realitytrumpsbull's Comments (219)

“Well, Rabbi, I think there's a fair amount of politics behind Underwear Bomber, and the rest of them, and the common thread is...religion. There are those in the muslim world that would dance the Happy Dance Of Eternal Joy while watching Israel burn. They don't like Israel, they don't like Jews, and they don't like the way the Jews treat the Palestinians, simple as that. But, you probably know all of that. Well, now this religious/international feud has come to the United States. My remedy and suggestion? Instead of trying to psych everyone out, how about we just cancel international air travel for a year or so, until the folks overseas finally decide that maturity, civility, and reason are a fair price to pay for coming to our country? I don't think Americans should be asked to pay(and we're talking BILLIONS upon billions, here) to essentially re-host a longstanding international feud involving middle eastern countries, along religious lines or otherwise. While we're on the subject of things like travel, and immigration, whatever became of old Rabbi Herschel, and those tasty Kosher Meth-Dogs? How about the New Jersey Rabbi Mafiosi? I think there's been a lot of crooked international business, over the years, and I think giving the pilots and ground crew and everyone else involved at all these international airports a year off would be a GREAT way to deal with the whole problem, at minimum expense, and risk, to Americans.”

“As an American, I'm disgusted with California, not only with the amount of dope they apparently smoke, but also with the way that they handle things like illegal immigration, and the world's 5th largest economy turned out to be America's #1 disappointment, when it turned out that it was all based on a bunch of hyperinflated real estate prices, and leeching billions out of the federal government to pay for all their blue-sky social programs. Some people say California is a haven for foreign-sympathizing liberal communists, and people that just plain wouldn't make it anywhere else. I think it says quite a lot about CA that the Okies are packing up, and moving home. If CA wasn't on federal life support, they'd be out of business, simple as that.”

“Pinki, are all the people that are in prison there because they broke the law? If so, what else would you do with them, and why should we be ashamed? Apparently we have a lot of criminals running around in this country, and they eventually end up in trouble with the law, hence the prison sentence.
One way to reduce the prison population is to bring back capital punishment. But, I don't think that'll happen, and I don't think they'll start letting people out of prison wholesale for budget reasons, either. Instead, I think we'll see bigger prisons, and more of them, and more police, and more video cameras, and and and. Jobs for America, right?”

“I say legalize drugs, and only put people in a courtroom based on their actions. I think drugs are mishandled in our society anyway, people are going to smoke, snort, shoot, eat, whatever it is they're going to do, they're going to do it anyway, obviously the legal system is no real deterrent to that, so, decriminalize whatever it is, and figure out a better way to deal with drug use and addiction, including open consideration of the Swiss 'just step over the dead bodies' model. Drug use is a choice, no one held a gun to your head and forced you to do what it is you're doing. I think public education is a lot more effective than jail cells. And, if you fill all the jail cells with people on possession charges, well, what's left for the car thieves, burglars, muggers, rapists, not to mention white-collar criminals?”

“Well, maybe if you got the train going FAST enough, and put pontoons and some kind of ground effects on it, and a diesel turbine in the last car to keep the whole thing moving, you could just kind of glide across at least small bodies of water?”

“That sounds VERY cool. China just built a high-speed train. They've got the 'haps' over there. That's probably why so many US companies are relocating.”

“Why doesn't The Government just build mega-mega high capacity prisons, tended exclusively by robots, with private cells for people who have a violent strain of the politics disease? Take care of two problems in one throw, cure homelessness, and unemployment, jobs for America building and tending more prisons, and, as a bonus, get socio-political malcontents off the street. Win-win-win, there.”

“I think the United States and Europe should grow opium poppies, and marijuana plants, on a commercial scale, and put em out of business. Maybe when they can't make a buck smuggling smack or hash etc. into modern countries where all the users are, anymore, they'll go back to herding goats or something. Right.

Drug use is a medical/social problem, not a crime. Trafficking in drugs, smuggling millions of dollars out of this country to points far and distant overseas, or as close to home as Mexico, has a destabilizing and deleterious effect on those countries. So, legalize the stuff, at least short-term, and put these people out of business, and unburden the citizens of those countries from the task of having to support European and American drug addicts. Put American/European farmers to work doing something helpful to society and to themselves during this recession. That's my view.”

“I'm for alternatives so we can end THIS particular business-at-gunpoint model, if, in fact, that's the 'deal', here.. This is the 21st century, Iraq is as good a reason as any to work to make petroleum obsolete as our sole energy source, or at least give it some good healthy competition. The technology's out there, Japan's made terrific inroads on it, GE's working on stuff, GM's working on stuff, Ford, there's even a company in CA called Tesla motors. Someday, that big ol' 18-wheeeeeee-lerrrr won't be powered by imported diesel fuel, and that'll be a happy day for America, and the rest of the world, too, because we're not the only country in this world with a killer oil habit that just won't quit.”

“Ok, you say Al Queda is about Zionism. Here's what I find on Zionism:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zionism
"Zionism (Hebrew: ציונות‎, Tsiyonut) is the international political movement that originally supported the reestablishment of a homeland for the Jewish people in the Land of Israel."

