«

[Microprose Veteran]

Truth about Terrorists...

Someone who kills civilians is called

-a terrorist by some

-a freedom fighter by others


The Israeli Irgun movement in fact pretty much started modern day terror by bombing the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in July 1946. Victims were both Jewish and Muslim civilians, and British military.

The PLO today is in fact the most moderate Palestinian political movement. During the 70s it was the biggest Palestinian terrorist/freedom fighting movement.

The ANC carried out attacks on civilian targets. Today it is an established and respected political party (first president was Nelson Mandela, a convicted terrorist/freedom fighter).

During the Reagan Administration, armed groups in Honduras were trained and funded to carry out attacks on civilians in Nicaragua. These were the Contras, called 'freedom fighters' by the Republicans, 'terrorists' by the rest of the world.

ETC...

P.S Stroggy: sorry to hear about the anti-semitic attacks by some people from the left in America. Mind you, there's plenty of anti-semite people on the right-wing in the rest of the world (Middle and Eastern Europe for that matter).

[TheVoid]

Originally posted by Stroggy+Jun 19 2005, 08:25 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Stroggy @ Jun 19 2005, 08:25 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Sebatianos@Jun 19 2005, 08:17 PM
terrorist aren't only in the countries people these days asociate with turbans

That's right, some of them wear kaffiyehs.
And there is also the ETA. [/b][/quote]
Not to mention the independence movement of Corse.

[Stroggy]

Originally posted by Microprose Veteran@Jun 19 2005, 08:28 PM



The Israeli Irgun movement in fact pretty much started modern day terror by bombing the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in July 1946. Victims were both Jewish and Muslim civilians, and British military.

My granny was a terrorist?

Seriously, the King David Hotel, being the British HQ was by all means a military target, the irgun even called the british to warn them that there are boms inside the building and that they have to evacuate the building.

there's plenty of anti-semite people on the right-wing in the rest of the world

It's ironic that here in Belgium the right wing party wants to portrey itself as the defenders of the Jews.

It is a dilemma really, both here in Belgium and in the US. On one side you've got the democrats (the left) and they have always been for equality and such, but now we are seeing that both in Europe and in the US the left is slanting towards antisemitism for different reasons. While the right, which has always been portrayed as the anti-semites, is suddenly defending Israel and standing up for the jews. Here in belgium with the Vlaams Belang and in the US (father Bush is still not a good friend of the jews, and the countryclubs aren't very welcoming either)

It is a dilemma, and it is also causing quite a few jews to emmigrate to israel (even despite the ongoing state of hostitilities there)

60 years ago when you walked through Europe graffiti on the walls would read "Jews go back to Israel) now more and more grafitti reads: "Jews, get out of palestine"
Confusing, to say the least.

Anyway we are way off topic, which was to be expected.

[Zarkumo]

I only recently met an American friend whom I hadnt seen in 8 years, and I remember two things I spontanously said to him about his country during that weekend:

America is a weird place, because people either get to move into a palace in L.A. or end up in a shack by the creek.

America is a cool place because people there have dreams. (Germans in general don't...)

[BeefontheBone]

They have one big collective Dream too by all accounts (which is why they don't mind being in the shacks - they MIGHT get lucky).

In answer to whoever said us Europeans hate Americans, if you guys keep electing evil crappy puppets and megalomaniacs to office, and never protesting about their actions, we'll keep assuming you're all stupid (individuals we know and like excepted, obviously). I'm aware I'm exaggerating, but so were you earlier.

[Zarkumo]

Originally posted by BeefontheBone@Jun 19 2005, 08:39 PM
if you guys keep electing evil crappy puppets and megalomaniacs to office, and never protesting about their actions, we'll keep assuming you're all stupid

Now that you mention it...

A message from John Cleese to the citizens of the United States of America

In light of your failure to elect a competent President of the USA and
thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your
independence, effective immediately.

Her Sovereign Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, will resume monarchical duties
over all states, commonwealths and other territories (excepting Kansas,
which she does not fancy). Your new prime minister, Tony Blair, will
appoint a governor for America without the need for further elections.
Congress and the Senate will be disbanded.

