I came across this tidbit in a sunday paper today:
TRUMP LUX FOR IRAQ ENVOY July 15, 2007 -- IRAQ'S ambassador to the United Nations, Hamid al Bayati, likes the high life. Bayati, who's been on the job for just over a year, is said to be living in a $22,000-a-month apartment at Trump World Tower on First Avenue. He's renting while the Iraqi U.N. Mission and official ambassador's residence on East 79th Street undergo a $40 million renovation. Where did the Iraqis get the cash? Newsmax.com reports the U.N. Security Council is paying with funds it once used to finance the now-terminated U.N. Iraq arms inspectors. When asked about the lavish use of the cash, Bayati refused comment. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Zalmay Khalilzad shrugged off the Iraqis' lush lifestyle by telling reporters, "$40 million is not a lot of money." According to U.N. documents, the U.S. delegation approved the transfer of the cash from the Security Council to Iraq. All of this comes as the federal Government Accounting Office reported the war in Iraq is costing American taxpayers $12 billion monthly.
Posted by bdgee on :
Begin?
Recently?
Have you been asleep Mr. Winkle?
Posted by Machiavelli on :
Outwardly and extravagant financial corruption ala The Shah of Iran did back in the day is what I meant by the article, "Curious" George... thought you would rant and rave about the article and the issue of it but instead you attacked me and surprise surprise with name calling of which you accuse me of lol ... and to think that I thought you might have some intelligent comment about the article... boy was I wrong...
Posted by bdgee on :
Excuse me?
I did what?
Get real.
Are so involved in attacking and assaulting you can't recognize humor? I must assume that is a vital part of your assumed NY City nasty attitude and facade. Be assured, I feel no need, and certainly no desire, to attack you. You should give it up.
Posted by Machiavelli on :
Oh yeah we can all see that Bgeesuschrist lol ... you with a sense of humor and no desire to attack others... Posted by Relentless. on :
Hate to ruin your moment here Mach but Iraqi has no "u" in it. Congratulations for bungling the title like the true champ you are.
Posted by bdgee on :
Poooooooorrr mach, he claims, he believes he attacks.....
Like Pavlov's dogs smell and taste food at the sound of a bell, he is trained to see evil opposition and the need to attack at the appearance of certain structured code words.
Posted by Relentless. on :
mmmmm word bad must hit mmmm
Posted by Machiavelli on :
quote:Originally posted by Relentless.: Hate to ruin your moment here Mach but Iraqi has no "u" in it. Congratulations for bungling the title like the true champ you are.
That is your contribution and evaluation of the article and it's contents? My spelling? LoL I'd be richer then most millionaires for all the bad spelling on this forum by board members including yourself. Get over it. Geez. If you want to criticize someone's spelling on this board do it to Bgeesuschrist who continously does it.
Posted by Relentless. on :
I was congratulating you.. You sure are touchy tonight.
Posted by Machiavelli on :
quote:Originally posted by bdgee: Poooooooorrr me, I claim,I believe in conspiracies,I accuse others but show no evidence,I attack & I'm always the victim.....
Posted by bdgee on :
Hey, mach, aren't you constantly replying to other's post with nasty comments about their spelling and punctuation (most often incorectly) and tearing them down for it while ignoring the substance and reason of their post"?
Yes you are.
And, while I agree that it is a bit insulting and a bit childish, Rel... knows that and played your game for you this time. Congratulate him for the emulation, man. Plagiarism of style is the epitome of recognition.
Posted by Machiavelli on :
quote:Originally posted by Relentless.: I was congratulating you.. You sure are touchy tonight.
Nope, not touchy at all. Just thought we'd discuss a issue about Iraq on this board like adults but instead I get two kids (well one is a old guy but acts like a kid with mental health issues) who rather play because they have no thoughts on this issue. Sad really. Would of liked to see what everyone had to say about the article including Bdgeesuschrist surprisingly enough. Would've of been a interesting discussion of showing how the Gov't we back in Iraq is already showing outwardly financial corruption on our own soil and how that makes us look to other countries around the world. $20,000 per month for a apartment. Geez. War is a good business as they say. So is the oil that goes with it.
