best country in the world?

[KickMcCann]

I know we can't say there is or ever will be a perfect nation,
but in terms of relativity, there will always be a best and worst.
So what do you guys think would be the best country to live in?
What do you think is the worst country to live in?

My pics are:

the best- Switzerland

the worst- North Korea

[RyeN]

Romainia

[Ian]

Best: One of the Scandenavian ones

Worst: Niger

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

What is it that makes a country the best/worst?

EDIT: oops, didn't read original post :P

[Funky Monk]

Worst: For me, some parts of America.

Best: Eire

[Desert Fox]

Best : Japan

Worst : Russia

[Nobody]

Best- Sweden
Worst Japan or Amerikkka, depends on the mood.

[Invader Zim]

Best... unknown when I have visited and/or read up on every country in the world then I will tell you...

Worst from what I have been told and read bikina Faso.

[Anarchist Freedom]

best:cuba
worst:columbia


:che:

[Loknar]

If Tibet wasnt under Chinese occupation it would gey my vote as the best.

The worst.....hard to say, maybe Dem. Republic of the Congo or Liberia.

[Non-Sectarian Bastard!]

Plz put your arguments for you choice in your post.

[Xvall]

This is all a matter of opinion. And this is also a matter of perception. Of course, the United States is a wonderful place to live in.. if you are Ken Lay. People like Sherman Austin might think diffirently though.

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

The best nation for me to live in would be Cuba, because it is socialist.

The worst would be Canada! :lol:
j/k, felicia. :D
I would say either the US or Japan.

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

Originally posted by [email protected] 26 2003, 03:15 PM
If Tibet wasnt under Chinese occupation it would gey my vote as the best.

The worst.....hard to say, maybe Dem. Republic of the Congo or Liberia.
You do know that Tibet was an absolute monarchy before the Chinese liberated it, don't you?
Oh, you're a capitalist!? Nevermind. I would expect support for a monarchy from a capitalist.

[Loknar]

You do know that Tibet was an absolute monarchy before the Chinese liberated it, don't you?
Oh, you're a capitalist!? Nevermind. I would expect support for a monarchy from a capitalist.


You do know that 600,000 to 1 million Tibetans have been killed by the Chinese army don’t you? Did you know that Chinese soldiers forced Tibetan children to shoot their parents? That was an act of Chinese imperialism, but wait, China was commie, so it couldn’t be Imperialism right? Never mind that earlier the Kuomintang tried to conquer Tibet. Never mind that the Tibetans are now a minority, 6 million Tibetans live among 7 million Chinese. But wait. This is not Imperialism right?

Tibet was the most peaceful nation on the planet at the time, watch "Seven Years in Tibet", and “Kundun“, you will see how used the Tibetans were to fighting or waging war..

btw, Tibet was not an absolute Monarchy. The believe that the same person ruled them but in a different body (reincarnation). They were a Theocracy.

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

A theocracy, Loknar, is a society ruled by god or some religous diety (sp?), monarchies, as found in Europe were also ruled by rulers "chosen" by "god", so aren't they too theocracies? in what way do you support theocracies? So what if Tibet was peaceful? It was as oppressive as any society ruled by one man.

The reactionaries were probably killed because they were a threat to absolute authority by the people, since they were advocates of a monarchy. These people were obviously not working in function of the people, otherwise they would advocate rule by the people, not by a religous leader "chosen" by "god". I'm not saying that I am in support of what China did to Tibetans, I do not know enough to say that, or to say exactly why they were killed, but in defending a democracy, it is most important to defent the people's right to rule from those who have personal interests in mind.

[Vinny Rafarino]

You do know that 600,000 to 1 million Tibetans have been killed by the Chinese army don’t you? Did you know that Chinese soldiers forced Tibetan children to shoot their parents


Bullshit. Prove it.




Tibet was the most peaceful nation on the planet at the time, watch "Seven Years in Tibet", and “Kundun“, you will see how used the Tibetans were to fighting or waging war..



Can you believe this kat actually cited two hollywood films as PROOF! Necer mind loknar, I don't want you to prove your first statement. It may cause me to have a stroke.

[Loknar]

Victor, you have to remember that the Tibetans live being a wall of mountains, they were then largely isolated from the outside world (yes they had some contact). Maybe the Tibetans were happy with the Dali Lama.


Victor, would you be ok with your country being occupied even if it was a Communist army?

[dopediana]

the best: the network of scandinavian countries. hell, there's no need for IDs or passports because everyone is mellow and peaceful. that's freedom.

the worst: colombia, liberia, congo, ugh, sOOOO many places.....

[Loknar]

Originally posted by COMRADE [email protected] 27 2003, 03:54 AM






Bullshit. Prove it.



Why should I bother? Any link I post, and census records, you will only claim it was BS. Sounds like you have a bit of pride for China, I thought Commies didn’t believe in patriotism or nationalism?



Can you believe this kat actually cited two hollywood films as PROOF! Necer mind loknar, I don't want you to prove your first statement. It may cause me to have a stroke.


Did I say they were cola hard facts? No Hollywood is drama moistly, but the movies do have some truth to them. RAF, I am not some ignorant person relying on Hollywood for my history, I actually get all of my history from personal research.

The reason I

[Comrade Ceausescu]

the dali lama is a hypocrite.he claims to be "homeless" and have no possesions yet how the hell can he afford to stay in 5 star hotels every night and eat $900 dinners??

[Loknar]

Originally posted by COMRADE [email protected] 27 2003, 03:54 AM






Bullshit. Prove it.



Why should I bother? Any link I post, and census records, you will only claim it was BS. Sounds like you have a bit of pride for China, I thought Commies didn’t believe in patriotism or nationalism?



Can you believe this kat actually cited two hollywood films as PROOF! Necer mind loknar, I don't want you to prove your first statement. It may cause me to have a stroke.


Did I say they were cold hard facts? No Hollywood is drama moistly, but the movies do have some truth to them. RAF, I am not some ignorant person relying on Hollywood for my history, I actually get all of my history from personal research.

[shootingshark]

The best country in the world is by far the United States.

The worst country is probably one of those African shitholes. You pick the one. Let's see. The Congo. Liberia. Sierra Leone. Algeria. Of course, if you enjoy doped out teenagers riding on motorcycles and waving their ak-47's in the air, then Africa would be the place for you.

[Loknar]

Originally posted by [email protected] 27 2003, 04:02 AM
the dali lama is a hypocrite.he claims to be "homeless" and have no possesions yet how the hell can he afford to stay in 5 star hotels every night and eat $900 dinners??
The Dali Lama heads a Government in Exile, did you think he was poor? He also get money fom India. I am not sure if he sleeps in a 5 star hotel, are you certain he does?

