It's so nice to have a bit of comedy with my morning coffee.
Posts by DJS
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71Are we heading for III World War?
by abiather inthe leaders of russia, germany, france and ukraine are slated to meet in minsk (the belarusian capital) tomorrow to discuss a ukrainian peace plan!
some countries such as hollande believe there is going to be a total war.
when they met last year in the same place, they had put forward a peace plan (a ceasefire, withdrawal of artillery, prisoner exchanges and other concessions) that were never fully implemented!
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Do the Chinese think they will soon take over the World? This is an official response
by fulltimestudent inlot's of people believe that china will soon be a super-power.
while its true that roughly 400 million chinese have attained a living standard approximating the usa, there is still another 700 million who have not.. every year, some 100 million chinese take overseas holidays.
and, many millions of chinese live overseas, either as students or as representatives of chinese companies.. but of the 700 million who have not achieved something like western prosperity, some 90 million still live in poverty, leaving 610 million struggling between poverty and a low level of prosperity.. until they can live more comfortably, the chinese government must focus on building a more prosperous nation.. .
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DJS
FTS,
Thank you for your balanced evaluation. Most, if not all, of the types of statements coming from those who believe that China is taking over economically and militarily come from those with personal agendas.
On this site (I won't mention his name but his initials are M.E.T.A.T.R.O.N), every few months we got another OP defining why China was taking over. As you recall, the rationals and the educated would respond that it wasn't going to be that easy and some of the factoids being spouted as data were missing a lot of analysis.
I think the reasons for the China Syndrome varies. We know our friend above has an intense OCD hatred from the West. His rants are easily dismissed because, as I've pointed out, if little green men from space meandered their way to our planet and stated they were going to crush the British/US military/economic machine, our friend would have an orgasm.
And then there are the bible thumpers looking for the new King of the North. I don't really know what to say beyond that.
The final group seem to be seeking attention by making sensationalist 'you heard it here first' type of statements. Those who make economic statements who do not understand economics, or those who make military statements who do not understand military capabilities, but who have nonetheless been able to have their prophetic announcements published thereby creating a facade of legitimacy, provide the grist for the OCD and the end-of-timers' mills.
Thank you for bringing rational analysis to the topic. BTW, where is our little OCD friend? I miss him.
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34
Quick introduction
by OzGirl inonly have a few minutes to spare so thought i would throw this together.. been in for about 30 years.
questions and doubts gathered over that time.
i have a keen interest in the legal and financial matters of the watchtower.. came across this site about 5 years ago.
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DJS
OzGirl,
Several of us have reached similar conclusions regarding the Borg's business design. Asset heavy, cash flow poor. With potentially a lot of very expensive lawsuits staring at them. Many of the recent changes are designed for cash flow, operational expenses, that they do not want to pay from asset sales or take from capital projects.
And you are right; they've kept the rank and file uneducated, with among the lowest incomes wherever they are. Karma.
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Putin the Pressure Up!
by snare&racket inhttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/05/nato-rapid-reaction-force-counter-russia-ukraine.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2015/02/08/russia-investors-on-war-watch-wednesday/.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/11397924/ukraine-crisis-europe-and-us-debate-how-to-handle-russia-live.html.
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DJS
Snare,
Even the life long diplomats indicate that the best strategy to get Putin to the table is to send weapons to the Ukraine, even if they never actually do it. I agree. The Russians are simply mirroring Vlad's blame shifting; the West's sanctions did hurt them; the free fall in oil prices clobbered them. Vlad blamed both of those on the West but has since backed off the oil price rhetoric.
He can't blame anyone but himself.He chose a one pony strategy to fill the coffers and re-build his military, wow the world with the Olympics, etc. That was a strategy that was bound for failure, and he and the others drunk crazy on oil need look no further than the mirror for blame.
He also chose to take the Crimea and foment the problems in the Ukraine. Those were his choices, and good or bad he will pay for them.
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Putin the Pressure Up!
by snare&racket inhttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/05/nato-rapid-reaction-force-counter-russia-ukraine.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2015/02/08/russia-investors-on-war-watch-wednesday/.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/11397924/ukraine-crisis-europe-and-us-debate-how-to-handle-russia-live.html.
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DJS
Shall we play a game? It's called global economic/military strategy, with a huge helping of psychological manipulation thrown in.
For Putin:
He knows that Europe is working on efficiencies, process changes and new suppliers for his natural gas. His time is short to use this for leverage, which may explain him pushing this issue right now to get what he wants, which is a big chunk of the Ukraine and assurances that the rest of Ukraine will not join NATO. Vlad also desperately needs a psychological lift to his presidency (or whatever the hell he is) and the overall Russian psyche; getting these concessions would give him that, for now at least.
Europe is also leaving a winter, not entering one, which does not play in Vlad's hands at the present.
Europe can address the natural gas/oil issue a lot quicker than Putin can change Russia's one trick pony economy into a multi-faceted and diverse economy where the price of one commodity, one, cannot send your entire country into the doldrums. Another reason Putin thinks he needs to act now.
