Europe, the not boring thread

[SuburbanFarmer]

They were more hated and abused than the blacks for about a century. The Chinese replaces them as our hated minority, and now it's the Mexicans.

Mexicans will morph into the US mainstream just as the Irish did. The US will have no problem with that. And for Mexicans those Americans of Mexican origin are still Americans, gringos. Above all, the American-Mexicans don't want to be Mexicans but Americans. Heritage and language aside, they do prefer Washington DC over Ciudad Mexico. That's one extremely crucial thing here. Just as in my puny little country the Swedish speaking never saw themselves as Swedes. Huge importance.

The hated minority are the muslims, especially those of arab descent (Asian Muslims likely escape the wrath). Just look at (uhhh... this forum)???

Not Muslims, just Arabs. Nobody wears a Religion sign here, so the going assumption is that all middle Easterners are terrorists-in-waiting.

I'm sure some of our right wingers would like to remedy that with a little crescent patch, or tattoo tho.

[BjornP]

[Okeefenokee]

yeah, brits need a license to watch t.v.

[TheReal_ND]

It was from someone that just moved into a new home.

[BjornP]

Germany: Angela Merkel, who somehow became the darling of US progressive leftists as a "defender of liberalism"*...voted no to allow German same-sex marriage:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 15846.html

* http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_ ... alism.html

Turkey:

Massive protest by the Turkish Republican People's party against the closing of newspapers and TV stations, arrests of critics and harrasment of opposition parties, but the protest was begun when an MP and member of that party was arrested after supposedly leaking documents proving Erdogan had been arming jihadists in Syria:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40547972

[TheReal_ND]

voted no to allow German same-sex marriage:

Wtf? I love mama merkel now

[BjornP]

yeah, brits need a license to watch t.v.

Nothing weird about that. It corresponds to you paying to watch PBS TV and radio via a license, as opposed to paying to watch and listen to PBS via taxes. Some countries, like Britain and Denmark, pay to watch public broadcasting via a license. Given that all TV sets and radios in Britain can tune in to BBC, you don't really pay to "watch TV" you pay to BBC... on radio and TV sets that can watch and listen to the BBC. Same reason a small portion of your taxes go to the PBS.

[Okeefenokee]

yeah, brits need a license to watch t.v.

Nothing weird about that. It corresponds to you paying to watch PBS TV and radio via a license, as opposed to paying to watch and listen to PBS via taxes. Some countries, like Britain and Denmark, pay to watch public broadcasting via a license. Given that all TV sets and radios in Britain can tune in to BBC, you don't really pay to "watch TV" you pay to BBC... on radio and TV sets that can watch and listen to the BBC. Same reason a small portion of your taxes go to the PBS.

you wouldn't apply that method to anything else. there is a significant difference between taxing some to pay for something for all, and billing some for the use by some, and shaking down everyone else with your t.v. mafia revenue collectors.

this crap you're selling about it being all the same in the end is nonsense.

can you imagine if we did that with roads?

hey folks, i see some of you've been driving on these roads, but i know you didn't pay any taxes to maintain them. from here on out, you don't pay, you don't drive, not on public streets anyway.

[Fife]

Here's the bigger question: Who gave the Queen ownership of ANY of the airwaves? Hmm?

[BjornP]

you wouldn't apply that method to anything else. there is a significant difference between taxing some to pay for something for all, and billing some for the use by some, and shaking down everyone else with your t.v. mafia revenue collectors.

this crap you're selling about it being all the same in the end is nonsense.

can you imagine if we did that with roads?

hey folks, i see some of you've been driving on these roads, but i know you didn't pay any taxes to maintain them. from here on out, you don't pay, you don't drive, not on public streets anyway.

Nowhere did I suggest applying that method to "anything else". I compared your public broadcasting to British and Danish public broadcasting. Same thing, not "anything else". If you don't believe that anybody should pay for services offered to the public by the State, I suggest you pay back all that money you got from the taxpayer's all those years in the armed forces. From where I see it, the Brits and Danes have even more freedom, at least in this regard, than you... you don't have any choice when it comes to paying for public broadcasting... Brits and Danes at least have some choice.

Here's the bigger question: Who gave the Queen ownership of ANY of the airwaves? Hmm?

The...queen? Huh? You do understand the difference between absolute and constitutional monarchy, right, Fife? It's owned by the British public.