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Close, O reeeeeeeaaaaaallllll close!

So maybe if American 5 year olds were to dress in the national costumes of other countries, and sing their national anthems at ball games, we could fix two posts at once?

While it may seem contradictory, push comes to shove, ignorance is taught . . . we cannot expect our children to learn what we are unconcerned with. I learned more about geography from my grandfather's stamp collection than I ever learned from a teacher. Curiosity is not inbred . .it has to be fed and nurtured. Otheriwse, we will have a next generation who truly believes that Katie Couric is a journalist and Bill O'Reilly is a political scientist. Either way, we're hosed.

Hijack - Recent news reports of KC (no, not "our" KC) replacing the relic Larry King surfaced this week. Despite official denials from all parties, friends at both CBS and CNN indicate this is very likely. Hmmm.... wonder if she will keep up the suspender tradition.

We now return you to your regular programming.

How will we tell if she's sitting behind a desk?

If our own SJ was in the anchor chair, we would never know (unless she was sitting on phone books)!! And she would still make more sense than the rest of them!!

American newspapers ALL have a World News section. It just doesn't get read very much.
Americans never needed a passport, because where were we going to use it? You could go to Mexico or Canada without one. When people say Americans don't travel much, it is untrue. Just look at the motorhomes and campers on the road. Ask Americans how many states have they seen. It used to be only wealthy folks could travel abroad. Most parents, like mine, never thought about going to Europe or Asia. But I saw 45 of the 50 states and lots of Canada growing up.
Americans are a product of our environment. You can spend 100 lifetimes just seeing North America by driving, we don't have other languages surrounding us except for Spanish and French, and our schools don't focus on other lands like they should.
In Europe you would need a passport to get around to very close neighbors, which all spoke different languages, and had politics that directly affected other neighbors.
More Americans are getting passports and traveling abroad, finally. And P2, yes, I agree with you on this one. Most young Americans only know how to text their friends and get to the mall. They don't know their own country and it's geography. Sad.

Whoa, back to Pug's comment about trial lawyers above. I am not entirely sure of the relevance to this thread, but need to point out some misconceptions.

Lawyers rarely enter into a fray unless there is a problem. We are trained problem solvers. We don't file lawsuits on our own behalf. We file lawsuits when we are retained by a client to do so. But, there has to be a viable cause of action and there is a finite number of causes of action under which one can file a complaint. Whether the allegations are good, bad, ugly, true or false, a plaintiff must prove them up(i.e the burden of proof).

Although you may hear of large settlements because those are such things that make the news, there are dozens of cases you don't hear about. As a civil defense lawyer, I have used numerous legal tactics to gain dismissal for my client, if the court agrees the allegations are not founded on law and/or fact. Motions for judgment on the pleadings, motions for summary judgment, dismissal with waiver of costs, offer to compromise are just a few. A lot of these are quite technical and sometimes difficult to win, depending on the facts of the case, the law as applied to the particular facts and of course, the almighty man/woman on the bench (and even the law clerk who reviews the law cited in the briefs submitted to the court).

Generally, 90-95% of civil cases are settled or disposed of, prior to trial. Trials are very expensive, a roll of the dice, due to juror unpredictability, or any number of unexpected scenarios. I have had some major surprises with juries and not just the outcome of the case. More importantly, almost always, the decision to settle is made by the purse holder - that is never the lawyer. It is either the client (if private or self-insured), or the insurance carrier for the client. It is simply a business decision - weighing the expensive cost to litigate and take to trial with an unpredictable outcome vs. settlement. That is the only reason settlement occurs in many instances.

Laurie, don't tell them that stuff! Who will they pick on now?

Laurie -- I'm sorry, but please create another thread for this one -- it is so untrue. There are good lawyers (our message board bunch included) but I deal with lawyers all the friggin time that specifically search for clients to convince them they were wronged so a class action can be maufactured out of nothing. I've been deposed as a company witness to some of the most unbelieveable fishing expeditons imaginable. And Mrs. O. works for a finance company that was forced to lay-off half their workforce when a frivolous lawsuit forced a settlement. 90-95% are setlled by the party holding the pursestrings you say. Well of course! They have the most to lose. I can lose millions a year settling frivolous claims or billions fighting them in court. Both scenarios still suck.

Don't get me on this soap box. A lot of American ills can be brought back to the need for tort reform.