07-04-2003 05:03									#1
	Will this forum ever recover from 9/11 and Iraq? Tired of ads?

It seems these events have polarised the online community, if not divided it. I notice we lost a lot of posters here on the OT after 9/11 and again over Iraq.

Some forums have become pro or anti American, with whole groups breaking away from each other. It hasn't gone that far here I think but there are forums that are now totally onesided. Some posters have also undergone incredible transformations from cuddly jokesters to foaming rabid extremists of one kind or another.

Before 9/11 most of the debates were just shooting the breeze, having a laugh, now some people seem to take it more personal. Nationalism is back in a big way.

Has the internet chat world changed forever? Is what we have seen here happened at other sites you visit?

This is an important subject which should be aired so I hope the mods allow some latitude. Everyone please keep the finger pointing to a minimum.

Why cant we all jes git along?

All I can say is thank goodness Newsmax has been down for a while

	07-04-2003 05:04									#2
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I love you guys!

quote: Is what we have seen here happened at other sites you visit?

No, they talk about geeky things like comics, 'clix games, etc.

	07-04-2003 05:09									#3
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Some posters have also undergone incredible transformations from cuddly jokesters to foaming rabid extremists of one kind or another.

Hey, I, for one, am a cudly extremist.

Is what we have seen here happened at other sites you visit?

Definitely. I have people mad at me in a major way over things I posted in 9/11 threads over at sc4ever.com/forums.

	07-04-2003 05:12									#4
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I saw a framed photo of the New York skyline recently with the WTC in it. I hadn't realised how the towers dominated the skyline. That's gotta hurt.

Every time I watch a repeat of a New York cop show, I find myself looking for the towers in the background.

	07-04-2003 05:14									#5
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I've noticed that in here people are still discussing these things in more civilized ways than in many other forums. Even when we disagree and sometimes go over the line, it's not as bad as it is elsewhere.

	07-04-2003 05:17									#6
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Hmmm....a lot of people have polarized into different camps, but like Pekka said, at least here the debates are a little heated at times, we can cool off and come back without malice.

That, and there's always Rahlcatraz and Mingapulco.

	07-04-2003 05:19									#7
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I think some Americans are feeling very hurt about various things.

	07-04-2003 05:21									#8
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quote: Everyone please keep the finger pointing to a minimum.

Damn you!

	07-04-2003 05:21									#9
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quote: Originally posted by Alexander's Horse I think some Americans are feeling very hurt about various things.

Now where would you possibly get that idea from

	07-04-2003 05:24									#10
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Ah. Well, the world is a different place now...well, at least to a lot of American's. My professor was saying that the US has been very isolated from international terrorism for a long time. Oklahoma was done by an American so to our society, it's bad...but we can understand McVeigh on a social level. These other terrorists are not socially similar so we can't comprehend how they could do these things.

Personally, I'm pissed that these terrorists do what they do BEFORE 9/11. Some American's seem to internalize events more often now.

(good thread )

	07-04-2003 05:26									#11
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Like this forum was ever normal in the first place!

USA!

	07-04-2003 05:28									#12
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That's one thing we never understand - the USA! thing.

When we had British imperialism we British dominions could all feel a part of it

	07-04-2003 05:34									#13
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Not really.

That's why we kicked the Brits out. No taxation without representation, etc.

Though we are brothers now.

USA!

UK!

	07-04-2003 05:35									#14
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(acknowledges Horse's bait to get Ted to say something bad about the Brits).

	07-04-2003 05:51									#15
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Ordeal. Time to think. The most important event for the future happened in the fourth plane which crashed in the country.

Our civilization has always produced men accepting to sacrifice themselves for their community. The passengers of this plane proved that it is still the case. Contrary to the terrorists, we do not go to battle for dying, but we accept to die in fighting.

For this reason alone, ultimately we will win. Rather than bashing or taking side, we have just to hope that we will be as gallant as the men in the fourth plane if our turn comes.

	07-04-2003 05:55									#16
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DAVOUT, terrorist going to battle for dying, we accepting to die in fighting.. good point

	07-04-2003 05:56									#17
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Frankly I thought we lost more posters over the 2000 election than over 9/11 or iraq.

The beauty of the internet is that when people cool off it's relatively easy to come back.

	07-04-2003 05:56									#18
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nah thats rubbish. terrorists accept death in fighting too. they just dont waste time trying other ways first.

	07-04-2003 05:57									#19
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quote: Originally posted by DAVOUT Ordeal. Time to think. The most important event for the future happened in the fourth plane which crashed in the country. Our civilization has always produced men accepting to sacrifice themselves for their community. The passengers of this plane proved that it is still the case. Contrary to the terrorists, we do not go to battle for dying, but we accept to die in fighting. For this reason alone, ultimately we will win. Rather than bashing or taking side, we have just to hope that we will be as gallant as the men in the fourth plane if our turn comes.

Damn.....that's deep.

	07-04-2003 06:03									#20
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If people are going to sulk over stuff that's posted on internet discussion forums then God help them.

The other poster is right - the reason things stay fairly level headed around here is that Ming and co. tend to stamp it out sharpish.

	07-04-2003 06:08									#21
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quote: Originally posted by Alexander's Horse That's one thing we never understand - the USA! thing. When we had British imperialism we British dominions could all feel a part of it

We Americans didn't feel part of it. Hence:

USA!

	07-04-2003 06:10									#22
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quote: Originally posted by Immortal Wombat nah thats rubbish. terrorists accept death in fighting too. they just dont waste time trying other ways first.

In this case, the terrorists in boarding the plane did know they will die, not the passengers. And the passengers decided to fight, although they were doomed and know it, because they had a reason to do so.
Sorry that you dont see the difference.

	07-04-2003 06:39									#23
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Well, I joined up after 9/11, so I have no idea about how it was, though certainly the debate over Iraq has been far more vehement than anything over Afghanistan. By the same token, ME debates, which were ususally vere heated have mostly gone away.

I don't know: we have a lot of history left to go from here assuming this forum survives for a few more years. I must say that while it can get ugly, people do return to being civil to each other in brand new debates. Not too many grudges are held.

	07-04-2003 06:42									#24
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You don't know the half of it.

	07-04-2003 06:44									#25
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About pre-9/11, or about grudges being held?

Thankfully I probalby have not made anyones "ignore list".

	07-04-2003 06:48									#26
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If people started thinking about everyone as their brothers and sisters, not just countrymen, we'd avoid a lot of these problems...both in and out of the forums

	07-04-2003 06:48									#27
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"Why cant we all jes git along?"

I don't know Horse... a lot of the rancor that I occassionally feel towards some posters is mitigated by the fact that they are so, well, young. After all, I, too, was a 16/18/22 year-old snit.

This forum has definitely turned anti-American though*, and it was happening long before 9-11.

DAVOUT:

* Overall. Not every poster, not every thread, but for the most part I believe this to be true.

	07-04-2003 06:51									#28
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I don't think America will ever recover from 9/11 or Iraq.

Me, I'm gonna learn Chinese and move to China.

	07-04-2003 06:52									#29
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Death to America, I say!

Seriously though, just because people don't like Bush or Walt Disney doesn't mean they have a homicidal hatred of the average Iowan.

	07-04-2003 06:57									#30
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It's not the dislike, it's the constant vehemence used in expressing that dislike which causes dismay.