[★★★★★]

Since you clearly did not understand my argument, I will now proceed to prove that the earth is not round.

I live along the California Monterey Bay. It is a relatively long bay that sits next to the Pacific Ocean. The exact distance between the extremes of the Monterey Bay, Lovers Point in Pacific Grove and Lighthouse State Beach in Santa Cruz, is 33.4 statute miles.

On a very clear and chilly day it is possible to see Lighthouse Beach from Lovers Point and vice versa. With a good telescope, laying down on the stomach at the edge of the shore on the Lovers Point beach 20 inches above the sea level it is possible to see people at the waters edge on the adjacent beach 33 miles away near the lighthouse. The entire beach is visible down to the water splashing upon the shore. Upon looking into the telescope I can see children running in and out of the water, splashing and playing. I can see people sun bathing at the shore and teenagers merrily throwing Frisbees to one another. I can see runners jogging along the water's edge with their dogs. From my vantage point the entire beach is visible.

IF the earth is a globe, and is 24,900 English statute miles in circumference, the surface of all standing water must have a certain degree of convexity--every part must be an arc of a circle. From the summit of any such arc there will exist a curvature or declination of 8 inches in the first statute mile. In the second mile the fall will be 32 inches; in the third mile, 72 inches, or 6 feet. Ergo; looking at the opposite beach 30 miles away there should be a bulge of water over 600 feet tall blocking my view. There isn't.

Here's the math:


Suppose that the earth is a sphere with a radius of 3,963 miles. If you are at a point P on the earth's surface and move tangent to the surface a distance of 1 mile then you can form a right angled triangle as in the diagram.

Looking over a distance of 1 mile, we can use the theorem of Pythagoras:

a2 = 3,9632 + 12 = 15,705,370

and when we square root that figure we get a = 3,963.000126 miles

Thus your position is 3,963.000126 - 3,963 = 0.000126 miles above the surface of the earth.

0.000126 miles = 12 in * 5,280 ft * 0.000126 mi = 7.98 inches

Hence after one mile the earth drops approximately 8 inches.

Ergo, looking across 30 miles the Pythagorean theorem becomes:

a2 = 39632 +302 = 15,706,269

and when we square root that figure we get a = 3,963.113549 miles

Thus your position is 3,963.113549 - 3,963 = 0.113549 miles above the surface of the earth

0.113549 miles = 5,280 ft * 0.113549 mi = 599.53872 feet

Hence after 30 miles the earth drops approximately 600 feet.

Whenever I have doubts about the shape of the earth I simply walk outside my home, down to the beach, and perform this simple test. The same result comes up over and over throughout the year under a plethora of different atmospheric conditions.

There are a number of different methods to calculate the drop of the Round Earth. Go ahead and look some up try a few out. You will find that the drop while looking over 30 miles is on the order of 600 feet.

Curious since we're talking about Syria. What's the problem with waiting for their presidential elections in 2014, which is right after the Parliament elections?

Seriously.

[★★★★★]

I take it then that you are in fact not sure that the earth is round, likely because your revolutionary elders were unable to shed any wisdom on that. More likely though because you have the intellect of a 12-year-old and are still working on your GED. Which goes back to my original point: people of insufficient intellect need to stop presenting their retarded opinions, or retarded opinions of others, on matters they are too uneducated or ignorant to judge or hold a serious perspective in.

Curious since we're talking about Syria. What's the problem with waiting for their presidential elections in 2014, which is right after the Parliament elections?

Seriously.

[Tattle]

@Hiddepalm Stop quoting yourself. If someone found what you said interesting, they would respond. Now I am responding because what you are doing is interesting.

[Disk4mat]

As an innocent bystander, I have to say: ★★★★★ absolutely wrecked you guys in debating.

[kareem]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyQIv5wyYGE

[XVI]

Very interesting topic.
Been following it since the start.

