Draginol

Reply to Don't misunderstand the American character in Politics JoeUser Forums

BTW, Machi, why not tell us what happened to the Roman Empire. It wasn't brought down from without. It was brought down from internal weakness. In addition, you seem to have ignored the countless empires between 300AD or so and today. You seem to refer to history lessons that no one is aware of. What lessons would that be? My arguemnt is that it is the world that seems to be ignoring the lessons of history -- that of basic human nature. Replace the United Stat

Reply to Don't misunderstand the American character in Politics JoeUser Forums

First off, 2% of the world's population have always effectively owned nearly all the world's resources. Secondly, you speak as if the issues I bring up were ancient history. The genocide in Africa is only a few years old. Ethnic cleansing in Bosnia is quite recent. The millions dead in Europe happened within the lifetime of many people. When mankind can go a few centuries without slaughtering his fellow man enmasse then maybe we can start talking about times having changed.<B

Reply to The Best Two Games I've Ever Played in PC Gaming JoeUser Forums

SC II == Star Control 2?

Reply to Don't misunderstand the American character in Politics JoeUser Forums

I wasn't aware that the posting of historical facts was now arrogance. The United States, as a people, are likely to act better than the average group of people on the planet. But that's not saying much. Humans, as groups, react violently when they believe their well being is threatened. The difference is that Americans, as a group, can cause much greater harm to those it perceives as a threat to their well being than other countries. I'm sorry if it sounds like this is "arro

Reply to Americans are humans in Politics JoeUser Forums

What I am saying is that we have ALWAYS been humans. Nobility is something that the side that is winning usually displays when it is not feeling mortally threatened or is hoping for mercy from its foes. Jeremy, I've gotta ask, have you even read much about the history of the United States or that of any major nation state? Wars tend to be filled with many stories of mass carnage and slaughter. You confuse casualties with a lack of nobility. Was the United States barbaric in

Reply to SOMETHING ABOUT AMERICA in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Humans commit atrocities all the time the world over. The difference is that unlike most, the United States actually give to charity in large numbers. Pick a country of any significance and you'll find that its done many bad things. What else is new?

Reply to Don't misunderstand the American character in Politics JoeUser Forums

The naivete and ignorance displayed here is enormous. Apparently Americans are supposed to be some sort of super beings? They're supposed to react differently than other countries and peoples have thorughout history? I wasn't citing 9/11 or Pearl Harbor as "defenses" of US actions. I was pointing out that Americans, when faced with threats, react as humans have always reacted. I always like how Europeans will try to argue that the holocaust wasn't a European problem. O

Americans are humans in Politics JoeUser Forums

In my earlier article on misjudging the American character , I argued that the world needs to give up this notion of demanding that we become introspective about 9/11. They need to stop trying to get us to ask "Why do they hate us?". It ain't gonna happen. Americans, as history has shown, will do whatever it takes to overcome an enemy. Whatever it takes. I pointed out that in 1945 the majority of America

Reply to aethiests of the world unite in Philosophy JoeUser Forums

So you have faith that there is no God since you can't actually prove it. So given the choice to believe in something or nothing you would choose something and show disdain to those who believe in something.

Reply to What Is The Scoring System For? in Blogging JoeUser Forums

I'll do an article on it one of these days but basically the point system is to allow articles to get attention based on some sort of merit and not the whims of some admin. When I started the site, I was frustrated at the seemingly arbitrary way that the "big" blog sites would link to other articles. I'm a believer in democracy and so if enough people say "This article is interesting", respond to them, etc. it will get more points which will help it float to the top in the vario

Reply to Did Bush manipulate public opinion for the war in Iraq? in Politics JoeUser Forums

JeremyG: Let's say the US waved a magical wand and stopped eestimated. Okay, so does that make crazy numbers like 40,000 deaths more realistic? Why stop there? Let's say 5 million Iraqi's died. I mean, if you're going to make up a number, why not go for the gusto?

