OT: So What You Foreigners Think of Democracy at Work?

[Mitchell Coffey]

Now that iaoua iaoua has galloped off to his long-delayed doom, and we
have little left for entertainment, I was wondering if any of you
foreign types have watched any of the Republican debates. Any
comments? See what we're up against.

Mitchell Coffey

[Vend]

On 20 Gen, 19:44, Mitchell Coffey <mitchell.cof...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Now that iaoua iaoua has galloped off to his long-delayed doom, and we
> have little left for entertainment, I was wondering if any of you
> foreign types

Foreign? On the Internet?

> have watched any of the Republican debates. Any
> comments? See what we're up against.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/giddygirlie/2987270819/

[Kleuskes & Moos]

My heart goes out to anyone with a mind in the states, but thing are not
much better on this side of the Ocean. We've got Geert Wilders, you got
Newt Gingrich, both pandering to the fear and loathing of their prospective
voters.

Nevertheless, i've got this little voice saying Obama is up for a second
terms since, at one time or another, all the GOP-candidates have shown
themselves to be clowns.

The anti-european sloganism was a bit disturbing.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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/ I hope something GOOD came in the mail \
\ today so I have a REASON to live!! /
----------------------------------------
\
\
___
{~._.~}
( Y )
()~*~()
(_)-(_)
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[Malygris]

Kleuskes & Moos wrote:

> On Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:44:26 -0800, Mitchell Coffey wrote:
>
>> Now that iaoua iaoua has galloped off to his long-delayed doom, and we
>> have little left for entertainment, I was wondering if any of you
>> foreign types have watched any of the Republican debates. Any comments?
>> See what we're up against.
>
> My heart goes out to anyone with a mind in the states, but thing are not
> much better on this side of the Ocean. We've got Geert Wilders, you got
> Newt Gingrich, both pandering to the fear and loathing of their
> prospective voters.

Yeah, every place has it's idiots. Considering what goes on here in Germany
with our president, I fear while we don't have a circus like you guys in the
US we are on our way there!

> Nevertheless, i've got this little voice saying Obama is up for a second
> terms since, at one time or another, all the GOP-candidates have shown
> themselves to be clowns.

I looks like that. On the other hand, I never thought Bush (W) would get a
second term...

--
Malygris

[David Hare-Scott]

You don't get to have all the clowns, we have Tony Abbott. You would know
what I mean if you had ever seen Mitt or Newt budgie smugglers.


David

[Kleuskes & Moos]

I should have added I once thought a second-rate actor would never be POTUS,
but here we are and a former muscleman is ex-governator.

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________________________________________
/ Should I get locked in the PRINCICAL'S \
\ OFFICE today -- or have a VASECTOMY?? /

[David Hare-Scott]

Kleuskes & Moos wrote:
> On Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:20:58 +0100, Malygris wrote:
>
>> Kleuskes & Moos wrote:
>>
>>> On Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:44:26 -0800, Mitchell Coffey wrote:
>>>
>>>> Now that iaoua iaoua has galloped off to his long-delayed doom,
>>>> and we have little left for entertainment, I was wondering if any
>>>> of you foreign types have watched any of the Republican debates.
>>>> Any comments? See what we're up against.
>>>
>>> My heart goes out to anyone with a mind in the states, but thing are
>>> not much better on this side of the Ocean. We've got Geert Wilders,
>>> you got Newt Gingrich, both pandering to the fear and loathing of
>>> their prospective voters.
>>
>> Yeah, every place has it's idiots. Considering what goes on here in
>> Germany with our president, I fear while we don't have a circus like
>> you guys in the US we are on our way there!
>>
>>> Nevertheless, i've got this little voice saying Obama is up for a
>>> second terms since, at one time or another, all the GOP-candidates
>>> have shown themselves to be clowns.
>>
>> I looks like that. On the other hand, I never thought Bush (W) would
>> get a second term...
>
> I should have added I once thought a second-rate actor would never be
> POTUS, but here we are and a former muscleman is ex-governator.
>

Arnie could give Ronny 20 points of IQ and still be smarter.

D

[Paul J Gans]

Kleuskes & Moos <kle...@somewhere.else.net> wrote:
>On Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:44:26 -0800, Mitchell Coffey wrote:

>> Now that iaoua iaoua has galloped off to his long-delayed doom, and we
>> have little left for entertainment, I was wondering if any of you
>> foreign types have watched any of the Republican debates. Any comments?
>> See what we're up against.

>My heart goes out to anyone with a mind in the states, but thing are not
>much better on this side of the Ocean. We've got Geert Wilders, you got
>Newt Gingrich, both pandering to the fear and loathing of their prospective
>voters.

>Nevertheless, i've got this little voice saying Obama is up for a second
>terms since, at one time or another, all the GOP-candidates have shown
>themselves to be clowns.

>The anti-european sloganism was a bit disturbing.

It does make one wonder about the development of intelligence,
something we assume is a species-wide trait without any
particular evidence. Or so it seems to me.

You can always get folks riled up by screaming about the tribe
across the river.

--
--- Paul J. Gans

[Paul J Gans]

There's a lesson in that. One should not be too quick to blame
the voters of other nations for seemingly irrational choices.

[Michael Siemon]

In article <jfcp65$m0q$1...@news.albasani.net>,

But he couldn't do a damn thing with that to make the moronic GOP
that Reagan created from undercutting _him_ as well as everyone
else in the state...

[John S. Wilkins]

Don't impose that upon the poor foreigners. It's enough *our* nation has
to scrub our forebrains with a wire brush.

--
John S. Wilkins, Associate, Philosophy, University of Sydney
http://evolvingthoughts.net
But al be that he was a philosophre,
Yet hadde he but litel gold in cofre

[wiki trix]

On Jan 20, 10:44 am, Mitchell Coffey <mitchell.cof...@gmail.com>
wrote:

I am a domestic foreigner... does that count?

