By the way, why should any civilized government accord Geneva Convention rights to members of paramilitary organizations like AlQueda who have not signed it, do not respect it, refuse to recognize it and constantly does everything to violate it..????
Know, otherhandwise, that the easiest, most humiliating path to defeat is thinking that to beat the enemy you must be like him. Avoid the temptation to set your values aside "for the duration". What's the point of fighting if you give up what you're fighting for? If remaining consistent with your values leads to defeat, you chose the wrong values to begin with. - L. Neil Smith
A democracy, even at war, must retain its basic democratic character, or else it loses that for which its citizens fight. - http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/26.htm (Ex Parte Milligan case)
Just ran across this one, which I think is good, too.
"You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the great struggle for independence."
- Charles Austin Beard (American historian/educator 1874-1948)
I guess I'm gonna have to agree with Toad. I like to take the piss out of the Yanks as much as the next guy but enough is enough. They finally do something good and everyone wants to come down on them. Ok so they waited till Britain was on its knees fighting the Germans before they would help out. Not good. But now they lead the way in the fight against religious terrorist, who by the way want to take over as much territory in the word as they can and you're upset at them over few naked Iraqis in a pyramid. These extremist are a world wide problem, not just American. They are gaining ground in Asia and Europe and also Russia. I suggest that if you like your life stye and dont want to have to have your wife in a berka to get behind America. Because every time the media makes a big deal about prisoner"abuse" or some mosque with a bullet hole in it, it strenthens our enemies resolve to go out and kill more of us.
Paraphrasing philosophers, founding fathers or famous statemen does abosolutely nothing to resolve any of our problems, big or small...
Farting has more substance than parroting other people's words.
There is a limit to the extent of my concern over the current world situation because there is a well defined limit to what I, the one little opinionated peon in a sea of peons, can do to resolve it. Period.
I can work and raise my children and pay my bills and help those I love and care for.
I can build my home, plant and nurse a tree and write a good book.
I can even play a mean game of chess...
But I cannot resolve the world's problems, or wipe out those who threaten my lifestyle....That's what our elected officials are there for. We chose them of our own free will to lead us, protect us, serve us and secure new and better ways to prosper.
If we do not like the way they're doing the job we get rid of them and put someone else t oget the job done.
It is their job to lose sleep worrying about these things that sometimes we, the peons, spend endless posting getting all worked up about....
Neither bush, nor osama nor rumsfeld nor anyone over in iraq or the UN gives a rat's ass if my kids get a decent education, or if my mortgage gets paid this month, or if I will ever find a good wife to spend the rest of my life happily.
That's my job, not theirs.
I'll be damned if any of their problems will cost me one minute of my sleep or any part of my sense of humor.
amen,
Did I hear someone complain about taxes? Psshaw! (I'm holding up my hand)
There are only two nations in the industrialized and developed nations who can complain about tax burden, and they are Canada, and , uhhh, oh that free spirited, fun loving, home of blonde goddesses Sweden. Since I belong to one of these nations I will carry the banner in the name of common sense and pie in the face reality.
In toronto we pay $0.85/L, this country with the 2nd largest oil supply, largest natural gas reserves... blah blah blah.
I pay $0.99/L for premium. That is $1.00 Cdn per litre. More than half of that goes to government, PLUS a 7% tax for just buying something. so that is $1.07/L. You know what?
Gas is too cheap! (I'm ducking right now)
That's right, gas is inexplainably CHEAP. Do you realize that oil supplies will not last beyond the next three to five generations? What in the hell do you think? We suddenly make gas out of water? Hydrogen fuel cell technology although coming along, is not close to feasability. Think Nigeria, think Iran, think China and India... How many of these nations do you think have an economy that can sell state of the art technology to citizen who can barely afford a bicycle or used automobile.
