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natallia
Sport climber
Munich, Germany
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jan 8, 2010 - 06:06pm PT
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The US will drown in their insane war against al-quaida (synonym for terror against the west - what actually means against the brutal dominance of the US) and will loose importance and dominance within the next century - that's for sure !
The politicians do not recognize that they are lured into dictatory measurements which take away step by step civil rights, the freedom and wealth of each and every american citizen. I like to claim that what they really love is total control (a new kind of dictatorship is showing its ugly face). and the normal human does not recognize what's going on. That is the true gift (modern trojan horse) of Osama bin Laden! And it worked and still works perfectly like a creeping unknown sickness.
The former president was a puppet on the string for the vice and the big business. the big biz is the real king - they want this kind of war and control over their own people because it delivers them big profits in many aspects. those men do not care about anyone of you americans, they just did the biggest robbery (called fincancial crisis) in human history and got away with it. this greed is the real devil. the senators are responsible for all the laws and regulations, they give the "yeah" brainwashed by the biz lobbyists.
The "administration", which are actually humans of flesh and blood, lies bluntly in all important matters to the public. this happened when a reason to enter ww I was required, same with ww II (hope you all know what Roosevelt was doing, better not doing, in the pearl harbor case), same for Vietnam (the attack of a destroyer was a fake) and in other utmost important matters. Always the big business and capital is the actor behind the curtains and they never give their sons away to war ! They just make their share and their wifes bath in luxury!
The fight against terror is like the roman war against the folks of the north, they never won - they whole empire crumbled down eventually. because this kind of terror the US receives is a balance to the ugly behaviour of the US power on this planet, including the suck up of the arab oil suppliers. and as long as this does not change I predict a dark age for the US. by focusing too many resources on a never winnable war they fall economically behind China and soon behind India. What the drug consumption and loss of moral values cannot achieve, the anti-terror-war and anti-terror-hystery will do.
And how come that one Sheikh could afford the biggest building on earth (not mentioning the crazy luxury hotels) out of this pocket money and 2/3 of the building cranes of our planet are in the gulf region? Aren't the stealing our wealth or are we so stupid to give? Would you like to be forced to a constant blood spending ?
And I do not know, since we have recorded history, of any fortress which was not torn down ! The historic chinese big-wall was the outcome of a mentally sick chinese emperor as it gave protection only for a decade but costed the life of 3 million slaves ! Whatever walls or controls the US is building up, there is always a way to penetrate! And the 50 billion $ annual budget for lots secret services (220 000 men) are wasted, they just finance a warm chair for fat asses in uncontrollable organizations. The Israelis do the 80/20 control system without any machines and databases: 80 percent of energy (alertness) on 20 % of suspects and it works, the beaurocrats have lost all their intuition for danger, they transfer reconaisscance ability to machines and databases and as as rebound they get fear, fear everywhere and almost on everything - is this the new evolution of mankind ? NO, it is decay - the US is going the road down. They seem to suffer a mental disease !
The continental europeans are not very much better, but since ww II they learned the lesson that force and killing does not really solve a problem - it just defers. The russians moved out of Afghanistan after 7 bloody years and now the stupid US decision-makers move in, in order to get the same bloody lesson. In the 60s Afghanistan did not produce one pound opium, now they deliver 60 % of the world's demand !
When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn ... ?
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apogee
climber
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I would mention something about being respectful about too many OT politi-threads here, but it doesn't seem to matter. Carry on!
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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my teeth decay yet I continue to chew
so loaded, so proselytizing, that I can't help but post a climbing picture....
I cast a + 1 mud choss pile
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, Ca.
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Natallia, ask me if I give a f*#k what you think? Also, last time I checked, German troops were in Afghanistan.
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Hawkeye
climber
State of Mine
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i think the kraut is upset. its been a while since they built any deathcamps over there....
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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we may decide to take Europe
Who'd want it?
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slabbo
Trad climber
fort garland, colo
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F Europe
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Deemed Useless
Social climber
Ca.
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Watch what you say Natallia. America may decide to come and get you.
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jstan
climber
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During the Korean war we called our adversaries "gooks." Marginalizing them in this way was
apparently viewed as a way to make our killing them less emotionally stressful for us. Until such
time as matters have deteriorated to that extent, we only lose by treating others in this way.
