interesting Article from SF Gate
- Thread starter domtoni
- Start date
BTW how are all of those GREAT austerity policies you love doing over on your side of the pond going :evil: . Stop trying to force the rest of the world to accept your FLAWED views as even you have to admit that your own country is falling apart because of your (meaning your FOOLISH party views) B.S. I guess the world rioting isn't enough of a sign for you to get your head out of the sand and admit that YOU WERE WRONG!!!!!!! P.S. a 200% (you read that right) increase in college tuition over night for people that do not have a pot to P!$$ in. Keep taxing everyone to death and I have a feeling that you will start to have a flag that resembles stars and stripes my friend and then all will be right in the world (at least maybe we will get some of those great cars that never make it over here).
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A False Flag? That's a very serious accusation Sir, and the practice is just not Cricket.
Flag represents Where, rather than Who, you are.. (when you sign on)
So, one can safely assume he is in the United Kingdom.... at the moment at least.
Anyway I'm sure he can answer for himself but he#s probably doing that work thing, and sending good old British Sterling home to feed his family and contributing to the US export drive. :thumbsup:
Flag represents Where, rather than Who, you are.. (when you sign on)
So, one can safely assume he is in the United Kingdom.... at the moment at least.
Anyway I'm sure he can answer for himself but he#s probably doing that work thing, and sending good old British Sterling home to feed his family and contributing to the US export drive. :thumbsup:
Thanks for the comments, its been fun to read.
I posted this for two reasons:
- I was repulsed when I read it on an old university friend's Facebook page - he lives San Francisco and has adopted an alternative life style so hence you can understand where he comes from.
- This is the kind of info our liberal friends from the Bay Area read. I am hoping we can get someone's view.
I tried to edit my profile and my location is currently UK and hence the UK flag. I do carry US and Italian passports. And yes, I am here because I have worked here (been out of a job in the auto industry for some time). I also lived in Rome Italy during my university days, Breda NL, Cologne Germany and here. And yes, its a great place to work if you are a gear head and have the opportunity to travel around Europe and visit all of those hallowed halls. Had a drive around the Porsche Test track in a 928, and sat in Ross Brawn's office in the Ferrari F1 office. Met John Judd by accident looking for the customer I was supposed to meet. I walked into his building and he was talking to another vendor. A very personable guy.
Gordon Brown is long gone now and he spent to much money. His model is BHO's, and hence similar programs. Student rioting is another issue. Higher education was free, and I do believe Labour under Blair introduced tuition fees. Students worked to gain some extra money, but I have been told that the earned money was to support their partying over the weekends. Is it fair for an average working joe to help fund the education of a privileged member of society? Back in our days only 10% made it to university. Labour wanted 50% to attend. The tax payer can fund the whole bill themselves.
I posted this for two reasons:
- I was repulsed when I read it on an old university friend's Facebook page - he lives San Francisco and has adopted an alternative life style so hence you can understand where he comes from.
- This is the kind of info our liberal friends from the Bay Area read. I am hoping we can get someone's view.
I tried to edit my profile and my location is currently UK and hence the UK flag. I do carry US and Italian passports. And yes, I am here because I have worked here (been out of a job in the auto industry for some time). I also lived in Rome Italy during my university days, Breda NL, Cologne Germany and here. And yes, its a great place to work if you are a gear head and have the opportunity to travel around Europe and visit all of those hallowed halls. Had a drive around the Porsche Test track in a 928, and sat in Ross Brawn's office in the Ferrari F1 office. Met John Judd by accident looking for the customer I was supposed to meet. I walked into his building and he was talking to another vendor. A very personable guy.
Gordon Brown is long gone now and he spent to much money. His model is BHO's, and hence similar programs. Student rioting is another issue. Higher education was free, and I do believe Labour under Blair introduced tuition fees. Students worked to gain some extra money, but I have been told that the earned money was to support their partying over the weekends. Is it fair for an average working joe to help fund the education of a privileged member of society? Back in our days only 10% made it to university. Labour wanted 50% to attend. The tax payer can fund the whole bill themselves.
Damian geezer!
Way to go. Don't ever let facts get in the way of a good rant
The tuition fees are all back end loaded and aren't paid until the graduate leaves university and is earning over a certain amount. then they start to be repaid on a graduated scale depending on salary. The payment is not very large and (shouldn't) overtax the graduate. The state simply cannot afford to sponsor 50% of all students attending university.
