What is an American?

Reverend Blair

Council Member
Apr 3, 2004
1,238
1
38
Winnipeg
I think not said:
Reverand Blair, so far to the left, he makes Karl Marx look like Ronald Reagan, but you gotta love his tenacity.

Shows how little you know about Canadian politics, I think not. Yet another way that Canada differs from the US is that we have a full political spectrum here...from communists to the radical right of the Harperites. Unlike the single party system you have in the US, we have choices here.

As far as the NDP go, I'm about in the centre of the party. You wouldn't understand that though because you are convinced that we are just like you and therefore have to fit into one of your preconceived and narrow-minded slots.

Jimmy said:
You condemn a lot and look at you, sending 150 troops to Sudan while condemning America for sending no one there.

Again, you've shown you ignorance of the Canadian system, The realities within that system, and the reality of the world politics. I won't be trying to explain it to you because you'll just make some sarcastic comment that has no basis in reality like you did with the al Jazeera thing.
 

I think not

Hall of Fame Member
Apr 12, 2005
10,506
33
48
The Evil Empire
I think not said:
Reverand Blair, so far to the left, he makes Karl Marx look like Ronald Reagan, but you gotta love his tenacity.

Reverend Blair said:
Shows how little you know about Canadian politics, I think not. Yet another way that Canada differs from the US is that we have a full political spectrum here...from communists to the radical right of the Harperites. Unlike the single party system you have in the US, we have choices here.

As far as the NDP go, I'm about in the centre of the party. You wouldn't understand that though because you are convinced that we are just like you and therefore have to fit into one of your preconceived and narrow-minded slots.

Try and crack a smile now and then Rev, it was humor. You still remember humor?
 

jimmoyer

jimmoyer
Apr 3, 2005
5,101
22
38
69
Winchester Virginia
www.contactcorp.net
ITN (also known as "I Think Not") had a warm portrait for everyone, except for the Reverend Blair and even there he's just excorcising the devil in a way and to Peapod that was a nice warm portrait of the Reverend and makes me understand his little quote of having his back to the wall all the more.

This kind of thing is necessary.

What I recommend most to the Reverend is that "facts" and "logic" of themselves are possibly the least influential of all approaches you can use.

Explaining why is like explaining the punch line of the great cosmic joke we live in.

I want to avoid the tedium of why such a statement is so true, but if forced, damnit ....

And Peapod ? You don't have to help if you don't want to. But have you noticed how everyone damns the country south of your border when they don't help or intervene and when they do?

And when we do we really do it like a bull in a china shop.

Sudan's Dafur is blamed on the US.

Why not Canada?

No one's helping and all those complaining aren't becoming leaders on the matter.

150 strikes you as gutsy or honest?

Aw crap, I got tedious on you Peapod and you're right.
 

Reverend Blair

Council Member
Apr 3, 2004
1,238
1
38
Winnipeg
What I recommend most to the Reverend is that "facts" and "logic" of themselves are possibly the least influential of all approaches you can use.

Explaining why is like explaining the punch line of the great cosmic joke we live in.

[sarcasm] You're right, Jimmy...I'll use lies and fallicious arguments from now on. I'll appeal to only base emotions and dumb down every statement so that it can be easily understood by a rather dim-witted grade six student. I'll trade in my copy of "Origin of Species" for a brand new Bible. I'll start telling people that global warming is a positive development because it will reduce snow removal costs. I will promote the idea of saving people by killing them and freeing them through enslavement. I'll vote Conservative and put a "George Bush is Jesus" sticker on my truck too.[/sarcasm]

Sudan's Dafur is blamed on the US.

Not you alone, but your policies have certainly played a part in the international foot-dragging. Why is Georgie so afraid of the International Court anyway? Could it be because he's a war criminal?

150 strikes you as gutsy or honest?

It's what we can spare right now. It's also the kind of help the AU is asking for...training and logistical help.
 

jimmoyer

jimmoyer
Apr 3, 2005
5,101
22
38
69
Winchester Virginia
www.contactcorp.net
I50 ?

It's what you can spare right now?

Okay.

Listen Rev, don't work so hard at defeating every challenge to your belief system.

And no I'm not telling you to lose your facts, but damnit facts have relatives. They're not orphans.
 

Reverend Blair

Council Member
Apr 3, 2004
1,238
1
38
Winnipeg
I50 ?

It's what you can spare right now?

Okay.

You didn't know that? See, this is what I mean by you not understanding what is going on in Canada.

