Posts made by BigBlocky

Great citation of an article. Mind you, the author is a known to be right wing, that being said what he said is pretty accurate IMHO.

I think France does think it should be the US versus ??? and France wants to lead the ???

My Canadian point of view is that I think Canada should be part of a greater whole that includes the US and forces us all to adopt measures that are beneficial to mankind.

Any time there is a big power and a small power (I use that term loosely in reference to Canada) the big power is going to tend to get its own way a bit more regardless of how magnanimous the larger entity is.

When NAFTA replaced the US/Canada FTA (free trade agreement) Canada gained a potential ally in addressing US unfair trade practices. Hopefully if we get a few more countries from the Americas we’d all rise to the highest common denominator. That is the hard part, it’s too easy to drop to the lowest common denominator.

It’s a pity France didn’t take this view. I know with agricultural subsidies it’s the French who seem to be the worst offenders, perhaps that’s why they don’t want to work under the same umbrella that the US uses?

I wish more leaders understood that a rising tide floats all boats. The pie is always bigger when everybody co-operates.

BB

We can debate the merits of the war but I do agree they really can’t stop now.

I have sure it’s the right thing to do but I do. That doesn’t mean I don’t pose the question to myself “What if you are wrong?”. I am skeptical by nature, I was often tossed out of my christian sunday school classes for debating (I was like 6 or 7, cut me some slack!). That is not to say I was rude, I just asked too many questions and wouldn’t drop it. I guess any religious ‘believer’ has a hard time explaining 150 million year old dinosaur bones but I digress.

I go through a thought process on it every day. I know there are going to be lots of items on the Nay side of the balance sheet. I see there are items on the Yay side. I convince myself everyday that this current course is the correct one. Some might think that having to convince oneself everyday is evidence of adherence to a wrong postion. I think not. I feel it better to force myself to go through this excercise everyday rather than adhere to a position I formed long ago and followed because one just ‘believes’ it to be the correct position.

I often start out with a premise stating that the opposite postion I hold is the correct one, then I break down the argument, point out what I feel are flaws (subjective no doubt) and prove to myself the opposite must be true or at least better.

I hope I am not wrong. I just can’t imagine that a year from now the situation will be worse.

BB

The Europeans early on recognized the cost of nuclear and fossil fuels. They understand they can’t just get more land. We in N. America never think about running out of room. Nuke waste, no problem, we have a few parcels of land 600KM by 600KM we can irradiate and never again use…. N. America doesn’t take into consideration the ecological cost of fuels so naturally fossil fuels rank the ‘cheapest’.

I’ve heard that nuclear creats no CO2 output, true if the maritans beamed down refined uranium. But since you have to mine tonnes and tonnes of rock with diesel powered equipment, truck it around and refine it… Lots of CO2 is created to get the uranium in a form that can be used.

F_alk, agreed on the multilateral talks on trade. This is were a strong UN would come in Handy. Canada has diddly influence here, it’s the big boys the US and the EU that dance and we must avoid getting stepped on. I hate to say it but Canada has alot in common with third world countries in that respect. Maybe Canada should join the EU? snickers

BB

I agree, Russia and the allies need to retake all territories around Moscow that can be taken, but take them light, play the trade game.

BB

F_alk, when you write 10 page replies I start to think you have too much time on your hands.

Iraqi irregular forces are using civilian clothes and executing POWs, I can’t help it if you don’t want to see the evidence that has been presented by the allies.

As for the pics I stated I thought the allies were wrong showing them and yet you devote a paragraph on this rather than say agreed. Can’t take yes for answer?

As for horrifying, I admit I am splitting hairs. It was horrifying allies died fighting nazis. That does not mean that horrifying was wrong. It is more than just horrifying when POWs are executed, it is not morally indefensible.

Germany treated allied prisoners very well as long as you were not Polish or Russian. I’m not sure how many relatives of yours were combatants for the Allies sans Russia but I had some who spent time in Germany. Allied soldiers and airment didn’t go to concentration camps, that was reserved for jews, gypsies, and slavs of various sorts. I am sorry I was not able to explain my point better, please except my humble appologies as I know you never misunderstand anything.

