"Because taxpayers are contemplating suicide over this 2012 nonsense?"
Smart people should not try to save stupid people, who are at worst their enemies and at best a burden. Fuck 'em. I'll be giggling like a schoolgirl every time I hear one of these 'tards has self-terminated.
"Correct, but I think deciding to kill yourself and your loved ones based on a work of fiction counts as stupid."
It DOES get them out of our way. Too bad more religious belief and superstition doesn't end in benign suicide, but cults like Heavens Gate don't get much traction. I'm tired of the stupid, the willfully ignorant, and the religious. If we see a wave of suicides because of a stupid movie, count me among the people that will forward the stories as humor because I will be LMAO. The gene pool needs chlorinating anyway.
"One need only look at the "aid" money China lavishes on Africa in exchange for sweetheart deals to buy their natural resources to know why this happened."
Good idea on China's part, and we should be doing the same. Our rules of engagement will be our undoing, for we do not live in a virtuous world and virtue towards those not of our own culture has no reward.
China is the superpower of the future because it acts in the interests of Chinese. Their progress since 1948 has no historic parallel anywhere, despite little blips like the Cultural Revolution. China is also the only country with actual will to act against Islam and religion in general. Expect great things from China as the West recedes into gutless self-doubt and corruption.
Technically, but I bet on Putin bringing it back more than I'd bet on a feeble few believers in democracy succeeding against the entire history of the Russian people. That's almost as tall an order as teaching Muslims that secular freedom is good for anything but overthrowing governments which practice it.
"Yet the countries with the advanced high-tech military hardware still fell to the swarming hordes that out-produced them materially. A lesson the US probably should keep in mind going into the 21st century."
The "swarming hordes" had the tremendous asset of an industrial base and engineering outlook which could and did produce quality IN QUANTITY. Sure, the Germans and to a lesser extent the Japanese produced some impressive equipment, but so did the Allies and over a much broader range. An Allied advantage was that their systems were integrated effectively and they chose to produce much more wheeled transport than the Axis. Allied tanks were war winners because they were of a size and specification that made them excellent infantry support vehicles. Tigers were impressive, but good luck getting one over a Bailey bridge.
As for submarine warfare, the US did it better than anyone else and strangled Japanese maritime trade.
There is no moral obligation to a corrupt employer, but one needs sweet money buy groceries. Therefore, fuck the employer and obtain money.
I'd drop the issue and start chatting with the BSA about deniably setting up my employer and getting a reward through a proxy. The tale of anguish over intellectual property coupled with fear of reprisal should find receptive ears. When one is dealing with malicious employers who want to throw you to the wolves, scheme calmly against them.
Being ignorant is a point of pride for peoplw who are love the populist lie that common people have virtues. In particular, religious people hate education because it threatens their ridiculous superstition.
Americans are savagely anti-intellectual, and I'm beginning to approve of the people who abuse and exploit their craven stupidity because they deserve to suffer. They deserve to be raped by their leadership, so they are. They deserve to be exploited by Wall Street, so they are.
"it's about keeping criminals safe from society and (in my mind) rehabilitating them."
Don't forget that without fear of punishment (including the fear of being stopped in the act by violence) there is no utilitarian reason not to be a criminal.
If all you are going to do to me is protect me from society and try to make me make you feel good when I seem to be "rehabilitated", why shouldn't I kill you (after copulation if I think you are suitable), take your stuff, and repeat as much as I like?
That non-punitive idea of crime management makes it extremely reasonable for high functioning sociopaths to game the system. Bernard Madoff copycats would be the least of your problems. Heck, I'm naturally well-behaved but would likely turn to crime out of spite were such an idiotic system enacted.
"Confirmation of the success of MAD could only come from the testimony of people who could and would confirm that they did not launch nuclear attacks against (US/USSR) due to fear of massive reprisal."
Since, in the absence of massive reprisal it would have made perfectly good sense for either the Soviets or the US to wipe out their opposite (atmospheric testing proved nuclear war is quite practical!) that we didn't incinerate each other indicates MAD had reduced the chance of winning to unacceptable levels.
