BF2S Forums DAST Chat

Macbeth wrote:

I read an argument in the NYT that pointed out that the Japanese had high speed rail, French had cheaper nuclear energy, Germany had the best automobile roads in the world and so on etc.. The point they were trying to make was that the U.S. had nothing distinguishing or more advanced than any other comparable nation. In most cases we were behind. They only thing we have going for us is that our taxes are low. So our infrastructure is second rate but we can afford iPads.

Best equipped military - which is good because strategy is so poor.

Uzique The Lesser wrote:

Macbeth wrote:

So since the Boston bombers were not connected to any terrorist network their crimes were hate crimes? I think labeling this a terrorist attack is fair since the guy gave political reasons as to why he killed the victim. An EDL member stabbing someone because of they are a different race isn't the same as trying to force political change through violence.

I have heard this 'Why is X not terrorism' argument a bunch of times from American Muslims. While I sympathize with their situation, they have to at least admit that politically motivated attacks are just different than someone deciding to string up a nigger

what? an EDL member stabbing someone isn't connected to political reasons? or "political change"? do you even know what the EDL are? what they want? of course fascist far-right organizations are political. they're not anti-islamic in a pure ideological or racial sense. they hate islam precisely for the reason that it is (supposedly) 'changing the shape of britain/europe'. it is completely political. they are a sister-organization (arguably the new ascendant power) of the british national party.

it really confuses me how a muslim attack of any scale/severity is "terrorism", but then racially or politically aggravated crimes/abuse/violence from another angle is just the old-fashioned 'hate crime'. with all due respect, the boston bombing is of a whole other order of magnitude to some people crashing into a soldier and stabbing him to death.

continuing this, one thing that annoys me about this incident is the massive patriotic spurt of 'help for heroes' that has come up since the soldier's death. i am sick and tired of soldiers being referred to as "heroes" (as i say that as someone whose cousin recently just had his graduation ceremony to become an officer in the royal marines). what makes someone heroic, by being hacked to death in the street? i am tired of applying medieval tropes of heroism and gallantry/chivalry to soldiers who go to dustbowls to drop JDAMs on goat farmers. it is not heroic. in fact, some legal theorists are even asking the question whether it is hypothetically possible to consider the killing of a soldier as "terrorism". typically terrorism has to target or attack the civilian populace. a soldier for a state engaged in war is technically not liable, as the statute specifies, to be a 'victim' of terrorism.

not a hero.
not terrorism.

a fucked up tragedy, nonetheless, but christ are the media/politicians using this as an excuse to stock up a load of flag-waving nonsense.

we were actually not so bad after the july bombings in london. i think on the whole the UK is far less patriotic than america - or at least far less bombastic and 'loud' about it. we're too typically reserved. but using this incident to stoke up pride in our military is completely dumb. the killer's whole point was "we are killing civilians in iraq/afghan every day, on their streets, protest against your government". but then the entire media turn this into a 'our brave soldier heroes' thing. soldiers are not fucking heroes. it just completely negates the guy's point (poorly made, of course; nobody should kill someone else to make a point). it's the ugly side of nationalism that really bothers me. nobody is rational about these things. tony blair should be tried for war crimes, but we're all too busy treating our good little soldiers like knight gallants.

globefish23 wrote:

Jay wrote:

I told her I was in favor of fracking

Brewers in Germany are protesting against the plans to start fracking, because they fear that the Reinheitsgebot (German purity law), which is used for several hundred years, would drastically be affected, especially since German water laws would need to be changed for fracking.

Penetrating the groundwater layer and pumping chemicals through it is prone to get you problems.
Oh, radionuclides too? Fun!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ad … fracturing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radionucli … fracturing

I'm really looking forward to the first big fuck-up, Exxon Valdez/Deepwater Horizon style.

It's a lot more harmless than you think or the media makes it out to be.  The issue with fracking isn't fracking itself but rather whether or not the by products are properly disposed of afterwards.  The only real danger is that companies fail to follow EPA guidelines regarding disposal.

How much power does the EPA have in Germany...

DesertFox- wrote:

Evidently he was a drummer, too, or more accurately drummer/machine gunner. That struck me as a bit odd. I know you've got a good amount of ceremonies and whatnot with marching line infantry, but wouldn't that be more of a military band responsibility?

Most of the bandsmen are fully trained infantry.

French soldier stabbed in the neck by a North African man.

Is this the coming race/culture war that lowing had prophesized?

British soldier beheaded
Muslims burning shit in STOCKHOLM, of all places
Now a hit and run style shanking on a Frenchman

I generally am pretty pro-multiculturalism.  But this is getting tense, is it not?

Last edited by Spearhead (2013-05-25 15:06:03)

C'mon zique you know I was being deliberately provocative.  I don't honestly think it will happen.  But I also don't think they happen to be coincidences, either.  Europe has some pretty epic problems to deal with right now, immigration being one of them.

Spearhead wrote:

French soldier stabbed in the neck by a North African man.

Is this the coming race/culture war that lowing had prophesized?

British soldier beheaded
Muslims burning shit in STOCKHOLM, of all places
Now a hit and run style shanking on a Frenchman

I generally am pretty pro-multiculturalism.  But this is getting tense, is it not?

lol

13/f/taiwan wrote:

they arrested his friend after he did an interview with BBC. how long before they charge him uzique? it's generally 72 hours in the states. unless they throw you in guantanamo bay. in that case you're fucked.

it's a fortnight for cases/crimes relating to terrorism or state safety. otherwise you normally have 24 hours at her majesty's leisure. a few days more if it's a murder or you pose a clear danger.

thankfully we don't have a gitmo.

Last edited by Uzique The Lesser (2013-05-25 16:07:51)

they tuk our jerbs and wouldn't bail our banks

Extra Medium wrote:

I'd laugh if Europe fell into war again.

Just read your sig. What have you got against ships?