[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lore', 'B')rits are not so hung up on flags as those here in the U.S.

[Plantagenet]

I suspect you could find confederate flags at auto races in most countries of the world.

[Withnail]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '
')I only brought up the fact that some Brits fly the confederate flag to counter the misinformation from another poster that Britain has banned the confederate flag. Its just not so.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Withnail', 'I')'m still curious as to where it is flown in the mainland UK. I've never seen it in my life.

[Plantagenet]

As 6 points out above, some who fly it today see the confederate flag purely as a CULTURAL symbol divorced from its racist past.

Now that With's opinion that the confederate flag is likely banned in the UK has proven to be wrong, and we have established that the confederate flag is flown by some people in the UK, does this mean the Brits who fly the confederate flag are all racists?

Or do young Brits or Brits that fly the confederate flag at Loyalist rallies in Belfast see it as a symbol of rebellion, while Brits who fly the confederate flag at car races see it as a link to US stock car racing?

Is everyone who flies a confederate flag a racist, even if they are Brits living int the UK with no direct connection to the USA or the long-gone confederacy?

Cheers!

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', 'A')s 6 points out above, some who fly it today see the confederate flag purely as a CULTURAL symbol divorced from its racist past.

[Withnail]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '
')
Now that With's opinion that the confederate flag is likely banned in the UK has proven to be wrong,

[Sixstrings]

This "racist" word gets thrown around way too much.

See my above linked article about new zealand and how they've got one party calling the other party "racists" because they're talking about offshore buyers from China.

"Racist" is a powerful word, because OF COURSE NOBODY IS A RACIST, no good and decent person and nobody even wants associated with that but then the problem is that all the Left has to do is introduce that word, to get their way on whatever political thing they are wanting.

Actual racism is anyone thinking that a minority is somehow genetically inferior. And then discrimination, denying opportunity in jobs and housing and not giving people different from you a fair chance as an individual -- whether they are black, latino, gay, muslim, transgender or "redneck" / country, or Southerner.

[Withnail]

Here's something from 2015 (Northern Ireland)



http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/ ... 60497.html

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ')Nazi and Confederate flags have appeared on lamp posts in County Antrim.

The flags are situated near a loyalist bonfire site on the Marshalltown Road in Carrickfergus.

Police confirmed on Wednesday afternoon they were aware of a further Confederate flag in the Bushmills area.

They appeared alongside loyalist paramilitary flags and the Union flag.

The PSNI said they were "aware of reports of several flags in the Carrickfergus area and are making enquiries".


Many parts of the constituency, including Bangor and Ballygowan, have been awash for several weeks with UDA and Red Hand Commando flags.

Despite complaints from furious residents, no action has been taken by the PSNI.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Withnail', 'P')ublic Order Act 1986 (section on incitement to racial hatred).

[Withnail]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Withnail', 'P')ublic Order Act 1986 (section on incitement to racial hatred).

[Sixstrings]

Bottom line about the flag is that it depends on the person holding it, really. That's what it all comes down to. It's like the gun rights debate.

I don't deny the racist thing and skinhead thing that's out there, it's just that most "rednecks" honestly are not that, at all.

If you ban something in entirety, like a flag or guns, then you take away the rights of a lot of innocent people in the effort to get at the bad few of them.

Honestly though, I am mixed on it all.. and every state is different.. my views on how I'd actually vote match up to the CNN questionaire I posted and actually I'd agree with like 1/3 of the anti-confederate symbol issues.

I just don't think it should go too far, there's a balance to be found where there's tolerance for all groups.

Skinheads are awful people, country folks in the South are not necessarily skinheads though. Etc. etc.

[Withnail]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', '
')
Skinheads are awful people, country folks in the South are not necessarily skinheads though. Etc. etc.

[americandream]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Withnail', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', '
')
Skinheads are awful people, country folks in the South are not necessarily skinheads though. Etc. etc.

[Sixstrings]

Interesting article:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')hich of the 11 American nations do you live in?

Red states and blue states? Flyover country and the coasts? How simplistic. Colin Woodard, a reporter at the Portland Press Herald and author of several books, says North America can be broken neatly into 11 separate nation-states, where dominant cultures explain our voting behaviors and attitudes toward everything from social issues to the role of government.



Yankeedom: Founded by Puritans, residents in Northeastern states and the industrial Midwest tend to be more comfortable with government regulation. They value education and the common good more than other regions.

New Netherland: The Netherlands was the most sophisticated society in the Western world when New York was founded, Woodard writes, so it’s no wonder that the region has been a hub of global commerce. It’s also the region most accepting of historically persecuted populations.

The Midlands: Stretching from Quaker territory west through Iowa and into more populated areas of the Midwest, the Midlands are “pluralistic and organized around the middle class.” Government intrusion is unwelcome, and ethnic and ideological purity isn’t a priority.

Tidewater: The coastal regions in the English colonies of Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland and Delaware tend to respect authority and value tradition. Once the most powerful American nation, it began to decline during Westward expansion.

Greater Appalachia: Extending from West Virginia through the Great Smoky Mountains and into Northwest Texas, the descendants of Irish, English and Scottish settlers value individual liberty. Residents are “intensely suspicious of lowland aristocrats and Yankee social engineers.”

