Silmaril39

I'm sure a lot of you have seen this by now, but I'm wondering what you all think. http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/03/08/fatherhood.suit.ap/index.html In my opinion, men and women should have equal rights, as long as an abortion option is on the table, a man should be able to opt for a "male abortion" and walk away. In my opinion it is justified to grant men and women essentially equal rights. The man is not preventing the woman from having the baby if she wants too, he's just saying I don't want it, you I won't pay for it. For women it is acceptable to choose whether or not to have the baby regardless of the man's opinion, so why doesn't the same right extend to men? So... what do you think?

Yes! definatly. Especially in times of increasing fuel costs it just costs more to ferry an obese person around than an "average" sized person. As for the argument that they should charge less for a dwarf? Decent sit down restraunts (ie places where they actually cook the food for you) are always happy to remove something from your order, but they always charge extra for more stuff. Notice they don't charge you less for the dish if you remove stuff. There is a "standard" price for a service, whether it be food or flight, if you use less, ingredients or fuel, well they yay, good for you, but if you use more, they are going to charge you for increasing their operating expenses. Plain and simple, if you're fat, you are gonna pay extra. I mean hey, the taxpayers are paying for these lard-asses at some time in their obese lives with all the medical expenses, either through taxes or increasing health care so these people might as well get to be comfortable and not be squeezed. BTW, I travel a lot and I was forced to sit next to an obese woman on a flight from San Fransisco to New York, not fun. That bitch definatly needed to have bought another seat. She got up at least two dozen times to go the the bathroom, each time sqeezing the persion in the ailse seat and me, and I was sitting in the window seat!

I know that after reading the title some people might be ready to hunt me down to tar and feather me, but please hear me through and hopefully you will understand why I have titled this post as I have and who knows, maybe you'll even agree with me. Ok, I heard this just a few minutes ago secondhand from what a TV reporter covering the Olympics said and I was unable to find any news articles about the truth of it, I have no reason to doubt the truth of it. What I heard was that the American pairs figure skaters completed a throw triple axel, which is apparently a first for the Olympics, a feat for which they were supposed to earn 3 extra points...apparently they only got 1. Appartently the Chinese pair made numerous mistakes which they were not docked for at all. This is just another of the countless examples of the rest of the world saying, "Fuck you America!" Apparently the Canadian pair from the Salt Lake City Olympics even said the US pair got screwed over by the judges. In every international organization the US always gets shafted. It seems that Americans have stopped caring and take this type of shit lying down. Furthermore, all the talk about the avian flu has got me thinking. With some medical proffesions predicting mass deaths and chaos all over the world a thought occured to me, what the fuck do we need the world for anymore? They claim to hate us, they treat us like the lowliest dog and we take it. We don't need them. Anyone who tells you that we do is lying. The rest of the world envies our success, and loaths us all the more for our success. Has it occured to anyone yet that the rest of the world is a shit-hole? AIDS probably originated in Africa, I believe the current theory is some idiot ate a monkey. SARS and Avian flu originated in Asia. How has avian flu even been infecting people in the first place (although usually in a non-transmissive state)? Becuase they are so ass-backwards there they they are still sleeping with their fucking birds! Europe and the Americas got past that sorry stage centuries ago. Now Europe has joined with these stone-age peasants to try to drag the rest of the world back down to their level. Taking the path of regression instead of progress. Well I say Fuck That! What is to stop the US (and maybe Canada, there still might be time to save them) from simply giving the world the finger and walking out? Seal our borders, withdraw our troops and lock down the North American continent (minus Mexico). Inside the US we have enough natural rescourses to keep ourselves going with a few small cutbacks, and we're even more well suplied if we include Canada. We have the knowledge to produce, and although some of the infrustructure is old, we can rebuild American industry quickly and without too much hassle. Food? Some of Americas main exports are food products such as wheat. And other types of food? As a resident of California I can assure you that California could still provide fruits and vegables for the nation. The world doesn't want us? Well then let's show them a world without us! Grant them their greatest wish. For all those who have read Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" I propose that America emulate John Galt, while America does have its problems, it is a hell of the lot better than the rest of the world. The world doesn't want us, then let us follow the example of John Galt and go on strike. To quote him in "Atlas Shrugged" in his radio address: "There is a difference between our strike and all those you've practiced for centuries: our strike consists, not of making demands, but of granting them. We are evil, according to your morality. We have chosen not to harm you any longer. We are useless, according to your economics. We have chosen not to exploit you any longer. We are dangerous and to be shackled, according to your politics. We have chosen not to endanger you, nor to wear the shackles any longer. We are only an illusion, according to your philosophy. We have chosen not to blind you any longer and have left you free to face reality

