If you have amused people in the past with your application, and you respond to the user such that the amusement is; enhanced, or n-1 improved, or generally MORE amusing, you are in violation of my LOLSYS patent.
n-2) If you are adding to the acronym LOL, such that it is LOL-Cat, or LOL-System, or other derivative of this work, such that the LOL in question is either "more" confusing, or less confusing, you are considered to be using a derivative work of the LOL architecture.
"Round-Earthers" Airline companies, get Billions more in dollars than they otherwise would if they made DIRECT flights. Going on these fanciful arcs in the sky costs us all a lot of money!
The Government, has implemented this FAA, and seemingly benign organizations that seek to determine WHERE you an put a building -- based on ELEVATION alone! Not to mention the weather nonsense like trade winds -- how could that be when they start at one EDGE?
"Flat-Earthers" Get mocked and ridiculed by the so-called scientific community. The Pro-Flat politicians get nowhere outside of Florida and Arizona.
>> And GE spends money to deny climate change! Why? So they can sell us more inaccurate maps with curved lines. You see FLAT road maps don't you? Yet we can't get a decent world map without cutting the globe into a weird shape -- that right there should tell you it's all a scam!
Well, maybe this is just a SLIGHT improvement -- but eventually, improvements are made, and I'd like to throw a blanket on this weapons love by pointing out that the MOST decorated military man in U.S. history, General Smedley Butler, after a life-time of glorious bloodshed for the US of A, claimed that; "War is a racket." There is no "defense" going on -- merely an expansion of an empire. Is it safe to leave Japan and Germany yet with our troops? Yeah, that's an empire. Everything is fine as long as everyone is singing from the same hymnal. And really, the same Multinationals that we do wet-work for, are influencing the countries with our military bases. Our Military and Nukes are what gives today's Dollar its value; not bonds, not the ability to pay the money back, not assets, no oil -- nope, it's the military's ability to Fuck Up any country that doesn't play ball. Every company on the ENEMY list doesn't work with the World Bank. The CIA isn't protecting US interests anymore when it kills a leader in a nation that doesn't let in US companies -- it's now killing those leaders to let in Multinationals from the "US" Chamber of Commerce. So, instead of some fat cat's bank account in the US -- it now goes to some fat cat's bank account offshore. I know, not much difference really.
Unless this is for a Video Game -- I'm not sure we need more "convenience." Say, you are sitting in the bunker, sipping your morning cup of Joe, and the sniper rifle alerts you it has a target. So, you get up, and look through the lens, sure enough, there is someone Arab-looking with a CASIO watch -- BLAM * BLAM -- one terrorist suspect less on the planet. It bothers me the way guided drones bother me; someone working 9-5 in some bunker in Langley Virginia who scored high marks on Video Games and is now blowing up impediments to resource acquisition from 10,000 miles away. Probably also sipping coffee and high-fiving on good targets. If they get someone's soccer game accidentally, there is probably a moment of silence and some knowing looks of "I feel you bro" and then on with the next target. The RISK is so low, that the folks doing the convenient killing, are never going to get PTSDs, and as long as it doesn't make the news or the balance sheets -- the war, for most Americans, isn't going on.
When robots take over -- we might not even know we are AT war, or if some snippy group of protesters wasn't just taken out.
Buy you get home after 5 tours of duty, to find you don't have a job. Because it turns out that you weren't promoting freedom via sniping but taking out people who might get in the way of some multinational Oil company. And rubbing salt into the wounds -- America doesn't get FREE OIL -- they buy it on the open market like everyone else. And the "COST SAVINGS" are about 80-90% for the Oil company -- those DON'T get passed onto you. Nope, Futures contracts and hedge funds make sure there is as much scarcity to drive up the cost as the market will bare.
If you want to bid on some of that "free market" land to put up an oil well, expect to receive 10-20 years in a Federal Prison as a potential Eco-Terrorist (no kidding).
>> I didn't read the article, nor the specs on the gun -- I'm merely hoping this is for SOCOM 4 or something.
But I use Clear.com -- and I've got 4G mobile and a home WiMax for ~$60 a month. If you just want home -- that's about $40 depending on deal. You can get 7 mps and 1mps up -- and it has no bandwidth caps (except on the Mobile).
I got rid of AT&T/Bellsouth a while ago and it is cheaper.
I'm also using MagicJack -- which now has a software-only option (rather than using the usb jack) - but I'm not a fan of requiring people to press a series of numbers after using the star key (*).
>> On the downside, I've got T-Mobile for cell phone. And AT&T is going to gobble them up because our government works for corporate profits and nothing else these days.
If anyone knows a way to hack a 4G usb device and pair it with an iPad or iTouch -- let me know. It would be great to give AT&T the shaft.
>> But the ONLY way to solve this problem right now, is to move away from companies with bandwidth caps in droves. The NONSENSE that it costs them money is absurd -- AT&T and other companies got the internet backbone for FREE from the government. Does a bit switch when the power is on cost MORE or less? Their U-Verse is based upon cobbled together T-1 lines (like DSL is cobbling together normal land-lines). So approximately 4 U-verse lines per T-1 (because they don't have dedicated bandwidth) -- so U-Verse CANNOT provide their rated speed all the time. It's a cost-saving measure because they have all this old crap sitting around -- RATHER than investing and going all fiber.
The OTHER reason for bandwidth caps, beyond NOT INVESTING IN INFRASTRUCTURE, is that all of them want to become content providers. So you get content from U-Verse, no bandwidth cap. You get it from NetFlix -- add in the cap.
I'm sure most people know this -- but I just want to create a complete document of my annoyance at this anti-competitie nonsense that passes for "free market."
This explains why, when converting my old employer's insurance policy to COBRA, it now costs $1,500 a month. With the large insurance company that owns my former company -- I cannot believe for a second, they actually had to pay $1,500 a month for health insurance -- there HAS to be a kick-back arrangement.
By inflating the COST of the insurance, it looks good on taxes -- and perhaps they get something BACK from the other insurance company -- probably directing customers their way or something else.
A family CAN get private insurance for a crushing sum of $1200 a month -- but $1500 for a major insurance corporation? Who is kidding whom here?
>> And I sure would have taken an EXTRA $1500 a month rather than the HMO they provided.
That's the problem with exceptional people -- some of them don't take pity on the majority of people who are average.
And there NEEDs to be some laws governing the crap that companies can put in their employment contracts -- MOST people just read the policy and say; "Well, I guess their is nothing I can do." They don't know what can't be enforced.
I consider it fraud to prey upon the uninformed. Employment contracts are as bad as credit card contracts these days.
Too often, I see these people who think they are ALL going to be CEO's one day, or because things are good for them, and they are healthy and smart -- it will ALWAYS be that way, because they worked harder or smarter -- as if others haven't failed being smart or hard working. If you don't look out for those who got the short end of the stick -- it is eventually going to get handed to you. That's the lesson of history and why it repeats.
