Iraq on the basis of made-up "evidence" of non-existing weapons of mass destructions
You are probably unaware that chemical weapons are defined as WMDs in all the treaties related to WMDs.
And you are likely also unaware that Hussein used chemical weapons against his Kurdish population.
You are most likely also unaware that some chemical weapons were found when the US Army moved into Iraq.
Note that all those things were mentioned in the news at the time (at the time meant the Clinton Presidency in the first two cases, the Bush one for the third case), but presumably you don't (or can't) read the news either.
Which is why, presumably, you're still blathering about non-existant WMDs in Iraq.
Interesting you should say that when Musk has the cheapest space launch capabilities in the world, is in the process of making his first stage reusable (and thus cheaper still), is in the process of man-rating a seven-man capsule that will be reusable and will cost less to launch than the three-man Soyuz, and is developing a heavy-lift launcher that can put more payload into orbit than Shuttle ever could.
SpaceX has scheduled eleven launches over the next several years with the US Government as the customer (ISS resupply missions).
In addition, it has 17 launches scheduled for other customers (private satellite launches).
So, no, SpaceX doesn't have to do space tourism, nor do asteroid mining, nor make all their money being a government contractor. What they are is a LAUNCH company. They don't do payloads, they just put other people's payloads into orbit for them cheaply.
It should be noted that deficits for Obama's years in office amount to $4T to $6T. And those had nothing to do with our wars.
It should also be noted that unless we're counting Vietnam, Korea, and WW2, we haven't had $4T to $6T in war costs. Military budgets were higher as a result of Iraq and Afghanistan, but you'd have to count the entire military budget as "war costs" to reach even $4T, much less $6T.
It should also be noted that we're making absolutely no attempt to "pay down" our debts. The National Debt goes up every year, by rather more than $500B (rather more than $1T during most of Obama's terms).
There are "natural monopolies" in the real world. An example would be that "last mile" thing - it makes very little sense for seventeen competing companies to all run fibre to every house in a city.
"Natural monopolies" should be the province of government.
Other than the "natural monopolies", pretty much every monopoly exists as a result of government regulation imposing draconian startup penalties on newcomers. Frequently as a result of a business bribing government to impose those barriers, but when you have a government that can do anything you desire, it's going to be bribed to do what someone other than you desires also....
We'll get more results by using 20% of the money to expand SpaceX contracts, and applying the other 80% toward deficit reduction.
80% of SLS devoted to deficit reduction is a trivial change in the deficit (Better to split it between SpaceX and Orbital Sciences and mission development. Allowing $3B per year for mission development, that leaves enough to pay for development of Falcon9R, Falcon9 Heavy, and Orbital's equivalents.
Or just buy Dragon flights from SpaceX - $5B per year would pay for a Dragon launch every couple weeks.
Or an equivalent number of Falcon9R launches for unmanned missions. Or a Falcon9 Heavy every other month....
Or problem is we put people into positions of power who developed their sense of morality at a time when "The Nazis" were still a valid political party and we didn't generally allow African Americans into the military yet.
And in 50 years, we'll be putting people into positions of power who believe something that is a very fashionable idea in 2014. No idea what it will be, but since we pick our leadership from among the elderly, and develop our ideas of what's good, right and proper during our youth, it's inevitable.
Note also, for reference, the "Buffalo Soldiers". They were around from the end of the Civil War (formed in 1866). There were Negro regiments during the Civil War as well.
It should be noted also that the 9th and 10th Cavalry, as well as other Negro regiments existed through WW2 until the military was integrated during the Korean War (considerably before the rest of US society).
If we attach penalties for violation of the UN bill of rights governments would be forced to hold a much higher standard of behavior.
I suggest you take a quick look at the UN Veto Powers. Then ask yourself: "how likely are ANY of these countries to want real penalties attached to the UN Bill of Rights?"
If your answer to the question above was "why, all five of them would give the UN Bill of Rights some teeth in a heartbeat, if only someone would suggest it to them", then go right ahead and do so.
Then report to your psychiatrist and tell him you need stronger meds....
