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 Mon Sep 15, 2008 11:47 am Where are you from? |
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| Quote: | | However, many Iraqis who arrived in the US before the 2003 invasion tell me that they had no access to computers. It wasn't because there weren't any computers, but because (according to them) access to computers was restricted by the government, in much the same way it was restricted in the Soviet Union or other communist countries. |
But restriction on access to the whole Internet also happens in the US, doesn't it?
"US MARINES stationed in Iraq are complaining that the US government is restricting access their access to websites too much.
Along with porn sites, on the Army's list of banned sites include mail sites such as Yahoo, AT&T, Hotmail. The censors are also blocking blogs and sites that do not agree with the current administration."
http://www.theinquirer.net/en/inquirer/news/2006/03/02/us-censors-websites |
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Molly
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| Mon Sep 15, 2008 11:51 am Where are you from? |
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| Quote: | | Another friend here lost her house in Baghdad. |
You should one day list for us your group of "friends", Jamie. How do you get time for all of them? You seem, as I've noted before, to have one for every online occasion. 
| Quote: | | Her cousin was living in it when a gang of Muslims came. The gang gave them three choices: 1. Convert to Islam, or 2. Pay the jizyah (a Muslim tax on non-Muslims), or 3. Leave the house and all its contents so that a Muslim family could take it. At first my friend told her cousin to sell the house, but her cousin said that if he sold it the purchaser might kill him instead of paying him. Finally, she told him just to leave the house and run to Kurdistan with his family. |
Sh*t happens everywhere, Jamie.
"The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that local governments may force property owners to sell out and make way for private economic development when officials decide it would benefit the public, even if the property is not blighted and the new project's success is not guaranteed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/23/AR2005062300783_pf.html" |
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Molly
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Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 4017
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| Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:06 pm Where are you from? |
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| Molly wrote: | | Quote: | | However, many Iraqis who arrived in the US before the 2003 invasion tell me that they had no access to computers. It wasn't because there weren't any computers, but because (according to them) access to computers was restricted by the government, in much the same way it was restricted in the Soviet Union or other communist countries. |
But restriction on access to the whole Internet also happens in the US, doesn't it? |
No it doesn't. And what I was talking about in Saddam's Iraq was not restriction on access to the Internet, but restriction on access to computers at all.
| Molly wrote: | "US MARINES stationed in Iraq are complaining that the US government is restricting access their access to websites too much.
Along with porn sites, on the Army's list of banned sites include mail sites such as Yahoo, AT&T, Hotmail. The censors are also blocking blogs and sites that do not agree with the current administration."
http://www.theinquirer.net/en/inquirer/news/2006/03/02/us-censors-websites |
Molly, you always use these unknown scandal rags as documentation. Then when I look up the full story, your scandal rag turns out to have distorted it. They talk about "the list of banned sites", but where's the list? I've googled for it, but I can't find it. Is this like the fictitious list of books banned by Sarah Palin? You also read sketchy information about specific incidents and generalize it to the whole nation.
The US military restriction is on streaming video sites, and the soldiers are simply not allowed to access them at work on the military network, but could access anything they wanted to at home.
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=53421&archive=true
| Quote: | Defense officials said the move is solely a reaction to the heavy drain the streaming video and audio can put on the defense computer network.
“We’re not passing any judgment on these sites, we’re just saying you shouldn’t be accessing them at work,” said Julie Ziegenhorn, spokeswoman for U.S. Strategic Command. “This is a bandwidth and network management issue. We’ve got to have the networks open to do our mission. They have to be reliable, timely and secure.”
In a message to troops from U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. B.B. Bell on Friday, he acknowledged many of the sites being blocked are used by troops to keep in touch with family and friends.
“This recreational traffic impacts our official DOD network and bandwidth availability, while posting a significant operational security challenge,” he wrote. |
This story will be bogusly used overseas to make the US government appear fascist.
Also, American workplaces and universities generally ban the use of inappropriate sites, mainly porno, in the public computer labs. This is a good thing.
But this has nothing to do with general restrictions on ANY computer use that went on in communist countries and under many other dicatorships. |
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Jamie (K)
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 4407
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
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| Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:07 pm Where are you from? |
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Hi,
It would be great if we could keep this thread just the essential question 'where are you from' rather than discussing any political conflicts. If you want to talk about Iraq, Georgia, 9/11, the presidential elections or the supreme credit crunch, please start separate threads on those questions.
