jfields

Sadly, that is an apt quote.

You also might want to hold off on posting e-mail addresses because they are officially for military use only. If the individuals choose to violate that, it is their option. But lets not get them in trouble for a flood of e-mail into their military accounts without their permission.

All we've done so far is show we care about our own interests. If we were really out to show our humanitarian nature and how much we care about poor, starving and opressed people, Iraqi or otherwise, we would have been helping in Africa, giving aid to North Korea, etc. But they don't have the oil we seem to want, so we don't seem to care. We have a little interest in North Korea because they have weapons, but nobody gives a shit about Africa at all. Let's just call it like it is, and avoid the "poor Iraqi people" propaganda.

Congrats, Wendy!

Richard, I'm not saying they were unaware they were hijacked. They were unaware that the hijackers didn't want to simply redirect the plane or negotiate for something. That is where they didn't have the knowledge they needed. I do partially fault our lax security. As you said, and our instructors, customs, etc. Part of the reason things were so loose is that tightening them up causes inconvenience that most people aren't willing to suffer through unless they are shown that the alternative can be worse. Sadly, even that isn't enough go convince people to have some patience with how things are going. I'm not fond of flying commercial, but if I do, I'll do my best to let the security people do their jobs.

Wendy is right. The paradigm changed in a single day. It used to be true that the best way to live through a hijacking was to be peaceful and let the hijacker get from point a to point b, which was often their goal. Either that or money, which they didn't get if they crashed the plane. September 11th changed that, but I don't find fault with the people that didn't fight. They didn't know they were supposed to, until a few on the last plane. It wasn't a lack of courage that caused their inaction, it was an unavoidable lack of knowledge.

I dount it. Nobody was wishing him a short life, just predicting it in a friendly, joking Canopy-Nazish sort of way.

Tom, I think we actually agree almost completely. The only difference seems to be a subtlety. There are educated informed people on both sides of the debate, and all points in the middle. There are also the "me-too's" I mentioned. My objection isn't with either side. It honestly isn't even with people that choose not to delve into the morass of world politics. I get irritated (my fault), when the UNinformed and UNeducated decide to not only hop on the bandwagon, but begin bashing the educated folks on the other bandwagon. It is just a personal pet peeve of mine. Generally, I tend toward the last option you mentioned. I play with my baby girl and ignore all of this except for a little while on the Internet every couple days. Life goes on... or it won't... but either way, I plan to enjoy what of it I have.

I wasn't specifically saying that about you, Slappie. But you do know the type of people I'm talking about.

True, but your creditors were probably a whole lot effective in reminding you about your debt than the world has been at reminding Iraq about their obligations. So far, Hussein has shown more patience and perseverence than we have. We didn't care enough to keep the pressure on between Gulf War I and the impending Gulf War II. That was our mistake.

That is vague. What are you trying to say? I said that my objection isn't which reasoned belief people come to, but for those who do not even care enough to make an educated decision. If you mean that is my opinion, then you are correct.

True. But it does help. And unlike many of the people clamoring for war, Bill at least seems to have been willing to invest time and effort learning about the issues. Other people may do so and come up with different opinions. I'm fine with that. My frustration is with the the flag-waving "me-too's" that don't even bother to attempt to understand the reality we live in.

I agree with that Kevin. The truth is always in the middle, but few people are willing to invest the time to find it. The extremes are much easier and have convenience going for them in the absence of truth.

Slappie, If it so important, let's take a look at what WE have done in the last 12 years. Were we as a nation concerned with how carefully he followed the UN resolutions? Did the average American even know about the UN resolutions? Basically, people didn't care. Where was the flag-waving before 9/11? Did you see people marching and campaigning to push Saddam out of power? I'm not saying Hussein is a good guy. But I question why the US cares so damned much all of a sudden. What about that other guy that barely makes the news anymore? What was his name... Oh yeah, Bin Laden. We have *proof* he was behind it, but he is still at large, and we prepare to go fight a different country. The bravado and "kick some butt, enforce the resolutions" talk from so many people that have never served their country and don't honestly even understand the issues goes to prove that the advertisers are right. As a collective body, the American people are a body of morons that want to be told what to think. That annoys me, but it is hard to argue with the validity of it.

Not to flame you, Slappie, but I'm fed up too, in the other direction. I'm annoyed at all the "patriots" that come out of the woodwork when it becomes fashionable to wave a flag and say they support America. Where were they when the recruiter called *before* 9/11? I dislike the tone we see where anyone questioning the actions our country takes or trying to look at it with an intelligent analytical approach is instantly deemed a traitor. When did blind subservience to propaganda replace carefully considered action as the American definition of civil responsibility?

I like a computer that is reliable and quick, but I'll skip the bling bling in favor of jump and beer money.

No, no, no! What he needs is a really awesome Packard Bell! You know, the kind with the memoy soldiered in? Those things are the shit! And fast too!

Why not? It probably wouldn't be any worse than Skreamer spotting.

AggieDave's farts?

Jack, If you can arrange some extra leave time at my job, I'd happily fly from Maryland to California to spend lots of money at your DZ and soak up your nice weather!

I'll pile on here... The sex scandals did diminish the pope's moral authority. When you are the head of the church and you forcefully decline to do what is right in relation to church scandal, you have abandoned the precepts of the very religion you're controlling. Putting the concerns of the attacker and focusing on damage control to the church instead of the victimized children shows me personally that the church has strayed from the path of rightousness they espouse. My objection isn't with the general Catholic population. They've done nothing wrong. It is with the misuse of authority. Priests and other church officials are not above the law. They should be held accountable just like you or I. Transferring them to a different parish or putting them in a different role away from children is insufficient response. They should be subject to the same civil and criminal proceedings as everyone else, with jail time if applicable. Anything either more or less is unfair and discriminatory. The situation happens all over the place. Police brutality diminishes respect for their authority. The bullying actions of the United States undermine our self-proclaimed role as the protector of liberty and justice. Edited for typos.

For what you described, I wouldn't worry too much about RAID. It all depends on your usage and paranoia level. On projects at work, I get seriously paranoid, because I can't afford data loss. So we do RAID 5 volumes that are mirrors of each other, plus backup to offsite RAID 5 servers, plus CDR and tape backup. At home, I burn my data files to CD and call it done. I can always just reinstall the OS and software from disc and copy the data back in case of failure. RAID probably isn't worth the money for you right now.

That is funny!

Now, THAT is disgusting.

That is pretty funny! Like you said, cool, even if way inaccurate.