Originally written by Jacek K. on November 1, 2009 9:39 AM The role of ideology was to brainwash you to believe that now mankind has found a solution to all its troubles and it is the only solution acceptable ...

Seems to me that all political parties have the flavour of ideology. Many political parties, especially those in the "free" world, claim to be democratic or run along the notion of an almost absolute free will and ability to influence, via active participation in the political process, how best to live your life within the particular system. It isn't so!

Every morning while reading the news from various Danish sources I can only shake my head, for there is little (nothing?) one can do to influence the process of who gets what and why. 

You have hundreds of people and many organizations petitioning for AB, and with very good documentation showing why it is needed and the minister in charge rejects it out of hand. Later, when during yet another hearing, she is asked if she knows that XY official agency who receives tons of public money through taxes and heavy tariffs and who is supposed to actively promote AB, does not in fact do so. She doesn't know. Receiving the public money was conditional and the minister replies that she's surprised to discover that the reality is otherwise. DUH. No one bothered with the documentation.

The minister doesn't have a clue, she doesn't know and now a new law affecting millions of Danes is totally off-kilter for the next four years. No, she says, it cannot be changed now.

This is just one small instance of how it's almost useless to try to influence the political process.

Then there's brainwashing and mass hysteria. Last night the TV signals changed from analogue to digital. For the last six months, the hysteria has been almost total. The idea was that the future had arrived, etc. blah - blah - blah and to be part of the future you must purchase a new digital TV. Many people did just that - brainwashed into supporting the ailing economy - and all stores selling electronic gear have been sending out adverts that unless you buy or rent of subscribe or --- your TV signal would completely disappear last night. The state, the cable giants and the TV stores had the only viable solution to this terrible personal dilemma

I refused to join the unwashed and the brainwashed and guess what happened to my old TV?

Nanna, on a Sunday morning rant...

It was a joke in reply to your joke about the Germans, and all Europeans, being unable to forgive the Americans for having been liberated... 64 years ago. Frankly, fewer and fewer witnesses of those days are still alive so how about if we close that chapter and move on to Doris Lessing or other topics more likely to create a better, not worse, atmosphere for our work today?

Originally written by Jacek K. on November 1, 2009 4:33 AM Originally written by John Bunch on October 31, 2009 10:05 PM Someone once said "The Germans will never forgive the Americans for liberating them". ... You might say that about all Europeans, too.  Yes, John, you are right as usual. In your own perspective only. All Eastern Europeans will, indeed, never forgive the Americans for liberating them in Yalta.

Were you always this difficult? Ha-ha.

I suppose we could have nuked the Soviet Union when we had the chance. Seems like they had a few troops and tanks on the eastern front.

Originally written by Ron Finney on November 2, 2009 6:12 AM I suppose we could have nuked the Soviet Union when we had the chance.

Hi, Ron,

That's the beauty of nukes. After just one Hiroshima lesson, man learned what he was unable to learn over millennia about conventional weapons: how not to use them for aggressive purposes. Nukes are the best and only deterrent against the human animal. Well, until the animal learns how to think, but that may take all the remaining cosmic time allotted to his species. 

The universality of extremists

Originally written by Jacek K. on October 31, 2009 4:34 PM I got interested in Maxi's chronology and possible origins of Enlightenment which took place in the 1700s while the major Arabic contribution to the Western culture happened at least 500 years earlier(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_contributions_to_Medieval_Europe). While the Islamic influence on the Renaissance is widely known (see the link above), it was less obvious for me in the case of the Enlightenment, yet the names such as John Locke or Isaac Newton confirm the connection mentioned by Maxi.

This may and should be an ongoing exchange:

U.S. Takes Steps to Use Science To Improve Ties to Muslim World

In a surprise announcement, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week named three prominent scientists as special envoys to assess the potential for scientific partnerships with Muslim-majority countries. The move is the first concrete step in a broader U.S. effort to expand the role of science in diplomacy. Speaking in Morocco on 3 November, Clinton announced the selection of Egyptian-born Ahmed H. Zewail, a chemistry Nobelist at the California Institute of Technology; Algerian-born Elias Zerhouni, a radiologist who stepped down last fall as director of the National Institutes of Health; and biochemist Bruce Alberts, former president of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and current editor-in-chief of Science.  http://www.sciencemag.org/content/vol326/issue5955/news-summaries.dtl
 

Originally written by Jacek K. on November 9, 2009 6:14 AM The universality of extremists Iranian "hard-liners" sound just like America's neocons when opposing negotiations. By Glenn Greenwald The Washington Post's David Ignatius today notes the irony that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is being criticized by his country's "hard-liners" for supporting a deal with the U.S. over nuclear issues:  But reading the Iranian press, you get the sense that for Iran's ruling elite, engagement with America remains a bridge too far. "America is still the Great Satan. Negotiations are meaningless," thundered the hard-line weekly Ya-Lesarat.   That, of course, is exactly what American neocons have long been screaming about negotiations with Iran -- that they're crazed, untrustworthy Persian Hitlers who shouldn't be negotiated with and that Obama is being "naive" or worse by trying.  It's so striking how identical is the mentality of America's "hard-line" right-wing extremists and those in Iran.

American conservatives have publicly acknowledged willingness to negotiate directly with Iran, but not without preconditions as opposed to Obama. If I remember correctly, there's been a flurry of diplomatic efforts, incentives, as well as meaningless ultimatums offered to the Iranians. I would not characterize Iran as showing good faith at the negotiating table. Sticky issues like the duplicity of their nuclear program, funding Hamas and Hezbollah (like a regional cold war) as they strive to dominate Lebanon and repeated threats to Israel (oh I forgot, they're just a throw-away state). Then there's the reminder of a nation violating the American embassy and holding our citizens hostage for over a year.

The United States of (Central-North) America (those other countries are American too I guess) and Europe must navigate the waters wisely. We know all too well that there are many opposing groups in Iran, including millions of educated, liberal-leaning citizens, and the ruling regime may be more fragile than we had believed. It's easy for the Iranian elite to point to America as the big Satan, the imminent threat, because she and Israel are the only nations willing to go beyond idle talk. If Europe grew some cajones, the possibilites for transformation in Iran would be more likely.  From the perspective of the top political minds in Olalla, Washington (USA), Europe is more driven by mercantilistic and utopian ideals. Europe gets about 10% of its oil from Iran, with no easy replacement. Iran has the 8th largest military in the world, comparable to the combined French-German military. Too bad Neville Chamberlain is no longer around... he'd fit right in.

Originally written by Ron Finney on November 13, 2009 5:51 PM If Europe grew some cajones...

It did, it did, for thousands of years.

And then it grew up and started using its brains in addition to the cojones.