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The Daltaí Boards » Archive: 1999-2004 » 2003 (October-December) » Free your mind « Previous Next »

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Jessica Ní Chonchúbhair
Posted on Wednesday, November 26, 2003 - 05:20 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

www.mtvburmaaction.com


Free Aung San Suu Kyi - Email the UN.

Worth a try.

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BCD
Posted on Wednesday, November 26, 2003 - 11:58 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

Hi Jessica,

I don't think this is Irish, I don't know what language it might be, Chinese??

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James
Posted on Thursday, November 27, 2003 - 05:21 am:   Edit Post Print Post

Jessica,

I'd love to free Aung San Suu Kyi but right now I'm busy trying to free Iraq and a few other nations full of oppressed people. I'll get to Burma eventually though, I'm sure. And, probably with a large outcry of protest from the rest of the world.

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Jessica Ní Chonchúbhair
Posted on Thursday, November 27, 2003 - 08:07 am:   Edit Post Print Post

Well James, best of luck.

BCD, what are you talking about? The fact that this topic might not be connected directly to Irish? Or that you ended up on some site with loads of chinese on it?

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James
Posted on Thursday, November 27, 2003 - 10:05 am:   Edit Post Print Post

Jessica,

My guess is that he's making reference to that fact that this has nothing to do with Irish. Things can get rather dicey and at times down right nasty on this site when you drag politics into it. One of the tenets of posting here is to keep the topic relevant to the Irish Language or Irish culture or Ireland herself. Bringing other issues wastes space and generally spins into name calling, finger pointing and other such nonsense.

I appreciate your position and admire you for taking a stand. I just get a bit annoyed when it's OK to liberate one oppressed person or group but it's not OK to do the same for another ie; Aung San Suu Kyi isn't being helped but should be while in Afghanistan 100,000 + burka clad mothers and daughters who undergo ritual female genital mutilation, who are beaten in the streets if they show an ankle in public and who can be killed with impunity if they bring "dishonor" on their husbands...well, they ARE being helped but in the view of most tree-hugging, self righteous, daffodil wearing, commune dwelling simps they shouldn't be! And, it's not because they don't need it or deserve it but because these aforementioned dolphin kissing, seal snuggling activists don't like who it is that's doing the liberating.....where's the equality in that?

SEE...this is what I mean....it gets ugly when you drag politics into an ohterwise genial and wholesome group. The only thing my tirade has to do with Irish is that Ireland's distant cousins are dying over here and somehow they're the bad guys! On my camp alone I see the Irish flag tattoo's everywhere I look. Names like Fallon, Guidry, Cavanaugh, Kilpatrick are names I see every day and there are more Ó this and thats and McWhomevers than you could ever hope to count. These are young kids busting their humps for something they believe in....freedom for all. They're baby-faced kids forced to grow up too soon and some not allowed to grow up at all because of some radical punk with an AK or some psychopath with a car and a trunk full of C-4. These kids are the bad guys!?!? But, it's OK to stage a protest for some Burmese activist, it's OK to march in a parade to "raise awareness" but God forbid Uncle Sam should send his sons and daughters off to actually DO something about any of this....Oh NO!!! Can't have that now can we?? Can't have a superpower crushing some barbaric tyrant who has murdered any and all political opponents, can't have Uncle Sam's Misguided Children out there raiding homes that are stocked full of more weaponry than most infantry companies have...NOOOOOO....that's just not acceptable is it!?!?!

Let's leave the politics for the political sites and keep this one focused on the one thing we can all agree upon...the Irish language.

Le meas,

James

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James
Posted on Thursday, November 27, 2003 - 10:32 am:   Edit Post Print Post

