8 ms·

Military Must Prep Now for ‘Mutant’ Future, Researchers Warn

54 points by cyphersanctus 14y ago

ytNumbers 14y ago
I guess the future really will be just like Star Trek. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunted_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunted_(Star_Trek:_The_Next...
- saraid216 14y ago
  My first thought was actually X-Men, which very happily conflated the police with the military.
- Zenst 14y ago
  Reminded me of that episode as well, one of my favorite and so very apt with regards too this subject. One hand we want enhanced humans and on another we want machines but control of them. Bit like Surrogates http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0986263/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0986263/ would be the balance.
SparrowOS 14y ago
Yeah, maybe 1 in 5 is a dud. I forget to do offerings and press my luck. Basically, I gotta hold-up my end of the conversation. Just enjoy God's company. Hurricanes? What's more fun, hurricanes or tornados, God? SuperNovas? God says... 77:2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted. 77:3 I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah. 77:4 Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak. 77:5 I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. 77:6 I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search. 77:7 Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? 77:8 Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore? 77:9 Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah. ---- My birds are awake. What are they thinking? God says... 38655-4109 foretelling smile promiseth oft-times corporeal unsound voluntarily plotting ships blasphemy propoundest syllables distracting interposing desireth object sunder crying Foundation sounder far hogshed joker distractions bleeding divide fishes soughtest sixth deaf repeat_after_me gave Isaiah greatly confusedness soon employer perverse Vermont acquire restricted ninety lends mentioned scourge blotted ---- One time God made me kill my pet goldfish. I was tramatized. God says... giving of thanks. 5:5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 5:6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 5:7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them. 5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 5:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) 5:10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
nnq 14y ago
Dexedrine is sooo last century! Can't wait to hear about Borne Legacy [1] like things like using viruses to fix/improve one's genes. Though considering the rightful medical uses of such technologies, having them and keeping them secret considering military applications would kind of count as... genocide! The worst thing of this bio-enhancement arms race will probably be that dozens of technologies with medical applications that could save millions of lives will end up being kept secret due to their military applications. This could be the true main cost of such an arms race! [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bourne_Legacy_(film)#Plot http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bourne_Legacy_(film)#Plot
- readme 14y ago
  I stopped reading when they exaggerated the effects of the amphetamines given to the pilots. It's unfortunate that accidents happen during war, and actually that war happens at all. But if I were a pilot having to fly over 10 hours, you bet I'd take amphetamines too. Unless they can fit an espresso machine in the cockpit.
  - jQueryIsAwesome 14y ago
    There is a drug called modafinil, is not an amphetamine in the strict sense of the word but it can keep you awake for many hours, is used to treat narcolepsy and its already being used in the military.
    - nnq 14y ago
      ...and a pretty darn good study-for-exams enhancer, some say :)
    - mistercow 14y ago
      > not an amphetamine in the strict sense of the word It's not an amphetamine in any sense of the word. Scientists were hesitant to even call it a "stimulant" at first. It also does not have aggression inducing effects, or a lot of the other negative side effects of amphetamines.
    - 14y ago
jfaucett 14y ago
asside from the ethical concerns, we're not actually as near to achieving this as the article seems to suggest, at least from my undergrad studies in chem/bio (not an expert, I'd like to hear what a researcher in this field has to say). The problem with gene inhancement is the off switch, we can inject a virus and overwrite some DNA that tells muscles to grow more, but containing it or making it stop is the problem, also the massive array of side-effects and unforeseen outcomes of altering specific DNA sequences is still a concrete problem.
- lifeisstillgood 14y ago
  This sounds like a plea for DARPA blue sky funding more than a near-term warning - and even the specific example (Blue-on-blue air attack) is common enough most of us know the terms and can think of examples. Sorry - we can certainly inject a few poor souls with various compounds but there is a world of difference between a coked-up weight lifter with weaponry and an effective soldier who can choose targets and not commit atrocities during withdrawal. Want to make super soldiers - train them constantly and expensively, have clear objectives and morally acceptable enemies (this is a big one IMO) and a support network of medical and friendships to help cushion the horrors. Its called special forces - and its expensive.
