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Post by Big Lin on Nov 22, 2014 0:23:39 GMT
The meaning of a word is determined by usage. As society evolves, we often see some words change in terms of what the public perceives them to mean. The word "Gay" is one good example. It means something entirely different from its meaning fifty years ago. Ebola used to refer to a river in the Congo. ISIS was a goddess in ancien Egyptian mythology. ISIS is also the name of a company Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Liberals today are commonly perceived as pro big government, pro income redistribution by government, pro welfare state, and anti business. Only in the US, BA. In Europe they are perceived quite differently (though growing Coca-Colanization is leading to some European right-wingers adopting the American distortion). And conservatives have always been pro big government. In both Britain and America it was the conservatives who began income redistribution by government and the start of the welfare state as well as putting restraints on business. From Lincoln to Ford the story was the same except briefly under Coolidge.
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♫anna♫
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Post by ♫anna♫ on Nov 22, 2014 4:58:27 GMT
I will continue to call myself a proud liberal, Anna. I've argued with leftists pretending to be liberals and with rightists who pretend that liberals are just socialists or even Marxists. And I'll go on doing so because words are precious to me. In Europe there's far less confusion over the meaning of the word; it's primarily an American misconception. The tendency to call leftist pro big government fascists "liberals" started long ago with FDR. The term conservative, which should mean pro small central government and staying out of foreign wars has also been highjacked. The mass media is on the side of the "new language definitions" as well as most of the educational system. Like the Pharisees, who plotted to have Jesus Christ murdered they use the words than enable them to influence and control the masses. I personally agree with das. We can't win, if we're wasting energies with semantics. We can't ressurect ancient languages either. If I say something critical about liberals, I don't mean you, but those who call themselves liberals nowadays and are seen by the masses as liberals, but are leftist fascists.
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Post by Big Lin on Nov 22, 2014 18:21:23 GMT
I'm going to keep this simple.
Conservatives have always been authoritarian and paternalist.
Most US 'conservatives' are actually liberals and most US 'liberals' are actually social democrats.
I and most Europeans know the difference.
Accepting the American misuse of the words is rather like accepting their misuse of the word 'football' which to 90% of the population of the world means what they call soccer but to the Americans means a bunch of fat men in cages waddling about a field.
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Post by DAS (formerly BushAdmirer) on Nov 23, 2014 2:50:01 GMT
Lin - Get over it. Football refers to the National Football League and American Football. It is a great game.
Soccer is that other game which I consider to be roughly on par with badminton and ping pong.
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♫anna♫
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Post by ♫anna♫ on Nov 23, 2014 8:40:34 GMT
Lin - Get over it. Football refers to the National Football League and American Football. It is a great game. Soccer is that other game which I consider to be roughly on par with badminton and ping pong. Sorry Lin, I have to agree with BA. My father in the US is a big US football fan and you'd have to waterboard him him to make him call his favorite sport "grid iron". The Irish also call FIFA football soccer in Ireland. Irish football is a fantastic sport, but it has nothing to do with FIFA football..
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Post by DAS (formerly BushAdmirer) on Nov 23, 2014 23:37:30 GMT
I tried to watch some of the World Cup games. Ultra boring. A bunch of guys running back and forth chasing a ball. Practically no scoring. When they do score, it is often on penalty kicks or with players in the penalty box. The outcome of the typical game is determined by the penalties and referees.
Which referee should I root for?
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Post by Big Lin on Nov 28, 2014 17:44:52 GMT
I tried to watch some of the World Cup games. Ultra boring. A bunch of guys running back and forth chasing a ball. Practically no scoring. When they do score, it is often on penalty kicks or with players in the penalty box. The outcome of the typical game is determined by the penalties and referees. Which referee should I root for? It's another case of Americans trying to destroy the English language. 90% of the world means what us Brits do when we say football which is what you call soccer. Only you and to a lesser extent the Canadians and Australians call it soccer. As for the NFL, what is except a bunch of fat poufy wimps charging around in as much body armour as a mediaeval knight because they're too scared to play a MAN'S game? Unlike US football, real football is a game of speed and skill and intelligence where you try to out-think the opposition, run into space, pass the ball into space and so on. The reason that between two roughly equally good teams there are few goals is because the goalkeepers are top class (I used to be a goalkeeper in the women's game), the defenders are quick on their feet and quick thinking and the midfielders break down attacks 9 times out of 10 before they get into the danger area. Football - PROPER football - is quite like chess in that you need to use your brain to play it well. All you need to play US football is to be fat, locked up in armour and behave like a street thug.
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Post by DAS (formerly BushAdmirer) on Nov 28, 2014 22:10:45 GMT
No, no Lin. Real football, American football, is the ultimate man's game. It isn't about fat guys at all. For instance, JJ Watt is one of the best players. He's musular, not fat. American football is extremely complex. A quarterback must be very intelligent and a quick thinker. If he can't read defenses and make adjustments on the fly, no amount of athletic ability will make him a winner. Many younger players struggle to learn the playbook.
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♫anna♫
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Post by ♫anna♫ on Nov 29, 2014 2:55:05 GMT
I'm a big fan of Irish football. There's no mandatory brain damage in Irish football. I shudder when in US football the players use their heads as battering rams and suffer brain damage in the course of their careers. The helmuts are insufficent protection. The so called head shots ( headers ) in FIFA football also cause brain damage. The word football in itself is just 3 vowels and 5 consonants. I wouldn't debate who has the real football anymore than I'd debate where home is.
