Not New Rules But New Questions
1. How can David Harold serve one year in prison for raping and sodomizing a four-year-old girl but Michael Vick serve nearly two years for dog fighting? Is the life of an animal worth more than the life of a human being? Let alone a child?
2. Why do Republicans forget, when complaining about the 1.3 trillion dollar deficit, that this was the mess leftover from the Bush administration? Why do they forget that President Obama didn't create this but is rather attempting to fix it?
3. Why are so many Christians in favor of the death penalty when there is no possible way to justify that belief using the New Testament (which is the new covenant Christians are suppose to abide by brought by Jesus Christ)?
4. Why is it okay to send a 17-year-old child to fight a war (that we should not have even started in the first place) but not okay for another child that same age to play in the NBA?
5. Does it scare anyone else that Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh have as many supporters as they do?
6. Why does the United States have the highest reported incarceration rate in the world compared to its democratic, advanced market economy counterparts? The facts show that although crime rates have decreased since 1990, the rate of imprisonment has continued to increase. Why is that?
7. When I was in school the style was baggy clothes. Adults were afraid of and uncomfortable with the appearance and stereotyped the style of dress as that of a thug. The current generation of young people wear skinny jeans and tight shirts (which is horrible in my opinion). My question is, are adults as afraid of them as they were of us?
8. How can anyone be in favor of a health care system in which the patients are treated according to the amount of coverage their insurance company provides? Why is a government run insurance option such a terrible idea? If you are happy with your coverage you keep it and if you are one of the 50 million Americans who are not covered at all, you have the choice of a government option. I personally believe that insurance companies should be eliminated altogether, but if the public option will lower costs, ensure that there are affordable options for all Americans and increase choice and competition in the health insurance market, why is it looked at as such a terrible idea by so many people?
9. There have been many scare tactics employed mostly by Republicans of President Obama's health care plan. Claims such as:
Myth 1: "Health reform won't benefit people like me, who have insurance."
Myth 2: "The boomers will bankrupt Medicare."
Myth 3: "Reforming our health care system will cost us more."
Myth 4: "My access to quality health care will decline."
Myth 5: "I won't be able to visit my favorite doctor."
Myth 6: "The uninsured actually do have access to good care--in the emergency room."
Myth 7: "We can't afford to tackle this problem now."
Myth 8: "We'll end up with socialized medicine."
Why are so many people buying into these claims without their being any proof of one of these claims being true?
10. Why is the perception that if you disagree with some of the foreign policy and practices of Israel, you are labeled anti-Semitic? Why don't I ever hear the term anti-Palestinian?
11. During the recent debate on CNN between Ann Coulter and Rev. Al Sharpton, did Coulter really say that racial profiling doesn't exist? Did she really say that there is an assumption of racism by cops and that you have one hoax after another? Did she really say that eventually there has to be at least one real case of it? I can't believe that she actually believes this, but just in case she or anyone else does...
12. Is there perhaps a better method for Gov. Schwarzenegger to attempt to bail out California's budget deficit than to cut the heart out of the state's vital programs and services helping women, children and families deal with domestic violence? Was this line-item veto of the state's $20 million anti-family violence program evidence that he simply doesn't put women and families affected by domestic violence high on his list of priorities?
For more from Etan check out his new project, Etan Thomas Presents: Voices of the Future.
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I am going to follow Etan on Twitter.
Etan, can the Warriors trade for you? We could use more beef this offseason plus we lost our statesman when Adonal Foyle left. (Democracy Matters). Great observations. Are you the next Bill Bradley?
I enjoyed watching Mr. Thomas at Syrcause and apprciate his articulate commentary. However, he reminds me of the US Government. He collected over $40 million dollars in salary to deliver less than 5 rebounds per game and 6 points per game.
Alot of money for minimal results. The NBA and the US Government.
I doubt all the seniors on Medicare would agree with that, and a lot of folks who have (or cannot get) private health insurance might feel they should be added to your list...
C-SPAN TOWN HALL -
Showing Mississippi Town Hall D- Gene Taylor
Thank you for showing that athletes, like most of us, are not just one thing. You bring up very thoughtful questions that come down to one truth: what are we afraid of?
Thoughtful, truthful discourse will be what helps this country to progress. I believe that we have lost the better part of 30 years, but we're still here. We need to come together and work with one another.
Thank you so much for asking these questions. It will be interesting to see what all the selfish people have for answers.
They are coming out of the woodwork.
If by selfish you mean people who are looking out for their self-interest and are try to keep what they have worked for - I guess I'm one of those selfish people. So, I'll reply to your post. Are you not doing the same thing? If you don't care to keep what you have worked for, you are welcome to give it all away. However, you may not give away MY stuff. My stuff equals my money, my freedom, my power to apply my resources where I choose. I think part of the problem in many of this country's debates is that some people are trying to be generous with other people's stuff. That's F$^%&#G crazy. The government is trying to be the broker of all charity. Generousity and charity apply to the individual. When the government steals from one group and gives to another, that's not charity. We could call it 'the tyranny of the majority' or something like that, but not charity.
