Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Corsair on January 01, 2006, 05:35:54 pm
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http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/01/01/teen.iraq/index.html
I can't believe there hasn't been a thread about this yet... I can't fathom for a second what this kid was thinking. I mean, this is truly the height of stupidity.
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Ooops, someones going to be grilled in a moderate oven when they get home...
In a way, I do sort of respect him feeling guilty for living in a luxury while others are suffering, but toddling off to Iraq like that, he's very lucky to still be alive.
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If he was willing to go into unstable parts of Iraq to see an uncensored view of the current functionality of society, then good for him.
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Maybe he should have brushed up on his arabic before his quest.
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The U.S. government advises citizens not to visit Iraq.
That is a gem.
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Somebody posted this over at SB.com, so i'll just re-iterate what I posted there.
This kid wasn't stupid in the sense, he followed his goals and ambitions, and unlike his peers, sought an unbiased view of the events going on in Iraq - i.e., the Truth. Such a goal is never a bad thing, as it shows willingness to learn and to follow one's passion through.
However, the way he did it practically reeks of stupidity, idiocy, teenage arrogance and impatience. Not to mention the lack of concern for his family should anything happen to him.
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:lol:
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Not to mention the lack of concern for his family should anything happen to him.
On the other hand I would not have cared if my family objected to me coming here.
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On the one hand, it's really dumb - walking into a foreign country, with no knowledge of the language, when you pretty much know that fighting's been there.
On the other hand, I don't see much better wait to get an up close and personal, uncensored, view of the situation. Besides joining the US Army.
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He did what 95% of journalists don't have the balls to: walk to streets of Bahgdad in order to put his money where his mouth us. Stupid, yes. Admirable? Extremely.
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Teen Does Really Stupid Thing
So? Next headline: Water is wet.
Still, the kid's intentions are admirable, though the way he carried it out may have been less than intelligent.
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"It is not so much what you are doing as the idiotic way in which you are are doing it that bothers me."
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"It is not so much what you are doing as the idiotic way in which your are doing it that bothers me."
That's basically what I meant.
Teen Does Really Stupid Thing
So? Next headline: Water is wet.
There was supposed to be a bit of irony there...
I mean, don't get me wrong, I think that the kid's intentions were awesome. But I mean... I can't think of too many easier ways to get kidnapped.
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[q]If you consider that there have been an average of 160,000 troops in the Iraq theater of operations during the last 22 months, and a total of 2112 deaths, that gives a firearm death rate of 60 per 100,000. The rate in Washington D.C. (among others) is 80.6 per 100,000. That means that you are about 25% more likely to be shot and killed in our Nation's Capitol, which has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation, than you are in Iraq.
Conclusion: We should immediately pull out of Washington D.C.[/q]
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I agree. Continuing with the trend of the current administration, the new capital should be in Ding Dong, Texas (http://www.texasescapes.com/CentralTexasTownsNorth/DingDongTexas/DingDongTexas.htm).
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:lol:
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the only punishment that kid got was his visa taken away from him. HIS FRIGGIN' VISA.
grandma says if that was her kid he'd much worse.
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He's Arabic. If the stupid News Networks woulda shut up and stopped saying stuff like "OMG THIS KID IS AMERICAN, ALONE, AND IN IRAQ" and stopped showing everyone his pictures, he woulda been fine. After spending a little time in Iraq he'd probly pick up the basics of the language, and he looked Arabic, so he would blend in perfectly. He would've been fine. Unless of course he is COMPLETELY stupid and tells everybody (in english) that he's alone and from America. *stoppes talking to breath*
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He's Arabic
He's arab DESCENT, not the same thing. He can't even speak arabic.
After spending a little time in Iraq he'd probly pick up the basics of the language, and he looked Arabic, so he would blend in perfectly
It takes more than a week to pick up the basics of a different language. Plus he would still have an american accent.
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And anyway, they didn't run the story until after he was picked up and taken back to the U.S. Embassy.
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So...you'd say that the Mosque is half-empty then? :D
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no, no, no, THIS is a gem...
In a way, I do sort of respect him feeling guilty for living in a luxury while others are suffering
screw that. Ain't our fault that they are.
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:wtf:
Uh, the US sort of invaded their country. I don't see how you can say that we aren't at all responsible for the impact it has on the people in that country.
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I certainly am not.