Why be disturbed? I just laugh instead. The US harbors equally absurd beliefs such as religion and astrology. Of course more backward and less techy cultures will be worse.
This IS an example of why we need US or European troops doing secondary scanning when the vehicle is approaching anything important. If an IED takes out some primitive dowser nothing of value is lost, and having the dowser as point man may motivate Hadji to detonate there instead of on a high-value target.
"hydraulic are much less mature than banging two sticks together, doesn't make the sticks better than hydraulic. "
Using hydraulics when "two sticks" would do is still stupid.
Example: there is no reason to have a hydraulic clutch on a car or light truck. The slave cylinder WILL eventually leak down and usually take the clutch with it. The cost of a hydraulic clutch is greater than the much more reliable cable. Disposal of toxic hydraulic fluid is another waste for those who care.
As a mechanic I observe that auto engineers cram every possible "feature"/useless addition into designs (in my opinion, to impress management). A mechanically illiterate public will not be curious about such detail. We get overly complex designs that are punitively expensive to fix unless one has access to plenty of salvage parts.
"1. Leave a valuable possession on the ground 2. Promptly forget about it 3. And then drive over it with their car 4. ? 5. Profit "
Some people use valuable gear in fast-paced, hectic environments where getting the mission done is much more important than worrying about beating the shit out of their gear, test equipment, and computers. That's why industrial and military equipment is different from consumer shit. Just the normal bouncing and weather exposure given Air Force notebooks on the flightline would make short work of most laptops. The extra margin of Toughness matters.
Ubuntu should be more direct about the LTS versions being reliable and the other releases being beta software. If you want the most reliability, use Debian. If you want ease of installation and convenience, use a Ubuntu LTS release (never forget the purpose of Ubuntu is to make Debian user friendly). If you want bleeding edge, back up your home directory and have at it.
One problem with the idea is that used cars aren't worth shit by the time the drivetrain is worn out.
Another is shoehorning a replacement drivetrain and battery pack into a car not designed for it in a crashworthy manner. There is no reason to put a "new" drivetrain in most used cars, typical practice is to install a used drivetrain out of a wreck.
As a mechanic, I'd have to say the project will be fun with someone else paying for it but is a waste of time.
"By corollary, given that they do seem to have an advantage in that area, a solid grasp of English seems like a good idea if you want to convince them of anything."
Do they really? Being inarticulate is no barrier to being elected President.
Or load it with DOS and as much software as you can find, which is plenty.
It makes an entertaining evening (go to the Disk Op System forum at computing.net) and after you have sated your curiosity to experience what others have done before you can junk it or give it away.
"We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 199 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms."
Let it be known, THAT part sucked hugely by comparison with the present and I would have been delighted to have a childhood with computers, cell phones, etc. The public library was a good place to learn, but not compared to the internet.
If you weren't conformist, life was much more desolate than today. Yes, most of us survived the Hellmouths of old, but they still sucked! Kudos to anyone who actually pulled off an idyllic Mayberry childhood, but let's not get the idea that it was representative.
"Military history is full of examples of headstrong, impulsive leaders losing while the soft spoken, thoughtful (as in deliberative), strategic leader winning. Sun Tzu, Machiavelli, Marcus Aurelius, don't seem to me as typical 'jocks'."
The military incorporates a wide range of people as it must. The strategist and leaders have their roles, the "tactical athletes" have theirs, and there is plenty of overlap.
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"Because taxpayers are contemplating suicide over this 2012 nonsense?"
Smart people should not try to save stupid people, who are at worst their enemies and at best a burden.
Fuck 'em. I'll be giggling like a schoolgirl every time I hear one of these 'tards has self-terminated.
"Correct, but I think deciding to kill yourself and your loved ones based on a work of fiction counts as stupid."