Assuming life favors a single-star system when in reality it favors a twin-star system.
I'm assuming you are a native of a twin-star system who happens to be doing anthropology work among the savages in this system.
Because otherwise, I can't figure out how you'd know that life favors a twin-star system, given that we know of zero twin-star systems that support life.
So, the Evil Corporation decides to not make its employees work Saturdays?
And you're complaining about this?
I gather that this means that it's only evil if a corporation makes YOU work Saturdays, but if they make the people who provide you services work Saturdays, that's just fine?
Job growth in one year means there are more jobs. Forever.
What an intriguing theory you have.
Note that if self-driving trucks were to become available, truck driver jobs would all disappear...forever. In other words, new technology sometimes makes jobs disappear.
And job growth last year doesn't guarantee the existence of jobs next year. Otherwise, the Great Depression would never have happened.
human beings with worthwhile ideas and commentary are not always absolutely perfect typists or rhetoricians.
So, it's your theory that people who don't know the difference between "their", "there", and "they're" have "worthwhile ideas".
Seems to me that in order to learn enough to develop a worthwhile idea, they'd have been exposed to enough schooling to not make the sort of mistakes one expects of seven-year-olds.
What sort of "rebels" would have the training an ability to set up and operate a crew served weapon?
The "military veteran" kind. Off the top of my head, I don't know whether either Russia or Ukraine still has mandatory military service, but even without that, it's extremely unlikely that no civilians in Ukraine know how to use the weapon system.
As to who actually used the weapon, I'll go with the "rebels" who reported shooting down an AN-76 (?) about the right time yesterday, before deciding they hadn't really had the hardware or training to do so.
Slashdot Mirror
You are probably unaware that chemical weapons are defined as WMDs in all the treaties related to WMDs.
And you are likely also unaware that Hussein used chemical weapons against his Kurdish population.
You are most likely also unaware that some chemical weapons were found when the US Army moved into Iraq.
Note that all those things were mentioned in the news at the time (at the time meant the Clinton Presidency in the first two cases, the Bush one for the third case), but presumably you don't (or can't) read the news either.
Which is why, presumably, you're still blathering about non-existant WMDs in Iraq.
Interesting you should say that when Musk has the cheapest space launch capabilities in the world, is in the process of making his first stage reusable (and thus cheaper still), is in the process of man-rating a seven-man capsule that will be reusable and will cost less to launch than the three-man Soyuz, and is developing a heavy-lift launcher that can put more payload into orbit than Shuttle ever could.
And all on his own dime....
SpaceX has scheduled eleven launches over the next several years with the US Government as the customer (ISS resupply missions).
In addition, it has 17 launches scheduled for other customers (private satellite launches).
So, no, SpaceX doesn't have to do space tourism, nor do asteroid mining, nor make all their money being a government contractor. What they are is a LAUNCH company. They don't do payloads, they just put other people's payloads into orbit for them cheaply.
It should be noted that deficits for Obama's years in office amount to $4T to $6T. And those had nothing to do with our wars.
It should also be noted that unless we're counting Vietnam, Korea, and WW2, we haven't had $4T to $6T in war costs. Military budgets were higher as a result of Iraq and Afghanistan, but you'd have to count the entire military budget as "war costs" to reach even $4T, much less $6T.
It should also be noted that we're making absolutely no attempt to "pay down" our debts. The National Debt goes up every year, by rather more than $500B (rather more than $1T during most of Obama's terms).
There are "natural monopolies" in the real world. An example would be that "last mile" thing - it makes very little sense for seventeen competing companies to all run fibre to every house in a city.
"Natural monopolies" should be the province of government.
Other than the "natural monopolies", pretty much every monopoly exists as a result of government regulation imposing draconian startup penalties on newcomers. Frequently as a result of a business bribing government to impose those barriers, but when you have a government that can do anything you desire, it's going to be bribed to do what someone other than you desires also....
If the humanities infrastructure suffers, no doubt there'll be fewer English majors, and more CS majors, so it'll be a good thing, right?
