One more place racist garbage is no longer welcome

As someone, who lives (and have lived his entire life) in a former Soviet satellite state, I find it really funny when people from the West talk about how it really wasn't that bad. )))

I think that Dubcek was supported by many people during the Prague Spring but there were plenty of intellectuals who wouldn't trust any communist, writer Josef Skvorecky was one. Most Czechs of that generation remember how broken Dubcek was in a now infamous speech when he returned from Moscow where they broke him after the illegal Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. Yes, he took to the stage with Havel in the days of the Velvet Revolution but I don't think even then there was any chance he would return to a positon of power. He was yesterday's man.

As for US values in Czechoslovakia, the country was founded in 1918 with great support from the US, and the first president's wife was American. The Czech Republic's constitution is I believe inspired by the american one, many ties are historic. In the 90s, Havel made Frank Zappa a cultural ambassador or envoy or whatever it was: what more could you want?! But that is really more about what kind of a person Havel was of course.

In the 90s there wasn't much nostalgia for the communist years unless you were over 50 or 60. Today, the communists remain in parliament of course and are largely unapologetic trash. they still get a fairly high percentage of the vote (especially among older and rural population). Even then, I think there are very few people in the country who actually regret the Velvet Revolution now (if they did then) if only for material reasons.

Can we get the British flag banned too? My Scottish ancestors suffered under their rule.

I miss Czechoslovakia. It had a cool name. Now it's 4 little places, and only one has a small name. I used to have a lot of Albanian and Czech friends, one of them was the lead singer for a regionally famous band, "Divorce" (Not the Glasgow band). He told me all kinds of fucked up shit.

All I know is that Česká Zbrojovka makes some incredibly great handguns.

Green Lantern wrote: Can we get the British flag banned too? My Scottish ancestors suffered under their rule.

After what they did to that sheep, they deserved to suffer.

SuperflyTNT wrote:

Green Lantern wrote: Can we get the British flag banned too? My Scottish ancestors suffered under their rule.

After what they did to that sheep, they deserved to suffer.

So why is one people's suffering joke worthy and the other is not?

I'm all for banning the British flag...

wice wrote: As someone, who lives (and have lived his entire life) in a former Soviet satellite state, I find it really funny when people from the West talk about how it really wasn't that bad. )))

I also find it amusing. Luckily, I was quoting my mother-in-law, sister in law, father in law and brother in law, all of whom live in the Ukraine. I never lived there but they certainly did and still do.

I find it more amusing that people should use the fact they live there to mean they win the argument, slam dunk, and no one else has a point of view that is valid outside their country. If you have ever only lived in one country, all of your life, I would hazard that your internationalist viewpoint is rather skewed anyway.

Green Lantern wrote:

SuperflyTNT wrote:

Green Lantern wrote: Can we get the British flag banned too? My Scottish ancestors suffered under their rule.

After what they did to that sheep, they deserved to suffer.

So why is one people's suffering joke worthy and the other is not?

THINK OF THE SHEEP!

Truth is that Scots didn't just get their country and just get recognized as a 100% person this century.

And the Union Jack is actually the symbol of the unification of the "UK", whereby England, Ireland, and Scotland were unified. So, it's not a symbol of hate, it's a symbol of peace.

Is that what he was doing? Winning the argument slam dunk? Naw...

BTW The communists in the Czech Rep use a pair of cherries as their symbol these days to soften their image.

Edit: I don't want to argue, just discuss how symbols are viewed. My take on the H&S is that it is a symbol of criminal regimes... but that was clear already.

SuperflyTNT wrote: Truth is that Scots didn't just get their country and just get recognized as a 100% person this century.

So what's the statue of limitations on U.S. slavery and the Civil War?

SuperflyTNT wrote: And the Union Jack is actually the symbol of the unification of the "UK", whereby England, Ireland, and Scotland were unified. So, it's not a symbol of hate, it's a symbol of peace.

A symbols meaning is purely a matter of perspective. I'm a good ole southern boy myself and know plenty of souterners who fly the Confederate flag because they are proud to be southern. Trust me when I say they have no racial hatred brewing in them or any desire to become a slave driving plantation owner.

I think your heart is in the right place, Supes, but having a flag banned on BGG was a step backwards IMO. It isn't a symbol of evil to everyone and BGG wussed out taking it out of the store.

Oh yeah, what was the Jubil Early quote?