America - The Official Thread

[GBO Possum]

1) What triggered this? I assume you are referring to something in the Middle East, but don't want to assume anything. Honestly, we've been panicking about terrorism for 13 years. It's the new boogeyman.

2) Combine your deaths, add some more, and call it cardiovascular disease (CVD) 788,000 deaths. The big trick is directly linking tobacco and diet to those deaths. We have correlation, but not causation. Death by tobacco and obesity is often an unprovable guess. Death by a specific disease is usually a definite fact found in autopsy. There is even overlap in numbers when you begin blaming tobacco and other environmental factors, until their sum total is more than the number of deaths from the disease they are accused of causing.

Whatever it is, it's vastly more than the danger of terrorism, yet we will spend inordinate sums countering terrorism in this country which chooses not to provide universal health care.

 

[Danoff]

Whatever it is, it's vastly more than the danger of terrorism, yet we will spend inordinate sums countering terrorism in this country which chooses not to provide universal health care.

Legitimate functions of government (protecting rights) vs. illegitimate functions of government.

 

[FoolKiller]

Legitimate functions of government (protecting rights) vs. illegitimate functions of government.

I'd feel a lot better about our protecting rights if the enemy weren't a creature of our own making, this being the third time we did it in Iraq and the second time we've done it against a terrorist group.

The more we "help" the more problems we cause. Help is very questionable when our tactics are to drone strike the cell phone signal without concern for children, and then double-tap the first responders and/or the funeral.

 

[Danoff]

I'd feel a lot better about our protecting rights if the enemy weren't a creature of our own making, this being the third time we did it in Iraq and the second time we've done it against a terrorist group.

The more we "help" the more problems we cause. Help is very questionable when our tactics are to drone strike the cell phone signal without concern for children, and then double-tap the first responders and/or the funeral.

I don't disagree with any of that.

 

[FoolKiller]

I don't disagree with any of that.

I honestly fear it will become like an old familial feud. No one knows for sure who started it, but now we're fighting and we will keep fighting, using the other's last response to our attack as the reason to respond with a new attack.

I doubt it will end anytime soon. Every time we start at it both sides gain power back home. We are addicted to power and power is gained by naming a threat to fear. It worked for Hitler and has been the SOP here for far too long. All it takes is an event to make suspending the Constitution sound reasonable to the masses in light of the threat.

 

[FoolKiller]

Well, I kept wondering when the police overreach would hit home here in Kentucky. Looks like they had a little catching up to do, so violated the 4th Amendment rights of 40 people at once.

http://www.wave3.com/story/26513493/cahoots-owner-attorney-cry-foul-over-raid

 

[Sanji Himura]

Sad news to report tonight/this morning:

Chardon High School shooter T.J. Lane has escaped prison at 7:40pm local time. Lane, convicted to three counts of murder, two counts of aggravated attempted murder, and one count of felonious assault, and later sentenced to three life sentences, escaped with 45 year old Clifford E. Opperud.

Lane was recaptured an hour ago, according to local reports. It is unknown if the other inmate evaded capture at that time.

 

[Chrunch Houston]

Yeah that guy is a real bad ass.

Plead guilty and wore this to sentencing.

And was very remorseful to the families of his victims.

I won't be sad to hear of his suicide by cop, ending.

 

[GBO Possum]

"The Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’s potential bid for the 2016 Presidency was declared over, on Monday, before it even began, because of a key feature of the American political system that makes a person with integrity ineligible for the White House."

Read on at http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/integrity-disqualifies-sanders-white-house

Classic Borowitz "reporting". Love it!!

 

[Sanji Himura]

Actually, he's wrong. A Independent candidate can run for the White House, but the laws in some states state that a candidate has to be a member of a political party, not just be a R or a D. There is the Green party, but their liberal.

 

[GBO Possum]

Actually, he's wrong. A Independent candidate can run for the White House, but the laws in some states state that a candidate has to be a member of a political party, not just be a R or a D. There is the Green party, but their liberal.

