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Social Discussions / Philosophy and Religion / Re: The Spanish Church
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on: July 01, 2008, 11:47:51 AM
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There is no question that Churches do good work. It is work that governments should be doing (why else do they exist?)
Well, many people in Spain would like that government was doing that job intead of he church. They, generally, also would love it if the Church attended to its matters and stopped interfering with politics. And would love it further if the church was able to stand on tis feet just with believer's doantions. It is specially ironic how the (Spanish Roman Catholic Apostholic) church takes pride of its indoctrination efforts, errr, schooling. Whic, BTW, it's not for free, rather religious schools are private schools and are quite more expensive than public ones. |
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Assistance and Feedback / The Lobbyist (Off Topic) / Shutle Endeavor space mission video footage, live!
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on: March 12, 2008, 02:42:50 PM
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NASA is broadcasting a vidstream of cameras onboard space shuttle Endeavor and the ISS in their current misison, ISS-123. They're plain amazing stuff to see, cameras onboard ISS show the Earth passing by, cameras onboard Endeavor show crew performing tasks, deploying payloads and so... It's really amazing to be able to see that, live, on our PC... Here's a link... http://www.ustream.tv/channel/spacevidcastHere's the embedded vidstream... don't know wether the IAP server allows flash on it. <embed width="416" height="340" flashvars="autoplay=false&brand=embed" src=" http://ustream.tv/CLKz85e3tblbcYAa,QUNZR4J3WSY4W3s.usc" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"> |
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Assistance and Feedback / The Lobbyist (Off Topic) / Shutle Endeavor space misison video, live!
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on: March 12, 2008, 02:42:36 PM
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NASA is broadcasting a vidstream of cameras onboard space shuttle Endeavor and the ISS in their current misison, ISS-123. They're plain amazing stuff to see, cameras onboard ISS show the Earth passing by, cameras onboard Endeavor show crew performing tasks, deploying payloads and so... It's really amazing to be able to see that, live, on our PC... Here's a link... http://www.ustream.tv/channel/spacevidcastHere's the embedded vidstream... don't know wether the IAP server allows flash on it. <embed width="416" height="340" flashvars="autoplay=false&brand=embed" src=" http://ustream.tv/CLKz85e3tblbcYAa,QUNZR4J3WSY4W3s.usc" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"> |
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Political Discussions / Europe and Asia / ETA murders Spanish politician 48 hours before elections
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on: March 07, 2008, 12:34:18 PM
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3507186.eceEarlier today, a former town councillor from the Basque town of Mondragon, Isaias Carrasco (43), has been mortally shot by a presumed terrorist, in the style of terrorist band ETA. Isaias Carrasco had just boarded his car when a tall, muscular man diguised with a beard has shot him five times, hitting his arms, neck and head. Carrasco has been able to step down from his car, mortally wounded, and has collapsed to the ground a few meters apart from the car. The shooter has fled in a car driven by a second criminal. Isaias Carrasco has been taken inmediately to Mondragon's hospital, and has died after several heart failures form which he has been unable to recover. Carrasco's wife and older daughter (20) had rushed out their home afteer listening to the shots, and have met Carrasco laying on the ground, and tried to assist him. Carrasco was married and had three children, two girls aged 20 and 17 and a young boy aged 4. Carrasco had been town councilor at Mondragon's city council until may 2007, when he resigned due to the pressure of terrorist threats on him and his fellow councillors. He had resigned to his bodyguard escort on september 2007, trusting he would be safe after leaving active politics. He was a member of the PSE ( Partido Socialista de Euskadi, Euskadi's Socialist Party), the Basque branch of PSOE. Isaias Carrasco has been the fifth victim in president Zapatero's term, and the first one that has been purposely targetted (two victims were unintended victims to an attack, and the other two were murdered after terrorists accidentally met them and identified them as policemen).
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Political Discussions / The Environment / Re: 100 Climate Scientists Write UN to say Global Warming is Bunk
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on: March 06, 2008, 03:41:40 PM
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Yawn. Wish I had the list of the "100 climate scientists", to check wether they are so or not... Anyway, even if they are, they should know better: in order to debunk the scientific consensus on climate change, the thing to do is to research, publish, and have others research and achieve the same results, all of them effectively debunking the current consensus. They should know that it's not a matter of sending whatever amount of letters to the UN...  |
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Political Discussions / United States / Re: Illinois Campus Shooting!