I do not have television/cable, but I took in a few bits from debates
posted on youtube. I am mostly struck by how stupid they all are. But
It does not matter how stupid they are... they are all just puppets.
The shadow powers (not a consolidated conspiracy, and not a political
class, but rather a mob of competing vicious power hungry thugs
pulling the many strings in DC, Wall Street, etc. The result is a
farce at the least, and potentially, at its worst, could result in an
unstable outcome that could toss us all into global struggle,
violence, and famine. But for some reason, that sort of pointed
question never came up in the that debates I viewed. Did I miss that?

[jillery]

On Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:58:25 +0000 (UTC), Kleuskes & Moos
<kle...@somewhere.else.net> wrote:

>On Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:20:58 +0100, Malygris wrote:
>
>> Kleuskes & Moos wrote:
>>
>>> On Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:44:26 -0800, Mitchell Coffey wrote:
>>>
>>>> Now that iaoua iaoua has galloped off to his long-delayed doom, and we
>>>> have little left for entertainment, I was wondering if any of you
>>>> foreign types have watched any of the Republican debates. Any
>>>> comments? See what we're up against.
>>>
>>> My heart goes out to anyone with a mind in the states, but thing are
>>> not much better on this side of the Ocean. We've got Geert Wilders, you
>>> got Newt Gingrich, both pandering to the fear and loathing of their
>>> prospective voters.
>>
>> Yeah, every place has it's idiots. Considering what goes on here in
>> Germany with our president, I fear while we don't have a circus like you
>> guys in the US we are on our way there!
>>
>>> Nevertheless, i've got this little voice saying Obama is up for a
>>> second terms since, at one time or another, all the GOP-candidates have
>>> shown themselves to be clowns.
>>
>> I looks like that. On the other hand, I never thought Bush (W) would get
>> a second term...
>
>I should have added I once thought a second-rate actor would never be POTUS,
>but here we are and a former muscleman is ex-governator.

TWO former musclemen. Don't forget Jesse "The Body" Ventura, the
ex-governator of Minnie soda.

[John S. Wilkins]

It doesn't surprise me that sports people (yes, it's a sport) are chosen
to act as leaders; sport is the new military, and we have always chosen
military leaders.

[David Hare-Scott]

John S. Wilkins wrote:
> David Hare-Scott <sec...@nospam.com> wrote:
>
>> Mitchell Coffey wrote:
>>> Now that iaoua iaoua has galloped off to his long-delayed doom, and
>>> we have little left for entertainment, I was wondering if any of you
>>> foreign types have watched any of the Republican debates. Any
>>> comments? See what we're up against.
>>>
>>> Mitchell Coffey
>>
>> You don't get to have all the clowns, we have Tony Abbott. You
>> would know what I mean if you had ever seen Mitt or Newt budgie
>> smugglers.
>
> Don't impose that upon the poor foreigners. It's enough *our* nation
> has to scrub our forebrains with a wire brush.

As Billy Connolly points out all you can hope for in life is to get to the
detol and the wire brush before those with VD.

D

[Malygris]

Kleuskes & Moos wrote:

> On Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:20:58 +0100, Malygris wrote:
>
>> Kleuskes & Moos wrote:

>>> Nevertheless, i've got this little voice saying Obama is up for a
>>> second terms since, at one time or another, all the GOP-candidates have
>>> shown themselves to be clowns.
>>
>> I looks like that. On the other hand, I never thought Bush (W) would get
>> a second term...
>
> I should have added I once thought a second-rate actor would never be
> POTUS, but here we are and a former muscleman is ex-governator.

A former muscleman and second rate actor!

--
Malygris

[Ilas]

Mitchell Coffey <mitchel...@gmail.com> wrote in news:b324a31b-e242-
47ab-9ddf-b...@o20g2000yqh.googlegroups.com:

From here, it looks like if they choose Romney, there's a chance he may win
(he at least seems sane, and I get the sense he's playing to the gallery
with some of what he says), but surely Gingrich has no chance becoming
president, even if selected? Somebody like that would scare me. But I
thought it was encouraging that the more obviously deranged candidates,
with the exception of Santorum, have dropped out or have no chance.

[Perseus]

this one was very good.
Perseus

[Kleuskes & Moos]

<snigger>

Reports of intelligence amongst H. Sapiens are grossly exaggerated. That's
what i suspected, too.

> You can always get folks riled up by screaming about the tribe across
> the river.

YI think you're onto something there. Somewhere in the back of our
brains there's still a scared hominid afraid someone might take over his
territory and striving to be the alpha-male by being the most aggressive.

It explains so much of politics and business.

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/ FOOLED you! Absorb EGO SHATTERING \
\ impulse rays, polyester poltroon!! /

[Roger Shrubber]

Kleuskes & Moos wrote:
> On Fri, 20 Jan 2012 23:20:15 +0000, Paul J Gans wrote:
>

>> Kleuskes& Moos<kle...@somewhere.else.net> wrote:
>>> On Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:44:26 -0800, Mitchell Coffey wrote:
>>
>>>> Now that iaoua iaoua has galloped off to his long-delayed doom, and we
>>>> have little left for entertainment, I was wondering if any of you
>>>> foreign types have watched any of the Republican debates. Any
>>>> comments? See what we're up against.
>>
>>> My heart goes out to anyone with a mind in the states, but thing are not
>>> much better on this side of the Ocean. We've got Geert Wilders, you got
>>> Newt Gingrich, both pandering to the fear and loathing of their
>>> prospective voters.
>>
>>> Nevertheless, i've got this little voice saying Obama is up for a second
>>> terms since, at one time or another, all the GOP-candidates have shown
>>> themselves to be clowns.
>>
>>> The anti-european sloganism was a bit disturbing.
>>
>> It does make one wonder about the development of intelligence, something
>> we assume is a species-wide trait without any particular evidence. Or
>> so it seems to me.
>
> <snigger>
>
> Reports of intelligence amongst H. Sapiens are grossly exaggerated. That's
> what i suspected, too.