Borowitz is a satirist. He's saying that being a person of integrity, which Sanders is, disqualifies him for the Presidency.

 

[Sanji Himura]

Moving on:

Police in Lubbock, TX are looking for a 14 year old cartel hitman after he assassinated a rival human smuggler. The hitman, also wanted in two other assassinations, is feared to have fled back to Mexico after assassinating 16 year old identified as Carlos Garcia, who himself was previously deported with an extensive criminal record. At age 13, Garcia was charged with auto theft, and at age 14, he was deported for human smuggling of nine people. When police, in the incident, tried to shoot the tires from the truck that he was driving, they shot and killed two people. Obviously Garcia made it back to the United States before being killed.

 

[Keef]

Moving on:

Police in Lubbock, TX are looking for a 14 year old cartel hitman after he assassinated a rival human smuggler. The hitman, also wanted in two other assassinations, is feared to have fled back to Mexico after assassinating 16 year old identified as Carlos Garcia, who himself was previously deported with an extensive criminal record. At age 13, Garcia was charged with auto theft, and at age 14, he was deported for human smuggling of nine people. When police, in the incident, tried to shoot the tires from the truck that he was driving, they shot and killed two people. Obviously Garcia made it back to the United States before being killed.

I feel like what we should do is bring the vast majority of our military soldiers home from pointless places overseas, call them National Guard, and populate the Mexican border with them to fight crime.

Then we should legalize marijuana so that drug trade will calm down. But the gangs will still be active with human trafficking and other drugs. Do they really want to mess with a thoroughly militarized border? I feel like if we're going to fight a neverending war, that's probably the one we should be fighting.

I honestly fear it will become like an old familial feud. No one knows for sure who started it, but now we're fighting and we will keep fighting, using the other's last response to our attack as the reason to respond with a new attack.

I doubt it will end anytime soon. Every time we start at it both sides gain power back home. We are addicted to power and power is gained by naming a threat to fear. It worked for Hitler and has been the SOP here for far too long. All it takes is an event to make suspending the Constitution sound reasonable to the masses in light of the threat.

Speaking of ending stupid wars, what would the world think if we just...stopped? If we just packed up and left and had nothing to do with any of those middle eastern countries again.

 

[Danoff]

Speaking of ending stupid wars, what would the world think if we just...stopped? If we just packed up and left and had nothing to do with any of those middle eastern countries again.

Interesting question. I'm going to apply it to our presence worldwide, not just the middle east.

I imagine we'd get blamed for the slaughter of innocents that would invariably ensue in several areas of the planet. Some nations would be happy to see us go - others may topple shortly after we leave. I think the only responsible course of action if this became a goal would be to step down slowly and carefully.

 

[FoolKiller]

Speaking of ending stupid wars, what would the world think if we just...stopped? If we just packed up and left and had nothing to do with any of those middle eastern countries again.

We would then be blamed for every death that happened after that.

See, we're screwed either way. If we stay the course we are blamed for every death in the fighting and any that the enemy kills elsewhere and after. If we leave then we are blamed for allowing innocents to be slaughtered. What we have done is dug ourselves a nice big hole. We made some decisions in the Cold War that still follow us today.

Look at what happens in disasters. We are almost always the first in the scene, where we then get blamed for any problems in rescue efforts after that. Then we are told we barely do enough.

 

[kennylmao]

This news article is old, but am I reading what I think I am? http://nationalreport.net/city-michigan-first-fully-implement-sharia-law/

 

[PeterJB]

You're reading a well-disguised (by the Onion's standards at least) satirical news site. The main give away is the other headlines such as "Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes Name Baby Girl #Hashtag" and "All Women Certifiably Crazy, Study Finds". If this [Sharia Law] were true it probably would have made headlines worldwide.

 

[FoolKiller]

It's also dated 11 months ago.

 

[kennylmao]

You're reading a well-disguised (by the Onion's standards at least) satirical news site. The main give away is the other headlines such as "Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes Name Baby Girl #Hashtag" and "All Women Certifiably Crazy, Study Finds". If this [Sharia Law] were true it probably would have made headlines worldwide.

