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ColonelDimak posted:Didn't a report come out a few years after 9/11 that suggested that most Americans are more afraid of dying now vs during the cold war? I think the lack of the Mutually Assured Destruction as a deterrent makes the situation a little less predictable and more unnerving.
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Aug 26, 2011 04:16
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vxskud posted:I think the lack of the Mutually Assured Destruction as a deterrent makes the situation a little less predictable and more unnerving. But that was a known unknown...  that phrase is terrible
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Aug 26, 2011 05:30
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jojoinnit posted:I was taken to my first baseball game recently. During the seventh inning break everyone suddenly stood up, hand over heart and said the pledge of allegiance (I think that's what it was, it might have been America the Beautiful or summat). Then I got called out for being weird for asking the person I was with, why during a sports game we all had to display some strange joint nationalism. It was most likely God Bless America. Which is even more creepy than the Pledge of Allegiance. We have A LOT of Patriotic songs. Many of them with stolen melodies.
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Aug 26, 2011 05:38
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Shimrra Jamaane posted:It was most likely God Bless America. Which is even more creepy than the Pledge of Allegiance. It just seemed so freaky to me that thousands of people at a sports game were basically compelled into praising the state. I think my mistake was using the forced patriotism of communist countries as an example of how it felt to me.
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Aug 26, 2011 05:56
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They unironically believe that it's okay for us to do it because we're the "good guys."
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Aug 26, 2011 05:58
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jojoinnit posted:Yes! That was it. They felt the need to tell me that I just didn't understand patriotism because I'm English, and furthermore the people in front acted like I just didn't like it because I must be personally offended, y'know, cause of the revolutionary war. In the swim league I was in as a kid, they had everyone sing the national anthem before it started. Up until right this second I hadn't thought about how weird that is.
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Aug 26, 2011 05:59
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Defenestration posted:just saw this on facebook Yeah, I saw that one too and did some checking. It's actually true. Bloomberg said there wasn't room for the first responders, because it would be about the victims. To which I say, spend one of your billion dollar bills and buy some loving stadium bleachers. If there's not room, have a crane suspend a skybox over the whole thing. It is loving madness to put out a statement that first responders are specifically not invited. (They were never really invited at previous anniversaries, but they were welcome.) See? I got a chain message, I verified that it was true, and then I got furious. That's how it's done!
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Aug 26, 2011 06:38
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XyloJW posted:Yeah, I saw that one too and did some checking. It's actually true. Bloomberg said there wasn't room for the first responders, because it would be about the victims. To which I say, spend one of your billion dollar bills and buy some loving stadium bleachers. If there's not room, have a crane suspend a skybox over the whole thing. It is loving madness to put out a statement that first responders are specifically not invited. (They were never really invited at previous anniversaries, but they were welcome.) Yeah, I did the same thing. This seems like a justifiable thing to be annoyed about. Although I am NOT looking forward to all the 9/11 anniversary poo poo coming up, holy god.
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Aug 26, 2011 06:54
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Pfirti86 posted:Why? Less commercialization? The East Germans?
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Aug 26, 2011 08:44
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Amarkov posted:In the swim league I was in as a kid, they had everyone sing the national anthem before it started. Up until right this second I hadn't thought about how weird that is. National Anthem before sports events is less weird. I've seen that in quite a few countries. Course those tend to be INTERNATIONAL ones, since it's 2 countries "against" each other but I guess it rubs off?
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Aug 26, 2011 09:58
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RagnarokAngel posted:National Anthem before sports events is less weird. I've seen that in quite a few countries. Sporting events in general is at least commonish. But we were hearing the national anthem right before watching some six year olds attempt to do something resembling the correct stroke forms, that's quite a few levels of rubbing off from professional interstate competition.
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Aug 26, 2011 10:08
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vxskud posted:My favorite part about the pledge of allegiance is that it was instituted by people who seemed to believe that communists were some sort of vampire like creatures that would burst into flames at the very mention of the word God. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pledge_of_allegiance#Addition_of_the_words_.22under_God.22 For my part, I always felt terrible for oppressed minorities. "Hey negro kids! You can't go to a nice school, but you'd better drat well start your day by talking about 'Justice for All!' or else you're a commie!" 
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Aug 26, 2011 14:41
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jojoinnit posted:Yes! That was it. They felt the need to tell me that I just didn't understand patriotism because I'm English, and furthermore the people in front acted like I just didn't like it because I must be personally offended, y'know, cause of the revolutionary war. God Bless America only became a common part of the seventh inning stretch after 9/11. It really used to be just about baseball, I promise. Not that that makes it better...
