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Equality of marriage and love

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Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 12,011 ✭✭✭✭PopePalpatine


    MrPudding wrote: »
    Is that a Quinn quote? If it is, LOL at him asking for a discussion. I suspect it is like the post on the other forum that said something along the lines of "we can't have a discussion cos all these bad atheist keep disagreeing."

    MrP

    I can't tell, he's either blocked me or set his tweets to private. :o


  • Moderators Posts: 51,893 ✭✭✭✭Delirium


    MrPudding wrote: »
    Is that a Quinn quote? If it is, LOL at him asking for a discussion. I suspect it is like the post on the other forum that said something along the lines of "we can't have a discussion cos all these bad atheist keep disagreeing."

    MrP
    Yep. He did actually tweet it.

    https://twitter.com/DavQuinn/status/705713173261893632

    If you can read this, you're too close!



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,788 ✭✭✭MrPudding


    Delirium wrote: »

    That's fcuking hilarious.

    MrP


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 18,604 CMod ✭✭✭✭The Black Oil


    He knows what he's doing with those tweets. He's like a child at the back of the class desperate for attention.


  • Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 28,522 Mod ✭✭✭✭Cabaal


    He knows what he's doing with those tweets. He's like a child at the back of the class desperate for attention.

    I'd agree with this,
    The best thing people can do is ignore him and stop commenting on tweets and his "articles".

    Less attention he gets the less media profile he has and the media won't bother with him as much,

    He's attention whoring, nothing more


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 46,938 ✭✭✭✭Nodin


    He knows what he's doing with those tweets. He's like a child at the back of the class desperate for attention.

    .....well I'd like to play my "Brother Bernardicus with the leather strap" card then so.


  • Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 28,522 Mod ✭✭✭✭Cabaal


    http://www.broadsheet.ie/2016/03/10/bent-as-an-s-hook/

    f8b8afd7-4f9f-49f5-9049-2530120a92e0.jpg
    From the Waterford Mail apparently


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,759 ✭✭✭jobbridge4life


    'Ask Lolly'...

    lol(ly)


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 18,604 CMod ✭✭✭✭The Black Oil


    Sounds like someone mistook a wedding invite for a letter to a newspaper.

    #sincerelyheldbiscuits

    https://twitter.com/SwearyLady/status/711188431385337857


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,163 ✭✭✭Shrap


    Sounds like someone mistook a wedding invite for a letter to a newspaper.

    #sincerelyheldbiscuits

    https://twitter.com/SwearyLady/status/711188431385337857

    Wow. Most inappropriate use of a smiley face I've ever seen. What a sh1thead.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 12,011 ✭✭✭✭PopePalpatine


    North Carolina has passed a law banning cities and towns from passing their own anti-discrimination laws on gender identity and sexual orientation, in response to the city of Charlotte doing so.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 20,944 ✭✭✭✭Links234


    I think you need to fix your link, PP ;)

    But yeah. It's pretty terrifying some of the anti-LGBT backlash that's happening in the US, what's being proposed in Georgia for example, yet we aren't hearing half as much talk about these sorts of things as we used to, and that's worrying. What a lot of people are afraid of is that the majority assumes that LGBT rights is 'done with' because of marriage equality, instead of realizing that it's but one (very significant) milestone on a path to equality. LGBT people still face discrimination, still face serious levels of youth homelessness, only a handful of places have banned so-called "conversion therapy" for minors, not to mention the severe issues trans people in particular face. It's still an uphill struggle for many people.


  • Posts: 0 ✭✭✭✭ Crosby Enough Thumbscrew




  • Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 28,522 Mod ✭✭✭✭Cabaal


    The land of the "free" is at it again, its now ok to refuse services to black couples gay couples in Mississippi.

    http://www.thejournal.ie/mississippi-passes-anti-lgbt-tlaw-2700025-Apr2016/
    THE GOVERNOR OF Mississippi Phil Bryant has signed into law a bill which makes it legal for businesses to refuse service to gay couples.

    Bryant said that House Bill 1523 would protect “sincerely held religious beliefs and moral convictions of individuals” from the government. He said that the bill reinforced America’s first amendment, which protects freedom of religious expression.

    So he argues it protects freedom of religious expression but it removes rights from people, yeah that makes perfect sense
    :rolleyes:

    Should America go back to making sure black people sit at the back of the bus as well....you know, in the name of religious freedoms or something


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,796 ✭✭✭CptMackey


    They really are gone down the rabbit hole. These laws wouldn't be out of place in Saudi Arabia.

