Mxsmanic

sweetchild writes:

    > Isn't McDungs's buying most if not all of their meat for hamburgers from the
    > Aussies??

McDonald's purchases meet locally for most of its markets.

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Mxsmanic

Rod Speed writes:

    > Nope, thats a myth.

I've seen it with my own eyes. It used to be possible for a
middle-class family to live quite well, and that was possible with only
one person working. That is no longer the case. I don't know anyone
who is doing really well any more in the so-called middle class, even
though they were all comfortable a few decades ago.

    > The percentage employed in the professions, doctors,
    > teachers, engineers, etc etc etc, hasnt dropped.

But their standard of living has. Also, doctors and engineers are
usually upper middle-class (especially the former).

    > The percentage who live in the house they
    > own or are buying is higher than its ever been.

The percentage of what? What percentage of their income do they pay for
their homes?

    > And the size of the house has increased
    > substantially too from say the 50s.

So has the price ... much more than the size.

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Mxsmanic

[email protected] writes:

    > I don't know where you got that idea from. In Western Europe you can
    > buy a colour TV with the income from a few days work.

In France, it would take me almost a month's pay to buy a color TV, and
that's only if I had nothing else to pay for.

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Mxsmanic

Rod Speed writes:

    > That 'near poverty level' is pretty luxurious tho.

Not compared to the wealthy or the former middle class.

    > Mindless drivel. The number who own or are buying their own homes
    > is nothing even remotely resembling anything like 'nearly nonexistent'

There's much more to the former middle-class standard of living than
having a home.

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Mxsmanic

[email protected] writes:

    > I thought all were.

In France you work 35-hour weeks, and you get typically 6 weeks of
vacation per year ... by law.

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Mxsmanic

"Ted Ng" <ted_ng@[nospam].com> writes:

    > Indeed. That's why so many Europeans move here. 255,976 *legal* immigrants
    > from Europe alone in 2002. In just 4 years, over a million Europeans moved
    > to the United States to seek permanent legal residency.

From which countries? And what _percentage_ of the total European
population is that?

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Mxsmanic

Jeff Hacker writes:

    > Yeah. That must be why airlines are in bankrutpcy court, department stores
    > like K-Mart and Toys R Us are in (or barely out of) bankruptcy, and why 95%
    > of our shoes are imported.

Poor management.

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Mxsmanic

Rod Speed writes:

    > Wrong.

I disagree. Nowadays they are likely to stay a few years and then
return home. Some come just for an education (because it is easier to
obtain in the U.S., albeit not necessarily of better quality).

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Mxsmanic

Rod Speed writes:

    > Irrelevant, most of us dont end up needing a cardiologist
    > and many who do do so because they smoke etc.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in developed countries.

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Frank F. Matthews

A fair description would be that most workers in the US get 2 weeks
vacation per year starting at about 6 months with an employer until
something like 5-10 years. It will then go up to 3 weeks until about 15
years employment. After which it will top out at about 4 weeks per year
of vacation. The number of paid holidays will run from 8 or 10 possibly
up to 15 per year. Usually any unused vacation time will accrue up to
2-3 times annual at which time any additional is lost. There are more
stringent arrangements and more liberal ones but I think this is a fair
average.

Mxsmanic wrote:

    > Rod Speed writes:
    >
    >
    >>Thats bullshit.
    >
    >
    > Not everyone gets a full two weeks, that's true.
    >
    >
    >>Like hell they are.
    >
    >
    > Actually they are.
    >
    > All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
    >

Frank F. Matthews

me wrote:

    > "Magda" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    >
    >>On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 10:26:44 -0500, in rec.travel.europe, "me"
    >
snip
    >
    > Not really, because after a certain amount of time, it turns into short-term
    > (or long-term) disability instead, and you get a certain percentage of your
    > pay, but I don't know how it affects things like status. I myself have
    > never been out for more than two days at a time. But it does mean that a
    > lot of people go to work sick, and end up making others sick. It also means
    > you try and find a doctor / dentist with evening and weekend hours.
    >
    > One of the worst policies I've seen is for people that take maternity leave
    > (and this was the policy for the last two companies I worked for, I don't
    > know how prevalent it is). They would get x amount of time (unpaid) for
    > family leave. But before that time kicks in, the time off FIRST comes out
    > of their accrued vacation and personal time off days. So if they have a
    > week of vacation accrued before they go on leave, the first week of leave is
    > counted as their vacation. So a person coming off of leave under that
    > policy comes back to work with zero days accrued for personal time off, one
    > would think with a new baby, that would be the time you'd want to have a few
    > days of personal time stashed.
    >
    > Again, just my experience from the places I've worked. YMMV

I haven't seen any employers recently providing either long or short
term disability leave. Most do what mine does and permit you to
purchase insurance under a group policy. Personally, it hasn't been
worth while for a long time. My accrued sick leave will last a good bit
and the long term disability would only cover me for 2 years or so.
Then again I haven't been sick much and have worked for the same place
for 30 years.

Frank F. Matthews

Mxsmanic wrote:

    > Magda writes:

    >>Now, you *have* to be kidding us.

    > No, I'm quite serious.

    >>Are you telling us that slave work is legal over there??

    > There is no law that requires that employees be given paid vacation, and
    > many working people get none. This is routinely true for people who
    > work part-time, and widely true for people who work full-time as well.

In the US there is a law requiring that all but very small employers
hold your job for you while you are on maternity leave. Of course,
after your vacation runs out, they don't pay you.

Anon

Mxsmanic wrote:
    > me writes:
    >
    >
    >>one
    >>would think with a new baby, that would be the time you'd want to have a few
    >>days of personal time stashed.
    >
    >
    > Having a baby is a personal choice and voluntary; it's not an illness.
    >

In California, you get disability pay for it.
CA requires contributions to a state plen or an employer plan.

Anon

Mxsmanic wrote:
    > Icono Clast writes:
    >
    >
    >>I have heard that there are still people in the USA who work 40-hour
    >>weeks for 2-week vacations but I don't know any. Does anyone?
    >
    >
    > All of my U.S. jobs were like this.

Our plan is 4 weeks for everyone and 9 holidays.

Gordon Reeder

Jonathan <[email protected]> wrote in
news:483un0lc2o3rmp3kju8enknp9h845l1v50@news:

    > When an American friend told me people in the US only have two weeks
    > of paid leave PER YEAR I could scarcely believe it. He said yeah but
    > we get paid public holidays.
    >
    > In the UK we get 4 to 5 weeks paid leave plus public holidays . Other
    > countries like France get 5 to 6 weeks plus public holidays. Plus
    > they only work 35 hours per week yet they are one of the most
    > productive countries in the world.
    >
    > If this is true about the US, how can the average American live under
    > such a system and not lose their mind???
    >
    > Life can't all be about work. It seems such a system would breed
    > highly neurotic and hysterical people. I wouldn't want to live like
    > that no matter how much they paid me.

Too many Republicans in office. All hail Corp. America.
What's good for GM is good for america.

And God forbid that you should work your eight hours and go
home at quitting time without putting in any overtime.
And when It's time to take your meager vacation they look at
you like you're some kind of goof off.

Oh yea, and you need to be on call 24-7 just incase they
need you to put in some extra hours. Forget your family
life and any other responsbilites. Your first responsibility
is to your employer.

--
Just my $0.02 worth. Hope it helps
Gordon Reeder
greeder
at: myself.com

Where is George Bush leading this country
and what are we doing in this hand basket??