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| 2006/2/4 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:41698 Activity:nil |
2/3 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/03/ap/world/mainD8FHM1580.shtml "The president is said to have told Blair the U.S. "was thinking of flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft with fighter cover over Iraq. The aircraft would be painted in U.N. colors, so that if Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach of U.N. resolutions, the book said. |
| 2006/2/4-5 [Science/GlobalWarming] UID:41699 Activity:kinda low |
2/3 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/04/international/europe/04iran.html "... the dispute was apparently resolved after the Americans backed down and accepted compromise language, an American official said." \_ Yes! Now Iran is going to the UN Security Council and they're going to pass a resolution in a year or two. That'll scare em in Tehran! Woot! Ok, now that the Iran nuke situation has been resolved, what else can our World Government take care of? Maybe Darfur will be next. \_ Just out of curiosity, what would you do? N.b. I don't have a realistic answer myself. It's a bit more complex than Darfur or Rwanda, where a couple thousand Marines could have (and should have) sorted things out (granted, at the risk of pissing off China in Sudan's case) but still, I'm curious. -John \_ At this point, I'm honestly not sure what can be done that will result in a positive outcome without large scale death involved. I think it might be too late. Relying too much on a bunch of psychos to oil the world's economy was stupid was the get-go which will make economic sanctions impossible to enforce and meaningless even if they could be. They're already diplomatically isolated and really don't have a reason to care if the rest of the world cuts them off complete in that regard. So without economic or diplomatic leverage, the only choices left seem to be some sort of military action, be it a full scale invasion or trying to get a coup going or hope for a miracle. I don't think there's enough support for a real coup that would benefit the west, full scale invasion is very ugly for many obvious reasons, and a prayer-based foreign policy initiative is going to lead directly to Iran becoming a nuclear power with a lot of oil money and long range missiles and several public statements from their pseudo-elected President that wiping Israel off the map would be a jolly good idea. Even if you agree that nuking Israel would be fun, the response is going to devastate the area and possibly lead to a world wide economic collapse. If I was Israel, I'd certain target the oil rich areas with nukes, along with Mecca, Medina, and a few other places that would stir up more shit than the world has ever imagined. So, to answer your question, I think it comes down to full scale invasion or complete FUBAR in the region which screws the rest of the world too. |
| 2006/2/4-5 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:41700 Activity:low |
2/4 Iraq war I-- 1/100 security officers were private contractors.
Iraq war II-- 1/4 security officers are private contractors.
A reduction of troops next year means more growth for private
corporations next year. Invest wisely!!! -smart investor
\_ I don't think the various merc companies are issuing public stock. |
| 2006/2/4-5 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:41701 Activity:moderate |
2/3 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucrr/20060203/cm_ucrr/iraqscivilwarhascost3000perusfamilysofar Iraq's war has cost every family only $3000 so far. That's actually not too bad... \_ Yes it is too bad. \_ Counting for inflation the Iraq war has cost more than the 13 years the United States was in Vietnam. \_ If this were an ideal world, we should have a democracy where all the pro-war advocates should have to foot the bill for the Iraq war, and the anti-war people don't have to pay a single cent. I find it absurd that I will be paying extra taxes over the next XYZ years to help fund this illegitimate war and get us out of our federal deficit. It's been an absolute waste of money, not to mention immoral. \_ You don't understand what democracy is. I find a lot of the things my tax dollars are wasted on absurd but in our democratic republic we don't get to vote ourselves goodies directly. We have to bribe public officials to direct other people's money to us indirectly. In direct democracy people would soon be voting themselves other people's money without the middle man who at least makes some pretense of trying to run the government properly. Mob rule/democracy is nothing like ideal. |
| 2006/2/4-5 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:41702 Activity:very high |
2/3 Muslims are psychos..
\_ None of the muslims I've met were psychos. I've worked very closely
with a guy who's a devout muslim for the last five years, and
"reasonable" is one of the first words I would probably use
to describe his personality. Along with "brilliant", "hard-working",
and "funny."
\_ My guess is that you've prob just never really met the truly
great ones nor even normal ones in every day life. What is
portrayed in the news will always be a biased in one way or
another.
\_ My guess is that you've prob just never really met the truly
average ones who make up the bulk of the ignorant and stupid
who are currently rioting and attacking people over a friggin
cartoon.
\_ See http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4681294.stm
re rioting and attacking over a cartoon.
\_ I think you're truly missing the bigger picture.
There's a reason why the majority of Arabs/Muslims
are anti-American. Although I agree that they have
a very extreme culture, they are people too and
their anger with the West is justified. How
would you like it if you're family was killed by
Americans? We just roll in there and say we're
"liberating" them, while we're bombing the crap
out of them and taking their oil. There are
just so many easy ways to see why Arabs
would hate America. But not just the Arabs. We're
making it way too easy for the rest of the world
to hate us too.
