Turkey, Izmir, Car Bomb, 40 ISIS Terrorists arrested

[robert sailor]

Originally Posted by boatman61

This really gets me..
I've been labelled a Racist, a Bigot, anti Islamic, anti Christian.. Yada, Yada, Yada.. and anti American is not the first time
Someone in a Devon Pub accused me of that coz I said Disney World was Wank..
That's the trouble with Politiccal Correctness and so called Liberalism..
If you don't agree with us your the enemy.. Sheesh.
I really don't care what folks consider me really..
I know I'm none of the above and so do those who know me, including quite a few Americans.
Now back to Devils Advocate.. depends on how you rate/quantify Undefeated..

Looking at those pictures of helicopters getting the last people out and the panic it's a bit of a stretch to think that the USA won the Vietnam War. Very nice people though, we have many wonderful American friends, world's greatest hosts in our opinion but a Government and business that just seem to need constant wars.

[knot smart]

Originally Posted by varkpilot

Interesting. I wouldn't have thought you were anti-American, Boatman. No matter. It certainly is your right to feel that way. I've been vocally and militarily supporting America much of my adult life and haven't been arrested, beaten up or killed yet. We had the advantage of being physically separated from most of the world in our early history and I believe that helped a lot. Religious nutters do exist here, as do myriad other forms of nutters. Most Americans ignore them as best we can and go on down the road. I also agree with the tax situation here. Definitely needs reforming as it's unfair. About the best you can say for it is that we're not paying 50% or more. Yet. I think most of us just want to be left in peace. For some reason the rest of the world seems to object to that. Guess that's why we have an undefeated military able to deal with them all. Cheers!

Just my 2 cents.. but I don't think boatman is being anti-american.. I say he's calling it like it is.. I guess you don't remember several years back when world leaders met in Seattle to discuss global development. No one wanted all the protesters so they disbursed the crowd with gas and rubber bullets..

And I would argue we pay way north of 50% taxes.. sure , federal income tax is 20-30% but then you have state tax and then what I call back door taxes..tolls, gas taxes, ect

I always revert back to what an older military friend that was sitting in the mud in the early 70's said.." our system of government sucks..but it's the best thing out there"

[knot smart]

if your interested

https://www.britannica.com/event/Sea...otests-of-1999

in this country we have free speech .. until we dont ..

but hey, look on the bright side, here you just get pepper sprayed, shot in the thigh with a rubber bullet and a night in jail and a few thousand $$ in fines. At least you dont get thrown in prison for years and years

[darylat8750]

" Most American for exemple, are armed and ready to 'defend' against their neibors(for some states, it is a mandatory to be armed!), But we are all scared to death by terrorists although they kill much less then the 'normal' killing in the street, of America for exemple. Altough being killed by a local thug or by a terrorist live victims equally dead, and one wonder if it make a difference for the victims."

In what states is it mandatory to be armed? Do you mean required by law?!?

[varkpilot]

Originally Posted by boatman61

This really gets me..
I've been labelled a Racist, a Bigot, anti Islamic, anti Christian.. Yada, Yada, Yada.. and anti American is not the first time
Someone in a Devon Pub accused me of that coz I said Disney World was Wank..
That's the trouble with Political Correctness and so called Liberalism..
If you don't agree with us your the enemy.. Sheesh.
I really don't care what folks consider me really..
I know I'm none of the above and so do those who know me, including quite a few Americans.
Now back to Devils Advocate.. depends on how you rate/quantify Undefeated..

Okay. My apologies. I misunderstood what you posted. Not the first time I've done that, for sure. When I can't hear a man's tone of voice or see his eyes, it's difficult to understand sometimes.


LOL! Alright, Mr. Devil's Advocate. We've never lost a war. And yes, I flew combat in Vietnam (and other places). The NVA nor Charlie defeated us: Nixon chickened out and ordered us to leave. Cowardly bustard couldn't take the political pressure at home. Nixon was all about Nixon.


