Displaying 1,291 To 1,320 Of 3,538 Comments I mean, look at this douche: [img]http://www.worldpress.org/images/100703assad.jpg[/img] THIS is the face of the new generation of arrogant pricks with way too much undeserved power? When I think dictator I think this: Or this: [img]http://i2.listal.com/image/396210/600full-idi-amin.jpg[/img] Not the bassist from Duran Duran. But, now that I think about it, the guy running China looks like this: [img]http://im.in.com/connect/images/profile/sep2009/Hu_Jintao_300.jpg[/img] » Posted By ADONAI On July 21, 2011 @ 4:02 pm I was gonna bring up Damascus. Bellwether indeed. And talk about a “westernized city”. I’ve seen shots of it that remind me of Beverly Hills right down to the “agents” walking the streets with their shitty suits and shittier cell phones. I see that many things are universal. KSA is mainly Sunni isn’t it? But, if the Shi’a have the oil, I understand why they wanna keep it “in house” as much as possible. But I guess once you get back to the Royal Family it doesn’t really matter. They’ll do whatever they want. Once I read Pyongyang my hopes were pretty much dashed. I hope I’m wrong but I think Yemen is gonna wind up being more “trouble” for us than we ever imagined. Saudi Arabia is the big dog on the porch but Yemen does quite well exporting their own unique brand of petty hate. And if they do split, what kind of position is that gonna put the UAE in? We’re having “peace talks” there and we kinda rely on them to put pressure on Yemen every now and them don’t we? I use rely very loosely. » Posted By ADONAI On July 20, 2011 @ 11:01 pm 1.)Iran is such a young country. How long can they possibly tolerate the bullshit? Western influence seems to creep in further every year. Especially in Tehran. I don’t really fear that place like many here do. I just skimmed over the “Iran: The Democratic Illusion” article. It seems very interesting. I’m gonna give it a thorough read later on. 2.)How many “time to go” messages have we sent to Gaddafi? And are direct messages really the way to go with a man who has obviously completely went off the deep end? 3.)“Hama is free,” the protesters chant, “and it will remain free.” That fills me with immense joy. The people can actually see it now. It’s a real goal. Allah be praised. And give them strength for the battles still to come. 4.)Is Yemen not getting enough credit for being a totally fucked up place politically? 5.) Am I right in thinking that Saudi Arabia is one of the “Holy Grails” as far as Middle East democratic movements go? If they change, would any countries fall in line behind them? » Posted By ADONAI On July 20, 2011 @ 9:35 pm 1.)So Israel enforces an “illegal” blockade, actually boards a ship and kills 9 people including an American citizen, and we STILL support them on this? 2.)”Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted for war crimes and genocide, is to join UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and other international leaders at the south’s formal declaration of independence on July 9, Khartoum’s ambassador said.” That sentence is awesome in so many ways. Who DOESN’T want a photo op with a genocidal thug? You know what I like to do with regimes that brutalize their own people? Legitimize them! 3.)O.K., it seems like they would have a majority in a country named after them BUT that’s probably what you want me to think. 20% seems so low. I’m going with 40%. » Posted By ADONAI On June 29, 2011 @ 1:19 pm I’m trying to think which one was last invaded or overthrown. Saudi Arabia seems like the trick answer. Bahrain and Oman are complete unknowns to me. Uhhhh…..Morocco? I wanna say Oman. I really do. But I’m going with Morocco. » Posted By ADONAI On June 27, 2011 @ 6:17 pm Good stuff, wts. I love animals too. And, yes, early man feared many animals but only out of respect for what they can do. It’s still difficult to “hunt” animals but it is far easier to kill them. Man used to respect the hunt. They ritually cleaned their kill and used every part they could. Many hunters consumed the heart as a sign of respect for the life this animal has given them. Many still do. We are very much missing that respect for the circle of life. Today we barely question where our food comes from. Whether there was care taken into the killing and processing of the animals who give us life. Even a coyote won’t eat a sick and diseased carcass. Are we vultures? People pack cattle by the hundreds into tiny cages and never blink an eye when many succumb to illness and injury. Hell, they probably still use the meat, which is not just