> Th

>> You can always get folks riled up by screaming about the tribe across
>> the river.
>
> YI think you're onto something there. Somewhere in the back of our
> brains there's still a scared hominid afraid someone might take over his
> territory and striving to be the alpha-male by being the most aggressive.
>
> It explains so much of politics and business.

In the back? It's not turtles, it's poo flinging all the way down.

The interesting questions surround the affinity for bonobo nature
versus chimp nature, how much cultural training can sway average
behavior, and how to deal with the predictable anti-social
manifestations. That or how to become the dominant ape through
being able to predict the behavior of the other apes.

[Walter Bushell]

In article <1ke8cto.f1j4vd169ca5bN%jo...@wilkins.id.au>,

jo...@wilkins.id.au (John S. Wilkins) wrote:

>
> It doesn't surprise me that sports people (yes, it's a sport) are chosen
> to act as leaders; sport is the new military, and we have always chosen
> military leaders.

The earliest leader we military, the leader of the country was expected
to lead the troops in battle. Still today, the Brits send the heirs to
the throne through military service. Military might is how a country
becomes a country and maintains its territory, or you have to maintain
an accommodation with a nation that does have military might.

Celebrities, of any type, we can expect soon. Being well known, is an
edge, as is apparently a blank slate in politics, so you can be anything
the public can be sold.

--
It is the nature of the human species to reject what is true but unpleasant
and to embrace what is obviously false but comforting. -- H. L. Mencken

[Walter Bushell]

In article <Xns9FE16544D6D5...@216.196.109.131>,

Santorum dropping out is an image I could have lived without.

[Walter Bushell]

In article <6Oadnf5zgcBtIofS...@giganews.com>,

Monkey see, monkey doo!

>
> The interesting questions surround the affinity for bonobo nature
> versus chimp nature,

Liberals vs. Conservatives

<http://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_haidt_on_the_moral_mind.html>

>how much cultural training can sway average
> behavior, and how to deal with the predictable anti-social
> manifestations. That or how to become the dominant ape through
> being able to predict the behavior of the other apes.

[Mitchell Coffey]

On 1/20/2012 10:23 PM, wiki trix wrote:
> On Jan 20, 10:44 am, Mitchell Coffey<mitchell.cof...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>> Now that iaoua iaoua has galloped off to his long-delayed doom, and we
>> have little left for entertainment, I was wondering if any of you
>> foreign types have watched any of the Republican debates. Any
>> comments? See what we're up against.
>
> I am a domestic foreigner... does that count?
>
> I do not have television/cable, but I took in a few bits from debates
> posted on youtube. I am mostly struck by how stupid they all are. But
> It does not matter how stupid they are... they are all just puppets.
> The shadow powers (not a consolidated conspiracy, and not a political
> class, but rather a mob of competing vicious power hungry thugs
> pulling the many strings in DC, Wall Street, etc.

Yeah, but it's always like that. This year, they're something - special...

The result is a
> farce at the least, and potentially, at its worst, could result in an
> unstable outcome that could toss us all into global struggle,
> violence, and famine. But for some reason, that sort of pointed
> question never came up in the that debates I viewed. Did I miss that?

No, and this is why I though foreigners might be more interested in the
details of the election even than Americans. And the stupidity of the
candidates is probably less significant than the fantasies they inhabit.

Mitchell

[jillery]

For me, the most scary thing is knowing that each of these candidates
are just the tip of an iceberg. Each one of them represents a large
group of people who believe their candidate is the right one for the
job.

[Mitchell Coffey]

In American politics, never, ever say someone has no chance of becoming
President.

Mitchell

[Mitchell Coffey]

On 1/20/2012 6:20 PM, Paul J Gans wrote:

Rio Grande or St. Laurence?

Mitchell

[Paul J Gans]

No. But what you did miss is that each of them claim that if
elected *they* will cause certain laws to exist and others to
vanish. There's never any mention of the fact that Presidents
don't enact laws.

They all do this, democrats and republicans.

[Mitchell Coffey]

On 1/21/2012 1:08 AM, John S. Wilkins wrote:
> jillery<69jp...@gmail.com> wrote:
>

>> On Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:58:25 +0000 (UTC), Kleuskes& Moos

"We"?

Mitchell

[Paul J Gans]

Yes it does. And we can blame our genes! Isn't that neat.

Now where's the beer?

[Free Lunch]

On Sat, 21 Jan 2012 12:55:33 -0500, Mitchell Coffey
<mitchell...@gmail.com> wrote in talk.origins:

Both can be useful, depending on if you are attacking poor people or
intelligent ones.

[Paul J Gans]

Inhabit or wrap around themselves?

[Paul J Gans]

And nobody seems to notice that the campaigns are without substance.
One candidate promises "I will create jobs", but does not say how
he will do it. Another says "I wil remove restrictive regulations"
without saying which ones those are and how he will do it.

A third will create morality amonst the multitudes, again without
saying how he'll do that.

And so it goes. An insubstantial campaign aimed at people's fears
more than their hopes.

[deadrat]

Walter Bushell <pr...@panix.com> wrote:

> In article <Xns9FE16544D6D5...@216.196.109.131>,
> Ilas <nob...@this.address.com> wrote:
>
>> Mitchell Coffey <mitchel...@gmail.com> wrote in news:b324a31b-e242-
>> 47ab-9ddf-b...@o20g2000yqh.googlegroups.com:
>>
>> >
>> > Now that iaoua iaoua has galloped off to his long-delayed doom, and we
>> > have little left for entertainment, I was wondering if any of you
>> > foreign types have watched any of the Republican debates. Any
>> > comments? See what we're up against.
>>
>> From here, it looks like if they choose Romney, there's a chance he may win
>> (he at least seems sane, and I get the sense he's playing to the gallery
>> with some of what he says), but surely Gingrich has no chance becoming
>> president, even if selected? Somebody like that would scare me. But I
>> thought it was encouraging that the more obviously deranged candidates,
>> with the exception of Santorum, have dropped out or have no chance.
>>
>>
>
> Santorum dropping out is an image I could have lived without.

