Avenge Amanda Knox! Give Italy Nothing!

OP maybe you should also boycott Pizza, Lasagna, Pasta, Italian Ice Cream, Italian Cars, and please avoid beautiful Italian women (don't even look at them)

reply to post by Frater210


While it is a good idea in theory, it is completely unrealistic. To expect every American to stop buy anything Italian, to stop going to Italy and all that? This is never going to happen.


So what can you propose that can actually happen?

reply to post by mbkennel


Thank you. Those who think the US is occupying anywhere in Europe really has no clue what they are talking about. There are some US forces still in Europe, and they pay the local govornments quite a bit of money to maintain bases there. Occupying forces do not pay the local and national govornment tons of money to have forces there. The number of bases has drastically dropped since the cold war. I was stationed in Germany shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, and during the three years I was there, over half of the US Army and Air Force installations were shut down, returned to the local authorities, or left for NATO forces. Hell, mt first duty station, Bitburg AFB, was shut down in 1994, and we were relocated to Hannau. Which I have since discovered, has also shut down after I left.

So the numbers of US forces in Europe are a fraction of what they were, are paying handsomely to be there even as the European drawdown continues and more bases are closed, forces diverted elsewhere in the world. Occupiers do not do this. The only two countries the US is currently occupying are Iraq and Afghanistan.

Anti-Americanism in Europe is highly fashionable, even in places where American forces have never been. It was certainly worse during Bush's presidency.

As far as Amanda Knox goes, i could care less. I am getting a bit sick of these highly publicized sensationalist criminal trials, like that broad in Florida who killed her kid. The US isn't the only country that loves the dog and pony show, the Italians are even worse, especially when it comes to their politicians. Regardless of who does it, it's a waste of media attention and time, focusing on things that really don't matter in the larger scheme of things.

reply to post by SeventhSeal


Still catching up (God!).

In the meantime, anyone still concerned that I am suggesting a boycott should go to page three and read what should have been my final post. I did not realize that this was going to unleash the ghosts of our combined European heritage. But I should have and I will get around to apologizing for it.

Meanwhile, go to page three and read my post before I am melted from the hate rays.

No boycott in this household. I have enough problems.

Go read it. It may make you laugh.

BRB.

Originally posted by Kryties
It's a much simpler explanation, with plenty of precedence, than believing in some weirdo sex-crazed satanic ritual murder. People who believe in that theory, in my honest opinion, are simply playing that fantasy out in their own minds for their own disgusting satisfaction.

Indeed. Murderers are rare. Sexcrazed satanic ritual murderers are very rare.

So, what's the chance that two of them would just happen to meet up? And recognize each other and decide upon an evil plan within a week, but not have any plan to get away with it?

And that both were young and had no obvious prior psychological problems or symptoms?

Suppose Miss Knox were not there. Would the Italian man have been charged?

reply to post by Frater210

Is this some kind of joke?? I hope so.. But just for your writing OP, you are pathetic..Goodbye

Originally posted by CodyOutlaw
Given the evidence - I am convinced Knox was involved. So no - I'm not shedding any tears for her. I get angry just thinking about it.

I do have a question for you, though - where was your outcry when Troy Davis was executed? When 7 out of 9 eye witnesses recant their testimony and complain of police coercion, and the man is denied a further hearing and summarily executed, maybe you should be making noise.

The West Memphis Three lost 18 years of their lives, not to mention Damien was so close to being executed. Did you make noise back then?

What is it about Knox that makes you so mad? All of the above are American, too.

Cody,

Please, someone explain Amanda and her boyfriend's involvement? They hired the murderer, they watched?
What was the prosecutor's story?

Originally posted by xlb40
Ouch! Got us with that one man! Real mature...

Well, you want to boycott us, go ahead. Give up the language you speak.

Originally posted by xlb40
German Italian here.. You mad?

Where? I see no German Italians anywhere. I just see another American pretending to be European.

Originally posted by xlb40
Would these be the same wars that your inferior country jumped on our laps like good little dogs to join?

Our inferior country? Oh you mean the one that has actually won wars on its own without allied support within the last 50 years, unlike the US. Just remember who called for the Libyan bombings (EU), and who is putting in the most work. (US) Good doggy. But we all know you were just on loan from your real owners. I'd be careful; I hear the Chinese eat their dogs.

Originally posted by xlb40
Stop watching them then? But seeing how you dont speak for the vast majority of europeans...

Did that years ago.

Originally posted by xlb40
Like? The largest defense contractors in the world are American, not european. Boeing defense, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman are not European....derp herp.

