BBC Blog Network

User Profile

Dutchange

Listed below are comments made by Dutchange between Friday, 20th February 2009 and Friday, 27th March 2009.

«Newer
Older»

A great roadshow 09:37am on 27 Mar 2009 69, MK,

But you did create Economic terrorism. The biggest regret is that you didn't restrain them any longer.

(I know, boring)
Would Palin have done better? 5:27pm on 19 Mar 2009 Ah, Palin...

45, Jeebers76
"How much does anybody here want to bet that AIG is just the tip of the iceberg in scams?"

Someone interested in sending the document below to a specific place in Alaska? Let's wait on her statement how to nail down a rescue plan on (600-x) trillion dollars. (x: not bubble related)

http://www.villagevoice.com/content/printVersion/850296

Two points of advice:

1)disconnect your printer before visiting this site if you don't want to start printing the article immediately

2)disconnect your feelings if you want to enjoy the rest of the day.

If anyone can show me the flaw(s) in the story, please tell me!

If it's all true, anyone interested in starting a new, on stones and shells based economy?
Faith vs Science 09:08am on 09 Mar 2009 Pentagon?
"In this time of great challenges, I recognize the real choice between investments that are designed to keep the American people safe and those that are designed to make a defense contractor rich," the president said Wednesday.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123638888403658683.html
Makes sense, again. Let's hope the fat cat and its dead brother bouncing (the skinny one, that is) do not have enough power to harm wisdom any further.

7 Happylaze,
Difficult topic, animal rights... I'm glad we have this Animal Party in Holland. But I'm also glad to read that some scientists found a possible bird flu vaccine, even when they had to experiment on mice.
Maybe some clear regulation at the rights of animals other than the cats mentioned above would be nice as well.
(PETA: 2 million members. No chance to get a seat in Congress with this electoral vote system ever.)
Stem cell decision imminent 9:35pm on 08 Mar 2009 44, Jeebers76, thanks for this clear post.

50, IF, great post as well.
I feel very sorry for all those young, good entrepreneurs who fail and I respect the survivors, but...

I just have one question: Why?

Why do they have to take 100(0) times more responsibility than others?

Why do they have to work from dawn to dusk?

Why?

Just because they are bright (and young, energetic) people? But if so, why don't they see the strangeness of it all?

Should it not be more humane to start a company without working one's brains out?

Why is this not possible any longer? Aren't these brave boys working harder than the medieval serfs? What happened....?

The hill on which the bright city shines, is growing higher and higher. How many outsiders can still see its lights? How many inhabitants of this city have lost contact with the earth completely?
And where dwell the Great Thinkers of this city? In the caves created by its growth? Are they blinded by the lights?

I'll keep on dreaming... maybe a 100 years sleep will do me good ;-)
Everyone's a winner? 11:45pm on 22 Feb 2009
114, British-ish

"You are making a fundamental mistake. NATO was not founded as, and is not now, simply another division of the US army."

Maybe my remark was somewhat offensive without me noticing it. Nevertheless, in an alliance, you should help each other. I added a particular part of the document to give an oversight (to MA II) how much we were supporting the USA. Sending 3 men is almost literally symbolical, though.
In case of Iraq, I would not have agreed with sending 1. But this was (and still is) another war. 9/11 was an attack on the USA. The USA is part of NATO. If a NATO-member is attacked, other members should help it. That's a basic rule.
But this is just the starting point, which is clouded by preemptive action and war on terror and other stuff from the neocon vocabulary (How much do we know, anyway). Just as you (probably), I don't think this war can be won. For that reason I think it should be a better idea to start helping the local Afghans to defend themselves against the Taleban and AQ.
I have no idea how the opium/money problem can be solved, and I'm curious how much of those poppy fields are run by locals and / or Taleban.

I don't know what you mean by democracy. I'm Dutch. Over here, we have just ten political parties in our parliament. The newest is called The Animal Party, with two seats in parliament. They defend the rights of animals (You know, the stuff that was lost in Animal Farm) and have made some progress!
But, back to topic, a government has to decide whether troops will be deployed. Without exception, the voting population will easier accept deployment of peace-keepers (Libanon, Bosnia) than of fighters. I'm glad it does. However, sometimes you cannot stand aside. Maybe, if from day one more European countries had sent more peacekeepers, a standstill could have been prevented.
Now more peacekeepers are necessary, next to military advisers. Obama's action to send more troops is probably a last attempt to get some order in Afghanistan. I don't think these new arrivals will be dropped in the mountains to combat.
The Dutch population was not happy with their guys being transformed from peacekeepers to fighters and maybe this was reflected in the outcome of the last election. However, our next government did not pull back the 1500. Even if you've made an error, you cannot leave a mess without trying to get some order in it.
It's a difficult topic.. I think we Europeans should support the USA, as NATO-members, in their attempt to reinstate some kind of peace without getting the Taleban back in leadership. Those guys were a nightmare for their own people, don't you agree?
Maybe we should let them have their tribal rules, however, instead of forcing them into a democratic farce. So, after all, I don't believe in democracy, dependent on what country we're discussing; or maybe we should look at a tribal society as a lot of small democracies. You tell me.

"It is entirely up to each member nation as to where it deploys its armed forces, and these deployments are agreed through democratic consultation and negotiation."
and
"Many NATO members are occupied in peace-keeping around the world; perhaps people ought to take that into account, too."

Don't be surprised that I agree.

