Yes, bombing the crap out of other countries preemptively is quite like child abuse, isn't it?

I don't think that was the best analogy ever.

. . . in any case, I'm done with this conversation, I guess. Debating stuff online is fun, but lately I've been looking at my clocks and it takes too much of my time. I should really cut back and get back to writing software, which is also something I love to do.

I said not that hard. And only when you know it is going to happen (which is not that likely). And anyway I said smack the child, not beat them like a sack of potaotes, there is a big diffrence. Last time I checked smacking your child was not child abuse.

Err, what?

I must not be understanding you, because this is, by far, one of the most bizarre things I've ever read.

Lemme get this straight: you think kids should be smacked before they do something, just to stop them from doing something they may not have even planned on doing in the first place? And it's OK if you are abusing children, but it's not OK if other people think you are abusing children? Am I getting that about right?

You know, even speaking metaphorically, I wonder if it's wise to compare other countries to unruly children, and to your own country as the parent, abusive or otherwise.

What did you check, Oxford's Encyclopedia of Rationalizing Poor Parenting 1954?

OH GOD. This is way funnier after a few drinks

Lol, couple of touchy people in this thread. I wonder if they have ever been to latin america, smacking is quite common and effective, of course with a limit. its smacking, not beating.

The food shortages are our fault. Bush gets the blame on this one, fucking ethanol push...

Over a fourth of the corn grown in the last year was pissed away on ethanol, a process that out pollutes the gasoline it replaces, and takes massive amounts of petroleum based fertilizer to start with. As even a halfwit knows, when you increase the demand for something, the price goes up. Being the worlds largest exporter of food, well...

Of course, if you're a cynic, it's good for us because our enemies can't feed themselves.

Trade deficits.

First, if our GDP starts shrinking, shit your pants. Till then, we're not doomed. Yes, a trade deficit is bad. No, a trade deficit isn't in itself a problem. If we have a 6% deficit, which is what it was in 2005 if I remember right, and our GDP grows by 5%, then our internal growth was more than double what we actually got after removing the deficit from the total. Without the trade deficit, we'd be in phenomenal shape, instead we're just in decent shape. It's bad, but paper cut bad, not severed appendage bad.

Second, trade deficits might not help us, but they sure as hell help our trading partners. Who do you think is paying to modernize China? If we didn't have a massive trade deficit with China, they wouldn't have nearly the growth they've managed. A large portion of the world owes the top couple points of their GDP growth to our trade deficit.


Child abuse.

For all the positive reinforcement retards out there that think you can keep every child in line with hugs and kisses. I'd be in jail if my parents had tried that shit with me. You've all been kids, I expect a lot of you still are from the posts that show up here, you knew when you were misbehaving. When you got it for misbehaving, you knew you were getting it for misbehaving. A lack of consequences for improper behavior just leads to more improper behavior, and not everyone responds to being sat in the corner or getting grounded. I was grounded for months at a time and it didn't do shit to alter my perspective on whether it was worth the trouble to get into trouble or not. A whipping that made it hard to sit down for a few hours was a much better method of getting my attention. I can't be brought in line through a denial of activities. I'm an irritant to forum moderators just about anywhere I go because of it. Getting banned isn't even a drawback. Spending a few hours a day watching dried paint is a mild inconvenience. A hang nail is more bothersome.

There are kids that are naturally inclined to behave and don't need punished at all, they all grow up to be sheeple. They'll do anything they're supposed to just because they're supposed to. Consequences are irrelevant to the obedience. Unfortunately they are a very small minority of people. If you doubt it, drive the speed limit on the nearest freeway and see how many people pass you.

yeah cultural relativism is for pansy lib'rals until you get to places that aren't Middle Eastern in which case there's a free pass. if it's not X hard, it's not beating! it's loving childcare! the only way to make your children act responsibly is to beat the shit out of them *only a little*.



that's great anecdotal evidence paired with a strawman but not only do you not know what you're talking about (numerous studies over the last 30+ years have shown that hitting children does absolutely nothing and encourages violent behavior) that has nothing to do with the topic.



with a sufficiently large variable "enemies". who are our "enemies"? iraq? afghanistan? i doubt ethanol really has to do with hunger there. states that are vaguely hostile like Venezuela? no, they aren't having a problem. the lower dollar also means it's much easier for foreign countries to buy agricultural imports, so point's moot there too.



generally speaking, the objective we've accomplished is the following: remove Saddam Hussein's government. technically, we could have done that any number of ways. until we achieve objectives like "restoring electricity" or "setting up a government that's not dominated by Sunni extremists or Shiite American puppets" (neither of which look quite on-track), we might as well just have shot a cruise missile into Saddam's house and called it a day back in 2003.

Ok, It appears I used the wrong metaphor since it appears that you guys cant seam to get it, but I cant think of any other metahpor to use for this. And also whats with the "if you slap him its child abuse" crap? I mean you are acting like I am saying that all parents are supposed to beat their children with bats, I am not. I am saying that you need to slap him or her and not the kind of slap that can leaves your vision white for a couple of seconds. It should be the type of slap that hurts a little for a second. Heres a situation, you go into your living room and you see junior on the sofa smiling about something. You ask junior what he is smiling about and he says nothing. You try talking to him and do every thing else, and he still wont talk. So you slap him (its more powerfull than the slaps Italian mobsters give each other in the Godfather, but less powerfull then a slap that kinds of hurts). Then Junior tells you that he was planning to pee into the lemanode. Now let me make my self clear, you only slap the child when you tryd everything else. Works with countrys to, you know some country is buliding nukes and you try negotaiating with them but it does not work. What do you do? you try somethinf else, and if that doesent work you use force and take out the breeder reactor. Clear enough?

Well, no... it's still stupid logic, actually, and I really hope you are not a parent. Or a US president, though it might explain a few things.

Anyway, how does this relate to Iraq? You said earlier that you were for the war in Iraq. Let's hear why.

Can you wait? I need to go to school.

Actually, don't worry about it, Nequa. I didn't realize you were so young... I suppose you can be excused for your opinions on parenting and warfare. So, yes, I'll wait until you're older and have more of an education, and then ask you the question again, heh.

Well no, you should get his opinion to be honest, and then seek to show him your logical side. That's how - if he wants to - he will learn more. Basic parenting?

Wow, great parenting example, "shut up you ignorant kid and don't speak until you grow older"

is that how you treat your children ghostwes, if you have any?

Let him speak freely, its his right.