Steve

thing is i've yet to read any quote of anyone who was there or who saw the video say they thought the reporter made a legit mistake. It seemed plainly obvious to me he was rude. Presidents have been grilled Harshly for decades. That old woman, forgot her name did it all the time. However all of them including Sam Donaldson never interrupted a speech or statement. The same code as saluting an officer in the military: you respect the office or rank. The shoe thingy was not an American (not excusing it). As for amnesty, illegal immigration these days pisses me off not only for the act. I can sympathize with leaving Mexico and central america. I'd do it. If most of you are honest, you'd do the same and if the European immigrants of the past were on the border they'd have done the same. it's still wrong. What upsets me is that the present day immigrants especially the Mexicans do not embrace the country as the europeans did before them and even show open contempt. fuck those that do that. I don't mind amnesty for those that have been here a long time, speak English, aren't criminals, contributing members of society and have demonstrable love for America. Fuck the rest.

While I agree that the black vote is monolithic, and maybe its me but I don't see the same said about other groups. There are a niches of folks that vote in similar fashion Gays. White fundamentals. Hawaiians voted for Carter overwhelmingly even when they knew the election was Reagans (before present agreement that says you can't project a winner until all polls are closed) Just to name a few. http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/reporter-interrupted-obama-thought-finished-220343830.html Reporter who interrupted Obama: I thought he was finished This disgusted me. Maybe its me but the level of disrespect by people who should know better towards the office of the Presidency and to Obama personally, seems to be unprecedented. Maybe its happened to Bush and others. I don't seem to recall. Maybe some of you can remind me its not new. From the congressman saying liar, to various elected officials saying or doing (pointing a finger at him) things. I'm not referrring to your average protestor outside the white house and such. That's been going on since the '60s anti war movement. Same for artits of all kinds (singers, painters, poets, rappers). The only outright disrespectful incident I can think of against Bush was that Iraqi who threw his shoe. As bad as Bush was politicians and the press showed him and the office the utmost courtesy. The article has his employer backing him up. The excuse was pathetic and no one watching the video buys and his fellow reporters didn't either. The sad thing is he will become a hero of the conservatives.

With regards to Obama and the drop of black support in NC, I think its a good thing in some respects. I know a big complaint about black voters is that we blindly vote Democratic or for any black candidate. Although the truth is given sufficient reason in our minds we will vote for someone else (Initially Schwarzenegger got a fair amount of black votes I heard, not sure though). I'd like to see all groups who vote overwhelmingly for one ideology or type of person to look closely at others. This would include not only black americans (although middle class blacks vote much more for Republican and other candidates), but also white fundamental voters who almost always vote one sided. Same for Jews, Latinos, etc. As for an invasion of Syria, I'm against it. If we are going to get involved I would prefer it to be an Arab league led invasion. If the moslem countries want him out, let them do the heavy lifting and we offer logistical, material and other kinds of non combat supporrt. Maybe Turkish led, whatever, but its time for the moslems to stop playing both sides. I always smirk a little when the conservative press and pundits criticize Obama over stuff they would do themselves. Not sure if the point is 'see he's doing this! or 'see, he's doing something he said he wouldn't do' (..but we would have done the same). Its the election period so I don't expect a lot of logic, only name calling and snide remarks from each side.

Wake Up America!!

Sad news about Auburn. Over a woman. One of my rules is NEVER start a fight over a woman unless you're protecting her from physical harm. Pimps have a few rules and one of them is 'hoes choose...respect the choice'. If a woman wants to go with someone else, let her go. As for the 5 states, been saying for a while that all presidential elections come down to the swing states. Always have for a few years now. My guess is its Ohio and Florida for sure and probably Wisconsin, Michigan and either Pennsylvania, North Carolina or Virginia this time. As far as campaign money, Romney got more than Obama in May. First time he's gotten more than Obama in a month and although he has been getting more money and will make it close, I've not found any article that expects Romney to have more money than Obama at the end, even with Super Pac money. Obama has a lot of backing from varied niches. Maybe Romney can or will catch him. I just haven't read where it seems a certainty. Last year there were rumors of Obama being the first one to raise a billion. He won't get there but it gives evidence to the access to money he has when it was considered a possibility.

