Jump to content

udx

Senior Member
  • Posts

    684
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    2

Posts posted by udx

  1. 6 hours ago, shiloh357 said:

    Islam is not a religion in conventional sense.  Islam is a government with its own set of laws and judicial system, which runs completely contrary to our Constitution.   By the way, in the historical context of our Constitution, the First Amendment was only meant to protect Christians.   We didn't have an influx of Muslims and other religions at the time that Amendment was written.   But now, since 9/11, Muslims have been able to exploit our Constitution to their advantage while tying our hands behind our back.  And we are just stupid and naïve enough to let them to do it. 

    As it stands now, Christian freedom of religion is being forced to take a backseat to Muslim hyper-sensitivity.   Places in our country are being forced to abandon our Christian traditions around the holidays because Muslims don't want to tolerate hearing "Merry Christmas"  and schools can no longer have "Christmas parties"  or even sing traditional Christian Christmas carols.   Schools are allowed to "constitutionally"  to accommodate Ramadan, but are forbidden to let Christians pray on campus.    Christians are being taken to court for multitudinous reasons and our freedoms are being stripped slowly but steadily by the Muslims, gays and every other wicked perversion  out there and their sympathizers in the judiciary. 

    So don't give me this crap about "freedom of religion."    It is precisely because of religious freedom that we need to expunge an ideology that is directly opposed to religious freedom and which exploits our 1st amendment freedom to shield itself from having its anti-freedom agenda exposed.   We systematically losing our freedoms because Islam uses our freedoms against us.

    Once the Muslims become the majority (and they aim to do just that) there won't be any freedom to preach the Gospel here.  We have been sending missionaries all over the world for centuries and it is a lot easier to do that today, than it was back then, so it's not like we are hurting in that area.   The Gospel is something to go tell, not something to come and hear.   So send the Muslims back to their countries and we can share the gospel there. 

    Looks like you have absolutely no faith in God's power and do not see how God is in control.

    No, the Constitution is not only meant to protect Christians. It is meant to protect everybody from the government. Once you start to single out a certain group of people, the protection is already lost. It would then  always depend on the whims of the government which group of people would be afforded protection, certain groups would have more rights and equality than others, instead of everybody having the same rights.

    The encroachment of Muslim influence on American society is only a symptom of spiritual decay. Just trying to cure the symptom may solve the problem for a time, but it doesn't solve the underlying issue.

  2. 15 hours ago, shiloh357 said:

    We need to shut down ALL Muslim immigration to the US and outlaw Islam in the US if we want to preserve our nation.   If you want to be Muslim, go to a Muslim country.  The US has no use for Islam or those who follow it.

    I strongly disagree. Outlawing any religion is unconstitutional, and would sit forth precedent to outlawing other religions including Christianity. There would be no longer freedom of religion. 

    Instead of viewing as an invasion, you should view it in God's eyes and see it as an opportunity to preach the gospel to the Muslim community. It is a lot less risky to preach the gospel to the Muslim community here instead of sending missionaries to Muslim countries. Spread the gospel back to Muslim countries by converting the Muslims coming into the country. My local Church and Pastor are pushing and equipping the congregation on how to witness to the Muslim community.

  3. I am not sure that I don't think that most homeowners are really only a different class of renters.  To me, a 30 year mortgage is just like a 30 year rental agreement with perks when it's tax season.  I think that banks have manipulated the right to property.  We have something of the illusion of property rights because a lord of the land (landlord) goes by the name of Wells Fargo or Bank of America instead of Lord Dunmore or Lord Devonshire.  

    Upton Sinclair presented a interesting point of view of the real estate agent in his book "The Jungle."  The real estate agent was like a bad car salesman who took poor Jurgis for a ride promising him much if he decided to buy a home instead of renting and delivering little.  It turns out that the real estate agent would flip the house over and over to poor immigrants families who could fully understand the contract they were entering into and would inevitably spend more money buying the home than renting, which would lead to foreclosure and the home never really being owned by anyone but the bank.  No matter how many times it changed hands, the bank was always the true owner of the home.  

    Upton Sinclair was not concerned about writing a fairy tale because he had his own protagonist suffer the same fate.  It was very sad, but very insightful.  I have often considered how different real estate is from this perspective that he presented, which inspired significant social change for the meat packing industry.  I think his perspective towards real estate was overlooked in light of this.   

    I agree. With how much property tax people are burden with, it is pretty much renting. If you can't pay the property tax, your property would be taken from you just like if you fail to pay the rent.

  4. I have been renting for years.I know the game.

    Ah..  Seems like you want to use the I have more experience than you type of argument on me.

