Spike

I don't know much of the registry but I imagine the idea of it is for Muslims entering and leaving the country to the middle-east and for 'normal citizens' that happen to be Muslim to register friends/family/acquaintances that are acting suspicious. Now we know why you type like a ponce Was Lebanon a more stable country socially and politically in the 90s? Kinda surprised that you guys had Cartoon Network because I doubt Australia got it much before that (though Australia is always late to trends). Beirut was always a city I wanted to visit. So I'm in favour of free trade but TPP was a mystery surrounded in a riddle. I hated how clandestine the whole agreement was. I'm not in favour of protectionism because I believe that isn't how trade works. I'm honestly not sure if pulling out of a clandestine agreement and allowing China to forge their own TPP is a good thing. I just simply don't know enough of the climate to make a reasonable judgement. Out of everything that Trump has already done with his EOs this is the issue that concerns me the most.

So I was reading a while back that 'people will double-down on their own opinions when confronted with facts that contradict them'. Ever since that came to my realisation I've always tried to have a mind open to every viewpoint I've come across and to even question my own notions. I always try to put the shoe on the other foot and understand the (ir)rationale behind everything. It's been a great experience to simply just accept that in life people are hugely different and their may or may not be a universal system of human morality. I've never wanted to change a person's mind but I provide them with my own views and reaches them, they can change their minds if they wish to. People need to come to their own conclusions when presented with the facts. I'm always willing to listen unless someone is speaking down to me or being very aggressive. Nothing is more of a turn off when someone says 'I'm older than you', 'You're foreign, you don't understand', 'How could a white guy know', etc, etc.

In other weird and unimportant news, actress Mayim Bialik an Orthodox Jew (and a Zionist!) is registering as a Muslim in defiance of Trump. What is she defying? I'm not really sure, Trump isn't anti-Islam, but rather anti-Terrorism (and a lot of it happens to be related to Islam, sad but true). I know it's a grey subject and some people seem to obfuscate between the two but I fail to see what this achieves? I don't think Trump has ever made a negative statement concerning (correct me if I'm wrong). I find it quite odd that a Jew would do this. Haven't the Jews been historically antagonised by Islam? Don't many Muslims despise Judaism due to the existence of Israel? I could understand the rationale if it was a 'love thy neighbour' scenario but this seemingly has more to do with Trump than Islamic and Jewish relations.

For sure bro, I imagine we'd have a much better debate in person. A lot can be lost in translation, especially when it's just text on the net. I always respect your opinions even if I disagree with it, I hope you feel the same. Nothing ever changes when people are stubborn in their beliefs and to be frank you've changed my mind a few times. I'd say the crux of where we differ in the last issue is that I don't necessarily see him as a Nazi or as large a threat as you do.

The main reason I hate reading your posts is how condescending you are. I can appreciate where I am wrong and rescind myself but boy do you make it hard.

I do not sympathise with Spencer and I would appreciate it if you don't imply that I do. He was punched from behind, he was the victim; but just because he was a victim of one incident doesn't mean I sympathise or empathise with him. In fact I fully empathise with the attacker, do I agree with what they have done? No. Do I completely understand? Yes. Do I believe that attacking someone that disagree with you is okay? No, I do not. If you knew that I hated Lebanese people and was totally convinced in my beliefs does it bestow the right for you to attack me? No it doesn't, the situation would be different however, if I had made it clear that I intended to hurt you or anyone else than it would be a different song and dance. Spencer is an insignificant fly. He amounts to nothing, he is nothing. This incident doesn't amount to anything good. Judging by the language he is using this has only strengthened his 'us vs them' mentality and is causing him to further retreat into the gaping holes of his ideology. Cretins, creatures and Nazis can be reformed but not through violence. No man will ever realise the err of his ways if the only comeuppance he receives is the whip. He is allowed to be a Nazi under the 1st amendment and silencing any opinion not matter hot irrational or inconceivable through violence is immoral, even if the free speech itself is immoral. I would say that >99.99% of America's population isn't a Nazi and it isn't due to threats of violence, it is because the ideology has been dissected, destroyed and ultimately rejected the American people. He can spout nonsense all he likes as long as he doesn't directly or indirectly harm any person. We in fact try in to live in a civilised society and even the most stupidest amongst us deserve a voice no matter what it carries. Free speech doesn't carry if ands or buts, either you can have the freedom or you cannot. He isn't a Nazi anyway. Just because he likes to cosplay and pretend like the Third Reich amounted to anything more than a stain on human history doesn't make him a Nazi. He is an Alt-Rightest and should be treated as such I don't need to imagine telling a Jew anything, nor should you speak for Jews. I can even name you a single Jew that agrees with me; Ben Shapiro. Whether you like the man or not is irrelevant but the fact remains he is an Orthodox Jew.

pardon, mon frere, je n'ais parle pas francais

Fascism? This has nothing to do with fascism, but an offshoot of white-ethnocentrism that believes that western society can only be propagated by people of western-European ethnicity and that cultural assimilation and integration is impossible. How does this embolded those that stand against Spencer? That violence is okay? That those with opposing view points can be silenced with threats and acts of violence? That is immoral and could be described as pseudo-authoritarianism. The concept of fascism has been beaten to death.

