cactoblasta

Reply to Gays in the Military? I honestly don't see the problem... in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Quit trying to make me out to be a bigot simply because I disagree with you. Sorry, I couldn't resist, but it wasn't aimed at you per se, more the stereotype of the "We can't have fags in the army because they'll be a distraction!" argument. People have pushed the same line for blacks and women over the years, but in the end soldiers just learnt how to play nice. I mean let's face it - we don't want psychopaths in the mainstream army. Consider

Reply to Gays or Retardation Nation in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Those who campaign for gay rights, gay marriage, gay adoption I really don't see the problem with rights campaigners. How are they to get the rights they want if they don't speak up? How would you run a silent rights campaign? I know a silent campaign is thereotically possible, but I don't think the gay rights movement knows anywhere near enough senators, reps and presidential candidates to successfully have gay rights imposed on an unsuspecti

Reply to Gays in the Military? I honestly don't see the problem... in Current Events JoeUser Forums

My solution - Spartan regiments. Every man or woman in it is gay. No one has to worry about communal showering then, and relationships within the regiment will make them better fighters. As I said on that other thread you can staff them with straight officers if you think the gays aren't capable of leading themselves (god only knows the blacks need white officers...) and, if necessary, keep them away from the straights who might be terrified of them. But at least give them

Reply to Capitalism Offers the Best Answers for Poverty in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Already we have US politicians discussing ratifying the "UN Convention on the rights of the child", which, if passed, would render parents pretty much powerless as far as discipline, religious instruction, or oversight of their children are concerned. It has little to no effect really. It's been ratified in Australia since 1990 and I don't think it's done much more than bring an end to corporal punishment in schools.

Reply to Capitalism Offers the Best Answers for Poverty in Current Events JoeUser Forums

It is VERY rare for a country to follow the economic policies of another nation and adopt their heavy handed social control. Did you miss a 'not' there? As I said before I think it's quite common for economics to be dissociated from politics. Most of Southeast Asia built themselves up on the Singapore model, but they all have quite different social policies - none that I'm aware of, for example, have the same policy on public filth and cleanliness.

Reply to What do Joeusers think about these topics? in Blogging JoeUser Forums

Everyone knows there are homosexuals in the service. Who cares? As long as they keep their sexual preferences private....um, just like everyone else is expected to do. I think they should be given the chance to prove themselves just like the blacks had. Put them all into a single regiment (staffed by straight officers if you feel gays can't do discipline themselves) and let them show the Army if they're as good as the others. That would also ge

Reply to Capitalism Offers the Best Answers for Poverty in Current Events JoeUser Forums

I'm very concerned with the European model. While some would extol its virtues, they do so ignoring the Muslim riots in Paris, the "hate speech" laws that effectively stifle free speech in many of those countries, and many other social ills that are, at their best, an equal trade off for the problems we have in America. What works in Europe may work in Europe, but I'm not convinced it will work here...not as long as our Constitution and Bill of Rights remain in play.</

Reply to Capitalism Offers the Best Answers for Poverty in Current Events JoeUser Forums

The only problem with capitalism is that it requires so many poor people to suffer horribly before it pays off. Look at any country which has embraced capitalism and you'll see a period of transition where large proportions of the population starve or are worked to death. It happened in the UK, in Europe, and in the US. I think capitalism must be tempered to be of any benefit. If you look at the figures it was only after the introduction of basic welfare provisions in the late 19th c

Reply to Obesity - WHY? in Current Events JoeUser Forums

I got an email from another aussie friend yesterday pointing out to me that V8 is widely available in Oz, so widely available that he believes cacto was taking the piss when he suggested it must be something calorie laden and sugary. I've never heard of it. It's never on the TV and I've never known anyone to drink it. I thought it must be an America-only thing. A V8 is a kind of car engine, so it's only natural to assume it works on the same principle

Reply to Why is it only Aussies can get it right? in Politics JoeUser Forums

drmiler: You are an idiot who refuses to see what's right in front of you - that we're discussing the second portion of your quotation, unattributed by Snopes or the ABC to ANYONE. They don't even mention it. YOU and other bloggers are the only ones who mention that second part.

Reply to A Simple Lesson in Bureaucracy in Politics JoeUser Forums

You're right though. When it comes to produce, especially produce like tomatoes with a short shelf life, sometimes canned food is cheaper. But eventually I'd like to have my own spaghetti sauce around. Here's a cheap recipe for you: Slice finely and stir-fry an onion in a little olive oil on the frying pan. Once it's cooked so it's just a little translucent put in a dessert spoon each of crushed garlic (from a bottle is fine and cheapest)

Reply to Obesity - WHY? in Current Events JoeUser Forums

It seems the things you remarked on, those things that make us fat people fat, were the healthiest, lowest calorie items on my menu that day. Are you being deliberately obtuse, or is it that, as a naturally slender person, you remain totally uninformed about truly healthy food choices? Of course I'm obtuse. I think it's my greatest gift to mankind. There's no reality I won't blithely ignore. More seriously, you've got a point. I just cou

