Ginger_Warrior

I don't recall saying violence is always a bad thing. I just said it disturbs me how violent and spiteful some of the sentiments in this thread are. You've killed a convicted murderer. So what? You've still got around about the same chance of being murdered/raped/shot dead as you did before. In some ways it's like the whole 'we should know where local paedophiles are' debate. It makes you no safer, it's just society feeling they have to get even instead of getting on with their lives undisturbed like normal. As far as the Cold War goes, both sides were literally minutes away from nuclear war at some points.

If they were actual friends, as in proper friends, I'd agree with ya trips. But given they've only just made up after a relationship between them broke down, and the fact he has certain other feelings that she knows about, him getting involved with her private choices just gives off the impression he wants to control her life. If he gets involved here, it's all gonna blow up in his face. I mean, there's another thing. We don't even know the situation between the two of them. Why did they split up in the first place?

It's her body; she can do what she wants with it. If you think it's doing her damage, tough. So long as she doesn't do it around you, you've nothing to complain about.

I certainly felt like that when I was around girls' houses. When I was at home I was a little bit more open because I'm in a familiar environment but it still felt awkward. It felt like people prying into to mine and her conversations, even if they weren't all that private, was an invasion of my personal life. If they're a family friend, the conversation's not really a part of my personal life anyway. :lol: Then, I feel awkward talking to people anyway.

And go where? I don't believe for one minute every single shell hits a building, and that every piece of rubble lands perpendicular to the building it fell from. Do you honestly believe Israel has made every possible effort to avoid civilian casualties here? I believe they've done the best the could without compromising the operation. What on Earth does that mean? I suppose even Mugabe could turn round and say, "Well, I'm avoiding deaths from cholera as much as possible without compromising my political status". If Israel is preventing civilian casualties as much as possible, why have they closed Gaza's north-south road between Gaza City and the south? That's clearly stopping civilians from escaping. In fact, I believe there's a rule in Geneva about preventing civilians from escaping a war zone (not that Bush would know about Geneva).

Guns are violent. They're also necessary. Millions would disagree. Bad example to draw comparisons with.

And go where? I don't believe for one minute every single shell hits a building, and that every piece of rubble lands perpendicular to the building it fell from. Do you honestly believe Israel has made every possible effort to avoid civilian casualties here?

What's the point in a warning if you've nowhere to run? The territory is split in two with the IDF surrounding on land. No chance of escaping the blockade by land. There's no operational airport in the Gaza Strip, and even if there was, the IDF have air supremacy. The Navy have superiority in the sea. No chance of escape that way. I'm not really seeing much chance of escape here. If Israel cared for citizens escaping the conflict, they'd have persuaded Egypt to open its border, or better yet, not used excessive force on an area smaller than the Isle of Wight.

It really disturbs me sometimes how... violent this community is sometimes. How on Earth can you discuss how best to murder someone through capital punishment, and not talk about drugs in the same place?

Stone Roses - She Bangs The Drums. *Adds to loved tracks*

Naast; Daft Punk; Superbus. Here's a list of all the francophone genres on Last.fm

I might be pessimistic, but today's gonna be bad. I can just feel it. :?

A developed nation, as Israel is constantly referring to itself as compared to Palestine, should exhaust all peaceful options before considering military force. Israel did not exhaust all its options. It should also use proportionate force in war so as to avoid as many civilian casualties as possible. Israel has not - 100 Arabs for each Israeli can hardly be deemed proportionate. Even if you accept that Israel is achieving its objective of stopping the rocket attacks (which it isn't... the number of rocket attacks even now is around the same as it was before the conflict), the move is wholly unjustified. Israel hasn't even laid down conditions under which it would accept a ceasefire, except from "stop rocket attacks", which could frankly mean anything. Reoccupation of the Gaza Strip? Total war against Palestine? "Stop rocket attacks" is the goal, yet the IDF seems to have no tangible method of achieving it; but in the meantime it seems only happy to take innocent life while blaming Hamas for the war.

While I don't support capital punishment, it annoys me how some people use prison sentences to essentially do the same thing. I get the feeling sometimes there's this petty need for retribution in society. Such hatred and anger helps no one, in my eyes. The idea that I, not having any detailed knowledge of the law, can decide in a hypothetical scenario whether someone deserves to lose their life because of the crime they've committed is equally as arrogant and silly, too.

I dunno if this counts, but I'd make organ donation opt-out, instead of opt-in as it currently stands. The NHS is flirting with the idea.

They don't understand themselves either, probably. You're all dealing with urges you've never experienced before. Solution: learn to resist.

Well, I think you're both entitled to your opinions but nonetheless I do not think they're representative of the majority at all. Western society, especially Britain, has a huge problem with people going out and drinking to get drunk, to the point where eight out of ten people in emergency units will be there because of an alcohol-related injury. They're the kind of people who will drink 10 pints of Stella in the knowledge it gets everyone drunk cheaply, completely oblivious to: a) Its taste; B) The effect it's gonna have in a few hours time. Something tells me, maybe common sense, that the vast majority of people on a night out in town will not give a flying hoot about whether their drinks taste pleasant. It's not why they're out in the first place. Our society promotes escaping problems, not confronting them - alcohol merely provides the path to escapism. And if we're talking about those who take a glass of wine or two a night to relieve the everyday stress of working life, they're probably even worse when it comes to alcoholism than the aforementioned group of binge-drinkers.

This is another attitude that winds me up about people living in Israel. The idea that nobody but the Israelis can possibly understand the situation in the Middle East, and therefore only the Israelis know what's best and what's acceptable. Israel exists because of a British Mandate, and I've studied modern history in further education. I'm not ignorant, and I am perfectly capable of understanding a situation for myself. Oh, remind me, what exactly did you gain from the Lebonese conflict? Just how crucial was it? Then stop the war. There is no need for it. I too was also told that our actions in Iraq were in the interests of saving innocents lives, but I still opposed it. Firstly, it's counter productive. Unless you go for total victory, this will increase the rocket attacks in correlation with sympathy for Hamas, not decrease them. It will also increase the levels of anti-Semitism in the Palestinian territories. Diplomatically, it makes Israel weaker since most countries in the area support the Palestinians. The only way this helps the Israeli government is because fools like you think it's a wise course of action to pick wars which antagonise hostiles in an already volatile situation.

If you knew me you'd know I'm one of the most unsettled persons going, despite the calm façade I present to others around me.

An argument is usually defunct if both sides cannot justify their respective positions. Hence, I suppose starving them to death with a "food crisis" (UN) is a justifiable response to Hamas' rocket attacks, no?

Well, I want to play. But alas, I cannot. :(

If it was a girl, Sinead. If I was a girl, I'd have been named that.

Hey, hey, hey! Didn't I get in trouble from you by saying something just like this? :lol: You did? I'm 18; opinions are likely to change with me by the day. I think the last time we discussed alcohol I was teetotal. ;)

Yeah, but the only thing the Steelers have right now is a great defence which keeps them in games by a thread for the offence to steal the game in the final quarter. The reason the Steelers lost the game a few weeks back against the Titans is because the Titans can get through the Pittsburgh defence, and because Ben was getting sacked and fumbling the ball way too many times. He needs to improve, and the concussion scare is hardly gonna help him. I support the Steelers more than any other NFL team, but I don't rate them in this year's playoffs.

That's not the point he was making. The point he was making is that very few people in western culture take alcohol for its taste - it's something you take to lose inhibitions and "let your hair down". If I wanted a good tasting drink, just take Pepsi. Seriously. Alcohol isn't meant to taste nice.