Ouch (>_<) woman attacked Pope Benedict XVI

[Flax]

I thought the people in the UAE were religious, but also enjoyed a fairly Westernized and wealthy lifestyle.

Wealthy, yes. Peaceful? hummm
Try taking a gay friend there and coming out alive

 

[down_in_albion]

I thought the people in the UAE were religious, but also enjoyed a fairly Westernized and wealthy lifestyle.

Thanks to the large percentage of the national population imported from South Asia who work as basically indentured slave labourers. Poor people from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh make up 50% of the population but are not allowed citizenship, political representation or employment laws. They are locked into incredibly dangerous jobs, owing their bosses a debt that is impossible to work off, while having no recourse against either discrimination or dangerous conditions. Apart from that yeah, it's an idyll.

 

[Emotional Guide Dog]

Yes.
But let's give Emotional Guide Dog another chance.

I'll help you. Here is a list of the most religious countries in the world. Could you pick one tell us what's great about their quality of life?

• Egypt 100%
• Bangladesh 99%
• Sri Lanka 98%
• Indonesia 98%
• Congo 98%
• Sierra Leone 98%
• Malawi 98%
• Senegal 98%
• Djibouti 98%
• Morocco 98%
• United Arab Emirates 98%

Well, all those countries are very very hot. Bangladeshis get paid peanuts to make our t-shirts, Sri Lanka was involved in a war over land & not religion, I doubt there's a single African country where the quality of life is up to much.

Interesting that you missed off Somalia & Saudi Arabia. The Saudis in particular live under a tyranical regime under Sharia law & relgion helps no-one there.

Still, it's easier to pull a list of countries from Wikipedia than to know where they are on a map isn't it?

And seriously, what the hell is going on in Egypt that I don't know about?

 

[jamescagney]

Try taking a gay friend there and coming out alive

OK, I'll let you know how it goes. I'm sure it'll be our fault for angering God.

 

[Flax]

Well, all those countries are very very hot. Bangladeshis get paid peanuts to make our t-shirts, Sri Lanka was involved in a war over land & not religion, I doubt there's a single African country where the quality of life is up to much.

Interesting that you missed off Somalia & Saudi Arabia. The Saudis in particular live under a tyranical regime under Sharia law & relgion helps no-one there.

Still, it's easier to pull a list of countries from Wikipedia than to know where they are on a map isn't it?

And seriously, what the hell is going on in Egypt that I don't know about?

It's better to pull a list of countries from Wikipedia than pulling a statement out of my ass, like you did.

Maybe that's common in that fictional happy religious country you were talking about.

 

[Flax]

OK, I'll let you know how it goes. I'm sure it'll be our fault for angering God.

How dare you wear Dolce and Gabbana shoes! You must die! - God.

 

[Emotional Guide Dog]

Unless you propose the government nationalise the fuel companies I fail to see what they can really do about it. The national debt of this country is massive and the fuel we use is imported, and ultimately finite so fuel prices are rising and will continue to regardless of what the government do. This is just simple supply and demand. Unless we put money into alternative fuel sources, which is only possible with international cooperation and an increase in the green agenda, there won't be any fuel to buy anyway.

Why shouldn't the Government nationalise the energy companies? Fuel prices are not rising because there are shortages, fuel prices are rising because it's a price fixing cartel. I fully accept that there will be shortages in the future but everyone needs to understand that isn't why the prices are high now.

Petrol isn't even that expensive; of a litre of fuel costing £1.08; 72p is tax. The Government can do plenty about that!

 

[jamescagney]

Well, all those countries are very very hot. Bangladeshis get paid peanuts to make our t-shirts, Sri Lanka was involved in a war over land & not religion, I doubt there's a single African country where the quality of life is up to much.

Interesting that you missed off Somalia & Saudi Arabia. The Saudis in particular live under a tyranical regime under Sharia law & relgion helps no-one there.

Still, it's easier to pull a list of countries from Wikipedia than to know where they are on a map isn't it?

And seriously, what the hell is going on in Egypt that I don't know about?

Thank goodness those countries have religion to provide them comfort. What a comfort that must be.

