Obama The New President

Hi Ken

I was thinking of a conversation I had with a TV jurno' a few months ago. She theorised that the modern Islamic terrorist/Al Qaeda problem has it's roots in the early 20th century. The house of Saud & U.S. government formed an alliance, where HOS gets military, oil know how, political support, etc & the U.S. gets the oil it needs. This has deeply inflamed the situation. Of course you are right that the Franco-British carve-up of the region is another major factor.

Cheers - John

John,

IMO, your journalist friend is absolutely correct.

The resentment of Muslim Arabs is understandable. When they fought the Turkish troops who occupied the middle east, they did so at Britain's behest. They were promised an independent Arab state. Instead, they were screwed. The region was parcelled up between Britain and France while the national boundaries which were imposed divided Iraq from Kuwait, divided the Kurds between Turkey, Iraq and Syria and took Palestinian lands which had been Arab for centuries for the projected Israeli state.

The rest, as they say is history.

Regards,
Ken

quote:

Originally posted by DAVOhorn:
Dear All,


In Hong Kong i was always referred to as European and Not White.

In Hong Kong you were referred to by your country or continent of origin and not by colour. I personally have always objected to being called white and much prefer European.

A lot of the time in HK they call you Gweilo 鬼佬 out of earshot.

Personally I hope he delivers the change that the US is seeking.

But the expectation for him is so high that for him to fail could have a serious impact on his political party long term.

It still galls me that you can spend enormous amounts of funds $2.5 billion to elect a President when there are so many people in the US who are still below the poverty line or have no health care.

EWEMON,

yes that was true, and not always out of earshot.

But in the interest of fairplay and equity we replied:

CHINK

CHOGUE

and a few others that i forget.

Mind you Gweilo/Kweilo means White Ghost foreign devil and a few other complimantary statements.

As an aside Mr Obama when asked what dog he was getting his kids he replied:

A Mutt, like me.

So he is well aware of the problems of race and mixed race in America.

I hope he succeeds but i fear he may not.

regards David

quote:

Originally posted by DAVOhorn:

But in the interest of fairplay and equity we replied:

CHINK

CHOGUE

and a few others that i forget.


regards David

This clarifies my confusion over the value of this thread. Nil. Garbage in, garbage out.

Dear John M,

This is not the Linn Forum.

Anyway surely this last post shows that many peoples in this world loathe and detest each other for a variety of reasons.

Most non sensical but this is what prejudice is.

It is not exclusive to people of European extraction.

There are many countries in the world where prejudice is alive and well and sadly flourishing.

It is mainly religious and cultural.

I thought that was what this series of posts was about, the fact that most people have a prejudice and that others believe they do not. Hence bigotry.

regards David

regards David

quote:

the fact that most people have a prejudice and that others believe they do not

Probably one of the truest observasions ever posted on this forum. Even if the wording is a little akward.

Cheers

Don

quote:

Originally posted by DAVOhorn:
Dear John M,

This is not the Linn Forum.

I am not sure where that shot lands.

quote:

Anyway surely this last post shows that many peoples in this world loathe and detest each other for a variety of reasons.

Most non sensical but this is what prejudice is.

It sure does. I am glad you recognize the hatred you spewed.

quote:

It is not exclusive to people of European extraction.

There are many countries in the world where prejudice is alive and well and sadly flourishing.

I certainly agree. My point, although rather clumsily made, is by your pridefully quoting yourself using ugly racial epithets, you seem to be doing your best to keep it flourishing. This is the garbage I am referring to. Prejudice is certainly alive. I live in a country built on it. That doesn't mean I have to add to it. I am not a saint, but I can choose to fight against it. Without going into my life story, that is what I have done most of my professional career. Even if it comes to voicing my disagreement in an internet forum for audio gear!

quote:

I thought that was what this series of posts was about, the fact that most people have a prejudice and that others believe they do not. Hence bigotry.

This thread started with what I thought was a questionable comment about some harm befalling our new president and statements about race and labels. I withheld my comments because I thought that other posters made responses that echoed my sentiments. I do have opinions about racial labeling; mostly that race is nothing but a social construct, not based in any kind of scientific classification, that we use because we are lazy, and because it affords unmerited benefits based on a specious theory of superiority.

But at the point you unleashed the epithet/slurs I decided to make a curt evaluative comment about it. I could have been more polite, I admit.

