America on the cusp?

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Re: America on the cusp?

Postby Squeeky » Wed, 13Feb13 04:47

Having little idea of the workings of the infrastructure and internal workings of US politics (other than those gleaned from general news items mainly) I was greatly impressed with the "ivory tower" vision Obama offered in his State of Union address. I feel that his thoughts were not without foundation seeing as how he has seen localised innovative practices within the nation's borders. Then too he showed awareness beyond his shores, like development of energy efficiencies and high speed internet broadband.

I welcome, for the benefit of my grandchildren's children, that US Congress is prepared to significantly adopt a general blueprint where America does rise above local vested interests and truly figures as a major voice in promoting global longevity in all of its meanings.
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Re: America on the cusp?

Postby Teaser » Sat, 13Jul27 23:12

First off:
I am also not anti-American, I am anti-stupid-arrogant-American. (btw: I am German, but have an uncle, aunt and two cousins living in greater LA)

Note this is not something I see within the American population at large.
I see it in the media and the way the US government acts (yes this also includes Obama, but to a lesser extent than both Bush governments). For me Clinton tripped over a simple blowjob but was probably the best US president within the last 45 years since JFK.
Hell, JFK had an affair with Marylin Monroe but nobody cared at that time. Strange, isn't it, that the so called prude 1950's generation couldn't care less about a president fucking a Hollywood star, but a 90's society being all banged up about a blowjob.

Stupid does not mean uneducated or unintelligent.
For me it means actively disusing your brain to not increasing co-operation between people and nations, or even using it to actively promote conflict.
Arrogant to me means not accepting that other people wish to live their lives in their own way, so long as this does not include harming others.

There are some Americans that require other nations, societies and cultures to live exactly their way of life.
They think that these 'others' will come to like it if they do it strongly, fiercely enough.

But this is not the case. The problem with that is that the only way these stupid-arrogant-Americans (SAAs) see this is as a confrontation to their ideals and a challenge to their lifestyles.

Conflict results. No matter how this conflict is resolved, in most cases it ends in feelings of alienation towards these SAAs.
This then furthers the self-sustaining cycle of anti-Americanism -> perceived-threat -> imposing ways of protecting the ways of the 'true American' -> further conflict -> further alienation.

This is a serious trend which I believe will continue to alienate the US of A from the rest of the world. Until someone turns around and starts to act his age (ie as a *responsible* adult).
It seems that as soon as a president is elected he becomes caught up in a web of grown-up kindergarten games similar to cowboys-and-indians with everybody shouting "Hey, I shot you, you are dead." And the shootee answering "No, you missed me." Soon afterwards, someone goes running back to mommy, crying.

The problem with this is that the someone affected by these 'games' is almost always a large number of people. Either a large enough minority group within the US, or even another nation.
And running back to mommy crying wont work, as there is no one you can run to.

That is a truely sad state of the nation.
Once it really was the Land of the Free, Home of the Brave.

Today it has become the home of TV dinners, and land of the money brokers. At least in the minds of many people (even including me, sometimes, when I don't watch my own thoughts, until I realize that it probably is only a very small but verbose minority).

Not something to be proud of. Neither for those who are thought about, nor for those thinking these thoughts.

Shame on us, we should co-operate. We have greater problems than just petty making money.
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Re: America on the cusp?

Postby Newdood » Sun, 16Aug07 15:17

Hello all,

It's been awhile, but it seems appropriate to dredge this topic up from the quiet floor of the lagoon for a new round of commentary now that we have to consider the possibility (however slight) of a president Trump.

I'm still an American citizen living in Canada, but as I contemplate the situation, the possibility of taking out Canadian citizenship comes up repeatedly. The prospect of renouncing my American citizenship is NOT one I take lightly, but I might be glad to have the option if the American voting public is stupid enough to elect that orange buffoon.
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Re: America on the cusp?

Postby LRM » Sun, 16Aug07 18:38

Canada isn't far enough away my friend (good to see you).
Trump with nuclear codes could be the catalyst for the next mass extinction.
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Re: America on the cusp?

Postby Newdood » Sun, 16Aug07 19:34

Hello Lou,

Happy to see that your avatar is STILL trying to jiggle free of that top (although, of course, disappointed for the same reason).

I hadn't really contemplated the thought of that pompous, self-absorbed idiot having the authority to order the apocalypse. It's a rather mind-bogglingly horrifying possibility to wrap your brain around, isn't it?!

LUCKILY, it's starting to look like the voting public (or at least the polls) are waking up to the realities of what might actually happen if he was POTUS.
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Re: America on the cusp?

Postby LRM » Sun, 16Aug07 19:57

I fear the American voting public today isn't even aware that the President is not the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of the US of A. He cannot hire and fire Congress when they won't get off their collective asses and enact the nation's business.

THEY (the voting public) are the ones that must actually look at voting records and not continue to re-elect the same worthless Representatives and Senators.
Unfortunately the voting public is far too busy with mundane bull shit to do this job... Instead they look for any name that appears familiar... and continue to vote for the same asshole that bent them over and had his/her way with them, for the last x amount of years.
<stows soapbox assumes Lotus position>

I took it a step further... any SOB (Son Of a Bitch) that publicly claims he'll/she'll vote for Trump will not be getting mine, federal or local!

