ARD exclusive interview of Putin.

[A.B]

Whether you like or dislike or even outright hate Putin and all that he and his policies stand for it is worth watching this.

 

[A.B]

sorry ARD not ARP...

[Kyle Aarons]

This man is a murdere, a power hungry communist from he old KGB ddays, and a total sociopath. No one should give him any air time unless it is toexecute him for crimes against humanity.

[A.B]

that is one opinion.

[ken barber]

This man is a murdere, a power hungry communist from he old KGB ddays, and a total sociopath. No one should give him any air time unless it is toexecute him for crimes against humanity.

Wow another point Kyle and I agree on surely hell is a frozen lake at this point

[A.B]

lol

[Rilbur]

Wow another point Kyle and I agree on surely hell is a frozen lake at this point

 

Eh, you guys still disagree on a lot of things.  You're just finally discovering that when you avoid the all-important, planet-shattering issues of fiscal responsibility, global warming, education, the role of the military, well, you aren't all that different.

[ken barber]

Government size, social welfare programs, commerce regulations, tax codes, Congressional oversight, congressional spending, Executive spending, executive oversight, executive orders, immigration, health care, social reform just to name a few more issues we have a tendency to be very far apart on. But yeah if you take all those out i think Kyle and I can agree the Sky is at least a shade of blue and grass is more often than not some sort of shade of green. 

[Rilbur]

 But yeah if you take all those out i think Kyle and I can agree the Sky is at least a shade of blue and grass is more often than not some sort of shade of green. 

Grass is brown!  Unless it's rained recently... which it has not done enough of in sunny CA

[Kyle Aarons]

all the points we disagree on come down to basically one thing Government vs personal responsibility. I find very few times where government is capable of doing the right things and feel people should be allowed to fend for themselves and even be stupid. the other side thinks government should be a safety net against  society ills and stupidity. Like it or not that is the way I see the big difference between the sides

[Rilbur]

 the other side thinks government should be a safety net against  society ills and stupidity.

 

Nice way to rephrase my favorite argument

 

Frankly, I'll admit that it doesn't have to be the government that provides the social safety net, so long as that net is there.  Unfortunately, churches -- which used to be the biggest single provider of such nets -- are just as disastrous at providing it.  Too many churches will only support the 'deserving' (read: attending my particular church) poor, or take the funds that should be going to such activities and apply them to political ends instead (see: Morman Church's media blitzkrieg on Prop 8).

 

Social safety nets are important.  Disability has kept several of my family members afloat in recent months, after necessary surgeries.  Food stamps kept me from starving when I just plain couldn't find enough work to pay the bills.  Can they be abused?  Obviously, and rectifying those abuses is important.  

[ChrisTheBlizzard]

Putin is a dictator of the worst kind. Not only does he reach and grasp for power for the simple pleasure of having that power, he isn't afraid of wading through a sea of blood to achieve his goals. I have family in Russia and I see much of the news they see over there and the bullshit propaganda they are being fed on the news is horrendous. I assume many of you are aware of the situation in Ukraine (I hope that is the right English name). The things being done there in and of themselves are bad enough: basically an invasion, but instead of being honest about it, most soldiers were sent in without documents or markings that would help identify them. When a Russian flag was hoisted above a building belonging to the Ukrainian government, Putin claimed it was done by "pro Russian separatists." Yeah, right.

 

The most horrible thing, however is how he treats his own people. The rouble is weak and falling, which is hurting the population, because wages are not adjusted accordingly. He claims it to be part of his long-term plan.

 

There is also a tragic story I read about the wife of a fallen soldier. Officially, from the Russian point of view, there was never a conflict, as ridiculous as that sounds. A natural consequence of that is that "no soldiers died in battle". So yeah, that, sadly, didn't happen. When the husband of this woman was killed, not only was she denied a compensation, but she wasn't even allowed to properly bury her husband! Soon after calling friends and family to inform them of her husbands passing she called again to take all that she had said back. When friends and family, already in grieving, didn't believe her and demanded to speak to him, a man that wasn't him answered the phone and informed them that he was "alright". No burial happened, instead he was returned to her in an urn, cremated despite the wishes of the widow. To say I was shocked and disgusted by the story would be an understatement.

I honestly think that Putin is pure poison to a country that could be much more than it is right now.

[seabird]

Before we can assume the moral authority over global social questions, we must first clean up our own house. First item that comes to my mind is what we have done to the Native Americans living on reservations. We have turned these people into the equivalent of household pets. We haven't done much better with the poor, elderly, and uneducated among us. For those who need just a "helping hand", we have turned them into the moral equivalent of zombies with their hands out. We have done this in the mistaken belief that we are "helping them".

 

If you find my words harsh and unbelievable, look around you, take a trip to an Indian Reservation, where generations of "benevolent care" have drained a once vibrant race of people of their initiative and replaced it with apathy! Those who came to us for a helping hand" in hard times, have found themselves in a bureaucratic prison of regulations intended to trap them forever in the "hand out" game. Take a good look at our schools, federal regulations have stymied teachers and administrators to the point that many of them have just given up trying to encourage their students to excel. Programs intended to be a temporary assist have been institutionalized in multi-generational social prisons where escape is nearly impossible.

 

 

In other words, we have regulated initiative and creativity out of our people. If you doubt what I say, I suggest you spend some time with the young people of our country, it is heartbreaking to see the dull eyes and lack of interest among our children as they progress towards adulthood. The days of eager and happy children are gone and we have replaced them with orderly, complacent little automatons who do not "rock the boat".

 

It is nearly too late, in another generation initiative and eager intellectual questing among our young will be history. We have already succeeded in in destroying one group of people among us, the Native Americans, and now we are working on the rest of us. In my own lifetime, I have seen our country go from a vibrant, active culture to a population of near zombies with little initiative or concern about what goes on around us. DON'T ROCK THE BOAT!

 

 

 

Charles Bird

SeaBird