What I am referring to is the bills that allow the government to copy and supervise all your electronic communications, meaning all your phone calls, SMS:es, faxes, web surfing and so on, the ones that let the government detain people just because the president says they are "illegal combatants", and detain them indefinitely, the policies about "free speech zones", since apparently the rest of the country no longer has free speech, the suspension of habeas corpus, i.e. that the government doesn't even need to tell you WHY you're detained or what you're under suspicion of having done, the terrorist watch lists that now contain more than ONE MILLION names and interferes with people traveling, people having jobs, and so on, the harsher and harsher restrictions of what people are allowed to say in radio, TV and other media, and so on and so forth and so on and so forth ad nauseam.
Yeah, Bush f!++ed up good. And if your life hasn't changed because of those changes, rest assured that it WILL, unless these policies are rolled back.
When an asian man commits a crime, you should not be detaining spanish women. A white woman commits a crime, why would you interogate a black man?
That's not racial profiling. Racial profiling tries to predict if someone will commit a crime, not catch someone according to a description that includes race.
Come on man, if you're gonna make an argument against something get it right.
When an asian man commits a crime, you should not be detaining spanish women. A white woman commits a crime, why would you interogate a black man?That's not racial profiling. Racial profiling tries to predict if someone will commit a crime, not catch someone according to a description that includes race.
Come on man, if you're gonna make an argument against something get it right.
This. When an Asian man commits a crime, all Asian men are more likely to commit the same crime = racial profiling.
Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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I've suppressed a post in this thread for a weak attempt at sneaky swearing using the @ symbol and copping a highly disrespectful attitude.
The OP asked people to list three things they like about Bush. Given the timing and the fact that America is fixated on the transition of power right now, this sort of discussion seemed appropriate.
We've already shut down one inauguration thread due to disruptive posters trying to pick political fights, and this one is venturing very close to the line.
There are plenty of other places on the internet designed to pick political fights and try to win points with people who are never going to come over to your side because of something you write. At some of those places you can be as boorish and mean as you want, and people will love you more for it.
Not here.
Paizo.com is a place for civil discussion. If you cannot hold yourself to that standard, go post somewhere else.
I urge everyone posting to these off-topic threads to keep it civil or keep it quiet.
We are dangerously close to outlawing all religious and political discussions, period.
Police yourselves, or we will do it for you.
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1. He genuinely seemed to give a darn. During the Anthrax attacks, my brother in law was the mystery man in the hospital that contracted anthrax. (because of privacy and security concerns, his name was kept secret. And also I think because they didn't want the perpetrators involved to know how he contracted it, for fear it might give them a better idea of its actual effectiveness as a biological warfare technique.) Bush called my sister and gave his sympathies and spoke to her for nearly a half hour. He didn't have to, it wasn't televised, it wasn't a cheap publicity stunt. It was just the right thing to do, with no hope of it becoming public. I respected that and it humanized the guy (for me) even when I was furious with the way he ran things and the choices he made.
While I'm no Bush fan, that's genuinely cool.
David Fryer: I answered this thread because I felt people just accepted arguments about why Bush did good as president. The fact is, the only things people have been able to say are EXTREMELY general, excepting the AIDS struggle in Africa. As far as I have understood things, the global gag rule has more than destroyed any progress made against the disease in Africa. The way I see it, that's Bush's priorities: they need to subscribe to MY morals if they're going to get any money.
No surprise then that no progress has been made. More africans are dying every day from the disease now than before his presidency. He's the american president; if he'd have really tried to make this better, he could have.
So, my evaluation is that he had the power to make good headway against HIV in Africa, he did put in a great effort to do so, but his view of morals was more important. Thus, I have a hard time counting him as a hero for his work.
That does not change the fact that he more or less destroyed the civil liberties of the american people, and by extension and political pressure, the civil rights of every person in the West. That is the most serious argument against his successful presidency.
I'll shut up now.
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[lots of stuff that has nothing to do with this thread, which has a specific intent]
Rant follows; read at your own risk:
What you're doing with your comments is one of my pet peeves: People who post to threads with responses that indicate they totally didn't pay attention to the thread title, the first post, or they just don't care about the spirit of the thread. I'm not talking about threadjacking, or throwing out the occasional non sequiturs; no, I'm talking about the person who does the following, for example:
Thread Title: "What's Your Favorite Eggs Dish for a Big Breakfast?"