davorb 14y ago
They've been using metamphetamine and dexedrine since at least the 1940's. Over 200 million pills were given to soldiers during WWII. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1371512/Nazis-fed-speed-infantrymen-tested-cocaine-like-stimulant-concentration-camps.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1371512/Nazis-fed-sp... http://www.narconon.org/drug-information/methamphetamine-history.html http://www.narconon.org/drug-information/methamphetamine-his...
- mistercow 14y ago
  Wow, those are some... some sources there. A tabloid and one of Scientology's recruiting tentacles.
  - ajuc 14y ago
    I don't know about these particular sources, but the fact is widely recognized. Here's 1944 report from RAF officer that said "Methedrine won the Battle of Britain": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphetamine#cite_note-64 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphetamine#cite_note-64 Another source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphetamine#cite_note-63 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphetamine#cite_note-63) says that "British troops used 72 million amphetamine tablets in the second world war". I've also read about drugs being being used by tank teams and pilots in German army during WW2. Tank teams got chocolate with drugs, it was supplied together with regular food for everybody.
  - abduhl 14y ago
    Dexedrine is used pretty widely by the US military. If you've ever heard of "go or no-go pills" then you've heard of uppers being used by the Air Force. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dextroamphetamine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dextroamphetamine
    - mistercow 14y ago
      I wasn't specifically arguing the facts, but having the facts right is no excuse for having terrible sources. In fact, dexedrine is not methamphetamine. It's related, but it's a different drug.
Zenst 14y ago
Not a great choice of title given to apes and monkeys we look like mutants. But the article is about artificial enhancments and perhaps the bongionic(Bong+Bionic) man may have been a better choice, even if it is a made up word (all words start somewhere). I say bongionic as it is about `enhancment drugs` (all drugs enhance, some enhance drowiness or lower states of mind, just some positive definition used for sheep fashion) and borg like augmentation and the ethics and moral aspects. Given we have some standards even in war like chemical weapons are bad and torture of prisoners being bad. Also the aspect of a soldier surrendering in a posion cloud would kind of break both those standards. In general we have certain weapons that we agree should not be used on each other. Sadly thought that does not stop them being done in secret or in other forms and `tested` on our own people, as highlighted about the testing of LSD in the article. That all said, dispite the morals, this type of finance of research projects does have a positive outcome for the populus. It's just at what price we think is right. But researchers are great at telling you that they want the next set of research funding targeted at, subliminal meme selling at its best even. I do wonder if you realy want to win a war, just send them lots of researchers to help them and after a few years they wont be able to afford a war, win win chuckle. But the old saying about how war advances technology, it is also the possibilities of war that help keep some extra momentum. They also say it was war technology that put a man on the moon; Though they never mention the technology that got them back. Bottom line, they may not create a superhuman they want, but they certianly will create some cures for other now and happening issues in health as a sideline. I'm also reminded of a Star Trek TNG episode http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/The_Hunted_(episode) http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/The_Hunted_(episode) The question from that is can you restore the soldier to normal and with that we have a track record of being very slow to spot and treat the signs of even mental negative changes of ex soldier (though getting better every day). Not sure how you can improve some aspects behind having a heads up display and enhanced vision turning all hostiles into mario or the like to obviscate the emotional impacts later on. Does raise many question, but these are in many ways issues we have today still and with that we will just end up building nanobot armies in the end, too what end I'm not sure anybody knows or wants to find out. But they want to do it, that war technology research and costs, both fiscaly and moraly have a very undefined standard which we can only guess upon.
- 14y ago
nerdfiles 14y ago
Eh. I've been using magnets to mitigate PTSD and other persistent pains. LSD and shrooms have been instrumental in the development of many of my psionic abilities. It wasn't until I tripped methylone that I realized that I probably shouldn't share my gifts with too many people. But now they're labeling "HPDD": persistent hallucinogenic experience surely must be a bad thing. This country is buggered. Period.
