Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences
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Animals do engage in what you might term homosexual intercourse. Get a bunch of male dogs in one place, just out of reach of a female dog in heat. Watch that for an hour, then we can talk.
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Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 27, City : Cranford, State : NJ, Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I’ve noticed something similar myself, but more of a general behavior. It seems like people in New York City (where I note you are from) tend to avoid eye contact when in transit. I work in a section of Queens, and it is the same way. And it’s fairly true across all racial/cultural divisions as well. Only people of similar race/culture seem to want to have eye contact. I think it might have something to do with the culture around here. I don’t think it is something specific to black women/white men.
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Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 27, City : Cranford, State : NJ, Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Yep, that’s the traditional practice. The tartan is typically made of a fairly thick wool that can be very warm, so there is very little need for extra clothing underneath.
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Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 27, City : Cranford, State : NJ, Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Most Irish and Irish-Americans are far more tolerant, having only recently been under oppression by the English in their own homeland. However, there are some areas where the working-poor Irish-Americans tend to develop these racist attitudes. Typically, the areas are in the larger East Coast cities where the immigrants would have settled during the mid/late 1800s. During that time, the Irish immigrants were treated very poorly, forced to live in ghettos and similar poor conditions. When slavery was abolished, the Irish found themselves in competition with the newly freed slaves. They were treated very much the same at first. It was not until some Irish-Americans gained political power and were able to influence change that the circumstances were better for the Irish. But some of the Irish and Irish-Americans who still experience poverty consider any other minority group a threat, and act accordingly to protect their resources and jobs. You will find that this attitude is fairly widespread among Eastern cities, where ethnic groups have ‘control’ of certain areas of the city and resist outsiders (Italians, Russians, Polish, Haitians, etc.).
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Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 27, City : Cranford, State : NJ, Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,The first thing that struck me about this post was the insulting generalization that all white people choose relationships in terms of money and power. What an incredibly racist statement, and completely lacking in any reasonable logic. What is this opinion based on? Can you prove this assertion? It is sometimes striking to me how willful ignorance and prejudice can be so widespread. Is this how we want to remember the end of the century of so-called ‘diversity’ and ‘tolerance’?
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Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 27, City : Cranford, State : NJ, Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I used to get that question often in college, when someone would ask me how I could listen to that kind of music without being disgusted. Well, my reply was always to turn the question around. How would you explain the meaning of Irish folk music to a black teen in the inner city? Unless you have an insight into the context of the music, it’s hard to ‘get it’. I am hardly intimate with the inner city life, but having lived close to large cities all my life, and having visited friends in these areas, I get the general feeling behind the music. Now, to be honest, I find most of the modern ‘gangsta rap’ to be derivative and uninspired, but give artists like Ice T, Ice Cube, or Public Enemy a try. The older gangsta rap is far more political and clever, in my opinion.
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Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 27, City : Cranford, State : NJ, Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I find this amusing in a very sad way. We have people here at work that do the same thing. Of course, the people who whine here at work are white, black, Latino, Indian, etc…the only thing they have in common is a personality type. The same applies in reverse: the ones who will stop and fix the problem share a different personality type. So the question is, why target white women in particular? Why make that needless generalization? Your descriptions seem to indicate that you have some very deeply held resentment towards these women. Could the problem be a personal one, or perhaps your personal hatred of whites? Your language, intentional or not, hints to that possibility. In my experience with people of this personality type, the best thing to do is ignore them. Trust me, it’s better that way. Let them whine and cry, and take the opportunity to take charge and show them who’s got the ability.
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Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 27, City : Cranford, State : NJ, Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,This seems to be a fairly common artifact of metropolitan history on the East Coast. Recall that most of the Irish and Italians now living in those areas are the descendants of immigrants. In places like Philly, Boston, Chicago, etc., Irish and Italian immigrants would live in ghetto conditions and depend on extended family and ethnic connections to get by. Add to that the strong family ‘clan’ tradition in both ethnic groups, and that explains why they are so clannish, as you say.
But now the real question: Why are they usually so racist? This comes out of the prior answer. The Irish and Italians were segregated and discriminated against until earlier this century. So when other ethnic groups and freed black slaves entered the mix, there were distinct ethnic groups all fighting for the same resources. Even though the conditions have changed sharply, the mindset remains due to attitudes and grudges passed down through the generations.
Note that the attitudes you mention are more prevalent in lower-income ethnic areas, like South Philly, South Boston, even the Irish Channel in New Orleans. This is consistent with the idea that these ethnic groups consider minorities to be competition with regard to resources like jobs.
I doubt that the Catholic Church is involved to any large extent, other than the usual religious issues.
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Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 27, City : Cranford, State : NJ, Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Actually, I can give you a another example, if you like. In NYC, we have Al Sharpton. The general view of Sharpton is that of a racist opportunist. However, whenever there is an incident that is even remotely racial in context, the media will practically act as Sharpton’s mouthpiece. Why? Sharpton will tell you himself. Because the media understands that Sharpton will publicly criticize any media outlet that dares to contradict him, and that would cut into their profit margin because of the number of his supporters. Without the media, how could Sharpton have such a palpable effect on politics, to the extent that Gore, Bradley, Clinton, etc. all feel that they have to have a strategy to deal with him?
