[plug] [OT+link] Us and them - what next?

[Leon Brooks]

On Friday 27 December 2002 11:53 am, sscott at iinet.net.au wrote:
> If you are born in Afghanistan and mind your own business I dont think
> youd have too much to worry about (except the Taliban really).

Yeah, right. Just the occasional `blockbuster' bomb, being harrassed by the 
Yanks for potentially hiding Taliban and by the Taliban for not hiding them. 
Lack of the meagre supplies that used to exist. You go on about war a lot, 
but really, you don't seem to have any real idea what it's like.

>>> BTW, I don't believe you'd feel the same way if you or your family
>>> were directly threatened by extremists with guns and explosives.

>> Or threatened by the US Army or CIA or Australian Federal Police or
>> ASIO with guns and explosives.

> When was the last time this happened to you?

About 18 years ago, and that was only the CIB, and only coathanger whippings, 
blankets and 'phone book beatings rather than cold steel. But in principle no 
different.

> The AFP are admittedly a
> little gung-ho, but again you dont have much to fear from them. Maybe one
> day theyll wake you up in the middle of the night, beat you up a little
> and then say 'sorry, wrong house'. I think you have a better chance of
> being struck by lightning though.

Tough if you blinked wrong and got shot, isn't it?

>> Terrorists come in many forms.  Some of them wear uniforms and are
>> paid by very large governments.

> OK, so what would be your perfect world? Peace, love and harmony? As Leon
> said, this is the real world full of real people...

Complete peace, love and harmony will not be achieved because of that, but it 
would be simple enough to avoid at least these wars that we face.

> So what would you like to see happen from this point on?

Finally, an intelligent question!

Any one of a dozen things. Heaps of intelligent propaganda (reasoning from the 
Qr'an for example) would be a good short-term move. Having the USA stop 
pissing about with the commerce and government of half the world would be a 
good parallel long-term objective. Carpet-bombing Afghanistan with non-GM 
non-Monsanto-product-dependent grains during planting season would be 
another.

I'd also cause some revolutions in finance and politics, and probably get shot 
or blown up (by the terrorists behind the terrorists) as a consequence. The 
(Federal, in the USA) Reserve Bank would lose its sacred status, for example.

Laws that made both personal and corporate accountability go up at the same 
rate as the excuses for damn-fool lawsuits went down would be enacted here 
and in the USA. For example, company directors would be totally liable for 
actions of the company, managers and shareholders less so (meaning, if a 
defect in your product kills somebody (e.g. unstable base on your drink 
machine permits it to fall on a angry customer), your directors and whoever 
installed the item get charged with manslaughter and must prove that they 
took reasonable steps to prevent the accident, OTOH if somebody stabs 
themselves in the eye with one of your screwdrivers it's their own silly 
fault and they have to live with it, same if the above dispenser fell on the 
customer when he and two others ripped its dynabolts out of the wall and 
tipped it over).

Cheers; Leon