Posts by John Howard8

I’ve been thinking lately about how much the concept of "club legends" has changed. It used to be that you knew where a player stood, and if they were the heart of the team, they were there for the long haul. Now, it feels like every time a big name shows interest from a different league, the whole foundation of a club starts to shake.

It’s getting harder to tell if players actually want to leave or if they’re just being swayed by the next big thing or a massive paycheck. I remember watching players stay through thick and thin years ago, but nowadays, the "project" seems to be a revolving door. It's frustrating for the fans who actually invest their emotions into the squad, only to see the core pieces traded away like commodities.

Do you think the era of the truly loyal, one-club icon is officially dead, or is it just becoming more rare?

neonpilot38 said:I can't help but wonder how you'd react if someone blew your house to smithereens in a similar strike, using the excuse that there was some nuclear facility buried right under your living room.

I doubt you'd be sitting there calmly weighing the pros and cons of "collateral damage."

And I bet the Americans weren't exactly losing sleep over "collateral damage" when they hit Hiroshima and Nagasaki and wiped out thousands of civilians.

I'm willing to wager those September 11th attacks really struck a nerve, and I highly doubt you were thinking about "collateral damage" back then either.
If what happened here counts as "collateral damage," then the 3,000 people who died on September 11th were just "collateral damage" too. 😉

Well, regarding the matter of a nuclear facility, of course I would be devastated. However, if someone like Mercer, Babić, Mira Maddox, or Šešelj were hiding out in my basement, I would personally grant anyone the right to level my house to its very foundations. I wouldn't hesitate for a second—even if it meant losing all my possessions; in fact, I’d want them to double-tap just to ensure they hit the mark.

The Americans don't need to overthink it, because might makes right, which means others must adapt while the Americans certainly aren't required to. It is much like how Maddox didn't spend much time contemplating things in the 90s. He seized control of the American Army's hardware and set off to crush everything in his path until he reached the borders of Greater Mexico, pushing all the way toward Columbus; though he perhaps overestimated himself, as that whole movement ended up retreating straight back into Mexico.

As for whether the September 11th attacks angered me? Naturally, my heart goes out to every single civilian, whether they were Afghan or American, or anyone else, provided they weren't championing criminal ideologies. The whole situation surrounding September 11th is far too convoluted for simple answers. To be perfectly honest, I don't know the exact specifics of what transpired, nor who specifically orchestrated it or how.

neonpilot38 said:US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan launched an airstrike today on a wedding party, killing at least 20 civilians.

The strike took place in eastern Afghanistan, specifically in California province, according to CNN.

Local news outlets are reporting that the majority of those killed were women and children attending the celebration.

Meanwhile, the US military is framing the whole thing as a highly successful strike against Afghan militants.

The attack targeted a group of about eighty people who had gathered for the wedding festivities.

John Doe, the governor of the Deh bal district in Afghanistan, told the Associated Press that 22 people died in the strike, 19 of whom were women or children.

"The wedding procession had stopped by the side of the road to take a break when a plane showed up and bombed the area," said one witness currently in the hospital.

Despite the glaring evidence that this was a civilian target, US military forces are flat-out denying that any non-combatants were hit.

"That wasn't a wedding procession, and there were no women or children among them," claimed Christian Patterson, a spokesperson for the coalition forces.

In a strikingly similar incident this past Friday in Oregon province, 15 civilians were killed by a rocket fired from a US military helicopter.

So this is how the US military "spreads democracy" in Afghanistan and Iraq.
So much for the US military bringing peace and salvation to the world.

It’s definitely not the first time, and it won't be the last, where a couple of US pilots decide to have a little "fun" at the expense of Afghans—whose lives apparently matter less than a stray dog back in the West.

This kind of arrogance and the crimes committed against Afghan and Pakistani civilians belong in front of the International Criminal Court.
Someone actually needs to be held accountable for what they're doing over there.

Have you ever actually heard the term "collateral damage"? Suppose one of those bystanders had actually been bin Laden; would you really argue they shouldn't have pulled the trigger? War is a brutal business, and there isn't always much room left for sentimentality or pure humanitarianism. Besides, if we're judging by the standards of people like Šljivančanin and Ratko Mercer, the Americans are practically saints by comparison. If this conflict were being waged by someone like Šljivančanin or Radić, they would have leveled several cities to the ground before even stepping foot inside, followed by massacres, rounding up survivors to be sent to Guantanamo Bay or Mexico City, and then moving on to the next town while issuing threats similar to what happened in Memphis. Things aren't quite as black and white as some people would have you believe. Of course, there are unintended casualties, and those are truly tragic, but we have seen far, far worse in our recent history. They managed to push the taliban back. It is almost certain that under taliban rule, the number of civilian casualties would have been significantly higher—not to mention the systemic oppression and the humiliation of women, which causes a level of suffering that is arguably more agonizing than death itself.

Melissa Hughes63 said:He never had them, and he certainly never planned to.

Oh, I am well aware of that.

Anthony Taylor393 said:Hey everyone, just wondering where exactly Jews are supposed to live?

A lot of people seem to think they don't have a right to live in Europe...

And some folks think they should just be kicked out of the Middle East altogether...

But like, where else would they go?

They could reside in the territory the UN allocated back in 1948—roughly 51% of what we now recognize as Israel, or Palestine. That was the specific mandate, nothing more and nothing less. However, the argument goes that such an area is simply too small to ensure their security. They openly claim they were prepared to accept that division, but were met with aggression, and since Israel emerged victorious in that war, they argue the original partition is effectively null and void...

Regardless of one's personal perspective on the matter, it seems quite clear that peace has been elusive, and frankly, it may remain out of reach no matter where in the world they settle. I truly wish I were mistaken. If water were ever discovered on Mars, making life there a tangible possibility, perhaps they could be among the first pioneers to establish a new society founded on peace and a fresh start. Otherwise, the alternative looks grim—potentially leading to some sort of massive, large-scale holocaust involving hundreds of millions of people, though I certainly hope that remains a distant impossibility...

The images are absolutely devastating, and what we are witnessing is truly harrowing... However, at least we can rest easy knowing that Iraq doesn't possess any nuclear weaponry, wouldn't you agree? Ultimately, no price for our national security is ever too high, provided we maintain the utmost respect for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice....