I hope you guys have PROTECTED your assets

[MrSplitshot]

FEMA for folks who dont have the sense to avoid living in perilous places is another. NASA, why? we cant live anywhere else. And explain how aircraft carriers spread aroung the globe makes us more secure.

Just because people live along the coastlines and can be in harm's way from a hurricane, or live in California where big earthquakes are known to strike, or live in cities along rivers that flood....doesn't mean we shouldn't help them when they've been hurt by a natural disaster. They are still Americans that call American soil their home. When we stop trying to take care of each other as Americans, I think we lose something that makes our country better than the rest. And while I'm not necessarily against helping those abroad when we can, I'm much more in favor of helping our own here at home first when disasters strike...even if they lived in places that were more suspect.

NASA, I tend to agree with you...but there may come a day when the Earth hangs in the balance and technology gained from space exploration is what saves us. We might need to send Bruce Willis up in a rocket ship one day with an Aerosmith soundtrack to bust up an asteroid. You never know. LOL

On the aircraft carriers...what, you'd rather have them all parked at home? I've got no issue with our carriers being all over the globe. Personally, there are a few countries where I wish we could park just off the coastline, in international waters, and still be visible from the shore.
Say what you want, but one of the reasons that military action doesn't get taken against the U.S. on our soil is that countries know the wrath that would come down upon them. That wrath can happen pretty quickly too, especially when a carrier full of planes and things that go BOOM are spread out around the globe. Heck, we might even have a sub or two lurking around nearby...

[kygorski]

Funny thing about those air craft carriers, explain nhow they are defense weapons?Who do we need to invade to protect our liberty?How many billions of dollars have we spent on defense, in other countrys.And then after wrecking them, we tax payers help rebuild them, at great expense, and nothing tangible in return. That old phrase" build it and they will come" holds true for our military spending. DD Eisenhauer warned us to beware of the military spending lobby.This country will never be lost to an invadinjg army, it will be lost because we spent our way into oblivion.Before we start the name calling, my step dad was career army, I lived on an army base for a little while, I'm a veteran,also have a step grandson who is active military, served two tours in afganistan, and one in Iraq.But the time has come and passed for us to police the world. Yes a lot of folks live on our coast lines, by necesity, when disater strikes, yes we help.but when someone builds a great big second house on a barrier island or in hurricane areas by choice, screw em. When you make a dumb choice, you made it.Thisa country needs to look inside our borders, before we "fix" other peoples problems.We spend millions of dollars trying to teach kids that cant or wont learn, and fund stupid programs.

[MrSplitshot]

Funny thing about those air craft carriers, explain nhow they are defense weapons?Who do we need to invade to protect our liberty?How many billions of dollars have we spent on defense, in other countrys.And then after wrecking them, we tax payers help rebuild them, at great expense, and nothing tangible in return. That old phrase" build it and they will come" holds true for our military spending. DD Eisenhauer warned us to beware of the military spending lobby.This country will never be lost to an invadinjg army, it will be lost because we spent our way into oblivion.Before we start the name calling, my step dad was career army, I lived on an army base for a little while, I'm a veteran,also have a step grandson who is active military, served two tours in afganistan, and one in Iraq.But the time has come and passed for us to police the world. Yes a lot of folks live on our coast lines, by necesity, when disater strikes, yes we help.but when someone builds a great big second house on a barrier island or in hurricane areas by choice, screw em. When you make a dumb choice, you made it.Thisa country needs to look inside our borders, before we "fix" other peoples problems.We spend millions of dollars trying to teach kids that cant or wont learn, and fund stupid programs.

I'll go with you somewhat on the FEMA deal, as far as spending money to rebuild in a flood prone area....that should be the responsibility of the homeowner's private insurance and up to them to pay for that insurance if they want to live there....but the other things that FEMA does after a natural disaster are needed, IMO.

As for the military, I disagree. I'm a "Peace through Superior Firepower" kind of guy. To me, it's not about invading to protect our liberty, it's about responding to aggression quickly when necessary and where it affects us. The reason we don't get attacked on our own soil is partly because of our defense systems here...maybe a little bit of diplomacy too...but also the repercussions for doing so, and how quickly they can be deployed. If North Korea was to send a shipload full of ninjas over here and land on the beach in Seattle, we could be firing missles from a cruiser or dropping bombs from the bottoms of Navy planes on Pyongyang within an hour. I kind of like it that way. I hate the idea of being the world's police force when there are regional issues, but I think having forces here and there throughout the globe on established military bases or ships is very strategic in nature. Our wall of defense isn't just around our borders. When there's a world full of people that don't like us or our way of life, I don't think that's wasted money at all....I'm sure it could be spent more efficiently though, and I'm all for that.

Oh, and thanks to you and your family for your service...much appreciated!

