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| 12/25 |
| 2005/3/25 [Politics/Domestic, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:36867 Activity:moderate |
3/24 I keep hearing the news pronounce the name Schiavo as shy-vo
instead of ski-avo (like the word for slave). Which is the
correct pronounciation?
\_ Should I say "Al Kay-Da" or "Al Kay-Ee-Da"? Should I say
"Bin Lah-Den" or "Bin Lay-Den"? I really want to get it right
because I don't want to disrespect them or anything. -tom
because I don't want to disrespect them or anything.
\_ Actually, it's Ahl Qah-ee-da. "Q" is more guttural than the
English "K".
\_ In the language of origin (Italian), it's "ski-avo".
\_ True. In Italy bruschetta is pronounced brusketta but in the
US it is almost universally pronounced brushetta.
\_ The news pronunciation is the way the family pronounces it.
\_ "zom-be" |
| 2005/3/22-23 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:36809 Activity:low |
3/22 Hello fellow l0s3r5, I mean g4m3rz. If you want a brain-dead RTS
with lots of spiffy graphics and a wacko plot but for some reason
you'll enjoy, try Act of War: Direct Action. Still $38 at Fry's.
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/actofwardirectaction/review.html
\_ I would have gotten this except the French developers kept
playing scenarios of nuking the white house.
\_ sounds like a selling point!
\_ What's wrong with that? I hate French people, but I hate
the current administration even more.
\_ Do you honestly hate French people? Or just go along with
that because it's cool. Now personally, I can find a lot of
things to complain about if I wanted about Frenchies but I
can do that about any group of people.
\_ I wish that America would exterminate the French gene
from the human race.
\_ That sounds like something Hitler would say!
\_ Why do you care either way? It's a game. -John
\_ If they were "just games" I don't think the Army would be
advertising so heavily on video game sites, and producing
their own video game. |
| 2005/3/22 [Politics/Domestic, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:36807 Activity:nil |
3/22 Charlie lied, andt the Royal Bitch will become Queen after all.
http://csua.org/u/bgi (Yahoo! News) |
| 2005/3/18-21 [Finance/Banking, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:36760 Activity:moderate |
3/18 Hello, I've contacted my friend in UK who says an interest rate of 4%
is not uncommon. He suggests that I look into the following big bank in
UK: NatWest, LloydsTSB, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Abbey Bank.
Indeed, they all have much higher interest rates than in the US. Here
is the problem. They all have a requirement that you be a "Resident of
UK." What kind of proof do they want as a resident of UK? I'm thinking
that if I do e-banking, they shouldn't have to mail me anything...
\_ You can get a CD at Wells for 3.75 over 22 months. Minimal
deposit of 10K. Auto-rollover with higher yield at maturity. So why
even fucking bother...
\_ that's not so great. http://virtualbank.com has 3.75% for 18 months,
or 3.95% for 24.
\_ ING Direct in US is 3.6%, you put in/take out any time you want.
\_ Try 2.6% I wish it was 3.6% Still damn good for short-term.
\_ http://emigrant-direct.com now at 3.25%. competition is good.
ING Direct in UK is 5%. With devaluating dollars and the deficit,
relative to the US it is more like 20%. Why even fucking bother?
You do the long term math.
And by the way my mom (over 60) has annuities, and gets over
5% for a 5 year plan, so I did in fact have her open up an acct
in her name for me.
\_ Now what guarantee do you have that this trend will hold over
the long term? Then factor in the price of currency
exchange, and the fact that you probably don't have nearly
as ready access to your money.
\_ Ok, ideally I'd like to access the money within 1 month.
Overseas transaction falls within that timeline. Why
1 month? So that if I decide to use it to buy something
big like a down payment for a house or a condo investment
in Shang-hai, I can do so within 1 month. I know that
someone will ask me why not just buy a house.
I already have 2 houses, 1 rental. I don't want to
buy a 3rd house (not now). I have been thinking about
investing in Shang-hai as my friend's dad bought a
hi-rise floor that doubled in price in the last 1.5
year. But until I've made up my mind, I just want
to keep my money in a nice place. By the way, if you have
ANY idea what people in HK and Taiwan are doing with
their investments, you'll also have little faith in
crappy US currency as well. I don't want to know the
financial impact of a swarm of people (esp. Asians)
moving their assets outside of US as is happening now.
\_ Well, good luck to you. Just be aware that the dollar
has always rebounded in the past, and very strongly
against any Euro currency. If you really want to be
this anal about your investments you can go ahead and
dump it into gold. Also, be aware that the europeans
are running pretty large defecits themselves. Plus,
the europeans are much less dynamic in terms of
adjusting to global changes in the economy. You sound
like the geeks who kept on buying yens during the
late 80s, then the big miracle of Japan ended and
you were stuck with 120+ for years.
\_ actually the dollar has been falling over the
past 40 years. OTOH, buying property in
Shanghai is highly risky. Many think it's
at a local maxima. As for a swarm of asians
moving their assets out of US, I think it is
exaggerated. Asian central banks diversifying
is the big worry. -yap
\_ Bank of Japan is pretty much propping up the
dollar all by themselves at this point. I think
they have 1T in dollar denominated bonds
right now.
\_ probably valid ID.
\_ If you can't open a UK bank account, how about buying 'blue chip'
Pound-denominated corporate bonds? |
| 2005/3/17 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:36737 Activity:kinda low |
3/17 How come CNN doesn't print Jackson's accuser's name, but BBC does??
\_ Different editorial policies.
\_ in case you didn't notice American media is fucked up. If you want
fair and balanced news, you read ALL news sources, like ones from
Japan, Germany, France, UK, Italy, and then make your own
conclusions based on all the different sources.
\_ All these countries' media are fucked up too, right?
\_ But in different ways. often predictable ways. |
| 2005/3/16-17 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:36728 Activity:moderate |
3/16 Yahoo News: http://tinyurl.com/6pky7 Elephants paint a picture \_ This sounds like the work of Komar and Melamid: http://thegalleriesatmoore.org/activities/kandm.shtml |
| 2005/3/15-17 [Politics/Foreign, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:36699 Activity:nil |
3/15 tell me if you want pointers to foreign bond (long
and short) fund, foreign reit fund, foreign utility fund,
foreign inflation indexed debt fund.
\_ I am interested in this. -ausman
\_ same here, please tell us how. I don't want to keep money
in useless US Money Market account since US dollar sucks.
\_ ditto -nivra
\_ No need to be mysterious. Just buy Dodge and Cox international.
6% YTD. Average return of about 12% since 1968 or so.
\_ Here you go:
http://tinyurl.com/627hr
The above article talks about has BGT, MFD, IGR, EGLRX
The above article talks about BGT, MFD, IGR, EGLRX
Interest rate rises (US? / internationally?) could be bad for
utilities and reit though, so I only bought BGT.
Two foreign bond funds: RPIBX, BEGBX
Like poster above me pointed out, Dodge and Cox ain't bad.
You may also want to look into:
You may also want to look into these int'l funds:
BJBIX (8.76% since 11/22/05 not including dividends)
TAVIX (6.44% since 12/27/05 not including dividends)
BJBIX (8.76% since 11/22/04 not including dividends)
TAVIX (6.44% since 12/27/04 not including dividends)
I also like some of the Matthews Asian Funds for
exposure to asia:
exposure to asia. I think Asia excluding Japan
has room to rise, but if PRC and Taiwan starts a war ...:
http://www.matthewsfunds.com
EUROX for exposure to Eastern Europe and Russia (risky?)
IFN for India (risky?)
BHP for exposure commodities (but this has gone up quite a bit
already)
BHP for exposure commodities
PBR for oil (risky?)
MPGFX (my favourite US fund)
US growth stocks starting to look tasty again, please fall some
more.
\_ Yeah, I already have 70% of my portfolio in international
funds, mostly ETFs but I am curious about the REIT, utility
and inflation indexed bonds. I have most of my 401k in MRIVX.
\_ The only foreign fund my 401K offers is an EAFE index fund.
Yes, I thought BGT, MFD and IGR are interesting choices
to know about. |
| 2005/3/14-15 [Science/Physics, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:36681 Activity:moderate |
3/14 Why Mormons shouldn't move to UK:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4341693.stm
\_ What the hell does any of that have to do with mormonism? Or even
religion at all? Huh?
\_ Hi troll! -emarkp (I had more Physics and Math than just about
anyone else I knew in the CS major.)
\_ yes, and the war in Iraq is the right decision, and Bush is
right, and everyone who thinks otherwise will go to hell.
\_ Woohoo! You win the stupidest troll of the day award!
\_ I don't think that's possible, given the guy below. -tom
\_ I assume you mean those 2 in the gay marriage
thread? Yeah, I wrote this before those were
posted. Maybe we need to take a vote.
\_ Tom's a fag, he's obviously biased.
\_ Wow, didn't know the "rightness" of the war in Iraq was
scientifically measurable. And no, I don't make pronouncments
about a person's eternal soul based on their politics.
about a person's eternal progression based on their politics.
Oh and sign your name. -emarkp
\_ I'd rather be a mormon than a fag.
\_ is that because you are mormon?
\_ You misspelled "moron"
\_ Why, exactly? And why have you given this thought?
\_ Well, I'll just throw gasoline on the troll fire and comment
that the two aren't mutually exclusive. -emarkp
\_ Uh oh. I don't think your metaphors are rowing with a
full deck of marbles. |
| 2005/3/14-15 [Reference/History/WW2/Germany, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:36676 Activity:high |
2/23 Happy Belated Soviet Armed Forces Day! -- !ilyas
\_ Hairy thugs with Stingers >> Soviet armed forces. -John
\_ Don't misunderestimate the forces of Great Mother Russia.
\_ WTF is "misunderestimate"? Guys, use a dictionary,
and English isn't German, you shouldn't string
prefixes like this. You simply had to say
"underestimate" or the opposite "overestimate."
\_ I learned the word from Heil Bush Jr. - op
That's what Heil Hitler did in 1942. Don't become another
\_ "Heil"!="Herr"
6th Army soldier with lice crawling out of your nose, pus
coming out of your wounds, and frozen toes and fingers falling
off when bandages were unwrapped. Keep your sorry sissy arse
for your swiss wench or for some French whores, and stay out
of the eastern front, cause you will end up curled up in a
shit-filled 30 below bunker hole shivering of cold and fright,
crying and whimpering, out of wood and out of food, knowing
that your fuhrer has abandoned you, and knowing that you will
never see yer mama again.
\_ Winning a war due to a combination of aid from your allies
and enemy strategic fuckups doesn't count. -John
\_ It doesn't? I thought that's all pretty much all wars
were won. -jrleek
\_ Tell Napoleon, Mannerheim, Pilsudski, and a host of
other brilliant generals who were simply "better".
Note that "strategic fuckups" != "tactical fuckups".
\_ Zhukov is brilliant too.
\_ Zhukov!
\_ Was, he's dead, and "we have more PPsH-armed
peasants than you have bullets" does not imply
brilliance, although you're probably right.
\_ the war was won by the courage and sacrifice of the
citizens of Great Mother Russia, including teenage
girls from a factory holding up an entire Panzer column
with AA guns when the Germans first attacked.
- RusCom Troll
\_ In 1941, war was beginning.
\_ SU and Stalin probably had more "strategic fuckups" than
the Germans, but they still won due to the heroic Russian
people!
\_ They won because they release all 'Zigs.
\_ The lithium's behind the Advil. Go ahead. I won't miss any.
\_ I thought Nazi's defeat was not due to the Red Army's
strength, but due to Soviet's strategy of burning everything
down to earth before they retreat.
\_ In other words, strategy.
\_ In other words, "ilyasing their country"
\_ "In other words"? Isn't that the same word I used
above? -- PP
\_ You know what you doing.
\_ Was it a mistake for the Allies to ally with USSR against
Germany? Would the world (western world at least) have been
better if we let the Soviets fight the Germans by themselves,
either winning eventually but at much higher cost or losing
eventually?
\_ What if the winner ended up with the Bomb?
\_ Like the Russians did?
\_ We already had the bomb at that point, and the Nazis
were out of the picture.
\_ Somebody set us up the bomb!
\_ So? The winner still ended up with the bomb. Why
should we have allied with USSR?
\_ Germany with the bomb, controlling all of
Europe, would be a much more formidable opponent
than the USSR was. I think it was as simple game
of power politics.
\_ where is ilyas and his funny trolls?
\_ In SOVIET RUSSIA, Ilya trolls YOU!
\_ For great justice. |
| 12/25 |
| 2005/3/14-15 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:36675 Activity:moderate |
3/14 John please tell us how to open up an account outside of US, preferably
an account in which you can have US as a permanent address and one that
has a decent interest-rate to inflation ratio, like the UK pound or
Australian $, thanks.
\_ I have no idea about interest rates--continental European rates
for bank accounts tend to be pretty abysmal, but you'd drop cash
into a fund located in a disinterested country through a bank.
Go to an outfit you like, such as http://www.llb.li (great service)
and open an account. If you can't, there are notary services that
will do it for you. I have no idea about Jersey/Monaco/Caymans and
how they work, but most banks geared towards foreign clients tend
to offer mail holding services for a small fee. Regarding
Australian $, Vanuatu had a lot of offshore account type activity
last time I was there (~2 years ago) but at the time the
Australians were trying to crack down on it. That may have been
targeted at .au citizens, though. Most "civilized" banking
countries also subscribe to some sort of money laundering provision
or another; in Switzerland, ~100k CHF transactions are the lower
limit at which they require proof of the provenance of the cash
(i.e. no ill-gotten gains.) If it's a tax dodge, do it in a
country which does not consider it its responsibility to prosecute
foreign income tax evasion (.ch is under massive pressure from the
EU to start doing so.) To get around this, some countries will
charge you an "equivalence tax", i.e. around their approximation
of what you'd be paying in your home country. I'm not a banking
expert, but if you have some specific questions that I can check
out without too much effort, drop me a mail. -John
\_ You know ING Direct yes? ING Direct UK pays 5%, ING Direct Aus
pays 5.2%, and ING Direct Spain pays 6%. I wonder how one could
open accounts with foreign ING Direct.
\_ Also, what is the goal: If its to diversify RISK (eg, of the
dollar dropping into the toilet), then just use foregin index
funds and bond-index funds.
\_ Good point, sorry, I was just assuming tax dodge. -John
\_ tell me if you want pointers to foreign bond (long
and short) fund, foreign reit fund, foreign utility fund,
foreign inflation indexed debt fund.
\_ I am interested in this. -ausman
\_ http://www.smartmoney.com/tradecraft/index.cfm?story=20041122 |
| 2005/3/12 [Science/Space, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:36661 Activity:nil |
3/12 Errr... whoops. The Italian general who was supposed to be
keeping the Americans informed of the Sgrena rescue mission, was
never told of the mission.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4341387.stm |
| 2005/3/12 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:36659 Activity:nil |
3/12 More Sgrena. The Italian justice mister tells her to shut up.
(More or less)
http://xtramsn.co.nz/news/0,,11965-4190767,00.html |
| 2005/3/10 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:36637 Activity:nil |
3/10 Okay, last one:
http://csua.org/u/bby (latimes.com)
In recent weeks, Bush administration officials have taken a far more
conciliatory tone with some of America's oldest European allies.
Whereas Rumsfeld once slighted NATO's western European members --
referring to them as "Old Europe" -- he poked fun of those comments to
win over European ministers during his trip to the continent last
month. "That was Old Rumsfeld," he said.
On Thursday, Rumsfeld hosted French Defense Minister Michelle
Alliot-Marie at the Pentagon, praising the cooperation between the
nations' militaries over the years.
\_ You will never hear an apology from those demagogues that passed
a House resolution renaming French Fries "Freedom Fries" or
that NRO editor who called the French "Cheese Eating Surrender
Monkeys." Actually, write that NRO editor and tell him what
an idiot he is for me, okay? jonahnro@aol.com -ausman |
| 2005/3/8-10 [Politics/Foreign/Asia/China, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:36589 Activity:nil |
3/8 Curious, did UK ever pass an anti-independence bill back in 1700's?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4331443.stm |
| 2005/3/8-9 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:36588 Activity:kinda low |
3/8 This is funny. Italy demands US punish killers. They just don't
understand us. Back in 1999 we acquitted a reckless pilot who
killed 20 skiers, how DARE these fucking Italians demand anything.
We Are Great, Manifest Destiny, and God Bless America. -conservative
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4328551.stm
\_ The journalist they shot is very opinionated and left wing (she
writes for Il Manifesto, I believe.) The whole sordid affair is
a stupid, tragic mistake, and the dumb bitch (pardon me, but it
really pisses me off) is really not helping anyone by agitating
about it being a US conspiracy to avoid looking like they support
compromises with hostage takers. I only wish they'd left her to
rot and tried to free some of the poor bastard South Asian truck
drivers or other innocent hostages instead. The thing with the
pilot, on the other hand, was just a fucking travesty. -John
\_ Do you think she's pretty good looking for a 57 year old?
\_ Actually, if I got shot up by American soldiers just a half mile
from the aiport when the three security guys around me were
ecstatic and we had all the confidence in the world that the
Americans knew we were coming -- and someone suddenly put a
spotlight on our car and blasted us for 10-15 seconds, the chief
negotiator died on my lap and I got shrapnel in the shoulder, I
might say it was a conspiracy, too -- that the American grunts
were told by someone higher up in the chain of command to
expect bad guys in a car similar to ours, but otherwise naive
to our arrival.
But, a day or two later, I might say, you know, maybe I
overreacted, and it was probably an accident. |
| 2005/3/7-8 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:36567 Activity:very high |
3/7 What are people's opinions on the Italian intelligence agent who was
shot by US soldiers? All reports seem to be fuzzy at best.
\_ Not intentional. All Italians driving to the airport and getting
shot just before they got there, means they likely got an OK with
some Americans on the way out, whether officers or CIA, even with
the reports to the contrary ("They didn't tell us they were
coming!" -- this is unlikely). Probably some grunt in a mechanized
platoon on patrol (not necessarily a checkpoint) freaked out when
he saw the car full of buff brown people, screamed out to his
squadmates, "INCOMING BOMBER", someone lit up the search light, and
blew the car fucking away. It was night after all.
Naturally, those who would know best (the Italian intelligence
officers and the soldiers who opened fire) are all cogs in the
Machine and cannot speak.
\_ it's clear that our sharp shooting Republican hick boys from
Kentucky can't tell the difference between Italian and Iraqi
language.
\_ You're the Italians. Are you screaming "We're Italians!"
because you saw the patrol a long ways ahead while not hitting
the fucking brakes, or are you screaming "We're Italian you
dicks!" because you're getting blown to pieces before you even
got the chance to brake?
\_ I scream "I'm jctwu don't shoot!"
\_ What's the fucking difference? Our country music listening
Bush loving armed forces can't tell the difference between
"Ala Akbar" and "Non Spari!"
\_ The difference is some sodan's incorrect assumption
that the inability of coalition soldiers to understand
Italian was a non-negligible reason for what happened.
\_ From what I've read, she claims 300+ bullets were fired but pics
of her car don't show any damage at all and it seems that the
dude who was driving was killed by a single bullet. Unless the
troops guarding that checkpoint were replaced w/ Imperial Storm
Troopers, her story seems a bit fishy.
\_ It's even worse than that. First she says it was at a check
point, then she says it wasn't. (This should be easy to
verify) First she says they were driving slow, now in
yesterday's article in her paper, she talks about how fast
they were going. (Almost losing control to avoid puddles,
and yes, she says they were "suddenly attacked" going that
fast. ) etc. She can't get her own story straight. She
talks about being able to pick up "handfuls of bullets" off
the back seat, which is obvious BS. She's a liar. I had
sympathy, but she's lost me.
\_ Why do you think her claim to picking up "handfuls of bullets"
is obvious BS?
Don't you think the people who were with her could easily,
so easily refute this?
\_ Your information is old.
http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/weblog.php
Search for "Maybe all 400 bullets missed?"
Are you a moron?
A guy died with a bullet to his temple, and the windshield
in that photo isn't even cracked.
Do you always believe the blogs over using your brain? |
| 2005/3/7 [Politics/Foreign/Europe, Health/Women] UID:36559 Activity:kinda low |
3/7 Anyone else thinks that the wounded Italian communist journalist looks
like Hillary?
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050307/photos_pl/mdf886103
\_ A little bit. I have to say, she looks a LOT better than most of
the 57 year old women I've known in my life.
the 57 year old women I've known in my life. To hell, she looks
better than a lot of the EECS women I've seen. |
| 2005/2/27-28 [Politics/Foreign/Europe, Politics/Domestic/911] UID:36444 Activity:very high |
2/27 Peter Benenson died last week:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56659-2005Feb26.html
\_ Now if only Amnesty International would die with him...
\_ Fuck. You.
\_ Hey, I got no problem with the concept, but once they start
defending terrorists and cop killers, the implementation is,
in my book, obviously hopeless. -pp
\_ To what are you refering? You're claiming something I
can't find any reference for. Please give some context.
\_ Everyone in Abu Ghirab and Guantanamo Bay is a
terrorist, remember?
\_ *Everyone*?! You're kidding, right? I've been
trolled.
\_ And torture is OK as long as they're bad guys.
\_ Hey, people say there's no intellectual diversity
on liberal college campuses like Cal. The
pro-torture sysadmin faction proves that to be
false. I think there are probably a good half
dozen motd posters who genuinely support torture.
\_ I think anyone who's had to deal with a
sysadmin wouldn't be surprised by their
pro-torture attitudes.
\_ You, sir, are the terrorist. |
| 2005/2/25 [Politics/Domestic/Election, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:36416 Activity:high |
2/25 Wired, how far you have fallen:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.03/view.html?pg=5
\_ What the fuck are you talking about?
\_ Wired used to be techno-libertarian, this is written
by a Euro Socialist.
\_ Lessig is a Euro Socialist? Wow.
\_ Op-ed piece about tech stuff, mildly sensationalist, about
something of import to geek types? Sounds like Wired. -John
\_ Once again the invisible hand of the "free" market gives us
the finger.
\_ OK, dude, very basic again for those of you who were asleep
in Econ 100A&B: collusion, government lobbying, anything like
that is NOT the invisible hand, the free market, capitalism, or
anything along those lines. Thank you, you may now go back to
sleep. -John
\_ in other words, there's no such thing as the free market,
thus we can stop relying on it to solve our problems. -tom
\_ Haha. Let's play a game called 'spot the flaw.' -- ilyas
\_ w00t!
\_ How about "spot the twit." Hey, it's ilyas! I win! -tom
\_ w00t! You both get a "w00t!" for entertaining the
rest of us. A grateful motd thanks you both.
\_ This is how every implementation of capitalism has been.
\_ Yeah, this kind of sounds like the people who defend
communism. But in a perfect world...
\_ Whyis a regular op-ed column by one of the most respectable legal
scholars on constitutional and cyberspace law a problem? -dans
\_ An article showing corporate corruption in government, applicable
to tech stuff, this is inappropriate/wrong for what reason?
\_ I agree with the article. The government can do something
better than private enterprises because they are
fundamentally different. Private enterprises are there to
make money, governments are there to serve. If a company
can suck $100 out of you, they will not sell for $99.
Governments on the other hand just need to cover their cost.
\_ At the same time, governments are technically not
looking for max profit, so they have less of a incentive
to minimize cost and maximize efficiency. The company
may want to sell it for $100, but could sell it for $80
and a competitor is selling for $85 so it sells it for
$80. The author has a point that if the government CAN
do it cheaper/better and it is for a service/product that
makes sense, it should. Making laws prohibiting it from
doing that just because it eats into the bottom line of
some corporation is not a good enough justification for
not doing it.
\_ Thanks for the link, it is somewhat interesting. While we're on
this topic, may I suggest an excellent documentary that talks
about similar topics? "The Corporation" is an extraordinary film
about the creation of the American corporation, its legal
organizational model, its global economic dominance, and its
incredible ambition to influence every aspect of culture in its
unrelenting pursuit of profit. You can rent it in Blockbuster,
Netflix, or buy it on http://Amazon.com
\_ you can get a preview here:
http://www.mininova.org/get/4719/The.Corporation.DVDRip.XVID.avi.torrent |
| 2005/2/19 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:36248 Activity:nil 75%like:38773 |
2/19 So, do we still have to call them Freedom Fries?
http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/03/11/sprj.irq.fries |
| 2005/2/18-19 [Politics/Foreign/Europe, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:36243 Activity:nil 76%like:36239 |
2/18 Winning Their Hearts And Minds:
http://csua.org/u/b46 (Christian Science Monitor)
\_ That dude needs to get a talk radio show.
\_ Interesting article, thanks. (Note: link not BS from pundits)
\_ Dear kchang, it would be nice if your motd archive can translate
shortened url (csua.org or tinyurl) into actual url since the latter
tends to remain valid longer. Many ppl read links from the archive
when they have time rather tha following the motd live.
\_ dear anonymous person, if you move your mouse over the URL,
you'll see a summary and the actual url. And if you go to the
entry, you'll see the entire cache up to 8K. Try the following
url. This feature has been around since May of last year:
http://csua.com/?entry=36239
Is this feature good enough for you? |
| 2005/2/18 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:36239 Activity:high 76%like:36243 |
2/18 Winning Their Hearts And Minds:
http://csua.org/u/b46
\_ That dude needs to get a talk radio show.
\_ Interesting article, thanks. (Note: link not BS from pundits)
\_ Dear kchang, it would be nice if your motd archive can translate
shortened url (csua.org or tinyurl) into actual url since the latter
tends to remain valid longer. Many ppl read links from the archive
when they have time rather tha following the motd live.
\_ dear anonymous person, if you move your mouse over the URL,
you'll see a summary and the actual url. And if you go to the
entry, you'll see the entire cache up to 8K. Try the following
url. This feature has been around since May of last year:
http://csua.com/?entry=36239 |
| 2005/2/2 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:36033 Activity:insanely high |
2/2 In spite of what libertarian commentators like to claim,
Europe is outperformaing the US economically by almost
any measure:
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/17726
\_ What do you define as "Europe"? France, Germany, Poland, the UK,
Luxembourg and Greece are about as heterogenous economically as it
gets. That aside, there is a raft of problems (and advantages) not
present in the US. The key word you're looking for is "different."
As for the libertarians, there are some areas where "European"
bureaucracy is oppressive to business compared to the US, and
others where companies have a very free hand. YMMV. -John
\_ Germany has highest unemployment since WW II. I do not envy
Europeans. Only the massive US debt is an issue for Americans.
If that can be tackled then the EU has no hope at all. If it
can't then it still might have no hope.