The political analysts are still saying Obama will have signifcantly more money.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47745646/ns/politics-the_new_york_times/ Drug industry pushed Obama on health overhaul, e-mails suggest Mr. Obama’s staff signaled a willingness to put aside support for the reimportation of prescription medicines at lower prices and by doing so solidified a compact with an industry the president had vilified on the campaign trail. Central to Mr. Obama’s drive to remake the nation’s health care system was an unlikely collaboration with the pharmaceutical industry that forced unappealing trade-offs. Other political news of note Obama: 'It is absolutely clear that the economy is not doing fine' Under fire from Republicans, President Obama clarified an earlier assessment of the health of the private sector, explaining that it's "absolutely clear" the economy is not doing "fine." ..The e-mail exchange three years ago was among a cache of messages obtained from the industry and released in recent weeks by House Republicans — including a new batch put out Friday detailing the industry’s advertising campaign supporting Mr. Obama’s health care overhaul. The broad contours of his dealings with the industry were known in 2009, but the newly public e-mails open a window into the compromises underlying a health care law now awaiting the judgment of the Supreme Court. Mr. Obama’s deal-making in 2009 represented a pivotal moment in his young presidency, a juncture where the heady idealism of the campaign trail collided with the messy reality of Washington policy making. A president who had promised to negotiate on C-Span cut a closed-door deal with a powerful lobby, signifying to disillusioned liberal supporters a loss of innocence, or perhaps even the triumph of cynicism. Thing like this piss me off. Obama should be criticized for making deals with the drug industry. He talked a good talk about transparency, etc. and I've been very disappointed in a great many things he's done. However...and you know there wil be a however...lol...what have the Republicans offered as an alternative. The way I see this is that the Republicans are criticizing Obama for giving in to the drug industry but they can't argue that they wouldn't have. In fact, they would have already given the drug industry what they wanted and probably more. Its why I'm going with Johnson. He's shown as governor he's got some backbone and won't give in to special interests. I would also love to see the American people demand changes to the debates. I would love to see where the top 3, not the two main parties but whomever polls top 3 automatically are involved in the debates as well as any candidate who can poll 10% or higher. It won't be many so need worry about 10 people on the dais. We desperately need alternate voices on the dais to tell everyone the truth and identify the BS being banded about. I'd love to have Ron Paul involved for nothing else but to say what both candidates are about.

I love Don Rickles. One of the few guys who can joke about any person or any group and its not taken personally. His on stage persona was competely different than his off stage. I've heard he was a very warm, endearing and giving guy. He made a lot of black jokes but was a supporter of civil rights and for years had a black assistant/attendant, a close friend who he basically gave a job so he could travel with him and such. I recall at Comic Aid with Whoopie Goldberg, Robin Williams and Billy Crystal. He looks over at them and says "two Jews and a black woman, and she's the only one with a jew name"...lol. My parents used to love to see him on the old Dean Martin roast special. I've seen a few of them replayed. He (and others) were great.

http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/campaign-finance Barack Obama $196,900,097 Mitt Romney $87,452,399 dated back to April but not too long ago: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/20/nation/la-na-campaign-money-20120421 President Obama ends March with $104 million on hand, 10 times the amount Mitt Romney has — a gap that shows how the hard-fought Republican primary drained resources.

So much ground to make up. I don't think so. Its closer yes and possibly will get closer as the campaign season heats up but I just see too much ground for Romney to make up. So far Obama has the lions share of the 10 swing states. That will have to change significantly and Romney needs to sweep a lot of them. Its a gargantuan ask and without any special circumstances (the economy collapses, Obama really was born in Kenya, etc.) I can't see it happening. Throw in Obama's huge war chest. He can outspend Romney in the battleground states. I'm voting for Johnson so I'm trying to write as objectively as I can.

This mother needs to be removed her kids.

I heard about that as well. My guess is he'll probably be exonerated. Lack of evidence. I was on another forum talking about this and he seems to be a cause celeb of some sorts. The main argument is Martin was beating him and he feared he'd die. That may have been the case but for me is what happened BEFORE? What enraged Martin so much? Martin's background does not suggest any procliivity to do that. Zimmerman was the one interested in him. I can only guess by the tone of Zimmerman's call to the 911 operator that he pursued Martin and said or did something that enraged him and if he was in the same frame of mind as the call, I can only guess as to what. Basically, he created the situation that led to Martin's death. If Martin had him by the head and was banging it against the ground, I have to ask what did he say or do to Martin for that to occur? I can't imagine Martin arbitrarily just hitting him. It doesn't make sense. It could have happened but not very likely. Ziimmerman won't be the first person to start a fight or harshly criticize someone and get his ass beat for it. I've seen that happen to a bully or two in my day. Part of changing shcools in Philly was that you had to fight the first week of class.