While it couldn't have happened against a more deserving person, this really shouldn't have happened and the person that blind-sided him should be ashamed. To violently act against a person with opposing or radical political opinions is quite possible the stupidest thing to do, not only does it paint Spencer as a victim but it helps legitimise his claims. You do not get to punch people in the face just because you disagree with them. Might does not make right and this action is a step-backwards for anybody that is actually opposing Spencer. In one stupid, stupid act, one man emboldened Spencer and his followers.

I work as a barista at Starbucks; a company that paints itself in a very socially responsible manner. A customer had asked for a hot coffee refill, which is about a quarter of the regular price. I had placed a new lid on top of his cup which caused him to remark something along the lines of 'I already have a lid, I'm trying to reduce waste'. That statement got me thinking quite a lot, it was a rather innocuous statement but it stood out like a sore thumb. So the mam bought about a half-litre of black cofee; brewed on an electric drip, ground on an electric grinder, the beans were wrapped in a thick plastic bag, shipped to the store in a large cardboard container on a gas guzzling truck, shipped to a depot on an even larger truck, shipped from south-America on a cargo plane or a cargo ship, roasted in a huge electric oven, picked by Colombian farmers that drove to work in their 1992 Chevrolet pick-up and watered with megatons of water. No only that but the customer drove to the store on his motorbike. I think a plastic lid is the least of the worries.

The thing about climate change is that most people's ideas for 'saving the planet' are just platitudes.Quite simply put, it is much easier to talk of living a pre-industrial society than actually doing so. The only solution that is even remotely plausible today is nuclear power, but that has an incredible social stigma due to Chernobyl and pop culture.

It's a fucking J

THE CITY OF TURIN STANDS PROUD PFFFT HAHAHA http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2017/01/16/juventus-new-logo-black-white-crest

Mikel was a grand zero quid

You have to appreciate that in 2008 the country was going through a recession and top economists state that nations go through recessions every eight or so years. The context of the situation is that the economy would have improved regardless of who the president was/is. If you look a small sample of the data, let's say 07 to 10, it looks like the economy was terrible under Bush and expanded greatly under Obama, but that simply isn't true. It was just the 'natural' ebb and flow of the global economy. It really isn't better now than it was under Bush. http://www.businessinsider.com/the-global-economy-has-the-7-year-itch-2015-10 Incorrect, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are still raging. Just because America's involvement in the wars is decreased doesn't mean that the fighting just stopped out of the blue. Nearly seven thousand people have died in Afghanistan since 2015 and a further 40,000+ in Iraq. These countries are still being torn apart and the difference now is that certain groups have less obstacles to their goals. Just because it's hard, just because it's not a pretty business doesn't mean it is okay to invade a nation, destroy and then leave without stabilization. I find it disgusting that America is willing to go half-way and then pull-out. Either finish the job or don't attempt it. I'm not pro-war but I am pro-point. Giving up half-way is a disgrace to the people that America claims to protect and the people that have given their lives. Bin Laden means nothing. Look at the world, it didn't miss a step. Obama didn't do a thing about Bin Laden, the credit goes to the men and women that designed the plan of attack and risked their lives to assassinate a figurehead. The only people that believe industries will magically return are delusional. I believe in a free-market and if American unions and governments drive out jobs, it's their own fault. The competition of business is only a good thing. Why would arming Iran, whilst at the same time pouring millions of tax-money into Israel be a good thing? I cannot fathom why giving nuclear capabilities to anyone is an inherently good thing. Lecturing other nation's leader and talking down to them isn't good foreign policy in my books. Look at the Philippines, thanks to Obama a nearly seventy-year friendship has been ruined because of his arrogance. The ACA is terrible from top to bottom. The medical industry is a heavily bureaucratic business tied down by government regulations. It isn't a human right to have access to free health care, just as it isn't a right to have access to food, water or learning. They are privileges. In an ideal world we wouldn't have the government pumping money into these insurance companies, we'd have medical companies vying and competing for their market share. There'd be no need to have insurance cover $800 for a bottle of insulin when there are fifty different companies all fighting to sell their products are the cheapest and most affordable rate. Not only that it encourages invention and progress.

