Drowsy Emperor

Nope, I was approving that you weren't trying to justify or downplay it. I have a KGB manual and it doesn't say that torture doesn't provide results, its says that the information received isn't reliable, which amounts to the same thing. Doesn't say they were giving up on it either though. I'm fairly certain that all secret services of the world torture and assassinate individuals, I just can't stand people presenting it as something its not/whitewashing it. I hope you don't get riled up when someone tortures a US agent/soldier whatever though, if its all in the game... well, its all in the game?

^ At least he's honest about it.

I can't take the suggestion that "free market should reign" in healthcare seriously. If it was up to the free market anyone unable to pay would be left in the street to die. On the other hand, a cartel based policy in which the state is complicit is a disaster but that's no longer the state as an expression of the will of the majority, rather as an oligarchy setting things up according to its own interest. Americans misunderstand european statism as communism. In Europe it is expected and desired that the state should handle things that are for the common good, (indeed it was the extremely conservative and imperialistic rule of Bismark in Germany that came up with pensions, a fact that would probably send american conservatives into a seizure), and that belief significantly predates communism as an ideology. The idea of "free" communal services predates statism by centuries, going as far back as the beginning of the human race. Anyway I don't see what's wrong with it. A society in which everyone has free access to education, the best health care available (the former Yugoslavia used to pay even very expensive trearments for its citizens in foreign countries when they couldn't be provided within the state) etc. is a happier and productive place than one where everyone is struggling to get by. Within that type society at least you know what you're paying when you pay your taxes.

Everything in USA healthcare is regulated. EVERYTHING. That's deliberate. It has been for most of the 20th century. The State gets more power over you and requires people to seek The State to access it. Corporations get anti-market practices that cartel service and prevent competition. I worked in healthcare for over 6 years--everything from clerical work, paramedic, nuclear diagnostics, and laboratory analytics. Even the BLANKET WARMERS have regulations about where they must be located. The stories I could share. State domination of healthcare is ultimately why I backed out of med school and became a welding engineer & inspector instead. Well if the corporations get cartel service (I assume you're referring to the inability of the government to negotiate the price of medications, which in effect is a gift to those companies) is state regulation to blame or the fact that corporations own the state and can dictate their terms? I don't see state regulation as a bad thing of itself if the state is truly the master of the house and acts in the interest of the majority, but allowing private interests to create those regulations while posing as the state is a disaster. Anyway, Serbia's health care is on a constant downward spiral, but even so everyone who has insurance (and everyone has it) can get almost everything for free or with relatively cheap participation (that can pile up for those that need handfuls of different meds). And that's in an essentially dead economy with something like 30% unemployment rate. So, its obviously a matter of political will in the US, not feasibility.

Baby steps towards WW3 in Europe are a bit more important than either

When its Russians doing it its chavunistic nationalism but when european heads of state are giving financial and literal support to an armed rebellion (full of extreme right types) then that's what? Spreading freedom and democracy? The difference between outright annexing a part of a country (and Crimea has never, historically, belonged to Ukraine) and controlling it by proxy through a puppet government is purely one of form. Russia took Crimea from Ukraine? Boo hoo. The US and the EU took Ukraine from Ukrainians, only they're far too much under the influence of war propaganda to see it now. The end of Yanukovich was the end of Ukrainian independence and came about, ironically, precisely because he wanted to make an independent move and accept Putin's credit. I fail to see how Russia's nationalism in their own "back yard" is worse than EU's/US's colonialism in eastern europe. What WW1 has taught us is that aggressive expansion with disregard for the interests of large countries will lead to them using aggressive measures to protect those same interests (European empires > Germany WW1, US> Japan WW2). What WW2 has taught us is that attempting to crush and humiliate a major player in world politics will lead to even worse backlash than the first time around. Was critical thinking at such a premium that you had to take at face value the shallow explanations of high school history classes? Finally, the point of the sanctions is to pressure the mondialist (as opposed to patriotic) and amoral financial elite in Russia. To ruin their business is a way to undermine Putin's support until they flip and start scheming to bring him down. They don't care who is in power (unlike the populace) and would probably like another Yeltsin best whose door they used to kick in whenever they needed anything.

