Longinius

He was born in Swedish, by immigrant parents, make hím a 2nd generation immigrant. "First of all - I really dont care where this person comes from. I only posted it because I thought it was a curiosity. Having said that it looks like the person was born and raised in Sweden. My question to you are: How "swedish" do you have to be to be considered a "real" swede?" Well, first of, Islam is not swedish culture. So there is a catch right away. A follower of Islam cannot be Swedish. Just like a christian cannot be a muslim. Islam is not only a religion, it is a definition of a culture. Secondly, a person becomes Swedish to me when: 1. He or she can speak our language 2. He or she accepts out culture and our laws 3. He or she wants to be a productive part of our society Any person with Swedish citizenship that fits those three descriptions is Swedish to me. "I have a feeling that you are not a very tolerant towards people who are slightly different (ethnic or religious). That is what I call "everyday racism"." I am very tolerant. I do however have great problems with how Sweden has handled its immigrant policies. By the PC (Political Correctnes) definition this makes me a racist. But I can assure you, I am not. I do however have prejudice opinions, based on experience.

Patriotism can be OK. It can also be very dangerous. And it can also be borderline comical.

Alien lifeforms, sure. Ghosts...not so sure. They are most likely creations of human imagination. A tired and frightened mind can dream up some scary shit and make it feel real enough.

Don't you think America actually gains from giving that money? Its not like all that money is for nothing. It has a purpose other than paying UN bills.

Nato is not the only ones giving money to the UN you know. And it is not so strange that America can give so much, they are the largest nation IN Nato. And probably the largest and richest in UN.

Eve Online

I am sure there was autopsies made to determine what killed them and how. If it had been anything other than 7.2 Brit ammo the government would surely have used that as an arguement, don't you think?

"I don't see how the USA is soo evil,Do we control your country ?" Yes, in many ways America controls other nations. No nation has more influence over others than America. This is achieved through veto's, muscle and economical domination. In many ways, America controls aspects of every nation. "Do we go to europe and fight their wars for them(kosvo) ? yes. " Their wars? Name one war in Europe that America has fought that they did not have a direct tie with prior to engaging. "Do we give lots money to europe countries ? probably." This is a mute point Foxer because every rich nation gives money to the poorer nations. You know this. We know this. The point is mute. "do we give lots money to middle-east countries,heck yes we do." See above. "Did americans stay on the frontline during the cold war ? Yes. If america didn't enter the war in ww2 ,more western europe countries could look like eastern europe. and soo on. " Yeah, so? I doubt America did it for those European countries. More likely, they did it for themselves. Had Europe fell and become a Nazi empire, the US would have been next. They HAD to act. It was a do or die situation.

Because the audience loves it. Hollywood style pictures are mainly directed to the American audience. Americans are by nature (most of them) very patriotic and proud of their nation, its flag and the people. Especially those people that fight to preserve these things they love so much. That is why you see it in Hollywood movies. The reason a Finnish war movie does not have these components is not that people in Finland are less proud of their heritage, nor are they less patriotic. It is simply not a part of their cultural heritage. They are not a nation of mixed cultures and people, they don't need flags or speeches to motivate or unite. They are allready united as a people.

The person has swedish citizenship, yes. Want to bet its an immigrant that got that citizenship within the last 10 years? He is not Swedish to me.

You can still watch a program even if its biased. There is always some element of truth. And if not, well, you can atleast say you saw it and it was biased and flawed. It is always wront to shoot innocent people. Doubely so if the shotters are trained government representatives, as in this case. I wasn't there myself but from what I can deduce the people killed had no ranged weapons (pistols, rifles, carbines), or atleast, none were found. So, they could have had rocks, sticks and canister bombs. This still does not give the government right to shoot and KILL them. Someone also posted that violent demonstrators sometimes infiltrate the ranks of demonstrations and cause violent clashes. This is very true and an even bigger reason for the cops / soldiers not to fire. Because they will only hit innocent people, since that is one of the "black blocks" goals in such actions. Which ever way you turn it, Bloody Sunday was a terrible thing, it could have been avoided. They should not have opened fire the way they did.

