utemia

Reply to South Africa, here we come! in Football JoeUser Forums

The US doesn't really go all crazy for their national teams in international sporting events like the worldcup (olympic games being a special case), even though "soccer" and the fifa world cup are steadily becoming more popular - or so I've read. You have your leagues and their internal championships like the world series (kind of preposterous to call it world series when it's only american baseball teams that take part..), Stanley cup etc. instead that are hugely popular - and high school/co

Reply to Foxy Knoxy found Guilty in Current Events Stardock Forums

I don't really know how much you know about the reputation of the italian justice department - from what I heard the investigation was beyond sloppy. And if you can not prove a person is guilty byeond any doubt that person is regarded as innocent - in dubio pro reo. Italy is a weird country anyway, today more than 350 000 ppl demonstrated in Rome against Berlusconi. He is said to have connections to the mafia and controls the media because the major italian media concern is his. Itali

South Africa, here we come! in Football JoeUser Forums

Today the groups for the FIFA Worldcup 2010 were drawn in South Africa. It is a big big thing because now we know who will play whom in the group games - and it allows for plotting and strategizing (and some friendly betting among friends) about the outcome. I can't wait for the worldcup, it is the biggest sporting event in the world. For those of you who are ignorant of football or the world cup, the US are together with England, Slovenia and Algeria. Kinda funny to have the inventor of foot

Reply to NO! IT'S A GIRL! in Home & Family JoeUser Forums

That is a beautiful name! Congratulations to having a lil girl in the family tree :)

Reply to I Knit Myself A Pipe Holster in Blogging JoeUser Forums

I haven't knitted anything for ages, but I injured my foot recently and have to rest so I thought I pick it up again.. wow, I was really bad and I had completely forgotten how to knit left. lol Your work looks cool

Reply to CRUISIN' SIERRA VISTA in Misc Stardock Forums

When I was in Iowa, the highschool kids all went cruising around the mall in Mason City. I never understood what was so great about it.. a typical iowegian city does not really have that much flair. Why they found it so fascinating to drive around that rectangle around the mall.. I guess it's a very different culture. Americans and cars are a special relatonship alright. I once wrote a paper where I analyzed country music in regard to issues relating to american society - and the CAR fe

Reply to SHOTGUN POLITICS in Misc JoeUser Forums

There is always Kinderpunch - the nonalcoholic version that is really really good. It's made with red fruit tea (the lose kind, no teabags), grape juice, lemon juice, cinammon, clover and honey. You make tea in a big pot and mix in the rest and let it simmer for a while. This drink always makes me think of my childhood when we would come home from a whole day out sledding, frozen and tired. My mom would serve us something like that while we thawed - it's the best remedy. A hail to all moms an

Are minarettes a political symbol? in International JoeUser Forums

On Sunday, Switzerland had a referendum regarding a building regulation concerning minarettes. Henceforth, it is illegal to build new ones. The swiss government didn't really believe that the referendum would be successful and has since tried to do damage control. They are concerned about how this vote might reflect on their foreign relations and location for international banking. It might be bad for business, and according to criticism the ban violates the human rights of freedom of religio

Reply to Cowboy downhill in Blogging JoeUser Forums

Well, I had to describe the attire somehow... I think skiing in Lederhosen would look equally odd and be really cold unless you opt to wear thermal stockings. Can you imagine a garter being part of skiing clothes? A man wearing one, not a sexy blond bavarian Fraulein as only men wear Lederhosen. The Frauleins wear Dirndls with lots of cleavage as I am sure you are aware of [e digicons]B)[/e]

Reply to Cowboy downhill in Blogging JoeUser Forums

I think the Wounded Warrior programm is great as well. I suppose that many of the soldiers used to be very active, athletic and fit people before they were injured and it is a good thing that they can retain that aspect in their lives. One of the guys they showed during the outing in the Breckenridge skiresort in the film had lost both legs and his hands had been badly burnt, he could hardly use them. It was amazing to see that he didn't quit even though it was very difficult for him. H

Cowboy downhill in Blogging JoeUser Forums

I spent the last few days with the possibility to watch TV - I don't normally do - and I happend across a documentary/magazine about the midwest of the US, specifically Colorado in wintertime. They had several little films. One was about a wounded warriors outing in a famous wintersport resort, and it was just amazing to see how some of these veterans were performing. The narrator said that since so many soldiers were wounded in the recent wars, interest in disabled sports has increased a lot

