discuss.

[SirPeale]

http://www.livejournal.com/users/disgruntledgrrl/304039.html?mode=reply

[RetroJames]

er?

[SirPeale]

Did you click the links?  Start at the top, work your way down.

[Dexter]

Read the first link and just have a think about what can be defined as a terrorist or an act of terror at this stage. Fascism at its dirtiest.

George orwell got the vision right, only the year was wrong. This is what the rest of the world finds bewildering. For a superpower to railroad democracy, freedom and liberty through a country it should at least be the shining example of it itself. Freedom begins at home boys and girls.

This story is pitiful but only one of many examples. I'm glad I live in a society where I can speak my mind and express myself without spooks or wannabe lawmen taking away my rights. Hell, I could walk around my mall with an 'I want you for Al Quaida' t-shirt with OBL taking the place of uncle sam, and all I'd get is a mixture of laughs and dirty looks, but no grief. Its called living in a free society.

As I've said many times to my right wing friends on the board, WHO HAS THE REAL FREEDOM?

[ChadTower]

WHO HAS THE REAL FREEDOM?

I do.  I keep it in a bucket under my stairs and only share it with people I feel deserve it.

[RacerX]

The problem is that after what happened a Paduka, Jonesboro, and Columbine, people can't afford to not take these things seriously.  I'm a huge proponent of individual liberty.  I'm just saying that it's not surprising this kid got in trouble.  If he had actually done the things he wrote about, everyone would be saying "Why didn't somebody see this coming?"

[APFelon]

This story is pitiful but only one of many examples. I'm glad I live in a society where I can speak my mind and express myself without spooks or wannabe lawmen taking away my rights. Hell, I could walk around my mall with an 'I want you for Al Quaida' t-shirt with OBL taking the place of uncle sam, and all I'd get is a mixture of laughs and dirty looks, but no grief. Its called living in a free society.

As I've said many times to my right wing friends on the board, WHO HAS THE REAL FREEDOM?

Americans can do that, too. I would wager 100$ American that I could go to the local mall and do just that without being hauled away by "spooks" or whatever boogeymen you seem to think we have running around the United States. I would most likely be targeted by civilians who would glare, spit, or attempt to do me bodily harm, but I am free to be an idiot.

I have read several of your posts on what your vision the United States is. I will say this just once:

Your idea of what the United States is is a myth. Your media lies to you.

I couldn't seem to find your location on your bio page, but if it is like most other English speaking countries outside of the United States, your major media outlet is most likely funded and managed by your government. And if you think that your government is truthful with you, open your eyes or drink the Kool Aid.

I really can't blame you, though. A German study stated that an overwhelming majority of news stories in Europe about the United States are negative, and even Al Jazeera puts a more positive slant in their news stories about America and Americans. So I suppose if you are force fed tripe at every meal, it might get tasty. If all you see of America are condemnations, hyperbolic news stories about the feds hauling people out of their homes for "thought crimes" and whatnot, you will get a funhouse mirror portrait of a nation that you clearly know nothing about.

NOW, since I said I would run around the mall recruiting for Al Quaida with a pro- whatshisnuts shirt, I challenge you to do the same defaming Islam wearing a T-Shirt with a strong anti-muslim statement, and then we can compare our "freedom".

APf

[Dexter]

Your idea of what the United States is is a myth. Your media lies to you.

ROTFLMAO! Thats priceless, thanks for that

[HaRuMaN]

How about wearing a T-shirt proclaiming yourself as a Protestant, then...

[duffjr]

The problem is that after what happened a Paduka, Jonesboro, and Columbine, people can't afford to not take these things seriously.  I'm a huge proponent of individual liberty.  I'm just saying that it's not surprising this kid got in trouble.  If he had actually done the things he wrote about, everyone would be saying "Why didn't somebody see this coming?"

if the people at his school or a school he's visited really are zombies, he could be a national hero.

