tflex

I can assure you what the U.S. considers 'below the poverty line' is not the same as the rest of the world. If you read my posts you would know that I also consider western Europe as model systems, it's just that Phil picked out the U.S. and Israel part, because it annoyed him. So, everything positive you're saying about western europe I agree with. Thats only because I've been talking about it in various threads for the last few months, and don't want to keep repeating myself.

I saw that too, the science definately makes sense.

A nation or state in which the clergy exercise political power and in which religious law is dominant over civil law. Iran led by the Ayatollah Khomeini was a theocracy under the Islamic clergy. Answers.com I think perhaps you're mixinig up Israel with Iran and Saudi Arabia. You don't have to, just ask yourself why so many Cubans are in Florida, is it human nature to be happy with being forced to obey your government? is it human nature not to be able to freely express yourself? is it human nature to be held prisoner in your country? Cubans can't leave Cuba for a holiday and comeback without being called counter-revolutionaries? No, you don't need to get in between anyone's ear to know that communism is contrary to happiness.

Viggen... <sarcasm> poverty rate in the western world? In the western world it's lowest by far. crime rate under western societies? There is crime, but still lower than the rest of the world, remember most countries don't have accurate crime reports, simply because most crimes are not reported officially, especially in developing countries. not been able to play proper soccer? I'm in agreement with you on this one, but I can see you've been Americanized, it's not soccer, it's football for god's sake. The perfect system is the one were the majority feels comfortable with itself and its surroundings, it doesnt really matter in what country you live in. A monk in Nepal might live (in our eyes) in terrible poor conditions, but still he might be happier then all the beverly hill chicks with implants, artificial lips and fat wallets... A goat farmer in central turkey might have no money but a little herd of goats and his family and friends, still he might be happier then the wall street broker that has just divorced for the third time... As a system the U.S. is the best, again I don't want to keep expaining why the system is so great, especially when you have the proof right there. Yes, I gave you examples contrary to your daft statement, then you come back and tell me Israel kills indiscriminately and is intolerant. No, either you're ignorant of facts or you have something personal against Israel, I think it's the latter since you purposely ignore facts that contradict your baseless claims. Good for you to be living in England, and not understand what it means to live side by side with terrorists who scream death to the Jews everyday, Israel doesn't have the luxury to wait for Kofi Annan to come save them, not after there's been countless resolutions that have not been enforced by the corrupt and useless UN. And the indiscriminate thing is good propoganda, just a label from you. So, because Sharon visted a holy Jewish site, that gave Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade to blow themselves around civilians. Are you saying a monarchy is more democratic than a democracy, or are you just clueless. Things are smooth right now, why? because the U.S. learned from history's mistakes, especially old europe. I'm sure a lot of people like yourself would like to think the U.S. is going through it's dark ages, if these are the dark ages, then I hope they never leave. Anyways, since your problem is personal or you're just ignorant of facts, it's pointless to debate this subject with you.

Well, I'm glad we can agree on one thing, I'm not a fan of Pat either, probably for a different reason though. Whats your definition of theocracy? Wait you think Cubans are happy with their form of government, what about the one's who swam to Florida, the massive cuban migration the last 50 years, what about the unhappy ones living in Cuba, but simply can't open their mouth. Thats a bad example, I assure you if you go to Cuba and ask your average cuban citizen if he's happy, he will tell you he's in paradise, and I hope you understand why you will get that response. Then go ask a Cuban in Miami what he thinks of his country's form of government, I assure you what he has to say won't be too nice. Again, it's like the middle east, a christian in Lebanon will publicly say Hizbullah is a resistance for fear of retaliation, in private or outside of the country they will curse the hell out of them and call them what they really are terrorists.

Cool, should be easy then, if you succeed, the CIA and FBI might need your services

Alright, I think it will be fine now. I was having trouble with my internet.

Yes it is, but it only means you need to spend an extra hour or so, and you'll be fine. I think the verbs will be the easiest part for you, it's very similar to English and direct. For example I want would be, Ana=I and bade=want, you pronounce the e at the end of the word.

