Posted on 03/18/2011 8:16:04 AM PDT by icwhatudo
I don't understand why our war criminal president, fresh off of massacring 38 people in Pakistan, is in such a hurry to kill more people in Libya. Why don't we give sanctions more time to work? Why aren't we trying to get UN inspectors to go in and assess the situation?
Maybe he is upset that his policy of assassinating US citizens without a trial has not produced as many dead bodies as he planned. Or maybe he doesn't think tripling the number of dead US soldiers in Afghanistan (From 155 under Bush in 2008 to 499 under Obama in 2010) is not enough sacrifice for our military.
Will prisoners captured in Libya be sent to the still open GITMO where Obama has decided to restart military trials?
Will they face torture like Obamas treatment of PFC Manning?
All we are saying is give peace a chance!
No blood for oil!
(Excerpt) Read more at thecable.foreignpolicy.com ...
And that's true of most Moslem countries (with the exceptions of Iran, Tunisia, Bahrain and Oman to some extent) - the locals are lazy b&$&$ who are basically sanctioned laziness by their religion. In Iran people are well educated and cultured. In Bahrain, the same, but they are not educated enough (there is no engineering college I think in Bahrain and definitely no MBA institute). In Tunisia and Oman they are educated but not as smart as Iranis.
In the rest of the Arab world, the executives in the companies are all Western or Indian expats. The shopkeepers are all Indians, the shop-assistants, sailors etc. are Filipinos. The labourers are Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, etc. They don't hire many blacks as the Arabs are pretty racist.
The problem is Islam basically glorifies becoming Arabi -- and becoming Nejd Arab at that -- the lazy bedouins who are unhygienic, uncultured slobs. They ruined civilisations like the high cultures in Yemen (queen of Sheba and later Ethiopian), SYria, Egypta etc. -- the Shia came up with a way to get converts in Zoroastrian Iran by accomodating local customs (as the Iranis are justifiably proud of their ancient civilisation). But, as a country becomes more "Arab", the people are dumbed down. This ties in to the marriage between cousins etc. leading to genetic diseases and madness.
Will the American young revolt? I don't think so, purely because they are too much into Lady Gaga (I think she's a bigger threat to morals than anything else we have right now) and mooching around. Also their numbers are lower -- 20% of the US is below 15, maybe 33% below 25 (not sure of the latter number -- for the former, check https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/gos/us.html)
I have theories of how kids should be raised but since we haven't had kids yet, I am in no position to give advice to others. I've seen well behaved kids, but the common point is that the family is very religious and has no television. Homeschooling etc. are good enough, but even if you send your kid to public school and yet cut off the outside influences at home (no TV! and control over the internet, no video games -- go out and play etc.), the kids turn out pretty good, IMHO.
Short of God intervening there I see no good end...perhaps He has his appointed people to go in...time will surely tell.
Later Cronos....have to catch some winks before work...
Look what I found this morning in the times..referring to Kids in wealthier countries.....references what i have fears of about our kids rising up....
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/opinion/21klein.html?amp
I know folks who are looking for jobs but a lot were partying during college times or went for the easy or unmarketable skills (a lot, not all -- so not a generalization).
Also, now I live in Europe and I see the way things are among these youths -- they are clubbing fanatics and many really believe they are entitled to the good life without working for it.
how can we get the US out of this war with Libya? By fighting Ghaddafi we are supporting Islamists
That's here in the US as well Cronos...and rampid unfortunately. I saw a gal today who couldn't wait to "SPEND" her income tax check....a waitress at a local family food rest. She bought five pieces of Jewelry to the tune of $500! The entitlement attitude was in full swing. But I couldn't help thinking that is pretty much the mindset of many adults here as well as the youth. It must be fascinating living in Europe...does your work require you move from time to time? I was a field sales rep for several years and loved having control of my time. The hardest part of work now is punching a timeclock...so not use to that!
This culture of "gimme gimme, gimme" can only lead to bad things. Why not put that $500 down towards the mortgage? Kids education? College bills? Even a fixed deposit?
Maybe people are not taught that waiting for something is better? Take hardships now but you will really value something later. There was a test I read where a bunch of 5 year olds were given a question: you can eat 1 chocolate now, or if you wait for 3 hours you will get 3 chocolates.
Most couldn't wait. The ones who waited were followed by the sociolists for the next 20 years and it was found out that these kids were better at handling their money. No rocket science that. And yet, this attitude can be trained.
There is a family here in Warsaw that I admire a lot -- the father was studying to be a priest but left it before being ordained and came back to Warsaw from Italy. He was not trained for anything besides knowing Italian and wonders -- he got a job in a steel factory here translating as the factory had just got taken over by Italians.
Then he studied and learnt and now he's a line manager.
The wife gave up her studies to become a house wife as both are very traditional Catholics -- they belong to a community of Catholics that are called Nowa Catechumenates. Very, very strict and religious and sticking to the doctrine.
