Pine Barrens Mafia
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Posts posted by Pine Barrens Mafia
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Small time players come up small in big games.
Welcome to TD's team.
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LOL you think it's bad now, wait till you've been married for 5 years or more.
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It really is a great place and the people are as well. In fact, I married one.
The Netherlands is known for being a "tolerant" place, which I believe is a good thing. It is tolerant in an almost libertarian way such that people typically have the live and let live philosophy, which is actually "conservative" in the traditional sense.
Of course, when some people think of the Netherlands, they think of "coffee houses" and the red light district. The country is so much more than those two things obviously. Yet, those two issues provide some insight as to Dutch tolerance. For example, the Dutch realize that prostitution has been around since the beginning of time and will be around until the end of time. The same thing with "soft drugs." Their attitude is that, as long as people are not hurting others, it is only counterproductive to make it illegal.
There is actually less drug use by the Dutch than here. The Dutch are actually somewhat conservative in their own lives while not telling other people what they should do in their own. My wife, for example, does not even drink alchohol or coffee.
We, on the other hand, have spent so many of our resources on crimes relating to possession of pot and prostitution that in my mind would be better spent on schools and fighting terrorism for example. I heard somewhere that California has built far more prisons than schools since the 1970s (I forgot the exact statistic). The need for so many prisons has been fueled by the need to house prisoners that have been convicted of possession of pot etc. Again, our resources could be better spent.
One of the problems that many European countries face has been the influx of muslim immigration. [Keep in mind that I am NOT one of the people on this board that reflexively anti-muslim -- there are billions of them in the world and most of them are good people with whom we should be able to get along]. These European countries (e.g., Germany, France, the Netherlands, etc) initially brought these people in after WWII to help rebuild these countries. There have been severe problems of assimilation -- especially lately. For example, did you know that France's population is 5% muslim, yet its prison population is 50% muslim. In some respects, these countries are going through what we went through in the 60's.
One of the big issues in the EU is whether to let Turkey join. The U.S. has strongly pushed the the EU to let Turkey join. One of the underlying problems, however, is that many EU countries do not want Turks to be able to freely move to EU countries.
Back to the Netherlands. There are so many good things about the country. If you are from Buffalo, chances are you may have had one or two beers in your life. The Dutch have some of the best beers in the world. They also have some of the best seafood, coffee, candy, apple pie, cheese, fondue, pancakes, bread etc.
If you are into culture, they have some of the best museums. For example, I think that the Van Gogh museum is the most enjoyable art museums in the entire world. If you go there, you will realize why.
Amsterdam, the Hague, and Utrecht are great cities to just walk around -- especially during the Summer. Also, as an American, it is very easy to get around and everyone speaks English -- in fact, most people speak English better than a lot of people I know here.
If you are a fan of soccer (i.e. football), they have some of the best soccer and soccer players in the world (e.g., Ruud van Nistleroy of Man U).
Finally, if you are a single guy who likes attractive women, the Netherlands is a place for you (as are Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, and the Czech Republic by the way).
In any event, there are a lot of very good things about an "Old" European country like the Netherlands.
Give me a call if and when you want to talk. You can PM me and I will give you my number at the office.
Well, thanks, that was more than I was expecting. As a believer in drug freedoms, I'm pretty much well aware of the relaxed attitude in the Netherlands. A question however...you mention it has a libertarian attitude. Does that mean there is no state-run medicine as there is in France or Canada?
And I'd love to learn more about the netherlands. Despite my attitudes toward European elitism, I *AM* interested in Europe. In school my Major concentration was Ancient and European history. So, I'm not anti-Europe per se, just anti-their anti-American attiudes. ((was that confusing or what?))
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Here's a link:
Suicide bombings (thought muslims had the monopoly on that) and hacking women to death. Not exactly peaceful, these Hindus. Just because you "never hear of something" doesn't mean it isn't happening.
I stand corrected. But please, somewhere find me incidences of Chinese peasants blowing themselves up or hijacking planes.
.500 is a pretty good batting average
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Not like any other "proud histories."
So can I get you right that from your experiences, all those Arabs were terrible, unreformable people?
No, but if I were to respond honestly to that question you'd call me a racist. Well, I'll do it anyway. I felt extremely uncomfortable whenever I spent time in Kuwait City. The looks you got from people were downright hostile, even though I was there to protect their sorry arses. So if I sound a bit bitter, you'll have to understand that from MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE with Arab culture, I came away with a whole lot of negatives. Far more than positives.