It's sad to me, to see all these "Libertarian" self-made individualists, lather themselves in this veneer of philosophy -- when what it really is, is merely selfishness and a lack of compassion. When did it become even remotely acceptable to wear such an attitude on your sleeve? Just because Donald Trump gets a TV Show -- doesn't mean that anyone decent doesn't think he isn't a total Douche Bag.
Sounds like the "agreements" I always get with companies.
They have a management policy that is "boo fucking hoo" for me, where I don't get something repaired, or I sign a EULA or I purchased a ticket. I didn't buy a product to throw away my money -- but that can easily be "their policy" because it works for them. They can spend huge sums on lawyers for their agreements -- and I've got 2 minutes to read them. If I "choose" another product, it's likely going to have the same "policies." Boo-hoo for me but I have a choice between who screws me over?
Why can't I have a "policy" in my house that charges any company that calls me $6 a minute for wasting my time?
I think you are forgetting that there is an EXTREME difference in power and bargaining between the two parties in this case. If it's among equals -- then sure, boo hoo. But any company with a good paycheck, can come up with ANY corporate policy to screw an employee they want these days.
Yes, but in this case, Microsoft could claim a "management trade secret."
>> WE used to joke at my company, that the BEST way to get rid of our competition would be to let them steal our trade secrets and security policies -- they'd get nothing done fast.
-- Oh wait! No, the law might have been pushed forward as a "Right to Work" -- but it's really a "Right to Fire."
Seems to me, that if you can prohibit someone from being gainfully employed in their area of expertise -- you've created a de facto "Indentured Servant" -- "Sure, you can work some more, but for minimum wage..." Just because someone was fooled into working for such a clause, doesn't mean a business can abuse it. I've always considered "job contracts" something akin to "Under duress" -- jobs mean income, a way of life -- not having the job means; mot eating.
I'm sure that this man COULD have gotten a good job anywhere -- but in the case where someone is in a mining town, or the employee is working in a vertical market where they learn all about a specific company that cannot be applied elsewhere,... well, are we sure that these clauses would not be abused?
Merril Lynch used to also add a "training fee" for employees to pay if they went to work for a competitor. The "training" was mostly cold calling for a year. After which, only about 2 of 100 "employees" would still be working.
>> I don't think company's should have these RIGHTS when they impede on someone's right to work -- but this is America where Corporations have Rights and Citizens are Nervous.
Instead of the Million-dollar scanner, I choose to get the "pat down." I don't complain, in fact -- just the opposite.
I'm not sure if I get on the security list or not, but my involuntary groans of pleasure, sure seem to BOTHER them a lot.
Try going back through security, and if questioned, say, "I'm not sure if I was searched well enough the first time." Get some friends with torn clothing, and whisper to each other about your "favorite" inspector.
Ask them if they are coming out with a "Hunks of TSA" calendar.
If we don't let terrorists on the plane -- they'll just be blowing us up in the parking lot anyway./sarcasm
Um, because maybe all that code you saved from the Ford Focus is really going to come in handy?
The NAS drive I've got at my house -- it uses Linux. Maybe I should put Android on there and see what I can do. I'll make a phone call as soon as I find somewhere I can stick my microphone...
The third-best reason is that Google uses an awful lot of Linux and already has a lot of that Linux talent in-house.
>> I think that is the ONLY reason they adopted Linux -- and that is something that influences ALL companies -- and it is rarely a very GOOD reason.
We are talking about a "smart phone" that uses Java and browser technologies to make applications. MOST of Android, was probably developed from scratch on top of the kernel. The advantage they got from a development standpoint with Linux was probably marginal....... but could someone else weigh in on that who has DEVELOPED on Android? Seems to me, that the networking stack would be all new for cell phones, and the difference between JAVA on either platform would be negligible -- so other than licensing, what's the big difference really?
And so the BSD and Darwin kernel on the iPhone - you'd rather use Symbian or some embedded server driver from Linux?
>> Just what ARE all these great drivers that would give a smart phone an advantage on Linux? Seriously... if Google were making their own platform for a Smart Phone -- WHO ELSE would they be able to grab code from.
Just having a Linux driver, doesn't mean you should be basing a platform on it. It's not like you need to drive printers or sound sound card. MOST of "drivers" you are going to need, are communicating with Telcos and optimizing the antennae.
>> Where would you want to "borrow" drivers from if you were making a smart Phone, and there was ONE top competitor; Nokia or Apple? I'm pretty sure that Google had to write most of their stuff from scratch -- but I'm not an expert here -- I just find your idea that Linux is superior for a mobile phone a bit far-fetched. I'm sure it's on a lot of toasters and embedded in cars however.
You are absolutely right -- but I think it was a psychological reason at Google; they already adopted the Kerberos engine for their web browser. They already found they needed an application store, they already used Apache.
Using BSD would be -- once again, doing the same thing Apple was doing; using BSD.
So they MIGHT as well be using Apple's Open-Source Darwin API and version of BSD that has been optimized for mobile computing.
>> The OTHER problem Google has -- is that their "open-ness" coupled with their "advertiser based revenue" -- means that Chinese coders have already stripped out all their advertising and control for Android and have their own versions.
So Google Android, may not only run into problems ever getting control of their licenses -- but they may be competing against Android-ish platforms. Imagine, that for $2 you could download a completely useable Android clone that stripped out all the spy-ware junk and bandwidth noise that Google adds -- and it worked just as well as the regular Android if not better?
I give you MS-DOS,... yes, past is prologue. Google may well have become the IBM of the smart phone world.
He was part of a Military organization that has proven to NOT be obeying certain treaties.
If you convict Manning -- then please, let us all know, WHY THE FUCK we invaded Afghanistan and Iraq?
NONE of the alleged hijackers came from those two countries. There was more "training" going on in South Florida and Germany than Afghanistan -- even if you could prove Bin Laden was planning something there with some video of people training on a jungle gym which makes the B-Roll every time the newscasts cover "Al Qaeda." Before we invaded, I'm sure not one person in a thousand in Afghanistan or Iraq even heard the term; "Al Qaeda."
The same Military Organization that is bleeding our country dry. The same one that is torturing and indefinitely detaining people and shipping them off to be tortured to death.
I do not recognize the PRIVILEGE of my government or military to hold things secret ANY MORE -- because I do not know that they are not the greatest threat to me, my neighbors, or my children.
WHO is going to foreclose on American houses? Who aided an abetted Wall Street in bankrupting the world economy and holding the economic system ransom until we bailed them out? Why is Hank Paulson, and a few hundred other thugs, who should be prime suspects, littered all over the Bush and Obama administrations -- why are the crooks running the prison? Why are transnational corporations who make money outsourcing, controlling our US Chamber of Commerce and why are foreign or ANY company allowed to "donate" to our elections and distort our Democracy?
Why can we not have an energy policy -- or shut down a company like BP for destroying the Gulf -- or even INVESTIGATE the ocean floor or the chemicals they dumped for the benefit of the public good? Did you know that Wachovia was caught laundering money for Mexican drug cartels -- perhaps about $450 Billion? The press didn't cover that too much and the only slap on the wrist they got to change names and get bought out by Wells Fargo Bank.
