chuck kottke

We had better get better at foresight, since hindsight is costing us dearly each and every day in ways we can't repay.

Yes, and I was initially fooled into thinking that at least some of it was for a higher purpose - how wrong I was! But I agree - when people are economically disadvantaged and tempted by all the good they can't afford, some who haven't any scruples will try anything to get away with it. Criminal gangs roaming around are a sure sign of trouble, somehow that problem got overlooked! How did it? Are the Ivory Tower residents out of touch that much?

> I saw some footage then on Al Jazeera English just a few minutes ago Nancy. That poor young man, face all bloodied, and the assailants seemed to be helping him, while one of them steals from his backpack. Just rotten of them to do all that, and I really hope he's getting all the help he needs, that poor fellow's got a broken jaw now - ouch. All he wanted to do was comfort a friend, how tragic. I just hope he heals up well, isn't in too much pain. > Limiting freedom isn't any answer - I agree, this whole mess has deeper roots in a culture of street gangs, what is Cameron thinking, that somehow they can just shut off riots that easily? Rioters find ways around all sorts of obstacles. And as Franklin said I think correctly, "Those who would trade essential Liberty for temporary Security deserve neither." So once a police state is in place, then what if the government gets really bad and uses that power to intercept messages to damper down communications, as we saw in Egypt? Hm.. double standard.

Welcome to Coldplaying Mennesker! :cool:

Totally ridiculous, but funny in its absurdity.:laugh3: AC/DC makes better electricity, by far. ;) And just what would Lawrence Washington think of all this if he were alive today? Let alone the builders of Stone Henge?! Probably they'd be spending all their time in the astronomy department, no doubt...?

I know Huckleberry Hound, is Heelstone Hound his great grandfather? :P9284d1252426421-huckleberry-hound-fotos-de.jpg (JPEG Image, 514x665 pixels) - Scaled (89%)

I think it's a good start, really. Don't be afraid to belt out the singing - sing in the shower if need be, getting more range helps, record and listen back, but singing is a brave thing to do, so hats off to the singer! Keyboards - violin synthesizer I liked, could be a little more sustained, but all in all a great start. Drums - need a farm bell! Some tom toms maybe, percussion crescendos like thunder or cannons but not overpowering the other musical parts, but the beat was well kept, so for a start, you did alright! Don't let the naysayers get you down, you did pretty good for 2 hours practice, so with more work and more polishing, getting the qualities up, adding some backgrounds, I think you'll sound great! ;)

Hm, that was interesting - two musicians playing Coldplay's lost on acoustic guitars with a group of school children in a school in Kashmir. On Al Jazeera's The Stream. "How long must you wait for it, how long must you pay for it, for it.. " Waiting and hoping for the fighting to end, for peace to start, maybe for independence, just so they're not a battle zone any longer.

> Hm, good to know that Ian. Yes, gang culture is definitely not good, too many bad avenues for people involved.. So the matter isn't protests for rights, it's rioting, and having allowed a gang culture to develop, if that is the case, is a real problem. But then what about joblessness? I know there's no excuse for this sort of behavior, especially when the targets of the violence are not those responsible for the economic dysfunction, it's all so senseless. I'm sure many just used this as an excuse to loot anything anywhere they felt like, also doing nothing but harm towards their real needs in life. But there again, if someone feels like they're always on the outside looking in, it's all that much easier to get mixed up in gangs, easier to find identification with those dispossessed, and easier to justify in their minds these sorts of actions. Some may even want to feel dissed just to act the way they do, and may want to feel discriminated against to feel a bond with other gang members. I know that sounds absurd, but it can be a sort of rallying point. > What then must be done to change the situation? I'm really disheartened and shocked to see all the businesses being burnt, the cars overturned and torched, my heart goes out to everyone who is suffering and frightened by these events. Seeing all that is like living in a nightmare I'm sure; I just hope it stays calm, and things get better. Hugs to all who have suffered through the nightmare :hug:.

all the right reasons to be upset, and all the wrong answer to it. Taking advantage of a situation isn't any way to win equality or respect; demanding justice by nonviolent means is. What did Rodney King have to say? "Can't we all just get along?"

