Zimbabwe, nearing 150,000% inflation, plans to print $10 million dollar bills

In substantive terms what else does the Commonwealth do for it's members these days?

At one time, yes, there were trade deals with the U.K. but the E.U. put an end to that.

In all practical purposes all it is good for these days are the Games.

So if a country swings in and out of democracy, it could also swing in and out of the Commonwealth. But no attempt is made when a country is out to bring it back in?

Different countries, same bullshit.



You might have a point about Apartheid, it only the franchise had been restricted, but that wasn't all it was, was it? Employment, housing, education (I'd love to see you argue how restricting education helps a population group 'evolve' to a point where they can control their destiny) and damn near everything else was restricted for the various non-white racial groups.

Apartheid was nothing more than small minority wanting to hang on to their wealth and status at the expense of the rest of the population. Belief of anything else shows complete ignorance of the situation, and borderline racism IMO.

Again I will quote Wikipedia...

Also, since the Commonwealth has as its aims things like democracy and respect for human rights, staying in good standing with the Commonwealth is a prestige issue for many countries, and being suspended is seen as a major rejection from the international community.

In political relations with the member countries of course the nation would be pressured to resume democratic processes, there isn't any reason to compromise for a nation to get back into the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth has no real political power and only provides benefits to the member states due to the good political and cultural relationships it promotes. If you start allowing countries which are not following the same goals to be members then it makes the organisation pointless.

Presumably that would occur even if the Commonwealth didn't exist.

This is yet another triumph for socialism.

Just think if you didn't have "socialism" you wouldn't be able to go cruising parks at night for all sorts of bum fun!

So you only catch mythological references if they've been covered by Stargate SG1?

I laugh maniacally at Zimbabwe.

I need to go back to my Sith Lord Av.

We need a Darth Sidious smiley, too.

You mean a country that is more progressive than the US? How horrible!

Are you people deliberately trying to give me an anyeurism?

Picture of Atlas + "shrug" smilie = "Atlas Shrugged".

And I will go out on a limb and say you won't get much shopping at
Dollar General anymore.....then there's also this:

Didn't the Germans do it in the 1920s as a way to deliberately destroy their currency?

Keep a close eye on the US and particularly the Fed.

Where can one get some of these million dollar bills? I'm betting they might be fun to use at the nudie bar.

Blacks were offered free education provided they live on the tribal properties. The ones that didn't want to live on those properties were the ones restricted.

AH! Now I see! Forced geographic segregation is always the first step to creating a pluralist society!

And separate but equal is always equal. There was just as much as economic and educational opportunities on the reservations as in the white controlled areas.

If only the darkies had stuck to their own kind, S. Africa would be so much of a better place for everyone now.

Watch out, JCD your colors are showing.

yeah. He's really burning crosses all over this thread.

I'm wondering how many South Africans JCD actually knows... I mean, I know my viewpoint is slightly biased - of all the South Africans I've known over the last 30 years or so, only one could be described as right wing*, all the others were lefties who had to leave the country in the apartheid days before they got the acid-impregnated t-shirts courtesy of BOSS - but what he posts as sure as hell is different to what I've heard from people who lived through it...


*She's the only one still living in the UK, and, oddly enough, a cousin** of one of the staunchest lefties. Go figure.


**I knew them both long before they knew each other and they only found out they were cousins when the three of us were talking one day... that was an interesting conversation...

JCD's av is quite teh creepy

I wonder how much about S. Africa he actually knows. Hopefully this is just ignorance on his part, and not outright bigotry.

Ahem, [wiki]Social Security (United States)[/wiki]

I went to film school with a man from South Africa. He told me all kinds of charming stories about how life improved after the end of Apartheid, what with the seizing of white's property, a justice system that all but encourage attacks on whites in general and farmers in particular, and Mandela's policies that wrecked the economy. There were none of those problems under Apartheid and all came about after the end of it.

No one has said modern S. Africa is perfect, however it is far FAR better for the whites now than it was for any non-white racial group under Apartheid. As I said earlier to even hint otherwise shows either complete ignorance or outright bigotry.

And how long ago was this anyway? Truth and Reconciliation has gone a long way towards healing the country. Not to mention South Africa's economy is growing faster than the U.S.'s and has been for the last decade or so.

And did you ever stop to think that maybe, just maybe your buddy liked being the privileged minority that controlled the entire country? Maybe he liked it when all wealth was concentrated in white hands. Maybe he just didn't like having to share with the darkies.

Yeah, but that's the problem, see? You've got to keep you coloreds separated. If you let even one colored get in with your whites, it will ruin the whole batch. And it''s only when you the the coloreds in with the whites. If a white is in with the coloreds, it is the white that gets ruined. But if the coloreds get in with the whites...the lot of them get ruined.

What? I thought we were talking about laundry.









[there was actually a standup guy on Comedy Central doing that schtick, so I can't take credit for it. ]

We can't be broke, we still have money left.