I agree with what I think is your point. Part of coming to grips with prejudice, especially connected to race in my country, is understanding what role one plays in it. I try each day to become more aware of my biases, and take ownership of my own defects. I totally agree with the point I think you are making that people who think they are "cured" of prejudice are mostly deluded. As a pocket psychologist, I believe all humans make unconscious judgments based on all kinds of superficial stimuli that interacts with pre-experience to form responses that are often harmful to others, and themselves. I include myself. I have tried to stay in tune with my prejudices and biases of which I am aware and try not to let them control my responses or decision making. I don't use the N word or other slurs because they are weapons of destruction, and I don't want to tear s*^& down, I would rather try to rebuild.

So I may be wrong, but it did not seem to me that you were confessing the use of racial/ethnic slurs as a way to heal the wound, but rather as cavalier and feeble attempt at humor. The slurs you used are offensive to me, and when I see them, I feel like it is my responsibility to call it out.


I respect your freedom to say what you want, but I also have the freedom to comment, so I did.

John

Dear John M,

Linn used to use the following to promote the LP 12 tt.

Garbage in, Garbage out.

hence my reference eo this.

regards David

Davohorn,

you really seem to be a cup half empty kind of guy. best of luck on getting a view from the other side.

My wife and I both voted for Obama. We didn't even think about race. What we thought was "Hey! instead of voting for the dumb guy, let's vote for the smart guy :-)"

We voted for Kerry (smart guy), but he had a fatal flaw. Dead people have more verve than Kerry did.

Obama is not only smart, he can talk!

I like Obama so much, I have decided to forgive his mistakes before he makes them.

One last point, I don't think anyone is going to kill him.

He's the one thing i am optimistic about these days.

quote:

Originally posted by Don Atkinson:
... a little akward.

?

quote:

Originally posted by NaimDropper:
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama"

:-)

Thank you, Big H.

We really need to earn the rest of the world's respect again instead of just trying to ram our way of life down everyone's throats...

I'm very hopeful for the change.

BTW, what is that interesting pink critter?

An attempt at humour?

Dear Mike,

Many many thanks for that. I loved it.

The Irish Americans will now feel beholden to vote for this Irish American President Elect.

Now we will have a clash between Kenyan and Irish Americans over which he represents more due to his genetic heritage.

This is precisely the point i was trying to make.

When you are mixed race you are not just BLACK.

He is also Of European extraction.

Which was what i was trying to say before i was accused of being prejudiced.

So we now have a Irish Kenyan American, what a potentially uniting heritage he offers America.

regards David

Glass half full, but still needs a refill.

Well, they say it never killed anybody.
Ken

quote:

Well, they say it never killed anybody.

What that Aardvaark

nice interview with Obama and wife last night on 60 minutes. Very calm and always positive responses.

Wolf

quote:

nice interview with Obama and wife last night on 60 minutes. Very calm and always positive responses.

Pretty easy questions though and not a lot of depth to them. I'm not getting at Obama in any way as I do believe he was the right choice for the USA and the world but it did seem more of a party broadcast than an interview.

I have to agree that he carries himself well and has a certain gravitas about him already that wasn't there before he was elected...not surprising really.

Cheers

Jim

Good to see and hear someone who can put more than 2 words together without a teleprompter.

quote:

Originally posted by DAVOhorn:

Which was what i was trying to say before i was accused of being prejudiced.

By your own words "I thought that was what this series of posts was about, the fact that most people have a prejudice and that others believe they do not. Hence bigotry."

So you are one of those who believes he does not have prejudice? No? Then you should have no problem with someone "accusing" you of prejudice. Cant have it both ways! On the other hand I never accused you of being prejudiced. I just found your last post trumpeting the use of racial slurs for asians to be offensive. And not funny. Prejudice and acting on prejudice are two different things.

Dear John,

That was in response to somebody correctly saying that Europeans were referred to in offensive racist terms by the Chinese.

I was not trumpeting but stating that both sides of this divide were equally bad in their behaviour.

Here in Aus i am referred to as a Pom or a Pommie Bastard, apparently this is jovial.

Thing is is i am not even English but Scottish. They then say they do not have a name for scots in the same way they do for the English.

Thing is, is most Aussies are descended from Crims.

One interesting aside on racism here is the Aboriginals now have a new enemy.

The Pacific Islanders who it seems do not like the Aboriginals and it has been stated many times in the press that these islanders are now displacing the Aboriginals from traditional home parts of cities. Bullying in the schools is becoming nasty and the authorities seem at a loss as to what to do.

regards David

ps it is raining here. rats.