OT: Welfare German style

gwhite said:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/01/30/wgerm30.xml

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The state can solve all our problems. Just raise taxes. No big

deal.

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From personal experience I have absolutely nothing good to say about

this German government. There's their performance, but part of that is
inherited problems. Look up Joschka Fischer here's a start:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1107628.stm
He was firmly linked to the Red Army Faction and was involved in their
activities but in the reaction to the corruption in the Kohl
administration and the failure to integrate the former East Germany
this is no surprise.
German politics are incredibly complicated compared to ours here in
the US. They are trying to integrate what is basically a seperate
country that was trapped in the 1940s and had no environmental
controls. Some of the worlds most polluted industrial sites are in
Saxony. The German psyche is a mess and totally conflicted from ww2 and
growing out of it.
I love Germany, I consider it my second home and miss the hell out of
living there. My family is from Bavaria and Saxony by way of Austria
but I hate what's happening there today. The whole culture is being
pushed into the Wal-Mart shift. That is so incredibly sad for so many
reasons that only the Europeans here could understand. Americans have
no clue what we are losing in Europe, and we were the driving force
behind it.
France regularly pisses me off, but I can't fault them for attempting
to protect their culture even though I think it's going to be futile in
the end to all our loss.
Bill C

Donald Munro said:

Bill C said:

France regularly pisses me off, but I can't fault them for

attempting

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to protect their culture even though I think it's going to be

futile in

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the end to all our loss.

If Bush and his neo-conservative pals keep on making enemies in
Europe, the final irony may be that boy george's lasting legacy will

be

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perpetuation of French and Europeann culture.

Old Europe may well survive W very nicely indeed. However, do you
think it will survive Islam as easily?

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Donald Munro said:

Bill C said:

France regularly pisses me off, but I can't fault them for

attempting

Quoted message said:

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to protect their culture even though I think it's going to be

futile in

Quoted message said:

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the end to all our loss.

If Bush and his neo-conservative pals keep on making enemies in
Europe, the final irony may be that boy george's lasting legacy will

be

Quoted message said:

perpetuation of French and Europeann culture.

Old Europe may well survive W very nicely indeed. However, do you
think it will survive Islam as easily?

I guess you aren't in the pool yet. The bet is first European jurisdiction
subject to Sharia law. I'm betting some region of Denmark.

Ron

Bill C said:

gwhite said:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/01/30/wgerm30.xml

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The state can solve all our problems.
Just raise taxes. No big deal.

Quoted message said:

.... My family is from Bavaria and Saxony by way of Austria
but I hate what's happening there today. The whole culture is being
pushed into the Wal-Mart shift. That is so incredibly sad for so many
reasons that only the Europeans here could understand. Americans have
no clue what we are losing in Europe, and we were the driving force
behind it.
France regularly pisses me off, but I can't fault them for

attempting

Quoted message said:

to protect their culture even though I think it's going to be futile

in

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the end to all our loss.

No arguments, but hey, you and gwhite should look at how the dollar
is doing against the euro these days. If it keeps up, we are going
to be begging the French and Germans for welfare European style
eventually.

On the bright side, the weak dollar means that none of us can afford
to visit Europe, so we won't have to see the ravage that big-box
store culture is wreaking upon their traditions.

Ben

Quoted message said:

No arguments, but hey, you and gwhite should look at how the dollar
is doing against the euro these days. If it keeps up, we are going
to be begging the French and Germans for welfare European style
eventually.

On the bright side, the weak dollar means that none of us can afford
to visit Europe, so we won't have to see the ravage that big-box
store culture is wreaking upon their traditions.

Dumbass -

It's easy to blame the big box stores for a loss in culture. It happens
all the time here w/ anti-Wal_mart.

The thing that most people don't realize is that it's not the fault of
the big box stores. They're simply taking the path of maximizing
profit. The "fault" lies with the customers. If the customers really
valued the small store experience, they'd speak with their pocketbook
and still shop at the small stores. The marketplace speaks.

BTW, American corporations are not the only purveyors of the bix box
experience. See: IKEA.

thanks,

K. Gringioni.

email hidden said:

On the bright side, the weak dollar means that none of us can afford
to visit Europe, so we won't have to see the ravage that big-box
store culture is wreaking upon their traditions.

Forr the record, the first big box store chain was French. And they
carry stuff for everyone from the subsidized farmer working with 19th
century tools to the apartment owner in Paris.

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...

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No arguments, but hey, you and gwhite should look at how the dollar
is doing against the euro these days. If it keeps up, we are going
to be begging the French and Germans for welfare European style
eventually.

