[Taskmaster]

Did anyone hear how America saved France again?

[deeLow]

Originally Posted by P1et

What other freedoms could American possibly want?

I'd like to freely smoke a bong in my backyard without the pigs coming in full force. But that's just me

[csu87]

Originally Posted by deeLow

I'd like to freely smoke a bong in my backyard without the pigs coming in full force. But that's just me

I can do that. You need to move to a non shitty state

[Mr Tonka]

'Murica.

PARIS (AP) — A gunman opened fire on a high-speed train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris on Friday, wounding two people before three American passengers subdued him, according to officials and one of the Americans involved.

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French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, speaking in Arras in northern France where the suspect was detained, said one of the American passengers was hospitalized with serious wounds.

Two of the Americans were in the military, according to their traveling companion and childhood friend Anthony Sadler, a senior at Sacramento State University. He told The Associated Press that the injured American was Spencer Stone of the Sacramento area and the other was Alek Skarlatos of Roseburg, Oregon.

"We heard a gunshot, and we heard glass breaking behind us, and saw a train employee sprint past us down the aisle," Sadler said from France, describing the drama. Then, they saw a gunman entering the train car with an automatic rifle, he said.

"As he was cocking it to shoot it, Alek just yells, 'Spencer, go!' And Spencer runs down the aisle," Sadler said. "Spencer makes first contact, he tackles the guy, Alek wrestles the gun away from him, and the gunman pulls out a box cutter and slices Spencer a few times. And the three of us beat him until he was unconscious."

Another passenger helped tie the gunman up, and Stone then helped another passenger who had been wounded in the throat and losing blood, Sadler said.

"The gunman never said a word," he added.

In Washington, the Pentagon said it "can only confirm that one U.S. military member was injured in the incident. The injury is not life-threatening."

The White House issued a statement saying that President Barack Obama was briefed on the shooting, and said, "While the investigation into the attack is in its early stages, it is clear that their heroic actions may have prevented a far worse tragedy."

The suspect is a 26-year-old Moroccan, according to Sliman Hamzi, an official with the Alliance police union, who spoke on French television i-Tele.

Stone is with the Air Force stationed in the Azores and Skarlotos, a 22-year-old National Guardsman, had returned from a deployment in Afghanistan in July, according to Skarlotos' step-mother Karen Skarlotos.

View galleryFrench judicial police stand on the train platform …
French judicial police stand on the train platform near gun cartridges and a backpack in Arras, Fran …
She spoke with her step-son immediately after the incident. "He sounded fine, but he was intense — he sounded like he had just thwarted a terrorist attack."

"Alek and Spencer, they're big, brave, strong guys and they decided they were going to tackle him. And they did. Spencer tackled him, and Alek took the gun and clobbered him a good one," she told the AP from Oregon. "Spencer got a couple good slices on him. But they were able to subdue him while the train was still moving."

Authorities met them at the next station as the train doors opened, she said.

Philippe Lorthiois, an official with the Alliance police union, said the attacker did not fire his automatic weapon but wounded one man with a handgun and the other with a blade of some kind.

Investigators from France's special anti-terror police are leading the investigation, a spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor's office said.

"As always where an act that could be terrorist in nature is involved, the greatest care and the greatest precision will be used," Cazeneuve said.

Cazeneuve said the Americans "were particularly courageous and showed great bravery in very difficult circumstances" and that "without their sangfroid we could have been confronted with a terrible drama."

A third person, French actor Jean-Hugues Anglade, suffered a minor injury while activating the train's emergency alarm, Lorthiois said.

Passenger Christina Cathleen Coons of New York described the drama in car 12 of the train in an interview with Ouest France newspaper.

"I heard shots, most likely two, and a guy collapsed," she is quoted as saying.

Coons, identified as a 28-year-old vacationing in Europe, said a window broke above one woman's head. "A guy fell to the floor and had blood everywhere," she is quoted as saying.

She described lying on the floor herself and taking photos with her phone.

The attack took place at 1545 GMT while the Thalys train was passing through Belgium, according to a statement from the office President Francois Hollande. Hollande said he's spoken with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, and the two leaders pledged to cooperate closely on the investigation.

Europe's major rail stations, such as Paris' Gare du Nord and Brussels' Gare du Midi, are patrolled by soldiers armed with rifles, but passengers can board most high-speed trains without passing through metal detectors or having their bags searched.

One exception is the Eurostar between Paris and London. Passengers on those trains must pass through a metal detector and have their bags scanned as well.

Thalys is owned by the French and Belgian railways and operates high-speed trains serving Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne, Germany.

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by KlausPA

Exactly my point! Like I said before, being humble in the US is a sign of weakness.

Only to churlish cretins who only bombast and derision offer, for they lack meritorious accomplishments of note for which they can be legitimately proud. Rather than humility and concern they display self aggrandizement and arrogance. The strange thing, IMO, is that in many other cultures similarly low achievers tend to fade into the background, adhering, as they should, to the dictum, if one has nothing nice or substantive to say, say nothing. Why the dichotomy in behavior? I don't know.

All the best.

