What Is Happening Around Us?

I've been thinking about the current state of affairs in the US and the world lately. I don't know if it's my current age or a sign of the times, but what is going on?

Big Oil continues to drive gas prices way beyond what I believe we can afford as a nation.

The Music industry is in an all out assault on it's customers. P2P, RIAA, Sound Exchange, Internet Radio, Digital Rights Management.

Gaming company's are in full advertising mode. EA just announced in game awards that are sponsored for a certain sports line. Think Buick Shot of the Game or Schitk Block of the Game, etc. Seriously, they are actually selling sponsorships for these achievements.

Copyrights keep being extended to the point where there will never ever be a public domain again.

Health insurance and the medical industry are so messed up, we may never be able to save it.

I could continue to go on and on, but have things ever been this bad? Have I failed to notice?

Pork Barrel projects in Congress are beyond out of control.

Laws that are meant to protect US citizens are being bypassed in the name of, insert hot cause of the moment here.

And before this becomes a finger pointing session, this is not a democrat or republican issue.

This is a fundamental problem that goes beyond any particular party.

And every election puts us further in the hole and further away from fixing the problems.

Where is all of this going?

Atomm wrote:
Where is all of this going?

Well, if things continue to go this way, we are going to go the way of the Romans before us.

I have my days where I think we are just going down the toilet and then I have my days where I think that there is hope for a better place. I think the root of it all our problems is in the politicization of everything and the money flow that allows this to happen. Most everyone can be bought, and everything has become a hostage to PR and to lobbyists instead of addressing the issues and solving the problems. In the health care area alone there are 4 lobbyists on Capitol Hill for every congress person. I'm sure that they have no influence on anyone's position on anything however 🤥 This degeneration of our problems into political positions fueled by the desire to be reelected has resulted in the country becoming much more divided than it has been since the Civil War. We are missing that one issue that transcends these political divisions. For a short while it was "The War on Terror" but even that has become a victim of politics and mismanagement.

Nothing in the above is intended to be an attack on Conservatives or Liberals - We are all to blame.

Not that I disagree AT ALL, but I'm gonna duck out of this thread never to return. In my experience, no matter what you intend, partisan politics follow. Someone is overreacting, someone else doesn't understand SOMETHING MUST BE DONE! Someone is walking all over the constitution, someone else doesn't realize the constitution is a living document. Universal health care is socialism, universal health care is used to good effect in many democratic countries, etc. Copyrights protect people's interest and encourage innovation, they are misused and stifle innovation. . . Good luck with all this! 🙂

Sarge, I think you are dead on.... It kind of helps me understanding what is going on.....

Doc, I hope you come back... Yes, there are two sides to every issue, but what do we do to bring it back to intelligent debate and not money for votes?

I like pie.

Paladin wrote:
I like pie.

I'm sick of pie. I want to see a good bitch fight in the political arena. I'd love to see Guillani go up to Hillary and say 'Hillary, shut up you stupid bitch'.

As far as energy goes, I hope it doubles every two years until the liberals let go of Anwar and all the coastlines along the pacific and the Atlantic.

As far as gaming goes, I've pretty much had it with them too. BF3 I fear is going to have nothing to offer to me. I don't need the advertisements, the powerups, the mmorpg includes, certainly not sponsered badges.

Politics around here are 'iffy'. I really don't have anything good to say about liberal thinking, so I try to just not say much. I'm appalled that we face having Hillary for a president.

lexx wrote:
I'm appalled that we face having Hillary for a president.

'
And so am I... not sure that has anything to do with 'liberals'

You listen to Rush or watch O'Reilly today Lexx? You seem pretty fired up 😉

The things that you are describing as "liberal" are really just corporate greed which we all know comes directly from the conservatives valuing business over everything else.

Lexx wrote:I'd love to see Guillani go up to Hillary and say 'Hillary, shut up you stupid bitch'.

That'd be cool. Especially if she said "Did you say something you adultering neo-fascist?" That would be a real barn burner.

Fwiw, I don't like the idea of Hillary as president either. Whether or not her proposed policies have any merit, I think she just has too much baggage to be effective.

Hehe, thats kinda funny. I haven't listened to Rush or Oreally much in months, an hour here or there.

I say liberal as they are/will be the ones that are pushing her through the primaries, same as the bluedog conservatives will try to egg out Guillani. I like ol' Guillie, hes a good mix of both worlds, but I doubt he has a chance. Hes too moderate for both parties to embrace.

You guys have to understand I've taken some knocks from certain liberal groups personally, so if I get outta line, I have a history with these people. I was put out of work in Seattle by tree hugging enviro's, later chased from another job in Denver, then finally again in Pgh by a local union sheltered by the demo machine here.

