ADN

Not to start any shit or anything... but instead of bitching, why not create some new topics yourself? Of the last roughly 60 topics, you've only created 3.

One was about a man from Seattle having sex with a horse, another was about the report saying Bin Laden is dead, and the last was about slavery records going online.

It really shouldn't come as a surprise that the majority of the articles are about the U.S., or about U.S. foreign policy. The majority of the posters in here are probably from the U.S or affected by the U.S.

QUOTE(AYHJA @ Nov 13 2006, 02:40 PM) OK Brains, I'll tell you what I mean, or am hinting at...There are approximately...50 threads shown on the first page of the worldwide forum...

Of those 50, I'm guessing about 40 - 45 of them deal with the U.S. specifically...Of those 40-45, about 85 - 95% of them are negatively charged...
I supposed so, but wanted to make sure I understood your comment correctly before reacting... but...


yeah. i guess you are right. I am quite negative to the US's international politics ever since Bush got in charge and certainly ever since 9/11.

strange thing is. I think this forum is quite negatively charged towards anybody else but the US. I am the only one here (ok... I might be exaggerating), who really very vocally criticizes your administration. Most of you - Raum, Kramer, BM, you, RR... - are totally with it. I am replying in this topic only when something general popped up. I steer clear from US Internal Affairs. Who am I to comment on that; I hope you see that as well. I only reply - yes, negatively criticizing most of the time - when US international politics are concerned.

btw... aj... remember when I made my very first post here? What I said? It was something like "a good thing I do not check this part that much or shit might hit the fan". You told me to go ahead. Voice my opinion, after all that is what forums are for. I did. And now that shit hits the fan, there are complaints (also an exaggeration).

You know: sad is not the unbalance we have here. Sad is the unbalance which just exists ever since 9/11 and certainly since Iraq. The unbalance is not here only on AJ's. It is real. THAT is what is sad.


QUOTEUsing you as an example, and not to be picking, every topic you start is geared towards the US and its affairs...Which of course, is absolutely fine...But the name of this forum is 'Worldwide', as in, what's going on in your neck of the woods..? You would think Belgium is Utopia, I don't see a single thread directed towards any Belgium related anything...Why is that..? And how is it that you are so versed in American and International affairs, when your own views and involvement in your gov't remain to be seen..?
okays. I could do that. We have our share of "issues". I just wouldn't have thought they'd be of much interest. Belgium is small. What influence can its local politics have on the worldwide landscape?


well... I got cut short in my reply. So here it is half baked. Too late it has become to finish it... bleh.

1. don't assume you know how I feel about the current adminstration. Read what Ben Franklin says about a patriot's duty to ensure conservative use of govt...

2. please explain to me what US involvement did to influence Belgium in general, or your life specifically, that was SO BAD that you feel compelled to be so negative toward it, EVEN after 9-11...

Hmm. What did the US do which influenced my life?

The world is a whole lot more divided now... does that directly influence me? Yes it does. Not only because also here locally the gap between muslim and non-muslim widens, but also because I do not like to see the world evolving that way. The latter might be a more emotional thing for the time being, but I have kids which I want to be able to grow up in a peaceful world; not one which is dominated by capitalism and selfishness. I am learning my kids to respect whichever other person and / or culture and to question themselves when issues do arise. Maybe they themselves are able to change their ways in case of an issue and improve the situation instead of demanding that the other should. The latter goes nowhere.

And secondary, which is quite not as important to me as the above... Gas prices are up and as a result "everything" is up - except for my income (which actually is false. I changed jobs and got quite a nice increase in between). Now. Fact that everything just is more expensive now does not really help me have an easier time giving the kids what they need. I am again thinking about the future, when college fees are due and lodging and such. I would like to be saving a lot more than I am doing now.


if I'd really take the time, i might list a few more, but they'd all pale anyway. The first paragraph basically sums it up as does this sentence: I do not like how US internation politics is breeding instability in a world which needs more unison than ever to overcome the problems of our time (energy, natural resources, globalization etc).

Brains, in response to your first paragraph:

The world is alot more divided now, huh? Compared to when? Not here in Princeton. I work with Muslims from The Middle East including a Palestinian, a Jew from Israel, a woman from Nigeria who replaced a woman from Armenia, a man from England, an Irish-born American, a Mexican-American (2nd Gen), and a few Pennsylvania Dutch who were born of people here before Columbus. My director is from India, and his boss is from Canada... and my sr. govt liasion is originally from Bangladesh, and my FERC contact is a cajun swamp rat from Louisiana like me; cept she's creole. and we have no problems getting along, even with the non Americans. We have no less than 3 denominations of Christianity, 6 non-Christian religions, 1 person who could care less about religion, and four people who actually know how to drink! and that is just my co-workers which are less than forty people in our more than 300.