Posted by Machiavelli on :
quote:Originally posted by bdgee: Hey, mach, aren't you constantly replying to other's post with nasty comments about their spelling and punctuation (most often incorectly) and tearing them down for it while ignoring the substance and reason of their post"?
Yes you are.
And, while I agree that it is a bit insulting and a bit childish, Rel... knows that and played your game for you this time. Congratulate him for the emulation, man. Plagiarism of style is the epitome of recognition.
Nope never commented on people's spelling in the past nor their punctuation. Just the separation of quotes so that a post is more readable. I could care less about spelling as long as what is being said is clear.
Posted by Relentless. on :
quote:Originally posted by Machiavelli:
quote:Originally posted by Relentless.: I was congratulating you.. You sure are touchy tonight.
Nope, not touchy at all. Just thought we'd discuss a issue about Iraq on this board like adults but instead I get two kids (well one is a old guy but acts like a kid with mental health issues) who rather play because they have no thoughts on this issue. Sad really. Would of liked to see what everyone had to say about the article including Bdgeesuschrist surprisingly enough. Would've of been a interesting discussion of showing how the Gov't we back in Iraq is already showing outwardly financial corruption on our own soil and how that makes us look to other countries around the world. $20,000 per month for a apartment. Geez. War is a good business as they say. So is the oil that goes with it.
One of the tricky parts of the english language is remembering to use "an" infront of words that begin with a vowel. Perhaps you didn't know.. Maybe you forgot... I'm not sure of the particulars. I just hope this reminder helps.
Posted by bdgee on :
I agree, he is not particularly touchy tonight, Rel....
He's just like he normally is....
A NY City thing, I think.......
Posted by Relentless. on :
Sounds like a rash Might be the first hair sprouting.
Posted by bdgee on :
" never commented on people's spelling in the past nor their punctuation."
That's not correct, but I'll assume you have forgotten and don't mean to be misstating.
Posted by Machiavelli on :
quote:Originally posted by Relentless.:
quote:Originally posted by Machiavelli:
quote:Originally posted by Relentless.: I was congratulating you.. You sure are touchy tonight.
Nope, not touchy at all. Just thought we'd discuss a issue about Iraq on this board like adults but instead I get two kids (well one is a old guy but acts like a kid with mental health issues) who rather play because they have no thoughts on this issue. Sad really. Would of liked to see what everyone had to say about the article including Bdgeesuschrist surprisingly enough. Would've of been a interesting discussion of showing how the Gov't we back in Iraq is already showing outwardly financial corruption on our own soil and how that makes us look to other countries around the world. $20,000 per month for a apartment. Geez. War is a good business as they say. So is the oil that goes with it.
One of the tricky parts of the english language is remembering to use "an" infront of words that begin with a vowel. Perhaps you didn't know.. Maybe you forgot... I'm not sure of the particulars. I just hope this reminder helps.
Guess you don't live in NY or most of the Northeast because we don't chat like that. Much like the South and other parts of the country do not speak proper english. Many of us forget what we were taught in English class in High School etc. so I don't really care about such things on a internet forum.
Posted by Machiavelli on :
quote:Originally posted by bdgee: I agree, he is not particularly touchy tonight, Rel....
He's just like he normally is....
A NY City thing, I think.......
You would be funny on that comment but as always you get your facts about me wrong. I never claimed to live in NYC. Posted by Machiavelli on :
quote:Originally posted by bdgee: " never commented on people's spelling in the past nor their punctuation."
That's not correct, but I'll assume you have forgotten and don't mean to be misstating.
Accusations about a board member without showing evidence. Gee what a surprise lol
Posted by bdgee on :
Did you or did you not make the following statement in this forum on May 21, 2007?
"Please spell correctly if you are going to laugh at me about my own posting."
