quote:

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Originally posted by Shadow88:
That's a little nuts. A link for anyone who's interested - http://ww w.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/netherlands-apologises-to-furious-vladimir-putin-after-russian-diplomat-beaten-and-detained-in-the-hague-8868139.html. The incident just seems like a minor flair up related to the Greenpeace arrests.

On a side note, I just got back from a trip to the Netherlands, and omg, the dairy <3 <3

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Thanks. I just realized I might have made the first non-American politics post on this thread ever . History.

Yeah, there are a couple of things that bother the Russians about us. There was some stuff about us supporting gay marriages, some rumors if we should attend the Olympics in Sotsi or boycot them after they claimed people of the same sex are not allowed to kiss in public. Putin visited some time ago and was met with pro-gay supporters, the fact that the Dutch support the ***** (apparantly I can't post that) 'Kitty' Riot girls who were imprisoned.

(don't smack me for evading the auto censor )

All baby stuff compared to a man who beat up his kids while being drunk. I wouldn't have mind some police brutality and an accidental gun going off. Send the kids to mom and done.

You were here? And I didn't know about it? Why? I actually work at the airport, it's only a 8 minute walk towards the gate. We could have easily said 'hi' and gotten a sandwich or something!

Next time yeah?

Edit: circumveiling auto censor
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quote:

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Originally posted by AEther Storm:
Thanks. I just realized I might have made the first non-American politics post on this thread ever . History.

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Canada's made it to post a few times. Sorry!

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RIP Ari

http://www.upworthy.com/congress-did-something-so-spectacularly-creepy-that-its-too-unbelievable-to-make-up?g=2&c=ufb1

It's too bad a lot of (small) business depend on export to Russia, otherwise I'd say screw 'em. A government that wants police officers punished for protecting kids from a beating by their drunk father is absolutely nuts.

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It would be like the Dems hold the government hostage unless the Patriot Act was repealed.

You know why the Dems never did that? Because a government shutdown is bad for middle america. All the furloughed workers making $30-70k a year.

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Originally posted by speechjew:

It would be like the Dems hold the government hostage unless the Patriot Act was repealed.

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Originally posted by hilikuS:
Dude that would be amazing. Like, that should actually happen. At least somebody in there would be acknowledging how much BS that is, even if it's 12 years too late.

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There's the rub, isn't it? For the TPers, this healthcare bill is as heinous as the PA is/should have been to rational people. When something you believe is that heinous is passed into law, you want your side to do what it can to impede it.

They're certainly wrongheaded, and it's causing all manner of damage, but... they do have the strength of their convictions. And in a way, that's a lot better than the alternative, which is a democracy in which everyone rolls over as soon as something truly awful gets passed. If an equivalent stink had gone up around the PA, things might have turned out differently. Or not. But it's worth thinking on.

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"I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. I do not think they will sing to me." -T.S. Eliot

RIP Ari

Some of the implications of that are legitimate nightmares. Health care does what, makes you pay some more money to uncle Sam? I'll take that any day over getting like executed as a scapegoat or being in the wrong place at the wrong time/having a totally awesome beard.

That said, I think hammr is right in that the Reps just don't want to pass it because it buries them when it turns out to be good. Not that the average person has that long of an attention span for politics anyway, but still. He uh, hit the nail on the head.

quote:

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Originally posted by Bugger:
This might actually be the end of the Republican Party as it has existed for the past fifty years. The divide between the sensible ones like boehner and the electorally-invulnerable extremists like Cruz literally cannot agree on a single thing. They may as well make the split official; there's nothing else uniting them as a political entity.

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Originally posted by hilikuS:
Oh great, so we finally get a 3 party system, and all of them are nuts?

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Fixed.

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Report rules violations.

quote:

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Originally posted by nderdog:
Fixed.

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Fair, haha.

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Originally posted by hilikuS:
I can't say that PA and this health care stuff is comparable, but I mean... it seems like kind of BS that we've got a shut down over paying some more taxes, and absolutely nothing (like ever) over the Patriot Act.

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I don't disagree, but in their minds it definitely is. Bigger, presumably, since they were partly responsible for the PA.

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Originally posted by oneofchaos:
So with a three party system does that mean we can play rock paper scissors ruin the country?

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That would require four parties!

__________________
"I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. I do not think they will sing to me." -T.S. Eliot

RIP Ari

quote:

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Originally posted by ogre:
Has anyone on MOTL actually signed up for Obamacare?

Not sure how many people will see this but just curious,
Jesse

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Meanwhile kidnapped people get beheaded one at a time. There's supposedly a Dutch guy who was kidnapped 2 years ago. He's never been in the news until now.
Alarm rates are going up for attacks in countries that participate in the attack.

I wonder if anyone will ever see an end to hostilities in the region. (Not counting when our sun will die. Assuming there are still people alive on our Earth then)

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Originally posted by AEther Storm:
Anyone got any strong opinions on the crISIS? US is again leading the charge into another Middle East campaign (is there money to fund this? I thought you guys were nearly bankrupt?). Syria is co-operating, hoping to draw off the negative media attention of the last few years.

