questions about love and commitment relative to K1 process

[mox 298]

Of course it is. To appease the hijackers of this thread (which did start out so nicely and then got taken way out in left field) (You guys ought to be on the Fiance.com forum; you'll fit right in!)

So this is how the RU forum works: OP asks a question, the membership answers the question, and then the thread moves off topic. Almost without exception, and this one is no different. I can pretty much guarantee that it's going to eventually drift into guns and/or pie. *shrug*

I do think if people spent the time getting to know each other first the 40% that go back would be greatly reduced. Blues Fairy talked about it cloging the system. If there were 40% fewer K-1's it would unclog the system, wouldn't it?

Personally I think everything that goes wrong gives ammunition to those who want to make the system tougher. Failed K-1's, Green Card Girls who fake abuse, and all other problems and the better everything works the easier it will be for everyone. People really should take the time to get to know someone they plan to spend thier life with and be sure of their intent before they file for a K-1.

Curious as to where the 40% figure comes from.

Edited June 28, 2009 by mox

[Turboguy 6]

[Curious as to where the 40% figure comes from.

It was the inverse of the 60% number I mentioned at the start of my post. Again it has been a long time since I read whatever I read and that number could be off a bit. What I was suggesting is that if 60 % of the K-1's get married then 40 % must either go back or get lost illigally. If people took more time to be sure of what they wanted that number could be reduced which would help to speed the system for everyone else.

Guns, we have already talked about that so much. Anyone have a good recepie for Russian Black Bread? How about WW2. Anyone notice Russians don't even know we were involved?

[eekee 182]

[Curious as to where the 40% figure comes from.

It was the inverse of the 60% number I mentioned at the start of my post. Again it has been a long time since I read whatever I read and that number could be off a bit. What I was suggesting is that if 60 % of the K-1's get married then 40 % must either go back or get lost illigally. If people took more time to be sure of what they wanted that number could be reduced which would help to speed the system for everyone else.

Guns, we have already talked about that so much. Anyone have a good recepie for Russian Black Bread? How about WW2. Anyone notice Russians don't even know we were involved?

It's understandable to me why Russians don't really care about America's World War II participation, considering the immense casualties and suffering the Soviets endured during the Great Patriotic War.

Total of American deaths: 418,500. Total of Soviet Union deaths: 23,100,000

Edited June 28, 2009 by eekee

[visaveteran 1]

[Curious as to where the 40% figure comes from.

It was the inverse of the 60% number I mentioned at the start of my post. Again it has been a long time since I read whatever I read and that number could be off a bit. What I was suggesting is that if 60 % of the K-1's get married then 40 % must either go back or get lost illigally. If people took more time to be sure of what they wanted that number could be reduced which would help to speed the system for everyone else.

Guns, we have already talked about that so much. Anyone have a good recepie for Russian Black Bread? How about WW2. Anyone notice Russians don't even know we were involved?

It's understandable to me why Russians don't really care about America's World War II participation, considering the immense casualties and suffering the Soviets endured during the Great Patriotic War.

Total of American deaths: 418,500. Total of Soviet Union deaths: 23,100,000

Ironically, it is because of WWII and perhaps the long Afghanistan war, that so reduced the number of Russian men available for marriage, that created the huge number of Russian women in need of men. We USA men are the lucky recipients of this sad situation.

The Soviet Union had a pact with Hitler before fighting them...so let's remember that. And they did not come in the war willingly...they were attacked and forced to fight. I think they remember us...we saved their #### by the "lend lease" program that gave them many trucks and weapons to fight back. We (the USA) never got a penny for all the material we gave them.

[eekee 182]

[Curious as to where the 40% figure comes from.

It was the inverse of the 60% number I mentioned at the start of my post. Again it has been a long time since I read whatever I read and that number could be off a bit. What I was suggesting is that if 60 % of the K-1's get married then 40 % must either go back or get lost illigally. If people took more time to be sure of what they wanted that number could be reduced which would help to speed the system for everyone else.

Guns, we have already talked about that so much. Anyone have a good recepie for Russian Black Bread? How about WW2. Anyone notice Russians don't even know we were involved?

It's understandable to me why Russians don't really care about America's World War II participation, considering the immense casualties and suffering the Soviets endured during the Great Patriotic War.

Total of American deaths: 418,500. Total of Soviet Union deaths: 23,100,000

Ironically, it is because of WWII and perhaps the long Afghanistan war, that so reduced the number of Russian men available for marriage, that created the huge number of Russian women in need of men. We USA men are the lucky recipients of this sad situation.