Jessica agus Mo Chairde eile,

Sorry for the tirade but I've had it with "awareness raising" and "activism". You want to be an activist?....I'm surrounded by some of the bravest and most heroic "Activists" any man or woman could ever hope to associate with. IF you or anyone else wants to be an "Activist" then get off your arses and come over here and take a look at the REAL story...not that crap you pull off of Sky News, the BBC and CNN....get over here, get in the dirt and get a clue as to what's really going on. I've been losing buddies to this BS for too long (since prior to 1991) and I'm sick to death of this liberal crap being spewed forth by lesser individuals whose freedoms are protected by better men and women than they'll ever hope to be!! These kids are doing GREAT work over here and they need to be given the credit for it...I just took 13 Marines into a Muslim town to paint and refurbish a freakin' Health Clinic for God's sake....you dont' hear about that do you?!!? I've treated over 6,000 Muslims in the 7 months I've been over here but you don't hear about that do you?!?! Bet you never heard about the emergency C-Section my surgeons did in the town that gave us the Mombasa and Nairobi Embassy bombers did you? We brought a new Muslim into this world while just down the street undoubtedly other Muslims were planning new and exciting ways to take us out of it! Muslim clerics in one town had the people so afraid to come see us...they told them we were going to poison their children...bet the BBC didn't report that did they??? But you know what....they were there...I gave them an interview and told them the whole story...but guess what they reported....they didn't say squat about the hundreds of cases of malaria we treated, they didn't say diddly about the 3,000 Muslims who received FREE healthcare or the thousands of dollars worth of medicine we donated to the local hospital...they didn't say one damn word about a young boy who had fallen out of a tree and suffered an anterior dislocation of his hip...who had been sitting in traction and in pain for a week because the family was too poor to send him to a proper hospital...we fixed this kids hip and now he can walk again rather than being resinged to life as a cripple..NO the BBC chose not to say anything at all about any of that...their big story???? Apparently, our medical team was just a front to invade a neighboring country..that's odd, I was there and we didn't invade SQUAT!!! Sometimes I wonder if it's the BBC or Al Jazirha they sound about the same to me!


To coin a phrase "You want the truth? You can't HANDLE the truth!" The truth is we're doing good things for good people and we're doing really bad things to really bad people...99% of the people we interact with have little to no complaints with the US at all...it's that other 1% that's garnering all the press, though. You could fill pages with the news that ISN'T being reported!

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Caoimhín O'Cléirigh-Tech Inquiries
Posted on Thursday, November 27, 2003 - 11:05 am:   Edit Post Print Post

James a chara,

thanks for remaining non-political ;-)

It is good to see you posting again, though I wish it were from a more hospitable location. On this Thanksgiving Day in the U.S (and in some parts of Iraq)., I wish you and your bretheren a safe and speedy return home.

le meas,

Caoimhín

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James
Posted on Thursday, November 27, 2003 - 01:09 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

Coimhín, A Chara:

Go raibh maith agat.

My intent was to illustrate how a political posting can get rapidly out of hand. I love this site and I love this language. I log on to get away from the crap not get deeper into it. We all have political positions but they really serve no purpose on this site.

Thank you for your voice of support, mo chara. It does mean quite a bit to us...especially at this time of the year.

Luckily, the place where I am is not too bad. As a matter of fact, a few Sundays ago I couldn't get to Mass due to some last minute issues I had to handle. Quite by accident I found a rebroadcast of Mass as gaeilge from An Spideal on RnaG. It was really a very special hour. I understood about one word in ten but I was able to follow the rhythm of the words. Créidim led me to the Nicene Creed, Ár Athair to the Our Father and Siochán leat to the Peace be With You...really a beautiful experience. (Pardon the inevitably misplaced fada)

So, don't worry about us...we'll all be fine. Just be sure to say a prayer for the families that will have empty chairs around their tables this holiday season. And, say a special prayer for those who will never see those chairs filled again. They are the ones who need your support the most.

Le meas,

James

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Jessica Ní Chonchúbhair
Posted on Thursday, November 27, 2003 - 01:38 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

Okay, i in no way intended for what i posted to be politics. in fact to be quite honest, i hate politics. i thought it was a good cause, which it is. and i shared that original post on two of my other favorite boards. i in no way intended it to be an activist thing, just doing as something that only takes one second and might make a diffrence.

i do try to understand your view point. but i wasnt aware that this would be such a big deal. i hate injustice and think you are doing a very brave thing. happy thanks giving. sorry to annoy you. it wasnt as i said my intention.

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James
Posted on Thursday, November 27, 2003 - 03:08 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

Jessica, Mo Chara:

I came down hard on your post and I guess it seemed directed at you personally. It isn't and it wasn't. That's the problem with this electronic medium. A person ceases to be a person and becomes a series of posts and electrons...we forget that there's a person on the other end of all of that stuff. I was wrong to have vented in such a manner especially to someone as kind as you appear to be. You did not deserve that and I am truly, truly sorry.