Well, at least this one is positive. Homeless kid going to Harvard. http://news.yahoo.com/video/clevelandwews-20910953/from-homeless-to-harvard-29523027.html#crsl=%252Fvideo%252Fclevelandwews-20910953%252Ffrom-homeless-to-harvard-29523027.html I was one of only a few kids to get a college degree in my area. I'm the first in my family and another brother has got his. The military and unionized jobs was how most of my brothers made it in life. Nothing wrong that. They are all contributing members of society and I'm proud of each one. My post is about the quality of schools in many areas of our country. I was NOT the smartest guy in my area. I knew guys much smarter than me who either barely graduated or never did. The schools were crap, then throw in a home enviornment that did more harm than good. If I didn't have my parents, there is no telling where I'd be now. Not everyone is blessed with a good family structure. Education is the key to so many of our problems in the U.S. specifically problems attributed to social issues. Comb the jails and lack of an education is a common denominator. I think the key to urban/poor crime, teenage pregnancy, drug use and addiction and a host of other things is education. If you have the hope and promise that a good education brings you're very, very unlikely to be a victim of the aforementioned. Oh, there are those that are but I can tell you the kids in my classes that were college bound avoided those pitfalls like the plague. Girls who see a future as a college graduate, nurse, teacher, etc. are NOT going to get pregnant. The girls I knew who were college bound were either virgins or very very careful and insisted on condoms. Guys I knew who were sure they were headed to college or taking vocational tech classe to become plumbers, mechancis and the such didn't have kids. They used condoms and dated responsible girls who shared their future dreams. Looking back, the guys who were always in trouble were guys who fell behind in school. Same with the girls who got pregnant. If you really want to end the high crime rate of blacks, the high incident of welfare, the high number of single parenthood, the drug use, the drug selling, the high social welfare usage. Then improve K-6 schools and I will go on record and guarantee it will fall dramatically. Improving HS is all well and good but by that time its too late. By middle school you already know if you're going to college and if you're well on the road. Finally, for selfish reasons its a good thing. One never knows where the next brain surgeon or what accomplishments can come as a result. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Carson Carson was born in Detroit, Michigan and was raised by his single mother, Sonya Carson. He struggled academically throughout elementary school, but started to excel in middle school and throughout high school. After graduating with honors from his high school, he attended Yale University, where he earned a degree in Psychology. He chose to go to Yale because in College Bowl, an old TV program, he saw Yale compete against and defeat many other colleges in knowledge, including Harvard. Carson wanted to participate in College Bowl, but the program was discontinued. From Yale, he attended University of Michigan Medical School. Carson's eye-hand coordination and three-dimensional reasoning skills made him a gifted surgeon. After medical school he became a neurosurgery resident at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore In 1987, Carson made medical history by being the first surgeon to successfully separate siamese twins (the Binder twins) conjoined at the back of the head (craniopagus twins) There are high school drop outs who run million dollar earning drug traficking operations. Drug dealers figure out things on their own that are taught in the best business schools. Profit margin, distribution network, packaging, managment, etc. That same kid were he brought up in the suburbs could eventually have been a CEO of a company. If that same kid had a better school could have been an entrepreneur contributing to society.

I probably should have put this in my random sports area. Reading it pissed me off. Nothing wrong with making a mistake or two. If you're human you will have and I have one or two epic ones under my belt. I have absolutey NO pity for Holeyfield. His was on ongoing, reckless number of bad decisions. All those friggin' kids. Fuck him. I have no sympathy. Not one iota for his plight. One kid, even two is a mistake. 11 is blatant disregard and that's the 11 we know about. So he thought he had the money to keep having those kids? 17 bathroom mansion. Squandering away all that money. What a waste...the money and the man. http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/boxing/former-champ-evander-holyfield-allegedly-owes-372-000-160453495.html Evander Holyfield was one of the great boxing stars of the 1990s and amassed more than a quarter of a billion dollars in purses during his illustrious career. Apparently, though, $250 million doesn't go as far as it used to. Holyfield, who filed bankruptcy in Fayette County, Ga., in 2008, reportedly owes in excess of $372,000 in child support and may wind up in jail if he does not resolve the issue, according to a TMZ report. It alleged he owes $372,097.40 in child support that has gone unpaid since April 2010. According to a 2009 report in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Holyfield has child support payments of more than $500,000 a year. He has at least 11 children.

