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.... Also I'd like to add that we should redo the us constitution. It's not unheard of for a country to do so. We could solve a lot of problems if we could agree to it. We for all intents and purposes are living in the future. The framers of our constitution could have never foreseen automatic weapons, internet, or any of the other huge technological steps we have taken in the last 400 years. Its time for a change but unfortunately we have all been brainwashed into thinking these words written on paper are infallible.
I disagree with this completely. The Constitution is an amendable document, and that has been done 27 times.
In today's toxic political environment, to attempt to rewrite it would be a disaster.
And yes, other countries have had many constitutions. Take Thailand. They've had 18 constitutions just since 1932...usually changed at the whim of the group in power at the time. It has created tremendous instability, and is at least partly responsible for Thailand having at least 18 military coups (notice 18 and 18?).
I don't recall anyone every saying our Constitution is infallible. But it does provide a basis for a great deal of stability.
.... Also I'd like to add that we should redo the us constitution. It's not unheard of for a country to do so. We could solve a lot of problems if we could agree to it. We for all intents and purposes are living in the future. The framers of our constitution could have never foreseen automatic weapons, internet, or any of the other huge technological steps we have taken in the last 400 years. Its time for a change but unfortunately we have all been brainwashed into thinking these words written on paper are infallible.
I disagree with this completely. The Constitution is an amendable document, and that has been done 27 times.
In today's toxic political environment, to attempt to rewrite it would be a disaster.
And yes, other countries have had many constitutions. Take Thailand. They've had 18 constitutions just since 1932...usually changed at the whim of the group in power at the time. It has created tremendous instability, and is at least partly responsible for Thailand having at least 18 military coups (notice 18 and 18?).
I don't recall anyone every saying our Constitution is infallible. But it does provide a basis for a great deal of stability.
Long term after much thought I still would personally rather live here than in he US
Long term after much thought I still would personally rather live here than in he US
Admittedly it's fun -- for a while -- to live in a country where there's no respect for the law...until that inconsistency in the law comes and bites you in the ass.
In today's toxic political environment, to attempt to rewrite it would be a disaster.
I would welcome such a change. Maybe we need to have a radical change in the short term in order to better ourselves in the long term. But we can agree to disagree. I just feel like the country is stuck and I don't see the need to hold onto such documents as tightly as people seem to do. The fact that our country is no longer a democracy but a plutocracy is also to blame. Our elected leaders are all corrupt because the amount of money that they are given by special interests and large corporations is enough to make any man lose his humanity and values. Its sad.
Long term after much thought I still would personally rather live here than in he US
Admittedly it's fun -- for a while -- to live in a country where there's no respect for the law...until that inconsistency in the law comes and bites you in the ass.
What law? I have never had an one issue here in 4 years, nothing whatsoever. In fact I have only seen 1 violent encounter IRL here and that was drunken teens. The West is going down the pan, down the shitter, it's screwed. How can the Us pay back over trillion in debt, honestly?
Long term after much thought I still would personally rather live here than in he US
It hurts to hear you say that. Despite our many problems there are some wonderful places to live in the US. Not all America is doom and gloom. Though I have never been to Thailand so I have no honest way to compare.
What law? I have never had an one issue here in 4 years, nothing whatsoever. In fact I have only seen 1 violent encounter IRL here and that was drunken teens. The West is going down the pan, down the shitter, it's screwed. How can the Us pay back over trillion in debt, honestly?
You seem to forget that at one point you expressed a worry that you were working illegally in Thailand. In a private email you expressed discomfort talking about the King because of the trouble it could cause you.
But take heart, I'm glad you're living there, too.
What law? I have never had an one issue here in 4 years, nothing whatsoever. In fact I have only seen 1 violent encounter IRL here and that was drunken teens. The West is going down the pan, down the shitter, it's screwed. How can the Us pay back over trillion in debt, honestly?
You seem to forget that at one point you expressed a worry that you were working illegally in Thailand. In a private email you expressed discomfort talking about the King because of the trouble it could cause you.
But take heart, I'm glad you're living there, too.
Work is work and this is the land where pay off's rule over many laws. I am doing my thing and excelling despite the visa regulations. Because I can speak Thai I get ahead in a lot of things including my ED visa. I have never felt so free and able to express myself as I have here, the West felt like an iron clamp suffocating me into dark depression. This is almost a different world to me entirely, I have never been back and do not intend to unless dire circumstances require me to
What law? I have never had an one issue here in 4 years, nothing whatsoever. In fact I have only seen 1 violent encounter IRL here and that was drunken teens. The West is going down the pan, down the shitter, it's screwed. How can the Us pay back over trillion in debt, honestly?
You seem to forget that at one point you expressed a worry that you were working illegally in Thailand. In a private email you expressed discomfort talking about the King because of the trouble it could cause you.
But take heart, I'm glad you're living there, too.
Also yea, you seem to forget that things, people and places change, stop clinging
The UK for example has very strict gun laws yet people still get a hold of hand guns some how.
It's very rare we have mass shootings and we haven't had a school shooting since Dunblane in 1996; when the gun laws were tightened up even more.
Yea but school shootings do not hold every illegal gun in the UK accountable do they. Take the recent robbery of Blaire's daughter in London at gun point, how about 'gunchester' and moss-side? Hand guns are there if you know the right people and shot guns and hunting rifles are there if you can get a license
Maybe the reduction in the number of guns reduces the numbers of mass shootings. When was our last? 2010 with Derek Bird, the taxi driver.
And the common denominator in all mass shootings is that a gun of some description is involved, funnily enough.
As an ex soldier, I know for a fact that I could kill a lot of people a lot more efficiently with a gun than I could with a knife.
From all accounts (of yours) @ThailandTom, you have never lived in the US. Therefore all that you despise and criticize about it is based on negative-slanted media and YouTube conspiracy theories and propaganda - which you seem to purposely seek out and then revel in at every turn.