Is that what this is all about, trying to evict Israel? A protracted religious/social feud originating in the Middle East, and our country's now a target as a result? So they think they've got the right to wreak mayhem and create havoc, just on account of Israel's being there? Frankly, I think it's sad. Sure, Israel's a young country, formed officially in 1948, and from then until now, people have been trying to kill each other over the whole thing. But, Israel already fought their war of independence. Then they got in another war. And, another war. And, another one after that. And...the saga continues, and eventually the neighbors are going to have to come to a point of agreement about the whole thing, because if there's one thing they appear to know how to do in Israel, it's how to win wars.

Will we see peace in the middle east, in our time? Only if outside agitators choose the high road, and leave well enough alone, and let the people who'll ultimately become neighbors shake hands and get to know each other, minus the guns and the bullets and the fist-shaking.”

“How do you end a war that was never officially declared to begin with? I think that's part of this whole debate, because if you don't start, how can you stop? The 'war' lever is wedged halfway on, and there's sparks and smoke coming out of the political process, as a result. Maybe they replaced the Constitutional on/off switch for war with a rheostat? Now we'll have mood wars, dim, but comforting? Waffles, anyone? I was against rheostats before I was for them. Sort of. But not really. In a way. On Thursdays, for about an hour. Something like that.”

“I just find myself wistfully wishing for the liberties of yesteryear before all the airports became East German colonies...back when they had a smoking section on planes. Too bad no one's invented time travel, yet, 'cause I'd jump right in that baby, and dial it up for oh, about 1985, maybe a little before, before all this international retardation took over. Of course, I think people took more pains with their manners back then. Those were the days..(cue Edith)”

“I believe it was John Dillinger who remarked, 'you get more cooperation with a smile AND a gun, than with just a smile'. Some people don't respect diplomats and politicians, and would just as soon use them for target practice as talk to or listen to them. Some people, and countries, are violent. It's part of their lives, it's part of their culture. Will they ever be like our country, where violence as a way of doing business is frowned on, nay, even illegal? Maybe. But, then again, how peaceful a country are we, when it comes right down to it? What lies beneath? Dare we scratch the thin veneer, and explore?”

“I think the jury's still out on the 'empire' thing, and we're the closest thing the world has to an empire, at the moment, so we're kind of the focal point of political hate and discontent in that dept. For now. Give it 5 years, when the dollarpeso isn't the world's reserve currency anymore, then they'll be complaining about somebody else. That's change I can believe in, because other countries are sort of overdue, in my view, to stand up and take issue with some of their own problems, for a change, instead of constantly relying on the United States to take out the trash. I think we should invest our time, and money, and so forth, on re-establishing some of the old political and economic independence. We're 12 or so trillion in debt, with no end to that in sight, whatever happened to the old peace dividend we were supposed to get after the Cold War ended? Or, did it ever really end? Trillion-dollar annual military spending, and we're not an empire. Ok..”

“Well, maybe one reason for that is that you'll always have people in this world that are unhappy about something. Question is, are they going to get violent about it, and work up some kind of evil plot and hurt people over whatever happens to be piquing their collective ire at the moment?

Life sucks, sometimes, and you have to figure out how to change your circumstances so that it at least sucks LESS. Sure, offing yourself in the name of the Invisible Man is one way to precipitate social change, but it's likely to be the kind of social change that involves swarms of people dressed up in police uniforms because the public demands that they do so. Just because YOUR life, or your perception of life is a pile of @#$#, doesn't give you the excuse to do something like that.”

“I think the issue of 'sexual McCarthyism'(my term) goes far beyond simple issues of age of consent. Like it or not, sex is a um, 'touchy' issue in this country, especially if it involves marital infidelity(Tiger Woods scandal), or politicians(playing footsie, Monica Lewinski) Ooo, big scandal. And, scandals are the meat and potatoes of the media, if someone can be fired for sexual impropriety of some kind, hey, job opening, no, the entire issue speaks to how UNliberated people in this country still are, as far as sex is concerned.

Roman Polanksi: He fed his underage date some dope, and had his way with her. Most people would call that rape, not just rape, but statutory rape, and the authorities in California would still like to talk to Mr. Polanski about the whole thing.

Do people play games, entrapment games, try to enforce their religious morals on other people, get other people fired? You betcha. Is it THAT big of a deal? Depends on who you ask. But, until the laws change, 15 will get you 20, better safe than sorry.”

“Question: Is 'al queda' REALLY 'al queda'? Why would someone join it to begin with? Who are these people, what are some example stories of the people that did join it, what was their reasoning for doing so? Will the REAL al queda please stand up and make public account for yourself? Maybe there's a misinterpretation or two ,misunderstanding, mislabeling, deliberate, or otherwise, in all of this. Blanket labels get assigned to groups of people, some fit, some don't, but all can be misleading, because of the nature of people themselves. How much do we honestly know, or for that matter, even respect, about Afghanis? Are we being Good Germans about the war/occupation in Afghanistan? Things are not always as they seem. Still, the question stands, why would someone join al queda, what do they hope to accomplish? I guess the only people that know the answers to that question are the ones who might not really want any part of the west, and therefore, aren't about to tell us. But, until we answer them, or someone can honestly, accurately, thoroughly and truthfully answer them, then there'll still be a big question mark floating around up there, the joker in the deck, as it were. Time to check the bulbs in the Bat-signal...”

