Why do you think the Patriot Act is wrong? Some problematic provisions have been altered from the original. Maybe it's the name and it's association with the Bush administration? If military intervention is justified, you wouldn't be talking about cost, so that's a spurious argument. Obama did in fact spend quite a lot on the stimulus, which included things like infrastructure, and he was fought every step of the way by the right.
I once heard a Senator state: When the American public discovere what the US government has been doing under the guise of fighting terrorism and how the Patriot Act has been interpreted, they will will be shocked and angered. Believe me, the last thing we need to worry about are "terrorists".
I read that on Gizmodo, not the most reliable source. It gives the name of the person who shared the information though, so I guess anyone could just write to him and fact check. http://gizmodo.com/5813257/air-conditioning-our-military-costs-more-than-nasas-entire-budget There was a lively discussion in that page as well.
Perhaps. I hope you have a very good and dependable job because over the next couple years, I am nearly positive, the last thing most Americans will worry about is "terrorists". Benefits will be cut. Welfare will be eliminated. The jobs that are created will be low paying ... and only for those who are mobile. Mobility (with both parents working) is hell on relationships and kids, and so we'll probably see more strain and stress in society. In all, a continued degradation of society. Which will bubble over in all sorts of interesting ways. TTYTT I'm more worried about being mugged by an American in the inner city than a one in a billion chance some theobot is going to blow himself up near me. As would any sane American. An interesting bit of history is that of Gaius Marius and his use of the "Barbarians" to erode the Republic.
Michael, In my opinion, to say that someone is more likely to be robbed by an American than blown up by a terrorist is not really a viable comparison. Please keep in mind that the "terrorist threat", does not solely lie with instances likely to occur on American soil. The threat involves the world and the damage these people threaten to all those that are unable to adequately defend themselves. That is why the US is present with a conglomerate of nations who believe the threat is imminent towards these innocents. Canada, Britain, the US, among many others, who have stood together to stave off the oppression of peoples throughout the past century should be commended as peace keepers, not war mongers. I certainly do not believe in war. However, I among most people that I associate with, do not believe in sitting idly by while another suffers. The intervention in these matters has traditionally been one of bravery, sacrifice and good will.
I'm with Michael on this one: my rule of thumb is the Houston Freeway Commute heuristic: If my chances of dying from it are less than dying while trying to commute across town in Houston traffic, then it's not a threat worth being highly concerned about. I'm much more afraid of my fellow Americans. And I think "helping" others at the expense of letting our country go to hell in a handbasket is a bad idea. Kids who grow up in insecure homes in dangerous neighborhoods with inadequate food and not enough parental attention are way more likely to end up being criminals and/or nuts.
Chances are you will be killed in a car by a drunk driver i believe . Driving is dangerous . Tennessee truck drivers around Nashville scare Me the most . I was sure I was going to die the last time I was driving the freeway in Nashville. Things got better when I finally made it to Georgia. They got better driving courtesy in my opinion
no way dudes, terrorists are super scary and stuff, we should all open our doors wide and let nsa come in and make sure we're safe
Ellis, IMO the only effective way to combat fundamental theism is with peace, security and education. Dropping bombs on scared superstitious villagers will only increase their feelings of insecurity and thus push them into the hands of the fundamentalists. We should start with educating Americans.
I agree with this except I don't really believe that any objective was to ever "drop bombs on scared superstitious villagers".
Bin Laden was rather well educated, and his operatives also tended to be well educated. Richard Reid, the show bomber grew up in Britain under relatively peaceful conditions.
Well it's pretty obviously wrong, because while you claim 20 billion dollars a year , the "A YEAR" part is NOT even in the article you quote and while it claims the cost "comes out of the fuel needed to heat and cool tents on the front lines", but the DOD's entire fuel budget is only ~18 Billion and over 70% of that is JET FUEL, so clearly there is no truth to this BS. http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R40459.pdf
With war, they can ask for more money and power from the people. That's why they create false flag enemy "Al Qaida" and maintain "war on terror". They always benefit from the war. From their jobs to the money they stole. Quote, "While people are struggling for their lost jobs and benefits, large amount of money lost by the Pentagon. Missing in Iraq: 6.6 billion U.S. dollars By PAUL RICHTER Tribune Washington Bureau Publication: The Day Published 06/13/2011 Officials say it could be the largest theft of money in U.S. history Washington - After the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the Bush administration flooded the conquered country with so much cash to pay for reconstruction and other projects in the first year that a new unit of measurement was born. Pentagon officials determined that one giant C-130 Hercules cargo plane could carry $2.4 billion in shrink-wrapped bricks of $100 bills. They sent an initial full planeload of cash, followed by 20 other flights to Iraq by May 2004 in a $12 billion haul that U.S. officials believe to be the biggest international cash airlift of all time. This month, the Pentagon and the Iraqi government are finally closing the books on the program that handled all those Benjamins. But despite years of audits and investigations, U.S. Defense officials still cannot say what happened to $6.6 billion in cash - enough to run the Los Angeles Unified School District or the Chicago Public Schools for a year, among many other things. For the first time, federal auditors are suggesting that some or all of the cash may have been stolen, not just mislaid in an accounting error. Stuart Bowen, special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, an office created by Congress, said the missing $6.6 billion may be "the largest theft of funds in national history." http://theday.com/article/20110613/NWS13/306139932/Missing-in-Iraq:-66-billion-US-dollars Think with your own brain: Who have the ability to steal full planeload cash?
I agree with the above sentiments of impending or not-so-impending death regarding terrorism: it's unlikely, on average, it cannot be denied. Yet at the same time, terrorism isn't simply an incidental hazard like driving or botulism or poison hookers. It's an overt political act design to cow and humiliate, driving either public opinion or weak-kneed politicians to act in the interest of reactionary religious cartels. It can't be ignored or come to terms with, ultimately, because it isn't passive. It has an antagonist and a protagonist. It's an attack as well as a simple risk.
Obama the Warmonger has sent his argument to Congress on why the POTUS thinks he does not need congressional approval to bomb Libya. Want to know the asinine argument Obama is making. The reason why he thinks he can drop bombs on Libyan Universities, destroy Libyan infrastructure, and kill Gaddafi's grandchildren. Get this. It's because the Libyan army is so weak and the US military so powerful, that to call any US aggression against Libya "WAR" would be a misuse of the term. Can you believe that shit? Have you ever heard of Newspeak? Where people communicate in such simple terms as to make complex thought impossible. That seems to be happening in America. Further, the moral justification for war isn't that the Libyan government has harmed it's citizens (as we have) but that it "MIGHT" harm it's citizens someday in the future. Try to remember GoldmanSux stole BILLIONS from the Libyan sovereign wealth fund. Money that was to be used to continue to modernize Libyan hospitals and universities. While most Americans probably don't even know we're bombing Libya, or what a Libya is (maybe a new sex toy?). Libya has spent billions educating its citizens and trying to bring Libya up to the living standards of Europeans.
Libyans aren't getting anywhere if Ghadaffi gets to massacre them with impunity. Ghadaffi is the warmonger, he started it.
