Me thinks poster "Decopain" is a previous banned poster. This one will have a short life here soon. Don't feed the troll.

Banning people who offer a different opinion is not the way.

SG, what would the appropriate response be when someone is parroting the propaganda from a lying, murderous dictator and his bloated, sick, cruel, corrupt lapdog? Honestly, what would you do if the lying, murderous dictator and his bloated, sick, cruel corrupt lapdog were very left wing spouting Marxist Communist doctrine? (I am speaking about real Marxist Communist doctrine, not Northern European Social Democracy ideology along the lines of a Senator Bernie Sanders.) Would you be so sanguine about them spouting their filth? Or like Judge Alito, as long as they are "on your side," would you allow them to continue?

"Seek first to understand, then to be understood." -- Stephen Covey

Banning people who offer a different opinion is not the way.

Here is how I see it.

There are people who are not welcome in my home because of what they say or how they say it. Homophobes, misogynists, racists, and some others are not welcome in my home. I suspect there are some people who would not be welcome in your home.

Rob operates a business of web design, website hosting, etc. from his “home office”.

Rob also has a “virtual home deck”.

Rob invites people to come enjoy discussion on his deck. You don’t have to have a business relationship to be welcome to the social relationship. But we who enjoy the discussion have to behave as good guests in Rob’s home.

Rob is more tolerant than I would be if people were conversing on my deck, but Rob’s
tolerance does get crossed sometimes.

“Your home, your rules. My home, my rules.”

Rob’s home, Rob’s rules.

Me thinks poster "Decopain" is a previous banned poster. This one will have a short life here soon. Don't feed the troll.

Banning people who offer a different opinion is not the way.

You go run your Message Board the way you see fit, and I'll do mine. I have few rules, and one of them is I can delete whatever I want, and if you don't like it... This is not a democracy here, there is no freedom of speech. I tolerate no assholes and only as much nonsense as I want. All MAGAts qualify as assholes. Siding with Putin qualifies as a terrorist.

Me thinks poster "Decopain" is a previous banned poster. This one will have a short life here soon. Don't feed the troll.

Banning people who offer a different opinion is not the way.

The USA has not submitted to Russia. We just want the stupid war to end. Ukraine can’t win and the stalemate needs to end. 4 years is enough. End the madness please. Russia ???????? s not giving up the territory they claimed. Wasn’t anything learned when they took Crimea? This is Europes war to fight. If Europe was even remotely serious they wouldn’t buy all of that oil and gas from Russia. The idea of Ukraine joining NATI was the big mistake.

Rob, can't your system automatically identify and root out Putin trolls?

Mr. Neville "Deco" Chamberlain, wasn't anything learned from your appeasement of a brutal, murderous dictator when they took Czechoslovakia?

"Peace in our time ... until Putin rolls into Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania ... and then Poland ... Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania ... and ..."

The Soviet Union wasn't so bad, ya' know. They kept the trains running and the price of eggs down.

I never, ever thought I would live to see the day when the right wing would be appeasing, aiding, and abetting Russia. Mr. Reagan and Mr. Nixon and Mr. Bush, Sr. are rolling over in their graves.

Ukraine *will* eventually be a member of NATO.

Me thinks poster "Decopain" is a previous banned poster. This one will have a short life here soon. Don't feed the troll.

The USA has not submitted to Russia. We just want the stupid war to end. Ukraine can’t win and the stalemate needs to end. 4 years is enough. End the madness please. Russia ???????? s not giving up the territory they claimed. Wasn’t anything learned when they took Crimea? This is Europes war to fight. If Europe was even remotely serious they wouldn’t buy all of that oil and gas from Russia. The idea of Ukraine joining NATI was the big mistake.

Rob, can't your system automatically identify and root out Putin trolls?

Mr. Neville "Deco" Chamberlain, wasn't anything learned from your appeasement of a brutal, murderous dictator when they took Czechoslovakia?

"Peace in our time ... until Putin rolls into Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania ... and then Poland ... Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania ... and ..."

The Soviet Union wasn't so bad, ya' know. They kept the trains running and the price of eggs down.

I never, ever thought I would live to see the day when the right wing would be appeasing, aiding, and abetting Russia. Mr. Reagan and Mr. Nixon and Mr. Bush, Sr. are rolling over in their graves.

Ukraine *will* eventually be a member of NATO.