The reason for the world's division is the world's diversity. That can be a source of its wealth, if true appraisal is allowed. Everyone is trying to maintain their own individuality, and as great as that is, it has its price. Because people unify across certain barriers in favor of the exixstential ones, like religion, and that unity brings greater strength, and with it greater demand for respect of that strength. The means to achieve that power through solidarity must be kept in check by the right of other groups to achieve a proportionate strength TO THEIR EFFORTS, ASSETS, AND INVESTMENTS. Thus the size of a group is not the key to its financial ability. Rather it is the EFFECTIVENESS of the group (even if it is a group of One) that becomes the measure of its longevity. This will necessarily make allowance for the evolution of wealth dynamics. That is the core of capitalism.

The problem that that has arisen is that some groups seek recognition and reward of labour that far outweighs their contribution to the cooperation of the often interpenetrating groups and special interests. For some reason, taxation is the supposed instrument of balancing this power. In those places where there are tensions mounting, you can bet someone is not pulling their own load. Thus, there is the tendency to merge along lines which outline weakness than can be used to pull reimbursement for the disadvantage; and to find safety in numbers.

So, if this is destroying the unity of Muslim and those who are not Muslim around you, maybe you need to evaluate the ACTUAL PEOPLE who happen to be Muslim in question or the ACTUAL PEOPLE who are not Muslim, and not just take some on to fill a national quota.

In Europe, in particular, there was a blind eye thrown to many of the countries that alllowed Muslim populations to grow without integration, or without evaluation to determine if they were good for the country's growth. That is not the fault of the U.S., look to your local government for why your country is having difficulty with Muslim tensions. Did they provide a avenue to full integration, or did they allow immigrants to basically propogate some of the very things that occured that people fled their original country for. So talk to me about how Muslims hate Americans. Meanwhile, I am invited to read and interpret some of the works of Rumi, and how his poetry influenced some of the crowd of Victorian Oxford alumni; for a second time.

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and for the second part:

QUOTEGas prices are up and as a result "everything" is up...

Gas prices are not set by the US. So if you want to blame the US for not kow-towing to the people who set gas prices, on the basis of keeping gas prices down; you advocate extortion of foreign policy. That mentality is what got us here in the first place. We were pressured by private parties of countries that produce oils to "buy your oil, and don't worry about what we do with the money." U.S. investigation into the conditions of the workers in middle eastern oil fields, and how much of the oil revenue was actually being spent abroad was what created the first crisis. That simple departure into a forced ethical review of the effectiveness of building a self-sustaining revenue base in the middle east was what created the use of oil as a source of tension between the Middle East and the American countries. We were expected to do what Germany, China, Russia, and Europe as a whole had done: Pay and look the other way. By the way, this was back before World War II.

Prices will continue to inflate, but it is not American involvement that will be the source. It is the market activity. As more people invest more money, they want more payback. In the European countries, that will result in lower wages and raises become less common, to try and get people to quit so they can hire someone for less money. This is INVESTMENT tension, and pressure from shareholders is more to blame than any man in America's White House. An flood of e*traders that filter seasonal investments through your stock for tenure gains to gain the ability to trade options on your futures, for a short term investment strategy to developing a long-term investment portfolio is more to blame than my elected officials or some arabic book.

So, if you need a "scape goat" so you don't have to get involved in the muck and mire of your own internal policy, sure American efforts will do in a pinch. *shrug* But if you think any one person or country is totally to blame for the repurcussions of an unregulated global market, you might want to learn about more about global economics. And if your local govt. is so ineffectual that American policy administration is more of a factor than your local representatives, you may want to make an inquiry into the effectiveness of yur local government. That's like people who blame exxon for obsene profits. Hell, they make most of it through options trades and hedging. and they don't even trade their own options. They make money everytime someone else sells their stock for more than they bought it for. All they do is hold it, and occasionally offer a pro-rate common offering buy-back.

As far as your kinder, good luck. I mean that. /smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /> But, the tension you see about your kids has been in place since before the last two millenium, and my country is not the source of a parent worrying about their child's future... which is always a valid precaution based off of one of the most crucial instincts of family.

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duh. your complete reply, although undeniably true, does fail in one aspect: that the US international politics breed division. Hell... we do not need to go far back. Last week: the entire world condemned Israel's bloody "technical issue" killing 18 citizens, 13 of which from the same family. A resolution to condemn the action was veto'ed by the US even before a discussion was had. Another one.

if you do not see that US international politics increase seperation between parties, you are turning a blind eye and looking for excuses like you did above.

The problem we have here actually does not have anything to do with Iraq... although it is not helping to resolve it. Belgium took quite a nice stand on Iraq and as such I think it is relatively safe... for the time being. We do have NATO here, as the EC. That might make it a bit more unsafe.

The gas prices? Oil companies thrive on instability. The Iraq was was a godsent... Katrina as well, as were land-slides in Venezuela. The latter two were "acts of God" though, Iraq was decided on, by the mini-coalition. Check out how oil corp stocks miraculously started rising ever since March 2003. So, yes, blame some of it on globalization, but the majority of it on the instability brought by Iraq.

