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.
Amanda Knox’s story could net her tens of millions of dollars
I wish I had those years back. Felt like I wasted so much of my young life on things that were not important.
Isn’t she the one who got drunk (underage) and went off with men she didn’t know and was never seen again?
I saw a report yesterday that they are not rich. They had to take a second mortgage out on their house so they could make the trips
i have always heard they were very wealthy liberals.
this article is baloney:
“
Four years in an Italian slammer — four years of waiting for a trial and a chance to tell her side of the story!
“
Knox DID have a chance to tell what happened - lied repeatedly to the Police!
AND falsely accused a totally innocent man.
from what i read years ago, i have no doubt at all,
that she was present, and was at least an accomplice in the murder.
Once in India--it was almost nighttime--I told the taxi driver to take me to the airport. He took me instead to an abandoned shopping center. I got out. Immediately seedy looking men surrounded me. I said to the taxi driver: "This is not the airport." He replied: "You said to take you to a travel agency. This is where it is." I demanded: "You take me to the airport! Right now!" and got back in the taxi. He did. I remember wondering: will it always be so?
In Africa, I signed up for a tour with my wife and small son. When the tour guide appeared at our hotel, we were the only people going on the tour, and the guide was in a crummy-looking automobile. I had to make a quick decision. I appraised the guide. I decided to go. He took us to many remote locations. At times I was uneasy, but it all turned out well. He was a very fine man. The tour was interesting. At the end of the day, he took us safely back to our hotel. I wouldn't do that today.
Americans lived in a golden age. They were safe all over the world. Europeans loved us. People all over the world respected us.
It's not so today.
It was American prosperity, idealism, and power that people respected and envied. America was the promise that they all wanted to emulate.
When America lost its way--and succumbed to decadence, it lost the respect of the people of the world and its self-respect also.
What does American decadence have to offer? Nothing.
What does the American Dream have to offer? Liberty, justice, and prosperity for all Americans and for all the people of the world.
If Americans embrace--once again--the American Dream, America will soar once again into ascendancy--a shining expample to all the people of the world.
If Americans continue down the path of decadence--which is the Left--whose Political Machine is the Democrat Party--and whose Propaganda Machine is the MSM--America has nothing to offer and will receive--and deserve--the contempt of history and all the world.
Yes it was an appeal
I don’t know whether the Italian justice system is more corrupt than its American counterpart, or if the accused has fewer rights there than here. No doubt there is prejudice against Americans in Italy for political reasons. However, Amanda Knox was running with a lowlife crowd, the type of people that can be found as readily in the state of Washington as in Italy. You sleep with dogs; you wake up with fleas.
yep. IIRC it was a senior high school trip to aruba (I think it was) for ‘cultural’ experience (meaning - so underage teenagers could party nad get rip roaring drunk). like what could possibly go wrong?
and, i read that that Knox was the girlfriend of the murderer, and admitted trying to get the younger british girl, to have sex with him.
...even the things she admitted, and are unquestionable, make her look very guilty. and her lies about her alibis, etc., were flimsier than OJ’s or Casey’s.
and when she was caught in them, she made up new ones,
and falsely accused an innocent man.
(and someone pointed out, that her own 2 roommates, never said a single word in her defense. so 2 of the people who knew her best, believed she was guilty.)
They may be levering the expected income from book/movie rights. Since she did not commit a crime here, the law against profiting from the experience wouldn't apply.
Do you have proof that she smoked dope? Just because you do, does not mean everyone else does
Let me attach a rider to this article: you should also avoid some jurisdictions in the USA—like North Carolina—which
lacks a speedy trial law, doesn’t keep transcripts of grand jury proceedings (permitting a DA to lie to get indictments), won’t tell you exactly what you are charged with before trial (which may be postponed for years), won’t give you a probable cause hearing at which you can present proof of your innocence and get the prosecution stopped, etc.
(For all the above, reference the Duke lacrosse hoax, which couldn’t have happened in most other states. Even DNA tests weren’t enough to pry Nifong’s hands off the case.)
When Amanda Knox, don’t answer.
I do too when I was 18-21 years old, in the Army and stationed in Panama in Central America. For me and my buddies it was work by day then get drunk and chase women at night........To this day I regret that we gave no thought to traveling and experiencing the culture.
I will say tho that there were two older and mature friends (in their 30's) with motorcycles who would head off to parts unknown on their days off. They toured Panama, Costa Rica and even south down into Columbia.....They were the smart ones.
I heard that her parents and grandparents took all the money out of their homes to fight this. Napoleonic Code, nothing quite like it — here.
>>I agree you can learn Italian back home, but you’ll learn the textbook version and imho one is never fluent unless one converses regularly with a native speaker.<<
My parish has more “native speakers” than her college, I dare say.
Along with the Slovaks who can easily converse with the Italians there.
America is a melting pot. We have lots of “Native Speakers” here. My pastor speaks five languages, six if you add on the Latin.
My daughter studied in Italy right around the same time Amanda was there.
I concur, the study abroad enriched her college and life experience.
You telling me you would not be enriched by living for a few months in Florence? I know I would.
Oh, and she did not come back either a socialist or an elitist.
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