bombus

Ho ho ho, see here: "Comrades Bush, Paulson and Bernanke Welcome You to the USSRA (United Socialist State Republic of America)" By Nouriel Roubini: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20720.htm US Is "More Communist than China": Jim Rogers By CNBC http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20715.htm Yet again the US government rips off it's people. Really guys, you gotta "wake up and smell the coffee!". The USA is a country ruled by the rich for the rich, the rest of you are just tax fodder. We in the EU are next, if not there already...

That's US foreign policy. Diplomacy is best of course, but once the enemy starts killing your people it's usually too late for that! US foreign policy starts the problems in the first place - that's what I have against it.

Whatever. The US would step in to prevent US deaths. How many would have died had the Russians not intervened?

Yes, but a big IF in my opinion. We'll have a nuclear war before then - or run out of the vital resources needed to make the jump to other planets... The other question is when does one species evolve enough to no longer be considered the same as the original species... I think, if we do survive, we'll end up as big skinny babies - like greys. In fact, my avatar is a human from the far future.

I don't think the core actually does stop spinning, it just flips in polarity.

Indeed! Wise words my friend, wise words. We are using the same evidence, just my interpretation of it makes sense. Actually it was Russia that revised the figures - down to around 160 people. However, that's 160 innocent civilians dead from an attack from Georgia. How would the US respond if Mexico bombed and killed 160 US citizens in Texas? Would the US just say 'I say, that's a little rum', or go in and stop it? And worth every cent. I applaud your ability to question recieved opinion. How much would the US owe Great Britain?

I disagree. The US has NATO and the EU, and most of the West, by the cahones (is that how one spells it?). It is the US that has been meddling and provoking Russia, with the EU cheering on from the sidelines.

Exactly my point - well done! Companies are mindless monsters that will do everything for the great God Profit. Any US government is at their mercy. Ho ho ho. Only a US citizen could say that! Frills around the edges my friend! How many Communist, Socialist, or Green Senators/Representatives do you have? How many Socialist parties do you have in the USA with any chance of getting into power? Frills around the edges! Less real choice that Communist China. Aww c'mon! Don't pretend you don't know the truth! Good on Obama, though, lets hope he succeeds. Go to the poor areas in Detroit and eat your words. Third world conditions my friend in the richest county in the world. Shameful. Don't see many people complaining though. Yes, hand in hand with the US (Iraq, Afghanistan, and our secret services are effectively merged). Russia asked to join NATO and the EU but were refused. Far worse. The US went back on deals - Resolutions in fact, agreed by Bush Senior and Gorbachev. Then meddled in all the former Warsaw pact countries. Really my friend, you could find all this out easily yourself. Nuclear war has no winners, and that is indeed where it ends. No it doesn't. It is the system that does the work - the mindless monsters remember? Fair enough

Well of course they have now! The point is that the USA has MADE Russia into an enemy by constantly provoking them! This is an enemy of the US govt's making - like all its goddam enemies! Every single one! The US can't survive without enemies. The US is a war economy. The MAD scenario works. Any threat to this destablizes the balance and is tantamount to a threat. Can you not see that? Perhaps you'd be happy if Russia placed a few 'defensive weapons' in Cuba or Mexico? Oh, so you can speak Russian can you? Or has he started speaking in English? I have seen such an Orwellian response to the Georgian incident I would believe things have been lost in translation. Anyway, your link is from Associated Press for God's sake! Might as well be Fox or CNN - hardly reliable sources!! However, Russia did warn the USA that if it tried to stop them rescuing S. Ossetia it would respond with tactical nukes - which is fair enough as Russia has not the technical weapons of the US.

Extinct.

Mmm. Are you sure about that? I thought that the magnetic field is due to the spinning of the Earth's core, and that when the poles reverse it really is pretty much instant... Correct me if I'm wrong. Also, birds would not be that affected if the flip is quick as they do not necessarily know North Pole from South Pole, but just use the general direction of the polarity to help guide themselves around - as they use stars and landscape features too.

Yeah you strike me as the sort of right-winger who likes a strong military. I bet you always play the Germans in Blitzkrieg... However, to be serious, if that budget was spent clothing and feeding the poor and disposessed of the world everyone would love the USA and there would be no need to have a huge military to feel safe. Terrorism would have no oxygen to breath and grow. A few nukes is all you'd need to stop invasion! Hey, this is a politics thread - since when has politics been a science! However, regardless of that I beg to differ. I am merely interpreting the facts in a certain way. You may disagree, and that's fine, but please say which bits you disagree with and give me a chance to change your mind.

1. Do I need to? Really? How much do you think a Presidential campaign costs to run? Where do you suppose that money comes from? Can you think of one recent president who wasnt rich? C'mon, get real! 2. If the US does not consider Russia to be threat why the missile shield and missiles in eastern Europe. Only a moron actually thinks its to defend against Iran! Why the US meddling in Ukraine, Poland, Cech Republic, GEORGIA etc. Why the US warships now deployed to the Black Sea? Why this blame of Russia and no mention of the Georgian attack on innocent civilians that prompted a Russian response! The US is very busy making Russia look like a threat. 3. Haliburton 4. The big bang It's not just current wars - it's the perceived need for such a huge military. What is the US defence budget? Who pays for it and where does that money actually end up? Follow the money and all is revealed.

