JadedWolf

I hate to be that guy, but you do realize that for example in Saudi Arabia we're talking about a country where the practice of any other religion than Islam is forbidden, and where aposty is punishable by death? Morocco is probably among the more harmless as far as Islamic countries go, but even there trying to convert people from Islam is forbidden and will result in being kicked out of the country or even being imprisoned. Saudi Arabia is by no stretch of the imagination a tolerant country when it comes to religious minorities. Some of the others on your list are, but ONLY when compared to other Islamic countries. Your list sadly doesn't really instill much hope in me for religious minorities in countries ruled by Islamic parties. The saddest example near us in Europe is Turkey, which is rapidly turning the clock backwards. Just the other day the deputy Prime Minister of Turkey stated that women should not laugh in public as it was not modest. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/turkey/10998133/Women-should-not-laugh-out-loud-in-public-Turkeys-deputy-prime-minister-says.html If you ask me, the only hope for religious minorities in Islamic countries is secular government. Edit: pruned the tree.

Yes they can. And yes they have. Trought history. Learn a bit, you'd be surprised. It's populat to use stereotypes and special/singular events and inflate them to over 9000, but that's not how the world works. Irocnically, often in the past people have been more tolerant than today. There are several Muslim countries where there are no conflicts. Like Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines But at the moment the Middle East is a particularly violent place, like New conflict in southern Lebanon Civil war in Syria ISIS fighting the Kurds, the Syrians and the currently elected Iraq government Ongoing extremist violence in Yemen Gaza conflict And this excludes the sectarian violence in Libya and Egypt In fact we don't often see this but Africa has less conflicts than the Middle East at the moment philipines is overwhelming catholic. malaysia... is maybe not as great an example as you think, even though it is probable the best example. http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/selected_judgements/lina_joy_v_majlis_agama_islam_wilayah_persekutuan_2_ors_2005_ca.html http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/ft-disaster-looms-amid-rising-religious-intolerance-in-malaysia-neighbours http://www.frontpagemag.com/2010/rich-trzupek/malaysia-and-the-myth-of-islamic-tolerance/ am admitting we know very little about indonesia. HA! Good Fun! You right Gromnir, I don't know why I thought the Philippines was predominantly Muslim. I must have been getting it confused with Indonesia ? I would think not. Indonesia has quite a few conflicts between muslims and religious minorities. Here is the latest from august 1th: http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Moluccas,-fresh-fears-of-Muslim-Christian-clashes:-4-dead,-dozens-of-homes-ablaze-31781.html

The question is not "are these guys cool enough for this thread?", but "is this thread cool enough for these guys?".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd3btVhwr48

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGYAAsHT4QE

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh825112.aspx Google is your friend.

Reports are coming in from people who have lost family in the crash, and have found their loved ones credit cards and phones have been used after the crash. But I am sure the usual suspects will decry it all as Western propaganda again. This forum really needs a tinfoil hat emote at this rate.

Not being a military buff myself, I had to look this up. I take it you mean Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses, and not the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance. Although I do think we'd all be a lot better off if the Ukrainian government and the separatists would just have a dance-off instead.

Its horrific and must be very hurtful for the relatives. It also highlight the complete disregard the separatists have around basic human decency when it comes to these types of disasters and how you treat the bodies of loved ones. Do you know anyone who was on the plane? No, there's quite a few people from the surrounding area who were in the plane, but no one I actually knew personally.

Here in the Netherlands there is a lot of outrage in the media towards the alleged plundering of the dead's possessions. Supposedly the separatists took every wallet, camera and mobile phone to be found near the crash site.

Hey there, welcome to the world beyond kindergarten, where we actually use arguments rather than calling people names to try and make our points!

The sad fact is that peace in the middle east cannot be enforced by a third party. Both sides need to want peace, and given their political choices it is clear neither side really desires peace. So no, we here on the Obsidian board can't come up with a peaceful solution.