    The religious right seems to be getting stronger in the states. Legal discrimination. Land of the free my ass. Theocracy here we come


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 24,421 Mod ✭✭✭✭robindch


    CptMackey wrote: »
    The religious right seems to be getting stronger in the states.
    Hard to say for sure. What I believe is happening is what appears to have happened here in Ireland any many other countries - the religions are losing the moderates who used to make up the larger part of their membership. That's leaving the floor open to smaller numbers of extremists of one kind or another.

    In one sense, it's good that the religions are dying, and noticeably dying. What's less good is that they seem more interested in taking as much as they can with them, rather than dying with the whimper that most of us would prefer to see.


  • Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 28,522 Mod ✭✭✭✭Cabaal


    robindch wrote: »
    Hard to say for sure. What I believe is happening is what appears to have happened here in Ireland any many other countries - the religions are losing the moderates who used to make up the larger part of their membership. That's leaving the floor open to smaller numbers of extremists of one kind or another.

    In one sense, it's good that the religions are dying, and noticeably dying. What's less good is that they seem more interested in taking as much as they can with them, rather than dying with the whimper that most of us would prefer to see.

    I'd tend to agree with this,
    The religious people they are left with are more extreme then they would have been in the past, so when they do get a position of power they bring in more extreme moves.


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,011 ✭✭✭✭PopePalpatine


    Cabaal wrote: »
    I'd tend to agree with this,
    The religious people they are left with are more extreme then they would have been in the past, so when they do get a position of power they bring in more extreme moves.

    I'm dreading the hardliners that will emerge from seminaries in the coming years, and their inevitable attempts to control school BOMs.


  • Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 28,522 Mod ✭✭✭✭Cabaal


    I'm dreading the hardliners that will emerge from seminaries in the coming years, and their inevitable attempts to control school BOMs.

    You'll likely find they'll be imported too,
    They don't have enough replacement priests for the coming years so their only options are to import priests or allow "holy joe's" to take the positions.


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  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 24,421 Mod ✭✭✭✭robindch


    A sad article on how to read Russian obituaries.

    http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/04/07/opinion/the-art-of-reading-russian-obituaries.html
    NY Times wrote:
    A journalist was killed in St. Petersburg last week, but no one called for an immediate and full investigation. No one seemed to suspect that he was killed because of his work. In a country of frequent and varied violence, this was a different kind of crime, a murder that dare not speak its name. There is a fine art to reading obituaries, as anyone who lived through the AIDS epidemic in the West and paid attention knows. Back in the late 1980s and 1990s, if an American newspaper reported that a young man had died and mentioned no cause of death (or attributed the death to “respiratory failure”), it was a safe assumption that the man had died of AIDS. If the obituary also referred to a surviving “longtime companion,” this seemed to provide confirmation.

    The equivalent in contemporary Russia is an obituary that says that a man was found slain in his own apartment and there was no sign of forced entry. When this happens to someone well-known enough to warrant numerous written remembrances, the writers usually refer not to a killing but to a “tragic death” — as though it were not a criminal but a personal trait that caused the person’s demise. What they mean is that the deceased was gay and apparently died at the hands of someone he brought home. No one can say how often this happens, but it happens enough to form a recognizable pattern. Many, if not most, LGBT people in Russia knew someone who died in this manner. When Alexander Smirnov, an official with the Moscow city government, decided to come out in a magazine interview three years ago, he chose to talk about this, too. “Two years ago someone I knew died,” said Mr. Smirnov. “He was found in his apartment, naked, stabbed to death. He was gay. You know how this happens? Gays often meet one another online. And there are whole gangs that come to gay men’s houses, then kill them and rob the apartment. Their families conceal the stories, of course.”

    A female friend of Mr. Smirnov’s had implored him to be careful, not to invite home anyone he had met online. But what was he supposed to do? He was a closeted gay man who feared going to the few existing public gay venues to meet people and who feared even using public spaces to see in person someone he had met online. So it happened to Mr. Smirnov, too: A man he had met online came to his apartment with someone else, and they tried to kill him. “I was bleeding out, feeling that I was about to lose consciousness,” he said. “I begged to be allowed to live. You cannot imagine how ashamed I feel. They are the ones who barged into my home and nearly killed me. They took everything I had, including even my phone. They are the ones who committed the crime, and I’m the one who is ashamed. I was shaking, but I couldn’t call an ambulance, because I would have had to explain what had happened. “And, of course, I couldn’t say anything at work,” he continued. “I had my friends call my office and say that I’d been attacked at a bus stop. I didn’t go to the police. It would have been easy to find my attackers, but I didn’t have the strength to talk to the people in uniform. Now I blame myself for being weak, because those two can go on to kill someone else.”

