SPAIN - THANK YOU
 

Over 8 million people took to the streets in Madrid yesterday. That figure boggles the mind.
Spain stood with us throughout the Iraq war and we should show support for them now. If anyone would like to send a card to the Spanish Embassy here is the address.

Embassy of Spain
2375 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20037

Re: SPAIN - THANK YOU
 

Great. I'll send them a "fuck you" card for "standing with us".

Quzah.

This post is re-edited because I guess I don't get it yet. Trying to see some humour in the 2 posts above and below this one. And not finding any.

Ahahahaha!

Goddamn, that was fucking twisted...and funny.

You might want this one, too:

British Embassy
3100 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20008

So if I was happy that we were killing people in other countries, that would make me less of an asshole? Gotcha.

Another thing, this isn't "real life"? So my time here makes me "not real"? You have a fucked up thought process if that's what you believe.

Quzah.

OK quzah, I changed my post before you answered. I guess it just didn't seem real appropriate saying you were going to send a fuck you letter to a country that just experienced a pretty horrible attack.

You know what, fuck it...if thats your thing, you are an asshole. Good for you.

And you too Syc, I'm in a fuck you kind of mood.

Oh oh do me too! quzah went way over the top there, but the fact stands, the Spanish government went against the will of "their" (I don't really buy the government over people concept)people and this atrocity is a direct result.

Now now...we don't know what happened in Spain just yet.

As far as blue's comment...whatever, though I'm flattered that you used your 200th post to insult me.

fuck everybody

So this makes it OK then? Does it Griff? I'm really pissed off right now.

Yeah, yeah you bastard ;-) Another reason to be pissed at you, your CD better rock, be prepared for a scathing review, and a lost in the mail situation...that is unless it really does rock.

It doesn't make the bombing ok, only quzah's response to it. The bombing was, however, a predictable response, since the nut jobs needed our poorly focused response (Iraq) and escalation (wider mid-east war to come) to consolidate their base. This all assumes that it's Islamic not nationalist Basque extremists.

Over 8 million people took to the streets in Madrid yesterday. That figure boggles the mind.
Spain stood with us throughout the Iraq war and we should show support for them now. If anyone would like to send a card to the Spanish Embassy here is the address.

Actually, I'm kind of wondering what we're thanking them for. What would the note read?

"Thank you for being bombed?"
"Thank you for having a terrorist attack so that we can be edgy and fearful again?"

How about sending "I'm sorry for your loss", instead? Standing behind us in a war and standing beside us after the September 11th attacks are two very different things.

And for that matter, I'd like to actually understand where people in the US are coming from on this: do you actually, honestly and truly feel sad for what happened over there? Does it honestly affect you that much? Everytime you see a flamed-out shell of an Isreali bus on the news, do you send a card and stand out in the street for them? I don't want to seem cold (and I know I probably do), but I really want to know if this affects people that much or if it is really just a put on. I'm so desensitized to this, thanks to 24-hour news, that I really don't feel much of anything from it except another, "Aw, shit, not again."

Yes I do honestly feel bad when something like this happens. These are people on a fucking bus ride (Israel) or on a train to somewhere (Spain), it's not like Spain's army just got an ass whooping.

It's you and me Kitsune, just average folks on there way to some ordinary thing...blown into just parts, for NOTHING.

It's you and me Kitsune, just average folks on there way to some ordinary thing...blown into just parts, for NOTHING.

Yeah, but you don't know 'em. It didn't happen in your state, country, or side of the world. Senseless death happens every day all over the place and is reported on the news. Murder this, and car accident that, a bus explosion here, the death of a soldier there. Hell, sometimes an entire population of people gets hacked to death with machettis. Its non-stop, often happening to people just like us doing the same things we do.

I'm not at all saying you are strange for feeling sad over this, but I just don't feel it, anymore, as its way to common of a thing to feel genuine sadness towards. I feel concern over it, displeasure, and even anger towards the people that do these things, but I'm not going to stand out in the street over it, cry, or send a card.