As I said, I admire you for taking a stand on an issue. I am moderately acquainted with Aung San Suu Kyi and fully agree that her situation is an outrage and an atrocity.

What you don't have is the history behind other political statements on this site. It's very touchy and to be honest, I'm a very touchy guy when it comes to this stuff. It's a fault of mine made all the more precient in this current situation. My brother was in Kuwait when all of this kicked off, now I'm in the same general area. A friend of mine was killed the first time we were here and another was killed in Mogadishu. I've had a medic killed in Afghanistan and I just found out another guy I worked with a few years back was killed recently. And, just two days ago a fellow officer got word that when he gets home his son will be deployed to Tikrit with the US Marine Corps. His wife gets to welcome a husband home and send a son away...not a good thing in anybody's book. Then of course, this will be my second Thanksgiving and Christmas away from my wife and child. In the 8 years that I've known my wife we've spent 4 of them apart. With all of that weighing on my mind during this time of year I guess I was looking for a vent and your post provided it.

I apologize with the utmost sincerity to you for my tirade. You're a good kid (yes, at my age you're a kid but in a good, grown up and admirable way) and you didn't deserve that kind of a response. I'm sorry. Please, please, please forgive the ramblings of someone who is rapidly on his way to becoming a bitter and angry curmudgeon. It's not my normal personality, I promise.

You've got a good command of Irish (far better than mine) and I've enjoyed reading all of your posts. Keep posting and keep teaching me...I'll never get there without you and your fellow Gaeilgoiri nursing me along.

Tá cead mile bron orm. (Forgive me if this isn't grammatically correct, but I think you'll get the intent.)

Le meas,

Do Chara, James

P.S. You get one free tirade, directed personally at me any time you want it. Anytime you feel the need or the desire, unleash that scalding wit that Irish women are famous for and hit me right between the eyes with it. Take your best and most vociferous shot. I'll take it full and square. I owe you that.

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Jessica Ní Chonchúbhair
Posted on Thursday, November 27, 2003 - 04:13 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

It is strange to meet someone with such passion in everthing that he says, from a tirade to an apology.

I fully accept your apology, and electrons can't really convey how I feel either. It is heart wrenching to hear such a personal story, I think Sky 1 does detach you from the reality of the situation. Propaganda rules the TV screens and that is the only insight that I would have.

My personal experiances with politcs have never been enjoyable and I tend to distance myself from it. Although soon enough I will have to educate myself as I will be able to vote, and I do want to vote.

You too seem to be a very kind person, and I hope to have more chances to post with you. I think I can live without giving you a tirade, so how about just being friends.

Happy Thanks Giving, my thoughts are with you.

Jessica Ní Chonchúbhair.

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Seosamh Mac Bhloscaidh
Posted on Thursday, November 27, 2003 - 08:00 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

Go mbeannaítear sibh thall ansin sa Chorrán Meith ar Lá seo an Altaithe Mheireacá. Bless all you guys in the Fertile Crescent (or Obock or wherever) on our day of Thankgiving.

Achan ráth ar an obair -- Cearta daonna agus eile. May the endeavor prosper.

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PAD
Posted on Thursday, November 27, 2003 - 10:34 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

James All the best to you and all those serving. I thought your "tirade" was dead on. I also thinkk this forum should be kept to Irish interests. Otherwise we'd be a posting place for every cause known to man. I'm sure there are forums for political interests and I doubt discussions of the Irish language would be given much space on them. Slllan leat agus beannacht Dé ort.

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Oliver
Posted on Friday, November 28, 2003 - 01:36 am:   Edit Post Print Post

James.

Lá an Altaithe sona duit, bhain mé an taitneamh as do racht feirge, an-suimiúil. Go n-éirí go geal leat san obair tábhachtach á dhéanamh agat. Scoth na Gaeil thú, go gcoinní Dia thú i mbos a láimhe.

Happy Thanksging day to you, I enjoyed your little rant, very interesting. I wish you every success in the important work that you are doing (molann an obair an fear). You are the pride of the Gaels, may God keep you in the palm of his hand.

