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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

Antiteilchen In the pursuit of great, we failed to do good. Since: Sep, 2013
In the pursuit of great, we failed to do good.
#130976: Jul 19th 2016 at 9:44:28 AM

Hilarious detail: the only two lands with no active military at all are Antarctica... and Iceland.

You forgot Costa Rica.

DrDougsh Since: Jan, 2001
#130977: Jul 19th 2016 at 9:53:27 AM

The list shows a bunch of other countries with no active armed forces.

kkhohoho (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#130978: Jul 19th 2016 at 9:54:04 AM

Honestly, I'm not sure if this 'outbreak' is all its' cracked up to be.

“To the best of our knowledge,” Brulte said, delegation staff members were the only people affected.

Mind you, I might just be reading into this way too much, but the fact that only the California delegation seems to be affected so far is just a bit too much of a kowinkydink for my tastes.

edited 19th Jul '16 10:13:50 AM by kkhohoho

Protagonist506 from Oregon Since: Dec, 2013 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#130979: Jul 19th 2016 at 10:01:33 AM

IIRC, Iceland probably doesn't need a military given that Everyone Is Armed there.

Leviticus 19:34
TheWanderer Student of Story from Somewhere in New England (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Student of Story
#130980: Jul 19th 2016 at 10:02:36 AM

The Bundies are trying to turn their trial into an argument about whether or not the federal government has a right to own the park they were occupying. They're more interested in continuing to have the, "Return the land to the ranchers!" conversation they were trying to have with their guns than in actually proving their innocence. They can't have that conversation if they stay quiet.

They honestly seem to believe that it's possible for their case to end with the government going, "Okay, you got me. Your incredible negotiating skills have humbled us all. No more federal wildlife reserves. Ranchers can have the land, and since you were totes in the right all along, you're free to go."

And, as always, their case and entire point of view is entirely undermined by not having a single goddamn clue what they're talking about. Their position is that Constitutionally speaking, the government has no right to own land or decide how to use it. I wonder if there's any way to resolve this Constitutional crisis that they seem to imagine exists...

The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States

Article 4, Section 3, Clause 2 of the US Constitution.

So yes, the government can own land and other properties, and Congress can decide how they want to treat it. The Bundys and their buddies are ignorant dipshits. And like a lot of people, they have a delusion that whatever important document they've been told is crucial to their life (the Bible, the Constitution, etc.) is just some vague thing that backs up whatever they do, (they supposedly base their life around it afterall, even though they never actually read it and just go off a few cool sounding bits they've heard other people say, but of course it proves that they're right and good) rather than an actual document which says all sorts of various random things.

| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |
DrDougsh Since: Jan, 2001
#130981: Jul 19th 2016 at 10:03:07 AM

[up][up] NO. Just... no.

edited 19th Jul '16 10:04:50 AM by DrDougsh

megarockman from The Sixth Borough (Experienced Trainee)
#130982: Jul 19th 2016 at 10:03:38 AM

New York Times' "The Upshot" came out with their own estimates on election odds (they put it right now at Clinton with a 76% chance). It also has a comparison of other sites' prognosis (including FiveThirtyEight, which seems pretty bullish about Trump's chances compared with other places).

Curious that Princeton has the odds of Clinton winning Mississippi so high (35%).

The damned queen and the relentless knight.
TerminusEst from the Land of Winter and Stars Since: Feb, 2010
#130983: Jul 19th 2016 at 10:05:53 AM

[up][up]

Isn't there just hunting weapons anyway?

edited 19th Jul '16 10:07:15 AM by TerminusEst

Si Vis Pacem, Para Perkele
DrDougsh Since: Jan, 2001
#130984: Jul 19th 2016 at 10:09:20 AM

It's common in Iceland for farmers to own guns to shoot foxes and minks. That, along with guns owned by some rich collectors, the coastal guard and the special forces is the reason for why gun ownership tends to look high compared to Iceland's small population. The idea that Everyone Is Armed in Iceland is just pure, undiluted, one-hundred-percent nonsense.

TheHandle United Earth from Stockholm Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
United Earth
#130985: Jul 19th 2016 at 10:10:24 AM

The list shows a bunch of other countries with no active armed forces.

My bad. I should have paid more attention.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Elle Since: Jan, 2001
#130986: Jul 19th 2016 at 10:12:18 AM

Mind I, I might just be reading into this way too much, but the fact that only the California delegation seems to be affected so far is just a bit too much of a kowinkydink for my tastes.

Non-sinister answer: They likely went out to dinner together and someone at the resturant screwed up in the health and safety department. Norovirus sounds scary as a name but it's one of the most common forms of "stomach bug".

NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#130987: Jul 19th 2016 at 10:13:10 AM

I meant draftees among the military opposite the USA.
What about them? You treat them like any other enemy combatant. If they surrender or try to defect then we give them POW status, otherwise they're acting as a hostile force and you deal with them appropriately. I'm not even sure how you're supposed to differentiate between conscripts and volunteers in field conditions, which is what the ROE is concerned with.

