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REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS
Trump Challenges the 14th Amendment
Friday, August 28, 2015 7:28 AM
SECOND
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
Friday, August 28, 2015 10:51 AM
SIGNYM
I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.
Quote:Let me get this straight. Illegal immigrants crossed the border, left their families and their homelands, put a gun to the heads of upstanding, law-abiding Americans and forced them out of their jobs. Is that what you're saying?
Friday, August 28, 2015 5:06 PM
Saturday, August 29, 2015 1:30 AM
Saturday, August 29, 2015 4:47 AM
SHINYGOODGUY
Quote:Originally posted by SIGNYM: So, apparently, getting rid of exploitation and dominance isn't a good idea, because I'm not hearing any ringing endorsements of the idea??? Hey, yanno what? We've all got dirt on our historic souls, expect maybe Brenda. But I get that the USA has got years of bad juju to make up for. My opinion is that unless the USA is willing to tackle the SOURCE of the problem ... ie, a history of maintaining "south of the border" as a colony for the convenience of our corporations and banks .... economic migration will keep on happening. -------------- You can't build a nation with bombs. You can't create a society with guns.
Saturday, August 29, 2015 5:03 AM
Saturday, August 29, 2015 5:59 AM
Quote:Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY: . . . we have too many knuckle heads who feel that they are better than anyone. Starting with that megalomaniac Trump. He is the epitome of what's wrong with this country. Do you really think he is what he says? Do you think he's out to help the average American? Do you think he cares, really cares about women? Do you think, even for a moment, that he's cracked open a bible since he was a kid? Do you believe that deporting 11-12 million immigrants will actually help this country, in any form?
Saturday, August 29, 2015 10:59 AM
Quote:Originally posted by second: Quote:Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY: . . . we have too many knuckle heads who feel that they are better than anyone. Starting with that megalomaniac Trump. He is the epitome of what's wrong with this country. Do you really think he is what he says? Do you think he's out to help the average American? Do you think he cares, really cares about women? Do you think, even for a moment, that he's cracked open a bible since he was a kid? Do you believe that deporting 11-12 million immigrants will actually help this country, in any form? Business can deal with Trump's constant shifting by binding him with contracts. Voters will have no written contract with Trump. All his words before election are words that he can and will disown after inauguration. He has done that in real estate all his life. It is in Trump's book The Art of the Deal. Say whatever to close the deal because those spoken words evaporate away, leaving only the words in the contract. President Trump will be bound only by his innate character, not by his spoken campaign promises.
Saturday, August 29, 2015 11:35 AM
Quote:Originally posted by SIGNYM: Who, BTW, was elected by the German population in times of extreme economic duress. (You may remember something about "hyperinflation"? It happened in Germany, right before Hitler was elected.)
Quote:Originally posted by SIGNYM: Which is why it's so hard to say ... yanno, Trump has a point there. ANY nation needs to be able to control it's borders. Even with the BEST of intentions, it would be impossible to maintain economic and internal policies under a flood of immigrants. (Yes, I realize that Trump doesn't have the best of intentions.)
Saturday, August 29, 2015 12:08 PM
Quote: Bad history is very widely accepted out there. No, the 1923 hyperinflation didn’t bring Hitler to power ten years later; it was the Brüning deflation and depression in 1930-1932. Hard money and a gold standard obsession, not excessive money printing, was the proximate disaster.
