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  • The American Asylum

    The more I see of what America has become and stands for, the more it truly does resemble living in an asylum. Many decisions from the Federal, State and Local Governments are completely bass ackwards to the betterment of our own citizens. Or even residents of the world. Why can't we provide proper health care for our elderly? Why can't we provide proper educations for our children? And why can't we find ways to help other countries without blowing them up? Many Americans are so materialistic and outright gross in what they choose for their lives that it's no wonder the rest of the world, let alone their neighbor thinks they're crazy. I'm trying hard to keep my sanity while watching a berzerk era in history play itself out. I know that throughout time there has always been strife, but haven't we learned anything and haven't we had enough? Come on already!
    Life is either an adventure... or you're not doing it right!!!

  • #2
    Re: The American Asylum

    altho we try to see good in people and hope folks mean well, in general america is bigbusiness, multinational corporation run, and based on greed and shortsighted gain, and screw the future.

    learn from the past?!
    naaah. This would take all the fun out of it. We may have to do something ethical, then!

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: The American Asylum

      Originally posted by kimo55
      altho we try to see good in people and hope folks mean well, in general america is bigbusiness, multinational corporation run, and based on greed and shortsighted gain, and screw the future.

      learn from the past?!
      naaah. This would take all the fun out of it. We may have to do something ethical, then!
      Haha! I don't think very many people in this country know the meaning of the word "ethical". I mean, look at the people we have in office to teach us the meaning of "ethics"! Ethical means blame the other guy whenever and whereever possible, twist facts to suit your purposes, and never ever admit you're wrong.

      Miulang
      "Americans believe in three freedoms. Freedom of speech; freedom of religion; and the freedom to deny the other two to folks they don`t like.” --Mark Twain

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: The American Asylum

        Wasn't there a statement in the constitution saying that if the cittizens of America feel that the system isn't working they have the right to change the system?

        I think about it, but could it actually happen with all these corperate organizations and business running everything? Just a meaningless thought.
        A Warrior does not give up on what he loves he finds the love in what he does.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: The American Asylum

          Originally posted by Pedro
          Wasn't there a statement in the constitution saying that if the cittizens of America feel that the system isn't working they have the right to change the system?
          Okay so how can we organize a change? Although I was very young, I saw how hard the Peace & Love movement of the 60's tried to make change. I don't have an answer but maybe someone else does. Peace
          Life is either an adventure... or you're not doing it right!!!

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: The American Asylum

            I think there will be a less materialistic movement gaining popularity with Americans of all ages, but mainly younger. To enjoy the world, we don't have to own it! It doesn't take a gas guzzling SUV to get from point A to B. Go to a state park instead of feeling like you need a "yard" of your own to find happiness. Hit the beach instead of striving for a private pool (especially here in Hawai'i). I just have a feeling that the pendulum is about to swing back the other way. In general anyways.
            Life is either an adventure... or you're not doing it right!!!

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: The American Asylum

              What's up with that Buddy2 anyway? On July 8th, he's pissed off and disenchanted. On August 6th, he's hoping and searching. And then by September 11th, he's changed his name and making sweeping predictions for changes in America! Sounds a bit psycho to me. Maybe he belongs in an asylum.
              Life is either an adventure... or you're not doing it right!!!

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: The American Asylum

                Originally posted by Menehune Man
                I think there will be a less materialistic movement gaining popularity with Americans of all ages, but mainly younger. To enjoy the world, we don't have to own it! It doesn't take a gas guzzling SUV to get from point A to B. Go to a state park instead of feeling like you need a "yard" of your own to find happiness. Hit the beach instead of striving for a private pool (especially here in Hawai'i). I just have a feeling that the pendulum is about to swing back the other way. In general anyways.
                You do need a SUV if you transport a fair amount of equipment with you to play. I know, I camp.

                You do need a yard if your children hope to play in a safe place every day without you having to take them somewhere. I know, I live in an apartment.

                You do need a swimming pool unless you don't mind swimming in other people's filth. The beach is great but far away for many even in Hawaii(BI).
                “First we fought the preliminary round for the k***s and now we’re gonna fight the main event for the n*****s."
                http://hollywoodbitchslap.com/review...=416&printer=1

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: The American Asylum

                  Originally posted by Menehune Man
                  What's up with that Buddy2 anyway? On July 8th, he's pissed off and disenchanted. On August 6th, he's hoping and searching. And then by September 11th, he's changed his name and making sweeping predictions for changes in America! Sounds a bit psycho to me. Maybe he belongs in an asylum.
                  Maybe he needs to see someone about his schizoaffective disorder? Nothing wrong with name changes except I think he could have done the same things his new alter wants to do without going through the hassle of that name change. I thought you put Buddy2 away, MM?

