American politics and news thread

j7wild wrote:

I can't run for President because I wasn't born in the United States.

That didn't stop Obama.

Largo's Shark wrote:

j7wild wrote:

I can't run for President because I wasn't born in the United States.

That didn't stop Obama.

Except that his mother was an American citizen, so would he not be an American citizen as well? What about the announcement of his birth in the Honolulu newspaper a week after he was born?

Please understand, I believe Obama is a citizen, just not an American. There is a difference. I've met people who legally immigrated to the U.S. who are far more American than some of the people who were born here. Technically Obama is a citizen, but he shore ain't American! He's a Kenyan secret agent....from Kenya!

This is what?

The 2nd or 3rd similar incident this week?

Our Troops killed by someone we trusted?

It's time to treat everyone of them Afghans, I don't care if they are on the Police Force or on the Afghan Military, as an enemy!

Assume they are all double agents and members of the Taliban and the Al Qaeida and that they are all Terrorists!

Obama promised the Afghan President Billions in Military and Financial Aid every year for 10 years starting in 2014 after NATO and the USA has completely withdrawn all Military Troops and Personnel.

These people have been like this for 1000s of years and they will always be like this.

The only solution is to pull out now and let them kill each other and don't give them another Penny!

Same rule applies for Pakistan!

http://news.yahoo.com/afghan-policeman-kills-u-member-joint-patrol-185705970--abc-news-topstories.html

So much for Obama's campaign promise to get us out of Afghanistan: just another usual Democratic lie!

j7wild wrote:

It's time to treat everyone of them Afghans, I don't care if they are on the Police Force or on the Afghan Military, as an enemy!

Assume they are all double agents and members of the Taliban and the Al Qaeida and that they are all Terrorists!

I am so glad you are not in charge of anything.

j7wild wrote:

The only solution is to pull out now and let them kill each other and don't give them another penny!

And you wonder why terrorists hate America.

j7wild wrote:

So much for Obama's campaign promise to get us out of Afghanistan: just another usual Democratic lie!

I live on the other side of the world to you, and even I know that Obama said that soldiers would be withdrawn from Afghanistan by a certain date provided that the region was stable enough for the country to survive without soldiers. As far as I am aware, that date has not passed, and even if it had, the country is clearly not stable enough on its own.

So I fail to see how this is a lie.

Prisoner Monkeys wrote:

j7wild wrote:

The only solution is to pull out now and let them kill each other and don't give them another penny!

And you wonder why terrorists hate America.

Certainly not because they think the US presence in Islamic nations is too small. :suspect:

I mean that abandoning the people who aren't terrorists to be killed by people who are terrorists because "fuck you, Islam" isn't going to go down very well.

Not so much "fuck you, Islam" as "we've been here for 11 years and counting and we're trillions of dollars in debt."

In any case, I'm sure plenty of non-terrorist Afghans would rather see, above all else, the withdrawl of foreign troops.

CJB wrote:

In any case, I'm sure plenty of non-terrorist Afghans would rather see, above all else, the withdrawl of foreign troops.

Perhaps - but j7 is calling for all of the soldiers to be withdrawn overnight, regardless of what is happening. I don't see that ending well for anyone except the Taliban, who will treat it as a victory and use it to reassert their power and take control of the country once more.

Prisoner Monkeys wrote:

CJB wrote:

In any case, I'm sure plenty of non-terrorist Afghans would rather see, above all else, the withdrawl of foreign troops.

Perhaps - but j7 is calling for all of the soldiers to be withdrawn overnight, regardless of what is happening. I don't see that ending well for anyone except the Taliban, who will treat it as a victory and use it to reassert their power and take control of the country once more.

I"m with J7 on this one. Doesn't matter if you pulled out overnight or pulled out in in the year 2525. You can't change them and there's no amount of stability the U.S. government can give them that won't ensure the Taliban won't come back. It was a rock when the U.S. invaded and it will be returned to them as a rock.

There's a reason why century and after century certain countries and certain regions continue to remain "third world".

