1_man_army

The ironic thing is that Japan is actually stockpiling huge quantaties of frozen whale meat as it sells so poorly. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/inside-a-japanese-whale-market/story-e6freuy9-1111115635185

Yes your analogy is weak considering that you're actually talking about a parsitic relationship which has nothing to do with commerce and you know excactly what I meant when I referred to animals you were trying to be clever. Your bear argument is laughable and irrelevant also. I don't mind disagreeing with people on these forums (it's a daily occurence for me) but to say that the extinction and near-extinction of many of these whale species is a natural phenomenon is nonsense. In the natural world animals tend to kill other species for sustenance and over territorial issues, mass commercial whaling doesn't fall into either category.

Do you see animals killing on an industrial scale for commerce in nature? Do you see animals killing en masse for oil to use in consumer products? I didn't think so either.

For a lot of years Haiti was looted by foreigners and it's own leaders - foreiegn companies almost completely deforested Haiti (2% of the land is forrest) which destroyed the soil and ruined it's agriculture. For many years Haiti was ruled by one despot after another who were never keen to pass the aid money on to the people. Ultimately during the Cold War the various leaders of Haiti were bribed with aid money not to "go Red". On top of that, those same despots, especially Papa Doc, ran up huge debts on top of much of the $21Bn Haiti still owed to France for it's independence. Unfortunately, things haven't recovered since. Thankfully that has began to change since Haiti achieved democracy in the 90's but building an economy basically from the ground up takes time, I agree that the Haitian government has to do more to build it's economy but it won't happen overnight. All that is an argument for another day though, what is happening right now is a humanitarian crisis that is being made much worse by the economic problems of Haiti. We can all argue about the long term building of Haiti's economy and how the US, EU, IMF and the World Bank should or shouldn't contribute. However, the fact of the matter is that there is a humanitarian crisis that needs to be sorted out and as much as I like to criticise America's foreign policy, you guys do have a great capacity to help in these situations

Where was America when Hurricane Katrini hit? Seriously though, what sort of contribution do you think Haiti could have possibly made to the Katrina relief effort?

As far as I remember, a lot of Spanish names comprise of two surnames as wel as their given name/ first name.

Well I found a couple of things: * A boxer who was a 3 times Golden Gloves winner and then the Super Bantamweight world champion in 1989 who was knocked out by Erik Morales (who I am a fan of) in 1995. *An actor who has starred in Jericho, Flashpoint, CSI Miami, Grey's Anatomy, Ghost Whisperer and The Unit. * A member of New York City Council * A Professor of Political Science Coincidentally, I have an interest in all 3 areas to a degree.

That is very true, we also have the best accent and terms for insulting people.

They don't know how many people have died yet, the 100,000 was an estimate by the Haitian President - that's where the number came from.

Attacking desperate people who are seeking refuge from terrible poverty and repressive regimes, you're a real humanitarian aren't you?

I don't agree with whaling because it is putting numerous whale species at risk of extinction and it is quite needlessly cruel. Japan's excuse of whaling for "research" is a cop out so they can continue to comercially whale. Comparing whaling to the comsumption of other meat isn't a great comparison either; most widely consumed animal meat can be produced without being so needlessly cruel. Also, most meat that is widely consumed doesn't come from endangered animals (as many whale species are). I don't think we should be consuming any species of animals to the extent where they are at risk of extinction. I don't like Traditional Chinese Medicine either for similar. The use of some ingredients in TCM are putting several species of animals at risk of extinction as well.

The press should be able to publish what they want providing that it isn't libelous and isn't hate speech. I think somebody's wider achievements are far more important than one discrepancy thay've committed or flaw they have. Children should admire Tiger Woods (I presume he is the aldulterer you mentioned because he busted his backside to become the greatest golfer in history. Bush and Obama should be admired for their public service and for at least trying to improve things - regardless of whether you agree with their politics - not lambasted for being a former alcholic or a smoker. Would you really not vote for somebody because they have a minor vice which doesn't affect their ability to do the job? Most children don't live in a hermetically sealed world, when you talk about aldultery, smoking and drinking there are far more immediate influences ie. family and friends.

