en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2414773 Comments by mattgusto6293 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/06/4364/#IDComment145142241 It is photos like these that make me just happy. Everyone in the world think that the world is uneasy due to religion that people do not see eye to eye because of their religion or race. I have a question to ask though, when have you ever hated someone for their religion? Probable never. I know a lot of people that are all different and come from different back rounds and I do not judge them on that. We all have weird religions, and we can just all accept that right? So if I can accept this, what makes a kid fro Palestine any different? What about the jewish dude in the picture? They are just like you and me, and it seems as if they are fighting together, instead of fighting each other thing which most Americans would never believe. It’s the news and the media, Americans think we need to go over their and fight because of the conflicts going on in the middle east. I say that is all bullshit and I wish people would believe that. It’s all about the oil and money and we want to be the country that has the control over it. We would be ignorant not to believe other wise. When people watch the news all we see is how crazy everyone is over there, and how Palestine is corrupt. Yeah Palestine is corrupt, and the people are fighting back because of it. Wouldn’t you fight against a corrupt government, I would. I would be standing right next to those guys with a bunch of rocks, because I’m no different from them. We all had our past, and we all know what happened in the past which isn’t the brightest thing in the world, but I think the media has to stop involving this generation in their past mistakes, we are all different people, just because they fucked up years ago doesn’t mean we are fucked up. It’s plain and simple, I believe this generation has a lot of potential when it comes to getting along, It also seems that this generation of people like to fight back against a corrupt government, so why don’t us Amercians stop wasting money on this war and get out of their country, we have no reason to be there, all we want to do is corrupt their land, making us no better then their already established government. Fri, 22 Apr 2011 15:35:00 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/06/4364/#IDComment145142241 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/the-cost-of-empire-soc-001-blog/#IDComment143145209 This is a very interesting topic for Americans. We are at war for a reason with the middle east. It is for the oil, we are running out of it in the world and we want the last of it. The thing is we have so much resources on our own land we don’t even know it. So I believe to stop this war we need to focus on getting our troops back and start drilling here. Most of the areas available for drilling are in the middle of nowhere, at least in Pennsylvania that is. Now people say well what about the little towns that are located near these drilling cites. Well would they rather have people die overseas for oil or get paid to let there land be used, or perhaps move once they get enough money? I hear all this talk about the few people with bad water after the drilling. This is their fault for allowing the companies to drill on their land, and I also hear that they are in the process of bringing fresh water lines through the towns so the people can have clean water. Movies like Gasland annoy me so much, the movie is so bias, I can’t stand it. This guy is driving around town in a car that uses gasoline to document people, but bitches when the people drill. Lets be honest, if I had well water which is using underground water, I would have a general idea that when they drill for natural gas by fracking , my water would somehow get polluted. Yeah I could be a jerk about saying things like this, but come on, who do you see complaining? The unintelligent people who sold their land to the companies when the land was cheap, I have a friend of mine who lives up in upper Scranton and they haven’t sold their land yet, and they will receive millions of dollars…. Millions of dollars?!!! That’s insane! You know why they will receive this money because they still own their land, and the companies have to come up with better deals to buy it. So when I see some people complaining about water and the Gasland video, all I think is, these people want more money because patient people around them are receiving more. It’s all about money that’s what a business is I hate to break it to people. Fri, 15 Apr 2011 15:49:25 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/the-cost-of-empire-soc-001-blog/#IDComment143145209 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/27/family/#IDComment141044317 Family is a very big part of life. I think to be able to grow up and be mature you need that family connection. If you do not have that no matter how old you get you will be craving the need for a mentor or someone to look up to in life. I believe was all model ourselves after someone, for me it was my dad, he was the greatest person in the world and I hope one day to be half the man he was, he was just incredible. Since I have this drive to be someone, who I believe is a great person, it makes me a better person and kind of guides me to grow up in the right way. Now this dude in prison seems like he gets it. Its a good thing for him to treat the younger inmates as little brothers, because they crave that inner feeling to have family, which they never had before. So it doesn't matter how big or small the person is having family will make them feel better about themselves and be better towards people. I grew up in a larger family, with four other siblings, and I'm glad I did, that was the best thing that has ever happened to me. With such a big nuclear family I was able to grow as a person who could interact with people. I also agree with the inmate when he said that just because someone is in jail doesn't make them worthless. If you put someone in jail and keep letting them know that they are worthless, they will begin to think that about themselves, and not be able to change. If you think you are worthless you are not motivated to make the good decision and you will keep winding up in prison. When you have this inmate in jail telling the kids that they are someone and, they can be something great, well that will just make them a better person. I just wish that the prisoners had this before they were in jail, maybe they would have been in a lot better of a situation. Fri, 8 Apr 2011 17:20:03 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/27/family/#IDComment141044317 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/lgbt-families-theres-a-lot-of-fear-out-there/#IDComment138867065 