cyrena,

You properly correct me on more than one count. I do over-generalize with my “reflexive distaste for the military” stuff and you are correct that discussion of the purposes to which the military is put are properly separately evaluated from whether there should be one at all. I modify what I said to be consistent with all you say. Sorry and thanks for the guidance and clarification.

I especially take your point that the non-benign purpose for the military developing technology--technology that may eventually find alternate benign uses--is kind of dumb way for a technological society to function.

Jim Yell

I’m not sure it is a distinction that makes a difference, but it was a state militia that acted at Kent State, not the federal army. I may be wrong, but I think the last time the army used force to quell a domestic disturbance was in Detroit’s 1967 riots.

You are, in my opinion, correct that the very act of militarizing our society is an evil in and of itself. Can’t and don’t argue there.

David Fisher:

I think you got to the nub--it’s a matter of priorities. We prefer to spend on military toys and foreign wars instead of infant medical and elderly care.

One doesn’t have to be reflexively anti-military to see that our priorities are WAY OFF.

Ike was concerned that militarism is its own self-fulfilling prophesy. Every dollar spent on defense results in a part of that dollar being kicked back into the political process to encourage more expenditure. I think military contractors should not be buying...opps, “contributing” to elected leaders and most certainly shouldn’t own TV networks.

David Fisher: The U.S, spends more money each year on war and weapons than all the rest of the world put together. Just think, if all that money was put to better use by making the world better for all of us. Now that would encourage other countries to want to emulate us instead of what this administration has done to the world and America, turned almost the whole world against us.

Thank the current leadership for making the United States a pariah in the eyes of the world.

cyrena

Well..........yeah, there is all you say, but besides that....maybe some of what I said isn’t completely chewed up and showed to be lame...........ain’t there--even if I can’t find it now?

I don;t see this as too big of a deal. For decades there have been countless stories of futuristic technologies for warfare, but somehow they never seem to get adopted.

Whatever happened to lasers to blow up ships of the 80’s? Whatever happened to jet packs from the 60’s?

Besides, if there is one thing we know from all of military history, is that, save for nuclear weapons, virtually every weapon ever developed gets a counter-defense, and vice-versa.

By Issywise, August 10 at 5:22 am #
• “I know all the people who gather here have a reflexive distaste for the military, but if protecting the peace isn’t justification enough for you, what about all the good scientific research it finances?”
Issywise, this is a dangerous misconnection on your part, but seems to be the order of the day with the majority of folks who are simply unable or unwilling to operate their organic hard drives on more than one channel at a time, and frequently combine the subjective with the objective…so frequently that they cannot tell them apart.

So, whether you realize it or not, ‘all the people who gather here’ do NOT necessarily have a ‘reflexive distaste’ for the military. In fact, there are few people (IMHO and research) who have any objections to a military that provides for the DEFENSE of our nation, or even the maintenance of REPECTFUL relationships with the rest of the world of nations. Millions of Americans have devoted portions or ALL of their lives in that effort, and we certainly DO appreciate that. Common sense and an understanding of history dictates that we, (along with most of the rest of the world) would maintain a military for this purpose.

Consequently, anything that you perceive as a ‘reflective distaste’ is NOT a matter of distaste for ‘the military’; but rather for the ‘purpose’ of that military, which long ago changed from “DEFENSE” to OFFENSE. The USE of the US military to aggressively spread US hegemony and global domination is not the point for which the military was initially intended. And, while I suspect that most of us can appreciate the advance of science and modern technology, this ‘science’ that you reference included the atomic bomb, (highly destructive and we’re the only ones to have ever used it) and other less than benign ‘inventions’.

And, the intent of this particular science, (as suggested by the article) doesn’t bode well as any benign or useful technology either, since I don’t see the military operating with the same intentions as Casper, the “friendly” ghost. So, what benign (or defensive) purpose could the military have in making people and objects invisible? Talk about a new take on the Trojan Horse war tactic. Never mind disguising oneself as something else, just adjust the light and make yourself flippin’ DISAPPEAR!! Now THAT’S taking perfidy to a whole other stratosphere, way beyond anything Orwell or Houdini could have cooked up. (I never did trust that tricky bastard Houdini anyway.)

So, aside from the fact that I’ve occasionally wished that I could make MYSELF invisible, I’ve got enough sense to know that I wouldn’t want anybody else to have the same advantage on me. (though I know blind people have learned to adjust to that)

Jeeze...what next?

Jim Yell,

1. Alternate uses of the money: I’m sure the infrastructure would be useful and possible, and that an alternate energy source would be useful too, but I’m coming to doubt that we’ll ever get the kind of capital investment necessary to develop such an energy source.

I suspect the best energy source would be decentralized--meaning vendible to consumers through a meter that could be tied to a bill.  Only the promise of such huge jackpot seems capable of inducing business to pursue the investment necessary.

2. So how many “American Citizens” have been abused by military spending--excepting of course the volunteers in the military.  Do you believe our war machine abuses us more than it does foreigners?  I suspect, a great many foreigners might point out that the last time the American Military was deployed domestically--rather than in humanitarian efforts, was during the urban riots of the 1960s.

3. You say, “No matter how clever new weapons are they always wind up in the hands of other countries and then the effect has only been to escalate the problems between countries and encourage more violence. And industrialist get richer and the rest of us get dead.” I bow to your wisdom. There is nothing so certain in human affairs at the proliferation of military weapons and as likely for the future as that our funding a vast industrial military machine will cause its own countervailance.

can we use it to make the last 7+ years disappear along with those who caused it? wishful thinking.

By Purple Girl, August 10 at 6:35 am #

Most likely a denial of service “bug” brought to you by the same Infosys and Amdocs pukes who have trapdoored our country.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/ JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1215331137728

Funny thing I’ve been having constant problems with my internet connection when I am blogging on Truthdig & Alternet. My control panel says’ I still connceted, the tabs are Up and the modem box shows it operating- but when I hit ‘Send’/Post,my computer comes up with ‘Webpage unable to be found’ and I am entirely kicked off- requiring me to shut down the computer & unhook the cable, and some times that doesn’t even work.
Charter has sent out Tech 4 times now- first it was faulty installation, then fluxs in the signal, then the modem box switched out, and now they calim my computer Ethernet card has gone bad - one both ethernet outlet jacks. Funnier is that when I hook up my ‘08 HP laptop I still have the same Problem.
so tell me more about that mysterious Room in SF where the internet is re routed to.
How can they control not only the websites I go too- but also my computer? Why is it certain subjects/Comments will cause this problem?
WE all know Big Brither is Here, but could He already be standing behind me as I type?

I know all the people who gather here have a reflexive distaste for the military, but if protecting the peace isn’t justification enough for you, what about all the good scientific research it finances?