" Dan Cady
wrote on Mar 26, 2008 8:39 PM:
...."....But I like Tom's neologism of "jihaadism" as a term...sounds almost pornographic.

Yes....about as dirty a term as today's 'l-i-b-e-r-a-l-i-s-m' which coincidentially ties in with 'p-o-r-n-o-g-r-a-p-h-y-' deemed free speech per the liberals. Unfortunately for Dan, there is such a relationship....as dirty sounding and disgusting as it is.....
"

" OTOH: When it comes to nonrenewable resources like oil, I think using up another nation's resources before using up one's own resources is, to some extent, a valid short-term method of self-preservation. As Joe implies in his post, this short-sighted tactic will probably cause more harm than good in the long run. But how often do leaders of democracies look beyond the next election in making decisions? "

" Joe: I never said sucking up the world's oil is in the best interests of our nation. What I said was that all countries, including the USA, put their own interests ahead of all other considerations, even if that means engaging in wars of conquest/acquisition. You do raise a valid point, however, in that the governing bodies of countries, including that of the USA, are not always correct about what is truly in the best interests of their countries, at least in the long term. So I will slightly amend my original statement. I contend that all countries, including the USA, put their own PERCEIVED interests ahead of all other considerations, even if that means engaging in wars of conquest/acquisition. "

" The culture in Mexico is not as good as it is here. That is why people from there want to come work and live here as do many others from other countries. Funny how so many of the leftist who post here want all the illegal aliens to be able to come here because they can get more good for themselves and their families but at the same time want to "level the playing" field and deny that some cultures are better than others. Please note that I did not say a word about race. There are many races that make up the culture of the United States of America just as there are many races that make up the culture of Mexico. An interesting dichotomy of "multiculturalism." "

" Joe - " To Flagstaffer: Our self interest is sucking up the world's oil? "

Actually, there may be something to this. Much of a nation's framework is built around self-preservation of the nation.

So I submit for discussion: is it inherent in a state to want to use someone else's resources up first, protecting one's own? Is this one method of self-preservation?

Is this one of the 800lb. gorillas in the corner of this overall argument, perhaps? "

" Joe: I have much of the latest and greatest technology and my firearm technology is very much the latest. The fact is I do not believe that all cultures are equal and that they all have to be made equal as many here want to. I did not say one word about race, as culture is defined by more than genes. Jerry: You appear to not like what I said, but nothing I said is false. Previous discussion by others on these threads has attempted to establish a right of "Native" Americans as if they were always here, but this is not true, but they were here first as “j” states. This letter is in reference to war being conducted for property but as Dan has identified it is always about resources on or in the property even before 1954. My comments are not racist in any fashion. “j” noted a civilization here, which is debatable as to how well established it was in the US area, when compared to maybe Mayans, and the greater fire power of Europeans coming here beat them. This has been generally true of most wars. Those with the best technology win, regardless of whether it concerns a difference of sword manufacturing materials or moving from bows and arrows to firearms or cannons, etc. Nothing “j” said in his later post counters what I said. I said we had better technology and won, nothing more, nothing less. I wonder if the “First Peoples” ever warred with one another over property. Nothing I said was a personal attack or libelous, etc. Many who post here want to return to scratching dirt and deny the benefits of technology so I have a running commentary about this issue. I disagree and state so is a straight-foward fashion, vehemently. "

" OLE: thanks, that suffices. On the other hand, your use of the words " a bit looser" in the context of Brian's comment is one of the biggest understatements I've heard of late. "

" Jerry -- The standards for the online reader comments are a bit looser than for published letters. In this case, we trust readers to challenge posts that they find unsupported. "

" Brian, I suggest that you read 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. ISBN 1-4000-3205-9. Published in North America by Knopf on August 9, 2005. It theorizes that:
(a) the population levels were probably higher than traditionally believed among scientists
(b) humans probably arrived in the Americas earlier than thought over the course of multiple waves of migration to the New World (not solely by the Bering land bridge over a relatively short period of time);
The level of cultural advancement and settlement range was higher and broader than previously imagined; and
The New World was largely not a wilderness but an environment controlled by humans (mostly with fire).
We were taught just as you believe, Brian, but just as there have been new revelations in medicine, in music, in health, in what are and what are not planets, there are new revelations in what was going on in the New World.
Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1491:_New_Revelations_of_the_Americas_Before_Columbus

"

" OLE: how is it possible that the Comment from Brian is allowable here? Based on your citeria for posting, I guess it's possible. In it's sheer ignorance and bile, his last comment on Native Americans is as obscene and profane as anything I have ever read in this comments feature. He's gone well beyond personal opinion into the sleazy realm of race-baiting. As a private entity, the Daily Sun is not obligated to post such trash. Would you publish Brian's comments in the print edition of the paper? "

" Brian - Because you don't have as "good" of stuff as other people in this country I'm sure, do you deserve to die? "

" To Flagstaffer: Our self interest is sucking up the world's oil? "

" j: They didn't have a civilization and what they had wasn't as good as what we had. The "First Peoples" got their as*es kicked because they didn't have as good a technology. The proof is the continuing death they undergo on a daily basis because of their inability to come to this conclusion. Living in the past while scratching dirt is death. It was good of you to phrase it as "first peoples" though, instead of buying into the indigenous native stuff. "

" I would assert that geography was originally the motive to war, pre 1954. Since then, geology has been the motive to war; and in this context, Viet Nam was about tin (that was no longer needed for transistor tubes with the development of microprocessors circa 1970). Kuwait and Iraq are clearly about oil, and the hatred that Tom relentlessly refers to is little more than self-defense (his bogus reflections on history notwithstanding). If we move toward wind and helium power, the corporate economy built on current methods of generating energy would cease, pronto. As long as the numbskulls in favor of the status quo remain in leadership positions, all others lose both autonomy and integrity, and possibly their 4000 lives. But I like Tom's neologism of "jihaadism" as a term...sounds almost pornographic. Happily there is no such word, and so once again Tom's position sneaks out from under him like a snake between the sheets. "

" J...

Sure sounds like a lousey place to live!
Where are you moving to??? "

" THis effort of "jihaadism" around the world, i.e. 15 major conflicts of war w/neighbor countries, isn't about terrority is it? .....if not then it must be due to 'hate' on the part of radical Islam.

"

" Anyone who pretends we don't engage in wars of acquisition/conquest is a fool. But the fact that America has engaged in such wars in the past (and may be doing so right now--history will be the judge of that) doesn't make America evil. It just means we look after our self interest, just like every other country on the globe does, and has always done. "

" Sierra vista and casa grande...

We arent the only ones, just latest, before use mexicans who inhereited it from the spanish and before them native races who over ran the prior native races, story of humans evaolving moving and occupying and realizing some day, of all the polutions we have... no one talks about population polution, just too many people, its gonna get alot worse in the future.....Too many people is going to force alot of problems in future... its happening all over world, hard choices to requfire only 1 or 2 kids family etc. very hard, if we didnt occuply it somone wlse wouldhave, hunter gathers are for history....
"

" "j" - by "we" you mean "everyone else except yourself" right? "

" Through European aggression, we inhabit what was pristine and already solidly occupied. Once here, we raped and plundered our way westward. We have overplanted and eroded the land, polluted the waters and poisoned indigenous wildlife, thereby effectivly destroying the First Peoples' civilizations. Now, we need oil from Iraq to fill the gas tanks of our bloated SUV's and Hummers, Dodge Rams. There are antibiotics and hormones in our water supply. When is enough enough? "

" An excellent letter. "