Guess Who's Planning to Shine Lasers on Pilots

On Sat, 19 Feb 2005 18:11:56 GMT, "Steven P. McNicoll"
wrote in
et::


Why do you think he's wacky?


Because his words and actions fit any reasonable definition of wacky.

Given the content of these articles:


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,3617513.story
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar...s/eichmann.htm

You may be correct.

On Wed, 09 Mar 2005 09:09:34 -0800, AES wrote
in ::

In article ,
Larry Dighera wrote:

On Wed, 09 Mar 2005 09:12:12 -0500, Corky Scott
wrote in
::

To me, religious fundamentalism is the One True Evil
in the world.

I have heard it said, that religion is the gateway to mental illness.
:-)

Great post!

Thanks.

You said more in a dozen words than I said in ten times
that number.

I heard it from Bill Maher, Real Time, HBO.

Jay Honeck wrote:

What motivates people to attack others, sacrificing their lives in the
process? Does that not seem like an act of ultimate desparation, borne
out of frustration and a sense that there is nothing more to lose?

Actually, it is a sign of mental illness.

I'm eternally amazed that there are people trying to analyze brutal acts
of terror, as if there is some root cause that "we" (whoever "we" are) can
address.

Face facts: People who blow themselves up on a crowded school bus full of
kids are not rational beings. If they were, they would be working to make
the electoral process in Iraq (or Afghanistan, or Iran, or wherever) work
better -- or any of a thousand other positive, constructive acts -- rather
than killing innocents.

To glorify their "cause" by analyzing their motives plays directly into
their hand. They do not deserve such an honor.

One does not glorify or honor anyone by analyzing them. And in the case of
terrorism, the penalty for not attempting to understand is more terrorism.
Attempting to obtain a glimmer of understanding of what motivates someone
else does not imply support for the actions.

The current crop of terrorists, usually defined as radical fundamentalist
Islamic youths, are certainly 'mentally ill' when measured by the standards
that apply on Main street USA.

Young men do not willingly commit suicide when life is good and/or there is
hope for the future. But it is easy to see that a 17 year old in Palestine
or Iraq can readily be convinced that there is neither. They know nothing
but poverty and oppression. Their education, if they have any, comes from
fundamentalist run schools that certainly don't spend any time expanding
their ability to think for themselves.

The issue of terrorism is a complex one. There are some aspects we have
control over and some we do not. Trying to simplify it by trivializing the
enemy removes one area we do have some control over and so hurts our cause.

--
Frank....H

In article ,
Larry Dighera wrote:

On Sat, 19 Feb 2005 18:11:56 GMT, "Steven P. McNicoll"
wrote in
et::


Why do you think he's wacky?


Because his words and actions fit any reasonable definition of wacky.

Given the content of these articles:


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,3617513.story

For me the most important and most telling questions from the beginning
have been not revolved around whether Churchill was wacky or not, but
rather about what we're to think about the intellectual caliber or
intellectual stature of a field of study -- Ethnic Studies -- in which
someone like Churchill can become not merely a tenured professor but a
department chair?!?

(Not to mention the intellectual standards of a university in which this
can happen . . . )

On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 15:19:20 -0500, "Morgans"
wrote in ::


"Larry Dighera" wrote

I think the Air Force probably has a good idea for the use of lasers
in alerting pilots. I think the Secretary of Transportation's
statement stems more from a hysterical siege-mentality than rational
thought.

I gotta agree. The point of safety , IMHO, comes more with the fast few
blinks of laser, vs extended blinding by Joe Q. public.


It looks like the AOPA is attempting to assist the USAF with this:


-------------------------------------------------------------
AOPA ePilot Volume 7, Issue 11 March 18, 2005
-------------------------------------------------------------
AIR FORCE URGED TO WORK WITH AOPA ON LASER WARNING SYSTEM
When the House aviation subcommittee met Tuesday to discuss the
hazards posed by civilian ground-based lasers aimed at pilots, talk
quickly turned to an Air Force plan to use lasers to signal aircraft
that stray too close to the no-fly zone around Washington, D.C. While
the Air Force claims its laser system is safe, not everyone is so
sure. Rep. Robin Hayes (R-N.C.), an AOPA member, expressed concern
that tests of the lasers had only been conducted on pressurized
aircraft--not smaller GA aircraft with thinner windscreens. He urged
the Air Force to work with AOPA to develop and test the system on more
typical GA aircraft. Rep. Leonard Boswell (D-Iowa), also an AOPA
member, was the first to raise the issue of how lasers could affect GA
pilots. He said that he had been thinking about how distracting it
would be to try to land his own aircraft with a laser in his eyes. See
AOPA Online
(http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/newsite...0315laser.html ).