Sir,
If you:
1. Use roads to drive to and from work
2. Depend on the Fire Dept in case of fire or injury
3. Depend on the Police Dept for protection
4. Have attended, have children or family who have attended public schools
5. Stop at stop signs and traffic lights
6. Drive at night using street lights
7. Participate in or have family members participating in Medicare / Medicaid / Social Security
8. Attend National Parks
9. Use electricity
10. All of the above
... then you are participating in what is known as the "social contract". In a society, there are services that are best provided by government vs. private companies. The above is a brief list of those socialist services that we all participate in with our taxes.
A society without government is a society without laws. Look to Afghanistan and tell me how well that's working. Yes, that is an extreme example.
America is unique in that we balance Capitalism with Government -- Private Enterprise with Public. There is a place for both systems in creating the American experience.
United we stand. Divided we fall.
Where do you stand, Steve?
Steve. I appreciate our dialogue. Thank you.
My father was in the military, my mother worked for AAFES. I was the first in my family to go to college. With my grades, I was fortunate enough to attend + graduate from an Ivy League college.
The college, the state of Alaska + generous alumni provided me with scholarships so that I could afford to attend. I paid back the state of Alaska because I chose not to return to Alaska upon graduation. This meant that money I received was rolled back over to assist someone else.
My life is better because others helped me.
My life is better for helping others. Be that through charitable donations that I make myself or my taxes that are spent for education, roads, military defense, school lunches, Medicare, Medicaid + other safety net programs.
I have studied many religions + do aspire to one tenet that most have in common:
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
The ethic of reciprocity is found in 21 world religions:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/reciproc.htm
"Every religion emphasizes human improvement, love, respect for others, sharing other people's suffering. On these lines every religion had more or less the same viewpoint and the same goal." - The Dalai Lama
My goal in life is to leave the world a better place. I believe that it should also be the goal of government. Sometimes that means doing things to help others when the private sector fails.
#7
The reaction to the "phat/baggy-street costumes" you advocate is due to your own lack of understanding and not limited to the following reasons. My response is based upon first hand knowledge.
The "phat" pants, baggy pants crew were/are part of a "thug" culture that grew out of the prison population/street/drug trade culture. These clothes were worn loosely in order hide weapons-shanks and to shop lift.
The reason the music associated with this "prison culture fashion" is played excessively loud is in to intiminate and threaten those around them-through the volume, violence, threatening, lyrics. In the same way early "punk" bands played loud and violent.
Another Reason the"fashion statement/music is associated with "thugery" and violence is because of the behavior of some of the "artists"-Nelly and his sexual activites with a minor, the recent conviction of Murder C (?) , the violence/murder Tupac, Biggie, Reverend Run, the whole East/West violence,, the whole Blood/Crips associations with the music/"street/drug trade/clothing, the anti-social behavior, as well as a line of clothing "thug wear."
The people you believe are being judgmental are justified as history has shown that people who wear these clothes have an established pattern of being violent., like "street soldiers." Your question reflects your own bias and prejudices which is fundamentally a result of your own lack of the historical understanding of the clothes you wore/wear.
I think if you broadened your gaze you would find that people wearing baggy clothes are not and never have been the greatest purveyors of violence in this or any other society. People are not victimized by random people in the streets wearing baggy clothes. In all likelihood you will be victimized by a friend or relative.
A persons response is a far greater reflection of their own fearful and cowardly nature then it is on the clothes that the person is wearing.
Please.
Facts are facts.
This fashion is the result of what I have said.
Go back and take a listen, take a look.
Kids getting shot over Jordans? Were you around?
I was pointing out the history of the wear since it seems no one else wanted to touch it.
Take a look at some of the youth hauled into cop shops, look at what they wear on a dailly basis, it is all related, connected.
The kids who wear this today were not around when this line of fashion came up.
I have scene the guns/drugs come out of the baggy pants/sweats so do not waste your time with the insults.
Why did Ice Cube himself say, in some of his music, we confussed the cops when we dropped the baggy pants and went to polos, kakis, and chuck taylors? Still slanging and banging, just changed our cover?
Ubran violence during the 80s/90s was a direct result of the drug trade initiated by th Columbians, targeted S. Cental due to high unemployment in the African American Community due to the displacement of jobs overseas, they created "employment" through the cocaine trade and it was conceled in those loose pants and clothing along with shotguns, pistols, and knives.
I saw this mess first hand.
