Usa Thread

[Bangkoktraveler]

For years the German-Poland relationship was very complicated. But it is getting better now. I just had been invited to Krakow (definitely one of the most beautiful cities in Europe) and it was extremely pleasant to work with the Polish.

 

By the way, after the fall of the Iron Curtain many Polish went to work in West Europe (Germany, GB, e.g.), but now Poland is doing so well that most of them returned home.

 

 

In regard to US jails my information is of course limited, but it seems that in some prisons they even stopped serving food 3 times a day for financial reasons. Another major problem seems to be that more and more people get really old in prison and that the prisons can't/ won't take care of them. The same seems to apply the growing number of people with mental illnesses.

 

The USA has skeletons.

 

For example: Massacres, starvations, etc. committed on Indians (Native Americans)

 

We are proud of our country but are past is not a very nice past.

 

We promoted the total disregard for Native Americans.

 

We promoted slavery.

 

We promoted peonage.

 

Not nice.

 

[Bangkoktraveler]

Then there is one of the largest businesses in the USA: jails/prisons

which are run under some of the most diabolitical rules

while draped and showcased to the World

as an example of how a Christian country treats people.

[Steve]

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.

[kamui]

I think Germany doesn't downplay its WW2 atrocities, but Im not 100% sure. Kamui?

 

 

Germany doesn't downplay it at all. Otherwise it would have been impossible to develop really good realationships with our neighbouring countries as well as with Isreal. (of course occasionally there are some frictions)

 

The German government(s) paid reparations to many countries and is still paying pensions to foreign victims of the Nazi regime in Poland and elsewhere.

 

On a local level German history schoolbooks document the Nazi regime and WWII very well. Nothing is being denied or hidden. In many cities you will find Nazi documentation centers and many private citizens are involved in researching the fate of Jews e.g. in their cities and villages.

In Cologne for example at many places you find small bronze bricks with names inscribed in the pavement in front of certain houses. These are names of Jews living in the house who where deported...

 

That's quite different to Japan which still denies the Nanjing massacre, which has enshrined so called Class A war ciminals in a major temple in Tokyo and which for example denies individual payments to sex slaves of Japanese WWII regime.

[Bangkoktraveler]

In the USA we put spins on history. We claim we did away with

slavery but we like to sweep unnder the carpet

the fact that Mexico did away

with slavery way before we did.

 

We remember the Alamo but don't seem to realize

at the Alamo they flew the Mexican flag because

Texas was a Mexican state. The fight

at the Alamo was more over the issue that

Texas still wanted to continue with slavery whereas the rest

of the Mexican country did not want slavery.

[Steve]

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.

[Steve]

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.

[Steve]

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.

[Bangkoktraveler]

Zimmerman is back in jail.

 

Will he be getting out today?

[Steve]

Zimmerman is back in jail.

 

Will he be getting out today?

 

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.