QUOTE(Kramer @ Nov 13 2006, 10:11 AM) Not to start any shit or anything... but instead of bitching,

Kramer...

What is it with you and criticism..? You need to fix that shit, everytime someone makes a suggestion, you're not supposed to, or have something counter active to say...Jesus Christ man, that's horrible you do that...Please don't make it a habit to misunderstand every single fucking thing I say...I ask for some diversity in the posting topics, and here you come tell me I should post more topics...

Logic Check

What the hell does ME posting more topics have to do with YOU and anyone else being more diverse in what they post..? How is that going to change anything..? You miss the point in my observation, or decide there isn't a point, and then say something that makes it look like you feel you need to be defensive...That's not even what this about man, damn...

And while you're at it, why don't you go through my threads in this forum, and see do I walk the walk, I have posted a gang of shit here, about a bunch of different subjects...If you are incapable of expanding your thought, just let me know...

Now...

@ Brains

Thank you for actually reading what I had to say...And I don't care that you're vocal about criticizing anything...I just think it sucks that we only hear you when you don't like something...If anything ever comes up that you do like, I hope to see that topic as well...Point is, I live here, and like any place else, it has its good and bad sides...I don't want to continue logging in reading topics where my gov't is being slammed, or anybody's gov't or anything else is being slammed repeatedly, and then when it comes to look to the other side, there is an echo...

It's my personal belief that if you're going to talk about a thing, to understand it as best you can...If you post 10 articles criticising US Policy, all of them negative...There's no balance in that...Like this analogy of a headline for example:

Man kills teen

If that's all you read, then you're thinking, 'That's fucking horrible'

Man kills teen who was trying to break into his home

Then that may change your scope a bit...In fact, that could change the scope of the story completely...Everything is done for a reason...All I read in this forum is what's done, and no reasons behind it...If international policy is fucked, then maybe its fucked for a reason...Could be just fucked...But if the time isn't taken to assess the situation, what merit is there..? To me, it is impossible to continously find fault in something without ever finding anything on the other side...

Being able to be unbias even when you don't like something is a sign of integrity of opinion...If I looked into this forum and saw 4 threads of yours...2 were attacking US policy and 2 were praising US policy then when I read your attack threads, I could better tell where you were coming from...But to me, the threads have a pattern, you say, "This shit sucks," and the rest of the forum locks into defense mode...

I hope that makes sense, and again...I AM NOT SINGLING OUT ANYONE...I'm just making a suggestion...If you only got time to make 2 posts a week, expand your scope...

kays aj. fair enough. i'll look into it and (try to find some things to /tongue.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":P" border="0" alt="tongue.gif" /> ) post which puts US in positive daylight.

then again... you know I feel exactly the same way - but from the other side. I think "everybody" here, or at least most voices here, are always defending the US and its policies no matter what. I see no balance there either. It is all good: we the goodies, them the baddies. Our actions always make sense and are for the better, their actions are evil and should be punished.

Since I am the minority here being critical about these, I tend to stress that, so I do always point my head in that direction. Does it mean the US never does any good? No of course it does not mean that.

But see... I am the voice of the opposition, I need to counter everything which is being said by the majority. lol /tongue.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":P" border="0" alt="tongue.gif" /> haha. just a joke. ... I'll see what I can do. /wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="wink.gif" />

I try very had to give my honest opinion...When something stinks, it stinks...I am not that passionate about politics, so I follow the discussions here a little differently...

I'm not saying you HAVE to or NEED to, I just think you should WANT to post varying levels of articles for a more wholesided approach...I think that's why everyone runs to defend, because its always so one sided...I'm pretty sure you'd feel the same way if it were the other way around, and we were blasting Belgium for sending Jean Claude Van Damme here.../:D" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt=":D" />

I will and do appreciate your efforts and opinions in this forum, regardless...

I've posted shit here (you know, back when I was active...it's my arthritis), about both my native country and my adoptive one, but I do so when I consider it relevant to yours or if it might be remotely interesting. If a certain issue in Colombia is important to me, I tend not to assume it will be important to any of you, so I favor news that you might find relevant to your own country. Even with that mindset, i've misjudged on quite a few. I'm sorry, but not a lot outside of the US seems to tickle the collective fancy, with noteable exceptions.

I post what I post regarding Dubs because when I see your own country divided and ultimately do a sweep for change, I get very curious as to the opinions of those who favor the boy. I have nothing against the US, I happen to dig a great many aspects of its culture -I wouldn't have busted my fucking nuts learning your language otherwise, and I have much to be grateful for, same goes for Puerto Rico. What I don't dig is the current administration...I don't know if anyone's noticed that...but I don't. So I post, and get a feel for both sides. I have no time to go to the streets and take a survey. This forum is a more tangible, living, cyclic being. So I ride it when I can.