Paris attacks: Shootings kill 18, hostage-taking at Bataclan arts centre

[kallend 2,026]

Coreeece

***
>Wrong, it was not a religion. It was the U.S.A.

Good! Then what the USSR and Nazi Germany did was done by countries, not by atheism.

Now as soon as Coreece gets that, we're done.

Perhaps you didn't get it when I acknowledged in post 63 that atheistic leaders have not have always tortured or killed directly to promote atheism. You're also ignoring the history of the atheistic terrorist organizations that did.

The quote that Kallend was responding to is from an objective audit of the relationship between religion, war and secular society that's derived from a multitude of credible sources. It's very informative and provides some perspective on the issue - highly recommended.

The more important part of the quote that some people seem to be missing is this:
"The common thread here linking the disposition to war of religious and atheistic states is absolutism: the more absolutist the state, the more likely it is to go to war."

Interesting to compare the number of times Iran, or Cuba, or N. Korea has gone to war with another country in the past, say, 70 years with the number of times the USA or UK has.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[gowlerk 2,190]

Quote

Seems that Satan is always on the other side.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAgAvnvXF9U

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[GeorgiaDon 362]

rushmc

Just in case some of you forgot (or otherwise)

Quote

By Steve Deace - - Tuesday, January 20, 2015




Quote:

.

To many in the Muslim world, the United States is “the great Satan.” Nevertheless, there is no place safer and more prosperous in the world for a Muslim to live than right here.

Why is that?

It’s because there is something fundamental about Islam we have chosen to ignore due to political correctness...

What complete crap.

The US was never referred to as "the great Satan" until we began the practice of overthrowing governments, installing dictators we could control, and training and equipping secret police to use terror and torture to intimidate the civilian population. Iran has, unfortunately, good reason to hate the US, given how we fucked them over, mostly so we could steal their oil.

If it was just a matter of them hating everybody, why don't they refer to Canada as "the great Satan"? Or Norway? Their enmity is aimed at the US because we destroyed their democracy and subjugated them to decades of oppression. Thousands of Iranians disappeared into the Savak torture chambers and never came out, and we trained Savak and supported the Shah with money and arms.

We are just reaping what Eisenhower sowed.

Don

_____________________________________
Tolerance is the cost we must pay for our adventure in liberty. (Dworkin, 1996)
“Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” (Yeats)

[JerryBaumchen 1,354]

Hi Don,

Quote

so we could steal their oil

More importantly, it was so we could put missiles in their country. We wanted to surround the Soviet Union with missiles as close to the USSR borders as we could.

Jerry Baumchen

PS) If I remember correctly, the secret discussions/agreements between JFK & Krushchev was that they take their missiles out of Cuba and we would ( secretly ) take ours out of Pakistan.

[JerryBaumchen 1,354]

Hi Ken,

Quote

I know a lot of Americans. Not one of them is this dumb.

This one is: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/virginia-mayor-compares-barring-syrian-refugees-japanese-american-internment-n465877



Jerry Baumchen

[rushmc 23]

All facts

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[billvon 2,989]

>I think you will find it hard to find a comparison to what I replied to in your post

RushMC mind reading:

"We need to remember that for many liberals, they want/need the constitution to be that living breathing document so they can bend it"

"The SCOTUS is not supposed to do what you (and liberals) want, and that is change the meaning to meet ideological progressive world views "

"No, it is not reality But, it is where big government liberals want to take it"

"liberals want to be liked"

But of course that's different because you really CAN mind read.

[rushmc 23]

billvon

>I think you will find it hard to find a comparison to what I replied to in your post

RushMC mind reading:

"We need to remember that for many liberals, they want/need the constitution to be that living breathing document so they can bend it"

"The SCOTUS is not supposed to do what you (and liberals) want, and that is change the meaning to meet ideological progressive world views "

"No, it is not reality But, it is where big government liberals want to take it"

"liberals want to be liked"

But of course that's different because you really CAN mind read.

Nope. I cant

But then these comments are based on observations of you and otheres on this site. Your comments were pure conjecture

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[rushmc 23]

JerryBaumchen

Hi Ken,

Quote

I know a lot of Americans. Not one of them is this dumb.

This one is: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/virginia-mayor-compares-barring-syrian-refugees-japanese-american-internment-n465877



Jerry Baumchen

The funniest one is a Democratic candidate saying the Syrian refugees are coming here and elsewhere because of global warming You can't make that stuff up

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[billvon 2,989]

>But then these comments are based on observations of you and otheres on this site.

