JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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SezWho2
I'm not sure that's what tkoind2 is saying. Even if it were, that would be no more absurd than allowing Israel to put itself on the map by ethnically cleansing its territory.
We can choose to look at this problem apart from its history and it is convenient for the beneficiaries of the history to do so. Not so for those who seem themselves as the victims of the history or who see their current claims being ignored.
Posted in: Iran leader's comments on Israel spark Western walkout at U.N. meeting
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SezWho2
I don't think I was the one who madly rushed to find a conservative news outlet quoting an unnamed CIA source who confirmed that CIA torture under the Bush administration averted a calamitous attack on LA.
I rather think in our mad rush to defend torture, we seem to have forgotten that anyone can say anything about anything when they don't have to be named and don't have to supply facts.
Posted in: Obama open to torture prosecution; Cheney says U.S. gained info from interrogations
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SezWho2
teleprompter,
The CIA would never lie, would it? And especially it would never lie when the lie was self-serving, right? And we don't really know who the CIA is, do we? Were we talking to a janitor? to the the Director? And what are we to make of Conservative News Service?
Those questions being asked, yes, it is still possible that valuable information was gained through torture. Here, however, we don't really know what information we're talking about. Furthermore, it seems to me that most experts still say that torture is a low percentage tool and, as pointed out in the article, we can hardly do a do-over and see what kind of information could have been extracted by less medieval means.
Human beings being who they are, we will never eliminate torture. But, thanks to Cheney, we at least do know who the torturers are among us. Don't think that they wouldn't torture anyone else at any time.
Posted in: Obama open to torture prosecution; Cheney says U.S. gained info from interrogations
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SezWho2
SuperLib,
Characterizing Ahmadinejad's remarks as "hate speech" tells me that you are not being honest.
Posted in: Iran leader's comments on Israel spark Western walkout at U.N. meeting
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SezWho2
If you feel you need to go to extremes, OK. However, you could start with something a little simpler--like not walking out of meetings you've already decided to attend.
Posted in: Iran leader's comments on Israel spark Western walkout at U.N. meeting
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SezWho2
There's no "apparently" to it. I listen because racist Holocaust-denial is not the sum and substance of what the man has to say. If you choose to reject everything because you cannot tolerate one thing, I think that is a poor choice.
Posted in: Iran leader's comments on Israel spark Western walkout at U.N. meeting
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SezWho2
When Ahmadinejad speaks, the only people who ignore the actual content are those who refuse to listen. You don't accept Ahmadinejad's views by the simple act of listening to them.
If people are incapable of listening to painful points of view, then by all means, let them excuse themselves. If people want to morally posture, let them walk, too. In my estimation, however, high dudgeon won't do anything to solve problems of racism, to solve the problems in the Middle East or to solve the problems in the world.
Posted in: Iran leader's comments on Israel spark Western walkout at U.N. meeting
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SezWho2
Yes, that's the question.
Whether it be right or wrong, your mind is made up.
Did I say that? I said that listening leads to greater understanding. It could, for example, reinforce the understanding that your previous understanding was correct and show how to clearly refute positions that you find obnoxious. It could also show that there are overlooked points of agreement.
Of course you would have to listen with a mind that is at least open to being open. The sad commentary is that there are so many who cannot.
Posted in: Iran leader's comments on Israel spark Western walkout at U.N. meeting
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SezWho2
Boycotting the conference is one thing. Walking out on Ahmadinejad's speech is another. Of the two, boycotting the entire conference is the sillier.
In regard to the walkout, however, repudiation is not refutation. Listening costs nothing and leads to greater understanding of the weaknesses and strengths of another person's argument. What is wanted and needed is refutation, not repudiation.
Posted in: Iran leader's comments on Israel spark Western walkout at U.N. meeting
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SezWho2
Because their non-ratification does not disqualify them from having opinions about racism nor does it relieve us of the responsibility of trying to understand them.
Posted in: U.S., others boycotting, Iran starring, at U.N. racism meeting
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SezWho2
Still childish? Yes.