Portugal? What's in Portugal? How can I visit you when I've only got a 350 gallon fuel tank on my Commander? Even at displacement speed, that's only about 500 miles. Nuts! Guess I could fit another tank somewhere. Oh, well. Maybe one of these days.

[varkpilot]

Originally Posted by knot smart

Just my 2 cents.. but I don't think boatman is being anti-american.. I say he's calling it like it is.. I guess you don't remember several years back when world leaders met in Seattle to discuss global development. No one wanted all the protesters so they disbursed the crowd with gas and rubber bullets..

And I would argue we pay way north of 50% taxes.. sure , federal income tax is 20-30% but then you have state tax and then what I call back door taxes..tolls, gas taxes, ect

I always revert back to what an older military friend that was sitting in the mud in the early 70's said.." our system of government sucks..but it's the best thing out there"

Yeah, boatman corrected me. I was glad to know I was wrong. And yes, I remember it well. I also remember Kent State. The bullets weren't rubber that day. There have been far too many incidents of that nature. As for the 50% thing, I was just referring to federal income tax. All those other taxes point a clear path to 1776.

[boatman61]

Nothing to apologise for Varkpilot..
Was just playing for dramatic effect..

[Elie]

Warkpilot wrote: 'About the best you can say for it is that we're not paying 50% or more. Yet. I think most of us just want to be left in peace. For some reason the rest of the world seems to object to that. Guess that's why we have an undefeated military able to deal with them all. Cheers!
varkpilot is online now Report Post '
Taxes are not the only one that shows on your pay slip, and there is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. And taxes are a good way to make a society more just. I read somewhere the total of unseen taxes paid by Americans: College fees,heath insurances and health care, in hospitals and medecine costs, vacations(lack of), and many others
like property taxes, etc. Taxes are a way to redistribute richess and reduce inequalities between the have and the have not. In many countries, in fact all Europeans countries, Canada, NewZealand, Australia, Japan just to name a few, use taxes as a mean to make their society more humane, and respectfull of the dignity of every body. The American average per capita income is the the best of the world, but Amercia has the highest social unrest, crime, prison inmates, and poor. Life expectancy strangely enough is descending when it is increasing every where else in developped countries. Yes you have some sort of social redistribution, but via food stamps that I think backward and most be humiliating for the have not. Maybe by putting 60% of the federal budget on defense(do you realy believe that you won Vietnam War, or Irak?) , and have such low income taxe has to do with it. I love American, nice and people, rich country,full of good ideas, the world owe you so much, but your 'democraty' need to be seriously overhauled, in my humble opinion.

[darylat8750]

Originally Posted by yeloya

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_F...rport_shooting


It seems that carrying guns doesn't help either.. 5 people shot dead in Fort Lauderdale.
Probably, nothing to do with ISIL but does it really matter ?


Yeloya

In spite of Ellie saying that "most Americans carry guns" in Texas about 5% of the adult population regularly carry. I don't have hard numbers on other states but my best guess is that Alaska may be a little higher than that and Wyoming is likely in that range also. I highly doubt that other states are nearly that high. 5% leaves an awful lot of the population unarmed to deal with a crazy.

[varkpilot]

Originally Posted by darylat8750

In spite of Ellie saying that "most Americans carry guns" in Texas about 5% of the adult population regularly carry. I don't have hard numbers on other states but my best guess is that Alaska may be a little higher than that and Wyoming is likely in that range also. I highly doubt that other states are nearly that high. 5% leaves an awful lot of the population unarmed to deal with a crazy.

I live in Texas. It's been home most of my life. Haven't always been here, but it's home. 5% sounds like the number that are licensed to carry. The number who have a pistol or long gun in their vehicle is probably much closer to 20%, if not higher. And the number of homes that have a firearm in them is probably more like 70 to 80%. Such would be my guess, anyway. Part of going to visit someone often includes the showing off of one's weapons. Welcome to Texas. I fired my first weapon at the ripe old age of 3, under my grandfather's tutelage. It's just part of life here. That first rifle was a .22 caliber. The biggest ever was a 20 mm Vulcan cannon in the fighters I flew in the Air Force. I can't really say much about the other states, since I've never paid much attention to their way of doing things. One of the common things said about our state is, "Don't mess with Texas". That's not really a joke.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by varkpilot

