"Hearing the news of his death, 300 people allegedly died either due to heart attack or by committing suicide in grief."
BRRRRING!!!
Crap, I'm in the middle of reading the news, and the phone rings.
"Hello!"
"Hey, Runaway, this is Darwin calling."
"But, you're dead, aren't you?"
"Yes, but science is wonderful, isn't it? I've just had a phone installed, and though I'd test it out."
"Oh, cool. So, I'm getting my first phone call from the afterlife!"
"Yes, and I just wanted to tell you not to worry about 300 dead Indians who committed suicide, or died of grief over some politician. Those dumb bastards had nothing to put back into the gene pool anyway."
"Oh, OK, Thanks Charles. Though, I couldn't see myself getting overly excited about them anyway."
"Alright, cool, Runaway. Have a nice day now. Like I said, I was just testing my new phone - I have some important calls to make now. 1-900 numbers and such, you know. See you around!"
"Google forcibly deleted and dissolved a group on Orkut"
Wow. Really? They just marched a batallion of Google soldiers in, with fixed bayonets, and FORCIBLY took the site over?
FFS - how about dropping all the drama bullshit, and just say that Google deleted a fucking page on their site. Drama queens suck diseased donkey balls. Or, diseased dog nuts, if donkey balls are in short supply.
I don't like censorship. With censorship, I wouldn't be allowed to point out that the deceased Senator Ted Kennedy was a fucking moron, a thief, a murderer, and a fraud. It could be that this deceased Indian dude was just like Senator Ted. If so, the world has the right to know.
I disliked some of your posts - but this one crosses the line. Definitely retarded. You've left the realm of corporate and business law, and tried to justify a violation of human rights.
Bravo. Now - let's try to make Congress, the Senate, and each of the 50 states understand that. NO CORPORATION HAS A RIGHT TO EXIST, let alone decide how they will do business. They are LICENSED by the states to do business, according to state laws.
Now, let's shoot all corporate lobbyists, lynch every politician who has ever been bought off by a lobbyist, and get things back on track. One voter, one vote, and the rich sumbitch has no more say in anything than a ghetto welfare recipient.
Ahhh - for me to see things this way is paranoia - but when the rest of the world resents the United States historic domination of trade markets, that is not paranoia.
Dude - it's a dog eat dog world out there. The biggest dog in the world is now doing precisely what half the world has condemned the US for in decades past. Wake up and smell the coffee.
One thing about the Chinese, is that they are realists. They understand exactly what has allowed the US to dominate the world market for so long, and they are determined to become the dominant force. That Assassin's Mace is real. Deny it if you like, but it won't go away for all your denial. China means to become the next super power, and ultimately, the only super power.
Funny how the summary posted fails to reflect what TFA is all about. I opened this discussion in my browser, prepared to condemn New Zealand for infringing on the rights of it's citizens. However, after RTFA, I have to go along with them. If we assume that a wire tap is ever justified, for any reason, then it makes little sense to make SOME electronic communications subject to the tap, but others are immune.
I see nothing wrong here: the cops still have to get a warrant, and go through channels. There should be oversight somewhere, which I don't see mentioned. But, if that oversight is lacking, then it's up to the New Zealand citizens to demand it, and have it installed.
I still see a problem, in identifying all the electronic methods of communication that a particular suspect or subject might be using. Again - what good is it to tap his phone, his home internet connection, but he has a cell phone that the cops don't know about? Here in the states, I can get a net-10 phone for cash money, with no paper trail, use it for however many days, and throw it away. (reactivating that phone leaves a credit card trail - if I were determined to cover my tracks, I wouldn't do it) The cops aren't going to monitor THAT very effectively, are they?
"Also TFA is complete bullshit, China cannot corner the Neodymium market:"
While that statement is true, you are distracting from the real issue. China is indeed striving to corner strategic mineral markets, and it's not "news".
