tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post8116816305064072533..comments2023-10-17T08:19:58.196-04:00Comments on FreeThinke: FreeThinkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-49390681937105632072015-04-24T09:59:44.185-04:002015-04-24T09:59:44.185-04:00Schmuely Goldenberg said
Good question. That'...<b>Schmuely Goldenberg said</b><br /><br />Good question. That's just what i was thinking, myself. Always antisemitism wherever I go. Nothing but antisemitism. Irrational hatred of my people all over the word. Why? We are good. We are smart. We are strong. We work hard. We achieve a lot, and everybody wants us dead. Why?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-883900531487226502015-04-20T20:31:01.668-04:002015-04-20T20:31:01.668-04:00@AoW - Me3!
@FT - Yep, different Waltons.@AoW - Me3!<br /><br />@FT - Yep, different Waltons.Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-44557654177562487862015-04-20T17:07:07.289-04:002015-04-20T17:07:07.289-04:00MAKE of THIS WHAT YOU WILL, but I THINK it APPLIES...MAKE of THIS WHAT YOU WILL, but I THINK it APPLIES VERY WELL to the DISCUSSION:<br /><br /><i>"The people have always some champion whom they set over them and nurse into greatness . . . This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs. When he first appears, he is a Protector . . . In the early days of his power he is full of smiles. . . When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies . . . and there is nothing to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other in order that the people may require a leader. . . Has he not also another object . . . that they may be impoverished by taxes and thus compelled to devote themselves to their daily wants and [be] therefore less likely to conspire against him?"</i><br /><br />~ Plato (427-347 B. C.)<br />FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-30995004907341325042015-04-20T13:29:13.422-04:002015-04-20T13:29:13.422-04:00Jersey: Then please explain it to meJersey: Then please explain it to meSilverfiddlehttp://westernhero.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-63227621931148559772015-04-20T12:10:28.372-04:002015-04-20T12:10:28.372-04:00I don't think you understand the nature of the...I don't think you understand the nature of the threat.<br /><br />JMJJersey McJoneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15426560061830038806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-39807480916104000222015-04-20T09:02:06.088-04:002015-04-20T09:02:06.088-04:00Jersey,
I agree with your comment about large sta...Jersey,<br /><br />I agree with your comment about large standing armies, but the subject was their threat to us internally, and I don't see that happening.<br /><br />Your conclusion about veteran unemployment is ill-informed. Consider this from WaPo:<br /><br /><i>The jobless rate for all U.S. veterans was just 6.9 percent in October — slightly lower than it is for the population as a whole.<br /><br />But the unemployment rate for veterans who have served since 9/11 stood at 10 percent...</i><br /><br />Employers love military veterans. We're hard workers, know how to show up on time, loyal, educated and experienced. We know how to lead and how to follow.<br /><br />The spike in unemployment for recently discharged vets is attributable to a few transitory factors.<br /><br />1. The US Army has been fighting wars this past decade, so it lowered standards and brought in marginally-employable people to throw into the maw. As the wars wound down, the Army threw these same people back out on the street and into Obama's crap economy.<br /><br />2. Recent vets are statistically more likely to have issues based upon wartime experience and the collateral fallout of substance abuse, wrecked families, upended lives, etc.<br /><br />It is a personal tragedy, and I lay it squarely at the feet of Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld, and Obama ain't any better.<br /><br />Silverfiddlehttp://westernhero.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-84081092225741625222015-04-19T23:44:23.453-04:002015-04-19T23:44:23.453-04:00Fannie Furst said
Most of what you said makes sen...<b>Fannie Furst said</b><br /><br />Most of what you said makes sense, Mr. McJones, but I don't think we need to fear the armed services so much as the power brokers and big money men in the back of everything who call the shots. They are responsible for the the way we've been throwing our weight around overseas since the end of the last big war. They have the money. Money talks, and it can buy influence big time. The problem is corrupt politicians from the president on down who take their orders from outside influences who don't care a rap about the USA. The armed services by themselves are pretty decent, but they'd have to stage some kind of coup or revolution to stop themselves from being used pawns in the international chess game.