    I should clarify then. I used to own a house, but sold it. I have rented the house out while I owned it. Why don't we go back to discussing the issue instead of these irrelevant details.

  5. A couple of things about the free market concept.

    1. Rents can only go so high before the market rejects them. Similar to house prices.

    2. A landlord who cannot be satisfied with a 10% return on investment is clearly greedy.

    3. To avoid being a helpless lifetime tenant, become an ethical landlord.

    Where did you get this magic number of 10% over any other number? Why do you get to decide the demarcation line between greedy and not greedy in isolation of any other factors?

    Real Estate – Without using any debt, real estate return demands from investors mirror those of business ownership and stocks. The real rate of return for good, non-leveraged properties is roughly 7% after inflation. Since we have gone through decades of 3% inflation, over the past 20 years, that figure has stabilized at 10%. Riskier projects require higher rates of return. Plus, real estate investors are known for using mortgages, which are a form of leverage, to increase the return on their investment.

    http://beginnersinvest.about.com/od/beginnerscorner/a/What-Is-Considered-A-Good-Rate-Of-Return-On-Your-Investments.htm

    That does not answer the question. Why do you get to decide it is greed if it is over 10%?

    Like the article says.. and what I implied, risker project require higher return rates.

    Are you a property owner who rents out homes?

    No. Just a person who dislike and challenge arguments/positions that are very one sided.

  6. A couple of things about the free market concept.

    1. Rents can only go so high before the market rejects them. Similar to house prices.

    2. A landlord who cannot be satisfied with a 10% return on investment is clearly greedy.

    3. To avoid being a helpless lifetime tenant, become an ethical landlord.

    Where did you get this magic number of 10% over any other number? Why do you get to decide the demarcation line between greedy and not greedy in isolation of any other factors?

    Real Estate – Without using any debt, real estate return demands from investors mirror those of business ownership and stocks. The real rate of return for good, non-leveraged properties is roughly 7% after inflation. Since we have gone through decades of 3% inflation, over the past 20 years, that figure has stabilized at 10%. Riskier projects require higher rates of return. Plus, real estate investors are known for using mortgages, which are a form of leverage, to increase the return on their investment.

    http://beginnersinvest.about.com/od/beginnerscorner/a/What-Is-Considered-A-Good-Rate-Of-Return-On-Your-Investments.htm

    That does not answer the question. Why do you get to decide it is greed if it is over 10%?

    Like the article says.. and what I implied, risker project require higher return rates.

  7. A couple of things about the free market concept.

    1. Rents can only go so high before the market rejects them. Similar to house prices.

    2. A landlord who cannot be satisfied with a 10% return on investment is clearly greedy.

    3. To avoid being a helpless lifetime tenant, become an ethical landlord.

    Where did you get this magic number of 10% over any other number? Why do you get to decide the demarcation line between greedy and not greedy in isolation of any other factors?

  8.  

    This is how free market works.  Market dictate what rental price it would be.  This isn't greed.  If it is greed to charge as much as what people would be willing to pay, then it is also greed to find to cheapest rental house you can afford (demand the highest wage for a job).  Just the flip side of the coin from the owner's perspective.

    I believe that the free market concept is good. However there is no denying that for many landlords greed is a major factor when the demand exceeds the supply.  That is exactly why I said sometime back that mortgage debt is using debt for the right reasons.  If any person can save enough for a down payment and has a steady income to cover the monthly payments and necessities, then that is the only way to avoid becoming enslaved to a landlord. With the current level of interest rates, the monthly payments will often be equal to or less than rent.  And there are cities in the USA where a house can be purchased at a very reasonable price. Please do a search and see for yourself. Everyone does not have to live in New York.

    Greed is definitely one of the factors.Buying a home is always the smarter way to go financially because the owner of the home is reaping the benefits.

    I don't think we should be so quick to judge people as greedy. You don't know people's circumstances. Greed means avid desire for gain or wealth. You don't know people's heart, it is unfair to classify most/all landlords as greedy, just because you think the rent is too high. A lot of people call out other people as greedy, but they are just really coveting person's wealth themselves.

    I am not coveting their wealth.You should see what kind of rent they are trying to get for a literal run down shack.Then when they have not rented it after a couple of months they come down several hundred dollars.

    I understand. I am not saying you are, but many people really do look at landlords with envy. 

    Have you ever been a landlord yourself? Do you understand the cost that factor into the rent?