Its given me a firsthand taste of corruption in the world, and frankly, having your life threatened because you want to work for your own interests instead of greasing someone else's gives me a different perspective than your typical pie in the sky, lets all hug and save the world. Every case was a liberal cause backed by a liberal group.

So yah, I do have my prejudices as far as politics are concerned, but I try not to be knee-jerk about it. I just see people like Hillary, Obama, and Edwards with some really bad liberal policy behind them. I feel these people hate America and are going to push socialist policies until they can wash the sins of their wealth away.

I don't have an answer, but I know those 3 are not the cure.

I'm just messing with ya Lexx.

I don't try to change anyone's politics. Too often it's personal, like you said.

Sarge wrote:
You listen to Rush or watch O'Reilly today Lexx? You seem pretty fired up 😉

Lexx wouldn't be caught dead listening to those left-wing commie pinko bastids 😉

Atomm wrote:
Where is all of this going?

To a post apocalyptic world where only those who will survive band together in gangs or small villages and hoard all resources that are left. Eventually we will be drinking our own urine and living on floating islands, recycling the dead without concern.

Get your assless leather pants and dirtbike now. There may not be time later.

all of the issues that are serious issues will probably never change because everything is so frickin Burecratic. Immigration, social security, whatever you pick. There is so much disagreement amongst the population that I don't really see any problems being solved any time soon.

LOL! Way to inject some humor into the conversation....

Lexx, I think you are focusing on the wrong point, at least as far as this thread goes. It's not a liberal or conservative issue. It's a corruption issue. Both sides are to blame as far as I am concerned.

I've heard a big reason the Dem's won back Congress was because people were fed up with Big Business, Lobby Influence and Pork Barrel spending. The Dem's said they would do away with all of these things, yet the truth of the matter is nothing has changed. I dunno. I guess it's just getting to me lately.

I think I am starting to be a little jaded myself.

As for the presidential race, I am with you. I would love to see Guilliani get it or even McCain. I love the fact that they are not opposed to go against the grain. Then again, I'm a Fiscal Conservative and Social Liberal, so I'm always going to be screwed up....

FknRambo wrote:Get your assless leather pants and dirtbike now. There may not be time later.

Quote.of.the.year.


Atomm if you are a Social Liberal then Guiliani is not the one for you. I think once the field gets narrowed some there will be a more in depth look at the candidates exposing all of their glaring faults.

I used to think McCain was a viable alternative - a Centrist in a field of extremists (relatively speaking anyhow). In fact if he had won the Republican nomination for the 2000 Election, I was seriously considering voting for him over Al Gore. However lately he seems to have just sort of fallen in line with all the other candidates and really seems to be missing any fire.

In a presidential candidate I'm looking for someone who is 1) Smarter than me 2) Can think on their feet and 3) Is interested in doing the right thing instead of necessarily following the party line. I haven't seen anyone in this election yet that does that on either side. Of course I haven't been paying much attention either because the election is still 16 months away.

I think it might be a good idea to start some threads relating to the election and candidate positions. Not as a way to argue about them (although that can be fun too 😀 ), but as a way to figure out what all these jokers stand for about things. Anyway, we could start a thread on a topic and post the candidates position on the topic. Does that sound like something anyone would be interested in?

I'm the exact same way Atomm, as far as political views are concerned. McCain has lost a lot of momentum recently though.

I think the political thread idea sounds cool. Maybe we should start a political forum?

I think I know where you are coming from with Guiliani. The whole gun issue was definitely not where I would stand on an issue, however, New York city is a totally different animal.

Atomm wrote:
I think the political thread idea sounds cool. Maybe we should start a political forum?

I think I know where you are coming from with Guiliani. The whole gun issue was definitely not where I would stand on an issue, however, New York city is a totally different animal.

Keep in mind each political issue has to have overwhelming support from congress. Guilly is pro-choice, anti-gun, etc, but couldn't change any laws concerning them.. He could however appoint a supreme court judge that could tip the balance of those issues tho. I've heard him say he would appoint judges that aren't bias'ed one way or the other.

Since the supreme court has just changed from liberal to conservative with the last two appointments last year, I'd like to see some things overturned from the past. Sadly, most decisions are still coming from the district courts like the 3rd, 7th, and 9th districts. All three are stacked with appointee's from Clinton. They have been legislating from the bench which I find insufferable.

But there really isn't much to look forward to this time around. The iraq war is going to tip the scales to the democrats, which like Johnson isn't going to handle it any better than Bush did. Guillani I don't think will get past the primaries where conservatives are going to eat him up for his social stances. McCain has backstabbed his own party too many times to get full gop or indepent support.

I'm leaning toward Thompson as being the best, but he was involved in the watergate prosecutions and there are already allegations he hung Dean to save Nixon.. I had no idea he was that old 🙂

Are there any moderate democrates even trying to run? I thought Lieberman should have give it a second chance.