[synthesis]

http://rwor.org/a/firstvol/tibet/TIBET1.HTM


The Violence of the Lamas

In old Tibet, the upper classes preached mystical Buddhist nonviolence. But, like all ruling classes in history, they practiced reactionary violence to maintain their rule.

The lamaist system of government came into being through bloody struggles. The early lamas reportedly assassinated the last Tibetan king, Lang Darma, in the 10th century. Then they fought centuries of civil wars, complete with mutual massacres of whole monasteries. In the 20th century, the 13th Dalai Lama brought in British imperialist trainers to modernize his national army. He even offered some of his troops to help the British fight World War I.

These historical facts alone prove that lamaist doctrines of "compassion" and "nonviolence" are hypocrisy.

The former ruling class denies there was class struggle in old Tibet. A typical account by Gyaltsen Gyaltag, a representative of the Dalai Lama in Europe, says: "Prior to 1950, the Tibetans never experienced a famine, and social injustices never led to an uprising of the people." It is true that there is little written record of class struggle. The reason is that Lamaism prevented any real histories from being written down. Only disputes over religious dogma were recorded.

But the mountains of Tibet were filled with bandit runaways, and each estate had its armed fighters. This alone is proof that constant struggle--sometimes open, sometimes hidden--defined Tibetan society and its power relations.

Revolutionary historians have documented uprisings among Tibetan serfs in 1908, 1918, 1931, and the 1940s. In one famous uprising, 150 families of serfs of northern Tibet's Thridug county rose up in 1918, led by a woman, Hor Lhamo. They killed the county head, under the slogan: "Down with officials! Abolish all ulag forced labor!"

Daily violence in old Tibet was aimed at the masses of people. Each master punished "his" serfs, and organized armed gangs to enforce his rule. Squads of monks brutalized the people. They were called "Iron Bars" because of the big metal rods they carried to batter people.

It was a crime to "step out of your place"--like hunting fish or wild sheep that the lamaist declared were "sacred." It was even a crime for a serf to appeal his master's decisions to some other authority. When serfs ran away, the masters' gangs went to hunt them down. Each estate had its own dungeons and torture chambers. Pepper was forced under the eyelids. Spikes were forced under the fingernails. Serfs had their legs connected by short chains and were released to wander hobbled for the rest of their lives.

Grunfeld writes: "Buddhist belief precludes the taking of life, so that whipping a person to the edge of death and then releasing him to die elsewhere allowed Tibetan officials to justify the death as 'an act of God.' Other brutal forms of punishment included the cutting off of hands at the wrists, using red-hot irons to gouge out eyes; hanging by the thumbs; and crippling the offender, sewing him into a bag, and throwing the bag in the river."

As signs of the lamas' power, traditional ceremonies used body parts of people who had died: flutes made out of human thigh bones, bowls made out of skulls, drums made from human skin. After the revolution, a rosary was found in the Dalai Lama's palace made from 108 different skulls. After liberation, serfs widely reported that the lamas engaged in ritual human sacrifice--including burying serf children alive in monastery ground-breaking ceremonies. Former serfs testified that at least 21 people were sacrificed by monks in 1948 in hopes of preventing the victory of the Maoist revolution.


Read the whole thing.

[Loknar]

The lamaist system of government came into being through bloody struggles. The early lamas reportedly assassinated the last Tibetan king, Lang Darma, in the 10th century. Then they fought centuries of civil wars, complete with mutual massacres of whole monasteries. In the 20th century, the 13th Dalai Lama brought in British imperialist trainers to modernize his national army. He even offered some of his troops to help the British fight World War I.




Big deal. Which nation hasn’t had all of the above happen? I am not claiming that the Tibetans are completely peaceful, but compared to most nations they were. And why is it so bad to modernize the armed forces? Did you know that the Tibetan army numbered only 5,000 troops when the Chinese invaded?

[Ian]

Originally posted by [email protected] 27 2003, 02:28 AM
Tibet was the most peaceful nation on the planet at the time, watch "Seven Years in Tibet", and “Kundun“, you will see how used the Tibetans were to fighting or waging war..
Hilarious, not only does he use Hollywood movies as his evidence to prove that the Tibetan's were the most peaceful people on Earth, but he cites a film based on a book written by a Nazi Heinrich Harrer, a true authority on 'peace'

Wonderfully proven my medieval government loving friend...

[Non-Sectarian Bastard!]

Originally posted by [email protected] 27 2003, 02:28 AM



You do know that Tibet was an absolute monarchy before the Chinese liberated it, don't you?
Oh, you're a capitalist!? Nevermind. I would expect support for a monarchy from a capitalist.


You do know that 600,000 to 1 million Tibetans have been killed by the Chinese army don’t you? Did you know that Chinese soldiers forced Tibetan children to shoot their parents? That was an act of Chinese imperialism, but wait, China was commie, so it couldn’t be Imperialism right? Never mind that earlier the Kuomintang tried to conquer Tibet. Never mind that the Tibetans are now a minority, 6 million Tibetans live among 7 million Chinese. But wait. This is not Imperialism right?

Tibet was the most peaceful nation on the planet at the time, watch "Seven Years in Tibet", and “Kundun“, you will see how used the Tibetans were to fighting or waging war..

btw, Tibet was not an absolute Monarchy. The believe that the same person ruled them but in a different body (reincarnation). They were a Theocracy.
I liked your post, untill you started about 7 years in Tibet. I hope that that isn't your main information source.

I know too little about the situation to make a real statement, but as far as I can see it. It was Chinese Imperialism vs. Tibetian Monarchism.

[Maynard]

The "best" country or the country I would most like to live in is Denmark for various reasons. Even if there current Prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen is a racist fuckface, there attitude towards life is what attracts me.

Worst I don't know perhaps Somalia. They have the worst Human Wellbeing Index I do believe. Norway has the best closely followed by Finland and Denmark.

[truthaddict11]

i dont really think you can make an accurate choice for "best" and "worst" countries. What are you working with for a basis? Overall treatment of its citizens? Type of government? Civil Rights? What things make a state "bad"? Or "good"

[ComradeRobertRiley]

Whats peoples beef with Japan? (apart from capitalist)

Best: Cuba

Worst: Amerikka

[Sasafrás]

As far as politics go, I can't think of which is best, to be honest.
WORST: HONG KONG!!



