Walsingham

Markets change. Once upon a time it was booze and guns, now it's drugs and guns. If there hadn't been a market for cocaine, the Taliban wouldn't have been able equip themselves with more than sharpened sticks. If there hadn't been a market in the US (US/ Mexican border) and Europe (Spanish harbours) for drugs, the likes of Escobar and later Gallardo wouldn't have been as influential as they were. Gallardo especially left a bit of a legacy creating most of the current Mexican drug cartels (based on the same principle as the internet really, if one got busted he would still have the others). Of course, since they cut off the head, the cartels became completely autonomous and started fighting amongst themselves. You need to do two things to eliminate them though, you both to deprive them of their markets and their arms dealers. So far, Texan arms dealers alone seems to be able to provide them enough guns to wage a military style campaign against government forces. In theory, you could go after the distribution networks, but so many people are involved and so many palms greased that it is futile prospect. Take the buyers out of the equation and money for guns and corrupt officials dries out, or as in Nepenthe's example of self styled "revolutionaries", they can't buy PR and public opinion. Then, when no longer all powerful in the minds of people, you can realistically wage a campaign against them. You're being a bit TOO hip talking about the Texans. Texan arm dealers aren't the ones supplying the cartels with heavy machine guns and RPGs. Kit being used regularly against regular Mexican armed forces. There may be semi-autos etc coming from Texas, but cut off the easy route and you can bet your ass they'll find another source. Either from within the mlitary or from elswhere on the drug supply chain. Colombia, Peru. Eliminating the demand for drugs is surely an even bigger fantasy than one might come up with ON drugs. Demand is a part of what we are as human beings. It's tied to things like depression, and involvement in gangs and vice. But tackling those things is something which could take generations. Certainly at least one generation. What happens in the mean time?

Not to my understanding. He basically was mates with a guy who was a sellout t***. Got taken advantage of. Not a good thing. May have affected defence policy. However, so far Fox's defence policy has been to try and stand up for the Forces, get out to where we're fighting, and get a grip on the situation. If that's corruption I'd like to see a few more ministers get corrupted! I note that Chris Huhne is still in office despite being an energy minister who is against the government's energy policy, and who grasses up his colleagues. I may not know many politicos, but who exactly is going to replace Fox? Hague?

Wheeeeeeeee! The merry go round spins again. Bets on which talentless halfwit the govt. is going to saddle the MoD with now? Is it so much to ask that the Armed Forces get to keep a defence secretary for more than a year or so? It may have escaped everyone's notice, but WE ARE AT WAR. I don't give a rat's proverbial if Fox was boning Adam Werrity on the cenotaph, wrapped in tax-payer funded union jacks. Someone needs to be in charge of the huge budget cuts and big buying programs. Someone needs to be clarifying the policy on Afghanistan. I might even imagine a world where someone was worrying about the tens of thousands of servicemen becoming jobless!

Cool. I've never heard anything like that live, and I could wlel believe it would improve it, even subsequently on recordings.

Short barreled guns require a careful aim...

ROFLMAO

Oh, the humanity...

The latest Duke Nukem offering suddenly looks like a cerebral masterpiece Make the enemy fight himself? *gasp* I haven't seen anything like that since... Baldur's Gate. I don't know if I'm just prejudiced by it being EA games, but I agree with Gorth. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Actually, that's exactly what happened "Azura explodes" Awesome. About time.

Mods for Fallout 3 really are the embodiment of rule 34. Yeah. I gave up looking for mods for Fallout 3 when I realised that almost all of them involved ludicrous zombie-playboy modifications.

Only in the diseased mind of George Lucas. Crypto-fascist weirdo that he is.

Man, it is such a beautiful day!

Because it would be a collossal waste of time, when you can HIRE a human mind for about 30 bucks a day.

*groan*

You can't burn Harold. The obvious answer - not that those losers at Bethesda would spot this - is to turn that grove into a bikini beach bar.

You maniacs! You blew it up!

I'd rather try than just sit about passively waiting for the **** to eat all my fish.

Something like that is simply disposable for me. I'll listen to it nce, I might even like it, but you can't listen to it often. Which, now I think about it is weird, because I do enjoy listening to speeches...

Indeed. And until you stop posting me links to stories about expert systems rather than the kind of AI you've been waffling about, maybe it is YOU who should keep quiet.

As Orogun says, I'd not call it racist unless you think that reflecting less light from your skin makes you interested in dark magic. There's ****ed up people all over. My feeling is that culture just changes HOW they're ****ed up. I mean here in the UK we have people who hurt children. But they don't charge consultancy fees for doing so. I mainly posted the story because, as I said, I get extremely annoyed when philosophy majors try to tell me there's no such thing as evil.

They have the thin snouts for catching fish, don't they? Or is it so you can break em off, paint them with marmite and use them as a bar snack?

I'm not entirely sure they'd qualify as people.

Article and actual undercover video Don't worry folks, there's no such thing as evil. Everything is relative.

Surely ANY enterprise has associated risks. I didn't say teaching the subject would be easy. You're right kids don't handle abstarcts well. But teenagers (IMO) always respond t ooffers to put power in their hands. YOu offer them a way to think more clearly, avoid being exploited, buy cheaper, spot dangers... I think they would respond.