[Milsurplus] USS Stewart vandalized

[J. Forster]

> There is scant evidence that what you say is true.  Speak to historians
> and they
> will tell you that many things are actually better now than they were in
> the past.

History is written by the victors, which really means it is biased to
those currently in power. I don't trust historians to separate their
political biases from their work. There are accepted things about WW II
history that are just not true.

> You say that these kids do not know the difference between good and bad?
> But what about the numerous stories of group members who did something
> bad and were
> punished in an appropriate way and learned? Maybe these kids didn't do
> something
> like that before, maybe alcohol was involved (like the drunken sailors).
> I wouldn't be so quick to condemn society with such little evidence.

Damaging drywall in one's own house is petty compared to trashing other
people's.

There is certainly as much booze, far more drugs, and a lot more trashing
of places than even 20 years ago. This is partly as a result of larger,
and hence more destructive, 'flash mobs', due to social media.

> I'm not excusing what they did but rather just saying that there is
> little that can be
> concluded about the greater state of affairs from this one incident.

Perhaps so, but the frequency of such incidents is growing due to copycats.

> Social unrest?  What, right now?  What about the protests of the 60's?
> The
> Vietnam war protests, the civil rights marches?  I don't see anything now
> that
> matches those times!  The US will not go out like Rome, it will be around
> (and strong) for a very long time.

And if Iran puts an atomic weapon in a cargo container and ships it into NYC?

> Very few say that military force is in general bad.  A massive majority
> recognize the need for a competent, professional, strong military.  But
> you will
> see legitimate debate about how that military should be used, how much
> should be
> spent on it, and how to deal with the massive inefficiencies in spending
> that
> are occurring.   And what's this about "having a gun is bad?"  Or is the
> very
> topic taboo to even bring up?  Every freedom has limits and
> responsibilities!
> Just like having a car.
>
> That ship is a museum, and yes, a lot of people really do care. Like other
> museums, it may need a decent alarm system though.

Probably so.

> You want to talk about preservation?  It is the military itself which is
> now
> destroying almost all electronics gear rather than allowing it to go out
> on the
> surplus market.  Look at MARS even... used to be that interesting gear was
> just
> given out for experimentation and modification, attracting a lot of bright
> minds. Now, despite those regulations still saying stuff is given out,
> nothing
> really is anymore.  They won't even give out small gensets to allow
> stations to
> operate during power outages!  I've tried going to my representatives and
> they
> all listen and are sympathetic but it will take more than a lone voice
> here and
> there to make anything happen.

WW II Mil gear could easily be re-purposed to other uses, partly because
is was far less complex and specialized than today, and partly because it
used construction techniques that were readily accessible. Not any more,
because so much is in silicon or SW. There is also far less being
produced.

Compare the quantities of modern radios built to WW II quantities...  1 to
100 maybe?

As to the punks, I think they should be sentenced to clean up and restore
everything they damaged, with sentence to run until that cleanup is
finished. No parole.

YMMV,

-John
================

>
> To use your words, "does anyone give a damn" anymore?
>
> Peter