Obama is one of the worst leaders for the Demos. He is divisive, arrogant, condescending, and hypocritical; which is essentially a black Trump with charisma. Everything he tried to do was knocked down and every over action he takes makes the GOP look better. He is already backseat driving Trump and his term is even bloody over. Obama has been an outstanding failure and the only thing that stops that from being the national consensus is his 'celebrity' appearance in the media. Bloody wars, a nosedive in race relations, Obamacare, terrible economic growth, the worst unemployment rate in American history since the Great Depression, the most financially wasteful bill ever passed in American history, and this could go on. Where is the criticism? There are people that honestly and sincerely consider him to the greatest president of all time, why is he untouchable? A 'politician' that presented himself as a celebrity is leaving and now we have a celebrity that thinks he is a politician is entering.

Will Obama be like Bush and graciously fade away from the spotlight or continue being a celebrity that demands the attention?

What? How in anyway is that act not evil? I'm sorry but torturing another human being for no reason isn't anything but. Listen to it again, he isn't speaking about them, they are speaking of the act. 'It', not 'They' being the subject of the statement, and 'It' is the act of torturing another human. I also disagree, to act in such a senselessly violent manner is evil, thereby making them evil.

It's racist to claim that the motivation behind three men kidnapping and torturing a mentally disable man was racism. Also it wasn't evil. At all. Good boys.

Some choice comments in this thread.

Jesus Herschal Christ; this is a fucking boring match.

Obama is a freak of nature. His charisma has created a personality cult that would actively support a third term. People absolve him of transgressions that would leave past presidents and the incumbent crucified in a public square. One bill written, one hundred and thirty-seven sponsored and three passed. Two hundred and sixty Executive Orders and the chutzpah to lecture the incumbent on not using EOs. Ay, ay, ay, the hypocrisy and the imperviousness to mainstream criticism is mind boggling. No politician or party should be trusted let alone admired like Obama is.

Doesn't get more official. https://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2016/12/oscar-to-depart.html

Sometimes I feel the violence by refugees and immigrants isn't caused by their belief in Islam but rather the fact they are from a 'failed state'. They corrupt mentality and culture is what causes them to act on their violent impulses. A violent society will create violent people. I feel like if the shoe on the other foot, Jews and Chrisitans would be the violent perpetrators. It does happen as well, I've read many reports on Christians slaughtering Muslims in 'countries' like the Congo. When consecutive generations of young men know nothing but the violence and mayhem of the Gulf and Iraq Wars, how could they not be disenfranchised and hateful? How could they live knowing their way of life was destroyed by the West? Wouldn't they be filled with hate and rage by knowing that the West is responsible and the West lives in comfort and decadence? Of course they'd want to take it for themselves. Very few monsters are born, most are created. The Caliphate is an ideal to die for, an ideal to throw their lives away in a vain attempt to achieve something 'more'. It's just like Communism, it creates a fellowship of idealists that are blind to any other way of life. They'd rather fall on their sword than sheathe it. This isn't the first time this has happened and it won't be the last, young people throughout history will follow the golden flock in search of something 'more', to be a part of something greater than themselves. It is onyl human nature.

It is quite simple. By 'Muslim World' I just mean the collection of cultures, peoples, languages and philosophies that are inherently Muslim. I'd say nations like France, United Kingdom, United States of America belong to the 'Christian World' because that is the sphere of influence that Christianity has. You can't disagree that both religions have formed the basis of many nation's ideals. While there are many differences between Somalia and Pakistan, I'd wager that the shared belief in Islam creates a firmer connection than Pakistan and Iceland; just as Iceland would have a firmer connection with Spain than Somalia. That is all. I don't think the terms are mutually exclusive I just can't agree. Culturally I'm probably more in line with Chrisitanity but would I say I'm a Christian? Not at all, because I do not believe in Jesus or God but I can abide by and appreciate many of the teachings. I just can't accept someone is a Muslim when they don't believe in Mohammed or Allah. I'm not deciding who is and who is not; I just think to actually be, one must believe . While I respect that people believe there is more to Islam than just Allah and Mohammed and I believe that they can live in that manner if the choose to; when I refer to a Muslim I do refer to the people that follow that religion not matter how closely or loosely just as long as they believe. If someone tells me they are Muslim, then they are Muslim but that doesn't mean I'm under any obligation to believe or agree with them; just like they are under no obligation to adhere to my criteria of what constitutes a Muslim. To be a Muslim doesn't one have to submit themselves to the will of Allah? I feel there is a disconnect with many people including yourself. When people say 'Muslim', I do not believe they mean anyone that identifies as a 'Muslim' but to the people that follow an Orthodox lifestyle to the 'T'. As in the oppressive imagery we seen and the worst people and cultures that have begun under Islam. When someone says they dislike Islam, I honestly believe they are in fact referring to post-Iran revolution Islam. That is just what I take away from it.