I live in Texas. It's been home most of my life. Haven't always been here, but it's home. 5% sounds like the number that are licensed to carry. The number who have a pistol or long gun in their vehicle is probably much closer to 20%, if not higher. And the number of homes that have a firearm in them is probably more like 70 to 80%. Such would be my guess, anyway. Part of going to visit someone often includes the showing off of one's weapons. Welcome to Texas. I fired my first weapon at the ripe old age of 3, under my grandfather's tutelage. It's just part of life here. That first rifle was a .22 caliber. The biggest ever was a 20 mm Vulcan cannon in the fighters I flew in the Air Force. I can't really say much about the other states, since I've never paid much attention to their way of doing things. One of the common things said about our state is, "Don't mess with Texas". That's not really a joke.

Mine was a double barrel 12bore at 7.. knocked me on my ass..

[meatservo]

I have some trigger time on a 20 mike mike as well as 2.75 inch rockets, and TOW missiles, great fun...



meatservo

[varkpilot]

Originally Posted by Elie

Warkpilot wrote: 'About the best you can say for it is that we're not paying 50% or more. Yet. I think most of us just want to be left in peace. For some reason the rest of the world seems to object to that. Guess that's why we have an undefeated military able to deal with them all. Cheers!
varkpilot is online now Report Post '
Taxes are not the only one that shows on your pay slip, and there is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. And taxes are a good way to make a society more just. I read somewhere the total of unseen taxes paid by Americans: College fees,heath insurances and health care, in hospitals and medecine costs, vacations(lack of), and many others
like property taxes, etc. Taxes are a way to redistribute richess and reduce inequalities between the have and the have not. In many countries, in fact all Europeans countries, Canada, NewZealand, Australia, Japan just to name a few, use taxes as a mean to make their society more humane, and respectfull of the dignity of every body. The American average per capita income is the the best of the world, but Amercia has the highest social unrest, crime, prison inmates, and poor. Life expectancy strangely enough is descending when it is increasing every where else in developped countries. Yes you have some sort of social redistribution, but via food stamps that I think backward and most be humiliating for the have not. Maybe by putting 60% of the federal budget on defense(do you realy believe that you won Vietnam War, or Irak?) , and have such low income taxe has to do with it. I love American, nice and people, rich country,full of good ideas, the world owe you so much, but your 'democraty' need to be seriously overhauled, in my humble opinion.

Agreed. If the free lunch exists anywhere, I've never found it. We'll have to agree to disagree about the "unseen" taxes, though. I think all they do is enrich governments and cause the average citizen to have less disposable income. The rich don't much care one way or the other. This business of wars - places like Vietnam and Iraq don't really count in win-lose tables because they were not Declared Wars. Our last declared war was WWII. All those since have been what came to be known as brush fire wars. Even more often, they at least began life as black operations. People are just as dead, but they don't make the tables. I traveled the world for 27 years in the military. I saw American tourists everywhere. I also saw the way a lot of them act. If it weren't for our money, those counties wouldn't let us in for any reason. Our "democracy" needs to be overhauled? You are absolutely right. We need to fire the government and start over. Not just the elective offices, either. They need to take their bureaucrats with them when they go. Such is my opinion.

[varkpilot]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Mine was a double barrel 12bore at 7.. knocked me on my ass..

For sure!!! Granddad left me his old long-Tim single barrel 12 ga. MAN, that thing could kick. My hide was tough as a barn door, but 5 rounds through that 12 left bruises for a week.

[varkpilot]

Originally Posted by meatservo

I have some trigger time on a 20 mike mike as well as 2.75 inch rockets, and TOW missiles, great fun...
meatservo

Sounds like the Army. Our 20 mm was the 6,000 rounds per minute version. Felt like a giant grabbed your wings when you fired the thing. Rockets and missiles for us were all under the wings, so really didn't feel anything but a bump when they released. Made a mess on the other end, though.