\_ The Europeans are now more productive per hour than the
Americans. They used to be less, much less productive.
How is this trend in our favor again?
\_ They still work fewer hours and fewer of them work. The
real threat now is China, not the EU.
\_ I believe OP's contention is not about the EU as threat but
rather as a possibly superior economic model.
\_ "Economic threat"
\_ Well OP makes the stupid mistake of taking "EU" and not
"aspects of certain EU countries". -John
\_ http://www.thinkandask.com/news/jobs.html
What are the comparative employment rates?
\_ http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/41/15/32504422.pdf
\_ GDP growth. http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/0/17/19230458.xls
country:2002q4:2003q1:2003q2:2003q3:2003q4:2004q1:2004q2:2004q3
US:0.2:0.5:1.0:1.8:1.0:1.1:0.8:1.0
France:-0.2:0.2:-0.5:1.0:0.6:0.6:0.6:0.0
Germany:0.0:-0.4:-0.2:0.3:0.3:0.4:0.4:0.1
\_ What is comparable GDP/person? We all know that the
population growth rate is higher in the US. That does
not really help me as an individual worker. Over the
last decade, twenty years, thirty years and fourty
years, GDP growth per person has been comparable.
\_ Not growth, but only Norway has a higher GDP per capita than
the US. http://csua.org/u/ay0
\_ The statement is based on data from csls.ca . (BTW, they misspelled
the title of the csls paper. It should be "Output per Hour" instead
of "Output per House".) Given the higher relative cost of labor
in Europe, it is completely reasonable that Europeans are more
productive per hour. (Similarly, Europe's relatively rare farm-
land are more productive than the US.) The scarcity and the cost
of the resource guarantees the employer (and the farmer) invest
more in productivity. In fact, if you look at general labor
productivity (not per hour), The US has been outperforming EU
by large strides in the last couple decades.
by large strides in the last couple decades, most of that based on
the large number of hours worked by US employees.
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/5/47/2483871.xls
It is perhaps more accurate to say that Europe has been outperforming
the US economically in *one* measure that is not significant at all.
\_ No, you either did not read or did not fully understand
the URL provided. In GDP/person, the EU has grown faster than
the US in the last 15 years. In productivity per hour worked,
the EU has gone from behind the US to leading the US. In
ROI, the EU has been catching up. In total public debt, the
EU has caught up. In short, every significant comparable economic
measurable, the US has gone from a large lead to a small lead
and in some cases no lead at all.
and in some cases to no lead at all.
\_ Hmmm, you are right. Europe should brace for the imminent
brain drain from the United Stated as more and more
professionals realize they are better off working for the new
winning team. -- ilyas
\_ My French coworkers here are all rather disparaging of
the countrymen they've left behind in France. Perhaps it's
an Ecole Polytechnique thing.
\_ My French coworkers here are all very happy to be
away from France. My French acquaintances still in
France are feverishly trying to get the hell out.
\_ That's sort of what I was trying to get at. If EU
economic model is so superior, why are so many
european professionals and scientists so desperate
to get out of there? -- ilyas
\_ Ummm.. because they're stupid?
\_ Perhaps you hang out with a desperate and
unhappy crowd. Do you have any evidence that
is not anecdotal that this is true?
\_ Do you have any non-anecdotal evidence that
points the other way? Or even anecdotal
evidence? All I see is a lot of foreign
professionals settling here to work, and
foreign scientists getting tenure here.
I don't see much traffic the other way.
Except John, but (a) he is a commie mutant
traitor and (b) .ch isn't even a part of
Europe, they are like their own planet.
-- ilyas
\_ Trust the compter. The computer is your
friend.
\_ Yes, read The Economist.
\_ On a slightly unrelated topic, I read
an article in the Economist on
'sister Hillary,' where the author
was gushing about Hillary's 'maturity
and ambition' as a politician, because
she decided to pay lip service to the
faith vote. I found that an interesting
comment -- she comes across as a lying,
insincere scumbag to me when she does
stuff like that. Kind of like her
husband. Of course, being the biggest
scumbag may be what maturity and
ambition means in politics. -- ilyas
\_ Take a look at the enrollment figures of
US grad schools.
\_ I have, and the numbers are down.
\_ 'The numbers are down' because less
\_ fewer
people are being let in (due to
procedural post 9/11 issues), not
because less people want to come here.
No cigar for you.
\_ Bullshit. The "procedural 9/11
issues" are that the student visa
system is completely fucking broken.
I know grad students who are afraid
to even go to canada for a conference
because even though all their visa
stuff is ok, there's some random
chance that they'll get stuck in canada
for so long they have to go back to
their home country. For people from
countries where they're desperate,
they try anyway, and the acceptances
are down, but for countries like
germany you better believe people
are turning down US positions becuase
they don't want to put up with the
moronic bullshit. And applications
to Canadian schools are up. Our
broken-ass visa system isn't just
letting terrorists in, it's seriously
undermining American science. I'm not
pp, and I'm not disagreeing with you
about professionals in general, just
about students and post-docs in the
sciences.
\_ You do understand that does not mean
that european professionals are not
leaving in an absolute sense. Also,
rather unfortunately, I don't know of
any foreign student statistics that
breakdown based on the quality of the
local school (is the student attending
Joe's Foreign Language Institute of
Berkeley or UCB?). I would not lament
the loss of the Joe's Foreign Language
Institute of Berkeley population.
\_ Albert H. Teich, director of
science and public policy at
the American Association for
the Advancement of Science,
which signed the statement,
wrote that not improving the
visa situation "will do
irreparable harm to
scientific progress as well
as U.S. competitiveness."
Also:
"A survey of major graduate
institutions, conducted by
the Council of Graduate
Schools, found a 6-percent
decline in new foreign
enrollments this fall, the
third year in a row with a
substantial drop." -tom
\_ Mea culpa. I should have made it clearer. When I said
"general labor productivity (not per hour)", I was referring
to Annex Table 12 "Labour productivity in the business
sector", which specifically is *not* about productivity per
hour. In fact, I specifically allowed that the producitivity
per hour is lower in the US ("it is completely reasonable...").
However, the labor productivity per capita has been growing
much faster in the US, likely because of the greater number
of hours worked by US workers. Similarly, GDP per hour
worked is higher in many other nations, but US is almost
tops in GDP per capita.
\_ Granted. But how much longer will this continue,
with current trends?
\_ Well, GDP and productivity growth in the US has been
faster in the US for most of the last couple of decades.
And it's really not that we've been working *more*
hours, it's more that other countries have been
working *fewer* hours. The number of hours worked
has pretty much stayed unchanged in the US since 1980,
but has been dropping elsewhere.
\_ Thanks for this interesting info. This is the sort of
thing I was looking for. (why is this deleted? is being
polite a censorable offence on the motd now??) -OP |
| 2005/1/31 [Politics/Foreign/Asia/Japan, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:35996 Activity:moderate |
1/31 I take it back, German socialism has my approval:
http://csua.org/u/ax9
\_ That's really sick. No one ought to be forced to sell his
or her body for other people's sexual jollies.
\_ Mmm. Emergent behavior.
\_ Ok this is really funny. An obvious fix to this insanity is to
add male prostitute as a "forced job" -- Those laws will get fixed
instantly. Kind of like how in Japan the government was dragging
their feet for 10+ years on the abortion pill (is it legal yet?)
but Viagra was instantly approved.
\_ The Japanese govt. was dragging its feet on _the pill_, not
Plan B. As in, omgwtf?
\_ Right, it's even worse than I remembered. |
| 2005/1/30-31 [Reference/History/WW2/Germany, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:35983 Activity:very high |
1/30 When Germany fell and the US/European/Russia took over, how long
did they occupy Germany? How long did loyal Nazi youngs and
insurgents attack the Americans and Russians? How long were
E/W Germany occupied before each had setup their own
governments? I'm curious because perhaps we could draw some
parallels and make better guesses as to how much longer the
insurgents will continue before they gave up, and how much
longer our troops will be in Iraq.
\_ Very good questions. I read about the situation in France in 1945,
and it was pretty bad. There was a frenzy of revenge killings of
'collaborators.' No courts, or anything. It was allowed to
continue for a while too, because it was felt that the people
needed to 'vent.' So many unsavory things happened in WWII.
Maybe time reduces the perceived magnitude of things -- all the
crap back then was much much bigger than anything today,
Iraq included. -- ilyas
\_ tell us about the Russian Jews!
\_ Not many insurgents in Germany--they just kind of fell apart, and
Their sense of order (unlike some places, they're a reasonably
civilized country aside from the occasional 6-million-worth slipup)
kept them in line. Plus they were probably right sick of getting
blown up by 1000-bomber fleets and hordes of very angry Russians.
There were some SS plans for and attempts at guerilla gangs (look
up "werewolves") but all in all nothing came of it. Occupation
lasted until present, and they were allowed to have an army again
around 1954. The Bundesrepublik itself was set up around 1948, so
the whole Iraq election would seem to support that pattern. -John
\_ present=2004. 2004-1945=59 years. You're guessing that we'll be
in Iraq for at least 59 years? Hm. Also a lot of good things
came out from Germany occupation, like getting the best
scientists. What good things will come out from occupying Iraq?
In my opinion I don't think Iraq and Germany have much in common
\_ Try 100+ Billions of barrels of oil, which we cannot live
without.
\_ It would not surprise me. The western Allies stayed in .de
initially to prevent it from arising again, and later because
they were facing off against the Soviets. Scientists, NATO,
trying to build a strong democratic partner and establishing
permanent bases were just facets of an overall strategy of
presence--the US has not been at war with a democratic nation
during this century (barring some questionable interference
in other countries' domestic politics) so it makes sense to
(a) try to build democracies, and (b) stay there to make sure
they remain democratic--your ideal result will be an ally
which doesn't attack you. Now take a look at a world map and,
forgetting for a moment about whether it's right or wrong,
try to convince me in light of current strategic alignments
that it doesn't make sense for the US to hang around Iraq for
some time. -John
\_ Germany was broken by 1945, not like Iraq, where the army just
melted away to fight as insurgents. Also, Germany did not have
1 billion muslim sympathizers supporting them. Also the Germans
under the Red Army's occupation were just scared to death, with
the Red Army's reputation for brutality and mass rape, while
Germans under Allied occupation were just glad they weren't under
the Russians, so why make trouble.
\_ The most important difference: Iraqis didn't kill millions of
Americans. Heck, they didn't even start the war.
\_ Uh, overall US casualties in WWII (both theaters) were around
400k dead. -John
\_ Germans weren't relgious extremists either.
\_ THe people weren't but you cant' say the same thing about
the leadership. The cult of Nazism was very strong. Look
at the runes next time you see propaganda film from that era. |
| 2005/1/27-28 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:35940 Activity:kinda low |
1/27 I keep reading about how the US will lose jobs to China. What
about Europe? Aren't they in the same boat?
\_ No, they're busy losing jobs to E. Europe. -John
[ k ] |
| 2005/1/27-28 [Politics/Foreign/Europe, Recreation/Sports] UID:35935 Activity:nil |
1/27 9 year old professional athlete in soccer??
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/soccer/01/27/phenom.ap/index.html?cnn=yes |
| 2005/1/19-20 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:35787 Activity:kinda low |
1/19 Is this unethical? Filming of GG Bridge suicides?
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/01/19/MNGENASPH31.DTL
\_ I, personally, don't have any problem with someone filming the
suicides, but I do have a problem with him lying to the
officials about his motives.
\_ It's unethical to lie to get permission to place your cameras on
GG land, but not unethical to film suicides in a very public place.
They may have had an ethical obligation to try to prevent any
suicides they saw in progress, and it sounds like that's what they
did.
\_ Does the "Good Samaritan" law in France apply to people trying to
commit suicide?
\_ Faces of Death |
| 2005/1/8 [Politics/Foreign/Europe, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Others] UID:35606 Activity:nil |
1/7 U.N.'s rape for food program exposed.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42088 |
| 2005/1/7-8 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:35592 Activity:nil |
1/7 http://csua.org/u/ama "Also, in an apparent sign that American relief agencies want to keep a lower profile, several trucks delivering supplies from U.S. AID removed large banners marking the source of the shipments." Why? \_ Use you brain. They're in a muslim part of the world, they're also in a low security part of the world, especially with the disaster. Easy targets for extremists with twisted agendas. |
| 2005/1/5 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:35551 Activity:high |
1/4 [WARNING: Libertarian love-fest below]
\_ Warning: communist dumbass above
\_ thanks for the case in point, false dichotomy, and needless
invective
\_ What makes you think there was any dichotomy? Or that the
invective was needless? Here's another question: which of
the following responses are "libertarian love-fests"?
Updated govt. aid figures:
Australia: $765m
Germany: $680m
Australia: $810m
Germany: $674m
Japan: $500m
US: $350m
\_ Australia's up to $1b now. The bidding is amazing.
\_ Politicizing disaster relief is sickening.
\_ http://www.filibustercartoons.com/archive.php?id=20050105
\_ What? Isn't Sri Lanka a Buddhist country instead of Muslim?
\_ *cringe* Given Sri Lanka's history of "disappearing" rebels
and collaborators (i.e., from both sides), the second thought
that crossed my mind on hearing of the disaster was "Will
either side take advantage of the confusion to get rid of
rivals?" The same thought could well be applied to Aceh in
Indonesia.
\_ Egeland, the UN Humanitarian Chief, calls this "competitive
compassion".
\_ How much has been given privately? How much does it cost for our
carrier group and soldiers to be over there helping?
\_ ssshhhh!
\_ Sorry, didn't mean to feed the trolls.
\_ Yeah, but do the Indonesian people think that way?
\_ Who cares?
\_ Americans give privately, not through their government. (As it
should be.) Why don't you add up the contributions to, say, the
International Red Cross by country?
\_ Huh, well, personally I believe that forced charity is the
only real charity. |
| 2005/1/5 [Politics/Foreign/Europe, Politics/Foreign/Asia/Japan] UID:35547 Activity:high |
1/4 Updated govt. aid figures:
Australia: $765m
Germany: $680m
Japan: $500m
US: $350m
\_ Politicizing disaster relief is sickening.
\_ http://www.filibustercartoons.com/archive.php?id=20050105
\_ How much has been given privately? How much does it cost for our
carrier group and soldiers to be over there helping?
\_ ssshhhh!
\_ Sorry, didn't mean to feed the trolls.
\_ Yeah, but do the Indonesian people think that way?
\_ Who cares? |
| 2005/1/4 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:35536 Activity:moderate |
1/4 Why did Sweden lose so many more people in the tsunami compared to
other countries like Australia, Germany and France with much larger
population? Are Indonesia and Thailand extremely popular tourist
destinations among Swedes?
\_ Yes. There were a lot of Swedes there.
\_ Yeah my Swedish relative told me they have lots of flights
there from Sweden at pretty good rates. Swedes have long dark
winters so they like to go to warm places then using their
long communist vacations. Speaking of Swedes, http://thepiratebay.org
is a great bittorrent site!
\_ Can't speak to Sumatra, but Phuket and Krabbe have (had?) a lot
of Aussie and German tourists. |
| 2004/12/28 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:35460 Activity:low |
12/28 http://tinyurl.com/4agjg (SI/cnn.com article regarding swimsuit model who survived) Is it me or is this a very arrogant article, considering how many thousands have died? Or is it in fact appropriate because it's sports illustrated reporting it? \_ I don't really think so. Two reasons, A) It's really difficult to empathize with 50,000 people you never knew existed, and B) people always want to read about the survivor. It's a pretty crazy story, she clung to a palm tree for 8 hours with a broken pelvis and internal injuries. \_ In SEA people are hearing all kinds of harrowing tales. I think it is just SI choosing one for its market. Everyone who survived either was lucky enough to be on high "ground" or went through the wringer and somehow came out w/o a broken neck, smashed head, impalement, etc. 80% of stories I read pivot around "luckily, the wave tossed me into a tree/window/roof" such that the survivor avoided the churn and under currents. Quite a few were swept to sea and rescued, as well. |
| 2004/12/26-27 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:35447 Activity:high |
12/26 Dear soda Francophones: What is the proper way to pronounce
'Noilly Prat'?
\_ approximately "nwaYEE pra".
\-bonjour, as with "Moet" as in Moet && Chandon, the t in "Prat"
is pronounced. Proper nouns may not follow the usual rules
[sometimes for arbitrary reasons, sometimes for "good" reasons,
like it isnt originally a French name]. General rule for French
is to pronounce these final consonants: CaReFuL. chevaL blanC,
pinot noiR, neuF. I am not sure whether "Prat" or "Pratte" would
be better (not that anybody could tell), but it is not "Pra".
ok merci. --psb
I think it is often reasonable to pronounce foreign words
in the "natrual" manner of the local language... say with "Paris"
in the "natural" manner of the local language... say with "Paris"
but not always ... Lyons. ok merci. You may enjoy attempting
to pronounce "Reims". --psb
\_ You do not pronounce final 'c' or 't'. No Frenchman I have
ever met would pronounce 'prat' like that. Otherwise it's
'pratte' (feminine) which doesn't exist. Yes, my dad's a
French teacher. Sorry, Partha. Final 't' is only
pronounced before a starting vowel in the next word (Moet
et Chandon). -John
\-The pronounciation of the T in Moet is not the ellision
with the "et". I will happily bet you a bottle of moet
on this. you can call up the House of Moette and ask them.
Your parent will surely know proper nouns commonly have
exceptions. you dont pronounce the final c? how do *you*
say medoc, languedoc, cognac, listrac, armagnac, pauillac?
what is the former french unit of currency? --psb
\_ ooooo, John kicks psb's butt! I love John. By the way,
I notice that there are similarities between the Swiss
yoddlers and the Bavarian country people in those Bavarian
festivals, do they speak similarly or something? What's
the connection? ok thx. -John #1 fan
\-http://www.superbrands.org/242 just google for
"pronounce moet". somewhat ironically, "prat" is
english slang for a doofus or lamer, as in "john is
being a prat". --psb
\- There appears to be a WEEB site for Noilly Prat.
Maybe somebody can watch the video and settle this ...
I have broken Flash on my computer. It does confirm
"Prat" is a last name. http://www.noillyprat.com --psb
\_ On the video 'Since 1813...' they pronounce the two
names seperately. 'Noilly' is nwa-YEE, as others
said. 'Prat' is pronounced hard, as in the word
'prattle'. |
| 2004/12/22 [Politics/Foreign/Canada, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:35408 Activity:very high |
12/22 Ferengi are a caricature of Capitalists. Are there any
caricatures of socialists/communists in ST?
\_ Borg?
\_ I was thinking about that. But that Borg are so much cooler
than the Ferengi
\_ It's true that the Borg are far cooler. I am fascinated by
eusociality myself. Capitalism is mundane and boring and
banal and ugly. Like the Ferengi. It works though. -- ilyas
\_ The Federation == Canada
\_ The Federation is Roddenbery's wet socialist fantasy. There's
no money in the Federation (because they eliminated scarcity using
the matter creation stuff). But then, inter-species trade seems
alive and well. This is never really explained. You can't really
\_ The Federation's credit in infinite
make a medium of exchange of value go away. -- ilyas
\_ I thought they used "gold pressed latinum" or something, at
least in DS9. I think maybe the star trek universe is
just not internally consistent on this subject.
\_ no way, Picard has too much balls to be Canadian
\_ perhaps he's really Quebecois.
\_ Picard has balls? Could have fooled me.
\_ Federation ~ EU/UN. I say this b/c each of the worlds/systems
in the Federation has its own government and sends ambassadors
to the Federation council rather than representatives to the
Federation congress/senate/parliament. This is more like the
set up of the EU/UN. I agree that the Federation started as
some sort of socialist fantasy but the Federation hardly
resembles that anymore. It is more like a EU/UN where the US
basically calls the shots. Earth seems to get its way all the
time is generally the most heavily defended planet. Earth also
seems most like the US rather than Canada or Europe in terms
of the behavior of its people and leaders.
\_ Romulans => Romulus ~ China, Vulcan ~ Japan/Taiwan. Okay the
history doesn't quite work out since Romulans fled from Vulcan
but the rest is pretty similar.
Klingons might work too b/c they were supposed to be equiv.
to the Russians. Lots of similarities (ST6 => moon blowing
up ~ Chernobyl, Errand of Mercy ~ Russia v US in a small
south east asian country, just to name a few).
BTW, the Cardassians seem to line up with Germany w/ Bajorans
~ the Jews. Not sure what to make of the Dominion or the
Breen (or any of the stupid races on Voyager).
\_ it's evident that the Enterprise runs like communism. Everyone
there is stuck on the ship for the rest of their lives,
and they all have the same uniforms. In fact, it seems that
everyone from the future dresses the same. I guess at one time
or another someone decided that individualism sucks for one
reason or another and made everyone dress the same way. |
| 2004/12/21 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:35385 Activity:high |
12/21 http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/africa/12/21/sudan.darfur.dead If the US wants to bring Democracy to the world, why isn't it helping Darfur? 70,000 dead is... more than we killed the Iraqis. \_ If those 70,000 dead bodies could be converted into 200 Billion barrels of oil, we'd be there in a flash! \_ USA never cared about democracy. We talked about it, but it's always our imperial interest that comes first. We are also racist in heart. It's unfortunate, because Darfur would be a perfect opportunities to wage propaganda war countering Osama Bin Ladin's rhetroic, casting doubt on Osama's claim that Arabs are under siege. |
| 2004/12/21 [Politics/Foreign/Europe, Politics/Foreign/Asia/China] UID:35372 Activity:high |
12/21 http://tinyurl.com/3hwmn US Slips in Attracting the World's Best Students \_ The article indicates a decline in number of students (nothing new there) and does *not* in any way make statements about the "world's best". Quoting the article title (even from the nyt) is inappropriate here because the claim isn't backed up. \_ As far as graduate study, the US has always attracted the best. Therefore, any drop in students means the best are looking elsewhere. \_ Was every grad student who came to the US from abroad "the best"? Your logic is weak. \_ Heh. Some I've met were very good. Most were just willing to take more abuse from their advisors than homegrown students who can walk and get paid better elsewhere. \_ You're already limited by self-selection. When's the last time you visited the campus of say Golden Gate University or St. Mary's? \_ I apologize for being dense, but I'm not getting your point. What is it about those schools? \_ The foreign student population at less selective universities are most likely even less bright than the dullards you've met at your school. Then there are the lowest tier "colleges" where education play second fiddle to the primary task of providing foreign "students" with paper work so they can enter the US. \_ I'm constantly amazed at the number of Japanese attending Jr. college in CA. \_ JC is positively Harvardesque compared to some of the most egregious visa mills. http://brandoncollege.com for example. Are we losing visa mill students or are we losing MIT students? The distinction is important and unaddressed. \_ As is your grasp of the obvious. \_ Unfortunately, your grasp of subtlety is even weaker. \_ From TFA: "Other countries are just starting to expand their capacity for offering graduate education. In the future, foreign students will have far greater opportunities." This is good news for non-US students--they won't necessarily have to come to the US for grad studies (because it's no longer the only game in town). \_ That's ok, those best students are never the right races. \_ The dirty Arabs want to corrupt our precious bodily fluids. \_ You say that like it's a bad thing...http://csua.org/u/agp (NWS) |
| 2004/12/4-5 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:35170 Activity:very high |
12/4 If you knew that the dollar was going to totally collapse tomorrow
where would you put your money?
\_ Fuck the Euro. I wouldn't put money in the Euro. Buy gold.
The Euro is no more or less stable than the buck, and if the buck
starts to fall exceedingly drastically, the Euro wouldn't be far
behind.
\_ Just wait until the full cost of letting Poland & friends into
the EU becomes apparent. And now they've got Turkey & others
lusting for membership...if you believe that the value of a
currency is based on the long-term stability of its issuer, I
wouldn't be so enthusiastic about Euros. -John
\_ The Euro
\_ Euro based bond-index funds
\_ So, you guys figure that the *total* collapse of the dollar
would not kill the Euro as well? Really?
\_ I assume that op means "totally collapse" metaphorically,
not literally. Like drop another 50% or something. No one
is anticipating that the dollar will become worthless,
like the pre-WWII Deutschmark.
\_ So why *is* the Euro supposed to be such a swell place to put
all of your cash, anyway? People say "massive U.S. deficits,
U.S. economic woes, blah, blah -- Europe is safer!" -- but can
you name a Eurozone country that's not *also* running giant
deficits proportional to GDP, or that has an unemployment rate
that's the same or lower than America's? Moving your money
from dollars to Euros hardly seems like a flight to
safety/quality -- more like a typical rose-colored liberal
"Europe must be better!" response. I'd think that the Yuan is
the place to be for the future ...
\_ The yuan is controlled by the Chinese government and not
the free market. I think that perhaps Pounds Sterling
or the yen might work instead of the Euro.
\_ Comparing apples with apples, basically every currency
is controlled by some form of government intervention.
\- not meaningfully true: high K mobility, floating exch
rate, monteary independence: pick any two.
\_ Um... Japan has ben in recession for 14 years because
they can't work out their bank system. I guess the
currency is stable though. It's sucked for 14 years.
I guess it can't go down though...
\_ Why do you think the market is favoring the Euro? The EU
has a lower overall debt, a smaller trade deficit, higher
overall productivity per hour worked, etc. US vs EU
unemployment figures are deceptive, because of the different
way each society offers unemployment benefits. A much
more accurate picture would be to look at overall
employment, as a percentage of the adult population.
The US and EU are similar here.
\_ My ass.
\_ so, you put your money where your mouth is?
\_ Where I have it now. -John the Eurofag
\_ Gold coins.
\_ I'm thinking about getting into bowhunting- danh
\_ Ammo, rice and wool blankets. If the dollar collapses
tomorrow a hell of a lot of good your euro's or your
gold is going to do you if you can't feed or clothe
yourself and protect your gold/euros.
\_ I already have a good stock of food, water, medical supplies,
etc in case of earthquake. I still have my old hunting rifle
from growing up in Wyoming. I suppose a few hundred
spare rounds sitting up in the attic wouldn't hurt. Even
during the Depression though, things didn't get so bad
that civil society completely broke down, so I think you
are overreacting. -ausman
\_ I was just answering the question about what
I would do if I though the dollar was going to
totally collapse tomorrow. If every dollar I
own was going to be basically worthless, and
everyone elses dollars were basically worthless
I think there would be widespread chaos.
Personally I don't think this will happen ever
though. The world is too heavily invested in
the success of America. |
| 2004/11/28 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:35096 Activity:nil |
11/28 John (or others), what's the best way to buy European (or other
foreign) long term bonds? Is there a European long term bond
fund?
