My answes to Kyle Rogers' racist tweet on 'Obama's children'

#tcot pic.twitter.com/Usx0rluZpd
My thinking is that this guy’s tweets are in the Asshat zone (period).
First of all I’d want to put him in proportion/perspective.
But rather than see his BS as proof of wider racism as a disease I’m inclined to examine why what is HIS motive.
If one looks at statistical distribution bell curves on any topic the most obvious feature is that the vast majority of people ( 66% approx) are within a bulls roar of the average (central “Standard Deviations”). Asshat ideas like Kyle’s actually relate to perhaps the far 15% of numnuttery.
15% of 330 million is a big number but it is still a minority… a noisy monkey poo throwing one but still a minority.
The key point of the distribution is where the average is.
And how many people who can be swayed to move to the same side of the the opinion as Kyle.
I’d point out that there are several types of racist . if one looks at his wider tweets a pattern appears (to me). I’m almost comfortable to suggest that it’s self serving (politically) motivated rather than racist per se i.e. if Obama was JUDGE Thomas ( a Republican)my bet is Kyle would be tweeting something about the Dems (socialist [sic]) policies. In reality he’s simply reaching to the bottom of cesspit to stir up the frightened rabble.
The second type of racist are are those who see being white as their identity in the similar ways as Twib’s Elon sees himself as Black a perfectly understandable position in either case. In the case of ‘rednecks’ ( the origins of which is red necked from working in the fields) given they have precious little else to distinguish them and their historic fear that poor blacks would deprive them of unskilled jobs it’s not surprising at all.
Let me illustrate the issue in terms of team sports like real FOOTball (Soccer .. a game where only feet are used, not mobile wrestling like gridiron ;-P) …… in truth I don’t like either. I choose this sport because i’s often a proxy for the same sort of identity bias/bigotry extremes as racism.
In Scotland two teams Celtic and Rangers are perfect examples . One nominally Catholic the other Protestants when they play police have to be vigilent and physically separate the two lots of supporters. The police have video surveillance outside the grounds to catch and exclude a minority of agitators. these thugs come ‘ tooled up’ with everything from iron bars, flares, mega phones to Cut throat razors… they mean lethal business..
Coincidentally there is a rough profile of them in that they are from deprived areas ( like Clyde side where the ship building industry collapsed , they are unemployed or have menial manual jobs . They are bitter and angry and actively look for someone to blame. Often fiercely Scottish as opposed to British and often White Supremacist (sound familiar?).
Going a little more afield if we examine say Polish fans when they play Germany the same extremist incendiary situation applies. The poles resent that they’re the poor cousins to the Germans because of their fate in and after WW2…. the German Thugs despise the Poles because they blame them for “stealing” their jobs by setting up cheap labor zones.
Occasionally there are in all examples a person who is sufficiently smart and articulate to be able to direct that unarticulated angst for their own benefit/ purpose. The end justifies the means. Kyle is one of the agitators I’d suggest that in all probability he is narcissistic , lacking in empathy and selfish.
Sadly USA has elevated this borderline sociopathic tendencies to desirable features to succeed in this objectifying capitalist (version 2.3) culture.
I guess my point is one must be certain one is diagnosing the correct problem before getting excited i.e. Kyle’s ‘racism’ is a symptom not necessarily the disease.
I accept to most black Americans the difference is moot but if one seeks a resolution cure well you see what I mean.

Will the church change its doctrine under the new pope or in todays droping numbers

As the illegitimate son of JC (the one he never speaks of. The bible, thousands of words and not a mention of me or others, talk about the unfairness of PR !) .... what do you think that being a god means one needs to be celibate? or 1000's of years between side nooky? Cripes! that's a bit ...well fundamentalist doncha think?

Well I mean all the other gods were involved in a lot of homo sapien female exploitation Odin, Thor, (Norse); Zeus um Hercules et al were at it like Aussie Pygmy Possums. you've heard of him but have you heard of Examinator half god extraordinaire? No! it's the attic for me and denial ....gees I feel like the man in the iron mask!

