What's really fun, though, are some of the comments. There are twits quoting Ike and the military-industrial complex, and others bitching about how senior military folks go to work for contractors*, and others griping about how the acquisitions process is so assed-up that it jacks up costs through the roof. Now, that last gripe is quite legit, as is the one quoted below.
* sidebar: what would those same twits bitch about if you weren't allowed to go work for the defense industry after military service? probably that weapons were being designed without leveraging the talent and experience of retired military folks...
MisterWhiskey
Why can't they be retasked with solving our energy dependence? Local powerplant creation? Why is it always bombs, bullets?
Ah yes, the internet moron. You see, Danger Room (where this appeared) has consistently reported on the efforts the US military are undertaking in search of greener fuel alternatives. And yet, when I've tried - three times now - to post a reply to Mr Whiskey, it's been rejected by the mods on the site.
You mean the way DARPA and the USAF have been working on alternative jet fuels for 3 years now? (as reported in Danger room in 2008: http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2008/09/darpas-coal-to )
Or the way the Marines have cut fuel use by 90% in Afghanistan by going green? (as reported in Danger Room this year: http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/01/afghanistans-green-marines-cut-fuel-use-by-90-percent/ )
So tell me, Mr Whiskey, now that you got your wish - and didn't even realize it - what's your next criticism?
Now, I don't know who's mod'ing the comments at DR. I don't know if it's Ackerman, but it wouldn't surprise me (he's clearly not spending his time on nuanced research). But there seems to be only two reasons why my comments wouldn't get approved:
1. They're seen as off-topic. I have a hard time buying this, given how far off-topic so many other comments are in this thread.
2. They shoot holes in the groundswell chorus of complaints about how the defense industry is hurting the economy, and they do so using DR's own posts. Given Ackerman's behavior on other threads, I wouldn't put this past him if he was mod'ing his own boards.
Now, I wouldn't think my comments would be so consequential or dangerous as to need suppression over at Danger Room. Maybe I'm just (unofficially) blacklisted for beating up on Ackerman and his sock puppets over his Islamobating with the FBI, but again, that seems a little extreme for a guy without a big posting profile over there.
Anyone got any ideas about why these comments wouldn't make it into the discussion thread?
More importantly, anyone got any ideas about how we get Noah Shachtman back on Danger Room and boot Ackerman to the curb?
By: Brant
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