Politics

I've always found the concept of American poverty as rather humorous. Poor Americans can only be considered poor comparing them to other well off Americans. It requires a comparison because people with a house, air conditioning, car, food, clothing, TV, cell phones, game systems and etc can only be considered "poor" when compared to someone else with a nice house, nice air conditiong, nice car, nice food, great clothing, incredible TV, the latest cell phones and game systems. From my experience - a class of which I've spent most of life - they typically have the same stuff as well off Americans...except that it's asthetically displeasing and certainly not optimal. …

This seems like such a no brainer, why don't we hear about it? The problem is America is grossly overweight, and sickly, due for the most part in unhealthy living habits. Why not put a big tax on junk food, and use it to subsidize fruits, veges, and other quality nutritional food? Then poor people will better afford healthier food, and can't afford junk food. Also there should be a tax break for being very healthy, and not needing expensive health care.

Can anyone provide me with good arguments supporting the prohibition of drugs? Here are my arguments against the prohibition: 1. Prohibiting drugs increases violence. Murder rates dropped significantly when the USA ended it's prohibition of alcohol in the 1930's. 2. The prohibition of drugs is counter productive, it results in the funding of organized crime, terrorists and corrupt politicians. 3. The prohibition of drugs is hypocrisy, alcohol and tobacco are more dangerous than most drugs yet they are legal. The danger posed by drugs has been grossly exaggerated. 4. Many drug users are otherwise law abiding people, criminalizing them is unfair and a waste of police re…

The purpose of prison is to reform criminals, however this is not always possible. Many criminals repeatedly break the law and are undeterred by the prospect of punishment. There are several factors believed to contribute to criminal behavior, one important factor being high testosterone levels. It has been proven that testosterone is linked to aggression, in 1990 James Dabbs studied 4,462 men and concluded that "the overall picture among the high-testosterone men is one of delinquency, substance abuse and a tendency toward excess." Even in women, Dabbs found high testosterone levels were related to crimes of unprovoked violence. Statistically men commit significantly mor…

It has been stated by many that the US war in Iraq and Afghanistan were illegal wars. What could have ordinary citizens who didn't want war done to prevent the US-led war? What was it that fueled the wars? Was it 9/11? Fear of nuclear weapons or desire for oil? What could have ordinary Iraqis, Afghans and Americans done to make sure war did not take place? What could the UN have done? It has now been confirmed that the wars were a big mistake.

This game has long been played by Indians and even most of the people around the world. It seems like corruption is consuming the people, politicians and even ordinary citizens are drowning in greed and it appears that there is no way to ascend from it. Is anyone with me here? Because even though it gives us the impression that we can never pass this phase, I still believe that this is just a phase, like what I said, that we can surpass.

On a train ride between Bremerhaven and Zweibrucken (about seven or eight hrs) at that time, and a few just days before my 21st birthday and Christmas of 1953, I was a naive hill billy kid struck by how similar the German countryside looked much like it did back home. So peaceful, beautiful and well manicured, I never once gave a thought to the guys who had just eight short years before, stormed the beaches at Normandy, or even why such an attack had been necesary. While it did take me a couple months to become acclimated and begin looking around, I soon found good reason to realize that ignorance only grows more pronounced if one allows themselves to be duped. I won't g…

http://blog.atlasshruggedmovie.com/2011/11/atlas-shrugged-inadvertently-releases.html I really hope Ayn Rand is spinning in her grave.

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/egypts.new.constitution.will.create.islamic.caliphate/31401.htm Do you think an Islamic caliphate will ever be re-established? What are some obstacles for the unification of the Muslim world today? What are the pros and cons? Is it desirable for the rest of the world that an Islamic caliphate be created?

Since the rationale for using weapons goes back for centuries, I wonder just how many of us truely understand armament and our need for guns? This video will shed some light on honorable and corageous men and women who in many instances gave their everything for our safety here at home. Literally millions of them still walk our streets today with only one thought in mind, "How do I make it through tomorrow"? Other than the thought of doing themselves harm, few if any, think of inflicting suffering on another person. Then, we have a handfull of "Mental Cases" who scheme to kill anyone they deem necessary to slake their appetite for blood, and we want to destroy this herita…

I'm not trying to be insensitive. I had a knee jerk reaction just like everybody else. But when you really sit down and think about the situation, why do we care so much? It can't be because of the age of the victims. Many, many times that number die in other preventable ways. The number of children that die in mass shootings is minuscule in comparison. So why spend money on preventing such a small proportion of preventable deaths?

My local council wants to spend £500 million on a waste incinerator rather than burying what is not recycled. This has created a lot of passionate opposition; consequently the arguments on both sides are heavily biased. Clearly burying waste is not the way forward and I have my doubts that incineration is much better; does anybody here have a better idea, as to the way forward?