I know in California's state Constitution it names English as the official language of California, but I don't believe there are any laws that enforce that, and there are constatnly bills to require contracts and the like to be provided in many different languages. My opinion however is that ALL LEGAL DOCUMENTS should be in English and all signs should be required to be in English as well. No immigrant is required to learn how to speak English, but to function they must at least learn some. To have a cohesive, effective nation you require a common language. As a Californian who's learning Spanish I find it quite useful. And I note an interesting thing, in the Bay area at least where you see many signs in asian languages and hear many different languages spoken, the children are being sent to learn how to speak those languages so they can converse with their parents or grandparents who cannot speak English. Within the next few decades I think only Spanish and English will be the competing languages, and if all legal things are in English, that's good enough for me.

Much better off. All religion does is take small arguments and focus them into large ones. Does anyone rember the Simpsons episdoe where Marge asks Lionel Hutz to envision a world without lawyers? He sees everyone on earth holding hands and dancing together with flowers in a hippy fantasy. Ask a religious man the same thing and I think something similar would be produced.

As it says, car insurance well... pisses me off. I was recently confronted by a fact that bothers has bothered me for a long time. I'm sure everyone here knows that having a new driver on your car insurance policy spikes the price; however, if this new driver is male, the price goes up DRASTICALLY more than if the driver is female. Why is this legal? I live in California and here to drive you must have your car insured (I'm sure it's like this in every state but I don't actually know so I can't quite claim it to be true). Based upon statistics, which I admit are valid, the insurance idustry figures that new male drivers have a much higher accident rate than your female drivers (or any other group). However, the rate is not calculated based upon how many times it took the new driver to pass the test, or how well they did on the DMV test, but soley upon their gender. This is ridicolous. This is state-sponsored sexism. You have to get insurance, but the insurance companies are inherently sexist. If there was no other feasible way to derive insurance costs I could understand why gender would work, but seeing as there are plenty of other viable systems (such as the test based one I mentioned earlier) this is sexism plain and simple! If a company were to pay women less because they are required to give them paid maternity leave and statistics show that many women will take this leave that company would be ripped apart, comdemed by the government and demonized by feminists faster than you could imagine. Why then are state governments continuing to uphold and mandate participation in an inherently sexist system, and why are men continuing to lie down and take this outrageous and blatant sexism? Many suits with more tenuous claims have sailed through the courts, why not a solid case like this?

I'm almost all the way to the right, but down only a little into Libertarian. I'm just a little more authortarian than Milton Friedman is on their scale, other than that I line up pretty well. Economic Left/Right: 8.88 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -0.92 It was a pretty loaded quiz, but that does describe my beliefs fairly accuratly considering that it was just a short, internet quiz.

Both. It is a fact in that the basic survival of a human being hinges upon what is most adventageous to it and what will keep it alive. Most often this involves being nice to others and generally not pissing people off, basic rules that were warped in what we call morality. However, the concept of morality as it has come to be understood today is a total sham and fabrication (like religion in general) to keep certain people in power and to make money for them.

While I don't believe in slavery in any form I believe that it is anyones right to display any flag they desire as long as it isn't deliberatly disrespectful (Flag upside down etc.). Many people forget that the Confederate Flag stood for states rights and the civil war was not about slavery until President Lincoln made it so. Also, people protest the display of the Confederate flag (mostly Liberals), but it is often these same people who where shirts celebrating heros of communism such as Che Guevera or others, these people, and the ideals that they fought for oppressed and killed millions upon millions of people around the world, far more I'm willing to bet, than slavery in the United States ever touched.