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by deeLow

I'd like to freely smoke a bong in my backyard without the pigs coming in full force. But that's just me

Obtain a backyard in a state that allows it and you can.

All the best.

[MrRoboto]

It's funny how they mention the three Americans but don't mention the 4th British chap who helped subdue the gunman.

[EdM5]

Originally Posted by Mr Tonka

'Murica.

That's why!

Weak ass europeans would've never acted like this.

America

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by MrRoboto

It's funny how they mention the three Americans but don't mention the 4th British chap who helped subdue the gunman.

Originally Posted by EdM5

That's why!

Weak ass europeans would've never acted like this.

America

To be fair, the 3 American's beat the gunman unconscious prior to getting assistance from anyone else. At least that's what the current story says.

I posted that in jest. Though, the three American's actions are a source of pride for many other Americans. I'm just happy the cowardly gunman got his ass handed to him before he could carry out any more harm.

[KlausPA]

Originally Posted by tony20009

Only to churlish cretins who only bombast and derision offer, for they lack meritorious accomplishments of note for which they can be legitimately proud. Rather than humility and concern they display self aggrandizement and arrogance. The strange thing, IMO, is that in many other cultures similarly low achievers tend to fade into the background, adhering, as they should, to the dictum, if one has nothing nice or substantive to say, say nothing. Why the dichotomy in behavior? I don't know.

All the best.

You answered your question... It is a cultural thing. In the US the bigger the better. This approach applies to arrogance and pride, beat your chest and place your male genitals on the table. Everything is to the extreme and nothing out of the standard shall have place or even entertained as a possibility of growth or advancement. We might think we are brave and have courage but at the end we are just full of fear and violence.

[bbbbmw]

Originally Posted by KlausPA

You answered your question... It is a cultural thing. In the US the bigger the better. This approach applies to arrogance and pride, beat your chest and place your male genitals on the table. Everything is to the extreme and nothing out of the standard shall have place or even entertained as a possibility of growth or advancement. We might think we are brave and have courage but at the end we are just full of fear and violence.

We get it - you think Americans are assholes, for some vague reason. 18 pages into this thread, and you're still whining about those prideful Americans. Are you a native American, or are your observations from a naturalized/foreign viewpoint? Your constant reproach of American pride is a reflection on your personal pride and arrogance, btw.

[ny325]

Great burgers, and pizza.

[1MOREMOD]

Originally Posted by ny325

Great burgers, and pizza.

+1, also best beer and most variety

[KlausPA]

Originally Posted by bbbbmw

We get it - you think Americans are assholes, for some vague reason. 18 pages into this thread, and you're still whining about those prideful Americans. Are you a native American, or are your observations from a naturalized/foreign viewpoint? Your constant reproach of American pride is a reflection on your personal pride and arrogance, btw.

You are wrong, I don't think American are assholes. I do think Americans are arrogant and ungrateful and lack humility, and something new that is brewing is this new sense of entitlement most people have. I consider America my country since it gave me what my native country couldn't give me. I might come across as arrogant to you but make no mistake, all I'm doing is pointing at the pink elephant in the room, you just don't like it because it makes you uncomfortable. I wish mainstream Americans would put aside their false sense of nationalism and truly care about their country.

The American pride is allowing D.C. to pull down our pants and stick it to us without even feeling it.

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by bbbbmw

We get it - you think Americans are assholes, for some vague reason. 18 pages into this thread, and you're still whining about those prideful Americans. Are you a native American, or are your observations from a naturalized/foreign viewpoint? Your constant reproach of American pride is a reflection on your personal pride and arrogance, btw.

Come now. Surely you believe some Americans are and that there are specific reasons why nearly anyone, with regard to those individuals, would think so?

Red:
What does that have to do with it? The hypothesis that Americans, in general or in large number if not in general, are prideful is one that can or cannot, via the (Greek) dialectic, rhetoric or an amalgam of the two, be established regardless of how one came to be an American.

All the best.

[fecurtis]

Originally Posted by KlausPA

The American pride is allowing D.C. to pull down our pants and stick it to us without even feeling it.

Bwa ha ha ha ha and there is nothing you fools can do about it!

Joking, could stop voting for those clowns and sending them here. That'd be a start, but that'd require an intelligent, well informed voter base.

I may as well wish for flying cars, that'll probably come to fruition before the well informed voter base thing.

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by fecurtis

Bwa ha ha ha ha and there is nothing you fools can do about it!

Joking, could stop voting for those clowns and sending them here. That'd be a start, but that'd require an intelligent, well informed voter base.

I may as well wish for flying cars, that'll probably come to fruition before the well informed voter base thing.

I've said it before.... if voting could change anything, it would be illegal.

[Taskmaster]

Gerrymandering is a real thing, People need to vote for better people, it's your fault they get elected.

[FL335]

Originally Posted by TheAxiom

Gerrymandering is a real thing, People need to vote for better people, it's your fault they get elected.

For real. Yahoo! Corrine Brown...she's a big, fat, black Congressmen in Florida...that POS has a district with no "working" people....she gets re-elected every year....She bitches about her redistricting every year...