Only part of the story again Fidd (as with Don). Your National Guard has been known to let loose on the opposition and we are seeing evidence here of our cops getting involved where they should not. Not really my point though, to point to some of our excesses like shooting innocent Brazilians and lying about why. I've lived with the 'Zil Chill' factor and places in the Middle East that hire foreign cops to do their dirty work - it ain't good and we do better. In places where the regime is openly hostile people live and protest in different ways to us - it wouldn't be sensible not to. The rules are different. Hard to be abstract about this. I went to Bahrain with an Iraqi friend shortly after 9/11. He was taking his family there because he felt they would be safer there than in London. I was just doing a government job and wanted to see how the changes in their constitution panned out. There's not much crime in Bahrain, at least not the kind that makes you fell uncomfortable in the street or makes you worry about some turd glassing you in the pub. Kids play out together well. There are other problems there and most of the young want to leave. Saudi is much worse and actually quite dangerous. I have no doubt these regimes are much worse than ours. What I doubt is that our regimes are as free as some suppose, and what I suspect (on the basis of some evidence) is that we are not free but being 'human resource managed' (not the piss management version I teach occasionally) with false illusions and trinkets. Some people leave our education systems still believing the the bible and such stuff as that the British liberated India and are all round good chaps who need to give Johnny Foreigner a good slapping from time to time. What gets in the way of sensible argument are those who seem to think we can lay down our arms and everyone else will do the same (who can be pilloried by the hawks as loonies) and those who swallow the standard cultural drivel of us as good guys. The real situation and underlying arguments are complex and they don't get surfaced in this noise between morons.
On 27 Jan, 04:14, fiddler <[email protected]> wrote: > let me rephrase as I'm fairly certain some damn moron somewhere DID > shoot someone else for disagreeing... > > We did not have Bush and Blair ordering other politicians imprisoned > or shot. Same with intellectuals, their option in Venezuela was "work > for me or go to prison." > > On Jan 26, 8:11 pm, fiddler <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Bush and Blair are out of their jobs for one. Both Britain and America > > can recover lost ground in a reasonably fair time, Venezuela is > > effectively disassembled. No one in Britain or America has been shot > > in the streets for talking bad about them, we in fact have whole > > networks that directly attack those in power (different networks of > > course, attack different people in power generally). > > > On Jan 26, 8:05 pm, archytas <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > No problems with that Fidd, but how do we spot them? What separates > > > Blair and Bush from Chavo, other than their higher body count? > > > > On 27 Jan, 03:48, fiddler <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > I wasn't trying to promote any ideology, I just detest violent and > > > > brutal dictators. > > > > > On Jan 26, 4:13 pm, archytas <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > Chavez might just be only another in a long line of centralising > > > > > capitalists like Hitler, Mao, Stalin and the increasing focus of money > > > > > into the bwanker-sphere and bureaucratic hands. Everywhere,a s in > > > > > this discussion, ideology is pitted against ideology - the idea is to > > > > > try and surpass this. > > > > > > On 26 Jan, 22:35, fiddler <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > If you need sources for stories as simple as this, you need to read > > > > > > more.http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation-world/sns-ap-lt-venezuela-med... > > > > > > This all over the media and is only the latest assault on his own > > > > > > people. > > > > > > > as for: > Give sources, support your claims, or be quiet. > > > > > > > Ya Vohl, Herr Kommandant! > > > > > > > On Jan 26, 1:38 pm, Ian Pollard <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > 2010/1/26 fiddler <[email protected]> > > > > > > > > > So causing the growing percentage of poor, closing down any > > > > > > > > media > > > > > > > > outlet that doesn't stop everything to show him whenever he > > > > > > > > chooses, > > > > > > > > sending troops to stop any demonstration, arresting and > > > > > > > > murdering > > > > > > > > opposition members, determining curricula in schools to reflect > > > > > > > > only > > > > > > > > what he desires, arresting the economy and preventing growth, > > > > > > > > ...all > > > > > > > > of these are good to you? > > > > > > > > Ian -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/minds-eye?hl=en.