Without any regard to politics at all:

BEST: Brasil or Holland

WORST: Australia... :(

[proofisinthepudding]

The best - Hmmm.
I've lived in 6 different nations now around the globe and I have to say that to have money in England is grand but to be poor in England is quite dreadful.

To be wealthy or middle-class in Australia is wonderful because there's so much space and that space and climate affords a fantastic lifestyle based around simple pleasures like the sea and sun or the mountains and deserts.

So I guess my vote for best is Aussie but I realize that it isnt wonderful if you're an orphan or born the offspring of a drunk.

I think Neville Bonner (an aboriginal that was born to poverty and had no education who nonetheless rose to become an Australian senator) is probably my hero- he proved that no matter what your station in life you can overcome if you persist ( of course that is if there's constitutional stability you can rise- and Australia has had the third or fourth longest stretch of constitutional stability of all the nations in the world now).
Incidently Neville Bonner was a constitutional Monarchist which is interesting because you'd think he would naturally have been inclined to lean to the Left being born into such a crappy set of circumstances and all but no; he rose through his efforts.
He supported the Australian `Washminster' system because it equates to stability and not the fantasy that leads to ideological mass murder such as Saddams corrupted Ba'athist reign of terror in Iraq on Iraqs minorities.

Now, my vote for the worst nation in the world has to be North Korea. I am a fan of Dr Volletsen (spelling?) and I would gladly assist him with his campaigns to raise awareness about what he has seen going on up there. He's the only foreigner to ever be awarded Nth Koreas highest civic honor and then to be given free ticket around the nation ONLY to be ignominiously thrown out for reporting what attrocities were actually going on- He personally witnessed an impaling of a Nth Korean soldier that was accused of stealing a kilogram of salt.

Sometimes I travel up near the DMZ because it is only about 45kms away and hey, that place at night when the sky is lit up with flares is like a surreal scene from Apocalypse Now.

The sooner the Nth is broken by the upcoming P.S.I. the better I say.... I only hope the Nth doesnt sell a nuke before the P.S.I. starts because they'll sell absolutely anything to support the cost of their military first dogma.



Cheers... and keep up the naive leftist banter- it's good for a laugh as long as you don't act on it and bring millions of more deaths into the world!

Proofisinthepudding

Shinchon
Seoul
R.O.K.

[WilliamBeckerson]

I started a new thread but it got locked.

My vote: Canada
Reason:

Mine, I like winters, medical care (stomach problems), and the multiculturalism of my hometown in Nova Scotia.

Plus we are a socialist system, unlike the capitalist down south.

Worst: USA

Take what they want when they want it, globalization, WWE.

[Sasafrás]

Originally posted by [email protected] 27 2003, 01:23 PM
I started a new thread but it got locked.

My vote: Canada
Reason:

Mine, I like winters, medical care (stomach problems), and the multiculturalism of my hometown in Nova Scotia.

Plus we are a socialist system, unlike the capitalist down south.

Worst: USA

Take what they want when they want it, globalization, WWE.
I'm not trying to start a fight nor am I trying to be a US Patriot (I am FAR from it!), but it bothers me when people act like the US is the shittiest place in the world. In the US, there are some socialistic tendencies, one being free health care and there are some (though, sadly, they are not always inforced) regulations on businesses. The reason I put Hong Kong as the worst is because it is the most capitalistic place in the world. They don't provide you with a goddamned thing at all. They expect you to do EVERYTHING yourself. Pretty sad. :(

As far as your thread (which deserved to be locked), WB, the whole Canada v. USA thing is pretty cliche and stupid on this board. All it does is create shit and make people mad, so there may as well not be anything in existence to egg people on. To be honest, it's simply trivial and childish...

[Babylon5 Crusade]

The best country!

http://www.truckersmall.net/dffgodblessV.jpghttp://www.funnyfreepics.com/images/flagburners.jpg

[WilliamBeckerson]

Originally posted by Sasafrás+Sep 27 2003, 06:35 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Sasafrás @ Sep 27 2003, 06:35 PM)
[email protected] 27 2003, 01:23 PM
I started a new thread but it got locked.

My vote: Canada
Reason:

Mine, I like winters, medical care (stomach problems), and the multiculturalism of my hometown in Nova Scotia.

Plus we are a socialist system, unlike the capitalist down south.

Worst: USA

Take what they want when they want it, globalization, WWE.
I&#39;m not trying to start a fight nor am I trying to be a US Patriot (I am FAR from it&#33;), but it bothers me when people act like the US is the shittiest place in the world. In the US, there are some socialistic tendencies, one being free health care and there are some (though, sadly, they are not always inforced) regulations on businesses. The reason I put Hong Kong as the worst is because it is the most capitalistic place in the world. They don&#39;t provide you with a goddamned thing at all. They expect you to do EVERYTHING yourself. Pretty sad. :(

As far as your thread (which deserved to be locked), WB, the whole Canada v. USA thing is pretty cliche and stupid on this board. All it does is create shit and make people mad, so there may as well not be anything in existence to egg people on. To be honest, it&#39;s simply trivial and childish... [/b]
I agree with the locking of the other thread, my bad.

But I feel my comment fits in on this thread, these are my opinions, thanks.

[Sasafrás]

Originally posted by WilliamBeckerson+Sep 27 2003, 01:46 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (WilliamBeckerson @ Sep 27 2003, 01:46 PM)
Originally posted by Sasafrá[email protected] 27 2003, 06:35 PM

[email protected] 27 2003, 01:23 PM
I started a new thread but it got locked.

My vote: Canada
Reason:

Mine, I like winters, medical care (stomach problems), and the multiculturalism of my hometown in Nova Scotia.

Plus we are a socialist system, unlike the capitalist down south.

Worst: USA

Take what they want when they want it, globalization, WWE.
I&#39;m not trying to start a fight nor am I trying to be a US Patriot (I am FAR from it&#33;), but it bothers me when people act like the US is the shittiest place in the world. In the US, there are some socialistic tendencies, one being free health care and there are some (though, sadly, they are not always inforced) regulations on businesses. The reason I put Hong Kong as the worst is because it is the most capitalistic place in the world. They don&#39;t provide you with a goddamned thing at all. They expect you to do EVERYTHING yourself. Pretty sad. :(

As far as your thread (which deserved to be locked), WB, the whole Canada v. USA thing is pretty cliche and stupid on this board. All it does is create shit and make people mad, so there may as well not be anything in existence to egg people on. To be honest, it&#39;s simply trivial and childish...
I agree with the locking of the other thread, my bad.