An American doctor, Maxine Dexter, who is also a politician in OR diagnosed it well. Democracy in the USA is sick. We need to get in there and help it heal.

Democracy is the majority of a population ejecting their officials and in this last election both electoral and popular vote went to the potus. Not sure how that’s not democracy.

Freudian slip there? I'm sure you meant "electing" their officials, though more and more "democratic elections" these days seem to result in a lot of ejecting of officials.....Navalny for one.
So, by your measure, recent elections in Russia, Venezuela, Belarus, etc., etc. were exercises in democracy?

"Only U.S. citizens cling stubbornly to the incorrect use of America and Americans, and Canadians simply don't want to be confused for U.S. citizens."

There you go again Rob with your feeble, esoteric, and utterly pedantic "explanation" of Americans having no right to call themselves "American." The only "stubborn" person in the room is you.

Riddle me this: why is it that Americans are the only country NOT allowed to called themselves the name that is part of their official country name: United States of America? Mexico's official country name is United States of Mexico and they call themselves (gasp) Mexicans!

No other countries in North, Central, or South America would even consider calling themselves "American" but we do and you find that cringe worthy? Please!

I'm a military retiree. I've traveled the world. Everywhere we (stubborn people) go, everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) immediately recognizes us as a person from the United States of America when we say we're "American." Give it a rest.

All you've done is demonstrate you don't know what "America" is being referred to in the "United States of America". America is not the name of the country. American is not a nationality. It is the name of the entire continent, or supercontinent if you like. It refers to the collective of people and nations, as it was commonly used since long before the USA existed. Unfortunately, neither the Founding Fathers nor the Constitution ever gave its citizens a demonym, and therein lies the conundrum.

No, South Africans don't use your argument that "Africa" is in their name so that makes them Africans by nationality. Yes, the grammatical error is historical, and media has contributed to repeating the error. But Americans are reclaiming their collective identity and the title "American". Only stubborn U.S. citizens and Canadians who abhor being confused for U.S. citizens have a problem with this.

Sad to see you get angry about this instead of accepting the new information (for you) and learning from it.

Oh, and Mexico's name is "Los Estados Unidos Mexicanos". The United Mexican States. Mexico was trying to both flatter the USA with its new official name and at the same time show the U.S. how a demonym works.

Democracy is the majority of a population ejecting their officials and in this last election both electoral and popular vote went to the potus. Not sure how that’s not democracy.

A "majority of the population" did not elect him. With less than 50% of the total, a majority of the voters did not elect him either.

Just returned from some time in Europe and the only question was:
What the hell is wrong with America.

What country? Are you suggesting all European countries are the same? What did they think was wrong?

How come that thread about Rob promoting condo developments while simultaneously condemning them got deleted?

Right. I left out all the British too that asked WTF was wrong with America as well.

An American doctor, Maxine Dexter, who is also a politician in OR diagnosed it well. Democracy in the USA is sick. We need to get in there and help it heal.

Democracy is the majority of a population ejecting their officials and in this last election both electoral and popular vote went to the potus. Not sure how that’s not democracy.

Just returned from some time in Europe and the only question was:
What the hell is wrong with America.

What country? Are you suggesting all European countries are the same? What did they think was wrong?

How come that thread about Rob promoting condo developments while simultaneously condemning them got deleted?

There you go again Rob with your feeble, esoteric, and utterly pedantic "explanation" of Americans having no right to call themselves "American." The only "stubborn" person in the room is you.

Riddle me this: why is it that Americans are the only country NOT allowed to called themselves the name that is part of their official country name: United States of America? Mexico's official country name is United States of Mexico and they call themselves (gasp) Mexicans!

No other countries in North, Central, or South America would even consider calling themselves "American" but we do and you find that cringe worthy? Please!

I'm a military retiree. I've traveled the world. Everywhere we (stubborn people) go, everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) immediately recognizes us as a person from the United States of America when we say we're "American." Give it a rest.

America is a continent, not a nation.

A continent? Or three continents? North America, Central America, and South America?

Americans are the inhabitants of that continent, not a nationality.

A relative worked for Canadian immigration. They talked about people driving into Canada and, when asked for their citizenship, they would say “Alabama”, or “Georgia”, or “Tennessee” or some other “Dixie” state. That was not acceptable to Canadian immigration, but the immigration officers were not permitted to give the correct answer which was “American”.

You've only to check your U.S. passport to see those facts in plain English. The rest of America except for the USA and Canada agrees that we are all Americans from Tierra del Fuego to the Northern Territories and Greenland.

