[kj] back to oil!!!

B. Oliver Sheppard bigblackhair at sbcglobal.net
Sat Jul 21 10:30:42 EDT 2007


Ah, sorry for not being specific enough for you, Mister Black!

You asked what countries I've been to. George W. Bush has visited more
countries than many people ever will, but I do not consider him an
expert on global cultures. He maybe visited as many as Hitler, or Mother
Theresa, or anyone else well traveled who hold a variety of opinions.

So - I'm not going to compare resumes and travelogues with you. Either
my points are valid on their own merits or not. My travel itinerary
should have no bearing on it. Gegnhis Khan visited a lot of countries.
Personal anecdotes are poor things to extrapolate broadly from.

About leaders changing dress styles -- this became a big thing amongst
the Turks esp. after Kemal Attaturk's forced secularization program. Do
a search on how he especially commissioned Western garment manufacturers
to ship in clothes for his "backwards" country's fashions. It was called
"modernization" there, code word for "make us look more like European
businessmen." Likewise, look at how Nuri of Iraq and the leader of
Palestine dress. The latter isn't going around in military garb and a
checked head scarf like Arafat.

Is that specific enough for these massive standards of proof you demand,
that I am sure you also demand for positions you hold, too?

Ironically, earlier you were complaining about tangents from the "big
picture" of this thread. Now you want specific leaders who changed dress
styles to appear better for Western cameras. Is a man in a turban and
long robes going into a job interview gonna get it over the guy who is,
well, dressed for an interview? Probably not. That's the same sort of
cultural power discrepancy that is at play, only magnified and on the
world stage. Folks in non-industrialized countries have a better
likelihood of staying economically afloat the more Western they change
their preferences, including clothing, etc. We don't have to worry about
looking them, conversely.

-Oliver




Mister Black wrote:

>

> B. I didnt ask whether you have friends in foreign countries, i asked

> if you had visited them , you cant get an all round impression of any

> given country by just speaking to punks on the net .

>

> Again you are being vague , which foreign leaders changed their

> dress styles in order to appease the Americans ? You seem to be

> speaking on behalf of these people and you also seem to be speaking on

> behalf of the American leaders, on what authority do you speak in

> their behalf .

>

> B. Which U.S. leader mistrusted which other head of state for

> wearing a turban.......give me names, examples.......not just baloney

>

>




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