Nelson Mandela has died....

[max_tranmere]

Bono, the man who pops up and comments on EVERYTHING that occurs, hasn't said anything yet. But then it's only been about 2 hours. Maybe he's dozed off in the games room in his mansion in the Dublin suburbs and hasn't heard the news yet. Later tonight, or I'm sure by tomorrow lunchtime at the latest, Bono will be on TV talking about his "great friend" and how the world wont be the same again.

Every well known person in the world is Bono's "great friend". In reality Mandela probably met Bono twice and would have had little recollection of who he was if you had asked him in recent years. I'm certain Bono will want to give a speech at the funeral, this will not be permitted thankfully. Look out for a song on U2's next album with a title like 'Madiba', 'Icon of the world', 'Black Messiah', or something like that, which will be about Mandela.

[number 6]

RIP,what a life,what a man.

[Essex Lad]

derrick76 wrote:

> And all in favour of the empire in which you grew up in, which
> was built on very on worse, 'innit'.

Absolute bollocks on so many levels, not the least of which I was born about 25 years after we lost the Empire so I didn't grow up in it.

The British Empire bequeathed a legal, political, education and transport system to much of the world including Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, the USA and virtually all of what became the Commonwealth.

>
> Only the USA had the power to resist and defeat. The Maroons of
> Jamaica and the Zulus of South Africa only had a brief respite.

To which I can only reply ? what?

>
> Enjoying to rewards upon which your nation was built, aren't
> ya?

This isn't even a close approximation of English.

>
> Still joining the USA in hunting for Arab money...errmmm...I
> mean oil in hopes of making a $?-come back?

Do you mean me personally or the UK? Although I wish it was the opposite, I actually have no say over what this country does or does not do. What does a "$?-come back(sic)" mean?

[spunkbubble]

Fuck him murdering terrorist cunt.People seem to conveniently forget that he was in prison for murder to start with and wasnt released because he wouldnt renounce violence.They should have put a rope around his neck a long time ago,the world is a much better place without this piece of filth

[derrick76]

Well, I am not English, so I couldn't give a toss or shyte if my English is not up to scratch. Perhaps I am good at English but failed proof read before clicking 'post'. You chose to pounce on my poor English in one sentence? How weak.

So what if you didn't grow up during the 'reign of terror'? Did GB not benefit, and thus by extension, so did you? Do you think those who were conquered care about the British Empire bequeathed??? Oh yes. "We are going to kill your people, but the rest of you that are left we shall educate to the best of our ability, but we shall still shall make you grovel and call us your masters. Those who resist shall meet the same fate as those we shall vanquish in the name of Rule Britannia. Oh, you better embrace Christianity or else..."

Thank you master Essex lad for your benevolence and your non-terrorist ancestors. What would life for a subject like myself have been without it.

>To which I can only reply ? what?

USA kicked your ____ out. Fill in the blanks. The Maroons in Jamaica weren't as successful against the British Terrorists as the Haitians were against their French counterparts.

I mean, where does terrorist end and freedom fighter begin? Do you think the poor people in countries you wage war on don't view your government the same way you view others? What makes X a terrorist, and Y not so? No amount of fancy Shakespearean-speak can mask it.

[derrick76]

Mandela was a great man who stood up to the filth that built and enforced Apartheid.

A great man, unlike the filth that are Churchill, Thatcher etc etc.

[one eyed jack]

He was a terorrist yes. To his oppressors at the beginning! But the difference was he turned himself around and became a hero of the people by uniting the different factions. Thats how he made an impact on the world stage.

He wanted peace. We have learned by his example that violence and killing is not the way. Surely he deserves credit for making that change within himself and showing that we should make that change within ourselves to live in peace

Thats what seperates the men from the boys. Thats what distances him for the likes of other terrorists in existence today

[David Johnson]

One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.

Clearly if you were an extreme right wing, racist Afrikaaner who believed that black South Africans were subhuman, you would regard Nelson Mandela as a terrorist.

If on the other hand, you regard an apartheid system in which people are treated as inferior beings simply based on their colour, as evil, then Mandela was a freedom fighter in supporting armed insurrection against the violence, random arrests, arbitrary killing policy etc. used by the apartheid regime to keep their system in place.

Clearly, Mandela was a freedom fighter for the vast majority of the South African people.

[one eyed jack]

Whoa! Derrick Steady on there....Churchill and Thatcher had their good points. I didnt vote for the Iron Lady but it doesnt mean I didnt respect certain things about her As for Churchill...If it werent for the likes of him I probably wouldnt be born and Britain would be a nation of german speaking people all blond and blue eyed

There are certain qualities in those I may not support but I do recognise and give credit where its due

[max_tranmere]

David, everything you've said as to why Mandela was a freedom fighter and not a terrorist could be applied to the IRA in Northern Ireland. The Catholics in Northern Ireland were also treated as inferior beings, they carried out armed insurrection against the violence, random arrests, arbitrary killing policy, the fact they had no political representation and couldn't vote, the fact Civil Rights protestors were beaten off the streets and were killed in their own homes and so on. Was the IRA justified in what they did then? Some would say yes, many would say yes about Mandela. I have always thought the reason more people would speak favourably of Mandela than the IRA was/is because of the kind of media coverage it all gets. The IRA are presented as the bad boys, murdering thugs, etc; and Mandela as a cuddly grandad-type figure who was wrongly jailed.