BruceVC

If a religion demands you do an action and you do not do this action due to a lack of evidence of needing to do it this would qualify as "disbelief". I too entertain there's a small possibility of there being a god or gods but seeing there is no evidence for this I act on the assumption there isn't. Call it what you will but I find the "I'm not an atheist I'm agnostic" to be less about philosophical accuracy and more about tip-toeing around people's religious beliefs and not wanting to look like one of those nu-atheist types. To be honest thats why I'm not religious, these is just no proof. In the old Testament divine interventions and acts of wrath were not uncommon. So I would just need something tangible to believe ...I don't think thats unreasonable ?

My drivers license expired 2 months ago so I need to make the laborious trip to the Traffic Department tomorrow to get it renewed

Why ? What are the topics that you enjoy talking about?

Yeah happy NY everyone I spent most of yesterday recovering and the great news I am still on leave till the 14

Interesting story, do you think a single coyote would kill one of your dogs in a fight? I guess I'm asking how dangerous are Coyotes? A coyote by himself is not dangerous at all. Even two or three together would not be a serious problem for Sunny & Tommy. It's when you get six, seven or more they are a real threat. But not to me. To get rid of them I walked out on the porch turned on the light and cursed them out... loudly. They scattered. But one coyote would easily eat both rabbits before I could do anything about it. They are more of a nuisance than a threat so I'm usually inclined to leave them be. but a few years ago they got really aggressive so one night I left my grill in the middle of the yard as bait and waited by the loft window. When they came around I shot the biggest one figuring he was the alpha. They stayed away after that. They live in Anderson Tully a management area real close to my house. I think there are two packs that come around periodically but I haven't seen them in a while. I hear them all the time though but they sound far away. Thanks for sharing your view, I enjoy having these types of chats with you because you always provide the right amount of detail about things you are knowledgeable about in a way that is informative...and I know nothing about the bush generally as I have only lived in cities

Interesting story, do you think a single coyote would kill one of your dogs in a fight? I guess I'm asking how dangerous are Coyotes?

Clicking at one of the links in your second article I've found something very interesting to read about Canada... http://thefifthcolumnnews.com/2015/03/canadian-intelligence-caught-clandestinely-backing-islamic-state/ What did you find interesting about it? I read the article and initially I would have just dismissed it as your typical anti-Western propaganda that Qistina believes is real but to give them some credit at the end they say the following " While all of this is certainly damning and generates the appearance that the West is actively supporting the Islamic State, there are no credible theories as to why the West would be subverting its own interests. It is possible that this was yet another example of intelligence agencies running amok without proper supervision. Given the volume of factual evidence and the continued stream of anecdotal evidence, we must also consider that the West is involved in a large clandestine operation pursuing interests its citizens are unaware of" So at least they are not drawing " conclusive" evidence. But in summary this is my view of this article, one of the many people who works for Canadian intelligence actually has ideological loyalties to ISIS and is not just supplying information to the West about ISIS he is actually helping ISIS Yes this will occur, ISIS has its sympathizers in every country and some of them I imagine would work for Western governments or at least infiltrate the ones who have operational bases in the ME This DOES not mean the Canadian government is funding ISIS

KP its highly unlikely unlimited time or money will ever achieve this, maybe you should consider something that is it at least possible with unlimited money and time? It's not unlimited money; it's unlimited resources. KP would have access to more resources than exist in the universe. His ambitions are actually pretty tame compared to what he'd capable of. Okay good point...but you must admit we are now assuming that resources exist in the universe that will allow you to consume worlds?

KP its highly unlikely unlimited time or money will ever achieve this, maybe you should consider something that is it at least possible with unlimited money and time?

What Yes ...its been proven. One year I was denied any presents despite the fact all 5 of my siblings got, I was 6....it was very depressing and made me feel really really insecure, its psychologically hurtful. Obviously I recovered but what about other kids ?obvious to whom? Nep

If you do that I'll call you Lawrence Caesar. I changed my mind. I would pay for Lemmy's funeral. It would be the best thing ever. I must say Dark and Mesugger I would have thought you boys would have rather spent the money helping the Syrian refugees integrate into your countries ...as i would expect you to use all the money as dowry for your and Qistina's wedding. Chicks love to be spoiled, bruh. " Our wedding " ...

Today I spent the day drinking at Hooters with ANOTHER one of my very good friends who is also immigrating to Australia next year Tequilas flowed and the company was excellent

If you do that I'll call you Lawrence Caesar. I changed my mind. I would pay for Lemmy's funeral. It would be the best thing ever. I must say Dark and Mesugger I would have thought you boys would have rather spent the money helping the Syrian refugees integrate into your countries

What Yes ...its been proven. One year I was denied any presents despite the fact all 5 of my siblings got, I was 6....it was very depressing and made me feel really really insecure, its psychologically hurtful. Obviously I recovered but what about other kids ? Seems like the issue was that you were left out rather than the issue being that you didn't get a gift. Yes thats true but the whole ritual of everyone opening there presents in front of the family has ultimately a similar result to not getting a gift

Bruce, in a world with unlimited resources don't you think that capitalism would kind of obsolete? The premise of the thread is unlimited resources for YOU There's no difference if you give away vast amounts of your unlimited resources. It would be seen as more generous if it was limited?

You left out restaurants and cooking food ....you like those store.... And travel still. Books and vacations and good food. Yes those are wise words

What Yes ...its been proven. One year I was denied any presents despite the fact all 5 of my siblings got, I was 6....it was very depressing and made me feel really really insecure, its psychologically hurtful. Obviously I recovered but what about other kids ?