So, F_alk, you admit to the fact Iraq flaunts international law and you seem to expect them to continue to do so and in fact, we should all not be suprised that they do. Do I understand you on this point? In fact you call those who assume Iraq might adhere to the Geneva concention as being naive, in fact the candidate for the most naive person of that last 1000 years. And yet you still appear to argue that it is wrong to remove him from power?

The was was started for something I continue to blame him for. Do you expect me to stop blamming him for the invasion of Kuwait (this is the legal root of the issue). If you expect the world to stop blamming Saddam for this problem you ought to nominate yourself for the naive award….

BB

Since the US and Brit army is completely volunteer I’d assume that the footage of keen US and Brit troops are not complete lies. Those who are sending the soldiers are explaining the mothers.

Will the protesters explain why they prefer to keep mass rapists and mass murders in power?

Buring down someobodys house is a bit different from this situation. Let’s add that the house is owned and occupied by armed crack dealers. I’m going to burn down the house to get them out then rebuild the house. But the French want the crack dealers there because they supply the crack….

If they don’t find any WMD then some allied leaders should be tried by the Geneva and UN conventions. And if they do then the French leadership and everybody who was against this should be tried for supporting enemies of humanity, sounds fair to me… Perhaps we’d let the average protester go, they couldn’t be expected to sort out the truth from everything that has been said I will grant. But what about the people who knew Iraq was guilty and yet opposed the effort, say Chirac…

F_alk, I never said WTF is shouting, or lying. I am saying to those who do… Do put yourself automatically with the worst of those on the other side of my position :-)

Perhaps I am being too deep for some of you. I will be blunt, I am not accusing anyone from this forum of lying or yelling. I am saying that there are some on the other side of any arguement who do this.

Hey BB, do you remember how often you though i called you a USie? I did that once explicitly, but you kept on raving on it when i did it implicitly. And that’s what you doing here. You either address us implicitly, or you are talking to your bedpost. And as i think you are sane enough to know that wod will not listen nor react, i assume that you address us implicitly.

Of course not everything I say is addressed to you personally or anyone else involved in this thread…… Why should you assume when I say “some people on the other side are raving lunitics” that it does apply to anyone in this thread? No wonder you all get so defensive…

So I try to explain what I am saying and you get all pissy that you misunderstood me. shrugs. OK, you guys never misunderstood me, I am wrong and stupid and sometimes have a hard time conveying what I meant ummmmm I have bad breath and don’t often shave and you all are much smarter and way more wonderful and all that. Do you like this better? Can we now get to the real issues rather than attacking wordings?

I am sorry if you think that I blame all the misunderstandings on you guys, I am sorry that you dislike some things that I say.

F_alk, you said "‘Going to war’ always includes killings, suffer, pain. ‘Not going to war’ sometimes includes those. Unless you call killing, suffer and pain good, then i think the conclusion is evident. "

So are you saying war is always wrong? If yes then you are wrong as stoping hitler was not wrong. If no, then what you said really is sophistory and is not a logically true argument and this is a waste of time even typing it.

The north america colonizing mars was a joke… rolls eyes I use N. America to mean (Canada, the United States of America and Mexico). If you can’t follow the difference it is not my fault. N. America does not pay of Israel, the US does. N. America has a common trading block so I inculded them in my quip about going to Mars. shrugs I don’t think it’s too complex to figure it out…

I put all kinds of good stuff in my last post, you didn’t comment on any of it but rather concentrated on attacking my words without commenting on the overall meaning…

But I guess all the fault is on my shoulders and everybody else is perfect except for me… I have broad shoulders, I can take it.

There is too much blah blah blah, I’d rather have short and quick exchanged of ideas. Lets not get into multi-page posts. F_alk as far as I can tell you have seen not one thing you agree with from what I have said. I often wonder about people who can see nothing in common with the other side…

I don’t think any scuds have been launched yet. But nobody lied, they have always said “Either it was a scud or …”. Not exactly a lie but a bit too misleading for me.

BB

George Bush is wrong because Saddam’s regime is executing POWs…… This is an interesting bit of inverted logic. So if Saddam was not executing POWs then George Bush is right? By the way, it’s not just GWB but 100s in congress as well, but don’t let the facts get in the way of a flawed arguement.

