You can vilify and demonize Russia as much as you want. But you cannot fool everybody. As much as you can try to defend your so-called Neutral Point of View (NPoV), but you don't actually seem to have one. How is that you are ignoring the Georgian atrocity in South Ossetia? Without acknowledging that nobody can really understand the Russian response. And you are resorting to name calling because you have no substantial evidence to support your theory (which I think is Russia is to be blamed for the current Georgian conflict!). People resort to name calling when they have no solid points to argue with!
And you are so naive to believe that USA has nothing to do with Georgia attacking South Ossetia. I only wish that American public were smarter than that. And the ultimate joke is that you have the idiocy to claim that I am a victim of propaganda. For the real victim please look into a mirror. I can now understand how Bush was able to cheat the Americans in the 2004 elections and become the President of USA. It should have been quite easy.
I pointed out the Iraqi war, Afghanistan war and other atrocities of America just to demonstrate their hypocrisy in their international dealings. Once you invade another country (and ignore human rights by abusing and torturing other nationals), you lose the moral authority to pretend outrage when another country does it.
And like you have correctly pointed out, just because America has carried out these depraved attacks upon another country, it doesn't excuse any other country to do the same. So in that count you are right. But I'll repeat this again for your benefit. Russia did not invade Georgia, but rather intervened into a Georgia - South Ossetia conflict. Georgians killed about 2000 South Ossetians, and Russians sent their force to bring back peace. Thats why the casualty in Georgian side is so less (about 200). So in this issue, Russia did not do anything wrong.
By finding nothing wrong in Russia's response in this conflict, it does not mean that I'll support Russia unconditionally on whatever they do. I take sides based on the issue that we are discussing. Is it so difficult for you to accept that Russians can sometimes do a good deed? Or just because you don't hear about it, have you come to believe that Russians can never do something good? How about this story, in which an American was not allowed to say that Russians saved their life from Georgians on US television network? Do you have any comments on that?
I see that you mostly resort to flame bait. But I try to share my opinion. This discussion would be more pleasant if you can avoid name calling.
In this century, almost all the international news in my country's newspaper is about death and destruction brought about by USA. The Iraq war, the Afghanistan war, the tortures at Guantanamo bay (refusal to adhere to the internationally agreed upon code for treatment of prisoners of war by inventing a new "enemy combatant" terminology). They are actively working to create unrest in Iranian territory. Nothing much is reported about Russia. Compared to USA's hegemonic goals, Russia will pale into insignificance. And it is really strange that Americans talk about "moral authority" about respecting other nations sovereignty, while having invaded and occupied 2 countries! Isn't that a little bit hypocritical? America has ceased to be a role model for developing nations in this century.
But America need not go down this path of destruction, occupation and generally an imperialistic approach. And that can happen only if Americans make a real choice in their elections. If their choice is only between Republican and Democratic parties, then it is not really a choice. I can see that both these parties are the same. They differ in a very minute details. Americans need to look at political parties like Green Party or other alternative parties, who promise to stop the Iraq war and Afghanistan war, who promise to bring single-payer health care, and who would make policies in an environment friendly manner. When Americans are truly ready for change, then, and only then can America be saved. Otherwise, they will go down this path and into war, and by doing so will drag many other countries in their perilous adventure.
In South Ossetia there was a peace-keeping force consisting of members from 3 regions: Russian + Georgian + South Ossetian. This peace keeping force was in place because of previous conflicts between Georgia and South Ossetia. On 7-August-2008, Georgia conducted a surprise military attack on Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, killing the Russian peace keepers and also about 2000 South Ossetians civilians. They were bombarding the city in the night! Russia *retaliated*. Remember that lots of South Ossetians are Russian passport holders. And the casualty on the Georgian side was 200. And did you know that the fleeing South Ossetians are going into Russia for refuge? This simply means that they fear for their lives from the Georgians. The count of refugees is now about 30,000. And it is continuing to grow. In my opinion, Russians did not invade Georgia, but rather intervened in the Georgia, South Ossetia conflict. Without Russian intervention the death toll in South Ossetia would have been much more. How did Georgia dare to provoke Russia? Because of the assurances they received from USA. That is why I am blaming USA for the current conflict. American soldiers may not be there in the war zone. But American military trainers and strategists are with the Georgian military providing their valuable service behind the scenes. In this particular conflict, yes Russians are the good guys.
