Originally posted by Rabie
arthur : that reference to the us’s trade defic tis intresting – there has been soem talk in econmicla jounals that what if everyoen dmped the dollar for the euro as the reserve currency / currency of oil trade ????

That would suck big time for the US. For two reasons.

Firstly, the huge amount of dollars in non-US hands would be traded in for something else (other currencies, real estate, whatever). With US$ less in demand, the price of that currency would drop. And considering the amount of dollars in non-American hands that inflation would be dramatic.

Secondly, the US is terribly dependent on imports to keep it’s economy running, but if they would be required to pay in any other currency then their own (be that Euros, Sterling, Rupees or bare gold) they simply wouldn’t be able to afford it… Their economy would absolutely collapse: even though the US does have quite a bit of natural resources, it’s not enough when compared to current US resource consumption (oil being a prime example here), and local US natural resources are more expensive than imported ones (hence American tarrifs on steel and other products). The US would in such a situation be required to pay more for less, which will result again in a massive inflation.

The US should in fact be very, very, very grateful to the rest of the world as it is exactly this externally supported trade defecit which is the engine behind the American economy, and not the ‘free entrepreneurship’ they like to think.

TTP,

The Eagle wasn’t really designed with maneuvrability in mind (6.33G was the limit for the first production models, which was worse better than the F-4’s) but performance. Speed (it’s still the West’s fastest fighter, though as always it’s maximum speed is more of an advertising trick rather than an operational feature). It is no brick in a dogfight, but this wasn’t a fighter ment to dance like an F-16 or F-5. Like the Foxbat, the Eagle design was the easiest solution for a two-engined high-powered relatively low-drag no-lifting-fuselage fighter.

Although if you count in the construction, i agree with you that nothing is comparable to the MiG-25. I don’t know if you have ever seen one from up close, but that massive one-piece bathtub fuselage is one impressive piece of engineering. I did read Belenko’s book, but (as you might guess) i found it a bit too politically colored to be a good read. Although there were interesting details in it about flight training in Russia – even though various (ex-) Soviet pilots i’ve spoken thought a lot of it to be BS. Oh, and that red star as my avatar is generally thought to represent the star on the Heineken label. Just in case you were wondering. 😀

Originally posted by TTP
Good luck flying those Airbuses without engines or avionics. Sorry to go on a rant Kev, Hope I answered your question

Good luck flying those KC-135Rs without French CFM engines… You know TTP, the US is absolutely dependent on the rest of the world for it’s wealth. As soon as the world stop accepting dollars as international currency and hence stops supporting the US’ redicilous trade defecit, the US will collapse.

Wake up! Wake up! Yet another reply to this interesting threat you just can’t wait to read!

Ah! The Fair Trade chocolate/hazelnut spread (Nutella-ish) which you can buy at the Dutch ‘Wereldwinkels’ (which are volounteer-ran Free Trade shops) is by far the best you can buy. Absolutely delicious.

Re: WMD

Originally posted by PhantomII
You’ve already made up your mind that he doesn’t have chemical weapons.

…then followed by a whole tirade of Phantom II being absolutely sure Iraq has chemical weapons, even though there still is absolutely no evidence for that. Except, of course, a plant where chemicals were made. Gosh!

Phantom, it’s really ironic you assured Geforce you’re not dumb in this post. I can’t really say it’s one of your most intelligent ones.

The Li-2 is the license built DC-3.

As for the F-15 being copied… yeah, sure. When the F-15 flew, Russian aircraft designers flew back in time and developed the MiG-25 which then flew ten years prior to the Eagle.

And while the Buran looks quite a bit like the American shuttle, it must be noted that it took an independent development path and that it’s actually a whole different system despite the external similarities. You won’t find engines in the Buran, while the Shuttle has them.

Fair enough. But of course, in order to make more of the conspiracy theory than the vague accusations and theories in the article above, one would need more substantial information – preferably an admittance from one of the more overt pro-Israeli members of the Neocon thinkers. Which is of course absolutely unlikely. Combine this with the theory (conspirationalist if you will), this would automatically imply a double agenda and an Israel-first attitude amongst these US politicians. So no matter how much you disagree, or are disgusted by percieved antisemitism, the pattern of thinking behind the article is sound.

Unfortunately the backup for the neoconservative politics is not so much a rational one, but an ideological one which to me seems like an odd mixture of the “White Man’s Burden” and the desire, nay, the need, to export one’s own doctrine by military force (the latter of which is indeed Trotskist avant-la-lettre).