[extropy-chat] Re: Death Toll

[Brett Paatsch]

Evan Hamlin wrote:

> Hi Brett, nice to meet ya.
>
> No I dont speak for the United States, perhaps you didn't realize that I 
> didn't write this. I received this and thought it was interesting, so I 
> posted it for discussion. My own text ends at "is a bit unsensitive to 
> this..." Perhaps I should have put the article in quotes for clarity. In 
> any case, the point really isnt the facts, dates, or who speaks for who. 
> Its the message that caught my attention, especially the thought that we 
> could actually LOSE, and what that means exactly.

Ah, no problemo.

I do agree of course. We could certainly lose. Whoever we define as
we.  Threats to the United States are older than the anything that happened
in 1979 though. Pearl Harbor occurred earlier than that. And the US
Civil war, after the US independence war.

After World War II a US President,  Franklin Delenor Roosevelt, if my
memory serves on spelling, and Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of
Great Britain, and others, organised to put together an international
organisation aimed at saving "succeeding generations from the scourge
of war, which twice in (their) lifetimes [had] brought untold sorrow to
mankind". That organisations purpose was "to maintain international
peace and security and to that end: to take effective collective measures
for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace".

That Organisation was called the United Nations.  It has a charter.
It is a treaty. Arguably, according to the language in it, it is the master
treaty of treaties between nations.

It contains provisions for each of the respective member nations one
of the most important of which was the United States to ratify it and
to make it part of their own law.

The United States did so ratify it by a vote in the US Senate of around
87 votes in favor to 2 against if memory serves. So the UN Charter
once ratified by Congress became part of the law of the United States
of America. The UN Charter, if you were born into the United States
after its ratification is part of your birthright.

Anyway, I have digressed, and this is probably not what you wished
to talk about.

Without meaning any disrespect to yourself, I'll leave the processing
of what you forwarded from an anonymous source to others if they are
interested. I prefer to work with first hand sources myself. I get more
out of the exchange that way. The personal touch, hearing someone's
personal opinion from them is part of the pleasure for me. Right or
wrong anyones own opinion, if it is honest and generously given, is
interesting if only for being original and authentic. Other peoples opinions
of others opinions isn't so much of interest to me personally.

Sometimes, unfortunately, I've learnt that propaganda is just passed
on by innocents that don't even know they are doing it. And sometimes
those that pass it on aren't even so innocent.

All the best to you,

Brett Paatsch