And, of course, this all goes back to their 10-year plans, and their bid to dominate the world, economically, politically, and militarily - the "Assassin's Mace". People with the slightest clue are worried about neodymium - but they are still missing the "big picture". That damned Assassin's Mace is a working plan, that is moving ahead, while the rest of the world sleeps.
The world economy won't improve, so long as China is waging an economic war, and we don't even realize it.
Twenty years ago, my second son was born - after I had taken a discharge from the Navy, and spent a couple years working in the civilian world. No - I'm not young and arrogant. I'm quite seasoned, as a matter of fact. 99% of the time, a man who is a shitbird at age 20 will be a shitbird when he is 40, and he'll STILL be a shitbird when he's 60.
Yeah - people change. In fairy tales and gothic romances.
If this turkey wanted my respect, he would have stood in front of Congress, and told them something to the effect, "Yes, I screwed up badly, and I lied to cover it up. I've learned my lesson, and nothing like it will ever happen again."
Want to hear what he DID say, translated? "I almost got away with it, and no one can really pin anything on me, and I have friends who will vouch for me, and/or owe me favors."
Few things earn my contempt more easily than a politico whitewashing a crummy situation.
If you, or I, or Joe Sixpack accessed those records, we would be facing a prison sentence. So, what you're asking is, "Had he been properly convicted, and served his time, would he be fit for the job today?"
Think about it. Do you want a convict running a high profile security agency, protecting you, your special other, your kids, your parents? Think. A convict may have "paid his debt to society", but he remains a convict.
What a man does in a time of crisis, such as a divorce, defines who and what he is more accurately than all the years of carefree living. Twenty years ago has nothing to do with this story - that is a red herring. The fact is, so long as the "little woman" kept his house clean, and did his laundry, and performed her "duties" for him at night, everything was just find and dandy. When she declined to live in his fantasy world any longer (for whatever reasons) then he used his position of authority against her for personal reasons.
The man may not be the lowest of pigs - but he's a pig. Given another crisis, he will do the same thing again.
Good point. Unfortunately, there's not a terribly huge body of evidence telling what Africans civilizations were like before colonialism. I know that there were multiple civilizations, and at least two of them were pretty highly advanced. They probably fell just short of Greek civilization.
Alas - they fell, and left little more evidence than the Incans or the Anasazi left behind. Did they even have a written language?
No sir, your own ignorance is showing. Nothing requires that a joke be perceived as funny by every person who hears it. BTW - it's no coincidence that I used Polish Jokes in my earlier post. My family is Polski. Want to hear some Polish jokes? I've heard them all - some are stupid, some are hilarious, and most fall somewhere in between. I guarantee that I'm not going to lose any sleep if you tell all the stupidest ones, and skip the ones that really are funny.
Assuming that you are going to be someone's servant, vassal, serf, slave, or otherwise subjected to someone else's will, would you rather be hungry, or well fed? Would you rather have some limited indoctrination/education, or would you rather be forbidden to even learn to read? Would you rather your wife had a doctor and nurses in attendance when she goes into labor, or some ignorant tribal shaman who can't even read? Would you rather bury your parents when they are around 30 to 40 years old, and know that your turn is coming, or would you rather have a life expectancy of 50 to 70? When tax time comes, would you rather have beauracrats determining what you owe, based on some standard mathematical system, or would you prefer the local priests take everything that THEY want, to be followed by the local nobility, who take everything that THEY might possibly want?
I find myself defending a government that I really don't like. I still refer to it as "Red China". They were a factor in the Cold War, of which I am a veteran. There is little that I like about China's government - but so many people seem to be blissfully unaware that China's government is ABSOLUTELY NOT the worst thing that could happen to the Chinese or the Tibetan people.
Chinese rule over Tibet actually improved the average Tibetan's life unimaginably. Try studying some documented history, as opposed to the romanticized bullshit about how idyllic the temples were 100 or 200 years ago. Peasants were viewed as animals, and their homes were often times inferior to a pigsty.
