What'll be really interesting to watch is what happens in Saudi Arabia. The entire country is run by oil money. Every citizen gets paid by the government in accordance with their family standing. Nobody actually works. Even the poor have servants imported from Africa that they pay with their oil money. Once that runs out...holy shit that's going to be messy.
Snowden's critics have previously accused his actions of contributing from everything from the rise of ISIS to Russia's invasion of the Ukraine.
While we're at it, let's blame him for Mondays, New Coke and the Star Wars prequels and call it a day.
Same thing with Orwell. I had a conservative friend try to tell me Orwell was a capitalist because he wrote Animal Farm. No, he was a socialist. He wrote Animal Farm as a criticism of Stalinism (totalitarianism with the drapings of communism). Also, as a comment on the self-censorship of English socialists who looked the other way with regards to Stalin's purges and other atrocities because they just really wanted this experiment in communism to work so badly.
my descendants started freeing slaves in the 11th century
Time travelin', eh?
I'm sure they would want to sell. I'm saying sanctions would probably prevent US companies from buying.
I do, I absolutely do. But what's the US going to do? Re-invade Iraq?
At least maybe this time it would be easier to get a "coalition of the willing." Maybe an international effort that included other Arab nations would make for a more stable country. But seriously, we go in, invade, innocent people die anyway, and a power vacuum is left for even worse motherfuckers to rise up.
It doesn't seem like you can win peace with bombs.
I wouldn't necessarily agree with that. Muhammad was a military leader and a statesman, and the Koran basically dictates how every aspect of society should operate. Christianity had the benefit of being an outsider religion that eschewed direct temporal power. "Render unto Caesar..." The authors of the New Testament went out of their way to make it clear they were just talking about Jewish religion stuff and posed no threat to the Roman rulers so as to avoid persecution. It is this separation of authority that allows for open thought and independent inquiry. This is why science and democracy were (re)born in western nations. Neither the Islamo-statists nor the god-kings of the far east allowed for dissent or independent thought.
Most all early scientists or natural philosophers were Christians. But the Christianity they practiced is very different from modern Christian fundamentalism. Christian fundamentalism is a recent invention of the United States.
We can't trade with such people. Hell, if they don't even allow math we can't even keep ledgers. So they would still blame western governments for imposing sanctions.
To be honest, it seems like the best solution, is, as you say, stop fighting them. All we ever wind up doing is accidentally killing a bunch of civilians and breeding more jihadis. You guys want a caliphate? Fine. Knock yourselves out. We'll be over here with our blackjack and hookers.
The only problem is we still need their damn oil. Please, Elon Musk, save us from dependence on these assholes' oil. The sooner we can find a replacement for middle eastern oil and/or their oil runs out, the better.
Except for the whole beheading and murdering thing, these guys sound like cartoon villains. I'm just stunned that such a people can rally support. How socially and in every other way clueless must a jihadi be to think signing up with these guys is a good idea and that they will build a stable, functioning government and society?
Well said.
But I don't bother posting anonymously because it's not like they don't know who I am, anyway.
See, that's why he said "let's not even talk about the F-22."
That is one thing the Supremes have actually stood up for. They generally decide well on 1st amendment issues.
Latest UN figures say population will top out in 2050 at about nine billion and then decline, with most growth now in Africa and parts of Asia. As education levels rise (particularly amongst women) fertility rates go down. Much of the developed world is not reproducing at replacement rates.
Overpopulation is a red herring.
Actually, no one (outside the agency) knows what the NSA's mandate really is. Their charter was signed in secret by Truman and classified. The Senate Intelligence Committee had to beg and plead to eventually be allowed to see it.
If you want to put yourself on the map, publish your own map.
