Nintendo gifts birthday boy Bush with DS Lite, Brain Age
By Evan Blass 
posted July 6th 2006 10:27AM
posted July 6th 2006 10:27AM
[Via Joystiq]
posted July 6th 2006 10:27AM
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One perfect example is Russia... Overnight they went from Communism to capitalism/democracy... Companies went from state owned to privatization, and were often bought by Oligarchs. (The "oligarchs" are a tiny group of entrepreneurs who exploited the disintegration of the Soviet system to loot the treasures of the state and to amass plunder amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars. In order to safeguard the perpetuation of their business, they took control of the state. )
Having spent many years in Russia in Finance school, I have seen first hand a place where democracy/capitalism in it's purest form does not/will not work. Once the government lost control of the natural resources, and with the economy in shambles, billions of dollars poured out of Russia. Only since Putin has the country started to stabilize. It has done this by leaning more towards socialism,( i.e. Western Europe, but to a larger extent in Russia.)
In Russia, almost everyone gets paid in US Dollars or lately Euros. Cash, no checks. No one wants to keep their money in Rubles, and even US Dollars are getting looked down upon. The government has a very hard time collecting taxes from the people, etc... The banks offer 8% interest on basic savings accounts just to try to keep money in them. Most people would rather keep their money under their pillow.
This whole "overnight democracy" thing doesn't work. And capitalism/democracy is not the answer for every country. Look at Western Europe. They are based on socialism. Some things are government owned, i.e. transportation (airlines, railways, etc.), while others are privately owned. This works for them. Many Europeans that come to the US are surprised at our system in the US. We live on credit, spend most of the money that we have, etc... We need to have the newest car, the biggest tv, the best gadgets (look at the site we are on now), where in most places it's not like that. The US is a very interesting place. I can't go to Cuba because of Communism/Cold War, but Russia is ok and so is Communist China, where human right violations are plentiful. We seem to have this fake national pride, where the USA is the best, unless we can get it cheaper from somewhere else. People love to say how great the US is, but at the same time bitch about prices. You want to know why all the jobs, etc are getting shipped out of the US? It's because we want to pay pennies for toys. Companies can't afford to keep jobs here and sell for less. It is not feasible.
So you ask what is a better alternative? How about listening to the rest of the world when it comes to matters outside of our country. We could have had a peaceful conclusion to the Iraq problem without destroying the countries whole infrastructure... And why did we do that? So we can send people over there to fix it. Instead we said "screw you" to most of our allies and did what we wanted. And now not only is our economy suffering, but also our troops who don't know what they are doing in Iraq. And don't try to say "fox news showed the troops think they are doing something great!" because I have 2 brothers over there that beg to differ...
So the alternative you suggest is to do nothing? Great, that's what we did during the Clinton years and that ultimately gave us 9-11. We haven't had another terrorist attack on our soil since based on Bush's decisions. So I again ask, what would you prefer we do about preventing another 9-11.
"Individual freedom is what we need to install in Iraq."
And what gives us the right to say what WE need to install in Iraq? If they had a civil war and made a democracy afterwards, it would be a different story. Many Iraqis were happy with their life before the invasion. In the american revolution it was about what the people wanted... How great would the American revolution have been if France wanted to "install" their form of government (absolute monarchy) here in the US? So they sent their troops over, saying they had to protect their assets in the US and then decided to install their form of government? Would the American Revolution have been great then?
So the alternative you suggest is to do nothing?
You can read right?
So you ask what is a better alternative? How about listening to the rest of the world when it comes to matters outside of our country. We could have had a peaceful conclusion to the Iraq problem without destroying the countries whole infrastructure... And why did we do that? So we can send people over there to fix it.
That does not equate to nothing... The rest of the world had many ideas that would have ended the situation peacefully. Please remember there was no known presence of Al-Qaeda in Iraq before they found no WMD's. Then along came Zarqawi. Who came at a perfect time for our government. It took the spotlight off the WMDs (or lack thereof) and put it on this crazy Zarqawi figure. Who had no connection to Al-Qaeda until we said so. Bin Laden didn't even like him before. He said he is giving a bad name to Al-Qaeda making the Jihad a muslim vs muslim problem. And please tell me what you believe this "war" has accomplished. And don't say democracy, freedom, or a better life for the Iraqis. Because none of these things have or are going to happen in the foreseeable future.
Listening to the rest of the world on that matter equals doing nothing.
How did you know I can't read?
Thanks for bringing up WMDs again. My only reason for comenting was that I am sick of people argueing about the past when we have a monumental task ahead us. I was hoping I could maybe get though to some to focus not on Bush-bashing but on what we should do now.
Hey, remember back when this was a tech discussion?
Anyway, Nintendo wins at life. This has got to be the funniest thing a company has done in a long while.
Also I asked what you would do on the war on terror, not Iraq specifically.
Nintendo makes me go Wii! Its great to see Nintendo has a sense of humor. I hope the Wii releases in October I cant wait to play it.
Hey guys, instead of being Bush or Kerry or Walken fanboys, can we just be DS fanboys and PSP fanboys? Here, I'll kick it off.
Hey cz440, you're stupid and your name is stupid and everything about you is stupid and there are plenty of good DS games. Here, have a Joystiq link.
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/06/20/ds-lite-buyers-guide-3-0/
I don't trust that particular buyer's guide, but if you scroll down, you'll see links to three more.
jedda:
Fighting them there so we don't have to fight them here?
Yeah, that must be it, because the UK certainly was fighting them over there too, with us, and guess what? London bombings.
Well, why did they get attacked?
Why haven't we been attacked?
Because we play GOOD DEFENSE, we have an excellent defense here and if we weren't wasting resources in Iraq and creating more terrorists, we could have an even BETTER one.
