@LucVB

Bedankt voor de informatie.  I really should start using Wikipedia more and 'get on with the times'. 

Given its libertarian connection and the possibility of 'wordplay' on a postmarxist (?) columnist of The Guardian, which is helping to destroy - rather than 'guarding' - western civilisation, I am somewhat wary of using the term "moonbat".  But, Atheling introduced it here, and he appears to know what he is doing.  I think I will stick with the more traditional term "idiotic".

By contrast, the term "Kool Aid", with its connotation of unhealthy 'artificial flavoring', has more appeal to me, and seems less open to creating confusion in the listener.    

Just found your site and it's refreshing to see there are some rational folk in Europe.  Everytime I go to Paris to visit in-laws my wife and I receive a constant barrage of anti-American sentiment.  It's nice to see you "heathens" aren't totally lost. ;-)  Great site!  Keep it up!

@marcfrans: The term "moonbat" was introduced by Perry de Havilland of Samizdata.net in 2002 and was derived from George Monbiot, a columnist of The Guardian. More at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonbat.

"Drinking the Kool Aid" is a reference to the Merry Pranksters, who mixed Kool Aid with LSD. It is also associated with the 1978 mass suicide in Jonestown, where some 900 people drank Flavor Aid laced with potassium cyanide. Drinking the Kool Aid = losing your ability to think in a reational way. More at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kool_aid#.22Drinking_the_Kool-Aid.22

Guilty on all counts. You'll see what else I read if you go to my blog.

@ atheling

The reference to "Kool Aid" suggests that you are a regular viewer of 'O'Reilly' on Fox (cable) News.  The absence of any such (Fox-like) media competition on the European 'continent' explains to some extent the high moonbat-content of EU foreign and domestic policies.

Amsterdamsky does not seem to be "inhibited" by anything.  Perhaps you meant to say that he is "prevented" - rather than inhibited - from distinguishing serious "civil liberties" from naive-leftie "pseudo rights".

If you know the origin of the term "moonbat", it would be interesting to hear about it. I, probably mistakenly, associate the term with Michele Malkin's blogsite.     

"Shouting" you down? I haven't even addressed you here till now.
You better stop drinking that kool aid. It's inhibiting you from discriminating between civil liberties in the Founding Fathers' sense and the pseudo rights you advocate.
 
 
 

@ atheling

Yes, I do sometimes, but mostly not. The human condition entails all kinds of "moonbats", from extreme libertarians to ayathollah-types.

It wouldn't be so bad if the naivete of libertarians and the control-freakishness of ayathollahs would be accompanied by knowledge and honesty, but it often is not.  In Amsterdamsky we have a case of someone who cannot distinguish a forest from trees.  And, on top of that, he naively seems to think that he has the 'full picture' on any specific incident somewhere on the northamerican continent.  Anybody who confuses "liberty" with teenage sex and a 'curfew' in San Diego, well.....such a person is beyond.....  

Believe me, teenage sex is alive and well in America, and the last time I walked around San Diego after dark (in the company of teenagers) there was no sign of any 'curfew'.  I think that your "civil liberties" are safe, and there is no need to appease "moonbats". That has already been tried in Amsterdam with predictable results.   

Amsterdamsky, in Germany youth also aren't allowed to do a lot of things without their parents after 11pm. If you seperate liberties from reason, like the Dutch people did, there won't be freedom but anarchy, quite the opposite of freedom. Just look at what has happened with the Netherlands.

I almost forgot, in San Diego (among other places) there is a 10:00PM (22:00 for you euros) curfew for anyone under 18. Your children will be arrested and jailed until you come post bail and pick them up. I don't know what the fine is but it is at least several hundred dollars AND you are not even a full citizen when you are 18. You can be arrested for possession of alchohol or even if you have been drinking if you are under 21.

"Don't you get weary from reading and trying to correct moonbat posts from people like Amsterdamski?"

Why don't you actually try to "correct my moonbat posts" rather than just shouting me down?" 30+ years in the US dude. I know what I am talking about. After thinking about it I think my favorite US laws are statutory rape laws. If two teenagers have sex the boy can be held for statutory rape and serve long prison time. Gay teenage sex is even worse. Some poor (18 year old) kid got 15 years for having sex with his 17 year old boyfriend. When he gets out he will be a registered sex offender.

My point on Lawrence vs. Texas is that until 2003 you COULD go to jail. It was only narrowly struck down. A similar case in the 1980's was upheld. The fact that it went to the Supreme Court at all indicates that the issue is not over yet.

