@Jester - Maybe Kim is not a religious fanatic but he is certainly a fanatic. He supports NK by three main exports. Drugs, enriched uranium and counterfeit US dollars. As in the style of the average communist leader he is responsible for more deaths of his own people than people outside his borders. As to his cache of weapons, I don't know.
Iran - Well let's not forget the Iran/Iraq war that is estimated to have killed a million Iranians and Iraqis. Again I cannot claim to know what their cache of arms consist and neither does the US government. Certainly through their ineptitude (think 40,000 dead in Bam alone) which was admittedly caused by corruption among the thousands if not hundreds of thousands of deaths since the ascension of the theocratic government. Not to mention the Iraqi prisoners who were kept incarcerated for years. The oppression of their students, etc, etc.
A footnote to the Iraq/Iran war, I read a memoir by a Iranian several years ago that had a story that the government would arrange false visisitations by the Ayatollah Khomeni (sp?) to the battle field, luminescent paint and all.
Also, huge supporters of terrorism.
Saudi Arabia I believe has only conventional weapons. Charges of supporting terrorism is common. There appears to be a soupcon of theocracy.
I almost forgot France. I don't know if you have been following French history, from their involvement in foreign adventures, not to mention their African excursions, and their unwillingness to act in the Darfur situation, to the testing of nuclear weapons in the Pacific, including that unfortunate little incident involving the "Rainbow Warrior" in the 80s, and their support of dictators, etc. Not to mention their very warm friendships with numerous dictatorships.The French government has, imo, a very pragmatic world view. Frankly, I can't quite envision the French allowing any of their citizens to be tried before the world court.
I know of few governments that do not deal or support dictators when it is in their national interests or when dealing with inconvenient rulers, do not work against the rulers. As to the treaties, many of them should be re-visited, and many have been signed for political expediance and status and of course are not followed. As to coups, American interferance has been sited in the recent Ukraine elections, again, foriegn intervention into a sovereign state is neither new nor the sole province of the US.
Your post is much funnier and pithier than my post and not without truth. Â
(CyberÂ
)
As to our political system. I think a major flaw with our politicians is that they always play to a friendly audience. They rarely need to face a hostile crowd and win an arguement. When they go to sell a policy, they go to a friendly outlet. I think they live with a false sense of reality and much of what we (the people) see is simply theater. As to our low voter turnout, you have to have a pretty strong stomach in order to listen to a politician on the campaign trail. It is very easy to become revolted, imo. I still vote but I have yet to vote in any election with enthusiam.
As to truth, I don't know, it takes so much effort to get. I still don't know if Bush won with the largest majority since Reagan or if it was the slimmest margin since Woodrow Wilson and I don't care but the fact that I would need to research for at least an hour to find out is ridiculous.
As to abortion, I stated (probably in this thread) my opinion on abortion earlier and I won't go into it again except to say that I think it should be an option that is reasonably available but I will tell you about a recent experience that I had.
When I was about seven weeks pregnant I was kicked in the back accidentally by a pony which resulted in bleeding kidneys for about seven months. Between 10 wks and 12 wks, I had an ultrasound to make sure there was no visible injury to the kidneys. During the ultrasound we also got a view of the baby, and while I did not see any smiling as I don't believe she was developed enough to see a smile, she was very active, and it was amazing to watch. But what does that mean? Does that mean I had an realization that I was carrying a child? No, I did not need to see the fetus, the baby in order to realize what an abortion means. Frankly, ghoulish pictures are meaningless.
As to evolving/devolving cycles, well, whatever is old is new again (look at fashion) but on a more positive note I think by re-visiting old ideas, mores, rituals, etc, may have merit. Forinstance, the idea of family, today most of us realize that family is important, whether the family is comprised of the classic father/mother, it is an extended family through divorce, or same-sex couples and children, there has definately been a evolution of thought regarding family. Sexual restraint, not necessarily one partner for life, but restraint due to the rise of sexually transmitted diseases that are widespread, resistant and deadly, is perhaps not a bad idea. I think in many ways we have evolved socially, and in some cases we are more humane.
I must end this post. Cyber will be the only one to read it.
@Hendryk - Something to ponder.