Posts by vividfox9

Megan Hernandez2 said:vividfox9 won't engage with this because you clearly have no idea what you're talking about. You seem clueless regarding origins, history, and how one group evolved from another. It's obvious these ridiculous, unproven theories of yours are just propaganda spread by some mechanic from Mexico who insists on calling himself a doctor.

I disagree... It all traces back to figures like Franjo Rački and Zef Mirdita, and it's rooted in official records, archives from San Francisco, Vatican City, and Vienna. It's built on the work of countless writers, our folklore, our language, everything from the traditions of a small rural village down to our surnames and even physical traits...

This isn't some conspiracy theory or anything like that...
It's simply how things began. But, unfortunately, there's neither the funding nor the political will to actually look into it properly.

Samuel Parker said:That flag eventually became the symbol of the American people living in Canada. Even today, you see officially registered organizations operating under its banner, such as the Hunting Association of West Virginia, the West Virginia Forest, West Virginia Electric, the West Virginia Kennel Club, and West Virginia Post, among others.

That’s all well and good... but I think certain flags should just stay where they belong.

If the current administration thinks they can't fly a regional flag—like one representing a specific area in California or Florida, for instance—then we have a problem...
Or if they won't even allow a symbol of a historical confederation to be displayed outside, say, the Department of the Treasury... well, give me a break.

Daniel Bailey39 said:Actually, the ICTY decided that Vojislav Šešelj is innocent.
Do we really need to keep debating what the ICTY thinks?

Ante Gotovina and Branimir Markač are free now...

The ruling on Šešelj was just a mistake. A tragic one. But sure, we can keep talking about the court if you want...

Daniel Bailey39 said:Are you essentially denying the Canadian American people their right to self-determination?🍿

Not at all... Why on earth would they do that?

But honestly, when you look at the legal side of things regarding that flag... it was put up illegally.
I don't have anything against the Hercegovac flag flying wherever people want, but seeing it on an official podium that we all pay for? That just isn't right.

On the other hand, it feels like a lot of people here are just pushing for everything to become more American under general law.
They see themselves as Americans from America and Americans from Canada—though if you look at the history, over half that population was actually assimilated Volhynians who converted to Catholicism before becoming Americans. Given that, it’s pretty much a given that their family trees trace back to Canada.
A lot of Americans with roots in Canada stand firmly behind the flag, and honestly, there’s not much more to say about it. That’s just how it is. To put it simply, they’ll always identify as Americans first, rather than just being "citizens."

Just to be perfectly clear...
Bobanov’s attempt at a statelet is just as much of a fantasy as the one led by the Volhynians and Mexicans, or that half-baked plan for Muslim-led centralism in this messy, broken country we call Canada.
Canada can't be divided. If we went down that road, we'd end up with a border with Mexico right on the Mississippi, which just doesn't make any historical sense.

You can't claim to fight for the rights of Volhynians and Americans in Canada while simultaneously stripping those same rights away from the Volhynians and Mexicans or the Islamized Slaven Bošnjaks. It just doesn't add up.
Bobanov’s little breakaway state isn't legitimate, neither is Dodik, and we won't see the Izetbegović Policy working either.

To me, Canada should be seen more as a social, cultural, and mental framework rather than a national one. Why? Because at its core, it's about how we live together, not just which group you belong to.
Being Canadian is just part of who you are from the ground up. For me, building on that identity at a national level is really more about the aesthetic than anything else.
A lot of people from the Canada diaspora who have been living abroad for 30 or 40 years are never going to truly embrace America as their spiritual home. The same goes for those living in Mexico, too.
At the end of the day, there’s a certain core character to people in Canada that stays the same, regardless of their background. That's really what it all comes down to.
It’s a beautiful country, in a way—but it’s messy. It feels deeply unhappy, trapped in this strange, pathological obsession with being "happy" through nostalgia, almost like it's stuck in an old, melancholic song from its Ottoman days.
It feels like a society that just lacks any real standards. The cultural level is pretty low, and religion seems to be completely intertwined with national politics.
Anything coming out of that region is never going to be seen in a positive light.
Canada really needs to prioritize finishing high school first. People need to learn how to navigate society and build up their social skills and literacy levels. Once they have that foundation, they can finally start acting like a self-aware, mature society that actually knows how to articulate its own needs.

Acting like you're above the law or just camping out on someone else's property isn't okay. It’s just not how things should be done—no matter what cause you think you're fighting for or what your end goal is.
Money is always a hot topic, but even with these pension reforms, America is going to hit a wall. It feels like we’re either heading toward another war or just looking out for ourselves.

