Domain: guardian.co.uk
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Comments · 6,585
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This is why I always laugh at NASA promisesThe U.S. government is such a laughable morass of bureaucracy, exploitative contractors, incompetence, and outright ignorance that any huge project with big promises has to be viewed with suspicion (if not outright laughter). Anyone remember the FBI database overhaul debacle?
NASA, the FBI, etc. all seem to follow the same pattern. They get the idea in their head for something big (usually as the result of politicians putting it there or the need to make it look like they're doing something about some big problem). Then they contract the technical stuff out to some contractor who feeds them a line of bullshit (instead of hiring their own people to do it, the way NASA did it in the 60's). Then they hold a big press conference, in which they make grandiose promises about how great this new thing will be (the best ones are accompanied by CGI animation of said great thing). Then they give some contractor a shitload of money. Then the contractor ends up in delays and overruns, forcing government agency to give them even MORE money. Then the contractor either doesn't deliver anything usable at all, delivers a shoddy piece of shit that doesn't even come close to the original promise, or simply delays it until the administration changes or the project gets canceled. Rinse. Wash. Repeat.
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Disseminate Widely
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Most people in the U.S. don't know the history.
The cause of the violence is people who have control over the U.S. government wanting to make a profit. I don't have time now to give a lot of links, but there are some below.
What started the violence between the U.S. government and Arabs was the U.S. government, not the Arabs. Having the U.S. taxpayer pay for violence to make a profit works only because most voters don't know the history of U.S. government action.
See, for example, Coups Arranged or Backed by the USA. Most or all of that corruption happened for profit, such as kickbacks of U.S. government foreign aid. When the governments of Israel or Pakistan buy weapons from U.S. manufacturers using money from "foreign aid", that is embezzlement of taxpayer money.
For one example of profiting from violence, read How Bush's grandfather helped Hitler's rise to power or Bush-Nazi Link Confirmed: Documents in National Archives Prove George W. Bush's Grandfather Traded with Nazis - Even After Pearl Harbor.
Apparently Slashdot editors agree with at least some of this, because now and for the last 2 months or more, this has been on the main Slashdot page, on the right, under Book Reviews: "The Creature from Jekyll Island is a compelling look at the history of the Federal Reserve system and asks if it's a system that has run it's course. (Michael J. Ross's review)"
"The Creature from Jekyll Island" discusses how the U.S. monetary system is manipulated by rich and powerful people for their own profit. It says that wars are started for profit.
The Cooperative Research History Commons is very valuable for those wanting to do their own research.
The poorly edited but very interesting free movie Zeitgeist explains in three parts that 1) People who believe in myths are easily manipulated. 2) It is common that people are manipulated through fear. 3) The U.S. monetary system is controlled for the profit of a few individuals. (Note that the movie used respected sources for the first part which were later shown to be somewhat in error. The underlying issues are correct, however.)
When you talk about U.S. government action, don't say "we". Whoever does the secret decision making would kill you and your family if they thought you would cause trouble for them.
When people try to calculate the total number the U.S. government killed, they arrive at figures like perhaps 3 million killed directly since the end of the 2nd world war, and perhaps 8 to 11 million total if the people killed by the destabilization the U.S. government caused are also included, not including the people killed in Iraq. Partly the killing happened as a result of the U.S. government invading or bombing 25 countries. -
Re:Yes but...
"Of course. I always value the scientific opinion of the founder of The Weather Channel over the consensus of hundreds of climate scientists."
Except of cource when a equal consensus of hundreds of climate scientists is saying the first ones are wrong.
And *both* sides have been willing to resort to buying PHDs at the price of 10K a pop.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/feb/02/frontpagenews.climatechange -
Re: Yes but...I asked if you would believe raw data.
You answered: Not in the absence of competence to interpret it. Then you say: Meanwhile both poles are melting faster than anyone feared. What TFA I linked says: Over the past year, anecdotal evidence for a cooling planet has exploded. China has its coldest winter in 100 years. Baghdad sees its first snow in all recorded history. North America has the most snowcover in 50 years, with places like Wisconsin the highest since record-keeping began. Record levels of Antarctic sea ice, record cold in Minnesota, Texas, Florida, Mexico, Australia, Iran, Greece, South Africa, Greenland, Argentina, Chile -- the list goes on and on. What the Goddard Space Flight Center shows: While recent studies have shown that on the whole Arctic sea ice has decreased since the late 1970s, satellite records of sea ice around Antarctica reveal an overall increase in the southern hemisphere ice over the same period. Of course, it wouldn't be fair to bring up the opposing argument (from 2003): Australian scientists yesterday revealed new evidence of global warming, suggesting that sea ice around Antarctica had shrunk 20% in the past 50 years. So if decreasing sea ice proves global warming, wouldn't increasing sea ice DISprove global warming? I mean, I am not a climatologist and all, but I am a thinker.
I'm not saying that the climate didn't change or isn't changing. It is always changing. I'm saying that it is natural, not man made and that the "hockey stick" predictions of future climate models were dead wrong. -
Re:wait a minute?
His profanity let him down really, as he made a good point.