Then there's, the Hindus well, I mean turning into a buck deer so he could "perve" on a chick .... then he ejaculated in the water at her beauty! Then the gold digging bitch got pregnant ... welfare single teen age mom and all that .... yarder yarder... Ganesh . his wife does a hissy and well lops the kid's head off, as you do . he was saved by sicking on an elephant head instead ... an elephant head!... hey ask the elephant? No! ( did you know that's why the Indian elephant has two nostrils not one like the African with one ) You'd think they'd know that elephants are endangered species ! especially if their gonna go around beheading their illegitimate children then replace their heads with elephants ... Duh!...well you get the picture.

Nonsense aside, the above whimsical romp through comparative religions show a number of points as to why Voltaire wrote "if God didn't exist man would have to invent him"! For a number of reasons

Some people simply need the symmetry of the two column accounting system in life ( both sides must equal each other.) issue one side explanation the other... God is simply the (fudge) balancing factor. And others it supplies a sense identity, community and even importance particularly the otherwise dispossessed or marginalised (e.g. Jews , early Christians, Black slaves in America and even the poor poor whites of the south (called red necks the origin of which was so poor they couldn't afford slaves so they had to work in the fields so their neck were red [sunburn]... aint capitalist mores wunderful!). Hence religion becomes part of man made culture .

If one looks at humans nature from a biologic behavioural sense one can't but observe that they are very diverse in behaviour and intensities there of . Over all, despite their protestations ( for specialness) they are still fundamentally animals with all the hard wired instincts. In the human context it seems to me all that is different is the the different ways in which they express in themselves. One of their primary instincts is survival. One aspect of this I would argue is the variations of fight or flight reflex. Like us is good, known to us acceptable, not like us a threat. One other expression of the survival instinct drives *some * humans to explore, investigate etc. and the majority not. Even those who follow the explorers tend to make the new environments more like those they left...old techniques mind sets. i.e. The new world settler both sought to 'civilise' the natives. If there is a more problematical intention I've yet to find it. And they tried unsuccessfully tried to grow familiar crops . The first colony in Virginia was a monumental disaster and had it not been for the largess of the 'Indians'(sic) the puritans might have gone the same way. Given what followed it's arguable that it's a pity they didn't.

On a distribution curve of this expression of the instinct the explorers/investigators would be in the standard deviations furtherest the from the mean approximately 15% of the whole. Where as the staunchest non adventurous would be at the other extreme. In short it's part of the hard wiring fundamental to survival instinct of life.

At this point it's apposite to delve into where the ever increasing complexity comes from. We all know about genes etc but what is less commonly understood is that very few genes (I suspect none) actually has a sole purpose. e.g. A pure white cat / dog with blue eyes is invariably deaf . Hair color, hearing ? WT ?

If you want a gentle wolf /fox by selective breeding you get floppy ears (Russian studies over 30 years )

Also in evolution there is a function called convergent Evolution where two totally different animals from different Taxonomic families or above arrive at a similar solutions for similar problems albeit from slightly different pathways. Clearly the functioning of genes is far more complex than commonly thought .

Conditions in-vitro can also effect the expression of the genes of the offspring . In some species temperature defines gender. Hormone imbalances in the mother can cause a myriad of issues.

To add to further complexity to the mix the fathers actions years earlies can vary alter the expression of genes in unexpected ways a recent study shows that If a male smokes before puberty ( the sperm creation setting chemical setting period) it can have developmental (weight) impacts of the next two generations. i.e. If your grandpa smoked before puberty impact the way * your * genes express .... obesity. This is effect is called epigenetics.( http://www.epigeneticsandchromatin.com/)

You want more ? Well then we factor in the variation the impact of conditioning, environment thought broadly to account for up to 30-40 % of the end personality.

Much of what human behaviour is in fact explainable by various expressions of these instincts and their under lying genes et al in ways that are practical functional impossible to comprehend (predict, test or repeat) complexity of variables, options and combinations. The sheer number of binary options collectively give the impression in most minds to be analogue, as in a continuum of intensities as appears in statistical bell curve distributions. This is opposed to the reality that what is actually being measured is a progression specific binary one off observations (on or off) .

In essence the point that I'm making is that because of this ever increasing complexity it stands to reasonable deduction that there is so many variable and combinations to the ways those hard wired 'instincts' express themselves in the individual . It isn't that far from the truth to say than in a multiplicity of ways some small and others large we, in fact all creatures are truly individually one off.

