posted January 25, 2012 02:56 PM            

when you and i were young, jwhop, and i followed quite a few years after you, the world had HALF as many people in it as it does now. how long can we keep pretending that it's okay to just elbow our way through life ignoring the stress and suffering that is being created?

people who hold "disdain" for america, randall, frequently DO leave. there are more americans living abroad now than every before.

posted January 25, 2012 03:49 PM            

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My response suits me just fine.

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Of course it does. It relieved you of having to state the real reason.

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AG and others jump right into the fray with strong language against Jwhop, but I'm not surprised that they play innocent

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Let there be no mistake. Jwhop was acting like Jwhop long before I ever arrived here.

Furthermore, I don't "play" innocent. Most of my posts are reactions to other people around here. If there were no ill-considered or otherwise rude posts the resultant posts of mine wouldn't exist now would they? What I said is correct: Joan is just the latest in a long line of people that have asked the same thing. (There hasn't been even a short line of people asking that I be moderated more. Trying to infer that is a poor tactic here.)

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AG is as insulting as Jwhop, but because he's of like mind, you praise him.

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Sorry, but I'm going to have to call false on that as well. I am not now, nor have I ever dismissed nor attempted to regularly attack an American political party here. If I were as insulting as Jwhop, I'd have started as many threads, and I'd have to be constantly in a state of attempting to skewer Republicans. I'm not.

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AG has remained quite silent regarding OWS...probably out of fear of losing his job at the bank.

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And you think I have a grandiosity to what I say. My bank could care less what I have to say about OWS. OWS was the perfect venue for marketing the bank I work for: it's small, it's local, it's not traded on wall street, and it's CEO represents an ethnic minority. I didn't talk about OWS here, because people against it don't see to understand what it's about, and people for it seem to project on it what they want it to mean. To me, OWS is about the deterioration of all of the safety nets for people across the board. When a person is in a bad situation, there's less places to look for help. Communities aren't as closely knit. Companies are contributing less to their employee's retirements. Government programs are declining as well as under seige. When the economy is down, and there is no help available, the rich must look pretty rich, and the available data backs that idea up. Companies are sitting on their savings. Rich people haven't stopped accumulating wealth. OWS, in my opinion, just wonders when they're going to get a crack at the money again. Of course an actual OWS activist probably wouldn't concur with my analysis.

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Randall, I'm a Libra and diplomacy comes first so I will do my best to be as civil as possible in regards to everyone here on GU.

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I have a stellium in Sag in the 7th (Libra's house) plus a couple planets in Libra.

posted January 25, 2012 07:46 PM            

Jwhop, I have no respect for someone who uses insults as a way to distract someone from an argument solely on the grounds that they disagree with it. I'm ending the hypocrisy with this post, don't address me personally, if you do you'll get silence. I'm above that form of despicable behavior, I have never insulted someone based solely on their beliefs and viewpoints. And you wonder why the world points a shaking finger at the US, just look at it's most outspoken citizen (Jwhop).

@Juniperb, I say what I say and I mean what I say. I'm not going to edit my posts to appease those who disagree because they don't support liberal views. You and I come from different America's so respectfully understand that I speak from experience and what I know, I've personally witnessed firsthand. I will not cater my posts to appease Jwhop's standards. I know the rules and I've stayed within them. Let's revisit your exact words, "this forum has more latitude because of the subjects involved and the passions they raise (Juniperb)." Basically a latitude based on you or Randall's personal discretion I see. The exception is always of course Jwhop.He can slander a population of people and President but I can't speak about the things I've witnessed through my personal experiences. Yes that is definitely not hypocritical or unfair, I get it now.

There is nothing wrong with my content, it's blunt yes but it's based on personal experiences. What I've written might be heavily biased and based on individual perceptions leaning towards generalizations however it's the truth because this is the America I was exposed to. I'm not going to tell a Holocaust victim to mediate their experiences during the Holocaust out of fear for being biased, if that's what they experienced then who am I to challenge that. There are reasons why controversial topics are controversial, they aren't made to be sugarcoated especially when the truth is evident. If you can give me a better way to say ignorant, by all means but that's the word I used because it's the truth. It's not false, defamatory, racist, inaccurate (I can conduct a focus group for you if you'd like), abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing.....or otherwise violate any law (nope freedom of speech, let's read the constitution).