According to the calculator I just used it is 1.4 Fahrenheit. To be fair it is never usually like this, we might get a -5 or even a -10 at most during the winter (except up in the mountains) but -17 is pretty extreme for Britain.

You're right you guys in England are wimpy about the snow, up here we tend to deal with it like real men :razz: . Only in Scotland would a guy still to the pub in just a shortsleeve shirt (the guy passed my house last night). That being said, it is a pain in the backside, I just hope the train and bus I need on Monday is running. Edit - Nick, somewhere in the UK it was -17 celcius. I would say that was cold.

Bought by me today: (includes 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, Eyes Wide Shut and the documentary A Life in Pictures. The actual films are all two disk special editions as well, I like to watch all the extras) Bought for me by family at Christmas:

The study of the origins of words is etymology, this is not the same as the meaning of words. Language is always evolving, think of Shakespearean English - in Shakespeare's era that was standard spoken English. Since then it evolved gradually to what we know know. In a couple of hundred years, the English we speak now will seem archaic.

Clearly, other people disagree with that.

I don't avoid talking to unatractive people, I tend to take people as they come - if people try to be pleasant to me I'll reciprocate. However, if somebody is a pain I'll not try to make an effort to get on with them. Looks only matter when you're looking for something more than friendship for me anyway. I wouldn't know if I did it subconsciously because it would be well...subconscious.

Another difficulty in a free market organ scheme* would be ensuring a steady supply of available organs. Think about it, if people were suddenly allowed to sell their organs there would be an instant glut of available organs as people hurried to cash in but after that there would be a shortage as people who had organs to donate (having already done so). You would still be able to get organs after death but there would be fewer organs to take from the dead overall as many would have already been sold before death. A scheme like this would be unworkable as well as unethical. * What a horrific term.

I don't believe that it's rght to sell organs. Organ selling would dramatically reduce the availability of organs to poorer and even middle class families as prospective donor would rather sell at a premium in their lifetime rather than donate the organs after death. I can only envision a huge rise in the people waiting on the organ transplant list without an available organ because they can't pay for one. I do believe in organ donation to the extent where I think the UK should adopt an opt-out policy. At the moment, you need to actively register as a donor and even then there have been cases or families objecting however, I think you should have to actively ask to be removed from the organ donation register. I think it would increase the number of donors substantially.

Bulk buying is against UK chart rules, it would make it ineligible. So no, they can't.

That just seems to be a waste of good venison to me. Jerky is good but venison is much better when cooked properly.

Undoubtedly, some soldiers are heroes but being a soldier to me doesn't automatically make you a hero. There have been soldiers throughout history who have done cowardly things, I wouldn't call them heroic. For anyone to be classed as a hero they have to do something that is heroic. If somebody in the military does something that is worthy of the term heroic (like an incident which would earn the Victoria Cross here for example) then yes they are a hero but to automatically deem somebody as a hero just because they enlisted seems to be a bit excessive to me. Also I think it's important to acknolwedge the people who do heroic things outside the military, it seems then when people tend to think of heros or heroism it seems to be completely mixed in with war, the military or some form of violence. Again to be abundantly clear, I respect what the military does and the people who do it but they aren't necessarily heroes although some are.

While I think the OP is stuck in the 60's with his view of feminism, I do dislike some elements of feminism. I think it's because it's gone beyond a push for choice and equality for women (which I support) and has become a push towards role reversal. I admit that I might be talking a very small minority of feminists but there undoubtedly is an element that is purely dedicated to bashing men in any way possible. I'd much prefer to see the term equalitism used, feminism implies a form of female domination (as masculinist would with men) - I would prefer to see the sexes treated equally and fairly and I think that the terminology should reflect that more.

I think there is intelligence sharing between NATO nations in regards to terrorism but I think it is dealt with as more of an internal matter for the individual member states...I think.