Dolph

Some Danish cartoonists got into a lot of trouble for making half-funny cartoons of Mohammed. The resulting boycot cost Danish companies millions. A number of Muslim people were killed in riots and some of our embassies were burned. We claim free speech. The newspaper printed it to test the limits of self censorship and free speech. You're American, so I suppose you support free speech in some ways. Are you suggesting that all religious, controversial or somewhat sensitive issues should be excluded from free speech, sort of ike yelling 'fire!' in a packed cinema?

You're thinking "this chick ain't hot enough for me, but the one over there..." The one over there is thinking "that grue dude ain't hot enough for me but look at the guy at the bar". It's hard to be upset about others doing the exact same thing as you do. Only thing is they're higher up the hierarchy so to speak, so you're the one who gets the bloody nose. You'll get to be an older bastard (30+) sometime. Your priorities will begin to change. Maybe. If you refuse to lower your standards - or should I say re-prioritize, you really have no reason to whine. You know what the situation is like. Unless you meet someone exceptional, the ones you want are the ones you can't have. It ain't gonna change by itself. Expand your horizon bro. Methinks you got a bad case of target fixation

Well, the various Christian groups seem to have differing opinion of how to read the Bible. Subtle differences in some cases, bigger ones in other cases. Take the dear Mr Luther for instance. I mean sure, he was a documented anti-semite, but his views on the role of the church, indulgence and so forth *did* stir some shit. Around my neighborhood, it lead to great changes. I was born and baptized into a Lutheran Evangelical church. Not a Catholic one. Maybe kids in the future will be part of the HairyHyantian Church - "repentance through HTML attachments". Who knows?

I guess you see 'avoiding having kids' as morally wrong in certain situations and in these situations, you cannot think of such individuals as anything but selfish. I see 'having kids' as morally wrong in certain situations and cannot help myself but I cannot think of such individuals as being anything selfish. It just doesn't correspond very well with a live and let live attitude. Which means both of us are just as bad as the people who comment on the size of your family. That's food for thought and an option of self improvement.

Hey Micro. My issue was not your stated purpose of marriage. What srtuck me as odd was that you on one hand rightfully pointed out that with many kids, people point fingers at you. You stated we should be more openminded and less judgmental. But earlier in your post you showed a lack of understanding of this principle - looking down not on the people who usually comment on large families, but rather on people who have no kids. There are a good number of reasons not to have kids - one is to focus on one's own life - and the friends and family already in place. Another is not to bring a human being into the world unless one is ready to go 100% for this person. Career issues might be a reason. Infertility. A moral judgment that bringing humans into a world of suffering is wrong can be a yet another. And so forth. You come off as a bit of a righteous bastard who hold an opinion that those for whatever reason elect to live different than you with regards to kids are selfish and shallow. Of course I'll forgive ya for it - just pointing it out bro. Some people might be hurt or be pissed off by such comment in the same way that comments regarding your number of kids hurt you or your wife.

There is a esolution in place that puts an arms embargo on Hezbollah, The UN is presently unable to enforce it. Probably, the UN will never be able to. Those 13000 Katyushas Hezbollah has came from somewhere. The advanced anti-ship and anti-tank missiles did as well. Israel is probably looking to avoid the mistake made after the last withdrawal - i.e the fortification and rearmament of a terrorist organisation. The above quote is from the Israeli side. Maybe in the future, for the sake of objectivity, you should quote both parts?

Well if you're gonna have kids, at least think about the kids. I have three siblings (so, grew up in same family unit type as you have) and I wouldn't trade that for anything. Siblings kicks so much ass it's ridiculous, especially after all the stupid teenage years shit is over with. Good on you I say - your kids will appreciate this when they get over the fight-all-the-time years

So, if you have a double mal and burn in, did God give you more than you could handle? Or is it free will that made it happen? If the latter, shouldn't you modify your argument so it goes something like: "God never gives anyone more than he or she can handle. Well, except the free will part which enables people to get in way over their heads". Since free will be the Christian faith is part of God's design, he gave humans this too - and from watching the awful suffering in the world, mankind can't handle it too well. When is it God giving and when is it Satan or free will?

Hi Darius. I'll hold you to this. I hope I'll see you venting your anger at the loss of life after suicide attacks. Next time Sunnis kill Shias or Palestinians kill Israelis or what have you - I expect you to condemn it and make strong posts about it here in SC. Same type as you've made about the Israelis. If you do not, there's a discrepancy between your stated position and what your actions. Which is OK - you have your cultural heritage and it'll bias you some. Just important to recognize it bro.