And they have 4 kids with a fifth on the way. The kids are a wonder -- when we brought chocolates for them, they did not grab it and start eating. They shyly accepted it and gave it to their mother who kept them away for after dinner. After dinner, she gave them just a few blocks and kept the rest aside for another time.
They have, of their own accord refused colas when they come to our house.
And, recently the eldest boy (14) came back angry from school. The teacher had asked what would be the happiest thing for each kid and he said "to be in heaven" -- but the teacher couldn't understand this -- she thought it should be getting a new dress or going on a trip or something.
And yet they are normal, healthy, rambunctious kids who like to run and play and shout (they have no TV in the house which I think is a very key point along with the mom staying at home, parents taking active interest in the children and giving them a sound religious grounding)
Then moved to another company and was shuffled between New York, Houston, Philly and then to Bahrain, india, hong kong. That was tiring -- I remember having a month in which I flew 24 hours from Bombay to New York for a 3 day meeting, then back, and two days later to hong kong, then to bangalore and bahrain. My body clock is just recovering!
Met the princess (my wife) in the UK and two years ago we got married in Warsaw. She tried living in the hotter climates (Bombay/Bahrain) but couldn't take it, so I quite my job and we moved to Warsaw. Now we're based permanently here, residence permit and all. Yes, a few trips to Prague, Riga, Sofia, Germany, Austria etc. but these are shorter, not months at a time. As we start a family I don't intend spending more time on the travelling -- we've saved and invested a lot and kids are more important than material things.
One interesting conversation was from a woman who travels throughout hot bed areas. In her opinion the west is mistaken to think all countries should become westernized or democratic. Her viewpoint is many countries do well without this, having their own governance and traditions the people themselves are content with. Many place far more value on their relationships then modern convienances or governances no matter how that lifestyle may look to a western.
Another spoke of the Chinese saying they are brutal in business dealings, hard dealers and must always come out on top of any deal or they simply don't deal.
Each real culture deserves a place of its own. American culture <> Westernised culture IMHO.
Just as each state should have its own culture not obliterated by TV-culture, so too for other countries. Democracy is another question -- a pure democracy only works in a homogenous land. In a diverse land like the US or India, republicanism works better and more devolution of power.
A pure-play democracy in AFrica or the Middle East is chaos as tribes or clans still hold sway and people will vote according to identity. A dictatorship is not the option, definitely, but it is better than a corrupt democracy (you have one robber who knows he's going to be around for some time so he would prefer to stick around and let the country grow so that his money grows, while a corrupt democracy has a series of these robbers who have no interest in letting the country grow as they have no time and want to loot NOW). A benevolent, constitutional monarchy is best -- and that is what Bahrain was headed for, but the people want too much, too quickly (as would you or I in their situation).
Also your friend is correct -- relationships matter throughout Asia, the Middle EAst, Eastern Europe etc. -- family is important. You do not abandon the old to old age homes, you help out cousins, aunts etc who are down on their luck -- for years if need be. Modern conveniences are, quite frankly, over-rated. Why do we need the latest Ipad2? I can't quite fathom standing in queue from 5 am for it, no matter how good it is -- it's not worth so much of my time. It may be a good product, but my basic necessities are God, family and food! Why do we need a fancy car? I had a couple of cars, and two motorbikes at the same time in DE and then in the UK, but now I use public transport as I want to pay off my housing loan as soon as possible -- and you know what? I don't miss them at all.
For Lent we decided to give a few of our favorite/best clothes (not the old ones we didn't want) to charity and you know what -- we don't really miss them! We also increased our days at the soup kitchen -- ok, it means we have to get up early on the weekends, and the "clients" are grumbling, but it's still worth it. And we're not doing anything special (I know folks who do much, much more) -- to forego the holiday this year and give the money to Caritas Japan sounds like a big deal, but what exactly do we get by going on an expensive holiday that we can't do on a bicycle ride around the country staying at small noclegi (bed and breakfasts)? I really think a lot of our fellow Americans should spend a couple of months helping out in India among the poorest of the poor and realise how so much of what we think is necessary, really isn't. What is more important: a washing machine or running water? What is more important: food or a fridge?
there are 3 charities that I got to like:
Besides this of course, I love languages (mostly Indo-European -- I forget most of my arabic except the la-illaha, you hear too much of it to forget it!)
If we just take our normal day to day activities in the US and see how we can save for helping our fellow humans its amazing. Yes, we are the most charitable nation, but God has given us in such abundance, why can’t we give more? And not only more money, but time and effort.
So the Chinese thought that they were the middle kingdom (between heaven and earth) and that's where their idea of racial and cultural superiority comes from. hence trade with the Europeans in the 1600s and 1700s was not trade, but foreign devils bringing tribute to the emperor and getting gifts in return.
Hence, when bargaining with a chinese -- expect insults etc. but be hard and maybe even a bit conniving -- you can say this is to be considered a gift by them etc.
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