>> No, we've got more journalists and whistleblowers in prison than we do "terrorists." You are more likely to die from the use of "Clean Coal" than you are some terrorist attack.
WTF is our million-man secret service organizations, 2 million in people in prison, $800 Billion military, and trillion-dollar pentagon, designed to PROTECT us against? They sure can bust up greedy teacher's unions, arrest someone growing pot in their basement, and catch some damn flasher, but if you laundered $450 Billion for the drug cartels -- not so much.
The Uniform Code of Military Justice relates to the Geneva Conventions.
There are roughly 3 levels of treaties, and the Geneva Conventions -- which we signed, are at the top level; they supersede ALL laws we may have made including the Constitution.
ANYONE not covered by Section III of the Geneva Conventions, is covered by Section IV -- there is NO "in-between" or "exempt" designation -- otherwise the Geneva Conventions would be meaningless because every tin-pot dictator would claim that whomever they disappeared and tortured is an exception. Of course they do claim exceptions -- just as we have; and they are all wrong.
You cannot strip a person naked and leave them cooped up 24 hours a day. Letting them "move" into another 5 by 5 cell is merely a gimmick. Amnesty International needs access to Manning -- or he CANNOT BE TRIED.
>> It doesn't matter what you THINK Manning did or not. You cannot say HE DIDN"T THINK IT WAS MORAL until afterward -- that's heresy. Unless you see some other motivation -- like a financial exchange, or a desire to "ruin the United States" -- there is no proof of intent.
>> In my mind, the ONLY reason someone would risk everything to reveal such documents to WikiLeaks, is because they THOUGHT it would help our country if people knew what was going on.
>> It certainly doesn't DISCREDIT the USA -- because nobody -- including most of our citizens, believes CRAP that comes out of our Corp-Gov-Military oligarchy anymore. The only people who think we still have fair elections are conservatives when they win them -- when they lose, they imagine millions of people risking federal laws and voting as dead people. Even after millions have been spent, only about a dozen people have been caught voting twice.
I can EASILY say that a release of secret documents in this country is a Patriotic thing to do -- because our system is broken. Our military is a never-ending drain of money and war that pays Mercenaries ten times what soldiers make to massacre people we have no business fighting. To bring home the REAL THREAT -- notice that after the Japanese melt down, many countries including Germany and China, have suspended operations of all "GE designed Mark I reactors" which are the same as what failed. In the USA -- we have 35 -- and they are STILL in operation. And they will remain in operation -- because some company would lose money otherwise.
BP is still operating -- because corporations make the rules now.
Our country CANNOT defend itself from greed and stupidity. We cannot stop using Oil, or Uranium, or filling our food with poison because someone is making a buck. We cannot get out of Afghanistan and Iraq because someone is making a buck.
Is China the MILITARY threat we are defending Against? GE has weapons plants in China. Private companies now produce and protect our nuclear weapons. Our CIA still funds a "branch" of Al Qaeda, because they are in Iran causing trouble for that government. Who the HELL is the Enemy that Bradley Manning is allegedly making us vulnerable too?
What is the threat from the TRUTH? Could anyone believe our Military ANY LESS THAN IT DOES NOW?
Nothing has changed -- other than a few Middle East uprising because maybe they've learned their governments play both sides against the middle -- as ALL governments try to do. We've always been at war with Iran, for instance, and it's the only threat that keeps their young people from throwing out their tired, old, theocrats.
Manning's treatment by the Military, in my opinion, justifies the document dump.
If the administration were NOT following the Bush regime's policies of spying on the American public (still) and yet, keeping torture camps open, and not disclosing important information that Americans in a Democracy need (such as the TRUTH, auditing the Federal Reserve, and WTF are we still doing in Afghanistan).
Sure, there is a lot of State Department messages that are NOT always a real opinion; some are CYA and some are intentional "misinformation" -- and it can be embarrassing. WikiLeaks however, spent months vetting the information with other news organizations. But what is worse for American's -- a revelation of EVERYTHING, or wars based on a need by the military to take our money, and oil companies to get cheap resources, and murder, lies and ignoring treaties?
The only reason America isn't being censured by the UN, is that there are a LOT of other corrupt nations playing the same game for their corporations, and we have a veto seat on the UN.
>> Our government doesn't DESERVE the benefit of the doubt. They've used un-charged people, as guinea pigs for pharmaceutical companies. They've transferred prisoners to other nations for brutal torture. Likely, some factions have spied on journalists and political opponents (like Cheney), to extort their support for things like the invasion of Iraq and to sign the Patriot Act (they are crooks, but not all crooks are evil).
>> Why do we judge Bradly Manning in a vacuum -- as IF we were in a country that was run by the "good guys." What defines "good guy" to you? I think Bradley Manning acted as a Patriot -- because he "allegedly" released the documents to let us have the truth for once.
How can we have a Democracy, when all our candidates have their indiscretions covered up by the Media -- as long as they are selling out to a sponsor of that media? Maybe you have only heard about Charley Sheen's indiscretions as if that were the most important problem in this country...
How about simply saying; the maximum "earnings" someone can get, is 1,000 times minimum wage?
So, those that get the most, have no upper limit, as long as they advocate for what the LEAST get.
$20 an hour vs. $20,000 an hour does NOT seem like a burden on innovation to me.
How many steaks and yachts does some asshole need? If you are making so much that you have to hire an army to defend it -- you could NOT have gotten it merely by making the world a better place -- likely, you've pillaged a few companies, you've destroyed a few lives. I always hear people lauding the greatness of the uber wealthy, but the examples of people who've gotten there, have to gloss over a lot of back-door deals and buying of politicians in most cases. I'd argue, that you CANNOT get to be the biggest bank, or military contractor, or oil company, WITHOUT doing a hell of a lot of evil.
But, before anything like that can work -- there HAS TO BE, more transparency required of people with power. People with power and wealth have to be thought of as privileged, only BECAUSE they are of benefit to society as a whole -- and so they must give up privacy. Having video cameras in every bathroom, and firing teachers, and forcing people into serfdom with 40% fees on Credit Card debt -- well, that's only necessary to KEEP the status quo and protect the very powerful FROM RESPONSIBILITY.
The religion of "personal responsibility", means that PEOPLE have no rights, and any corporate conglomerate has no responsibly. Obviously, our goals in such a world is to become a holding company of one, and to screw everyone else.
The BIG PROBLEMS in this world, are pretty easy to solve.
What takes all the work, is trying to create these problems, and make them seem impossible to solve. Our military, and CIA, and the Secret Services of other nations we compete with -- spend most of their time, making the world full of conflict, so the status quo of a few rich people making huge profits can be maintained.
We could have gotten off of oil a decade ago. There is more than enough food in the world, but "fear" of crop loss and Wall Street speculators drive up the prices.
"Distribution?" -- most people, would be happy with something useful to do, a family, education, security, good health, and opportunity. WE ALREADY have all the resources that 95% of the world would be fully satisfied with. The problem is, that the 5% that are never satisfied, are the people who run everything and tell us who is a threat and who isn't. None of them are willing to strap a bomb on their body and blow themselves up -- so they have to TAKE everything away from enough people, so that they have nothing to lose -- THEN, they have their straw man to scare the rest of us.
