"The dramatic wish of Romanians... was to be occupied by Americans, not Russians"

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
You have to remember our current government is especially incompetent.

As for Wiki, I know what the stated purpose of NATO is. But the actual purpose was rather different.

Can I have one of those tinfoil hats?

[Vince278]

Originally posted by Serb
1) It’s Molotov, not Malenkov.

Serb is right (put that in your sig line ). Malenkov was the Soviet leader after Stalin's death.

Originally posted by Serb
The bigger the lie, the sooner they believe it.

Did you realize that is a quote from Hitler?

I believe the victims (and their babies) would say it isn't a lie.

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
You cannot have it both ways.

However, that is what you are trying to do. Bombing a city is not the same as the rape and murder of innocent individuals.

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
And you are completely wrong about the deliberate killing of civilians not being a war crime.

Actually you are. As I said before, look it up in the Geneva Conventions. Check your facts if you dare.
That aside, I agree that it is wrong to bomb cities just to inflict civilian deaths but that is just a personal opinion. That does not make it a war crime.

Originally posted by notyoueither
Not to mention that a democratic, reformed Russia will eventually be welcomed into NATO, most likely.

Definitely. Russia has been rejecting any such overtures so far.

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
I don't, NATO does. The purpose of NATO is to ensure American domination of the globe, always has been. I don't see how Russia could ever be reconciled to that.

I think we found Serb's DL.

[Ted Striker]

[Vince278]

I like your stand on world piece.

[Sir Og]

Originally posted by Vince278
However, that is what you are trying to do. Bombing a city is not the same as the rape and murder of innocent individuals.

It is exactly the same. People die.
This hollier than thou attitude from Americans really pisses me off.

Trolling Serb is one thing but I have the impression that some of the people here really think that the Russians are some raping and murdering savages while the enlightened westerners only kill people in enlightened and humane ways.

[Vince278]

Originally posted by Sir Og
It is exactly the same. People die.
This hollier than thou attitude from Americans really pisses me off.

Originally posted by Vince278
As I said before, look it up in the Geneva Conventions. Check your facts if you dare.

The GC is hardly an American document. Save your attitude for those who deserve it.

[Sir Og]

So killing x number of people in accordance with the GC is better than killing x number of people in violation of the GC.

America: Killing people in accordance with the international law. (most of the time)

[Vince278]

Originally posted by Sir Og
So killing x number of people in accordance with the GC is better than killing x number of people in violation of the GC.

Yes, just think of how bad things would get without something like the GC.

[Sir Og]

Most people would rather be raped than killed by a GC compliant bomb.

This whole argument is ridiculous however. Arguing which country abused it's power in a more humane way.

[Vince278]

Originally posted by Sir Og
Most people would rather be raped than killed by a GC compliant bomb.

I'm pretty sure you don't have the data to support that statement either.

Originally posted by Sir Og
This whole argument is ridiculous however.

I can agree to that. Lets stop while we can.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Colon™
I've argued before that international GDP comparisons are risky, including those based on PPP. For instance, PPP does not account for divergences in relative valuations between goods within a country. It assumes that if a car is worth ten times as much as a television in the US, this also is the case everywhere else.

PPP uses a basket of goods to avoid the effect you mentioned.

Originally posted by Colon™
Sure a commie country produced x amount of TV's, but what point is there in assigning a value to those if those did not face outside competition?

Since when did GDP start to base on international competition?

Originally posted by Colon™
The fact that entire industries collapsed once they got exposed to foreign competition should give a hint of how their produce was worth.

Not necessarily. There are many reasons why industries collapse. A depression can wipe out many by itself.

[Vince278]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
Since when did GDP start to base on international competition?

GDP doesn't include import/export numbers?

[Colon™]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
PPP uses a basket of goods to avoid the effect you mentioned.

The basket of goods is exactly how you get this effect. The utility people attach to certain goods differes from country to country, but the basket imposes a uniform valuation range from one single country. And since PPP is supposed to be a measure that reflects the welfare of the population more accuratly, that is a serious probelm.

Since when did GDP start to base on international competition?

The degree to which a country is open to trade with abroad effects the degree we can compare its produce with those of other countries. Suppose a country's economy is completely sealed to that of the wider world. It produces 10,000 hats a year. Hats that fall apart after months and that have an ugly design. People wouldn't be buying those hats if they had the option to buy abroad but they have no choice. According to PPP hats are hats, and it assigns the same value to the hats as to those of the country next door, which however produces stylish hats that last for decades. It's silly assume they're worth as much but they're simply no other option when compiling the data.

Moreover there's a whole range of produce that's inherently incomparable because it's impossible to expose it to direct foreign competition, which is the case with many services and utilities.

[Saras]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
Since when did GDP start to base on international competition?

How is calling somebody a gorilla the same as equating him with a primate? According to which authoritative source?

[Saras]

Sometimes I like it that you can't put admins on ignore, UR is, from time to time, way too much fun