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| Author |
Message |
remmers
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Fun and Games in the Former USSR
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Sep 22 14:35 UTC 1993 |
Well, the Russian president and legislature have just fired each other.
Film at 11.
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| 37 responses total. |
aa8ij
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response 1 of 37:
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Sep 22 19:36 UTC 1993 |
I think that Yeltsin will come out on top, due to his former record.
Of course, he will only last as long as the military is behind him,
once they leave, he will be toast.
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wh
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response 2 of 37:
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Sep 22 21:26 UTC 1993 |
I agree Yeltsin will hold out. Things will be quite jumpy
for a while, though--er, jumpier than usual for the last
couple years.
Firing each other: an interesting concept. I don't think
I would want them to try it over here on the national level.
On the state level, however...
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danr
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response 3 of 37:
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Sep 29 23:58 UTC 1993 |
It sure is interesting to watch this play out. It should give everyone
in America pause. What would happen if Clinton decided to send Congress
home?
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aa8ij
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response 4 of 37:
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Sep 30 02:46 UTC 1993 |
I think we'd pat him on the back for a job well done.
;-)
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srw
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response 5 of 37:
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Sep 30 05:52 UTC 1993 |
You walked right into that one, Dan.
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srw
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response 6 of 37:
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Oct 4 07:06 UTC 1993 |
I've been watching (on and off) the shooting in Moscow around the
Russian White House. It's been live on CNN since at least midnight.
It's 10Am in Moscow (3AM here) and I am to tired to watch it any
more, but it is truly amazing. They keep saying the paratroopers
are coming, but I haven't seen any of them yet. NBC, CBS, and ABC
are showing movies. <sigh> Thank you, CNN.
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aa8ij
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response 7 of 37:
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Oct 4 19:15 UTC 1993 |
From what I heard at 1:00 on WJR the shooting is over with about 100
casualties. Ruskoi(sp) and the speaker are in custody, and Yeltsin
was said to be considering exile to a pro western state, rather than
shooting or imprisoning them, which would make them in effect, martyrs.
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tsty
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response 8 of 37:
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Oct 24 19:26 UTC 1993 |
I really like #4's answer to #3.... Yes, danr, beautiful waltz that one.
Nicely capitalized by aa8ij.
What is the situation now?
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danr
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response 9 of 37:
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Oct 25 00:33 UTC 1993 |
Think about this a second. You, and maybe quite a few others, would
applaud this, but would you really want this?? Where would it end?
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aa8ij
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response 10 of 37:
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Oct 25 05:01 UTC 1993 |
You're right Dan, I really wouldn't like to see Congress fired. I do think
that the people of this nation have to weed out the do-nothings, and elect
people who have a real commitment for change, instead of playing politics.
Why can't we have total heathcare? It would help us be a more productive nation
Why do we still subsidize tobacco farmers who are not exactly hurting for mone
Why do these people insist on giving themselves raises, when they are the
least deserving of it?
Why is there still no national plan for educating our children? Why is it
#left to the states to set the policies.?
Congress is a mess, and like other things, it has to be cleaned out and
refocused on what is really important. I really think that Thomas Jefferson
is turning over in his grave.
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aaron
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response 11 of 37:
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Oct 25 05:15 UTC 1993 |
There's this crazy little thing called "federalism" that supposedly leaves
to the states all powers not expressly granted to the federal government.
It would be awkward to place "education" under federal control, via the
Commerce Clause (or some other clause). What the feds *can* do is set a
curriculum, then require states that accept federal funds for education to
follow their curriculum. But states would kick up a fuss. (Also, we have
this bizarre notion that "local control" is critical to quality education
in this country, despite its poor track record.)
A loosely defined national curriculum, setting forth what subjects should
be studied in a given year, would be *very* helpful in this society -- kids
who move from one state (or country) to another risk missing entire years
of material on any given subject.
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tsty
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response 12 of 37:
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Oct 26 07:32 UTC 1993 |
Congratulations aaron, and that is said with sincerity not sarcasm, you
have the right handle in #11. If the federallies (sp) would just
be happy with REading,Writing and Arithmetic the system would be
VeryMuchBetterOff (tm), but they are not satisfied with such a minimal
constriction on the various states' educational plans.
And with the states' +NOT+ kicking up a fuss when TaxDollars are
proferred (with Federal Strings), they cave in to worshiping thje
Almighty Dollar, which, of course has been extracted from the
states' residents. Vicious circle - how to break it?
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aaron
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response 13 of 37:
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Oct 28 18:10 UTC 1993 |
The federal government at present takes virtually no role in education.
States have mucked things up, all by themselves.
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aa8ij
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response 14 of 37:
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Oct 28 19:58 UTC 1993 |
Should I make this drift into another item?
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aaron
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response 15 of 37:
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Oct 31 04:50 UTC 1993 |
You're the boss.
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carson
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response 16 of 37:
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Aug 30 08:17 UTC 1994 |
(does anyone care about what is happening in the ex-Soviet Union
anymore?)
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srw
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response 17 of 37:
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Aug 31 01:27 UTC 1994 |
Yes. We do.
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marcvh
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response 18 of 37:
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Aug 31 03:28 UTC 1994 |
Why do you ask?
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carson
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response 19 of 37:
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Aug 31 04:07 UTC 1994 |
(I haven't a clue as to what's going on with our Eurasian cousins,
and would like to read healthy discussion of such. 'tis all.)
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kamjill
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response 20 of 37:
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Feb 8 16:54 UTC 1995 |
The world does need balance in order to exist, but the greedy people of the
west realized that too late. Now that the USSR is (at least visibly) gone
a search for a new enemy has begun. However, I' affraid it's too late. We
did miss what was perfect - Another superpower, USSR. There simply isn't
another country with the mental capability to replace the soviets. The lack
of a serious competition has led to the present recession. Not only should
the west be agains the communists in Russia, they should provide thier full
support for them. After all, democracy is the first step towards anarchy.
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srw
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response 21 of 37:
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Feb 9 07:19 UTC 1995 |
I don't agree with any of that. The world can do just fine without
superpowers duking it out. The US does not need a USSR to balance it.
We are not in a recession. The West must be careful in dealing with
Russia - yes, they need our support, but so do others in the region.
Democracy is not a step towards anarchy - it is the only civilized way to
run a country.
Former communists and socialists perceive capitalists as
greedy, that is probably going to be very hard to change. After 70 years of
being trained to be offended by anyone who has more money than they
do, the current population of Russia is utterly unprepared to handle
a free market economy. Their psychology is all wrong.
The first step they have to take is to stop being jealous of those
with more, and to start admiring and emulating them.
It is also crucial for them to learn from the mistakes of early capitalism,
and enact and enforce laws to prevent abuses, such as we have done.
(Fair labor laws, anti-trust laws, securities laws, etc.)
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other
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response 22 of 37:
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Feb 10 03:06 UTC 1995 |
And then grow and train a huge crop of proficient lawyers to deal with a
massively complex legal system, build and staff lots of prison facilities
to store the people whose lawyers weren't sufficiently proficient, and
instantly multiply the gross domestic product by a factor of x to support
the bureacrats and the underclasses.
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srw
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response 23 of 37:
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Feb 11 07:40 UTC 1995 |
Was that just general all-purpose sarcasm, or would you really prefer to
see the USSR try to give capitalism a go without the benefit of
anti-abuse laws?
They probably do need the prisons, regardless.
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other
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response 24 of 37:
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Feb 11 08:32 UTC 1995 |
Just a little healthy cynicism ;)
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