do you find yourself, as i sometimes do, skimming through channels on the tv remote and not finding anything interesting to watch?.
growing up, we only had four channels on our tv (nbc, cbs, abc and pbs).
and yet there always seemed to be something of interest to see.. sadly, i often find myself watching shows where some guys are auctioning off storage lockers, killing alligators, picking junk from peoples' garages or barns, catching tuna, towing cars, driving trucks on the ice, catching crabs, running pawn shops ... etc etc etc.
Well, I live in Boltonville, in the United British Kingdom of England-land and over here, households must pay an annual TV licence just to watch TV.
I started as a university student in September 2012 living on campus and I chose not to pay my TV licence. It's 2019 and I still haven't bothered paying.
I don't miss TV except for the Discovery channel and the BBC when it broadcasts live sports.
some people say that’s the least we should do while others say no way!
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what do you think about dispensing reparations?
The thing that reduced the black population in Arab countries was the practice of castrating all Male slaves - yes, exactly.
The Arabs bought black boys from black slavers. Then, they castrated the boys. The eunuch slaves couldn't have children and were thus deemed safe to serve Arab households.
The Arabs didn't bother with things like Western medicine or anaesthetic, they just lopped off the black boys' genitalia - testicles, scrotum and penis - just like that. Many boys died because of this awful, inhumane procedure. The fatalities of the Arab slave trade dwarfs that of those slaves brought to the Americas.
But the Arabs had thought of this. Don't worry, they had it all worked out. They were rich and they simply bought many more black boys, and lopped off their genitalia.
Some survived.
some people say that’s the least we should do while others say no way!
.
what do you think about dispensing reparations?
I submit the large black population of the US compared to the non existent black population of other slave destinations that received 10x as many - exactly, spot on Simon.
I was in two minds about bringing this up but I will now.
The Arabs bought black slaves, and it happened for a much longer time than the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
The Trans-Saharan Slave Trade started before the Islamic prophet Muhammad was born and ended in 1962 (that was the year that Saudi Arabia and Yemen bowed to international pressure and finally stopped slavery).
And yet, the Caribbean, the US and Brazil have full-blooded black people, the descendants of slaves, ... but Saudi and other Arab countries don't have full-blooded black people as a proportion of their current population.
^^^ Why is this? ^^^
some people say that’s the least we should do while others say no way!
.
what do you think about dispensing reparations?
Native Americans were not slaves as a group when Europeans arrived, but had been in North America for thousands of years, and that status made them legal owners - based on your logic, Europeans (i.e. white people) own Europe. If any people of colour own their own house in a European country, well, sorry, you gotta give it to me because I'm European and you're not.
I belong to one group, Native Americans, I am 1/8 going back to my great-grandmother. Do I qualify for reparations if that ended up occurring? I don't know but I don't need the money. But, I would like a public apology in writing in the official history of the United States government official statements - hang on a sec, why should the US government apologise to you?
You're 1/8 Native American, so what ... you don't speak an Indian language, you don't live under the culture of your great-grandmother. Your religion is not the same as your great-grandmother's tribe.
I can see that there may be a solid case to be made for an apology by the US gov to full-blooded Indians (especially full-blooded Indians of the past, e.g. your great-grandmother) ... but to you?
if it does not have hips it dies if i see it.
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Diog,Its not disgusting, its a dangerous reptile - but you did say 'if it hasn't got hips, it dies'.
That suggests that you'd go ape-shit with your machete on any and all snakes, venomous and non-venomous.
Kill 'em all and let God decide, eh?
some people say that’s the least we should do while others say no way!
.
what do you think about dispensing reparations?
We have a similar situation in the UK where poorer black people in London who use cocaine can spend many years in jail, whereas wealthy while people who use cocaine are considered good candidates for prime minister - that's because the wealthy white people tend to be fairly discreet about their drug use and are otherwise mostly law-abiding, whereas the poor black people are stabbing and shooting each other in the street. (It always helps when context is added.)
some people say that’s the least we should do while others say no way!
.
what do you think about dispensing reparations?
Here's another issue with 'reparations': it's only European societies it's being demanded of, as if only European societies colonised and plundered.
Activists seem to think that the white man is uniquely evil. Well, that's bollocks.
Of course, other societies built empires, colonised and enslaved others.
Should the Arabs pay reparations for their empires?
How about the Ottoman Turks? Should they pay reparations for the Armenian genocide? (Unlike Europeans vs Native Americans, the Armenian genocide actually was a genocide.)
What about the Ethiopian empire?
Also, it makes me laugh that Native Americans have been spoken of as victims in this thread, as if that was all they were. The Native Americans participated in slavery, before white people landed in America, and afterwards, where Native Americans owned tons of black slaves. Many fought on the South's side - they wanted to keep their slaves.
The Japanese, too, were much more than just victims. Y'know they had their own empire, the Japanese empire. Should Japan pay reparations to all the people they tortured, raped, beheaded, etc.?
Ever read about the sacking of Nanking?
Ever read how the Japanese treated POWs in WW2? They were cruel bastards.
Here's a very important point that we should all learn: victimhood in the past didn't go one way.
And here's a second: people alive today are not victims of what went before, decades, centuries in the past.
whether it be sports athletes or hollywood heavyweights or talk show hosts—do these people influence your thinking?.
There are some celebrities whom I admire, for instance, Joe Frazier.
I admire his work ethic and his determination to get ahead and be the best at what he was good at (which happened to be beating up other guys with boxing gloves on).
Now, I can't obviously be a boxing champion but I can work hard at other things, like getting a job, doing post-grad education, whatever.
So, in that sense, I hope someone like Joe Frazier influences me for the better.
But if your OP refers to the political opinions and social activism of Hollywood, athletes and rock stars then forget it.
All that is a big joke to me ... I read that kinda crap for the laughs.
some people say that’s the least we should do while others say no way!
.
what do you think about dispensing reparations?
From my understanding, the USA is statistically in last place for bringing in slaves from Africa - I don't know if that's the case or not.
But I have read that, re the Transatlantic Slave Trade, the majority of slaves went to Brazil.
some people say that’s the least we should do while others say no way!
.
what do you think about dispensing reparations?
Here's a problem with 'reparations': Oprah Winfrey is, like other African-Americans, descended from slaves.
She was apparently born into rural poverty. She's also a self-made billionaire.
So, should Oprah get monetary reparation?
Y'see, not all African-Americans are dirt-poor. Check out Will Smith's kids. They are black but were born into tremendous riches and wealth.
And not all whites are rich ...