South Ossetia and Abhkazia was never really a part of Georgia. They were autonomous from the beginning (when USSR was dissolved). If you are really interested then please check out this article. While USA and the western media can talk about "territorial integrity" of Georgia, the reality is entirely different. And just to understand the logic, why did USA support Kosovo to get separated from Serbia, while they want "territorial integrity" for Georgia? Because USA will invoke the rhetoric that will be most beneficial for itself. In the case of Kosovo it is the "freedom" of these separatists that were important, but in the case of South Ossetia, "territorial integrity" of Georgia is important!
I can only lament at the current state of affairs. By cornering Russia throughout the eastern European region including the Caucasus, USA is triggering an arms race in the region. This will perhaps be beneficial for the arms dealers (and America is one of the most prolific arms dealer). But ultimately this will lead to more blood shed. It is sad that many well-meaning patriotic Americans will also give up their life in vain (if they think they are dying for some good ideal.) Did you know that more USA soldiers (who returned from Iraq) committed suicide than the actual American casualty in Iraq? You wouldn't read that in the media. God bless Americans. Let God save everybody else from America.
Here is an article that will inform you that Georgia got the green signal to attack South Ossetia from USA. Anybody who thinks that Georgia will undertake this misadventure without certain assurances from USA doesn't really understand the world politics. By this 'war' between USA-backed Georgia and Russia, the USA was able to quickly convince Poland about the importance of missile-shield. This is the kind of situation that USA likes. By expanding NATO in the caucasus region, it will only increase the tension prevailing in the region. These political moves are meant to undermine Russia and its influence in the region, thereby tipping the power balance in America's favour. These are just beginnings of more troubled times. Unless America quits Iraq and Afghanistan and stops war-mongering against Iran, I have no reason to believe in the goodness of America.
If you start your analysis only from the event of Georgia attacking South Ossetia, then you might not understand the deeper political manipulation by USA. America's interest in making Georgia attack South Ossetia, by providing military training along with weapons, is to give itself an excuse to place its military in that particular region. Russia's response was predictable, and almost unavoidable and USA knew this. Now, like yourself, everybody will support American army presence in the region. This is what they wanted! This will give them control over the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline that runs through Georgia. So this is another war for the oil and profit, just like Iraq.
The point is, without American support (the weapons, training and NATO membership carrot) Georgia wouldn't have had the courage or the wherewithal to attack South Ossetia. Remember that Georgia started this war by attacking first and killing about 2000 South Ossetian civilians. They killed Russian peace keepers stations in South Ossetian (they are stationed there because of trouble during the 90s.) And what Russia did was to retaliate. And all that I hear from USA (Bush, Rice, Cheney) is about Russian "aggression". South Ossetia and Abhkazia was never a part of Georgia. They were autonomous from the day USSR dissolved.
How come you haven't mentioned anything about Iraq and Afghanistan? You cannot think about any excuse to defend USA in those regions? And what is the problem with USA if India is interested in Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline? USA is the most imperialist country at this point in time. It is the country that brings death to people world-wide. I hope their military superiority doesn't last for long. We need a multi-polar world.
Americans are a very important reason as to why the current conflict in Georgia is happening. I encourage you to do your own analysis on this. The article, "How USA funds Georgian arms?" will help you understand it a little bit. It is not my wish that America be involved in Georgia, but it is going on for sometime now. Georgia has received considerable help (in terms of weapons as well as training) in recent times. Now they are putting them to use. America is not a reluctant benevolent international player, as you are trying to project.