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-90357841170862517092015-04-19T21:45:40.515-04:002015-04-19T21:45:40.515-04:00Silver, if you study history, Western, Eastern, wh...Silver, if you study history, Western, Eastern, wherever, from the Spartans to the Samurai to the Soviets, when you see powers consistently raising and maintaining contemporaneously large standing armed forces over long periods of time, every single time, those powers fall to the consequences of that policy. It is exceedingly expensive, it entangles us in problematic world affairs, and it creates dependent classes from the very rich and powerful to the very poor.<br /><br />And it does stifle creativity, which is the main reason our vets are having a hard time in today's job market. After WWII, when the country was heavily industrialized, veterans made for a perfect fit. They made brilliant engineers, scientists, mechanics, linemen, teachers, you name it. In the new service sector economy, there's only so many relevant skill-sets they bring from that experience.<br /><br />We have to rein in the military. We can't just keep pissing our tax dollars all over the world anymore. It's been 75 years of a perpetual state of war. Enough is a enough. I'm sick of it. We all should be. And history plainly and clearly shows it will destroy us in the end.<br /><br />JMJJersey McJoneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15426560061830038806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-75332183196243477012015-04-19T20:30:33.011-04:002015-04-19T20:30:33.011-04:00...and just what is that supposed to mean?...and just what is that supposed to mean?Niger Abrahamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-72158352626208876282015-04-19T20:29:45.795-04:002015-04-19T20:29:45.795-04:00Despite getting my dander up every now and then, p...Despite getting my dander up every now and then, please know that I always read and evaluate your remarks in the most charitable light possible. I took no offense. <br /><br />Also, in this era where real-life has become indistinguishable from parody, I don't begrudge anyone any conjecture whatsoever.<br /><br />I will reiterate what I said about our officers and enlisted men and women: I don't see it happening. If such an order were given, I see the senior officers pushing back. If they instead relayed the order, I am confident officers and NCOs on the ground would not carry them out.<br /><br />What went on at the Bundy ranch in Nevada was a small example. The Federales weren't scared by armed civilians. They we're scared of a situation getting out of hand and people getting killed. Leadership there on the ground or somewhere made the smart call to stand down.<br /><br />Anyway, if the federal government wanted to whack some groups or get the population under control, there are other ways to do it.Silverfiddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13541652236676260219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-41607251579101123042015-04-19T20:11:15.573-04:002015-04-19T20:11:15.573-04:00AOW,
I'm trying to use my imagination, powers...AOW,<br /><br />I'm trying to use my imagination, powers of perception, awareness of many of the tragedies of history and my considerable knowledge of human nature after having read much literature and lived 74 years to take "The Long View." As we all should know by now Einstein considered imagination and intuition to be much more important than acquired knowledge.<br /><br />The trouble with being a far-seeing individual -- like Cassandra in Days of Old, Scottish mathematician and philosopher, Alexander Tyler in the eighteenth-century, and the authors of classic twentieth-century futuristic dystopian fiction is that no one takes them seriously until AFTER the damage they predicted has already been done.<br /><br />The handwriting appears on the wall in big RED LETTERS, but no one bothers to read it, or if they do, they dismiss as the ravings of crackpots and alarmists.FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-10193079411391719782015-04-19T19:54:53.915-04:002015-04-19T19:54:53.915-04:00You have had hands on experience with today's ...You have had hands on experience with today's military, Silver Fiddle, I have not, so I must bow to your superior knowledge. However, the same thing always looks very different to different people when viewed from a variety of angles. I'm glad you have such confidence in our men at arms. I wish I could feel as sure, myself, that they would NOT 'round us up and march us off our land for getting out of line if ordered to do so. Aren't there severe penalties for disobeying a direct order?<br /><br />I have no interest in "fighting" anyone. I'm only here to share my opinions and attest to what I believe to be true. I dislike the penchant so many have for endless verbal combat, so I do my best to avoid it.<br /><br />Never having served in the military I have no firsthand knowledge, although some of my uncles, cousins, and my father's friends fought in WWII and had hair-raising tales to tell. Also, I read some of the contemporary fiction centered on the war when I was still very young, read the Rise and fall of the Third Reich when it first appeared, seen any number of "war pictures" from the 1940's and beyond. And I've been familiar with Tennyson's The Charge of the Light Brigade, since childhood, and have formed very definite, certainly unpopular, opinions about Lincoln's War.