Careless Poster's Response Post: "I don't like eggs; I like oatmeal. Also, I don't like a breakfast. I eat oatmeal for snack before going to bed. My favorite oatmeal is Irish Stone Meal. Eggs are bad for you and raise our cholesterol. Not to mention eggs are the stolen children of poor, defenseless chickens. Stop eating eggs, you breakfast-eating bastard. Oatmeal rocks!"
Come on, man! Why are you wasting bandwidth? If you don't like eggs, don't even bother reading the thread. If you love oatmeal, then start your own thread declaiming the finest glories of oatmeal.
If there aren't three things Bush did that you liked, get out of this thread and start your own.
If you start a thread of "Three Things I Dislike About George Bush," I'm sure I can come up with three; but I promise, promise-promise-promise, not to pollute your thread with my opinions on why he could do no wrong.
Just a quick link to a NY Times article about PEPFAR and its results.
Now I don't think anyone will accuse the NY Times of being pro-Bush, but they put together a good overview of the program's warts and successes.
The stats on Uganda are telling as well:
In Uganda, a country already far along on its own AIDS initiative when Mr. Bush began his, 110,000 people are under treatment, and 2 million have H.I.V. tests each year, up from 10,000 treated and 400,000 tested before, according to Dr. Alex Coutinho, a top AIDS expert there. The money comes mostly from Pepfar, but also from a United Nations fund to which the United States contributes.
Dr. Coutinho goes on to elaborate on how the Ugandans feel about the program:
Ugandans were terrified that when Mr. Bush left office, “the Bush fund,” as they call it, would go with him. “When I’ve traveled in the U.S., I’m amazed at how little people know about what Pepfar stands for,” he said. “Just because it has been done under Bush, it is not something the country should not be proud of.
Sure pushing abstinence is silly IMO, but the program has done legitimate good, and it seems the experts combatting AIDS are genuinely grateful for the efforts of the Bush Administration. It also seems that the program is evolving, and that the abstinence rule was dropped during the most recent round of appropriations wiki link --see 'criticism'.
Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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We are dangerously close to outlawing all religious and political discussions, period.
That would be a beautiful thing. If nothing else, maybe the handful of people who start 90% of the politics threads could get a friendly email asking them to lay off (*cough* David Fryer *cough*).
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We are dangerously close to outlawing all religious and political discussions, period.
That would be a beautiful thing. If nothing else, maybe the handful of people who start 90% of the politics threads could get a friendly email asking them to lay off (*cough* David Fryer *cough*).
Maybe we should outlaw ponies too. I should also point out that 99% of the threads I start and participate in never end up having to be locked. Of the nine political based threads commented on in the last week, I only started 3 which works out to 33%, not 90%. Geeze, lawyers. ;p
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Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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Maybe we should outlaw ponies too. I should also point out that 99% of the threads I start and participate in never end up having to be locked.
Whatever. Go find a politics website if you want to discuss politics. You post a new politics oriented thread, frequently on a controversial topic, nearly every day. It's getting old. CourtFool managed to quit name-dropping Hero and classless games in every thread in which he participated and he's a wonderful member of the community. I'm not sure why asking you to stay on-topic is such a burden. This is a website primarily about Paizo products, secondarily about D&D, and somewhere down around 50th place comes discussions about politics and religion. Yet that's most of what you post about.
I respectfully request you find a forum more suited to your interests if you can't participate in the designated topics of this website, or, at the very least, restrain yourself from throwing the first stone (however gently) in what almost always becomes a multi-page flame war.
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This is a website primarily about Paizo products, secondarily about D&D, and somewhere down around 50th place comes discussions about politics and religion. Yet that's most of what you post about.
All you have to do is look at the list of my recent posts to know that's not true
I respectfully request you find a forum more suited to your interests if you can't participate in the designated topics of this website, or, at the very least, restrain yourself from throwing the first stone (however gently) in what almost always becomes a multi-page flame war.
