Death Of A President?

Over in the American Politics forum, there is some discussion relating to the upcoming controversial movie entitled the Death of a President (which will be premiering in Canada at the Toronto Film Festival later on this month).

Their are views on both sides of the issue, with some seeing this as merely a "future historical documentary" while others view it as a film that is crossing the line by mixing fiction with reality.

A member goes on to share their thoughts about the upcoming film by saying:

Menno: I believe the movie is trying to portray the fall-out that would come from such an event. [...] It's about the global reactions such an event would cause.

I think it will make for interesting TV.

Although some do not enjoy the current President, they do seem a bit troubled by the film's appearance as this member goes on to explain below:

Dan: The standard way of approaching these things is to set it in the near future with a fictional president. Excessive tangling of reality and fiction only serves to muddy the waters. [...]

I'd be delighted if Bush were no longer president, if it weren't for the fact that Cheney is next in line.

But as much as I despise Bush, I do not want to see another american president assasinated. I'm quite fond of regime change via election.

I doubt a film like this will make it inside US theatres as the Secret Service are (understandably) anal about protecting the president from all threats, whether serious or imaginary.

Related: A forum dedicated towards killing Bush? I bet the secret service are going to love that.

Who's The Terrorist?

Aside from dating, debate about terrorism seems to be the highlight of the day (or rather the week).

Ania from the Human Rights Watch forum has posted a video link with George Galloway showing adamant support for Hezbollah. Geoffrey does not seem too impressed with Galloway, and replies with:

Ah yes, George Galloway, terrorist sympathizer that was tossed out of his own party, Al Jazeera regular, Oil for Food scandal participant. I don't have to even watch that to guess what it shows.

If you want to form an honest opinion, why not start choosing independent sources, rather than forming an opinion then going to look for trash that agrees with it?

This of course kicks off a debate with Ania pointing out how the accusations against Galloway were defeated in court (it was a congressional committee, but he still defeated them) with more fun raging on pages two and four.

Over in the American Politics forum, James posts this image (shown below) which leads to much debate over who is at fault in the Lebanon war.



Here are some opinions from both sides of the conflict. From the pro Hezbollah side:

(Michael on page two) What Hezbollah has delivered, as a matter of historical fact, is the resistance of Israeli occupation of Lebanon, from 1982-2000. That resistance had several facets, not the least of which is providing a counterbalance to Israeli-backed Christian militias, such as the SLA which operated in South Lebanon, and was quite indiscriminate in brutalitizing the native Shia population there. So Hezbollah has street cred when it comes to defending actual Lebanese.

And from the pro Israeli side:

(Len on page four) Hezbollah did not "drive Israel out" in 2000. You'll find that the UN, US and the Knesset got Israel out. Hezbollah were not that powerful and still aren't. Annoying? Definiately. No matter how many rockets Hezbollah fires into Israel, they won't "drive them out".

The UN resolution that led Israel out also agreed that Hezbollah should be disarmed by the Lebanese gov't. Obviously this was not going to be easy given the Syrian manipulation of the Lebanese gov't, and Israel might have waited for the Lebanese gov't as of the end of last year to do something.

More debate continues on pages five, six and seven with Donald, Tejas, Wahab and Hamza jumping into the debate.

Related:

• Leeron (in Zionist Jews) discusses Hezbollah's goal of genocide.


• A.SIPRA in the Hezbollah forum asks whether it is fair to kill civilians (since Islam forbids this).


• Mirel (in the Conflict in Israel forum) declares that most terrorists are Muslim, something Raihaan and Xeni both dismiss as false.

What's The Fuss In Europe?

The Europe forum seems busy today, with many people posting and discussing their opinions about the middle east as well as what is happening in Europe.

Lola has sparked an interesting conversation regarding the war in Lebanon (which she is upset about) with people debating for or against Israel regarding the war.

Meanwhile Parikshit from India is angry about the apparent rise of anti-Semitism in Europe, a statement that some members took offense at.

Last but not least, it appears as if Poland is picking up some steam with news that the EU rebuffed them over the death penalty. Sigitas is arguing in defense of the punishment, although I think everyone else is arguing against it (although Mila does present some alternatives for the measure).

Staying Positive In A Negative World

Simply reading or listening to what is happening in the world today is enough to make a person want to never get out of bed (or at least take a drug to survive the day).

Some Orkut members have discovered an alternative towards sleeping in (as well as taking the pill) and over in the Personal Growth and Development forum, Ritesh lists five ways on how a person can stay positive in a negative world.