I haven't even mentioned the "War on Drugs" yet. Your house, property, bank accounts etc. can be liquidated even before the trial with no due process if you are accused of selling, growing drugs. Some of these Reagan era excesses have been rolled back but since the police find the liquidation of these assets and confiscated money very profitable, as do the for-profit prison systems do for non-violent criminals I expect these abuses to continue for the foreseeable future.

You have not even left the country and the squabblers are loose and at it again. We miss you already, hurry back this site may be in tatters whence you return.
Have a great time, eat some Trans Fat American Fries and Gain a Few Pounds.
Welcome back to the land of the free, "for now anyway".

Don't you get weary from reading and trying to correct moonbat posts from people like Amsterdamsky?
 
I do. Sigh.

@ Amsterdamsky
 
Umm -- actually, Lawrence vs. Texas shows that you no longer can serve jail time for gay sex in Texas, or anywhere in the United States.  That 2003 ruling struck down the anti-sodomy laws.

The US is a continent-wide democracy.  Under its federal system, local and state governments have wide leeway to set 'community rules', as long as these rules can survive constitutional challenges.  There is thus significant diversity in these rules, which is certainly more democratic than the imposition of uniform rules by a far-away federal government. Unless one were to take a lowest-common denominator extreme 'libertarian' naive view of "freedom" which would amount to anything goes and damn the societal consequences.  And the First Amendment guarantees that all these 'rules' are constantly up for debate in all 50 states.   The essence of democracy is freedom of speech, and certainly not 'anything goes for Amsterdamsky'.   If he wants to "smoke pot, anal sex, transporting minors across state lines for abortion, etc...."...he is perfectly free to publicly advocate changes in the relevant state laws....OR...he can move to California and other states where the environment is more 'congenial' to his preferred lifestyle. 

But he should not insult the intelligence of serious people by calling these things "civil liberties".   In some cases they would better be called "uncivil" liberties.   I do not want to tell Amsterdamsky how he should lead his life, but I do realise that society cannot function in a jungle of 'anything-goes-anywhere'. Societies need rules to function well. A free society is one where these rules can be freely debated and 'democratically' changed in any direction. An unfree society is where the rules get imposed from 'above' (a 'central' government, a 'sovereign', etc...) without free debate. And a libertarian jungle would be a true 'nightmare' that wouldn't survive the first real storm due to unwillingness of extreme individualists to sacrifice for any 'common good'.

"even if those laws are still on the books they are so obscure that if they made it to court they would probably be dismissed as a joke. "

No joke. A adult book seller recently did jail time and the Supreme Court turned down the appeal. Lawrence vs. Texas shows you will also do jail time for gay sex in the wonderful state of Texas. I find it frightening what you can go to jail for in the US.

I don't normally participate in online forums, but I must admit to feeling the need to respond to Amsterdamsky's remarks. A cusory review of those remarks makes me laugh - even if those laws are still on the books they are so obscure that if they made it to court they would probably be dismissed as a joke. The Great State of Texas has always been the target of malicious attacks, so we have come to accept that as business as usual.
I am a new reader of the Brussels Journal and enjoy it immensely. I plan to provide what support I can. I wish Paul and Luc the best with their visit, and much success.

@ Amsterdamnsky
 
It's a fairly minor point, but the U.S. Surpreme Court struck down anti-sodomy laws in 2003.  And, of course, they had not been enforced for decades.

oiznop, you can lose your freedom in the US for many, many non-violent acts of what should be personal liberty like smoking or growing weed (people were getting life sentences for 1 joint 30 years ago), picking psylocibin mushrooms, selling dildos in Texas, having gay sex in Texas and many other states.  Even heterosexual anal sex can put you behind bars in the south or Utah.  Transporting a minor across state lines for an abortion.  Shipping wine or beer to certain states.  Thats just off the top of my head.  A comprehensive list of what you can be incarcerated for in the US would make your jaw drop.  Land of the free my ass (no offense intended to Paul personally, Americans say this all the time as a brainwashing exercise until they actually believe it).  They can still tax me if I make over $70k a year anywhere in the world unless I renounce my US citizenship.

While I mildly or strongly disagree with some of your opinions, there are many areas in which we find common ground. And I want to thank you for creating this blog and maintaining its existence in the face of irrational and zealous political correctness and multiculturalism.

ASky: That my friend depends on who you talk to, and on the outcome of these elections on 11/7...Some of us do care, and will make damn certain that our voice is heard at the polls...The ones that count, not the ones from the NYTimes or CNN!.....
Paul: Have a good safe trip...If you find youself trouncing through Pittsburgh, drop me an e-mail...There are a lot of great places here that serve Belgian beer.....My favorite is the Sharp Edge Creekhouse...www.sharpedgebeer.com....Cheers!....
Oiz
 

The US is only "partly free" and the remaining civil liberties are falling like flies and nobody seems to care much.