what's beef w/the Hilter youth?

can't abide w/the kill all the baby adolphs vibe. seems extreme. even by WWII standards. just the bare fact that children were used to defuse bombs isn't what one would call kosher. if that was the right of the winning side, one hell of a lot of bombs lying around in Laos and Vietnam - what about sending our Boy Scouts over to take care of the US mess they left?

anyway - not meaning to be mean - at 14 most are not at the level of being correctly called 'idiots'. if you don't know - you just f'n' don't know!

christ on a cracker...know folks who now question what they were thinking joining the Young Republicans - - - AND THEY WERE OF COLLEGE AGE!!!

what is freaky is the line "If the majority of Germans weren't complicit, the Nazis would have never come to power."

2016 mean anything? and that's the MINORITY of Americans!

christ on a cracker...what's the situation on the COVID vaccines? on voting bills? on any f'n' bill or issue in this land? the MINORITY is having their day keeping the rest in the dark.
[2nd Amendment but screw the other 26...or 24...cause 21 cancels 18 = 0]

as you said "History isn't nearly as cut and dry as it's presented, neither are war crimes"
as he said, "And as with most things, particularly in times of war, it's complicated."
but just can't get my head around putting children in a minefield. no matter the justification. that'd be just as bad as anything the nazis could ever do: lose any sense of humanity.

*ban
LAO HOLLYWOOD MOVIE CLIPS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgtmrevntQg

Just remember these are people from Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia, who likely do not understand the harm they're doing, but are simply doing what they can to feed their families. Those are some hard knock lives.

And then there's us -- the ignorant technocrats who only become outraged when our access to information catches up to us and teaches us that our viral desire for exotic pets has fueled a harmful trade.

It's just ignorance all around. Our ignorant desires and the ignorant workers our desires have employed. Is there even an evil boss/distributer in all of this? Or is it just ignorance at every single level?

Well I guess it beats the 2.5 million tons of bombs we dropped on Laos.

The thumbnail image for this video has been updated - thumbnail added by oritteropo.

@lantern53 Where were Bush's apologies? Didn't he say that history would be the judge hence no need to apologise? Also, the government is not some mythical separate entity from 'the people". America is the bastion of democracy, don't you agree? How are we to separate the actions of its people from its government? Democracy, especially one as purportedly strong as your own, implies consent if not endorsement.

@bcglorf The first point just restates what I said which I think we both agree on.

The second point about Pakistan has been over simplified to the point of misdirection. There are 3 domains of power in Pakistan; the ISI (Intelligence), the military and the government. The ISI largely controls the madrassahs and although there is a huge amount of violence in Pakistan at the moment (something you won't hear about in Western news broadcasts) the main area of contention there is about Kashmir. It has little if nothing to do with the USA. In fact the USA aids the Pakistan cause by their alliance with Pakistan in an attempt to oppose Chinese backed India. Further, charities does not automatically mean state-based endorsement. Its quite a stretch.

Plus, I can name many muslim nations that did not have spontaneous celebrations. Afghanistan for one. Sure maybe a few in Kabul got wind of it but as a nation they are still pretty much in the dark about the whole thing. Some more, Turkey (secular yes but muslim by demos), Azer Baijan, Sudan, Bosnia-Herzogoznia, Burkina Faso, Chad, Comoros, Gambia, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritania, Somalia.... I'm sure there were lots of other countries that had spontaneous displays of celebration after 9/11... France, Cuba, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Venuzuela, Russia, Guatemala, Vietnam, Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Mexico, Serbia.

To paint any display of celebration with the brush of enemy eliminates any nuance or desire for understanding complex issues for the sake of post hoc raltionalisation of ones own immediate intuitions. Does the Westboro Baptist Church mean that America is no better than any of the Muslim nations you list? Of course not. To say as much as absurd. To see brown people doing the same is merely convenient.

The third point you seem to provide your own refutation. Drones etc do indeed fuel Al Queda. You admit as much. If the AL Qaeda aim is indeed about Pakistan and India (which I think you may be very confused about Al-Qaeda and its Pakistani brethren, two very separate entities with almost no commonality bar what we grant them). Al Qaeda in the Bin Laden days cared nothing for Pakistan. It was almost entirely focused on Saudi Arabia and only went to Afghanistan as a sort of Boys Own adventure club. They were the laughing stock of the Mujahaddin.

Nothing is true

Except that?

All concepts of truth are relative

Is that absolutely true?

Everything is permitted

Including not permitting..which means you have no further argument against Christianity.

Do some homework ;-).

I have. According to what you've written, you haven't.

Your religion (Christianity) is a bastardization of "Messianic Judaism" (the crazy old testament stuff) and Mithraism (a "Gnostic" religion which was highly (& most) prevalent among the roman legions around the time of the reformation).

