What terms would you rather she use? "American" and "Not Yet American"? "American" and "Other Terran"? Or maybe "American" and "Not American, But Still Just As Good"?
Or are you one of those deluded individuals who thinks "American" always refers to the Western Hemisphere and all of the inhabitants thereof? In which case, I'll ask you my standard question for those types: when people chant "Death to America", do you think they're talking about you?
Worked for me first time I played Diplomacy. Who knew Turkey could take over all of Europe just by convincing Italy and Russia to invade Austria and Germany?
That was just an early rumor based on a report that someone had died at Stephen King's home. In reality, it was veteran actor Abe Vigoda, who was an old family friend of King's and was visiting for Thanksgiving.
I'd be OK with outsourcing much of the military's functions to mercenaries/private military contractors, as long as the decision on when to go to war is left in the hands of the Congress and President. Then we'd only have to pay for professionals when we needed them and could get by with a much smaller army.
Obviously this wouldn't work across the board. We'd still need a Navy, and I wouldn't trust private companies with nuclear weapons, and we'd still want a small standing army for security reasons. But why not hire mercs to man the bases around the world? Or to supplement the army in case of invasion? Even if they were paid higher salaries the cost over time would be less due to the way military pensions are structured.
Dogs. Put a bomb-sniffing dog at each security checkpoint. When the dog alerts to a substance, stop the line and use pat-down procedures (performed in private) on the individual(s) who caused the alert. This is cheaper and much, much more reliable than any scanner.
This post was stolen from an article in The Nation. What kind of fucking topsy-turvy world is it when the left, who traditionally value civil liberties more than the right, are attacking people's motives when those people challenge government agents' intrusive actions? Seriously, I expect this kind "let's felate the cops who are keeping us safe" attitude from conservatives, but from liberals? Something is very strange about that, indeed.
Each state has their own army and air force. Each state levies their own taxes. Each state can sign trade agreements with other nations (though between the states is solely the domain of the Federal government).
Seriously, all of this stuff is covered in high school civics; even if you didn't go to a US high school, it's easy to get off the Internet.
I'm sorry, but your argument makes no sense to me. What does the military have to do with Farhad's argument? And how are you supporting those services with sales tax you pay if you order through Amazon and pay no sales tax? And the argument that Farhad's making is exactly that the states and localities are missing out on sales taxes from purchases through Amazon. So what exactly is your point?
or perhaps you could wake up to the fact that you are one country
Anyone who thinks the US is one country doesn't understand our situation. The US is a collection of independent states, not provinces. Admittedly, since the Civil War the states have been less independent of each other than previously, but our federal system is more analogous to the EU than to Canada.
Not to mention, the problem of runaway government spending at the Federal level would only be made worse if they imposed a sales tax on everyone. Your solution would cause more problems than it solves.
Your idea suffers from two problems which mean no politician or bureaucrat will ever support it: it's easy to implement, and it would work. Sorry, try again with something more complex that needs further tweaking down the line. Ideally something which would result in a windfall for a politically-connected individual or corporation.
Nothing TSA has done at the security checkpoints has helped. I stand by my assertion: better doors, armed marshals, and vigilant passengers are all you need to stop hijackings.
We did all of those things to the Germans and Japanese and none of them became terrorists. So obviously something is missing from your list.
If there's one thing that creates terrorists, it's marginalization. When people are marginalized and made to feel they have no control over their own destiny, that's when terrorist acts become rational. You have to go a bit further to get people to be willing to blow themselves up in addition to that, but in all cases you start with marginalization. Something our leaders should keep in mind as they continue to force intrusive and abusive practices on us without regard to what the people want or feel.
the difference with planes is that you can slam them into any target you wish.
Have you been on a plane in the last 9 years? You cannot take over a plane anymore. It is impossible to happen. Between the locked cockpit doors, armed air marshals, and passengers who will curb stomp your sorry ass on the arm rest of the nearest chair, you have 0% chance of taking over an airplane these days.
So no, Madam Secretary, planes are not a "special case".
Do you have any idea how long it takes a freight train to stop? Unless you have the sweeper running for ten or twenty miles in front of the train, it won't do any good. Of course, once it's passed you'd have a 10 or 20 mile gap during which you could plant your bomb or pull up some spikes, meaning the sweeper accomplished nothing.
But go ahead and pitch your idea to DHS, I'm sure they'll pay you millions to help them make idiots think they're safer now.