But I feel my comment fits in on this thread, these are my opinions, thanks. [/b]
I respect your opinions and ideas, kiddo, and I mean no harm to you.. ;)

I was also just stating (or typing) mine..

It&#39;s good that you are okay with the locking of your thread. If you look around more on here and if you had the opportunity to look into people&#39;s PM inboxes and outboxes, you&#39;d understand more deeply how Canadian nationalism (and, really, nationalism in general), has placed a damper on people&#39;s relationships here and on this board as a whole. :(

Peace & Love,

Sassy :)

[Dhul Fiqar]

lol - no wonder you think Tibet was a peaceful paradise before the invasion - you watched the Hollywood version.

You really need to read some Tibetan history - it is quite fascinating how the rulers of the Mongol hordes, such as Kublai Khan, struck deals with Tibetan spiritual leaders to proclaim them rightful rulers of all of China through re-incarnation. In fact re-incarnation became the biggest source of wealth for them because for centuries they issued declarations for money - usually along the lines of: "This warlord is Genghis Khan reborn - all true Buddhists must join his army and kill all Chinese because they are pests on the land&#33;&#33;" etc. etc.

Wonderful, fascinating, beautiful - all these things describe Tibetan history and culture. Don&#39;t try to add "peaceful" or "tolerant" - or you will look like a Richard Gere-esque fool ;)

--- G.

[Purple]

I&#39;ll say Norway is pretty fucked up....

A party that didn&#39;t almost didn&#39;t get one vote was elected to take the rule over a county(I&#39;m not sure what you should call a Norwegian "fylke").... What the hell is the point of voting if this is how it becomes?


It&#39;s not unusual that a party that lost the election takes the seat, and it&#39;s frikin&#39; annoying......


And Norway has got the most dope-addicts, compared with the population... :unsure: .( I believe :huh: )

[Urban Rubble]

Actually, if you don&#39;t have a heart or a consciense (sp?) at all, then America would be the best. You see, as a result of our Imperialism, Capitalism, and general raping of the Third World, most Americans enjoy a great standard of living. We here in America are living great, but the thing is, it is only because we are mudering millions of others to have what we do. So ya, if you have no heart and don&#39;t care about other people, then the U.S would be the best place to live.

Now, as far as politics, I&#39;d say Cuba. Of course, we all know that Cuba wouldn&#39;t be the most desireable place to live, and again, we partly have the U.S to thank. But as for sheer politics, I&#39;d say Cuba.

Worst ? Well, I don&#39;t think there is neccessarily a worst (nor is there a best) but I wouldn&#39;t want to live in North Korea. I wouldn&#39;t want to live in alot of African nations. I definately wouldn&#39;t want to live in Saudi Arabia. I think I&#39;ll go with some extreme mulsim country, maybe Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan.

[truthaddict11]

Plus we are a socialist system, unlike the capitalist down south.



canada is not socialist, several capitalist countries provide thing such as health care.

[Rastafari]

this is probably the dumbest topic I have ever even heard of. There is no "best country in the world," thats bullshit. How can we judge places we have only heard about on CNN (or better, FOXnews)?


That being said, Australia sucks :D

[Dark Capitalist]

There are no socialist or capitalist nations.

[Loknar]

Ian rocks


Hilarious, not only does he use Hollywood movies as his evidence to prove that the Tibetan&#39;s were the most peaceful people on Earth, but he cites a film based on a book written by a Nazi Heinrich Harrer, a true authority on &#39;peace&#39;

Wonderfully proven my medieval government loving friend...



No, I suggest Hollywood movie because people wont read any book I suggest. Big deal, I hope you realize that before the Nazis came to power many people didn’t work, not everyone had the idea of war and killing Jews you know.

CCCP



I liked your post, untill you started about 7 years in Tibet. I hope that that isn&#39;t your main information source.

I know too little about the situation to make a real statement, but as far as I can see it. It was Chinese Imperialism vs. Tibetian Monarchism.



I suggest movies because I doubt anyone would read a 500 page book on this issue. I am not some ignorant person who saw the movie "The Patriot" as fact.

On your last sentence, I suppose it&#39;s true. But we have to remember Tibet probably didn’t have a strong central government. As a result the smaller communities were probably ran by monks and rich people. Hell, Tibet’s army was only 5,000 troops. I doubt government authority could be enforced with that amount.


Dhul Fiqar




lol - no wonder you think Tibet was a peaceful paradise before the invasion - you watched the Hollywood version.


No, I read about it with great interest then I rented some movies. I know better than to rely on Hollywood.


You really need to read some Tibetan history - it is quite fascinating how the rulers of the Mongol hordes, such as Kublai Khan, struck deals with Tibetan spiritual leaders to proclaim them rightful rulers of all of China through re-incarnation. In fact re-incarnation became the biggest source of wealth for them because for centuries they issued declarations for money - usually along the lines of: "This warlord is Genghis Khan reborn - all true Buddhists must join his army and kill all Chinese because they are pests on the land&#33;&#33;" etc. etc.

Yeah I know, but I don’t see it as a big deal. Many countries-even Soviet Russia-used religion as a tool.


Wonderful, fascinating, beautiful - all these things describe Tibetan history and culture. Don&#39;t try to add "peaceful" or "tolerant" - or you will look like a Richard Gere-esque fool


Yes the first 3 words will do. But you have to admit, when compared with most nations they dont look so bad.



In conclusion people, I am not under the false impression that Tibetans have never waged ear, ore have not been violent. I know they have. My only point is, they were much better off not being colonized by the Chi Coms. Actually before the Chinese army invaded Tibet was starting to work toward modernization. Had the Chinese not invaded Tibet today Tibet would be a nice buffer zone between India and China.


On the issue of Buddhist monks. I know they are very violent people at times despite popular belief of being pacifists. I am well aware of the warrior monks of Feudal Japan.

[Rastafari]

This is off topic, but one thousand thanks to Comrade RAF for locking the previous thread.

[Vinny Rafarino]

No problem comrade. That horse has been beaten to death twice over.

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

Loknar, did you just imply that Naziism had a positive social impact on Germany because it generated jobs, did you?&#33; *sigh*.... never mind.

My beef with Japan is that its modern culture is extremely repulsive to me because of.... well.... several things really.

[Dark Capitalist]

several things really.


Tentacle sex?

[Desert Fox]

Originally posted by Desert [email protected] 26 2003, 05:11 PM
Best : Japan

Worst : Russia
Japan --&#62; one of the most strict regime&#39;s in the world, everything is perfectly controlled by the goverment. Loyalty, honour and respect still have a meaning there ...