Again, not trying to be an asshole, just a bit confused as to the general emotional reaction from people who didn't lose anyone they knew and in response to an event that does not directly affect them. (And, admittedly, a bit of strange curiosity towards the few people out there who feign sadness over an event in order to feel as if they are part of a larger group.)

Wolf and I were talking about this the other night, actually.

What happened is horrible...a lot of innocent people died. When I heard about it, I felt a bit of emotion, but not much. I felt more indifferent than anything else. Maybe if it had happened closer to home, I might feel differently.

And that bothers me. Because when situations like this happen, I think we should be angry and sad. No one deserves to be a victim of violent crime, and we should do all we can (within reason) to reduce or eliminate it.

Having said that, I don't see anyone here condoning what happened. I personally found Quzah's comment to be quite funny...I have a rather dark sense of humor. It ain't the first time I've been called an asshole though, and I'm sure it won't be the last.

What hit me most is a new front. I felt the same when it happened in the Pacific. I'm desensitized to the middle east because it's happened so often and for so long. I guess it's like Londoners during the Blitz, you're just thankful it wasn't you and go on with your life.

I'm with you Griff, but the Spanish are not, or haven't been anyway. Some pine for Franco but will settle for Jaun Carlos.

This stuff can still get to me, that's one reason why I stay away from the tv. Initially its a death of a thousand cuts then they heal and I lose my sensitivity to things which impact me more directly. I felt it when I heard about the Spanish bombings then I got the pang of dread. This war could get very wide very quickly and our arguments here about proper response will become irrelevant. I'll still think we're building our own enemy and Toad will still think we're not hitting back hard enough. In the end we won't know for sure why the war grew into such a bloodbath but it will have. From my perspective a letter of apology would be more appropriate...

And I daresay, even in the Western half of the Country (I was in Vegas at the time), it still didn't feel real.

I have to agree with you, OC. I think it is because I've never been to New York and because I never got to see the World Trade Center, so I had no connection at all with what was going on. It still had a huge impact on me, but mostly because it was so bad it didn't feel real in any way. Knowing that this was happening in the US proved to be incredibly frightening, but the confusion left of "this can't be happening" made it all the more strange and almost erie. Yet, had I not flipped on the news that day or gone to work, I would have never have known what had happened that morning, not even if weeks passed. There was no direct effect on me, so the only emotions I could really feel were shock, concern, and worry for the future. I couldn't feel sad about it and I couldn't pretend to, as there is no way I could even begin to understand what the people in New York City were going through, much less the friends and families of those that were lost.

It's no wonder that it's difficult to have true sadness or anger over things that don't "hit home".

I used to blame the media on this, but on thinking more about this tonight I understand that it really isn't the fault of twenty-four hours news channels or violent movies. What must it have been like when newspapers hit the stands when Pearl Harbor was bombed? There was only newspaper text, followed by news reels days later of shaky, black and white footage of the boiler of a ship exploding and some sinking vessels. How could people on the East coast of the United States feel sorrow for those people lost when all they had was a number of dead? The media of those days didn't have nearly the ability to convey what the media of today does. Now, after a bomb goes off, we see body parts in the streets or the actual car chase as it is happening through the streets of LA followed immediately by the faces of the dead, interviews with the families, and home movies of previous happy times of the families enjoying quality time together with their children. That should bring on immense sadness.

But it doesn't, anymore.

But back on topic, it hit me more when Diana died than hearing 10 bombs went off on a train and killed however many people.

I share similar thoughts, here: I felt much more legitimate sadness when the Space Shuttle Challenger and Columbia were lost. Fewer lives were destroyed, but those were still "sick to my stomach" days.

...and while on this topic, I think its time to pull this article back up: Forbidden Thoughts on September 11th

"I'm sorry to say it, but it was the most exciting day of my career in journalism. It was really fuckin' fun."

I never had thoughts quite like these when I saw the events that morning. Some of these people are awful.


