You live in France, or is it Africa so why do you even care?
If it makes it any easier, think of French West Africa! Why, because it’s so entertaining. Look at politics (any pork you want or any lobbyist), politicians (pick one just for fun and tell me if you’d want him as a neighbor?), the legal system (who isn’t suing, & who is enforcing (immigration) LAWS??), Wall Street (who isn’t gaming the system?), media (who’s in charge of programming your brain?), the food you eat (what does “processed” really mean?, national security (that’s too crazy to even think about!)...
This could go on all night! The country appears to be superman on steroids blasting off into outer space a little tipsy!
One thing you should be asking is, WHERE is the $$$ going to come from to fix your neighborhood infra-structure once it goes...”poooooofff? :unsure:
Speaking of “entertainment”, those guys running your TV & Music in Hollywood even want to sue you now for playing music in public! And you’ve ALREADY PAID for it!! :(
Excuse me, but maybe people have lost their minds in accepting what I’m reading about? It’s costing apparently $4.000 US dollars a SECOND to play war games in Iraq. Look around and think about it. Everyone I know is wondering “who’s in charge”??
Imagine how things are going to look 10 years down the road!! That may be a thought too far...for some?
If it makes it any easier, think of French West Africa! Why, because it’s so entertaining. Look at politics (any pork you want or any lobbyist), politicians (pick one just for fun and tell me if you’d want him as a neighbor?), the legal system (who isn’t suing, & who is enforcing (immigration) LAWS??), Wall Street (who isn’t gaming the system?), media (who’s in charge of programming your brain?), the food you eat (what does “processed” really mean?, national security (that’s too crazy to even think about!)... asdf.gif
Wow, that's all helpful. I'm glad you're happy in France. I sure wouldn't be. If you ask me why, I'll be happy to tell you.
This could go on all night! The country appears to be superman on steroids blasting off into outer space a little tipsy!
You don't think we'd want to go into outer space sober do you? Not even our astronauts do that.
One thing you should be asking is, WHERE is the $$$ going to come from to fix your neighborhood infra-structure once it goes...”poooooofff? unsure.gif
You really don't have a clue as to the infrastruture of my neighborhood though, do you. If you did, you'd know that the biggest problem is the city and county spending too much on it. But then I know that because I live here, I read the budgets and see the maintanence and I''m an engineer. And I also spend 5 years as an elected director on the board of a wastewater district. I paid my dues looking at sewers, treatment plants and settling ponds. They were kept in compliance with the strictest pollution laws in the *world*.
Speaking of “entertainment”, those guys running your TV & Music in Hollywood even want to sue you now for playing music in public! And you’ve ALREADY PAID for it!! sad.gif
Excuse me, but maybe people have lost their minds in accepting what I’m reading about? It’s costing apparently $4.000 US dollars a SECOND to play war games in Iraq. Look around and think about it. Everyone I know is wondering “who’s in charge”??
It's all just a passing money grab. The internet will eventually even it all out. Right now the pigopolists are taking their last final shot for the cash before their sandcastles wash away.
Imagine how things are going to look 10 years down the road!! That may be a thought too far...for some?
No worse than 10 years after Vietnam. You being French, you must remember Vietnam, right? Battle of diem bien phu and all. How about Algiers, remember that?
God Bless America, soon available in Spanish! confused.gif
I like my Hispanic friends better than any French I've met. I'll keep them.
One thing I love about my morning tea, is reading the latest entertaining news, mostly US events, which Drudge reports on overnight. The second most entertaining is having fun with my brothers and sisters in Christ on gs. Today, you are my favorite guy!
Jim, you may be your local sewage inspector, and I appreciate that the pipes are all up & running to government standards in your neighborhood! I do construction engineering of houses, renovation work, etc., but I try and stay away from that area!
And you may have a hard time reading my bad English due to my terrible French accent, ah oui? But Lafayette did come and save General Washington’s foot from defeat at Valley Forge, right? And I don’t think VietNam worked out any better for America than for the French? N’est ce pas?? So pulling the old war torn history card out is a bit...how voold ve say en France, ...“stu’pid? <_<
Mon ami, maybe the best thing about gs, is people can hide behind their avatar’s on the internet and be whoever the Walter Middy character they want to be? Certainly that would have probably been a useful alternative for you and others who got lost so long in the cult corridors of the Way. (btw.,how many years were you in those “sewers” anyway?)
