The USA is still the greatest country on the planet in so many ways but not as you would expect on every measure.
China will soon eclipse the states as the biggest ecconomy but as far as human rights, democratic process and poverty are concerned they are light years behind. The same could have been said of the former USSR.
For all its faults the USA still remains the most powerful and most influential nation and I can't see that changing any time soon.
I'm cucious, what does democracy have do with a countries greatness?
Also, China are miles behind The US economy, numbers are made up as people please here, I just read a great article suggesting even box office figures cannot be trusted.
If a country isn't it's people then i don't know what measure you use. Dictatorships are signs that the leadership do not trust its own people. China and many others have appalling human rights issues. I do not see that a country that is not respectful of its people can ever be considered great. Powerful perhaps but not great.
As for the Ecconomy of China surpassing that of the USA it is predicted and widely known that this should occur in a decade or so. I havn't made that up and thanks for the suggestion that I did. See below
And you thought Roland was unpopular! If Charltonlife is anything to judge by, we'd be lucky if 5 fans turned up with Donald at the helm, it would be six, but I can't make it.
The USA is still the greatest country on the planet in so many ways but not as you would expect on every measure.
China will soon eclipse the states as the biggest ecconomy but as far as human rights, democratic process and poverty are concerned they are light years behind. The same could have been said of the former USSR.
For all its faults the USA still remains the most powerful and most influential nation and I can't see that changing any time soon.
I'm cucious, what does democracy have do with a countries greatness?
Also, China are miles behind The US economy, numbers are made up as people please here, I just read a great article suggesting even box office Charlton's attendance figures cannot be trusted.
I keep the same thing, "Trump is dangerous" "Trump is a bigger threat than ISIS" is the funniest one.
Can someone explain to me why exactly this is the case? Am I missing something? Should I commute to London each day wondering whether we're going to be hit from a terror attack by Trump? ISIS are the danger surely, and does he not have every intention of wiping them out no?
If someone could explain without referring to me as a right wing idiot that would be great, genuine question, if your answer convinces me to think otherwise then so be it.
Trump has found a winning formula and is sticking with it, he'd be mad not to! Much of what he says is show business, nothing more. He's having some fun at his opponents expense and he is loving the reaction from the public and from winding up all the lefties and the PC brigade, as am I, it is long overdue IMHO. I would be extremely surprised if he turned out to be even half as radical as he purports to be should he get elected.
That's all ok then. Phew. Worth a punt on the off chance that electing the most powerful man on the planet might not be quite as bonkers as he seems.
I'd take that punt any day rather than elect Clinton.
Mr trump, you have done great things in your life.. How do I begin?
Well, I'm sure his families money helped.... Although that's not stopped 4 of his buisness going bankrupt.
Your point being?? Perhaps he would have been better off investing all his fathers wealth in high yielding stocks, bonds and real estate. Then sat back and watched the money roll in for the rest of his life whilst living the life of Riley. Instead the stupid fool started up numerous companies, you know those entities that actually employ people! He took risks, he lost it all, but rather than feel sorry for himself, he persevered, took even more risks and ended up building an even bigger fortune the second time around, whilst employing even more people..
I'm not sure that same idiology can be used while running a country though
I keep the same thing, "Trump is dangerous" "Trump is a bigger threat than ISIS" is the funniest one.
Can someone explain to me why exactly this is the case? Am I missing something? Should I commute to London each day wondering whether we're going to be hit from a terror attack by Trump? ISIS are the danger surely, and does he not have every intention of wiping them out no?
If someone could explain without referring to me as a right wing idiot that would be great, genuine question, if your answer convinces me to think otherwise then so be it.
Trump has found a winning formula and is sticking with it, he'd be mad not to! Much of what he says is show business, nothing more. He's having some fun at his opponents expense and he is loving the reaction from the public and from winding up all the lefties and the PC brigade, as am I, it is long overdue IMHO. I would be extremely surprised if he turned out to be even half as radical as he purports to be should he get elected.