Well, I'm glad we can agree on one thing, I'm not a fan of Pat either, probably for a different reason though. Whats your definition of theocracy? Wait you think Cubans are happy with their form of government, what about the one's who swam to Florida, the massive cuban migration the last 50 years, what about the unhappy ones living in Cuba, but simply can't open their mouth. Thats a bad example, I assure you if you go to Cuba and ask your average cuban citizen if he's happy, he will tell you he's in paradise, and I hope you know why you will get that response. Then go ask a Cuban in Miami what he thinks of his country's form of government, I assure you what he has to say won't be too nice. Again, it's like the middle east, a christian in Lebanon will publicly say Hizbullah is a resistance, in private or outside of the country they will curse the hell out of them and call them what they really are terrorists.

I responded to one in the other thread, as to the french cardinal (he had to be french), it's the first time I ever heard of him. But another example, is Rev. Pat Robertson insulted Sharon on his death bed, Sharon is considered an Israeli hero like Washington is to America, yet Pat was in Israel a few weeks ago. No Gaius, you and I both know that you are much too skillful at the English language, one only has to look into your blog As for that blasted cardinal he deserved it since he's french

'Quick Edit' uses Javascript, which is executed by your browser. If you use IE, make sure you have all the Microsoft updates. I think I do, I always update, but I'll check it out first to make sure. Do you think a slow internet connection has something to do with it?

2 out of 10 times the Quick Edit button doesn't post and freezes on me?

Really, do you know anything about the founding of the American republic or the political thought of the American founders or where they came up with the ideas of divided government or drew their philosophical inspiration? Have you ever bothered to pick up the Tusculan Disputations or any of Cicero's letters or any of his writings on political philosophy? In early American history, Cicero was more widely read and more influential than any other political thinker, including perhaps John Locke. Jefferson was a tremendous admirer of Cicero, modelling his life on Cicero's, and he considered the jewels of his immense library to be the 40 volumes of Cicero that he later donated to the Library of Congress. James Madison cites "Tully" with more reverence than Jesus. According to John Adams, "All ages of the world have not produced a greater statesman and philosopher combined." Cicero was not only required reading at Harvard and every university in early America, being able to recite Cicero in Latin was a minimum requirement for entry. To say that Cicero's ideals have no bearing on modern republics is a statement of ignorance so vast... well, respect for this forum prevents me from saying anything more to you on this topc. Your chronic and willful indifference to historical facts make conversation with you pointless. Cicero didn't make the Roman republic, which is used as a model in modern republics today. As for people admiring him, although I find it revolting to admire such a person of emmense hypocrisy, admiring him is not enough to credit him as a model for modern republics, if you are going to use that logic Cato, then you would have to credit Caesar with modern militaries, tactics, startegies, achievements and warfare, in that case though Caesar contributed much so he deserves the credit. Cato it's not historical facts, it's your selective memory. Cicero's long lasting achievements for the Roman empire were his oratory, his political ideals didn't go anywhere.

