Post #81,688
2/14/03 1:09:38 PM
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GOP wants to start using nukes
[link|http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2003%2F02%2F14%2FMN245233.DTL|SFGate] A group of House Republicans proposed a fundamental shift in America's nuclear weapons strategy on Thursday, saying the GOP would push for the design and manufacture of a new generation of warheads, a more aggressive policy on their use and steps that would make it easier to resume nuclear testing. The panel, known as the House Policy Committee, also urged that the U.S. government be allowed to initiate pre-emptive nuclear attacks against hostile nations with caches of biological or chemical weapons. This is exactly what is stupid about neo-con and reactionary Republican thinking. They want more nukes so we can 'defend' ourselves against others. And at the same time they want everybody else to disarm because if they have nukes they are dangerous. Plus, they see no problem with using our military advantage to bully other countries. And then they get upset when other countries learn from our behavior. Jay
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Post #81,691
2/14/03 1:31:28 PM
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Re: GOP wants to start using nukes
This is exactly what is stupid about neo-con and reactionary Republican thinking. They want more nukes so we can 'defend' ourselves against others. And at the same time they want everybody else to disarm because if they have nukes they are dangerous. Plus, they see no problem with using our military advantage to bully other countries. And then they get upset when other countries learn from our behavior. And this surprises you how?
jb4 "Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning." Rich Cook
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Post #81,692
2/14/03 1:33:05 PM
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:)
Using our "Weapons of Mass Destruction"...
against OTHER nations with "Weapons of Mass Destruction"...
because those OTHER nations might USE their "Weapons of Mass Destruction"...
against us.
Warlordism on a global scale.
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Post #81,776
2/14/03 8:11:21 PM
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We are reaping the effects of a trashed educational system,
And the tawdry culture of mindless consumption among the resultant ignorat masses.
Emotive 'reasoning' replaces the lost and necessary art of debate, the lost access to a rich language possessed of nuance and - that humor which ALONE - can defuze the most ludicrous of postulates:
Like the one above.
If 'Republicans' [??] stand behind this recipe for their welcomed Armageddon, Tribulations and longed-for Rapturing Out\ufffd -- then perhaps it is time to nuke the cathedrals here at home. (Hey.. two can use stupid logic as well as a Grand Old Party of misanthropes, spouting the sing-song of perverted religiosity)
And we call these people 'representatives' ?
Ashton
This just in - "the Bush admin 'is not prepared to debate for very long..'"
After all, the poverty of one's psyche - begins from being carefully taught trite homilies by a shallow parent within a banal culture. And Walking Tall with that burden.
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Post #81,782
2/14/03 8:33:16 PM
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Infotainment
I place a lot of blame at the feet of the news media also.
Even beyond the pattern of the last few years where the news is nothing more then an offical distributer of White House propaganda, it's been quite some time since the news media understood that much of the job of news is telling people things they don't want to here.
Instead we get news media run on such tight budgets that they can't afford to do real research and investigation, but it doesn't really matter because the days bylines are picked more on their ratings potential and how much the upper management approves.
Jay
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Post #81,810
2/14/03 9:48:48 PM
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It seems a Gordian knot of intertwined Intere$ts :(
And nowhere in the entire Corporate hierarchy - which performs all interwining - exists more than a faux-representative of the society being dismantled.
That is the stuff of every Revolution.. but revolutions require a large contingent of folks akin to Our Revolutionaries: who were All Dead within the 19th century. Is Vulture Capitalism the worm which destroys life and replaces it with predatory toys and mindless make-work?
Ashton one can at least perform autopsy on the remains.. while awaiting delivery of the formal death cerificate.
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Post #81,826
2/14/03 10:30:29 PM
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I'm convinced it is human nature.
When we don't have any external threats to strive against...
except the nebulous ones our government can decry (Communism! Hippies!)...
Are you surprised that the majority of people are more than content to live fat, dumb and happy?
Rather than reaching beyond themselves, they settle into themselves.
Office politics instead of world politics.
TV sitcom relationships instead of national economic relationships.
Who their favorite stars are fucking is more important than what is happening one nation over.
And they will gladly surrender all their rights (just let them keep their jobs and TV and make sure there's food in the grocery store) for the promise that their world will always be as warm and safe as they want it to be.
