Solitair

Reply to Solution to welfare: Contraception in Politics JoeUser Forums

Actually Draginol, you are aware of the current trade problems between the US and the EU. One of the major stickling blocks is the illegal tax conxessions the US gives to it's companies. This definitely counts as corporate welfare and is estimated at nearly 40 billion US dollars a year worldwide. That's NOT tiny. In general though I do agree that some method of encouraging or even forcing people out of welfare (forcing them to get off there arses, not punishing them for trying and fail

Reply to NO TERRORIST ATTACKS IN IRAN in Current Events JoeUser Forums

No terrorist bombs going off in Syria, Jordan, Lybia, Tunisia, Morocco or Eqypt either. What about Monaco and the Vatican city? Also look very quiet! Just because Iran has a history of terrorism support is not a good enough excuse to point the finger. Ever heard of 'presumed innoncence' or 'innoncent till proven guilty'? Is there some reason you feel they should not be applied? If you have factual proof that Iran is responsible then please do post it, otherwise please stop spre

Reply to Impulse Weekly Top 10 in Press Room JoeUser Forums

Bit of a black and white comment JeremyG. Maybe they had other reasons, such as they though the US was telling lies about WMD? As for the article, it is fairly interesting but I don't really believe oil currency played a major role in the decision to attack Iraq. Too much of a conspiracy theory for my liking, especially as there were plenty of other more obvious reasons. Possible an additional benefit. The effect on the American economy of countries changing their oil currency to Euros

Reply to Impulse Weekend Buys - August 20th in Press Room JoeUser Forums

Why do people always assume that someone who disagees with you is the polar opposite. Anyone who listened to some of the protestors being interviewed would immediately know that they abhorred terrorism. They want terrorism to stop. They disagree about the methods. Is something wrong with that? Respect their democratic right and stop demonising them. As for Ken Livingston, he is indeed a fairly right wing Labour. Some of his speaches are fairly radical. I personally laugh at some of his

Reply to JoeUser Gets a Facelift in Blogging JoeUser Forums

Looking good and much faster. Still waiting for some details on WHEN the last comment was posted (as well as how many posts). I still find myself loading articles to discover nothing new was posted since I last looked. Especially a problem with older articles. A sort by most recent comment date would also be lovely. Paul.

Reply to Do welfare mothers see the government as their mothers? in Politics JoeUser Forums

Some of the comments are a bit harsh, but I have to admit that I agree in principle to the concept. Before I comment though let me point out that I am a practicing catholic and as such my comments are guided by my upbringing and my personal sense of what's right. a) I believe all children and young adults should be on birth control until they reach the age where they can support a child in an environment above the poverty line. Whether this is when they get married, when their parents a

Reply to European vs. American views on capitalism, free speech in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Draginol, as a European I would have to disagree with your first point but agree with your second. Firstly, I have never seen a distaste for merchants in Europe. Starting your own business is much admired and encouraged in Europe. What is different though is that Europeans love the idea of small businessmen competing on a local level. Large companies (whether European, American or Japenese) using their superior size (and thus better buying power, improved efficiency, better dist

Reply to The importance of statistics in running a business in OS Customization JoeUser Forums

Very interesting Draginol. Nice approach to get quick results out of the data. As a scientist I analyse data on a daily basis and must highlight some of the important logical steps you made (not suggesting they are wrong, just they are important) 1) removing #1 and #2. This is a fairly dangerous game as it assumes that every month the 1st 2 download numbers are artificially high. If this is the case then some months maybe only 1 download or even 3 downloads could be artificial.

Reply to Rich people and their tax bitching in Politics JoeUser Forums

Anthony, as someone who is definitely in the top 5% tax band I think labeling me a communist is very funny! Do you ever make logical arguments or do you always resort to name calling for your arguments? I like my money. I like the fact I can earn my money. I don't like paying taxes, but heh I understand why I have to pay them. If my tax system was implemented I'd probably end up paying a bit more, but at least I'd know everyone was paying fairly. As I tried to explain, for me the fairness

Reply to Impulse Weekend Buys - August 20th in Press Room JoeUser Forums

Anthony, I wish you'd look at the facts more frequently. The police estimate there were 100,000 protesters in London. Many of the news stations interviewed protesters and their views ranged from extreme "Bush is the Devil" to more mainstream "I disagree with his trade tariffs". Stop labeling them Bolsheviks and hooligans. Yes they used the statue to get camera coverage, but so does Bush. American aircraft carrier anyone? You may as well label the entire planet with such a term. China, Japan, Br

Reply to Why Israel is a threat to world peace in Politics JoeUser Forums

Abraham of course lived in the city or UR in Iraq. Does that mean that true Jews can claim part of Iraq but must relinquish Israel? And before anyone bothers to reply. Of course not! But it does show the whole point of a modern claim on a location which many other races have also lived in. The bottom line is that both Jews and Arabs live in that land and need a peace solution. Any solution based on ancient claims and rights is unlikely to be accepted by the other side.

