And are you telling me that there are no old criminals??? Or are you telling me that the new folks were in wheelchairs with grey hair??

Of course not, but you don't see many older couples burglarizing together, now, do you?

A few more like this and Zimmerman and the bad guys will be able to come and go as they please.

You mean the "bad guys" will be able to walk to their homes or even enter them without being threatened/shot?

And isn't that... the hesitation of inner city residents to even "drop a dime" when the see, or think they see, a crime.... a very real problem??

"Dropping a dime" (love the attempt at "urban" lingo) isn't the problem.  Assuming people are criminals and threatening/shooting them is the problem.

"Dropping a dime" doesn't kill people.  People playing cops kills people.

We will never have enough police to give us 100% protection. Sooner or later we have to be willing to help.

I was raised in a home in which the N word was not tolerated and in which I saw my father toss a person out of our home because of his vulgar comments re race. I watched a plant become unionized and saw the violence and threats management used.

I learned that people are people and should be identified by what they do. Not race or what they say.

My family struggled and succeeded beyond our expectations despite our beginnings and because of our efforts and a lot of help from others.

In the Navy I saw civilians we were protecting treat us as second class citizens while claiming to be the cream of society. I learned to smile and be better than them.

In the civilian world my first important promotion resulted in a transfer to Chicago. I learned that when I explained I was being moved by my company the real estate agent on the phone would move suggested locations from inside the city to the 'burbs.

At work I heard the term "hillbilly" used behind my back and heard the snickers that there was no way a hick from the sticks could do the job. I just ignored them, built my team and two years later promoted my replacement from my team and I was promoted and transferred to a warmer climate.

Empathy? I think I have it in spades. It is one thing to complain about discrimination. It is another to actually experience it. But I do not claim to even be close to what blacks and other minorities have experienced. But while I haven't been burned I have been close enough to smell the smoke and feel the heat.

So, should we be aware of the sins of the past?

Yes. But making each and every thing about race doesn't help. And I think that some blacks and some whites are doing exactly that aided and abetted by the media on both sides. You can't forgive and forget when someone is constantly reminding you of the ills that have been done to you.

I learned that lesson early on. Hate ultimately destroys the hater.

Now, do I sometimes agree with the Repubs? Yes. Do I sometimes agree with the Demos? Yes.

But the problem here is that some of you demand absolute agreement. And that ain't gonna happen.

So when I see a social program, such as student loans, become an instrument of harm to some people, I'm gonna say so and try to say why.

If you disagree, fine. But I ain't gonna take BS from shoephone, jondee and some others quietly.

Anybody heard from him recently?  PPJ? Dadler?

I'm worried but hoping he's just shacked up with a lovely lady in the mountains of Colombia or something equally cool.

Your VP who was supposed to the worlds foremost foreign policy expert..

Your Sec of State, who likewise was the one Obama would call at 3 AM...

But it's hard to tell you Yankees from one another, even if one of you is drop dead gorgeous.

Nyshooter... Glad to know you are surviving life in the big city and I trust you have purchased your Titans season tickets....

Turn signals??? You talking to me about turn signals?

Us native born see'em just fine. You must have a vision deficiency. Try eating more sides!