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Post by Big Lin on Nov 29, 2014 23:24:47 GMT
No, no Lin. Real football, American football, is the ultimate man's game. It isn't about fat guys at all. For instance, JJ Watt is one of the best players. He's musular, not fat. American football is extremely complex. A quarterback must be very intelligent and a quick thinker. If he can't read defenses and make adjustments on the fly, no amount of athletic ability will make him a winner. Many younger players struggle to learn the playbook. No, BA, rugby is far more of a real man's game. And so is football. Much less so US football. But in any case why do Americans feel that everyone else in the world is out of step except them in the use of the word football? Can't they just accept that being American isn't a guarantee of infallibility?
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Post by DAS (formerly BushAdmirer) on Nov 30, 2014 0:41:49 GMT
No that's not it at all Lin. We just watch a few soccer games on TV and shake our heads in amazement that this game is popular in other parts of the world.
But then, ping pong is incredibly popular in China too.
American professional football is right up there with the NBA. I don't know which I'd choose for the world's best sport but the only contenders would be American Football, NBA basketball, and grand tour cycling (e.g.: The Tour de France, the Spanish Vuelta, the Tour of Italy).
Cycling didn't make it into my top three until they developed those amazing portable cameras that can send live video to satellites from remote rural roads.
In addition to soccer, another sport I don't find at all interesting is hockey. It has a lot in common with soccer. Equally boring would be auto racing, whether Grand Prix or Nascar. Professional golf is equally boring.
I do find professional Tennis to be very good. It is just a notch below American football and NBA basketball.
Baseball is the boundary sport for me. Some games are quite good and worth watching. Other games are boring.
But Soccer is the bottom of the list for me. Almost as exciting as Curling or Checkers.
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Post by Big Lin on Dec 1, 2014 22:07:26 GMT
No that's not it at all Lin. We just watch a few soccer games on TV and shake our heads in amazement that this game is popular in other parts of the world. But then, ping pong is incredibly popular in China too. American professional football is right up there with the NBA. I don't know which I'd choose for the world's best sport but the only contenders would be American Football, NBA basketball, and grand tour cycling (e.g.: The Tour de France, the Spanish Vuelta, the Tour of Italy). Cycling didn't make it into my top three until they developed those amazing portable cameras that can send live video to satellites from remote rural roads. In addition to soccer, another sport I don't find at all interesting is hockey. It has a lot in common with soccer. Equally boring would be auto racing, whether Grand Prix or Nascar. Professional golf is equally boring. I do find professional Tennis to be very good. It is just a notch below American football and NBA basketball. Baseball is the boundary sport for me. Some games are quite good and worth watching. Other games are boring. But Soccer is the bottom of the list for me. Almost as exciting as Curling or Checkers. Actually Americans watched the World Cup in record numbers. It's more popular than baseball in the US now and its popularity is likely to grow with the increasing Hispanic population for whom it's part of their cultural heritage. But we all have our preferences; I love football and I'm a keen Chelsea supporter. I used to play it when I was younger (I was a goalkeeper). I also love cricket which I'm sure you hate even more than football! After that I'd put boxing, athletics, ice skating and rugby. Just below them netball and basketball. I also like hockey (field hockey you'd call it) and used to play that too! The only sports on this list I haven't played are ice skating and rugby. But I love watching them both! Rugby is a REAL man's game and none of the sissy 'protection' that these guys with almost as much armour as a mediaeval knight wear before they dare to set foot on the field of play!
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Post by DAS (formerly BushAdmirer) on Dec 3, 2014 1:23:52 GMT
Lin - I'm glad you love soccer. Different strokes for different folks. I've never seen a cricket or rugby game so can't comment on that. Don't even have a clue what those games are about.
Houston, where I live, has a professional soccer team, the Dynamo. The games are well attended but almost all the attendees are Mexican immigrants. Houston has a large latino population.
I don't like boxing. Do like gymnastics and ice skating. Volleyball is very good, especially girl's beach volleyball :-)
Never heard of field hockey. The only hockey here is ice hockey.
American football players need protective outfits. It is a very rough and tumble sport with a lot of injuries despite the protective gear.
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Post by iamjumbo on Dec 22, 2014 10:22:22 GMT
This puts the whole Muslim immigration issue in razor sharp perspective. View Attachmentso true
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Post by blc on Dec 23, 2014 22:23:24 GMT
This puts the whole Muslim immigration issue in razor sharp perspective. So true and sad a the same time.
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♫anna♫
Global Moderator
Aug 18 2017 - Always In Our Hearts
The Federal Reserve Act is the Betrayal of the American Revolution!
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karma:
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Post by ♫anna♫ on Jan 5, 2015 21:36:54 GMT
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♫anna♫
Global Moderator
Aug 18 2017 - Always In Our Hearts
The Federal Reserve Act is the Betrayal of the American Revolution!
e x a l t | s m i t e
karma:
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Post by ♫anna♫ on Jan 24, 2015 6:22:53 GMT
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Post by iamjumbo on Jan 24, 2015 13:23:39 GMT
that's pretty much what we see happening
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♫anna♫
Global Moderator
Aug 18 2017 - Always In Our Hearts
The Federal Reserve Act is the Betrayal of the American Revolution!
e x a l t | s m i t e
karma:
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Post by ♫anna♫ on Jan 24, 2015 15:48:11 GMT
that's pretty much what we see happening I like your signature Jumbo! Andrew Jackson stopped the banking system's attempt to take over the US. The US remained in control of it's economy and sovereignity until the banks' succeeded with their scheme in 1913 with the Federal Reserve Act.
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Post by Scottish Lassie on Feb 8, 2015 13:50:35 GMT
[/quit Hi Anna, I have absolutely no idea what that is all about? It doesn't make any sense to me.
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