wash your hands

potee

When I was a little boy every time I came in for lunch my mom said you've been playing in the dirt go wash your hands. Here it is just 70 years later the goverment has figured it out dirt is dirty. They only had to ask 5200 moms befor they understood dirt is dirty.

Oh we paid for that outstanding study. No wonder we're broke.

cnh

Here's one study that might be worth funding with Gov't money; "is confession 'really' good for the soul?"

This study would compare both Gov't spending with Market "speculation" (legalized gambling, that is) and show "us" just who is wasting more of our money? I suspect the "market" boys are doing a great job "destroying capital"; far better than the Gov't. After all, they can actually "crash" markets overnight! lol

If you're going to 'use' tax money. "Use it well!" lol

cnh

nooshinjohn

cnh wrote: »

Here's one study that might be worth funding with Gov't money; "is confession 'really' good for the soul?"

This study would compare both Gov't spending with Market "speculation" (legalized gambling, that is) and show "us" just who is wasting more of our money? I suspect the "market" boys are doing a great job "destroying capital"; far better than the Gov't. After all, they can actually "crash" markets overnight! lol

If you're going to 'use' tax money. "Use it well!" lol

cnh

Me thinks someone has been living among the chicoms a tad to long:rolleyes:

cnh

I'm afraid it works both ways, John. Why do you think that Chinese are so 'frugal', monitor their currency reserves so closely and have almost no debt? Because they are NOT a centralized entity, strong Gov't?

And why do American companies like to invest in China? Because it has a weak Gov't that cannot "control" its population?

No, American companies "love" that! Can't get enough of it. See a number of recent books that explain why authoritarian Gov'ts like China are "great for investment"! lol

Is this an endorsement of the Chinese Gov't, heck no. All I'm saying is that foreign Capitalists "love" that Gov't and the enforced "stability" it provides!

OK, no more politics...Conservatives (Senate, House, etc.) get to give future President Xi Jinping the "cold shoulder" at "our" peril, of course!

cnh

tonyb

It's not the Chinese government corporations like, it's stability, regardless of political natures, that draws investments. Would you say our economy has become more stable....or less ? If so, why ? Then you'll understand why corporations are looking off shore to throw their money.

Tony M

On the subject of China. I went to buy new socks tonight. Every package said made in China.

I know we gave our textile market to them (not that many years ago either...20 or less) for some reason. Why can't we get it back here and let them buy clothes from US. Can you imagine socks on their shelves and walls saying "made in the USA again"

Our shelves also..LOL.

Nice dream but why not.......... Politicians???, that's why.

They could tax incoming crap so high as to reduce our deficit some and reduce taxs till the corporations come home. I think I heard ONCE that they did think of that and China CRIED like a small baby would till it got what it wanted. No new tarriff taxes on their incoming mountains of goods. I've heard prices would go up. Well. we all know about americas' frivolous wastefull citizens. They would adjust. Just like we adjust to our every thousand other increases we're presented with by our own governments trying to get funds for un-needed BS projects.

Sorry for another rant.

Glowrdr

OK. Am I the only one that finds it ironic that "Potee" started a thread about washing your hands? Just curious.

TECHNOKID

Glowrdr wrote: »

OK. Am I the only one that finds it ironic that "Potee" started a thread about washing your hands? Just curious.

However, the thread just got a lot more interesting! Great posts/great points cnh!

Tony M

He did say our government paid for the stupid study.

I could go on about ketchup and crap but I had to reel it in. I hate our government waste with such a passion, any subject on it will get my blood boiling!!!

BlueFox

potee wrote: »

When I was a little boy every time I came in for lunch my mom said you've been playing in the dirt go wash your hands. Here it is just 70 years later the goverment has figured it out dirt is dirty. They only had to ask 5200 moms befor they understood dirt is dirty.

Oh we paid for that outstanding study. No wonder we're broke.