Do you ever bother to watch anything positive about the US? You know, documentaries about some of the best research facilities and hospitals in the world being right here in the US? Did you ever watch documentaries how we've lead the world - for decades - in space exploration, computers and technology? How we have some of the best universities in the world; law, medical and otherwise? We used to be superior in our manufacturing of clothing, autos, buses, trains, and airplanes. We still outrank the world in military gear, equipment and transportation; as well as underwater exploration and ocean ecology.
I think it's safe to say the vast majority of technological, medical and scientific advances over the last 100 years happened here, in the USA, even if many of those scientists came from other countries- they came HERE, where the research funding and ideas were way ahead of their own country's interest.
Do we still lead the world in all those things? No, probably not. Maybe not even close... so? But does that mean the US is doomed and worthless? No, it means priorities shifted and now we live in a more "globally" vested world where even what were once considered "3rd world" countries are up and coming in many of those areas. Good for them. I don't have a problem with that.
What gets me about many of your anti-America posts Tom, (and some others around here as well) is that they repeatedly and intentionally imply that Americans don't even care how 'bad' things are here. Like all we do is run to the mall, grabbing big bags of McDonalds on the way, buying our kids ipads and electronics, driving our huge SUVs and guzzling fossil fuels while our country goes to hell in a hand basket.... Not true. That's TV, Tom, and not even reality TV. Americans are always bitching and complaining and fighting to correct the mistakes our government makes- or is about to make. We protest, we argue, and yea- we make documentaries, too. Then we vote, and we will march and protest some more.... we don't just pretend it's not happening. That's what I resent about the anti-America threads and comments that seem to be popping up more and more around here.
In all fairness, unless you live here...it's hard to know what we're working with.
There are those of us that are trying and staying active and doing the best we can with what we got. Starting and keeping a revolution going ain't that easy.
Don't like Jazz? :eek: You don't know what's good, hahahah
If the mass murder of small children at an elementary school didn't shock your country into dealing with the issue of firearms then frankly as a nation, there's something very very amiss.
Now, don't get me wrong, I love the Yanks, I owe my life to the power of your airforce and also to a couple of drunks who started A.A., but I do wonder about your country's sanity sometimes.
Yep, no simple answer. We can point to a variety of factors, such as we have a mobile and multi-ethnic society and unlike places like the UK or all those Eastern countries, we never had a dictator or king or emperor who had the power to declare weapons were outlawed in the first place. As a frontier nation, we ended up with the tradition of guns as tools, and taking the gun made as much sense as telling a man he couldn't have a shovel. Times change, of course.
There is still by far more chance of heart disease or an auto accident than a gun related death.
There is a school of thought that 'chance' is really a tiny factor when it comes to heart disease (normally caused by unhealthy lifestyle choices) and auto accidents (normally caused by driving too fast for the road conditions).
It's more cause and effect (how 'Buddhist' am I today?) than chance.
I strongly suspect that a reduction in guns will cause the effect of a reduction in people killed by them.
Guns are just a waaaaaaaaaay to efficient and easy way to kill.
Yep, no simple answer. .... As a frontier nation, we ended up with the tradition of guns as tools, and taking the gun made as much sense as telling a man he couldn't have a shovel. Times change, of course.
Not as much as we think.
This 'tool' is still someone's shovel in the concrete jungle or the low-income housing/projects. This is why it's important to see how it relates to the areas that gangs reside in. AFA this incident.
@MaryAnne, I heard someone once share that only two good things have ever came out of the USAelection Alcoholics Anonymous. 2. Jazz
And I don't like Jazz!
(only joking, please don't bite me.)
Jazz has a lot of weight on that scale though!
So, To give you guys an idea of how impossible it is to get gun legislation through here in the US, some legislation went through the state house here after newtown, basic common sense gun control measures, limit clip size, background checks, stuff like that. And the legislators feeling that they were representing their constituentcy voted for them...and what happens? The nra and locals teamed up to get enough signatures to initiate a RECALL election for those legislators. (Recalls here are usually meant for legislators who have been engaged in serious misconduct, so what it amounted to was a dirty political trick. ) amazingly, in my district, the NRA fear machine managed to sway my left leaning district and my state rep was recalled. And these were pretty mild gun control measures! the kicker was, the next election was only a year away! They wasted tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money holding a sham election witch hunt..and now any lawmaker will have to fear recall whenever they vote for any gun control whatsoever. And now all American gun owners are beginning to be judged by such despicable behavior of the NRA culture. My family are gun owners..my grandfather used firearms to help feed his family...my father has rifles and handguns which are kept safely..and he is one of the most reasonable, peaceful human beings .we believe in the second amendment...we are many generations of firearm owners, many in areas where guns are a necessity.(bears and mt. Lions.) But we also believe in limits.
As for myself, i no longer wish to own firearms, though I once did for security reasons..I worked in a bar where many patrons were illegally and sometimes heavily armed. I somewhat regret having owned them and will never again as long as I live in the city. I still believe in the second amendment though...within reason. Now I fear that mine and my family's perspective seems to be becoming the minority among gun owners in the states, which appears evident by the polarized political shenanigans occuring here. Id just like to say to the Europeans shaking their heads at our gun violence..we gun owners here aren't all NRA lackeys and militia members. Someday my father will give me his fathers 30-30 saddle gun, and I may give it to my son or daughter if I have one and so on. Along with this gun will pass down the education of safe usage and responible ownership. We feel this is what is meant by right to bear arms...not stockpiling heavy high capacity weapons. And if you're a hobbyist who wants heavy weapons, how about a permit process? The NRA would sh*t a brick and claim the end of the world, even at that!!! Crazy.
Long term after much thought I still would personally rather live here than in he US
Admittedly it's fun -- for a while -- to live in a country where there's no respect for the law...until that inconsistency in the law comes and bites you in the ass.
