The questions-not-worth-their-own-thread question thread V

[Ulyaoth]

Change your name to Anthony then

huh? what?

 

[ParadigmShifter]

It's a lame gag involving Tone and the shortened form of the name Anthony.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

You need a guidance package optimized for the type of attack the missile is intended for. A carrier is a moving target, you can't just give a missile a place to aim at and expect a hit. You need the missile to track the target in real time and adjust it's course. There are cruise missiles with a "pop up" feature, but they don't go mach 5 up to the stratosphere outside of the air defense envelope. And it they did, they would be very visible while doing it. The reason for sea skimmers is that they stay below the horizon, and therefore siteline, until they are very close.

A hit on the island would not disable flight operations. They simply do not carry a large enough warhead for that. Better to put holes in the deck. Better yet to put holes at the waterline.

In my enthusiasm for an idea, I have overlooked certain things, such as the fact that a carrier needs to steam into the wind to carry out flight operations. Okay, assume the missile has the correct guidance package, and it has the ability to climb high and reach hypersonic speeds. How would the fleet stop such an attack when it climbs outside the fleet's defense bubble and it descends at extremely high speed? Also, even if the missile does not gut the island, the communication antennas on it would suffer immensely.

 

[Cutlass]

In my enthusiasm for an idea, I have overlooked certain things, such as the fact that a carrier needs to steam into the wind to carry out flight operations. Okay, assume the missile has the correct guidance package, and it has the ability to climb high and reach hypersonic speeds. How would the fleet stop such an attack when it climbs outside the fleet's defense bubble and it descends at extremely high speed? Also, even if the missile does not gut the island, the communication antennas on it would suffer immensely.

It could reduce communication ability, but that in and of itself won't take a carrier out of business.

As for the hypersonic terminal dive,

Navy shoots down simulated Scud missile
Sea-based exercise aimed at widening missile defense options
Image: Guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie
U.S. Navy via AFP - Getty Images
Two modified SM-2 Block IV interceptors are launched from the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie on Thursday during a test aimed at intercepting a short-range ballistic missile.


By Audrey McAvoy
updated 11:47 a.m. ET, Fri., June. 6, 2008

HONOLULU - The U.S. military intercepted a ballistic missile Thursday in the first such sea-based test since a Navy cruiser shot down an errant satellite earlier this year.

The military fired the target, a Scudlike missile with a range of a few hundred miles, from a decommissioned amphibious assault ship near Hawaii’s island of Kauai.

The USS Lake Erie, based at Pearl Harbor, fired two interceptor missiles that shot down the target in its final seconds of flight about 12 miles (19 kilometers) above the Pacific Ocean.
Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad here

The target was shot down about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Kauai in its final seconds of flight, about five minutes after it was fired.

The test showed Navy ships are capable of shooting down short-range targets in their last phase of flight using modified missiles the service already has, the military said.

The Navy and the Missile Defense Agency have already demonstrated that ships equipped with Aegis ballistic missile defense technology can intercept midrange targets in midcourse of flight.

The Lake Erie in February shot down a U.S. spy satellite that had lost power and become uncontrollable. Military commanders worried that the satellite would break up and spread debris over several hundred miles if it fell to Earth on its own.

The shootdown was the Aegis ballistic missile defense program’s first real-world mission.

Rear Adm. Brad Hicks, the program’s director, told reporters in a conference call after Thursday’s test that the Lake Erie fired two interceptors to increase the probability of interception.

The Navy does that when a target is close to hitting the surface, he said.

Over the next 20 months, the military plans to install terminal-phase missile interception capability on all 18 Navy ships equipped with Aegis ballistic missile defenses, Hicks said.

He said the technology would give commanders more options to defend against missiles, particularly if the Patriot missile defense system — a land-based technology designed to shoot down missiles in their final phase of flight — was unavailable.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24994045/

 

[Camikaze]

Does anyone have the foggiest idea as to why Melbourne, of all places, is getting earthquakes?

 

[King of Town]

Has anyone here ever gone streaking?

 

[Sharwood]

Does anyone have the foggiest idea as to why Melbourne, of all places, is getting earthquakes?

I watched The Core the other night, I think the US is testing earthquake machines. honestly, earthquakes do sometimese occur in the weirdest of places, but both were incredibly minor. Even Newcastle was a pitiful earthquake on a global scale, and it's the only one in Australian history to actually do anything of note. Hell, last year we had four earthquakes supposedly in my suburb of Sydney, I didn't feel one. I actually slept through an earthquake, I'm sure not many can claim that.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Are there even any major Hollywood releases today that are not adaptations or remakes?