Or did someone mean "humanity's infrastructure"? Yes, I know, "my people don't do editing"....
80% of SLS devoted to deficit reduction is a trivial change in the deficit (Better to split it between SpaceX and Orbital Sciences and mission development. Allowing $3B per year for mission development, that leaves enough to pay for development of Falcon9R, Falcon9 Heavy, and Orbital's equivalents.
Or just buy Dragon flights from SpaceX - $5B per year would pay for a Dragon launch every couple weeks.
Or an equivalent number of Falcon9R launches for unmanned missions. Or a Falcon9 Heavy every other month....
And in 50 years, we'll be putting people into positions of power who believe something that is a very fashionable idea in 2014. No idea what it will be, but since we pick our leadership from among the elderly, and develop our ideas of what's good, right and proper during our youth, it's inevitable.
Note also, for reference, the "Buffalo Soldiers". They were around from the end of the Civil War (formed in 1866). There were Negro regiments during the Civil War as well.
It should be noted also that the 9th and 10th Cavalry, as well as other Negro regiments existed through WW2 until the military was integrated during the Korean War (considerably before the rest of US society).
Yes, actually we are.
A very efficient one, at that, being omnivorous and all. It lets us get past that boom/bust cycle that so many predatory species have to live with....
I had no idea that punctuated equilibrium was renting out its spare rooms.
Or did you mean "tenets"?
Why not? We've had evidence that we ATE them going back to the 1800's.
The early 1800's
1/20th of one percent of their annual budget.
I suggest you take a quick look at the UN Veto Powers. Then ask yourself: "how likely are ANY of these countries to want real penalties attached to the UN Bill of Rights?"
If your answer to the question above was "why, all five of them would give the UN Bill of Rights some teeth in a heartbeat, if only someone would suggest it to them", then go right ahead and do so.
Then report to your psychiatrist and tell him you need stronger meds....
From your link, it was known to have "great potential" by '97.
Which is NOT the same as "known to be effective".
Agree completely.
Alas, talking in public about things you know nothing about tends to make you look like an idiot.
Not that Biden needed "One More Thing" to help him look like an idiot - he's had that down for years.
I'm assuming you are a native of a twin-star system who happens to be doing anthropology work among the savages in this system.
Because otherwise, I can't figure out how you'd know that life favors a twin-star system, given that we know of zero twin-star systems that support life.
Joe Biden knows less about coding than my daughter.
Hell, he probably knows less about coding than he knows about guns...
Hint, Joe: firing a shotgun THROUGH your front door violates pretty much every rule about target identification that there is.
So, the Evil Corporation decides to not make its employees work Saturdays?
And you're complaining about this?
I gather that this means that it's only evil if a corporation makes YOU work Saturdays, but if they make the people who provide you services work Saturdays, that's just fine?
What an intriguing theory you have.
Note that if self-driving trucks were to become available, truck driver jobs would all disappear...forever. In other words, new technology sometimes makes jobs disappear.
And job growth last year doesn't guarantee the existence of jobs next year. Otherwise, the Great Depression would never have happened.
So, it's your theory that people who don't know the difference between "their", "there", and "they're" have "worthwhile ideas".
Seems to me that in order to learn enough to develop a worthwhile idea, they'd have been exposed to enough schooling to not make the sort of mistakes one expects of seven-year-olds.
Monitoring the three people in the cockpit of a plane carrying 300 people is hardly "mass surveillance".
We ate them?
Useful hint: first thing that happens when you decide to start a war is that you junk the Treaties.
Or do you really think all it takes to prevent war is a Treaty of Eternal Chumship between all nations on Earth?
The "military veteran" kind. Off the top of my head, I don't know whether either Russia or Ukraine still has mandatory military service, but even without that, it's extremely unlikely that no civilians in Ukraine know how to use the weapon system.
As to who actually used the weapon, I'll go with the "rebels" who reported shooting down an AN-76 (?) about the right time yesterday, before deciding they hadn't really had the hardware or training to do so.
There were German civilian ships in the Atlantic between 1941 and 1945?