There is no false dichotomy. "Glorious" or not, the nobility and the clergy of Tibet worked together to enslave the rest of the population of Tibet. While healers were available for those chosen few among the wealthy, no healers were available for ANY peasant. As has been pointed out many times, by many people, religion was a weapon in the hands of the clergy with which to oppress the peasantry. As has been seen many times the world around, the "clergy" weren't really believers in what they preached. Instead, the preaching was a tool used to keep the population in line.
The Dahli Lama of today is only a single generation removed from an oppressive barbaric regime. The man has never made any sacrifice on behalf of his people - instead he still calls on his people to sacrifice for him.
My contempt for politicians in general is multiplied by an order of magnitude for "royalty" and "hereditary spiritual leaders".
In short, if the Dali were on fire, I wouldn't piss on him to save his life.
That has NOTHING to do with Buddhism. Nothing at all.
Wait - they are Amish until a certain age, then they're NOT Amish? How about Russians, Mexicans, or Filipinos? Does anyone else have anything like that?
I say, there are two Amish young men in that photo. Ask their opinions on these matters.
Fair question. And, a tough one to answer. I guess you have to look at the end results. Let me see - under colonialism, a native African was little more than property, to be disposed of as some white landowner wished. Under today's dictatorships and/or lawless regimes, most native Africans are little more than property, to be disposed of as any warlord, dictator, or religious zealot wishes.
Well, you've got me, really. It's hard to say which system I would rather live under. I guess it sucks to be African?
One correction. I made no mention of "cultural homogeneity". That term is not synonymous with "blending in". Mormons, Baptists, Catholics, and any number of other Christian faiths "blend in" flawlessly in America. Moslems tend to stand out right now, thanks to the actions of some of their overseas brethren, along with a few domestic misfits. Wiccans, Native Americans, and others blend in to the mix, without being homogenous with the more mainstream Christian faiths.
My whole point was similar to another post, made by a member who says that he is also Chinese. Lighten up, and laugh at yourself. Psychology isn't THAT serious a course of study. Hell, LIFE isn't all that serious. It's just temporary after all. You might as well laugh at yourself - and when you get over it, you can then laugh at all the other assholes who aren't all that different.
The original post was good for a mild chuckle. The fact that 33% of the (self identified) Chinese people who post on slashdot took offense at the post doesn't detract from the little bit of humor. Keep in mind that 75% of females would take offense at locker room humor - but 90% of all men still laugh at it. The fact that my wife doesn't think a joke is funny doesn't dictate whether I think it's funny.
Oppressed, are you? Not at all. You voiced an opinion, some people opined back at you, you furthered your opinion - and I've not seen one person's post defining you as some kind of subhuman, yellow skinned, whatever. And, if someone DOES put you down as subhuman, then you can just shake your head, and write them off as an ignorant barbarian or whatever blows your skirt up.
Meanwhile - why don't YOU post about what Joe Sixpack and his family in China find humorous about our Western culture. Americans especially probably mangle your language all to hell and back, if and when they bother to learn it at all. Go for it - tell us how stupid WE sound! You won't hear me whining. In fact, you might learn something from the responses that are posted.
A fair question might be, "Which was more repressive - the feudal state that the Dalai represents, or the communist state that built hospitals and freed the peons from their feudal masters?"
I don't think censorship is the way to go. Past censorship seems only to have triggered the Streisand effect. Worse, it has turned the Dalai into something of an icon. But, the Dalai gets no sympathy from me. Nor would he get any sympathy from anyone who actually researched the state of affairs in Tibet when China took it over. FFS, they were living in the 10th century, and China brought them up to the 17th century in a single generation!! There is every hope that they'll reach the 20th century before the rest of the world finishes with the 21st now.
Under the Dalai's system of worship, they couldn't even compete with Kim il Yong's Korea!
More people should grow up in multicultural neighborhoods. You learn ALL the denigrating slur, realize they are funny, then you begin to realize that none of them apply all the time, but they all apply equally to all ethnic groups.
