I just had to acknowledge that this little exchange made my day. Posts like this are why I keep coming back to /.

You haven't ever tried to dig a hole in the desert there have you boy-o? Don't be ridiculous, my skills as a programmer surpass mere mortals, my programs write other programs for me. Lighten up.

Actually you may be on the right path here, even though I hope you are completely off track. The problem is that I like to get paid a decent salary to play with computers and mainframes, your prediction, should it come to pass, would be a serious impediment to quite a few people. You should retract this post; I have already dug enough holes outside Terlingua, Texas that it is becoming increasingly difficult to explain tax write-offs for thousands of dollars worth of shovels.

Look here now, you jumped into a direct personal attack, the troll linked to a website that is known for that kind of Super Hawk trash. I have NEVER claimed to be on par with a front line soldier, it would be demeaning to the soldier. But since you want to go, the video is grainy because of the encryption, it's crystal f'ing clear on the gunners screen. I have been IN an Apache alright so I know a little something about it. You seem to be operating under the assumption that I am anti-military, actually I am a firm supporter of having a standing army. Quite a few of my friends are soldiers, marines, and sailors. The ONLY reason I'm not serving is due to a knee injury that they will not let pass from a car accident. I just happen to also believe that, as a country, we decided that the MOST important thing was the rule of law and that applies to our military. They lied about coming under RPG fire to obtain permission to fire on a group of possible insurgents. That is the whole POINT! Seriously though when you are BEGGING a guy to go for a weapon so you can fire again, you are looking at a cowboy gunner. I support the military, I support the rule of law, but I do NOT support a cowboy letting loose on a bunch of civilians. And the kids, come on now! "Their fault for bringing them to a battle" They were trying to help a wounded man! Mis-interpretation is a bitch, but when you fail, innocent people DIE in the real world. You do not have the luxury of making mistakes.

You know what's funny about that opinion piece? It is wrong. That is NOT an RPG, those are NOT AK-47s. I can understand why someone would think so, but they are obviously not, I know a telephoto lensed camera profile when I see one. Also since when does embedding yourself with a group, as a reporter, make YOU an enemy combatant? I reported on a group of local homeless crack users in HS, does that make ME a homeless crack head? I would also like to ask, when has reporting on a CRIME committed by armed forces made you anti-American? Not to mention that you have to be attacked or protecting US Forces under attack to engage an enemy group according to the US Rules of Engagement, violating those rules IS in fact a crime under military law. Also if you listen you will hear the pilot lie, saying they were under RPG fire, he said this AFTER practically begging for permission to shoot. So, where is this RPG? Watch the video again, carefully, before you show yourself to be an even bigger idiot than they guy who posted the above article.

No comrade, in Soviet Russia you pick a thousand mushrooms and give it to the Homeland, in return you receive one mushroom.

I take it you never went out on a late night bender and ended up in the company of Tesla and Poe. Now that my friends is worth the three day hangover.

The colors man, the colors!

We are all slaves, now come down from there and fill out this census.

I think people underestimate the psychological effect of small bombings, I've been in one, sure I didn't have a scratch on me, but running through the gore with peices of people raining down on me, that I will never forget. To this day I abhore elevators and open front shops, they scare me to death, so in a way it was a terrorist victory, the difference is I take that fear and keep on doing what I want instead of hiding. Hit small town America and watch these parents pull their kids out of school, off teams, demanding more cops on the grounds, metal detectors, the national guard, security dogs. THAT is what terrorists really want, mass panic, marshal law, the suspension of human rights, because THEN they have a victory over our system of freedom, once they take away the SENSE of freedom there is no need to destroy Democracy, you just let it crumble. "Maybe thats exactly what they want, us to put soldiers on the streets, and herd our kids into stadiums." - The Seige. After 9/11 people were scared of planes and skyscrapers, what if it had been a bus or three, or a school, a prison, a courthouse, a McDonalds. Hit them were they feel safe is twice as damaging as hitting them where they are already afraid, make little Johnny afraid to go to school because the muslim kids might blow themselves up, trigger panic and racism and then really watch this country burn. Least, that is what I would do, if I were a terrorist.

Bingo, you win a cookie. The truth is that as fear inspiring as a "shock and awe" bombing is, like say an airplane, if you REALLY wanted to damage this country you would set off a sarin gas bomb at four or five homecoming rallies at middle schools, one a day for a school week, claim to represent Iran, and watch the sparks fly. "People said Hitler was crazy, Hitler wasn't crazy, Hitler was an imbecile. You don't FIGHT Russia and America, you get Russia and America to fight each other, and destroy each other."

Listen, I am not sure at all that the parent was attempting to say that violence, in this specific case, was the default solution. I believe, and could be mistaken, that he/she was talking about last resorts. The main premise here is if it is justifiable to break the law if the law is unjust; the answer, according to historical precedent, is a resounding YES. Need a few examples? Civil rights movement in the US, it was ILLEGAL for Americans of African descent to eat at "all white" establishments. This is a prime example of an unjust law, and by staging sit ins and restaurant owners allowing desegregated restaurants they were, by law, criminals. My grandfather was a criminal because he refused to have segregated bathrooms or drinking fountains in his store, he was given numerous tickets and fines over the years and was the object of intense harassment, I live in NC, just so you know. In the face of an oppressive government which, by nominal standards, is criminal armed resistance is certainly a fair choice. The American Revolution, the French Revolution, Cuba, Brazil, the current situation in Iran, these are great examples of justifiable force. The people who advocate a peace only approach are generally the first to surrender their rights, granted not in all cases, but "bloodless" revolutions, even justified ones, tend to end with the rebellion being put down by overwhelming force. An anonymous friend of mine participated in the Iranian Revolution and told me from the start it could only end in one or two ways, the Government using force, or the Resistance using force, the world watched the end result of that little experiment. If you are in a small unarmed group and the government comes with guns saying; "Disband or we attack," there is little you can do. If you are implying that small groups of, terrorists, can't make a difference I advise you to get a history book. Horrible as it may have been good luck arguing that the 9/11 hijackers didn't completely change American history!

You know I have often wondered if evolution isn't simply a race to sentience. It might seem bizarre, but with all the risks consciousness brings it also brings the best chance for long term survival by creative thinking. As for bootstrapping technology there is always this assumption that our technology is going to be ANYTHING like theirs. Sure there are universal constants and those should give us some measure of compatibility unless they have a completely different perception of the Universe. We are largely visual creatures so we naturally assume another intelligent species would be as well, except it might be far too much of a liability on plenty of planets to have something so weak as an eye and be so dependent on it. Other races could just as easily describe the world in terms smell, electromagnetic fields, vibrations, temperature, etc.

I'm still trying to figure out why everyone is assuming that there are likely tons of more advanced civilizations out there, I mean it is entierly possible that we are way ahead of the curve. Problem is, without MUCH faster than light travel, when we, or they, show up to Visit they are likely to find Neanderthals or Gods. Too many variables, too early in the morning, too much tusinex.

While I may be off base here I do have a suggestion; perhaps we could all cut a deal with the Japanese, give them a new country, preferably NOT in the middle of cyclone central, and far away from the Chinese, we then decimate the island, place all of the prison lifers/deathers on the island giving them only tools to hunt Jellyfish, and leave. We either get rid of the prisoners or the jellyfish and preferably BOTH. What's this "humane" you speak of?