Stocks are only a gamble in so much as when it involves things the company can't control or is unable to react to. When you buy stocks in something it is with the expectation that the board of directors will act in the best interests of the shareholders.
Although IANAL I can definitely see merit in this lawsuit and people writing it off as frivolous or simply borne out of carpet bagging are wrong. As already stated above $31 is a higher share price than any shareholder can ever expect Yahoo to reach under its own steam given its track record and its perceived value in the modern day Internet as compared to the likes of Google and indeed Microsoft themselves. Dismissing this offer out of hand does seem to strike of bullishness to me.
Either way I think Microsoft will be looking at this and smiling - if their original offer wasn't genuine to begin with (poison pill strategy) or even if it was, they'll most likely eventually be able to acquire Yahoo without having to concede much at all. -
Re:free market?
I can't beat 100million (though Wikipedia suggests a max estimate of 43m for TGLF).
You're right to say it was safer to be in England at that time but being in one of the colonies was a whole different story.
The British Empire brought mass starvations and wholesale murder. And starvation during periods of bumper harvest, unlike Mao who precipitated famine through mismanagement (aside from the purges).
20% of the population of Eire
12-29 million Indians in the late 1800s
This is the time that the Brits invented the concentration camp. One of which is reported to have a 94% death rate.
http://scienceblogs.com/thescian/2008/01/late_victorian_holocausts_the.php
http://books.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1674478,00.html
also 40% of the soldiers sent to India died of disease, very few saw real combat. -
Re:6 MILLION!Erm, that link is from 2003. Try again.
The UK came in sixth with just under 14 million broadband users at the end of March [2007]
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"Intellectual property" is a silly euphemismThe term 'Intellectual property' was adopted as a more sympathetic term by the World Intellectual Property Organization in the 60's to replace the previously used phrase "industrial entities who've had the contours of their regulatory monopolies violated".
There are a number of good articles by Cory Doctrow on intellectual property and digital information in general but basically he argues that we have to recognise the differences between knowledge and property or face 'an endless war between intractable positions of ownership, theft and fair dealing.'
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Violence leads to more violence.
"Are US soldiers shooting them, or are they getting killed by Muslims?"
Both.
Should the U.S. government be considered responsible only for the people it kills directly, or should it also be considered responsible for the violence that violence causes? I've read several books that have considered that fundamental issue.
When the U.S. government was violent in Cambodia during the Vietnam war, for example, how many people died as a result of U.S. government action? The answer is more than 2 million people, in Cambodia alone, because the U.S. government supported the rise of a very violent dictator.
The U.S. government supported Saddam Hussein, partly by selling him weapons. The weapons deliveries were still being made when the U.S. government declared its first war on Iraq.
When people try to calculate the total number the U.S. government killed, they arrive at figures like perhaps 3 million killed directly since the end of the 2nd world war, and perhaps 8 to 11 million total if the people killed by the destabilization the U.S. government caused are also included, not including the people killed in Iraq. Partly the killing happened as a result of the U.S. government invading or bombing 25 countries.
All or almost all of the U.S. government's killing appears to be motivated entirely by profit. Certainly Cambodians and Vietnamese could never have threatened anyone in the U.S.; they only made about $200 per year, and had no animosity toward anyone in the U.S., if they even knew the U.S. existed.
The problem is that most taxpayers, who pay for the violence, don't realize the underlying facts. Both attacks against the World Trade Center, for example, were motivated by the U.S. government's killing of Arabs and Muslims long before. But most U.S. taxpayers don't know about the earlier violence.
I am always against violence; nothing I say recommends or justifies violence; I think violence is caused by mental illness. The fact is, when one person or group acts out mental illness by being violent, there is a liklihood that some other person or group will feel encouraged to act out his or its mental illness.
The U.S. government has often used its "cooperation" with the governments of other countries to corrupt those governments. See, for example, Coups Arranged or Backed by the USA. Most or all of that corruption happened for profit, such as kickbacks of U.S. government foreign aid. When the governments of Israel or Pakistan buy weapons from U.S. manufacturers using money from "foreign aid", that is embezzlement of taxpayer money.
For one example of profiting from violence, read How Bush's grandfather helped Hitler's rise to power or Bush-Nazi Link Confirmed: Documents in National Archives Prove George W. Bush's Grandfather Traded with Nazis - Even After Pearl Harbor.
Apparently Slashdot editors agree with at least some of this, because now and for the last 2 months or more, this has been on the main Slashdot page, on the right, under Book Reviews: " The Creature from Jekyll Island is a compelling look at the history of the Federal Reserve system and asks if it's a system that has run it's course. (Michael J. Ross's review)"
"The Creature from Jekyll Island" discusses how the U.S. monetary system is manipulated by rich and powerful people for their own profit. It says that wars are started for profit.
The Cooperative Research History Commons is very valuable for those wanting to do their own research.
The poorly edited but very interesting free movie -
U.S. government killed more in every category.
Whoever destroyed the World Trade Center killed 3,000 Americans. The decision of Cheney and Bush to have a war with Iraq has killed more" Americans than that.
See these stories, for example:
Iraq Conflict Has Killed A Million Iraqis: Survey.