Finally, I'm happy you found true friendship from those latino guys “vacationing” in America! I think they will be around for awhile...n’est ce pas?? Bon Weekend.
I forgot to add...this thread was laid out to be a discussion on US infra-structure, whether bridges or bowling alleys. It might make for interesting reading if viewers pointed out areas of concern in their neighborhoods. That’s the big idea anyway.
Afterwards you can call Jim or your congressman to come an inspect the problem!
And btw, the “state of the union” infra-structure of the economy is also fair game. Even more fare when you get on the EuroTrain...did someone say vacation! <_<
However I do think it is indicative of a systemic problem where so many in our country are not willing to fund government to adequate levels, state or federal.
I agree the problem is systemic, but I do not believe governments are under funded, certainly not at the federal level. The problem is allocation, and that is a political problem at its worst. Funds are allocated according to political whim. A month of Iraq war funding would solve a good deal of our infrastructure problems. A year would solve them all.
Louisiana just had a historic legislative session wherein the huge windfall of tax money & federal billions in the wake of Katrina was at stake. The governor vetoed the roads & bridges allocations. This, in a state with the worst roads in the nation. Instead, we hired 1300 new state employees (we're already in the top 5 of state workers per capita) and gave huge raises to the rest.
I agree the problem is systemic, but I do not believe governments are under funded, certainly not at the federal level. The problem is allocation, and that is a political problem at its worst. Funds are allocated according to political whim. A month of Iraq war funding would solve a good deal of our infrastructure problems. A year would solve them all.
I have to say "amen, amen, amen!" to everything you've said here, especially the last sentence.
It's all about priorities, and politicians clearly don't have theirs straight. We need some Mr. Smiths to go to Washington in the 21st century!!
Locally, my city's government spent tons of money on new high-end faux-trolley buses for the city-center routes (replacing our perfectly good but not nearly so cute "loop" buses). Meanwhile, the streets they roll over are so full of potholes there isn't enough swerving one can do to miss them all. The trolleys are charming, and I understand the desire to upgrade the city's "image," but first things first would be wiser. And that's just one example.
Louisiana just had a historic legislative session wherein the huge windfall of tax money & federal billions in the wake of Katrina was at stake. The governor vetoed the roads & bridges allocations. This, in a state with the worst roads in the nation. Instead, we hired 1300 new state employees (we're already in the top 5 of state workers per capita) and gave huge raises to the rest.
Given Louisiana's record, I'm surprised they were allowed to do that. It seems the money would have been restricted in some ways. Sad to see so much fed money thrown to those dogs.
I think they should make some of those neighborhoods that are 8' below sea level into parks or something, but I know a lot of people are moving back in. I'd think they'd need that fed money for rebuilding much of that infrastructure. But maybe after the flooding the streets are MORE level.
I can't drive to work without driving over one of those old bridges. If I were Catholic, I'd be hanging on tight to my St. Christopher medal every time.
Linda - LOL
I read this on an internet Christian news site.
Woman Survives Over 60 Foot Drop in Bridge Collapse—"When I said 'Jesus' I felt like He took over and took care of me"
I wanted to point out for some who thinks that this was just a bridge that this is a bridge of many bridges that they are finding out are about ready to go here in Minnesota.
And too its not only affected all of us with this tragedy it has also affected the shipping industry. We can't get the ships down the Mississippi. Its stopped to a standstill. We do a lot of business here on the Mississippi.
So not only the tragedy of lost lives, but also other bridges are about ready to go, and our shipping is at a standstill.
Now our wonderful governer wants to put a gas tax on us Minnesotans to pay for the bridge. I would rather have tax on cigarettes or alcohol. Not more on gas!!!!
I agree the problem is systemic, but I do not believe governments are under funded, certainly not at the federal level. The problem is allocation, and that is a political problem at its worst. Funds are allocated according to political whim. A month of Iraq war funding would solve a good deal of our infrastructure problems. A year would solve them all.
(snipped.....)
That's why people scream about big gov.
no argument from me, that is why I also said in the same post, IIRC, something to the effect of "and the politicians need to be honest and do the right thing by us taxpayers".
although I think for the most part, the war is being funded on the back of a deficit, not from the taxes collected during the course of the war. Is that correct? So funding rebuilds of infrastructure is hard on the "pay-go" system.
There is now a question of how the bridge was loaded with resurfacing materials. Levee work in New Orleans was found to be sub par ... not surprise considering how money is dished out down there ... and maybe that is how it works everywhere.
It will be interesting to look at the connections the bridge repair company had to the politicians. Loading up a structure with known weakness seems irresponsible. Removing part of the deck would reduce stiffness ... then load it up ... was this the most responsible contractor? Or did some senator throw his cronies millions?
Newt is pretty good on getting the bridge replaced quickly, rather than turning this into "Hillary Care for bridges" (from redstate) ...
... some in Minnesota are calling not for unleashing American ingenuity but instead for more taxes to feed the same failing bureaucracies. Their answer is to further punish Minneapolis drivers by raising the gasoline tax. This knee-jerk reaction is precisely what happens when the right lacks an effective vocabulary of solutions to compete with left-wing tax-and-spend policies.
Raising taxes to spend on bureaucracies -- which in all three cases were the main impediment to a safe, efficient and speedy rebuilding effort in the first place -- is exactly the wrong answer.
He gives examples from CA earthquakes, one where the job was done in 2 months rather than the projected 2 years plus.
Bumpy was hoping for discussion - here's my input although I suspect lots of noise about it. Most of you will hate the idea, I think.
I love this country, I think it's still the greatest place on earth to live. Everyone in the world should be patriotic to their country but I have a passion for mine! There's plenty wrong in plenty of places. Therefore......
A corner of my brain wonders if we haven't become too big for our britches. Not too big in government....too bit a country. We occupy a significant land area and have a reasonably significant number of people, and a greater than average diversity compared with other nations of the world as far as I understand. M-a-y-b-e we are just a little too much on the other side of what CAN be reasonably governed by our REPUBLICAN means....I don't mean the political party, I mean the system.
We have to change the system - - sorry RI you don't get the same 2 senators that CA does. That makes it more of a democracy. See, we SAY we are a democratic society but in reality we are NOT - that's what I find frustrating. So when elections come...the electoral votes do correctly elect the president, but maybe that's not the right way to do it now at our size and level of diversity.
OR - we could divide up the land into 2 or more geographic areas and lit folk move to live where they want.
Either way we go with the above we are going to lose something that makes us Americans
I do agree that much of our infrastructure needs restructuring...it's bad. In all of our major cities, there are so many homes which have barely the electrical service they should since they were built so long ago and today's electrical use has grown monumentally. I get NYC 's TV news and almost every day there is a building collapse in Manhattan or a building facade falls or some thing of the sort. The subway is dangerous when a heavy rain drips through and the workers place buckets under them....three or more floors down. There are at least 2 levels of trains through much of Manhattan and some of other boroughs as well.
I don't know about L.A., or Seattle, or Chicago - - but Boston has many of NYC's problems and "the Big Dig as well".
---------------------------------------------
So much of this depends on your perspective. I think there is no one right answer at this point. I think you are both right within the areas you've talked about, but there is so much more to the picture.
Krysilis, that was a nice posting and I think patriotism has a place for everyone, especially when your team is playing.
Society for me appears to be changing very quickly in the good ol’ USA, from that nice white leave it to beaver world, to the nice not so white multi-cultural world of what some call the melting pot. It may be a little like the plates shifting underground ready to cause the next terramoto. Some are more accepting than others at the handling of the process!
If present day infra-structure & economy, crime, prison statistics, etc., etc., of the USA is any indication of multi-cultural advantages, there might be a big problem supporting immigration policies from the last 50+ years? One can throw this ball around in hundreds of directions depending of course on whose cause you support. For me the issue comes down to whether laws on human behavior can be enforced and if they can’t what will be the result?
My feeling, America is headed towards eventual civil war. I would bet on it happening within the next 5 years. Here in Europe for the most part there is a center focus of history and cultural identity. It’s a little like glue which keeps the social fabric together. America does not have that cohesiveness. The streets of business and of main street life seem to be designed for individuals to pursue whatever levels of greed and uncivilized lying behavior they like. There is no more social order, than there is political order of enforcing the law.
