Yes! We're #1!

it gets rid of the weak , leaves the strong and healthy to survive and breed

americans virtualy worship their soldiers n sailors ,I figured they would be the epitomy of US citizenry all that america stands for yadda yadda ... here , they are just folk who are killing for a job , enforcing will of and doing the political hands on for the PM , people dont brag about being a soldier here that much ... its not something that goes down well with the general populace

That's another example of the mistaken impression you get by trying to learn about a country from thousands of miles away. It doesn't work, Myal. You're full of nonsense. And I say that as one who has observed the facts of the matter close-hand for nearly 60 years. d8-)

They're ordinary people who keep sticking their necks out because of an intense faith in our system, and because something about the job satisfies something in their personality. In recent decades they've mostly been misused badly by politicians who have little regard for their true worth. Many of us feel guilty and sad because they've committed their lives to the rest of us but we've screwed them over royally. That's why you may think they're being "worshipped." It's compensation for a combination of respect and guilt.

It did when the Japanese were about to invade Australia over 60 years ago. It's all a matter of circumstance. Your circumstances are different from ours.

-- Ed Huntress

Nuclear war could wipe out large populations, too!

No, "all or nothing" is YOUR kind of thinking! When the gov't says "we need to tax a certain %" do you say "shouldn't you take 100 %?" . .

Nuclear warheads don't occur in nature, and there are no vaccinations against the insane using manmade warheads, so everything you said is pure crap.

Only from you. You obviously don't need money, medicines, food or brains.

Wrong. Freedom is his RIGHT to buy a gun.

"allowing" means someone is giving permission, permission which may be revoked at any time, for any reason.

Im sure you are aware of the clear differences between "may" and "shall"

while quite inocuous...they mean radically different things.

Indeed.

Gunner

You just want to pass the buck to future generations! . .

Why does a privately owned corporation get to make the money?

They can also call in loans at any time, which is how they caused the great depression.

The Fed regulates politicians a lot more than politicians regulate the Fed.

The Federal Reserve caused the great depression by calling in loans in mass. They then bought up big corporations for pennies on the dollar. The Fed is the most corrupt corporation in the US.

Up to very recently, very very recently the vast majority of weapons and technology in iraq was supplied or paid for by the Americans, indeed when Iran was the bad guy of the month for the yanks, they could not do enough to prop up saddam Huissain, the only evil in this chain of events is American evil.

I loved those gas producing mobile labs they produced......... american made portable water desalination equipment.

You just want them to not exist.

That might happen Ed It isn't relevant to this thread but I started John Irby's book "Kill the Editor - the Often Bizarre Relationship With Readers". Pick it up if you see it, it's a hoot.

It seems you need to educate yourself regarding the extent to which Saddam was purchasing weapons from France, chemical factories from Germany, and nuclear enrichment technology from Russia.

It isn't all privately owned corporations, but the answer is, because that's how the money supply grows. There are some good explanations of what money is, and how it all works, in the basic economics literature. I can recommend one by J.K. Galbraith, although it's getting dated now, and there are probably better and simpler ones around. Check a library for _Money: Whence it Came, Where it Went_ by Galbraith.

The subject is summarized in discussions of "fractional reserve banking," which is the term that describes how our money supply functions. As a side note, the actual bills and coinage in most stable economies tends to be less than 10% of what is usually called the "money supply" (M2).

What "caused" the Great Depression is a big subject. But yes, a debt-based economy, like ours, is potentially unstable. In practice, ours and that of most advanced economies are remarkably stable.

That sounds like a can of worms you're opening, but it's true that the Fed pulls the basic strings on money. As for the economy as a whole, and what forces are at work to create demand for money, that's more political.

If you really know the story behind that statement and could back it up with real knowledge, then you have the equivalent of an advanced degree in economics, and you don't need my comments to help explain it.

-- Ed Huntress

Eh, the sky has been falling for most of a century. I'm counting on taking it with me when I get out. People only ASSUME they can't take it with them. d8-)

I'll look for it.

-- Ed Huntress

Eh, the sky has been falling for most of a century. I'm counting on taking it with me when I get out. People only ASSUME they can't take it with them. d8-)

BTW, I think we have barely tapped the human resource to survive in tough economic times. Just a few days ago Reuters reported "Two Chinese brothers who tunneled their way out of a coal mine collapse after being trapped for nearly six days survived by eating coal and drinking urine, a local newspaper reported Tuesday."

People are tougher than we give them credit for. And there's probably enough coal and piss to go around for a couple of hundred more years, at least.

I'll look for it.

-- Ed Huntress

No doubt, but I find it a little disturbing that a lot of the people I associate with sort of shrug their shoulders as if coal and piss are the innevitable future for a large population that doesn't include them. One of my cousins recently, and very nonchallantly, told me that the standard of living in the US had likely peaked and would decline for the forseable future. Mind you, he didn't mean HIS standard of living. I guess a quarter million shares of Conoco Phillips gives a body "proper" perspective in these maters. I wouldn't say he's wrong necessarily but I was shocked that he seemed to feel it was OK and didn't really give a crap one way or the other. We weren't raised that way.

Hey, it's tough being an optimist in an age that has turned its back on "Leave It to Beaver." Being an incurable optimist myself, I find myself laughing at myself more frequently these days. I have to be on guard not to do it in public, especially when I'm wearing sandals and shorts.

However, I have searched for the mysterious stock of irreplaceable natural capital that we supposedly squandered over the past 60 years or so, and the numbers don't seem to add up. Oil has been a cheap trick but it's not the only trick. Good economic times are in there somewhere. We just need a few adjustments, IMO.

-- Ed Huntress

I am well aware that saddam purchased his chemical kit from parts of Europe and America, its equally well noted that he paid for these munitions with money he got from america for helping the US in his hostility towards Iran, Yup he was smarrt he bought the best equipment ( european) but the americans paid for it.