That's all ok then. Phew. Worth a punt on the off chance that electing the most powerful man on the planet might not be quite as bonkers as he seems.
I'd take that punt any day rather than elect Clinton.
That's why you elect Bernie. The clintons are part of bilderberg, just more of the same as before
I keep the same thing, "Trump is dangerous" "Trump is a bigger threat than ISIS" is the funniest one.
Can someone explain to me why exactly this is the case? Am I missing something? Should I commute to London each day wondering whether we're going to be hit from a terror attack by Trump? ISIS are the danger surely, and does he not have every intention of wiping them out no?
If someone could explain without referring to me as a right wing idiot that would be great, genuine question, if your answer convinces me to think otherwise then so be it.
Trump has found a winning formula and is sticking with it, he'd be mad not to! Much of what he says is show business, nothing more. He's having some fun at his opponents expense and he is loving the reaction from the public and from winding up all the lefties and the PC brigade, as am I, it is long overdue IMHO. I would be extremely surprised if he turned out to be even half as radical as he purports to be should he get elected.
That's all ok then. Phew. Worth a punt on the off chance that electing the most powerful man on the planet might not be quite as bonkers as he seems.
I'd take that punt any day rather than elect Clinton.
That's why you elect Bernie. The clintons are part of bilderberg, just more of the same as before
No thanks, enough socialism for the last eight years.
You can see why some American people are attracted to Trump. He offers an alternative to the GOP 'sameness' that has been going on for years. I can understand that.
However, Trump worries me. The rhetoric that he puts over is essentially "let's get our country back and fuck everyone else". There are a lot of people who want to hear that. Where I'm worried is that a lot of what he spouts is hate mongering. That's one of the reasons there has been violence at his rallies, that he has condoned. That is how he gets people riled up.
What worries me the most is that I can see similarities with how the German people were with Hitler between the first and second world wars. They also wanted to "get their country back". There was also a lot of violence at his rallies and then when he came into power it just got progressively worse and we know how that all ended up.
Hopefully there are enough checks and balances in the American political system that have been put in place to prevent anything like this happening but you never know with Trump. Once he gets his smooth talking, bullying rhetoric going you never know what he can persuade people to do.
To some Trump offers a breath of fresh air but he worries me big time. It would be nice to have a crystal ball.
What concerns me with Trump should he get to The White House is how he would look to deal with the North Koreans and Iranians of this world. Sanctions and political pressure is one thing. A hot headed Commander in Chief is another.
So that we're clear, this notion of debt being unconcerning to the Democrats is nonsense. Our debt started with Reaganomics ($2t) and grew under the illegal wars of W., and we now have DoD spending we're committed to that is a massive problem. It's a tactic used by both sides when there is proposed spending on things (weapons, healthcare) that they don't support.
@BR7_addick I haven't heard anyone sensible say that "Trump is worse than ISIS." I don't listen to the MSNBCs of the world, the deeply partisan news outlets may say such things. The concern is that his economic politics are ridiculous. He's talking about the largest infrastructure effort since maybe the Hoover Dam, and has no way of backing that up And his racism, he has been openly bigoted to Muslims, Hispanics, women, and various others. So we're clear, the States is already a deeply bigoted country, Trump did not invent this, he's not even the first national politician to play on it, he's just the current one playing on it the most.
He has also talked about going toe to toe with Putin, which is unlikely, but given that Putin seems to want another Cold War of sorts, Trump seems more than willing to play into his hand.
Also, I mean the underlying psychosis of it all came out the other night when he talked about himself as not having a small cock. I mean that seems to be what it's really about, who can grab this meat and two veg the most.
Another interesting question is, how dangerous is ISIS to the States? The answer is, thus far, not very.
