John Adams

= the white Al Shaprton.

No, that's not the question. I could post only things that are true and still be promoting an agenda that is worng. For example, if all I did was post stories about priests raping young boys, I'd be misrepresenting priests. Wisc reviews the news, finds a post where a minority does something wrong or gets beaten up at the hands of an angry white guy, then links to it. The stories may be factually true...but further an agenda. I'm just pointing out that the guy is an ass. You don't have to agree. Maybe he's a modern day Ralph Ellison and is conducting an insight-gathering social experiment but that seems unlikely.

Here's a quick review of topics he started http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/index.php?...ult_type=topics "Best video ever" thread: Old insane white guy beats up black jerkoff on bus "This is what happens when you bus from the ghetto": black kid beats up white kid at school "Black mob beats up city worker: Where's the outrage": speaks for itself "Jury duty in detroit" "This is what we have to look forward to if we let more illegals into this country" "Illegal Guatamalan kills neighbors in Brooklyn" He also started an anti-Obama thread about Obama as Marxist and one where Maybin looks thin. So in that body of topics started, it's pretty safe to say he has an agenda. Plus he's from Wisconsin.

Agree 100%.

What is the "obvious truth" in this or his other 4 thread-starters?

In 4 weeks on this board, he's started 5 threads bemoaning how the news doesn't cover when black people beat people/misbehave...with links to news stories covering the bad bahavior. You make the call if he's got an agenda. There are stupid-lazy-bad black people. That's a fact. What are we supposed to do? Start a thread pointing out someone's race every time anyone misbehaves. "Hey everyone, today a white guy raped a teen for the 15th time. Why is no one talking about how serial rapists are mostly white?" There are bad black people. There are bad white people. Sometimes race comes up and other times--as in his posts--it's part of an agenda. If he had 100 posts and 2 were stories like this, it would be one thing. But just look at the thread titles with his name as starter on this board right now and get back to me on how enlightened he is.

Actually, the association I made was between you and racism...not violent crime and blacks.

Normally you'd be right, but in this case, given his history of posting obsessively about race, you're wrong. It's not hard to see his agenda if you take a peek through his 30ish posts.

At least your racial obsession was better-masked with this one.

So...am I supposed to ignore the actual evidence then? The best thing about Bell, by far, was see him out on screen plays. He is an athletic guy and was able to get out in front on that play and use his athleticism to deliver a good "head of steam" moving block. The problem is that you get no head of steam in pass protection or normal run blocking unless it's some sort wide pull. Bell is--at best--a project. He's more likely a guy who will go quietly from the NFL. The only place I want to see Bell is as a 3rd string lineman.

Olympic sports without any professionals (including the Sean Whites of the world) would just be college track and field and college softball...which no one cares about. There's a reason the Olympics sold out...to make the games better. And they succeeded. World records are falling right and left. Pros make all the games and individual events better. If you want amatuer sports, go watch the NCAA downhill championships and report back to us on the drama of it all.

You missed the point completely. 18 of his 24 posts are race-related. Post count has nothing to do with intelligence.

None if you're a good parent-teacher. Tons if you're a wacko. The social ramification argument is awesome. Children were home "schooled" or community "schooled" for about the entire history of humankind until the last 100 years. Pretty sure they'd be OK. Home schooling these days gets a bad rap because many of the people who started home schooling were/are fringe lunatics.

Almost none.

