RANT~

[d3m0nger]

Just saying ur a little dweeb  ;D

[nampigai]

I know you are, if you have that urge go ahead an IM me.

[Barbarossa]

isn't there a celebrity deathmatch for that ?

Yeah but thats just a show, and in any event its been canceled!

[number6]

How about we make a thread about every person who died in the WTC attacks?

Just saying that this isn't really going anywhere.. quite funny to see how people are getting so fed up by this.

Nature killing itself. Wow what a total shock. I knew these things happend. Before and after I watched that video. Nothing has changed my view.

The whole problem I have with the Nick Berg slaying is the way the media simply glossed over that incident as a normal fact of life, and they went on to make a big deal about the way a few US troops mistreated Iraqi prisoners. To me both incidents were equally despicable. The real problem I think is that a lot of people like to hate America. Islamic extremists kill a jew and I see a lot of people say Nick should have known better than to be in Iraq. Talk about cold hearted indifference. Some low ranking military personnel degrade some known terrorists and everyone in the chain of command, including the president, is somehow responsible and should resign. Does anyone else see the hipocracy here but me? I went out of my way to see the video because it appeared to me that the mainstream media did not want me to see it. The left wing controlled media wants only one story to be told. The one that will effect the next presidential election here in the US. 

  And before any of you leftists start trying to accuse me of being paranoid I would point out that a lot of left wing posters in this forum, and other forums I frequent, want people to somehow believe that the Nick Berg beheading was staged by the US government. Talk about unsubstantiated rumors and paranoia. I know for a fact that there is a big double standard as far as news reporting is concerned here in the US. What I see is that the majority of the news networks favors the left wing agenda. Regardless of the news of the day I make sure to take the time and look at a story from many points of view before making my decision on what is news worthy and what is propoganda. I make sure I understand what the bias of the news provider is before hand so I can read between the lines. Unfortunately a lot of forum members here look at issues as either black or white with total intolerance for opposing points of view.

These are just my observations and of course I am sure there are members writing a scathing reply to this post before even reading this far. I wish members here would think a little harder before posting the crap I see of late. I know it's always hip to be anti establishment when you are young. I guess it is also typical to be more reserved and for the establishment when you get older. What I am saying is that I have been where a lot of you are now. I did not have access to the wonders of the internet or online forums when I was the age of most members here, but I remember being more left of center when I was a teenager and I was somewhat of a pacifist. When I experienced the world and had to fend for myself I learned a lot and became humbled. I guess you have to experience these things to truly understand. Hopefully your generation will learn to be a little more tolerant of opposing points of view. That's the big problem we have now in this world.

[Wolf]

(cracks knuckles and prepares to revitalize some thread activity)

Not to mention that Nick Berg was a humanitarian who once returned from a mission to Africa with only the clothes on his back for giving all his other possessions away. Meanwhile, the Iraqi prisoners you saw in the dog-pile? They had bragged about raping a young boy, I believe.

Not that this changes anything, right? We expect more from the United States. Committing one crime does not justify committing another. This is all true. Yet, does anything else matter when we come to our final judgment about the world?

Yeah, it does. Number6, its often easy to hate America because that's what people have done since the beginning of time. Not that America has existed this long, but because its both useful, easy, and convienient to hate the guys who are on top. Have's and have-not's, man. When you're on top, you automatically draw the line, regardless of what people really have or really do. To quote Jann Urquhart, an Australian citizen;

"Americans will be damned if they do, and they'll be damned if they don't. People expect Americans to go in and get them out of trouble.... When we're in trouble we need you; when you're there, we don't want you anymore. It's very sad for Americans. I think they're in a very hard position."

And, as sad as that is, and as bad as Nick Berg, and Abu-Gharib, and Fallujah (here's a great example, the brutal killing of four Americans should have triggered some outrage, you wonder, but it seems as if everyone has forgotten it), and everything else is, what has it really changed? Look at 9/11 and ask yourself what, if anything, really changed?

[Andrew]

(cracks knuckles and prepares to revitalize some thread activity) Look at 9/11 and ask yourself what, if anything, really changed?

They implememnted the terror alert level bar, so americans can bask in awe at whatever level it is at.

And U.S. invaded 2 countries (with support from other countries). That is about all that changed.

Now if all that money that was spent to invade 2 countries was spent in america, they could have invested it into renewable energy and not have to give a damn about the oil levels in the middle east. :)

And yes invading Afghan was justified. But Iraq?

[Wolf]

Exactly my point. Korea, Vietnam, Iran, Panama, Iraq One, Somalia, the list goes on. As bad as it is for me to say it, the United States (and plenty of other Western countries) have been playing a risky game with the military in the interest of global security; and people seem to simply... accept it. To be honest, when I said "what really changed", I was referring to apathy more than the history of the United States. It seems that 9/11 did not change as much as it should have, considering what a terrible event it was for the West, and humanity, as a whole. It sort of seems we didn't learn very much. I'm not saying that military action was not justified in some cases, but what I am saying is that we have to be much more careful in how we use it.