Whoever said Trump was winding up "PC Lefties," so that we're clear, he's a bigot. And you're correct, he is in fact "not PC," but the only time I ever hear anyone say they're "not PC" or discuss political correctness at all, is when they want to say or be bigoted. Trump has treated women, Muslims, Hispanics, and Jews (honestly probably more, I've lost track) as second class or somehow lesser citizens. That's what people are concern by. I don't buy into the notion that he's "Hitler-esque," but there is a lot of room between Nazism and returning a racist to the White House who will further a caste system based on race and gender.
Lastly, Australia, @queensland_addick@Ormiston Addick fuck off and get your own thread! If I wanted to learn about Australian politics, I'd vote to have America invade them. Fortunately for you, we do not have a particularly good record with large, barren countries high in temperature.
Also, as a side note, Hillary Clinton crediting Nancy Reagan with "starting the conversation about AIDS" was a real fuck you to the LGBTQ community and the millions who lost their lives or had their lives effected in the 80s when the Reagans (despite information coming out of the CDC and various local community health organizations) said "this is an epidemic. We would later discover that the Reagans' stance was something along the lines of AIDS being a punishment for being gay.
The estimates of those lost to AIDS in the 80s are rough at best given many were second and third-class citizens, but they usually hover around two million. I have gay friends now in their 50s and 60s who lost just about all of their friends at the time. It truly was an epidemic, and it was horrible. There is a really good documentary on Netflix called "How to Survive a Plague" which covers this era really well.
I think that Trump's popularity tells us more about the desperation of large sections of the American electorate and their hatred of the political establishment than it does about his personal standing. If another business as usual, machine politician like Hillary gets in things will get explosive.
To add to the "what's so dangerous about Trump" bit, he has also refused to condone a KKK leader. Expect live updates throughout the day as I remember more cretinous things he's done.
I've also run small businesses, my economics do not match up with yours. If you find a candidate who will attempt to downsize multi-nationals through accountable taxation and proper wages, and who will in turn support small, "home grown" businesses at the cost to the consumer, do let me know though.
It's a very anti small-business environment though, isn't it? And small business creates the most jobs. The big companies right now are sitting on huge amounts of cash, very little investment so little job creation. Companies like Carrier moving their production line to Mexico to save money. There's no confidence in the economic future from any quarter, no matter their politics.
By the way, I think we should be nice to our Australian friends, it's where most of my "likes" and "LOLs" come from, even though they're not always meant in the most complimentary way.
It's a very anti small-business environment though, isn't it? And small business creates the most jobs. The big companies right now are sitting on huge amounts of cash, very little investment so little job creation. Companies like Carrier moving their production line to Mexico to save money. There's no confidence in the economic future from any quarter, no matter their politics.
Agree other than small businesses creating the most jobs, because I don't think that's true right now. It could be, but as you said, it's hard.
I do think small business are great ways to create career jobs, and I've spent a good chunk of my career in small-to-medium sized companies. Republicans used to at least try to brand themselves as being for small businesses. I think it can be argued how much of that was true, but it seems lost in the discussion now.
And you thought Roland was unpopular! If Charltonlife is anything to judge by, we'd be lucky if 5 fans turned up with Donald at the helm, it would be six, but I can't make it.
All the stands get renamed "Trump"
The kebab shop opposite the station gets renovated into skyscraper "Trump Towers"
When he's been interviewed asked why is the club failing so much he comes back with "I'm worth 4 billion dollars"
Let's face it guys, the American Dream, a big part of which was social mobility and the opportunity to pursue wealth may not be totally dead but is certainly on life support. It's this which is the country's big problem. Not Islamic terrorists or Mexican illegals.
I read somewhere recently, probably in the Economist, that there is, now, only one place where you have a fairly good chance of actually achieving the American Dream: it's called Europe. (I guess that's one reason why we are so popular to economic migrants.)
But, back to the USA, a country I am very fond of, basically and in a language they'd understand, they are going to hell in a handcart. We're talking about a country where around 20mn of its residents live in a caravan. Usually a pretty unpleasant one too. Where one third of its kids are overweight or obese but they still think it's a good idea to bus them to school. And then trash their spacial awareness by making all traffic stop while the buses disgorge their piles of blubber.