Wow, they're really good. I know of the Onion, I never thought I'd fall for one!
And I didn't bother checking the front page or the other articles, haha

And someone's probably gonna get shot.

It's also dated 11 months ago.

I live under a rock so news doesn't get to me that quick.

 

[GBO Possum]

This news article is old, but am I reading what I think I am? http://nationalreport.net/city-michigan-first-fully-implement-sharia-law/

From another story on this website:-

PYONGYANG North Korea – Kim Jong-Un, the Supreme Leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, has reportedly issued a bizarre edict effecting over 90% of North Korean adult men. Substantiated reports reveal that all males above the age of 21 are to have their penises cut to a length shorter than that of Un’s reported 7.1 centimeters (2.8 inches). The goal is to make Un the most endowed male figure in all of North Korea. - See more at: http://nationalreport.net/kim-jong-un-castrating-north-koreans/#sthash.XzSRwYym.dpuf​

You think America is all screwed up, try living in North Korea. If I qualified to be a part of the affected group of men, I'd be really upset.

 

[EF12345678]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/21/us/white-house-security-incident/

Washington (CNN) -- An Iraq war veteran who was arrested after jumping a White House fence suffers from PTSD, his former stepson told CNN Sunday.

Omar Gonzalez hopped the north fence Friday and sprinted just past the north portico White House doors when he was stopped, Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary said. The veteran carried in his pants pocket a Spyderco VG-10 folding knife with a 3-and-a-half inch serrated blade, according to an affidavit.

Best way to get arrested.

 

[Zenith]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/21/us/white-house-security-incident/

Best way to get arrested.

A 3 and a half inch folding knife.

We need another Assault Weapon's Ban, people.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

It's also dated 11 months ago.

And it's a joke from "The Simpsons" - in one of the more-recent episodes set thirty years in the future, Lisa remarks that "Michigan is still under sharia law". Smash-cut to a joke about Milhouse in a niqab.

 

[nobuffalo]

A 3 and a half inch folding knife.

We need another Assault Weapon's Ban, people.

Just pulled mine out of my pocket to measure and he's got me by an inch. I carry a pocket knife pretty much every where I go.

 

[Bram Turismo]

Speaking of ending stupid wars, what would the world think if we just...stopped? If we just packed up and left and had nothing to do with any of those middle eastern countries again.

What else would stop IS, though? Diplomacy will not work since Europe still isn't doing anything at all while IS goes on freely murdering, raping and torturing. I cannot see Middle Eastern countries fighting IS either without the push of a western nation. I do not believe diplomacy works with these radical mass-murderers. It seems they don't have anything to lose but their own lives.

 

[GBO Possum]

Far better that the Muslim countries deal with the problem.

Seems like they are finally stepping forward and taking some action in the face of chaos.

We have far more pressing "clear and present" dangers to address at home.

 

[Sanji Himura]

@Keef, Do you not realize what ISIS is after? They are after the reconstruction of the Ottoman Empire. This means taking over our only true friend in the area, Israel.

 

[FoolKiller]

@Keef, Do you not realize what ISIS is after? They are after the reconstruction of the Ottoman Empire. This means taking over our only true friend in the area, Israel.

So, the same thing every extremist Muslim group in the area, as well as every country in the area on at least one occasion?

I'm sorry, what's new about ISIS/ISIL/IS?

 

[Keef]

Israel isn't our friend, they just want our weapons and money. We literally pay them to keep them from destroying the entire region.

 

[Dotini]

...what's new about ISIS/ISIL/IS?

The interesting and unique thing about ISIS/ISIL/IS is that they have managed, even if only temporarily, to combine the radical, nutcase Sunni religious extremists with the elite, educated secular (nominally Sunni) Baathists (ex-Saddam Hussein). This makes a formidable foe, to say the least. Until they are pried apart and once again set at each others' throats, they will be a tough nut to crack.