\_ I am pretty bad with investments, but I assume it would be best
to open an account with a small bank that you like in a non-EU
country (CH, LI) -- they will buy most funds for you, and usually
have a bunch of their own. There are a ton of European-only
funds (currency, govt., corporate, whatever). If you drop me a
mail I will be glad to send you what I find, as I'm looking at
this myself. -John |
| 2004/11/16 [Politics/Domestic/Election, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:34915 Activity:insanely high |
o11/16 Poll: Which one of the three would you choose to be the president?
(Let's say there's no other choice, e.g. from the Democrats.)
Bush .. :
Powell : .......
Rice :
!Bush: .
\_ I'd have taken Powell over Kerry.
\_ Despite my Democratic Party reg., I would've voted for Powell
before his Sec. of State gig, where he proved himself
spineless. Now that he's lame-ducked, I hope he visits Cheney's
office just to deck him.
\_ I kinda agree with you.
\_ Bush:Evil, Rice:Willing tool of evil, Powell:reluctant tool of evil
\_ What a silly question. EVERYONE wants to elect Powell. The
problem is, he's never going to run. You might as well wish
for FDR back.
\_ Really? Did he actually say he won't run in the future?
\_ Yeah, back in '97/98. I believe he mentioned his wife being
concerned about him being the target of assassination attempts
(KKK types moreso than run of the mill terrorists/lone nuts).
\_ I hear she suffers from various stress related
problems. Being the first lady does not help this.
\_ Okay, let's wait till she passes away first.
\_ Actually, there's another interesting problem with Powell,
Arabs are famously racist against blacks. I wonder if that
would be a problem?
\_ Aren't Jews racist against blacks also? Hmm, so Arabs and Jews
\_ Aren't Joos racist against blacks also? Hmm, so Arabs and Joos
are on the same side on this.
\_ Poor Sammy Davis, Jr.
\_ 2008 will be Clinton/Gore vs Powell/Rice
\_ If that turns out to be true, Powell wins by a landslide.
\_ What's wrong with Hillary as president that we already know
(besides being a bitch)?
\_ The problem with Hillary, at least what I'm refering
to here, is that Powell is liked by pretty much every
one. Hillary is intensly liked by certain people, and
hated by everyone else. She couldn't pull a mojority
unless the opponent was Stalin.
\_ no one ever tried to kill Stalin. - danh
\_ Did someone try to kill Hillary? Also, Stalin
may have been murdered. The verdict is unknown.
\_ I am a registered Republican (yes for the funny
postal mail) and I get great flyers from out
of state about the need to "retire" the Evil
One from New York. As far as I know Stalin
was wildly popular in the Soviet Union and
there was no serious attempt to have him killed,
unlike Hitler.-danh
\_ Wildly popular? Generally you're a pretty
intelligent guy, danh, so I'm going to assume
that there must be some underlying element of
humor in your comment that I'm not getting.
The notion that Stalin was 'popular' is just
too absurd to take seriously. Perhaps you
should seek out better source materials. -POC
\_ Stalin was wildly popular in SU in much the
same way that Kim Jong Il dude is wildly
popular in NK... in fact in exactly the same
way. You can't be serious. -- ilyas
\_ polling technology was primitive in ww2
\_ Jesus, just think about the situation in
Stalinist Russia, for a second.
\-http://www.cafepress.com/ipa_politics/419204
\_ You're saying that the RNC is advocating
the assasination of Hillary? How much
Kool-aid have you been drinking?
\_ I will say that weird fringe groups want Hillary
"eliminated" "rubbed out" "taken out". I really don't
get why they think she is the embodiment of All That Is
Bad. - danh
\_ As I said, some think Stalin was murdered:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalin#Death
\_ his syphilis ridden body failed at 73?
how strange!
\_ Can a VP serve a third term?
\_ Of course. The question is, why would she pick Gore?
\_ Oh, she wouldn't pick Al.
\_ She'd pick Tipper?
\_ Aren't you a bright one!
\_ What, is there another Gore I'm forgetting?
\_ Democrat jizz fantasy: Powell runs for President on Democratic
ticket!
\_ You bastard! I just cleaned my keyboard! -democrat
\_ 2008: Powell/McCain ticket solidifies moderate-centrist regime
that lasts for forty years. Anyone with ideas stronger than
"small steps and a good economy" labelled a loony. |
| 2004/11/15-16 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:34897 Activity:nil |
11/15 Slavery in the North
http://www.slavenorth.com/index.html
\_ I'm curious what point you were trying to make by posting this.
I thought it was common knowledge. |
| 2004/11/10 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:34800 Activity:kinda low |
11/10 No Blood for Cocoa
French open fire on protesters
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20041110-124641-6061r.htm
\_ Let's see if International ANSWER organizes mass protests against
this racist war.
\_ ANSWER is one of the unfortunate side-effects of being committed
to listening to everybody. This comment was likely posted by an
motd conservative but I agree with the slant...and the answer is
No, they haven't. They are apparently too busy protesting the US
(I'm sorry, COALITION) action in Fallujah. --ulysses
\_ I'm having trouble parsing that first sentence. You're
saying that ANSWER has a policy of listening to everyone?
\_ No, I'm saying I have that policy and most of my like-
minded friends who participated in the protests do as well.
I was on their mailing list for awhile just to hear what
they had to say. That meant tolerating ANSWER and the
Spartacus League and their ilk. I am aware that NION and
ANSWER had a lot to do with organizing some of the protests. |
| 2004/11/9-10 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:34798 Activity:moderate |
11/9 For williamc and for the rest of us:
http://www.gutfest.com/usanumberone/traveloneway.html
\_ Is there *any* major Canadian city more than a 4 hour drive from
the U.S. border?
\_ Yes there are many major cities more than a 4-hour drive from the
U.S. of C. border.
\_ Are you making this happen? |
| 2004/11/6-7 [Reference/Religion, Politics/Domestic/Crime, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:34722 Activity:high |
11/5 http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1286272004 I was going to make some sort of snarky comment but I think this one speaks for itself. Headline: "Van Gogh murder backlash begins" please leave this nuked, i want to get my message across the asshole who selectively ilyaed my message. \_ go fuck yourself. some poeple are actually trying to communicate using the motd. \_ someone should've done the same to Michael Moore. -liberal \_ Perhaps you could, then you could pretend to be a mouth breathing pig ****ing bible basher. \_ MM is a big fat idiot, but your comment can only be met with something along the lines of "U SUKC TEH COCK". Sad. -John \_ C0KC [ pick a better adjective, bitch. -- ilyas ] |
| 2004/11/5-6 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:34698 Activity:high |
11/5 What left-to-center EU newspapers would the motd recommend? The
ascendancy of the BUsh theocracy has me orienting myself towards
the EU, whose community-oriented policies and multilateralism
speak to my progressive/liberal values. I have reading proficiency
in French and Spanish, and presently I'm learning Italian. My
Tagalog & Ilokano blow chunks. Thanks. --elizp
\_ Yeah the EU really has a spine.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/11/05/eu.summit/index.html
\_ To be honest, it's a bit sad if you only want to read stuff that
echoes what you believe in. The left-wing Euro papers are just as
dogmatic, biased and repetitive as anything you'll find on the
other side of the spectrum. Just because it comes out of
Europe doesn't magically make it politically more insightful. Why
don't you just go for a broad sampling of editorial opinion? -John
\_ Between the NYTimes, WaPo, LATimes, and ChiTribune, I have
a lot on my plate; I already subscribe to The Economist for
a smart conservative perspective; and I asked for left-of-center
b/c the EU press has a longer tradition of papers affiliated
explicitly with political parties. ANd if I want a Libertarian
opinion, I can just turn to my husband @ <DEAD>marginalrevolution.com<DEAD>
--elizp
\_ The Economist is not a 'smart conservative opinion'. I
\_ The Economist is not a 'smart conservative perspective'. I
think you are misled.
\_ Understand, liberals think that's an oxymoron anyway.
\_ What perspective is it?
\_ globalist agitprop
\_ Look, if you want to build an independent, viable,
intelligent view of what's happening in the world, you
could start by getting away from the whole "liberal/
conservative" black & white stuff. The economist is
decidedly not what I would call "conservative" along the
lines of what conservatives in the US seem to call
"conservative". You're also not going to get a good
representative sampling of the European (or any) press
if you don't differentiate between viewpoints in various
areas (economy, social issues, environment, diplomacy,
etc.) or even more detailed nuances there. Start by
leafing through all the big name ones (no one's suggesting
you read the FT cover to cover) and you'll get there. -John
\_ OK, then help me out: what big name ones should I
start with? If all you wish to do at this moment is
berate me for my all-round myopia, rest your case:
my shock at the outcome of this election has already
unmasked it. --elizp
\_ OK, for the classic 'leftie' ones start with the
Guardian (UK) and Liberation (FR). FAZ (DE) and
Times (UK) tend to be very sober in terms of
presentation (both optical and with their editorials)
The big ones in Spain are El Mundo / El Pais, and
in Italy one of the more widely read ones is Corriere
della Sera. Also check out Le Temps in France.
I doubt you're interested in Dutch/Scandinavian
papers, but to get a fairly complete overview have
a look at http://www.onlinenewspapers.com .
To be honest, I prefer the IHT. -John
\_ BTW reading freerepublic and democraticunderground doesn't
count as a broad sampling. -jrleek
\_ Le Monde is a nyt partner. But if you are really more interested
in facts than fictions and lies, you should try to read a lot of
sources (which can take some time). The number one job of any
journalist, whatever his political orientation is, is to lie. But
if you sample widely AND have a GOOD processor, you might be able to
average the lies out and get some truth. Keep this in mind: they
ALL lie.
\_ But there's bias, and there's intellectual honesty. Those
qualities are distinct from each other, but not always
easily identifiable in any range of arguments. That's
why I came to the motd for some recommendations, and
so far no one has been helpful. --elizp
\_ Uh... ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I listed at least two papers
that fit your initial criterion, along with a good
sampling of major papers from which you can draw
your own confusions. And once again, it is my view
that most "left of center" editors and columnists
here tend to be as demagogic and undifferentiated
as the "right of center" media that seems to annoy
you in the US. Intellectually honest, maybe, but
definitely sanctimonious. I will gladly let you
know when I find one that isn't so holier than thou
as to be really really tiresome. -John
\_ but anonymous cowards on the MOTD always tell the truth. -tom
\_ That's uncalled for.
\_ Not necessarily. The AC just slagged off all journos
with his needlessly nasty review. Tom responded in kind.
Status quo preserved. --erikred (nice try, AMC)
\_ Tom is unable to respond in any other way. It's
misleading to say a constant function is responding to
anything, it just sort of stays constant.
\_ hey, it's NERFAMC! -tom
\_ The Guardian is pretty good and in English:
http://www.guardian.co.uk
Right after 9/11, when the entire American media turned itself
into a cheering section for Bush, I read it for an alternative
perspective. Now I can find that in the American media, so
my reading of it has dropped off quite a bit. -ausman
\_ try the Al Jazeera. Halaalalalahahahalala. |
| 2004/11/4 [Politics/Domestic/Immigration, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:34665 Activity:very high |
11/4 In other news:
The French Government has announced it is raising it terror alert
level. They are rising it from "Run" to "Hide". No word on if
the higher levels of "Surender" or "Collaborate" are being
considered.
This action is in response to a fire in the country's largest
White Flag factory rendering it's military useless.
\_ I dunno. Giving medical care to Arafat looks an awful lot like
an act of war to me.
\_ Giving medical care is a cassus bellus? You are psychotic.
\_ Giving medical care is a cassus belli? You are psychotic.
\_ And at home, Republican-controlled government continues to use
scare tactics and asinine strawman targets to divert the public
attention from corporate welfare, disastrous war planning, and
rampant destruction of the Constitution.
\_ I used to make fun of the French as well with the WW2 surrender,
then I read about how many French soldiers died in WW1. It exceeds
the # of American soldiers we have lost in ALL wars by quite a bit.
\_ Yes I know, and the loss in WWII was more bad politics than
cowardly soldiers. Unfortunatly, if you want to make a
coward joke, France is an easy choice; just like we make
jokes about how dumb the Polish are. I have no idea how the
dumb Polish sterotype got started.
\_ Because the Poles working in the US during the major
waves of turn of the century immigration tended to have
shitty, dangerous, muscle-type jobs like hauling meat and
building railroads; the guys doing that sort of thing tend
to be bigger, ergo the big dumb Polack stereotype. As for
moronic, the general tone in papers over here is "how could
more than 60 million Americans be this thick?" -John
\-in sort of a mirror image, you have to go to india to
find large numbers of dumb indians. --psb |
| 2004/11/3 [Politics/Foreign/Canada, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:34599 Activity:moderate 57%like:34576 |
11/3 Where's the bus to Canada?
\_ http://www.harpers.org/ElectingToLeave.html
\_ that is the 2nd time I've heard that :p
\_ Have a good time there, just don't say anything bad about the
queen. You will be censored.
\_ Being censored is better than being monitored by Homeland
security.
\_ Stop teasing and get out already.
\_ Rather, move your MONEY overseas, before everyone else does.
The debt is a big timebomb, if bush's policies are maintained/
extended, the estimates are this could knock a good 1% off GDP
growth until effectively the end of time.
\_ Clinton should have paid down more debt when the economy was
good and tax revenue was high.
\_ The Republican congress was yelling for tax cuts the whole
time. Or maybe you're joking.
\_ done that for some time already. almost no US stocks left
except for some index funds in my 401k.
\_ Can't leave California now, too much money to make in biotech now. |
| 2004/11/3 [Politics/Foreign/Canada, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:34596 Activity:nil |
11/03 The last/next thing to elect:
http://www.harpers.org/ElectingToLeave.html |
| 2004/11/2 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:34526 Activity:high |
11/1 Gunman kills Dutch film director
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3974179.stm
\_ Maybe more European societies will start having to have serious
thoughts about essentially trying to handle an intractable, hostile
minority with kid gloves. The French already face this issue with
Algerians, and the Germans with Turks (mind, this is not to imply
that everyone from there is a big nasty, just that these are the
main immigrant population groups serving as a basis for
individuals who choose to identify themselves with them). Euros
historically have a serious guilt thing going when objectively
discussing integration & western values--I get the impression that
a lot of countries are just starting to come to terms that it's
not an issue you can just hope will go away. -John
\_ If things continue as they are by the end of this century,
Europe will no longer be Europe as we know it. Western culture
will be swamped by Middle Eastern and South Asian. I believe
this will be the first time in history that an entire people has
allowed itself to be wiped out without losing a war.
\_ Do you really think the Muslim minorities in Europe are
so nasty and dangerous? I'm not so sure. I certainly don't
see a general pattern of Muslim "hits" on prominant Euro
targets. The last 2 prominant murders in Europe I can think
of, Pym Fortun and that Swedish woman Lindt, were both pulled
of by whities. Personally, I think the Turkish "problem" is
already starting to right itself. Many Turks I encounter in
Germany speak perfect German and outside of a few reactionary
politicians, one doesn't really hear that much about Turks as
a problem. Yes, some do maintain their religious customs, but
they certainly don't seem to be trying to impose it on anyone
else.
\_ No, I don't think that at all--I thought I chose my wording
very carefully. The problem is that there are groups of
immigrants that come from backgrounds which are socio-
culturally very different from the secular humanism of
Western Europe. Many of them integrate very well, and bring
cool new ideas and changes with them; the problem is that
Europe, which doesn't have as good an experience with
integrating outsiders as the US, provides a tolerant
environment for individuals in those communities, who choose
not to integrate, to espouse and practice radical ideas.
I used Turks/Algerians as an example, but there are problems
with people from the Balkans, Eastern Europeans, etc. Not
as a group per se, but as individuals who take ideas from
these cultures which are opposed to western ones, and bring
them into confrontation with their host culture, viz. ethnic
ghettoes in most countries here, fertile recruiting grounds
for islamic radicals in European mosques, etc. As for trying
to impose "their" customs, this is mainly the case with
persons from these groups who might otherwise integrate
(think women who don't want to wear burqas) but a certain
degree of intolerance does spill over. -John
\_ Oh, I gotcha -- I think the misunderstanding was in the
use of the word minority, which I took to mean
specifically Muslims in this context, but you meant it
more generally. What you say is resonable, though I think
the "tolerance" shown by, at least Germany, towards
minority groups in terms of letting them run their own
affairs they way they want to, is actually a
manifestation of a form of intolerance. I get the feeling
that Western European countries feel they have a moral
obligation to accept certain immigrants (making up for
the past, etc.), but their heart isn't really into it,
which is why they leave these groups alone, without much
effort to help them acculturate. I could be wrong, though.
\_ Actually they try pretty hard. However, they don't
differentiate between who, for example, receives
welfare and for what, leading to tremendous abuse of
the system by people whose culture may have taught
them different permutations of right and wrong. The
result is that there's (I think) a slow move to
treating newcomers with less tolerance, and telling
them to adapt or piss off, which I think is more than
fair. One example of this is that voters here just
approved an initiative to deport illegal immigrants
who commit violent crimes. "?!?" -John
\_ I agree the governments in Europe try very hard,
but I was talking more about the "on the ground"
reaction of the people here. Of course, it's just
anecdotal, but I have the feeling that foreigners
here are treated more like outsiders (by the
populace) than they are in the US. Considering
that, I don't find it surprising that some don't
want to integrate. Plus, I think that the
governments need to get more sensible about what
they tolerate and what they don't tolerate. I
don't have a problem with the govn'ts saying,
"You need to behave this way," if it is something
sensible, but I don't see how, e.g., preventing
Muslims (and Jews) from wearing religous headgear
is going to help them integrate. They need to find
a way to let them integrate, while letting them
maintain some of their identity (if they chose to). |
| 2004/10/29 [Politics/Foreign/Asia/China, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:34425 Activity:nil |
10/28 Gulliver's travails: The U.S. in the post-Cold-War world
http://www.newcriterion.com/archive/23/oct04/osull.htm
Yearning to be liked
http://www.newcriterion.com/archive/21/nov02/derby.htm |
| 2004/10/27 [Reference/Languages, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:34378 Activity:very high |
10/27 Why is the monarch of Monaco called a prince instead of a king?
\_ Because it was a principality of France. in 1512, the king of
france recognized their independence, but the name of the office
stuck.
\_ Actually, in French and English it's 'Prince'; Germanic
languages are a bit more precise, as they differentiate between
'Prinz', or someone with some sort of claim to a royal throne,
and 'Fuerst', which is kind of a generic sovereign ruler dude.
So both Liechtenstein and Monaco have the latter, there's just
a linguistic difference. -John
\_ I wonder if this is true of Italian also. Machiavelli's
title certainly refers to the 'Fuerst' meaning of 'Prince.'
-- ilyas
\_ ...and Principe in Spanish. And for 100 points, what
do those all have in common, that German does not (besides
edible food)? -John
\_ The English have edible food?
\_ Yes, it's called curry.
\_ Are you looking for the latin root? --scotsman
\_ If you mean Latin, that's not too hard.
\_ English is a Germanic language, not Latin.
\_ English takes bits from German, Latin, Greek, and
French (which is itself Latin-derived).
\_ Oh, I see. I was just looking at
http://www.m-w.com/mw/table/indoeuro.htm
\_ Ding. Why do you think they bothered with all
that empire shit, and then gave it up once they
had half of Asia and Afria immigrating?
\_ The East India Trading Company was just an
elaborate ruse to get better food for England?
It all makes so much sense now....
\_ Well, tea anyway. |
| 2004/10/23-25 [Politics/Domestic/California/Arnold, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:34312 Activity:very high |
10/23 What does everyone think about prop. 69 (The DNA database one).
The arguments against in my Voter Info Guide sound kinda tin-foil
hat, but I can see where some problems might exist. For example,
does anyone know what kind of testing they're planning on using?
I doubt it would be full-sequencing, but the against argument
hints at that. (I think.)
\_ Probably RFLP typing. Easy, fast, done in a couple of hours
at most and doesn't require a high resolution gel. I can show
you how to do one in a half day.
\_ GATTACA.
\_ CUAAUGU.
\_ Think of it this way (disclaime--I don't like the idea):
-all legal structures with the potential to screw you (the private
citizen) either through a tyrannical government or through misuse
by someone unscrupulous start life as something relatively
harmless, sold to you as a measure to improve security ("so what
do you have to hide?") Such measures rarely stop at the first,
innocent step used to sell it to the public
-Governments almost never give up the ability to collect/maintain
potentially misused information on you, even when it's proven that
said information serves no purpose
-Arguments against such measures are almost invariably made to look
like crackpot straw men
-Even if strict auditability and oversight laws and structures
exist, do you trust them entirely?
Note that I'm not making any specific arguments against this, just
giving you something to generally think about. You may also note
that in European countries, where this has been done to some
degree, the only supporting successes are generally individual,
high profile cases (i.e. not a general reduction of crime) while I
can point to a number of pretty hard-core fuckups resulting from
DNA collection. -John
\_ As a data point, they used to say that UK's CCTV cameras would
only be shown to well-trained security types and they'd never
leak; now the "Real TV"-type shows are filled with tapes of
couples making out with a voiceover of cops making fun of them.
\_ Yes, we should be careful about this one. A DNA database of
this sort could be pretty bad if the wrong hands get to it.
Think insurance companies, think "no coverage," think corrupt
gov't lab workers who are willing to sell the information.
Hey, you have a tendency for CF? Well, the carrier is going
to drop you when your wife gets pregnant. Scary stuff.
Another reason why we should have state sponsored health
care like virtually ever other civilized country in the
world... -williamc
\_ Have you ever been in a National Health hospital in the UK?
It's like that scene in the insurgents' bunker in the 2nd
Terminator movie. -John
\_ I've been to County in LA. Same thing. -williamc
\_ Did a terminator bust in guns blazing?
\_ You're assuming the DNA finger printing method they use
would reveal this. If it's the same as the one they
used for crimes when I was in HS, (RFLP) it wouldn't.
Since so far all the counter arguments are based on it
being one of the (super expensive) full sequencing
methods, I was curious if anyone actually knew which type
they were using. The second poster also thinks it's
probably RFLP.
\_ Sorry, I was the second poster. RFLP is commonly used
to reveal information like this, i.e. if you are
a carrier for a certain disease like CF. Probably
you need to do a review on RFLP and how it can
be used as a marker for diseases. - williamc
\_ That's true if you break on certain sequences.
They don't use those sequences in crime work.
(normally)
\_ Maybe you could relate some of those horror stories. So far
the only ones I've heard have been "mixing up the DNA at the
lab" which, to me, seems pretty isomorphic to mixing up the
fingerprints at the office. (Although a little harder to
catch.)
\_ There was a case in .ch where a group representing
health insurers accidentally was given access to a DB
of HIV patients' DNA (including their identities)--and this
country has very strict privacy laws. There was also a
case in the UK of wrongful identification of a criminal
based on a DNAsample, even though the chances were
something like 1 in 2 million. They've since switched to
using more identifiers, but the point holds. These are
isolated flukes, but when they do occur, they give rise to
a similar problem to that of using PIN codes for credit
card auth instead of signatures--The technology's pretty
good, hence trusted, hence you have little-to-no chance of
non-repudiation IF something horrible goes wrong. -John
\_ My wife and I like 69.
\_ So does yermom
\_ menage trois!
\_ manage trolls!
You have new trolls.
\_ mangy trolls!
\_ "menage a trois", or actually "ménage à trois".
\_ You sick!! -sexless sodan |
| 2004/10/21 [Politics/Foreign/Europe, Computer/Theory] UID:34263 Activity:very high |
10/21 What Americans truly loathe about dealing with Europeans: Alan Turing
on American efforts to break Enigma:
"Generally speaking, their attitude is so purely mechanical and
mathematical that they often fail to see the wood for the trees and
do not like to admit that experience and a knowledge of immediately
prior developments, combined with a little manual work, may often
produce the answer more quickly than machinery."
I say, old chap, could you possibly be a bit more condescending?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3758276.stm
\_ Yes, but you wouldn't understand it. -John
\_ Here's my perspective as a scientist who's dealt with western
europeans: they'd rather spend a day blathering and writing on the
chalkboard than an hour in the machine shop to just build the
damn experiment. I'm excluding the English and the Swiss from
That's because all the good scientists from here _/
have moved to the US.
\_ Interesting. Why do you think that is?
\_ Because govt. & corporate grant money here is about
nonexistent, universities/colleges aren't as
prevalent as in the US (hence fewer research jobs),
US salaries are higher, innovation generally isn't
as culturally ingrained, and the academic community
here seems pretty small and inbred, wasting a lot of
energy going at each others' throats, to name a few
reasons.
\_ </troll>
\_ Every foreign scientists I work with is either
here already or trying desperately to come here
(USA). The few who were here and had to leave are
miserable. They do say that Japan is not too bad.
A small handful of foreign scientists have a
monopoly on the research in Europe and so for
those few they are better off there.
\_ Uh, so you're saying that you work in the U.S.,
and the people you've met while working in the
U.S. all work in the U.S.? wow.
\_ I work in the US with many foreign
scientists and agencies. Some are here for
a short time only and some are in Europe
and Japan. Just because I work with them
doesn't mean they are in the USA.
\_ Japan's great for research so long as you're
completely willing to give up all rights to the
fruit of your research. Cf.:
http://optics.org/articles/news/10/2/1/1
\_ This link doesn't work for me.
this, but in my opinion western European physicists are all talk
and no action, and I would avoid working with them in the future
if at all possible.
\_ The ones I've met pride themselves on their theoretical work
and describe Americans as merely applying the practical to the
more deeply intellectual concepts they've originated. They
meant it in the same way we used to talk about the Japanese
when they were doing nothing but cloning American technology
and making shittier cheaper versions of it.
\_ WARNING! None of the above posters has a clue.
\_ Said warning applies to any motd post, so it is redundant.
\_ the tone is condescending, self-righteous, and feeling
of superiority... ilyas, is that you?
\_ No, see the above sounds like something tom would say --
insulting but uninformative. If I wanted to be
condescending to people in this thread I would
wonder outloud how many posters actually worked
with European scientists, and whether they are
aware of differences between europeans working here
in the US vs europeans working in europe, etc.
Actually, what they said doesn't sound wrong
to me. In conclusion, you are an anonymous twit,
and if you think feelings of superiority are at
my personal core you REALLY REALLY don't know me.
-- ilyas
\_ If you don't know me by now
You will never never ever know me
-- h melvin and the bluetones |
| 2004/10/17-19 [Industry/Jobs, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:34179 Activity:nil |
10/17 Suppose I want to read technical/scientific writing in a foreign
language (e.g. French) but I don't have the time or the need to
learn how to speak or listen in that language nor do I plan to read
anything non-technical. Is there any short-cut learning method or
resource for this?
