And to think he was hailed as a mighty hero "speaking truth to power" when we had a Republican president.

/but it's only the right wing that can ever be partisan hypocrites

Danggit Sean, don't get people thinking weird ideas. Next thing you know some enterprising GOPer will wonder aloud about President Obama's eligibilty if we were to give Hawaii back to Polynesia.

It may be worth pointing out that the Falklands were British twenty years before Argentina even ratified its own constitution - they're trying to claim Spain's claim on the islands. The islands are well outside Argentina's territorial waters, no-one living on them wants to be Argentinian and while we (the British) may not have a operational aircraft carrier at the moment, we have plenty of nuclear submarines that work just fine and the most combat-hardened British Army since WWII.

Blockade and embargo all you want for now, Latin America. If large-scale oil extraction does go ahead we know you'll be cutting each others' throats for a slice of our action within 15 minutes of the press release.

stuffy: Sean Penn is relevant how?

Well, he has been to Iraq.

relcec: meanmutton: gerbilpox: namatad: So when is the US going to hand america back to the british?
(I would say injuns, but there are so few left that there is no point in pretending to give it back to them. sorry injuns)

How about Texas back to Mexico?

Though we'd need to build a wall then to keep them damn Texans out of 'merica.

/not a bad idea, actually

Devil's advocate -- the US paid Mexico for Texas. The UK did not pay Argentina for the Falklands.

and the u.s. never took texas from mexico. texans did.

True but we did take Arizona, New Mexico and a good part of California. Otherwise known as the some of the nicer places in what was Mexico before the war of Northern aggression. I personally don't consider US troops marching through Mexico city as "paying" for it.

/The Gadsden purchase doesn't count.

meanmutton:

Devil's advocate -- the US paid Mexico for Texas. The UK did not pay Argentina for the Falklands.

meanmutton:

Devil's advocate -- the US paid Mexico for Texas. The UK did not pay Argentina for the Falklands.

UHH, yea, Texas won independence from Mexico then became a US state. If any money changed hands it wasn't for Texas but to smooth things over.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Revolution
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Texas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Annexation

One can tell you never spent significant time in Texas as someone would have told you. LOL

Quinzy: relcec: meanmutton: gerbilpox: namatad: So when is the US going to hand america back to the british?
(I would say injuns, but there are so few left that there is no point in pretending to give it back to them. sorry injuns)

How about Texas back to Mexico?

Though we'd need to build a wall then to keep them damn Texans out of 'merica.

/not a bad idea, actually

Devil's advocate -- the US paid Mexico for Texas. The UK did not pay Argentina for the Falklands.

and the u.s. never took texas from mexico. texans did.

True but we did take Arizona, New Mexico and a good part of California. Otherwise known as the some of the nicer places in what was Mexico before the war of Northern aggression. I personally don't consider US troops marching through Mexico city as "paying" for it.

/The Gadsden purchase doesn't count.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (new window), which was the treaty ending the Mexican-American War, indicated that the United States pay Mexico $15 million plus assume $3.2 million in debts in exchange for the territory it took.

The Gasden Purchase came after that.

DammitIForgotMyLogin:
"back to Argentina?"

Wouldn't they need to have actually have had control of them in the past? And no, three months of trying to setup a penal colony don't count.

Fark Sean Penn, fark Cristina Kirchner, and fark Argentina

If you want to cause his head to explode, tell Penn that is very Ronald Reagan like of him.

namatad: So when is the US going to hand america back to the british?
(I would say injuns, but there are so few left that there is no point in pretending to give it back to them. sorry injuns)

no they kicked our butts so won it fair and square and we've their butts (twice now) so we win the Falklands

I read that as Farklands.

bsharitt: So using the "It's an Island close to us" logic, lets give... ... Cuba to the US.

isn't that a unilateral move? aren't like easily half of all cubans in the states anyway?

and back to the topic at hand;

We should give some real estate belonging to the British (a civilized Western Nation and close ally since like ~1820? [no idea really]) to a country who's sole claim to fame is harboring Nazis after the war?
I dunno about that...

Anything I could add to this has been said.

So here's a picture of a Turtle.




/Fark Sean Penn
//Ugly Bastard.