The number is rapidly rising. In October 2006 the number of Iraqis killed was estimated to be 655,000.
The highest estimate of Iraqis killed by Saddam Hussein was 1 million, so the U.S. government has killed more than Saddam. See, for example, Survey: Saddam killed 61,000 in Baghdad. -
The "Roadrunner" of Despots
It looks as though Father Time will finally accomplish what exploding cigars, poison pills, and even a skin disease-causing fungus could not.
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Re:Added to my list of artists to avoid
It's also worth noting that Prince gave away copies of his last album in a paper, which was extremely unpopular with the music industry - so it's not as if he doesn't want his work distributed.
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Re:what will you feed it?As this Guardian article says, (and I think it describes the primary aim of the BBP quite well):
[reverse engineering the brain] will help us in'determining how the brain works could help with treatment of diseases while providing clues for designing artificial intelligence'.
IMHO, clues don't make an AI, but they take us one step closer to it. We don't even know whether a cellular resolution is good enough to get any meaningful results from the simulations (which are on a cellular level and simulate electronic signals without considering anything on a molecular level), but its better than doing nothing. The BBP itself is expected to last around a decade, so after a decade (2017) we will have gathered some clues about how a mammalian brain functions. -
Re:A step up.
It's a very convenient excuse to shoot at anyone. But knowing american habits there's always a good reason for a killing spree mainly when it involves civilian targets.
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Re:Unfair contracts?
I'm sure under UK law there are provisions to fight 'unfair contracts'.
There are, and there is specific consumer protection legislation that could apply also. Moreover, it can be done in small claims court for little risk/cost to the user.
If a lot of people are cut off, there is the possibility of a lot of cases and a consumer action campaign. You don't need to be a UK legal expert - This has already happened in the UK with the banks - just google something like uk bank charges small claims for loads of info, or see summaries like: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2007/jul/27/accounts.business.
Who would you think was the easier target to sue, a _bank_ or an ISP ? Now realise that ordinary people have been suing the banks, citing unfair T&Cs, and winning. The ISPs know this, they haven't got the resources of the banks, and they don't want to be in the same position. -
Re:W00t. 1st postWhat really sucks is that if you live in China you could complain to your government that the big old sky eye was watching you and they might decide to shoot it down. In America about all you can do is stay indoors all the time, or maybe erect a big tent over your property, What a great idea. Since we are not free in America, let's move to a free and open society like China where we will be free to complain to our government officials.
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Re:At least I know
Soldiers are more than trained killing machines, they are efficient thinkers who are told at all times to do the honorable thing.
Anyone who attempts to do "the honorable thing" in the U.S. military gets court-martialed.
And what sort of group of efficient thinkers is so ignorant that 85% of them think the U.S. invaded Iraq because Saddam Hussein played a role in the 9-11 attacks?
I salute the physical courage, and the willingness to serve their countrymates, of those who enlist. I worry about their ignorance, and their lack of judgment and of moral courage in turning their conscience over to the United States government, an organization known as a great perpetrator of injustice.
It doesn't have anything to do with hate for most of them, it has to do with orders, and that is why they are professionals.
Right, it's all ok as long as you're following orders.
If anyone is considering joining up, I urge meditation on the words of Thoreau:
The mass of men serve the state thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies. They are the standing army, and the militia, jailers, constables, posse comitatus, etc. In most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgement or of the moral sense; but they put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well. Such command no more respect than men of straw or a lump of dirt. They have the same sort of worth only as horses and dogs. Yet such as these even are commonly esteemed good citizens. Others -- as most legislators, politicians, lawyers, ministers, and office-holders -- serve the state chiefly with their heads; and, as the rarely make any moral distinctions, they are as likely to serve the devil, without intending it, as God. A very few -- as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense, and men -- serve the state with their consciences also, and so necessarily resist it for the most part; and they are commonly treated as enemies by it.
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Re:Do they own the movie rights?
Just do give the URL to that information: http://film.guardian.co.uk/lordoftherings/news/0,,616876,00.html
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Re:Consultation Paper
Indeed this is a problem - my own personal experience was with the consultation for criminalising possession of extreme adult porn. Although the majority of people opposed the plans, and pointed out many problems and objections, the Government is pushing full steam ahead with it (currently it's being debated in the House of Lords), ignoring all criticisms, and one Home Office Minister even lied and claimed a majority or respondants supported it (see here).
But still, I still prefer that people respond than not. Firstly not all consultations are necessarily the same - some appear to have more sensible people in charge of them. Secondly, it makes campaigning and opposing easier if you can at least say that people oppose the plans. Otherwise it's even easier for the Government to say "Well no one objected, why didn't you complain back then?" (Consider, even if you think voting is pointless, it's still better to vote than not - if you don't even vote in the election, few people take you seriously if you later complain about what the Government does.) -
Re:And the beat goes on.
You really shouldn't make "police state" claims like that. If you think this is a police state, you obviously have no idea what a true police state is. Displaying such an obscene level of ignorance is probably not in your best interest.