Sci-fi went out of fashion and publishers reinforce that opinion by choosing what comes out on the market. A friend of mine who is a writer by trade told me that getting a sci-fi novel published with a real publisher is next to impossible, while you can toss in any fantasy story you want and they'll go along with it. The popular imagination isn't in sci-fi anymore and the writer talent pool is much smaller than it used to be. Same with sci-fi movies. While there are quite a few sci fi movies, most are set in the present day and aren't really sci-fi (superhero movies lean towards fantasy rather than science fiction). I haven't seen a landmark sci-fi film since the Matrix and even that was a serious step down from the Solaris, Stalker, Odyssey 2001, Blade Runner etc. films. Its normal, these things come and go. Sci-fi was the fantasy of the space age generation. Plus, to be honest, a good sci fi book requires some education and mental effort to read and the masses are worse than ever in that respect. Sword waving fantasy is far more approachable. *cough* the dragons are coming *cough*

I just researched that event a bit and it does seem like De Gaulle's big "no" wasn't as big as previously thought. Ah well, live and learn

The Le Pen news don't mean much unless she wins the elections. Which is probably possible for the first time around. It is nevertheless symptomatic of an increasing sentiment. It is sadly definitely possible that she wins the elections though. What's sad about her winning the elections? She's the only major independent politician in France. She's also the only one that has any idea how a respectable nation state should act in the international arena and has definite principles, unlike spineless characters such as Sarkozy/Hollande. All real parties of the right in the EU have been systematically demonized in european media, branded as "extreme right" and equalized with the Nazis even though they plainly do act like the traditional extreme right in any shape or form. Same with Le Pen. All because she's proposing a policy outside the dominion of Brussels and Washington. Regardless, I have a feeling her bark is worse than her bite. She has not committed to getting France out of NATO if she wins, and likely won't. Politicians as a rule soften up their rhetoric the moment they come into power, so I don't expect much from her.

The Le Pen news don't mean much unless she wins the elections. Which is probably possible for the first time around.

I really doubt the sanctions would be lifted no matter what happened. I think you have gravely and completely misunderstood the motivations behind the interests which are behind this. There is only one prime interest of every industry - making money. Doing business with Russia at the moment (err... before the crisis) was pretty much a win for every industry. From Russia you import the raw materials needed to build more refined stuff, which you sell with a surplus. To Russia you export the stuff they don't build/grow themselves. Making up sanctions and blocking free trade is the worst thing a capitalist society can do to itself. That is especially true with regards to the economic "elites" of these societies. Believe me when I say that if it is anything these elites want, it is global peace and global free trade. Previously, the argument was "LOL SANCTIONS GONNA DO NOTHING, SHOOT YOUR SELF IN FOOT!!!", now the argument seems to be "OH POOR RUSSIA, WHY WEST CONTINUE WITH SANCTION?!!". The truth is of course somewhere between these two. Both economies are hurt equally bad in absolute terms. But because the economy of EU+US is so much bigger than that of Russia, the end average effect on the former is only about 1/16 of the effect on Russia, procentually speaking (this is before taking account mitigation efforts by writing new trade contracts and sanctions in the banking sector which works somewhat differently). Nevertheless, you can be sure that the lobby groups of pretty much every industry that is affected is nagging politicians to remove the sanctions every day. The question is, in case you haven't understood at this point, why would EU instigate economic warfare with Russia that won't amount to anything except hurting both sides, over Ukraine. How is it in the EU's interest to damage economic ties with Russia over an american/NATO project. The casual answer would be: well they're all in NATO, so there's some cooperative benefit to trying to take over Ukraine and push the Russians from it. Except there isn't, at the end of the day, Russia will still be there, as will trade deficits and bad blood and a bankrupt, unstable, semi-fascist government "leading" 50 million people from one loan package to another. In the best case scenario european predatory businesses will gobble up some of Ukrainian industries, what the americans let the have anyway. That money will go to private pockets while the average EU citizen gains nothing but more expenses out of the whole affair. The US on the other hand, has managed to create a conflict, where they have very little to lose but a lot to gain (compared the costs they incurred). The question is really, how can the leaders of Europe be such utter muppets, to take a dump in their own back yard, that will stink for years to come, for the profit of another country halfway across the world. And please don't reply something along the lines of "human rights", "Putin being a dictator bent on resurrecting the soviet union and has to be stopped" or other such tripe. The only reason I'm even writing this response is because I know you're not stupid enough to believe that.

