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US Bans Sales of iPods To North Korea
gamer4Life writes "The United States has created their list of products banned from being exported to North Korea. This list includes iPods, plasma televisions and Segway electric scooters.
U.S. intelligence officials who helped produce the Bush administration's list said Kim prefers Mercedes, BMW and Cadillac cars; Japanese and Harley Davidson motorcycles; Hennessy XO cognac from France and Johnny Walker Scotch whisky; Sony cameras and Japanese air conditioners."
yeah, I suspect the North Korean dictator is smarter than our dictator, just also more insane.
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but not rirry!
It's true no man is an island, but if you take a bunch of dead guys and tie 'em together, they make a good raft.
All those countries are looking to have the "because we've got the big bombs" basis for geopolitical action that is almost all the US has left after Bush's foreign policies. And Bush is looking for any scary enemy with missiles to justify his Star Wars missile defense project, to squeeze even more $TRILLIONS out of the US and the world. China would love to have a nuclear ally preoccupying the US, driving up our national debt that they own, and rationalizing their own militarization of space.
The "US" people want regime change. The US Republican government, which has sold our debt to China while sending our manufacturing power there, most certainly does not want anything rocking the boat that's keeping them, and their bribers, rich.
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make install -not war
When you talk about how sanctions are ruining Iraq, do you consider how much money the US has invested into Iraq with AND without the monetary aide of the UN? We are talking billions and billions of dollars thrown into their mix which is far above and over and beyond any possible monetary figure you can come up with or that any other country can even come close to. Not to change the subject to Iraq. The US has thrown more money at that problem in aid and in investments than anyone can argue as well as donating more money and more funds to all other nations that any other nation combined. Kickbacks and all.
Now, with all the money in the world to assist a problem everyone knows about, you would then think that it is the people themselves who do not want to change. This is why we should pull out of Iraq. We will go broke trying to fix something that can't be fixed. Democracy won't flourish without supported sustainable development and Iraq is not about sustainable development. We can't do enough nor will we be able to.
The United States is a generous supporter of key UN programs, funding:
* 51.4% of the World Food Program budget to help feed 72 million people in 82 countries.*
* 17.1% of the United Nations Children's Fund budget to feed, vaccinate, educate and protect children in 162 countries.*
* 14.1% of the United Nations Development Program core budget to eradicate poverty and encourage democratic governance.*
* 25.8% of the International Atomic Energy Agency budget to ensure safe and peaceful application of nuclear energy and prevent the illicit use of nuclear material for weapons.**
* 22% of the World Health Organization core budget as well as significant voluntary resources, helping to prevent and control epidemics and to improve standards of health.**
* 25% of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees budget to help protect refugees and facilitate their return home or re-settlement in another country.*
* 25% of the International Civil Aviation Organization budget to ensure safe, efficient and economical air travel.**
* These programs operate strictly on voluntary contributions.
** These programs operate on a combination of assessed and voluntary contributions.
Recent increases [in foreign aid] do not tell the whole truth about rich countries' generosity, or the lack of it. Measured as a proportion of gross national income (GNI), aid lags far behind the 0.7 percent target the United Nations set 35 years ago. Moreover, development assistance is often of dubious quality. In many cases,
* Aid is primarily designed to serve the strategic and economic interests of the donor countries;
* Or [aid is primarily designed] to benefit powerful domestic interest groups;
* Aid systems based on the interests of donors instead of the needs of recipients' make development assistance inefficient;
* Too little aid reaches countries that most desperately need it; and,
* All too often, aid is wasted on overpriced goods and services from donor countries.
-Flip Flop, Human Suffering causes Human Suffering