Oh, and we're skint as a nation because we've given all our money to Spain, Greece, Portugal, Italy and because Tony Blair and Gordon Brown couldn't run a small company, let alone a nation...So we need to tighten our belts, and unfortunately that has to be across the board...It's not a great situation to be in, but it's where we are, so a degree of austerity is called for. Our debt is 47 Billion a year in interest alone, and thats before we actually pay back any of the principal. To put that in perspective, it's more than our defence and education budget per annum combined, just on servicing a debt.
Pathetic really.
Graham.
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Government in all it's good intentions of smoothing the employment turmoil as industries contract and new ones requiring different skills take their place, has led to an increase in the dole. This attempt to ease suffering has led to increased populations to be dependent upon the government for wages and other "needs". It also hides the fact that, as a population, we have not developed a sound approach to re-educating workforces to the new realities. As an economist, I understand the intent as well founded, but studies show that it will fail in the end due to the increased cost and dependency of the "old" generation workers being displaced.
The old models of 'labor' have rapidly vanished and far quicker than the general population has been able to adapt. The rate of change is shocking. The strange thing is, the more we try to protect the working population in any country against global competition, the worse it will get for the society as a whole. The only recourse is to lower barriers to innovation and job creation and allow the working population to adapt or sink.
I know this sounds cruel, but if everyone on the dole had to report for some type of work to get a paycheck, at least some of the infrastructure failures of government could be addressed. What's wrong with a dismissed factory worker pushing a broom on the sidewalk and cleaning up parks? At least that individual will be expending energies for the greater good and could reduce payrolls of city and state sanitaion workers. A trade-off to be sure, but far better that what is happening today.
As for education, in the USA, everyone who cannot get a scholarship has to borrow funds at low interest rates to finance their education. At least it requires the family to sit down and discuss the students prospects for future employment and if they have the intellect or dicipline to finish once they start. There is no true "free" lunch.
Garry
The old models of 'labor' have rapidly vanished and far quicker than the general population has been able to adapt. The rate of change is shocking. The strange thing is, the more we try to protect the working population in any country against global competition, the worse it will get for the society as a whole. The only recourse is to lower barriers to innovation and job creation and allow the working population to adapt or sink.
I know this sounds cruel, but if everyone on the dole had to report for some type of work to get a paycheck, at least some of the infrastructure failures of government could be addressed. What's wrong with a dismissed factory worker pushing a broom on the sidewalk and cleaning up parks? At least that individual will be expending energies for the greater good and could reduce payrolls of city and state sanitaion workers. A trade-off to be sure, but far better that what is happening today.
As for education, in the USA, everyone who cannot get a scholarship has to borrow funds at low interest rates to finance their education. At least it requires the family to sit down and discuss the students prospects for future employment and if they have the intellect or dicipline to finish once they start. There is no true "free" lunch.
Garry
Just wanted to make a comment to Garry re older workers and manufacturing.
Sure old industries have moved out, but from working for a Chicago based maker of fastening systems, I learned that one can make things in the US rather than going abroad.
Fasteners are an important part of most everything we buy. They are highly capital intensive, and their quality depends on the capital equipment, tooling and quality of raw materials used.
This company closed down much of its US operation when the buzz was to go to China. They found, just like those who bought product from Taiwan earlier, that quality was poor, and by the time they finished with their inspection process, they could have made the product in the USA.
Now the government (and I don't see the president doing this) should level the playing field for a business to make or buy in the US or China, make taxes the same and let the best people win.
Sure old industries have moved out, but from working for a Chicago based maker of fastening systems, I learned that one can make things in the US rather than going abroad.
Fasteners are an important part of most everything we buy. They are highly capital intensive, and their quality depends on the capital equipment, tooling and quality of raw materials used.
This company closed down much of its US operation when the buzz was to go to China. They found, just like those who bought product from Taiwan earlier, that quality was poor, and by the time they finished with their inspection process, they could have made the product in the USA.
Now the government (and I don't see the president doing this) should level the playing field for a business to make or buy in the US or China, make taxes the same and let the best people win.
Damian geezer!