Terrorism isn't much of a threat. More people die in car accidents in a month than the sum of terrorist attacks in a western country in probably a decade. That would probably include the sum of the most pessimistic casualty outcomes of foiled plots as well. It could be ended in a fortnight by leveling Riyadh and bringing the Gulf states to heel, who are its major, if not only sponsors. Instead the US is fighting "terror" in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. Because the goat herders of afghanistan and two self centered autocrats were a threat to american national security. Framing the discussion of this torture around terrorism is rubbish, because that's not what its about. Its about showing power: "if you annoy us we will kidnap you, stick you in a jail and rape you" outside of international law or court, and no one will know what happened to you. In fact, if these grisly details didn't leak, the whole endeavor of holding these people prisoner and torturing them (as opposed to just shooting them and dumping them somewhere) would be utterly pointless.

I'm surprised that anyone is surprised. A country trying for a century to achieve world supremacy has secret dungeons to torture its enemies? Its like wondering how come that Caesar of "civilized" Rome brought Vercengetorix on a leash to show him around. To even ask the question shows how little the questioner knows of Rome.

Well, obviously things are not going back to normal until the situation in Eastern Ukraine is settled. Duh. Its a semi frozen conflict, its not going to be settled. It can go on like this for years.

Crimea isn't going back to Ukraine, I think everyone knows that at this point

I don't think Ukriane is relevant anymore, the conflict has wound down to a semi stagnant state, yet the US and EU push on with sanctions. That tells me that some new goals have been set and I'm pretty certain they're to do with engineering a colored revolution in Russia. We've seen how those go and sanctions are just the first step.

I spent 5 years weight lifting and I know for a fact, through personal experience, that what you say is a half truth. One gets better at what they practice. If what you are saying is true powerlifters would easily compete with other athletes in a multitude of sports. Yet they do not, how do you explain this? Instead the reality is that weight lifting is a supplementary activity to many sports. It is beneficial, no doubt about it. But it is supplementary precisely because its pointless to engage in extremely heavy lifting for most sports. It does not further anything other than strength in any significant way compared to whatever their primary activity/need is. To get dexterous you need to engage in tasks that demand dexterity. To become more coordinated you need to practice tasks that demand real coordination. I spent around two years training Russian Systema and the first thing I learnt that weight lifting doesn't give you much in a real fight. I bring up fighting as an example of a task that requires dexterity and coordination, among other things. I was as strong when I walked in as the day when I stopped, but at the end I could throw a mean punch and take a lot of physical punishment as well as move surprisingly well for a man my size. Boxers don't need leg strength to do what they do although I'd venture that as a rule they're miles above regular people in that category. They train strength, extreme stamina and endurance and maneuvering in a ring requires excellent dexterity and coordination. A good boxer is strong, fast, coordinated, fluid... or he isn't a good boxer. I suppose Muhammad Ali he isn't a good example of athleticism? Comparing them to a very specialized activity such as powerlifting and claiming that the latter gives superior all around athleticism is a joke. Finally, I have done compound exercises and isolation exercises. Both give strength gains. You talk as if compound exercises are a secret skill instead of the first thing a gym goer tries. I have since switched to bodyweight training, which at 95kgs are sufficiently difficult to give strength gains. Many of them work as compound exercises. I have also tried various other things and found out that the gym gave me a solid foundation, but it would be pure fantasy to claim it makes you anything other than strong, and mostly strong in limited areas of motion.