You really need to stop trying to be snarky long enough to open your eyes. Here's some reading for you:
Naomi Wolf: Fascist America, in 10 easy steps
Milton Mayer: An excerpt from "They Thought They Were Free"
I've seen police states. I've had to pass through checkpoints and answer questions about where I was going, why I was going there and when I plan on being back. The US is not a police state.
Really? Crossed the border lately? Flown lately? -
Re:Hmm Damned if they do; damned if they don't...
"The US administration is pressing the 27 governments of the European Union to sign up for a range of new security measures for transatlantic travel, including allowing armed guards on all flights from Europe to America by US airlines.
The demand to put armed air marshals on to the flights is part of a travel clampdown by the Bush administration that officials in Brussels described as "blackmail" and "troublesome", and could see west Europeans and Britons required to have US visas if their governments balk at Washington's requirements."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/11/usa.theairlineindustry
This is a the beginning of a disturbing trend.... All it takes now is for a handful of co-conspirators to figure out WHO are the air marshals (using sensitive magnets?) to locate the cuffs and guns, then storm a few, disarm them, and then keep everyone else at bay. I wonder if those air marshals will die as easily or unquestioningly as dental-school-bound kids who don't fully appreciate what it means to be dismembered or handicapped in their early youth for wealthy and government who publicly call patriots but in private laugh at them as fodder.
Plus, having all these armed personnel just makes for brewing trouble where landings occur in places where guns are forbidden. I wonder how Japan feels about non-military/non-diplomat gaijin landing armed, and who quite likely will refuse to be searched and inventoried for excessive firepower.
Further, just WHAT firepower will these AMs expect to safely use in the skies without bringing down the plane FOR the would-be/presumed hijackers? -
Re:Hmm: Cheap air fares 'killing British tourism'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jan/30/easyjetbusiness.ryanair
"Budget airlines are "squeezing the life out of British tourism" and the government is exacerbating the problem by promoting expansion of the aviation industry, MPs were told yesterday.
Budget hotel chain Travelodge accused Ryanair and easyJet of driving an £18bn "tourism deficit" by drawing British holidaymakers away from Britain with low fares underpinned by state tax breaks." -
Re:In a very ironic way
"....I truly wonder what Tolkien himself would think of all this
..."
Well, he hated America and its obsession with money/stealing/dumbing down other country's cultures. He was convinced that the spreading machine culture he so abhorred would win in the end; that it would get control of his work, "confuse" and "degrade" its narrative, wrench it from its roots and turn it into a travesty of a popular film, cartoon or comic book. So he would probably say:
"I knew it would go in the end - thank God it was only after my death."
By the way, he never got much money from the film rights: http://books.guardian.co.uk/tolkien/story/0,,618713,00.html refers...
And, by the way, Hobbits are ENGLISH, not IRISH. But US audiences hate the English, and love the Irish, so...... -
Because it makes for a good headline?Honestly, industrial espionage in the US has been proven to be committed by: France (NATO ally), Israel (special ally) , Russia (ex-enemy), China (competitor).
Nothing new there. Besides, I'd be amazed if e.g. India, Pakistan, Brazil, South Korea, Japan, South Africa, and Iran weren't also active (or trying to be active) in this field.
Why then do we hear often about Chinese espionage? Is it just that Chinese espionage makes good headlines?
Well
... perhaps it has something to do with the fact that there are so many (very good) ethnically Chinese engineers and scientists in the US, in all walks of life. Due to do Americans not being interested in an arduous career in Engineering or the Sciences when they can instead aim at Management, Legal services, or brokerage I'm told. Well, admittedly the Chinese government is quite organised about industrial espionage, and it's easier to get a rapport with an ethnic countryman than with some foreigner.So
... if we assume a fixed promillage of the population open to espionage proposals, we must expect Chinese to be over-represented. Besides which ... it's not as if the US doesn't commit industrial espionage of itself (primarily in the EU; see e.g. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2000/mar/31/ianblack).Lets just save our righteous indignation for a more worthy cause and simply shore up security on projects and firms that are attractive targets, shall we?
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Re:It's America's faultSomeone will find a way to claim it. FTFA:
"The United States routinely requires European citizens to submit fingerprints when crossing its borders and the commission's document notes that America plans to introduce an electronic travel-authorization system for people from countries like Britain, France and Germany that are in its Visa Waiver Program."
This is what they're talking about:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/11/usa.theairlineindustry
Some quotes:
"And within months the US department of homeland security is to impose a new permit system for Europeans flying to the US, compelling all travellers to apply online for permission to enter the country before booking or buying a ticket, a procedure that will take several days."
And because someone had to blame this on America:
"If the Americans persevere in the proposed security crackdown, Brussels is likely to respond with tit-for-tat action, such as calling for visas for some Americans." -
That is all acording to you.
I prefer to believe Hans Blix, the chap that was actually doing the work, have this for starters: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/jun/11/iraq.usa
It is undeniable that he didn't find anything and that the US (an their lackeys, the shameful Tony Blair and lest not forget, the laughable Jose Maria Aznar) wanted to use the UN as their rubber stamp.
