Verdict returned in Rittenhouse trial

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That isn't really what I meant. It surprised me to see some many who don't live here not just vested in our politics, but interested in debating our politics, and going beyond that to also have interest in our high profile court cases. I'm used to citizens of other countries caring about who we elect, policy direction, etc, but not the level of interest I've seen here. Surprise is not the same as saying "not allowed" and, obviously, I've adapted since I regularly engage with all our Australians. What I was trying to do is explain how the involvement is going to feel to many newer American visitors to this board, in light of a recent comment by one. Doesn't mean they can't also adapt.

I suppose students for socialism aren't going to get a massive following.

It's kind of like the John Lennon song about carrying pictures of chairman Mao then you "ain't goin to make it with anyone anyhow"

This is probably a completely different topic but speaking for Australians we have become highly Americanised since the early 1980s.

Current affairs, 24 hour access to US cable stations means we grow up on American media.

Our diet of television, entertainment, take-away food and clothes has transformed Australian culture. Particularly urban Australians. American Music is massive here.

I'll give one example is listening to young girls, speak, they sound an awful lot like Hannah Montana, mean girls, Valley girls or cartoon network teens especially when they try explaining things like "this, and that and that"

Social media, tik tok and instagram, US made phones and tech has accelerated the Americanisation.

Young people today don't watch local media content or read local news. Even I am finding that local Australian news ends up faster on overseas boards than they do here.

We aren't Americans but we are certainly becoming clones and very much vested in what happens there.

It's the same thing where I live in Canada. We always want to adapt American politics and many people have this "yay, American politics and ideologies, hell yeah!" attitude. I don't know what the obsession is though.

Canada is so much geographically closer too. Australia is technically in Asia but we are culturally completely different.

But I didn't think that geography mattered in the days of the internet, and both countries have equal access to American media.

Yes...that's true

I'm Australian but I spend more time interacting with Americans online than I do with Australians face to face.

I "cut my teeth" on American TV shows, when I was a kid.
When I heard myself on a tape recorder the first time, I was surprised to find I had a distinctive American accent.

I also remember using Amerianisms.
One was: "Gee wiz".
My class mate laughed at me.

Yep, the septic tanks have had a profound influence on Australian society.

Yeah I hear the American accent in my nephews/nieces/cousins kids. Every boy religious watches spiderman and then moves up to Marvel movies.

I don't know if you use Twitter at all, but there were a few interesting threads where multinational journalists were linking stories around the world about the Rittenhouse trial, the level of interest was off the charts for such a relatively small trial with zero international impact. I don't know if it's just covid fever or the influence of partisan US media concealing the real facts of the case until the trial made people do a double take or what, but even people who pay attention to international news more than normal were remarking upon this one, that the story had unexpected overseas reach.

It certainly was interesting for me, as my interests lead me to follow self defense cases regularly and to have developed a bit of a feel for the law and its application, but this was one of the few where my normie friends and relatives were paying attention, and some of them actually noticed the whole "the media got every aspect of this 100% wrong" thing, my boomer mother has been incensed at CNN in particular following their coverage.

It has been confirmed that an NBC employee was caught following the jury bus. It appears that they may have had several people at the trial\courthouse, which was the cause of the expulsion of the network from the courtroom rather than only a specific individual.

From what little I've read , most US stories here seem like a life threatening battle between good and evil ( with everyone thinking they are the good guys ) which always makes a good story to outsiders.

The Rittenhouse story was interesting to me due to US laws on what is legal ( I got hooked and watched loads of youtube videos ). The OJ story was great TV etc etc

My life is much better not watching any broadcast news. I do think that if I watched CNN I'd get as frustrated with it as I do with the conservative broadcasts that sometimes get posted here. The best way to get them all to pull back on the sensationalism may be for viewers to universally decide they are sick of it. Not this tit for tat; new conservative media to rival "liberal" media; just say no to all of it; stick to print.

I personally think our self-defense laws could use a little tweaking. Exactly how is more difficult, and I can't think of a reasonable tweak to propose, but to see people basically go looking for trouble, and then able to say "self-defense" when they find it, does not sit well with me. I wonder if the situation may also be something other countries find fascinating; with fewer guns involved in tense interactions in other countries, they are also less likely to have fatalities when a Rittenhouse situation implodes. To have deaths without the shooter having to take responsibility is unusual.

Enjoy your new self-defense law hobby. I expect you'll be good at it.

That is America, we do all think we're the "good" guys.

Which, obviously, with such diversity in opinion and values, cannot be entirely true.

I can see how it would make good TV. Difficult to live in the midst of at the moment, but good TV.

Looks like Rittenhouse's verdict is pushing lawyers to look at other cases
https://www.npr.org/2021/11/22/10579764 ... lf-defense

In the aftermath of Kyle Rittenhouse's acquittal in Kenosha, Wis., last week, advocates are turning back to the case of Chrystul Kizer, who is also arguing it was self-defense when she killed her adult sexual abuser, set his house on fire and stole his car in 2018.

Kizer, who was 17 at the time, is accused of shooting Randall P. Volar III in the head; Volar had previously been arrested on child sexual assault charges.

Kizer was released from jail in June 2020 after groups such as the Chicago Community Bond Fund raised money to pay her $400,000 bond. She is still awaiting trial.

Prosecutors say the killing was premeditated. But what's notable in this case is that Kizer's lawyers are invoking a self-defense argument that has never been used in a homicide case in the state before.

Interesting to see how a real victim who was raped as a child by her pimp is treated by the system. Most people want her released.