Ugh, I could barely read any of that. It may be just me, but there's a reason why I don't trust anything involving government, despite who's in charge. So many accusations being thrown from both ends to their opponents no matter what side of the spectrum they are on, makes me wonder where Reagan is when he's needed, since he was supposedly one of the best of the American presidents.

Reagan made the poors demonize other poors, demonized AIDS victims and issued mental health policies that caused mental institutions to expell a good part of their patients

sooooooooooooooo no he wasn't a good president

Not really seeing much improvement with the current president either.

It's June.

Amen.

if you're gonna turn your brain off, then just nod your head and trust somebody that can make all the right decisions for you. I'll tell you how to vote next year and thereafter 8)

I have a side, and while I don't always agree with that side, I won't need you or anyone to make my own decisions. If anything you're the one being told what to do and how to do it.

You're a towel!

Well at least I'm made of high grade material! :O

X3 I'll admit, I chuckled.

"Dissolve man's self-government, and you make a totalitarian authority over him a social necessity."

-Rousas John Rushdoony (The architect of Reconstructionism), Law & Liberty, p. 18

Scary.

I do my own research and come to my own conclusions thank you very much. The point I was trying to make was that if you can't, won't, or refuse to do that than it's no better than having someone make your decisions for you. Feel free to take a side when you've formed an opinion, but I'd say make sure that opinion's a sound judgment by hearing all arguments and come to your own conclusion. Don't ever let that conclusion stop you from hearing more arguments, cause the debate's never really over and stuff. There will never be a "winner"; knowing more is the journey, knowing more is what's important.

I said it once/first a few years back on why America is not, never has been and never can become a Christian nation--theocracies never work. If you need proof, just look at Iran.

Personally, I'm more concerned with exactly how whack the whackjobs running North Korea are getting. D: Don't get me wrong, it's awful what's happening in Iran...but a revolution was needed a long time ago. I doubt whether we have any place in that conflict, but...damn, I really wanna see the actual Iranian people win.

I read that earlier and couldn't agree with his points more. The far right and especially religious extremists of all stripes scare the hell out of me. Those Reconstructionists are just completely crazy. The founders of the US knew very well what they were doing when they did their best, in a very hostile environment, to construct a wall between church and state. Thank goddess there are enough rational people here that the attempted takeover never took off. The idea that the US could have a self-righteous state run by crazies like Dobson and with gay people locked up and probably getting the same brainwash treatment gay Mormons get is so horrifying it's almost unimaginable.

That woman shot in the chest by a Basiji sniper is just completely horrifying. It's an image the world will remember. No matter how many heads they crack and cameraphones they confiscate they can't stop all the news and images of the horror from getting out to the rest of the world.

All i learned is that earth needs a reset button. Half of this shit doesn't seem fixable.

nothing matters man has no true free will for all has been set by relgion and rules to live by with morals set from others and not yourself :3

Isn't it ironic that the people that claimed to be about protecting you from terrorists are the first ones to do domestic terrorism?

But no, I still don't trust the government even though Obama got elected, people are still being sent to jail because they cant pay their bills or petty crimes, and 18 year olds dating 17 year olds for rape even though noone was harmed (statutory), getting sued for having 'stolen' music even if they might not been the one, beaten or shot by corrupt cops that can just make up whatever they want and get away with it, and heaven forbid if you dare criticize a crooked politician, you know-who-news and their cohorts will open a can of sick the dumbass viewers on you 'traitors'. *coughlikelettermangotitcough*

But I hope they do overthrow their government by any means, perhaps countries like ours can learn from it and grow some balls to do the same if when ours seriously backstabs us.
Last time I checked the Declaration of Independence says we have the right and duty to in the us. (specifically remove bad leaders by any force needed)

the enemies of freedom can exist everywhere and in anyone, so that means that we all must be constantly vigilant. Ask ourselves "what do we really stand for?", and remind ourselves why we fight in the first place. Some people may have good intentions, and then just lose perspective. I'm not talking about anyone in particular, it's just something I think helps put stuff back in perspective.

To me, a lot of that shit you mentioned that goes on and gets people tossed in the pen or put into permanent debt over is completely and ethically wrong. I don't believe our government is so illegitimate that most of us would consider the Iranian response to be appropriate here. But, to the extent they are protesting now, it may be appropriate there. For that there will be a price....