Actually it goes to the likes of Exxon Mobil. And I am surprised you mention about Russian Imperialism! What is USA doing in Iraq and Afghanistan? American imperialism is more dangerous than Russian imperialism because currently American military is the most powerful. In fact, the current conflict in Georgia is a direct result of American meddling in their affairs.
Let us all be correct in the terminology here. It is not Russian Invasion, but Russian Retaliation. It was Georgia, with support from USA and Israel, who first initiated the attack against Russian peace keepers. In my opinion, it is dangerous to have the US as an enemy but fatal to have as a friend. I encourage everybody to read the articles at WSWS for a good analysis.
In what way does the presents of evolution rule out an intelligent designer; might that designer have included an evolutionary mechanism?
Instead of asking people, who disagree, to prove that there is no intelligent designer, why not people, who propose it as a scientific theory, provide some proof for its existence?
Sure, ditch the suit and tie. After all, it's not like Steve Jobs wears them to special events. But why go barefoot? The guy probably wears shoes outside his home, so why take them off to get on stage and deliver a speech to respected academics?
In my country (India), it is respectful to remove shoes while entering house or temple or a memorial.
What if next time RMS decides (say under the pretence of intellectual freedom or some crap like that) he doesn't like country music and that free software mustn't be used in any part of the process of creating or playing country music? Who'd be there to stop him? Or how?
What if your country (say under the pretence of terrorism or some crap like that) changes the law stating that you cannot own computers anymore? Who'd be there to stop them? Or how?
I thought peer review will filter out all mediocre papers from being published. If the peer review process has accepted a paper for publishing, it simply means that the paper is of good quality. In that case, how does it matter if the paper was written by a human being or some robot?
I always wondered why governments cannot see the benefits without the help of any study. Anyway, I am currently downloading the document. But all governments should be informed of such useful studies. What is good for US governments might be useful for other governments too!
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You can vilify and demonize Russia as much as you want. But you cannot fool everybody. As much as you can try to defend your so-called Neutral Point of View (NPoV), but you don't actually seem to have one. How is that you are ignoring the Georgian atrocity in South Ossetia? Without acknowledging that nobody can really understand the Russian response. And you are resorting to name calling because you have no substantial evidence to support your theory (which I think is Russia is to be blamed for the current Georgian conflict!). People resort to name calling when they have no solid points to argue with!
And you are so naive to believe that USA has nothing to do with Georgia attacking South Ossetia. I only wish that American public were smarter than that. And the ultimate joke is that you have the idiocy to claim that I am a victim of propaganda. For the real victim please look into a mirror. I can now understand how Bush was able to cheat the Americans in the 2004 elections and become the President of USA. It should have been quite easy.
I pointed out the Iraqi war, Afghanistan war and other atrocities of America just to demonstrate their hypocrisy in their international dealings. Once you invade another country (and ignore human rights by abusing and torturing other nationals), you lose the moral authority to pretend outrage when another country does it.
And like you have correctly pointed out, just because America has carried out these depraved attacks upon another country, it doesn't excuse any other country to do the same. So in that count you are right. But I'll repeat this again for your benefit. Russia did not invade Georgia, but rather intervened into a Georgia - South Ossetia conflict. Georgians killed about 2000 South Ossetians, and Russians sent their force to bring back peace. Thats why the casualty in Georgian side is so less (about 200). So in this issue, Russia did not do anything wrong.
By finding nothing wrong in Russia's response in this conflict, it does not mean that I'll support Russia unconditionally on whatever they do. I take sides based on the issue that we are discussing. Is it so difficult for you to accept that Russians can sometimes do a good deed? Or just because you don't hear about it, have you come to believe that Russians can never do something good? How about this story, in which an American was not allowed to say that Russians saved their life from Georgians on US television network? Do you have any comments on that?
I see that you mostly resort to flame bait. But I try to share my opinion. This discussion would be more pleasant if you can avoid name calling.
