continuing proofs America is wacko

Yahoo! wrote:There's a tongue-in-cheek warning sign at the restaurant's door stating that the offered dining fare is a health risk. Waitresses in the restaurant even wear nurses' uniforms.

I think I understand why people want to go to there.

Ooo...all the shots I had seen previously were from the waist up at best. Whole nuther reason to have a heart attack.

Norc wrote:true, but they are beginning to be quite whiney.. they have equal rights yet they still expect us to think it's okay to have reindeers wandering in our backyards. and that they should have the final word in the finnmark-politic. don't get me wrong, I think they have a right to learn their language and culture and all, but when it comes to the finnmark property they seem to be living in the past, not the present.

I hope you don't treat 'em like shit tho.

Norc wrote:no offense here but they've treated (and still do) the aboriginal people, sorry for the term, like shit.

Some, Norc, some. It's not a national pastime. Nor is it a habbit of mine.

David H wrote:I know this issue well from my home, and I've had to kill dogs that killed my wife's sheep. I hated to do it more than I can say, but it needed to be done because it was the only legal way I could defend my animals who depended on me for their lives.

They're like Beorn's talking sheep I presume - not to be killed and eaten by anyone.

David H wrote:It wasn't the racism that disturbed me so much as the growing sense that I was drinking beer with a possible serial murderer who discussed roo bars and bull bars as if they were sports equipment. I've never looked at an Australian vehicle with a stock guard on the front without feeling a little sick ever since. When I travel I used to really like to hitchhike as a way to meet real people, but Australia....maybe not. What do you think?

Stories of Ozhobbit psychos in the Otback are exagerated -- but I wouldn't go there wityhout plenty of back-up just the same.

You make these Ozhobbits sound like stereotypical Usahobbits of the Deep South, Captain Dave.... mmm... yes.... very much...

That picture is probably politically incorrect... wowie-wow-wow!

It would take you half an hour to eat that!

At least! And I've eaten a few big ones in my time --- though only BEST quality burger. None of your cheap takeaway... well, not usually....

Is that your type of burger then?, you know, cheesy.

David H wrote: It's always a curious thing how guilt and blame is assigned, especially when there isn't a general agreement as to what actually happened. Although a lot of 19th century Native American mortality is attributed to disease, I also know that as recently as 1900 it wasn't uncommon to drive sick Indians out like lepers and burn their houses in the name of public health....an old European practice of course. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh8mNjeuyV4

Assessing blame has it's place, but is most often used as an offensive weapon.

But as to general agreement lacking, I am not sure what you mean. History is a science, with facts as it's goal, like archeology, or anthropology(despite what many would try to use it for politically) and we have come a long way in determining exactly what happened on the American continent.

Determining native population at different points is one of the most difficult however, and it is currently much under re-evaluation/study. An average of the most recent estimates put the Pre-Columbian population of North America at somewhere around 10 million. By 1776 it is estimated to have numbered less then 1 million.

On casualties in the Indian War in the West: "....from the period of 1866 to 1891 there were at least 1,040 combat engagements with Indians in the West. A total of 949 soldiers are listed as being killed in these engagements as compared to 4,371 Indians reported to have been killed. Over 10,000 Indians were captured during this time as well."

Wounded Knee Native american casualties (killed): Estimates vary from 150 to 250. Casualties in 7th Cav (killed) 25.

Can not find ethnic makeup of 7th Cav at wounded knee (1890) but the same regiment 14 years earlier at the Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876) was:

"The full complement of the 7th Cavalry in June 1876 was 43 officers and 793 enlisted men. Of that number 473 were native born and 320 foreign born. The two largest foreign-born groups in the regiment comprised 129 Irish and 127 Germans. The remaining 64 foreign born were drawn from 14 other nationalities, including six Italians."

Mrs Figg wrote:Is that your type of burger then?, you know, cheesy.

I like my burgers in various flavours. I'll have you know I am a connoisseur, Mrs Figg.

Mrs Figg wrote:It would take you half an hour to eat that!

Must..not...make... cunning linnuendo....must...put on restraints....

When my Ozhobbits moved into the Kimberleys we made sure none of the inhabitants were left. Our motto - when purifying lands of unwanted inhabitants - has always been: "No descendants, no complaints." Your Pioneering Freedom Hunting Eurohobbits didn't do the job thoroughly enough, methinks.

halfwise wrote:

Mrs Figg wrote:It would take you half an hour to eat that!

Must..not...make... cunning linnuendo....must...put on restraints....

I see what you did there. Tongue in cheek

I see we have some cunning linguists here.

{{{Mrs Figg, do you have any idea what they're talking about? Doesn't seem culinary at all... ).

Orwell wrote:

Norc wrote:true, but they are beginning to be quite whiney.. they have equal rights yet they still expect us to think it's okay to have reindeers wandering in our backyards. and that they should have the final word in the finnmark-politic. don't get me wrong, I think they have a right to learn their language and culture and all, but when it comes to the finnmark property they seem to be living in the past, not the present.

I hope you don't treat 'em like shit tho.

no I don't. I just call it what it is. And that is no good reason to treat anyone like shit. I would never sink that low. I think it's fairly allowed to be annoyed with one another.

and ofcoruse, some treat aboriginals like shit.. that was and overstatement. But I won't say that they have fully recovered (or ever will) of the things that were done to them. that's my opinion.

I think they have over active imaginations Odo.

If I had my way, I'd ban certain kinds of imaginations, Mrs Figg - bless Eru, Invisible Lord of Forumshire and the Universe, One God, True and Immaterial!

Is immaterial the same as naked? As I feel thiis may be an important theological point.

Does anyone remember what we were talking about ?

There's been a tug of war between mistreated natives and hamburgers. Thanks to Eldo's digging up an illustrative picture, I think hamburgers are winning. Or was it hypothetical supreme beings?

In other words, this thread's about AMERICA dammit!

On the natives theme the problem is not who is guilty, you can say Americans come from Europeans but then how much was the Roman Empire to bllame for moving europeans about? And what about the empires before them and the spread of people? In other words its not really important who was guilty, humans were guilty, thats all that counts. The problem arises from subsequent generations being just as guilty instead of learning from the past. The question arises of whether humans are capabale of modelling present behaviour on the experiences of the long dead or whether humans will always react 'in the moment' and are doomed therefore to repeat mistakes.