Intelligent design should be taught in schools, but in a philosphy class (or a religion class) NOT in a science class. Evolution is a testable, scientifically based theory, while Intelligent design has no actual evidence going for it. Philosphy answers the why of life and that is why intelligent design belongs, not in the how of science.

That is such shit! I've heard those before, especially the labor and PMS ones and they sicken me every time. I could make the statement that a specific woman couldn't handle being in outer space and until that woman gets her ass into outer space, there is no fucking way of knowing whether she could handle it or not.Women that make blanket statements like that (or the women earn less money than men for the same jobs, which is also total shit! look at the data you sexist, propaganda spewing imbeciles. Women earn just as much as men do for the exact same job, it is only that fewer women stay in work and get high up (of course a male lawyer at a law Firm who has been there ten years will be earning more than some newly hired woman who might only rise a few ranks up before leaving to become a mother.)) Disclaimer I'm a supporter of women's rights and I believe women to be every bit as qualified as men, but sometimes you have to cut through the PC bullshit and just face facts. For genetic reasons, women are more inclined to desire children (maternal insticts) and it is not fair for companies to put up with the shit that working Mom's demand so it is easier if the mom works and the dad stays home or vice-versa, but with their maternal desires, many women WANT to take care of their kids. As for why women live longer... in my opinion, it has to do with hormones and the like. With men's elevated agression they would be more likely to die earlier, so there is less point in building bodies that will last forver (live fast and die young). I read a fascinating piece by a scientist who had done research into the role of women in the creation of societies and had discovered that about the time when life spans increased to accomadate grandmother (or grandfather in some cases) characters, what one might call 'civilization' began to develop. For whatever reason, women are genetically programed to live longer than men, probably due to men's higher risk of dying younger, so more energy would be spent living full, robust lives rather than prolonging aging agony. -Also, on a side note I think this is another arguement against religion, if Eve had truely screwed over humanity, do you think her reward would be to live longer? And don't mention any of that symbolism bs. Do you think God would allow what is supposed to be his true message to be misinterpreted for thousands of years? I apologize for the langauge in my post if it offends anyone, but this is an issue that well, pisses me off.

Libertarian (Except for legalization of drugs and a few other minor differences) My Dot was Kind of Central, conservative, Libertarian, but in the libertarian section.

And Jesus isn't? Haha nice! The Predator would own Jesus.

Couldn't have said it better. It seems now adays that one party has the majority and runs the country while the other party just sits and bitches. Eventually people get tired of the ruling party and the votes swing the other way. One would think these politicians would figure out that instead of just complaining about everything the other party is doing, they might achieve their goals faster if they actually did something! The Republicans complained when Clinton was in power, and the Dems are doing it now that Bush is in power. And getting back to the original post... Joe realizes that he enjoys all of these priveliges because the country is being run by capitalists and not socialist liberals. ... Joe realizes that almost every single thing he used that day was a product of the industrial revolution, and therefore wouldn't have come to be without capitalism and an absence of liberals. If this country was pure socialism we wouldn't be anywhere near where we are today, look at Russia, Cuba, China, Britian etc. and then tell me whether socialism (or liberalism) really works out so well in the long run. What we need is a conservative, capitalistic government in power (always) with a strong liberal, socialistic minority to keep the capitalists from running amok. A balance between the two is best, with the country leaning towards conservativism. If the US goes socialist dammit I'm applying for the Canadian citizenship I'm eligible for and moving there because I'd prefer to live in a country that already is socialist and doesn't really matter (let's face facts here, it's just true, Canada is not a major player on the world stage, and I think most Canadians like that) than live in the US as it goes straight down the toilet.

No, most definately not! However, with that said it is a Western (/European-style) nation which has been heavily influenced by Christianity. Even though I'm an Atheist, I'm OK with this Christian influence, as long as Christians don't try to force their beliefs onto those that don't desire to follow their beliefs. The United States is a Western nation, which may have taken much of its guidance from religion, but the US is NOT a Christian country.