A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of
you have noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following
rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary. Then
look up "aluminium," and check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed
at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it. The letter 'U' will be
reinstated in words such as 'colour', 'favour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise,
you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and
the suffix "ize" will be replaced by the suffix "ise." You will learn that
the suffix 'burgh' is pronounced 'burra'; you may elect to respell
Pittsburgh as 'Pittsberg' if you find you simply can't cope with correct
pronunciation.

Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable
levels. (look up "vocabulary"). Using the same twenty-seven words
interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is an
unacceptable and inefficient form of communication.

2. There is no such thing as "US English." We will let Microsoft know on
your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account
of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of "-ize".

3. You will relearn your original national anthem, "God Save The Queen",
but only after fully carrying out Task #1 (see above).

4. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday. November 2nd will
be a new national holiday, but to be celebrated only in England. It will
be called "Come-Uppance Day."

5. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers
or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows
that you're not adult enough to be independent. Guns should only be
handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without
suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not grown up enough
to handle a gun. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry
anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. A permit will be required
if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

6. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and this is for your
own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean.
All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start
driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go
metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables.
Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British
sense of humour.

7. The Former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been
calling "gasoline") - roughly $6/US gallon.
Get used to it.

8. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries
are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips
are properly called "crisps." Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal
fat, and dressed not with mayonnaise or ketchup but with vinegar.

9. Waiters and waitresses will be trained to be more aggressive with
customers.

10. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually
beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as
"beer," and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be
referred to as "Lager." American brands will be referred to as
"Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine," so that all can be sold without risk of
further confusion.

11. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good
guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play
English characters. Watching Andie MacDowell attempt English dialogue in
"Four Weddings and a Funeral" was an experience akin to having one's ears
removed with a cheese grater.

12. You will cease playing American "football." There is only one kind of
proper football; you call it "soccer." Those of you brave enough will, in
time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American
"football", but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds
or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies).

Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an
event called the "World Series" for a game which is not played outside of
America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware that there is a world beyond
your borders, your error is understandable.

13. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.

14. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's
Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all
monies due (backdated to 1776).

Thank you for your co-operation.

God bless the British humour.

[taikara]

Originally posted by BeefontheBone@Jun 19 2005, 08:39 PM
In answer to whoever said us Europeans hate Americans, if you guys keep electing evil crappy puppets and megalomaniacs to office, and never protesting about their actions, we'll keep assuming you're all stupid (individuals we know and like excepted, obviously). I'm aware I'm exaggerating, but so were you earlier.

And just how strongly do *you* protest Tony Blair supporting our crappy puppets and megalomaniacs? AFAIK, individual American citizens do nothing more than vote for a guy, hope he does what he says he's going to do, just like every other democratic nation's individuals. Sure, we can go out and protest and get petitions signed, but when all is said and done, that's nothing more than a useless opinion poll which really has no bearing on what the government actually decides to do.

So what can we do? We can do our best to vote the officials out who are doing these things, but that doesn't always work as planned because of the differences between the votes of the people and the votes of those in the electoral college. Or, let's say we resort to terrorism on our own people ... is that perhaps what you mean when you say "protesting?"

Because as far as I'm aware, peaceful protesting changes absolutely nothing when it comes to what elected officials decide to do with their position once they actually get elected to office.

[BeefontheBone]

Doesn't matter how much difference it makes (and it's often a lot more than nothing) - the point is to make yourselves heard. Along with vast numbers of people I protested against Tony's support for the neocons' war in Iraq, and it probably would have lost him an election if there had been any effective opposition to Labour.

Incidentally, you're an individual I know (well enough to except you from the "Americans are dumb" set anyway) and like.

[Sebatianos]

Originally posted by Zarkumo@Jun 19 2005, 10:45 PM
13. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.

:roflol: :roflol: :roflol:

[Zarkumo]

Originally posted by taikara@Jun 19 2005, 08:58 PM
And just how strongly do *you* protest Tony Blair supporting our crappy puppets and megalomaniacs?

Oh, the British actually protested quite a lot! There were huge demonstrations in London and other major cities. Blair did not have the backing of the public in his decision to invade Iraq. The British people also took on your job and demonstrated against Bush when he visited Blair.

And these kind of protest do make a difference. It reminds the officials that they are elected by the people, not by the Supreme Court (usually).

Oh, and I really think it wasnt nice to spill all the wine onto the street only because France didnt join the war coalition. That really hurt watching it.