Jump to content

rohirwine

WFG Retired
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    2.853

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by rohirwine

  2. Would you ever be interested in observing a...

    in Introductions & Off-Topic Discussion

    Posted

    Well, i attended some biology laboratories some years ago (i was attending a biology universitary course), and it was not so much disgusting, i immagine that knowing a bit of anathomy and a big deal of phisiology and isthology helped me a lot into focusing over the "biological" side of the issue and not getting overridden by disgust.

    I immagine that today (i switched to an history course after three years) a surgery operation would let me indifferent (no interest, no disgust...).

    :P

    Rating History

    in Hall of Intellectuals

    Posted

    Over-rated:

    - Anything military. I really don't care what kind of rifles the soldiers used at the battle of Hastings!

    Obviously they should've spent a lot more time on this, because perhaps then you would've realised that the battle of Hastings was fought 700 years before rifles were even invented!

    I suspect here was a bit of irony in his post... :P

    Anyway: no history is overrated: studying of some periods is much or less practiced regarding the historical needs of the moment. From time to time, some periods are retaken in account and analyzed with new instruments and appying new theories, then it is dropped for a while in favour of other historical phenomena, to be retaken under the lenses after a while... ...that's usually like historical study works...

    ;)

    "Like Father like son, one term and you're done!"

    in Hall of Intellectuals

    Posted

    I never read (or heard) anything from Savage, but if what AK told us is true, then he's quite crazy.

    Erik, AK, have you ever read one of Moore's books? Since he has the good habit to give some references to his statements i'd urge to read them, before saying it's all rethoric. I can understand it can be a bit annoying, since it uses a scratching style, and sometimes it goes a bit over the lines, but anyway: i cared to check all of his references from "Stupid white men" and i never found he had lied (regarding what i was able to check)...

    Should the U.N. intervene in Palestine?

    in Hall of Intellectuals

    Posted

    @Guardian: punishment of deviant and unacceptable acts from Israel is not the right answer. It is not a matter of just or injust, it's a matter of avoiding worse consequences.

    It is quite clear to me that both sides have lost their head completely. Things slipped out of their hands much time ago. What they need is a U.N. force to control the checkpoints and to prevent contact between the two sides. The problem is that no U.N. intervention force can be sent without Israel asking for it.

    Sharon and not Israelians in general, is pulling the rope because he feels that this is the right moment, that America has no will to block him. Actually i fear that his analysis is right.

    We have already debated possible solutions wich should give the area a relief, this involves retirements of colonists, stopping of terorist attacks and killing of both side civilians, and last the retirement of IDF from the occupied territories (to be given to a U.N. force, imho). Only after this a real peace process can start with some hope to be effectual. Without these conditions, all other plans are only chattering made to fool public opinions around the world and to build up some basis for some internal propaganda (the "You can see that we wanted peace, but it was them that did not want it..." rubbish wich can be heard in almost every conflict).

    Responsibilities: we alle have our piece of the cake. Israelians, Palestinians, Arabs, Europeans, Americans (all in the sense of governments of course, but also the world crowds wich make themselves gullied by their political leaders have some responsibility).

    Everyone has his share of it (of different quality, of course).

    Economic sanctions: not a choice. They would hit both israelis (wich include a substantial minority of arabs) and palestinians alike (since they vastly depend from jobs in Israel). Moreover, "punishing" a populace for the fault of their leaders it's not fair, it was not fair with iraqis, it is not fair with cubans, serbs and so on. Usualy these measures have the only effect to strengthen internal cohesion, light up nationalism, accuse the "enemy" to be the cause of them (and revamping hate, struggle, oppression, killings, terrorism acts and so on).

    The only embargo wich could work is that over military equipment and replacement parts. But i don't think the armament companies would stay idle while their affairs are spoiled...

    Israelian government needs to be strongly counselled to cease such retaliations (sp?), palestinian leaders should be forced to cut once for all their relations with extremists and persuaded to put international aids in the social infrastructures that are so needed in the occupied territories (also because Hamas and other extremist and terrorist groups exploit the lack of schools and hospitals to build their own and make proselities by them...).

    Matteo

    Trends in world's politics.

    in Hall of Intellectuals

    Posted

    I heard that in Germany there is a mechanism that grants great stability to the government. It is called something like "constructive vote of no-confidence". Iirc, it implies that if a confidence vote is requested, the opposition can present his own issue on the matter. If the government is beaten, then the opposition plan passes, without the government being obliged to resign. Is this true? Can someone from our german friends enlighten us a bit more on this?

    :)

    What movies do you like?

    in Arts and Entertainment

    Posted

    I usually like sci-fi movies, historical ones (i.e. Stalingrad, Saving Private Ryan, Capitain Conan, Enemy at the gates, The duelists, Tierra e libertad...).

    Then there are some action movies, but i like also more "denounciation" movies, like Silkwood, or (even if is too much "holliwodesque, inho) "John Q".

    Lately a passion for short-movies has got me, prolly because last summer i went to a short-movies festival and it was filled with really good stuff.

    :)

    Trends in world's politics.

    in Hall of Intellectuals

    Posted

    Well, regarding "carreer" politicians, imho, it's a matter of "national" tradition. Here in Italy we had a strong politicians elite till 1992 (roughly) wich was corrupted as much as you want, but still cared a bit for the nation healthiness and battled over principles. Then there was a "revolution" after many of them were involved in corruption scandals. The trend, since then, has been of electing businessman on the lieu that since they runn good enterprises, they cannot avoid to run smoothly the country. The problem is that they run the country for their personal interests (profits, tax cut to their enterprises and so on): Mr. Berlusconi is one of them (but there are "left" examples too, of course).

    Trends in world's politics.

    in Hall of Intellectuals

    Posted

    @Curu: actually, by italian laws, Mr Berlusconi could not be candidated. The problem is that the law was not much clear on that, and the whole thing was left apart, thinking that he would nonetheless loose, and that the whole thing seemed too much a "conjure" against him in the eyes of public opinion (the latter being sadly true). So everything was kept quiet till the disastrous ending. The worst thing is that italians believed him when he said that he was persecuted by the "red togas" (i.e. "red" judges), that there was a conjure of communitsts to overcome the democracy in Italy and so on. Well, believe it or not, Italians gave credit to that crap (can i use crap, here? :)), now i say: who was the most gullible people around, Guardian? :)

    ...

×
×
  • Create New...