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Dwarf Supreme

Post subject: Tas's Blog: Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 2:29 pm

Brood Brother Joined: Fri May 20, 2005 8:45 pm Posts: 11149 Location: Canton, CT, USA

Quote (Tas @ Sep. 29 2005,09:21) [I really liked the question asking if you had ever rolled up a magazine and pretended it was a light saber making the appropriate noises. Anyone who says they havent is a fibber! Honestly, I have never roled up a magazine and pretended it was a lightsaber. Now, I might have used a yardstick!   _________________ "I don't believe in destiny or the guiding hand of fate." N. Peart

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primarch	Post subject: Tas's Blog: Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 3:01 pm
Brood Brother Joined: Fri Feb 14, 2003 12:46 am Posts: 27069 Location: Edmond, Oklahoma USA	Hi! Newspaper? Nah, now broomsticks? YES. They actually hurt when you "stick" it to the enemy....   Primarch _________________ Primarch The Primarchload Magnetized Titans Tutorial Net Epic Gold Heresy Rules
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Tas	Post subject: Tas's Blog: Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 9:43 pm
Brood Brother Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2003 10:01 am Posts: 7823 Location: Sydney, NSW	Quote (primarch @ Sep. 30 2005,00:01) Hi! Newspaper? Nah, now broomsticks? YES. They actually hurt when you "stick" it to the enemy.... ? Primarch That always got me into more trouble when I hit my sister!     _________________ Tas My General blog: http://tasmancave.blogspot.com/ My VSF Blog: http://pauljamesog.blogspot.com/ My ECW Blog: http://declaresir.blogspot.com/
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Markconz

Post subject: Tas's Blog: Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 12:38 am

Purestrain Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2003 10:43 pm Posts: 7925 Location: New Zealand

Quote (MaksimSmelchak @ Sep. 28 2005,13:42) Hi Tas, Tas: I'm Australian, not American Thus I do not care about the man, or his Dad, and their political issues Its just a funny pic. I understand that you are an Ozzie and appreciate this statement. I'm not the biggest fan of the man either, but I make an attemot to show respect for the office if not the man in the same way that any good military man would. Australians keep high regard for their top office, Americans for theirs, Brits for theirs, etc. My uncle always used to say, respect the office if not the man. Tas: Would you feel the same way if it was a pic of the Chinese Head of State in the aftermath of the Chinese Typhoon/Hurrican/Cyclone? ?I think not. I am not Chinese. And while I'm not Chinese and I care very little for Chinese national leadership, I do care for disaster victims regardless of nationality. I would probably avoid many jokes that included victims out of compassion for their situation and not for their leadership. Tas: And nobody complained about the Darth Vader and Bush pic BTW...

Darth Vader is enough of a fictional creation that his photo with anyone would be obviously fictional. This, I can take easily and well.

------

However, I do live in America most of their year and possess citizenship here. I vote here.

Politics here are changing. The old rules about propriety and good manners are gone. In its' place is a constantly evoloving set of NON-RULES in which the mud-slinging is getting progressively worse. I'm very sensitive to that.

Both sides are dirty, but one side is increasingly going below the belt, comparing its' opponents to Nazis while allying itself with increasingly radical movements that are themselves Neo-Nazis. Their political messages contain increasing amounts of anti-Semitism and anti-Israeli messages with no separation of the two.

That side often works by creating falsehoods such as the photograph you shared and presenting it as the truth. They've even released full-feature films.

You and I know that that photograph is obviously doctored. I also know that you, Tas, presented that photograph in good humor and I respect that. Unfortunately, I'm living in a place and era, in which that photograph is not a funny joke because there are tremendous amounts of crazy and ignorant people around who will take that photograph as the truth instead of a joke. That's the reason I don't find it terribly funny.

For me, that photograph represents a step down the path to fascism, the Nazi party, blatant anti-Semitism and another Holocaust. In the 1930s, similar tactics were used to denigrate the Jews of that time. They started by ridiculing anyone sympathetic to Jews in this manner of presenting falsehoods as jokes... only many were ignorant enough to ignore the joke aspect of such an item and think that they were the truth. The next thing we know, we were being arrested, put in labor camps and eventually cooked alive in ovens.

I have a hard time keeping good humor about that sort of thing. It's hard to laugh about something that leads to your relatives being cooked alive in ovens. Fascism starts with dirty politics. So do most forms of tyranny whether we call them dictatorships, despotism or corrupt communism.

That photograph struck home as sign of increasingly dirty politics about people rallying around negativism and blame rather than rallying around helping the victims of the disaster, which is where I feel our energies should be directed.

I respect your right, to post such photographs here, Tas. I wouldn't ask you to change who you are. I also respect you, but...

I object. That's all. ?

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.
Maksim, respectfully, I think you are wrong about that picture. Humour that targets those in the top positions of power is a sign of a healthy democracy. It is when such humour is disallowed or restricted for reasons of 'decency', 'respect', or 'patriotism' that problems start.

It is the duty of cartoonists and opposition political parties to record the mistakes of those in power, and expose them for all they are worth. Voters then decide between 'Hey he's only human, I could have made that mistake' or 'what an incompetant fool, I can't believe we voted him in!'.

Speaking of respect for top office in Aussie etc, I am not really sure what you mean by that. The recent NZ election night TV coverage here, was interspersed with satire skits (just as extreme as Tas's photo), taking the micky out of all the main political leaders. The papers were full of cartoons in a similar style in the weeks leading up to the election. I'm pretty sure that in Oz, Brit, and other democracies the same thing happens. Maybe its a sign of respect that you are powerful enough to actually be the object of satire!