I'm bored and i miss some of the debates we have around here.
so come, talk and debate some of that wacky politics we have going on in our lives.
well, as the mid-year elections roll around, the republicans are pulling everything they have to get their senators reelected. so what happens, appearently a high-end al-qeada member has been captured...two months before election time. anyone wanna bet on whether we actually catch osama the week before the election?
"if asking, begging and pleading doesn't work, always go with a song and dance number."
there was like this little letter symbol by the number of replies counter and i clicked on the notify thing here and it suddenly disappeared...i think the site is haunted, first i lose my membership for a few days and now this...spooky
"if asking, begging and pleading doesn't work, always go with a song and dance number."
A little thought on The War On Terror. At present for every one of our side that dies we kill about 600 of theirs. And that's with them going all out and us trying to play nice. Dust off a few B52s and I'm sure we could get that ratio up to 1:1000 no trouble. According to Wikepedia there are 1.3 billion muslims in the world. That means we could waste the lot and only loose about 1.3 million of ours. That's less than half of Wales - a price I'm more than prepared to pay. (and there'd be a sh*t load more parking at Cardiff Stadium on Cup day) So we can all relax.
Note: this is copied + pasted, I didn't write it, I just thought it was interesting, so don't shoot the messenger. But discuss if you will.
Quoted Text
America has all of the 14 defining characteristics of Fascism and, like sheep, we passively endure our fleecing : Allen L Roland
With the four horseman of hubris ( Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and Bush ) in full gallop, shouting their war cry of 'Islamic fascism' and systematically misquoting and demonizing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ~ it's time for America to review the 14 characteristics of fascism and, in the process, face our own growing neocon fascist state.
Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each ~ and America has all of them.
Allen L Roland
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, Islamic fascists, etc.
4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.
6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.
9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
10. Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
I don't agree with quite a bit of it. Especially the Controlled Mass Media bit - while no press is ever entirely free of influence or bias it has constantly run stories that have not been in the US administrations interest - the POW abuses for instance. Can you imagine a German newspaper running a story exposing Auschwitz in 1944?
Note: this is copied + pasted, I didn't write it, I just thought it was interesting, so don't shoot the messenger. But discuss if you will.
after Rumsfeld's latest comment comparing those that were against the administration to be similar to neville chamberland appeasement to the nazis, it sounds like this administration has taken some of the same views as the nazis did then. they, like hitler's party, believed that their views are the only right views and everyone else was unpatriotic or sympathisers to those that are against the the nation, in this case the terrorists.
but still, its amazing and sad that of all the people pissed off with this administration, there are still people who dont believe their votes count or didnt vote in 2004 because they wanted to show a sign of protest, couldve swung the vote in favor of kerry...why him, i dont know, its like the democrats enjoy shooting themselves in the foot.
and lets not start on the alleged vote tampering during 2000 in florida and 2004 in ohio...at least they got sloppy in ohio
"if asking, begging and pleading doesn't work, always go with a song and dance number."