There are two relevant corollary to the specifics of why god

The need for 'god' has little to do with intellect per se.

secondly to answer your comment the need is emotional ( and or conditioning) regardless of intellect or logical acceptance that god is pure mythology. This is why the biggest growth area for churches is the 3rd would. i.e. most Catholics and Episcopalians (C of E) are in Africa and South of the US .

The catholic Church is like all Corporations' first concern is it's own longevity and is a massive vector to personal ambitions and power.

See also the rise of cults.

There is a stark correlation between knowledge of reality and fervent need for the god effect.

Dawkins thinks and talks like a biologist rather that a neuro-psycologist or behaviourist, even an anthropologist. The problem with science today is best illustrated by AGW (and the inter specialist rivalry i.e. geologists are often the most vociferous critics) In truth most big issues need what is practically speaking impossible today. The old fashioned Polymath to draw all the specialities together to explain a whole picture in total perspective . But then again the ability to accept and comprehend what they hear is relative to the above discussed combinations.

Having established the reasons for god regardless of the empirical truth we are now in the position to offer a meaningful differentiation between the personal need of religion a the institutional churches . The latter being the focus of your question.

As stated previously it is inevitable that any institution/ corporation will become an entity in of its self and as such its primary purpose is to maintain its own existence. Aided and abetted by those who use the entity as a vector for personal power

It is only once they have milked the power Cow dry and unable to sustain its existence then then and only then they'll diversify/ morph the institution to nominally serve a different function. Probably a more conventional money making, while essentially remaining what they are organisations to create and maintain power. Perhaps under the guise of a welfare services conglomerate or banking et al. ( see the history of the knights of the Hospitallers ( St John Ambulance)/ knights Templar who after the crusades became an international banking organization which ultimately became perceived threat to the King of France. Simply raided them and effectively eliminated them ...for their wealth.)

The churches still have the not fully saturated/exploited 3^rd world .

Off topic The problem with the Republicans is that they haven't yet realised that, by analogy “they're still selling a the security/comfort ( of the well known) of wall phones (one solution many variations) but the fragmented markets, the public are demanding many different solutions to suit the multiplicity of interests.

Well you asked for it !

Sundry Posts on Fire arm control in the US

@Keyserling -  concerned about  Stephen King's booklet for fire arm control and if it'd lose him audience
I think you'll find that those who bother to read will tend to agree with him .
Correct me if I'm wrong but the number of firearms does not equal the number of people with firearms , the latter is very much lower.
Apart from that the number of actual fire arm owners does not equal those who have or obsessed with semi or automatic rifles and/or large ammunition clips.
In reality SK is arguing for CONTROL of Fire arms and the banning of semi and automatic rifles and large clips NOT the elimination of Fire arms per se . e.g. He has three pistols, and his firearms count for two other non firearm owning house holds. In truth some over cooked nutters own virtual armouries. Those that would take offence at his stance are definitely a minority. Apart from which I'd suggest World Wide more people would read his books anyway and his domestic stance would be moot.

@peternh -  was concerned that only 3% of  firearm murders were with semiautomatics
Ah but WHO are 3%?
THAT is the key issue.
I'll grant you that only a minority in the US care about gun violence per se (maybe 40%), but 20 innocent children and their teachers or innocent people at the movies THAT IS a different issue.

As an example and to show I'm not simply ANTI FIRE ARMS.

 I learn how to shoot about the time I started school. But interestingly I grew up. and recognised the difference between a NEED and a WANT.  I might want a semi automatic fire arm but do I need it for the activity I engage in.
PS I used to smoke a pipe and it gave me pleasure but then we had children and I asked the question is smoking worth the cost/consequences to me , our family or others?  I apply same reasoning having fire arms not correctly stored or used. 
I don't begrudge a person who shoots competitively or someone who uses a fire arm to control feral animals etc. But hunting (misnomer) ? their choice of course but killing for pleasure ? why seems decidedly psychologically suspect to me. And the risk to others unacceptable ...look at the number of legit weapons stolen and used to kill innocents and of course accidental shootings or domestic violence? Those numbers are far more significant. As are the consequences.
BTW Obama's plan includes mandating safe storage
I don't accept your myopic reasoning nor you Lamarkian sense of population control.
Cheers

@Atavism - Was Peirs Ackerman partisan in the debate with the firearm spokes person 

