Arrival of the bus

silverrider44 said:I didn't get anything wrong; a friend of mine worked in insurance then and still does, and they say what’s happening now is pure idiocy—if you had been at the airport yesterday, you would have seen... well, you can imagine how bad today is.
When the Pope passed through, traffic was moving again within 20 minutes.
Back then, the staff were actually proud and happy to be near the Pope, whereas now everyone just makes jokes about it...

It seems the blue bird is preoccupied with numbers.
First off, there were plenty of sponsors involved in the Pope's arrival; Ford provided vehicles and a lot of infrastructure was built, Our Lady of Guadalupe was renovated, the entire route leading up was cleaned, and quite a bit was done in other cities too.
Besides, he’ll only be here for one day, whereas the Pope stayed for several, so you can't make those comparisons; maybe think twice before posting next time.

Furthermore, I don't understand why anyone would compare the visit of the most respected man on the planet—whom people cheered for all along his route—to this ridiculous American president. We should consider it an honor that he came to the USA, not once, but three times.

Look, stop trying to sell me that nonsense. When the Pope was in the city, windows on the buildings he passed had to be shut tight and shutters pulled down. And days before the visit, the police were going door-to-door checking IDs and verifying everyone. I know this from firsthand experience.

About 10 minutes after Bush passed by, traffic went right back to being a mess, so there weren't any massive delays or anything. It was pretty much the same as when the Pope arrived, and honestly, it was still better than that summit organized at the Westin a few years ago.
As for comparing Bush to the Pope, yeah, you're spot on there. You really can't compare the two. Stalin once cynically asked, "How many divisions does that Pope have?" Well, he doesn't have any. The Pope's political weight is more like the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, if you can even call it that. This isn't the era of Alexander VI or Gregory VII when Vatican City was a major political player. He recites his speech from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica and that's that. It goes in one ear and out the other. His only real importance is the influence he has over hundreds of millions of Catholics, but even that influence is pretty limited.
So, the Pope's visit is more like the Beatles or Elvis coming to town. A huge crowd of fans for whom it means something, and that's it. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the Pope visited, I'm just talking about his actual real-world impact.
On the other hand, Bush is the leader of a superpower, the head of a nation that makes up about 25% of the global economy and leads the strongest military and nuclear force on Earth. And you're trying to compare him to the Pope. 🙄

Linda Hughes88 said:Look, stop trying to sell me that nonsense. When the Pope was in the city, windows on the buildings he passed had to be shut tight and shutters pulled down. And days before the visit, the police were going door-to-door checking IDs and verifying everyone. I know this from firsthand experience.

About 10 minutes after Bush passed by, traffic went right back to being a mess, so there weren't any massive delays or anything. It was pretty much the same as when the Pope arrived, and honestly, it was still better than that summit organized at the Westin a few years ago.
As for comparing Bush to the Pope, yeah, you're spot on there. You really can't compare the two. Stalin once cynically asked, "How many divisions does that Pope have?" Well, he doesn't have any. The Pope's political weight is more like the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, if you can even call it that. This isn't the era of Alexander VI or Gregory VII when Vatican City was a major political player. He recites his speech from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica and that's that. It goes in one ear and out the other. His only real importance is the influence he has over hundreds of millions of Catholics, but even that influence is pretty limited.
So, the Pope's visit is more like the Beatles or Elvis coming to town. A huge crowd of fans for whom it means something, and that's it. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the Pope visited, I'm just talking about his actual real-world impact.
On the other hand, Bush is the leader of a superpower, the head of a nation that makes up about 25% of the global economy and leads the strongest military and nuclear force on Earth. And you're trying to compare him to the Pope. 🙄

Exactly! Bush is also at the helm of a superpower that makes up 5% of the world's population but accounts for a staggering 25% of global pollution. Plus, he’s the president of the only major power alongside China that refused to sign the Kyoto protocol.
Then you've got a leader responsible for countless aggressive wars fought far beyond his own borders, which is why he's so widely disliked globally.
And yet, you have the nerve to draw any comparison between him and the absolute moral authority that the late Pope was. 🙄

goldentrucker17 said:Exactly! Bush is also at the helm of a superpower that makes up 5% of the world's population but accounts for a staggering 25% of global pollution. Plus, he’s the president of the only major power alongside China that refused to sign the Kyoto protocol.
Then you've got a leader responsible for countless aggressive wars fought far beyond his own borders, which is why he's so widely disliked globally.
And yet, you have the nerve to draw any comparison between him and the absolute moral authority that the late Pope was. 🙄

You also conveniently left out the fact that this nation drives about 25%—if not more—of global science, industry, medicine, and food production. They probably hold half of all the Nobel Prize winners, too. It’s pretty easy for various underdeveloped or lagging nations to claim they aren't polluting anything when they aren't actually producing anything or contributing a damn thing to global knowledge.

goldentrucker17 said:Exactly! Bush is also at the helm of a superpower that makes up 5% of the world's population but accounts for a staggering 25% of global pollution. Plus, he’s the president of the only major power alongside China that refused to sign the Kyoto protocol.
Then you've got a leader responsible for countless aggressive wars fought far beyond his own borders, which is why he's so widely disliked globally.
And yet, you have the nerve to draw any comparison between him and the absolute moral authority that the late Pope was. 🙄

They didn't sign something they can't actually enforce. America signed it, yet won't do anything because it's impossible—and everyone knew that before the signing even happened. I guess isn't it more hypocritical to sign and then do nothing than to just refuse to sign in the first place?