Wouldn’t the terms for agreement be “North Americans”, Central Americans”, and “South Americans”?

As an aside, I have had friends and coworkers from Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, and Costa Rica. None of them would accept being called “American”. I don’t think that any of my Mexican friends or acquaintances would want me to call them American”.

None of my Canadian friends or relatives would accept being called American. They would vociferously reject that description while agreeing that they are “North American”.

Exactly. This stupid argument just won't die, will it? If a traveler from Paraguay goes to Europe, or anywhere else in the world, including the entire continent of South America, and insists to the authorities that he is "American", he'll be arrested for personation....and stupidity.

He would never claim to be an American as his nationality, we're actually not stupid south of the Río Bravo. But if he were to go to Europe and watch a fútbol match between Canada and Spain, he would likely root for the American team, as most of us do who are from this marvelous land called America. No nation of Europe, Africa or Asia would be so arrogant as to claim they are the only Europeans, Africans or Asians. It's time to stop living a lie, especially considering that the USA has now submitted to Russia like a little lap dog seeking Putin's approval, as actions of the past week confirmed and last night's spectacle in the U.S. Capitol so clearly underscored.

And if he told his seatmates at that futbol match between Canada and Spain that he was "rooting for the American team" they'd think he was an idiot.
And so would I.

The only person who'd be thought an idiot in that situation would unfortunately be you. I speak from the voice of experience. Except for arrogant Gringos and confused Canadians, Americans root for Americans. It has always been thus since the days of El Libertador. If you were able to simply hang out with anyone south of the Río Bravo in THEIR world, not your Anglo-extranjero bubble, this would be one of those things that are understood among all, taken as a given. Not sure why this is so difficult for you to accept. It's like you're clinging to a belief in Santa Claus. ¿Prefieres averiguarlo en la vida real? ¡Vamos! Hay mucho fútbol hoy en la noche. Vamos a unos bares, tú y yo. Rápidamente verás quién tiene la razón, sobre todo entre los equipos nacionales, pero también con los equipos de la CONCACAF. Nadie va a estar abucheando los equipos americanos. Hasta tenemos un equipo "América" que no tiene absolutamente NADA que ver con los gringos.

https://youtu.be/0ue-YP-wvsY

America is a continent, not a nation.

A continent? Or three continents? North America, Central America, and South America?

Americans are the inhabitants of that continent, not a nationality.

A relative worked for Canadian immigration. They talked about people driving into Canada and, when asked for their citizenship, they would say “Alabama”, or “Georgia”, or “Tennessee” or some other “Dixie” state. That was not acceptable to Canadian immigration, but the immigration officers were not permitted to give the correct answer which was “American”.

You've only to check your U.S. passport to see those facts in plain English. The rest of America except for the USA and Canada agrees that we are all Americans from Tierra del Fuego to the Northern Territories and Greenland.

Wouldn’t the terms for agreement be “North Americans”, Central Americans”, and “South Americans”?

As an aside, I have had friends and coworkers from Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, and Costa Rica. None of them would accept being called “American”. I don’t think that any of my Mexican friends or acquaintances would want me to call them American”.

None of my Canadian friends or relatives would accept being called American. They would vociferously reject that description while agreeing that they are “North American”.

Exactly. This stupid argument just won't die, will it? If a traveler from Paraguay goes to Europe, or anywhere else in the world, including the entire continent of South America, and insists to the authorities that he is "American", he'll be arrested for personation....and stupidity.

He would never claim to be an American as his nationality, we're actually not stupid south of the Río Bravo. But if he were to go to Europe and watch a fútbol match between Canada and Spain, he would likely root for the American team, as most of us do who are from this marvelous land called America. No nation of Europe, Africa or Asia would be so arrogant as to claim they are the only Europeans, Africans or Asians. It's time to stop living a lie, especially considering that the USA has now submitted to Russia like a little lap dog seeking Putin's approval, as actions of the past week confirmed and last night's spectacle in the U.S. Capitol so clearly underscored.

And if he told his seatmates at that futbol match between Canada and Spain that he was "rooting for the American team" they'd think he was an idiot.
And so would I.

America is a continent, not a nation.

A continent? Or three continents? North America, Central America, and South America?

Americans are the inhabitants of that continent, not a nationality.