\_ It's really pretty easy. Get a French-English dictionary (or
http://wordreference.com/fr find something technical to read,
and start reading. When you find conjugated words that aren't in
the dictionary, run them through Babelfish to find the dictionary
forms; after a few you'll start being able to guess them. You'll
pick up the technical terms quickly since you already know what
they mean, and soon you'll be able to read pretty fast using the
dictionary. It works for math papers, at least.
\_ You know, it's not such a bad thing to learn a foreign language.
But if you need to read something in a hurry, you can always
google translate it.
\_ Do scientists still use latin as the universal language?
or maybe try: http://www.worldlingo.com/wl/translate
\_ Just have Trinity download the language directly into your
brain. |
| 2004/10/7-8 [Politics/Domestic/911, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:33972 Activity:high |
10/7 I notice on wall people are discussing the idea that Guantanamo
interrogations "have not prevented a single terrorist attack".
Here's the source article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/story/0,13743,1318702,00.html
\_ People on wall don't discuss. They just echo each other and
say "w00t!".
\_ Then add to the discussion. Anonymous Coward. -scotsman
\_ This is what wall reminds me of:
http://www.winternet.com/~mikelr/flame69.html -- ilyas
\_ http://www.winternet.com/~mikelr/flame88.html
\_ Whoa. It's aaron with a fro!
\_ I hate Oliver Stone. --aaron
\_ I find it amusing that the only thing aaron
could find to counter the caricature of himself
was that he does not like Oliver Stone. Way
to go aaron! You are not a 1-d stereotype!
You are a HUMAN BEING!
\_ Congratulations! You got the joke! --aaron
\_ Congratulations! You are a cardboard
cutout! It's not a joke, it's depressing.
\_ Anonymous insults sure are noble.
\_ Anonymous insults sure are noble.
\_ Anonymous insults sure are noble.
(it's time someone stepped in to
terminate the recursion). -- ilyas
\_ Actually, insulting an anonymous
person anonymously is perfectly
symmetrical. Slightly silly perhaps,
but no harm done. Insulting
someone by name is defamatory.
Do you really not understand this?
\_ Wow! You got the point of the
comment! Good for you! Now
maybe you can work on using
silverware without a bib!
\_ even Conan the Barbarian?
\_ Okay, I hate Oliver Stone except for Conan
\_ What about Wall Street? do you hate that?
\_ w00t! pwn3d! |
| 2004/9/29-30 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:33837 Activity:very high |
9/29 What do you guys think about Turkey joining the EU?
\_ Not yet. It's only recently that their main islamist groups have
come around to the idea that beating women and imposing shariya
may not be the best road to prosperity. They're getting there,
making friends with Greece and starting to be reasonable about
Cyprus and the Kurds. Give them some time, start building ties.
Turks are pretty nice & civilized people in general, and I'd like
to see them join "Europe", but I would like to see some more
movement towards what is (not in religious terms) Europe's
judeo-christian cultural and economic identity. -John
\_ I think it's an EU problem and has little to do with us. At best
it is another back door for the US into controlling the EU. At
worst, it'll drag Europe down that much faster and there'll be a
huge mess in Europe as it goes down in flames. It already won't
be Eurpean by the end of the century at current birth and
immigration rates/trends. I wonder if this is the first time
in history that an entire people, or in this multiple people with
a similar/tied culture, have allowed themselves to become extinct.
\_ Ah. So "European" is short-hand for "white", then?
\_ Ah. I someone would scream "RACIST!" instead of appyling
their brain. Europe has a unique culture which a flood of
people from other countries who are not being integrated
into society will overwhelm and destroy. I didn't say
"white" or even hint at it. Don't strawman me.
\_ Again, how is Turkey more of a problem than the former
Soviet Bloc countries?
\_ Some of the former Soviet slave states are European
cultured and only differ in that their economies are
still recovering from communism as their legal systems
come up to speed. Turkey is a completely different
culture. What sort of answer other than the obvious
were you expecting?
\_ Actually, the ones that just joined EU like the
Baltic states, blend pretty well with the rest
of Europe culturally.
\_ That's what he said isn't it?
\_ Why not, they joined NATO.
\_ It's a hard question. On the one hand, Turkey is one of the few
Muslim countries actually making progress into the modern world,
and it's not a bad place. I'd like to give them all the
opportunities possible. On the other hand, Turkish immirants
into Europe have become a serious pain in the butt.
\_ More so than Eastern European immigrants? Turkey is in better
shape than, say, Albania or Macedonia, and slightly less corrupt
than Russia.
\_ Thank Allah. What Europe needs is more red-headed hookers.
\_ I couldn't tell you about eastern europeans. I'm pretty
sure gangs of them aren't taking over Swedish cities
though.
\_ Nobody's taking anything over. Arabs, Eastern
Europeans (lots of Russian, Polish and ex-Yugoslav),
Turks and some Central Asians and Africans control a lot
of the crime in European cities (from small time shit
to organized prostitution and drug smuggling.) Sweden,
France, Germany and the UK, among many, are just
starting to realize that the great social experiment,
and treating everyone with kid gloves, is not conducive
to having a civil society when you're dealing with
thugs. Not all non-Europeans are thugs, just a lot of
the illegal immigrants. So: should "Western" countries
stop immigration from places where people look funny?
No. Should they consistently hold everyone to certain
minimal standards of behavior? Definitely. Also note
that the article talks about "Arabs".
Searching for 'turk' yields 0 results. -John
http://jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/2004/09/003131print.html
\_ http://jihadwatch.org/spencer ???
Can you give me a good reason why I would want to listen
to a source as provocative as this?
\_ Well, if you're good at Swedish you could read the
articles he links to yourself. Bork! Bork! Bork!
\_ From the BBC's description of Aftonbladet:
"The biggest-selling paper not only in Sweden but
across the Nordic region, the Stockholm-based
tabloid Aftonbladet is one of only two truly
national titles. Described as an evening paper,
Aftonbladet appears on news stands in Stockholm at
around 0830 and follows the classic tabloid format,
with plenty of celebrity news, sport, sex and
crime. Part-owned by the Swedish trade unions,
Aftonbladet is described as "independent social
democrat".
In other words, it's the NY Post or Sun Daily of
Scandinavia. Nope, no sensationalism here.
\_ I can't tell if you are joking or not. Is there
something wrong with this guy that I am not seeing?
-- ilyas
\_ This gentleman has a particular, and might I add,
extreme, point of view which he purports to support
by quoting other extremist points of view. He then
defends his position by suggesting that the point of
his exercise is merely to inform people about the
extreme points of view. The implication, however, is
that the extremist POVs he reveals are in fact the
driving forces of an entire culture (which he lamely
tries to deny he's implying by saying "I am not doing
this" while he continues to do it with the other
hand). My point is that while it is good to know
that there are extremists out there, this fellow, in
trying to address the so-called soft press that has,
according to him, ignored the extremists, goes over-
board in his characterizations. This does not help
the debate.
\_ I don't understand what you are trying to say.
What is his extreme point of view? That militant
jihadists are bad? That's not extreme at all.
I think this guy's only fault is not being
'diplomatic' with his language. Can you show me
in particular in what way he is going overboard?
-- ilyas
\_ Did you read the sidebar on "Why Dhimmi Watch"
on the main page of this site?
"Spearheaded by dhimmi academics and self-
serving advocacy groups, that same attitude
of chastened subservience has entered into
Western academic study of Islam, and from
there into journalism, school textbooks, and
the popular discourse."
Apparently, anyone who doesn't view Islam with
deep fear and suspicion is a dhimmi tool of the
Islamic overlords.
\_ Given some things stated in the Qu'ran, I
think the burden of proof is on Islam, not
on the West. -- ilyas
\_ Maybe they are? Ever think of that?
\_ Sure. About the same time I thought that
Adam Weishaupt and the Bavarian
Illuminati wanted to corrupt my precious
bodily fluids.
\_ Oops! You got schooled by John!
\_ I think Europe is far more seriously
affected by muslim immigration than
the US, and there _are_ a lot of very
warped apologists for islamist b.s.
here who play either the racism or
the "you're a paranoid kook" card if
anyone disagrees with them. Why are
you doing the same? It's a serious
problem. Look up 'Finsbury park
mosque' for starters. -John
\_ What I would call extreme is a French girl
raped by 80 muslim men.... Don't hear
much about that do you?
\_ Lots of that in the European adult
comic books. Seems like that's what
the Europeans fantasize about.
\_ Hi! Why are you still taking up
our oxygen, twit?
\_ You stupid fuck. There is an
ongoing case in France where this
happened.
\_ Who is want to come TURKEY I can invitate
http://www.ikissyou.org/indeks2.html
\_ I don't think it makes any sense for Europe. It helps Turkey of
course, and certain business interests, and would help long term
political stability and so forth. But Turkey IMO is still has too
many problems and culturally doesn't seem ready for it. Even if some
eastern European countries like Romania may have a lot of problems,
they are already "there" from a cultural standpoint. It looks like
it will happen sooner or later anyway though. |
| 2004/9/28-29 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:33806 Activity:nil |
9/28 The Eagle award voting page is up. Do the choices always suck
this badly? For example, the "favorite web based comic" catagory
has PvP, and 2 comics that I can't even find webpages for they're
so unknown. Whaa? And what's with those choices for best Manga?
Augh!
http://www.komixworld.com/survey/public/survey.php?name=eagle2004KW |
| 2004/9/28 [Academia/Berkeley/CSUA, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:33799 Activity:nil |
9/28 These guys know how to have more fun than the CSUA:
http://csua.org/u/98p (yahoo news) |
| 2004/9/27 [Politics/Domestic, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:33772 Activity:moderate |
9/27 Just an epiphany that among my warmest feelings towards the US was
while in Africa seeing France's legacy as an imperial power. For all
the evil the southern American states have endured by way of the US, by
comparison to the French in Africa, they are doing relatively well. Of
course, American imperialism in places like Colombia vs. French
imperialism in, say, Mali, is only one component of much larger story
in either place. My Jack Handy for the day. -- ulysses
\_ Our meddling in Central and South America doesn't hold a candle to
full-on colonialism such as the French in Africa. A better
comparison would be what happened to the native Hawaiians.
\_ Good point. -- ulysses
\_ By southern American, do you mean Georgia? They still curse
Sherman's name in Atlanta.
\_ Are you going to make me bring up our bloody counterrebellion
in the Phillippines?
\_ I wasn't going to even ask but the thought of making you do it
is too much to resist. Cuteness aside I had thought of the
Phillipines when the poster abv mentioned Hawaii. Keep in mind
that there are a number of islands off the coast of
Africa where every last original inhabitant was killed by Spanish
or French sailors/soldiers/merchants. This may all be academic,
though.
\_ How many Native American tribes were wiped out to the last man?
\_ We're still trying to figure out how many Native Americans
there were pre-Columbus to begin with. Estimates range
widely. |
| 2004/9/22 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:33701 Activity:nil |
9/22 The story about forged documents that 60 Minutes should have run:
http://csua.org/u/95x (MSNBC) |
| 2004/9/10-12 [Academia/Berkeley/CSUA, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:33464 Activity:kinda low |
9/10 If anyone here can read Arabic, would you mind telling me what the
gist of /csua/tmp/pic.jpg is? I got it at a flea market in
southern Spain (no, it's not a pilot's manual.) -John
\_ The first few lines are the start of a prayer; I'm assuming the
rest follows along.
\_ Thanks! It's hanging in my hallway, so I was curious. -John
\_ It's not just "a prayer". it's al fatihah:
http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/arabicscript/1/1.htm
it is the first surah of the qur'an. for an interpretation:
http://www.geocities.com/thematicinterpretation/001
-ayatollah ali rahimi.
\_ Cool, thanks. I read a translation of the koran a while
ago, and didn't think of comparing it. Is the weird-
looking writing at the top of the image one of those bits
of arabic at the beginning of every surah that nobody can
interpret? I seem to recall reading something along those
lines. -Rev. John |
| 2004/9/7-8 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:33408 Activity:high |
9/7 This is incredibly stupid but I was literally ROFL:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2698507.stm
\_ you're a moron.
\_ Come on... their name is Doody and they love faggots.
Laugh a little.
\_ For hevean's sake. It's kinda funny, don't be a jerk. |
| 2004/9/7 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Israel, Politics/Foreign/Asia/Korea, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:33379 Activity:very high |
9/7 Does anyone have any recommendations for Foriegn bands? I quite
like the Mexican Rock band Mana, and the Korean singer Boa is
sometimes ok.
\_ TaTu
\_ Vladimir Vysotskiy, Brathanski, Garmarna, Yann Tiersen, Ali
Primera, Gilberto Gil, Bebel Gilberto, Astrud Gilberto, Tom Ze,
Os Mutantes
\_ If you like rap, MC Solaar has his moments.
\_ Plastilina Mosh? Phil's Finest Hour? Chico Cesar? Damien Rice?
\_ Los Fabulosos Cadillacs (actually a hybrid) and Manu Chao are two
of my favorites. Also, he's been dead for years but nobody's life
is complete w/o some exposure to Serge Gainsbourg, like him or not.
-- ulysses
\_ Do you mean non-English-speaking, or just foreign bands you may
not have heard of? I'm a big fan of the Aussie band The Cat
Empire. You might also have good luck with the BBC's The World:
http://www.theworld.org/globalhits/index.shtml
On a totally unrelated note, has anyone here heard the new Bjork
album? The two tracks I've heard sound pretty sweet.
\_ Sektor Gaza, russia most popular rock n roll band
\_ This must have been a joke, but anyways, just don't listen it in
front of someone who speaks Russian.. As for Russian rock bands,
DDT is certainly the best. The rest are just wannabes.
\_ sektor gaza is awesome! check out these song
titles: http://csua.org/u/8y1 -danh
\_ Hedningarna, Finnish techno-rock-folk group.
\_ It'd be helpful if you mentioned what type of music you were
interested in, but:
Brazil: Carlinhos Brown, Caetano Veloso, Os Mutantes, Tom Ze
Argentina: Reynols, Astor Piazzolla
Scotland: The Delgados, The Pastels
Scandinavia: 22-Pisterpirkko, Pan sonic, Stina Nordenstam,
Flesh Quartet, Sigur Ros
Germany: Jan Delay, Absolut Beginner, Can, Neu
France/Africa: Les Nubians, Khaled, Natacha Atlas
\_ Finland: FINNTROLL
Check out http://allmusic.com and/or pick up a copy of the Wire.
\_ Why do you hate America? |
| 2004/9/6-7 [Politics/Domestic/Crime, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:33377 Activity:very high |
9/6 Argument broke out among Chechens in Beslan raid:
"Umar Sikoyev, a lawyer for a captured militant identified as
Nur-Pashi Kulayev, said the band's leader did not tell them what their
mission was and that after the seizure a fierce argument broke out in
the band, with several objecting that taking children hostage was
wrong. The raid's commander shot the dissidents' leader to death and
then detonated the suicide belts worn by two women raiders by remote
control to establish order in the band, Sikoyev told The Associated
Press."
Note to dissident hostage-takers:
(1) Shoot hellspawn leader first, ask questions later.
(2) Don't wear suicide belt remote-controlled by evil leader.
\_ This is a pretty normal set of rules for any military
situation. For example, if manning a base the Americans have
just promised (we give warning usually) to drop a MOAB on, and
your leader says "Stay at your posts," Shoot leader, THEN run.
Not vice-versa.
\_ I think this has been SOP since the German Kommisars started
shooting deserters at Stalingrad.
\_ These are not smart people.
\_ As the old Dennis Miller might have put it, "First clue?
suicide belts as haute couture. I mean, come on, people,
those things are so 1999."
\_ wow ... people are actually quoting Dennis Miller
these days.
\_ *Old* Dennis Miller. Pre-brainwashing.
\_ I thought there are rules in the US military that says a leader
cannot order his troops to do suicidal missions.
\_ That's probably in the rules. In fact, in general, it's
ok, if it serves some greater purpose. However, at least
in the MOAB case, it's a totally worthless gesture, and
really stupid order. |
| 2004/9/6-7 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:33371 Activity:high |
9/6 How come GSG9 can't operate outside of Germany? And how are the
special forces in the US compare to the ones in Israel? I have a
feeling that US is lagging because we rely so much on smart weapons
and technology and not really training people for the higher risk
operations.
\_ They can. The German constitution has some very strict
limitations on the foreign deployment of their armed forces. -John
\_ No, they can not. They are not military.
http://www.specialoperations.com/Foreign/Germany/GSG9.htm
As for Israeli military, http://www.isayeret.com has all the info
you want.
\_ They are a branch of the Bundespolizei, and they _can_ very
well, however their regulations have been amended
to state that they do not. It is not inconceivable that
they would, though, seeing as how Bundeswehr troops have
been deployed more flexibly since then (Afghanistan, Kosovo).
And my use of the term "armed forces" was unclear and ill-
defined--I tend to think of these as including non-military
but related organizations. -John
\_ special forces ARE smart weapons, and US special forces are quite
good. the problem is deciding when and how much to use them to
avoid wearing them out or diluting their skills through rushed
training and recycling. also, different politically installed
operational rules affect the outcome, e.g. part of the Israeli
special forces reputation comes from how they've been used.
\_ Size don't matter, it's how you use it!
\_ ...and other myths invented by small men.
\_ I still remember the disaster at Somalia. |
| 2004/8/29-30 [Science/Biology, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:33205 Activity:nil |
8/29 The re-animator: http://tinyurl.com/538aa |
| 2004/8/26 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:33149 Activity:very high |
8/25 To the guy who keeps saying US is an empire in decline. Consider
the very vigor of political conversation in this country. There is
competition of ideas here, more so than in any other place on Earth.
No empire in decline in history would have such vigor and such
competition. On a somewhat related note, Foucalt once remarked that
americans go on pilgrimages to France the same way the
french used to go to Italy in the 18th Century -- to see _a dying
civilization_. -- ilyas
\_ I've never seen anyone write that statement, but I'd point to the
"why do you hate america / if you're not with us you're with the
terrorists" types to refute your political vigor comment. That
stuff (used non-ironically) really does make me worry.
\_ Erm, America has lots of people, and America (due to its unique
position in the world) is perhaps more loudly heard than some
other places. I don't think the percentage of idiots here is
greater than anywhere else, but the above 2 things perhaps makes
it seem so. There are smart people who genuinely care about
doing the right thing arguing with each other, in heated earnest
here. We take it for granted, but it's almost a unique feature
of our culture -- other places seem a lot more homogenous to
me. -- ilyas
\_ The perception of being full of stupid people probably
partially stems from US media being fairly homogenous in
any given place compared to elsewhere--which leads to
some pretty undifferentiated opinions. For a country
where a comparatively large %age of the population is
college educated, you do hear some fairly shocking views
expressed. The metropolitan/university crowd that you and
I hang out with is no measure--the bulk of the population
lives in places like bumfuck Idaho and isn't quite as
cosmopolitan. That, and American tourists have whiny nasal
voices. -John
\_ That you would put forth the "we're smart and the other
guys are stupid bumfucks" steroetype as a serious point
is, at best, disappointing. The bay area has just as
many closed minded stupid people who believe what
they're told without thought as anywhere else. The
so-called metropolitan/university crowd is nothing
special. Just how much of the rest of this country
have you visited and how deeply have you engaged in
conversation with those unwashed, uneducated, rural,
gap tooth hicks you think occupy the rest of the
non-Bay Area parts of the country? I do agree with you
that our media is pathetic.
\_ I am not merely referring to the BA. I hate to
say it, but rural populations tend to have less
access to differentiated media and education than
urban types. It's the same in Europe, except that
most rural communities are far closer to some
metropolitan center, and hence have better access
to information (not always right.) -John
\_ Rural areas have the same access to newspaper
deliver, TV, cable, the net, satellites, and
everything else a city dweller has. This isn't
the 1850s. You're also still stuck on the
"cities are full of smart people, rural people
are stupid bumfucks" stereotype. I've met more
than enough closed minded morons here to assure
me that stupidity is evenly spread out.
\_ Ilya, whether it is one or not, the US certainly exhibits a lot
of symptoms of "empire in decline". Losing grip on alliances it
once dominated, military overextension, rise of both economically
and militarily viable competition, brain drain (think stem cell
research moving to the UK), currency no longer used as a peg of
absolute value due to several factors including overspending
domestically--I could go on. I'm not doing a chicken little here;
empires nowadays no longer collapse and get overrun by visigoth
hordes, but the US certainly shows signs of moving towards a way
more conservative pattern of international prominence in a lot of
aspects. -John
\_ Diplomatically this is certainly true -- Europe is not fond of
the current administration. Of course, Europe doesn't need the
alliance with the US, i don't think it's reasonable to expect
a tight, Cold War style huddling for warmth. To draw a comparison
to 19th century, none of the great powers felt obliged to be
particularly cozy with Britain -- they had their own interests
to worry about. Military overextension is also true, but only
because we aren't on a war footing. I think the fact that we
fought two wars recently without any real impact on consumers
(compare WWII) is actually kind of amazing. There are some
structural problems with the way americans borrow, but I am not
an economist, and don't undestand the implications of that.
It could be problematic a la the Spanish gold collapse. To
summarize, things are not entirely peachy in the US, but it's hard
to separate short term issues of policy from long term trends.
At any rate, long term negative trends to me seem like symptoms
of a disease, and I don't feel a disease here. -- ilyas
\_ Fallacy of equation. These were not "wars", but rather
what was referred to as "police actions" in the 1950s. And
remember, it's not just Europe--a lot of the world has
reached a level of political and economic maturity unheared
of during the cold war. The imperial presence is
increasingly no longer needed. As for the disease, as an
"outsider", I see a definite fraying of the healthy
relationship between "the government" and "the people". As
for your parallel with Great Britain, they had two
imperial foci--the "great powers" game, and the rest of
the underdeveloped world. We do not have this to anything
near such a degree. As it stands, the US is making the
tragic mistake of pursuing a foreign policy which seems
almost calculated to piss off the unwashed masses around
the world, while not being seen as consistent and moral
enough to get away with it. In any case, you bring up too
many points to address thoroughly, sorry. -John
\_ I am empire in decline guy, but John says most of what I would
say, but better. Didn't England have a pretty vigorous
political culture from 1890-1950, during its similar period?
\_ England at the height of their power was weaker than the US
is today. An empire does not collapse because of 4 to 8
years of short term policy the Europeans don't like. The idea
that the rest of the third world once loved us and doesn't
now because of the current administration is just silly. The
third world never loved us. We only sent them money because
the Soviets did and vice versa. When was this magical period
in time when our allies were super close to us and did all we
wanted? When the Soviets were knocking on their door. Without
the ultimate military threat on their eastern boarder, of course
they don't want to do what we say anymore. They don't have to
so why should they? Countries don't have friends and allies,
they only have self interests. Without the Soviets, it is no
longer in their self interests to go along with any of our
policies unless it directly benefits them. Iraq is a great
example. They made lots of money off Hussein and the Russians
were still owed billions of dollars which they badly needed.
What did we offer in return to replace that money for our allies
if they joined us? Feeling good about toppling a butcher? We
offered nothing and they did the logical thing in their own
self interest. The US may not last forever but it sure as
hell isn't an empire in decline. Even the word 'empire' is
wrongly applied. If this is an empire, then the world has
never seen an empire like this. We have tremendous economic,
political, and cultural power. So much so that anytime we
sneeze the rest of the world quivers due to the great imbalance
of power. But we very rarely actively go out of our way to do
anything with that power. Compare to Rome, the British Empire,
ancient Sparta, the Ottomans, the rise and fall of Islam, the
communist Russians, China right now, and many others.
\_ You error in finding public US political conversation vigorous.
Americans have become more shrill as both sides rush to extremes
and found sin in moderation. America is not an empire in decline,
but one without vision. It's a land torn with selfrighteousness,
selfassurance, and false humility, barely able to trust it's own
council much less that of others, and blindly following a mutant
dogma of "pure" Capitalism and psuedo-Christian ethics to justify
it's lack of humanity and vision. The mistake of empires is not
caused by it's own power, be political, economic, social or
military, but by it's own inability to find the strength to change.
In that, America has the advantage. It has redirected and rebuilt
itself several times. The question lies in will it be able to do
it again when the time comes.
\_ The time is always now. It is always changing. You're looking
too closely at the trees, ignoring the forest. (Heh, I always
wanted to jam that cliche into some conversation, thanks!) |
| 2004/8/22-23 [Politics/Foreign/Asia/China, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:33068 Activity:insanely high |
8/21 Why is it that a miserable 3rd world nation such as China has
more number of GOLD medals than USA, the world's wealthiest and
most technologically advanced nation in the entire world? We
spend billions and billions on advanced training,
advanced technology, and advanced scienticfic research on
our atheletes, and yet only 20 gold? For example, the runners
get to try out the altitude tank to simulate oxygen deprivation,
ball players try out really advanced computer simulations
on strategies/etc, and the scientists/nutritionists customize
the intake and monitoring of the atheletes based on advanced
instrumentations and advanced nutritional science. With
everything on our side, a low-tech nation such as China still
gets more gold medals. WHY?
\_ Because "western" nations do not treat 10 year old children like
fucking science lab test subjects. You'll note that the US wins
way more medals than other "civilized" countries like, say, France
or Japan or the UK. -John
\_ perhaps you should ask the chinese athletes whether they like
to be where they are as opposed to planting sorghum at
Big Cow village. US dominance of track and field, etc. is itself
the result of a big science project of selectively breeding
african slaves.
\_ Troll harder. I didn't realize Kim Collins was US? How
about Hailegebre Selassie? El Gerrouj? And as for field,
don't make me laugh. -John
\_ a few exceptions here and there doesn't make it
untrue. it's your characterization of china's
sports program that's laughable. many of them
are talented kids from poor villages who would
have ended up poor farmers for the rest of their
lives otherwise. Their parents are only too glad
to let them have the opportunity. they always
have the choice to refuse to let their children
go. if what you said is true, how come the
aussies hired two coaches from china, and
immediately they win gold and bronze at 10m diving?
the aussies must like being lab test subjects
then?
\_ We Japanese has less than half the population of US, but
half its medals. We are superior.
\_ W00t! Better invade China 'n prove it.
\_ Billions? We don't spend a penny of tax payer dollars on them.
\_ Using technology isn't always the best way to train. Haven't you
seen Rocky 4?
\_ They have 4 times as many people.
\_ Why do you care?
\_ Pretty sure this is a troll, but ...
- We're going to have more gold medals when the Olympics are done.
