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Post by PhantomWolf on Jun 14, 2008 3:52:02 GMT -4
The only way we can defeat them is to give them no reason to fight.
The only reason for them to cease fighting is if they have won. Do you really want the entire Middle East run by Muslim Fundamentals? How about the entire world? Are you really willing to surrender to their demands just so you don't have to fight for your freedom?
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Jason
Pluto
May all your hits be crits
Posts: 5,579
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Post by Jason on Jun 16, 2008 19:50:26 GMT -4
How much aspirin did he want? I can buy aspirin here pretty cheap. That is too ridiculous for you to mention don't you think? And you wouldn't save enough on the laptop and cablebox to drive to Utah. He must have had a better reason. He had some savings here from when he lived here that he had to withdraw too, so those weren't the only reasons, but he did buy the asprin in bulk - two 500 tablet bottles.
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Jason
Pluto
May all your hits be crits
Posts: 5,579
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Post by Jason on Jun 16, 2008 19:51:54 GMT -4
Really? Was this before the Canadian dollar reached parity with the US dollar? It was in March. Apples and oranges. Begging the question of whether the end result will be the same.
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Jason
Pluto
May all your hits be crits
Posts: 5,579
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Post by Jason on Jun 16, 2008 19:55:20 GMT -4
Well, it's better than the Netherlands'. Did you have to wait in line or something? Anecdote is not data. Actually I met many people in the Netherlands who were unhappy with their health care. In particular I met a woman who had lost her sense of taste when her jaw had been broken by her dentist. And her son had the exact same problem, from visiting the same dentist. Here the guy would have lost his license after the first broken jaw and the woman would be rich on the malpractice suit. I had a mild case of pneumonia and had to wait a week to get antibiotics to treat it. So yes, I did effectively have to wait in line. Don't get me wrong - it's not terrible care, and it's certainly better than you'll get in many other parts of the world.
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Jason
Pluto
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Posts: 5,579
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Post by Jason on Jun 16, 2008 19:56:16 GMT -4
If you're wondering why I'm just now catching up on back posts, it's because I was on vacation over the weekend at a family reunion - Jackson Hole and Yellowstone.
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Jason
Pluto
May all your hits be crits
Posts: 5,579
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Post by Jason on Jun 16, 2008 20:04:13 GMT -4
The only way we can defeat them is to give them no reason to fight.The only reason for them to cease fighting is if they have won. Do you really want the entire Middle East run by Muslim Fundamentals? How about the entire world? Are you really willing to surrender to their demands just so you don't have to fight for your freedom? An excellent point.
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Post by Halcyon Dayz, FCD on Jun 16, 2008 22:30:06 GMT -4
Actually I met many people in the Netherlands who were unhappy with their health care. The Dutch bitch about everything. It's one of our defining features. ;D
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Jason
Pluto
May all your hits be crits
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Post by Jason on Jun 16, 2008 23:55:32 GMT -4
Well, I would bitch too if I had lost my sense of taste because of my dentist.
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lenbrazil
Saturn
Now there's a man with an open mind - you can feel the breeze from here!
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Post by lenbrazil on Jun 17, 2008 7:24:00 GMT -4
The only way we can defeat them is to give them no reason to fight.The only reason for them to cease fighting is if they have won. Do you really want the entire Middle East run by Muslim Fundamentals? How about the entire world? Are you really willing to surrender to their demands just so you don't have to fight for your freedom? I guess ultimately it depends on why you think the US was attacked on 9/11 and why are the US and its allies being attacked in Iraq is (was) it because....? 1) “...they hate us for our freedoms” 2) …“they” want to take over the world 3) …“they” are seriously pissed off by US/UK etc policies in the region especially regarding Israel and Saudi Arabia. To me the evidence seems to indicate the latter, if it were 1) why didn’t they attack other similarly democratic countries (regions) like the Netherlands, New Zeeland, Australia and Scandinavia? If it were 2) why didn’t they first try to consolidate their base and concentrate on predominantly Muslim countries? You could of course point to statements about wanting to establish a caliphate and the decadent west etc but I could point to statements about the US’s aid to Israel and bases in Saudi Arabia. I’m not saying the US should do what they want but rather people need to realistic about why the country is a favorite target. I think that irrespective of attacks by Al-Queda the US is long overdue REVISING their policy towards both countries but this is going way OT. To make a long story short I don’t think disengaging from Iraq will put neighboring countries at risk of Al-Qaeda take over or bring terrorism to the US (I know you didn’t say that but others have) and it would free up resources for Afghanistan. The US’s presence there: • Is seriously damaging to its popularity in the Muslim (and even non-Muslim) world • Increases donations to and support for Al-Qaeda and boosts their recruitment. • Could possibly drive Shiite and Sunni groups to form an alliance. Terrorist groups have never been able to take over a stable country they aren’t even capable of taking over Lebanon. It is unlikely they would be to take over the north controlled by the Kurds or the south dominated by the Shiites those are the regions that have oil. The worst case scenario I could imagine is that Iraq becomes defacto portioned and the poor landlocked central region comes under Al-Qaeda domination.