[Dexter]

How about wearing a T-shirt proclaiming yourself as a Protestant, then...

And this would have me marked as a subversive/terrorist how??

[APFelon]

Well, the problem is that you did not put that you were from Ireland in your profile. If I had known, I wouldn't have had to assume anything and been accused of not knowing of your country despite not knowing what country you are from. True, I know jack about Ireland other than I have 1/2 Irish blood running through my veins. I'm not at all interested in learning about it either, so don't bother sending me a travel catalog.

But let me restate. You said:

As the majority of actions by the united states are negative it is logical to assume that fair reporting of these actions will mean the majority reported will also be negative. If you have a problem with bad stories being reported, don't create them in the first place.

And I will repeat:

Your idea of what the United States is is a myth. Your media lies to you.

The fact that  I gave you some great thrall of laughter from that line and in turn you give me evidence that your press doesn't lie because some reporterette gave President Bush a hard time in an interview is pretty revealing in itself.

As far as I can tell, all you know of the United States you get from your media and, I assume, American television shows. I will help you become a happy media consumer by giving you this piece of advice:

Believe everything that you see on that glowing box in your home is a lie and work your way back from there, not vice versa.

Of course, I don't expect you to take this advice. No Euro I have debated ever does. I have debated anti-American bigots of every age and stripe from Scotland, Wales, France, Germany, Greece and Turkey and they are so keen to believe every negative report on the United States that a simple point can't be made to them unless driven by an atom smasher.

I am not a diplomat; it is not my job to make Joe Blow from Ireland think that we are a bunch of swell guys. I am more interested in lifting that curtain of total ignorance from your pate and maybe ebb that blind hatred you have for the United States. Think of me as the ambassador of happiness. Your bowels will feel much better once they aren't clogged with rage.

APf

[Dexter]

I have debated anti-American bigots of every age and stripe from Scotland, Wales, France, Germany, Greece and Turkey...

Bigot - One who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ.

Coming from the current home of white supremacy and intolerance, for you to use the term anti-american bigot is even funnier than your original post. The term itself is an oxymoron. You're on fire today chief, are you deliberately trying to cheer me up LOL??

Seriously though, any opinions I have towards the current administration in america and its supporters is as a result of its actions, not from bigotry/racism/xenophobia etc. You will find that is the case with most people who were indifferent to the US before junior.

I am more interested in lifting that curtain of total ignorance from your pate and maybe ebb that blind hatred you have for the United States.

Yeah, I 'hate you for your freedoms'
Blind hatred? Don't think so. Is that like the hatred the eye-raqis had for you prior to the invasion i.e. none? I have friends in the states. I don't hate america. You can speak out against the actions of the bush regieme without 'hating' america, or being 'unpatriotic' if you're an american citizen.

[HaRuMaN]

I love the holier-than-thou attitude.

Here is just one example of many I have found:

Belfast, once the engine of violence between Catholics and Protestants, is being seized by a new kind of hostility

[Dexter]

I take it you have done your homework and realise that you are not even referring to the same country as mine? Northern Ireland is still a seperate entity to the republic, where I live.

What you have done is akin to proving Canada is a racist country by quoting the human rights record of Mississipi. Well done. How about north america and south america? See??

By the way theres a difference between being 'holier than thou' and knowing right from wrong. The fundamentalist bush claims god speaks to him and he acts 'holier than thou', yet leads a genocide. Then there are athiests/agnostics who lead good lives and obey 'thou shalt not kill'. bush and the rest of the evangelical god-squad could learn a lesson in christianity from the 'godless' among us 

[HaRuMaN]

Just be thankful your national language isn't German...

[Dexter]

Just be thankful your national language isn't German...

Ah yes, the eternal whimper of the american who can't hold a discussion. Are you sure you're referring to germany, or northern ireland, or southern ireland? You don't have the wrong country again do you??

