The Political thread ... rant away.

[Calpis]

I noticed that Vegi-saurus lives in starving Canada, for all of you that don't know, Canadians lead a MUCH harder existance than their neighbors, especially in their big cities... Americans, we've got it good! I think I'll go outside and enjoy a whiff of "our" SUVs maybe go buy a CD by that hardcore punkrock artist Avril Lavigne so she can support her eight aids infected kids dying of starvation back home in the old country. I salute Vegi-saurus for living in a land where they still haven't adopted the "American lifestyle", afterall Canadians don't "need to cling to it like it's the only way of life" like all Americans do, myself included.

[ave]

Where's the unmoderated thread? I miss it!

Just got annoyed by a girl on the bus listening to 'call me maybe' loud enough so everyone had to listen to it.
gave her a very disapproving look.
-> changes song

LOL

i still can't believe people actually download this garbage and put it on their phones though. Wtf...

[GodofHardcore]

I'm just popping in to say

FUCK RON PAUL

ok peace I'm out

[Teancum]

Wow just looked through this thread and noticed that this thread has been a little inactive as of late. I mean not one word about the 2008 election or the current one, but if you are like me you get tired of it since the whole thing gets annoying. I laughed when I saw the fuck ron paul. Since he was the guy I was rooting for...

I guess I just want to poke this thread with a stick and see what happens :P

[7Force]

Ron Paul is right about the fact that the US shouldn't engage in bullshit wars, but you know what they say about broken clocks... His idea that the US should go back to the gold standard is disastrous and would ruin the US economy and probably pull the world economy down with it as well. Not to mention his racist newsletters or that picture of him with that guy from Stormfront.

[ave]

I am in the mood for a random political rant. If no one feels like discussing, that's fine, I just need to say this out loud.

I've been living in Vancouver for almost a year now - over 50% of the city's population are immigrants and foreigners like me. The vast majority is Chinese and, to a lesser extent, Indian, Japanese, Korean. Then there are some Europeans, Russians and lots of people from smaller Asian countries like Vietnam, Thailand et cetera.
However, despite many of them keeping among themselves, I have not noticed any kind of 'ghetto' or 'bad area' that could be connected to a concentration of a minority in that area. I wonder why that's the case? Why are there so many immigrants, yet they know how to behave and there's no fucked up punks lingering in Downtown just to piss you off when you walk by ("Whatcha lookin at?")?

Because that's what it's like in Germany, my home country. And if you say that you don't like that and that this is a dominant phenomenon for a certain ethnic group, then you're racist. Hell, they call you racist even if you say this exact phrase: "you can't say that cause you'd be called racist".

The fuck??? I don't have ANYTHING against a certain ethnic group!! I am not generalizing nationalities, you fucktards (addressed at the politically correct people that I talked to back at home)!! However, I DO HAVE something against fucking assholes who come to my country, become criminals, threaten you at night when you come back from the club, can't even speak the language yet try to insult you and keep telling you how great their home country is. So why the fuck don't they go back??? Maybe it's not so great afterall????

Long story short, my experience in super diverse Vancouver changed many of my impressions of immigration & co in general to the better. The bad impression you can get seems to be a bit of a European problem, maybe because there's such a big difference in terms of wealth and opportunities between the countries most immigrants come from (North Africa, Turkey)? I don't know, maybe.

However, with Vancouver having so many minorities who behave similar to the ones in Germany (stay among themselves sometimes, have their own part of the city, sometimes have big difficulties speaking English) BUT AT THE SAME TIME not having all the shit that Europe struggles to sort out (youth criminality, poor education), I'm getting interested in the true reason behind it.

Anyway, just a random rant. I think it was really healthy for my personal experience to see how well and supportive the presence of many minorities in a country can be. Cause in Germany, it's not. Regardless of what those asshole guardians of political correctness want to make us think. Diversity is only good if it's beneficial for society.