Much of the early standings are simply because of scheduling
(Australia, for instance, halfway through the Games has already
won most of the medals it'll win, because they're done with the
events they're good at. We tend to do well at, say, track and
field, which is only just starting.)
- The US spends no tax dollars on athletics (this is almost
unique among nations).
- Our govt. doesn't select promising kids at age 6? 8? 10? and put
them into special sports schools, as does China.
\_ Yes, in America we have overzealous parents that do that.
-dans
\_ You know the difference between tax dollars and parent's
personal dollars, right?
\_ Yes, the parents' dollars will not be wasted. -- ilyas
\_ Then the parents will probably not put their kid in
these types of programs, because most of these things
aren't economically viable in themselves. The effort
China puts in its programs appears to have national
prestige and propaganda as the primary purpose and
these are not things that parents would normally
spend their own money on for their country.
\_ That's sort of what I was driving at, yes. -- ilyas
\_ actually it's more and more like the US in China.
athletes get big endorsements, etc. But it's
still a good idea to get the government involved,
otherwise poorer kids with talent from the small
towns and villages would not have any chance to
succeed since the facilities simply ain't there.
- And as the previous poster pointed out, they have 4x as many
people (and are wholly willing to put large amounts of resources
into training them). Our athletes, when they reach world-class
level, have access to the best training methods in the world,
as do China's and 20 other countries ... we certainly have no
advantage over China or Australia or the UK or dozens of other
countries.
\_ as far as I know, our govornment doesn't really intervene
_at_all_ in most sports. I knew a guy in highschool who was
training as an olympic figure skater, and as far as I know
he never interacted with the U.S. government in any way.
\_ Son, that's why god invented athletic scholarships and
corporate sponsors.
\_ Yeah, but those usually don't come into play until you're
ALREADY real good; it's hard when you're ages 10 to 18
and are only just getting good. There's some sports that
are going to be really difficult for the US to continue
to compete internationally. How many universities in the
entire US sponsor men's gymnastics? 20. With ~10 gymnasts
per team, a 200-person pool for your entire national team
is not a deep pool at all (all US men's gymnasts went
to US universities; also many universities host foreign
students, making the pool even shallower ...).
\_ The olympic sports and college (i.e. NCAA) sports are
disjoint. Scholarships are not available for
non-collegiate sports. Corporate sponsorship is
basically a marketing play which means that in order to
be sponsored for a non-token sum, you must be an
established athlete with wide name recognition. -dans
\_ i hope my tax dollars never go into training athletes. get
over your stupid nationalism.
\_ I strongly agree with you, but I suspect that the pp
you're responding to would also agree that this is
a good thing.
\_ Well, consider the costs. Let's say we sent 500
athletes to Athens. Let's say we paid them each $200k/
year. That's $100M, or a little more than a quarter
dollar per American. Would I pay a few bucks to win a
few more medals? Yeah, probably. I'm philosophically
against funding the athletes, but in the eyes of
government, it's pocket change.
\_ but we don't do it, and we still win golds, so why
do it? Also, if they did it, don't expect it
to be given out evenly accross the sports. As a
fan of some of the more obscure sports, it would
really piss me off to see skiing get disproportionately
subsidised. If someone wants to subsidize sports
that people like to watch on TV, let the networks
who make all the money off of it do it.
\_ I wouldn't pay 1 penny to make the US teams win every
gold medal every time.
\_ there is plenty of information out there about
the societal benefits of athletic programs for
kids.
\_ Absolutely. Agreed. Sports in schools and
for kids in general is a great thing. Just not
subsidies for advanced sports research shit so
"we" can win medals in some over-commercialized
and corrupt dope-a-thon. -John
\_ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5635973/site/newsweek
"17,000 full-time athletes supported by provincial and city
governments" (compared to zero in the US)
\_ Because we are an imperial power in decline. Every time I point
this out, I get called an America-hater, but I just like to
see the world as it really is, not some Hollywood fantasy of it.
Expect China to pass us in many other things in the next 20
years.
\_ *laugh* There has never been a greater power on the planet. The
only power that is likely to ever be greater is if one day there
is a true single world government that supercedes all national
governments.
\_ Don't be so proud of your technological terror. The
ability to have a single world government is insignificant
next to the power of the Force. -geordan
\_ I haven't called you America-Hater but I am wondering if you are
the same guy as the 'nuanced worldview' guy who claims 90% of
stuff in the 'real world' is personal stuff and vendettas. You
sound like spiritual soul mates, and are both liberals, most
likely. And both wrong. America is stronger now than it has
ever been. America is stronger now than any imperial power at
any time in history, including Rome, Britain, HRE, Habsburg
Austria, anything. You are either a troll or an idiot.
\_ Nah, I will take the British Empire over America in terms
of power and accomplishments.
\_ Such as going to space and the moon, better health, longer
lives, a standard of living for the average citizen that
makes British Royalty of the past look like the lower
classes here now, no real enemies, safe to walk the streets
at night in most places, access to affordable and often
free education generally available, and a safety net the
British Empire never dreamed of. And that's just off the
top of my head. What were the British Empire's accomplish-
ments? Turning both Afirca and the Middle East into hell
holes intentionally? Thanks British Empire!
\_ errr ... the idea is to compare with contemporary
rivals. also, a lot of the things you mentioned
are not good benchmarks of strength and power.
Switzerland also doesn't have enemies, and has
safe streets, free education, safety net, etc.
That doesn't make it a powerful country.
\_ Playing Victoria teaches you a lot about power
dynamics at the time of the British Empire (even if
it's just a silly game). As Britain you did NOT want
the next 2-3 powers to gang up on you. Britain had
a pretty light touch as an imperial power, because
they had no choice. Britain had structural
weaknesses, foremost of which was their small
population and size (compared to the vast geographic
area of their holdings). US has no real weaknesses,
except for oil, and that's only a weakness because
there is no will to make it go away. -- ilyas
\_ US has plenty of weaknesses. Its power is
dependent on an economic system that requires
the willing participation of allies and other
countries in Europe and Asia. With the
introduction of guerilla warfare, occupying
other countries has also become prohibitively
expensive for America, as shown in Vietnam
and Iraq. Then there is still Russia, which
can wipe out the US with the push of a button.
\_ Fuck powerful countries. Their only use is to counter
other powerful countries that might fuck you over.
The nationalist bullshit even in the olympics annoys
the hell out of me, all those national anthems after
every event. To me it actually takes away from the
individual achievements, the way the athletes are
made to personify their countries. Ideally, most team
sports should be eliminated from the Olympics and
the focus put on individual performances like it was
in ancient times.
\_ I've seen you post this a number of times, and I've never
seen anyone call you an America Hater. Especially since
this has little to do with the subject, I think you're a
troll. How about, Neo-con Troll?
\_ neo-con troll? have you ever listened to NPR? maybe
they're all neocon trolls as well. what you've just seen
is the typical NPR listener in action.
\_ Yes, but he's trolling FOR Neo-Cons. Although, sure.
NPR Troll? Empire Troll?
\_ I think it has everything to do with the subject. China
is no longer a pissant third world country anymore. And
I detest the Neocons.
\_ All 7 of them? It isn't a huge movement. And yes, China
is still very much a pissant third world country. They
can't even retake their own break away province much less
pose any sort of threat to the US. If we were a brutal
conquering nation like they are we would have stomped
them decades ago.
\_ we ain't? where are all the indians then?
\_ Getting rich with their casinos.
\_ Good idea. Let's turn the Potala Palace
into a big casino.
\_ WTF does anything this guy is saying have to do with
conservatives, neo or otherwise?
\_ See above reply. The guy sounds like the's trolling
to make Neo-Cons angry. If you don't know why, look
up the definition of Neo-Con.
\_ The only reason China is ahead of America is because
America gave them a free gold:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/23/sports/olympics/23shooter.html
\_ What happened to the csuamotd/csuamotd login?
\_ The whole premise is false. For whatever reason, China has always
been strongest at the the items that got competed earlier, and
whichAmerica (and the west) by and large do not care and hardly
even consider as a regular sports (TABLE tennis???). If you
go back to olympic history, you will see the Chinese team get
a bunch of medals at the start, then get stuck there for the
rest of game, while the 3rd reich, the USSR , and Amerika
will have a steady and linear increase. They are the really
competitors in the olympics.
\_ yes but at least they dont have table tennis to 15 points,
to 21 points, 50 points and 100points.
\_ china is good at sports that require skills, intelligence
and precision. us is good at sports that require brute
power, cause us has lots of africa athletes.
\_ So basically any sport where you don't have to sweat or
move much.
\_ you do have to sweat. it's just that sweating like
a dumb mule won't by itself win you any medal.
\_ extremely weak troll.
\_ it may be a troll but it's also the truth. besides
the message it's replying to is also a troll.
\_ For the same reason lots of inner city kids are good in some sports.
It's a way out. 'nuff said. |
| 2004/8/16 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:32933 Activity:very high |
8/16 Is it just me or do the Olympic Games in Greece this year seem
to really suck? It seems like nobody is really interested in them
and the stands are all empty. There doesn't seem to be a lot of
promotion either. I remember the games back in 2000 sure seemed
a bit more exciting. And it seems like the US, Germany, Russia,
traditional Olympic powerhouses are really sucking this year.
\_ The USA vs Puerto Rico basketball game was most exciting game!
\_ Why do you hate America?
\_ "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are
we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our
country and our people, and neither do we."
\_ Did anyone notice that on the 'Al-Qaeda hard drive'
they refered to the CIA and Mossad as 'Foreign
Competitors'?
\_ I don't get your point.
\_ It would be more exciting if something blew up.
\_ I'd be interested except I hate the coverage. I don't have a Tivo
so it's basically unwatchable. It feels like half the time is
spent with commercials, theme music, and random commentators. |
| 2004/8/14-16 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:32900 Activity:nil |
8/14 http://news.ft.com/cms/s/117d14c8-ed63-11d8-a587-00000e2511c8.html US removing 70k troops from Europe, mostly Germany. About fucking time, too. I think we can all agree this is a good thing. |
| 2004/8/8 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:32764 Activity:high |
8/7 Terrorism (ALF) is winning, and nothing is being done to stop it:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/08/international/europe/08rights.html?hp
(This kind of terrorism can kill far more people invisibly.)
\_ I always love this argument that we don't need animal testing
for medical research. Just goofy. ALthough I suppose if
they're so interested in saving the animals, they could just
volunteer to be tested on themselves...
\_ 1. PC in the UK is far worse than any such stupidity we ever came
up with in the US
2. It's my personal observation that people in the UK are far more
likely to jump on whatever bandwagon du jour they hear about in
the rainbow press
3. Carrying handguns is all but illegal there.
Add this up, and you have pretty fertile ground for this kind of
crap. -John
\_ The problemis no one, government, private association, or
individual, is making an organize resistance to such groups.
Imagine if someone turns ALF's tactics on itself, it will go
away in a few months.
\_ You mean like the way the isrealis have eliminated Palestinian
terrorism in a few months? |
| 2004/8/6 [Politics/Foreign/Asia/India, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:32753 Activity:high |
8/6 We do it to ours, we do it to theirs:
http://csua.org/u/8hx
\_ They are highly expendable. |
| 2004/8/2-3 [Politics/Foreign/Europe, Politics/Foreign/Asia/Others] UID:32643 Activity:insanely high |
8/2 Very interesting article. It is now clear that we deliberately
went to Vietnam by provoking the North Vietnamese:
http://tinyurl.com/4t7kk (NPR)
Listen to the full analysis.
This is a far cry from the "Communist aggression" we've portraited
for generations.
\_ Old news, nothing new to see here. If you were actually alive
during the 'Nam war you would've realized this. Time you went
back to 20th Century American History 101.
\_ Just like we provoked them in '75, when they
subsequently slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Cambodians
and millions deserted on rafts. You're a complete fool;
a perfect Kerry voter.
\_ Uhm, the Khmer Rouge/Vietnam war was at best a muddled affair.
Don't know which was worse, Pol Pot killing 2 million or
the Vietnamese coming in and slaughtering the Pol Pot regime.
It's just a nasty business either way and just underscores
how bad communism really was.
\_ Pol Pot was a byproduct of France and the Communist
Vietnamese and Chinese
a perfect Kerry voter.
\_ Here's another newsflash, LBJ was a DEMOCRAT! Oh my golly!
\_ We thought it was Communism spread by the Soviet Union, but
actually it was just a nationalist movement, which we would have
not had a problem with. Oops!
\_ We would not have had a problem with, except that we were
there in the first place backing up the French, who felt
they needed to reassert their roles as colonialists after
WWII. If he had listened to Ho Chi Min and told France to
stuff it's colonialism where the sun doesn't shine earlier,
we could have saved everyone a lot of trouble.
\_ Given that France has a tradition of anti-Americanism, why
on earth did we try to save its ass in indochine?
\_ Anti-Americanism?! The country that gave us the Statue
of Liberty and helped us defeat the British?
\_ Wrong France. Try again. Read a history book.
\_ Which part are you disputing, idiot?
\_ Read a history book, you ignorant slut. I
dispute your historical comments. All of them.
Know wtf you're talking about before calling
someone an idiot. Go check the dates for the
French Revolution. Idiot, indeed.
\_ You dispute that France gave the Statue of
Liberty to the US? Which country was
France imitating with the revolution? Moron.
\_ We wanted them to join NATO.
\_ Live and learn. Frenchies get pretty friendly when
they're getting their butt's kicked by Germans.
\_ Actually 2/3 of Vietnam voted, yes voted, in an
election to remain aligned with France. This was an
unsatisfactory result for Ho Chi Min hence the civil
war. What he could not obtain by election was taken
by force.
\_ That's a new one to me. Link?
\_ It was not 'nationalist' movement. Ho Chi Min and the
other cadre were laways tried and true Communists, even
during WWII. The common foot soldier may have thought
he was fighting for freedom, but as soon as the war
was over he found out otherwise (as is always the case
with these Communist insurrections). Of course anyone
who then caused trouble was summarily shot.
\_ "Want to do what I say, and you're free to do what you
want."
\_ While they were communists, my contention is that it was
nationalism that is what actually mattered. They were not
toadies of the Soviet Union. |
| 2004/7/20 [Health/Disease/General, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:32375 Activity:insanely high |
7/20 Lenin died of STD.
http://www.csua.org/u/89f (Yahoo! News)
\_ this has been known for decades. |
| 2004/7/20 [Reference/History/WW2/Germany, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:32371 Activity:high |
7/20 Dear German John, HEIL! Where/how did you learn your German, and
what other languages do you speak?
\_ I took inspiration from your mom's muffled screams. -John |
| 2004/7/18 [Politics/Domestic/Gay, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:32339 Activity:high |
7/18 Why euro-peons hate amerika:
http://hudsonreview.com/BawerSp04.html
\_ would anyone be willing to comment from experience on where
canada stands on the statism spectrum? closer to the US or to
Europe? would his criticisms apply to canada?
\_ Wow. That's so formulaic, it's amusing.
Part 1: what he used to think (establish author as fair and
unbiased critic who's seen both sides of the issue)
Part 2: his "enlightenment"
Part 3: occasional acceptance of some small flaw is his new
perfect XYZ, usually revoked by some later "but..." section
to further the appearance of objectivity
Part 4: set extremist work from opposing view up as strawman, and
use it to demonstrate validity of all arguments
\_ So.. uhh.. what's your point? Perhaps it's formulaic
because that's what his experiance was actually like? That
formula of thinking is very common when you live for a few
years in a foriegn country. Although I don't know that
part 4 was particularly useful. Are you saying the article
is invalid or untrue because it is formulaic?
\_ interesting article (ostensibly a book review) on this
subject:
http://snipurl.com/7uhd [nytimes] |
| 2004/7/16 [Politics/Foreign/Europe, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Israel] UID:32316 Activity:very high |
7/16 Could someone a little more versed in Israli politics than I am
please explain why the hell Mossad would want to illegally infiltrate
New Zealand?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3899583.stm
\_ One theory I heard is that jews with NZ passports don't arouse
nearly as much suspicion when traveling in other countries as they
would carrying an Israeli passport. There was a previous incident
with Mossad forging Canadian passports.
\_ Maybe they're not Mossad like they insist?
\_ We all know how much socialists hate Jews.
\_ They're trying to steal our super-sheep technology!
\_ That's top-sheepcret!
\_ naw, they're just afraid of getting lamb-pooned in the
media if it doesn't work.
\_ I know a little German. He's right over there.
\_ Do you have a little German in you?
\_ Yup, the top-secret NZ sheep-cloning technology that has existed
for decades which made their sheep-rearing industry so
successful. The New Zealanders laughed at Dolly the Sheep.
\_ Dolly was ugly. If you're gonna clone, clone the pretty ones.
\_ All sheep look the same to me.
\_ We're not talking about the rear view here.
\_ RACIST!
\_ SHEEPIST!
\_ In the dark, they all look alike. |
| 2004/7/16 [Politics/Foreign/Europe, Recreation/Media] UID:32314 Activity:very high |
7/16 I'm starting to get aqua teen hunger force.
\_ explain it to me --aaron
\_ I think the point is to drink/stay up late... don't question
why the alien sounds german or is trying to replicate a milkshake
by putting its photograph in a microwave.
\_ Heees name ees Oglethorp!
\_ You must be over thirty (or maybe about 25) to board this ride but
it's not like you're missing anything. -- ulysses
\_ I don't think it's that mature. I think most of the humor
would appeal just fine to a 16-year old.
\_ I'm 34. I think it's just weird.
\_ For my money, it's the stream of conciousness style and the
willingness to "go there". Some eps are more hit-or-miss but
they've had a bunch where everything is just dead on. It feels
like a good improv group on meth. --scotsman
\_ "Using a key to gouge expletives on another's vehicle is a sign of
trust... and friendship." - Ignignokt
\_ I've never watched a full episode but my tivo always records 3
minutes of it after Futurama, and I think that's a perfect amount
of the show to watch. You gotta love meatwad.
\_ I must be over 30 (I am) because I have no idea WTF it is. This
is a Fox show?
\_ Almost Dadaist cartoon on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim.
A box of french fries, a milkshake and a ball of meat live in
New Jersey and sometimes attempt to solve crimes, but mostly just
screw everything up.
If you want to see a little, there's useually some on P2P. |
| 2004/7/15 [Politics/Foreign/Europe, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:32295 Activity:very high 60%like:32292 |
7/14 BUNNYPANTS (& BLAIR) LOSE AGAIN
http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/editorial/25023.htm
\_ Uhm, this is one of the more bizarre edits I've seen. I...don't
know what to say....
\_ You mean you've never heard of Commander Bunnypants?!?!!!!11!
http://csua.org/u/875 (kbtoys.com)
\_ Nice OPINION & EDITORIAL link, CAPITAL LETTERS boy.
\_ Trouble reading? The URL is clearly from the op/ed page.
As if this is the first time an op/ed piece has been
posted to the motd, genius. Some of you knuckleheads are
posting links from blogs as 'proof' of your points! -!op
\_ the NYPOST editorial pages are even more retarded
than most blogs.
\_ In your opinion. And that's what this is all about:
opinion. Since the NYP has greater readership than
\_ i read the nyp every day, you are a moron.
you obviously are not familiar with the history
of the NYPOST, or who owns and runs it,
or that they have been an even bigger journalistic
laughingstock than normal recently.
\_ Which still puts them well above your blogs and
your rude interruption of my post.
\_ oh are you going to cry? i hope so.
useless unthinking republican drone troll.
\_ hahhaha got nothing to say so you resort
to the lowest form of attack. would you
\_ I'm not sure what's more pathetic --
that fact that you got trolled by a
childishly simple ploy, or that you
need it pointed out to you.
like to try again or just give up and
go home?
\_ ok i'm trying to understand the NYPOST's spin on
lord higgins' report, i don't fully understand it yet.
any blog and people actually *pay* to read it and
other people get paid to write it, I'll take that over
some random blog spew anyday. Are you really truly
seriously trying to claim that blogs are anything more
than raw unedited spewage?
\_ It's still dumb. And OP's caps lock was stuck.
\_ It can be dumb. Lots of things are dumb but
to bash someone for posting from the NYP when
others here don't get bashed the same for trying
to use friggin' blogs as a source of proof for
anything is idiotic. Caps don't bother me enough
to make a whole thread about them. If they
bother you that much I'd like to trade my
problems for yours.
\_ The bloggers pull directly from news outlets
across the board, have no financial stake in
diseminating the information, and some are
remarkably intelligent. Your ranting against
them is ill-founded.
\_ They pull directly from news outlets of
their choice no different from Drudge. What
do you think Drudge is? He's the ultimate
news puller but you don't ever have to read
his personal drivel mixed in. Just the
headlines.
\_ wonkette, the blogger you love to hate, is paid
and has an editor. Many bloggers make a living
on their blogs by selling ads. Does this make
them more respectable in your eyes, or less?
\_ Hey, wait, the above said they don't have a
financial stake in blogging? Which is it? And
how does making a living off it make them any
better than Drudge?
\_ ok i'm trying to understand the NYPOST's spin on
lord higgins' report, i don't fully understand it yet.
\_ So... they weren't lying... they just don't like to read?
\_ I bet you the guy who posted this likes to slam Michael Moore, too.
Compared to the post, he's fucking Truth.
\_ Wow, a poor editorial compared to a different poor
editorial, and you can pick which one is THE TRUTH? Oh, I
see. It's the one that agrees with your poor opinions.
\_ So what, in your opinion, constitutes a great Opinion? Heh.
\_ MY OWN!
\_ Your precious?
\_ You know what they say about opinions and assholes...
\_ Nothing is more important than your own? |
| 2004/7/13-14 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:32255 Activity:very high |
7/12 What is the etymological connection between Anglo-Saxon (English)
and Anglo-Franks (French)? -history dumb
\_ There is no such thing as Anglo-Franks. Anglo-Saxon refers to
the descendents of the bilingual Vikings who hacked their way to
Britan, who later also hacked their way to this country.
\_ I think they sailed.
\_ Rather long and complicated, but the gist is that English is based
on Germanic roots rather than Roman roots so English and French are
in reality from completely seperate linguistic families. However, because
of the constant invasions and migrations of peoples through the
British isles English has become a mishmash of Germanic and Romance
languages, hence the weird spelling of certain words and the usage of
certain French terms that are only found in English.
\_ Case in point. In English, words for livestock are native, while
words for livestock meat are French. The reason: during the
Norman invasion, the gentry were all French, while the peasants
were English. The peasants grew livestock, and the gentry ate
it. -- ilyas
\_ wow I never noticed that, that is really interesting.
tell us more ilyas!!!
\_ obTellusaboutthestarsilyas!
\_ obw00t!
\_ Isn't it also why the English words for things are
considered dirty (i.e. fuck)?
\_ Va t'enculer.
\_ The history and etymology of 'bad language' is an
interesting subject. I think it's an oversimplification to
say 'fuck' is only bad because the prissy normans didn't
like the short stubby anglo words for things. 'Fuck'
comes from German 'Ficken' I think, which means to
bludgeon. The word is 'bad' perhaps because it implies
intercourse is a kind of violent act. -- ilyas |
| 2004/7/12 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:32242 Activity:very high |
7/12 Facism, anyone? http://csua.org/u/85n -- The 14 common characteristics of fascist regimes -- ring any bells? \_ The Council for Secular Humanism? This is way worse than WorldNetDaily. \_ Well, the obvious point of this piece is to say that Bush = Fascist, but it does a pretty poor job of substatiating that claim. Many of the points it tries to make don't apply to Bush at all. Some don't even apply to Fascism. (The one about religion is a pretty obvious secular humanists swipe at religion, but has little to do with what was actually done in fascist governments.) The ones that are refelcted with Bush are often a big stretch. A few fascist like tendencies are shown to be in the Bush-like, but I don't think it's any more than you would see between Hitler and say, FDR. \_ But FDR is a facist with a socialist bend. \_ how true, it was said FDR envied Stalin because he was such an effective collectivist. Would explain their friendship. \_ "it was said"? By whom? Freepers? \_ FDR = fascist is just as patently absurd as Bush = fascist. FDR defeated fascism. I don't think any of you or the people in the URL really understand the word "fascism." \_ Thank you. Can anyone here actually define fascism for me? I had a roommate who hated Regan because he was a "fascist" but he could never point to any specific instances, or even tell me what that meant. \_ fascism : a political theory advocating an authoritarian hierarchical government (as opposed to democracy or liberalism). Its really not that complicated. Perfectly describes the result of the policies of the New Deal and the left today. \_ The URL above is a paraphrase of a very common 14 point definition. Its workable but I think the comparison to Bush falls down (I dislike Bush as much as the next guy but calling him Hitler is hyberbole). There was a recent book on this subject that got favorable reviews, but the name escapes me at the moment. \_ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism is as good a definition of fascism as you are going to find anywhere. \_ it's not something just a one-sentence little blurb could sufficiently describe. mussolini wrote an essay defining it: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/mussolini-fascism.html As that site mentions, the term comes from "fasces" which were held by Roman officials as symbols of the authority of their office. Basically it's authoritarian nationalism, the idea that only strong authority can lead a nation to greatness and vitality, the State being more important than individuals. being more important than individuals. There's also the notion that this national struggle is the only thing with meaning, with the wars and all, making your place in history; that otherwise you might as well be dead. Which helps explain how Hitler could just roll the dice with millions of lives in the balance. \__ Actually, most fascist governments do form an alliance with organized religion. See Italy, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Chile and Indonesia for examples. A few did not. \_ yes the Dems like Schumer, Hillary the witch and WJC. \_ Bush is a Fascist! Bush is a Fascist! Saying it enough times makes it true! \_ You should watch Starship Troopers. \_ I did one better, I read the book. \_ Watch the movie again. Movies work. \_ Work for what? BTW, have YOU read the book? \_ Movies work in the ways that books don't. I have not read the book, but now you mention it, I will. I can understand why you would not want to see the movie (again) if you've read the book. \_ Don't bother. The difference is that Heinlein basically advocated fascism - particularly in ST. The movie was, by contrast, a satire on the book's enthusiasm for fascism. MANY people did not figure this out, though. -- ulysses \_ I guess I'm one of them then -- IIRC, positions in government were decided by a popular vote. I honestly don't see how that's fascist. \_ If you are a liberal, please don't use the term fascist to describe the Bush administration. It's become an epithet. \_ Saying that it has become an epithet is also saying that it once wasn't one. \_ In Italy, it's quite common for people to still identify themselves as communists or fascists. --studied there \_ "Fascist" as applied to Mussolini and Hitler's regimes is accurate. \_ Accurate for what? You mean it's an accurate description of Bush's policies? Only if "Communist" is an accurate description of Clinton's policy. Maybe you should re-read the definition of fascim linked to above. \_ "Fascist" is accurate, low on the epithet meter, and acceptable in academic publications when applied to Mussolini and Hitler's regimes. And I *just* said, please don't use the term fascist to describe the Bush administration. \_ If you are a conservative, please don't use the terms communist, terrorist, America-hater, etc. etc. to describe liberals. Can we all just get along?!?! \_ The word you are looking for is "socialist". Conservatives : fascist :: Liberals : socialist \_ The Bush Administration certainly has fascist tendencies. But they are also certainly not fascist. At least not as long as we continue to have elections and free speech. \_ Right. No one is suggesting Bush is a fascist. However, his adminstration does appear to be pulling this country more towards that direction. \- is it not obvious that "fascist" when used to describe BUSH CO is indended as an epithet rather than a term from political science, just as when BUSH is described as an idiot or moron it is also an epithet and not a allegation that his tested iq fals into a particular band. same for john ashcroft is a nazi etc. trying to find precision where it isnt intended is ... dumb --psb |
| 2004/7/4-5 [Politics/Domestic/Immigration, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:31158 Activity:insanely high |
7/4 Happy 4th! In other news, the Dutch are the tallest ppl in the
world, and have overtaken the americans big time. Interesting
reasons why like uneven distribution of wealth, lack of health
care, and the richest country in the world not investing enough
in it's children: http://tinyurl.com/yrjma
\_ is this the etymology of "flying Dutchman"?
