Starstriker1

Reply to Rathergate: Mapes Knew Bush Volunteered for Vietnam in Republican JoeUser Forums

That's an interesting analysis. I'm not sure that judging someone by their enemies is valid, but I won't argue against it. I'd argue that Afghanistan is a very valid concern. No, the Taliban aren't going to go wage a global Jihad, they're quite content to sit in their caves. But leaving aside what I consider our responsibility to restabilize and rebuild that country after toppling their government, do remember that the Taliban don't really recognize the border between Afghanistan and

Reply to Obama is Hitler? No more than Bush was in Politics JoeUser Forums

I can't say I disagree. Independent of his policies, the extent of the personality worship is disconcerting. In fact, I think the branding you're pointing out is a direct result of that: "hey, people ate this up during the election campaign, so let's use it to help sell our legislation!" Of course, I don't see it holding up for too much longer. Once he's had to make enough pragmatic decisions that piss people off, the shine will fade. Hell, the media is already starting to show p

Reply to Rathergate: Mapes Knew Bush Volunteered for Vietnam in Republican JoeUser Forums

Okay, I'm sorry, but one of the best presidents the US has ever had? You must be joking. Most of the rhetoric aimed at him is undeserved, but he was an ignoramus, MBA or no, or at least he did a terrific job of projecting that impression consistently. Regardless of the causes for starting the Iraq war (which I agreed with at the time, based on the CIAs intelligence) the invasion was seriously botched... at least as far as I've heard from military personel. Waltz in, win the w

Reply to Israel accused of waging war to steal organs in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

... What.

Reply to Israel accused of waging war to steal organs in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

Well, I think that takes the cake for the most ridiculous accusation thrown at Israel this... month?

Reply to Left And Right: Let Me Make A Few Things Clear in US Domestic JoeUser Forums

I've been saying it for ages: Americans have the most fucked up politics anywhere in the western world. The rhetoric is actually a little alarming at times. I've heard people conjecture about a red vs blue civil war once or twice, and you can forgive me for not finding that outside the realm of possibility when election time rolls around and the ideologues are out in full force. It's honestly a little frightening to see the us vs them mentality take over.

Reply to Poll: Novalith vs Kostura vs Deliverance Engine in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

Gimme a Kostura and a phase stabilizer and I can send an attack fleet anywhere I damned well please, bypassing most of my opponent's defenses. Given that I'm then able to send such an attack every 5 minutes or so (and building a decent attack fleet can take longer) I can basically launch an attack anywhere I want as fast as I can put them together. With multiple Kosturas, I gain complete freedom of movement across my opponent's territory, especially if I have Marauders in the fleet... I

Reply to Conversation from the war on christians being moved to here in Philosophy JoeUser Forums

Historically, yes, absolutely, people who have identified as athiests have displayed those traits. That doesn't change the fact that the word itself doesn't actually say much at all.

Reply to Conversation from the war on christians being moved to here in Philosophy JoeUser Forums

[quote who="the_Peoples_Party" reply="22" id="2317280"] In reality it really doesn't accomplish anything like you said. I do appreciate you compliments that I formed some good agruments. The apple example would be better replaced with the word coke. Most people in the southern part of the States call all forms of carbinated beverages a coke as in Coca Cola (even if its a pepsi product or pepsi for that matter) while if you go to the rest of the country if you asked for

Reply to Conversation from the war on christians being moved to here in Philosophy JoeUser Forums

[quote who="AldericJourdain" reply="9" id="2317053"] I"m not talking about ghosts or pychics. I am talking about God, Jesus, etc. That area of supernatural. [/quote] The difference being? @ The People's Party: Alright, fine, I'll concede the point. You've got some good arguments for the word "religion" being applicable to atheists. However, that's using the word so broadly that... well, what's the point? What does it even mean anymore? To crea

Reply to Conversation from the war on christians being moved to here in Philosophy JoeUser Forums

[quote who="AldericJourdain" reply="9" id="2317053"] I"m not talking about ghosts or pychics. I am talking about God, Jesus, etc. That area of supernatural. [/quote] The difference being? @ The People's Party: Alright, fine, I'll concede the point. You've got some good arguments for the word "religion" being applicable to atheists. However, that's using the word so broadly that... well, what's the point? What does it even mean anymore? To crea

Reply to The War On Christians In The Middle East in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

@ The people's party: The link doesn't work. [quote who="Leauki" comment="95"]Thats... an interesting distinction to make. What's the different between supernatural and extranatural? Wouldn't both mean that whatever is being described is beyond the purview of naturalistic explanations?If I create a world, for example, Sim City, which I interact with in ways that seem natural to the beings within the world, I am extranatural to that world, but I am not a supernatural being in t

Reply to The War On Christians In The Middle East in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

Bulllllshiiiit. You might have said one thing in the first line, but you ended up saying quite another for the entire rest of the paragraph. Lepton? My first thought is to take it in context and be insulted somehow, but I can't for the world of me figure out what you were trying to call me. The dictionary definition appears to say many things about leptons, but none that could be applied to a person. My statement about atheism often being a "religion of one" is perfectly

Reply to The War On Christians In The Middle East in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

Thats... an interesting distinction to make. What's the different between supernatural and extranatural? Wouldn't both mean that whatever is being described is beyond the purview of naturalistic explanations?