1. Take a news sabbatical. Listening to the news can be downright depressing. All bad news all of the time can drag you down and keep you there. Give yourself permission to stop listening to the news, especially before bed time.



2. Use your influence to do good where you live. Shift your focus from what is happening in other parts of the world to your community. Get involved in making a positive change or contribution.



3. Focus on what is working in your life. Choose one thing that you are grateful for and focus on it for the rest of the day.

You will have to visit the forum for the last two, (sorry folks, you need to explore inside Orkut for this one) although I can personally say that I have tried out number one and two.

For those looking for ways to change negative people into positive people (what is desperately needed in this world) then Bryce in the Conflict management forum has some great advice in this arena.

A Lebanese Speaks Out Against Hezbollah

Over in the other Hizbollah forum (is it spelled Hezbollah or Hizbollah?) Samir, a Lebanese vents against what he sees is the main problem of the war in Lebanon.

Just one question Mr. Nasrallah: Who gave you the right to open a war in Lebanon? From whom did you take the advice of choosing this critical time of the year to do that STUPID operation of getting 2 Israeli soldiers as hostages? Those who live in Lebanon know that Lebanon survives because of the tourists spending their money in these 3 months of the year.

But NO Hezbollah chose to do their attack now! NICE TIMING GUYS! AND PLEASE, don't come and convince me that they did this in return of Lebanese hostages in Israeli prisons. As a matter of fact, Hezbollah are everything but Lebanese! Hezbollah is pure Iranian/Syrian Shiite Muslim fanatic militia! [...]

Thanks Hezbollah for ******* up my country, please go back to Iran, there you will live better with your compatriots, and stop claiming that you are Lebanese because you are everything but Lebanese!

This leads to an interesting discussion with Ayaz rebuking Samir and saying he should realize "how lucky" he is while others chant choruses to Hezbollah or post more rants against Israel.

I personally was perplexed (like Samir) why Hezbollah started the war when they did. It seems to promote more of Iran's interests rather than Lebanon's. The sad part is that I have friends in all three regions of this conflict (Lebanon, Israel and Palestine) with various opinions, although right now I'm trying to figure out who is alive (a major concern for me).

Israel, Hezbollah, And The Lebanon Crisis

By now, unless you have no access to media, you have probably heard about the crisis in Lebanon. It seems like the buzz is finally spilling into Orkut itself, with much of the action within the Israeli and Hezbollah forums.

Over in The War In Israel forum, Naor posted his first impressions of the war.

i was today at work, 5 minutes after i entered the office we heard the bombs and then we saw them from the window in the office, it was scary !
but we have strength and we don't mind to be in shelters as much as it takes until our great army will distroy the Hizbullah and disarm them !!!

With Israel on the hunt for Hezbollah (as well as for their missing soldiers) it seems that not everyone is happy with what the Kosher army is doing to Lebanon, as Juliana (over in the Lebanon forum) is screaming for Israel to "Stop Destroying Lebanon."

Juliana is soliciting aid within the forum I hope it's for the Lebanese and not some terrorist group (hint: Hezbollah).

Speaking of Hezbollah, over in their forum, MaRoOf has decided to return back to Lebanon with the blessings and cursings of members within the forum.

AQSA: best of luck for martrdom
all the best and drop bombs and rockets [and] kill as many jews as possible .

best of luck for martrdom but if death is not destined then may Allah give u life till khilafah

Donald: Good luck *****. I hope you get martyred real quick. I hope a lot of muslims around you do too. Blessings!

Not too suprisingly, this terrorist forum is known for promoting death against Israel, although some Muslim extremists have decided to share that information within the Israel forum, which is not receiving very many "happy replies."

Sigh...and you thought we all could get along on this blue little world. Perhaps when the Space Elevator is built, I can take a trip towards Mars. Anyone else want to come along?

Do We Need Religion?

Over in the Philosophy forum, Pallav asks the community "why do we need religion?" Answers varied from yes we do towards religion is evil, as well as everything in between. Here are a few responses towards Pallav's question.

Taha: closure- human beings need religion to give them the answers to questions science and human reasoning cannot. we are blessed and cursed with the ability to think. if we know that life is finite and there is nothing beyond this world we will plunge into chaos.

some people in the world might even commit suicide. religion or any ideology is all that sustains us as societies.