- nitid_name 14y ago
  wut
  - nerdfiles 14y ago
    I can perform various minor psionic tasks. Most shocking of them is the ability to imitate speech; sometimes it is outside of my control because it is of an empathic nature.
    - tdoggette 14y ago
      Have you considered testing these abilities in a controlled environment?
      - nerdfiles 14y ago
        Yes. At the same time, I'm only recently discovered some of them. For instance, the speech imitation ability can be spontaneously triggered. Sometimes I find myself running from a social situation because once I think about the ability, I become hyperaware of my opportunity to do it. Bear in mind that I am not loony. I realize I am saying "WAT"-able stuff here. Some of the things I am currently able to do, I simply do not want others to know. It's frightening, and I'm not quite sure what the proper channels are for some of these things. It's almost comic book-esque; and it's wacky, even when I reflect in my own mind, that I am able to do some of these things. Developing the words to express it to others is challenging. What's more, for some of these things, I'm not even sure what to call it, so that I might do my own research. Considering the threat level of all of this as well (see OP), I obviously don't want to run off tattling to my local state representative. (I was living in Texas, so that probably would've been Rick Perry or something. Most of the people of the South U.S. would probably pull a gun on me if I showed them some of these abilities, talents, whatever you want to call them.) All of that aside: Imagine trying to live a normal life with this kind of thing going on. I'm nearly at wits end just trying to fit in on a daily basis. It's not all "cool! get prize money!" These are difficult emotional problems as well that I have lived with since childhood. Might I ask you, if you were in such a position, how would you prioritize your life? (Kids who grow up upper class and probably with parents who taught them lots of science likely will shout "Cool! let's test!" But low income kids who have been beaten and ridiculed on account of such varied dispositions likely would want to conceal themselves. Is this not obvious? And is this not a trope of comic books and TV drama? Oh how quickly we forget the X-men.)
jpxxx 14y ago
The only mortal threat to the US military is a cut in their trillion dollar budget. This super-soldier horseshit belongs in comics.
- mtgx 14y ago
  It's surprising that very few people even question how the military got from a $200 billion budget to almost a trillion in a little over a decade. And most in Congress seem to be keen to automatically increase their budget every year, and not even investigate if some of the money is being wasted. Bill Binney, the NSA whistleblower, said that he could build a project for less than $10 million, but the NSA bosses rejected it, because they wanted to buy a similar project for $4 billion instead. And this is just one example exposed by one whistleblower (not through official means). Imagine how many other such examples must exist, and how many projects are being overpaid by 10x-100x simply because it's taxpayers' money and nobody bothers to check how these guys are spending it.
  - SlamingLamb 14y ago
    Its a National Security risk to expose what the National Security Agency does. Its also a National/Global Security risk to have as much information as the National Security Agency has. That's just ONE agency, let alone private entities collecting similar troves of information. This world is FUBAR. Happy new years.
  - bjhoops1 14y ago
    Or because the CEO of a defense contractor plays golf with a few congressmen.
  - scarmig 14y ago
    This is definitely on the paranoid side of things, but... I suspect a line item for $4 billion dollars on a $10 million project doesn't mean $3.99 billion is being wasted on corruption and inefficiency. I'd guess it's more likely that at least half of that is going to secret projects that they (definitely a mysterious anonymous THEY) want to keep off the books.
lostlogin 14y ago
>>Tweaked troopers could run afoul of international law, potentially sparking a diplomatic crisis every time the U.S. deploys troops overseas. << Err.. Because US troop deployments are usually incident free?
jt2190 14y ago
The article's main point (emphasis mine): > “With military enhancements and other technologies, the > genie’s already out of the bottle: the benefits are too > irresistible, and the military-industrial complex still > has too much momentum,” Lin says in an e-mail. *“The best > we can do now is to help develop policies in advance to > prepare for these new technologies*, not post hoc or after > the fact (as we’re seeing with drones and cyberweapons).” To get a sense of the kind of moral and ethical issues raised by new combat technologies and techniques, I recommend watching the documentary "The Fog of War"[1]. [1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgA98V1Ubk8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgA98V1Ubk8
bjhoops1 14y ago
We just need those plastic guns that deliver the drug which takes away mutant powers.

