SquallStrife wrote:

Edit: And as if people voicing their opinions somehow needed justification... Well... maybe some of them are right to be upset: http://imgur.com/gallery/Bleem

Well, at least one "Trump supporters pulled off my hijab" story turned out to be an outright fabrication: http://klfy.com/2016/11/10/lafayette-pd-ul-st … k-stolen-hijab/

On the other side, that guy beaten up by the "don't vote trump!" crowd says the whole thing started over a traffic incident, not politics: http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/police-inves … ting-for-trump/

A thought - maybe this mass hysteria just needs to die? The least responsible thing one can do in a volatile situation is to spread incendiary rumors. Unless people truly want to see the situation spin out of control - and I don't doubt that some do. Truly bad shit can start over much less.

PeterLI wrote:

They are undisputed.
<snip>

I don't disagree with the data you've linked in this post, but it doesn't address any of what I wrote in mine. The raw data essentially shows no causative relationship between demographics and unemployment. You've also glossed over a fairly substantial wave of African immigrants who came to the US beginning in the 18th century who also made up a significant fraction of the labor force, but I guess nobody was complaining about them taking anybodies jobs then.

The issue is how to address the changing economic reality of our times, not overly romanticizing the past and dreaming of how we can turn back the clock.

VileRancour wrote:

Well, at least one "Trump supporters pulled off my hijab" story turned out to be an outright fabrication: http://klfy.com/2016/11/10/lafayette-pd-ul-st … k-stolen-hijab/

On the other side, that guy beaten up by the "don't vote trump!" crowd says the whole thing started over a traffic incident, not politics: http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/police-inves … ting-for-trump/

A thought - maybe this mass hysteria just needs to die? The least responsible thing one can do in a volatile situation is to spread incendiary rumors. Unless people truly want to see the situation spin out of control - and I don't doubt that some do. Truly bad shit can start over much less.

I agree. It's time for people to get serious so they can have serious discussions, not the time for rash action. Trump has to prove to the nation and the world that he can move things in that direction.

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Funny how that doesn't happen in Israel. They just build borders around them and protect themselves against dark people.

End (((The FED)))

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PeterLI wrote:

Automation, robotization, lack of skill, low cost manufacturing all have a huge impact of jobs. As does urbanization.

It is not just about jobs.

It is also about the paternalistic dogmas of liberals that blame white males for all ills in the world. Their repudiation of Christianity, traditional families and telling people how to live. Their cultural relativism is also sickening. European enlightenment and progress are what made/make the west prosperous. Replacing Europeans with third world immigrants and their cultures will destroy the west. It has already begun in Europe. As shown in Europe the natives need to adapt their culture and destroy their wellfare state to immigrants who do not reciprocate.

If you want to see Europe in decline, stop any influx of immigrants. Economies die when their labor force dries up.

Interestingly, European enlightenment is generally against forcing Christian principles or any religion on people. The First Amendment of the US Constitution exists because of the lessons of the French. Politicized religion can too often be a tool of oppression. Generally the laws that persist (and should be allowed to persist) are the ones preventing one citizen or a group of citizens from infringing on the freedoms of another.

PeterLI wrote:

The Israeli security situation is a response to an existential threat.

Israel hasn't faced an existential threat practically since 1973 and explicitly since 1979, unless you're talking about the possibility of Israel not being a majority Jewish state at some point in the future. Terrorism is a serious threat that exists for Israel and her citizens, but it's not an existential one.

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PeterLI wrote:

Liberals want us to make all culture relative and equal: HUGE mistake.

Correction: They want everyone to be equal, but they and people who think exactly like them to be more equal than others. And Muslims, who hold views directly contrary to liberalism but are somehow the saviors of the world.

Api wrote:

Funny how that doesn't happen in Israel. They just build borders around them and protect themselves against dark people.

End (((The FED)))

Clearly someone hasn't been to Israel, let alone certain places like southern Tel Aviv, but why bother with facts when you have a comfy (((echo)))-chamber. 🤣

Well, I've staked my position. We could go ten rounds, Peter, but I'm just not going to right now. The website and the mods are too cool for me to begin testing them that way.

While an adult, amazingly enough no matter who's been in the commanders chair over the many years, I've been able to direct my life to an enjoyable middle class level here in the USA.

All this anger, speculation, fear and hatred is doing 0 good. They should funnel all that negative energy into common ground solution think tanking instead. But what do I know, I'm just happy I don't personally have to try and fix the world's problems, that certainly is not my specialty.

I think I'm just going to have to stay away from news sites for a good long while.

