Posted on 12/01/2011 2:21:24 PM PST by Red Steel
“Our leaders are convinced that we are so strong that nobody will challenge us...”
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I don’t think we have anything that China wants.
“China is a mess (economically and socio-politically) of a different sort than the US or the Eurozone. They are *not* a shoo-in for superpower status — economically or militarily.”
Wow! You and me are bucking the trend, FRiend. Lots of posters here are crowning the ChiComm apes as supermen.
Well, you and me agree. May the life you walk rain rich cornucopia on your head.
>> May the life you walk rain rich cornucopia on your head.
I’d rather that life pour that cornucopia stuff out at my feet (so I can ditch this hard hat), but thanks, FRiend, I’ll take that as “well wishes” anyhoo...
Same back atcha, and FRegards
“I’d rather that life pour that cornucopia stuff out at my feet (so I can ditch this hard hat)”
You’re right, of course. Roman cornucopia includes not just grapes but 3 to 4 pound melons. Wear the hard hat.
Our Navy has half the ships it did in 1990. 90% plus of our nuclear stockpile has been dismantled. Our F22 raptor was stopped mid-production, with the assurance the F35 was a more reliable and versatile aircraft. Now the F35 is suffering serious problems. Our F16s must be replaced.
None the less, you target the military for cuts, and don’t have the slightest perception that our welfare giveaways are also climbing, and no one whispers about getting that under control at all.
Thanks for your input. You need to study up.
On first blush that would seem logical. The United States is still the nation others look to for guidance and leadership. We are still the world’s leading ideology, and China wants desperately to destroy our ability to maintain that role.
I gave you a simple fact. There have been no defense cuts. There *may* be a defense cut in 2013 but I’m not holding my breath as the cut will have to be passed in 2012, an election year. I think Republicans will make up another excuse to kick that can down the road one more time.
http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/spending_chart_2005_2016USb_13s1li111mcn_31t
As far as what “I” target for cuts, it’s also simple math. Medicare/Medicare, SS and Defense alone cost more than the revenue that the government brings in. If we are to balance the budget, Military Defense, which, since the second battle of Fallujah, has grown $210 billion or 42.6%, must be cut.
I look forward to your comments in the next SS or Medicare thread.
You’re comparing federal income to the spending levels that include, “United States Federal, State, and Local Government Spending”.
Go over to the pie chart and scroll down below. Look at the outlays for the military. It’s over $900 billion. That’s because the state’s portion of military spending is included. Look at the pension figures. It includes all state retirees.
While the state and local outlays are included, state and local financial contributes are not. Only the federal receipts are. That’s why it’s so whacked out.
Someone is gaming these figures for advantage.
Just click on the link I gave and you’ll get the right chart.
For instance, the total spent on “Military Defense” (not homeland) was $706.63B in 2011 and not $900B. It was $495.31B in FY2005 ending in Sept. 2005. That’s a 42.7% increase.
Ok, I was going to let this go, but I'm afraid I should point out my own experience.
I was on a chess team for a state university out West, and played the most gruelling game of my life--a nearly two-hour game, with both parties struggling against time constraints, against a Chinese exchange student.
I barely won. Frankly, he probably should have won.
What's so shocking?
He'd *just learned* how to play chess during the last 12 months.
From personal experience. That's my $0.02, but YMMV (your mileage may vary).
Maybe you're right--perhaps they cannot anneal a bolt. But they sure as H3LL can play decent chess!
Now, this may be anecdotal, but it comports with what I've personally experienced: A federal judge with whom I've worked and a copy machine technician (two very different viewpoints, eh?) have both told me what they've experienced.
The judge just travelled from China, and was stunned by what he saw. He insists that America will find itself in grave trouble. Their cities are more modern, more efficient, than ours, which are in decay.
The technician was a trainer for the western region. He'd attended many hours of classes for his certification. He'd been in the class with several Chinese students, and was struck by how intelligent they were--about electronics, circuitry, whatever.
At our own peril do we dismiss them.
I'm also thinking on what my late father had told me, back in the 1960's, on his experience as a marine in WWII, Pacific Theater:
"Son, everyone knew when the war broke out that the Japs were barely five feet tall, wore round glasses with thick, round lenses, and couldn't shoot straight.
"When I arrived in Guadalcanal, I found out that they were six feet tall, had perfect eyesight, and could shoot the wings off a gnat."
Again, at our own peril do we dismiss them so readily. We're not doing our children any favors by doing so.
“Maybe you’re right—perhaps they cannot anneal a bolt. But they sure as H3LL can play decent chess!”
Your experience is similar to mine. During the Tiananmen Square incident while we were setting up safehouses for Chinese dissidents, I found the Chinese students to be bright, inquisitive and friendly. Their government ChiComm minders were a bunch of 30 IQ dull-witted apes. (See the similarity between their government toads and ours?)
I always distinguish between the ordinary Chinese citizen and the drooling ChiComm rulers.
My statement stands: The ChiComm apes do not know how to anneal a bolt. If you want to track the ChiComm navy, just follow the sheared rivets floating on the sea. The ChiComms are upset with the planes Russia sold China because the planes won’t flap their wings.
Cheers, FRiend
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