I can't be bothered to concern myself with the opinion of someone so damn ugly.

ha-ha-guy: 1766: The British settle a colony on the Falkland Islands (there is already a French colony on another island)
1771: The Spanish take control of the French colony
1775: Due to economic pressures, the British colony leaves. Britain continues to claim sovereignty over the island they had the colony on (British ships would stop there for shelter)
1823: The United Provinces (part of which later becomes Argentina) sends an expedition to the Falklands to recolonize. This includes British citizens and support from the British.
1829: United Provinces claims sovereignty over the islands. The British protest this.
1831: The Governor of the islands seizes three American vessels. The USN kicks his ass and in the words of the governor "Complete destroys the settlement". The US rounds up all the government members of the Falklands on grounds of piracy (later drops the charges). The Falklands are declared free of any government.
1832: Argentina finally sends over some Major to regain control and set up a penal colony. His attempt fails. The British also send warships and reestablish a fort on the Falklands. They take control.

So Argentina's claims are: "Back when when we part of the United Provinces some guy who was also part of the UP led a colonization mission there. Then he went all pirate and the USA booted him off the rocks." and "We failed to set up penal colony."

The UK had a 9 year run with a colony, constant use of the islands by its merchant marine, and from 1832 to the Present, an active military base and colony there.

How could you hand it back to Argentina when they never had it?

Sounds to me like the US has the right to just say, "Fark you...It's ours!!" Just send an aircraft carrier group and look Britain and Argentina in the face and say. "What?? You wanna do something??"

macadamnut: I read that as Farklands.

genepool lifeboat: chaosweaver: PJ-: "Hi, I'm Sean Penn, because I have starred in a number of movies, I have somehow convinced myself that my opinion actually matters."
Shakes tiny fist
[farm3.static.flickr.com image 388x500]
...anyway.

I always find it ironic that lots of people--nobody in particular, no one even well-known--will spend hours on the internet posting their opinions about how nobody cares what celebrities think, and why don't they just shut up. Like anybody cares what Joe Blow thinks. Why don't those internet forums just shut up?

planes: When England finally does get around to getting rid of the Falkland Islands, I hope they don't fark it up like they did when they left India:

[www.global-air.com image 150x215]

The partition of India was the largest mass migration in history of some 10 million. As many as one million civilians died in the accompanying riots and fighting. (new window)

you can blame them for enslaving india for a hundred years and exploiting areas like bengal so much it turned from one of most productive regions in the world into a perpetual basket case of famine and disease, but blaming them for religious tensions in the region that they had nothing to do with creating is a bit much.

Sean Penn acts a fool and he doesn't represent most liberals.

Hank WIlliams Jr. acts a fool and its....."See what racists all these conservatives are!!!!"

crispyone: Sean Penn acts a fool and he doesn't represent most liberals.

Hank WIlliams Jr. acts a fool and its....."See what racists all these conservatives are!!!!"

I see a slight difference.

One is commenting on an international issue that the US really has no stake in and nobody here really cares about.

The other one is denigrating about a third of this country.

Tell me again why someone who's only discernible skills are attention whoring and playing pretend professionally has an opinion that anyone else would give a shiat about?

Seriously, what is it with fame that makes people even notice what they think about anything?

cryinoutloud: genepool lifeboat: chaosweaver: PJ-: "Hi, I'm Sean Penn, because I have starred in a number of movies, I have somehow convinced myself that my opinion actually matters."
Shakes tiny fist
[farm3.static.flickr.com image 388x500]
...anyway.

I always find it ironic that lots of people--nobody in particular, no one even well-known--will spend hours on the internet posting their opinions about how nobody cares what celebrities think, and why don't they just shut up. Like anybody cares what Joe Blow thinks. Why don't those internet forums just shut up?

"Hi, I'm cryingoutloud, because I can post on the internet, i'm going to make an observation trying to be witty. Unfortunately I didn't take into account that there are forums specifically for people to discuss their opinions.'

Sean Penn? Didn't he turn into a dragon after being crushed by a satellite dish?

Maybe he could go to the Falklands and investigate.

tlchwi02: the falklands are completely peopled by british citizens. Let them determine who they want to be associated with- if they want to stay with britian, go to argentina, or even follow some sort of further independence from anyone, they should be allowed to do that


That's kind of the thing... The citizens of the Falkland islands have always considered themselves British and want to be part of Britain. That's because they were never Argentinian in the first place. Argentina has never had a particularly strong claim to the Falklands in any way shape or form, but they've used it a couple times (as they are now) as a piece of propaganda to distract from domestic troubles.

