ToneyC

The cause is the collective mentality of young black men and women thinking its “cool” to be uneducated. It’s the glorification and emulation of living the thug lifestyle. It’s the breakdown of the family unit and the acceptance of having several “babies’ mommas”. Not only is it accepted, it’s like a badge of honor! How ridiculous. All of these contribute to the plight of blacks in America and I would consider them all causes to the current condition. How many generations have to pass before black America “gets over it”? How many? How much time has to pass? When do we stop blaming outside influences? When do we stop blaming economic gaps? When are blacks going to admit that they themselves are the main cause of their grievances? It’s like black America is the “Borg”; assimilate or be destroyed; resistance of futile. I don’t mean to be funny and make a Star Trek reference but it’s true. If you are a free thinking black person in this country you are scorned by the collective and called an “uncle Tom”. I just can’t make sense of it. I agree that economics plays SOME part in it. I lived in poverty for a good portion of my life when I grew up but I managed to make something out of myself. However, I am the exception and not the rule. I am Korean

You're right on. I got heated just talking about it. I’m worn out just thinking about it. I hope that in my lifetime (yeah right) we can see truly judge each other by our character rather than color..

You can’t the forest for the trees. Racism is an issue because people like you continue to MAKE it an issue. This country has given black Americans every stinking opportunity under the sun to include affirmative action. What good has any of it done to "bring them up"? What good has any of it done to eliminate racism? Let’s just take one major US city and site some statistics okay?? Let’s look at Detroit Michigan. What percentage of Detroit is black? Around 83%. WOW, that’s a lot. What is the functional illiteracy rate in Detroit? 47% of metro Detroiters are functionally illiterate. WOW, that’s a lot. Who’s to blame for that Bevis? Can we blame THAT on racism too?!?!? That’s just ONE US city. Dig a little bit and you’ll see a trend…. Let’s look at some incarceration numbers now shall we?? Black Americans make up about 30 percent of the United States’ population yet they account for 60 percent of those imprisoned. WOW, that’s a lot. Again, who do we blame for this Bevis?!?!? The prison population grew by 700 percent from 1970 to 2005, a rate that is outpacing crime and population rates. The incarceration rates disproportionately impact men of color: 1 in every 15 black American men is incarcerated in comparison to 1 in every 106 white men. Lemme guess though, it isn’t their fault right? It isn’t the fault of the black community is it? It isn’t the fact that the “thug” life style is glorified and emulated by young black men is it? No, couldn’t be their fault. It’s got to be the racism!!! If there was just no racism then this wouldn't happen!! It’s not their BEHAVIOR that needs to be addressed, its racism! This is more than my personal opinion Bevis, these are facts!! You go on and keep believing that garbage okay? And I’ll keep telling you that racism will always exist as long as there are people who keep making it an issue and profiting from it.

Well said, well said....

My argument is degraded because YOU say so? Because I posted the definition of racism? My argument makes more sense than you can ever coble together in your mind genius. Don't tell me that I don't understand racism. I'm an Asian that grew up in the Deep South. You don't know me son. The issue with racism isn’t racism at ALL. The issue with racism is the continual conversations we have about it. Racism isn’t the problem, the degraded BEHAVIOR of society and the acceptance of it, IS the problem. The only thing you are entitled to in this country is the same thing I was entitled to - The OPPROTUNITY to suceed. Some people just choose to blame their RACE as the reason they didn’t grasp it. "I can't suceed cause whitey keeps me down!" Yeah, that's it! I grew up in poverty, you don't see me playing the ASIAN card do you? No, because I don't let my ethnicity dictate my path in life. I grabed my b*lls and joined the military and made something out of my life. Unfortunately, too many people in our country blame their race for their failures and wait for the hand out. Go buy yourself a clue…

Oh did I? To what extent would that be??? You think?? No buddy, YOU don't understand racism. Too many people confuse prejudice and racism. rac·ism noun: racism the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, esp. so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races. Hitler was a “racist” WHAT???? Maybe I could understand you if you could clearly communicate what you mean. This is as clear as mud.

