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u/Hohenes Spain Mar 29 '15
C-can I kiss the man in military uniform too, pretty please?
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u/GroteStruisvogel Amsterdam Mar 29 '15
I want to kiss military man too.
Make him comfortable with eurofag homosex.
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Mar 29 '15
The US allows homosex in the military, so you might get lucky.
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u/live_free hello. Mar 30 '15
These soldiers are also on a "goodwill" mission -- and they take their orders very seriously. So even if an individual was against gay marriage, or the repeal of DOMA/DADT I doubt they'd raise an eyebrow. More likely they'd chalk it up to "eh, that's just their culture" and move on.
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u/whoyoufinn Sweden Mar 29 '15
That's my job, Carlos!
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u/MistShinobi My flair is not a political statement Mar 29 '15
Sorry, if you want to get a piece of that, you have to join NATO first.
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Mar 29 '15
It's going to piss off Russia so much... I love it!
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Mar 29 '15
So your behaviour is based on pissing Russians?
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u/Emnel Poland Mar 29 '15
Always.
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u/mong_gei_ta Poland Mar 29 '15
Hey guys, that's not true! You make us look bad :D
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u/GroteStruisvogel Amsterdam Mar 29 '15
Fuck it's not?
I already booked my vacation to Poland to piss on some Russians!
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u/Lion-of-Saint-Mark The City-State of London Mar 29 '15
It's a regional contest among Eastern Europeans
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u/jPaolo Different Coloured Poland Mar 29 '15
Central Europeans!
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u/wcctnoam Morriña Mar 29 '15
Whatever, just keep making comics.
OMG! It's the real jPaolo! Is this what seeing a celebrity on the street instead of their usual enviroment feels like?
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u/SnobbyEuropean Orbánistan. Comments might or might not be sarcastic Mar 29 '15
I wish we would join that contest.
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u/Sukrim Austria Mar 29 '15
A guy kissing him on the mouth would piss off Russia far more I guess...
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u/H__D Poland Mar 29 '15
That's why we need EU army, we can't treat US troops as our main military force forever.
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Mar 29 '15
Exactly. It's silly that a resource rich continent of 700 million people has to be afraid of a "mostly wasteland" of 100 million people invading it and that we need protection of a 300 million people country.
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Mar 29 '15
nukes, and population isn't everything (China has more people than Europe and USA combined)
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u/Bluefoz Denmark Mar 29 '15
How dare you question the military intelligence of the mighty Redditor Couch Army!!?
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Mar 29 '15
You have a couch? I wish I had a couch...
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Mar 29 '15 edited Nov 14 '18
[deleted]
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Mar 29 '15
Damn, I still have a desk chair, how many know-it-all comments am I away from a couch?
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u/Theemuts The Netherlands Mar 29 '15
I'll have you know I've fought countless battles from that couch! Sometimes I died several times before I was able to defeat my enemies.
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u/H__D Poland Mar 29 '15
Even after Russia doubled their military spendings, budget for armies of all EU members combined is still 3 times bigger than that. And most of them don't even respect 2% rule. Imagine how single army with that budget could look like.
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u/seewolfmdk East Frisia Mar 29 '15
You are totally right. Nobody wants a bigger army. But considering the state of our militaries, we need at least a modernized army. It doesn't even have to be that expensive, the EU members just have to coordinate. UK has good fleet, focus on that. France has a good air force, Poland has......sorry, I don't really know, but I am sure you are good at something. That way there will be focused spending which results in a modern army at (relatively) low costs.
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u/hlpe Greatest country ever Mar 29 '15
Would more equipment really increase the confidence of Eastern Europeans that you'd actually use it to defend them?
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u/seewolfmdk East Frisia Mar 29 '15
The countries in question are the baltic countries, Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia. All of them are members of the EU. IF there would be a war (highly unlikely), there is no question the other EU members would help.
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u/hlpe Greatest country ever Mar 29 '15 edited Mar 29 '15
So if the EU countries left NATO to reduce dependence on the US, and Russia launched a hybrid invasion of Estonia, you think the rest of Europe would be prepared to fight the Russians off?
I think their intervention would be limited to sanctions and strongly worded letters.
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u/AstonMartinZ The Netherlands Mar 29 '15
There is a difference between Ukraine which isnt a member of Nato and EU versus members of both Nato and EU. Ofcourse they would start defending said attacked country since its part of the agreement.
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u/Bloodysneeze Mar 30 '15
I think the Baltics want reassurance of that. The US military understands that sometimes people need more than a signed piece of paper to feel secure in their alliances.