\_ Re the BBC link. I posted this to provide a
reference re 'currently rioting and attacking
people over a friggin cartoon.' I was not trying
to make a substantive point.
That said, I completely disagree that the anger
toward the West is justified. If anything, the
West (and primarily America) is the greatest
source of peace and prosperity that has every
been known in the history of mankind. Even at
its worst moments, this nation and its people
have a kind of benevolence that no other people
exhibit.
If anything the anger that motivates some in
the Islamic world is based on a historical
distrust of non-Muslim societies. The Islamic
world has has been in conflict w/ the "West"
and parts of Asia (notably India) for several
hundred yrs. The primary src of conflict is a
refusal by some Islamic sects to accept the
possibility that there are various alt. belief
systems exist by which people can live.
In the absence of such acceptance, the conflict
cannot be resolved, save by the defeat of one
side or the other. I for one pray that the West
is victorious; for all its faults, the West is
infinitely superior to Islamic rule.
\_ I agree with you about Islam vs. the West in
general, but I take issue with your claim of
America's unique benevolence. There are a lot
of benevolent peoples out there in the world.
What makes America unique is that it is a
benevolent(or at least benevolent-intending)
_world_power_.
\_ (I'm someone else). Yes, and being the world's
first benevolent world power make us even
'better' then if we were some friendly third
world nice country. It is exactly that which
makes us better. Imagine how the world would
look if Hamas had the power the West has now.
\_ this makes them different from the truly average christians
who blockade women's clinics and blame our nation's problems
on gay people how?
\_ A few thousand nut heads != a few million nut heads.
How long since you were in a math or logic class?
\_ Maybe you should ask if America is part of the
problem. Every time you bomb the crap out of an
Iraqi wedding and bomb a Arab news organization,
you create 10x more extremists. So perhaps we might
\_ This is an oft repeated but unproven statement.
Lot of bad things happen to people in lots of
countries but you don't see the victim's families
blowing themselves and other people up over it.
There is something fatally flawed in Muslim
'culture' that leads to this response and as the
weaker party in this exchange they can't hope to
ever get anything from violence except even greater
violence in return on the Shock and Awe scale.
be fueling the extremism??? HMMMMMM....
Now how about this... we go to war against them and
then make up "evidence" to try to get people to
support our war against them? Where are the WMD
that we so infamously proclaimed?
\_ Where? In Syria. I thought that was commonly
understood. Shrug. Sky? Still blue. Check.
Ask yourself this question: Why did we go into
Iraq when we did? Why did we have to go in there
\_ Out of curiosity, what is your answer to this
question?
right there and then? Did Saddam do anything crazy
to provoke this war? NO, we brought this war to
Iraq, which means we INVADED Iraq. If I were
\_ Uhm, yes, we invaded Iraq. Who called it anything
else? When a foreign army crosses a national
boundary against the government's wishes, we usually
refer to that act as an invasion, especially if it
involves thousands of aircraft and missiles dropping
bombs in concert with tanks and infantry smashing
your army. What was your point? You come across
as frantic.
Arab, I would have MANY good reasons to hate
America.
\_ LOL. A few thousand nut-heads? So I suppose that when
Bush put his gay bashing bit in the state of the union
speech right before the election, that was so he could
win a few *thousand* votes? And the massive GOP efforts
to get anti-gay resolutions on ballots accros the
country during the presidential election year were
carried out by a few "thousand" lone nut Christians
way outside the mainstream, to a appeal to a few
thousand of their fellow nuts? And the "Left Behind"
series of books about how all us non-christians will
burn in hell in the soon-to-come apocalypse, those are
all best sellers because a few "thousand" Christians
read them? Or, since you seem interested in math
and statistics, maybe the over 50% of the approximately
290 million people in the U.S. who believe the Earth
was created 6000 years ago exactly as described in the
Old Testament, maybe that number is a few thousand as
well.
\_ When all those "evul xtians"(tm) start blowing shit
up and killing people over cartoons or maybe a jar
of piss with a holy symbol in it, you can come back
here and tell us about it and get taken seriously.
Until such time, your comparison of wide scale
culturally encouraged terrorism to some nutters
outside abortion clinics once a month & their odd yet
harmless non-scientific origin beliefs is simply
stupid. I understand your find "evul xtians"(tm)
scarier than a billion people "Far Far Away"(c) who
want you dead but some of us see the larger picture
outside the confines of the ivory ring around
Berkeley.
\_ Umm, I think the reason why they are terrorizing
us is because they don't want to see us
\_ We already have succeeded.
succeed. They want to make sure that we don't
profit from their oil. Obviously they don't
\_ Profit? They profit, we lose, everytime I
fill my tank or turn on a light.
