America is not the greatest country in the world

Originally posted by whodey
You kids better grow a pair and put more money into your military.

The US will no longer be there to protect you.

protect against who?
against the 27th military budget?


tell me, how does this protection work for sudan? all african countries that are constantly in a civil war? how did it work for georgia? ukraine?


how did it work for afghanistan and iraq , countries that the us invaded?



exactly who is the us military protecting? aside from the pockets of the us weapon industry?

Originally posted by Zahlanzi
protect against who?
against the 27th military budget?


tell me, how does this protection work for sudan? all african countries that are constantly in a civil war? how did it work for georgia? ukraine?


how did it work for afghanistan and iraq , countries that the us invaded?



exactly who is the us military protecting? aside from the pockets of the us weapon industry?

It is protecting certain people with erectile dysfunction.

Originally posted by whodey
You kids better grow a pair and put more money into your military.

The US will no longer be there to protect you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures

UK is fourth, after US, China and Russia. For the size of country that ought to just about cover things.

So off you go and get stuffed. It is time we stopped being an American aircraft carrier anchored this side of the Atlantic.

(Ireland is spending 0.56% of its GDP on the military, compared with America's 4.4%. That is why it keeps getting invaded of course. Those pesky Vikings.)

Originally posted by KazetNagorra
It is protecting certain people with erectile dysfunction.

In the UK I don't know which is better - the new aircraft carriers with no planes that can fly off them or the nuclear deterrent that only the Americans can activate. But the Buckingham Palace guards are nice.

Originally posted by finnegan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures

UK is fourth, after US, China and Russia. For the size of country that ought to just about cover things.

So off you go and get stuffed. It is time we stopped being an American aircraft carrier anchored this side of the Atlantic.

(Ireland is spending 0.56% of its GDP on the mil ...[text shortened]... pared with America's 4.4%. That is why it keeps getting invaded of course. Those pesky Vikings.)

Ulster is occupied by the UK... Ireland has an Anglo Saxon boot on it's neck.

Originally posted by AThousandYoung

I've been to a lot of other countries and I want to say this straight up: The United States of America, on our worst day, is better than any other country out there on their best day. Period!

Carlos Mercia

Get a life

Originally posted by redbarons
Get a life

Go burn a cross you psychotic Saxon.

Originally posted by finnegan
In the UK I don't know which is better - the new aircraft carriers with no planes that can fly off them or the nuclear deterrent that only the Americans can activate. But the Buckingham Palace guards are nice.

When the UK had a navy it was able to keep the Russians out of Crimea.

Originally posted by Zahlanzi
I hate threads that just give youtubes. i apologize for starting one.

Following is a scene from the show Newsroom, which i never watched but i am planing to because of this particular scene. it is a summary of what is believed to be wrong with it.

The conclusion is "America is not the greatest country in the world, but it used to be"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPHSXUS0_1c

That scene was good, though I'm a little disappointed with The Newsroom. I love everything Aaron Sorkin, and while The Newsroom is watchable, it isn't fit to carry The West Wing's jock strap. It's not just the stink of the super duper left wing politics that brings the show down (The West Wing is Fox News compared to this show). It's also that the dialogue is not quite as crisp and the stories not as compelling. Aaron Sorkin is so good that his worst crap is better than 90% of what other writers can put out and so I will still watch the show on occasion, but after The West Wing, Sports Night, The Social Network and even Studio 60, I'm disappointed by The Newsroom, especially after that powerhouse opening scene.

As for the scene itself, while the speech was great, it's going up against a bit of a strawman. Do American walk around all day assuming it as fact that the USA is the greatest country on Earth? Maybe it's because I live in a blue state, but I haven't seen the memo. Sure some jingoistic politicians talk about the US being a great country in between kissing babies, but is it really put forth in an intellectual capacity that needs refuting? I don't see it.

Anyway, defining "great" is really subjective. I'm sure some would define "great" as some combination of military strength and political influence, in which case the US certainly is the "greatest." There are other metrics also ignored by Jeff Daniels' character, such as scientific output and technological output that would probably also put the US on top. But again, that's all subjective and irrelevant anyway.

Originally posted by normbenign
I think America is in decline, but I don't have anywhere I'd rather live.

So you are saying that no matter where you live in this world you are screwed.