I say again, of the nine political based threads commented on in the last week, I only started 3 which works out to 33%, not 90%. Geeze, lawyers. ;p
Maybe we should outlaw ponies too. I should also point out that 99% of the threads I start and participate in never end up having to be locked.Whatever. Go find a politics website if you want to discuss politics. You post a new politics oriented thread, frequently on a controversial topic, nearly every day. It's getting old. CourtFool managed to quit name-dropping Hero and classless games in every thread in which he participated and he's a wonderful member of the community. I'm not sure why asking you to stay on-topic is such a burden. This is a website primarily about Paizo products, secondarily about D&D, and somewhere down around 50th place comes discussions about politics and religion. Yet that's most of what you post about.
I respectfully request you find a forum more suited to your interests if you can't participate in the designated topics of this website, or, at the very least, restrain yourself from throwing the first stone (however gently) in what almost always becomes a multi-page flame war.
If he was posting in the areas covering Paizo products or D&D products/systems, then your claim that he is "off-topic" might be meaningful.
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We're on the brink of depression, due to trillions spent on the Iraq war, AND gas did not go down in price, it skyrocketed, sending food prices through the roof, and causing many businesses to fail, based on gas alone!
America is losing its first world status...8.8% unemployment in California currently, This is bad times...I have nothing good to say about Bush, my apologies...I have three things to say about him
1. He's gone
2. He didn't die leaving Chaney in charge.
3. All of the above.
I'm not a liberal, I'm a libertarian. Get it right. Restore the Constitution!!
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Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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This is a website primarily about Paizo products, secondarily about D&D, and somewhere down around 50th place comes discussions about politics and religion. Yet that's most of what you post about.All you have to do is look at the list of my recent posts to know that's not true
Okay, it's about 50% of what you post about.
I respectfully request you find a forum more suited to your interests if you can't participate in the designated topics of this website, or, at the very least, restrain yourself from throwing the first stone (however gently) in what almost always becomes a multi-page flame war.I say again, of the nine political based threads commented on in the last week, I only started 3 which works out to 33%, not 90%. Geeze, lawyers. ;p
Yup, but you're part of the contingent that participates in every single politics thread that comes up, and, in my unscientific experience, tend to start them at a greater rate than most others in that contingent. Sorry, I don't mean to single you out, but dear god am I sick of the politics threads here. You tend to be polite and respectful in your postings, but unfortunately, many of those who respond are not so capable. Please, give the politics threads a rest, if not in participating, at least in starting new ones.
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I'm not a liberal, I'm a libertarian. Get it right. Restore the Constitution!!
Would that include restoring the power of Congress to levy taxes on income and for the President and Senate to make international treaties and alliances and declare war, powers that Libertarian-running-as-Republican Ron Paul seems to think do not exist?
Other Libertarians-running-as and Libertarian splinter parties have equally confused views of the actual contents of the Constitution, so you would have to be a lot more explicit about what you mean by "restore" in regards to it, particularly in the context of Article V.Just wondering and looking for clarification.
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** spoiler omitted **
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Maybe I'm wierd, I like the political threads, as long as they stay in the OTD section I find it enjoyable to learn my fellow gamers views on certain situations. I mean I post all over, hell many people think of me as some kind of paladinphite because of the design forums, but as long as the discussions stay down here, and don't degenerate into mindless back and forth insult pablum I really enjoy them. I've been reading up like crazy on the palestine/israel conflict and I love all the information I've gotten, and differing views and I wouldn't have gotten them elsewhere because I wouldn't have bothered to look. So I honestly hope that politics and religion don't get outlawed here. I just honestly like learning about fellow gamers political beliefs.
Maybe I'm wierd, I like the political threads, as long as they stay in the OTD section I find it enjoyable to learn my fellow gamers views on certain situations. I mean I post all over, hell many people think of me as some kind of paladinphite because of the design forums, but as long as the discussions stay down here, and don't degenerate into mindless back and forth insult pablum I really enjoy them. I've been reading up like crazy on the palestine/israel conflict and I love all the information I've gotten, and differing views and I wouldn't have gotten them elsewhere because I wouldn't have bothered to look. So I honestly hope that politics and religion don't get outlawed here. I just honestly like learning about fellow gamers political beliefs.
::applause::
QFT.
Bush: At least he knew the difference between a door and a window, even if the door was locked at the time.