If the US is not prepared to accept UN resolutions when they don't conform to your wishes, why don't you get the heck out of the UN? You are already out of several UN's organizations like UNESCO for the most cavalier of reasons, don't recognize the International Court of Justice (where hopefully, one day, irresponsible individuals like Bush and Blair will one day face justice. Unlikely, utopic, but most necessary heal the wounds of the thousands or Iraqi people dead for no discernible reason whatsoever) and in general think you are exceptional and are not prepared to play ball.
Well, make it official, most of the world is fed up with this, so we can as well officialize what is obvious fact. -
Re:Hm...Poor facts, AmericanInKiev. You are making too many generalizations.
2. [England has] less issue with obesity.
Looks like England is working hard to catch up with their American cousins, though.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/42092.php
And the rest of the EU appears to be bulking up, as well.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,11381,1438700,00.html3. Neighborhood grocery stores.
I'm in the United States, and there are enough grocery stores in my city that we can walk or ride our bikes a few blocks. If we really want or need to drive, the longest trip is a whole five minutes in the car. People at the grocery stores, including ourselves, regularly meet neighbors from around the city at the grocery store, too.
4. Neighbors they meet regularly at Neighborhood stores5. About half the energy consumption per person.
My power bill has been on a steady decline for the past several months. Energy conservation = loan payments. -
Re:United Police State of America
The biggest problem with security is that it is put in the hands of the lowest blue-collared individuals.
No, this is just a symptom of the biggest problem, which is that the people at the top are completely clueless.
Check out this article which shows just how bad it's getting.
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Re:Traveling while Muslim or Middle EasternIslamic culture is peaceful... The islamist who call for Jihad for political reasons and introduced suicide as a norm are heretics in their own religion... Just like the Catholics during the XIII and XV to XVII centuries there is a primitive violent movement in the religion. Religion have been used as a good justification it hundreds of murders and massacres.
Christianity has nothing to do with US foreign policy
I think you don't read the news. Anyway "chritianofascism" was related to your "islamofascism"... You know humor, sarcasm and all... no?
(in one such attack a woman was severely injured)
Please, prove it was a racist act done by muslims as it is the topic here (a hint look for Mama Galledou).
You make it sounds like their actions are just a harmless way of passing time on a Friday night. What's wrong with you?
It is for the lads from the cités... Just as it was for right wing skinheads to drown or burn muslims and jews a couple of years back... Idiocy and violence just passed into the hands of another undereducated part of the society... the part that was repressed before and expresses its blind, pointless rage now. I have been an immigrant and also lived through some difficult moments with some native idiots... but I had a pretty strong education and feel blessed for it.
Jihad is a standing order for all Muslims
Which muslims? Shias or Sunni? Ismailis, Alawis, Druzes, Twelvers, Imami, Zaidiyyah, Ash'ari, Maturidiyyah, Athariyyah... ?
You might ignore it, but there is a large number of currents in Islam just as there are different currents in Christianity and Judaism.The influence comes from Islamic culture where attitudes towards women and sexuality are different from ours.
I believe Mormons and other sects in our culture are very close to dark ages on that point. But I might be wrong here I am not familiar with these christian sects.
I believe american culture concerning women and sex is very different from mine... I don't consider women as "hoes"... nor do i think you will "burn in hell for being sexually active as a teenager" to quote only two American idealsThere's a dramatic difference between what terrorists and US forces are doing.
You should put more arguments here... I'm not sure what your sources are. Please correct me if I am wrong, but jus ad bellum does not provide any right to preemptive wars and even less to invasions... The US invasion (of Iraq) is therefore a terrorist act (as per broadly any definition). It has never been approved by any international organization. It was organized solely by the US and a couple of accomplice nations. Led by the US without a proper declaration of war, and handled in the most brutal and destructive way for the invaded nation. The only act of reconstruction led by US authorities was that of Oil fields confiscated by the US government. All the rest (judicial system, education system culture, political framework, army and peacekeeping forces, utilities and sanitary installations...) was destroyed to put money into private contract companies during the (never planed) reconstruction. I think that apart from the chaos the worst thing Iraqis are facing now is the prospect of having the same social and health system as the US.
US forces, as a rule, do not deliberately kill civilians, and it's not legal for them to do so.
Again. It might not be legal for soldiers of the regular army... But they had no training nor knowledge when it comes ROE, LOAC or Geneva Conventions. They killed people by negligence and for fun, executing wounded and
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Re:Get a web designer
The reason that green text on a yellow background is NOT a good idea is that certain types of color blindness (namely protanopia) make it difficult or impossible to distinguish between yellow and green. People with that type of color blindness would perceive it as yellow-on-yellow. Yuck.
As for Nielson's ugly site, that's deliberate. -
Re:buddhists
They were considered the equivalent of terrorists at the time, although the term, and to some extent the concept, of a terrorist is of recent vintage.
However, many have started to identify the ultra-nationalists of Sri Lanka as Buddhist terrorists, insofar as Buddhism is very much part of the national project there. Also, there are Buddhist vigilante squads generally identified as "terrorist" operating in Thailand. -
No news on the strike....
I've been checking news sites for information on the deal that is claimed here. So far I haven't found nothing that indicates that the strike is off.