I've long heard about Texas and the romaniticized version is different than the acutality and that is the Americans that moved there wanted the right to have slaves and Mexico banned slavery. So their fight for freedom was really about wanting to have slaves. There is a big black celebration date for Texan blacks called 'Juneteenth'. It was the day the Texan slaves heard about the emancipation proclamation. I think its June 19th but not sure. The word got to them late. Anyway, another subject. Some of you may have heard about the cyber attacks Israel and America supposedly made on Iran's nuclear capability. Some say the future wars will be cyber as well as military. I heard that China secretly has thet capability to cripple America's infrastructure. It may be fellow conspiracy nut jobs similar to myself but I wouldn't doubt it at all. What do you all think about it. There are some that say cyber warfare should have rules in place included in the Geneva Convention rules of engagement. There were no rules about mustard gas and such in WW1 until after. So to avoid any issues such as crippling things that hurt civilians I think there should an international agreement done in anticipation of such conflicts.

What makes America somewhat unique and great is that we don't hide from our past. We teach the kids about slavery, native americans and what was done to them. Many countries (Japan, Turkey, etc.) either downplay the role they played or totally ignore it. I think Germany doesn't downplay its WW2 atrocities, but Im not 100% sure. Kamui? If a person committed a murder years ago and has done life, they do have the chance of parole and often get it. The problem is that the jails are so f*cked up that you're pretty much forced to live and act in a Darwinian, survival of the fittest mode which hinders rehabilitation. A person in a mad moment who killed someone. Say an ex lover. Or whatever, isn't likely to do it again. They know they f*cked and I'm not saying they should not be jailed but a person llike that often has to act like an animal in jail so if/when they are ever up for parole they are not mentally prepared for outside life. Cut the number of offenses we are jailed for and make life in jail more humane. Serial killers, child molesters and the like can stay in high security jails. Those are pretty much folks who can't be rehabilitated. Drug addicts, etc. can be.

Another epic fail. My fear of lizards has been replaced as my number one fear. Being the butt of jokes from being caught on youtube doing something stupid is now number one. Or something else. http://gma.yahoo.com/video/news-26797925/colorado-college-student-shot-while-trespassing-29473431.html#crsl=%252Fvideo%252Fnews-26797925%252Fpope-s-butler-accused-of-being-a-spy-29478665.html

Jailing honor students? http://news.yahoo.com/video/houston11news-15750765/honor-student-placed-in-jail-for-tardiness-and-truancy-at-school-29458964.html

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highschool-prep-rally/iowa-father-tries-forcibly-remove-son-game-poor-103115475.html Iowa father tries to forcibly remove son from game for poor gradesman named Benjamin I.H. Doyle was charged with a trespass violation after he ran onto the soccer field at Longfellow Elementary School and attempted to forcibly remove his son from the ongoing City High soccer game. Police officers on the scene rapidly removed Doyle from the field and questioned him about the incident. When asked why he ran onto the field, Doyle — who is listed as a database administrator for the University of Iowa's Hospital Information Systems — said that his son's grades were too poor for him to be allowed to play soccer. Dad picked the wrong occasion to do it. lol. Wait till after the game and bust his ass like any dad would do. If I saw my dad on the sidelines knowing I shouldn't be playing I'd probably have the worst game of my life knowing what's gonna happen.

There is fail (all of us have failed) but there is an EPIC fail. Like this guy: http://screen.yahoo.com/hulk-impersonator-it-s-not-easy-being-green-29511772.html?pb_list=23dce613-c500-43f0-9134-70e58b73187a A Hulk wannabe paints himself green only to find out later that the color could be permanent