<br /><br />I hope you realize I meant nothing personal in my remarks about the military.<br /><br />What I'm trying to say is a warning to those who imagine "It Can't Happen Here." Human beings being what they are, I have no doubt that given the right set of toxic circumstances ANYTHING could happen here. <br /><br />Our apparent belief in the basic accuracy of Forster, Huxley and Orwell's chilling, prophetic observations –– a belief I think we share –– should tell us that.FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-21476851935965865782015-04-19T19:30:49.670-04:002015-04-19T19:30:49.670-04:00Thersites, I think you and I had two entirely diff...Thersites, I think you and I had two entirely different Walton families in mind. I was thinking of the television show based on Earl Hamner, Jr's memoirs of life on "Walton's Mountain." <br /><br />I'm sure you were thinking of Sam of the Walmart phenomenon. Perhaps Ducky was too. One can never be quite sure <i>what</i> he thinks. (:-oFreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-43596898345465351402015-04-19T18:47:22.272-04:002015-04-19T18:47:22.272-04:00Carly has all the talking points down pat that'...Carly has all the talking points down pat that's for sure.Two step Tednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-23413109321005601432015-04-19T17:41:00.832-04:002015-04-19T17:41:00.832-04:00Thersites,
I'd vote for Carly Fiorina in a hea...Thersites,<br />I'd vote for Carly Fiorina in a heartbeat.<br /><br />I don't give a damn that she lacks political experience. Always On Watchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08192688822955022541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-75302867620477226952015-04-19T17:02:28.569-04:002015-04-19T17:02:28.569-04:00Anyone who supports our current cardboard cutout p...Anyone who supports our current cardboard cutout president has no right to criticize any candidate.Silverfiddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13541652236676260219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-34950132543787066412015-04-19T16:57:06.984-04:002015-04-19T16:57:06.984-04:00Is Alex Jones a tool of Jewish Zionists?
Apparent...Is Alex Jones a <a href="http://alexjonesexposed.info/" rel="nofollow">tool of Jewish Zionists</a>?<br /><br />Apparently, <a href="http://www.realjewnews.com/?p=387" rel="nofollow">some think so</a>.Idaho Slimnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-44948800050543510112015-04-19T16:50:12.566-04:002015-04-19T16:50:12.566-04:00FreeThinke: There is much wrong with your disquis...FreeThinke: There is much wrong with your disquisition on the military, starting with <br /><br /><i>"Military men are not paid to use their minds and exercise individual initiative. They are paid to take orders."</i><br /><br />I don't want to pick a fight, but that just ain't so. Yes, following orders is a cornerstone of military service, but using our minds and exercising individual initiative, even by lower-ranking enlisted members, is what makes our military the best in the history of the world.<br /><br />Have you heard anyone describe the Iraq invasion and occupation as strategically idiotic but tactically brilliant? Individual initiative and adaptive thinking on the ground is all that kept our effort from completely collapsing into a rout of the invaders. <br /><br />Also, I do not believe Americans in uniform would turn on their own country. Sure, there are a few toadies who would bayonet their own neighbors and run tanks through their grandma's house if told to do so, but the vast majority have common sense morality as their guide. I don't see officers at any level (senior flag, junior flag, field grade) reaching any kind of agreement that it would be the right thing to do, and I could totally see younger combat vets telling any leadership who gave such an order to go f*ck themselves.Silverfiddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13541652236676260219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-28637732674206978972015-04-19T16:15:38.466-04:002015-04-19T16:15:38.466-04:00At least Fiorina's on the right economic track...At least Fiorina's on the right economic track...<br /><br /><i>Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina on Saturday said America was losing more businesses than it could launch because of suffocating economic regulations.<br /> <br />“The heroes of the American economy are small businesses and family-owned businesses,” she said at the New Hampshire Republican Party’s First in the Nation leadership summit in Nashua, N.H.<br /><br />“For the first time in U.S. history, we are destroying more businesses than we are creating,” Fiorina continued.<br /> <br />“All of the things they are doing up there are landing on us down here,” she added of big government’s actions. “The weight of the government is literally crushing the potential of the people of this nation.”</i>Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-25361604406326375972015-04-19T14:12:00.666-04:002015-04-19T14:12:00.666-04:00FT,