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Post by BertL on Jun 17, 2008 11:40:15 GMT -4
Well, I would bitch too if I had lost my sense of taste because of my dentist. In all honesty, you can't judge a health care system by the mistakes/flaws of one dentist. I have a great dentist; I was there just this morning to get my teeth done.
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Jason
Pluto
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Post by Jason on Jun 17, 2008 11:56:15 GMT -4
I guess ultimately it depends on why you think the US was attacked on 9/11 and why are the US and its allies being attacked in Iraq is (was) it because....? 1) “...they hate us for our freedoms” 2) …“they” want to take over the world 3) …“they” are seriously pissed off by US/UK etc policies in the region especially regarding Israel and Saudi Arabia. The answer is "all of the above." No doubt there are other reasons for the attack as well, and one should not expect completely rational reasons for their actions. Because those countries are not perceived as a cultural threat, or not nearly as much as the U.S. is. It is U.S.-produced media and companies that are pervasive in much of the world. It is U.S. films that are watched, Coca-Cola and McDonalds that penetrates new markets, and U.S. music that is listened to. Our freedoms are the most visible. Most Muslim countries are less "soft" targets - most of their governments have no problem cracking down hard on communities that shelter those sympathetic to Al Qaeda, and Al Qaeda would run the risk of alienating those they seek to unite by striking in such countries, as they now have in Iraq by targeting civilians too many times. A strike against the world's only superpower actually is a round-about way to consolidate their base - it grants prestige and can unite support behind them. We did revise our policy. The invasion in 2003 was in fact a drastic revision of the previous policy of containment. What about Iraq itself? And certainly an Al Qaeda that could claim to have defeated the U.S. would gain more support from neighboring countries. Not exactly a takeover but still a dangerous situation. The Taliban took over Afghanistan. True, not exactly a stable country, but they caused a great deal of human suffering and destroyed irreplacable cultural artifacts. Which would be a disaster - not only for millions in Iraq but for the U.S. as well. We don't need another terrorist state, especially one that feels it defeated us, even if it becomes a hell hole as a result.
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Jason
Pluto
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Posts: 5,579
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Post by Jason on Jun 17, 2008 11:59:27 GMT -4
Well, I would bitch too if I had lost my sense of taste because of my dentist. In all honesty, you can't judge a health care system by the mistakes/flaws of one dentist. I have a great dentist; I was there just this morning to get my teeth done. I'm not judging the entire Dutch health care system by that one example - merely using it as the worst example I came across. Like I said, many of the people I met were unhappy with their health care.
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Al Johnston
"Cheer up!" they said, "It could be worse!" So I did, and it was.
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Post by Al Johnston on Jun 17, 2008 16:45:16 GMT -4
As I understand it, most American bitching about health care is not as much about the health care per se as about the fact that they don't have any.
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Post by Ginnie on Jun 17, 2008 16:59:11 GMT -4
As I understand it, most American bitching about health care is not as much about the health care per se as about the fact that they don't have any. From what I understand, most Americans do have health care. Except for the majority of the working middle class. ;D
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Post by LunarOrbit on Jun 17, 2008 17:15:29 GMT -4
Well, I would bitch too if I had lost my sense of taste because of my dentist. I'm sure that if I did some searching I would find similar complaints coming from Americans... because American doctors screw up from time to time too. People around the world complain about their health care system, but most don't have any way to compare it to other countries. If they could they might be saying "Our health care system sucks, but at least I'm not living in _________________!"
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