Do you want to think again about the implied assertion (in your fourth paragraph) that the USA is currently "world leader"?
What constitutes world leadership? If it's just aggregate GDP or number of weapons then, yes, the USA is number one.
But if you measure things like education then the USA is lagging behind lots of smaller and poorer countries. In 2015 the USA was 39th out of 70 countries in mathematics (Vietnam was 21st). USA was better at reading: only 24th.
In terms of life expectancy the USA was 31st out of 183 countries.
And what about cultural output? When did Hollywood last produce a film (sorry, movie) that didn't have a gunfight and a car chase?
Please don't think I am anti-American: it's just that world leadership is about more than flying around the world bombing people.
Thanks, Londo for a very helpful answer. I'm not sure I understand why it's necessary to make an elective post out of what is, essentially, an administrative role. Over here court administrators (and judges) are appointed.
Speaking as a Limey, living in England I don't see the problem. Why doesn't the court fire this woman rather than jail her? If her religious beliefs prevent her from carrying out her professional duties she perhaps should resign.
This reminds me of the lyrics of that 1960s protest song - "when will they ever learn?"
Here in Britain we are just now learning of the true, horrifying extent of the human rights abuses perpetrated by our soldiers in Kenya during the Mau Mau wars. This included setting fire to people and castration with pliers. It makes me ashamed to be British even though it happened before I was born.
We were taught in school that the British empire was a force for good - civilising the natives etc. The reality was that it was a great way of extracting wealth from less powerful people and using indiscriminate violence if those people tried to organise or protest.
Sadly, US culture seems to be a gun culture. My rule of thumb is that one can start watching a US film (sorry, movie) at any point and that within 5 minutes a gun will be fired or brandished. I don't know how you turn that around. Keep up your good work.
Brian's question is a good one. UK and US protest against this kind of obscenity rings hollow because both have been complicit in torture and, in the case of the US, still hold kidnap victims in Guantanamo Bay.
It seems that governments in both those countries still fail to understand that these tactics, together with murderous drone strikes in Pakistan and Afghanistan, produce more terrorism not less.
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Do you want to think again about the implied assertion (in your fourth paragraph) that the USA is currently "world leader"?
What constitutes world leadership? If it's just aggregate GDP or number of weapons then, yes, the USA is number one.
But if you measure things like education then the USA is lagging behind lots of smaller and poorer countries. In 2015 the USA was 39th out of 70 countries in mathematics (Vietnam was 21st). USA was better at reading: only 24th.
In terms of life expectancy the USA was 31st out of 183 countries.
And what about cultural output? When did Hollywood last produce a film (sorry, movie) that didn't have a gunfight and a car chase?
Please don't think I am anti-American: it's just that world leadership is about more than flying around the world bombing people.
Thanks, Londo for a very helpful answer. I'm not sure I understand why it's necessary to make an elective post out of what is, essentially, an administrative role. Over here court administrators (and judges) are appointed.
Speaking as a Limey, living in England I don't see the problem. Why doesn't the court fire this woman rather than jail her? If her religious beliefs prevent her from carrying out her professional duties she perhaps should resign.
Juan, I think there is a typo in your first paragraph: where you say "35 metric tons" I think you miss out the word "billion".
Keep up the good blogging!
This reminds me of the lyrics of that 1960s protest song - "when will they ever learn?"
Here in Britain we are just now learning of the true, horrifying extent of the human rights abuses perpetrated by our soldiers in Kenya during the Mau Mau wars. This included setting fire to people and castration with pliers. It makes me ashamed to be British even though it happened before I was born.
We were taught in school that the British empire was a force for good - civilising the natives etc. The reality was that it was a great way of extracting wealth from less powerful people and using indiscriminate violence if those people tried to organise or protest.
Sadly, US culture seems to be a gun culture. My rule of thumb is that one can start watching a US film (sorry, movie) at any point and that within 5 minutes a gun will be fired or brandished. I don't know how you turn that around. Keep up your good work.
Brian's question is a good one. UK and US protest against this kind of obscenity rings hollow because both have been complicit in torture and, in the case of the US, still hold kidnap victims in Guantanamo Bay.
It seems that governments in both those countries still fail to understand that these tactics, together with murderous drone strikes in Pakistan and Afghanistan, produce more terrorism not less.