The English are frightened of gun pictures!

[rhgunguy]

Here is a good system to determine who won a war. The nation whose capital is burned to the ground while the other's is unmolested generally looses.

I am left to assume hyperbole on your part as Washington was not "burned to the ground". If you have ever seen or heard of the US Capitol or the White House you would know the folly of your statement. Washington was damaged, but hardly "burned to the ground." Granted, your false statement would be true if not for the restrained shown by Cockburn. However, at the time the United States government did not resemble at all its current form. Washington was not as large a seat of power as it is today. Back then the states had rights.

Furthermore our reason for declaring war(thus our reason to cease hostilities once our objective has been met) was the refusal of the British to properly recognize our independance. After the War of 1812 our independance was never again called into question. I would even beg to argue that had we lost the War of 1812 as you imply, the British would have gladly supported the South some 50 years latter.

Sure, our capitol was burned, but rising from the ashes was the seat of a truly independant nation.

but the war was a resounding failure spun as a victory here in the same way Hussein spun Gulf War I to his people.

You mean of course that the British could have easily taken control of America once and for all in the same manner as the coalition could have? Or is this the same hyperbole as shown before?

 

[Musketeer]

You mean of course that the British could have easily taken control of America once and for all in the same manner as the coalition could have? Or is this the same hyperbole as shown before?

Right... we have full control of Iraq...

There were plenty of problems leading up to the War of 1812, not the least an inferiority complex held by some politicians and a foolish belief by others that the simple act of declaring war would cause Great Britain to rethink it position. The Brits gave us a solid slap in the face, essentially telling us to shut up and enjoy our independence without being idiots. They were not about to take over the USA for many of the same reasons they lost the Revolutionary War, but they could inflict plenty of harm on us, more than us on them by a long shot.

Hey, the Brits were in the wrong on several items. Impressment of US sailors was a big one. Looking back though many of those instances were actually mistakes and they did try to make reparations. Sorting stuff like that out though took some time in the 18th and 19th centuries.

As far as recognizing American independence, that was written into law with the Treaty of Paris in 1783.

 

[Playboypenguin]

So your wife wants naked chicks on the billboards? Ask her. I'll bet she's one of that tiny minority of Puritans who want to control everybody.

There is a big difference between pornography on a billboard and pornography in a private retail store. The puritans don't want to ban public pornography. They want to ban it period...and they want to be the ones to determine what is even considered pornography in the first place. They want to determine what is on TV (which you can turn off if you do not want to see it), they want to determine what can be sold in private retail establishment (which you can not go into if you do not want to buy it), and they want to determine what you can hear on the radio (which you can turn off if you do not want to hear it). They even have a huge history of passing laws about what you can and can't do in your own bedroom.

 

[MeekAndMild]

but the war was a resounding failure spun as a victory here

That just isn't true. At worst it was a stalemate and at best it prevented the British takeover of the Louisiana Purchase territories. In fact if it had't been for the War of 1812 we might all be speaking English right now!

 

[armedtotheteeth]

Seeing stuff like that -- Fear or a picture of a gun.. Is what makes me want to smack the hell out of some people. Liberals .. wusses.. ninnies and gun grabbers. damn. get a life you proper ass idiots. Find other crap to worry about.

 

[alan]

Playboypenguin wrote, having quoted part of my post:

Quote:
If this be true, whatever happened to the Brits who withstood The Blitz of WW2?

They are still there. They are just too busy living their lives and not bothering other people. The mistake they make, like here in America, is believing their elected officials have the brains to recognize a vocal minority fringe element and the courage to stand up to them.
__________________
"Laugh all you want, but when the zombies come we both know whose house you will be running to for protection."
- My response to friends that laugh at me for collecting firearms

--------------------------

I continue to wonder, not questioning your conclusion, why it is that usually sensible people continue to make the same stupid mistakes.

 

[ForksLaPush]

I wonder if Sir Arthur Conan Dolye's, The Tragedy of the Korosko is banned in Britain yet. I think the brits have changed, but the dervishes haven't.

 

[Playboypenguin]

I continue to wonder, not questioning your conclusion, why it is that usually sensible people continue to make the same stupid mistakes.

Well, either it is a very complex question with no easy answer or most people are not as sensible as we would like to believe.

 

[MeekAndMild]

Hmmm, Playboypenguin, I think the complexity can be reduced by considering that the primary mistake made by the sensible people is in ceding power to the nonsensible ones. IMO its a matter of easy social conditions allowing the lazy, stupid and aquisitive ones the leisure time to do mischief. In a society like Britain of 60 years ago the nonsensible ones were left to fend for themselves so had to worry about food, shelter and clothing. Plus they got drafted if they had nothing else to do. Now they are on the dole so have plenty of time to fuss about everything from fox hunting to the need for more security cameras in the mall to press outrages against Princess Dianna's memory.

