the third world - Heathrow airport

"
Phil, Prince of the Belgians AKA chocolate teapot"

writes:

[the Iran hostage rescue mission]

: The aircraft weren't unreliable. They flew into a sandstorm. One
of
: the remaining helicopters taxied into a C-130 because of reeduced
: visibility due to the same sandstorm. Haven't you ever read up on
: this?

I would call that un-reliable.

That's because you're an idiot. S'okay; we all have our crosses to
bear.
I've actually flown professionally, and therefore have a realistic
grasp of
what constitutes aircraft reliability and what doesn't. You?


: Ronnie didn't know anything about it at the time. But being a man's
: man, he stepped up to the proverbial plate and took responsibility
: for it once he'd learned.

Ronnie was in jail ?
I never knew.

Is that what I said?


[the cowardly British sailors and Marines]

By not resorting to force they are still alive, I would call that a
victory of common sense.

You're taking it as a given that resistance would've resulted in
their deaths. It quite likely would've prevented their capture. It
most certainly would not have emboldened Iran the way their
surrendering did.

Sometimes simply staying alive at all costs isn't properly a
military person's highest objective. 'Course, you've probably
never served in the military, which would go a long way toward
explaining your inability to grasp this. Moreover, the difference
in our views illustrates why my country is a superpower and
yours no longer is.


I should also add that I am slightly biased because there is an
Iranian branch to my family.

So piracy, lying and kidnapping are acceptable so long as they're
done by Iranians?


: I know of no foreign policy more decent than allying with an enemy
: of one's enemy.

thats because you are short sighted, like American foreign policy
(amongst other things).

You mean short-sighted like your own country was when it allied
with the USSR in order to defeat a more immediate threat from
Germany?


: Why is it that you Euroweenies believe America is the only country
: in the world that doesn't have the right to look out for its own
: interests? Your criticism is especially rich considering the way
: you all spent the Cold War cowering beneath the American nuclear
: umbrella.

but your own interests are not served by invading Iraq.

Of course they are. We wouldn't have invaded if they weren't.
Do you actually believe that you're in a better position to make
that evaluation than our government is?


Where there was sympathy after 9/11, now there is none.

You have it exactly backwards. It was the sympathy after
9/11 that was the aberration, not the hostility in the wake of
the Iraq invasion. 9/11 caused smug Europeans and other
America-haters to set aside their envy and petty resentment
for a time, and let their humanity shine through.


: Get back to me when you start paying for your own national
: defense, and then maybe we'll talk.

I doubt it. You will still be ranting blindly like George Dubya. (did
you see his speech about Wolfowitz......)

No. Why do you say he "ranted blindly?" Is that "rant" in the
Usenet sense, meaning anything said by somebody the poster
happens not to like?


Your next president will be a Democrat and hopefully a woman.

Naah. No way we normal people will allow the Defeatocrats a
victory. Did you ever see that map of the U.S. following the
1004 presidential election, the one that depicted the "blue"
states along the coasts and in the Upper Midwest, separated
by a sea of "red" states? That says it all.

As far as the next president being a woman is concerned, I'd
think you'd want the best candidate to get the job regardless
of their sex. You aren't a sexist, are you?


Geoff

wrote in message
oups.com...
"

By not resorting to force they are still alive, I would call that a
victory of common sense.

You're taking it as a given that resistance would've resulted in
their deaths.

The young men and women involved made it absolutly clear that they thought
that would have been the result if they'd started shooting.

It quite likely would've prevented their capture. It
most certainly would not have emboldened Iran the way their
surrendering did.

You mean loads of dead people and Iran claiming a huge military victory is
somehow better than a few people being locked up for a few days?

I think you need to recalibrate your 'International events' meter.


Sometimes simply staying alive at all costs isn't properly a
military person's highest objective.

Oh yes it is.

Some people giving the orders sometimes pretend it isn't.

--
William Black


I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland
I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate
All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach
Time for tea.

William Black wrote:
"ant" wrote in message
...
Deeply Filled Mortician wrote:
Make credence recognised that on Tue, 15 May 2007 21:10:01 GMT,
"William Black" has scripted:

I'm not sure we communicated on any meaningful level.

What they understood as politics seemed to me to be somewhat
lacking in anything but personalities and their foibles. No
mention of policies anywhere.

Same with medicine. I had serious problems with a society that
can reduce a whole family to penury because someone gets 'an
expensive disease'.

Then there's the 'minimum wage culture' where people live in a
hotel but work 60 hours a week, often in two **** jobs, but
have to run a car rather than rent/buy a decent home because
there is no public transport.

And yet I have the feeling that the things I found shocking and
alien they found completely normal.

I imagine they'd find the UK with its free housing for the poor,
bad manners, drunkenness and random street violence, free
medial treatment and complicated polarised politics as alien as
I found Texas.

It's a sure sign of my ignorance that I found much more than just
Texas to be like that in the USA.

Me too. Pretty much the middle, and the west are like that.

And don't, for god's sake, ask them any question involving basic
geography.


Tell me about it...

"I'm from Yorkshire, in Northern England"

"Oh, you mean you live in Scotland?"

"No, Northern England, Scotland is another country"

"I think I get it, so what part of London do you live in?"

"No, Northern England, on the East Coast,,,"

"Is that near Brighton?"

What, they knew that London was a city in your country?! they must have had
"university" degrees.

All the stereotypes of american ignorance are wrong. Because the reality is
much worse than anyone would ever believe.

