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Messages - Turkey
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7351
« on: January 04, 2015, 09:58:27 PM »
Yeah, SWAT teams specialize in hostage rescue and counterterrorism, so I don't see why they wouldn't be qualified to handle that.
7352
« on: January 03, 2015, 07:30:47 PM »
Look guys, you're allowed to be a republican and laugh at a harmless gaffe made by a republican politician. Not sure why this turned defensively to Obama.
7353
« on: January 03, 2015, 07:23:47 PM »
I believe that Israel has violated the rule of proportionality in armed conflict, but Hamas is an objectively far worse organization, morally speaking.
7354
« on: January 03, 2015, 07:16:41 PM »
I was gonna post before I saw the spoiler, and I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised at how much effort you put into this. Countering a claim by assuming its premise is correct is way more effective than just telling me the bible is dumb. So simply put, and I promise that I will revisit this after my honeymoon is over, the resurrection body is not the same one we had before, but a brand new one, one that is incapable of death and sin -- basically Human 2.0. Again, I will definitely return to this because I think you've posed an interesting question and I honestly have researched very little about the theology of the resurrection (unlike your initial premise, my reasons for beliefs have very little to do with an afterlife). Spoiler Augustine was wise about many things, but this isn't one of them. The bible doesn't say much about the afterlife.
7355
« on: January 03, 2015, 07:07:06 PM »
And some aid just got fired for not briefing him properly.
Also, ffs don't ever post Upworthy in Serious again.
7356
« on: January 02, 2015, 10:37:16 PM »
The Interview was hilarious. Rogan and Franko are masters of dumb comedy.
This Is the End was a disappointing end to the trilogy.
7357
« on: January 02, 2015, 10:31:01 PM »
Not sure why they should be arrested, but if they refuse to take their seats they should be promptly taken off the plane and rebooked. If they are disruptive on the plane, they should be confronted by flight staff and fined.
7358
« on: January 02, 2015, 10:23:21 AM »
You provide consent by using the services and living in government territory. Like I said, reluctant use is still use.
Nobody is going to shoot you for not paying taxes, and to continue to refer to imprisonment as kidnapping is just silly. You're not stupid, so I know you recognize the legality of enforcing law and order. All this keeps coming back to is you saying it's illegal, which is just not true. Wrong? Maybe. Argue that. That's compelling, and I'm inclined to agree that the government should not take much of what it does.
7359
« on: January 02, 2015, 01:47:38 AM »
I think the sentiments relegating it to being a coping mechanism or list of instructions for the weak-minded are unbelievably shallow. Religion is integral to understanding humanity and our culture, psychology, science, and past. I think it's embarrassingly arrogant to disregard the cultural and moral knowledge of our species since before written language, and claim to know better. It's a very sophomoric statement, and it's no surprise to see the younger of the users espouse it, but a little disheartening to see it from the older members.
7360
« on: January 02, 2015, 01:30:08 AM »
Theft - the taking of another person's property without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. How the fuck is taxation not theft?
By using government services, regardless of your wish to use someone else's, and not paying the taxes due as proportional payment for them, you're stealing from every other citizen in the country. Your argument is circular, tautological, and self-refuting. By claiming 'taxation is theft' and going no further in justification than a generic definition is profoundly arrogant. You can claim that taxation is not right, and that it should be changed; you're welcome to use whatever platform you wish to attempt to convince the rest of society of that. But since the society has agreed to the implementation of taxes as a means of spreading the general welfare, it's simply childish to continue saying it is theft. The fact is that by living on government-owned land and using government-provided services, you are opting in to the social contract and to taxes. Any capitalist would recognize this; even in a monopoly, if you use the goods and services of a firm or business, then you owe them a fee, regardless of how reluctant you are to use them. Failure to pay for what you use is theft. The argument of taxation as theft breaks down as soon as you look outside the individual (and fundamentally, the argument is purely selfishly motivated and stems from no altruistic goal), seeing that refusal to pay tax is, in fact, an act of robbery on your own part.
7361
« on: January 01, 2015, 07:46:41 PM »
 This makes me physically ill.
