BruceVC

I'd love that, we'd finally stop being a flock of sheep and secede. Edit: Btw, style point, "Sharia law" is redundant. You do realize that seceding would mean facing the full power of the US military which in the case of preserving the Union would not hesitate to resort to total war if it needed to. The Texans would be forced to stay, or if that became impossible they'd all be killed, by nuclear strikes if needed. No state leaves the union; much less with it's people alive. This post made me laugh " No state leaves the union; much less with it's people alive " You see for me I would ask a more important questions " why would you really want to leave the Union and do people realize the negative economic impact that would follow any state that legally was able to leave " ?

I'm not with you? These refugees will eventually end up somewhere in EU....so why go to all the effort of stopping them on the Hungarian border when there are countries like Austria and Germany that seem better equipped and more prepared to deal with them? So in other why would the Hungarians make this a problem they have to deal with by restricting border access, this would only make logistical sense if the Syrians wanted to settle in Hungary?

I tell you what I am finding strange is why Hungary is being so resistant to the Syrians passing through? Its clear the Hungarians don't want them and the Syrians don't want to stay in Hungary ...so why not just let them pass through as quickly as possible I feel sympathy for Hungary because it must be very daunting having to manage thousands of people ...Croatia only lasted one day before they quickly closed there borders http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/18/croatia-closes-border-crossings-with-serbia-refugees-stranded But rather then add more bardwire just let them go to countries in the EU that will accept them ?

Comparable how? Or are you counting your native population birth rate as a collective or your genuine native population. Because last time I looked, the only reason most European countries have a positive birth:death ratio, is because the immigrants have several children and make the overall stats look better. And where did you get 850 million, EU has about 500. I get my numbers from the World Bank and UN websites, as opposed to the time honored tradition of pulling the numbers out of your ass. The UN sets a cautious estimate of the population of EU at 738 million. Source. While other projections are almost a billion when Russia, Turkey and other countries some times affiliated with Europe are counted in, so I went with a nice middle ground. Do you also need help with finding sources on population growth? You need to realize Ros that people like Drowsy don't really need verifiable sources of information when they make comments.... RT is normally good enough to spread misinformation and perpetuate conspiracy theories Ask 2133.....according to him every news source is about propaganda

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/09/19/politics/donald-trump-muslims-controversy/ Guys as you can see this incident about that guy saying Obama was a Muslim is now on CNN International....its not just me that is concerned. The Democrats have highlighted this is a display of bigotry All the issues I had with it have been echoed by others. I heard Trumps response and he did make two points I have to say were valid to me Would Obama defend him at a rally if someone criticized him or used hyperbole If he had stopped the guy he would be accused of " interfering in free speech "

I'm nursing a really bad hangover and I'm flying back to JHB....its 7:10 am and I'm at the airport I'm looking at this loss and trying to see the positive. This was undoubtedly the finest moment for Japanese rugby and I'm not going to undermine there achievement Yes countries like NZ and Australia must be laughing now and we deserve it... but as I said earlier I'm still very confident we will get through the Pool. We just mustn't get consumed with negativity...and yes the newspapers are going to be brutal...as we have come to expect

Oh yeah.,....do I know it.... " a huge upset " is an understatement What a TERRIBLE game for us but well done to Japan, they played really well. Less technical mistakes and a really good coach Some of my brothers are saying " how can we come back from this...losing to Japan in the first game " But we still get 2 points for scoring 4 tries and for being within 7 points of the winning team So I have to believe we can come back from this, its not like we can get any worse at the moment

Guys keep the feedback going, I am interested in overall views of this game

"Obama is going to laugh maniacally and roll out Shariah law across the land " Can you imagine Obama going to congress and saying " in the interests of unity and a progressive future for the USA Sharia law will now be rolled out ...starting in Texas " I wonder what WOD would say about this ...mmmmm

I remember you had interest in Rugby seven, didn't you go support them in Vegas? And yes you will find the full Rugby games much more entertaining and intense. I'm glad you are going to watch them, you won't be disappointed And yes you right NZ, like South Africa, has a very good pool draw and will definitely get through. Also remember two teams from each pool get through Pool A is the hardest by far. Australia, England and Wales...I predict Wales and Australia Yeah I went to the Rugby Sevens WC tournament there a few years ago, South Africa and New Zealand played for the championship (what a surprise). I actually was hanging out with one of the players from Team Canada at the Stratosphere, the guy I was there with knew him. Those Rugby players are "babe magnets " hey GD...somehow I doubt they battle to find dates

McCain lost, remember? I thought you may say that.... And do you think that pandering to people who think that Obama is a " Muslim non-citizen of the USA " will help Trump win?

