utemia

Reply to New medal for bravery in Misc Stardock Forums

Valor is valor, if it only was that easy in Germany! It should be but it isn't. The nazi past has become part of german mentality after 1945. I wouldn't call myself a conservative in the american sense lol but I am in Germany. Sometimes I hate the fact that almost nothing can be done or said without some reference to the nazis. I was born way after the war, my parents were born in 1940, and I was spent most of my life in a reunified Germany, now against a strong and reliable partner in the wo

Reply to At last, victory in Iraq... in Pure Technology Stardock Forums

Very oversimplified version of German postwar history - short and concise lol. But there was one huge difference, and that was that whatever happend in Germany was a cold war, and the troops also stayed to control and denazify etc the country. They didn't stay as friends directly after the war even though they became allies rather quickly. Block confrontation of east and west.. it hardly compareable to the situation in Iraq. I think that what, a regime change? was not actually worth a

Reply to Joe Biden, could he be the kind of politician we are looking for? in Politics Stardock Forums

I like Joe.. for walking out in a huff on Karzai last year and calling him and Afghanistan a corrupt narcostate - which it is as of yet.

Reply to New medal for bravery in Misc Stardock Forums

A black balkan cross, the form the iron cross has, is the symbol all german nato vehicles have painted on the side because it is easily identifiable as being german. It probably is the official symbol of the Bundeswehr, Marine and Luftwaffe, but I don't really know. The new medal is the result of a petition to reintroduce the iron cross, but since the Nazis abused the symbol they opted for something new (I read that over 2,3 million crosses were awarded, and it is not allowed for veter

New medal for bravery in Misc JoeUser Forums

For the first time since World War 2 Germany has reintroduced a medal for bravery for actions beyhond the call of duty ( I am not really firm about what ajectives adequatly describe such an act). 4 german soldiers that served in Afghanistan are awarded the "Ehrenkreuz der Bundeswehr für Tapferkeit" for risking their lives helping wounded teammates after a suicide attack on their convoi that killed 2 soldiers and 5 afghani child

Reply to unɟ ɟo ʇıq ɐ ʇsnɾ in Humor Stardock Forums

Da Vinci would be so proud!

Argument Clinic in Humor JoeUser Forums

From what I have seen alot of people here could use a stay there, me included [e digicons]:grin:[/e] Argument Clinic

Reply to Jewish Poker in Books Stardock Forums

Oh Gott! man willl gar nicht hinschauen.. I have to watch this movie in a version I can understand, thanks for reccomending, it really looks hilarious.

Reply to Jewish Poker in Books Stardock Forums

Haven't seen it, no. I don't have a TV, so I can't catch it if they show it sometime either. And no TV means no Tatort as well, a true gem of german culture, which is hard since today is Sunday night.

Reply to Jewish Poker in Books Stardock Forums

Oh that is why. In my book (in german) it is Yossele as well, but I found this online. There isn't a story from Kishon that I don't like, they are all so true to life, especially the one with the box of pralines.

Reply to Patriotism in International Stardock Forums

hmph, half the citrus fruit and melons found in the Supermarket are importet from Israel. But I doubt that you meant those lol. I love Kishon, I posted a story I find hilarious because this debate made me think of him, Jewish Poker. But all of his stories are awesome. You know Germany, and you know that anything to do with Immigration, "Kinder mit Migrationshintergrund", unemployment, german culture etc. risks the danger of getting a nationalistic spin, all it takes is someone bringing

Jewish Poker in Books JoeUser Forums

This is one of my favourite Stories by Kishon, a great humorist. Jewish Poker For quite a while the two of us sat at our table, wordlessly stirring our coffee. Ervinke was bored. All right, he said. Let's play poker. <p style="text

Reply to Patriotism in International JoeUser Forums

[quote]Where does it say that Israelis must be racists? In the case of Israel it's often enough simply to state that they do not necessarily have to be the good guys and suddenly they are the bad guys.[/quote] Even implying in the slightest that they can be is automatically interpreted as if I said that they are actually all bad guys by you. You like stereotyping as well, it seems. Anyway, it is great to hear your oppinions, I evidently have viewed things not in context enough.<

Reply to Patriotism in International Stardock Forums

One has to be extracareful when criticizing anything to do with Isreal at all in Germany because if you are polemic you sound like a racist pig. I am not a racist in anyway myself, even if I defend Möllemann because I think the media went on a crusade against him and destroyed him and don't like Friedmann because he was an selfrighteous arrogant ass. Now I had to justify myself to you for criticing anything at all, see how that works? lol Bleh, it is easier to just keep you