[-=FamilyGuy=-]

Lived in both Europe and Canada and I kinda agree with you. I think the racism/behavior problem in Europe arise from the right-wing fear of "job-stealing-criminals-immigrants" and consequential reaction of ostracized arriving populations. While in Canada immigration is not seen a a bad thing for various reasons. Well not yet, but it seems Harper wants to slowly put into people's head that immigrants abuse the system, which I think is sad and socially dangerous as it paves the way to more and more restrictive and intolerant positions. I think the acceptation of immigration in Canada comes primarily from the lack of wars on our territory against stigmatized "foreigners", but it's a personal feeling. I'm not from BC, but from where I stand (east), people are not racists. Of course some people are racists, and I can't say everybody embraces foreigners with love and compassion, but the vast majority are simply "indifferent": live and let live. As long as you don't ask them to change their lifestyle they won't care about yours. They might even be genuinely interested in your belief as long as you don't try to convert them. Very few skin-color discrimination also, although people with "exotic" names have less chances to be hired from their CV. I come from what could be considered a "retired manual workers / farmer very small northern town", the kind that fits the cliché of intolerant close-minded rednecks, yet we elected mayor the only grown up black man in the town. Racism is strongly seen as bad and it's impossible to prone somehow racist/anti-foreigners ideology publicly, as the right-wing sometime does in Europe, it'd be a political suicide.

On a slightly different topic, but still Vancouver-related, I've read people arguing that "in-site" injection centers are not okay as it's immoral to assist people into taking drugs, but I don't agree. This kind of project ensure that people that'd take drugs no matter what takes it in a secure manner, reducing the chances of infections or diseases and thus reducing the healthcare costs. Also it gets them in contact with professionals that clearly states they can help them quit if they want to, without putting pressure on them. Over time they can develop a certain trust in the people and opt in a detoxification program, which happens to be upstairs of the injection center! The center is also designed so people inject themselves facing a mirror, which can right-away convince people to get treated. In the end I think the program help to constrain the spreading of diseases and convince some people to try to quit. I might have two or three more alive friends today if such a program existed where I used to live.

Also, I'm a naive egalitarian carebear, beware of my opinions.

Cheers,

FG

[7Force]

How can you tell this thread is old? There's a post mentioning Avril Lavigne at the top of this page.

[chaoticdaos]

Damn Obama. He's trying to get rid of all the dispensaries in California. Who is the lesser of two evils at this point?

[Golan Trevize]

Damn Obama. He's trying to get rid of all the dispensaries in California. Who is the lesser of two evils at this point?

When it comes to politics I don't believe in the lesser of two evils. There is the evil that will fuck you now, and the one that will fuck you later.

[WolverineDK]

Check out, what is happening right now in Madrid

http://www.rtve.es/noticias/directo2/

Indignados has finally assembled.

[Shadowlayer]

I been to countries where group like the "indignados" won and rule the place, and let me tell you theres not a biggest shithole in the world than those countries

You know what happened when they won? the leadership of the movement took over and became a million times more corrupt an inept than the previous government, and because unlike politicians the indignados are not afraid of confrontation the moment you protest they send plain clothes cops to start shooting at people

No pepper spray there, real fucking bullets

[ave]

If Romney is elected president I lose all faith in the majority of US citizens. One has to be either rich or really damn stupid to support his obvious lies and empty promises.

Question: "How will you make America attractive for companies again?"
Romney: "What we need to do is to make America attractive for companies again."

nuff said. But thankfully there are official websites to find out more details. Just click the button:
http://www.romneytaxplan.com/

[spot778]

[Evotistical]

I like how both of the US canidates pretend to be each other, while trying to call each other liars. Obamas is all of a sudden for big oil and wars, and romney is all of a sudden for lots of govt spending and control. No matter who you vote for it'l be almost the same person. Or atleast that's how the debates make it look like. Admittedly the debates are supposed to appeal to the moderates, and undecided. As a moderate, I want to just facepalm.

[Eviltaco64]

Small government with laws that don't cripple society but let it flourish, with socialism being something that mankind could be responsible for on it's own, and a regard and respect for the treatment of our land and each other. If only every individual could realize their own capabilities when it comes to helping not only themselves but the people around them. All of this is so very possible, but the attitudes of people worldwide make it an arduous process.

