Name:	MrHodja -	Reply
Subject:	A Thought to Ponder
Date:	7/6/2019 11:29:28 AM

There is an opinion piece on the Fox News web page by Sophia Nelson, a black woman whose ancestors were slaves.  Now I know some of the posters here think Fox News is all lies, but this was an opinion piece.  Among other things Ms Nelson says "A great nation does not run from its history. A great nation rises above its sins and flaws and learns from the past in order to build a brighter future."  I agree with her because indeed some of our nation's history includes wrong treatment of certain groups, Native Americans and slaves being the most obvious.  

What I don't understand about the latest"protest" regarding the Betsy Ross flag on a pair of shoes is this:  What is it that we are supposed to do?  We can't go back and "do it over" to make it right for the people who suffered unfair treatment, and it is neither right for people who didn't commit the "sins" to have to pay something to someone who hasn't been "sinned" against.  So other than getting publicity what is the motivation?

Name:	wix -	Reply
Subject:	A Thought to Ponder
Date:	7/6/2019 3:31:56 PM

Go back and read your last sentence ten times so it will soak in.....  The only purpose of the tennis shoe krap is to sell Nike shoes and to get some publicity for ko-pek-nitty.  He was raised by a white family in a white environment and has NO experience to justify his so-called racial abuse.

Name:	Carlson -	Reply
Subject:	Bingo!
Date:	7/6/2019 6:28:17 PM

This is a scam, a publicity stunt.  Sad but that is what we have become.  

On the bright side it will unify the patriots who see the forest from the trees.  ?? 

Name:	lucky67 -	Reply
Subject:	A Thought to Ponder
Date:	7/6/2019 6:35:06 PM

erase history/politically (in)correctness//votes

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	A Thought to Ponder
Date:	7/6/2019 8:45:15 PM

I'm convinced now that we are not allowed to discuss or reference anything that occurred before the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  We are supposed to apologize for every bit of our history.  This particularly riled me, because the Revolutionary War played out all over the North and Mid-Atlantic.  It was the very beginning of our country, so to think it is "offensive" to some football player is offensive to me.  

Name:	lucky67 -	Reply
Subject:	A Thought to Ponder
Date:	7/7/2019 11:16:25 AM

EX-football player; going through my closet//golf bag today to rid myself of all things NIKE

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	A Thought to Ponder
Date:	7/7/2019 3:55:04 PM

Unfortunately, they don't care about you, because they know that the biggest buyers of their product are minorities who can't think for themselves.

Name:	jalcz -	Reply
Subject:	A Thought to Ponder
Date:	7/8/2019 3:00:45 AM

Have you been such a hateful racist your entire life, or is this something new?

Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	A Thought to Ponder
Date:	7/8/2019 10:24:56 AM

The entire reparations gig is about buying votes.  There is no other explanation needed.

But here is my take on the issue of reparations. First of all, we are asking people who never owned slaves to pay people who were never slaves.  Second of all, the response to that obvious truth is typically that the majority (in this case white people) benefit today from slavery and the minority (in this case blacks) suffer today from the vestiges of slavery.  Much of this argument relies on the overall economic disparities between whites and blacks, as if both are solely a result of the institution of slavery and no other factors have an influence.  Any time you use uni-dimensional thinking in the social sciences you can be certain one thing, you are wrong.

But even if we stipulate the economic disparities and the causul relationship with slavery, I take the view that we then have to go one step further.  We need to compare the economic circumstances of blacks in the U.S. not with the white population in the U.S., but with the economic circumstances of the country from which their ancestors were abducted into slavery.  The rationale for this is simple.  Had their ancestors not been taken from Africa and sold into slavery they would have been born in Africa, not the U.S.  So let's compare what their overall economic circumstances are in the U.S. to where they would have been born.  Needless to say, most of them would have zero argument for reparations as they are far better off here. 

The reality is that we are all born in this country because someone came here from somewhere else.  Many came here voluntarily while others were brought here as slaves.  None of us had a choice in this and I would venture to say that the vast majority of current day Americans are far better off for their ancestors having come here, be it voluntarily or through the evil of slavery.  But none of this matters when all these Democrats want is to buy votes.  The question is whether more blacks in America think like the author of the piece in FoxNews or whether they are simply willing to remain on the Democrat party plantation on a voluntary basis.  If past voting habits are any indicator, I suspect it will be the latter.  Remember, if you promise to rob Peter to pay Paul, you can always count on the support of Paul.  

Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	A Thought to Ponder
Date:	7/8/2019 10:50:27 AM

I think you may be confusing their endorsement deals with their marketing targets.  No doubt Nike is the preferred brand with younger black kids and the signing of Kapernick was a good example of that targeted strategy. And I suppose their calculus was that it would drive more sales with those sympathetic to this guy's views versus those that would be driven away.  Time will tell.

But their overall target for sales is more based on socio-economic circumtances than on race.  They are targeting anyone that wants to appear "sports oriented" and given the cost of their product, they are trying to appeal to people with the disposable income to afford them.  They would be economically crazy to just target one segment. And the reality is that in many sports, black athletes dominate so it is natural for them to be more heavily represented in the endorsement game.