Reply to A Simple Lesson in Bureaucracy in Politics JoeUser Forums

When we get a privacy fence put up (we won't do it before; that's just an invitation for more nastiness from this vile community), we'll buy our chickens straight run (meaning they haven't been sexed) and butcher the roosters when they reach crowing age (about 6-8 weeks). Yeah, they'll be a little small but they should be pretty tender at that age. And what we save by not having to pay extra for all hens will make up for it. I have to confess ignorance a

Reply to Obesity - WHY? in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Uhh, V8 juice is VEGETABLE juice, cacto. The only knock on it is the sodium content, and they DO make a low sodium version. I know you're not familiar with American brands, but...we always have google. I'm on a no-google binge at the moment. Instant enlightenment makes life too easy. I've decided it's time to walk the hard road for a week or so and see what life was like BG. It'll help me to understand the antiquated thoughts of those who can remember

Reply to A Simple Lesson in Bureaucracy in Politics JoeUser Forums

The poor SHOULD be able to make that choice by raising their own birds to get eggs, as long as they live on a decent sized property and clean up after them. I think the problem there is that most poor people don't live on a decent sized property or don't have the common lands to support chickens. In the third world there's always space to grow chickens; in the first world that just doesn't exist really. Personally I'm against the raising of roo

Reply to Obesity - WHY? in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Is that a problem? Or just an accomodation? Both, I imagine. Even if you think you're hiding it, we can be very self-conscious and will interpret even the slightest glance & frown as you thinking we are horrible people. I'm not saying this is what you were doing... I just wanted to make you all aware. I'll do my best, but no promises. Like all good habits I've grown accustomed to a fat bias. The last t

Reply to Obesity - WHY? in Current Events JoeUser Forums

I have never had a problem with an obese person in public. Ever. Really? You're lucky. I've been crushed against windows in buses, sat on on planes (Now that's a hideously unpleasant experience), and had the wind knocked out of me by a flab roll in the moshpit at Big Day Out (another singularly unpleasant experience).

Reply to A Simple Lesson in Bureaucracy in Politics JoeUser Forums

If you can barely buy an egg in Australia for 30 cents American, your cost of living is substantially higher than it is in America. We can buy a dozen eggs for under a buck (depending on the sales). Well that is the price for free-range non-stimmed varieties rather than battery eggs, but yeah. I guess the poor can't afford to make that minor moral choice. Battery eggs are much cheaper, although I have no idea exactly how much they are. I don't buy the

Reply to Is homosexuality normal? in Religion JoeUser Forums

Nature didn't intend for our reproductive parts to be used with the elimination of bodily waste parts. Huh? You do know men piss through their uretha as well as cum, right?

Reply to Obesity - WHY? in Current Events JoeUser Forums

But now I know sometimes you can do all the right things and something still go wrong with your body. Yeah that's probably true. But I'm more focusing on those that could be a healthy weight but aren't. You know, the ones who Who am I to judge them based on my ideal standard? An aesthete? A tall person who finds that seats on public transport have been widened rather than lengthened? Someone stu

Reply to A Simple Lesson in Bureaucracy in Politics JoeUser Forums

Just be sure you know what the meat REALLY is. Are you sure you want to know that? It's always been my view, particularly when eating cheap food, that ignorance really is bliss.

Obesity - WHY? in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Obesity is something I've never really understood. I come from a long line of skinny people. In my extended family I have one aunt who was at one stage obese, but that was because she was put on meds for a kidney problem and they totally killed her metabolism. Apart from her (and she returned to normal when she was better) no blood relative could ever be described as more than 'stout'. Same goes for my friends. I just don't know any fat people. Of course it could be prejudice; from a

Reply to A Simple Lesson in Bureaucracy in Politics JoeUser Forums

Ironic that in a world where 20% of the population lives on $1 a day US, you would consider $10 a day to be starvation. I think you'll find that the cost of living is considerably lower in third-world states than in the US. In Indonesia, for example (if you're sick of me trotting out this example, well, bugger it), you can easily buy a nutritious meal containing every major foodgroup (chicken, eggs, greens, rice, a little potato, coloured vegetables dep

Reply to Terrorism and the Fall of the Roman Empire in History JoeUser Forums

I think you're taking it too far there. There were more than a few incidents where foreigners invaded Italy and threatened Rome, and the attack on Ostia was hardly the first. What about Hannibal? the Germans? The Germans wiped out two entire armies in a single battle, leaving Marius with little choice but to start recruiting from the head-count. And due to a hostile senate that meant soldiers suddenly had more to gain from supporting their general than supporting Rome itself, becaus

Reply to Is homosexuality normal? in Religion JoeUser Forums

In this realm, homosexuality is not natural or is unnatural. There is practically nothing that a modern human being does in the course of the average day that is natural. From the moment we wake in the morning (after sleeping on beds made in labs or from genetically selected fibres harvested by machines that run on the corpses of millenia-dead animals and plants) to the moment to we turn out unnatural artificial lights at night we revel in our u