[Dilmah G]

And the fact you guys seem to lack the money to do anything these days.

[Kosh]

Then again Canada is just a short hop over the border, it doesn't seem as messed up as the UK.

[High Max]

'Messed up' is a matter of perception and opinion when talking about countries or cultures. Better for someone to say that it is messed up to them.

[iamzack]

There's a lot of things I really like about living in the US.

Mostly its other people that ruin it for me.

[Kosh]

'Messed up' is a matter of perception and opinion when talking about countries or cultures. Better for someone to say that it is messed up to them.

I'd rather not, because that would be dishonest with ourselves.

Anyway, I think we can agree that getting arrested for taking pictures of public buildings is messed up. Yes UK, I'm looking at you.

[Rick James]

'Messed up' is a matter of perception and opinion when talking about countries or cultures. Better for someone to say that it is messed up to them.

Well, I can say with confidence that if anything like Guantanamo (or the Supreme Court's decision to allow corporations unlimited campaign financing) happened in Canada, people would be on Parliament Hill in Ottawa with their pitchforks and torches looking for someone's political blood.

Although I'm not really sure our Stepford Smiler of a Prime Minister has any blood.

[High Max]

speaking of, I wonder why usa has bases scattered abroad as if it was trying to take over the world. Are there any other countries out there that have their own bases located in other countries like the usa does?

[iamzack]

That always irritated me as well. Wonder how we'd feel about it if Brazil or China or Australia decided to run military bases on US soil where they could get away with whatever the **** they wanted, following none of our laws...

[Kosh]

speaking of, I wonder why usa has bases scattered abroad as if it was trying to take over the world. Are there any other countries out there that have their own bases located in other countries like the usa does?

It Isn't trying to, it largely succeeded. To be fair many of them were originally intended to contain the Soviet Union, especially the ones in Europe, but now that the USSR is toast they've started to become a symbol of imperialism.

[iamzack]

Q: military bases on foreign soil?

A: because they let us

[Bobboau]

Q: why did they let us?

A: because they didn't want to get conquered by the soviet union.

[iamzack]

Didn't the USSR fall before I was even born? Try again.

[Nuclear1]

Q: why did they let us?

A: because they didn't want to get conquered by the soviet union.

Soviet Union's gone.  So why are they still letting us?

We very well should've demobilized after the Cold War, but didn't.

[iamzack]

I really think it's almost as much a problem with mot of those countries as it is with us. We should have packed up and left germany years ago, but we didn't. But I'd like to know why the Germans haven't thrown us out.

[The E]

Because there's no reason to. Those bases are major economic factors for their respective surroundings, and the Bundeswehr doesn't have the manpower to operate those.

[Mongoose]

Yeah, it's pretty much the money.  We pay good rent.

[Scotty]

That, and a military base is full of soldiers that don't have many things to do with their money.  Local industries like people like that.

[Bobboau]

Didn't the USSR fall before I was even born? Try again.

weren't all those bases built before you were born?

[Turambar]

Didn't the USSR fall before I was even born? Try again.

weren't all those bases built before you were born?

so we can sell the bases and stop pumping money into other countries' local economies.  sorry, but that's not exactly what the military is for.

[Bobboau]

the only reason we haven't left is cause they haven't told us to, the only base that has any sort of major angst against it is in Okinawa, and even there it's half hearted cause the locals make so much money off of it, and the government there is worried about if Kimchan is going to wake up one morning and interpret the sun rising in the east as a sign that he should launch a nuke at Nippon, not to mention China, and the fact that it's part of the post WW2 treaty where we agreed to protect them.

honestly I think it would be a good Idea to close most of them, but I reject the notion that they are the US (not so) metaphorically asserting some sort of dominance.