In this century, almost all the international news in my country's newspaper is about death and destruction brought about by USA. The Iraq war, the Afghanistan war, the tortures at Guantanamo bay (refusal to adhere to the internationally agreed upon code for treatment of prisoners of war by inventing a new "enemy combatant" terminology). They are actively working to create unrest in Iranian territory. Nothing much is reported about Russia. Compared to USA's hegemonic goals, Russia will pale into insignificance. And it is really strange that Americans talk about "moral authority" about respecting other nations sovereignty, while having invaded and occupied 2 countries! Isn't that a little bit hypocritical? America has ceased to be a role model for developing nations in this century.
But America need not go down this path of destruction, occupation and generally an imperialistic approach. And that can happen only if Americans make a real choice in their elections. If their choice is only between Republican and Democratic parties, then it is not really a choice. I can see that both these parties are the same. They differ in a very minute details. Americans need to look at political parties like Green Party or other alternative parties, who promise to stop the Iraq war and Afghanistan war, who promise to bring single-payer health care, and who would make policies in an environment friendly manner. When Americans are truly ready for change, then, and only then can America be saved. Otherwise, they will go down this path and into war, and by doing so will drag many other countries in their perilous adventure.
Already the arms race has started. They are already discussion about nuclear weapons in space.
In South Ossetia there was a peace-keeping force consisting of members from 3 regions: Russian + Georgian + South Ossetian. This peace keeping force was in place because of previous conflicts between Georgia and South Ossetia. On 7-August-2008, Georgia conducted a surprise military attack on Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, killing the Russian peace keepers and also about 2000 South Ossetians civilians. They were bombarding the city in the night! Russia *retaliated*. Remember that lots of South Ossetians are Russian passport holders. And the casualty on the Georgian side was 200. And did you know that the fleeing South Ossetians are going into Russia for refuge? This simply means that they fear for their lives from the Georgians. The count of refugees is now about 30,000. And it is continuing to grow. In my opinion, Russians did not invade Georgia, but rather intervened in the Georgia, South Ossetia conflict. Without Russian intervention the death toll in South Ossetia would have been much more. How did Georgia dare to provoke Russia? Because of the assurances they received from USA. That is why I am blaming USA for the current conflict. American soldiers may not be there in the war zone. But American military trainers and strategists are with the Georgian military providing their valuable service behind the scenes. In this particular conflict, yes Russians are the good guys.
South Ossetia and Abhkazia was never really a part of Georgia. They were autonomous from the beginning (when USSR was dissolved). If you are really interested then please check out this article. While USA and the western media can talk about "territorial integrity" of Georgia, the reality is entirely different. And just to understand the logic, why did USA support Kosovo to get separated from Serbia, while they want "territorial integrity" for Georgia? Because USA will invoke the rhetoric that will be most beneficial for itself. In the case of Kosovo it is the "freedom" of these separatists that were important, but in the case of South Ossetia, "territorial integrity" of Georgia is important!
I can only lament at the current state of affairs. By cornering Russia throughout the eastern European region including the Caucasus, USA is triggering an arms race in the region. This will perhaps be beneficial for the arms dealers (and America is one of the most prolific arms dealer). But ultimately this will lead to more blood shed. It is sad that many well-meaning patriotic Americans will also give up their life in vain (if they think they are dying for some good ideal.) Did you know that more USA soldiers (who returned from Iraq) committed suicide than the actual American casualty in Iraq? You wouldn't read that in the media. God bless Americans. Let God save everybody else from America.
Here is an article that will inform you that Georgia got the green signal to attack South Ossetia from USA. Anybody who thinks that Georgia will undertake this misadventure without certain assurances from USA doesn't really understand the world politics. By this 'war' between USA-backed Georgia and Russia, the USA was able to quickly convince Poland about the importance of missile-shield. This is the kind of situation that USA likes. By expanding NATO in the caucasus region, it will only increase the tension prevailing in the region. These political moves are meant to undermine Russia and its influence in the region, thereby tipping the power balance in America's favour. These are just beginnings of more troubled times. Unless America quits Iraq and Afghanistan and stops war-mongering against Iran, I have no reason to believe in the goodness of America.