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:rolleyes: Get your terms straight, guys. People speak Arabic. People are Arab, or of Arab descent (same difference, basically). People are also Muslim, but they believe in Islam. Not all Arabs speak Arabic. Not all Muslims are Arabs.
Got that?
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he did some smart things and stupid...
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He's Arabic. If the stupid News Networks woulda shut up and stopped saying stuff like "OMG THIS KID IS AMERICAN, ALONE, AND IN IRAQ" and stopped showing everyone his pictures, he woulda been fine. After spending a little time in Iraq he'd probly pick up the basics of the language, and he looked Arabic, so he would blend in perfectly. He would've been fine. Unless of course he is COMPLETELY stupid and tells everybody (in english) that he's alone and from America. *stoppes talking to breath*
Blend in? Blend in!?
He took out am English-Arabic phrasebook in a Baghdad market, for pete's sake!
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Courage is a good thing.
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at least he knows first hand what the deal is. that maybe Mr. Media hasn't been downplaying what a dangerous place it is to be.
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Courage is a good thing.
I'm sure the guys that were first over the top at Verdun & Ypres would agree with you.
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He's Arabic. If the stupid News Networks woulda shut up and stopped saying stuff like "OMG THIS KID IS AMERICAN, ALONE, AND IN IRAQ" and stopped showing everyone his pictures, he woulda been fine. After spending a little time in Iraq he'd probly pick up the basics of the language, and he looked Arabic, so he would blend in perfectly. He would've been fine. Unless of course he is COMPLETELY stupid and tells everybody (in english) that he's alone and from America. *stoppes talking to breath*
Blend in? Blend in!?
He took out am English-Arabic phrasebook in a Baghdad market, for pete's sake!
Thats one of the stupid things I was talking about. Sorry, didn't realize he was THAT stupid.
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[q]If you consider that there have been an average of 160,000 troops in the Iraq theater of operations during the last 22 months, and a total of 2112 deaths, that gives a firearm death rate of 60 per 100,000. The rate in Washington D.C. (among others) is 80.6 per 100,000. That means that you are about 25% more likely to be shot and killed in our Nation's Capitol, which has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation, than you are in Iraq.[/q]
And then people are complaining that the death toll in Iraq is too big....
I say, the US won't be able to fight any more wars in the near future, becoause as soon as more than 3 soldiers die the people will go soft & stupid and demend for a pull-back.
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From what I can tell, it seems that Sandwich is using the US troops death rate vis-a-vis the Washington DC total murder rate, so that'd be ruling out the 30-odd thousand Iraqis killed over that period (quite a decent percentage of whom IIRC will have been killed by gunfire rather than, say, beheading or bombs). I guess if the US was actually fighting someone (well, not someone now, so much as a bunch of small groups of varying degrees of insanity) who was a genuine threat to the country, then there'd be a lot more tolerance of casualties. But when you plonk a bunch of troops - and cash - into somewhere like Iraq, with no actual good reason or benefit for doing so (like **** the Iraqis will want the planned US military bases in that area, or be quite so willing to give oil discounts), and then get stuck into a predictable and blatantly inevitable quagmire of civillian death (which is exactly what was suppossed to be avoided), then there doesn't seem to be all that much value gained in return for the lives of US troops. And we all know 1 US troop is worth ooh, 10 or 20 of those funny skinned foreigners when it comes to the media coverage.
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:rolleyes: Get your terms straight, guys. People speak Arabic. People are Arab, or of Arab descent (same difference, basically). People are also Muslim, but they believe in Islam. Not all Arabs speak Arabic. Not all Muslims are Arabs.
Got that?
Real Iraqi's speak Arabic, right? This guy did not grow up there, he grew up in a western country. He can't speak the language of his parents. I somehow doubt that he knows the customs.
Being descended from a certain ethnic group is not the same when they don't grow up in that environment. Many Chinese-Americans can't speak Mandarin or write chinese.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq <- look under the "Demographics" heading.
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I think Sandwich's point is, for the most part, if someone who's generally white, but looks a little Arabic, is walking down a street in the US, people don't point and yell "Terrorist!!"...much like in Iraq, they aren't going to flip out if the guy looked a little more American than some of the other people.
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if someone who's generally white, but looks a little Arabic, is walking down a street in the US, people don't point and yell "Terrorist!!"...
They do on air planes. :p
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My point was simply that Iraqis are not exclusively Arabs.