(Deja vu) Don't shoot the messenger. Most of the time it's the diplomat as well.
Everyone's a winner? 5:16pm on 22 Feb 2009 102, Jeebers76,

If it's acknowledged Monday, I will be surprised at Obama's swift action. A brave move, or a rash one? I guess the rich will start looking for their financial Mozes minutes later.
Maybe something different would stir up less emotion: What if the multimillionaires were not given a tax raise, but instead had to lend the same amount (or even more) to construction/ green energy companies, with a small interest?

On Wall Street:
Get rid of the Hedge Funds. Every time I try to understand their ways of doing business or the motivation of the guys who work in it, I get a headache. Far too complex to regulate. I wonder why private/small investors are not allowed to participate.
Reeks to me like an old boys stock-market. Just an afterthought: is it too far-fetched to think that some powerful enemies of the Democrats or the USA as a whole use the volatile character of these funds as a political weapon...?

69, BettyHur,

I'm not certain what you want to say, but the idea of a better future is something that most bloggers share, so

(Others can do better, but let me try:)

Banks will be busy to save their skins for months, if not years. What about multinationals? Is it possible to set up a construction in which they lend money to starting (and promising) businesses?

Most western countries have a separation between Church and State. Maybe it's time to do the same between Church and the financial world. I think religion should restrict its influence to the heart and mind only.

Forget asteroids, focus on comets. They're really big, quick and appear out of the black. I'm not going to place my bets on a 2012 collision, but when (not if) such a collision takes place, we don't need to concern ourselves about treasury bonds or human rights any longer. In this scenario, we need a bigger bang than a bunch of nukes can produce to save humanity.
The good news: the chance of an impact at our lifetime is one in a million. The bad news: in Pompeii they thought the same about vulcanism. We're always late in solving this kind of problem.
Everyone's a winner? 11:41am on 22 Feb 2009 60, MA II,
in 2007 half of the deployment came from Europe already, but...

From an article on the internet
(AFGHANISTAN: EUROPE’S FORGOTTEN WAR, By Daniel Korski)

"It is difficult to gauge the exact size of the deployability gap – the difference between what European countries have deployed and what they could deploy. But Europe’s military contribution in Afghanistan can be divided into three groups:
• The Netherlands and the United Kingdom, followed by Bulgaria, the Czech Republic,
Denmark Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania. These
countries contribute significant troops either in absolute terms or as a proportion of their national capability. Latvia has deployed 97 soldiers to ISAF. With a military of 5,864, this represents 1.6% of the country’s deployable capability. To match this, France would have to deploy 4,144 troops – more than four times its current ISAF contribution.
• Belgium, Hungary, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden have made
significant contributions but could do better. Sweden, for example, has only deployed 0.7% of its total military.
• Austria, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, and Portugal have made minimal
deployments well below their capabilities. Finland has deployed only 85 soldiers to
ISAF out of a total strength of 34,700. Austria, perhaps the greatest laggard, has
deployed a mere 3 soldiers, while Luxembourg only 9.

However, the effectiveness of European troops has been severely reduced by restrictions imposed by most national governments. Sixty such national restrictions, or "caveats", exist, limiting the ability of the ISAF commander to deploy and allocate forces. Caveats include a
prohibition on moving forces to a certain area, requirements for lengthy consultations with national capitals before tactical decisions can be made, and restrictions on certain types of activities, for example, riot control."

Europe should do better. With only a few European countries at the front, we fall short of the term allies.
However, if NATO wants to win this war it has to get the people organized in such a way that they can hold the Taleban at bay themselves.
(The main reason why Bagdad became less violent). To win the heart of the people is something we probably will not accomplish even in decades.

Google it, despite its age it's an interesting article on many factors of importance concerning the Afghanistan war.
It seems I broke a bloglaw by putting a direct link to the document (#63). Sorry for that, mods.
Everyone's a winner? 5:22pm on 21 Feb 2009 60, MA II,

In 2008, the European Contribution in Afghanistan was already 50%. However, most of the soldiers were not allowed to fight by their own government. An interesting article from january 2008 (so maybe posted earlier)
states:

"However, the effectiveness of European troops has been severely reduced by restrictions imposed by most national governments. Sixty such national restrictions, or "caveats", exist,
limiting the ability of the ISAF commander to deploy and allocate forces. Caveats include a prohibition on moving forces to a certain area, requirements for lengthy consultations with national capitals before tactical decisions can be made, and restrictions on certain types of activities, for example, riot control."

The link:
[Unsuitable/Broken URL removed by Moderator]

About employment, the Pushtan, narcotics, surrounding countries and their policies. Although it's an old article, it is still a good read.
US left-winger 00:00am on 21 Feb 2009 113, Bere54,

"This child has grown up to work odd hours, less than full time, making enough to pay basic expenses, is very non-materialistic, likes eating rice and beans, owns no car, owns no house, has no debt, has no desire for these."

Exchange the beans for spaghetti, and you're close. I don't work odd hours, though. I work several years and then I quit and start writing another incomprehensible novel and enjoy cheap holidays on the island I left. When my bank account is getting close to a few thousand euros, I take the first job that comes along. Up until now it was easy, but I wonder what will happen the next time.
US left-winger 11:35pm on 20 Feb 2009 108, Via Media,
Nothing wrong with working hard, but don't do it every day, please. Take care, sometimes.

112, publiusdetroit,
Ah, I get the drift. Not a movie-star, but a character like Archie Bunker from the 70's television "All in the Family".
Those were the days...

http://www.archiebunkerquotes.com/4.html

«Newer
Older»

^ Back to top

BBC MMVI

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

BBC.co.uk

BBC Blog Network

Find and talk to the BBC's bloggers.

User Profile

Dutchange