The Confederacy flag always was a horrible symbol of oppression. People just got a little reminder of just what it actually stands for. I guess some of them don't like the real face of the Confederacy [cnn.com] so much.

As someone that has grown up in the south and is more than a few years old...no, that is not the case.

This uproar and associated meanings with the Rebel Battle Flag is a recent occurrence. I grew up with it and it was never that way....it was a backdrop for a Lynyrd Skynryd concert, or the top of the General Lee. Harmless symbols of southern pride.

All this because one jackass that killed a bunch of innocent people had a picture of him holding a small version of it. Sad...but these days, it takes so very little to have the social media addicts jump on the bandwagon of the month....

It has always been a horrible symbol of racism, oppression and hate. What surprises me is there are still people pretending it not.

I don't know where you are from, but it has never been that in my life, nor the people I've known and grown up with all my life.

It has never been thought of or used in a racist or threatening manner growing up in the south in my experience.

It was just a common symbol of living in the south, southern pride...a backdrop at a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert...the top of the General Lee.

None of those things are racist or hateful....

I think this uproar is just caused mostly by one sad picture of that jackass that killed those innocent church goers and had one picture I"ve seen of him holding a small Rebel Battle Flag....but now it is being fanned by the 24/7 news channels (coincidentally all based in the northeast) that have to have something new to churn up the viewers, and it is the "next" bandwagon for the social medial addicted millenials to jump on board with as the next cause for some form of 'justice".

What's next? Do we mow down all symbols of the civil war? Anything confederate history related? Anything slave related?

Do we mow down the French Quarter in New Orleans? I mean, a LOT of slaves were bought, sold and owned there. What about the Thomas Jefferson? He was quite the slave owner...should we burn down Monticello? Raze the Jefferson memorial in DC? Change the money?

Where does it stop?

This rebel flag being a symbol of oppression, racism or hate is a VERY RECENT thing....if you think otherwise, you are not a very old person and have not grown up with the experience of it and knowing it of the past 50+ years.

...the fact of the matter is that the Confederate Flag now represents racism to the vast majority of people.

Majority?

I hardly think so...just an overly vocal minority of folks jumping on a bandwagon.

Until a few days ago, when that jackass gunned down those innocent people in that church and later was pictured in one picture holding a small rebel flag, I would posit that the Rebel Battle Flag, the Stars and Bars meant very little to most people if at all.

But thanks to 24/7 news that just HAS to have something to churn the viewers (coincidentally enough all based in the northeast of the US), and them rallying all the social media addicted millennials that are just aching for the next cause of the day to jump on board with (only to be forgotten till the next fury to be raised over some sort of "justice")....the poor flag is being run roughshod over.

I've grown up all my life with the Rebel Battle Flag in my life and experience. It wasn't that big of a deal actually, but just something so everyday, that you saw it and didn't think twice about any hidden meaning. It was southern pride, or just a symbol of the south, a backdrop at a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert, or the top of the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazard (granted a silly show, but just shows how innocuous the flag symbol is). No one I'd ever known had any objections to it, nor had thought of it our used it in any manner that was threatening or hostile to blacks or other races or creeds. Hell, I'd never heard black friends object to it...just was an every day symbol of the south, nothing more nothing less.

But now...it is the topic of the day, and think what you may of it...the larger problem is that this thing is growing even further in what almost seems to be an attempt to rewrite or obliterate history.

This is spreading even in New Orleans, to threaten centuries old monuments....Lee Circle...and other long time landmarks named after confederate southern military heroes of their time, are being threatened to be torn down. None of these has ever been thought of by anyone as racist or threatening to anyone, yet in the rush to throw out the baby with the bathwater, historic landmarks are being threatened.

Ok...where do we stop?

Should we mow down the entire French Quarter? After all a LOT of slaves were bought and sold and used there.

How about all the monuments to Jefferson in D.C.? He was a notorious slave owner...should we burn down Monticello? Raze the Jefferson Memorial? Change the money?

Seriously....there is no need to try to obliterate historic monuments and figures. Everyone and every time has to be judged by the merits of that time. History if though of always in modern thoughts...well, stands to be erased.

History, helps us to understand ourselves and where we came from. Good, heroic folks had faults, but you don't destroy them because of those faults, keep them for the good things about them.

Being a southerner, proud of your heritage doesn't also make one a racist. You can be proud of one and enjoy the symbols and history as part of your culture while trying to forge new ways of thinking and tolerance.

They are not mutually exclusive concepts.

If people were to hold their breaths on this for 2 weeks.....it would all blow over and be forgotten. Hard to take a "majority of folks thinking this way" seriously, when it has just happened overnight practically, and will be forgotten about in a couple weeks....but the damage to history will last much longer.

Step back and take a breathe folks.

And happening so fast, I can't explain it.

We have this court now, pretty much ignoring the constitution on this law, it really should have been a given, but they seemed more interested in not causing chaos for a lot of people that would have been thrown off the federal dole on this.

We've seen the Rebel flag suddenly become a horrible symbol of oppression, and hate and vilified all of a sudden and yanked even from online stores and private individual sales on ebay.

It is now going so far that there seems to be a rush to destroy history, and take down all statues or anything of confederate soldiers...things no one had ever previously thought were any type of hate symbol, but merely marks of history. I'm shocked in New Orleans there is actual talk of taking down the statue and renaming Lee Circle, an icon of the city for many many many years. That and other statues and landmarks of the city. I mean, if you want to re-write history, lets mow down the French Quarter entirely, I mean lots of slaves were sold through there and used there...etc. Where does it stop?