While you are correct in a very broad sense, your reasoning falls victim to some very broad generalizations and a misconception or two. The first is that the drug trade was not initiated by the Colombians it was initiated by the CIA and and carried out by the Central/South American cartels. Much in the same way as the Mafia was given the green light to flood Harlem with Heroin in the wake of WWll.
Gary Webb wrote a series of articles that were published in the San Jose Mercury News in 1996. In the weeks following, the paper fundamentally reneged on Webb's work, disavowed the articles and that was pretty much the end of Webb's career. I have always maintained that the biggest importer of drugs into the US that do not grow in the US was the US military. Where do you imagine all the guns in LA came from.
Tupac was under surveillance and FBI harassment for the whole of his life, the entire Tupac/Notorious B.I.G. thing was just an extension of Cointelpro.
to be continued...
Oh brother.
Pt. 2
Don't mind if I repeat, the first post was too long and the copy/paste did not work.
The baggy pants style has another meaning in the prisons, if those who wear that style knew the significance, they'd drop it in heartbeat. It is significant to point out that those who wear the style today were not around at its inception. It is way beyond the loss of belts and shoelaces upon incarceration.
Tupac/Biggie was an extension of Cointelpro. Look into Tupac's relatives and associates, he was a target for the FBI pretty much his entire life.
I believe that the violence was imported, a necessary concomitant to the drugs and violence. I have always maintained that since neither heroin or cocaine grow here, someone had to bring it in, who has the capability to move all of that past Customs and DEA?
So if you wear baggy clothes, you're likely a gang member? Weird, I lived in a small Western NJ town for all of the 90's, and like EVERYONE under 25 wore baggy clothes. It was a fashion trend. That's all. Who cares where it came from? Is it wrong for me to put a bandana on my head because the crips and bloods wear bandanas on their heads? Do bandanas cause crime, and kill people?
Is the life of an animal worth more than the life of a human being? Let alone a child?
of course it is.... you didn't know??
Hmm. I'll tell you what I know.
Millions of animals are eaten by children in this country EVERY day. You and the author need to bone up on some logic, because animal lives are clearly NOT valued over human lives.
You do not get to determine that...you do get to choose your own species over others but to assign a "higher" value to one of two things when you are, yourself, one of those things, is an exercise in rank bias.
Humans should not be condemned for favoring themselves over other creatures but let's not use sentiment or false-logic to ignore our own bias so we can say our lives, or the lives of particular animals, are more "valuable" than the lives of others. Just because we have intelligence (sentience) and society and culture does not mean we're "more valuable" than those that don't.
We are a member of this planet and thus are inherently biased when we attempt to determine, whether arbitrary or not, that any other species on this planet is more or less valuable than ourselves.
We are infinitely more valuable than animals...and I love animals. Don't be a freaking idiot.
11. During the recent debate on CNN between Ann Coulter and Rev. Al Sharpton
Who cares what Ann Coulter thinks. But why is your focus and concerns only directed on Ann Coulter? Al Sharpton is Ann Coulter's ideological twin. There will never be any honest intellectual discussion on race until both sides throw their race baiters under the bus.
5. Does it scare anyone else that Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh have as many supporters as they do?
Yes it does. But what really scares the hell out of me is the hoards of people who fawned over Barak Obama like he was the messiah, instead of a politician. The young woman caught on video claiming when Obama was elected she would'nt have to worry about her morgage, her insurance, her gas, wasn't some anomily, it was a belief in mass proportions.
You kinda got off topic, but since you did I'll respond to your tangent. What you witnessed was hoards of people who were excited and relieved to finally have a presidential candidate that they could feel good about, especially in the wake of the Bush Administration. That Messiah jargon was all propagated... and apparently you bought into it in mass proportion.
Congrates, you just displayed your ability to engage moral relativism. Hey but when all else fails....
messiah is a right wing buzz word used to denigrate -
obama was truly a magnificent orator during the campaign ----he was very good and the people were impressed very impressed.and with good reason----the last guy had trouble with the gout book so the change was refreshing
It scares me from both sides that people give politicians and media pundits too much creedence and messiah like qualities. Folks they are just humans underneath it all, they may be more powerful and make more money but they posses no special powers, some people are foolish or smart enough to follow them, but most of all people should always be skeptical, question and have critical thought but sadly due to corporate media that doesn't get the ratings on their media properties, shouting rants and blood does.....................sadly.
Myth 1: "Health reform won't benefit people like me, who have insurance."
Myth 2: "The boomers will bankrupt Medicare."
Myth 3: "Reforming our health care system will cost us more."
Myth 4: "My access to quality health care will decline."
Myth 5: "I won't be able to visit my favorite doctor."
Myth 6: "The uninsured actually do have access to good care--in the emergency room."
Myth 7: "We can't afford to tackle this problem now."
