SIR_Sergeant

"Expand opportunity by growing the economy" is quite possibly the most repeated, and most empty, piece of political rhetoric I've ever heard. If anything, the military budget needs to be cut, big time. Perhaps not buying expensive hardware the military doesn't even want (http://www.military.com/daily-news/2014/12/18/congress-again-buys-abrams-tanks-the-army-doesnt-want.html)and investing that money into medical and psychological care for veterans would produce a few positive outcomes. Especially considering suicide is the leading cause of death for US. soldiers. While I do think repealing the PPACA is the right move, I don't see too many viable solutions. Medical expenses are one of the, if not the leading causes of bankruptcy in the US. The PPACA was terrible legislation. While some people may have been able to get coverage, premiums have skyrocketed for others. The real winners from this legislation are the insurance companies. I do agree that the tax code needs to be changed, although a perfect system is pretty much impossible to find. While I love the concept of a flat tax, it is highly regressive. Wealth distribution is more disproportionate now than ever before. So above you said you want to completely eliminate welfare, but here you cite some random online posting that says strengthen the social safety nets designed to help the unemployed. Medicare is also a from of welfare. That's exactly what the Federal Reserve does. They print as much money as they like. Our currency is fiat, meaning the only value it has is the value given to it. It has no intrinsic or backing value. The Fed has been doing this for years. The more they print, the more worthless the dollar becomes.

This is definitely a positive idea. Considering that a lot of felons are in on bullshit drug charges, something to help them after prison could potentially work to limit the damage associated with having a felony on record.

Completely depends on the circumstances. I'm anti-war in general so the odds of me doing so would be incredibly low. I don't really think there are too many causes the U.S. would ever be involved in worth fighting for besides the defense against an invasion. In that scenario I might be more willing to go it alone. I don't know.

It was my understanding that the instance of teenage pregnancy is on the decline.

Better ban knives. To say the world is "getting worse every day" or something similar is pointless. The world has always been full of things and people we don't like. If anything, it's getting better.

Of course it should be legal. The idea of criminalizing the use or possession of a plant that is safer to use than alcohol or tobacco is insane. The stress on our prison system from nonviolent drug offenders is immense. Lives are ruined by bullshit drug charges. Not to mention that legalizing weed hurts the gangs and cartels, as more people will turn to legal sources which decreases their drug business. The sales tax benefits are also a good incentive, even just a standard sales tax and not some bullshit sin tax.

Wouldn't then, considering you said my above interpretation was correct, you be obligated to believe you should kill Hystery?

Are you a Christian?

"Christians believe in both the Old Testament and the New Testament" If this is the case than I fail to see how your argument makes sense. They believe in it but they don't practice it? So Christians and Jews believe they should kill all the non-believes, but only the Jews will do it because they happen to "follow" this section of the collection of desert scribbles? I'd hardly call it courageous. I'm an atheist. I'm not partial to any one religion or another. I mean no disrespect, but I think any sort of belief in a god or some higher power is ridiculous. I think the notion that we take Greek, Roman, and other forgone religions as myth, but hold contemporary ones as if they're any different is just plain denial. Religion has been used an excuse or driving force being innumerable atrocities throughout history.

I'll just leave a few Bible verses here. Sorry for the different fonts, these are copy/pasted. Whoever sacrifices to any god, except the Lord alone, shall be doomed. (Exodus 22:19) They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul; and everyone who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. (2 Chronicles 15:12-13) Suppose you hear in one of the towns the LORD your God is giving you that some worthless rabble among you have led their fellow citizens astray by encouraging them to worship foreign gods. In such cases, you must examine the facts carefully. If you find it is true and can prove that such a detestable act has occurred among you, you must attack that town and completely destroy all its inhabitants, as well as all the livestock. Then you must pile all the plunder in the middle of the street and burn it. Put the entire town to the torch as a burnt offering to the LORD your God. That town must remain a ruin forever; it may never be rebuilt. Keep none of the plunder that has been set apart for destruction. Then the LORD will turn from his fierce anger and be merciful to you. He will have compassion on you and make you a great nation, just as he solemnly promised your ancestors. "The LORD your God will be merciful only if you obey him and keep all the commands I am giving you today, doing what is pleasing to him." (Deuteronomy 13:13-19) If your own full brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife, or you intimate friend, entices you secretly to serve other gods, whom you and your fathers have not known, gods of any other nations, near at hand or far away, from one end of the earth to the other: do not yield to him or listen to him, nor look with pity upon him, to spare or shield him, but kill him. Your hand shall be the first raised to slay him; the rest of the people shall join in with you. You shall stone him to death, because he sought to lead you astray from the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. And all Israel, hearing of this, shall fear and never do such evil as this in your midst. (Deuteronomy 13:7-12) Suppose a man or woman among you, in one of your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, has done evil in the sight of the LORD your God and has violated the covenant by serving other gods or by worshiping the sun, the moon, or any of the forces of heaven, which I have strictly forbidden. When you hear about it, investigate the matter thoroughly. If it is true that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, then that man or woman must be taken to the gates of the town and stoned to death. (Deuteronomy 17:2-5)

