Open Letter to Mike Penton

I will make my decission when I received that Magazine and see the
pictures in relation to the Text and place in the Magazine.
Generaly I must say that I think their is no need to show an armed
soldier on a unicycle in a Magazine. War is always a very bad thing and
there is no positive aspect in it.
To show a soldier in a positive way is always dangerous from my opinion
cause people maybe think that there is a positive aspect in beeing a
soldier.
Maybe the soldier on the picture is in a dayli conflict if he should
continue beeing a soldier or if he should run away or if he should kill
himself. Maybe he use the unicycle to free his mind for some minutes a
day.
No one knows about that and never will know it for sure.
There is no positive aspect in war. The politicans have the job to find
every day new soldiers for their bad games, why should we help them?
Most Unicyclist know that there are some soldiers riding unicycle and
no one would say anything against them cause we don't know them. But
where is a reason to show soldiers on Unis and what sense did it make
in what magazine ever ?
More when I got my Magazine and see the pictures live

--
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leo said:

Should the BBC not have published the event because I think robots
should not be related to guns?

If the publication were a robot enthusiasts' magazine, perhaps that 7th
photo would be inappropriate.

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Well personally me and my mate thought it was hilarios! respect to him
for taking it.

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what ??? I only can find hilarious as english word and that means
something that can't be related to pictures of armed soldiers.
What can be hilarious on soldiers, tanks, war ???? I think absolutly
nothing.
I hope that I get my Magazine soon but I think it would be great when
mike can show those pictures and the added Text also here in the Forum
that everybody can discuss about.

If 15 years old children looking at a picture that showing an soldier
with a gun on a unicycle in a real war situation and they find it
hilarious, they had maybe missing some parts in school about history.

--
olarf

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Well maybe we dont care what people think of our "sence of humour" not
often you flick through a magizine to see a unicycle, especially a
unicycling soldier.

Look at this dont you find that
funnyhttp://www.geocities.com/combatunicycle/

--
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Quoted message said:

what ??? I only can find hilarious as english word and that means
something that can't be related to pictures of armed soldiers.
What can be hilarious on soldiers, tanks, war ???? I think absolutly
nothing.

You don't find this funny, you find this offensive?

Mike

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--
swarbrim

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No, I also don't find that funny at all, even it is a fake and not real
and that it should be a joke. But how can you bring a bad fake joke
from someone in relationship to a real war picture ?
Maybe you should talk to some older people how funny it was while the
second Worldwar or ask some people from Palestina or from some parts of
Israel or Libanon how much they must laugh while bombs fall down on
their houses and soldiers entering their town.
If you are clever, pray that you never will become an idea what it
means to have war in your country !
I realy like strange humor but not that type you use, sorry.
Maybe think a bit about it.

The picture was after Ifinnished my posting so I want to say that I
also don't can laugh about that picture ! Are they not able to write ?
Maybe they was send to Irak cause they are so clever.

There is no fun in war !

--
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swarbrim said:

You don't find this funny, you find this offensive?

Mike

Now THAT'S hilarious! Shows our troops have a great sense of humor and
weren't phased by John Kerry's stupid, rediculous remark heard 'round
the world, and essentially his political career is done.

--
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Good photos often evoke strong responses. I look forward to getting my
copy of Uni to see it for myself.

The combat unicycle flyer is pretty good. It should be used in our war
against the unicycling clown image.

--
pedalone

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To don't be missunderstand, those soldiers are for sure allowed to make
jokes about their Situation. I just want to figure out that there is no
fun inside of war!
War is the most stupid and most horrible thing that existing on earth.
They always have some nice reasons for making a war like "we save your
freedom" and a lot more blablabla. At least they only want to grow
their force and want to earn more money. If we had no armys and no
guns, it would be much more peacefull all over the world.

To use the combat flyer against the clown image is realy perverted I
think.

Where is the fun ?

--
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olarf said:

To don't be missunderstand, those soldiers are for sure allowed to make
jokes about their Situation. I just want to figure out that there is no
fun inside of war!

You think there -should- be no fun, or there -is- no fun in war?

I wonder what your thoughts about war are...🙄

Mike

--
swarbrim

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leo said:

That's what I call propaganda by censorship. You do not reflect reality.
And so your are drawing your own virtual truth.

Nothing 'reflects reality'. There is no 'reality' independant of
opinion. Everything is reported through the belief's and opionons of
the reporter/observer.

--
cathwood

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@swarbrim:
I mean that there is nothing funny while a war. For sure there can be
fun inside of the army to protect themself for going crazy.
I never be a part of a war and I'm realy happy for that !!! I talk with
many people that where in war and I know several people that fight in
war inner the last 15 years. If you went to ex Yugoslavia for example
you will find a high rate of suicide between those people that was sent
to the war, some years before. In the USA you find people with same
problems from Vietnam war and now from Irak war.
Those soldiers that make suicide after coming back home maybe going
crazy on what they see and do while fighting in the war.

