Riots in the streets 2008-2013 style.

[Alabamaboy!]

US approved $60 billion worth of military weaponry to Saudi Arabia today. Hmmmmm.....doesn't that seem kind of stupid to do when most of the 9/11 terrorists were Saudis? If they are going go do that kind of damage with a couple box cutters, just think what a couple rouge pilots could do with some fresh F-15's.

Then we will be crying about why we are attacked again.

If I was Iran, I would take this as a direct kick to the gonads and ratchet up all nuclear arms production and biological weapons as soon as possible.

Thanks to Bush we have already established the practice of "pre-emptive strikes" so they would be stupid if they did not push their own weapon production to another level.

Can't the US just stay the hell out of everyone else's business???

[Alabamaboy!]

Didn't we do the same kind of thing by giving weapons to Saddam Hussain to fight Iran? What happened with that?

And I think we also were helping Osama Bin Laden and Afghanistan to fight the Soviets right?

Kind of stupid if you ask me.

I know everyone is going to go along with it because it is a lot of money pumped into the economy, but if we are just out to make cash, then why not sell tons of arms to the drug producers of Colombia, then more to the government of Colombia to combat them. And then do the same thing in Mexico and all over the world??? Or sell meth to kids, or whatever other ways we can think to prostitute ourselves.

[Ray]

And I think we also were helping Osama Bin Laden and Afghanistan to fight the Soviets right?

Wrong again!

Ray

[piglett]

AB i really think your onto something
we can just have a HUGE military yard sale
bring in the military leaders from every counrty & just selling sh*t


works for me 
pig

[Researcher]

    As long as the US government can print up money they really don't need to sell anything.They have those printing presses running wide open.As soon as other countries stop using the dollar to back their own currency....Game Over!


  Researcher

[Alabamaboy!]

Wrong again!

Ray

Ray are you denying that the US Government did not financially support  groups of international militias which went on to defeat the Soviets? And one of these main militias was run by Osama Bin Laden? And that following the war he and Abdullah Azzam continued to use the recruits, established networks, training camps for other terrorist activities? These are the two guys who started Al Queda and they could not have done it without the help of the USA. Or at the minimum, it would have taken them many more years to do so and could never have been such a success.

We supported "terrorism" against the Soviets. But obviously we don't against our own country.

My point is, if you give the whole world arms, they will use them. And probably against you if you are exactly the opposite of everything they stand for. So where is the sense in giving them the weapons in the first place?

[Ray]

Ray are you denying that the US Government did not financially support...Osama Bin Laden?

No, I am not denying that the US did not support Osama, because they did not.

Ray

[Alabamaboy!]

You should have been an English professor. I think.

The point is, that the US Government did support OBL and he has been making us pay with our own weapons, network, and "technology". Those are the facts.

[fathertime]

US approved $60 billion worth of military weaponry to Saudi Arabia today. Hmmmmm.....doesn't that seem kind of stupid to do when most of the 9/11 terrorists were Saudis? If they are going go do that kind of damage with a couple box cutters, just think what a couple rouge pilots could do with some fresh F-15's.

Then we will be crying about why we are attacked again.

If I was Iran, I would take this as a direct kick to the gonads and ratchet up all nuclear arms production and biological weapons as soon as possible.

Thanks to Bush we have already established the practice of "pre-emptive strikes" so they would be stupid if they did not push their own weapon production to another level.

Can't the US just stay the hell out of everyone else's business???

I find it strange that we would sell all sorts of arms to Saudi Arabia.  There must be more to this than I'm seeing/understanding.  To me, it appears like our nation is pretty desperate for some cash, when we resort to selling weapons to middle eastern countries.  Saudi Arabia doesn't have a huge population base or military so perhaps they are feeling a little insecure being so close to the powderkeg of Iran and Israel.  I'll be curious to get further reports on what's up with this. 

Fathertime!

[fathertime]

This economy is doomed. And it is more and more evident every month. They can make the reports say whatever they want, but the fact is that more and more businesses are closing all over Arizona, Nevada, California, Pennsylvania that I have personally seen. This thing is getting worse, instead of better.

Be careful now Alabamaboy you are saying things dangerously close to what I've been muttering about. 
 Pretty soon posters will exaggerate your claims and those exaggerations will be what YOU are remembered for! 

