Posted on 10/06/2011 5:41:05 AM PDT by Kaslin
From now on, parents who plan to send their children abroad to study in a foreign nation should sit them down in front of the TV set and watch replays of the Amanda Knox saga. It has all the elements of a true-to-life lesson in the dangers of turning young men and women barely out of their teens into innocents abroad.
Youngsters -- and many parents -- are clueless when it comes to the customs and laws in other countries that lack many of the safeguards which we Americans take for granted. They should study the Amanda Knox case. It is a clear warning that -- unlike here in the United State -- in many foreign countries the accused is automatically guilty until proven innocent.
Consider this: Amanda Knox spent four years in prison before being tried in court on charges that ultimately appear to have been baseless. Moreover, her chief accuser himself now faces trial and possible imprisonment for misconduct. She was made hostage to a system of justice where the accused is guilty until proven innocent and she was locked away until a trial in court could take place, which in Amanda's case took 48 long months behind bars. .
Four years in an Italian slammer -- four years of waiting for a trial and a chance to tell her side of the story!
It is said that ignorance of the law is not an excuse for violating the law. That's true here, but no consideration in given to Americans visiting foreign nations, who cannot be expected to understand all the ins and outs of the laws of those nations.
It is true that foreign travel is broadening. It can also be hazardous for young Americans born and bred in the best and fairest nation in the world, where the court system is designed to protect their rights and freedom of the citizenry -- an uncommon idea in many nations abroad.
I can readily understand why some parents believe that study abroad enhances their offspring's education. But I cannot understand how some parents can send their youngsters off to foreign counties to be on their own in a totally alien environment where many of the safeguards to their freedom, common here in the United States, simply do not exist. Many parents should consider accompanying their children on excursions abroad.
Parents need to wake up to the fact that the United States is the best and fairest country in the world. Our God-given freedom guaranteed by the Constitution is the reason why we have become the wealthiest nation in the word. Parents should educate themselves and their youngsters on the laws and customs of foreign nations before sending them abroad to study; otherwise they run the risk of losing them to an alien system of justice.
Amanda was lucky. You and your family might not be so lucky.
“Foxy Knoxy got away with murder and even though the sentence would have been 26 years she’ll live many more years than that with her conscience full of the horror she either participated in or knowingly abetted.”
I doubt it, these people have no conscience or morals.
Don’t send your kids to a foreign country unless they intend to behave themselves. That “but I’m an American” sass does not work anymore.
It is funny how people claim she could not speak the language, but she worked at a local bar .
“Do you have proof that she smoked dope? Just because you do, does not mean everyone else does”
The MSM reported that was what her latest alibi was.
Who knows? Maybe she is lying!
>>You telling me you would not be enriched by living for a few months in Florence? I know I would.<<
Did you ever hear of a little thing called the internet?
How about television?
I have friends in Sydney. We talk on Facebook, we email, I see films of her kids and she sees films of mine. There is a big wide world out there, free for the consuming, right in your home. I even have a phone where I can call them for birthdays and Christmas. It’s amazing.
So no, I see no reason to spend a few months in Florence. I can study it right in my home. I can talk to people there via Skype. This is 2011. I don’t have to leave the comfort of my livingroom to experience the world, and I save a ton of money staying here.
Your daughter may well be an exception to a rule.
If you think you can experience Florence by sitting at your computer, I'll just say you're sadly mistaken and leave it at that.
Siena is better, though.
>>If you think you can experience Florence by sitting at your computer, I’ll just say you’re sadly mistaken and leave it at that.<<
I’m not enamored with Europe. I just don’t care about it at all. People are much more important.
Then by all means, stay home.
Ann has been putting out some sloppy product lately and her Amanda Knox column is a prime example.
Ann says “Now liberals are howling that the DNA evidence was ‘contaminated,’ but they always say that. It wasn’t. And the DNA was already thoroughly vetted at trial.”
The DNA evidence against Ms. Knox was transparent nonsense and was completely thrown out in the second trial. It should never have been admitted in the first trial. It was not “thoroughly vetted” at trial. Rather Ms. Knox’s defense team used outside experts to do so after the first trial and before the second. Thus Ann’s claim is a huge, sloppy mistake on her part.
Don’t be fooled by Ann’s piece. It is garbage.
Neither was Amanda Knox.
>>Then by all means, stay home.<<
I will. And I’ll share a story.
I have an Aunt who was a Stewardess. She flew everywhere, free. She has been on almost every continent and seen tons of places. When I was dreaming of traveling away my young years she told me....
People are much more important. You will not see a thing anywhere that is better than your own home. Don’t waste away your life and cash thinking that going places will fill you. You will be left with nothing but memories and pictures.
I loved my trips to Australia, but in the long run, they are nothing I can hold on to. My friends there are.
who to believe?
mostly, we better think twice before we send our snotty elitist American priviledged young people to foreign countries ....the locals don't like it..
Have your young daughter watch “Taken” two or three times before setting out for the “bright lights of Paree”, London, Rome, New York or LA.
Being a “Liberated Woman” does not mean that you are safe.
You don’t need to travel to be enriched. I work in DC. The whole world is here. Every kind of foreigner you can think of and every kind of food. When I go on vacations I head to the country and look for Americana.
All proven in the appeal process to be false statements by police and prosecutors. The knife found in Sollectito's apartment didn't match any of the wounds on Kercher or the bloody print of a knife on Kercher's sheets. Here's how a retired FBI agent summed up the alleged DNA test:
What was left of the sample from the blade was tested for DNA.. The results were negative.There was no DNA on the blade. This is when all guidelines for testing DNA were thrown out the window. Stefanoni used a very new, unproven technique called low copy number DNA profiling. Patrizia Stefanoni had neither the proper equipment nor the proper laboratory to perform low copy number DNA profiling, but she did it anyway. There are only a few such laboratories in the world. Her own lab was not even certified to perform ordinary DNA profiling at the time these tests were performed. Stefanoni performed tests that do not conform to any standard, anywhere.Even with the low copy number method, Stefanoni was still not getting the desired result. The tests kept coming back "too low." She took even more drastic measures. The machine parameters were over-ridden. The machine parameters were pushed far past the level of reliability finally producing the result she needed. Keep in mind, the test was done in a lab using large amounts of Meredith's DNA. No negative controls were used. The alleged match to Meredith’s DNA is completely unreliable because the result was so infinitesimally small (less than 100 picograms, with a picogram being a trillionth of a gram, or 0.000000000001 gram). The procedures used to get the result Stefanoni needed were deeply flawed. The DNA found on the knife came from the lab. The knife had no DNA from Meredith Kercher on the blade when it arrived for testing. The DNA sample was so small that only one test could be performed. No additional testing will ever be available.
And while chemical testing showed footprints throughout the apartment, the only ones that showed positive for blood were Guede's.
Did you ever hear of a little thing called the internet?
How about television?
<><><><><
Internet and TV as surrogates for reality? Not in my world. One can certainly get a relatively superficial sense of what another place is like as you describe above, but in no way are tv and the internet anywhere close to being the same experience as boots on the ground.
I defy you (in a friendly, collegial manner) to visit the old city of Jerusalem and not be completely blown away by how it is just a different place that anything you have imagined, heard or read about. Or hearing the call to prayers while wandering Nativity Square in Bethlehem. Absolutely chilling. Not gonna get that on the internet.
I cannot agree, in any way, that tv and the internet are at all comparable to living it. But that is JMO.
Ah so, you were an eyewitness....or a witless commenter?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.