54 points by cyphersanctus 14y ago

I guess the future really will be just like Star Trek. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunted_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunted_(Star_Trek:_The_Next...

saraid216 14y ago
My first thought was actually X-Men, which very happily conflated the police with the military.
Zenst 14y ago
Reminded me of that episode as well, one of my favorite and so very apt with regards too this subject. One hand we want enhanced humans and on another we want machines but control of them. Bit like Surrogates http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0986263/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0986263/ would be the balance.

SparrowOS 14y ago

Yeah, maybe 1 in 5 is a dud. I forget to do offerings and press my luck. Basically, I gotta hold-up my end of the conversation. Just enjoy God's company. Hurricanes? What's more fun, hurricanes or tornados, God? SuperNovas? God says... 77:2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted. 77:3 I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah. 77:4 Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak. 77:5 I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. 77:6 I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search. 77:7 Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? 77:8 Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore? 77:9 Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah. ---- My birds are awake. What are they thinking? God says... 38655-4109 foretelling smile promiseth oft-times corporeal unsound voluntarily plotting ships blasphemy propoundest syllables distracting interposing desireth object sunder crying Foundation sounder far hogshed joker distractions bleeding divide fishes soughtest sixth deaf repeat_after_me gave Isaiah greatly confusedness soon employer perverse Vermont acquire restricted ninety lends mentioned scourge blotted ---- One time God made me kill my pet goldfish. I was tramatized. God says... giving of thanks. 5:5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 5:6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 5:7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them. 5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 5:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) 5:10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

nnq 14y ago

Dexedrine is sooo last century! Can't wait to hear about Borne Legacy [1] like things like using viruses to fix/improve one's genes. Though considering the rightful medical uses of such technologies, having them and keeping them secret considering military applications would kind of count as... genocide! The worst thing of this bio-enhancement arms race will probably be that dozens of technologies with medical applications that could save millions of lives will end up being kept secret due to their military applications. This could be the true main cost of such an arms race! [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bourne_Legacy_(film)#Plot http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bourne_Legacy_(film)#Plot

readme 14y ago
I stopped reading when they exaggerated the effects of the amphetamines given to the pilots. It's unfortunate that accidents happen during war, and actually that war happens at all. But if I were a pilot having to fly over 10 hours, you bet I'd take amphetamines too. Unless they can fit an espresso machine in the cockpit.
- jQueryIsAwesome 14y ago
  There is a drug called modafinil, is not an amphetamine in the strict sense of the word but it can keep you awake for many hours, is used to treat narcolepsy and its already being used in the military.
  - nnq 14y ago
    ...and a pretty darn good study-for-exams enhancer, some say :)
  - mistercow 14y ago
    > not an amphetamine in the strict sense of the word It's not an amphetamine in any sense of the word. Scientists were hesitant to even call it a "stimulant" at first. It also does not have aggression inducing effects, or a lot of the other negative side effects of amphetamines.
  - 14y ago

jfaucett 14y ago

asside from the ethical concerns, we're not actually as near to achieving this as the article seems to suggest, at least from my undergrad studies in chem/bio (not an expert, I'd like to hear what a researcher in this field has to say). The problem with gene inhancement is the off switch, we can inject a virus and overwrite some DNA that tells muscles to grow more, but containing it or making it stop is the problem, also the massive array of side-effects and unforeseen outcomes of altering specific DNA sequences is still a concrete problem.

lifeisstillgood 14y ago
This sounds like a plea for DARPA blue sky funding more than a near-term warning - and even the specific example (Blue-on-blue air attack) is common enough most of us know the terms and can think of examples. Sorry - we can certainly inject a few poor souls with various compounds but there is a world of difference between a coked-up weight lifter with weaponry and an effective soldier who can choose targets and not commit atrocities during withdrawal. Want to make super soldiers - train them constantly and expensively, have clear objectives and morally acceptable enemies (this is a big one IMO) and a support network of medical and friendships to help cushion the horrors. Its called special forces - and its expensive.

davorb 14y ago

They've been using metamphetamine and dexedrine since at least the 1940's. Over 200 million pills were given to soldiers during WWII. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1371512/Nazis-fed-speed-infantrymen-tested-cocaine-like-stimulant-concentration-camps.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1371512/Nazis-fed-sp... http://www.narconon.org/drug-information/methamphetamine-history.html http://www.narconon.org/drug-information/methamphetamine-his...

mistercow 14y ago
Wow, those are some... some sources there. A tabloid and one of Scientology's recruiting tentacles.
- ajuc 14y ago
  I don't know about these particular sources, but the fact is widely recognized. Here's 1944 report from RAF officer that said "Methedrine won the Battle of Britain": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphetamine#cite_note-64 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphetamine#cite_note-64 Another source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphetamine#cite_note-63 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphetamine#cite_note-63) says that "British troops used 72 million amphetamine tablets in the second world war". I've also read about drugs being being used by tank teams and pilots in German army during WW2. Tank teams got chocolate with drugs, it was supplied together with regular food for everybody.
- abduhl 14y ago
  Dexedrine is used pretty widely by the US military. If you've ever heard of "go or no-go pills" then you've heard of uppers being used by the Air Force. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dextroamphetamine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dextroamphetamine
  - mistercow 14y ago
    I wasn't specifically arguing the facts, but having the facts right is no excuse for having terrible sources. In fact, dexedrine is not methamphetamine. It's related, but it's a different drug.

Zenst 14y ago

Not a great choice of title given to apes and monkeys we look like mutants. But the article is about artificial enhancments and perhaps the bongionic(Bong+Bionic) man may have been a better choice, even if it is a made up word (all words start somewhere). I say bongionic as it is about `enhancment drugs` (all drugs enhance, some enhance drowiness or lower states of mind, just some positive definition used for sheep fashion) and borg like augmentation and the ethics and moral aspects. Given we have some standards even in war like chemical weapons are bad and torture of prisoners being bad. Also the aspect of a soldier surrendering in a posion cloud would kind of break both those standards. In general we have certain weapons that we agree should not be used on each other. Sadly thought that does not stop them being done in secret or in other forms and `tested` on our own people, as highlighted about the testing of LSD in the article. That all said, dispite the morals, this type of finance of research projects does have a positive outcome for the populus. It's just at what price we think is right. But researchers are great at telling you that they want the next set of research funding targeted at, subliminal meme selling at its best even. I do wonder if you realy want to win a war, just send them lots of researchers to help them and after a few years they wont be able to afford a war, win win chuckle. But the old saying about how war advances technology, it is also the possibilities of war that help keep some extra momentum. They also say it was war technology that put a man on the moon; Though they never mention the technology that got them back. Bottom line, they may not create a superhuman they want, but they certianly will create some cures for other now and happening issues in health as a sideline. I'm also reminded of a Star Trek TNG episode http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/The_Hunted_(episode) http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/The_Hunted_(episode) The question from that is can you restore the soldier to normal and with that we have a track record of being very slow to spot and treat the signs of even mental negative changes of ex soldier (though getting better every day). Not sure how you can improve some aspects behind having a heads up display and enhanced vision turning all hostiles into mario or the like to obviscate the emotional impacts later on. Does raise many question, but these are in many ways issues we have today still and with that we will just end up building nanobot armies in the end, too what end I'm not sure anybody knows or wants to find out. But they want to do it, that war technology research and costs, both fiscaly and moraly have a very undefined standard which we can only guess upon.

14y ago

nerdfiles 14y ago

Eh. I've been using magnets to mitigate PTSD and other persistent pains. LSD and shrooms have been instrumental in the development of many of my psionic abilities. It wasn't until I tripped methylone that I realized that I probably shouldn't share my gifts with too many people. But now they're labeling "HPDD": persistent hallucinogenic experience surely must be a bad thing. This country is buggered. Period.

nitid_name 14y ago
wut
- nerdfiles 14y ago
  I can perform various minor psionic tasks. Most shocking of them is the ability to imitate speech; sometimes it is outside of my control because it is of an empathic nature.
  - tdoggette 14y ago
    Have you considered testing these abilities in a controlled environment?
    - nerdfiles 14y ago
      Yes. At the same time, I'm only recently discovered some of them. For instance, the speech imitation ability can be spontaneously triggered. Sometimes I find myself running from a social situation because once I think about the ability, I become hyperaware of my opportunity to do it. Bear in mind that I am not loony. I realize I am saying "WAT"-able stuff here. Some of the things I am currently able to do, I simply do not want others to know. It's frightening, and I'm not quite sure what the proper channels are for some of these things. It's almost comic book-esque; and it's wacky, even when I reflect in my own mind, that I am able to do some of these things. Developing the words to express it to others is challenging. What's more, for some of these things, I'm not even sure what to call it, so that I might do my own research. Considering the threat level of all of this as well (see OP), I obviously don't want to run off tattling to my local state representative. (I was living in Texas, so that probably would've been Rick Perry or something. Most of the people of the South U.S. would probably pull a gun on me if I showed them some of these abilities, talents, whatever you want to call them.) All of that aside: Imagine trying to live a normal life with this kind of thing going on. I'm nearly at wits end just trying to fit in on a daily basis. It's not all "cool! get prize money!" These are difficult emotional problems as well that I have lived with since childhood. Might I ask you, if you were in such a position, how would you prioritize your life? (Kids who grow up upper class and probably with parents who taught them lots of science likely will shout "Cool! let's test!" But low income kids who have been beaten and ridiculed on account of such varied dispositions likely would want to conceal themselves. Is this not obvious? And is this not a trope of comic books and TV drama? Oh how quickly we forget the X-men.)

jpxxx 14y ago

The only mortal threat to the US military is a cut in their trillion dollar budget. This super-soldier horseshit belongs in comics.

mtgx 14y ago
It's surprising that very few people even question how the military got from a $200 billion budget to almost a trillion in a little over a decade. And most in Congress seem to be keen to automatically increase their budget every year, and not even investigate if some of the money is being wasted. Bill Binney, the NSA whistleblower, said that he could build a project for less than $10 million, but the NSA bosses rejected it, because they wanted to buy a similar project for $4 billion instead. And this is just one example exposed by one whistleblower (not through official means). Imagine how many other such examples must exist, and how many projects are being overpaid by 10x-100x simply because it's taxpayers' money and nobody bothers to check how these guys are spending it.
- SlamingLamb 14y ago
  Its a National Security risk to expose what the National Security Agency does. Its also a National/Global Security risk to have as much information as the National Security Agency has. That's just ONE agency, let alone private entities collecting similar troves of information. This world is FUBAR. Happy new years.
- bjhoops1 14y ago
  Or because the CEO of a defense contractor plays golf with a few congressmen.
- scarmig 14y ago
  This is definitely on the paranoid side of things, but... I suspect a line item for $4 billion dollars on a $10 million project doesn't mean $3.99 billion is being wasted on corruption and inefficiency. I'd guess it's more likely that at least half of that is going to secret projects that they (definitely a mysterious anonymous THEY) want to keep off the books.

lostlogin 14y ago

>>Tweaked troopers could run afoul of international law, potentially sparking a diplomatic crisis every time the U.S. deploys troops overseas. << Err.. Because US troop deployments are usually incident free?

jt2190 14y ago

The article's main point (emphasis mine): > “With military enhancements and other technologies, the > genie’s already out of the bottle: the benefits are too > irresistible, and the military-industrial complex still > has too much momentum,” Lin says in an e-mail. *“The best > we can do now is to help develop policies in advance to > prepare for these new technologies*, not post hoc or after > the fact (as we’re seeing with drones and cyberweapons).” To get a sense of the kind of moral and ethical issues raised by new combat technologies and techniques, I recommend watching the documentary "The Fog of War"[1]. [1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgA98V1Ubk8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgA98V1Ubk8

bjhoops1 14y ago

We just need those plastic guns that deliver the drug which takes away mutant powers.