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
Ulster is occupied by the UK... Ireland has an Anglo Saxon boot on it's neck.

http://ulstersdoomed.blogspot.co.uk/2007/04/demographic-suicide.html

In Northern Ireland several generations ago Protestants were a clear majority. The religious breakdown of the elderly shows that they were in a majority at one time even in areas that are now considered 'green' – Cookstown District Council area now has a Catholic majority (57.6% ), which rises to around 62% amongst the children, yet amongst its elderly residents Catholics form only a minority, falling to 39.1% amongst the over-90s. Down District, currently 62% Catholic, has an even lower proportion of Catholics amongst its over-90s: 37.4%. Dungannon, Fermanagh, Limavady, Magherafelt, and Moyle all show the same phenomenon. Other areas show either a Catholic majority that is getting larger, or a Catholic minority that is getting larger (http://www.nicensus2001.gov.uk/ - look for table s305_dc_level.xls).

This tipping of the balance has not come about through immigration, but by higher birth-rates amongst Catholics than amongst Protestants. Until 1992 both religious groups had birth-rates that were over the replacement level, but the Catholic rate was so great that their share of the population gradually increased.

Recently, though, birth-rates have tended to reduce, mirroring those of the rest of Europe. The latest Total Period Fertility Rate statistics for Northern Ireland show an overall figure of 1.95 births per woman – well below the replacement level of 2.1. It would appear therefore, that Northern Ireland is committing demographic suicide.

But this overall conclusion masks some important variations in the TPFR at local level. In the 2005 Annual Report of the Registrar General, two areas with solid Catholic majorities (Newry and Mourne, and Dungannon) have TPFRs over the replacement level, and the solidly Protestant areas of Larne, Carrickfergus, Coleraine and North Down have TPFRs significantly lower than the average (1.85 for the period 2003-2005). In fact, of the 11 Catholic-majority areas, 8 have a TPFR above the average. Of the 13 Protestant-majority areas only 6 have an above-average TPFR. In Belfast and Armagh neither religion has a majority. Of the 8 'least-Catholic' districts only one – Ballymena – has a TPFR over the average.

...

In some 'Protestant' areas with an above-average TPFR, it is clear from the increasing Catholic proportion of the younger children (ages 0-4), that this is largely due to a higher fertility rate amongst the Catholic minority – in Ballymena, Ballymoney, Craigavon, Antrim and Lisburn the proportion of children who are Catholic is greater than the proportion of the parents who are Catholic.

So is Northern Ireland committing demographic suicide, or is it just Protestant 'Ulster'?

We don't need an army to deal with Ulster - we can use our willies to good effect.

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
Ulster is occupied by the UK... Ireland has an Anglo Saxon boot on it's neck.

The just released Northern Ireland census figures from 2011 show a remarkable and inexorable trend towards a Catholic majority by the next census in 2021.

The state once proudly proclaimed a “Protestant state for a Protestant people” has instead a looming Catholic majority with all that entails.

Those of Protestant background are now at 48 percent, less than a majority for the first time in the history of the North. Those who say they are Catholic measure 45 percent, while the remainder professes no religion. There are only 54,000 more Protestants than Catholics.

Those numbers have seen a dramatic increase in the Catholic population from the 53 percent Protestant, 43 Catholic split in the 2001 census.

The gap has closed from 10 points to just three and will surely disappear over the next decade. The speed of the change in demographic terms is like lightning.

In institutions such as Queen’s University in Belfast and third level teacher training colleges Catholics are now in the large majority. That trend will continue as the birth rate is now significantly higher among Catholics than Protestants.

Statistics from the North’s Department of Education for 2010/’11 showed 120,415 Protestants and 163,693 Catholics in schools, equating to 57.6 percent Catholic and 42.4 percent Protestant pupils.

Considering that the state started out in 1921 with a 66 percent to 33 percent Protestant majority, it has been a stunning demographic shift in 90 years.

For the first time in history there is no longer a Protestant majority of over 50 percent in the North. The impact of that reality will be very significant on its political future.

It does not guarantee a united Ireland, but it does likely guarantee a Catholic majority in a decade with all that implies.

Read more: http://www.irishcentral.com/news/future-catholic-majority-in-the-north-show-startling-demographic-shift-183408451-237553051.html#ixzz2xBvqrjWA
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The post that was quoted here has been removed

Is there a single person who would consider leaving the United States because they carry on drone strikes? We can pretend that it is a big issue but the truth is no one in the US cares.

Originally posted by finnegan
http://ulstersdoomed.blogspot.co.uk/2007/04/demographic-suicide.html

In Northern Ireland several generations ago Protestants were a clear majority. The religious breakdown of the elderly shows that they were in a majority at one time even in areas that are now considered 'green' – Cookstown District Council area now has a Catholic majority (57.6% ...[text shortened]... er'?

We don't need an army to deal with Ulster - we can use our willies to good effect.

Peasants usually outbreed their masters. To some extent this is because the dominant ethnic group uses the peasant women for sex before abandoning them when they get pregnant.