Doesn't Santorum more like dribble out?

Add that to your gallery.

[Jeffrey Turner]

"It's a great country, where anybody can grow up to be president...
except me." --Barry Goldwater

[Mike Lyle]

On Sat, 21 Jan 2012 09:45:14 -0500, Mitchell Coffey
<mitchell...@gmail.com> wrote:

I sometimes think there's more than meets the eye in the phrase "the
American dream". One of the American books my children had ended with
a teacher telling a child, "Sometimes thinking you have a thing is the
same as having it". The intelligent loons who took over US foreign
policy are clearly operating on the basis of various fantasies. A
dream isn't really the adult basis on which to plan a life; all
nations are prone to fantasy, but few actually make it a mission
statement.

--
Mike.

[Mike Lyle]

In any case, in the US it's the military that's the new military: they
gain in prominence every year. But, to be fair, it's not all that
common for the US to elect a military man as president.

--
Mike.

[Walter Bushell]

In article <jfev29$rhu$7...@reader1.panix.com>,

But you know it's still a realistic fear. Just think of the amount of
wealth held by the upper 0.1%.

[John S. Wilkins]

Nihil humanum mihi alienum est.

[Walter Bushell]

In article <jff0l6$3vd$3...@reader1.panix.com>,

Paul J Gans <gan...@panix.com> wrote:

You can't specify any program if you want to win. It's like you know
naming specific workers who will lose their jobs if your program goes
through.

[Walter Bushell]

In article <31EA0DAF-93EB-4439-A8E0-AEC7FBA716D2%a...@b.com>,

Thank you *so* mulch.

[Walter Bushell]

In article <ReydnUXC1ea0uIbS...@posted.localnet>,

Well, not me either; or Paul Gans neither. Everyone can google what we
think.

[Richard Norman]

That statement declares itself to be inhuman.

[Walter Bushell]

In article <1ke9p7n.k2kxtzagxuk5N%jo...@wilkins.id.au>,

jo...@wilkins.id.au (John S. Wilkins) wrote:

That's easy for someone for whom every human is a preincarnate. I'd be
jealous, but.

[John S. Wilkins]

Quare? Homo sum.

[Richard Norman]

On Sun, 22 Jan 2012 12:37:44 +1100, jo...@wilkins.id.au (John S.

Hetero ego.
The statement est alienum.

[Paul J Gans]

Hudson, Rhine, Volga, it doesn't matter. They are coming armed
with secret stones and better bows and arrows than we have. And
they spread strange doctrines.

Our latrines are getting filled. We need a leader who can handle
them..

[Paul J Gans]

After the election the results were made unanimous by a vote
of 57-43.

[Paul J Gans]

What are you, some sort of Kommunist? They are simply being
rewarded for a job well done. Who would bother to screw the
poor if they weren't paid for it?

[Paul J Gans]

Exactly. Which allows many people to think that *their* favorite
programs will be spared. They are wrong, of course, but they
never learn.

In the last (midterm) elections many union people voted Republican
because they ate the (raw) horseshit they were fed. Now they are
screaming because those people they voted for are screwing them
right and left.

It will happen this time around as well.

Does anybody around here know what happens if Greece goes bust?
That is, who owns the credit default swaps?

[Paul J Gans]

Walter Bushell <pr...@panix.com> wrote:
>In article <ReydnUXC1ea0uIbS...@posted.localnet>,
> Jeffrey Turner <jtu...@localnet.com> wrote:

>> On 1/21/2012 12:52 PM, Mitchell Coffey wrote:
>> > On 1/21/2012 4:57 AM, Ilas wrote:
>> >> Mitchell Coffey<mitchel...@gmail.com> wrote in news:b324a31b-e242-
>> >> 47ab-9ddf-b...@o20g2000yqh.googlegroups.com:
>> >>
>> >>>
>> >>> Now that iaoua iaoua has galloped off to his long-delayed doom, and we
>> >>> have little left for entertainment, I was wondering if any of you
>> >>> foreign types have watched any of the Republican debates. Any
>> >>> comments? See what we're up against.
>> >>
>> >> From here, it looks like if they choose Romney, there's a chance he
>> >> may win
>> >> (he at least seems sane, and I get the sense he's playing to the gallery
>> >> with some of what he says), but surely Gingrich has no chance becoming
>> >> president, even if selected? Somebody like that would scare me. But I
>> >> thought it was encouraging that the more obviously deranged candidates,
>> >> with the exception of Santorum, have dropped out or have no chance.
>> >
>> > In American politics, never, ever say someone has no chance of becoming
>> > President.
>>
>> "It's a great country, where anybody can grow up to be president...
>> except me." --Barry Goldwater

>Well, not me either; or Paul Gans neither. Everyone can google what we
>think.

You are so right.

[Mitchell Coffey]

Wilkins is not within the relevant set of "we"?