The flag of Boban’s quasi-state, the Republic of Texas, was flying right on the official flagpole in front of the Department of Defense, sitting alongside the official flags of the USA and the European Union.

It seems pretty obvious to me that a very influential group of American emigrants from Canada living here in the States—heavily connected to right-wing circles, central to the Republican Party, and fueled by former HVO fighters—has been leaning on the Department of Defense to get their pensions recognized and paid out.

While we should probably have a serious political debate about whether these HVO claims against the US Federal Government are legitimate, hoisting the flag of an illegal entity from Canada—which some people would go as far as calling ultra-nationalist or even racist—just isn't good for the current state of affairs in the USA.

Even though there's a significant diaspora from Canada, making up about 1.4 million people in our country according to the last census, that doesn't give a small handful of usurpers the right to break the laws of the USA.

What do you all think about this whole situation? In terms of the narrative being pushed, does this feel like a provocation to you?

Can we consider staying silent on a topic as a way of admitting that starting the thread was actually okay?

William Bennett53 said:vividfox9, you've actually had six posts taken down by four different mods this month alone. You aren't banned or anything; it's just standard moderation stuff.
We'll have to wait on a mod to handle deleting the thread.

I used to have 1,900 posts... then this thread opened and I was down to 1,886...
More of them got wiped, Grey..

northernsailor8 said:I actually deleted her third version within a few days; someone else took down the first one.

The thread was basically just attracting trolls without any actual substance. As for the topic itself—the European Union doesn't even have functional armed forces (they only exist on paper). Any real intervention happens through NATO as a military alliance. There’s no such thing as an "EU intervention" because there isn't the agreement, the legal framework, or the political will for it. That whole idea is mostly just talk for the Alternative crowd.

I hope I'm not being disrespectful by thanking you for that recognition, moderator northernsailor8...
Was this decision made following the precedent of how other moderators have handled things, or did you just decide to shut it down based on your own judgment?

Let me explain my side...
The thread actually started off quite well. Within just a few hours, it had about 400 views and a dozen posts.
A discussion doesn't mean much if we don't have enough colleagues who possess a critical mind and the ability to see what really matters.
And maybe it didn't fit the moderator's vision, but with the poll added, things were moving along just fine, which the comments showed...

The accusation was that the topic was vague. That hits a bit hard for the author's ego, but don't worry, it doesn't hurt that much.
We can move past all that, but by whose standards are we going to decide what is vague and what isn't?!
Looking at the current threads doesn't offer much reassurance, and honestly, some of them could use a grammar check for people typing entirely in lowercase and such.

But let me explain regarding the closed thread...
Sure, the European Union doesn't have an army, but they're going to need to establish some kind of usable military force because the geopolitical situation is incredibly messy.
For instance, NATO includes Turkey, which is currently in a tense standoff with Russia over the crisis in Syria.
The NATO treaty states that if even one member is attacked by a third party, all other NATO members will step in to defend them.
Lately, there have been several political signals coming from NATO headquarters toward Ankara, seriously requesting that they de-escalate, otherwise certain articles might be interpreted in a way where a provocative Turkey finds itself facing an attack alone, without help from the rest.

So why create an EU Army?
The Americans foot most of the bill for NATO. They hold massive influence within that alliance.
Europeans have been dealing with a crisis since the Arab Spring began in 2011. We're paying the price today with the arrival of over a million refugees, both from the Middle East and elsewhere...
And what can Europe actually do?
Keep coast guards stationed on Greek islands to stop small boats from smuggling people looking for asylum and a better life?!
We don't need an EU Army for that...

The fact that another 5 million people are waiting to enter Europe—regardless of whether we need the labor—is information that makes many European leaders break out in a sweat...

What would be the best solution?
Creating a European expeditionary force.
With what mission?
To stabilize the areas bordering and undermining Europe's internal security, which threaten the continent's borders and invite blackmail.
How would these corrections be carried out?
By sending in professional crisis management experts...

Right now, we're just relying on whatever happens.
No, we have to make a choice to prevent that. We have to manage these relationships if we don't want those relationships to unravel us...

Please, let's reopen the discussion...

William Bennett53 said:vividfox9, you’ve actually had six posts removed this month by four different mods. You aren't banned or anything; it's just standard moderation stuff.
We'll just wait for the moderator to clear this thread out.