But to be fair, I suspect the problem is the reverse... that countries that have more money, liberty, education and news media trend towards less religion in general, while simultaneously trending towards a better quality of life. Rather than the opposite, where religion directly causes them to have a poor quality of life.

I doubt religious beliefs in poor countries is helping them very much. But religion combined with a lack of one of the other necessary items above (lack of liberty as in the UAE, lack of money or news media as in Afghanistan, etc.) can lead to a dangerous and explosive situation.

 

[Emotional Guide Dog]

It's better to pull a list of countries from Wikipedia than pulling a statement out of my ass, like you did.

Maybe that's common in that fictional happy religious country you were talking about.

Statement out of my ass? I know about Bangladesh because my employers support a charity out there. And I know about the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka & the tyranny in Saudi Arabia & Somalia because I read the news.

You just pulled 'ten most religious countries by % of population' from Wikipedia or Google & pasted it in here, you know you did.

And you didn't answer my question, what is going on in Egypt that is making people's lives a misery? And what does religion have to do with it?

Can you answer the question?

 

[down_in_albion]

Why shouldn't the Government nationalise the energy companies? Fuel prices are not rising because there are shortages, fuel prices are rising because it's a price fixing cartel. I fully accept that there will be shortages in the future but everyone needs to understand that isn't why the prices are high now.

Petrol isn't even that expensive; of a litre of fuel costing £1.08; 72p is tax. The Government can do plenty about that!

Well they could, but seeing as they are all multi-nationals that are generally based abroad I don't really see it happening.

You are right, the energy companies will attempt to extract as much profit as possible.

You do what the purpose of taxation is don't you? In the UK we tend to have the most "American style" anti-tax agenda, which is why we end up with stealth taxes and taxes on luxuries. In continental Europe, where the need for taxes is better accepted they have a much higher rate of income taxes. Now, for me their system is much fairer because it tends to be more progressive, but either way the money has to come from somewhere. Without taxes you will have no civil society at all, no social safety net (as patchy as it is), no infrastructure.

Regardless, this is off-topic.

 

[Emotional Guide Dog]

Thank goodness those countries have religion to provide them comfort. What a comfort that must be.

But to be fair, I suspect the problem is the reverse... that countries that have more money, liberty, education and news media trend towards less religion in general, while simultaneously trending towards a better quality of life. Rather than the opposite, where religion directly causes them to have a poor quality of life.

I doubt religious beliefs in poor countries is helping them very much. But religion combined with a lack of one of the other necessary items above (lack of liberty as in the UAE, lack of money or news media as in Afghanistan, etc.) can lead to a dangerous and explosive situation.

You mean they look to religion to provide them comfort because they have nothing else to look to? I think that's true.

Thanks by the way, for making a reasoned & informed argument as opposed to just pulling lists off the net & making inflamatory/derogotary comments.

 

[down_in_albion]

Thank goodness those countries have religion to provide them comfort. What a comfort that must be.

But to be fair, I suspect the problem is the reverse... that countries that have more money, liberty, education and news media trend towards less religion in general, while simultaneously trending towards a better quality of life. Rather than the opposite, where religion directly causes them to have a poor quality of life.

I doubt religious beliefs in poor countries is helping them very much. But religion combined with a lack of one of the other necessary items above (lack of liberty as in the UAE, lack of money or news media as in Afghanistan, etc.) can lead to a dangerous and explosive situation.

Good post.

 

[Flax]

Statement out of my ass? I know about Bangladesh because my employers support a charity out there. And I know about the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka & the tyranny in Saudi Arabia & Somalia because I read the news.

"The misery of the people has less to do with how religious they are compared to how religious their Government is. Or more to the point, how much that Government is prepared to use religion as an excuse to shit on the people.

In the civilised world, Governments don't use religion as much, less so now they've got a new stick to beat people with; the stick called climate change."

You just pulled 'ten most religious countries by % of population' from Wikipedia or Google & pasted it in here, you know you did.

And you didn't answer my question, what is going on in Egypt that is making people's lives a misery? And what does religion have to do with it?