Mitchell

[chris thompson]

On Jan 21, 12:55 pm, Mitchell Coffey <mitchelldotcof...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> On 1/20/2012 6:20 PM, Paul J Gans wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > Kleuskes&  Moos<kleu...@somewhere.else.net>  wrote:

> >> On Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:44:26 -0800, Mitchell Coffey wrote:
>
> >>> Now that iaoua iaoua has galloped off to his long-delayed doom, and we
> >>> have little left for entertainment, I was wondering if any of you
> >>> foreign types have watched any of the Republican debates. Any comments?
> >>> See what we're up against.
>
> >> My heart goes out to anyone with a mind in the states, but thing are not
> >> much better on this side of the Ocean. We've got Geert Wilders, you got
> >> Newt Gingrich, both pandering to the fear and loathing of their prospective
> >> voters.
>

> >> Nevertheless, i've got this little voice saying Obama is up for a second
> >> terms since, at one time or another, all the GOP-candidates have shown
> >> themselves to be clowns.
>

> >> The anti-european sloganism was a bit disturbing.
>
> > It does make one wonder about the development of intelligence,
> > something we assume is a species-wide trait without any
> > particular evidence.  Or so it seems to me.
>

> > You can always get folks riled up by screaming about the tribe
> > across the river.
>

> Rio Grande or St. Laurence?
>

> Mitchell

The biggest screaming is about the Rio Grande, even though the 9/11
terrorists came in across the St. Lawrence (sorry bout the spelling
but you know). But that's understandable, because people coming across
the Rio Grande are brown and they talk funny. That makes them easier
targets.

Chris

[John S. Wilkins]

Wilkins was making a claim about all humans. Americans are not excepted
from that claim, but neither are they the extent of it.

[Kleuskes & Moos]

On Sat, 21 Jan 2012 09:21:18 -0500, Walter Bushell wrote:

> In article <6Oadnf5zgcBtIofS...@giganews.com>,
> Roger Shrubber <rog.sh...@gmail.com> wrote:

>
>> Kleuskes & Moos wrote:
>> > On Fri, 20 Jan 2012 23:20:15 +0000, Paul J Gans wrote:
>> >

>> >> Kleuskes& Moos<kle...@somewhere.else.net> wrote:
>> >>> On Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:44:26 -0800, Mitchell Coffey wrote:
>> >>
>> >>>> Now that iaoua iaoua has galloped off to his long-delayed doom,
>> >>>> and we have little left for entertainment, I was wondering if any
>> >>>> of you foreign types have watched any of the Republican debates.
>> >>>> Any comments? See what we're up against.
>> >>
>> >>> My heart goes out to anyone with a mind in the states, but thing
>> >>> are not much better on this side of the Ocean. We've got Geert
>> >>> Wilders, you got Newt Gingrich, both pandering to the fear and
>> >>> loathing of their prospective voters.
>> >>

>> >>> Nevertheless, i've got this little voice saying Obama is up for a
>> >>> second terms since, at one time or another, all the GOP-candidates
>> >>> have shown themselves to be clowns.
>> >>

>> >>> The anti-european sloganism was a bit disturbing.
>> >>
>> >> It does make one wonder about the development of intelligence,
>> >> something we assume is a species-wide trait without any particular
>> >> evidence. Or so it seems to me.
>> >

>> > <snigger>
>> >
>> > Reports of intelligence amongst H. Sapiens are grossly exaggerated.
>> > That's what i suspected, too.

>> > Th

>> >> You can always get folks riled up by screaming about the tribe
>> >> across the river.
>> >

>> > YI think you're onto something there. Somewhere in the back of our
>> > brains there's still a scared hominid afraid someone might take over
>> > his territory and striving to be the alpha-male by being the most
>> > aggressive.
>> >
>> > It explains so much of politics and business.
>>

>> In the back? It's not turtles, it's poo flinging all the way down.
>
> Monkey see, monkey doo!
>>
>> The interesting questions surround the affinity for bonobo nature
>> versus chimp nature,
>
> Liberals vs. Conservatives
>
> <http://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_haidt_on_the_moral_mind.html>

Thanks for that. Really enlightening.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
___________________________________
/ FUN is never having to say you're \
\ SUSHI!! /
-----------------------------------
\
\
___
{~._.~}
( Y )
()~*~()
(_)-(_)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Walter Bushell]

In article <jffuef$fj$8...@reader1.panix.com>,

Paul J Gans <gan...@panix.com> wrote:

Most people would consider me left.

[Walter Bushell]

In article
<af2d60be-e0af-4585...@l16g2000vbl.googlegroups.com>,

Canadians talk funny too, eh?

[Walter Bushell]

In article <jffuc2$fj$7...@reader1.panix.com>,

Paul J Gans <gan...@panix.com> wrote:

> Walter Bushell <pr...@panix.com> wrote:
>
> >You can't specify any program if you want to win. It's like you know
> >naming specific workers who will lose their jobs if your program goes
> >through.
>
> Exactly. Which allows many people to think that *their* favorite
> programs will be spared. They are wrong, of course, but they
> never learn.

Similar to this was that a majority of people were in favor of gas
rationing, back in the embargo days, as they all thought that *their*
gas was obviously required. I was among those, I obviously need mucho
gas to get to work. Not being necessarily wiser now than then, but I
have learned to look out for *that* mistake.

It seems to be that opossums can be caught several times in the same
trap, where as placentals usually learn the first time. Some people
don't have the intelligence that D-G gave a rat.

>
> In the last (midterm) elections many union people voted Republican
> because they ate the (raw) horseshit they were fed. Now they are
> screaming because those people they voted for are screwing them
> right and left.

My essential program, your deserved benefit, their outrageous waste of
the taxpayer's money.

>
> It will happen this time around as well.
>
> Does anybody around here know what happens if Greece goes bust?
> That is, who owns the credit default swaps?

--

[Frank J]

On Jan 20, 1:44 pm, Mitchell Coffey <mitchell.cof...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Now that iaoua iaoua has galloped off to his long-delayed doom,

I think he'll be "bauck"

> and we
> have little left for entertainment,

I for one find Ray and Tony are far more entertaining. And if
voweltroll does stay away, they'll ramp up their posting.

BTW, I'm fascinated with how disciplined anti-evolutionsts are at
letting each other "take the stage." Why risk exposing their hopeless
disagreements on the most basic points as the age and position of
Earth? Whereas most "Darwinists" at a minimum don't care if their
differences are perceived as "weaknesses," and more often *want* to
debate each other. Which of course is a sign of confidence that the
overall theory can stand on its own. Confidence that no anti-
evolutionist ever had.