This sort of thing used to be funny around ten years ago, back when Jon Stewart was around. People just seem so dang angry this time. And maybe they should be - but is the reason Clinton lost because people aren't angry enough? If they had been even more angry and shouty, would they have won that extra little share of the vote?

no idea who this guy is, but I want him to say "chuffed to bits" in my ears. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLG9g7BcjKs&t=6s

IDK i like that Tump becaime the president on USA, and i live in Estonia, so everyone has told me, that, if America will not protect me, then Russia and Putins FSB and Spetnaz army will come over our baltic states. Well this is absurd, if you have some logic, hey they are playing some pupet game in Ukraine, and it is not working either, so so long if they will occupy all Ukraine, I feel safe in here, and we know what happens to states that start a war in many fronts.(Hitler)

gdjacobs wrote:

PeterLI wrote:

If you want to see Europe in decline, stop any influx of immigrants. Economies die when their labor force dries up.

There's a theory that the great depression in the U.S. was caused by the 1924 immigration cut-off.

Cyberdyne wrote:

i live in Estonia, so everyone has told me, that, if America will not protect me, then Russia and Putins FSB and Spetnaz army will come over our baltic states. Well this is absurd, if you have some logic, hey they are playing some pupet game in Ukraine, and it is not working either, so so long if they will occupy all Ukraine, I feel safe in here, and we know what happens to states that start a war in many fronts.(Hitler)

I'd not feel so secure if I lived in a Baltic state. Russia is hastily arming itself, its 'defense' budget doubled from 2012 to 2015, while its whole economics is rapidly withering.

And there are rumours that it's the Baltic states that shall be the target of Russian invasion. Does Russia need Baltic states? I doubt it. It just needs some war to distract its populace from economical catastrophe.

I'm not a political scientist and it's impossible to predict future. However, even at my barely competent level I see two deadly risks for Baltic states:

1) Muslim migrants flooding EU shall sooner or later take control. Their leaders already speak of that and nothing is done to prevent this. Most popular boy's name for a newborn in Brussels is already Mohammed and it'll get worse.

2) There is aggressive Russia nearby, it arms itself and has a glib excuse to invade: "Hey! They are oppressing the Russian populace in Baltic states! We must protect our people!" Note that if Russian people are really oppressed in Baltic states or not is of no importance. If they aren't, then, be there a need, specially trained Russian people in, say, Estonian disguise, will make sure that there IS an oppression.

From my own side, I don't want to just sit here and wait. I'm looking forth to leave Russia and live in some country that isn't daydreaming of war.

gdjacobs wrote:

Israel hasn't faced an existential threat practically since 1973 and explicitly since 1979, unless you're talking about the possibility of Israel not being a majority Jewish state at some point in the future. Terrorism is a serious threat that exists for Israel and her citizens, but it's not an existential one.

I would say it like this - Israel does not face an immediate existential threat, because and as long it maintains vigilance and a powerful military. However, if Israel (theoretically) disbanded its military and border control forces, it would be overrun in days to weeks. If in the future it loses the military edge over its neighbors, it will not last long either.

The terrorist attacks / skirmishes, if allowed to run amok, while not being an existential threat, do have the potential to severely cripple the normal routine and the economy in Israel, because of the country's small size.

Russia will always want to control (not necessarily occupy) the Baltic states and Poland because this is the traditional route that invaders (Sweden, Napoleon, Hitler) have used to attack Russia. It's understandable in light of history.

However Russia isn't the Soviet Union, and modern Europe isn't 1950s Europe. There's no reason why the EU (half a billion people and a quarter of world GDP) needs the US to counterbalance Russian power. (Even minus Britain.) It's just laziness on the part of Europeans to rely on the US for this.

Errius wrote:

Russia will always want to control (not necessarily occupy) the Baltic states and Poland because this is the traditional route that invaders (Sweden, Napoleon, Hitler) have used to attack Russia. It's understandable in light of history.

There are no military threats for Russia in modern (not historical) Europe. Nobody wants to attack Russia nowadays using either traditional or non-traditional routes. The only known to me possible military threat in modern Europe is Russia itself, which is proved with events in Georgia, Crimea and Ukraine.

dr_st wrote:

I would say it like this - Israel does not face an immediate existential threat, because and as long it maintains vigilance and a powerful military. However, if Israel (theoretically) disbanded its military and border control forces, it would be overrun in days to weeks. If in the future it loses the military edge over its neighbors, it will not last long either.

This contingency is, in my opinion, not in any way realistic. Even just in conventional terms, Israel will remain the best equipped and most capable military in the Mideast for the foreseeable future.