Reply to The War On Christians In The Middle East in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

[quote who="AldericJourdain" comment="84"]Only if the spirituality is not supernatural, because that word supernatural is the key to it all. Buddhism as a whole still does have aspects that are supernatural and such. Atheists are 99% of the time skeptical or dismissive of such things.So then what?[/quote] Sigh. You aren't listening. Supernaturalism is NOT ruled out by athiesm. Naturalism and athiesm often coincide, it's true, but it's entirely possible to be athiest while simu

Reply to The War On Christians In The Middle East in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

Alright, my bad. Lemme rephrase: some Buddhist sects are atheistic, though they vary widely. Wikipedia also informs me that there were athiestic Hindu sects in the early history of the religion. More to the point, there is nothing intrinsically incompatible with the idea of rejection of god or gods and organized spirituality. To imply that they are mutually exclusive simply doesn't hold water. And no, you're wrong. Atheism CAN mean rejection of deities, though strictly speakin

Reply to The War On Christians In The Middle East in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

For fucks sake. Leauki is perfectly correct. You two are interpreting the word "athiesm" far too specifically to refer to a specific, naturalistic philosophy. Athiesm means exactly what it says it means: without god or gods. It does not mean "without religion". BUDDHISTS are athiests, for crying out loud. The (effectively) religious cults that center around many communist icons like Stalin, Lenin, Kim Jong Il, etc are all athiestic in nature. Athiesm is an EXCEEDINGLY BROAD TERM that

Reply to The War On Christians In The Middle East in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

Those are just word games. You're extending the word religion well beyond its typical usage to win a semantic argument, and devaluing the word in the process. When one says that one is a "religious beer drinker" you are using religion as a METAPHOR, not as a declaration that your booze guzzling habits are in fact religious in nature.

Reply to The War On Christians In The Middle East in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

@ The People's Party Sigh. Athiesm as RELIGION? Please. If it's a religion, it's a religion of one reinvented for each individual. Ask ten athiests a question and you'll probably get eleven different answers. Theres no creed, no dogma, and absolutely ZERO organization. The only common thread is that athiests do not believe in a god or gods. Everything else, ANYTHING else, varies widely. Many athiests are heavily religious (see Buddhism). Many athiests believe in supernatural p

Reply to The War On Christians In The Middle East in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

[quote who="Leauki" comment="33"]Why do you believe anything he says?Why do you eat whale flesh with cream? [/quote] Hah. That's awesome. Leauki, I'm stealing that for the next time someone asks me a loaded question . (By the way, Infidel, that link is for you, since you seem to be a little confused) [quote who="Al

Reply to The War On Christians In The Middle East in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

I'll just take this moment to point out that the secular murderous bastards in question were/are hardcore ideologues. Insofar as I'm concerned, ideology is indistinguishable from religion. It's also worth pointing out that while ideology can inspire the evil behaviour we're talking about, LACK of ideology has never been the inspiration for it so far as I can tell. Now would the athiests in the room PLEASE avoid knee jerk anti-religious sentiments and acknowledge the situa

Reply to Israeli soldiers 'break their silence' in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

Maybe I should post when I'm lucid. Then maybe I won't be fielding so many embarassing spelling errors.

Reply to Israeli soldiers 'break their silence' in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

Don't underestimate humanities capacity to find excuses to be stupid. I think that the reason that the IDF gets this kind of ciriticism is a longstanding feedback cycle of "well, people have accused them of this in the past, so it must be true!". The degree of truth of the allegations is, unfortunately, completely irrelevant to that kind of reasoning, which is only interested in superficial gut feelings. Israels enemies have done a brilliant job of smearing her reputation over the last h

Reply to Israeli soldiers 'break their silence' in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

Technically, no, it's just stupid . It's only antisemitic if the inspiration was the jewishness of the accused. Labelling it antisemitic just devalues the word. Barring evidence of racist intent, I'm content with "dimwits" instead of "malevolent dimwits".

Reply to Israeli soldiers 'break their silence' in War on Terror Stardock Forums

[quote who="Leauki" comment="20"]The IDF is always guilty until proven innocent. And don't tell me that there is a good reason for that other than the fact that the IDF is Jewish.The IDF simply does not have a history of excessive violence. (It does have a history of being accused of excessive violence though.) So what is the basis for this special scrutiny if not anti-Semitism? [/quote] Because if you repeat a lie often enough it becomes truth. I don't think th