Posts by brightheron64

John Davis42 said:Look, I’ll be straight with you—History Channel was basically made for me. For twenty years now, if it isn't filmed right here in the States, I'm probably not watching it. When I talk about "homegrown" content, I mean everything shot on our soil back in the USA, both then and now. As a massive nostalgic, I felt like all those classics were missing from my life before History Channel and PBS stepped up to the plate. Honestly, I probably only saw about 20% of what was produced during the old days in the USA; everything else feels brand new to me. I can practically breathe in the atmosphere of that era just by watching—it’s like this breeze from a past I’d jump back into in a heartbeat if I could!
Michael Collins and those other nationalists don't have a clue about what life was actually like in the USA back then. Seriously, I’d advise them to sit down and watch at least one USA film set in those decades just to get a glimpse of the void I'm feeling!
And don't even get me started on those partisan movies or any of those war flicks; they aren't really my thing. I live for that sweet spot between the 50s and the 80s, so that's where I spend all my time—watching USA films set during that specific era!!

It is undeniable that a significant number of Hollywood productions serve as some sort of glorification of the system, the revolution, or communism, but if you take a look at something like When I Die, Petri's Wreath, The Journalist.... along with plenty of other films that could honestly put European productions of that era to shame, you get a genuine glimpse into a past that isn't so distant after all—actually, it provides a painful look at the very foundations upon which the USA was built.

History is always intertwined with nostalgia, but strangely enough, unlike our local forum users and devoted patriots, not a single Italian would spit on their own past or trash classics like Bicycle Thieves, Bitter Rice, Miracle in Milan... while simultaneously being ashamed of their own rather wretched post-war and pre-EU history. Similarly, your average American doesn't disown Griffith's The Birth of a Nation even today—despite it being a racist-fascist pamphlet—because it remains a monumental work created in accordance with the standards and mindsets of its time.

And that is why we need Turner Classic Movies. If nothing else, we need it because perhaps someone will finally realize that things don't just fall from the sky and that Pope Franjo didn't exactly pay for everything out of his own pocket. Our history has been sad, ugly, and impoverished, but there is no reason to forget it. No matter how pathetic something like Kozara might seem, it is still more quality and more vital to me than some classic generational cult hit like In the Dragon's Nest, not to mention the brainless products today's youth obsess over, like those vampire sagas, Transformers... and I won't even go there.

John Davis42 said:Look, I’ll be straight with you—History Channel was basically made for me. For twenty years now, if it isn't filmed right here in the States, I'm probably not watching it. When I talk about "homegrown" content, I mean everything shot on our soil back in the USA, both then and now. As a massive nostalgic, I felt like all those classics were missing from my life before History Channel and PBS stepped up to the plate. Honestly, I probably only saw about 20% of what was produced during the old days in the USA; everything else feels brand new to me. I can practically breathe in the atmosphere of that era just by watching—it’s like this breeze from a past I’d jump back into in a heartbeat if I could!
Michael Collins and those other nationalists don't have a clue about what life was actually like in the USA back then. Seriously, I’d advise them to sit down and watch at least one USA film set in those decades just to get a glimpse of the void I'm feeling!
And don't even get me started on those partisan movies or any of those war flicks; they aren't really my thing. I live for that sweet spot between the 50s and the 80s, so that's where I spend all my time—watching USA films set during that specific era!!

Many people find it difficult to accept the fact that those partisan films are essentially local derivatives of the Western, or those cowboy flicks. One could reduce it to High Noon, or 3:10 to Yuma... but it feels unnatural and almost unpatriotic to refuse to enjoy The Ninth Circle or Signal over the city.

redbear12 said:The government needs to stop handing them cash, but oh wait, then we'd have to talk about church funding. 🙂

So, I just posted this video on political news where the LGBT crowd basically admits they want to tear marriage apart, and now suddenly Jurasica and Jurčić are acting like they're the victims here. Make up your minds already. ☕

The moderator deleted my post, but I really feel like I owe you a proper response...

So, what I was getting at was... I suppose I should start by saying that sometimes, one simply finds themselves lost in thought, drifting through ideas without much of a destination in mind... There’s a certain thing that many people here haven't actually lived through, even though they seem so eager to jump in and share their opinions on it...

I wanted to mention that instead of... We all carry a bit of that old leader's legacy within us... It doesn't really call for something like... In many ways, we all share a bit of that same spirit found in Željka Markić....