We have been spoiled rotten. Believe me, gas taxes need to be raised, if no other reason than to force a change to new sources of energy. We are at a fork in the road, but we continue driving straight. I'll be walking down Yonge St. in an hour. If you feel like shooting me then, that would be convenient.
" By the way, why should any civilized government accord Geneva Convention rights to members of paramilitary organizations"
The answer to that is easy !! Because we Claim to be
Civilised !!
If our illustrious prime minister (the Dick !!) hadnt got our country involved in this mess, then maybe one of our BBC camera men would still be alive, and the reporter who was shot at the same time might not be fighting for his life !! (As at 6pm he was critical but still alive, I havnt seen the news since, but maybe our PM has had to issue his deepest sympathy to his relatives too by now !! Like thats going to make them feel better !!)
Toad, DO NOT read me wrong mate, I am not anti American, Im anti Asshole, and Blair is as a big a one as Bush is !!
OK Trad, its a fight on terror, so why only Iraq and Afganistan ?
When do the marines arrive in Northern Ireland ?
Oh sorry I forgot, Blair and Bush (and yeah I put Blair first on purpose because he is Just as guilty) are Only interested in countries that have Oil under them !!!
This isnt about terrorism, its about Global Oil control !!!
Man: Nice speach, about the gaining ground and such like, but wasnt that all on the tip of everyones tongue in the 50`s and 60`s, but those days it was the "Commies" everyone thought wanted to rule the world !!!
It never happened, it was never going to happen, but the threat kept half the world on a knife edge and believing their goverments BS for years !!!
Tony, Hello again eh :o))
Im not certain but I think its about 3 dollars canadian to one pound UK ?
Is so, I would be delighted to pay .85c per Litre for Petrol, as currently we are paying almost $2.75 Canadian !! (at those rates) if I got the Exchange rate wrong then appologies, but whatever, you pay far less than we do mate and 80% of what we pay goes to the governmet in tax and value added tax V.A.T @ 17.5% )
"This isn't about terrorism, its about Global Oil control !!!"
I want to qualify this remark, before anyone missunderstands it and thinks I'm wrong.
The USA, and soon the UK, are, and will be up in arms about rising fuel prices.
Both Bush and Blair know that to even have a hope of winning their respective next elections they have to get the prices back down.
OPEC strictly govern the amount of oil they produce and thus sell to the US and UK, they put very hard limits on how much oil they will sell to the US and UK and They govern the prices per barrel crude.
In order to keep or get prices down the idiots in charge of these two countries need to reduce the tax on fuel to offset the raise in crude cost, which the greedy bastartds Wont do !! Or to find another source of oil that OPEC do not have control over, and which they can buy as much of as they wish whenever they wish.
No oil under Nothern Ireland, hence no interest in routing any terrorists there, no Oil in North Korea, and they threw the weapons inspectors out !! But again No Oil, so no benefit to Bush or Blair there, so no WOMD invasion ther either !!.
So pick on a country that has oil, and fabricate a pile of stories that they have WOMD (which they Don't, and Never have had !!) and then its OK to bomb whats left to the ground and buy their oil afterwards, on the pretext that you are "doing them a favour and freeing them" !!
Im just glad Im not one of the sheep thinking its all being done for our benefit, because it is Not !! And the worst part of it all, Its being done in our name, making travel to the east by any westerner a lot more uncomfortable than it used to be !!
The war on Iraq (as it is now known, so what happened to the "war on terror" ?) was sold to the US and UK public on the grounds that Sadam had WOMD, it was lies, it reamins lies, the masses were duped !!
But there were many who saw through it from day one.
I for one wouldnt trust a single word that came out of Blairs mouth, so that made me totally sceptical about the alledged WOMD from the first mention of them, and I was proved right !!.
" And the worst part of it all, Its being done in our name, making travel to the east by any westerner a lot more uncomfortable than it used to be !! "
Isn't it the truth! As if I'm not uneasy enough about air travel this is what I read in the headlines today, "Alleged al-Qaida vow against airlines, Statement warns of strikes in 'near future'"
Just what I needed to ease myself a little, O happy day for me.