I personally don't buy Nike products because I think they are way overpriced for the quality.  Lots of better products and better price points.  And I am not swayed to buy based on some athlete's endorsement regardless of the color of their skin.  It's a farce of marketing......but it does work with a lot of the populace.  

Name:	MrHodja -	Reply
Subject:	A Thought to Ponder
Date:	7/8/2019 10:51:16 AM

I take exception to (only) one of your statements.  Not all of us came from somewhere else.  Native Americans (aka "Indians") were here when the first "settlers" arrived and our history with regard to their treatment is not something of which I am proud.  If there were to be reparations I have to believe they belong to those whose land we (settlers and their progeny) confiscated for our own use, while we exiled them to reservations in areas we found less attractive and/or useful.

Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	A Thought to Ponder
Date:	7/8/2019 11:28:36 AM

I get your point, but in reality our native Americans came from Asia.  Apparently the DNA of the oldest human (a pre-teen discovered in Montana called Clovis child) was from around 12,600 years ago.  His DNA matched another child called Mal'ta boy who lived around 26,000 years ago in Siberia.  Native Americans contain this DNA which means they originally came from Asia, probably as a result of migration across the land bridge that connected Asia and North America at that time. 

So my point is still valid, we all came from somewhere else.  But Native Americans obviously came here first from Asia followed by Europeans and others later from other continents.

Name:	MrHodja -	Reply
Subject:	A Thought to Ponder
Date:	7/8/2019 11:57:15 AM

Not to split hairs but the fact that one boy has ancestry in Siberia doesn't prove that all Native Americans came from Asia, just that some of them did.  And the similarity of facial features between Native Alaskans to Asians further supports the "land bridge" explanation, but still doesn't support that all came from Asia.  Primary point is they were here thousands of years before the white man colonized their territory and forced them to leave it and go to some hell hole in the western US.

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	A Thought to Ponder
Date:	7/8/2019 12:00:03 PM

I did't make this about race - the football player did and the reason was because somehow he related the revolutionary war with slavery.  And he convinced a company, who markets their new sneaker designs to minorities (because most of us wouldn't pay $150 -$200 for sneakers if we were poor) K has made a point to make it about race, so why not be truthful?  

I have a long history in reaching out to minorities, hiring minorities, encouraging those that came to work for me to get an education or continue their education, but of course, you don't know me, so it's easy for you to call me a racist.  But truly, how many non-minority people would refuse to buy a pair of sneakers with the Betsy Ross flag on them, because of slavery?  And as far as I am concerned those who follow K's example of taking a knee for the national anthemn, are not able to think for themselves.  It's the same group that are demanding reparations, suing our cities every time their criminal child resists arrest and gets shot, looking for the freebies.  There is a whole other group of minorities that are college educated, hold good jobs, try to keep their kids away from drugs and gangs, and worry about their kids getting into a good college.  They are not protesting a pair of sneakers with a revolutionary war flag.

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	A Thought to Ponder
Date:	7/8/2019 12:13:45 PM

Good point Hodja!  There are a lot of native americans who live in poverty, without good schools and yet, have served our country with pride.  If anyone deserves repatriation, it is that group.  

You know, there are huge groups of minorities that are eduated, work hard, own homes, are solidly middle and upper middle class, and worry, not about freebies and reparations, but about keeping their kids on the straight and narrow, raising them to be good people, and worrying about them getting into a good school. They are not all freebie seeking, lawsuit filing, low income, uneducated and they don't call themselves African American, because they know that their links to Africa are a fine thread.  

I wish that we could send huge numbers of "African Americans" on a tour of Africa, so they could see what true poverty looks like and may be wake up to the fact that they have nothing in common with most Africans.  These are people that mostly herd or farm for a living and are eternally grateful for a program that teaches them how to work and be successful.  Once you see true poverty, you realize just how good you have it in the U.S.

Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	A Thought to Ponder
Date:	7/8/2019 12:44:55 PM

Like I said, I get your point.  But from what I understood those claiming to be "Native Americans" have the same DNA markers as Ma'alta child and Clovis child and the science seems to lean toward them having come from Asia and not originally in North America.  But who the heck knows and for the sake of comity I'll stipulate your point.  As for reparations, Native Americans have already gotten their reparations and look how it has worked out for them.  Should be a cautionary tale but sadly Democrats have zero ability to learn from history.  They think it all started when they turned 13.

Name:	MrHodja -	Reply
Subject:	A Thought to Ponder
Date:	7/8/2019 1:59:35 PM

Saw a piece on the boob tube one time where a tribe leader wouldn't let his members suck on the Government teat and they prospered far more than those allowed to sit back and drink up the Government handouts.

Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	A Thought to Ponder
Date:	7/8/2019 2:21:51 PM

Smart man.  That kind of "help" detroys the soul.  What makes you feel worthwhile is work and self sufficiency.  Even a hard job that doesn't pay all that well is better than being on the dole.  But human nature being what it is............