miked10270

Hmmm... Egypt & Turkey. I'd raise questions of combat experience and religious make-up of such a force. THen again, maybe there'll be fewer volunteers for a peacekeeping force in the wake of this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5215366.stm Nice one Israel. That's the way to deal with terrorists. Mike. Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable. Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

Are you suggesting that American media news coverage is unbiased on the Middle-East compared to The BBC & other British media? My position would be that the American media probably shows the same bias, for the same reasons. Perhaps even more so, given the US Administration position on Israel. Mike. Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable. Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

OK... I posted this link in another thread, but on fuller reading, perhaps it deserves a thread of it's own. http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/sociology/units/media/israel.htm From Glasgow University. Which is unlikely to be biased on the basis that you can't get a deep-fried Snickers bar ANYWHERE in the middle-east. PS: Latest Glasgow "delicacy"? Jumbo pork sausage, wrapped in Doner Kebab meat, adn of course... Deep-fried in batter. It's called a "Storner". 1,046 calories & 46g of fat. Still. You can get healthy options, like cheese & tomato pizza... Yep... You guessed it!... Deep fried in batter! Mike. Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable. Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

You just asked for articles, you didn't specify any approved sources. Hi Trent, I meant what I said. Worldnet Daily is a good example of using the overall character of a website to determine it's "impartiality". I assume that's how you used it. Were you actually arguing about the 6 year old Al-Dura incident, then I'm sure you'd have used something like: http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_article=856&x_context=3 Which demonstrates the origins of the accusation. Having said that, I wouldn't normally trust Camera.Org as far as I could throw them!! Viz: http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=4&x_outlet=12&x_article=811 is where Camera.Org claim a study by Glasgow University shows anti-Israeli bias in the BBC... While the actual study: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/sociology/units/media/israel.htm shows the complete opposite. Mike. Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable. Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

Just to drive down that particular side road a little further... Was Hitler actually anti-semitic? Or was it simply that they were a convenient issue having weathered the economic collapses of Germany better than the general population? In much the same way as ALL politicians go to church on Sundays. Julius Streicher was a committed anti-semitic shit. Himmler had some amazing views on race, particularly so for someone who looked like Himmler! But was it an actual belief, or was it pandering to the German desire (at the time) to blame someone (who they could get at) for their economic chaos? ================= Now... Back to the current Israeli - Palestinian - Lebanese conflict and folk trying to defend the indefensible, the criminal, and the incompetent. Mike. Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable. Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

{Israelies using Palestinians as human shields} It's Every bit as bad. Using civilians as a human shield is surely an absolute. to go a bit further, I'd say it was WORSE. Firstly because while Hamas & Hezb'Allah may use folk as willing human shields, the Israelis kidnap civilians arbitrarily for the same purpose. Secondly, It utterly destroys Israel's claims to any moral right in this conflict. The use of hostages as human shields places Israel right there with Saddam Hussein and Nazi Germany. A significant degree worse than any terrorist organisation which has the support (or at least co-operation) of the people in which it operates. Mike. Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable. Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

Supporting EITHER side in this conflict is just insane. That's why I've confined myself to criticising BOTH sides. I do rather wish the US would cease it's habitual veto of any Security Council Resolution condemning Israel and "delay" their arms shipments. The original motivation for the kidnapping of Israeli Soldiers was supposedly to "test" the new Israeli PM. Fine... He's been tested... And found to be a psychopath! Hamas as a government has been found to be incompetent. Next step, since NEITHER side has a competent responsible government has to be third party rule under mandate. Both Israel & Palestine are crying out for "Regime-Change", while Lebanon (who in fairness have been effectively under Syrian rule until recently) need aid while they build up their own security organisations. Mike. Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable. Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

Ooh ooh, I have a good article about the Al-Dura photos! http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46286 Excellent example, Trent. WorldNet Daily: Somewhere to the right of Hitler & Pinochet. Only exists to make The National Enquirer look credible. Thus we can assess the likely truth of a given article and it's credibility. Even http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage and http://www.foxnews.com/ are more factual than WorldNet's faschist propaganda. At least they quote sources. Mike. Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable. Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

