Beliefs

[gauchecritic]

Hey Rob, when you get there tell them they still owe us a lot or money on those loans we made them and they never paid back.

It's never a good idea to ask for loans to be paid back, it just makes everyone else want what you owe them.

As to the question. I can't decide between Scotland and France. Sorry. A pinko communist democracy and a fledgling autonomy (no, really)

Forgot to add Female, Ukranian (whatever that bit's about)

 

[Zeb_Carter]

They're going to ask us if we'll give them back that Big Lady in the Bay. She's getting kind of lonely...

They already have her little sister, and besides she was a gift, not a loan.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

It's never a good idea to ask for loans to be paid back, it just makes everyone else want what you owe them.

As to the question. I can't decide between Scotland and France. Sorry. A pinko communist democracy and a fledgling autonomy (no, really)

Forgot to add Female, Ukranian (whatever that bit's about)

I doubt that there are any countries we owe for unpaid loans...more like they'll run and hide so we don't notice them and ask for the back payments on their loans.

 

[gauchecritic]

I doubt that there are any countries we owe for unpaid loans...more like they'll run and hide so we don't notice them and ask for the back payments on their loans.

But if you have a 225 billion dollar balance deficit then you owe quite few people lots and lots of money (probably Asia. Ho's your daddy?)

 

[Zeb_Carter]

But if you have a 225 billion dollar balance deficit then you owe quite few people lots and lots of money (probably Asia. Ho's your daddy?)

If anything there are banks, inside and outside the US, which hold bonds backed by the US government with interest payments to be made every month, which the government has made. I don't think they have defaulted on any loan, so why would someone ask for the money owed?

Beside, the one good thing about government is, if you need more money, print it!

 

[gauchecritic]

Beside, the one good thing about government is, if you need more money, print it!

I thought printing money was in the sole remit of the 'families'.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

I thought printing money was in the sole remit of the 'families'.

They don't have an exclusive franchise yet!

 

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[JamesSD]

Which government would you rather live under? The United States under GW Bush or Iran under M Ahmadinejad (gotta admit, he's a good-lookin fellow).

Extra credit: If you live in one presently and wish to live in the other, what is stopping you from emigrating? Only Americans and Iranians need apply for Xtra Credit.

Bush is only a temporary problem. Overall the US is still one of the greatest countries on the planet to live in.

 

[Goldie Munro]

I haven't read any of the replies to this thread so hit me with a big stick when I say I couldn't vote on this poll coz it was the devil and the deep blue sea for me!!

 

[SweetPrettyAss]

I woud have to vote for the USA. A theocracy is just about the worst kind of government.

 

[gauchecritic]

Bush is only a temporary problem. Overall the US is still one of the greatest countries on the planet to live in.

Although others may disagree.

A theocracy is just about the worst kind of government

Do you not realise how close you are to one?

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Do you not realise how close you are to one?

You don't understand, Gauche. Evangelical Christian theocracies are okay, It's all other kinds that are bad.

 

[gauchecritic]

You don't understand, Gauche. Evangelical Christian theocracies are okay, It's all other kinds that are bad.

My cosmopolitan bad.

 

[SweetPrettyAss]

Quote:
Originally Posted by JamesSD
Bush is only a temporary problem. Overall the US is still one of the greatest countries on the planet to live in.

Although others may disagree.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SPA
A theocracy is just about the worst kind of government

Do you not realise how close you are to one?

I don't think we're at all close. I realize the Christian Evangelical Fundamentals would love to become the American Taliban but they wouldn't call themselves that. They would probably think of themselves as achieving God's plan and would call themselves the saviours of America or something like that.

They have a lot of influence with W but not as much with Congress. They will never be able to outlaw booze or tobacco or extramarital sex (Hooray!) or "Sodomy" (Hooray again!) or porn or many of the other things they oppose. The proposed Constitutional amendment to outlaw gay marriage was not passed and will probably never come that close again. Their man in the White House has about 2.5 years left and after that they may well lose what gains they have made.