I used to tear up with pride when I heard the national anthem, or Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA". The final line of the anthem, "the land of the free and the home of the brave", and Greenwood's line that "the flag still stands for freedom, and they can't take that away", are both now lies. We are not the land of the free, the flag doesn't stand for freedom, they did take it away, but most of all we are no longer the home of the brave. We are a nation of cowards, so afraid of the boogeyman of terrorism we are willing to sacrifice not just our rights but our very dignity, all in the forlorn hope of being safe.
The TSA has not stopped a single terrorist in the 9 years of its operation. The full-body scanners would not have detected any of the bomb plots of the last few years, including last year's Captain Underpants. It is a complete and total waste of time and money, and serves no purpose beyond enriching a handful of politically connected individuals.
Enough is enough. It's time we all refuse to subject ourselves to any security measures until sanity is restored. Don't show your ID at the airport, don't go through the metal detectors, don't even submit your carry ons for X-Ray inspection. The pendulum has swung too far in one direction, it is time we push it back where it belongs.
If everyone were to refuse to submit to these intrusions, they would be gone in a matter of days. The "powerful" who think themselves our masters are neither, and in their hearts they know it. The people still have the power in this country to stand up for what's right.
Not to mention the laws of any waterways they cross. Given that it's next to impossible to enter or leave most major oceans without coming within 12 miles of someone (the Bahamas, Windward, and Leeward Isles block off the Caribbean, Spain/Gibraltar/Tunisia block off the Med on one end and the Bosporus does so on the other, the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf and the Straits of Malaca in the Indian Ocean), it should be possible for just a few countries to clamp down on this kind of pollution and push the costs back onto the polluters themselves, where they belong.
So your wife is a harping shrew who complains until she gets her way, and you just sit quietly and wait for the tantrums to end. Go turn in your Man Card, immediately.
Sounds great. I'm sure a random police officer who happens to be passing by when you strike the ATM with a hammer will completely agree with your plan.
Doesn't mean he's wrong. Seriously, this is SSL 101, and anyone tasked with setting up SSL-protected websites should've intuitively known the answer before the question was even asked.
Slashdot Mirror
What terms would you rather she use? "American" and "Not Yet American"? "American" and "Other Terran"? Or maybe "American" and "Not American, But Still Just As Good"?
Or are you one of those deluded individuals who thinks "American" always refers to the Western Hemisphere and all of the inhabitants thereof? In which case, I'll ask you my standard question for those types: when people chant "Death to America", do you think they're talking about you?
Worked for me first time I played Diplomacy. Who knew Turkey could take over all of Europe just by convincing Italy and Russia to invade Austria and Germany?
My death pool is doing really well this year. If Woody Allen would just join Messers. Kershner and Nielsen I'll pocket $1000.
Come on, Woody, give in to the ennui! I hear Heaven is a lot like Manhattan!
That was just an early rumor based on a report that someone had died at Stephen King's home. In reality, it was veteran actor Abe Vigoda, who was an old family friend of King's and was visiting for Thanksgiving.
I'd be OK with outsourcing much of the military's functions to mercenaries/private military contractors, as long as the decision on when to go to war is left in the hands of the Congress and President. Then we'd only have to pay for professionals when we needed them and could get by with a much smaller army.
Obviously this wouldn't work across the board. We'd still need a Navy, and I wouldn't trust private companies with nuclear weapons, and we'd still want a small standing army for security reasons. But why not hire mercs to man the bases around the world? Or to supplement the army in case of invasion? Even if they were paid higher salaries the cost over time would be less due to the way military pensions are structured.
national security is a legitimate duty of the government, I don't know any libertarians who would like to privatize it.
/me raises hand in favor of privatizing national security
Dogs. Put a bomb-sniffing dog at each security checkpoint. When the dog alerts to a substance, stop the line and use pat-down procedures (performed in private) on the individual(s) who caused the alert. This is cheaper and much, much more reliable than any scanner.
This post was stolen from an article in The Nation. What kind of fucking topsy-turvy world is it when the left, who traditionally value civil liberties more than the right, are attacking people's motives when those people challenge government agents' intrusive actions? Seriously, I expect this kind "let's felate the cops who are keeping us safe" attitude from conservatives, but from liberals? Something is very strange about that, indeed.
Each state has their own army and air force. Each state levies their own taxes. Each state can sign trade agreements with other nations (though between the states is solely the domain of the Federal government).
Seriously, all of this stuff is covered in high school civics; even if you didn't go to a US high school, it's easy to get off the Internet.