"....The answer to that is easy !! Because we Claim to be
Civilised !!..."
I have never claimed to be civilized, damn it!!!!!!
shit, just take a look at my name, lol...I'm the closest thing to a prehistoric creature (toad=reptile)
I do claim to be a pragmatic, focused, well traveled, opinionated, devoted to family life and good sex sob, though...
No oil in Afganistan last time I checked my books. No oil in Panama, not much oil in Europe (other than the North sea)(was WWI & II about oil without them telling anyone?), no oil in Haiti, no oil in Bosnia, no oil in Korea, or Vietnam, no oil for us from southern Africa where my Mr. Bush has committed millions for aids, no oil for us in Israel (whom we have befriended against the venom of the world).
So Iraq has oil, big deal! They also had genocide, regicide, untold tortures and torments of their own and their neighbors. Let's see, they have Al Quaida, radical militants that are vowed unto death to destroy not just the Great Satan the U.S., but also the whole non- fundamentalist moslem world; they harbor people who have un-mitigated hatred for women, and minorities, and anyone else who does not hold their destructive idealistic, not true to the Koran doctrine.
So Bush and Blair have a vision to promote political and religious freedom in the mid east. So they have the vision to bring civility, tolerance and compassion to women, children and minorities to the mid -east. So they have the foresight to see the tragic end in sight for millions in the world should the bigotry, hatred, narrow mindness and cruelty of the mid east, unless someone intervenes. So they have the balls to act on their conviction. For that you would hate them!
They hated Reagan, with the same vitriol. History has justified this great president (and you and I are enjoying the freedom to woo these fine women liberated from the Iron Curtain).
History WILL Vindicate these visionary and courageous leaders. I beleive that most of us will be around to witness this!
Personally, I think that there is more to this than just oil and I am not mad at Bush and Blair, because I think that there are people much higher up than them. There was no disent like this when we bombed Serbia.
Everyone agrees that Saddem is an evil dude. America has a volunteer army. So why should I care if they want to take it upon themselves to go over there and kick his ass?
AS far as I'm concerned we should use up the oil as fast as we can so we can get onto something else, 'coz you know we won't, until the oil is all gone. We have way better sources of energy than oil already, but we are not allowed to use it or even know about it.
If you make love to Lu with the same passion with which you wrote your last post, I'd strongly suggest you wear double protection, ....:))
Chill, mate ....before you pop an artery, lol....
TimH,
I feel for you and your misguided line of thought, mate....
Think about this for a minute, and bear with me on this, ok?
If bush boy really really really was going after oil world domination, don't you think he'd start by sending the marines to bomb and shoot and torture the crap out of those pesky eskimos in Alaska?..last time I heard the news those damn eskimos were NOT shitting their pants worrying about any upcoming invasion...
Please everyone, lighten up the tone of this thread....it's drawing your passions to unproductive purposes....save them for your FSU woman, even if you haven't found her yet..:)
amen,
"don't you think he'd start by sending the marines to bomb and shoot and torture the crap out of those pesky eskimos in Alaska?"
No he wouldnt, but there are plans afoot to change the rules under which the US took control of the land with oil under it !!
One of the stipulated terms was that the US would not desecrate the land with oil refineries, but congress has been trying to get that particular rule struck out for a while now.
I didnt say Bush was going for world oil domination, I said he has to find some some place that wont restrict what he can buy, and Blair is just as bad !!! This is NOT an anti US post, I dont agree with the idea that the UN was created to deal with this sort of sh*t, and yet both Bush and Blair lied and cheated to get the agreement, all be it an unhapy one, of the UN to go into Iraq, had the UN known that there were definately NO WOMD, then there is NO way they would have had anything to do with this farce, but both these suposed heroes had already declared they would go in anyway, no mmatter what the UN decided !! An you call that civilised !!
No way !!