Why exactly is GBW wrong again? I suppose had Churchill been in power in 1937 and attacked Germany thus preventing the horrors that followed he would have been accused as being a war-monger. Actually, he was accused of being a warmonger in the late 1930s…

Saddam should have been removed from power in 1981. I dare anybody to argue he should have been left in power.

You both had an opportunity to say what was done was wrong, instead you both were apologist’s for Saddams behaviour. This sort of thing makes me sick. You think this kind of attitude promotes understanding in the people on the other side of the argument? The more people like you applogize for Saddam the more I disregard the opinion of the otherside. A pity since I want to understand it. Saying it is horrifying does not state you think it’s wrong.

Germany managed to treat allied prisoners with respect even during it’s death throes. Why should we expect less from Saddam then we got from Nazis? If we should expect this from Saddam then force is even more justified.

BB

So, there is no proof that Iraqi soldiers are fighting in civilian clothing in violation of the geneva convention and were able to capture US prisoners. There pictures are now on TV in violation of the Geneva convention (I suppose CNN is as well, there is a clause saying can’t show prisoners in humiliating circumstances, I guess barefoot and hungry isn’t humiliating….?) and these pictures show US servicement dead, piled ragtag in a room and some have been shot in the head… since they were maintenance personal I doubt they got shot in the forehead in combat…

Where are the howls of protest now…

BB

Yes (but not air units), although in practive you should rarely do this. If you wanted the units there at the end they should have been part of the battle. I can see some situations where you might hold back when attack several spots so as to reinforce the 1 spot where you might have taken a beating or went better then you thought perhaps.

BB

A boycott of products from poor countries… You know how terrible that sounds? I know what ya mean. I think perhaps if we could just create a minimum ecololgical standard they must meant to have ‘most favoured trading’ status. If they dump toxins in the water then there is a 20% (more or less as required to remove the economic advantage pollution gives) tarriff on all their goods.

I also agree with you on the dawn of a new industrial revolution.

BB

It’s like when your friend always whines that they have no money for food and light up a smoke. I point out that they should quit smoking and get the reply that it’s not that easy. Should I feel for their hunger let ignore the fact they choose to damage themselves, myself, other friends and family by smoking. I am not sure why I mention this but it popped into my head.

While I do support not only the right of protesters but the need for protest I must admit I am VERY cynical in general. I wonder why there are so many protests over Iraq where probably only a few thousand will die and yet there were no protests about inaction in Rwanda that left about 1,000,000 dead? (I don’t mean to belittle the loss of life, don’t get me wrong)

I really wonder what some protesters are thinking when they call Bush a murderer and yet don’t mention Saddam or worse, blame Saddam’s actions on others.

I see the odd protester who might have a sign saying “War is wrong, Saddam is Wrong” and I wish that the street was full of those kinds of people. I have more respect for people who say “I am totally against all war, perhaps there is a time and place for war but since I am against all war I won’t be able to see that, nonetheless I must do what I feel is right”. When I hear that from a protester I want to hear more of what he or she says. Heck I’m liable to suggest after the protest we ought to have a few drinks on me and exchange viewpoints.

However when I see people yelling out that “bush is evil” I have the overwhelming urge to ask the person. “So you’re in support of rape gangs, political murders and savage repression of others”. Of course I doubt anybody is in favour of what Saddam is doing. However if you were watching a women get raped, would you just stand by and do nothing because it is wrong to inflict pain and you might just have to inflict pain on the rapist to get him to stop"?

BB

Nuclear energy is not-cost effective when the full life cycle of the radio-active material is accounted for. The world is safer with less plutonium then more.

AI in Japan…… that story has been going on since 1980 when I started get paid for the software I wrote. I doubt Japan has a software company in the top 10 of software companies. Microsoft, Oracle and computer associates are pret near #1,2 and 3 (CA not sure about) and all are US.

