meangreendork

Christ. That deserves a great big WTF. This is like the people that think you can get swine flu from eating pork/ham/bacon/etc. Ugh. If one was to get something from eating pork products that weren't cooked properly, I can assure you it's a lot worse than any flu. Speaking of things worse than this flu - someone correct me on this... ...but it's basically like any other flu short of the fact that far fewer carry an immunity to it, and that of the 4 primary medications, it shows resistance to 2, correct? Aside from that, it is no more lethal to the average healthy person than any other variant of the flu. The only people at risk of this are the people who are typically at risk from complications due to flu, right?

Global warming has been something of debate forever. Even I was never convinced by it because I know about cyclical changes in global climate. But that's not to say we don't need to change how we treat the planet though. I'd hate to see it trashed out and worthless to us. As for Fouts...

See, but you're the exception here. While many others that are on the same side of the aisle as you have been ranting off with conspiracy theories, claims of Socialism, and other hare-brained ideas, you actually argue to points, make sense, and really, you're on my favorite members list as a result. You're not over-obsessing over the election, you're not claiming he's the anti-christ. You're saying, "hey, this guy's policies are bad." You're rather logical and to the point without looking/sounding like a raving zealot. Oh, and you're not making the Non-UNT sports look like the comments section of the World News Daily.

Seriously. This sort of stuff is starting to look a little /b/ in here.

That right there. That's perfect, and thank you. --- MGBob, Jesus also lead by example, as opposed to just showing up at random and then screaming religion at people. But you still miss the point here: You showed up, at random, and essentially yelled religion at us. In a setting like this, that's about the same as standing on oldguystudent's soapbox and preaching at people. You're just like that strange man that used to show up on campus between 2003-2005 (maybe earlier or later) and who yelled religion at people. Here's the thing - no one cared what his content was. It didn't matter if it was truthful or not because his means of relaying it seemed questionable or at least, anachronistic. You can liken his behavior to that of a sideshow barker or trade show voice. Sure, the product may be sound or the show may be nice, but this guy is still yelling at people, and that's far more vinegar than sugar. Or you can say it's like bad, loud TV commercials - yeah, they could be pushing the best product, but I'm going to mute them and FF on my DVR to speed past them. The ways of successfully communicating anything religiously related aren't the same as they were 2000 years ago. Back then, people flocked to soapbox speakers (well, more like just loud guys on pedestals) and traveling musicians because they often brought the news of the day. You have a more congregated setting for people gather their daily information, so listening to a man preach from a stoop or whatever raised surface was fine and normal. Now, people get their information, often, on their own. They do their research and when they're in a situation where someone is attempting to convince them of something, they're more likely to listen to (you guessed it) word-of-mouth from close friends or at least people they trust. There's a reason why churches no longer do it soapbox style, and instead prefer going door-to-door because that builds relationships with people they visit. Think about it - in the churches I used to go to, during the testimonials, I rarely heard anyone convinced to take any action because of someone preaching at them. I did, however, hear many a testimonial about how someone was convinced to take an action in their lives through the personal relationship that was built between them and another member of the church. Often, these people were new members of the church, and they were brought in through visitation or just through a daily working or friendship relationship with another active church member. There's trust built up between the two people involved, and more than likely, the active church member leading by example. That, more often than not, is what "lands the sale". No yelling involved.

I thought it was awesome at first...then it all kinda slid downhill. I'm with you here.

It's the preaching at people part. Has a tendency to make someone look less believable. It's one thing for me to walk to you and say the sky is blue as opposed to standing on a bench and yelling it at people. Less about content, more about method. See also: crazy religious guy that used to speak on the free speech zones on campus between 2003 and 2005.

It's a whole other thing when people get all preachy on you. Sermon on the mount doesn't work anymore, sorry.

locked in...3...2...

A bit hard, but I do side with you on SE going overboard. However, the gun paranoia, in terms "OMG, THEY'RE GUNNA TAKE OUR GUNZ" is unfounded. But, if it's making people buy stuff, I guess I can live with it.

Some people think the president will take all guns away. I think that thought is rather irrational since really, there are other, bigger issues to deal with right now. But since the president is part of the political party behind the last gun ban, and despite him saying he couldn't ban all guns even if he wanted to, people still freak out.