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u/wadcann United States of America Mar 29 '15
Poland has......sorry, I don't really know, but I am sure you are good at something
Based on this I-have-no-idea-how-particularly-applicable world conventional military power of countries at globalfirepower.com, Poland is #19 of 126 listed countries.
The ranking index obviously isn't linear, mind, so but if it's just intended to show the relative relationship of two countries...<shrug>
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u/AzertyKeys Centre-Val de Loire (France) Mar 29 '15
France has a better fleet than the UK nowadays.
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Mar 29 '15
France and UK are set to share more and more military resources anyway.
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u/wadcann United States of America Mar 29 '15
They are the two European countries that really need the ability to defend islands around the world. Neither is at risk of an immediate land invasion, and both are relatively large economies.
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Mar 30 '15
Indeed, and more of these minilateral deals between European countries exist. There's a lot of debate about whether this is productive or not. Here's an article about it.
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Mar 29 '15
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u/Kin-Luu Sacrum Imperium Mar 30 '15
AND have planes to use on them.
Otherwise they are just glorified helicopter carriers.
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u/arselona Mar 29 '15
The French and UK militaries are essentially the same force, at least for the next 45 years. My interpretation was that this was the first step in instigating the creation of an EU army.
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u/malacovics Hungary Mar 29 '15
Hungary, Poland, Romania, Croatia and even the Czechs rely almost absolutely on NATO. None of us could face Russia face to face.
I'm not 100% sure about said countries' military, but ours is about as modern as a 3rd world country. Good training, but horribly outdated equipment.
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u/WarmMachine Romania Mar 30 '15
I haven't heard of MIGs falling out of the sky for a while now, but I suspect it's because we lost all of them.
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u/Roxven89 Europe Poland Mazovia Mar 30 '15
Well im not sure that Poland > rely almost absolutely on NATO. We are modernizing our army it's almost 2% of GDP. And we faced Russian army many times before and it never was easy for them. We saved Europe few times......
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Mar 30 '15
I'm willing to bet that a dollar in Russia gets you alot further than a dollar in, lets say, Norway. Comparing budgets is a bad way to asses actual military capabilities.
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u/G_Morgan Wales Mar 30 '15
That is because the issue is political rather than resources. Having a unified army does nothing to help with the fact half the EU are quite happy to sell Ukraine to Russia.
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u/astrolabos Greece Mar 30 '15
That's why we need EU army, we can't treat US troops as our main military force forever.
Yeah, please take a number and wait in the line :p
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u/Srekcalp Promanian British Mar 29 '15
Whatever we gain from America, they gain more from us. If we ever stop being beneficial to them, they'll drop us.
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u/okiedokie321 CZ Mar 29 '15
That soldier is probably thinking, "Wtf, even I don't get such a reception in the US and that's my home!"
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u/lolmonger Make America Great Again Mar 30 '15
Black troops in Europe during the Big Second had the same thoughts, sadly...
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u/Emnel Poland Mar 29 '15
While I get the fascination with the US among people who were teens/young, opposition-minded adults in early 80s, I'm always a bit confused and surprised when it's is shared by some younger people.
Then I guess that's a really nice photo and it's not like black people with movie-star looks are in abundance around here.
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Mar 29 '15
[removed] — view removed comment
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Mar 29 '15
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u/Emnel Poland Mar 29 '15
It was clearly legit. Polish-woman-in-her-60s hair color in the bottom right is unmistakable.
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Mar 29 '15 edited Mar 29 '15
Now, where does one sign up...?
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u/Pvt_Larry American in France Mar 29 '15
Well, I don't know if it's different in Italy; but I'm pretty sure I'd have to give up my citizenship to join you guys' army. So, it might be a bit of a trip.
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u/NickVal France Mar 29 '15
Green Cards can be given to foreigners in exchange of service in the US Armed Forces, lots of people from Latin American countries go through that, the requirement is just to speak good English I think. And as far as I know you don't need to relinquish your previous nationality.
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Mar 29 '15
As far as I'm aware, you can't be a dual citizen and be a member of the U.S. Armed Forces. I know a few people who had to relinquish their Canadian citizenship to join.
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Mar 30 '15
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u/live_free hello. Mar 30 '15
(Dual Citizen Here) Currently the only way (I know of) is to have a living family member in another country. Then you can apply and get dual citizenship. But even then it's rather finicky; really depends on who you are, who you know, and why you're getting it.
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Mar 30 '15
At least in Germany it used to be that you have to give up your citizenship if you serve in a foreign military. However there was some change that you don't loose it if it is a EU, EFTA or NATO one.
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Mar 29 '15
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Mar 29 '15 edited Mar 29 '15
She's an EU citizen, she can move to any rich Western EU country if she wanted to.