The companies couldn't give a damn who's in power. Republican and Democrat administrations are the same, apart from some frills around the edges! The unelected people who actually have the power stay exactly where they are - in power! The US is a state run by oligarchs, with the front of democracy so the oligarchs never get found out. Who do you think funds presidential campaigns! Why is it only rich people get to be President - or even get in the running? The 'land of opportunity' is a myth. The US is a land run by the rich for the rich. Russia pose no real threat to the US - certainly no more than the the EU does. Why is the US trying to pick a fight with Russia? A fight it can't ever win! What scrutiny?! That's a joke! Anyway, the politicians are mostly as much kept ion the dark as the citizens. This time, there may be no-one left to blame anyone...

The USA is a state that must always remain at war with someone. It makes enemies around the world to justify military spending so that the companies can get rich out of US taxpayers. You are all being ripped off by your government, which is the executive commitee of the companies. Russia are not a threat to the USA way of life anymore, but the US government had to make them an enemy 'cos your soon gonna have to leave Iraq and Afghanistan ('cos it aint goin' too well boys!) and you need a new enemy. There's always Iran I suppose if Russia don't play ball... see here:http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20577.htm

They buy with your money taken in taxes. Agree that peacetime sucks for them, that's why the Cold War was great for them as it was kinda peace, but also war at the same time! That's why the US is working hard to restart the Cold War. That is quite right! But the need for multi-billion pound nukes, aircraft carriers, jet fighters, round the clock bomber patrols, nuclear subs etc looks a bit shaky without an enemy.

Great link, great story. I'm with free will all the way. I think consciousness IS the ability to influence sub-atomic particles. I have no proof of this at all though. One other explanation is that we are Sims and the simulation we live in adjusts the answers as we go.

With that statement you reveal a lot! Like now you mean? btw. found this: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20535.htm

Putin and the Russian President Medvedev have the popular support in Russia most presidents would die for. I am disappointed that Russia is being seen in such a bad light. Hardly a mention of the atrocities inflicted by Georgia which started this recent conflict. No congratulations for Russia saving the S. Ossetians. Worryingly biased media in the West in my opinion. I agree that we need to remain friends with Russia. The alternative doesn't bear thinking about. Also, funny how everyone lets China off for its invasion and occupation of Tibet - and Isreal for its occupation of Palestine, Morroco for its occupation of Western Sahara, the list goes on I'm sure... The bullshit piles up so fast one needs wings to stay above it. What is 'the place' of Iran and N. Korea by the way?

The soviet union controlled neighbouring countries in the same way as the US controlled western countries. Read more history my friend. Your wide-eyed innocence is very sweet.

Russia has no interest in occupying countries/ It is no longer communist. It does however wish to maintain/expand it's sphere of influence, just like the US does. It would not occupy South Ossetia against the will of the people, but it will not have to. The Russians are the liberating heroes of the S. Ossetians now! Are you honestly saying you can't see the comparison between Kosovo and South Ossetia? NATO bombed the crap out of Serbia, totally destroying it's infrastructure, and were just to scared to deploy gropund troops (as ever). Russia have just done the same thing using tanks and ground troops, and have actually done far less damage to Georgia than NATO did to Serbia. Securing borders in such conflicts is all about destroying the enemies capability to fight back. And you don't think there was over Serbia? What planet are you on? It has CIA written all over it. It's how they work! How do you think the President of Georgia got to power in the first place? Who do you think funded his rise to power, and whole Georgian 'Rose Revolution'? EU/US, same thing! You've debunked nothing yet.

This is the most recommended message on the 'Have Your Say' bit on the BBC news website. I agree with it: Kosovo tries to secede from Serbia - Serbia tries to stop it - NATO rolls in with blazing tomahawks and planes to stop it. South Ossetia tries to secede from Georgia - Georgia tries to stop it - Russia rolls in with tanks to stop it. What is the problem here other than double standards? Marko, Belgrade The truth is the US has been meddling in Georgia since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and has been busy seeing how far it can push its sphere of influence. Basically this is Russia saying 'that's as far as you go!'. Let's pray that everyone (US, Russia, EU) sobers up and stops playing this dangerous game. It's not so much 'The Cold War' lives again as 'The Great Game' lives again. Forward (as ever) to the 1800's!

This whole thing is just another way for the arms industry to steal yet more money from US citizens on pointless projects that achieve nothing apart from creating the need for more pointless projects. It's not the Russians who should be complaining - it's you guys!!

I'd agree with that. The thing is much of human evolution is actually linked to neoteny, and the selection of neotenic features. It is this that has probably lead to us having huge brains - which may have been a side effect at first! Being very clever is usually an advantage to animals - especially mammals - and is the primates primary card. BUT, what is so special about humans that made our brains grow enormously, even compared to other primates? I speculate that it is probably our selection of neotenic features over the millenia. Now is it just coincidence that the other extremely 'neotenic' mammals - the cetaceans - also have huge brains? I doubt it. I think there is a link between aquatic/semi aquatic life and the natural selection of neotenic features, and it is this that put early homonids on the path to Homo sapiens. Unfortuantely, there is as far as I know, virtually no absolute proof of this, apart from reinterpretation of already exisiting information. It's worth a second thought though folks...

I think it should really be 'the swimming ape', rather than 'the aquatic ape'. I imagine we started living near coastal waters and fed on shellfish, fish and other stuff available in that habitat, and were safe from predators in the water (shark attacks are pretty rare in coastal waters) so hung about in it most of the time. As we probably didn't sleep in the water losing our hair would have aided drying out (and so warming up). Also, maybe improved our swimming ability but to a lesser extent?