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#130988: Jul 19th 2016 at 10:14:41 AM

Maybe they should start short-lived, non-life-threatening diseases less intimidating names.

Then again, that's just asking for "dontworryaboutitvirus" to wipe out half the Earth's population.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Protagonist506 from Oregon Since: Dec, 2013 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#130989: Jul 19th 2016 at 10:17:15 AM

It's as ethical to kill conscripts as it is any other enemy combatant. I might even go as far as to argue that the blood isn't on your hands, but rather, whatever system decided to draft them.

Leviticus 19:34
Euodiachloris Since: Oct, 2010
#130990: Jul 19th 2016 at 10:17:59 AM

[up][up]Nah. It's "wowitlooksfuzzyvirus" you need to worry about.wink

[up]Yay: kidding yourself you're not killing real sapients really badly! True sign of humanity! tongue

edited 19th Jul '16 10:19:59 AM by Euodiachloris

RavenWilder Since: Apr, 2009
#130991: Jul 19th 2016 at 10:31:24 AM

When fighting a volunteer army, you can comfort yourself with the knowledge that you're not killing anyone who didn't choose to put their life at risk for the sake of their government. That makes targetting soldiers not quite as reprehensible as targetting civilians, who made no such choice.

But if you're fighting a conscripted army, then the soldiers are basically just civilians who were forced into uniform. They didn't choose to risk their lives anymore than the rest of their countrypeople did. So what makes targetting them any better than targetting civilians (assuming both options serve equal strategic value)?

NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#130992: Jul 19th 2016 at 10:35:29 AM

[up][up]No one's saying that killing a conscript isn't "really" killing someone, the point is that the soldiers of Country A aren't morally responsible for Country B's decision to put conscripts on the front line. That's on B's generals and lawmakers, not on A's soldiers.

edited 19th Jul '16 10:36:12 AM by NativeJovian

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#130993: Jul 19th 2016 at 10:39:27 AM

Not to mention there is something of a difference between fighting a conscript from a democratic nation and a fully organized and developed military and some third world guerrilla only there because his family is being threatened.

Oh really when?
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#130994: Jul 19th 2016 at 10:45:14 AM

Incidentally, for anyone who's eager to see Mitch McConnell eat a sweet load of karma for his Supreme Court obstructionism, Democrat Evan Bayh is eying his seat as Indiana's senator. From 1989 to 1997, Bayh served as governor of Indiana before spending 1999 through 2011 in the United States Senate, and has become quite popular in the state.

edited 19th Jul '16 10:45:42 AM by TobiasDrake

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#130995: Jul 19th 2016 at 11:18:39 AM

On the field of battle, the difference between a conscript soldier and a volunteer soldier is that both are shooting at you, and if you want to be the not-dead one in the relationship, you try to kill them first. That's how war works. There are a number of commonly accepted rules about how you deal with them after they've stopped shooting, but that's beside the point. Individual combatants are not expected to stop the fight to give each other questionnaires about how happy they are to be there.

The difference between a soldier and a civilian in wartime is that the former is shooting at you and the latter is not. Since there isn't a competition to be the not-dead one when you're dealing with the civilian, killing them is unnecessary, and therefore a waste of bullets.. If they take advantage of your mercy to shoot at you, they aren't a civilian any more, which is one of the critical problems we face in asymmetric warfare, but that again has nothing to do with their status as a volunteer or a conscript.

edited 19th Jul '16 12:14:11 PM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
megarockman from The Sixth Borough (Experienced Trainee)
#130996: Jul 19th 2016 at 12:11:27 PM

[up][up]McConnell is from Kentucky, though...

The damned queen and the relentless knight.
ILoveDogs Since: May, 2010
#130997: Jul 19th 2016 at 12:27:31 PM

I would be happier with the Upshot, but it contradicts 538, which is more or less always right...

megarockman from The Sixth Borough (Experienced Trainee)
#130998: Jul 19th 2016 at 12:43:52 PM

Eh, even Nate Silver is not immune from his own personal biases (which is something he himself admitted when he initially pinned Trump's odds at getting the nomination in the first place at 2% last year).

Do keep in mind we're still several months away from the actual election and have yet to see the standard post-convention bounces for each candidate.

edited 19th Jul '16 12:45:12 PM by megarockman

The damned queen and the relentless knight.
ILoveDogs Since: May, 2010
#130999: Jul 19th 2016 at 12:49:26 PM

[up] He said that that he was gauging his chances as a pundit, and not using the 538 "formula".

I don't understand much about statistics, so I really just assume that whoever is most respected is infallible.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#131000: Jul 19th 2016 at 12:51:34 PM

There's this weird fallacy people get up to whereby something that is predicted with 51% certainty is assumed to happen without fail, when it actually means "flip a very slightly unbalanced coin". That Trump and Clinton are running neck and neck currently means little more than that people simply don't know.

edited 19th Jul '16 12:52:24 PM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

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