Treat a friend as an enemy, and you shall never lack for enemies.
Below is an article from yesterday's LA Times written by a former dean of the Graduate School of
Journalism at UC Berkeley. His area of expertise is Asia and China.
latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-schell7-2010jan07,0,7458460.story
latimes.com
Opinion
America's can't-do list
The list of what works in other countries, but no longer does in the U.S., is growing.
By Orville Schell
January 7, 2010
Lately, I've been studying the melting of glaciers in the greater Himalayas. Understanding the
cascading effects of the slow-motion downsizing of one of the planet's most magnificent
landforms has, to put it politely, left me dispirited.
It is impossible to focus on those Himalayan highlands without realizing that something that
once seemed immutable and eternal has become vulnerable, even perishable. Those magnificent
glaciers are wasting away on an overheated planet, and no one knows what to do about it.
Another tipping point has also been on my mind lately, and it's left me no less melancholy. In
this case, the threat is to my own country, the United States. We Americans too seem to have
passed a tipping point. Like the glaciers of the high Himalaya, long-familiar aspects of our nation
are beginning to seem as if they are, in a sense, melting away.
In the last few months, as I've roamed the world from San Francisco to Copenhagen to Beijing to
Dubai, I've taken to keeping a double- entry list of what works and what doesn't, country by
country. Unfortunately, it's become largely a list of what works elsewhere but doesn't work here.
In places such as China, South Korea, Sweden, Holland, Switzerland and (until recently) the
United Arab Emirates, you find people hard at work on the challenges of education,
transportation, energy and the environment. In these places, one feels the kind of hopefulness
and can-do optimism that used to abound in the United States.
China, a country I've visited more than 100 times since 1975, elicits an especially complicated set
of feelings in me. Its Leninist government doesn't always live up to Western ideals on such things
as political transparency, the rule of law, human rights and democracy. And yet it has managed
to conjure an economic miracle. In China today, you feel an unmistakable sense of energy and
optimism in the air that, believe me, is bittersweet for an American pondering why the
regenerative powers of his own country have gone missing.
As I've traveled from China's gleaming, efficient airports to our often-chaotic and broken-down
versions of the same, or ridden on Europe's high-speed trains that so sharply contrast with our
clunky, slowly vanishing passenger rail system, I keep expanding my list of what works here at
home and what doesn't.
Over time, the list's entries have fallen into three categories. There are things that are robust and
growing, replete with promise, the envy of the world. Then there are those things that are still
alive and kicking but are precariously balanced between growth and decline. Finally, there are
those things that are irredeemably broken.
Here is the score card as I see it.
Aspects of U.S. life that are still vigorous and filled with potential:
Biotechnology, which is delivering much of the world's most innovative research and ideas.
Silicon Valley, which has enormous inventiveness, energy and capital at its disposal.
Civil society, which, despite the collapse of the economy, seems to be luring the best and
brightest young people, and superbly performs the crucial function of goading government and
other institutions.
American philanthropy, which is the most evolved, well funded and innovative in the world.
The U.S. military, the best-led, -trained and -equipped on the planet, despite being repeatedly
thrust into hopeless wars by stupid politicians.
The spirit and cohesiveness of small-town American life.
The arts, including our film industry, which remains the globe's sole superpower of
entertainment, along with the requisite networks of orchestras, ballet companies, theaters, pop
music groups and world-class museums.
Aspects of U.S. life that still function but need help:
Higher and secondary school education, in which America boasts some of the globe's preeminent
institutions. Increasingly, though, many of the best institutions are private, and jewel-in-the-
crown public systems such as California's continue to be hit with devastating budget cuts.
Environmental protection, which compares favorably with that in other countries despite being
underfunded.
The national energy system, which still delivers but is overdependent on oil and coal, and
depends on a grid badly in need of upgrading.
Aspects of U.S. life in need of drastic intervention.
Public elementary education, which in most states is desperately underfunded and fails to deliver
on its promise to provide all children with high-quality schooling.
The federal government, which is essentially paralyzed by partisanship and incapable of
delivering solutions to the country's most pressing problems.
State governments, which are largely dysfunctional and nearly insolvent.