Russia --&#62; a country that strifes to be strict but fails in it, they had a good grip on everything before the fall of their empire, but now there is nothing really good in it

[Dhul Fiqar]

Originally posted by [email protected] 28 2003, 07:30 AM


Wonderful, fascinating, beautiful - all these things describe Tibetan history and culture. Don&#39;t try to add "peaceful" or "tolerant" - or you will look like a Richard Gere-esque fool


Yes the first 3 words will do. But you have to admit, when compared with most nations they dont look so bad.
Very true - in fact it is a very fascinating country and one I would love to visit. I just get a bit upset when the Beastie Boys and Richard Geres of the world gloss over major parts of Tibetan history to blame all their current woes on Communism and Mao - life in Tibet has (sadly) never been ideallic because life generally isn&#39;t. Furthermore it has always had to struggle against poverty and natural circumstances - as well as the dogmatic influence of their version of "Buddhism" - which has always struck me as a distinctly odd way of looking at the teachings of the Buddah.

But I digress :)

--- G.

[Xvall]

Tentacle sex?

Sadly enough I know what you are referring to.

[Rastafari]

I understand, Drake Dracoli, I had the same feeling.



anyway, here is some bad shit that just happened:
Rape of Nanking Anniversery Orgy (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20030928/ts_afp/china_japan_030928140016)

[Dark Capitalist]

Harakiri&#33;

One of my favorites.

http://fx.sakura.ne.jp/~sympow/doku/xpic/1uzcg/uz41g.jpg

I think the high amount of stress associated with modern Japanese lifestyle has much to do with these twisted sexual fetishes.


BTW, do any of you girls enjoy Bukkake? ;)

[Nny]

I had an opinion on this thread, I really did, sadly I forgot what it was, thanks to Dark Capitolists lovely photo. Please excuse me while I thrust my thumbs into my eyesockets and vomit out the blood. :wub:

[Zombie]

as far as I&#39;m concerned, I only lived (for a prolonged period of time) in 2 countries ; Canada (6-7 years) and Lebanon (14-15 years) . I can say I enjoy(ed) living in both of them, each of them bringing some special meaning to my pityful life. I won&#39;t go to the extent of comparing them point by point, that would be just plain crap. There is no best or worst for me. There is just good and bad memories, like in anything we plan in our lives.
I just miss home greatly, and hope that someday I will be able to go back there, if only for a minute.

Now where&#39;s the weed and booze so i can forget about my nostalgia :D

[Kapitan Andrey]

Desert Fox...damn you, bastard&#33; :angry:

THE BEST - RUSSIA AND CUBA&#33; :cuba: :che:

THE WORST - yankeeland (amerikkka) and former-USSR Pribaltian countries&#33;&#33;&#33; :angry:

The best nature is in Russia&#33; In Siberia&#33;&#33;&#33; :)

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

Hey, don&#39;t shit on Japan&#33; there is just way different from ours&#33;

DC: That picture is incorrect.
If she had really cut herself open like that, tthere would be alot more blood pooled about her.
The human body conatains 7 pints of blood, an awful lot to spill&#33;
Also, Harakiri is honourable suicide, and since she&#39;s not dead when her head&#39;s being cut off, it isn&#39;t harakiri.

[Desert Fox]

Originally posted by Kapitan [email protected] 30 2003, 11:39 AM
Desert Fox...damn you, bastard&#33; :angry:

THE BEST - RUSSIA AND CUBA&#33; :cuba: :che:

THE WORST - yankeeland (amerikkka) and former-USSR Pribaltian countries&#33;&#33;&#33; :angry:

The best nature is in Russia&#33; In Siberia&#33;&#33;&#33; :)
Well russia was great when it was still part of the soviet union. But now it lost it&#39;s power. Cuba however is still great and didn&#39;t lose one bit of power ;)

[Jesus Christ]

Best: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Canada, Cuba

Worst: Too many to list, but you can bet that the U.S. will be at the top.

[fidels_boy_toy]

Originally posted by [email protected] 27 2003, 01:42 AM
The best nation for me to live in would be Cuba, because it is socialist.

The worst would be Canada&#33; :lol:
j/k, felicia. :D
I would say either the US or Japan.
Kinda funny... If the best place to live would be Cuba why aren&#39;t you living there. I&#39;m sure they would love to have you. Castro would parade you around showing everyone the American (I assume you&#39;re American) that seen the light. If Cuba is such a great place to live why are people dying trying to escape. People will actually try to float 90 miles to Florida just to get away from that place. In America you can simply get on a plane and go to hell if you want. Nobody cares.

Try leaving Cuba (unless you&#39;re a crimminal) with Castro&#39;s blessing. Yea, just to get an airline ticket to another country. Wait... do they even have airplanes in Cuba. Be carefull what you wish for commie boy.

Remember Fight the Power&#33;

[xy_controlx]

i have to say that worst is england......fucking sellouts

[Desert Fox]

Originally posted by fidels_boy_toy+Oct 1 2003, 03:54 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (fidels_boy_toy @ Oct 1 2003, 03:54 PM)
[email protected] 27 2003, 01:42 AM
The best nation for me to live in would be Cuba, because it is socialist.

The worst would be Canada&#33; :lol:
j/k, felicia. :D
I would say either the US or Japan.
Kinda funny... If the best place to live would be Cuba why aren&#39;t you living there. I&#39;m sure they would love to have you. Castro would parade you around showing everyone the American (I assume you&#39;re American) that seen the light. If Cuba is such a great place to live why are people dying trying to escape. People will actually try to float 90 miles to Florida just to get away from that place. In America you can simply get on a plane and go to hell if you want. Nobody cares.

Try leaving Cuba (unless you&#39;re a crimminal) with Castro&#39;s blessing. Yea, just to get an airline ticket to another country. Wait... do they even have airplanes in Cuba. Be carefull what you wish for commie boy.

Remember Fight the Power&#33; [/b]
Sure as american he can live there, he will be fine laying in a grave in the cemetery because he was killed for being a american. Cubans don&#39;t like americans in their country, think about it dude :P

[Anti-Fascist]

Best: North Korea

Worst: Racist and Fascist and Imperialist Amerikkka, and all those fascistic countries in the Middle
East. I hate Fascism and Racism more than anything else.

[Loknar]

Originally posted by [email protected] 1 2003, 06:13 PM
Best: North Korea


What could be better than working your ass off while starving right? :lol:

[Xvall]

Kinda funny... If the best place to live would be Cuba why aren&#39;t you living there.