Piers is a performer an entertainer... a deep complete thinker of high moral character (hmmm. I 'm not so sure.)
The interview in fact any interview with Jones (? ) (eminately forgettable limited perspective individual) The type of individual who you'd find in football pub after his team lost. The Interview (?) was always going to be a "colourful" and it was.
Jones wasn't there to discuss anything merely to tell the audience in as brutal terms as possible why the majority of Americans shouldn't take away his means of pleasure and oh yes defence against the US government in it's march towards a liberal (read C21st Democracy) dictator ship.
Peirs merely pointed out the flaws in his argument i.e. a bunch of men with rifles are going to stop the worlds biggest most well equipped military how?.
Jones then proceeded to threaten civil war etc.
was Peirs partisan? not in my view.
Yes the 'spokesperson' was set up by his own extremist arrogance.
great TV abit like watching a re run of world championship wrestling. The outcome was never in doubt.
Personally that man shouldn't be allowed to speak in public on such issues he didn't do the cause any good.
his supporters had a rally Piers was anti the 2nd amendment! a total fiction . Piers got massive free publicity . I guess both sides got what they wanted.

@p4451d - you are generalising badly. not all firearm owners are either backwoodsie or male.
The truth is that the key issue here is the weapons manufacturers have a lot at stake ...If they were stopped from selling firearms to anyone except a US authority police , customs FBI etc their profit would plunge.
Imagine what would happen if there same manufacturers were excluded from selling to overseas ? i,e. gun dealers , war lords militias etc.
It is a natural part of the military manufacturing complex DNA that prohibiting them as a business from doing so is .....Un... American.
Look at the Tobacco industry's fight to continue selling their product with impunity.
US business in particular is well experienced in thwarting anything that may imping on their 'Right to be free to do as they want.
Look at their opposition to their EPA it's borderline frothing at the mouth.
NB the USA already has a department and 20+ laws to control firearms but the manufacturing industry have made the department a toothless tiger. Over time the GOP has inserted restrictive clauses in funding laws that ties the hands of the department.
i.e. they still don't have a permanent head; their shop reporting laws are unenforceable and the department officers all 200 of them can't visit a shop more than once in 2 years( in reality with 10s of thousands of shops its nearer 9 years between visits).
The data can't be centrally collected or collated across state lines.
Add to this many country communities rely on the Military Manufacturing Complex for jobs. Any congress member who jeopardises these jobs is courting political suicide. It is naive to think that the industry doesn't use this as a pressure point.
If one looks at the electoral districts that depend on the MMC for jobs they are predominately (strategically?) in marginal or GOP seats .

They don't have to. Many factories are 'strategically?' located in marginal or low income seats. The people see their jobs threatened .
Added to that the corporate spin heightens this fear and gives the workers etc someone to blame ...anyone not in favour of business and the 2nd amendment.

Steve,was concerned about the argument about a fire arm is just a tool and it's impact on the debate over all.

Hyperbole and sarcasm aside fire arms *are* just tools as he says.

They are useful for those people who raise live stock/ fowls but have a problem with feral animals.

Also when putting down large numbers of stock damaged beyond reasonable recovery from disasters famine, fire or even disease.Of that there is no doubt. That is clearly a NEED.(must have)

on the other side there are many who derive pleasure from target shooting/competition. That is a WANT.(desire ..emotional)

As for 'hunting' for pleasure. Killing some thing for no useful purpose is either a learned activity or something of concern to a psychiatrist particularly if it manifests as an obsession or a NEED!

There is NO SUBSTANTIVE SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE that Hunting is a primal instinct.

It is simply emotionalised spin confusing the primal need to survive with the methodology.(standard Conservative 'associative spin'.)

in all but the first case multiple shot fire arms are clearly superfluous/unnecessary to the task. I'd challenge anyone to demonstrate how any of the wants even hunting can't be done with a single shot then reload fire arm.

Having established the two different reasons and the appropriate fire arm for the task.

We then ask what is the problem we're trying to solve?

It is stated that 3% of firearm killings (murders) are with semi automatic firearms so why the fuss. The answer is WHO and HOW many are killed in each incident?

As I've said before I'd rather that there are NO MURDERS. However, in the real world there are. The question then becomes how do we reduce the number of the deaths of mass innocents? (the who and how many)

The remaining question is who are the people committing these mass killing etc. By and large they are people who psychologically shouldn't have access to fire arms period even if it's just a tool. by analogy who is at fault if a parent allows a child under the age of ten (the average age of spacial judgement) to have a chain saw or circular saw; Or under 16 the (average legal age of clear cognitive understanding of right or wrong... a minor) the above tools or drive a vehicle; on their own?