I edited this post 15:35 GMT -7
I added the words "I fear the American"... I hope if you get to vote, that your voters are more aware of how their government works.
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Re: America on the cusp?

Postby fleet » Sun, 16Aug07 21:21

For those who don't know, 'POTUS' means 'President of the United States'
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Re: America on the cusp?

Postby muttdoggy » Sun, 16Aug07 23:14

How many of you have listened to Trump's speaking style and then wondered to yourselves.... "was he an oily baby handled by lame butter-fingered nannies?" :lol:
Here's a little background so you know where I'm coming from and why I'm very very dismayed and concerned. I worked in group homes for the "intellectually disabled" for over a decade and I worked for over a year with a company that specialized in the mentally ill and some were convicted felons. This wasn't in an institution but in a supported living environment where they were living rather "normal" lives in apartments and houses but with around-the-clock supervision. Their finances were handled by the company I worked for, they had case workers, doctors, and some had Parole Officers involved. In most cases they had "medical intervention" like powerful anti-psychotics, depressives, and even a few cases of chemical castration. Without giving too much away, the majority of their clients had anger issues or serious mental illnesses like paranoid schizophrenia but some were rapists and child molesters who also suffered from mental illnesses.
Here's my problem...His speaking style reminded me of one of the child molesters that I'd worked with. One time I caught one of them ogling a young child and I asked him what he was doing. While he was trying to evade my questioning, he sounded EXACTLY like Trump does in his speeches. He repeated himself three times and paused each time JUST like Trump. He couldn't stay on topic, was talking himself up, and was frequently using the word "beautiful" while describing the child. He was constantly blaming the child for dressing in a summer dress and then would go off on another subject then he'd talk himself up again. Again, exactly like Trump's speaking style on the podium. This afternoon, I tried to watch his recent speech in Des Moines, Iowa where he brought up the issue of a crying baby at a rally in Virginia earlier this week as an example of "media bias". Direct quote follows from the article at http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-i-dont-throw-babies-out/ -

"I was in Florida, we had these massive crowds. And you saw that, in Jacksonville, in Daytona, massive crowds. Thousands of people had to be turned away, but massive crowds. In one of the events, a beautiful baby was crying, and I mean, crying like you would not believe. This baby could have been Pavarotti. In fact, I'm going to find out who that baby is, I'm going to make a deal with their parents because we can take that baby to training school and it will be the next great Pavarotti.
This was a beautiful baby, and beautiful mother. And the baby was crying, and I jokingly said, 'You know what, that's okay. Let the baby cry. We love babies, and then about two minutes later, it didn't stop. It just went on, and I'm trying to speak in front of thousands -- we had thousands of people in the room. And I said, 'All right.' I actually said the first time, 'Alright, keep the baby here, don't worry about it.
After about two minutes, I said, 'You know what? I'm going to counteract my order.' Beautiful baby. Eh? If you take her outside, that's not so bad."

[img]images/icones/icon18.gif[/img] :??:
It didn't happen in Florida.. that happened in Virginia!!! He actually said (quoted from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-elections/donald-trump-crying-baby-kicked-out-of-rally-us-election-2016-video-watch-a7169006.html) “Actually, I was only kidding, you can get that baby out of here,” Mr Trump said. “Don’t worry, I think she really believed me that I love having a baby crying while I’m speaking. That’s OK.”

It doesn't matter if people think he "kicked the baby out of the rally" or not. Any half-witted snaggle-toothed dinosaur would have known better than to bring that subject up again and again. It shows me that he truly cares about his public perception more than anything and is not willing to listen to reason or to drop the subject. I'm a reasonably intelligent true-blue American descended from pirates and sailors who came to America from the 1620s through the 1640s from the United Kingdom. I see Trump and immediately think of "what the hell have we gotten ourselves into"? and "how on god's green earth can anyone believe this man?" [img]images/icones/icon12.gif[/img] [img]images/icones/icon9.gif[/img]
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Re: America on the cusp?

Postby LRM » Sun, 16Aug07 23:50

Hell, Trump still raises the Obama birth certificate question... What makes you think he'll ever stop obsessing on the baby? Or the dead veterans parents? Or not be vindictive toward McCain and Ryan?

Kim Jong-un will again make some remark or take some action, Trump doesn't care for... Trump will flare, and nukes will fly!
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Re: America on the cusp?

Postby flinter5215 » Sun, 16Aug07 23:59

Sorry folks, can't resist this one.
The stars must have aligned, you in the U.S.of A appear to have to chose between Trump and Clinton. My hands would be holding my nose so tight that i wouldn't have any left to vote with.
On my side of the pond we appear to have had another outbreak of collective hysteria and voted for Brexit despite no-one in the world having the slightest idea of the how or what.
Despite this both our nations prance about with a big stick and a megaphone to persuade the "emerging" / "struggling" countries that all their problems would be solved if only they would embrace "Democracy", (See the above)
Fortunately we have more important things to engage us in our lagoon.
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Re: America on the cusp?

