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Gender Roles
At least in the United States, gender roles and separation are defined from birth - pink for girls, blue for boys. As they get older, boys are encouraged to play in the dirt and with trucks while girls are encouraged to play with dolls or play-kitchens. As you know, society's views are strong even as we get older - a…
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Top Tax Bracket in the 50's was 90%, yet US prospered
"How did the US prosper in the 50's when the top tax bracket was 90%? According to fiscal conservatives today, there is absolutely no way the country should have been able to survive." Saw this striking question this morning and immediately wondered what you think. :noway: I started my life in the 50's but technically grew…
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Direct TV and Viacom
How do you feel about it? Who should back down and suck it up. Viacom is locked in a tense standoff with DirecTV, whose 20 million nationwide customers have been cut off from Viacom programming since last Tuesday, when the companies' seven-year contract expired. The two sides are battling over the hefty increase Viacom is…
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One language in the US
Saw this on a friend's Facebook status today. Now never mind the whole "under God" issue, since of course that was added well after the original Pledge was written to perpetuate the Red Scare. Or that the Pledge did not come about when this nation was founded. (And I'm sure it would irk her even more that it was written by…
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The line for the wall starts right behind her......
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-romney-hamptons-fundraiser-20120708,0,4909639.story This is only tangentially related to the Mitt Romney campaign--it just so happened that the quote was made at one of his fundraisers. So I am not really bringing this up in the context of the 2012 election. I'll just let her…
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HOA's
Love'em, Hate'em or both. I am trying to buy a house and the one I put an offer in on has an HOA it's only $41 dollars a month so that makes me think it isn't a very strict one. My dad HATES HOA's and has only had problems with them but I have also noticed rusty garbage and high grass in some of the neighborhoods without…
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Forcing Your Child to be Vegan/Vegetarian.
My question is, would you let your child choose? Or force them into eating how you eat? Is it too much to make seperate meals? Or is it worth it to let your child feel in control?
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Standardization for emoticon direction, discuss
I don't know that this is really a debate, but every time I see (: instead of :) I get thrown for a loop for a split second. Apparently cultural variation is not limited to phoneme and morpheme choices.
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Concentration camp diets?
I figure when half of your family is killed in one, you get to start this topic. :) Occasionally on the boards, you'll hear someone complain that people are trying to lose weight by eating concentration camp rations. Is this a legitimate point, or is just being said for the shock value?
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Who is the smallest government spender since Eisenhower?
Would You Believe It's Barack Obama? From Forbes and Marketwatch: It’s enough to make even the most ardent Obama cynic scratch his head in confusion. Amidst all the cries of Barack Obama being the most prolific big government spender the nation has ever suffered, Marketwatch is reporting that our president has actually…
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Farm subsidy reform
What are your thoughts on farm subsidies in 2012? Many go to wealthy agribusinesses who grow, or agree NOT to grow, a handful of selected crops like corn, wheat, soybeans, cotton and rice. Fruit and vegetable farmers are mostly exempt from these subsidies. Interesting article on this subject:…
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Obamacare
SCOTUS is supposed to announce their decision on Obamacare tomorrow. Since this topic is all hot and fresh, let's go over it, shall we? Thoughts? My hope is that the individual mandate will be deemed to be unconstitutional, which I believe it is, and the entire law will be gutted. I dislike the way student loans were ever…
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What are the odds
...that either candidate will do anything to change your mind about your vote at this point? This comes with a mini rant that's aimed at the election season in general and not so much at this debate group; I thought it would be important to preface that. I've never been savvy enough to really make predictions about…
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How many slaves work for you?
Take the survey at http://slaveryfootprint.org/my-footprint and then report your findings here (takes about 10 to 15 min).. How do you feel about that? Will you be inclined to take any action to decrease or. . .heaven forbid, increase. . .that number and, if so, what? My slavery score is 50! And that's after I've nearly…
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Why is Scientology kookier than the Catholic church?
Suri it can't be true, TomKat is no more. And one of the speculated reasons is that Katie would prefer her daughter raised as a Catholic rather than a Scientologist. Why would Catholicism be preferable to Scientology?
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Catch phrases that make sense until you think about them
"We can't do XY or Z for American workers because we have to compete in the global economy." Wait, really? We want to compete with countries that allow child labor and unsafe working conditions? We want to compete with countries where workers are assassinated for trying to organize and where parents can't afford to send…
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How do Conservatives View Justice Roberts?
He has now voted with the "liberal" wing of the court twice in a row on high profile cases. Is he another seemingly conservative pick gone awry?
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What's your nightmare dystopia?
Last night I read about a virus that alters the brains of rats, causing them to lose their fear of cats and instead stimulating sexual arousal when they smell cat urine. I also now have this hideous image of a rat in lingerie prancing up to a cat! The virus also possibly causes behavioral alterations in humans (raising the…
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Did This Dad Go Too Far?
(CNN) -- A Texas father caught a man sexually assaulting his 4-year-old daughter and punched him in the head repeatedly, killing him, authorities said. The father was casually acquainted with the alleged abuser, said Lavaca County Sheriff Micah Harmon. Neither has been publicly identified. The girl was left inside the…
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America not the greatest nation anymore.
I'm leaving for the weekend, but before I go, I'll leave you with this video. What do you think. Is he right? I think he is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88XP4fAyV6o&feature=youtu.be
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Veterans as "Heroes"
Over the weekend, Chris Hayes from MSNBC said that he felt uncomfortable calling classifying all veterans and "heroes." http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0512/76799.html Of course, he has since made the token apology. I disagree with him, I think volunteering for military service given the possible consequences his a…
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Strongest Woman Weightlifter in US Lives in Poverty
http://www.buzzfeed.com/jtes/the-strongest-woman-in-america-lives-in-poverty What do you guys think?
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What should be done to these kids?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/20/greece-school-district-bullied-footage-causes-outrage_n_1612925.html I am leaving for the weekend, but watch this vid and think about it. This literally made me sick to my stomach and if I had witnessed this, I think I would of slapped the **** out of these kids.
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And Obama Drops the Bomb!
Obama administration stops deporting young immigrants Washington (CNN) -- The Obama administration said Friday it will stop deporting young illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States as children if they meet certain requirements. The election-year policy change will cover people younger than 30 who came to…
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Thank you so much for the invite!
:drinker:
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4th of July Fireworks in Colorado - Dumb and Dumber???
As might be expected, many Colorado towns cancelled their municipal 4th of July fireworks, including Boulder, Castle Rock and Colorado Springs. With evacuations across the Front Range in effect and tens of thousands of people out of their homes, my question is why is my city still planning to hold their public fireworks…
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Voter ID laws
Should voters b required to show valid id?
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Tax Exemption for Religious Organizations
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/story/2012-06-15/religious-tax-exemption-challenged/55629908/1 Here are some excerpts from the above: How much money does the U.S. government forgo by not taxing religious institutions? According to a University of Tampa professor, perhaps as much as $71 billion a year. Ryan Cragun, an…
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Fast and Furious Scandal
Ok, there are some pretty smart people on here as well as skilled debators. So someone please help me to understand why this is such a huge scandal and why Holder is the focus. Explain it to me like a 5 year old ;-) (who gets the reference?) I know there are political motivations, but still there is usually is some meat…
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Fed by force
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9334118/Anorexic-medical-student-should-be-fed-against-her-will-judge-rules.html A judge in London decided that a medical student who is suffering from anorexia should be force fed. The girl already made arrangements with a hospital for when she dies, but the judge wants to…
