Ozi

Dear Dr Laura Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians?

300 trapped by 5000 I would say it's going to get interesting. Obama better get his brain in gear or start sending the bodybags. 1 Marine for every 16 or so IS fighters? Fuck, you are going to get shit for picking on the poor muslims again.

Don't disagree with what you are saying for the last two or three decades. My comment about oil relates to the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement of World War I. The locals were told that if they helped defeat the Ottoman Empire, they would get autonomy, rule in their own right. However, under the Sykes-Picot agreement, the British and French divided up the middle east between themselves so as to control trade and the flow of oil. The lines drawn up had no relationship to culture, religion or ethnicity. In fact it was done that way intentionally to guarantee infighting amongst the locals, distracting them from the real motivation. IS have recently released a propaganda video condemning the Sykes-Picot Agreement and vowing to destroy the artificial boundaries that were created, the intention being to unite the region to form their caliphate. And you are right, our governments played political games and when it went belly up, sent us in to clean up their mess, right or wrong, that's our job. But as usual we aren't allowed to complete the task. I'd hate to do the math to work out how many soldiers we lost because we had to go back and fight for the same ground over and over again.

If I was American, I would no doubt vote Republican, but that doesn’t mean I would support all Republican politicians or Republican policies. There are obviously arseholes on both sides. Look at the approach to the muslim problem. I despise muslims and what they stand for, what they are doing to the world, with every bone and muscle in my body. I am still young enough and as a result of maintaining my skill sets, able to be sent back to fight. And I will, willingly, if called to do so. I disagree with government policy and approach to the problem, but I don’t choose who or where I fight. Even more of an issue, we don’t get to choose how we fight or who we defend. Having said that, I don’t go in with blinkers on. I don’t disrespect a very dangerous and capable enemy. I don’t ignore the fact that we, a combination of all the western powerbrokers over the years, created IS. They exist because we fucked up, because we lied, because we interfered, motivated purely by oil. Nothing can justify how they choose to fight for their rights, but only an idiot would deny they have a right. I know this will all fall on deaf ears and that is a big deal. We need new politicians that can look at new ways of thinking, new solutions, because the old ones haven’t worked and never will. We need politicians that will treat the illness, not just ease the symptoms. Destroying IS is fine, but it doesn’t fix the middle east problem, something else will pop up to replace it. In the meantime, the so called moderates in the background are rubbing their hands, because while we focus on the radicals the moderates are taking over in the background. And why do I think it’s a big deal? Because Australia will blindly follow the US into the abyss yet again.

As a joke it has merit, but sadly I think you believe that shit, which is a real waste of what is obviously an intelligent mind.

So you can all read that diatribe and still ask what is wrong with America? I rest my case.

Damn, I knew that scar wasn't there before the citizenship ceremony.

....that 16 May 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, a secret agreement between the governments of the United Kingdom and France, with the support of Russia, to divide up power and control of the middle east. Don't see too many plans in place for the celebrations. Maybe Great Britain and France, along with some of the commonwealth countries like Australia and Canada, could form an alliance with a few others, like the US, and go in and clean up the mess they created. Oh, wait a minute, didn't they just try that?

Woody, I don’t disagree with your comments at all, but that was a different era. Peoples attitudes, expectations, work ethics, they have all changed since then. You will never duplicate what that generation did again. This topic was about what war produces and achieves, not the hardware to fuel it, and what the overall cost is, the lives of soldiers that ultimately pay the price. We were not talking about an enterprising business that supplies products and makes a legitimate profit. It was about the big end of town, the bankers and faceless men that really run governments and create these conflicts to further their own wealth and power. We were talking about the powerbrokers that create these conflicts with no thought of the human cost. The Gulf War with Iraq began in 1990 and with many years of military involvement looking for WMDs, flowed almost seamlessly into the 2003 Iraqi war (that invasion alone cost the Australian taxpayer over $5billion, so what did it cost the US?). The Iraqi war was technically over in 2010, but there was the overlapping start of the war in Afghanistan in 2001, still going today. To this day, the U.S. spends billions annually to maintain a large military presence in the region, has done since the Lebanon invasion in 1958. It provides billions in military hardware to client states, in particular to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. So in reality, the US has been at war continually since 2001, almost 14 years. Take into account the Gulf war and continued presence since 1990, you could almost argue it’s been on-going for 24 years. But let’s just stick to 14. If war is such a bolster to the economy, why hasn’t it fixed the economy in the US? It was also about the great armchair warriors that think they can fix the middle east crisis with saturation bombing, yet have never been involved in conflict, never had to face an enemy whose sole intent is to kill you before you kill him (and anyone that thinks that is easy is either a liar or psychopath). They have no concept of the terrain, physical or human, don’t understand the politics of the region, have limited knowledge of the history. (People should have spent some time at the patrol base Wahab, in the Baluchi Valley. Maybe tried the mountain ranges of Kunar and Nuristan. Experience the terrain and the logistical nightmares and understand why airstrikes won’t win the war. Try a dismounted patrol on the streets of Sangin in the Helmand province, or a village to village clearing operation. Experience the people and logistical nightmares and understand why airstrikes won’t win the war.) It’s a shame that many threads have been hijacked and are now dominated by foul-mouthed, immature comments, with very little substance. Maybe it’s not the best site to get serious, but it is a serious subject, and the idea of debate and discussion is to convert the opposition to your way of thinking, or visa versa, not alienate them further. It’s also a way to share facts and maybe educate each other. To be honest, I’m not really sure I can be bothered anymore.

I gather that was meant for me. Read that post and three words come to mind; Arrogance, ignorance and immaturity.

