Whats really going on in IRAQ no "Happy News"

[jimnyc]

Originally posted by Dawoud
jimnyc did you do that when you accused me of beating my wife?

It was a question, not an accusation, and it was meant to piss you off. From reading your initial posts on this board I see you as a peaceful man.

And eric you can kiss my ass. If I never saw another post from you it would be too soon.

You state that you don't want to debate with anyone. I guess you just want your voice heard by posting articles to represent your thoughts. Thats fine if that's what you want, but I think telling Eric to kiss your ass because he attempted to engage in a conversation/debate is a little off. This is a forum after all, people come here expecting some sort of dialogue to exist.

 

[janeeng]

hahahahah, I guess jim, you and eric have been told!!!

 

[eric]

Yes, Janeen we are overwhelmed by his sharp intellect and clever wit.

 

[dijetlo]

>> No money does not equate to happiness, but it is a marker of our intelligence in a capitalistic society.<<
I was responding to that statement, which you made.
>>but here is a great example of why I wrote this kind of post. We have not debated anything yet<<
You were arguing with dawoud, but your argument, (specificaly your appeal to authority, that authority being your own intelligence) was open to dispute so I disputed it. If you take this kind of debate personaly don't try to bolstering your arguments with the "I'm smarter 'cause I'm richer" argument, its' a sure loser, besides being patently false
>>Yes I do hire some people as a public service... two people are equally qualified and one happens to be disabled or a Vet, why not<<
Why not indeed. Though it isn't really a public service (many employers higher vets for thier greater breadth of experience, reliablity, etc.) you do appear to be motivated altruism and therefor I will not shake your tree.

>>who are you to judge my level of intellegence? What uniquely qualifies you in this area?<<
I never claimed to be uniquely qualified, did I? One of the indicators is that your not excersizing a lot of critical thinking ( a hallmark of intelligence). Their is the "listen to me I'm richer" argument. The second is your taunting of an opponent, neither is unworthy of an active intellect.
>> Do you care to explain what this statement means :
Wealthy americans are not notably smarter than the average american... thus giving some credence to your claims of wealth and power."<<
Like most wealthy people, you seem to be of average intelligence.

 

[dijetlo]

Originally posted by eric
Yes, Janeen we are overwhelmed by his sharp intellect and clever wit.

I'll try to tone it down for you....

 

[jimnyc]

Wealthy americans are not notably smarter than the average american

I disagree.

There are various ways to look at this. Intelligence leads to more money. Those who are smarter get more out of education resulting in higher salaries. There have been many studies on this very argument, here is just one:

http://papers.nber.org/papers/W6902

The "average" wealthy American IS smarter than the "average" median income or poor American. There are exceptions to every rule of course, but we are speaking of averages here. If you can find something that disputes the studies I'd be surprised.

 

[eric]

Another hallmark is the ability for one to communicate effectively, a trait you obviously lack, evidenced by your spelling and grammatical oversights. So it would seem that we are both of average intelligence. Now, can this issue be put to rest so that more important topics can be debated?

 

[dijetlo]

>>There have been many studies on this very argument, here is just one... <<
Not a study (read your link) it's an essay, and they want $5 to read it.
From your link:
>>Education does not generate higher incomes; instead, individuals with higher ability receive more education and more income. This essay reviews the evidence on the relationship between education and income<<
Education and income, not intelligence and income. The essay isn't about the thesis that you seem to support (wealth = intelligence).
>>You may purchase this paper on-line in .pdf format from SSRN.com ($5) for electronic delivery.<<
You want to buy it an post it, I'll read it but it doesn't really seem germaine to your point.
>>If you can find something that disputes the studies I'd be surprised.<<
You (actually Eric) state a thesis "wealth = intelligence". It isn't my responsibility to disprove you, it is your responsibility to post supporting evidence (but we are getting way off topic, aren't we.)

 

[dijetlo]

>>Another hallmark is the ability for one to communicate effectively, a trait you obviously lack, evidenced by your spelling and grammatical oversights<<

And yet you seem to understand the thoughts I am trying to communicate to you...it appears my attempts were effective.

>>So it would seem that we are both of average intelligence. Now, can this issue be put to rest so that more important topics can be debated?<<

Kudos Eric, I am more than happy to return to the subject matter of the thread. If I offended you, I apologize but it is a debate, so keep your head down and your powder dry.

 

[jimnyc]

 

[eric]

Intelligence may not directly produce income, that I will give you. Let me ask you though, have you ever built a business from the ground up with no investment captial, no advice, no employees? It is by no means an easy task and requires quite a bit of creative thinking and decision making. This was my story, so think what you will, I know the facts.