                  Miulang
                  "Americans believe in three freedoms. Freedom of speech; freedom of religion; and the freedom to deny the other two to folks they don`t like.” --Mark Twain

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    How much is your freedom worth to you?

                    Most Americans are just going about living their lives, while all around them, our government is slowly eroding our basic freedoms which were guaranteed by our Constitution. The most blatant recent example is the White House's efforts to hold "suspected" terrorists who are US citizens on American soil without access to lawyers or expeditious judicial hearings.

                    "...Habeas corpus is the greatest protection Americans have against a police state. Habeas corpus ensures that Americans can only be detained by law. They must be charged with offenses, given access to attorneys, and brought to trial. Habeas corpus prevents the despotic practice of picking up a person and holding him indefinitely.

                    President Bush claims the power to set aside habeas corpus and to dispense with warrants for arrest and with procedures that guarantee court appearance and trial without undue delay. Today in the US, the executive branch claims the power to arrest a citizen on its own initiative and hold the citizen indefinitely. Thus, Americans are no longer protected from arbitrary arrest and indefinite detention.

                    "...Americans may be unaware of what it means to be stripped of the protection of habeas corpus, or they may think police authorities would never make a mistake or ever use their unbridled power against the innocent. Americans might think that the police state will only use its powers against terrorists or "enemy combatants."

                    But "terrorist" is an elastic and legally undefined category. When the President of the United States declares: "You are with us or against us," the police may perceive a terrorist in a dissenter from the government’s policies. Political opponents may be regarded as "against us" and thereby fall in the suspect category. Or a police officer may simply have his eye on another man’s attractive wife or wish to settle some old score. An enemy combatant might simply be an American who happens to be in a foreign country when the US invades. In times before our own when people were properly educated, they understood the injustices that caused the English Parliament to pass the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679 prohibiting the arbitrary powers that are now being claimed for the executive branch in the US.

                    The PATRIOT Act has given the police autonomous surveillance powers. These powers were not achieved without opposition. Civil libertarians opposed it. Bob Barr, the former US Representative who led the impeachment of President Clinton, fought to limit some of the worst features of the act. But the act still bristles with unconstitutional violations of the rights of citizens, and the newly created powers of government to spy on citizens has brought an end to privacy...."

                    You might say, "So what? I'm a law abiding citizen. I have nothing to hide." Well, suppose somebody didn't like you and decided to tell the authorities that they suspected you of being a "terrorist" (whatever that means). The federales have the right to come in, haul you off for interrogation, do a deep investigation of your financial records, etc. etc. etc. So even though in the end you might be cleared of all charges, you still have to endure months of hassling to prove your innocence. In these days of the Bush White House, you're guilty until proven innocent, not the other way around.

                    Miulang
                    "Americans believe in three freedoms. Freedom of speech; freedom of religion; and the freedom to deny the other two to folks they don`t like.” --Mark Twain

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Speaking of your privacy rights...

                      I recently had the chance to be part of a group of women entrepreneurs who met to discuss their plans for opening up their own businesses. One of the women in my group spent 30 years in the banking business. She is in the process of writing a little consumer education book about protecting your privacy. I'm sure she won't mind my sharing her "Top 10 Consumer Privacy Resolutions" with you all. She KNOWS about this stuff because she helped (against her own ethical judgement) create the system which now links all banks together so they can check on any bank accounts you might have anywhere in the country...

                      1) Engage in "privacy self defense". Don't share any personal information with businesses unless it is absolutely necessary. Don't give your phone number, address or name to retail stores. If you do, they can sell that information or use it for telemarketing and junk mail.

                      2) Pay with cash where possible. Electronic transactions leave a detailed history of your activities that can be accessed by the government or sold to telemarkers.

                      3) Install anti-spyware, anti-virus, and firewall software on your computer.

                      4) Use a temporary rather than a permanent change of address. If you move in 2005, be sure to forward your mail by using a temporary change of address rather than a permanent one. The junk mailers have access to the permanent change of address database; they use it to update their lists.

