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forum doing on an MT site?? Anyway, I have researched and contacted someone at ForuMatrix. I just want to know why a privately owned conservative board is on an open MT board masquerading as a **politics** board, all inclusive. I have never paid much attention to how these things were run but if the politics board is really the conservative board, then it needs to go somewhere else or there should be another board for the rest of us, moderated and administrated by a liberal, a green, an independent. Not many people of any stripe come here anymore and that is because the board has gotten so heavy handed conservatively. It does not matter what we say, we get the same rhetoric back from you. We're idiots, we ooze hate and loathing, we hate democracy, we love the terrorists, we are socialists (at least I get that a lot), we hate capitalism...The board has gone downhill progressively since 2004. The only opinions that matter are yours and Brunson/Nan's.

P.S. Why makes you think I am crying. I am inquiring and I intend to find out what I want to know.

Throughout high school. I'm not saying I would never put my children there, but at this point they have a good school and I am happy with it. BTW, at their school they actually pray still, say the blessing, pledge the flag, etc. Not sure how they get away with it, but yea they do it.

and it was about Affirmative Action. I remember it well because it was very long and civil exchange between the two of you back when I thought you could be reasoned with. Nan said something about you have a different perspective and something like she could not challenge you from an African American point of view, I don't remember all the details, because you were African American at which point you said something like, what makes you think I am African American and she said, she thought you had said you were and you said I didn't say that because I am not. Now this is not word for word but it is the gist of it. Remember now?

an event that took place during the Iraq war (not sure of the date, but I'm sure some of you will remember it). There was an Iraqi child who was (as well as many others) caugt in a bombing raid. It was all over the news about how the US military had given him provisional care and transported him from place to place, trying to get him to a place where he could be treated appropriately. Unfortunately (like many other Iraqi civilians) he eventually died. This in itself was not that remarkable, especially considering at the time the US was lobbing bombs into Iraq with the precision of a pumpkin-chunkin contest. What was remarkable, however, was when the doctor who was caring for the child came out and told the news of his death to the world. There were several questions entertained by the doctor from reporters, but the one that really struck home for me was one from a US reporter. The question was, do you think the boy understood what we are trying to do here? The boy that died was all of about 4 or 5 years old.

Not long after, the US decided to not show casualties in the news. The government unfortunately was right in assuming the out of sight, out of mind thing would work. It's amazing just how naive Americans can be.

This is a perfect example of what you would call American pride, honor, etc. Nevermind the people who die, just make sure we look good doing it. Again, I am not negating the value of the American soldiers here, they are simply doing what they've been told to do.

When you talk about soldiers helping the Iraqi people, exactly how are they helping them? Are they bringing them food and medicine because we have destroyed their infrastructure? Are they helping them find a place to stay because their house played catch with a US missle? Or are we just taking care of their kids because we took mommy and daddy to a torture camp? Believe me, we are doing much more harm than help. Have you noticed that Iraqi civilian casualties far outnumber the casualties of American soldiers? Where's the help for that?

Not long after, the US decided to not show casualties in the news. The story above may have contributed to this, but the basic idea was that Americans didn't like to see Americans dead. The government unfortunately was right in assuming the out of sight, out of mind thing would work. It's amazing just how naive Americans can be.

This is a perfect example of what you would call American pride, honor, etc. Nevermind the people who die, just make sure we look good doing it. Again, I am not negating the value of the American soldiers: they are simply doing what they've been told to do.

Homeland Security opening private mail
Retired professor confused, angered when letter from abroad is opened

WASHINGTON - In the 50 years that Grant Goodman has known and corresponded with a colleague in the Philippines he never had any reason to suspect that their friendship was anything but spectacularly ordinary.

But now he believes that the relationship has somehow sparked the interest of the Department of Homeland Security and led the agency to place him under surveillance.

Last month Goodman, an 81-year-old retired University of Kansas history professor, received a letter from his friend in the Philippines that had been opened and resealed with a strip of dark green tape bearing the words �by Border Protection� and carrying the official Homeland Security seal.

