Back in 1989 I had a 48Mb SCSI hard drive on my Atari ST. That loaded files at 350k/sec. That was fast back then.
Now we have data going through the air at 6Gb/sec. It's all too easy to get used to the steady stream of new stuff but every now and then you need to stop, think about how much has changed in the last 15 years or so and think.. 'Wow!'
I'm with Virgin and have been for a few years so I'm still on their old system of PAYG in that any payments I add *never* expire. I only use a mobile for emergencies, the odd 'I'm on the train' calls etc so I spend maybe £15-20 a year tops on it. I only found out recently that Virgin top-ups actually expire now for newer customers so I'm staying put for now.
Oh yes, I'd save a bundle going on to a contract. Not.
>Like alt.binaries.stockings?
Wow, what a specific newsgroup - why binary? For stockings that are either on or off? There's a lot to be said for the slow sensual process of putting them on (or off). I might issue an RFD for alt.hex.stockings to get a bit more variety in there.
>Now, if you really, really want to keep patting yourself in the
>back and keep believing that the US/UK coalition has done a great job
Actually I was and still am vehemntly against the invasion and think the whole thing is one huge cockup. However, I am willing to look at any new info/evidence anyone can provide, hence me asking questions. A little less assumption next time, huh?
OK, thanks. I would add though that most of the previous medical related deaths were out fault due to embargoes etc. Plus: That's less than half of Sadam's average.
Still nothing to be proud of.
I've had a Google on the 1.2 million deaths and the only refs I can find blame the UN sanctions. Do you have any refs I can look at? Thanks.
I suspect I know more than you realise. I'm quite happy to note that the vast majority of insurgent fighting is limited to a very defined region and that large swathes of Iraq are pretty peaceful now with people getting on with their daily jobs etc.
I do talk to people that have served over there, are working over there and I try to catch as many interviews with Iraqi's as possible but as you rightly note, we have no way to know how selective those interviews are.
2) We all thought there were WMDs
Actually, not *everyone* thought that. In fact I knew very few people who believed that. That was the main reason hundreds of thousands of people in the UK took to the streets to show their objection to the invasion.
I don't think he meant unwinnable as in not able to beat their armies, he meant in terms of what we're seeing right now - total loss of control of what was left after occupation.
You do remember Bin Laden, don't you? The guy Bush has called irrelevant.
Possibly because he has now served his purpose by giving Bush et al carte blanche to stomp over some countries in a way they would never have got away with otherwise.
I'd say it was true. heck, Bush snr even said it - it's in his Biography that he counciled his son against it.
Some nations need strong, nay extreme leadership to keep them together because they're so volatile. Saddam was a nasty piece of work but he was at least reasonably predictable. As one Iraqi noted in an interview, at least under Saddam he knew if he did x, y or z he'd get tortured and maybe killed. Now he fears that just for going down the shops.
It's a huge mistake to assume everyone in the world feels and thinks like we do. They do not and htings that might seem trivial to us are big deals for them and vice versa. Sometimes these people need someone who is a bit of a psycho to keep a lid on things and we are now seeing in Iraq what happens when rule with a rod of iron is taken away. Something similar happened in Yugoslavia, strong domineering leader dies, everything goes to crap and people who apparantly got on with each were suddenly at each others throats.
Israel has ignored 55 that I can trace. If ignoring US resolutions is a good reason for invasion, can we expect any US action against Israel anytime soon?
breaking the no-fly zone
And if someone told the US where they could fly - would *you* pay any attention?
photographic evidence of torture
Well, a lot of people think Guantanamo shows evidence of torture.
>What's sad is that a long running India/Pakistan type scenario
> is looking pretty attractive, in relative terms.
Nuclear developments notwithstanding.
An interesting post, you may well be on to something there.
Not wanting to kick a Bush when he's down but it's worth noting that viewing the world in B&W is a childlike state of mind that usually gets upgraded to shades of grey between puberty and late teens. current thinking is that the parts of the brain that handle more complex emotional analysis don't physically finish development until around 18. This is part of the reason teens act like they do. Those that still see everything as B&W as adults could be accused of being less than fully developed both emotionally and analytically.
Interesting? Time to turn up your humour detector a notch or two.
Actually, can I suggest an improvement for/.? When people post, can they have a button marked 'satire' so that they can click it when needed to make the post glow bright red with flashing lights for those that are a tad slow in the funnybone department.
I don't really have much time or inclination for computer games now but if I did, I'd go back to my youth and have some marathon sessions with the following:
Mr Do! (Atari 800)
Star Raiders (Atari 800)
Night Driver (Atari VCS)
Boulderdash (Atari 800)
Star Chess (Dedicated console)
Slashdot Mirror
And you'd better only have women (or men) who swallow, in space. Who the heck wants that stuff floating around in little globs?
>Why aren't we sending a manned mission to Mars?
I thought we were? Same Bush speech as 'Iraq has WMDs' etc.