The Soviet Union had a pact with Hitler before fighting them...so let's remember that. And they did not come in the war willingly...they were attacked and forced to fight. I think they remember us...we saved their #### by the "lend lease" program that gave them many trucks and weapons to fight back. We (the USA) never got a penny for all the material we gave them.

If you want an argument about this, go to Russia and see what happens. But really, nothing makes me roll my eyes more than Americans going WE WON THE WAR FOR EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But then again I've never been patriotic about America, so I can't really relate to these feelings.

[Neonred 3,569]

[Curious as to where the 40% figure comes from.

It was the inverse of the 60% number I mentioned at the start of my post. Again it has been a long time since I read whatever I read and that number could be off a bit. What I was suggesting is that if 60 % of the K-1's get married then 40 % must either go back or get lost illigally. If people took more time to be sure of what they wanted that number could be reduced which would help to speed the system for everyone else.

Guns, we have already talked about that so much. Anyone have a good recepie for Russian Black Bread? How about WW2. Anyone notice Russians don't even know we were involved?

It's understandable to me why Russians don't really care about America's World War II participation, considering the immense casualties and suffering the Soviets endured during the Great Patriotic War.

Total of American deaths: 418,500. Total of Soviet Union deaths: 23,100,000

Ironically, it is because of WWII and perhaps the long Afghanistan war, that so reduced the number of Russian men available for marriage, that created the huge number of Russian women in need of men. We USA men are the lucky recipients of this sad situation.

The Soviet Union had a pact with Hitler before fighting them...so let's remember that. And they did not come in the war willingly...they were attacked and forced to fight. I think they remember us...we saved their #### by the "lend lease" program that gave them many trucks and weapons to fight back. We (the USA) never got a penny for all the material we gave them.

I don't know, but I never saw myself as competing with Afghan and WWII war vets for their women.

[visaveteran 1]

Personally, I think the K-1 visa is a very goofy and risky way to attempt to marry a foreign national. The concept is to quickly get a non immigrant visa to come to the USA and get married within a 90 day window. This process encourages haste, folly, cavalier behavior, and is way too fast, which causes many immature men, careless men and casual risk-taking men to royally mess up their lives, and the lives of good Russian women.

It is clear to me that within the letter of the law, a USA man does contractually commit to marriage within the K-1 process. But on the street, it is clear that it is a trial run, because no one can truly judge what's cooking inside someones head and prosecute someone for being cunning and clever...or unsure or cavalier. Even the professional match-makers will recommend the "fiancee visa" route to have a chance to see how it goes before totally committing to marriage. There is no legal consequences if there is a marriage or she leaves the US within 90 days.

So, a USA man is far more tempted to roll the dice and invite a woman he might barely know to go the K-1 route because he has a "back door" escape route...the 90 day rule. He'll go ahead and try it out and see what becomes of it. It's so easy to get caught of in the "honeymoon" phase of dating and engagement. There you are in an exotic place with a beautiful Russian woman. It's a vacation mentality...fun, romance, sex, adventure. The man goes home and thinks...that was great, why not go for it? "Marry me!"

And the poor Russian woman has to leave Russia for 3 months which often means giving up her job, separating with her family which may include children, and even loosing her home. That's nuts.

I think the only visa should be the true marriage (immigrant) visa. That requires the USA man to really check things out and get in touch with his intentions and feelings regarding his fiancee BEFORE she comes to the USA. And to marry her in her home country without having to also adjust to a new country lifestyle and language, and simultaneously deciding if she wants to go ahead and marry or not, seems far more wise and has much less risk.

What I have seen is K-1 couples often don't use the 90 days anyway, but get married fairly quickly. I know of a real case where a woman with a good life in Russia came to the US on a K-1 visa and quickly married. Now she is miserable and hates life in the US. The couple is struggling and their future is uncertain. Her son is still living in Russia with his grandmother and he is equally unhappy about things. What a mess.

Yes, it may be hard for some men to travel back and forth a number of times to Russia to develop the relationship, but the chance of success is much higher, I judge. And the Russian bride knows she has a husband and home waiting for her...and so can more comfortably give up her job and even home. And if she has children, they can accompany her without waiting for so long, as with the K-1 route.

As to adjustment to life in the USA, I think people will try harder and stick it out if there is a solid commitment in place. My wife, like many Russian brides living in the USA, had some depression and struggle for a few months but now she is very happy here. Had she been here on a K-1, she might well have decided to call it off and go home.

