Are you the AC, or are you nomadic? Because I don't see the user BitZtream talking about anything in this thread until this post.
I was talking about American Expectionalism, not about other countries. Why cloud the issue with juvenile rebuttals of "But the other kids are doing it!" If we are so special, why are you comparing us to other countries to excuse our wrongdoing?
AFAIK, as of 2009, the socialist EU has a higher GDP per capita than we do, coupled with less religious fundamentalism. Does that make them better than us?
American Exceptionalism is not the idea that we are different. Every nation is different in some way. It is the express idea that we are better, and in common practice, it is coupled with vigorous defense of America from any perceived insult or criticism.
Does the average individual in America today have more power to control his destiny than his counterparts in other first world nations? To me, it seems the average individual in America is struggling just to get by, has no health care, is poorly educated compared to the rest of the world, has fewer real functional rights, and less opportunity to succeed.
So, do you believe in American Exceptionalism? Are we better than other countries? Does this then give us a moral mandate to make the world a better place?
Buhy bye, troll. Have fun. I'm not the one who will stalk you, I'm not that crazy.But there are deep dark crazies here, and they just don't like your type. I've seen it before, and I'm just going to sit back and watch the fun. Weeeeeeeee! is right!
This is not a discussion of China or Russia. Why bring them into this? Would it even help at all if I said all militant nationalism is disgusting? I doubt it. Like a child screaming, "But Charly did it!" when caught in wrongdoing, you seek to deflect blame by calling attention to the failings of others.
How is America willing to honestly face its past? In what way, exactly, have we been honest, brave, forthright, and fair in facing our past of criminal genocide against entire native populations? Has anyone gotten forty acres and a mule? What have we redressed? I mean, you can come up with at least one example, right?
Now, please don't get me wrong. I love this country and I love my fellow citizens, and I think we have been a great nation, and can be again. But I am not a sad enabler of my beloved's worst habits and traits. I am a true patriot, willing to go out on a limb and point out the cold, hard, and ugly facts, for the benefit of my country. A false friend will tell you only what you want to hear. Someone who really cares about you will tell you the truth, even if it hurts.
Okay, 186, I asked for a number. How many fucking accounts do you have? Why the FUCK do you have more than one? Were you here the last time someone tried this little trick? Do you know what happens to people like you? You aren't welcome here, and that will be made increasingly and abundantly clear to you as time goes on. People here don't take kindly to astroturfing sock puppets. We've got chunks of guys like you in our stool.
Just so you know. I mean, I hope you are here because you are a masochist who loves getting his ass kicked. Because that's the only thing you will get here.
Let me ask you, is there any hope of justice in your view of the world? Or, is it perhaps that this world is just, in your view, and those seeking to change it are the ones who are wrong?
How do you, personally, feel about the concept of justice? Should those that harm others be punished? Who should get to decide. I mean, I know you probably don't mean it that way, but it sounds as if you are against the whole concept of justice, feeling it to be flawed, and simply a matter of one group or individual punishing another for no real reason but arbitrary power to do so.
American Exceptionalism is the sadly more and more common belief that America, by its very nature, can do no wrong. It is Manifest Destiny written on a global scale. When we kill, torture, rape and rob, it is okay because what we do is for the Highest Good, therefore, if we torture, it must be the right thing to do. When we spy on other countries and interfere in their internal affairs, it is for their own good. If we do it, it is right, just, good, and in fact, both necessary and Fated to Happen. We are God's chosen, his favorites, just look at the evidence: would he have made us the best, richest, most powerful nation on Earth if we weren't his special favorites? God Bless America, and no one else!
This is what a growing number of Americans seem to believe. Scream and yell all you want. We don't hear you because we don't have to listen. That is one of the perks of being powerful, you simply do not have to listen to or pay attention to most of your detractors because they are not living in the same world as you are.
Quite hyping your imaginary political movement. This is about corporations, not government. Unless you deal with the real powers first, your government will be no different than any other. The ultra rich of the world laugh at the concept of 'metagovernment,' which boils down to the sheep separating themselves into conveniently smaller and less powerful herds, all the easier for the true powers to prey upon.
The US government has always worked closely with US corporations to perform espionage. The government gives the corporations data on their foreign competition, the corporations give the government spies cover.
Are we still going to ask them to stop doing what they are doing ? However with big banks and big pharm involved, I am more concerned about the well being of the individuals who run wikileaks, then if only governments were involved.
Absolutely. Governments world wide are just pawns for these sociopaths, they really don't care if governments take the blame. But when you start going after them directly, expect to wind up dead or in prison.
