http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=56257

haha they take after their president.

lol yeah, you guys keep thinking America is REALLY that dumb, and we'll keep running things.

By the way what does this have to do with mixed martial arts?

lol yeah, you guys keep thinking America is REALLY that dumb, and we'll keep running things.

By the way what does this have to do with mixed martial arts?

It has nothing to do with it, but I found it amusing!

Ok with you partner!?:cop:

It has nothing to do with it, but I found it amusing!

Ok with you partner!?:cop:


Oh I forgot to quote him, I was talking to 2swell in my last post (and the people I have seen with similar opinions).

yes, keep running things with money, power, media and no brains....

baaaad combination. I smell NWO on you:o

I've seen that shit. Yeah those are some dumb****s, but I don't really like what they did there. It kinda sends a shitty message and you can do anything with a video camera.. And who the **** knows who the PM of Australia is?

Anyways, I bet I could get a camera and go to Australia and get some pretty retarded comments from people as well. Though Americans are a pretty ****ing ignorant when it comes to world knowledge.. too ignorant.

WAR CANADA.







We Love Bacon!!

yes, keep running things with money, power, media and no brains....

baaaad combination. I smell NWO on you:o



NEWSFLASH!

It is impossible to run things without brains.

That was the point of the post.

Where do you think money and power come from, they don't fall from the sky?
And don't give me any colonializing argument either. If colonialization is the key, then the countries that did it the most ought to be the most powerful.
Great britain France and Spain all have a far far worst history of colonialization and yet the U.S. is still the leader of the free world.

Stop whining and bow down kid.:unitedsta

NEWSFLASH!

It is impossible to run things without brains.

That was the point of the post.

Where do you think money and power come from, they don't fall from the sky?
And don't give me any colonializing argument either. If colonialization is the key, then the countries that did it the most ought to be the most powerful.
Great britain France and Spain all have a far far worst history of colonialization and yet the U.S. is still the leader of the free world.

Stop whining and bow down kid.:unitedsta

what?? Can you explain that to me in mental terms...Im feeling a little american today.







WAR BACON!!





I bow to noone:canada:

I've seen that shit. Yeah those are some dumb****s, but I don't really like what they did there. It kinda sends a shitty message and you can do anything with a video camera.. And who the **** knows who the PM of Australia is?

Anyways, I bet I could get a camera and go to Australia and get some pretty retarded comments from people as well. Though Americans are a pretty ****ing ignorant when it comes to world knowledge.. too ignorant.

I agree. I'm curious how many people they had to interview to find the idiots. The worst part is they decided to paint every American as an idiot based on the few morons they found, while the people who answered the questions correctly ended up on the cutting room floor. I will say the last bit they did in Texas is unfortunately accurate on how most Texans blindly follow Gdub. I deal with those idiots all the time.

what?? Can you explain that to me in mental terms...Im feeling a little american today.







WAR BACON!!





I bow to noone:canada:




Wait a minute YOUR A CANADIAN!

AHAHAHAHA!!!! awww man.

I thought I was talking to an Brit or an Aussie.
Never mind my point, I didn't mean to come in with big words like "colonialization" on you.

It has nothing to do with it, but I found it amusing!

Ok with you partner!?:cop:

I'd like to grab your tongue with my thumb and index finger.......and take a blade to it......Now that would be amusing.:D

Wait a minute YOUR A CANADIAN!

AHAHAHAHA!!!! awww man.

I thought I was talking to an Brit or an Aussie.
Never mind my point, I didn't mean to come in with big words like "colonialization" on you.

My guess is that your too blind or stupid(american) to see BC on my location bitch.:op:

I'd like to grab your tongue with my thumb and index finger.......and take a blade to it......Now that would be amusing.:D

I would love to see try

He dont want none palma, you'd rip the ****a in half.







lol

Nice editing. All the ones that had the right answers were cut out of the footage.

I would love to see try

I bet you would........For the record I added this :D because I was playing around.But you take the net pretty seriously to PM me and ask for my address so you can come see me try......I checked your profile and it says you are 36.......I would think you would be a little more mature than that but guess not......anyway I was ****ing around but take it how you want to.Have a nice life....look me up if you are that worried about it...I have met many members in real life I don't hide and am not some mythical character that comes around and talks shit to people on the internet.

Raesaad has too many friends to be messing around with. That's why I only offer oily massages (with my chest) if he gets on my nerves. Then he leaves alone.

Watch.

