When abroad, I'm an American. When someone asks me stateside what I am, I'm Irish/Italian. It's just a matter of context.

When an American asks an American "what are you?", you would draw a rather queer glance if you replied "American." "What are you" means "what's your heritage" when working under the presumption that you're both American.>> ^kronosposeidon:

Yes, at least in America there are. There are some people who might have one great great grandfather from County Kerry, but when asked what they are they'll say "I'm Irish!" It's just the way some Americans are. Ask a lot of 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc. generation Americans what they are (not what their ethnic heritage is, but who they themselves are) and they'll say "I'm Irish/Italian/Chinese/Iranian/Polish/Bengali...." That's probably why that reporter specified "real" Irishman.
My dad's parents were right off the boat from Ireland, which makes me about as Irish as Ravi Shankar. So I'll tell you now, the colleens enjoy a wee dram before tantra. More floothered = more kundalini. I learned that from Guru McGillicuddy. >> ^dannym3141:
What on earth does he mean "a real irishman"? Are there fake ones?

>> ^kronosposeidon:

Yes, at least in America there are. There are some people who might have one great great grandfather from County Kerry, but when asked what they are they'll say "I'm Irish!" It's just the way some Americans are. Ask a lot of 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc. generation Americans what they are (not what their ethnic heritage is, but who they themselves are) and they'll say "I'm Irish/Italian/Chinese/Iranian/Polish/Bengali...." That's probably why that reporter specified "real" Irishman.
My dad's parents were right off the boat from Ireland, which makes me about as Irish as Ravi Shankar. So I'll tell you now, the colleens enjoy a wee dram before tantra. More floothered = more kundalini. I learned that from Guru McGillicuddy. >> ^dannym3141:
What on earth does he mean "a real irishman"? Are there fake ones?



Ahhh, i wondered why half the americans i'd ever met/seen on tv/anything said "oh i'm irish/italian/whatever."

I remember one guy telling me he was irish, i said you don't sound it, he said "oh i hide it - don't make me use my irish accent as proof" and then immediately jumped into a passable scottish accent without irony or sarcasm.

Yes, at least in America there are. There are some people who might have one great great grandfather from County Kerry, but when asked what they are they'll say "I'm Irish!" It's just the way some Americans are. Ask a lot of 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc. generation Americans what they are (not what their ethnic heritage is, but who they themselves are) and they'll say "I'm Irish/Italian/Chinese/Iranian/Polish/Bengali...." That's probably why that reporter specified "real" Irishman.

My dad's parents were right off the boat from Ireland, which makes me about as Irish as Ravi Shankar. So I'll tell you now, the colleens enjoy a wee dram before tantra. More floothered = more kundalini. I learned that from Guru McGillicuddy. >> ^dannym3141:

What on earth does he mean "a real irishman"? Are there fake ones?

Lieberman is the single biggest ass in the Senate. Supporter of war, Israel, tight copyright, spying, big corporations, and most especially himself. Not to mention, losing Kerry the election in 2004. Ass!

I wish the up-vote I just gave you could've been number 10. One of my favorite GG songs, and I know them all WELL. Kerry is looking like he's intense as EVER, and Gary Green lives less than an hour from me right here in Illinois, U.S.A.

Also, here are some examples of what US law at least defines as maltreatment

Case Examples Of Maltreatment (from the same link i posted above)

Physical Abuse
During a violent fight between her mother and her mother's boyfriend, 8-year-old Kerry called 911. She told the operator that her mother's boyfriend always hit her mommy when he came home drunk. In addition, Kerry said she was worried about her 5-year-old brother, Aaron, because he tried to help their mom and the boyfriend punched him in the face. As a result, Aaron fell, hit his head on the coffee table, and had not moved since. The operator heard yelling in the background and the mother screaming, "Get off the phone!" When the police and paramedics arrived, Aaron was unconscious and the mother had numerous bruises on her face.

Child Neglect
Robert and Carlotta are the parents of a 9-month-old son named Ruiz. Robert and Carlotta used various drugs together until Robert was arrested and sent to prison for distributing cocaine. Since Robert's arrest, Carlotta has been living with different relatives and friends. Recently, she left her son with her sister who also has a history of drug use. Her sister then went to a local bar and left Ruiz unattended. After hearing the baby boy cry for over an hour, the neighbors called the police. When Carlotta arrived to pick up Ruiz, the police and the CPS worker were also there. It appeared that she had been using drugs.

Sexual Abuse
Jody, age 11, said that she was asleep in her bedroom and that her father came in and took off his robe and underwear. She stated that he got into bed with her and pulled up her nightgown and put his private part on her private part. She stated that he pushed hard and it hurt. Jody said that the same thing had happened before while her mother was at work. Jody stated that she told her mother, but her father insisted that she was telling a lie.

Psychological Abuse
Jackie is a 7-year-old girl who lives with her mother. Jackie's mother often screams at her, calls her degrading names, and threatens to kill her when Jackie misbehaves. Jackie doesn't talk in class anymore, doesn't have any friends in her neighborhood, and has lost a lot of weight.

>> ^blankfist:

"That's why I wanna" - Every central planning statist's sentence begins that way.

Actually, it's a common way to segue from description of a problem to a proposed solution.

My tummy is grumbling, that's why I wanna go get lunch.

My balls itch, that's why I want you to wiggle your chin.

>> ^blankfist:

As a point of information, I voted for Kerry in 2004 because I was terrified of what four more years of Bush would mean for us. I was told "if you don't vote for Kerry, you'll be throwing your vote away." The truth is, Bush won again, and sure those four years weren't ice cream and puppies, but we lived through it.