Suppose you got the opportunity to rewrite the United States Constitution. You've been invited to a new Constitutional Convention and you can propose anything you want. What would you put in? What would you omit? There's a lot of hot issues, like gun control, gay marriage, government surveillance, and money in elections, which could be addressed. But you could also restructure the government entirely. What if Congress were more like a parliament? What if redistricting was taken out of the hands of the legislature? I'm thinking of redesigned elections (no more first-past-the-post), a stronger 4th Amendment, and some sort of proportional representation in Congress. …

Somebody taking revenge on people blamed for causing gratuitous pain, treating one badly, etc, by destroying what they care about and killing the ones they love, is not beyond all comprehension surely? We live in culture and country in which the mentally ill, the outsiders, and similar people, are often lonely and abused; and in which revenge, even self-destructive backlash, has a place and a role. We cannot change that by force. And we are an armed people, which we can only change by force at a very heavy cost. So this shit is going to happen, as it has in the past, as long as its motivational roots are fertilized. There is no way to coercively control and block…

The Republicans and Democrats cannot agree on a fiscal plan. One of the main issues is this. What will happen when you put a higher tax on everyone who earns over $250,000 a year? It will bring in a lot more money, but will it stiffle the economy? Boner says that people earning over $250,000 will stop hiring people because the extra tax will be too much for them. They won't be able to afford to hire anyone new. This will slow the economy and even less taxes will be collected in 2013. Do the best economists agree with this? But what about the tax plan of rich getting tax credits AFTER they hire someone? Also, is the kind of economic activity that rich people stimulate also…

America's got it's first black president and now the people of Maine have allowed the first gay marriages. The gun problem will take a while longer but it's getting there in other areas. (Reuters) - The first gay and lesbian couples to wed under Maine's new same-sex marriage law exchanged vows early on Saturday in a series of spare but joyous civil ceremonies held shortly after midnight. "We finally feel equal and happy to be living in Maine," an exuberant Steven Bridges, 42, said shortly after he and his newly wedded husband, Michael Snell, 53, became the first couple at City Hall in Maine's largest town to tie the knot. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/…

Hi everybody, I was speaking to a very intelligent friend of mine many months ago and he said that there will always be wars and that there is nothing we can do to prevent wars from taking place. It is all part of being human, right? Anybody got any ideas on how we can prevent wars from happening in the future? Furthermore, is my friend right? Will wars take place forever in our history from time-to-time? Is it inevitable that we as a human race keep hurting each other? The world now is becoming more globalised. International trade has made it possible for countries to obtain essential resources without going to war. But as people die, the y…

Some of you were likely only just born and in diapers when this man led the US Army and a cotingent of our allies to liberate the small nation of Kuwait from Saddam Hussain and his thugs from Iraq. This guy, even with his bravado, was a good and decent gentleman. . Our nation lost a great leader when General Norman Schwarzkopf passed from the scene at 78 years of age. “SEMPER FI” http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/27/16197379-desert-storm-commander-norman-schwarzkopf-dies-at-78

Here is a question I never heard asked. What good was it to immediately announce Osama Bin Laden's death? Why not keep it a secret and use the info gathered at his compound to track down and kill or capture other Al Qaeda leaders BEFORE they could find out by looking at the newpaper headlines "Bin Laden Killed"? Then they all scattered and we missed a golden opportunity.

the Right to Vote, I am aware that the majority of people do not agree with me on this subject, but I do get some quite encouraging support and would not mind if you people from the SCIENCEFORUM.NET would offer your comments, if you feel like it. Please refer to my blog: link removed as per rule 7

Hey guys. Just read a fascinating report that said climate change is going to impact insurance premiums and home prices pretty dramatically in the next 50 years: http://www.movoto.com/blog/homeownership/climate-change/ Does anyone have an opinion? I'd like to think it's not too late to make a change!

Who murdered our Ambassador in Benghazi, Libya? I know he is dead along with 3 of his comrades, but why? It has been a month now and Obama's cabinet has said nothing that rings of truth. Or are the Republicans still just grasping at straws to hurt this administration during the coming election campaign? i'm surprised there hasn't been more discussion on the issue.

We could use the thread to discuss similar incidents of the past couple of decades, for which we have had enough time to get perspective. a short partial list of possibilities: 2008 US embasy bombings in Yemen, ten killed. 2008 arson of the US Embassy in Serbia. 2007 grenade attack on the US Embassy in Athens. 2006 armed assault on the US Embassy in Syria, 1 killed. 2004 armed assualt on the US Embassy in Uzbekistan, 2 killed. 2004 armed assault on the US Consulate in Saudi Arabia, 8 killed. 2002 armed assault on the US Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, 10 killed.

This cartoon reminds me of certain threads on this board.

I'm posting this in politics rather than immediately putting it in the trash basket. A day or so ago it was announced that my favorite 2 condiments would no longer be produced. "HO-HOs and TWINKIES"!!! Oh Yes! Both are CONDIMENTS; I eat them with everything. But, My God, am I dreaming? A stupid little disagreement over union wages and Hostess closes its doors to 16-18 thousand workers? What the hell is going on? Who does Hostess think they are to deprive hard working Americans of their livelihood and others not employeed by Hostess? How many will there be involved? Then I ask myself, just how many people out there are guilty of believing unions provide such protection? Le…