RAESAAD! WANT SOME OF DIS? *squirts oil on chest*

I bet you would........For the record I added this :D because I was playing around.But you take the net pretty seriously to PM me and ask for my address so you can come see me try......I checked your profile and it says you are 36.......I would think you would be a little more mature than that but guess not......anyway I was ****ing around but take it how you want to.Have a nice life....look me up if you are that worried about it...I have met many members in real life I don't hide and am not some mythical character that comes around and talks shit to people on the internet.

36! where the **** do you get this info from!? You must be one of the stupid people that take everything they read as facts. I am right here partner and am not going away. You just better ****ing think first before you write such threats as cutting peoples tongues out.

Raesaad has too many friends to be messing around with. That's why I only offer oily massages (with my chest) if he gets on my nerves. Then he leaves alone.

Watch.

RAESAAD! WANT SOME OF DIS? *squirts oil on chest*
:lol1: :lol1:



36! where the **** do you get this info from!? You must be one of the stupid people that take everything they read as facts. I am right here partner and am not going away. You just better ****ing think first before you write such threats as cutting peoples tongues out.

I don't believe everything I read.....but thats what it says in you profile thingy.Am I supposed to sit and think hmmmm did this asshole put his real age or not?:rolleyes:

Look you took a joke too seriously....because afterall to you it seems the internet is serious ****ng business......And I don't have to think about it because I can say what the **** I want when I want and there is shit you can do about it.

36! where the **** do you get this info from!? You must be one of the stupid people that take everything they read as facts. I am right here partner and am not going away. You just better ****ing think first before you write such threats as cutting peoples tongues out.


....Might have known all the internet tough guys would be in the MMA section. They all think their ****ing Royce Gracie. I think you need to ease up on the roids there skippy before you end up killing your cat because you think it was eyeballing you.

I've seen that shit. Yeah those are some dumb****s, but I don't really like what they did there. It kinda sends a shitty message and you can do anything with a video camera.. And who the **** knows who the PM of Australia is?

Anyways, I bet I could get a camera and go to Australia and get some pretty retarded comments from people as well. Though Americans are a pretty ****ing ignorant when it comes to world knowledge.. too ignorant.
Bro it's like this. When you have the best of everything why would you really need to bother yourself with anything else? Most Americans know little about the rest of the world because they have everything they need here in America. Here is an analogy for you. I am a lawyer I make 150k a year. There is this guy that works at McDonalds makes 10k a year. Do I really want to know anything about this loser. He probably bitches and complains about everything because he doesn't have all the things I have. Kinda like this guy 2swell.

oooooooooooooo haha ouchhhh bro ....u killed 2swell with that last line hahahahah niceeeeeeeeee

Bro it's like this. When you have the best of everything why would you really need to bother yourself with anything else? Most Americans know little about the rest of the world because they have everything they need here in America. Here is an analogy for you. I am a lawyer I make 150k a year. There is this guy that works at McDonalds makes 10k a year. Do I really want to know anything about this loser. He probably bitches and complains about everything because he doesn't have all the things I have. Kinda like this guy 2swell.

Dont go there bud, you dun get raped:smileysex :nono:
so back off noob.

oooooooooooooo haha ouchhhh bro ....u killed 2swell with that last line hahahahah niceeeeeeeeee

living the glory off someone else's post.
Typical lilbitch.

suk a dik u ....fukin whore...

Bro it's like this. When you have the best of everything why would you really need to bother yourself with anything else? Most Americans know little about the rest of the world because they have everything they need here in America. Here is an analogy for you. I am a lawyer I make 150k a year. There is this guy that works at McDonalds makes 10k a year. Do I really want to know anything about this loser. He probably bitches and complains about everything because he doesn't have all the things I have. Kinda like this guy 2swell.
Im american and I love this country but it's posts like this that tells what our society is all about now a days. It's about the money and material things. When I say this Im not saying all Americans, but quite a few judge people based on how much money they make and what nice things they have. Not by the character of the person. We've become a country where money talks and the people with the most of it have the biggest influence even though they may not have the best interest of the people in mind. Im not trying to bash America, but I love this country and Im kind of scared in what direction we are going. The Romans had a great democracy as well, but money, greed, and power led to it's downfall. I hope the same fate doesn't lie for us.

Bro it's like this. When you have the best of everything why would you really need to bother yourself with anything else? Most Americans know little about the rest of the world because they have everything they need here in America. Here is an analogy for you. I am a lawyer I make 150k a year. There is this guy that works at McDonalds makes 10k a year. Do I really want to know anything about this loser. He probably bitches and complains about everything because he doesn't have all the things I have. Kinda like this guy 2swell.