Way to go. Don't ever let facts get in the way of a good rant
The tuition fees are all back end loaded and aren't paid until the graduate leaves university and is earning over a certain amount. then they start to be repaid on a graduated scale depending on salary. The payment is not very large and (shouldn't) overtax the graduate. The state simply cannot afford to sponsor 50% of all students attending university.
Oh, and we're skint as a nation because we've given all our money to Spain, Greece, Portugal, Italy and because Tony Blair and Gordon Brown couldn't run a small company, let alone a nation...So we need to tighten our belts, and unfortunately that has to be across the board...It's not a great situation to be in, but it's where we are, so a degree of austerity is called for. Our debt is 47 Billion a year in interest alone, and thats before we actually pay back any of the principal. To put that in perspective, it's more than our defence and education budget per annum combined, just on servicing a debt.
Pathetic really.
Graham.
I think you missed out the United States Graham , as it was only just in recent years we finished paying off our cousins across the water for all that Spam and obsolete coal fired destroyers and other stuff from the Fabulous Forties. Do you know that in 60 years we only ever missed one payment? But, despite that, we had some quite good years blunted by Socialist and Conservative dogma and experimentation in ludicrously theoretical monetary crusades, many inspired by a certain Mr Greenspan.
It's a shame we were never net beneficiaries of the Marshall Plan which was very steered towards US needs, despite the fact we bankrupted ourselves and gave away all the family silver. UK War Reparations were pathetic by contrast and I think our only bragging right is the British Military restarting Volkswagen production before it could be snaffled by the Russkis. Just think! We could have been bigger and better than Germany and Japan!
Unfortunately, that 100% credit rating went out of the window along with Brown's chaise longue.
So here we are. Amazing that when our respective nations go our own ideological ways we do well for ourselves, but when we "import" or "export" economic theories to each other it plain does not work. It seems that Mr O's economic strategy has not only failed to capture the imagination of the American electorate, but he got the idea from a lying retard who masqueraded as a "Socialist" and has netted over £50 million out of his political failure at our expense to say nothing of the British lives lost pursuing his reckless ambition. G Dubblyer has confirmed the extent of his treason by affirming that he gave Bliar the chance to opt out of the carnage.
Throw the EEC into the mix and then stand back and think "does ANYONE in the Western World know what they fuck they are doing?"
I am sorry if I read history a bit skewed. I have no real educatuion and it is only an opinion or idea, formed by avid reading of world political and military history from Year One, a project I will never complete in my lifetime unfortunately. I will happily bow to superior knowledge and debate because I am really a thicktard.
Finally,
Keep your eyes on the East my friends. They do not bicker amongst themselves - they are focussed on just one goal.. and it's not 'us' for a change....
Blog Gone.
I posted this on another thread
In the UK now in order to try to address this problem they have decided that those on benefits must do work experience for their welfare. Like me you may have thought that is a great idea, but there is a problem with the way they are doing it.
Looks like companies may see this as a way of getting in Labour they don’t have to pay for and reducing the paid hours of their current workers there by reducing their costs. Looks a distinct possibility this is about to happen to my son and as he is already on part time hours. He is currently training up the lad who is most likely going to take some of his paid hours when trained.
In order to help our children get their part time jobs we paid £400 for them to do a course. The lad who is on welfare has been given the same course and others for free.
Be careful what you wsh for or you may end up training a welfare worker to take over your job for less money.
Charlie Farley
Supporter
Keith,
Ooh for just 20% of your " uneducated " ideas !
Blair & Brown created hundreds of thousands of ' fake ' ( unproductive ) jobs in key parliamentary seats to boost their chances at elections. Why not pay the unemployable to get a job ?
This government promises soo much more. But will they deliver ?
As to university tuition fees. F*ck them all. In my days , if you couldn't pay, you didn't go !
And after renting out properties over 10 years to students at a first class University, i have a pretty good idea what they spent their money on ! And it wasn't rent or wholesome food !!! Mostly liquid thro' the throat and God knows what up the nose !!
UK Marine camp for the lot of them i say !! Chip, chip !
Ooh for just 20% of your " uneducated " ideas !
Blair & Brown created hundreds of thousands of ' fake ' ( unproductive ) jobs in key parliamentary seats to boost their chances at elections. Why not pay the unemployable to get a job ?
This government promises soo much more. But will they deliver ?
As to university tuition fees. F*ck them all. In my days , if you couldn't pay, you didn't go !
