Is anyone worried about the state of this country?

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bennevis God help us if Hillary becomes President, but Bush's attitude is moving us in that direction, I'm afraid. And as far as Iraq goes, I wish I knew the answer.* * The USA is losing respect, or already lost it,* throughout the world.* * Not to mention, the extremely high cost of fighting this war.

I don't disagree with your thoughts, Bennevis, but I have a couple of comments.

1. Bush makes Hillary look good? Yikes-- that can't be interpreted as a compliment to either one of them, but you better copyright that statement before Dennis Miller or Jon Stewart start using it!

2. Paraphrasing that comment about the weather, everyone gripes about the high cost of killing people & breaking things but no one ever does anything about it. Compared to the expenses of the first Gulf War and the intervening Operation SOUTHERN WATCH (both fiscally and actuarially), the last three years have been a bargain. I'm not saying the whole operation was a good idea, and I'm not saying that it was cheap. However the last three years have been a lot cheaper, by just about any metric, than the period of 1990-2003. And it's been far cheaper than letting Hussein have lebensraum Kuwait.

I will agree that diplomacy & foreign aid is always cheaper than war. I'm just not sure that we were in much of a position to do the first two anywhere in Iraq over the previous 16 years.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grumpy SWR, Put down the TV remote and slowly back away! * If paying attention to the talking heads gets you all riled up about things that you can't do anything about, then don't listen.*

Great advice!

Seriously! There seems to be a huge need for bellyaching in this country, and all these news programs and talk shows cater to this need. But it gets everyone all riled up and depressed and angry and miserable but not doing a darn thing. What a waste of time and energy!

There is only so much any of us can do as individuals. Vote, contribute (time and or money) to the causes you believe in. The rest of it is out of our hands.

The BEST thing to do IMO is to live your life TODAY the best you can. Enjoy life. Don't put off the things are most important to you. The future is somewhat out of our control, and if you spend too much time worrying about it or preparing for the worst case scenarios, you are missing out on the point of it all IMO.

Living well is the best revenge ...............

Audrey

[bpp]

Quote:

The BEST thing to do IMO is to live your life TODAY the best you can. Enjoy life.

I have to say that probably one of the best things I did for my blood pressure was...emigrate. :P

Bpp

[Maximillion]

bpp, to where?

Today's society is such that no matter where you are CNN can reach you?

[bpp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maximillion bpp, to where

Japan.

Quote:

Today's society is such that no matter where you are CNN can reach you?

I don't watch it. Seriously, I can't -- I will start throwing things at the TV if I do. Come to think of it, I don't watch any English-language news at all.

Bpp

[Andre1969]

Today's society is such that no matter where you are CNN can reach you?

It can only reach you if you turn it on. I say those other networks stink outright, so make the switch to Nick-at-Nite brand reeee-runs! Well, okay, Nick-at-Nite is pretty annoying these days with its Full House marathons, so take me to TVLand! :P

[unclemick]

Hmmm

I always worry. Today I recognize - I wasn't born with the 'happy gene' - so I don't take myself so serious anymore.

Have relatives/friends still duking with insurance over rebuilding post Katrina with varying degree's of success and the the Knothead Marine is back in Iraq for the third time.

Youngest nephew bought a house in Pennsacola and is getting married in Kansas City in June.

Salvation Army wedding outfit - shirt, tie, suit, and dress shoes - under thirty bucks including tax. That's good - now the gift registry - that's bad.

War, Famine, pestilance on CNN is kind of relaxing in a strange lefthanded sort of way.

heh heh - second cup of coffee.

Bon Temps Rolliere.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by unclemick2 I always worry. Today I recognize - I wasn't born with the 'happy gene' - so I don't take myself so serious anymore.

That's great! That's really the problem - way too many gloom and doom people taking themselves WAY TOO SERIOUSLY. Of course the media works hard to feed that attitude.

Audrey

[HFWR]

Serious worry wart here, but I've come to realize that my sphere of influence doesn't extend beyond my own mind/attitude... Can't fix the world...

[Lakewood90712]

A lot of us are worried. The history of at least the last 100 years of these United States is to let problems, sometimes very big problems fester until it's a crisis, then REACT. It always worked in the past BUT, we may hit a brick wall to high to pass over some day.

We have let big business interests run the direction of the country for a long time, not just with George W. at the helm.

Cheap energy until recently , and outsourceing manufacturering of consumer goods to keep prices down ,* and printing money so people can pay astrononmical real estate prices and buy stocks on margin and drive fat SUV's.

We have indeed sold our souls to the devil to keep the upper middle class and above happy. Sending loads of cash to the oil producing nations that we should not be trading with at all.

I may be dead and gone before it really hit's the fan ,but we all have the next generations to worry about and , weak hands have ruled the west for decades.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[poyet]

Wouldn't the US tax dollars be better spent helping people reconstruct the New Orleans than intervening in so many countries with so little positive results ?

[Maximillion]

Reduce the Armed Forces budget by 80%, spend the money on Health Care, Education, Social Programmes for US Citizens.