American infrastructure, including highways, docks, bridges and tunnels, dikes, waterworks and
other essential systems we aren't maintaining and upgrading as we should.
Airlines and the airports they service, which are almost Third World in equipment and service
standards.
Passenger rail, which has not one mile of truly high-speed rail.
The financial system, whose over-paid executives and underregulated practices ran us off an
economic cliff in 2008 and compromised the whole system in the eyes of the world.
The electronic media, which, except for public broadcasting and a vital and growing Internet, are
an overly commercialized, broken-down mess that have let down the country in terms of keeping
us informed.
Print media, which from newspaper publishing to book publishing are in crisis.
Basic manufacturing, which has fallen so far behind it seems headed for oblivion.
I started keeping these lists because I was searching for things that would banish that dispiriting
sense that America is in decline. And yet the can-do list remains unbearably short and the can't-
do one grows each time I travel.
American prowess and promise, once seemingly as much a permanent part of the global
landscape as glaciers, mountains and oceans, seems to be melting away by the day, just like the
great Himalayan ice fields.
Orville Schell is the director of the Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations. He is the former
dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley and the author of many books on
China. A longer version of this article appears at tomdispatch.com.
Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times
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Nibs
Trad climber
Humboldt, CA
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typical responses lending credence to Natallia's point. As jstan pointed out recently, the USA can no longer be trusted to think and behave rationally. I had hoped that would change with the past presidential election; however, the current political climate will not allow it.
and while I am poorly paraphrasing I'll continue with a line from Jim Harrison's The English Major "Each election cycle is a new opportunity to display the ineptitude of the American education system." yep, another opportunity coming up this year.
Welcome to the board Natallia. You sure know how to stir it up!!
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Nibs
Trad climber
Humboldt, CA
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oops, sorry jstan; meant the posts above yours. another fine post. welcome back!
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Hotdog2000
climber
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Your history is trite. Why don't we talk about some German war crimes now.I can think of a few. Btw Vietnam has since admitted to the first attack on the Maddox.
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habitat
climber
grass pass
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Natallia, I appreciate your comments. There is a lot of truth in what you say. And I always enjoy a perspective from another country, something one can't normally get unless one is in another country.
Also the article courtesy of jstan. Always nice to hear someone more intelligent and knowlegable than myself articulate what I feel intuitively.
Acknowledging one's own weaknesses is never an easy thing.
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, Ca.
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I had hoped that would change with the past presidential election; however, the current political climate will not allow it.
What does that mean?
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jstan
climber
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Not to worry Nibs. In very economical fashion you said exactly what Schell wrote.
There is a yawning gap between words and deeds here. I would expect certain of those posting would be anxious to volunteer for military service to set right the matters that concern them.
However, this does not seem to be happening.
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slabbo
Trad climber
fort garland, colo
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Move
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apogee
climber
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"A sure sign of a decaying society is the inability to laugh off criticism."
Criticizing the leadership used to be considered grounds for being called 'unpatriotic'. Now those same supposed 'patriots' criticize with rabid, foaming mouths. My, how times and agendas change.
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, Ca.
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Criticizing the leadership used to be considered grounds for being called 'unpatriotic'. Now those same supposed 'patriots' criticize with rabid, foaming mouths. My, how times and agendas change.
Criticism is like free speech. Sometimes you will be held to account for your criticism and meet counter-criticism. Is that still permissible?
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, Ca.
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They have one of the largest economies in the world, and their education is better than that that you small minded American cheerleaders have gotten.
Is that why many come to study in our universities???
Given the growth and status of modern Germany, those of you who are still bringing up WWII might as well let her bring up the American Civil war and our slavery. Certainly Slavery is still more practiced in America than Fascism is practiced in Germany.
What are you talking about??? Slavery?
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slabbo
Trad climber
fort garland, colo
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Exactly- If some one really is so opposed to the way i live and hates me so much then we're gonna fight and I'm gonna win and your gonna die. Any state or group that voices they elimination of another state is a problem.
However war is war- people have always fought and always will. If you are going to fight, you may as well fight to win. It's called war. And since 1945 , the US has gotten in to several "wars" and not fought to win- what's the point.
"if you kill enough of them, the stop fighting"
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