Quote:Which is why it's so hard to say ... yanno, Trump has a point there. ANY nation needs to be able to control it's borders. Even with the BEST of intentions, it would be impossible to maintain economic and internal policies under a flood of immigrants. (Yes, I realize that Trump doesn't have the best of intentions.) -SIGNY Why believe what Trump or any other Republican candidate says about immigration? They have had enough time since Reagan to shape immigration policy to your satisfaction and, in all that time, building a wall paid for by Mexico is as deep as their thinking goes. You need to know why they would do what they do and it is not a tidy explanation. -SECOND
Quote:KRUGMAN Donald Trump, with his multiple marriages and casinos, is the preferred candidate among Republican evangelicals. Others are shocked to see a crude mercantilist make so much headway in the alleged party of free markets. What happened to conservative principles? Actually, nothing — because those alleged principles were never real. Conservative religiosity, conservative faith in markets, were never about living a godly life or letting the invisible hand promote entrepreneurship. Instead, it was all as Corey Robin describes it: Conservatism is “a reactionary movement, a defense of power and privilege against democratic challenges from below, particularly in the private spheres of the family and the workplace.” It’s really about who’s boss, and making sure that the man in charge stays boss. Trump is admired for putting women and workers (and Mexicans) in their place, and it doesn’t matter if he covets his neighbor’s wife or demands trade wars. The point is that Trump isn’t a diversion, he’s a revelation, bringing the real motivations of the movement out into the open.
Quote:Krugman, who wrote that, lives in NYC, out of Republican control, but I live in Texas and I'm sure Krugman correctly diagnosed the soul of the Republican Party, at least in my part of Texas. With Republicans, it is never about solving problems or clearly explaining your motives for what you are doing. And I'm talking about GOP voters and politicians. It has always been about the GOP listening to demons whispering in their heads. So it is no surprise the GOP is attacking the weakest people in the USA.
Saturday, August 29, 2015 12:42 PM
1KIKI
Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.
Saturday, August 29, 2015 2:02 PM
Quote:Originally posted by SIGNYM: Quote: Bad history is very widely accepted out there. No, the 1923 hyperinflation didn’t bring Hitler to power ten years later; it was the Brüning deflation and depression in 1930-1932. Hard money and a gold standard obsession, not excessive money printing, was the proximate disaster. Hard money and the gold standard were a reaction to the hyperinflation of the Weimar era. And the Germans are STILL reacting to hyperinflation, which explains a lot about their policies towards Greece.
Saturday, August 29, 2015 9:15 PM
Quote:This is so easy to shoot down. Whether or not you back down says everything about how clear you think. Did USA have hyperinflation to justify a gold standard? No, but it was also on the gold standard when Germany was. Circa 1930 key decision-makers in USA and Germany had spent years equating adherence to gold not just with prosperity, but with morality, decency, civilization itself, that they couldn’t even contemplate breaking with that orthodoxy — even in the face of total catastrophe. You know it was NOT a catastrophe when Roosevelt and Hitler ended the gold standard?
Quote: On the onset of the war, Germany made two critical financial mistakes: it took the mark off the gold standard and financed the war entirely through borrowing without raising taxes. At the end of the war, Germany had its war debts and on top of those the reparations demanded by the Allies. The Mark fell from 1 US dollar to 8.91 Marks in 1918 to 1 US dollar to 60 Marks in 1921. The Allied Reparations Commission insisted on payment in hard currency or foreign currency, not paper Marks. While Germany made its first reparations payment in June 1921, it did not have enough gold or foreign exchange reserves to cover the Versailles reparations or maintain faith in its war debt. Germany began buying foreign currency to cover the reparations and entered into vicious circle, buying foreign currency drove the Mark down and the cost of covering the reparations up. The Mark slid to 330 Marks to 1 US dollar. The bottom fell out when international negotiations on the war reparations failed. The Mark plunged to 8000 Marks to 1 US dollar. France, fearful that Germany would default on its war reparations, occupied the Ruhr and demanded repayment in goods if not in hard currency, touching off outrage and a general strike in Germany that further stoked hyperinflation as the Weimar government printed more money to cover striker’s salaries. Hyperinflation was finally tamed by issuance of a new currency indirectly pegged to gold bonds. The Allies curbed their reparation demands and eventually forgave most of the war reparations it had imposed.
