Svetlana,
how is changing death sentence to life in prison make one a radical?
although i know you called me a radical for saying that US government made some bad choices on the past ..

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Человек, который почувствовал ветер перемен, должен построить не щит от ветра, а ветряную мельницу

:-) I did NOT call you a radical! :-) I agree that our government has made some bad choices...we may disagree on what choices...
yes, making a saint of that criminal, some even wanted to set him free saying he was a totally changed person, and even just wanted him to spend life in prison - it's all radical - using a cold-blooded murderer to advance own agenda of abolishing death-penalty...btw. Tookie was a Nobel Peace Prize nominee...(tr)

That's what he said on immigration...super-conservative according to today's standards
Why is it super-conservative? I though he was talking about embracing American ideals -- precisely what any immigrant to the US should do. I don't think this is conservative or liberal -- this is natural.

that's right - embracing American ideals...but you'd surprised how in some places in this country it's NOT encouraged - California has a bilingual education in public schools...

what's wrong with bi-lingual education?
as long as they learn English they can learn another language as well..
i would love all schools to mandate bi or even tri-lingual education.

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Человек, который почувствовал ветер перемен, должен построить не щит от ветра, а ветряную мельницу

Svetlana, i do distinctly remember that you said something like " i am responsible for radicalization of Mike, as he now critiques what US does"

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Человек, который почувствовал ветер перемен, должен построить не щит от ветра, а ветряную мельницу

I think what Svetlana means is that immigrant's children requested education in their native language. There was a case like that in Massachusetts. This I don't understand -- what is the point of coming to the US if you refuse to learn the language? I DO understand additional remedial (free) English courses to help assimilation...

Mike, I used to think you have a sense of humor :-(
you never explained why you criticized actions of US government with respect to dealing with Taliban then...do you believe it has contributed to the problems with terrorists we have now?
if someone blames US actions for what terrorists are doing today, yes, I believe it's radical...because the blame should be with terrorists (Taliban, eventhough they were not perfect back then) were NOT terrorists in the 70s and 80s...
it's like blaming Israel for the actions of palestenian terrorists on Israel's existence and wanting to protect themselves...

Svetlana, i am not going to go in circles, but i do believe Taliban was always terrorists.. the methods they employed against the USSR are no different from the methods they are employing right now. And we are responsible for funding them and training them at the time.. this is not an opinions it's a fact.

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Человек, который почувствовал ветер перемен, должен построить не щит от ветра, а ветряную мельницу

Mike, why should US taxpayers pay for educating their kids in their language?...you want to keep your lanquage, teach your own kids, but not in public schools - teaching them all subjects in their lanquage??? this is what it means bilingual education, not just learning a foreignn lanquage - it just prevents the whole process of assimilation...