That guy was a complete moron. He was impressively stupid. I'm sorry but how can Trump allow someone to say " Obama is a Muslim " and not correct them? Apart from the factual inaccuracy the insinuation is that somehow its bad to be a Muslim...or that all Muslims want to kill Americans? Come on guys....do we really need to have that type ignorance in the USA during what is suppose to be reasonable political debate ? If Trump had corrected him: A) It could become a nasty exchange. This is not a reasonable person; he won't change his mind, but rather throw a fit. Not good. B) It could turn off some of his nutty supporters. Mccain was able to do it? For me this is about integrity and the fact that Trump seems fine with people believing Obama is a Muslim who wants to destroy the USA

That guy was a complete moron. He was impressively stupid. I'm sorry but how can Trump allow someone to say " Obama is a Muslim " and not correct them? Apart from the factual inaccuracy the insinuation is that somehow its bad to be a Muslim...or that all Muslims want to kill Americans? Come on guys....do we really need to have that type ignorance in the USA during what is suppose to be reasonable political debate ?

Oh wait I mustn't underestimate Scotland from our pool....then I'm confident that we will get through and then it will be between the Scotland and USA

So if you are going back to the Vietnam war then are you suggesting the USA has been "weak " for 40 years? Also what recent wars has the USA been defeated in? They went into Afghanistan to kill Bin Laden and to reduce the operating capability of AL-Qaeda..they have done this. Do you expect them to stay in Afghanistan for decades? Iraq was a mistake ....we all know this. So how is the USA withdrawing there troops in 2011 a mistake And finally what bosses exactly are weak, I assume you mean the US presidents. Do you mean Obama...Bush...Clinton? And can you give concrete examples of how the US presidents have been weak ? So for example should Obama have just ignored the Iranian nuclear talks and did what Netanyahu wanted by bombing Iran...is that your idea of showing "American strength " ? Interesting post, makes a lot of sense. I just have a few questions about the last paragraph. Can you give examples of how the USA isn't interested in enforcement . Because the only possible outcome outside of these Iranian negotiations would have been military airstrikes by the USA. Is that what you are suggesting....that the US should have used the military option. I always thought you were against US intervention in places like the ME unless the interests of the US were truly threatened? And as you correctly stated the sanctions against Iran were only this effective because you had consensus from the likes of Russia and China. And both these countries were at a point where if the current Iranian negotiations had failed they might have either pulled out of enforcing sanctions or looked for there own solution to deal with the Iranian problem...and I really can't imagine either the Russians or Chinese effectively being able to get Iran to change its mind from developing nuclear technology ? http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/iran-talks-show-why-west-still-needs-russia/511756.html

I remember you had interest in Rugby seven, didn't you go support them in Vegas? And yes you will find the full Rugby games much more entertaining and intense. I'm glad you are going to watch them, you won't be disappointed And yes you right NZ, like South Africa, has a very good pool draw and will definitely get through. Also remember two teams from each pool get through Pool A is the hardest by far. Australia, England and Wales...I predict Wales and Australia

http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/ It started yesterday, we love our Rugby in South Africa..well most of us do Anyone planning on watching? South Africa is in a good pool....I predict us and the USA will get through http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/pools

Thats what I thought, I can see you know what you are talking about You debate from a point of fact and historical context and its refreshing to read your comments

I doubt that it's based on any serious calculation. There is a willingness among likely GOP primary voters to believe that the current administration has greatly weakened the US's military capabilities. The play for a candidate like Carson is to stoke that concern so that he can offer his leadership/policies as a solution. Yes anyone who thinks the USA military is weak or ineffective is either uninformed or is just making comments in the interests of political expediency, I have always found this type of political rhetoric irresponsible because I can guarantee you there are people in the USA who genuinely think the USA military is " weak "

