You do love stating the obvious , a light year or more behind others . Who doesn't support people who have been treated worse than Libyans were , for example , by a hundred fold ? Russia is reaping the whirlwind from its evil Caucasus policy and has only itself to blame as freedom fighters take their cause into mainland Russia . As for the racism towards Tajiks et al , I could send a Post ,like part of this article below , every day ......... More media outlets have seized the opportunity to accuse the migrants of spreading diseases and crime. Russias Chief Medical Officer, Gennady Onischenko, warned that Tajik migrants might soon be denied entry to Russia because of widespread HIV and tuberculosis among them (www.grani.ru, November 14). ( GOVERNMENT RACISM) And if you think I am a second or any generation white Muslim living in England , you are 100% wrong . I am white , agnostic , middle aged , professional and have decided against moving to the Krasnodar Oblast . Also a Tee Totaller . Allahu Akbar
I am sure I do in some small part because of our History . Perhaps that is why we have embraced Multi Culturism with such ease and success . We are an island that has been invaded more times than I can recall , though apart from the Spanish being annoying in the sixteenth century , we have managed to repel boarders since the Normans got lucky in 1066!! Now we have a modern invasion by almost every world ethnic group including Russians . It's a shame we did not plan our infrastructure better before Africa , India, Iraq , Iran and Afghanistan ( )) ) decided our pavements were made of gold and our Benefits system was available to every cheat .
There we go. Memories of Empire are gone. The tradition of tolerance to refugees is forgotten. We are a nation which is at once ignorant of our past shame, and our past greatness.
What kind of infrastructure would prevent good willing immigrants from doing good work - English First?
Paris and Heroclitus , In English , and in the context of this subject , the term "infrastructure" refers to matters like Schools , Hospitals , Housing etc etc and even down to transport and the provision of translators to deal with the Welsh . I understand that our little Dragon is upset about our otherwise understandable treatment of a minority tribe when we were top of the table . But to be still wittering about our splendid Empire suggests you need to visit for a course of reconciliation along with tea and biscuits .
Come on. I know that you did because she used to be your atavar and I asked you. I know it was someone I hadn't heard of. It's really annoying because it's somewhere there....come on....pray tell.
I'm struggling to follow you here...especially the references to Wales. I think that Britain is built on its Empire and owes a moral obligation to those it colonized to support their development. I also believe that the multicultural nature of Britain enriches it, as it has over the centuries. As for infrastructure, the population of Britain grows slowly. As it ages it needs keen young migrants to run its infrastructure and support its increasingly ageing population. What better outcome to Empire than for its colonized to come to the mother country and help us build a future based on tolerance, cultural richness, international soft power and technological led prosperity. The potential is there, if Britons want to grasp it....
Oh it's possible, I have forgotten about it, yes, Lou Andreas-Salomé.. Im trying to make a connection between her and Joyce and cheese eating surrender monkeys to no avail so far.
Hero , Essentially agree , though the phrase , the population grows slowly , is a howler . It's growing very fast ( too fast) and the demands that it has placed on the infrastructure are frighteningly heavy and at a time where "Austerity" is the coalition Buzz Word . Essentially my original point . I mistook the Hong Kong flag for the Welsh one ( not my finest moment) , perhaps seeing the word Dragon and scanning too quickly .
Yes, that's it. I'm sure I must have told you that anti-English (to keep it on topic) joke: English Builder: You Irish are all stupid Irish Builder: That's not true English Builder: I bet you don't know the difference between a joist (solive) and a girder (poutre) Irish Builder: Sure I do, that's easy English Builder: Go on then Irish Builder: Joyce wrote Ulysses and Goethe wrote Faust It's a cracker...as the Irish say. I thought Joyce lived most of his life in France along with his chum Beckett.
Ah. I am referring to Kowloon, meaning "nine dragons" in Chinese, with eight being the hills and the ninth being the Emperor. And of course alluding to the propensity of nationalists to see lands beyond their borders as where the dragons live.