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Sean
Posted on Friday, November 28, 2003 - 11:18 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

James,

I hope you have as much passion for all the Iraqi civilians that are dying at roadblocks, etc. (The two teenage girls killed today by American troops, for example). They were just as alive as the friends of yours who died, and now they're just as dead.

Some americans in Iraq are obviously doing good work, but it will be many years before things are as safe and civilized as they were before the war - and that's not saying much. There were nice Germans who did good work in occupied France too.

You and your collegues are undoubtedly decent people doing your best in an awful situation that is not of your making. But you are serving an arrogant power that has lied about war, and that has made the world a far more dangerous place than it was. This is not just my opinion - it is also the opinion of most people in the world. That's a fact.

le meas,

Sean

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James
Posted on Saturday, November 29, 2003 - 01:31 am:   Edit Post Print Post

And just what did we do that warranted 2 jetliners crashing into the twin towers and another into the Pentagon? That is what you call a "safer" world? The Pan Am flight over Lockerbie, the US Embassy in Nairobi (12 Americans and 200 KENYANS), the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires....these represent a safer world to you?

Regarding the civilians dying at roadblocks. If you STOP at a roadblock (where the signs are printed in about 5 different languages)you don't get shot. If you try to crash through the roadblock, if you speed up as you approach the roadblock....then you're going to get shot. That's pretty simple, don't you think?

Now, let's balance the number of civlians killed in Iraq and Afghanistan by American Forces against the hundreds who were raped and murdered for the pleasure of Uday Hussein. Let's balance it against the tens of thousands of Iraqi Kurds that Saddam gassed (women and children there too, Sean). Let's balance it against the hundrees of women who were murdered in the streets under the Taliban because they didn't wear a burka or brought "dishonor" on their husbands....see, you are exactly the type of limp minded simp I'm talking about. It's OK for civilians to be killled so long as they're being killed by their own government! But, God forbid America should step in and try to do something about it. What a twisted set of morals you display. You sicken me you limp wristed, wastrel of human flesh.

Why don't you put down the Pop-tarts, turn off the TV and haul your pampered and protected ass over to any one of the garden spots we're currently inhabiting and live this life for week or two? Sit on a guard post in 90+ degree weather wearing your Kevlar and body armor knowing that the next vehicle could be the one that takes your life. The next driver is the one that could be sitting on 500 pounds of semtex. The next approaching vehicle could be the one that sticks an RPG out the window and blows you and your buddy away. Live this as a reality day in and day out, sit through the intel and threat briefs that are daily reminders of how dangerous your job is and then..... then you get about 1.5 seconds to decide wether you pull the trigger or not. You pull it and you live but you also live with the knowledge that you took a life, you live kowing that if you were wrong there's another family without a mother, a father or a child. If you pull that trigger and you are wrong you know your actions will be scrutinized by a hoard of sofa bound, Monday morning quarterbacks who'll condemn your very existence (that would be YOU I'm referring to Sean). BUT, if you DON'T pull that trigger and your gut feeling was RIGHT...well, then your dead.

You SICKEN me with your selfrighteousness Sean. YOu absolutely SICKEN me. You aren't worthy to even breath the same air as these amazing men and women over here. You sit there in your protected and peaceful little neighborhood and condemn these fine patriotic citizens....you go right ahead. We will all be standing watch to ensure your right to do so remains solidy intact.

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James
Posted on Saturday, November 29, 2003 - 02:29 am:   Edit Post Print Post

OH, and one more thing!

I can't believe you had the BALLs to ask me if I have compassion for the dying Iraqis!! That just further illustrates the incomplete logic typical of your ilk. Didn't you read a word of what I wrote!?!? Apparently not. So, I'll give you a recap.

7 Months in theater:

6,000 civilians given free health care.

15 surgical cases performed.

1 emergency C-section bringing a young Muslim into this world and saving the life of his mother.

Over 300 cases of Malaria treated.

You had the BALLS, the unmitigated audacity to ask me if I was as passionate about dying Iraqis???? Again, you make me want to PUKE!! I live every day of my life (civilian and military) doing all I can to keep people alive. Some of those battles I win and some I lose but I'm there every day elbow deep in it busting my ass to preserve life.....You sicken me you self-righteous, self-impressed tree-hugging, dolphin-kissing, seal-snuggling, sofa-dwelling oxygen thief!!