Saturday, August 29, 2015 11:52 PM
Monday, August 31, 2015 4:22 AM
Quote:Originally posted by 1kiki: The Corporate church teaches their flock to stand up in what you believe in and pound it into the non-believers brain until they succumb. Oh, I forgot to reply SGG What I find very very peculiar about x-tians is how often they refer to the ot and ignore the nt. I belong to a credit union in a galaxy far, far away ... just kidding (of course). But the nearest branch is MILES away while the sister credit union - christian community cu - is less than a mile. So of course I go there. One of the things that really caught my eye were the posters on the wall, all from the ot, about how you're supposed to work hard and be frugal with your money ... I've been so tempted to ask why they doesn't put up the quote beginning with 'regard the lilies of the field ...', or 'give up all you have and follow me ...', or 'it's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle ...' or any number of examples where Jesus specifically said you were supposed to not focus on money. Or, if you don't want to be a scold, and prefer to be positive, you could have two framed quotes on either side of the entrance 'love god above all else' and 'love your neighbor as yourself'. But b/c they're a cu and not a bank, and ridiculously close by, I was curious about joining them. Apparently you can't be catholic or just claim to go to church. Nope. You have to be REGISTERED as a member in good stead of a very short list of congregations. Of course I thought about all the nt messages about loving your fellow man, and not focusing on the cinder in your brother's eye while ignoring the log in your own, he who is without sin .... and so on. But at least the person who told me how much they excluded the wrong sort of people had the grace to look abashed, as if they had some dim awareness that, just maybe, that's not what jesus would do.
Monday, August 31, 2015 1:43 PM
Monday, August 31, 2015 2:12 PM
Monday, August 31, 2015 3:19 PM
Tuesday, September 1, 2015 10:57 PM
Quote:Originally posted by 1kiki: SGG I've been watching The Incredible Dr. Pol on Nat Geo Wild, and for the moment I'll take the people in the show as accurate portrayals of the majority of rural people in the vast 'flyover' country from north to south. (Of course we don't see any alcoholism, addiction, spousal abuse, child abuse, shootings, family dysfunction, racism, sexism, religious imperialism, poverty, or other human ails. And, fwiw, I know there are many places where people pretend to be reasonable in front of strangers, but if they think you're one of them - and being a dumpy old white woman, they do - they'll let their hair down and talk about cleaning out the niggrahs or other impolite topics.) As they're broadcast, they're basically kind, decent, hardworking, responsible and hospitable. Given that, what I see is a religion that's been meshed with rural culture, modern technology, consumerism, patriotism, politeness and propriety, cultivated ignorance, political conservatism, and thrift as one big blob, where people smoothly and easily transition between the obvious internal contradictions within their beliefs, depending on circumstance. I don't find them bad people. But they seem extremely provincial in their perspective, and lacking the practice of examining their beliefs for meaning, and lacking in the practice of examining the meanings for coherency. The message of Jesus was and is radical, and is diametrically opposed to our economic system. And I don't begrudge people their beliefs. I just object to their assumptions - made without any attempt at looking into them - that they're the word of Jesus, they're holy, they bless all the people do, they're superior to other beliefs, and they give the people and their country license to trample on other people. And also, their lack of reflection and easy self-regard makes them targets to manipulate. All you have to do is wave enough of the right words at them.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015 11:04 PM
6IXSTRINGJACK
Quote:Originally posted by ElvisChrist: You can, of course, eliminate birthright citizenship. The only thing it takes is a constitutional amendment. Think about it. We couldn't pass one for women's equality, but I'm sure more people hate immigrants than hate women (although a substantial portion - a majority, really - of conservatives hate both with a passion).
