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At 5/8/03 07:10 PM, karasz wrote: yo... where are you getting ur info from??? syria controls lebanon, basically, and if syria goes one way, lebanon will follow it... THEN jordan will fall in line because iraq, syria and lebanon are doing what the US wants... THEN saudi arabia will get in place since the entire NORTH is a 'democratic zone' and it has no real army...

Actually, I was just being sarcastic. My point was the same as yours basically, that we're going to continue taking over countries until we've completely secured a constant supply of oil for at least the next 30 some years (until they run out).

The over-riding principal of our actions in the mid-east is simple: to prevent any threat to our supply of oil. Our support of Israel falls directly on those lines as this gave us a significant military presence in the mideast early on. We already control significant portions of the mid-east without actually officially occupying it (Saudi, UAE, etc). We have no need to take them over.

My specific targets were chosen due to the degree of anti-Americanism (and hence, resistance to US wishes) in each of those countries. Iran is by far the most resistant to America (and therefore a threat) and plus has a large amount of oil. They'd be the next most logical step.

Lebanon and Jordan may possibly be engaged along with Syria, I'll give you that (as they all have put up resistance against Israel). I have to disaggree about Saudi though, they have no reason to resist the US and they've given little indication of wanting to do so. They've been, in effect, worshipping America for quite some time. I have several relatives there who have told me about the extreme favoritism in the country for anyone with an American passport. They're as little a threat as Kuwait is to American interests. Plus, it wouldn't be in their interest to stand up to America; they're already on our "good side" (and getting lots of money from oil sales) and also have no secrets hidden from us (we've held a large military presence on their soil since the Gulf War). Same goes for UAE.

Pakistan is another logical target. This is mostly due to the fact that they have nuclear power and a large portion of their population is extremely anti-American. The fact that they have nuclear power, however, may make us hesitate to invade them.

Turkey is another potential target since the new government is actually quite Islamic in its views (despite an officially secular government). This gives the impression that they may automatically make them more anti-American (and some of their statements have fueled this suspicion). They may pose another threat, and hence may be another target.

i dont see that happening, i see syria and lebanon evetually falling, then the rest of teh arabian penisula, (saudi arabia, oman, yemen, uae) will join an alliance called 'arabia' and get ready for a BIG ass fight, with al-qaeda on the arab side of course...

Don't bet on it, man. The entire Islamic/Arabic world has been splintered into many pieces, and is very unlikely to be put back together. To do so, they'd need a powerful and charismatic leader. One such leader did exist, King Faisal of Saudi, but he was killed (many claim by the CIA, which actually makes sense).

The US is run by incredibly intelligent individuals (many are the same that run the corporations). They know that a united power would be a threat to our oil supplies, which are incredibly precious to our economy. We will do everything we can to prevent such a thing from happening... just as we always have done.

Enough being serious, again, I was being sarcastic. Point is, we will continue on our rampage for some time (especially with elections coming up again).

At 5/8/03 01:08 AM, karasz wrote: on to damascus, then beirut, then amman, then rayid, then tehran... at least that is the game plan

No, no, no, no... you got it all wrong! It's first Syria, then Iran, then Turkey, then Pakistan, then Malaysia, then Jordan... you get the idea. Mark my words... it will be Syria then Iran. Turkey is still in the air... but Pakistan is a sure thing too. WOMD, here we come!

At 5/7/03 02:55 AM, TheShrike wrote: The KKK still exists today, and probably isn't going anywhere for a very long time.

UNFORTUNATELY, you forgot to say unfortunately!

:-)

While I don't necessarily agree with your specific problems with school Arbalest, I do definitely think that schools in the US have a fundamental problem. That is: MONEY

No money = old books, outdated technology, faulty hardware, and worst of all BAD TEACHERS.

Our school system does not pay teachers enough... that is why many who would make the best teachers don't go into the field. That is also why so many are generally pissed off.

I believe the root of this problem is in the funding system in many states (including Ohio, check out this link if you don't believe me).

First of all, state funding for schools is simply not enough in most states. Education is rarely a priority for anyone... just a great buzzword for people to get elected.

Second of all, a significant amount of funds for each school come from LOCAL property taxes. That's right, if you live in a rich district, you get more money. (In the link above, Dublin School County gets $170k/student while others get $25k). That's just idiotic... a way to keep the rich rich and the poor poor.

School funding should be universally equal (a set rate per pupil for EVERY school... even inner city ones) and a Federally funded PRIORITY. We spend a CRAP load of money on stuff like defense (for greedy wars, yes, that's another issue) and not enough on education.

Bottom line, our schools need more money. Our K-12 schools are SHITTY for the standard of living we have compared to the rest of the world. We can do a lot better.

Back when I was about 16, I asked myself what the hell I wanted to do with my life, much like you are now, Slizor. I felt the exact same way about wanting to change the world... but couldn't figure a way to do it through some job.

Honestly, I figured on just going for the least of all evils and the most reliable in terms of getting the means to make a change (money, at least that's what i thought would make a difference then). I didn't want to be an engineer or whatever... I hated sucking up (my dad's one, I did a summer thing, hated it). I really wanted to be a musician, a poet, an actor... something where people could hear me. I figured though, it was too risky... such a low chance of success (I wanted to have kids, and for them, ya need some way to support).

So, I figured why not medicine? It's tough, but get some decent money, and save some lives and whatever bullshit. Back then, I figured it was the least shitty of whatever i could think of.

Now that I'm into it, I happen to enjoy it. It's kinda interesting. Actually, I'm getting into the research aspect of medicine, which I hope will give me the chance to make some difference. Honestly though, I still hold those dreams in my heart to someday make a big change... maybe someday I'll have the means and the chance. I realize now that it's chance that's the key... a matter of luck really...

In the meantime, I advise you to pick whatever sucks the least to you. Stick with it a while, if you find it sucks more than you thought SWITCH to something less sucky. Eventually, maybe you'll be the lucky 1/1,000,000 that makes a real difference. Who knows? No need to lose hope... this is just the way reality is. It sucks... but there are those few beautiful LITTLE things that keep you going.

I've been married now for 2.5 years, and I couldn't be happier. I was engaged for about 2 years and knew her for quite some time before that too, so I got to know my wife pretty well before-hand. While it is true that our bond formed well before marriage, we wanted to make it official both for religious reasons and to psychologically fix ourselves with the idea of staying together for the rest of our lives. I'm a firm believer in the necessity of a family unit (and no, I'm not some ultra-conservative corn-fed whatever) for the good of one's children as well as one's self. While I definitely agree that one could form this bond and mental state without a formal label (and I respect those who do), I find it easier to take our relationship seriously this way. Unfortunately that is not what most people seem to get married for these days. It's all about mentally setting yourself to commit to someone... in my opinion, that's what it should be, anyway.

At 3/31/03 01:26 PM, Mushroom wrote: Firstly, outwar and such websites are the height of internet idiocy. A game that rewards spamming is really something we all needed, huh.

100% agree, spamming is not fun, despite the free blam pts. Even with my pop-up stopper, it's freakin annoying. I hate being used :)!

Secondly, this is a request for there to be something added to the judging of a flash movie to say that it contains these links, because it doesn't really fit into the categories of unsuitable or malicious, but they really need dealing with.

I think malicious is the closest thing right now (some of the posts actually do result in pop-ups, if you give it long enough. I've seen 2 now that flood the freakin screen with windows).