If a country exports more it’s dollar goes up not down. So says Economics 101. I’m sure you meant rely on imports too much. :-)

Japan has not big microprocessor companies. The top two are Intel and AMD both US. They do have lots of memory making capacity but more and more of Japans chip production is going to Taiwan. I don’t mean to be stereotypical but the Japanese lack a certain innovative ability. That is not to say they are not innovative. They do however excel in the process known as ‘step-wise’ refinement and can take new ideas and use them for old purposes. The US invented the vaccuum tube, the transister, the microchip and laser. A Canadian invented the first wireless transmission. So Japan didn’t invent the parts of the transistor radio but they were making radios and refined it. The walkman didn’t rely on any revolutionary technolgy but sony made a killing on it when it first came out. Memory chip production relies on stepwise refinement, but it’s also a commodity. A top of the line memory module will never compete in profit margin with a top of the line microprocessor.

As for being too educated, that is a very good point. They say the service/financial/law sector is what is creating jobs. It’s hard to say what paper pushers really make. At least you can see what a steel-worker does, but it is hard to see what an army of lawyers does… OK, bad example, an army of statisticians does. I think you’re right on the money vis-a-vis robotics Yanny. I think the big reason western countries are losing out to less skilled workforces in foreign countries is that stell production pollutes more then selling life-insurance… If the rules on the environment were level in all countries I suspect and farm subsidies were removed that third world countries were most of the population lives on farms might just be better at producing food then steel. And perhaps a rich western country could afford all the high-tech polluction control equipment to manufacture stuff with lower ecological consequences.

Sad thing is we want to purchase our life insurance from a slick looking WASP and we look the other way when the wet-backs of the third world live and work in poor conditions.

BB

I suspect nobody really understands what you are asking or I need more coffee….or both.

BB

America is number 1 in the software and microchip industry. Take a look at the top IT companies and most are US.

Heavy industry does not play to the strengths of an educated work force. Canada has more lumber and wheat to export because it has 1/10th the population with more land. Canada really can’t take credit for natural resources unless we are more productive at ‘producing it’.

The US economy is not the largest because it is the biggest consumer of others exports, Cuba has a huge % of its economy based on imports and it does not have a big econmy. It is the biggest consumer of others exports because of it’s economic size, imports are a side effect of a large economy rather than a causal relationship. However, only 11% of the US economic activity is related to exports, most of the US economy is internal to the US.

Pound for pound the US is as good as country in the world, it just has more pounds so to speak….

Of course some smaller countries will excell in certain niches but for now, overall, the US is dominant.

BB

warmongering-ese ??? Who? Prove it.

Did I ever say protesting was wrong? Nope and I dare you to prove I did. Does frothing at the mouth describe the average protester? Nope and don’t imply that I am a warmongerer who holds this view. I am holding people to account for their actions however. Enlightened protesters who want to widen the debate are to be admired. Those who shout down others who wish to speak are to be held in contempt.

Did I ever say they were responsible for cleaning up the mess? Nope, in fact I said the US would and should (in other posts if not this one). I am however curious as to how many who protest will do anymore for Iraq other than protest, if not it’s rather cynical. All you have to do is drop 5 bucks or euros off to a charity to help Iraq. Let us see in 12 months who has and who has not done this small gesture.

It is so easy to protest, what’s hard is action. It is so easy to say “You are wrong” but they never follow up with a suggestion of their own. Hey, I’m against pain, should I prevent people from getting vaccines?

There is a double standard. There are those who must decide and those who have the luxury to protest, the world needs both of course. If those who decide are wrong they are held accountable. If history shows Bush to be wrong he will be ruined and the US damaged heavily. If history shows his actions to be just it is expected. If protesters are wrong we are all better off and it’s ok. But those who froth at the mouth and denounce Bush and the US as monsters rather then good people who made a bad choice but felt they were doing the right thing will never retract their statements of error nor feel any responsibility for the damage their mis-information caused.

The argument to or not to go to war is simple. The UN and the French has 12 years to solve the problem and couldn’t. Now the problem will be solved in 12 days. Iraq is about as non-aggresive as Germany was in 1937, we waited once before.

When I say “I will listen when you speak, but when you shout and lie I close my mind to you” you get “Protestors are shouting lying people who do not deserve to be listened to”. I find this most interesting. Not sure how you got this, I guess you must just believe something and adust the facts to suit your belief.

I am saying that if you wish to protest, I will listen if you talk to me. If you shout at me “Bush is Evil, No War but No solutions” then I don’t understand you, I get a headache and I want you to go away.