Not on BBC News and not on CNN. Both news sites would have reported this if the strike was off and an deal had been reached.
Until proven otherwise, the writers are still one strike from my point of view.
However, there are two news on this. But nothing confirmed yet.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=4260711
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/feb/08/television.filmnews?gusrc=rss&feed=media -
Iceland
They did not force anyone to do anything and, moreover, the program in question was only looking at native Icelanders. Adding a non-native to that database would not only be pointless, it would defeat the purpose entirely.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1217842,00.html -
Re:That's how these things happen.There's never any need to convince the masses that something is a good idea; just convince the individual that it's not worth fighting. You're right in principle, but in practice the UK government is not doing that: £293 per person?! I think that will go a long way to convincing most people that it's worth fighting. When these things get introduced in the UK I'll grumble like hell Maybe that's all you'll do, but if they introduce ID cards here I for one will be out on the streets, as will at least one leader of a major political party.
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NOT informative
The OP would have been informative if he had provided checkable reference. He did not. And what I find on the web is the contrary to what the OP said (hinting that he was either spitting BS, or that he repeated somebody BS and it was modded informative) : concord crash caused by burst tyre
There are also hint that BOTH airline decided at the same time to STOP concorde due to a significant increase onf maintenance cost by airbus : BA and AF decision to stop concorde due to maintenance money increase and downward profit
QUOTE (italic emphasis mine)
Both airlines announced the decision Thursday immediately after Airbus, which makes Concordes, said the planes would need an "enhanced maintenance programme in the coming years."
"British Airways has decided that such an investment cannot be justified in the face of falling revenue caused by a global downturn in demand for all forms of premium travel in the airline industry," the company said.
"This is the end of a fantastic era in the world of aviation but bringing forward Concorde's retirement is a prudent business decision at a time when we are having to make difficult decisions right across the airline," said BA Chief Executive Rod Eddington.
The airline has been forced to cut more than 13,000 jobs since just before the September 11 attacks.
BA has been only flying half the service it used to following the Paris air crash. Concorde was out of service for more than a year after the crash.
Article information :
1) BA and AF decided to stop because of increased maintenance cost
2) Premimum travel global downturn made future profit less certain or even downright not happening
3) and if I read some paragraph correctly, BA was flying while AF was not
so apparently it is not "the french killed it" but "money (lack of prospective profit) killed it". -
Re:Goldfinger meets Pogo
Ok let's not be paranoid here people, and apply a bit of the critical thinking class everyone took in college. Five Separate locations, with one reporting power problems. A bit of detective work using the following data will lead to the most simple and likely conclusion for geological activity.
Map of affected areas:
http://www.ilovebonnie.net/cablecuts.jpg
Map of undersea cables:
http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Technology/Pix/pictures/2008/02/01/SeaCableHi.jpg
Seismic activity report for the past 30 days from the IRIS Consortium:
http://www.iris.edu/seismon/last30.html
Seismic activity report from the USGS NEIC (Shared with IRIS):
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/
Add a little third party analysis and study from when the first effects were seen:
https://confluence.slac.stanford.edu/display/IEPM/Effects+of+Fibre+Outage+through+Mediterranean
"Bear in mind that the fact the outage did not start until around 6:00am, and re-routing traffic before the end of the day will both dilute the effect. Also the effects were not uniform on all hosts in a country."
Statement denying ship anchor involvements:
http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hTi5wNwTD66nvWdTAQw20SaFI_GQ
"'A marine transport committee investigated the traffic of ships in the area, 12 hours before and after the malfunction, where the cables are located to figure out the possibility of being cut by a passing vessel and found out there were no passing ships at that time,' said the statement. The ministry added that the location, 5 miles from the port of Alexandria, was in a restricted area so ships would not have been allowed there to begin with."
Correlating the affected locations, dates and above analysis dates we can find the following.
For the January 30th time frame cuts, the following seismic activity was in the region on the following dates:
DATE LAT LON MAG DEPTH REGION
31-JAN-2008 00:01:23 39.97 33.27 4.8 10.0 TURKEY
29-JAN-2008 15:16:55 37.63 23.39 4.3 42.0 SOUTHERN GREECE
04-FEB-2008 22:15:41 38.13 21.95 4.9 30.8 GREECE
For the February 1st and (1st) 5th cut, the following seismic activity was in the region on the following dates:
DATE LAT LON MAG DEPTH REGION
02-FEB-2008 05:33:21 26.42 52.96 4.8 10.0 PERSIAN GULF
For the (2nd) February 5th cut, the following seismic activity was in the region on the following dates:
DATE LAT LON MAG DEPTH REGION
04-FEB-2008 08:26:54 -8.83 107.99 4.9 35.0 JAWA, INDONESIA
30-JAN-2008 11:03:20 -9.80 108.06 4.8 10.0 SOUTH OF JAWA, INDONESIA
30-JAN-2008 10:31:59 4.27 96.60 4.5 39.3 NORTHERN SUMATERA, INDONESIA
27-JAN-2008 12:48:00 -8.65 110.69 4.6 35.0 JAWA, INDONESIA
26-JAN-2008 06:08:02 1.08 97.23 4.5 35.0 NORTHERN SUMATERA, INDONESIA
24-JAN-2008 12:03:39 -3.95 101.63 5.3 35.0 SOUTHERN SUMATERA, INDONESIA
23-JAN-2008 19:23:34 -2.89 101.12 5.1 50.0 SOUTHERN SUMATERA, INDONESIA
23-JAN-2008 13:03:21 1.37 97.22 4.8 29.0 NORTHERN SUMATERA, INDONESIA
We can look at this data and conclude the simplest explanations is likely to be undersea damage associated with seismic activity. Rock slides and underwater stresses aren't limited to the specific time frame for an earth quake either. There are afters -
Re:I can't believe you people still defend IranIf you get your view of the Muslim world from MEMRI, you are looking at the situation with blinders on.
