Calling our troops killers and rapists I just don't agree.

Drinking and smoking doesn't make you immoral, but not doing so are qualities that most people think are good to have.

I'm not looking up stuff on Mormons because most of it are not qualified with any actual input by Mormons, regardless of whether their input is pointed to them. For those in my community, they are very united and respectable people.

imabi Wrote:Calling our troops killers and rapists I just don't agree.

http://unfacts.org/factsforum/viewtopic....8a8d7f6cd1

Quote:Drinking and smoking doesn't make you immoral, but not doing so are qualities that most people think are good to have.

I suggest you consult a good dictionary for the meaning of 'most'. Fewer people smoke than before (in Western countries), but in my community, for example, about 1% go to church and about 99% enjoy a beer or wine most evenings.

* Climate change: i suggest you continue reading and listening and trying to come to a conclusion, because you don't seem to have grasped the basics, or understand the implications. Once you do, you might want to put your gas bill in perspective a little and be greatful that you still have electricity at all.

* Given that America doesn't accept equal rights for gay people, i'd say it's pretty firmly not "the best in the world" on this issue. "Not stoning gay people to death" isn't necessarily the title i'd be aiming for.

1. I don't see a politician's life as relevent, and certainly don't trust any story they would spin about it. I'm interested in their policies. I'm not sure why you're bringing all that stuff up.

2. ---

3. I'm not really sure what your 1st sentence means, or what point it's a reply to, so i'll have to leave that.

4. You can if more than 50% of people beleive in the right to choose. That's democracy.
Also, no. Those who are pro-life are seeking to restrict the liberty of others to make a free choice. If you don't want an abortion, you are totally free to not have one. If you don't want contraception, you are free to live with the consequences. But you don't get the right to decide for someone else. That's the basic tenet of a free society. If you can't accept this very basic thing as a starting point, there can be no discussion.
I suggest reading more social studies and personal accounts on the effects of not being able to make this choice, from countries where women aren't allowed the right to choose.

5. Again, i'm not sure what point, if any, you are responding to here, or what point you are trying to make.

6. Um... you clearly don't have much of a clue what goes on in Europe. If you decide to read about it, we can talk about it then. You should also try to read more about the problem of overpopulation.

7. This would be interesting, but i don't have enough time right now. Let's discuss this another day. You're going to have to be a little more detailed about what you dislike though.

8. This only shows how easy it was to manipulate the population through fear. The UN security council repeatedly investigated Iraq, and repeatedly found absolutely no evidence of weapons of mass destruction. There weren't any. It was an illegal war, with horrific consequences for Iraq.

9. That's nothing but crazy-Bush-fear-talk. You should be capable of seeing the world with more subtle nuance than that. If you read some of the history of the region, you'll start to see some of the tensions, and the part America has played in creating that. You'll also see how the attitude of the President has a bearing on it's future. People are people everywhere.

I want to continue, but i have to be up in the morning, sorry...

IceCream Wrote:* Climate change: i suggest you continue reading and listening and trying to come to a conclusion, because you don't seem to have grasped the basics, or understand the implications.

Climate change is the most serious threat facing the world today; it's sad that it's become so partisan that the Republicans still see the scientific facts as somehow anti-American or anti-business or whatever. This summer's drought and other problems have started to swing the pendulum a bit. The root of the problem is in the grafting of conservative Christianity to the Republican party; the tools they developed to combat evolution are now being turned to climate change, and you see an unfortunate backwash of Republican ideals seeping into conservative Christianity.

Honestly what I would like to see is a complete removal of the corporate income tax and replacing that with an aggressive carbon tax that would encourage companies to reduce their emissions (as part of an overall tax reform strategy).

Unfortunately it's probably too late. The political will doesn't exist on either side to take steps to solve the problem, and it's going to be sooner rather than later when we reach the point where we can no longer do much to affect the outcome.

Still waiting on imabi to talk policy and quit attacking "liberals". (Obama is center right last I checked.)

Sebastian Wrote:

prink Wrote:Mitt Romney is a power hungry sociopath.

I think some of you will find this article interesting:

Psychopath Cowboys; Sociopath Herds: A New Theory of How Evil Happens

That was a good article by the way. Fishead is a documentary along those same lines.

imabi Wrote:One, icecream, Romney is a Mormon. If you didn't know that, you're stupid.

If not knowing Romney is a mormon makes you stupid, then what does this:

Quote:Calling our troops killers and rapists I just don't agree.

make you?

Troops are for killing people. You can agree or disagree with their killings, but refuting that basic fact is sign of a severe distortion of reality.

I encourage you to read about and watch the video "collateral murder", leaked by private Bradley Manning, where you can see USA forces massacring more than a dozen of Iraqi civilians, and a Reuter's cameraman. Please explain me how do you justify it, or how do you classify it, if not as murder?

