Flip Flops in the White House? Tsk, tsk, tsk! LOL

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northwestern University
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<p>KRK, there is nothing "retarded" about online discussion and debate. This sort of dialogue is perfectly healthy provided the participants adhere to some sort of code. Clearly, all signs of decent, intelligent and appropriate behavior have been checked at the door where this thread is concerned. The irony of it is that the thread was about the appropriateness and ensuing debate that arose from your college athletes meeting the president dressed in casual footwear!</p>

<p>UC_Benz, I must say I am disapointed (not that it matters to you anyway) in the way you retaliated against Reeses. Even if it were true, you have no right to expose her thus. You show a lack of class that I did not expect from you.</p>

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<p>Hey Alexandre,</p>

<p>The girls also pointed out that the ladies on UMich softball team wore shorts and sneakers. ;) I wonder why that didn't create any stir...</p>

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<p>I wasn't sucking up to Alexandre. I have no reason to do that. I was purely just saying how I felt, and I wasn't being rude. This is a forum after all so I don't know why I'm being attacked for stating my opinions. I'm not hurting or trying to hurt anybody, but it sure seems like some people are trying to do that to me.</p>

<p>UC_Benz - I have nothing against you personally. I only talked to you and asked you for friendship on Facebook one (1) time in the entire time that I've been on there, and that was last April (and I know that because it was around the time when I first joined). I haven't talked to you since then so don't act like I am. (If you've been getting weird friend requests or anything else lately, they haven't been coming from me.) I don't even know you so you're really no loss to me. The great majority of the people that I'm friends with on Facebook are people that I do know and interact with (with about half of them approaching me for friendship before I get around to approaching them) or people that I will meet me next year, and to me, those are the only people that really matter on there. The people that I don't really know or have any connections to that are on my Facebook all asked me for friendship, and I accepted. I don't go around talking to random people on there.</p>

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<p>Good question Sam. I think Bush has a foot fetish! LOL</p>

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<p>Actually it was twice, but who is counting? If you don't believe me then I would be happy to forward the e-mails to you. </p>

<p>But ANYWAYS, let's get back to the issue at hand which is flip-flops in the White House. <sarcasm> Sam, the reason Northwestern was singled out was because it is a better university than Michigan. It's lonely at the top. </sarcasm></p>

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<p>UC_Benz - Twice? Huh? If I sent you a second e-mail, it was completely unintentional, and I apologize. I have no record of it at all. (I PMed you to show you everything that I do have on record though.) I also apologize if I ever offended you in any way in any discussion on CC. That's not my intention, and I always try to avoid stuff like that. </p>

<p>On the flip flops... Meh. All schools do stuff like that once in a while. It's no big deal. It'll pass.</p>

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<p>reeses and uc_benz, you two are acting like kids. Please stop being so pathetic and shut up about "adding" each other as "friends" in the facebook. </p>

<p>ALEXANDRE,</p>

<p>Have you given up hope on America? You said that in 1999, you wouldn't have had a problem with staying in this country forever but why has changed now? Be honest with me Alex. I want you to tell me the truth when I say this to you: Are you afraid that after Sept. 11, 2005; Americans are becoming increasingly bigoted towards middle-eastern and Muslim Americans? Do you feel like the freedom of Muslim Americans is being lessened because of the increasing hatred towards them? </p>

<p>Do you feel like places such as France offer a safer and better lifestyle for middle-eastern Americans? What about England; do you think it offers a safer lifestyle for middle-easterners than America itself? What about other European countries like Italy, Germany?</p>

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<p>Easy on UC_Benz and Reeses, they mean well.</p>

<p>Yes, I have given up on the US. As it is, I have always thought that Americans are obessed with work (I value a work-life balance), but over the past half decade, the US has become too extreme and conservative for my taste. In my opinion, Europe does provide a better quality of life. However, one must speak the language in question in order to function in society and finding a job in Europe is a little harder than it is in the US. </p>

<p>As for safety of Middle Easterners, I would say you will have racism everywhere and that usually translates to violence. It happens in Europe and the US alike. Let us face it, the world is becoming a very dangerous place. Look at what happened in Egypt. Of the 88 sould who perished, 80 were Arabs. Nobody is safe anymore.</p>

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<p>I initially thought you gave up on this country because it's bigotry towards middle-easterners is increasing. But it seems that isn't the main reason for you moving out. Correct me if I'm wrong.</p>

