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Reply to Please List Obama’s Accomplishments in Politics JoeUser Forums

He studied at Harvard, which suggests he was highly accomplished at school. Then Wikipedia reveals he was elected to his seat in the Senate with 70% of the vote, which is surprisingly high (although admittedly American political parties try not to compete with each other, so maybe not that surprising). He was a teacher (a much maligned accomplishment in this day and age) and a lawyer, which suggests he's accomplished at the manipulation of the law. He was also a streetwalker for the democrats

Reply to So this is goodbye... in Blog Communities JoeUser Forums

If I wasn't so lazy I'd be tempted to join you. But it's just so much work to track people who aren't on a site like JU. You have to visit places or set up incredibly elaborate rss feeds - I couldn't be arsed. I hope you drop by from time to time. It's a shame to keep losing the people I feel like I've come to know over the years.

Reply to Understanding elitism in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]That is not what was stated or intended. No place did Brad talk about "high level political thought", but rather "people are not smart enought" period. There is a big difference. I doubt many people here are "smart enough" to create a particle collider, but that does not make them stupid.[/quote] To build a particle collider, you need a high level of knowledge in particle physics and various forms of engineering. I may be unfairly paraphrasing Draginol in suggesting

Reply to Understanding elitism in Politics JoeUser Forums

If you believe the average person is capable of high level political thought, why should we have competitive elections? Surely the best path would be to simply select someone at random. It would have the advantage of being significantly cheaper and would fairer than the current US system where the wealthy have an advantage, or the Westminster system where only large, established party leaders have a feasible chance of high office. I don't think the average person is particularly worth

Reply to If you don't Tithe, do you go to hell? in Religion JoeUser Forums

[quote]As I said, God said to test Him. Therefore, if you cannot pay the rent/feed your kids due to tithing (and more likely the 10% isn't going to be the difference between able and unable) then it's no longer your job to do it. It's God's responsibility now, and He will take care of you.[/quote] There's a lot of dead matchgirls whose angels came only after death. Whatever happened to 'God helps those who help themselves'?

Reply to Socialism in Action! in Current Events JoeUser Forums

[quote](But more specifically, the advanced part of Norad is up there).[/quote] What, and it's funded through the Alaskan budget? That sounds unlikely.

Reply to Ban Gay Bookstores in Blogging JoeUser Forums

[quote]There's plenty of fornication, incest, infidelity, rape etc. in the Bible too. I would think someone could cause a ruckus by illustrating the more salacious Bible stories. [/quote] That's a really good idea. I've got to find one of these illustrated bibles. It's the perfect Christmas gift for godfearing relatives.

Reply to Ban Gay Bookstores in Blogging JoeUser Forums

If he doesn't want to see something that might disturb his child he shouldn't go into a bookstore. The freedom to read what you like means most if not all bookstores are full of sexuality, murder, theft, intimidation, hate and crudity. And that's just the picture books! A good Christian man such as himself should have known there's only one book that's worth reading.

Reply to Why do liberals think they are so smart? in Republican JoeUser Forums

Liberals never claim to have any common sense. Intelligence doesn't have to include wisdom.

Reply to I Need Some Clarification in Politics JoeUser Forums

It's not like the job of a vice-president is particularly onerous. Anyone could do it. I'm not sure why people take it so seriously - considering how many advisors a president has, even the craziest and most inept person couldn't do too much damage before they're declared too ill to retain office, so even the possibility of a vice-president becoming the president is a non-issue. The vice-president may as well be attractive. That's all they're there for.

Reply to AP Reports on Palin's Speech B4 it is Given? in Politics JoeUser Forums

In Australia it's common to get speeches before they're given. It means that regardless of the time a speech is made, journalists have the facts so they can focus on the delivery during the speech (or if they're busy, not go to the speech and still write about it). I suppose political media analysts think it helps with getting a favourable story or, indeed, a story at all. Still, very unusual to get one published before the speech actually happens! I bet there's a subeditor with sudde

Reply to Profiling doesn't work: MI5 in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]Part of the problem is, there could be thousands of arrests from profiling, but as soon as there is one wrongful arrest or a case where somebody kicks up a fuss about being picked on, the media will be all over it.[/quote] The problem with having plenty of arrests is that you might not be picking up terrorists. Guantanamo Bay is a case in point. Thousands of arrests, thousands sent home without charge after years of miserable treatment. More time needs to be devoted to establis

Reply to Obama, Benevolent Dictator or Messiah? in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]Most Americans don't see their government as rulers but as servants.[/quote] I know you do your research on statistical things like this for Political Machine, so I guess you must be right. I must admit it's something of an alien idea to me. Who would let their servants know important things and never tell them, or conduct important matters on their behalf without any real input? Americans, I suppose is the answer. The old wives are right - there truly is a place for everything

Reply to Obama, Benevolent Dictator or Messiah? in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]Obama clearly makes the case that he's the former.[/quote] Did you see the Onion video about this? It has this fake black rights activist going on the show to say how great it is that a black man is being viewed as elitist. From little more than an animal to better than everyone else in a hundred years. It's certainly a big step. Only in America could a man like Obama (a born demagogue) be considered more royal and more a member of the privileged elite than a Bush.