What study? Link please.

tonyb

cnh wrote: »

I suspect the "market" boys are doing a great job "destroying capital"; far better than the Gov't. After all, they can actually "crash" markets overnight! lolcnh

Not sure I would equate investing to gambling. You invest in stock, your owning something. When you gamble, you don't own anything. Do markets destroy capital ? Sure, at times....but also build capital too. Kinda like a box, you can't have a top without the bottom. There's risk in anything you do.

Speculation....the new villian of wall street,as some would have you believe. Speculation is no more than opinion. An opinion on what the value of something will be worth in the future. When you buy a vintage car, your opinion is most likely that the value of that car will increase in the future.....speculation. When you put money in a retirement fund, your opinion is that it's value will be worth more come retirement time.....speculation. Need I even mention the real estate market ? People are tickled with speculation when it works in their favor, not so much when it doesn't. As long as values keep climbing, everyone is happy. When they go south, those who aren't paying attention will lose value in their investments. Sometimes it is entirely necessary to take a step backwards to gain 2 steps forward. The evils in capitalism come in at the interventions of a corrupted system. In other words, you don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. When the bathwater is bad, change the water.

potee

No link it was on Fox news and the local news here in Tampa.

inspiredsports

nooshinjohn wrote: »

Me thinks someone has been living among the chicoms a tad to long:rolleyes:

Sure sounds like it.

cnh

Chicoms? Joe McCarthy would be proud of ya'all. lol

Read some "history" boys! Open mind, open discourse. There is always more than "one" perspective; isn't that what a free society is all about? For example, I agree with a number of things tonyb writes above. Surprised? I also liked a number of things Jon Huntsman had to say though I have never been a political conservative. I respect a man who has experience and "knows" what he is talking about.

Heck, even people who listen to the "same" set of speakers don't hear the same thing! lol

But if finding "some" fault with an economic system automatically makes you "suspect" then one has to wonder? Does that mean in the U.S. we can't criticize the economic system and in China we can't criticize the Party? Hmmmm...?

cnh

nooshinjohn

The "Party" ws no party at all for the tens of millions slaughtered wholesale by Chairman Mao. They even had the nerve to sent the families of the deceased a bill for the bullet used to kill them. While it may appear that they have changed thier ways, their leadership still believe their power comes from the barrel of the gun, and they will use it against anyone they view to be a threat. I respect the Chinese people and their immense culture, but you can keep their leadership. It is another situation where 5% control the minds and the will of the 95%. I can only wonder how much more the people of China could have achieved if they had liberty, and freedom.

cnh

With all due respect, don't you think it's a little absurd to be lecturing a Professor of Chinese studies, whose own wife spent two years in the countryside laboring with the peasants (because she was part of the 17 million youth sent to the countryside by Mao) and who has spent 3.5 years living in China about its history and politics?

I am "not" defending the party. Far from it! All I'm asking a "few" of you to do is look at the "glorious" history you so often site and see whether it was so glorious for "everyone" who sought freedom. Case in point. A few nights ago PBS aired a film "Slavery by Another Name". A less than flattering portrait of what happened to slaves in the south after emancipation. Or look at the "bloody" history of unions in the U.S. How many were killed and jailed because the "freely" sought to organize labor? Or the disproportionate number of African-American males in our jails today (that's merely "justice" right...no other "factors" are involved because "everyone" is on the same flat "equal" playing field (are you also a Professor of African American history?). [yeah, yeah I hear it, PBS is a leftist leaning, Gov't funded, commie loving institution! lol]

You all have a right to believe as you wish. But just "check" out the other side, once in a while. Don't just spout off about freedom all the time! My parents were immigrants, they came to the U.S. for the reasons you site and to escape the German menace that was rearing its head. My father was a member of the USWA, my mother the ILGWU. Oh my god! Unions, how awful.

Tell that to the millions of families that moved to the suburbs, sent their kids to college and supplied the next generation with the Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers, Professors, Scientists, and even some famous Entrepreneurs that American now depends on! And who also helped "build" much of this "great" country and raise it to #1 status?