Wednesday, September 2, 2015 4:15 AM
Quote:Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK: Quote:Originally posted by ElvisChrist: You can, of course, eliminate birthright citizenship. The only thing it takes is a constitutional amendment. Think about it. We couldn't pass one for women's equality, but I'm sure more people hate immigrants than hate women (although a substantial portion - a majority, really - of conservatives hate both with a passion). Constitutional Amendments are nothing more or less than a potential future scar. Personally, I'm thrilled that on a National level the issue of Gay Marriage is being handled how it is, instead of how GWB promised voters it would be if they re-elected him in 2004, which was to prohibit it with a Constitutional Amendment. An Amendment that I'm quite certain would have been repealed by 2016. This isn't Wikipedia... our Living, breathing document..... Amendment XVIII SECTION. 1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited. Amendment XXI SECTION. 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed. Forgive me for saying it, but that is a SCAR on a document so important. IF GWB were to have successfully amended the constitution so that Gay Marriage was illegal in the US, it's almost certain that our next amendment would have read as follows: Amendment XXIX SECTION. 1. The twenty eighth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed. Let me ask you something.... Just how many times do you think this shit can happen before nobody believes in the document at all anymore? Do Right, Be Right. :)
Wednesday, September 2, 2015 5:03 AM
Wednesday, September 2, 2015 9:23 AM
Quote:Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY: . . . Christians oftentimes, take matters quite literally . . .
Quote: Once again the Simpsons have been caught brainwashing the masses with more satanic predictive programming. In this video we look at how Donald Trump became President in an episode that also featured the first woman president being Lisa (Hilary). Wake Up! Please share this video! God Bless, STAY VIGILANT & FEAR NO EVIL !!!
Thursday, September 3, 2015 12:21 PM
Thursday, September 3, 2015 3:59 PM
Quote:Originally posted by SIGNYM: ----- Which brings me back to a line of poetry that has really stuck with me, and serves as something of a touchstone for how I look at economics ... "Pity would be no more, if we did not MAKE somebody poor" - William Blake
Friday, September 4, 2015 4:20 AM
Friday, September 4, 2015 8:13 AM
Quote:Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY: This is what I find most troubling about religion, and particularly, the Christian religion. The assumption that they're right and the rest of the world is wrong and going to hell.
Friday, September 4, 2015 10:58 AM
Quote: Which brings me back to a line of poetry that has really stuck with me, and serves as something of a touchstone for how I look at economics ... "Pity would be no more, if we did not MAKE somebody poor" - William Blake =SIGNY You are assuming that most Europeans truly care what happens to Muslim refugees from Syria, Libya, or wherever. I have an example of people pretending to care, slightly, but caring not enough to expend their own money. When slavery in the Northern States of the USA was no longer acceptable, most slave owners did not free their slaves. They sold their slaves to Southerners. That is how much Northerners cared about real people who were their slaves – not enough to avoid a going out of business slave sale. Money triumphs over morality.
Quote:Getting back to Trump. When you hear of his plans for America, take note that Donald Trump has lost between $1 and $6 billion over his business career. No one knows how much was lost because Trump is a liar about his net worth, as pointed out in detail by Forbes, Bloomberg, NYTimes reporter, banks, courts, et etc..