Hi Darius. In what situations would you support suicide attacks against civilians. In what situations is the martyrdom and to be applauded?

Twist that around a bit. It is selfish to want kids - people don't get them for some altruistic need to share the gift of life. They do it because they want to, driven on by natural urge. In the best of cases, anyway. One could argue that it is more selfish to risk having someone go through immense suffering as a side effect of one's own desire for something. It's also possible to argue that people who decide to have kids are too immature to take properly care of them. And so on...

Alright, then you'll probably understand that I am equally judgemental when it comes to certain issues. Mostly, I am reactionary - someone judges me, I return the favour. So, by putting me in the evil-babykiller camp of the morally bankrupt, you'll likely find that I'll not be shy about returning the favour. You call pro-life people murderers, I call anti-freedom people judgmental arrogant fascists who wants to dictate how others should live. And the funny thing; mostly it doesn't matter at all, as long as what we say and do reflect the values we have. Gotta respect that, whether I agree with it or not.

People are different. I'd be extremely surprised if in SC, people held the same opinion on something so (in the US at least) divisive as abortion. Some do. Some have severly limited intellectual and emotional understanding and severe health issues. It's not cut and dry. Sidestepping the issue of personhood, it's a bit arrogant of you to suggest that you have the solution and insight to tell me what is best for me, given my background, current situation, capabilities and moral and ethical background. There are a great deal of things to take into consideration - beyond religiously flavoured "personhood start at birth" matters But it is Ok to have a strong opinion and be judgemental about it, as long as one recognizes it.

I sure don't get 8 weeks. In the last two years, I've gotten 4, all together.

Check this out dude, and ask yourself whether the Jews were killing and taking Palestinian homes: 70CE to 1200CE 1201CE to 1800CE 1801CE to 1946CE I guess the Palestinian issue isn't why they've been hated. It may be used to fuel long standing anti-semitism and further the agenda of the utter destruction of Israel - but it for sure ain't the root cause. You gotta think bigger Darius - see beyond the immediate past. A very good suggestion. You're smart enough to realise this is a two way street. For what it's worth, that ain't easy to agree with even if logic says it's the best thing. Denmark and Sweden have been at war with each other a great many times. Since the 1400's, it's been one war after another. Danes killing Swedes, taking Swedish territory. Swedes killing Danes, taking Danish land. Monuments, fortresses etc. of the troubled past can be seen in both countries At some point in time, some dudes said "this is pretty dumb". Society evolved and an uneasy peace spread. Now, we're like siblings, taking jabs at each other bit but we're tight and there for each other if the crap hits the fan. So, even in two rather homogenous populations, war was the standard for several hundred years. With Israel and the Arab/Persian states, it's that more difficult. Basically, because they were weak militarily, the land was disputed and under control of a former empire that wanted to lose the troublesome colonies. Instead of dividing up an already existing nationstate, it's much easier diplomatically to take some colonial land and arbitrarily split it up to accomodate two groups - Palestinians and Israelis. The area was disputed in many ways and the Palestinians didn't have a strong claim to a nationstate. The British wanted to get rid of the last of their once great Empire, having enough to do in their own back yard after WWII. Of course the Palestinians and Arabs hated the two state solution, so they tried to fix it by wiping out the Israeli state. And got beaten, not only once, but three times in a row. Having experienced 6 million dead by Hitler's hands and many at Stalin's, the Jews saw Israel as their only shot at being responsible for their own security. They take it exceedingly serious. And here we are today. Arab and Persian states hate the very idea of Israel. They hate being humiliated by an old foe - the mere presence of an Israeli state is a huge insult. Like a cancer in something beautiful - surely it must be removed! The Israelis are kind of tired of being persecuted and killed by the millions while they were 'protected' by the nationstates they resided in. Now they are responsible for their own security and there ain't no 'effing way that ANYONE, Germans, Russians, Christians, Muslims is gonna carry out another genocide without paying an awful price. Then add religion to the mix...

Last I heard was that they'd more or less done what they wanted in freestyle and were moving onto other projects (creative videeo and freefly). I believe the camera man moved to Norway with his girlfriend. Nils is still living in his van and is very active. Nils will be present at the Danish freefly meet august 17 – 20. Gonna see if I can get some coaching.