So why not stay home, if voting never matters? I'd prefer if you, and everyone who believed as you do followed that advice.

>> ^blankfist:
The point is, at some point or another we have to stop with this chicken little 'sky is falling' attitude and vote our conscience.

Well, here's the thing. Consider a game of football. Every time you take possession of the football, you want to get it into the end zone. Does that mean you should always "vote your principles", and throw passes to the end zone, no matter what? Or do you look at where you are on the field, think about the kind of defense the other team has, and come up with a play that you think will get the ball as far down field as you can?

Most people who play football, and most people who vote, think backing the play that will bring them the best result is the play to back.

I vote based on what I think will help bring about something closer to what I want than where we are. I would love to change things so all I had to do was show up each year and say "I want us to be there", and then let the process calculate the vector sum of our preferences in some more accurate manner, and give us a congress that can implement policies that line up with the result of that vector sum.

Instead it's a series of zero-sum competitions, and that's what's causing a lot of the problem.

"That's why I wanna" - Every central planning statist's sentence begins that way.

As a point of information, I voted for Kerry in 2004 because I was terrified of what four more years of Bush would mean for us. I was told "if you don't vote for Kerry, you'll be throwing your vote away." The truth is, Bush won again, and sure those four years weren't ice cream and puppies, but we lived through it.

The point is, at some point or another we have to stop with this chicken little 'sky is falling' attitude and vote our conscience. I propose we do that every election. I'd love to see the Democratic and Republican base shrink drastically.

Background:
In August 2004, following claims by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that presidential candidate John Kerry had exaggerated his record during the Vietnam War, Malkin appeared on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews and stated that there were "legitimate questions" over whether Kerry's wounds were "self-inflicted." When host Chris Matthews pressed her eleven times over the implication that Kerry had shot himself on purpose, she said that other soldiers had made this claim. Matthews said "No irresponsible comments are going to be made on this show"; Malkin criticized Matthews and the MSNBC staff in her blog the following day. Georgia Senator Zell Miller accused Matthews of "browbeating" Malkin. - wikipedia

Tags for this video have been changed from 'chris, mathews, calls, malkin, out, lies' to 'chris, mathews, calls, malkin, out, lies, John Kerry, purple heart' - edited by MrFisk

I seem to remember this being one of the things Rev. Wright mentioned that made him some sort of conspiracy nut in the eyes of the media, and here's John Kerry saying the same thing.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'slayer, the disciple, live, henry rollins show, kerry king, tom aroyo' to 'slayer, the disciple, live, henry rollins show, kerry king, tom araya' - edited by thinker247

Senator Kerry said in an interview with National Public Radio:
If you can't get flu vaccines to Americans, how are you going to protect them against bioterrorism? If you can't get flu vaccines to Americans, what kind of health care program are you running?

>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:


I've always been dubious of the two parties, so I've always referred to myself in the past as independent.

I've only become Libertarian (or more specifically a Minarchist) in the past several years, so I've considered all sides of the political equation. I voted Kerry in the 2004 election. Does that make you feel better?

And, I'm a liberal. I'm just not left if being left means large government. I also don't think Capitalism is the answer, but it's better than any solution I've heard yet. I do believe in free markets, because I believe in two people engaging into a mutually beneficial agreement without government coercion. That's exactly what free market means. It doesn't mean an open ticket for Corporations to be corrupt and manipulate the system so small businesses suffer.

I think more on a local level that affects small businesses and individuals more than large Corporations. I've told you many times before (yet you choose to ignore it for some reason) that I am not for Corporatism, and all of the ideas of free market would actually hurt the Corporations more than help them. Small businesses are being strangled by large government restrictions and "regulations". Minimum wage, benefits for workers, etc. are all things that seem like they'd be of great help to the people, but they actually force small business owners to hire less because they cannot afford it, so that creates more unemployment. The Corporations can afford to pay the minimum wage, and being that less jobs are available because of it, they're not incentived to offer more pay for positions that may require it because the competition is so high for low earning jobs.

OK, so I have a12 year old daughter.
Speaking from first hand experience, my daughter received this shot in grade six (last school year). There were no adverse effects. But as a parent, it is still a scary situation that we put our lives and the lives of our children at risk to medications we don’t know anything about.

Sure, some medications can be a good thing. But it seems odd to me that a vaccination can cause so many problems and cause such an uproar. There is quite a lot of negative media out there for this drug, as well as the fact that they want to make this drug mandatory for all kids, and they are considering prescribing it for all boys as well. - That right there puts up red flags for me.

Big Pharma companies are always looking for the new “New Drug” to sell us. They don’t stay in business unless they keep us buying their products. And with the monies involved in these drugs, I don’t put it past them to fake results, skew data, lie or deflect negative publicity. I also don’t put it past them to create the illnesses that ail us, just so they can sell us the fix. (not that I'm saying that's what they've done here).

Kerry Mullis (http://www.karymullis.com/)said it best in his book, that we always take what we are given, always thinking someone is out there looking out for us, but there isn’t! Big companies only look out for themselves. The only one that can look out for you, is you! – So be aware…

If we don’t stop and question what is being shoved down our throats, then who is going to? I’m not flat out accusing anyone of anything specific, but don’t just think that if a government agency has passed it, that it is safe.

Kids should not be getting sick and dying because of this drug – but they are.
Not all of them, it’s a small percentage, but in my mind and the minds of many others and in the minds of those who have been effected, it is still too many. You can’t think, “Oh, that’s OK, we can kill off a few kids and make a bunch more suffer – it’s for the greater good”. Because that’s NOT OK in my books.