Most of my friends are atheists. However, most of those know nothing about any religion, and just call themselves atheists, because they
are conformists. A better name for them would probably be agnostics, but again, they don't know shit.
Doesn't sound too nice. I thought America was the place of hope, of dreams. Where people hurt by a nation can come and seek refuge, and begin a new life.
Wish it were still that way. Those of us who are unlucky enough to live here these days (though I'll be moving to England most likely in the next year or so) are living in Neo-Rome. The rich don't pay taxes, the poor can't, and the middle class is shrinking. Without a middle class to support it (since the middle class historically are the ones who pay for everything, since the richies can avoid it), it's only a matter of time before some crazy barbarians come marching in from somewhere and mow over us. Of course, like it was mentioned earlier, I'm pretty sure Dubbya and his cronies would be sure to fire off all of our world destroying missiles first.
I agree with the view on religion--though--I wish everyone would just cool it. Sure, it's great in times of crisis, but it's not really that great a thing if half the time it CAUSES the crisis (Hell, half the reason Dubbya is back in office is because of the damned abortion thing. That's a GREAT reason to elect a leader. Let's tell everyone what to do with their bodies. Personally, I wouldn't abort, but I've got no business telling someone else not to abort.)
I totally love how he's gotten away with so much crap too. ...bastard. I can't wait for history to look back on him. History has a great way of uncovering villains.
This is my current favorite Bush clip: http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/08/21/bush-says-iraq-had-%e2%80%98nothing%e2%80%99-to-do-with-911/#more-9744
Please, future generations. Please. Uncover the truth.
~~Ending rant~~
You think it's bad in America? In Australia, a land constantly made out to be the land of salvation, since it is so close to many countries caught up in Civil War/Political Tension, asylum laws are incredibly harsh! Maybe this should be in another thread, and this is pretty offtopic, but as usual, I don't care.
Most of the world's refugees are from the Middle East:
Well, what nationality of people does Australia usually accept?:
Phillip Ruddock sez "The increase in unauthorised boat arrivals to Australia in recent months has placed great pressure on the capacity of Australia to assist with resettlement of people in need overseas."
BUT...Courtesy of Illywhacker.net (which most of this info is coming; god bless you Andrew Solomon!):
Take
that Mr Phillip Ru-
dick! (had to be done, sorry) Of course, that is 2000. It get's worse though.
Many people aren't taken into Australia when they arrive. What happens is that they are detained on island detention centres, such as Naruu or Christmas Island. I think women and children aren't detained anymore, but they were before just recently. 9 Afghani people that seeked asylum were repatriated after 16 months back to Afghanistan, because they weren't thought to be true refugees, or that the risk wasn't real, even though they refugees said that them or their families would be killed on return. Well, that is what happened. They were either arrested, killed, or had their families killed. One Afghani's house was bombed by a grenade after four months of being there, and his two young children were killed. From the Sydney Morning Herald:
""My children died so that John Howard could win an election," Abdul is quoted as telling the Edmund Rice Centre, which has spent the past three years interviewing more than 80 rejected asylum seekers in 18 countries. It has released its findings to coincide with the Government's migration bill, which has divided the Coalition. The bill would ensure all asylum seekers landing on the mainland were processed offshore, out of reach of Australia's legal system.
Abdul, 31, whose surname cannot be released because he fears for his safety, now lives illegally in Pakistan. He told the researchers: "We got caught up in Australian politics. It was easy for the Australian Government after September 11 to say that the people fleeing from the Taliban were the Taliban.""
Well, that's my rant. Too bad there won't be much discussion, because there aren't many Australians here, and definetely none that support the Liberals.
