8 ms·

You've made it clear that you haven't been acquainted with modern riot control technology. tear gas and shields is the OLD stuff. The new stuff hasn't been wid

You've made it clear that you haven't been acquainted with modern riot control technology. tear gas and shields is the OLD stuff. The new stuff hasn't been widely utilized, but it IS widely in place and police and military have been trained on it. The purpose of these non-lethal riot control methods is to destroy the power of assembly without losing the hearts and minds of the masses. LRAD is one of the most widely known riot control technologies that is totally TV-friendly. The TV can't even tell that it is being used - in fact unless it is used on you you don't even realize it is being used. This can be deployed from all kinds of platforms that impersonalize it. If the public doesn't complain about waterboarding they aren't going to complain about LRAD. And yet LRAD will totally destroy a peaceful demonstration. You're right that we should be able to get former military and police on our side, but we better hope they mutiny and are able to steal technology.

krschultz 17y ago
I don't think you've been acquainted with the business end of a large rifle. Shoot whatever ray you want at a large crowd of people, if it comes to treason I'll be with my brother and cousin at night in the woods with some high power rifles and shotguns. Considering both have been military trained I don't think we're too far behind the curve. I'm not the kind of person who believes in conspiracies or has a bomb shelter, but the patriot act made me think that maybe I'd use the gun in my house against the government just as easily as I would against someone breaking and entering. I'm not talking about carrying a gun to a rally, I'm talking about defending myself. Look at that nut job in Buffalo who took out a bunch of swat team members last year. He was crazy and it certainly was a terrible tragedy, but it shows that it IS possible. Sometimes engineers forget not every problem has a technological solution. Picking the right out cropping of rocks to defend yourself from has more value than millions of dollars in tech if you can extract the right price from the people attacking you. But if you are going down that road, it is just a matter of how many people you take out before they get you. I won't be getting that enraged about copyright law, ever. If they start infringing on my right to complain about the copyright law, then we're getting warmer but even then not so much. People over react to the problems we have today, when you start infringing on the average person's rights a lot more than this people like me who are generally calm and don't freak out about small infractions will start getting mad, and thats when it will boil over and either a political or violent adjustment to the direction of the country will happen.
- forensic 17y ago
  There is a big difference between Al Qaeda style resistance and collective resistance. Sure, Hamas and Al Qaeda exist but... they are losing and they will inevitably lose. They can hold out for a long time with their low tech, but they still take losses at a 50:1 ratio. You have AR-15s but do you have UAVs? Do you have tanks? Do you even have nukes, for that matter, that ancient 60 year old tech? You can't win as a collective which means you can't win. Unless you can deploy an army that will actually DEFEAT the opposing army you are talking about Hamas-style resistance. The Palestinians are not winning. They are conquered. It's already over. They are bad people to take advice from.
  - jeromec 17y ago
    I totally disagree; your analysis is flawed. The reason movements like Al Qaeda will lose is because their ideology doesn't have the right support. When you try to sidestep the right to freedom this country was founded upon you are picking a fight that extends into the core of the people, including the intellectuals that made all that high tech weaponry possible. Also, our all-volunteer military is made up of our people - our brothers, cousins, sisters etc.
    - forensic 17y ago
      The intellectuals are pacified by their McMansions and $150,000 student debt. Your brothers, cousins, and sisters don't understand what is wrong with censoring the internet. They think it's a good thing because they're afraid of pedophiles. The whole point (as I explained) of modern non-lethal weaponry is that it can be used to enforce bad laws without causing a public uprising. Brothers, cousins, sisters, etc think waterboarding is okay because they watch too much 24. They think anyone who flees in pain due to LRAD is a pussy cause it's just like loud music.
      - jeromec 17y ago
        You really think intellectuals would be content holed up in their McMansions while a struggle for liberty was raging in this country? And our family and friends which make up the military wouldn't know which side to stand on? I'm not talking about censoring some silly media, I'm talking about if it came down to the difference between liberty and tyranny, of infringing assembly and free speech.

krschultz 17y ago

I don't think you've been acquainted with the business end of a large rifle. Shoot whatever ray you want at a large crowd of people, if it comes to treason I'll be with my brother and cousin at night in the woods with some high power rifles and shotguns. Considering both have been military trained I don't think we're too far behind the curve. I'm not the kind of person who believes in conspiracies or has a bomb shelter, but the patriot act made me think that maybe I'd use the gun in my house against the government just as easily as I would against someone breaking and entering. I'm not talking about carrying a gun to a rally, I'm talking about defending myself. Look at that nut job in Buffalo who took out a bunch of swat team members last year. He was crazy and it certainly was a terrible tragedy, but it shows that it IS possible. Sometimes engineers forget not every problem has a technological solution. Picking the right out cropping of rocks to defend yourself from has more value than millions of dollars in tech if you can extract the right price from the people attacking you. But if you are going down that road, it is just a matter of how many people you take out before they get you. I won't be getting that enraged about copyright law, ever. If they start infringing on my right to complain about the copyright law, then we're getting warmer but even then not so much. People over react to the problems we have today, when you start infringing on the average person's rights a lot more than this people like me who are generally calm and don't freak out about small infractions will start getting mad, and thats when it will boil over and either a political or violent adjustment to the direction of the country will happen.

forensic 17y ago
There is a big difference between Al Qaeda style resistance and collective resistance. Sure, Hamas and Al Qaeda exist but... they are losing and they will inevitably lose. They can hold out for a long time with their low tech, but they still take losses at a 50:1 ratio. You have AR-15s but do you have UAVs? Do you have tanks? Do you even have nukes, for that matter, that ancient 60 year old tech? You can't win as a collective which means you can't win. Unless you can deploy an army that will actually DEFEAT the opposing army you are talking about Hamas-style resistance. The Palestinians are not winning. They are conquered. It's already over. They are bad people to take advice from.
- jeromec 17y ago
  I totally disagree; your analysis is flawed. The reason movements like Al Qaeda will lose is because their ideology doesn't have the right support. When you try to sidestep the right to freedom this country was founded upon you are picking a fight that extends into the core of the people, including the intellectuals that made all that high tech weaponry possible. Also, our all-volunteer military is made up of our people - our brothers, cousins, sisters etc.
  - forensic 17y ago
    The intellectuals are pacified by their McMansions and $150,000 student debt. Your brothers, cousins, and sisters don't understand what is wrong with censoring the internet. They think it's a good thing because they're afraid of pedophiles. The whole point (as I explained) of modern non-lethal weaponry is that it can be used to enforce bad laws without causing a public uprising. Brothers, cousins, sisters, etc think waterboarding is okay because they watch too much 24. They think anyone who flees in pain due to LRAD is a pussy cause it's just like loud music.
    - jeromec 17y ago
      You really think intellectuals would be content holed up in their McMansions while a struggle for liberty was raging in this country? And our family and friends which make up the military wouldn't know which side to stand on? I'm not talking about censoring some silly media, I'm talking about if it came down to the difference between liberty and tyranny, of infringing assembly and free speech.