Regarding how to evaluate true "love"...well, I think there are so many variables as to make a sweeping or global statement not possible. It will depend very much on the age of the two parties. I personally think there is a much higher rate of success with older Russian/USA couples who have lived life and are more clear on what's really important to them. The fairy tale time has come and gone.

I really believe Russian women can be wonderful wives and sexual partners without the American idealized type of love and relationship, because they don't have a "movie and glossy magazine" view of married life. At least not the older Russian women who knew hardship, scarcity and communism. If a USA man treats her well, supports her in all ways and is kind to her, then she is happy and will give her man what he needs willingly.

I also really think the place the Russian woman grew up in may be important. I dated two "city" Russian women and found them difficult for me to be happy and successful with. When I met my Siberian "village girl" wife...she grew up with wood stoves and outhouses and lived for a time under communism...I found the perfect mate. She understood hardship, harsh weather, a drunken farmer father and often absent factory worker mother, and a very menial lifestyle. This, I judge, built strength of character and an appreciation for simple basic things in life. She came into the relationship without a lot of high expectations and demands.

I find myself loving her more every day as we move along in our marriage and life in the USA. She has exceeded all my hopes and expectations. My wife is the archetypical wonderful Russian wife.

Or maybe I'm just one lucky bast**d. Never under estimate the importance of good and random luck.

Regarding "privacy" issues and time lines, if someone joins a membership site, they can't be too worried about privacy. Otherwise they'd only lurk or use the site without signing in. There are many reasons someone might not fill out the time line. Lazy, a faker, loud mouth, a con man, paranoid, wannabee...etc. Bottom line...you don't trust me, I don't trust you. That's how it goes.

I don't have a time line because I've done my visa journey and married for two years. I could go dig up all the records and post it...but that's a lot of hassle and I'm too lazy to do it. I own that. I think my posts show I'm real and authentic. I hope so.

[visaveteran 1]

[Curious as to where the 40% figure comes from.

It was the inverse of the 60% number I mentioned at the start of my post. Again it has been a long time since I read whatever I read and that number could be off a bit. What I was suggesting is that if 60 % of the K-1's get married then 40 % must either go back or get lost illigally. If people took more time to be sure of what they wanted that number could be reduced which would help to speed the system for everyone else.

Guns, we have already talked about that so much. Anyone have a good recepie for Russian Black Bread? How about WW2. Anyone notice Russians don't even know we were involved?

It's understandable to me why Russians don't really care about America's World War II participation, considering the immense casualties and suffering the Soviets endured during the Great Patriotic War.

Total of American deaths: 418,500. Total of Soviet Union deaths: 23,100,000

Ironically, it is because of WWII and perhaps the long Afghanistan war, that so reduced the number of Russian men available for marriage, that created the huge number of Russian women in need of men. We USA men are the lucky recipients of this sad situation.

The Soviet Union had a pact with Hitler before fighting them...so let's remember that. And they did not come in the war willingly...they were attacked and forced to fight. I think they remember us...we saved their #### by the "lend lease" program that gave them many trucks and weapons to fight back. We (the USA) never got a penny for all the material we gave them.

If you want an argument about this, go to Russia and see what happens. But really, nothing makes me roll my eyes more than Americans going WE WON THE WAR FOR EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But then again I've never been patriotic about America, so I can't really relate to these feelings.

I've seen some of your pro Russian posts, so your views are not surprising. I think you live in St. Petersburg, hardly the typical Russian town. Go live in Siberia for a year or two. Those people may not feel the same about life under Stalin's Russia...he was as crazy and ruthless as Hitler and Mussolini. If we judge Germany under Hitler...then we should judge Russia under Stalin.

[eekee 182]

[Curious as to where the 40% figure comes from.

It was the inverse of the 60% number I mentioned at the start of my post. Again it has been a long time since I read whatever I read and that number could be off a bit. What I was suggesting is that if 60 % of the K-1's get married then 40 % must either go back or get lost illigally. If people took more time to be sure of what they wanted that number could be reduced which would help to speed the system for everyone else.

Guns, we have already talked about that so much. Anyone have a good recepie for Russian Black Bread? How about WW2. Anyone notice Russians don't even know we were involved?

It's understandable to me why Russians don't really care about America's World War II participation, considering the immense casualties and suffering the Soviets endured during the Great Patriotic War.