Well yeah that is partly why people are so ignorant.. its also because, among other things, the US is an isolated country, the pre-college education system sucks, and we're spoon fed propoganda all our lives about how the US is the greatest country, and **** everyone else. And your analogy is shit, just because the US is currently the largest power does not mean that Americans don't need to understand other countries, or that the US is impervious to the actions of other nations. Again, while I understand the cause of the ignorance, I also believe that such ignorance is the cause of a number of shitty things which happen in the world.

Im american and I love this country but it's posts like this that tells what our society is all about now a days. It's about the money and material things. When I say this Im not saying all Americans, but quite a few judge people based on how much money they make and what nice things they have. Not by the character of the person. We've become a country where money talks and the people with the most of it have the biggest influence even though they may not have the best interest of the people in mind. Im not trying to bash America, but I love this country and Im kind of scared in what direction we are going. The Romans had a great democracy as well, but money, greed, and power led to it's downfall. I hope the same fate doesn't lie for us.

The way I see it, is the US is destined to cede its place as the predominant power in the world.. every empire falls (and the US is an empire, whether by design of default. Make no mistake.). It is well accepted that the American empire will almost certainly eventually fall, meaning that the US will no longer constitute the predominant world power. In my view, the present policies of the US are merely accelerating the decline.

Here's an analogy: Say you have a candle, and a limmited amount of caracine to keep the flame burning. I believe that what we are currently doing is burning up all our caracine.

....Might have known all the internet tough guys would be in the MMA section. They all think their ****ing Royce Gracie. I think you need to ease up on the roids there skippy before you end up killing your cat because you think it was eyeballing you.

:lame:

You be the boyfriend coming to defend his bitch!

....Might have known all the internet tough guys would be in the MMA section. They all think their ****ing Royce Gracie. I think you need to ease up on the roids there skippy before you end up killing your cat because you think it was eyeballing you.

I dont agree with anything you said but the last line with the cat was funny.







































ps: boxing sucks.

Here's an analogy: Say you have a candle, and a limmited amount of caracine to keep the flame burning. I believe that what we are currently doing is burning up all our caracine.

Nice analogy. I think the same as well, lets hope a new president will at least slow down the burning of that caracine.

The way I see it, is the US is destined to cede its place as the predominant power in the world.. every empire falls (and the US is an empire, whether by design of default. Make no mistake.).


Prove this, don't just make claims.

Also I keep hearing people make claims about how little Americans know about other cultures. Does this imply that those other cultures know alot about us? You see the problem here is that people like to switch the meaning of the word "culture" around in these kinds of discussions. When they talk about other "cultures" they are talking about religion and political history and things like that. When they talk about American culture they mean something entirely different. They are talking about commerce McDonalds and Coca Cola and Michael Jackson and Britney Spears and things like that. They are not talking about The Puritans and the Quakers and Patrick Henry and the Articles of Confederation, that kind of stuff. In other words, they want to judge Americans by the kinds of things you have to dig out of books but other countries by stuff that comes at you through television or just happens to be in your own neighborhood in the country you live in (like mcDonalds and Coco Cola). How much effort does it take to learn that.
Oh and I wish the American's here would spare us this holier than thou crap, with these melodramatic international apologies for a country that they probably have no idea how lucky they are to have been born in.

Prove this, don't just make claims.


What I said is a very very common perspective among academics and literature. What the **** do I care if you believe it.

What I said is a very very common perspective among academics and literature. What the **** do I care if you believe it.

Truths are not established on the basis of the authority of individuals (an argument on the basis of authority is listed in every basic text book on logic as a logical fallacy).
Truth is established on the basis of valid rational arguments. Anyone who makes this claim must demonstrate how the conduct of the United States conforms to the historical definition of of "empire". If they do not provide arguments they are simply spreading propaganda. It is not about them or me, it is about what can be backed up with valid arguments. A person has to completely turn the definition of an empire on it's head to make this kind of claim.

Truths are not established on the basis of the authority of individuals (an argument on the basis of authority is listed in every basic text book on logic as a logical fallacy).
Truth is established on the basis of valid rational arguments. Anyone who makes this claim must demonstrate how the conduct of the United States conforms to the historical definition of of "empire". If they do not provide arguments they are simply spreading propaganda. It is not about them or me, it is about what can be backed up with valid arguments. A person has to completely turn the definition of an empire on it's head to make this kind of claim.

My point was that people who spend their professional lives studying this shit have more authority than you (or me). However, I have read much about this, and have studied it much as well (my bachelor's is in International Studies and Economics). It is my contention that those who claim that the US is not an empire are completely fooling themselves.