The earliest records of Mithraism bear no similarity to Christianity at all. It is a pagan religion in every respect. The only records you find that bear similarity to Christianity are after the 2nd century, after Christian texts had been circulating for at least a hundred years. It's Mithraism which integrated Christianity not the other way around.

Virtually everything positive you allude to in the Christian teachings originally come from Hermeticism and other such ancient "Gnostic" traditions.

Actually, they came from a progressive revelation of Judiasm which preceeded all of that. What Jesus did not teach that came from Judiasm was wholly His and entirely unique, and they came from the mouth of God Himself. The difference is Jesus Himself. You could take buddha out of buddhism, or zoroaster out of zoroastrianism and you would still have something. Without Jesus there is no Christianity.

Jesus (that is to say "Yeshua ben Yosef") as portrayed as a mortal man is a fabrication at best (and outright fraud at worst).

The Jesus myth theory isn't taken seriously by even skeptical bible scholars. There is more evidence for the existence of Jesus Christ than for Alexander the Great.

etc

The hope for the Messiah is universal in human beings; that is revelation that God gives to every man, which is what it says in Romans 1:18-21. Whether there are messianic expectations in other religions is irrelevent. Buddha, Zoroaster, Lao Tzu are dead. Jesus is alive.

Do some homework ;-).

Your religion (Christianity) is a bastardization of "Messianic Judaism" (the crazy old testament stuff) and Mithraism (a "Gnostic" religion which was highly (& most) prevalent among the roman legions around the time of the reformation).

Virtually everything positive you allude to in the Christian teachings originally come from Hermeticism and other such ancient "Gnostic" traditions.

Jesus (that is to say "Yeshua ben Yosef") as portrayed as a mortal man is a fabrication at best (and outright fraud at worst).

The "Christ" however has been around for a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooongass time before the name "Jesus" ever hit the scene . This stuff goes back to the Greeks, Egyptians, Babylonians, Cannanites etc.

And that not even mentioning The Buddha, Zoroaster, Lao Tzu etc. etc. all of whom predate your Jesus by quite some centuries and preach many of the same fundamentals.

Ditch the Dogma and try out the approach of some other religions, you'll quickly find that underneath all the silly myths there's certain things they all have in common (to a greater and lesser extent). You'll also I hope quickly start to realise that the three major "Exoteric religions" (Christianity, Judaism, Islam) are by this stage corrupted to the point of being barely serviceable and a mere shadow of their "Esoteric" counterparts.

Then again you could always just pull the faith card on me

Love is the law...

>> ^dapper:

as Lao-Tse said, "Nothing breeds fear like nationalism". This line has always resonated with me, particularly when I see these kinds of xenophobic protests in America (Tea Party) or Germany (Neo Nazis) or elsewhere. America seems intent in proving that it got things wrong... be it national pride, health care, education, the environment, banking, mortgages, the stock market... And still, we follow.


Here in Germany every demonstration/march of neonazis meets a group of counter-protesters, from the political center-rigth to left (and yes, far left), and the counter-protest is always bigger, very often 10 times bigger. When I see videos like this about the tea-party or other far-rights in the usa, i always wonder where the counter-protest is.

as Lao-Tse said, "Nothing breeds fear like nationalism". This line has always resonated with me, particularly when I see these kinds of xenophobic protests in America (Tea Party) or Germany (Neo Nazis) or elsewhere. America seems intent in proving that it got things wrong... be it national pride, health care, education, the environment, banking, mortgages, the stock market... And still, we follow.

You will have to excuse my very strong opinion on the matter. I can not change my feeling on it and for that reason you can damn well expect me never to be on a jury for this type of crime. I grew up in a military family. I have friends and family overseas that will have deal with the direct fallout of this and I do expect it to not only make their job more difficult but has even put them at even more risk. I do not expect them to pick and choose what laws to follow and what not to. On the other hand I do not believe he is being treated differently then anyone else in the prison. With the amount of press that is on this case I do not believe that he is being treated wrongly and that most of what has been said is bullshit in an attempt at sympathy.
I also find it insulting that a Russian Propaganda group is being treated as news. A year ago I had never even heard of Russian Times but now when ever I do its some BS negative story on the U.S. or the EU. Everyone is giving the U.S. Crap in treating of one person but Not one thing is ever said about the thousands in prison in Russia, China, Argentina, Turkey, Syria, Yemen, Uzbekistan, Myanmar, Laos, Malaysia, the list goes on and on and on. People keep saying Innocent until proven guilty for Manning but condemn the U.S. on Hearsay.
Sorry the BS meter is off the scale on this.



