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I have spent literally minutes online researching oil prices so, as an authority on this subject, I should interject to suggest that OPEC cannot raise prices whenever they want - all they can do is encourage or allow an increase or decrease in production. While the effects of these changes in production have somewhat predictable effects on oil prices, the prices themselves are established on open markets whereby, depending on worldwide reserves, a decrease in production could backfire if prices do not rise as much as expected. Furthermore, increased prices allow for more competition since non-OPEC oil-producing countries with higher production costs can increase their production and still make a profit while at the same time supplementing worldwide supply.Joe McCarthy wrote:Ok, lets take that exact sentence chromosome boy. Its a silly observation, as OPEC can raise prices whenever they want for whatever reason they want and have done so many times.
First of all, I'm not sure you have any money in your treasury. Given your national debt, I'd say you're pretty much driving on fumes.OnlyAmbrose wrote:I'm saying we have to stay in Iraq until the new government is capable of fending for itself. That includes police, military, etc.Jolly Roger wrote:So you're saying that you have to stay in Iraq until they like you?
Really, I've never heard ANYONE argue that we should pull out NOW. By all means, I would love it if we did... do you think Americans enjoy having money sucked from our treasury by the billions per week?
I don't know anyone in real life who wants to see the troops stay in Iraq "indefinately". Most of the people I know, including myself, want a deadline and want to see it upheld. It pisses me off that Mr. President hasn't given us one.Jolly Roger wrote:First of all, I'm not sure you have any money in your treasury. Given your national debt, I'd say you're pretty much driving on fumes.OnlyAmbrose wrote:I'm saying we have to stay in Iraq until the new government is capable of fending for itself. That includes police, military, etc.Jolly Roger wrote:So you're saying that you have to stay in Iraq until they like you?
Really, I've never heard ANYONE argue that we should pull out NOW. By all means, I would love it if we did... do you think Americans enjoy having money sucked from our treasury by the billions per week?
Secondly, a lot of the money being spent on the war ends up in the pockets of American contractors (some of whom have been accused of totally ripping off the government). War has always been good for business so that makes me wonder about the motives of those arguing to go into Iraq in the first place and those arguing to stay indefinitely. In short, I think it's a little naive to believe that the reasons for going into and staying in Iraq are entirely altruistic. Can we all agree that politicians, American or otherwise, are generally a bunch of greedy bastards?
If thats the goal, we should just plant a flag now and call it a state because those radicals are still going to be there...waiting...10, 20, 50 years from now. It's a holy war in their eyes and we know how long those last, especially in that part of the world.OnlyAmbrose wrote:the damn country would collapse if we pulled out now, and in the ensuing chaos it would be fairly easy for a radical party to take control and spawn a bigger threat than what was present before we entered. Basically, we don't really have a choice anymore.
are registered trademarks of Backglass Heavy Industries. I'm not saying the radicals are going to pack up and leave. I'm saying that until Iraqi forces are capable of dealing with it on their own it's our headache- it has to be or Iraq would collapse if we pulled out, unfortunately.Backglass wrote:If thats the goal, we should just plant a flag now and call it a state because those radicals are still going to be there...waiting...10, 20, 50 years from now. It's a holy war in their eyes and we know how long those last, especially in that part of the world.OnlyAmbrose wrote:the damn country would collapse if we pulled out now, and in the ensuing chaos it would be fairly easy for a radical party to take control and spawn a bigger threat than what was present before we entered. Basically, we don't really have a choice anymore.
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$338,455,532,444.00 and counting.
http://www.costofwar.com
There's no way for a foreigner to answer that question... It's a vast generalization, to say you hate a full people. If someone answered: "yes, I hate Americans", they could only possibly mean that they hate the stereotypical Homer Simpson American.P Gizzle wrote:do foreigners hate the Americans or their Government? just wondering.
what i mean is, why is america hated? because you dont like people like me, or becasue you don't like what our Government has done?OnlyAmbrose wrote:There's no way for a foreigner to answer that question... It's a vast generalization, to say you hate a full people. If someone answered: "yes, I hate Americans", they could only possibly mean that they hate the stereotypical Homer Simpson American.P Gizzle wrote:do foreigners hate the Americans or their Government? just wondering.
People tend to say they hate a certain people because of the action of said people's government. It doesn't mean they hate every single solitary person of that country, by any means.
Actually, we're driving on our military. Our national debt is only worth a dime if someone calls it in on us. Who's going to call in the US' debt? The true debt of the US is no larger than the cost to put up that stupid sign in Times Square. I've actually done some research on the subject and find it highly amusing that everybody freaks out about the national debt. Think about it this way...what is money but a tree byproduct? What places value on money? We do. We say "This pack of gum is worth 1 dollar" and as long as somebody agrees, it's worth 1 dollar. So if the US says "Our national debt is worth 0 dollars", who's going to say "No it's not!" The US just happens to have the premier fighting force in the world...thus making it a semi-hegemony. Switzerland can be as rich as it wants, but if the US puts a gun in its face, it loses everything.Jolly Roger wrote:First of all, I'm not sure you have any money in your treasury. Given your national debt, I'd say you're pretty much driving on fumes.OnlyAmbrose wrote:I'm saying we have to stay in Iraq until the new government is capable of fending for itself. That includes police, military, etc.Jolly Roger wrote:So you're saying that you have to stay in Iraq until they like you?
