Friendly advice, grasshopper. Engage mind first before operating keyboard. DId you not read what I said about the F-22? Has the world changed today and that is not a weapon system? I merely pointed out to you that new weapon development is inherently expensive and inherently unproven – and that if your criteria is to buy only ‘proven’ systems then we will never have new technology weapons.

I don’t know, buma. I may call Dr Neal Clark Warren and tell him you’re not good enough for Hattie. You’re on probation young -err – person.

Dugger, Would it spoil some vast eternal plan, if I were a wealthy man? (Fiddler)

May 3rd, 2006 at 1:47 pm
Hattie: Two words for you: Don t enlist.

Frank’s senior moment:

Frank_D Says:

May 4th, 2006 at 12:52 am
buma: I ll probably be sorry I asked, but where did you get the idea that I don t want thinking people to enlist?

Allow me to refresh your memory: Hattie said, “And furthermore I just wish they [the wingnuts] would fight the wars themselves instead of making others do it.
Since no one makes anyone fight anyone anymore*, I suggested that she not enlist, as the people who want to be involved in our military efforts do.

* Hattie, maybe the news hasn’t reached Hawaii yet, but there’s no more Draft.

Buma would have us not develop any new weapon systems (develop=new=unproven) and Hattie would not have us develop any weapon systems. No need for Dr Neal Clark Warren. Dugger has found a match for free! No Birkenstock nudging under the cyber table, now!

Dugger

Hey pedro, Dugger thinks your an idiot.

But investing any money in advancing alternative fuels or stem cells is just leftist liberal claptrap.

When the north korean lob one over the horizon, it will be nice to have half a dozen interceptors to shoot the thing down in the 20 minutes we will be watching it.

Otherwise, where is Paul (frameone) going to work if they nuke hollywood? Hell, half the democrats in this country would never get elected if it weren’t for the hollywood limosine liberals…so you see, it is actually in your best interest.

By the way, I am glad to see that english majors are still out there. I haven’t seen so much fluffy prose in a long time…..

For instance, instead of spending billions of dollars on a missile defense system which is never going to be 100% effective (and honestly, if we start throwing nukes missiles around the planet, anything less than 100% effective isn’t going to be worth much), we’d rather develop an alternative energy suite that we could export for safety and profit…especially to…oh, I don’t know, lets saaaaay…Iran. Then, they would have NO EXCUSE to be playing with nuclear energy, which means we could convince the rest of the world, even their wayward allies (Like china) that they have no business playing with nukes.

Hell, we don’t even have to use the money to directly fund alternative energy development. All we have to do is set a nice prize, with some pretty high goals, increase the prize amount by 25% percent a year, and watch human ingenuity at work. We’d even have money left over to balance the budget and maybe fix VA since GWB has been ganking us military folks for our benefits to pay for the war we’re dying in…for oil. That we could stop. Especially if we developed (wait for iiiiiit) alternative energy!

Besides, wasn’t it you that was on here crowing about how technology wasn’t a magic bullet that could solve all your problems? Or was that one of your neocon mindslave friends?

It was one of my (many) neocon mindslave friends (they’re so easy to control).

No weapon system has ever/ever been 100% effective. All are modified. Israel is now flying the F-15I (get it?, A-H changes). The fact that missile defense has growing pains is not a sound go/no go argument against it at all.

If you want to argue no missile defense, fine by me. But I would not want us to be blackmail-level vulnerable to every UN coddled tinpot dictator in the world who can cadge together an old missile and black market nuke warhead. And I would not argue that having missile defense might mean we have to do without some other place – even DOD (if it were up to me, no F-22 but yes to missile defense – higher G than humans can tolerate pilotless aircraft are right around the corner).

Dugger, If he types so poorly, can his thinking be any better?

May 2nd, 2006 at 8:14 pm
Imagine if we simply wrote every welfare recipient an annual check.

Imagine if we simply wrote every rich millionaire in the country an annual check.

Actully usually the operational capability of anew weapon system is classified so DOD seldom says we now have operational capability – especially if in fact they don’t. But when they say all pieces in place that usually would indicate, if not capability, merely a short matter of time (training, support) until an IOC is established.

Take your heads out of the sand. Technology doesn’t hurt – and it is very complex. If we insisted on every technological advance working perfectly from day one we would still be cooking on open fires and commuting on mules.

Dugger

At least, if we use the same gradation curve that YOU are using for Iraq. ”

No, we are failing in Iraq because none of those people had to die. It was a pre-emptive war against a non-threat.