The Pope is dying

[Aegis]

Nostradamus said a lot of things. I remember a satire where a guy took one of Nostradamus fanta... er, predictions, and used it to describe two bugs that was found in an Intel Pentium CPU. I remember reading some stuff written by a believer who said that Nostradamus predictions were so good because you had no idea until what it said until the event came around, at which point it became "crystal clear". Well, of course. Badly translated poems with vague comments and wishful thinking can make pretty much anything "crystal clear".

 

Speaking of which, there are some very generous translations out there to feed the myth. He had for example written something about "Hister" involving a war, which some people translated into "Hitler". That, however, is wishful thinking, as "Hister" is the name of a region somewhere around Germany, I believe. That "Germanium" (which, I might add, is not the same and a much larger area than "Germany" would be involved in a war is no big surprise either, considering that historically speaking, the central European area has not exactly been the most peaceful of places.

[Roger the Sith]

Never believe in prophecies, never!

 

If God had intended humans to know what horrible death awaits them, Adam and Eva would have killed each other on the day one and have this creation done for.

[Jellybelly]

"When it comes to the religious aspect of this nice little conversation, there's a funny little thing I've noticed. Many of the Americans (I assume they are Americans) seem to be under the impression that if you are a Baptist, you belong to a different religion than, say, a person who considers himself a Quaker or the like. It's funny because, they are all Christians. As if there was a division like the Jew-Christian or Jew-Muslim division between the groups." -jellybelly

 

i do know that Catholics are the biggest chunk of christians.

Jelly belly, whats is your continents/countries view on the US country.  underdeveloped? too young? im interested to debate this w/ you.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

My country's view on the United States is pretty ambivalent, as most other countries, I guess. There is the older, often very devoutly Christian conservative, people who still experienced the war and the help we received from the Americans, and feel we owe them to stand behind them in every decision. Then you have the younger and the radicals, who are the opposite. And everything in between.

 

General consensus, if such a term can be used, in the country I'm from is that the US foreign policy of today is dangerous and destructive. Not only for the Middle East, but for peace and democracy in the US itself, as well as the rest of the world. Nothing good comes from the "war on terror", and nothing was gained from imperialistically attacking Iraq. The US is digging its own grave down there.

 

At the same time, I am capable of drawing the distinction between the Government and the people, and between the people and politics. As well, I am eternally grateful for American music and film industry. What I don't like is the God's Own Country thing. Granted, we all believe that our own system is the best, but it seems that many Americans would regard you with a "poor guy, he doesn't know better" attitude if you were to suggest that there is something another country does better than the USA.

 

Bottom line is, I do not consider the USA underdeveloped, how could anyone do that, it's about the biggest industry nation in the world, and a tremendous distributor or norms and culture. However, I think the US through time has shown that it is too young to wield the power it does in foreign affairs. Experience is needed to adequately deal with complicated and intricate international situations. It's not good enough to grab your revolver and your cowboy' hat and invade.

 

Anyway, this is very off-topic, and is probably going to offend a lot of people.

 

Darque... I wrote one sentence on the topic, and that is enough for you to judge me as "not very knowledgable" on the subject?

[LoneWolf16]

This is getting interesting

 

I just woke up, so forgive me if any of this sounds weird...and it might, or might not, whatever.

 

Three things to comment on.

 

1. Women would NOT make better leaders than men in every instance. Nor do men out-do women significantly enough to warrant their being in power.

 

It really just depends on the situation and on what behavioral tendencies you believe to be present in a being capable of competent leadership.

 

Men are idiots, women are prone to bouts of psychosis. Take your pick.

 

2. I'm pretty much in agreement with DarthWeevil on the subject of god. Our being the deities and all...since that's the most sensible argument I've heard in a while now.

 

3. Jellybelly - Our (by which I mean the U.S.) foreign policy is absolute rubbish. Pure, unadulterated bull**** in a nice shiny, pre-owned, luxury, one-of-a-kind, all-american package. Our political leaders are complete morons....which hasn't really changed for the better part of a century or two...well, most of them are, though there's a few good, seemingly intelligent ones mixed in here and there.

 

Yes, were way too young to have the power we do...our recent actions being excellent evidence of that. Like an eight-year-old suddenly given dominion over time and space, it just doesn't work out.

 

I like the cowboy/revolver part. Fits in quite well with the nation's mentality. :ph34r:

[kirottu]

Men are idiots, women are prone to bouts of psychosis. Take your pick. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Two stereotypes in one sentence. How efficient.

[DarthWeevil]

Men are idiots, women are prone to bouts of psychosis. Take your pick. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Two stereotypes in one sentence. How efficient.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

" Least he wasn't discriminating

[kirottu]

Yay for equality!

[DarthWeevil]

Yay for equality!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

(w00t)

[LoneWolf16]

Men are idiots, women are prone to bouts of psychosis. Take your pick. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Two stereotypes in one sentence. How efficient.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Why thank you. I do try to squeeze in as much brazen maliciousness into my posts as possible.

 

It was meant to be a joke, but I'm bad at humor.