    Soon after going public with his story, Mr. Smirnov left the country. He is now living in New York, and he has applied for asylum in the United States.

    When a man is found stabbed to death in his apartment, with no sign of forced entry, a double stigma kicks in, because the victim is presumed to have been gay, and it is assumed he was killed by someone he brought home for anonymous or casual sex. Exposure will further disgrace his family. This happened in one of the rare cases when an investigation was pursued. Ten years ago, Ilya Zimin, a prominent television journalist, was found dead in his Moscow apartment. A few days later, the tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda published an article titled “Rumors of his nontraditional orientation haunted Zimin back when he was a student.”

    So when the St. Petersburg journalist was killed last week, his friends wrote things like, “There can’t be that many versions of what happened, but I will not explore them,” or, “There are details, but I will not go into them.” People wrote similarly tactful phrases after the deaths of the well-known actors Vyacheslav Titov (found strangled in his apartment in Moscow in December 2011) and Alexei Devotchenko (found in a pool of his own blood at home in Moscow in November 2014).

    What no one has written in response to any of these deaths is that the Kremlin’s antigay campaign, which simultaneously pushes people underground and communicates to the public that homophobic violence will go unpunished, ensures that these shameful killings continue.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 13,992 ✭✭✭✭recedite


    Is there any indication that people in the Kremlin are pushing the Russian public towards homophobia, rather than the other way round?

    If a govt. does not reflect public opinion it will be criticised and lose power.
    Its a bit of a "chicken and egg" situation over there.


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,463 ✭✭✭marienbad


    recedite wrote: »
    Is there any indication that people in the Kremlin are pushing the Russian public towards homophobia, rather than the other way round?

    If a govt. does not reflect public opinion it will be criticised and lose power.
    Its a bit of a "chicken and egg" situation over there.

    Governments are supposed to lead , are they not ?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,197 ✭✭✭✭Pherekydes


    recedite wrote: »
    Is there any indication that people in the Kremlin are pushing the Russian public towards homophobia, rather than the other way round?

    In 2013 the Russian parliament voted unanimously to enact an anti-LGBT law (I think there may have been one abstention).

    Indication? Cast iron proof, though I'm certain it won't be good enough for you.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 13,992 ✭✭✭✭recedite


    marienbad wrote: »
    Governments are supposed to lead , are they not ?
    That's what Tony Blair kept saying about his decision to declare war on Iraq, despite the massive anti-war demonstrations on the streets of London at the time.
    Pherekydes wrote: »
    In 2013 the Russian parliament voted unanimously to enact an anti-LGBT law (I think there may have been one abstention).Indication? Cast iron proof, though I'm certain it won't be good enough for you.
    The job of a parliament is to enact legislation and to reflect the wishes of the electorate, is it not?
    As the term "the Kremlin" is somewhat ambiguous, I don't know whether the author of that NY Times article was referring to the entire Russian parliament when he referred to "the Kremlin’s antigay campaign" but I suspect he meant "the Putin administration" or the govt. or else just Putin.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,197 ✭✭✭✭Pherekydes


    recedite wrote: »
    The job of a parliament is to enact legislation and to reflect the wishes of the electorate, is it not?

    Do you honestly think this applies to the Russian people?


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,953 ✭✭✭✭Hotblack Desiato


    recedite wrote: »
    The job of a parliament is to enact legislation and to reflect the wishes of the electorate, is it not?

    You appear to be under the misapprehension that Russia is some type of democracy.

    In Cavan there was a great fire / Judge McCarthy was sent to inquire / It would be a shame / If the nuns were to blame / So it had to be caused by a wire.



  • Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 28,522 Mod ✭✭✭✭Cabaal


    http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35978328

    My secret life as a gay ultra-Orthodox Jew
    Chaya, not her real name, is an ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman who is gay. Here she describes her struggle to accept her sexuality, and why she has to keep it a secret from those who would make her choose between her identity and her family.

