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RE: America
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ChiyoDad
Posts: 151
Joined: Jun. 30 2007
From: San Francisco Bay Area
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RE: America (in reply to Bogdan1980)
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Bogdan, of course. The matter is, if you were to look at all the political advertising that is currently being fielded, most of it seems to be focusing on "redistribution of wealth" and the fear of "socialism" (as if tiered tax brackets never existed in the US). It's a red herring (no pun intended). Pgh, even McCain's economic plans do not add-up. I've examined them as best as I can with the aid of data from The Economist, the WSJ, and The Financial Times. The only thing I can give him credit for is his ideology for holding to free trade. Where McCain primarily lost my interest were his selection of a VP running-mate and his lack of coherence and organization for running a political campaign. I expected to see him multi-tasking, in control, and using good and calm judgment. IMHO, he should have gone with his original plans to choose someone like Joe Liebermann or even Romney for VP. The "base" might not have been energized, but they would have eventually come around.
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Date Oct. 29 2008 12:33:06
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alaskaal
Posts: 51
Joined: Jan. 10 2005
From: Chugiak, Alaska
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RE: America (in reply to Ron.M)
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quote:
Hey Al, it is good to see another Alaskan on the forum. I grew up in Fairbanks a long time ago. I know exactly who Woodsey is(from your other login). I remember the commercials as a kid. Take care gents and know that even though you don't hear much, you are not alone. I had some consulting work in Fairbanks a few years ago and lived there for six months. I has changed a little, Home Depot and Walmart, but is much the same as it has always been. There are many amazing musicians living up here. It is easy to be a big fish in a small pond as well. When someone attains a degree of commercial success they usually move out of state to Seattle, or Nashville. I'm sort of working my retirement plan here and although I go outside (that means leave the state) for a concert or two, I am committed to living here. I loved the Woodsey Owl ads and when I got sideways with an environmental company one time, decided to come out with my own Woodsey Al character. He was an overweight, bearded redneck, shirtless, dressed in coveralls coated in crude oil. The slogan plastered across his picture was "XXX (Name of Company) can pitch a fit, Woodsey Al don't give a $--T!" My music publishing outfit is called Woodsey Al Music. I dropped the slogan. America gives us the freedom to do outrageous things. We may end up paying for them, but we can do them. Al
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Date Oct. 29 2008 13:07:08
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Ron.M
Posts: 7051
Joined: Jul. 7 2003
From: Scotland
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RE: America (in reply to Pgh_flamenco)
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quote:
Ron, I'm not fond of politicians either, but there can be significant differences between individual candidates and like it or not politics and politicians will be a necessary evil until someone comes up with a better way of doing things. Pgh, IMO a lot of top politicians have no more intelligence than you or I or anyone else on this Forum. That's why folk like Ronald Regan can be President. You are surrounded by experts and advisors on all kinds of things...it's your job to make a choice... A good politician is a lucky politician. ("Events dear boy.") Tony B here bailed out at the right moment and left dour old Gordon to carry the can. That's not judgement...that's luck. Just like the "expert" Bankers who get $1,000,000 bonuses for basically doing with our money what tourists do in Las Vegas. A "Financial Expert" is just a lucky guy with his ear to the ground. How many "Financial Experts" withdrew all their money from the stockmarket before the collapse? All these experts seem to do is explain why it happened and why it was completely obvious after the event. Today a number of hedge funds went belly-up, gambling that VW share price would drop....but it rose incredibly due to being bought by Porsche. They lost billions of pounds of their investors money. The investors no doubt trusted them because they were "experts" at the top of their game and didn't mind them paying themselves the odd mil here and there. Truth is, they had just been lucky until now. Luck is the big factor in a lot of major world events IMO. Astrologists write a heap of rubbish, guesswork.. But if one of them gets some sort of prediction right, then they're on the news like some sort of "seer". Nobody bothers about the 3,995 times it was totally wrong. Anyway, enough rambling, cheers, Ron
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Date Oct. 29 2008 13:35:21