Postby Greyelf » Mon, 16Aug08 01:52

flinter5215 wrote:... if only they would embrace "Democracy"
and not just any version/implementation of "Democracy", but their own tried and true (and in my opinion found wanting) implementations. [img]images/icones/icon14.gif[/img]
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Re: America on the cusp?

Postby PinkVendeta » Mon, 16Aug08 11:35

Well well :lol:

Trump or Hillary.

Trump is a clear racist against many nations peoples, so good luck with foreign policy with him in the white house as he is one crazy son of a bitch :crazy: though everything will be fine once he builds his wall :lol:

Hillary, wow that woman would win gold for lying, back stabbing and yes more lies, she has now been caught out lying at least a 100 times now, and she leaked national secrets from her own server [img]smile/eek.gif[/img] :lol: and she is still in the race for the white house????, something weird there, she leaks national security secrets and lies constantly and Obama praises her now, (which back in 2008 he was calling her a crook :lol: ), and Edward Snowden releases secrets to help the people of the USA to see their freedom being secretly taken away, and he can never return :lol: .

Dont vote for either Hillary or Trump, vote for none of the above :lol:

If Trump wins he will generate a bare bones minimum of 200,000 new jobs as that many people will become comics and be using him as the butt of their jokes for years to come, like their did with Bush jnr, if Hillary wins world wide there will be many more new comics just to laugh at the USA for voting her in.

OMG the EU is a nightmare in reality, but You guys n girls in the USA are just so spoilt for choice on who to vote for :lol:
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Re: America on the cusp?

Postby Mimailia » Mon, 16Aug08 12:09

fleet wrote:For those who don't know, 'POTUS' means 'President of the United States'


LRM wrote:<stows soapbox assumes Lotus position>


Lou of the United States???

M
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Re: America on the cusp?

Postby flinter5215 » Mon, 16Aug08 12:30

Whilst we are stirring up hornets' nests.

In the (barely) United Kingdom nearly all Members of Parliament now have little experience of earning a living in the real world and rely on having a university degree in "Politics". At least the American system seems to try them out as State Governors and, at least in theory weed out total losers. As a very simple minded citizen I find the political naivety of some of these ministers of the Crown mind blowing.
As an example some of you may know we seem to be very nervous about shale gas and fracking, one way of easing such things has been for developers to pay local authorities and this has worked for wind farms. This has been used for "extra" local schemes that the rates couldn't afford. So far so good, now in the enthusiasm for fracking our normally astute politician and new Prime Minister comes up with the cunning wheeze of having the developers paying large sums to individual households instead. Just imagine, after the line has been drawn on a map ( how much time and how many arguments ) you find that your neighbor is to receive a juicy windfall and that you are not. This before any arguments about owner occupiers versus renters.

Is it really sensible to give the vote to people who would prevent the teaching of Darwinism?

What sets the boundary between mob rule and democracy?

BUT the "none of the above" argument is probably the most dangerous of all.
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Re: America on the cusp?

Postby LRM » Mon, 16Aug08 16:42

Mimailia wrote:
fleet wrote:For those who don't know, 'POTUS' means 'President of the United States'


LRM wrote:<stows soapbox assumes Lotus position>


Lou of the United States???

M

I was born in Toledo, Ohio, United States of America, Mimailia. I lived the first twenty years of my life In Maumee, Ohio. Had I not gotten a draft notice I'd likely still reside in that area.
I have lived in Thailand (one year) and Germany (three years). I lived off base both places, and did my best to be a good neighbor. I tried to learn the local language because expecting someone to speak yours in their country is foolish and inconsiderate.
I like to think my view is broader then most Americans because of my overseas service and that I tried to live as the host nations citizens did. I don't have paperwork to prove it, but I think my citizenship is much larger than just the US of A.
Lotus position, a Yoga position... often followed by ohm, ohm, ohm. It's supposed to relieve stress.


@ Pink;
Vote as you like...
But with only two choices the smart move is to vote for the lessor of evils. Otherwise you have no valid reason to complain no matter what your government does to you!
Here the religious right never misses an election... they pray you won't vote (theirs counts for more when you don't). Having my morality legislated is something I'll fight as long as possible.
Also when you get to be Hillary's age, reflect back over the years and you'll find you've told a few untruths yourself, be they lapses of memory or just outright lies.
OMG (Oh My God) the EU (European Union) is a nightmare in reality, but You guys and girls in the USA are just so spoiled for choice on who to vote for :lol:

I kind of like the idea of your system (not fully versed, and this isn't the place to get into it)... but not if the party gets to choose the delegate...
My ballet (Washington State), had 10± parties to choose from (not for President, although it is possible)... most were parties I'd never heard of. I vote for whom I think will best serve the US of A/world. I've never voted a straight party line... Any candidate that does follow the party line will probably not get my vote again. Few/no representative habitually votes for what's best for the country. Most representatives vote for what will get them re-elected! Often at the expense of the rest of the country/world.
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