BruceVC

Sorry, but you are the same hypocryte as you are accusing them... Badmouthing them about not respecting the western culture and meanwhile not respecting the culture which is their own... is not hypocrisy. am not asking for western culture to be respected. am not much o' a fan o' western culture. Gromnir is in favor o' personal liberty. where culture intrudes on basic fundamental rights, we believes culture should give way. that is what the Bill o' Rights is all 'bout. personal freedoms is very frequent in conflict with cultural norms. regardless, that weren't the issue were it? qistina were boasting 'bout freedoms in malaysia w/o seeming to realize just how oppressive malaysia can be insofar as religion, sexual orientation and a host o' other basic freedoms that westerners take for granted. HA! Good Fun! Its funny that you don't think Western culture needs to be respected, you normally use logic in your views but this seems to be an incongruous point ? What is wrong with saying that the West has systems of government that have consistently been proven to offer there citizens the best quality of life ? Yes the West has made mistakes, yes the West has issues but that doesn't mean that the Western system of governance doesn't work. The facts speak for themselves http://uk.businessinsider.com/legatum-institute-prosperity-index-top-countries-2015-10 And I'm not suggesting its because the West is the best because white people are running the West or the West is intellectually superior Any country can implement what Western countries do but there need to be four key fundamentals that are common in all Western countries but to ensure real economic transformation and to achieve reasonable happiness of the average citizen you need to follow all four of these as much as possible ( I am just summarizing these points in the interests of brevity ) Effective governments that manage the government institutions properly Governments that are elected by the people and are accountable to the people Governments must respect the rule of law in there countries The economy needs to be driven primarily by the free market What I often see in the African context is governments that follow maybe two or three of these points but fail in others and then wonder why they dont achieve, for example, a stronger economy So the success of the West is not because of Imperialism, Colonialism or because " we are white males " ....no its all about how the countries are run and governed and this would naturally lead to an economic and positive social transformation

Look to be fair you can't judge these types of perceived strange or unreasonable decisions by countries like Malaysia ...I understand they seem strange but these are countries are ruled by religious doctrine and modern laws Its fine, we don't have to understand or agree with them but its there decision. As long as they don't export terrorism or have tens of thousands of immigrants wanting to get to Europe its not a big deal Just reminded myself that in Singapore you get caned for throwing chewing gum on the street. I was there, and loved that there was nowhere any garbage lying around. I seriously wish, that something like that, would be enforced in my country and in many EU countries, which I've visited as well... Oh I want to add that I have no issue with a country following what I would consider are religious conservative laws or just unreasonable strict laws as long as the citizens of those countries don't live in poverty or just not part of the economic system due to lack of good governance Because I believe in regime change or at least political pressure put on countries if they are dictatorships...I'm not saying the West needs to go to war with every non-Democrat system out there but we don't need to accept it unless there is some strategic or political consideration like China or Saudi Arabia Now I know many of you guys don't get this and you believe that the West shouldn't interfere in other countries affairs but there is definitely a real case for this if done in the right way

Oh yeah, let's turn the whole west into the incarnation of 1984. I think Jefferson would be proud now... Snowden is a traitor and betrayed his country.... and he did reveal how the NSA have the ability to monitor most social media so now maybe certain extremist groups may not use Facebook or Twitter as a way to communicate but I imagine this would have happened eventually so I don't think we can blame him for this ?

I would consider Malaysia a good example of a Muslim country that is perfectly functional.....didn't you have issues with presidential corruption? Now please understand I don't mean to criticize your constitution but it seems strange to insist that people must say they are religious ? What if you not, why would that mean you cant contribute meaningfully towards Malaysian society so what I'm asking is how is being religious something that benefits your economy or political stability Also you say that Science is important but what when Science and Religion clash , who wins ? We don't have president, but we follow British style of democracy, parliament with royals at the head. Which countries don't have corrupt politicians? You must have a religion to become Malaysian. It doesn't matter what religion, but you must believe in God. It is because when you say you belong to a religion you are bound to that religion morality, culture and way of life, which means you are not deuchbags, yes atheists are deuchbags. If you are Christian, i know you are bound to Christian morality, so it is easier to make business with, i mean i know where you stand. You don't have to be religious, but if there are problems with you we simply refer you to your priests and asking their opinions. If you are an atheist it will be a problem. Malaysia a multicultural country, Malays are only 50% now and Muslims 60%. I love Science vs religion debate, but now i just don't have the mood. Okay thanks for explaining, I am not trying to attack your culture or country as I do consider Malaysia a success story but I must say the whole reasoning behind the point " you must be religious as we believe religious people are easier to understand and manage " is very strange because it makes no sense I am an atheist and my commitment to my country and our success has nothing to do with religion but is based on a belief I love my country and want it to succeed so for example I pay my taxes But anyway we can agree to disagree...if this works for you guys then thats a good thing