> I was wondering if any of you
> foreign types have watched any of the Republican debates. Any
> comments? See what we're up against.

Politicians. What do you expect?

>
> Mitchell Coffey

[Nick Keighley]

On Jan 20, 6:44 pm, Mitchell Coffey <mitchell.cof...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Now that iaoua iaoua has galloped off to his long-delayed doom, and we
> have little left for entertainment, I was wondering if any of you

> foreign types have watched any of the Republican debates. Any
> comments? See what we're up against.

Europeans all thing the American political system is insane. No doubt
everyone's political system looks crazy from the outside; but your's
seems to have special properties.

- the Republican's are trying to choose between the canidate
most likely to beat Obama and one with the correct political opionions

- people care what Iowa thinks

- having you ex-wife slag you off boosts your ratings (that
actually makes sense)

Havn't been watching the debates,anything interesting?

[Nick Keighley]

On Jan 20, 7:18 pm, Kleuskes & Moos <kleu...@somewhere.else.net>
wrote:

> On Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:44:26 -0800, Mitchell Coffey wrote:
> > Now that iaoua iaoua has galloped off to his long-delayed doom, and we
> > have little left for entertainment, I was wondering if any of you
> > foreign types have watched any of the Republican debates. Any comments?
> > See what we're up against.
>

> My heart goes out to anyone with a mind in the states, but thing are not
> much better on this side of the Ocean. We've got Geert Wilders, you got
> Newt Gingrich, both pandering to the fear and loathing of their prospective
> voters.
>
> Nevertheless, i've got this little voice saying Obama is up for a second
> terms since, at one time or another, all the GOP-candidates have shown
> themselves to be clowns.
>
> The anti-european sloganism was a bit disturbing.

the ability of a candiadate to speak a foreign langauge being a point
*against* him

[Mitchell Coffey]

Coffey now realizes this. Coffey dumb. Coffey think Wilkins refer to
modern elected national leaders.

Coffey

[Mitchell Coffey]

We Americans need to sharpen our Canadar.

Mitchell

[Kleuskes & Moos]

At least you're not european. Every USian knows how bad we are...

Oh... BTW. I found a good campaign image for Obama...

http://tinyurl.com/7ebhtdp

Warning: scary...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
_____________________________________
/ Where's the Coke machine? Tell me a \
\ joke!! /
-------------------------------------

[Nick Keighley]

On Jan 21, 6:37 pm, Paul J Gans <gan...@panix.com> wrote:
> jillery <69jpi...@gmail.com> wrote:

> >On Sat, 21 Jan 2012 09:45:14 -0500, Mitchell Coffey
> ><mitchelldotcof...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>On 1/20/2012 10:23 PM, wiki trix wrote:
> >>> On Jan 20, 10:44 am, Mitchell Coffey<mitchell.cof...@gmail.com>

> >>> wrote:
> >>>> Now that iaoua iaoua has galloped off to his long-delayed doom, and we
> >>>> have little left for entertainment, I was wondering if any of you
> >>>> foreign types have watched any of the Republican debates. Any
> >>>> comments? See what we're up against.
>

to an extent all politicians do this.The want to sound "nice" but not
get too pinned down on specifics. And when your constituancy is 200M
and rather diverse this magnifies the tendency

[Free Lunch]

On Sun, 22 Jan 2012 16:46:31 +0000 (UTC), Kleuskes & Moos
<kle...@somewhere.else.net> wrote in talk.origins:

But will Newt still be married to Callista in November?

[Nick Keighley]

On Jan 22, 3:04 am, Paul J Gans <gan...@panix.com> wrote:
> Walter Bushell <pr...@panix.com> wrote:

> >In article <jff0l6$3v...@reader1.panix.com>,

> > Paul J Gans <gan...@panix.com> wrote:

the french banks have a lot. Pehaps related to their recent credit
down grade. Everyone's scared Greece is the next domino

[deadrat]

Nick Keighley <nick_keigh...@hotmail.com> wrote:

> On Jan 20, 6:44 pm, Mitchell Coffey <mitchell.cof...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Now that iaoua iaoua has galloped off to his long-delayed doom, and we
>> have little left for entertainment, I was wondering if any of you
>> foreign types have watched any of the Republican debates. Any
>> comments? See what we're up against.
>
> Europeans all thing the American political system is insane. No doubt
> everyone's political system looks crazy from the outside; but your's
> seems to have special properties.
>
> - the Republican's are trying to choose between the canidate
> most likely to beat Obama and one with the correct political opionions

This doesn't sound particularly insane to me. Aren't most political
choices like this?

> - people care what Iowa thinks

I don't think people outside Iowa and the media care very much. I think
they care to the extent that baseball fans care about opening day.

> - having you ex-wife slag you off boosts your ratings (that
> actually makes sense)

I don't think that's a general rule. In this particular case, attacking
"the mainstream media" boosts your ratings. This led to the odd spectacle
of a "family values" crowd giving a standing ovation to a serial
adulterer, but it's just a matter of one irrational obsession winning out
over another. Is that insane? I don't know. Certainly common enough.

> Havn't been watching the debates,anything interesting?

Same old same old.

[deadrat]

If you're going to speak a foreign language, then nobody is going to understand
you. Except maybe some foreigners. And who cares about them? If you've got
something to say, speak American.

[Walter Bushell]

In article <jfheh7$tnv$2...@dont-email.me>,
Kleuskes & Moos <kle...@somewhere.else.net> wrote:

> http://tinyurl.com/7ebhtdp

What is she on?

[jillery]

On Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:27:01 -0500, Walter Bushell <pr...@panix.com>
wrote:

>In article <jfheh7$tnv$2...@dont-email.me>,
> Kleuskes & Moos <kle...@somewhere.else.net> wrote:
>
>> http://tinyurl.com/7ebhtdp
>
>What is she on?