My original predictions in 2005 was that the housing market was going to utterly collapse which I thought would destroy the economy, a small part of the prediction was that there would be unrest and possible rioting, or maybe worse. I find it absolutely incredible how when one makes a claim about the fall of the US economy and some form of rioting, it get exaggerated into the end of the world.  I’m pretty sure that I’ll be ‘credited’ with predicting that our milky way galaxy is going to contract and explode next.

My belief is that society as we have known it for the preponderance of our lives is over.  Everything is still in place, but it is hollowing out.  At this point, it won’t take all that much to plunge us into a larger rebellion.  It is possible, that there will be no triggering event, but odds say there will be one relatively soon.  I see tensions between races, and absolute disdain, complete mistrust, and utter disrespect for our government and the laws.  I don’t see that changing anytime soon, if anything it is likely to intensively. 

My impression is that people are still free to think how they would like, and disagree with these opinions.  The fact is that quite a few of them have already come to pass and the skeptics were proven wrong.  It remains to be seen just how far things plunge and how society chooses to cope with the changes.  I choose to be prepared for the sake of my family if nothing else, and that is why I'm considered a loon!  Prepare yourself to be put in the same category AB if you continue with these rants, even if they are proven to be correct!

Just to keep on the cutting edge of predictions, my feeling is that if Obama is taken out after 1 term we will have massive problems in the next administration (if not before) and this will include traditional rioting.  By the time this all takes place our country will have been in depression for quite some time and people will be getting used to a lower standard of living.  Our recession/depression is here to stay.   

 Ok then, that concludes the oracle's pleasant predictions of the day!

Fathertime!   

[robert angel]

One way or another, military weapons and nuclear technology from the USA makes it's way pretty much all around the world, whether it's SAMs (surface to air missiles) automatic hand guns and rifles, nuclear plant tech., etc.

The rocket propelled grenades, GPS units and radios the otherwise primitive Somali pirates used to seize my brother in law's merchant mariner ship were all USA brand.

No, I am not saying that we sell outright to the likes of Iran or to extremist terrorists or that our govt. condones it--but it just works out that our 'stuff' gets around and the money is spread out pretty wide. Russia is still a big player in the international arms market, as are a few western European nation but, but the dismantling of the USSR left plenty of business opportunity in the international arms market for the USA.

People might dismiss the quality of some USA products, but when it comes to military gear, we have a pretty good reputation overall for quality. It's interesting that in some instances, particularly with fighter jets, the Israelis often 'tweak' our products and even get a little better performance from them.

[Alabamaboy!]

The US sold the arms to Saudi because supposedly Saudi is thinking that Iran is going to cause them problems. So they now have a total of 154 F-15's according to what I read. Is that enough? Why don't we sell them some nukes too?

The real reason that we did it was that we are paranoid bullies in the world and we insist on f*cking with everyone and pretending to be more than we really are. The US government thinks this is going to scare Iran??? Well, sure it is, and how are they going to combat it??? By accelerating their nuclear programs, probable biological weapon programs. Because as they have already seen in vivid detail, we are not afraid to launch a preemptive strike. So the end result does not provide anyone more security, it provides more reason to every country that hates us to amass more weapons.

 We insist on bribing other countries to let us use their land for launching points for our attacks. But they are just laughing at us behind our backs as they take our cash and then funnel it to terrorists or line their own pockets. WE refuse to believe that they do not like us! Pakistan does not like us, most of these places do not. So how about we stop pretending they do and giving them billions of dollars, that incidentally, we are borrowing from China!!!!! The whole thing is completely bizarre.

[Alabamaboy!]

Are we that lame of a country now that most of what we export these days seems to be war related, destructive items?

Can't we put a little more effort and emphasis into things that improve people's lives rather than destroy them?

No wonder most of the world is getting tired of our BS and giving us the boot. Like Philippines, etc. Even though we offer incredible amounts of money to these places, they do not want us there. I saw in one article that we are going to give Pakistan $2 billion dollars over the next few years. And they still hate us!

If you spend a little time and look at the polls that have taken place around the globe, a larger percentage of the world's popluation thinks we are the troublemakers, and not Iran, Iraq, or whoever.

Hell even Colombia would hate us if we were not "bribing" them with $5 billion over the past 10 years.