A relative worked for Canadian immigration. They talked about people driving into Canada and, when asked for their citizenship, they would say “Alabama”, or “Georgia”, or “Tennessee” or some other “Dixie” state. That was not acceptable to Canadian immigration, but the immigration officers were not permitted to give the correct answer which was “American”.

You've only to check your U.S. passport to see those facts in plain English. The rest of America except for the USA and Canada agrees that we are all Americans from Tierra del Fuego to the Northern Territories and Greenland.

Wouldn’t the terms for agreement be “North Americans”, Central Americans”, and “South Americans”?

As an aside, I have had friends and coworkers from Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, and Costa Rica. None of them would accept being called “American”. I don’t think that any of my Mexican friends or acquaintances would want me to call them American”.

None of my Canadian friends or relatives would accept being called American. They would vociferously reject that description while agreeing that they are “North American”.

Exactly. This stupid argument just won't die, will it? If a traveler from Paraguay goes to Europe, or anywhere else in the world, including the entire continent of South America, and insists to the authorities that he is "American", he'll be arrested for personation....and stupidity.

He would never claim to be an American as his nationality, we're actually not stupid south of the Río Bravo. But if he were to go to Europe and watch a fútbol match between Canada and Spain, he would likely root for the American team, as most of us do who are from this marvelous land called America. No nation of Europe, Africa or Asia would be so arrogant as to claim they are the only Europeans, Africans or Asians. It's time to stop living a lie, especially considering that the USA has now submitted to Russia like a little lap dog seeking Putin's approval, as actions of the past week confirmed and last night's spectacle in the U.S. Capitol so clearly underscored.

America is a continent, not a nation.

A continent? Or three continents? North America, Central America, and South America?

Americans are the inhabitants of that continent, not a nationality.

A relative worked for Canadian immigration. They talked about people driving into Canada and, when asked for their citizenship, they would say “Alabama”, or “Georgia”, or “Tennessee” or some other “Dixie” state. That was not acceptable to Canadian immigration, but the immigration officers were not permitted to give the correct answer which was “American”.

You've only to check your U.S. passport to see those facts in plain English. The rest of America except for the USA and Canada agrees that we are all Americans from Tierra del Fuego to the Northern Territories and Greenland.

Wouldn’t the terms for agreement be “North Americans”, Central Americans”, and “South Americans”?

As an aside, I have had friends and coworkers from Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, and Costa Rica. None of them would accept being called “American”. I don’t think that any of my Mexican friends or acquaintances would want me to call them American”.

None of my Canadian friends or relatives would accept being called American. They would vociferously reject that description while agreeing that they are “North American”.

Exactly. This stupid argument just won't die, will it? If a traveler from Paraguay goes to Europe, or anywhere else in the world, including the entire continent of South America, and insists to the authorities that he is "American", he'll be arrested for personation....and stupidity.

America is a continent, not a nation.

A continent? Or three continents? North America, Central America, and South America?

Americans are the inhabitants of that continent, not a nationality.

A relative worked for Canadian immigration. They talked about people driving into Canada and, when asked for their citizenship, they would say “Alabama”, or “Georgia”, or “Tennessee” or some other “Dixie” state. That was not acceptable to Canadian immigration, but the immigration officers were not permitted to give the correct answer which was “American”.

You've only to check your U.S. passport to see those facts in plain English. The rest of America except for the USA and Canada agrees that we are all Americans from Tierra del Fuego to the Northern Territories and Greenland.

Wouldn’t the terms for agreement be “North Americans”, Central Americans”, and “South Americans”?

As an aside, I have had friends and coworkers from Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, and Costa Rica. None of them would accept being called “American”. I don’t think that any of my Mexican friends or acquaintances would want me to call them American”.

None of my Canadian friends or relatives would accept being called American. They would vociferously reject that description while agreeing that they are “North American”.

You make no sense America isn’t a country.

Aw, give this nonsense a rest! Whether you like it or not, "America" to the vast majority of the world's population means the United States of America. You can try correcting those billions of folks who have it wrong, but you'd be wasting your time.

America is a continent, not a nation. Americans are the inhabitants of that continent, not a nationality. You've only to check your U.S. passport to see those facts in plain English. The rest of America except for the USA and Canada agrees that we are all Americans from Tierra del Fuego to the Northern Territories and Greenland. Even Europeans accept the correction after having it explained to them. Only U.S. citizens cling stubbornly to the incorrect use of America and Americans, and Canadians simply don't want to be confused for U.S. citizens.