Minimum wage & The cost of living

[punter]

Why were we already hated? Because we try to dictate the way other countries handle there affairs. We have done this ever since the end of World War 2.
As far as our country not being attacked since 9/11. We have been both lucky and we have caught some in the act. Do you think that us being in Iraq has stopped anyone from attacking us. I've worked for the Dept. of Homeland Security from day 1. This Dept. was a knee jerk reaction to 9/11I really don't see the country any less vulnerable to attacks now than it was 6 years ago.

You work for the Dept. of Homeland Security, which was created after 9/11 to attempt to prevent these kind of attacks from happening again, and you say we got lucky and caught some in the act. I find that puzzling. Then you say you don't see the country being any less vulnerable since 9/11, which seems to be an admission that the Dept. that you work for has done nothing to protect us. Well, I'm guessing that others at the Dept. of Homeland Security don't share your views. How can you keep working at a job for six years and believe you have accomplished nothing?

 

[instroke75]

attacked?

jay i have to respectfully disagree with you on the safety issue. the US was already hated. otherwise 911 wouldnt have happened. its unfair to liken the war on terror to viet nam. in viet nam our country wasnt directly attacked. it was an ideology conflict with communism which may well have been lost for lack of political will and over worrying about public sentiment. it turned out to be a dark chapter in our history.

3690 casualties is sad. as i already said everything has its price. they were soldiers. their job was go to into harms way for this country's benefit. no one forced them to be soldiers. nothing accomplished? since 911 how many enemy strikes have taken place on US soil? you really think thats b/c they dont want to strike "the great satan"? those soldiers did gave their lives doing what they signed up to do. protect this country (you and i). to suggest their sacrifice was in vain devalues that very sacrifice. they are heroes.

everything has its price. where would we be without brave men and women willing to pay it?

brian

i'm still trying to remember when Iraq attacked us? what did Iraq do to us to justify being over there all this time, and especially to justify losing 3690 lives? don't get me wrong, Saddam was a tyrant, but once we removed him, why is it our job to stay there and police the world? we have enough problems and violence going on here, we don't need our soldiers walking there streets like gunslingers in the wild west! Bush is an idiot, and anyone who believes he's done a good job is a f***ing moron!
jeremy

 

[easy-e]

I can't wait until Hillary wins and I can afford milk again! (Insert sarcastic tone here) Ths is ridiculous.

 

[easy-e]

i'm still trying to remember when Iraq attacked us? what did Iraq do to us to justify being over there all this time, and especially to justify losing 3690 lives? don't get me wrong, Saddam was a tyrant, but once we removed him, why is it our job to stay there and police the world? we have enough problems and violence going on here, we don't need our soldiers walking there streets like gunslingers in the wild west! Bush is an idiot, and anyone who believes he's done a good job is a f***ing moron!
jeremy

Go to the streets of Iraq and communicate with the locals. They think we are doing a great job for them, I know because I have asked them personally. I must be a ****ing moron.

And if everyone would do me (and the rest of the troops) a huge favor, please stop feeling sorry for us........this is something WE chose to do. If anyone disagrees, ask the recruiters if they held a gun to our heads and made us sign up.

 

[thebigdog]

You work for the Dept. of Homeland Security, which was created after 9/11 to attempt to prevent these kind of attacks from happening again, and you say we got lucky and caught some in the act. I find that puzzling. Then you say you don't see the country being any less vulnerable since 9/11, which seems to be an admission that the Dept. that you work for has done nothing to protect us. Well, I'm guessing that others at the Dept. of Homeland Security don't share your views. How can you keep working at a job for six years and believe you have accomplished nothing?

Well I am just telling you what I see. I see a lot of smoke and mirrors. A lot of people I work with share my frustration. I do not make policy for the organization I work for, just follow my orders. Believe me I don't always agree with them.
BTW, Homeland Security is one of many missions performed by the Coast Guard. I really can't tell you a lot of the stuff I've seen when it comes to the Homeland Security mission, but most of the stuff I've been a part of has been total B.S. on that side of the house. Don't get me wrong, I love being in the Coast Guard, and love serving my country, I just see a lot of problems with this new dept. that many people are unaware of.

 

[8ballEinstein]

Go to the streets of Iraq and communicate with the locals. They think we are doing a great job for them, I know because I have asked them personally.

This is counter to a recent poll in Iraq. Some 70% of the locals wanted the Americans out of their country. A majority, over 50%, said it was justified to attack American troops.

I don't think they view us as liberators. That was just a smoke screen. I'm just afraid we will see an Operation Iranian Freedom and then Operation North Korean Freedom.

Btw, when I replied to this thread last night I thought it would die out quickly since it was not pool related. It's good to know that pool players are paying attention to current events.

 

[Dgerst]

Man, it only took 4 posts to blame the price of milk on Bush. You liberals are on fire this morning.

Funny! History will be kinder to Bush than most people think, and I'm not even a fan of him.

Minimum wage laws are scam by politicians to get votes. Period. I own a small town pizza place and I couldn't find ANYONE to work for minimum wage even if I wanted to. You get what you pay for.

