how to think like a photon

I'm really quite fortunate. My step-mother was evil, but she's dead now. I get along well enough with my sister now that I don't take the political bait. And I get along great with the rest of my family. I had a delightful visit with my cousins, my aunt, and my mom while in CA recently.

Of course, I had to move from CA to ND forty years ago to get away from my step-mother and my father, but it was a good move for me. My sister would not be nearly so damaged today had she done the same.

 

See? That problem solved itself. All you had to do was remain calm and patient, and wait out the old bat

 

And move fourteen hundred miles away in the mean time, and when they wanted me to visit, lie and say I was afraid to fly.

 

Daniel:

You say, “…And the House of Saud was installed in Saudi Arabia so we'd have a friendly despot to buy oil from.”
You seem willing to stretch the truth and find fault with the U.S. to justify the 9/11 attacks.
You conflate the West and the U.S. The people in that region seem to be able to find tyrannical rulers and dictators quite well on their own without there being any ‘imposition.’
You say, “And the House of Saud was installed in Saudi Arabia so we'd have a friendly despot to buy oil from.”
You might want to recheck the history of the House of Saud and the Arabian Peninsula. The beginning of its rise was being fashioned before we were even a nation:
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, founder of "Wahhabism," an austere form of Islam, arrives in the central Arabian state of Najd in 1744 preaching a return to "pure" Islam. He seeks protection from the local emir, Muhammad ibn Saud, head of the Al Saud tribal family, and they cut a deal. The Al Saud will endorse al-Wahhab's austere form of Islam and in return, the Al Saud will get political legitimacy and regular tithes from al-Wahhab's followers. The religious-political alliance that al-Wahhab and Saud forge endures to this day in Saudi Arabia. (NPR)
And there were succeeding ones with the ‘modern’ state of Saudi Arabia being founded in the 1930s without U.S. imposition. We installed no one there. In addition, until our oil exploration and development in the late 30s and early 40s, there was no oil available to buy. Would you prefer buying oil from an unfriendly despot?

You say, “… We have done what we thought best for our interests. And those "mistakes" have cost the lives of countless people in those countries.”
You think a country should do what runs counter to its own interests? Please explain to me when we were responsible for the ‘countless’ lives lost in the region due to our malfeasance. You believe that the people would have been better off with rulers supported by our enemies, perhaps? There would have been fewer lives lost?
You say, “…Although the U.S. did not found the state of Israel, it does give Israel more aid than any other country, principally in the form of weaponry. And although Israel is "democratic," it is a deeply racist democracy, where Palestinians are treated as second-class citizens and deprived of many basic rights. Even certain categories of Jews are treated badly, as was my grandfather when he went there in hopes of living out his life in "our homeland."”
And Jews are treated as equals in the surrounding area? Yeah, right. Israel’s citizens, even those you describe as second-class can vote. It is a democracy.
I said we won the war in Iraq, you responded, “You have a peculiar definition of winning a war. Iraq is now in a state of chaos and is a haven for al Qaeda.”
Iraq just had another election. The chaos has subsided considerably, there is no civil war, and the mainstream media and their action wing, the Democrat Party, have shut up and are ignoring the victory. Al Qaeda in Iraq is greatly diminished in numbers and effectiveness. The Iraqis will be in charge of their own country and fate soon, thanks to George W. Bush. In another post you refer to Bush as “shit for brains”. He is a graduate of Yale and Harvard with better grades at Yale than John Kerry, for instance. What does that make Kerry? Obama’s grades are not being released by his alma mater.
I said, “By the way, we ARE a bastion of freedom and good will compared to every other country on earth. (This is where I, as an immigrant, get emotional.)”
You respond, “This is just plain silly. Are you telling me that Canada and Sweden and Germany and Spain and Japan, and many other countries in the world are not free, democratic countries? You're beginning to sound pretty jingoistic here.”
You’re joking, right? Germany and Japan were well noted for their freedom and good will in the 1940’s. (sarcasm) Had it not been for us the entire world including Sweden and Canada and Spain would have been divided between the Germans and the Japanese. Your grandfather would have been gassed or shot. I do not at all suggest that your examples are not free democracies, but that comparatively our country is the one place on earth where individual freedom is still most highly valued (I hope we can keep our government from devouring it) and our good will in the form of assistance and charity is unsurpassed. You may characterize my pride and patriotism as jingoism, I do not. I simply love this country while you don’t, apparently.
You say, “Your attempt at satire gives you away as just another disillusioned Republican. Of course President Obama is not going to make everything right with a wave of his hand. But at least he's going to bring thoughtful consideration of facts into the decision-making process, which is a breath of fresh air after eights years of religious bigots enriching themselves by waging a war on the wrong country. (It was Afghanistan, not Iraq, that was hosting al Qaeda!)”

There is a difference between satire and sarcasm. Look it up. I hold to a mixture of Libertarian and Classical Liberal (what we call Conservative today) beliefs. I am forced to vote Republican simply to save the country from Democrats who are out to destroy it.

Where are the ill-begotten riches? Who has them? When I envision religious bigots, I see Islamofascists.

Why would we wage war ON either country? We cleared the Taliban and Al Qaeda from the main areas of Afghanistan in a few weeks, while the ‘loyal’ Democrat opposition whined and cried about ‘quagmire’ and failure. Terrorists were killed or fled.

As far as Iraq is concerned, Saddam failed to comply – repeatedly – with multiple U.N. directives. We had every right to remove him. Surely you won’t try to make the case that the country would be better off with him and his two satanic sons in charge.

The present ‘breath of fresh air’ is a blatant attack on the founding principles of this country by a band of Marxists. I hope for the sake of our children and grandchildren that we can defeat them in public debate and at the polls before our Republic becomes just another European socialist state with all the attendant problems. If not, there will no longer be a place on earth where men are accorded their Creator-granted life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.

 

This discussion has shifted into politics. I will not continue a political discussion in FHOP, out of respect for the principles under which a separate forum (FHOPol) was created precisely to segregate political discussions into their own ghetto. You hold conservative views and I hold progressive ones and FHOP is not the place to hash those out.

 

Hey, whatever works!

 

Well then you shouldn't have picked a photon for your example. They don't have any time to think.

Tom

 

Just as well, since they don't have a brain, either.

 

As if that ever stopped anyone here from posting.

 

When geese fly overhead, you always hear them honking. I've often wondered if they were "talking" to each other, for when they're in a group on the ground, they're always honking at each other

I then discovered that geese mate for life.

They're not "talking" when you hear that incessant honking. They're arguing!

 

You know why one leg of the V is always longer than the other?

Because there's more geese on that side.

HONK!

 

Hehehehehehehe

 

Hissss! Honk!

 

Your "respect' is a rather convenient escape from having to defend your views. Your avatar picture is indicative.

 

This is a cheap shot. Danial is being respectful of forum rules. Trust me, without moderation Danial could argue his points until all of our eyes collectively roll back in our heads. Don't delude yourself into thinking Danial is ducking for cover.

Tom

 

My avatar picture? Indicative of what? It's a kitty, for crying out loud! And not just a kitty, but the first cat avatar ever used on Prius Chat!

 

It's just a friendly little cat.

Tom