We are revolutionaries. Why would we try to start a socialist/communist revolution in a nation that had already been socialized. In addition, we don&#39;t move because we don&#39;t have to. Chances are that the United States is currently attempting to overthrow the Cuban government as it is.


I&#39;m sure they would love to have you. Castro would parade you around showing everyone the American (I assume you&#39;re American) that seen the light.

False. First of all, Castro is not psychic. It&#39;s not like Cuba has some sort of Yankee radar that can distinguish Americans. Second of all, many people visit Cuba. I know several Americans who have visited Cuba. Many of the Americans here have visited Cuba. Funny, none of them have been &#39;paraded&#39;, or killed in public by Castro&#39;s evil firing squads. Tourists visit Cuba. Americans visit Cuba. Europeans visit Cuba. A lot of people visit Cuba. What is clear, however, is that you&#39;ve never gone to Cuba. This likely explains your lack of knowledge in the subject.


If Cuba is such a great place to live why are people dying trying to escape. People will actually try to float 90 miles to Florida just to get away from that place. In America you can simply get on a plane and go to hell if you want. Nobody cares.

Not everyone is trying to escape. Not even 1% of the Cuban population tries to &#39;escape&#39;. In addition, there have been historical instances where Cuban dissenters and anti-Castro fanatics were given a free ride to America. That&#39;s wasn&#39;t enough for congress, however, so soon they started having some of these exiles attack their own country. Then, when the Cubans retaliated against U.S sponsored terrorism, they were accused of &#39;agression&#39;. On top of this, more people try to leave nations like Mexico and Haiti than they do in Cuba; and Mexico and Haiti are capitalist nations. And actually, thanks to things such as the Patriot Act and the Department of Homeland Security, hopping on a Jet isn&#39;t very easy. Also, keep in mind that your country has an embargo on Cuba. As to your previous question, your government will not allow us to go to Cuba.


Try leaving Cuba (unless you&#39;re a crimminal) with Castro&#39;s blessing. Yea, just to get an airline ticket to another country. Wait... do they even have airplanes in Cuba. Be carefull what you wish for commie boy.

Yes, they have airplanes in Cuba. That was a fairly stupid assumption. Castro isn&#39;t some type of Cuban god. You make it seem as though he is capable of monitering every single thing going on within the nation. People do leave Cuba. It is quite possible. Maybe the reason people aren&#39;t flocking to American en masse is because they like how they are at least supplied with housing, food, and clothing. Maybe they don&#39;t all want to go to the United States where they can get quatrentined, ripped off, descriminated against, and fired.

[Firestorm]

I just came back from Lhasa. China is still pushing the Tibetian people around like dirt. This has nothing to do with Communism or Socialism it has to do with cultural imperialism. China has little respect for other nations, and this much has always been evident. China is also untrue to its Communist ideology...creating special economic zones and such just to get more money through greedy US and European corperations. I hardly think this is Communism buddy&#33;

Yet you will be critical of the Dalai Lama and his people&#33;? WTF&#33; He is a good guy, and he makes sense&#33;
Tibet has always been Socialist...even under a "ruler"....which is actually a spiritual leader (and a very open and tollerant one at that)

[Urban Rubble]

Fidel&#39;s Boy Toy, Capitalist morons are tolerated in OI here, but if you&#39;re going to talk shit about things, you should at least know what the fuck you are talking about. Vague, second hand info form Fox news is not enough.

Anyone who says North Korea is the "best" country in the world is either a moron or joking. Kim Jong Il is a fucking nutball. DPRK is a monarchy. People are starving, and not just because of Western aggression.

[Urban Rubble]

Firestorm, the Dalai Lama is not a "good guy". Tibet was not Socialist. It was shit then and it&#39;s shit now. I am not condoning what China is doing, but you people that think Tibet was some utopia before China came in make me laugh.

[Vinny Rafarino]

Originally posted by [email protected] 1 2003, 11:18 PM
I just came back from Lhasa. China is still pushing the Tibetian people around like dirt. This has nothing to do with Communism or Socialism it has to do with cultural imperialism. China has little respect for other nations, and this much has always been evident. China is also untrue to its Communist ideology...creating special economic zones and such just to get more money through greedy US and European corperations. I hardly think this is Communism buddy&#33;

Yet you will be critical of the Dalai Lama and his people&#33;? WTF&#33; He is a good guy, and he makes sense&#33;
Tibet has always been Socialist...even under a "ruler"....which is actually a spiritual leader (and a very open and tollerant one at that)


A] China is not a communist country, they are not even socialist any longer.


B] What makes you think the Dalai Lama makes sense? Buddism like all other archaic and decandent religions makes very little sense what so ever. Let&#39;s examine the four noble "truths" that all Buddhism factions practise;

First "noble truth",

The first noble truth is the full understanding of suffering. The first noble truth includes awareness of all the ramifications of suffering, because it encompasses the very nature and essence of suffering. This includes knowledge of the subtle and the obvious aspects of suffering. The obvious aspect of suffering is immediate pain or difficulty in the moment. Subtle suffering is more difficult to understand, because it begins with happiness. But by its very nature this happiness must change because it can&#39;t go on forever. Because it must change into suffering, subtle suffering is the impermanence of pleasure.

In other words, there will be events in the world until the day you die that will piss you off.

Here is a nice little example from a Tibetan Buddhism site;

For example, when Thrangu Rinpoche went to Bhutan with His Holiness Karmapa, he was invited to the palace of the king of Bhutan. When he arrived there, the palace was magnificent, the king&#39;s chambers were beautiful, there were many servants who showed complete respect and obedience. But he and Karmapa found that even though there was so much external beauty, the king himself was suffering a great deal mentally and had many difficulties. The king himself said that he was quite relieved that His Holiness had come and emphasized how much the visit meant to him because of the various difficulties with which he had been troubled. This is the subtle aspect of suffering.


Translation: Money, power, beauty and lots of chicks will not always make you happy. Why? Because being in power means you are responsible for the lives of many people. You must also make decisions on events that are of incredible circumstances. A very heavy load to bear.

Gee, I sure needed a Buddha to shed light on that one for me. Good grief. Let us conclude on the first "noble truth";

The first noble truth makes it clear that there is suffering. Once one knows what suffering is, one must eliminate that suffering. It is not a question of eliminating the suffering itself, but of eliminating the causes of suffering. Once one removes the causes of suffering, then automatically the effect, which is suffering, is no longer present. This is why, in order to eliminate this suffering, one becomes aware of the second noble truth, the truth of universal origination.