Joseph Watson3 said:You also conveniently left out the fact that this nation drives about 25%—if not more—of global science, industry, medicine, and food production. They probably hold half of all the Nobel Prize winners, too. It’s pretty easy for various underdeveloped or lagging nations to claim they aren't polluting anything when they aren't actually producing anything or contributing a damn thing to global knowledge.

The only catch is most of those scientists have names like Zing Jang, Muhammad, or Apa, even if they weren't born on that continent.

Keith Nguyen7 said:The only catch is most of those scientists have names like Zing Jang, Muhammad, or Apa, even if they weren't born on that continent.

Maybe try double-checking your facts before jumping to conclusions... if you look at the Nobel Prize winners from 2006 in the sciences, every single one of them is American, and they were all born right here in the States.
Look, there are definitely some out there, it's true, and quite a few who were born elsewhere—I think I read somewhere that about a third of the American physics prizes over the last seven or eight years went to naturalized Americans, though economics is a bit different—but honestly, that’s actually an argument in favor of the USA... because those scientists move here specifically because the conditions are just better than anywhere else, since American society is a meritocracy that actually rewards the absolute best talent, unlike Europe or basically the rest of the world... and as long as America stays the only place with a system like that, we're gonna stay the undisputed leaders of the world...

Keith Nguyen7 said:The only catch is most of those scientists have names like Zing Jang, Muhammad, or Apa, even if they weren't born on that continent.

Actually, most of them were born right here in the United States and are Jews. And while it's true some carry names like "Jang"—fair point there—you don't see "Apa" very often, and I doubt you'd ever run into a "Mohamed" in that crowd.😉

Joseph Watson3 said:Actually, most of them were born right here in the United States and are Jews. And while it's true some carry names like "Jang"—fair point there—you don't see "Apa" very often, and I doubt you'd ever run into a "Mohamed" in that crowd.😉

Alright, I was just messing around with the Apa thing, but I couldn't think of any other Indian American names on the spot. Still, everything else in the post? I've seen it myself, it's true. American Jews have been acting pretty foolish lately, and honestly, they're being outnumbered by Indian Americans and groups like that.

Joseph Watson3 said:You also conveniently left out the fact that this nation drives about 25%—if not more—of global science, industry, medicine, and food production. They probably hold half of all the Nobel Prize winners, too. It’s pretty easy for various underdeveloped or lagging nations to claim they aren't polluting anything when they aren't actually producing anything or contributing a damn thing to global knowledge.

You totally missed the point. They make up 5% of the population and they're burning through the Earth's scarce resources like there's no tomorrow. Meanwhile, they're only entitled to one twentieth of the share. ☕

The only thing that actually gets under my skin is when people try to ban protests, or when they start treating Bush’s visit as some kind of "exception to the rules."

Look, I don't view Bush as some sort of primate; he is the representative of the most powerful military and economic superpower on the planet. He was visiting us as a guest, and we ought to act with a bit of civility and behave like decent hosts.

As for those accusations regarding environmental damage or starting World War III—well, that's all just a matter of personal perspective. If anyone had an issue with him, they had every opportunity to voice their dissent (thank God!) thanks to our government being accommodating enough to allow protests in the first place. In my opinion, the only real failure here was the total lack of organization by the local authorities. I'm sure Bush felt terrible about the empty streets and the fact that his presence basically sent everyone running for cover. 🤣

Joseph Watson3 said:You also conveniently left out the fact that this nation drives about 25%—if not more—of global science, industry, medicine, and food production. They probably hold half of all the Nobel Prize winners, too. It’s pretty easy for various underdeveloped or lagging nations to claim they aren't polluting anything when they aren't actually producing anything or contributing a damn thing to global knowledge.

Sure, sure... they "contribute" to medicine 😂—mostly by trying to push as many pills as possible (even kids are taught now that if any part of them hurts, you just pop a pill or two—or three—or an entire cocktail); they contribute to food production 🤣 via GMOs (because they're just so brilliant), but not to actually end world hunger—just to pad their own margins. Do you honestly think they'd give away what they produce (GMO crops) for free to the poor and hungry? Of course not; it isn't meant for anyone who can't pay. They contribute to industry 👎—yeah, they participate far too much, which is evident from the fact that any caveman can shoot whoever he wants because everyone has guns...
and yeah, the easiest thing for developing nations to do is kiss America's ass, hand over their country to be used, and then watch it get paved over, overrun by crime, and left without clean water or air.👍