Speaking of Wikileaks and psychopath political leaders, check this list of people who want Julian Assange dead, which includes notorious republicans as Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh.

To IceCream, your post would be much easier to follow and understand if you quoted the paragraphs you refer to before answering them.

Here's a good summary:

The central difficulty of covering this presidential campaign — which is to say, of explaining Barack Obama and Mitt Romney’s disparate plans for the country — is the continued existence of what we might call the policy gap. The policy gap, put simply, is this: Obama has proposed policies. Mitt Romney hasn’t.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra...nd-romney/

http://youtu.be/buDkcnLXiBg

Sebastian Wrote:I encourage you to read about and watch the video "collateral murder", leaked by private Bradley Manning, where you can see USA forces massacring more than a dozen of Iraqi civilians, and a Reuter's cameraman. Please explain me how do you justify it, or how do you classify it, if not as murder?

If I may be allowed to be pedantic, shouldn't that be allegedly leaked? Despite his ongoing torture by the US military, he has neither confessed to leaking anything, nor been found guilty of same.

Sebastian Wrote:I encourage you to read about and watch the video "collateral murder", leaked by private Bradley Manning, where you can see USA forces massacring more than a dozen of Iraqi civilians, and a Reuter's cameraman. Please explain me how do you justify it, or how do you classify it, if not as murder?

Are the guys with the machine guns and RPGs also civilians?

onafarm Wrote:

Sebastian Wrote:I encourage you to read about and watch the video "collateral murder", leaked by private Bradley Manning, where you can see USA forces massacring more than a dozen of Iraqi civilians, and a Reuter's cameraman. Please explain me how do you justify it, or how do you classify it, if not as murder?

If I may be allowed to be pedantic, shouldn't that be allegedly leaked? Despite his ongoing torture by the US military, he has neither confessed to leaking anything, nor been found guilty of same.

LOL if you think the US military is torturing him.

Whether or not I think the US military is torturing him (which I do, it's been pretty well established) has no bearing on the fact that the word 'allegedly' is proper. After all, is not the US the home of 'innocent until proven guilty'?

onafarm Wrote:Whether or not I think the US military is torturing him (which I do, it's been pretty well established) has no bearing on the fact that the word 'allegedly' is proper. After all, is not the US the home of 'innocent until proven guilty'?

You can use allegedly but Manning hasn't been tortured.

kitakitsune Wrote:

Sebastian Wrote:I encourage you to read about and watch the video "collateral murder", leaked by private Bradley Manning, where you can see USA forces massacring more than a dozen of Iraqi civilians, and a Reuter's cameraman. Please explain me how do you justify it, or how do you classify it, if not as murder?

Are the guys with the machine guns and RPGs also civilians?

I don't get why this is always glossed over.

I am disenchanted with politics for these reasons.
1. I do believe in global warming thank you. I don't think any of the solutions being proposed are viable solutions thank you.
2. I realize there are overpopulation issues in the world, and I didn't bring anything like that up.
3. I don't know anything about Europe, but my comments concerning guns and stuff with Europe are from what I learned from my Norwegian roommate.
4. The user that said killing and raping was obviously using the word to mean flat out murder. Though cases always show up in war where this is true, troops when they do this are normally appropriately punished as they should be.
5. Given this administration's stance on torture, which is something I actually like about Obama, I highly doubt anyone is being tortured. If we really wanted to torture people, we could have already finished the job with all the people in Gitmo.

I didn't attack liberals. I pointed out those people here are liberals, which is just stating a fact, but I tried to be balanced in that I don't believe in stuff in my own party's platform.

Obama center right to the eyes of Europeans, but most Americans don't think that.

Here are some policy views of Mitt Romney

1. Giving subsidies to ethanol fuel. I've heard it's a cleaner fuel, and Obama himself also has been helping get more to America from Brazil. So, this is a rather neutral position.
2. Whether you agree with it or not, he has proposed his own budget similar to Paul Ryan.
3. He supported a controlled bankruptcy of the auto companies that almost failed. Obama took up this idea as well.
4. He has stated that he would prohibit PACs. What a wonderful idea.
5. Like Obama, he wants to see relations with Muslim countries improved. No person wants them worse.
6. He wants increases in the debt ceiling to be accompanied with cuts.
7. Pro-life, but so are many people. He has flip-flopped on this issue though. This, though, on examination is not a full flip-flop for he was always pro-life in ideology but not in his politics. He, though, with his experience as governor of Massachusetts, wouldn't do anything about the issue if he had the chance.
8. Defunding of Planned Parenthood. The recent scandals with this organization makes this a logical assertion. Actually getting defunded is unlikely.
9. Agrees with withdrawal dateline in Afghanistan but doesn't like the numbers leaving at certain times.
Etc.

http://2012.republican-candidates.org/Romney/Issues.php

There are definitely views I don't like in here. But, it does qualify him in what he has said and does point out some flip-flops

Anyways, I'd rather be talking about Japanese. What I like above politics by far. No one should be hating me for my views though. I hope that's not the case.

kitakitsune Wrote:You can use allegedly but Manning hasn't been tortured.