You obviously weren't paying attention in class. Don't blame "gubermint skoolin'" for your educational shortcomings. The rest of us know what the Danegeld is.
Funny thing, my government education, and yours, and that of most everyone here, has somehow managed to instill in us enough knowledge of history to know what the Danegeld is. Everyone gains benefits from educated citizens, so everyone should help pay for education. The more educated a populace, the richer the country. Education, being a positive externality, will not be allocated in sufficient quantities just based on individual purchases of education. This is because most of the people who gain benefit from your education (your boss, your spouse, your family, your neighbors and fellow citizens) do not have to pay for your education in a free market, even though they gain benefits. Seeing little demand, the free market will not provide the optimal quantity or quality of education. Only the rich will be well educated, and a poor serving class will not have the tools to be good citizens. Being uneducated, these poor will be unable to contribute as much, and they will be easier for the powerful to manipulate into voting against their own (and your) interests.
A free market in education is not efficient, will not provide higher quality education than government, will not provide enough education, and will lead to an uneducated populace that can not participate effectively in their own governance. That is a structural problem stemming from the fact that education is an externality.
How has that worked out for FOX, NBC, and Comcast? You suggest the providers boycott Comcast, and you mention that it has been done in the past, but you don't mention the outcomes. Did anyone drop their Comcast subscription and move to a different provider? Was Comcast hurt at all by the action? Did FOX and NBC get better deals? Were the deals good enough to make up for the lost revenue? It's all well and good to suggest content providers go to the mat for you, but they are looking out for their bottom line, and caving might just be cheaper.
The thing is, Comcast and other companies like it have extracted special considerations from local, state, and even the Federal government, including right of way and monopoly privileges. If they want to keep those deals, they can do what we tell them too. I mean, that is fair, right? If we say, "open Internet" they give us an open internet or we take away their deals, which would kill them in an instant, "So sorry, we're tearing your cables down and letting someone who will play ball have the deal. Maybe you should have purchased all the land your cables run on instead of cutting monopoly deals for the right of way. But seeing as how you didn't purchase the land, your cables are on OUR property and they are coming DOWN."
Comcast may be big, but we can legally and morally fuck them royally. If they didn't want to give we, the people such a big say, they didn't have to accept our Big Government Largess.
Have you never seen her appearances on, uh, any media whatsoever? She wants to legislate against homosexuality, abortion, stem cell research and anything else the voice in her head that she calls "lord" tells her to. She HAS said she won't try to legislate against masturbation, despite her previous position on the matter. So, yay for that.
Okay, if you want to say his staff did it without his say so, I'll accept that as a possibility. Means he was responsible, in any case, unless you are saying the president is not responsible for thew actions of his staff.
You guys love tax cuts for the rich, you will note Republicans want to repeal the tax cuts for the middle class.
As for AIDS funding, our paltry donations were hardly enough to have bankrupted Vanuatu. Nine billion? Chump change. And Bush did it? Wow, amazing how congress was to blame for going to war and ruining the economy, but for THIS, Bush gets credit. Did we come close to meeting the UN goals for aid to Africa of 0.7% of GNI? No. Did other countries? Yes, they did.
Letting business keep more money would only help if business invested it in creating new jobs in America, but there is no demand here, and so despite record profits for Wall Street this year, we have seen no real increase in job creation. The rich hoard the money, spend it on luxuries manufactured overseas, or invest it overseas where desperate workers are ready for the slaughter.
It is ALL about giving the filthy rich the wealth created by the productive class, that is, the working class that creates all real tangible value. All Republican policies have the same goal: making the poor more desperate so they will accept even worse mistreatment from their bosses. Republicans are "cheap labor conservatives" as their policies are designed to provide the rich with cheap labor, be it here or overseas.
You will note that Rumsfeld has admitted the banner was made by White House staff, and reflected wording from Bush's speech. Bush's production manager flew out to the ship five days earlier, checking every detail for his boss's triumphant deck-swagger in a flight suit. Being the commander in chief, if Bush told the Navy "Take the rap for me on this," they had no choice but to say, "Yeah, we asked for the banner."
And you openly display your pride in the man. Unbelievable.
Slashdot Mirror
Thanks, I've traveled outside the US, which helps to get some perspective.
Are you the AC, or are you nomadic? Because I don't see the user BitZtream talking about anything in this thread until this post.
I was talking about American Expectionalism, not about other countries. Why cloud the issue with juvenile rebuttals of "But the other kids are doing it!" If we are so special, why are you comparing us to other countries to excuse our wrongdoing?
AFAIK, as of 2009, the socialist EU has a higher GDP per capita than we do, coupled with less religious fundamentalism. Does that make them better than us?