Really? Your tanks use German guns and German engines. Your troops are carried around in the M113 which is made by BAE, and when they need big gun support, they call on the M109 Howitzer, also BAE. They might need covering fire from an M2 Bradley, a BAE product. If after all this British firepower, they need air support, an F22 might come along, and thanks to it's BAE electronic war systems it might be able to help. In a years time, those same troops might need more air support, and an F35 Lighting will show up, built by BAE systems and powered by Rolls Royce engines. What about in 20 years time when they are at the coastline, and the Navy is required. They can rest assured that the Advanced Gun System developed and built by BAE will get them out of there alive. That ship (Zumwalt Class) will have been powered by Rolls Royce gas turbines. You were saying?

Originally posted by Frater210
reply to post by cluckerspud

 

No dude. I thought that was stupid, too (Freedom Fries).

The Amanda Knox case is important because it illustrates how American is seen in the international community.

Please check the thing out, CluckerSpud. Do you really think all that hoopla was about a murder? Go check it out and then let me know what you think. Your opinion is important.

If the issue is as you've stated , americans not being well recieved around the globe virtually .
Then
it has already been pointed out the reasons why . So really if the American people want to be loved and welcomed they need to change the countrys behaviour towards the rest of the world .
I really cant think of a time in my life when a country was so looked down on. Just before my time there was a country in that postion and it was called Germany or what ever fancy name the Nazs may have asigned to it to make it look more grander a cause than what it really was .

Thats kinda sad that you would jump on the boycott wagon over a case she got to walk away from. Rigged trials happen all the time in america and when the defendant losses thats the end of the road. I'm impressed that italy had two trials a full investigaton in two years thats fast. There would of been real whimpering if she was convicted of murder in some of the varrious other countries where at the end of the first trial they take them behind the wood shed and put a bullet inbetween there eyes. So whats the lession of the day some people cry and throw a fit event if they won and have no reason.. The only real victim in all of this was the poor girl who was murdered and her family that has seen no justice for there loss

No not a joke.

What an awful thread. If anyone is interested I will tell you how it went for me...

I posted it and I watched as the thing was quickly passing through the new topics list. I was kinda bummed thinking, "Gee, I can't believe no one has anything to say about this". I'll give you a moment to stop laughing...

So I turned my attention to something else and came back and Boom!. Uh oh. So I am looking at these replies and I am rapidly deducing how this is going to go and my first thought was, "Run!". But it was too late. I realized that it was going to have to go all the way to WW2 and regretted what I had done. Mostly.

You see, I really am here to learn. Even if I have to beat myself to death to do it sometimes. And I have learned a lot about myself very quickly from this thread. I was telling a friend that it is sort of like 'Mistake-atonic University' (only Americans are going to get that).

Only I, or someone very much like me could have created a mess such as this. The sins of the father, and all that. Both grandfathers were WW2 vets. My generation may be the last to even be able to remember where the closet is to drag the skeletons out of. And here is the rub.

I know better.

I know that when it comes down to it that saying that America 'bailed' anyone out of anything is just short sighted and ignorant. But some primal 'American' part of me responded to this A. Knox thing and I just crapped my brains right out. I am sorry for that, ATS, if I had given it some thought instead of posting between homework I never would have posted this garbage.

I would just like to offer that I meant what I said when I said that we have these problems because they have not been solved. I know this was a crappy way to get in to all of this but don't we at least find it valuable to know that some of this stuff is still fresh and can illicit the wide variety of candid responses that it has?

My idea sucked and I hope you have been to page three. I couldn't go a few days or more without something Italian; usually food. I apologize for suggesting such a ludicrous thing.

So, Walker. He and I are like mindless race cars. Wind us up and we won't quit till we've bashed our own brains in. Great qualities in a soldier but not a good quality in one who's opinions on society are to be depended on. Or even listened to.

I realize that I have these same qualities in myself and I plan to work hard to integrate them in a creative way and not let them get the best of me.

I wanted to get back to some of the replies...

LeBombDiggity

So the OP is advocating a consumer boycott of all things Italian ?

Fair enough, even though Italians have as little influence over their judiciary as the average American has over theirs.

But if consumer boycotts are en vogue, Christ in heavens, I've got a hundred reasons to initiate a boycott of US goods and services. Well, assuming I could find anything in the shops which is in fact manufactured in the USA (not much chance of that, these days).

Of course, I'd never do that though. That's because I'm a Quaker, continental European, liberal ... I'm just about everything most US contributors might despise.

And am of the opinion that those things which seek to divide us are not of God ... and this rotten, terrible thread is one of them.

That is probably my favorite in the end.

Lets see...

Cosmic4Life

But seriously we mustn't allow ourselves to get sucked into National blame games, we are all subject to the whims of those we elect, and once we elect them, they go off and start conquests for their real masters, the super-rich.

Once we elect these idiots we become passengers, it doesn't matter if it's Europe, the USA or Asia, there are no real Democracies or Republics, they are all fake and we have all been taken for a ride.