Got a good Polish joke? Go ahead, pick your favorite. Tell it to 100 people - but for each person, substitute the ethnic term. First, use "Redneck", then "Hillbilly", then "Russian", "English", "French", "Catholic", "Chinese" - etc ad nauseum. Almost all of the people you tell the very same joke to will think it was just as funny as it was when it was a Polish joke.
You may also note that the people who actually take offense at the joke recognize that there is an uncomfortable truth in there. For instance, almost all Americans CAN recognize a first generation immigrant by speech alone. They talk funny. 2nd generation? Maybe. 3rd generation? Not likely.
Could it be that you're just embarrassed by your family's failure to completely blend in after a generation or two? Don't worry - your kids will blend in just fine.
Sounds a lot like the West, really. Seat belt law? No one gives a damn - they comply with the government as long as it gets them to work. Smoking laws? Again - do what you want, it doesn't affect me. Tax laws? Greedy bastids want more money, fine - just give me a raise so it doesn't hurt my bottom line. Censorship? Think of the children, censor what you wish. In fact - the government can do anything it damned well wishes, as long as it doesn't involve the draft, and allows me to make money.
Every single year, we see more and more laws passed. Strip searches at the airport? Well - I don't want to take my dress off, officer, but if it will get me on the plane, I'll do it for you!
Unless, of course, the TSA employees decide to just take half a day off, like at Dallas Fort Worth. Then, no one gets to peek under the dresses.
I was wondering why Microsoft didn't make the list. Tarnished? You bet! Of course, TFA is a subjective piece from start to finish. It's all about how the author perceives things to be.
Slashdot Mirror
"Hearing the news of his death, 300 people allegedly died either due to heart attack or by committing suicide in grief."
BRRRRING!!!
Crap, I'm in the middle of reading the news, and the phone rings.
"Hello!"
"Hey, Runaway, this is Darwin calling."
"But, you're dead, aren't you?"
"Yes, but science is wonderful, isn't it? I've just had a phone installed, and though I'd test it out."
"Oh, cool. So, I'm getting my first phone call from the afterlife!"
"Yes, and I just wanted to tell you not to worry about 300 dead Indians who committed suicide, or died of grief over some politician. Those dumb bastards had nothing to put back into the gene pool anyway."
"Oh, OK, Thanks Charles. Though, I couldn't see myself getting overly excited about them anyway."
"Alright, cool, Runaway. Have a nice day now. Like I said, I was just testing my new phone - I have some important calls to make now. 1-900 numbers and such, you know. See you around!"
click hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
"Google forcibly deleted and dissolved a group on Orkut"
Wow. Really? They just marched a batallion of Google soldiers in, with fixed bayonets, and FORCIBLY took the site over?
FFS - how about dropping all the drama bullshit, and just say that Google deleted a fucking page on their site. Drama queens suck diseased donkey balls. Or, diseased dog nuts, if donkey balls are in short supply.
I don't like censorship. With censorship, I wouldn't be allowed to point out that the deceased Senator Ted Kennedy was a fucking moron, a thief, a murderer, and a fraud. It could be that this deceased Indian dude was just like Senator Ted. If so, the world has the right to know.
I disliked some of your posts - but this one crosses the line. Definitely retarded. You've left the realm of corporate and business law, and tried to justify a violation of human rights.
Bravo. Now - let's try to make Congress, the Senate, and each of the 50 states understand that. NO CORPORATION HAS A RIGHT TO EXIST, let alone decide how they will do business. They are LICENSED by the states to do business, according to state laws.
Now, let's shoot all corporate lobbyists, lynch every politician who has ever been bought off by a lobbyist, and get things back on track. One voter, one vote, and the rich sumbitch has no more say in anything than a ghetto welfare recipient.
Ahhh - for me to see things this way is paranoia - but when the rest of the world resents the United States historic domination of trade markets, that is not paranoia.
Dude - it's a dog eat dog world out there. The biggest dog in the world is now doing precisely what half the world has condemned the US for in decades past. Wake up and smell the coffee.
