heya,

Yes, but in this case, several countries decided to gang-up and attack Israel. Israel was defending.

Israel sorely trounced them all, made them look like a bunch of idiotic buffons, and in the process managed to gain some territory. *shrugs*. And they haven't tried to gang up on Israel since 1973.

Sorry, but if a gang of bullies decides to gang up and beat up some small guy in a school hallway and steal his lunchmoney - and then it suddenly turns out the little guy knows kung-fu, and manages to trounce them all, and take back some of the lunchmoney they stole from others, I have very little sympathy for the bullies.

Cheers,
Victor

heya,

You do realise that Israel has to deal with a neighbouring country who's core tenet is basically that Israel doesn't exist?

Sorry, but if you apply some basic human logic, that doesn't cut it. The Palestinians basically voted in a known terrorist organisation, who's made it their mandate to destroy Israel at any costs, civilian or otherwise.

The Israel's are being heavy-handed, sure, but they've had to deal with these sorts of terrorist attacks for the last 50 years. And surprisingly, their techniques usually work. There's a reason other countries go to them for CT expertise - because they've had to cope in one of the most hostile environment, surrounded by Arab nations who've tried numerous occasions to crush them (and failed miserably - e.g. Six Day War), and they've managed to still prosper.

Cheers,
Victor

heya,

FB didn't rat them out, they were idiotic enough to boast on FB where anybody could have seen it *shrugs*.

And look, Israel has right of sovereignty - they can stop anybody they want from entering their country.

It's not like they came over to Britain and used suicide bombers to blow up a bus *rolls eyes*. Gee, I wonder who does that.

What they basically said was, we don't want trouble, you aren't welcome here, please go home. I fail to see why this is a story.

If I was a smart-a*se, and made it my mission to voice support for terrorists against a country that was jittery after surviving numerous failed terrorist attacks, I wouldn't exactly blame them if they said, "Bugger off mate, stay away, please don't come here..." They're perfectly within rights.

Cheers,
Victor

heya,

Hmm, I'm not quite sure I agree with you there.

The Chinese aren't on the "same level of civilization"? *sigh*. That's a bit racist, dontchathink?

The reason the mainland Chinese engage in such behaviour are varied and manifold. Some say it's because they've been poor for a long time, and there's a Chinese saying that when you riches are "short", your moral/principles are likewise short (it doesn't quite translate well from Chinese).

I've also heard it suggested that it's due in part to the Cultural Revolution (Mao), and the anti-intellectualism that arose from that period - basically, you've swept away 5000 years of Chinese civilisation, including Confucian ideals and teachings on morals, and replaced it with Communist indoctrination (which doesn't really teach you anything on morals).

It's ironic that a country previously "founded" on ideals of Communism and equality should instead result in a seething pool of mercenary capitalism, with everybody fixated on getting ahead at the cost of others. Anyway, perhaps things are changing.

I'd say that perhaps (and this is a generalisation) that people in China have a slightly different moral compass to "us" (i.e. Western powers). However, to say they're "not at the same level of civilisation" is both a gross simplification of all the issues, as well as, IMHO, factually incorrect.

Cheers,
Victor

heya,

Lol, Elliot Carver was hinted at being a caricature on Rupert Murdoch...

Another one is the Teddy K. character from In Good Company:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Good_Company_(2004_film)

Reputedly another caricature of Rupert Murdoch.

Don't worry, Murdoch isn't too well loved down under either.

Cheers,
Victor

heya,

Actually, the BlackBerry is a horrible device for home use. Corporate yes - brilliant, but home, no.

The only reason it became ubiquitous was first-mover's advantage, combined with BBM (although iMessage and Google Talk are all viable alternatives).

Currently, it's haemorrhaging market share as people look at competitors like iOS and Android, and realise how c*ap BlackBerry OS is...

Cheers,
Victor

heya,

It's "I did not already *KNOW* that".

And it's "I did a total *180*" - if you do a 360, you simply end up where you started. Coincidentally one of my friends said something similar the other day, and there was a long pause afterwards...

Cheers,
Victor

heya,

Hmm, does anybody see a problem with this though?

"If your business doesn't have good relation with gov, you lose for sure"...

I mean...err...isn't that the definition of corruption? *sigh*.

I suspect that may be why Transparency International ranked it so low in their 2010 report:

http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010/results

Cheers,
Victor

heya,

You were asked for citations, and let's see, in your reply you posted....zero links at all. Please, come up with at least *one* link or source backing up your ridiculous claims.

It'd be like if I came along and proclaimed that the Australian government had a conspiracy to poison Russia's water supply. Then when asked for proof, an internet link, a newspaper articles I said...."Read some diverse news sources sometimes" (sic). Pathetic.

AC, don't bother replying to this guy (DNS-and-BIND) *sigh*.

I suspect he's just another member of the CCP's 50 cent army (or an account they've hacked).

