moderateamericain

Hey everyone its been quite a while, since april i believe. Well I went to Iraq again (I'm retired military for new posters, but still actively provide training and knowledge to the new soldiers on communication gear) This time I was in Baghdad. Man I thought traffic was bad in Charlotte or Detroit, doesn't hold a candle to Baghdad. Well I can honestly say I did not see a single bit of fighting in my time there and I rode around with a fair bit of patrols in my off time. (Not to say there was not any, I just had the good fortune to not see any.) I know thats not gonna excite many of you who want to hear about the death and destruction but unfortunately it was fairly quite and the Arabs just went about there daily lives with the same needs and desires as we do. Any specific questions can be posted here or just PM me. Thanks a bunch its good to be back!

That is religious propaganda that has no basis in factual reality. The largest spike in 'atheism' occured during and after WW1, notably amongst returning soldiers. According to your propaganda theory, WW1 should have caused one of the largest increases in religious faith ever witnessed by modern humans. It didn't - quite the opposite effect. Yeah well i can pretty much tell ya most everyone that i knew in my military days believed in god. At least those who were ever shot at. But hey, whatever you wanna think is fine by me.

I believe in god. Ive seen the devil's work with my own eyes and if i believe in the devil, then i surely must believe in god. No atheist in foxholes.

you have to be careful with what you censorship, If you censorship this whats next? I believe in the freedom of the press just so long as it doesnt cause the death of American Human Intelligence assets. If we give up up our right to free press how are we any better than terrorist? Theres a fine line that should be drawn in the sand.

I am not very surprised. Ever here the expression "There are no athiest in foxholes." While you sit safely in your homes watching the horror on the news and saying "How terrible" and then going back to your TV dinners, those of us who have seen duty in certain parts of the world like Africa and the middle east and have smelled the rotting dead corpses in the heat. Know two things for certain, A) there is a devil, because only he could inflict this kind of mind warping carnage and if theres a devil then there sure is a god.

I like both men, I like Paul for his old school conserative thinking but i disagree with his opinion on nine/eleven and the threat that Islamic extremism holds. In the same breath Rudy Giuliani for all his using 9-11 to promote himself, he did do one helluva job in taking care of the situation. If New Orleans had half the leadership as New York it would not have been nearly the disaster. If you disagree with me on that, its your right to. However I ask you this, in similar cirucmstances how would you have handled nine eleven differently? Running for the office of president is like applying for a job. On your resume your going to put anything great that you did. And is it any surprise that Giuliani is using his defining moment as the center piece for his campaign?

we sort of had a thread somewhat like this in regards to the movie 300. Men fall into two categories for me. Men who embrace things that have always been regarded as "Manly" activities and those who dont. Nobody chooses for you whether or not you are going to be a traditional head of the house hold or not. That is established in the relationship by YOUR actions. Do I believe women should be pushed down under the thumb of men, absolutley not. Quite the opposite, to me, a man should glorify his wife and in turn a wife should respect her husband. Its about respect not who has control. So in a word the more you honor your wife and respect her the more manly you are. Most men who treat there wives/GF badly dont have any respect for themselves. This is one reason i believe every male should have mandatory military service. To teach them self respect.

gotta love a business that has had record profits for the last 7 years and there product is only going up in price. I also dont see demand telling off anytime soon.

