in Colorado. While us humans that contaminated the hell out of the place are trying to figure out how to warn future generations into the thousands of years about what we did there, the wildlife has reclaimed it as their own. It's a wildlife refuge now and as far as anyone can tell there hasn't been that much impact on the animals there. The problem is though that we're only seeing the first few generations of life since these places have been contaminated. We don't know if it will build up over time and cause radical genetic diversion or if life will adapt to it, it could take a very long time to see the effects of what we have done. Oh, and if you're curious about some of the other things that we have done check out a book called The World Without Us, fascinating read.
Funny offtopic story. My wife's aunt was just telling me about how a few weeks ago she thought she was going to jail for laundering money, meaning she ran it through the washer. She really didn't know what it really meant. This is also the same woman that thought people had to wear special shoes on the lower hemisphere so that they didn't fall off the earth.
There are flaws in your argument as well. Not that many people are rape victims so I don't really see how it's any more personal for them than any other kind of crime, and it is a little more personal for me since my sister is a rape victim. Regardless of the so called personal level, prejudice is prejudice and no matter how you try to justify it, it's still wrong. I grew up very very poor, so I guess that qualifies me to be a criminal too never mind the fact that the worst thing I ever did was drink under age once or twice. So already I'm a criminal and a rapist by your prejudiced definitions, in reality I am neither. That's why we have this thing about innocent until proven guilty, instead of profiling people maybe we should give them a chance. Rape isn't any more emotionally charged than any other issue, it just depends on where you go. Go to a bad part of town and I think you'll find it isn't any more emotionally charged than gang violence and murder and in suburbia rape is more charged. Letting it slide when people profile you doesn't do anything about fixing the problem, it should be confronted when you see it. Yes we all have prejudices, it's recognizing them or having them pointed out that helps us fix the problem. Living in fear that the poor young male has a higher incidence of crime does nothing to fix the problem, accepting it when people treat you like a rapist or paedophile because you are male doesn't help fix the underlying problem. Yes I agree that the vast majority of rapists and paedophiles are men, however the vast majority of men are not rapists and paedophiles. Clutching your purse and walking on the other side of the street I understand, not encouraging your kids to talk to strangers I understand, attacking me because I'm male I will not accept, attacking while I'm in a place that I have every right to be because I'm male I will not stand, not getting an apology when someone attacks me for a crime I have not nor will ever commit I will not stand. I'm really glad that there have been people out there that gave me a chance, that's part of the reason I went from poor white trash(I never considered myself trash) to a very successful career in IT, it's also why I have a wife that I love and kids that I love. I wouldn't be as pissed off about this as I am if people would be a little more polite about it, a simple inquiry as to what I'm doing is fine, going on the offensive and attacking me is not.
What percentage of all men are rapists and pedofiles? We don't have to deal with it because the vast majority of men are not, and never will be. Do you also think that we should treat all muslims as terrorists, all black people as poor second class citizens, all Mexicans and gang members and drug runners?
I'm tired of being treated like a criminal because I have a penis. Case in point: I was at the library, my wife and I had driven seperately because I had to leave for work right after we were done there. We have children, two in fact. I had found a couple of books, checked them out and wandered over to the kids section to find my wife. She wasn't there, so I moved on to a few other areas that she might frequent. I then went back to the kids section looking for her when the librarian more or less hostily interrogated me for being there. Looked very smug when I got pissed and left, then looked embarassed when I came back with my two daughters in tow. Did I get an apology? No, because it's acceptable to harass a man when he's in the kids section. Thank you fucking Dateline, I can no longer even talk to children despite the fact that I think they are usually far more interesting and intelligent than their parents.