By the way, I could whine with as much validity 'Just be thankful to europe that you don't have a queen', y'know, while we're looking back instead of forward LOL!!
http://friendsoflafayette.org/data/barrenhill.html

[ChadTower]

Okay, then, Northern Ireland, just be glad your national language isn't Norwegian.

[Dexter]

Okay, then, Northern Ireland, just be glad your national language isn't Norwegian.

LOL LOVE IT! It could have been y'know...
http://www.usna.edu/EnglishDept/ilv/viking.htm

[ChadTower]

Don't need to read it, I already know that history.  That's why I posted it. 

[Dexter]

Don't need to read it, I already know that history.

[ChadTower]

Sure... while you're at it, throw up a little tome on Cromwell and his indirect responsibility for the potato famine.

[Dartful Dodger]

Are you sure you're referring to germany, or northern ireland, or southern ireland? You don't have the wrong country again do you??

Dude, Ireland is smaller than Illinois.

[ChadTower]

No it won't, I own a small patch of land in Dublin.  I call it Towerbob.  Towerbob declared independence from Ireland 20 months ago.

[Dartful Dodger]

No it won't, I own a small patch of land in Dublin.

[ChadTower]

Oh, it wouldn't be hard, since the only occupant of Towerbob is a 92 year old woman in a wheelchair.  But Towerbob is real and is independent.

[Dexter]

Getting a good laugh from this thread today, it must be said

Your country gave up on your brothers and sisters living in Northern Ireland.

Yep, thats why we voted for the good friday agreement and why the majority of the republic support reunification

[ChadTower]

They're called the fighting irish because they get drunk and throw chairs at each other.  Been there too many times.  After a while I just got a football helmet. 

[Dexter]

Brilliant! As I said already, getting a great kick out of this thread!!

[fredster]

Dexter, I'd say you have a lot to work on in your own backyard with things you have a clue about.  Take your energy and ideas to work on those issues that affect you.

[DrewKaree]

1)  Months ago you talked about how the news you get is so unbiased because the government paid and ran it.

Today you are saying it's so great because it's paid for by tv license fees paid by the people.

Which is it?

Oh, do you pay your tv license fees to the news outlets?

I guess your government is the broker for all your fees.  Thanks for playing.



2)  In demonstrating how "unbiased" your reporting is, it might help to give us examples of the unbiased reporting about your own country.

Telling us your reporters are free to bash America isn't unbiased, it's expected.



3)  Telling us "As the majority of actions by the united states are negative" demonstrates APF's point that you haven't the slightest inkling of what goes on in America.  Of course, you are probably speaking politically, but judging America on its politics is merely choosing to ignore that life, indeed, is sweet in America and that our lives aren't tied up in politics, but they make for interesting discussion. 

*GASP!* I think I just said my life isn't run by politics, rather, my politics are run by my life!

American life is sweet, so sweet, that we 'mercans can agree to disagree and still live in the same country together, work together, play together.....while your seemingly saccharine existence is based on the lengths you'll have to go to piss someone off, we'd even welcome YOU to America, as we have with your ancestors long ago, and continue to do today.  Those who share your nationality find it a nice place, even worth standing up for.

Thanks for demonstrating APFelon's accuracy.  He had you pegged from the git-go.

[Dexter]

Ah yes, the old directed agression instead of discussion, you don't write your countries foreign policy by any chance you you. I didn't even have to check whose name it is, hi Drew hows things?

1) Months ago you talked about how the news you get is so unbiased because the government paid and ran it.

No, I said it was the state broadcaster. Its paid for by licence fees, the amount is determined by government upon request for a rise in fees from the station itself.

Thanks for demonstrating APFelon's accuracy. He had you pegged from the git-go.

Of course he did Drew. Thanks for playing 

[Dartful Dodger]

We're not called the fighting Irish because we give up Dartful.

You're not called the fighting Irish at all.  Your people did give up, the people living in the North were the ones fighting.

Notre Dame(which is a USA college) is known as the fighting Irish, and there are very few real Irish on that team.