disgusting but incredibly disrespectful to the process that allows us to survive. But I also think about extinction and the process of nature. Did you know many animals, especially mammals, reproduce far past the numbers their environment can sustain? If hunting was not allowed in most areas of the country, many animals would die of starvation. Mostly young ones. And, “in the jungle”, if you fall behind one generation you’re in trouble. It’s been the doom of many species. The answer is to spread or migrate. To consume more territory. Often times this disrupts an ecosystem and also causes extinctions. And that seems to be what we’re doing. We’re spreading. We reshape entire ecosystems to suit our needs and,as a side effect, species die. But this was happening long before our ancestors had ancestors. I used to think we would not survive being severed from nature. Now I don’t think we will. We are animals but there is no animal like us. We are on the verge of literally reshaping the atomic structure of anything we want to form whatever we need. Right now, we are one of if not the most adaptive species on Earth. We can reshape the earth to our liking. Remove mountains and bring water to the desert. I watched a guy spend 10 minutes turning an air tight gallon sized tin can and a plastic tube into a desalinization machine. 10 minutes and $5 worth of parts and he was drinkign water from the ocean. Nature is gonna hit us back eventually. And hit us back hard. But nature produced us and nature made us what we are. I think she would be proud. She still does far better work than us though. » Posted By ADONAI On June 27, 2011 @ 1:16 pm The Radical Chic Pay Lip Service to the Poor America has forgotten the poor. I grew up on the side of one of those mountains in Appalachia. Even picked me a banjo or two. A beautiful instrument. Had days where the decision was eating or heating the house. We don’t need the attention. We don’t need the approval. We just need yo to get your shit together. » Posted By ADONAI On June 28, 2011 @ 2:02 pm Never Mind The Dangerous Insipidity of Dan Choi And if this were France or Italy I would say, “You got me”. But, since it isn’t, civil unions are a euphemism for “go away and be quiet”. » Posted By ADONAI On June 30, 2011 @ 12:10 pm choice, I don’t really have an argument. Like I said, I have all my rights. Here’s what i would say though. Bypass all the religious zealots. I can still get married. They have to have civil unions. As a married person, my marriage is recognized all over the country, regardless. With a civil union, many states will not recognize it. Many laws will still deny me the rights a married person has. It’s not the same. Not even close. Now, granted, if more and more states adopt some sort of gay union, civil statuses MAY change. Become more uniform across the country. Who knows? All I know is I understand anyone won’t accept a handout when they have a rightful place at the table. » Posted By ADONAI On June 29, 2011 @ 6:55 pm I would love to criticize Dan Choi for his strongly held opinions, but I have all my rights. So i don’t feel like being THAT big of an asshole. And civil unions isn’t a euphemism for marriage. It’s a euphemism for “won’t you just accept this and shut up?” » Posted By ADONAI On June 29, 2011 @ 6:38 pm Thanks funk! And last I heard they had a draft for the screenplay and were shopping around for directors. » Posted By ADONAI On August 2, 2011 @ 5:30 pm Thanks Caru! I had not heard of this particular endeavor. “It is not impossible to build a human brain and we can do it in 10 years,” Henry Markram, director of the Blue Brain Project said in 2009. I don’t think anyone has said it’s impossible, just absurdly difficult. Good luck to him though. But 10 years? Obviously the guy has a fantastic grasp of the functions of the human brain but there is still so much we don’t understand. The wiring of the brain is so complex, so layered. And NO ONE can yet explain how electrical currents running through spontaneous synapses inside a chunk of sugar and protein leads to thought and memory. “If we build it correctly it should speak and have an intelligence and behave very much as a human does.” And that’s the catch. Sure, he could build a brain. Or at least something looking a lot like it. But would it work? Again, thanks for bringing this to my attention. I’m gonna keep track of this one. The brain is at least a million times more powerful than the most powerful computer we could make today. If they can bridge that gap in ten years then they deserves no end of awards. » Posted By ADONAI On