Unfortunately, you need more than a knowledge of just basic history and politics to understand how the world got into it's current mess, particularly how the so called super powers of various generations, including the US, Britain and France, have manipulated events which eventually have always come back to bite them. Also glad you used the words 'if organised'. I'm sure many people actually thought 'Red Dawn' was a documentary, rather than a fantasy.

But for the USSR threat, the U.S. never would have built the rocketry used in the Apollo and ISS programs. That's the point, it didn't need a war, just a threat. War itself is a consumer. The only thing war generates is more profits for a minority and no shortage of dead bodies.

Ummm.... yeah.... okay. But that only makes sense if you believe in the Labour Theory of Value. Simple return on investment would be an easier concept to manipulate, at least with that you can factor in collateral damage, even if that is your own troops. War doesn't produce goods or services, it is a consumer of those products. The production and sale of weapons is what makes the millionaires. And if it means the death of the consumer, they'll just get the government, who they control, to conscript more consumers.

I keep forgetting, the version of WWII you guys are taught is the Hollywood story, where all the American superheroes win the war. They tend to leave out the allies and more importantly, the Russian contribution.

Strange? Surely you can come up with some conspiracy theory about RLC wanting to deprive us seeing Leora masturbating, even their paid members.

Doesn't actually happen though. Opposing views are just responded to with insults rather than logical debate.

Smedley Darlington Butler (MAJGEN-USMC-Ret) •Born: West Chester, Pa., July 30, 1881 •Educated: Haverford School •Married: Ethel C. Peters, of Philadelphia, June 30, 1905 •Awarded two congressional medals of honor: 1.capture of Vera Cruz, Mexico, 1914 2.capture of Ft. Riviere, Haiti, 1917 •Distinguished service medal, 1919 •Major General - United States Marine Corps •Retired Oct. 1, 1931 •On leave of absence to act as director of Dept. of Safety, Philadelphia, 1932 •Lecturer -- 1930's •Republican Candidate for Senate, 1932 •Died at Naval Hospital, Philadelphia, June 21, 1940 I think his background gives him a certain credibility. Wrote his book before WWII. Extract: In the WWI a mere handful garnered the profits of the conflict. At least 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires were made in the United States during the World War. That many admitted their huge blood gains in their income tax returns. How many other war millionaires falsified their tax returns no one knows. How many of these war millionaires shouldered a rifle? How many of them dug a trench? How many of them knew what it meant to go hungry in a rat-infested dug-out? How many of them spent sleepless, frightened nights, ducking shells and shrapnel and machine gun bullets? How many of them parried a bayonet thrust of an enemy? How many of them were wounded or killed in battle? "I believe in adequate defence at the coastline and nothing else."

semper fi

Two significant events assisted with the formation of ISIS, the first being the civil war that has been occurring in Syria since 2011, which all the so called super powers, have all but ignored. The second is the Sunni-Shia civil war in Iraq that followed the US overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003. In their haste to pull out of the region, the US government ignored the military advisers’ reports that the job in fact, had not been completed. In addition, the US failed to ensure a satisfactory government was in place in either Iraq or Afghanistan. Neither did they adequately ensure that their respective military were capable of defending their countries. In addition, the poorly planned withdrawal allowed many ISIS leaders to escape from US detention centres in Iraq, including the caliph himself, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi – who spent almost five years imprisoned at Camp Bucca in southern Iraq. There were many more who became senior ISIS leaders, even prisoners with strong evidence against them who should have been executed, were still released because of the weaknesses of the Iraqi court system and the refusal of the US to share classified information. With the hastily constructed alliance, the US refused to admit Iran to its anti-ISIS coalition even though Iran was one of the most effective potential partners in the battle against ISIS. In addition, current US policy is governed by the desire not to alienate Turkey, despite the fact that Turkey is in negotiation with groups listed as terrorist organisations. The current US regime has been playing one group off against the other, picking and choosing who they will support and who they will ignore, which is now coming home to bite them. The Obama regime certainly didn’t start the current conflict, but their actions have contributed directly to a worsening situation in the region.

I'm just curious where the notion that in European eyes Obama has managed to improve the lives of lower and middle class people. Maybe they get a different news service to Australia. I've watched and read many reports on issues like forced integration with busing, that has many middle class (and yes probably Republican voters but that's not an improvement) moving and giving up their homes and lifestyle because they felt so strongly against it. I've read plenty of articles in relation to Obamacare, even read some of the legislation itself, and am aware of the numerous pitfalls. I have intimate knowledge of the poor, possibly criminal approach to the middle east crisis which has now led to a more dangerous scenario that will eventually cost more allied lives. Sadly, many of the soldiers killed since the first Iraqi invasion, have probably died in vain. (treason comes to mind). I watched an unbelievable documentary only last week on the total decline of Detroit, with schools, doctors surgeries, factories all left to rot. Residential areas that have no street lighting or basic services like rubbish collection because the city has no funds (and the people left are lower class and that's not an improvement). Interestingly I discovered in some additional reading on the subject that the city has had Democrat mayors for the last 50 years. Coincidence? Again, what is reported in Europe?

You are so right. In fact, I'm so pissed off I'm tempted to subscribe to RLC just so I can unsubscribe as well, that'll teach them.

On the same page as that map is another one that shows the age of consent for female heterosexual sex only. It gives a strong argument for reducing the world population by lifting the age of consent. Example: Antarctica, population 0 (except for visiting scientists), age of consent 100! Is that 100 years, or is that 100 degrees? If I had that map a few years ago when I was younger and still single, I may have planned my overseas holidays differently!

And?