BlueLancer

I suppose the obligation to treat people would be the difficulty (although, if I remember correctly, some teenager in Australia refused a blood transfusion for religious reasons after being attacked by a shark [not sure which religion] :? ). Yep, once while walking downtown, some guy gave me some 5-page pamphlet. Turned out he was trying to recruit for the Jevoha's Witnesses. I remember reading one of the core JW beliefs is that a human shouldn't accept blood from another person; Rather even dying. Feel free to believe anything, but blood transplants do save a lot of human lives... Sad to lose your life over that :? Even muslims are allowed to eat pork if their life depends on it and they're starving to death...

I mean how can you state "I was under the impression that the basic freedoms came with the caveat that exercising your liberties should not negatively impact someone else's ability to do the same." this as true? Why should expressing our freedoms not limit the freedoms of others? Insane... Let's assume you were, say, a filipino. Would I be free to express my opinions to people and convince them to beat up & rob filipino stores (just as happened to jews during the "crystal night" in Germany)? No, the moment I incite someone to limit and deprive other people of their freedom, my own freedom loses it's base and I'm open to similar retaliation from filipinos+ other angry people who don't agree with me. Nobody wants their own freedom limited -> Common sense dictates people should be prohibited from using their freedom to limit that of other people -> The law in most countries now places arrest warrants and fines for public racism and inciting to hate crimes. Read up more on the US Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 H.R.1592 In the UK, not only is racial incitement to hatred banned, it's also being extended to hate incitement towards gay people punishable with up to 7 years in prison. The Westborough church would be all locked up already if they lived in the UK.

Use that link supplied by abyssal_whip ( http://forum.tip.it/viewtopic.php?t=516149 )

Hi, Post here. http://forum.tip.it/viewtopic.php?t=144061

If Iran, or any other country for that matter, made an open attack on U.S. soil, I believe the government would launch enough nuclear missiles to reduce the entire country to a smouldering pile of ash. (This is not sarcasm, I am being 100% serious.) If there were US soldiers occupying Iran and an attack on those soldiers was officially sanctioned by the Iranian government, I believe the U.S. would invade Iran (in a way this course of action would be both justice and misjustice.) Because it obviously makes strategic sense to massacre an entire country, make the world's 5th largest oil exporter uninhabitable for a century and destroying all it's infrastructure. Why do you think the US never retaliated against Saudi Arabia even though Osama himself is a Saudi and so were the 9/11 hijackers? Saudi Arabia produces 4 gigabarrels of oil every year (600 million tons). They have nearly more oil reserves than all the other countries of the world combined. The US will never attack Saudi Arabia or any other middle-eastern country with nuclear weapons. Iraq is the world's 3rd oil richest country, and a ridiculously easy target due to their outdated military under Saddam's rule. But hey, they're in the middle east, and they have a bad dictator. Let's blame them for 9/11 and claim credit for purge terrorism from the world. Read the CIA world factbook entry on Saudi Arabia's export partners. Yep, guess who's the biggest importer of their products (along with Japan which direly needs it). Hint: The product is not sand or electronic devices. By buying american gasoline, you directly fund palaces, women, booze, and private soccer stadiums for the 3000-or-so Saudi princes who own all those shell corporations. Oh those Quran-abiding sympathetic princes.

Is the only band that I listened to, which sounded decent live. I'm convinced to group with friends and go to a concert sometimes... Even if I like the artists, sometimes the live performance ruins the song :cry: Crackling voice & weak guitar solos FTL... Yeah, yeah.. I know the finalized MP3 has like 10 layers of voice and is heavily studio edited, but still...

Yes, the world essentially works like that. But some laws do make sense, such as those that prohibit killing. Even gangs, which operate in societies where their existence is not tolerated, have developed honor codes and take precautions before killing someone. Laws that guard basic human rights make common sense, group together any 5 or more people and they will naturally come to the same conclusion. You don't want to get murdered/your child abducted -> Others don't want it either -> Put restrictions on those activities, which will be obeyed by most reasonable people -> Punish people who don't obey it. As mentioned in the gang example, even these lawless groups will kill members within it that cause too much trouble or draw excessive attention to the group, such as members who will murder without a motive or benefit for "fun". It doesn't make sense to allow people to kill for fun just like people can play football or have a picnic for fun... If even bands of criminals (who do kill though, but with financial motives) despise random murderers, child abusers/molesters, etc... Why shouldn't a moral society consisting of ordinary law-abiding citizens despise them?