I fail to see how this is surprising at all. Pretty much everyone around the world is condemning the attack. Hezbollah is in government together with Lebanese Christian parties, Lebanon has good relations with France... They are probably as disgusted as everyone else, and with literally no reason to not condemn the attack. Hezballah disgusted by terrorism, that's a good one. well, it's easy to see why hezbollah would be disgusted by terrorists who recently targeted hezbollah in southern lebanon. in fact, pretty much any attack on a terrorist group is decried as state-sponsored terrorism perpetrated by ________________. fill in blank with great britain (particularly if we are speaking o' the ira as victims) or israel or the USA or your choice o' state. terrorism is often presented as a matter o' perspective. HA! Good Fun! Yes Gromnir makes some good points but there is also another consideration. The ME is a complicated place due to the political and religious alliances, historical ties and general different views that some countries have on important topics ....like this Oil Price war that Saudi is insisting on We need to realize that certain groups and ideological blocks in the ME we need to see them as operating in a grey world of judgement ...they shouldn't really be judged on strict Western views. For example a few years ago I believed Iran under there older regime was the greatest threat to the region...now they have become an ally of the West in an interesting and unexpected wat Hezbollah like Syria are sustained by Iran and for the Iranians by far the greatest threat to there influence is now ISIS, they are seriously impacting two key Iranian allies in both Syria and Iraq And of course Hezbollah realizes this and they do understand how to manage public perception so when they say " jihadist " threat they mean ISIS which the whole region is opposed to and in this case they right...ISIS is the current and most pressing enemy

Look to be fair you can't judge these types of perceived strange or unreasonable decisions by countries like Malaysia ...I understand they seem strange but these are countries are ruled by religious doctrine and modern laws Its fine, we don't have to understand or agree with them but its there decision. As long as they don't export terrorism or have tens of thousands of immigrants wanting to get to Europe its not a big deal

