Posts by Rich Lock
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Keith, none of that really came across in your original post.
-
-
Robyn? Does "Clean Peter Davison opening" mean that somewhere there is a Dirty Peter Davison opening?
Tom's coming!
Now there's a first: collaborative Dr Who slashfic on PAS.
-
which seems to be a universally terrifying sound to children
Clearly because you don't want the plughole monster to get you if you're not out of the bath by the time all the water goes.
Duh.
-
finally, they make reference to "bushmaster" which is probably the 25mm variety of autocannon
The M242 is not used on aircraft. The AC-130U and the AV-8 Harrier II use a different 25 mm weapon, the 5-barrel GAU-12/U. The sister weapon of the M242, the M230 30 mm chain gun, is standard equipment on the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter.
It is standard practice for aircraft such as helicopters to be constantly moving. It makes them harder to hit.
Also, I read somewhere recently that Apache crew can usually only guarantee to get rounds within about 10m of th intended target. It's not usually pinpoint-accuracy shooting.
-
he argues that it's visible at the scale of millennia, centuries, decades, and years and gives recent stats/examples.
Without having watched the lecture, I think it's a good point. In the long-term, our legal system has evolved in a way that puts more focus on the protection and rights of the individual over that of, say, the pre-medieval robber baron, or the king/tribal chief as the ultimate authority.
But I think this is a good point, too;
I think there is an argument that the police and prisons are both reactions to a problem, not solutions. We would rather remove the threat to our 'society' from circulation than deal with the underlying issues of inequality, greed, property and so on.
-
I reckon most people live their lives without reference to laws, in communities, as human beings. Laws are an imposition that serve the interests of the ruling classes.
So if we got rid of them, how would we stop the sort of blood-feud based chaos that tends to emerge whereever an effective legal system is absent?
Oh, come now Lucy. Surely we can all strive to make our society a little more like the modern-day paradise on earth that is peaceful, prosperous and most important of all, law-free, Somalia.
-
Everyone else is a wog to them.
no such thing as a wog in the US.
"sand nigger" is the phrase you're looking for.
The ejection incident Giovanni referred to took place in Italy.
I'm not going to post the appropriate slur, but I don't think that one above is technically correct.
-
It's not just that they have 'developed a culture'. It saturates every single aspect of army life and training. It didn't grow in a petri dish someone left in an army barracks while their backs were turned - 'warrior culture' is the aim. It is actively fostered and encouraged.
When was the last time the US army fought a hot war against an enemy that was clearly identifiable and easily distingushed from the civilian population? Sixty years ago? Closer to seventy now?
And yet every aspect of their training is focussed on on hardcore combat. That you will be able to easily identify your enemy, and kill him with overwhelming firepower.
A couple of quotes from this article on the US Marines in Afghanistan:
The men finding themselves in this tricky position were often no more than 19 or 20 years old. Mostly from Florida, and North or South Carolina, (their base is Camp Lejeune, North Carolina) many had never before left their home states. They had been trained to kill (and openly fantasised about "dropping" people), but were now being told to hold back and instead build relationships with the local community.
"I wish the bad guys had uniforms."
Seriously, how many fucking decades does it take for even the most reactionary, conservative, monolithic organisation to realise that the focus needs to change?
-
The point I made in the 'David Garrett' thread a little while ago still stands, I think.
If you put damaged, dysfuntional, violent people in jail with no hope of release, or incentive for behaving well (time off their sentence), then what possible reason would they have for changing their ways?
Personally, I do think prison should serve a dual purpose of punishment and rehabilitation. But the emphasis at the moment is far too heavily on punishment, and far, far too little on rehabilitation.