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Aug 26, 2011 16:30
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CellBlock posted:God Bless America only became a common part of the seventh inning stretch after 9/11. It really used to be just about baseball, I promise. I don't recall either the Giants or A's doing it during their stretches.
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Aug 26, 2011 16:52
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I got this beauty today from my cousin with the subject line "It is coming...". Yes, apparently someone cut out the newspaper article, wrote on a piece of paper, scanned it in and then emailed it.
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Aug 26, 2011 18:25
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Yeah that news story seems 100% legit. What loving rag would even publish that? Don't Canadian police consider blowing bubble near them assault and beat them to death?
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Aug 26, 2011 18:51
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Baronjutter posted:Yeah that news story seems 100% legit. What loving rag would even publish that? Don't Canadian police consider blowing bubble near them assault and beat them to death? It's the Sun so it's basically Fox News and the National Enquirer wrapped up into one poo poo sandwich.
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Aug 26, 2011 18:53
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JerkyBunion posted:They're confusing "prayer in school" with school sponsored prayer. I also generally find it satisfying to quote this biblical passage (even using the KJV):
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Aug 26, 2011 19:14
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Zero_Grade posted:I swear that's the #1 most ignored passage in the entire Bible (at least in modern day America). Certainly the most significant one that is ignored. Nowadays you're not a good Christian unless you're showing it off 24/7. And if you're in politics you're expected to make an even bigger stink about what church you go to. Despite the fact that such things should be done privately. Well, according to Jesus anyways, but really... who cares what he thinks?
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Aug 26, 2011 19:41
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Sarion posted:Certainly the most significant one that is ignored. Nowadays you're not a good Christian unless you're showing it off 24/7. And if you're in politics you're expected to make an even bigger stink about what church you go to. Despite the fact that such things should be done privately. Well, according to Jesus anyways, but really... who cares what he thinks? Ironically, the last sentence is a demonstrated tendency. Ignoring what Jesus said to go focus on Paul's epistles is a storied tradition in American fundamentalism.
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Aug 26, 2011 19:42
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Paul's story honestly reminds me a lot of Christian fundamentalists; from the stand point of not being a believer, then having a (literal) see the light moment, to becoming overly preachy about their new found faith. It may not really apply to people who were raised fundamentalist, but other converts seem to follow something similar. I don't really think I've ever heard someone go from being an Atheist to being a liberal Methodist.
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Aug 26, 2011 19:50
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Converts by nature, to any religion, tend to be much more serious about their chosen path. They chose it.
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Aug 26, 2011 20:05
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jojoinnit posted:Yes! That was it. They felt the need to tell me that I just didn't understand patriotism because I'm English, and furthermore the people in front acted like I just didn't like it because I must be personally offended, y'know, cause of the revolutionary war. drat. When I went to visit London with my high school class I remember commenting to my friend how all English people must have really bad memories. Because obviously they constantly forget what country they are in which is why they have to have their flag hanging all over the drat place. And we didn't go during any kind of special event either. London and its flags was already profoundly noticable and weird to us, and the US is clearly worse by at least an order of magnitude.
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Aug 26, 2011 22:12
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Orange Devil posted:drat. When I went to visit London with my high school class I remember commenting to my friend how all English people must have really bad memories. Because obviously they constantly forget what country they are in which is why they have to have their flag hanging all over the drat place. I wouldn't say it's common for people to fly a flag in front of their house, but it isn't worthy of comment when it happens. Does that just not happen in other countries?
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Aug 26, 2011 22:24
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Amarkov posted:I wouldn't say it's common for people to fly a flag in front of their house, but it isn't worthy of comment when it happens. Does that just not happen in other countries? People treat their flags very differently from country to country. I know the French are a lot more formal and strict about where and how it can be displayed, as is Germany, I think.
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Aug 26, 2011 22:30
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Why uberpatriotism would be taboo in Germany I don't know.