:laugh3: How was your dog influenced by the Beatles?:rolleyes: Why try and compare apples to oranges? I think the same problem arose when people tried to compare The Beatles to The Rolling Stones back in the day - they're so completely different in style.

Oh boy, yea. What to say about all this. I just hope people calm down, enough damage done, and it doesn't win anyone over, all this rioting. In fact, like you say Bart, it's turning some to the extreme, further polarizing citizens. But yes, some of these young people haven't much to go home to, and need somewhere else to be, that I understand. Budget cuts don't make sense in slow economic times anyhow, that just exacerbates things and prolongs a recession. Maybe they'll open up the youth clubs and offer a place for so many in need? Probably a good thing if the bakery gave away free bread, might keep them on the good side of the mob. Hey, don't laugh, Raymond's mom gave away cookies to the street kids, and it saved her son from being beat up by the gangs in the projects! Sometimes, a little kindness is remembered - alienation and isolation definitely won't.

Put the names of the colleges you are interested in on one of those game board spinners, and do a statistically correct analysis by spinning the spinner at least 10 times, and see which one wins. :P OR choose a university which is small enough to get personal attention in (good student to teacher ratio), but large enough to get an excellent baccalaureate degree in, or one that will provide two years of development, then go on to a larger university (pre-engineering, etc. are like that). In-state is probably your best bet, since if you go out-of-state, the tuition is quite steep, but if you want to go to a school in Wisconsin, there is I believe is a reciprocal program, so tuition may be very affordable, plus you can take out student loans if a scholarship isn't available. I would recommend Eau Claire, because it's a beautiful comfortable campus, easily walkable, big enough to enjoy a real college atmosphere but small enough for personal attention, getting to know professors (which helps for recommendations as well for grad school), and it's got a fun party atmosphere.;):cool: But hey, I'm biased!:P Have fun searching!!

It was between a hound dog and a flying eagle, maybe Franklin should have chosen the hound dog for the great seal?:laugh3: Elvis's song Hound Dog would have been our national anthem! [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJsQSb9RFo0]Elvis Presley - Hound Dog - YouTube[/ame] :elvis: But instead Franklin, I think wisely, choose Denke's heel stone flying eagle. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE-U5e78WHc]The Eagles - Desperado - YouTube[/ame] :cowboy: Remarkable this stone and these markings had such an effect upon Washington and Franklin, and US symbolic choice of the Eagle, thanks for sharing this!!

:hug: Aww, I can only imagine! Hold on to your dreams and memories, there will come another concert. ;)

I'm very saddened to hear that - the senseless and tragic deaths of three men in Birmingham, just trying to protect the heart of their communities, how very sad.:cry:

>I understand what you're saying, and yes, these youths don't have it so bad, but from another perspective, when anyone who has dark skin pigmentation feels they are being scapegoated based on what someone else has done, it can lead to resentment and gangs of resentful youths. I know what the police have to deal with, a friend of mine is a retired police officer who lives with a severe spinal injury from trying to control the rioters during the riots in Milwaukee in the 60's. Better to remedy the causes before things get like this. > To see all sides of an issue is a good thing. I think what resulted is an excuse by many to go on a looting and breaking spree, but remedying the underlying problems definitely will reduce the odds of riots, and removing both the idleness and lack of opportunity makes it less likely to happen. And not to see this as an "us and them" issue helps, for there is only we human beings in this world, with cultural and subtle nuances in our phenotype. Here's an article from BET.com, worth considering what Cord Jefferson is saying: The Racial Roots of the London Riots In some ways, what’s happening in London looks a lot like what happened in the Rodney King riots. By Cord Jefferson Posted: 08/09/2011 06:39 PM EDT Filed Under crime, racism For three days and nights now, London has been rocked by rioting and looting. On Saturday, police shot and killed Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old Black father of four. Duggan had been carrying a “blank-firing” gun rigged to shoot live rounds, but eyewitnesses and ballistic reports say that Duggan didn’t fire on police before they killed him. Duggan’s unjustified shooting has been enough to set off the worst London riots in 25 years. If you’re thinking this sounds a lot like Los Angeles’ Rodney King riots—a major city run amok after police clash with a young Black man—you’re right. In fact, similar to the King riots, there’s a lot of racial tension at the root of what’s currently going on in London, racial tension the British government will have to reckon with when the rioters are finally dispersed and the fires put out. The area where the riots started is called Tottenham, and for years it’s had one of the densest populations of Afro-Caribbean people in London. Later, African immigrants streamed in as well. Tottenham has the highest unemployment rate in London, and the 8th highest in all of the U.K. All that joblessness leads to a lot of poverty and a lot of angry, idle young people. In other words, it’s the perfect scenario for a riot to start. Beyond that, relations between Tottenham’s population and the British police have been icy for years. In 1985, a police home raid resulted in a woman dropping dead from cardiac problems. Rioters went nuts for days in what is now called the “Broadwater Farm riot,” even going so far as to stab a police officer to death as he tried to protect firemen. Thus far, only one person has died in this latest round of London riots (more than 50 had died when the dust settled on the King riots). One would hope that his death, and that of Duggan, won’t be in vain. The poverty-fed rage of the rioters needs to be addressed before this kind of misplaced aggression and thuggery happens again.