Amar: we do not need religion...the fact that so many people subscribe to it is simply that they [are not] yet mature to think for themselves. we, as humans, like to stay in our little 'comfort zone', knowing that nothing majorly wrong has taken place in the past thousand years (and attributing it to religion) and hence adopting a "why not" approach. man reserves every right to do what pleases him and gives him peace and satisfactin. i feel nothing wrong in following a religion, IF it doesn't interfere with other religions and IF it is tolerant enough of other religions.

Note: Edited slightly for grammar.

Mo: a religeon is not only a code but also a compilation of ideas...not only the law of a state...but a history book as well...the difference between religeon and science is that science has proofs.

religeon depends on faith and spiritual perspective and reasoning n all tht stuff...and mind you religeon doesnt always clash with science...

I personally enjoyed Mo's response the best, as I feel we should not label religion as entirely evil. You can find more of my thoughts over in the Philosophy forum (check the near the end of the discussion).

For those who are die hard fans of what is known as "the God debate," within Orkut, you can try heading towards the Atheist vs. Theist forum where "civil debate" takes place.

Uniting All Faiths Through Science?

Andre (who was mentioned before) has an interesting way to unite all of the world's religions. He posted this message in the World Peace forum.

PEACE can be achieved by uniting all religions together and demystifying them with SCIENCE in light of this extraordinary Message: [...]

All life on earth was created scientifically by Extra-terrestrials with mastery of Genetic Engineering and DNA 'In their own image' .They are the ELOHIM of the Bible wrongly translated for God, Elohim being a plural and means 'Those who came from the sky'. The ELOHIM decided to leave us progress alone and sent prophets to help us out and leave traces of their creation. [...]

Today we are advanced enough scientifically to finally understand the truth about our origins, without mystification, but rational understanding.

Although Andre's gets an "A for effort" for trying to present a unifying philosophy, his ideals are met with questions, laughter and more questions. Dayani is trying to figure out the whole "cloning Jesus" thing, (something the Raelians believe in, a faith Andre is apart of) while Xayne view Andre's faith as "extraordinarily dumb."

Huzefa pretty much sums up the discussion on page three.

Well this is exactly why world peace isn't possible. We just ain't open and tolerant enough of different views and ideologies.

Andre has recieved some abuse for his beliefs. Only because they are different.

We all find it easy to believe in GOD and all the Miracles He and His Prophets can perform but we can't believe in aliens. Don't believe or accept what the man has to say but i think you can atleast be courteous.

This is the WORLD PEACE community after all.

I think Huzefa is partially right on this. There are so many differing viewpoints out there that it would be impossible to unite the entire human race. Unless of course God himself decided to come down to planet Earth.

Science can help us understand the world around us, but it does not have the power to unite people, as science is merely elemental facts--and facts can be suited towards anyone's belief system.

Kashmir Petition In Unfriendly Territory?

I am not too familiar with the Kashmir debate, but from what I gather it seems to be one of those "never ending arguments," that people in the region love to discuss.

Anyways, a new Pakistani forum has popped up (via Mr. Hyde) and apparently Divine (from India) is asking citizens of a rival nation to support India's right to own Kashmir.

CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) of the US Government, CNN (Cable News Network) of the US and BBC of UK have deliberately portrayed the Indian state of Kashmir as a part of Pakistan and China. Our state of Jammu and Kashmir has been sliced off to the neighbours!

Apparently Divine's message was not well received, as Pakistani members K, Zuzi and Dr. Ali express everything from laughter to disgust.

I myself was quite puzzled as why Divine asked for a petition in this forum. It would be like asking Israelis to sign a petition to hand over Jerusalem to Palestine (and vice versa). Would not posting this in the India forum been more appropriate?

Update: Moved photo to the right.

Do Ladies Enjoy Chest Hair?

After the ladies received an answer to an age old question, it seems that Prasant had to ask this question in the Men Ask, WOMEN ANSWER forum. Ironically when I was younger, my friends asked this question to an older lady so I am not surprised by most of these responses.

• Eva: a chest hair? [...] i hate it, i mean a bit of hair there is ok, but not too much and i think back hair is even worst


• M.: Chest hair is a turn on for me.:) Of course in a reasonable amount.;) Yes... very manly and sexy...mmmm...


• Jaanika: as long as u dont count the ones on ur back to b chest hair... And as long as ur chest hair aint thicker than ur actual hair....


• Nazish: chest hair is a big tyme turn offfff....n so is the hair on the backk


• Jane: I definitely prefer no, or very little, hair on the chest

Fortunately for me, my chest isn't that hairy (at least for now). Unfortunately it seems that Saajid is out of luck in that department, and may have to shave his chest to appease his future love.