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Post #81,828
2/14/03 10:36:09 PM
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all of the above and cliqueism of the envious
Most of the political squabbles at the local level is born by a group that wants power so they can stick it to the ones currently in power. This gets bubbled up onto the national stage where it does real and lasting damage. Public service means a lot less that it used to. thanx, bill
will work for cash and other incentives [link|http://home.tampabay.rr.com/boxley/resume/Resume.html|skill set]
questions, help? [link|mailto:pappas@catholic.org|email pappas at catholic.org] "France," he noted, "has neither winter nor summer, nor morals. Apart from these drawbacks, it is a fine country." Mark Twain
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Post #81,860
2/15/03 12:33:23 AM
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We Can do better! Many Muricans do..
The massive increase in background noise of recent techn-media - causes these to seem invisible - they have neither large breasts nor an angry demeanor and large gun collection to display for 15 min of infamy.
Just ask tseliot / R Brewer. Or habitat for Humanity folks. And I could name a few, as could you (these are the only ones ever worth remembering, as I look back). The rest once-met fade into the cliches of their soap-opera conversation. And being techno-literate has nothing to do with being literate - I have also observed this, since the first.
Yes, it's hopeless to 'wish' that some actual majority of the fat-dumb-happy would raise their sights. Stupid to Like-War-because: it gives us an excuse to win a competition and be #1 again.
But as we all know by now - it only ever is the 1% who do anything at all. What is troubling currently is the decline of the active alert minority, those who have served to keep the troglodytes from appropriating, in the Hog-in-Trough Game, even more.. all along.
Have these disappeared by inbreeding, merely fallen silent - or become so disgusted as to just watch, hope that 'we' receive the fruits of our ignorant behaviour? That attitude can come, at first via mere petulance.. in time that can be called resignation. (Those with children can afford neither conceit IMO)
Some folks feel a certain wistfulness, upon realizing they are actually witnessing clear decline. When you meet a few whom you deem 'wise' and who are also wistful.. it begins to sink in.
Ashton
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Post #81,886
2/15/03 4:33:20 AM
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US learned a hard lesson re news & Vietnam ...
But by Gulf-1 had it under control & during the upcoming Gulf-2 I think we will see controlled media in a way we have never seen it before ... a combo of news & gripping entertainment ... hollywood style news.
This is getting closer to Orwell's bad dream.
Cheers
Doug Marker
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Post #82,194
2/16/03 11:33:06 PM
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Some journalists are fighting that, however.
[link|http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/mediarpt/stories/s777173.htm|http://www.abc.net.a...ories/s777173.htm] Scroll down about two thirds. This week on the Media Report we take a look at censorship and war. As the last Gulf War showed, once conflict starts the images we see and words we hear are heavily controlled by the military.
Just what effect does the "pooling" of footage have on our perception of war? We talk to a former Gulf War reporter about the difficulties in getting to the truth when you're a long way from the frontline and under military control. The ABC actually ran this show twice; once a few months ago and just recently in the "Summer Best-Of" series. Wade.
Is it enough to love Is it enough to breathe Somebody rip my heart out And leave me here to bleed
| | Is it enough to die Somebody save my life I'd rather be Anything but Ordinary Please
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Post #83,437
2/22/03 9:14:26 PM
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I understand that there are already deals ...
To include cameramen from approved news agencies. These guys are doing military basic training & will be allowed to film for their bosses but that the material all has to be filtered.
This approach suggests that the US is seeking to find a way that allows the same tight control of Gulf-1 but to let the news agencies get their pound of flesh from the valuable news angles in a way that takes heat of the censorship & control issues.
If the footage looks really good, US military can gain enormously as will Republicans.
Cheeres
Doug
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Post #81,905
2/15/03 10:16:59 AM
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Re: Infotainment
>I place a lot of blame at the feet of the news media also.
An excellent satire of modern journalism can be found in Terry Pratchett's novel "The Truth".
One of the central ideas is that people want to hear about what they already know. Most people claim that they're interested in News, but what they're really interested in is Olds.
Pratchett used to be a journalist so he brings a lot of real-world experience to the story.
Tom Sinclair
"Everybody is someone else's weirdo." - E. Dijkstra
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