7362
« on: January 01, 2015, 06:34:17 PM »
Also the two smartest people on the forum believe in god (Turkey anf Goji), so there's definitely some truth to behind creationism
dusty pls First of all, there are many smarter people here, I just know how to Google stuff really well. Second, even if I was, I'd hope nobody would convert simply because someone smarter than them did it. Third, while I do believe in a type of creationism (as anyone following ostensibly any deism must), I don't believe in the modern anti-scientific rhetoric of fundamentalist creationists. OT: I don't really see why anyone would choose a representative government over one ruled directly by a benevolent, omniscient, and omnipotent deity, though there were a lot of assumptions in those qualifiers.
7363
« on: January 01, 2015, 06:07:22 PM »
Well no, not really. I'm talking about the role of America and it's allies in defending each other with a preemptive, deterrent strategy.
7364
« on: January 01, 2015, 06:03:57 PM »
The retort has already been posted. Sorry if you're offended by being called out for spouting a child's view on taxation on a serious discussion board.
Taxes are part of the social contract of being privileged to live in a wealthy first world nation. You have an obligation to contribute to the general welfare of the country proportionally to your ability. You want alternatives to government services? They exist. Private communities, reservations, and emigration are all options.
Obviously taxation is not theft. I've been robbed before, and I distinctly recall not getting stuff in return like roads, free education, or emergency services. You may think you're taxed disproportionately, or desire to have services privatized (and subsequently see a decrease in taxes), but you can't with any credibility claim that taxation is theft.
7365
« on: January 01, 2015, 04:48:58 PM »
Oh, are we talking about weird guns that look sexy? I'll just leave this here. 
7366
« on: January 01, 2015, 09:31:07 AM »
indeed
Her fucking eyes
To be fair, you could give anyone sexy eyes by putting hundreds of dollars of makeup on them.
7367
« on: January 01, 2015, 09:27:48 AM »
Goji, are you screwing with me?
I have a very fragile mind. Don't do this to me, man.
7368
« on: January 01, 2015, 09:15:37 AM »
You are using the services, though. This is such a juvenile fucking argument, it's like talking to a 7 year old. Sorry, I'm crazy hungover, but c'mon man, this is some third grade crap.
7369
« on: December 31, 2014, 07:58:25 PM »
I'm talking strategy, not tactics. Our current global strategy is deterrence-based. Though open war between nations will likely never happen to the scale that was typical the past 600 years, there will still be pockets of terrorism and aggression which can largely be preempted by presenting a large enough threat.
7370
« on: December 31, 2014, 05:38:42 PM »
Something that's bugged me is if transpeople don't feel like a man or woman (and I know 'feeling' is an oversimplification), doesn't that enforce societal gender roles? On one hand, we've got a large movement saying boys should be able to play with girls' toys and wear girls' clothes while girls should be free to do traditional boy activities, but it seems like that is entirely contrary to the notion of transpeople undertaking physical changes to be more like the opposite sex.
I find it hard to sympathize with the struggle because I can't relate to it at all. I recognize the problem and know I should care more, but I feel very apathetic about it.
7371
« on: December 31, 2014, 02:20:44 PM »
Yeah, that's the point. You're not forced to live here. You're welcome to emigrate somewhere or live in a community outside of state jurisdiction, like a reservation. Hell, go to Germany and get a free college education.
Yes, because emigration is both free and easy.
I'm not sure why you think this is a justification for refusing to pay taxes.
I'm saying that saying "you're free to leave" is flat out wrong. Moving to a new home in the same county is expensive. Going to a new country is extremely difficult and expensive. Nobody short of the top end of the middle class is going to be able to leave. I couldn't afford to go to, say, Switzerland if I wanted to, even if they were willing to accept me (I'm not rich so they're not).
Yep, shit costs money. Welcome to reality. You claim taxation is theft, yet you're the one that wants to be able to use state-provided services without paying for them. That makes you the thief.
I am in no way suggesting anyone should use those services for free. What I'm saying is that there should be a market, so people have a choice.
Well see now we've gone from you saying that taxes are theft to saying there should be competition for government services. Good plan. Like I've said, there's no feasible way to compete in sewage, infrastructure, military, law enforcement, emergency response, and numerous other services. The government does use contractors, so there's competition there.