I said they are closest to perfect, don't misquote me dear Gauis. I responded and frankly to argue that Israel is anything but the gem of the middle east is pointless, it's simply a fact. I've been to Israel under a different passport, if I use my Lebanese passport, when I return to Lebanon I can expect to go to jail for the rest of my life no questions asked. I've also been to Saudi Arabia and many other arab countries, nope not much freedom in those countries, and all you need to to do is look at the make up of local arab governments, regimes and laws, then compare them to Israel. As for the other statement, I'm not aware of it, so I can't comment. Ridicolous only applies to your daft statement comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, thats not just ridicolous, but plain dumb. I'm not sure what you mean by that or equality, but if you're saying we should support the poor at the expense of the rich and hard-workers, that seems to be undemocratic to punish the rich for being rich and reward the poor for being poor, doesn't make sense. The most successful European countries that you talk about such as England, have the least amount of socialism in them, and thats not a coincidence. Thats too funny to even take seriously, the U.S. is among the lowest in corruption in the world by most credible estimates, and by practically living here you would know that. It's just that other countries don't go around broadcasting and exposing corruption on international T.V. like they do in the U.S., they prefer to keep it under the table away from the media, and shut up whoever tries to expose it :shutup: If you're going to make a statement like that there must be proof, specific incidents, I don't recall Israel attacking it's neighbours for the sake of murdering them, it's called self defense, but for some reason when Israel does it, it's called an unprovoked attack, just like the war with Hizbullah. There is nothing unprovoked about killing Israeli soldiers on Israeli soil and kidnapping others to help Iran out, there is nothing unprovoked about Hamas a terrorist organization that exists only to drive Israel into the meditarranean by sending suicide bombers into Israel for the sole purpose of murdering innocent civilians. If I was Israel, I'de notch up preemptive strikes a bit, they seem to work. The IDF endagers it's own life to preserve the enemy's civilian population, it's ridicolous and a crime against Israeli soldiers by their own military leaders and politicians. In a war, you don't broadcast a future attack on television and name the place and time just to save civilian life while helping your enemy at the same time, you don't drop leaflets to civilians and give them a few days to leave while the enemy prepares, you don't have to use precision guided bombs, but Israel did all of that risking it's own troops and failing to accomplish it's mission, when all they had to do was carpet bomb Lebanon or Gaza like the allies did in WW2, and instead of having 1,000 casualties, they would have 100,000 in such a dense and small area, and at the same time accomplish their mission of eliminating a terrorist organization supported by Iran on it's borders. Israel's actions don't seem to be consistent with the third reich and nazi policies, only if you have something personal against Israel you would reach such a conclusions. As for Israeli's enemies they have no care for civilian life, they load katyusha rockets and suicide bombs with bolts for maximum civilian casualties, most of the casualties in south Lebanon and my village were killed from stray katyushas that failed to reach their intended targets and landed on Lebanese villages, actually by most estimates 50% of katyushas fired landed inside Lebanon, they also like to fire rockets from civilian buildings, and good old Arafat use to hide in residential buildings. Oh and Phil where are the concentration camps and gas chambers in Israel? No, you need to make a better case than that. First, I expected such a reaction from you, it seems everytime a positive statement is made about the U.S., it sticks out like a needle to you and you pick it out. I also didn't accuse another counrty of being Nazi like based on nothing, and I stand by my original statement, and would like to add that the U.S., western Europe and England in particular, plus Israel are model countries for the world. I'm actually against globalism, but it's gonna happen anyway, no one can stop it, so thats my opinion.

Cicero has no bearing on modern republics and he didn't create the Roman republic either. He was just a crook trying to live of it, and he did fail at the end, Rome turned it's back on Cicero's ideals. 90% of Cicero's little importance to history is his opposition to Caesar, the same goes for Cato, but he was also popular because of his name and grandfather. From the Caesar haters or opposition, the only one who could stand on his own accomplishments is Pompey. I like my new name, that would make me the Tyrant Dictator.

Arabic is very hard, the grammar is overly complicated, the alphabet is written in a different way once you connect two letters together they change, and the pronounciation of many words requires a lot of practise, but the fact that you learned vietnamese is very encouraging. I can speak arabic fluently plus read and write, but I remember back at school I dreaded my arabic class, and loved my english class, because english is so much simpler especially reading and writing, it's more organized and structured, and thats from a person with arabic as their first language. If you want to learn just to speak arabic, then it will be much easier, but if you want to learn to read and write, then it will require a lot of work, but you're still young and seem to have a special ability for languages, so I think you will have no problem grasping it. Not many non-arabs speak arabic, so that would be a great motivation for you, you will be a rare breed . Also arabic is very similar to hebrew, if you learn one of them it's much easier to learn the other, like spanish and french.

Yes, he was a great orator and lawyer, but there could have been better orators during his time, except there works didn't survive; Cicero was fortunate to have a lot of his work survive. But seriously now, why is Cicero remembered as one of history's greatest politicians when he eventually failed. To attach such a powerful label to anyone, you would at least expect that their political philosophy or principles were officially adopted and made a large impact on Roman government or society. When Cicero died, his ideals died with him, actually they died when he was still alive. Based on that, I can only say he was a good orator and lawyer, but "history's greatest politicians"? no he doesn't qualify or come close to that. As you said, if his works did not survive, then he would have been as insignificant as a blimp on the radar of ancient history. The most overrated Roman figure without a doubt, and thats an understatement.

