ArchieBunker Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 I have a feeling they will raise the age at which one can retire. They also might "means test" which I am against philisophically. They could also cut benefits but they would never do that as old people tend to vote. The first thing Congress should do is eliminate their fat, bloated pensions and their perks. But we all know that will never happen.... Quote Link to comment
ArchieBunker Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 BTW, had I been able to invest even a portion of the money I have paid into the system I would have a rather fair amount. I ahve had my own private "pension" scheme in the guise of a 401K for over 20 years now and have a bit in there. The Dems have recently floated a trial balloon of taxing that money at a much higher rate than originally promised. I am shocked. Hope it doesnt happen. The system needs my money now more than ever since,as I previously stated, is one big monster of a Ponzi scheme. Quote Link to comment
Torurot Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Texas Secession Petition Racks Up More Than 80,000 Signatures, Qualifies For White House Response http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/13/texas-secession-petition-qualifies-for-white-house- response_n_2125159.html?utm_hp_ref=politics Quote Link to comment
Tomcat Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Now there really is only one reason why its so expensive in the top 10 countries-TAXES!!!!!! yep ,, thats it The Govts of Europe will fuck you anyway they can. ..and it will get worse... On some flights the tax is more than the flight cost , its a joke. where is the incentive to work . Anyway Im glad those fucking Labour clowns didnt get elected here , tha would have been the last straw.. Quote Link to comment
seven Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Now there really is only one reason why its so expensive in the top 10 countries-TAXES!!!!!! Yes of course. A friend of mine had a big complicated stomach operation recently and hospitalized for one week. Hes not well off by any means , just a blue collar guy. He told me the care was great. Cost for the operation: 20 euros. Quote Link to comment
seven Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 .. On some flights the tax is more than the flight cost , its a joke. Thats only those mickeymouse airlines like Ryan Air., which i would never use. Quote Link to comment
BigTel Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Thats only those mickeymouse airlines like Ryan Air., which i would never use. Not just mickeymouse airlines, Thai Airways that I fly with from London to Bangkok at approx £600 return, more than half of that cost is made up of Tax to the greedy U K Government. Quote Link to comment
JaiDee Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Yes of course. A friend of mine had a big complicated stomach operation recently and hospitalized for one week. Hes not well off by any means , just a blue collar guy. He told me the care was great. Cost for the operation: 20 euros. I have a friend from Denmark and we were discussing this once.....he says "sure, Denmark has great health care and we can send our kids to college for free [even subsidized with a 900USD stipend per month!], but we are taxed at 50% of our income''. This for cradle to grave security. I dunno, that seems like a pretty good deal to me. Hell, we are taxed in the 30's anyway, and we don't get anything near socialized health care and sending a child to college costs anywhere from 50K to 200K. I know this from recent experience. I know the Scandinavian countries tend to have small populations and they say socialism works better on a small scale, but it seems like a pretty good deal to me. I've lived in Canada off and on as well; seems to work fine in a country of 35 million. Quote Link to comment
JaiDee Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 85% atheism rate, socialism which works, easily the best-looking girls in the world; I was surely born in the wrong country! 1 Quote Link to comment
SiamSam Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 JD, Canada has state run health care for all but it is far from a socialist country. Pretty much everything else is comparable to the US system including taxation. We can't really compare Canada to Denmark or Sweden. I spend a lot of time in Denmark and Sweden and the cost of things is astronomical. It is ridiculous. Everything from restaurants, shitty hotels, basic necessities, etc. I truly do not know how people can afford things. They are taxed like crazy. I was told you have to pay 2 to 3 times the value of a car in taxation in Denmark. If you buy a $50K car be prepared to shell out $150K. That's quite a hit however I see BMWs, Mercedes, and other high end vehicles all over the place. Go figure. 1 Quote Link to comment
Tomcat Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Im not sure if Sweden could be called Socialist these days .maybe a Social Democracy. from what i read the taxes on the rich have been rolled back and greater economic liberalisation has been promoted... Quote Link to comment
