US Members

[Hawanja]

I will take an Iced Half-calf Quad Venti Sugar-Free-Hazelnut Soy three sugar with whip Mocha Valencia. And please shoot me in both kneecaps afterwards.

Let me tell you all a little story about public heathcare:

A friend of mine (Chirs, he's a professional muscian who toured with Micheal Jackson in the 80s and has more money than I'll ever see in my entire life, even on TV) told me that his wife Lea had a filling that fell out. She went to the dentist, who promptly gave her a $2500 estimate for putting it back in.

She is Japanese, and instead took a trip over to Japan. The dentist there fixed it for her and apologized profusely that since she didn't have Japanese health insurance that he would have to charge her something. The cost? $20.

A question to our Japanese/Canadian/UK members: How well do doctors, nurses, dentists, people in the medical profession live in your countries? My guess is that they problably make a salary comprable to what doctors here in the U.S. make.

Now, tell me how exactly public medicine is a bad thing?

I know a lot of the members here are international travelersand have experienced life here in America and have compared it to living abroad. Let me be the first to apologise for the land of the free.

In Japan, the trains run on time. The streets are clean. You can go up to a vending machine, in the street, and buy ALCOHOL. People follow the goddammed law. You think that would ever for a second be attempted here? No way. A bunch of 14 year old kids would commando-raid that machine in five minutes.

In England you don't have to fear the cops. They are there to help you. They don't have a habit of, oh, beating the shit out of you for no reason. My dad is a cop, trust me I know what I'm talking about. When you need help in the UK, wether you're sick, or poor, or need a job, or whatever, you can get it. They don't have millions of insane people living out of cardboard boxes.

Now the question is, not what do these countries have that we don't, it's what is it that makes America so great? Why despite the crappy educational system, the non-existant saftey net, the brutal police that only care about filling up prisions, the death industry that passes for health care, what is it that makes millions of people leave their countries and come here to live?

Because, in America, if you're smart and work your ass off, you can start with nothing and make something of yourself. That aspect is the one thing that hasn't changed in 200 years.

But not everyone is an entrepanuer, some people just want to live and work and mind thier own business. And those are the people who get shafted everytime one of these rednecks takes over and acts like they own everything.

It's embarrassing to go to any other industrialized nation, see how they live, and then come back here and wonder "Why can't my country be like that?" Some people would tell me to just leave, but I don't want to leave. I love this country. I want to make it better. And that's not going to happen when all people care about is taxes, religion, and the "moral decay of society." It's bullshit.

Anyway... crazy rant is now over.



P.S. People actually order shit like the drink listed above. I work at Starbucks. You can shoot me now.

[Greatsaintlouis]

P.S. People actually order shit like the drink listed above. I work at Starbucks. You can shoot me now.

Liberal arts degree, I take it? :smt043 What I get to look forward to out of college... :die

[A. Snow]

You make some pretty broad generalizations there Hawanja. I'll tell you my reason for not wanting public healthcare like in the UK and Canada. Because I don't want to be taxed to hell so other people can have health care. It might sound cold but that is how I feel. You said it yourself "If you're smart and work your ass off, you can start with nothing and make something of yourself." and that is absolutely true. If the people who just want to live and work and mind their own business want healthcare then they need to work a little harder to get healthcare. Since when is this the country of free handout? Why do people feel they're automatically entitled to something? If the history of this country's social programs have shown us anything its that if you give people something again and again then they become lazy and expect it. Fuck that. Look at welfare as a prefect example. For years lots of people (not all but a lot) got their checks month after month and never tried to better themselves. "Just gimme my check." Finally after they enacted some welfare reform people started to get off their asses when they realized the checks weren't coming anymore.

Now I'm not saying that healthcare isn't in need of major reform. It is. Free healthcare for everyone is not the right way though. Nor am I saying that social programs are a bad thing. They cam be great give a person a break and help them out. Too much help though becomes a crutch and that's a bad thing as ahs been shown.

As for your friends story. I call bullshit on that. I don't have dental insurance and all a filling cost me is a hundred bucks. Hell I just had a root canal in July (there not as painful as people say) and all that set me back is seven hundred.

[Hawanja]

First off, the story about the root canal is not bullshit. This guy is a sucessful musician and problably a millionare to boot. ( I say "problably" becasue I haven't asked him how much money he has. But anyone who owns thier own stuido, flies out to Europe and Japan on a monthly basis, and makes a phone call to get a record deal obvisouly has some cash/connections of some sort.) Anyway, he's got some credibility.