    We should look into the situation in someone else's perspective and not always pity the poor over who seems to have more. High rental rates only reflects an underlying problem of not enough supply. If you only think it is the landlords fault, then you would be like those politicians that implement those short sighted rent control policies that exacerbate the problem without fixing it.

    For example in San Francisco, cost of houses/apartment themselves are really high, and lease agreements protects the tenant a lot more than the landlord... landlord have to factor these into the cost of the rent. There are also so call professional renters, that rent apartment but dont play rent. They play the legal game and stay at one place rent free until evicted by police, which could take months, causing tremendous cost the the landlord. A lot of the time the rent barely breaks even on the mortgage, and there is always the risk the real estate do not appreciate, then the landlord would lose money. All these are risks that factor into this rental investment.

  9.  

    This is how free market works.  Market dictate what rental price it would be.  This isn't greed.  If it is greed to charge as much as what people would be willing to pay, then it is also greed to find to cheapest rental house you can afford (demand the highest wage for a job).  Just the flip side of the coin from the owner's perspective.

    I believe that the free market concept is good. However there is no denying that for many landlords greed is a major factor when the demand exceeds the supply.  That is exactly why I said sometime back that mortgage debt is using debt for the right reasons.  If any person can save enough for a down payment and has a steady income to cover the monthly payments and necessities, then that is the only way to avoid becoming enslaved to a landlord. With the current level of interest rates, the monthly payments will often be equal to or less than rent.  And there are cities in the USA where a house can be purchased at a very reasonable price. Please do a search and see for yourself. Everyone does not have to live in New York.

    Greed is definitely one of the factors.Buying a home is always the smarter way to go financially because the owner of the home is reaping the benefits.

    I don't think we should be so quick to judge people as greedy. You don't know people's circumstances. Greed means avid desire for gain or wealth. You don't know people's heart, it is unfair to classify most/all landlords as greedy, just because you think the rent is too high. A lot of people call out other people as greedy, but they are just really coveting person's wealth themselves.

  10. I use debt as a tool.  I intentionally go into debt, not because I have to, but because it makes financial sense.

    For example, I could pay my car off in cash, but why pay it off in cash when I could get the car with 0% interest financing while my cash could be earning interest. I would also be paying back the loan with inflated dollars. 

    Real example. There is a car selling for $25k with tax included. You could be paying it with cash for $24.5k with $500 cash rebate. On the other hand I could pay for with 60 monthly installments at 0% over 5 years. But note, i would be paying the loan with inflated dollars which would be worth less than $24.5k in today's dollars, not to mention I could be earning interest with the cash I have on hand.  I am essentially taking out a loan of 25k for free! You gotta be disciplined and not spend this money foolishly. This decision wouldn't be the same if interest rate is higher of course. However, one needs to watch out and not overextend by using this cash to do risky investments, but consider it as cash spent and use it on very conservative cash equivalent investments.

    Debt, like money, is a tool, but few are wise enough to wield it properly. All money are essentially debt, so I do not really distinguished between the two. They are just debt in different forms. Paper money originate from an IOU promising you that you can redeem gold, now it is just an IOU back by the government. If you hold on to money, you are holding someone else's debt. When there are no debt, there would be no money.

    GoldenEagle's advice on debt not going into debt is good for ordinary people. However, the next level would be how to use debt strategically, make debt and money work for you instead of being controlled by them. If you are not good with money, then stick to GoldenEagle's advice.

  11. If your income is too low compare to the loan you are getting you are going to get turned down no matter how high your credit is. It seems like this is the case right now, you have too much debt relative to income, or the loan you want to get is too big. At your current credit score you should be able to get any loans.

     

  12. My answer would be..

    Of course! Why shouldn't a Christian be paid for services rendered?
    Why don't you ask it this way, should a Christian store sell products for free? Of course not. Services like products are valuable combination of time and talent why should they be provided for free.

    If you would like to provide services for free, it would be like a donation or charitable act and it would be at your discretion, but the norm is to get paid for services rendered.

     

     

  13. In my op, I merely wanted to address whether or not the spouse should divorce the other spouse. I also clearly stated it is a crime and needed to be addressed as in charged and going to jail. The subway guy went beyond just looking. So his spouse had a biblical reason to divorce since he committed adultery. I am just curious if folks thought it was ok to divorce someone for just looking at porn. No matter how criminally wrong and sick it is.

    If you look at it as GOD looks at it, than it is adultery, which is the only reason that GOD accepts for divorce. So, my answer is "yes."

    I disagree with your assessment. 