When you drive down a city street, do you feel the people outside your locked doors are your fellow Americans? Do you feel comfortable looking strangers in the eye and saying hello? I listen to the ladies posting. Bang bang, you’re dead! It doesn't look so good... <_<
Society for me appears to be changing very quickly in the good ol’ USA, from that nice white leave it to beaver world, to the nice not so white multi-cultural world of what some call the melting pot. It may be a little like the plates shifting underground ready to cause the next terramoto. Some are more accepting than others at the handling of the process!
The "white" part is very telling. Within your life, there has always been diversity. Blacks have been in this land for centuries, natives have been here even longer (this includes latinos that are either native americans or mixed with Europeans), the Chinese have been here for many years, and other groups have come and eventually integrated after much strife like what we are seeing now with immigrants.
However, what is fairly new is that non-whites are not restricted and oppressed to the same level as in the past. Most older whites grew up in segregated neighborhoods, now anyone can move anywhere as long as they can afford it.
If present day infra-structure & economy, crime, prison statistics, etc., etc., of the USA is any indication of multi-cultural advantages, there might be a big problem supporting immigration policies from the last 50+ years? One can throw this ball around in hundreds of directions depending of course on whose cause you support. For me the issue comes down to whether laws on human behavior can be enforced and if they can’t what will be the result?
Our current problems have nothing to do with multi-culturalism and everything to do with greed. Crime is related to poverty, not culture. Poverty mostly exists because the rich upper class has an advantage over the poor and middle classes in the U.S., and they put a barrier in our way to prevent most people from being able to live the American dream. Somebody needs to do the work that the rich people don't want to (yet they want to profit off of us), so someone has to be pushed down. It used to be that blacks were forced into this permanent underclass, but in the post-civil war era that became blacks and immigrants. Now more and more black people are living poor and ending up in prison for non-violent things like smoking pot, which makes even more money for the rich.
There's a reason we have the highest percentage of people in prison than any other first world nation, and there's a reason we spend more money on our military than all the other nations in the world combined. It's not for our safety as we are lead to believe, it's to make some rich guys even richer. It's all a money-making scheme that we the taxpayers end up footing the bill for. Whether it's $2,000 hammers, new prison factories, Halliburton's no-bid contracts for Iraq and the millions that just disappear from their pockets, or a "Star Wars" missle defense program that does not work and is designed for an enemy that doesn't even exist, our tax dollars are being spent for no other reason than to make money for the wealthy that run the big corporations. We shouldn't be surprised that Bush was in the pocket of Enron, Cheney in the pocket of Halliburton, most of the members of both parties in the pockets of companies like Boeing and Lockheed Martin, etc. This is what our "democracy" has devolved to.
My feeling, America is headed towards eventual civil war. I would bet on it happening within the next 5 years. Here in Europe for the most part there is a center focus of history and cultural identity. It’s a little like glue which keeps the social fabric together. America does not have that cohesiveness. The streets of business and of main street life seem to be designed for individuals to pursue whatever levels of greed and uncivilized lying behavior they like. There is no more social order, than there is political order of enforcing the law.
I don't see a civil war, but our nation is in the process of collapsing. If history is any guide, we will not collapse and go into a civil war, we'll be overtaken by an outside force, perhaps China. In fact, China is threatening to sell off our debt, which would easily cause an economic recession if not a full on depression. The dollar has been fading fast and is not a very good currency anymore compared to things like the Euro. The Chinese are smart in that they bought up over a trillion dollars of our debt and can cash it in at any moment to destroy our country financially, without needing to take on our military.
I do agree with you about the cult of individuality becoming one of greed and selfishness. Individualism should be balanced with taking care of family, society, nation, humanity, and the planet. We can't just say, "screw you all, I've got mine" and expect things to continue to be ok.
When you drive down a city street, do you feel the people outside your locked doors are your fellow Americans? Do you feel comfortable looking strangers in the eye and saying hello? I listen to the ladies posting. Bang bang, you’re dead! It doesn't look so good... <_<
I live in a neighborhood full of middle class families. I only know one of my neighbors by name, and that's because they needed to temporarily use part of my yard to get a machine through to have a swimming pool put in their back yard. I have plenty of neighbors that look like nice people, but I've never talked to them, nor them to me. When out in public, everyone spends time on their cellphones when they are alone because they don't want to deal with the outside public. It's like we are raised to never talk to strangers as kids and we end up staying afraid of people we don't know throughout our whole lives as a result.