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." If only people truly understood what those words mean then we, as a nation, could live in a color blind society. Unfortunately we have the "race baiters" like Sharpton, Jackson, Jackson's jail bound son, and Quanell X that keep hate and racism alive. These so called civil rights leaders don't have a freaking clue as to what those words actually mean. As long as they keep blacks hating whitey then they get a paycheck. They are pathetic and they don’t do the black community any favors. If this is ever going to be a nation where someone is judged solely on the content of their character then why do we have the NAACP or BET or the national black caucus or every other freaking organization that highlights the fact that someone is black?? why? why? why? One’s ethnicity should be CELEBRATED because we are a nation of immigrants. One’s ethnicity should not be a consideration when it comes to getting a job or used to gain an advantage where one shouldn’t exist! Oh, no one want wants racism right?!? We want racism eliminated from our lives right?!?!? Everyone wants to treated fairly right?!?!?!?!? Oh but let's throw "fairness" out of the window if I can use my ethnicity to gain an advantage right?!?!? Oh yeah, that's it!!! That defines fairness!! It's the biggest crock of crap there is! It's this kind of crap that keeps racism alive and part of our lives!!!!! How about we hire someone based on their qualifications?!?!? How about that!? How about we leave "race" out of every job application and hire people based on their skills!? How about we leave RACE out of everything and judge someone by the content of their character!!!! How about that?!?!? I’m so freaking sick of people crying racism and using it to justify every plight they have in life! It must suck for these people to wake up every morning and blame every bad thing that's going to happen on the color of their skin!! There's my 2 cents!

Yep

Good deal, My roommate in Houston is also in the IT biz, he works for a company called DRS. He currently lives on the same camp as me in Iraq; we are both living on Joint Base Balad. I will be heading back home in September. I knew there was one guy on this board that was a contractor (cant' remember his name) but I didn't anyone else was deployed. Good luck to you and stay safe....

I work for KBR, I was on the team that transitioned services from KBR to DynCorp in southern Afghanistan. I'm a state side employee and I was only there for 7 months. I did work closely with a guy named Dan though; is his name Dan Swanson?

Yep, Looks like FOB Lindsey. I was on that FOB around the 1st of this year. I work for the other contractor. I was on the transition team that transitioned services to DynCorp. Lindsey is a good place to be. Enjoy your stay and hang out while it lasts.... I've never heard of DSCI Inc. is the company a subcontract of DynCorp?

LOL, no Rusty, that would be the southern United states and them some...

The fish I'm holding is a Goliath grouper. The fish my buddy caught is an Alligator gar. It's a freshwater fish that is more prevalent in the south than the north; can reach 9+ feet and 300+ lbs but are harmless to humans. There isn't one documented case of an alligator gar purposely attacking a human. From what I've heard, they taste great. The one in the photos was released. I release all the gar I catch. Sure is a scary looking critter though and they provide an opportunity for anglers to catch a fish of a lifetime in the freshwater.

Maybe one day Shelby....

LOL, thanks brother. My buddy did catch one that would have eaten mine as bait. I was supposed to go on this trip with him but work got in the way. Check out this beast.

Hey Shelby, It's been awhile since I've posted anything here. I caught this brute about 150 miles out of Port Fourchon Louisiana. I had to drag this sucker up from about 450 feet. How's the fishing been in Florida? http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/9665/20090530fourchonla82.jpg

Wolf, It's been quite some time. I see things are going swimmingly in Wichita, LOL. I'm glad to hear you are getting involved with the community. At times, the "smart" people need to hear from the people that possess some common sense. I think you should stay involved.

Branden, I pass through Anahuac quite often also, on my way to Louisiana. It's either I-10 or 59 North. I usually go 59 North but I'll take I-10 to change things up. The yellow cats are the best IMO. We call them flat heads or Opelousas cat. Gary, That Vette is super sweet man. You got any plans to hop it up?

The gar was actually caught by Keith Riehn and Robin Parks at the Sam Rayburn Reservoir, Texas in 2005. It's a fresh water gar. I believed it weighed in at 244lbs.

Gary, At times I do miss that car a lot but I don't think I had enough passion to keep it. I'm sure it's in the hands of someone that can appreciate it for what it is. I think I'm going to go another route with a car. It will be awhile before I purchase another one. I'll be looking at Vettes or a NSX when I do.

Na TopDawg, it was a catch and release trip. Garys recipie does sound good though, maybe I'll try that with a smaller gar.

I'ved fished in the Red River many times. I have never tried for alligator gar though. When I go to the Red I always go to the lock and damn in Boyce. It's not too far from Alexandria.

Hey thanks KO, I actually caught that one out of the Trinity. We launched out of Crokett Texas.

I scheduled with a guide to take me alligator gar fishing. I hooked into one that was 55lbs. It was just a baby compared to some of the fish I saw breaking the surface. We saw several over a hundred pounds and bigger. I already have a trip booked for next year. I want a 150lber. I didn't realize these fish had so much trophy potential. His trips are strickly catch and release though. The guide I used was Kirk Kirkland. He's been on a lot of TV shows. I saw him a show called monster quest most recently. He's a great guide. He has caught gar over 300lbs. What a monster. http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/4534/dscf1768ji5le0.jpg http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/1433/dscf1784ps6jq3.jpg http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/3456/dscf1776xf0zv0.jpg http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/2877/dscf1778sp1vf1.jpg

Changed my mind