Reply to Europe: Israel biggest threat to world peace? in Current Events JoeUser Forums

DP, I'm glad to see you don't ascribe anti-semitism to the entire European population. Does it not occur to you in the slightest that maybe your own 'left wingers', and the Europeans could have a point? Maybe there is a problem with the official Israeli approach? Maybe this could be a threat to world peace? Maybe it could be generating terrorists? Maybe the Palestinians have nothing left to live for? As for your assumptions that the BBC is under the intellectual control of Marxi

Reply to Rich people and their tax bitching in Politics JoeUser Forums

I have no problems with paying 50% tax. Even 60% tax would be acceptable. So long as EVERYONE is paying the same and receiving the same benefits. If I earned $300k and had to pay $180k in taxes, then I'd expect someone who earned $15k to pay $9k in taxes. They may get $30k in benefits back, but so should I. If they get free healthcare, then so should I. If they get social security then so should I. If they get govenment pensions, then so should I. I may decide to opt for private medical

Reply to OT: Computer gaming business models in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

You could start up an bluetooth gaming area. Just a comfortable area with sofas, desks, etc which provides bluetooth support for all those new Ngage players (and of course laptop and other bluetooth players). How do you make your money? By providing rented games so that large groups of players can compete against each other, providing drinking and food facilities and once you get the numbers, charging a small fee for entry. Paul. ~SDC~

Reply to Death of a Superpower? in Politics JoeUser Forums

Some facts last year the EU imported 252 Billion US dollars worth of trade to the US. It imported 185 Billion dollars worth of trade. This makes it the largest trade partner of the US, with over 1.5 Billion dollars of trade per day occurring across the Atlantic. Loss of this trade or a serious fraction of this trade will have emmense consequences to both sides. On a basic level that a huge tax income for the government lost, on a more advanced level if those goods aren't sold the

Reply to Sneak peek at GalCiv: Altarian Prophecy in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Looks really nice. I was about to subscribe till I noticed that drengin.net subscribers already get the expansion. Excellent! Looking forward to renewing my drengin.ner subscription next year to help pay for further development! Might be an idea to add a link to drengin.net subscription as well as the current link. Also, why are the download and download+CD the same cost? Paul. ~SDC~

Reply to Sure, give government control to the guy with the bomb. in Politics JoeUser Forums

By speeding up the constitution process the US also finally agrees with one of the UN's primary demands. A quick transfer of as much power as possible to an Iraqi elected government. This will hopefully encourage a new UN resolution and then a UN peace keeping force. This will greatly reduce the pressure on US troops and reduce the image of them being invaders. Smart move. Pity they didn't agree to it back in May. Paul.

Reply to OT: Computer gaming business models in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Ray, unless you have the computing skills, or know the people with those skills, then there is very little you can do on the start-up front. Most computer start-ups involve hard initial work and lots of long hours of programming to create a product. Until that product is created there is little money available to supporting accountants or business development people. You could however try a slightly different approach. If you could locate budding programmers who were eager to try

Reply to Death of a Superpower? in Politics JoeUser Forums

Anthony, before you make comments such as 'the EU probably wasn’t much of a market for American products to begin with' please check the facts. Only takes a minute or two of a websearch. The EU is a major trading partner of the US. You are missing my point though, why should Europeans be happy with America subsidising it's goods? It will cost Europeans jobs. For example, of course Europeans will be unhappy if that Burbon costs twice as much, but compare that with loosing the ent

Reply to Israel biggest threat to world peace? Wrong !!!! in Current Events JoeUser Forums

To put your initial comments in perspective America was created over the dead bodies of Indian people. Germany (third Reich) was being created over the dead bodies of slavs and Jews Anywhere in history and in almost any race you can find examples of nations created over the dead of other nations. What's important is the now though. Giving all people equal rights in their nation or even their own nation. Nations with different cultures within them have particular diffi

Reply to Israel biggest threat to world peace? Wrong !!!! in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Riad, your end comments are a total disgust. Please refrain from such blatant racism. Paul.

Reply to Why Israel is a threat to world peace in Politics JoeUser Forums

Why shouldn't you get to choose your country? Israel did! Created a new country from scratch, despite being the minority population. America did! Rebelled against the English and then expanded into Indian, French and Mexican lands. Half the planet did! Paul.

Reply to Israel biggest threat? Wrong !!!! Part 2 in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Why do so many Israeli's seem to have an persecution complex? Which line anywhere above deserved the anti-semite label? It's far too easy for a Jew to throw that comment about. Lets have some respect here. People are debating their points and trying to do so in a logical manner, falling back on the tried and tested 'everyone hates the jews' arguement is very childish. Specifics ... I highlight a website to counter the initial unsupported claims - http://www.btsel

Reply to EU Trade Tarrifs in Politics JoeUser Forums

I totally agree that the EU needs to remove it trade tariffs as well. It is slowly doing so and a number of WTO rulings (such as the banana dispute) have forces it to speed up this process. It's farmer subsidies are a complete disgrace and I only vote for politicans who agree with me on this. As for EU fears, they do fear GM foods. There are plenty of reasons why they should. Without proper control the results could be a catastrophy (just look at some of the research which has been don

Reply to Israel biggest threat? Wrong !!!! Part 2 in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Andrew, if someone runs towards you with explosive then you may indeed have to kill them. Please look at the web site aginst though. It does NOT include Palestinian deaths who were suicide bombers! The numbers ARE important though. Every single number, whether Israeli or Palestinian is a life that should have been lived. Nothing is more important than that. Not pride, not territory, not religion. When people begin to realise and believe that then the killing may stop. As for 'wh