expatbrit

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Posts by expatbrit

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  865

  WoMD ... so where are they?

  by Simon in

  1. social
  2. current

  now, the war is over, the weapons were not used and of course have not been found.. how threatening could they be if they did not even use them when being invaded by a massive force (of the countries they hate)?!

  perhaps, as many suspect, they didn't use them because they didn't have them?.

  now we're being told that we'll have to be patient and give them time to find them.

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  expatbrit
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  865

  WoMD ... so where are they?

  by Simon in

  1. social
  2. current

  now, the war is over, the weapons were not used and of course have not been found.. how threatening could they be if they did not even use them when being invaded by a massive force (of the countries they hate)?!

  perhaps, as many suspect, they didn't use them because they didn't have them?.

  now we're being told that we'll have to be patient and give them time to find them.

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  expatbrit

  Seigswife:

  Expatbrit, Surely you aren't advocating the idea that a free market economy left unchecked is good for people? I wonder why most unions support the left rather than the right if the right is so freakin' righteous.

  As per my previous posts, there needs to be a minimum of checks and balances to prevent us all from killing each other. The free-market contains a number of its own checks and balances, but some government is still necessary, unfortunately. In the past, government wasn't up to the job, therefore unions served a semi-useful purpose. However, unions by their nature work against the free market and free trade and toward protectionism. Thus, when unions are given any more than the minimum amount of power, the economy suffers. I lived through the 1970's in the UK, which was the last time left-wing politics and union power nearly destroyed utterly the British economy and brought the country to its knees. I don't want to live through that again. It doesn't take too much research to find out that unfettered union power leads to cronyism, inefficiency, protectionism and artificially high prices, all of which will eventually destroy the economy. Unions are much like parasites. And they support the left because it reflects their Socialist outlook and because that's the way they get power to force it on everyone else.

  You do realize that if left unchecked, tptb would reduce us to a situation were we're not much better off than slaves, don't you? Why do you think that the working people saw the need for unions to begin with?

  That's funny, because it's the countries that have embraced the free market that are the countries whose inhabitants enjoy the highest standard of living, the best health care and the longest life expectancy. It's the countries whose closed political systems prevent the market operating freely whose inhabitants are in slavery to poverty and disease and to the governments who cling to power without allowing free elections (democracy btw is the exercise of the free market in politics).

  While unions may have had a use in the nineteenth century, that does not mean they have a use now, or will always have a use in the Western world. Society advances. Unions are no longer necessary to prevent exploitation because the workforce is now largely educated and mobile enough to provide its own check. If an employer utilises unpleasant practices or pays too low, the employees find other companies to work for. The bad company is left with a transitory workforce and no quality employees, and suffers decline accordingly. Alternatively, employees who demand too much of their company in terms of pay and benefits will find that the company also suffers because it must increase prices to cover those demands, allowing competitors to undercut. This is good for consumers as it prevents overinflation of prices. The free market thus determines the true value of goods, services, and employees. While there are always some exceptions, the progress of Western material benefits over the past 50 years has shown the value of the free market.

  I realize that capitalism (sp?) and fascism go hand in hand

  LOLOL! Another one of those statements that make me spit coffee! Come on! Even a cursory glance at twentieth century history shows that capitalism and fascism are like oil and water! Look at Eastern versus Western Europe. Which are the countries that prospered?: the democratic ones. Which are the countries that sank into a mire of poverty, instability and pollution?: the fascist and Socialist ones that disallowed free elections. It is capitalism and democracy that go hand in hand. The twentieth century will go down in history as the great failure of the Socialist experiment

  Why do you think that even the American icon Barbie is now made in China? Because the fascists aren't making enough moola off the backs of Americans. Chinese help is cheaper.

  That's right! Why should consumers have to pay artificially inflated prices for a Barbie, just to keep wages up to an artificially high level? Why should company owners (that's the shareholders) have their earnings artificially limited and reduced? Why should society as a whole have to suffer just to benefit a few hundred factory workers? Why should union employees be able to make "moola" of the back of consumers, when those products can be made more cheaply elsewhere?

