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STP

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Everything posted by STP

  1. STP

    Afghanistan

    I am looking forward to hearing from military point of view this war being declared victorious. I definitely agree a lot of the FSO work is most likely inadequate, but I am not sure if I would agree that the military counterparts are more effective. Or at least I haven't heard of examples. It is also a pretty bizzare set-up for these FSO people, because as you say most are female in a male dominated society. Though ones I do know there say in general they are treated with repect, (who knows maybe it is superfical). Then I think that the general Afghani population feels like these people are so far removed from the their lives that their is no way they even begin to understand or help them. And I agrees sitting down and having meetings drinking tea seems so inane and pointless, but what I have found it is that just respectful custom before anything begins. It is part of being native. Even trying to buy a car here in Bangladesh is rediculus, first we sit down have tea talk about families, life, work and all I want to do is buy freaking car. Then the next time I visit we can start talking about available cars and prices. When I started my search at first I went in like an american, what do you got?, how much is it?, and basically I was a bideshis and was getting quoted rediculus prices and told a lot of bullshit. Ha, that last part sounds like the life of a lobbyist.
  2. STP

    S.U.V. R.I.P.

    Ok, you can call me nuts or whatever and I’d be hard pressed to call it an epiphany but the other day I was watching clips from David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive and it came to me. Have you ever read the Bhagavad Gita from the Mahabharata ? In the “Song of God” there is a conversation between Arjuna and Krishna. I’m not gonna argue whether you consider this to be a ‘true’ text or whatever, just that the elements are important. Basically, the message is that you are a vehicle with a driver so the question is who is the driver? There’s a wealth there of more information but back to Lynch. So, I’m watching these clips. I have always been attracted to his movies due to their weirdness but never quite understood them. So, it comes to me that Lynch used cinema to personify or give substance to those forces and impetus’ that compel us to act. For instance, there’s fear (winky’s dream) and there’s attitude (the cowboy). Essentially, what is at the bottom of our actions? One more story: Solomon’s Ring. Philosopher Jacob Needleman wrote a book called, Money and the Meaning of Life . (This guy knows the language of the birds.) In this book he told of King Solomon with stories that you’d probably never heard. Solomon came into the possession of a ring (btw, there’s more than one ring just like there's more than one tree in the garden) which allowed him to control Asmodeus. With the help of Asmodeus, Solomon performed great feats ( Asmodeus and the Shamir ). Finally, however, it went to his head and the king became lost. His illusory self or false self took over the rule of the kingdom while the real king wandered in exile. I won’t spoil the rest of the story. You can read about it yourself. Ok, now I’ll get all religious, moral etc. The root cause of what we’re seeing today, resides in each one of us. Sure, there are laws for social order and laws of punishment but it still remains within the individual to perceive ‘things’ and to help create the ‘world’. Ok, done with my crazy rant. Merry Christmas.
  3. STP

    S.U.V. R.I.P.

    [video:youtube]EYbUCvz1LYE --The global housing boom-The Economist --Peter Lamborn Wilson in NYC--The Black Sun Gazette
  4. STP

    Pope Benedict is Gay

    http://www.jesusandmo.net/
  5. So, is it incompatible for the Vatican to support evolutionary theory (more specifically microevolution but not necessarily macroevolution) but not to take seriously the evolutionary implications of human development? Sexual preference might be a natural phenotypic expression of the genotype rather than an aberration. Persistence of a particular trait that does not immediately appear to offer selective advantage might be explained by kin selection. BTW, don't they know that Santa Claus has a phylogenetic history?
  6. STP

    Pope Benedict is Gay

    I don't know but anyone who's into those frilly clothes and all that theatrical pomp and circumstance has to be stuck with a Liberace complex. Maybe he's just an out and out freak. I hear celibacy will do that to you.
  7. Ok, do you want to see something freaky? Look at the graph here: Graph of monetary base, 1920's to 2008 Here's the source: Humpty Dumpty On Inflation Also check out the other graph on the page that illustrates the monetary base. "The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words." --Philip K. Dick Lynchian Deja Vu [video:youtube]7Pdd9VBSoag
  8. STP

    Legacy Review

    Regarding these issues, I believe as constitutional scholar, Glenn Greenwald, does. I'm just trying to understand how we got to where we are and where we're headed. Cheney says top congressional Democrats complicit in spy "...do not let your left hand know what your right hand does, for it is not worth knowing." --Henry David Thoreau, Walden; or, Life in the Woods, 1854 There is compartmentalization. If you knew the hidden history, the covert actions behind the pretense, you'd rightly be appalled.
  9. STP

    Legacy Review

    General Provisions of the First Three Common Articles Common Article 2 "the relationship between the "High Contracting Parties" and a non-signatory, the party will remain bound until the non-signatory no longer acts under the strictures of the convention. " But yeah, I guess since we're a nation governed by laws then we should honor them even the other party is not necessarily bound by them.
  10. STP

    Legacy Review

    I rather like the saying: History..."is a tale told by idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." W. Shakespeare, Macbeth, 5. 5
  11. STP

    Afghanistan

    Gib it a significant amount of time first.
  12. STP

    Legacy Review

    The whole realm of the 'unlawful enemy combatant' implies the Geneva Conventions do not apply. Also, there is a basis written into the Constitution for war powers of the Executive. Not that I agree with it.
  13. STP

    Legacy Review

    Yeah, how many people are actually motivated by something other than money and power? Really? But that wasn't my point. Rather, how much influence does an individual actually exhibit in the face of history? Sure, Mahatma Gandhi, etc but what we're really seeing are movements (memes).
  14. STP

