Almost done with USA
#111
Forum Regular
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 73
Re: Almost done with USA
I hate people who are happy to go uninformed, then harbour an opinion on something. Everyone's an expert these days, as a scientist it annoys me that they changed the name of NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) to MRI because the word nuclear was thought to mean it was a bad thing, as in exposure to dangerous radiation. Even the word radiation makes people think negatively, just realise that light is radiation.
Whatever 'clean coal' was about confused me, if you want clean and efficient energy then fund nuclear fusion, and realise that as an in between measure, nuclear fission is pretty good and very safe, in my eyes the negative is the expense. When you have evidence saying one thing or the other about climate change look who comissioned it! You'd be amazed what findings scientists funded by oil and gas companies come up with, as opposed to Greenpeace funded ones.
In terms of healthcare my opinion is that in the UK everyone wants or expects something different. I'd say pay for what you want. Maybe that's just my selfish attitude as a young and healthy adult, that when I or my brother go to my GP with something, I've been twice in 14 years and my brother has been a lot more, there's always a queue of young mums worried that their little one is dying when he merely has a cough or fell over. I could never be a GP and deal with that, even on their very large salaries. But either way, for us to paint the NHS as some model for healthcare perfection is wrong, for the US right to paint it as a continuation of Josef Mengele's work is equally wrong, how people eat such crap up is beyond me.
With regards to the mosque 'at' Ground Zero, I'm not privy to enough information to be informed fully about the intentions and background of the people behind it. I'm aware that most Muslims are normal, peaceful and loving people. I'm also aware that a lot of mosques, in the UK at least, have an undercurrent of radicalism (note NOT neccesarily terrorism) and that there's some dodgy money going in to and out of some mosques. I think if there were some serious connections they'd be out by now. Either way, I'm not able to come up with a justified argument for or against it, nor I expect are most people.
Whatever 'clean coal' was about confused me, if you want clean and efficient energy then fund nuclear fusion, and realise that as an in between measure, nuclear fission is pretty good and very safe, in my eyes the negative is the expense. When you have evidence saying one thing or the other about climate change look who comissioned it! You'd be amazed what findings scientists funded by oil and gas companies come up with, as opposed to Greenpeace funded ones.
In terms of healthcare my opinion is that in the UK everyone wants or expects something different. I'd say pay for what you want. Maybe that's just my selfish attitude as a young and healthy adult, that when I or my brother go to my GP with something, I've been twice in 14 years and my brother has been a lot more, there's always a queue of young mums worried that their little one is dying when he merely has a cough or fell over. I could never be a GP and deal with that, even on their very large salaries. But either way, for us to paint the NHS as some model for healthcare perfection is wrong, for the US right to paint it as a continuation of Josef Mengele's work is equally wrong, how people eat such crap up is beyond me.
With regards to the mosque 'at' Ground Zero, I'm not privy to enough information to be informed fully about the intentions and background of the people behind it. I'm aware that most Muslims are normal, peaceful and loving people. I'm also aware that a lot of mosques, in the UK at least, have an undercurrent of radicalism (note NOT neccesarily terrorism) and that there's some dodgy money going in to and out of some mosques. I think if there were some serious connections they'd be out by now. Either way, I'm not able to come up with a justified argument for or against it, nor I expect are most people.
#113
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 7,605
Re: Almost done with USA
Yep. Believe it or not, one of the few good things about living in the crappy part of TX that I do is, a lot of the "redneck gun nuts" that I associate with actually grasp that.
#115
Forum Regular
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 73
Re: Almost done with USA
The argument as far as I see is should it be done not can it (legally) be done. The Constitution plays no part in that unless you regard Islam as being one and the same as whatever those idiots who took over those planes believed, which I hope noone here does. Of course, you can use it as a counter argument to anyone spouting such nonesense that a mosque glorifies 9/11.
Last edited by chrisbeale; Aug 28th 2010 at 1:26 am.
#116
Re: Almost done with USA
The argument as far as I see is should it be done not can it (legally) be done. The Constitution plays no part in that unless you regard Islam as being one and the same as whatever those idiots who took over those planes believed, which I hope noone here does. Of course, you can use it as a counter argument to anyone spouting such nonesense that a mosque glorifies 9/11.
#117
Re: Almost done with USA
Glad you asked
That's just off the top of my head - I know I'm forgetting stuff.
With the exception of the financial bail-outs, none of those things would have happened under President John McCain, so I just think it's patently false for people to claim politicians are all the same and there's no point in voting.
If you agree with those things, he's your guy. If you don't, you can vote for someone else. But who you vote for does matter.
- Cut federal taxes for 95% of Americans
- Cut small business taxes by offering various credits – this year I paid the lowest percent of my business income in taxes since I started it 8 years ago.
- Extended unemployment benefits and provided COBRA assistance to millions of people during the recession.
- Withdrew all combat troops from Iraq (just last week)
- Signed the $787B stimulus bill that included State aid that has kept all my local firefighters, waste disposal guys and teachers employed when lay-offs were previously pending.
- Passed financial regulatory reform to address Wall St excesses, including the all-important consumer protection agency that the Republicans vehemently opposed.
- Saved millions of lives, quite literally, by reversing George W. Bush's funding cutoff to overseas family planning organizations.
- Authorized the California car-emissions standards that Bush had been blocking for six years
- Erased Bush's decision to restrict federal funding for stem-cell research – a key step for sufferers of all kinds of chronic illnesses
- Nominated two accomplished female Supreme Court justices both of whom are strong enough and smart enough to balance the excesses of the right-wing court.
- Spearheaded major educational reforms that are in progress and are supported by everyone from Newt Gingrich on the right to Al Sharpton on the left.
- Saved the US auto industry by forcing two of the companies in bankruptcy – all 3 US automakers are now making a profit.
- Stopped the financial collapse, revived the credit markets, and drove the stock market back up, thereby increasing everyone’s 401Ks
- Reformed our healthcare system for the first time in 40 years with immediate benefits such the removal of preexisting condition bans for children, an immediate end to the evil practices of recission and annual coverage limits, and longer term benefits such as the removal of the same bans for adults (in 2014).
- Signed the Lilly Leadbetter fair pay act that ensures women cannot be discriminated against when it comes to pay.
- Got BP to pay $20B to American victims of the oil spill.
- Reversed the Bush administration's decision to sell thousands of acres of public parkland.
- Currently in the process of repealing 'don't ask don't tell' to allow gays to serve openly in the military
That's just off the top of my head - I know I'm forgetting stuff.
With the exception of the financial bail-outs, none of those things would have happened under President John McCain, so I just think it's patently false for people to claim politicians are all the same and there's no point in voting.
If you agree with those things, he's your guy. If you don't, you can vote for someone else. But who you vote for does matter.
Guess I'll vote for someone else.
#118
Just Joined
Joined: May 2008
Location: Northern NJ
Posts: 17
Re: Almost done with USA
Is it me or is the USA turning into a country of idiotic bigots? Right after various bloggers and politicians whipped up outrage at the "Ground Zero Mosque", I now read that 18% of Americans think Obama is a Muslim (it's 34% amongst Republicans). I don't know if I can live here anymore, it's just getting too surreal and scary.