One thing about the Chinese, is that they are realists. They understand exactly what has allowed the US to dominate the world market for so long, and they are determined to become the dominant force. That Assassin's Mace is real. Deny it if you like, but it won't go away for all your denial. China means to become the next super power, and ultimately, the only super power.
Funny how the summary posted fails to reflect what TFA is all about. I opened this discussion in my browser, prepared to condemn New Zealand for infringing on the rights of it's citizens. However, after RTFA, I have to go along with them. If we assume that a wire tap is ever justified, for any reason, then it makes little sense to make SOME electronic communications subject to the tap, but others are immune.
I see nothing wrong here: the cops still have to get a warrant, and go through channels. There should be oversight somewhere, which I don't see mentioned. But, if that oversight is lacking, then it's up to the New Zealand citizens to demand it, and have it installed.
I still see a problem, in identifying all the electronic methods of communication that a particular suspect or subject might be using. Again - what good is it to tap his phone, his home internet connection, but he has a cell phone that the cops don't know about? Here in the states, I can get a net-10 phone for cash money, with no paper trail, use it for however many days, and throw it away. (reactivating that phone leaves a credit card trail - if I were determined to cover my tracks, I wouldn't do it) The cops aren't going to monitor THAT very effectively, are they?
"Also TFA is complete bullshit, China cannot corner the Neodymium market:"
While that statement is true, you are distracting from the real issue. China is indeed striving to corner strategic mineral markets, and it's not "news".
http://www.asianresearch.org/articles/3124.html 2008 article which points out China's growing presence in the African mineral trade market.
http://www.chinamining.org/Companies/2009-03-26/1238054106d22981.html March 2009 article about China's growing presence in the common metals market, with passing reference to strategic metals.
http://www.domain-b.com/industry/Mining/20090327_australia_rejects.html March 2009 story about China making a bid to take over Australian mining.
http://english.cri.cn/7146/2009/01/08/1481s441134.htm January 2009 More to the point of this thread on slashdot, China is regulating the mining and export of strategic metals.
And, of course, this all goes back to their 10-year plans, and their bid to dominate the world, economically, politically, and militarily - the "Assassin's Mace". People with the slightest clue are worried about neodymium - but they are still missing the "big picture". That damned Assassin's Mace is a working plan, that is moving ahead, while the rest of the world sleeps.
The world economy won't improve, so long as China is waging an economic war, and we don't even realize it.
Twenty years ago, my second son was born - after I had taken a discharge from the Navy, and spent a couple years working in the civilian world. No - I'm not young and arrogant. I'm quite seasoned, as a matter of fact. 99% of the time, a man who is a shitbird at age 20 will be a shitbird when he is 40, and he'll STILL be a shitbird when he's 60.
Yeah - people change. In fairy tales and gothic romances.
If this turkey wanted my respect, he would have stood in front of Congress, and told them something to the effect, "Yes, I screwed up badly, and I lied to cover it up. I've learned my lesson, and nothing like it will ever happen again."
Want to hear what he DID say, translated? "I almost got away with it, and no one can really pin anything on me, and I have friends who will vouch for me, and/or owe me favors."
Few things earn my contempt more easily than a politico whitewashing a crummy situation.
If you, or I, or Joe Sixpack accessed those records, we would be facing a prison sentence. So, what you're asking is, "Had he been properly convicted, and served his time, would he be fit for the job today?"
Think about it. Do you want a convict running a high profile security agency, protecting you, your special other, your kids, your parents? Think. A convict may have "paid his debt to society", but he remains a convict.
What a man does in a time of crisis, such as a divorce, defines who and what he is more accurately than all the years of carefree living. Twenty years ago has nothing to do with this story - that is a red herring. The fact is, so long as the "little woman" kept his house clean, and did his laundry, and performed her "duties" for him at night, everything was just find and dandy. When she declined to live in his fantasy world any longer (for whatever reasons) then he used his position of authority against her for personal reasons.
The man may not be the lowest of pigs - but he's a pig. Given another crisis, he will do the same thing again.
Have you forgotten Imperial Japan?