I already have a job as a layabout, LOS visitor. Thanks though for the compliment. I can only tell you that I grew up seeing a lot of guys go to jail (a byproduct of my neighborhood). They deserved it mostly (although a few I know to be innocent and had bad public defenders or copped a plea because they'd surely lose a jury trial but that's a subject for another post). One friend of my brothers was to use the street term a 'cell block bitch'. Slightly built, couldn't fight, he was joyriding in a car a friend of his took from a neighbor who was on vacation and meant to return it but was reported stolen from someone who saw it missing late at night. The owner plead to exonerate them but the judge said it was reported stolen so that was that. Anyway, he was no criminal. Bad decision yes. No more than any suburban kid or two had done. He came back from prison no use to anyone. Eventually got addicted to hard drugs probably to try and forget his ordeal. He was one of several cases I've seen. Probation case if there ever was one but DA's in urban areas have to get convictions for re-election and tell their Assistant DA's to prosecute these days. Stories like those scared the living hell out of me when I was a kid. Kept me out of trouble and some could argue then it did some good but really? I was a fairly good kid anyway. Other than the occasional broken window from stick ball or fight with some kid picking on me. I honestly would consider suicide rather than spend sevearal years hard time in a state prison. I'm too 'pretty' and 'good looking' for serious jail time..lol. Its nearly impossible to do your time quietly. Some cases (ex law enforcement, child molesters, etc.) can get solitary confinement. Depending on the prison system. Because such people are a target to EVERYONE. Its open season and a case can be made by a lawyer that its a death sentence to let them into general population. The problem is you're in your 6x9 cell 23 hours a day, an hour for exercise outside in what is like a dog kennel run. I've heard that time can literally drive you batty. No contact with anyone can leave you nuts. Still I'd take that over general population. Drug law reform has to be at the top of the list. Addicts steal to feed their habit. Male addicts at least. Female on drugs can trade their bodies for drugs and so they don't have to steal. Men can't. Some can but there aren't enough customers for that. Especially in the inner city where they'll likely get beaten for prostituting their bodies than anything else so they steal. First from their own friends and family then after that from stores, homes, etc. They make up a large portion of the prison population. They need addiction treatment not jail time. Oh, and drugs are readily available in prison as well. That's an underground economy in itself. Casual users shouldn't go to jail. Legalize pot. Treat pot in your car as the same as an open can of beer. A fine. DUI status. Treat personal use possssion of harder drugs as a misdemeanor. If a person is a working member of society, we should be trying to keep them working. Why lock someone up, give them a permement criminal record which basically says you can never get a job again. I would allow records to be expunged if no criminal activity for non violent offenses after say 3-5 years. That tells me the person has turned their life around. A person with a criminal record in their early 20s can not get a job ever again with the sophisticated ways employers can find out these days. In the old days you had to leave the state, now its all linked by computer. During the '80s one of the worst byproducts of the Reagan years was the shutting down of tons of state hospitals. Its the root of a lot of our homeless problems now. People say they got a free ride. No normal person wants to spend their life in a state hospital. No matter if they get 3 squares a day and a cot. Get them diagnosed and treat them. We waste so much money on other shit that could be diverted to that. We have money its just spent incorrectly and wasted. Lotto money that is suppposed to go to education gets diverted to other things and thats why we see tuition prices go up and schools lacking funds in part. Okay, I'll get off my soap box. This could be a great country again if we just stopped all the bullshit. Start spending money on ourselves. Infrastructure. Cutting the rediculous that both parties can agree on. etc. Sorry, I love this country but both parties and the groups that control them aren't about making us great again. Only money and power.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/rich-kids-ineligible-college-scholarships-103500285.html Should rich kids be ineligible for college scholarships? Hip-hop mogul Diddy is worth $500 million, and his son just landed a full-ride, merit-based scholarship to UCLA. Where's the justice? Among the graduating high school class of 2012 is one Justin Combs, who finished his senior year with an impressive 3.75 GPA and an equally impressive record on the football field. UCLA rewarded Justin's accomplishments with a full, $54,000 merit-based scholarship and a spot in the school's storied football program. The twist: Justin is the son of hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, recently named the wealthiest man in hip-hop by Forbes. With California's state schools facing deep cuts, UCLA's decision to offer Justin a chunk of its scarce resources is being widely criticized. Should the Combs clan give back the money? Or should the size of Justin's dad's bank account even matter? Justin shouldn't keep this money: Here's the bottom line, says Dennis Romero in LA Weekly: "The son of a guy worth nearly half a billion dollars" doesn't need a free ride to college, especially to "a school where student tuition and fees have nearly tripled in the last 10 years." I mean, this is a kid who poses in front of "a $300,000-plus Maybach," likely the car his dad got him on his 16th birthday. Now that's "a free ride that could pay for half dozen full-ride scholarships to UCLA."