Killer Clowns From Outer Space Like there was ever any doubt, hmph....

Ofcourse they werent a massive force. Well, not for very long any way. The key to any resistance force in occupied territory is to be covert, which the French resistance was. Unless you count those French soldiers that joined the British forces as resistance, ofcourse.

"OK, the guy who beats and rapes a 79-year-old grandmother should be talked nice to and given a place to "grow" so he can become a better person. " A guy that beats and rapes a 79 year old grandmother, or anyone at all for that matter probably... ...is mentally ill. ...high on drugs. ...both of the above. A mentally ill person has to get treatment, he will not get more sane through punishment. A person doing drugs needs to go to detox and then be offered a solution out of his current situation. Not all criminals can be reformed, but I am quite sure a good percentage could be. At any rate, the goal must surely be that the criminals are not worse when they get out of jail then they were coming in. Today, this isnt the case. A jail is a friggin nexus for growing crime: making new connections, learning new tricks of the trade and getting even MORE pissed of at society.

"Hell yeah, do that tomorrow, after you've assembled the cold fusion reactor." Yeah, I suppose it is so much better not to bother with it, to leave it as is, since it works so marvelously well and all.

"Come up with a viable alternative, fine. Until then save your compassion for the victims, or don't they count?" The alternative ofcourse is no death penalty. Alternative to the current jails would be more like schools where the criminals actually learn something creative and get help. Most people are not criminals just for the heck of it, it is caused by personal problems. If those are never solved I doubt the person becomes lawabiding. "As for killing in self defence; don't be so bloody niave; there is all the difference in the world between some bastard attacking you with intent to take your life and you using any means to prevent him. " Ofcourse there is, which was my point. But how would YOU know what happened in a court room? I could be sentenced for a murder when it was actually selfdefence. "And what would you do with those people that don't want to reform; the ones who are paroled and go on to to kill and rape again?" Don't parol them. "You want them around your house, family and children, great, but I don't want them anywhere near mine." If you think anyone wants that, you are not only stupid, but you are also trolling for idiotic replies.

Bottom line, death penalty is wrong because it can never be reversed nor compensated. If you execute the wrong person, an innocent person, does not the state then committ murder? Feels like it to me. As for the LOTR quote I think the spirit of it was just that. You cannot reverse a death. If we could be sure that innocent people never ever were sentenced, then yes, death penalty would be an option. But we can't. Besides, which crimes warrants execution? A rape crime would, I should think. But many men have been falsly accused of rape AND convicted for it. Same with murder. And murder is a tricky crime because you can commit murder in a form of self defence. What is it then? Not a murder anymore? To me death penalty is not an option and neither are jails. Criminals don't learn anything creative in jails, they are not reformed, they do not learn to follow the laws. If anything, they become even worse criminals than before. Jails need to change and become more productive because as it is now, they just make the problems worse.

To be honest, I don't really care what other nations and organisations say NOW, after it all went down. Hinesight is 20/20. Fact is, before WTC, noone really tried to do anything about the Taliban. That to me is accepting something.

"Not accroding to the UN, or the majority of governments on the planet." Not any longer, no. That is why I say "was". But up until this conflict, noone objected. Noone tried to stop them. Noone sent UN peacekeepers to establish a real government. They were accepted until they fucked up.

"I think you people are forgeting again that these are Al Qeda terrorist." First of, we have been talking about Taliban soldiers, not Al Queda operatives. There is a difference. They are not the same. The Taliban regime was a legal government. Al Queda is a terrorist organisation. "There's 2 different things from a soldier and terrorist,Soldiers fight soldiers." No, soldiers fight the enemy. This means soldiers can fight soldiers, soldiers can fight terrorists, soldiers can fight freedom fighters. And freedomfighters are civilians. When they pick up weapons however, they become combatants. "Soldiers train to kill other soldiers.Terrorist kill civilians,They train on how to blow up civilian building,how to kill civilians,other." So does soldiers. Popular targets are purification plants, infrastructure, food storages etc. Civilians targets. Sure, they have to be destroyed so the enemy can't use them, but they are still civilian targets. "When the war is over soldiers go home and live their life.Terrorist know no end,They keep trying kill civilains." Wrong. Not all terrorists work like that. Some have a very distinct goal they work towards. "In all the conflicts america has been in ,all of our POW got the living shit kick outta them.Heck the japanese were alot worse then the nazi's in some cases,better yet alot worse(not just talking about POW,talking about what they did to the chinese and koreans too." So, just because some American POW's got treated badly by army X, the Americans can do the same to army Y? Thats real logical, and maybe the reason shit like WTC go down.