The conservative spending policies of the Liberals allowed our military to shrink. Most of our soldiers are tied up with NATO, out on other peacekeeping missions, or worn out from being on mission after mission.
 

zenfisher

House Member
Sep 12, 2004
2,829
0
36
Seattle
Reverend Blair said:
[sarcasm] You're right, Jimmy...I'll use lies and fallicious arguments from now on. I'll appeal to only base emotions and dumb down every statement so that it can be easily understood by a rather dim-witted grade six student. I'll trade in my copy of "Origin of Species" for a brand new Bible. I'll start telling people that global warming is a positive development because it will reduce snow removal costs. I will promote the idea of saving people by killing them and freeing them through enslavement. I'll vote Conservative and put a "George Bush is Jesus" sticker on my truck too.[/sarcasm]

(Humour) Rev please send a photo...so I really can claim, I've seen & heard everything... :twisted: :p 8O With the possible of exception of Georgie boy wearing a vote Democrat tshirt(humour)
 

ElPolaco

Electoral Member
Nov 5, 2004
271
0
16
Fruita, CO, Aztlan
www.spec-tra.com
I think not said:
peapod said:
Elpolaco may know war and he may know politics, I asked him how he gets the "praying to the flag" idea and why being from blue state new york was amusing to him.
My actual knowlege of "war" is open to debate. Even though I was in Vietnam, I served in a signal outfit. My knowlege of politics is also questionable. I have an interest in certain political issues, but unfortunately, brain cells are supposed to be the only cells in the body that aren't restored and, as I get older, I tend to substitute polemics for fact. "Praying to the flag" is a phrase I use to describe the pledge of alligence. By itself, would probably be harmless, but it represents a proverbial "tip of the iceberg" when combined with the way nationalism is treated as a secular religion in this country. In some mainly fundementalist circles, nationalism has become so integrated with that variety of Christianity, it has become an actual religion. As for your "blue state" origin, though you're considered a "conservative" in this forum, I live near the state line of two "red states" (UT & CO)and here, you would be considered quite liberal.
 

I think not

Hall of Fame Member
Apr 12, 2005
10,506
33
48
The Evil Empire
ElPolaco said:
I think not said:
peapod said:
Elpolaco may know war and he may know politics, I asked him how he gets the "praying to the flag" idea and why being from blue state new york was amusing to him.
My actual knowlege of "war" is open to debate. Even though I was in Vietnam, I served in a signal outfit.

Those who send troops to be killed while drinking wine know nothing about war. I would take your views any day over them, even being in a signal outfit

My knowlege of politics is also questionable. I have an interest in certain political issues, but unfortunately, brain cells are supposed to be the only cells in the body that aren't restored and, as I get older, I tend to substitute polemics for fact.

"Praying to the flag" is a phrase I use to describe the pledge of alligence. By itself, would probably be harmless, but it represents a proverbial "tip of the iceberg" when combined with the way nationalism is treated as a secular religion in this country.

Nationilism and patriotism are two different things. Offering a promise and worshipping a devine entity are pretty different. And the Supreme Court ruled in 1942, no one is required to pledge allegiance

In some mainly fundementalist circles, nationalism has become so integrated with that variety of Christianity, it has become an actual religion.

Agreed

As for your "blue state" origin, though you're considered a "conservative" in this forum, I live near the state line of two "red states" (UT & CO)and here, you would be considered quite liberal.

I think I see myself more of a centrist, I borrow views from both sides of the fence. I have been called both over the years. As for being considered a "conservative" on this board, well, I suppose who you ask.
 

Ten Packs

Council Member
Nov 21, 2004
1,505
5
38
Kamloops BC
 

Jo Canadian

Council Member
Mar 15, 2005
2,488
1
38
PEI...for now
We tend to know what people are like according to their history,
and I found an interesting timeline that briefly coveres the
American timeline. Perhaps this could help some people see
what makes them tick.



Timeline: United States of America




NOW I know there will be some of you that'll quickly point out it wasn't made in the states, but hey it was interesting to read.
 

peapod

Hall of Fame Member
Jun 26, 2004
10,745
0
36
pumpkin pie bungalow
No one can dispute they have a interesting history, its the present that is the worry. Which reminds me maybe think can tell us something about new york. I know lots of canadians back east have been there, what part of new york do you live in think? I saw a program the other night american experience, the building of the brooklyn bridge. Have you ever seen woody allen? and can you purchase baby duck there?
 

I think not

Hall of Fame Member
Apr 12, 2005
10,506
33
48
The Evil Empire
Jo Canadian said:
We tend to know what people are like according to their history,
and I found an interesting timeline that briefly coveres the
American timeline. Perhaps this could help some people see
what makes them tick.



Timeline: United States of America




NOW I know there will be some of you that'll quickly point out it wasn't made in the states, but hey it was interesting to read.