Tomcat Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Ive been folliowing the world of Robotics and AI for quite a few years now... In the next few years you will see great swathes of Middle class jobs bite the dust and lawyers will feel the pinch pretty soon Artificial intelligence is advancing so fast that first tier attorneys wont be needed in 3 years time ..the search and decide programs are so strong that the machines will be advising the seniors on courtroom tactics as they can muster the equivalent of 10,000 years worth of knowledge in a short space of time.. and so on.. and thats just the start As it says in a well known Scientific journal " You are being replaced " 1 Quote Link to comment
seven Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 "sure, Denmark has great health care and we can send our kids to college for free [even subsidized with a 900USD stipend per month!], but we are taxed at 50% of our income''. This for cradle to grave security. Yes, sure. Its not 50% anymore for low -and middle-class though, its around 30%. The rich pay even up tp 75%, but they can afford accountants who'll find loopholes in the art of taxevasion. the cost of things is astronomical. It is ridiculous. Everything from restaurants, shitty hotels, basic necessities, etc. I truly do not know how people can afford things. They are taxed like crazy. I was told you have to pay 2 to 3 times the value of a car in taxation in Denmark. If you buy a $50K car be prepared to shell out $150K. That's quite a hit however I see BMWs, Mercedes, and other high end vehicles all over the place. Go figure. Not sure about the car example, SS., never heard of that here. Coming home after a long stay in Asia , the price differences on everyday things are usually brutal, but not this time. My currency was shit against the baht , maybe that made the difference. If you think its expensive here, try Norway or London. The norweigans come across the border to buy their food and fill up their car to save money. I have no reason to go there as its very much same as Sweden only more expensive. When I was in London last time i felt like you feel about Denmark and Sweden, ridiculously expensive. Living here you learn where and how to spend your money. I'm sure its different coming here as a tourist, starting at the airport with being taken to the cleaners by the recently unregulated (evil) free market taxi-services. My home is basically all IKEA, which is considered budget here, HiSo in other parts of the world. I have no problem with that, I like their stuff. Quote Link to comment
seven Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 85% atheism rate, socialism which works, easily the best-looking girls in the world; I was surely born in the wrong country! No way i will say Sweden is the best country in the world , never, because it isn't. I don't think there is such thing as a perfect country in the world. I love France, some parts of the US, Sweden and last but not least the ladyboys of Thailand. Im not sure if Sweden could be called Socialist these days .maybe a Social Democracy. from what i read the taxes on the rich have been rolled back and greater economic liberalisation has been promoted... Yes, its not anymore. The conservatives been in charge the last 8 years doing their best to tear down the great welfare system ( copied by many countries ,Canada being one) the socialist democrats built 40 years before that, ending with the assassination of the great prime minister Olof Palme, a murder still unsolved only because it was orchestrated by the police and intelligence personel who coincidentally are very rightwing oriented by tradition. Cutting taxes for the rich, privatizing healthcare, cut backs on schools and care for our old people. Assholes. Last years election brought back the socialist , but in a very weak minority position where they have to seek support from both left and right. Quote Link to comment
Pdoggg Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 My home is basically all IKEA, which is considered budget here, HiSo in other parts of the world. I have no problem with that, I like their stuff. I like their stuff but not putting it together. Quote Link to comment
JaiDee Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 JD, Canada has state run health care for all but it is far from a socialist country. Pretty much everything else is comparable to the US system including taxation. We can't really compare Canada to Denmark or Sweden. Thanks Sam, I always knew you guys were kind of 'socialist light' but never really knew the differences. Honestly, while I love America I really enjoyed my 9 months [over 2 years] in Canada as well as all the weekend trips I have done there since the 80's. Great country, great people, super-friendly, very liberal and open-minded, not TOO religious [MTL is still very Catholic but as with everywhere else that's dying off] and very European. In case you can't tell I am also a big fan of Europe, I think Europeans just "get it." Quote Link to comment
SiamSam Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 In case you can't tell I am also a big fan of Europe, I think Europeans just "get it." Some of Europe "gets it" but certainly not all of Europe. France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and perhaps a few others get it. But countries like Spain and Italy are loosey goosey and Greece is totally out to lunch IMHO. Quote Link to comment