[kirottu]

It was meant to be a joke, but I'm bad at humor. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Always remember: There are no bad jokes. There are only stupid people who don

[WITHTEETH]

"Bottom line is, I do not consider the USA underdeveloped, how could anyone do that, it's about the biggest industry nation in the world, and a tremendous distributor or norms and culture. However, I think the US through time has shown that it is too young to wield the power it does in foreign affairs. Experience is needed to adequately deal with complicated and intricate international situations. It's not good enough to grab your revolver and your cowboy' hat and invade." - Jellybelly

 

Thats what i was afraiad of. too young. how does a goverment go to barbarism to decadence with no HUGE conflict over centurys. were we ever barbaric? no. are we really that young of a country, no.

you speak out of misconception, our goverment dates back to 1798 with out interuption. how many goverments in europe date that for back? your not the only one with this misconception, even intellectuals in europe have it. If one thinks of one

[EuroKnight]

to me he's just a a guy in white robes who once said that using a condom is sinful - I guess infecting other people with aids is not according to the vatican

[WITHTEETH]

to me he's just a a guy in white robes who once said that using a condom is sinful - I guess infecting other people with aids is not according to the vatican

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Don't forget the pointy hat!

Sex is just fun to me why do you have to have a kid everytime!?

[Darth Flatus]

Pope dead - big deal, popes come and go and have been doing so for around 1500 years.

[DarthWeevil]

to me he's just a a guy in white robes who once said that using a condom is sinful - I guess infecting other people with aids is not according to the vatican

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Don't forget the pointy hat!

Sex is just fun to me why do you have to have a kid everytime!?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

the pointy hat is very important yes.

 

I expect the argument would be if these people are having sex for fun they will be going to hell anyway, so why worry about them having aids? <_<

 

Very Christian attitude. I'm sure the man himself would have been proud.

[Torpar]

God bless the old man. After achieving so many good deeds in life, dying serenely and mourned by millions of faithful followers worldwide is probably the best closing chapter for one who has been through and suffered so much. Whether Catholic or not and though you may not approve of his active interest in global affairs and religious conservatism, I think we can all agree that this is one man who has lived to his fullest.

 

He may just be another pope in the course of the Church, but his achievements in life have earned in a place in the hearts of millions. And to the poster whose mother said he was "useless", that was a very unkind and thoughtless thing to say... He has, in 26 years, done more than what most of us could achieve in a lifetime. For that alone, I pay him my deepest respects...

[Jellybelly]

Thats what i was afraiad of. too young. how does a goverment go to barbarism to decadence with no HUGE conflict over centurys. were we ever barbaric? no. are we really that young of a country, no.

you speak out of misconception, our goverment dates back to 1798 with out interuption. how many goverments in europe date that for back? your not the only one with this misconception, even intellectuals in europe have it. If one thinks of one

[WITHTEETH]

It never stops does it? who formulated the idea of the league of nations and the UN? that is acredited to the United states. and ,maybe the reason we were in isolation is the superiorty mindset the europeans had. thats why i said europe needs to stop it for both of our sakes.

Much of history is in books. you did not inherit it, you earned it through learning. because you are eurpean does not mean that you have more history then I.

I know the US is not the best and its dangerous in thinking so. nationalism lead to ww1 and ww2. what im trying to say is look at the United states as a partener a brother, not s child. equal.

[Jellybelly]

Of course, that is my hope as well.

 

That seems a bit difficult though, as the American government is behaving very arrogantly. "If you're not with us, you're against us".

[WITHTEETH]

Of course, that is my hope as well.

 

That seems a bit difficult though, as the American government is behaving very arrogantly. "If you're not with us, you're against us".

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sometimes we have good leaders somteimes we have bad leaders, just like any other goverment.

[Lucius]

Hey Jellybelly, just wanna say I agree 100% with your post(s).

You also seem to be a history buff, somewhat like myself, but I can't quite place your nation.? I have a feeling it's a Scandinavian though... being Danish myself.

[Jellybelly]

You're right, buddy! I'm from Norway...

 

By the way, I just now noticed LoneWolf16's reply to me, which I would like to quote:

 

Our (by which I mean the U.S.) foreign policy is absolute rubbish. Pure, unadulterated bull**** in a nice shiny, pre-owned, luxury, one-of-a-kind, all-american package. Our political leaders are complete morons....which hasn't really changed for the better part of a century or two...well, most of them are, though there's a few good, seemingly intelligent ones mixed in here and there.

 

Yes, were way too young to have the power we do...our recent actions being excellent evidence of that. Like an eight-year-old suddenly given dominion over time and space, it just doesn't work out.

 

Very well said. And he's American, WithTeeth.

[ShadowPaladin V1.0]

Maybe, but they have done a lot better than many eight year olds would have.

 

I dont think religion should be involved in policy. But if you were honest then it's just too big a part of life and morality not to be.

[draakh_kimera]

Well, even though I'm european and don't really agree with much of US politics, I think that it's somewhat neccessary to realize that they are the only superpower left in the world at the moment, and thus behaviour that can easly be criticised will be what gets noticed and focused on. In turn, what good things the US does will become less easy to notice, cause that stuff usually doesn't make the news. For example, if the US "policed" the world less, then Taiwan would have been taken by China a long time ago. Also, I can't really agree with the statement "If you're not with us, you're against us," even though I'm guessing Jellybelly meant it is an exaggeration. I'd say that the attitude is more like, "If you're not with us, then get out of our way." Of course, that's still arrogant

[Lucius]

Well I guess Jellybelly found inspiration to his example by a passage of Georgies famous speech after 9/11, in which he uttered: "Every nation and every region now has a decision to make, either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."

 

So I think the example is perfectly plausible.