An F-22 Raptor stealth fighter aircraft cost about $135 million each. I truly believe that the defense establishment in the United States is so locked into an all-immersive mythical world of determined, intelligent, resourceful enemies that it cannot even imagine that this plane is a monumental waste of money. But in their dreams, Hitlers are born every moment, waiting to rise up and harness the technological genius of a new generation of Von Brauns and they will, in short order, build a better, faster fighter than ours, than the current F-15 Eagle.
Who is the Raptor going to shoot down?
The F-15 has never, ever been shot down in aerial combat. Can you see why we need to spend $65 billion to replace it? Boeing and Lockheed/Martin know why. Because they make fabulous amounts of money by convincing idiots like Donald Rumsveld that some day in the future someone will -- out of thin air, apparently-- invent a faster, better fighter.
Military Honor
Forstner's Second False Step
"On December 2, military practice was held in Saverne. The scene was watched from the street by a journeyman shoemaker, who broke out laughing at the sight of the young, finely dressed Forstner, and some inhabitants that were standing around joined in. As a result, the second lieutenant lost control, struck down the shoemaker with his saber and gave him severe head injuries. That new act of aggression further intensified the affair.
Forstner was sentenced to merely 43 days of arrest by a military court in the first trial, and in the appellate trial, the verdict was reversed completely. Although he had been accompanied by five armed soldiers and the shoemaker was unarmed, as well as paralyzed on one side, the judge interpreted his actions as self defense, since the shoemaker had been guilty of insulting the crown. Within military circles, Forstner received encouragement, since he had defended the honor of the army with his act of violence."
An incident in German-occupied Alscase-Lorraine, 1913, From Wikipedia, 2008-12-27
Copyright © 2008 Bill Van Dyk All rights reserved.