Or a mentally challenged or psychologically unstable child?

Well both are all just tools!

The answer is common sense is the person using the tool and the different degrees of deadliness of the same. A vehicle can easily kill more people at once than a circular or chainsaw (Texas excluded but that IS Texas everythung is diff'rent there)

One doesn't go and git a car licence then start driving 32-38 wheelers at 16. (“road trains”... powerful 18 wheelers with 3 dog trailers ...used for hauling stock in the Australian outback).

it would be a very rare child/very young adult (given that frontal cortex development(judgement area of the brain)isn't , on average fully mature until 24-26 YO who would actually be allowed to captain/fly a loaded Jumbo Jet.

Common sense on average dictates there people should have limited if not no access to firearms Period.

Likewise, the same logic that applies to vehicle licences the would be owner should have to PROVE they are appropriate to drive and have an appropriate firearm.

As with vehicles In most countries the vehicle MUST be registered and transfer duly reported.

Insurance insists that the vehicle is appropriately stored so why not firearms. If you have a history of dangerous behaviour you can be refused a licence. There is noting new there, no new principles.

So having established the clear logic we have to ask why the hostility?

Answer the firearm manufacturers are part of the Military Manufacturing Complex (MMC) and they are (Feral/Vulture) Capitalists who hold the notion that they have the RIGHT to make money anyway they can.

Why their support? Well Bears is right the manufacturers have sold the less mentally agile and therefore more prone to faux fear, the 'associative spin' equating their (manufacturer's assumed rights) with the firearm owners rights by twisting the intended meaning of the 2^nd amendment. Also by associating fire arms with defence personal and public.

They have been very successful in both this and neutering both the Department whose job it is to control firearm and the 20 or so laws that exist to that end. This they've done by corrupting the political system and by strategically placing their (MMC) factories in locations where they constitute a large local employment supplier. This in turn means the locals are more worried about their ass than some 'liberal idea of peace and love' . Finally which elected representative is going to be seen as voting for UNEMPLOYMENT in their electorate ...Oh yes there are reps who lobby for a factory and funds in their electorate .

All this leads me to the conclusion that playing Whack Em O with the the gun nuts and the manufacturers stooges is exactly what they want. If I was leading the firearm control I'd go for the 'head or heart shot' not the legs. The latter need more bullets for the kill and isn't as reliable as the head or heart shot.

Fire arms are just tools but most people are concerned about the tool at the other end.

Sigh the US firearms ARGUMENT

Folks the problem with this argument (and it is that) is that the conservatives (sic) are arguing by non existent extremes or absolutes.
e.g. I challenge ANY conservative to give me ANY right (sic) that is ABSOLUTE !
We all drive vehicles but we must comply with rules and be licensed and If I'm drunk high I'm not allowed to drive and what's more my right (sic) to drive can be taken from me.
As for freedom of speech that two is controlled e.g. if I were to write and publish a book that describes a incestuous relationship between Mary (the Mary and JC ) what are the bets I'd be allowed to sell it, even if it was attached to a good story and well written Hmmm?
We don't even have the right to die (euthanasia) much less help a suffering terminally ill loved one to. Yet the conservatives want the unrestricted right to bear arms and to kill someone who we think is up to no good
(Trayvon Martin come to mind.) with impunity no less... can anyone see the problem here.
 As for abortions same deal.
What the conservatives really mean is we want to impose our (inconsistent/ hypocritical) views on others who aren't like them. The same goes for wars of commercial interest (sorry self defence(sic) i.e. Iraq, Haiti et al) . It's been a long time since I left the seminary but I don't remember the Christian dictum that says 'love thy neighbor/enemy then kill them, appropriate their resources and ensure their poverty. But I digress.
In truth there are no absolute rights they are all modified by virtue of living in an ordered/ civilised society.
So let's stop with the BS about my rights to absolute anything and get real. Lets try to figure out the most appropriate place to draw the line (for the good of the country) .