\_ two contradictory facts in the article: "rich people are taller"
and "Bruintjes is a Dutch, 7'4", and works as a security
guard"
\_ "rich" in a global context--his kids have access to good
healthcare, well thought-out nutrition, and a not too shabby
public education (his idiotic taxes notwithstanding.) -John
\_ No, because we take in more people from poor countries who came
here underfed. If you only checked height and other factors
starting with 3rd generation citizens the numbers would be
remarkably different. How many immigrants do the Dutch take in
every year?
\_ You are wrong. Read The Economist on the same subject.
\_ I'm wrong? Ok, so the US isn't taking in poor people from
all over? Perhaps you could elaborate instead of making a
blanket accusation of wrongness with a vague reference to
TE as your only backing?
\_ Yep, you're wrong. And you don't read The Economist,
or you wouldn't be. And no, I won't tell you my password.
But the study authors already accounted for the influx
of immigrants.
\_ Holland takes in tons of immigrants, in fact the whole country
is getting pretty full since it is so tiny. I don't know
what the relative rates are compared to the USA.
\_ Relative percentages count when you're doing country vs.
country comparisons. Comparing Holland to the US on just
about anything is just plain silly but if you're going to
do so at least get the right numbers.
\_ Obviously this is Bush and Reagan's fault.
\_ Vote for Balkenende, he's TALLER.
\_ BushCo!!!! EEEEVVVVVIIIILLLL and shorter than the average
Dutch! |
| 2004/6/29-30 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:31071 Activity:high |
6/29 Attack Iran, US chief ordered British
http://csua.org/u/7zk
\_ The US doesn't "order" the British to do anything.
\_ While we're at it, why don't we talk about when the British
ordered U.S. troops to attack Soviet troops back in 1918.
What? You don't know about that? |
| 2004/6/27 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:31025 Activity:high |
6/27 British authorities, on Fox News's violations of "due impartiality":
"... Fox News could justifiably claim to have achieved a level of
accuracy and impartiality that was appropriate to its audience in
the US, where different rules apply."
http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1239094,00.html
\_ Hehe, cool. From a place where the press is so far left they
make the LAT look down right fascist. It's important to know
who your critics are. When certain people are critical you
know you're doing a good job. When they squeal constantly,
you've achieved greatness.
\_ The UK press is not "so far left...". It is heavily editorial,
and like most European papers, much more so than we're used to
in the US. The Guardian tends to be very leftist, the Times
totally in the other direction, and the notorious tabloids
whatever will get the short pants wearing soccer hooligans
buying the paper that particular day. Please be a bit more
differentiated in your statements, even if you are a bit
uninformed. -John
\_ Nonono ... it's the far-left New York Times, not the LA Times.
The LAT is just a NYT wannabe!
\_ Dude, look at a map sometime. LA is obviously left of NY. |
| 2004/6/21 [Health/Disease/General, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:30934 Activity:high |
6/21 For the guy who wanted to learn German, don't. It's not a language,
it's a throat disease. Learn a nice language like French or Japanese
or something. -John
\_ Japanese is also a throat disease. If you have to learn an axis
language, try italian.
\_ A schizophrenic mess, yes, but throat disease? The furthest back
fricative or stop in Japanese is palatal. -- ulysses
\_ If you're lingually adept enough for Italian, you'll have no
trouble learning the phonetics of Japanese. The grammar and
writing system are a whole 'nother kettle of fish-heads. -erikred
\_ For some of those Italian girls I'd be lingually anything.
\_ Methinks Dutch is more of a throat disease than German. And for
those who're clueless: Dutch <> DEutSch.
\_ If you were really cluefull you'd call it Nederlandse, the proper
name for the language. Nobody calls Nederlandse "dutch" except
clueless english speakers.
\_ "English", not "Engels", Nederlandse boy. -John
\_ Dear fucktard: I guess the dutch guy i work with who lived
in the Netherlands for all of his 27 years until about two
weeks ago is a "clueless english speaker" then. I had no
idea. And I suppose that means the Swiss guy i work with
who spent five years in grad school at Delft and speaks
fluent Dutch is also a "clueless English Speaker."
Who knew?
\_ I was born in Holland and speak Dutch fluently, and I have
never ever heard the language referred to as "Nederlandse"
by anyone in English. In Dutch it is called "Nederlands",
or you could say "De Nederlandse Taal" (the Dutch Language)
-eric
\_ Thank you, allow me to reward you the "annality prize of
the day" award.
\_ Even more fun is learning Dutch and German.
\_ Afrikaans
\_ French R's are a bit throaty feeling to me. Deutsche throatiness
levels are up to the speaker... you don't have to make the "ch"
noise deep down and some even pronounce it like "sh". Hebrew
seems throatier from what I hear.
\_ According to linguists, the ugliest sounding languages are:
German, Cantonese and Hebrew. |
| 2004/6/17 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:30863 Activity:insanely high |
6/17 Dear John, I've decided to learn German. Why? The German population
is the largest in Europe so maybe I can pick up more chicks. In
addition, I get the added advantage of understanding the German
spam and the History Channel. Now let me ask you this. What's the
best way to learn German? I'd like to learn via audiotapes. Also,
I'd like to listen to catchy German songs, like Das Ist Berlin,
got recommendations? ok thx.
\_ how would learning German be different from learning any other
language? the greater the exposure, preferebly in the country
with total immersion, the faster the learning curve.
\_ 99 Luftbaloons!
\_ God you people are old.
\_ Ich bin ein Berlinner!
\_ You prefer the Britney Spears version?
\_ The original version in English is better.
\_ The original version is German. Nena later released a
version in English.
\_ You should hear it in the original Klingon
\_ Warum fragen Sie John? Und auf dem motd, no less? That truly is
anonymous cowardness. Anyway, unless you're some kind of language
genius you won't really learn it unless you immerse yourself in it
for a while. You can at least have fun getting to an intermediate
level. It's pretty close to English really, the only thing is the
genderized article/pronoun stuff.
\_ And: THE VERB MUST BE SECOND
\_ Dude, the verb must be last. You haven't spoken german much.
-- ilyas
\_ Someone deleted my response, but you are showing your
ignorance here: "Warum fragen Sie John?". Where is the
verb (fragen)? The verb is almost always the second
construct in a German sentence.
\_ Mark Twain's take on german:
http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/awfgrmlg.html
-- ilyas
\_ er, both of these guys are referring to the, forgot
what it's called but: I must go to school" becomes
"i must to school go" in German.
\_ "Must" is an auxiliary *verb* and it is *second*.
\_ must is a noun too
\_ Not in this context.
\_ http://www.nextup.com/attnv.html
The AT&T natural voices are really quite good: virtually everything
that I read these days is piped through a text-to-speech program.
I can only attest to the quality of the English voices, but they
have voices for Spanish, French, German, and various English Accents |
| 2004/6/14-15 [Politics/Foreign/Europe, Recreation/Sports] UID:30792 Activity:very high |
6/14 Is anybody watching the Euro 2004 soccer stuff? Is that PPV only?
\_ WHY DO YOU SUPPORT TERRORISTS?
\_ the people i know watching at home are doing pay per view.
i havent checked but kezar pub may be showing. i am mostly
interesting in watching english football holligans, however. --psb
interested in watching english football holligans, however. --psb
\_ Apparently this was the first one: http://csua.org/u/7r3
\_ You may wish to read "Among The Thugs". Yobbos like:
Lager in pint glasses, Lager in 2l bottles, The Queen,
The Falkland Islands, ManU, Maggie Thatcher, Goals,
Rolex, War movies, Catholic Church [!?], Being abroad,
Expensive Sweaters [!?], Sausages, Lots of Money, Themselves.
Oi! --psb
\_ Here you go: http://csua.org/u/7r5 |
| 2004/6/14 [Politics/Domestic/California, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:30780 Activity:insanely high |
6/13 http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040613/D836DRJ00.html So, after 50+ years of miltiary, economic and diplomatic warfare against extreme leftism, the Europeans are going to simply elect them to office. If I cared about Europe, I'd be pissed off. But I don't so I think it's funny. \_ Socialist governments elected are a far cry from what the Warsaw Pact countries were like. \_ Socialist governments elected are a far cry from what the Warsaw Pact countries were like. \_ And in other news, the Gipper's body is now spinning like a turbine. \_ "Overall, center-right parties won, taking between 247 and 277 seats in the 732-member European Parliament, according to preliminary projections. The center-left group, which includes lawmakers from British Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party and Schroeder's Social Democrats, finished second - with an expected 189 to 209 seats." So, what exactly are you talking about? -tom \_ Way to ignore the important parts of the article where the Socialists are taking over the various governing bodies of the individual countries! You score 1 twink point for bad trolling. No one cares about the EU Parliament. They don't do anything. \_ I guess if any socialist anywhere has any power, the Cold War was lost, even if they were elected lawfully to a temporary position in an orderly democratic process. \_ You don't remember Chili, don't you? they did democratically elected a communist government. we overthrew it. \_ Chili is a stew, Chile is a country. \_ It's okay to say that you don't know. \_ Here we go... Do you know who else was lawfully elected to power in the early-mid 20th century? I won't say it. \_ Awesome. You Godwin'd an otherwise reasonable thread in record time! Way to go! \_ You mean that damned Socialist Roosevelt? \_ Sweden has been electing Democratic Socialist governments to power for the last 50 years with no discernable ill effects, except for perhaps universal free health care. \_ Sweden? You really think any large country can be run like Sweden? \_ you are right. large countries should be run like India. Small countries should be run like Singapore. |
| 2004/6/8 [Reference/History/WW2/Germany, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:30659 Activity:nil |
6/7 In Band of Brothers this crazy yank runs towards the Germans, runs
behind the Germans, hides behind a building, then comes back without
getting shot at all. What the heck was he doing and what did he
accomplish? |
| 2004/6/6 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:30634 Activity:very high |
6/5 Related to the British auto mechanic post last week where Brits
call their machines as "her"... is our country feminim or masculin?
The Germans refer to their country as Vaterland, and the Russians
refer to their country as Mother Russia. What is USA referred to as?
\_ The only Chermans I've heard refer to their country as "Vaterland"
had shaved heads and combat boots. Never heard a Russian mention
"Mother Russia" or Rodina (sp?) either. What a stupid idea. And
the UK drivers I know wouldn't be caught dead (those rare times
when they're sober) talking about "her". Cheers, mate. AFAIK
the US just has Uncle Sam, but that doesn't count. -John
\_ I don't think the U.S. tends to get assigned a gender as often,
probably because English grammar doesn't require one to use
gender as often. What gender does China get, ta, ta or ta?
\_ The US personification is male.
\_ ...except in the lyrics to "God Bless America"
\_ He is talking about Uncle Sam you imbecile.
\_ In this case, you are the imbecile. Obviously Uncle Sam
is male and nobody needs to be told that. The point is
that there is more imagery than Uncle Sam. This is a
political cartoon figure. England has John Bull and
Britannia. |
| 2004/5/25-26 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:30426 Activity:high |
5/25 Wanna learn a new language to pick up chicks in Europe. What should
I learn? German (uhhh), French (too snobby), Italian (yes?),
Spanish (si?)? Which language will get you the most women? ok thx.
\_ Germany is horrible. Germans are horrible. Learn Spanish and
French, the food's better and it's warmer and their tourists are
far less obnoxious. And you can get by in Italy with decent
Spanish. -John (really wish I spoke Spanish instead of German)
\_ How do you konw that John? I found that even with my mediocre
Spanish, I was able to more or less get by in Italy. It also
make learning Italian a snap. -ausman
\_ Somewhat related to the question. It's hard to compete
with Italian and Spanish guys. They take the initiative,
and they look girls straight in the eye when they talk to them.
Especially the Italian guys. German guys are meat. So says
a friend of mine who is into these things (picking up chicks
in European bars, not Italian/Spanish/German guys). How that
affect your linguistic choice is your call.
\_ Uh, that's what Americans do who want to get laid, also. It's
not a big secret that women like the self confident guys.
\_ What's wrong with American women?
\_ Have you seen "Sex in the City?" 'nuff said.
\_ ^Sex in the City^lila
\_ Who is Lila and why do you pick on her all the time?
\_ Python
\_ Germany has the largest population in Europe, so learn German.
\_ how come, is it because of Hitler's initiative to create
lots of babies
\_ uhm yeah sure.
\_ Spoken like a true sodan, quantity >>> quality!
\_ Yeah, dude, german girls are either fat and dumb, or thin
and very cold and evil.
\_ Nobody who speaks German could be evil.
\_ You're nuts. German girls rock and they're easy and do
things American girls haven't even thought of.
\_ Spaniards like to have a lot of sex, but you can get the most
women by finding out which country best suits you... if you have
dark skin, head north to Denmark/Sweden. If you have fair skin,
head south to the Mediterranean. In either case, you can hope to
get some tail on the "I'm exotic" route.
\_ Go to Brazil if you just want to get laid a lot by beautiful
women. No need to learn anything.
\_ AND fill up on STD's! w00t!
\_ same story anywhere. use a condom. you shouldn't be
fucking random bar girls in any country without a condom.
if std's are your concern, find a church going virgin and
marry her.
\_ Learn Spanish. It will still be usefull for you (and get you
laid) when you come back to the US.
\_ Have you considered Russian, Ukrainian, or Lithuanian?
\_ Lonely Russian babes want to meet you!
\_ http://www.russianbrides.com |
| 2004/5/24-25 [Reference/History/WW2/Germany, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:30400 Activity:high |
5/24 John the Native German Speaker, teach us German please. Teach us
a few words, like "You look beautiful today" or "I like your dress."
Heil John! Heil!
\_ ?
\_ Just learn some Yiddish. |
| 2004/5/23 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:30381 Activity:nil |
5/23 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/22/movies/23canne.html hehehe ... the french sure like to annoy the Bush. \_ Wow, this makes Cannes, France, and Michel Moore all look kinda silly. I guess that's not a big change though. \_ Wow, what the hell are you smoking? It doesn't make them sound silly at all. Stop reading your predudices into places that they don't exist. \_ Did you read the article? Moore: "I didn't set out to make a political movie..." right... \_ the TRUTH is out there. bitch. \_ Wow, it really does! And how, exactly, does it do that? Just because a film festival recognizes a piece that doesn't agree with all the BS that Bush feeds us doesn't make it silly. Let me guess, you probably also think it's ok to lose life after valuable life in iraq since we're defending our freedom and way of life, right? |
| 2004/5/5-6 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:30032 Activity:high Edit_by:auto |
5/5 Drudge scoops the big boys again:
http://www.drudgereport.com/flash8.htm
\_ keywords: Apache gunship helicoptor war video footage
\_ That's because he posts 'scoops' without confirming them and often
gets burned. And he never posts retractions, of course. Its a
good thing for him that US libel law is so pathetically weak,
otherwise he'd have to do actual research to back up his claims
like them damn furrin papers do. As for this latest claim, the
video described sounds almost "too bad to be true" but meanwhile
we shall see. You may want to try some more reputable sources
for your news, like one of the British papers.
\_ 1) often? prove it. 2) British? Reputable? You're better off
with Drudge. It's ridiculous to claim you'll get reputable news
months ago:
from "one of the British papers" unless you're some sort of
freakish Anglophile who thinks anything British is automagically
better than anything American.
\_ It's an old video. I downloaded and saw the whole thing (including
the part where one of them is dumping an RPG in a field) several
months ago. ABC News was the first to run it on TV I believe.
Part of the controversy was that they didn't show the part where
they were dumping the RPG; only the part where they were getting
blown to pieces. You can go download the avi from the last URL I
believe. Finally, I did see this Drudge URL yesterday, but ignored
it. I notice it's not up on Drudge now, probably because someone
pointed him to the snopes URL, and he realized it was "old news":
http://www.warblogging.com/archives/000787.php
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/US/apache_video_040109-1.html
http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/apache.asp
\_ There were others along this line on CNN. I was shocked at the
lack of feet on it. There was one with footsoldiers on patrol and
\_ ob: You're an idiot.
they come upon a wounded man on the road, sink a few more rounds
into him just for kicks. I thought I must have seen it out of
context, but I don't think so.
\_ I saw that too, but it was more like the guy was being put
out of his misery, and the guy had been shooting at the soldiers. |
| 2004/5/5 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:30014 Activity:high |
5/5 Man, I just don't get today's Doonesbury. Maybe it's because I
don't drink. http://www.ucomics.com/doonesbury/index.phtml
\_ Wine is not a "populist" drink. Bush has always appeared as
"one of the regular joe". Regular Joes drink Busch beer.
\_ Ha, ha. You funny man.
\_ No really, move to the South. You'll understand.
Try Lumberton, Mississippi.
\_ Isn't wine associated with the french?
\_ Are we at war with Eurasia or Eastasia now? |
| 2004/5/3-4 [Computer/Rants, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:29959 Activity:very high |
5/3 The new $50 bill:
http://www.moneyfactory.com/newmoney/main.cfm/currency/new50
\_ Who uses $50s? I thought $100s were the drug dealer cash of
choice.
\_ $100s for the middle men on up, $20s for the street trash.
\_ Middle men and higher use $20's becuase everyone gets paid by
the lower tier.
\_ Gotta change them into $100s though. The US $100 has long
been a currency of choice for international crime and
terrorism of all kinds, because of its decent cash/weight
ratio. I'd hate to take a million dollars worth of $20
over the border in a suitcase (well, several suitcases).
\_ People moving pounds of weed use $20's. I'd say for MJ
that is top-tier.
\_ I've heard the 100 Euro note is taking over due to
inflation (internationally)
\_ There is also a 500 Euro note.
\_ What about the 500 Euro note?
Why does the AMC keep deleting this comment?
Jesus Fuck, you can't even make an innocuous comment
anymore without some asswipe taking offense.
\_ Innocuous comments get deleted by people who don't
use motdedit squishing changes, or people using
motdedit squishing changes of people without a
file lock.
\_ they also get deleted when the whole motd is
deleted, then restored by someone with a stale
copy.
\_ What will Warren Buffet say about this? |
| 2004/5/1 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:13514 Activity:high |
5/1 10 new countries join the EU. 8 are former Soviet states.
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/040430/1/3jwxl.html
I know the public face is that the EU will turn all the European
countries into a first world super power but I see it differently.
I see it as merely staving off the inevitable collapse of the western
European powers. If the US economy looked like any of the major
European economies, we'd already have voted all the incumbents from
both parties out of office. For example, Germany has about 10.5%
unemployment right now. We have about half that. And Israel, which
has always had a weak economy and especially so since the most recent
war, has an unemployment rate just slightly worse than Germany at
about 11%. France has allowed approx. 6 million Arabs into their
country of 25 million people yet has made no effort to integrate these
people into society and continues to allow more. Britain is following
the same path. Germany's retirement system is no longer sustainable.
France is almost in the same position as Germany. And these are the
three strongest and best run countries in Europe. It's all downhill
from there. I predict economic collapse leading to anarchy in most of
Europe by 2025, at the latest, if current economic and social trends
continue.
\_ Maybe they ll join up with Russia to form the Socialist Republics
of Eurasia, and try to stave off the inevitable by whoring out
natural resources for a few years.
\_ Only three were former soviet states.
\_ the only reason the us unemployment is so low is we artifically
lower the numbers by not counting people who have been unemployed
for over 6 months, nor do we count people who quit their jobs and
can't find another one, or contracters who can't find contracts.
\_ Between 20 and 40 % of children in France
under 10 are Muslim. The Islamicists breed like rabbits.
\_ population of france is 59 million. unemployment in
germany is high because it is high in the former east
germany. you are a moron. |
| 2004/4/23 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:13361 Activity:nil |
4/23 Good thing the UN defines International morality!
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/story.jsp?story=514689 |
| 2004/4/21 [Politics/Foreign/Europe, Politics/Domestic/Gay] UID:13304 Activity:nil |
4/21 German Army Turns Into Gay Orgy:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/040421/325/ernky.html
\_ Ok, the way it's written in the article makes it sound like a
horrible idea. In practice it will probably just be a bad
idea.
\_ Come on, the Spartans didn't do too badly, although I'm sure
it sucked to be a Messenian.
\_ If this is true, it will destabilize the Middle East
for years to come.
\_ Was college a gay orgy for you?
\_ No, but if it had been all male, it probably would have been.
\_ That's what the Boy Scouts is about. |
| 2004/4/15-16 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:13220 Activity:very high |
4/15 Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said a video recording of
the killing showed that Quattrocchi was hooded when his kidnappers
put a gun to his head. "When the murderers were pointing a pistol at
him, this man tried to take off his hood and shouted: 'Now I'm going
to show you how an Italian dies'. And they killed him." -CNN
\_ Bring It On!
\_ Tough guy.
\_ ADRIAN!!!
\_ Very brave, but he's still dead.
\_ My hat is off to him. He died like a real man. I hope I would
have the balls to do the same thing in the same situation. -- ilyas
\_ How does one die like a real woman? -chialea
\_ With the same sort of courage.
\_ Jeanne d'Arc. Let's keep the feminist bickering to a
minimum in this thread, shall we? It seems out of place.
-- ilyas
\_ Is that really so brave? Why not plead for your life in that
kind of situation? Many got out alive after being taken
hostage. Sounds like a hot head to me.
\_ Hmm, maybe this explains why aljazeera decided not to show this one. |
| 2004/4/14-15 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:13206 Activity:nil |
4/14 Minister Franco Frattini told Italian state television that the
nation's ambassador to Qatar viewed a portion of the videotaped
execution and confirmed that the slain hostage was Fabrizio
Quattrocchi, who was working in Iraq as a private security guard.
... Al-Jazeera said it did not broadcast the tape because it was too
graphic. ... In a statement delivered with the tape, the
hostage-takers blamed Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for
Quattrocchi's slaying ... and went on to say that the hostage-takers
will kill one hostage at a time until all their demands are met. -CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/04/14/iraq.hostages.int/index.html
\_ Yes, it is Berlusconi's fault that this guy chose to go to Iraq as
a private citizen working for a private company in a private
capacity as a security guard for a private target. The bastard! |
| 2004/4/14-15 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:13201 Activity:high |
4/14 "[I will] never submit to fight beneath that banner
[the American flag] with a Negro by my side. Rather would
I die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in
the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved
land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback
to the blackest specimen from the wilds."
1947 letter by Robert Byrd.
\_(D)
\_ Thomas Jefferson was a slave owner and a fracophile.
\_ Thomas Jefferson was a slave owner and a francophile.
\_ Is that anything like a Francophile, 'cause them are fightin'
words. Also, T.J. who lived way before 1947, may have had
slaves, but he never said anything as reprehensible as that.
nor anything even close. nor, i suspect, did he ever feel
anything like it.
\_ Those were the real French during their glory days. After WWI
and WWII all the best genes in the pool were killed off and
now only the scum remains to keep breeding and leeching off the
few French who actually work and produce anything. This is all
just noise anyway since in about 2 generations there will be
more Arabs in France than pussified French and then it'll all
be over for them for all time as a people, a culture and a
country. Look back in time upon France from before WWI to see
a real country full of admirable people. You can just fuck the
useless worthless whiners that remain.
\_ How about we kill you instead? That would make me feel a
whole lot better.
\_ Who gives a flying fuck how *you* feel? No, you can't.
You're a worthless valueless piece of shit.
\_ I'd say something, but I think John said it so much
better just below.
\_ Thank you. Same goes for Italy. :) -John
\_ Is that an insult or a suggestion <img src=French hottie>?
\_ To whom? I admire the old French. The modern post WW2
\_ You're an idiot, and I doubt you'd ever be let
out of the special school for long enough to
French are pansies and doomed.
\_ You're just a second rate troll and an idiot, but
short-pantsed overweight American tourists with
too many people think like you. I doubt you'd
be let out of the special school for long enough to
actually get near a stack of French toast. I bet
you're the sort of annoying nasal whiny pigfucker
short-pantsed overweight American tourist with
his annoying nasal whiny pigfucker short-pantsed
chubby-kneed fanny-packed wife and pimply spoiled
brat kids who ruin my nice civilized weekends in
France. Geeze Louise, stay home and shut up. -John
\_ wow.
\_ Meanwhile the US was busy using it's status as the only major
industrial nation to survive WWII intact to keep the white
man in power and then repeating the same foolish French
imperial dreams in Vietnam on a bigger scale.
\_ Wow, confused race politics and a complete
misunderstanding of every element of the Vietnam war,
all in one convinent package! Only $19.95!
\_ No! It's FREE! (Click this REMOVE link to be taken
off our opt-in list)
\_ The Vietnamese certainly saw the American War as
a war of national liberation. It is only a few
dumbass 'Mericans who bought the domino theory,
hold the line against communism crapola. The same
fools that buy the "Operation Iraqi Liberation is a
critical piece in The War Against Terror" I guess.
\_ This guy has been desperately trolling "the old french
who got themselves all killed are real men worthy of
worship" has finally succeeded in soliciting some
response.
\_ Congrats, you just squished two people's changes.
Please use motdedit or aquire a lock before making
changes.
\_ I never force-write. So try again. |
| 2004/4/7-8 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:13070 Activity:nil |
4/7 I'm looking for a new suit. If I happen to be in Italy, would it
be cheaper to find an Italian suit there or is it not worth my
while?