    Legacy Review

    mkay, it'll never happen since there's bipartisan complicity.
  15. STP

    Legacy Review

    There was a saying in old Rome: "Senatores boni viri, senatus bestia" (The senators are good men, the Senate is a beast.") So I guess I agree wit ya but the system is greater than the individual.
  16. STP

    Afghanistan

    I disagree. We go to great lengths, bend over backwards so to speak, to demonstrate respect for the culture. There is no underlying effort here to promote western mores on the locals. Instead what you have is an effort to promote independence, and security. This is the country in which the order to launch the largest terrorist attack on US soil came from. The idea is to remove the impetus for further such actions in the region. Believe me, we do more to protect their identity than they do for ours. I guess I'm looking at terrorism differently, as a broader phenomenon. Consider McVeigh, Kaczynski, Rudolph. Some people have suggested that Islam requires a reformation movement similar to Christianity's development, however, others have also pointed out the resultant turmoil of religious wars that occurred in the wake of the Protestant Reformation. That said, I respect the tact to preserve their culture that yet at the same time seeks to encourage a sort of sovereignty. Even though, that way too seems fraught with pitfalls. There seem to be incompatible elements that will withstand integration into an evolved culture, if that is the ultimate goal. It seems there’s a paradox between security (control) and liberty, i.e., that one gains at the expense of the other. One solution appears to involve cultural backwaters that do not have to be integrated into a global system; rather these areas should be allowed as alternatives having a lower standard of living. The problem appears when these areas become breeding grounds for extremist ideology. But extremist ideology does not necessarily imply a fundamentalist religious worldview with its corresponding ethical restrictions rather the ideology is characterized by a nihilistic or transcendent element that looks to the future or to another plane of existence for fulfillment. So maybe the strategy should focus on encapulation or isolation, similar to a quarantine. You deal in realities. I dabble in ideas. So is there a grand military goal or is it just reaction to hotspots, "putting out fires"? Maybe Pakistan was always the target. It seems quite likely that Pakistan may emerge as Obama’s trial by fire predicted by Biden. The manifestations may arise variously through one or more scenarios: as a conflict between the US and Russia or China, as a continued destabilization and loss of control over nuclear weapons, as a Muslim-Hindu conflict, etc. As far as using the terminology of generational warfare, a linear process where one generation is superseded by the next generation does not exist. Fourth generation warfare can be followed by first generation, for instance, and multiple generations can exist en echelon within a broad temporal frame. Fourth generation warfare can also be fostered as proxy wars through conventional adversaries who provide funding and intelligence. It seems premature to see the end of warfare by replacement with what is essentially a police force through the integration of domestic law enforcement and military functions (e.g., homeland security), although it doesn’t appear too difficult to foresee in a globally connected world.
  17. STP

    Afghanistan

    Haven't you heard its a battle of words The poster bearer cried. Listen son, said the man with the gun There's room for you inside. --Pink Floyd, Us and Them The base conflict appears to involve the clash of persistent conservative cultural memes that do not mesh with contemporary progressive cultural memes. It is a conceptual war but the hard reality is that people die. Then again, “useful idiots” might come in handy to propagate change leading to greater social political and economic control. Maybe it's time to review why.
  18. STP

    Legacy Review

    I honestly don't believe all the items depicted in that cartoon are the result of Bush's policies. Maybe it's more the sense of Bush's unilateralism or the audacity of his actions. Seems the looming problems facing us are global in nature: the financial crisis, climate change, terrorism, etc. Many of those things were undercurrents which probably would have caught a Gore or Kerry administration as well. Consider also Congress' role. There's much to be said for convention but our times appear to represent a turning point where the rules have changed to reflect a changing world. More importantly, when one is faced with a "black swan" (a highly improbable event having immense repercussions) then what's the right response? We should be forward looking, not focused too much on what has already happened. "It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards." As an aside, if you're into metaphysics, then one could view our time as a kairos, in English, a watershed moment. Also, anamnesis is another odd but opportune idea.
  19. STP

    Legacy Review

    -- http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/12122008/watch.html
  20. STP

    here is one

    Deja Vu All Over Again: Cables Cut in the Mediterranean synchronicity (seemingly meaningful coincidence between unrelated events)?
  21. Looks like the title of that video was changed from 'Keynesian Propaganda' to 'Vintage pro-inflation propaganda' (also read the notes accompanying the video at the utube page). See this: FDR's policies prolonged Depression by 7 years, UCLA economists calculate And check out the graphs here: Was the Great Depression a monetary phenomenon? And read the words by Anna Schwartz, the coauthor with Milton Friedman of "A Monetary History of the United States". For instance: Conclusions?
  22. STP

    Afghanistan

    KNOWN UNKNOWNS: UNCONVENTIONAL “STRATEGIC SHOCKS” IN DEFENSE STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT
  23. STP

    Afghanistan

    4th generation (and 5th generation) warfare imply taking the primary focus away from physical areas of conflict to magnify attention to the conceptual realm of warfare. Seems key to this strategy is the elimination of sources of refuge or sanctuary. In the final analysis though, will this evolution (if it actually exists) imply the elimination of warfare itself so that it is replaced by policing?
  24. STP

    poop?

    You gotta turn the photo over so that the face is visible, then it reads, "dood"
  25. STP

    Most overrated bands

    speaking of barrett [video:youtube]YMNWHLPSgBE
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