Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
98% of the world’s population has less than $500 US, in total assets. If this re-adjusting of wealth is part of the leveling of the world economy, we are in for a rough time.
Welcome to the new world order…The “Third World” order.
Sprite, If they are gambling on home values rising, they are at least a year and a half off. The inventory of unsold homes is still rising, Banks are sitting with real estate they never wanted to own through foreclosure, and there are places in Florida where almost entire communities have abandoned homes. Credit is tightening up as well. Some guesstimates are for a twenty percent price correction by the time this is over in 2009. Some places have gotten hit that hard already.
Jobs aren’t even being created fast enough to give us a market of potential buyers. In fact, we’re going backwards in the job creation area.
I keep looking for the bright spot here, but I just can’t find it.
Enduro, Exactly the thought I had when they injected that liquidity into the market. As if we don’t have bad enough inflation now. Food price increases are off the charts already. Gasoline and fuel oil are still going up. They are trying to play both ends against the middle, and guess who is going to get squeezed?
Check today’s market numbers and you will see how much euphoria was created by the liquididty. It’s now about 3:45 New York EST and the market is down around 40 points. I guess next will be the rate cut, and that should be another nail in the coffin. Little too late, reactionary policies, are going to sink us in the mud quicker than they think.
Scott, Like you, I have two children who have to live and survive in the US. The “Perfect Storm” you warned of last year brought many claims that you were a Gloom and Doomer. Well, you’ve been around the block a time or two, and were able to read the signposts ahead of most of us here. It will be our kids that will suffer the most from economic policies that have been for the benefit of a few, and to the detriment of many.
This year’s presidential election campaign has shown the level of disgust with our present leaders. Our direction is uncertain, and there are people grasping at straws, hoping a new type of leader will pull our fat out of the fire. Our course was set long ago, and there will not be an easy solution, if there is one at all. There has to be a change of heart and mind for a long term solution. I don’t know if we are up to the task.
This country is more divided, thanks to our elected officials, than ever in our history. It will take more than a politician to unite us to bring about the changes we need. I haven’t a clue what will actually happen in the coming years, nor can I offer a sound solution, but it certainly does not look good.
Just business as usual Lotus. The thread takes on a life of its own after the first few posts.
When I get a chance, I’ll find that book that states the 40% moving back figure, and post it.
Our family had a similar experience. Four of us lost about three pounds each after a nine day visit. The other benefit was a chronic sinus problem I have, and my sons suffer from too, completely disappeared after a couple of days in CR. When we returned home, we stayed symptom free for three months. Maybe it was psychosomatic, but it happened.
Allow me to pour a little gasoline on the fire regarding “civil unrest,” and our efforts to control it. The US government, in concert with Canada, has signed an agreement on Feb. 14, for having troops cross each others borders in case of a civil emergency. The assumption is natural disasters may require help from outside the US. This might also mean troops from Canada could be asked to enter the US in order to calm down an unruly populous.
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=403d90d6-7a61-41ac-8cef-902a1d14879d&k=14984
This was in a Canadian publication, indicating they are not too happy about this also.
Some people have sugested this is one of the beginning steps toward a united North America.
I remember reading this too in a book about relocation to CR. Also, I have seen it in internet articles They are not substantiated by any source at all. I do have friends that have two friends of theirs who have relocated to CR. They are still there, and I believe, have been for more than 10 years.
I think some authors put the statement in their books and articles to reinforce the thought that by reading their book, or publication, you will have all the information necessary to permanently relocate.
If you make the commitment, and do the research to permanently move, usually you will put in the effort, and adjust in order remain. If the total is more than 10%, I would be surprised. Family, health and other considerations would have to be factored in as well. Why would 40% go through all the preparation of relocating just to pack it in “if” it didn’t work out? Doesn’t make sense.
crhomebuilder, I have seen that listing of oil companies, as many others have in the US. Unfortunately it didn’t do much. I even had a copy on my desk. We have short memories here, and I too stopped buying gas at most of those after a period of time. I still do avoid Citgo, and have purchased there only once in the past year.
I did here a story of a Citgo station in the Bronx, New York being boycotted out of business. It was the only one I have ever heard, and I’m sure it didn’t make the news.
Oil/energy independence is the only answer for countries in general. Relying on imports has weakened the US’s ability to think rationally. We also are our own worst enemy. By driving vehicles that consume large quantities of fuel, we will remain dependent. A combination of fuel efficient vehicles, conservation, and us having a native source of energy for the vehicles we drive, will give us the control we need. By control, I mean the ability to control our destiny. We should not be beholding to foreign entities for the supply of the commodity which directly affects all of our citizens.