I'm sorry, but your argument makes no sense to me. What does the military have to do with Farhad's argument? And how are you supporting those services with sales tax you pay if you order through Amazon and pay no sales tax? And the argument that Farhad's making is exactly that the states and localities are missing out on sales taxes from purchases through Amazon. So what exactly is your point?
or perhaps you could wake up to the fact that you are one country
Anyone who thinks the US is one country doesn't understand our situation. The US is a collection of independent states, not provinces. Admittedly, since the Civil War the states have been less independent of each other than previously, but our federal system is more analogous to the EU than to Canada.
Not to mention, the problem of runaway government spending at the Federal level would only be made worse if they imposed a sales tax on everyone. Your solution would cause more problems than it solves.
Your idea suffers from two problems which mean no politician or bureaucrat will ever support it: it's easy to implement, and it would work. Sorry, try again with something more complex that needs further tweaking down the line. Ideally something which would result in a windfall for a politically-connected individual or corporation.
Nothing TSA has done at the security checkpoints has helped. I stand by my assertion: better doors, armed marshals, and vigilant passengers are all you need to stop hijackings.
Yes, you're right, we haven't spent billions in Iraq or Afghanistan rebuilding those countries.
You're also ignoring my central premise, that marginalization of a populace is what creates terrorists. Care to comment?
We did all of those things to the Germans and Japanese and none of them became terrorists. So obviously something is missing from your list.
If there's one thing that creates terrorists, it's marginalization. When people are marginalized and made to feel they have no control over their own destiny, that's when terrorist acts become rational. You have to go a bit further to get people to be willing to blow themselves up in addition to that, but in all cases you start with marginalization. Something our leaders should keep in mind as they continue to force intrusive and abusive practices on us without regard to what the people want or feel.
the difference with planes is that you can slam them into any target you wish.
Have you been on a plane in the last 9 years? You cannot take over a plane anymore. It is impossible to happen. Between the locked cockpit doors, armed air marshals, and passengers who will curb stomp your sorry ass on the arm rest of the nearest chair, you have 0% chance of taking over an airplane these days.
So no, Madam Secretary, planes are not a "special case".
Do you have any idea how long it takes a freight train to stop? Unless you have the sweeper running for ten or twenty miles in front of the train, it won't do any good. Of course, once it's passed you'd have a 10 or 20 mile gap during which you could plant your bomb or pull up some spikes, meaning the sweeper accomplished nothing.
But go ahead and pitch your idea to DHS, I'm sure they'll pay you millions to help them make idiots think they're safer now.
I used to tear up with pride when I heard the national anthem, or Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA". The final line of the anthem, "the land of the free and the home of the brave", and Greenwood's line that "the flag still stands for freedom, and they can't take that away", are both now lies. We are not the land of the free, the flag doesn't stand for freedom, they did take it away, but most of all we are no longer the home of the brave. We are a nation of cowards, so afraid of the boogeyman of terrorism we are willing to sacrifice not just our rights but our very dignity, all in the forlorn hope of being safe.
The TSA has not stopped a single terrorist in the 9 years of its operation. The full-body scanners would not have detected any of the bomb plots of the last few years, including last year's Captain Underpants. It is a complete and total waste of time and money, and serves no purpose beyond enriching a handful of politically connected individuals.
Enough is enough. It's time we all refuse to subject ourselves to any security measures until sanity is restored. Don't show your ID at the airport, don't go through the metal detectors, don't even submit your carry ons for X-Ray inspection. The pendulum has swung too far in one direction, it is time we push it back where it belongs.
If everyone were to refuse to submit to these intrusions, they would be gone in a matter of days. The "powerful" who think themselves our masters are neither, and in their hearts they know it. The people still have the power in this country to stand up for what's right.
Who's with me?
Not to mention the laws of any waterways they cross. Given that it's next to impossible to enter or leave most major oceans without coming within 12 miles of someone (the Bahamas, Windward, and Leeward Isles block off the Caribbean, Spain/Gibraltar/Tunisia block off the Med on one end and the Bosporus does so on the other, the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf and the Straits of Malaca in the Indian Ocean), it should be possible for just a few countries to clamp down on this kind of pollution and push the costs back onto the polluters themselves, where they belong.
So your wife is a harping shrew who complains until she gets her way, and you just sit quietly and wait for the tantrums to end. Go turn in your Man Card, immediately.
Sounds great. I'm sure a random police officer who happens to be passing by when you strike the ATM with a hammer will completely agree with your plan.
Doesn't mean he's wrong. Seriously, this is SSL 101, and anyone tasked with setting up SSL-protected websites should've intuitively known the answer before the question was even asked.
It's already up on Spankwire. Not as entertaining as I expected it to be, the girl barely even fought him off.
Government is never more efficient than when it is destroying lives or property.
The government is always the most efficient when destroying lives or property.