Gee I get sick of US bashing. (my rant) Yes they cannot find us on a map Yes they play a world series with just them in it Yes they gave us McDonalds but come on guys! I love the US and see them as our slightly hillbilly cousins that shoot from the hip, but I still love them and their ideals. They do NOT send murderous cowardly assassins under the blanket of religous fanatacism to blow themselves up and kill as many other as possible. When are people going to call a spade a spade? Religion is the greatest enemy on the planet because there is always some sick F*#K that will want to kill those that don't comply with their own perverted intepretation. Now lets go circumsize some women or kill them if they don't comply! Long live the USA and Australia and my family in ENGLAND!!!
Re: Bombs in London.. Prayers for all.... In the name of humanity I pray for all persons persecuted and/or harmed wherever they be, irrespective of race, religion of belief. Coming from a law enforcement/ security background at an international level, I hope the outrage perpetrated in London was performed by a group with a common purpose. If it was performed by an educated mad/bad person with no outwardly professed beliefs meeting with no one, communicating with no one, not taking responsibility and making no demands, then the actions can be carried out and even repeated with little or no chance of discovery.
That is a little naive The US is not good guy on the worlds stage. The US routinely engages in covert operations that include infiltration, assassination, incitement and unrest. The main difference is that the US does not admit to it readily. As for religious fundamentalism, this is becoming extremely common in the US with so call `Christian moral crusaders' driving internal politics in many area's even to the point where it is not illegal to even teach evolution in some states. The US is the only remaining superpower in the world and it does all it can to retain that position. This included the control and manipulation of both friendly and unfriendly nations. It is little wonder so many people in the world see them as the enemy. Many of the so call unfriendly states were friendly just a decade ago, partly due to the US aiding the installation of the regimes that controlled them. Saddam Hussein gained power with the aid of the US, the Taliban was supplied with weapons by the US because their agenda was in alignment with the US's at the time. The Saudi Arabian Royal family is still in control because of US intervention etc. These nations are only friendly as long as their activities align with US agenda's and foreign policies. As soon as those agenda's and policies change these nations find themselves on the unfriendly end on a barrel looking at a US that applying economic, political or military pressure on them to shift their views to meet the US's. If they do not then they are deemed a threat. We have the luxury of living in a safe, secure and equitable nation (by comparison). We rarely see or experience any of the hardships that occur on a daily basis in many of these `unfriendly' nations. We are outraged whenever our safety or liberty is threatened yet think nothing of threatening other nations with the same thing, condemning them as barbaric. As long as we see these people as the enemy and something to control we will always have unrest in the world. Change has to start somewhere so why not with us. The first step towards solving a problem is trying to understand it, lets try and understand them before hating them, the cycle of violence has to stop somewhere. but come on guys! I love the US and see them as our slightly hillbilly cousins that shoot from the hip, but I still love them and their ideals.
Re: That is a little naive Call it what you like. The "indiscriminate" killing of man, woman and child, just to make a statement is cowardly, and pathetic IMHO. It does not matter whether politically or religiously motivated, or what country it occurs in. Those people who want to defend or justify the actions of these bombers, past bombers or future bombers in any way should be ashamed. I can't even begin to comprehend the feeling of grief that one might feel if a loved one was taken from me in such a manner. The actions should be condemned, and the punishment for the bombers if caught, and if guilt was proven beyond any doubt, should be issued by families of the deceased. In other words, the families of the deceased should have the power to authorise the death penalty, and also the means of death. Perhaps pack them in a bus and blow it up?? I appreciate that these are all opinions and therefore everyone's viewpoint on the situation will differ. Lets keep the discussion open and free and civilised so the thread doesn't get deleted
Dont blow the bombers up!! Kill them in a way that would prohibit them from going to their 'afterlife'. ie drain their blood, and give them a blood transfusion (wonder how they would feel having George Bush's blood running through them :LOL: Or maybe blood from a pig. Also get the local bubba from jail to give him a serve or 2 and anything else their religion prohibits them from doing to get to the 'afterlife'.
