Take a look at the future of America

[Think Different]

On the subject of American women on petty power trips, this just in from southeast Missouri: A deputy female sheriff shot three times and killed a chihuahua in the home she was entering because it was barking at her.

On another topic, this may not come as news to anyone here, but a story in Russia Today notes that women outnumber men in Russia by 2 to 1.

I lived in Russia for 2 years, and found the women there to be incredibly resilient and pretty much the survivalist backbone of the country. Granted, I was there in the mid-90s, but the level of extreme alcoholism among the Russian men was extraordinary, which accounts/accounted in large part for their short lifespan, leaving the country full of widows. The country is also still recovering from the war and the women still use abortion as their primary means of "birth control". A Russian woman there once told me that a Russian woman isn't "really a woman" until she's had at least 2 abortions. I've heard things have improved there, but I haven't been back since to see it for myself. I can only hope it's better.

I just found a link that shows what I'm talking about. When I was living there, the male life expectancy was 57 years, but it seems to have improved up to 63. The women are still living to be much older though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Russi ... ctancy.PNG

Did you ever think of marrying a Russki?

No. I never met a Russian woman I felt I could trust. I always felt they were too calculating for my tastes. I'm sure there are many who are wonderful and honest people, but I just couldn't go for it. It was also shortly after the fall of the USSR and as an American guy, I was viewed too much as red meat and wouldn't be taken seriously by them. The Russian women I spent most time with were the older "babushky" (i.e. the widows) who had great stories to tell. They were were cultural icons and very kind. The younger ones were too focused on hanging out in clubs and drinking, and trying to be cool or "western" or what they perceived as how westerners act. That's not my cup of tea. I had no interest in the superficial girls. Of all the Slavic women I met, I'd have to say that Polish women appeal to me the most. The Poles have a certain dignified aura about them, a light-heartedness, and a joy for life, which is refreshing among Slavic people, who I generally find to be very dour.

[TRADER1972]

Thanks for sharing RedDog. I am so pissed right now. God I hate that white Bitch. So typical. This kind of thing happens all the time, I have experienced it myself. I absolutely understand not having a home. I always tell people that the next time I am overseas, I will claim to be Canadian or something else. The truth is I am not proud at all to be American. Why? The reasons are too many. But this type of fascist crap is near the top of the list.

[TRADER1972]

Obnoxious citizens like this prick are the reason America is going to shit.

Obviously the community has a local ordinance against basketball courts. I don't know why and I don't care, but if most of the people want them down, so be it.

Move to a community that permits it.

I hate people that behave like that prick. Did he file an injunction to have it stopped? No, he just had a childish tantrum because he could not get his way.

I can't bear to watch the video again, but I thought I heard him say that they did go to court (he was talking about his court papers), but the government was playing dirty pool (as they often do) and taking away the hoop without the proper papers. It's naive to assume the government always follows legal procedures. They have the power and will intimidate and crush the little guy if they can get away with it.

I owned a house many years ago in Orange County, and a group of petty tyrants took over the HOA. Often it is idiots with time on their hands and a desire to control others that take control of these organizations. We eventually organized and kicked them out. To do it, we had to go to court representing ourselves, and the HOA hired expensive lawyers using our own HOA fees to fight us. They ended up pilfering a good part of our money to fight us - money that could have been used for repairs, etc. I have owned two homes, and will never own another. HOAs are just more petty tyrannies to control the lives of people in the US, many who have been conned into believing that owning a home actually gives you freedom, and then discovering themselves living in a Stalinist gulag.

Your views on HOAs are dead on. No doubt, another one of the lies we have been told is that owning a home is freedom. Just another of the myths that most Americans are too stupid too question.

[TRADER1972]

I don't understand what's happening in this clip...


Of course, every town has ordinances; it's just that many of them are idiotic or at the whim of someone trying to score political points with someone else. My whole point here is that heavy-handed bureaucrats only cause social anger and discord, especially when it comes to petty things like this.

You pretty much summed up exactly what happens living in America, the land of discord.

[sushiman]

There was a guy in china who figured all this out 2500 years ago.

"when the govt stands aloof, people open up, when the govt steps in, the people slip away".

The US is classic over-ruling of the people and so people become more crafty, devious, in attempting to get back what was taken from them, or just becoming angry like this guy. Better to just leave people be.

[momopi]

I thought I heard the guy with the cane yelling that that basketball pole had been there in the ground for 60 years. I'd say that was 'grandfathered in'. The fact that they just decided to pass an ordinance one day and go around confiscating them without asking for neighborhood input, and then just lying about letting the man keep it, is just over the top. Of course, every town has ordinances; it's just that many of them are idiotic or at the whim of someone trying to score political points with someone else. My whole point here is that heavy-handed bureaucrats only cause social anger and discord, especially when it comes to petty things like this.

The officer accomplished her goal of getting the homeowner away from the basketball pole and not arresting them, but she did it by giving misleading information as lesser of two evils. IMO from the police officer's perspective, being sent out in the morning to collect basketball poles is a stupid waste of time. You have to be that one single anal-retentive motorcycle cop in the city who'd give speeding tickets for 5mph over limit (also rumored to have given his own mother a ticket) to think this is a good use of his time.

I owned a house many years ago in Orange County, and a group of petty tyrants took over the HOA. Often it is idiots with time on their hands and a desire to control others that take control of these organizations. We eventually organized and kicked them out. To do it, we had to go to court representing ourselves, and the HOA hired expensive lawyers using our own HOA fees to fight us. They ended up pilfering a good part of our money to fight us - money that could have been used for repairs, etc. I have owned two homes, and will never own another. HOAs are just more petty tyrannies to control the lives of people in the US, many who have been conned into believing that owning a home actually gives you freedom, and then discovering themselves living in a Stalinist gulag.

The kind of people who join HOA boards tend to be noisy neighbors with nothing else better to do. But this is the future model, where new housing developments are HOA tracts where everything inside the wall is private HOA property, homeowners are assumed to own 1 share in the HOA instead of the traditional land-use ownership. City governments love them because HOA's pay for their own upkeep (landscaping, roads, curbs, parks, etc) and security patrols. This means the city doesn't have to spend money to pave your street or send police cars to patrol your neighborhood, because your HOA will take care of it and the homeowner's expense.

[Jackal]

It took me about three months to adjust to the Netherlands and get past the "WTF, why are they doing it that way?" stage. After two years there it felt more like home to me then the US.

Just out of curiosity, did most people speak English there? Or did you learn Dutch quickly?

My first job in Hungary was at a quite unfriendly school and few people spoke English in that town, so it was quite tough at first. Later I moved to a different town where the people were much nicer and that helped a great deal.

[MrPeabody]

It took me about three months to adjust to the Netherlands and get past the "WTF, why are they doing it that way?" stage. After two years there it felt more like home to me then the US.

Just out of curiosity, did most people speak English there? Or did you learn Dutch quickly?

My first job in Hungary was at a quite unfriendly school and few people spoke English in that town, so it was quite tough at first. Later I moved to a different town where the people were much nicer and that helped a great deal.

Most people spoke English. I learned a few basic Dutch words that helped me in communicating, shopping, etc. There were people who didn't speak English - they tended to be blue collar worker types, like the guy who comes over to fix your furnace.