August 1, 2011 @ 8:09 pm HA! But don’t worry. Before too long we’ll be wired to the web. Then the problems will begin. » Posted By ADONAI On July 30, 2011 @ 2:04 pm I’ve heard they’re going to ruin that movie for a new generation by remaking it. Some movies should just be off limits. » Posted By ADONAI On July 30, 2011 @ 2:02 pm Weekend Music Thread – Love and Marriage Ball And Chain Mix: Billy Idol – White Wedding https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9j6DE6RnSk Guns N’ Roses-Used to Love Her https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXIuAz7aryo The Arranged Marriage Song – NAVE feat. John Bala https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iri3lM8fQaQ Dixie Chicks – White Trash Wedding https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn4yynXwgwc&playnext=1&list=PL3C45215712272288 George Jones – He Stopped Loving Her Today https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp5Rdb9ncfM Enjoy. » Posted By ADONAI On June 25, 2011 @ 1:10 pm KQ, I get ya. I have been looking at this the wrong way. I do thank you and Sally for the valuable education on the topic. » Posted By ADONAI On June 25, 2011 @ 4:22 pm Thanks Sally! I have read other articles similar to this one. And we have pretty much always operated at a loss. Sometimes you get so bogged down in current economic talk you don’t really think of the past. I’ve always thought and always said America will be just fine. Articles like this make me even more confident of that fact. Spending is what we do. It keeps our economy going, increases it’s size, and is basically the instrument behind our entire economic system. But I do worry a little about the future. She said Japan’s key was taking quality of life over quantity of goods. I don’ think we’d make that choice. I believe we think our quality of life is based on our quantity of goods. I think we can make our debt work for us but I am just as confident we an screw that up too. But I think we’ll be o.k. in the long term. Thanks again for the article. It was very educational. 🙂 » Posted By ADONAI On June 24, 2011 @ 4:13 pm 1.) O.K., so we don’t default on our debts. We raise the debt ceiling. Again. How long we gonna keep doing that? I can’t believe that isn’t going to lead to problems just as bad. Either way we’re not actually addressing the debt issue. China owns less than 3% of our debt. I still don’t understand why everyone is afraid of them. Let them call ti in. Not like we couldn’t pay it. See, that’s my point. We CAN pay this. We just won’t until we’re forced to. 2.)“President Obama needs to decide between his goal of higher taxes or a bipartisan plan to address our deficit,’ the duo said in a joint statement. “He can’t have both.” Here is our problem. We can’ really address deficit issues UNTIL we raise taxes. On the upper AND middle class. Permanent on the former and temporary on the latter. But many Democrats won’t support a middle class tax increase. So we’ll get a compromise that destroys tons of programs people rely on to survive and call it a victory. 3.)This whole country is just prisons and churches. 4.)Manufacturing jobs are disappearing yet manufacturing output is rising. WTF?! 5.)Release all the “strategic oil” you want. You’re only delaying the inevitable. But fixing it would cost too much money. Money better spent arming people who hate us. 6.)Speaking of wasting money, open the border. “immigration reform” is a pipe dream. You tell someone watching their family starve to wait in a line. You tell someone running from hit squads to chill and fill out the paperwork. We do not own this land, we are merely it’s caretakers. It’s wealth should be available to anyone who wants to contribute. You wanna stabilize Medicare and SS for the next 100 years or more? Open the border. 7.)2014 is all I care about. Promising to take a year to remove the troops you just sent there last year does not excite me. I’m gonna go ahead and say that 2014 comes and goes and we’re still there. Most of what he is removing is non combat troops. Combat troops are staying. 