HH, I know the culture in America is what ever happens to a convicted criminal in prison is deserved. Trust me, I have NO sympathy for a child molester, serial killer or the like to be routinely raped and brutalized. I won't lose a bit of sleep. But the fairness part of me says, someone should be able to do their time without consequence. Its not the molester or serial killer that tugs at my new, liberal strain, its the non violent criminals. Should a guy who steals a car be subject to being brutalized in that manner? I dont like car theives as much as the next guy but there are guys in county jail for simple offenses, regular 9-5 guys, being brutalized. And its hell. I've heard some crazy, crazy stories. First hand accounts. The juvenile prisons are just as bad in many instances. You've seen the size of HS students nowadays. Huge. There are 16 and 17 year olds well over 6' and 200lbs who brutalize younger and/or smaller boys. LA is a sick place for jails. Even in LA city lock up awaiting the judge in a matter where you are eventually proven to be innocent because of a clerical error (almost happened to me), you can be brutalized. LA has a private firm handling paying of tickets. This firm kept saying I had an outstanding bill and I had receipts to show otherwise and when one person would say it was clear, several months later it would pop up again. If I was stopped I'd be taken down to the jail and if it was a Friday night or Saturday night, I'd have to wait till Monday morning to clear it up. Do you know what city lock up is like on a weekend. EVERYONE is thrown into the same cell. From guys on a suspended license to rapists, all awaiting processing till Monday morning. I know guys who have told me they've seen guys raped whlle in there. The only thing they try to do is separate ethnicities. Keeping blacks and latinos in the same cell is asking for a blood bath. Other than that you're on your own. God help you if you're white or non black or latino. You're a target for both groups. I'm no better. I have no gang affiliation, east coast accent so open game. A black LA gangbanger would beat my ass for want of nothing better to do. The solution isn't necessarily more jails but why are we jailing folks that we don't need to. Drug offenses. Not dealers but personal use stuff constitute a ton of the prisoners. I recommended on here a while back that you simply get house arrest with a ankle bracelet. Let the person keep their day job and contribute to society. It gets turned on at say 7pm for 12 hours and you leave at 7am to get to work. Saving tons of money for jails and the person is contributing to society with their jobs. Same for DUIs, etc. Let them do community service on the weekends. With all the cutbacks tons of things to do from cleaning parks, picking up trash on the freeways or whatever. I forgot the study but the sharp rise in prisoners over the last 30 years was attributed not to more crime being done but the industry that builds prisons, unions that guard them as well as private jails and tougher sentencing for things that were otherwise misdemeanors and got off on a warning or a fine.

HH! Heya buddy. Okay, cyber hug to all, Kamui, HH, LP, BK, kumbayah and all that good shyt. Don't think anyone is gonna let Germany forget their history anytime soon despite tons of western countries with dark points in their history. Its rather recent relatively speaking. A couple German uni girls were couch surfing at a female buddy's place a few months ago (wanted to bang one of them and got cock blocked...at least that's my defense for being turned down probably), another friend met them and after a beer or two talked about WW2 and their history. It just seems someething that many people think of immediately when they meet a German. I'd suspect Americans do the same. Germany has pretty much been exemplary since then. Let me ask you this, which country between America and Germany can you display the nazi flag? America. Anyway, it will be interesting to see what happens in Greece. As far as prisons you all know my thoughts. I'd do time in China, Russia or Thailand before I'd do time in California state prison for example. As I told a board member recently. Anything bad that happens in Chinese or Russian prisons happens in American prisons plus other things. From the second you get off the bus to be processed you walk a gauntlet of guys behind fences telling you how they will abuse you sexually and others telling you how they'll kill you...and they are not joking.

The Greek who killed himself some time ago seemed an extreme case. From the little I've seen I don't see the Greek people as a collective sticking with austerity measures. They seem to regard their benefits as a human right. Maybe I'm viewing it wrongly from a biased media. I don't know. As for Americans, we already know we'll have to tighten our belts and the one thing I think that has come of this is that Americans have lost faith in their government and its institutions. My parents said their parents felt the same after the depression. It must have been even worse then. my mother paid bills with a money or cash for years. Didn't trust checks. Anyway, it will be interesting to see how the Greeks deal with this.