This video was pretty cool, that guy was a really good speaker. To tell you the truth I completely agree with what he said. He was right, He was still successful in life and he loved his family very much, to have a government tell you that it is unjust to live in your own family is unjust in itself. I have two gay aunts, and they have kids, and they are doing just fine, one aunt is a professor at a Cal U, and the other sold her multiple businesses she owned to move out to California with my other aunt. Yes they are very successful in life the fact that they are gay have nothing to do with it, they are the way they are and it is no ones business on how they live their life. How many of your parents are that successful? Probably not many. So this guy seems to relate to me, I've scene what he was explaining I know where he comes from in a sense. I likes his statement on how successful he was in life and how having gay parents didn't effect him or his choices in life. That is incredible, this guy to me gets life. Life is about your choices, and I believe that also. I hear all this invisible string stuff and believe it is crap, that everything around us shapes us, this guy proves that wrong. Everyone has this perception on gay marriage, and think that it is bad for kids, this will then lead to the belief in the kids minds that this is bad, “the strings” but again this kid goes against the grain and says look I'm successful, I love my family and is proud to say so, we need more people like him in this world. LGBT families are just like any other family in this world, no different from anyone else. If a couple chooses to be gay, then so be it, let them do what they want, It's none of my business on someone's personal life. I've scene in my time so many destructive families where the father was an alcoholic and abused his kids, the mom abused drugs, and let me tell you I would rather be in this guys family. Thu, 31 Mar 2011 15:28:08 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/lgbt-families-theres-a-lot-of-fear-out-there/#IDComment138867065 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-much-government-do-we-need/#IDComment136923138 The big government is yet again here to regulate something else for the americans. Is this really a big deal though? To me no. You have people all the time worried about their weight and their eating styles. Everyone wants to live forever and be fit, and to me that isn't a lie. It sucks for people like me who have to worry about increases in healthcare because of the decisions people make in life to get themselves their. I'm healthy I workout and try to eat right, I should be rewarded for that right? Taxing foods for people that are overweight, like way overweight I think is a great idea. It will help them to loose weight and be happier in the long run. If we also give them free gym memberships it would encourage people that are overweight to workout and shed off a few pounds and be happy. If this happened the taxes would be lifted off them if they have shown progress. People might say this is a bad thing but to me it's change in a good way. A healthier America means a lower tax rate on healthcare for everyone. If you choose to be fat then that's your decision but you have to pay for that because when you are getting lypo-suction, or gastric by-pass, and can't afford the bills, where do the bills go? Our pockets as a nation, and this can all be prevented if everyone would just be healthy, we could also as a nation give tax refunds to people buying more healthy food like fruits and veggies, this would encourage people to eat more. Everytime I go to the grocery store, tastycakes are cheaper than buying produce, or meat products and that is just not right to me. It would be nice for the government to actually help us with something for once with taxes, I mean I bet they would raise taxes on healthcare even if the entire nation was healthy, just because they can and the opinion of people really doesn't matter much to the government, that is why democracy is so nice to the kind people of the United States. Wed, 23 Mar 2011 04:47:13 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-much-government-do-we-need/#IDComment136923138 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/07/freedom/#IDComment133926136 Freedom? Something I've like most people in my position never really got the chance to actually think about. This article is an article I actually believe in, this guy seems to have the perfect definition of freedom. Letting people be the choosers of their freedom. It's almost like they are choosing their fate which is a very interesting twist to the definition of freedom. We all think it's about the stuff we own and the government we have set in place, but how free are we actually? So what if we have all the cool stuff in the world, that stuff isn't deep, It doesn't make us, we make us. Which comes to the freedom of choice, and freedom to think and express ourselves. I like how he says he is still free in his own mind and makes his own freedom, where as most of us never really got the chance to think about the freedom that we think is “freedom”. I agree with all of that was said in the article, and the last two paragraphs were pretty deep. There is something he doesn't get though. He's got a great sense of being “free” but that is his perception of it, It's hard for me to relate to it, because my perception is completely different from his. I haven't been in jail, and I hope I never will be, but my perception on freedom is being yourself. No one can ever take that away from you. In jail or out of jail, you are still yourself, express it. I wasn't in jail and I knew that for myself since I don't know when. These guys in jail I believe have changed but it takes being locked up in a cell for years to see it? Why couldn't they before jail see the actual freedom they had? Now that they are in jail they claim that people outside don't know what freedom is. I do know what freedom is and I'm enjoying the fuck out of it. I will go party, I will go have fun with my friends, but I will also be with my family, do my homework and occasionally watch the sunrise, because I've already done that, and thought about how great it is, being in prison doesn't make you, you make you, you've always had the freedom to do that. Thu, 10 Mar 2011 20:28:08 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/07/freedom/#IDComment133926136 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/13/the-other-side/#IDComment130395777 W. seems like a really stable harmless guy. It's crazy to think to yourself that one choice you make in life can have a ripple effect and change everything for you. He was only 15 years old, and committed one of the worse crimes known to man. When I was fifteen