What law? I have never had an one issue here in 4 years, nothing whatsoever. In fact I have only seen 1 violent encounter IRL here and that was drunken teens. The West is going down the pan, down the shitter, it's screwed. How can the Us pay back over trillion in debt, honestly?
by doing what the country does best of course inventing something that everyone in the world wants to buy and use. next to come hover cars?
Long term after much thought I still would personally rather live here than in he US
Admittedly it's fun -- for a while -- to live in a country where there's no respect for the law...until that inconsistency in the law comes and bites you in the ass.
What law? I have never had an one issue here in 4 years, nothing whatsoever. In fact I have only seen 1 violent encounter IRL here and that was drunken teens. The West is going down the pan, down the shitter, it's screwed. How can the Us pay back over trillion in debt, honestly?
by doing what the country does best of course inventing something that everyone in the world wants to buy and use. next to come hover cars?
Like a new ultra super weapon for the families needs and safety?
Long term after much thought I still would personally rather live here than in he US
Admittedly it's fun -- for a while -- to live in a country where there's no respect for the law...until that inconsistency in the law comes and bites you in the ass.
What law? I have never had an one issue here in 4 years, nothing whatsoever. In fact I have only seen 1 violent encounter IRL here and that was drunken teens. The West is going down the pan, down the shitter, it's screwed. How can the Us pay back over trillion in debt, honestly?
I'd be willing to bet that Thailand will go down the shitter pretty quick if western dollars stop flowing in. That is to say that it would likely look a lot more like rural Laos. A hand to mouth subsistence living. Which is fine, just not for 66 million people. And they won't be able to count on any help from China on account of they will go down the same shitter if the west goes broke. Best to keep your fingers crossed that things keep rolling along over here.
Long term after much thought I still would personally rather live here than in he US
Admittedly it's fun -- for a while -- to live in a country where there's no respect for the law...until that inconsistency in the law comes and bites you in the ass.
What law? I have never had an one issue here in 4 years, nothing whatsoever. In fact I have only seen 1 violent encounter IRL here and that was drunken teens. The West is going down the pan, down the shitter, it's screwed. How can the Us pay back over trillion in debt, honestly?
by doing what the country does best of course inventing something that everyone in the world wants to buy and use. next to come hover cars?
Like a new ultra super weapon for the families needs and safety?
It's be pretty hard to have these conversations if not for the US inventing the internet. The US has challenges to be sure. But the entire planet has benefited GREATLY from our many, many contributes to society. There are pitalls to many of those things, too, but it's pretty hard to complain about them when we're all sitting here using them.
Also, the comment about revamping the constitution. Could it be done? I'm sure it's possible. But have you seen the morons who are running our congress? you know that almost 90% of Americans don't trust congress and you want them to *agree* on how to change the constitution? LOL. They can't even agree on which way to put the toilet paper in the bathroom.
From all accounts (of yours) @ThailandTom, you have never lived in the US. Therefore all that you despise and criticize about it is based on negative-slanted media and YouTube conspiracy theories and propaganda - which you seem to purposely seek out and then revel in at every turn.
I've lived in the US my entire life - 60 years. Tom seems to be right about this country more often than not.
You know, documentaries about some of the best research facilities and hospitals in the world being right here in the US?
Then why do we have such abysmal health care in this country? One study I read had us as 47th in the world in terms of efficiency with the highest cost per capita. The WHO has us at 38th in the world and 1st in expenditure per capita.
I think it's safe to say the vast majority of technological, medical and scientific advances over the last 100 years happened here, in the USA, even if many of those scientists came from other countries- they came HERE, where the research funding and ideas were way ahead of their own country's interest.
That's probably true, but little of that benefits us.
Do we still lead the world in all those things? No, probably not. Maybe not even close... so? But does that mean the US is doomed and worthless?
If we're doomed and worthless, it's because of other factors.
What gets me about many of your anti-America posts Tom, (and some others around here as well) is that they repeatedly and intentionally imply that Americans don't even care how 'bad' things are here.
They don't. There are children going to bed hungry tonight and there will be citizens sleeping under bridges. Our road are falling apart. Our government is useless. We'd rather spend money on blowing craters in deserts somewhere and spilling the blood of our own children to benfit big business' interests
Like all we do is run to the mall, grabbing big bags of McDonalds on the way, buying our kids ipads and electronics, driving our huge SUVs and guzzling fossil fuels while our country goes to hell in a hand basket.... Not true.
Actually more true than false.
Then they give us all the guns we want so we can run around killing things.
it doesn't benefit you? Well eventually, it will. Eventually someone in your life will have HIV or cancer and they will have access to the best and most current care for those things. or you'll have a bad injury you can get diagnosed and treated or within a matter of hours or at the most, days, as opposed to being on a waiting list. There are absolutely downfalls to our health system. But there are great things, too, that again have benefited people around the world. Part of the reason all that research is possible is because of how the system works. It works poorly on the user end quite often. But on the other end, it works well. I think we can do far better to balance the 2 ends, and I hope we are getting there.
And, I've never had someone give me a gun.
Considering some of the places there are to live in the world, yeah, the US is still pretty good. I don't have to stand in a river of sewage to get water. I don't have to look for food in a garbage dump slum. I don't have to worry about what might happen if the one child I'm allowed is a girl. I mostly don't have to worry that I'll be gassed in my sleep. We're not at the top of the list, nor do we deserve to be at this point. But we're still pretty high up there.
Long term after much thought I still would personally rather live here than in he US
Admittedly it's fun -- for a while -- to live in a country where there's no respect for the law...until that inconsistency in the law comes and bites you in the ass.
What law? I have never had an one issue here in 4 years, nothing whatsoever. In fact I have only seen 1 violent encounter IRL here and that was drunken teens. The West is going down the pan, down the shitter, it's screwed. How can the Us pay back over trillion in debt, honestly?