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koella
Posts: 2194
Joined: Sep. 10 2005
From: holland
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RE: America (in reply to Ron.M)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Ron.M Pgh, IMO a lot of top politicians have no more intelligence than you or I or anyone else on this Forum. That's why folk like Ronald Regan can be President. You are surrounded by experts and advisors on all kinds of things...it's your job to make a choice... A good politician is a lucky politician. ("Events dear boy.") Tony B here bailed out at the right moment and left dour old Gordon to carry the can. That's not judgement...that's luck. Just like the "expert" Bankers who get $1,000,000 bonuses for basically doing with our money what tourists do in Las Vegas. A "Financial Expert" is just a lucky guy with his ear to the ground. How many "Financial Experts" withdrew all their money from the stockmarket before the collapse? All these experts seem to do is explain why it happened and why it was completely obvious after the event. Today a number of hedge funds went belly-up, gambling that VW share price would drop....but it rose incredibly due to being bought by Porsche. They lost billions of pounds of their investors money. The investors no doubt trusted them because they were "experts" at the top of their game and didn't mind them paying themselves the odd mil here and there. Truth is, they had just been lucky until now. Luck is the big factor in a lot of major world events IMO. Astrologists write a heap of rubbish, guesswork.. But if one of them gets some sort of prediction right, then they're on the news like some sort of "seer". Nobody bothers about the 3,995 times it was totally wrong. Anyway, enough rambling, cheers, Ron Ron, that's all so very true. It's a shame that you have to reach a certain age to see through all the humbug that you look up to when you're young. Basically everybody is just fooling around, high or low. Only some people play with millions and others do it with a 100€ loan.
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Date Oct. 29 2008 13:55:50
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Florian
Posts: 9282
Joined: Jul. 14 2003
From: Adelaide/Australia
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RE: America (in reply to Bogdan1980)
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quote:
Yeah we had that in USSR and today our hospitals look like stables and schools have no funds. And all children are trying to get to US to study. with all the respect thats not because of socialism...irronicaly thats because of deomocracy that now former Ussr enjoys...noone cares about these things anymore, everyone wants to be an millionare, entrepreneur busines owner over night.. democracy takes time..when u come from a communist background...u have to learn how to be free and how to use the freedom..right now everyone is just looking after theyr own imediate interests...eventualy in a natural time they will stop and start thinking about those around them also... its like a girl who has been overprotected and restricted and keped in the house way too long by her parents...the second she gets out...i guarantee you she parties way way worst then the girl that was allowed to use her own judgement i know communism is not great, i come from a former communist country but just for argument sake..free schools and free healthcare dosent sound all that bad i am with the others a litlle socialism is not that bad.. Have you seen the Michael More documentry about the Us health system ? and those Americans that went to Cuba a comunist, 3rd world country where they got in a day ...and for 20 bucs the same medical threatment that they have been trying to get for years and tousands of dollars in the US ? A woman started crying when she purchased the exact same medicine for $4 that she had been paying away all her pension at $250 for the exct same thing in the Us (now i wouldnt recommend leaving in Cuba over Us lol but man if they can do it in Cuba ...3rd world , poor country ...why not in US ?) richest country on earth.. id rather have a litlle socialism then every man for himself , survival of the fittest, screw everyone elses family as long as mine is ok and screw those that are sick or old or weak and cant look after themselfs....my family is eating Pimientito is right again...people are not born equaly, some have a better learning capacity, some dont get oportunities..capitalism for all its greatness and freedom as it is now is totaly leaving those people behind.. Its like saying its a equal race, may the best man win...but some's starting line is a few hundred metters back. In romania as a child i was always amazed to see on tv...Usa the greatest and richest country in the world, who comes to the aid of all the world with food and stuff has tousands of homless people living under bridges in theyr own country.....i never ever understood that could be.. a government has a duty to its own people ...all of them not just the rich, the smart, the strong and the lucky ones...
