Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences 
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- I'm married to a music teacher and professonal singer. My father had his own Swing Band in the '50s and '60s. So, I have a particularly strong connection to most kinds of music. I'm thrilled that my kids (aged 19-26) love the 'classic rock' I grew up with, even tho they refer to it as old fogey music! Emily....you will always find people who will find fault with something you like....so enjoy the compliments and ignore the complaints.
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Name : Bill, Gender : M, City : n/a, State : NA Country : United States,I think it's fine to have a child at your age, even through the 40s. Just do the child a favor and get married first, and allow the child to grow up with a normal family.User Detail :
Name : Bill, Gender : M, City : n/a, State : NA Country : United States,My father was 6'3" and my mother is 4'11". They made quite a pair! Keep looking, Brian, there's someone out there for you. By the way, my siblings range from 5'10" to 6'4" (me) for the boys, and 5'3" to 5'10" for the girls.User Detail :
Name : Bill, Gender : M, City : n/a, State : NA Country : United States,I found some of the responses to your question bordering on racist. Speaking as a 'privileged' white man (isn't that the current slang for us?), I say that Black foster parents should attempt to educate their Caucasian foster children about their heritage. For example, my heritage consists of French, Irish, German and Canadian. I have a deep interest in French (and French-Canadian) culture as my name is French and my great-grandparents came to the US from Europe via Canada (Quebec and Ontario). A white foster-child (or adopted child) would benefit from knowing this, and the foster or adoptive parent may learn some cool stuff, too. Thanks for asking the question and I'm glad some people are beyond seeing the world in only Black and White!User Detail :
Name : Bill, Gender : M, City : n/a, State : NA Country : United States,My son is 20 and has thinning hair (he doesn't laugh at dad anymore). He joined the Army last fall and of course had a really short buzzcut, almost to the point of being shaved bald. While he was home between boot camp and advanced training, we went out a few times, and the girls were constantly checking him out. Of course he ate up the attention. So try shaving your head or keep your hair very short. The thinning or balding issue isn't as big a deal. Better yet, join the service; we need a few more good men (and women).User Detail :
Name : Bill, Gender : M, City : n/a, State : NA Country : United States,"Unjust criticism is usually a disguised compliment. It often means that you have aroused jealousy and envy. Remember that no one ever kicks a dead dog."- Dale Carnegie
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Name : Bill, Gender : M, City : n/a, State : NA Country : United States,In World War II, military strategists calculated there would be more than a million additional deaths (military and civilian) if the war in the Pacific had not ended with the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. With a clear end to the war forseen, the attacks did indeed end the war.User Detail :
Name : Bill, Gender : M, City : n/a, State : NA Country : United States,I see a distinct difference in today's Middle East terroristic targeting of civilians based on religious fervor, hatred and land disputes vs. World War II. I don't even bother reading articles on the latest bombings anymore, as it is obvious there is no solution to the misery in that part of the world. It will only end when they kill each other to extinction. If they had wanted peace, they would have had it by now.Perhaps reading some world history will help explain why ending the Japanese domination (and the Nazi regime) was paramount. I found books on the Rape of Nanching and the Nuremberg Trials to be enlightening in that regard.
Also, pose your question to your grandparents or their peers who were cognizant of that era. I'm interested on their perspective.
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Name : Bill, Gender : M, City : n/a, State : NA Country : United States,Dave, get a second opinion. I had a similar problem with other symptoms and it turned out to be prostatitis. A simple prescription cleared it up.User Detail :
Name : Bill, Gender : M, City : n/a, State : NA Country : United States,I am a white (European descent) middle-aged man, the group most despised by minorities. I am happy to be who and what I am, although I wish I were thinner. I'm from the 'whitest' state but work for a corporation where I have been exposed to people of all walks of life, many races, cultures, etc. If there is any discomfort around people 'different' from me, it is when I am reminded of how my race or gender or whatever has failed others. I hear what you are saying, but I do not have an answer for you. I will ask this of you: What are you doing to make the situation better for blacks? As a young, intelligent black man, you can be a motivator for change.User Detail :
Name : Bill, Gender : M, City : n/a, State : NA Country : United States,If you ever find out, please write a book for the rest of us. You'll become rich beyond your wildest dreams.User Detail :
Name : Bill, Gender : M, City : n/a, State : NA Country : United States,I'm not sure what the statistics of successful 'young marriages' are, but I can speak from my experience. I was 19 when I married my wife, who was 17, in 1977. We did not 'have' to get married. We had our first kid a year and a half later. We had three total and divorced after 10 years. The biggest lesson learned was that we didn't know ourselves well enough to be married, forget about knowing the other person. It was a matter of insecurity on her part and possessiveness on my part. We got what we wanted, even though many tried to counsel us against the idea. Generations ago, people were married younger than today. More mature perhaps?User Detail :
Name : Bill, Gender : M, City : n/a, State : NA Country : United States,You cannot equate the attack on the United States, in which 5,000 civilians were targeted for death, to an ongoing military mission in which war has been declared to destroy the Taliban and Bin Laden and his clan of terrorists. Our military is not targeting civilians, it is targeting the terrorist network and the government that is protecting them. The U.S. government has repeatedly declared that we are not targeting the Afghan people or Islam. Unfortunately, civilians get killed by accident in war. The Taliban can choose to end all of this by not harboring terrorists and turning over Bin Laden and his clan. I am fully in favor of this, as are the majority of Americans.Trust me when I say this is not a tit-for-tat retribution. I had business relationships with four men who are missing and believed dead in the World Trade Center towers. My brother has an office in the Pentagon in Washington but was uninjured. This has touched me personally, yet I am not out for payback on the innocent Afghanis.