Great Britain was Great, until it allowed Generals to run the country, the US is mimicking Victorian England.

The US needs more Females in Government, they bring a more realsitic agenda to the table.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by poyet Wouldn't the US tax dollars be better spent helping people reconstruct the New Orleans than intervening in so many countries with so little positive results ?

<Removing moderator hat...>

You may have something there Poyet. If the US would mind it's own business and be more supportive of our foriegn friends, we would have the $ to do more good both at home and for those in the world in need.

We might even be available to have our military come over and help France with your growing student riots (only if invited of course ). It seems a shame that so many of your young people are unemployed...what is it, something like 30% employment for French under the age of 26?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maximillion Reduce the Armed Forces budget by 80%, spend the money on Health Care, Education, Social Programmes for US Citizens. Great Britain was Great, until it allowed Generals to run the country, the US is mimicking Victorian England. The US needs more Females in Government, they bring a more realsitic agenda to the table.

Maximillion, you want to discuss the Canadian slaughter of thousands of baby seals? Didn't think so.

What's the saying? "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones."

<...moderator hat back on.>

Hey, how about those Longhorns!!!

[mark500]

Ah. Doom and gloom. I don't buy it. Most of us are probably over 40. Your parents probably said the same thing about the future of the country back in the 1960s when they watched you smoke pot, protest, and engage in "free love". (BTW, the boomers went from " 1960's change the world" to " 1980's conspicuous consumption".)

Sure, the USA has problems. Always has. Always will. So does France, Germany, and yes, even the latest fad, China.

[ShokWaveRider]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark500 Ah. Doom and gloom. I don't buy it. Most of us are probably over 40. Your parents probably said the same thing about the future of the country back in the 1960s when they watched you smoke pot, protest, and engage in "free love". (BTW, the boomers went from " 1960's change the world" to " 1980's conspicuous consumption".) Sure, the USA has problems. Always has. Always will. So does France, Germany, and yes, even the latest fad, China.

Point taken. But The USA/We could at least make a little effort to balance a budget and reduce debt!

All we hear about is how well the USA are doing in and managing the war. I am not sure anyone cares about the war any more, except the millitary of course. I think people are getting a little more educated about national debt and inflation and the price and reliance on overseas energy.

I am a believer in looking after your own first.

Put it this way, would you pay for your neighbors child to have an operation if your child need a similar one and you could all but afford to do the one?

This county need enough of it's own operations, that it omits to fund in favor of foreign interests and preferential government projects. All at the expense of the american people who seem to matter a lot less these days...... until they stop paying their taxes that is.

SWR

[bruce1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo! Maximillion, you want to discuss the Canadian slaughter of thousands of baby seals? Didn't think so.

This got me curious (I am home with a cold and bored) and I wondered what the true story was so I googled seal hunt and came up with about a milion save the seals sites who all cry and whine and show pictures of a cute baby seal about to be clubbed. Many of these had donate now or send money to save the seal buttons front and center.

I was really after the other side of the story that does not hit the news because it is not sensational. I found a couple and here is a link to one. It is probably equally biased in it's point of view.

http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/seal-phoque/myth_e.htm

Bruce

[REWahoo]

Here is one more that attempts to present both sides of the issue.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4392217.stm

[bruce1]

Good Article REW
I was farm raised and animals were to be used. Treated well and not hurt but used for meat, eggs, or fur.
Bruce

[Andre1969]

It sounds to me like this seal hunt is kind of like the deer cullings they have to do around here from time to time. The populations just get too big for their own good and put a strain on the ecosystem. Now I'm not a hunter myself, and could never kill anything unless I really had to (like if I had to rely on it for food or if it was attacking me and it boiled down to me or the animal) But I understand that it has to be done from time to time.

I think the main reason that people rally against the seal hunt is simply because the things look so cute and cuddly. I bet if it was a hunt against snakes or bats or something, the cry wouldn't be nearly as loud.

[Rustic23]

Stop watching the news!

Yep, if you watch CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS then the U.S. is about to drop off a cliff. If you listen to Rush, or watch Fox, well it’s not that bad. Ever wonder why one President’s 5% unemployment rate is bad, yet another’s 8% is OK. While I don’t have the stats to back this up, it seems there are far more folks trying to become Americans than there are Americans trying to become something else.

It mystifies me that someone from Canada would say the U.S. should cut their military 80%. I’ll bet your politicians are real glad we don’t, because your budget would surely go up. In fact it mystifies why someone from Canada would even bother to give us advice on how to run our country. I can not ever remember a time when I went on a forum board and suggested how another country should give up it’s socialistic ways.

I do believe the United States is the greatest country in the world, heck, we even provide a free source for foreigners to criticize us. I vote, right now, enough of the rest of the country voted like I did, and I am happy. In the 40 years I have been voting this has not always been the case, when it wasn’t, I went on about my business and waited for another chance to vote. I did not engage in destructive personal attacks that called the President stupid, moron, idiot, or worse. The press may not respect the man, but they should respect the position. They don’t, and that is a shame, it hurts us all.