Recent content by SparceMatrix

I imagine that the Will Smith movie will have very little to do with the original short story. I am convinced that "Independence Day" was actually originally intended to be an interpretation of Clark's "Childhood's End". If they are going to bring written science fiction to the screen, they...

. So what if there were no WMDs? Then we're right back where we started before the invasion arguing about what to do. Remember the No Fly Zones that had the UN's approval? Who was paying for that and why? The US was not going to pay for that forever in which case the UN would be obliged to...

Here is the link to the item: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=170&item=2758478623 Starting bid is 5$. I don't expect it to get much higher.

For those like myself who have no idea what they are talking about ... The Coyote The LAV-25

That's funny. But you know, I suspect if we had won the "war", you'd be calling it a "police action". ;)

Exactly. But it wasn't just the politicians, the generals too insisted that Vietnam was going to be easy to confront and hardly qualified as a war at all. "We'll be out by Christmas".

This is very off topic, but strictly speaking, the US never declared war on Vietnam. There was "the war in Vietnam". It is a worthwhile question to ask exactly what is or isn't necessary for logistical support for those combat soldiers in Iraq. I'll bet that a good part of what is called...

I am only speculating, but it could be that the Vietnam war was an unusual case. Remember that the Vietnam War, was never actually said to be a "war" at all and so troops in the field in the field were not actually supposed to be happening. It could be that funding required some logistics...

I've heard that debate before and I'm quite certain that the miniseries was very careful to include only those events in Hitler's life that were reliably reported. Hitler himself spoke about his childhood many times. The rest is just acting. As for his political character, being naive and shy...

Over at www.imdb.com, the opinion seems to be that there is lots of eye candy, but very little plot: http://us.imdb.com/CommentsShow?0234215 I regretted not seeing it the theatres when it came out, but I'm worried about getting burned with a derivative the second time. I remember waiting...

What did I miss? Where does Rumsfield fit into a move to make more low yield nukes?

The US has no responsibility as far as the stability of Europe is concerned. As a matter of principle the US and any other member country should consider itself liable to withdraw from NATO on the least notice and slightest pretext. There is no compelling need for NATO to exist that suggests...

"The US is a part of modern Europe." What do you mean by "a part"? "Try though one might, America can't be extracted from the region." According to this observation, what would America actually be doing if it were being "extracted from the region"? "The US serves as 9/11, but...

What kind of footprint would that be? It's not the footprint that we leave in NATO, it's the footprint that NATO leaves on us that is the problem. "The US serves as 9/11, but everybody gets a say in how that force is used." How does this observation fit in with your insistance that the...

Peace and interdependency between Russia and Europe is good for the US. Peace and interdependency between Europeans is good for the US. What could be more natural then forming alliances with neighbors and doing business with them? Russia's stance on continuing inspections in Iraq before...