I disagree, it is indeed not mind expanding but there is no law written that hobbies have to be. Lifting is all about the challenge. What keeps me going right now is working on my goal to deadlift 5 reps of 250 kg and shoulder pressing my own body weight 5 times with no leg drive, thats a goal I want to reach and I slowly and steadily get closer to that it whenever I exercise. Its very hard. Performing feats of strength makes me feel great, picking up huge weights that weigh three times as much as an ordinary untrained man could lift feels pretty damned cool, because its very hard honest work to get there and you have to work years for it. Reaching those goals is extremely gratifying. And thats what hobbies are about. Also as a nice side effect you get better body awareness, you get healthier, your testosterone production increases and stays high even when you get older. Its a fun, extremely challenging and healthy hobby. Perfect. Of course, you CAN make it boring, if you only do body building exercises (isolations instead of compounds) things can get pretty boring, you have to perform powerlifting exercises. Couldn't agree less with you, compound exercises are very demanding, for a deadlift you are using 75% of your bodies muscles simultaneously, your brain has an enormous amount of calculations to do to coordinate them all. Or one armed dumbbell presses standing, with your feet touching shoulder pressing 50 kilograms above your head with one arm you need extremely good balance and you have to coordinate almost all the muscles in your body. Actually, few sports require as much muscle coordination, dexterity and constant nervous system adaption. If your dexterity is low, technique sucks and you muscle coordination is off you will never be able to lift several hundred kilograms of weight, even with balloon sized muscles. If you had been a true lifter you'd have quickly discovered that. Just going there and doing dumbbell curls for bigger guns to impress some superficial girls is not what I'm talking about. Talk about mythologizing your hobby. Yes it is very demanding to lift high weights and there is an amount of skill involved. But no, you're not becoming any more coordinated or dexterous doing it for anything other than lifting weights. Top powerlifters are blubbery masses of mucle and fat unfit for anything other than lifting extreme weights. Try going toe to toe in a sparring match against even a recreational boxer and you'll be taught in an instant what good all around athleticism is. I'm not going to pretend its a fair comparison, boxers were always among top all around athletes, but what you're saying is simply not true. Pro-powerlifters also consume immense amounts of steroids to get there. In turn they consume huge amounts of food to compensate for the steroids and wreak havoc on their internal organs. At a professional level its an unhealthy and destructive activity that puts an immense strain on body and the heart and the only people in worse health are pro bodybuilders. I never went into the gym with the intent to become a powerlifter. Even if I did, at 6ft3 with very long limbs it would be an uphill struggle. I went to gain all around strength and that's what I got.

Higher general education level benefits everybody, as it ensures that people know what they are doing in their jobs, and it also make it easier to ensure that people get that education which they want making them more productive members of society. This is reason why education for example in is payed from taxes from kindergarten to doctorate level in universities and addition to pay education state also gives student allowance that ensures that people can study without need to worry how they can pay their rent and food when they study (some of this allowance is paid in form of cheap loans). This system makes Finnish education system equal opportunity system to anybody from any economical and social background. I don't say that Finnish education system is necessary better than education systems in USA, but I would not change it even though I now pay it from my taxes, but I got my University education to paid by state and I am from economical and social background that it is high probably that I wouldn't had afforded similar level schooling if I had lived in USA for example. But anyway point is that education of citizens is first and foremost for common-good of the country so it should be paid from common funds, as that ensures that country has better ability to compete in markets and develop to better place to live. For same reason I support publicly funded universal health care systems, because it has higher probability to ensure healthy public from bottom to top which means that society as general has higher change to be more productive as whole. Although I must admit that my view to this things is heavily biased as I have lived my whole life in country which has publicly funded education and universal healthcare and I have benefit form both greatly. Well you just did my job for me. I believe Finland is at the top of the list for the most educated populace in general according to statistics. Top in book consumption too, but those obviously go hand in hand. Its hard to believe that in the 21st century these things are even up for debate.

I weight lifted for years and I don't see anything mind expanding about it. Go in, pick up weights, put weights down, rinse, repeat. Its one of the most mind numbing physical activities there are. The only reason I did it because gyms work on practical schedules and they're everywhere. Its good for getting all around muscle building results quicker than most sports, but the trade off is that you don't gain anything you typically gain in a sport. Hand-eye coordination, dexterity, the ability to take a punch ... whatever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBWhkcSsdQk&src_vid=L-dHqZBnHrs&feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_2096976977 And another trailer

Minecraft in space. Your goal is to get to the galactic center, for which you need to trade/fight/craft to upgrade your ship and suit. There is some lore according to the developers but none of it has been released at this point.

New No Man's Sky trailer: http://www.ign.com/videos/2014/12/06/no-mans-sky-gameplay-trailer?utm_campaign=fbposts&utm_source=facebook Its probably going to be my first day one purchase, ever.

There is no such thing as communism in the US. US is the complete opposite of communism's ideal of wealth redistribution. Having the state run health care, education etc. does not make a country communist, if it does, most of Europe is communist as well. You could argue that the US is basically a one party state where its impossible for another party/idea to penetrate the political spectrum or for any other actor to successfully participate in politics due to the extreme costs of running a campaign and tight media control of set topics that the system allows to circulate. By extension you could argue that its essentially authoritarian in nature (like communist states used to be) and under complete control of moneyed elites (unlike communist states, where the elite was political first and foremost), but whenever I hear a person from the US argue that the US is communist, I can't help but wonder what's going through your head.

It looks staged for the journalists. If there was a real threat at that moment they'd be running for cover and not idling around