Obama is all too obviously an enemedia-generat...FT,<br /><i>Obama is all too obviously an enemedia-generated chimera falsely clothed in the garb of a righteous avenging angel.</i><br /><br />It's obvious to some of us. To <b>enough</b> of us? Not sure about that.Always On Watchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08192688822955022541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-68012960910100871602015-04-19T14:11:01.615-04:002015-04-19T14:11:01.615-04:00FT,
What makes you think we Americans would respon...FT,<br /><i>What makes you think we Americans would respond any differently to ROTTEN leadership?</i><br /><br />We're not Balkanized enough (Civil War) or trampled down enough economically (post WW1 Germany). At this point, anyway.<br /><br />Don't get me wrong: I <b>do</b> think we may well be headed in the direction you indicated (<i>I have no reason whatsoever NOT to think the military may one day be used to turn against the citizenry of our country and march us off to "Re-Education Centers," etc. </i>), and the escalation may surprise me. At this point, however, I think that I will be in the grave before the travesties gain enough momentum to rule the day.Always On Watchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08192688822955022541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-25025816006770153682015-04-19T13:57:28.214-04:002015-04-19T13:57:28.214-04:00Street lights watching you sounds like a technolog...Street lights watching you sounds like a technological breakthrough that can be looked at two ways. Advances in science which can be used for the benefit of all, including the profitable gains of those bringing the science to the masses, is a good thing. Alternatively advancing science and technological breakthroughs that are used against the people of a country to monitor their activities and record them in the manner of Big Brother all-knowing slave owner is absolutely abhorrent. <br /><br />So what have we got in the real world? Genuinely concerned citizens seeing intrusions of Big Brother into ever more aspects of ones private life on the one hand. On the other an elitist group that capably manipulates the thoughts of the masses of people using the media and pup-culture to condition responses of others in such a way that the reactions of the other group is way beyond irrational and belongs in the never-never land of Crazytown.<br /><br />The end result is the pitiful spectacle of a county and society swirling inexorably down the drain dividing itself into circular firing squads intent on destroying "the enemy".<br /><br /> Look in the mirror and the enemy may be closer than you think.Waylonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08533895509055020394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-38058864690972617832015-04-19T11:24:52.597-04:002015-04-19T11:24:52.597-04:00In a laissez-faire economy, the Waltons would neve...In a laissez-faire economy, the Waltons would never have received the tax shelters, breaks, legal protections, etc. that a "natural" economy would "limit".Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-1012149956342820932015-04-19T11:21:19.813-04:002015-04-19T11:21:19.813-04:00I have to agree with ducky. The Walton family has...I have to agree with ducky. The Walton family has done more to destroy the mom and pop American small business economy than anyone else other than the "legislators" which enabled them to privilege the large-scale corporate form accumulate and amass corporate wealth far in excess than should ever be legally allowed.Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-29526363031130759902015-04-19T10:02:26.237-04:002015-04-19T10:02:26.237-04:00I clearly stated the hierarchical nature of the mi...I clearly stated the hierarchical nature of the military, AOW. I often think, however, of the tragic example of Nazi Germany, where the vast majority of normally decent, peace-loving citizens were whipped into a frenzy by the horrific power of a weirdly charismatic demagogue, and became in effect a mindless, robotic killing machine.<br /><br />When it was al over, many of these same Germans pled for mercy from the Allies saying, "We were only following order."<br /><br />Wt makes you think we Americans would respond any differently to ROTTEN leadership?<br /><br />Human beings are basically the same wherever you go.<br /><br />I do not fear the military <i>per se</i> but I live in mortal terror of the politicians who have the power to order the military to do cruel, inept, dreadfully stupid things. <br /><br />The integrity of the military depends almost entirely on WHO is AT the HELM.<br /><br />Remember the Civil War.FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.com