Good point. Unfortunately, there's not a terribly huge body of evidence telling what Africans civilizations were like before colonialism. I know that there were multiple civilizations, and at least two of them were pretty highly advanced. They probably fell just short of Greek civilization.
Alas - they fell, and left little more evidence than the Incans or the Anasazi left behind. Did they even have a written language?
No sir, your own ignorance is showing. Nothing requires that a joke be perceived as funny by every person who hears it. BTW - it's no coincidence that I used Polish Jokes in my earlier post. My family is Polski. Want to hear some Polish jokes? I've heard them all - some are stupid, some are hilarious, and most fall somewhere in between. I guarantee that I'm not going to lose any sleep if you tell all the stupidest ones, and skip the ones that really are funny.
Ask yourself:
Assuming that you are going to be someone's servant, vassal, serf, slave, or otherwise subjected to someone else's will, would you rather be hungry, or well fed? Would you rather have some limited indoctrination/education, or would you rather be forbidden to even learn to read? Would you rather your wife had a doctor and nurses in attendance when she goes into labor, or some ignorant tribal shaman who can't even read? Would you rather bury your parents when they are around 30 to 40 years old, and know that your turn is coming, or would you rather have a life expectancy of 50 to 70? When tax time comes, would you rather have beauracrats determining what you owe, based on some standard mathematical system, or would you prefer the local priests take everything that THEY want, to be followed by the local nobility, who take everything that THEY might possibly want?
I find myself defending a government that I really don't like. I still refer to it as "Red China". They were a factor in the Cold War, of which I am a veteran. There is little that I like about China's government - but so many people seem to be blissfully unaware that China's government is ABSOLUTELY NOT the worst thing that could happen to the Chinese or the Tibetan people.
Chinese rule over Tibet actually improved the average Tibetan's life unimaginably. Try studying some documented history, as opposed to the romanticized bullshit about how idyllic the temples were 100 or 200 years ago. Peasants were viewed as animals, and their homes were often times inferior to a pigsty.
"but it's not like planes have some code like if (date() 1980) crash();"
Obviously an oversight on someone's part.
Fucking horrible remnant of shitty 1900's fetus.
There is no false dichotomy. "Glorious" or not, the nobility and the clergy of Tibet worked together to enslave the rest of the population of Tibet. While healers were available for those chosen few among the wealthy, no healers were available for ANY peasant. As has been pointed out many times, by many people, religion was a weapon in the hands of the clergy with which to oppress the peasantry. As has been seen many times the world around, the "clergy" weren't really believers in what they preached. Instead, the preaching was a tool used to keep the population in line.
The Dahli Lama of today is only a single generation removed from an oppressive barbaric regime. The man has never made any sacrifice on behalf of his people - instead he still calls on his people to sacrifice for him.
My contempt for politicians in general is multiplied by an order of magnitude for "royalty" and "hereditary spiritual leaders".
In short, if the Dali were on fire, I wouldn't piss on him to save his life.
That has NOTHING to do with Buddhism. Nothing at all.
Wait - they are Amish until a certain age, then they're NOT Amish? How about Russians, Mexicans, or Filipinos? Does anyone else have anything like that?
I say, there are two Amish young men in that photo. Ask their opinions on these matters.
"How well would it wash with the American public, if the US government tried to force electricity and the Internet down the Amish people's throats?"
http://coolthingsinrandomplaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/14440106_1fd3fd82f8.jpg
Maybe you should ask these guys? Dig those shades, huh?
Fair question. And, a tough one to answer. I guess you have to look at the end results. Let me see - under colonialism, a native African was little more than property, to be disposed of as some white landowner wished. Under today's dictatorships and/or lawless regimes, most native Africans are little more than property, to be disposed of as any warlord, dictator, or religious zealot wishes.
Well, you've got me, really. It's hard to say which system I would rather live under. I guess it sucks to be African?