Anyway bumpy you're getting me to rant in many directions so I should stop now. I don't need to point out what all is wrong with the world because everyone already knows that things are wrong.
Mister-P - - you are a knowledgeable person. Bumpy was talking about infra-structure....why not rhink again and add some comments!
Anyway bumpy you're getting me to rant in many directions so I should stop now. I don't need to point out what all is wrong with the world because everyone already knows that things are wrong
Please??? I would like to hear your thoughts on this.
Mister-P - - you are a knowledgeable person. Bumpy was talking about infra-structure....why not rhink again and add some comments!
Anyway bumpy you're getting me to rant in many directions so I should stop now. I don't need to point out what all is wrong with the world because everyone already knows that things are wrong
Please??? I would like to hear your thoughts on this.
Sorry, it is all related but I didn't write my full thoughts. It's still early, and it was even earlier when I started my original post.
We have the money to fix and expand our infrastructure without raising taxes. It's called getting our spending priorities straight. We spent about $67.2 billion on Iraq in 2005. On infrastructure, we spend an average of $59.4 billion per year, but the ASCE says we should be spending $94 billion. We could easily take part of the funds for Iraq and divert it to maintain our infrastructure, and it would actually make more money in the long run because it could reduce traffic which would save time, gas costs, maintenance costs, etc. which would filter through to the entire economy. Shipping costs due to oil prices have directly affected the costs of things like food. It would become a win-win-win situation because 1) we'd be out of Bush's Iraq fiasco, 2) we'd have safe infrastructure, and 3) business would benefit. We just need to refocus our attention from destroying other nations so Bush, Cheney, and their friends can profit to taking care of our own nation for the good of all Americans.
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Jim
You live in France, or is it Africa so why do you even care?
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Bumpy
If it makes it any easier, think of French West Africa! Why, because it’s so entertaining. Look at politics (any pork you want or any lobbyist), politicians (pick one just for fun and tell me if you’d want him as a neighbor?), the legal system (who isn’t suing, & who is enforcing (immigration) LAWS??), Wall Street (who isn’t gaming the system?), media (who’s in charge of programming your brain?), the food you eat (what does “processed” really mean?, national security (that’s too crazy to even think about!)...
This could go on all night! The country appears to be superman on steroids blasting off into outer space a little tipsy!
One thing you should be asking is, WHERE is the $$$ going to come from to fix your neighborhood infra-structure once it goes...”poooooofff? :unsure:
Speaking of “entertainment”, those guys running your TV & Music in Hollywood even want to sue you now for playing music in public! And you’ve ALREADY PAID for it!! :(
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/busi..._royalty01.html
Excuse me, but maybe people have lost their minds in accepting what I’m reading about? It’s costing apparently $4.000 US dollars a SECOND to play war games in Iraq. Look around and think about it. Everyone I know is wondering “who’s in charge”??
Imagine how things are going to look 10 years down the road!! That may be a thought too far...for some?
God Bless America, soon available in Spanish!
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Jim
You don't think we'd want to go into outer space sober do you? Not even our astronauts do that.
You really don't have a clue as to the infrastruture of my neighborhood though, do you. If you did, you'd know that the biggest problem is the city and county spending too much on it. But then I know that because I live here, I read the budgets and see the maintanence and I''m an engineer. And I also spend 5 years as an elected director on the board of a wastewater district. I paid my dues looking at sewers, treatment plants and settling ponds. They were kept in compliance with the strictest pollution laws in the *world*.It's all just a passing money grab. The internet will eventually even it all out. Right now the pigopolists are taking their last final shot for the cash before their sandcastles wash away.
No worse than 10 years after Vietnam. You being French, you must remember Vietnam, right? Battle of diem bien phu and all. How about Algiers, remember that?I like my Hispanic friends better than any French I've met. I'll keep them.
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Bumpy
Dear Jim,
One thing I love about my morning tea, is reading the latest entertaining news, mostly US events, which Drudge reports on overnight. The second most entertaining is having fun with my brothers and sisters in Christ on gs. Today, you are my favorite guy!