Reply to Don't misunderstand the American character in Politics JoeUser Forums

JeremyG: Don't shoot the messenger. *I* don't support genocide or violence at all. Some of you guys would close your eyes and try to pretend that what I'm speaking isn't true. I wasn't even alive in 1945, what is "my" attitude that made Americans support exterminating every Japanese man, woman, and child? I am not arguing whether these attitudes are right or wrong. I am only pointing out that they exist. Orcneas: Bear in mind, Europe can't exactly get on a high ho

Reply to Trying to stay healthy during the holidays in Home & Family JoeUser Forums

Knock on wood..

Reply to 9/11 Coverup Falling Apart in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Bush is many things. Charismatic isn't one of them. I can't stand him. But he seems to emit some sort of ultrasonica "crazy ray" on the left. They try to claim he's an idiot while at the same time having him mastermind some vast conspiracy only months after he gets into office.

Reply to SOMETHING ABOUT AMERICA in Current Events JoeUser Forums

If you feel the patriot act violates the constitution then file a lawsuit. Talk is cheap. Then again, I don't have a problem with US actions overseas.

Don't misunderstand the American character in Politics JoeUser Forums

All over the blogsphere I'll see people say "You Americans need to start asking yourselves, 'Why did they do this to you.'" It is a terrible misreading of the American culture. Americans don't care. You can argue all day that they should care. But they don't. I don't. There is nothing we have done that justified the events of 9/11. And those who try to justify the acts of terrorists will be ignored as sycophants and appeasers of evil. After 9/11 the question

Reply to Did Bush manipulate public opinion for the war in Iraq? in Politics JoeUser Forums

There are no credible estimates that put Iraqi civilian deaths even over 10,000 let alone 40,000. Trevor - I don't care "why they did this" to us. There is nothign the US has done to justify their actions. And make no mistake, the majority of Americans will do whatever is necessary to prevent this from happening to us again. Perhaps the Islamic world needs to start asking, why the US does this to them. Because if the choice becomes us or

Reply to Did Bush manipulate public opinion for the war in Iraq? in Politics JoeUser Forums

You can't use one speech as your entire body of evidence. You are ignoring the months and months of build up. Colin Powell's UN presentation focused largely on WMDs for example.

Did Bush manipulate public opinion for the war in Iraq? in Politics JoeUser Forums

Jark has managed to get the transcript of Diane Sawyer's interview with Bush. And he makes a good point that many people on both the left and right have failed to make: Regardless of whether you think we did the right thing by going into Iraq, the bottom line is that the administration certainly seems to have manipulated the public in getting general support for the action. Read Jark's full blog here . I happen to have

Draginol = Brad Wardell in Blogging JoeUser Forums

When we created JoeUser.com to be database driven we used the existing Stardock.net user database. What that meant is that everything was based by "Handles" (think CB radios). My handle on most skin sites was/is "Frogboy". That's actually more of an accident than intentional as I had intended Draginol to be my handle which is what I used here. But when writing articles on such issues, I've always felt a bit uncomfortable using a handle because it implies I have some pseudony

Kindred Spirits vs. Competitors in Business JoeUser Forums

Some people pride themselves on being ruthless in business. Wanting to take out the competition. For me, I just can't live life that way. Life is short and thinking of everything as "us" versus "them" strikes me as incredibly unhealthy over the long term. Many people who just frequent WinCustomize.com looking for skins, themes, wallpapers, etc. would be surprised to learn that the world's most popular skin/

Reply to Is Jimmy Carter losing his grip on reality? in Politics JoeUser Forums

He was making a senationalized argument? What does that mean? Is that a nice way of saying "He was lying to make a point"? Words mean things.

Reply to 9/11 Coverup Falling Apart in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Ah the Internet.

Reply to What do you want for Christmas? How about a lawsuit? in Blogging JoeUser Forums

Hi. I just used Front Page. Then Right clicked on the iamge and changed the image layout.

Reply to Gal Civ Is Best Turn Based Strategy Game of 2003 on Gamespy! in PC Gaming JoeUser Forums

Very happy about that.