The world is watching, we can use attacks and insults to hide behind the truth of where we as Americans fail in our society, but the world is watching closely and taking note of the lies and the truth.

Speaking of insulting:

LL Forum Rules, "You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use this bulletin board to post any material which is knowingly...personally insulting of any member," how many people has Jwhop insulted personally in the history of this forum. The latitude you mention here is in action with Jwhop as the exception, right? Alone on this thread he's insulted me personally, not just my views which I could careless about, but who I am as an individual continuously and my identity as an American citizen. You might want to re-edit the rules or include a description of what this forum considers to be insulting behavior and serve that update to Jwhop. Juniperb and Randall, it's evident that you've both turned a blind eye towards his frequently insulting behavior. And no worries about whether I continue to post in GU Juniperb, I will because I have hopes that one day this forum will be a place of respectful discourse even if that hope is just me being a peddling idealist as you claim once again.

posted January 25, 2012 07:55 PM            

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Originally posted by PixieJane:
Plenty of unaware Americans are Democrat just as they are Republican.

Maybe NativelyJoan had a specific political agenda in posting what she did, but if so I don't see it. What I see her saying applies to Democrats in general just as it does to Republicans in general--though exceptions exist among Democrats and Republicans both.

Btw, John Stossel has commented on the failure of our schools--and the successes of European schools:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx4pN-aiofw

Seems to me that he--a libertarian who is featured on FOX news--is saying something similar to NativelyJoan.

Oh, and here's Penn & Teller showing how dumb Americans can be, and this time it's Leftists getting exposed for their lack of critical thinking skills:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi3erdgVVTw

Of course conservatives also get exposed as getting idiotic like this but I'll refrain from posting an example given the level of defensiveness in this thread.

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posted January 25, 2012 09:05 PM            

My personal discretion? That`s laughable as I am a moderator not the Web Master nor anyones scapegoat.

Carry on as you wish NJ and again, good luck!

posted January 25, 2012 11:44 PM            

But, I find it fascinating that NativelyJoan would post a thread with the intentional and deliberately insulting title..."Ignorance, Fools and Cultural Unawarenes in the US" and then, have the unmitigated gall to say the following:

"Jwhop, I have no respect for someone who uses insults as a way to distract someone from an argument solely on the grounds that they disagree with it."

Hello, hello, Earth to NativelyJoan.

posted January 26, 2012 02:36 AM            

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The men and women hoping to become the next President of the U.S. appear to spend as much time demonstrating their ignorance of the world, as they do their political credentials. But as RT's Anastasia Churkina found out, that could just be a reflection of society

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posted January 26, 2012 10:28 AM            

I'm not upset because of the backlash. Once again please don't put words in my mouth. I welcome it because this is most definitely a very controversial topic and depending on your perspective sensitive subject. I have no problem with disagreements or outrage because there are those who disagree with my viewpoints. Weave those web's and continue to discredit and defame my character because you disagree with my perspectives, it's fine really do as you please. However, I do not accept personal insults which is exactly what Jwhop has done to me on this thread and many others all over the GU forum. Once again your skirting the main point of my complaints, Jwhop's behavior. I've stated repeatedly that I don't mind if anyone disagrees with me, we are a nation of varied individuals, disagreements are expected and amazing because that means we are all attempting to think for ourselves. In correlation with my blunt statements posted in my original post based on my personal experiences I added incisive questions and possible solutions to this problem.

I'm just as patriotic as the next person however I'm not blind to where we as an American society have failed in comparison to the rest of the Western world and the globe. Let's not makes blind lies about the current state of our society in relation to cultural awarness. If you're going to disagree with my assessments be my guest, but don't insult my identity as an American or who I am as an individual. You don't know what I've experienced, where I've been nor what I've seen. Please don't assume what you don't accurately know.

posted January 26, 2012 12:43 PM            

back on topic, i think every culture tends to have its "masses" who tend to be less aware of what goes on in high places than those who inhabit those places. every country i have been to has its own version of patriotic chauvinism and in this sense the american public is no better or worse than most.