American Exceptionalism is not the idea that we are different. Every nation is different in some way. It is the express idea that we are better, and in common practice, it is coupled with vigorous defense of America from any perceived insult or criticism.
Does the average individual in America today have more power to control his destiny than his counterparts in other first world nations? To me, it seems the average individual in America is struggling just to get by, has no health care, is poorly educated compared to the rest of the world, has fewer real functional rights, and less opportunity to succeed.
So, do you believe in American Exceptionalism? Are we better than other countries? Does this then give us a moral mandate to make the world a better place?
Buhy bye, troll. Have fun. I'm not the one who will stalk you, I'm not that crazy.But there are deep dark crazies here, and they just don't like your type. I've seen it before, and I'm just going to sit back and watch the fun. Weeeeeeeee! is right!
Enterprise, we need to increase momentum, we are entering the cloud sector now!
This is not a discussion of China or Russia. Why bring them into this? Would it even help at all if I said all militant nationalism is disgusting? I doubt it. Like a child screaming, "But Charly did it!" when caught in wrongdoing, you seek to deflect blame by calling attention to the failings of others.
How is America willing to honestly face its past? In what way, exactly, have we been honest, brave, forthright, and fair in facing our past of criminal genocide against entire native populations? Has anyone gotten forty acres and a mule? What have we redressed? I mean, you can come up with at least one example, right?
Now, please don't get me wrong. I love this country and I love my fellow citizens, and I think we have been a great nation, and can be again. But I am not a sad enabler of my beloved's worst habits and traits. I am a true patriot, willing to go out on a limb and point out the cold, hard, and ugly facts, for the benefit of my country. A false friend will tell you only what you want to hear. Someone who really cares about you will tell you the truth, even if it hurts.
Okay, 186, I asked for a number. How many fucking accounts do you have? Why the FUCK do you have more than one? Were you here the last time someone tried this little trick? Do you know what happens to people like you? You aren't welcome here, and that will be made increasingly and abundantly clear to you as time goes on. People here don't take kindly to astroturfing sock puppets. We've got chunks of guys like you in our stool.
Just so you know. I mean, I hope you are here because you are a masochist who loves getting his ass kicked. Because that's the only thing you will get here.
African or Europaean swallow?
Hey bro, quick question, simple question really.
How many accounts do you have?
Hilarious, and well done. Wait! You need to talk about his mom's face!
Let me ask you, is there any hope of justice in your view of the world? Or, is it perhaps that this world is just, in your view, and those seeking to change it are the ones who are wrong?
How do you, personally, feel about the concept of justice? Should those that harm others be punished? Who should get to decide. I mean, I know you probably don't mean it that way, but it sounds as if you are against the whole concept of justice, feeling it to be flawed, and simply a matter of one group or individual punishing another for no real reason but arbitrary power to do so.
American Exceptionalism is the sadly more and more common belief that America, by its very nature, can do no wrong. It is Manifest Destiny written on a global scale. When we kill, torture, rape and rob, it is okay because what we do is for the Highest Good, therefore, if we torture, it must be the right thing to do. When we spy on other countries and interfere in their internal affairs, it is for their own good. If we do it, it is right, just, good, and in fact, both necessary and Fated to Happen. We are God's chosen, his favorites, just look at the evidence: would he have made us the best, richest, most powerful nation on Earth if we weren't his special favorites? God Bless America, and no one else!
This is what a growing number of Americans seem to believe. Scream and yell all you want. We don't hear you because we don't have to listen. That is one of the perks of being powerful, you simply do not have to listen to or pay attention to most of your detractors because they are not living in the same world as you are.
Quite hyping your imaginary political movement. This is about corporations, not government. Unless you deal with the real powers first, your government will be no different than any other. The ultra rich of the world laugh at the concept of 'metagovernment,' which boils down to the sheep separating themselves into conveniently smaller and less powerful herds, all the easier for the true powers to prey upon.
The US government has always worked closely with US corporations to perform espionage. The government gives the corporations data on their foreign competition, the corporations give the government spies cover.
Are we still going to ask them to stop doing what they are doing ?
However with big banks and big pharm involved, I am more concerned about the well being of the individuals who run wikileaks, then if only governments were involved.
Absolutely. Governments world wide are just pawns for these sociopaths, they really don't care if governments take the blame. But when you start going after them directly, expect to wind up dead or in prison.
It tastes Europaean.
You obviously weren't paying attention in class. Don't blame "gubermint skoolin'" for your educational shortcomings. The rest of us know what the Danegeld is.
