I wasn’t here, then, but I bet that Clnton took it on his lusty chin a time or two.
Well as one who never partisipates in political threads, or brings up personnal subjects, and never feels anything but a robotic coldness and detachment from the other contributars to the board I just don`t know what that guy was talking about. :roll:
Tom
PS: A.. Jim about the Czar thing(ooops) 
I agree with most everything people have said on this thread, but I’d like to suggest two BIG reasons that Americans have trouble understanding the rest of the world, and the rest of the world has trouble understanding Americans: 1. the Atlantic ocean. 2. the Pacific ocean.
The fact is, even in this age of relatively easy travel, we’re still cut off from the rest of the world, and they from us. Plus, America is a far larger and more diverse nation, with a far more complicated history, than most of us realize–let alone non-Americans. Think about it. How long would it take, and how much extra travel, for an outsider to truly be able to say that they really know and understand “America” and “Americans”? Or consider, what per cent of Americans, in any given period of our history, can trace their American ancestors back for more than 50 years? 100 years? 150 years? That certainly should complicate stereotypes of our past and present.
Another sad fact, our news media and entertainment industry do us no favors by filling the world with material to feed anti-American stereotypes. Sure I’ve been embarrassed by Americans I’ve encountered abroad–even intensely embarrassed–but other countries have their share of jerks, too, and I’ve met some of them as well.
I do have to add that I found henke’s statement that our search for oil has led to more deaths than were caused by the Soviets to be, well, just weird. Estimates of the deaths caused by the Soviets within the old USSR range from 20-50 million people. Zubivka, no wild eyed fan of the US, could undoubtedly add a few words about events in Ukraine. A conservative estimate of deaths directly attributable to Communist repression in China is 60 million. As Stoner said, considering our power and potential, our record, while far from unblemished, isn’t that bad. Plus, we may wave the flag too much, but we are willing to criticize ourselves, too.
Oh, and Dale, yes I get offended occasionaly, no I don’t subscribe to your newsletter, but keep on truckin’!
Yes he did, but at the end of the day the media
tried to protect him (e.g. by suppressing stories
that could have destroyed him). It’s hard
to deny that there is a widespread
antii-conservative bias at large in the American
media, especially on social issues.
As a consequence conservatives sometimes
over-react to innocent political lampooning
of conservative politicians.
you’re not an american dale,neither an african or an australian,or..
your black and white, red and yellow and we love you all!!
Basically, it comes down to the same problem that has faced humans since time began…the issue of US vs. THEM.
If you aren’t one of our tribe, you are different and different can be dangerous to our way, so kill THEM.
The men who designed the USA’s political system wanted seperation of church and state. A really good idea. History more than proves this although we always forget.
If it’s a whistle site, keep it about whistles.
To discuss politics, religion or something other than whistles just opens the door for war when you take a jab at the other guy.
In here, I’m a whistler and that’s all that I want to be…in here.
Peace, friends.
Mike
That’s funny.
I think there’s a very big difference between taking swipes at a public figure and taking swipes at a nationality. I honestly do find offensive all humor that depends on the put down of a nationality, a people, especially since making banjo players the butt of the joke almost always works better anyway. 
http://bluegrassbanjo.org/banjokes.html
Carol
Hmmm, the united chiffboard…
I must say that C&F has been a “cultural” experience to me, for a great deal of my life I knew very little about the countries “across the pond” but since joining the chiffboard I have maybe mutiplied that knowledge by 100 times. Because of my exiperiences with the board, I have been given the desire to go to ireland some day.
Also, Ive always considered the internet to be a culture unto itself, and if I hadnt been up so late lighting off fireworks, Id try to explain that more, but my brain just fried itself.
I usually don’t participate in the political discussions on the board but I’m going to add my opinion here.
I agree with Wyobadger in that I’m tired of being expected to apologize to the rest of the world for being American. While my country is far from perfect and I don’t agree with everything its leaders do, I think it’s a pretty darn nice place to live and I am glad I was born here. And I will stand up and say so.
I also agree with elendil that our size and relative isolation make us difficult to understand and vice versa to other countries. I’ve know several people from other countries who were very surprised when they came here for the first time at how big America is. And elendil’s right in that many Americans don’t understand America. And what is America? New York City with its millions of people? Darien Wisconsin population 1500, proud home of Cornfest? Dallas Texas or Seattle Washington?