After listening to Darkus Howe on Democracynow!, if what he says is true, the riots have more to do with a sense by young black men of being targeted by police, the results of institutional racism within the police department, and poverty. Poverty, unemployment, and a value system that pumps up expectations for the goods in shops which many young men cannot afford to get, but the pressure to have those things to fit in & attract girls is great. Great expectations, no means, and while rioting is not the answer, I can see how some might be frustrated and tempted by this as well. But the other problem is a sense of alienation, of not being treated respectfully or kindly by police and by those in positions of authority, regardless of your actions. So, when you're on the outside looking in, and feel like you're somehow always looked upon with suspicion, the resentment builds, tensions build. After seeing a little bit of how some attitudes exist within police departments towards poor people, and the degrading actions that can occur without warrant, I myself wonder if there needs to be more community outreach and a coming to terms with this attitude issue - not that the looting or rioting was in any way shape or form the answer, but a lot of people who are forced to the side and feel like their opinions don't count, that they don't count, well it's little wonder that to get heard or vent frustrations, this happens. Darkus said that he knew, from what his son was telling him, that there was a sense that the lid was going to blow. He also said that he thought if Amy Winehouse were alive today, she would be looking down from heaven saying "no, no, no.."

I like the Yes one the best, but the Rainy Day one is nice too.:)

Wow, fantastic!!! That really is great community spirit! At first, I saw the red bristles, and I thought the Romans had come to restore order!:laugh3: Apparently it's the Britons instead!!

and so we spend our time in a dream. But dreams are the stuff of life, and dreams can be made real, just never stop dreaming.

Just remember, wherever you go, there you are. :sultan: ..and drink plenty of water, it's easy to get dehydrated, especially in those airplanes. BTW, have you ever seen any hare krishnas in airports? I feel like I missed out in not ever seeing one.. with their green tambourines!

I have to honestly say, I've never actually heard the sounds a dying raccoon makes, so trying to compare that Chris Martin's singing is for me at least impossible. :laugh3: CP vs. U2, clearly it's like comparing strawberries to chocolate, which is to say both are really really exceptionally great. One's got a Strawberry Swing, the other has got Fudge Sundaes! :P

That's quite insane - attacking fire engines? :shocked2: There are those who just get into dangerous gangs, and then it seems whatever the thought is isn't good. Part of it though unfortunately is when some have too much time on their hands, instead of heading in a positive direction, they go the other way. But poverty still has a lot to do with it, lack of opportunity and a repeat of past ways. No more cycles of recycled revenge. It looks like the thieves just don't care, they just act like it's no big deal to waltz in and take whatever they like - as though there's no sense of fairness or anything in their minds. So what I'm wondering, do the rioters create mayhem to distract people's attention, so they can then break glass and loot shops? It's like a greed grab or something - are many of them on drugs?

:laugh3:But what does the CK X mean on their helmets?:helmet:?