Total of American deaths: 418,500. Total of Soviet Union deaths: 23,100,000

Ironically, it is because of WWII and perhaps the long Afghanistan war, that so reduced the number of Russian men available for marriage, that created the huge number of Russian women in need of men. We USA men are the lucky recipients of this sad situation.

The Soviet Union had a pact with Hitler before fighting them...so let's remember that. And they did not come in the war willingly...they were attacked and forced to fight. I think they remember us...we saved their #### by the "lend lease" program that gave them many trucks and weapons to fight back. We (the USA) never got a penny for all the material we gave them.

If you want an argument about this, go to Russia and see what happens. But really, nothing makes me roll my eyes more than Americans going WE WON THE WAR FOR EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But then again I've never been patriotic about America, so I can't really relate to these feelings.

I've seen some of your pro Russian posts, so your views are not surprising. I think you live in St. Petersburg, hardly the typical Russian town. Go live in Siberia for a year or two. Those people may not feel the same about life under Stalin's Russia...he was as crazy and ruthless as Hitler and Mussolini. If we judge Germany under Hitler...then we should judge Russia under Stalin.

My family had to leave the Soviet Union so as not to be killed by Stalin. I don't have a rosy view of life under Stalin, either. I just don't have a lot of respect for many things the US has done foreign policy-wise, either, from the Cold War period on. And I don't think it's possible to find a Russian who does not get upset at the idea that many Americans have, which is that America won the war for the Soviet Union.

Edited June 28, 2009 by eekee

[visaveteran 1]

[Curious as to where the 40% figure comes from.

It was the inverse of the 60% number I mentioned at the start of my post. Again it has been a long time since I read whatever I read and that number could be off a bit. What I was suggesting is that if 60 % of the K-1's get married then 40 % must either go back or get lost illigally. If people took more time to be sure of what they wanted that number could be reduced which would help to speed the system for everyone else.

Guns, we have already talked about that so much. Anyone have a good recepie for Russian Black Bread? How about WW2. Anyone notice Russians don't even know we were involved?

It's understandable to me why Russians don't really care about America's World War II participation, considering the immense casualties and suffering the Soviets endured during the Great Patriotic War.

Total of American deaths: 418,500. Total of Soviet Union deaths: 23,100,000

Ironically, it is because of WWII and perhaps the long Afghanistan war, that so reduced the number of Russian men available for marriage, that created the huge number of Russian women in need of men. We USA men are the lucky recipients of this sad situation.

The Soviet Union had a pact with Hitler before fighting them...so let's remember that. And they did not come in the war willingly...they were attacked and forced to fight. I think they remember us...we saved their #### by the "lend lease" program that gave them many trucks and weapons to fight back. We (the USA) never got a penny for all the material we gave them.

If you want an argument about this, go to Russia and see what happens. But really, nothing makes me roll my eyes more than Americans going WE WON THE WAR FOR EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But then again I've never been patriotic about America, so I can't really relate to these feelings.

I've seen some of your pro Russian posts, so your views are not surprising. I think you live in St. Petersburg, hardly the typical Russian town. Go live in Siberia for a year or two. Those people may not feel the same about life under Stalin's Russia...he was as crazy and ruthless as Hitler and Mussolini. If we judge Germany under Hitler...then we should judge Russia under Stalin.

My family had to leave the Soviet Union so as not to be killed by Stalin. I don't have a rosy view of life under Stalin, either. I just don't have a lot of respect for many things the US has done foreign policy-wise, either, from the Cold War period on. And I don't think it's possible to find a Russian who does not get upset at the idea that many Americans have, which is that America won the war for the Soviet Union.

I don't think there's very much talk of the US saving Russia during WWII. That sounds like old Russian propaganda stuff from the 1950s. The truth is we saved western Europe. We did not directly save Russia but they received our help...but we undeniably saved Europe. There were no Russians on D-Day when the mainly US invasion of France began. By our successful assault, Hitler had to devote much of his forces to fighting the US, leaving his forces in Russia in need of reinforcements and supplies like oil. Had Hitler been able to focus more on defeating Russia, the outcome of things might have been very different.

[visaveteran 1]

[Curious as to where the 40% figure comes from.

It was the inverse of the 60% number I mentioned at the start of my post. Again it has been a long time since I read whatever I read and that number could be off a bit. What I was suggesting is that if 60 % of the K-1's get married then 40 % must either go back or get lost illigally. If people took more time to be sure of what they wanted that number could be reduced which would help to speed the system for everyone else.

Guns, we have already talked about that so much. Anyone have a good recepie for Russian Black Bread? How about WW2. Anyone notice Russians don't even know we were involved?