The The UN special rapporteur on torture doesn't agree with you.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar...eatment-un

http://www.globalresearch.ca/bradley-man...-quantico/

imabi Wrote:Anyways, I'd rather be talking about Japanese. What I like above politics by far. No one should be hating me for my views though. I hope that's not the case.

I just had a look at your website. Excellent piece of work!

It's far from perfect. But I have more than 10 Japanese people helping with me fix the mistakes. Thanks.

[Zgarbas]

...What about that part where the American soldiers accidentally dropped bombs on Serbian towns, infesting the entire area's water with Uranium(People are still advised against drinking water from the towns here that are close to Serbia)? Aside from the fact that they were there to "save people" from a civil war and ended up having 10 times more casualties in their liberation than the entirety of the civil war?
[/billclinton]

America is my country first and I feel an obligation to support my military. I strongly disagree with many military affairs in my country's history.
I would have rather liked Kagoshima bombed than Nagasaki for instance.
Vietnam was an utter mistake.
America goes into every conflict thinking she will get out quickly and finds her skirt stuck in the mud.

onafarm Wrote:

kitakitsune Wrote:You can use allegedly but Manning hasn't been tortured.

The The UN special rapporteur on torture doesn't agree with you.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar...eatment-un

http://www.globalresearch.ca/bradley-man...-quantico/

First of all - you have to remember that Manning is still a soldier and is subject to all kinds of matters of military regulations and discipline that normal accused people are not subject to... Such as not being allowed to sleep during duty hours. Unless you know a soldier who is allowed to just nap off whenever they want...I'm not really sure how this is considered a form of torture.


Anyway I'll just cut to the money quote to save time

"...If the effects in regards to pain and suffering inflicted on Manning were more severe, they could constitute torture."

Quote:Such as not being allowed to sleep during duty hours. Unless you know a soldier who is allowed to just nap off whenever they want...I'm not really sure how this is considered a form of torture.

So while he's in the brig he's on duty 24 hours a day?

imabi Wrote:America is my country first and I feel an obligation to support my military.

Quote:I would have rather liked Kagoshima bombed than Nagasaki for instance.

And there you have it!

You are just a(nother) sociopath sheep led by psychopathic shepherds.

I hope sooner than later you find cure for your disease.

onafarm Wrote:

Quote:Such as not being allowed to sleep during duty hours. Unless you know a soldier who is allowed to just nap off whenever they want...I'm not really sure how this is considered a form of torture.

So while he's in the brig he's on duty 24 hours a day?

Technically a soldier is on duty 24 hours a day... But the typical duty day, as far as not being in a war zone or anything, is 5am-10pm and a soldier is not allowed to sleep during this time.

Sebastian Wrote:"All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax."

"[M]y job is is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

Gosh. I'll never understand the opposition some American politicians seem to have to socialism. They don't seem to appreciate that some people are not in a position where they can 'take personal responsibility and care for their lives', as he puts it. I'd personally be in a tough position without support from the government (I really think governments are supposed to serve the people). I would have had to try to pay for my operation, and the future treatment I need, I'll assume I'd still be allowed health insurance, but that certainly wouldn't cover everything and costs enough itself, and I'm currently unable to earn money (and pay income tax) that would help me pay for it (and anything else - food, housing), precisely because of the health problems that mean I probably need another operation. So a bit of a Catch 22 situation. What exactly does Romney think people are supposed to do? Fair enough, if I'm not entitled to support, can they just shoot me, please? I absolutely don't want to be considered a victim as he says, and refuse to think of myself as such, things are simply the way they are.

Perhaps it was simply a careless choice of words, but politicians should really try to avoid such.
And since he is a Mormon, have to add it doesn't seem very Christian. I would have thought he should want to support those who are poor, old, sick, who cannot support themselves.

[Zgarbas]

imabi Wrote:I would have rather liked Kagoshima bombed than Nagasaki for instance. .

Quote:On the night of June 17, 1945 the 314th bombardment wing of the American Air Force (120 B-29s) dropped 809.6 tons of incendiary and cluster bombs destroying 2.11 square miles of Kagoshima (44.1 percent of the built-up area). Kagoshima was targeted because of its largely expanded naval port as well as its position as a railway terminus. A single B-29 was lost to unknown circumstances. Area bombing was chosen over precision bombing because of the cloudy weather over Japan during the middle of June. The planes were forced to navigate and bomb entirely by radar. [2]

Kagoshima was bombed just like most of Japan. It's not like Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the only important bombings of the time (granted, they had the largest casualties and long-term consequences).

(imho okinawa had the worst end of the stick)