Whatever it is, I want some!

[Mike Painter]

David Hare-Scott wrote:

> Kleuskes & Moos wrote:
>> On Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:20:58 +0100, Malygris wrote:
>>

>>> Kleuskes & Moos wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:44:26 -0800, Mitchell Coffey wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Now that iaoua iaoua has galloped off to his long-delayed doom,
>>>>> and we have little left for entertainment, I was wondering if any
>>>>> of you foreign types have watched any of the Republican debates.
>>>>> Any comments? See what we're up against.
>>>>
>>>> My heart goes out to anyone with a mind in the states, but thing
>>>> are not much better on this side of the Ocean. We've got Geert
>>>> Wilders, you got Newt Gingrich, both pandering to the fear and
>>>> loathing of their prospective voters.
>>>

>>> Yeah, every place has it's idiots. Considering what goes on here in
>>> Germany with our president, I fear while we don't have a circus like
>>> you guys in the US we are on our way there!
>>>

>>>> Nevertheless, i've got this little voice saying Obama is up for a
>>>> second terms since, at one time or another, all the GOP-candidates
>>>> have shown themselves to be clowns.
>>>

>>> I looks like that. On the other hand, I never thought Bush (W) would
>>> get a second term...
>>
>> I should have added I once thought a second-rate actor would never be
>> POTUS, but here we are and a former muscleman is ex-governator.
>>
>

> Arnie could give Ronny 20 points of IQ and still be smarter.

That's becasue you never saw "The Real Ronald Reagan, as Portrayed by Phil
Hartman" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skQuhoG7fFM

[Paul J Gans]

We wee, so we are in a relevant set of "we".

[Kleuskes & Moos]

On Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:27:01 -0500, Walter Bushell wrote:

> In article <jfheh7$tnv$2...@dont-email.me>,
> Kleuskes & Moos <kle...@somewhere.else.net> wrote:
>
>> http://tinyurl.com/7ebhtdp
>
> What is she on?

Must be some pretty good shit, no?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
_____________________________________
/ Is this an out-take from the "BRADY \
\ BUNCH"? /

[Paul J Gans]

Then howcome they let you live on that other newsgroup?

[Paul J Gans]

Not particularly. They boil down to "vote for me and I promise
you an afterlife of honey and song."

[Paul J Gans]

Of course. The problem is that the media goes along with it and
the voters believe the candidates. After the election the voters
then scream bloody murder.

[Paul J Gans]

The bulk of it is held by the top five US investment banks. You know,
the ones that are too big to fail.

In the end, both the EU and the US will pay for it all -- even while
they colluded in hiding the actual size of the Greek debt for years.

A Greek friend of mine, with numerous relatives back home, says that
the common opinion back home is to let the country go bankrupt. The
people have already lost their savings and their jobs. They wonder
why the banks should be bailed out?

Many, I am told, have gone back to family farms and are raising
chickens, hogs, and veggies and hope to make it through.

I will admit to some sympathy about bankrupting the bankers.

[Paul J Gans]

Of course. They were married openly, right?

[Paul J Gans]

Walter Bushell <pr...@panix.com> wrote:
>In article <jfheh7$tnv$2...@dont-email.me>,
> Kleuskes & Moos <kle...@somewhere.else.net> wrote:

>> http://tinyurl.com/7ebhtdp

>What is she on?

She never blinks. I believe it is called "Stepfordism".

[Vend]

On 21 Gen, 07:08, j...@wilkins.id.au (John S. Wilkins) wrote:

> jillery <69jpi...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:58:25 +0000 (UTC), Kleuskes & Moos
> > <kleu...@somewhere.else.net> wrote:
>
> > >On Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:20:58 +0100, Malygris wrote:
>

Professional bodybuilders are typically relatively unknown.
Schwarzenegger popularity (and probably, political success) comes from
his acting career.

[John S. Wilkins]

*That's* what you think is insane? How about having a public election
for political candidates in a party? How about a series of preselection
public elections, with no bar to party membership? How about electing
officials to elect the executive? How about having a state based
electoral administration, with no real oversight as to gerrymandering,
registration bars, or vote counting? How about having two extreme right
wing parties and no left? How about the trope that you can only reduce
taxes when the nation is broke and spending more on wars than it needs
to spend on education and health? How about... oh, I can't be bothered;
it's too insane. The GOP debates are only an expression of the
insanities (and inanities) of US politics.

I think the Rest of the World should invade the US, force it to undergo
regime change, and become democratic.
--
John S. Wilkins, Associate, Philosophy, University of Sydney
http://evolvingthoughts.net
But al be that he was a philosophre,
Yet hadde he but litel gold in cofre

[Frank J]

On Jan 22, 11:04 am, Nick Keighley <nick_keighley_nos...@hotmail.com>
wrote:

> On Jan 20, 6:44 pm, Mitchell Coffey <mitchell.cof...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Now that iaoua iaoua has galloped off to his long-delayed doom, and we
> > have little left for entertainment, I was wondering if any of you
> > foreign types have watched any of the Republican debates. Any
> > comments? See what we're up against.
>
> Europeans all thing the American political system is insane. No doubt
> everyone's political system looks crazy from the outside; but your's
> seems to have special properties.
>
>        - the Republican's are trying to choose between the canidate
> most likely to beat Obama and one with the correct political opionions
>
>       - people care what Iowa thinks

I think that the state of Iowa needs a city named Iowa. Like New York.
Then people can say they're from Iowa, Iowa.

(sorry)

[Free Lunch]

On Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:12:04 -0800 (PST), Vend <ven...@virgilio.it>
wrote in talk.origins:

Yes, he was the best actor of all body-builders.

Van Damme was the best actor of <mumble> martial arts.

