Discussion about hot topics trending today

[Gatefan1976]

Paid by your taxes free for the people? We have free unlimited perfectly drinkable water everywhere here, I actually prefer its taste over bottled water. People abuse it so much some idiots waste their afternoon washing their driveway. I loathe these people.

If the resource was unlimited, you would not loathe them for wasting it.

[jelgate]

Should I burn his lawn too?

[Gatefan1976]

Should I burn his lawn too?

Why not.
It's as free as the tap water you pay council rates to have

[Annoyed]

Paid by your taxes free for the people? We have free unlimited perfectly drinkable water everywhere here, I actually prefer its taste over bottled water. People abuse it so much some idiots waste their afternoon washing their driveway. I loathe these people.

And exactly how are people supposed to wash their driveway? There is only one water line coming into most houses. We don't have potable/non-potable dual water systems.

[Annoyed]

But they are not originalists, they are bent on doing what they want. E.O.'s actually stripping amendment rights ARE illegal, and you want the SCOTUS to approve it.
If they were originalists, they would decline to rule as it is ALSO not their place to rule on such an issue. It's WHY SCOTUS kicked DACA back to the courts and the house/senate.


If a JUDGE can't make a legal ruling, don't pretend you can. As I said before (and your own source), DACA is not a LAW, and judges have no power over things that are not laws, and he can "feel" it's illegal all he wants. Not RULING on it shows that he doesn't "feel" strongly about it enough to challenge it, probably because he knows he would get legally slaughtered over it.
Honestly, I would have thought a program that gives you nothing but the right to work in the US, but no other citizenship benefits would make you happy, they cannot vote, they have to make themselves known, and they contribute to the economy because the only thing they can do is WORK and not suck off the government.

Actually, if I recall, he left in place due to timing of the case, too late or some such. This also allows it to proceed up the courts. SCOTUS will eventually rule on the matter. In my opinion, the entire program is unconstitutional.

[Chaka-Z0]

And exactly how are people supposed to wash their driveway? There is only one water line coming into most houses. We don't have potable/non-potable dual water systems.

The water is potable, even if you get it from your external outlet. Why do you think I'm mad at these clowns for washing their driveways?

Our city council created the "water police" a few years back to fine people that water their lawn / wash driveway during the summer, but there's like 2-3 officers for the whole town.

[jelgate]

Why does anyone need to wash a driveway in the first place? Lawn I get

[Gatefan1976]

Actually, if I recall, he left in place due to timing of the case, too late or some such. This also allows it to proceed up the courts. SCOTUS will eventually rule on the matter.

Which is perfectly legal

In my opinion, the entire program is unconstitutional.

It's not, I don't know how many times you have to be told that.

[Chaka-Z0]

Why does anyone need to wash a driveway in the first place? Lawn I get

Even the lawn Jel, a freaking lawn with grass on it. This is the the most stupid first world problem there is. There's this guy a few clicks from my home that literally sits on a chair in his garage and wash his driveway all day long. There is a special kind of place in hell for these people.

[Chaka-Z0]

Which is perfectly legal


It's not, I don't know how many times you have to be told that.

Isn't that guaranteed to go through? I mean since Kavanaugh and all.

[aretood2]

If it's not a slippery slope in other countries, why would it be one in Israel?

Excuse me, but isn't the existence of your country in part due to a certain other nation going down that slippery slope? And isn't the justification of a Jewish state contingent on the expectation that it can very well happen again? It is a slippery slope in other countries, they have gone down that path and it hasn't been pretty and I'd expect you to be fairly well acquainted with this fact for...reasons.

For reasons too Israeli to be fully known to a foreigner.

So your opinions shall not be questioned? And here I thought we could have high minded discussion.

The Druze (and the Circassians, who are less known by the non-Israelis) don't have any problem with the concept of the Jewish state. They have a problem with being seen as Arabs. Their offence is with not having secured the mention of a special status of their particular minority. Also, the law endorsed Jewish settlement of the land of Israel but made no balancing mentions for minorities, and the Druze have been claiming discrimination in land allocation for a long time (largely a justified claim, unfortunately).

My case and point.

Oh we take criticism all the time. Hell, we criticize ourselves a good deal more than most nations, and our enemies frequently jump on the more extreme expressions of that to claim that "look, they admit it themselves!" But not all criticism is created equal. Some is just plain garbage, some comes from foreigners too blind to their privilege to understand our situation, some is actually malicious. There's no need to drop to our knees in tearful mea culpa every time someone doesn't like what we do.

You attempted to handwave criticism away by saying "But Pakistan does it too!". That is not accepting criticism. In other words you treated my contention like if I were some BDS idiot. So yeah, I called you out on it.

Yet Britain is in no hurry to abolish their state religion in the 21st century.

The Nationstate law is barely just a token state religion that no one really cares about.