In essence, the Buddha states you have to completey segregate yourself from any situation that may lead to suffering. In other words, get rid of everything you own, move into a secluded monestary, never have sex or relationships ( that cut&#39;s most of human suffering out right there) and spend all your time learning how to meditate 14 hours a day to relieve your incredible boredom.


Let&#39;s move on to the second "noble truth";


The truth of universal origination is an English translation of the name Buddha himself gave to this noble truth. It means "that which is the cause or origin of absolutely everything." The truth of universal origination indicates that the root cause of suffering is negative karma and the kleshas. Karma is a Sanskrit word which means "activity" and klesha in Sanskrit means "mental defilement" or "mental poison." If one does not understand the Buddha&#39;s teachings, one would most likely attribute all happiness and suffering to some external cause. One might think that happiness and suffering come from the environment, or from the gods, and that everything that happens originates in some source outside of one&#39;s control. If one believes this, then it is extremely hard, if not impossible, to eliminate suffering and its causes. On the other hand, when one realizes that the experience of suffering is a product of what one has done, that is, a result of one&#39;s karma, eliminating suffering becomes possible. Once one is aware of how suffering takes place, then one can begin to remove the causes of suffering.

Another translation is required here, it means every "bad" thing you have ever done in your life will eventually come back to kick you in the ding ding. It&#39;s you own fault dummy.


Third "noble truth";


The third noble truth is the cessation of suffering through which it is explained that the causes of karma and the defilements can be removed. We have control over suffering, because karma and the defilements take place within us-we create them, we experience them. For that reason we don&#39;t need to depend on anyone else to remove the cause of suffering. The truth of interdependent origination means that if we do unvirtuous actions, we are creating suffering. It also means if we abandon unvirtuous actions, we remove the possibility of experiencing suffering in the future. What we experience is entirely in our hands. Therefore, the Buddha has said that we should give up the causes of negative karma and the defilements.

Translation, you wanna end all you&#39;re suffering kiddo? Throw some orange robes on and spent the rest of you life repenting. Remember this however, if you leave the order, all that fucking built up negative karma will make your pecker fall off. there is no other way &#39;cos Buddha said so. Now be a good land and fetch me my razor, I got stuble on my scalp.



The last "noble truth";

The truth of the path is called "the truth of the path" because a path leads one to the ultimate goal. One does this step by step, stage by stage, progressively completing one&#39;s journey. The main stages of Buddhism are called "the five paths" because by progressively traversing them, one eventually reaches one&#39;s destination which is cessation. This path of the Buddha can be analyzed through its five main stages which are called the five paths. The names of the five paths are the stage of accumulation, the stage of junction, the stage of insight, the stage of cultivation, and the final stage of no more learning. Properly speaking, the first four of these are the path, with the fifth one being the effect.



This one always makes me choke up with laughter. The translation here is simple, Once you finally get through all that suffering shit, we got a whole mess of nonsense that will occupy you in the monestary for the rest of your fucking life. Guess what kid, you ain&#39;t never gonna see Euro-disney again. Unless of course you&#39;re the Dalai Lama. He can do whatever he want&#39;s cos he&#39;s "special". He gets to stay in the Waldorf Astoria while he is "teaching" in the USA. As a matter of fact, I believe dubya has him scheduled to throw out the first pitch of the World Series. In between his massage and his 4 martini lobster lunch of course.

[El Commandante]

No country is the &#39;best&#39; - but from what I have seen and experienced perhaps the Scandanevian countries come pretty close to. And there are far too many countries with massive social, economic and political countries to pick one which I could classify as being the &#39;worst&#39;.

[Desert Fox]

Originally posted by [email protected] 1 2003, 06:13 PM
all those fascistic countries in the Middle

I thank you for bringing up this point. Facism is always referred to "the white race". But a arabian can be as much facist as a white person. And there are many facists in the middle east, who see the white race as impure souls and want to destroy us for their religion :ph34r:

[BXs Prophet]

Puerto Rico :)

[kitty44]

Originally posted by Drake [email protected] 1 2003, 10:05 PM

Kinda funny... If the best place to live would be Cuba why aren&#39;t you living there.

We are revolutionaries. Why would we try to start a socialist/communist revolution in a nation that had already been socialized. In addition, we don&#39;t move because we don&#39;t have to. Chances are that the United States is currently attempting to overthrow the Cuban government as it is.


I&#39;m sure they would love to have you. Castro would parade you around showing everyone the American (I assume you&#39;re American) that seen the light.

False. First of all, Castro is not psychic. It&#39;s not like Cuba has some sort of Yankee radar that can distinguish Americans. Second of all, many people visit Cuba. I know several Americans who have visited Cuba. Many of the Americans here have visited Cuba. Funny, none of them have been &#39;paraded&#39;, or killed in public by Castro&#39;s evil firing squads. Tourists visit Cuba. Americans visit Cuba. Europeans visit Cuba. A lot of people visit Cuba. What is clear, however, is that you&#39;ve never gone to Cuba. This likely explains your lack of knowledge in the subject.


If Cuba is such a great place to live why are people dying trying to escape. People will actually try to float 90 miles to Florida just to get away from that place. In America you can simply get on a plane and go to hell if you want. Nobody cares.

Not everyone is trying to escape. Not even 1% of the Cuban population tries to &#39;escape&#39;. In addition, there have been historical instances where Cuban dissenters and anti-Castro fanatics were given a free ride to America. That&#39;s wasn&#39;t enough for congress, however, so soon they started having some of these exiles attack their own country. Then, when the Cubans retaliated against U.S sponsored terrorism, they were accused of &#39;agression&#39;. On top of this, more people try to leave nations like Mexico and Haiti than they do in Cuba; and Mexico and Haiti are capitalist nations. And actually, thanks to things such as the Patriot Act and the Department of Homeland Security, hopping on a Jet isn&#39;t very easy. Also, keep in mind that your country has an embargo on Cuba. As to your previous question, your government will not allow us to go to Cuba.


Try leaving Cuba (unless you&#39;re a crimminal) with Castro&#39;s blessing. Yea, just to get an airline ticket to another country. Wait... do they even have airplanes in Cuba. Be carefull what you wish for commie boy.