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on: February 23, 2008, 02:54:30 PM
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I already said this before. Let's say that the chances that a gun owner turned to be a mass killer were one in 10 million over 10 years. With 10 million gun owners, chances would be of once in 10 years. With 100 million owners, chances would be of 10 in 10 years, or 1 in one year. This is a straw man. Find the real statistics on legal gun owners and you'll have a debate. Until then, I'm not going to play this game. I look at some of America's worse shootings/bombings as proof. The vast majority of people who commit these crimes have been diagnosed with a mental disorder - and those that weren't were discovered to have perhaps had one anyway. Meanwhile, the vast majority of legal gunowners are responcible. And the vast majority of murders commited are done so with either an illegally obtained weapon or by an unlisenced individual. Guns in this country don't work cause the system is broken... not cause there ARE guns. I thought the point was clear, but, you dont see it...  Let's try again, Sesame Street-style: AS: Some people owe pet cats THEN: The more people, the more pet cats are owned AS: Some drivers die in fatal car crashes THEN: The more drivers, the more fatal car crashes AS: Some gun owners are mass murderers THEN: The more gun owners, the more mass murderers Is it clearer now?  Then, your only paths of action are two: either you limit the chances that a gun owner turns a mas killer, or limit the overall pool of gun owners. USA are unique in that both ways are fiercely opposed by a same minority. And so there are plenty of gun owners and it's hard to avoid that a gun reaches the wrong hands... looks like the only thing left was to bury the victims and clean up the mess, and forget about it until next time. Does this make sense to you? What's the point in limiting gun manufacturing? Companies shouldn't be punished because people use their product to kill people that don't deserve it. What if I sued RonCo. Knives cause someone used one of his amazing products to filet my sister? Should I sue Ford cause someone ran down my dad? Can I sue SEARS cause my mom was chopped up by an axe wielding mad man? These are rhetorical questions, by the way. I've been talking about people all day, why you talk about gun manufacturers now?  As for "limiting the chances that a gun owner turns a mas killer"... how do you propse we do this? More thorough mental health checks, taking weapons away from people who are diagnosed certain mental diseases, tighter controls on private gun deals (FAI, forbidding to buy and sell guns to/from private individuals)... making it harder for a unchecked potential mass murderer to get a gun as easily as any other sane guy could do. Either you filter and remove nutbags better, or downright make it harder to owe a gun for everyone... |
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Political Discussions / United States / Re: Illinois Campus Shooting!
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on: February 21, 2008, 03:47:08 AM
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It is sensible to have plenty of guns in a country where insane people guns down innocent people? Does this question even make sense? Well, if you purposely want to analyze the situation like a pre-schooler, don't let me stop you... but I wouldn't try that line of reasoning with anyone who has more than half a brain. First of all, the issue is not guns. At all. Guns don't cause shootings. What they do is enable a crazed person to increase his lethality. Guns, however, also increase everyone elses lethality, even a 140 lb. woman with a gun can stand up to a 200 lb. mugger (or rapist... whatever). Since ridding this nation of guns is simply out of the question (not to mention incredibly expensive and dangerous), we allow for people to legally keep them. Things go wrong when mentally disabled people get guns. See, most of the time the person is USUALLY already diagnosed with a mental disorder. This should prevent people from getting a gun. Period. Again, the problem is not guns but rather the people that get them. I already said this before. Let's say that the chances that a gun owner turned to be a mass killer were one in 10 million over 10 years. With 10 million gun owners, chances would be of once in 10 years. With 100 million owners, chances would be of 10 in 10 years, or 1 in one year. Then, your only paths of action are two: either you limit the chances that a gun owner turns a mas killer, or limit the overall pool of gun owners. USA are unique in that both ways are fiercely opposed by a same minority. And so there are plenty of gun owners and it's hard to avoid that a gun reaches the wrong hands... looks like the only thing left was to bury the victims and clean up the mess, and forget about it until next time. Does this make sense to you? |
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Political Discussions / Global and Other Regions / Re: Part of the world is starving to death...
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on: February 20, 2008, 01:32:15 PM
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Actually what is ironical, is that obesity is on the rise in 3rd world countries too. Obesity is soaring in places like Mexico or Egypt, for the simple reason that industrially produced fats and sugars are way more affordable than vegetables and quality proteins. In places like Mexico you can buy 10000 calories of trash food with the price of a kilo of fresh fruit. And you know the delirious bit? Trash food is marketed as luxury products. People who consumes trash food in ads are handsome and wealthy, drive impressive cars, live in large homes... and advertise affordable trash food. A winner mix, and obesity goes hand by hand with child malnourishment not just int he same country.... even in the same family! Obese adults and malnourished children under a same roof, as child can't eat adult food -or eat it, which is even worst.
We live in a really weird world.
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Political Discussions / Europe and Asia / Re: Kosovo Independance
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on: February 20, 2008, 01:18:09 PM
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What do you mean?
I mean that this decision has been taken unilaterally by people from kosovo, but they are part of a country, so it seems to me an illegal decision. Let's imagine London, Paris or Madrid deciding their own independence from the rest of the UK, France or Spain without the consent of the whole country. Well, when Serbian genocided 18,000 kosovars, that was quite a unilateral decission too... |
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Political Discussions / Middle East / Re: Modern Day Terrorism. What is it, and what groups are Involved and Where?
