Ajay #94
Don't underestimate the resistance abilities of postage-stamp-sized countries. In an urban insurgency, the battlespace isn't measured in square miles or city blocks, but in human hearts.
The last time a nation with ambitions of (semi-)global domination descended on us wasn't that long ago. Germany managed to occupy the Netherlands. Not lack of courage, but an impossible situation.
Ajay #82
Dude, I very much doubt that's how it would go. We're cute, we're smart, we're multi-lingual, but as a nation we're also postage-stamp-sized. I can only hope that like the Romans before them (at least the Romans above the Rhine) they'd catch cold and give up.
With the way the US has tried to get a foot in the door not just with Britain, but also with Spain of all places, I get the extremely uncomfortable impression that it's more than a theoretical thing for them.
Jules #70
Yep. Not only that, but they planned for it in advance.
CaseyL #48 Isn't it still a violation of international law? Wouldn't Bush still be culpable? Couldn't The Hague still hand down an indictment, regardless of what US law is?
Yes, but they already planned for that eventuality in 2003, when they passed the 'the Hague invasion clause':
The new law authorizes the use of military force to liberate any American or citizen of a U.S.-allied country being held by the court, which is located in The Hague.
Don Fitch at #48, Yes. Yes, squared. That.
It took me a while to figure out, but I have figured out what I would do with a very large amount of money: I would have certified organic everything. Actually, come to think of it, I can make more of an effort with that than I have been doing. My sense of how much organic veggies cost and my sense of how much household money I've got (and what I'm spending it on) are due a re-calibration.
Would I quit working? Depends on what I would judge to be the best marriage of my skills and passions, and where I'm doing the most good. My pet project would probably be social ventures, ('regular' profit-generating businesses which also aim to have a beneficial social and/or environmental impact).
Greg, the reframing of terrorist acts and objectives to 'hindrance & obstruction' seems imprecise to me. I share your curiousity about the lack of synonyms, but I am skeptical of the usefulness of getting other words to do the same job with less precision. Sanitizing language rarely allays fears.
Besides, I don't think it's the 'terrorist' bit that is scary. I think it's the almost-audibly-capitalised-even-when-it-isn't The in front of it. It implies both bogeyman-like power and anonymity, and distracts from real questions about who claimed responsibility for what, and how realistic that claim is.
Greg, saboteur specifically implies damage to a process or machinery. I can't think of anything which is usually described as terrorism that fits this description very well.
Sarah S, yes, the benefits of breastfeeding are significant enough to both mother and baby to justify ardent support of the practice (click link at bottom of that page for an extensive list of references).
I have and would never bug an individual woman about her choice, because of the point you make about there being enough pressure already. But sometimes I have had to bite my tongue to be that nice, because formula is not just as good. The only thing it has that breastfeeding doesn't, is a bigger (huge) advertising budget.
| Year | Number of comments posted |
|---|---|
| 2006 | 9 |
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