This happens with politics all the time. Note the recent media coverage of GW Bush’s ‘world leader pop quiz’ and his unproven drug use. That was covered to an extreme. However, recent proven allegations that Al Gore’s father paid soldiers in Vietnam to act as his bodyguards barely made a dent in the media. Why? Bush is not in power, Gore and his political allies are. So you go with the side that has more clout. It happened the entire stretch of the impeachment mess…note how the tone and spin of the media coverage tended to change depending on which side had the upper hand. You sell papers and gain viewers by going with the winners or the most popular side of the argument among your potential audience.
I will go farther to point out that this changes depending on the overall tone of the media outlet. For example, conversative media outlets will emphasize and sensationalize the conservative viewpoint. If the media outlet is more liberal, then that outlet will go with the liberal viewpoint. When the outlets are somewhat more objective, they will make sure that they offend as few people as possible. But since they still have to make it as sensational as possible to attract readers and viewers, they wind up taking sides to minimize the potential cost.
I could likely come up with tons of examples, but they are in plain sight every day. The New York Times is a good place to start. They certainly have no problem offending conservative groups, since they strongly advocate Democratic agendas. For a conservative outlet, try the New York Post. The same will apply in the opposite manner.
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Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 27, City : Cranford, State : NJ, Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,You make a very good point. Why did the death in Arkansas get so little coverage? On the same token, I asked a similar question a few months ago, a question that was never posted. There was an incident that mirrored the dragging death in Texas involving two American Indians nearly killing a white man. It was also marginalized. I think the answer is a simple one. The media desires readers and viewers, and so they choose the stories that take on a controversial angle to draw in that audience. However, there are a number of politically active movements out there, legitimite and otherwise, that affect the mix as well. It is safer to sensationalize the Shepard case, picking and choosing what information to report or not, depending on what the gay rights activists will tolerate. There were aspects of that incident that never came out in the media (though the result would not have changed). However, to sensationalize the death of a teen by two homosexuals would risk the protest of gay rights activists, and possibly reduce readers or viewers – which is contrary to the media’s goal. The same is true in the reporting of racial, political and religious issues.
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Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 27, City : Cranford, State : NJ, Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I agreed with most of what you said, but I am curious why you take such a negative stance on people with an SUV and/or cell phones. Sometimes it is simply a matter of practicality. My wife and I lease a Subaru Forester, a small SUV. Note that leasing is much, much cheaper than buying. Why do we do this? Because my car (which I own) is small, and we wanted something safer for when our daughter was born. Since we both hate minivans, we went with an SUV. Now, the second part of your statement, about cell phones. In general, yes, the people who use them constantly at the expense of others on the road are out of line. But we have a cell phone because I work in NYC and my wife works closer to home. If there is an emergency during my commute, she has a way of contacting me. Again, simple practicality.
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Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 27, City : Cranford, State : NJ, Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,There are usually two reasons people act rudely toward the wealthy. The first is envy. Some people are jealous that other people accomplished something they did not. The second reason, related to the first, is the impression that the wealthy can only get that way through some illegal activity. I am not sure that the people in those homes can really be called wealthy, though. It depends on the area. In my area, that is a farily low price for a small home, and two cars are needed for a two-income family when you need to commute to your jobs. My wife and I both work, and we are still unable to get a house at that price. Then again, in West Virginia, I imagine that things are a bit different, and that might be even more out of reach.
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Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 27, City : Cranford, State : NJ, Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I used to be one of those people in the rural areas with a porrly maintained house and a satellite dish. There were lots of people in a similar situation. First, our area of Virginia was full of mountains, so there was no such thing as free TV. It is cable or a dish. Since cable is pretty much a monopoly down there (as it is in many places), the rates were quite high. A satellite dish was usually cheaper or equal to the cable rates.
As far as the houses go, we rented. So we could only make cosmetic changes to the house, most of which were inside. Some people did own houses, but the cost of repair can be high in areas with few contractors, painters, etc. Again, they charge a high rate because they are the only game in town.
Finally, a satellite dish is a one-time installation. Fixing a house takes a lot longer and may cost much more than a family can afford.
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Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 27, City : Cranford, State : NJ, Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Last time I checked, 98.6 degrees F is the average body temperature for a human being, regardless of the ethnic factors involved. I know that there is some variance around that figure on an individual basis, but I am pretty sure that the average is the same. Any doctors out there know differently?
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Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 27, City : Cranford, State : NJ, Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,First, I was amazed how your thoughful question was negated by your comment about the religious zealots, a comment that seems to indicate you think photographing sexual acts with young children is merely a target of fanatical religious nuts. Sorry, but that is not the case. Take the recent case of the man who videotaped his rape of a 15-month-old baby, an act that included sodomy, among other things. It was not even his child, not that it makes a difference. Are you telling me it takes a religious zealot to feel outrage over this action?
A second point: Unlike adult pornography, which at least has some semblance of consent, child pornography is largely non-consentual. Some might choose to think that much of child pornography involves teens close to the age of consent, and is therefore on the edge of social acceptability. Do your homework. That is not the case. Some of the worst child porn involves children under 12, which is much younger than the age of consent. The modus operandi of most child pornographers and pedophiles is closely related to adult stalkers, something most of us would see as a clear threat.
And to answer your question about why some people like it: sorry, you’ll have to ask them. Maybe someone into child porn will answer the question. It’s a little like asking a person why a stranger likes country music.
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Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 27, City : Cranford, State : NJ, Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,