The words fun and war have no relation. There is nothing related to a
war that is funny !

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thieum said:

Mike what on earth were you thinking when you published these photos
from an Israeli invader in Lebanon, on his uni a gun in his hand and a
tank in the background?

I think there's some people that you don't want to mess with in a round
of Unicycle Gladiators!

STM

--
semach.the.monkey
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olarf said:

At least they only want to grow their force and want to earn more money.
If we had no armys and no guns, it would be much more peacefull all
over the world.

While I find your opinion in some way respectable I would just like to
remind you that [censored] was not stopped by a peaceful sit-in, and
shamefully not by the German people either. It were soldiers from other
countries who stopped the holocaust and freed Germany from the Nazis.
You should think about that too.

On the other hand it were German soldiers who "just followed orders"
(like John Foss says...) that made WWII possible.

So the bottom line should be: Soldiers have to be responsible in their
actions just like everyone else. Following orders is no excuse if you
do something terribly wrong. Nobody can force you to follow orders,
you just have to be brave enough to suffer the consequences of your
decision (like the few German deserters in WWII did). And if you don't
trust your country / government enough, then you should not join the
army. Unfortunately there are enough good reasons for such distrust in
many countries.

About the photo: Haven't seen it yet, but why do we have to mix
politics with unicycling? And a picture of a soldier is almost
automatically political these days. The situation there is a tragedy
for both sides. Mixing that with unicycling in such a superficial way
doesn't make any sense to me for a unicycling magazine 😕
No hard feelings though, looking forward to my issue 🙂

--
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The decision to include the picture was not taken lightly, and we were
aware that it could start a discussion. When the editorial team first
saw the photo we too were surprised. It shows that no matter what
environment people are in, they can temporarily escape, relax and find
some light relief in a difficult situation.

The photos were in the readers photos section, which is open to all
sorts of subjects. It also states in the magazine that “the
views herein… do not necessarily reflect the views of the
publishers.”

--
mikepenton

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MuniAddict said:

Now THAT'S hilarious! Shows our troops have a great sense of humor and
weren't phased by John Kerry's stupid, rediculous remark heard 'round
the world, and essentially his political career is done.

His off-hand remark, which really wasn't bad at all, was heard round
the world for the same reason that the slanderous attacks on his
military service and three Purple Hearts were: because his opponents
are cowardly idiots who dodged the draft but have an ideology which
requires them to pose as strong men.

--
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forrestunifreak said:

And yet the liberal biased media never says anything about the soldiers
in Iraq who, after getting injured, volentarily sign up to go back to
Iraq again? The brave men and women who are saving peoples lives,
making Iraq a better place, who get no recognition by the ingrateful
people who are clueless about the war on terror?

Iraq is clearly far worse-off today than it was before we invaded, and
many more people in that country have died than would have if we were
not that. (Though in general, that's not the fault of the individual
soldiers).

The people who are clueless about the war on terror are the ones who
think Iraq has anything to do with it.

--
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johnfoss said:

Wars are waged by politicians, not soldiers. The soldiers only follow
the orders that are passed down from above. They don't make policy,
they don't decide whether to "drop bombs on people" and they don't get
to choose the enemy. Also, last I heard, Israel has compulsory military
service. That means everybody (male only?), whether they're for,
against or indifferent to war.

I haven't seen the magazine (or picture) yet...

The picture is accompanied by the following text:
"I participated in the recent fighting in Lebanon as an Israeli
reserves soldier. Obviously I brought my Onza 24" Muni along with me!
Southern Lebanon and Northern Israel have very hilly and rocky terrain,
perfect for mountain unicycling".

I don't know whether the reservist bit means that he might have had the
choice of going to fight. If you choose to go and fight a particular
enemy, that seems equivalant to choosing the enemy.

The picture shows a soldier on a unicycle, holding a rifle in an almost
horizontal position across his abdomen and with a big grin on his face.
He /looks/ like he's thoroughly enjoying being part of an occupying
force.

I think the OP has a point. If my country was occupied by a foreign
army, I think publication of a picture like this of one of their troops
enjoying himself on my country's soil might make me want to go out and
kill. I can easily see how someone might take offence.

OTOH, I'm not a fan of censorship and I'm pleased that the photo has
provoked thoughtful discussion. I haven't formed a definite opinion
yet, but I don't /think/ that I think Mike was wrong to publish it.

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forrestunifreak said:

(Unless the soldier in the magazine is a terrorist or something...)

A lot of people regard the Israeli forces in Lebanon as terrorists. I
believe this is a majority view here in the UK, at least among those
who have any interest in international politics.

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