1_man_army

Differing tax brackets for the poor and the wealthy are fine as long as they are fair. You can't expect a CEO of a multinational corporation to pay the same percentage of tax as a regular working single mother because their needs are radically different - a CEO can survive comfortably with a 10% tax hike while the single mother would find it virtually impossible to get by with a similar increase (we're speaking in steotypes here I know). The problem I have with people (both on TIF & in RL) in these sorts of topics is the lack of care for other people's predicaments. Now you can look at that statement and say "hey, we live in a capitalist system" but I just don't get how people can be as selfish as to actively want to not help people who need it. It isn't uncommon to see/hear the phrase "why should I pay for it" in these threads when the question should be "why shouldn't you contribute and help people in your community/city/country?" The basic idea of social responsibility is lost on so many people, it is like we're living in such a greedy age. Now saying that, I don't resent the wealthy at all, I don't discourage success either but it baffles me how greedy some people can be - you only need so much to get buy and live comfortably, after that money is only an irrelevant number. Don't get me wrong I'm not a communist (I say for the sake of accuracy not because people try to use it as an insult) but I do believe we atleast should try to help others where possible. I'm not just referring to this thread but it is relevant[/on my sopbox]

Doing what? A day release system where they work in the community? I can't see that going down well with the public. Many prisoners already do jobs within the prisons they do time in, many others aren't allowed to.

It's nice to see a nation being that progressive, it's a positive step but I still can't foresee many nations who would elect an openly gay President/Prime Minister. Maybe that will be the next logical step but I just can't see it happening in the near future. Would you care to at least make a logical point to support your views instead of giving a one word response?

By that logic, it's immoral that you're taxed to pay for roads that you don't drive on or to pay for schools that you'll never personally attend.

I have a complete and utter disdain for people who buy bottled water, there truly is a sucker born every day. Unless your tap water comes out of black then there is no excuse to not drink tap water in a first world nation. Even if your tap water is poor it can be boiled to get rid of additives in advance is it bothers you that much. £1 for 750ml bottle of water really is ridiculous as well, I refuse to pay that for such a basic thing I'd rather stay thirsty on principle.

The Beatles really aren't all that good :? . :lol: :lol: Tip.it (or maybe the internet more generally) is the only place where The Bealtes suck and Meagan Fox is ugly...strange lol.

Rangers barely won today, we had to play for 80 mins with 10 men and were a goal down for most of the game but we pulled through with a last minute penalty for the winner. Burnley beat Everton as well. I think there is more to the Davenport stabbing than meets the eye. Nobody breaks in to a footballers house (or his mum's in this case) and stabs him in the legs without prior reason. It just seems suspicious to me.

Think you could explain what you're getting at to us? Looking at the definition, I expect it involves making the laws of one weed-tolerant state applicable to other states, or something like that. As you can probably tell, I have absolutely no clue what you're talking about. ^_^;; The movie that quote comes from a movie that every American needs to see, period. It's called "A Clear And Present Danger" and revolves around Colombian drug cartels. Stars Harrison Ford and is one of the Jack Ryan series by Tom Clancy. RECIPROCITY was a secret operation that took Latino US commandos and dropped them in Colombia to take part in an illegal war against the cartels. You should read Mark Bowden's 'Killing Pablo' it's an interesting how the Colombia and America fought and eventually killed Pablo Escobar. The passages that hint at the dubious tactics that were alledly employed in the hunt are particularly interesting.

Indeed, a cracker it was. It was a fantastic strike. Glen Johnson is looking like a great signing for us. Chelsea were nuts for letting him go to Portsmouth in the first place.

The imdb list is ridiculous though, it over-emphases newer titles.

It was really amazing, you have to feel sorry for the competition because they have no chance if Bolt is up for it. Gay ran a 9.71 which would have been a world record in itself 18 months ago. Even running that fast, Bolt made Gay look second rate, that shows you how far he is over every sprinter in history.

Not to mention Football (soccer) takes a lot less skill. Skills needed for Football - passing, shooting, heading, ball control, goal keeping, volleying, tackling, heading & tactical knowledge. Skills needed for American Football - passing, catching, kicking, tackling & tactical knowledge Those are simplistic terms but you get the idea. Now I won't for a second doubt that American football is a game of skill but I wouldn't say it took a greater amount of skill than football. The catching and passing in American football are natural things that most people learn to some degree anyway where as football's skill set is more specific to the sport. I don't mean that as a way to put down American Football but I do believe it's true. Does that make either better? Not really, it's a completely personal thing.

