The Political Discussion Thread

[Falcon Horus]

Barcodes did not exist in WW II

The numbers did (stripes too but not like that). They were registration numbers, like our national identification numbers. Oh, but wait... Americans don't have an ID-card, but they do have a social security number.

Or don't they? Or how are citizens registered?

[pookey]

Barcode on back of head, like Hitman

[Annoyed]

The numbers did (stripes too but not like that). They were registration numbers, like our national identification numbers. Oh, but wait... Americans don't have an ID-card, but they do have a social security number.

Or don't they? Or how are citizens registered?

As a strictly legal question, I do not think it is a legal requirement to have a social security number, so strictly speaking there is no required national identification document. But as a practical matter, you pretty much have to have one because they are required for tax reasons, employment, and so on.

[Falcon Horus]

As a strictly legal question, I do not think it is a legal requirement to have a social security number, so strictly speaking there is no required national identification document. But as a practical matter, you pretty much have to have one because they are required for tax reasons, employment, and so on.

I see.
Thank you.

[Coco Pops]

As a strictly legal question, I do not think it is a legal requirement to have a social security number, so strictly speaking there is no required national identification document. But as a practical matter, you pretty much have to have one because they are required for tax reasons, employment, and so on.

So by stealth kind of you all have an ID number if you want to be part of society. I'd call that sneaky


BTW I have just caught up on this Brexit thing. Is the UK going bonkers?

[Falcon Horus]

So Israel, what's your excuse this time?

A faulty watering system?

Ramadan 2016: Israel 'cuts off water supply to West Bank' during Muslim holy month
Source: independent.co.uk
Redirected from: "Israël zet tienduizenden Palestijnen zonder water tijdens ramadan"
Source: demorgen.be

BTW I have just caught up on this Brexit thing. Is the UK going bonkers?

We'll see on the 23rd of June how bonkers.

[Annoyed]

So by stealth kind of you all have an ID number if you want to be part of society. I'd call that sneaky

The US government has a very long history of doing things it is not allowed to do via backdoor methods.
Our Constitution sets clearly defined limits upon federal power. But people who enter government service have a hankering to control people. And they find the constitutional limits placed upon them chafing. So they use other means, such as the power of the purse to dictate to the states in matters where they have no direct legal authority.

A good example is highways. The Constitution forbids the feds from regulating traffic within a state; travel from one point to another within a single state is strictly an issue for the state. So things like a national 55 MPH speed limit cannot be legislated at the federal level.

But, it is legal to use federal funds to blackmail the states to do their bidding. "Set your state speed limit at 55, or we cut off all federal funding." And the states have to comply or go bankrupt. (The states can't just "print more money" if they need to spend more like the fed does, nor can they legally run a deficit; the states must have balanced budgets).

The same situation exists with education, which is also a matter reserved to the states. But the fed simply says do this, or we cut your funding. That's how they are foisting "common core" upon the states.

[Falcon Horus]

It has nothing to do with safety.

I mean, why drive 55 when you can do 90.

[Womble]

So Israel, what's your excuse this time?

A faulty watering system?

Ramadan 2016: Israel 'cuts off water supply to West Bank' during Muslim holy month
Source: independent.co.uk
Redirected from: "Israël zet tienduizenden Palestijnen zonder water tijdens ramadan"
Source: demorgen.be

The only sources for this so far come from the Palestinians or someone who picked it up from the Palestinians. A Google search on the subject yields this Independent article, an Al-Jazeera article and a report from Iran's Press TV. So right now I'll wait to see some actual evidence of it happening.

I'll tell you two things though.

First, if you don't pay your water and electricity bill, the water and electricity companies will cut your supply, will they not? Well, the Palestinians don't pay their bills. The Palestinian Authority owes half a billion dollars for electricity, another $4.5 million for water, $700 00 for sewage and 4.5 million dollars in medical bills for treatments that Palestinians routinely receive in Israeli hospitals. From time to time Israel cuts off some of these services as a warning that bills must be paid, and then the world wide whine about the poor Palestinians deprived of life's comforts begins.