If you start your analysis only from the event of Georgia attacking South Ossetia, then you might not understand the deeper political manipulation by USA. America's interest in making Georgia attack South Ossetia, by providing military training along with weapons, is to give itself an excuse to place its military in that particular region. Russia's response was predictable, and almost unavoidable and USA knew this. Now, like yourself, everybody will support American army presence in the region. This is what they wanted! This will give them control over the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline that runs through Georgia. So this is another war for the oil and profit, just like Iraq.
The point is, without American support (the weapons, training and NATO membership carrot) Georgia wouldn't have had the courage or the wherewithal to attack South Ossetia. Remember that Georgia started this war by attacking first and killing about 2000 South Ossetian civilians. They killed Russian peace keepers stations in South Ossetian (they are stationed there because of trouble during the 90s.) And what Russia did was to retaliate. And all that I hear from USA (Bush, Rice, Cheney) is about Russian "aggression". South Ossetia and Abhkazia was never a part of Georgia. They were autonomous from the day USSR dissolved.
How come you haven't mentioned anything about Iraq and Afghanistan? You cannot think about any excuse to defend USA in those regions? And what is the problem with USA if India is interested in Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline? USA is the most imperialist country at this point in time. It is the country that brings death to people world-wide. I hope their military superiority doesn't last for long. We need a multi-polar world.
Americans are a very important reason as to why the current conflict in Georgia is happening. I encourage you to do your own analysis on this. The article, "How USA funds Georgian arms?" will help you understand it a little bit. It is not my wish that America be involved in Georgia, but it is going on for sometime now. Georgia has received considerable help (in terms of weapons as well as training) in recent times. Now they are putting them to use. America is not a reluctant benevolent international player, as you are trying to project.
Actually it goes to the likes of Exxon Mobil. And I am surprised you mention about Russian Imperialism! What is USA doing in Iraq and Afghanistan? American imperialism is more dangerous than Russian imperialism because currently American military is the most powerful. In fact, the current conflict in Georgia is a direct result of American meddling in their affairs.
Let us all be correct in the terminology here. It is not Russian Invasion, but Russian Retaliation. It was Georgia, with support from USA and Israel, who first initiated the attack against Russian peace keepers. In my opinion, it is dangerous to have the US as an enemy but fatal to have as a friend. I encourage everybody to read the articles at WSWS for a good analysis.
Why only red and blue? There are the Greens.
Why talk as though there are no alternatives? Why not vote for Green Party?
In what way does the presents of evolution rule out an intelligent designer; might that designer have included an evolutionary mechanism?
Instead of asking people, who disagree, to prove that there is no intelligent designer, why not people, who propose it as a scientific theory, provide some proof for its existence?In my country (India), it is respectful to remove shoes while entering house or temple or a memorial.
What if next time RMS decides (say under the pretence of intellectual freedom or some crap like that) he doesn't like country music and that free software mustn't be used in any part of the process of creating or playing country music? Who'd be there to stop him? Or how?
What if your country (say under the pretence of terrorism or some crap like that) changes the law stating that you cannot own computers anymore? Who'd be there to stop them? Or how?
I thought peer review will filter out all mediocre papers from being published.
If the peer review process has accepted a paper for publishing, it simply means
that the paper is of good quality. In that case, how does it matter if the paper
was written by a human being or some robot?
For example "non-obvious" has devloved to mean "not already known", a situation which is beyond words.
I think "non-obvious" has come to mean "not already patented."
I always wondered why governments cannot see the benefits without the help of any study. Anyway, I am currently downloading the document. But all governments should be informed of such useful studies. What is good for US governments might be useful for other governments too!