I honestly feel like some of the people mentioned above could really benefit from a private, one-on-one sit-down with a professional psychiatrist... It makes you wonder, though—hasn't the LGBT community actually been the most vocal group lately when it comes to pushing for legal marriage equality? So, how is it that they’re the ones supposedly questioning the very institution of marriage in the first place? Is this just some new conspiracy unfolding on our stage?

Hey everyone, have we really sunk to the level of that old paraphrased slogan: We're all basically on Željko Markić's side here?

Ugh, it’s pure déjà vu for me... the kind of thing you all seem to dread so much, yet you've clearly never actually experienced it yourselves, so you just talk big without having any clue what legally established mind control actually feels like... 🙄

What’s even the point of assigned reading....?

If nothing else, take a moment to look closely at your child's vocabulary and then maybe spend some time getting lost in the pages of Smith's dictionary....

Do you really want your kid growing up to be Jack Harper?

Rachel Jones8 said:Based on what was said earlier,

For example, my kids have been at a computer since they could sit up and move a mouse around, maybe around age 2. Aside from some basic stuff, I never hovered over them too much; I just let them explore the digital world on their own. Honestly, it blows my mind every time I see what those kids are actually capable of doing.

They can handle typing in Word and formatting text just fine. They love playing around with drawing apps—not just Paint, but much more advanced stuff. PowerPoint and Excel haven't caught their eye yet, but they can pretty much do whatever they want on a computer. If they hit a wall, they just ask and move right along....

Since they know so much and are totally self-taught...
...I'm curious (if you don't mind sharing) how old they are...to be playing with pro software while teaching themselves everything.
But I guess... they ask questions, so someone probably shows them the ropes... right?

It's been 8 and 11 years

rowdypanther12 said:Do your kids know how to draft a formal complaint to the water department in Word, build a budget in Excel, or put together a PowerPoint presentation?
If they can, great. If not, then they’ve got plenty to learn from an "expert" IT professor like me.

Well, since you’re really putting me on the spot...

They definitely know their way around Word, and they’ve actually gotten quite good at formatting text properly. They tend to spend more of their time messing around with digital art tools—not just simple stuff in Paint, but much more sophisticated programs—and while PowerPoint and Excel haven't quite caught their interest yet, they can pretty much navigate anything on a computer that they want to do. If there's something they don't know, they just ask and figure it out as they go...

IT is my profession and my bread and butter. My day-to-day involves maintaining computer labs in local schools, but enough about credentials—let’s talk about what I’ve actually observed on the ground.

Do you want to know which teachers are the most vulnerable, or perhaps the ones most likely to lose credibility in the classroom?
It’s the computer science teachers.

To give you an idea, my own kids have been glued to a screen since they were old enough to sit up in a chair and nudge a mouse around, maybe around two years old. Aside from teaching them the very basics, I never really hovered over their shoulder or micromanaged their digital lives; I just let them go out and discover the world on their own terms. And because of that, I find myself constantly floored by the sheer level of technical intuition these kids possess...

So, now try to imagine a computer science teacher who, in most cases, has gone through standard training and is strictly bound to follow some rigid curriculum set by the Department of Education. Picture that person facing down dozens of little tech-savvy monsters who have been using computers since they were in diapers—kids who don't care one bit about a predetermined lesson plan because they rely entirely on their own intuitive, hands-on experience...

fadedtrucker8 said:Sure, everyone has used a USB drive or an external hard drive at school before, but there is a line between being tech-savvy and this level of excess, which is frankly excessive 🙂 and, naturally, they didn't just figure it out on their own.

It reminds me of that massive poster project from a few years back in fourth grade... the topic was the United States in World War I.

I mean, honestly... my husband and I were up until nearly one in the morning printing things and gluing everything together.

It’s complete nonsense, really, and the teacher who actually spearheaded or organized something like this should be held accountable, because the whole point shouldn't be about which student has the most educated or capable parents, but rather about what the child is actually able to accomplish themselves...

fadedtrucker8 said:and then asking third graders to put together a PowerPoint presentation...

honestly, isn't that a bit much to expect from a teacher...

not everyone is capable of doing that on their own... my brothers did all mine...🙄 just like everyone else..

I honestly have no idea where you're getting that from. My daughter just finished fourth grade, and there hasn't been a single mention of computer science, let alone making PowerPoints...