\_ Real American patriots RIDE BIKE!
have a resources to launch a full-scale invasion
against us, so they do what they can to cause
chaos in our areas of interest. If we never
went into Iraq, I doubt Al-Quaida would be there.
\_ AQ was already there. They're an inter-
national terrorist organisation with members
in every country on the planet. Iraq is the
only place they didn't have anyone? Ok....
\_ Did I say anything remotely positive about the
Evil Muslim Hordes out there who want to
destroy America? No, I didn't. I agree
that they are a far far greater danger to our
civilization than the drooling fucks in Red
State America, but that doesn't mean they can't
both be threats to our civilization.
\_ When you're comparing the puppy across the
street who ate your lollipop to the pillaging
hordes setting fire to everything just past
the stop sign it is hard to take you
seriously. Whines about evul xtians don't
belong in a discussion about which of our
neighbors may or may not be card carrying
Evil Horde members, blazing pitch torches
and all. Your dismissing of half the country
as "drolling fucks in Red State America"
doesn't lend any weight to anything you have
to say either. Here's a quote for you to
think about for a while, "If we love our
country, we should also love our countrymen".
I think you're close minded, ignorant,
mildly retarded, and terribly confused, but
I don't think you're completely hopeless yet.
Drop the hatred thing and stop worrying your
self about silly shit like what the reasonably
harmless xtians are doing and you'll see more
clearly where the real threats to your future
are.
\_ Even if one accepts you premise that the ave. Christian
blockades abortion clinics and blames nat'l problems on
gays, it is fairly tame behavior compared to rioting,
car-bombings, suicide bombings, &c. Even the loonies who
listen to Pat Robertson, et. al. don't go around actually
blowing up abortions clinics on a DAILY basis. Other than
the IRA I can't actually think of a group w/ predominantly
Christian membership that actively uses terrorism.
NOTE: I have worked w/ numerous muslims over the years,
and they were all uniformly nice, decent people.
\_ Ditto about the nice, decent thing. The muslims I
know almost uniformly were resigned and frustrated
about muslim nutjobs. That said, there is such an
amazing number of individuals in the umma preaching
or apologizing for violence for a number of reasons
that it's hard to ignore. That, and I find it
absolutely fucking repugnant that the US state dept.
issues a statement condemning a bunch of cartoons, no
matter how offensive they may be to someone. They
should be screaming bloody murder about freedom of
the press--have we no pride left? Guess not. -John
\_ Didn't the whitehouse make an official statement
against Team America?
\_ Touche. -John
\_ What'd they say? |
| 2006/2/4-5 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Israel] UID:41703 Activity:very high |
2/4 Why does everyone automatically assume Israel has a right to exist?
In my eyes, if the Germans killed the Jews, shouldn't Israel be in
Germany? The Palestinians shouldn't have to sacrifice Palestine
for the creation of Israel. That seems like logical sense to me, no?
\_ Do you own any land in California? Are you planning to hand it over
to Mexico?
\_ I'm not exactly sure where you're going with those questions.
Both Israelis and Arabs could use it to their defense.
My question had to do with state of Palestine before WWII.
Why is it that the Palestinians had to hand over their
land when it was the Germans that committed the atrocities?
To me, it would seem that if Germans commit the crime, they
should be paying the penalty of losing land, not the Arabs.
\_ I meant it as a rhetorical question. I don't frankly think
it matters who owned California or Palestine 50 or 100 or
1000 years ago. The fact is that there are both jews and
arabs on that piece of land, and any sane solution to the
problem has to allow both of them to live there in peace
somehow. Personally, I would advocate a unified secular state
that recognises neither judaism nor islam as an official
religion.
\_ Why does everyone automatically assume Palestine has a right to
exist? This area hasn't had an independent nation for a few
thousand years and there's no such people as "The Palestinians".
This is a fabrication created after Israel was founded. Sheesh,
Arafat was an Egyptian citizen. Why don't we just kick out all
these interlopers who came along after the only independent nation
that ever existed there and give it back to them? That seems like
logical sense to me, no? Oh, btw, HI ANTI ISRAELI TROLL! Top of
the mornin to ya!
\_ hahaha, your calling me names hardly means anything to me.
\_ hahaha, your calling me names is hardly means anything to me.
And I would hardly call myself anti-Israeli or whatever you
would like to believe. I am simply asking a question. And
if you have insight that is exactly what I hoping to see.
\_ No, I don't think your question was intended to spark a
serious or educational discussion. Thus, you = troll. If
you were serious you wouldn't be so obnoxious. Maybe next
time.