 

[Ulyaoth]

Think the Duggar family would marry off one of their daughters to me? I've been watching that show the past few days and some of the girls are kinda hot, don't know their names though, whatever, I'm sure they'd love me, I can pretend to be a religious nutjob good.

 

[Sharwood]

Are there even any major Hollywood releases today that are not adaptations or remakes?

Some are just really bad sequels and prequels. Oh, there's also, *snigger* WWE Films. Everything they make is highly original. Good too.

^^^ Give it a shot, but surely you can do better.

 

[Annex]

So for my Terrorism class this term I have to write a 12 page paper about anything related to Terrorism. In class Tuesday my teacher said something about 9/11 being similar to the first Star Wars movie so I though I would take him up on that.
My topic proposal is due tomorrow, is there anything I should change/add?

Spoiler :

Those who commit acts of terrorism often do not think they warrant the title “terrorist” and the negative connotations associated with it. Rather they see themselves as virtuous freedom fighters. This scenario is certainly applicable to groups such as al Qaeda. Those who commit violence for al Qaeda believe that they do so justly, and for the greater good of their people, who have been repressed and violated by western nations, particularly Israel and the United States. The US has deep political, economic, cultural, and military ties to the majority of places on Earth, a fact which deeply upsets many residents of the Middle East. When Middle Eastern citizens are killed by US military actions, either purposefully or accidently, this often causes surviving family and friends to swear allegiance to fundamentalist Islamic terrorist groups. Because of their dedication to Allah, they believe that a divine force guides them in their holy war. In my paper I intend to show how this situation is analogous that that of the first Star Wars film, including how the “freedom fighter” mentality of al Qaeda and the Rebel Alliance are similar. In this movie the Galactic Empire has control politically, economically, and militarily over the majority of planets in the galaxy. The Galactic Empire even has a military presence on the distant outer rim planet of Tatooine, where the Imperial Stormtroopers are responsible for the murder of innocent natives, including the poor moisture farmers Owen and Beru Lars. After learning of the death of his Aunt and Uncle, their nephew Luke Skywalker feels that he has no choice but to join the Rebel Alliance, a group which has vowed to defeat the Empire through the use of guerilla warfare and acts of terrorism. Luke is eventually trained in the ways of the Force by a mystic who has been hiding in exile on the planet Dagobah. Because of this training, Luke believes that he holds an important advantage over those who do not believe in the Force, and that this presence will guide him during his attacks on the Empire. The greatest attack by the Rebel Alliance targets the Deathstar space station, which is used not only a military weapon, but as a symbol of the technological, economic, and political dominance of the Galactic Empire.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

My God! I never made the connection between Bin Laden and George Lucas before, it seems so obvious now!

 

[Cutlass]

So for my Terrorism class this term I have to write a 12 page paper about anything related to Terrorism. In class Tuesday my teacher said something about 9/11 being similar to the first Star Wars movie so I though I would take him up on that.
My topic proposal is due tomorrow, is there anything I should change/add?

Spoiler :

Those who commit acts of terrorism often do not think they warrant the title “terrorist” and the negative connotations associated with it. Rather they see themselves as virtuous freedom fighters. This scenario is certainly applicable to groups such as al Qaeda. Those who commit violence for al Qaeda believe that they do so justly, and for the greater good of their people, who have been repressed and violated by western nations, particularly Israel and the United States. The US has deep political, economic, cultural, and military ties to the majority of places on Earth, a fact which deeply upsets many residents of the Middle East. When Middle Eastern citizens are killed by US military actions, either purposefully or accidently, this often causes surviving family and friends to swear allegiance to fundamentalist Islamic terrorist groups. Because of their dedication to Allah, they believe that a divine force guides them in their holy war. In my paper I intend to show how this situation is analogous that that of the first Star Wars film, including how the “freedom fighter” mentality of al Qaeda and the Rebel Alliance are similar. In this movie the Galactic Empire has control politically, economically, and militarily over the majority of planets in the galaxy. The Galactic Empire even has a military presence on the distant outer rim planet of Tatooine, where the Imperial Stormtroopers are responsible for the murder of innocent natives, including the poor moisture farmers Owen and Beru Lars. After learning of the death of his Aunt and Uncle, their nephew Luke Skywalker feels that he has no choice but to join the Rebel Alliance, a group which has vowed to defeat the Empire through the use of guerilla warfare and acts of terrorism. Luke is eventually trained in the ways of the Force by a mystic who has been hiding in exile on the planet Dagobah. Because of this training, Luke believes that he holds an important advantage over those who do not believe in the Force, and that this presence will guide him during his attacks on the Empire. The greatest attack by the Rebel Alliance targets the Deathstar space station, which is used not only a military weapon, but as a symbol of the technological, economic, and political dominance of the Galactic Empire.