It’s odd that you twisted everything I said yet never answered nor addressed the point that I was trying to make. You never listened to what I was saying. I’m patient, I want to try to understand the otherside, do you? I say I don’t want to listen to protesters who lie, you hear I don’t want to listen to protesters because they all lie. It’s easy enough to misunderstand the otherside when not trying, you seem to be trying to misunderstand me to further your opinions….

Logic is a great tool and exposes the superficial. Explain to me why not going to war is ‘more good’ then going to war.

I have listened to some on the other side. They say “When the war kills a million innocent people…” and are against the effort. Hell yes, if it was going to kill a million innocent people I’d say there must be a better way and lead the anti-war protest myself. on the other hand if you say “One innocent death is too great a price to pay to remove Saddam” then I don’t understand your reasoning.

If you scream in my face “You warmongering nazi bastard” while waving a finger in my face I am liable to prove you right and punch you in the mouth and have you explain why one should never fight as I beat the devil out of ya. Hey, I never opined that I was perfect… Evil :-)

To be honest, I think N. America should harness wind and solar power, get the hell out of the rest of the world and let them duke it out umongst themselves. A few regional conflicts would go nuclear, we’d let the French and Germans sort out the problems while N. America colonize mars… Israel would nuke the arabs and since the US doesn’t pay off Israel anymore it wouldn’t be the fault of the US. India/Pakistan/China heck the entire area would have a few nuke exchanges then things would settle out. A much better world without a bully to enforce world order against UN wishes…

I just want people to justify their postition with a bit of logic and less sophistry and finger waving.

BB

I bought squad leader back in the mid-80s…… I have yet to play it, way to much to read in order to just get going.

Best advice is find some people who can play and sit in on a game or play the russians with allied help/guidance.

BB

MC, I’m not saying the US won’t deal with dictatorys. ‘President’ Mushariff of Pakistan is a dictator who ceased control by a military coup. One can argue as to whether or not Pakistan is better for this, I think it is but it too needs Democracy. The Israeli prime-minster is the leader of a democratic government. But this is all off-topic really.

For Iraq, the US will not tolerate anything but some form of representative government, it was not meant as a blanket statement for US relations with all other countries. Iraq is in effect a state with no government and is not like any other state outside of Africa. Democracy and respect for human rights is clearly going to be the focus of NEW governments that the US will pay to help build.

BB

Anyone up for a game by email?

BB

F_alk, I agree that the ‘evidence’ of the attempt to get uranium from africa was false. However, this does not imply that all evidence is false. It is not a logical conclusion, suspician of evidence is, automatic dismissal of all subsequent evidence is not. Intelligence agencies make mistakes and will continue to do so, I cite 9/11 as one error in judgement.

Iraq has spent about 10 billion dollars over the years on trying to build an atom bomb, they had an atom bomb before desert storm but it was too big to deliver. The French were friendly enough to ensure the uranium they supplies had a good mix of U-235 and U-238 so Iraq could extract weapons grade uranium from the reactor grade uranium thus saving them the time to use a breeder reactor to get plutonium which is not mined out of the ground like uranium but rather is ‘man-made’ so to speak.

As for governments, there are a whack of forms and I suspect anything save dictatorship or communism (little difference in the practical sense) is fine with the US. Nothing wrong with socialism as long as the representation is representative in some way.

BB

I wonder how many people who were frothing at the mouth about how wrong the US was will now actually do something other than protest? Will they travel to Iraq and try their rhetoric out on the people who suffered under Saddam. Will they say that more inspections then leaving Saddam in power was the way to go?

Will they visit Iraq and help the reconstruction? Will they admit that their worst fears didn’t occur and that the result is better than what would have occured had nothing been done?

When the media is shown the WPD devices and the world knows who umongst the ANTI-DOANYTHING camp will say they were wrong?

How can anybody take protesters seriously when the people they are supposidly trying to help now look upon them with contempt for wishing more Saddam upon them……

Help those who wish to see to see. For those who wish to remain blind let them stumble about as the fools that they are. I will listen to you when you speak, but when you shout and lie I close my mind to you.

BB