We are some of the luckiest people in history

[TCDiver1]

O-ring once bubbled...

That's true...free speech and the right to voice one's opinions is an important right. However, I think that the right to "peacefully assemble" is different than what these idiots usually do (break stuff, disrupt economically disadvantaged mothers trying to pick up their children from daycare and getting charged extra for every 10 minutes they are late, destroying coffee houses, etc.). I think in these cases they have too much freedom and the police and national guard should be free to dispose of them how they see fit (rubber bullets, sprays, clubs, dogs, whatever..). I was thrilled when some of our US style activists tried to pull this stuff in Italy and the police handed it to them Italian style..

Yeah, you didn't hear? We have hippies again now...they aren't as cool as the ones in the 60s though...they remind me of the students in the movie PCU...just protesting to be protesting because they have nothing better to do with themselves..

Hmmmm .... these people sound like they need to be given the choice the miscreants of the 60's and 70's were given. Break the law, get caught, get a choice of jail or service in the military. More than one person with a high draft lottery number found out their number wasn't high enough that way.

By the way not all hippies were cool in the 60's and 70's either. I suspect it hasn't really changed that much. You might have read about things like spiting on soldiers, baby killers, etc. That was one way some of the "enlighten'd hippies" showed their support back then.

 

[nitroxbabe]

I agree with Oring - people are abusing their freedoms. I truly believe that the founding fathers would be rolling over in their graves if they saw how far their good intentions have been taken.

Oh wait, I forgot - we could always SUE them...

Sheesh. What have we come to? It's the death of responsibility, common sense, and common courtesy.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

Freedom is absolute. If the hippies are breaking windows, then they are stepping beyond the definition of freedom and into other territories covered by other laws.


Our founding fathers did alot worse things in protest to the British, like secede.

 

[King Kong Matt]

Lwang once bubbled...
Freedom is absolute.

Nonsense. Few if any of our freedoms are "absolute". You have the constitutionally guaranteed right to "bear arms". But, that right is tempered by the fact that you need a license, you need to pass a background check (in most civilized stated), you can't take said arms just anywhere you please...

You have the constitutionally protected right to "free speech". If, however, you use that free speech to threathen the life of the president, you have committed a federal crime...

Please show me a freedom that is "absolute"

Lwang once bubbled...
Our founding fathers did alot worse things in protest to the British, like secede.

I am not going to respond to this...but I might suggest you duck as I would suspect others will

 

[Scuba]

When it comes to donations, the US govt. is amongst the worst of all the industrialized nations. (According to ex-president Carter, a true humanitarian, who just won the Nobel Peace Prize)
Most of our foreign aid has strings attached with demands placed on it to further our interests as the primary goal. True, that many individual Americans donate freely, and sometimes the less fortunate donate proportionately more than other groups. No doubt we donate the most in terms of volume due to our economic power, but I have not seen statistics that show who the most generous people on the planet are with respect to portion of wealth freely donated? It may be us or it may not be.

As far as going on vacation. Who are we fooling? If you want to help others instead, stay home and donate your vacation money to the more needy. Otherwise, just go and have a good time. If along the way you can help someone, good, but thats not why you went there, is it?

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

I meant freedom is absolute in terms of that they should not be curbed beyond today's definition. It is up to the court to interpret what the founding fathers meant when they wrote it down. When we start paring down our freedom, like not allowing the hippies to make a ruckus, then we are starting down a slippery slope.

I am not going to respond to this...but I might suggest you duck as I would suspect others will

There are always 2 sides to a story, and the british probably takes the side of the americans as law breakers. But the point is if somebody believes in something strong enough, they would take whatever actions necessarily they deem just, and in our country's case, it was to secede.


As Carter said in his speech on foreign aid:

"We are the stingiest nation of all"

 

[nitroxbabe]

Locally there is a guy who has painted his personal van with photos of chopped of fetuses. This is his way of protesting abortion.

I find it highly offensive, irregardless of my viewpoint on that hot topic.

I don't believe it's appropriate to wave bloody pictures around in public. I'm sure there are children who see this and are horrified. Seems to me that if they're too young to understand the birds and bees, they're too young to be shown this kind of material.

However, there's no law against driving around in a van covered with gore. Does he want attention, no matter what the cost? Yes. Does he have any courtesy? No. Does he respect the rights of parents to not have their children view gore? No.

This is what I'm talking about - the death of courtesy and common sense. I do not believe this is the kind of freedom the founding fathers intended.

 

[O-ring]

nitroxbabe once bubbled...
Locally there is a guy who has painted his personal van with photos of chopped of fetuses. This is his way of protesting abortion.

I find it highly offensive, irregardless of my viewpoint on that hot topic.

I don't believe it's appropriate to wave bloody pictures around in public. I'm sure there are children who see this and are horrified. Seems to me that if they're too young to understand the birds and bees, they're too young to be shown this kind of material.

However, there's no law against driving around in a van covered with gore. Does he want attention, no matter what the cost? Yes. Does he have any courtesy? No. Does he respect the rights of parents to not have their children view gore? No.

This is what I'm talking about - the death of courtesy and common sense. I do not believe this is the kind of freedom the founding fathers intended.

He should be beaten unconscious...IMHO

 

[nitroxbabe]

Yep a beating is definately in order.

The only trouble with someone like that is he WANTS to be attacked (whether physically or verbally). Then he can become a martyr. Woo hoo for him! He's famous, maybe even on TV!

Yuckz.

 

[TCDiver1]

Lwang once bubbled...

"We are the stingiest nation of all"

Sorry, don't buy it. Former President Carter has certainly done some good humanitarian work in his day but that is a ridiculous statement.