“In a way, Underwear Bomber has done this country a big favor, in spite of himself. By doing what he did, he made the rest of them look like the losers that they are, vengeful, childish, and thankfully, amateurish. But, will the next one be that foolish? Will the next malcontent just have an 'accident' on the plane, albeit a fiery one? To kill oneself in such fashion is to try, I believe, to make a statement about 'society'. You want to break it, you want to burn it down, you want to kill it, just can't tolerate it anymore, for whatever reason.

Will they ever stamp out terrorism, or be able to smother it with their hands, as happened on that flight? Probably not, but the more people do this stuff, the more that is learned about it, the more countries that start looking/watching out for problems themselves, the better chance we'll have of putting a damper on it. We all have to live here, we don't all believe or look or act the same or even speak the same language, but as the world gets subjectively smaller due to population growth, we're going to have to learn how to get along.”

“This article mentions the UPI and the Moonies, and the Moonies have lost membership, influence, and so forth. But, expand on the topic a little, to go with some of the criticisms of WP here, how credible is ANY 'news' source?
'News' is second-hand information, at best. It's the old business of 'consider the source'. If you're lucky, the person writing the article(s) you're reading graduated from journalism school. Press credentials are probably about as easy to fake as religious credentials, and there's no telling what kind of motivation people have for saying various things, and some people are unashamed propagandists for or against this or that. So, reader beware. Never take anything you read as the gospel truth. Ask questions, cross-reference, look for details, accuracy, development of ideas, learn the difference between an opinion piece and traditional reporting, what might be a concealed sales pitch, unprofessional work, flat-out disinformation, that kind of thing. News is supposed to inform us of the events of the day, not tell us how to view things, or shape public opinion, or whatever else might go on in the editor's office. The internet has helped put paid to some media shenanigans, but also opened up the door for private parties to engage in their own. Enjoy!”

“Hey, I'm for that, put some academic discipline back in the halls of higher ed. If people are going to spend their time screwing around, joining secret societies or running around and shaking their fists or whatever, hey, looks like they just found a place to build a new Wal-Mart.”

“I don't know, to me the whole business with campus politics and radicalism just says 'budget cuts'. I think if you're going to go to colllege, you need to pick a major, crack the books, and spend your time working towards your degree. In one sense, you could look at politics as a virus, if the education system were a computer system. And, viruses take up hard drive space, interfere with the normal operations of the system, corrupt files, steal system resources, make everything run slower, and in extremis, can even crash the system.

Taxpayers pay a lot of money to support all these colleges. If they're going to be misused, or used for other than intended purposes, if the administrators in charge of the places really don't take their job seriously, and take issue with disruptions, then shut them down. The 1960's are over. Right now, this country is in the toilet, and part of the reason for that is all this politics stuff. What's more, if you drill right down into it, good old SEIU is involved in 'education', job security there, and they're involved in state government, and they're involved in healthcare, and the SEIU likes to play politics. The SEIU head, Mr. Stern, was also trying to work out a deal with impeached governor Blagojevich, on who to sell(that's 'SELL') Obama's old job to. My view? Start cutting off government funding for colleges. Take down the bird feeder.”

“All this political garbage going on at college campuses sure does make a great case for taking down the old bird feeder...where's the college dean, where's the school administrator, when it comes time to eject people off campus and send em home for trying to hijack the institution and turn it into their political headquarters or whatever? Do you think after Underpants Bomber, countries will start getting stingier with the old student visas?”

“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Tillman

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/03/AR2005050301502.html

http://abcnews.go.com/US/case-fratricide-killed-pat-tillman/story?id=2212545

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20091106_happy_birthday_pat_tillman/”

“The Real Question is, will China skippity-skip down the golden path of fascism, with all this newfound wealth, authority, and military-building capability? Welcome to-Du-lac, such a per-fect town, here we've got-some-rules let us lay-them-down...”

“The real winners of a US-centric energy economy will be Americans. The rest of the world needs to start doing more to fare for themselves, including fending off invaders and others, and we need to figure out what it's going to take to get this country OUT of debt, and by stopping the flow of money to overseas entities, benign or otherwise, we'll start closing in on that goal, providing the people at our Treasury don't just keep printing indiscriminately, as they have. I think that another advantage of US energy is that we'll start watching Johnny come marching home, up and out of the middle east, once no one really cares how much oil is there(other countries can make their own natural gas, too), maybe the people that live there will be able to fill in the bunkers and the bomb craters and bullet holes and be able to live their lives more civilly, without worrying which international entity is going to try to take over their country THIS week.

Next time: Why the War On Drugs should be resolved the same way. Americans CAN grow their own dope.”