It's understandable to me why Russians don't really care about America's World War II participation, considering the immense casualties and suffering the Soviets endured during the Great Patriotic War.

Total of American deaths: 418,500. Total of Soviet Union deaths: 23,100,000

Ironically, it is because of WWII and perhaps the long Afghanistan war, that so reduced the number of Russian men available for marriage, that created the huge number of Russian women in need of men. We USA men are the lucky recipients of this sad situation.

The Soviet Union had a pact with Hitler before fighting them...so let's remember that. And they did not come in the war willingly...they were attacked and forced to fight. I think they remember us...we saved their #### by the "lend lease" program that gave them many trucks and weapons to fight back. We (the USA) never got a penny for all the material we gave them.

If you want an argument about this, go to Russia and see what happens. But really, nothing makes me roll my eyes more than Americans going WE WON THE WAR FOR EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But then again I've never been patriotic about America, so I can't really relate to these feelings.

I've seen some of your pro Russian posts, so your views are not surprising. I think you live in St. Petersburg, hardly the typical Russian town. Go live in Siberia for a year or two. Those people may not feel the same about life under Stalin's Russia...he was as crazy and ruthless as Hitler and Mussolini. If we judge Germany under Hitler...then we should judge Russia under Stalin.

My family had to leave the Soviet Union so as not to be killed by Stalin. I don't have a rosy view of life under Stalin, either. I just don't have a lot of respect for many things the US has done foreign policy-wise, either, from the Cold War period on. And I don't think it's possible to find a Russian who does not get upset at the idea that many Americans have, which is that America won the war for the Soviet Union.

I understand that many younger Americans dislike America for various reasons. I'm not here to defend what has transpired over the last 60 years. And I will commend you...at least you're living away from the place you seem to dislike so much.

[eekee 182]

I understand that many younger Americans dislike America for various reasons. I'm not here to defend what has transpired over the last 60 years. And I will commend you...at least you're living away from the place you seem to dislike so much.

Whatever, I never said I didn't like America. I would like it more if I could get healthcare and such, of course. I was simply first of all raised from a different perspective and then educated differently than most in this country, which means that my point of view often deviates from the mainstream.

[mox 298]

The Soviet Union had a pact with Hitler before fighting them...so let's remember that. And they did not come in the war willingly...they were attacked and forced to fight. I think they remember us...we saved their #### by the "lend lease" program that gave them many trucks and weapons to fight back. We (the USA) never got a penny for all the material we gave them.

It's easy to condemn in hindsight. Certainly if Stalin could project even a couple years, he'd have gone a very different direction. With regards, to the Soviet/German treaty, the USSR had their own problems, and Stalin always knew that it was a short-term fix and that war with Germany was inevitable. Both sides used the pact to buy time. In fact, the only thing Stalin really got wrong was the timeline. He didn't believe Hitler would attack for another year. Had he been right, the war with Germany would have had a much different outcome.

In any case, we most certainly did not save the USSR's аss. The war between Germany and the USSR came at the expense of millions of Russian (and German) lives, and any help we provided came much too late to make a major difference. The Soviet winter helped the Soviets a lot more than we did.

If you want an argument about this, go to Russia and see what happens. But really, nothing makes me roll my eyes more than Americans going WE WON THE WAR FOR EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But then again I've never been patriotic about America, so I can't really relate to these feelings.

Yeah, I really don't understand the need to chest-beat. America's involvement in the European theater certainly turned the tide, there's no doubt about that. I'm proud of our involvment, and I think the world is a better place because of it. But let's also remember that America hesitated for a LONG LONG time before we finally decided it was in our own best interests to get involved.

I agree Ekee, I've never been "patriotic" in the chest-beating "USA USA USA" sense either, and nothing makes me roll my eyes more than seeing others do it. Plenty of brave Europeans and Russians died in the war, and (as Ekee points out) if you want to judge it by body count then nobody suffered more than the Russians. (sadly enough, fewer Russians would have probably died had Stalin not killed off most of his most experienced Generals and other leaders, but that's another discussion.) I think I've mentioned before that in several of the tiny Russian villages I've visited, there were walls dedicated to the fallen from that village. In both cases the number of names on the wall were much greater than the actual population of the village. This was a war that Russia is still recovering from, something the US can't really say.