    I would lose everything if I came out. We are a tightly knit community and I think few people realise just how isolated we are. In the world I live in, being gay is the equivalent of being a bad person. It's seen as an evil desire that is completely unnatural.

    Soon after, my parents began to arrange a marriage for me. There is often a matchmaker involved in problem cases like mine

    People I have grown up with would wonder what else I could be capable of. Few would believe that I could still be religious and if I did eventually leave the Haredi community it would mean losing my job, my home and potentially my children.

    It's just easier for everyone to pretend that there is nothing different about me. In fact, most people prefer to act as though homosexuality does not exist.

    I was still at school when I first tried telling a rabbi I was gay but all he said in response was: "It's just a phase, it happens to a lot of girls."


  • Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 28,522 Mod ✭✭✭✭Cabaal


    http://www.breakingnews.ie/showbiz/bryan-adams-cancels-gig-over-mississippis-anti-gay-laws-729073.html
    Canadian rocker Bryan Adams has cancelled a performance in Mississippi, citing the state's new law that allows religious groups and some private businesses to refuse service to gay couples.

    The cancelled show was due to take place on Thursday at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi.

    The Run To You singer said he cannot "in good conscience" perform in a state where "certain people are being denied their civil rights due to their sexual orientation".


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,247 ✭✭✭pauldla




  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 24,421 Mod ✭✭✭✭robindch


    recedite wrote: »
    Is there any indication that people in the Kremlin are pushing the Russian public towards homophobia, rather than the other way round?
    Russia and its current government is in a peculiar place just now - there's no overriding state philosophy or state direction other than doing whatever is generally felt necessary for Putin and those up and down the crossover feudal/mafia-state power vertical to maintaining their grip on state-controlled power and state-controlled money. As part of this, the Kremlin is hypersensitive to internal and external criticism, and driven primarily by short-term requirements to maintain popularity - hence events like the invasion, subjugation and theft of Crimea, and the outpouring of nationalist hysteria which followed it. And following that, the bombing of the Syrian opposition - both presented as grand foreign policy achievements, rather than what they were - the violent and frequently murderous subjugation of foreign populations.

    Laws, including the laws against "promoting homosexuality" aren't all that important since the executive controls the judiciary, the police and the legislature and, with the prominent exception of Chechnya and its weird leader Kadyrov, there is no balance of powers. The fedual/mafia-state requirements of the power vertical supersede whatever's on the state (absolutely enormous, btw) statute book.

    To say that Putin and company are systemically homophobic is probably an exaggeration and it misses the point of the Kremlin's homophobic forays. It has certainly contributed to an openly homophobic atmosphere, but mainly as a distraction for the general public, something to keep the ultra-conservatives onboard. As somebody once said, if the Kremlin was systemically homophobic, most of the senior Kremlin staff and probably Putin himself, would need to be fired.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,300 ✭✭✭alan partridge aha




  • Closed Accounts Posts: 13,992 ✭✭✭✭recedite


    robindch wrote: »
    short-term requirements to maintain popularity - hence events like the invasion, subjugation and theft of Crimea, and the outpouring of nationalist hysteria which followed it. And following that, the bombing of the Syrian opposition - both presented as grand foreign policy achievements
    And yet the fact remains that both Syria and Crimea asked for Russian help.
    And both operations achieved their objectives within a relatively short time, unlike the open ended interventions characteristic of Nato, which seem to be devised primarily to create and maintain a state of chaos in countries that are not sympathetic to them. So yes, they were great achievements.


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,463 ✭✭✭marienbad


    recedite wrote: »
    And yet the fact remains that both Syria and Crimea asked for Russian help.
    And both operations achieved their objectives within a relatively short time, unlike the open ended interventions characteristic of Nato, which seem to be devised primarily to create and maintain a state of chaos in countries that are not sympathetic to them. So yes, they were great achievements.

    Gimme a break -'Asking for help' has a pedigree has as long and as dubious as the concept of aggression .

    What has Nato got to do with it ?


  • Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 28,522 Mod ✭✭✭✭Cabaal


    recedite wrote: »
    Crimea asked for Russian help.

    Hang on, Crimea was part of Ukraine end of.
    Claiming it asked for help is utter nonsense, if the Basque region in Spain "asked for help" and Russia invaded would you think this is all fine and dandy too? Would it still be fine when they shoot down a aircraft from another EU country murdering people like Russia did back in 2014?