And after renting out properties over 10 years to students at a first class University, i have a pretty good idea what they spent their money on ! And it wasn't rent or wholesome food !!! Mostly liquid thro' the throat and God knows what up the nose !!
UK Marine camp for the lot of them i say !! Chip, chip !
One thing the article gets right is that it takes more than two years to change course on the titanic. A little bit, or more like a lot, of staying power and steadiness in most initiatives is an absolute requirement for success. If a president can leave office with the country being in a little better state of affairs than when he or she came in, well, that's a successful presidency.
Nick,
I am trying to understand your reference to getting government paid dole workers to do the jobs of legitimate employees working in the private sector. Are you saying that these government dole workers (under the new plan) will be hired out to private enterprise for free? It sounds like more of the same government over-reach that has plagued the English for over 50 years.
The obvious solution, if that is indeed the case is to take these individuals off the dole and put them on the private payrolls.
Ultimately, the only way for western Europe and the USA for that matter, to grow their economy and create new jobs and industries is to foster entrepreneurs and creativity. Reducing barriers to start-ups such as lowering minimum wage requirements, lowering taxes on capital expenditures( faster depreciation), incentivise banks to provide small business loans, and a host of other ideas to get people to take risks and rise above the cradle to grave safety net provided by the government.
Are there going to be risks? You bet and there will be failures, but it has been proven time and again that most successful businesses were started by entrepreneurs who had failed three times before achieving a sustainable business model.
Allowing humans to try and fail and then start over with a clean slate (bankruptcy?) is part of the renewal cycle that spurs innovation and leads to sustainable growth. Ask your son if he has any ideas about starting a business. I don't know what his skill set is, but I am sure that he has gifts. He should be encouraged to pursue them.
From what I have seen there is no shortage of talent in GB, France, Germany, Italy, or anywhere else. In fact I am amazed at the talent level in these economies. You need to ask the government to unshackle these youngsters and let them compete. They will succeed. It's time for the socialists to take a holiday.
Garry
Garry, I think some of the problems we have in the Uk should be explained further. What once was a great post war work ethic, has turned into a work shy ethic that affects a large portion of the non working population. That, and the great British (unemployed) workforce feel that many jobs available are beneath them which attitude, in turn, has led to an economic migrant population thankful for ANY job. I personally know fully qualified Doctors from abroad doing menial work that is higher paid than they can get at home. They're not shy.
I digress, but this has subsequently led to a "culture of dependence" on the State. I must be careful not to generalise here, as many youngsters do want to work and find it. But in the many 'sink' estates in the UK, drug dealing vandalism and criminality is the order of the day with many youngsters - a state brought about in part by the failure of parenting and a too liberal approach to education. The are over 100,000 youg people claiming incapacity benefit alone in the UK - a bad back that prevents them from working seems the most popular opt out and hard to disprove. Of course a doctor has to sign them off, but who knows what intimidation or duress they suffer? Plus, doctors get paid for sick notes!
For example, for quite a few years, competitive sports were banned from many schools as it was felt that everybody had to be a winner regardless of ability. In turn this has led to the culture of benefit reliance as nobody seems to want to work if the job pays less than their benefit. I have no idea where this attitude came from but it's there and endemic.
The last Government stated that economic migrants would only number 100,000 totally, and yet in Southampton alone, close to me, there are 50,000 Polish people living AND WORKING here, sending money to their families in Poland. They have the work ethic and are prepared to do anything to support their families and create some wealth for themselves. The previous Govt's claim that they would be good for our economy is quite frankly bullshit, but such is the position at the moment, that even the present Govt who want to put a cap on immigration, say they cannot stop it all together as their labour is needed.
I'll let thank sink in for a moment. Here we have a large indigenous potential but workshy workforce,many drawing benefits but able to work, using economic migrants as an excuse why they can't get a job. Catch 22 anyone?
It is to try and tackle this disease that the present Govt is trying to force people to apply for jobs and the most important thing is to get these lazy negative earning bastards off the benefit culture so they can start taking responsibility over their own lives.
That this has come about because of an uber liberal approach to social 'care' is to me, without question, however, they treat our older citizens, who spent their lives in work, like shit.