Friday, September 4, 2015 11:59 AM
Saturday, September 5, 2015 12:47 AM
Tuesday, September 8, 2015 10:22 PM
Quote:Originally posted by second: Quote:Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY: This is what I find most troubling about religion, and particularly, the Christian religion. The assumption that they're right and the rest of the world is wrong and going to hell. You are blaming America's religiousness when the fault is in America's love of Freedom. If there's one thing America loves, it's... well, war. But if there's two things America loves, it's war and torture. But if there's three things America loves, it's war, torture, and genocide. But if there are several dozen things America loves, they are war, torture, genocide, chattel slavery, apartheid, assassination, poverty, institutionalized bribery, remote-controlled flying death robots and somewhere down the list, between prison labor and lagoons of toxic hog manure, there is almost certainly a special place in America's heart for Freedom. Take Libya for example. And so it was that the United States was fighting to free the Libyan people from the Libyan people by killing the Libyan people. The situation was fairly straightforward, after all - Libya faced a humanitarian crisis, and the only way to address a humanitarian crisis was to bomb it with hundreds of cruise missiles. I'm told that the American Red Cross delivered bottled water and medical supplies by duct-taping them to the nose cone of outgoing Tomahawks. More importantly, the Libyan people were oppressed by a bloodthirsty dictator - a dictator who killed his own people - and the least America could do was kill those people itself. How, I ask, could America stand idly by and allow people to be slaughtered by a ruthless tyrant when America could be slaughtering them instead? You may ask, what makes getting killed by America any better than getting killed by Qaddafi? Because America was killing for a great American cause, in the name of Americanness. Libyans, in their last moments, as their houses were burnt and their schools destroyed and their neighbors incinerated and their families turned into hamburger, came to know American values of liberty and of Freedom. Labels: eaters of the dead, everybody loves a winner http://fafblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/humanitarians-of-year.html www.deviantart.com/art/Firefly-crew-558045286
Tuesday, September 8, 2015 10:47 PM
Quote:Originally posted by SIGNYM: Ok, one more follow-on thought. Once we STOP FUCKING PEOPLE OVER AND MAKING THEIR NATIONS A LIVING HELL, and once we stop creating the main source of refugees, we can, if we wish, go on to actually HELPING other nations deal with other causes of mass migration and refugee creation, and that includes water shortages (the initial cause of Syrian unrest was a drought which destroyed the livelihoods of farmers throughout northeast Syria), climate shift, natural disaster (I don't include climate change as a natural disaster since we did that all by ourselves!), overpopulation, and lack of opportunity. But not with the military. NEVER using the military, because .... REALLY, because .... no, REALLY REALLY because ... You can't build a nation with bombs. You can't create a society with guns.
Tuesday, September 8, 2015 11:04 PM
Quote:Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY: Water, or the lack of, will be the next great resource that will be at the center of the next World War.
Wednesday, September 9, 2015 7:43 AM
Friday, September 11, 2015 2:33 AM
Quote:Originally posted by 1kiki: SGG And finally, as a separate topic, since you seem to be the one most attached to the 14th amendment, I was wondering if you could explain to me what you find valuable in it. I believe you have beliefs, hopes ... good things attached to it. I was hoping you would tell me what they are.
Friday, September 11, 2015 9:34 AM
Quote:Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY: It's not just the 14th Amendment, it's the Constitution in it's entirety. Now, if the Amendment is to be changed or modified, then I say change and modify the lot.
Friday, September 11, 2015 12:46 PM
Quote:It's not just the 14th Amendment, it's the Constitution in it's entirety. It is the document and it's people following the tenants of that document that make this country great, but mostly it's the people. The huddled masses yearning to be free. Yes, I believe in that hokum, partially because there's a modicum of truth in it. We are a great nation of immigrants, a nation of travelers from throughout the world. All striving towards one goal - FREEDOM. Everything else is just plain BULLSHIT!
Friday, September 11, 2015 1:08 PM
Quote:Originally posted by SIGNYM: SGG, I believe that you're a well-intentioned guy who just wants the best for people, and what I would like to know is... what do you mean by "freedom"?
Saturday, September 12, 2015 10:16 AM
Quote:My understanding of Freedom and the forming of the United States was to get away from religious persecution and the ability to make a better life for themselves and their children.-BRENDA
Quote:"some Republicans can be accused of loving liberty and freedom too much — or at least using those words as rhetorical crutches. Donald Trump is not one of them. The current GOP presidential front-runner rarely uses the words “freedom” or “liberty” in his remarks at all.- SECOND
Sunday, September 13, 2015 10:39 AM
Quote:Don't think I knew about Washington and the Ohio Valley. Excuse me for saying this but I just can't believe that the British Crown wanted the land for the American Indian there. East India Company for you and in Canada it was the Hudson Bay. Land and furs in Canada.
