Explosions at Boston Marathon

[kentonio]

Why was Dresden a war crime and not Hamburg ? Or Tokyo, or Hiroshima or Nagasaki ? The death toll has been much exaggerated, first by Goebbels and the Nazi propagandists, then by the East German Communists, and also by Nazi apologists such as David Irving.

If your point is that it wasn't a legitimate military target, then the Yearbook produced by Dresden's own Chamber of Commerce before the war shows that this wasn't the case- far from being simply a Baroque architectural showcase producing nothing but Meissen sheperdesses and teasets, Dresden produced much military hardware. It was also a communications and railway centre.

Churchill may have regreeted it afterwards, but the mass bombing by Allied aircraft was in the same spirit as the bombing of Koln or Hamburg- and firestorms were also a matter of luck, and in WWII there really was no such thing as precision bombing, in or out of daylight.

Harris was out of control and displayed it on a number of occasions by over-stepping his authority. The military value of Dresden did not warrant the destruction of the city, and in his own words Harris made clear his willingness to commit acts of barbarity.

[DinoDoc]

No.

Why not?

[Dinner]

Does this count as State sponsored terrorism: Tsarnaev family received $100G in benefits?

Meh, 10 years of welfare for three people = $3333 per person per year. Hardly a massive haul. Just sending a kid to a cheap school for a year costs something like $8000 not counting lunches, sports, or extra activities.

[DinoDoc]

Meh, 10 years of welfare for three people = $3333 per person per year. Hardly a massive haul. Just sending a kid to a cheap school for a year costs something like $8000 not counting lunches, sports, or extra activities.

I'm slightly more interested in the fact we give welfare payments to non-citizens at all.

[DaShi]

Or make them pay taxes.

[DinoDoc]

How do the two connect in your mind?

[DaShi]

It's the same as state sponsored terrorism.

DD, proof that there are stupid questions.

[Dinner]

I'm slightly more interested in the fact we give welfare payments to non-citizens at all.

Legal residents have just about all the same rights as a citizen minus voting and having to serve on a jury. They can even get drafted so I have no problem with letting immigrants have ~$277 per month to keep them from starving to death or freezing in the streets. I think we're a rich enough country to afford that much.

10 years is a bit of a long time and I'd hope most of the people don't linger in the system that long (which btw only 19% stay five years or longer [http://wordforge.net/showthread.php?t=99320]) but even so it is a small amount and probably spike towards the end as the older brother was married with a kid but didn't work (though his American born wife did).

[DinoDoc]

They can even get drafted so I have no problem with letting immigrants have ~$277 per month to keep them from starving to death or freezing in the streets.

Why keep them in the country at all? What value do immigrants on welfare provide the country?

10 years is a bit of a long time

A bit of a long time?

[Dinner]

If they want to change the rules for immigrants I'd be fine with that just as long as citizen means citizen and all citizens have equal rights. I kind of do agree that letting in resident aliens who aren't citizens and letting them sign up for welfare isn't good policy but I imagine most of them don't stay on it long and over the long term the government does make money off of them. There is likely a learning curve wrt language and what not though. I'd definitely like to see the immigrant pool skewed more towards educated professionals.

[Dr Strangelove]

Weren't they given refugee status?

[DinoDoc]

Weren't they given refugee status?

The family moved back to Russia and he willing went back on an "extended vacation" there which would seem to indicate the refugee claim was a scam.

[regexcellent]

If they want to change the rules for immigrants I'd be fine with that just as long as citizen means citizen and all citizens have equal rights. I kind of do agree that letting in resident aliens who aren't citizens and letting them sign up for welfare isn't good policy but I imagine most of them don't stay on it long and over the long term the government does make money off of them. There is likely a learning curve wrt language and what not though. I'd definitely like to see the immigrant pool skewed more towards educated professionals.

We have plenty of educated professionals. I want to see the immigrant pool skewed towards poor as **** uneducated Mexicans looking for a better life.

[DinoDoc]

We have plenty of educated professionals. I want to see the immigrant pool skewed towards poor as **** uneducated Mexicans looking for a better life.

What value do immigrants on welfare provide the country?

[regexcellent]

Begging the question.