Reply to Patriotism in International Stardock Forums

[quote]Oh, please. Michel Friedman was then the vice president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany. It was in that capacity that he reacted to Karsli's and then Moellemann's anti-Semitic propaganda. And you accuse Friedman of making "being Jewish" the issue???[/quote] Put like that it seemed racist by me.. appologies. But he is still a slimy git. I didn't want to imply that being Jewish makes you untouchable, I meant it only in the context of politics. The rest of it you ar

John Demjanjuk in World War II JoeUser Forums

John Demjanjuk has been declared fit to stand trial in Germany, probably one of the last huge trials of an alleged Nazi warcrime perpetrator.

Reply to Patriotism in International Stardock Forums

[quote]look at the Germans who feel completely innocent because they don't believe that they had a responsibility to stop their government from attacking random countries and murdering millions of people.[/quote] I have yet to meet anyone who thinks like that, and all those who were old enough to have made a choice are dying of old age or are already dead. The young generation today has a dangerous tendency to pretend like the

Reply to Patriotism in International Stardock Forums

Don't be so selfrighteous. It is really easy to say "they should have done something and because they didn't they deserve everything they got". My dad was born in 1940, did he deserve to be killed while being on the run from the Russians because he didn't stop Hitler? And why can't I call Friedmann a jewish bastard? He IS! oh because I am german and therefore it makes me an antisemit, I have to say that he is a bastard who happens to be jewish by chance. I am so happy the world was abl

Reply to Patriotism in International Stardock Forums

[quote]And the people of Dresden had a choice.[/quote] Oh? What choice did and do all the elederly, woman and children have that die in all wars? Refugees, that fled from the russian advance? And I think Stalin preferred uneducated peasants as Stormtroopers that would be cruel and rape and pillage (maybe I can understand their rage and thirst for revenge, but it doesn't justify what they did either). It wasn't really up to those to

Reply to Shot in the Foot in Misc Stardock Forums

I got something interesting for you.. the little city where I grew up, Meersburg, has a really old castle, the oldest parts are from the 7th century. Over time it was enlarged, and Bishops of Konstanz (Meersburg is at the lake of Constance) took up residence there after the reformation. Now there was a dispute over who would get elected as archbiship. the candidate of the Pope or the candidate of the King and well, they had a standoff in Meersburg. One candidate holed himself up there while t

Reply to Patriotism in International Stardock Forums

The Iranians probably like Germany because of the "Death to the Jews" business, as twisted as that is. And there are enough businessmen around for who money is money and who don't care who buys what as long as there is hard cash. Germany is a pretty big exporteur of weapons, too, but then tries to assuage any feelings of remorse by not seeling them to any countries/regimes that would use them in a unjust war - that is hypocritical as well.. they sold tanks to Turkey that the turks used agains

Reply to Patriotism in International Stardock Forums

You're right. It is a a weapon of convenience, I didn't want to imply otherwise. It is used in domestic policy making. If a politician so much as appears to be apologetic or overly nationalistic and antisemitic in a domestic debate his career is over. Take the example of Jürgen Möllemann [quote]The war was already lost but the Germans still remained loyal to their evil masters. The allies had a choice between killing

Reply to Patriotism in International Stardock Forums

[quote]11 OckhamsRazor Don't be too hard on yourself or your countrymen [/quote] Yeah. Good advice [e digicons]|-)[/e] I am all for letting the past not influence the present or future, but sometimes if the events in question are important enough they just do, wether you like it or not. I enjoy every

Reply to Patriotism in International Stardock Forums

[quote]I wonder if a war like WWII could even be accomplished today. [/quote] Yes, another issue that comes up every February in Germany, because of the allied bombing raid on Dresden on February 9th, 1945. The casualty estimates vary from 30 000 to 100 000 to 200 000, the city was full of refugees and nobody really knows for sure how many died. The war was already lost so there wasn't really any military need to destroy the city but Dresden was a transportation hub.. the airwar was w

Reply to Patriotism in International Stardock Forums

I was just out walking and pondered this issue some more.. patriotism, what it means to stand absolutely behind your military, and the military doing what the government asks it to do is not worth anything if the cause isn't just. Being a warrior or fulfilling a mission is not an intrinsic value in itself, otherwise the SS deathsquads would have to be honoured in the same fashion. It is also not possible to seperate an army into individuals. If some US soldiers commited crimes in Iraq