The Maldives, where the level of persecution against the Christian minority is rated1 "Extreme" - at rank #11 among all countries of the world, before Saudi Arabia? As for Malaysia, it ranks "only" #37 on that watchlist, but my own visit there a few years ago gave me the impression of a repressive society where Islam is not just the majority religion of the population, but de-facto the state religion - being unapologetically and unfairly backed by government bureaucracy, law enforcement, and legal system. Christian churches seemed to be tolerated as long as they sticked to themselves, but lived in fear of random police raids against their congregations for allegations like "subverting Islam" or "encouraging apostacy from Islam". Atheist/agnostic groups consisting of ethnic Malays (rather than foreigners) did not seem to be present at all in the public sphere, though likely existed in secret. Foreigners seemed to have more leeway, but ethnic Malays from Muslim families seemed to have little choice but to officially stay "Muslim", because apostasy meant having to live with severe discrimination and acts of retaliation from any neighbors, employers, public servants, police officers, judges, etc. they'd come in contact with for the rest of their lives. Some of the conversations with people there, even casual ones, left me with newfound appreciation for the level of religious freedom and freedom of speech that exists in the West. Of course it's possible that the people I met and information I absorbed, was unrepresentative or I misinterpreted it etc., and of course my visit to the country lasted only three weeks. But hey, you said we should base our opinion of the tolerance of Muslim societies on our own visits rather than Fox News, so here you go... -------- 1) By Open Doors, the most well-known NGO for cataloging global religious persecution of Christians. Themselves a Christian organization, but I consider it reliable. We have laws, your country also have laws, what's the difference? You claim Christians live in fear under our rule, do Muslims live hapily in your place? Christians in my country didn't look as terrorists hiding bombs in their bag...but i know in the west someone like me could be assaulted by the police just because "look lke a terrorist", people in your country will look at Muslims in eerie way...my country allow Christians, Hindus and whatever to freely practice their religion and laws, does your country allow Muslims doing the same? The church that being raid is because they against the law, they publish their new Malay version of Bible to convert Muslims into Christianity. That's why they got raid by the police. Your country will do the same if any mosques in your country are against your country law isn't it? Atheism is not acceptable in my country, all Malaysians must have religion, "Believe in God" is the first principle to become a Malaysian. There are 5 of them WHEREAS OUR COUNTRY, MALAYSIA nurtures the ambitions of: achieving a more perfect unity amongst the whole of her society; preserving a democratic way of life; creating a just society where the prosperity of the country can be enjoyed together in a fair and equitable manner; guaranteeing a liberal approach towards her rich and varied cultural traditions; and building a progressive society that will make use of science and modern technology. NOW THEREFORE, WE, the people of Malaysia, pledge to concentrate the whole of our energy and efforts to achieve these ambitions based on the following principles: BELIEF IN GOD LOYALTY TO KING AND COUNTRY SUPREMACY OF THE CONSTITUTION RULES OF LAW COURTESY AND MORALITY This is our principle as Malaysians. I would consider Malaysia a good example of a Muslim country that is perfectly functional.....didn't you have issues with presidential corruption? Now please understand I don't mean to criticize your constitution but it seems strange to insist that people must say they are religious ? What if you not, why would that mean you cant contribute meaningfully towards Malaysian society so what I'm asking is how is being religious something that benefits your economy or political stability Also you say that Science is important but what when Science and Religion clash , who wins ?

Morgan has a point though...there are many people from the Muslim community who dont consider ISIS Muslim because of the atrocities they committed. I'm not sure why he feels he has to say that...I assume those of us who want to have this discussion in a reasonable way don't now assume 2 Billion Muslims are like ISIS WOD...I can understand why some of you Republicans or supporters of the NRA dont like Morgan. But he meant well...he was just trying to make the USA a safer place...but you can't lecture Americans on issues like the Right to Bear Arms if you aren't an actual citizen He misunderstood this even though I supported what he was trying to achieve

You dont have to like Gay Pride but in the EU you cant discriminate against gay people because homophobia is illegal and this is exactly how many people want it, I consider the tolerant rules and way the EU believes in human rights to be strength of the EU. And you may have noticed that the EU is the place everyone wants to immigrate to....so they must be doing something right ?

Well you right about one thing, if you have an issue with something like Gay Pride parades in a place like the EU then its best Serbia stays out the EU until its views become more tolerant ...but I don't believe most of Serbia would state something in public like that

Yes my friend, I am well aware of this type of criticism towards Western institutions like the EU ....but you are wrong, yes this current attempt to integrate the Syrians and other refugess is misplaced but these are just lessons the EU has to learn. The EU will endure but I have no issue with kicking member country's out that don't follow the economic and political rules Also its probably not such a good idea to quote Putin considering the fact its exactly some of his policies and geo-political choices that have created the situation where Russia is in a recession

Agreed, also generally when celebrities discuss politics they are normally on the side of more equality and are concerned with human rights. So things like gay rights are understandably important to them But I don't generally look at any celebrities for guidance around prudent political insight

http://www.vogue.com/13368193/jennifer-lawrence-december-2015-cover-hunger-games Its funny but there isn't much political discussion in this interview? Maybe two paragraphs or so and I find her general criticism of the Republicans to be reasonable....so I'm not sure what the big deal is?