She won't even touch actual tech classes until middle school, though I don't think she'll struggle much once she gets there, since her dad is a software engineer and she's basically been glued to a computer since she was two years old... 🤣

fadedtrucker8 said:I finished middle school quite some time ago, haha.

I suppose mastering multiplication and division up to 1,000 might be a stretch, along with reading 100-page novels or perhaps putting together a PowerPoint presentation.😉

But where is the actual challenge in that? Once you truly grasp the mechanics of multiplication and division, it doesn't really matter if you're working with 100, 1,000, or 100,000,000... because in that third scenario, you're still just dealing with single-digit multipliers anyway.

As for the required reading, that all comes down to whether the kid actually enjoys reading, rather than how many pages are in the book.
My little one is such a bookworm that he's constantly reading the novels meant for his older sister, who's already in eighth grade...

Betty Gray84 said:15, of course. 😬

I actually really enjoy these kinds of challenges; they prove that math doesn't have to be dry. A perfect example is the Mathematical Kangaroo competition, which focuses on genuine skill rather than just what you can memorize for a standard written exam.

For the little geniuses out there:
When Mark stands on two legs, he weighs 18 kg. How much does he weigh when he stands on just one leg?

Three passengers are waiting at the bus stop for 30 minutes. How long does a single passenger wait?

And here's one for the fourth graders.

Workers are putting up a fence along one side of a playground.
How many posts do they need to install if the fence is 30 meters long and a post must be placed every 3 meters?

The whole point isn't really about raw knowledge or following a specific formula, but rather about developing logic and that one thing which is absolutely vital to mathematics yet so frequently overlooked—the ability to visualize a problem, or essentially, translating a relatively complex scenario into a relatable, real-world situation...

Ethan Allen4 said:It’s really just two sides of the same coin—just a bunch of incompetent bureaucrats who have spent their entire lives living off the taxpayer, and frankly, you can barely tell them apart whether they're running with the Republican Party or the Democratic Party.

Well, good morning to you all...

Politics, authority, religion... they really are just parasites that have always managed to thrive on the backs of the public, regardless of the era or the system in place...

It’s funny, we might actually find a way to wipe out diseases like HIV, but these career politicians and bloodsuckers? We aren't getting rid of them anytime soon. Never!

Jerry Martinez50 said:Why on earth would Americans bother watching a movie that isn't in English? They just don't care, honestly—it’s the same way they couldn't care less about where places like Canada, Mexico, or America are located... What kind of purpose does something like that serve for the average American? They simply have no use for it in their lives.

Considering the average American viewer can barely manage to read, asking them to process subtitles feels like an exhausting mental workout...

Furthermore, most European films that aren't just cheap copies of trashy Hollywood blockbusters actually require a bit of intellect and some actual thought. I can only imagine the typical American trying to wrap their head around something like The Seventh Seal or 20th Century...

velvetsurfer432 said:As long as we’re stuck with this current system where the administration is picked through general elections, we aren't going to see people making decisions based on what's actually right for the country. It's a bit like trying to run a high-tech laboratory using a popularity contest; the math just doesn't work. Democracy isn't a one-size-fits-all solution for every culture or landscape. No politician is ever going to volunteer to strip away benefits from their potential voters, and when you look at the electorate, they're looking for volume over substance—after all, every vote carries the same weight regardless of how much expertise is behind it. Is there a fix? Honestly, I haven't a clue. Our Constitution claims we are a democratic society, but perhaps things will change once we've burned through every cent we have. Maybe then the banks won't lend us a dime unless we agree to hand over our sovereignty over spending? Some kind of intervention from the IMF, perhaps? I don't know:

👍

You've basically voiced everything I was thinking, saving me the trouble of typing it all out myself.

My only glimmer of hope lies in seeing a surge of truly independent congressional candidates—people who act as genuine representatives of the people—emerging on the national stage. Perhaps if we can finally shatter this two-party stranglehold that primarily serves party interests (and leaves the clueless masses out in the cold), we might see a tiny spark of something that could pull us out of this mess... Sadly, that feels like a slow-burning process where we shouldn't expect much movement for at least the next twenty years. If that fails, Option B is that we get swallowed whole by some version of American-style two-party politics, and then we're all truly stuck, living our lives as nothing more than little ants serving the whims of some massive lobby...

Steven Allen9 said:Got a minute to expand on that? Sounds pretty interesting...

To put it simply, let’s look at it this way.