Unemployment is at an all-time low. Sure the rich are getting richer. But contrary to what the whiners will tell you the poor are getting richer too.

And like others have stated it's all about priorities. I'm raising two kids and my wife stays at home to school them. We live comfortably on what I'm sure is less than what most people here make. We're able to do this because we stay totally debt free. I get hot checks from customers with twice my income. Two car payments, 10k in credit card bills, and a huge mortgage do not a rich man make.

 

[8ballEinstein]

The U.S. has the 2nd highest GDP per capita in the world; #1 in the world compared to countries even remotely close to our size.

Luxembourg-- $54,285.46 (2004) population = 459,000 (2004)

United States -- $39,535.28 (2004) population = 295,409,600 (2004)

Macao -- $39,294.51 (2004) population = 440,000 (2004)

I think we are fine.

-Shane

Very interesting, Shane. Just remember, these numbers deal with averages and that can give a misleading picture. For example, if you averaged my net worth with that of Bill Gates, it would come out to about 25 billion dollars. So Bill and I must be doing well???

 

[jay helfert]

jay i have to respectfully disagree with you on the safety issue. the US was already hated. otherwise 911 wouldnt have happened. its unfair to liken the war on terror to viet nam. in viet nam our country wasnt directly attacked. it was an ideology conflict with communism which may well have been lost for lack of political will and over worrying about public sentiment. it turned out to be a dark chapter in our history.

3690 casualties is sad. as i already said everything has its price. they were soldiers. their job was go to into harms way for this country's benefit. no one forced them to be soldiers. nothing accomplished? since 911 how many enemy strikes have taken place on US soil? you really think thats b/c they dont want to strike "the great satan"? those soldiers did gave their lives doing what they signed up to do. protect this country (you and i). to suggest their sacrifice was in vain devalues that very sacrifice. they are heroes.

everything has its price. where would we be without brave men and women willing to pay it?

brian

Brian, No one from Iraq attacked us!
Yes, our soldiers are heros. It is our leadership that is flawed.

 

[pocketspeed]

jay, you dont saddam supported, funded, directed, or applauded terrorism directed at the US?

 

[thebigdog]

jay, you dont saddam supported, funded, directed, or applauded terrorism directed at the US?

So do the Saudi's, and they are our "friends".

 

[JimS]

jay i have to respectfully disagree with you on the safety issue. the US was already hated. otherwise 911 wouldnt have happened. its unfair to liken the war on terror to viet nam. in viet nam our country wasnt directly attacked. it was an ideology conflict with communism which may well have been lost for lack of political will and over worrying about public sentiment. it turned out to be a dark chapter in our history.

3690 casualties is sad. as i already said everything has its price. they were soldiers. their job was go to into harms way for this country's benefit. no one forced them to be soldiers. nothing accomplished? since 911 how many enemy strikes have taken place on US soil? you really think thats b/c they dont want to strike "the great satan"? those soldiers did gave their lives doing what they signed up to do. protect this country (you and i). to suggest their sacrifice was in vain devalues that very sacrifice. they are heroes.

everything has its price. where would we be without brave men and women willing to pay it?

brian[/QUOTE

We were/are hated by radical Muslims. Now we are hated by average folks in many countries and seen as the greedy profiteers that we... we meaning our leaders, are. Our country has invaded other countries for profit on more than one occasion and tried to sell it as being saviors of huminaty. Other citizens of the world know that's just crap and they hate the lies and violence perpetrated by our government.

 

[Russ Chewning]

Brian, I agree with your point about the SUV's, but not about the safety issue. It's a specious argument that we are safer now. In my mind, we are definitely less safe in this country, thanks to Bush's war on terror. This administration has fostered a breeding ground for anti American sentiment worldwide. And we will pay the price sooner or later, sad to say.

3,690 young American lives lost at last count in Iraq, and what has been accomplished there. Total chaos mostly. Can anyone say Viet Nam?

Oooooohhh boy... Gotta correct this Jay. Before we start dancing, you know I love you, buddy..

What have we accomplished? A hell of a lot more than we did in Vietnam, that's for sure. The Iraqi people voted under threat of being blown up. Quite a few Iraqis seemed to have a patriotic spirit during the elections, don'tcha know?

There was a huge religious celebration this week. Lots of pilgrims making their way to a shrine in Baghdad.. Lots as in..a million or so.. No huge explosions killing hundreds like there have been the last few years. The Iraqi Army and Police are starting to step forward and take responsibility for security.

Iraqi soldiers used to run away from the insurgents, Jay. They were scared. Now, quite a few units have a burning desire to make a difference ON THEIR OWN, without the U.S. Army having to step in. Iraqi soldiers are fighting, and DYING to protect their own country.

The Iraqi people are beginning to report insurgent activity in their area, as long as troops move in and prove security to keep the insurgents from coming back.

Pardon me, Jay.. Seems as if in Vietnam, we sometimes had a MONTH where more American soldiers died than have died in the WHOLE WAR here.. I am stunned that you know that Iraqis stepped over body parts in the street on their way to the voting booth, and you can sit there and say these American lives are wasted.

