astr0creep

Depends on who you ask. So far, I haven't heard of any US court that has ruled that the war was illegal. Again, illegal and immoral aren't necessarily the same thing. If an order is illegal, then the only real decision to make is, want you be outside the law or not?Otherwise, there's no reason to second guess any orders given to you, as you put in jeopardy your life and that of those who may depend on you. Pretty simple, really. Why? A schoolbus is just a regular bus painted in yellow. Also, I doubt you'd be so reluctant after you'd seen a schoolbus used as delivery vehicle for half a ton of dynamite against a checkpoint, for instance. At any rate, not everyone is accepted in the military. There are screening tests, and all that. If you are so sure you couldn't live like that, you probably wouldn't pass those tests. - International law counts, no matter what Dubbya says. - I understand that second guessing an order can be extremely dangerous. But in my current state of mind, that is still what I would do. Of course, my state of mind would surely be different if I was a soldier. - The schoolbus example was just that, an example. Surely there are situations in which soldiers are faced with overwhelming moral choices. Even shooting at the enemy, I wonder if there isn't any soldiers(on both sides) who hope they will miss simply because the thought of killing someone is a frightnening, revolting one. I never joined the army. Because I am lazy and because killing someone, no matter how much they hate me or how much danger my life is in, is not appealing to me at all. And I have a hard time understanding how anyone can do it and be proud of it to a certain extent. Can I and others like me be looked down upon for this? I don't think so.

Maybe they should just do like Canada and let anyone in? Blur the frontiers!

That's why they call it "chain of command", you know. It all comes down to efficiency, and quickness of response. Debating stuff takes up an awful amount of time, time that in the situations a military force is expected to operate in, cannot be wasted convincing soldiers. The military is not a democracy, and with good reason. "Inappropriate" isn't good enough a reason. "Illegal", on the other hand, is probably enough to refuse obeying an order. That is all theory, however. I doubt anyone would be court-martialed for refusing to take a shower. They'd just be discharged, I guess. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Well I just have to add: Wasn't it illegal to invade Iraq in the first place and why are they still there? And I know and understand the need for the chain of command. I'm just putting myself in the shoes of a soldier faced with a decision to follow an order or refuse because it seems immoral or illegal or whatever. I don't think I could blow up a schoolbus, for example, just because my superior says it's carrying enemy soldiers, not children. I think I would second guess everything and wait for the bullets to whiz by. Meh.

Can soldiers refuse an order that seems inappropriate to them?

I have a vision of an electrified fence like the one in Jurassic Park, erected all along the borders of Mexico and Canada. A completely isolated United States, with all the other countries in the world simply stop all trades and businesses with that country. See how long they last. Or: Allow the population of all southern states to possess AND use arms to hunt latinos. Install a few cameras, make popcorn and enjoy the show. Or: Invade Mexico after they are done with the Middle-East. Mexico has oil! (w00t)

Drugs, booze, cigarettes, certain foods, some perfumes, video games, anything that can alter your state of mind and cause addiction is bad in excesses. Actually, anything in excess is bad. Have fun people. Moderately.

I didn't read all 17 pages so... I thought of joining the military at one point(mid-teens) because I thought it would give me more self confidence, strength of body and character and some other good stuff. I didn't out of lazyness for the most part but I also didn't like the idea of having to go through a fair bit of brainwashing(I guess one has to in order to pull the trigger when the time comes) and hurting people, conflict, competition, those are not my thing at all. In fact, I despise conflicts in most forms. I don't look down on people who join the military. In fact I kind of admire and envy countries who have mandatory military service incorporated in their education system(like France I think). Obviously I can't look down on those who don't join either since I have not. What I look down on and this is because I can't understand it, is blindingly following orders no matter what. Doesn't good sense in the face of the obvious count for anything?

Sorry again for the necro post :"> Season 5 Finale. Pretty good episode. I wonder if it ties in with the movie somehow? I guess next time we see Clark he will be in full Supesuit for Season 6? Meh.

I've watched the first 5 episodes of Season 1 so far. Is there a season 2? It's ok. I love the car, the visuals and the music. The actor who plays Dean(Jensen Ackles?) was also in Dark Angel and Smallville and he gets on my nerves in a way that is hard to describe... This may have something to do with him touching Jessica Alba and Kristin Kreuk but I'm not sure. The show is ok. Some episodes are seriously stupid but the Ep1 was awesome.

I'm back from our honeymoon. Today is the worst day ever.

Hoodwinked : Sucked popsicles. Feng : Best sig ever.

Libby is not dead. She is a Cylon.

Well... I got married yesterday. Not sure if that beats getting a 360 or a nerf gun but it was the best day I ever had for sure. Everyting went well too, including my mother and father speaking for the first time in 20 years.

It's an action/RPG. And by the way, according to Ep3, the only Jedis left are Obi and Yoda. The Jedi purge by Vady has been done already.

Ewoks were supposed to be Wookies... Frakking Wookies! Imagine the coolness of that battle if they had been Wookies! But Georgy listened to his kid who wanted little cute furry things. *puke*

Are you saying we are getting cancer because of the fallout from those bombs and others that the world's military have been testing/using? I'm just asking, not trying to undermind your comment because I share your pain.

Alias sucks. Does she, a tough super secret agent, still cry in every single episode? <_< Long live Lost!

If Edvard Munch would've remaid The Scream to add hair on the figure because that is what his original intention was but he ran out of brown paint, what would be more appealing to own/appreciate, the new or the original? (I'm just asking )

The Girl Next Door. At 2am. Sober. Does this mean I've seen every movie in existence? Because I can hardly believe that I, having studied film making and having somewhat good taste, would put my brain to such torture.

Maybe Henry is the "Great Man" he himself was talking about?

I agree with Xard. I still prefer good 'ol mattes and models over CGI effects. Or a healthy mix of both like with LotR. However, Lucas's wife divorced him soon after the OT was done and she left with most of his fortune. After that, he made most of his money from royalties and producing jobs but a lot of it came from ILM, who's services have been rented out for just about every sci-fi film made after Star Wars. Selling ILM's technologies has been a big part of GL's professional life and when you get movies like the New Trilogy it is very easy to assume that they are nothing more than tech demos for him to sell more of ILM's new technologies(and toys) and processes(like THX). I wonder if the image & sound has been enhanced for these new DVDs or if they just digitized and burned them onto disks from original, used tapes. And wasn't the OT's images and sounds enhanced for the Special Editions a ways back before the CGI additions?

Finished God of War last night. DQ8 is next on my list.

The Demo for King Kong has Starforce on it.

Games made into movies is not always a good thing. Uwe Boll movies..... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Your Moderator status should be revoked for mentionning his name.