I absolutely agree we do have the right to defend ourselves, when attacked directly, if possible that is.I absolutely disagree with vigilante justice. We should phone 911, rather than try to solve the problem alone.Several thousand years ago, individuals defended themselves as they could. Nowadays, we don't. We organize ourselves and hire police or armies to defend ourselves. I don't agree with this "citizen justice" argument. That's fine for citizens who are strong but what about short, thin citizens or citizens in wheel chairs? A civilized society creates institutions to protect itself and peacefully resolve disputes. Individuals did not defeat Hitler; we did it together. A society where everyone has a gun is no society at all. Individual gun ownership is no guarantee of democracy; it's just a guarantee of wasteful competition. Should individuals have the right to have RPGs or Tactical Nuclear Weapons? How far should we go in allowing individual firepower? Curiously, this leads to the main (second, genuine) point of the OP. Women are engaged in a wasteful competition. They compete to be perfect. Many women know that such a competition is pointless but they can't leave it. Women discern. They discern among men and in the process, they discern among other women. Women raise their noses. And if a woman doesn't, other women claim that she has "self-esteem" issues. In a world of several billion people, it is a wasteful exercise to try to be perfect. I think men understand this. They compete but they aim for perfection differently. My OP's genuine point was to argue that if people in a society compete for beauty or perfection, such a society is moribund. Kuzadd, your post makes my point.You have judged me and put me on the other side of the line. You have used your discernement. And this, let's be honest, has nothing to do with media campaigns, men or marketing. Moderate American, what gives you the right to be police, judge, jury and executioner. A civilized society does not give any single person the right to impose justice.But as I say above, we defeated Hitler by organizing ourselves. If we use your logic that individuals should fight criminals, Hitler would have won. It takes concerted effort to defeat bad people. And that's why IMV, phoning 911 is a good thing. Actually by the laws of the United states I have the right to be Judge, jury and executioner in my own home in regards to that highly hypothetical and unprobable situation. I am fully in my rights as a citizen of the United States to off anyone who comes into my home unwelcome with a firearm. Whats more is while I obey the laws of my country I will never let them define my actions. As a Freeman I will take whatever course of action I deem in the best interest of my family. Now before you get all slippery slope on me, No im not a killer, no I wouldnt beat someone for being on my lawn, and no I wouldn't join an American Nazi party.

Neville Chaberlain is dead, so I'm not sure what kind of discussions we could have. Of course, hypothetically, it would be very interesting to sit down with someone who played such a pivotal role in shaping the history of the globe. But I don't see what the late Mr. Chamberlain has to do with this conversation. Stay on the subject, man! Jerry Jerry Bo-Berry Bananafana Fo Ferry Save us from the skulkers!!!!!! And again, with the appeasement. You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. Some other person: Uh huh. Right. The fact that the Islamic world is inferior in every respect to the west and thus has no ability to annihalate anyone (and, as so many have pointed out, can't even get its shit togethe rlong enough to stop fighting amongst itself) kinda puts their threats in a different category. How. What kind of threat? What can they possibly do to us? I see where you going with that. Heres my point. Germany in until 1931 was in shambles economically. In the span of 10 years they turned there economy into a war machine and o yeah killed a million plus jews before they could be stopped. Sure they may not have the economic and military power now, but who says they cant gain that in the future. After all, they have the backing of rich Saudi princes.

I absolutely agree we do have the right to defend ourselves, when attacked directly, if possible that is. If someone comes into your home shooting, it is unlikely you will be able to; get to your gun, get the bullets, get the bullets in, and the trigger lock off, and aim and shoot, before you are shot. But truthfully how often does that really happen? Moreover, you will find women by the majority, when faced with harm to themselves, their children will try and protect by the use of violence, if required. This "feminizing of society, non-logic would try and say it is women who are fault for societal ills, war and student violence because of seeking equality and calling for diplomacy and consensus as opposed to constant warfare and watching children die. Men were long the diplomats, seeking diplomatic solutions to end war, since their was war, the art of diplomacy is no "new" thing brought upon society as an evil, by women gaining equality The largest single source of deaths by gunfire, other than war, and gang related shootings, are women being shot, by someone who professed to love them. That really is situation selective violence now isn't it? Violence to meet violence, might be appropriate one time, while diplomacy and negotiations are better at others, or silence is even better at other times.You make a good point perhaps I should have said Meeting violence with violence in a selective case should be used. Violence meeting violence never creates a solution, it creates more violence. Hmmm, that seems like a double dilema, and not quite logical, as what if you reside on land, or own something that was not honestly gotten in the first place, for you to have ownership of it? Only if you assume i live dishonestly Do you then feel, that those who had their possessions taken dishonestly, and by force, should meet back with force, to get that which was theirs, but taken dishonestly and sold to another? Yes, I agree, and the correct way to this is by; critical thinking skills, informing oneself with truth, even if it is unpleasent to comprehend, take thoughtful actions, as opposed to negative kneejerk reactions, holding your elected officials accountable, and by creating an actual electoral system that represents fairly the will of the people, such as proportional representation, plus numerous other non-violent ways. It is not bearing arms and marching upon Ottawa. What exactly is the weakness in men that you are speaking about, that you label as complancent? Im not speaking of weakness in men. the OP did, I am in disagreement with that line of thought. I think as a society in North America we have not had the hardships that are forefathers dealt with. Are complacency is based on the ease of life we have had. Not that its a bad thing, I for one dont look for hardship. Btw I responded to some of your other questions in the quotes via italicized sentences.