I mean the usa made it halfway to fascism/dictatorship/theocracy a few notable times, a few years ago with the misleading patriot act ( again criticize the gov and you got gooned) and around the 50's with some politicians trying to blacklist& jail anyone they don't like as commie traitors (McCarthyism) , a bit durring 'nam, and the classics like witch-hunts.

More media control, cooperate control, schools control, military control, etc here and they could do it someday, then these zealots would be in full control of 10,000+ nukes and can just dispose of anyone they want in the world, plus a lot of religious nutcases think Jesus comes back if the world is destroyed, so they would help end it.
That's what I meant, it could be our problem someday.

Barack is a nigger



Regan is superior

Reagan*

ur a niger

There's something wrong with being from Nigeria? D:

My beliefs are my own and it always irks me when someone tries to tell me what my morals are and what I should believe, especially when the best reason they can give to convince me is a biased opinion. People, if you are going to have an argument, please try to cite your sources. Otherwise, calling someone an idiot for not agreeing with you only makes you look like the idiot. Also, please keep in mind that the extremists are MINORITIES THAT DO NOT REPRESENT THE OVERALL VIEWS AND MORALS OF THE PARTY THEY CLAIM TO BE A PART OF! So do not judge me or anyone else of a specific party or group just because some of their so-called patrons act like fools.

Now as for what I'm going to say about the article linked above. The feeling is mutual. I believe the exact same thing about the left for the most part, but I don't beat others down just because they have different views than me. And when you look at American society and the media as a whole. What is everyone doing? They are hating on each other, beating each other down! Seriously, with what I see from both sides of the media, they are fostering hate between the various groups in this country. Things are changing in this country, often behind our backs and what better way to do it than to have the people fighting with each other over petty shit because we are too immature to get along and make compromises that are unanimously supported. Yes, that's right, I said unanimous, not majority. I see things every day about gay marriage, and environmentalism. If there is a reason why the minority has so much power, please tell me. Otherwise my view on it is that its just merely being used for more political leverage. I will use environmentalists as an example here. And I will support my stand with information directly from NASA's website.

http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/globa.....worldbook.html
"The simulations showed that there can be no "quick fix" to the problem of global warming. Even if all emissions of greenhouse gases were to cease immediately, the temperature would continue to increase after 2100 because of the greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere."

Now ask yourself what this means... And before anyone tries to counter and say that "its only a simulation." Keep in mind that while that is true, the whole global warming ordeal is just a prediction - a human prediction, capable of error. What this means is that people are pushing for green technologies, which is all good and well except for the fact that they are very expensive and are being paid for largely with taxpayer dollars through government because there is no motive for corporations to take up these technologies because they are so expensive. The bigger picture, America, as well as some European countries like Germany, are willing to bankrupt ourselves because we think we can do something when even if "all" emissions were stopped, the temperature would still rise according to Nasa. Look at the media and they say that the "Arctic" ice is melting. Arctic!!! Arctic is the North Pole! Now what about the South Pole - the Antarctic?

That aside, this is a fine example of how ignorant I feel many people in the world are becoming. You need both sides, you need morals, you need to be trust worthy and able to trust others. I don't see much of that anymore. All I see are people telling you what to believe, treating you as an outcast and spiting you if you don't agree with them. Such people are too into our lives, too controlling and addicted to being able to influence others however they want.

If anyone feels I'm being too biased here, then look at it this way - it's just an opinion, like every other article out there and it is up to you to decide if you believe it or not, not let the media or others tell you what to believe. This post is my opinion, it is how I interpret what I'm finding and I don't expect people agree with me entirely or even at all. I'm a conservative, but I'm not an extremist. I have a brain and a conscience. I listen to them both.

One final thing I will comment on is that the article says towards the bottom: "Work to keep America secular, free and democratic." America is not a Democracy. I don't understand how people can keep getting this wrong, even in other countries, but it further supports my view of how clueless many people have become. If you don't believe me, then tell me, do you see the word "Democracy" in the Pledge of Allegiance, or do you see the word "Republic?" Do you see the word Democracy anywhere in the United States Constitution? Take a look and find out. Then look at the differences between a Democracy and a Republic and look at how America is run today. Does America fit the description of a Democracy or a Republic now versus how it fit 100 years ago? What has changed over that time? Eh, too much content to cover, but I hope some people take my point to at least some extent.