If you believe the first part of your sentence, why make a stupid generalization? Or, why make the generalization your case and then back off of it? And you presume that to be Arab is to be Muslim ("their culture and religion") and to be ethnically Arab is to be part of "Arab culture" -- some Arabs are full-blooded Americans and owe just as much to this as to their Arab background. In addition, you don't need me to tell you that oftentimes LEADERS or what amount to simply the loudest voices, don't speak for THE WHOLE.Really? Then where are all these voices of sanity and moderation? Why do you never hear from those who renounce terror in the Islamic community? Where are their leaders? Why do they not call for an end to violece against the west?
I'll tell you why, it's because if they did, they'd be lynched by their own populations.
OK Joe. What do you think some of these voiceless Arab women and children feel? What do you think people who you never hear feel? You just don't know. I don't either. They probably feel some resentment towards what has been portrayed as Western agression, yes. They probably also feel some resentment towards their place in life. You talk about all Arabs being evil and then wonder why the hell they want to blow us up. Which is it, do you want to extend a hand to them, or do you want to name them all "evil" and enter into the war the jihadists want? It is awfully hard to have both.What I'd like to hear is an Average Arab stand up and say "Hey. a$$sholes! Stop blowing people up!!"
Maybe then some bridges can be built and some rifts closed. Until then, I just can't see any reconciliation of our way of life with theirs.
Now I have a good question for you: There are probably more Hindus out there who are in a lot worse places than Arabs and Muslims and yet you never hear of a Hindu hijacking a plane or blowing up a bus. Or what about Chinese people? There are probably a billion desperatley poor Chinese people out there and yet they never EVER blow anything up. Why is it that Arabs should feel the need to blow themselves and other people up when they're in a "desperate" set of circumstances and yet these other people do not?
Someone called you out by pointing out that Allawi is an Arab, and you immediately discounted it. It's plain that your reading of history and cultural study is selective and conforms to what you want it to be, even if you do consider yourself a student of such matters.I've never had anything but positive things to say about Allawi. What I said was that his own people want him gone precisely because he believes in the cause of freedom. That's what's got the libs panties in a twist.
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No, not there, though I'd love to visit Amsterdam some time. Since you seem to be the resident expert, please educate me on the topic (Serious request). From my somewhat limited understanding, the Netherlands is one of the more "tolerant" nations in Europe.
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My God.
And I thought Alyssa Milano was perfect.
Perfect.....
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Just shows how effective "tolerance" is in preventing terror.
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You're making an assumption you shouldn't. That academic types are intellectually honest.
Academia today is a joke. It's no more about freedom of thought and expression than the Madrassas are.
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That decision isn't one based on saving them or even out of respect for their houses of worship. It is a practical and tactical decision that in the long run, destroying mosques will cost us more American lives than letting these cretins escape to them for what will only be a temporary refuge for them anyway.
Think of the value in proving our sincerity to muslims by being be able to show that even in a firefight with our lives at stake, we respected their houses of worship. Balance that against killing those guys today or the next time they stick their heads out the door.
I would've thought the military learned during VietNam that as soon as yous tart allowing the enemy to hide in places that are off limits, you guarantee defeat.
They can always rebuild the mosques, but if we don't kill these bastards, there will be hell to pay in the future.
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Joe, how much regard do you have for your fellow man? Judging by some of your comments around here, not much. You seem to get all of your impressions of Arabs from TV and movies. Try getting out and meeting some real people sometime, they're not all as bad as you think. They have real hopes and fears, and *gasp* some of them are even flag-waving Americans. Until you have some real experiences with Arabs you're just another person making dumb generalizations without the faintest idea of what real people are like. It's so much easier to toss about labels and call people names from a distance, isn't it?
Have you been to the Middle East? I have. Yes, that's right Opie, i've been amongst arabs before, where *I* was in the minority. So YES, i've had real experiences with Arabs. Not only that, I'm a student of history. Yes, a history major, so I've learned quite a bit about Arab history and Muslim history as well. I know full well that despite all the cultural relativism polluting academia today, their rise was one of violence, intolerance and murder, and that history continues even today.
Are all Arabs bad? No, I'm sure some of them are just swell. But AS A WHOLE, their culture and religion promotes violence, terrorism and ill will toward anything and everything Western.
So before you go shooting your fool mouth off about who has and who hasn't met "real" Arabs, I'd suggest you dig a little deeper. I know for a fact I've mentioned the fact that I spent a good part of a year in the middle east.
Oh, and another thing.....I'm glad you're sensitive to other's needs. That's sweet. I guess I'm just from the old school, you know the one that says that until you show me your worth and trustworthiness...you shouldn't expect any good will in return. Why the Hell should we as Westerners even care what people who support those who blow up buses of women and children think or want? The very fact that they're complicit in allowing terrorism to happen makes them part of the problem. The world Arab community at large is today acting as accomplices to Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Al Quaeda and however many other terrorist organizations are out there.
