Our nuclear weapons program, as a start. Then the entirety of USSOCOM. Our aircraft carriers. Most of our submarines. All currently-planned weapons development programs. I would definitely cancel the JSF program. Any soldiers who would be put out of a job by this could take over jobs currently under contract, such as base security, cleaning services, food prep, etc.
Fully half of military officers graded O6 or higher could be let go. Every single civilian defense agency under the DoD should have its entire contract staff fired immediately and be reorganized to make do with civilian personnel. Any roles that cannot be filled with the civilian workforce should be examined and eliminated, if possible.
I could go on. There is literally too much waste to even account for, which is why DoD hasn't even attempted an internal audit in a long time.
Yeah, I'm not a fan our police state either, but the DoJ, flawed as they are, are the ones who *actually* prevent terrorism, and would be sorely missed. If you're looking for some useless, dangerous bureaucrats to defund start with the DIA, NSA, and CIA. Those folks create more terrorism than they thwart.
If by "diplomatic consequences" you mean being forced to withdraw from Iraq, and starting riots in Egypt and Tunisia (Arab Spring happen that long ago we've already forgotten?), then yes it had some effect.
If it weren't for Manning's revelations, we'd still have troops in Iraq, and the Arab Spring might have been a lot smaller than it turned out to be. If that isn't significant, I don't know what is.
I know chemistry isn't everybody's thing, but being able to produce hydrocarbons from renewable sources is *huge*. We don't just use them for energy, they're important for manufacturing everything from fertilizer to ipads. One of the un- talked about dangers of the end of cheap oil is that we will no longer be able to use hydrocarbons for manufacturing. Nuclear power is useless if you can't afford to insulate the power cabling to get that energy to where it's needed.
They wanted a secular democracy, and had it. Then we took it away from them, and the only folks left who were willing and able to fight for self-determination were Islamist extremists. It's not the government they deserve -- it's the only option the CIA left them. And now because of us once again (Stuxnet/Flame), the Islamists have a pretext to restrict internet freedoms even further in that country. Way to go, guys.
"we should have faith..." that the justice system works? And your signature talks about Orwell being an optimist. I'm positively flummoxed. Look here if you'd like some information about those "low numbers" of innocents: http://www.innocenceproject.org/
Sweden has been proven to have delivered "terrorism suspects" to the CIA, who has then subsequently sent them abroad for torture (see Wikileaks documents themselves or any of the countless news stories about it). I'm not sure the same can be said of the UK. So, regardless of which is easier to obtain extradition from, Sweden has a proven and globally known track record on human rights violations that can be used as an excuse to grant asylum, whereas the UK does not.
It appears that Israel is in fact using the MEK to assassinate these scientists. This is the same organization, by the way, that several US politicians are supporting openly, despite the organization being on our list of terrorist organizations. Looks like Israel's a state sponsor of terror. Who would have guessed?
This right here. GO OUTSIDE. If you have a car, go camping. Take somebody of the opposite sex. Make the life that you will probably end up throwing away in exchange for a lifestyle.
It's obvious that the author here has never actually read The Minority Report. The moral question was "can we arrest someone for something we *know* they're going to do." The entire framework setup in that story to pose the question relied on a magical ability to see into the future, not merely suspicion. Using tech to find suspicious searches is something entirely different.
A big *whoosh* for the genius who wrote this drivel.
I wouldn't call it a firefight when the CIA uses a robot piloted from Virginia to incinerate an unarmed American child thousands of miles away. I would call that murder.
I think it is you who have no understanding of what's going on in the world if you think this is defensible behaviour for anyone, especially our government.
What Zippthorne says has truth to it. When a Republican president's administration is committing civil rights abuses, Democrats complain to high heaven about the destruction of our liberties, because they can use it to partisan gain. By way of contrast, when a Democrat is president, we get silence from both sides as our rights are trampled, because there is no gain to be had by the Democrats from complaining.
The result, however counterintuitive, is that if you care about civil rights, it's actually better to vote Republican, because then the Democrats will have an incentive to pretend to care.
Slashdot Mirror
It is perfectly fine to strip away the rights of a person if they are nuts in a way that is a danger to the physical safety of other human beings.
FTFY
Bah, ignore me. I misread; only the section on MDMA references a Scientology article. That part was still bullshit, though.
Anybody else notice that a good chunk of that article's references are articles by a Scientology front group?
Cynical describes the arms dealers. You're just being a realist.
For what, impersonating a corporation?
I feel like this should be a new verse.
Global thermonuclear ad hominem, anyone?
