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I was not talking about a well reasoned decision to start, stop, or whatever to aid. I was talking about your phrasing. It accused Pakistani's in general as being "unworthy" of US aid or attention. Not sir, the language of diplomacy, and not well reasoned. Why am I picking on you when this...

This quote, from Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds elucidates the flaw in democracy that persists despite what I have said previously said. "Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses...

You are missing the point. The power of democracy is not that the potato seller is so smart or well informed. He may be, but in all probability he is not. No the power of crowds is that since the majority has not the slightest clue what the hell is going on, they are as likely to swing one way...

I certainly hope that statement is hyperbole. To claim that the entirety of 173 million people is "undeserving" reeks of arrogance and excessive, thoughtless nationalism. It undermines your argument. I'm sure the nation of Pakistan has plenty of well intentioned needy people who would put aid to...

True, but a bit of a misrepresentation, give credit where it is due: "Ironically, given the Soviet Union's failure to exploit stealth technology, the key breakthrough in developing a stealth airplane came from theoretical studies by Pytor Ufimtsev, the chief scientist at the Moscow Institute...

What is the shot shell for? Do you keep it around to deal with snakes or other unpleasant critters about the house, or do you hunt small game/use it as a survival pistol? How well does it work? I have been looking into a pistol that fires .45 colt and .410 shotgun rounds, but have questions...

Now, let us assume you are talking about some close in non-nuclear EMP weapon or some HEMP producing high altitude detonation. One that is capable of frying all the electronics on a commercial airliner. If the aircraft has digital fly-by-wire controls (Designed and built sometime after...

Depends on if it is an air or ground burst and the specific distance from the burst. In most scenarios, a high altitude burst is on the "unlikely" side of things, so lets assume you are talking about a low altitude air-burst which produce Source Region Electro-magnetic Pulse [SREMP]. This is...

I understand what the original poster's question is but it is important to remember: "My country has no friends, it has adversaries, and those which may one day be adversaries." Friendly diplomatic relations are often useful, sometimes not. A country is a an ever shifting tapestry of millions...

Much appreciated, I am somewhat familiar with Kalman filters from a "history of the space program" class way back in the nether-regions of my brain. I'll look into it. I seem to recall hearing my professor calling Kalman a jerk with an overinflated ego as well, so we didn't spend to much time on...

So I assume they have fixed the barrel heat problems since 1942? If you have ever done a buddy rush with an M-60, you probably thanked your lucky stars the moment you got to set the bloody thing down, I imagine the MG-3 creates a similar sensation. The Minimi fixed most of the weight issues...

Your post about IR missile guidance intrigued me, it is outside the bounds of my bailiwick, but I would like to know more. Can you suggest any books or manuals as a starting point? I'm an engineer and codemonkey, so you need not worry about it being too technical.

Holy Mackerel! Did I just spot an MG42 on .52 or so? Or is that a later model MG3, which is as far as I can tell, indistinguishable? One might imagine in the intervening 67 years a better MG might have been invented...

He tied once or twice though...

Although the Boyd comment is interesting, the first reference I ever heard to the cobra maneuver said that it was a way to quickly lose airspeed in some type of emergency high speed landing situation. It also had a caveat about it being "mostly for show". Can't remember what book I read it in...

Although I agree the original poster needs to get his head screwed on straight, I feel it necessary to correct you assertion. Legionaries accrue leave, starting at 15 days a year and increasing up to 55. During this time they can go where they wish within France, including visiting their...

I will dispense with my personal opinions now: His basic premise seems very "Well duh..." to anyone with any military or police background at all. Or hell, anyone who paid any attention to the war in Iraq. You are not going to "kill" hardened murders with "kindness". The insurgency will not...

Actually, people have been trying to find a happy medium between the 5.56 and 7.62 since the early 70's. Most of the early work focused around the 7mm magnum common to many hunting rifles. For various reasons, the ballistics of the 7mm just couldn't be finessed into a better cartridge than was...

Annihilation and Exhaustion Victory through battle is the most important moment in war. Victory alone will break the will of the enemy and will subordinate his will to ours. Neither the capture of terrain, fortress, nor severance of lines of communication will achieve this objective. To achieve...

From: Quadrant Online - How to Win in Afghanistan Military activity is never directed against material force alone; it is always aimed simultaneously at the moral forces which give it life, and the two cannot be separated. —Clausewitz General Sir Gerald Templar’s admonition during the...