America - The Official Thread

[Robin]

It's a shame Detroit has gone bust and as analysts are saying, other US cities better get things in order because this is going to be them 6-12 months from now.

This advert was the first thing I thought of, really makes you feel.

 

[arora]

Well there was a hit to the auto industry and there was the housing deal, but lets be honest here...

Horrible government on the local level. You cannot over regulate, over tax, over give to entitlement programs, etc etc. Horrible job of corruption and feel good politics by a select group of incompetents.

 

[Omnis]

I'm glad Detroit is bankrupt. Anything else was only delaying the inevitable.

 

[Liquid]

As a socialist Briton, I find it astonishing that an entire metropolis can go bankrupt.*

Or not, if this constitutional wrangle has its way. What happens if the default is declared unconstitutional?

*Although I do recall New York coming close.

1973-1976
Ford To City: Drop Dead

2007-2013
Ford To Motor City: Ha Ha!

 

[DK]

I'm struggling to comprehend this level of debt for a city. It'd be like Dublin drowning under ~$30bn, but then again county- and city-level councils in Ireland have feck-all power.

 

[Slash]

Ted Nugent is blaming liberals for Detroits bankruptcy.

lol.


http://ultimateclassicrock.com/ted-nugent-detroit-bankruptcy/


Ted Nugent for President!

 

[braunracing88]

Ted Nugent is blaming liberals for Detroits bankruptcy.

lol.


http://ultimateclassicrock.com/ted-nugent-detroit-bankruptcy/


Ted Nugent for President!

On a related note...

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/ted-nugent-if-i-were-president/?trending

There's a lot of comments there saying he needs to go back to just making music and keep his mouth shut on politics. I'm embarrassed as hell to be from the same major metropolitan area as him.

 

[Omnis]

Why? The Nuge is right.

 

[Liquid]

Really like the swift "yeah... anyway" attitude at the foot of the article;

"NEXT UP TOP 10 TED NUGENT SONGS"

 

[Slash]

Why? The Nuge is right.

I fully agree with this. Nugent is spot on. I'd totally vote for him if he ran for President. I share many of the same values as he does. He is spot on with the way things are and isn't afraid to confront ignorant people who can't see it. He is outspoken and I like that about him.

 

[Nicksfix]

Nugent is spot on. I'd totally vote for him if he ran for President.

A draft dodger for President ...... would not go over to well.

 

[arora]

Cheney and Clinton, or no?

 

[Liquid]

Conscription is wrong anyway. Being forced to join a military is quite immoral, in my opinion.

 

[arora]

Conscription is wrong anyway. Being forced to join a military is quite immoral, in my opinion.

I agree and disagree, waiting for all hell to brake loose and then draft anyone able I don't automatically like. I would prefer a mandatory 2 year service for all able 18 year old males, follow that up with the option for convicted criminals that meet a set of criteria to serve the military rather then the penal system.

Of course one could always flee to Canada as long as we don't let them back in after the fact

It's lame to me that people reap the rewards of citizenship without contribution.

 

[Liquid]

Well, with regards to citizenship, how many of us chose to be born in <insert relevant country>?

Neither can citizenship be used to justify military service. There's no guarantee that I want to fight for my country's ideals, nor a guarantee that I even agree with them.

That all said, arora, I do quite like the idea of national service; it instills a sense of discipline which could, possibly maybe knock some common sense into ne'er do-wells. We had it here up until the late 50s.

But on a matter of principle, I don't think forced national service is justifiable. It could work as a volunteer option, perhaps.

 

[arora]

I hear ya. In an ideal world we could all have the options to participate in the society we we've thrown into. Not only did I not ask to be an American, I don't recall asking to be born even.

I was voicing an op that I'm against both complacency and entitlement 👍

It's a tricky topic to say the least.

 

[MarinaDiamandis]

I'm with Liquid on this one, I kind of like the idea, especially for those people who don't go into work or further education after compulsory schooling ends and rely on the welfare system to support them, but I don't think it is justifiable.

 

[Johnnypenso]

On a related note...

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/ted-nugent-if-i-were-president/?trending

There's a lot of comments there saying he needs to go back to just making music and keep his mouth shut on politics. I'm embarrassed as hell to be from the same major metropolitan area as him.

Please elaborate.

 

[Keef]

A draft dodger for President ...... would not go over to well.

And this is why I can't wait until the nursing home generation are out of the voting picture. They choose based on the most trivial things. Nobody gives a flying crap about "draft dodging" except for old people who think if you weren't in the military then you're not a real American. Younger generations probably see it as a good thing - why on earth would anybody have wanted to be involved in the bogus Vietnam war? I'd have dodged it too.

 

[BobK]

A draft dodger for President ...... would not go over to well.

