Kerry Edwards was worthless and offered nothing. They were so worthless they could not even effectively offer empty promises. They basicly tested the political winds and said whatever they thought might get votes ... occasionally the political winds apparently shifted and they earned the flip-flopper label.
The improving economy also hurt Kerry/Edwards.
I'll take it as you didn't watch any of the presidential debates.
Kerry won all of them (according to different internet polls) because he proposed ideas to make this country better. Sadly that wasn't enough to win him the election. To some it might have been as if Kerry had too many plans in mind, but the truth is that at a time like this when so many things are going the wrong way thanks to the Bush administration, those measures were necessary. On the other hand Bush did nothing but defend his own actions, and I don't recall him saying that certain things had to be changed.
"No I did not watch the debates, because the debates are more about pomp rather than about any real substance. I prefer to read about the issues rather than see the issues glossed over in a debate. Maybe Kerry won the debates. It is well known that Bush is not a great public speaker. There is more to the presidancy than public speaking."
I can see how the economy is growing when the deficit has hit an all time high.
"Maybe because you are a student (and do not yet have a career). you do not see the economic growth. From my perspective, the railroad industry is booming - and that growth does not happen without a growing economy and a shitload of stuf to transport via rail."
Is the Bush administration proposing anything?... NO! Does he have any plans to save social security?... NO!
"You haven't heard about privitization? I suppose it is better to stick money under a mattress"
... Is he doing anything to give health care to 50 million Americans?... NO!
"Good - another entitle ment program mismanaged by the government is not needed."
All Bush ever does is go to Capitol Hill and tell the Congress to do something, just like he went to NATO last week and asked all those nations to help him re-build Iraq. Basically, Bush always expects people to clean up the mess he made.
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"Maybe because you are a student (and do not yet have a career). you do not see the economic growth. From my perspective, the railroad industry is booming - and that growth does not happen without a growing economy and a shitload of stuf to transport via rail."
Once again you proove here that you base your accusations and facts on things you don't even know. For your information I graduated from college almost 3 years ago, and yes I do have a career. I consider myself lucky that I have a job because at times like this you never know for how long could you have the privilege of having a steady job that gives you the comfort to support yourself and others without too many financial worries.
I know that the economy has been growing, but it's been growing at such a slow rate that it's nothing to be too happy about.
And concerning the debates, it doesn't always matter who is the best speaker, but who can bring more convincing issues.
I can't understand how a person with IQ 91 can become a president - and a president of the most powerful country in the world! That's just unbelievable. Sure the republican party could offer better candidates...? Bush is not clever, he's not educated - don't tell me that a charisma is a sufficient condition to become the best candidate for a president.
Thank god Bush didn't come to our country; he only visited Slovakia and Bratislava looked exactly like Barbara's city. "Don't look out of the window or you might be shot" - that's simply great :-)
I think Americans are blamed for their arrogancy because of total lack of geographic education - they have only a very rough idea about most European countries and they usually don't see any difference between "Russia", "Yugoslavia", "Slovakia", "Slovenia" etc. I hope at least the US army checks their maps before they attack a country :-) Even the White House website recently confused the nationalities of two European presidents.
Btw. I DID support Bush's mission in Iraq. I don't see just black & white.
Thank god Bush didn't come to our country; he only visited Slovakia and Bratislava looked exactly like Barbara's city. "Don't look out of the window or you might be shot" - that's simply great :-)
I think Americans are blamed for their arrogancy because of total lack of geographic education - they have only a very rough idea about most European countries and they usually don't see any difference between "Russia", "Yugoslavia", "Slovakia", "Slovenia" etc. I hope at least the US army checks their maps before they attack a country :-) Even the White House website recently confused the nationalities of two European presidents.
Btw. I DID support Bush's mission in Iraq. I don't see just black & white.
The 91 IQ "report" is a hoax:
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/hoaxes/presiq.htm
Reportedly, based on his SAT scores his IQ is about 125 (That seems to be a bit high to me for someone who avoids reading).
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040114-074349-3947r
As for why Bush was elected - neither the Republicans nor the Democrates pay any attention to "moderate" America. The primaries are decided before most of the nation gets a chance to even vote. The Democrats could have won the presidency very handily in 2000 and 2004, if they provided decent candiates.
A Boston flip-flopping mega-liberal and a politcian who can't carry his own state do not qualify as decent candidates in my mind. At least Clinton in 1988 was respectable (at the time - before Whitewater, Travelgate, the Foster "suicide", accepting political donations from China, and the looting of the Whitehouse upon departing etc)
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/hoaxes/presiq.htm
Reportedly, based on his SAT scores his IQ is about 125 (That seems to be a bit high to me for someone who avoids reading).