  Are you independently wealthy expatbrit?

  LOL again! You'd love to cast me as an exploiting fat cat wouldn't you. Exploiting the masses an' all that. Well I can assure you that I am most definitely not independently wealthy. Both my wife and I work damn hard. We have a mortgage to pay and all the lovely bills that you could wish for. But, I also work in accounting, and have some basic knowledge of economics, and know that it is the free market that has resulted in the incredible advances in prosperity over the past century.

  Tell you what, I really recommend this study from The Economist on Democracy and Capitalism: here's a link to the first article in the study: http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?Story_id=1857590

  And here's a quote to finish, from the very first issue of that magazine, in 1843:

  And we hope to see the day when it will be as difficult to understand how an act of parliament could have been made to restrict the food and employment of the people, as it is now to conceive how the mild, inoffensive spirit of Christianity could ever have been converted into the plea of persecution and martyrdom, or how poor old wrinkled women, with a little eccentricity, were burned by our forefathers for witchcraft.

  One day, that will be reality. In the meantime, as the free-market and globalisation progress, so will our prosperity.

  Expatbrit
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  54

  Quesions about Jehovah

  by the real truth in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i am not writing these quetions to offend anyone, i am just seeking honest answers.

  will you jehovah's witnesses help me in finding answers?

  there is only 1 god.

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  expatbrit

  Neither. Jesus is dead. Get over it.

  Expatbrit
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  49

  famous jehovahs witnesses

  by Rush in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is my first post.. when i was still a witness myself, there were some perennial stories regarding 'famous' jehovahs witnesses or ex's.

  does anyone know any truth or have any proof about the following: hank marvin, cliff richard and more importantly, the man who hit the gong in the 'rank' movies?.

  if you have anyone of note you want to tell me about, i'd most appreciate it too.. cheers, rush.

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  expatbrit

  and another famous JW that they would prefer you not to mention is the Yorkshire ripper,

  WHAT?!?!?!?!

  More details! More details!

  Expatbrit
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  42

  Guess what?

  by Aztec in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just got offered my dream job!

  i made it through two successful interviews and today they called me and said i got the job!

  i'll make about $10,000 a year more than i am now!

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  expatbrit

  CONGRATULATIONS AZTEC!!!!!!!!!!!

  Now get saving, you have travelling to do!

  Expatbrit
• 
  865

  WoMD ... so where are they?

  by Simon in

  1. social
  2. current

  now, the war is over, the weapons were not used and of course have not been found.. how threatening could they be if they did not even use them when being invaded by a massive force (of the countries they hate)?!

  perhaps, as many suspect, they didn't use them because they didn't have them?.

  now we're being told that we'll have to be patient and give them time to find them.

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• 

  expatbrit

  Six, you know it's the Truth....LOL

  Expatbrit
• 
  865

  WoMD ... so where are they?

  by Simon in

  1. social
  2. current

  now, the war is over, the weapons were not used and of course have not been found.. how threatening could they be if they did not even use them when being invaded by a massive force (of the countries they hate)?!

  perhaps, as many suspect, they didn't use them because they didn't have them?.

  now we're being told that we'll have to be patient and give them time to find them.

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  expatbrit

  Six:

  OK, he's a regular Joe. Isn't everyone? What he is, is someone who is insisting on his own brute self-interest to the point of returning to humanity's natural state i.e. barbarity.

  Businesses that don't reign in their destructive urges are the commercial equivalent to this average Joe, yes?

  So, that fits with my last post. The State should have a minumum prescence, necessary only to prevent individuals (whether people or businesses) from killing each other.