I'd be willing to bet that Thailand will go down the shitter pretty quick if western dollars stop flowing in. That is to say that it would likely look a lot more like rural Laos. A hand to mouth subsistence living. Which is fine, just not for 66 million people. And they won't be able to count on any help from China on account of they will go down the same shitter if the west goes broke. Best to keep your fingers crossed that things keep rolling along over here.
As much as this is a valid point, I never said I wanted it to happen, of course I don't. I think though that the US dollar is going to crash at some point in the not too distant future and yes Thailand is built around tourism pretty much. For me that is no big deal, I would just move to the next country be it Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, wherever I don't really mind. I also don't mind living in rural areas either.
About the super duper weapon, I was just yanking a few chains, yank yank, seemed to work
from the introduction of my copy of Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums: "[To Kerouac's friend Snyder] the world's dominant major nation-states were 'monstrous protection rackets,' emblems of 'greed made legal with a monopoly of violence.' "
That rings true to me. As does Samuel Johnson's dictum on patriotism. But I realize that we all see things differently. Hey, that might be a good thing!
Golly, I don't expect anyone to love the places I haunt more than I do and kinda think that people who take offense where none was intended have a kind of chip on their shoulder.
The UK for example has very strict gun laws yet people still get a hold of hand guns some how.
It's very rare we have mass shootings and we haven't had a school shooting since Dunblane in 1996; when the gun laws were tightened up even more.
Yea but school shootings do not hold every illegal gun in the UK accountable do they. Take the recent robbery of Blaire's daughter in London at gun point, how about 'gunchester' and moss-side? Hand guns are there if you know the right people and shot guns and hunting rifles are there if you can get a license
But the fact remains there are far fewer guns in circulation in the UK, mass shootings are rare, and homicide by gun is minimal compared to the US.
The UK for example has very strict gun laws yet people still get a hold of hand guns some how.
It's very rare we have mass shootings and we haven't had a school shooting since Dunblane in 1996; when the gun laws were tightened up even more.
Yea but school shootings do not hold every illegal gun in the UK accountable do they. Take the recent robbery of Blaire's daughter in London at gun point, how about 'gunchester' and moss-side? Hand guns are there if you know the right people and shot guns and hunting rifles are there if you can get a license
But the fact remains there are far fewer guns in circulation in the UK, mass shootings are rare, and homicide by gun is minimal compared to the US.
Yep that is true, but why does a country like Canada have as many guns per household if not more than the US, yet have a far lower homicide by gun rate?
The UK for example has very strict gun laws yet people still get a hold of hand guns some how.
It's very rare we have mass shootings and we haven't had a school shooting since Dunblane in 1996; when the gun laws were tightened up even more.
Yea but school shootings do not hold every illegal gun in the UK accountable do they. Take the recent robbery of Blaire's daughter in London at gun point, how about 'gunchester' and moss-side? Hand guns are there if you know the right people and shot guns and hunting rifles are there if you can get a license
But the fact remains there are far fewer guns in circulation in the UK, mass shootings are rare, and homicide by gun is minimal compared to the US.
Yep that is true, but why does a country like Canada have as many guns per household if not more than the US, yet have a far lower homicide by gun rate?
I'd guess it's something to do with the American psyche. It could be that America is a more alienated society with a higher incidence of mental illness.
I think there are many factors to look into and it is not something that is so black and white. Take making a cake for example, you need all of the different ingredients, you need all of the different utensils and the correct temperature and timing to end up with a cake. Here I think there are many different things going on that lead to what is going on. You can point your finger at say easy access to guns and say that is the problem, it may well be a part of the problem but it sure enough isn't the defining factor.
it doesn't benefit you? Well eventually, it will. Eventually someone in your life will have HIV or cancer
Funny you should mention that. I have cancer. Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
and they will have access to the best and most current care for those things.
Really? I'd sure like to know what clinic/hospital that care is. All I've found to date, is ineptitude.
After looking at the WHO study I'd be better off going to Iceland for the Cancer.
or you'll have a bad injury you can get diagnosed and treated or within a matter of hours or at the most, days, as opposed to being on a waiting list.
Hmmmm.... I also have this codition that cause blood clotting. Last time I had a clot, it was a doozy, and I sat in the waiting room for two hours with a clot running the full length of my leg in a deep-vein setting as well a bilateral pulmonary embolism. I could have stroked out, right there in the waiting room
Considering some of the places there are to live in the world, yeah, the US is still pretty good. I don't have to stand in a river of sewage to get water.
People in a parts of Colorado are pretty close to that .....
I don't have to look for food in a garbage dump slum.
NO? Good, but there are plenty of people who do.
I don't have to worry about what might happen if the one child I'm allowed is a girl.
But when she grows up she'll still get paid less than a male.
I mostly don't have to worry that I'll be gassed in my sleep.
There's a plus! Beings gassed in your sleep would really suck.
We're not at the top of the list, nor do we deserve to be at this point. But we're still pretty high up there.
Yep, 17th in education, 1st in citizen's incarcerated, we outspend every country on earth in military expenditure, with borrowed money, but we can't afford to offer citizens even the most rudimentary health care (even bad health care) as a privilege of citizenship, go to war unprovoked, overturn or sanction democratically-elected governments and support fascists ........
Long term after much thought I still would personally rather live here than in he US
Admittedly it's fun -- for a while -- to live in a country where there's no respect for the law...until that inconsistency in the law comes and bites you in the ass.
What law? I have never had an one issue here in 4 years, nothing whatsoever. In fact I have only seen 1 violent encounter IRL here and that was drunken teens. The West is going down the pan, down the shitter, it's screwed. How can the Us pay back over trillion in debt, honestly?
by doing what the country does best of course inventing something that everyone in the world wants to buy and use. next to come hover cars?
Like a new ultra super weapon for the families needs and safety?
sure why not if everyone used it for only "self defence" then no one would ever get hurt.
Really? I'd sure like to know what clinic/hospital that care is. All I've found to date, is ineptitude.
After looking at the WHO study I'd be better off going to Iceland for the Cancer.