It DOES get them out of our way. Too bad more religious belief and superstition doesn't end in benign suicide, but cults like Heavens Gate don't get much traction. I'm tired of the stupid, the willfully ignorant, and the religious. If we see a wave of suicides because of a stupid movie, count me among the people that will forward the stories as humor because I will be LMAO. The gene pool needs chlorinating anyway.
Hope for cataracts, which are a great reason to have your eye lenses replaced!
The replacement lenses also reduced my other vision problems and are much better than my natural lenses ever were.
"One need only look at the "aid" money China lavishes on Africa in exchange for sweetheart deals to buy their natural resources to know why this happened."
Good idea on China's part, and we should be doing the same. Our rules of engagement will be our undoing, for we do not live in a virtuous world and virtue towards those not of our own culture has no reward.
China is the superpower of the future because it acts in the interests of Chinese. Their progress since 1948 has no historic parallel anywhere, despite little blips like the Cultural Revolution. China is also the only country with actual will to act against Islam and religion in general. Expect great things from China as the West recedes into gutless self-doubt and corruption.
"The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991"
Technically, but I bet on Putin bringing it back more than I'd bet on a feeble few believers in democracy succeeding against the entire history of the Russian people. That's almost as tall an order as teaching Muslims that secular freedom is good for anything but overthrowing governments which practice it.
"Effeminacy has nothing to do with sexual orientation. If anything, a majority of homosexual men are _more_ masculine than heterosexual men."
Citation needed, Thweetie!
"I don't care what their names are. What are they doing out of prison?"
Laughing at a system that doesn't punish, and protects them from public scrutiny after release?
By the way, does Germany do this with pedos too?
"Yet the countries with the advanced high-tech military hardware still fell to the swarming hordes that out-produced them materially. A lesson the US probably should keep in mind going into the 21st century."
The "swarming hordes" had the tremendous asset of an industrial base and engineering outlook which could and did produce quality IN QUANTITY. Sure, the Germans and to a lesser extent the Japanese produced some impressive equipment, but so did the Allies and over a much broader range. An Allied advantage was that their systems were integrated effectively and they chose to produce much more wheeled transport than the Axis. Allied tanks were war winners because they were of a size and specification that made them excellent infantry support vehicles. Tigers were impressive, but good luck getting one over a Bailey bridge.
As for submarine warfare, the US did it better than anyone else and strangled Japanese maritime trade.
There is no moral obligation to a corrupt employer, but one needs sweet money buy groceries. Therefore, fuck the employer and obtain money.
I'd drop the issue and start chatting with the BSA about deniably setting up my employer and getting a reward through a proxy. The tale of anguish over intellectual property coupled with fear of reprisal should find receptive ears. When one is dealing with malicious employers who want to throw you to the wolves, scheme calmly against them.
Being ignorant is a point of pride for peoplw who are love the populist lie that common people have virtues. In particular, religious people hate education because it threatens their ridiculous superstition.
Americans are savagely anti-intellectual, and I'm beginning to approve of the people who abuse and exploit their craven stupidity because they deserve to suffer. They deserve to be raped by their leadership, so they are. They deserve to be exploited by Wall Street, so they are.
"Comic books aren't just escapist fantasy. They're sophisticated social critiques."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_(magazine)
"Art museums, for not letting the visually impaired feel the masterpieces."
Nudie bars, ditto.
"it's about keeping criminals safe from society and (in my mind) rehabilitating them."
Don't forget that without fear of punishment (including the fear of being stopped in the act by violence) there is no utilitarian reason not to be a criminal.
If all you are going to do to me is protect me from society and try to make me make you feel good when I seem to be "rehabilitated", why shouldn't I kill you (after copulation if I think you are suitable), take your stuff, and repeat as much as I like?
That non-punitive idea of crime management makes it extremely reasonable for high functioning sociopaths to game the system. Bernard Madoff copycats would be the least of your problems. Heck, I'm naturally well-behaved but would likely turn to crime out of spite were such an idiotic system enacted.
"Confirmation of the success of MAD could only come from the testimony of people who could and would confirm that they did not launch nuclear attacks against (US/USSR) due to fear of massive reprisal."