It's all pretty simple
Bashar is a Dictator.
The country is governed by a one-party state without free elections.
The authorities harass and imprison human rights activists and other critics of the government
Freedom of expression, association and assembly are strictly controlled.
Women and ethnic minorities face discrimination.
Syria's human rights situation had become one of the worst in the world.
Democracy should be a right for every human being.
People should be able to walk down their streets without fear of being killed by snipers or secret police.

[zackddog]

I'm gonna put my two cents in: What is going on is wrong. Wrong on so many levels. The Syrian government is acting in self defense. Against foreign terrorists acting as if they were local citizens. Those calling for the fall of the Syrian government are acting on the behalf of who knows who anymore. There are so many different interests and factions acting in the Middle East that it's becoming harder and harder to differentiate the truth from propaganda.

All that I'm going to agree with is that the government has the right to defend itself, that if closely monitored elections were scheduled, who really benefits from this revolt? That if we look at the recent examples that Egypt, Libya and now (again) Iraq are presenting, true civil war is not far behind. The religious extremists that fomented these "insurgencies" are meeting an equally determined citizenry unwilling to have their whole lives ruled by zealotry and ignorance. And living with the ghost of hatreds that go back for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

My two cents ran out.

[XVI]

And all this is happening because of what zackddog?

[zackddog]

And all this is happening because of what zackddog?

There are so many different interests and factions acting in the Middle East that it's becoming harder and harder to differentiate the truth from propaganda.

The dictator angle is just an excuse, whoever "they" are needed an excuse and the guy was handy. Mubarak is out. Gaddafi is out. Civil war is on. Who is benefiting the most? I don't believe that the guys with the guns are Syrians at all. And I still believe that the government has the right to defend itself. I would think different if the whatever they call themselves "Army" did not use civilians as shields and if they didn't hide and fire upon the regular troops from civilian residences, forcing the government troops to fire upon civilians. We have seen that tactic used all over the Middle East and Far East, from Hezbollah to Hamas, from Iraq to Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan and Pakistan and India. Then the "rebels" get the sympathy card and the government gets the condemnation of the "world opinion" for killing unarmed civilians. Stalin used that tactic and the US perfected it. But wait a minute, Syria finances a few of the same groups, who benefits if those groups lose their financing and go bankrupt?

Is it the CIA? American Big Oil? Israel? The US Government? The Muslim Brotherhood? Iran? The Sunni? Too much Chinese influence? Too much Russian influence? Big French Oil? Big British Oil? The oil market speculators? The bankers? Wall Street? Downing Street? Who benefits the most?

All and none of them? Someone who'd rather have chaos and strife because they are more profitable? Anarchy as a political end? The old "please, let us render assistance, help you bring this under control" Trojan horse?

Who benefits the most? Not the people of Syria, that's for damn sure.

[Beukies]

And all this is happening because of what zackddog?

Is it the CIA? American Big Oil? Israel? The US Government? The Muslim Brotherhood? Iran? The Sunni? Too much Chinese influence? Too much Russian influence? Big French Oil? Big British Oil? The oil market speculators? The bankers? Wall Street? Downing Street? Who benefits the most?

Yes, follow the money and you will have the answer!

[WhatAboutMe]

I'm gonna put my two cents in: What is going on is wrong. Wrong on so many levels. The Syrian government is acting in self defense. Against foreign terrorists acting as if they were local citizens. Those calling for the fall of the Syrian government are acting on the behalf of who knows who anymore. There are so many different interests and factions acting in the Middle East that it's becoming harder and harder to differentiate the truth from propaganda.

All that I'm going to agree with is that the government has the right to defend itself, that if closely monitored elections were scheduled, who really benefits from this revolt? That if we look at the recent examples that Egypt, Libya and now (again) Iraq are presenting, true civil war is not far behind. The religious extremists that fomented these "insurgencies" are meeting an equally determined citizenry unwilling to have their whole lives ruled by zealotry and ignorance. And living with the ghost of hatreds that go back for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

My two cents ran out.

