Anyone tried out the new Windows 7 Beta?

mbassoc2003 wrote:As far as I can see, America's invasion of Iraq and Afganistan, as with their invasion of Vietnam etc. were not 'helping out other countries' but purely political moves for purely selfish reasons. And the deaths of US servicemen are at the behest of the US government. Even the US involvement in WWII if you care to go back that far, was an extension of a conflict the US was already involved in on the Pacific front. US aggression in almost every sphere of conflict is the result of US political desire for control and dominance. Not the result of the US being invaded by foriegn powers.

You can pretend to yourself that it's the good old US man and woman in the street helping out less fortunate people, but you should at least go and look at why successive governments choose to invade other countries and not just swallow whatever propaganda the US goverments wants to feed you.

As regards steriotypes in general, I have watched the German tourists going out and putting their towels on deckchairs at 2am in the morning. Steriotyping on the whole is based on fact.

disregarding stereotypes from my own point raised, I think this has some basis.. Again, I would ask the question, if the US are so anti-dictator and were so quick in getting involved in Vietnam and Iraq, why have they not made a move on Mugabe?

Is it he is no threat to them and has nothing of worth? I'm not trying to light a fire or anything, however, I think it kind of deflates the US save the world argument.

With regards to 'coming to our continent' etc, etc, that probably comes down to the fact that your 'continent' does not consist of such a large amount of different countries with differing views and ideologies. Does that have the basis for both WWs? I would suspect so.

Has the US ever been under huge attack directly and needed troops to come to its aid? I'm pretty sure many UK/European soldiers would be there as soon as necessary if it did. With the WWs being so long ago prior to the technology and power of today, I doubt the US would be needed to save the world if it happened again tomorrow.

But thats just my two-penneth for what its worth and I certainly wouldn't want to upset anyone over it, as political views or discussions can be so terribly destructive.  

ashmire13 wrote:Is it he is no threat to them and has nothing of worth? I'm not trying to light a fire or anything, however, I think it kind of deflates the US save the world argument.

While I am not so naive as think that the reason that we haven't move on Mugabe doesn't have a lot to do with there really isn't much to gained, its also doesn't take away from the fact that we have moved in many circumstances while the rest of the world had thier thumbs up their asses.

And no I am not talking about Iraq either.  

I am talking about us spearheading the first Gulf War to liberate Kuwait albeit with some help from lots of countries, but without the US, likely never would have went down.  I am talking about the Bosnian War and the ethnic cleansing that was happening back in the mid 1990's, I am talking about our attempt back in the early 1990's of helping out the Somlaians while no one else cared, I am talking about the hundreds of US service men who died trying to work as peacekeepers in Lebanon back in 1983, etc.

In lieu of the fact that we are still tied up in wars right now in both Iraq and Afghanistan, perhaps its time for someone else to step up and put their troops at risk to do something about Robert Mugabe.

ashmire13 wrote:
disregarding stereotypes from my own point raised, I think this has some basis.. Again, I would ask the question, if the US are so anti-dictator and were so quick in getting involved in Vietnam and Iraq, why have they not made a move on Mugabe?

I don't disagree....but by the same, where is the UK?  Where is France?  Where is Germany?  Where are ANY European countries with genocide happening on their doorstep?  For that matter, where is the African League (what an absolute joke of an organization) with genocide occuring NEXT DOOR?  

It's hard for the Americans to care about something like this when other nations have turned a blind eye.  The UN itself acts like genocide in Africa is a totally alien concept. Selfishness does play a part, the Americans and others have a vested interest in preventing nuclear wanna-bes from getting more power...in contrast, helping in Africa would be a purely altruistic venture as sadly the only ones suffering here are the African people themselves.  Still, we did out part in Somalia before the horrific "Blackhawk Down" incident and and the subsequent withdrawl of troops from that region.  

Besides, if the US were to intervene in the tribal wars of Africa, the next sound you would hear would be cries of racisism and brutality against the troops, and undoubtedly you would hear whispers that the US only helped to get access to Africa's natural resources.  Sometimes you can't win.  Can you imagine the outcry if the US dropped a few squads of SEALS in tomorrow to take out Mugabe? I predict universal condemnation and calls for UN committee votes if this ever came to pass .... .

BTW, the US has done more for Africa the last decade than ANY other country in the world, including spending billions of dollars trying to eradicate Aids, malaria and tuberculosis.  I believe last year alone over 3 billion dollars was given for Aids drugs and treatment there.  And, of course, the US was criticized by pundits for "only" raising our Aids spending in Africa 59%....   This is one of the reasons we get so sensitive to criticism, what other country would be lambasted for raising Aids spending in a foreign country  from 2 billion to 3 billion only to be told "you aren't giving enough".  Unbelievable.

Mike B.

Pathfinder Tribute

ShaneG.

Tim Tams are in the US!  The most excellent Aussie cookie is available from Target for a limited time only (until March), through a deal with Pepperidge Farms.  My local store had them in the cookie section with the other Pepperidge Farm goodies. They had two varieties, Chocolate Creme and Caramel, and apparantly those are going to be the only two varieties in stock here.

All Americans need to go out and get a box. Experience this delightful Aussie treat that lucky Gen Con attendes in 2008 got to sample courtesy of Adder!!!

http://www.arnotts.com.au/products/TimTam.aspx

Mike B.

bbarsh wrote:
U.S. aggression? Desire for dominance? Wow, we must be the most inept super power seeking world domination in history. Exactly how many nations have we conquered for our benefit? Oh look. NONE.

Everybody knows that the real conquest is being done through American based multinational corporations that are marketing to all corners of the Earth.  

The same companies that are claiming that they are being overtaxed but avoiding paying any taxes by using holding companies in the Cayman Islands.

The military is just being used to make sure that no countries threaten the supply of resources so that company executives can give themselves bigger bonuses.

! everyone loves cake!

Ok, who is going to the superbowl?

I've got Pit and Arizona.