vobios.tumblelog
i hate the internet, but these are the pieces i like
Posts tagged america
Dec 9 '11
Jul 26 '11
Jun 8 '11
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“America’s defence spending, at nearly $700 billion a year, is bigger than that of the next 17 countries combined.”
(via theeconomist)
Jan 17 '11
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“Which countries match the GDP and population of America’s states? It has long been true that California on its own would rank as one of the biggest economies of the world. These days, it would rank eighth, falling between Italy and Brazil on a nominal exchange-rate basis. But how do other American states compare with other countries? Taking the nearest equivalent country from 2009 data reveals some surprises. Who would have thought that, despite years of auto-industry hardship, the economy of Michigan is still the same size as Taiwan’s?”
Aug 23 '10
Jul 7 '10
Apr 15 '10
Apr 14 '10
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“The 2011 military budget, by the way, is the largest in history, not just in actual dollars, but in inflation adjusted dollars, exceeding even the spending in World War II, when the nation was on an all-out military footing. Military spending in all its myriad forms works out to represent 53.3% of total US federal spending. … US military spending isn’t just half of the US budget. It is also half of the entire global spending on war and weaponry. In 2009, according to the venerable War Resisters League, US military spending accounted for 47% of all money spent globally on war, weapons and military preparedness. What makes that staggering figure particularly ridiculous is that America’s allies—countries like France, Britain, Germany, Italy, and Japan—account for another 21% of the world’s military spending. Fully 12 of the top-spenders among big military-spending nations are either allies of the US, or are friendly countries like Brazil and India. That is to say, America and its friends and allies account for more than two-thirds of all military spending worldwide.”
Apr 1 '10
Dec 1 '09
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“A designated survivor (or designated successor) is a member of the United States Cabinet who stays at a physically distant, secure, and undisclosed location when the President and the country’s other top leaders (e.g., vice president, secretary of state) are gathered at a single location, such as during State of the Union Addresses and presidential inaugurations. This maintains continuity of government with regard to presidential succession in the remote possibility of a catastrophic event which might wipe out large portions of the United States’ federal government, including the entire slate of individuals designated by law in the line of succession to the presidency. Since U.S. law does not provide for anyone to assume the office of president if everyone on this list is simultaneously killed, the practice of designating a survivor is intended to effectively eliminate the chance of that happening.”
Oct 14 '09
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“The Norwegian politicians gave their prize to Obama because they believed that he would leave Europeans in their comfortable prosperity without making unreasonable demands. That is their definition of peace, and Obama seemed to promise that.”
Aug 24 '09
Jun 15 '09
Mar 11 '09
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“There is no correlation between the harshness of drug laws and the incidence of drug-taking: citizens living under tough regimes (notably America but also Britain) take more drugs, not fewer. Embarrassed drug warriors blame this on alleged cultural differences, but even in fairly similar countries tough rules make little difference to the number of addicts: harsh Sweden and more liberal Norway have precisely the same addiction rates.”