\_ Jews have lived in the area for thousands of years. They have lived
in the Palestine area and are just as Palestinian as the so-called
Palestinians. |
| 2006/2/4-7 [Recreation/Celebrity/WilliamHung] UID:41704 Activity:nil |
2/4 WTF? Will Hung returns:
http://www.doubleagent.com/video.php?v=393&ct=35&cps=0&sb=mr
http://www.doubleagent.com/video.php?v=392&ct=35&cps=0&sb=mr
\_ I don't think he ever left. Last I knew he'd sold 100k albums.
\_ uh, william hung getting a haircut. not funny. at all |
| 2006/2/4-7 [Uncategorized] UID:41705 Activity:nil |
2/4 I really hate Piers Anthony
\_ You're about 20 years behind schedule. |
| 2006/2/4-7 [Recreation/Dating] UID:41706 Activity:low |
2/4 Has anyone every deleted all their porn? (Maybe to save
time, or you got married, or you're about to go to jail
for several years for making terroristic threats). Did
you regret your decision?
\_ It was year 2001, 2 years after I graduated from Cal. Things
were going nowhere at work, the dot-bomb demoralized everyone,
I was having family problems, and I was going through a breakup.
It was a depressing time and I jacked off a lot to keep myself
from sinking any further. But things didn't improve, and one day
I said enough is enough. I wasted a lot of time jacking off 2-3
times a day to get away from this horrible world, and I didn't
want to waste time anymore. I wanted to clean up, so I deleted
3G of still picture porn that I collected since high school.
I tried cleaning up my life. But nothing changed. One day, I
had a big urge but had nowhere to start, so I went to a massage
parlor and the next week hired a few escorts. I was having
sex binge because I felt deprived. In retrospect, was it a good
thing that I deleted porn? No. You'll always need them.
\_ For the health of your future partners, you should really go
to an STD clinic. Having sex with escorts is not exactly low
risk behavior.
\_ I delete all my porn regularly. But I never understood
the keeping a collection part of porn. Get porn. Use porn.
Toss porn. Repeat.
\_ that depends on if you are talking DVD or not. Comcast on
demand chrages 10-$15 for XXX porn. That gets pricey fast.
As long as your need for porn gratification gets obsessive to
the point of not wanting a regular GF; then you are ok.
There are alot more positive things in a good relationship
than sex. A girl who is a good listener is far more valuable
than one who is good in bed. Find one who does both is nice
too of course.
\_ Are you DER FURIOUS?! |
| 2006/2/4-7 [Uncategorized] UID:41707 Activity:nil |
2/4 I just made Coq au Vin for the first time. Oh. My. God. that's good.
\_ ObHeLikesTheCoq |
| 2006/2/4-7 [Uncategorized] UID:41708 Activity:nil |
2/4 worst picture ever:
http://myspace-893.vo.llnwd.net/00453/39/82/453582893_l.jpg |
| 2006/2/4-7 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:41709 Activity:nil |
2/4 Dubya bloopers
http://movies.crooksandliars.com/Funniest_Video_of_the_Year_1.wmv
http://movies.crooksandliars.com/Funniest_Video_o.mov (same thing)
\_ No way! Bush messing up in a bunch of speeches! I'm glad I saw
this. I'm not voting for that idiot in 2008.
\_ We're misunderestimating the average voter |
| 2006/2/4-7 [Consumer/CellPhone, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:41710 Activity:nil |
2/4 I am going to Europe for the first time since Cell phones became
ubiquitous. My understanding is that my American cell phone will
not work. Is there such a thing as a cheap, pre-paid phone that
one can use for just a week while in Europe? Do they suck? Where
would one buy such a thing? I'll be in France, a few miles outside
of Paris. Thanks.
\_ The appropriate unlocked GSM phone should work. You just need
to buy a local SIM card. I have a Mot v66 that I use just for
international travel.
\_ What he said. 1. Get an unlocked GSM phone that supports 900Mhz/
1800Mhz signal (Cingular & T-Mobile in the U.S. uses 850Mhz/1900Mhz
frequencies). Better yet, get a quad-band phones (that covers all
4 of the above). Motorola V220 comes to mind ($20 thru Cingular).
You can get the above for cheap from eBay.
2. When you get to Paris, buy a prepaid SIM card from companies like
Orange, France Telecom or Vodafone. You might also look in eBay to
see if someone would sell it to you before you leave the U.S. That
way you avoid the language barrier when dealing with French shop-
owner (in case you don't parlez francais) and knowing what your
French cellphone number is in advance (so you can give to your
wife/mistress/secretary, etc.) Lowest prepaid is about 15-20 Euro,
and incoming calls are free. Sign up for callback service to save
money, or a forwarded tollfree number that you can set to route
calls to your French cellphone. (http://www.telcan.net is what I use)
\_ I got a tri-band phone before I went to Spain. When I got
there, it didn't work. I had assumed it would just work in
Europe (with a proper sim card, of course). It turns out,
I needed to change a setting in the phone for it to work on
the European band. |
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