May I make a recommendation? Read "The Beast Reawakens" and learn a liuttle bit about how Nazi refugees have formed today's Islamist threat.
The "Palestinians" don't want a two-state solution. They want a One-state solution. One without an Israel.
Hopes and fears. Pfft.
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Are you saying Israel against Arabs or Jews against Muslims? You forget that there are many Muslim nations that might not call themselves Arabs. Iranians generally refer to themselves as Persians, others are Pakistani, Indian, Indoneasan, African.....
Its just amazing how folks think this is a simple issue to work out with war someting that has been brewing for centuries. Final victory and democracy in Iraq will not end any of the distrust that Muslims have for Israel and its supporters.
Let me simplify the statement since it seems to be eluding so many of you:
It is my belief that we should take the shackles off Israel and let them do whatever is necessary to secure their own final victory. Like we should have in 67. Like we should ahve again in 73. Had we allowed Israel to finish what the Arabs started, we wouldn't have this mess now would we?
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Check your history books. WWI was hardly decisive. It ended in an armistice!
WWII was a decisive conflict. TOTAL WAR. And Europe's been at peace ever since. It took a horrible conflict to do it, but two of the most warlike cultures on earth (Germany, Japan) have been completely tamed by WWII.
Let the Israelis and Arabs finish it. forget 1967 and 73. I'm talking total war.
I'm sick of this nattering and rock-throwing. If you want conflict, Arabs...grow a pair and get it on with the Israelis.
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I'd like to take this opportunity to turn down the Secretary of Defense job. Thanks for the invite, but I don't like big government.
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Who wrote this, George Bush? How do you "win" a war nowadays? I really don't know how you do it unless the people are about 99% behind your attack and the attacker.
What do you suggest? We obliterate all the substantive military in the Middle East? Then what? We can't win peace in one diddle-dick country that could hardly feed itself for 10 years and had the snot kicked out of it in 1990. Care to see how things would go in Saudi Arabia? Egypt? Iran?
I'm not saying US, you moron. I'm saying let the ISRAELIS and Arabs duke it out.
Because they're jsut gonna continue this tit-for-tat if you don't.
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Arabs across the region will be watching the funeral, they won't be watching a diplomatic meeting next tuesday. Arafat is what passed for a moderate among his people. Send a flunky to the funeral will send the message that we simply don't care about Palestinians, never have and never will. We will confirm the worst lies told about us by the worst terrorists among them. Sending Powell won't alienate Israel but may buy us some credibility where we currently have less than none.
And sending Powell will also legitimize the view that we're willing to bend over backwards to placate terrorist organizations, including sending the Secretary of State.
You give terrorists legitimacy when you acknowledge them and try and converse with them.
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History has shown that the only way to lasting peace is decisive war.
Witness that Israel kicked the snot out of Egypt, and won the Camp David accord.
Would it be so bad to just take off the handcuffs and step out of the middle east "peace process" and let this thing be decided once and for all? Because I get the feeling that this thing will never end until one side or the other is abjectly defeated.
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That is an excellent question and one I am sure has been the subject of some teeth gnashing at the White House and State Department.
I think we should send whoever it is besides the Prez and the Veep that would send the strongest message that we take the Palestinian claim to a homeland very seriously. We do not need to convince Israel of our sincerity, objectivity nor the depth of our committment to their security. We do have a long way to go to convince Palestinians and other Arabs that they can trust us as a mediator not to sell them out or just parrott whatever positioin Israel would like us to take. This decision has to be made with the future in mind and not based on whether we think Arafat was the worst criminal of the last 40 years or a nationalist patriot or something inbetween.
Yes, let's legitimize murderers, terrorists and thugs everywhere. Let's send someone who will wax poetic about how wonderful a person Arafat was, how he was such a universally misunderstood guy. How he was a visionary and brought the whole world together in love and harmony. How he so adroitly managed the PA's finances to the benefit of his own people. How he stopped radicals like Hamas and Islamic Jihad from killing women and children.
Let's all sing Yassir Arafat's praises! Send Jimmy Carter!!
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Did anyone hear Jimmy "the communist" Carter's fawning over Arafat as an "important human figure"? Unbelievable. Of all the presidents out there, you think HE'D have a good understanding of Islamic terrorism. Shut your trap, Carter.
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Yes, Yes it was. I have to think an airborne 105mm howitzer has got to be a very very scary thing.
Game OVER.
in The Stadium Wall Archives
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Yeah, they beat Arizona, Miami and the Jets. Whoop-dee-doodle-doo. This is a real opponent in prime time at their house and it's over at the half.