I have other examples of your crude remarks about other posters spelling punctuatiion, but i won't waste time or the space to cite them exactly. Insulting remarks about misspelling (usually typos). punctuation, idioms and such are your favorite tool of avoiding the actual gist of a debate.
As I have pointed out to you in the past, we all make mistakes and slamming another over grammar amd typos in order to deflect from the heart of their post isn't exactly gentlemanly. It only brings ill feelings. You can do better.
Posted by turbokid on :
nowthen.. ontopic i hardly find it a surpise that this is happening. everyone is enjoying the gravytrain while it lasts at the expense of countless lives. i still remember vividly the big meetings in washington just prior to the iraq invasion talking about setting up shop in iraq. companies like coke, mcdonalds, etc. not to mention the oil and defense companies licking thier chops at the mere thought of how much money they were going to make. I recently met a guy who just go back from iraq, he just got a job driving trucks at my company. he spent 2 years driving a water truck making 90,000 per year tax free. he worked for KBR (subsidiary of halliburton) if the same job was done by an army soldier he would get what? 30,000? he had some interesting tales i'll say that.
Posted by Machiavelli on :
If you went through two months of posts to find that example then most likely I had said it. But that is a poor example to use because it indicates that my own post was insulted so I answered with a insult myself. So most likely whom I directed that to was avoiding "the gist of the debate".
I tried to start a post about a serious issue that i read in the papers today and say what you will but you were not "gentlemanly" with your first post and used a insult in the disguise of "humor" to distrupt the thread and you have succeeded at that because we have wasted like 20 + posts trading insults back and forth instead of discussing the article so please do not lecture me about being "gentlemanly" because I was not intending to have a flame fest in this thread not even with you. I honestly wanted to hear your thoughts as well as the other board members about what was in the article. But you couldn't even do that not one time. So don't expect respect back when you accuse me of this or that and can't be above it. Your no different then me & others.
Posted by Machiavelli on :
quote:Originally posted by turbokid: nowthen.. ontopic i hardly find it a surpise that this is happening. everyone is enjoying the gravytrain while it lasts at the expense of countless lives. i still remember vividly the big meetings in washington just prior to the iraq invasion talking about setting up shop in iraq. companies like coke, mcdonalds, etc. not to mention the oil and defense companies licking thier chops at the mere thought of how much money they were going to make. I recently met a guy who just go back from iraq, he just got a job driving trucks at my company. he spent 2 years driving a water truck making 90,000 per year tax free. he worked for KBR (subsidiary of halliburton) if the same job was done by an army soldier he would get what? 30,000? he had some interesting tales i'll say that.
Thanx for getting back on topic. I met a individual who told me he made $100,000 for same job of trucking in Iraq. The private sector always makes more money though. I don't know if i believed him though that he was actually doing that. He seemed to be bragging about it. Do you think this will make us look even worst in the world's eyes? Like our money corrupts? Like it did with the Shah, Marcos/Phillipines etc. in the past?
Posted by turbokid on :
the thing is, i think it will just reiterate what most other countries and the terrorists are saying, America is on a divide and conquer mission and use poor people to make themselves richer. the thing about that is, most of them would bend over backwards to do business with us. ie. the Taliban. they were way excited to be doing oil deals with the US a few years ago.
War is thought of as a business opportunity rather than something that should be avoided
Posted by bdgee on :
No, once again you make improper assumptions.
No one had insulted anything you said, you just chose to misrepresent what was said in order to point out the chip on your shoulder in an attempt that to insult and intimidate. You are doing it again. Do you even understand it?
You keep doing it over and over. When someone else presents a serious question (or even a light one) to the board, you jump quickly to intimidate via insults and trivia. It does appear that if you aren't the absolute dictator of a conversation, then you intend to prevent it all together, if not by declaring it to be out of bounds, since you didn't think of it, by turning it into a hate filled campaign against whomever refuses to abide by your rules.
The threads here have never been rigidly limited in scope or topic, no matter who began them. Indeed, some of the most valuable and informative have had topic changes almost hourly and went on for months.