Jim, you may be your local sewage inspector, and I appreciate that the pipes are all up & running to government standards in your neighborhood! I do construction engineering of houses, renovation work, etc., but I try and stay away from that area!
And you may have a hard time reading my bad English due to my terrible French accent, ah oui? But Lafayette did come and save General Washington’s foot from defeat at Valley Forge, right? And I don’t think VietNam worked out any better for America than for the French? N’est ce pas?? So pulling the old war torn history card out is a bit...how voold ve say en France, ...“stu’pid? <_<
Mon ami, maybe the best thing about gs, is people can hide behind their avatar’s on the internet and be whoever the Walter Middy character they want to be? Certainly that would have probably been a useful alternative for you and others who got lost so long in the cult corridors of the Way. (btw.,how many years were you in those “sewers” anyway?)
Finally, I'm happy you found true friendship from those latino guys “vacationing” in America! I think they will be around for awhile...n’est ce pas??
Bon Weekend.
Bump
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Bumpy
I forgot to add...this thread was laid out to be a discussion on US infra-structure, whether bridges or bowling alleys. It might make for interesting reading if viewers pointed out areas of concern in their neighborhoods. That’s the big idea anyway.
Afterwards you can call Jim or your congressman to come an inspect the problem!
And btw, the “state of the union” infra-structure of the economy is also fair game. Even more fare when you get on the EuroTrain...did someone say vacation! <_<
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TheEvan
I agree the problem is systemic, but I do not believe governments are under funded, certainly not at the federal level. The problem is allocation, and that is a political problem at its worst. Funds are allocated according to political whim. A month of Iraq war funding would solve a good deal of our infrastructure problems. A year would solve them all.
Louisiana just had a historic legislative session wherein the huge windfall of tax money & federal billions in the wake of Katrina was at stake. The governor vetoed the roads & bridges allocations. This, in a state with the worst roads in the nation. Instead, we hired 1300 new state employees (we're already in the top 5 of state workers per capita) and gave huge raises to the rest.
That's why people scream about big gov.
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Linda Z
I have to say "amen, amen, amen!" to everything you've said here, especially the last sentence.
It's all about priorities, and politicians clearly don't have theirs straight. We need some Mr. Smiths to go to Washington in the 21st century!!
Locally, my city's government spent tons of money on new high-end faux-trolley buses for the city-center routes (replacing our perfectly good but not nearly so cute "loop" buses). Meanwhile, the streets they roll over are so full of potholes there isn't enough swerving one can do to miss them all. The trolleys are charming, and I understand the desire to upgrade the city's "image," but first things first would be wiser. And that's just one example.
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rhino
Given Louisiana's record, I'm surprised they were allowed to do that. It seems the money would have been restricted in some ways. Sad to see so much fed money thrown to those dogs.
I think they should make some of those neighborhoods that are 8' below sea level into parks or something, but I know a lot of people are moving back in. I'd think they'd need that fed money for rebuilding much of that infrastructure. But maybe after the flooding the streets are MORE level.
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wrdsandwrks
Linda - LOL
I read this on an internet Christian news site.
Woman Survives Over 60 Foot Drop in Bridge Collapse—"When I said 'Jesus' I felt like He took over and took care of me"
Here's the link:
http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/artic...rt.html?ID=4280
(edited to remove double link)
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vickles
I wanted to point out for some who thinks that this was just a bridge that this is a bridge of many bridges that they are finding out are about ready to go here in Minnesota.
And too its not only affected all of us with this tragedy it has also affected the shipping industry. We can't get the ships down the Mississippi. Its stopped to a standstill. We do a lot of business here on the Mississippi.
So not only the tragedy of lost lives, but also other bridges are about ready to go, and our shipping is at a standstill.
Now our wonderful governer wants to put a gas tax on us Minnesotans to pay for the bridge. I would rather have tax on cigarettes or alcohol. Not more on gas!!!!
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HAPe4me
no argument from me, that is why I also said in the same post, IIRC, something to the effect of "and the politicians need to be honest and do the right thing by us taxpayers".
although I think for the most part, the war is being funded on the back of a deficit, not from the taxes collected during the course of the war. Is that correct? So funding rebuilds of infrastructure is hard on the "pay-go" system.