�I had no idea (Homeland Security) would open personal letters,� Goodman told MSNBC.com in a phone interview. �That�s why I alerted the media. I thought it should be known publicly that this is going on,� he said. Goodman originally showed the letter to his own local newspaper, the Kansas-based Lawrence Journal-World.

�I was shocked and there was a certain degree of disbelief in the beginning,� Goodman said when he noticed the letter had been tampered with, adding that he felt his privacy had been invaded. �I think I must be under some kind of surveillance.�

Goodman is no stranger to mail snooping; as an officer during World War II he was responsible for reading all outgoing mail of the men in his command and censoring any passages that might provide clues as to his unit�s position. �But we didn�t do it as clumsily as they�ve done it, I can tell you that,� Goodman noted, with no small amount of irony in his voice. �Isn�t it funny that this doesn�t appear to be any kind of surreptitious effort here,� he said.

The letter comes from a retired Filipino history professor; Goodman declined to identify her. And although the Philippines is on the U.S. government�s radar screen as a potential spawning ground for Muslim-related terrorism, Goodman said his friend is a devout Catholic and not given to supporting such causes.

A spokesman for the Customs and Border Protection division said he couldn�t speak directly to Goodman�s case but acknowledged that the agency can, will and does open mail coming to U.S. citizens that originates from a foreign country whenever it�s deemed necessary.

�All mail originating outside the United States Customs territory that is to be delivered inside the U.S. Customs territory is subject to Customs examination,� says the CBP Web site. That includes personal correspondence. �All mail means �all mail,�� said John Mohan, a CBP spokesman, emphasizing the point.

�This process isn�t something we�re trying to hide,� Mohan said, noting the wording on the agency�s Web site. �We�ve had this authority since before the Department of Homeland Security was created,� Mohan said.

However, Mohan declined to outline what criteria are used to determine when a piece of personal correspondence should be opened, but said, �obviously it�s a security-related criteria.�

Mohan also declined to say how often or in what volume CBP might be opening mail. �All I can really say is that Customs and Border Protection does undertake [opening mail] when it is determined to be necessary,� he said.

Fair enough. But this time, it has to be a two-way conversation. White America needs to be heard from, not just lectured to.

This time, the Silent Majority needs to have its convictions, grievances and demands heard. And among them are these:

First, America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a
community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.

Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the ླྀs on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community
into the mainstream.

Governments, businesses and colleges have engaged in discrimination against white folks -- with affirmative action, contract set-asides and quotas -- to advance black applicants over white applicants.

Churches, foundations, civic groups, schools and individuals all over America have donated time and money to support soup kitchens, adult education, day care, retirement and nursing homes for blacks.

Let him go to Altoona and Johnstown, and ask the white kids in Catholic schools how many were visited lately by Ivy League recruiters handing out scholarships for 'deserving' white kids.?

Is white America really responsible for the fact that the crime and inca rceration rates for African-Americans are seven times those of white America? Is it really white America's fault that illegitimacy in the African-American community has hit 70 percent and the black dropout rate from high schools in some cities has reached 50 percent?

Is that the fault of white America or, first and foremost, a failure of the black community itself?

As for racism, its ugliest manifestation is in interracial crime, and especially interracial crimes of violence. Is Barack Obama aware that while white criminals choose black victims 3 percent of the time, black criminals choose white victims 45 percent of the time?

Is Barack aware that black-on-white rapes are 100 times more common than the reverse, that black-on-white robberies were 139 times as common in the first three years of this decade as the reverse?

We have all heard adnauseam from the Rev. AL about Tawana Brawley, the Duke rape case and Jena. And all turned out to be hoaxes. But abo UT the epidemic of black assaults on whites that are real, we hear nothing.

Sorry, Barack, some of us have heard it all before, about 40 years and 40 trillion tax dollars ago.

...that wouldn't work out so well for him, either, because McCain wasn't born in the United States.

In every post you make sure to say something bashing a "pub." How do you know they are a pub?

I'm not surprised at all by your compassion; nevertheless, your post almost brought me to tears, as well. I've always enjoyed reading your posts and admire your sense of humor and strength in dealing with some people on this board.