Re: continuing proofs America is wacko [3]

by Pettytyrant101 Sat Apr 04, 2015 3:35 pm

Oh I agree wholeheartedly with what he is saying, its just hard to take with a straight face when its presented exactly like a parody of a news station, and the "For Freedom!" bit at the end was just too much and sent me into hysterics.

Very long- but even just the first 2 minutes is a brilliant satire of the whole 'war on Terror' Bush era (

Spoiler:

)

by bungobaggins Tue Apr 07, 2015 6:49 pm

Watch out for American tourists. She is very lucky that the cops know English. They'd be hard pressed to find an American cup cop that speaks Lithuanian.

by bungobaggins Tue Apr 07, 2015 11:31 pm

http://www.newnownext.com/sorry-cancer-patients-and-boston-marathon-victims-indianas-memories-pizza-raised-more-than-you-on-gofundme/04/2015/

by Pettytyrant101 Sun Apr 12, 2015 9:21 am

So looks like there will be another US election with a Clinton standing against a Bush- and Americans seem to think they don't have a class system and that anyone from any background, with hard work and dedication, can become President. slap laugh

No wonder you call it the American Dream- its about as real as one!

by bungobaggins Sun Apr 12, 2015 1:45 pm

They just want me to abstain from voting again, don't they?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??@!?fjksal;fjl;akgj

Mad

by David H Sun Apr 12, 2015 2:21 pm

Pettytyrant101 wrote:So looks like there will be another US election with a Clinton standing against a Bush- and Americans seem to think they don't have a class system and that anyone from any background, with hard work and dedication, can become President.
No wonder you call it the American Dream- its about as real as one!

You've got a point about the Bush dynasty. But the Clintons, not so much. Hillary's dad sold curtains and draperies, and her mom was from a family of coal miners. Bill's dad was a traveling salesman who couldn't seem to make marriages work.

Both Bill and Hillary climbed the ladder from lower middle class by "hard work and dedication" every bit as much as Barack, and they both got to where they are now by working as a team. I don't always agree with them, but I'd never sell those two short.

by Eldorion Sun Apr 12, 2015 3:32 pm

Hilldawg and Slick Willie comin' right back at ya.

Spoiler:

by David H Sun Apr 12, 2015 5:33 pm

Spoiler:

by Pettytyrant101 Sun Apr 12, 2015 6:40 pm

I'll give you the Clintons- well sort of- I'll give you Bill- as although Hilary didnt come from a hugely wealthy background either she does now (she just likes to pretend for the media she is still lower middle-class), which is when she is running. And who doesn't reckon that in ten years time you will looking at Chelsea Clinton's Presidential Campaign?

Hell the Kennedys are still hanging about in the background waiting their next go.
Your country is largely run by dynasties anyway - Rockerfeller types and their like.

by David H Sun Apr 12, 2015 7:27 pm

Pettytyrant101 wrote: although Hilary didnt come from a hugely wealthy background either she does now (she just likes to pretend for the media she is still lower middle-class), which is when she is running. And who doesn't reckon that in ten years time you will looking at Chelsea Clinton's Presidential Campaign?

No, Hilary's middle-class claims are legit. Chelsea's got a long way to go and a lot of dues to pay before she's presidential campaign material. THEN it'll be time to start talking about Clinton dynasties.

Hell the Kennedys are still hanging about in the background waiting their next go.
Your country is largely run by dynasties anyway - Rockerfeller types and their like.

I think two assassinations were enough for most of the Kennedy family.

As for the Rockefeller types, times are changing. Many of the Old Family Dynasty corporations, like Weyerheauser Corp. around here, have gone public, and if the Family still owns stock it's as much for sentimental reasons as anything else.

The new power is in the corporations themselves, which thanks to the Roberts Court have been increasingly getting the rights of citizens. These are heartless, soulless businesses who rotate their management teams to ensure they stay that way. They make the old Family Dynasties look all warm and cuddly by comparison.... pale

by Pettytyrant101 Sun Apr 12, 2015 7:31 pm

In 2010, then-Secretary Clinton's financial disclosures revealed a net worth totaling between roughly $10 and $50 million. In 2012, the last year for which she disclosed finances, Clinton's net worth was estimated to be between $5 million and $25 million.- Washington Post

Not exactly poor is she? (And those are just the public figures)

by Bluebottle Sun Apr 12, 2015 7:38 pm

by Eldorion Sun Apr 12, 2015 7:43 pm

I can't see the Kennedys coming back. What high-profile names do they have left since Ted passed? Maria Shriver? Note that Justice Anthony Kennedy of the Supreme Court is not a member of the Kennedy clan.