"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank, he told reporters last week in remarks that largely have been overlooked. “There cannot be a situation, under any agreement, in which we relinquish security control of the territory west of the River Jordan," he said July 11 at a press conference. But if Israel doesn't relinquish security control, Palestinians cannot establish a state. The alternative, then, would be a single state in which Palestinians are residents but not full citizens. [...] None of this should be terribly surprising, as Netanyahu had long opposed a two-state solution before his recent engagement with the Obama administration on the issue. Of course, while he was supposedly negotiating a two-state solution in good faith, his administration doubled settlements in the West Bank and created a far-right-wing governing coalition largely opposed to a Palestinian state." So, in short, it is confirmed what was earlier plain to see for anyone. Israeli politicians never believed in a two state solution and have only been playing along to get the international community off their backs. What they envision is one Jewish state in which Arabs are second class citizens. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/18/benjamin-netanyahu-palest_n_5598997.html?utm_hp_ref=world

I am curious how RT news will manage to spin this.

Without him it's very unlikely that Argentina would have been in final, where Germany's players were uniformly good, Neuer was probably his closest competition for the prize. Neuer would have been more deserving. Robben would have been more deserving. James Rodriguez would have been more deserving. It's beyond comprehension. Even Messi himself did not look like he believed he deserved it.

I can't believe they made Messi the player of the tournament!

Man, you realy get super excited about the most random things. I hate Robben, and by extension everything Dutch. I think it's how he runs. And all the smiling. P.S. No, I have no idea what the puffin has to do with it either, but it's cute, isn't it?

Very sporting of all those Brazilian supporters to stay and salute the winners. Very classy.

Ahh, I don't think so. Religion can sway individuals to extreme acts and it can inculcate the young and impressionable. To say it's simply a tool of politicians is a gross simplification. And to cite ye old peaceful times when christians and muslims lived together is lunacy. There will be no peace between Christians and Muslims, ever. It's in the books. I agree in the sense that the core root of the problem between the Israelis and Palestinians is a religious difference and the fact people on both sides feel they have a religious given right to certain areas that are historically significant. But they only believe they are significance because of religious doctrine That's true up to a point, but it's also true that religion and ethnicity are so intertwined here that it's difficult to make any distinction. Is it really a struggle between two religions, or between two ethnic groups (jews and arabs)? On the other hand, among the Arabs are Christians and those do seem to react differently to the pressures they are under than the Muslim Arabs. Over the years, many of the Christian Arabs have emigrated elsewhere, while those that remain have not generally opted to use violence. For example: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27883685 "A Palestinian Christian family that preaches non-violence from a farm in the West Bank is battling to hold on to land it has owned for 98 years. Now surrounded by Israeli settlements, the family is a living example of the idea of peaceful resistance." I applaud their use of peaceful resistance, and I would hope to think that it may be a far more effective path than the senseless spiral of revenge and counter-revenge the Muslim Arabs engage in with the Israeli's. But then again I may be wrong, and people may prefer to give attention to bombs and rockets instead.

For most Dutchies this is definitely the most memorable Bergkamp goal: It really is a crime that the 1998 team didn't manage to get further than they did. They were certainly one of the best Dutch teams ever.

Bringing in Krul wouldn't have made Sneijder and Vlaar not miss, so can't blame Cillessen. In any case, I'm proud of the boys. They gave their all, did much better than anyone expected, and only lost on penalties. Now let's see if the Germans can beat the Argies with the same superiority they showed against Brazil. As for the match for the 3th place. Meh. Who cares?

That comic sans is such a douchebag.

I had a discussion with my brother yesterday. I put forth the proposition that the Palestinians would have gotten a lot more done for themselves if they had used peaceful tactics to draw attention to their plight. He retorted to that by saying that if they had done that the international community would just generally ignore them. What do you guys think?

Apparently hundreds of Brazilians were waiting for the German players when they arrived at the hotel. To applaud and sing for them, in recognition of their awesome display. Very sporting from the Brazilians, my hat off to them.