I know several members here are from Japan. Can anyone tell us how much dental work costs?

Second, you paid "only" $700? Well, if seven hundred bucks is a drop in the bucket for you, then right on. I got a root canal in August and it cost me $650. But that is a major chunk of my paycheck (remeber, I have the shittiest job in the world.) I wish that $700 can be throw away change for me someday too.

See, what I think is the problem here is that the Right wing in this country has, wel.... I won't say "brainwashed" becasue that implies that they're some kind of X-files conspiracy monsters with remote control-brain rayguns.... let's say "convinced." The Problem is that the Right wing has "convinced" the American public that all taxes are evil.

Well, I have two things to say to that:

1) No matter who is in charge of the Government, we will all have to pay taxes.

2) Taxes, in my opinion, are only "bad" when they go towards things that you do not support, agree with, etc.

I would also like to add on that although I got the $300 Bush check two years ago I haven't seen any significant drop in my taxes at all in his first term. Just an observation.

Now, what exactly do we pay for with our taxes? The operation of the government, including roads, public works, water systems, fire, police, emergency, etc. Yes, we all need this stuff. To pay for these things benefits everyone. Other things we pay for: Bombs, invasion of forgien countries, the army, prisions that execute people, etc. We need these things, even though in some part they cause the suffering of ours and other peoples when misused.

So far, so good. The public trust is secure.

But there are other things we pay for that don't benefit the public at all, in the slightest, like say:

- Subsidising private corporations that turn around and lay people off anyway (like say American Airlines)

- "Bribes" in forgien aid to other countries to get them to agree with American military policy ( $90 billion to Pakistan, Umpteen billions to Isereal, even $30 billion to the TALIBAN pre-911. Not making this up.)

- Smokey backroom deals between private firms that get exclusive government contracts *cough* HALIBURTON *cough*


- Senatorial credit cards that have no spending limit

The list goes on and on. If we need to trim fat off the budget I suggest we start with this crap first before shutting down emergency rooms (In California where I live so far 168 emergency rooms have shut down, 25 of them in Los Angeles, my city. Hope I don't get into a car accident soon.)

Just to show how screwed up people's attitudes are about taxes, this last election a Claifornia inititive that would have put a 50 cent tax on cell phone usage to keep emergency rooms open was voted down. This was a tax that would have only been enacted if you called 911, only for people who were above a certian income level, and would have maxed out at 50 cents a month. Most people would never have to pay it. But the scary word "taxes" was uttered and it got 86'ed.

Maybe I'm not supposed to understand.

[kstyle25]

Subsidising a corporation has never been a guarantee of keeping workers in their locale...it's better than nothing...I've mentioned before how my company (Dell) had planned to move jobs had Kerry been elected...liberals have a great sales pitch that I'll mention again.....Tax big business and relieve the small people..sounds good until the company moves over seas....then whats the tax cut do for the poor people...a smaller percent of zero is still zero!!!...in this global economy we have to provide big buisiness tax cuts to secure jobs...the little people may pay higher percentage but at least they still have a paycheck to pay out of!! I came from a ranching/farming acreage in Tennessee...everybody thinks that republicans are dumb rednecks or are elitest rich assholes..I assure you that my familly is neither...we worked our asses off to accumulate land..my familly worked it's ass of to send me to college...I've worked my ass off to have a high paying job... My familly just understands that the mother (companies) have to be taken care of or the children (workers) have no where to feed>>>>No matter who is in power there will be "smokey back room deals"..in any country on the planet...I just don't see the issue with our President or the current policy....Yes funds have been traced from Hussein to Bin Ladens terrorist organization...yes he was a threat to his OWN people...yes we have gone in....now he's gone...now theres less money being pipelined to Bin Laden...now theres a CHANCE for democracy....whats the problem!!! I just came from a brainstorming dinner for work and am kinda drunk (I love Jack Daniels) and hope I was somewhat able to follow through my rant....

[madhatter256]

Maybe I'm not supposed to understand.

If it kept this country running for the past 200 years. Don't mess with it.

But to be serious. Become successful and have the government do what you want to do. That's what these companies are doing both legally and illegally.

As for me, I plan on being successful and if I get high up there, I'll try to protect my assets and in order to do that, I'll have to influence the government. I did before. Next to my house is a fire station, RIGHT next to the fence next to our house is their trash dumpster. Ever since they put it there the area outside our house stinks and it attracted roaches, btw, we have a small infestation EVER SINCE that thing was put there. We sent letters to the chief of firefighters, etc. But nothing has happenned. So, my mom called up her lawyer, the news station, etc. WE basically threatened a lawsuit claiming that the dumpster is costing my family hundreds of dollars in pest control costs ever since they put that thing so close to our house. Few days later they moved it to avoid a lawsuit. That's working the system. If you think about it. Our government has set up the laws so that we can achieve that American dream anyway possible!!