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on: February 15, 2008, 09:18:24 AM
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I think it is a fundamental mistake to assume that all terrorism can be grouped into the same neat package. I disagree with Zee that there are always political reasons behind terrorism. In fact, I think this couldn't be further from the truth. In Europe, most terrorism does revolve around a political goal and while targeting innocents should never be condoned, there are political changes that terrorists want to see. For most European terrorists, there is a physical, Earthly goal that is at the heart of everything. Killing innocent people is a means to an end. Everything is done with a goal in mind.... more on this next. However, there are terrorists in the world that while hiding behind the facade of "change" are actually killing people as an end in and of itself. I've tried to make this point a million times, but it is often ignored. 9/11 never had to be so. Had Bin-Laden really wanted change, he wouldn't have attacked the US. Cryptomaniac, that's bullshit. Even psychokillers kill with a purpose. NOBODY kills for the sake of killing. Specially NOT terrorists. Maybe you fail to see a change in the USA. Maybe you think that everything that ahs been going on since 9/11 was logical and forseable without 9/11... guantanamo, waterboarding, security act, wiretapping... you think all that would had ahppen the same? Bush re-elected, you think ir would ahd been the same without 9/11? The only secular dictature in Middle East destroyed. Would that had ahppen without 9/11? Almsot 4000 Ameircan soldiers dead, veterans abandoned, recruitment collapsing... Would that had happen without 9/11? Maybe you think "I don't waat to change", but, 9/11 has changed your coutnry a lot. It's shaping who is going to be your nex tpresident, has shaped your laws, has shaped your relationship with your natural allies, has damaged your economy... and you say terrorists don't look for forcing a society to change? Have you ever feelt as warm and secure as you were 10 years ago, ever since 9/11? Think about it, he wanted "America out of Muslim lands". Does anyone really believe that crap? If so, why did he attack in such a brutal and horrific fashion? Are you going to try to convince me that he believed America would leave Muslim lands after such an attack? Please. He knew good and well that the response would be more troops on Muslim land (and it is astonishing that there aren't MORE US troops in the Middle East than there are now). And Israel? More bullsh_t. Why, if Israel is such a big problem and political issue, isn't Al Qaeda all over Israel? Why don't we see Al Qaeda planning 9/11-type attacks for Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem, or Haifa? Because it is an EXCUSE - not a reason. And so far, would you say al-Qaeda has lost more, less or the same than the USA in the gamble? You're heaping defficit upon defficit to pay for Iraq. Meanwhile, al Qaeda's finances are rampant with heroin income. Your volunteer Army is being stretched and no relief is in sight. Is al-Qaeda having any trouble to find new recruits? Al Qaeda's terrorist tactics are far more sinister than Earthly, tangible, political goals. Al Qaeda kills for the sake of killing. To these types of terrorists, attacks are meant to kill as many of the wicked (us) as possible. It isn't to bring about change, it isn't to eliminate perceived American domination in the Middle East - it is to punish those that Al Qaeda has deemed unworthy of life.
That is not an instrument of political change - it is cold-blooded murder for no other purpose but to punish.
Yeh, that's why they try to kill soldiers 3 or 4 in a row rather than take a bus in NYC and murder civilians 10 or 12 in a row... even your homegrown nutbags can manage to murder 7 in a school shoting. Don't you think a blood-thrirsty terrorist would figure some way to do the same in a country with almost as many guns as people? "Alah akbar" and there you go happy shootin' infidels until police scores you... even a homegrown nutbag can do that. I wonder why bloodthirsty terrorists burden themselves with such complicated things such as planes and skyscrappers, if their goal is to kill and kill for the sake of it... or the USA are definitively spoiling whatever plans they have. |
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Political Discussions / Middle East / Re: Modern Day Terrorism. What is it, and what groups are Involved and Where?
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on: February 14, 2008, 12:25:53 PM
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Houm...
Terrorism as I see it is a politically driven crime. Its purpose is to achieve a political change through the use of extreme violence in order to disrupt the society being targeted, which should allow to reshape that society to suit to terrorist's will.
The ideologies that drive terrorist action may vary a lot, but the ultimate goal is always to achieve a political change.
In Spain, the better known terrorism is that of ETA, which is driven by nationalism. ETA aims at achieving a political goal (independence of Basque Country) by causing such disruption in the targeted society (Spain) that either Governemnt's abbility to abort a unilateral seperation is disabled, or the civil society forces the Government to agree to independentist claims as a lesser evil compared to terrorism.
Also Spain has been targetted by integrist terrorism. currently it aims at forcing Spain to retreat its troops from Afghanistan (it may be influenced by the confuse circunstances following 3/11 attacks), but also because of a vague strategical claim to "recover all former Muslim lands, like al-Andalus". That would mean half of Spain, but, actually it's hard to take such claim as anything but a slogan.
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