The BBC operates the universally-agreed best world news service on this planet. Not only that, but it's funded by our tax payer's money. In theory, it is the ' British people's channel'. There is absolutely no way they would host something which isn't 100% backed up and get away with it. I'm sorry to say this, but that's something no American news provider has ever shown any understanding of. You can offend us for many things, but the BBC, and NHS for that matter, are things which even non-patriotic people such as myself take much pride in. =D> Well said. Agreed as well, BBC is watched in every corner of the world, and it's not because it has "liberal bias" or is against certain nations or religions. BBC is so popular around the globe because it's neutral and it even reports on sensitive issues (including information which is not beneficial to the UK or the US). I've also looked at their news as a credible source of information over the years.

Why on earth would an airplane company allow religious swords on a flight? :lol: It's a razor sharp object regardless of what you call it... I hope you can't cite a company which actually allows those while on-board. Some companies even remove passengers who pray while on board (in a manner which is clearly visible to everyone) so I'd have a hard time believing the sword thing. They escorted the guy out before the plane even ascended.

HIV test blood donors=problem solved? :? If I needed blood and knew it'd keep me alive, couldn't care less if it came from a straight person, a lesbian, or a starving unicorn. I feel especially bad for those people who have rare blood types and risk death due to idiotic policies like this. 0.6% of americans have HIV/AIDS while about 10% of american males and females are gay. Not to mention, gay people aren't the only people catching those diseases even if they're at an increased risk. Straight, "average" people have the disease as well (as well as persons of Haitian origin, for some reason) It's biased/irrational homophobia and should be removed from legislation. Ban fat people from being blood donors next because their blood may have been affected by high cholesterol from the fatty foods they eat?! As outlined, it's not just gay people who have HIV. While the disease is in 'window period' for some people, it's impossible to know who have it. Theoretically any donor could have it.

You must feel bad now... Bringing a music player to school, serious offense. :lol: I thought that's legal in most "normal" schools anyways... Most people have broken/break some rule while in school... I did as well...

The lolcat genesis was somewhat funny :lol:.. But then again you wont get it if you're not familiar with 'lolcat' spam pictures. Still, this thread is just spam as well. Post things like this here: http://forum.tip.it/viewtopic.php?t=144061 (Or if you have videos/youtube stuff in the future, here: http://forum.tip.it/viewtopic.php?t=561170 )

1. You can't just think a person/group of people are "stupid" and punch them out. You'll end up with charges and probably jail time. You don't have that freedom in any country of the world. 2. True, but you must tell them why you think they're wrong. For example, I think innocent people shouldn't be killed or robbed. Another person can tell me I'm wrong, sure, but he will have a very hard time explaining why my stance is less correct than his. You can be wrong or do wrong in a lot of vague and broad things like politics, sure, there are many solutions and sometimes, even the leaders, representatives, kings and presidents can be wrong. You can be wrong when raising a child and taking the wrong approach sometimes. You can be wrong when it comes to sports, chess, etc. strategy. It's difficult to be perfect and please everyone and make all the correct moves. Sometimes another person can tell you what's the right thing to do, and if it makes sense and I realize I'm wrong, I'll change my ways. But there are certain moral and ethical issues which don't make sense to be contested, like the right to live peacefully & not be murdered. Sure you can excercise your "freedom" to mock morals & ethics just because you can, but it will make you look dumb and un-informed, and you further a cause which has disadvantage towards you and the entire society around you.