ArchieBunker Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Thats only those mickeymouse airlines like Ryan Air., which i would never use. Thats totally not true. I am in the biz and i know the UK has loads of onerous taxes on flights. Here in the USA there are also tons of "stealth type" taxes and fee associated with air travel. Quote Link to comment
seven Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Not just mickeymouse airlines, Thai Airways that I fly with from London to Bangkok at approx £600 return, more than half of that cost is made up of Tax to the greedy U K Government. I stand corrected Thats totally not true. I am in the biz and i know the UK has loads of onerous taxes on flights. Here in the USA there are also tons of "stealth type" taxes and fee associated with air travel. Sorry to hear you have to pay taxes. Quote Link to comment
Hefe Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 Ive been folliowing the world of Robotics and AI for quite a few years now... Artificial intelligence is advancing so fast that first tier attorneys wont be needed in 3 years time ..the search and decide programs are so strong that the machines will be advising the seniors on courtroom tactics as they can muster the equivalent of 10,000 years worth of knowledge in a short space of time.. and so on.. and thats just the start As it says in a well known Scientific journal " You are being replaced " You know, I had never given more than a second's thought to AI other than in passing during some sci-fi film, I believe the Terminator movies are about the "war with the machines" which sounds cool & all that & sets up an entertaining couple of hours of bedlam. But recently I have been reading a bit about current self-correcting software & how fast that is developing, the aim is to have it maintain & continually improve itself. It certainly isn't much of a stretch that at a certain point these programs will outpace their human administrators, who will probably be identified as the origin of constantly entering errors into the network & then logically excluded from changing the "evolving" programs. Of course everything will be connected to a network: power grids, weapon systems, medical devices, communications, etc... Anyway what was once an entertaining premise for a good yarn is suddenly looking very real, to me anyway. I wonder if there really will be a War of the Machines in our descendants' future when biological life seems untenable & wasteful on our environmentally exhausted planet & the "Network" decides we are obsolete, a future HAL & Dave fighting it out sometime. 1 Quote Link to comment
ArchieBunker Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Oh that whacky Kim Jun Un!!! Evidently he publicly executed his defense minister. Was it for falling asleep in a meeting?? Was it for plotting against him?? Maybe he just woke up in a bad mood and did it because he could. What a fucked up place that is. Just read a book about a fighter pilot, North Korean, who defected in his MiG in 1953!! Stalin has a lot to answer for-as if that list isnt log enough!! Nowadays, the Chinese have a lot to answer for since if they give that murderous regime all kinds of support!!! Evidently his Grandpa really fucked up the invasion and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory!!! Quote Link to comment
JaiDee Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/12/asia/north-korea-defector-kim-power/ CNN reports on a defector who says Kim will be finished within 3 years North Korean defector: Kim will lose power within three years Quote Link to comment
JaiDee Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 America; getting our priorities straight since the failed war on drugs started. Quote Link to comment
JaiDee Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 One Massachusetts city has it right; help addicts, don't arrest them. Decriminalization of all drugs in favor of treatment is the only way to go, the drug war is a pathetic failure. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2015/05/05/gloucester-cops-addicts-ask-for-help-and-won-arrest-you/9nrZEse0deDpPqt1t1VozI/story.html ''Opiate addicts in Gloucester who come to the police station — even if they’re carrying drugs — won’t be charged with a crime. They’ll get help. “We’re committed to the idea of attacking the demand rather than attacking the supply,” Police Chief Leonard Campanello told Boston.com. Following dozens of overdoses in town and a Saturday forum on opiate addiction, Campanello wrote in a Facebook post that any addict who comes to police headquarters will get an “angel” to walk them down the road toward detox recovery. Even if someone walks in with needles and drugs, they won’t be charged, he said.'' Quote Link to comment
JaiDee Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 In Maryland, schools take a back seat to prisons. Then they wonder why cities like Baltimore go up in flames. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-hogan-announcement-20150514-story.html#page=1 Hogan: No additional funding for schools http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-youth-jail-20150513-story.html State approves $30 million youth jail 1 Quote Link to comment
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