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Aug 26, 2011 22:32
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^^^ Yeah if you fly a flag in Germany if there is no special occasion people pretty much assume you are a Nazi. It's starting to change a little bit, but it's still generally not done. Amarkov posted:I wouldn't say it's common for people to fly a flag in front of their house, but it isn't worthy of comment when it happens. Does that just not happen in other countries? No. We get like maybe 1 or 2 dozen flags on Queens Day (the most flaggy day of the year) in our entire street (hundreds of houses). This is in the Netherlands. When the people moving in a couple houses down from my parents decided they wanted to fly the flag, they even consulted with my mother (a police officer) about the flag code and what the rules are and consequences of violation or whatever. My mom had to dig around to give them info, because it's not really something that ever comes up. Either way, it didn't take very long for them to also restrict hanging out the flag for special occassions only. Year round there was a flag at the public high school I went to and I'm not sure if the other two had one (although they weren't public) and one at the old police station. The second station (now closed) didn't have one and the new station just has a police flag (a flag with the police logo). The town hall might have one although I certainly don't remember it and it's not visible from google street view. The military base (Commandos) obviously has one, but it's also not really visible from outside. This is a city of 70,000. There's more flags during a soccer world or european championship than at any other time, hands down. Both in Germany and the Netherlands. Orange Devil fucked around with this message at 22:41 on Aug 26, 2011 |
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Aug 26, 2011 22:33
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This seems to be starting to show up on facebook. It seems to have a lot of the hallmarks of a foward. When I google it all I can find is people reposting the exact same thing. "In the past 72 hours Israeli cities (Not military camps, cities!) have been bombarded by over 84 rockets, killing a number of civilians and forcing one million Israelis into bomb shelters throughout southern Israel. This has not reached the news at all. No mention of this is on CNN, BBC or SKY. If you condemn targeting missiles on civilians including children, please put this message on your status. Wherever I stand, I stand with Israel"
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Aug 27, 2011 01:12
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Captain Filth posted:This seems to be starting to show up on facebook. It seems to have a lot of the hallmarks of a foward. When I google it all I can find is people reposting the exact same thing. Does anyone have that political comic with the Palestinians shooting over 1 small missile and the Israelis then nuking them?
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Aug 27, 2011 01:22
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Captain Filth posted:This seems to be starting to show up on facebook. It seems to have a lot of the hallmarks of a foward. When I google it all I can find is people reposting the exact same thing. Just link them - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Palestinian_rocket_attacks_on_Israel,_2011 and maybe http://www.ifamericansknew.org/ On the other hand act extremely concerned and ask them where that heard about it from since you can't find any source for it. Z-Magic fucked around with this message at 01:26 on Aug 27, 2011 |
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Aug 27, 2011 01:24
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Z-Magic posted:Just link them - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Palestinian_rocket_attacks_on_Israel,_2011 and maybe http://www.ifamericansknew.org/ Their post said something about getting it from a relative in Israel
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Aug 27, 2011 01:32
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They won't care about either. The lamestream media isn't reporting it, so it wouldn't be on wikipedia either! Also this:If Americans Knew posted:Israel currently has 236 Jewish-only settlements and ‘outposts’ built on confiscated Palestinian land. Palestinians do not have any settlements on Israeli land. Is a lie. It's all Israeli land! Also, jokes aside... If Americans Knew posted:The Israeli unemployment rate is 6.4%, while the Palestinian unemployment in the West Bank is 16.5% and 40% in Gaza. This is probably the most telling statistic. If unemployment in the West Bank and Gaza Strip were closer to 7%, I suspect attacks by Palestinians would see a noticeable drop.
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Aug 27, 2011 01:50
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God knows I love my mother, and she even sees eye-to-eye with me on a lot of political issues, but I guess there are times where our differences surface. Like, say, just now. She, her friend, and I were having dinner and the conversation turned political. I didn't think much of it until they started railing on illegal immigrants. Cue my mom mention all the illegals she's known who drive better cars than her, get healthcare at the free clinic, and pay no taxes - all because they had a baby in the US. The topic soon drifted to the families they knew who lived opulently on welfare for generations at a time because the kids aren't brought up to value work or education. Then they began brainstorming "solutions" like forcing people to sweep the hospital floors, or clean kennels at the humane society, or some other drudgery, before they can claim welfare benefits. At that point, I just interrupted them by saying, "Want me to take the dishes to the kitchen?" and excused myself. It's fairly tame compared to what's been posted in this thread before, but the way it just all poured out in less than 5 minutes and their enthusiasm for each others' ideas took me off guard. I wanted to say something, but they were going at it so fast that I barely had a chance, so I just sat there with my jaw lightly clenched until I remembered the dishes and made my escape. 
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Aug 27, 2011 02:12
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Does your mom actually know any illegals? I mean really know them, as in she knows for a fact that they're here illegally? Or is she simply assuming they're illegal? Also free clinics pretty much only provide the basic service that your primary care physician would. If there's actually something seriously wrong, you're still totally hosed. And illegal aliens actually do pay taxes. Depending on who they work for they may pay FICA taxes; they absolutely pay sales taxes; and many of them pay income taxes (http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/2008-04-10-immigrantstaxes_N.htm). Not all of them do, but then again not all citizens do either. The only way people could live opulently on welfare would be for them to make a lot of money in a way that was easily hidden (the only thing I can really think of would be drugs). People who get TANF or SNAP or Medicaid usually have to incomes below 133% of the federal poverty line; which means less than $30k for a family of 4. Even if you made the max possible and got all of those "benefits" you wouldn't be able to live "opulently". Besides, more than half of people who are on welfare leave it after two years, and nearly all leave it by 5 years. Also, how exactly do you call someone who works 60 hours a week a two minimum wage jobs to earn a massive sum of $22k "lazy"?
