Leauki

Reply to Iraq War Headed toward a point of no return in Politics JoeUser Forums

"I don't think that one can even remotely compare Germany to Iraq. To do so would be anti-semitic. Hussein did not kill over four million people through purges. Hitler did and so did Stalin. This kind of statement could easily be construed as anti-semitic." Don't worry about it. It's not the number that makes the devil, it's the reason. Hitler killed Jews for the same reason Saddam killed Shi'ites. He hated them and needed somebody to

Reply to What's next for Google? in Google JoeUser Forums

This is so wrong: "Wordperfect was the best, Microsoft won. IN each and every case, Microsoft entered the game late, and killed the competition with inferior products through its marketing muscle." If you think Microsoft won that with inferior products, you are either very young or have a very bad memory. I suggest you read Rick Chapman's excellent book "In Search of Stupidity" which will tell you why Wordperfect failed and w

Reply to Hail and farewell in Blogging JoeUser Forums

I take pride in the fact that I was one of the very first readers of Steven's blog, having checked out his Web site weekly before he even styarted the blog. I met him (and Draginol) on Usenet, in comp.os.os2.advocacy, when I was an OS/2 user and Steven was a Windows user who had to use OS/2 Warp at work (and didn't like it). Over the years I have started to consider Steven one of my friends and , as far as I know, that was mutual. I n

Reply to Another way of looking at taxes in Politics JoeUser Forums

"Cactoblasta", what are you talking about?

Reply to Another way of looking at taxes in Politics JoeUser Forums

Gerry, Draginol has often mentioned sources, this last article was just one of many articles about the same subject. OTOH I would really like to see the sources of some of Lobo's more fascinating statements.

Reply to A three-dimensional political spectrum quiz in Politics JoeUser Forums

1: Liberal (100%) 2: Anarcho-syndicalist (90%) 3: Totalitarian (77%) 4: New Labour (70%) 5: Traditional Societies (68%) 6: Libertarian (58%) 7: Authoritarian (44%) 8: Conservative (33%) But this quiz was completely useless. It didn't ask any questions about foreign policy (except foreign aid, which can mean a lot of things). And there was no way to indicate that you want to reform the social security system

Reply to A Brief History of Western Religions- Part III in Religion JoeUser Forums

I am somewhat familiar with the issue, the difference between Judaism and Christianity, being one of the few who regularly (every week) goes to a synagogue in otherwise very catholic Dublin. It is true that Christians were hated by almost everyone in the first two or three centuries CE, but then they were the only religion insisting that there was only one G-d. Judaism now as today handles dissent much better (or so I think) and was thus no da

Reply to A Brief History of Western Religions- Part III in Religion JoeUser Forums

Interesting subject but wanting article... While there are major differences between Judaism and Christianity, you carefully listed only those points where the two religions are actually quite alike. Judaism: 1. Christians officially believe that the Jewish people are "Chosen" by G-d as well, at least Catholicism does. 2. Judaism and Christianity are both centered around Jerusalem. 3. Judaism is no "birthri

Reply to Iran Warns of Pre-Emptive Strike in International JoeUser Forums

"It’s a shame that the targets of Iran's hostilities set the unfortunate precedent that pre-emptive strikes are acceptable." I am curious. If a strike after 12 years of cease-fire violations on Iraq's side is "pre-emptive", what do you call a strike that happens BEFORE the enemy does something. Also, why didn't Arab attacks on Israel during the last 50 years set "the unfortunate precedent that pre-emptive strikes are acceptable"?

Reply to Personal Property in Politics JoeUser Forums

If these documents were correspndence between government officials and its military, wouldn't they technically be the property of the government rather than any individual who ended up with them? It's not often that personal property has its actual owner written on it, but letters usually do.

Reply to Anti-Semitism in International JoeUser Forums

Cactoblaste, have you actually read the reports that "document HR abuses by Israel"? You will find that they don't. Why they would be classified as HR abuse reports I do not know, but the existence of an Israeli settlement is certainly not a HR abuse; and many of the articles seem to be questions rather than report. One report (at least) mentions Jenin. I have not compared the dates but I wonder whether it refers to the massacre which

Reply to Anti-Semitism in International JoeUser Forums

Solitair, killing in defence is not "murder". I will answer your question once you ask using the correct words. I do not want our discussion to start with the assumption that defence is morally wrong PER SE.