8.)We could literally feed the world. Unfortunately there’s no profit in it. Thank GOD technology will soon change all that. In the coming decades we will be on the cusp of a great technological boom, and the nature of the world will change drastically. I hope we make it that far. » Posted By ADONAI On June 24, 2011 @ 2:33 pm A History of Evolutionary Theory Indeed. Though evolution is a “theory” in the same way that gravity is a “theory”. We know it’s there, we have some understanding of how it works, but deeper study is still very much ongoing. But, as you said, the basic principles of evolution have been proven true time and time again. And I agree with Mr. Sagan: evolution is not theory, it is fact. » Posted By ADONAI On July 23, 2011 @ 2:42 pm WATCH LIVE: Pres. Obama’s Speech on Afghanistan alpha pup, How much effect would it have if we shifted focus out of Afghanistan and onto Pakistan? Would political problems there be easier to solve if we “put a lid” on Pakistan? And I also thank you for your contribution. It is very good to hear an Afghani voice on this. » Posted By ADONAI On June 23, 2011 @ 3:30 pm AB, I’m with you. I know polls are no real way to judge where a country is at. Especially one as politically divided as Afghanistan. But even if only 1% of Afghanistan opposed our occupation, I would want us to leave. It’s not our country. And I hate sounding like an asshole all the time, I do, but it’s so hard to support arguments about “preventing loss of life” or “mass murder” when those things are happening in so many places and we don’t lift a finger to help because they have nothing we need or they have something we REALLY need and we can’t take it from them. So many people are furious with the bombings in Libya, even though they too asked for international help, and they question the “rebels’ and people we’re trying to support there. Yet with a similar situation in Afghanistan, there is no end to the defense of our presence there from many of those people. There has to be a better way to do this. Honestly, I don’t really know what the Afghani people want. I can read polls and quotes all day but it tells me very little about the situation because I am not there. News reports that focus on military matters, a corrupt Afghani government, and how it all influences OUR politics, does very little to enlighten me. I don’t think we can do anything until our troops leave. THEN we can actually begin helping them. If our presence is dictated by the stability of that region, we are never leaving. » Posted By ADONAI On June 23, 2011 @ 11:51 am Here’s the problem in a nutshell and why you can’t “win” a civil war. KQ’s poll numbers on 60% of Afghanis polled wanting us there is correct but these polls were conducted in certain areas, mostly Central Afghanistan and urban areas in 2009. When you go to the Poshtun region in the South, and view a poll taken a year later, you get a whole ‘nother answer. 50 percent of those polled in October 2010 think recent military operations are bad for the Afghan people 58 percent think it’s wrong to work with foreign forces 55 percent oppose military operations against the Taliban in their area 72 percent say that foreigners disrespect their religion. Only 31 percent of those polled believe that NATO forces are protecting the population 51 percent say that their view of NATO forces is either more negative or the same compared to a year ago 65 percent say that foreign forces kill more civilians than do the Taliban But these are Afghani’s who oppose the country WE’RE trying to build. And since we know what is best for everyone, they will be ignored. ‘Cause, again, it’s not about what is best for the Afghani people. Only what is best for us. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be there. Also, I wanna address the term, “you break it, you buy it”. First of all, this is a sovereign nation, not a fucking Pottery Barn. Shit like that shows our arrogance and how little we think of the rest of the world. We didn’t break Afghanistan. The “problems” we stepped into were already in place. We haven’t leveled Afghanistan like we did Iraq. We put their government in place and declared it the will of the Afghani people. It only took a few months to realize that was not the case. That Karzai was despised in many places far more than the Taliban. But what do we care? Karzai can be forced to play ball with us. It’s not our job and was NEVER our mission to sort our Afghanistan’s numerous political and cultural problems. We were attacked by men from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Yemen. Trained in Pakistan, based in Germany, and funded by Saudi Arabia/Yemen. So I guess, naturally, that all leads to invading Iraq and Afghanistan. So certain Afghani’s want us to stay. Even though it is costing us far too much money and tearing our own country apart. Everything we are doing right now only weakens Afghanistan. Almost 60 percent of people polled feel the army and police are nowhere near ready to take over in the areas we are leaving. But how can any of us know? We haven’t even given them a chance to