So far as providing credible backing for the claims you make, you simply don't, then scream and yell at anyone that disagrees and any evidence they post supporting their views or, when that doesn't work, you start the personal and character attacks. (I really think it would be a good idea for one so poor at grammar and spelling and composition as you are to refrain from attacking others on the subject (and I though only provided one example, which is enough to put the lie to your claim of never having done so, I assure you there are many).
Go find someone to teach you how to relax and have a sense of humor.
As to you "honestly want(ing) to hear your thoughts as well as the other board members", exactly when did you ever bother to allow, let alone consider, any thought but yours to be posted without insulting the poster?
I'm sorry if you don't like hearing it, but you are crude and ill mannered on your best behavior. Most of the time, you are far worse than an unpleasant person and too eager to threaten and insult to provide any actual information.
Posted by Machiavelli on :
Reread your first post on this thread Bdgee. If you did not mean for that to be provocation and insulting your full of sh*t. And don't lecture me about grammar/spelling/composition when you are horrendous at all three at times though you like to call them typos (this post you just posted has grammar mistakes if I wanted to point them out point by point.) You are the one who brings it up time and time again about spelling/grammar etc. Not me. If I did it was a long time ago while you do it presently.But I really don't care how you write nor what you write anymore. You have not gone through one thread completely without insulting at least one person other then me throughout your history on this Board. So your a hyprocrite and I can give many examples of you doing just that. All you do in any thread whether I am in it or not is distrupt it and attack others. Yet you never admit/acknowledge that you do but instead you accuse others of doing so. Like I said your a hyprocrite.
But anyways I was chatting with Turbokid about the article in which you contributed absolutely NOTHING to the thread about it. So if that is your intention to contribute nothing and if I bother you so much then ignore me and chat with others who tolerate your BS. I'll chat with others who actually contribute something to the original post and that certainly is never you.
Posted by Machiavelli on :
quote:Originally posted by turbokid: the thing is, i think it will just reiterate what most other countries and the terrorists are saying, America is on a divide and conquer mission and use poor people to make themselves richer. the thing about that is, most of them would bend over backwards to do business with us. ie. the Taliban. they were way excited to be doing oil deals with the US a few years ago.
War is thought of as a business opportunity rather than something that should be avoided
I didn't recall the Taliban in Oil deals back in the day. Didn't even think they conversed with us much when they took power. But if true it wouldn't surprise me. The original article I posted was not in the front pages of the newspaper oddly enough. I wonder why.
Posted by turbokid on :
as a side note, Unocal, one of the companies trying to build the oil pipeline had an adviser named Hamid Karzai, look him up and find out who he is.. its almost like a fiction book
Posted by bdgee on :
" If you did not mean for that to be provocation and insulting your full of sh*t. "
No, it is your over egotistical and combative nature, unmuffled by any trace of an id, that is off base.
You really don't want to enter a contest of grammar and spelling. It isn't a field in which you can expect to prosper such bad English. Anyway, it is, as has been pointed out to you not just by me, just a method you use to avoid sticking to the subject. If you want others to stick to the topic, then you do so, instead of sidetracking with unwarranted and unnecessary insults and fakey appeals to English usage you prove you are incapable of meeting with each post and tirade.
You, sir, are more full of it than a Christmas turkey and seemingly incapable of self control or evaluation.
Posted by Machiavelli on :
quote:Originally posted by bdgee: " If you did not mean for that to be provocation and insulting your full of sh*t. "
No, it is your over egotistical and combative nature, unmuffled by any trace of an id, that is off base.
You really don't want to enter a contest of grammar and spelling. It isn't a field in which you can expect to prosper such bad English. Anyway, it is, as has been pointed out to you not just by me, just a method you use to avoid sticking to the subject. If you want others to stick to the topic, then you do so, instead of sidetracking with unwarranted and unnecessary insults and fakey appeals to English usage you prove you are incapable of meeting with each post and tirade.
You, sir, are more full of it than a Christmas turkey and seemingly incapable of self control or evaluation.