Hahaha, thank you. I think you're definitely right that people are way too preoccupied to pay attention to the things that really do matter.

The point I was attempting to construct is as follows: 3,000 Americans died on 9/11. Everyone cares. Our invasion of Iraq results in upwards of 200,000 people killed. How many people give a damn? The argument I'm drawing from this is that many opinions espoused about the torture report are ethnocentric. I think people don't have a problem with the torture, like with the dead Iraqis, because of the ethnic and national backgrounds of those being tortured. I think a lot more people would have a problem with it if it was a prototypical American being tortured, or if such things occurred in our civilian criminal justice system. In regards to Saddam Hussein, sure, he was an awful guy, but we helped him become that. Pumped him up with aid during the Iran-Iraq war. Shit, the man has a key to city of Detroit. Furthermore, I'm not so sure his capture and execution was necessarily a net gain for Iraq. I am in no way justifying his crimes, but I think the point that Hussein's regime kept Iraq stable, and contributed to the stability of the region is worth considering. What happened after he was ousted? A massive power vacuum was created. Power vacuums are hotbeds for conflict. There was no insurgency in Iraq before the U.S. invasion. I think it could be argued that had the U.S. invasion not occurred, ISIS would not exist. and the mess we see in Iraq today would cease to exist.

You don't need to be from a country to know how things work or be aware of what is going on. From what I can tell, Sam is more educated about the United States than a fair number of people that have commented in this thread. To ignore his opinion because you don't like it and blame the fact that he lives in another country is just dodging the argument.

All the sources are listed at the bottom of the page. http://gyazo.com/a86826f2f0b6a9891f812116d315544c Believe me, I'm aware Wiki by itself isn't a credible source. I'm a student. Professor emailed us today about a grad student that was caught changing data on Wiki as a prank. However, all the links are there for you to examine and verify the numbers for yourself.

The War on Terror fear tactic is still a thing, but I have my doubts as to the potential for any lasting successes in this "war." As long as the U.S. remains involved in the affairs of the Middle East, I see no end in sight. Our staunch support of Israel, our backing of the Saudis, and continual intervention in the region will never allow this "war" to end.

The numbers a a little different here and there depending on the source, but here is a listing of estimates: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Iraq_War#Overview._Iraqi_death_estimates_by_source

That's my point. Most of those 200,000 were innocent civilians. Unfortunately for them, they were brown people from the Middle East, so oil has more value than they do.

Spot on. And just to make a point here, 3,000 people died in the 9/11 attacks.Over 200,000 Iraqis have died since the 2003 invasion. Just a little perspective.

I'm aware that the Constitution only applies to U.S. citizens, I was drawing a comparison of standards. I'm not thinking of the Geneva Convention. U.S. law may not apply where these blacksites are located, but that doesn't mean human decency and moral standards do. To say that is the "best way to look at it" is, in my opinion, completely wrong for the reasons I've already stated.

This is absolutely disgusting. What makes these human beings any different from those in the criminal justice system, where the 8th Amendment (Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted) protects them from things like this? How is it really any different? Aside from the fact that the people the CIA does this to are never charged with any crime, and can be held indefinitely, for entirely arbitrary reasons. This kind of behavior is in direct conflict with the spirit of the Constitution and the values the country was founded upon. If anything, this just fuels hostile extremist thought against us. Blowback, a notion invented by the CIA, is very real. What better incentive to commit retaliatory acts and treat any American prisoners in a manner similar to this, or worse.

To say that women were of equal standing to men in society during or following either of these wars is just plain wrong.

Nazi Germany would have likely never come about had World War 1 never happened, or in the case of a German victory. The Geneva Convention hasn't done much in the way of saving lives in countless conflicts. Millions have died in wars since its adoption. The points above that war creates technology, while correct, I find problematic. Maybe we are better off with modern telecommunications or jet aircraft, but millions of human lives are steep price to pay for it.

I play the LA Mod from time to time. I've never been able to get the multiplayer to work though.