But you would want to live in my ideal world? Remember Orog think about how safe you would be ...no one would be able to tease you ..think " permanent safe room "

You left out restaurants and cooking food ....you like those

You probably right...you make me laugh with your accurate insight

Ok assume then you referendum does not go the way you hope. After all there have been a number of mass shooting in the US and we (the majority of voters at least) are more against gun control than ever before. If the vote goes against you would you, who is in power with unlimited money and resources and a grand vision for a "just" society just say "oh well the people have spoken" and let it go? Or would you use that power to make that which you know to be right happen? I would absolutely respect it, in my ideal world something like gun control for citizens of a country like the USA has to ultimately decided by a referendum...this type of issue is not something I would be prepared to kill citizens for in a case of Feds coming to your farm to take your guns and you refusing to hand them over Remember my ideal world is not a dictatorship you guys think it is

That would be the same private sector you are taxing out of existence to pay for all your social programs? Sure, can't see any problems there! To paraphrase Margaret Thatcher all that will work great until you run out of everyone else's money. Yes you right, I have a fairly good knowledge of economics so I can go into more detail about this in my ideal world I can't have both....wealthy corporate like American companies and yet high taxed Scandinavian countries I have to chose the American corporations as I don't think we should inhibit the pursuit of excellence or how people can grow companies but things like a national health care would be mandatory in every state. But then lets take the whole gun debate, I wouldn't force the NRA to close down. I would simply have government funded factual programs on every channel for a period of time explaining the facts about why more control is a good thing, I'm sure most people would realize its benefits when faced by the facts. I would then have a referendum...simple as that. That would decide the outcome....its Democracy in its finest moment Yes you have asked a good question but I have considered most aspects of my ideal world and China is one of them There are certain countries that despite there questionable human rights records or systems of governments would be left alone Russia is one of them because of Putins popularity at home and China is another because I don't want to deal with a culture so foreign as the Chinese....I'm not so arrogant to think I know best for all countries

Well that is, of course, predicated on the idea that you know better than anyone what good governance is, which is where things start to get iffy. Of course, with unlimited time on your hand, there's nothing stopping you from figuring it out better than anyone ever did. LOL you beat me to it. Bruce would either be hung in the streets by his own people because you can't have freedom while repressing freedom or he'll be lining them up in prison camps to avoid being hung once he found out the only way to MAKE people behave the way you think they should is with brute force. No I doubt that would be the outcome, the reality is my ideal world is much more complex than what I explained in a few lines, I just highlighted the premise Remember there would be strong SJ elements so no bigotry and more equitable delivery of strong social services like the Scandinavian countries but of course you can't legislate economic development so I would rely on the private sector to do that No I wouldn't control what people think, you can think what you want and say in private what you want . You just can't go onto a news network and say things like " I hate gay people and they should all die " and I wouldn't allow certain hate speech against the government like what we saw in the UK with those Muslim anti-Western clerics who stirred up anti-Western sentiment In my world I would welcome refugees but they would have to abide by certain rules ....not at all unreasonable but logical And as for replacing dictators why do you think they have a right to govern if they are destroying there countries? Why do you think they are destroying? History is full of monarchs and emperors who advanced their societies and countries. And those monarchs would be permitted to rule...as long as they don't go through years of abuse of power of there citizens There is nothing positive the leaders of any of those 4 countries have done that benefits the majority of there citizens I tell you what, you tell me some positive things any of them have done and we can discuss how legitimate they are? And to say " well they are the presidents of sovereign countries is not enough "

Well that is, of course, predicated on the idea that you know better than anyone what good governance is, which is where things start to get iffy. Of course, with unlimited time on your hand, there's nothing stopping you from figuring it out better than anyone ever did. LOL you beat me to it. Bruce would either be hung in the streets by his own people because you can't have freedom while repressing freedom or he'll be lining them up in prison camps to avoid being hung once he found out the only way to MAKE people behave the way you think they should is with brute force. No I doubt that would be the outcome, the reality is my ideal world is much more complex than what I explained in a few lines, I just highlighted the premise Remember there would be strong SJ elements so no bigotry and more equitable delivery of strong social services like the Scandinavian countries but of course you can't legislate economic development so I would rely on the private sector to do that No I wouldn't control what people think, you can think what you want and say in private what you want . You just can't go onto a news network and say things like " I hate gay people and they should all die " and I wouldn't allow certain hate speech against the government like what we saw in the UK with those Muslim anti-Western clerics who stirred up anti-Western sentiment In my world I would welcome refugees but they would have to abide by certain rules ....not at all unreasonable but logical And as for replacing dictators why do you think they have a right to govern if they are destroying there countries?

Well that is, of course, predicated on the idea that you know better than anyone what good governance is, which is where things start to get iffy. Of course, with unlimited time on your hand, there's nothing stopping you from figuring it out better than anyone ever did. I knew my comment would be seen in a negative light but I'm glad its someone like you who raised this type of criticism as I know you always look at things from a logical and intellectual perspective ...and I prefer those types of debates where we leave out the emotion We should debate many things like " are the millions of Muslim refugees coming to Europe going to negatively impact European culture " or " is Capitalism good or bad " or " when is government surveillance of its citizens suddenly a bad and intrusive action" These types of questions are subjective and can really be seen in different ways But the question of good governance and do governments practice it is very well understood, its like an audit of a corporation. It isn't subjective, in all those countries I mentioned the governments of those countries have either committed horrendous human rights abuses like genocide or just are brutal dictatorships that are only concerned with staying in power at the expense of large groups of there citizens Why should I accept this or not criticize it? So yes in many cases I do know what good governance is but so do you and many others No My world won't be a dictatorship ....what gave you that idea?