sniggy

That's what the European Parlement is for isn't it, a way to get crap politicans out of the country? Shame the USA isn't a member. well, joschka fischer actually is one of our GOOD politicians... and he's off to parlement

aw, come one folks- don't argue over who invented what at which time... it's called RE-search after all. stuff gets invented- forgotten- reinvented - misplaced- found - exported - changed - etc etc. btw, there were europeans before gutenberg who used the press as well- he's just the one who found the "killer application"

i think the overly dramatic cartoons of WWII simply wouldnt work today. also, one side couldn't see the other sides opinion as clearly as they can see today. we're gonna have more and more confusing situations in conflicts like these in the future. we can only hope to have idealistic and brave journalists in the future. some who won't be shy to investigate and will make use of their right of free speech. governments will have further problems to earn the trust of the people. we have a similar problem here (though ours is based on our crappy economy right now)

there was a wounded guy lying on the concrete, with no other threats around ( i assume the crew wouldn't be filming standing up if there were). the guy was trying to surrender. a g.i. shot him and said "gotcha". then he smiled into the camera. that's the clip. they called it sports kiling (or shooting?) in german media. there's been similar stuff in the arabic media, though- showing iraqi cruelties on us and british troops. most cruelties consisting of running towards an armored vehicle like an idiot just to be overrun by it. it's not just a possibility. thats what happened. i guess its normal for our medial age. (though by normal i don't mean that i approve of stuff like that) this was the most medial war there ever was in history, i guess- more a propaganda war then anything else. just look at comical ali. i could watch him going "there are no americans in bagdad" on an arabic news station (with english subs) while seeing armored vehicles entering town on CNN. ironic... which is true- but hey- it's war. what did people expect? there have been less civilian casualties then in any other comparable war. there just seem to be so many of them because there was total media coverage. the conflicting stories is just a symptom of that coverage. as to your last point: i hope you are right and that the dust really does settle. i just don't see it for that region right now.

you actually shouldn't have a problem with so many different cultures in your country. just ring up your hispanic neighbor and learn some spanish. or your chinese neighbor and learn some mandarin. granted, when i lived in kansas, all my neighbors just spoke english... ... i had to drive through many many corn fields to GET to the neighbors in the first place... but... you get the idea... god. so. many. corn. fields. for miles... and miles... and miles... man, was i glad to be back in the city

he still will look the same though. i think demigod has a point there.

just close your eyes while doing it... you know, "trust the force" and all that ...

ANH? ESB? gaaah. its too late for acronyms... sleep. now.

that seems to be a mutual feeling, my antagonistic friend

i wish i could understand arabic, though. sometimes, getting exact opposites will show you what's in the middle of both stories. (thinking kotor murder case, here ;-) and sadly, i can't get fox in berlin. but their website also has news, so...

yeah, but only partly. there has been a lot of stuff restricted / censored on CNN / BBC as well, i.e. the "sports killing" of a wounded iraqi by us troops. it was filmed by a CNN crew, but CNN couldn't show it- they sold the clip to the arabian news station later on its about 70% for me. 20% is BBC, 10% other stations (most being internet based)

we're not blaming the sanctions per se, but the way the sanctions were implemented. they were too strict in some regards, bordering on ridicule. come one- look at cuba as another example for sanctions. is cuba still a threat to the US? yes, the saddam regime did all that and NO, the world did not "like saddam". maybe you should ask yourselves why there is a general anti-american sentiment today? the guy up there is rarely a "good one". that's true for most politicians i guess- but clinton had an advantage over bush- he knew how to work his allies for his own ends- bush didn't manage that and tried to force his interests. that made him "the bad guy" in the eyes of the world. it doesn't matter wheter a country is a super power or not- if you openly say that you're basically crapping on UN and calling it obsolete, then you're saying to everyone: screw off. and still expect them to like you? kennedy was popular, but he too wasn't a nice, innocent guy either. no politician is.

oh and why is THAT exactly?

did i say that you said that? you're right. hard left n right both tend to use same kinds of argumentation techniques look, i COME from that culture, ok? my cousin was married to some guy she didn't know when she was 16 and guess what? it was OK due to tradition. now, I dont agree with it- you certainly don't agree with it, but that doesnt mean that there isn't a culture wherein its perfectly normal for girls NOT to go to school and just stay home and marry sorry, but i am not a native english speaker. what i meant was: iraq had a working power system before the war. saddam did NOT have it turned off- it was bombed off during the war. one such case was to be seen life in one iraqi hospital in bagdad as a german crew was filming it at that time. the power grid failed due to heavy ally bombing. it was perfectly fine before that there were many lengthy reports on why the "food for oil" program failed in many ways. most important one being: the money out of the oil sale didn't really help people there- it was a nice way of getting oil out of a sanctioned country, though why do you assume that i have not done any research? you are the one who's not naming any of your resources. besides, i am not twisting anything to meet any agenda- merely stating some facts

its not just them. regional warlords and religious groups as well as the kurds all want a piece of the old nation like who? the whole terrorist threat is being overused by now. you are right on both accounts, but as the us and british troops will pull out anyway, using "acts of terrorism" IS an indication of the internal power struggle that the coutnry is facing at the moment. interesting point- what's your source? could you name some so that we might be informed as well? I use indymedia from time to time.

well, i can see why you get upset with that remark, but democracy is a foreign concept to a region with a clan based culture. people there just dont expect their girls to go to school. btw, your info on electricity in iraq is wrong. they had a working power system before 1st gulf war- after the sanction the place got trouble in that department. true, 80% running now, but only after 80% was bombed away in the 2nd war. as to speaking "freely" - i assume that critique of the "new regime" is as unwelcome as critique on the old one was. furthermore, with religious fanatics on the rise there, free speech is also becoming an alien concept once more. you can't translate your values to that region do you really think that the iraqi are better off? it may seem so for the moment, but consider that the land is in turmoil. no one knows what will happen once us forces pull out. also, the whole region was destabilized. i agree with taking down the saddam regime - but the way it was done was full of failures. there was a fundemental misunderstanding of the culture and beliefs of that region. mark my words.

he's been the lucas of his time ;-) meh. me not native speaker anywhoo.

cant skip dantoine. even if you land, you cant take of. taris-> dantooiiiineee. hard-scripted.

i hate spider... ...jerusalem. and i hate it here, too.

which basically translates to: sorry, but this is the engine we got at this point of time. we know it sucks in some ways, but we cant do anything about it.

well, we've played over the net for a while- using skype for voice chat and a net-based dice rolling program. worked pretty fine as all of us had flatrates, but it gets difficult after a while... too many lags- and its just not the same thing. eliminates the "group members moving away" problem though

well, its true for germany and some europe countries as well- so that letter might as well fit a german company... especially the "lolita" part... i know... i've been a sys ad

so we all want to screw with the story eh? figures...

it's the name of my cat. ...also pic of my cat. and i'm using that nick on the net since 94

coruscant wasn't the seat of the jedi order back then. it was ossus. ossus was destroyed in the war with exar kun. after that, dantooine was destroeyed. i guess that they haven't quite managed to assamble a new center yet. maybe we will be founding the new seat of the order on a friendly coruscant?