Moderators: Alyrium Denryle, Edi, K. A. Pital
Um, no, we don't think it's OK but there is the problem of who has power and who doesn't.Stas Bush wrote:I mean, what the fuck? You get rapists, murderers, torturers, wanton killers and slavers in Iraq, and the US thinks that's "oh-kay"?
You mean our government, I guess, because you're talking to me, right? And killing a FSB defector by another ex-FSB goon (Lugovoi) is compared to the war in Iraq? With loose thread links for the whole story? You'd be better off to compare that with the Chechen war, anyways.I don't think the average Russian thinks it's a good idea to poison people with radioactive polonium, either, but yet their government did just that.
So, in fact Americans don't have the power in America. At least, the ones who think such things are not okay. Big surpirse, thanks for illuminating something I already knew - the American population is so... inept and apathetic - just like ours, thanks for the comparison of two worthless blobs of human mass on different continents which can't even take up their own destinies from the hands of greedy, ruthless plutocrats.Um, no, we don't think it's OK but there is the problem of who has power and who doesn't.
Oh, certainly not. I'm rather embarrassed about my country these days, believe me, the temptation to claim to be Canadian is always there.So, in fact Americans don't have the power in America. At least, the ones who think such things are not okay. Big surpirse, thanks for illuminating something I already knew - the American population is so... inept and apathetic - just like ours, thanks for the comparison of two worthless blobs of human mass on different continents which can't even take up their own destinies from the hands of greedy, ruthless plutocrats.Um, no, we don't think it's OK but there is the problem of who has power and who doesn't.
Is that something to be proud of?
Rather pointedly the 2006 Eurovision song contest winner Lordi and the band's lead singer Mr. Lordi noted in one interview that when he was touring in USA, he noted how many similarities there were between Russia and USA and how completely ignorant the average citizen seemed to be of that fact and of how constrained they are. But when Mr. Lordi (rather unwisely and undiplomatically) said this, many became aggravated that he DARED to compare the Land of Liberty to the Evil Soviet Empire, also known as... Russia. It left a bad taste in his mouth, enough that USA lost much of the respect he still harbored for it (and while he reportedly had still believed in "American dream", he no longer had any such illusions after the tour upon seeing the trailer park neighborhoods and the poverty).Broomstick wrote:Yes, you are correct - the Chechen war is a better comparison.
Oh, certainly not. I'm rather embarrassed about my country these days, believe me, the temptation to claim to be Canadian is always there.So, in fact Americans don't have the power in America. At least, the ones who think such things are not okay. Big surpirse, thanks for illuminating something I already knew - the American population is so... inept and apathetic - just like ours, thanks for the comparison of two worthless blobs of human mass on different continents which can't even take up their own destinies from the hands of greedy, ruthless plutocrats.Um, no, we don't think it's OK but there is the problem of who has power and who doesn't.
Is that something to be proud of?
I do wish my countrymen would get up off their asses and at least attempt to regain control of the place instead of leaving it to the wealthy and privileged who are currently trying sell the living room rug out from under the sofa.
The US and Russia have some interesting similarities these days.
Having a track of living in both nations (and with various experiences, tooBroomstick wrote:The US and Russia have some interesting similarities these days.
) I can say that both share lots of good and compassionate people, however, both also share strong corruption, money fetishism (in the US is manifested in atrocious living beyond the means, in Russia just a dose of extra-greed and callousness), rich, plutocratic and authoritarian elites which don't care for anything but their own interest.Heheh. I can only offer a grim smile. One more realist one less dreamer. Life is a harsh teacher; but I guess even a pop star can learn things that are rather remote from his level of revenue and lifestyle - thankfully, the social gap isn't so enormous for the well-off classes to become totally oblivious to the society around.Tiriol wrote:Somewhat disheartening.
Mercenaries are a type of contractor who provide security and/or armed response. The polite term for them is PMC "private military company".Coyote wrote:Laguna, that's because the polite term for "mercenaries" nowadays is *ahem* contractors.
All three of the companies you mention are contractors, but the way I see it only Blackwater can be labeled "mercenaries".You hear their names mentioned from time to time, such as "Blackwater". They also go by the euphemism "security consultants". They are contracted through Halliburton/KBR to protect Halliburton/KBR people, project sites, and equipment.