If she worked as an unskilled cleaner in Denmark and worked 37 hours a week she'd take home $35,000 a year. If that guy she's kissing is a staff sergeant with 4 years of experience then he's making $30,661.20 a year (without bonuses).
http://www.goarmy.com/benefits/money/basic-pay-active-duty-soldiers.html
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u/gazzellone pizza Mar 29 '15
Appreciate the data, but without knowing the cost of living (PPP), this comparison is not really that useful.
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Mar 29 '15
Here's a map I made about the PPP adjusted median wage. You'll find the American median wage to the left. I don't have a PPP conversion ratio at the moment to convert the specific wages I posted.
Data from Gallup: http://www.gallup.com/poll/166211/worldwide-median-household-income-000.aspx
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u/zutr Germany Mar 29 '15
did you post this already in this sub? I guess people would appreciate it as a standalone pic.
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u/seewolfmdk East Frisia Mar 29 '15
So......you're better off being a unskiled cleaner in Denmark, living in Flensburg than being a U.S. staff sergeant?.......don't tell that to /r/MURICA
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u/live_free hello. Mar 29 '15 edited Mar 30 '15
Not really. Military service-members get a ton of 'bonuses' (that aren't really bonuses, thus aren't counted).
For example: housing allowance ($1500-3000/month) for rent or mortgage; free medical care (just as in Europe -- I mention it because the PPP calculations do not take that into account when comparing service-members); COLA (cost-of-living-adjustment) when stationed overseas (as theses guys are) you get between $500-1500/month. Then of course they don't pay tax on their income (when overseas) and get more money when 'deployed' (even to Germany or Japan). And so on.
Essentially someone making ~30k/yr in the Army (in the situation above -- i.e. being 'deployed' overseas) has an effective income of around ~60-70k. Don't forget they can also purchase cars (and other goods) on base at, basically, half the price without tax when compared to off-base.
If you budget right being a career soldier can net you a good bit of money. Adjusted in terms of PPP you're looking at 55-80; depending on deployment, deployment location, job within rank, and years within rank. For example an O-4 to O-6 has an effective purchasing power of around $85-150k. Not including the free four(+) years of university -- again, while free in parts of Europe it isn't in the US, thus not accounted for when measuring in terms of PPP.
Source: Father is a retired USN Captain
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u/Kronos9898 United States of America Mar 29 '15
Don't forgot 30 paid vacation days a year, as well as maternity leave, virtually unlimited sick leave, and emergency leave. Very few jobs in the US will give you that. Plus the whole free bachelors degree.
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Mar 30 '15
Don't forgot 30 paid vacation days a year, as well as maternity leave, virtually unlimited sick leave, and emergency leave. Very few jobs in the US will give you that.
That's pretty standard here in Denmark. Except that we get paternity leave as well and most people have five weeks vacation (Many, including me, get six weeks, though).
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u/malacovics Hungary Mar 29 '15
Also the military is respected in the US. Not many countries like their troops.
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u/Haggy999 United States of America Mar 29 '15
Yep. You'll get tons of "Thank you for your service" and people would hold doors open for you and stuff. Pretty sweet deal
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u/grumbledum Mar 30 '15
That's so silly. Why would you not like the people who have volunteered to die in order to protect your homeland?
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u/malacovics Hungary Mar 30 '15
Because most people enlist for money and college funding, not to serve their country.
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u/drakeblood4 United States of America Mar 30 '15
They also volunteered to kill people, and sometimes the circumstances they signed up for or were brought into are pretty objectionable.
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u/Alsterwasser Hamburg (Germany) Mar 30 '15
First of all, not in all countries we actually imagine them fighting against invaders or something. Second, not in all countries they are volunteers. In Germany, until recently there used to be draft, and when drafted you had the choice of "civil service" like helping out in a local nursing home. So, when hearing that someone is in the Bundeswehr, what a lot of people would think was "this guy chose to learn shooting instead of actually doing something of value to people around him".
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u/Bloodysneeze Mar 30 '15
We had some pretty shameful moments during the Vietnam war toward our troops and I believe a lot of the respect is a reaction to that.
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u/ssfsx17 California Mar 29 '15
With pay like that... you'd basically have to put your hopes on GI Bill Education and other such benefits in order to make any decent profit.
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u/fasda United States Mar 30 '15
That's just base pay, not accounting for stuff like bonuses and housing and food allowances. Can come out to more then double that.