Since, in the absence of massive reprisal it would have made perfectly good sense for either the Soviets or the US to wipe out their opposite (atmospheric testing proved nuclear war is quite practical!) that we didn't incinerate each other indicates MAD had reduced the chance of winning to unacceptable levels.
Why be disturbed? I just laugh instead. The US harbors equally absurd beliefs such as religion and astrology. Of course more backward and less techy cultures will be worse.
This IS an example of why we need US or European troops doing secondary scanning when the vehicle is approaching anything important. If an IED takes out some primitive dowser nothing of value is lost, and having the dowser as point man may motivate Hadji to detonate there instead of on a high-value target.
"hydraulic are much less mature than banging two sticks together, doesn't make the sticks better than hydraulic. "
Using hydraulics when "two sticks" would do is still stupid.
Example: there is no reason to have a hydraulic clutch on a car or light truck. The slave cylinder WILL eventually leak down and usually take the clutch with it. The cost of a hydraulic clutch is greater than the much more reliable cable. Disposal of toxic hydraulic fluid is another waste for those who care.
As a mechanic I observe that auto engineers cram every possible "feature"/useless addition into designs (in my opinion, to impress management). A mechanically illiterate public will not be curious about such detail. We get overly complex designs that are punitively expensive to fix unless one has access to plenty of salvage parts.
"1. Leave a valuable possession on the ground
2. Promptly forget about it
3. And then drive over it with their car
4. ?
5. Profit "
Some people use valuable gear in fast-paced, hectic environments where getting the mission done is much more important than worrying about beating the shit out of their gear, test equipment, and computers. That's why industrial and military equipment is different from consumer shit. Just the normal bouncing and weather exposure given Air Force notebooks on the flightline would make short work of most laptops. The extra margin of Toughness matters.
"By "bleeding edge versions of Ubuntu" you mean "bleeding edge versions of Debian Unstable", right?"
What is this "Debian" of which you speak?
Ubuntu should be more direct about the LTS versions being reliable and the other releases being beta software. If you want the most reliability, use Debian. If you want ease of installation and convenience, use a Ubuntu LTS release (never forget the purpose of Ubuntu is to make Debian user friendly). If you want bleeding edge, back up your home directory and have at it.
One problem with the idea is that used cars aren't worth shit by the time the drivetrain is worn out.
Another is shoehorning a replacement drivetrain and battery pack into a car not designed for it in a crashworthy manner. There is no reason to put a "new" drivetrain in most used cars, typical practice is to install a used drivetrain out of a wreck.
As a mechanic, I'd have to say the project will be fun with someone else paying for it but is a waste of time.
"By corollary, given that they do seem to have an advantage in that area, a solid grasp of English seems like a good idea if you want to convince them of anything."
Do they really? Being inarticulate is no barrier to being elected President.
Or load it with DOS and as much software as you can find, which is plenty.
It makes an entertaining evening (go to the Disk Op System forum at computing.net) and after you have sated your curiosity to experience what others have done before you can junk it or give it away.
If we are to compete we must accept a lowered standard of living and lower wages along with trying to innovate.
People bitch at unions for making unsustainable demands, but Americans have unsustainable expectations conditioned by post-WWII economic bubbles,
"We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 199 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms."
Let it be known, THAT part sucked hugely by comparison with the present and I would have been delighted to have a childhood with computers, cell phones, etc. The public library was a good place to learn, but not compared to the internet.
If you weren't conformist, life was much more desolate than today. Yes, most of us survived the Hellmouths of old, but they still sucked! Kudos to anyone who actually pulled off an idyllic Mayberry childhood, but let's not get the idea that it was representative.
"Military history is full of examples of headstrong, impulsive leaders losing while the soft spoken, thoughtful (as in deliberative), strategic leader winning. Sun Tzu, Machiavelli, Marcus Aurelius, don't seem to me as typical 'jocks'."
The military incorporates a wide range of people as it must. The strategist and leaders have their roles, the "tactical athletes" have theirs, and there is plenty of overlap.