I'm not sure if they're based just off of government spending or not but I did find them surprising when they were mentioned on BBC in fact, I had to double check before I posted. This was from the article I looked up to check the figures:

If you guys actually worked it properly it isn't too hard to pay for. Currently, the UK spends 8.4% of GDP on healthcare (primarily the NHS) while US spends 16.2%, that tells it's own story. If the money is spent correctly, there should be no effect on the economy.

Not necessarily. Part of saving lives is timely care, right? Remember my MRI example from before? That's the kind of "timely care" sociallized health care has brought people in my country/province. FYI: No hospital in the states can turn you away if you need life-saving medical care. There is legislation in place to prevent it. They may send you a bill afterward, but they will help you. Some people in the US who have existing health care plans may receive better care by staying on their current plans but a national system will undoubtedly help save the lives of some of the 45 million people in America who don't have any health care/insurance and benefit those who don't have enough. The beauty of the plan is that people with plans that are better the the government system can choose to stay on the plan they are on. A national system may not be perfect but it is better than the nothing that many receive. Sure no hospital can turn you away for life threatening ailments but they can send you away for everything else including care that could help prevent life threatening ailments from happening in the first place. So people without health care will still clearly suffer from it.

For £2.50 (including delivery) :thumbup: :

On the whole "...if somebody killed your family" argument: Is is a different issue. A rational opinion over what is best for society is an intellectual argument based on facts and evidence. What you would do if somebody hurt or harmed someone you love or care for is an emotional response and has little relationship to your what you would rationally argue. The argument is irrelevant. edit - I just realised I had my threads mixed up (with this and the capital punishment one) but the point still stands and is relevant.

Ugh, I'll be 25 in 2012...that is mildly depressing. On the world ending stuff, it won't happen. The world didn't end in the dozen or so times in recent memory that somebody came up woth a crack-pot theory so why should it end this time? Plus, if you say that it won't happen you can give a big "told you so" if it doesn't however, if the world does end, we'll all be dead so you don't need to worry about losing face by being wrong :P .

I don't know my exact weight, I have a rough idea but I don't weigh myself regularly so it may have changed in the time since I last did it. I don't think that not knowing isn't that uncommon. Height, I grant is something which virtually everyone knows, especially one you're at an age when you stop growing.

I'm cursed with being short and skinny. I can eat like a horse and not gain any weight. Physically, I'm not too unfit although I don't exercise regularly, I just do a lot of running to get the train on time. You can often see me running through Edinburgh like I'm trying to recreat the opening of the film Trainspotting. I just don't like regular exercise, I find it boring - I'd much rather enjoy a slightly shorter life than spend so much time exersising in order to live a bit longer. I had something like that in my sig for ages (minus the eating glass). It was: "Tip.it - Where everyone is a 6ft tall, hard as nails adonis and has an IQ of 150..."

I was surprised that they sent Clinton to be honest. When you're trying to make things look like they aren't official (even when they probably are) it stikes me as odd to send a former President and husband of the current Secretary of State. That being said, I hope that Clinton will have at least tested the waters in regards to other issues (ie. the nuclear program) because otherwise it will be the elephant in the room. I presume it was an issue though as Clinton was greeted by NK's top nuclear negotiator as he got off the plane which is a hopeful sign. Bolton is often on UK news programs giving his opinion as the 'American voice' on international issues, I find him to be such a disagreeable man. If you've seen the BBC documentary series 'Iran & the West' you can see his great contribution to international relations. Plus that 'tache is terrible.

I'm not totally opposed to giving his work another look, I've still got a boxset of a few of his films on my Amazon wishlist (which I use as a list of stuff that I might buy in the future). I don't know, things with eyes just creep me out, it was the shock of it all at first (I didn't know anything about the film at all).

For Bunuel, I've only seen a bit of Un Chien Andalou and that was enough for me (anyone else who has seen or has read about it can figure out what I mean). That kind of put me off looking into his work more. I am a fan of Melville though, I would personally go for either Bob Le Flambeur or Le Samourai first although Le Cercle Rogue is good as well. Melville isn't for everyone though, his films have very little dialogue (especially Silence de la Mer & Le Cercle Rogue) and build up slowly. I like them but I know a few people who found the style frustrating. Out of interest, why didn't you like There Will Be Blood?

I don't know about the US but in the UK, they can legally can choose not to accept anything over a certain ammount in pennies. It's a discretionary thing here although I presume they can still change it over at a bank. That being said, paying in pennies is just petty when taken to this extreme.

Yeah, first and second years are simple, you can coast through them with a minimal effort. For me things picked up a bit in third year in terms of workload and difficulty. Fourth year was hell, too much work. I didn't organise my time well so over the last month or so I barely slept because I had to grind out a lot of work in little time. Even if I had organised myself better, I would have still had a big job to get everything done. I was really lucky I didn't need to work during my fourth year or I'd have had no chance.