So only you can observe others and come to conclusions about their motivations. When you do it, it's valid, but when others do it, it's mind reading.

Yep. Classic RushMC logic.

[gowlerk 2,190]

Quote

The funniest one is a Democratic candidate saying the Syrian refugees are coming here and elsewhere because of global warming You can't make that stuff up

Unless you can supply a credible source for that I'm going to believe that it is in fact made up.

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[headoverheels 333]

rushmc

***Hi Ken,

Quote

I know a lot of Americans. Not one of them is this dumb.

This one is: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/virginia-mayor-compares-barring-syrian-refugees-japanese-american-internment-n465877



Jerry Baumchen

The funniest one is a Democratic candidate saying the Syrian refugees are coming here and elsewhere because of global warming You can't make that stuff up

I didn't see that in the two links -- who was it?

[JerryBaumchen 1,354]

Hi heels,

Quote

who was it

' . . . the Democratic mayor of Roanoke, Virginia, David Bowers . . . '

The links still opens for me just fine.

Jerry Baumchen

[JerryBaumchen 1,354]

Hi rush,

Quote

a Democratic candidate

If there is another dumb Democrat out there, I'm all for knowing who it might be.

Quote

You can't make that stuff up

Unless you can provide a link, as I did, I'm thinking that you just 'made that stuff up.'

Life can be cruel & mean,

Jerry Baumchen

[ryoder 1,590]

gowlerk

Quote

The funniest one is a Democratic candidate saying the Syrian refugees are coming here and elsewhere because of global warming You can't make that stuff up

Unless you can supply a credible source for that I'm going to believe that it is in fact made up.

This story has been in a number of publications over the past year:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/03/150302-syria-war-climate-change-drought/

http://www.wired.com/2015/03/global-warming-helped-cause-syrian-war/

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/climate-change-hastened-the-syrian-war/

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[headoverheels 333]

JerryBaumchen

Hi heels,

Quote

who was it

' . . . the Democratic mayor of Roanoke, Virginia, David Bowers . . . '

The links still opens for me just fine.

Jerry Baumchen

I didn't see any in there saying that the Syrians are fleeing global warming, which is what I asked about.

[jakee 1,489]

Quote

My thoughts were not 'oh my god that is incredibly horrible!' but more along the lines of 'kinda sucked to be a Jew back then. Let's not do that again.'

Why not do it again? They might have had a good reason then, there might be a good reason again in future.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[winsor 236]

jakee

Quote

My thoughts were not 'oh my god that is incredibly horrible!' but more along the lines of 'kinda sucked to be a Jew back then. Let's not do that again.'

Why not do it again? They might have had a good reason then, there might be a good reason again in future.

A little bit of background.

German forces, during the Ludendorff Offensive came tantalizingly close to defeating the allies in 1918, and among the key reasons for the armistice were the strikes and riots in Kiel. These strikes and riots were organized by Communists, who were, in fact, largely Jewish.

Communism itself was an outgrowth of Ashkenazi Judaism, where survival in the Pale depended on a collective society. This worked fine for Jews in the East, but not so well in Western Europe. There was a huge difference in perspective between largely assimilated Jews in Western Europe and those who came there from Slavic areas.

By the time Germany was printing Deutsche Mark notes in denominations starting in the billions, the population had been subjected to periods of starvation, by seriously annoyed adversaries, on and off since the Great War blockades.

Accounts are spotty, and getting accurate data on how many died of starvation and starvation related issues is difficult, but any metric is in the hundreds of thousands, with a high approaching a million.

After the collapse of the Mark, Germany was a net exporter of food. If you did not have hard currency, you did not buy any.

If you had goods that had inherent net worth, you were okay. Jewelers, goldsmiths and the like, and people who kept their funds in a form that could be easily transported, like gold and silver coins, could buy all the food they wanted.

These people were often Jews. Even though there is a tradition of feeding the hungry in Judaism, when trying to weather the storm for one's own family, the amount that could be spared for the starving families in the neighborhood had little effect.

Thus, the standpoint of people in the '30s who had not quite starved to death in the '20s went a little like this:

A) We damned near won in 1918, and YOU ASSHOLES stabbed us in the back! (slightly true)

B) We did not surrender, we marched home UNDER ARMS! (true)

C) We were starving, and I had to watch my family members succumb while YOU ASSHOLES were well fed, warm and well clothed. (kind of true)

D) Payback is a motherfucker. (all too true)

Were there Jews that fought and died with the best of them in German trenches? Absolutely, any deutsche Soldatenfriedhof has graves with Magen David proportional to the Jewish population of Germany at the time.