Many thanks,
Torsten
_________________
Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary |
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Torsten
Site Admin
Joined: 25 Sep 2003
Posts: 7888
Location: EU
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| Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:10 pm Where are you from? |
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hi everyone,
I am from India.India is a very beautiful country. there are many places to visit one of them is AGRA where you can see Tajmahal. Its very beautiful It is near the river yamuna IT IS A SYMBOL OF LOVE You can also find the different religious people living together they have a respect for each others religion. we enjoy different festivals of different religions with equal joy and enthusiasm.
THANKS A LOT
PLEASE SIR CORRECT THE TEXT IF IT IS AMISS |
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 Pghai
I'm new here and I like it ;-)
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| Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:12 pm Where are you from? |
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I don't agree with that decision by the Supreme Court (and it's an illustration of why conservatives need to be chosen for the court, because the liberals are the ones who back that kind of seizure), but it's hardly the same thing, as you imagine it to be. In the first place, when the government in the US wants to seize your house, they don't first demand that you change your religion or pay a religiously based tax. Secondly, the government has to pay you the market price for the property. Molly, the fact that you can't tell the difference just shows, again, that you have an impaired ability to make moral distinctions. |
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Jamie (K)
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 4407
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
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| Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:19 pm What do you think about the situation in Iraq? |
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| Quote: | | Molly, the fact that you can't tell the difference just shows, again, that you have an impaired ability to make moral distinctions. |
Hey, Jamie, I can tell the difference, it's just that you cannot, or don't like much speaking about, the similarities.
As for religious taxes:
| Quote: | When we lived in Europe, paying a 6% tax was normal for those who belonged to a state church. In one country where we lived, there are about half a dozen official state churches, including Catholic and Lutheran. We belonged to a non-state church and asked for and got exemption from paying this church tax.
http://www.mychurch.org/blog/257388/Religious-Tax |
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Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
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| Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:22 pm Where are you from? |
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| Jamie (K) wrote: | | Torsten wrote: | Hi,
It would be great if we could keep this thread just the essential question 'where are you from' rather than discussing any political conflicts. If you want to talk about Iraq, Georgia, 9/11, the presidential elections or the supreme credit crunch, please start separate threads on those questions.
Many thanks,
Torsten |
Just delete the posts, Torsten. |
I've just split the thread in two.
_________________
Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary |
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Torsten
Site Admin
Joined: 25 Sep 2003
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Location: EU
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| Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:25 pm What do you think about the situation in Iraq? |
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| Quote: | | But this has nothing to do with general restrictions on ANY computer use that went on in communist countries and under many other dicatorships. |
Or, in your mind, with restrictions made upon US citizens by US administrations over many many years, right?
We're getting that "squeaky clean USA" approach again. |
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Molly
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| Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:31 pm What do you think about the situation in Iraq? |
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Tithing times, right?  |
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Molly
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Posts: 4017
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| Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:32 pm What do you think about the situation in Iraq? |
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| Molly wrote: | As for religious taxes:
| Quote: | When we lived in Europe, paying a 6% tax was normal for those who belonged to a state church. In one country where we lived, there are about half a dozen official state churches, including Catholic and Lutheran. We belonged to a non-state church and asked for and got exemption from paying this church tax.
http://www.mychurch.org/blog/257388/Religious-Tax |
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Again, Molly. You are unable to make moral distinctions. I don't believe in religious taxes at all, but the situation in your quote is completely different from the jizyah.
In that European situation, people register their religion and pay a tax to their own church. If they don't belong to a church, they don't have to pay the tax. There is no pressure to change religions, except that there is an incentive to declare oneself as NOT religious so as to get out of paying the tax. And the European governments won't murder you if you get out of paying the tax.
The jizyah is a tax that non-Muslims have to pay to Muslims. In other words, they have to pay taxes to the authorities of a religion that is not their own. The only way they can get out of it is to convert to the other religion, which is the whole point. Traditionally the people are given three choices: convert, pay the tax or die. This is nothing like the situation in Europe, except that the words "religion" and "tax" appear in the descriptions. |
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Jamie (K)
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Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 4407
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
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| Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:35 pm What do you think about the situation in Iraq? |
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| Molly wrote: | | Quote: | | But this has nothing to do with general restrictions on ANY computer use that went on in communist countries and under many other dicatorships. |
Or, in your mind, with restrictions made upon US citizens by US administrations over many many years, right? |
You're fantasizing, Molly. They don't restrict computer or Internet use. I imagine they would be very happy if people never accessed certain sites, but they nonetheless do not censor them.
If you think we have fascist censorship restrictions, then you have to name them. And if you find something, please make sure it's from a reliable source, and not a scandal rag. |
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Jamie (K)
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 4407
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
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| Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:36 pm What do you think about the situation in Iraq? |
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| Molly wrote: | | Tithing times, right? |
Nobody has to tithe in the US. The government has nothing to do with that. |
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Jamie (K)
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Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 4407
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
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