Our nuclear weapons program, as a start. Then the entirety of USSOCOM. Our aircraft carriers. Most of our submarines. All currently-planned weapons development programs. I would definitely cancel the JSF program. Any soldiers who would be put out of a job by this could take over jobs currently under contract, such as base security, cleaning services, food prep, etc.
Fully half of military officers graded O6 or higher could be let go. Every single civilian defense agency under the DoD should have its entire contract staff fired immediately and be reorganized to make do with civilian personnel. Any roles that cannot be filled with the civilian workforce should be examined and eliminated, if possible.
I could go on. There is literally too much waste to even account for, which is why DoD hasn't even attempted an internal audit in a long time.
Yeah, I'm not a fan our police state either, but the DoJ, flawed as they are, are the ones who *actually* prevent terrorism, and would be sorely missed. If you're looking for some useless, dangerous bureaucrats to defund start with the DIA, NSA, and CIA. Those folks create more terrorism than they thwart.
Buffer zone? That's good. For any German readers out there: that translates to Lebensraum.
If by "diplomatic consequences" you mean being forced to withdraw from Iraq, and starting riots in Egypt and Tunisia (Arab Spring happen that long ago we've already forgotten?), then yes it had some effect.
If it weren't for Manning's revelations, we'd still have troops in Iraq, and the Arab Spring might have been a lot smaller than it turned out to be. If that isn't significant, I don't know what is.
I know chemistry isn't everybody's thing, but being able to produce hydrocarbons from renewable sources is *huge*. We don't just use them for energy, they're important for manufacturing everything from fertilizer to ipads. One of the un- talked about dangers of the end of cheap oil is that we will no longer be able to use hydrocarbons for manufacturing. Nuclear power is useless if you can't afford to insulate the power cabling to get that energy to where it's needed.
They wanted a secular democracy, and had it. Then we took it away from them, and the only folks left who were willing and able to fight for self-determination were Islamist extremists. It's not the government they deserve -- it's the only option the CIA left them. And now because of us once again (Stuxnet/Flame), the Islamists have a pretext to restrict internet freedoms even further in that country. Way to go, guys.
"we should have faith..." that the justice system works? And your signature talks about Orwell being an optimist. I'm positively flummoxed. Look here if you'd like some information about those "low numbers" of innocents: http://www.innocenceproject.org/
Sweden has been proven to have delivered "terrorism suspects" to the CIA, who has then subsequently sent them abroad for torture (see Wikileaks documents themselves or any of the countless news stories about it). I'm not sure the same can be said of the UK. So, regardless of which is easier to obtain extradition from, Sweden has a proven and globally known track record on human rights violations that can be used as an excuse to grant asylum, whereas the UK does not.
It's called a "recursive acronym."
Fun speculation, but the news seems to have that covered already:
http://www.salon.com/2012/02/10/israel_mek_and_state_sponsor_of_terror_groups/
It appears that Israel is in fact using the MEK to assassinate these scientists. This is the same organization, by the way, that several US politicians are supporting openly, despite the organization being on our list of terrorist organizations. Looks like Israel's a state sponsor of terror. Who would have guessed?
This right here. GO OUTSIDE. If you have a car, go camping. Take somebody of the opposite sex. Make the life that you will probably end up throwing away in exchange for a lifestyle.
Rape is good for the soul? Really?
I don't know whether to be proud or offended that you think this targets our demographic.
It's obvious that the author here has never actually read The Minority Report. The moral question was "can we arrest someone for something we *know* they're going to do." The entire framework setup in that story to pose the question relied on a magical ability to see into the future, not merely suspicion. Using tech to find suspicious searches is something entirely different. A big *whoosh* for the genius who wrote this drivel.
HP *is* a defense contractor, and they fuck it up pretty badly in that sector, too.
I wouldn't call it a firefight when the CIA uses a robot piloted from Virginia to incinerate an unarmed American child thousands of miles away. I would call that murder.
I think it is you who have no understanding of what's going on in the world if you think this is defensible behaviour for anyone, especially our government.
Your accounting is missing the immense loss of life and liberty that our military ventures cause.
He's paralyzed from the waist down. Have a mercy, folks, and get his penis working first.
What Zippthorne says has truth to it. When a Republican president's administration is committing civil rights abuses, Democrats complain to high heaven about the destruction of our liberties, because they can use it to partisan gain. By way of contrast, when a Democrat is president, we get silence from both sides as our rights are trampled, because there is no gain to be had by the Democrats from complaining. The result, however counterintuitive, is that if you care about civil rights, it's actually better to vote Republican, because then the Democrats will have an incentive to pretend to care.