David, I like your approach, and you may be on to a short term solution. I believe academic education, and giving the public the opportunity to make an honest living would be a good start. You would have to intervene, and I don’t like that particular word (intervene), before the cycle of criminality becomes ingrained in those persons. Strengthening families, and allowing people to secure jobs, open businesses, and otherwise be able to earn a decent living would go a long way toward resolving these problems, long term. Education is probably the best solution. Although white collar crimes may be enhanced, you don’t see as many highly educated in the prison system compared to the illiterate or less educated.
Rebeca, I was pointing out democrat mistakes and shortcomings in response to Sprite’s comment about conservatives. I am aware that both have fallen short of being above reproach. My ideology is mostly to the right, and I have found most republican candidates shifting to the left in recent years, and still being labeled “right wing conservatives.” This, I find odd. I’m sure McCain will come out of this looking like the reincarnation of Atilla the Hun before this is all over. I’m not going to jump off the roof, or leave the country, if Hillary gets elected. And if the majority of our country wants us to go in that direction, then that’s where we will head. I don’t have to like it, or support it, but for now, I’ll still live here. I just hope I’m still able to laugh often, and laugh much.
I’ll continue fight for what I believe to be right, just as everyone with their personal opinion should do. I don’t think anyone in our country has truly bad intentions in their political beliefs. There are other forms of government, and some systems work better for some nations. What works for others may not be what works for us. As you said before, it is up to the people to make the choices in their own lives to affect changes for the good. We should have the capacity to learn from one another, never close our minds to differing ideas, and have the courage to stand up for what we believe.
There have been times, mostly during this administration, when we have felt like packing it in and running straight to CR. When we finally do pick up and move, hopefully to CR, we will know that we did not abandon our country. We can remain confident that we at least tried to make a positive effort for the good of our friends and neighbors.
It has been a pleasure, as always, to exchange ideas with someone who can have a civil conversation, and appreciate someone else’s point of view. That also goes for most everyone else on this forum.
Rebeca, what I meant by sacrifice, was the giving up of your own time and resources for the good of someone else. I know that it is all joy, and may seem like we are getting more benefit than the ones we are assisting. I have been there myself and have realized the personal benefit years later. It was all worth any infringement on my “precious” time to do something for someone else. I won’t go into details as what to happened, and at the time I was not aware that I was having a positive influence. Years later I found I may have had a small part in turning someone’s life around. In fact, I completely forgot about it until I was thinking late last night, whether or not I have truly done things in my life that have been positive for other people. I took comfort in the fact that I have done a number of things, but wish I could turn back the clock 30 years or so and have back my youthful former self to do more. I don’t look for the applause or accolades either, I just do what I’m able to do. You don’t have to a be President or a great leader, you simply can be kind to someone. Even when you really don’t feel like being kind.
Sprite, Don’t blame the right or the conservatives exclusively. The truth about the current occupant of the White House is, he is not a conservative. He has spent more, passed almost every bit of legislation the liberals wanted, and is only conservative on a few issues. The few he is conservative on trouble most people, including the right.
You have to remember Lyndon Johnson, who gave us the “Great Society.” This led to the massive influx of immigrants from third world countries. The welfare state flourished under his administration, and he borrowed from the trust fund of Social Security, (a policy which still continues today, and has wiped out any reserve.) The Vietnam war was in full swing with escalation in fighting. And it wasn’t he who ended it. Nixon did. Although Nixon was deeply a deeply flawed man, Judging by todays standards, he would have never had to leave office.
Jimmy Carter almost brought us to the brink of economic disaster. Remember the “Misery Index?” High interest and inflation. He also lowered our status in the world, and he couldn’t get our hostages released form Iran. That release happened while Reagan was taking his inaugural oath.
Then there was Bill Clinton. Although he acted more like a conservative than Bush, he managed to bring some dishonor to the office. Still, Hillary blamed that on the “vast right wing conspiracy.” And in eight years he could not get healthcare reform passed. Now his wife wants another shot at it. Eight years was enough. We don’t need her throwing ashtrays at Bill anymore when he speaks up.There is enough baggage carried, and enough blame to go around. Both parties left us behind some years ago. Like Ronald Reagan used to say, and I believe it was someone else’s quote, “Public service, is a public trust.” Until our leaders come back to that kind of thinking, we will be getting the same kind of government we’ve been seeing.
This current crop of contenders for the nations highest office look like they will be about the same as has been presented to us in past contests. Almost all Washington insiders, claiming to be agents of change. When we have the guts to dump this ridiculous, circus atmosphere primary system, we may get candidates that have some real ideas.
I was going to make a comment about the DNA thing, I’ll simply say I agree totally with Rebeca. You can’t rationalize everything by only looking for a scientific answer.