Right now, money gets printed in America and it goes to banks. What if, all copyrights and patents when submitted, were free and available, and we only tracked usage -- the more usage, the more money the government gives directly to copyrighters and patent submitters. No reason to cheat -- because it costs you nothing, and the ONLY friction is between those who create and the government -- but that's where it should be. Our economy grows on innovation, and we created a system where people have to hide that innovation and make it expensive -- so we all use shovels until the bulldozer gets cheaper and is obsolete.
>> Our current system, is very inefficient, because we spend all our time trying to preserve what we've got, not lose, save enough to retire, insure for emergencies, and spend the rest of the money on blowing up people so that they don't charge too much for the stuff corporations that don't help us steal from them.
No, actually, the CIA answers to the US Chamber of Commerce.
You think politicians are allowed to get in the way of profits? Grow up dude!
The politicians answer to the CIA, ever since they got all of them in bed with someone underage, or of a different species. The internal spying by Cheney and the NSA, the Poker and Prostitutes at the Watergate Hotel, the Catholic Church -- I mean, connect a few dots. Has ANYONE with money been hurt at all by a public hearing by the Senate or Congress in the past 10 years? Someone lost a few trillion at the Fed, Pentagon, and well, no suspects. Of course, the suspects all get to run the Fed after we discover, nothing is going on at Goldman Sachs. If you pinch a loaf of bread at the Grocery store, however, there are 20 cameras between the supermarket and your home that you will have to hack into and replace with looped video.
All the politicians allowed to remain in office, are allowed to stay as long as they play ball, or else some press agency gets an envelope, and you learn TOO MUCH about that politician. Or they don't fly on small planes -- EVER.
However, the people they cannot corrupt, like Dennis Kucinich, just get something in their drink one day that makes them totally paranoid and crazy. Just look at Ross Perot, who was sane for a good bit of time before Bush spiked his punch. Any failed anti-depressant in a large dosage can easily warp the strongest mind.
... the REAL purpose of this website of super cool stuff for the CIA is to capture the attention of all those people who respond to their ads on the Cartoon Network.
Seriously, right after watching "Naruto" -- which I was, um, pre-screening for my kids -- I saw an ad for the "exciting world of espionage." There was a scene in a cafe with a hot looking blonde, drinking and swaying her legs sexily, with another well-dressed good looking man. It was kind of vague, so you could imagine that you were that dude, having a Russian super model getting all the CIA secrets out of your brain with special drugs and Swedish massage. Some people imagine that they were the blonde -- I'm sure, but those dudes kind of freak me out -- but live and let live, right?... at first, I really thought someone had posted video of my kids spying on my wife and I with their Infrared remote-controlled spy blimp, which I occasionally find floating in the bathroom -- but now, these were actors. My wife isn't blonde -- she looks more like Sophia Vargas, so then of COURSE it wasn't us being spied on -- this is ALL TRUE by the way, just like the CIA's good works on their history page.
The CIA of course, has much more KEWL stuff -- but you are probably seeing what EVERY spy agency already has. The point is; Hot Chicks, Kewl Gadgets, and signing up 30 million Americans with these dreams as they work for $10,000 a year to spy on their neighbors and blog about how we need more Defense spending to defeat Al Qaeda.
Come on, the pilot is mostly a delivery service for MISSILES.
He targets another plane or object and fires a COMPUTER CONTROLLED MISSILE.
The Pilot even moves a joystick, which turns his commands into "fly by wire" adjustments, that require a computer to adjust the plane about a thousand times a second.
The Pilot, is already remote controlling the plane, and the plane is sending out remote-controlled weapons called "missiles" -- the ONLY thing we are really arguing about, is where the human is sitting and CAN someone block that signal?
If someone can block the signal to the plane, then you can have a smarter computer onboard -- it's at what point you determine the target that really matters. If you KNOW the target -- no need to have a human on board. If you are finding the target, a hundred remote drones can be involved. So, the ONLY part where a human pilot has the advantage, is in a situation where you FIND and DESTROY the target in one sortie.
The FUTURE war is either precisely targeted, or it's going to be massive numbers of decoys and drone bombs to try and get them all. In the first case, you have a quick strike -- and therefore, not much chance for the enemy to prevent your attack -- on the second, it's just a game of numbers and all your drones get faster, cheaper, smaller -- there is no advantage to an aircraft carrier or a tank, they are just bigger targets.
If there is no worry about collateral damage, and you can get the cost down for drones -- well, a human pilot is just a liability.
>>> Having a Human pilot, it seems to me, is just a legacy thing that we do because all our wars are very assymetric. We bring in humans after we've destroyed the ability of the enemy to defend against aircraft. We use night-sighted helicopters and mow down a group of people from a mile away as they shoot into the dark in random directions. Then, the enemy adapts and takes off their uniforms, and we don't know friend from foe.
So, the pilots we have today, might as well be bus drivers with bombs for all the "air fighting" they are going to see. And if we get in a war with a REAL adversary, well -- I think all the banks and the corporations that run those two countries will just VETO that idea.
If it ACTUALLY gets into a shooting war between some country like the USA and China -- FIRST, all the hunter-killer satellites that NOBODY has in space will go out and attack other satellites and GPS systems. IF any side starts to win THAT war, one bomb from either country can render Space un-usable for years until a billion fragments stop traveling through it at supersonic speed.
THEN, millions of tiny bug-like robots, that just seek out humans will be sent by hyper-sonic torpedoes -- ones that can travel in their own shockwave underneath the ocean and avoid all radar and anti-missile systems we currently have.
No nukes of course, until Rich people can get those bunkers built -- in ten years, well, the surface of the planet could just turn to glass. No need for fighter jets or drones then.
>> BUT, if the rich people don't have bunkers that they can comfortably live in for 3 generations, this future war will be all electronic.
IF we start winning, China will then send out a RADIO KILL SIGNAL, and all those chips we bought from them will stop working -- including that super cheap Microwave Oven you have at home. So when it gets to this point, you will still be unaware there even was a war, but all the banks will change to something like "People's Bank of America."
Your blender and microwave, however, will mysteriously all need to be sent back to the manufacturer for repair, and you will pay for that in Yuan.
Y...Basically, we're giving up on the ability to fight anyone with similar technology, and concentrating only on fighting insurgents on the ground.
Well, actually, that at least sounds consistent. Since MOST of our weapons are produced by private corporations -- and THEY have weapons plants in some of those "Potential Enemy" countries -- just shooting people too poor to jam your radar and PRETENDING to have air craft carriers for some other reason than to spend lots of money on these same corporations seems to be working out great for all the Players involved.
>> If you can find a way to JUST shoot poor people, than that would be a VERY smart bomb. GE would hire you in a second.
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If you have amused people in the past with your application, and you respond to the user such that the amusement is; enhanced, or n-1 improved, or generally MORE amusing, you are in violation of my LOLSYS patent.
n-2) If you are adding to the acronym LOL, such that it is LOL-Cat, or LOL-System, or other derivative of this work, such that the LOL in question is either "more" confusing, or less confusing, you are considered to be using a derivative work of the LOL architecture.