trollan gaems

A) Idiots tend to have the loudest voices. Even if they ARE the minority, they stick out far more often in people's minds.
B) There is insufficient statistical proof to say that global warming is a solid, unmovable fact. I used to 100% believe in global warming, as well, then I took a class called "Data Analysis" in college. There has only been instruments around long enough to accurately measure the temperature of the Earth for about 30-50 years, not sure of the exact dates. The Earth has been around for billions of years. In numerical form, over 1,000,000,000 years. Compare that to 50. These recent trends are moot. I'm not saying global warming is a sham, but you can't take 50 out of 1,000,000,000 years as a solid statistical "trend". This isn't me saying that we shouldn't get cleaner forms of energy by ANY means; in the words of 2, the Ranting Gryphon, wouldn't it be nice to have water that doesn't mutate your children?
C) You don't NEED any of that. Many human beings live just fine without being responsive to the troubles of others, or without being accepting of differing opinions and lifestyles. You NEED food, water, shelter, an income and entertainment.
D) You'd be the first. *brick'd* I kid, I kid. I'm willing to accept the "liberal" label, but not the "Democrat" one, because I cannot agree with everything said party represents. A liberal that doesn't believe in global warming and a conservative that does--damn, aren't we a pair?
E) No, no, no, no, no, no, NO. HUMANS have changed over time. We are neither a direct democracy nor a republic--the United States of America is a democratic republic. The people of the U.S.A. democratically elect leaders to represent them in positions of power with the promise that the elected leaders will represent the majority of the ideals of the people who elected them. You find me an example of a 100% democracy or a 100% republic, then, and one that isn't a complete load of malarkey. Democratic != Democracy.

Very good. Though I will say that I don't believe in global warming. I was just using that as an example to support what I was getting at. So I'm sorry if I implied that I meant people were being ignorant about global warming happening because I wasn't. I was implying that people are ignorant about what they are told and that they should look for more information on a topic before taking a definitive position on it. I mean if you look at politics, many political leaders have hopped on the global warming bandwagon and many people (in my age group it seems) are believing them because they have that status.

I'm assuming your age group is somewhere around 15-23, and if so, I'm in that group along with you. If anything, I doubt that most kids will believe in something like global warming just because a politician said so. It's cool nowadays to hate on politicians, because Lord only knows there isn't ONE politician who isn't a conniving crook. *eye-roll* If anything, they would hop on board due to a celebrity or someone "cooler" believing in it. But yes, I do see what you mean though. Sorry if I missed that, I must not have been reading your comment very carefully. :(

we're able to measure the trends in earth's temperature far beyond the date we took those measurements directly during the time they were occurring. Data is extrapolated from core samples in what's possibly the best controlled environment science can measure for us at this point -- core samples straight out of Antarctica. These samples go back many, many years (sorry, don't know how far back but maybe millions?) and they basically measure small changes in the isotope ratios of these samples to get an accurate picture of temperature trends over that time period. For more information, I urge you to check out Wikipedia's article on ice cores.

The body of data supporting man's contribution to climate change only increases with time; there's very little serious skepticism of it now. Any real skepticism would need some seriously quantifiable scientific evidence which contradicts the existing body of evidence to consider a fundamental a re-evaluation of the current belief as most deniers of man-contributed climate change would see it.

See, I've forgotten about this. I learned about this like six-seven years ago back in middle school Science class, but I've completely forgotten about that up until about now. I can only imagine how this happens, but bleargh. I didn't clarify my point in my previous comment, though, what I meant to say was that I don't think that, statistically speaking, any conclusion can yet be drawn on man's influence on the Earth's temperature. There's a looot of "lurking variables" that could affect the Earth's temperature, many of which may not be mankind's fault at all. I hate being skeptical, and I'd rather not come off that way, nor would I like to be seen as reluctant, but even if mankind isn't at fault for the majority of global warming, I'd still like to see our environment cleaned up and renewable energy sources being used. Fossil fuels are NOT an end-all source of energy, and too often we seem to forget about that. Solar energy and nuclear energy and whatnot are expensive mainly because it feels like they're seen as a novelty to me. As the years go on, approval of these forms of energy can only rise as people soon realize, "Oh, damn it, we're gonna run out of oil!! D:" I'm sure then that they'll become more affordable and more realistic alternatives to fossil fuels...

