[Rictor]

You seem to think that if I oppose the US bombing, I must support Milosevic. That's utter bull****. The US, for obvious reasons, is guilty in my book. But so is Milosevic, for 10+ years of oppression and war he visited on Yugoslvia.

As I said, when I have the time, I'll set the record straight on the actual events that transpired. Until then, you can continue thinking whatever you want. But I urge you to atleast think about the source of the information.

Is it hard to believe that a government that has lied once (Iraq) has not done so before? Just becuase *this time* the US has been caught in the lie does not mean that this is the only time they have lied. Quite obviously, every previous time they got away with it. Thats the point.

[aldo_14]

Originally posted by Rictor
You seem to think that if I oppose the US bombing, I must support Milosevic. That's utter bull****. The US, for obvious reasons, is guilty in my book. But so is Milosevic, for 10+ years of oppression and war he visited on Yugoslvia.

That's not what i said.  You seem to be under the illusion that Milosevic was incapable of sending an army to ethnically cleanse the Kosovan populaiton, under the auspices of national security.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but you were in Yugoslavia at the time of the conflict / bombing, weren't you?  What was your source of information of what was going on at the time?  State TV?

Or are you saying the rest of the world should have sat still and watched as civillians were murdered in their homes?

[Rictor]

OK, until I can come up with proof to back my statements, I'm going to drop this conversation.

And no, I was not in Yugoslavia at the time. I was in Toronto throughout the bombing. I was there a few months after, but thats not really an issue.

My source of information was a mixture of News TV (CNN etc), Internet news (antiwar.com was started in the wake of the '99 bombing, and is now among the Net's Top 50 news sites.) and firsthand reports. Believe it or not, my family was chatting via ICQ with friends in Belgrade even as the bombs were falling.

I see no reason to believe that State TV would be any less reliable than any of the big News Networks (CNN, MSNBC, ABC, Fox). If the Iraq war has not proven that the media is working with a very specifc agenda - to support whatever the government says, I don't know what will.

But, as I said, I'm going to stop this until I have specific evidence. Until then, its just empty words on both sides.

[Gank]

Wasnt Yugoslav state tv bombed off the air fairly early in the campaign? Killed 30 journalists iirc. The Nato bombing of yugoslavia, while done for the right reasons was handled very badly.

On the subject of DU the british mod has issued these cards to their troops:

 
They obviously think its a health hazard.

[karajorma]

Originally posted by Kazan
karajorma: good point - but that is from the's chemical properties - and more importantly it's physical size property -- like asbestos dust there.

That has an effect too but the alpha emissions won't help either. Remember that alpha particles are the most damaging of all. When touching your skin it isn't too bad since you constantly lose your skin cells but inside the lungs it can do a lot more damage.

[Kazan]

alpha particles most damaging of all?  I htink not - gamma rays are the most harmful radiation


if alpha particles were harmful we's all be dead when a helium ballon popped near us - since alpha partices are just helium nucleii without electrons (2 proton, 2 neutron)

Hold up a piece of paper - you are now blocking alpha radiation from that direction

[karajorma]

Originally posted by Kazan
alpha particles most damaging of all?  I htink not - gamma rays are the most harmful radiation

if alpha particles were harmful we's all be dead when a helium ballon popped near us - since alpha partices are just helium nucleii without electrons (2 proton, 2 neutron)

Hold up a piece of paper - you are now blocking alpha radiation from that direction

Alpha particles are the most harmful. They just don't hit you very often The danger from radiation is dependant on two factors. How much damage they actually do when they hit you and the ease with which they can hit you.

You are indeed correct that alpha particles can be blocked easily but if you've breathed in uranium dust there isn't much you can do to shield yourself from the effects.

Gamma rays are nasty because there is very little you can do to stop them. Even a few inches of lead shielding mearly lowers the numbers who get through. However when they hit you they don't actually do as much damage because they aren't charged particles like alpha and beta particles are.

The charge on an alpha particle on the other hand is actually quite large.  It's far higher than the charge on a beta particle.

Alpha sources are considered relatively harmless as long as they are outside of your body but they are really nasty if they get inside you.

EDIT : Did a quick googling. Here's an EPA page confirming the ionising power of alpha particles. Unfortunately it doesn't which is the most dangerous.

[Woolie Wool]

Originally posted by Deepblue
Erm. I didnt say any names, and you are right. Anyone who hates like that is SLIME. However I did do a search for a democrat hate mongering site and I couldnt find one. Interesting no?

I found one:

http://www.gwbush.com

And another one:

http://www.democraticunderground.com