Damn, no more cheating . Oh well.

How 'bout those situations where you've managed somehow to give your bosses the impression that you're really smarter, more knwledgeable and better than you actually are? Ya know, when the boss comes up to you and says "Person A, B and C would do this project together but they are on vacation, bu.t I was thinking " Those "oh man now I am fucked" situations is why I love my job.

Hm that sucks big time. The government is morally obliged to take care of the ones who risk their lives to carry out the governments will. What will the money saved be used on? Perhaps faith based charity organisations can pick up the bill, or at least part of it? Mr. Bush has after all made it clear that that is how he prefers such matters to be dealt with.

No they didn't do that. They (being the Iranians) actually had elections. Then the US screwed up big time with the Shah and his regime. And then they got some hard asses to do their thinking and ruling for them, putting them back two steps before square one. Saddam Hussein was (at convenient times) supported by the US but he wasn't installed. Being creative with the truth is one sure way to lose credibility. He ain't a favourite of the US no more and was deposed as a result. Now the Iraqis have an opportunity. If they seize it, they'll have to work hard and then have a decent chance of success. If they fail, they'll have another Hussein or more likely Khomeini to ruin their lives. Theyare being opressed by their own countrymen who use guns as one of the methods. Enormous difference. Similarly, it ain't the US in charge in Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and so forth. It's some local tribe or another who uses weapons and other means to remain in power. One of those means is called "diversion". The 'death to Amreeeka' feeling can be attributed to at least three things: really bad American intervention in the past that really has caused a crapload of bad feelings, a culture of blame-switching and responsibility-dodging, and of course the rulers of these semi free (at best) or despotic states. These rulers are smart enough to know that nothing unites like a common enemy and whoa whatddaya know, they can also blame everything on the common enemy. Oh and rampant anti-semitism. Right now they're really pissed at the West for supporting the Jews. You gotta be kidding. You're calling the Iranian regime "democracy and freedom"? It's insulting to nations that are truly free to be put in the same category as Iran. And "we" didn't bomb Lebanon. Lebanon is getting its ass kicked by the Israelis because the Lebanese government has failed to police itself. Because it allowed a group that has seats in the parliament to kill Israelis. The Iraeli response to such an incident is easy to predict, as are the consequences. It's not fair in any way, but you reap what you sow.

It sure does. It'll kick your ass bloody and still keep almost-doing-what-it-was-designed-to-do-in-an-environent-it-wasn't-designed-to-handle.

The problem isn't the people. Humans are opportunistic little bastards who'll have a go at any decent open chance to improve conditions. The problem is a system that encourages humans to go for the wrong kind of opportunities. Frivolous lawsuits are pretty rare in this little country. Monetary compensation, when it happens, is frequently not much at all. It's just not a good opportunity to go for, so people don't.

I did what Speedracer told me. Now all I get when I search Google is porn. Pure, unadulaterated unfiltered free porn. Suddenly I understand why geeks prefer Firefox.

A decent start would be for the opressed Arab masses to get rid of their opressors.The people in control know they're abusing power and know one sure way to stay in power is to blame all the maladies that comes with opression on the Western world. You're poor? Blame the Americans. You're uneducated? Those filthy Jews. They have higher living standards and more freedom? Yes, but they are misguided by Shaytaan, whereas you are pure. They're the ones keeping you in poverty. We're not. We're not enriching ourselves on your suffering nosiree. What palace? Oh umm well you see...."LOOK THE AMERICANS ARE AT IT AGAIN! DETH TO AMREEEKA DETH TO AMREEKA!". It gets tedious to watch this happen over and over. So we have nations that sit on vast, and I mean vast as in "whoa, like, duuude that's SHITLOADS of cash right there man!" resources that are very much in demand. Yet the people remain uneducated and poor and are actively encouraged to become radical theists. We have governments who do jack crap for their people. Who claim 'Muslim brotherhood' but somehow never lets the words translate into assistance, unless the asisstance is directly related to their efforts to stay in power (such as giving money to families of suicide bombers). A huge part of the problem is the people in charge in the Middle East. So, clean up that mess first. The US have had a go at helping there in Iraq but it just doesn't work that good. Seems it's gotta be internal. In parallell with that, the Western world should remove the ridiculous trade obstacles it has put up against third world countries and get rid of the insane foreign debt scam they got going. That's a start.

I agree. Wealthy Saudis have benefitted enormously from immigration of second hand poor foreigners, for instance