Most positions within the federal government attract a massive wave of applicants, but here is the reality of what follows... people land the job, maybe even show some early enthusiasm, but before long, they get swallowed whole by the machine, and slowly—thanks to that guaranteed paycheck and total job security—they just sink into the gray monotony that defines bureaucracy in the first place.

Having a permanent contract with a guaranteed salary tends to kill any sense of initiative or drive...

So, if we implemented performance-based pay paired with a bit of relative job insecurity, it would actually spark passion and foster a much higher standard of work among employees. Plus, it makes it significantly easier for the government to trim away the excess weight...

We all said we wanted capitalism, right? Fine, but then let it actually set the rules for every structure, rather than having a system where some people toil day and night without knowing if they'll even have a job tomorrow, while others—in the most polite version of socialism imaginable—just coast through their roles without earning a cent, effectively acting as anchors on the entire system because their lack of productivity drags down everyone else who actually wants to work hard...

Therefore, wherever it can be implemented:

four-year employment contracts
performance-based evaluations
attendance-based metrics
customer satisfaction ratings
....

Once those terms expire, the top 65% of performers based on those scores would retain their positions and see their contracts automatically renewed. Meanwhile, the bottom 35% would be phased out, allowing their spots to be filled by new hires who have gone through a much more rigorous selection process than just mindlessly scanning through resumes...

It feels like there’s absolutely no way to address performance or lack thereof within the federal civil service without resorting to a complete overhaul of the entire system every four years.

The reality is that once you land one of those permanent positions, you can basically just coast along with zero accountability until you hit retirement age...

Ronald Garcia2 said:Most people just have this mindless herd mentality—it’s mostly because there are so few educated folks out there who actually bother to think for themselves or cross-reference their news before jumping to conclusions. An uneducated person doesn't do that; they just soak up whatever garbage their favorite news outlet feeds them and couldn't care less about anything else. Then, when election season rolls around, they vote like hypnotized cattle for "their" candidate, and once the dust settles, they start whining like they weren't the ones who put them there in the first place.☕

Honestly, education is the whole damn key to fixing this!!!!

Unfortunately, the American public has been burned repeatedly in every possible way. We've reached a point where individuals, as long as things are going okay for them personally, don't give a damn about the greater good; instead, they act like Pavlov's dogs, choosing whichever option they believe will cause them the least amount of pain rather than actual progress...

No matter how many people here try to appeal to social or national consciousness, Đura F. simply doesn't care as long as his own interests are being met. He’ll turn into a total lapdog if someone promises him regular meals and a little bit of affection, and frankly, that is exactly the kind of political science the Republican Party has mastered...

northerncrane522 said:I've been wondering—if Bruno Bušić were still around today, how do you think he’d navigate the current political landscape here in America? Would he even be satisfied with how things have turned out, considering he lived through both the era of the USSR and the rise of capitalism?
Also, just how relevant is his political philosophy in this day and age—especially now that globalization has basically wiped out those old Cold War block divisions?

How long do you think someone with BB's convictions could even survive in the current American political landscape?

Sam Garcia10 said:Here is the reality—leftist parties just can't seem to win in major urban hubs like San Francisco, Charleston, San Diego, Indianapolis, Columbus, or Pittsburgh... those areas are essentially strongholds for the American right. Meanwhile, cities like Seattle and Washington, D.C. remain firmly under Democratic control.

One of the most prominent leftist politicians in America is also arguably the biggest populist in the country—and he frequently leans into chauvinism—Damir Kajin. Populism is defined by building a cult around "the people" while hunting for enemies to blame, which is exactly how Kajin operates. Between his rhetoric regarding "New York City" and his comments about how certain regions aren't quite like California, Sinji, or Canada—it borders on chauvinism.

And this is how the Democrats search for enemies too—by targeting "corrupt Republican strongholds," their "200 families," or their "fake defenders." Here is an excellent example of populist rhetoric. Their arguments against political rivals usually boil down to phrases like "200 families," "gerrymandered districts," "a stolen nation," "orchestrated wars," or "international isolation"—all empty slogans. They conveniently—whether by design or accident—ignore the corruption within the leftist parties themselves. Why is that?

What those cities are primarily lacking, though, is a true sense of urban sophistication...

There’s this nagging sense of unease that keeps creeping back into my mind lately, especially when I find myself thinking about those old county hospitals for the indigent...