    Just like Jesus says hating your enemies is tantamount to murder, it is not exactly the same in the criminal sense. It is only by God's standards adultery of the heart and hating someone is equivalent to physical adultery and murder, but definitely do not warrant the same punishment. You cannot use God's standards to punish and judge people or else we would all be dead, only God could use his standards, but because of his Grace we are forgiven. Jesus was showing that it is impossible to be sinless by God's standards and that we all need to be redeemed.

  14. There is a way around that.  Set workloads and don't hire more people to do the job...  if someone isn't pulling their weight others have to work harder to get the job done...  if job not done everyone gets cut back on bonuses.  When you make it a burden on others they will ask the union to get rid of the person.

    This is a lot easier said than done. In an ideal world that is what should happen. If they know exactly what the workload is and how much to hire then we wouldn't need the HR department.

  15. Nope. I believe humans are capable of evil all on its own due to the sin nature. Satan could be locked up and humans would still sin.

    However, indirectly you could claim that Satan is behind all adversity due to tempting humans to sin, resulting in the curse that bring about human adversity.

  16.  

     

    When new president takes over. Will it be to late for him to fix what our president did now. I also heard that our president is trying to get another term. I don't think he can do that. Can he.

    He can definitely do another term if enough people in the public supports him. The US Constitution is only for reference only, quoted when convenient, and ignore when not. An indefinite dictatorship is not out of question if some sort of crisis occur near the end of the term before a new president could be elected.

     

    I think in order to change, you would need the public to change, a leader can do a lot but only as much as the public allows. The nation has deteriorated so much because the people have allowed to be lead this way.

    I believe there would need several terms of leader willing to sacrifice their lives in order to turn things around. One does not truly make meaningful change unless you confront the real powers behind the politics. President of the country is not the most powerful person in the Nation. Presidents have become the position of top minion for the highest bidder. From what the current president does and how he behaves, I do not think he really has independent power or capable of what he is doing by himself. I think there are powerful forces behind him that are the ones pushing their agenda through him.

     

     

    You seem to know a lot about American government; who do you believe these powerful people to be?

     

    If you really want to know... The old phrase "follow the money" seem to fit the bill.

     

    Although I could not identify specific individuals with the power, because these individual are masters at being behind the scenes. I could identify the class of people they belong to.

     

    They are individual that controls the world's money and money supply. Through control of world's wealth they hold control and power. They have nearly unlimited wealth and money at their disposal because they control the production of it. Once a person or group of people have unlimited wealth, they go for power, control and domination.

     

    Notice that 'elections' are taking increasing amount of money to fund, who do you think funds these elections. The politicians are beholden to their 'investors/sponsors' or there will be consequences.

  17.  

     

    It's not a conspiracy theory. The Illuminati have been present behind the scenes for decades. One World Government is what the UN is. all the "Free Trade" agreements facilitate it. There is no secret about these agreements. Simply denials by simple minded people who refuse to admit what is obvious. Letting illegals vote, dead people voting, letting people vote without proving that they have the right to....you don't think that that is rigging the election? Conservatives have been pushing for voter reform, liberals, progressives and socialists have been fighting it. Home many time in the last 10 election cycles has a conservative (Republican?) won a presidential election?

    The anti-Christ has been alive and ready to step in in a moments notice for centuries. Satan doesn't have any idea when the Rapture (or Christ's coming if you don't believe in the Rapture) will occur, so he has had this person ready. Sure, it has been a different individual throughout this period of time, but there has always been one ready.

    Looks like somebody does not understand what it means to be a "conspiracy theory". 

     

    The word, to conspire is a verb to make secret plans jointly to commit unlawful or harmful act.

    A conspiracy is basically when a group of people plot in secret with intent to do harm. A conspiracy theory is an explanation of a particular conspiracy. A conspiracy does not automatically mean "false or fanciful idea" that some people have come to interpret it as. There is no point claiming something isn't a "conspiracy theory" as if it increase the legitimacy of what you are saying.

    Illuminati working behind the scenes definitely fits definition of a conspiracy theory. Illuminati are a group of people that plots in secret with intent to do harm to the public.

     

    I always find it silly that people like to start with "it is not an conspiracy" and proceed on to describe a conspiracy. Human history is full of conspiracies and thus a lot of conspiracy theories, the Bible has a good documentation of human history and have mention many of these conspiracy theories.

     

    Psalm 2:1 (NIV) Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?

     

    Yah, you're a funny guy. Finish the definition of conspire: synonyms: plot · scheme · plan · intrigue · machinate · collude · connive. You do know what plan means, right? Conspiring does not always mean to do harm. Now, lets define theory:  a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially one based on general principles independent of the thing to be explained. There is a big difference between being a conspiracy and being a conspiracy theorist. I took the_patriot2015's comment to mean that I had some far out theory that would be akin to the "vast right-wing conspiracy" that Hillary Clinton always refers to when trying to explain away her and her husband's foibles.