I'm sure that Israel will only use WP for signalling & target marking... Once they find something that needs thoroughly marked. Mike. Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable. Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

Pictures can be taken & presented out of context. How about links to the articles that contain the pics? Then we can identify the source and evaluate the motivation behind the article. Mike. Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable. Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

with precision weapons? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5213026.stm Mike. Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable. Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

While we're talking about all those evil Palestinian Terrorists who hide behind civilians: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5212870.stm Mike. Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable. Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

More than that mate... I also assumed you were a Negro Skateboarder from glancing at your avatar. Mike. Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable. Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

OF course. There's nothing like a short, successful war to boost popularity & guarantee your party's re-election. Look at Maggie's popularity pre & post Falklands. All Dubbie has to do is find such a war & get involved. No luck so far... But he still has a little over a year. Mike. Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable. Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

There's also how OFTEN we came so close, particularly in the early years! And it wasn't the Russians who were the zany ones! McArthur wanted to use Nukes in Korea, the only thing stopping him was finding a suitable target! Churchill as British PM was pressuring America to provoke some conflict with Russia to provide an excuse to nuke Russia while America had a numerical advantage in bombs! In effect, "Nuke them into extinction before they can really nuke us"! Then there's the anecdote of Kruschev berating a visiting American Senator, then suddenly asking where he came from. The Senator said Minneapolis & Kruschev had him point it out on a map. Kruschev drew a circle around it in blue pencil saying "That's to remind me to spare your home when the missiles fly"! Eisenhower came to power determined to integrate nukes into the American tactical arsenal. By the end of his presidency, the greatest military genius of the 20th century, having carefully studied the subject, had produced a plan: "Fire off every single nuke in America's armoury together, then sit back & wait to die". This plan was ridiculed by Kennedy when he ascended to the Presidency, until it was realised that this was the ONLY FEASIBLE PLAN. This plan, along with NOT defending our populations, is what became known as MAD. Nukes have in fact kept the peace... In those countries which had them! Nukes have even caused peace as countries acquired them. The reason for this is that national leaders contemplating war against a "Nuclear" enemy, quickly realise that they'll likely lose more than they might gain, so the proposed war becomes worthless (& hence doesn't happen). It's actually the NRA argument writ large. "Someone contemplating armed robbery, doesn't pick an armed victim". In the case of Iran, you should seperate rhetoric from actions. "Talk is Cheap". If Iran had a nuclear capability, then in considering nuking Israel it would have to consider the response... Just as Russia & America had to 50 years earlier. Then there's the "Nation of Fanatics" argument, suggesting that the entire country would happily turn Suicide-Bomber. The answer to this was beautifully captured in Reagan's "Ivan & Anya, Jim & Sally" speech of 1984. It applies just as well to Iran. During the cold war, "Commies" were viewed as fanatics. Mike. Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable. Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

I'm just happy to see any good news from Iraq. Why do they need all those "Wehrmacht-Wannabees" (Hi Christel ) to govern Muthanna? Lat time I looked, Muthanna (in South-West Iraq) consisted of several thousand square miles of Fuck-All with a total population of 3 middle aged blokes, an alsatian dog, and a stragnely popular goat! Wasn't this where The Japanese non combat units successfully kept security for the past dew months? No offence, but Muthanna ain't Basra, Baghdad, or Tikrit!. Mike. PS: Not Goosestepping... Looks like British Army Drill. The important thing is that they aren't doing that American "Singing" thing. Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable. Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

I read an interesting book, don't remember which one now, that had the Swiss guard acting as protectorate of Israel/Palesinian territories.... but I REALLY doubt some fucker wouldn't fire a mortar just to keep the status quo. Tom Clancy. The Sum of All Fears. If I remember rightly, that DID have "Some Fucker" firing rather more than a mortar to wreck the peace process. I did bear in mind that some folk would object to being made redundant by a nasty outbreak of peace! And that any peacekeepers / governors would be a target for a minority on both sides. That was part of the reason I thought of The South Africans. Not only do they posess the moral high ground and experience of a successful & peaceful unification of separated races