years old I was in tenth grade!! I was soo young I couldn't even drive yet. What was his reasoning? Why would he do such a thing. I was hoping for more of an explanation on why he did what he did, but that wasn't what the article was about. To be able to confront the family of the victim had to be hard, and take some serious balls. I have a hard time confronting my parents when something goes wrong or I fuck up so W. I give you the man of the year award I wish I could be as strong as you. Most of us in this world really don't know ourselves, we can sit here and act like we do, but we don't. The only way to me to find out who you really are is to be put into a situation like W., where you have hours and hours everyday alone with yourself, that is when you can see the real you. Then things like confronting problems you face in life will not be so hard. Finding a religion and believing in it would just make more sense, because if you know yourself you know what is good for you, without any influence from the rest of the world. That's deep, just the way this guy writes I want to meet him, I bet he is a stand up guy. The kind of guy you can go to about problems, talk to, and just hang with. It sucks he's in jail probably for the rest of his life, for something he did when he was only 15 years old. To conclude on all of this, the way I look at it is, I'm glad he was able see himself, and really think deeply on what he did, but life is about choices you make, no matter what age. He had the decision to not murder someone and he did anyway, so sadly enough he is where he belongs, I'm not saying it's fair, it's just life. He knew the consequences of his actions now sadly enough he needs to live with them. Thu, 24 Feb 2011 19:24:45 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/13/the-other-side/#IDComment130395777 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/09/4092/#IDComment127446952 I fell bad for this guy. I also do believe in second chances, but it was breaking the law. I believe that life is about the choices you make. He didn't have to kill anyone 26 years ago that was a decision he made in his life that sadly put him behind bars. Should I feel bad enough to let him out? Nope. I believe the decision he made then can be easily done again. He had the choice not to kill a teenager but he did, so in my eyes he should be put to death. Now a days the prison system sucks up more tax dollars than the education system, and that isn't right at all. Why can't we focus more on educating ours kids so in turn they have better jobs and better lives hopefully not allowing them to make the decision to kill someone. Now all these invisible strings and the fact that someone is going to no matter what kill someone is to me bull. As I said before the decisions we make are decisions WE MAKE, we can go around pointing fingers saying it's someone else's fault because I believe in being responsible for your actions right?... So if at anytime I kill someone i realize that i should go to jail and or maybe get the electric chair. Why? because i killed someone why should i be alive if i killed someone with an intent to kill them? So I do feel bad for this guy but, in a way he had it coming, what goes around comes around, it's rough but that's what i believe Sat, 12 Feb 2011 01:17:18 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/09/4092/#IDComment127446952 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/27/americans-gone-wild/#IDComment125827007 Gun control? The kid is 5 years old he probably saw the gun and thought it was a toy and it was cool. He had no intent to shoot anyone it was all just a chlidish mistake... yes "child"ish. I do believe it was right to get the boy and take him out of the school, but not to press charges against him. I do understand that it is a fully loaded weapon, but get the weapon and let him be. He's 5 years old! His step father should be in trouble for having a loaded weapon in his car which i think was the the only childish thing that happened. Of course schools make big deals about everything and get soooo much authority involved it's sickening. This lame excuse at a story should not of left the school district it was in. All this will do is scar the kid and make him feel worthless and dumb. Which in reality he was only being a kid. We all have made mistakes when we were kids. Hurting friends or said things we regret. I bet in 15 years the kid would have forgot this whole ordeal if it wasn't presented as such a big deal. How memories do i remember as a 5 year old hmmmmmm none. So to prevent this from getting any bigger of a problem just let the kid go back to school like normal and make sure all firearms are out of reach from the real child in this mess the step father. Fri, 4 Feb 2011 04:11:26 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/27/americans-gone-wild/#IDComment125827007 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/19/rise-in-national-guard-and-reserve-suicides-whats-it-all-about-soc-001-blog/#IDComment122451431 Suicide seems to be a very complicated subject. I believe aside from what we learn in class and in books that suicide is driven by something. The fact that you can't hold your breath and die from lack of oxygen proves my point. It's natural but your body when given a chance will instinctively pass out. Suicide is a decision you make in life just like anything else. Everyone will take on life in a different way because everyone is different. So the decision they make is them, or it's been inside of them all along. I'm not the one to say it is for attention to commit suicide.... because that's bullshit. Now on to my point about something that drives a person to want to commit suicide. In the National Guard you have a lot of young people that are enlisted some by choice others by being forced by parents or maybe it's just a job. With our country being the way it is half supporting war half not, when a soldier goes to work everyday keeping in mind that they might die for their country might be a very scary subject for most people. The enlisted are probably torn on if it is worth it or not. Which would of course bring up the thought of suicide.... a way out. The thought of dying I believe is one of the most fearful things someone could think about, and dying without knowing when or how is also scary. So why not be in control of your own fate? So to me it is not suprising the number is rising in the army. It's a tough job done by tough people every day and maybe a little more recognition for the recruits and people enlisted would hopefully someday drop that number it's a rough topic Thu, 20 Jan 2011 06:51:50 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/19/rise-in-national-guard-and-reserve-suicides-whats-it-all-about-soc-001-blog/#IDComment122451431