Can you answer the question?

Women and gay people have a hard time in Egypt. Google it and I bet you'll find out.

 

[Emotional Guide Dog]

Well they could, but seeing as they are all multi-nationals that are generally based abroad I don't really see it happening.

You are right, the energy companies will attempt to extract as much profit as possible.

You do what the purpose of taxation is don't you? In the UK we tend to have the most "American style" anti-tax agenda, which is why we end up with stealth taxes and taxes on luxuries. In continental Europe, where the need for taxes is better accepted they have a much higher rate of income taxes. Now, for me their system is much fairer because it tends to be more progressive, but either way the money has to come from somewhere. Without taxes you will have no civil society at all, no social safety net (as patchy as it is), no infrastructure.

Regardless, this is off-topic.

It is off topic yes. We have an anti tax agenda because we are easily the most taxed country in Euorpe. It's easy to be accepting of taxes when you don't pay as much of them. A higher rate of income tax is a good idea & taxes on luxeries are a good idea. People need petrol to get around, they don't need biscuits to get around. But which has an 80% tax burden & which has a 17% tax burden?

 

[down_in_albion]

It is off topic yes. We have an anti tax agenda because we are easily the most taxed country in Euorpe. It's easy to be accepting of taxes when you don't pay as much of them. A higher rate of income tax is a good idea & taxes on luxeries are a good idea. People need petrol to get around, they don't need biscuits to get around. But which has an 80% tax burden & which has a 17% tax burden?

Except we aren't "the most taxed country in Europe". Our taxes are just collected in a different way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Income_Taxes_By_Country.svg

 

[Emotional Guide Dog]

"The misery of the people has less to do with how religious they are compared to how religious their Government is. Or more to the point, how much that Government is prepared to use religion as an excuse to shit on the people.

In the civilised world, Governments don't use religion as much, less so now they've got a new stick to beat people with; the stick called climate change."



Women and gay people have a hard time in Egypt. Google it and I bet you'll find out.

Women and gay people have a hard time in lots of places. Why don't you Google Saudi Arabia? Seriously, Saudi Arabia is my example that agrees with all your points. I'm not saying religion is great. I'm saying you're an idiot for putting a list of crimes next to a list of countries without knowing about them.

 

[CrystalGeezer]

I got the hidden coins in the drawer thing. So with that line of thinking, the bible could be compared to a safe, or a cloak of invisibility, or anything that contains and hides something else. What I didn't understand in the video was the significance of your parrot.

Pretty simple, humor. I was being funny. I recorded that clip in the middle of the summertime, I think adding Kaia was an afterthought to show a friend online who my partner in crime was when I was working on this whole gold coin symbolism thing. It was unrelated.

 

[CrystalGeezer]

We love Rock Band 1 and 2 but were very disappointed by Beatles Rock Band. The inclusion of the hit singles "Boys" (WTF?) and "Octopus' Garden" shows they don't really care about us the consumer. Also, I always knew Ringo's drumming was so-so, but trying to duplicate it beat for beat shows you it's also bizarre and illogical. We'll probably still buy the extra downloadable content and see if that makes the game more fun.

It made me so mad I wanted to attack the Pope.

I just did this 9 song medley thing because I need to get my band a merch girl and the last song was "Vision" by I don't know who. OMG that's some effed up music. Anyway in Los Angeles today the radio station The Sound is playing all Beatles so I listened to them all the way home (woot woot Day in the Life, hattage EVERY tiem) so I feel like I've just played Beatles Rockband but I haven't. This has nothing to do with the Pope.

 

[jamescagney]

I just did this 9 song medley thing because I need to get my band a merch girl. This has nothing to do with the Pope.

That's what you think! He's behind everything!! Even Beatles Rock Band! The Pope is bigger than the Beatles!

 

[jamescagney]

You mean they look to religion to provide them comfort because they have nothing else to look to? I think that's true.

Thanks by the way, for making a reasoned & informed argument as opposed to just pulling lists off the net & making inflamatory/derogotary comments.

Aw, I like Flax.

Thx, I try my best.