Thread: Revolutions in the Middle East....

Originally Posted by Hanna

Well.... apart for the fact that anyone who turned up in the USA looking like a
Taliban, Iranian mullah or covering their hair and face would be treated like a terrorist and completely ostracized... in most places in the US. Not to mention the fact that he'd be lucky to clear airport security in under 3 hours.

I heard on the BBC that a US airport carried out a body search on an Indian member of parliament travelling on an official engagement. Only because she was wearing a headscarf; there was nothing at all suspicious about her, and she was there on official business, representing India. She said she had never been so humiliated in her life.

And apart from that, in the USA people even get bullied for coming to school with the wrong jeans, if films are to be trusted.

And of course, someone who dressed like a homeless person could expect to get thrown out of top range department stores or restaurants.

Hanna,
Are you a comedy writer? If not you should be because that crap you wrote is funny.

Scott

Originally Posted by fortheether

Hanna,
Are you a comedy writer? If not you should be because that crap you wrote is funny.

Scott

LOL
True.

Hanna, since you wrote you agreed on what Lampada had written, may I say what I think of your searching for the "underprivileged"? You're just searching for them in a wrong place. You can trust me, the US is a rather fair society where everyone with brains can find their niche. You'd better turn your eyes on the places where almost everyone really suffers from the very moment of birth, the world's worst dictatorships. You can start with the following list:

The World's Worst Dictators | Parade.com

Note that one dictator from the list has already been overthrown, and two others are upcoming...

YouTube - CNN AC360 and NYTimes Thomas Friedman on Middle East Unrest 24 Feb 2011

Originally Posted by Hanna

in the USA people even get bullied for coming to school with the wrong jeans, if films are to be trusted.

If films are to be trusted, Will Smith & Co. have saved the world from the hostile aliens in the recent past. I wonder how could you forget his deed so quickly...

If films are to be trusted, Russian pliots in Space are to look like this:

Сергей Кургинян: «Обама снимает маску! И приступает к глобальному переделу мира» // KP.RU

Originally Posted by wanja

Сергей Кургинян: «Обама снимает маску! И приступает к глобальному переделу мира» // KP.RU

Это ж бред. Как же в России удобно стало во всём видеть происки Запада. В общем-то, с советских времён мало что изменилось.

Originally Posted by mishau_

If films are to be trusted, Russian pliots in Space are to look like this:

It's Armageddon! I really like that movie!!!

Originally Posted by Eric C.

It's Armageddon! I really like that movie!!!

Кто б сомневался...

Originally Posted by Ramil

Как же в России удобно стало во всём видеть происки Запада. В общем-то, с советских времён мало что изменилось.

Испокон веку так было, а не с советских времен. Да и будет, наверное.

Originally Posted by Сергей Кургинян

И в любом случае, ОДНОВРЕМЕННО в Тунисе, Египте, Иордании, Йемене, Сирии люди просто так на площади не выйдут. Факты говорят, что процесс был заранее подготовлен.

Ok, so that is the only correct statement in the entire article. However, there is no reliable information that process was designed by the US. Based on that article, Sergey Gurninyan seems like a knowledgeable guy to me, however, unfortunately, he hadn't provided an adequate analysis to explain the process. For example:

Originally Posted by Сергей Кургинян

Он давно и преданно работает на определенный миропроект, основанный на глубоком партнерстве США и радикального ислама.

Кургинян - скучный зануда с менталитетом лузера-меланхолика.

Вот это карта:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...to_Mideast.jpg

Originally Posted by Hanna

Nobody is saying what actually happened to her. Did she get raped or what actually happened. Sexual assault can mean almost anything - hard to imagine they tore off her clothes and raped her in the middle of a public gathering.