Meanwhile the average age of an American's car is 11.5 years and rising. (By comparison, in the UK it's 7.5). American cars, too, are not the fully loaded expensive models we've come to demand in the UK but rather an inferior version with less of the gizmos and a wheezing engine - oh what happened to the glorious V8s? Their actual houses tend to be made of some softwood covered in a lot of Tyvec and clad in plastic, their power cables adorn every street (too expensive to put them underground) and fall down when there's the first winter storm.
For years and strangely usually at the behest of its citizens the USA has been focussing on entirely the wrong things. We aspire (however longingly) to the expensive. They demand the cheap, which is why t-shirts are now made in China or Vietnam and last about a week or so. America, whatever happened to the crafted US Cotton T-shirt which was beautifully made and would last longer than a Dodge Ram? Frankly, I think they are in a bad place and no matter who they get as President it will only get worse. No country, where 90% of the population owns a bible and 50% of them believe in a literal interpretation of it, has a snowball in hell's chance of ultimate success. God Bless America cos they are going to need all the help they can get once the mineral wealth is played out.
(A small illustration of what's wrong with America. Mrs cafcfan has for years had a pair of excellent eyebrow tweezers. The brand is TRIM, they were made by a company called W E Bassett in the USA. On a recent trip to the States she bought some replacements. They looked the part but, and thanks to Neil Young for the song title, they were a Piece of Crap. Guess what, the new ones are made in China. Subsequent research shows that W E Bassett got bought out by a giant cosmetics company, it's production line in Connecticut shut down and production switched out. Guess what, too, Mrs cafcfan will not be buying any more of their products.)
So that we're clear, this notion of debt being unconcerning to the Democrats is nonsense. Our debt started with Reaganomics ($2t) and grew under the illegal wars of W., and we now have DoD spending we're committed to that is a massive problem. It's a tactic used by both sides when there is proposed spending on things (weapons, healthcare) that they don't support.
@BR7_addick I haven't heard anyone sensible say that "Trump is worse than ISIS." I don't listen to the MSNBCs of the world, the deeply partisan news outlets may say such things. The concern is that his economic politics are ridiculous. He's talking about the largest infrastructure effort since maybe the Hoover Dam, and has no way of backing that up And his racism, he has been openly bigoted to Muslims, Hispanics, women, and various others. So we're clear, the States is already a deeply bigoted country, Trump did not invent this, he's not even the first national politician to play on it, he's just the current one playing on it the most.
He has also talked about going toe to toe with Putin, which is unlikely, but given that Putin seems to want another Cold War of sorts, Trump seems more than willing to play into his hand.
Also, I mean the underlying psychosis of it all came out the other night when he talked about himself as not having a small cock. I mean that seems to be what it's really about, who can grab this meat and two veg the most.
Another interesting question is, how dangerous is ISIS to the States? The answer is, thus far, not very.
Whoever said Trump was winding up "PC Lefties," so that we're clear, he's a bigot. And you're correct, he is in fact "not PC," but the only time I ever hear anyone say they're "not PC" or discuss political correctness at all, is when they want to say or be bigoted. Trump has treated women, Muslims, Hispanics, and Jews (honestly probably more, I've lost track) as second class or somehow lesser citizens. That's what people are concern by. I don't buy into the notion that he's "Hitler-esque," but there is a lot of room between Nazism and returning a racist to the White House who will further a caste system based on race and gender.
Lastly, Australia, @queensland_addick@Ormiston Addick fuck off and get your own thread! If I wanted to learn about Australian politics, I'd vote to have America invade them. Fortunately for you, we do not have a particularly good record with large, barren countries high in temperature.
F**k off? Charming! Anyway SDAddick there are very disturbing links between our former fraudster PM Gillard and her friends the Clintons that require further exposure.
CHIA (Clinton HIV/Aids Initiative) was disbanded and deregistered in Dec 2007, for failing to file annual reports.