They rattle their sabers and they get a bunch of uneducated Argentinians to rally around them. And when I was young that escalated into an invasion attempt. And that's really what an Argentinian attempt to take the Falklands is... an invasion.

And now Sean Penn is coming to their aid. How delightfully ignorant of him, as expected from him. He's an American citizen, and so he has his right to his opinion just like the rest of us... but then we get to call him out when he says something stupid, like this. If you're an a-hole leader chances are Sean Penn is going to like you.

Sean just stick to building villages in Haiti. Shhhhhhhhhh just go play there and help them for the rest of your life.

Falklands never belong to Argentina. It's such a stupid claim pressed mostly I suspect because of the oil reserves around its shores.

As for Sean Penn, I have no trouble with activist actors but he really seems to have a knack for sticking his foot in it.

Has anyone here actually been to the Falkland Islands? They seem like an awesome vacation spot. English is the official language too, which makes it easy for dumb Americans like myself.

I'm waiting for China to make a claim for San Francisco.

Could someone remind me how the Argentines happened to come by that patch of land, to begin with?

Thanks

Yeah, sure, hand them back. While we're at it, let's get Israel and the U.S. to hand all their territory back to the Arabs and the Indians, respectively. And then we'll all move in with Sean Penn. The joke will be on him!

The major part of Argentina's claim is that the Falklands/Malvinas are fairly close. As opposed to say Australia.

I suggest that they restart their colonialist war by invading somewhere even closer - like Chile for example.

Tell Sean Penn to GTF out of USA and give his house back to the native Americans.

/they have got more claim over it than any Argentinians over any part of the Falklands

Did everyone miss this?

FTA: Argentinians are also still seething with anger after the Falkland Islands' newspaper accidentally called their president a 'b****'. The website of the Penguin News ran a photo of Kirchner to illustrate a story about her vitriolic speech about the territory. But anyone who wanted to save the image found that its default file name was 'b****'.

What a twat.
Still it's reassuring to know that Team America World Police is still a reliable guide to actors and their world view.

/Dicks, pussies and a$$holes is still the best explanation of human affairs and international politics I've yet heard!

factoryconnection: crispyone: Sean Penn acts a fool and he doesn't represent most liberals.

Hank WIlliams Jr. acts a fool and its....."See what racists all these conservatives are!!!!"

Sean Penn spouts off: everyone says "what a tool," liberals included.
Hank Jr. spouts off: many say "what a tool," but then conservatives defend him. Liberals led to believe by conservatives that Hank Jr. speaks for them. Blame the loudmouths.

Distance yourself from the speaker and his comments, and you, too, can avoid the ugly stain. And it isn't an all-or-nothing position. For instance, you can like Hank Jr.'s music and his position on being born into wealth (wouldn't we all like to be!) while not appreciating his politics. Likewise, you can appreciate Sean Penn's advocacy for Haitian aid programs while denouncing his ill-formed opinions on whatever else.

I don't think many conservatives defended him, just his right to state his opinion and Fox and Friends hosts were little stunned when he made his remark. ESPN also has the right not to use his song if they wish.
Sean Penn has the right to his opinon as well and if poople don't like what he has to say don't see his movies.
/both are talented douche bags

lunkhed: The major part of Argentina's claim is that the Falklands/Malvinas are fairly close. As opposed to say Australia.

I suggest that they restart their colonialist war by invading somewhere even closer - like Chile for example.

Yes and Cuba is only about 90 miles from the US. That's even closer than the Falkland Islands are to Argentina.

I noticed that when Argentina started making its BS claims as of late, there were numerous people (not trolls, they really believe what they say ((I think))) who would come out defending the claim.

Now, they have been beaten to submission by the facts, they just shut up for the most part. Too bad Fark can't get the truthers to do that.

relcec: he's the ultimate liberal.
willing to fight for universal equality in practice and the weaker group of people involved in any conflict anywhere without regard to how ridiculous or plainly unfair the *solutions* offered are, how stupid the weaker groups argument ultimately is, or even how evil that weaker group of people's intentions might be.

the serious liberal's guide to conflict mediation
find any conflict > find the weaker party > support them come hell or high derp.

You know, you might have hit the nail on the head here as far as idiotic far-leftists go. They want to look like they're sticking up the weaker people at all times, even if it's nonsensical or the weaker group is the aggressor. Unless the stronger group is far-leftist of course, in which case they'll support them in all endeavors, because a leftist government is always righteous.

Nobody cares what you think Sean. We only care about what the people living in the Falklands think.