The Flat-Earthers have the same problem.
"Round-Earthers"
Airline companies, get Billions more in dollars than they otherwise would if they made DIRECT flights. Going on these fanciful arcs in the sky costs us all a lot of money!
The Government, has implemented this FAA, and seemingly benign organizations that seek to determine WHERE you an put a building -- based on ELEVATION alone! Not to mention the weather nonsense like trade winds -- how could that be when they start at one EDGE?
"Flat-Earthers"
Get mocked and ridiculed by the so-called scientific community. The Pro-Flat politicians get nowhere outside of Florida and Arizona.
>> And GE spends money to deny climate change! Why? So they can sell us more inaccurate maps with curved lines. You see FLAT road maps don't you? Yet we can't get a decent world map without cutting the globe into a weird shape -- that right there should tell you it's all a scam!
It makes death much easier.
Well, maybe this is just a SLIGHT improvement -- but eventually, improvements are made, and I'd like to throw a blanket on this weapons love by pointing out that the MOST decorated military man in U.S. history, General Smedley Butler, after a life-time of glorious bloodshed for the US of A, claimed that; "War is a racket." There is no "defense" going on -- merely an expansion of an empire. Is it safe to leave Japan and Germany yet with our troops? Yeah, that's an empire. Everything is fine as long as everyone is singing from the same hymnal. And really, the same Multinationals that we do wet-work for, are influencing the countries with our military bases. Our Military and Nukes are what gives today's Dollar its value; not bonds, not the ability to pay the money back, not assets, no oil -- nope, it's the military's ability to Fuck Up any country that doesn't play ball. Every company on the ENEMY list doesn't work with the World Bank. The CIA isn't protecting US interests anymore when it kills a leader in a nation that doesn't let in US companies -- it's now killing those leaders to let in Multinationals from the "US" Chamber of Commerce. So, instead of some fat cat's bank account in the US -- it now goes to some fat cat's bank account offshore. I know, not much difference really.
Unless this is for a Video Game -- I'm not sure we need more "convenience." Say, you are sitting in the bunker, sipping your morning cup of Joe, and the sniper rifle alerts you it has a target. So, you get up, and look through the lens, sure enough, there is someone Arab-looking with a CASIO watch -- BLAM * BLAM -- one terrorist suspect less on the planet. It bothers me the way guided drones bother me; someone working 9-5 in some bunker in Langley Virginia who scored high marks on Video Games and is now blowing up impediments to resource acquisition from 10,000 miles away. Probably also sipping coffee and high-fiving on good targets. If they get someone's soccer game accidentally, there is probably a moment of silence and some knowing looks of "I feel you bro" and then on with the next target. The RISK is so low, that the folks doing the convenient killing, are never going to get PTSDs, and as long as it doesn't make the news or the balance sheets -- the war, for most Americans, isn't going on.
When robots take over -- we might not even know we are AT war, or if some snippy group of protesters wasn't just taken out.
Buy you get home after 5 tours of duty, to find you don't have a job. Because it turns out that you weren't promoting freedom via sniping but taking out people who might get in the way of some multinational Oil company. And rubbing salt into the wounds -- America doesn't get FREE OIL -- they buy it on the open market like everyone else. And the "COST SAVINGS" are about 80-90% for the Oil company -- those DON'T get passed onto you. Nope, Futures contracts and hedge funds make sure there is as much scarcity to drive up the cost as the market will bare.
If you want to bid on some of that "free market" land to put up an oil well, expect to receive 10-20 years in a Federal Prison as a potential Eco-Terrorist (no kidding).
>> I didn't read the article, nor the specs on the gun -- I'm merely hoping this is for SOCOM 4 or something.
But I use Clear.com -- and I've got 4G mobile and a home WiMax for ~$60 a month. If you just want home -- that's about $40 depending on deal.
You can get 7 mps and 1mps up -- and it has no bandwidth caps (except on the Mobile).
I got rid of AT&T/Bellsouth a while ago and it is cheaper.
I'm also using MagicJack -- which now has a software-only option (rather than using the usb jack) - but I'm not a fan of requiring people to press a series of numbers after using the star key (*).
>> On the downside, I've got T-Mobile for cell phone. And AT&T is going to gobble them up because our government works for corporate profits and nothing else these days.
If anyone knows a way to hack a 4G usb device and pair it with an iPad or iTouch -- let me know. It would be great to give AT&T the shaft.
>> But the ONLY way to solve this problem right now, is to move away from companies with bandwidth caps in droves. The NONSENSE that it costs them money is absurd -- AT&T and other companies got the internet backbone for FREE from the government. Does a bit switch when the power is on cost MORE or less? Their U-Verse is based upon cobbled together T-1 lines (like DSL is cobbling together normal land-lines). So approximately 4 U-verse lines per T-1 (because they don't have dedicated bandwidth) -- so U-Verse CANNOT provide their rated speed all the time. It's a cost-saving measure because they have all this old crap sitting around -- RATHER than investing and going all fiber.
The OTHER reason for bandwidth caps, beyond NOT INVESTING IN INFRASTRUCTURE, is that all of them want to become content providers. So you get content from U-Verse, no bandwidth cap. You get it from NetFlix -- add in the cap.
I'm sure most people know this -- but I just want to create a complete document of my annoyance at this anti-competitie nonsense that passes for "free market."
This explains why, when converting my old employer's insurance policy to COBRA, it now costs $1,500 a month. With the large insurance company that owns my former company -- I cannot believe for a second, they actually had to pay $1,500 a month for health insurance -- there HAS to be a kick-back arrangement.
By inflating the COST of the insurance, it looks good on taxes -- and perhaps they get something BACK from the other insurance company -- probably directing customers their way or something else.
A family CAN get private insurance for a crushing sum of $1200 a month -- but $1500 for a major insurance corporation? Who is kidding whom here?
>> And I sure would have taken an EXTRA $1500 a month rather than the HMO they provided.
That's the problem with exceptional people -- some of them don't take pity on the majority of people who are average.
And there NEEDs to be some laws governing the crap that companies can put in their employment contracts -- MOST people just read the policy and say; "Well, I guess their is nothing I can do." They don't know what can't be enforced.
I consider it fraud to prey upon the uninformed. Employment contracts are as bad as credit card contracts these days.
Too often, I see these people who think they are ALL going to be CEO's one day, or because things are good for them, and they are healthy and smart -- it will ALWAYS be that way, because they worked harder or smarter -- as if others haven't failed being smart or hard working. If you don't look out for those who got the short end of the stick -- it is eventually going to get handed to you. That's the lesson of history and why it repeats.
It's sad to me, to see all these "Libertarian" self-made individualists, lather themselves in this veneer of philosophy -- when what it really is, is merely selfishness and a lack of compassion. When did it become even remotely acceptable to wear such an attitude on your sleeve? Just because Donald Trump gets a TV Show -- doesn't mean that anyone decent doesn't think he isn't a total Douche Bag.