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Aug 27, 2011 02:56
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Also, ask her that, if it's such a great deal, if she would renounce her citizenship. And ask her if she would enjoy a job picking tomatoes for 14 hours a day at a rate of $2 / hr.
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Aug 27, 2011 04:56
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Sarion posted:Also, chain email... (emphasis theirs) I actually really am offended by that comic purely because as a Christian, saying the Pledge of Allegiance goes against my beliefs. Giving allegiance to something is very serious: it means giving up your life, loyalty, everything up if it is deemed necessary. That is a really serious thing, and flippantly making an oath and public statement like that to ones country, imho, is blasphemous. I take the Commandment of "Love God with your whole heart, soul and mind" seriously. It's jarring that so many people believe nationalism and Christianity are synonymous. It's like they completely ignored the whole part where Jesus states that true salvation is rebellious to the govt. because it requires spurning corruption and seeking justice and mercy for the least of society.
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Aug 27, 2011 05:55
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Hastings posted:I actually really am offended by that comic purely because as a Christian, saying the Pledge of Allegiance goes against my beliefs. Giving allegiance to something is very serious: it means giving up your life, loyalty, everything up if it is deemed necessary. That is a really serious thing, and flippantly making an oath and public statement like that to ones country, imho, is blasphemous. I take the Commandment of "Love God with your whole heart, soul and mind" seriously. It's jarring that so many people believe nationalism and Christianity are synonymous. It's like they completely ignored the whole part where Jesus states that true salvation is rebellious to the govt. because it requires spurning corruption and seeking justice and mercy for the least of society. With these people, things like Jesus' teachings, the core of Christianity's message and belief system, mean nothing to them. They literally believe in God as a sky-daddy that loves them as long as they follow their local beliefs regarding issues like homoesexuality. If you stray from such beliefs, God will be a passive-aggressive rear end in a top hat to you until you die and He sends you to Hell. Concepts like "mercy", "helping the less fortunate" (outside of a few token giveaways or "mission" trips designed to make you and your church look good), "turning the other cheek", humanity's complex relationship with God, straying from violence, and loving all are completely foreign concepts to them. The only connection they have to Christianity is their belief in Jesus as the savior of humanity and God's son. Everything else is a mish-mash of horribly-outdated views on God and believing your hateful beliefs are God's.
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Aug 27, 2011 06:04
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Captain Filth posted:This seems to be starting to show up on facebook. It seems to have a lot of the hallmarks of a foward. When I google it all I can find is people reposting the exact same thing. That second to last sentence clinches it for me. "If you dont repost this you condone bombing children, this has nothing to do with Israel nope".
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Aug 27, 2011 11:09
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closeted republican posted:With these people, things like Jesus' teachings, the core of Christianity's message and belief system, mean nothing to them. They literally believe in God as a sky-daddy that loves them as long as they follow their local beliefs regarding issues like homoesexuality. If you stray from such beliefs, God will be a passive-aggressive rear end in a top hat to you until you die and He sends you to Hell. Concepts like "mercy", "helping the less fortunate" (outside of a few token giveaways or "mission" trips designed to make you and your church look good), "turning the other cheek", humanity's complex relationship with God, straying from violence, and loving all are completely foreign concepts to them. What's really sad is these are the same people who scream at the top of their lungs in protest of "Muslims and atheists are indoctrinating our children" and fail to see the indoctrination of their own. When they do it, it's "raising up our children in the faith". Anything outside of direct, explicit instructions from them is anathema. It's all about "our nations' freedoms" until you start actually wanting to raise your own kids the way you want. It's like a loving journey into bizarro world. I actually had a family member stare straight into my eyes and was discussing how God cares about life and saving the babies, and in the same minute told me God wants us to torture terrorism suspects. Not for political reasons, but that God actually wants us to torture people so the state of Israel is protected, because we have a biblical duty to them. Obviously that is insane, because 1)U.S. wasn't a nation then and 2)the U.S. would have been a Gentile nation then, making it directly in opposition of the Law if it was. The idea of America being a Christian nation really is a hosed up notion because these people genuinely take it seriously and integrate it into their daily faith.
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Aug 27, 2011 12:18
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It's not indoctrination when you're right! 
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Aug 27, 2011 12:54
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