Offense only creates larger ripples in the water, you need to defend, because after the dust settles and they collect themselves there will be reprisal.
If you can thank the president for any the good defense, fine, thankyou!
But the offense is unnecessary.
What about the gadgets? Is this discussion about gadgets?
What the heck has happened to all of the blogs and news sites that I read?
First digg gets a political section, now Engadget is full of flaming liberals/conservatives as well. What is going on?
You can post how much you hate Bush all you want [or like him for that matter], just do it somewhere where you can have a real debate, not on a gadget blog.
Jesus F'ing Christ.
I dont like George Bush. I think the war was bad idea. George Bush has done nothing good for this country. George Bush has a low I.Q. and is not a smart man.George Bush cannot pronounce words.
I like George Bush. The War in Iraq was a wonderful idea. George Bush has made our country right again. George Bush is logical in his arguements and reasoning. He is an excellent speaker and really connects with the people.
Oh god. Am I Pro or Anti-Bush? Are you all confused now? Do you really even care?
Nintendo sending George Bush Brain Age is funny to those who have heard over and over again that George Bush is "stupid". It plays directly upon that idea. Those who dont think he's stupid, see Nintendo sending George Bush Brain Age as a nice gesture.
Either way, it is news concerning a gadget. So who the hell cares about differing political views? You want some new material? "You are the weakest link. Goodbye"
I just wasted 45 seconds of your life reading this. And that makes me happy. :)
i never said I hate Bush, or liked Kerry... You just assume that because of my stance... I think Kerry was the worst person the Democrats could have ever put up against Bush. He hardly knew where he stood on issues. And what would the Daily Show, etc be without all those great Bush quotes? The one good thing Bush has done is leave us with an everlasting supply of Bushisms. I really don't see a huge difference between parties in the US. If we want a real change, we'll have to get away from thinking Democrats and Republicans are the only way we can vote. Because it's always the same thing over and over whether coming from a democrat or republican. And what is coming from them doesn't taste or smell good, and it ruins your day when you step in it...
Anyways, props to Nintendo for a great system and a great gag gift...
Sukato and the other GOP fanboys... why don't you put your money where your mouth is, step into a Humvee and spread freedom throughout the middle east?? Why aren't you staging pro-war rallies in the streets? War bond drives? Are you driving less? Donating your excess scrap metal for the war effort?
Or are you sitting back and watching your Bechtel and Halliburton stock go up, and up and up...?
Fighting lefties on a freaking GADGET board...what a bunch of pussies. If you want a real fight, I'll be with all the Iraq war veterans who are running for public office (ALL of whom are running on the Democratic ticket).
No operation can be legitimate when they call it Operation Iraqi Liberation aka OIL.
Also, President Bush is really nice in person, which is probably why he won the election (although I don't approve of his presidency). So Happy Bday President Bush and funny joke Nintendo.
Ok bush is a moron indeed. Sukato what the hell crack are you on Fox = conservative media I quote: "its so far right its shoved up your ass" they even said before an ad break FOX news the conservative news network.
Anyway I paraise Nintendo for giving something that could possible bring our braindead leader to something we call reality.
Just remember that 50% of this country voted for a moron. That moron than started a war in another country. Rich or poor “WE” are ALL paying this war with the blood of our service men and women.
So… Conservative that "Bush lovers", because this is your fault!
Is this some sort of a joke? I would love to see him playing around in his private time.... LOL Nintendo, Good Job! :D
Wow hating Bush is so fun and kewl. Can't wait for the next Bush=Dumb prank. These jokers are sooo insightful and original. By doing this they are really "Sticking it to the man!!"
Sukato,
Are you serious? Do you actually believe that the information released under the FoI act is accurate?!? Man, you must watch Fox...
To (most of) the rest of you - I have to admit, it is rather amusing watching Americans argue. Most of you congeal into one of two sides, each equally brainwashed (and I don't use that term lightly, I'm not a conspiracy theorist, it's a simple fact of the very, very clever manipulation of your media). Then you scream at each other from your equally misinformed positions, doing exactly what the people manipulating the masses want you to do.
It's rather ironic that the people living in America are the least informed about what's actually happening there, and yet think they have the whole picture. But why ruin a system that's worked for 200 years...? Aren't you all good little sheep.
And after 2 months of playing this and improving is IQ he realizes:''Oh my god! There were no nukes in Iraq!'' I would have sent him a game called Superpower 2 so he could invade Iraq and Iran without hurting anybody.
Alternativley, id justlike to point out that bush has the lowest IQ of an american president ever.. its not far off room temperature xD.
Bush haters are good, they see through the american lies.
Bush: Damn this handholded computereizoration!
Hey I just want anyone of you idiots who said that mustard gas that 20 years old isnt harmful too know that mustard gas does not degrade. In fact I live downwind from APG the biggest store of Mustard gas from war world 1 in all of the country. And they just now came up with the money to nuetralize the gas with a new facility. So obviously the shit still works. And if you dotn believe me go find a gas mask from ww1 and try it on. See whether or not you get mustard blisters in a few days or not.
AND WE DIDNT GO INTO IRAQ FOR NUKES YOU IDIOTS> WE WENT THERE FOR MUSTARD AND SYRAN GAS. READ A F#@$ING NEWPAPER AND GET A CLUE BEFORE YOU PUBLLISH YOUR RETARD THOUGHTS ON THE INTERNET.
isn't this a website about gadgets and not global politics?
Just a thought, ya know, but I'm glad we ALL KNOW WHATS GOING ON IN THIS COUNTRY?
That's funny. "Brain Age" to a president that over 25% of the country thinks he's dumb. Republicans may want to argue this fact. But the real fact is that 75% of the country is not republican.
I don't have a political party BTW.
insert clever political commentary here