Indeed a dreadful oversight on my part. Section 2 of the Spanish constitution would also make my case Indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation and no respect for what the Basques or the Catalans think on the matter. How did they ever get away with it?

Article two? The same article that states that guarantees the rights and autonomy of all "nacionalidades y regiones" in Spain? Where is the equivalent language in the Nation State Law? How about article 3 section 2 that recognizes the official status of the other "spanish" languages? Where's the equivalent language there? Or how about Article 11 that confers "Spanish" as a civil status and not ethnic one? Even the 1812 Cadiz constitution goes more explicit to signal "Spanish" as a civil identity and not an ethnic one in articles 19-26. These are clearly mirrored in the modern constitution.

You see, Spanish, British, German, French, and so on are civil identities and civil cultures despite what nationalist racists of those specific states argue. The Spanish Constitution is fairly clear. To be Spanish you only need to live in Spain for X years and fill in the right paper work. Can I become Jewish by simply living X years in Israel and filling in the proper forms? No. Jewish is not a civil identity or civil culture. It is a straight up ethnicity. Yes, "Spanish" et al can be an ethnicity as well...but there is a difference between the ethnicity and the civil status. Spain's government does not concern itself with the ethnicity nor does it care about it. It cares about its civil variant.

This is even more true in America (all of it). To be "American" in the eyes of any of the constitutions requires a civil status change only and not any sort of ethnic test or religious conversion. Each constitution sees "Mexican" or "Canadian" or "Argentinian" as a civil thing not an ethnic thing. Those states are mean for citizens, not ethnic members. EU has largely adopted that principle.

So apples to oranges.

But I am not talking about names. You're way off tangent (surprisingly, you're usually quite capable of following the discussion). I am talking about how most nations have a "title nation" and "title culture" codified in their constitutions or constitution-equivalent laws, in almost identical manner to the nation state law of Israel.

Then why mention Pakistan's name? Speaking of not following discussion. If you actually saw one of my previous posts you would have seen me raise the issue of Islam and how the failure to separate church and state is a core cause and issue among islamists. But nope, just go ahead and treat all foreign criticisms as an attack on Israel's right to exist.

In other words, you have your opinion and you will not have it questioned. Indeed, pardon me for being accustomed to a higher level of discussion.

Pot...Kettle....

But that is completely untrue. Democracies are not rare at all in Asia's non-Muslim regions. Many of them don't get mentioned in such discussions only because they are too poor to the acknowledged as members of the club. The Philippines has consistently practiced functioning democracy since the 1940-s. Nepal is a democracy, as are India, Sri Lanka and Singapore. Thailand had a long history as a constitutional monarchy that answered all criteria of democracy up until the 2014 military coup.

Nepal? How old is their democracy anyway? Ten years? And what do Singapore, India, Hong Kong, and Sri Lanka have in common as far as history goes? Could it be...The British Empire?

And if the philippines count as an actual democracy then Latin America has always been 100% democratic and Maduro's Venezuela is being unfairly labeled as "not a democracy".

How did Tunisians suddenly gain choice? Did it fell from the sky? was it imposed from without, or did they gave themselves the choice?

If you are alluding to the French...then...isn't that my point?

You're yet to explain what was so bad. Just because you say so doesn't make it so.

You've done a fairly good job of that actually.

[jelgate]

Even the lawn Jel, a freaking lawn with grass on it. This is the the most stupid first world problem there is. There's this guy a few clicks from my home that literally sits on a chair in his garage and wash his driveway all day long. There is a special kind of place in hell for these people.

I can understand it the lawn even it I don't agree with it. I picture one of those suburban people who need a perfect house. I can't comprehend why someone would need to wash a driveway

[Chaka-Z0]

I can understand it the lawn even it I don't agree with it. I picture one of those suburban people who need a perfect house. I can't comprehend why someone would need to wash a driveway

For the same reason. Perfect lawn is step 1, perfect driveway is step 2 to to becoming America's next suburban dad.

[Chaka-Z0]

In a world of finite resources, every gain comes at a price, my naive friend. Food is cheap when farmers are poor. If you want everyone looked after, it will cost them their freedom. You can have whatever world you want, but always with a price tag to match.

It is a matter of societal choices and that's the line folks on the right use all the time to justify their actions. Are you sincerely telling me that a first world developed country could not feed EVERYBODY, including the homeless, for free if they chose to? Only one or two billion taken out from the defense budget could do a huge difference. I call BS on that, tanks and planes are much more expensive than loafs of bread.

Now it comes down to what you, as a citizen, wants your government to spend your money on. Replicants for instance like to give corporations tax reliefs and decentralize the administration, leaving people to fend for themselves.

[Annoyed]

It's not, I don't know how many times you have to be told that.

Only once. But by someone who is authoritative on the subject. Perhaps the SCOTUS. That particular judge seemed to think it was unconstitutional as well, so you may not be right.