Have you ever been in on an interrogation for one of these higher up? Ever met on in person or talked to one? Or are you just pulling that out of your ass? I have personally been there and done all of the above. Iraq 2003-2004 2005-2006 (sneaky bastard). Most of them are pushing a very religous agenda, even the ones high on the food chain aren't doing it because they're opressed, they do it because they want to be the opressor in their region. They want all the mosque's in their area to preach what they want preached and to keep the masses ignorant to garner more power for themselves. Ever seen a body wadi? That's what we called it because that's where we would find all the bodies of a particular tribe that another tribe hated. I was present when we captured a particularly sick imam that made a habit out of raping and beheading people with opposing religous views. Most of the guys planting the bombs don't even necessarily care one way or the other about the position of the person who wants him to do it, usually it's just some poor farmer that had someone offer him money to put a box in a certain place at a certain time. What I think you fail to understand is how the culture in the mid-east works, there is a lot more to it than U.S. vs. Sunni. vs Shiite. There are huge familial bonds, ancient blood feuds, clan feuds, tribal feuds, honor killing, among many other things. All of them want to be the dominant power where they are and after they get it, they want more power and more, it's just the way of things. Not to say that all muslim regions are like this, just the bad ones are like this. I even had a fight with my mother about lumping a whole group of people together, she said some nasty slur about muslims and I lost my cool. Muslims aren't the problem, power hungry religous zealots are the problem. I worked with so many muslims that were great (Gigi, Aziz I'm looking at you) people, fun to be around, and all they wanted is for people to stop fighting and get along. They saw us (U.S. Forces) as the best way of doing that and often they would die for that when another zealot would find out they worked with us. Here's a little story for you, we took a break in the city we were in at a place where the proprietor was friendly towards the U.S. We bought some roasted chicken and were sitting down BSing with him when he received a phone call and immediately ushered us into the back. The reason was that there were some of the above stated assholes coming and he didn't want to have a firefight that could hurt other people, so he hid us in the back. Call it what you will, but the man was just trying to help and get on with his life, the vast majority of muslims want this. The others just want to control these good people.
Heh, I didn't read the subtle hints that well early on being a pasty nerd and all. Then I joined the Army and learned a thing or two. Oh, and my computer is still in the basement. Does that count enough to keep my UID?
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You know what's funny is that in the Cheyenne Moutain facility they have a room titled Stargate. It's actually a room for top brass, but everyone gets a kick out of it the first time you ask to see it and they ever so seriously take you to the room.
Also with Opensource, nobody is forcing you to upgrade. If you don't like what they're doing you can refuse to upgrade and not suffer any detriment or you can just fork it and start your own branch.
I've done the war thing with the Army. I much prefer the defensive nature of the systems that I use now. You really cannot use them to attack other countries, you can however use them to defend your country.
I know it's bad form to reply to my own post, but as to the MMORPG problem I had another epiphany. The main difference is that in those games you aren't trying to send all the data from a maxed out processor over the internet, it's just sending a lot of little bits of data. You're just sending your position in the world and your actions within it. If you were going to do on the supercomputer level you would be sending not only that, but all the weather that you generated around you, the windspeed of your legs moving through the air, the amount of pressure your foot is exerting on the ground and all the other minutia of the world around you. That would make the MMO server effectively a router, however they are not all of that is pre-programmed. You're not generating every little detail of the world around you every instant that you play. With a supercomputer you're basically sending all the data from the processor from one node to the next or in other words each processor is generating their little bit of the world and telling that little bit of the world to the rest of the simulation in real time.
MMORPG is real time as far as the human mind is concerned. If you look at all of them they have a latency counter too, they suffer badly sometimes from that problem. Hell the new supercomputer systems are not even real time, they have problems with latency as well. That's usually what the limiting factor as far as computing nodes is, the farther you space nodes out, or the more hops that they take over the fabric all has latency. For instance, one of our old SGI machines is limited to 2048 processors (SGI claims 512) because the NUMA link interface is too spread out beyond that. Of course that's running over copper with electrical signalling, newer systems use fiber which is very fast over the line, but the bottle neck is in the connections. So yet again we run into the problem of latency being the limiting factor. They even have specialized routers in them that are designed to be transparent to the overall machine, but beyond a certain number of hops you still have latency. I wish I could post diagrams and say a little more, but I'm already treading into the "trade secrets" ground. The difference between real-time simulation and an MMORPG though is a little more sticky problem. Think of it like this, the MMORPG connects to a main server, that server has the world running on it, it keeps track of all the other players in the game. The client computer merely syncs with that server, it doesn't do anything other than present the world to the end user and take the data from the server and display it on the screen. There really isn't a strong emphasis on real-time as compared to a weather simulation. When you're running these huge simulations you have multiple independent processes and threads all going through the machine at the same time, all to achieve one single end result. I'm sorry if I'm not doing too well at making sense, I have a little trouble explaining it because I'm more of a visual person. The best I can really say is that the comparative complexity of the problems between the two is vast. Someone out there that's a little better with words feel free to step in and help me out here. Now, when we all have fiber running to every computer connected to the internet maybe then the distributed systems become more of a reality. Another problem that I see with distributed systems though is the variation in hardware. When the programs get written for the supercomputing platforms there is an expectation of sameness for the hardware. All the processors, all the memory, all the fabric links, all the buses, all the ASICS, everything is the same from one point to another. Intelligently identifying hardware differences and exploiting them for real time simulation would be a real trick if someone could pull it off. Hmmm, my firefox spell check seems to think I'm British.