I disagree with a few things. First and foremost is that we have the absolute right to defend ourselves. If a armed man comes into my home im not going to wait for the police to get there its either me or him. (him) I would kill anyone who came into my home shooting. Why people believe its wrong to meet violence with violence is beyond me. I will never let someone take that which is honestly mine by force. Not individuals, not governments. A Democracy only last as long as people are willing to hold there government accountable for its actions. I don't believe this is a weakness in men just complacency. Most Americans have never had to work hard for anything in there lives. Not like a peasant in Russia or an Asian farmer in rural China. Things we have like fresh water and electricity, the most basic of things we don't have think about is an everyday struggle in some place.

I cannot give a name to the quote but on CNN there was a Holocaust survivor speaking on the similarities between radical Islam and Nazi Germany. And the host asked him "If there was one thing you would like to pass along to people based on your experiences what would it be." and this old man leans forward in his seat and gets this stern look and says "If someone says they are going to annihilate you, believe it." I see a lot of tit for tat arguing about which culture contributed more to the world, or who killed more or who started what war. Heres the real question. Does it matter? The fact of the matter is that we are dealing with a portion of a culture who feel that the greatest achievement that they can earn in life is to die killing Infidels. I don't care if you are black, green, blue, yellow, Christan, Muslim, or Jew. If you have a large portion of your society that believes only death is the answer you have a serious problem. And yes for all there primitiveness they are still a threat. The Romans probably did not see the Goths as a threat either.

We have a tax like that here, and nobody likes it. It's also on labour, and it becomes tax on tax. For instance. There is tax on gasoline, then they apply the 6% GST on top of that. Does it not even out because you do not pay income tax tho?

The FairTax Plan is a nonpartisan national grassroots campaign to replace the federal income tax system with a progressive national retail sales tax. It provides a "prebate" to ensure no American pays federal taxes on spending up to the poverty level, dollar-for-dollar federal revenue replacement and, through companion legislation, repeal of the 16th Amendment. How would you rebate it. Thats one of the questions i sent to them today, I was told about this, I was 1 part passing it along, 2 parts trying to see if anyone had more detailed info on it, like what opposition groups are saying on the idea. etc..

Nobody has anything to say on it? /bump

http://www.fairtax.org/site/PageServer A new idea for how to deal with tax disparity and the ability to streamline the tax system in this country. The long and short of it is completely do away with our tax system from everything from social security to trade tariffs and raise sales tax to 23 percent give or take. Its gotten the backing of economist and has a fairly large grass roots movement. Some key things Eliminates Loopholes for people to skimp out of there taxes Removes trade barriers there by helping the global economy Forces Illegal Immigrants to have to pay into the Economy Puts Money into Americans hands to be spent on how and what you need and not what the government thinks you need. Just a few examples for you to chomp on. Post your thoughts on it