Deep South: Dixie still traces its roots to the caste system established by masters who tried to duplicate West Indies-style slave society, Woodard writes. The Old South values states’ rights and local control and fights the expansion of federal powers.

El Norte: Southwest Texas and the border region is the oldest, and most linguistically different, nation in the Americas. Hard work and self-sufficiency are prized values.

The Left Coast: A hybrid, Woodard says, of Appalachian independence and Yankee utopianism loosely defined by the Pacific Ocean on one side and coastal mountain ranges like the Cascades and the Sierra Nevadas on the other. The independence and innovation required of early explorers continues to manifest in places like Silicon Valley and the tech companies around Seattle.

The Far West: The Great Plains and the Mountain West were built by industry, made necessary by harsh, sometimes inhospitable climates. Far Westerners are intensely libertarian and deeply distrustful of big institutions, whether they are railroads and monopolies or the federal government.

New France: Former French colonies in and around New Orleans and Quebec tend toward consensus and egalitarian, “among the most liberal on the continent, with unusually tolerant attitudes toward gays and people of all races and a ready acceptance of government involvement in the economy,” Woodard writes.

First Nation: The few First Nation peoples left — Native Americans who never gave up their land to white settlers — are mainly in the harshly Arctic north of Canada and Alaska. They have sovereignty over their lands, but their population is only around 300,000.

The clashes between the 11 nations play out in every way, from politics to social values.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2013/11/08/which-of-the-11-american-nations-do-you-live-in/?tid=trending_strip_6

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', 'I')nteresting article:

Which of the 11 American nations do you live in?

Red states and blue states? Flyover country and the coasts? How simplistic. Colin Woodard, a reporter at the Portland Press Herald and author of several books, says North America can be broken neatly into 11 separate nation-states, where dominant cultures explain our voting behaviors and attitudes toward everything from social issues to the role of government.

[Lore]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lore', 'B')rits are not so hung up on flags as those here in the U.S.

[Sixstrings]

Far extreme left stuff is so crazy. It's like from another planet, I honestly cannot understand it.

They're banning horse-drawn carriages, in New York City.

I would assume that ban is from the "cruelty to animals" PETA folks, but others are also equating riding horses or horse-drawn carriages, to slavery:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]The hip-hop mogul revealed his tin ear on Thursday by comparing the plight of carriage horses to slavery, the Holocaust and ethnic cleansing.

Simmons, founder of Def Jam records, launched into the screed outside City Hall when asked about officials who oppose banning Central Park’s horse-drawn carriages.

“It’s a holocaust,” Simmons told The Wall Street Journal. “There were people for slavery, remember? Slavery was fine. There were people who put people in ovens. There are all kinds of ethnic cleansing, people for it.”

Simmons blasted Mayor Bill de Blasio for not making good on his campaign promise to ban the carriages.
“The horses matter,” Simmons said. “The promises you made matter. You got in office because we put you there. We put you in, and we can take you out.”

De Blasio said he was “not worried” about the rant and pledged to continue trying to enact the ban, which faces City Council opposition.
http://nypost.com/2015/07/16/russell-simmons-compares-carriage-horses-to-holocaust-victims/

[Sixstrings]

Tone from some on the Left is gettin' really vicious, holy cow:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]Wipe the Confederacy out now: Southern haters have a sick new lie designed to hold onto Confederate flags, memorials
http://www.salon.com/2015/07/16/wipe_the_confederacy_out_now_southern_haters_have_a_sick_new_lie_designed_to_hold_onto_confederate_flags_memorials/

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'P')ermit allows up to 4,000 people at rally in defense of Confederate monument in Graham

GRAHAM, N.C. — In a town of 15,000 people, the possibility of a 4,000 person rally is a pretty big deal.

Organizers of a rally to protect the Confederate monument in Graham never realized how many supporters they would get.

After receiving a permit on Monday for a rally of 150 people, by Thursday, the Graham Police Department had to replace that with a permit for 4,000 people.

Steven McGilvray, Captain of Operations for the Graham Police Department, granted the new permit after discussions with organizers, who have formed a group called “Taking Back Alamance County.”

“They had stated and reiterated numerous times that their intention is not to draw attention to themselves in a negative light, but to promote something that they firmly believe in,” McGilvray said.

McGilvray said an event on Facebook for the rally has already generated thousands of attendees. Although it’s hard to gauge how many people that will translate to in reality, the permit allows up to 4,000 people to attend. It is scheduled for Saturday from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at the monument in front of the Alamance County Courthouse on North Main Street in Graham.

McGilvray said 40-50 officers will be present for the rally, and will have riot gear. Because the Graham Police Department only has 36 officers total, he said they would be getting assistance from the Burlington Police Department, State Troopers and the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office.

The rally was planned in response to calls by one local group, Concerned Citizens of Alamance County, to take the monument down. Concerned Citizens members said they are working on a formal request to submit to County Commissioners about why they think the monument should be removed and placed on private property instead.
http://myfox8.com/2015/07/16/permit-allows-up-to-4000-people-at-rally-in-defense-of-confederate-monument-in-graham/