...
Hmmmm.... I also have this codition that cause blood clotting. Last time I had a clot, it was a doozy, and I sat in the waiting room for two hours with a clot running the full length of my leg in a deep-vein setting as well a bilateral pulmonary embolism. I could have stroked out, right there in the waiting room
...
People in a parts of Colorado are pretty close to that .....
...
NO? Good, but there are plenty of people who do.
...
But when she grows up she'll still get paid less than a male.
Yep, 17th in education, 1st in citizen's incarcerated, we outspend every country on earth in military expenditure, with borrowed money, but we can't afford to offer citizens even the most rudimentary health care (even bad health care) as a privilege of citizenship, go to war unprovoked, overturn or sanction democratically-elected governments and support fascists ........
Ineptitude in the hospitals? Maybe you went to the wrong hospital. I just had kidney surgery. Pretty good experience, well treated, problem solved.
I've been to the emergency room twice. Once in Flagstaff, Arizona, once in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Both times seen immediately...and I do mean immediately.
Come on now. You can't compare the water situation in a place that just underwent a natural disaster to what some countries experience as a way of life.
Do you think the US is the only place women earn less than men? You ought to get out in the world more.
17th in education. Fair point. But what does that mean? Where do most foreign students still want to go to college?
I agree with you on medical care. It isn't that we can't afford it. It's that a political group is blocking it.
Yes, you have a valid point about our international efforts.
For every story you have, @Chaz I have many others that can refute what you are saying. Experiences vary greatly, but your experiences certainly don't show the overall picture. I have never waited in an emergency room for more than a few minutes before at least being seen by a triage nurse to determine severity of need. I have never waited even at a clinic for more than 15-20 minutes. When I injured my knee, my problem was diagnosed, referred, tested and resolved within 4 weeks. People I know with the same problem in other countries wait months, sometimes longer. The flooding in Colorado is a horrible thing, but they will recover and rebuild in pretty short order and will be fine. The Boulder area is pretty affluent, they will be ok after some time.
The nice thing is, if you are so miserable and unhappy in a country, you are actually free to move. A friend of mine just moved to Canada, she loves it and while she didn't move because she doesn't like the US (her husband got a new job) she does enjoy the new perspective. Maybe you would, too. It doesn't seem like you like much of *anything* about living here, so why suffer so much and stay? Do you just complain about every single thing, or do you make what efforts you can in the areas that are most important to you to improve things? No one can make differences in all areas, but we can make small differences in some.
As far as guns in the UK, I think @SpinyNorman was the one who mentioned it...look at the size of the US compared to the UK, and the # of people. Once that cat is already out of the bag, it's pretty hard to get it back in. Simply stopping the sale of guns and taking them all away, as someone else said, is simply not possible at this point.
You know, it's funny. For the first time in a few weeks, I made it to my sangha gathering this morning, where we talked about Syria and how to handle it in a spirtual way, and we talked about our opinions and we practices tonglen together. And quite honestly, lately, NB has been quite a cesspool of negativity just like the rest of the internet and the media. Right now it is a reflection of the egotistic world around us rather than what is inside of us. That's unfortunate. I think for the time being I'll choose to spend my time elsewhere.
The Dharma is often showing us where we are unbalanced or unable to see beyond our own investments in anything. Being disturbed by it may not be something to avoid.
I'm home only a few days from major surgery myself. Radical hysterectomy, and not only did I have a top doctor doing the surgery, he used the latest, advanced robotic surgery techniques available (daVinci surgery).
I don't live in a major metro/city area, like Philly, L.A., Chicago, NYC or anywhere like that. I live in suburbia- USA, and yet my local hospital took great care of me, has some of the best trained nurses on staff, and also has one of THE best cancer care /chemo/infusion units on the East Coast - and I've experienced this unit with my then 80 yr old mother; going there (twice) to beat her two bouts of lymphoma within 3 yrs. Wonderful, up to date modern technology was used and cherishing care given.
My mom was/is well insured with Medicare and also a well-known secondary health insurance (my parents pay for separately), so all her care was paid for. I'm not so lucky, as I'm too young for medicare (57) and my only other insurance is through my husband's VA disability. When all is said and done, I will owe around $10,000 out of pocket expenses for this surgery as well as a couple thousand for a previous procedure a couple of months ago. However, because I live on a limited income (my husband's) and haven't worked myself for several years, I will apply for financial relief through the hospital and I have a very good chance to have all my out of pocket bills erased. The worst that could happen is my portion of the bills will only be reduced by about 70-80%.
It's certainly not the way I would prefer our health care system work in the US, I'm a strong advocate for single-payer national health care, but it's better than no system at all. And yet, being poor (here in the US) didn't keep me out of the hospital altogether, nor away from the most modern up to date surgical procedures, either.
BTW, a few ago, my husband suffered a heart attack and it was discovered he needed a triple bypass operation. Deborah Heart and Lung Center, right here in NJ about 30 minutes from my home, is one of the best known heart and lung specialty centers in the world. Literally, people and children come from around the world to their facility.
They took him in immediately, and open heart surgery was done within 48 hrs of stabilizing his condition. He had absolutely no insurance whatsoever at that time, and we walked out of that hospital 7 days later without owing a single penny in bills. They do that kind of charity care about 60% of the time. Yet, even people with more than adequate insurance go there, too. The hospital is run completely on donations and independent funding through corporations and companies. Not anyone's precious tax dollars. So yeah, terrific health care can be found with a little effort here in the USA. Could it be even better? Sure it could. But we are nowhere as bad as many many other countries in the world.... I'm sorry your hospital care experience wasn't as good as mine. Perhaps you should have shopped around for better care and traveled a bit to get it...?
But then again, having worked in the medical field myself, some people complain no matter what kind of care they get; they are never happy, always focusing on the negative. Kind of like what a lot of people do around here, lately.
