Posts by Simon Grigg
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Hard News: Hip in the Square, in reply to Jacqui Dunn,
Oh wow.
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Hard News: "Orderly transition" in #Egypt, in reply to Lucy Stewart,
it's that the kind of regimes that tend to be in charge of many poor people tend to buy it
As often as not they don't need to - it's provided gratis by the US taxpayer, Egypt being a case in example.
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Hard News: "Orderly transition" in #Egypt, in reply to Angus Robertson,
They don't specialise in selling weapons that poor people can buy, what they mostly do sell is over specced uber technified military hardware.
That's not even close to true. They've armed just about every third world dictator you can think of since 1953 - with high end, low end and medium end weaponry. The aircraft they sell to these people in 2011 include the F-35 for the rich customers and the cheap refurbished A series F-16s at knockdown prices for the likes of Pakistan (and, almost, NZ). Almost everything in between is catered for and sold.
When they can't supply it from the own factories they buy via dealers from Russian bloc and Chinese factories, which they've done in the Middle East as South Asia amongst other places.
The US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program sources from weapons manufacturers all over the world. You want it - they can supply it.
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Hard News: "Orderly transition" in #Egypt, in reply to Angus Robertson,
The USA maximises its markets when other places are more free and more democratic, because America doesn't make much anything for poor people.
I guess that wipes out most of Asia, Africa, and Central America. I'll pop downstairs and tell the kids the coke is on Uncle Sam. Angus that is utter nonsense.
Most typically oil
And pretty much everything else produced by Nike, Guess, Levi, Converse, Apple, HP and a billion other US owned companies.
America is the dominant democracy, its political dominance is accelerated by spreading democracy.
As above: I guess that wipes out most of Asia, Africa, and Central America. Tommy Suharto wants to give you a GOLKAR freedom award, paid for by Uncle Sam.
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Hard News: Hip in the Square, in reply to Danielle,
Bah! The world didn't need a successor to the Moody Blues.....
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Since this seems to be the random Friday thread, some words of wisdom from Bill:
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Hard News: "Orderly transition" in #Egypt, in reply to BenWilson,
They can at least compete in an open marketplace with other democracies.
For most of the post war era they've not wanted to compete, they've just wanted markets, cheap labor [sic], and political dominance. Compete only became a concept when they were forced to.
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Hard News: "Orderly transition" in #Egypt, in reply to Sacha,
Dethroning the 'editor' as it were. The courtiers may not like that much..
Careful, we will be back in the copyright thread before we know it with revolutionary thoughts like that.
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Hard News: "Orderly transition" in #Egypt, in reply to Bart Janssen,
I don't really think there is much to pick between the urban poor of Cairo (20 million plus) and the rural poor.
If this is reliable, the percentage of very poor is much higher in the rural regions. Urban I guess in this means the central parts of the mass, metropolitan the greater sprawl including the middle class 'burbs.
our definition of urban doesn't match Cairo.
I think you can say that about much of the developing world though. I doubt if you took most New Zealanders to the urban hellholes of greater Jakarta or Manilla they would use the word city with ease.