Edit: apparently there's a Kennedy who was elected a US Representative from Massachusetts in 2012 but yeah, I think their time is done.

by Eldorion Sun Apr 12, 2015 7:44 pm

Pettytyrant101 wrote:In 2010, then-Secretary Clinton's financial disclosures revealed a net worth totaling between roughly $10 and $50 million. In 2012, the last year for which she disclosed finances, Clinton's net worth was estimated to be between $5 million and $25 million.- Washington Post

Not exactly poor is she? (And those are just the public figures)

It doesn't count as a dynasty if you're the first generation of your family to be wealthy. Bill Gates doesn't count as a dynasty, and won't really unless his children and grandchildren end up being business moguls in their own rights. Same thing with the Clintons in their realm.

Obama is a millionaire several times over as well, but his family isn't a dynasty. The Romneys might count since they've had governors in two different generations. Donald Trump inherited a lot of his money, but I don't think that alone makes the Trumps a dynasty.

by David H Sun Apr 12, 2015 8:09 pm

Pettytyrant101 wrote:
Not exactly poor is she? (And those are just the public figures)

No, but I don't think we've ever elected a pauper as President, have we? scratch

That's where that old myth of "If you apply yourself, you too can be President of the United States of America" comes from. In the dream, you start with two pennies, you parlay them into a million dollars by initiative and hard work, you run for public office, and before you know it you're sleeping in the White House.

See? The million dollars is specified in the dream! Nod

by Bluebottle Sun Apr 12, 2015 8:14 pm

Didn't someone say you now needed 30 million to live like a millionaire? Because of inflation and such? scratch

by David H Sun Apr 12, 2015 8:19 pm

Yeah, that's about right for a millionaire of the 1930's or 40's. Today's dollar is worth about 8% of what is was when I was born.

by Bluebottle Sun Apr 12, 2015 9:39 pm

It's interesting how bad an investment money must have been. Shocked

Then again, why do I care. Either way, I'm not a millionaire. Rolling Eyes

by halfwise Sun Apr 12, 2015 10:08 pm

Yep, you should only keep enough in savings to act as a cushion when needed. Otherwise you're losing money by saving it.

by David H Sun Apr 12, 2015 10:17 pm

Bluebottle wrote:It's interesting how bad an investment money must have been.

It's as bad now as ever. Whenever you hear a politician or economist talking about "economic growth" they're also talking about currency shrinkage.

In modern thinking you don't want people sitting on their money, so you manage the economy so that the money that's been squirreled away in cookie jars and mattresses is continually shrinking.

That's a strong incentive for people to regualarly make riskier, higher return investments than they would otherwise choose to.

And that in turn is what keeps the wheels of Wall Street turning while personal savings shrinks. It's what they call a 'Healthy Economy' Rolling Eyes

by bungobaggins Mon Apr 13, 2015 5:23 pm

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/04/12/3646057/fuck-breath-officer-caught-video-mocking-unarmed-black-man-fatally-shot-police/

Every single day it's the same story. Without the officer's body-cam none of us would know about this. And the fact that a 73 year old wealthy many can donate to the police department and then be given a gun and let to run around willy nilly and act as a real cop is disgusting. IDGAF if he worked as a full time officer for one year 50 YEARS AGO, nor do I care that he went through "800 hours of training". He is not qualified to be an officer.

When will things change in this country?

by halfwise Mon Apr 13, 2015 5:31 pm

The guy was being held down, can't figure why there would not be time to figure out the difference between a gun and a tazer. Should never have been allowed to happen.

by bungobaggins Mon Apr 13, 2015 5:37 pm

He wanted to be the big hero and kill the black man.

by Pettytyrant101 Mon Apr 13, 2015 6:34 pm

I ha a look at the US news headlines this morning- and saw the tragic story of the guy who hit the toddler with his van, when the kid ran out onto the road, and then someone shot the driver in the head, and a seemingly random teenager.
Then I went on a bit later and saw that you let Americans, whose cars are designed to go steadily and reliable in a straight line for long distances, go on a race track with corners, in a twitchy if you don't know what your doing and aren't used to it sort of way, lamborgini, to drive round as fast as they liked, so long as they were willing pay enough bucks- with the likely result they end up dead.
And then I go on a short while ago and read someone has been shot dead at a campus library.

You know sometimes I think what your country really, really needs, is a large does of common sense. Nod

by halfwise Mon Apr 13, 2015 6:48 pm

I feel a need to counter your line of thought. The best comparison of American and European values I know comes from the contrast between the Hang Gliding population over here (mainly American) and the Paragliding population (mainly European).

The paragliders are always ending up in trees, taking off from places that we do not have permission to launch from, in short showing all sorts of lack of responsibility. We are constantly shaking our heads in wonder. People who have gone over there to fly with them say they are constantly taking off into clouds, people end up all over the countryside, with the locals shrugging their shoulders and saying "hey, it's paragliding".

The difference seems to come from the idea that people should be responsible for their own stupidity, so have no need to worry about lawsuits and the like. This seems to contrast with the nanny state mentality Americans accuse Europeans of having, but there's a difference between providing aid and accepting responsibility.

Americans often seem to take personal safety as a group responsibility, while Europeans feel it's completely a personal responsibility. So you may find things being allowed that are not allowed in Europe, but the people involved in those activities take safety far more seriously than europeans would.