Your smug is showing, I work with one on a daily basis for the government in the missile defense arena. Hell in two months I'm going to be building one of those new IBM machines, we just signed the purchase with IBM. Yes I said that I'm going to be building one, IBM is not allowed in our building. I don't even have to rent nodes of it, we have it all to ourselves. It's not the applications or the hardware that is the problem, it's the latency. I don't care how fast your internet connection is, you cannot match the interconnect fabric of these machines. If you want to parse out little bits of data to a vast number of computers using the spare cycles of home computers is great, I'm not trying to downplay that. You just cannot run them in parallel and do real time simulations on them. That is why we have these huge monolithic computers. Let me give you two examples: Protein folding, not parallel and also not time sensitive. More of a when you finish I'll give you a new problem to chew on. Tracking millions of orbits from shit in space, very parallel requires correct timing low latency transactions between CPU nodes. Also needs results as events occur, there's no room for "When your done I'll give you a new one". Working out the problems with star travel as the original parent said is a grand idea using a distributed system, running the simulations in real time to actually have an idea of whether or not those solutions will work is where computers such as the ones I work with come in.
It's not always about just how much data they can process. It's more about being able to do it quickly and in parallel. Say for instance you want to simulate a black hole. You have so much raw math that needs to be handled all at the same time, there's no way you can do this with current internet technology. Another example is a weather simulation, you have to take so many things into account all at once. That's why the compute nodes in supercomputers are connected by extremely high speed interconnects. They want all the CPUs in these things to have the latency of a local bus. Now if all they need to do is crunch raw data with no emphasis on parallel processes then yes, things like Folding@home are grand for that purpose.
As a former sneaky bastard for a military organization, I very much agree with you.
That's pretty interesting. On a tangentially related note, a guy I work with just install Ubuntu as his first linux. A friend and I were talking about 8.04 and he overheard us, so he walked up and started asking questions about it which we answered. The next day he shows up to work and says that he installed it and is really liking it. What is this world coming to when a normal guy one day hears about linux and the next successfully installs it without asking the local nerds for help? It was really interesting, he said the hardest thing was burning the ISO, other than that he said it was easier to use and set up than windows. Trust me when I say that this guy is very very average when it comes to computer smarts, this was a huge leap for him and it was no trouble at all. That's how I know linux is heading mainstream.
I can tell you, but you may not want to go there. Apparently it's this place called myspace, I really don't recommend going there. Your eyes will want to vomit.
Yes they are among the best at limb replacement. Injured soldiers often times get experimental designs too. The medical field really is great about sending beta version drugs and things to the battlefield too. As I said synthetic blood, quick clot, better tourniquets, among many other things. Medicine is not my profession so I really don't know all of the stuff, just what I remember seeing in use. I would also like to mention that medics and doctors in the military are amazing. A lot of people don't realize this but a medic has no legal right to defend him/herself in combat, they can only defend their patients. I've also see people survive horrific injuries thanks to the quick way they go about treating people. One prime example is during my first tour of the desert we had a woman drive through the gate into the compound while under fire with a chuck of metal rammed through her abdomen and her left leg damned near severed. Yes she drove into the gate then promptly passed out after getting into somewhat safety. Thankfully we had a medivac helicopter standing by, from what I know she not only survived that, but came out mostly functional.
