Wild is not intellectually weak. He has a better knowledge of international affairs than you do or than the vast majority of americans do. So yes I am proud to consider Wild a friend
Hi Traderfut2000, Nice to have you back my friend... as usual you make some excellent, intellectually sound points in your posts, which I agree with... Candle
Thanks my friend and god bless mainstream america and humanity Peace TF By the way I am leaving now.. talk to you tomorrow..
It is an intellectual weakness to have a bias when examining the data. Wild has bias, you follow in his footsteps. Those who see the situation as black and white only, and are as rigid as those they criticize, like Bush, who is also a black and white thinker. Why do people gravitate to black and white thinking? Maslow did not categorize levels according to black and white thinkers versus those who can see the gray areas--as such, but I suspect if he would have, he would have placed all or nothing, black and white thinkers fairly low on the human evolutionary scale. http://members.aol.com/menick/maslow.html Here is a nice copy and paste to explain the sone of the psychological reasons behind black and white thinking: by Mark Sichel, LCSW and Alicia L. Cervini "Always" and "never," polar opposite words, tend to characterize the vocabulary of black and white thinkers. Black and white thinking means seeing the world only in terms of extremes. If things aren't "perfect," then they must be "horrible." If your child isn't "brilliant" then he must be "stupid." If you're not "fascinating" then you must be "boring." Yikes! What a tough way to live! In real-life, situations are almost always shades of gray, not black or white. Falling victim to black and white thinking tends to exacerbate depression, marital conflict, anxiety, and a host of other everyday problems. Give yourself and the ones you love a break and discover the beauty of shades of gray. When small children are learning to use words and organize their thoughts, it is normal and expected for them to see and express their world in very black and white terms. When a young child feels they are not loved, they feel they must be hated. When a child feels his or her parents don't pay enough attention to them, that child will say, "You never pay attention to me." Developmental psychologists call this primitive thinking. Unfortunately, under duress, adults often regress to primitive thinking. Adults are most prone to regressing to primitive thinking when they are having a hard time and feel overwhelmed by their own emotions. A regression, in psychoanalytic parlance, is a backsliding from mature functioning and thinking to immature ways of functioning and thinking. For that one moment, when the adult starts relying on the words "always" or "never," and seeing the world in black and white terms, they are slipping back to the way they saw the world as a child. Here are some examples of people who fell prey to black and white thinking. Listen to the language that they use to express themselves: Charlotte*, a married woman in her forties with a young child, was suffering from what is called dysthymia, or mild depression. She came into my office telling me that she never felt happy any more, that she always felt disappointed with her husband, and that she feared she would never feel good again as long as she lived. She said that she had nothing to look forward to anymore. She reported that she had always been a person who was not easily satisfied and that she only prayed that her daughter would not be like her. As Charlotte realized that her extreme language was making her situation seem worse instead of better, she learned to correct her black and white thinking. Charlotte was able to get a better handle on the events that triggered her chronic reactions of depression. Joseph, an aspiring actor who supported himself as a carpenter, also had a problem with black and white thinking whenever he felt anxious. Despite favorable reviews in several plays and some success being cast in commercials, Joseph reported feeling overwhelming anxiety whenever he had to audition for a role. He always prepared thoroughly for his auditions, and he always became uncontrollably anxious starting a week before the audition. He was never able to do a good job in the audition, he told me, and he felt he would never overcome his anxiety. He felt sure he would always have to support himself as a carpenter. When Joseph realized that black and white thinking can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, he made an effort to see his situation for what it was: a mix of the good and the not-so-good. With his newfound appreciation for shades of gray, Joseph was much happier, less anxious and more successful in his career. When you learn to recognize the spectrum of gray in the difficult experiences you encounter in your life, you will be better equipped to come out on top. Regression is not a foregone conclusion when you feel stressed, angry, overwhelmed, confused, or just plain fed up with another person. You CAN start to recognize when you are giving-in to black and white thinking, and then make the choice to banish those extreme thoughts in favor of healthy living.
Answer the following: How does the United States Benefit form U.S. Bases in Saudi? Other than increasing our defense expendatures, and offering protection, the U.S. benefits ZERO. The United States controls NOTHING in Saudi and only benefits, MAYBE from stablizing a region from attack by IRAQ and IRAN. You and Wild, need to focus on exactly what you are saying first, mostly your arguments are ill informed and incoherant, just like most the socialist pap links you post. Central Europe is concerned with one underlying FEAR, and its going to be exposed here shortly. That major nations, like FRANCE and GERMANY have helped the worst DESPOT in years develop Nuclear Weapons. Germany and France have a major FINANCIAL interest in keeping SADDAM in power, (Oil Development Contracts). So it is Central Europe that lusts for CONTROL of OIL and influence in that region, not the United States. Take a hard look in the MIRROR.
Doesn't matter whether that limp rag Wild is intellectually weak or not. You won't see him around here anymore. Back to the post by Candle. I find Candle's supposition that American Jews drive US foreign policy toward Israel very problematic. Even worse that it is done against America's true interests. The upper echelon of the American politico-economic power structure is populated overwhelming by Christians. And these Christian Americans are principally of European extraction, mainly English, Dutch, German, and Irish, and to a lesser extent, Italian and Scandinavian. If Candle's theory that religious kinship underlay decision making in Washington is correct, then we would expect to see enormous Foreign Aid to various Christian countries. But we don't. In fact, American Christians have warred with Christian countries on two occasions this past century. So if American Jews are not principally responsible for America's relationship with Israel, and the power elite's choices are not driven by religious kinship, the basis for America's support of Israel must: 1) not be religious in nature, and 2) created by Christian Americans with secular concerns. These concerns, I belive are geopolitics, realpolitiks, and originally, humanitarian, as the relationship was forged on the heels of the European Holocaust. In other words, if you disagree with America's Middle East foreign policy, you have to address America squarely, wholly and equally. To declare, as the Russians did 100 years ago and later the Nazis, that a handful of powerful Jews are global masterminds and the cause of the misery of the moment is purely racist propaganda. And Agin hit the nail on the head. The Germans and the French wish to protect the investment they have made in Iraq and will do so at the expense offuture generations.
Hi dgabriel, "Drive US foreign policy" is a strong term... my point is simply based on the power of the Jewish lobby in America, which is directly related to the well-deserved success of the Jewish community in business and in the professions... in any case my comments on the Jewish lobby relate to but one component that can influence US foreign pollicy... Any group that succeeds economically will have significant lobbying ability... this is my point... As for my comments being construed as racist propaganda, I find such a notion extremely offensive... it is possible to love Jewish culture and respect the teachings of the Torah and Talmud or, indeed, even be a Jew, and still be critical of, say, the Jewish lobby... in much the same way it is possible to love America and be an American citizen, and still be critical of American foreign policy... Regards, Candle