This act of cowardice has brought the United States to war, and we (with the help of our allies) will wipe the terrorists out, whoever and wherever they are, and regardless of the time it takes. There is a lot of hate being directed at us right now in the foreign press and in other media, and yes, this has been a wake-up call for America. We are calling in our chips for all the aid we have provided other countries over the years to help us win this war. Because, guess what? These terrorist scum are targeting people all over the world, not just Americans in the United States. And if Edinburgh gets targeted, you can bet your American friends will be there to help you. Twenty years ago, it would have been myself helping you; today it would be my sons. To quote our president: 'We will not tire, we will not falter and we will not fail.'
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Name : Bill, Gender : M, City : n/a, State : NA Country : United States,will attempt to answer your questions based on my knowledge working for a major international corporation (based in the United States) for the past 20 years. I am considered 'salaried,' and my days are a minimum of eight hours. Most are 9-10 hours, some 12-14 depending on the time of month/year. I do not get compensated for the additional hours. My company does not have a union, but many companies do. My wife is a teacher in the public school system and is represented by a union. The United States has a Social Security program that pays workers (and/or their spouses) a retirement pension based on earnings during their career.Generally speaking, social security pensions are inadequate, and many employers offer an additional pension and/or special retirement savings incentives. I believe a person needs to work (or be the spouse of a worker) to get social security benefits. The United States has a welfare program that, presumably, will provide a safety net for those who do not have the funds to live on, post retirement.
Vacations vary by company and length of service. In my company, you would receive two weeks vacation in each of years 1 - 4, three weeks in years 5-9, four weeks vacation in years 10-19, and five weeks for 20 or more years of service. I do not believe companies or the public sector are required to follow any type of vacation award, but in order to attract and retain qualified employees, they must offer these benefits to compete.
The United States has federal regulations that protect workers, but there are instances in which unscrupulous companies find a way to fire someone so they do not have to pay retirement benefits. The courts are full of discrimination cases in which employees sue, citing age discrimination or wrongful termination.
As far as motivation, generally, motivated employees will advance in their careers and get paid higher salaries. To get ahead in this country , one has to work hard and accept the work-filled schedule as a part of life. Feel free to email me with additional questions, I would enjoy the interaction.
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Name : Bill, Gender : M, City : n/a, State : NA Country : United States,My wife and I have been married five years, the second marriage for both. She has two daughters (one now in college, the other, 16, at home). I have three children, a 21-year-old son on his own, a 17-year-old son at home, and a 15-year-old daughter who lives with her mother. We agreed at the onset that we would maintain separate finances and split household expenses based on our W-2 income contribution to the household. As I bring home 44 percent of the bacon, I pay 44 percent of the bills. We use Quicken and a Lotus 123 spreadsheet at the end of the month to settle the monthly budget. (I am an accountant, and we are both quite computer literate, so the bookkeeping is not a problem). We never have fights over finances because we each control our money and discuss and agree ahead of time on major purchases. We have separate checking and savings accounts, separate investments and separate credit card accounts, and we borrow jointly for major purchases (again, payments at 56%/44%). We had a pre-nuptual agreement, not because either of us had any significant assets, but because we both had been through a divorce and wanted things spelled out, just in case. Our arrangement might not work for everyone, but it works very well for us.User Detail :
Name : Bill, Gender : M, City : n/a, State : NA Country : United States,