Ok now I’m starting to ramble so I’ll shut up now.
Beth
Please let’s not talk about banjo players
here. .
Right. Somebody might think the place had suddenly acquired some class.
Steve
I like the board exactly as it is. I like the way it’s being managed, I like Dale’s reasonable rules regarding commercial posts and etiquette, and I think it has just the right amount of off-topic posts, including some political etc etc. That’s to be expected, and it doesn’t strike me as particularly excessive—no more so, at least, than any other online forum.
Also, I don’t quite get the logic of angrily unsubscribing. It’s not like we are paying subscribers; if anything, these people are rewarding Dale for the posts which so offend them, by slightly reducing traffic to his board.
Caj
Yeah… it’s just you.
Sara (who thinks the board and the news letter and the website are fine just the way they are… well, except maybe that latest whistler photo at the top of the main webpage, that’s just plain creepy. )
One day, the chairman of the Federation of Musicans’ Associations called a meeting. The Recorderists’ Association complained that the whistlers were spoiled children, using far more than their share of instruments. “They require twelve instruments! One for each key!”
“We invented fipples!” cried the recorderists, “You whistle players are unlearned persons, who never even learned do re mi!”
The whistlers responded, “Whistle is the greatest instrument in the world! You are just jealous of our success. Your instrument dropped dead from disinterest in the 1700’s, whereas whistles have been consistently popular for the past 150 years. That goes to prove that the 6-hole system is the greatest system in the world.”
The president of the Whistle Association was even said to have congratulated his ally, the Oboists’ Union, on being one of classical music’s great 6-holed instrumental associations, at which all the recorderists scoffed, as everyone, but stupid pennywhistlers, knows that the oboe is not a six-holed instrument.
Many within the tinwhistle community felt that the Whistlers’ Association was out of line in many of its actions. They held protest rallies, and whistle-ins. They loved to tell jokes about the president of the Whistlers’ Association, which angered the president’s supporters, who conveniently overlooked their own “Whistledom Held Hostage,” jokes from 1993, when the previous president of the Whistlers’ Association was in leadership.
Individuals within the Recorderists’ Association began to rebuke individuals within the Whistlers’ Association, despite the fact that the whistlers in question had nothing substantial to do with the policies of the Association. But mainly what went on at the meeting was that all sides over-generalised, and were very insensitive to the opinions, and emotional well-being of the people on the other side of the table.
In the end, the Federation of Musicians’ Associations, closed the meeting, unresolved, to be continued at the next meeting. “If there is a next meeting,” grumbled the recorderists, “the whistlers probably will have destroyed all music by the time of the next meeting.”
“Who needs the Federation, anyway?” remarked the president of the Whistlers’ Association, “they just get in the way of the whistlers’ agenda, anyway!”
Is this international enough…
I have a whistle made in India that I got for 2.00 at a fleamarket
I have 2 whistles from Canada
I have a feadog from Ireland
I have 2 Clarkes and a Dixon made in the U.K. (I think)
This prevalent antiAmerican attitude kinda scares me sometimes. Next thing you know we will be herded into cattlecars and taken to camps so the world can purge themselves of our presence. Jeez, I hate politics..But I do love this board…
Gee, I’ve seen posts celebrating Québec, and Canada in general as well as the U.S…I have to say that I would welcome similar notices from our widely distributed membership. After all, I know that our Chifftribe is comprised of residents and citizens of France, Brittany (deep in your heart you know it’s a distinct country, admit it 
), Spain, Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Singapore; apologies if I missed someone. Then there are the goofy local festivals we all go through. Zoob himself wants to share his pain, and so we know about Mesquer. 
Looking over the list of nations I just attempted, is it, I wonder, generally considered bad form in the rest of the global community to post such notices? Again, I myself would have no problem with it; I see it as a celebration of the diversity that has formed this community, and an opportunity for the rest of us to learn about and support each other.
At my age you’d think I’d have given up idealism by now. :roll:
At my age you’d think I’d have given up idealism by now. :roll:[/quote]
Don’t be silly keep on sluging 
Thanks, CHIFF. Don’t know how to do otherwise, anyway…just an aging flower child, you know?
I prefer to think of myself as a geriatric
drug-crazed hippy.