Neither side is saying take ALL fire arms nor is any side saying no more vehicles so stop with the BS about slippery slope (domino effect the justifying argument for Vietnam). I've lived in Australia and only an ignorant fool would say it's a socialist country and the citizens don't have fire arms or 'hunters'. Absolute rubbish just certain 'types' of weapons the latter still exist. What's the difference between the need for semi automatic weapons and having a formula 1 race vehicle for my daily drive and at its optimum speed e.g brakes don't work properly until near full power. ...none Both are ridiculous in most citizen situations .
While we're on Australia let's revisit the stats in the article. What they don't show is how and what was collected they all use official stats. BUT the data collected doesn't differentiate between accidental shooting merely fire arm deaths nor does it go into who is shooting who ...(for example figures collected other than police or hospital stats) indicate that 80% of criminal murders are actually criminal against criminal. Likewise bystander deaths can be counted on one hand over the last 15 years. Drive by shooting deaths are rare and innocents from them rarer still!

What the bald stats don't show is that MASS shootings of INNOCENTS take your pick be it a theatre, school , McDonalds etc haven't happened since John Howard a “Liberal Party” PM (read essentially conservative side ...supposedly Republican lite) brought in the firearm control and buy back. (note the conservative American tactic of misappropriation of the term Liberal and how this excludes a whole set of language and options ).
In short it all depends on what you want to achieve ...Australia just wanted to preclude mass shooting of innocents and REDUCE the availability of weapons to those most likely to do harm. The drop in gun related suicides is a bonus. Whether it on it's own reduced suicides I DON'T KNOW. What I as a volunteer crisis intervention counsellor it does give time to activate appropriate help.

What WASN'T on the agenda was total weapons ban or to absolutely stop violence. Neither was/is ever going to happen by one magic bullet (excuse the pun) . Those are too complex.
My point as stated comes down to this: which would you (as a parent) rather hear in the news.
1. Young man goes nuts and stabs mother or
2. some young man has gone nuts at your child's school and killed perhaps 20 children end 8 adults?
BTW Australian schools don't have and don't need lock ins, metal detectors, or armed anything no need. These events are as rare as kangaroo rodeos. There hasn't been one yet.
Aust. has its problems violence murder et al but in 99% of the time having weapons wouldn't stop them AND the the real nasties i.e. mass shootings of innocents just is not a factor there.

Sports boycott of Sri lanka

While I applaud the people who Get excited and want to sports boycott Sri Lanka for it's horrific crimes at the end of  decades long civil war I'm a little more pragmatic these days.
I need to explain what I mean by that. In NO WAY can it be seen as indifference, acceptance or 'the blind eye'. There is no way I'll ever accept that their actions were anything less than Genocide of the worst kind and should be appalled.

I simply mean that there needs to be and end game beyond the tactic i.e. what is it beyond the banning of sporting ties are you trying to achieve?
Taking Sri Lanka victors to the HAIG ? to what end? Cumbs, the those behind the Killing fields in Cambodia, SA apartheid hardly got touched. The estimated 4-6 million in Indonesia when Sukarno took over and the Suharto regime's are the stuff of definitions of hell on earth.... East Timor being classic yet in all cases the villains have prospered and even some military are still doing the same again in West Papua . Neither does this litany of man's inhumanity to man and corporate acquiescence, participation or tacit culpability in any way ooze out of the primordial slime of obscenity.

Notwithstanding no amount of vengeance/ justice et al is going to reverse a single death. I posit that unless there is an end game (i.e. a greater good) stirring up sectarian, ethnic, religious hostilities is counter productive to ALL Sri Lankans that struggle to survive TODAY. Esoteric(western sensibilities ) Principal is a luxury many can't afford. Keep in mind that South African poverty by and large while Truly awful isn't as appalling dangerous and severe as in Sri Lanka.



In all of this the Tamil tigers weren't exactly paragons of virtue either, their crimes against innocent people even their own were equally despicable. So where do we draw the line on prosecutable (revenge) atrocities? IMHO that is both a pit of quicksand and vipers after all people will be people regardless of an agreement on paper.

And don't forget the Apartheid was still happening and condemnation was at the national level global ... if not entirely corporately... different circumstances (world) and most importantly the boycott had a Practical END game.
To me the real effort should go into making it know to Sri Lanka we are aware of the killings and work towards it never happening again.