If the West grants Putin his two primary objectives, will this historically turn out to be a good thing or a bad thing? The West has most of the cards right now; they do not have to give Vlad anything. But is that the wiser move? Germany likely thinks concessions should be made, but without some assurances from Russia that they will leave the rest of the Ukraine alone, the Baltics and every other target Vlad may have alone, this strategy is at best a paper strategy relying solely on the individual players.
Vlad is taking a risk right now that, from a war games strategic posture, couldn't be made at a worse time. Go big or go home I suppose. He is banking on the West not forcing a long, protracted, expensive and ugly war in the Ukraine. The West can better afford the costs, which would primarily be enough military support to force a stalemate and enough economic pressure to make Russian continue to feel it. Amping up the military option results in lost lives and the potential for unintended consequences however.
It's why these guys make the big bucks.
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Putin the Pressure Up!
by snare&racket inhttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/05/nato-rapid-reaction-force-counter-russia-ukraine.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2015/02/08/russia-investors-on-war-watch-wednesday/.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/11397924/ukraine-crisis-europe-and-us-debate-how-to-handle-russia-live.html.
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DJS
Much of what you all have stated about Vlad is true. He has also shown himself to be a pragmatist when necessary and an astute politician. His gamble into the Ukraine backfired in a big way. As I pointed out on one of Metatron's From Russian With Love OPs, the West should do everything in its power short of boots on the ground to make each of Vlad's mis-steps feel like molasses. The sanctions hurt deeply, as I suggested they would. This isn't the Cold War, and the economic barriers that fell when the Wall fell make Mother Russian susceptible to lots of issues which before they were mostly sheltered from.
Falling oil prices has really hurt Putin and Russia's economy is in a major tailspin. Like the narcissist he is, he blame shifted Russia's problems to the West and the US for a long time. Intelligence reports indicate he went into a fairly seriously dark funk this past year due to all of the problems. The depressive state appears to be over for now, and we are experiencing manic Putin. The manic stage of a manic/depressive is always the scary stage, because they are willing to take a lot of risks. Returning to the Ukraine is one of them, as are the fly-bys and the hints at going into the Baltics.
But as long as his economy is in the tanks, and it will be subject to this as long as oil/natural gas comprise over half of his budge and revenues, the West can make any military forays extremely painful to Putin and Mother Russia. The unknowns are whether Europe will stand untied, especially Germany which has strong Soviet/Russia sentiments amongst the leadership. The natural gas pipeline and supply to Europe is certainly one of Putin's cards, but this is almost certainly of limited duration.
Supplying the Ukrainians with weapons will occur, if for no other reason than to serve to get Putin to the diplomacy table. The problem withe the weapons that the Ukrainians want is that they are not simply point and shoot weapons; they are complicated systems that require extensive training and likely onsite support for an extended period of time. The West would prefer not to go that route but they should threaten it at the least.
It's a game of Cold War Chicken; Vlad is playing his cards that the West will blink first. If he is wrong, Russia may sink even deeper into an economic and cultural funk. And this is the scariest part.
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55
Serious business
by brandnew inthis my friends will help in a long struggle that me and my girlfriend are having.........does the toilet paper unravel over or under.
thank you for your cooperation on this timely matter...
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DJS
Zed, lose the cat.
Ms. Pronomono, lose Mr. Pronomono. I take that back; you two deserve each other. If that is true, that you each come after the other to switch it back and you aren't just pulling our leg, it is SO not about the toilet paper. It's called, in layman's terms, the tip of the iceberg. A gargantuan struggle for power and control.
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Supreme Court of Canada Overturns Ban on Physician-Assisted Suicide
by Heaven inepic news today in canada!
this has been a long time coming and i for one am glad.
i have no qualms about using this if i'm not aging well.. supreme-court-overturns-ban-on-physician-assisted-suicide.
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DJS
Thank(s) Heaven,
Ditto and as it should be. These laws are yet another example of religious intrusion into our lives. And death. Within a few years laws allowing physician assisted deaths are likely to be common in the West and other industrialized nations. Let it come.
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Serious business
by brandnew inthis my friends will help in a long struggle that me and my girlfriend are having.........does the toilet paper unravel over or under.
thank you for your cooperation on this timely matter...
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DJS
Brandnew,
Your comment: "All your comments are making history in the dispute area of my relationship......up until now i was 0 for like 300.... her having the 300 wins."
Zero for three hundred, huh? Then you are doing it right!!!
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Christian missionary whinges about the prosperity of Kenya
by cofty injessica tidwell arrived in nairobi ready to heroically preach the gospel to destitute, half-naked peasants, living in mud huts and covered in "bug bites".. when she discovered that nairobi was in fact a prosperous, modern city with people in expensive clothes buying food and electronic goods in shopping malls, she was dejected and said so in her missionary blog.. the comments section below her blog entry is well worth a read.... here is bob marley's take on self-centred western christian missionaries.. "we're going to chase those crazy baldheads out of town".
.... .
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DJS
Kenyans taking back the land:
"When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said 'Let us pray.' We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land."