and our President was considered a "foreign exchange student" during his early college years.

100% with you.

My great great grandfather moved to northern Missouri from Germany. He wasn't considered a German-American by anyone, just an American.

you got some skittles?

Lot of Germans in that part of Missouri. The first vineyard west of the Mississippi was located in Herman (a few miles east of Columbia) and specialized in German-style wines. They still make plenty of wine (just not my style of wine) in that area. Next to Stone Hill Winery is a very decent German restaurant that I wouldn't mind eating at again.

Great area to visit. They have a car show in the fall called "Car show in the park". 2009 was the last year we went, it was their 10th anniversary show. Very Corvette friendly show. The River Citys Cruisers puts on the show and at least one member is over at the CF.

Always stay at a local B&B, had a great time walking around town.

The restaurants name is Vintage Restaurant.

Its built in a former barn/horse stable. I like the Vintage sampler, schnitzel, sauerbraten, and knackwurst. Their sauerkraut is very aromatic and has a great flavor.

Winery is so-so. Not bad for a Missouri wine, not the best I've had either.


Yeah, I know. http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ll...yseko1_500.jpg

Is Missouri wine like BBQ from the NC/SC border?

Missouri wine is like most non-west coast wines, just OK to meh. But that's my opinion. If you like sweet wines, especially dessert wines, you're golden. The Norton grape makes a passable dry red wine, sorta. It's OK, I've certainly drank a few bottles of it. But the ports they make in Herman are really quite good, so there's that. If you're into ports.

Immigrants yes.

Except people of African descent didn't emigrate here. I know this is an unpopular opinion, but to expect them to just magically become comfortable in the skin of an American, is asking too much.

300 years of slavery, 100 years of Jim Crow and 50 years of an agonizingly slow civil rights movement, on the back of the problems they have with themselves as a people is not something they can just let go. They can't just 'get over it.'

Does that excuse the current epidemic of black racism, the pity party they engage in, or the willing obfuscation of the truth in order to enact some kind of revenge upon The White Man?

No.

But nobody can ignore what has brought us to these things, and to ask an entire race to forgive 400+ years of being put through hell without having a chip on their shoulder is impossible.

I don't have a solution to this, but if we don't recognize the problem, we'll never find one.

My family moved to Memphis, MO. Where Missouri is pronounced Missourah. :lol:

Our government has LOST ITS COLLECTIVE MIND !!


Attorney General Eric Holder addressed the shooting death of Trayvon Martin on Monday, his first remarks on the subject since the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the Associated Press reports. Zimmerman was cleared of all charges by a six-woman jury in a Florida court on Saturday evening.

Holder said the death of Martin was the result of "a tragic, unnecessary shooting."

"I want to assure you that the Justice Department will continue to act in a manner that is consistent with the facts and the law," said Holder.

A civil rights case against Zimmerman would have clear hurdles for Justice Department attorneys, reports the AP.

The report says that mounting a federal case against Zimmerman could be tougher than the case the state of Florida made, which concluded Saturday with Zimmerman's acquittal. The Justice Department opened a probe into Martin's death last year, but later stepped aside to allow Florida prosecutors to succeed.

"There are several factual and legal hurdles that federal prosecutors would have to overcome," Alan Vinegrad, the former US Attorney in the Eastern District of New York, told the AP. "They'd have to show not only that the attack was unjustified, but that Mr. Zimmerman attacked Mr. Martin because of his race and because he was using a public facility, the street." For the full story, click here.

According to the Miami Herald, FBI records on the case released last Thursday would further complicate a federal case. FBI documents based on interviews with nearly three dozen people reveal that agents weren't able to determine that racial bias was a motivating factor in the shooting of Trayvon Martin. For the full story, click here.

Finally, White House press secretary Jay Carney on Monday told reporters that President Obama won't involve himself in decisions by the Justice Department on whether to pursue civil rights charges against George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. According to the AP, Carney added that it would be be inappropriate for Obama to express an opinion on how the department deals with Zimmerman. On Sunday, Obama urged "calm reflection" from Americans following Saturday's explosive verdict.

There is a very simple fix for that... you aren't "comfortable" as an American, get the f**k out. :rolleyes:

It was a tragic, unnecessary shooting.

Tragic that someone died.

Unnecessary because he wouldn't have died if he didn't attack Zimmerman.

You think that just because the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, that excuses anything that occurred on this continent prior to that date?

It doesn't work that way.

Here's what I believe.

Blame me.

Mistrust me.

Wish me harm.

Hate me.

I still love you.

Because when I have to answer for my decisions, for my actions, for my mistakes, I want to be able to do so with clear conscience that I did so with more than myself in mind.

You want to spit hairs, make distinctions, hold a line? That's your right as an American.

And theirs.

If all we do is pull away from each other, we will forever be divided.

... and a house divided, falls.

"A house divided against it self cannot stand."

--A. Lincoln