most societies are divided in their minds as to the intelligentsia (not an american-born word) - some admire them and some mistrust them. yet HIGHER education is constantly pushed as a ladder out of obscurity...

however i am shocked that just because of "tone" - which he uses ALL THE TIME - jwhop would completely go off like a rocket as he did. he has, as i pointed out earlier, MANY TIMES decried the state of our education and media. why he would feel obliged to dismiss the general message just because it says "americans" when he refers to his own fictitious "americans" all the time beats me.

i see no problem in complaining about the general dumbing down of the thinking processes and choices in society today, here or elsewhere. however looking back in history i have not seen much divergence there either. MOST people concern themselves with the day-to-day horizon, and those who want to conquer the future are happy to keep them buried in minutiae and propaganda.

however despite the availability of more information than we can absorb, on the internet, there is also more DISinformation than we can sift through.

posted February 03, 2012 12:23 PM            

"Over the past three years, as the sluggish economy has forced many Americans to tighten their belts, President Obama has reportedly enjoyed a lavish personal lifestyle, residing with his family in a 132-room house staffed by a 24-hour security detail, five full-time chefs, and a live-in maid service.

In recent weeks, many of the president's critics have seized upon the issue, arguing that anyone who sleeps in a sprawling six-level neoclassical mansion covering 18 acres of Washington, D.C.'s most valuable real estate is clearly out of touch with the lives of ordinary citizens.

"What message does it send to the American people when their president is living in a ritzy palatial estate at the same time they're struggling to keep their heads above water?" political strategist Robert T. Carlson said Wednesday, noting that Obama's gated home features a lush rose garden, a private balcony, an ostentatious room seemingly devoted to the color blue, a solar­ium, "fancy portraits" of John F. Kennedy and George Washington, and a movie theater. "So much for all that 'shared sacrifice' he keeps talking about. "And just look at those gaudy columned porticoes," Carlson continued. "It must have cost a fortune to build that place."

posted February 03, 2012 01:28 PM            

But there was an Onion article that was critical of Obama and FOX reprinted it as a true news story. (They may have even done it at least twice, or I may have instead heard of the same incident twice.) I can't recall the details of that, but THIS one I DO recall and it's AMAZING that there were people believing this was real and spreading it!:
http://www.snopes.com/humor/iftrue/potter.asp

posted February 03, 2012 02:34 PM            

Please watch this amazing but really sad documentary:
How the Public Schools Keep Your Child a Prisoner of the State

http://lewrockwell.com/decoster/decoster191.html

------------------
“Perfect love casts out fear. Where there is love there are no demands, no expectations, no dependency. I do not demand that you make me happy; my happiness does not lie in you. If you were to leave me, I will not feel sorry for myself; I enjoy your company immensely, but I do not cling.” -Anthony de Mello

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

posted February 03, 2012 03:40 PM            

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Originally posted by NativelyJoan:
The Onion "Obama Criticized For Living In Lavish Mansion While Most Americans Struggle To Make Ends Meet (132-Room Estate Includes Personal Chef, 24-Hour Security Detail)"

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Something I almost mentioned but I couldn't google it then:
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/05/11/right-wing-attacks-president-obama-for-star-trek-screening/

I finally thought to add buzz words like "liberal," "socialist," "elitist" to my search and found it.

And complaining of a POTUS watching a movie in the White House is about as ridiculous as the Onion article. Personally, I enjoyed that movie (the first Star Trek movie I truly liked all the way through), but I doubt it would've been anywhere as much fun having to put up with the secret service and media had Obama decided to watch it as the same time I did, so I'm glad he has the same sense as other presidents and watch it in the White House!

posted February 03, 2012 04:05 PM            

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Originally posted by amelia28:
Most people are stupid bc that is what people in power are trying to accomplish and one way is through our educational system. Schools have turned not into a place were creative thought is encouraged but into a prison were people are conditioned since little to be a scared, follow orders and not question anything

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In case you haven't seen it, you might like this:
http://www.linda-goodman.com/ubb/Forum25/HTML/003157.html

posted February 03, 2012 04:10 PM            

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Originally posted by PixieJane:
In case you haven't seen it, you might like this:
http://www.linda-goodman.com/ubb/Forum25/HTML/003157.html

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