I believe that gunpowder was the most important invention in forming our world today. Noone knows who invented it or when, but it surfaced in history around the 1300s. Its an exact perportioned mixture of coal, sulfer and saltpetre, it wasnt till the 1880 that replacement gunpowders were developed. Some say the chineese invented it as they had fireworks before this (fireworks involve explosions, so that could be). But without it how would combat it the world have develped? Warships would have continued to have been built with castles for grapled hand to hand combat, and ramming would have contiued to be a naval tactic to be used by ships. On land the bow and arrow and crossbow would have remained as well as the sword and spear. Catapults would have remained as artillary which would not have been affective in makeing castles/fortresses obsolete. Can you imagine WW1 being fought by steel warships whos main design of attack is to ram? Tanks that could do nothing more than protect troops? No bombs in which to drop by airplanes. A very strange what if senario indeed.

“If it wasn’t for FDR, the US’s Capitalism would’ve caved into itself and various socialist parties and other parties would’ve became popular.”

Wrong, if it wasnt for WW2, capitalism would have caved in on itself. The new deal was a bunch of social benefit and work programs (sort of sounds like socialism to me). FDR was a democrat, and many of his programs have carried on to make the US the proud capitalist/socialist state it is today.

seahawk- You make communism an capatalism to be to opposite ends of a pole with nothing in between. There is something known as socialism you know, which is embraced by heatily by most western european nations, especially places like scandanavia currently. Germany, where you live, used to be quite socialist didnt it, till prosperity brought a more right wing stance. I believe eastern european countrys could benefit by reverting to socialism as western europe did to get through dificult times like the depresion and war recovery. And as for capatalists being imperialists, I can tell you that the citizens of third world countrys have a responcibility to elect leaders that develop an industrial economy. In Mexico where I live, the main income either comes from tourism (7 billion USD a year), oil, foriegn factory labor or transient labor in the US. Even though Mexican universitys have been producing thousands of engineers and scientists for years, Mexico has almost nil industrial capacity of its own. I hate to say that Mexican pride is at fault for this, and that the upper class is revered here to their own peril.

Originally posted by WACHENR0DER
but wasn’t Russia at the time, had conflict between the Serfs and the elite which caused them to support Lenin?

No, it was a problem with workers rights. The fuedal system did last admidedly very late into the 1800s, but by the time of czar Nicolas russia had become well industrialized. Anarchists and the Decembrists played a part in the evolution of communism.

“As for Stalin… the Russian empire was still coming fresh out of the Lord and Serf society and undergoing revolution.”

Wachenroder- I just want to point out your very wrong on this point. Russia was a very capatalist society before the bulshovics took power. The russian revolution was a very hit and miss affair with even the US and England invading Russia on the side of the czarist government. Stalins inane idealistic policys like getting rid of currency in favor of a barter system quickly gave way to realitys of running an industrialized nation.

Originally posted by Clansman
Is there any other Whisky than Scottish? 😉 (Well, ok you can get whiskey, but that’s not it. 😀 )

Anyway, I’d go for Talisker.

Howabout Jack Daniels? The stuff I drank in my younger days when I could polish off half a bottle in an evening.

Im curious how important aging is to you connasours. Johnny Walker for example is 12 years old isnt it?

Originally posted by Rabie
oh KABIR ??? where are you …………….. :p

rabie 😉

We know Kabirs full name, we know he plays at clubs in New Delhi, we know rock perfomers love pictures of themselves. Ill bet if someone did a search of local band sites or the club scene in New Delhi at yahoo India, they could dig something up.

Lets have more included in these photos like your spouse, girl/boy-freind, house, car, computer workstation, pet, whatever.