Do Guys Prefer Beauty, Or Women With Brains?

That is the question Pragati is asking over in the Women ask, MEN ANSWER forum (they have a counterpart one for guys which I'll post on later).

Pragati wants to know if guys really do prefer a beautiful face over a beautiful mind. Here are some of the responses by some very brave men:

• Raghu: beauty can be instantly admired/appreciated... but it takes a while to appreciate the brains of any person. hence the misconception that guys only appreciate beauty & not brains in a female. if u really dig a li'l deeper, u'll see that most most long-term female friends of guys r those with brains matching the guy's level... & not beauty...


• Chill: beauty n brain is rare and so i will say [...]
  beautiful girl = dumb
  unattractive girl = intelligent
  beautiful + intelligent = Diva..


• Turtle: i dont prefer beauty to brains . id rather have a plain looking girl with a brain and a good heart than a total knockout thats stupid or a bitch . but i do draw the line at ugly there only room in any relatioship for one ugly person aand thats me


• Achal (page two): i guess its natures way of bringing together the best genes together to same person . beautiful woman + intelligent man = beautiful and intelligent kids? or progressive species

Although most of the answers were pretty much "beauty before brains" or "beauty with brains," Lulla (on page 3) seems to be motivated more by mental abilities than good looks. He even doesn't mind a girl with a few extra pounds.

As for me, I agree with Pulkit (on page 1)--beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Does Being Bad Equal Success?

I sincerely hope not, otherwise chaos would reign on planet Earth! (which would not be good for this author by the way). Umesh asks this question in the Philosophy forum by saying:

Do you think that rich people of the world are evils? They exploit the poor in the name of business. Cheating is the second name of successful business. One example is pharmaceutical companies. They try to secure the life of next ten generations. What else can be the motivation of cheating people? [...] Law and order are in their pocket. [...]

One needs not to follow the so called right path to be successful. And it's the truth. And one needs not to be right to be influential. [...] As I perceive the aim of our life is to be influential and successful and rich... we need not to be noble

Veena and Chandandeep reply with the best responses, the latter who states that cheating can lead to success but it will never lead towards peace of mind.

After all, why steal millions if you can't sleep at night?

Law Verses Freedom (Are We Really Free?)

Over in the Philosophy forum, Claudia has started an interesting discussion regarding laws and whether or not they truly bring freedom.

Kumar thinks that the law "saves small fish from eating by
big fish in the sea of the humans," while 'Hi'...I'm Back suggests that laws "act like guidelines," a quote I've heard from Pirates of the Caribbean.

Yan, however has the best response:

I think laws are an attempt to organise society. [...] I personally believe that the only way laws can have the authority and means to be egalitarian, is through autonomy: self law.

That doesn't mean that each individual makes his/her own law, but that a whole society decides and votes for its laws. The first consequence is that everyone knows the law (or is supposed to). Well, that's how I see democratic law-making.

The sad (yet true) fact of reality is as Yan hinted at, people generally need some type of body to guarantee their individual freedoms. Ironically it seems that by creating such a body, you tend to give up freedoms in the process.

Note: ironically in Philosophy club (where I live) we were discussing a similar topic yesterday. Scary.

Terrorist Verses A Freedom Fighter

Over in the United Nations forum, Farukh starts an interesting topic by asking everyone what is the difference between a terrorist and a freedom fighter?

Here are some of the "civilized" responses below:

Rosney: A terrorist can be a freedom fighter but his means are wrong. A freedom fighter is not necessarily a terrorist, for example Martin Luther King Jr.

A terrorist doesn't deserve freedom, he deserves punishment.

Tawfigur (on page 3): To me, a FREEDOM FIGHTER is a person who fights for his nation or people (for liberation). fighting for religion can also be freedom fighting.

A terrorist is one who is fighting for a group who are derailed from the normal track just to establish some unjust demand. a terrorist doesnot have any religious or national backing. a terrorist or terrorist group might reflect a religion or natinality. but that is for exploiting. they do not have the backing of the general people.

Marcelo (on page 4): A freedom fighter is a warrior who's target the military opressor only, a terrorist is a criminal who target women and children.

Tawfigur probably has the best response out of the entire forum, but unfortunately some members within the discussion can not see the difference between the two. Sad.

Unfortunately on page 5, the discussion gets heated with Patriot and Ahad cussing each other out while presenting their viewpoint.

World Peace, Is It Possible?

Within the World Peace forum, Vimal asks everyone what exactly is the first step towards world peace.