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rhino
There is now a question of how the bridge was loaded with resurfacing materials. Levee work in New Orleans was found to be sub par ... not surprise considering how money is dished out down there ... and maybe that is how it works everywhere.
It will be interesting to look at the connections the bridge repair company had to the politicians. Loading up a structure with known weakness seems irresponsible. Removing part of the deck would reduce stiffness ... then load it up ... was this the most responsible contractor? Or did some senator throw his cronies millions?
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rhino
Newt is pretty good on getting the bridge replaced quickly, rather than turning this into "Hillary Care for bridges" (from redstate) ...
He gives examples from CA earthquakes, one where the job was done in 2 months rather than the projected 2 years plus.
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Bumpy
Nice Post on Newt Mr. Rhino...hows about this one...?
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rhino
Thanks, O Bumpy One ... :)
Yeah, I listened to a bunch of those by Newt ... he should be the next president. How refreshing to hear someone so clear and informed on topics.
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Bumpy
For that exact reason, he won't be!
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rhino
heh ... you are probably correct... So 42 people were using one SS# ... yikes ... and we want more of that bureaucracy?Here is that video ...
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krys
Bumpy was hoping for discussion - here's my input although I suspect lots of noise about it. Most of you will hate the idea, I think.
I love this country, I think it's still the greatest place on earth to live. Everyone in the world should be patriotic to their country but I have a passion for mine! There's plenty wrong in plenty of places. Therefore......
A corner of my brain wonders if we haven't become too big for our britches. Not too big in government....too bit a country. We occupy a significant land area and have a reasonably significant number of people, and a greater than average diversity compared with other nations of the world as far as I understand. M-a-y-b-e we are just a little too much on the other side of what CAN be reasonably governed by our REPUBLICAN means....I don't mean the political party, I mean the system.
We have to change the system - - sorry RI you don't get the same 2 senators that CA does. That makes it more of a democracy. See, we SAY we are a democratic society but in reality we are NOT - that's what I find frustrating. So when elections come...the electoral votes do correctly elect the president, but maybe that's not the right way to do it now at our size and level of diversity.
OR - we could divide up the land into 2 or more geographic areas and lit folk move to live where they want.
Either way we go with the above we are going to lose something that makes us Americans
I do agree that much of our infrastructure needs restructuring...it's bad. In all of our major cities, there are so many homes which have barely the electrical service they should since they were built so long ago and today's electrical use has grown monumentally. I get NYC 's TV news and almost every day there is a building collapse in Manhattan or a building facade falls or some thing of the sort. The subway is dangerous when a heavy rain drips through and the workers place buckets under them....three or more floors down. There are at least 2 levels of trains through much of Manhattan and some of other boroughs as well.
I don't know about L.A., or Seattle, or Chicago - - but Boston has many of NYC's problems and "the Big Dig as well".
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So much of this depends on your perspective. I think there is no one right answer at this point. I think you are both right within the areas you've talked about, but there is so much more to the picture.
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Bumpy
Krysilis, that was a nice posting and I think patriotism has a place for everyone, especially when your team is playing.
Society for me appears to be changing very quickly in the good ol’ USA, from that nice white leave it to beaver world, to the nice not so white multi-cultural world of what some call the melting pot. It may be a little like the plates shifting underground ready to cause the next terramoto. Some are more accepting than others at the handling of the process!
If present day infra-structure & economy, crime, prison statistics, etc., etc., of the USA is any indication of multi-cultural advantages, there might be a big problem supporting immigration policies from the last 50+ years? One can throw this ball around in hundreds of directions depending of course on whose cause you support. For me the issue comes down to whether laws on human behavior can be enforced and if they can’t what will be the result?
My feeling, America is headed towards eventual civil war. I would bet on it happening within the next 5 years. Here in Europe for the most part there is a center focus of history and cultural identity. It’s a little like glue which keeps the social fabric together. America does not have that cohesiveness. The streets of business and of main street life seem to be designed for individuals to pursue whatever levels of greed and uncivilized lying behavior they like. There is no more social order, than there is political order of enforcing the law.
When you drive down a city street, do you feel the people outside your locked doors are your fellow Americans? Do you feel comfortable looking strangers in the eye and saying hello? I listen to the ladies posting. Bang bang, you’re dead! It doesn't look so good... <_<
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/09/us/09cen...agewanted=print
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Mister P-Mosh
The "white" part is very telling. Within your life, there has always been diversity. Blacks have been in this land for centuries, natives have been here even longer (this includes latinos that are either native americans or mixed with Europeans), the Chinese have been here for many years, and other groups have come and eventually integrated after much strife like what we are seeing now with immigrants.