Yes they raped her and more! You are so naive. It's all recorded on camera. Those that have seen the footage and witnesses have reported the following. ... ( Deleted. Too graphic. L. )

Originally Posted by Hanna

One comment though: This is similar to those moslems who walk around in Europe in traditional clothes and then complain that they are being discriminated or whatever. When in Rome, do as the Romans... This reporter knew that she'd be spending the day in a very excited crowd of Middle Eastern men.. From a different culture, with a different view on women. Why didn't she cover up a bit? If she'd dressed a bit more like a local woman, this probably would have happened. If she is such a "seasoned Middle East reporter" it's surprising that she didn't. Just as a sign of respect towards local culture and religion, and towards the country she was visiting - and to make sure she'd not attract unwanted attention. It's common sense.

So, you leftie, feminist types conveniently blame the victim when it suits you! I'm not surprised. But I partially agree with you but not for the same reasons. Lara Logan is married and has children. She had no business taking on an obviously dangerous assignment like this and CBS had no business sending her there. Her duty is to her children and family not her career. It was foolish feminist political correctness and pride that made her think that she was invincible. I couldn't care less about her but the entire situation affirms by belief that Islam has done nothing to lift Egyptians out of depravity and Egypt is "finished". You will see an Islamic dictatorship replace Mubarack's dictatorship now and that will mean even worse things for the rest of the world to come.

Originally Posted by mishau_

Кургинян - скучный зануда с менталитетом лузера-меланхолика.

Тебе не сложно порекомендовать какого-нибудь политического аналитика - интересного приколиста с менталитетом победителя-холерика?

Yes Lampada, what they did to her is "too graphic" for the people to ever know about. We must never know the truth of what these animals did to her and the hate that came from the crowd. We must go on living in the perfect worlds in our heads so we can make decisions about our lives that will ensure that the animalistic rape and disfigurement of Lara and many others, will continue on our sisters and daughters.

BTW: There is nothing in the Master Russian forum rules preventing the accurate description of a historical event. Again, you fail as a moderator. (Unless you intend for this site to end up like the English Club did.)

There is no revolution unless you count one dictatorship replacing another.

A military dictatorship remains. Situation didn't change much except single ruler getting ousted and replacement is still a military dictatorship.

Look at so-called democracies of western nations: still are dictatorships themselves but citizens enable them in different way. I read that Russia bans organization that is 'anti-immigration' and Germany arrests a tourist who did a salute. You think Egypt and other Middle Eastern nations will have major revolutions that result in significant change? No....

Just the people in control change.

It is brainwashed and conditioned people who perceive as progressive development and think their societies and government are the more 'righteous' but could not be further than the truth.

Thanks for reading.

Originally Posted by Crocodile

Тебе не сложно порекомендовать какого-нибудь политического аналитика - интересного приколиста с менталитетом победителя-холерика?

Какой он аналитик, последний его перл был - "они кончили на Святой Елене".

Originally Posted by mishau_

Какой он аналитик

Ну, я тут почитал кое-что и посмотрел передачу с его участием, могу сказать, что он, конечно, человек вполне грамотный. Другое дело, что я не разделяю его позицию и метод, которым он обосновывает свои взгляды. Но, некоторые вещи в его изложении очевидны, и с ними я вполне могу согласиться.

Middle East Uprising: Their Triumph is Our ShameOff The Markley



"Their Triumph is Our Shame


By Stephen Markley

Monday, February 28, 2011 6:11am






Democracy is on the march in the Middle East as the uprisings that began in Tunisia and Egypt and soon spread everywhere from Bahrain to Iran continue. While much remains uncertain about what will emerge from these unlikely warp-speed revolutions, one thing is for sure: We Americans should feel like lazy, apathetic garbage.

We should feel like a flesh-folded fat man watching his ripped younger brother train for a triathlon.

One has to assume that the success or failure of the uprisings in many of these countries entirely depends on how many ordinary people are ready to die in order to gain their self-determination. French officials estimate that 2,000 people have died as Moammar “They’re Putting Hallucinogens in the People’s Coffee” Gadhafi tries to quell Libya’s rebellion. Meanwhile, here in the country that claims to be “The Godfather Part II” of democracy, the majority of us simply cannot be bothered to brush the Cheetos dust from our fingers and head to our local polling place once a year.

