rob

Meh, you should read his book "America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great" and see if you still think so. Certainly he has many personal achievements worth of merit and respect, but does that make him a good president? Not in my opinion after suffering through his (well-written, at least) revisionist US history treatise on the benefits of unbridled capitalism and how much better everything used to be. You should give it a read and see if he still gives you a chubbie. It's cheap on Kindle and worth a read, especially if you like the guy.

It's depressing that America has cultivated a society in which changing your mind is viewed as a bad thing, as if the best among us are expected to make up their minds about complicated topics and then never change them, despite the inevitable growth and revelation that experience tends to bring. Woe be to the politician who thinks better of his immature positions in the harsh light of experiential knowledge. Waffle! Waffle! Obviously, important decisions should only be made once, right? Never look back!!!

Just like it did in 1776 when everything was just right! 'Merica!

It's been that way for decades! Why change anything? Just keep your head down in your mouth closed, boy. LOL!

I wonder why any time anyone ever tries to enact social progress, Republicans insist on calling it "social engineering". It's almost like they don't want anything to ever change. How… Conservative.

I'm continually impressed that Christians managed to turn Jesus into a white guy

Boy, just keep your mouth shut and you'll be fine. yeah, that's the culture I want to live in

That kind of apathy is also prevalent in the gun debate..." crime is gonna happen, just get used to it."

My father wouldn't let me join the scouts because they were too Christian. I was an Indian guide instead.

You probably have been, are, and will be many more times in the future. That's life. Luckily the constitution protects me from this. Phew! They should let them keep it up as long as the put an Islamic icon right next to it, perhaps a painting of the prophet's Night Journey, that's a popular one.

To me, it would be a hint of the flavor of philosophy undertaken by that organization's administration, and it would make me feel extremely uncomfortable because I have zero interest in being under the rule of someone who will make administrative decisions based on what the bible says. How do they feel about open demonstrations of homosexuality? How do they feel about atheists like me? I would feel oppressed. I don't want someone's religion in my face, administrators need to leave that shit in the parking lot. Thanks, ACLU!

Can you imagine entering a supposedly secular organization and seeing a common religious portrayal of Jesus hanging above the stairs in it's rightful position of protection? I would LOL. I didn't read the whole article, this is in the south, right?

That picture would harm me, too. It's obviously in a place of "honor" rather than a purely historical piece in the library next to other pieces. It's hard to imagine that anyone could not tell that the "historical" angle is just a bullshit defense, are you really trying to pretend that it has nothing to do with their beliefs in the positive message of Jesus? Really? I'm not buying it, you're just being stubborn either because the ACLU are a buncha liberals, or you just want to disagree with us, or both. Historical. Lol. Does the school specialize in teaching Christian history? Do they have other historical pictures throughout the school? Why would they choose a historical picture of someone of great religious importance, especially at the exclusion of others? Why would they be that interested in religion, at all? President, please. You're smarter than that.

On the one hand, he says we have a moral obligation to do what we can to prevent more mass shootings, and on the other, he says none of the proposed legislation is guaranteed to prevent a mass-shooting or reduce killing "down to a thousand a year." Given how toothless the proposed "increases" in regulation are, I agree with both of his statements.

I've downloaded it, I'll get to it eventually. Did you read the whole thing or did you just get excited by the abstract? Is it worth my time? He seems to have decent credentials -- Harvard, Stanford, etc.

I don't know... I know him pretty well, do you? Anyway, I'm with you on crazy people, though. They're everywhere. What to do? I just try to pick a course between them all.

I'm not sure what question you're asking, but as far as comparing "violent crime" rates, I think it's a very hard thing to do from country to country because countries vary on what types of crime constitute violent crime (some countries county burglaries, some do not), and when they are reports (i.e. some countries only report violent crime convictions, while others report unsolved violent crimes). Comparing statistics is very problematic when there is no standardization in reporting. It sounds like the point you are trying to make is that actually, nothing is wrong. Am I misunderstanding you? Could you rephrase your question?

Excellent points. But do you think people in Europe are not bullied and humiliated at a young age like they are in America? I think you're right that Americans in general are fairly selfish. Do you think part of the problem may be the dumbing down of Americans? Hardly anyone reads anymore, and video media has become nothing more than short snippets, tiny sound bites, and almost zero in-depth analytic analysis. There is almost no context to anything anymore, and Americans are becoming woefully under-educated about even their own country's history and lack context for current events. America has a severe anti-intellectual problem -- I suspect a well-educated and enlightened citizenry would be less likely to shoot each other up. I wonder how much TV Europeans watch compared to Americans?

Hey Bill, I'm curious -- what do you think America should do to help reduce our high levels of gun violence?

"Never argue with an idiot; he will bring you down to his level and win from experience."

But what if monsters attack me?

I lived in L.A. for a while and a drunk guy wandered into the group house I was living in (door was unlocked!) and I awoke in the middle of the night to a stranger standing near my bed. In my disoriented state, I assumed he was lurking (really he was just peeing in the corner of my room)... I was younger at the time, dutifully armed, and nearly shot him. It's the only time I've ever pointed a loaded gun at another human. The young man came back the next morning to apologize (and clean my carpet) and I was really, really glad I hadn't shot him. I wonder how many gun nuts would have just pulled the trigger?

You mean, like, visiting Texas or something?