And yet the early peer groups and desire to learn matter a hell of a lot. My neighbor sent his kid to the local supposedly very good (avg teacher pay 80K/year...decent college placements) public school through grade 6. He was a B student and did all his work. As college started lurking in the background, he and his parents decided to send him to a really good local private school. Kid went to the top local private school for 2 years and was a disaster. The parents cared but the kid had a toxic peer group of slackers left over from his public school days. They mocked him constantly for all his homework and he failed out. Less likely to find that in a top private school where the peer group actually cares about the academia. And yes, easy to blame his attitude on the parents but be honest: Once you pass a certain age...10-14 perhaps, parental influence means nil compared to peers. So I exercise my influence with the teachers on my side in grades K-5 or whatever, and as the peer influence starts to take over, I trust that all the peers she's been set up to be around help be a good guide. Will it work? Who the !@#$ knows? But I feel I have more influence on the process in a private school that I got to select from a menu of other schools than a public school with randomly selected kids, parents, teachers...and government programs. The top Philly schools are all the same price. There are about 20 of them in the area, not counting the boarding schools. Now ask me: Could I afford 2 such tuitions? Ugh, who knows. But I have one child so it's easier. As to college, I see little value in the middle tier schools. If you don't get into an Ivy-ish school and the network of academia and contacts that gets you (which is worth a lot...not necessarily to become a successful millionaire but just to help you do what you want, be it a concert pianist to NASA engineer), you're way better off at a local state school where you can save a lot of money and be exposed to great teachers. If you're already a good student, you can get a ton out of a good state school and if you're already a slacker, you'll continue to be that. The middle tier schools like a Davidson that cost as much as Princeton (50K/year) but have nowhere near the academic chops are an utter waste of money.

Don't get me wrong...I love BMWs but my daughter won't be driving one when she's 16.

7K would be the bargain Catholic schools in our area. The better schools are 15K for Kindergarten. Our concern when we picked one of those high-priced joints was making sure the peer group wasn't a bunch of future entitle BMW-heads. Somehow, we got lucky and found what could best be called a poor 15K/year school. Definitely Quaker-crunchy types but a much better vibe than the stick in the ass uber-rich conservative alternatives where we worried about an awful peer group. My daughter's school (Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia) has the best (or interchangeable with 2 other schools) college placements in the area. Lots of Ivies and other top schools. Oddly, they have no real grades until 5th grade. Kids get marked right or wrong and receive critiques on writing assignments but no actual A-F until they are older. I suspect the school can do this because they interview the parents beforehand and even ask kids who aren't making the cut to leave. So as little kids, they develop a peer group of smart kids who just learn to like learning. In 3 years, my daughter's teachers have had 20, 24, and 25 years teaching experience at the school respectively. That obviously doesn't work in the nightmare public system. Im with Darin: My wife and I have talked about it many times. We would sell every possession we own and withdraw everything from our 401K, and sell out house to keep my daughter in this school before even setting foot in public schools.

I call bull **** on that. It just sounds good for the people who love to crow about "pussification of America." No kid just stands there and lets himself get the crap kicked out of him for fear of punishment--even if the punishment is real. When you have a fist coming at your face, the last thing you're thinnking about is a trip to the Principal for defending yourself.

Maybe those big classes are probably part of the reason for that generation being such an utter cluster!@#$ of selfishness and irresponsibility.

Stop: That ship sailed a million years ago. You don't care about the taxes. You just don't want inner city kids in your Macungie school system.

Yeah, god forbid kids in the inner city be given a chance at a better school. As a side note, no one should send their kids to public schools.

Pretty small sample on that statistic.

Planet Earth is one of the most beautifully shot nature shows I ever saw. It probably sold more HDTVs in the ought years than any other TV show. If you're a fan, Discovery has an 11 part sequel, Discovery: Life, starting March 21, 2010. http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/life/ Here are some Youtube videos of Planet Earth for people who never saw it. Great White Shark vid--simply amazing: Bizarre birds of paradise (the one at 2 minutes is like nothing I've ever seen) Wild hunting dogs in Africa (not narrated but easy to appreciate the strategy of the hunt as you see dogs peel off and surround the impalas as they organize the attack) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWvDg92qTEQ

I see dolphins swimming off Ocean City NJ every weekend, usually early in the morning. Usually they are about 100 yards out--not that far--and sometimes closer. Once when I was swimming, I decided to go out close to a pod of about 10 of them who were frolicking in one area. I swam within 8 feet of them for a close look at their size and power and about that moment, they scared the **** outta me and I forgot all about Flipper and just thought how one of these 30mph 500lb missiles could break my ribs or neck without even thinking about it. Even though nothing happened, it was one of my scarier water experiences and now when I see them swimming out there, I am happy to see a fellow mammal and let them enjoy their cruise without interruption from me.

Wonderful news. Someone mentioned that you shouldn't ever drink again or you'll feel badly. Certainly great advice. But remember: if you do fall off the wagon (and tons of people do), day one clean can start the very next day and that's OK.