Joseph Riggs wrote: > > Yeah, I wasn't really focused on the "anti-US" aspect of it so much as I > was interested in learning about what the political situation within Union > was. SEED's Atlantic Federation was a much nastier version of the US > (practically run by Blue Cosmos it often seemed) than what we're dealing > with in 00, which is so far just a cynical view of the country and its > influence on the rest of the world. Given the great degree of dislike in > South and Central America (at the recent Miss Universe pageant in Mexico > City, the US contestant was booed by the audience during the competition), I > found it somewhat odd that those regions would be part of a US dominated > nation. The episode confirmed that there's still a lot of resentment in > place, even if officially the Union is one big happy fa! mily. >
Don't get hung up about having your airhead booed on stage. In Rotterdam, once the only thing separating me from raging bands of soccer fans from another part of the country was a thin black line of riot police. Giving the chance they might set fire to the stadium. In the version I saw, there was a very fleeting mention of "U.N." so it is quite possible that the U.N. broke apart at some point and some number of countries, headed by the United States, formed the Union retaining U.N. rhetorics/charters. I don't have any evidence except for the word "equal". In the U.N. general assembly, each member country has one vote, so in theory Vanuatu and Tonga can gang up together and cancel the votes of U.S. and Russia. In theory being the key point. So I suspect in the Union, all major matters are also decided in a kind of assembly in which 50 member nations cast their votes. But in practice, everything is decided by Anglo-Americans in the White House (BTW the exact phrase "White House" was used). <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanuatu> As for how the current atmosphere in Latin America could possibly lead to a Union. To me, it doesn't seem crazy at all. If anything I am surprised that Anglo-Americans would accept Latinos as "family". The break up of Russia is far more incredible, I'd like to hear an explanation of that. possibly contradictory sentences. So I'm not sure I completely understood > everything that was being stated in those two segments. > Yeah the conversation regarding the energy economy was very confusing. I don't have time to microanalyze it It's probably not so germane to the plot. Since she's apparently the ruler of Setsuna's home country (mentioned in an > earlier thread on this list), presumeably the reconstruction they were > talking about was a > Mostly I think you have extrapolated a bit too far. Let's just say, internationally Azadistan has a weak hand (compared to Taribia) due to their (previous) reliance on oil; there are political and security problems (unknown source). What I got out of the dialogues is this: Azadistan has only been recently reformed into a monarchy by the action of the parliament. Princess Marina was installed as primarily a PR person instead of a figure with real power. They are seeking outside help to stablize their country (another reference to US helping Afghanistan, Kuwait, Kurdistan in 20th C?). But even with the presence of CB, it seems Azadistan had drop below everyone's radar screen due to whatever oil situation in 2307. Shirin and Marina are trying to figure out how to attract CB's attention to their advantage. My guess is Shirin has big ambitions with Marina, but Marina is content with carrying out her order from the parliament to liaison with a future ally/benefactor. Stray thought... > > Also, given CB's founder and the vulnerability of the elevators (as seen > in episode 1...), it's possible that CB's ultimate goal is to eliminate the > possibility of a threat affecting them, and at the same time somehow make > the energy that comes from them freely available to everyone on the planet > (as opposed to the solid control that the three alliances have them under). > I am more comfortable with wait-and-see on CB's true motive. But it seems very clear to me that Sumeragi, the computer Veda and possibly Aeolia Schenberg (if he does exist) has a grand action plan that's only unfolding now. Snuffing out Taribia independence is manifestation of only a small part of this plan. I look forward to more of this plan unfolding (and it better be smart!). Seems the stage will shift to HRA for episode 5 and of course there will be more talking scenes in Azadistan. At this stage, I dare not expect a major plot twist on how this plan eventually falls apart and then there's a change of course and in the end everything come out (sort of) ok. In Dai-Guard, I also expected some plot twists and got burned. Episode 4 had done enough to hold my patience up to episode 10 or so. -- Dr. Core