WOW! People in a thread on Shootings in Chicago are complaining about too much negativity? Go figure! (But it is interesting how some think it's the other guy who's negative just by expressing himself and fail to see that they themselves are being negative in their complete inability to see these thoughts as anything but hostile).
But did I just hear somebody say he had cancer and that all he could find in hospitals and clinics was ineptitude? Amazing the response: Keep Looking. I'm a bit shocked, frankly.
I realize a little bit of emotion keeps things alive, but a little empathy might be appropriate sometimes, too.
WOW! People in a thread on Shootings in Chicago are complaining about too much negativity? Go figure! (But it is interesting how some think it's the other guy who's negative just by expressing himself and fail to see that they themselves are being negative in their complete inability to see these thoughts as anything but hostile).
But did I just hear somebody say he had cancer and that all he could find in hospitals and clinics was ineptitude? Amazing the response: Keep Looking. I'm a bit shocked, frankly.
I realize a little bit of emotion keeps things alive, but a little empathy might be appropriate sometimes, too.
For every story you have, @Chaz I have many others that can refute what you are saying. Experiences vary greatly, but your experiences certainly don't show the overall picture. I have never waited in an emergency room for more than a few minutes before at least being seen by a triage nurse to determine severity of need. I have never waited even at a clinic for more than 15-20 minutes. When I injured my knee, my problem was diagnosed, referred, tested and resolved within 4 weeks. People I know with the same problem in other countries wait months, sometimes longer. The flooding in Colorado is a horrible thing, but they will recover and rebuild in pretty short order and will be fine. The Boulder area is pretty affluent, they will be ok after some time.
The nice thing is, if you are so miserable and unhappy in a country, you are actually free to move. A friend of mine just moved to Canada, she loves it and while she didn't move because she doesn't like the US (her husband got a new job) she does enjoy the new perspective. Maybe you would, too. It doesn't seem like you like much of *anything* about living here, so why suffer so much and stay? Do you just complain about every single thing, or do you make what efforts you can in the areas that are most important to you to improve things? No one can make differences in all areas, but we can make small differences in some.
As far as guns in the UK, I think @SpinyNorman was the one who mentioned it...look at the size of the US compared to the UK, and the # of people. Once that cat is already out of the bag, it's pretty hard to get it back in. Simply stopping the sale of guns and taking them all away, as someone else said, is simply not possible at this point.
You know, it's funny. For the first time in a few weeks, I made it to my sangha gathering this morning, where we talked about Syria and how to handle it in a spirtual way, and we talked about our opinions and we practices tonglen together. And quite honestly, lately, NB has been quite a cesspool of negativity just like the rest of the internet and the media. Right now it is a reflection of the egotistic world around us rather than what is inside of us. That's unfortunate. I think for the time being I'll choose to spend my time elsewhere.
"I realize a little bit of emotion keeps things alive, but a little empathy might be appropriate sometimes, too. "
Said the same person who also posted: "WHOA! Everybody stop attacking America.
20 First-graders shot to death is Completely Acceptable! "
A perfect example of a paragon of empathy and sensitivity. (yeah- Not).
It's called Irony.
Such hostility. Ahem.
How is that irony? Dude that doesnt make any sense. . Are u trolling again? Remember that one time you said nothing here on this forum interests you and you like to mess around with people just to get a rise out of them.? Bad nirvana! Bad! Behave!
On the lighter side of the news, this haiku has at least 31 translations.
At the ancient pond a frog plunges into the sound of water
Comments
Could there be a common denominator?
/Victor
In today's toxic political environment, to attempt to rewrite it would be a disaster.
And yes, other countries have had many constitutions. Take Thailand. They've had 18 constitutions just since 1932...usually changed at the whim of the group in power at the time. It has created tremendous instability, and is at least partly responsible for Thailand having at least 18 military coups (notice 18 and 18?).
I don't recall anyone every saying our Constitution is infallible. But it does provide a basis for a great deal of stability.
@federika
Could you please change the heading to Shootings in Chicago instead? There was no killings.
In today's toxic political environment, to attempt to rewrite it would be a disaster.
I would welcome such a change. Maybe we need to have a radical change in the short term in order to better ourselves in the long term. But we can agree to disagree. I just feel like the country is stuck and I don't see the need to hold onto such documents as tightly as people seem to do. The fact that our country is no longer a democracy but a plutocracy is also to blame. Our elected leaders are all corrupt because the amount of money that they are given by special interests and large corporations is enough to make any man lose his humanity and values. Its sad.
Long term after much thought I still would personally rather live here than in he US
It hurts to hear you say that. Despite our many problems there are some wonderful places to live in the US. Not all America is doom and gloom. Though I have never been to Thailand so I have no honest way to compare.
But take heart, I'm glad you're living there, too.
And the common denominator in all mass shootings is that a gun of some description is involved, funnily enough.
As an ex soldier, I know for a fact that I could kill a lot of people a lot more efficiently with a gun than I could with a knife.
From all accounts (of yours) @ThailandTom, you have never lived in the US. Therefore all that you despise and criticize about it is based on negative-slanted media and YouTube conspiracy theories and propaganda - which you seem to purposely seek out and then revel in at every turn.
Do you ever bother to watch anything positive about the US?
You know, documentaries about some of the best research facilities and hospitals in the world being right here in the US?
Did you ever watch documentaries how we've lead the world - for decades - in space exploration, computers and technology? How we have some of the best universities in the world; law, medical and otherwise?
We used to be superior in our manufacturing of clothing, autos, buses, trains, and airplanes. We still outrank the world in military gear, equipment and transportation; as well as underwater exploration and ocean ecology.
I think it's safe to say the vast majority of technological, medical and scientific advances over the last 100 years happened here, in the USA, even if many of those scientists came from other countries- they came HERE, where the research funding and ideas were way ahead of their own country's interest.
Do we still lead the world in all those things? No, probably not. Maybe not even close... so? But does that mean the US is doomed and worthless?