Myth 8: "We'll end up with socialized medicine."
These are hardly myths. These are legitiment questions and concerns. And neither you Mr. Thomas nor the President of the United States can say none of these won't happen. Esp. since there is no final bill out there.
In 1965 Sen Danial Moynihan (Democrate) published the Moyniham report. He stated that the new rules of the welfare system would lead to the destruction of the American Black Family. He was then derided for blaming the victim and branded a racist. We now know how prophetic his report was.
yes they are legitimate questions and concerns, however most americans don't realize that the quality of care you recieve is directly proportional to the coverage you have, generally the first question you are asked when entering a place of care is ....who is your insurer? ...not what is the problem? the reality is that the US system when compared to other industrialized nations (see the WHO on the rankings) doesn't even crack the top 10 systems in the world (all the others are some form of "socialized medicine" oooh scary ) and moreover we are far more wasteful with our healthcare dollars....it makes you wonder if it has something to do with the fact that our system is profit based. Additionally as for the "government" making decisions?.....medicare and medicaid bear a 3-5% administrative cost , which seems pretty efficient compared to 28-38% administrative cost for private insusrers (see the profit thingy is in the administrative cost)........ Guess what ....right now someone at an HMO is denying care to make that company a profit.......it seems that non healthcare providers and people wiith MBAs get to make our healthcare decisions in the system we have
I think you completely under estimate what Americans "realize".
We are guaranteed equal rights as citizens of this great nation. We are NOT guaranteed equal results.
Do any of you understand that?
Myth 6: "The uninsured actually do have access to good care--in the emergency room."
This is not a myth, and a central arguement in the debate. Of course in less you are uninsured and poor in the inner city of chichago where Michele Obama and David Axlerod developed one of the biggest patient dumping schemes the country has seen in many many years. Recently a young boy was attack by a pit bull, suffered life threathning injuries and was rejected by the emergency room and sent to a free clinic. He ended up in hospital across the city. The hospital in question: The University of Chichago Medical Center.
Your example just proved that Myth 6 indeed is a myth, since your example shows that the uninsured child was sent to a free clinic and that the myth basically says the uninsured doesn't get good health care.
The scheme perpetraited by Michele Obama and David Axlerod doesn't seem to be a trend across the country but isolated to the Univ. of Chichago medical center. Therefore Myth 6 is not a myth.
If you have evidence this is wide spread. Please share.
TO EQUALMEANSEQUAL- I think Etan's first question was not trying to debate that that there was injustice in VICK's sentence but that the atrocity that someone like David Harold served less time let alone is even out on the street at this point is absurd. In addition most people understand VIck was convicted for racketeering and taxes but the weight of his case and the notoriety came from the fact it stemmed from dog killings. However, the fact this was the question you focused on are you saying that still makes Vick's sentence comparable if not equal to Harold's.
ETAN's point was that Vick's sentence probably was just but your point sound like a 1 year sentence for HAROLD for raping a 4 year old little girl is equal in your eyes- That scares me
The fact that other' are having to explain what Etan point makes it clear, it needed to be re-written, reworked, edited from top to bottom.
I found the entire thing a mess, full of holes, lacked clearity, and used selected events to make broad generalizations.
The non-sense about a 17 year old not being able to join the NBA but the military, the non-sense about people being put off by baggy pants but admits he does finds tight fighting clothes not to his taste, and the business with the Vick and a child rapist.
However, there were a few good questions but he showed his own predjudices in the process of trying to point out others as do those who jump to his defense over blatent inconsistencies/lack of clearity in his statements/posts.
I was pleased to see a post by an athlete but that is all.
Just because you disagree does not make it nonsense. I find your post a mess full of logical inconsistencies and totally void of fact.
VIcks time was not for killing dogs, it was for felony gambling(that involved over a hundred thousand dollars and that avoided taxes ilegally) and racketeering charges.
Your dog vs. human life comparison has nothing to do with VIcks case.
Its a joke to imply that he is a victim of injustice.
I don't think he was implying that Vick was a victim of injustice. Maybe he was, but I really think that the important point was simply that according to the result of "justice" being handed out, apparently the life of a dog is more important than that of a 4-year old girl.
Note that David Harold Earls is white. Not sure that means anything, but a white guy gets a 1 year sentence for raping a 4 year old girl, and a black guy gets a 2 year sentence for dogfighting and illegal gambling.
Tell me that's fair. Go ahead. Give it your best college try.
I've asked these very same questions.
I seriously think Americans need to change their way of thinking.
Providing healthcare is not a hand out.
Healthcare is not just for the rich who can afford it.
Why not be concerned and love your fellow American?
because to have concern and, dare I say, EMPATHY, for your fellow hueman being is considered a weakness in this society....
too true.
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