So much for the rapid dissemination of info. I'd never heard the Chinese connection before. The world is so busy caterwauling about US 'imperialism' it fails to report(at least sos I notice) on China's sticky little fingers in tasty oil pies. Figures.
dj On Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 7:18 PM, Chris Jenkins <[email protected]> wrote: > > No, that is absolutely incorrect. > > Situations such as Darfur come about because the Chinese want Sudanese > oil and it's cheaper to hire the JanjaWeed to brutalize and terrorize > the locals into abandoning their farm lands, and to then file > homestead claims on the "abandoned" land, than it is to simply accept > that a farmer doesn't want to give up his family land, despite it > being on top of the oil you want. > > On Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 8:14 PM, Don Johnson <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> I haven't seen the movie. From what I've heard however, situations >> such as Rwanda and Darfur come about due to tribal hatred and mob rule >> violence. Very different from the calculated Hitler plan of Jewish >> extermination. I cannot and will not believe that the majority of >> even the most outspoken Nationalist Nazi's would have condoned the >> Holocaust had they actually been aware of what was going on. It's one >> thing to believe one's self superior and quite another to believe a >> whole race of people should be murdered and made into book covers, >> lamp shades and soap. >> >> Mob rule is mob rule. Anyone is capable of anything when under this >> spell. The few that might voice restraint or caution are silenced >> with fear that they might be the next victim. Or their families. >> Think the Crucible. >> >> dj >> >> On Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 4:15 PM, frantheman <[email protected]> >> wrote: >>> >>> I've just finished re-watching "Hotel Rwanda." It makes me a bit >>> sceptical about Pinker's arguments. I don't know how much further it >>> brings us to compare Genghis Khan with Hitler or the Thirty Years War >>> with Rwanda and then claim, all in all, we're getting better. How much >>> sense is there really in comparing the different circles of hell? >>> There is progress, as Richard points out, but we still have a very >>> long way to go. >>> >>> Francis >>> >>> On 21 Feb., 03:47, Slip Disc <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> I do have this tendency to throw public notables out on a bed of nails >>>> to see which of you are inclined to take some steps across them. >>>> Ouch! However, this is not just about curiosity but evaluation of my >>>> views for either reinforcement or modification. >>>> Steven Pinker, the Johnstone Family Professor in the Department of >>>> Psychology at Harvard University has a lecture video in which he >>>> asserts humans to be peaceful by nature and merely corrupted by modern >>>> institutions and concluding that we are living very peaceful lives by >>>> historical comparisons. >>>> Pinker writes, "Now that social scientists have started to count >>>> bodies in different historical periods, they have discovered that the >>>> romantic theory gets it backward: Far from causing us to become more >>>> violent, something in modernity and its cultural institutions has made >>>> us nobler." >>>> This approach is a combination of empirical and biological study in >>>> contrast to former assertions formed upon human cultures and >>>> socialization without regard to biological recognition. >>>> Steven Pinker concludes that violence in the world has actually >>>> decreased, and conveys this idea in his "A History of Violence" >>>> lecturehttp://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/163 >>>> I for one never conceived of the notion but have tossed some bones >>>> around with my good friend gruff, who also asserts that mankind has >>>> made significant strides in the quest for a more peaceful existence in >>>> contrast to my view that man is as violent now as ever and desires >>>> aggressive conflict in perpetuity. >>>> I think Pinker's inclusion of such behaviors as cat burning in 16th >>>> century Paris is a stretch to expand the degree of historical >>>> violence, as is reference to human sacrifice, slavery, governmental >>>> conquests, real estate acquisition via genocide, torture and >>>> mutilation as routine punishment, the death penalty, assassination, >>>> massacres, conflict resolve through killing, all of which still take >>>> place in our time. Pinker also references Biblical examples of >>>> genocide and stoning deaths for any number of infractions, also >>>> attributing the same and similar torturous behaviors to historical >>>> accounts of Hindus, Christians, Muslims, and Chinese, etc. >>>> Pointing to a "change is sensibility" Pinker writes: "Violence has >>>> been in decline over long stretches of history, and today we are >>>> probably living in the most peaceful moment of our species' time on >>>> earth." >>>> >>>> Somehow I can't seem to dance to the tune. >>>> >>>> Please take the time to view this lecture, only 19 minutes and respond >>>> as to........... >>>> >>>> Truth or Wishful Thinking? >>>> >>>> State your Stance! >>> > >>> >> >> > >> > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. 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