Job Discussion Forums

[moonraven]

Sorry--didn't realize that you were an expert in the affairs of the Central African Republic.

If you believe the lunacy you just wrote, it's time for you to consider moving to another planet in the solar system--where I am sure you will have no trouble adapting.

[matttheboy]

[moonraven]

No, but my sense of humor--as well as everything else--is senior to you in all respects.

[moonraven]

For those of you for whom frivolity and pimples are not the end-all and be-all: Who has gotten hold of a complete copy of John Perkins' CONFESSIONS OF AN ECONOMIC HITMAN?

I first read a review in yesterday's La Jornada here in Mexico. Today am skimming around in the web trying to get more excerpts. Apparently pieces will be forthcoming on the Executive Intelligence Review site, but here is a bit of commentary about the Vulcan apparatus (of which Condeleezza Rice, soon to be new US Secretary of State is a part):

"The Perkins book recounts the author's decades-long career as a self-described "economic hitman" ("EHM"), working through multinational corporate cover, on behalf of international financier circles, to bankrupt and loot the key nations of the developing sector, by saddling them with unpayable foreign debts, and grabbing control of their strategic raw materials wealth. Much of this was done through LaRouche's longstanding adversaries at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Indeed, LaRouche and associates have identified this modus operandi, in published locations, over many decades as "bankers' arithmetic."

As Perkins has explained repeatedly, 9/11 drove him to break a long silence, because he was now convinced he must expose this apparatus behind the "economic hitmen."

As Perkins reported in a Nov. 11 interview with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, "When the economic hitmen fail in this scenario, the next step is what we call the jackals ... [who] come in and try to foment a coup or revolution. If that doesn't work, they perform assassinations, or try to."

During his own career as an "economic hitman," employed by the New England engineering firm Chas. T. Main, Inc., Perkins reports that he saw two heads of state, who tried to defend the interests of their own people against the vultures of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, assassinated in fiery plane crashes: Panama's chief of state Omar Torrijos and Ecuador's President Jaime Roldos.

Perkins named the former Bechtel executive, Secretary of State, and creator of Condoleezza Rice's "Vulcan" neo-con apparatus, George Shultz, as a pivotal player in the apparatus into which Perkins was recruited for his role as an economic hitman. It is that network associated with Shultz and others, which Perkins has now come forward to expose. .."
*****

It may or may not be a coincidence that Danilo Anderson was blown to bits 2 days after Rice's nomination. The death of Anderson might be a specific symptom of the new hardline to be taken by the State Department. Or it may be a general symptom of the dynamics at work in the world now.

[you forgot Poland]

Someone needs to get [email protected]

[jpvanderwerf2001]

[moonraven]

Unfortunately, you have the currently popular habit of basing your opinions on zero information. Language drives culture, and the grammar of a language creates the way its speakers see the world around them.

[you forgot Poland]

[moonraven]

I think you missed the point.

Observing a culture is not the same as understanding it.

Since when does the mere use of hand signals allow you to truly communicate in another culture? If that were the case, everybody who contributes to this forum would be out of a job!

At no point did I recommend studying languages in the classroom, BTW. I have never had a single Spanish class, yet I have lived for nearly 13 years in Latin America, have written extensively in Spanish, read a book a day in Spanish, teach courses in Spanish at the university, give conferences in Spanish, etc.

[you forgot Poland]

Fair enough. Clearly, you are a linguist. There are very few people who devote as much of their time to language/writing/reading as you do. Therefore, in your opinion, understanding language is tantamount to understanding native culture.

Similarly, a sports historian would consider understanding a country's sports traditions are necessary to understanding a country's culture. And you know what, a top-notch chef would say that knowing everything about a country's cuisine is absolutely required before you can understand the native peoples.

I hope you get my point. Not everyone shares your values. How much understanding a person wants or needs depends on many factors, not everything is black or white.

[moonraven]

Again, you are off point. You don't understand the basic difference between NECESSARY and SUFFICIENT. Understanding the language is necessary in order to understand a culture. That doesn't mean that it is sufficient.

Where do they dig up you winners, anyway?

BTW: Hugo Ch�vez is being proposed for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize.

Before the flame throwers start their launches, let me remind some of you up-to-the-minute news hounds that 2 years ago Ch�vez won the bbcmundo.com "Man of the Year Award"hands down--based on the bbc's Internet poll (there are some non-reactionaries who use the Internet!)

From the vheadline site:

"This was just a non-scientific poll in internet and not something as prestigious as the Nobel Peace Prize ... so why is Chavez a candidate and likely winner of the Nobel Peace Prize?

Looking at the web page of the Nobel Prizes at www.nobelprize.org/peace the 2004 winner was Wangari Maathai of Kenya was awarded the prize �for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.�

If these three qualities are key to winning the Nobel Peace Prize then Chavez has all these in abundance and more ... he must be the world�s leading democrat having been to the polls 9 times since 1998 ... he promotes peace by asking for troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq, so that these sovereign nations can exercise self-determination and define their own path in the future.

Sustainable and endogenous development is one of the corner stones of the Bolivarian revolution -- thus alleviating poverty medium to long term.

Other accomplishments which have been pushed by Chavez� personal leadership in Venezuela are the Social Missions, all grouped under the humanitarian banner of Mission Christ."

[matttheboy]

[ls650]

Not that this has anything to do with Venezuela...

I think the problem here is that 'understand' is a word with rather broad meaning. Is it impossible for anyone who doesn't know Latin to 'understand' the culture of ancient Rome?

Certainly one can study the culture of a society in great detail and have considerable knowledge of it without knowing the language.

[moonraven]

Yes, "understand" has a broad meaning--and it implies a broad knowledge.

Again, the difference between NECESSARY and SUFFICIENT rears its head. I DID study Latin--and in fact am currently re-reading Cicero and toying with the idea of attending a conference in his birthplace next May. However, I would never claim to really "understand" the culture of Ancient Rome. Studying a language is not enough--one must live and produce in the language and culture to understand it.

Undoubtedly I have a better bead on it, though, than someone who doesn't know Latin. And any historian writing about Ancient Rome who didn't know Latin--and who had not read everything he/she could get his/her hands on in the language would not find a sympathetic publisher.

[moonraven]

Boy: What I have shown is a genuine impatience with folks who a) can't follow an argument and b) continue to opine, regularly, with no information or facts--just to get attention.

I am hereby withdrawing mine from you.