Obama has contradicted himself on too many accounts. Romney isn't exactly exempt from this sort of thing himself, but I'd prefer him over Obama. It seems that the government only gets more and more intrusive, and even though Bush was the one who really took that a few steps further with Homeland Security, Obama has only been making it worse. It's a shame that both of them are playing dirty games and lying about each other's policies, though. I would have thought that by now, the egotistical slandering that misguides and tricks people worldwide would have died down in favor of actually figuring out the best possible outcome for the people of the nation they'd like to run. Something tells me a Star Trek-esque AI logic analyzer with Spock as Vice President would be better than both of them. :P

I've been hearing a lot of non-US citizens claim that they'll completely lose faith in the US based on which person is elected, but we're all people with different upbringings and unique perspectives on achieving the same goals regardless of where we come from. Someone might vote for Obama because they know a lot of people looking for work that have been immensely helped out by government aid during their job hunt. Someone else might vote for Romney because they work full-time, see their taxes going through the roof, and want tax cuts so they can better provide for their families. There's also the selfish desires from both sides (free money vs. more money for me.. but at the root of that selfishness for the almighty dollar, one works and the other one cheats mankind).

Don't give up on the US just yet. Even though we face more and more regulation as the years go by, I can still say what I damn well please. And if a situation arises where freedom of speech is limited in some way, it's usually makes way for a national uproar. I enjoy that! I also enjoy going into a shop or a coffee house or even a restaurant and seeing people get incredibly worked up about their ideals on achieving what is, overall, more general methods of achieving the pursuit of happiness for people. Even if those highly disputed ideals are vastly different in their approach. :P

[GodofHardcore]

I'm voting for Romney, not because Obama is a bad person, Just a Bad President, and IF he gets reelected he'll be impeached.

I'm not too worried about the US. History runs in cycles and everything going on now has happened before and will happen again.

It's not that I'm a tea bagger or any thing by the way. I do vote for some democrats from time to time. Jim Langevin is my representative and he's a good man only person in my state that opposed SOPA and PIPA and also supports the Open act. He's a champion for the disabled which is something I care about as well. That said I have to question the Moral character of anyone voting for Obama, he's done so many shady things in 4 years it's scary. In the next 4 IF he gets back in there is a congress that will keep him in line at least until his inevitable impeachment.

[ave]

That said I have to question the Moral character of anyone voting for Obama, he's done so many shady things in 4 years it's scary.

Romney is a better choice for sure. He definitely seems like an open-minded, responsible person with sustainabable developments in his mind who can still relate to the normal people.

[GodofHardcore]

Romney isn't perfect but he's better than what we have now. and people saying "You gave bush 8 years to fuck things up give Obama 8 to clean it up" is the biggest fucking cop out ever especially when things are WORSE than they were 4 years ago.

They fail to realize that things didn't start to go to shit until the Democrats took congress in 2006 I believe. I don't remember exactly.

3rd Parties really have no chance to shine because nobody is willing to invest in what people consider to be throwing away your vote. Sure Vote for Gary Johnson all you want. I have a better chance of getting married a month from now than he does of being president.

Abolishing parties isn't going to happen but people are going to have to break their thought process of "oh only 2 parties" and the electoral college needs to go too 2000 could happen all over again.

[7Force]

Someone might vote for Obama because they know a lot of people looking for work that have been immensely helped out by government aid during their job hunt. Someone else might vote for Romney because they work full-time, see their taxes going through the roof, and want tax cuts so they can better provide for their families. There's also the selfish desires from both sides (free money vs. more money for me.. but at the root of that selfishness for the almighty dollar, one works and the other one cheats mankind).

Taxes in the US haven't actually gone up at all since Obama was elected.

Abolishing parties isn't going to happen but people are going to have to break their thought process of "oh only 2 parties" and the electoral college needs to go too 2000 could happen all over again.

Abolishing parties? Uh, how about you try having viable parties with a spectrum beyond "right-wing party" and "slightly less right-wing party" first?