But I ramble! Whether the Earth is heating up naturally or due mankind, or due to some combination of the two, or even something else entirely, worrying about it won't really solve much. I don't have scientific evidence, but with so much information always being thrown at us at this day and age, it's nearly impossible to be able to hold onto even 10% of it all. I'll have to do some research of my own sometime...

To me there's these things called blame and responsibility. The way I see it, we associate the feelings of collective responsibility somehow with "liberal guilt" in our country, which leads to such a thing being considered a quality of the left, whereas individual responsibility seems to be associated with a quality of the right.

When I think about that, that is why people in general are more willing to accept that these things that happen with people are problems of society we have to deal with coming from a left-of-center point of view, while on the right there is denial of such responsibilities because of the focus on the individual. This is why I think a lot of liberals keep bringing this shit up, because they believe it's all of our responsibility to reduce problems in our society, whereas many others see it as merely a blame game. Those who feel collective guilt for society's ills think it is irresponsible to pretend that the individual doesn't in some way contribute to them, and I think that makes them feel the need to point it out to those they believe are in denial of it.

That being said, when the same sorts of pointing out is done from the other side, if it involves an actual point to where we feel we should all (that means everybody, not just "the liberals") feel responsible for the problems of as a society, then you'll see that it is not a partisan thing. When it's all about finger-pointing and political brownie points, that's when people stop listening and nobody's gonna agree with anybody.

None of us want to feel blamed for something we didn't deserve, but a lot of people understand what responsibilities we all have as a member of society. Some don't, however, and you know, there do exist political ideologies that coddle that kinda behavior.

If you and I could agree on something, I'd like for it to be the idea that our society's got problems, and we want to fix them. As a team, you know; and not as individuals on the backs of others.

As for the climate change issue, it shouldn't matter whether or not we can stop the damage that's already been done -- we would be doing a disservice to future generations if we didn't do what we could to make sure not to make things worse than they're already gonna be. Luckily, this also coincides with a bunch of things we should already be doing for the long term well-being of our economy. If corporations have a problem with that, then there's something seriously wrong with their long-term strategies. That's why a lot of them have gotten on-board. The government is attempting to facilitate the progress through acceleration in the form of tax benefits, subsidies and the like. As a matter of process, the specific implementation is really what most people disagree on. Ideologically, I think it is unrealistic to disagree on the more fundamental principles if one reads enough information on the subject.

If there's one thing you can trust, trust in knowledge. The more you know about any one thing, the better it will be for you to form an opinion most likely to serve you and society in the long-term.


Finally, to rebut the "America is not a democracy"; it's rhetoric. Democratic (small D) principles in general aren't necessarily a bad thing. Yes, we are a republic, but we're a democratic republic. That's the point most people make when they talk about democracy -- that we have a participatory role in our government. Most people understand this, so don't get too caught up in the semantics of it.

Maybe a side rant, but the problem with America right now, there is a few of them.

1: We don't need to stick our nose in business of countries whos citizens won't fight for themselves. Know what happens to children when they're given things? they get spoiled and bratty. We have our own problems.
2: There isn't one civilization or society in history that ever was a multi-culture succeeded for a long time. 5 countries in the middle east for 2,000 years, India\Pakistan being the most recent over in Asia. Single language. I don't know what to say about the religious aspect though, I don't know.(I'm man enough to say it too)
3: The bailouts helped corrupt failing businesses stay afoot, when NEW businesses could easilly have come up from nothing to take their place. new jobs with new idealistic CEO's more worried about doing what they wanted instead of how they can get the most for their money.

I agree with you. Because our economy alone cannot take care of the world. I've said time and time again that I think the US should go isolationist for a while, just like it did after the first World War.

WHY ARE PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT REAGAN? He's like the Republicans' Obama, but evil patriotic, calling on blacks, latinos, immigrants, and other minorities lazy welfare queens to get back to work on jobs they won't be hired to because of their race, and even if they do get hired they face harassment and discrimination; all while working twice as hard for the same amount of money to prove he earned the job and it wasn't just given to him because of affirmative action.

Raegan had Alzheimers during his time in the White house.

bark bark :3

Yes, you guys did narrowly avoid a fucking theocracy yes.

I hail from the Netherlands, LONG LIVE HAVING MORE THAN TWO MAJOR PARTIES TO CHOOSE FROM! :@

face it, the US is the best 1-and-a-half party system on earth

(and by that I mean whatever party's not in power is essentially useless)