<p>" but over the past half decade, the US has become too extreme and conservative for my taste."</p>

<p>I'm really confused over that statement. What exactly do you mean by that? Can you give me some examples when you say too "extreme". Do you mean that America has people with radical behavior? Do you not agree with most republicans and their ways of thinking (going to war with Iraq, etc...) Are you more democratic? </p>

<p>I just want to really understand what your talking about when you say that you feel this country is too "extreme and conservative". Can you elaborate when you say that people in this country are obsessed with "work" too much? Is it that people pay too much attention to prestige and class and don't spend enough time with family and friends? This is one of the most social countries in the world!</p>

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<p>"However, there is alarming evidence that this trend is now reversing, in part because of your politicians and the way Americans are reverting to conservatism and bigotry. I left the US because I saw a negative and irreversable move to a more conservative and racist society. Some of my best friends have already left too. Among them, an Egyptian American who got his PhD from MIT in Mechanical Engineering and was working for McKinsey in NYC. He recently decided to settle in Paris. Another one is a Bangladeshi American who got her BS and MS in Chemical Engineering from MIT and her MBA at Harvard. She recently left Bain in Boston to work in London. Another friend of mine, a Palestinian American, got his BS and MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford and his MBA from Wharton has recently left Cisco in the Bay area to move to Sweden. Both my sisters also left the US in 2003 and 2004. The eldest, Jennifer, was born in the US (Georgetown University Hospital). She got her BA from the Georgetown University SFS and her MA from Cornell. The other sister, Karen, got her BA from McGill and her MA from Cornell. None of us would have thought of leaving the US in 1999."</p>

<p>These people are all of Middle-eastern Americans. The main reason they moved out was because they experienced a racist society after 9/11. This is probably why you moved out as well. You keep dodging around that critical aspect and talk about America's extreme behavior. America isn't extreme. They are extremely liberal in comparison to other countries. The freedom that they give to women is unparalleled when in comparison to other places in this world - ANYWHERE.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Please stop being so pathetic and shut up

[/quote]
</p>

<p>And this statement comes RIGHT after a sentence calling other posters childish. It doesn't take much character to sit behind a computer screen and criticize others. You are no better than the rest of us, so get over it.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
They are extremely liberal in comparison to other countries. The freedom that they give to women is unparalleled when in comparison to other places in this world - ANYWHERE.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>To me, America seems to be getting kinda conversative compared to many western/northern European countries and Canada. Look at gay rights and abortion issues. Christian groups seem to be having greater influence in politics lately.</p>

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<p>Stanford Alumnus, the US is not liberal, nor do its women enjoy freem that is unparalleled. The US is a conservative society and its women, although quite free, are not afforded the same benefits as women in Western Europe or Canada.</p>

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<p>I agree with Alexandre. I read an article not long ago about how much more well-represented women are in politics in Sweden. Other Scandinavians countries, Netherlands, and Austria..etc also have way more % of high ranking officials as women in politics. As for gay rights, most of the EU/Canada have either legalized gay marriage or various forms of legal recognition of same-sex partnership. Actually, the policy set for gays/lesbians in military and things like sodomy laws that still exist in quite a few states make some Asian countries look more liberal in that regard. My Taiwanese friends joked that their country would have the highest percentage of people claiming themselves gays in the world if Taiwanese military doesn't allow openly gays/lesbians to serve.</p>

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<p>You act like all these things are huge negatives, but in your narrowminded point of view you fail to accept that different cultures have different values. Plus, they are way over exagerated.</p>

<p>Women are so well represented in Sweden because they have laws to ensure they are. They have quotas, now tell me whats free and democratic about that?</p>

<p>In the US, people have the ability to choose whoever they want to represent them. Women have equal opportunities to run for office and be elected, just fewer chose to do so. There are no barriers, you just like to imagine there are and whine about them. C'mon, this isn't the 1800's.</p>

<p>"What is more, the glass ceiling problem is larger in family-friendly Sweden than it is in the hire-and-fire-at-will US, and it has also grown as family-friendly policies have expanded. In Sweden 1.5% of senior management are women, compared with 11% in the US."</p>

<p>'For decades we've been told Sweden is a great place to be a working parent. But we've been duped' - <a href="http://politics.guardian.co.uk/publicservices/story/0,11032,1309874,00.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://politics.guardian.co.uk/publicservices/story/0,11032,1309874,00.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Give me a break!</p>