CHIA (Clinton Health Access Initiative) notice the difference, clever eh? was then reregistered in 2010.
Between this period 2008 to 2010, the Gillard government pumped around 70,000,000 (Seventy Million Dollars) in aid (taxpayers money), into a non existent Clinton entity (It didn't exist, it had been deregisterd in Dec 2007)!
Despite repeated requests for answers from the office of current Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop, the questions of why did this money continue to be paid and to whom? under the Gillard administration, remain unanswered by the current Liberal Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, who are being extremely evasive in their answers.
Yet another example of how the political establishment collude and cover each others backs, whilst us tax payers are left to pick up the tab.
Now I don't know about you SD, but I am sick to death of corrupt fraudsters, shonks and liars (from the left or the right) running the joint into the ground at our expense, whilst attempting to pull the wool over our eyes.
All of which leads us neatly back to Trump and the very reason why the world needs leaders who are not in the pockets of Unions, Corporations or any other major source of funding. Someone who can speak freely and do what is right for the country, rather than their own vested interests.
Comments
I'm not sure that same idiology can be used while running a country though
That's why you elect Bernie. The clintons are part of bilderberg, just more of the same as before
However, Trump worries me. The rhetoric that he puts over is essentially "let's get our country back and fuck everyone else". There are a lot of people who want to hear that. Where I'm worried is that a lot of what he spouts is hate mongering. That's one of the reasons there has been violence at his rallies, that he has condoned. That is how he gets people riled up.
What worries me the most is that I can see similarities with how the German people were with Hitler between the first and second world wars. They also wanted to "get their country back". There was also a lot of violence at his rallies and then when he came into power it just got progressively worse and we know how that all ended up.
Hopefully there are enough checks and balances in the American political system that have been put in place to prevent anything like this happening but you never know with Trump. Once he gets his smooth talking, bullying rhetoric going you never know what he can persuade people to do.
To some Trump offers a breath of fresh air but he worries me big time. It would be nice to have a crystal ball.
@BR7_addick I haven't heard anyone sensible say that "Trump is worse than ISIS." I don't listen to the MSNBCs of the world, the deeply partisan news outlets may say such things. The concern is that his economic politics are ridiculous. He's talking about the largest infrastructure effort since maybe the Hoover Dam, and has no way of backing that up And his racism, he has been openly bigoted to Muslims, Hispanics, women, and various others. So we're clear, the States is already a deeply bigoted country, Trump did not invent this, he's not even the first national politician to play on it, he's just the current one playing on it the most.
He has also talked about going toe to toe with Putin, which is unlikely, but given that Putin seems to want another Cold War of sorts, Trump seems more than willing to play into his hand.
Also, I mean the underlying psychosis of it all came out the other night when he talked about himself as not having a small cock. I mean that seems to be what it's really about, who can grab this meat and two veg the most.
Another interesting question is, how dangerous is ISIS to the States? The answer is, thus far, not very.
Highly recommend this on Isis:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/03/what-isis-really-wants/384980/
Whoever said Trump was winding up "PC Lefties," so that we're clear, he's a bigot. And you're correct, he is in fact "not PC," but the only time I ever hear anyone say they're "not PC" or discuss political correctness at all, is when they want to say or be bigoted. Trump has treated women, Muslims, Hispanics, and Jews (honestly probably more, I've lost track) as second class or somehow lesser citizens. That's what people are concern by. I don't buy into the notion that he's "Hitler-esque," but there is a lot of room between Nazism and returning a racist to the White House who will further a caste system based on race and gender.
Lastly, Australia, @queensland_addick @Ormiston Addick fuck off and get your own thread! If I wanted to learn about Australian politics, I'd vote to have America invade them. Fortunately for you, we do not have a particularly good record with large, barren countries high in temperature.
The estimates of those lost to AIDS in the 80s are rough at best given many were second and third-class citizens, but they usually hover around two million. I have gay friends now in their 50s and 60s who lost just about all of their friends at the time. It truly was an epidemic, and it was horrible. There is a really good documentary on Netflix called "How to Survive a Plague" which covers this era really well.
