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Thread ID: 123535	2012-03-01 20:51:00	Breakdown: America In Crisis	SurferJoe46 (51)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1262633	2012-03-02 22:46:00	"All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace" doco by Adam Curtis is an interesting look at the world and some of the factors that have influenced the evolution of the current state of affairs. On BBC Knowledge this coming Mon, Tue, Wed.	fred_fish (15241)
1262634	2012-03-02 23:59:00	SJ, what we are watching now is the inevitable consequence of an economic system based upon out of control capitalism . I am not saying that communism would have been any better, just that capitalism depends upon having few winners and a multitude of losers . What is happening now is that the middle class is more clearly joining the working classes in the loser category, after a couple of centuries of respite from the greed of the overlords . A couple of times recently, when watching some of the more egregious examples of American political and economic behaviour on the tv news, SWMBO has murmured "The decline and fall of the American empire" . . . Looking back - I can do that since I'm over 65 y/o now - I think the start of the slippery slope was the Kennedy Years and their fantasy land that burst amid fornication and (winky-wink) indiscretions of the marriage kind . It was all so cute as they shook the moral fiber out of the nation . But I also believe things are progressing in what I would say is normal for a society that only wants and doesn't give in return nor works for anything . A nation of en-titlists, if you will . Sadly, what's going on here will also affect the Southern Hemisphere, if even in a belated way, much sooner than later . The problem is that nobody knows who's in charge, who's the bad guy, who's gonna survive and who's gonna not gonna be around next week . Not knowing is a hope-killer to most people . Come to think of it - no government has survived for more than a while - a twinkling, if you will . If the US couldn't hold the war debt and the general wartime camaraderie over the head of Britain, I think they'd quit the US pal-ship in a heartbeat . Especially now when the US's Über-Ally, Israel (that ally-part MIGHT be stated backwards though) has threatened boots-on-the-ground in Iran to answer the nuclear missiles aimed at them .	SurferJoe46 (51)
1262635	2012-03-03 00:14:00	Don't believe everything you read in the new Pravda aka Huffington Post. Half empty types always see doom and gloom - it is their job description. Love to stop and chat - but need to go shopping for some new bling - maybe a new phablet or something.	Twelvevolts (5457)
1262636	2012-03-03 00:19:00	"All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace" doco by Adam Curtis is an interesting look at the world and some of the factors that have influenced the evolution of the current state of affairs.On BBC Knowledge this coming Mon, Tue, Wed. Can also be found in a certain Bay me hearties.	Twelvevolts (5457)
1262637	2012-03-03 05:44:00	Yeah - that's kinda a shock to most Uhmerikans too - the uneducated ones. It's thought that the Chinese and Japanese investments in the US are very high - they are indeed high, but factored into the whole pix, not as high as feared. I'll see if I can find (Google-up) a comprehensive list of UK-investments in the US - so far it has been hard to find in list form. Sidebar: I see that Justine Bieber just turned 18 yo - and now he's officially too old to listen to his own music. Been researching US data lately and this site (searchengineland.com) has Major US Public data (Govt) site links, includes data gov (www.data.gov/) and fed stats. (http:) Fed stats links to US dept of commerce via foreign investments (fedstats.gov) (and other segments) if you submit under national accounts. Then their are several links (e.g. foreign transactions, investments in the USA, etc), with many pdf's and tables. Hope it helps. I found in some news sites, that 401k's (retirement) are mentioned a lot from workers and providers, and that their are many variants, and that some workers had lost entitlement, after layoffs.	kahawai chaser (3545)
1262638	2012-03-03 07:24:00	Looking back - I can do that since I'm over 65 y/o now - I think the start of the slippery slope was the Kennedy Years and their fantasy land that burst amid fornication and (winky-wink) indiscretions of the marriage kind. It was all so cute as they shook the moral fiber out of the nation. But I also believe things are progressing in what I would say is normal for a society that only wants and doesn't give in return nor works for anything. A nation of en-titlists, if you will. Sadly, what's going on here will also affect the Southern Hemisphere, if even in a belated way, much sooner than later. The problem is that nobody knows who's in charge, who's the bad guy, who's gonna survive and who's gonna not gonna be around next week. Not knowing is a hope-killer to most people. Come to think of it - no government has survived for more than a while - a twinkling, if you will. If the US couldn't hold the war debt and the general wartime camaraderie over the head of Britain, I think they'd quit the US pal-ship in a heartbeat. Especially now when the US's Über-Ally, Israel (that ally-part MIGHT be stated backwards though) has threatened boots-on-the-ground in Iran to answer the nuclear missiles aimed at them. Back in 1981 when I got back from my OE I reckoned that the Assies were really starting to follow the American way; where everything revolved around the almighty dollar; but NZ was still following the UK way. Well it has certainly changed now and not for the better.	mikebartnz (21)