Sounds like the "agreements" I always get with companies.
They have a management policy that is "boo fucking hoo" for me, where I don't get something repaired, or I sign a EULA or I purchased a ticket. I didn't buy a product to throw away my money -- but that can easily be "their policy" because it works for them. They can spend huge sums on lawyers for their agreements -- and I've got 2 minutes to read them. If I "choose" another product, it's likely going to have the same "policies." Boo-hoo for me but I have a choice between who screws me over?
Why can't I have a "policy" in my house that charges any company that calls me $6 a minute for wasting my time?
I think you are forgetting that there is an EXTREME difference in power and bargaining between the two parties in this case. If it's among equals -- then sure, boo hoo. But any company with a good paycheck, can come up with ANY corporate policy to screw an employee they want these days.
Yes, but in this case, Microsoft could claim a "management trade secret."
>> WE used to joke at my company, that the BEST way to get rid of our competition would be to let them steal our trade secrets and security policies -- they'd get nothing done fast.
... it's a "Right to Work" State.
-- Oh wait! No, the law might have been pushed forward as a "Right to Work" -- but it's really a "Right to Fire."
Seems to me, that if you can prohibit someone from being gainfully employed in their area of expertise -- you've created a de facto "Indentured Servant" -- "Sure, you can work some more, but for minimum wage..." Just because someone was fooled into working for such a clause, doesn't mean a business can abuse it. I've always considered "job contracts" something akin to "Under duress" -- jobs mean income, a way of life -- not having the job means; mot eating.
I'm sure that this man COULD have gotten a good job anywhere -- but in the case where someone is in a mining town, or the employee is working in a vertical market where they learn all about a specific company that cannot be applied elsewhere,... well, are we sure that these clauses would not be abused?
Merril Lynch used to also add a "training fee" for employees to pay if they went to work for a competitor. The "training" was mostly cold calling for a year. After which, only about 2 of 100 "employees" would still be working.
>> I don't think company's should have these RIGHTS when they impede on someone's right to work -- but this is America where Corporations have Rights and Citizens are Nervous.
Instead of the Million-dollar scanner, I choose to get the "pat down." I don't complain, in fact -- just the opposite.
I'm not sure if I get on the security list or not, but my involuntary groans of pleasure, sure seem to BOTHER them a lot.
Try going back through security, and if questioned, say, "I'm not sure if I was searched well enough the first time." Get some friends with torn clothing, and whisper to each other about your "favorite" inspector.
Ask them if they are coming out with a "Hunks of TSA" calendar.
If we don't let terrorists on the plane -- they'll just be blowing us up in the parking lot anyway. /sarcasm
Um, because maybe all that code you saved from the Ford Focus is really going to come in handy?
The NAS drive I've got at my house -- it uses Linux. Maybe I should put Android on there and see what I can do. I'll make a phone call as soon as I find somewhere I can stick my microphone...
The third-best reason is that Google uses an awful lot of Linux and already has a lot of that Linux talent in-house.
>> I think that is the ONLY reason they adopted Linux -- and that is something that influences ALL companies -- and it is rarely a very GOOD reason.
We are talking about a "smart phone" that uses Java and browser technologies to make applications. MOST of Android, was probably developed from scratch on top of the kernel. The advantage they got from a development standpoint with Linux was probably marginal.... ... but could someone else weigh in on that who has DEVELOPED on Android? Seems to me, that the networking stack would be all new for cell phones, and the difference between JAVA on either platform would be negligible -- so other than licensing, what's the big difference really?
And so the BSD and Darwin kernel on the iPhone - you'd rather use Symbian or some embedded server driver from Linux?
>> Just what ARE all these great drivers that would give a smart phone an advantage on Linux? Seriously... if Google were making their own platform for a Smart Phone -- WHO ELSE would they be able to grab code from.
Just having a Linux driver, doesn't mean you should be basing a platform on it. It's not like you need to drive printers or sound sound card. MOST of "drivers" you are going to need, are communicating with Telcos and optimizing the antennae.
>> Where would you want to "borrow" drivers from if you were making a smart Phone, and there was ONE top competitor; Nokia or Apple? I'm pretty sure that Google had to write most of their stuff from scratch -- but I'm not an expert here -- I just find your idea that Linux is superior for a mobile phone a bit far-fetched. I'm sure it's on a lot of toasters and embedded in cars however.
You are absolutely right -- but I think it was a psychological reason at Google; they already adopted the Kerberos engine for their web browser. They already found they needed an application store, they already used Apache.
Using BSD would be -- once again, doing the same thing Apple was doing; using BSD.
So they MIGHT as well be using Apple's Open-Source Darwin API and version of BSD that has been optimized for mobile computing.
>> The OTHER problem Google has -- is that their "open-ness" coupled with their "advertiser based revenue" -- means that Chinese coders have already stripped out all their advertising and control for Android and have their own versions.
So Google Android, may not only run into problems ever getting control of their licenses -- but they may be competing against Android-ish platforms. Imagine, that for $2 you could download a completely useable Android clone that stripped out all the spy-ware junk and bandwidth noise that Google adds -- and it worked just as well as the regular Android if not better?
I give you MS-DOS,... yes, past is prologue. Google may well have become the IBM of the smart phone world.
He was part of a Military organization that has proven to NOT be obeying certain treaties.
If you convict Manning -- then please, let us all know, WHY THE FUCK we invaded Afghanistan and Iraq?
NONE of the alleged hijackers came from those two countries. There was more "training" going on in South Florida and Germany than Afghanistan -- even if you could prove Bin Laden was planning something there with some video of people training on a jungle gym which makes the B-Roll every time the newscasts cover "Al Qaeda." Before we invaded, I'm sure not one person in a thousand in Afghanistan or Iraq even heard the term; "Al Qaeda."
The same Military Organization that is bleeding our country dry. The same one that is torturing and indefinitely detaining people and shipping them off to be tortured to death.
I do not recognize the PRIVILEGE of my government or military to hold things secret ANY MORE -- because I do not know that they are not the greatest threat to me, my neighbors, or my children.
WHO is going to foreclose on American houses? Who aided an abetted Wall Street in bankrupting the world economy and holding the economic system ransom until we bailed them out? Why is Hank Paulson, and a few hundred other thugs, who should be prime suspects, littered all over the Bush and Obama administrations -- why are the crooks running the prison? Why are transnational corporations who make money outsourcing, controlling our US Chamber of Commerce and why are foreign or ANY company allowed to "donate" to our elections and distort our Democracy?
Why can we not have an energy policy -- or shut down a company like BP for destroying the Gulf -- or even INVESTIGATE the ocean floor or the chemicals they dumped for the benefit of the public good? Did you know that Wachovia was caught laundering money for Mexican drug cartels -- perhaps about $450 Billion? The press didn't cover that too much and the only slap on the wrist they got to change names and get bought out by Wells Fargo Bank.
>> No, we've got more journalists and whistleblowers in prison than we do "terrorists." You are more likely to die from the use of "Clean Coal" than you are some terrorist attack.