I'm sure if you asked the surviving Tamils if they preferred ' justice' and the probable violence and instability push back by those with something to lose OR (albeit slow and spasmodic) improving conditions now on the answer would be a no brainer.

Keep in mind human nature, i.e.  many prefer a harsh stability to Chaos and instability.
It is too easy for us in our assumed arrogance comfort expansive lifestyles to philosophise and project them on the mass peasants whose primary goal is immediate survival.

A Chinese Modern leader once wisely said "with 1 billion poor starving peasants we can't afford western democracy (consumerist excess consumption) ....first feed them " .
Likewise that same leader when berated by the US prez for not letting his people leave China he quipped "ok how many million do you want"
Be careful what you wish for the consequence may not be that palatable.

To drone or not to drone and why?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDErbA_rsgM&feature=player_embedded

To me this whole topic reads like a latter day Federico Fellini version of Machiavelli's 'The Prince' gone wrong.

It is clear to see why Obama has taken this line ....simply put it stops or slows the secret pictures of returning US military coffins. So unpopular with Joe and Joan Average and let's not forget it robs the rabid peace-niks from their effective focal point. The USA is between a rock and a hard place largely of its own making

National Pride is based on a palpable lie. That of the 1940's mentality, to be the biggest power in the world all they need is the biggest military to back expansionist grab of world resources. Which in turn makes them the largest economy which allows them the best living standard and the biggest military. With being the biggest the corporatist golden rule applies i.e. "he who has the gold rules!" and that means making the rules to suit that end, political expedience, obfuscation, hair spitting , deception, if all else fails claim exceptionalism. After all who is going to object to the largest military force?

A truism of power nothing bring a disparate group together better than a common enemy. First it was communism now ....well terrorism. Pity about morality, equity and democracy that must be curbed for Security . This of course ignores the wise words " those who sacrifice freedoms for security invariably end's up with neither". Sadly 911 and the ensuing quicksand wars clearly illustrate that.

The problem is that the US military war machine is designed to fight massed battle field wars (so 1940's) . the only thing they learned from Vietnam was the 1933+ Nazi propaganda conditioning of it's public.

As they say 'after a common enemy nothing else motivates better than self interest'.

The USA has enjoyed the fruits of their hegemonic empire and been conditioned by its media which is little short of but marginally more sophisticated than Herr Goebels.

It should be of no surprise that this propaganda conditioning is a consequence of Corporate MSM desire for the profit and its invariable route pandering to the emotions and comfort of the masses rather than objectively showing the public an accurate reflection of it's self rather than deliberate conspiratorial intent. That came with the political system that has been bought by those with the most to lose at the hands of change.

The public now believe beyond almost any level of serious doubt that the health of their depends on the success of their corporation influenced government ergo their 'lifestyle' (to me an [dis]honorary four letter word). As the FIRST, most important, 'exceptional' nation.

Under this conditioning they are Right (justified) in all they do to protect that status. It is so entrenched into the average American psyche arguing with them by presenting reality the facts simply makes one an undesirable and if severely enough believed the dissenter becomes a target for the myriad of Alphabet soup of 'security organisations' and maybe on some matrix. Ergo drone attacks.

The nearest analogy is a version of the way the Japanese are (not) dealing with their WW2 atrocities in as much the core of the USA citizens never really hear objective reporting nor will they accept their compliance if not culpability for the list of atrocities done in their names.

What isn't discussed in this video is that because of USA's exceptionism (i.e. it have veto in the UN it doesn't accept the international court and it is the biggest military) who at the end of the day is going to enforce any adverse findings?

One should never forget “world pressure ?” is unlikely to achieve the significant changes in the core of the US voters to make any realistic changes in their foreign policy or the protectionism of their perceived rights to that exceptionalism. Objectively one only needs to consider the USSR (the only other mega power).

Contrary to US dogma it wasn't the skill of Reagan that caused its demise ...in reality it collapsed under its own weight of military expenditure and administrative sclerosis.

I detect the same sclerotic cracks forming in the US monolith. One only needs to look at its budget, its mounting military related cost cracks ( the drones are the other reason for their escalated deployment and proliferation) . Mankind being the perverse inventive entity it is one can or should sensibly ask how soon before there is anti drone technology …. (anti drone drones?) Micro electronic technology being what what it is, all those qualified computer/technologists that are un or under- employed in “the non US GOVERNMENT friendly nations” and with Moore's law firmly in mind, not that long. Of course how long before crude versions are cobbled together by the disaffected are brought into play?

The question is how many unnecessary deaths will there be before the crash or some conditioned terrified set of nut bags cause the unthinkable ...keep also in mind many's the wars that have been started by simply ramping up the tension to the point a seemingly unimportant spark sets off a set of catastrophic consequences. And no I'm not going all escalogical ….just emphasising the the point that unnecessary mass deaths are a catastrophic for many someones, beyond the actually killed ...i.e. if one of your children is caught in the cross fire how sure are you that you'd be all that philosophic. Based on the response to 911 I'd have to say the statistical probabilities are very low. Now imagine if tens of thousands/ hundreds of thousands are killed consider the exponential effects. The west has already killed hundreds of thousands it is naïve to think that 'the others' are all going to say “oh well the wars over so lets kiss and make up” without the afore mentioned motivator self interest.

The video told us that stopping this back lash is too hard. What it is is ego deflating nothing more. The problems are solvable but thus far the US shows no interest in wanting to do That.

I have many  pragmatic concerns with the 'one state' solution every being anything other than the formalisation of Israel's  ethnic cleansing of greater Palestine/Israel.

Three  key musings come to mind.

1. Israel's continued existence in 'its current form' (read bulwark against Arab (sic) regionalism) is almost exclusively, by the USA in that it 'suits' * Their perceived* national interests i.e. a non dominated Muslim state in the Middle East. If this weren't so they wouldn't insist on being a party (3rd wheel) to any peace plan etc. As opposed letting Israel and Palestine (2 parties) as equal partners say with a Non aligned moderator.

The US fears a 'Muslim' Cuba so to speak, that is a Muslim influenced state( read a platform for Arab regionalism ) that might jeopardise their control (Commercial ?) over Middle Eastern OIL.

One should note here that the US has a long standing record of supporting Tyrannical regimes regardless of their religion so long as they can control the Tyrants that control the population. You pick the country from Central America, as much of Europe they can get away with, Asia generally (including Indonesia... west Papua), Middle East and even Africa. The common factor in all of these countries is their ( largely Commercial) interests. [ Specifics by request].

One should not forget three important points

1. Not all of which are 'Arab' states e.g. Iran is Persian and has a different underpinning culture and drives. Not all Muslims march to the same drum either religiously or in interests. The same as not not all “Christian” countries are the same.
2. That there is external non US forces playing Proxy games with Palestine, It is *these forces * that concern the US . This is by all regards a faux fear in that even if Iran had Nuclear bomb capability it doesn't really represent any existential threat as any aggressive attack would mean the total annihilation of Iran while the US would survive largely in tact. What it does mean is that the US simply won't be able to attack it at will.
3. It seems self evident that what Israel may want to do is largely irrelevant. The US will be the ultimate Authority to which Israel will ultimately accede. It has no choice, If it doesn't, one only needs to look at what happened to NZ when it insisted on knowing if US visiting naval ships visiting their ports  were Nuke armed. It's interesting to note that the US ignored the ANZUS treaty and refused to share 'intelligence', a clear misnomer (spin) read spying details. One can reasonably argue that the US doesn't display too much of that with regards to Non Americans. 
   Israel would not survive without US support and the US both knows this and WILL use that against them. As one of the US founding fathers aptly put it "any one who relinquishes freedom for security invariably gets neither'.
1. Subsequently, the 'one state' debate is largely both a distraction to the *main * stumbling block to a permanent solution ( changing the US' hard opposition to a Non Christian  aligned state.), one that gives hope for self determination and some modicum of Justice .
2. From a negotiating point this whole debate puts the Palestinians in a weaker negotiating position. Effectively made the first part of the Zionist/US for the elimination of the Palestinian as a self determined identity. The option (right or left) they will choose would be . And once it becomes official then the matter is an internal one and will be orders of magnitude harder to change. (they'll argue “ they (the Palestinians) negotiated this conclusion and we Israel (right wing version) have the right to seek out and deal with “internal dissenters”... any guesses what will constitute an “internal dissenter?

Rule 1. of negotiation Don't make a concession without getting an equivalent concession in return. Frankly the elimination of the two state option is a 'Huge' bargaining chip to give it away/ taken away before the negotiation begins.