GERMANS CAN'T BE TRUSTED WITH VUVUS ANYMORE

[yourlastdiaster.livejournal.com]

BERLIN – German police say an American got so fed up with the constant mosquito-like droning from his neighbors' vuvuzela plastic horns that he threatened to kill them with an ax.

Police in the Bavarian city of Weiden said Friday the 45-year-old man confronted his neighbors during Thursday's Netherlands-Cameroon World Cup game wielding the ax.

They said he was so sick of the constant buzzing and honking from the vuvuzelas since the tournament began that he screamed: "I will kill you," and then returned home.

German authorities took the U.S. Army civilian employee into custody and turned him over to U.S. military police. The military says he has been released and the matter is in German hands.

Prosecutors are investigating whether to charge the man, whose name was not released, with making a threat and slander for allegedly calling his neighbors names.

The cheap, meter (yard)-long vuvuzela trumpets have become a side story of the World Cup in South Africa, where their buzzing has been the backdrop to every match.

Players have been criticizing the noise because they find it difficult to take advice from the bench, and visiting fans have no chance for community singing amid the noise.

A French cable TV channel even offers vuvuzela-free broadcasts for all World Cup matches, with the trumpets digitally tuned out.

Defenders include FIFA President Sepp Blatter, Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu — and masses of South African football fans.

The trumpets were first produced and marketed in 2001 by South African Neil Van Schalkwyk, who still owns the rights to the vuvuzela name. His latest innovation is to sell each with a pair of earplugs included.

Comments

[childings.livejournal.com]

Ugh, stay classy Americans. It's not like you a reputation to uphold or anything.

[sashaj22.livejournal.com]

ikr? I mean one American acts like an asshole and it's a perfect reason to judge them all.

[lovebum4life.livejournal.com]

LOL I hate bitches like you

[childings.livejournal.com]

I would normally not even care, but this guy was working for the US Army which means he is representing this country abroad, he doesn't need to be making death threats against his neighbors when most countries around the world are not exactly happy about permanent American military bases in their country in the first place.

Also, stay classy, "bitch".

[sashaj22.livejournal.com]

I understand what you're saying now, but if you would have articulated this in your original comment, maybe you wouldn't get the backlash.

[childings.livejournal.com]

If you read the article properly and realized that this guy works for the US Army maybe my comment would have made sense to you. Technically anyone working for the Army, any branch of the military or the US government is representing our country.

But in general, as an American, I cringe on the inside when Americans do stupid things abroad. It's not like our country should be judged by the actions of one person, but when lots of Americans do stupid things abroad, and so often, I feel like we have a responsibility to conduct ourselves appropriately overseas to present a good image to the rest of the world. Just sayin'.

[sashaj22.livejournal.com]

LOL I read the article and I read your comment. You said Americans, not servicemen, civilians, this particular guy or whatever. So sorry I took it as an attack to all Americans but obviously I wasn't alone.

[carverhawke.livejournal.com]

BECAUSE WE ALL THREATEN TO KILL PEOPLE WITH AXES

[ingwerale.livejournal.com]

well, if you don't have any firearms to hand...

[thestateiamin.livejournal.com]

Wait I thought all americans had firearms on them all the time?! WTH IS THIS SHIT?

[kryptongirl.livejournal.com]

are you for real

[watermeloncholy.livejournal.com]

Stupid comment is fucking stupid

[childings.livejournal.com]

See above

[watermeloncholy.livejournal.com]

As a minority (who deals with being lumped into a group in a regular basis), it still irks me when people talk say things like that.

However, I remember that you're American and I understand that it's not a slight against Americans/I understand where you're coming from with the comment.