    If Crimea was some back arse of no where Russia wouldn't have done anything, the only reason why they went near it is it had strategic value and gas/oil. In short, it benefited Russia.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 24,421 Mod ✭✭✭✭robindch


    recedite wrote: »
    And yet the fact remains that both Syria and Crimea asked for Russian help.
    We've discussed this a few times before so no point in rehashing the thread - suffice it to say that "Crimea" did not ask Russia for help in any legal, or even meaningful, sense of the words "help" or "Crimea".


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,788 ✭✭✭MrPudding


    robindch wrote: »
    We've discussed this a few times before so no point in rehashing the thread - suffice it to say that "Crimea" did not ask Russia for help in any legal, or even meaningful, sense of the words "help" or "Crimea".
    Let's hope Cork doesn't ask for their help...

    MrP


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 24,421 Mod ✭✭✭✭robindch


    MrPudding wrote: »
    Let's hope Cork doesn't ask for their help.
    At least Cork wouldn't have to change the county colors.

    BTW, красная (krasnaya) is the Russian word for both 'red' and 'beautiful' - conveniently providing a classy leg-up for red, understood only as the color of revolutionary blood elsewhere.


  • Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 28,522 Mod ✭✭✭✭Cabaal


    13010720_1112542532172133_2713602144709410717_n.jpg?oh=c48f13f5bd836b8fe8b19f5786830735&oe=577C2E4F


  • Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 28,522 Mod ✭✭✭✭Cabaal


    http://www.thejournal.ie/ringo-starr-north-carolina-cancels-gig-2714650-Apr2016/
    Ringo Starr cancels North Carolina gig over transgender "bathroom law"

    I wouldn't be planning on going to any concert due to take place in North Carolina, there's an awful good chance it'll be cancelled at this stage :D

    I'm sure they can have some christian rock concerts instead or something,

    Also there's an awful good chance that if a big multinational said they'd create jobs in the area, that won't happen either now
    Yesterday Deutsche Bank added its voice to the growing protest.

    The bank said in a statement that it would “freeze plans to create 250 new jobs at its Cary, North Carolina, location” by the end of 2017.

    I'm sure of course they can make up for these jobs by errr....opening more church's?


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 24,421 Mod ✭✭✭✭robindch


    Cabaal wrote: »
    I'm sure of course they can make up for these jobs by errr....opening more church's?
    Gonna be hard for the state to make any money out of that, given that the churches are tax-free.

    I dunno, maybe the churches can pray for money or something like that? Does that work?


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,116 ✭✭✭Trent Houseboat


    Think of all the people who will be hired as guards at toilet doors to check long-form birth certificates to ensure people are using the phenotypically appropriate facilities.


  • Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 28,522 Mod ✭✭✭✭Cabaal


    robindch wrote: »
    Gonna be hard for the state to make any money out of that, given that the churches are tax-free.

    I dunno, maybe the churches can pray for money or something like that? Does that work?

    Well you see you are forgetting that if they build more church's then can pray for better weather, god to create more coal, state team winning sports team, people entering/wwing lotto, etc and this in turn will generate money for the state.

    Church's are direct telephones to god after all


  • Registered Users Posts: 174 ✭✭Asaiah


    robindch wrote: »
    We've discussed this a few times before so no point in rehashing the thread - suffice it to say that "Crimea" did not ask Russia for help in any legal, or even meaningful, sense of the words "help" or "Crimea".

    My Crimean friends and relatives all say that they did ask for help. I will believe them over you thanks.

    How many Crimeans do you know?

    How often were you in communication with Crimean people during the crises?

    Ever visited Crimea?


    Of course I know the answer to the above 3 questions is

    None, never and no.


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,463 ✭✭✭marienbad


    Asaiah wrote: »
    My Crimean friends and relatives all say that they did ask for help. I will believe them over you thanks.

    How many Crimeans do you know?

    How often were you in communication with Crimean people during the crises?

    Ever visited Crimea?


    Of course I know the answer to the above 3 questions is

    None, Never and no.

    So what , if they believe as you do it is not very surprising . International law trumps anecdotal polling every time .


  • Registered Users Posts: 174 ✭✭Asaiah


    marienbad wrote: »
    So what , if they believe as you do it is not very surprising . International law trumps anecdotal polling every time .

    International law is a transient thing that exists if and when the big players in this world say it does, and is ignored at their discretion. If you believe otherwise you are mistaken.