[Dave H]

If only we could elect a President that knows how to kick azz! Instead we get one who doesn't even know how many states there are in the US. As I recall, we had to learn the location and the names of the 50 US states as well as their capitals in the 5th grade! Stick to the teleprompter!

To whom it may apply..

[Dave H]

No wonder most of the world is getting tired of our BS and giving us the boot. Like Philippines, etc.

Actually the majority of the Filipino people love Americans. It was the small minority of nationalista, liberal, leftest, wealthy, mestizo, politicians who wanted to get the Americans (military bases - now trying to stop foreign marriages) out and keep the average Filipinos in their place...POOR and minimize the middle class. Rich and poor...Third World style! The same few wealthy Spanish and Chinese mestizo families have been controlling the country since the days of the Spanish. Their only absence from total control was under Marcos.

[Alabamaboy!]

Obviously there would be massive riots if the vast majority of the country did not want us gone from the Philippines.

But then again, Everyone likes the guy who picks up the tab.

I traveled 2 times to PI with my ex wife at the time when we were getting the boot, and I cannot agree with you that the majority of people were loving us back then. AS a matter of fact the hot movie playing at that time was "Go Home Yankee" or something like that. About some military guys raping a young girl in PI. The people in the cinema were cheering wildly when in the movie the gringos were found guilty of the rape charges.
 
Check out polls in countries we are not bribing

[fathertime]

Hell even Colombia would hate us if we were not "bribing" them with $5 billion over the past 10 years.

It is totally arrogant and irresponsible of the USA to pressure other countries whose citizens are supplying this country with drugs.  The USA needs to clean up it’s own problem and stop pretending we are innocent victims.  We (as a nation of parents) are guilty of poor parenting, and have not instilled strong values in our children.  The ‘American Dream’ has been distorted and no longer a dream worth pursuing.  We have many two parent families where both parents are working and are married to their job instead of their families.    If we were taking care of our spawn better, we would not have such a high percentage of the young using drugs.   Granted sometimes drug use is just bound to happen, but what has happened in this country is well beyond that. 

If a poor farmer in Colombia/Mexico wants to grow Marijuana, Cocoa, that has nothing to do with us and it is not our business to criminalize these people.  The citizens of this country continue to demand these drugs.  All our money should be spent to keep the border secure.  So long as drugs are illegal, we should  punish drug traffickers within our own borders severely.  We create trouble and unrest in other countries by foisting responsibility for our citizens drug problems.  It is no surprise that the citizens of these countries have resentment towards our complete hypocrisy. 

Personally I would like to see many of these drugs legalized.  I don’t want govt. to take liberties away from the citizens.  People can be prosecuted severely for other criminal acts (that may be caused by using drugs) but doing drugs in the privacy of home, is not something I think the police should be bothering with. 

Fathertime!

[Ray]

You should have been an English professor. I think.

The point is, that the US Government did support OBL and he has been making us pay with our own weapons, network, and "technology". Those are the facts.

Facts? That's just more of your pure BS...

[Alabamaboy!]

OK Ray Now I know "who" you are. I won't even respond much to your comments anymore because it is obvious that you are one of "those"

[Alabamaboy!]

I just paid my property taxes on a tiny SoCal apartment. It had 20 additional voter approved tax bonds added to it.

[Bob_S]

Are we that lame of a country now that most of what we export these days seems to be war related, destructive items?

No, we are not that lame.  The U.S.'s top 5 exports are semiconductors, commercial aircraft, passenger cars, vehicle parts and accessories, and medical equipment and pharmaceuticals.  The dollar value of arms exports doesn't even break the top 12 list.  A majority of the U.S. arms market is for the U.S. military.

[robert angel]

Re:

>>I just paid my property taxes on a tiny SoCal apartment<<

It's sooo small--that he has to leave just to change his mind!

[robert angel]

This list is from Wikipedia and isn't by any means the ultimate, authoritative source, but from looking at a few sites on either side of the figure range, it appears reasonably correct to me. I was surprised, although I guess I shouldn't be, that Russia is still such a big supplier and that India is such a large consumer at #1and is followed by Singapore and Malaysia at #2 & 3. The USA is #8 on the list of arms importers--we just can't get enough! Gimme back MY bullets! (they sure are getting expensive!!)

The USA and Russia, at #1 and #2,  export as much as countries 3 thru 10 combined. I would've thought France, Germany and Italy had more 'market share' on exports.

