TFP

Good luck everyone! I appreciate all the help that people offered and the prompt payments. Glad we got a good response! Always make the games more fun.

no, we will not do your school paper for you.

And to go a little further with @daegor's response, I want to make it clear that I'm not pushing pacifism. Violence and force in the name of self defense is justified, initiating violence and force is not.
 
It's unacceptable for the state to use force against non-violent people (I.E. Eric Garner), and I apply the same basic principle to individuals.

Fair enough. Clearly you spend time gathering links, configuring responses, and doing research in general. It might help your argument if you weren't insulting on top of an otherwise intellectual counterpoint.

I felt the same way about Obama when BLM and The Police were beefing it out over the summer, but that never happened

I agree that a lot of the he/she they/them comes from the media. I think an emphasis should be put on reporting the facts and no trying to bias them one way or another.
Agree as well that there needs to be a line drawn in the sand where Trump as POTUS says, "white supremacy and racism is not ok. Stop it." But again, as I said, in any instance where there are radicals, and yes, folks who go out and shoot up places are radicals, they genuinely don't represent entire groups of people. Making generalizations like that is part of what got us to where we are in the first place!

Why does it have to be "this side, that side?" Isn't it more...some asshole white supremacist shot up a mosque. Some asshole kids vandalized property. Both illegal, both shitty, both should be prosecuted. Neither of these people/groups represent the whole of "their side."
 
Of course killing people is worse than vandalizing property, but it doesn't mean that people who essentially riot and destroy things should be just let off the hook.

I know you're a statist, but now you want to subsize riots? 
 
The extreme poverty and struggle  in yuppie upstate New York must be more savage  than I thought.

Yeah, big deal if the employees who work at these places have to take an unpaid week or more off work. I'm sure their landlords and bill collectors will understand. 

Semantics. If you're advocating for peace you'll oppose it, period.

It really says a lot about a person if they think it's acceptable to destroy private property, threaten violence, and use force against fellow citizens as a means of protest. You don't get to hurt people or their property because a third party is making an argument you don't like.

No matter who caused this, whether it be the left, right or anarchists in general, it frightens me that you think it's "no big deal." Women were punched and even pepper sprayed by masked protestors. To me that's a big deal. Not sure how you could call out WAXX for his comments on women but turn a blind eye to this. But, it's your right, carry on. 

Beyond paying taxes every year, and many of us working in needed industries...?
I'm all for legal immigration, and I don't think that not allowing people to immigrate due to religious affiliation or where they're born is ok. But  I'm not a fan of illegal immigration, simple as that.
 
When it comes to refugees, obviously it's a tough issue. Do I think that we should just let everyone in? No. Do I think we should let in folks who have been told they're allowed already? Sure. Do I think there needs to be a pretty stringent vetting process that makes sure that any refugees brought into the country have no wish to do us harm/will contribute in some meaningful way? Yup. (and I do understand that many of our own citizens don't contribute in a meaningful way.)
 
One of my big issues is that before we get out there and really start "helping" (read: interfering) in other country's issues, we should fix some of ours at home.
 
Obviously I don't have all the answers. If I did I'd be running for office myself, but I have opinions just like all of you and I'm as entitled to them as any you are yours.

The comparison is between you(in the scenario) and the entire country, not you and a family accepting another person into their home. The country foots a large bill when you bring in refugees.

Wall of text incoming:
 
 
 
I was thinking about this a little bit earlier and I want to try to distill the refugee thing down into a microcosm for those who still might not understand why a perfectly reasonable citizen wouldn't want unchecked open immigration here in the US and specifically for refugees.
 
I'm going to assume that all of you have a place to live and that you aren't taking up 100% of that space at all times bodily. Pretty reasonable assumptions to make since we're on the Internet, and you aren't likely to be 1000 lbs.
 
Ok. 
 
Imagine that you're at home, maybe surfing VC and you hear a knock at the door. You answer the door and standing in front of you is a homeless person. You can imagine any homeless person you want. Race, gender, religion, etc. doesn't matter.
They're a little bit dirty; you can tell they've been on the street for a while and it hasn't treated them kindly.
This person says to you, "Hi, I'm ______ and I live down the street under the bridge."/in a tent/wherever your homeless population who won't go to a shelter lives. "I notice you live in this really nice place and have some extra space. How about letting me crash on your couch/in your extra room for a while."
Now keep in mind that this person isn't going to tell you anything else about themself, and that even if they did they could be lying. Who knows if the name they gave you is even truthful?
Are you taking them in? I'd imagine that for 99% of us the answer would be..."Fuck no!"
This person also makes it clear that for at least the first few YEARS that they'll be staying with you they will use your electricity, gas, water, and space, but will not be paying rent/contributing money in any way.
Now let's imagine (for some of us a reality) that you're already in debt. Student loans, credit card, etc. you owe tens of thousands of dollars and you're already essentially living check to check. Even if it turns out that this person was perfectly nice and considerate, followed rules laid down (though this is not a guarantee); if you did take this person in, would that put you in a place that you were even more burdened?
 
Now scale that x1,000,000.
 
Can you see why people, even accepting, empathetic people who hate to see suffering may support not bringing in more refugees?

I'm not talking about Trump here. I'm talking about any other US citizen who opposes bringing refugees in. What I'm saying is that while Trump signed the executive order stopping the influx, being ok with us not bringing in refugees doesn't necessarily make any other person a racist. Prioritizing by religion is also not only stupid, but nearly impossible.
 
Not sure why we're having so much trouble separating one person from every other person. His opinion/belief is not everyone's, just like a jihadist doesn't represent all Muslim people.
 
Essentially, when you think about people who may support this (temporary) immigration ban, think of it the same way you think about Muslims and maybe you'll gain a little perspective.

Why do you have to be so divisive about everything/everyone? Being concerned about immigration at a hostile time doesn't make you racist,  being pro-life doesn't mean you hate women, and if someone wants follow a religion they're not a "cancer". 
 
Maybe if you guys weren't silent when the last guy was murdering muslims, people would take your outrage over strict immigration seriously.

Bring back the down vote....

You are the biggest baby I've ever come across.
It's either agree with you, or its wrong. Get over yourself.

Every record I buy I make sure I drop it on it's top left corner, that way all of them look the same when I look at them on the shelf.

I only really get disappointed with seam splits. But I do not request refunds or replacements over it. The seam splits just annoy me. 

Butthurt? 
Is that acceptable now on this PC site? I said that once on here and got a warning point.

Dude, come on, don't even JOKE! about that....... 

This album gets better with repeated listens.  A ton of earworms on here.  I love the last song, completely different from anything they've ever done.  A nice slinky bar tune.