\_ It would, depending on where you are. Milan can be frighteningly
expensive. Also, you won't save a great deal on real big
designer brands, but there are a lot of smaller tailors in side
streets that can be worth your while. Also, be aware of your
type of build--if you're tall and slim, Italian suits may not be
for you (they're pretty boxy.) In Italy, I'd rather look out for
\_ American suits are boxy. Italian suits are more tapered and
appropriate for slimmer people.
nice leather goods (gloves, shoes, etc.) If you specify where
you're going, I might be able to give you some pointers. -John
\_ I'm not the OP, but I'm going to be in Florence and Rome.
Anything in particular to look out for? (Shoes, maybe?)
-chialea
\_ Have you considered going to smaller cities like Cinqua Terra,
Sienna, Padova, etc? Rome is kinda like LA... it's a huge
city with lots of stuff going on and lots of touristy stuff
as well. Except that people walk in Rome... and while walking,
you might pass by some 2000 year old statues.
Florence is pretty famous for leather (shoes, belts, etc).
Try to avoid going in July. It's hot and filled with stupid
Germans and Americans. Before June 15 or after Sept 1 would
be good. Going in mid-August is not so bad, but everyone seems
to be on vacation during that time.
\_ Shoes, gloves, whatnot. In Rome all the expensive designer
stuff is around the Spanish Steps/Via Condotti and Via Veneto
(but there are a lot of great stores on side streets.)
Loads of cool little shops around Campo dei Fiori/Via del
Corso. In Florence, anything away from the big museums
is decent shopping, and in both cities, do all the big
touristy things (Coliseum, Vatican museum, Uffizi, etc.) as
they're worthwhile. Drop me a mail if interested and I can
look up some stuff--Rome is awesome. If you're looking for
anything in particular, it's a PITA, so just knock around,
you will find a lot of nice things. -John
\_ A friend took my wife to http://csua.org/u/6tj outside of
Rome, where she found bountiful shopping.
\_ Can I take your wife, too?
\_ you probably can't afford her.
\_ Lingerie. France and Italy have the best lingerie and
much of it never makes it into this country. The only
place I can find real silk stockings is in France, for
example. (I order by e-mail now.) My gf loves the fancy
lingerie and it is much cheaper than going to La Perla here. |
| 2004/4/7-8 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:13059 Activity:high |
4/7 Is there a recent precedent for the use of "civilian contractors" /
"mercenaries" in combat situations? The recent murders/mutilations
were terrible, but I'm wondering about the use of CC/Ms to protect
government agencies in a warzone-- what sort of accountability does
this Blackwater company have if one of their guards guns down a
kid?
\_ These "civilian contractors" are ex-marines / navy-seals who is
hired to protect food convoy. They are not "civilians" (which
implied they are defenceless and without arms). These incident
can be treated as US soldiers being killed. Both USA and Britian
are toying around with mercenaries because casualty of mercenaries
are not as politically sensitive as regular soldiers. Further
when mercenaries commit war crime and all, government can just
wave their hand and say "it ain't us."
\_ Recent precedant? I don't know. Google "hessian mercenaries"
\_ let's say post-1950, post-Geneva convention, etc.
\_ My great-grandfather was a mercenary in WWI, and in a few
american scuffles prior to that.
\_ US or any country?
\_ Doesn't matter. Let me be more inflammatory: How do you feel
about an Enron or Worldcom that employs well-trained paramilitary
types and is contracted to work for the government? Or:
Imagine the Bush invading countryX using an entirely mercenary
force, and blaming the outcome on a lack of "corporate synergy".
\_ w00t!
\_ How about the French Foreign Legion?
\_ they are *NOT* mercenaries. They are effectively French Arm
and forces.
\_ The United States used hundreds of mercenaries/contractors in
Columbia in the late 90s. I know 20 of them died in 1998 alone.
http://www.colombiajournal.org/colombia52.htm
\_ The Pope is guarded by Swiss Guards which are mercenaries. There
hasn't been combat situations in recent history though. |
| 2004/4/6-7 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:13044 Activity:nil |
4/6 Ambush on U.S. forces and ensuing firefight in Sadr City Sunday
leave 8 U.S. soldiers dead, 40+ wounded: http://csua.org/u/6s6
\_ You know, unlike Afghanistan, the terrain around there is a bit
more conducive to cordoning off slums full of nutcase thugs and
napalming the crap out of it... -John
\_ Where is your European sense of civility?
\_ John calls from Switzerland. They are not like the Europeans
you are probably thinking of. Ask John, for instance, when it
was Switzerland granted women the right to vote.
\_ Federal income tax for someone making $78k in .ch is 4%.
I am SO moving there at the first opportunity. -- ilyas
\_ yepthe Swiss rounded up jewish refuges, sent them to
nazi firing sqad waiting on border, and then pocketed
their bank accounts.
\_ Hey you should hear what the wartime Pope had to say
about the Jews. Hope you aren't Catholic, or want
to move to Italy (let alone Germany). And then there
is FDR who (half in jest, apparently) was suggesting
that all Germans be neutered after the war. You
would also be surprised to learn that bombing of
civilians was first authorised by the Allies
(specifically Churchill). It's obvious the only
fully guiltless party here is Soviet Russia!
-- ilyas
\_ old news
\_ If you read the link, you'll see interesting details of the
battle that weren't available yesterday
\_ "Bring it on!" -gwb
\_ You're a sick bastard.
\_ "Mission Accomplished!" - gwb |
| 2004/4/2 [Politics/Domestic/911, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:29901 Activity:nil |
4/2 Brits, Japanese, Germans, and Aussies to be fingerprinted at
Passport Control:
http://csua.org/u/6qe (NYTimes by way of Google)
Question: Will my wife, who has a Green Card, be subjected to
this, or is it just for temporary visitors?
\_ I'll bet you my U.S. passport that if the Bush junta gets another
4 years of power, this will include U.S. citizens, canadians, and
everyone else within four years. Right now the U.S. is very clearly
on the road towards fascism, and if America falls no one will be
safe anywhere. |
| 2004/3/30 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:12931 Activity:nil |
3/30 France goes socialist! Yes! Less foreign competition for US goods
and services now.
\_ Wait until Wednesday before casting aspersions.
\_ What happens on Wednesday?
\_ They reconstitute the government. The man charged with doing
so is unlikely to hold onto his position in the next
election, so he has an opportunity to do some radical
reforming.
\_ French product/services are competitive?
\_ French wine.
\_ Lots of big French companies doing well, like Vivendi.
\_ Airbus.
\_ Ocaml! |
| 2004/3/29-30 [Politics/Foreign/Asia/China, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:12917 Activity:very high |
3/29 Isn't the PRC fascist? Why do people still refer to it as communist?
It fits perfectly with fascism but is not communist at all. Right?
\_ american is fascist too.
\_ Cool! ChiCom troll is back! I was afraid he'd been
sent to re-education, or promoted to peoples' regional
secretary for truth or something! Hi, ChiCom Troll! -John
\_ this is your problem. Saying PRC is a fascist is not
considered as troll, but saying American is fascist
is.
\_ Was I commenting on your content? Your reading
comprehension is as poor as your grammar. Doesn't
speak highly for ChiCom peoples' education. Welcome
back, ChiCom troll! -John
\_ You're being silly. He is not the real chicom
troll. Just arrived at work, eh?
\_ ChiCom troll is not person, it attitude.
Back to highschool, stupid american. -John
\_ nah, he's the best friend you day dream
about everyday at work.
\_ Yermom's not a day dream, and she's not
my best friend, she's on my lap.
\_ masterbating at work again, eh?
\_ nah, he's your imaginary best friend
you day dream about at work.
\_ Along with Republicanism...
\_ no.
\_ Communism is just one insidious type of fascism.
\_ Not really. It's just that people choose to keep calling
something communism that isn't communism.
\- helo it is an interesting question whether communism and
fascism, call them totalitarian ideologies, are essentially
identical due to structural factors or the "substance
of the ideology" rather than the structure [say class vs
nation/ethnic focus] plays the dominant role in defining
its character. you may wish to read "Revolutionary Change"
written by Chamlers Johnson before he went insane or this
book by R. Paxton: http://csua.org/u/6nx ok tnx. --psb
\_ Communism is not a totalitarian ideology per se, it is
an economic system which can only be achieved by
compulsion. (One wonders sometimes if this is true, to
some extent, of any civilized economic system which
relies on abstractions such as property). Fascism is a
more complicated concept, but I don't believe it needs to
be necessarily totalitarian either. Most people who
accuse people or states of fascism these days (e.g. "Bush
is fascist!") have no idea what the word means. I don't
believe fascism and communism have anything in common,
aside from the fact that they lend 'color' or 'charge',
if you like, to government. Twentieth century made a
convincing case that governments should remain as
colorless as possible. -- ilyas
\- per se, communism isnt communism per se. --psb
\_ That's nice, Partha. -- ilyas
\- not as good as: "The women at fandom cons are
bi and large, by and large." --psb
\_ What does it mean? that's my real question. I did do
some reading on it now and I see why the PRC doesn't
really fit that term. But, I can also see how aspects
associated with fascism can be used by both PRC
and USA (appeals to nationalism, fearmongering,
scapegoating, militarism/patriotism, propaganda).
But I think authoritarianism is intrinsic to fascism.
The only communism we've seen is the Stalinist brand
of totalitarianism. Modern China with its economic
ventures seems to have abandoned communism.
\_ yes, China have abandoned communism since 1985,
*YEARS* before Berlin Wall came down.
\_ nonsense. the government still controls the
entire economy. just because you're now allowed
to own an apple cart or a small factory that
makes a few widgets doesn't mean they've
\_ ussr? ussr is no more. otoh, russia under
putin has wisely decided to follow in
china's path of capitalism under strong
authoritarian rule, reversing russia's failed
experiment with democracy. this was also
the proven path followed by many US allies
such as japan, s.korea, taiwan, singapore.
and the world is voting with their hard
earned money pouring them into russia and
china. check out stock symbol mbt or vip,
i am buying a beemer using earnings from
those stocks. the only people who can
attain democracy and capitalism in the
reverse order are the indians, and even
then, it's under strong nationalistic
leadership of the BJP party.
*YEARS* before Berlin Wall came down.
suddenly turned into a capitalist society. they
have only just caught up to where stalin's
ussr was more than 50 years ago.
\_ Actually I take it back. Classic, Mussolini-style
fascism cannot help but be totalitarian in human
societies. -- ilyas
\-YMWTGF(ant, spider, bee, bacon) --psb
\_ human societies?
\_ The Bugs are facist by nature.
\-YMWTGF(ant, spider, bee, bacon) --psb
\_ bugs aren't totalitarian.
\_ Not necessarily bugs. Humans are just not
collectivist enough, they like small packs.
An interesting take on how a collectivist
human society would come about, see
book by R. Paxton: http://csua.org/u/6nx ok tnx. --psb
collectivist enough, they like small packs.
-- ilyas
Herbert's "Hellstrom's Hive" (yes, same
Herbert). -- ilyas
\_ if humans were collectivist like bugs
we'd be doing about as well which is
to say not very well at all overall.
\- sort of like france :-) --psb
\_ Why nobody ever complains that psb write incoherent
English sentences?
\_ because we know he could form coherent sentences
if he wanted to. otoh, we can and do complain that
he's a lazy bastard.
\_ nah, it's better described as authoritarian planned-economy
\- sort of like france :-) --psb
\_ "A specter is haunting Europe..." -- ilyas |
| 2004/3/29-30 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:12908 Activity:nil |
3/29 Socialists take over France too. |
| 2004/3/22-23 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:12799 Activity:kinda low |
3/22 The French Connection Kenneth Timmerman reports on
deep and tight Chirac-Saddam ties.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1103221/posts
\_ Jew
\_ How about the deep Bush/Laden ties?
\_ And how about _our_ continued involvement with Hussein
after the "300,000 of his own people" shit? |
| 2004/3/17 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:12717 Activity:nil |
3/17 France: Ach, that Stoopid Bush. We should be nice to terrorists!
BOOM! Whoops.
http://csua.org/u/6h1
\_ Look, it's not that the french wants to be nice to terrorists or
even muslims. They just want to be different from the Americans.
It's an inferiority cplx.
\_ Don't listen to what the French say, look at what they do. They
are right there on the front line with us on the war on terror.
It's easy for the French media and the average citizen to spout
off whatever but it's the government that sets policy and it is
a very pro-American policy no matter what they say in public to
appease their media. I've been very pleased with the French
response to terrorism and how closely they've worked with us.
\_ everyone supports fighting terrorism, just not invading Iraq,
which does not help in fight terrorism.
\_ Way to dodge that red herring!
\_ Uhm, ok, and that has exactly what to do with the price of tea
in China? Or France? Or anything else I said? |
| 2004/3/17 [Politics/Domestic/911, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:12713 Activity:nil |
3/17 http://csua.org/u/6gv Government officials insist that they never misled the public, and that they released in a timely manner all the information and evidence they had gathered. "We told the truth at all times to the Spanish people," Acebes said on Monday. In retrospect, however, there were signs that the government was at least selective in releasing information about possible culprits. -Washington Post \_ http://www.moveon.org/censure/caughtonvideo \_ Consider, though, that there's never been a significant incident involving islamists in Spain, they have a long history of ETA bombings, and the March 11 attacks bore a lot of ETA hallmarks.) Had ETA been responsible, the PP's stance both on domestic security and its Iraq policy would have been boosted, whereas an attack by islamists would have underlined points made by the socialists--it's imaginable that this may have influenced the finger pointing, but it doesn't change what seemed pretty obvious at first glance. As for whether the socialists' victory is "knuckling under" to terrorists, that's another discussion. -John \_ I think you are being too generous here, John. The morning of the attacks, I heard someone from ETA's Sinn Fein say that they didn't do it -- he pointed out that ETA always provides a warning before they set off a bomb, and there was none in this case. And all the terrorism experts I heard said that it may have been ETA, but the MO was quite different from their past. Plus, the PP persisted in insisting that it was ETA for several days, despite mounting evidence to the contrary. \_ Point taken. Interesting you use the Sinn Fein analogy-- like the IRA, Sinn Fein is pretty fragmented since Spain & France started working together to smash them. -John \_ ETA MO is to set off a bomb and then see what the PR looks like and disclaim responsibility if the PR is negative. The ETA was stopped from setting off a train bomb just like this last year and last month was busted carting around a large amount of explosives. It was also reported that the explosives used in Madrid are the same ETA has used a lot in the past. So fingering the ETA was a good call at the time. Oh yeah, the ETA is also reported to have a new group of younger members moving into higher ranks that are much more aggressive than the original bunch. It made sense and was believable. Obviously finding al qaeda tapes, AQ agents and then a posting on an AQ web site last year saying that they could put the socialists in power if they timed it right is good evidence it wasn't the ETA but none of that was known that first day or so. \_ It was the omission of including AQ as suspects that ticked everyone off. There wasn't enough information at the time to make the call and laying blame the ETA without proof made it look politically expedient. \_ ETA was a good first guess. It was only 48 hours between the bombs and the polls opening. I think your depiction is really harsh. \_ You should really read the entire article. Then come back and post what you think. -op \_ Spain gave in to threats and voted to "appease terrorists" in the election Sunday that turned out a top U.S. ally in the counterterror war, the top Republican in Congress said Wednesday. ... "Here's a country who stood against terrorism and had a huge terrorist act within their country and they chose to change their government and to in a sense appease terrorists," Hastert said. -AP \_ And if the US had gotten more than Spain, Poland, and the UK to help police Iraq, the loss would be less apparent. |
| 2004/3/16 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:29872 Activity:nil |
3/16 Whee! Everyone hates us and the Morrocans and Jordanians all want
to blow us up:
http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=206
\_ Bring it on!
\_ we should tactical nuke the pakistan/aghan border
\_ There would be much time, and little to do. But...ah...with
ze proper breeding techniques, and a ratio of zay...ten females
to each male...I would guess zat zey could zen work their way
back to ze present gross national product within, zay, twenty
years. |
| 2004/3/15 [Politics/Foreign/Asia/India, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:12667 Activity:nil |
3/15 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-France-Bin-Laden.html What are French troops doing in Afghanistan? We should just send them home. For all we know, they may be helping Bin Laden. \_ There are no French troops in Afghanistan. They are opposed to BushCo and his evil regime. |
| 2004/3/12 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:12641 Activity:low |
3/12 Might be a nice gesture to drop some flowers at the Spanish
consulate or something. They were pretty decent 2 1/2 years
ago. -John
\_ never knew the motd was so kind.
what was the motd like on 9/11/2001?
\_ IIRC, motd was shut down for several days because of excessive
kindness. I believe the unofficial part was made less publicly
accessible due to kindness poisoning also.
\_ I believe it was given a cooling off period because a few
jackasses were talking about taking revenge on any "towelhead"
they saw.
\_ It was shut down because paolo's (he of the every-3-minute
MOTD deletion) girlfriend complained. -tom
\_ And she was damned right to do so. Did you read some of
the posts she included in her email? It was more than
casual race baiting; people were talking about guns. If
nothing else, that sort of thing would have gotten the
csua shut down if it had been made public.
\_ You can't shut down an organization because it
provides a forum for wackos. Berkeley won't get
shut down because of all the nutjobs on Sproul.
In fact, you put yourself at more risk by attempting
to control a forum, because then you implicitly
are approving everything that shows up in it. -tom
\_ I guess a broken clock is right twice a day.
\_ Kind of OT, but what kind of relegion is Sihkism? All I
know is they don't cut their hair, they wear a turban and
carry a ceremonial knife.
\_ what do you mean pretty decent 2 1/2 years ago?
\_ Meaning that after 9/11 a whole lot of people in Spain
and other Euro countries were pretty consoling and tried
to make whatever symbolic gestures they could. Not
a big deal practically speaking, I guess, but I think it
meant a lot to them. Dunno, you decide. -John
\_ Have you ever considered putting flowers in front of the Israeli
consulate?
\_ Because that's not terrorism, it's a war.
(and "war on terrorism" doesn't count)
\_ oh, so you think it's ok if Israeli rolls in the tanks
and just flattens all the arab areas? After all it's
war and you've just said that killing civilians is ok.
\_ good attempt at a troll.
\_ Why does the Basque people want independence from Spain?
\_ The usual. They feel they are oppressed and ignored by the
Spanish political and social support system.
\_ Ask not what you can do for your country but what your country
can do for you!
\_ Why did the Joos want their own country? |
| 2004/3/11 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:29864 Activity:nil |
3/11 Bombing in Spain:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/03/11/spain.blasts/index.html |
| 2004/3/9 [Politics/Domestic/Crime, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:12578 Activity:low |
3/8 Would someone be willing to take delivery of a handgun for me in
the Bay Area in the next 2 months? It's a gift from a friend in
Oregon, which I would like to take over to Switzerland the next
time I'm in the US (May-ish.) He can't meet me in person. I can
supply any needed papers. -John
\_ Which handgun? (I am not in BA, or I d take it) -- ilyas
\_ Can you supply a good lawyer, too?
\_ can i use it on Highway 580?
\_ Just sort of curious, John, why're you asking in the motd rather
than approaching some friends you consider trustworthy directly?
\_ Assuming you go through with this, it is illegal and considered
a federal crime. To do this right, your friend needs to transfer
ownership using someone with a FFL. Any reputable gun store will
do this, for a small fee, and even hold it in storage, for another
small fee. Transferring the gun out of country is another whole
mess of paperwork.
\_ You have to forgive John. Living in oppressed Europe for so long,
he must have forgotten how easy it is to commit a federal crime
here in the Land of the Free. -- ilyas
\_ Was he thinking of wearing a head scarf, too?
\_ In Switzerland, men are REQUIRED to keep an arsenal in their
home as they are citizen military reservists, and could be
called up in time of need.
\_ Because so many Italians and Germans will be invading for
the chocolate and watches? Actually, it won't be the
Germans. They already bought their way in with blood
money.
\_ As if Europe is a haven of freedom and goodness. Whatever.
\_ I think you are missing the point.
\_ I don't think there was a meaningful point to begin with.
\_ What point? It was standard mindless America bashing. |
| 2004/3/4 [Politics/Foreign/Europe, Computer/Companies/Yahoo] UID:29939 Activity:nil 80%like:12517 |
4/3 http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=9&u=/nm/20040304/od_nm/life_britain_surgery_dc The british people ARE ugly!!! |
| 2004/3/4-5 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:12517 Activity:nil 80%like:29939 |
4/3 http://snipurl.com/4vze [yahoo news] The british people ARE ugly!!! \_ You need to check out British pr0n. There are some *really* hot chicks over there. \_ Photoshop is a wonderful thing... \_ I've been a British pr0n fan long before Photoshop existed. \_ Well there's Liz Hurley and, uh... \_ He's probably thinking of http://www.page3.com Not that I can see how these photoshopped hos look any better than our photoshopped hos...maybe he's got an accent fetish? \_ And HOW! \_ Brazillians are the most plastic surgeried people in the world. Practical observation seems to indicate there is little negative correlation between the attractiveness of a people and the prevalence of plastic surgery. \_ I thought it's the Koreans? \_ Not according to the Brazillians. Apparently it's a title many are eager to claim. |
| 2004/2/26-27 [Politics/Domestic/Immigration, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:12427 Activity:low |
2/26 Living man a fugitive suspect in sucessful suicide bombing attack.
Huh what?
http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/02/25/khadr_abdullah040225
"In a report earlier this month, Agence France-Presse said a Taliban
source had identified Abdullah Khadr as the attacker who on Jan. 27
jumped on Murphy's jeep and blew himself up. He is the 22-year-old son
of Ahmed Said Khadr."
\_ It's on cbc.ca. Go post there if you care.
\_ Are you deranged? |
| 2004/2/17-18 [Politics/Foreign/Europe, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:12285 Activity:kinda low |
2/17 The weird weather in Europe might not be global warming:
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994684
\_ Of course it might not be. It might be caused by alien mutants.
Trust no one.
\_ God damn it! I'm so sick of hearing about global warming! What
happened to the perpetual winter I was promised when I was a kid?
Where is my never-melting snowman?!
\_ The goddam Russkies rolled over on us. |
| 2004/2/11 [Computer/SW/Security, Politics/Foreign/Europe, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Israel] UID:29796 Activity:very high |
2/10 I'm beginning to think mandatory military service should be instituted
in the USA, say for 2 years after high school. It would help all these
kids to grow up, learn to be away from home and stop being pansies.
They'd be older and more mature going into college, and maybe have a
better sense of direction and perspective in life. It would force rich
kids to serve alongside poor kids and make people care more about US
policy and think about what it means to live here.
\_ Back in MY day, sonny, we walked six miles uphill through the snow
to do our military service! [again, restored]
\_ Uphill both ways?
\_ This isn't Israel or Singapore where land is scarce and border
security requires every able body to participate in the armed
forces. Having such a large non-volunteer force would have no
practical value to the security of this country
\_ Ok 2 years is too much, I was just reading how Euro countries do
it. 9 mo. would still be good, plus there is the possibility of
alternate service in something like Peace Corps. There is all
kinds of stuff they could do. There are lots of non-combat roles
in all the military branches too.
\- would you make females and homosexuals serve? --psb |
| 2004/2/5 [Science, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:12113 Activity:nil |
2/5 The "have-a-baby" troll below piqued my curiosity: which countries
currently have the most advanced fertility treatment? Are they also
leaders in cloning technology?
\_ By the way, thank you for correctly spelling "piqued". We do
appreciate it.
\_ Its all about propper grammer, and, spelling.
\_ western ones. yes.
\_ I think Italy especially has loose laws about cloning/fertilization
\_ Mmmmm, loose Italian women...Mmmmm, Monica Bellucci...mmm....
\_ Not Italy. Italy is very Catholic about these things. I think
Korea is the most liberal about fertility tech.
\_ Yeah, shit, I mean, check out those mass Moonie weddings. |
| 2004/1/21 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:11864 Activity:nil |
1/21 Here's some funny shit. Various peacenik lawyers seek revenge on
Tony Blair for supporting the US in Iraq.
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=442590§ion=news
\_ see what the UK gets for trying to remain international and not
giving itself whole-heartedly to Bush's unilateral campaign?
"The U.S. cannot be tried before the court because it refuses to
sign up to it. The UK did."
\_ What does it mean to be "international", exactly? Striving to
surrender your nation to others who don't have your interests
at heart? Good plan. Don't run a country.
\_ learn to shorten your urls: http://csua.org/u/5mw
\_ Shortening urls is great, as long as the poster specifies
what they're sending you to. This simple courtesy is rare,
however.
\_ I prefer the real raw deal. I do not like being sent to unsafe
links. I'm willing to cut n paste. |
| 2004/1/3 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:11652 Activity:nil |
1/2 The US planned an invasion of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia
back in 1973 to seize their oil fields. Good thing
we are above that sort of thing now:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3333995.stm
\_ Dur, this is at the end:
"It is made clear that the invasion would probably only be
contemplated if the situation in the region deteriorated to such
an extent that the oil embargo went on for a long time, threatening
western economies."
\_ Oh the horror.. Why that is the last straw-- I hate the U.S. so much
I want to learn German and move to Germany get taxed >50%!
\_ Get a grip man, it was 30 years ago!
\_ what is wrong with getting taxed 50% by a country that actually
does something useful with that money?
\_ Heh. I see you neither lived, nor visited Germany, nor have
any friends who live there.
\_ under Nixon, what a surprise. |
| 2003/12/31 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:29739 Activity:high |
12/31 So I understand that we are supposed to call French Fries and
French Toast, Freedom Fries and Freedom Toast now, but what
about French Kissing? Should I call it "Freedom Kissing" now?
How about French Bread or French Poodles? Is it now Freedom
Bread and Freedom Poodles? The last one sounds kind of
funny to me.
\_ And don't forget French onion soup, French dip and French coffee to
complete a five-course French cuisine.
\_ The "french" in french fries has nothing to do with France and
shouldn't even be capitalized. Is Quayle back in DC? |
| 2003/12/20-21 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:11549 Activity:nil |
12/20 Sorry if this is old, but I nearly pissed myself laughing:
~john/wine.txt -John
\_ http://www.csua.berkeley.edu/~tom/games.html
\_ Speaking of Walmart, I just spoke with a friend from the UK, and
he mentioned that Walmart is now decimating the retail grocery
and department store chains in England. Walmart purchased
the chain store ASDA, and has found a loophole in British zoning
law which allows them to build mezzanine levels into ASDA stores
to expand into the markets of other surrounding businesses.