The mental stresses are reversible, just much harder to treat. I'm lucky in that I didn't have to seek out a professional because my wife is an incredible woman that has stood by me through the worst times. That and I have two little girls that need a daddy so I'm not about to let my own mind get in the way of being a good father to them. Really the best healing for the mind is to talk to someone about it, that's the problem too. Unless you've been there, you don't understand a thing about it so most don't talk to anyone. The wife wouldn't let me get away with that. Anyway they can be treated, you never fully recover, but you can lead a normal life.
I will say this about the military, and I would know as I was deployed to Iraq twice in the Army. The medical care is not bad and you don't pay for it while you're in the military. There are a lot of amputees out there with top notch prosthesis and they didn't pay a dime for them. Yes, there are a lot of horror stories about how bad the military can treat its wounded, and yes most of those are pretty true. The thing is though that they are actually a small percentage. Another thing that's cool about the military is that they are really good about pushing state of the art in medicine. Anything to keep wounded troops alive. Fake blood? Tested in the military. High speed care? Military. So on so forth. Oh and no they can't make you happy. I know, I have to live with that every damn day.
Well I'll tell you who died. Popular media that is reporting for the people and not their corporate sponsors, same for government officials.
Actually I think you bring up an interesting point. Considering that the TSA has kept young children from their parents on the grounds of secondary searches, much to the distress of the children and parents I wonder what will keep some sick fuck from wanting to scan kids and get his jollies off from it. I know a guy that works for TSA and by his own admission as long as you have a pulse and can read at a third grade level you can work for the TSA, so I would imagine that the quality of people there is somewhat low. Personally I don't fly anymore unless it's for business and only then if I can't get out of it. I especially don't fly with my family, it's cheaper to drive and I don't have to put up with asshats that have a little authority. Trust us citizen! We have your best interests in mind!
He/She is a terrorist. Burn her/him!
Where's that bottle of whiskey?
Ahhhh, we have a philosopher. Whiskey and tears my friend, whiskey and tears.
We're raising the bar, your world delivered, AT&T.
That is an interesting idea, to see the genetic divergence that radiation may have caused. You call always look at Chernobyl though for a glimpse as to what radiation has done to the wildlife there. As far as I know, it hasn't affected it all that much. There is a higher incidence of fatal mutation, but over all what I have read is that it hasn't had a huge impact. Another site that you could look at is Rocky Flats in Colorado. While us humans that contaminated the hell out of the place are trying to figure out how to warn future generations into the thousands of years about what we did there, the wildlife has reclaimed it as their own. It's a wildlife refuge now and as far as anyone can tell there hasn't been that much impact on the animals there. The problem is though that we're only seeing the first few generations of life since these places have been contaminated. We don't know if it will build up over time and cause radical genetic diversion or if life will adapt to it, it could take a very long time to see the effects of what we have done. Oh, and if you're curious about some of the other things that we have done check out a book called The World Without Us, fascinating read.
Funny offtopic story. My wife's aunt was just telling me about how a few weeks ago she thought she was going to jail for laundering money, meaning she ran it through the washer. She really didn't know what it really meant. This is also the same woman that thought people had to wear special shoes on the lower hemisphere so that they didn't fall off the earth.
Wow, even the summary pulled a Godwin.