What have YOU done lately to make this a better and safe world? Protested against fossil fuel usage??? Shackled yourself to a zoo to "raise awareness" of the unfair advantages humans have over animals? Sat naked in a cage to speak out against the horrors of the fur industry????

How DARE you question my "passion" for life! I don't protest a damn thing and the only marching I do is "dress right dress" and "covered down" in proper military fashion. While you and your fellow bastions of bufoonery are living in tree-tops and staging "die-ins" we are over here DOING something to make this a better world for EVERYONE!! What don't you get!?!

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James
Posted on Saturday, November 29, 2003 - 07:42 am:   Edit Post Print Post

See People, this is why Politics belongs on a political forum and not on this one.

Let's just let this issue go and move on to something more universally pleasing...An Gaeilge.

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Jessica Ní Chonchúbhair
Posted on Saturday, November 29, 2003 - 03:08 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

James, You have well lost the plot. If you are doing this to save americans, to save the world from terrorism, then do it. Don't spite everyone else(that isnt in the american army), i mean you do it so they dont have to right? Well then.

You have posted 3 times showing your disgust at Séan. 1 is enough. You could be as equally bias as we are, seeing as you are in the situation. We MIGHT feel that bush was wrong putting you there in the first place.

"You and your collegues are undoubtedly decent people doing your best in an awful situation that is not of your making" i think Sean said it all.

"your pampered and protected ass "- isnt this what your fighting for? The safety of civilians?

I am sure all the people you have saved are grateful. People have died on both sides, innocent and guilty. BUT MY TRUE BELIEF IS THAT NOBODY WINS A WAR .PEOPLE DIE ON BOTH SIDES.This is, you are right, to political an agenda to discuss. So lets leave it.

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Oliver
Posted on Saturday, November 29, 2003 - 03:15 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

James,

Just to correct you:

An Ghaeilge (feminine noun).

Dála an scéil, I think Dubya rocks, he's done everything right since 9/11. I'm very grateful to him and our American friends. Not all of us Europeans are like Seán or Jessica.

(well, the genie is out of the bottle now).

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Jonas
Posted on Saturday, November 29, 2003 - 07:29 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

A chairde!

I count all the active participants in this message thread as friends, but I would beg you to stop this argument. There are just two simple rules for this forum

"We do request that you keep your postings polite and related to the Irish language."

The postings here are neither polite nor related to Irish. I can't see anything good coming out of this discussion, certainly no-one from one side will convince anyone from the other side. This is a topic that has been so prominent that most people have formed their opinions long ago, and I doubt anyone will change them here. This means that the only alternative to a stop to this discussion is a continuing argument, turning uglier and uglier.

Of course I understand your views and that you feel strongly about them. I have strong views on this topic myself, but I don't even think about discussing them here. Not because I don't stand by them (far from it) but because I cannot possibly see how I would benefit the Irish language, nor indeed anybody, by discussing them in this forum.

I very much apreciate the participation of James, Jessica, Sean and Oliver and I hope to see you all turning back to Irish again. I won't post any more messages in this topic myself.

Slán go fóill,
Jonas

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Sean
Posted on Saturday, November 29, 2003 - 08:01 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

Sorry James,

Iraq, Iraqis and even Saddam have *zero* responsibility for any terrorist act against the west. That is a fact. The US attack on Iraq is wrong because it is based on lies about WMDs and about iraqi-terrorist links. You are probably angry because you are caught up in a war that is a mistake at best and a criminal act at worst. Do your best and don't re-enlist...

BTW, I applaud you for working to restore a health care system destroyed by the US war - I know the challenges of this through my own work with MSF in Africa - it isn't easy.

But lets talk about Irish...

Does anyone know any Irish words of praise that we had for Cromwell's occupation troops, or perhaps any Irish words of condemnation for the "terrorists" of Wexford in 1798?

It's amazing what you can do with words - irish or otherwise.

le meas agus Slán,

Séan

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Bradford
Posted on Saturday, November 29, 2003 - 08:24 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

I wish to echo Jonas' sentiments. Everyone involved in this, please stop the bickering now. The bigger person will be the one that DOESN'T have to have the last word.

- Bradford

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