                      5) Opt out of prescreened offers of credit. By calling 1-888-567-8688 or by visiting https://www.optoutprescreen.com, you can stop receiving those annoying letters for credit and insurance offers. Those pieces of junk mail can be intercepted by identity thieves who can set up credit cards under your name.

                      6) Choose supermarkets that don't use loyalty cards. Be loyal to supermarkets that offer discounts without requiring enrollment in a loyalty club. For the discounts the cards offer, you tell companies what your shopping habits are. This marketing information can be sold to junk mailers.

                      7) Opt out of financial, insurance, and brokerage information sharing. Be sure to call all your banks, insurance companies and brokerage companies and ask to opt out of having your financial information shared. This will cut down on the junk mail you receive.

                      8) Request a free copy of your credit scores by visiting http://www.annualcreditreport.com. All Americans are now entitled to received a free credit report from each of the 3 nationwide credit reporting agencies.

                      9) Enroll all your phone numbers (including your cell phone numbers) in the Do-Not-Call Registry (http://www.donotcall.gov) or call 1-888-382-1222.

                      10) File a complaint. If you believe a company has violated your privacy, contact the Federal Trade Commission, your state Attorney General, and the Better Business Bureau.

                      --Tips offered by Leslie Simmons

                      Miulang
                      "Americans believe in three freedoms. Freedom of speech; freedom of religion; and the freedom to deny the other two to folks they don`t like.” --Mark Twain

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Maybe money can't buy everything after all...

                        There was a flap in the press about a year ago about Elizabeth Piper Laurie, scion of the WalMart family, getting a degree from USC based on her paying a roommate $20,000 to do her homework for 3 years. That woman eventually had to drop out of school because she couldn't afford the tuition. But she did spill the beans on the plot on a 20/20 show.

                        On Sept. 30, Ms. Laurie returned her diploma to USC, and the college administration acknowledged that she did not earn a diploma at USC.

                        Gee, for once being part of one of the world's richest families doesn't pay off. And to add insult to the humiliation, her parents had to take back $25 million that they gave the university to name the sports center after her.

                        Justice will out...

                        Miulang
                        "Americans believe in three freedoms. Freedom of speech; freedom of religion; and the freedom to deny the other two to folks they don`t like.” --Mark Twain

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Sound familiar?

                          "But I venture the challenging statement that if American democracy ceases to move forward as a living force, seeking day and night by peaceful means to better the lot of our citizens, then Fascism and Communism, aided, unconsciously perhaps, by old-line Tory Republicanism, will grow in strength in our land."

                          Guess who said that, and when? (Answer at the bottom of this post).

                          Is history going to repeat itself in this society?

                          "...The difficulty doesn't arise among people accustomed to regarding themselves as functions of a corporation. Thanks to the diligence of out news media and the structure of our tax laws, our affluent and suburban classes have taken to heart the lesson taught to the aspiring serial killers rising through the ranks at West Point and the Harvard Business School -- think what you're told to think, and not only do you get to keep the house in Florida or command of the Pentagon press office but on some sunny prize day not far over the horizon, the compensation committee will hand you a check for $40 million, or President George W. Bush will bestow on you the favor of a nickname as witty as the ones that on good days elevate Karl Rove to the honorific "Boy Genius," on bad days to the disappointed but no less affectionate "Turd Blossom." Who doesn't now know that the corporation is immortal, that it is the corporation that grants the privilege of an identity, confers meaning on one's life, gives the pension, a decent credit rating, and the priority standing in the community? Of course the corporation reserves the right to open one's email, test one's blood, listen to the phone calls, examine one's urine, hold the patent on the copyright to any idea generated on its premises. Why ever should it not? As surely as the loyal fascist knew that it was his duty to serve the state, the true American knows that it is his duty to protect the brand....

                          "...The society is so glutted with easy entertainment that no writer or company of writers is troublesome enough to warrant the compliment of an arrest, or even the courtesy of a sharp blow to the head. What passes for the American school of dissent talks exclusively to itself in the pages of obscure journals, across the coffee cups in Berkeley and Park Slope, in half-deserted lecture halls in small Midwestern colleges. The author on the platform or the beach towel can be relied upon to direct his angriest invective at the other members of the academy who failed to drape around the title of his latest book the garland of a rave review.