[ChadTower]

Erm, what team?  Notre Dame probably has 50 teams.

[fredster]

Dexter,

You hardly speak for your country. Your ideas are based on misconceptions and half truths, and I'm probably being nice saying that.

Whatever your ideas on a free Ireland are, I hope they make it better there. I have no idea. My great great great great grandfather came from Ireland (mother's side).

I can't speak as to the political situation there, or why anybody would want to live there.

What I will say is that I supported Bush in the last two ground wars.

[Crazy Cooter]

if the people at his school or a school he's visited really are zombies...

Isn't that what the story is getting at?  Most people are zombies.

[duffjr]

so is he a zombie now? 

[APFelon]

Bigot - One who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ.

Coming from the current home of white supremacy and intolerance, for you to use the term anti-american bigot is even funnier than your original post.

Good gravy. You have to be kidding me. I'll say this a third time. Maybe it'll sink in if I say it enough.

Your image of the United States is a myth. Your media lies to you.

Think upon this (I know you won't) and realize that these words contain some truth (I know you won't).

Your hatred of America is built upon the lies of bigots and hatemongers.

Think upon this (I know you won't) and realize that these words contain some truth (I know you won't).

Coming to a forum geared towards arcade controls and telling the predominant user base that their country sucks by jumping to wild conclusions is not productive, useful, or of benefit to anyone.

Making a mountain out of a molehill (taking a minor story about a kid writing violent stories about his classmates) and throwing it upon this mountain of "evidence" to condemn a country you clearly know nothing about is not healthy.

I'm not quite sure what to make of you. I have seen and debated possibly hundreds of your ilk, but I grow wary of it. Just another spreader of irrational hatred among the thousands of your continent.  So, this puts me at a crossroads. Should I spend my time trying to reason with you, when you are apparently beyond reason, your hatred being such the barrier as it is? Can you even be reached?

I once debated with a chap from the UK who claimed he knew everything about America because he watched "The Simpsons". He was a lost cause.

I once debated with a chap from Greece who claimed he knew everything about America because he read ZNet (an anti-Jewish left wing website). He started contradicting himself a few days into the debate. He was a lost cause.

I once debated a leftist from Istanbul. He was so far gone that he wouldn't even engage in anything resembling discussion. Just the same old tired anti-American rhetoric. Same with the Scottish chap I tried to talk to. They were lost causes.

And after reading stuff from you on this thread and others, after watching you pilfer articles that do not belong to you, after having my arguments countered by non sequiturs and irrationality, I fear I may have to conclude the same for you. Sorry my friend, I think you are lost to the catacombs of  hatred of your own making. If you are young, I could possibly hope that time will even out your temperament and you can find peace within yourself without the need to demonize something (whether it be a race, a culture or a nation). But as the saying goes, I can hope in one hand and crap in the other, and see which fills first.

So I will conclude my involvement with you. Perhaps I will visit a few more of these threads so I can watch you hate America with every thread of your being. A malcontent in Ireland can do neither me nor my nation harm, and thus I am at peace with your hatred. Your demons shall stay yours, and perhaps someday you will realize their repulsive nature.

But before you go to the next step and decide to be rude and angry to American tourists, remember that they are most likely the ancestors of your countrymen who wish to reattach with their roots. No harm in that, is there?

May you find peace for your troubled mind.

APf

[Dartful Dodger]

Your image of the United States is a myth. Your media lies to you.

That knife is cutting both ways. Our media is telling us that Europe hates us and our administration, but it doesn't.  I have first cousins in Ireland and England and they care as little about us as we do about them.  I have two cousins that are mad at Bush, but that's because Bush closed the door before they could get in on Clinton's lenient citizenship policies.  The family members that lived here for a few years and knew first hand how screwed up this country was becoming liked what Bush was doing. 

The people posting on this site are bored kids trying to cause problems (just like the ones in the other threads). I doubt they are even Europeans.