[kygorski]

What have we accomplished, a lot, the marshal plan rebuilt europe, the threat of russia is almost gone. We fought a war with china, now we kiss their butts. We went into somalia, and forgot about east st louis. We defeated Japan, now we need them, not them needing us. Cuba, we still won't recognize that island, but tourists from all over the world go there. [uh we know they exist because of baseball players].We said we wer5e going to make life better for the Iraqis, forgetting about the native americans here.Did we lob any missles into beirut when 299 marines were killed? How about the USS Cole, did we blow yemen off the map? Did we bomb Iran back into the stone age whenj they took all those diplomats hostage? The space program, it was great, a lot of new technology, where is that being manufactured today?We want less government, but we have brother telling woman they have no choice when it comes to family planning.We are against abortion, but condone the death penalty.There is no balance or direction here anymore, The take away everything Vs the give em all they want.We got leaders trying to prech moralaty, and they forget what christians are supposed to do.We put mafia people in jail for loan sharking, and allow credit companys legally to do what we prosecuted other people for. Fix america, and maybe just maybe the world can take care of it self.

[HURRICANEBOB]

With the downgraded credit rating......

any chance New Jersey will be Repossessed?

Wiki:Repossession is generally used to refer to a financial institution taking back an object that was either used as collateral or rented or leased in a transaction.

If so....is Las Vegas next?

[MrSplitshot]

What have we accomplished, a lot, the marshal plan rebuilt europe, the threat of russia is almost gone. We fought a war with china, now we kiss their butts. We went into somalia, and forgot about east st louis. We defeated Japan, now we need them, not them needing us. Cuba, we still won't recognize that island, but tourists from all over the world go there. [uh we know they exist because of baseball players].We said we wer5e going to make life better for the Iraqis, forgetting about the native americans here.Did we lob any missles into beirut when 299 marines were killed? How about the USS Cole, did we blow yemen off the map? Did we bomb Iran back into the stone age whenj they took all those diplomats hostage? The space program, it was great, a lot of new technology, where is that being manufactured today?We want less government, but we have brother telling woman they have no choice when it comes to family planning.We are against abortion, but condone the death penalty.There is no balance or direction here anymore, The take away everything Vs the give em all they want.We got leaders trying to prech moralaty, and they forget what christians are supposed to do.We put mafia people in jail for loan sharking, and allow credit companys legally to do what we prosecuted other people for. Fix america, and maybe just maybe the world can take care of it self.

Gotta pick your battles. We definitely aren't going to fix all of that hot mess for awhile...may never fix it. Yeah, we've got issues. Every country has issues. As long as we're full of men and women with different opinions and different agendas that won't ever change. All of that said, I'd still much rather live under Old Glory's shadow and deal with our issues than live in China...India...Afghanistan...Russia...

In the words of one Mr. Charlie Daniels, "This lady may have stumbled, but she aint never fell..." This is just one of those periods where we are stumbling a bit...

[kygorski]

The world isn't going to end tommorow when the markets open! but we will get an idea of what makes america tick. Will the schemers and leeches go for our throats, Raise intrest rates, raise fuel prices? Attack pension plans, you know do "good business".Those brave young men who died for us in that crap hole country should be avenged, but they wont be. We have the power to destroy that whole province, men women children livestock, a lesson that wouldn't be forgotten, we wont. If you dont want to win, mget the heck out.We courts mart6ial our soldiers for doing what, killing them. They kill their own civilians, murder other clerics of faiths other than theirs, and we sit and take it.Pull our troops, ley them kill each other, it will save our future generations needing to do it.

[MrSplitshot]

Now is the time to look at fundamentally good companies whose stocks get devalued as part of the market panic. They are out there.

Funny thing, we invest in stocks trying to make an easy buck, and theen get angry at our govt because they spend money they don't have, trying to give us the quality of life we think we deserve but have not earned. And not all, some of us do what we need to and keep the lights on, live modestily, and still manage to put a buck or 2 away because we are willing to sacrifice a little of today for tommorrow. Now the question, how do we get more of America to learn the basic value of living what you earn, earning what you live, and saving to be independent in the future? I don't know, wish I had an answer, but how do we get the majority to stop feeling "entitled", and back to understanding "living what you earn". We have to get back to making our bed before we sleep in it.

VERY well said...

And I'm not sure there is a way to get more Americans to learn the basic value of living, without them completely falling on their backsides. It's funny how going belly up and all of a sudden wondering how you are going to pay your mortgage and finance your next trip to the grocery store has a way of humbling people. I know people...some very close family too...that have lost EVERYTHING they had due to a combination of some poor financial ways, the recession, and lost employment. They are barely surviving right now, and quite humbled...not their old flashy/jonesy selves these days. But we're all a little guilty I'm sure of putting a bit too much value on material things. Nice stuff is nice to have, but when you feel like less of a person without it you have been caught in the trap.

[goosecreekguy]

VERY well said...

And I'm not sure there is a way to get more Americans to learn the basic value of living, without them completely falling on their backsides. It's funny how going belly up and all of a sudden wondering how you are going to pay your mortgage and finance your next trip to the grocery store has a way of humbling people. I know people...some very close family too...that have lost EVERYTHING they had due to a combination of some poor financial ways, the recession, and lost employment. They are barely surviving right now, and quite humbled...not their old flashy/jonesy selves these days. But we're all a little guilty I'm sure of putting a bit too much value on material things. Nice stuff is nice to have, but when you feel like less of a person without it you have been caught in the trap.

Bingo. Lots of people learning tough lessons (I hope). I sincerely don't know what to do with what I left in my 401k...come tomorrow it should be (insert negative adjective here).