DeTomaso

More likely the alien buzzing on the TV screen is just an entertainment buzz, six worlds yonder all reality.

Violence just breeds more violence. That fundamental lesson is not to be taught and always ignored by those temporarily in power. They have to experience it at first hand first, as usual.

Much better than living in the imperial past, exclusively thinking backwards. Thus the question who might be the much greater fantast is already answered.

Double posting, sorry.

I said already that global war leads to global rejection, finally global resistance. Look at the global war against terror. On the other hand a global disaster that is to be solved only by all acting in concert would be a catalyst for that what is hopefully expected here - One world, one people. Not one world, one ruling people, eh? Well, said disaster could take many forms...... something along the lines of a meteor impact that affected EVERYONE might work, or, the aftermath of a nuclear war would qualify as well........ assuming the human race survived either eventuality. The latter would fully traumatize mankind - there'd be no more trust in human leadership anymore, and no more expectations in a social life that has revealed itself as senseless and counter-productive for directed against its own nature. There is a striking psychological difference between a natural disaster and one that is consciously caused by the military. Only the former we'd, if ever, accept as "God-given" fate. And the fate of the survivors of the vaults would be sealed: they get killed as persons responsible when they'd open the gates to look what's up with the outer world.

I said already that global war leads to global rejection, finally global resistance. Look at the global war against terror. On the other hand a global disaster that is to be solved only by all acting in concert would be a catalyst for that what is hopefully expected here - One world, one people. Not one world, one ruling people, eh?

It goes both ways. And I am Belgian, so please don't play my advocate. As long as we are unable to adopt the ideal American feeling we are doomed to sink into insignificance, economically and politically. Already realized that the bulk of our exports, and most of the EU countries are export orientated, flows in the EU? Be that as it may we have reached the real causes behind the difficulties of any peaceful unification under a single flag: - historical reasoned regional patriotism - regional authorities to decide on high level - different forms of legislative - different culture and religion - asymmetric life standards The latter is still good visible in the case of Great Germany, even after a generation since the Acta Kohl: a rich West and a not that rich East. The level of private indebtedness is much higher in the former Communist part of the reunited country, consequence of an aiming at the high West German life standard as the only true one. Such a financial asymmetry we find again on a higher level in the PIG countries of the EU, now largely supported by the local governments with an increasing indebtedness of both the public and the private hand, the state bankrupt is the final result of a living beyond one's means. It might take a few generations though to compensate the given asymmetry without new debt even if the authorities of the national governments would ever be reduced to US state level or the like, showing Chancellor Merkel reduced in size as congresswoman or Governor of Germany in the United States of Europe for example. Fiction? Perhaps, but Europe has no workable alternative. The age of the old national states is over, the time of the Europeans has come, one way or the other. Not before we have found solution approaches for a united Europe we might talk about the big picture - the united world of striking asymmetry in buying power that directly calls for a matching of the different life standards - and a relativization of culture and religion as well. What we all might learn from the Trekkie universe is the willingness to share table fellowship with our former enemies - the aliens of old. Today we either row in the same team boat or we have to swim for our survival, alone in the dark. Good luck.

The corrupt fiscal behaviour is one of the main causes for the the problems in the PIG countries. Real estate is tax free in Greece for example. An absurdity in the land of Onassis and Co. De facto, yes. Keep in mind that the areas between Alaska and New Mexico differ on a much larger scale. Our problem is just an artificial one: we are trained jingos, skilled to identify trivial differencies, unskilled to see the things in common. My wife is a German, the husbands of my sisters are an Italian and a French. Many of my relatives are "foreigners". That is Europe, the real one. And there is no way back into the Dark Age. Actually my family lives the American Way of Life on European soil, if you take my meaning. And we feel good.

A perfect example that depends on local perspective and value. The bulk of the EU countries bemefits economically from the Euro, though the individuals might not. And those that live in the past either. Look at what is happening to those who aren't benefiting, the Euro was doomed from the start because you can't have one policy and interest rate for wildly diverse areas. Wildly diverse? Is that so, really? Gosh, we live side by side on the same continent since some thousand years, often in intermarriage - and have learned nothing on state level? What a pathetic display. Economic, fiscal and social separatism leads to a state bankrupt as the PIG countries prove. Either we pull together or we have to fade away, getting lost in the details.

A perfect example that depends on local perspective and value. The bulk of the EU countries benefits economically from the Euro, though the individuals might not. And those that live in the glorious past either, those that still dream of counter-productive regional dominance over the neighbours. Sharing is an ugly word, deep-rooted in the European history.

The UN have failed due to the veto power of the some that are more equal than others. Last example: The Russian veto in the case of Syria. This Animal Farm concept doesn't work at all. "Kinder an die Macht" is nothing but the last step to reach untergang of all humanity. It is the kiddy world of perfect chaos that knows of no good and of no bad, the colorful rainbow land of unpleasant surprises. Every adult that has grown up children is aware of it. It is simply a naive and dangerous imagination to be controlled by the Lord of the Flies, no matter how good the intention of Herbert "Alcohol" Groenemeyer might have been when he wrote the lyrics of the song that is dedicated to the Day of the Children. Global dominance as the result of a series of wars automatically leads to bloody global resistance with the logically consistent fall of the former winners in the end. It is just the beloved short range aim of all die-hards. The only proven backdoor left for human togetherness is temporarily opened when a large scale human disaster happens. Charity is all-too human, as is mercilessness. We are schizo fighter animals that predominantly live for the fight. And peace is just the temporary absence of war. Know thyself.

That's why we call it "fiction".

Don't ever look backwards to make dark prognoses for the future. Move! The past offers no solution. If one doesn't want to move one shouldn't grumble about today mischiefs that are rooted in the past. These mischiefs predominantly exist because of the lack of flexibility among the voters. Keep that in mind.

Given the history of third parties in the US, it is just registering a protest vote not changing the outcome of the election, it might make you feel good but that is about all. The exception might be in local politics at the county or state level but with rare exception such as Vermont there really are no viable federal alternatives outside of the classic two. Better to attempt change within the mainstream than cry in the wilderness. Don't be naive. It's almost impossible to initiate a visible change of a set major party from within. To understand the mechanisms of change from outside you've to investigate European politics for example. A political change is usually founded in protest against the establishment first, protest for a change for the better that involves everybody and not just a few. Once the protest is established politically, the shift of the other parties towards the protest themes forcibly begins. Competition is good for business.If it goes both ways, well, then you've probably seen the birth of a new major party. But above all, the voters have to learn to vote for a party program instead of a party face. The face is interchangeable at will and ad hoc, the program is not. That's why many of you are often disappointed by colorful faces that cannot come up to expectations, finally ending colorless. Yes you can! Unfortunately, they cannot, simply by means of set party compulsion. The decisive questions are: What do the people actually want and what are they willing to change to reach the goal? The hair will turn grey and the change has not yet come if one just sits and waits for state gifts and internal hindsights in mischief such as corruption, to mention but one of many.

The sex of the he/she that has posted in your own former topic that exclusively has dealt with her is a she and you know that too. Actually she was one of some three thousand folks that have already joined the Nexus precursor forum, low IDs the Nexus machine could not date properly. The problem is solved now. You won't find an active member from before the beginning anymore. The nomination of Dark One sounds strange because under normal conditions the founder is always the first member of his forum.

To reach a major overhaul you have to change your electoral behavior first. Swing voting with temporary emphasis on minor parties is the key to make the big ones get going ... into the desired direction.

Righteousness presupposes knowledge of both sides of the story. And because we're focused on just one preferred side demonizing the other as is usual we are perfectly unjust. And even more worse, we feel comfortable with it. We don't need to think about it anymore until we have to pay the bill.