Reply to Anti-Semitism in International JoeUser Forums

"The Israeli army has a poor record for human rights" Evidence? "When your back is against the wall, and your family has nowhere to run, those two options can quickly appear to only be one." Don't run. Wait around until the Israelis leave. Don't attack them. What's so damn difficult about that?

Reply to Anti-Semitism in International JoeUser Forums

"When I was a child I ran to my mother, I didn't put myself in harms way." And neither, I assume, did your parents use you as human shields against the police or army and nor, I perceive, did they convince you that your life must be traded in for a death of an opponent.

Reply to Anti-Semitism in International JoeUser Forums

"Why dont you turn that around?" Because it wouldn't be true. Israelis or Jews do not send their children away to be "martyrs" on suicide missions. If the life of your child is of more value to you than the death of an opponent, you don't send your children to do suicide attacks.

Reply to Anti-Semitism in International JoeUser Forums

Muggaz, what's your point? Do you propose that Israel should just allow weapons smugglers to do whatever they want? Do you suggest that Israel should not defend itself when the defenders use children as human shields? And is this your opinion limited to Israel or is it valid for all countries in the world? I guess it is true what they say: this war will stop once the Arabs love their own children more than they hate Jews.

Reply to Anti-Semitism in International JoeUser Forums

Kingbee, Canada is not being under constant attack from those on the other side of the border, nor are Americans constantly trying to smuggle weapons into Canadian provinces. And as for ethnic groups, you have probably missed the vital information that Jews are an ethnic group AND dominant in Israel, so your assumption about ten Israelis being from ten ethnic groups may be correct in some cases, but probably isn't for most. W

Reply to Anti-Semitism in International JoeUser Forums

If you are against Castro because you are against dictatorship, you are fine. But if you find no problems with similar dictatorships when the dictator is not Cuban, you are not. Similarly a lot of the criticism against Israel (most of it, actually) comes from those who don't seem to have any problems with any other countries defending its borders, it's only the Jewish state they have a problem with. When the Arabs expelled the Jews li

Reply to Same sex marriage: the ultimate oximoron in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Rich, I agree with your points in general. However, I feel you are a bit confused about how to define your points. For example, if marriage is, as you say, an institution to bind one man and one woman for the purposes of procreation, your definition does not cover marriages between people where at least one of them isn't capable (for whatever reason) to procreate. If a definition of marriage should be limited to mixed marriages (one m

Reply to Longhorn: Will Microsoft keep the door open? in Windows Software JoeUser Forums

Somewhat off-topic: which version number does Longhorn return? What does "ver" tell you?

Reply to Remembering Annie Hall in Misc JoeUser Forums

"that a minor inconvenience mutated into marriage" Evil!

Reply to What does "working with allies" buy us, Mr. Kerry? in Politics JoeUser Forums

Solitair, we don't have substantial military power. The French and German military are undertrained and underfunded. The German army isn't even supposed to be anything else. We cannot project military force anywhere except in mainland France and Germany. Even for Bosnia and Serbia we needed British and American support. The joint EU army is a dream, it doesn't look like it will become a reality, at least not in the form it was envisioned. You

Reply to What does "working with allies" buy us, Mr. Kerry? in Politics JoeUser Forums

Kingbee, what you propose is magic. And like all magic it won't work. You can create the dragon, but the king won't turn up just like that. European countries do not suddenly gain military strength and send soldiers to Iraq because of the ritual you propose, or any other ritual for that matter. The claim that Europe would send soldiers if only there was more UN involvement stands in stark contrast to the fact that Europe can't do it, because E

Reply to The West Bank and Gaza in International JoeUser Forums

If you know your history of Palestine you will also know that the UN partition plan wasn't the first partition plan. The mandate already existed for 30 years when the UN were founded and a partition plan existed also. If the West Bank and Gaza had been "always meant" to be a separate Arab state, Egypt and Transjordan could have founded such a state when they annexed both. Why they chose instead try and erase Israel from the map makes me wonder

Reply to The West Bank and Gaza in International JoeUser Forums

Shadesofgrey, the British mandate of Palestine included today's Israel and today's Jordan (which was called Transjordan before it annexed the West Bank). The first partition plan was to divide Palestine into a Jewish part and an Arab part, with Jordan being the border. The Arab part of Palestine was then named "Transjordan" and later became Jordan, when Transjordan annexed the West Bank. The whole area was once an Osman provi