Serious bro,
I love you!
It seems that there are still some people in this world who know the truth,
Go make yourself some children to keep your kind of people alive.
God Bless you.

Very interesting topic.
Been following it since the start.

It's all pretty simple
Bashar is a Dictator.
The country is governed by a one-party state without free elections.
The authorities harass and imprison human rights activists and other critics of the government
Freedom of expression, association and assembly are strictly controlled.
Women and ethnic minorities face discrimination.
Syria's human rights situation had become one of the worst in the world.
Democracy should be a right for every human being.
People should be able to walk down their streets without fear of being killed by snipers or secret police.

Have you really been following? If you have how come you havent addressed or questioned anything people are saying here?

"The country is governed by a one-party state without free elections."
They want to have Presidential elections, Parliament elections and change the constitution. They even want the opposition to run in it.

"Freedom of expression, association and assembly are strictly controlled."
Not exactly. Reporters are allowed to walk wherever they want, when they want. But things may have changed since the battle of Homs. But yes reporters have to sign in, kinda like reporters need a press pass in the States. But I am sure there is truth in your sentence, just not the way you have been informed, I assume from corporate media.

"Women and ethnic minorities face discrimination."
Where did you hear this?

"Syria's human rights situation had become one of the worst in the world."
It is being argued very well that the civilian deaths prior to the battle of homs were mostly fabricated. Assad admitted to coming down hard on protestors and that the military officers involved have been suspended. The battle of homs is a different story. Assad is not a saint, but I am arguing he was pushed into this war. And even so, allot of the "shelling" footage was also fabricated. Many of the scenes were not even in Syria! Crazy right?

"Democracy should be a right for every human being."
I agree. Thus we should let Syria hold its elections and stop arming the paramilitaries. Why wouldnt you agree to that?

"People should be able to walk down their streets without fear of being killed by snipers or secret police."
I agree. Those snipers are not Assad's though. This is classic paramilitary behavior. We saw this in Mexico, Colombia and Peru during the 80's and 90's, where paramilitary groups would murder civilians and blame the guerrillas. Plenty of news stations outside of US influence have exposed who these snipers are. But for some reason ... you lack access to the outside world? Is that true? I'm not trying to be a jerk, just hinting that if you want to know about something you have to look outside the US corporate media curtain.

Curious since we're talking about Syria. What's the problem with waiting for their presidential elections in 2014, which is right after the Parliament elections?

Seriously.

7 Latin American countries are in support of the elections and are against more weapons being sent in to escalate the violence. Of course that was censored in corporate media. It's why I kept quoting myself. Someone said that no one cared about my quote. Its not that at all, I believe some individuals dont care about democracy. But more than that, people havent responded because they dont know how to respond to it. Its a WTF?, I havent heard that? Well no of course many of us haven't, we here in the US are a isolated people.

People act like they care about civilians, but if we really truly care we would demand NATO's proxy army (who now people are exposing their ties to Alqueda of all people) to get out of Homs. No one in Homs asked for these paramilitary troops to come there. Further Assad is no humanitarian he will engage them where ever .... (even though it took him a year to respond)

Obama knows this, and so does Israel, and the Muslim Brotherhood, but they will still continue to escalate the violence by trying to arm the paramilitaries.

If you care, you have to also care about yourself. You cant allow others to manipulate you and your thinking. The war is unnecessary AS IS ALL WARS, and it is being fueled by a country that has bombed Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Kenya, Somalia, the Congo, Pakistan and Libya. People want elections in Syria, plain and simple. Assad even wanted to opposition to run in it, according to his interview with Barbara Walters, which I am sure none of these gun-ho lets nuke the world people saw.

[Beukies]

I believe every country should be left to their own devices. Too many outsiders (bullies) interfere in matters that have absolutely nothing to do with them. If people want to overthrow their government, let them do it. They put it there in the first place. If the government that was placed in charge of the people by the people, become despotic and dictatorial, it is up to the people to replace it.

No other country has the right to interfere.