Baltimorei

[gimmethesimplelife]

But that was prior to getting married. Is he gun ho about moving south of our u.s. Border?

I'm not married quite yet, IL. Given that I'm taking off for Europe/Morocco and given that the weather doesn't get nice again most years until mid October here, we are making it legal in mid October. We have discussed living in Mexico before and I'm not against it and neither is he. You do have to be picky about where you live, however. Some states/areas it is very smart to avoid, but there are places in Mexico that are safe. Just like when Medellin (sp?) in Columbia was a mess - smart expats went to other parts of Columbia that were safe and really stretched their dollars/pounds/whatever currency. Rob

[gimmethesimplelife]

And so the antidote for one life being devalued is to devalue everyone else's as well? I much prefer a society that works to correct anomalies rather than one that simply discarding a system that has been worked out over 240 +/- years and, for the most part, works pretty well.

Ummmmm.....you miss my point entirely. How about we as a nation don't devalue ANYONE's life to begin with? Ummm.....might that not prevent a lot of this drama period? I believe this is too much to hope for in America - but it sure might nip a lot of the downsides of this citizenship in the bud. Rob

[JaneV2.0]

???? Al Jazeera is owned by the government of Qatar. Are you somehow under the impression that an organization owned by a country's government and chaired by a Sheikh who is a member of that country's ruling family is freerer of government influence than other news channels?

It seems to be freer of influence from our corporations or government. That's why I watch it. I know it's foreign-owned, like the BBC or CBC, which I also watch.

[Gregg]

Ummmmm.....you miss my point entirely. How about we as a nation don't devalue ANYONE's life to begin with? Ummm.....might that not prevent a lot of this drama period? I believe this is too much to hope for in America - but it sure might nip a lot of the downsides of this citizenship in the bud. Rob

No Rob, I didn't. Devaluation, like prejudice and so many other things, can be harder to see than we might think. I have read multiple posts that suggest there might be a benefit in depriving accused police officers of their rights to due process. Or depriving innocent bystanders of their life, liberty or right to pursue happiness by destroying their property (or worse) to advance the agenda of the mob. Or that the ends justify the means in so many other messy ways. They don't. Never have. Never will. Contrary to popular belief, its the means that define us, not the ends because there are no ends.

History is filled with pitchfork carrying mobs of thugs. Some of them made a positive difference by correcting injustice and some of them made matters far worse than they were before. Are you absolutely sure the actions of the most recent violent band of anarchists is noble and altruistic in a search for society's ideal plane? My guess is that they are closer to a band of disenfranchised people for whom opportunity and hope might as well be no more than Platonic notions. If that's the case there are far more positive options than encouraging them to burn the neighbors out.

[LDAHL]

When mob rule was the order of the day in France, Edmund Burke wrote, “It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters.”

[LDAHL]

It seems to be freer of influence from our corporations or government. That's why I watch it. I know it's foreign-owned, like the BBC or CBC, which I also watch.

So you don't object so much to corporate or government influence so much as American corporate or government influence? What makes American institutions uniquely evil?

[Weston]

So you don't object so much to corporate or government influence so much as American corporate or government influence? What makes American institutions uniquely evil?

+1 That appears to be exactly what Jane is saying.

[JaneV2.0]

We all marinate in American corporate influence; it's refreshing to get news without it. It's also refreshing to get real news as opposed to infotainment.

[catherine]

We all marinate in American corporate influence; it's refreshing to get news without it. It's also refreshing to get real news as opposed to infotainment.

Exactly

[LDAHL]

We all marinate in American corporate influence; it's refreshing to get news without it. It's also refreshing to get real news as opposed to infotainment.

So your preference would be for news funded only by pure, untainted tax money provided by disinterested governments? Not for the meretricious cozenage spouted by the New York Times Company, or others subsisting on advertising or subscription fees?