You might like reading The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness by Lyle H. Rossiter; Jr, though its probably a little too technical for general audiences.

 

[Playboypenguin]

Hmmm, Playboypenguin, I think the complexity can be reduced by considering that the primary mistake made by the sensible people is in ceding power to the nonsensible ones

That is something I can agree with...but why do we keep doing that?

 

[LightningJoe]

They want to ban...

I don't know exactly who THEY are, but I'll bet there are a few people who dislike pornography enough to want to make its sale illegal. I'm not sure where these people hide, but they're pretty good at it. A lot better than they are at "banning" the sale of pornography. They've had about zero success at that as far as I can see.


If these poor, ineffective porn banners are your biggest boogyman, then that's kind of weird.


And anyway, it's not like the pro-porn argument is so strong that's it's impossible that banning it is a good idea. Not really sure what the pro-porn argument is, tell you the truth.

 

[Playboypenguin]

I don't know exactly who THEY are, but I'll bet there are a few people who dislike pornography enough to want to make its sale illegal. I'm not sure where these people hide, but they're pretty good at it. A lot better than they are at "banning" the sale of pornography. They've had about zero success at that as far as I can see.

You are not paying much attention. There are counties in Georgia (and other states) where you cannot even buy a Playboy, counties in Alabama (and other states) where a woman cannot own a vibrator, counties in Mississippi (and other states) where you cannot even buy a single beer or a pornographic video, etc.

Here in Oregon retailers spent millions fighting anti-pornography initiatives last year alone.

That does not even begin to touch all the boycotts of TV shows, radio shows, movies, etc called for by churches and conservative groups every year.

 

[Malexander]

I'm not surprised by this in the slightest; there's been a lot of moral panic about the increasing gun crime amongst inner-city ethnic gangs and so forth. This is especially the case because, following the logic of the PC paradigm, they've banned handguns but now gun crime has of course, gone up.

Trust me when I say that most British people would find this story ridicules in the extreme.

 

[Nev C]

Being afraid of a picture of a gun, though, seems new and aberrant. That's kind of the OP's point, I think.

Quite correct, LightningJoe, the agency that printed the posters took pains to point out that the guns in the pictures were not pointing at the viewer!
Good lord, they are pictures, not real guns. I find this incredible that people can be frightened of a picture of a gun ( and it's not even pointing at them! )

 

[Musketeer]

While I agree the current approach of the English gov't to firearms is laughable I do enjoy the posts which mention how the English are amazed at our fear of breasts! That is true with most of Europe who are amazed at our tolerance for bodies being dismembered on broadcast television but our fear of a child seeing a booby!

Before we get to serious about pointing fingers at our friends in the UK think of how stupid we must have looked when we banned alcohol!

 

[pax]

pax

 

[73 Jock]

That is true with most of Europe who are amazed at our tolerance for bodies being dismembered on broadcast television but our fear of a child seeing a booby!

American visitors to a German video store are often taken aback by the presence of x-rated type porn videos in plain sight.

What can be more confusing is the curtained off "adult area". What could possibly be behind the curtain? Why, the Rambo type, high body count violent movies.

 

[Playboypenguin]

American visitors to a German video store are often taken aback by the presence of x-rated type porn videos in plain sight.

It wasn't that Germans are okay with porn that took me aback...it was the stuff they were into in them. :barf: :barf:

 

[toybox99615]

book burning

Hum looks like these folks follow the practice.


"The burning of books is nothing new to True Christians®. We invented the practice over two-thousand years ago as a way to promote our faith in the Lord Jesus. In the early days of Christianity, when new believers in Christ were converted, they were naturally moved by the Holy Spirit to grab as many books as they could and pitch them into a fire. Unlike the sissy "Jesus is Love" fake-Christians (whom both the Lord Jesus and we loathe) we have running around today, the early followers of Christ were never ashamed to burn books. In fact, if you ever find yourself being grateful for the destruction of most of the works of pagan nincompoops like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, you have a Christian to thank! In the Book of Acts we learn that anyone who wants to follow Jesus, should get ready to start burning books at the drop of a hat. The Book of Acts teaches us that burning someone's books is a great way spread God's word." http://www.landoverbaptist.org/news1002/bookburning.html

 

[Playboypenguin]

Scary...but hopefully a radical branch and not a true representation of how most christians think. Unfortunately, the radicals tend to get all the attention.

Go to a pro-gun demonstration and the media films the Rambos, go to a gay pride parade and the media films the queens in tutus, go to a christian rally and the media films the ones laying on hands and speaking in tongues...etc.