Caesar before Alexander as an all around leader, but Alexander before Caesar as strictly a militarly leader, Caesar would be second. A great leader can miltarily think on his feet and adjust in a fraction of a second for the unexpected using instinct and common sense, Caesar and Alexander were the finest at this. A great political leader usually makes a significant change that lasts for centuries after his passing, his ideas don't die but live on, and thats what Caesar accomplished.

Alright I confess, I'm the guilty party. :usaflag: Yes it was, and America is the beacon of democracy and freedom. There are actually people still debating whether they should spy on phone conversations after 9/11. I think a judge recently rejected this, frankly I find it ridicolous that they need permission from a judge, but it is a great example of the rule of law in the U.S. Had this been any other country there wouldn't even be a debate about such an issue after such a tragedy. I'm Lebanese, so I guess that makes me an Arab, I was in Lebanon during the last Israeli strikes, there were bombs falling all around us, one could have easily landed on my head, but everytime I heard a an Israeli plane in the distance I was cheering, cheering that they would bomb the middle east to it's senses, and I wasn't the only one. There's a reason for that, I don't want to turn this thread into Israel vs Palestine or the middle east, but those arabs living in Israel who breed terrorism are living in better conditions than they would in any other arab state, infact no other arab country wants anything to do with them. The freedom in Israel is not even comparable to the rest of the middle east, and to have so much democracy and freedom in such a volatile region thats hell bent on destroying you, is truly amazing. C'mon PP, this is the Arena, thats a politically correct answer.

Well reading one chapter or even all of Revelations is not enough. For you to understand Revelations you must have read the entire scripture. If I read only the end of any book, I'm sure I won't understand the ending. Also, keep in mind the bible is written for an audience that ranges from ancient times until today, it talks about the past, present and the future, so thats why there are a lot of metaphors and figure of speech in the book. I find it very simple, for example Satan is refered to as a snake, dragon, serpent on many occasions, obviously he doesn't look like a snake not if he's going to be the false Messiah and deceive people, but any person can understand the meaning and context behind those labels no matter which time they live in, whether 2,000 years ago or the 21st century.

Western European countries have recently started to privatize traditional government controlled businesses like transportation to fight inefficiency and bad service, which is a good thing. Also, the point about capitalism is that it's up to the individual to make himself feel like he's living in a Utopia.

Yes, there are many people who simply didn't have the chance to follow god's teachings, and they are given the chance at that time, not a second chance, check out the spirit of slumber/stupor. I'm also telling you that you're getting out random verses, interpreting them to what you heard from a friend, some priest, word of mouth or maybe even a hollywood movie. You argue the bible is illogical, but for you to argue against the teachings of the scripture based on third party sources is more illogical, and frankly a bit hypocritical.

The motive was to restore the Republic. There may have been jealousy and other emotional responses involved, but it was clear that the reason for the assassination was because they believed Caesar was a tyrant. Brutus was a misguided soul, easily manipulated and was steered in that direction. He didn't have the brain capacity to have his own motive, I think someone convinced him that Caesar was a tyrant, therefore, must be eliminated for the good of Rome. But, I don't think Brutus was too mindful of the restoration of the Republic and all the political strategy behind the assassination, which ultimately failed anyway.

Australia, Canada, Brazil, U.S., U.K. and France.

I haven't read through all this thread, but it looks like a heated debate. My view on communism is thats it's contrary to human nature, and thats precisely why it failed, it's as simple as that. Personally, I would rather be a poor person under a capitalist system, where I know if I work hard enough I can improve my living conditions, rather than have a government providing me with what they deem necessary on my behalf, and prevent me from improving my living standards and accomplishing my ambitions. Communism is made for people who don't want to work hard and compete, not for poor people. Capitalism suits poor people better than communism.