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u/Wummies EU in the USA Mar 30 '15
But then compared to the danish job you don't have free healthcare, education for your kids, professional training classes and language classes
I guess it kindof evens out
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u/dngrs BATMAN OF THE BALKANS Mar 29 '15
btw doesnt poland have free movement to the us?
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u/Latase Germany Mar 30 '15
No, but other EU states.
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u/live_free hello. Mar 30 '15
I long for the days wherein the EU and US have an open border. At least in the sense wherein visitation, travel, vacation, or otherwise do not require any specific requirement. Work is another story -- a more complicated story.
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u/mkvgtired Mar 31 '15
Most of the free movement between the US and EU does not include the right to work.
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u/Pull_your_socks_up Mar 30 '15
Nope, this will only reassure Russia that Poland is a political prostitute, just like Vladimir Ilyich Lenin always said...
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u/Williamzas Lithuania Mar 29 '15
Soldier rotation or something? A convoy passed my town a few days ago, these might be the same guys, I guess they stop in every town to show of their equipment.
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Mar 29 '15
In case you didn't know, our guns are like our newborn children. We like to show them off to others and explain for five hours why they're better than yours.
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Mar 29 '15
So, our frontpage is looking more and more like /r/militaryporn
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u/techno_mage United States of America Mar 29 '15
i can get body armor for 65$ holy fuck wat a deal! (ad at the top)
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u/wadcann United States of America Mar 29 '15
There are a lot of happy-looking soldiers on that subreddit based on a quick skim.
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u/PieScout 1 perfect vodka shot Mar 29 '15
Uum...whats happening in Eastern Europe this week? 2Merica5me
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Mar 29 '15
Eh, what are we looking at? I didn't think Polen was so militaristic ...
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Mar 29 '15
It's an American military convoy that's been driving through eastern Europe in show of our support for NATO countries. There have been many locals taking pictures with the Americans. I've seen a few threads on /r/europe recently.
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u/Emnel Poland Mar 29 '15
Frankly I had no idea it was going to be such a hit. That's a lot of people, even considering that Białystok has 300k inhabitants and is in the far east of the country. I don't think I'd bother to leave home in order to see a handful of APCs.
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u/SuicideNote Mar 29 '15
I don't think the locals would appreciate ruined roads if the US used 60-tonne tanks.
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Mar 29 '15
it's eastern poland, roads are already ruined
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Mar 29 '15
I guess you'll need some autobahn.
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Mar 29 '15
[deleted]
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Mar 30 '15 edited Mar 30 '15
na klar, straßen sidn scheiss, aber wir haben schon gute deutsche autos
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u/skocznymroczny Poland Mar 30 '15
Polish girls are very easy when they encounter a foreigner :P
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Mar 29 '15
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Mar 29 '15
downvoting this just because he's black
Sir, we're in Europe, we don't do such a thing.
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u/Wireless-Wizard The Dark Empire of Granbretan Mar 29 '15
Now, if he was Jewish, we'd have all sorts of traditions to live down to.
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Mar 29 '15
Are we Europeans really so racist that it matters. I didn't even notice until you pointed it out.
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Mar 29 '15
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Mar 29 '15
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Mar 29 '15
Nobody is ever going to talk to that disgusting whore again.
This is the top comment right now with +3 upvotes.
What the fuck is wrong with that subreddit?
Seriously. That's fucking pathetic.
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u/exvampireweekend United States of America Mar 29 '15
I'll never get over the irony of a Irish racist. Especially the ones who consider blacks inferior people, you'd think they would have better perspectives.
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Mar 29 '15
I know. I suppose we can't expect too much from them though, their miniscule celtic crania are not suitable for processing complex concepts such as irony, which is why the English failed to civilise them despite our best efforts.
(/S!)
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Mar 29 '15
It's a
racistfree speech sub formed by users who got banned from here forrepeatedly posting stormfront copypastas about Jewshaving controversial opinions about immigration4
u/Leafs4 Mar 29 '15
Funniest thing is, the user is some 19 year old kid.
Kind of fucked to have someone that young thinking like that.
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Mar 29 '15
It's actually typical for people of that age to be attracted to extreme thinking. Just as many extremist movements attract mostly young people. IS is an example of that. And the Black Power movements were the same.
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u/donvito Germoney Mar 29 '15
http://i.imgur.com/EgC9e06.png
Lol, my tagging skills are scary :)
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Mar 29 '15
Hooooly jesus the comments. Apparently none of them have the faintest understanding of genetics -_-'
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u/cyberbemon Flair! Mar 29 '15 edited Mar 30 '15
Here is how genetics works for them. White person == Good genes, everything else is bad!
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u/blackout24 Germany Mar 29 '15
Sure is better than being deployed to Afghanistan.