[Yceman]

In England you don't have to fear the cops. They are there to help you. They don't have a habit of, oh, beating the shit out of you for no reason.

Just a comment: a friend of mine from here went to England a few years ago to see an Iron Maiden concert, and he said he asked a cop for directions and had never been so well treated in his life.

[Yakumo]

My younger brother David is becoming a police officer. I'm sure he'll be helpful like most British police. I'm also sure he'll do his upmost to kick the shit out of the scum that give cities such as Liverpool a bad name.

Yakumo

[Hawanja]

But to be serious. Become successful and have the government do what you want to do. That's what these companies are doing both legally and illegally.

It's the "illegal" part I have a problem with.

[cahaz]

what? this thread isn't closed yet?

:smt043

[LeGIt]

Just saw this on another forum:

"To the citizens of the United States of America :-

In the light of your failure to elect a proper President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective today. Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchial duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories. Except Utah, which she does not fancy. Your new prime minister (The Right Honourable Tony Blair, MP for the 97.85% of you who have until now been unaware that there is a world outside your borders) will appoint a minister for America without the need for further elections.

Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire will be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed. To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary. Then look up "aluminium". Check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'favour' and 'neighbour', skipping the letter 'U' is nothing more than laziness on your part. Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters.
You will end your love affair with the letter 'Z' (pronounced 'zed' not 'zee' and the suffix "ize" will be replaced by the suffix "ise". You will learn that the suffix 'burgh is pronounced 'burra' e.g. Edinburgh. You are welcome to respell Pittsburgh as 'Pittsberg' if you can't cope with correct pronunciation.
Generally, you should raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. Look up "vocabulary". Using the same twenty seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. Look up "interspersed". There will be no more 'bleeps' in the Jerry Springer show. If you're not old enough to cope with bad language then you shouldn't have chat shows. When you learn to develop your vocabulary then you won't have to use bad language as often.

2. There is no such thing as "US English". We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of "-ize".

3. You should learn to distinguish the English and Australian accents. It really isn't that hard. English accents are not limited to Cockney, upper-class twit or Mancunian (Daphne in Frasier).
You will also have to learn how to understand regional accents - Scottish dramas such as "Taggart" will no longer be broadcast with subtitles. While we're talking about regions, you must learn that there is no such place as Devonshire in England. The name of the county is "Devon". If you persist in calling it Devonshire, all American States will become "shires" e.g. Texasshire, Floridashire, Louisianashire.

4. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as the good guys. Hollywood will be required to cast English actors to play English characters.
British sit-coms such as "Men Behaving Badly" or "Red Dwarf" will not be re-cast and watered down for a wishy-washy American audience who can't cope with the humour of occasional political incorrectness.

5. You should relearn your original national anthem, "God Save The Queen", but only after fully carrying out task 1. We would not want you to get confused and give up half way through.

6. You should stop playing American "football". There is only one kind of football. What you refer to as American "football" is not a very good game. The 2.15% of you who are aware that there is a world outside your borders may have noticed that no one else plays "American" football. You will no longer be allowed to play it, and should instead play proper football. Initially, it would be best if you played with the girls. It is a difficult game.
Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which is similar to American "football", but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like nancies). We are hoping to get together at least a US rugby sevens side by 2005.
You should stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the 'World Series' for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.15% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. Instead of baseball, you will be allowed to play a girls' game called "rounders" which is baseball without fancy team strip, oversized gloves, collector cards or hotdogs.

7. You should declare war on Quebec and France, using nuclear weapons if they give you any merde. The 97.85% of you who were not aware that there is a world outside your borders should count yourselves lucky. The Russians have never been the bad guys. "Merde" is French for "****".
You will no longer be allowed to own or carry guns. You will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous in public than a vegetable peeler. Because we don't believe you are sensible enough to handle potentially dangerous items, you will require a permit if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

8. July 4th is no longer a public holiday. November 2nd will be a new national holiday, but only in England. It will be called "Indecisive Day".

9. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and it is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean. All road intersections will be replaced with roundabouts. You will start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables.
Roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

10. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips. Fries aren't even French, they are Belgian though 97.85% of you (including the guy who discovered fries while in Europe) are not aware of a country called Belgium.
Those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called "crisps". Real chips are thick cut and fried in animal fat.
The traditional accompaniment to chips is beer which should be served warm and flat.
Waitresses will be trained to be more aggressive with customers.

11. As a sign of penance 5 grams of sea salt per cup will be added to all tea made within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, this quantity to be doubled for tea made within the city of Boston itself.

12. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all, it is lager. From November 1st only proper British Bitter will be referred to as "beer", and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as "Lager".
The substances formerly known as "American Beer" will henceforth be referred to as "Near-Frozen Knat's Urine", with the exception of the product of the American Budweiser company whose product will be referred to as "Weak Near-Frozen Knat's Urine". This will allow true Budweiser (as manufactured for the last 1000 years in Pilsen, Czech Republic) to be sold without risk of confusion.

13. From December 1st the UK will harmonise petrol (or "Gasoline" as you will be permitted to keep calling it until April 1st 2005) prices with the former USA. The UK will harmonise its prices to those of the former USA and the Former USA will, in return, adopt UK petrol prices (roughly $6/US gallon - get used to it).

14. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent. Guns should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not grown up enough to handle a gun.

15. Please tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us crazy.

Tax collectors from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all revenues due (backdated to 1776).

Thank you for your cooperation. "

:smt043 :smt043 :smt043 :smt043 :smt043

[SilverBolt]

Sheer brilliance that piece Legit :smt043 :smt043 :smt043
I wouldn't mind if points: 1 2 3 4 6 9 10 12 and 14 were actually to become reality :-D

[Yceman]

I loved that too
Very funny :smt043

[madhatter256]

:smt043 :smt043 Keep dreaming. It just goes to show you guys that you can't always get what you want. :smt043

[einbebop44]

The funny thing about #1 is that in all technicalities a great percentage of those who's first language is English spell things w/o the u. ;-)

[cahaz]

Just saw this on another forum:

"To the citizens of the United States of America :-

7. You should declare war on Quebec and France, using nuclear weapons if they give you any merde. The 97.85% of you who were not aware that there is a world outside your borders should count yourselves lucky. The Russians have never been the bad guys. "Merde" is French for "****".

i'm awaiting you whit my lethal poutine! :smt042

[kstyle25]

I veto you Legit....we have that right..,..

btw....we beat your country once...don't make us do it again....
btw....I'd love to see a 375 lb. 42" vertical leaping lineman (american football) take on one of your Futbol players anyday...keep dreaming...we take things and improve...a 228 year old country who has come so far...makes you think...we're doing something right! btw....we hearby revoke your right to not using a dentist ( I mean come on can someone have straight teeth in UK) and invoke the use of deodorant and underarm razors on Europe! We also hereby disallow the use of a Prime Minister controlling a country while a figurehead wearing 1,000,000.00 dollars in jewels walks around in a palace pretending to have an impact on their counry.....I also would like to publicly make fun of a people from a country that hate us for helping a population become free from a tyrant when that country itself tried to prevent AMERICANS from being free at one time...I would also like to point out how powefull a country can become in just 228 years of DEMOCRACY....I would also like show that a leader known as a moron shouldn't wear those same million dollar jewels and do nothing of importance for their country...(oh wait Pres Bush doesn't do that ,,,must have been someone I've seen on TV)....oh and it should be known that taking a stand on an issue is better than sitting on the fence for months on end.... :smt083 don't flame me...I'm just joining the fun here....I'm really just having a good old fun retort..
Ilove you guys.......

[Greatsaintlouis]

Just saw this on another forum:

"To the citizens of the United States of America :-

In the light of your failure to elect a proper President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves

Too bad that's been circulating around for the last four years, and it really applies to the 2000 elections when there wasn't a clearly defined winner - unlike this time... :smt083

[Alchy]

we hearby revoke your right to not using a dentist ( I mean come on can someone have straight teeth in UK)

Now I know you're joking, and fair play you did a decent job of it on the whole (you seem to be languishing under the impression that we're still effectively a monarchy, but I'll let that slip), but I never understood this thing about the teeth. I got my teeth straightened out as a young 'un (for free by my government, I might add), like just anyone else in this country who happens to be born without straight teeth. On arriving in America I certainly didn't notice a difference in the percentage of straight or crooked teeth - what's the crack?

[kstyle25]

Didn't mean anything by it..the running gag on this thread seems to be stereotypes of countries...I'm sure it's not true, just like Americans aren't all gun carrying fat asses....I was just playing along with the topic..
Jason