an excellent summation of the activities of the usa over more than 50 years ,,,(and i worked in that enviroment for more than 35 years ..!!), throw in what they did in a number of countries in south america as well and it does not make for a pretty picture .... the invasion of iraq and supposed weapons of mass destruction... please explain ??... and on top of this australia is drawn into the whole bloody mess by "...little johnnie, the 'bush' kangaroo ..." .. how many innocent iraqis/families killed in the aftermath and for what ..... ???? the usa version of democracy ...??? hardly ...!!! none of the above, in anyway justifies the bastardry of what has happened in london ... especially when the uk has had to live through years of ira based terrorism... black baz .... blacker than black ...!!:thumbsdown:
Re: Bombs in London - Thanks Your thoughts are appreciated. We are all in somebodies' sights when the fundamentalists are on the warpath. Last time I was in Oz was on the anniversary of Bali and I was at Coogee during the memorial gathering. It's strange to think that 60 years ago we nuked the Japanese for trying to wipe out our way of life - and now we (at least us ZX people) have common cause and deep friendship with our previous enemy. Let's hope that in 60 years' time, the current crop of fundamentalists have moved on similarly.
FCUK the "Previous Enemy"... I, fundamentally, love the Australian-way-of-life! It doesn't involve blowing anybody up. It doesn't involve religious fanaticism. It does allow for people to live their lives as they see fit. It does allow for those same people to worship as they wish. For any group of people (fanatics) to impose their beliefs on any other group is myopic in the extreme. Does this make me a religious fundamentalist?
Agreed! Stop US bashing Can you please STFU about US bashing, or at least when you try and bash a country could you specify your disagreement is with the government and not the people that make up the country. I am currently living in the US and I have been pleasantly suprised by how many decent, normal, intelligent folk I have met. They are some of the kindest people I have ever met and I LOVE living here. Try looking in our own back yard before you start throwing mud.....I think there are just as many rednecks, morons and yobbo's in Aus...if not more. I haven't seen anyone behave like a dickhead here (unlike every weekend in the bars at home) and I go out clubbing, pubbing every few days. Just decent, nice people enjoying themselves and MANY different races living in relative peace and harmony. I live in South Florida near Miami and there are SO many ethnic groups and everyone gets along. I haven't seen this happen in Australia. Unfortunately our media only shows the negative side to the US (after all showing all the good things the US does just doesn't make for exciting reading now does it), and shows like Jerry Springer and all those other horrible US imports do little to show the real America. Sure the US govt may not be totally innocent in it's past actions and of course they have influence over so much of the world but it is just too easy to hurl abuse at the easiest, most obvious target.
QUOTE .... ".. it is just too easy to hurl abuse at the easiest, most obvious target ..." ... especially, perhaps, when they consistently put themselves as a target for specific mention ...????!!! i worked with and among a wide range of americans of all races, creeds and colours for over 35 years and till today, count many amercians as personal friends ... i would not however go as far as your generalised, glowing endorsement ...!!! i do not see that either titan's or my posts could be designated as abuse ... rather critical analysis of factual, illegal actions taken in the name of the us government, including political assasinations ..and over a very long period of time
Still one sided Didn't see much 'analysis'....just opinions and odd bits and pieces....anyway, wasn't so pissed off about what you guys said as there was truth in what you both wrote.....more pissed off at stupid comments like "lets nuke America" and "they are stupid enough to nuke themselves". I mean yaaawn! Jokes or not, it just shows peoples lack of intelligence. Besides, my original quote was spot on - the US does get abuse because they ARE the easiest target. I wish it was balanced - lets throw shit at Kim Jong Il and the Korean govt for the mass murders and political abuse he has hurled at his people for years. Lets throw shit at the countless middle eastern and south east asian dictators that routinely kill opposition, that keep people in the 'dark ages'...leaders that breed fanaticism because there is no seperation between church and state. Or the African governments that mismanage funds causing millions to starve. Govt's that fund rebels that wipe out entire ethnic groups. You know what the difference is? It's alright to kill your own people. Thats fine, no one cares then. Kill as many of your own as you wish. Millions even. Even if it takes 10 or 15 years. But once a country kills outside of it's own.....we can't handle it. It all of a sudden becomes evil and wrong. It's just easier to throw mud at the biggest kid on the block.