There are flaws in your argument as well. Not that many people are rape victims so I don't really see how it's any more personal for them than any other kind of crime, and it is a little more personal for me since my sister is a rape victim. Regardless of the so called personal level, prejudice is prejudice and no matter how you try to justify it, it's still wrong. I grew up very very poor, so I guess that qualifies me to be a criminal too never mind the fact that the worst thing I ever did was drink under age once or twice. So already I'm a criminal and a rapist by your prejudiced definitions, in reality I am neither. That's why we have this thing about innocent until proven guilty, instead of profiling people maybe we should give them a chance. Rape isn't any more emotionally charged than any other issue, it just depends on where you go. Go to a bad part of town and I think you'll find it isn't any more emotionally charged than gang violence and murder and in suburbia rape is more charged. Letting it slide when people profile you doesn't do anything about fixing the problem, it should be confronted when you see it. Yes we all have prejudices, it's recognizing them or having them pointed out that helps us fix the problem. Living in fear that the poor young male has a higher incidence of crime does nothing to fix the problem, accepting it when people treat you like a rapist or paedophile because you are male doesn't help fix the underlying problem. Yes I agree that the vast majority of rapists and paedophiles are men, however the vast majority of men are not rapists and paedophiles. Clutching your purse and walking on the other side of the street I understand, not encouraging your kids to talk to strangers I understand, attacking me because I'm male I will not accept, attacking while I'm in a place that I have every right to be because I'm male I will not stand, not getting an apology when someone attacks me for a crime I have not nor will ever commit I will not stand. I'm really glad that there have been people out there that gave me a chance, that's part of the reason I went from poor white trash(I never considered myself trash) to a very successful career in IT, it's also why I have a wife that I love and kids that I love. I wouldn't be as pissed off about this as I am if people would be a little more polite about it, a simple inquiry as to what I'm doing is fine, going on the offensive and attacking me is not.
Capisce?
What percentage of all men are rapists and pedofiles? We don't have to deal with it because the vast majority of men are not, and never will be. Do you also think that we should treat all muslims as terrorists, all black people as poor second class citizens, all Mexicans and gang members and drug runners?
I'm tired of being treated like a criminal because I have a penis. Case in point: I was at the library, my wife and I had driven seperately because I had to leave for work right after we were done there. We have children, two in fact. I had found a couple of books, checked them out and wandered over to the kids section to find my wife. She wasn't there, so I moved on to a few other areas that she might frequent. I then went back to the kids section looking for her when the librarian more or less hostily interrogated me for being there. Looked very smug when I got pissed and left, then looked embarassed when I came back with my two daughters in tow. Did I get an apology? No, because it's acceptable to harass a man when he's in the kids section. Thank you fucking Dateline, I can no longer even talk to children despite the fact that I think they are usually far more interesting and intelligent than their parents.
Have you ever been in on an interrogation for one of these higher up? Ever met on in person or talked to one? Or are you just pulling that out of your ass? I have personally been there and done all of the above. Iraq 2003-2004 2005-2006 (sneaky bastard). Most of them are pushing a very religous agenda, even the ones high on the food chain aren't doing it because they're opressed, they do it because they want to be the opressor in their region. They want all the mosque's in their area to preach what they want preached and to keep the masses ignorant to garner more power for themselves. Ever seen a body wadi? That's what we called it because that's where we would find all the bodies of a particular tribe that another tribe hated. I was present when we captured a particularly sick imam that made a habit out of raping and beheading people with opposing religous views. Most of the guys planting the bombs don't even necessarily care one way or the other about the position of the person who wants him to do it, usually it's just some poor farmer that had someone offer him money to put a box in a certain place at a certain time. What I think you fail to understand is how the culture in the mid-east works, there is a lot more to it than U.S. vs. Sunni. vs Shiite. There are huge familial bonds, ancient blood feuds, clan feuds, tribal feuds, honor killing, among many other things. All of them want to be the dominant power where they are and after they get it, they want more power and more, it's just the way of things. Not to say that all muslim regions are like this, just the bad ones are like this. I even had a fight with my mother about lumping a whole group of people together, she said some nasty slur about muslims and I lost my cool. Muslims aren't the problem, power hungry religous zealots are the problem. I worked with so many muslims that were great (Gigi, Aziz I'm looking at you) people, fun to be around, and all they wanted is for people to stop fighting and get along. They saw us (U.S. Forces) as the best way of doing that and often they would die for that when another zealot would find out they worked with us. Here's a little story for you, we took a break in the city we were in at a place where the proprietor was friendly towards the U.S. We bought some roasted chicken and were sitting down BSing with him when he received a phone call and immediately ushered us into the back. The reason was that there were some of the above stated assholes coming and he didn't want to have a firefight that could hurt other people, so he hid us in the back. Call it what you will, but the man was just trying to help and get on with his life, the vast majority of muslims want this. The others just want to control these good people.
Heh, I didn't read the subtle hints that well early on being a pasty nerd and all. Then I joined the Army and learned a thing or two. Oh, and my computer is still in the basement. Does that count enough to keep my UID?