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I'm kind of miffed about it because it all but guarantees another occupation there. You know, the thing Obama was saying all along would cease to exist? Foreign occupations.

It's total bull****.

As far as bankrupt, I feel like we've been bankrupt for over a decade. What's another trillion bucks?

quote:

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Originally posted by Child of Gaea:
I am of the strong belief that until we witness the death of organized religion, the world will continue to spiral into a pool of hate. To me, religion does nothing for anyone but either drive people insane or give them excuses for insane behavior in the name of god.

And until I'm broke and they take every last dollar from me, the US is not bankrupt. A few airstrikes compared to the ending of ongoing wars will not break an already broken budget.

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quote:

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Originally posted by AEther Storm:
Anyone got any strong opinions on the crISIS? US is again leading the charge into another Middle East campaign (is there money to fund this? I thought you guys were nearly bankrupt?). Syria is co-operating, hoping to draw off the negative media attention of the last few years.

Meanwhile kidnapped people get beheaded one at a time. There's supposedly a Dutch guy who was kidnapped 2 years ago. He's never been in the news until now.
Alarm rates are going up for attacks in countries that participate in the attack.

I wonder if anyone will ever see an end to hostilities in the region. (Not counting when our sun will die. Assuming there are still people alive on our Earth then)

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This issue with ISIS feels predictable. On some level, it feels like imperialism got us into this mess. I recognize that this movement (or whatever people wanna call ISIS) represents a security issue for Americans, and the US doesn't want to see Iraq fail. I just don't see how the US will fix a mess that should never have been created. The Kurds seem more interested in defending their own (and Iraqi) borders more than the Iraqi military. I feel the Iraqi military doesn't have the will to defend their own, so why should we? Don't tell me they haven't been trained, don't have equipment or are just overmatched. From the little info I have, it just looks like they have no will to do what needs to be done. US intervention for Iraqi minorities makes complete sense to me because the coalition government doesn't seem to be much of a coalition, but the Iraqi government wanted us out. So we're out, and I feel we should stay out.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Child of Gaea:
I am of the strong belief that until we witness the death of organized religion, the world will continue to spiral into a pool of hate. To me, religion does nothing for anyone but either drive people insane or give them excuses for insane behavior in the name of god.

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That goes a little too far for me, but I understand why you say that. I myself have nothing with religion, but if someone wants to live their life according to some rules a supposedly prophet/being/whatever created hundreds of years ago, that's fine by me. As long as you don't bother me with it or impose it on others. Laws of a country > religion. If that doesn't fit, leave.

quote:

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Originally posted by hilikuS:
I'm kind of miffed about it because it all but guarantees another occupation there. You know, the thing Obama was saying all along would cease to exist? Foreign occupations.

It's total bull****.

As far as bankrupt, I feel like we've been bankrupt for over a decade. What's another trillion bucks?

^ I guess that's the mentality that got us in trouble in the first place though...

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LOL I suppose. I don't think another occupation will occur. I think that whenever (if ever) ISIS is shut up they will let the Iraqis, Kurds and Syria handle it. "We helped you clean the mess, now you take it from here" mentality. That's what I prefer actually.

quote:

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Originally posted by Volcanon:
If there was no organized religion people would just find some other reason to kill each other.

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QFT. And we already have.

quote:

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Originally posted by chaos021:
This issue with ISIS feels predictable. On some level, it feels like imperialism got us into this mess. I recognize that this movement (or whatever people wanna call ISIS) represents a security issue for Americans, and the US doesn't want to see Iraq fail. I just don't see how the US will fix a mess that should never have been created. The Kurds seem more interested in defending their own (and Iraqi) borders more than the Iraqi military. I feel the Iraqi military doesn't have the will to defend their own, so why should we? Don't tell me they haven't been trained, don't have equipment or are just overmatched. From the little info I have, it just looks like they have no will to do what needs to be done. US intervention for Iraqi minorities makes complete sense to me because the coalition government doesn't seem to be much of a coalition, but the Iraqi government wanted us out. So we're out, and I feel we should stay out.

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Ok so if ISIS gets a foothold and starts growing even more, then what? I don't know about the Iraqi army as to why they appear without will to you, but that's possibly a dangerous foresight in a region where the US (or the West, for that matter) is not too popular anyways.

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I disagree with the US's involvement period. But I also recognize the value of going forward with a UN mandate vice going it unilaterally.

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quote:

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Originally posted by AEther Storm:
(is there money to fund this? I thought you guys were nearly bankrupt?).

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I'm just gonna point out (even though I'm assuming you're being facetious here) that there is a major difference between having a huge debt and being bankrupt. There are some majorly shady financial dealings in this country - especially in light of the confirmations in the TAL recordings from today - but we're not bankrupt, nor particularly close to it.