Da_bang80
A few sectors short of an Empire
Member # 528
posted
Now it seems That Mr. President wants another $120 billion for the war. Which brings the total up to nearly a half trillion. Imagine what that money could do if it was put toward housing the homeless or helping the poor. I'm not even going to post what I want to do to him cuz the CIA and the Secret Service would hunt me down.
-------------------- Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. The courage to change the things I cannot accept. And the wisdom to hide the bodies of all the people I had to kill today because they pissed me off.
posted
You've said too much. I'll make a distraction, while you run for it!
-------------------- I have plenty of experience in biology. I bought a Tamagotchi in 1998... And... it's still alive.
Registered: Apr 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Da_bang80: That's what they get for engaging in Imperialism. I guess in a way you could say that the U.S. is flying the Imperialist flag as well. Using military force to occupy foreign countries and all that.
Actually, that's what you get for promising the same land to two different groups in an attempt to get allies and support against the Ottoman Empire in WW1 and then trying to fudge the issue by taking a League of Nations mandate on the place.
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
Also consider that during the Cold War, the local mid-eastern powers were far happier to have American fingers in their cultural affairs than those of the Soviets. Now the Soviets are all gone and the only remainig "outsiders" are the U.S. Aside from all the foolishness we've actually engaged in, there's the old standby of "blame someone besides ourselves for our troubles" that politicians have engaged in forever to maintain power.
I've been laughing for weeks over the growing "cartoon scandal"- the US Defense Department yesterday tried their own version by sending a condemning letter to a Washington newspaper for it's cartoon showing a quadruple amputee being told by Rumsfeld that he's not paralized, he's now "battle hardened".
The Muslim world needs to grow the fuck up a little with the cartoon thing- it was pointed out last night on a PBS round-table discussion, that while it is disresepectful, it's no more so than the countless anti-semetic cartoons that run every day in all the major arab newspapers.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
And as I said before - no one bats an eye-lid when there are anti-christian or jesus-as-the-butt-of-the-joke jokes.
Oh and if "they" do not like Western influence or western culture... why don't they get rid of all modern accessories... Cars, TV's, CDs, computers, electricity, modern medicine etc.
-------------------- "Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica." - Jim Halpert. (The Office)
It's not technology they abhor- only the (supposed) decadent western lifestyles that employ it.
Cell phones, machine guns and computers are fine: but only in service to Allah. Or something- not suprisingly, porn is a big underground hit in the middle east- so much so that Iran censors (or attempts to) every E-Mail and of course, the punishment for spreading such horrible sexuality is....you guessed it: Death.
America is to blame, naturally: we invented porn, and in fact sexy, slutty women in general. Damn us! Damn us to the hell of sexy, slutty women!
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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Da_bang80
A few sectors short of an Empire
Member # 528
posted
I thought the French invented sexy, slutty women...
My cold war knowledge isn't as complete as I'd like it to be. I'm more interested in ww2 era history. I saw a special on the History channel many years ago about one time during the Cold War where the US and Russia came within 2 minutes of nuclear war. Something about a U2 spyplane or something. that and I believe it was the basis of the Iron Maiden song "2 Minutes to Midnight" is all I remember. If anyone has any info on that particular moment in history I'd like to know more.
-------------------- Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. The courage to change the things I cannot accept. And the wisdom to hide the bodies of all the people I had to kill today because they pissed me off.
posted
I thought we came a hell of a lot closer to a shooting war during the Cuban Missile Crisis. But I'm not a history expert, not did I live through it, so I'll let someone else fill in the details.
posted
Post-Cold-War, there was an incident (in 1995) where the US and Norway launched a rocket to study the Arctic. The message that they sent to Russia saying "don't worry, it's not a missile" got lost, and Yeltsin was minutes away from launching the nukes when someone noticed the rocket was headed out to sea.
On the subject of the cartoons, you can see them here. The news reports I've seen have all refused to show them. I'm guessing the typed text all over the chalkboard one is commentary added by the people running that site.
Registered: Mar 1999
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Cartman
just made by the Presbyterian Church
Member # 256
posted
"America is to blame, naturally: we invented porn..."
No, you just made an industry out of it.
(As for decadent lifestyles, the number of Paris Hiltons still > the number of Brunei Sultans.)
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
I watched a different documentary about a Russian Army officer who avoided the annhilation of Earth when a faulty missile detection alarm went off... he used his judgement and ignored it. Luckily he was right.
The incident was sweapt under the rug and he was eventually discharged for not following orders or some such thing. I think this was in 1983. In 1991 or 1992 - after the fall of the Soviet Union when stories like this could emerge - he was given some prize/award/honour by an international group for helping to avert nuclear war.
I can't remember his name. D'oh. Someone here will know.
-------------------- "Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica." - Jim Halpert. (The Office)
quote:Originally posted by Cartman: "America is to blame, naturally: we invented porn..."
No, you just made an industry out of it.
(As for decadent lifestyles, the number of Paris Hiltons still > the number of Brunei Sultans.)
Well, at least we're industrious.
I've seen both of those "oh fuck, the world almmost ended" specials. Makes me certain that such close calls happened even more frequently and were never brought to light.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
I've heard that the whole Islamic vs western dispute really started with the Crusades and went downhill from there.
-------------------- joH'a' 'oH wIj DevwI' jIH DIchDaq Hutlh pagh (some days it's just not worth chewing through the leather straps in the morning) The Woozle!
Registered: Nov 2002
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