Sprite, Sometimes we agree, sometimes we disagree. As long as there is life in the tree, you prune it and feed it the nutrition it needs. When the tree dies, you plant new seedlings in its place.
I sense your apathy, and quite frankly it is understandable. At the same time, I would like to think there are many others of us out there who will not sit by idly and watch the tree that is the USA die. It would be a shame to let what was once the greatest nation on earth go quietly into the night. It was a country that opened its arms to allow my grandfather to settle here, and I would guess you are from immigrant stock as well. Immigrants are what made this country great. Now it is time for the Hispanic immigration to add to our national family. Although I believe in a strong immigration policy, where illegals should not be allowed to cross an unprotected border at will, we should have a policy for fair and legal immigration, which allows those who come here wanting to be participatory citizens, to be welcomed. The variations of our skin color, ethnicity, religion and culture blending into one United States of America is what makes us great. Unbridled immigration will destroy us.No doubt uncontrolled consumerism is partly to blame for causing a potential ecological disaster. New and innovative ways to deal with this have been, and still will have to be developed. Underdeveloped nations also contribute to the pollution seen around this planet. We must never forget that developing nations need technology to overcome their problems if they want to have a better life. We as a country have mandated and developed cleaner means of transportation and doing business. These technologies can be used in other countries to deliver cleaner water and air. China, Russia and Eastern Europe still burn plenty of soft coal. We still have a long way to go, and we must continue to do better.
Some of us will sit and wait while it all crumbles to the ground. Others will let somebody else do it, and there will be a few who will step up and do what is right. Rebeca, I know you do your share of self sacrificing and good. And I know it was you who was mentioned on the front page article on this site. You’re one of those few, that actually takes time out of her life to help others. It is not a political philosophy that drives people to do good. It is the character of their person, and the realization that we are all human beings, and are all entitled to that respect and dignity you spoke of.
We’re not dead yet, and while there are still some individuals left who care about what happens here in the US, or anywhere else in the world, there is hope.
Check with the manufacturer. If it is good quality, it may even be made of veneer faced cabinet grade plywood. It should be ok.
We brought home a souvenir ice bucket from CR. It was made of solid wood and was quite nice. In a couple of months the wood dried to the ambient humidity of the northeast US, and it split over 1/4 of an inch in a few places and shrunk so much the lid wont fit anymore.
A lesson learned.Consumer driven economy! That is what has been drummed into our heads since we were able to internalize our first TV commercial. We have been brought up on the notion that spending is good for the country, and good for our well being. Happiness is only one purchase away.
Now they want to give us back some of our own money so we can go on a mini shopping spree, put a down payment on a new car, or have a couple of nice dinners. And how many of us will stop at the $600 or so bucks they will plant back in our hands? They want more consumer spending, more consumer debt, and don’t even encourage us to save the tax rebate.
The Mantra of spending our way to economic growth and happiness has been bandied about since the 50’s when the middle class started to rise in the US. The story remains the same because it has worked in the past, when we had more or less a closed economy. Now we have a global economy, and the old ways just won’t work anymore. Our national debt, combined with international trade deficits is killing us. Not to mention the loss of manufacturing and technology jobs that have been lost overseas. They told us we are in a service economy now… Some service! Most all of the tech support for electronics have been outsourced. And we continue to let it all filter out of our borders in the name of profit and shareholder price support.
The system is broken. We have to demand our politicians, government regulators, the media and corporate CEOs stop running the show as they have been. We have to hold them accountable and demand change before they spend us, and sell us, into oblivion.
One way to put an end to career politicians, is to demand term limits on every federal, state, and local office.
Stop media giants from owning too many newspapers, radio and TV stations.
Limit the amount of holdings and factories a US company can have abroad. Then limit the amount of importation of foreign goods, or apply tariffs, like we did in the past. Companies like Toyota and Honda came here to build cars to sell to us, and to avoid tariffs. We go to foreign countries to set up factories to manufacture goods to sell back to ourselves. Something is wrong with this picture.
The little guy became the big guy in business because of deregulation in many areas. Small business which was once the backbone of this country hasn’t got a chance against these large corporations anymore.We have lost our way for 30 pieces.
One thing about this election that has bothered me, is the phony talk radio hosts that continue to give us the crap about who we should vote for. A couple of weeks earlier, Giuliani was the darling of the talk show hosts, even with his stance on abortion. Romney wasn’t even considered a conservative. Now, with Giuliani slipping in the polls, and most likely done after tomorrow, Romney is the great champion of the right, and our only hope. It seems as if they never heard of Rudy Giuliani, and have supported Romney from the start. And they keep reminding us the economy is OK, the fundamentals still look good.
It’s just unbelievable.If anyone, liberal or conservative, cannot see there is a problem here long term, I guess it’s time to pass out the Kool aid.