How about the G.I. Bill, that provided education for much of the generation that taught me. Some of the most brilliant intellectuals to ever grace the American University who also served time defending their country in the Big War.

There are a lot of things about our Gov't that were great, that helped make this country and are just as responsible for our position in the world as its economic system. It's a matter of record, it's history, it's there. And you can't erase it with a few ideological flourishes.

Regarding China. There is almost NO China scholar alive who would tell you that Communism (not the radical Maoist excesses) but the early land redistributions and Nationalization of Industries and clean up of graft and corruption in the cities was one of the only ways that a fragmented and impoverished China could ever have cohered as a Nation state in the 20th century. And that this centralization made it possible for it to catapult to its present position as an economic powerhouse. All throughout its early history there was a tug and push back between "radical" forces (Mao) and what later became the force of "moderation" (Deng and his mentors). That dialectic actually saved China and finally set it on its present path with "political" reforms to occur given time.

As Americans we should stop flag-waving and get out there and help rebuild this country. If you have time, volunteer! If you have money start a business or donate to a charity, if you have knowledge help educate. Because we are in this "together" regardless of the fact that we make our money as "individuals wage earners" and are taxed as individuals. Unfortunately for all that individuality, we sink or swim "together". I think that they used to call that compassionate conservatism before this election?

cnh

tonyb

cnh wrote: »

I am "not" defending the party. Far from it! All I'm asking a "few" of you to do is look at the "glorious" history you so often site and see whether it was so glorious for "everyone" who sought freedom. Case in point. A few nights ago PBS aired a film "Slavery by Another Name". A less than flattering portrait of what happened to slaves in the south after emancipation. Or look at the "bloody" history of unions in the U.S. How many were killed and jailed because the "freely" sought to organize labor? Or the disproportionate number of African-American males in our jails today (that's merely "justice" right...no other "factors" are involved because "everyone" is on the same flat "equal" playing field (are you also a Professor of African American history?). [yeah, yeah I hear it, PBS is a leftist leaning, Gov't funded, commie loving institution! lol]
cnh

I can agree with some of this, but for all the wrongs we as a country have done in the past, we at least over time try to correct that. A process not too common in other countries. I also take issue with the amount of blacks in jails you elude to being unjustified. Throwing people in jail because of the color of their skin has long been gone. You break the law, you go to jail. Mind you, people of more wealth have better lawyers to keep them out of jail, but doesn't negate the fact that a crime was committed. Blacks, or any other race, aren't in jail because they were walking down the street whistling dixie.

All in this together ? Damn straight we are. Thats why we need some to get their collective heads out of their arses to gain control over the coarse of the country....again. It's not flag waving as you so put it, more so a rescue mission, to save what little we have left of a great country before it disappears in backroom deals. Putting your faith in 500+ people to do the right thing for the country, without scrutiny, without accountability, is foolish. Kinda like if you spent your whole life building a buisness from the ground up, to a multi billion dollar company, and handing the keyes to that company to a stranger to run it. Think you might want to check up, retain some oversight ? Retain some of the decision making process ? Well, the keyes to this country have been given away along time ago, and all we are saying is give them back. It is the peoples responsibility to scrutinize, to hold accountable those who seek to do us harm, steal the fruits of our labor, or seek to limit our freedoms and privacy. What millions of Americans died for, sacrificed for, can easily be taken away by a savey few.....if nobody is watching, if nobody cares, if the sales pitch is appealing to those seeking an easier life at the expense of others. Well, enough of that.....

China, has it's benefits, and it's downsides as well. To hold it up as something to aspire to be like, thats where we part ways. Too much on that subject to go into detail so I'll just say this.

The world is full of different countries, governments, philosophies, culture, and so on. Not like you don't have a choice of where to live, how to live, and by what standards. Pick what tickles your fancy and move there. Whats stopping you ? While I agree that observing other countries can foster idea's of moving forward, or backward, here, trying to completely change this country from it's roots will be met with resistance. Such is the turmoil of today.