<p>The EU has no freedom of speech, no matter what you argue. Just go read the Economist. Censorship is HUGE in the EU.</p>

<p>You refer to abortion. A woman's right to choose. I love that line. To you people the destruction of innocent life is acceptable and encouraged. Disgusting. Winston Churchill was the product of a rape pregnancy. His mother chose not to have an abortion, and instead gave birth to one of the greatest leaders Britain has had.</p>

<p>Someone also mentioned stem cells I think. There are two kinds of stem cells, adult and embryonic. There have been MANY practical applications of adult stem cells already found, and the most potential lies in them. In contrast, embryonic stem cells have not been found to have any practical applications. </p>

<p>Nazi Germany also carried out cruel experiments on human life in the name of science. You want to hail their contributions too?</p>

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<p>"The EU has no freedom of speech, no matter what you argue. Just go read the Economist. Censorship is HUGE in the EU."</p>

<p>I did not bother reading past that point. That has to be the most ignorant comment I have read on CC...and let me tell you, there has been a few doozies!</p>

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<p>It sounds incredible, or possibly not, but among the greatest threats to free speech in Europe is a document called the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The charter, proclaimed at an EU summit in 2000 and now incorporated into the provisional EU Constitution, comprises a blizzard of rights: rights for children, for women (they have a right to preference in areas wherein they are underrepresented), for asylum-seekers, for workers and employers (both are said to have a right to collective bargaining), for murderers (they have a right not to suffer capital punishment) and for the disabled. There is a right to marry, a right to privacy, a right to a good education and a lot more--including a right to freedom of expression. These rights are enumerated in 53 articles. But the final article is not a right. Headed "Prohibition of abuse of rights," it states:</p>

<pre><code> "Nothing in this Charter shall be interpreted as implying any right to engage in any activity … aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms recognized in this Charter or at their limitation."

This seems highly problematic. If someone were to mount a campaign favoring the death penalty, or opposing collective bargaining, or opposing preferences for women, or limiting the options of asylum-seekers, this would plainly constitute an effort to destroy rights recognized in the Charter--an activity characterized as an "abuse of rights" and therefore prohibited.
</code></pre>

<p>MORE INFO:
<a href="http://www.brugesgroup.com/news.live?article=158&keyword=10#an%5B/url%5D%5C"&gt;http://www.brugesgroup.com/news.live?article=158&keyword=10#an\&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I was just lying in wait, knowing you would try to dispute my claim. Instead, you look foolish. </p>

<p>NEXT!</p>

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<p>More links:
Internet Censorship Coming To A Computer Near EU - <a href="http://www.americandaily.com/article/3815%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.americandaily.com/article/3815&lt;/a> </p>

<p>European Union Group Urges Censorship of Pro-Cannabis Web Sites - <a href="http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/347/eu.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/347/eu.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>EU Proposal to Ban Sexual Stereotypes in Media - <a href="http://www.equityfeminism.com/archives/years/2003/000058.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.equityfeminism.com/archives/years/2003/000058.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Intellectual Terrorism - <a href="http://library.flawlesslogic.com/sunic.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://library.flawlesslogic.com/sunic.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>EU’s Anti-Semitism Study Dogged by Controversy - <a href="http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1049627,00.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1049627,00.html&lt;/a> ("The EUMC stands accused of suppressing the results of the February study because it singled out Muslim immigrants and pro-Palestinians for being behind a rise in anti-Semitic violence in Europe.")</p>

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<p>krk, </p>

<p>You need to calm down. I was talking about "liberal" vs. "convervative" with no moral judgement. If being liberal means pro-choice, then America is more conservative than quite a few other countries. If being liberal means more recognition of same-sex marriage, then America is also more convervative than quite many. I was writing this in response to Stanfordalumnus' comment. Now is liberal more wrong or right? I don't want to get into that on CC. But apparently, you are the one that starts arguing right and wrong. I hope you can distinguish the difference.</p>

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<p>krk, I lived in the US for 10 years and in Europe for 6 years. I have studied in the US, in the UK and in France. I have worked in the US, the UK, Germany and France. In my experience, Europe is a more liberal and more egalitarian society. You can pull out all the articles you want, it will not change the fact that functionally speaking, Europeans are socialy ahead of the US. Denying it would be like denying that the US is ahead of Europe militarily.</p>