Under war conditions things are different, totally different. So what you can in arms or not one will see first when you come under fire but not before and not at home. Skills on the shooting gallery, in hunting or in video gaming offer absolutely no guarantee to be brave in the field, it just makes killing as such easier, but not the handling of the own fear under stress, oh no. What you see right now among the rebels in Libya is the quite natural selection. After some time only the born soldiers will survive. If they are too low in numbers they will lose the war, finally, no matter how brave they were. And modern weaponry is, contrary to certain beloved opinions that are always on a medial endless loop, just a minor part of the game, for otherwise lost wars of the past should have been won. Conventional fire power is no key to success. That's the lesson from asymmetric warfare, warfare that is by no means to be decided within a quarter, the time frame of medial interest. It might take years, sometimes even a decade or more. Now, we not only don't hear anything of the pro-Gaddafi faction, we know almost nothing about these folks, nothing is made known to us. Such a one-sided knowledge sounds like horse mind. We better have to investigate the other side as well to assess more than just worthless propaganda opinion.

The movie Avatar brilliantly alludes to the theme “corporation at war”. China just tracks the necessities of all empires since antiquity. And one of it is the blown up military machine to enforce the national interests. The catchword we all are familiar with is: National security interest - the security to get access to and control of needed resources elsewhere, often by military force. This naïve strategy doesn’t go well on the long run - the lifespan of today empires is much shorter than it once had been. Today we calculate in decades and no longer in centuries as it was the case in the days of the Romans or Brits. We’re living in fast times. What was utmost relevant yesterday will be absolutely irrelevant tomorrow, an experience the Soviets had to make only just lately and one the Americans have to make in these days. But actually it is a quite normal imperial experience, a reduction in size, not necessarily in wealth. Shame be to him who thinks evil of it.

No, the main problem here is the incredible time necessary for acceleration and braking.

Pfft it only pissed them off. Think 9/11 it didn't disassemble us but it brought us together to be stronger. Same with Osama The main point is that one believes in what one is saying

A study made by whom for whom?

Never say never. Two men enter - one man leaves, well, that is odd propaganda we still sometimes hear from Tehran. It is just a matter of a longer mutual probation and, of course, the human will to cope with visible changes to the better. What this de facto means is clear: It takes more than just a single spring to make a happy new year.

A call for aid and a call to overthrow a foreign government are two very different animals. The latter is exclusively the business of the locals, not ours. But the former is the business of all of us, not just some of us and shouldn't depend on our "good" or "bad" relations to the government in question that has gone mad, or we'll be named hypocrites, by good reasons. Of course, the US is not the world police, not only because it doesn't look good, it doesn't work at all and has just negative effects. More likely It is up to us all either to accept what happens or to act on it as a collective. Those who cook their own soup now and then may perhaps change the flags, so that I don't keep confusing the Russians with the Soviets anymore. We simply should stop these shortsighted childish games, they just call for a backlash and are less profitable in the end. This goes for all important states, not just for Russia as in the case of Syria, it goes for the US in the case of Bahrain as well and there are many other cases, in which we tolerate the mad actions of regimes simply because our state relations are so wonderful. They are indeed wonderful, because our money miraculously feeds these regimes, keeps them alive, for whatever reason. This directly leads to home policy. You wanna become President? Fine, but not in this way. First come we, our wealth and our economy, and with the rest of the money you may feed your private zoo over there. Don't be too patriotic, folks, cos that may breed internal blindness, be more egoistic, figuratively. Keep your leaders on a shorter leash so that they may remember you much much better. If it ever would come to the worst in America, you wouldn't be left alone, believe me.

Civil courage? Involving ourselves is yet another war is a "good thing"?????? Looking away as lifestyle - is that a "good thing"? Doubtlessly not in the long run for sooner or later oneself draws the shortest straw. And then what? The meaning is not that we should sit on a watchtower round the clock looking for serious problems. But when somebody cries for help, he shouldn't fall on deaf ears only because it is much safer to remain seated in our oasis of calm smoking an innocent pipe as if nothing has happened. Straightforwardness is in demand wherever civilians come under heavy pressure, not the widespread hypocricy of today - some get help, the rest gets nothing.