There's a South Park parody of New Orleans after Katrina, with the entire town on their roofs, awaiting rescue, while Stan's parents argue about whether or not it was GWB's fault, FEMAs, or the local Mayor. Stan interrupts the argument and says, "But someone's going to help those people, right?" His Dad responds, "That's not important right now son. What's important is figuring out whose fault this is."
It's not oppressing you to say that your city government can't do certain things. My State denies towns under a certain population the ability to have their own police force. Is that oppressive?
If they're banning co-ops you've got a point about oppression but there is no oppression in the State regulating the size and scope of the cities, towns, and counties contained therein.
The Continental Army fought in uniform, under the command of officers, and did not hide behind non-combatants or deliberately target them. The British still regarded them as rebels, rather than POWs, at least during the outset of the war before the Americans captured significant numbers of British men and could retaliate for abuses committed against American POWs.
Either way, there's a huge difference between the actions of the Continental Army and those we currently describe as terrorists. Perception may be a different animal, though it's worth noting that the British never resorted to the sorts of tactics they used in Ireland or India to suppress rebellions.
Washington is a special case, defined by the US Constitution, but of course you already knew that.
Then sue on that basis. Or petition the FCC to override those franchise agreements. I'll support your efforts wholeheartedly. What I can't support is:
City: We want to get into the broadband (or garbage, water, food, or really anything) business.
State: You can't do that.
Uncle Sam: Yes they can.
I am not familiar with the NC Constitution but if the State Legislature is violating it your recourse is with the State Judiciary, not the FCC. The FCC has not claimed NC's Constitution has justification for this power grab. Even a Federal bureaucrat couldn't do that and keep a straight face.
Cities existed before states were created
In which case they deprived their authority from colonial charters. That authority was inherited by the States. There is no city within the United States that stands alone with supreme sovereignty. Any city within the United States could be dissolved tomorrow if the State Legislature decided to do it and their Governor was willing to sign off on it.
We fought a fucking war to prove that point!
Red herring. I didn't claim the States could or should leave the Union. I simply claimed that the Federal Government can't decide for them how much power they wish to delegate to their political subdivisions. You should familiarize yourself with the 10th Amendment and concept of enumerated powers.
By all accounts he is talking to the authorities. He has retained counsel and has declined to talk to the media (a smart move that....) but NTSB says he's been cooperative with their investigation. As far as what happened, he claims to have no memory of the crash. That's quite common after head trauma, even the NTSB guys don't seem to think it's suspicious in the least.
I would find it more amusing to watch them plugged full of
The technology to keep a low powered laser designator aimed at a moving target is no different than the technology needed to keep a high powered laser weapon aimed at a moving target.
In WW2 we had analog computers that could aim guns at moving targets from moving platforms. This is actually a harder proposition than aiming a laser; bullets don't move at the speed of light and you've got to compute lead. They did it without electronic computers. There's nothing that's particularly impressive about keeping a laser on target in 2015.
Look at it this way, can, or should, the state be able to override a county's ability to limit a cities property tax?
In the United States? Absolutely. That's how our system is structured. The States retain all powers not specifically surrendered to the Federal Government, per the US Constitution. They are sovereign entities in their own right, not dependent on Washington for their power. Their political subdivisions are completely arbitrary creations, that can be created or destroyed at the whim of the State Legislature.
If push comes to shove, what happens if NC or TN simply dissolve the political subdivisions that are attempting to do this? Will the FCC also try and prevent that? Where would that authority come from?
It cannot deal with non-lethal modes of attack (rubber dingy)
If the guys in the dingy are trying to kill you why would you limit your response to the non-lethal? You can defend against that shit with something that's nearly as cheap as the laser, which has more than a century of proven effectiveness in combat.
We don't need to spend millions (billions?) of dollars on laser technology to deal with small boat attacks. Some people like to talk a big game about swarm attacks but there's no where to hide on the open ocean; going after any modern warship on the high seas in speedboats is a fast way to meet your creator without taking any of your enemies along for the ride.
A nice thick cloud of opaque smoke could do the trick.
How do you lay a nice thick cloud of opaque smoke at hypersonic reentry velocities?
There never was a mission for the navy to shoot down nuclear missiles. there may have been a mission to shoot down anti-ship missiles. But they already had the Phalax and it is probably as effective as laser would ever be for that mission.
Phalanx and other gun based CIWS are being depreciated in favor of missiles like the Rolling Airframe Missile. Guns can't deal as effectively with supersonic missiles and/or those that undertake terminal evasive maneuvers. They've also got a stopping power problem; breaking apart an incoming missile doesn't negate its kinetic energy and the inbound pieces retain the ability to do significant damage to modern warships even without a warhead detonation. The British lost at least one warship -- HMS Sheffield -- in the Falklands to a missile strike without warhead detonation. Mission kills are even easier; take out a few radar antennas (highly exposed targets that can not be armored or otherwise protected) and the ship is rendered combat ineffective.
But the drone situation changed everything.
Drones aren't new to naval warfare. A missile is essentially a drone with a different name. One might even argue that a kamikaze is the same thing, at least from the perspective of the target.
I'll add that maybe what is most impressive is not the laser power, but the control system required to keep the beam on a moving target at a mile away. The author seemed to miss that part of the technology.
We've had that technology for decades now; it's not new or impressive.
Any program which runs right is obsolete.