So there are several things I don't agree with or maybe you are just unaware of them So Western intervention in the ME has primarily been about two main reasons, to ensure security around oil and the humanitarian precedent You cannot ignore either of these points for different reasons. Lets be clear when the West gets involved in the ME and various conflicts in the region it is now patently obvious that the outcome won't be a Western style system of Democracy. This outcome is a good thing by the way as Western countries offer there citizens the best quality of life...so this isn't about the superiority of Western ideology as its basically been proven in the last 200 years that Western governments and what they believe in are the most effective governments in the world. The ME needs to follow its own system of Democracy and yes there is still work to be done but end of the day the overall objective is to uplift the quality of life of the citizens of the various countries in the ME and make there governments and rulers more accountable. This should be a universal goal that we should all support Now back to intervention in the ME and the justification for it from a Western perspective. Oil....of course the supply and security of the oil use to be paramount to the growth and sustainability of the economies of all countries in the world. And since the majority of oil comes from the ME and the rate of oil production is controlled by OPEC anything that could disrupt this oil supply would be more than enough reason to justify intervention in the ME. So don't assume people really believe that " getting involved in the ME is about helping the Arabs achieve there full potential " ....of course thats not the only reason. The economic impact of having the global oil supply disrupted would be disastrous for the whole world. I would expect the world to intervene on some levels to ensure stability of the region....this is obvious But things have now changed as far as the oil supply is concerned. The USA is now the worlds biggest producer of oil this has fundamentally changed the urgency of when the West will intervene in the ME http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/jan/04/amy-klobuchar/klobuchar-says-us-worlds-no-1-oil-producer/ http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-07-04/u-s-seen-as-biggest-oil-producer-after-overtaking-saudi So now intervention is also about the humanitarian reason, for example the USA only started the recent airstrikes against ISIS because ISIS were going to basically massacre the Yazidi's who were trapped on Mount Sinjar https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/yazidis-still-reported-trapped-on-mountain-in-northern-iraq-despite-us-assessment/2014/08/14/d85337fb-c5d2-4b82-b53a-410467e0db90_story.html So I don't support this view that the West " should just stay out of the ME" as I have mentioned two reasons, oil security and human rights, that do justify Western involvement in some of the ME conflicts. This cannot just be ignored

And let me guess...you are well informed and know exactly what will ensure peace in the ME and address the issue of ISIS? Since you are criticizing my views I am interested in what you suggest is the solution to deal with ISIS and the various conflicts, like Syrian civil war, that have been created since the Arab Spring swept through the ME?

Well, as long as it's not a problem for the US it's cool, the thinking is going I assume, heh. Guys come on, you can't possibly blame the USA for training people who later become there enemies. As far as Islamic extremism is concerned it is this fractured and nebulous movement that often fights within itself. Its not like Islamic extremism is this monolithic group of people who all have the same motives So in other words you cannot predict if some people who are trained by the USA later turn against them, thats just a reality of this type of conflict Look at the training of the Mujaheddin by the CIA in Afghanistan ....look how that turned out Its got nothing to do with ignorance It actually has a lot to do with ignorance.... Ignorance to the cultural development in that region in the last 4 thousands of years. If they would know and understand that, they would never used non-ruling parties as tools in their proxy wars... even when using the ruling parties, they should first know what is holding them at their power... because as we see Sauds officially being friends to US while at the same time there are a lot of people in that family supporting islamic extremists... And looking that Sauds are basically a modern theocracy, it is not a surprise to anyone who has a basic grasp at the reality there. Again, meddling in none of your affairs just makes things worse... and why? to secure natural resources and poke at Russia/Soviet Union. No thats just not true, the USA has trained groups of people in the ME that have definitely aided them in various ways and conflicts ..its not meddling and is in fact prudent The Kurds have been a success story of Western training http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/240120152 The reality is its easier in many ways to train people who will do the hand to hand fighting in a conflict like Syria than to send your own troops. Of course the Syrian conflict and the various training programs have been wracked with issues and logistical problems...I am not in denial about that. But that doesn't mean that any suggestions to train various groups in the ME to fight Islamic extremism is a bad idea. But I am well aware of the issues around training in Syria and so are the USA http://edition.cnn.com/videos/tv/2015/08/06/rebels-vanish-syria-starr-dnt-tsr.cnn http://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/18/politics/syrian-rebels-pentagon-training-isis/

I'm flying to the coast in few hours to see my family and coming back on Sunday. I have taken leave for today and I am looking forward to a few days of fun in the sun and spending time just relaxing I have never ever shown you guys what Durban looks like, its a coastal town and has many cool restaurants and bars right on the beach. Here are some images that someone else has taken and I think they do an accurate job of covering what Durban is like http://www.canstockphoto.com/images-photos/durban.html

Wow this has been a very interesting post, Varana how come you know so much about this part of history? Its very fascinating Well, there's a thing called a book.... A book.... Yes of course he could have just picked up a book and read all about this just for this debate but his knowledge seems to be more comprehensive and detailed. It seems to me its more of a hobby ?

Well, as long as it's not a problem for the US it's cool, the thinking is going I assume, heh. Guys come on, you can't possibly blame the USA for training people who later become there enemies. As far as Islamic extremism is concerned it is this fractured and nebulous movement that often fights within itself. Its not like Islamic extremism is this monolithic group of people who all have the same motives So in other words you cannot predict if some people who are trained by the USA later turn against them, thats just a reality of this type of conflict Look at the training of the Mujaheddin by the CIA in Afghanistan ....look how that turned out Its got nothing to do with ignorance