    Human morals and what is right trumps international law every time. Crimean is Russian, the infrastructure, buildings were built by Russians. The culture, language and ethnicity is 90% Russian. They righted a historical wrong made by a drunken Soviet and damned be anyone who would try deny a nation of people the right to this self determination, International law is an ass.


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,463 ✭✭✭marienbad


    Asaiah wrote: »
    International law is a transient thing that exists if and when the big players in this world say it does, and is ignored at their discretion. If you believe otherwise you are mistaken.

    Human morals and what is right trumps international law every time. Crimean is Russian, the infrastructure, buildings were built by Russians. The culture, language and ethnicity is 90% Russian. They righted a historical wrong made by a drunken Soviet and damned be anyone who would try deny a nation of people the right to this self determination, International law is an ass.

    You would say that wouldn't you , reminds me of all the times the gung-ho British imperialists boasted about building the railways .

    New aggression - same old tune


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 24,421 Mod ✭✭✭✭robindch


    Asaiah wrote: »
    My Crimean friends and relatives all say that they did ask for help. I will believe them over you thanks.
    It's a well-documented fact that many pro-Putin and pro-Russian people, Ukrainians and Russians alive, "asked" for "help" - for a weird meaning of the words "ask" and "help", both informed by the hysterical Nazi-level propaganda provided by the Kremlin during the crisis.
    Asaiah wrote: »
    How many Crimeans do you know?
    Finger in the air, I'd say maybe eight or ten, and a further twenty or so Ukrainians. All were/are vehemently opposed to having their country invaded and dismembered, and the Crimeans themselves disenfranchsed and effectively stripped of their citizenship following a referendum which was laughed at around the world.

    Particularly upsetting was a friend of mine from here in Dublin whose child was abducted by his ex and spirited away to Crimea some years ago - while the Ukrianian authorities were working with him to recover his child, he has been all but told to f*ck off by the Russians and he does not expect to see his child again.

    Perhaps you support the Russian government in this, as you appear to support their activities elsewhere?
    Asaiah wrote: »
    How often were you in communication with Crimean people during the crises?
    Aside from a range of twitter feeds which were enormously informative and which I followed closely, oddly enough, I was in touch with people in Crimea every few days during and after the crisis and fake referendum. And I was present at the Maidan protests in Kyiv during February 2014 and have fairly vivid memories of it - as opposed to the entirely fictitious account provided by Kremlin-controlled media at the time, and since.
    Asaiah wrote: »
    Ever visited Crimea?
    Nope, though I've been to Russia and Ukraine perhaps fifteen times and speak conversational Russian - how about you?

    T6i predpochitaesh prodolzhat6 3to razgovor na russkom yas6ike?


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 24,421 Mod ✭✭✭✭robindch


    Asaiah wrote: »
    They righted a historical wrong made by a drunken Soviet and damned be anyone who would try deny a nation of people the right to this self determination, International law is an ass.
    Your knowledge of history is not fully accurate, informed as it appears to be, by Kremlin propaganda and the "drunken clown in 1954" meme which the Kremlin has deployed with skill and persistence amongst its consumer base.

    As you support self-determination, you should be pleased to learn that Crimea in fact, held two referendums in 1991 regarding its sovereignty:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_sovereignty_referendum,_1991
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_independence_referendum,_1991

    The first referendum approved its independence, the second approved its membership of Ukraine.

    The referendum in 2014 was faked to a comical degree, and is rejected worldwide save for Russia, Afghanistan, Cuba, Nicaragua, Syria, Venezuela and North Korea - a rather poor club of friends, one would have thought.

    Since Crimea was seized by Russia, Russia rushed through laws which make separatism, and even discussion of separatism, within Russia a criminal offence - do you sense any conflict between your support for self-determination and the active policy of the Russian state?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,953 ✭✭✭✭Hotblack Desiato


    Asaiah wrote: »
    International law is a transient thing that exists if and when the big players in this world say it does, and is ignored at their discretion. If you believe otherwise you are mistaken.

    Yep, like when Russia tore up the treaty guaranteeing the territorial integrity of Ukraine which it signed in the early 1990s.

    Oh wait.

    In Cavan there was a great fire / Judge McCarthy was sent to inquire / It would be a shame / If the nuns were to blame / So it had to be caused by a wire.



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  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 18,604 CMod ✭✭✭✭The Black Oil


    Snippet of an interview with yer man who edits Alive! Shure ya can't beat an auld bias whinge.

    https://twitter.com/Stephanenny/status/721636107906117632


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