Never has any country I've ever come across have the beaurocratic forces of the State reviled their senior citizens so much as here in the UK - in fact, they regularly get beaten up for their few shillings so some scumbag can supplement his benefits to buy some more rocks.
What impressed me most about the average American when I lived there 25 years ago, was that, in the main, work was a vital part of their life philosophy, indeed, many of them had several jobs to try and either pay for their education or to accumulate the trappings of success. There was no 'envy' of anothers achievements that was becoming a problem in the UK even at that time. Work hard, get a decent motor only for it to bear the scars of so-called 'envy marks' a short time later.
Our two cultures are totally different in this respect but, I fear, are drawing closer together, and not for the right reasons. We ought to recognise that some problems are global in a particular political and economic system such as ours. I believe the best way forward is to recognise that we share common 'difficulties' and should learn to cooperate and tackle them together, rather than expound the kind of jingoistic tub thumping so beloved of certain people. The world is far too small for that now, and the East is rising.... and our intertia is addictive :blank:
Blog Off
Oh, one more thing. I have just re-read wot I rote and the complete irony has just hit me. I had better 'fess up as no wish to be hypocritical - I am in receipt of Incapacity Benefit myself!
But it only pays £126.50 per week, and that's it, but I'm very very grateful for it. Guess what I would rather be doing?
I digress, but this has subsequently led to a "culture of dependence" on the State. I must be careful not to generalise here, as many youngsters do want to work and find it. But in the many 'sink' estates in the UK, drug dealing vandalism and criminality is the order of the day with many youngsters - a state brought about in part by the failure of parenting and a too liberal approach to education. The are over 100,000 youg people claiming incapacity benefit alone in the UK - a bad back that prevents them from working seems the most popular opt out and hard to disprove. Of course a doctor has to sign them off, but who knows what intimidation or duress they suffer? Plus, doctors get paid for sick notes!
For example, for quite a few years, competitive sports were banned from many schools as it was felt that everybody had to be a winner regardless of ability. In turn this has led to the culture of benefit reliance as nobody seems to want to work if the job pays less than their benefit. I have no idea where this attitude came from but it's there and endemic.
The last Government stated that economic migrants would only number 100,000 totally, and yet in Southampton alone, close to me, there are 50,000 Polish people living AND WORKING here, sending money to their families in Poland. They have the work ethic and are prepared to do anything to support their families and create some wealth for themselves. The previous Govt's claim that they would be good for our economy is quite frankly bullshit, but such is the position at the moment, that even the present Govt who want to put a cap on immigration, say they cannot stop it all together as their labour is needed.
I'll let thank sink in for a moment. Here we have a large indigenous potential but workshy workforce,many drawing benefits but able to work, using economic migrants as an excuse why they can't get a job. Catch 22 anyone?
It is to try and tackle this disease that the present Govt is trying to force people to apply for jobs and the most important thing is to get these lazy negative earning bastards off the benefit culture so they can start taking responsibility over their own lives.
That this has come about because of an uber liberal approach to social 'care' is to me, without question, however, they treat our older citizens, who spent their lives in work, like shit.
Never has any country I've ever come across have the beaurocratic forces of the State reviled their senior citizens so much as here in the UK - in fact, they regularly get beaten up for their few shillings so some scumbag can supplement his benefits to buy some more rocks.
What impressed me most about the average American when I lived there 25 years ago, was that, in the main, work was a vital part of their life philosophy, indeed, many of them had several jobs to try and either pay for their education or to accumulate the trappings of success. There was no 'envy' of anothers achievements that was becoming a problem in the UK even at that time. Work hard, get a decent motor only for it to bear the scars of so-called 'envy marks' a short time later.
Our two cultures are totally different in this respect but, I fear, are drawing closer together, and not for the right reasons. We ought to recognise that some problems are global in a particular political and economic system such as ours. I believe the best way forward is to recognise that we share common 'difficulties' and should learn to cooperate and tackle them together, rather than expound the kind of jingoistic tub thumping so beloved of certain people. The world is far too small for that now, and the East is rising.... and our intertia is addictive :blank:
Blog Off
Oh, one more thing. I have just re-read wot I rote and the complete irony has just hit me. I had better 'fess up as no wish to be hypocritical - I am in receipt of Incapacity Benefit myself!
But it only pays £126.50 per week, and that's it, but I'm very very grateful for it. Guess what I would rather be doing?
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