Subj : Re: How much should I charge for fixed-price software contract? To : comp.programming From : Randy Howard Date : Sat Aug 27 2005 11:51 pm Richard Heathfield wrote (in article ): > Randy Howard said: >> It is tantamount to admitting that their are no >> borders anymore to entertain the notion of policing somebody >> else's country, even for a good cause. > > Nations could and should compete on their human rights records. If the > concept of nationhood is lost, with one world government for all, there is > no alternative. And a monopoly situation is always bad for the customer. Step 1 to preventing that untasty event, disband the UN. >>> And how are we going to "challenge" them? A strongly worded note? >>> A bombing campaign? >> >> Of course. The military loves to practice. Note that if they >> are too well equipped, we'll stay away and focus on other less >> dangerous locations, we can't be seen losing battles. (Which >> explains North Korea not being attacked while Iraq was taken >> down). > > I don't think for a second that North Korea could win a war against "the > West", if only the West could sustain the political will to win. Note I said lose battles, not the war. We could wipe them out overnight, but not without the risk of a stray nuke landing somewhere inconvenient, and a /lot/ of dead bodies regardless. > DPRK might > inflict a lot of damage, but it would surely lose in the long run. Of course. So what happens? We wait so that the battle will be bloody later. Shades of Chamberlain pre-WW2. >>> And how about human rights abuses in Britain? The USA? Let's not pretend >>> they don't happen. >> >> Of course they do. But they seem to be far less extreme in some >> places than others. I'm not aware of any beheadings, or >> wholesale slaughter of villages in the UK. I would say the same >> thing about the US, but the specter of Waco rises up and smites >> me down. > > There was the Brazilian guy recently. I didn't realize he was beheaded, unless you mean they blew it off completely. > And a year or three ago, a guy was shot dead whilst walking home from > the pub. He was carrying a table leg home (to repair it for a friend, > I believe). The police claim to have mistaken it for a gun. The result of rampant hoplophobia. > Be warned, should you pop over for a visit. I don't 'pop over to visit' countries that do not allow their citizens to protect themselves. > Don't be > Brazilian, don't wear a nice warm coat, don't pack a rucksack, and don't > carry furniture down the street. These are all de facto capital offences in > the UK. Sadly correct. -- Randy Howard (2reply remove FOOBAR) .