I disagree. China imports a lot of stuff, like oil. They need it to supply their economy and massive population base. I think they need the US's money more than teh US needs it products, which it could probably make up with increased spending in Japan and Taiwan. You'd think they would prefer to buy from a non-communist country, especially with their political mindset. China doesn't need anything from the USA (it's not like the US is an exporter oil either, which it desperately needs itself). China has so much money they have over $1.4 trillion ($1400 billion) dollars in foreign reserve accounts just sitting there. If anything, the US needs cheap labour & manufacturing of products China provides. Cellphones, car parts, electronics & almost all household appliances are manufactured in China instead of the US for a reason. An american worker would demand to get paid at least $20,000 a year to do a simple assembly job that a chinese worker will do for $3,000 a year. If americans didn't have the chinese to do it's work cheap, their economy would be much poorer due to hugely increased employee costs -> Decreased profit margins. Sure, it "needs" american money, but they have substitutes as well. Japan, the EU, Australia, African countries, South America, Russia... All buy merchandise and goods from China. The country can manage economically even if USA bought nothing from them. Economics has nothing to do with political mindsets. If there's profit or advantage to be made the US will deal with hardline dictators and self-proclaimed presidents for life, regardless of their 'political' stance. Not to mention China is only nominally communist; It's practically a capitalistic society already, except it retains a single-party political system.

According to dictionary.com, a word is So it's just a tool of communication you mark with symbols when you can't speak (such as in an online discussion), or speak when you can't use written symbols (such as in a direct debate). About the second part... I really am confused about what you exactly mean :shock:

Yes, just as the theory of relativity is a theory. "Theory" doesn't mean 'unproven'. A theory is either valid or invalid. The two theories mentioned above are valid theories and their content cannot be disproven. For example, from the article: Other valid theories include Field theory (mathematics), Evolution theory (science), Chaos theory (probability & odds, but disputed in economics occassionally) There are thousands of theories, some are mere hypothesis' while others are already proven by empirical evidence & studies to be correct.

Hi 8-) Post here if you leave the forums (or re-enter them for that matter): http://forum.tip.it/viewtopic.php?t=594522

A topic like this can only breed flaming and hateful messages. Good point that not all things should be taken literally. You can't judge a religion by 1 insane man literally removing his hand based on what a book tells him to do, though. That could apply to almost any religion with more-or-less bizarre requirements that reasonable adherents choose not to obey.

I feel this is because of human beings' nature, our nature is to be barbaric. Something modern day society tries its best to prevent; but riots, protests are all shows of how a majority of humans are still barbaric on the inside. How is standing up for things you think are important "barbaric"? :lol: It gives the politicians a message that the people care about a certain issue... Sometimes, people take the power which belongs to them by force or violent riots (or even coups, replacing an entire system of power) The United States itself is a protest against British rule and having to pay taxes overseas. I guess the colonial people should've just been "civilized" and continue paying homage to some king they've barely even heard of.

He's right, so what is there to 'correct' about his facts? How many helicopter gunships, airplanes, heavy artillery and tanks do the palestinian militants have again, compared to the Israeli "Defence" Forces who shell the Gaza strip/West Bank? Was that 0? They are practically defending themselves with 'sticks and stones', (and sometimes literally armed only with stones against tanks) compared to the IDF weaponry. Civilians and children die all the time while IDF searches homes and bombs entire towns for "suspected terrorist leaders" and militants. What would you do if that was your child? Just praise Israel for it's efforts? Wow, those pesky terrorist, unhuman monsters. They should just suck up the attacks against their own population and accept it silently, just like the Americans did when Pearl Harbor was attacked, just like the Finnish when the Russians shelled their towns...

Wrong forum, but the above poster answered your question. :)

Plenty of speculation already exists on that picture.

I can understand some of the complaints though; the F-secure install takes some 200mb of disk space and about 80,000k of RAM while running. :? I still have the CD but will never install it back again, last used it in 2005. There's plenty of effective and working firewalls & antiviruses that don't hog space on your HD or steal ridiculous amounts of RAM. Outpost firewall+ad-aware+AVG antivirus=free protection from pretty much anything.

I've done that a lot in the past. :) Yes it might sound 'bizarre' to wake up and start your day with a breakfast at 2AM, but to some people it's a real solution. Go to sleep at 6PM, wake up at night, and live through the day without any kind of tiredness whatsoever....

Well he does have a good point when questioning his own catholic faith: As for his OBE's... You'd just have to take his word for it instead of thinking he was most likely hallucinating.