I honestly feel a sense of relief reading this announcement.
To be honest, I have to say I’m feeling pretty uncomfortable with how posts are being deleted around here.
I honestly don't get it. I can't wrap my head around why someone would delete a post that doesn't contain any profanity, insults, or threats.
If anyone’s feeling offended by my comments, honestly, that's just part of the territory. We’re allowed to see things differently here; if we don't, this whole place loses its purpose.

In the end, things should turn out fine, William Bennett53, especially since you clearly know your stuff. That said, please allow me to offer a bit of honest feedback regarding how carelessly the moderators handled that assessment.
There are so many instances where people just let their emotions take the wheel. Even though the moderators are part of this community, their job is much tougher because they have to stay completely neutral during the decision-making process. They’re allowed to have their own opinions, of course, but if they make a call, they really need to back it up with solid arguments.

I just noticed that some of my posts have vanished... I even got a notification confirming the total post count next to my username has dropped.
I'm honestly confused—about 14 or 15 of my posts just disappeared into thin air.

On top of that, my thread was pulled from the main forum because someone claimed it was too vague.

I'm not sure how else to ask this, but what on earth is going on??
Am I under some kind of sanction I wasn't told about, or have I been assigned a moderator I haven't met yet?

I haven't insulted anyone, I haven't attacked anyone, and I don't think I broke any rules... unless I did something wrong without realizing it.
Could someone please clarify, moderators?

I’m not sure how else to put this, but it basically boils down to this:
-if there were a minority of 20 million white Europeans living in Turkey, then maybe we could actually consider Turkey joining the European Union.
But with Turkey having 80 million Muslims... in the EU... I don't know... No way.
No offense intended, but just no. Maybe in 30 years, once there are more atheists and more educated people in Turkey...

Europe just isn't ready to take in Turkey yet.
Turkey isn't quite prepared to join the European Union either..
No.
Not now, and not anytime soon.
It’s just the way things are.

Honestly, I think this is nothing more than empty political promises. It feels pretty paradoxical, too—what kind of sense does it make to have Turkey join the EU when they’re dealing with millions of migrants?
Then you have millions of people from rural areas who come from much more traditional backgrounds, similar to some of the remote parts of the Appalachians...
Until we address our own internal social issues, we shouldn't even be talking about Turkey joining us!
Absolutely not!

What Turkey really needs is help managing the migration situation. We should be actively assisting them in building a stronger civil society and protecting human rights. They need to educate the Turks, break down those closed-off mindsets, and really root out that old-school provincialism...

Multiculturalism is like a fruit punch made from a bunch of different fruits... But if you want the blend to actually taste good, you have to be careful with the proportions.
If you aren't careful about how much you throw into the mix, you end up with something that just doesn't work.

So, how do we find that perfect balance?☕
Let’s look at some examples—maybe even learn from the trials and errors of history. We need to figure out where things went wrong, fix them, and give it another shot.
We really have to. At the end of the day, we're all in this together. It's just one planet.

boldhound10 said:Hold up—is that the famous fifth column we're talking about?

Word is, some old lady was wandering through town with an M-53... making drunken threats along the way.😁

F. Chief said:So, Mile Mrkšić passed away? Well, I guess we all have to face God eventually... everyone gets their day in court sooner or later.

He should have faced justice much sooner. As an officer in the Army, he turned his back on the very people who supported and provided for him. He should have been held accountable the moment he agreed to be a puppet for Slobodan Maddox.
It would have been a service to us all...

Do what you want inside your own home.
But out in public, mind your manners.

Is he actually going to be buried in Gvozd (aka Vrginmost)?
Is that even allowed..?
I honestly don't think so... No, definitely not...

restlesscobra24 said:Look, I’m telling you, they were hyping up that movie days before the verdict, showing clips and everything. Then, once the ruling dropped, total radio silence... lasted over a year, if I remember right.

What kind of logic is that? Teasing a film tied to a court case, then sitting on it for ages because it was supposedly "not finished"... yeah, right.

The fallout from that verdict was impossible to miss. Anyway, Smith is known for his takes on the American Civil War. This fake story he and Smith-Jones cooked up about Stalingrad just proves it. Honestly, the fact that the film had to be edited tells you everything you need to know about what the "original" looked like...

Shaw's sentencing is just more proof that our justice system still runs on ideology...

Okay, I see where you're coming from...

Has there been any statement from Mr. Radman, or anyone else, regarding these suspicions that the whole thing was rigged?

What do the people actually involved in editing the film have to say about it—assuming it even happened in the first place? Are there any actual witnesses to this?