For the record I was not trying to state a thesis, it was a emotional reaction to a fool with a foul mouth who likes to call people F*king idiots. You are trying to turn it into something it is not, why not just let it go.

 

[dijetlo]

Originally posted by eric
Intelligence may not directly produce income, that I will give you. I was not trying to state a thesis, it was a emotional reaction to a fool with a foul mouth who likes to call people F*king idiots. You are trying to turn it into something it is not, why not just let it go.

Happy to let it go, consider it gone... Hey, I can understand getting P.O.'d at people who are insulting on a day to day basis, but I am new and reading your posts, so I am not responding without the same >>emotional reaction<< as you are. I was assuming you were laying the groundwork to support the amount of control the wealthiest people in our country have over our government, after all they are the smartest according to...uh an argument that I wont bring up.
In answer to your second question, I own my own small business, so yeah, I can relate to the difficulties involved. I just happen to know a lot of people who are not very smart, but very rich. The trait they all share is they have good people skills, after spending a little time with them, you find yourself liking them (in certain instances against your better judgement) but smart? They have smart people who work for them.

 

[eric]

Your right there are a number of people who are rich and not very smart, we are in total agreement there. By the way I do not consider myself rich and I mean this sincerely; very comfortable yes, wealthy no. I want no one to get the impression that I am in the elite boys club, and have no desire to join. My company is an IT firm and when I started it a lot more than people skills were necessary, in fact software and network engineering were at the forefront. So it turns out we have something in common; who knows maybe more than we could have expected.

 

[Dawoud]

I wish everyone of these brave solders were home safe now
DO NOT mistake my posts for my being aganst our solders many people in my family have given their lives for this country.
My father lost both his legs in WW2 defending my right to desent and to question our government

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...e=8&u=/nm/20031023/ts_nm/iraq_usa_suicides_dc

 

[jimnyc]

For once I can agree with your entire post, Dawoud.

I think both sides of this debate will acknowledge that we would prefer the soldiers to be home and safe. Sometimes war and occupation is a necessary evil and thats where we disagree.

 

[Dawoud]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031023/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_donor_countries_2



Poland got $40 million grant. turkey got $8 billion loan. spain got $12 million grant and increased trade agreements. england gets the right to continue to be our lapdog. and so on.

These are not allies. these are purchased friends and hired mercenaries. 24,119 soldiers from 30 countries?
Actually many of them are not soldiers and that is still an average of 804 soldiers per country compared with 133,000 US troops currently in there.
The State of Georgia has more than 69 troops over there and yet that is all the country of Georgia can send?
The World Bank money(3-5 Billion) is a loan not a grant and yet we are trying not to loan money to oil rich Iraq?
6-8 Billion dollars over the next 4 years total cash(3-5 a loan)-The USA has spent 166 Billion this year alone.Why do people think we are going it alone?

 

[Dawoud]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&e=4&u=/ap/20031024/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_450



Two U.S. soldiers were killed and four were wounded Friday in a mortar attack on their base north of Baghdad, and another American died in a shootout in the northern city of Mosul, the U.S. military said.

In Mosul, a soldier from the 101st Airborne Division was killed by small arms fire before dawn Friday in the western end of the city, the command reported.

Lt. Col. George Krivo, the U.S. command spokesman, said attacks on coalition forces have averaged about 26 a day over the past two weeks. About three-quarters of the attacks have occurred in an arc stretching from the west through Baghdad to the region north of the capital.

U.S. officials also said 13 soldiers, from the 4th Infantry Division, were wounded Thursday night when a mortar round struck at hangar at Camp War Horse near Baqouba, about 40 miles northeast of Baghdad.

 

[Dawoud]

Casualties between 1700 and 2215 on Thursday 23 October at Yarmouk Hospital Emergency Surgical Ward, Baghdad
Bullet injuries 5 (four accidental, one critical)
Blast injuries 10 (at least two critically injured)
Knife wounds 4
Other violence 4
RTAs 5 (one death)
Other accidents 15
Other medical cases 11
Kicked by donkey 1
Total 55

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3211745.stm

 

[Dawoud]

"The NIE was hastily done in three weeks," one senior intelligence expert said. "It was a cut-and-paste job, with agencies and officials given only one day to review the draft final product when they usually take months. . . . Today they still disagree on the meaning of what came out

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8830-2003Oct23.html

 

[Aquarian]

It's not funny, it's not... but...

kicked by a donkey 1

had to giggle...