     

    Patriot2015, like many others on this forum does not use the proper definition of "conspiracy theory" and "conspiracy theorist". In their definition "conspiracy theory" is a fanciful idea that can not be true and "conspiracy theorist" is a crazy person that believe outlandish "conspiracy theory". I just want to get the proper definition down so people are on the same page.

     

    "Conspiracy theory" and "Conspiracy theorist" are often disparage by the government and government controlled media so the public would conform to the 'official story' and not analyze facts critically or for themselves. It is a means for which government discourage people to dissent, criticize the government and uncover corruption.

     

    Media and government try hard to tag a negative connotation to "conspiracy" so anyone who dare think otherwise are labeled and marginalized from public discourse. They do this by making a big deal out of wrong conspiracy theory. I do understand many conspiracy theories are false, but that does not give one license to generalize that all of them are false.

     

    What does your explaining the definition of conspiracy and conspiracy theory have anything to do with the discussion, it does not go against what I have been saying? You only added/expanded to definition of conspiracy, so what. What point are you trying to make?

  18.  

     

    When new president takes over. Will it be to late for him to fix what our president did now. I also heard that our president is trying to get another term. I don't think he can do that. Can he.

    He can definitely do another term if enough people in the public supports him. The US Constitution is only for reference only, quoted when convenient, and ignore when not. An indefinite dictatorship is not out of question if some sort of crisis occur near the end of the term before a new president could be elected.

     

    Wrong.  The only way the election would be called off is if we were in a state of declared war.  Brush up on American constitutional law UDX.

     

    I do know American constitutional law, thank you very much.

     

    I am not saying that he would go for another term by normal means if goes for another 'term' you are totally missing the point.

  19. When new president takes over. Will it be to late for him to fix what our president did now. I also heard that our president is trying to get another term. I don't think he can do that. Can he.

    He can definitely do another term if enough people in the public supports him. The US Constitution is only for reference only, quoted when convenient, and ignore when not. An indefinite dictatorship is not out of question if some sort of crisis occur near the end of the term before a new president could be elected.

     

    I think in order to change, you would need the public to change, a leader can do a lot but only as much as the public allows. The nation has deteriorated so much because the people have allowed to be lead this way.

    I believe there would need several terms of leader willing to sacrifice their lives in order to turn things around. One does not truly make meaningful change unless you confront the real powers behind the politics. President of the country is not the most powerful person in the Nation. Presidents have become the position of top minion for the highest bidder. From what the current president does and how he behaves, I do not think he really has independent power or capable of what he is doing by himself. I think there are powerful forces behind him that are the ones pushing their agenda through him.

  20. It's not a conspiracy theory. The Illuminati have been present behind the scenes for decades. One World Government is what the UN is. all the "Free Trade" agreements facilitate it. There is no secret about these agreements. Simply denials by simple minded people who refuse to admit what is obvious. Letting illegals vote, dead people voting, letting people vote without proving that they have the right to....you don't think that that is rigging the election? Conservatives have been pushing for voter reform, liberals, progressives and socialists have been fighting it. Home many time in the last 10 election cycles has a conservative (Republican?) won a presidential election?

    The anti-Christ has been alive and ready to step in in a moments notice for centuries. Satan doesn't have any idea when the Rapture (or Christ's coming if you don't believe in the Rapture) will occur, so he has had this person ready. Sure, it has been a different individual throughout this period of time, but there has always been one ready.

    Looks like somebody does not understand what it means to be a "conspiracy theory". 

     

    The word, to conspire is a verb to make secret plans jointly to commit unlawful or harmful act.

    A conspiracy is basically when a group of people plot in secret with intent to do harm. A conspiracy theory is an explanation of a particular conspiracy. A conspiracy does not automatically mean "false or fanciful idea" that some people have come to interpret it as. There is no point claiming something isn't a "conspiracy theory" as if it increase the legitimacy of what you are saying.

    Illuminati working behind the scenes definitely fits definition of a conspiracy theory. Illuminati are a group of people that plots in secret with intent to do harm to the public.

     

    I always find it silly that people like to start with "it is not an conspiracy" and proceed on to describe a conspiracy. Human history is full of conspiracies and thus a lot of conspiracy theories, the Bible has a good documentation of human history and have mention many of these conspiracy theories.

     

    Psalm 2:1 (NIV) Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?

×
×
  • Create New...