I perceive you saying you will soon be Brian Lafferty's man-[censored]. He's trying
to screw everyone; you must know that.

gwhite said:

Quoted post said:

No arguments, but hey, you and gwhite should look at how the dollar
is doing against the euro these days. If it keeps up, we are going
to be begging the French and Germans for welfare European style
eventually.

I perceive you saying you will soon be Brian Lafferty's man-[censored].

He's trying

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to screw everyone; you must know that.

Even Brian doesn't have the ability to bring down the exchange
rate and wreck the economy single-handedly. I'm just pointing
out that after our post-industrial economy tanks, we may be
reliant on Euro and Japanese tourism mostly. And in some
countries that leads to sex tourism. Given the expanding size of
the American population, I hope they like Fatties.

On 6 Feb 2005 10:28:18 -0800, "[email hidden]" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

gwhite said:

Quoted post said:

No arguments, but hey, you and gwhite should look at how the dollar
is doing against the euro these days. If it keeps up, we are going
to be begging the French and Germans for welfare European style
eventually.

I perceive you saying you will soon be Brian Lafferty's man-[censored].

He's trying

Quoted message said:

to screw everyone; you must know that.

Even Brian doesn't have the ability to bring down the exchange
rate and wreck the economy single-handedly. I'm just pointing
out that after our post-industrial economy tanks, we may be
reliant on Euro and Japanese tourism mostly. And in some
countries that leads to sex tourism. Given the expanding size of
the American population, I hope they like Fatties.

Europe with double our unemployment rate is going to send tourists here!?!?!?

It's one thing to complain that the economy is not what you might have hoped
(though it'd take a utopian dreamer to find much fault even there). But
comparisons have to be made eyes open and obviously you don't have a clue.

Ron

RonSonic" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

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On 6 Feb 2005 10:28:18 -0800, "[email hidden]"
<[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

gwhite said:

"[email hidden]" wrote:
> No arguments, but hey, you and gwhite should look at how the dollar
> is doing against the euro these days. If it keeps up, we are going
> to be begging the French and Germans for welfare European style
> eventually.

I perceive you saying you will soon be Brian Lafferty's man-[censored].

He's trying

Quoted message said:

to screw everyone; you must know that.

Even Brian doesn't have the ability to bring down the exchange
rate and wreck the economy single-handedly. I'm just pointing
out that after our post-industrial economy tanks, we may be
reliant on Euro and Japanese tourism mostly. And in some
countries that leads to sex tourism. Given the expanding size of
the American population, I hope they like Fatties.

Europe with double our unemployment rate is going to send tourists
here!?!?!?

It's one thing to complain that the economy is not what you might have
hoped
(though it'd take a utopian dreamer to find much fault even there). But
comparisons have to be made eyes open and obviously you don't have a clue.

You have to forgive those who can't read the real information from the net.

For instance, I was listening to one of those jerkoff news shows in TV after
my ride and they claimed that the SS funds still would still be viable in
2052.

Where did he get that number? From a congressional office.

Why wouldn't that be a good place to get the correct numbers? Because
politicians are going to make EVERYTHING look rosier than it is.

Where would be a better place to pick up the numbers? From the Social
Security Trustees Reports which come from unbiased bookkeepers whose
interest is in strengthening SS and not winning votes.

Bill Clinton use the Trustees reports to tell us in 1999 State of the Union
addrress to report that Social Security would fail in 2032
(Twenty-thirty-two!!!!!!). The Democrats gave him constant applause.

Using later figures from the same source Bush said that SS would fail in
2042 and has had constant criticism and actual booing from the floor.

But by all means let's use politically biased reports instead of the real
thing to propagandize the populace. Hell, it doesn't matter to me, I'll get
everything I paid in and more. It's the next generation that's going to get
in deep doo-doo and the Democrats simply don't care.

http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TR/ Read the reports yourself. You might argue with
some of their assumptions but they are paid to fail on the conservative
side - meaning that it is better to have too strong a SS fund than too weak.

RonSonic said:

Europe with double our unemployment rate is going to send tourists

here!?!?!?

Quoted message said:

It's one thing to complain that the economy is not what you might

have hoped

Quoted message said:

(though it'd take a utopian dreamer to find much fault even there).

But

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comparisons have to be made eyes open and obviously you don't have a

clue.

Dude,

Europe already sends tourists here.

If you're going to take me seriously in rbr, which might
not be a good idea, reflect on this: It's true that European
countries mostly have higher unemployment rates than the
US. It's also true that the dollar has fallen a lot
against the euro recently and it shows no signs of stopping.
And the Asian countries that buy a lot of our bonds
(financing our deficit) are beginning to think about
whether they should put some of that money into Euros
instead. Hell, even the Rooskies are talking about
moving currency reserves out of the dollar.