I can't wait for the day that Americans get over this sense of entitlement and "bad assness" that we cling onto when dealing with the rest of the world. You'll never see me waving a foam "USA #1" finger, or putting a silly ribbon magnet on my car, but I'm a proud American, and I'm proud of many of our accomplishments. I'm also embarrassed at a lot of our conduct on the world stage, and I wish we'd start looking at ourselves more critically. We need to get over ourselves and start thinking of ourselves as world members instead of world leaders.

[visaveteran 1]

The Soviet Union had a pact with Hitler before fighting them...so let's remember that. And they did not come in the war willingly...they were attacked and forced to fight. I think they remember us...we saved their #### by the "lend lease" program that gave them many trucks and weapons to fight back. We (the USA) never got a penny for all the material we gave them.

It's easy to condemn in hindsight. Certainly if Stalin could project even a couple years, he'd have gone a very different direction. With regards, to the Soviet/German treaty, the USSR had their own problems, and Stalin always knew that it was a short-term fix and that war with Germany was inevitable. Both sides used the pact to buy time. In fact, the only thing Stalin really got wrong was the timeline. He didn't believe Hitler would attack for another year. Had he been right, the war with Germany would have had a much different outcome.

In any case, we most certainly did not save the USSR's аss. The war between Germany and the USSR came at the expense of millions of Russian (and German) lives, and any help we provided came much too late to make a major difference. The Soviet winter helped the Soviets a lot more than we did.

If you want an argument about this, go to Russia and see what happens. But really, nothing makes me roll my eyes more than Americans going WE WON THE WAR FOR EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But then again I've never been patriotic about America, so I can't really relate to these feelings.

Yeah, I really don't understand the need to chest-beat. America's involvement in the European theater certainly turned the tide, there's no doubt about that. I'm proud of our involvment, and I think the world is a better place because of it. But let's also remember that America hesitated for a LONG LONG time before we finally decided it was in our own best interests to get involved.

I agree Ekee, I've never been "patriotic" in the chest-beating "USA USA USA" sense either, and nothing makes me roll my eyes more than seeing others do it. Plenty of brave Europeans and Russians died in the war, and (as Ekee points out) if you want to judge it by body count then nobody suffered more than the Russians. (sadly enough, fewer Russians would have probably died had Stalin not killed off most of his most experienced Generals and other leaders, but that's another discussion.) I think I've mentioned before that in several of the tiny Russian villages I've visited, there were walls dedicated to the fallen from that village. In both cases the number of names on the wall were much greater than the actual population of the village. This was a war that Russia is still recovering from, something the US can't really say.

I can't wait for the day that Americans get over this sense of entitlement and "bad assness" that we cling onto when dealing with the rest of the world. You'll never see me waving a foam "USA #1" finger, or putting a silly ribbon magnet on my car, but I'm a proud American, and I'm proud of many of our accomplishments. I'm also embarrassed at a lot of our conduct on the world stage, and I wish we'd start looking at ourselves more critically. We need to get over ourselves and start thinking of ourselves as world members instead of world leaders.

I'm not sure who is beating their chests about the USA on this thread...but nonetheless, we're all entitled to our "man on the street" narrow viewpoints, personal political bias, limited perspectives...and the need to be seen and heard by others. It's very easy to be armchair critics and a "know it all." That's what the internet is all about. Blogs...

As long as subject relevance is unimportant here, I will state that I am bored with the chest beating against the establishment that's been going on for about 45 odd years without much to show for it. Down with the man. Down with capitalism. Down with corporations. Down with the "pigs." Down with pollution. Down with big cars. Down with men.

Old and boring...

Being anti-USA is about as new as long hair and tattoos. Maybe it was chic and cool to bad mouth the country 40 years ago, but now it's just more bluster and hot air and the same old same old. Join the club.

[mox 298]

Being anti-USA is about as new as long hair and tattoos. Maybe it was chic and cool to bad mouth the country 40 years ago, but now it's just more bluster and hot air and the same old same old. Join the club.

Criticizing my (our) country is not anti-USA. If anything, it's pro-USA. It's wanting our country to be better than it is. We don't become better by telling the rest of the world how great we are and how many times we've saved their collective аsses, or by acting unilaterally or only in our own best interests. We become better by constantly challenging ourselves and our government to be better. We also become better by acknowledging that our way isn't always the best way, and that we can learn from other countries and other cultures.

If it were up to me, everybody in the US would have to live somewhere outside the US (and I'm not talking about Canada or a Mexican resort town) for 6 months. I know that's not realistic, but damn that sure would change the tone in this country. Might even be worth other countries to foot the bill for such a thing, as it could only benefit them in the long run.