WTF is our million-man secret service organizations, 2 million in people in prison, $800 Billion military, and trillion-dollar pentagon, designed to PROTECT us against? They sure can bust up greedy teacher's unions, arrest someone growing pot in their basement, and catch some damn flasher, but if you laundered $450 Billion for the drug cartels -- not so much.
The Uniform Code of Military Justice relates to the Geneva Conventions.
There are roughly 3 levels of treaties, and the Geneva Conventions -- which we signed, are at the top level; they supersede ALL laws we may have made including the Constitution.
ANYONE not covered by Section III of the Geneva Conventions, is covered by Section IV -- there is NO "in-between" or "exempt" designation -- otherwise the Geneva Conventions would be meaningless because every tin-pot dictator would claim that whomever they disappeared and tortured is an exception. Of course they do claim exceptions -- just as we have; and they are all wrong.
You cannot strip a person naked and leave them cooped up 24 hours a day. Letting them "move" into another 5 by 5 cell is merely a gimmick. Amnesty International needs access to Manning -- or he CANNOT BE TRIED.
>> It doesn't matter what you THINK Manning did or not. You cannot say HE DIDN"T THINK IT WAS MORAL until afterward -- that's heresy. Unless you see some other motivation -- like a financial exchange, or a desire to "ruin the United States" -- there is no proof of intent.
>> In my mind, the ONLY reason someone would risk everything to reveal such documents to WikiLeaks, is because they THOUGHT it would help our country if people knew what was going on.
>> It certainly doesn't DISCREDIT the USA -- because nobody -- including most of our citizens, believes CRAP that comes out of our Corp-Gov-Military oligarchy anymore. The only people who think we still have fair elections are conservatives when they win them -- when they lose, they imagine millions of people risking federal laws and voting as dead people. Even after millions have been spent, only about a dozen people have been caught voting twice.
I can EASILY say that a release of secret documents in this country is a Patriotic thing to do -- because our system is broken. Our military is a never-ending drain of money and war that pays Mercenaries ten times what soldiers make to massacre people we have no business fighting. To bring home the REAL THREAT -- notice that after the Japanese melt down, many countries including Germany and China, have suspended operations of all "GE designed Mark I reactors" which are the same as what failed. In the USA -- we have 35 -- and they are STILL in operation. And they will remain in operation -- because some company would lose money otherwise.
BP is still operating -- because corporations make the rules now.
Our country CANNOT defend itself from greed and stupidity. We cannot stop using Oil, or Uranium, or filling our food with poison because someone is making a buck. We cannot get out of Afghanistan and Iraq because someone is making a buck.
Is China the MILITARY threat we are defending Against? GE has weapons plants in China. Private companies now produce and protect our nuclear weapons. Our CIA still funds a "branch" of Al Qaeda, because they are in Iran causing trouble for that government. Who the HELL is the Enemy that Bradley Manning is allegedly making us vulnerable too?
What is the threat from the TRUTH? Could anyone believe our Military ANY LESS THAN IT DOES NOW?
Nothing has changed -- other than a few Middle East uprising because maybe they've learned their governments play both sides against the middle -- as ALL governments try to do. We've always been at war with Iran, for instance, and it's the only threat that keeps their young people from throwing out their tired, old, theocrats.
hedwards --
The problem with the Nazis is that they had funny accents. That's how we know they were the bad guys!
As long as you sound like a tough, Western hombre, and torture a prisoner who you classify as a "non person" then it's perfectly acceptable.
The Jews that were tortured, or used for experiments, they weren't "enemy non-combatants."
>> I hope that has cleared everything up for you. /sarcasm
Manning's treatment by the Military, in my opinion, justifies the document dump.
If the administration were NOT following the Bush regime's policies of spying on the American public (still) and yet, keeping torture camps open, and not disclosing important information that Americans in a Democracy need (such as the TRUTH, auditing the Federal Reserve, and WTF are we still doing in Afghanistan).
Sure, there is a lot of State Department messages that are NOT always a real opinion; some are CYA and some are intentional "misinformation" -- and it can be embarrassing. WikiLeaks however, spent months vetting the information with other news organizations. But what is worse for American's -- a revelation of EVERYTHING, or wars based on a need by the military to take our money, and oil companies to get cheap resources, and murder, lies and ignoring treaties?
The only reason America isn't being censured by the UN, is that there are a LOT of other corrupt nations playing the same game for their corporations, and we have a veto seat on the UN.
>> Our government doesn't DESERVE the benefit of the doubt. They've used un-charged people, as guinea pigs for pharmaceutical companies. They've transferred prisoners to other nations for brutal torture. Likely, some factions have spied on journalists and political opponents (like Cheney), to extort their support for things like the invasion of Iraq and to sign the Patriot Act (they are crooks, but not all crooks are evil).
>> Why do we judge Bradly Manning in a vacuum -- as IF we were in a country that was run by the "good guys." What defines "good guy" to you? I think Bradley Manning acted as a Patriot -- because he "allegedly" released the documents to let us have the truth for once.
How can we have a Democracy, when all our candidates have their indiscretions covered up by the Media -- as long as they are selling out to a sponsor of that media? Maybe you have only heard about Charley Sheen's indiscretions as if that were the most important problem in this country...
How about simply saying; the maximum "earnings" someone can get, is 1,000 times minimum wage?
So, those that get the most, have no upper limit, as long as they advocate for what the LEAST get.
$20 an hour vs. $20,000 an hour does NOT seem like a burden on innovation to me.
How many steaks and yachts does some asshole need? If you are making so much that you have to hire an army to defend it -- you could NOT have gotten it merely by making the world a better place -- likely, you've pillaged a few companies, you've destroyed a few lives. I always hear people lauding the greatness of the uber wealthy, but the examples of people who've gotten there, have to gloss over a lot of back-door deals and buying of politicians in most cases. I'd argue, that you CANNOT get to be the biggest bank, or military contractor, or oil company, WITHOUT doing a hell of a lot of evil.
But, before anything like that can work -- there HAS TO BE, more transparency required of people with power. People with power and wealth have to be thought of as privileged, only BECAUSE they are of benefit to society as a whole -- and so they must give up privacy. Having video cameras in every bathroom, and firing teachers, and forcing people into serfdom with 40% fees on Credit Card debt -- well, that's only necessary to KEEP the status quo and protect the very powerful FROM RESPONSIBILITY.
The religion of "personal responsibility", means that PEOPLE have no rights, and any corporate conglomerate has no responsibly. Obviously, our goals in such a world is to become a holding company of one, and to screw everyone else.
The BIG PROBLEMS in this world, are pretty easy to solve.
What takes all the work, is trying to create these problems, and make them seem impossible to solve. Our military, and CIA, and the Secret Services of other nations we compete with -- spend most of their time, making the world full of conflict, so the status quo of a few rich people making huge profits can be maintained.
We could have gotten off of oil a decade ago. There is more than enough food in the world, but "fear" of crop loss and Wall Street speculators drive up the prices.