Quote:During the French and Indian War (the North American frontier of the Seven Years' War), the Iroquois sided with the British against the French and their Algonquian allies, who were traditional enemies. The Iroquois hoped that aiding the British would also bring favors after the war. Few Iroquois warriors joined the campaign. In the Battle of Lake George, a group of Catholic Mohawk (from Kahnawake) and French forces ambushed a Mohawk-led British column; the Mohawk were deeply disturbed as they had created their confederacy for peace among the peoples and had not had warfare against each other. After the war, to protect their alliance, the British government issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763, forbidding Anglo-European (white) settlements beyond the Appalachian Mountains. Colonists largely ignored the order, and the British had insufficient soldiers to enforce it.
Sunday, September 13, 2015 10:42 AM
Quote:You are blaming America's religiousness when the fault is in America's love of Freedom. If there's one thing America loves, it's... well, war. But if there's two things America loves, it's war and torture. But if there's three things America loves, it's war, torture, and genocide. But if there are several dozen things America loves, they are war, torture, genocide, chattel slavery, apartheid, assassination, poverty, institutionalized bribery, remote-controlled flying death robots and somewhere down the list, between prison labor and lagoons of toxic hog manure, there is almost certainly a special place in America's heart for Freedom. Take Libya for example. And so it was that the United States was fighting to free the Libyan people from the Libyan people by killing the Libyan people. The situation was fairly straightforward, after all - Libya faced a humanitarian crisis, and the only way to address a humanitarian crisis was to bomb it with hundreds of cruise missiles. I'm told that the American Red Cross delivered bottled water and medical supplies by duct-taping them to the nose cone of outgoing Tomahawks. More importantly, the Libyan people were oppressed by a bloodthirsty dictator - a dictator who killed his own people - and the least America could do was kill those people itself. How, I ask, could America stand idly by and allow people to be slaughtered by a ruthless tyrant when America could be slaughtering them instead? You may ask, what makes getting killed by America any better than getting killed by Qaddafi? Because America was killing for a great American cause, in the name of Americanness. Libyans, in their last moments, as their houses were burnt and their schools destroyed and their neighbors incinerated and their families turned into hamburger, came to know American values of liberty and of Freedom.
Monday, September 14, 2015 3:43 AM
Quote:Originally posted by SIGNYM: Quote:My understanding of Freedom and the forming of the United States was to get away from religious persecution and the ability to make a better life for themselves and their children.-BRENDA What you describe, Brenda, could perhaps be better described as opportunity. BTW- when you read the histories of the Founding Fathers (the signers of the Constitution) you will realize that very few actually came to the colonies for religious freedom. That may have been true of some of the northeastern colonies, which were settled by Puritans, and Pennsylvania which was settled by Quakers, but MOST of the FF were plantation owners, merchants, bankers, businessmen, landowners/speculators, and adventurers. Many of them were looking for "freedom" ... not from persecution, but from the East India Trading Company (a Crown Corporation) and from an aristocracy which already owned all of the land in Europe. Washington himself stood to gain a lot of land (for speculation purposes) since he was the surveyor of the Ohio Valley. The thing that was holding him back was the British King, who wanted to keep the land for the natives. In fact, I think land ownership (for the little guy) and land speculation (for the wealthy) was the big drawing card. Quote:"some Republicans can be accused of loving liberty and freedom too much — or at least using those words as rhetorical crutches. Donald Trump is not one of them. The current GOP presidential front-runner rarely uses the words “freedom” or “liberty” in his remarks at all.- SECOND I guess Trump isn't as dishonest as some people make him out to be. Usually, when a politician uses the word "freedom" it's to promote the something else entirely. Entirely overused by TPTB. Still I'm sure SGG has something in mind, and for him it's an honest and passionate statement of belief and not a catch-phrase, and I wonder what that might be. -------------- You can't build a nation with bombs. You can't create a society with guns.
Monday, September 14, 2015 10:24 AM
Quote:FREEDOM That something in mind is a little thing called "The American Dream." It is as elusive as it is undefined, but I'll take a crack at it.
Quote:It is somewhat religious freedom, but it's more an ideal.