There are entire books written about how the US is an empire, so how the **** you expect me to explain it in one post is beyond me. However, one prominent sign is the American military bases which surround the globe. You don't see German, Japanese, British, Italian, or Korean troops stationed in the US, yet the US has troops strategically placed the world over.

It is not a formal empire, but an empire non the less. The definition of an imperial power is a state which exerts political, economic, and/or cultural control over other countries. The US clearly regularly comits each of these acts. A few random examples of this include the recent US backed coup of the democratically elected leader of Haiti, the "security agreement" with Japan, through which Japan is compelled to enable US troops to be stationed on their territory, the US ****ing around in Venezuella on the basis of oil interests, the "drug war" in Columbia, etc. etc. etc.

Again, I could honestly care less if you accept that the US is an empire, it doesn't change the reality that it indeed is. Hell, the term "Super Power" is essentially a euphimism for empire. If you'd like to know more, than look it up yourself. I have better things to do than to argue over the definition of empire, and the characteristics of the present American empire.

Most of the world will not trust German, Japanese and Korean bases. They'd rather have American bases there. Japan and S Korea benefits coz China would steamroll over them like a speed bump.

[QUOTE=baserocks;2783347]My point was that people who spend their professional lives studying this shit have more authority than you (or me). [QUOTE]


And my point is that truth's are not established by authority but by valid arguments.
We are not talking about some principle within the hard sciences (Physics, Chemistry Biology etc), there is very little basis for contending that specific credentials makes you more of an authority on a matter like this. What is required is a good knowledge of history and current events and a dictionary (In order to determine the meaning of the term "empire"). That is not to say that there are not complex matters (that would be suited to a specialist) to be discussed in politics, but this is not one of them. This is a matter of ideology clouding common sense political analysis.

The "Control" in your definition of "empire" is an appropriate description if by this you mean "political sovereignty", if anything else is intended it is incorrect. Now over how many other non-American territories does America have political sovereignty? Is this a situation where the definition of a word is being tailored to an individual political reality so that reality can be made to fit the definition of that word? In what instance prior to the description of the modern day U.S. was this word employed in the manner in which you now wish to emply it? If none, then this is exactly the case. It is also astounding that you would use some of the most infamous empires in history (Great Britain, Germany) to make your point denouncing the U.S.
The reason you would have (as you have stated) all of that difficulty trying to make your case on a mere internet thread is because the arguments for this idea are so unorthodox and convoluted that they require pages and pages. I assure you that I can make the case for a Roman Empire or a British empire on such a limited media. One cannot prove that a given instance conform's to a definition by altering the definition untill it conforms with the instance.
The whole problem with the modern University is that teachers spend all their time assuring the students inbibe what they teach them rather than spending their time teaching them how to think. It is no wonder that when those ideas are challenged the students would have no recourse but to invoke authority.

And my point is that truth's are not established by authority but by valid arguments.
We are not talking about some principle within the hard sciences (Physics, Chemistry Biology etc), there is very little basis for contending that specific credentials makes you more of an authority on a matter like this. What is required is a good knowledge of history and current events and a dictionary (In order to determine the meaning of the term "empire"). That is not to say that there are not complex matters (that would be suited to a specialist) to be discussed in politics, but this is not one of them. This is a matter of ideology clouding common sense political analysis.

The "Control" in your definition of "empire" is an appropriate description if by this you mean "political sovereignty", if anything else is intended it is incorrect. Now over how many other non-American territories does America have political sovereignty? Is this a situation where the definition of a word is being tailored to an individual political reality so that reality can be made to fit the definition of that word? In what instance prior to the description of the modern day U.S. was this word employed in the manner in which you now wish to emply it? If none, then this is exactly the case. It is also astounding that you would use some of the most infamous empires in history (Great Britain, Germany) to make your point denouncing the U.S.
The reason you would have (as you have stated) all of that difficulty trying to make your case on a mere internet thread is because the arguments for this idea are so unorthodox and convoluted that they require pages and pages. I assure you that I can make the case for a Roman Empire or a British empire on such a limited media. One cannot prove that a given instance conform's to a definition by altering the definition untill it conforms with the instance.
The whole problem with the modern University is that teachers spend all their time assuring the students inbibe what they teach them rather than spending their time teaching them how to think. It is no wonder that when those ideas are challenged the students would have no recourse but to invoke authority.



Dude, all I said was that it was a well accepted perspective, so get out of here with that "students have no recourse but to invoke authority." Don't ****ing judge me based on what you percieve to be a shortfall in the American University system.