Chuck Norris is the best Chuck Norris money can buy.

[John S. Wilkins]

Frank J <fc...@verizon.net> wrote:

> I think that the state of Iowa needs a city named Iowa. Like New York.
> Then people can say they're from Iowa, Iowa.

I want to live in Ohio, Ohio. Maybe I'll meet iaoua iaoua there.

[Free Lunch]

On Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:02:18 -0800 (PST), Frank J <fc...@verizon.net>
wrote in talk.origins:

They have one, but they always say Iowa City, Iowa instead of dropping
it like the people in New York City.

It's much more confusing in Pennsylvania where they have an Indiana and
a California.

[Mitchell Coffey]

That's why we spend as much on the military as the rest of the world
combined.

Mitchell

[Jeffrey Turner]

On 1/22/2012 11:46 AM, Kleuskes & Moos wrote:
>
> Oh... BTW. I found a good campaign image for Obama...
>
> http://tinyurl.com/7ebhtdp
>
> Warning: scary...

Shucks, it's gone.

--Jeff

[Jeffrey Turner]

>>> he will do it. Another says "I will remove restrictive regulations"

>>> without saying which ones those are and how he will do it.
>>>

>>> A third will create morality amongst the multitudes, again without

>>> saying how he'll do that.
>>>
>>> And so it goes. An insubstantial campaign aimed at people's fears
>>> more than their hopes.
>
>> to an extent all politicians do this.The want to sound "nice" but not

>> get too pinned down on specifics. And when your constituency is 200M

>> and rather diverse this magnifies the tendency
>
> Of course. The problem is that the media goes along with it and
> the voters believe the candidates. After the election the voters
> then scream bloody murder.

The alternative being to promise lots of change and then renege in favor
of the entrenched interests and your donors?

--Jeff

[jillery]

There's nothing more expensive than the second-best military, but
there is more than one way to economize.

[Paul J Gans]

troll <trol...@go.com> wrote:
>On Jan 20, 10:44 am, Mitchell Coffey <mitchell.cof...@gmail.com>

>wrote:
>> Now that iaoua iaoua has galloped off to his long-delayed doom, and we
>> have little left for entertainment, I was wondering if any of you
>> foreign types have watched any of the Republican debates. Any
>> comments? See what we're up against.
>>

>> Mitchell Coffey

>A government where less than one in half a
>million people make the laws is not a
>democracy.

>No single person can truly represent that
>many people, even if they are chosen by lot.

And your better solution is?...

Or are you in fact a troll?

[Paul J Gans]

No need. We will do ourselves in, possibly rather quickly.

As for your comments above, I think them a bit over the top (but
seriously, only a bit) and generally well taken.

The result is that I have to repeat one of my standard mantras. Most
folks, including a fair number of Americans, think of the US as a
nation. It isn't. It is what you'd get if the EU had a centralized
foreign policy and banking system with the rest left to the
individual states -- including elections.

We are a conglomeration of 50 independent states bound together
only by the US Constitution. States control their own elections,
their own criminal systems (there are things that are illegal in
one state and quite legal in another). Indeed, you have to go
to court to extradite a wanted person from one state to another.

And also don't forget that the original colonies were mostly
founded by religious extremists, each group seeking to escape
the mother country's religious restrictions.

As for economics, I'll sadly point out that Europe is following
many of the same ideas, to the detriment of all.

The US is a shining symbol to the EU on what to do and what not
to do to unify Europe, including Hungary.

[Paul J Gans]

John S. Wilkins <jo...@wilkins.id.au> wrote:

>Frank J <fc...@verizon.net> wrote:

>> I think that the state of Iowa needs a city named Iowa. Like New York.
>> Then people can say they're from Iowa, Iowa.

>I want to live in Ohio, Ohio. Maybe I'll meet iaoua iaoua there.

I've lived in Ohio, went to school and college there. Left as
soon as possible.

[Paul J Gans]

Presidents do not get to make laws, no matter what they say.

[Vend]

Chuck Norris is.

[A Nony Mouse]

In article <1kebj4a.38y6v415yagxN%jo...@wilkins.id.au>,

jo...@wilkins.id.au (John S. Wilkins) wrote:

> Frank J <fc...@verizon.net> wrote:
>
> > I think that the state of Iowa needs a city named Iowa. Like New York.
> > Then people can say they're from Iowa, Iowa.
>
> I want to live in Ohio, Ohio. Maybe I'll meet iaoua iaoua there.

I used to live in Iowa City, Iowa, home of the University of Iowa, which
is about as close as one might ever expect to get to a city named only
Iowa.

[John S. Wilkins]

Paul J Gans <gan...@panix.com> wrote:

Not *that* Ohio. The one in my head...

[John S. Wilkins]

Paul J Gans <gan...@panix.com> wrote:

Same in Australia, and yet we manage not to do silly things. Possibly
the smaller size is a benefit.

>
> And also don't forget that the original colonies were mostly
> founded by religious extremists, each group seeking to escape
> the mother country's religious restrictions.

I think this is overblown as a cause. Much more important is what
Bonheoffer identified back in the 20s: the "eternal frontier". Every
state is a "maverick" because you can always move to a frontier state if
you don't like it. I think this is why the general gradient of
conservatism and individualism is east to west.

>
> As for economics, I'll sadly point out that Europe is following
> many of the same ideas, to the detriment of all.

That's more about the success of the drywater economists at selling
themselves to the US: when an economy your size does something, everyone
else has to catch up. Watch PRC economics take off in the next decade.

>
> The US is a shining symbol to the EU on what to do and what not
> to do to unify Europe, including Hungary.


--

[Walter Bushell]

In article <jfhu11$bkd$7...@reader1.panix.com>,

The canon balls pass right through me.

--
It is the nature of the human species to reject what is true but unpleasant
and to embrace what is obviously false but comforting. -- H. L. Mencken