Ah Albert. I was thinking yesterday how you could tolerate the repression in Tibet, and at the same time remain an admirer of Confucianism? Don't you see the blind following of orders that takes place in China to be a product of the Confucian tradition? The lack of empathy of Han Chinese towards Tibetans, the blind acceptance of the term "splittists" to refer to people merely asking for autonomy, the xenophobic self righteousness of the Han that they are somehow victims of racial attacks in Tibet, the deliberate silence of victims, the swallowing and parrotting of the Party line... all this is pure Confucianism - irrational, based on feudal loyalty and insularity, driven by fear and grossly exceptionalist. All immigrants come from places where there is a different level of social development. This has always been so in the UK and the USA. It is not just racism that drives xenophobia towards recent immigrants. It is also lack of development and hence lack of assimilation (I don't mean melting into the pot; I do mean learning the language and customs of the host country). Adcvanced economies need immigrants as their populations age. It would be much better to do this in a planned and structured way rather than to impose unrealistic limits on immigration which are then circumvented by the markets desire for labour.
Very funny and thanks for the translation! Exile is a wonderful source of inspiration, but it can be sad.
We all operate at many different levels. One can understand evil on a theoretical level, but be unable to avoid evil in a broader context. I recognize that the lights are going out in Tibet. But I have neither the power nor the standing to intervene. If that constitutes tolerance of evil, then I am tolerant. America is and has been many things. However, there is one fundamental truth. Genocide was necessary for the birth and growth of America. I am the beneficiary of genocide. This understanding tempers my criticism of the Han Chinese in Tibet and Xinjiang. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. I have come to admire Han ruthlessness. When not burdened by superstition they can be remarkably effective people. Moral blindness may be a prerequisite to political confidence. Confucianism was a hindrance in creating the consciousness necessary for formation of the Chinese state. But Confucianism is an effective ideology for maintenance of the state. Confucianism and Leninism may be complementary. In my personal experience there is something more important than the use of Confucianism in connection with the state. Confucianism is a wonderful idea when it comes to raising children. It can produce outstanding children. My problem with the movement of illegal Mexican labor is that it is accompanied by Mexican gangsterism. I am on the front lines of the Mexican gangster experience. It colors my opinion. I feel like a villager in fifth century Gaul trying to deal with Teutons looking for land. It's difficult to be dispassionate given the circumstances. In the 1980s the American right agreed to amnesty for illegal aliens in exchange for the promise that illegal immigration would be stopped. The promise was a lie. The lie was a betrayal. Instead of closing the border the floodgates were opened for illegal immigration. This has been a very bitter experience. It is one of the reasons I see America as the Kingdom of Lies. I wish the Mexicans were Han Chinese. I would be more comfortable around them. The Han don't suffer from the decadence of White America. Besides, the word gweilo seems nicer than gringo.
"Tian bu pa, di bu pa, jiu pa jangguizi shuo zhongguohua" Ask your relatives. Gweilo's a nice word to soft and comfy post imperialists. It's not intended to be. It's the "n" word that we have reclaimed. As we are generally deferred to rather than discriminated against, we misunderstand the deep hostility to the gweilo that Confucianism instills. As to decadence, you should not underestimate the hedonism and decadence that Leninism plus Confucianism brings. The casinos of Macau are awash with the quantitive easing from China. The housing markets of Hong Kong are distorted by speculative schemes akin to the South Sea bubble. Mainland money thrown into shoddy flats, depriving Hong Kongers of affordable housing. Greed is on an enormous scale. Be careful what you wish for! Still your allusion to villagers in Gaul is a refreshing read, after the turgid hateful drivel we have to wade through from most rightwingers. Don't you feel out of place amidst all that ignorance?
First of all, one takes one's allies as one finds them. Secondly, you need to start hanging out with a better class of knuckle draggers. There is a network of conservative law school professors and other academics who provide the intellectual firepower for my drivel. Are you familiar with that bastion of conservativism known as the Hoover Institution? It's a think tank located on the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. Imo, the Big Gun at the Hoover Institution is Victor Davis Hanson. He is a farmer and expert on Classical Greece. He's a gifted writer, and a former academic who is now an author and polemicist.
Well I'm a sucker for intellectuals. The neocons nearly got me until I came across John Bolton. I'm interested in people who have a wide range of ideological understanding - from Marx through to Hayek - and who develop arguments that are nuanced. I just can't hate Perle and Wolwowitz. I watched that Alastair Cooke snibbet you posted. It was very interesting, although I don't think I agree. I used to listen to him with my Dad when he sent "Letter from America" to the BBC, once a week. He took American citizenship and did more for American soft power than most. He had a voice like treacle, and his arguments were always balanced and opinionated. So much that I hadn't realized how conservative he was until I listened to that youtube you posted.
Thank you. A pity our friends north of the border do not feel the same. Must be all that haggis clogging up their brains.