[karmirtsaghik]

Thank you Stayed, very good post. Thundarr, please do not throw at me definitions from the dictionary. Even though English is only the third language that I speak fluently out of six Languages, I know the meaning of the word.

[Not Applicable]

Oh and another correction on ForTheTrees post. Islam does not mean "peace", although it is related to that word in the Arabic language (salam). Islam actually means "submission (to the will of God)."

[Roma]

Hi Stayed,

What a wonderful post. Great to see you post! How are things?

Thundarr,

It appears to me you are the minority here. It also appears to me you may not realize that you just may live in a White male privilege bubble. Could that be possible?

Go out and live your life and include others who are not your same demographic. Learn all you can. Experience is the spice of life.

There is a whole lot you are missing out on because of this fear and privilege.

It's strange to me that Republicans are the ones who have the biggest problem with Muslims because to me (and I speak from experience) there are just so many similarities.

[Not Applicable]

Question for all, just give a yes or no and don't analyze:

Should Muslim bakeries in the U.S. be required to make wedding cakes for gay weddings?

Not analyzing but why mention Muslims when the case you obviously are inspired by was a Christian run bakery?

[Roma]

McCain on shutting down press: That's how dictators get started

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/320248-mccain-on-attacking-media-thats-how-dictators-get-started

[Not Applicable]

I think we can all agree the world has become a more dangerous place.

More dangerous than when? before WWII, before the spread of AIDS, before people started smoking tobacco, before the invention of the automobile and related accidents, before the invention of drones or the internet by the US military? Is it really more dangerous or are you just perceiving it that way?

The problem with such generalizations is that it makes it seem like we are all going to die in terrorist attacks when we are more likely to die of a slip and fall in our bathroom or a heart attack. It's like a dog biting a man does not make the news, but a man biting a dog does. People tend to irrationally worry more about the unlikely events than the likely ones.

If you really face an imminent threat every day you would be desensitized to it, not worrying. I've lived somewhere that violent political protests and politically motivated terror attacks were pretty much a daily event for a long time. Where you are in a taxi and your discussion with the driver is what is the best route to get home to avoid passing through a crowd of stone throwing youth or molotov cocktails. I've seen all the cars smashed up in my block during clashes that led to the death of someone around the corner. A bomb went off 3 blocks away one night. I've been a subway train filled with tear gas. That's just a few examples. I could multiply them. If you really are worrying that much about terrorism, then you really have nothing to worry about. Because when it is a real and present threat, you learn to get on with your life and not let fear control you.

Trying to find a needle in a haystack in preventing the one terrorist who is going to come to your suburban neighborhood and set off a bomb is impossible. I'm sorry, but it is impossible. Immigration officers can only do their best but it will never hermetically seal you off in a bubble. Forget about it. The best way to prevent such violence is to deal with the political issues behind such violence. Yes, I said political, because the fact that the violence is from people of one religion perpetrated on another is only a distraction from the political injustices that people feel the need to remedy. People like OBL may couch it in religious terms, but ultimately that's not the reason behind it.

[karmirtsaghik]

I agree with you completely, C4 It all comes to basic principles of risk management, while dealing with terrorism, or any other danger.

Thundarr,
If a valid credit card holding Orangutan approaches the Muslim baker and asks for cake, yes that baker should and most probably will happily bake the cake. Does it really matter?

[Roma]

Question for all, just give a yes or no and don't analyze:

Should Muslim bakeries in the U.S. be required to make wedding cakes for gay weddings?

It's the business owner's prerogative if he/she want's to,Not mine.

 It would be wise to to earn a profit yet that is not my place to make him or her to bake it, especially if it goes against his or her religion.

[Roma]

I think we can all agree the world has become a more dangerous place.

I don't agree with the words or thoughts that the wold has become more dangerous.

I feel you have woken up finally out of the false dream that everything has been ok. The world has always been dangerous, yet not in the ways you think.

Sounds to me you are letting your fear talk.

[Thundarr]

Stayed - You're irrelevant.  Just go back to your communal narcissistic bubble and don't bother commenting to me again.  Thank you.

Changing - Thank you for putting things so succinctly.  I'm sorry you've found yourself in those situations and I don't want to see that here.  I know that my kids and I are as safe as can be (sitting on a college campus as I type this) but that doesn't mean other kids in this country are.  I know the reasons we got to this point are very complex and that the US is greatly at fault, as is Israel, but that doesn't make it right.  Trump said during the campaign that his ultimate goal was to.broker a deal between Israel and Palestine and I know he sees that as what will put him into a very elite category.  Whatever his motives, this will benefit us all as will a good relationship with Russia.  Despite it all I really do think Trump wants peace.

Incidentally, I condemned the IRA and their terrorist actions even though they were fellow Caucasian Catholics.  I would say the exact same thing about them as I would the Muslim terrorists (thanks for the clarification, btw) if they were our enemy.