Fili proposes that we "stop religions from taking control" while Meghana counters with "stop taking control of religion."

Beyond the fistyness, Angel sums it up the best by saying:

Peace is about community -- about working together, encouraging each other, helping each other to live better, more fulfilling lives. Most of all, peace is about respect -- respect for ourselves, each other, and the planet we share.

Vimal pretty much agrees with the statement (as do I) although convincing radicals of this idea (cough, cough Osama) may take some time--if we have not killed them yet.

The Philosophy Of Life

One of the things I enjoy is learning about what other people believe in, regardless whether or not I agree with their way of thinking.

Angel posts over in the Philosophy forum about her beliefs, which inspires everyone else to share theirs.

• Trevor: Mine is based (more or less) on the words I heard in Ben Harpers song "Burn One Down", a song about marijuana [...]
  
  My choice is what I choose to do
  And if I'm causing no harm
  It shouldn't bother you
  Your choice is who you choose to be
  And if you're causin' no harm
  Then you'’re alright with me


• Sardar: Allah...My Religion...and a bit of Spirituality...I am one of those guys, who would look up at the sky and make a new way out to some situation...


• Saqib: My philosophy is to try to answer the unanswered questions and first to find and then to reveal the deep hidden secrets and to find the unknown force that controls us and our universe and to live after my 'death'!


• Sahil: Life is about living it each day. And such a way that your last day has the same vigour as your first day had.
  
  Life's all about waking up each day to discover something new, about meeting old people but making new conversation, walking through old roads but still feeling nice about it, realizing that you have grown a day older but still feeling young at heart, meeting busy schedules but still finding time for old friends, being nostalgic about the gone by but looking forward to better days.


• 100rabh: Life is a game of arguments ... the better arguments wins for the time therez no better argument...That is to say that there are no rights and no wrongs...its all in the argument

The last one sounds a bit confrontational, although it is one of the more interesting beliefs posted in this thread.

One thing that annoys me is to find people who do not know what they believe. When you ask them they simply shake their confused heads and smile at you, something my nephew is an expert at doing and he can barely talk.

What are my beliefs exactly? You are going to have to visit the forum in order to find out. ;)

What To Do With The Baby?

Dr. Fahad over in the India Womans Issues forum asks everyone if abortion should be up to the woman to decide.

Nida and Anish think so, with Anish also denouncing sex selection abortions which seem to be popular in India.

Ankur and Aviral disagree, with Aviral asking about the babies right to live.

The discussion gets more interesting on page two, and Noemaun wants to know about the "odd man left out" of the picture in this scenario.

Update: Corrected spelling of Anlcur (it shoudl be Ankur). Sorry.

Why do you love, hate America?

After surfing the Orkut galaxy, I got bored and decided to post some questions in the US of A forum to see what enlightenment I could gather from people within the community.

Question: Why do you love, hate America? First, here are some of the positive responses below:

Lady Quixotic: Personally...I love my country because of its freedom and spirit...But I don't really hate anything about my country...only the few spots of ignorance here and there...

Eduardo: I like the fact that most of the taxpayers money go to services and programs that really see the money (in my country of origin this doesn't always happen).

What I don't like is the fact that the culture of this country does not always coincide with my own. I miss my Latin America culture but only until I'm hit with ignorant remarks by Brazilian-communists here on Orkut.

Although these two seemed to appreciate everything about America not every Orkut member had a favorable viewpoint towards the US.

Paul: Ou[r] "emissions standards" may be better than most countries, but when you look at the pollutants we put into the atmosphere per capita, we suck. We are the United F**** States, we should be leading the way when it comes to the environment. We shouldn't have to be dragged kicking and screaming into cleaning up our environment. And I'm not talking about our failure to sign the Kyoto treaty....which is biased against us anyway.

Two things I love about my country:

1)Freedom of Speech.
2)Our Women.

Two things I hate:

1)Our jingoistic foreign policy.
2)The religious Right.

Paul and Lady Quixotic later on had a mini debate over whether the media was liberally biased and if Fox News was a GOP strong arm (Editor's note: are they?). But perhaps the best forum from this discussion was from Rochelle:

The thing I love the most about America is that we see our mistakes and deal with them openly.

It took a long to end slavery...way too long. And even now, as we can see from the aftermath of Katrina, we still have a long way to go.

But at least the base of goodness is there. We have a direction that we're all moving towards. We're a nation of people trying to do the right thing--only we don't always agree on what that is.

So is America a nation whose good intentions have built up a great society, or are those intentions destroying the world? You decide.