I'm just shocked at the way folks here are laying down and how fast this is rolling over tradition and history, especially things that have NEVER before been thought to be racist or troubling for anyone....but now the baby is being thrown out with the bath. History...if nothing else, it should remain as a reminder.

The old saying goes...."those that forget history are bound to repeat it".

I'm just flabbergasted that some things are moving this fast, and this isn't all for the better.

The majority of Americans' waistlines is tied innately to the fact they're being worked longer and longer for less and less buying power. This means they don't have the TIME to prep / cook relatively short-shelf life healthy food that also would cost them too much MONEY, therefore cheap, fast, preprocessed food IS THEIR ONLY CHOICE. Treble the impact in urban settings.

We all have 24 hours a day to play with.

It all depends on how you spend your time.

I tend to spend most of the day Sunday, cooking...I prep and cook 2-3 entree dish type things, or maybe just grill a bunch of veggies and chicken, etc. I can then make quick meals from that plus leftovers are great for lunches, etc.

This is quite easy, cost effective...and you can get your whole family involved in this...bring the kids in the kitchen and teach them to cook and help out.

It is NOT the only choice to eat out and eat crap food. Why not spend a bit less time camped out in front of the TV or Xbox, and take the family shopping for groceries together, etc....cook together.

It's not that easy. At QFC and Safeway, EVERY bread they sell is overly sweetened. The only bread I've found without too much sugar is Trader Joe's rye.

Well...breads would indeed be one of the 'goop' type highly processed foods found in the center aisles I was talking about.

IMHO, it should be eliminated or at least made an extremely small portion of your diet. Try sticking to veggies, fruits and animal proteins. And yes, for some people I think a bit of dairy is ok. Just try to stick to foods that don't spike your blood insulin and for the most part, you should be ok.

If the label has ingredients you can't readily decipher, or pronounce, likely as not, it should not be something you want to consume.

Or, if the top ingredients include sugar or HFCS...you should likely pass that one by too.

You have to look for the right ones. The sriracha Jacks jerky is low in sugar and is one of my favorites.

Nothing.... beats home made though.

;)

Healthy food is tasty as hell once your palette has had a chance to get used to it again. All I can ever taste anymore with so much food in the States is either salt or sugar/HFCS. It's so fucking gross.

Well, if all you seek out and eat in the US is fast food, or the lower level chain restaurants, then sure, that's all you're gonna get.

If you shop for and buy processed foods (the goop in the center aisles of the grocery store), again, yes, this is all your gonna get.

But if you take a little time and look around, VERY good food choices can be had. And there is really NO excuse for only having bad foods at home. Ever heard of cooking? (and no, I don't mean popping something pre-made/frozen in the fucking microwave).

Yep..sounds like discrimination to me!! I think I'd try to get a young white boy into the program, see if they reject him and say why...and then bring suit.

Sounds reasonable, no? If not..why not? How is this different than any action you see today of people being discriminated against?

We don't mind, as we know that immigrants are good for the economy. They are a measurable benefit to the host country.

I don't mind immigrants. Just have them PLEASE sign the fucking guest book on the way in!!!

:)

If you want a civilian parallel, go hunting sometime. Something like 75-80% of first-time hunters freeze the hell up when it comes time to take the shot... and that's considered to be normal.

No problems with hunting or fishing. Kill'em, prepare them, eat them.

If killing another human being is "easy peasy" for you, and doesn't impart any stress into your life than you would be classified as a sociopath.

If it were one or more of those fine ISIS chaps I was targeting, no, I'd not have a problem killing them without a second thought.

Enemies I have no problem with taking out. I do value life, but it goes in order of my life, family life, friends lives, neighbors lives, countrymen....and down the chain. By the time I get to the bad guys, they are on the easy peasy list pretty quickly.

It is a mindset sure, but not difficult for me. For example I did think long and hard before going for a Concealed Carry license and more broadly, having a gun in my house at all times. If you are not willing to use it and shoot to kill, you'd best not have one. I a clear and easy with that decision and am a gun owner.

Same here...easier here in that it is bad guys and you are pretty much completely abstracted from any blood and guts associated with the hit.

This visceral experience of shooting the weapon in one's own hand and running to-and-fro release the pent-up stress.

My more basic question is..."What Stress?"

I don't see the huge amount of stress from flying a drone via remote control all day. You fly surveillance, occasionally get to bomb a bad guy...seems pretty much easy peasy.

Do people playing regular video games find they are stressed out? I thought most people played video games to relieve stress. Well, IMHO, this seems mostly like a video game so I'm not seeing the huge stress factor. Sure if you blow up a bad guy, it is real here but it is still so abstracted that it isn't all that "real".

Unless the work environment itself is bad, lousy boss/commander, or long hours, I don't see how this could be that stressful. You're certainly not going to be suffering PTSD doing this job....

I'd have no compunction about blowing up bad guys on TV thousands of miles away. What's the problem? What's the special mindset you have to get into?

No, I've not been in the military, I don't like the idea of getting shot AT, but I'd have no problem being on firing squad duty or this type thing where you're doing it via video remotely.

Would this really bother that many other people on here?

My thoughts are, if you are afraid of police interactions, then the thing to do is...try NOT to provoke them. That means if you are pulled over, comply with their demands (you can still assert your rights if need be), don't run, don't make sudden movements, move slowly and don't provoke a reaction...speak as little as possible, don't be belligerent and above all, keep calm.

When I see films of the police engaging someone and that citizen goes bat shit crazy ranting and raving or resisting the cops or running away (you can't run away from a radio idiot)...well, while I don't agree with it, I think they are often asking for trouble by escalating the incident.