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040114-074349-3947r
As for why Bush was elected - neither the Republicans nor the Democrates pay any attention to "moderate" America. The primaries are decided before most of the nation gets a chance to even vote. The Democrats could have won the presidency very handily in 2000 and 2004, if they provided decent candiates.
A Boston flip-flopping mega-liberal and a politcian who can't carry his own state do not qualify as decent candidates in my mind. At least Clinton in 1988 was respectable (at the time - before Whitewater, Travelgate, the Foster "suicide", accepting political donations from China, and the looting of the Whitehouse upon departing etc)
rightly said.
I can't understand how a person with IQ 91 can become a president - and a president of the most powerful country in the world! That's just unbelievable. Sure the republican party could offer better candidates...? Bush is not clever, he's not educated - don't tell me that a charisma is a sufficient condition to become the best candidate for a president.
Thank god Bush didn't come to our country; he only visited Slovakia and Bratislava looked exactly like Barbara's city. "Don't look out of the window or you might be shot" - that's simply great :-)
I think Americans are blamed for their arrogancy because of total lack of geographic education - they have only a very rough idea about most European countries and they usually don't see any difference between "Russia", "Yugoslavia", "Slovakia", "Slovenia" etc. I hope at least the US army checks their maps before they attack a country :-) Even the White House website recently confused the nationalities of two European presidents.
Btw. I DID support Bush's mission in Iraq. I don't see just black & white.
If some Americans lack the proper geographic education, all Americans shouldn't be criticized for this. It is never a good idea to put every American, every African American, every Asian, etc. under one umbrella. There are 1000s of Americans every year that don't even complete high school muchless go on to concentrate more on world geography in higher education. I am sure this issue of not obtaining proper education exists in other countries as well.
I also want to remind others of the cost of higher education in America. It is not free for the majority of people. You can attend Universities for free through grants if you are a single mother below poverty, if you are a Native American, a minority, etc. You can also get scholarships if you are in the top of your class. I was fortunate enough to have my university paid for by my parents. They started saving to pay for this before I was even born!! If my parents didn't pay for my higher education then I would still to this day be paying on student loans of about $50,000! This is back in 1993-1997 and only for a Bachelor's degree at a state University. When you get in to private universities, Ivy League, Master's and Doctorate degrees, you are talking easily $500,000 or MORE!! Maybe Geeks or Miss James can give us some newer monetary figures on the cost of higher education in the States. I bet Zeni can offer some opinions on this as well. I know she is working on her Doctorate. I wonder if she would like to vent about how much she has had to fork out on her education. Don't get me wrong, it is very worth it, but it makes it difficult for our society to obtain it. It is NOT free and it is NOT cheap so it is NOT very accessible to most people in the USA. This might be an idicator of why every American citizen is not as well versed in education as people from other countries where higher education is free or even affordable. I have a friend from Sweden who told me he actually gets PAID to go to university!! That does NOT happen here in the States. Most university students in the USA struggle to attend classes all day and wait tables all night to make ends meet.
I graduated from University in 1997 and I can guarantee you that even though I took many courses on geography in college AND in high school, I couldn't sit here and name every single country on a map today. However that does not mean I am geographically incompetent or arrogant. If I want to know or need to know where a certain country is, I get a map and I look it up. The same if I am traveling in the States and don't know where a certain place is. I get a map and I get the information I need to know. I can't store it all in my brain. I guess I am not that talented.
Compared to how things are in Latin America and other parts of the world, the U.S. offers great financial aid plans for education. Lisser is quite very right on the fact that you don't need to be a genius to get a scolarship or to the least an education loan, and a lot of help is being offered for those who can't afford paying for an education.
However I have to strongly complain about the interests being charged for educational financial aid, which are absolutely ridiculous. Also a lot of Universities across the nation (more particularly the private ones) increase their tuitions abruptly every semester, sometimes between 5% or 10%.
I'm still paying for my tuition loans (I graduated in 2002), and frankly I don't have a freakin' clue when I will finish paying it all.
However I have to strongly complain about the interests being charged for educational financial aid, which are absolutely ridiculous. Also a lot of Universities across the nation (more particularly the private ones) increase their tuitions abruptly every semester, sometimes between 5% or 10%.
I'm still paying for my tuition loans (I graduated in 2002), and frankly I don't have a freakin' clue when I will finish paying it all.