>> ^Lawdeedaw:

>> ^skinnydaddy1:
Good thing he's not in Russia. If he had been RT would of never said a damn thing and he never would of been heard from again. As for his treatment, sorry he is a traitor to his country. He is not a hero, He is not an activist. He was a solder who took an oath that he betrayed. He should be spending the rest of his life behind bars. He has put people at great risk that may even get someone killed. It does not matter if names were removed. With enough information people can connect the dots and figure out who or what happened.

I won't argue the point of traitor versus not, or the arguments others have made about 'innocent until proven guilty.' That argument falls short with my bullshit radar, just like yours-- BUT, technically, many dumbass conservative voters, and liberal voters, and elected officals betray America every day by assulating and ignoring the constitution. Take the War Powers act? Wtf? Gitmo? Since when the fuck did the Founding Fathers write that the constitution applies only to citizens? Did the fathers put that in there? Fuck no. And did it exclude actions across the seas? Fuck no again. And because the constitution is a form of law for government, if something is not written, it does not apply.
So, the constitution applies to everyone. I assume so, since the Fathers were not retards and just forgot...
Futher--Manning will go to jail for life. Question is if you think this General who is okaying cruel and unusal treatment should join him? And if you argue it is not cruel and unusal, I would like your proof. I assume YOU would have spent years confined inside a box, all alone and naked for years... That would be proof, not speculation, because you can say, "I didn't mind it one bit." Somehow, I doubt you would volunteer though...
The prison itself is violating America's sacred document, and all who accept responsibility over Manning is a traitor... So what is your opinion on this matter? Do you support the constitution--or the rhetoric? Are you pro-freedom? Or pro-hypocrite?
I assume you are pro-freedom. So while you and I think Manning should be in jail for breaking legitament laws within constitutional authority, there are a lot of traitors in this. Of course Asange is protected, among others. Because we can't be cherry picking laws that forged our country's backbone, can we? Am I right?

I only had to read 3 of the "200 lies" to see that the person who wrote it has never really read, nor understood, Chomsky... except maybe in-order to get his 'out of context' quotes.

I've been following Chomsky for over 20 years and you'd be hard pressed to come up with something on him. He has been intellectually consistent and on-topic since the 70's. He was against the slaughter of peasants in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Nicaragua, East Timor, Iraq, Palestine, and every other hidden murder zone in the last 50 years.

When the "200 lies" start with Chomsky's take on Lenin, the author's already proven himself to be a moron. Chomsky's only downside is that he bores people who aren't intellectual enough and infuriates people who are brainlessly patriotic.
>> ^quantumushroom:

The Top 200 Chomsky Lies.
Oh, that's right, it's FOX that has an agenda.

The contemporary similarities are even more chilling. In Laos, for example, they don't even let you see the beaches. The same is true for Switzerland. Coincidence? I think not.

perhaps i was a bit rash with my comment =P

and blankfist; apples to oranges my friend. an absurd comparison of statements (although i upvoted for creativity)

do we have a problem in the US with police overstepping their bounds? most assuredly. Is it anywhere near as freedom threatening as its been made out to be? I dont think so but that could be argued otherwise (Britain is worse imo)

Recently its just been a major peeve of mine that grab words like police-state or fascist are thrown around as a metaphor for something an individual doesnt like and rarely has any ties to the original context of the word(s). In the same way that anyone invoking Godwins Law is annoying as shit

have i spent time in china, laos, etc? no, but i can very much objectively say that policed oppression of freedoms occur in those countries more broadly and in much higher frequencies than here in the US. I have, however, spent two extended tours (3 years in total) in afghanistan. Now while the oppression their is slightly different the principles are more or less the same.

so if it would please the Sift Court, allow me to apologize for my reckless comment and rephrase it in a way that is both appropriate and polite =)

*ahem* based on what i saw in the video, there is some badge bullying occurring, however, i dont think it is conclusive that based on this video alone that our liberties as individuals are being threatened by any stretch of the imagination......asshats (pottymouth, hard habbit to break =P)

NordlichReiter presented an excellent response to this "dilemma"

>> ^smooman:

one step closer to a police state?
shut
the
fuck
up
spend some time in china, laos, iran, or (to a lesser extent) russia, or get yerself a time travel machine, head back to italy or germany leading up to wwii or communist russia. compare them with us and tell me how close we are to a police state stupid fuck

Your lung cancer is bad?


shut

the

fuck

up

Spend some time with testicular cancer, brain cancer, prostate cancer, renal cancer, or (to a lesser extent) Leukemia, or get yerself a time travel machine, head back to the 1340s for some Black Death or the 1980s for AIDS. Compare them with your lung cancer and tell me how bad you have it, stupid fuck.

See how dumb that sounds?