(April 20, 2015 at 5:55 pm)Hatshepsut Wrote:(April 20, 2015 at 2:03 pm)francismjenkins Wrote: For example, in 1953 US and British intelligence orchestrated a coup d'état in Iran against the democratically elected and progressive/social reformer, Prime Minister Muhammad Mosadegh (because he expressed an intent to nationalize the Iranian oil business). Also, 1979-89, Operation Cyclone in Afghanistan, where the CIA provided material support to what would become the Taliban, to try and kick the Soviets out of Afghanistan.
Ahh...Those were the days. I'm too young to remember the Shah's installation, but the Russians had those "butterfly" mines they dropped in Afghanistan simply to maim children. They looked like plastic butterfly toys, and detonated when their wings were bent by kids who picked them up, but only enough to blow off the fingers or cause blindness, not to kill...
None of that would have affected the Wahhabis of course, predating even Napoleon's 1798 entry to Egypt yet ultimately supplying the well water for September 11. But tell me, why did al-Banna and the Muslim Bros wear the Fez? Wasn't that a Moroccan style later adopted by Ottomans they would have thought nearly as decadent as any Parisian?
(April 20, 2015 at 2:51 pm)francismjenkins Wrote: In my mind, it's not all that unreasonable to think that the existence of federal regulatory agencies makes corruption of our political system inevitable, and so the idea of simply getting rid of them, isn't so outlandish or stupid. Indeed, maybe it is better to simply regulate via case law, instead of limiting the right of citizens to sue tortfeasors (as federal regulation does under the supremacy clause) ...
The cart and horse may stand reversed here as it seems corruption existed in the federal government well before it had many large regulatory agencies. It's an open question how well tort actions would deter, given episodes like Johns-Manville (asbestos) and the Fen-Phen deaths. Businesses have a way of just writing it off as a cost unless it manages to get big enough to sink some ships. Although I can agree that giving veterans a stipend for health care would beat running it through the behemoth the VA has become. Retired officers get Tricare and don't have to go through the VA if I'm correct.
The cookies in the Democrat box are indeed all shaped like pachyderms.
All retired servicemembers get Tricare IF they do their 20 or their military service deems them more than 30% disabled. In my case, I was in for ten years, had a back injury, and was discharged with a severance package and VA healthcare (incidentally, the Army gave me 10% while the VA gave me 40% for my back). I've been in private practice for a while, so it was handy (at least psychologically) knowing I had healthcare, but looks like I'll have a regular clock punching job pretty soon, so thankfully back to normal healthcare