A draft dodger not only got elected, he got re-elected.

 

[Dotini]

Well, with regards to citizenship, how many of us chose to be born in <insert relevant country>?

Neither can citizenship be used to justify military service. There's no guarantee that I want to fight for my country's ideals, nor a guarantee that I even agree with them.

That all said, arora, I do quite like the idea of national service; it instills a sense of discipline which could, possibly maybe knock some common sense into ne'er do-wells. We had it here up until the late 50s.

But on a matter of principle, I don't think forced national service is justifiable. It could work as a volunteer option, perhaps.

In the feudal period, the roughly 600 years between 900 and 1500, the most powerful weapon was the rare trained knight with his expensive armor, warhorse, shield, lance and sword. Armies, such as they were, consisted largely of ill-trained peasants who dropped their spears, clubs and rusty knives and ran at the first sign of real trouble. They were really useful only behind a battlement on a castle wall armed with a crossbow. For every battle fought, there were 99 sieges with little or no loss of life. Things changed for the worse when kings could afford large standing professional armies. To hell with large standing armies. I'd rather return to the feudal system than persist with today's system of perpetual wars with machine guns, IED's and nukes hovering around every corner.

 

[arora]

Aah, we've been born over a hundred years to late lol.

One thing we need to realize as a whole, these people are protecting us, or actually they are securing our interests. They are our representatives and if we don't like what they are doing, it is our responsibility to change that.

I never tire of seeing the good ol soccer mom bumping around in her huge suv with a 'no blood for oil' bumper sticker

 

[Danoff]

I never tire of seeing the good ol soccer mom bumping around in her huge suv with a 'no blood for oil' bumper sticker

Um... what?

Let's suppose for a moment that the US invaded Iraq for oil (which it did not). So let's suppose that it's true that the US has traded blood for oil. Why can someone not drive a gas guzzler with that sticker?

You don't know how far that SUV gets driven. Perhaps it uses less gas than someone who drives a small hybrid 50 miles per day. If it is a soccer mom, she may not work - which means that SUV may not commute anywhere. So the actual amount of oil consumed in that household may be far below average.

That's not all though. Suppose they drove the SUV a lot and consumed way more than the average household in oil. Is it hypocritical to have that bumper sticker? Not at all. That bumper sticker is merely conveying that the household is willing to pay more for oil in exchange for not involving the US in wars in the middle east.

In fact, the political position "no blood for oil" has absolutely zero to do with how much oil that person consumes. It is a political philosophy that we should not go to war over natural resources - that instead we should pay for those natural resources.

The irony of the "no blood for oil" bumper sticker is that the US has not engaged in that trade . It is a fundamental misunderstanding of US foreign policy and the state of the middle east.

 

[Dotini]

Aah, we've been born over a hundred years to late lol.

One thing we need to realize as a whole, these people are protecting us, or actually they are securing our interests. They are our representatives and if we don't like what they are doing, it is our responsibility to change that.

I never tire of seeing the good ol soccer mom bumping around in her huge suv with a 'no blood for oil' bumper sticker

The US Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines haven't won a war in over 65 years.

The purpose of war is to secure victory, territory, various spoils and tribute.

Instead we have harvested only death, debt, defeat, shame and disrespect.

I demand the US finally win a war, for a change.

The most profitable and easily won war would be to invade Canada and seize her gold, oil, fresh water, fisheries, timber, rare minerals and polar access.

This nonsense of fecklessly running about trying to install democracies at the point of a gun has to stop.

 

[Carbonox]

And this is why I can't wait until the nursing home generation are out of the voting picture. They choose based on the most trivial things. Nobody gives a flying crap about "draft dodging" except for old people who think if you weren't in the military then you're not a real American. Younger generations probably see it as a good thing - why on earth would anybody have wanted to be involved in the bogus Vietnam war? I'd have dodged it too.

Those are some wise words right there.

I demand the US finally win a war, for a change.

Since that's most likely not going to happen, they could as well stop going to war altogether and spare some civilian lives in the process.

 

[Joel]

The most profitable and easily won war would be to invade Canada and seize her gold, oil, fresh water, fisheries, timber, rare minerals and polar access.

:/

 

[Dotini]

:/

No worries. This is what we call an apocryphal statement.

 

[Danoff]

This nonsense of fecklessly running about trying to install democracies at the point of a gun has to stop.

How else is democracy installed?

 

[Dotini]

How else is democracy installed?

The old fashioned way - do it yourself!

 

[Keef]

How else is democracy installed?

Why would anybody want democracy installed anywhere anyway?

Also, we don't have to invade Canada. After Quebec secedes, the mineral-rich plains provinces will be more than happy to become new States. They wouldn't have much else going for them.