Krull beat me to it... "(1) Members of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict, as well as members of militias or volunteer corps forming part of such armed forces." Thus foreign nationals fighting in a volunteer corps are in fact POW's when captured.

"And there you have it. The prisoners are Al Qeda, NOT Taliban, and among them are six individuals holding British citizenship. The Taliban are NOT their government. These are terrorists, not soldiers." But according to the news they are detaining both Talibans and Al Queda men. As for the foreign nationals, I wont comment since I do not know if they hold Afghan citizenship aswell. That does not matter anyway because they were fighting for a government. Just likes Swedes fought with the Finns against Russians and even with the Americans in Vietnam. If they were caught, they would have been POW's (Even though the Swedish Armed Forces wasn't directly envolved). "You think that they are going to have a rough time? I certainly hope so, BUT, I suspect that the reason that they are not given the status of Prisoners of War is because the US intends to execute them, or lock them up and throw away the key. POW's would go home when the fighting is over." This is probably true. But it is not for the US to decide if they are POW's or not.

Gimli, no doubt about it. Allthough Aragorn is a very close second. The best character in the movie I would say was Boromir, mainly because I was very pleasantly suprised by Sean's acting skills (think the actors name is Sean).

"That's quite different from liberal america: they'd rather see 10 guilty go free than 1 innocent suffer in jail. Unfortunately, the result of that kind of thinking is: 1500 guilty go free and 2 innocents suffer in jail. " Are you sure about that? "WASHINGTON (UPI) - A congressional investigation into abuses and illegal conduct by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in its handling of organized crime investigations over the last 30 years has found evidence that then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover knowingly allowed innocent men to be convicted - and spend decades in prison - for a murder allegedly committed by an FBI witness, documents examined by United Press International indicate." http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/4/25/213718.shtml "But ask Bednar about the controversy engulfing Oklahoma's criminal justice system, forcing the review of nearly 1,700 convictions, and he sounds downright radical. Prosecutors, he says, are playing games with forensic evidence, putting their desire to convict ahead of the demands of science. Judges, he argues, don't insist on high standards of admissible evidence. Defense attorneys, he contends, haven't delved deeply enough into scientific tests used to determine their clients' guilt. "We have used for the last 25 years bad science in this state to convict people, and we have stretched the truth," said Bednar, now head of Oklahoma's Indigent Defense System. "It's got to stop."" http://www.freep.com/news/nw/zlabs13_20010713.htm http://www.justicedenied.org/innocent.htm I don't give much for the American judicial system (which is similar to the Swedish, which also is inefficient). Basically if you have money or power you go free. Justice is not blind. And that is not how it is supposed to be. Besides, when you can sue a company because you spilled hot coffee in your lap AND get millions for it, something is VERY wrong.