Funny thing, my government education, and yours, and that of most everyone here, has somehow managed to instill in us enough knowledge of history to know what the Danegeld is. Everyone gains benefits from educated citizens, so everyone should help pay for education. The more educated a populace, the richer the country. Education, being a positive externality, will not be allocated in sufficient quantities just based on individual purchases of education. This is because most of the people who gain benefit from your education (your boss, your spouse, your family, your neighbors and fellow citizens) do not have to pay for your education in a free market, even though they gain benefits. Seeing little demand, the free market will not provide the optimal quantity or quality of education. Only the rich will be well educated, and a poor serving class will not have the tools to be good citizens. Being uneducated, these poor will be unable to contribute as much, and they will be easier for the powerful to manipulate into voting against their own (and your) interests.
A free market in education is not efficient, will not provide higher quality education than government, will not provide enough education, and will lead to an uneducated populace that can not participate effectively in their own governance. That is a structural problem stemming from the fact that education is an externality.
How has that worked out for FOX, NBC, and Comcast? You suggest the providers boycott Comcast, and you mention that it has been done in the past, but you don't mention the outcomes. Did anyone drop their Comcast subscription and move to a different provider? Was Comcast hurt at all by the action? Did FOX and NBC get better deals? Were the deals good enough to make up for the lost revenue? It's all well and good to suggest content providers go to the mat for you, but they are looking out for their bottom line, and caving might just be cheaper.
The thing is, Comcast and other companies like it have extracted special considerations from local, state, and even the Federal government, including right of way and monopoly privileges. If they want to keep those deals, they can do what we tell them too. I mean, that is fair, right? If we say, "open Internet" they give us an open internet or we take away their deals, which would kill them in an instant, "So sorry, we're tearing your cables down and letting someone who will play ball have the deal. Maybe you should have purchased all the land your cables run on instead of cutting monopoly deals for the right of way. But seeing as how you didn't purchase the land, your cables are on OUR property and they are coming DOWN."
Comcast may be big, but we can legally and morally fuck them royally. If they didn't want to give we, the people such a big say, they didn't have to accept our Big Government Largess.
Have you never seen her appearances on, uh, any media whatsoever? She wants to legislate against homosexuality, abortion, stem cell research and anything else the voice in her head that she calls "lord" tells her to. She HAS said she won't try to legislate against masturbation, despite her previous position on the matter. So, yay for that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_O'Donnell
Just read her positions, she is a hard core xtian wingnut.
Okay, if you want to say his staff did it without his say so, I'll accept that as a possibility. Means he was responsible, in any case, unless you are saying the president is not responsible for thew actions of his staff.
You guys love tax cuts for the rich, you will note Republicans want to repeal the tax cuts for the middle class.
As for AIDS funding, our paltry donations were hardly enough to have bankrupted Vanuatu. Nine billion? Chump change. And Bush did it? Wow, amazing how congress was to blame for going to war and ruining the economy, but for THIS, Bush gets credit. Did we come close to meeting the UN goals for aid to Africa of 0.7% of GNI? No. Did other countries? Yes, they did.
http://www.oecd.org/document/49/0,2340,en_2649_201185_38341265_1_1_1_1,00.html
Letting business keep more money would only help if business invested it in creating new jobs in America, but there is no demand here, and so despite record profits for Wall Street this year, we have seen no real increase in job creation. The rich hoard the money, spend it on luxuries manufactured overseas, or invest it overseas where desperate workers are ready for the slaughter.
It is ALL about giving the filthy rich the wealth created by the productive class, that is, the working class that creates all real tangible value. All Republican policies have the same goal: making the poor more desperate so they will accept even worse mistreatment from their bosses. Republicans are "cheap labor conservatives" as their policies are designed to provide the rich with cheap labor, be it here or overseas.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/03/AR2007050302138.html
http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2010-11-17-banner17_ST_N.htm
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/11/19/bush-library-may-show-mission-accomplished-banner-from-2003-ir/
http://articles.cnn.com/2003-10-28/politics/mission.accomplished_1_aircraft-carrier-conrad-chun-banner?_s=PM:ALLPOLITICS
http://www.floppingaces.net/2008/05/01/who-was-responsible-for-the-mission-accomplished-banner/
You will note that Rumsfeld has admitted the banner was made by White House staff, and reflected wording from Bush's speech. Bush's production manager flew out to the ship five days earlier, checking every detail for his boss's triumphant deck-swagger in a flight suit. Being the commander in chief, if Bush told the Navy "Take the rap for me on this," they had no choice but to say, "Yeah, we asked for the banner."
And you openly display your pride in the man. Unbelievable.