This article, and especially its comments, are great insight into American cultural values.
A brawl at a Manhattan nightclub over the weekend ended with Monaco's Prince Pierre Casiraghi in the hospital and a New York man facing assault charges.The incident occurred around 2 a.m. Saturday at the Double Seven Nightclub, when according to police 24-year-old Casiraghi, the grandson of Grace Kelly, got into a confrontation with 47-year-old Adam Hock, a former nightclub owner.
Casiraghi reportedly approached Hock, leading to a physical confrontation. Hock, who according to the New York Post was sitting with friends including supermodels Natasha Poly, Valentina Zalyaeva and Anja Rubik, allegedly punched Casigraghi and three friends who came to his aid.
"Pierre's face looked broken, with deep cuts and blood everywhere," a witness told the New York Post. "He looked like he needed plastic surgery."
Hock was arrested and charged with four counts of third-degree assault.
You and 3 of your bodyguards got beat up by one 47 year old man?!? Next time you come to New York, bring some people that can protect your sorry tail if you're gonna approach people in night clubs at 2am and try to talk crap.362 approve, 20 don't
An example of small fish inside a pool of shark. New Yorkers don't care if you're a prince or king. Self defense is self defense.268 approve, 27 don't
Haha. Goodnight, sweet prince. Life is different outside the castle there sweety! You should go back to harassing maids and bossing around butlers back in Monaco. There you can be a big man, in that tiny little portion of the world where they are paid to act like they respect you.13 like, 0 don't
Welcome to America prince where royalty has not meant #$%$ since 1776!736 like, 54 don't
According to the Newser website, the Prince and his buddies walked up to Hock's table and were obnoxious to the models he was with; they also started stealing shots from the $500.00 bottle of Vodka on the table. In other words, a group of rich young twerps tried to pick up some hot chicks who were having dinner with a friend, acted like idiotic morons, and were schooled by their elder. Here's to hoping Mr. Hock wins the case.84 like, 2 don't
Interesting story here that might be used in discussion classes. Seems a religious B&B owner was uncomfortable letting a lesbian couple sleep in her establishment and told them she didn't want them as customers.
The debate is fairly evenly mixed in the US:
The lesbian couple has a right not to be discriminated against but the B&B owner has the right to practice her religion. And it's not like the B&B is a big hotel chain - we're talking about someone's house. But then again, the law says if you run a B&B or a hotel you can't discriminate based on sexual orientation.
Should the religious B&B owner be forced to shut down? Should she be forced to accommodate gays and lesbians even though she thinks it's immoral? Should she be forced to pay damages to the lesbian couple (they want money for the humiliation they say they felt)?
Or is this religious persecution? Does the government really have the right to tell this woman that she must allow gays and lesbians into her B&B?
Big news in America at the moment that could be an interesting discussion topic:
A pregnant woman, her husband, and their 3-year-old go grocery shopping. While shopping they grab two sandwiches that together cost $5. She openly munched on one while they shopped, saving the wrapper to be scanned at the register later.
But they forgot to pay for the sandwiches as they checked out with about $50 worth of groceries. The security guard caught them and instead of allowing the parents to pay, Safeway management called the police. The couple was arrested for shoplifting (apparently it took four hours for the police to respond so I presume the family was detained by Safeway employees during that time) and with both parents in police custody, the 3-year-old had to go to a state facility.
Did Safeway do evil here? Or did the couple just get what they deserved for breaking the law? Do we say, 'OK if you have kids and shoplift you don't get in any trouble, but if you shoplift without kids, you get arrested' ? Do we treat everyone the same? If we treat everyone equally, does that mean every shoplifter gets arrested or every shoplifter pays for what they stole and avoids trouble entirely?
This might lead to an interesting discussion on what kind of clothes, hairstyles, and behavior should be allowed in court.