Not to mention that they are also total scumbags with a history of bullying their critics. If you go to the bottom of the Guardian article that tries to discredit MEMRI you will that a "correction" at the bottom where they go on to say that MEMRI's article (which they try to discredit above) has actually been verified by other sources and is probably true. In fact, much of the article is FUD and provides no real proof that they do anything wrong.
As for the wonderful other links you posted:
Antiwar.com is obviously not an objective source of information. Their self-professed goal is to prevent wars no matter what. There is such a thing as a justified war, but they'd be against that too. They (or anyone else) has yet to prove that MEMRI has ever a) mis-translated an Arabic media report with obviously malicious intent b) has made up media reports that never happened. Until they do that MEMRI is a valuable peek into what is being said in government-controlled media across the middle-east. When the official mouth-piece of the government runs a 12-episode TV movie about how Jews faked the Holocaust and how they also faked 9/11 then it *does* reflect badly on their government *as it should*.
As for Mr. Finkelstein, I'd hardly call him unbiased. He has a very colorful history as mentioned here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Finkelstein -- In fact the bottom of page reads "In January 2008 Finkelstein made a lecture tour of Lebanon during which he met with high-ranking leaders of Hezbollah and defended the organization saying that Hezbollah represents 'hope.'"
Wow, thank you. That would be Hezbollah, which has been recognized as a terrorist group by many countries around the world outside of the US. His Holocaust-smearing history also does not reflect too well on him. -
Re:I can't believe you people still defend Iran
Just take a look at the kind of things coming out of their government-controlled media: http://memritv.org/
If you get your view of the Muslim world from MEMRI, you are looking at the situation with blinders on.
Not to mention that they are also total scumbags with a history of bullying their critics. -
I can't believe you people still defend IranI doubt it. If anything, we would want Iran to have 100% free and uncensored access for all citizens. How Utopian... and unrealistic. Iran routinely censors their population: http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/archives/2005/09/14/iranian_censorship.html
Unfortunately the same can't be said about their military and Islamist government that profits greatly from that wonderful connection.
I can't believe that people are *still* protecting the Iranian government (note I'm not talking about their citizens) after all the crap they've pulled during the last two decades. Just because the US media has tuned into Iran in the last five years doesn't mean this story came out of the blue. Iran has been funding and training terrorist groups and publicly boasting about it for over 20 years now. We've been waiting for their population to overthrow the Islamist government for years yet that hasn't happened either. Just take a look at the kind of things coming out of their government-controlled media: http://memritv.org/
Yes, most Iranians dislike their government but no this won't be happening anytime soon. In the meantime, thousands upon thousands of people die every year because of direct funding by the Iranians to terrorists. Ironically most of the victims are Muslim.
If you want to avoid war with Iran then you should be in favor of diplomatic action to prevent them from obtaining nuclear weapons which could be a pretext for such a war. By preventing economic sanctions from going through you leave the world no choice but turn to the military option. Also it is worth noting that we've held toothless diplomatic talk with Iran for decades now and that didn't work (if anything, their government got more radical). They need to feel the heat for there to be any change. -
Re:The US bizarre fascination for religion in poli
It's about our desire to not have a president we deem insane. We don't like to think that our president might tell us that he is following a policy that is the bidding of God. "I need to invade a country. God told me to do it." Tell me that doesn't scare the living daylights out of you? Don't think it can't happen. http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1586978,00.html
-
SABOTAGE? Ecomonic Warfare? Surely not.
Subject: RE: 'Collapse' of the internet? An accident? Cui bono?
Have you ever run up HUGE (credit card, mortgage, utilities, gambling or - perchance - MONSTROUS 'national') DEBT?
Have you ever done everything in your power (legit or not) to get out, or delay the consequences, of that DEBT?
FIND: http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1067.htm [whatdoesitmean.com] for an interesting 'take' on the odd collapse of the internet in the MIDDLE EAST www 'failure'.
WAS IT DELIBERATELY DONE - TO PUNISH:
THE SAUDIS TO DELAY THEIR DUMPING OF U$D, plus
CRIPPLE OPEC for not increasing oil output and
other FINANCIAL issues ???
FIND AN 'OFFICIAL' VERSION AND SPIN:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/feb/01/internationalpersonalfinancebusiness.internet
Notice that the article DOES NOT INVITE READER COMMENTS - hence, no one with technical savvy or inside info can REFUTE OR CORRECT IT!