Hmmm The Neturei Karta make an interesting proposition, although I personally believe that their purely religious argument is fundamentally flawed and intrinsically self-destructive. Bear in mind that part of the reason that Jews & Muslims lived in relative peace during The British Mandate was that they were both focussed on getting the British OUT! I doubt that Israel or Palestine would welcome any third party beck to "Have Another Go" at a mandate to govern their country & guide it to independence. Remember that partition (now completely discredited worldwide) seemed the logical solution at the time. Having said that, I honestly cannot see any alternative solution for peace other than Palestine & Israel disbanding their parliaments & militaries and accepting third party mandate. Obviously the UN... But Which country(ies)? My nomination would be South Africa (for it's experience) & Italy (for it's proximity). What're yours? Bear in mind any nomination would have to be acceptable to both (all?) factions and all neighbouring countries. In the case of more than one country, they would have to work together as one. Mike. Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable. Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

Reviewing last night's posts, I NOW realise that I did misread your argument. I APOLOGISE FOR THIS. WHOLLY AND UNRESERVEDLY!! I had misread your arguments and was excessively harsh & misguided by responding to my (erroneous) reading of your point. I took your post as a direct counter to BillVon's pics. In that I was wrong. I can only claim a degree of tiredness causing inattentiveness as a feeble mitigation. Regards, Mike (the idiot). Edited to add: Now that I do in fact understand your point, I am of course in total agreement with it. Please accept my unreserved apology. Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable. Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

I read the American "visitors" as an assessment team sent out from HQ. Possibly in response to the Captain demanding more assets to defend this installation. Having "done it" 35 years or so ago, the two overage, overweight, & over-here ones evidently decided to take the chance to show the youngsters they could still "DOooo... It!" And as for the difference between a "hunting" & a "Sniper" rifle... Isn't it the size (output-pupil) of the scope? Hunting rifles tend to have scopes fitted that are light, but have poor performance in low light, while a military sniper rifle scope of the same power will be far larger to give better low light performance. For example, to double the output pupil of a scope entails more than quadrupling the weight, and a price hike far greater than a factor of 4 Mike. Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable. Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

Really not so bizarre. This neatly encapsulates the root cause of both the Palestinian and Lebanese conflicts, viz: Hamas & Hezb'Allah moving into the political arena with a significant degree of success without moving on from being an organization of "freedom-fighters". They try to govern countries while clinging to the "pressure-group" mentality and failing to realise their new responsibilities. In effect, Hamas (& Hezb'Allah) fail to realize that violence is nothing more than a means to an end in political & diplomatic terms. Having specialised in the violence aspect of this dispute for so long, they have been shown to be unaware of the wider situation and the need for the "executive arm" to be subservient to the "political arm". Sinn-Fein & PIRA are a perfect example of success in this field by "freedom-fighters". This is particularly sad when you consider the PLO under Arafat DID successfully make the transition. Mike. Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable. Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

Taking "Yo, Blair..." in the context of a military affectation makes sense, and completely takes away any suggestion of an insult. In effect, Bush was addressing Blair as a "fellow-squad-member", part of the team, rather than as a vassal. Thanks. Mike. Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable. Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

That's commonplace in the US. It's usually a sign of familiarity, and not negative in nature. Rather than addressing him by his Christian Name? That's interesting. Is it more common in certain parts of the US? Where? Mike. Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable. Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

Nope. Palestinian. here's the article - and the picture: http://www.jafi.org.il/agenda/2001/english/wk3-31/2.asp ROFLMAO! Quoting "The Global Jewish Agenda" as a reliable & unbiased source in this conflict! Better yet, an article that must be over 3 years old - from when Saddam Hussein was in power in Iraq!! Superb!!! I'm beginning to see why you only posted the pics originally. Don't kids play with TOY guns? I remember playing with toy guns as a kid. My kids do. Never taken my kids to a "Live-Shell-Signing-Day" though. Mike. Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable. Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

If it helps, I did happen to find a current pic of a Lebanese Child with a gun! Do Y'All really think it's the gun that's teaching him to hate & fear Israel? Mike. Incidentally, the source is Der Spiegel. To answer your point in another thread (why thread-hop?)... While I like The Beeb, I don't use The Guardian because of it's grossly leftist slant. However, I Do use other sources, & not just English Language ones. Mike. Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable. Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.