No, it means priorities shifted and now we live in a more "globally" vested world where even what were once considered "3rd world" countries are up and coming in many of those areas. Good for them. I don't have a problem with that.
What gets me about many of your anti-America posts Tom, (and some others around here as well) is that they repeatedly and intentionally imply that Americans don't even care how 'bad' things are here.
Like all we do is run to the mall, grabbing big bags of McDonalds on the way, buying our kids ipads and electronics, driving our huge SUVs and guzzling fossil fuels while our country goes to hell in a hand basket.... Not true.
That's TV, Tom, and not even reality TV. Americans are always bitching and complaining and fighting to correct the mistakes our government makes- or is about to make. We protest, we argue, and yea- we make documentaries, too.
Then we vote, and we will march and protest some more.... we don't just pretend it's not happening.
That's what I resent about the anti-America threads and comments that seem to be popping up more and more around here.
1. Alcoholics Anonymous.
2. Jazz
And I don't like Jazz!
(only joking, please don't bite me.)
Thanks for the 'welcome back'.
There are those of us that are trying and staying active and doing the best we
can with what we got. Starting and keeping a revolution going ain't that easy.
Don't like Jazz? :eek:
You don't know what's good, hahahah
Now, don't get me wrong, I love the Yanks, I owe my life to the power of your airforce and also to a couple of drunks who started A.A., but I do wonder about your country's sanity sometimes.
It's more cause and effect (how 'Buddhist' am I today?) than chance.
I strongly suspect that a reduction in guns will cause the effect of a reduction in people killed by them.
Guns are just a waaaaaaaaaay to efficient and easy way to kill.
This 'tool' is still someone's shovel in the concrete jungle or
the low-income housing/projects.
This is why it's important to see how it relates to the areas that
gangs reside in. AFA this incident.
So,
To give you guys an idea of how impossible it is to get gun legislation through here in the US, some legislation went through the state house here after newtown, basic common sense gun control measures, limit clip size, background checks, stuff like that. And the legislators feeling that they were representing their constituentcy voted for them...and what happens? The nra and locals teamed up to get enough signatures to initiate a RECALL election for those legislators. (Recalls here are usually meant for legislators who have been engaged in serious misconduct, so what it amounted to was a dirty political trick. ) amazingly, in my district, the NRA fear machine managed to sway
my left leaning district and my state rep was recalled. And these were pretty mild gun control measures! the kicker was, the next election was only a year away! They wasted tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money holding a sham election witch hunt..and now any lawmaker will have to fear recall whenever they vote for any gun control whatsoever.
And now all American gun owners are beginning to be judged by such despicable behavior of the NRA culture. My family are gun owners..my grandfather used firearms to help feed his family...my father has rifles and handguns which are kept safely..and he is one of the most reasonable, peaceful human beings .we believe in the second amendment...we are many generations of firearm owners, many in areas where guns are a necessity.(bears and mt. Lions.) But we also believe in limits.
As for myself, i no longer wish to own firearms, though I once did for security reasons..I worked in a bar where many patrons were illegally and sometimes heavily armed. I somewhat regret having owned them and will never again as long as I live in the city. I still believe in the second amendment though...within reason. Now I fear that mine and my family's perspective seems to be becoming the minority among gun owners in the states, which appears evident by the polarized political shenanigans occuring here. Id just like to say to the Europeans shaking their heads at our gun violence..we gun owners here aren't all NRA lackeys and militia members. Someday my father will give me his fathers 30-30 saddle gun, and I may give it to my son or daughter if I have one and so on. Along with this gun will pass down the education of safe usage and responible ownership. We feel this is what is meant by right to bear arms...not stockpiling heavy high capacity weapons.
And if you're a hobbyist who wants heavy weapons, how about a permit process? The NRA would sh*t a brick and claim the end of the world, even at that!!!
Crazy.
I'd be willing to bet that Thailand will go down the shitter pretty quick if western dollars stop flowing in.
That is to say that it would likely look a lot more like rural Laos. A hand to mouth subsistence living. Which is fine, just not for 66 million people.
And they won't be able to count on any help from China on account of they will go down the same shitter if the west goes broke.
Best to keep your fingers crossed that things keep rolling along over here.
Also, the comment about revamping the constitution. Could it be done? I'm sure it's possible. But have you seen the morons who are running our congress? you know that almost 90% of Americans don't trust congress and you want them to *agree* on how to change the constitution? LOL. They can't even agree on which way to put the toilet paper in the bathroom.
Then why do we have such abysmal health care in this country? One study I read had us as 47th in the world in terms of efficiency with the highest cost per capita. The WHO has us at 38th in the world and 1st in expenditure per capita.
That's probably true, but little of that benefits us.
If we're doomed and worthless, it's because of other factors.
They don't. There are children going to bed hungry tonight and there will be citizens sleeping under bridges. Our road are falling apart. Our government is useless. We'd rather spend money on blowing craters in deserts somewhere and spilling the blood of our own children to benfit big business' interests
Actually more true than false.
Then they give us all the guns we want so we can run around killing things.
Is this a great country, or what?
And, I've never had someone give me a gun.
Considering some of the places there are to live in the world, yeah, the US is still pretty good. I don't have to stand in a river of sewage to get water. I don't have to look for food in a garbage dump slum. I don't have to worry about what might happen if the one child I'm allowed is a girl. I mostly don't have to worry that I'll be gassed in my sleep. We're not at the top of the list, nor do we deserve to be at this point. But we're still pretty high up there.
About the super duper weapon, I was just yanking a few chains, yank yank, seemed to work
"[To Kerouac's friend Snyder] the world's dominant major nation-states were 'monstrous protection rackets,' emblems of 'greed made legal with a monopoly of violence.' "
That rings true to me. As does Samuel Johnson's dictum on patriotism. But I realize that we all see things differently. Hey, that might be a good thing!
Golly, I don't expect anyone to love the places I haunt more than I do and kinda think that people who take offense where none was intended have a kind of chip on their shoulder.