One correction. I made no mention of "cultural homogeneity". That term is not synonymous with "blending in". Mormons, Baptists, Catholics, and any number of other Christian faiths "blend in" flawlessly in America. Moslems tend to stand out right now, thanks to the actions of some of their overseas brethren, along with a few domestic misfits. Wiccans, Native Americans, and others blend in to the mix, without being homogenous with the more mainstream Christian faiths.
My whole point was similar to another post, made by a member who says that he is also Chinese. Lighten up, and laugh at yourself. Psychology isn't THAT serious a course of study. Hell, LIFE isn't all that serious. It's just temporary after all. You might as well laugh at yourself - and when you get over it, you can then laugh at all the other assholes who aren't all that different.
The original post was good for a mild chuckle. The fact that 33% of the (self identified) Chinese people who post on slashdot took offense at the post doesn't detract from the little bit of humor. Keep in mind that 75% of females would take offense at locker room humor - but 90% of all men still laugh at it. The fact that my wife doesn't think a joke is funny doesn't dictate whether I think it's funny.
Oppressed, are you? Not at all. You voiced an opinion, some people opined back at you, you furthered your opinion - and I've not seen one person's post defining you as some kind of subhuman, yellow skinned, whatever. And, if someone DOES put you down as subhuman, then you can just shake your head, and write them off as an ignorant barbarian or whatever blows your skirt up.
Meanwhile - why don't YOU post about what Joe Sixpack and his family in China find humorous about our Western culture. Americans especially probably mangle your language all to hell and back, if and when they bother to learn it at all. Go for it - tell us how stupid WE sound! You won't hear me whining. In fact, you might learn something from the responses that are posted.
A fair question might be, "Which was more repressive - the feudal state that the Dalai represents, or the communist state that built hospitals and freed the peons from their feudal masters?"
I don't think censorship is the way to go. Past censorship seems only to have triggered the Streisand effect. Worse, it has turned the Dalai into something of an icon. But, the Dalai gets no sympathy from me. Nor would he get any sympathy from anyone who actually researched the state of affairs in Tibet when China took it over. FFS, they were living in the 10th century, and China brought them up to the 17th century in a single generation!! There is every hope that they'll reach the 20th century before the rest of the world finishes with the 21st now.
Under the Dalai's system of worship, they couldn't even compete with Kim il Yong's Korea!
More people should grow up in multicultural neighborhoods. You learn ALL the denigrating slur, realize they are funny, then you begin to realize that none of them apply all the time, but they all apply equally to all ethnic groups.
Got a good Polish joke? Go ahead, pick your favorite. Tell it to 100 people - but for each person, substitute the ethnic term. First, use "Redneck", then "Hillbilly", then "Russian", "English", "French", "Catholic", "Chinese" - etc ad nauseum. Almost all of the people you tell the very same joke to will think it was just as funny as it was when it was a Polish joke.
You may also note that the people who actually take offense at the joke recognize that there is an uncomfortable truth in there. For instance, almost all Americans CAN recognize a first generation immigrant by speech alone. They talk funny. 2nd generation? Maybe. 3rd generation? Not likely.
Could it be that you're just embarrassed by your family's failure to completely blend in after a generation or two? Don't worry - your kids will blend in just fine.
Sounds a lot like the West, really. Seat belt law? No one gives a damn - they comply with the government as long as it gets them to work. Smoking laws? Again - do what you want, it doesn't affect me. Tax laws? Greedy bastids want more money, fine - just give me a raise so it doesn't hurt my bottom line. Censorship? Think of the children, censor what you wish. In fact - the government can do anything it damned well wishes, as long as it doesn't involve the draft, and allows me to make money.
Every single year, we see more and more laws passed. Strip searches at the airport? Well - I don't want to take my dress off, officer, but if it will get me on the plane, I'll do it for you!
Unless, of course, the TSA employees decide to just take half a day off, like at Dallas Fort Worth. Then, no one gets to peek under the dresses.
But - we are SUPERIOR, LMAO
I was wondering why Microsoft didn't make the list. Tarnished? You bet! Of course, TFA is a subjective piece from start to finish. It's all about how the author perceives things to be.