On 6 Feb 2005 22:37:59 -0800, "[email hidden]" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

RonSonic said:

Europe with double our unemployment rate is going to send tourists

here!?!?!?

Quoted message said:

It's one thing to complain that the economy is not what you might

have hoped

Quoted message said:

(though it'd take a utopian dreamer to find much fault even there).

But

Quoted message said:

comparisons have to be made eyes open and obviously you don't have a

clue.

Dude,

Europe already sends tourists here.

Yes, they do. Even Ethiopia has rich people.

Quoted message said:

If you're going to take me seriously in rbr, which might
not be a good idea, reflect on this: It's true that European
countries mostly have higher unemployment rates than the
US. It's also true that the dollar has fallen a lot
against the euro recently and it shows no signs of stopping.
And the Asian countries that buy a lot of our bonds
(financing our deficit) are beginning to think about
whether they should put some of that money into Euros
instead. Hell, even the Rooskies are talking about
moving currency reserves out of the dollar.

That's an ever moving, ever changing dynamic system. Not a thing to cause panic
and certainly not something to have you believe that we'll be begging for
tourist Euros any time soon.

Ron

Kurgan Gringioni said:

It's easy to blame the big box stores for a loss in culture. It

happens

Quoted message said:

all the time here w/ anti-Wal_mart.

The thing that most people don't realize is that it's not the fault

of

Quoted message said:

the big box stores. They're simply taking the path of maximizing
profit. The "fault" lies with the customers. If the customers really
valued the small store experience, they'd speak with their pocketbook
and still shop at the small stores. The marketplace speaks.

BTW, American corporations are not the only purveyors of the bix box
experience. See: IKEA.

I was being partly facetious. You have a point about the customers,
although the big stores are frequently subsidized by localities
giving them tax breaks, and in the case of Wal-mart, by the state
picking up the bill for its uninsured workers' medical problems.
(We pay higher prices, indirectly, when they get their health care
through the county hospital's ER.) I do recognize that big box
stores are not a uniquely American thing. Hey, supermarkets are
big box stores, and you rarely see anti-supermarket activism - that
battle went away a long time ago. Of course, most supermarkets
are also somewhat less extreme than Wal-mart.

Bill originally said Wal-martization, not big box, and I think
in most people's minds Wal-martization means something more than
just big-box stores opening up. WM signifies a variety of other
things, like minimum wage jobs, firm (some say harsh) dealings
with suppliers, and really irritating commercials. All of the
big stores do these things to some extent - it's a question of
the degree it's taken to.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Europe already sends tourists here.

And they all appear to be lardassed German tourists who fling car doors open
in front of ME.

"RonSonic" <[email hidden]> schreef >

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Europe with double our unemployment rate is going to send tourists

here!?!?!?

Have you considered that tourism, like migration, also involves pull
factors?

And, do you have any idea how many people in our poor continent take
vacations abroad every single year?

Quoted post said:

Quoted message said:

If you're going to take me seriously in rbr, which might
not be a good idea,...

I can see why you would say that.

TritonRider said:

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From: "[email hidden]" [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

Bill originally said Wal-martization, not big box, and I think
in most people's minds Wal-martization means something more than
just big-box stores opening up. WM signifies a variety of other
things, like minimum wage jobs, firm (some say harsh) dealings
with suppliers, and really irritating commercials. All of the
big stores do these things to some extent - it's a question of
the degree it's taken to.

Wal-Mart in particular is increasingly using it's size and power to

increase

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it's virtual monopoly. Next projected industry to get hammered is

consumer

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electronics.

http://money.cnn.com/2005/01/26/news/fortune500/walmart_future/index.htm

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http://www.forbes.com/business/2004/11/09/cx_pp_wmtslide.html?thisSpeed=25

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000?partner=aol
Their practices and tactics are pretty reminiscent of the Robber

Barons.

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Unfortunately I don't see anybody in this administration taking any

action no

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matter how outrageous their behavior gets. Maybe giving them some

major no-bid

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contracts with a good kickback plan, but not actually doing anything

to control

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Wal-Mart driving other shops out and then jacking up the prices.
Bill C

More news on the Wally-World front. Keep an eye on this:
Updated: 02:59 PM EST
Wal-Mart Settles Charges in Child Labor Cases
World's Largest Retailer Denies Allegations, Will Pay $134,500
By SIOBHAN McDONOUGH, AP
Haven't found this anywhere but AOL so I can't provide a link but this
search was interesting:
Results 1 - 10 of about 52,000 for walmart child labor violations.
(0.25 seconds)
Bill C