If you read my post, I stated that "the US is an informal empire, but an Empire nonetheless." This is a perspective which is counter to your contention that an Empire must exert direct soverignty over teritories in order to be an empire. The Brittish exerted direct soverignty over a small number of the provinces they controlled.. in most cases they maintained Suzereignty, meaning they had a controlling hand in the governments of forgeign teritories. This is why much of the British Empire is referred to as "informal empire."

I'm not likening the US to the British empire, as it is surely different, just as the British empire had charactaristics which were different from prior, more formal empires. What I was referring to in the case of the US is that the US interferes in other countries through such things as military interventions and economic policies which infringe on the soveriegnty of supposedly soveriegn states for self serving ends. The US generally has the leverage, politically, militarily, and economically, and thus remains unchallenged. If and when the US loses this leverage over other states, it will constitute a fall, of sorts, of the American empire. If things go right, and I've been hopeful that they would, this would represent a bloodless coup of sorts, with little changes taking place except that Americans would no longer be able to see their country as the predominant force in world affairs, and the US would no longer have a legitimate claim to global hegemony. Yet, do keep in mind that those who've experienced the sharp edge of American diplomacy do not easily forget, and there is ample resentment brewing beneath the surface to be cause for concern.

As for the German and British empire references in your post, you misinterpretted my point entirely. I was not in any way comparing the US empire to those. I was stating that THEY DO NOT HAVE TROOPS IN THE US. The US has troops stationed in these "powerful" countries, as well as in many others.. yet the thought of foreign troops being stationed in the US would be ludacris to nearly all Americans. The proliferation of US bases the world over is merely one characteristic.

It really doesn't matter if this defenition fits neatly into a historical defenition of empire. The point is that the US exerts a very real element of control over very much of the world, and this is something that very well can (and, sooner or later, almost surely will) subside.

look what u started palma:o

It's not like the the US IMPOSED their bases all over the place by force. Some of them were needed by those countries like back in the Cold War days.

Dude, all I said was that it was a well accepted perspective, so get out of here with that "students have no recourse but to invoke authority." Don't ****ing judge me based on what you percieve to be a shortfall in the American University system.

If you read my post, I stated that "the US is an informal empire, but an Empire nonetheless." This is a perspective which is counter to your contention that an Empire must exert direct soverignty over teritories in order to be an empire. The Brittish exerted direct soverignty over a small number of the provinces they controlled.. in most cases they maintained Suzereignty, meaning they had a controlling hand in the governments of forgeign teritories. This is why much of the British Empire is referred to as "informal empire."

I'm not likening the US to the British empire, as it is surely different, just as the British empire had charactaristics which were different from prior, more formal empires. What I was referring to in the case of the US is that the US interferes in other countries through such things as military interventions and economic policies which infringe on the soveriegnty of supposedly soveriegn states for self serving ends. The US generally has the leverage, politically, militarily, and economically, and thus remains unchallenged. If and when the US loses this leverage over other states, it will constitute a fall, of sorts, of the American empire. If things go right, and I've been hopeful that they would, this would represent a bloodless coup of sorts, with little changes taking place except that Americans would no longer be able to see their country as the predominant force in world affairs, and the US would no longer have a legitimate claim to global hegemony. Yet, do keep in mind that those who've experienced the sharp edge of American diplomacy do not easily forget, and there is ample resentment brewing beneath the surface to be cause for concern.

As for the German and British empire references in your post, you misinterpretted my point entirely. I was not in any way comparing the US empire to those. I was stating that THEY DO NOT HAVE TROOPS IN THE US. The US has troops stationed in these "powerful" countries, as well as in many others.. yet the thought of foreign troops being stationed in the US would be ludacris to nearly all Americans. The proliferation of US bases the world over is merely one characteristic.

It really doesn't matter if this defenition fits neatly into a historical defenition of empire. The point is that the US exerts a very real element of control over very much of the world, and this is something that very well can (and, sooner or later, almost surely will) subside.

Well I don't know if for example the transition from Roman to British empire represents too much of an change. Even in Roman times territories were granted a degree of autonomy, infact perhaps even more so than under some British colonies. I believe that if you wish to make the argument that American acts have been unwise or inappropriate that is perfectly fine but the word "Empire" hardly seems fiting. Countries act and influence one another all of the time. The world would be replete with empires if that was the qualification.
Also, It is the most hilarious thing in the world that given the nation of France's history in the Ivory Coast of Africa up untill this day, it seeks to be the poster child for an anti-empire campaign against the United States.