However, what is fairly new is that non-whites are not restricted and oppressed to the same level as in the past. Most older whites grew up in segregated neighborhoods, now anyone can move anywhere as long as they can afford it.
Our current problems have nothing to do with multi-culturalism and everything to do with greed. Crime is related to poverty, not culture. Poverty mostly exists because the rich upper class has an advantage over the poor and middle classes in the U.S., and they put a barrier in our way to prevent most people from being able to live the American dream. Somebody needs to do the work that the rich people don't want to (yet they want to profit off of us), so someone has to be pushed down. It used to be that blacks were forced into this permanent underclass, but in the post-civil war era that became blacks and immigrants. Now more and more black people are living poor and ending up in prison for non-violent things like smoking pot, which makes even more money for the rich.
There's a reason we have the highest percentage of people in prison than any other first world nation, and there's a reason we spend more money on our military than all the other nations in the world combined. It's not for our safety as we are lead to believe, it's to make some rich guys even richer. It's all a money-making scheme that we the taxpayers end up footing the bill for. Whether it's $2,000 hammers, new prison factories, Halliburton's no-bid contracts for Iraq and the millions that just disappear from their pockets, or a "Star Wars" missle defense program that does not work and is designed for an enemy that doesn't even exist, our tax dollars are being spent for no other reason than to make money for the wealthy that run the big corporations. We shouldn't be surprised that Bush was in the pocket of Enron, Cheney in the pocket of Halliburton, most of the members of both parties in the pockets of companies like Boeing and Lockheed Martin, etc. This is what our "democracy" has devolved to.
I don't see a civil war, but our nation is in the process of collapsing. If history is any guide, we will not collapse and go into a civil war, we'll be overtaken by an outside force, perhaps China. In fact, China is threatening to sell off our debt, which would easily cause an economic recession if not a full on depression. The dollar has been fading fast and is not a very good currency anymore compared to things like the Euro. The Chinese are smart in that they bought up over a trillion dollars of our debt and can cash it in at any moment to destroy our country financially, without needing to take on our military.
I do agree with you about the cult of individuality becoming one of greed and selfishness. Individualism should be balanced with taking care of family, society, nation, humanity, and the planet. We can't just say, "screw you all, I've got mine" and expect things to continue to be ok.
I live in a neighborhood full of middle class families. I only know one of my neighbors by name, and that's because they needed to temporarily use part of my yard to get a machine through to have a swimming pool put in their back yard. I have plenty of neighbors that look like nice people, but I've never talked to them, nor them to me. When out in public, everyone spends time on their cellphones when they are alone because they don't want to deal with the outside public. It's like we are raised to never talk to strangers as kids and we end up staying afraid of people we don't know throughout our whole lives as a result.
Anyway bumpy you're getting me to rant in many directions so I should stop now. I don't need to point out what all is wrong with the world because everyone already knows that things are wrong.
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krys
Mister-P - - you are a knowledgeable person. Bumpy was talking about infra-structure....why not rhink again and add some comments!
Please??? I would like to hear your thoughts on this.
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Mister P-Mosh
Sorry, it is all related but I didn't write my full thoughts. It's still early, and it was even earlier when I started my original post.
We have the money to fix and expand our infrastructure without raising taxes. It's called getting our spending priorities straight. We spent about $67.2 billion on Iraq in 2005. On infrastructure, we spend an average of $59.4 billion per year, but the ASCE says we should be spending $94 billion. We could easily take part of the funds for Iraq and divert it to maintain our infrastructure, and it would actually make more money in the long run because it could reduce traffic which would save time, gas costs, maintenance costs, etc. which would filter through to the entire economy. Shipping costs due to oil prices have directly affected the costs of things like food. It would become a win-win-win situation because 1) we'd be out of Bush's Iraq fiasco, 2) we'd have safe infrastructure, and 3) business would benefit. We just need to refocus our attention from destroying other nations so Bush, Cheney, and their friends can profit to taking care of our own nation for the good of all Americans.
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