PS. It's centre ;0)
I do think small business are great ways to create career jobs, and I've spent a good chunk of my career in small-to-medium sized companies. Republicans used to at least try to brand themselves as being for small businesses. I think it can be argued how much of that was true, but it seems lost in the discussion now.
The kebab shop opposite the station gets renovated into skyscraper "Trump Towers"
When he's been interviewed asked why is the club failing so much he comes back with
"I'm worth 4 billion dollars"
I read somewhere recently, probably in the Economist, that there is, now, only one place where you have a fairly good chance of actually achieving the American Dream: it's called Europe. (I guess that's one reason why we are so popular to economic migrants.)
But, back to the USA, a country I am very fond of, basically and in a language they'd understand, they are going to hell in a handcart. We're talking about a country where around 20mn of its residents live in a caravan. Usually a pretty unpleasant one too. Where one third of its kids are overweight or obese but they still think it's a good idea to bus them to school. And then trash their spacial awareness by making all traffic stop while the buses disgorge their piles of blubber.
Meanwhile the average age of an American's car is 11.5 years and rising. (By comparison, in the UK it's 7.5). American cars, too, are not the fully loaded expensive models we've come to demand in the UK but rather an inferior version with less of the gizmos and a wheezing engine - oh what happened to the glorious V8s? Their actual houses tend to be made of some softwood covered in a lot of Tyvec and clad in plastic, their power cables adorn every street (too expensive to put them underground) and fall down when there's the first winter storm.
For years and strangely usually at the behest of its citizens the USA has been focussing on entirely the wrong things. We aspire (however longingly) to the expensive. They demand the cheap, which is why t-shirts are now made in China or Vietnam and last about a week or so. America, whatever happened to the crafted US Cotton T-shirt which was beautifully made and would last longer than a Dodge Ram?
Frankly, I think they are in a bad place and no matter who they get as President it will only get worse.
No country, where 90% of the population owns a bible and 50% of them believe in a literal interpretation of it, has a snowball in hell's chance of ultimate success. God Bless America cos they are going to need all the help they can get once the mineral wealth is played out.
(A small illustration of what's wrong with America. Mrs cafcfan has for years had a pair of excellent eyebrow tweezers. The brand is TRIM, they were made by a company called W E Bassett in the USA. On a recent trip to the States she bought some replacements. They looked the part but, and thanks to Neil Young for the song title, they were a Piece of Crap. Guess what, the new ones are made in China. Subsequent research shows that W E Bassett got bought out by a giant cosmetics company, it's production line in Connecticut shut down and production switched out. Guess what, too, Mrs cafcfan will not be buying any more of their products.)
CHIA (Clinton HIV/Aids Initiative) was disbanded and deregistered in Dec 2007, for failing to file annual reports.
CHIA (Clinton Health Access Initiative) notice the difference, clever eh? was then reregistered in 2010.
Between this period 2008 to 2010, the Gillard government pumped around 70,000,000 (Seventy Million Dollars) in aid (taxpayers money), into a non existent Clinton entity (It didn't exist, it had been deregisterd in Dec 2007)!
Despite repeated requests for answers from the office of current Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop, the questions of why did this money continue to be paid and to whom? under the Gillard administration, remain unanswered by the current Liberal Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, who are being extremely evasive in their answers.
Yet another example of how the political establishment collude and cover each others backs, whilst us tax payers are left to pick up the tab.
Now I don't know about you SD, but I am sick to death of corrupt fraudsters, shonks and liars (from the left or the right) running the joint into the ground at our expense, whilst attempting to pull the wool over our eyes.
All of which leads us neatly back to Trump and the very reason why the world needs leaders who are not in the pockets of Unions, Corporations or any other major source of funding. Someone who can speak freely and do what is right for the country, rather than their own vested interests.
In unrelated news, Frankenstein in despair over monster’s extreme behaviour.