 

[cloudy]

I don't think we're at all close. I realize the Christian Evangelical Fundamentals would love to become the American Taliban but they wouldn't call themselves that. They would probably think of themselves as achieving God's plan and would call themselves the saviours of America or something like that.

They have a lot of influence with W but not as much with Congress. They will never be able to outlaw booze or tobacco or extramarital sex (Hooray!) or "Sodomy" (Hooray again!) or porn or many of the other things they oppose. The proposed Constitutional amendment to outlaw gay marriage was not passed and will probably never come that close again. Their man in the White House has about 2.5 years left and after that they may well lose what gains they have made.

What makes you so sure that they won't just elect a GWB clone in his place?

I don't see this current trend ending just because he's out of office, and it seems a little naive to believe that it's all Bush.

 

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[cantdog]

How about this one: Which would you rather live in, Iran or Iraq?

Iran.

Hands Down, dude. Everything's blown to shit in Iraq, I don't have anything but a duck gun and a Carcano. Besides, I might need a hospital for something.

 

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[cantdog]

Nope, closest I got was Houston, twenty years later. But it's the same model carbine, as it turns out. A brush gun, as it were.

 

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[cantdog]

I tried a scope, on a winchester and then on a mauser, but I really have a hard time with a scope. Hunting is snap shots, in tight quarters. The woods in Maine, all you get is 50 yards and less, usually, and I don't hunt in cleared areas, there are too many people. So I'd shoulder it, and see, in the scope, this circular image of hair. No way to tell what part of the deer it was without checking outside the scope, then going back, maybe even doing that twice. By that time the damn thing could have moved beyond view. So I stopped using them. Iron sights for me. It's got a bolt, anyhow. Shakes the head to work it, or the rifle, or something. It seems steadier if I have a normal unmagnified view.

But you know your grassy knolls and Carcanos, don't ya? Have you come around to the Warren Commisssion stand on the case, yet?

 

[SweetPrettyAss]

Originally Posted by SweetPrettyAss
I don't think we're at all close. I realize the Christian Evangelical Fundamentals would love to become the American Taliban but they wouldn't call themselves that. They would probably think of themselves as achieving God's plan and would call themselves the saviours of America or something like that.

They have a lot of influence with W but not as much with Congress. They will never be able to outlaw booze or tobacco or extramarital sex (Hooray!) or "Sodomy" (Hooray again!) or porn or many of the other things they oppose. The proposed Constitutional amendment to outlaw gay marriage was not passed and will probably never come that close again. Their man in the White House has about 2.5 years left and after that they may well lose what gains they have made.

Quote:
Originally Posted by cloudy
What makes you so sure that they won't just elect a GWB clone in his place?

I don't see this current trend ending just because he's out of office, and it seems a little naive to believe that it's all Bush.

Agreed, emphaticly.

What most people don't realise, apparently, is that the President of the United States of America Has little more power than the the Queen of England. He is barely above the status of figure head. The President does not make laws and/or policy all on his lonesome. There is congress, amongst others that he must get past in order to do anything.

The President draws up a proposal based on his decisions on issues brought to his attention by his cabinet and/or advisors. That's not the end of it. In order for it to become law it must then be sponsored into congress by a Senator or a representitive of the house. Whereupon it is generally refered to comittee. At this point that proposal may be entirely rewritten to suit the needs/tastes/corruption/need for politacal gains of that committee. That is then opened in congress as an Act. Whereupon it is debated and changed further.

The end result may be far from what the president originally proposed.

The biggest problem facing democracy is that too many people have a say, and far too many people feel they have a right to a say.

I realize that it's not all W. I also think they would have a hard time finding a clone. None of the current leading candidates would qualify. They will have a hard time holding onto Congress this year.

The president has more to do with legislation than that. He can make a suggestion and as the titular party head he has a lot of influence and can find sponsors. He has even more authority in not passing laws. If he vetos something it takes a 2/3 majority of both houses to override it. W has only vetoed one thing in his term in office and that was a bill to fund stem cell research or something like that. Congress might override it.

I think the difficulty in passing laws is one of thre great strengths of democracy. It's certainly a lot better than having somebody rule by decree.

 

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