Sorry to hear that, my thoughts are with you

The Sad Puppies were a group that believed that the Hugo awards had become more about rewarding the promotion of liberal beliefs rather than good sci-fi, as they believed in past years awards had gone to authors because they were the only female or PoC nominee, or the work had been substandard but championed liberal views, and conservative authors or more enjoyable but less intellectual works were being punished for not believing in "liberal" causes. They came out with a list of recommended nominees for the Hugos for their supporters to nominate so they would at least be a choice on the ballot. The Rabid Puppies were the "SJWs destroy everything they touch and we'll prove it" group that tried to get similar people nominated and guaranteed that the SJWs would just refuse to give out any awards rather than give any out to white conservatives. Almost all the nominees came from the Sad or Rabid puppy slates. The "SJW"s then went on a recruitment drive and signed up like double the usual voters and most awards were voted "no award" except for the like 2 or 3 categories that weren't all puppy nominees. Vox Day's supporters saw it as proof that he was right, the SJWs saw it as a victory for correct thinking. It was another GamerGate type thing where moderates on both sides were drowned out and any point either side had was lost in the quest for victory, and anyone not personally invested didn't really give a crap. Nice summary and I would say its accurate Wasn't George R R Martin opposed to groups like Sad Puppies?

" son seems to hate financial security/himself" That really made me laugh.,.well it should be seen as a positive because now there is NO doubt he is yours

I don't know dude but that to me is more your body saying " why would you put yourself through this type of physical labour "...this is your body being prudent when your mind is being unreasonable Pay someone to do it seriously. I could never conceive of actually doing that much physical work..I'm sure it would be illegal in South Africa

I'm not sure if you being sarcastic but I would like to get your opinion because of your own personal experiences in Oz and your links to the Aborigines...I may be missing something about this but I doubt it. Its very simple to me, I believe in a multi-racial country, I believe in the growing black middle class, I have black friends and I have white friends and I believe in the multi-racial economic transformation of the country. I reject racism when I encounter it from white South Africans but luckily I move in circles where people are also committed to the country and are obviously not racist Yet to her I resent and hold black people down, she is the first black racist in South Africa I have ever acknowledged as normal " racist " comments you sometimes hear from black people are based more on frustration and the fact they think white people don't like them. This is different to the historic and systemic racism you see from white supremacists and Aryans who really think black people are inferior genetically But I can answer the question if you are being serious but I would like to know what you think about the article and please be honest

Yale? Witness the future leaders of you country, my fellow americans. I watched that video, in South Africa at the moment we have had these highly misinformed, irritating, disruptive and utterly unreasonable student protests where despite our government agreeing to no fee increase, despite not having the money to offer this, the students then demanded no...." now we want free tertiary education " !!!!...and trust me our government cannot afford that ...we have so many governmental failed initiatives and economic pressures on our country we have literally NO extra money for something as expensive as free varsity for entitled students who don't actually care about where the money comes from....they don't because they just expect our government to just pay Its so irritating...its exasperating. But you know whats worse having to read articles like this written by these black racists who resent white people and blame them for the woes of all black South Africans What do you think about this article http://vanguardmagazine.co.za/what-feesmustfall-teaches-us-about-racism/

I thought you would be more defensive but I should have realized you would respond in a reasonable and accurate way Let me ask you the question a different way, does it bother you that people assume you are SJW. But lets be realistic about the word SJW. That only exists on the Internet as an insult really, its not seen as a positive. I don't tell people I'm a SJW I say " I'm committed to SJ causes in RL and I take this seriously " So do you consider yourself someone who supports SJ in RL and how would you feel if most people on these forums based on your general posting etiquette assumed that about you? I think this would be considered something positive but for some this is seen as a negative...so how do you feel or maybe you don't feel your posts are particular SJ supportive?

Hurlshot I have to add I always chuckle when I see you being called a SJW, its a title I believe you initially tried to resist. How do you feel about it now?...welcome to the club

I need to be honest and add an update to this, I am working from home tomorrow so I said to my mom and stepdad I was feeling very rough and I'll visit them tomorrow for dinner

Okay its 6:30 am and I'm home ...I am very wasted but I need to go to my moms for breakfast at 10 am, I don't really feel like it but its family and I don't want to disappoint them

You funny Volo I was hoping you would make this easy and just agree but there has been extensive research done that confirms what I am saying. I can post the link if you doubt this but then I would be PROVING I'm right and you know how I hate being right

Volo I have to agree with Hurlshot on this one and you know the rule....when two completely unaffiliated SJW agree on something it has to be correct