dazzerfong

Well, considering how out Ruskie friends drop several napalm bombs whenever they remotely think there's an Afghani fighter, and even then they couldn't win, I highly doubt the Americans could. And come on, who actually follows the Geneva and/or Hague conventions to the letter?

@ Aurielius: Realistically, what are the chances of America out-rightly winning the war right now? Yes, you nabbed bin Laden, but the terrorism still continues. This war has all the classic give-aways of the Vietnam War: a mixed opinion at home, an enemy who really can't be seen too easily, asymmetric and guerilla warfare: only that it's set in the 21st century.

I don't know, I've been to Tibet and, thanks to my HK passport, was allowed to apply for a 'free' permit to Tibet (ie. 'free' as in 'you don't need an escort (not the prostitute kind :)) to guide you around). It's not as oppressive as people think, sure, there's the occasional curfew, but nothing as extreme as the media puts it (ie. widespread hatred of Chinese: Tibetans actually like us for some reason........) Anyway, back to Israel. Due to the sensitive nature of its inception, I'll avoid talking about it, and postulate a question: if Israel was to stop expanding, would the countries around it continue to attack Israel? That's the heart of the issue: expansionism, and the Arabic countries blame it on that, whereas Israel blame it on anti-Semitism. Why, though, is anti-Semitism that widespread? I get sinophobia (sure, I look a lot different and think different to my Caucasian 'brothers' :)) but why hate Semites?

Just how many of them resisted the temptation to just look up the answers? Just wondering.............. :laugh:

In my observations of history, it's simple: the harder you push someone, the harder they push back. Take Israel and its neighbors. Israel takes a bit of land, they lob a few (inaccurate) rockets over. Once in a few years, a peace broker comes along, they're happy, repeat ad infinitum.

@ Aurelius: And has America actually won any wars since (Gulf War incident notwithstanding)? @ HeyYou: America has 11 aircraft carriers: they have to use them, no? :)

Regarding Blender crashing on you when you have a lot of poly's, you can turn off smooth shading: I could go from 3 million to around 5-6 million faces with it on. I'm using a lowly nVidia 9800 GTX+ and a Intel Core 2 Duo, so yours should be fine.

Yes, MB, tell America they don't need Chinese exports................ Sure, Chinese exports can be produced elsewhere, but not nearly as much in terms of quantity. The relative output is small, but we're talking about absolute output here. Using your logic, we should hire one person who outputs $100,000 a year rather than a million who outputs a dollar per person. Err, MB, I'm Chinese (note the 'Fong' in my name?). I'm even a Chinese (ie. from China) national. You can't really call me 'sinophobic' for that, nor is your accusation any indication of your growing bias and 'god complex'. I very like China, and I agree with the symbiotic relationship between China and USA, but I'm only providing statistics, not so much as an opinion.

@ MB: HeyYou has a very valid point: as of May 2011 the largest single holder of U.S. government debt was China, with 26 percent of all foreign-held U.S. Treasury securities (8% of total US public debt). Source.

@ Marharth: Exactly the point. When a country possessing nuclear weapons reaches a point where it has nothing to lose, it will ignore MAD's consequences.

@ Ginny: And what do you call Britain's old legal system allowing slavery? Back then, people thought there was nothing wrong in it. Personally, in my opinion, we're all wrong. But then again, that includes me. We simply don't know whether oppression in some countries is just normal, or it's forced. Because of international media, I'm more inclined to consider the latter, but if it's ongoing for many years, it's more likely the former. In the end, because most of us are brought up with Western standards, we're undeniably biased towards our way of life, whether or not we acknowledge it.

Ginny, what you said works both ways. In their opinion, the Western world is corrupt and rampants with 'undesirables'. It's all down to whose opinion you interpret, with you (and the majority of people on this forum) regarding the 'western' method as the more 'correct' version.

@ Grannywils: In Australia, you can get over $40,000 a year tax free, just from Centrelink (social service) benefits. You tell me that's not an incentive to not work for many................no kidding, and predictably, it's chaotic over here, the debate about Centrelink.

One thing: if you're a foreigner, how would you even know the massive variety of complex nouns and adjectives you just used?