I get alot of information off the BBC website and news myself Jo, it's always interesting to me how others view the US. I didn't see anything off on that link, how off could they be anyway, it was pretty concise.

One of the most interesting aspects of history to me has always been immigration (Canada and the US, AKA the New World) and how it has affected the countries those immigrants left.

It's pretty cool. 8)
 

Letitfly

New Member
Apr 29, 2005
15
0
1
Nanaimo BC
I may be wandering off your subject Rev but you did make the comment and I want to go to it . You said that you went to a catholic school and they MADE you pray to their God. I doubt that. I too went to a catholic school and I don't mind saying that it was a strict school in the deepest sense but they never in the years I attended ever forced any student into praying to theirs or anyone elses Gods. We said the Our Father every morning at the start of our day and no student was forced to comply and there were several non catholic students in my classes. As a rebellious student and catholic I recall several times refusing to join in the morning prayer and never being reprimanded for it. If that actually happened in your school and your life , in all fairness to cathoilic schools, state that. Don't make it a group thing.
 

I think not

Hall of Fame Member
Apr 12, 2005
10,506
33
48
The Evil Empire
peapod said:
No one can dispute they have a interesting history, its the present that is the worry.

I think about the present often enough myself

Which reminds me maybe think can tell us something about new york. I know lots of canadians back east have been there, what part of new york do you live in think? I saw a program the other night american experience, the building of the brooklyn bridge. Have you ever seen woody allen? and can you purchase baby duck there?

I presently live in a suburb of New York City, Plainview New York, on Long Island, you may be familiar. I've never bumped into Woody Allen, but I have met others over the years, especially Joan Collins (I always had the hots for her :p ). I had lived in Manhattan and Queens in New York City for quite sometime.

You also kind of hit a soft spot with me in regards to New York, peapod. There is much to tell, some bad, some good.

You have people from all over the world, you have more languages spoken in New York City than any city in the world. You have every national group, racial group, religious group represented here, and what they're competing to do is really create a better life for themselves. So as they do that for themselves they do it for other people. The city, therefore, is constantly discovering something new about itself, creating something new, neighborhoods remain the same and then they change over time and you get a sense of a new culture, a new civilization that's informing you, a sort of revolutionary movement of the population. These wild demographic shifts that occur every 20 years, the huge influx of people from all around the world. No other city can claim that type of population swing. It's absolutely a remarkable experience.

New York is not beautiful. There are beautiful things in it but it's not beautiful. It's not beautiful the way, for example, the parks make Middle London beautiful. It's not beautiful the way Paris is beautiful. What makes New York what it is, is that it's so theatrical. In midtown for example, the whole thing is an explosion of geometry, and everyone who has seen it has tried their best to measure up, to be up to the theatricality of the city.

Being a New Yorker is just simply a state of mind. Less than half of the population was actually born in New York City. But most New Yorkers were not, and the way I define it is, if you've been here for six months and you walk faster and talk faster and think faster, you're a New Yorker.

Many people call New York City, the financial capital of the world, the cultural capital, I prefer to call it the Great Experiment of Humanity.

Why do I like New York City? The answer is simple (and perhaps somewhat long). It comes as I realize that all the opportunities of the world are right at my disposal. I can walk out of the office into the cool air blowing through Washington Sqaure Park, to sit by the fountain , under the great Arch, and in view of the cherry blossoms. I like to walk through Greenwich Village and realize that I form a part of a great city. I have a role to play. I feel slightly important. I have my own story to tell. Yet, at the same time, I realize that I am one among millions, each with his/her own history, each with his/her own destination. We all contribute to and partake of the most eclectic mix mankind has ever seen.

I like New York City, I want to a part of that enterprise. I want to befreind the tourists that linger on the park benches. I want to know the immigrants, to hear from where they've come, the enchanting culture they bring with them and where they are going. My coworkers have gathered from Brooklyn, from Lebanon, from California, from Nigeria, from Maine, from great Britain, from Hawaii, from Siberia.

I like riding the subway and being asked for directions from newly arrived immigrants and tourists, in French, Yiddish, Greek, Arabic, Chinese and Japanese, I of course can only point (except for a touch of French and fluent Greek). I like buying hummus on MacDougal street, I like to go to the orchid show at Rockefeller Center, the boat show at the Jacob Javits Center, the Egyptian exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Musuem of Natural History where on occassion I find things older than myself. I like to buy lunch from the street vendor, the one who makes Indian crepes at the griddle on his pushcart.

I like watching the sunset as the rays fall on the Statue of Liberty and reminds me of people that have died by the millions across the globe in the name of freedom and that there is hope for humanity.

I love New York :D

Man, what a mouthful. Was that enough peapod? :p