Did this make up for the perceived treachery of Jews. Not hardly.

Was the Holocaust justified? It kind of depends on who you ask.

An unfortunate reality is that there are only two kinds of people in this world, Us and Them. When any group seeks to differentiate themselves, even for the best of reasons, they set themselves up to be defined as Them at one time or another.

When push comes to shove, and the decision must be made if Us or Them will prevail, I'm afraid Them will lose. Nothing personal.


BSBD,

Winsor

[Bolas 5]

Going back even further, the reason Jewish people tended to be bankers, goldsmiths, and jewelers is that these were the jobs the Christians didn't want as they were seen as sinful.

Stupidity if left untreated is self-correcting
If ya can't be good, look good, if that fails, make 'em laugh.

[masterblaster72 0]

Sehr interessant. Vielen dank.

Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

[winsor 236]

Bolas

Going back even further, the reason Jewish people tended to be bankers, goldsmiths, and jewelers is that these were the jobs the Christians didn't want as they were seen as sinful.

In the Holy Roman Empire there were occupations that were forbidden to Jews, and those that were forbidden to Christians. It wasn't a matter of what one wanted, it was the law.

[winsor 236]

masterblaster72

Sehr interessant. Vielen dank.

Mit Vergnügen

[billvon 2,989]

rushmc

You can't make that stuff up

Don't sell yourself short! You make up stuff like that all the time, and are quite proficient at it.

[kallend 2,026]

winsor

***Going back even further, the reason Jewish people tended to be bankers, goldsmiths, and jewelers is that these were the jobs the Christians didn't want as they were seen as sinful.

In the Holy Roman Empire there were occupations that were forbidden to Jews, and those that were forbidden to Christians. It wasn't a matter of what one wanted, it was the law.

Same was true in medieval England. It was important to have enough Jews around. (On and off)

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[billvon 2,989]

jakee

Again, if it was so neccessary then why were yellow americans with family ties to the enemy treated so differently to white americans with family ties to the enemy?

As is often the case, the Onion has a good take on this:
===========================
Historians Politely Remind Nation To Check What's Happened In Past Before Making Any Big Decisions

Trying to avoid repeating bad things we did in the past is a good idea, historians say.

WASHINGTON—With the United States facing a daunting array of problems at home and abroad, leading historians courteously reminded the nation Thursday that when making tough choices, it never hurts to stop a moment, take a look at similar situations from the past, and then think about whether the decisions people made back then were good or bad.

According to the historians, by looking at things that have already happened, Americans can learn a lot about which actions made things better versus which actions made things worse, and can then plan their own actions accordingly.

"In the coming weeks and months, people will have to make some really important decisions about some really important issues," Columbia University historian Douglas R. Collins said during a press conference, speaking very slowly and clearly so the nation could follow his words. "And one thing we can do, before making a choice that has permanent consequences for our entire civilization, is check real quick first to see if human beings have ever done anything like it previously, and see if turned out to be a good idea or not."

"It's actually pretty simple: We just have to ask ourselves if people doing the same thing in the past caused something bad to happen," Collins continued. "Did the thing we're thinking of doing make people upset? Did it start a war? If it did, then we might want to think about not doing it."

In addition, Collins carefully explained that if a past decision proved to be favorable—if, for example, it led to increased employment, caused fewer deaths, or made lots of people feel good inside— then the nation should consider following through with the same decision now.

While the new strategy, known as "Look Back Before You Act," has raised concerns among people worried they will have to remember lots of events from long ago, the historians have assured Americans they won't be required to read all the way through thick books or memorize anything.

Instead, citizens have been told they can just find a large-print, illustrated timeline of historical events, place their finger on an important moment, and then look to the right of that point to see what happened afterward, paying especially close attention to whether things got worse or better.

. . .

While many citizens have expressed skepticism of the historians' assertions, the majority of Americans have reportedly grasped the concept of noticing bad things from earlier times and trying not to repeat them.

"I get it. If we do something bad that happened before, then the same bad thing could happen again," said Barb Ennis, 48, of Pawtucket, RI. "We don't want history to happen again, unless the thing that happened was good."

"When you think about it, a lot of things have happened already," Ennis added. "That's what history is."

In Washington, several elected officials praised the looking-back-first strategy as a helpful, practical tool with the potential to revolutionize government.

"The things the historians were saying seemed complicated at first, but now it makes sense to me," said Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who reversed his opposition to oil-drilling safety regulations after checking past events and finding a number of "very, very sad things [he] didn't like." "I just wished they'd told us about this trick before."
==========================