@PM: Look at Afghanistan's history.

They been fighting foreign invaders for since about 600 BC going back to before the region became Islamic.

Their whole history is of fighting off Invasions and at the same time, fighting regime changes from within when different empires took over the country until they were overthrown by another empire, going back to as early as Alexander the Great and then Genghis Khan.

That country will never change.

I agree with j7 (unbelievably) that we need to exit Afghanistan, but not just so we can leave all of them behind to kill each other. We need to leave because we don't have the fucking money. We're broke. Our country is starting to look like a complete joke. At this point, we're more like the world's mall cop, rather than the world's police.

I have to say, the bias in the American media (and online is worse). It cuts both ways but it's quite difficult to an outsider trying to gain a good view of what actually is going on.

I like Ryan, however, despite the image he's oft being presented as. The Newsweek article that said (and I'm paraphrasing) that 'Obama has a narrative for America; Ryan has a plan' felt apt to me based off all I've read. No, his plans aren't lovey dovey and will undoubtedly be harsh to a lot of people, but America isn't in a position to be looking after everyone. It needs to be looking long term (especially with Europe and much of the world in such a state of flux) and he seems to be doing so. His comments on foreign policy, regarding Britain's downfall and the parallel America is facing, were also intelligent.

Of course, he's not the main candidate. I think Romney is a good candidate but an absolutely terrible campaigner. Either way, if being the VP on the ticket this time around gives Ryan a bit more exposure, after four more years of Obama I could see him making a strong run at it next time around.

Vesper wrote:

I have to say, the bias in the American media (and online is worse). It cuts both ways but it's quite difficult to an outsider trying to gain a good view of what actually is going on.

It's hard enough for an American to understand what the fuck's going on here, so I could imagine how hard it would be for an outsider.

The bias is my biggest complaint about the US media. You can't go to one network and get the straight story. MSNBC, FOX, CNN, ABC, CBS, etc. all have their own agendas, and it's becoming comically obvious what side each network is on. I don't turn on the news to hear some boneheaded anchor take pot shots at political candidates. I turn on the news to get the facts--something I haven't been able to do, well, probably ever.

The American media is vile. I haven't sat down to watch the news in a long time.

I want one of those T-Shirts!

Fight the System!

Fight the Power!

We the People will not be oppressed!

http://arijitvsdelta.blogspot.com/2012/08/on-saturday-august-18-2012-delta.html

If Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, George Washington, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton allowed themselves to be oppressed,

North America will still be a British Colony and the United States will never have been born.

^ This.

Are people nowadays just getting stupider and stupider as they get older or are they just born stupid?

Not only do you not talk about Fight Club;

recording the fight with a cell phone is also a big no no!!



http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2012/08/20/3-delaware-daycare-employees-arrested-for-encouraging-toddlers-to-fight/

Quote :

We've often wondered how many people have seen the movie Fight Club and completely failed to understand that starting your own such group is an awful idea. Even more completely horrifying of an idea? Encouraging toddlers under your care to duke it out at the daycare where you work. Tyler Durden would not approve, we're pretty sure.

Three daycare employees in Delaware have been arrested for allegedly encouraging two three-year-olds to fight while they were supposed to be doing normal, kid stuff like coloring, taking naps and smushing graham crackers into their hair reports CBS Philly.

Cops say the three workers were arrested after a cell phone video apparently showed the employees cheering on the tiny tots and encouraging them to fight each other. In the video, police say say one child can be heard crying and complaining that the other child is pinching him. A daycare worker allegedly responds, "No pinching, only punching." Right, because punching is so much better than pinching.

“Clearly one of the children is crying and does not want to continue on and he is pushed back into the fray by one of the adults,” said the city's police captain.

Parents have not been allowed to see the video yet because it's considered evidence. The employees were charged with assault, endangering the welfare of a child, reckless endangering and conspiracy for the March incident.

The daycare's license has been suspended, and the police held a meeting for parents and guardians of the children who attend there to discuss other arrangements for their children and answer questions.

