grimmie 177 #1 November 13, 2009 I read a lot of SC and enjoy the various stances everyone takes on the hot issues of the day/week. After the Ft. Hood shooting and reading about the latest decisions in Afghanistan that need to be made, I thought I would post this poll. I'll give my thoughts (not that any of you care!) after a few responses. Feel free to add your own threats you feel are threatening us. I'm sure there are some of you that wish you could click an "Obama" or "Pat Robertson" selection. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skinnay 0 #2 November 13, 2009 Its easy. Just look at the statistics for the last year.. cancer: 500,000+ deaths car accidents: 30,000+ domestic murder-suicides: 500+ dog bites: 23 crazy fucking muslim guy: 13 shark attacks: 2 I vote for muslim extremists. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #3 November 13, 2009 Quote I read a lot of SC and enjoy the various stances everyone takes on the hot issues of the day/week. After the Ft. Hood shooting and reading about the latest decisions in Afghanistan that need to be made, I thought I would post this poll. I'll give my thoughts (not that any of you care!) after a few responses. Feel free to add your own threats you feel are threatening us. I'm sure there are some of you that wish you could click an "Obama" or "Pat Robertson" selection. I would click on SC half witsThe incessant attempts to bludgeon people with stupidity is just staggering in scope. I think the IDIOCRACY is coming 500 years earier than the movie Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lucky... 0 #4 November 13, 2009 I didn't see Republican ideology up there Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Krip 2 #5 November 13, 2009 US foreign policy Homeland security agency LobbyistsOne Jump Wonder Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MrDree 0 #6 November 13, 2009 Corporations (like Monsanto and DuPont) releasing extremely dangerous chemicals almost without control for the last 50 years, causing cancer, birth defects, pulmonary and coronary diseases, etc... And it's not just threatening the US, it's threatening the whole world."One day, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching." Dudeist Skydiver #101 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
justinb138 0 #7 November 13, 2009 Depends. By USA do you mean it's citizens, or it's government? Biggest threat to people - the federal government (and the special interests controlling it). The biggest threat I see from is government is the likely collapse of the US dollar if things continue at the same ridiculous rate. Biggest threat to the government - the people. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
usedtajump 1 #8 November 13, 2009 High-fructose corn syrup. The older I get the less I care who I piss off. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kbordson 8 #9 November 13, 2009 I'm going to combine a couple of the topics above. Hate/prejudice and apathy I think the biggest threat would be local extremist that are willing to take any measure to be heard coupled with a population that just seems content, almost entertained, with watching these horrific events on the television. The extremist don't have to be just religious. They could be nationalistic, animal rights activist, racist, political. According to this wiki site (I didn't want to click on any .mil or .gov sites about extremist groups.... so deal with wiki ) there are at least 33 organizations in the US that are considered extremist groups. (and for those non-US readers, yup, you gots em too) So my answer is more a reflection of us as a PEOPLE... not a blame on some outside influence. We are the biggest threat. But... I can live in hope that we will wake up and see what we are doing. Someday, we will understand what Plato's Cave is... and how just watching life on a screen... isn't life. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 1,649 #10 November 13, 2009 Poor education Asian economic power... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
grimmie 177 #11 November 13, 2009 Isn't it amazing that the Crips, Bloods, Mexican Mafia, biker gangs and a myriad of assorted local gangs aren't listed as "Extremists groups" in the USA wiki site? I think our threat from gang activity is being overlooked in a big way by our government. The "news" outlets like to create terrorists from the "Middle East" as the boogieman under the bed. Your chances of being harmed by a gang member is WAY greater. The apathy our nation has towards drive by shootings that kill or injure innocent people/children is appalling. The gangs are going hi-tech and getting young, suburban kids involved in their activities with the "cool" factor. It amazes me that all of the gang violence I have witnessed first hand over the years takes a back seat to other issues. In the city I work for we have about 2,500 gang members. There are TWO police officers assigned to gangs. Pitifull. I think it is time to handle our domestic threats. Just my 2 pennies worth. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