It's also all too easy to forget to close the bold tag and not bother to preview. Sheesh. God job it's Friday.
Back in 1989 I had a 48Mb SCSI hard drive on my Atari ST. That loaded files at 350k/sec. That was fast back then.
Now we have data going through the air at 6Gb/sec. It's all too easy to get used to the steady stream of new stuff but every now and then you need to stop, think about how much has changed in the last 15 years or so and think.. 'Wow!'
>"American Online"
That is correct - they only have one customer left now.
I'm with Virgin and have been for a few years so I'm still on their old system of PAYG in that any payments I add *never* expire. I only use a mobile for emergencies, the odd 'I'm on the train' calls etc so I spend maybe £15-20 a year tops on it. I only found out recently that Virgin top-ups actually expire now for newer customers so I'm staying put for now.
Oh yes, I'd save a bundle going on to a contract. Not.
You and me both. I'm heartily sick of the cult of celebrity, especially when applied to total non-entities who are famous for being famous.
>Like alt.binaries.stockings?
Wow, what a specific newsgroup - why binary? For stockings that are either on or off? There's a lot to be said for the slow sensual process of putting them on (or off). I might issue an RFD for alt.hex.stockings to get a bit more variety in there.
Where would like us to drive today?
>Now, if you really, really want to keep patting yourself in the
>back and keep believing that the US/UK coalition has done a great job
Actually I was and still am vehemntly against the invasion and think the whole thing is one huge cockup. However, I am willing to look at any new info/evidence anyone can provide, hence me asking questions. A little less assumption next time, huh?
OK, thanks. I would add though that most of the previous medical related deaths were out fault due to embargoes etc. Plus:
That's less than half of Sadam's average.
Still nothing to be proud of.
I've had a Google on the 1.2 million deaths and the only refs I can find blame the UN sanctions. Do you have any refs I can look at? Thanks.
I suspect I know more than you realise. I'm quite happy to note that the vast majority of insurgent fighting is limited to a very defined region and that large swathes of Iraq are pretty peaceful now with people getting on with their daily jobs etc.
I do talk to people that have served over there, are working over there and I try to catch as many interviews with Iraqi's as possible but as you rightly note, we have no way to know how selective those interviews are.
Technically speaking, the war in Iraq has SAVED some 180,000 Iraqi lives
How?
2) We all thought there were WMDs Actually, not *everyone* thought that. In fact I knew very few people who believed that. That was the main reason hundreds of thousands of people in the UK took to the streets to show their objection to the invasion.
I don't think he meant unwinnable as in not able to beat their armies, he meant in terms of what we're seeing right now - total loss of control of what was left after occupation.
You do remember Bin Laden, don't you? The guy Bush has called irrelevant.
Possibly because he has now served his purpose by giving Bush et al carte blanche to stomp over some countries in a way they would never have got away with otherwise.
I'd say it was true. heck, Bush snr even said it - it's in his Biography that he counciled his son against it.
Some nations need strong, nay extreme leadership to keep them together because they're so volatile. Saddam was a nasty piece of work but he was at least reasonably predictable. As one Iraqi noted in an interview, at least under Saddam he knew if he did x, y or z he'd get tortured and maybe killed. Now he fears that just for going down the shops.
It's a huge mistake to assume everyone in the world feels and thinks like we do. They do not and htings that might seem trivial to us are big deals for them and vice versa. Sometimes these people need someone who is a bit of a psycho to keep a lid on things and we are now seeing in Iraq what happens when rule with a rod of iron is taken away. Something similar happened in Yugoslavia, strong domineering leader dies, everything goes to crap and people who apparantly got on with each were suddenly at each others throats.
And if someone told the US where they could fly - would *you* pay any attention?
Well, a lot of people think Guantanamo shows evidence of torture.
>What's sad is that a long running India/Pakistan type scenario
> is looking pretty attractive, in relative terms.
Nuclear developments notwithstanding.
An interesting post, you may well be on to something there.
Not wanting to kick a Bush when he's down but it's worth noting that viewing the world in B&W is a childlike state of mind that usually gets upgraded to shades of grey between puberty and late teens. current thinking is that the parts of the brain that handle more complex emotional analysis don't physically finish development until around 18. This is part of the reason teens act like they do. Those that still see everything as B&W as adults could be accused of being less than fully developed both emotionally and analytically.
Interesting? Time to turn up your humour detector a notch or two. /.? When people post, can they have a button marked 'satire' so that they can click it when needed to make the post glow bright red with flashing lights for those that are a tad slow in the funnybone department.
Actually, can I suggest an improvement for
Note to self, don't forget the html breaks next time :-( Heck, why not try an unordered list for maximo fun.
I don't really have much time or inclination for computer games now but if I did, I'd go back to my youth and have some marathon sessions with the following:
Mr Do! (Atari 800) Star Raiders (Atari 800) Night Driver (Atari VCS) Boulderdash (Atari 800) Star Chess (Dedicated console)