The only person full of it has always been you. I have been sticking to the topic (most notably with Turbo) & it is you who has sidetracked this thread, no one else. Doesn't surprise me though since you never have much to contribute to any topic much less the article I posted on this thread because you are incapable of doing so. I was trying to be gentlemanly in learning your thoughts on the article but as always you had to be a jerk because of your dislike for me. But not anymore because your thoughts of non-issues on a thread will be ignored. So go to your little corner and talk to yourself. It's what you do best.
Posted by Machiavelli on :
as a side note, Unocal, one of the companies trying to build the oil pipeline had an adviser named Hamid Karzai, look him up and find out who he is.. its almost like a fiction book
Interesting. Does give a whole new meaning on why Bush and his cronies wanted to go into Afghanistan while using the excuse of 9/11 to do so.
Posted by turbokid on :
as a side note, Unocal, one of the companies trying to build the oil pipeline had an adviser named Hamid Karzai, look him up and find out who he is.. its almost like a fiction book
Interesting. Does give a whole new meaning on why Bush and his cronies wanted to go into Afghanistan while using the excuse of 9/11 to do so.
when things like this come up its very difficult for me to belive 911 wasnt part of a greater plan.. i really dont want to believe that but there are to many things that lean the other way. It seems like all these accidents and missteps have got the neocons and bush right where they wanted to be.. on accident of coarse.
Posted by Machiavelli on :
We'll I don't believe Bush had knowledge that 9/11 would definetly happen and let it happen on purpose anyways to go into the Middle East ala Roosevelt with Pearl Harbor/WW2. But it did give him the excuse to attack two weak Middle Eastern countries that are oil rich (though i consider Afghan the least of the oil rich ones). I wonder why the Afghan/oil issue wasn't made a big stink of like Iraq was. Perhaps because Bin Laden is a legitimate issue unlike the WMD/Iraq issue.
Posted by turbokid on :
afghanistan isnt exactly oil rich its the area north of there that everybody is concerned about but they need a route to get it shipped, the choices were, Iran or Afghanistan. Iran is pretty much out because of sanctions so afghanistan was chosen. but UNOCAL execs. found the Taliban to be "troublsome" and said "we would need a friendly goverment in afghanistan" i'd also like to point out that now that we have installed a friendly govermnet in afghanistan oil pipe construction has commenced... wierd!!
Yeah the Taliban was a little troublesome lol still are to a certain extent... The Bush's were/are in the oil business... any idea if their company(s) have profited directly or indirectly from Iraq and/or Afghan oil?
Posted by turbokid on :
quote:Originally posted by Machiavelli: Yeah the Taliban was a little troublesome lol still are to a certain extent... The Bush's were/are in the oil business... any idea if their company(s) have profited directly or indirectly from Iraq and/or Afghan oil?
any bush family companies or bush adminstration companies? i dont think and bush oil companies are profiting from afghan oil. it probably works more like, bush helps out friends (in oil and defense) and after his term is up there will be cushy positions on the board of directors for those companies, with huge stock options plans and such. I think a Bush oil company drilling for oil in iraq would be to obvious.. Posted by bdgee on :
Bush oil companies actually drilling or any other productive effort would be amazingly different. Every such claimed venture by dubya has been a stock scam......no drilling, not exploring, no equipment, no business other than selling stock and declaring bankruptcy.
Posted by Machiavelli on :
The only thing in Wiki about Bush Sr. and the oil business is this (which isn't much):
"After graduating from Yale, Bush went into the Texas oil exploration business. He was given a position with Dresser Industries, a subsidiary of Brown Brothers Harriman, where his father served on the board of directors for 22 years. His son, Neil Mallon Bush, is named after his employer at Dresser, Henry Neil Mallon, who was a close family friend dating back to Skull & Bones at Yale in 1918 along with Prescott. Zapata Corporation was created by Bush and the Liedtke brothers in 1953 as Zapata Oil. (Authors Webster Tarpley, Kevin Phillips, Daniel Yergin, and others suggest that Bush had ties to the Central Intelligence Agency at this time.)"