Quote:A place whereby our dreams, both individually and collectively, we can pursue and fulfill our needs and wants.
Quote:That's very general and somewhat simplistic but it's my overall take on freedom. Both as a people and as individuals we can pursue what will make us, and those close to us, happy.
Quote:For example: we can worship as we please, without fear of control or retribution. That's freedom. This nonsense of religious "persecution" that folks like Huckabee and others on the right have conjured, is such a farce. They want to impose on others what "they" feel is right for everyone. That, to me, is the opposite of freedom. How can you force me to believe as you do? Or, for that matter, worship and follow your rule of law under your God? What if I believe differently than you do? This is a great reason why the Pilgrims came to North America, for the freedom to express their beliefs as they saw fit. The Constitution, written with the truth of the times in mind, addressed these and other issues of freedom. The 14th Amendment addressed an important issue that threatened the very fabric of our collective quest for freedom. And so, we come to full circle. Religion is just one of the freedoms that the Constitution speaks to. That self-same ideal is being threatened yet again, and there are those who feel that God and the Christian faith is the only true way to save this country. But in their fervor, the Christian right is distorting the very nature of that ideal, as well as, violating the tenants of Christ's teachings. Let go and Let God!
Quote:The freedom to pray and worship as any man, woman or child sees fit. It is your right to choose, in every aspect of American life; that is freedom. It is not YOUR right to choose how I should live. That is tyranny! Just ask the Pilgrims.
Monday, September 14, 2015 10:27 AM
Wednesday, September 16, 2015 6:59 AM
Wednesday, September 16, 2015 7:08 AM
Quote:Oh BTW BRENDA, I answered your question about King George and the Iroquois, several posts up. I hope you find it interesting. - SIGNY I did see it and read it. I had sort of forgotten that the British and the French were using the Indians as Allies of a sort to suit their wants. Then when they were done, The French were a little better at keeping bargains than the British. The French were more accepting of their half-blood children than the English.- BRENDA
Thursday, September 17, 2015 4:35 AM
Quote:Originally posted by SIGNYM: Anyway, SGG, in lieu of a specific reply as to what you mean by FREEDOM ... except for freedom of religion ... I'm leaning towards thinking that what YOU mean by FREEDOM is actually OPPORTUNITY. The reality is that life is nicer here in the USA than a lot of other parts if the world ... the standard of living is higher and there is less day-to-day corruption ... thanks, in large part, to the USA pretty much stealing from everyplace else and enforcing dictatorships elsewhere ... and that people are coming here for the chance to make a "better life" (wealthier living standard) for themselves and their family. It's a worthy goal, but it's not "freedom", by even the loosest definition. So, if you think my interpretation has missed the mark in some way, let me know. -------------- You can't build a nation with bombs. You can't create a society with guns.
Thursday, September 17, 2015 5:09 AM
Friday, September 18, 2015 11:43 AM
Friday, September 18, 2015 11:49 AM
Quote:I have always been exposed, since I was a kid, to that lofty goal of American Dream. Only coming to understand, to some degree, it's full meaning. It is an ideal, one that we choose to believe in, or not, and one that we choose to pursue, or not. That is "a chicken in every pot" type of dream. That is both a collective goal and a individual goal that we, as a nation and as individuals choose to strive towards. The promise of a better life - a house, car and money to burn. There are those that DO NOT believe that goal exists for them, but others that do believe in that lofty ideal. And, depending on our circumstances, we choose. I'm not talking about markets, but of goals, dreams and ideas. What you speak of is of monetary status and position. Class. You say that it doesn't exist or it's not real, that may be so but there are those that do believe and strive for it. For them it's real! They have heard of it all their lives, and so believe it to be real. I was in that number, but have come full circle and know that it's just that.....a dream, a carefully orchestrated marketing ploy. Clever, elusive and effective. Keep your shoulder to the wheel, they say. Work hard, others say. Streets paved with gold, yet others say. An American Dream.
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