run their own country. And the long term. Say we “crush the Taliban”, whatever that means, and leave the country with a “pro-western” government. How long you think that’s gonna last? A government put in place by Western powers? Not very. No matter what we do, that place is gonna fall back into violence. Just ask England. Between 1992 and 2001, Afghanistan was dealing with the Taliban on their own with mixed results. Their biggest problem was an influx of Pakistani nationals into the Taliban ranks. The main leader of Afghani resistance was Ahmad Shah Massoud. He went to the U.N. to ask for help. What he DID NOT want was foreign countries occupying his country. A country that had done no wrong. Of the 45,000 combined “Taliban, Al Qaeda” forces he was fighting, only 14,000 were Afghani. Most were from Pakistan. He felt they were given the world the wrong picture of Islam and turning Afghanistan into a police state. He asked for international help with Pakistan. If the West pressured Pakistan and slowed the stream of militants across the border, the Taliban would not last a year. Instead we said no thanks, watched him get assassinated, America get attacked 2 days later, and we invaded his country to “get Osama”. Then we took over his fight against the Taliban. First we formed a partnership with the country arming and staffing the Taliban in Afghanistan, ignored the wishes of border tribes by appointing Karzai leader, and started killing shit loads of Afghanis, even though, as we discovered, they have very little to do with the Taliban or Al Qaeda. But yet we are still there doing the “right thing” even though we don’t really know what the right thing is. History shows that Afghanistan found it’s footing AFTER foreign powers left. That they are capable of fixing their own problems. Even the ones we started. They are not children. Not a backwards people who wouldn’t be able to manage without our mighty hand guiding them. If we are gone from that country by 2014 then I guess Obama has done his job. Don’t know what makes anyone think things will be different 3 years from now, but whatever. Had 9/11 not occurred, we wouldn’t be in Afghanistan and no one would care about their state. Our fake sincerity now only does more damage. Again, ask England. » Posted By ADONAI On June 23, 2011 @ 10:20 am Fix it for whom? The Afghanis or ourselves? » Posted By ADONAI On June 22, 2011 @ 8:03 pm Then where did all that time and money go? » Posted By ADONAI On June 22, 2011 @ 7:38 pm If you destroy a place, nothing you do after that is right. » Posted By ADONAI On June 22, 2011 @ 7:32 pm Thanks bito! » Posted By ADONAI On June 22, 2011 @ 7:31 pm I just have a question. How is it our duty to determine Afghanistan’s future and what is “right” for it? Points about regional security have nothign to do with the over all well being of the Afghanis. Only our interests. » Posted By ADONAI On June 22, 2011 @ 7:30 pm Exactly » Posted By ADONAI On June 22, 2011 @ 7:23 pm By constantly playing the humanitarian angle you make it sound as though all the other very real current humanitarian disasters don’t matter. Opposing the Taliban is taking sides in a civil war. We are not going to win that. Just like Vietnam we stumbled into a country declared one side the enemy, and started a useless war and destroyed a country that only got better AFTER we left. And civil rights? Who the hell are we to lecture anyone on civil rights? It is not our job to shape the world. If ignoring humanitarian crises is so bad, why are we not in the Sudan? China? Saudi Arabia? Yeman? Invading a sovereign nation who never attacked us and killing thousands of it’s citizens IS a humanitarian disaster. If all the “problems” aren’t solved by 2014(and they won’t be) will we still fully withdraw? I doubt it. What is the endgame? » Posted By ADONAI On June 22, 2011 @ 7:20 pm “Osama bin Laden attacked your country, not the citizens of Afghanistan.” Indeed. So why are we in Afghanistan? Leave it better than we found it? Afghanistan was in a far better place before other countries became involved. a democratically elected government, women’s rights, a burgeoning economy. Then Russia invaded. We armed the bad guys. Then we invaded. Still armed the bad guys. Can’t leave though. These poor people would never know how to survive without us would they? Is it really up to the Afghanis? I tend to doubt that. I would love for us to OFFER help and support. Not force it on them at gunpoint. » Posted By ADONAI On June 22, 2011 @ 7:09 pmComments Posted By ADONAI
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