Really, I've never heard ANYONE argue that we should pull out NOW. By all means, I would love it if we did... do you think Americans enjoy having money sucked from our treasury by the billions per week?
not quite. China is going to surpass the US as the world's superpower in the near future... even sooner if the US keeps up this brand of foriegn policy. And China happens to be by far the largest owner of US goevrnment bonds. If it ever decided to redeem them - boom. The world order is changing. Iraq is a morass, soliders are dying every day for nothing, it is bleeding US coffers dry - as will Iran, North Korea, Syria or whoever else your govt decides to help next. The age of America is ending. History has always predicted it would happen.So if the US says "Our national debt is worth 0 dollars", who's going to say "No it's not!"
True dat. The US and Europe are still being complacent, but ultimately it won;t mattrer IMHO. The power centre shifted from Europe to the US earlier this century, and it's about to swing back east, and even so the US isn't going to implode under the weight of its bloated capitalistic evilitude or anything like that. Probably it will become a little quieter, more settled and less relevant, just like Europe. Actually i think most of that post was half-hearted tuesday trollingThey are accepting some elements of capitalism but are still trying to run a command economy. As long as they keep holding themselves back in that way we have time to get our debt under control and get back on top. If they embrace free-market capitalism any time soon though its going to hard for us.
Of course the US will eventually decline...no one's immature enough to admit to believing that it won't...or at least they should be ashamed of themselves if they do. I personally like to compare the US to the last greatest world empire, Rome. I think that the US will become as corrupt as Rome itself before destablizing. So how do we survive China? Two years ago, I predicted that China was going to become such a threat to the US that within 20 years, we will be at war with China. This seems to be manifesting itself daily. My Master Sergeant was just sent over to China last June. There will be war before the US goes down. Although China does have superior manpower, they are largely uneducated and underfed. For all of China's growth, something like 90% of the population lives in rural China, not contributing much to its economic growth.heavycola wrote:not quite. China is going to surpass the US as the world's superpower in the near future... even sooner if the US keeps up this brand of foriegn policy. And China happens to be by far the largest owner of US goevrnment bonds. If it ever decided to redeem them - boom. The world order is changing. Iraq is a morass, soliders are dying every day for nothing, it is bleeding US coffers dry - as will Iran, North Korea, Syria or whoever else your govt decides to help next. The age of America is ending. History has always predicted it would happen.So if the US says "Our national debt is worth 0 dollars", who's going to say "No it's not!"
I travel internationally extensively for my job. The first thing people ask when we are having the after work beer is either "What do you think of Mr. Bush" or "Where were you on 9/11" (since I live in NY). I can say that 100% of the folks I have meet abroad have hated bush. One or two have hated Americans in general.P Gizzle wrote:do foreigners hate the Americans or their Government? just wondering.
are registered trademarks of Backglass Heavy Industries. f*ck that noise. No American needs to travel outside the US unarmed and my kids arent big enough to hold a rifle yet.Backglass wrote: The best thing Americans could do is get a passport, and take that next family vacation to a different country. Go see Paris or London or Tokyo. If you go to Mexico, go to a REAL Mexican city instead of cities that were invented like Cancun & Cabo. Be respectful and meet the people. THATS how we change our image abroad, and you might just make a lifelong friend. I have.
If there is one thing I have learned after setting foot in over 15 countries on four continents...it's this: People are the same everywhere. We all have the same goals. There are good people & a**holes in every country...just like here.
i dont think i have any room to talk about being respectful but i think that this topic just got ended by this post i think this is probaly the best way to make america more liked nice post by the wayBackglass wrote:I travel internationally extensively for my job. The first thing people ask when we are having the after work beer is either "What do you think of Mr. Bush" or "Where were you on 9/11" (since I live in NY). I can say that 100% of the folks I have meet abroad have hated bush. One or two have hated Americans in general.P Gizzle wrote:do foreigners hate the Americans or their Government? just wondering.
Later after they get to know me, they usually say something like "You are not like most Americans". This is not because I am different, but because they just dont know any Americans and generalize...exactly like we do about Mexicans, Muslims and anyone else different than us. Less than 20% of Americans own a passport, even less have ever left US Soil. The world only knows us from TV & Movies, and the same goes for us.
The best thing Americans could do is get a passport, and take that next family vacation to a different country. Go see Paris or London or Tokyo. If you go to Mexico, go to a REAL Mexican city instead of cities that were invented like Cancun & Cabo. Be respectful and meet the people. THATS how we change our image abroad, and you might just make a lifelong friend. I have.
If there is one thing I have learned after setting foot in over 15 countries on four continents...it's this: People are the same everywhere. We all have the same goals. There are good people & a**holes in every country...just like here.