1262639	2012-03-03 08:29:00	Relax guys, we are enduring a rough patch. Its happened before - 1791, 1837, 1893, 1907, 1929 and 1987. In fact there were recessions or quasi-depressions in between those dates as well. It is the nature of economies to have periods of growth which accelerates, followed by recessions which are an efficiency of capitalism. Recessions allow new businesses (employers) to buy discounted land, plant, and equipment so they can grow into the future. Those businesses would not have existed without the opportunity which exists in recession. All very well, but not pleasant for the millions of employees who lose their jobs, their superannuation, and their self belief. The answer (as much as we are able to provide one) lies in Keynsian economics where governments borrow and spend to keep citizens in work. That is what Western govts have ben doing for the past 4 years. As for the USA, Joe you don't know how lucky you are. Fine roads, the rule of law (you can hold someone to a contract - try that in China or Africa), clean water, first rate hospitals, good food...honestly Americans even in relative poverty have more than most people in the Third World. You probably know that anyway but if any American doubts how fortunate they are, emigrate to Mexico. How many reverse wetbacks are there??	Winston001 (3612)
1262640	2012-03-03 14:13:00	Relax guys, we are enduring a rough patch . Its happened before - 1791, 1837, 1893, 1907, 1929 and 1987 . In fact there were recessions or quasi-depressions in between those dates as well . It is the nature of economies to have periods of growth which accelerates, followed by recessions which are an efficiency of capitalism . Recessions allow new businesses (employers) to buy discounted land, plant, and equipment so they can grow into the future . Those businesses would not have existed without the opportunity which exists in recession . As for the USA, Joe you don't know how lucky you are . Fine roads, the rule of law (you can hold someone to a contract - try that in China or Africa), clean water, first rate hospitals, good food . . . honestly Americans even in relative poverty have more than most people in the Third World . You probably know that anyway but if any American doubts how fortunate they are, emigrate to Mexico . How many reverse wetbacks are there?? Just offa the top of my head here: Weren't all if not most of those 'dips' (1791, 1837, 1893, 1907, 1929 and 1987) precursors to a war of some kind? The biggest problem US medical facilities have now and in the past thirty years or so, is that illegals swamp the emergency rooms for their general medical care instead of using it for 'emergencies' . Since hospitals are required to not ask about legal status in the US, there's no room for true emergencies . The payment of the medical bills is never covered by either cash or insurance (illegals have neither) and even if a bill is generated, the address given by the illegals is bogus and goes unpaid anyway . Many times (innumerable times) a pregnant almost-term woman will skate across the border to have a baby in the US and that 'anchors' the baby and mother in the country as legal US citizens after that . This drainage of monies for citizens is a giant hemorrhage that is getting worse as the world's financial situation falls even further into the abyss . So - yeah, medical provisions are good, but not if you can't wait for a full day in the ER waiting room until the room empties - which it never does . My wife died of a treatable heart attack in the ER anteroom while scores of illegal children with sniffles and diaper rash were being medicated . We sat there for two hours, waiting for our turn, She died in my arms, waiting for our number to be called, both of us sitting in those plastic chairs .	SurferJoe46 (51)
1262641	2012-03-04 20:36:00	That must have been a sombre time for you. My sympathies Joe.	Winston001 (3612)
1262642	2012-03-04 23:05:00	That was Feb 28th, 1992 - twenty years ago - just like Sargent Pepper. It was rough all right - I had five kids at the time, one just out of diapers (NZ= nappies) and I still had to work full time to support them and me. Looking back I wonder how it came out as good as it did.	SurferJoe46 (51)
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