Reply to McCain's hidden talent for Hyperbole in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]I haven't heard anything 'hysterical' from him. He's a realist but hardly Chicken Little. The media have been doing what I'm talking about forever, long before McCain.[/quote] What about the series of comments from the article I've linked? Where he's called nearly every event of the past 18 years or so the worst thing ever?

Reply to Profiling doesn't work: MI5 in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]Don't portray the UK's services as being good just because they have a history of this stuff, the UK isn't the same as it was even twenty years ago, and it's history with the IRA is hardly a gleaming report.[/quote] Are you trying to say Spooks isn't reality television? The nerve! More seriously, I can't say I've looked that closely at MI5's service record, nor have I seen the actual report. But it does seem sufficiently different to what was coming out of the

Reply to Profiling doesn't work: MI5 in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]But then you have a better chance of catching a terrorist (plotting against the US - the UK has its own problems) if you profile an arab male, than if you profile a scandanavian grandmother.[/quote] Possibly, so long as you assume that only Arab terrorists seek to cause harm. The sad fact is though that terrorists of all sorts exist. Perhaps she has a hatred of blacks, and plans to bomb Los Angeles. Or a hatred of environmental degradation and goes seeding a forestry area with

Reply to McCain's hidden talent for Hyperbole in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]Says something about your thinking when you throw those 4 particular names into the same pot. Also disturbing that the absence of another terrorist attack in the past 7 years means (to you) that we don't take that threat seriously. Not sure how you've ascertained what we're registering 'on an intellectual level.'[/quote] So you really think that the first-world public is as hysterically terrified of another terrorist attack as they were just after 9/11? I'm not seei

McCain's hidden talent for Hyperbole in Politics JoeUser Forums

I came across an interesting article today which talked about McCain and his charming tendency to describe every international situation as Armageddon cometh. I had never really put it all together in my head previously, but news.com.au blogger Tim Dunlop (blogs.news.com.au/news/blogocracy/index.php/news/comments/foreign_policy_hyperbole_ah_mccain) has brought up an interesting point about America's favourite former POW/senator. As president, his authority and international capacity f

Profiling doesn't work: MI5 in Politics JoeUser Forums

We're all familiar with the argument that police forces and the like profile because it's effective. People of a kind tend to commit more crimes than others, so they get focused on. This could be based on anything a 'lifetime of experience' has suggested - profiling black people for theft, gays for child molestation or women for shoplifting, middle-aged white men for fraud and corporate crimes. The results of a study by the British intelligence service (MI5) suggest this cannot be app

Reply to Democraps & Repugnants in Politics Stardock Forums

In the olden days, before the rise of communism led the brilliant German chancellor Otto von Bismarck to institute the first variants of modern social security, taxation policy was heavily tilted towards the entrepeneur and the job-makers. Does anyone really long for the 'freedom' of life pre-social security? I think our civilisations are stronger for the balance we see today. Sure, sometimes the socialists take a little too much from the entrepeneurs, and sometimes the capitalists ta

Reply to The Old Man With the Stick in Misc JoeUser Forums

I interviewed a police dog trainer for an article on interesting careers I wrote a while ago. His dog was primarily trained for searches, particularly for explosives. The dogs had a huge run to live in and basically were wild, with very limited interaction with people. The upshot was, they went bezerk at human contact, so with all the training they did the reward was always a pat, or a rub, or an affectionate voice. They didn't need to be beaten or given treats or anything - the

Reply to Could the U.S Collapse? in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote] They presumably thought that other issues were more important.[/quote] Maybe, but maybe not. There's a strong case to suggest far right-wing candidate Pauline Hanson wouldn't have been so popular in Australia if every other political party hadn't turned on her and made her a martyr candidate. it's possible the strategists in the big parties simply underestimated what Hitler was capable of achieving with a little indifference. [quote]Either way, it's not fair to say tha

Reply to Fighting the Addiction in Life Journals JoeUser Forums

I'm just going to throw this out there. Start reading Savage Love - www.avclub.com/content/savagelove If, after going through a few columns, you still think you have sexual issues, go see a sex counsellor, for you I'd recommend a religious one who doesn't think sex is bad, so avoid the Methodists and the Catholics. You want someone who's a bit embarrassing but totally discreet, because they won't judge and will be able to offer some good advice about picking up girls in the first plac

Reply to Could the U.S Collapse? in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]The US is too big to collapse because of pressure from the outside, much like for instance the EU.[/quote] It is a little overextended on the global stage, but yeah, I'd agree it's not going to collapse for a while. The liberal/conservative divide you have going isn't geographically based, so although the intensity of hatred displayed on JU may be widespread, without a geographical split between the two sides it's not going to threaten the union. It's certainly not goin