The first rule of fight club may not have been "don't pit tiny tots against each other" but perhaps it should've been. Or at least the second rule. Or, JUST DON'T MAKE KIDS FIGHT.

j7wild wrote:

Are people nowadays just getting stupider and stupider as they get older or are they just born stupid?

Not only do you not talk about Fight Club;

recording the fight with a cell phone is also a big no no!!



http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2012/08/20/3-delaware-daycare-employees-arrested-for-encouraging-toddlers-to-fight/

Quote :

We've often wondered how many people have seen the movie Fight Club and completely failed to understand that starting your own such group is an awful idea. Even more completely horrifying of an idea? Encouraging toddlers under your care to duke it out at the daycare where you work. Tyler Durden would not approve, we're pretty sure.

Three daycare employees in Delaware have been arrested for allegedly encouraging two three-year-olds to fight while they were supposed to be doing normal, kid stuff like coloring, taking naps and smushing graham crackers into their hair reports CBS Philly.

Cops say the three workers were arrested after a cell phone video apparently showed the employees cheering on the tiny tots and encouraging them to fight each other. In the video, police say say one child can be heard crying and complaining that the other child is pinching him. A daycare worker allegedly responds, "No pinching, only punching." Right, because punching is so much better than pinching.

“Clearly one of the children is crying and does not want to continue on and he is pushed back into the fray by one of the adults,” said the city's police captain.

Parents have not been allowed to see the video yet because it's considered evidence. The employees were charged with assault, endangering the welfare of a child, reckless endangering and conspiracy for the March incident.

The daycare's license has been suspended, and the police held a meeting for parents and guardians of the children who attend there to discuss other arrangements for their children and answer questions.

The first rule of fight club may not have been "don't pit tiny tots against each other" but perhaps it should've been. Or at least the second rule. Or, JUST DON'T MAKE KIDS FIGHT.

Not sure why this thread of mine was moved into the American Politics and News thread when it has nothing to do with Politics.

:?:

Fox News has chosen to identify the previously anonymous Navy SEAL member who wrote an upcoming account of the raid in which Osama bin Laden was killed.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/08/23/author-bin-laden-raid-insider-account-idd-could-face-legal-trouble/

Turns out Mitt Romney may have an elaborate tax-evasion scheme set up in the Caymans.

http://gawker.com/5936394/

Good for him. Who doesn't want to give as little as possible to the gubmint?

CJB wrote:

Good for him. Who doesn't want to give as little as possible to the gubmint?

Exactly. The whole tax return game is just that a political game. The liberal strategy is to try and paint him as a rich guy that doesn't pay his share. But that's politics. It's a slimey game.

What would actually be interesting is if the IRS (as opposed to political rivals), had issues with any given politician, and even then actual criminal tax evasion issues.

Otherwise the IRS takes issues with plenty of tax returns as a matter of due course.

You've gotta pay your fair share in taxes, though.

I do. You folks do. We all do. No one likes it, but that's just what you have to do. Just because you're a rich politician/businessman doesn't mean you're exempt, no matter how many jobs you've created during your career or how much money you've pumped into the economy.

And I know Mitt isn't the only politician who has played this game. I'm sure Obama isn't completely innocent, either.

Am I surprised? Absolutely not. Same old shit, but with different guys.

In a legal sense, fair share, is only what the IRS says you actually owe.

Personally I hire an accountant every year, to ensure that no more than "fair share" is paid on my meagre earnings. If I win the lottery maybe we can get into some Cayman Island tax haven discussions. For now it's run-of-the-mill, tax-sheltered savings vehicles. :|

I imagine Romney or any multi-millionaire would have a battery of accountants working to ensure he pay no more than his legal "fair share".

Even our pal Roger Moore details in his book, how he fled England in the '70s, due to his "fair share" being a tad too fair on the government side.

The Rolling Stones, fled England for France at the same time, over concerns about their "fair share". Arguably their most famous album, Exile on Main Street , refers to their tax-exile status.