7372
« on: December 31, 2014, 01:48:58 PM »
Yeah, that's the point. You're not forced to live here. You're welcome to emigrate somewhere or live in a community outside of state jurisdiction, like a reservation. Hell, go to Germany and get a free college education.
Yes, because emigration is both free and easy.
I'm not sure why you think this is a justification for refusing to pay taxes.
I'm saying that saying "you're free to leave" is flat out wrong. Moving to a new home in the same county is expensive. Going to a new country is extremely difficult and expensive. Nobody short of the top end of the middle class is going to be able to leave. I couldn't afford to go to, say, Switzerland if I wanted to, even if they were willing to accept me (I'm not rich so they're not).
Yep, shit costs money. Welcome to reality. You claim taxation is theft, yet you're the one that wants to be able to use state-provided services without paying for them. That makes you the thief.
7373
« on: December 31, 2014, 01:19:48 PM »
Yeah, that's the point. You're not forced to live here. You're welcome to emigrate somewhere or live in a community outside of state jurisdiction, like a reservation. Hell, go to Germany and get a free college education.
Yes, because emigration is both free and easy.
I'm not sure why you think this is a justification for refusing to pay taxes.
7374
« on: December 31, 2014, 01:13:46 PM »
I've seen a lot of politics on here, but never a discussion about modern military strategy. I don't expect any of you to be educated strategists or anything like that, but you can still give an opinion on the current state of affairs.
The modern goals of U.S. seapower are as follows:
Forward presence - The presence of U.S. and allied forces throughout the world with the capability of quickly responding to crises.
Deterrence - Being the biggest and baddest force in the world to dissuade potential enemies from carrying out aggression.
Sea control - Overlapping patrols and deployed forces to ensure total domination of the oceans to enforce the law of the sea and ensure the continuation of fair and safe commerce and travel. Also includes sea denial, which actively prevents aggressors from deploying.
Power projection - Different from forward deployment, this is the ability for a nation to respond to foreign threats quickly from domestic or allied territory.
Maritime security - Protection maritime (civilian and military) assets from attack through secure ports and enforcement of the law of the sea.
Humanitarian assistance/disaster response - Self explanatory, but it's important to realize that the U.S. and its allies use a significant amount of their forces to conduct humanitarian operations, especially in response to natural disasters.
This isn't really a discussion about isolationism; isolationism simply isn't going to happen in such a globalized world. To wrap up, here's an interesting quote I happen to like: "Combat operations reflect the greatest failure of our national security strategy."
7375
« on: December 31, 2014, 12:30:32 PM »
Yeah, that's the point. You're not forced to live here. You're welcome to emigrate somewhere or live in a community outside of state jurisdiction, like a reservation. Hell, go to Germany and get a free college education.
Using services provided by the state and refusing to pay for them, regardless of whether an alternative exists, is tantamount to theft.
7376
« on: December 30, 2014, 10:40:24 PM »
If there were alternatives to state services I would gladly support a partially voluntary tax or tax on consumption of state services, but I don't see how voluntaryism is feasible currently.
7377
« on: December 30, 2014, 10:05:16 PM »
I enjoy how Dawkins destroys Christians and Muslims in arguments
Lol
7378
« on: December 30, 2014, 09:59:33 PM »
Yeah, you could stay on your land. What's your point? I'm a bit confused how you expect companies to compete with sewage and roads. You could use toll roads I suppose.
7379
« on: December 30, 2014, 09:41:25 PM »
You're welcome to leave or live somewhere isolated, but until then your taxes are perfectly justified by roads, schools, police, firemen, military, and tons of other services.
I would happily pay more than what I would in taxes to recieve these services. I do not want them eliminated. I do, however, want a choice. It's not really a fair deal if you point a gun at my head and demand I purchase your services, is it?
Well yeah, you have a choice. If you choose to use those services and live in state territory, then you're obligated to pay the taxes. Nobody is holding a gun to your head and making you drive on city-maintained streets or use city-owned sewage systems.
7380
« on: December 30, 2014, 08:40:53 PM »
I'll be in Orlando for a week starting Friday, I'd better not see any of you plebeians.
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