And twice a year? Yeah, right! Even with the heightened attention of Rahmania, Chicago’s mayoral and aldermanic elections saw less than a 45 percent turnout among registered voters (so not even counting those Chicagoans who are not registered at all). Rahm’s vote total could be the lowest ever for a winning Chicago mayoral candidate.
In the most recent midterm elections—widely seen as a kind of conservative neo-revolution—42 percent of registered voters showed up, according to The Associated Press, a total of just 90 million people. 2008 marked the most impressive voting turnout in modern American history, and the AP reported only about 62 percent of the eligible voting population cast a ballot for those contests.

This is the paradox of democracy: Once you have it, once you don’t have to risk your life to protect it, it becomes far more entertaining to vote for the best C-list celebrity trying to dance his or her way back to fame than your congressional representative.
Watching people take to the streets in the Middle East should frustrate us to no end because the largest political party in the U.S. is not Democrat or Republican or Independent but Who Cares They’re All the Same.

But this is what the party of Who Cares They’re All the Same doesn’t get: By not voting, they are in fact voting. And they’re voting for the interests that care the most. They’re voting for enormous financial institutions and pharmaceutical lobbies and agribusiness and big oil and health insurance companies.

One of the greatest problems with democracies—and I sincerely wish that the people of the Middle East get to discover this soon—is that in the face of apathy, they can become captured by well-organized interests, especially those interested in turning a profit.

We wipe the Cheetos dust from our fingers to exercise the right to vote and often forget that some are still wiping away blood to exercise theirs.


Tags: democracy, Egypt, elections, Libya, Middle East uprising, Tunisia, voting.


7 Responses to Their Triumph is Our Shame

• Jacqueline Gordon
  February 28, 2011 at 4:06 pm Reply
  I read this on the train on my way to work. I started the article as a member of the “Who Cares, They’re All the Same” group and finished the article with a lump in my throat and chills down my spine. Thank you Stephen for shaking at least some of us out of our apathetic stupor.
  
  
• James
  February 28, 2011 at 8:24 pm Reply
  The link I provided as my website actually shows that voter turnout for the 2006 mid term hasn’t been that high since 1982, and for the 2008 Presidential election it hasn’t been that high since 1968.
  Except for countries with mandatory voting, the US isn’t doing so bad.
  The “Who Cares, They’re All the Same” is really an unengaged segment of the population. Should we really have _everyone_ voting? I’m not really convinced that having people casting uninformed votes to be a good thing.
  
  
• James
  February 28, 2011 at 8:33 pm Reply
  
  http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0781453.html
  
  
• Dmband
  February 28, 2011 at 10:57 pm Reply
  Markley-
  I disagree, by voting, you are casting your passive agreement that the system works in its current state.
  Most people vote because it gives them a warm and fuzzy feeling that they are contributing in some way.
  You are correct, not voting is a vote. Its vote that says I will not participate in a two party “pick the best of these limited terrible options” system.
  
  
• winstrall
  February 28, 2011 at 11:50 pm Reply
  I have bookmarked your blog , i read it often. Can’t wait for new articles
  Legal steroids
  
• 
  
• J.C.
  March 1, 2011 at 12:18 am Reply
  It is sad what’s going on, but to compare the United States to these people is comparing apples and oranges. We had our battle and blood not cheetos stained our ancestors fingers. It’s also sad that this administration is working hard at trashing everything that what fought for!
• Ken S.
  March 2, 2011 at 1:32 am Reply
  Very innocent, amusing column Stephen is pat-on-the-head idealistic. I once thought increasing voter turnout would lead to better government. Consider that one-fifth of Americans are so illiterate they cannot fill out a personal check. Should they be voting? No. Nor should citizens who cannot read English; the multilingual ballot is a terrible idea. Making intelligent choices requires a certain level of intelligence. Just showing up is not enough.
  The columnist’s other point was that by not voting, citizens are allowing scary groups like the pharmaceutical lobby, the health insurance lobby, the bankers and big corporations make decisions for us. Lobbies represent Americans. For a small membership fee, you, too, can join a lobby! And just for the record, the pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies can’t stand each other. They fight it out with big money over legislation that regulates and concerns both parties. Sometimes the little guy comes out on top. "