One thing is for sure, the Iraqi's aren't hurting for oil money like I have heard them claim in the past after the U.S. invastion if they can rent a apartment for $20,000 a month and $40 million for their embassy. No doubt the Bush family will benefit from doing business with them after Bush Jr. gets out of the Presidency.
Posted by bdgee on :
Yes, it's usually some tie-in to the Bush family fortunes you need to watch.
For example, all that crap dubya spouts about school kids needing to be tested with standardized exams periodically is made to sound like dubya cares about educating the kids. In truth, it is because. world wide, the largest holders of companies and stocks in companies that commercially provide standardized test is the Bush family. The Bush family virtually controls the industry.
Posted by IWISHIHAD on :
With some of these government positions, if there is a conflict of interest rule it seems all they have to do is put the questionable business in a trust while they are in office, and that makes it okay. Of course with most of these government jobs there does not seem to be any such creature as a conflict of interest.
A few years back we had a person who was the US Secretary of Veterans Affairs, who had a very large business that was, and is still doing many of the ima (independent medical exam) exams for the VA. These exams are usually required prior to getting VA Disability Compensation. I always thought this to be very interesting, so did many others.
Posted by turbokid on :
it runs on and on.. i "heard" that president johnson owned stock in the helicopter company that supplied the helicopters in vietnam. maybe some of you old timers can verify.. or correct me.
Posted by IWISHIHAD on :
You must be speaking about some other guys on this board with your reference to oldtimers.
For those other guys there is a saying, "I would rather be over the hill than under it." Posted by turbokid on :
haha. ok i'll rephrase it .. wiser memebers of our board.
Posted by IWISHIHAD on :
I have heard rumors about the helicopters and TWA, but have never seen an official document that stated that President Johnson or his wife had interest in either, although i never looked very hard for this information. Many of these individuals invest in a round about way making it harder to track.
Posted by turbokid on :
haha "memebers*" what a dingus Posted by bdgee on :
Johnson and his wife were huge land holders (which each inherited, she held huge parts of Alabama and East Texas an he had land in the Texas hill country) and owned radio and tv stations (bought back in the 40s and 50s before they were but losses and he gained politicaal influence over that industry), but I think any claim that they ever invested in any form of arms industry is more than questionable. Indeed, I suspect it is a willful an intentional lie.
Posted by turbokid on :
heres some more good work done by our friends in war profiteering...
haha .. take a look at some background on these jerks, look at how many employees are former defense secretaries, defense policy board members, presidents, petroleum managers.. blah blah.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bechtel Posted by turbokid on :
An Iraqi MP preferred to remain anonymous told the newspaper that highly confidential negotiations took place by representatives from American oil companies, offering $5 million to each MP who votes in favor of the Oil and Gas law.
Ladysweetie, How accurate is this source? Answers.com says that Akhbar Al Khaleej is a Bahraini daily with a Left wing/Arab nationalist slant. It’s editor in chief is Anwar Abdulrahman and is the sister paper of the English language, Gulf Daily News.
The paper is known to be close to Bahrain’s main leftist opposition party, National Democratic Action and its columnists include some of the country’s most prominent leftists such as Sameera Rajab and Mahmood Al Gassab, who is a leading member of the Jami’at al-Tajammu’ al-Qawmi al-Dimuqrat, one of the four opposition societies to the government.
With its Arab nationalist stance, the newspaper has led condemnation of the United States’ invasion of Iraq, and has been particularly critical those Iraqis who have cooperated with the American backed political order: Samira Rajab in 2005 dismissed Iraqi Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani as an ‘American general’. This resulted in death threats towards Ms Rajab from Shia Islamists – who hold the Iraqi cleric in high regard – and brought to the surface political fissures in the alliance of Shia Islamists and ex-Marxists that had come together to oppose the 2002 Constitution.
Not that I am saying it isn't possible. I'd just like to see a little more evidence first.
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