  Expatbrit
• 
  865

  WoMD ... so where are they?

  by Simon in

  1. social
  2. current

  now, the war is over, the weapons were not used and of course have not been found.. how threatening could they be if they did not even use them when being invaded by a massive force (of the countries they hate)?!

  perhaps, as many suspect, they didn't use them because they didn't have them?.

  now we're being told that we'll have to be patient and give them time to find them.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  expatbrit

  Simon:

  Is this where Englishman wades in and tells us to knock it on the head?...lol

  First off, you are linking "anti-war" with "anti-American", not me. My post was not actually on the subject of the Iraq war, but on general political thought. I know it's a thread about Iraq, but I didn't see the point of starting a whole new thread just for this.

  So, just for the record, I don't think being against the Iraq war is anti-American. I think being left-wing is anti-American. That most of the anti-war support has come from the left is simply because there is a right-wing government in power. Call me cynical, but if there had been a democrat government during this episode, I think the left would have been singing quite a different tune. There an Arab saying that goes something like "whichever God the King worships his subjects will worship." The anti-war cause is something that the left has been able to hang its hat on in order to attack the current right-wing government, that's all.

  To claim that being left-wing means one is anti-American' means that you MUST be right-wing to truly support the American ideals and yet this throws all these same ideals of freedom and rights that you claim America stands for away!

  I agree with the first half of that statement. America is founded upon ideals that are right-wing. I disagree with the last half. If someone wants to be anti-American, that's up to them. My identifying them as anti-American in no way takes away their freedom to act however they like. Saying that I can't identify them as anti-American takes away my freedom of speech and expression.

  Real freedom is being able to stand up and say "This is WRONG and we want better". Being forced to comply and stay silent on issues is what happens when either extreme, both right and left, have too much power.

  Yes! (finally we agree!...lol) But as mentioned, it is the left that tends more towards the curtailment of these freedoms.

  Lastly, I can't quite believe this statement:

  Communism isn't coming to get you and it never was, the whole idea was an invention of our own governments as a way to control us.

  I would like to watch you explain that to my parents in-law, who had to abandon everything they had and flee with just what they and their children could carry, when the tanks of the Communist State rolled through Hungary.

  Btw, I know you are a member of the Tory party. But, you also support Manchester City, so I must conclude that you just have an extraordinary sympathy for the underdog...lol

  Expatbrit
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  90

  Where is the evidence

  by KGB in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  many of you make claim that god does not exist, you say that you found your evidence in the bible, what i want to know is where is the evidence.

  i am not interested in just mere thoughts but actuall evidence

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  expatbrit

  Since neither the believer nor the unbeliever of today were present when all this came about, and since God choses not to reveal Himself physically to mankind, then there's no absolute definitive proof one way or another.

  Well that's true. However, I found several envelopes in my mailbox this morning. I have two theories:

  1) The postman delivered them.

  2) The Starship Enterprise timewarped back from the 23rd century, transported them from their source, and then Lt. Uhura stashed them in her ample cleavage and beamed down to my mailbox to put them in.

  Now, since I wasn't there when the envelopes arrived, and since Lt. Uhura hasn't chosen to reveal herself to me (damn!), there's no definitive proof either way. But, which is more likely? Because I can't prove either, are they both as likely as each other, or does one option fit the available evidence better?

  Expatbrit
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  865

  WoMD ... so where are they?

  by Simon in

  1. social
  2. current

  now, the war is over, the weapons were not used and of course have not been found.. how threatening could they be if they did not even use them when being invaded by a massive force (of the countries they hate)?!

  perhaps, as many suspect, they didn't use them because they didn't have them?.

  now we're being told that we'll have to be patient and give them time to find them.

  1. 
  2. 
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• 

  expatbrit

  Quite so Six. Except that in this case what you have is a bunch of individuals who have decided temporarily to work together to accomplish a particular objective i.e stopping freakboy raping his mother. What if after that the State said, "hey old lady, you're not allowed to decide what medical treatment to get, you have to get State provided services. Oh and by the way, you guys that saved her are far too wealthy, give most of it to the State and we'll redistribute it."?

  The State's role should be limited to the absolute minimum that prevents individuals returning to our natural state i.e. killing each other. There is no such thing as community. There is no such thing as society. There are just individuals acting, sometimes together, oftentimes not, in self-interest.

  Expatbrit