I am just happy the generation of my grandparents was not as weak-willed as the American people seem to be nowadays. If so, we might be speaking Japanese or German.

A friendly piece of advice. If you guys and gals don't know what's REALLY going on over here, then don't talk like you do. We are RAMPING UP FOR AN ELECTION, PEOPLE! Of COURSE the party not in office is going to say that everything is going horribly! It is in their best interest to!

Russ

 

[DawgAndy]

AHA....The terrorists are to blame for the milk prices....bastards

Andy
likes his milk on the hoof not the shelf

 

[Neil]

..............

 

[hemicudas]

I am a card carrying Libertarian. Simply put, we believe in leaving you alone and feel you should return the courtesy. Iraq was a mistake made by Republicans and Democrats alike, based on faulty CIA/FBI intelligence. Both of the Clintons and Bush assured us that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Only an idiot would believe they didn't have them at one time, because they used them on the Kurds. Obviously, Hussein shipped the remainder of his chemical weapons to another sympathetic country before the start of the war. Finger pointing, as is being done by Congress and the White House solves no problems. Solutions are what they both should be working on.

To save our soldiers, try this. Choose a number of the most trusted democratically elected Iraqis. You pick the number, 100? Allow them to choose a number of their most trusted army people, 100 each? Give these people radios and access to our U.S. Air Force and GET OUR ARMY SOLDIERS OUT OF BAGHDAD or even Iraq itself.

Have these elected Iraqis search, as our guys are doing now, for Al Qaeda and insurgent strongholds. Upon finding such strongholds, phone our U.S. Air Force, now stationed in Kuwait, at which time several A-10 Warthogs will be dispatched to the house or place of designation.

This IMHO is the only logical way to fight the Iraq war. From afar.

 

[Russ Chewning]

Wow, hemi... I mean, WOW.. Why didn't the U.S. already think of that?

Oh yeah.. Insurgents live right next door to innocent Iraqis. If we bomb that "stronghold" from afar, then we kill more innocents than necessary.

Why not just let the Iraqis go in and root them out? Hmm... Well, considering that the Iraqi government still has not paid the Army and Police force, if the Americans pull out, or as I like to call it, "QUIT".. Then the Iraqis are looking at possibly dying, for no pay, and with no backup. We have to stay here until the Iraqis can show they have stable security, government, etc..

They're not as far away as you think.. I understand though... Pessimistic thinking is easier, it just doesn't get anything done, however..

Oh yeah, and by the way.. Pretty much every commanding general since air power first came into being would disagree with you. You HAVE to have ground tropps to fight an insurgent war.

Russ

 

[frankncali]

those numbers are a little misleading to me when you have to factor in that no other country has as many,athletes,rock stars,actors and numerous other celebrity type occupations where people make 10's of million a year.

If you really look at it celebrities aren't close to the top of $$$$ earners in America. The are publicized more but thats it.


As for the topic if you really want to become sick take a look at how many companies are turning in RECORD BREAKING PROFITS. Gas and Oil companies are just part of the companies that going nuts.

I guarantee that no line worker, delivery guy, order taker, gas pumper or
checkout girl is reaping any benefit from these profits.

 

[whitey2]

minimum wage

Maybe this is really related to the minimum wage after all.

Remember... "The American people will not have to pay for the war in Iraq. Iraqi oil will
pay for the war in Iraq".

 

[frankncali]

Wow, hemi... I mean, WOW.. Why didn't the U.S. already think of that?

Oh yeah.. Insurgents live right next door to innocent Iraqis. If we bomb that "stronghold" from afar, then we kill more innocents than necessary.

Why not just let the Iraqis go in and root them out? Hmm... Well, considering that the Iraqi government still has not paid the Army and Police force, if the Americans pull out, or as I like to call it, "QUIT".. Then the Iraqis are looking at possibly dying, for no pay, and with no backup. We have to stay here until the Iraqis can show they have stable security, government, etc..

They're not as far away as you think.. I understand though... Pessimistic thinking is easier, it just doesn't get anything done, however..

Oh yeah, and by the way.. Pretty much every commanding general since air power first came into being would disagree with you. You HAVE to have ground tropps to fight an insurgent war.

Russ

Russ
I know you are there but your statement "They're not as far away as you think." is very very very very far off.
I have a Brother In Law that is in the Pentagon and is a career officer. He said that if we wait until they are stable we will be there UNTIL THE END OF EARTH. He said basically it would take a major major push in other areas besides government stability to make the country semi peaceful.

The education level their is extremely poor and Sadam wanted it that way.
Fighting and killing is all that the majority know there. Sadam just
kept peoples anger build up inside with fear. That happens when you kill
a million people in a few days.

We have no business being in Iraq but we are there now. Lets put our educated military heads together and find a way out. Set the plan and
lets go.

I always love it when the press or the average joe reports that Al Quida is
so strong there. Funny they had an almost zero presence before we arrived. Thats a fact as Sadam might have given them money but he wasnt dumb enough to let any strong group remain in his country.