We shouldn't allow ourselves to fall into these false divisions, we have far more in common with each other,we are all facing financial ruin,we are all subject to the bankers,we all want political representation, we are all seeking the same thing.

If I had read any of these prior to posting I probably would have stopped.

Alright, I am petered out for the moment. Thanks again to everyone for being here and contributing to my education.

As far as the trial goes, I really can't add anything beyond what Kryties has contributed. Thanks, Kryties.

Ciao.

So really if the American people want to be loved and welcomed they need to change the countrys behaviour towards the rest of the world . I really cant think of a time in my life when a country was so looked down on. Just before my time there was a country in that postion and it was called Germany or what ever fancy name the Nazs may have asigned to it to make it look more grander a cause than what it really was .

This is precisely what gets weenies like me upset. Why should we have to prove anything to anyone. America felt as though they had done so much for the world that we had a free pass to at least your understanding.

But you were so quick to throw us under the bus when things got sh***y. Please try to understand why some of us may be smelling the sour grapes.

I promise to take a look a my motivations and behaviors. I am only asking the same from others.

Sorry , friends.

What should have been my final post and the retraction of my lame boycott is on Page 4..

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I'd post it again but I don't know if would be very funny at this point.

Originally posted by Frater210
reply to post by cluckerspud

 

No dude. I thought that was stupid, too (Freedom Fries).

The Amanda Knox case is important because it illustrates how American is seen in the international community.

Please check the thing out, CluckerSpud. Do you really think all that hoopla was about a murder? Go check it out and then let me know what you think. Your opinion is important.

Haven't you thought about the possibility that the American media portrayed this legal case in a bad way? The Knox case was portrayed very badly in the American media. But I shouldn't beleave everything that the media tells you.
Italy has a good legal system. It is not a third world country. The idea that Italy treats Knox badly just because they hate America is something I don't beleave in. The legal system in Italy is about as good as in other western countries.

I would rather think that the media portrays this case the way they do, just to make a big news story. Somewhy American media never thrusts the law in other countries. They even don't thrust International Court in The Hague. And about Italians hating America: If you look to Gallup polls you would know that that isn't true.

The media just want to make a big news item from the Knox case, to attract a lot of viewers and cash a lot of money.

All right, now that this can of worms is open, I'm finding this thread has become a pretty damn compelling exploration of latent US/EU tensions. There's bad blood on a bandage where, I for one, never even suspected there was a wound.

Seriously, it hit the ground already going 60mph, and has kept accelerating steadily until grievances our grandpappies had good grounds for are whipped out like they're two days fresh. How did this conversation end up in the last century, and why was I never aware that this animosity even existed?

I've been to Europe on several occasions, and it might just be a generational gap; but as bad as this thread got, as quickly as it did, you'd think I would've run into something more than a few rude waiters. I dunno, maybe you've gotta be sporting a uniform. Or a set of bad manners.

reply to post by Frater210


I mean this as constutive critasizm so please do not take it any other way.

I don't think the majority of Americans realise how they are loathed around the world. I don't blame it on the individual, but on the American education system and also attitudes of the US Government. I believe you are taught in school that NOTHING could have happened in the world without the US. This is not so. I believe you are taught history of the world that always has a pro US slant on it. It's like the chap earlier who thought it was only the US that supplied armamnets to the Soviets during WWII when in fact it wasn't. It's like the chap also who thought that only the US had the worlds largest armaments company. It's like the chap who fought Hitler could not have been defeated without the US involvement.
All this is nonsense, but Americans believe it because that's what they have been told to believe. Believe it or not if the US didn't exiist then the world would just go on without it. After all the world was functioning rather well before 1776 was it not.

Hope this may have enlightened you as to why people get their backs up toward Americans.

reply to post by alldaylong


Thank you so much for you calm, measured post.

I can't help but agree with you. Thank you for reminding me.

I hope members from all over will continue to post and say exactly what they mean to. I am chagrined and would just like to hear more from people who still have something to say about it.

Please don't be concerned with being on topic. We have flown now to the only place we could have gone with this. Maybe we can lift it out of the gutter.

Thank you.

Decided I would rather wish everyone peace

This thread was too long and full of bile, so i didn't read it. I do have a comment though. The average American consumer purchases almost no Italian products on a daily basis so I doubt that this will have much of an effect.

reply to post by Frater210


AMEN i went to Italy years ago as a way to explore my heritage and they are rude belligerent people nothing like i expected them to be. No hospitality, aghhhhh i could have gone somewhere better like Jamaica or something, Amsterdam you get im saying. The Italians need to chill out and knock off the Mussolini act

As for Amanda Knox well i have no idea if she was innocent or guilty i have some suspicions she was set up. However i dont know but her release was some kind of way of saying they f'ed up imho


Lets start a Pizza protest