Now this is a true, credible threat. And the worst part of this is that the European governments won't step in and actually run these towns that Muslims are creating/taking over. It's one of those things where immigrants refuse to assimilate into and contribute to an area as opposed to just being parasitic. The people in the UK are really being handed their hats by these random Muslim communities that spring up and think they can do as they please without government intervention. And no, when you go somewhere to another country as an immigrant, you run by their rules or you go home. It should be that simple. It's one thing to carry over culture and religion, but it's unacceptable when it's ignoring rule of law.

No, I'm with you here - Socialism as the sole means of running a country is impossible. The idea is alright, but it fails when it's applied to people. Hell, there are plenty of great ideas, but they fail when people try to execute them. That said, contrary to some opinions, the current administration won't be turning the US into a socialist state. There will be more government intervention, but Capitalism will still reign supreme.

TLDR. ITT: FFR doesn't like Obama.

You know...I don't know about taking advice from this guy. And what, for women, it's easy to find another alternative for everyday clothing for just about any occasion. For men, not so much. You have either jeans, khakis, or corduroys. Anything else gets either underdressed or overdressed.

I grew up around Ft. Hood, so as you can guess, we have our share of South Koreans. Some of them were actually escapees from across the DMZ, and they told me about some strange things seen on posters, heard on the radio, and said about him in public. They really do have a full-scale personality cult built around him. This is a result of 2 things: a literal and constant barrage of propaganda, and the fact that basically no outside media of any kind finds its way into NK either because it's all intercepted or because those in NK have no way to access it. It's something like what you see in Africa's conflict regions and in some of the recruiting elements of Islamic terrorism. It's a lot of misinformation and people being ignorant and uneducated and therefore unable to find out anything contrary to what they hear from recruiters.

The UK is less likely to do something stupid with its nuclear weapons. I don't like anyone having them, but if I absolutely have to, I'd rather our friends have them than His Sovereign Grace Good Hair, Kim Jong Il. Kim Jong Il is actually what a nutcase politician looks like, acts like, and is, despite what some on this board seem to think. He's an actual dictator, he wasn't elected, wasn't ever elected, and has actually brainwashed and manipulated his own citizens.

Jokes aside, it's one thing if the English have nukes. It's an entirely other, even far more discomforting thing if the North Koreans do. Plus, it also lets you know that even more of their own people don't get to eat because a ton of funding went to those stupid things.

You can correct me on this, but the Arab world was still mostly stable and western friendly up until the years just before the death of Anwar Sadat in the 1960's. But yeah, Yassir Arafat is really an irrelevant person right now. He hasn't actually been of real value for about the last 5 years, his power and influence has been taken and spread out by other figures and groups in that country. Go figure.

I think you missed something: Also, spellcheck.

You know, this may be worth reading if it wasn't from WND. It's like seeing Huffington Post or AlterNet here. Also: OHNOES, LACK OF RELIGION.

You're missing the point: It's one thing to admit it and look bad. It's one thing to deny it, have the information come out, and look even worse for doing it AND lying AND getting caught. And about the use of torture during interrogations in previous administrations? Torture is a part of old-school information warfare and intelligence gathering. It's as old as warfare itself. Anyone who says they don't engage in it is either lying or not aware it's being done. The level of torture may vary, but it's always there, always in use. I'm actually a bit pissed off you think I would assume something that naive.

Actually, the damage from waterboarding isn't from the water itself. It's the damage caused as a result of the illusion of drowning and O2 deprivation. That's damage to the lungs, brain damage from a lack of O2, and worse, psychological damage. Death is very possible. Anyone who says it's a "harmless interrogation technique" needs to do more homework. It's basically like faking someone's execution, which is more or less illegal. It doesn't kill or damage via flooding of the lungs. It does its damage via asphyxiation. But that's not really the problem: The problem was the public claim that the US does not torture, when it does. Without that statement being made, the situation would be a lot less scandalous. It makes the US lose a lot of credibility in doing so.

Makes you wonder what the pattern's cause is. Bad wiring?

Iran is wrong. Israel is wrong. Iran's current leadership may be modernizing, but segments of it still dig into terrorism. Israel may just want peace, but it's government system has a mix of moderates and a lot of "all or nothing" types. Neither seems to be able to gain a majority. Kinda fouls the moderation process. Ahmedinejad is a giant D-bag for writing what he wrote, but just like Chavez and Ortega, no one of real significance cares about what he says besides his few buddies in his axis of dweebil.