After looking at the WHO study I'd be better off going to Iceland for the Cancer.
Hmmmm.... I also have this codition that cause blood clotting. Last time I had a clot, it was a doozy, and I sat in the waiting room for two hours with a clot running the full length of my leg in a deep-vein setting as well a bilateral pulmonary embolism. I could have stroked out, right there in the waiting room
People in a parts of Colorado are pretty close to that .....
NO? Good, but there are plenty of people who do. But when she grows up she'll still get paid less than a male. There's a plus! Beings gassed in your sleep would really suck. Yep, 17th in education, 1st in citizen's incarcerated, we outspend every country on earth in military expenditure, with borrowed money, but we can't afford to offer citizens even the most rudimentary health care (even bad health care) as a privilege of citizenship, go to war unprovoked, overturn or sanction democratically-elected governments and support fascists ........
I've been to the emergency room twice. Once in Flagstaff, Arizona, once in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Both times seen immediately...and I do mean immediately.
Come on now. You can't compare the water situation in a place that just underwent a natural disaster to what some countries experience as a way of life.
Do you think the US is the only place women earn less than men? You ought to get out in the world more.
17th in education. Fair point. But what does that mean? Where do most foreign students still want to go to college?
I agree with you on medical care. It isn't that we can't afford it. It's that a political group is blocking it.
Yes, you have a valid point about our international efforts.
20 First-graders shot to death is Completely Acceptable!
Or is it?
The nice thing is, if you are so miserable and unhappy in a country, you are actually free to move. A friend of mine just moved to Canada, she loves it and while she didn't move because she doesn't like the US (her husband got a new job) she does enjoy the new perspective. Maybe you would, too. It doesn't seem like you like much of *anything* about living here, so why suffer so much and stay? Do you just complain about every single thing, or do you make what efforts you can in the areas that are most important to you to improve things? No one can make differences in all areas, but we can make small differences in some.
As far as guns in the UK, I think @SpinyNorman was the one who mentioned it...look at the size of the US compared to the UK, and the # of people. Once that cat is already out of the bag, it's pretty hard to get it back in. Simply stopping the sale of guns and taking them all away, as someone else said, is simply not possible at this point.
You know, it's funny. For the first time in a few weeks, I made it to my sangha gathering this morning, where we talked about Syria and how to handle it in a spirtual way, and we talked about our opinions and we practices tonglen together. And quite honestly, lately, NB has been quite a cesspool of negativity just like the rest of the internet and the media. Right now it is a reflection of the egotistic world around us rather than what is inside of us. That's unfortunate. I think for the time being I'll choose to spend my time elsewhere.
@Chaz
I'm home only a few days from major surgery myself. Radical hysterectomy, and not only did I have a top doctor doing the surgery, he used the latest, advanced robotic surgery techniques available (daVinci surgery).
I don't live in a major metro/city area, like Philly, L.A., Chicago, NYC or anywhere like that. I live in suburbia- USA, and yet my local hospital took great care of me, has some of the best trained nurses on staff, and also has one of THE best cancer care /chemo/infusion units on the East Coast - and I've experienced this unit with my then 80 yr old mother; going there (twice) to beat her two bouts of lymphoma within 3 yrs. Wonderful, up to date modern technology was used and cherishing care given.
My mom was/is well insured with Medicare and also a well-known secondary health insurance (my parents pay for separately), so all her care was paid for.
I'm not so lucky, as I'm too young for medicare (57) and my only other insurance is through my husband's VA disability.
When all is said and done, I will owe around $10,000 out of pocket expenses for this surgery as well as a couple thousand for a previous procedure a couple of months ago. However, because I live on a limited income (my husband's) and haven't worked myself for several years, I will apply for financial relief through the hospital and I have a very good chance to have all my out of pocket bills erased. The worst that could happen is my portion of the bills will only be reduced by about 70-80%.
It's certainly not the way I would prefer our health care system work in the US, I'm a strong advocate for single-payer national health care, but it's better than no system at all. And yet, being poor (here in the US) didn't keep me out of the hospital altogether, nor away from the most modern up to date surgical procedures, either.
BTW, a few ago, my husband suffered a heart attack and it was discovered he needed a triple bypass operation. Deborah Heart and Lung Center, right here in NJ about 30 minutes from my home, is one of the best known heart and lung specialty centers in the world. Literally, people and children come from around the world to their facility.
They took him in immediately, and open heart surgery was done within 48 hrs of stabilizing his condition. He had absolutely no insurance whatsoever at that time, and we walked out of that hospital 7 days later without owing a single penny in bills.
They do that kind of charity care about 60% of the time. Yet, even people with more than adequate insurance go there, too. The hospital is run completely on donations and independent funding through corporations and companies. Not anyone's precious tax dollars.
So yeah, terrific health care can be found with a little effort here in the USA. Could it be even better? Sure it could. But we are nowhere as bad as many many other countries in the world.... I'm sorry your hospital care experience wasn't as good as mine. Perhaps you should have shopped around for better care and traveled a bit to get it...?
But then again, having worked in the medical field myself, some people complain no matter what kind of care they get; they are never happy, always focusing on the negative. Kind of like what a lot of people do around here, lately.
But did I just hear somebody say he had cancer and that all he could find in hospitals and clinics was ineptitude? Amazing the response: Keep Looking. I'm a bit shocked, frankly.
I realize a little bit of emotion keeps things alive, but a little empathy might be appropriate sometimes, too.
Said the same person who also posted: "WHOA! Everybody stop attacking America.
20 First-graders shot to death is Completely Acceptable! "
A perfect example of a paragon of empathy and sensitivity. (yeah- Not).
Such hostility. Ahem.
On the lighter side of the news, this haiku has at least 31 translations. bopsecrets.org/gateway/passages/basho-frog.htm
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/do-american-public-schools-really-stink-maybe-not-97142.html?hp=t1