DEFINITION OF POW "(DOD) A detained person as defined in Articles 4 and 5 of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of August 12, 1949. In particular, one who, while engaged in combat under orders of his or her government, is captured by the armed forces of the enemy." The Taliban were under orders from their LEGAL government. "As such, he or she is entitled to the combatant's privilege of immunity from the municipal law of the capturing state for warlike acts which do not amount to breaches of the law of armed conflict. For example, a prisoner of war may be, but is not limited to, any person belonging to one of the following categories who has fallen into the power of the enemy: a member of the armed forces, organized militia or volunteer corps; a person who accompanies the armed forces without actually being a member thereof; a member of a merchant marine or civilian aircraft crew not qualifying for more favorable treatment; or individuals who, on the approach of the enemy, spontaneously take up arms to resist the invading forces. " They sure seem like POW's to me. TREATMENT OF TALIBAN PRISONERS Geneva Convention on POW’s http://www.hrweb.org/legal/undocs.html â€Art 20. The evacuation of prisoners of war shall always be effected humanely and in conditions similar to those for the forces of the Detaining Power in their changes of station.†Since when are US soldiers drugged when transported to Cuba? â€Art 22. Prisoners of war may be interned only in premises located on land and affording every guarantee of hygiene and healthfulness. Except in particular cases which are justified by the interest of the prisoners themselves, they shall not be interned in penitentiaries. Prisoners of war interned in unhealthy areas, or where the climate is injurious for them, shall be removed as soon as possible to a more favourable climate.†Somehow I don’t think living in a cage is very healthful. Ever hear of dungeon decease? Its something you get from being held in damp, wet and cold cells. And it is quite bad for your health. â€Art 25. Prisoners of war shall be quartered under conditions as favourable as those for the forces of the Detaining Power who are billeted in the same area. The said conditions shall make allowance for the habits and customs of the prisoners and shall in no case be prejudicial to their health.†Are the marines living in cages to? The list goes on and on. Since America never goes against the Geneva convention, these guys can’t be POW’s. Even though they were captured combatants in a war…Hmmm, someone is giving people the run around. â€3: maby not, but seeing as how the taleban was givin MANY MANY chances to cooperate with the US and refused and aeven mocked the attempt at avoiding a conflict with them by calling the US 'cowards' then they are the enemy. they had their chanced, they made the decision.. now they are fucked.†Then you are admitting they were the enemy in a war and thus POW’s that fall under the geneva convention which the US clearly is breaking. AMERICA AND TORTURE â€Thank you all for coming. As a survivor of torture, I want to urge you to support declassification of United States government documents that shed light on human rights abuses. Simply by declassifying documents, our government can save lives. Survivors of human rights violations need to know as much as possible about who committed the atrocities against them. With this information, justice is possible, and only justice can lay the foundation for reconciliation, stability, and peace. Guatemala and Honduras are two countries that would benefit immeasurably from full declassification. The sticking point in these instances seems to be that the US has supported the abusers.†http://www.struggle.ws/mexico/usa/torture_guatemala_jun98.html â€In its conclusions and recommendations (released May 15th, 2000), UNCAT very firmly called attention to the high number of reports in the US of "police ill-treatment of civilians, ill treatment in prisons, (including inter-prisoner violence)," calling special attention to the fact that much of the police violence seems to be discriminatory in nature, and "alleged cases of sexual assault on female detainees and prisoners by law enforcement officers, and prison personnel," stressing that women are often held in humiliating and degrading circumstances.†http://www.disinfo.com/pages/dossier/id363/pg1/ â€AMERICAN investigators are considering resorting to harsher interrogation techniques, including torture, after facing a wall of silence from jailed suspected members of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network, according to a report yesterday. †http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/1022-01.htm And then we have the fact that the CIA often have been accused of torture. But that is really not relevent since they do not represent the US society per say. COMMENTS â€yes but most german soldiers didnt know about the atrocities that were commited... im pretty sure every soldier fighting for the taleban has a pretty good idea about what happened to get them in the situation they are in... they know what happened, they either:†I really doubt that. Why would a person without TV or radio know what was going on? I doubt they even knew about WTC. â€so your view is that because the average soldier *might* not know what has happened.. or at least what REALLY happened.. that they should be immune to normal military procedure concerning captured enemy troops?†No, but they SHOULD be treated according to the Geneva Convention. Which they aren’t. â€Im still waiting for ANYONE to name ANYTHING that the US has 'done' to these guys thats any problem..†See above. And human rights still apply to criminals. No matter what, the regular soldier in the Taliban armed forces is an enlisted man, thus a soldier, thus a POW. No matter WHAT Bush says. This is not for him to decide, this is for the international community to decide. And no, I am not saying the US is a torture country. The US government supports torture however.