"Distribution?" -- most people, would be happy with something useful to do, a family, education, security, good health, and opportunity. WE ALREADY have all the resources that 95% of the world would be fully satisfied with. The problem is, that the 5% that are never satisfied, are the people who run everything and tell us who is a threat and who isn't. None of them are willing to strap a bomb on their body and blow themselves up -- so they have to TAKE everything away from enough people, so that they have nothing to lose -- THEN, they have their straw man to scare the rest of us.
Right now, money gets printed in America and it goes to banks. What if, all copyrights and patents when submitted, were free and available, and we only tracked usage -- the more usage, the more money the government gives directly to copyrighters and patent submitters. No reason to cheat -- because it costs you nothing, and the ONLY friction is between those who create and the government -- but that's where it should be. Our economy grows on innovation, and we created a system where people have to hide that innovation and make it expensive -- so we all use shovels until the bulldozer gets cheaper and is obsolete.
>> Our current system, is very inefficient, because we spend all our time trying to preserve what we've got, not lose, save enough to retire, insure for emergencies, and spend the rest of the money on blowing up people so that they don't charge too much for the stuff corporations that don't help us steal from them.
No, actually, the CIA answers to the US Chamber of Commerce.
You think politicians are allowed to get in the way of profits? Grow up dude!
The politicians answer to the CIA, ever since they got all of them in bed with someone underage, or of a different species. The internal spying by Cheney and the NSA, the Poker and Prostitutes at the Watergate Hotel, the Catholic Church -- I mean, connect a few dots. Has ANYONE with money been hurt at all by a public hearing by the Senate or Congress in the past 10 years? Someone lost a few trillion at the Fed, Pentagon, and well, no suspects. Of course, the suspects all get to run the Fed after we discover, nothing is going on at Goldman Sachs. If you pinch a loaf of bread at the Grocery store, however, there are 20 cameras between the supermarket and your home that you will have to hack into and replace with looped video.
All the politicians allowed to remain in office, are allowed to stay as long as they play ball, or else some press agency gets an envelope, and you learn TOO MUCH about that politician. Or they don't fly on small planes -- EVER.
However, the people they cannot corrupt, like Dennis Kucinich, just get something in their drink one day that makes them totally paranoid and crazy. Just look at Ross Perot, who was sane for a good bit of time before Bush spiked his punch. Any failed anti-depressant in a large dosage can easily warp the strongest mind.
... the REAL purpose of this website of super cool stuff for the CIA is to capture the attention of all those people who respond to their ads on the Cartoon Network.
Seriously, right after watching "Naruto" -- which I was, um, pre-screening for my kids -- I saw an ad for the "exciting world of espionage." There was a scene in a cafe with a hot looking blonde, drinking and swaying her legs sexily, with another well-dressed good looking man. It was kind of vague, so you could imagine that you were that dude, having a Russian super model getting all the CIA secrets out of your brain with special drugs and Swedish massage. Some people imagine that they were the blonde -- I'm sure, but those dudes kind of freak me out -- but live and let live, right? ... at first, I really thought someone had posted video of my kids spying on my wife and I with their Infrared remote-controlled spy blimp, which I occasionally find floating in the bathroom -- but now, these were actors. My wife isn't blonde -- she looks more like Sophia Vargas, so then of COURSE it wasn't us being spied on -- this is ALL TRUE by the way, just like the CIA's good works on their history page.
The CIA of course, has much more KEWL stuff -- but you are probably seeing what EVERY spy agency already has. The point is; Hot Chicks, Kewl Gadgets, and signing up 30 million Americans with these dreams as they work for $10,000 a year to spy on their neighbors and blog about how we need more Defense spending to defeat Al Qaeda.
Come on, the pilot is mostly a delivery service for MISSILES.
He targets another plane or object and fires a COMPUTER CONTROLLED MISSILE.
The Pilot even moves a joystick, which turns his commands into "fly by wire" adjustments, that require a computer to adjust the plane about a thousand times a second.
The Pilot, is already remote controlling the plane, and the plane is sending out remote-controlled weapons called "missiles" -- the ONLY thing we are really arguing about, is where the human is sitting and CAN someone block that signal?
If someone can block the signal to the plane, then you can have a smarter computer onboard -- it's at what point you determine the target that really matters. If you KNOW the target -- no need to have a human on board. If you are finding the target, a hundred remote drones can be involved. So, the ONLY part where a human pilot has the advantage, is in a situation where you FIND and DESTROY the target in one sortie.
The FUTURE war is either precisely targeted, or it's going to be massive numbers of decoys and drone bombs to try and get them all. In the first case, you have a quick strike -- and therefore, not much chance for the enemy to prevent your attack -- on the second, it's just a game of numbers and all your drones get faster, cheaper, smaller -- there is no advantage to an aircraft carrier or a tank, they are just bigger targets.
If there is no worry about collateral damage, and you can get the cost down for drones -- well, a human pilot is just a liability.
>>> Having a Human pilot, it seems to me, is just a legacy thing that we do because all our wars are very assymetric. We bring in humans after we've destroyed the ability of the enemy to defend against aircraft. We use night-sighted helicopters and mow down a group of people from a mile away as they shoot into the dark in random directions. Then, the enemy adapts and takes off their uniforms, and we don't know friend from foe.
So, the pilots we have today, might as well be bus drivers with bombs for all the "air fighting" they are going to see. And if we get in a war with a REAL adversary, well -- I think all the banks and the corporations that run those two countries will just VETO that idea.
If it ACTUALLY gets into a shooting war between some country like the USA and China -- FIRST, all the hunter-killer satellites that NOBODY has in space will go out and attack other satellites and GPS systems. IF any side starts to win THAT war, one bomb from either country can render Space un-usable for years until a billion fragments stop traveling through it at supersonic speed.
THEN, millions of tiny bug-like robots, that just seek out humans will be sent by hyper-sonic torpedoes -- ones that can travel in their own shockwave underneath the ocean and avoid all radar and anti-missile systems we currently have.
No nukes of course, until Rich people can get those bunkers built -- in ten years, well, the surface of the planet could just turn to glass. No need for fighter jets or drones then.
>> BUT, if the rich people don't have bunkers that they can comfortably live in for 3 generations, this future war will be all electronic.
IF we start winning, China will then send out a RADIO KILL SIGNAL, and all those chips we bought from them will stop working -- including that super cheap Microwave Oven you have at home. So when it gets to this point, you will still be unaware there even was a war, but all the banks will change to something like "People's Bank of America."
Your blender and microwave, however, will mysteriously all need to be sent back to the manufacturer for repair, and you will pay for that in Yuan.
Y...Basically, we're giving up on the ability to fight anyone with similar technology, and concentrating only on fighting insurgents on the ground.
Well, actually, that at least sounds consistent. Since MOST of our weapons are produced by private corporations -- and THEY have weapons plants in some of those "Potential Enemy" countries -- just shooting people too poor to jam your radar and PRETENDING to have air craft carriers for some other reason than to spend lots of money on these same corporations seems to be working out great for all the Players involved.
>> If you can find a way to JUST shoot poor people, than that would be a VERY smart bomb. GE would hire you in a second.