SIR_Sergeant

Allow me to rephrase. I understand why some people are opposed to it. What bothers me are the explanations behind the opposition. I have trouble rationalizing the idea that something can be considered wrong or bad because a 2000 year old story book tells them so when homosexuality is a completely natural human behavior. Again, the exact same thing as heterosexuality.

What clubs do you guys like? I'm a Bayern Munich fan. Watching the West Ham - Everton match right now.

I would never pay for individual songs. I used to use Grooveshark, now I have Spotify.

18.

No way I can pick just one but "Guns for Hands" by Twenty One Pilots, "Panic Switch" by Silversun Pickups, or "Undun" by The Guess Who.

Education wouldn't as expensive as it is if the federal government hadn't taken over student loans. Schools can charge insane amounts of money because the loans are backed up by the federal government. I go to school in-state, so things aren't as expensive as they could have been. I would have been looking at $40,000+ per year versus the ~$20,000 I'm paying instead.

That's a decision for individual churches. It wouldn't matter anyway, as a church ceremony isn't a legal binding action. And to points others have made, I don't exacly understand being "against homosexuality." People are homosexual in the same way you're heterosexual, or any other sexual identification. It's like saying you disagree with biology.

I just got started on Killing Patton by Bill O'Reilly. I've already read Killing Lincoln. Really interesting and it read well, Patton is shaping up to be good as well. Should be interesting to hear the details that suggest the general was assassinated.

You could just hit it with a can of Old Spice or Axe. Might not get rid of the smell but it will cover it up. What kind of smoke? Cigarettes, bud...?

This is really tough. It's probably a toss up between Don Draper from Mad Men, Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones, and Frank Underwood from House of Cards.

Edited, post was not relevant to the original discussion.

So because Marx was an atheist, atheism = communism? I'm an atheist, but not a communist. Or a fascist. Why do you seem to think the world will go to shit without religion? Scientific progress can move forward at a faster rate, societies around the world would be more understanding of each other, etc... And just because the answer to a question isn't known or currently capable of being known, to me, doesn't indicate that the magic sky fairy from the book of desert scribbles is the answer.

This depends entirely on two things: How equal is defined and whether you mean in practice or in theory.

While the extremism that leads to terrorist action can never be completely eliminated, things can be done to attempt to discourage such behavior in the future. The Western world needs to make serious changes to policy regarding the Middle East. Staunch support of nations like Israel and Saudi Arabia needs to stop. Israel can not only handle themselves, but by refusing to distance ourselves from them, we attract the negative attention they create. And considering that the Saudi royal family financially backs extremist groups, I do not think we need to have military bases in Saudi Arabia or provide military aid to them. On the whole, the West needs to unplug from the Middle East. Wars, drone strikes, and the like only kill innocent people and turn the population of the region against the West.

What Pavelow has explained numerous times is correct. He broke Mexican law, therefore he went through the Mexican criminal justice system. Just because it functions differently from the American system (the guilty until innocent bit is disgusting but this isn't the place for that discussion) or that he was an American or a soldier is irrelevant.

It makes sense that they'd fight them. ISIS is definitely a threat to either take over or destroy their business.

I like the intent but as others have said, it could very well "devalue" associate's degrees, of which the effects snowball onto bachelor's and master's degrees. In some fields a bachelor's is already not enough, or at least has competition from those with a master's. I'm an economics major (considering a double major with political science) and I'm afraid grad school may be necessary for me at some point.

Maybe so, but the potential and infrastructure certainly exist. Things like wiretapping without warrants and metadata collection are a start.

The "you have nothing to fear if you have nothing to hide" line is total bullshit. Not only does it fly in the face of the 4th Amendment, it has some serious ramifications beyond what it means to the average person. Just because you have "nothing to hide" doesn't mean other people don't as well. Some do. Some of these people, say elected officials or bureaucrats in positions of power, just might. What better way for intelligence services to influence real world decision making and police through blackmail and intimidation made possible by the network of surveillance activities conducted by the government. The "nothing to hide..." line is incredible naive. There are real world examples that you can make close comparisons to with 1984. The Soviet Union, China, North Korea, etc... Of course the novel itself is fiction, but the point is based in reality.

I'm loving this "work stoppage" the NYPD is doing. They're actually doing their jobs. The NYPD and their union are just crying like children because de Blasio isn't an enabler like Bloomberg and is actually willing to challenge them when necessary. Putting any blame on him for this is asinine.

I'm aware that fiat is how all modern currency works and that the alternative isn't really feasible. That doesn't make it infallible, as you've described. While I disagree with you about the acceptability of publicly held debt, you're right that the problems that debt creates are amplified when interest rates go up, which now that QE is over, the Fed will likely begin doing. This is my problem with central banking and Keynesian monetary policy. While the alternative has problems as well, central banking like the kind practiced to prevent financial crises also creates them. The next bubbles to burst will be credit card and student loan debt when the Fed begins raising interest rates.

You've got things entirely backwards. The size is the problem. The US military is massive, with no reason for being so. The US spends more money on its military than the next eight countries combined.

Medicare provides health insurance to the elderly and disabled who could not otherwise afford it. That is a form of welfare. Welfare isn't just food programs like WIC or SNAP or public housing.

Coffee. French Vanilla is my favorite. Royal Farms or Wawa is good.