Ilunga

I remember all those dipsh!ts. Weapons of mass destruction, John Howard still refuses to admit that conflict he was so ready to involve us in, sowed the seeds for the formation of ISIS at the time.

Man it's good to have you back brother. Can't have enough well informed, intelligent members of this community.

Yep, I am aware of Rummy's history. A lot of people don't remember that Cheney started off as his lackey before the roles were kinda reversed. I am also aware of the US support for Iraq/ Saddam Hussein in that 8 year war against Iran.

Indeed you are

That's the first time, I forgive you.

Yes, you bailed out Europe twice, rebuilt it, Marshall Plan, Berlin airlift. I could go on....and on. What I will say about the problems in the middle east, in part they can be attributed to American and British meddling with the politics of the region post WW2 due to their greed for middle east oil.

4 billion years to be exact, if we make it that far. The last decade or so has made me doubt that.

Not me brother. As far as I am concerned you are not the worlds police. And I think you missed my point, lot of conflicts that have been going on far a damn sight longer. A week after this conflict has reignited in a big way all of a sudden you guys send an aircraft carrier ? I often wonder if people actually realise the potential destruction one of those things can cause.

I don't know. I don't know that I could be that sort of person myself. I want to believe that with time I could.

Yes they really need it, right ? It's gonna be a bloodbath and if America is involved you guys will have blood on your hands. However that is nothing new. Chomsky speaking at the start of the song The Phoenix Program https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Program Um yeah, all right. Wouldn't be anything to do with a powerful lobby group now would it. Oops, my cynicism is showing.

I like both the interpretations of this word. That it means to unite, unify. Cop sh!t and forgive it the first time, tolerate it the second, but eff you the third !

There are currently 32 ongoing conflicts in the world right now. Isreal has amassed a force that will crush any possible resistance. Yet the Americans are rushing to " help them out "

Want to swap dictionary meanings, I am cool with that Fairytale From the Oxford Dictionary https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/fairy-tale_1#:~:text=fairy tale-,noun,or fairies%2C usually for children A story about magic or fairies, usually for children.

You forgot to add the part about the thousand linguists https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilunga

Try reading that article I posted. Hussain Dawabshe's, a man whose daughter and son in law and daughter were burned alive, in an attack by Jewish fundamentalist settlers. Whose 18 month old grandson received burns to 2 thirds of his body. To quote from the author of the article and filmaker " how does a man who has lost everything have the dignity to get up every day, to stay alive, struggling but determined that his grandson would not grow up not with the idea of revenge but forgiveness " Maybe that's how peace can be achieved, by having more people like Hussain in this world. Do you believe you could be as strong as Hussain if you were in his position ?

The power of forgiveness. https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/features/2018/12/7/on-death-forgiveness-and-revenge-in-the-occupied-territories

You are taking the view of a poster on a hockey board in Canada regarding the fact that what's done is in the past, is in the past. Tell that to the Palestinians that have lost children, family members over the last few decades. Tell the same thing to the Isrealis that have lost loved ones. And the illegal settlements have only increased in the last few years. This is not ancient history. The provocation on both sides has continued right up until this current conflict. It's actually one continuous conflict with big flash points for decades.

When I mentioned this in the Ukraine thread, finding the fact that people killing other people was nothing to laugh about, I was told that humour is a way to deal with this crap. I stand by what I stated, I find no reason to laugh about either situation.

I certainly have. Read it 3 times. Have many of his books. Admire him on several levels, his activism and the fact he could be described as our greatest living linguist. I love words and their ability to convey ideas. Take my user name, a 1000 linguists were surveyed and they believe it is the world's most difficult word to translate.

Can't you come up with anything original ?

Which has been pointed out by myself going way back to the original thread on the old board. People who like to mock them call them fairy tales, people who who recognise them for what they are call them metaphors/ allegories.

Refer to my reply to stray dog. Big community, right ?

I posted earlier in the thread a few lines from an anti - racist song by a band called TISM from the 90's " The Irish hate the Irish, and it's Arab versus Jew Your'e cactus if you Kudish, and by Christ I'm sick of you " This reflects the persecution the Kurds have suffered from Iran, Iraq, Turkey. Incidents such as the Halabja massacre in 1988. The west/ America has betrayed so many times https://theintercept.com/2019/10/07/kurds-syria-turkey-trump-betrayal/ The hypocrisy of human beings shouldn't surprise someone with the knowledge/ insight you have shown in this thread.

I totally agree Jim, you will always be Jim to me. That makes you memorable to me. As I have already stated, if you took religion away people would invent another form of control. Again, all the religious people I know experience the same level of freedom I do. No one forces them to do anything. One big difference between a fairy tale and an allegory. A fairy tale tells the story of one of two people. The allegory tells the story of an entire community.

I would have to go back through the thread, however even my religious teachers back in school never claimed god was a long bearded being sitting on a cloud. And every religious person I know claims belief is a matter of faith.