posted
..stands for Robust Nuclear Earth Pentrator.
And apparently the federal government just approved a feasibility study for its development. Linky
Does anyone know much of anything about this? I really don't like the sound of it, from what little I heard. I'm really hoping their "study" doesn't lead to the development of such a weapon.
(So to others here who think I blanket-accept everything this Bush adminstration endorses. This is one of many things that seriously concerns me)
posted
Oh crap, they must have ceased development of the painful dart bomb. I do hope they continue these worthwhile weapons development projects.
Posts: 4753 | Registered: May 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
I think some yutz is overly enamored with using nukes.
"Bunker Busters" are a new generation of weapons designed to penetrate the types of defenses we had never anticipated running into before, but I don't think the weapons need to be nuclear to be effective.
I will defer to the more scientifically minded in that evaluation though.
posted
Well, maybe I'm heartless -- but I'm not even thinking about the possible human toll this thing could take.
I'm thinking about it environmentally.
You kill 1/3 of the people on earth, the species of man would still survive.
But you start sending bombs deep into the earth and blowing them up, upsetting the entire eco-balance -- and you can kiss the entire population goodbye.
FG
edit: I gotta start proofreading before I submit
Posts: 9538 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
If you don't want to be on the receiving end of a "bunker buster", don't be hiding in the bunker and you probably shouldn't have picked a fight with someone willing to inflict meaningful death and destruction (edit: in response).
Another example - if you want to riot, knock yourself out. But I don't want to hear any whining if you get hurt.
posted
If you're making a reference to the concentration camps,
c) Left when the Nazi party started gaining power d) Not trusted your well-being to people using you and yours as scapegoats e) Gone down fighting f) Taken more aggressive measures against the Nazi political party g) Insert your own hindsight answer here
People do bad things to each other. Expecting people not to do bad things to you because you didn't do anything to them is stupid, naive and suicidal.
Maybe they have a legitimate gripe, maybe they don't. But you're trusting your safety to someone's better judgement? Let's hope they have a better judgement first, before we trust our safety to it.
Of course, since you'd like to argue this, racial genocide was unheard of in "modern" times at that point, so the Jewish thought of "this too shall pass" was not an inappropriate response as it had served them reasonably well during the course of European history.
-Trevor
Edit: For structure.
Posts: 5413 | Registered: Jun 2004
| IP: Logged |
quote:c) Left when the Nazi party started gaining power
And gone WHERE, exactly? Most countries refused to take Jewish immigrants (or severely restricted their numbers) long before the 1930s. Many who tried to leave long before things got bad were unable to do so. And after 1938, forget it.
There's a reason why people like Wallenberg are such heroes; getting people out was very difficult.
quote: d) Not trusted your well-being to people using you and yours as scapegoats
What other choice did they have? WHERE could they have gone where that was not the case?
quote: e) Gone down fighting
Are you familiar with the Warsaw Ghetto uprising? Many of the other ghettos had similar incidents (although not as well known). And then there were the partisans and other freedom fighters.
quote: f) Taken more aggressive measures against the Nazi political party
Because Jews had lots of political capital in the 1930s . . .
Really, Trevor. I expected more from you.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Where is the group that is so powerful, so much in control of its fate, that it does not have to trust in others? Such trust is the basis of civilisation. We trust that our neighbours will not invade our homes, kill us, and steal our possessions - because if we did not have such trust, we would need to each find our own cave, and defend it with a club.
I really don't think you should be blaming the victims for the crime.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Rivka: I never said it was a winning proposition. But it would have avoided KoM's "not be gassed" scenario.
I also never said it was fair and sometimes you can't win without redefining the contextual definition of "victory".
King: I haven't blamed any victims yet - or could you clarify at what point I did blame a victim?
Clarifications, as they seem needed: Thank you, KoM, for a creative application of my general statement.
There's a fine line between blaming the victim and acknowledging a victim's own culpability in the offense.
Blaming Jews for falling prey to Nazi attrocities before and during WW2 is blaming the victim unfairly. The Jews did nothing to warrant the scape goats they were turned into for Hitler's Germany. And as Rivka pointed out, viable alternative options were highly limited.
However, if I as a non-white choose to exercise my right to walk past a Neo-Nazi skinhead rally, whoops. It's a shame that in a perfect world that I can't choose to walk down that particular street at that particular time without being in reasonable fear for my life. However, the reality is, it's also amazingly stupid act for me as a "non-white" to deliberately taunt the inevitable and then have the nerve to be surprised when my stupid decision comes back to bite me in the ass. And kick me in the head.
Particularly when I have other options available to me and I fail to make a better choice.
"Blame the victim" is such a generic cliche - it's as worn and tired as the perpetual "you're only doing this because I'm black" line of garbage.