masterrig 1 #12 November 13, 2009 QuoteIsn't it amazing that the Crips, Bloods, Mexican Mafia, biker gangs and a myriad of assorted local gangs aren't listed as "Extremists groups" in the USA wiki site? I think our threat from gang activity is being overlooked in a big way by our government. The "news" outlets like to create terrorists from the "Middle East" as the boogieman under the bed. Your chances of being harmed by a gang member is WAY greater. The apathy our nation has towards drive by shootings that kill or injure innocent people/children is appalling. The gangs are going hi-tech and getting young, suburban kids involved in their activities with the "cool" factor. It amazes me that all of the gang violence I have witnessed first hand over the years takes a back seat to other issues. In the city I work for we have about 2,500 gang members. There are TWO police officers assigned to gangs. Pitifull. I think it is time to handle our domestic threats. Just my 2 pennies worth. For some reason, folks in this country don't seem to see the gang situation here as a big threat. I have friends in the Border Patrol who have told me that the majority of illegals crossing our southwest border are either gang members or those 'looking' to join gangs. their thoughts are to get in on the lucrative drug trafficking in this country. The scarey part of the gang situation is the young kids, trying to 'prove themelves' to the gangs. They'll kill at the mere notion. The usual response from too many folks is... 'legalize drugs'. I don't see it as that simple. Something has to be done about the gang situation NOW. I checked it out and was kinda' shocked to find that the gang problem is in each of our 50 states. they aren't just in L.A, Dallas, Chicago or just the big cities. Most of the gangs are Latin, with connections to the MS-13, Tango Blast, Latin Nation and other gangs based in Mexico, Central and South America. Much of the gang activity is controlled from our prisons. You are so correct... there is definately a gang problem in this country and it's getting bigger. Chuck Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
grimmie 177 #13 November 13, 2009 Here in SoCal the Crips and Bloods are joining forces to combat the Latin and Asian gangs moving in on their turf. I NEVER thought that would happen. Kids are getting gunned down in drive bys at high school homecoming football games and no one cares... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #14 November 13, 2009 Why did you single out Muslim extremists.. instead of just extremists? What about non-religiously-aligned extremists.and why only poll on a single Terrorist organisation? (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DrewEckhardt 0 #15 November 13, 2009 Quote I read a lot of SC and enjoy the various stances everyone takes on the hot issues of the day/week. After the Ft. Hood shooting and reading about the latest decisions in Afghanistan that need to be made, I thought I would post this poll. I'll give my thoughts (not that any of you care!) after a few responses. Feel free to add your own threats you feel are threatening us. I'm sure there are some of you that wish you could click an "Obama" or "Pat Robertson" selection. Fat is the biggest threat to America that we can do anything about. Obesity claims approximately 300,000 Americans each year. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10546692 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
grimmie 177 #16 November 13, 2009 I could have put up about 1,000 groups or things or people to vote for. I used Muslim extremists because they were featured in a different thread. That's why I said to feel free to put in your own #1 "threat". Nothing sinister here Shroppy, just voicing my concerns about gangs here in the US of A. Hell, I'm dissapointed no one nominated Sarah Palin. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
grimmie 177 #17 November 13, 2009 MrDree, good points. There is a chemical that has been outlawed worldwide called "Hexavalent Chromium". OSHA and other government agencies aren't removing it from the supply chain. It's the chemical that made everyone ill and dead in the movie "Erin Brockovich". A green chemical has been invented called "Trivalent Chromium" that is green. It works better and doesn't cause cancer. But Hex is still used worldwide. Strange... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andrewwhyte 1 #18 November 13, 2009 Quote Hell, I'm dissapointed no one nominated Sarah Palin. I think Amazon did. Quote The incessant attempts to bludgeon people with stupidity is just staggering in scope. I think the IDIOCRACY is coming 500 years earier than the movie Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #19 November 13, 2009 Quote Quote Hell, I'm dissapointed no one nominated Sarah Palin. I think Amazon did. Quote The incessant attempts to bludgeon people with stupidity is just staggering in scope. I think the IDIOCRACY is coming 500 years earier than the movie Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nerdgirl 0 #20 November 13, 2009 QuoteI read a lot of SC and enjoy the various stances everyone takes on the hot issues of the day/week. After the Ft. Hood shooting and reading about the latest decisions in Afghanistan that need to be made, I thought I would post this poll. I'll give my thoughts (not that any of you care!) after a few responses. Feel free to add your own threats you feel are threatening us. Hey, I’m interested in hearing what you and others think … and why. Long-term – my opinion the biggest threat to American security is the decline in the value of education. It seems that for some it’s become “cool” to be dumb or anti-education and something of which to be proud. As much as one might hold dear the Jeffersonian farmer ideal (& he was neither dumb, anti-education, nor did avoid spending time abroad in places like France, so that’s mythologized as well), that ideal as source of power left us over a century ago. Other nations will surpass us. Our investment in public education in the late 1800s and early 1900s may be the most significant reason why the US became the wealthy superpower in the latter half of the 20th Century. (One can argue whether destruction of Europe in WWII was necessary but not sufficient, I would argue that without the investment in education, we would not have been able to take advantage that the state of Europe at the end of WWII offered the US.) And altho' it is still something of a specialist novelty and *not* a deterministic indicator at this time, the first Americans are starting to get PhDs at Chinese Universities, e.g., Lora Saalman. Lack of investment in domestic infrastrcuture, as well. Short-term – US domestic economy. The only thing that I think can threaten the Republic in the next decade are multiple, multi-kiloton nuclear explosions. At this point, no terrorist group has access or even imagined capability to access that kind of weaponry. I do worry about Pakistan’s stability and its nuclear arsenal. I worry about regional instability in the Middle East. I worry about degraded/degrading command and control infrastructure within Russia’s nuclear weapons. I don’t worry that much *relatively* about DPRK. I’m coming to think of gangs, which you likely know have national and international reach in a few cases, as insurgencies. Although it’s not well-thought out, i.e., something I’m just tossing out there, I wonder what would have been the result if the ~$50B that has been invested since 2001 in combating potential biological agents, e.g., anthrax, would have been invested in local communities anti-gang initiatives that included policing and education. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nerdgirl 0 #21 November 13, 2009 Quote Hell, I'm dissapointed no one nominated Sarah Palin. Hey, I got compared to Sarah Palin ... or told I had been the other day. I'm not sure whether to be proud, disappointed, or what ... but that story is a post for Women's Forum./Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #22 November 13, 2009 Fair dos (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
masterrig 1 #23 November 13, 2009 The scarey part is how young the 'new' gang-bangers are. They have now idea what they are doing and will gun-down anyone to prove they are 'gang worthy'. Another thing, there is not a single community in this country that is not effected by gangs. I've noticed here, in these forums how folks just breeze over the idea. Here in Texas, it's 'Arian' gangs as well as the Latin gangs. They are moving into the suburbs throughout thi country. We have 'real' problem and noone cares. Probably because, it isn't to the scale of 9/11 or the recent murders at Fort Hood. Folks need to wake-up. Chuck Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jcd11235 0 #24 November 13, 2009 U.S. Foreign policy: blowback from past foreign policy, the industrial military complex, perpetuation of less than competent high level US military leadership (civilian and uniformed), use of inaccurate/baseless propaganda to promote misguided foreign policy, unwarranted support for Israel Domestic policy: insufficient focus on education, energy, and infrastructure, insufficient regulation in financial markets. Culture: Pride in ignorance and undervaluing of education, clinging to inaccurate propaganda from past and present (typically foreign policy related, e.g., capitalists good, socialists bad; Muslim extremists trying to force the world to regress back to a modern version of 7th century caliphate, etc.), failure to acknowledge basic healthcare as a human right, failure to acknowledge anthropogenic global warming.Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mnealtx 0 #25 November 13, 2009 Quotefailure to acknowledge basic healthcare as a human right, failure to acknowledge anthropogenic global warming. Who's going to give you that "healthcare human right" when the doctor quits/dies/whatever? Not EVEN going into the GW bullshit...Mike I love you, Shannon and Jim. POPS 9708 , SCR 14706 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