As I understand it, the movie (as well as the Frank Miller comic on which it is based) are in fact largely based on the chronicles of Herotodus, whose writings about the Battle of Thermopylae are the source of much of what we know about this time in history. And as I understand things, while modern scholars do agree there's some amount of exaggeration in the writings of Herotodus, they also believe that the kernel of the story is historical fact. While there seems to be some disagreement on whether the Persian army numbered 175,000 or 250,000 or 500,000 there's no arguing the fact that they outnumbered the Greeks by a vast proportion. While there's some disagreement on how many Greek allies were at the battle or how long they stayed, there's no disagreement that there were 300 Spartans. Or that they caused the Persians causualties of many times their own numbers-- Herotodus and modern scholars seem to agree on the number of 20,000 Persian casualties. And there seems to be no argument over the fact that the Spartans delayed the Persian invasion long enough for Athens and Sparta to mount a united naval counterattack on the Persia fleet, which effectively ended the invasion for good. Even some of the moments that seem to have been Hollywoodism at its best-- lines like "Come and take them" or "...then we shall fight in the shade" were not inventions of the movie or the comic book, but rather come from ancient Greek accounts. I have read that modern Greek military units have adopted "Come and take them" and "then we shall fight in the shade" as their insignia, and that there is a monument to King Leonidas on the site of the battle with the inscription "Come and take them." The movie and comic-book are no doubt a romanticized and biased account of the battle, which is no surprise since the writings on which they're based themselves would be a romanticized and biased account of the battle. And the movie makes no claim at being anything more. Indeed, the end of the movie reveals that the narrator is a Spartan soldier who was sent home to rally his countrymen to arms with a tale of heroism and inspiration. It is ridiculous to criticize the movie for being propaganda, when the movie itself acknowledges that very fact in its own narrative. -k well spoken indeed.

Dear God I almost agree with Poly.... Va Tech is about a days drive away from me I feel terrible for the families of these people. what a tragedy. However as I always say and nobody seems to get its not guns that kill people its the will to use them on people that does the killing. Instead of targeting guns we should require psych profiles at the owners expense before he/she purchases a gun of ANY kind. Ive always said that. Like breeding, some people just shouldn't do it. As a gun owner I can tell you right now if the government tries to take away the right to bare arms they will never find my guns. I will not live without the ability to defend myself.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=2wPglHZQf-0 His only response is "Your a heretic" http://youtube.com/watch?v=oLF0MlhGnYY&mode=related&search= These people had nothing to do with Palestine, its a little sugar coated though http://youtube.com/watch?v=MFBJB02qUNU&mode=related&search= a man who left Islamic fundamentalism http://youtube.com/watch?v=0RB6mcdPSAQ&mode=related&search= Intresting observations http://youtube.com/watch?v=hrESNXekh2A&mode=related&search= anti-terrorist add on Arabic tv http://youtube.com/watch?v=oZ4pUAm_RY0&mode=related&search= media vs troops http://youtube.com/watch?v=6PVu389kOEc&mode=related&search= Iranian Terrorism branch http://youtube.com/watch?v=OZ0uzQuhHpQ&mode=related&search= Sentence to death! Ms. Canada helps out! http://youtube.com/watch?v=bl_qAQ9tae8&mode=related&search= Iran's economic woes http://youtube.com/watch?v=Vw5lhsAGgBI&mode=related&search= This just pisses me off. Who protest at a funeral. Just watch the first 3 minutes or so The 2nd video is just wow. I want to punch that lady in the face. LOL! so much for war protest at funerals Anyways, theres quite a variety of opinions here. Have a field day guys and gals!

Well i could have, but since we were talking about Masculinity I did not think i needed to check for understanding of the male anatomy. Hey, I'm just dickin' around. HAHA!

Not if nutcases keep flogging it whilst strenuously ignoring reality. I could care less what that fat cow says. Why would anyone actually listen to her anyway? Shes on par with Michael Moore and Anne Coulter.

Thank god. I thought my brother was gonna be shooting at Iraq and Iran within the next year.

"Gitmo" is a US Naval Station with a long history going back to the Spanish American War. It is the oldest US Navy Base outside of the USA. The detainment camps are just a part of the action. The image of Americans is more important to Canadians than Americans (i.e. "Please love me.") Im sorry if some little bastard threw a grenade at my buddies id shoot the mother fucker. There would not be a trial.

like in Iraq? I believe the best way to ought a dictatorship of any stroke. Be it an oppressive communist Regime or a religious nut is to create a successful economy. As soon as the citizens of a country realize they can make a great standard of living if they move this nut out of the way, the sooner it happens. China is a great example, I would guess that in then next 40 years (I know thats a large time frame) A form of Democracy will come to China. Communism cannot survive this economic boom. When people realize, as a whole, that they can make a better society for their children no ideology in the world can stand up against that.