Yes, they have airplanes in Cuba. That was a fairly stupid assumption. Castro isn&#39;t some type of Cuban god. You make it seem as though he is capable of monitering every single thing going on within the nation. People do leave Cuba. It is quite possible. Maybe the reason people aren&#39;t flocking to American en masse is because they like how they are at least supplied with housing, food, and clothing. Maybe they don&#39;t all want to go to the United States where they can get quatrentined, ripped off, descriminated against, and fired.
It seems that the people who think that Cuba is the best place to live either haven&#39;t been there or have never lived amongst the people. First of all.....the people are given monthly rations.....and none of the rations include fruit and vegetables. Maybe a child can live on 5lbs of rice monthly but an adult can&#39;t and if you run out you have to go to the black market to get it. Imagine what it would be like to live in a country where beef is illegal.
The only clothes you get from the gov&#39;t is school uniforms and the Castro gov&#39;t expects a little kid starting school to wear that one uniform for 4 yrs......how many 5 year olds do you know that don&#39;t grow??? Each person is given 2 small bars of soap that has to last for 4 months. In order to get a phone you need the governments permission and after months of waiting the government has finally given my father-in-law permission for a phone.....imagine if my husbands father didn&#39;t get permission.....my husband and I are expecting our first baby in a few weeks can you imagine how hard it would have been to get a hold of him if they weren&#39;t finally getting the phone. Can you imagine what it would be like if you had to wait a month to find out your wife had a baby and couldn&#39;t call you??? <_<
Cubans can leave but it can be a lengthy process depending on the country that they are going to. A lot of people do die trying to leave the country.....the situation is not that good there......major poverty, not enough food or money.
You should see the hassle my husband and his family go through just to pick me up at the airport. At the one airport he must register his parents and himself before he can pick me up.

[Regicidal Insomniac]

Do you know why Cuba has had to adopt the rations system?
That&#39;s right, the embargo.

Beef outlawed? Nice story. Here&#39;s a better one (http://www.granma.cu/ingles/index.html).

In Cuba, every child up until the age of seven is guaranteed a liter of milk every day. That&#39;s more than I can say for my childhood. 5 pounds of rice a month? Right...

Before you speak of real poverty and hunger, try going to Haiti or Mexico. Show me one Cuban dying of starvation, living on the streets, without an education or job.

The immense amounts of people you speak of fleeing Cuba are but a tiny minority of the country. These, however, are not a minority...
http://www.granma.cu/espanol/mayo/1May-006.jpg

[kitty44]

Originally posted by Regicidal [email protected] 4 2003, 06:18 PM
Do you know why Cuba has had to adopt the rations system?
That&#39;s right, the embargo.

Beef outlawed? Nice story. Here&#39;s a better one (http://www.granma.cu/ingles/index.html).

In Cuba, every child up until the age of seven is guaranteed a liter of milk every day. That&#39;s more than I can say for my childhood. 5 pounds of rice a month? Right...

Before you speak of real poverty and hunger, try going to Haiti or Mexico. Show me one Cuban dying of starvation, living on the streets, without an education or job.

The immense amounts of people you speak of fleeing Cuba are but a tiny minority of the country. These, however, are not a minority...
http://www.granma.cu/espanol/mayo/1May-006.jpg
Part of the problem is the embargo but don&#39;t dump all of this on the embargo as Cuba can import from other countries and they do. We all know that there are other countries that are in worse shape no one is denying that but I have seen extreme poverty there where people do have to go through the garbage for food. Have you been in the really poor section of Havana?? or any other part of Cuba for that matter???

And by the way, children need milk past age 7 so if they want it they have to buy it after that age. Pregnant women also have milk rations. Have you ever actually seen their rations book???? I have.....coffee is a ration, are you going to give that to a child?? Sugar is a ration.....how much are you going to give to a child. What about tobacco rations.....are you going to give this to a child??? One small roll per person daily.....since bread isn&#39;t imported why so little for rations?? What about fruit and vegetables grown there.....that all has to be bought and if you only make a couple of hundred pesos a month it won&#39;t buy much. Beef is illegal for the Cuban, not for the tourist. Beef is eaten by Cubans but you don&#39;t see it sold in stores there they buy it on the black market.

And yes I have seen Cubans without jobs.....they also force women to retire at 55 and men at 60 whether they want to or not.....a number of people at the company my sister-in-law used to work for were laid off as there was not enough work for them to do.....so don&#39;t tell me that all Cubans have jobs. Nobody said the Cubans weren&#39;t educated, most have a good education. Most Cubans that do leave the country do so legally even though it takes more time. What you don&#39;t realize is that I didn&#39;t read about this, I&#39;ve seen it for myself as I am there frequently my husband and his family live there.

[Saint-Just]

We all know that there are other countries that are in worse shape no one is denying that but I have seen extreme poverty there where people do have to go through the garbage for food.

What do you ask of Cuba then? You cannot ask it to be a first world nation, as rich as a western capitalist country. Indeed, it may be hard to live in Cuba, but capitalism will never solve this. Embrace capitalism and see if Cubans recieve the same wealth that Americans and Europeans do, if they do not and they see worse times you have betrayed your country. On that whole South American continent, the Americans and capitalists have done little good and throughout South American exists what you describe on a massive scale.

And by the way, children need milk past age 7 so if they want it they have to buy it after that age.

Indeed, but at which stage in a child&#39;s development is the need for milk so acute, and what can Cuba afford? In other South American nations does the government provide such welfare?

The countries of the first world are vastly more wealthy than those in South America, the difference is massive. Cuba will never be like those countries.

[kasama]

Here is the best description of life under the Dalai Lama, and the events that followed:

http://rwor.org/a/firstvol/tibet/tib-in.htm

The dalai lama ruled a brutal feudal theocracy. what sane person supports that?

Many people just don&#39;t know, and have believed a western fantasy of lamaist "shangrila."

[Regicidal Insomniac]

I&#39;m hardly blaming everything on the embargo, but the fact is that 80% of Cuba&#39;s economy relied on the United States before Castro&#39;s ascent. The Soviet&#39;s filled this gap for a while but soon their support died as well. This has a huge effect on a country. In fact, in any other country it would have caused a nightmarish human catostrophy, as it did in Haiti. The only way Cuba adverted this was through intense planning in social services. And as it stands Cuba is still in the same position, so naturally these measures must be taken.

The years in which a child must recieve the most calcium are up to the age of seven. Afterwards it is not nearly as necesary, but luckily even after that age Cubans are given dairy products, and it&#39;s a miracall even that is possible for everyone.

[Kapitan Andrey]

Desert Fox...What power of Cuba&#33;?

In Russia we got a Nuclear Weapos&#33; Cuba - not.
Market economy. Cuba - not.

...but we got an armed conflict... Cuba is peaceful.

Well...RUSSIAN AND CUBAN ARE BROTHERS FOREVER&#33;&#33;&#33;