SEE THE WWW MAP - again!
http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Technology/Pix/pictures/2008/02/01/SeaCableHi.jpg
INTERNET CUT
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/02/145231
Complete with the uusal: wit, pithy trolls, flamebaiters, disinfo artistes/agents, expert techies and deluded GUNG-HOs. LOL! OMG! Look 'HERE' not T-H-E-R-E!
Cui bono?
WHO BENEFITS?
RR -
SABOTAGE? Ecomonic Warfare? Surely not.
Subject: RE: 'Collapse' of the internet? An accident? Cui bono?
Have you ever run up HUGE (credit card, mortgage, utilities, gambling or - perchance - MONSTROUS 'national') DEBT?
Have you ever done everything in your power (legit or not) to get out, or delay the consequences, of that DEBT?
FIND: http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1067.htm [whatdoesitmean.com] for an interesting 'take' on the odd collapse of the internet in the MIDDLE EAST www 'failure'.
WAS IT DELIBERATELY DONE - TO PUNISH:
THE SAUDIS TO DELAY THEIR DUMPING OF U$D, plus
CRIPPLE OPEC for not increasing oil output and
other FINANCIAL issues ???
FIND AN 'OFFICIAL' VERSION AND SPIN:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/feb/01/internationalpersonalfinancebusiness.internet
Notice that the article DOES NOT INVITE READER COMMENTS - hence, no one with technical savvy or inside info can REFUTE OR CORRECT IT!
SEE THE WWW MAP - again!
http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Technology/Pix/pictures/2008/02/01/SeaCableHi.jpg
INTERNET CUT
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/02/145231
Complete with the uusal: wit, pithy trolls, flamebaiters, disinfo artistes/agents, expert techies and deluded GUNG-HOs. LOL! OMG! Look 'HERE' not T-H-E-R-E!
Cui bono?
WHO BENEFITS?
RR -
Re:Who will benefit?
So, to clarify, the White House ordered "a ship [...] to moor off the coast of Egypt in bad weather on Wednesday"?
Here's some more conspiracy fodder for you: a third cable, Falcon, is also damaged. Must be the White House!
Oh, wait...it's just the incredible fragility of our undersea cable network finally being embarrassingly exposed. -
Who will "benefit"?
From what?
The already-confirmed fact that one clumsy ship can cut off internet access for 75 million people with one ill-advised drop of the anchor?
So if you're implying the US is somehow behind this with your cutesy little message feigning ignorance, get a life. -
Re:Third cut?
That's it, now you are doing your homework! You might have to cut and paste this link, and it will give you some indication of just how many cables there actually are. They take out your cables, they take out your satellites, jam your radio waves, and pretty soon you are blind and deaf. Then they attack. That region is so peaceful, this could never happen, right. I bet the Israelis see it that way too. A lot of things are just what they seem, but sometimes they are not.
http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Technology/Pix/pictures/2008/02/01/SeaCableHi.jpg -
Re:Eh?
-
Re:Eh?
People aren't buying Windows Vista and Office 2007 because they have Windows XP and Office 2003 that does the job just fine, and possibly better, and it costs nothing to continue using it.
Please folks, RTFA. To quote:[Last year] The Office division alone had quarterly revenue of $4.8 billion equal to Google and an astronomical $3.2 billion in operating profits. The Windows unit is even more profitable.
In fact, Microsoft's Q1 results last year were the best for seven years:Microsoft stunned Wall Steet with its latest financial results, based on the success of Windows Vista, Office 2007 and the Halo 3 game. First quarter revenues jumped by 27% to $13.76 billion, and profits by 23% to $4.29 billion. Sales beat expectations by more than $1bn.
Microsoft dwarfs Google in both revenue and profit. It's just lost out in the online services market (where despite rising revenues it still makes a loss), and wants to catch up. To do so, it can afford to make investments nobody else can, such as buying out another huge company with a big (if not terribly profitable) portfolio of online services. Together, the "network effect" would make both much more profitable than they are operating seperately. -
Re:Of course men not obsolete just yet
It's not *too* vague!
:)
"Studies of identical twin brothers show that in 52% of cases where one twin is gay the other twin is also gay. This is a much higher concordance than the 2% to 10% distribution of gay people in the general population, as recorded by various sex surveys." from Gene Genie
originally from a very interesting article: in the Guardian.
Disclaimer: I am a gay man, last born and I'm not sure if its environmental, genetic or a combination. The thing about gay men having a bigger cock is true though. Honest.
-
Re:How about silence?
The wording of the argument sounds a lot like the "No true scotsman" logical fallacy.
Face it, both muslims and christians have done horrible, unspeakable things. This in no way says that your average muslim or christian is about to cut someone's head off or burn someone at the stake. Also, those awful things that muslims in very conservative societies are doing are very similar to what certain parts of christianity are doing. Anyone who cherry-picks their literal interpretations of a book written centuries ago is going to get *something* wrong.
I liked the last pope better than this guy. As I recall, the last pope was the one to pardon Galileo and admit that science may have some merit...