\_ Germany too. Of course then, most German supermarkets
currently suck and could use a kick in the ass. -John
\_ what is wrong with Walmart? it's not even close to being a
microsoft in the retail industry.
\_ ???? Hello?
\_ Don't be fooled by the rhetoric. Walmart's total
control is only 3-4% of retail sales in America. That's
a far cry from MS's 98% of all desktops. Of the two, MS
is still by far the more perilous monopoly.
\_ having said that, I would say thi is the flaw of
our current anti-trust law. Our current antitrust
law looks over total market share, ignoring the
phenomena of regional monopoly. Thus, Walmart and
the baby Bells in telecom welds a lot more power,
essentially stifle any competition in a particular
geographical area, than the overall market share
reflects. |
| 2003/12/15-16 [Reference/Military, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:11461 Activity:kinda low |
12/15 hey ilyas: http://www.chivalrybookshelf.com/titles/ringeck/ringeck.htm (tobler interprets the Ringeck Verses) \_ right. just in case you just finished Quicksilver and felt it wasn't nerdy enough. \_ this book is not supposed to be fiction. It's a system of movements for the art of applied geometry. \_ Agrippa is better for that. \_ Agrippa wasn't thinking of a longsword, he was thinking of rapier. \_ What about Silver? \_ Well, he had a bit of a bias vs. scherma. \_ http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~wew/fencing/agrippa/63.jpg ? \_ Agrippa was a mathematician. Basically he came up with a system of movements that let the scholar form the hypotenuse with his arm and blade to the triangle created by the opponents arm, blade, angle and point. Alot of the spanish style, the so called "magic circle" is all appications of geometry of chords tangents, etc, since they didn't have the silly limitations of strip fencing. - pst \_ For the record I don't like Stephenson. I find most of his books (after Snowcrash) long and boring. Also the above poster is right, this isn't fiction, it's a martial art manual. -- ilyas books (after Snowcrash) long and boring. -- ilyas \_ Neat! Thanks, motd Santa! -- ilyas \_ ya might also wanna ask him for a gorget. Preferably steel I took a schlager in the throat the other week and even thru \_ Neat! Thanks, motd Santa! -- ilyas a steel one it still hurt and stunned. - pst \_ Motd santa pls bring me: http://www.darkwoodarmory.com/closed.htm \_ If you like that, tell us about this: http://img.kb.dk/ha/manus/th290/kamp0205.jpg and http://img.kb.dk/ha/manus/th290/kamp0165.jpg |
| 2003/12/13-14 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:11448 Activity:nil |
12/13 http://www.globulos.com has serious fault tolerant/scalabitily issues. Clearly it's written by French artsie programmers who make cute looking GUIs but have very little understanding of scalability. \_ then don't play it. \_ When I tried to play I couldn't... Not good for popularity. \_ what problems were you having? the only problem i noticed was finding an empty game, so i usually just create my own. play viral pursuit if you want to stick to 1 player games that dont have scalability issues. \_ What do you expect, they are French after all... \_ Aesthetic goes before functionality. You dumb Americans just don't get it. \_ grrrrrrr. don't even get me started. fucking frogs. \_ So how do you explain ocaml? It's french. It's also ugly and functional (pun intended). -- ilyas \_ and there are American products that are beutiful and useless. so what? it's a trend to which there are exceptions, but in my experience french people will put form over function to a degree that is quite simply unprofessional for a scientist or engineer. \_ Your experience? How many french products do you actually use? -- ilyas |
| 2003/12/11-12 [Politics/Domestic/Gay, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:11421 Activity:high |
12/11 Are the Swiss Guards at the Vatican related to the military in
Switzerland in any way?
\_ STFW:
http://reference.allrefer.com/encyclopedia/S/SwissGua.html
http://www.italiansrus.com/articles/swissguards.htm
(Read: sort of. They are required to have basic military training
in the Swiss army, but are a separate group.)
\_ Yes. They have to have gone through military training, and are
dispensed from the normal reserve duty (and have to be Catholics.)
We think they're all repressed homosexuals. -John
\_ That would be a convenient explanation for the outfits. |
| 2003/12/11 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:11420 Activity:nil |
12/11 Getting back to the language question, I've decided to fake British
accent. It's much easier to learn than German and I can get around
quite easily without being treated like a damn Yankee.
\_ Pretend to be Canadian, it's easier.
\_ Eh.
\_ Brit: "You're English? Brilliant! What part?
You: "Um. What part are YOU from?"
\_ Tally-ho! Jolly good show! I'm from the northern part of
Lexington and I graduated from Cambridge University
\_ Oh, good-- I mean, brilliant, I'm from far away from there--
Francisco... ingham... shire... upon Berkeley... wood.
\_ Or you can pretend your Scottish- Angus McCloud from North
Kilttown.
\_ No foolin'! I'm from North Kilttown!
\_ Just sew a Maple Leaf on your backpack and say you're from
Vancouver. Lots of wiggle room there.
\_ brilliant! Do they talk like us there?
\_ Yeah, mostly. Just remember to say "zed" instead of
"z" and don't over-do the "eh" thing. |
| 2003/12/11 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:11417 Activity:nil |
12/11 What's the best way to pick up a British accent besides watching
Monthy Python and the Flying Circus?
\_ There's a rare brain disorder...
\_ you might first want to decide WHICH british acent you want to pick
up, as there's several different ones. |
| 2003/12/11 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:11413 Activity:nil |
12/11 To whoever was asking me about languages, you could probably get
around a lot of Switzerland with French alone, but to be honest
you're better off using English all over Europe, as long as you try
to not come across as a brash American tourist (just keep your
voice down, you'll be surprised.) -John
\_ and for fuck's sake, leave that 10-gallon hat at home!
\_ and your six shooters.
\_ while true, the french, in particular, definitely appreciate
when americans make an effort to speak french...no matter
how lousy their accent/grammar is. try it and you'll see.
\_ And despite the hate that gets thrown around on here, and
contrary to cliche, most French people that I have met like
Americans. The media just tells you about the negative
stuff.
\_ How about faking a British accent and put up an attitude as if
you're better than those bloody Yankees? Maybe you'll get more
respect.
\_ I found that lots of Italians don't speak English, but I was
able to get by with my half-assed Spanish spoken with an
Italian accent. -ausman
\_ Just don't wear shorts, flip flops and a Hawaiian Shirt. Be
culturally appropriate and no one will mistake you for an
Ugly American. |
| 2003/12/11 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:11409 Activity:nil |
12/10 Re: german vs french thread yesterday. I decided to take german.
I figure I'll spend most of my time in the netherlands and switzerland.
-OP
\_ Das! You will meet cute Bavarians girls who will yodel while you
give her a lot of pleasure. Good choice.
\_ German, unlike French or English, has the nice property that most
words sound like they are spelled.
\_ I doent no wot yur toking abowt!
\_ Ai doent no eida. |
| 2003/12/9 [Politics/Domestic/Immigration, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:11376 Activity:nil |
12/9 Read this you beatniks and open your eyes:
http://www-hoover.stanford.edu/publications/digest/034/johnson.html
\_ Pride goeth before a fall.
\_ Pride goeth before destruction,
and an haughty spirit before a fall. Prov 16:18
\_ I hope you are all right. That way we can have a "Mad Max"
world and I can use my guns. Seriously. |
| 2003/12/9-10 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:11370 Activity:very high |
12/9 What language (other than English) is more widely used in western
Europe? I'm trying to decide to learn either German or French.
And another related question for anyone who has been to the
Netherlands: it seems like a large part of the Dutch population
speaks German. Why is that? Thanks.
\_ Learn French. You can get more chicks with it.
\_ Learn French. German is a horrid language. It's not widely
spoken and you will hate it. Trust me, I speak both. Dutch is
sort of cute, but you don't get much mileage out of it. -John
\_ Then again, this is coming from a guy who didn't think
30 millions lives of Chinese is not worth nearly as much as
3 million Jews. so, be aware
\_ I think you have a double negative problem there. Not to
mention your head stuck way up your ass.
\_ John, can I get around switzerland or germany/austria with
french? Most people in switzerland speaks german I think.
I know english is the de-factor second language in the world.
\_ de facto
I'm trying to avoid speaking english when I go to europe.
I don't want to be the big ugly american.
\_ don't worry, with broken english like that, you wouldn't
pass for american.
\_ http://www.winternet.com/~mikelr/flame31.html
"Grammarian usually has little to contribute to a discussion and
possesses few effective weapons. To compensate, he will point out
minor errors in spelling and grammar. Because of Grammarian's obvious
weakness most Warriors ignore him."
You need to troll harder, grammarian. I was hoping you
would work your way up the troll ladder. But you're stuck.
\_ hey, we found partha:
http://www.winternet.com/~mikelr/flame16.html
spoken and you will hate it. Trust me, I speak both. -John
\_ 'Dutch' is a corruption of 'Deutsch.' Think about it.
\_ IMHO, it all depends on what you want to do with the language.
French is more widely spoken in Western Europe, some part of Africa
and even in Asia too. (Vietnam comes to mind) If you're learning it
for fun, AND if you've done some French in high school/college, go
with French. German is an easier language to learn in terms of
pronounciation (just watch our governator for practice :)) and
a few words are similar to English. Good for reading techie manuals
and an important language in the medical field. It might even get
you a job at Siemens, BMW, DT, etc. since they're actively
recruiting German-English speakers. If you're into history, think
Latin. Not as much fun but it's pretty useful.
\_ HEIL!!!!! LONG LIVE DIE FUHRER!
Latin. Not as much fun but it's pretty useful.
\_ Der. Der Fuhrer, not Die Fuhrer.
Or you may want to think about Spanish. Yes I know it's "boring"
but given the usefulness in California compared to other European
languages (i.e. you're more likely to meet someone to speak
Spanish with in CA than any other languages), it may be good, plus
you've most likely received some basic Spanish in High School.
you've most likely received some basic Spanish in High School.
\_ spanish is boring and french isn't? you're a nut.
Dutch people tend to be proficient in their second languages because
they are aware that not many people outside Holland speaks Dutch
(except for maybe Namibia, South Africa, etc.) so rather than
y(except for maybe Namibia, South Africa, etc.) so
rather than taking the stance of the stereotypical snotty French,
they rely on German, English or French. (German comes to mind since
taking the stance of the stereotypical snotty French, they rely on
German, English or French. (German comes to mind since it's
\_ he's over there!
bordering east of Holland; a lot of people from the Eastern
\_ Even the word 'Dutch' is a bastardized german word for 'German'.
See above.
\_ The Dutch have no love for the Germans, though, and the
languages are about as similar as Spanish and Italian or
Portuguese.
\_ I don't think the Germans are particularly popular in
Europe.
it's bordering east of Holland; a lot of people from the Eastern
part of Holland cross the Germany border to go shopping. This info
comes from a good friend who lives in Groningen (Holland). Hope this
part of Holland cross the Germany border to go shopping. This info
helps, sorry it's long-winded.
comes from a good friend who lives in Groningen (Holland). Hope this
helps, sorry it's long-winded.
\_ About Dutch/German: the languages have a lot of similarities, more so
than French/Dutch. I know a little German and many Dutch words look
\_ he's over there!
like bastardized German.
\_ Even the word 'Dutch' is a bastardized german word for 'German'.
See above.
\_ The Dutch have no love for the Germans, though, and the
languages are about as similar as Spanish and Italian or
Portuguese.
\_ I don't think the Germans are particularly popular in
Europe. |
| 2003/12/4 [Reference/Religion, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:11318 Activity:high |
12/4 Maine teacher sues over school board curriculum that prevents teaching
about non-Christian civilizations and religions, e.g. ancient Greece:
http://www.pressherald.com/news/state/031204teachersues.shtml
\_ Maine SAD1's Superintendent speaks out on the charges:
http://www.sad1.k12.me.us/supt-statement.pdf
To wit, 7th and 8th grade curriculum focuses on European and
US History, while World History is relegated to 9th grade. Cole
teaches middle school. Supe claims that Cole is welcome to
broach non-Christian topics so long as they apply to topics set
aside for each grade.
\_ Thanks for the response. I wouldn't say this settles it, though.
Time will tell but if the charges are as baseless as the
superintendent seems to believe, the lawsuit will be dismissed
out of hand. For the teacher to go through so much trouble,
there may very well be something going on here that we don't
yet know about. It is true that more and more school boards
across the country are controlled by fundamentalist groups, and
are using their position to dictate curriculum.
\_ what will be ironic and sad is if the conservative agendas
of school choice and religion in school are both
of school choice and religion in the school are both
idiot kids who were put in schools with a medieval
curriculum by their barbarian parents. I think this
may well be where we are heading.
\_ So the ancient Greeks, Romans, Vikings, Celts, etc. were not in
Europe? How about native American cultures in the USA?
yet know about.
pushed to the point where there is a vast underclass of
idiot kids who were put in schools with a midaeval
curriculum by their barbarian parents. |
| 2003/11/25 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:11218 Activity:nil |
11/24 Great, while we are invading other nations for weapon of mass
destruction, we've just approved a defense bill that includes
research on new (smaller) nukes so we can blast anyone we want.
\_ Not that I support more nuclear arms research, but I'd hazard
a guess that most of the motd camp thinks this is just fine and
dandy. Its the "Do what I say, not what I do" foreign policy.
\_ Well considering we don't starve 90% of our population to
death and are not ushering in the new caliphate by
blowing up all non-believers... Of course, we can't
expect the same criticism of Russia's development of
the Topol-M or the continued testing by France in the
South Pacific, because, as we all know the US is to
blame for everything.
\_ Nice strawman. French nuclear testing has been
vigorously protested and criticized by a broad
spectrum of organizations.
\_ Not on the motd because as always any counter point to
the Blame/Hate America First camp is always a strawman
or a bad source or dismissed in some other way that
shuts down all discussion since there's no other counter.
\_ There's actually plenty of counters, its just that
motd liberals have better things to do than to
participate in endless circular arguments with
right wing motd cranks. Like, getting out and
seeing the sun and spending time with their
friends, and stuff. |
| 2003/11/17 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:11104 Activity:high |
11/16 Seven million died in the 'forgotten' holocaust
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1022860/posts?page=1,50
\_ It's a free republic link, it must be nonsense!
\_ It's a reprint of an article from a real paper. of course, this
is almost certainly illegal. not that i would care normally, but
\_ Unless of course they have permission.
there's a certain irony to all these law and order conservative
motherfuckers building a site on routine violation of
copyright law. kind of like rush limbaugh being a drug fiend
copywrite law. kind of like rush limbaugh being a drug fiend
who for some reason doesn't have to be locked up for ten years
like a typical War on Drugs victim.
\_ how many people have been locked up for ten years for
abusing prescription drugs? none? thought so. come back
when you're less bitter about being in the minority and
want to discuss facts instead of your bitter delusions.
\_ It's not forgotten as are killings of millions of other peoples
during the Stalin's era. The brutal past is probably the reason
why the people in the Baltic states and Ukraine (specially Western
\_ Not just "these days". They've always been. 1955 for a good
example of modern but not too recent events.
like a typical War on Drugs victim.
Ukraine) are so anti-russian these days. |
| 2003/11/11 [Politics/Foreign/Asia/Japan, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:29630 Activity:nil |
11/10 I guess there is a hope in US government system. Supreme Court is
hearing Guantanamo Prisoner's case!
\_ Yeah, they heard the Florida '00 Case, too. Vote Green for Clean
Government!
\_ W00t!
\_ That's cool, except can anyone please explain why the 400,000 Nazi
POWs in America (mostly captured from the Afrika Korp) were treated
with food, shelter, and entertainmant while the Japanese Americans
were subjected to Internment, which is... crap?
\_ http://www.jodavidsmeyer.com/combat/bookstore/german-pows-in-america.html
German generals were given fine wine, steak, and music
as POWs. What is wrong with this picture?
\_ so I don't want to sound racist or anything, but all the
Japanese people I personally know of are so myopic, I
wonder how they even flew the Mitsubishi Zeros, let alone
bomb Pearl Harbor. Can anyone explain?
\_ They had glasses if they needed them. Probably used
people with good eyesight for pilots. And the question
*is* kinda racist.
\_ Geneva Convention states that POWs should be treated in much the
same way as your own soldiers. The U.S. also hoped that by
treating German POWs well, Germany would treat U.S. POWs better.
Japanese internees were not covered by the Geneva Convention and
hence were SOL. |
| 2003/10/21 [Politics/Foreign/Europe, Politics] UID:10713 Activity:nil 75%like:10700 |
10/21 Danh is in the news again!
http://csua.org/u/4r0
\_ That you, aspo? |
| 2003/10/20 [Politics, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:10700 Activity:nil 75%like:10713 |
10/20 danh in the news
http://csua.org/u/4qn
\_ That you, aspo? |
| 2003/10/14 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:10622 Activity:nil |
10/13 http://www.iht.com/articles/113629.html is the first step to the US finally bringing our troops home and letting the EU pay for their own defense. \_ you mean redeploy our troops to other third world countries. \_ how fucking long ago was it that the whole fucking world was united behind the US in goodwill and military support after 9/11? Now we have the most precarious split of NATO since its inception. Great fucking foreign relations, W. \_ Goodwill doesn't keep your citizens safe, capture or stop foreign terrorists, shutdown terrorist training bases or really do much else for us. Once we started trying to cash in that goodwill it dried up really god damned fast. It was just foreign PR. It's easy to say, "oh! the world's greatest super power just took a civilian hit, let's send a nice note!" thats what diplomats do. \_ It's unclear it's W's fault. The whole world may have been united behind the US, but as soon as the US started flexing a little muscle, various countries started noticing it wasn't in their best interest. Go figure, the world is ruled by self-interest. The US only had support while it did nothing, and it could no longer afford to do nothing. \_ That's right, the Iraqis had nukes headed our way! \_ A little diplomacy can go a long way. Look how Bush I got the whole world to line up behind him for Gulf War I. \_ Only in name and tokens. It was an American action as always. \_ Other countries backed us up when we invaded Afghanistan. They objected when we invaded a country that did not support al Qaeda. \_ Bush and the neocons are right. Everyone else in the whole wide world is crazy. Just ask them. \_ We've seen links here claiming otherwise. Unless you're in the intelligence agencies assigned to an anti-terror unit, you can't know either way what links there may or may not have been. \_ Then you're on the same page as Dick Cheney ... This article argues against that: http://www.hillnews.com/marshall/091703.aspx \_ NATO was enough for Serbia. NATO was enough for the first gulf-war. The French and Germans, and now Britain are saying NATO is not enough.... hmmm... I wonder why ?? \_ Because after the Soviets fell to Ronald Reagan they're no longer afraid. We killed the big bad wolf for them so it's now safe for them to march around heads held high saying they don't need us anymore. They're right for the present but they'll be sorry in about 20 years and come begging for help again and again we'll do it. Not sure why. We're just stupid like that I guess. \_ So true... \_ uh huh. Everyone knows the Soviets fell to Ronald Reagan between the Serbian conflict and the recent Iraqi war. |
| 2003/10/11-12 [Politics/Foreign/Europe, Finance/Investment] UID:10593 Activity:low |
10/10 Free trade can hurt developing countries:
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994247
\_ All trade policies, in fact all government policies hurt someone
somewhere at someone else's expense. There is no perfect trade
policy. There is no perfect law. It's just a case of forming
policies that help this country without hurting others worse
than necessary.
\_ Boy they are really stretching data based on a mess
of assumptions. (especially the independence of obviously
not independent data). All the data really shows is that
rich countries are less corrupt than poor ones, which is
far from earth shattering. Take a look at their lame
http://www.newscientist.com/misc/popup_ns.jsp?id=ns99994247F1
Note that the "closed" economies GDP only goes up to 9.
Why did they include data on the US and UK then? (and the
rest above 9) because it gives them a much larger slope in
their "rich to poor" corruption curve. -phuqm
\_ The Economist comes to the same conclusion, though I have
not seen the data to back up their reasoning. -AMC
\_ The Economist has stated many times that the poor countries
are to benefit more from free trade than the rich countries,
that is, if the rich countries stop subsidizing and do remove
import barries on agricultural comodities, textiles, and other
goods that can be produced more cheaply in the developing
countries.
\_ yeah, so if you're in the middle class and "haven't
gotten yours," you should be concerned about globalization
\_ Everyone should be concerned with free trade. It is
to everyone's benefit and the very first thing everyone
should be concerned with is eliminating the above
mentioned barriers on agriculture that the US (and
other rich countries put up) and specifically the US
should stop giving nearly 100 Billion dollars to rich
corporate farmers like ADM. -phuqm
\_ yes, you are right. i agree. --aaron
\_ Aaron agrees with me. jeesh, i better rethink
This is a first ;) -phuqm
\_ ok, it will probably benefit the whole of
humanity, but will it benefit every individual?
\_ It will certainly benefit everyone who pays
taxes because the above-mentioned trade barriers
are raised with your taxes.
\_ The good of the many outweighs of the good of
the few.
\_ for the rest of our natural lives, the
"many" that you talk about will be people
who populate corporate boards, not the
peons in third-world countries
\_ Sucker.
\_ I don't care. -phqum
\_ Sure, but Ghana has no leverage or control over EU and
US farm policy. In the interim they have been better off
protecting nascent local industries until they can become
large enough to become export industries. This was
practiced with great success by Japan in the 60s, Hong
Kong in the 70s and Korea in the 80s. A wide open market
favors established industries to an overwhelming degree.
\_ and in the meanwhile.. the consumers will suffer. Also,
there are plenty examples where raising trade barriers
hurt the consumers (obviously) AND failed to make the
protected industries competitive.
\_ It is certainly a tricky balance to make. But those
countries that have successfuly made the jump from
developing nation to developed nation in the last
50 years all did it. Finding the right mix of
protectionism and unrestricted trade is hard or
everyone would have done it. The point is that
mindless devotion to the neoliberal model is bad
for developing countries. See Argentina, Russia
from 1991-1996 and many, many other examples.
mentioned barriers on agriculture that the US (and other
rich countries put up) and specifically the US should
stop giving nearly 100 Billion dollars to rich corporate
farmers like ADM. -phuqm
favors established industries to a great degree. |
| 2003/10/2-3 [Politics/Foreign/Europe, Politics/Domestic, Politics/Domestic/Election] UID:10414 Activity:nil |
10/1 http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_822534.html \_ I heard a story about this on NPR. The picture is better. \_ lol. The Russian text says: "A magazine about how money's made" Now, -thats- funny. _/ |
| 2003/9/29 [Politics/Foreign/Asia/Taiwan, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:10358 Activity:moderate |
9/29 When we send something through the mail to another country, what
incentive do the other countries have to deliver it? In other
words, when we send domestic mail, we pay postage to the USPS,
but what happens with international mail? Do the countries
have some sort of agreement set up to pay each other?
\_ http://www.upu.int/index.html -John
\_ it took a little digging, but that site turned out to be
immensely useful. thanks. -!op
\_ URLp?
\_ yeah, could you please specify where you found the info?
At the top level, it's mostly fluff, and doesn't give
much insight...
\_ Ever hear of a faq? -nivra
http://www.upu.int/faq/en/index.html#19
\_ http://www.upu.int/members/en/members.html Funny. Taiwan
isn't listed as a member. How does mail get delivered there?
-nivra
\_ Magic fairy doves!
\_ Evil capitalist fairy doves
\_ Mail delivery has little to do with capitalism.
\_ Falun Gong couriers! |
| 2003/9/28-29 [Politics/Foreign/Asia/China, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:10353 Activity:nil 50%like:10335 |
9/28 Hey ChiCom troll, another one for you:
http://www.chinaembassy.org.pl/pol/44281.html (Poland?) -John
\_ Falun Gong is evil.
\_ As you probably know, the western media will support any group
that has anything remotely bad to say about China. This has been
the case, and will probably always be the case for a while.
\_ With good reason. There's little good to be said about the
current Chinese government.
\_ I don't know what is your reference. Compare with US
government, then, perhaps. But the current Chinese
government ever since the economic reform deserve
some credit. Take aside all the fancy stuff such as
democracy, etc, life for average Chinese citizen has
gone better for the past 15 years.
\_ As opposed to the time before the past 15 years, where
the communists were also in charge? Dumbass.
\_ Before it was communism, now it is capitalism.
Capitalism is good. I love it.
\_ It's all that "fancy stuff" that you dismiss so readily
that makes the difference between good and evil. Mussolini
made the trains run on time and Hitler turned the German
economy around. Are those your role models for China?
\_ you invoked Hitler .. you lost.
\_ For more info on the mechanics of Godwin's Law,
we bring you the Godwin's Law FAQ:
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/usenet/legends/godwin
\_ jesus. what a fucking waste of time. apparently
i haven't been missing anything since i stopped
reading usenet eight years ago.
\_ Ah, I see -- since you've been caught
misusing Godwin's law and pointed to a site
actually clarifying it for you...it's therefore
not worth reading? That's really dumb.
\_ And you're posting on the motd? *ring* Kettle,
this is the pot calling. You're black.
\_ ok, ok, but i know i have a problem,
and i'm trying to quit.
\_ China's role model has always been Taiwan, S. Korea,
Singapore. Hitler believed in white supremacy, living
space and conquest. China is more interested in making
money. China's boom is driven by economic liberalization,
trade, entrepreneurship, foreign investments. None of
these can be said of Nazi Germany.
\_ by "always" you mean since Deng took over, right?
\_ so you'd prefer a country that would invade another for
no good reason other than they have oil?
\_ Good countertroll. *polite clapping*.
\_ Hey, some jealous fiend deleted *my* congrads on a
good countertroll! I insist I get my counter troll
points! It's in the archives! -fellow troll |
| 2003/9/25-26 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:10328 Activity:nil |
9/25 Is there a command line version of dict that does foreign languages?
Not necessarily translation, but just definition in the same language.
Specifically italian, thanks.
\- see ispell. --psb
\_ ? Isn't that just for spell-checking? I'm looking for a quick
way to figure out what a particular word is while web browsing
or reading text files.
\- wall
\_ too long to get a response. |
| 2003/9/24 [Reference/History/WW2/Germany, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:10307 Activity:nil |
9/23 German sailors render extraordinary honors to US at sea
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/988161/posts?page=1,50
\_ Nice. Thanks for posting that. -mice
\_ Yeah nice--didn't they already do it once two years
back? -John
\_ Doesn't diminish the gesture any. -mice
\_ Maybe every real man wasn't killed in WW2. The few survivors
sent their sons to the German navy.
\_ Very nice. Previous gesture mentioned above:
http://www.atlanticfleet.navy.mil/church-lutjens.htm -niloc |
| 12/25 |