                          The blessings bestowed by Providence place America in the front rank of nations addressing the problems of a twenty-first century, certain to require bold geopolitical initiatives and strong ideological solutions. How can it be otherwise? More pressing demands for always scarcer resources; ever larger numbers of people who cannot be controlled except with an increasingly heavy hand of authoritarian guidance. Who better than the Americans to lead the fascist renaissance, set the paradigm, order the preemptive strikes? The existence of mankind hangs in the balance; failure is not an option. Where else but in America can the world find the visionary intelligence to lead it bravely into the future -- Donald Rumsfeld our Dante, Turd Blossom our Michelangelo? ..."


                          Miulang

                          *The author of the first quote was Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Nov. 4, 1938.
                          "Americans believe in three freedoms. Freedom of speech; freedom of religion; and the freedom to deny the other two to folks they don`t like.” --Mark Twain

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Does the inequality in our society really matter?

                            "...The United States is now the third most unequal industrialized society after Russia and Mexico. This is not a club we want to be part of. Russia is a recovering kleptocracy, with a post-Soviet oligarchy enriched by looting. And Mexico, despite joining the rich-nations club of the Organization for Economic and Community Development, has some of the most glaring poverty in the hemisphere.

                            In 2004, after three years of economic recovery, the U.S. Census reports that poverty continues to grow, while the real median income for full-time workers has declined. Since 2001, when the economy hit bottom, the ranks of our nation's poor have grown by 4 million, and the number of people without health insurance has swelled by 4.6 million to over 45 million.

                            Income inequality is now near all-time highs, with over 50 percent of 2004 income going to the top fifth of households, and the biggest gains going to the top 5 percent and 1 percent of households. The average CEO now takes home a paycheck 431 times that of their average worker.

                            At the pinnacle of U.S. wealth, 2004 saw a dramatic increase in the number of billionaires. According to Forbes Magazine, there are now 374 U.S. billionaires. The growth in billionaires took a dramatic leap since the early 1980s, when the average net worth of the individuals on the Forbes 400 list was $400 million. Today, the average net worth is $2.8 billion. Wal-Mart's Walton family now has 771,287 times more than the median U.S. household.

                            Does inequality matter? One problem is that concentrations of wealth and power pose a danger to our democratic system. The corruption of politics by big money might explain why for the last five years the President and Congress have been more interested in repealing the federal estate tax, paid only by multi-millionaires, than on reinforcing levees along the Gulf Coast.

                            Now, to pay for hurricane reconstruction and the war in Iraq, Congress is considering cuts in programs that help poor people, such as Medicaid and Food Stamps. They have not yet considered fairer ways of reducing the deficit by reversing special tax breaks for the rich, such as the recent cuts in capital gains and dividend taxes.

                            Inequality is non-partisan. The pace of inequality has grown steadily over three decades, under both Republican and Democratic administrations and Congresses. The Gini index, the global measure of inequality, grew as quickly under President Clinton as it has under President George W. Bush. Widening disparities in the U.S. are the result of three decades of bi-partisan public policies that have tilted the rules of the economy to the benefit of major corporations and large asset owners at the expense of people whose security comes from a paycheck...."

                            Miulang
                            "Americans believe in three freedoms. Freedom of speech; freedom of religion; and the freedom to deny the other two to folks they don`t like.” --Mark Twain

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              U.S. plunging toward failure

                              .
                              Miulang: ' re:history... this society...

                              "The existence of mankind hangs in the balance; failure is not an option. Where else but in America can the world find the visionary intelligence to lead it bravely into the future. " '

                              Regarding the existence of mankind being in the hands of the United States, it is most likely true that "failure is not an option": instead, such failure is an inevitability, and that which is inevitable cannot logically be considered to be an option.
                              "Where else but in America can the world find the visionary intelligence to lead it bravely into the future?"

                              When has a consistently solid majority of U.S. America ever embraced, muchless deemed electable, "visionary intelligence" to lead America anywhere that fundamentally differed from corporatist dreams like Newt Gingrich's Contract on America ("on" was/is the reality, "for" was the actual word employed in the deception) ? As a whole, unfortunately and inexcusably, the U.S. electorate is just too self-absorbed, too willfully ignorant, too globally irresponsible, too willfully led by ineptness and corruption to be expected to save mankind from the failure through and toward which the U.S. is plunging the world.

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