Just in case anyone was wondering, the task was to water a plant.

The task was to water a plant. It was for the National Rube Goldberg Competition. I would just like to point out that this machine was not able to make a single perfect run, out of the three that they tried.

The impression I got was that the system was for pilots.

But this Rabbi doesn't advocating killing you as an unbeliever. His actions don't hurt you in any way, so I don't see why you need to criticize them. When you criticize the actions of others, and those actions don't affect you, you cross over into the same territory as the believers who say that it your atheism has to…

That's hardly mind control. I wouldn't want people to zap my brain before they knew more about the side effects of it, however, it doesn't seem to change people's actions, just make the people better at them.

Yes, but if we sink to their level, then we can't win. We're fighting a war that we cannot win without civilian support, and if the civilian population sees us as no better than the terrorists, then we've lost.

Zion Nuclear Power Station is no longer operational.

@sydcinema That's the thing about asymmetrical warfare. It sucks to be on the side of the conventional forces. However, the conventional forces can never win if they sink to the level of the non-conventional forces. Foreign Affairs has an interesting article about the laws of war and their role today. [www.foreignaffai…

I definitely believe that a large majority of Marines joined up because they wanted to do the right thing, not because they like killing, and I didn't mean to imply that I thought anything different.

I agree that the Marines are an organization like no other, and often a force for good, but amphibious landings are a thing of the past. They saw that when they developed air assault in the fifties.

Sorry, I wasn't clear enough. The law doesn't allow officers or employees of the federal government to "accept voluntary services for either government or employ personal services exceeding that authorized by law except for emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property."

They were cofounders.

It means a fusion device (otherwise known as a hydrogen bomb).

Congress would not have been affected by the shutdown because their funding is constitutionally mandated.

The law prohibits the federal government from receiving free labor.

How? The blame for this isn't shared with Congress, it rests with Congress. It is Congress's job to pass the budget.

It doesn't seem so great once you hear that many astronauts have to tear out their fingernails.

@cbstryker COD4.

The UN has intervened in Cote d'Ivoire and Libya. You probably should keep up with the news. Speaking of UN interventions, the US is hardly the only country that provides military force for the UN. France had a major role in Libya, and is the main country in the intervention in Cote d'Ivoire. [www.nytimes.com]

He's saying that the meteor would cause more damage than the power plant.