Reply to SHOTGUN POLITICS in Misc JoeUser Forums

Glad you enjoyed it. I gathered from your posts that you have 6 kids and a whole passle of grandkids, so it was probably a large crowd. For some reason, even large groups seem rather small when it's close family - at least that is my experience. For an outsider it is this huge number of people, and for you its just normal and doesn't feel all that large. Christmas season opened here with the 1st Advent and the first Christkindl markets. I like the tradition, es

Reply to What do US soldiers think of waterboarding terrorists? in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]interesting that you say this. The human rights of people are being violated by terrorists daily and the worse we have done is sprinkle water in thier face and you cry for them.[/quote]Why do you interpret what I said as codding terrorists? I tried to explain why it is dangerous to trivialize the issue in this thread. And deflecting the argument by saying "the others do it, why don't you whine about them" is just that, deflection. The countries that do use "real" torture are barbaric,

Reply to What do US soldiers think of waterboarding terrorists? in Politics JoeUser Forums

It generally makes me shudder how willing many people are to do violence unto others. There is no part of human culture where mankind has been so inventive as in coming up with methods to torture and/or execute others. Some methods are absolutely barbaric - I once read this article about ancient execution methods from persia, china and rome/greece - you wouldn't believe how cruel some were. It is a mark of civility and progress for me to surpass that barbaric stage and uphold human rights as

Reply to What do US soldiers think of waterboarding terrorists? in Politics JoeUser Forums

You are not using it on your own troops. Using implies that it is commonplace to punish, question and treat soldiers with that technique(s) in the US military. You yourself used the term "training" which is different from "using it on your own troops". Training means that you want to prepare for the case that someone might get treated that way when captured - help to cope and to know what it might be like in order to be able to endure the mental stress. That is the reason they trained you, ri

Reply to SHOTGUN POLITICS in Misc JoeUser Forums

Hi BFD, Thank you, the same to you. I am sure you'll have a fun family gettogether. Christmas - they started selling christmas candy in September.. are you gonna decorate your house and put up lights? That is one thing I never understood - american christmas decoration. The blue lights are especially awful. When I lived in Iowa my guestmom took me for rides around the neighborhood and through some towns to show me houses that people came from far away to see just for their xmas deco.

Reply to SHOTGUN POLITICS in Misc JoeUser Forums

hah. I think the Grim Reaper can see through shallow lies like that lol Death as pawn - sly try though [e digicons]:grin:[/e]

Reply to SHOTGUN POLITICS in Misc JoeUser Forums

Politics are always sort of nasty. [quote]You truly believe they will change it in a way that everyone will be happy? Why? When has this Gov't shown that they actually care about what others think? We all know this is just another tactic to make people think they are considering other peoples options (such as Republican suggestions) but in reality they will do exactly what they set out to do, pass a bill that will have everything most people don't want. Had this been a Republican President an

Reply to A little wikipedia experiment in Politics JoeUser Forums

What exactly is the difference between a military tribunal and a civilian court? Some of the same rules apply in both instances, don't they? I think I might be confused as to the difference in trial procedure.

Reply to A little wikipedia experiment in Politics JoeUser Forums

International criminal court in Den Haag.

Reply to A little wikipedia experiment in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote] IV. FAIR TRIAL FOR DEFENDANTS Article 16. In order to ensure fair trial for the Defendants, the following procedure shall be followed : (a) The Indictment shall include full particulars specifying in detail the charges against the Defendants. A copy of the Indictment and of all the docu- ments lodged with the Indictment, translated into a language which he understands, shall be furnished to the Defendant at a reasonable time before the Trial. b During

Reply to A little wikipedia experiment in Politics JoeUser Forums

The ruling that they were unconstitutional for the detainees was under the Bush administration, before Obama. The Nuremberg trials were a new thing at the time and a response to the dimension of the committed atrocities. If it had been a "normal" war with the usual and expected number of civilian casualties there would not have been trials for war crimes. It was decided that what the nazis did were "crimes agains humanity" - a phrase coined by the american prosecuter, I think. They ar

Reply to New German Foreign Minister in Israel in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

It was part of the coalition treaty that the FDP gets the foreign ministry, and Merkel had to agree or lose the election. I am sure Guttenberg would be a better foreign minister - Westerwell can't even speak english propery. It's humiliating

Reply to New German Foreign Minister in Israel in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

Westerwelle is an idiot.

Reply to A little wikipedia experiment in Politics JoeUser Forums

Because they did not follow due process with the arrest, detention and the rest of it, following due process would mean what you said. What I said referred to the first part - but both mean essentially the same. The evidence will be admitted - if the consequence of not admitting would be that those men walk free, there is no way that Merkel will hold it back. It would mean the failure of the trial - and since the supreme court ruled that military tribunals are unconstitutional, they w