....okay, so maybe I did have the whole, "Hey, this feels kind of like a snow-day!" going at the time. And it was kind of neat to flip on the scanner and hear the local air frequencies playing a looped warning over and over. And it was interesting to look up and not see a single airplane in the sky. Really peaceful.

By the way, most of the spaniards were against the war. That's why the right-wing governement now lost the elections....
So I think most of the 8 millions have bad feelings against USA for starting another war who now goes over to Spain...

That's a step backwards...

That...or, it is a message from Spanish voters that says, "Thanks for dragging us into the war, fuckers!"

The election was fairly close at last report...and it wasn't a majority of the votes (Socialists 43%, ruling Popular Party 38%).

We are suffering from tragedy overload ... 200 hundred dead? Kinda pales in comparison to 3000+, two buildings lost, one damaged, four planes down.

Everything else is just pocket change.

Particularly when it's far away.

Individual tragedy can still make its mark, but this mass stuff ... no longer.

And yes, I do think this is sad.

Allah be praised.

Spain to Al Qaeda: Terrorism works.


Please choose one and only one:

__ Iraq has nothing to do with al Qaeda and so terrorism is not a reason to wage war in Iraq

__ Removing a regime supportive of terrorism will enflame the terrorists and piss them off and make them fight harder

via Andrew Sullivan

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/eu...est/index.html

To our Brit readers: don't ride trains in the two weeks preceding the next election.

Funny how the title of this thread has taken on a whole new meaning.

"If its forces remain after these blows, the victory of the Socialist Party will be almost guaranteed - and the withdrawal of Spanish forces will be on its campaign manifesto."

This is upsetting for two reasons. First is because you can't allow the terrorists to think their tactics work and in this sense, we're going to have a huge problem on our hands for security and political reasons. Second is that, while I don't support us being in Iraq to begin with, you simply can't just throw everything aside, pack up, and leave. For the sake of the people of Iraq and the stability of the area, it would be murder to just allow everything to go to hell. We're in it, regardless of it being a good idea or not, and now we've got to finish it.

I think Spain should get a nice "fuck you" card.

Stick your head in the sand and hope it all goes away. :confused:

Stick your head in the sand and hope it all goes away.

Works for me, as there isn't much I can do about it. Twenty-four hours news? Not on my television. And now, back to cartoons!

You also can't let the terrorists' preferences determine your vote, one way or the other.

I can't post here any more. I think I see black van, and there's a helicopter that makes no noise and casts no shadow hovering outside. It's just a name I chose years ago! Just a fucking name!

Quzah.

Sean Hannity was selling this yesterday on his show. It has a lot of truth in it, but it's also pretty handy for Bush Co. No matter how stupid his decisions are you must submit, otherwise you're playing into the hands of the terrorists. Not that Bush hasn't been al quedas biggest booster, helping them with recruitment and rolling back civil liberties over the last year... al queda is in a great position now, they can use little non-affilliated cells of nuts or do direct stuff, taking credit either way,... more overseas troops and wars make it so easy to sell the yankee imperialist idea to as yet non-radicalized islamists. None of this is an endorsement of the Dems who would pull the very same crap only without ticking off our European "allies"...

A) It's not really about al Qaeda in the first place, it's about Islamic terrorism in general.

B) In the long run they will find any excuse, because unlike us, their goal is not to convince us to co-exist well with them... their goal is to have us submit to Allah or die as infidels.

" Stick your head in the sand and hope it all goes away."

Works for me, as there isn't much I can do about it. Twenty-four hours news? Not on my television. And now, back to cartoons!


Ya, you know I think I'll also take that attitude. Life's too short! Oops, I'm gonna go watch me some tennis.

Frikkin tennis people...they should do something better with their time, like running.

:p

That's it -- from here out, I'm making a stand! Spanish Peanuts? Hell, no! Freedom Peanuts it is! Who's with me? Eh? Eh?

No?

I don't like 'em enough to care.

Lemme know when we're pissed off enough at Brazil, though.