Secondly, about that faulty water system. The water system in much of the West Bank is in complete disrepair and hasn't been renovated since the Jordanian occupation because the Palestinians consistently refuse any offers of cooperation in water development with Israel. The Palestinian mismanagement wastes staggering amounts of water. They flood-water their crops instead of drip irrigation like Israel does. A full one-third of Palestinian water supply is lost to leakage because well, faulty water system. They do not even attempt to recycle sewage water while Israel sustains half of its considerable agriculture with purified sewage water. In one area, Israel actually forced the Palestinians' hand by connecting 11 Palestinian towns to sewage collection pipeline while the Palestinian Authority refused to cooperate.

And you know what? Those water trucks the article describes are a business owned by Palestinian Authority strongmen. Water shortages is how they make money. And yes, they orchestrate them. No great secret there.

What you SHOULD learn from this article, however, is that the Palestinians get their water supply out of my tax money. I pay more for water so that they could pay less (water price for the Palestinians is half of what the Israelis pay, and they still don't pay the bill).

[Annoyed]

It has nothing to do with safety.

I mean, why drive 55 when you can do 90.

The 55 MPH speed limit actually had nothing to do with safety at all. It was a response to the first oil price shock as OPEC flexed their muscles for the first time back in the 70's.

[Falcon Horus]

A reasonable answer from Womble shall be replied with a reasonable thank you.

I wonder though, how does Palestine ever manage to repay those debts.

And also, clean water is a human basic right -- since 2010.

[Falcon Horus]

Apparently Trump called Belgium a beautiful city.

Yeah, okay. We're not that big and we don't have many open spaces, large open spaces relatively speaking that is. You're never too far away from civilization in a manner of speaking, but calling us a city... yeah no, you got that backwards.

[jelgate]

He also called it beautiful. That is twice he was wrong

[Annoyed]

A reasonable answer from Womble shall be replied with a reasonable thank you.

I wonder though, how does Palestine ever manage to repay those debts.

And also, clean water is a human basic right -- since 2010.

We've got nutjobs in this country that make the argument that free cell phones and internet access are "basic human rights" too.
If someone wants to declare something to be a basic human right, I would suggest that they be ready, willing and able to pay for it out of their own pockets.

[Falcon Horus]

If someone wants to declare something to be a basic human right, I would suggest that they be ready, willing and able to pay for it out of their own pockets.

I sincerely hope, you never are in the position in which you require any of those basic human rights.

I wonder whether you realize what the lack of clean drinking water does.

From the website of the World Health Organization:

How does safe water impact global health?

Safe water supplies, hygienic sanitation and good water management are fundamental to global health. Almost one tenth of the global disease burden could be prevented by:

* increasing access to safe drinking water;
* improving sanitation and hygiene; and
* improving water management to reduce risks of water-borne infectious diseases, and accidental drowning during recreation.

Annually, safer water could prevent:

* 1.4 million child deaths from diarrhoea;
* 500 000 deaths from malaria;
* 860 000 child deaths from malnutrition; and
* 280 000 deaths from drowning.

In addition, 5 million people can be protected from being seriously incapacitated from lymphatic filariasis and another 5 million from trachoma.

Recommended measures
Efforts to improve water, sanitation and hygiene interact with each other to boost overall health. Access to sanitation, such as simple latrines in communities, prevents drinking water contamination from human waste and reduces infections. High-tech public health measures are not necessarily the best: frequent hand-washing with soap and safe storage of drinking water are high-impact practices.

Environmental management effectively lowers the rates of malaria and other diseases spread by insects and prevents death. These measures include eliminating habitats - such as standing water - for breeding, and screening doors and windows for protection from mosquitoes.

Economic benefits
Investment to improve drinking water, sanitation, hygiene and water resource management systems makes strong economic sense: every dollar invested leads to up to eight dollars in benefits. US$ 84 billion a year could be regained from the yearly investment of US$ 11.3 billion needed to meet the water and sanitation targets under the Millennium Development Goals.

In addition to the value of saved human lives, other benefits include higher economic productivity, more education, and health-care savings.

Having internet and a cellphone isn't a basic human right -- it's just a means for you to complain about other people having the same stuff as you do. Or hell, the same rights.