Artysim

Reply to Israel strikes HAMAS in Current Events Stardock Forums

[quote]Israel just hit a school in Gaza. Hence the world has now decided that hitting schools is "evil". It wasn't "evil" last week when Hamas and the PLO had fired at schools for years, on purpose, with no repercussions whatsoever. Can a liberal please explain to me why hitting schools is now "evil" and wasn't last week? I am just asking out of curiosity.[/quote] Two wrongs don't make a right. Conducting a military operation in this manner- <a href="http://w

Reply to Israel strikes HAMAS in Current Events Stardock Forums

Leauki said- [quote]I don't know anything about bioligical weapons in Iraq.[/quote] Twenty-four U.S. firms were involved in exporting arms and materials to Baghdad. [ 6 ] <a title="Donald W. Riegle, Jr." href="http://bahuvirupaksha.joeuser.com

Reply to Israel strikes HAMAS in Current Events JoeUser Forums

[quote]When the Arabs attacked Iran and caused two million deaths, I didn't speak up. I couldn't blame the Jews.[/quote] Interesting you bring this up- considering this was a war in which Iraq was championed by the West and Saddam was seen as one of our guys throughout the whole thing. So much so that we (the West) provided him with chemical and biological weapons, satellite photography and intelligence. We even turned a blind eye to the attrocities he committed against his own people

Reply to Israel strikes HAMAS in Current Events JoeUser Forums

[quote]Don't worry, Artysim...this time Israel probably won't stop until it's done. I'll light candles for that! Humanitarian crisis? LOL. This time that trick/whine ain't working.[/quote] Indeed. Hospitals, ambulances and medical facilities are also just unfortunate collateral damage too, no? http://www.phr.org.il/phr/article.asp?articleid=657&catid=55&pcat=-1&

Reply to Israel strikes HAMAS in Current Events Stardock Forums

[quote]We don't have to do a gedankenexperiment. I am the child of someone whose house was bombed by the Americans when he was six years old. And I have no desire for vengeance at all. There are those in Germany who have a desire for vengeance, for Dresden for example, but oddly enough they are always to be found among right-wing extremists and they usually hate foreigners and Jews too. The thing is, you always state as facts what isn't even arguable but I have already seen to be wr

Reply to Israel strikes HAMAS in Current Events JoeUser Forums

[quote]And oddly enough, the large majority (85%) of casualties were militants. Do you never notice that everything you state as fact is always wrong?[/quote] So, of the 1600 wounded and 390 killed (so far), that means that 1,360 Hamas members were wounded and 331 Hamas members have been killed? But yet, Hamas says only 200 of their people have been killed. Who do we believe? The whole place is now a closed military area after all so we really can't say with any c

Reply to Israel strikes HAMAS in Current Events Stardock Forums

Ho boy, here we go! Before I address the immediate situation, please allow me to clarify a few things for the fine folks here: 1) Does Israel have a right to exist? Yes, absolutely. Granted, their current borders -are- markedly different from the map drawn up by the UN partition plan in 1947, but that's a separate topic in and of itself! 2) Does Israel have the right to defend herself? Yes, absolutely. All nations have the right to defend themselves whe

Reply to The single biggest difference between rich and middle class people in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote] really think many left-wingers never understood wealth.[/quote] Well Leauki, you should have a conversation with Nikola Tesla. He's the inventor of AC electricity, among many other things (including the radio, as it has been determined that he beat out Marconi) Mr Tesla's inventions and contributions to humanity far surpass many of the inventions brought about by many other entrepreneurs who profitted wildly. But Tesla died a penniless man. Did you know that wh

Reply to The single biggest difference between rich and middle class people in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]In the real world, the situation you describe is most commonly found in corrupt socialist countries like in Central America or Africa where the state confiscates nearly everything people produce.[/quote] Actually, this situation IS indeed quite often found in central and south american countries, but ones that have had right wing dictatorships (dictatorships that interestingly enough had the blessing of, or at the least a blind eye turned to their tactics by

Reply to The single biggest difference between rich and middle class people in Politics Stardock Forums

Draginol- I agree with everything in your article in theory The practical application however is a different story, and much of it comes down to this- [quote]the west profited by having those who could take $1 and turn it into $2 have as much freedom as possible.[/quote] Now, I agree wholeheartedly with this statement. And in "days of old" it took a loooong time to turn 1 dollar into 2 dollars and it was based on real sales. The widget factory would build

Reply to Theatre of the Absurd in Blogging Stardock Forums

LW- [quote]It's all gone to hell, Arty. If our elected officials *really* wanted to help they'd be putting money in the hands of the ripped off, not propping up those who perpetuated the frauds.[/quote] Couldn't have said it better myself! This latest episode with Madoff illustrates that most of the fluff we've been brought up with about hard work and a fair system is just that... fluff, something to keep us knuckle draggers distracted while the smartest guys in the room are act

Theatre of the Absurd in Blogging JoeUser Forums

“I am more concerned with the return of my money than the return on my money.” – Mark Twain Our current brand of capitalism is kaput. I am not saying that the concept as a whole is flawed, but rather the particular flavor we are using today. On what do I base this assertion? Nevermind that Enron was an omen of things to come that we casually dismissed as "a few bad apples" and allowed to replicate on a massive scale in

The War Prayer in Blogging JoeUser Forums

The following was written by Samuel Clemens at the turn of the 20th century. L W's article about Christianity and it's current fear/love dynamic got me thinking on this tangent... considering it's getting awfully close to Christmas and all.... you know.... The War Prayer It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols

Reply to And people wonder why I favor tightened gun control. in Misc Stardock Forums

Aaaah gun control. Per capita, Canadians own more guns than Americans However, per capita, deaths by firearms are higher in the States than in Canada. (I can find and display this info for you if you'd like) Personally speaking I think much of the issue comes down to the perception of what firearms really are. I don't see a firearm as a weapon. It is a tool, a tool that is needed and hopefully rarely used, by law enforcement, the military and farmers/hu

Dead Nation Gone Shopping in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Have you ever seen the classic zombie movie "Dawn of the Dead" by George A. Romero? If not, I highly recommend it. A few years back they did a remake which was ok, but not nearly as good as the first. So go out, find the original made in 1978 and give it a whirl. There's a much deeper reason why you should watch this movie besides cheesy 1970's special effects gore. George Romero made it a point to use his zombie movies as social commentary and if one is able to look past the&nbs

Reply to Understanding Leverage in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]but it’s reasonable to conjecture that it should not exceed 10:1[/quote] I agree with you one hundred percent. However, many of the big boys that have gone under were over leveraged something like 80:1, one of the outfits was estimated to be 120:1. In pro-positive corporate lingo, this is called financial innovation, and anyone who advocated a cap of 10:1 was seen as a stodgy old ninny. Jokes on us!

Reply to Yes, Tax the Rich in Politics Stardock Forums

[quote]If the person (or persons) didn't own the company how would the employees have a job? Someone has to be at the top overseeing the actions of the company. They may not do any physical labor but that doesn't mean they aren't working. The people at the top or responsible for how much the people they employ produce.[/quote] El duderino- This was disproven in Argentina several years ago. You may remember there was quite a ruckus in the early part of this decade abo

Reply to Someone explain, please!!!!!! Cause I just don't get it. in Current Events Stardock Forums

[quote]So no one knows? Seriously?[/quote] Charles, this about sums it up. Remember a month ago when Paulson went before congress and said (paraphrasing); "The entire economy is days away from a complete meltdown. I have a plan that will stop this from happening, but you must give me 700 billion dollars to buy bad assets from banks. This will work!" Then, more than a month later, what happened? Last week Paulson did a sudden about face- "You know that p

Reply to Evil concealed by money in Politics JoeUser Forums

Okay, was gonna stay away from this one but couldn't help myself- Going by the logic presented in this article (and the OP does make a good point) any and all forms of taxation are socialism and therefore evil, correct? Hence, why the government forcing you to give up your money so the old lady across the street can have her lawn mowed, etc. So if socialism is a fundamentally evil concept, and therefore taxes are a fundamentally evil concept, what should we replace it

Reply to The Cost of Cars in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]Right now, if you compare it to Germany and to Japan and to other countries, they can build cars cheaper, and they don't have that overhead with the amount of what they pay to the workers, the benefits they provide[/quote] Good quote Sodaiho- Isn't it interesting that both Japan and Germany have universal healthcare systems, thereby eliminating much of the benefits overhead that are burdening manufacturers in the States..... who'da thunk it that some functions cove

Reply to Obama is a gift to the Republicans in Politics Stardock Forums

[quote]It will be interesting to see what these guy do now. Will they mock the messiah and the Democrat dominated congress, or will they go bye bye for lack of conservative fodder? These guys don't give me the impression that they like to be out of work, but what will the true believers on the left think if poor Nancy Pelosi and Harry Ried are assailed? Oh the horror[/quote] I agree. Again, the point of political satire is to make fun of whoever is in power as all leaders are fallible

Reply to What Did You Play This Weekend? in Gaming Stardock Forums

I'm not a huge gamer, quite often going the better part of a year between playing anything. There are two franchises that I make exceptions for- 1) Turn based strategy, the last good one being Gal Civ series before that the classics like MOO and Civilization 2) Fallout - never really got into RPG's but for some reason the fallout franchise I dig bigtime! This weekend I bought fallout 3 and it is AMAZING.

Cheerleaders of the Apocalypse in Current Events JoeUser Forums

"Banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies" (Thomas Jefferson) "The TARP is the most expensive boondoggle in history. No one even knows what the banks are doing with the money. There's neither accountability nor transparency. As a result, investor confidence has deteriorated and stocks have continued to fall. No one trusts Paulson to do the right thing anymore; it's that simple." (

Reply to Obama is a gift to the Republicans in Politics Stardock Forums

steven- [quote]Pretty much what Hoover followers said in '32. Obama is going back to the economic basics of producing real things.[/quote] One can hope! Cacto- [quote]I really, really hope we get to see some creativity in right wing satire in the next few years. The stuff produced during the Bush years was unforgivably bad. The unavoidable disasters of the new era will hopefully inspire some funny rightwingers, rather than just bitchy ones.[/quote] What are

Reply to HAW HAW!!! in Current Events Stardock Forums

[quote]It could be like the older siblings making the youngest ask for ice cream (they come running too if the ploy is successful). If it happens, and I hope it doesn't, I'd love to be the guy on the phone talking to the AMEX representative. "Sir, if this 3.5 billion had been a purchase we could have charged you 19.9% APR, but since this is a cash advance, and you're not a preferred customer, the APR will be 23.9% plus the 3% or $20 transfer fee, which ever is greater. Would you like our cred