Below is from--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arms_industry

This is a list of the ten countries with the highest defence budgets for the year 2008. The information is from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.[8] Total world spending amounted to $1.464 trillion USD in 2008.

Rank Country Spending ($ b.) World Share (%)
— World Total 1464.0 100
1  United States 607.0 41.5
2  China 84.9a 5.8a
3  France 65.7 4.5
4  United Kingdom 65.3 4.5
5  Russian Federation 58.6a 4.0a
6  Germany 46.8 3.2
7  Japan 46.3 3.2
8  Italy 40.6 2.8
9  Saudi Arabia 38.2 2.6
10  India 32.7 2.1

^a SIPRI estimate
[edit] World's largest arms exporters
The unit in this table are so-called trend indicator values expressed in millions of US dollars at 1990s prices. These values do not represent real financial flows but are a crude instrument to estimate volumes of arms transfers, regardless of the contracted prices, which can be as low as zero in the case of military aid. Ordered by descending 2000-2009 values. The information is from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.[9]

Current Rank Supplier 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
1  United States 7220 5694 5091 5596 6750 6600 7394 7658 6090 6795
2  Russia 3985 6011 5773 5202 6260 5321 6156 5243 6026 4469
3  Germany 1603 821 892 1697 1067 1875 2510 3002 2499 2473
4  France 1055 1270 1308 1288 2194 1633 1577 2342 1831 1851
5  United Kingdom 1484 1257 915 617 1180 915 808 987 1027 1024
6  Spain 46 7 120 156 56 108 757 565 603 925
7  China 272 496 515 632 282 306 599 412 544 870
8  Israel 354 360 414 358 612 315 282 379 271 760
9  Netherlands 280 203 243 342 208 583 1221 1322 554 608
10  Italy 189 217 400 312 214 743 525 706 424 588
11  Sweden 306 830 185 515 305 537 417 367 457 353
12  Switzerland 176 193 157 174 250 267 306 324 467 270
13  Ukraine 288 661 244 430 202 281 557 799 269 214
14  Canada 110 129 170 225 268 235 231 343 236 177
15  South Korea 8 165 N/A 104 29 48 94 228 80 163

[Ray]

Lest anyone fall for the silly BS being put out here as "facts” by an arrogant, uninformed bozo, that the US government supported Usama Bin Laden with financial aid, weapons, technology, or helped to start Al Qaeda…

*****
The Central Intelligence Agency has issued a statement categorically denying that it ever had any relationship with Osama bin Laden. It stated, in response to the hypothetical question “Has the CIA ever provided funding, training, or other support to Usama Bin Laden?”:

No. Numerous comments in the media recently have reiterated a widely circulated but incorrect notion that the CIA once had a relationship with Usama Bin Laden. For the record, you should know that the CIA never employed, paid, or maintained any relationship whatsoever with Bin Laden (emphasis in original).

In summary:
• U.S. covert aid went to the Afghans, not to the “Afghan Arabs”
• The “Afghan Arabs” were funded by Arab sources, not by the United States
• The United States never had “any relationship whatsoever” with Osama bin Laden
• The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Arab backing for the “Afghan Arabs,” and bin Laden’s own decisions “created” Osama bin Laden and al Qaida, not the United States.

http://www.america.gov/st/webchat-english/2009/May/20090505134735atlahtnevel0.5280725.html

*****

[Ray]

Actually the majority of the Filipino people love Americans. It was the small minority of nationalista, liberal, leftest, wealthy, mestizo, politicians who wanted to get the Americans (military bases - now trying to stop foreign marriages) out and keep the average Filipinos in their place...POOR and minimize the middle class. Rich and poor...Third World style! The same few wealthy Spanish and Chinese mestizo families have been controlling the country since the days of the Spanish. Their only absence from total control was under Marcos.

Absolutely 100% correct Dave!

The decision to kick out the US Military from the Philippines was mostly made by opportunistic, nationalistic politicians in the Philippine senate, encouraged by communists and leftist groups opposed to anything related to the United States.

From my personal experience over 40+ years of traveling, living, and working in the Philippines, the vast majority of Filipinos have had and still have a very favorable attitude towards the US and the US military. All this BS about US servicemen raping thousands of Filipina girls and women is just that, BS propaganda put out by the feminist communists.

Ray