1. Quite a lot of country's bonds are bought by China: it's sort of a stranglehold now. 2. No comment: don't really know about it. 3. We all know Europe's going to suffer quite a bit, we just don't know how much. 4. Libya situation re-run, except with a lack of air support from Europe's countries.

OK, so back to debate, what exactly is going on? And for the love of God, no more Latin or big (ie. more than 10 letters) words!

Aurelius: I agree 100%. Those with disabilities out of there control, or created because of government service, deserve to be taken care of (I don't mean killed). If you're in Australia, you'll see how crazy social security (called Centrelink) is over here...

@ WizardOfAtlantis: He has a point: unlike a court, where you could produce qualifications via legal documents, we don't do that on the internet. For all we know, I could claim to be a former SAS operative with all the knowledge I recycled from Call of Duty. Personal experience here has next to no value, nor do personal anecdotes. I'm not saying you're a liar, but the general consensus is, false until proven otherwise.

i actually saw on Discovery once, thay many robbers who carry guns into homes dont even have loaded guns, just the gun itself And you're willing to bet your life on statistics? OK, your decision. And yes, I share your opinion for your first statement.

who said let kids play? your twisting words. no one said just give kids guns and they will figure it out on their own....my 8 year old girl cousin has fired a 9mm with no problem at all. handling a gun teaches one a lot about discipline, and who needs that more then kids. its almost a win win situation. you dont let it get to that point. your not supposed to wait until you yourself is being cornered with a gun. if it reaches that point, your probably screwed. no one said be the hero. it doesnt even have to end in a death. when a robber hears a gun shot, hes probably going to run. simple as that. if you got a shotgun, the sound of cocking it alone, is enough to make a would be robber run....the point of everyone having guns is to stop the act before it starts. criminals will think twice causing harm, when the likely hood of everyone being armed is much much higher. you can sit there and think of stuff that just may or may not happen till your heart is content. and its not hard to think of. its not a perfect solution. but the amount of crime reduced by everyone having a gun > the amount of crime that continues with everything having a gun. any situation you think of already happens right now. its going to happen more when no one is armed. id place my money on it happening less once everyone is armed. Hoofhearted4: Use != play. Use involves a degree of care and discipline, the latter, not so much. Though, I have to agree with a marksmanship and handling course in high schools. My old high school had the privilege of the sport of rifle shooting, which I joined first at small-bore, then progressing to full-bore. Actually handling firearms with care involves a high level of discipline and concentration, something which I laud. The problem, Hoof, is that for your plan to work, as you said, everyone must have a gun. If even one person is left out, there goes the status equality. One thing: if you're cocking the gun, you don't think the 'robber' could just 'rush' you? Just a silly notion :). Cars aren't essential and it's harder to remove all guns than it is all cars. Guns are used everyday to protect people from threats by both humans and animals. Wow.........just...wow.....you're either the funniest person I know, or the craziest. Please don't tell me that's what the country you live in is like......

@ Syco: And what's the alternative to cars then? Public transport? Unlike firearms, cars are almost essential: you can't just take cars out of the country, but you can (in theory) for firearms with no significant problems other than an angry crowd.

WizardOfAtlantis: That's a bit tactless, don't you think? We all know that 'law-abiding' citizens can at any moment be the contradict of that..........

@ Arthmoor: True as that may be (the most expensive land in NZ? Really...?), that is not grounds for arrest though.

@ Lisnpuppy: Frankly, by debating who debates better, apparently, decides who's 'right'. It's an opinion in the end, guys, I really don't understand why a lawyer (if you take her word) would fight so adamantly on the web when more serious matters are in hand in their present reality. @ Ginny: Being a lawyer has no direct relevancy here: this is, after all, an open debate, open to everyone. Waving your occupation around like a stick is not going to end well here.

@ MisInformed: But other sites also have reward programs for uploading files. And so what if he's convicted before? Cases are completely separate, and in DIFFERENT countries. Unless you're immigrating, your criminal record in other countries is almost but overlooked. My point is, why Megaupload? There are others, like Filesonic and Fileserve which (no longer) offer rewards programs. Hell, even Megaupload stopped their rewards programs a long time ago. Why couldn't he get a server in Russia? Simple: click here.