And here's a thing, they aren't embarassed about it. I kid you not. Being
completely, utterly, absolutely ignorant of basic general knowledge is like
water off a duck's back.

Brighton, they'd heard of Brighton? They must have had what passes for Ph.Ds
in the US.


--
Don't try to email me;
I'm using the spammer
du jour's email addy

Geoff Miller wrote:
ant writes:

Me too. Pretty much the middle, and the west are like that.

And don't, for god's sake, ask them any question involving
basic geography.


The region has *counties* that are bigger than entire European
nations. Also, unlike those European nations, America hasn't
been overrun by more barbarian hordes than your mother's nether
regions. Therefore there's no compelling need for any random
American to know or care that your ****ant little Europeon [sic]
countries even exist, let alone be up on precisely where they're
located.

Guess what country is bigger. Give up? Aust-****ing-tralia you yank moron.


And not only that, but we're the dominant nation on the face of
the friggin' planet. Why should we care what you think?

And that is why you will fall. The world is tired of you. Previous rivals
will form coalitions to get rid of you. Enjoy your rightful status, as a 2nd
world country. Most of your population live lives of noisy desperation.
Let's make it official.


--
Don't try to email me;
I'm using the spammer
du jour's email addy

ant wrote:

Geoff Miller wrote:

ant writes:


Me too. Pretty much the middle, and the west are like that.

And don't, for god's sake, ask them any question involving
basic geography.


The region has *counties* that are bigger than entire European
nations. Also, unlike those European nations, America hasn't
been overrun by more barbarian hordes than your mother's nether
regions. Therefore there's no compelling need for any random
American to know or care that your ****ant little Europeon [sic]
countries even exist, let alone be up on precisely where they're
located.


Guess what country is bigger. Give up? Aust-****ing-tralia you yank moron.

I don't understand what this has to do with a Europe vs US size discussion?

FWIW, you are WRONG.
The US land area is larger than Australia

Look it up.

NotABushSupporter wrote:

ant wrote:

Geoff Miller wrote:

ant writes:


Me too. Pretty much the middle, and the west are like that.


And don't, for god's sake, ask them any question involving
basic geography.



The region has *counties* that are bigger than entire European
nations. Also, unlike those European nations, America hasn't
been overrun by more barbarian hordes than your mother's nether
regions. Therefore there's no compelling need for any random
American to know or care that your ****ant little Europeon [sic]
countries even exist, let alone be up on precisely where they're
located.



Guess what country is bigger. Give up? Aust-****ing-tralia you yank
moron.


I don't understand what this has to do with a Europe vs US size discussion?

FWIW, you are WRONG.
The US land area is larger than Australia

Look it up.

I did it for you, not that Wikipedia is 100 percnet accurate, but

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...y_tota l_area

or try

http://geography.about.com/od/countr...gcountries.htm

Now, quote a source showing Australia having a larger land area.

"NotABushSupporter" wrote in message
...
NotABushSupporter wrote:

ant wrote:

Geoff Miller wrote:

ant writes:


Me too. Pretty much the middle, and the west are like that.


And don't, for god's sake, ask them any question involving
basic geography.



The region has *counties* that are bigger than entire European
nations. Also, unlike those European nations, America hasn't
been overrun by more barbarian hordes than your mother's nether
regions. Therefore there's no compelling need for any random
American to know or care that your ****ant little Europeon [sic]
countries even exist, let alone be up on precisely where they're
located.



Guess what country is bigger. Give up? Aust-****ing-tralia you yank
moron.


I don't understand what this has to do with a Europe vs US size
discussion?

FWIW, you are WRONG.
The US land area is larger than Australia

Look it up.

I did it for you, not that Wikipedia is 100 percnet accurate, but

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...y_tota l_area

or try

http://geography.about.com/od/countr...gcountries.htm

Now, quote a source showing Australia having a larger land area.

That's all right. You're forgetting that in the Antipodes, the schools use
South Polar Projection maps which make Australia look extremely large. It
helps to alleviate the chip on the national shoulder and works as well as
some drugs to overcome the rampant xenophobia and locally promoted level of
ignorance.

TMO

in the Antipodes, the schools use South Polar Projection maps which
make Australia look extremely large. It helps to alleviate the chip
on the national shoulder and works as well as some drugs to overcome
the rampant xenophobia and locally promoted level of ignorance.

http://flourish.org/upsidedownmap/

One of the oddest I've seen was a map that put somewhere in New
Zealand (probably Hamilton) in the centre and its antipode (Madrid
or thereabouts) on the perimeter, so the Iberian Peninsula was
stretched all the way round the edge. I can't see how that could
have been makimg a political point unless to say how far we were
from the Spanish Inquisition.

============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ==============
Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760
http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/ for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554 975
stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739 557

"Jack Campin - bogus address" wrote in message
...
in the Antipodes, the schools use South Polar Projection maps which
make Australia look extremely large. It helps to alleviate the chip
on the national shoulder and works as well as some drugs to overcome
the rampant xenophobia and locally promoted level of ignorance.

http://flourish.org/upsidedownmap/

One of the oddest I've seen was a map that put somewhere in New
Zealand (probably Hamilton) in the centre and its antipode (Madrid
or thereabouts) on the perimeter, so the Iberian Peninsula was
stretched all the way round the edge. I can't see how that could
have been makimg a political point unless to say how far we were
from the Spanish Inquisition.


I always wanted to ask (but it's too late now) Jerry Falwell if the map on
his office wall used Jerusalem or Lynchburg, VA as its center.

TMO