RAMAC

COMPUTING PROGRESS HAS BEEN PHENOMENAL SINCE 1956 WHEN 2000 BITS PER SQUARE INCH DELIVERED 5 MB'S, MEGABYTES, THAT IS, A MILLION BYES, ON A DISC DRIVE, 24 INCHES IN DIAMETER AND WEIGHING 1 TON. THIS RANDOM ACCESS METHOD OF ACCOUNTING AND CONTROL - RAMAC - IMPROVED STEADILY AND INCREMENTALLY UNTIL TODAY, 10 GB, GIGABYTES, THAT IS, 10 BILLION BYTES, CAN DELIVER 135 BILLION BITS PER SQUARE INCH ON A ONE INCH DISC DRIVE. THIS MEASUREMENT OF TECHNOLOGY'S ADVANCEMENT BY MECHANICAL MAN IS DRAMATIC AND OBVIOUS.

CONTRAST THAT ACHIEVEMENT WITH THE STATUS QUO OF A DIFFERENT RANDOM ACCESS METHOD OF ACCOUNTING AND CONTROL, THE SUICIDE BOMBER. THE PROGRESS OF THIS TERRORIST TOOL HAS BEEN STEADY AND INCREMENTAL TOO, THE RESULTS BEING EQUALLY STUNNING. THE BITS OF DEATH PER SQUARE INCH ACROSS THE GLOBE, HOWEVER, DO NOT REPRESENT ADVANCEMENT, BUT RATHER DRAMATIC AND OBVIOUS REGRESSION OF HUMANITY TO A LESS CIVILIZED 7TH CENTURY WHEN ISLAM MARCHED MILITANTLY ACROSS THE KNOWN WORLD MOTIVATED BY VICTORY THROUGH DEATH. IT IS A DESCENT INTO A CULTURE THAT MEASURES THE DEATH OF THE INFIDEL ENEMY AGAINST THE VICTORIOUS LIFE-GIVING DEATH OF A DEVOTEE OF ALLAH.

THIS CONTRAST OF PROGRESS AND REGRESSION IS STARK. TERRIFYING TOO. THE OBSERVATION, "YOU CAN'T DO THAT," ONLY APPLIES TO THE LATTER'S WEAPON OF TERROR, NOT TO THE FORMER'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE QUALITY OF LIFE.