There were floors closed off for days before 911,GWB's nephew was a inspector for the building.

DrHarveys, terriffic Beemer !    When did you go and visit Sardinia ?
Costa Smeralda (Palau actually) is where I indulge myself one week/year, terriffic skindiving !

WebsterMark wrote on 09/22/10 at 05:46:06:


Mr. Webster,
1) Saddanm Hussein was acknowledged as the legitimate Head of State by the US Government


Here he is with Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld, who seems to be quite happy to see him

On the other hand, Mussolini was NOT a Head of State, he was a rogue, deposed and secessionist former Prime Minister .
The Head of State was HM the King Vittorio Emanuele III, who was exiled in 1947.

You seem to be confused on the difference between a Head of State and a Prime Minister.

Your assumption of "knowing enough" is alarming.

You remind me of those apes in the derelict temple in Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book" (never mind the book, go rent the video, it's shorter and it's all pics, nothing to read) you put a rag on your shoulders and a pot on your head and you think you can call yourself a "Man".

During these last 150 years, Italy suffered one political assasination, HM King Umberto I in July 1900, by an anarchist.
The culprit was arrested, sentenced to death, then graced and sentenced to life.

Please, how many US Presidents fell to political assassinations in the same 150 years? How many cases have been 100% solved?
How many assassins have been caught and tried and are serving their sentence ?

When it comes to politics, there is precious little you can teach me, young man.

Webster, being English some people concider me a europian (I'm not)
At age 17 and a half I was obliged to go in the Army or any branch of the service ,I think Americans boys did to at that time,did you ?
Anyway I came home on my first leave after basic training,and my Parents had moved ,my younger sister had entered a training school for nurses,so she was out of the house aswell,they got a one bedroom appartment,So I don't think we are molly coddled like the US teenagers, @ 15 you get yourself a job or an apprentaship and get on with it. If you want to on to higher learning ,then take the tests ,pass them ,then again off you go. your choice.
I got to know lots of Italians toward the end of the war,we had POWs all over the place,they were all nice enough ,our parents told us not to speak with them. At that age tell a kid to not do some thing and that is the one thing he will do,me anyway.

Boy oh boy is this getting to be some tit-for-tat spitting contest !!!

WebsterMark wrote on 09/26/10 at 07:01:24:


Thanks to US foreign politics, Nations such as Albania,Romania, Bulgaria are now NATO Nations; on the other hand, the EU has granted tham some - not all - of the benefits/advantages of EU membership.
Europeans concur the EU analysed the issue with much deeper insight than the US; would you accept a Bulgarian General telling US troops what to do ni a joint military expedition? Or having your men live by Albanian intelligence?

Quote:


I am 50 (fifty) years old, young man, and have three degrees to earn my decent daily bread. I left home at 19 immediately after my baccalaureat (which is way more demanding than a 12thGrade High School Diploma) and never had to return, if not on (paid) holidays.

Quote:


Er... let me get this right. "We" (=The US ) recognized Saddam and used him against what we perceived to be a greater threat, Iraq.
  Is that for real, or are you smoking some really potent stuff ?  
Until proven otherwise, Saddam Hussein was the Head of State of IRAQ, and the US used him to wage war against IRAN.
That is known as "War by proxy", as the US and China waged in Vietnam, or the US and the USSR waged in Afghanistan 1980-on.

Quote:


My dear friend, everything went wrong.
You trained Saddam as a CIA sleeper (when he was studying law at Cairo Uni) then you infiltrated him in Ba'ath Socialist Party in Baghdad;
it turned out Saddam used the CIA to buy himself some college money... go on and read his biography before mixing apples and oranges...

Quote:


Wake up, WM, China hold how many thousand billion US$ in Treasury Bonds ?
The world's top dogs are, at the moment, US, Russia, China and India, in no particular order.
In fact, given my personal experience with the military around the world, may I declare that having top technology does not make up for lack of manpower, while manpower alone, sometimes, will defeat hi-tech; see the hordes of Sherman tanks swarming like ants around German Tiger Panzers !
While EU Enlistment Minimum Requirements have been hiked up considerably ever since we all (EU Nations) converted from National Service (the Draft) to Enlisted volunteers, my US colleagues admit the Minimum Requirements have been lowered noticeably in the US.

The point is, WM, you may have visited Europe, but what did you s e e ? What did you l e a r n ?

Not very long ago there was a study made by I have no clue but I did read it. It was about Europians having way more time off than Americans,What I thought was odd was the fact that europians produced more that US workers in the same year. The answer they said was because Europians were more rested ,they have no health care issues to worry about,and in general seemed to be quite happy.
In my last job we were offered a 40 hr week working 4 10 hr shifts ,I jumped on it ,It seemed to me that three days off a week was much more restfull,even though it was the same.
So don't kid yourself WM,this country is pretty good ,but It isn't any better than any country in Europe, if you use the old noggin you can work anywhere.
Even today ,in this day and age Americans die for the lack of medical insurance,sure if you have a life or death situation they will save your life, but you have untreated cancer ,diabitees, all kinds of other problems can render you quite dead.In short order,
Not so ANYWHERE in Europe.
So please don't give the standard answer, "If you don't like it move"
Believe me I would have gone back to London after retirment but I would miss my kids to much,and none of us are rich enough to buy a $2000 round trip ticket once a year.
Anyway most of the people I know now are all decent enough,that includes many people on this site,except Sarah Palin Fans,I have to draw the line somewhere if you support Sarah Palin,clearly you must be nuts. It's ok Bill I know you only want her to sit on your face,so you are excused.