Off Topic Thread 5.0

I didn't notice it when came over in 85. Damn, it's bizarre. I would say that social media is a part of it.

In general, the average yank graduating high school would not be as smart as an Irish grad! I found that they didn't know much about the outside or Europe in particular.

Over the years the education has regressed, my opinion and although there's a ton of higher education, I think the influx is not smart.

Bizarre! Considering the make up of the nation! Considering that the spending on education is probably astounding. Each state sets different agendas or course work for the schools. Some would be superior to others.

Enter personal computer and smart phones and Playstation etc. These devices are absorbing the youth as is fb and social media. IT wise they are smart. But at what cost. Some co workers of mine didn't know where Yugoslavia was or the individual nations it is today. But, they can tell you what JayZ did yesterday or Kim Kardashian.

Weird how people are educated in some things and not so much in what I think is important stuff.

I actually think many younger people are better armed to deal with social media bullshit than their parents and grandparents. Facebook is an intellectual sewer and it's where most older people get their news and 'opinions'. Look at the age profile on January 6, mostly middle aged people and older, compared to Black Live Matter which is predominantly young with lots of teens involved.

On the education thing, it depends which America you're talking about. The US still has a big slice of the best 3rd level institutions in the world, there are dozens if not hundreds of word class universities, Boston has 5 or 6 of them, California has 15+, NYC has several outstanding universities and several world class art and design schools, etc. Even Texas has its share of top drawer schools. At the same time access has been ever more restricted because of the cost and the competition from international students. I live in Berkeley and 25% are out of state or international students, a chunk of them (in the flagship school of the public UC system) are the kids of the Chinese ruling class. It's not as big a number in Stanford down the road but its still about 15% international.

But most Americans are clueless about the rest of the world, only a small portion of them have travelled abroad and depending on where you live, history and geography are poorly taught. There's also a high level of opposition to the idea of learning other languages!

Says it all. It's particularly bad given how the public systems have been defunded and become prohibitively expensive in the last 20 or 30 years. As Mike Davis says, I have no idea why Latino workers in California pay taxes, their kids get nothing for it.

Think we have always been more outward facing than any large countries. America has for a long time had no interest outside itself. Even then it only wants to pay attention certain aspects of itself. Chasing the dream, whatever the hell that is. UK is not much different from my experience. Would assume the same could be said for France but have no direct experience. The fact America is so large means most will never leave it. How many Irish travel outside Europe?

America as always is just the bigger badder version of it.

This Kyle Rittenhouse case is interesting. I remember watching all the videos on twitter just after the shootings happened and thinking he acted with a lot of restraint and composure.

My take on it is that he wanted to go shoot a n***** He had no reason to be there otherwise.

I believe his father lives in Kenosha. And also I think the AR15 is semi-automatic, not automatic.

If I remember correctly from watching the footage, one of the people he shot comes in as if to attack Rittenhouse, Rittenhouse trains his rifle on him, but doesn't fire when the other guy puts his hands up and backs off. But then the other guy draws a handgun when he thinks Rittenhouse's attention is on something else. Rittenhouse then shoots him in the arm, not in the body (which presumably would have been easier). All of this while Rittenhouse is on the ground after tripping and falling and being hit and kicked.

Have you watched any of the footage?

Rittenhouse undoubtedly went to Kenosha looking for a fight. His testimony about going there to act as an "auxiliary police officer and medic", is utter rubbish. Personally, I do think he went there to shoot somebody.

However, from the evidence we've heard in court, I think he has a pretty good defence of self-defence. He wasn't the aggressor in the incident which led to the shootings.

I don't know if it's relevant, but the constitutional right to have a gun is not for self-defence or defence of your own property, it's so that people can defend the security of the state.

If I was his lawyer, I'd be saying that the police had lost control and it was up to dutiful citizens to help maintain the rule of law.

Absolutely f*cking bat-**** crazy

I thought one was black. Any way, I believe he went there with the intention of acting the hard man and shooting somebody.

Ah stop. He armed himself with a weapon, not medical supplies. And are you really so naive as to believe that he went to a different state to protect a car dealership he had no connection to and likely had never even heard of before? Please.

You believe that once he was attacked he behaved reasonably yet you don’t question what the bloody hell he was doing there in the first place? Serious gap in critical thinking there. If you walk into a violent situation with all the signs of wanting to be violent, what exactly do you think is going to happen? It’s beyond stupid not to realise that he created the situation where he was at risk and did so with a weapon that would kill anyone who threatened him. There was only 1 realistic outcome to what he chose to do. Someone was going to die. And there was absolutely no reason for him to create that situation. None.

I don't know whether he had any connection to the places he's claimed he was protecting. And I'd wager neither do you. He says he had a med kit, and was seen on video offering medical assistance to injured people, or so I've read.

The whole thing is so politicised over there. Maybe he thought it was his civic duty to try to prevent general lawlessness?

If he wanted to kill people he could have started popping of shots from hundreds of metres away. But all the people he shot were right on top of him, and, respectively, tried to grab his gun, kicked him in the head while he was on the ground, hit him with a skateboard while he was on the ground, and pointed a handgun at him.

I don't disagree with your points about him travelling there. I'd ask where were the parents when you've got a 17-year old travelling to a situation like that with an AR-15.

A very black and white view, and not really how it works, I don't think. He's not going to be convicted of murder because he took a deadly weapon to a dangerous situation. He was seen talking to police before the shootings. Presumably you think he should have been arrested then and there?

He will be convicted of murder of the prosecution can show he didn't act in self defence. I can't see it. He could have been badly beaten, possibly even to death, if he hadn't defended himself.