Ok guys, I must say that this is BY FAR the best Political thread I’ve ever had the absolute joy of reading. *applauds to all* Another message board that I read http://www.mikeportnoy.com/forum has now banned political discussions due to the immature idiots there. Anyway, being a Conservative, over-opinionated Southern boy (without the accent) I just can’t keep it too myself any longer. Now did I just stereotype myself? *scratches head*

Well, after reading most of all the posts, up to the gay marriage discussions, which is next, I wanted to add the Africa talks. I’ve now reached the conclusion that the “socially aware” media who knows all is feeding us the Iraq feast, while the real party is (not a flying one for any Douglas Adams fans) going on in Africa. I’ve been reading over the past couple of weeks about what’s going on in Darfur, Sudan and it’s quite sickening. As usual, it’s the same Muslims vs. non-Muslims (Christians perhaps) activity. One million innocent, trying to survive, people have left their own homes so they don’t have to have their daughters and wives raped for 4 – 6 hours at a time by up to 6 different men or be one of the 50,000+ (UN latest estimate) killed since this started last year. Also the Arab militias, called Janjaweed are keeping foreign aid from reaching the starving people. The irony is that the UN is just sitting around pondering the definition of the word “genocide” instead of actually doing anything about it. (nothing new there) The US has basically said, “keep this up and you’ll get a big spankin’”. I’m glad to see that we are taking a stand against this atrocity. In terms of the big picture, this seems to be another phase in our “War on Terror” and if anyone feels that this isn’t terrorism, maybe they should go live there and see if they survive.

Sadly however, to me Africa can seem like a bit of a lost cause sometimes. Since now they are protesting our word in the ordeal and deny that they have a problem. Also given the fact that they believe that a woman canNOT get pregnant from being raped and that a raped woman is now “unclean” and can’t be taken back her “husband”. Add these to 2x6spds’s insightful reports. The harsh reality to face is that the problem here is solely a corrupt government protecting their power and an ignorant society that’s blind to it. Also, even if we do something about it, the terrorist groups will still hate the US just for our existence alone. Honestly the only solution to this is to educate the African population and empower them to revolt against their own government with a civil war. Sad resolution, but sometimes war is an unavoidable remedy. Sorry if this seems to be last week’s news, but I just had to rant for a bit. Carry on.

PS - 2x6spd, I might not agree with you about expensive speaker cables, but WOW!! I’ll discuss politics with you any day of the week.