Cheers,
Victor

heya,

I have to agree with the parent.

Have you seen how ruthless modern day Russian is in dealing with terrorists?

Seriously? They've crushed the Cheyan forces - sure, everybody's said "Oh no! You're opressive and violate human rights!" but hey, they've managed to grind them down. These are the same Muslim Chechyan who employ suicide bombers, attack civilians and do all the weird "assymetric warfare" things that their militant Islamic cousins in the Middle East engage in.

I mean, nobody ever accused the KFB/FSB of being too gentle.

Look at how they deal with hostages. In 1985, four Soviet diploamats were taken hostage in Lebanon. Alpha Group, one of Russia's elite CT teams then proceeded to abduct relatives of the hostage-takers, sever their body parts, and send them back to the terorrists.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_Group

No more Russian hostages were taken in the Middle East for another 20 years, until in 2006 when four more Russian diplomats were abducted in Iraq. In that case, Putin sent in the FSB, who then proceeded to hunt down and kill each of the hostage takers, one by one.

I mean, ruthless sure, and highly unethical, but it makes me wonder when tinfoil-wearing basementers on Slashdot talk about how "Orwellian" the US has become. Sure, they might go there one day, but they're nowhere near there now, slippery slope nothwithstanding.

Trust me, the terrorists don't want to make the US turn into the former USSR. Because then we really won't give two figs about human rights, or what the rest of the world thinks.

We will go in, take their wives and children, slice them into pieces and send them back. Or maybe we'll just roll in the tanks, demolish their houses, then burn down the remains. The US, more or less, plays "nice" - at least compared to our opponents, or to what other nations who deal with terrorism on a daily basis engage in.

Personally, I like it that way - I like living in a free country - but please don't think that us going the way of the USSR is somehow the objective of these whackjobs.

Cheers,
Victor

heya,

I might be too young, but was that a movie reference(s)?

Hmm, or is 73 meant to be 23, as in Jim Carrey's film?

Cheers,
Victor

heya,

You know, I didn't actually believe it at first you but you're absolutely right...lol.

This 2,4-Dinitrophenl stuff was actually used for weight-loss in the 1930's:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2,4-Dinitrophenol

So basically, it's a cellular metabolic poison that screws over your metabolism and makes it incredibly inefficient, causing it to just dump heat. Hmm.

People seem to be still selling the pills on the internet as well as "dieting aids". Surely that's dangerous?

Cheers,
Victor

heya,

Lol, I love people who do the whole "It's a free country!" thing. You remind me of kids back in gradeschool.

Anyhow, to use your own analogy - sure, you're free to do whatever you want to photos of other people's mother's, but there's really no perogative for them to *give* you photos of your mother so you can do perverted things with them. Man, nerds in basements.

Also, this is an FOI request, true, but I think National Security, as well as basic common-sense trumps this. As nearly everybody else has said - "Why do you want them? What good will come from it?". And saying "Nyah, nyah cause I WANT THEM!!" makes you sound like a juvenile little kid who didn't get sweets. You didn't create the photograph, nor did you have any part in killing Osama.

They may release it eventually, when the humdum has died down, but really, releasing it right now will only incite Osama's supporters and cause any other anti-US rabid followers to crawl out of the woodwork.

Cheers,
Victor

heya,

Lol, obviously the last 100 years of economics theory, or globalisation have passed you by...

Please scurry back to the 1500's and the Age of Merceantalism from which you came.

You might as well leave your computer, internet connection, cellphone, and all those other devices you undoubtedly take for granted, without any understanding of the modern world or how economics works.

Cheers,
Victor

heya,

You do realise that for some jobs, networking is actually gosh...part of the job?

Heck, it's actually important for many jobs, but nerds just tend to overrate it, for obvious reasons.

Where I work, for the front-office people, it's considered part and parcel of what they do.

And I assume for a journalist - who needs sources for their stores, and contacts, and arms to twist to get things done, it's part of their job as well.

So your simplistic point world view comes across as a little ignorant.

And sorry, I have to agree with Rakishi above - you do sound a bit bitter. Lol. It's like all the basement-pundits who decide to come out of the woodwork everytime a financial services company is in the press, and talk about how "evil" bankers are, or every time a company goes south about how "evil" management boards are, etc. Typical knee-jerk reaction. What a company or industry decides to pay is up to them - and being a capitalistic society we live in, it usually tends towards whatever the market will support.

If your boss/company doesn't give you what you feel you should get, or what you see others getting, then perhaps you need to look at what company you're at, or what industry you're in (assuming your education/skillset permits), or perhaps take a look at your own skillsets and look at how expendable/replaceable you are.

I think people place far too much important on what the "other guy" gets. The grass is always greener. Be happy with your own lot in life, and if you're not, do something about your situation - don't try to bring others down to make yourself feel better.

Cheers,
Victor