“We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount. The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing that we know about living.”

— General Omar Bradley, United States Army

As quoted by Chaplain Norris Burkes on November 11, 2005

A man walking along a California beach was deep in prayer. All of a sudden, he said out loud, “Lord, grant me one wish.” Suddenly the sky clouded above his head and in a booming voice the Lord said, “Because you have TRIED to be faithful to me in all ways, I will grant you one wish.” The man said, “Build a bridge to Hawaii so I can drive over anytime I want.” The Lord said, “Your request is very materialistic. Think of the enormous challenge for this kind of undertaking. The supports required to reach the bottom of the Pacific! The concrete and steel it would take! I can do it, but it is hard for me to justify your desire for worldly things. Take a little more time and think of another wish, a wish you think would honor and glorify me; a more spiritual request, perhaps.” The man thought about it for a long time. Finally he said, “Lord, I wish that I could understand women. I want to know how they feel inside, what they are thinking when they give me the silent treatment, what they mean when they say 'nothing', and how I can make a woman truly happy.” After a long pause, the Lord replied, “Sooooo... do you want lights on that bridge?”

[Based on this joke at iNetHouse.com]

Posted in response to "Meet the Man Who Will Save the Internet" on Slashdot:
In the ultimate irony, the U.S. Department of Defense has created the first functional anarchy in the history of mankind [i.e. the Internet]. Yes, there is some "Internet Governance" (i.e. ICANN and IANA) but the core of the matter is that the Internet only actually works because everyone cooperates. When folks stop cooperating (bickering over peering agreements, etc.) parts of it may stop working, demonstrating the validity of the ananarchical model and proving that, at the core--at the heart--it really is an anarchy. A co-operative, mercantile, market driven anarchy. Even anarchists agree there have to be standards but on the Internet they are so loose that we call them either a "Request for Comments" (IAB/IETF) or a "Recommendation" (W3C). And you can just ignore them if you want--look at how Microsoft has been blowing of the W3C for years with their browser. And who can be a member of an IETF Working Group? ANYONE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD! You just join! (How cool is that--it's not perfect but it actually works, and anyone who wants to participate has a voice.) People can propose and build new protocols but if no one uses them they wither on the vine (i.e. desktop push models; no one really wanted push, and where is it today? And how about VRML? Seen any lately?). The last thing we need is for someone to step in and slap a government on top of this wonderful anarchy. I feel I should end with a rousing call for all of us anarchists to unite, but the sad thing is that is contrary to the concept of anarchy; so at least let's all cooperate, to oppose this attempt to impose tyranny on our anarchy. And while we're at it, let's just celebrate the whole concept of an anarchy created by the Department of Defense. Irony not only lives but thrives online.