Attending the conference is the way to change how it "turns out".
Posted in: U.S., others boycotting, Iran starring, at U.N. racism meeting
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SezWho2
Israel is not the problem in the Middle East and neither is intolerant Islam. They are both problems and they are not the only problems.
Posted in: U.S., others boycotting, Iran starring, at U.N. racism meeting
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SezWho2
Boycotting the conference is childish. The US, Australia, Canada and others are under no compulsion to sign off on any statement produced in the meeting. It is the perfect forum for voicing opposition to a statement which they fear to be racist.
Posted in: U.S., others boycotting, Iran starring, at U.N. racism meeting
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SezWho2
I hope he can get her out if she is innocent.
Posted in: Iran puts U.S. reporter on trial for spying
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SezWho2
Of course the charges are baseless.
It should be obvious that US intelligence agencies have absolutely no use for an Iranian-speaking over-achiever who is a trained news gatherer and who is apple-pie nice and whose neighbors all agree that she is much too nice to be a spy.
Posted in: Iran puts U.S. reporter on trial for spying
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SezWho2
Taka313,
I agree with you. I think there is a way for that to happen, but I think that the government wanted to avoid forcing the financials into bankruptcy and receivership.
Posted in: Obama berates AIG and vows to try to block bonuses
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SezWho2
Wolfpack,
I don't know whether AIG should have gone out of business or not. It's a fairly large company and the failure of a large insurer with widespread reinsurance contracts has an impact that is largely incalculable. So, in financial terms we're spending--at any given time--a measured amount of money to avoid an unmeasurable risk.
If you were to say that the money we may have to spend in the future is also unmeasurable, that would be true. However, we can--at any given time--stop spending more money in an effort to avoid the risk. But we cannot stop the risk.
I don't mind the bonuses. I mind Obama's not telling the truth about the bonuses. He seems to me to be riding a populist bandwagon of outraged disapproval. It would be more honest for him to say that he didn't like the bonus payments but that contractual payments should be honored. What was good was Cuomo's action to investigate whether bonuses were being contractually awarded under legitimate bonus arrangements or not.
Posted in: Obama berates AIG and vows to try to block bonuses
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SezWho2
How do they justify it? Good question. But we might as well be honest about it. Payments that arise on account of contract are...well...contractual. Otherwise AIG might be able to stay afloat by cutting back on its claims payments.
Posted in: Obama berates AIG and vows to try to block bonuses
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SezWho2
skipthesong,
I am not, and never have been, SushiSake3.
Yes, it is true that the Democrats did not believe that Bush was on the right track. And it's true that they are happy that their is a gathering consensus that Bush was on the wrong track. What would not be true is that the Democrats stymied Bush's leadership and prevented him from executing his vision. They even enabled it.
A few Dems going against Obama's plans? Hey! I say that's great. That would be a demonstration of independence. What's not great is the Republicans posing as The Borg and voting "no".
Posted in: Obama defends pet projects and signs spending bill
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SezWho2
USARonin,
Yes, that's exactly right. That's when the Democrats did the majority of their ceding. And the smell of jet fuel was still in the air. I'm guessing you must have a bad cold or allergy if you can't quite get a whiff of the economic rot.
This is something of a national emergency and I would say it is a greater one than that declared on 9/11. Sure, the Democrats never just completely rolled over. They raised warnings and protested certain provisions of Bush-proposed legislation but, when it came to the vote, they voted with the President more times than not.
And that was not just after 9/11, but on the war funding bills, on retroactive immunity of telecoms and for a whole host of other things. So, while the Democrats gave Bush a deserved hard time, they seldom blocked him. I think this was because they believed he had people's support.
Right now, Obama has the people's support. All the Republicans can do is throw a hissy fit over earmarks which are negligible in terms of the total and are puny in terms of historic highs. Again, the earmarks are an issue, not a problem.
Posted in: Obama defends pet projects and signs spending bill