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Iran
What do you guys think of the long-brewing situation in Iran? We've been avoiding so-called "real" news on the show for a number of reasons, but I'm curious as to what you all think. Also, how interested are you in hearing our political commentary? In a pinch, we could do volumes upon volumes in that vein.
Comments
Also Rym, is there anything you two couldn't do volumes upon in a pinch?
I'm with Starfox, I hate political shows. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do it, just don't call it Geeknights. Start a new podcast on politics (because you don't do enough podcasting).
You can talk about the Tech behind the issue, but not the issue itself.
/Obligatory?
//Maybe
///Uncalled for?
////Probably.
Is there anything in particular you're interested in here?
2- How about a show about Scientology and it influence in our country. I know there was a massive thread on it already but hey....could be fun. (honestly I can't remember if you did this already).
3- The political firestorm that is stem cell research.
As for other professionals, any scientists or engineers are good in my book. In light of Emily's recent appearance (and popularity ;-) ) I think it would be great for her to do a show on film making. I can't remember if you guys already suggested this. . . . But anyway, I find the technical process of the creation of my material geekeries as interesting as the final product itself.
Edit: Not to look overtly nerdy but do you guys know any nuclear engineers, you could do an episode on the power gird and power distribution systems. For that matter a phone system episode would be a good idea--how the Internet has changed the telecommunications from centralized and "smart" systems to decentralized and "dumb" systems, for the better I might add.
I'm pretty happy for you to talk about that.
I think you'll have to keep personal opinions to a minimum - I've come to this website to learn about stuff, not whether one thing is better than the other.
Also if you talk politics, please talk internationally. I'm from Australia, and domestic American politics don't interest me. I want to hear about other countries and what's happening there.
Also, if you do cover the above issue you can not leave out the way Lawrence of Arabia was treated after the war. He was given the authority to promise many things to the Arabs to garner their support... Promises that were then ignored once the war came to an end. I'm sure a good portion of the "mistrust of the west" has some roots there.
That said, all we have to go on are their respective track records. The last several republican presidencies have ranged from mediocre to disastrous. The democrats, while I dislike them just as much, at least tend to make more reasonable policy.
Cartoons of Mohhammud? Burn, kill, maim.
Pope says you cause violence? Burn, kill, maim.
Fart upwind of your neighbor? Burn, kill, maim.
I have to doubt that any radical Muslim in any country anywhere in the world has a got-damn clue about how the rest of the world views their reactions. We (refering to everyone who is not a radical Muslim) are faced with cultures that get a sick orgasmic delight in blood and violence in the name of a god. What's worse is the leaders of our country (refering to the US) are so moronically incapable of dealing with this other violent culture that they are rapidly directing us to war. Even WORSE is that it is likely intentional as it is spelled out in "The Project for a New American Century", the document that laid out the objectives written by a neo-con think-tank that spells out a 1984-esque future if you read between the lines.
Iran's unfathomably stupid remarks and Muslim extremist websites declaring war on teh rest of the world untill "it is under Muslim rule" are merely playing into the hands of those who would drive us to war for their benefits.
So what do you do? Ignore them? Engage in war with them? Negotiate with them? Bow to their demands?
Just about every option I can envision has been tested in the Middle East, and that region is still barbaric, backward, undereducated, and dangerous.
Invading gives everyone there a reason to hate us. Leaving them alone while quietly allowing our economic prosperity to uplift them gives them a reason to hate their own leaders instead. The hate against the US is just a distraction, and we're playing right into it.
Now, if instead of invading Iraq and basically destroying one of the few stable and anti-extremist powers in the region, suppose we'd stayed with a massive presence in Afghanistan. Suppose we'd spent all the money we dumped into occupying Iraq into rebuilding Afghanistan and making it a better place to live. The poor and destitute in neighboring countries would have seen that the US actually has good intentions, and that they could benefit from our aid.
The extremists in Iran would have had little argument to make if we'd transformed Afghanistan into a prosperous, or even simply safe land, not even with their own people.
If you keep saying, "cross this line and you'll be in trouble," and they keep crossing the line, how many times can you do this before being seen as irrelevant and a fool?
PS: I'm talking about the UN resolutions.
The major parties have their faults, no doubt. Your language is too heavy handed, though, for my tastes. There are plenty of other places to go for that type of discussion. Why copy them?
Rym clearly has the ability to view an issue from many angles but Scott... The man does not listen to reason, even when Scott is providing the reason!
You two have not lived (or travelled) enough to talk politics in a way that will make you sound like anything other than kids. That is not meant as an insult, just an observation.
But there are still car bombings every day in Israel; Saudi Arabia's civil policies toward women, minorities, and any non-Muslim religion are intolerant; The Berlin Wall just fell in 1991(?) after East Germany stayed under communist rule for 50 years; and China may have some basic free trade emerging, but there's no sign the oppression, censorship, and human rights violations will stop any time soon.
So I'm not convinced that shoving money and western culture on them is going to reform troubled hot-spots. In fact, that exact line of thought seems to be why they hate us so badly.