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Date Oct. 30 2008 6:19:28
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Bogdan1980
Posts: 370
Joined: May 23 2007
From: Frederick, MD
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RE: America (in reply to Bogdan1980)
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Wow, where do I start? In 70s and 80s I was in USSR and it was before the collapse. Hospitals were stables and schools were underfunded. Nurses and doctors didn't care - equal pay regardless of performance. So no it's not just now because of new democracy. Someone said recently: free healthcare is a great idea until you get sick. USA is a country of opportunities. Unless a person is physically or mentally handicapped opportunities are a plenty. All that US asks for is work. Laziness is a different thing. For those who are handicapped there is plenty of care here. In fact in socialist USSR we didn't have ramps for wheelchairs and buses to accommodate those who were not mobile. Go figure, socialist state. Blaming everything on corporations is absurd. No one ever thinks that these corporations employ and thus feed and give opportunities to tens of thousands of people and more in some cases. Exxon alone employs over 100,000, my brother in law included. Because of them my sister in law could have a baby in a wonderful hospital for 25$. No exaggerations. Wouldn't happen in USSR where everyone was equal. Surely there are overpaid execs but that is a minor problem compared to scores of deadbeats on welfare in this country. Taxes are mandatory, and they will always be there, what gets me is richer pay more is if there were to be punished for their success. Deadbeats pay nothing because of low or no income. This is wealth redistribution - communist idea. Flat tax is the only just thing to do but that would be too "just" for people who would rather collect welfare and unemployment. And what's even worse is that someone is making a choice for me, and saying I should help others. That should be between man and God, not between man and state. One of the greatest truths in the world is "No one owes you anything" and it seams like democrats don't get it. Oh and on a funny note, did you know that in US democrats donate less to charity per capita than republicans? Interesting stats, surfaced recently in some publications. Inequality is a natural state, we are born equal in the eyes of god not in terms of our abilities and opportunities. That's normal. Not everyone will be Einstein and not everyone will be Warren Buffet and that's the beuty of things. Everyone has the path and it's the entitlement that pisses me off most.
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Date Oct. 30 2008 7:20:28
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Pgh_flamenco
Posts: 1506
Joined: Dec. 5 2007
From: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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RE: America (in reply to Bogdan1980)
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Ron, I knew what you meant. The comment about fund managers pulling their money in anticipation of a crash had to do with comments made by Jim Cramer (one of the gurus you mentioned who helps people chose individual stocks on his daily TV show). He made a statement about predicting the market crash in 1987 a few weeks ago. Analysts have concluded that his stock picks consistently underperform compared to the various stock markets. There are some misconceptions people have about healthcare and homelessness in the US. Many homeless people have a mental illness and rather than live in residential treatment facilities or assisted living they end up on the street instead. It’s partly their choice—their judgment is poor and affects the decision making process. The “deinstutionalization” of the mentally ill has added to the problem of chronic homelessness. Some unfortunate people end up on the street for a period of time but they are not there forever. Also, many homeless people are drug addicts or kids who ran away from home. Many of these people have chosen to withdraw from society but they just don’t have the money to afford to live in better circumstances (although drug addicts can always find ways to support extremely expensive drug habits). In the US treatment for mental illness is free through state governments—every aspect of treatment is covered, no co-pays, nothing. This includes medication, various forms of therapy, hospital stays, housing (including heat, electricity), food, and free college education for those with a mental illness that are capable of succeeding in school. Free treatment is also available for people who have contracted STD’s and any other illness that can lead to an epidemic or social crisis. Because these programs are administered and integrated into the private sector heath system there are fewer problems (worker apathy, low quality standards, etc.) related to state run systems than would occur if these systems were entirely socialized. As for other health care issues many people are entitled to free treatment (the poor are “judgment proof” so it is pointless to sue them). The people who are in the greatest jeopardy of financial loss are those who have accumulated wealth and have health problems. If they max out their policy they owe the difference between what costs are covered and those that are not. In Western PA anyone who has little accumulated wealth and makes less than $38,000 USD per year can have their bills waived by some if not all hospital systems. The health care horror stories you hear about happen to people who either have money and no health insurance or who have money and max out their health insurance or lose their jobs and insurance due to serious illness. These situations happen often enough, but people aren’t aware of how much of a safety net is available to people in the US. The reality here is very different than the sound bites people have heard in the media.
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Date Oct. 30 2008 8:37:05
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