Yeah, get that teacher fired

 

[Annex]

My God! I never made the connection between Bin Laden and George Lucas before, it seems so obvious now!

I had a sneaking suspicion for a while now.

Yeah, get that teacher fired

Why? He was a Saudi Arabia and Yemen expert for the CIA pre 9/11.

 

[Cutlass]

I had a sneaking suspicion for a while now.



Why?

Some freedom fighters have been terrorists. Some terrorists have been freedom fighters. Terrorism is a tool. It can be used in a number of ways, and whether or not it is terrorism or not is a bit of of a question of what side people are on and what they are after and what actions they take.

Now you tell me what freedom can potentially be gained by killing thousands of people in a nation which at that time was in no way, shape, or form taking freedom away from their people?

 

[Annex]

Some freedom fighters have been terrorists. Some terrorists have been freedom fighters. Terrorism is a tool. It can be used in a number of ways, and whether or not it is terrorism or not is a bit of of a question of what side people are on and what they are after and what actions they take.

Now you tell me what freedom can potentially be gained by killing thousands of people in a nation which at that time was in no way, shape, or form taking freedom away from their people?

Neither of us said they are freedom fighters. Terrorists say they are freedom fighters. I am trying to explain why they think this.

 

[Cutlass]

Ok. Good luck with that

 

[Sharwood]

I had a sneaking suspicion for a while now.



Why? He was a Saudi Arabia and Yemen expert for the CIA pre 9/11.

I think you just stumbled on why the CIA didn't see this attack coming.

Unless the WTC had a giant planet-killing laser on the roof - a distinct possibility - there's no comparison. Now, you can argue that terrorists think the Force is on their side and that they're freedom fighters, but it's an incredibly weak argument.

Also, Bin Laden must be Mon Mothma, Saddam's Bail Organa with Iraq being Alderaan, who's Luke? And Han? Cheney being Vader is a given, but Bush isn't smart enough to be Palpatine or Tarkin. A weak puppet, Valoran? Does this make Putin Count Dooku? Screw it, I give up.

 

[Annex]

I think you just stumbled on why the CIA didn't see this attack coming.

Unless the WTC had a giant planet-killing laser on the roof - a distinct possibility - there's no comparison. Now, you can argue that terrorists think the Force is on their side and that they're freedom fighters, but it's an incredibly weak argument.

Dont forget, they did attack the Pentagon and had another target in mind. Im not saying al Qaeda thinks that the Force is on their side, either.
And Im sorry but how is arguing that al Qaeda believes themselves to be freedom fighters a weak argument?

Also, Bin Laden must be Mon Mothma, Saddam's Bail Organa with Iraq being Alderaan, who's Luke? And Han? Cheney being Vader is a given, but Bush isn't smart enough to be Palpatine or Tarkin. A weak puppet, Valoran? Does this make Putin Count Dooku? Screw it, I give up.

Im thinking Tatooine to be either Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan, Ayman al-Zawahiri is Obi Wan Kenobi, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is Yoda. As far as Luke, I dunno, one of the high jackers maybe. Im actually not too concerned with this stuff. I just want to equate the motives of the Rebel Alliance with that of al Qaeda, really.

 

[GoodGame]

Dont forget, they did attack the Pentagon and had another target in mind. Im not saying al Qaeda thinks that the Force is on their side, either.
And Im sorry but how is arguing that al Qaeda believes themselves to be freedom fighters a weak argument?

I don't think it's a very weak thesis but you have to stress that you're approaching it as a psychology of projection, like a hero myth analysis (e.g. author Joseph Campbell). To make it work you have to detail what aspects of their belief system that the terrorists project onto America/WTC and how the Star Wars ep.4 story is similiar. Otherwise people might think you're the one projecting some kind of goofy anti-American metaphor.

It's not necessarily a really strong thesis either though, since terrorists can be plain cold-blooded killers with no delusions about what they're doing.


I think Tatooine would do well as Afghanistan in your scheme. The rest of plot would be like scheme of cells that you could research from the 9/11 report. I guess Han smuggling Luke offworld would be like filtering through cells in Europe and the rest of the world (unamusingly the terrorist cells were in California and even Maryland towards the end of the plot).

I wouldn't worry about getting total matches of 'characters'. It's more about matching up the contexts.....and the motives as you say.