All true Jingles..the point I wanted to hit hard on is how higher education is very unaccessible to most Americans bc of the cost. I'm trying very hard not to make excuses for people that do not take an interest in their own education and place a high priority on it but it is a fact that higher education is not a right for people in the States. You are not promised higher education. It is expensive. I could not believe it when my friend from Sweden told me he actually gets a check bc he is a student!! How many credit hours did you take per semester Jingles and how many hours per week did you have to work while in University to pay other bills and eat? When did you study? I can not even imagine how I would have survived in college if I had to work full time to put food in my mouth, try and find a place to live on a waitress salary, and worry about how I am going to pay back all this money!!
I am very thankful that I had my parents to pay for my University. I thank them all the time for paying for my education. If it weren't for them paying for my degree, I wouldn't have this job so I can post on Queenzone's NB while working!!!! Ok now back to work!!!
:)
haahahhaahahaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!
I am very thankful that I had my parents to pay for my University. I thank them all the time for paying for my education. If it weren't for them paying for my degree, I wouldn't have this job so I can post on Queenzone's NB while working!!!! Ok now back to work!!!
:)
haahahhaahahaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!
Good post, Lisser.
Feels odd to me to be told that I am ignorant by a complete stranger.
Feels odd to me to be told that I am ignorant by a complete stranger.
I agree. I am getting bored with it. Can you refresh my memory, you are in college now right? How are the studies going?
:)
:)
Lisser, I actually didn't have it as hard as those people who have to support themselves 100%(luckly). I have a lot of admiration for them, and kudos to these people because they make a huge effort to achieve their goals and at the same time have to deal with taking care of their basic economic needs.
When we moved to NY almost 9 years ago we didn't have quite a lot of money, but yet my father chose to pick a suburban middle class Long Island neighborhood instead of a ghetto town in Queen or Brooklyn (no offense to anyone who lives there, or any kind of low class areas). He made the choice because he thought he'd rather deal with higher mortage costs and taxes than dealing with the feeling of insecurity of living in a place where crime is a common thing.
Then when my sister and I started college we applied for financial aid, in which we recieved loans and scolarships that sometimes paid for more than half of the tuition costs. My father paid for the rest, but we agreed that once we finished college we'd take care of the payments for the education loans.
When I started my first semester at the local community college of Nassau county, I got a job at a pharmacy, which turned into a 8 month nightmare. I had a manager who was a complete asshole and treated everyone like a worthless piece of shit. Aside from that I was working around 30 hours per week while taking 12 credits (4 classes) each semester. What made it worse was the fact that my car back them (my first) was totally breaking apart, and while I had it, I paid between $1,000 and $1,500 getting it fixed on different ocassions. Things eventually got better as time went by, I quit that horrible job and got a better car.
When we moved to NY almost 9 years ago we didn't have quite a lot of money, but yet my father chose to pick a suburban middle class Long Island neighborhood instead of a ghetto town in Queen or Brooklyn (no offense to anyone who lives there, or any kind of low class areas). He made the choice because he thought he'd rather deal with higher mortage costs and taxes than dealing with the feeling of insecurity of living in a place where crime is a common thing.
Then when my sister and I started college we applied for financial aid, in which we recieved loans and scolarships that sometimes paid for more than half of the tuition costs. My father paid for the rest, but we agreed that once we finished college we'd take care of the payments for the education loans.
When I started my first semester at the local community college of Nassau county, I got a job at a pharmacy, which turned into a 8 month nightmare. I had a manager who was a complete asshole and treated everyone like a worthless piece of shit. Aside from that I was working around 30 hours per week while taking 12 credits (4 classes) each semester. What made it worse was the fact that my car back them (my first) was totally breaking apart, and while I had it, I paid between $1,000 and $1,500 getting it fixed on different ocassions. Things eventually got better as time went by, I quit that horrible job and got a better car.
I don't know how you even made it as far as you did with those barriers!!! I was fortunate enough to not have to worry about any of those things. My parents bought me a dependable car to get back and forth to university in. I was only responsible for putting gas in it. I did not have to pay for any repairs to it or pay the insurance on it. My father paid cash for the car so there was not any payments to make. This deal was in affect for me as long as my grades were satisfactory to my parents. I did not have to work while attending college but if I chose not to, I would not have any spending money. So I worked about 25 hours/week waiting tables. I am very lucky to have such wonderful parents.
I did not apply for any financial aid. I wouldn't have qualified for it due to my Dad's income. I am glad for that too bc like you stated, the interest rates are horrible. I ask my dad all the time how I can ever repay him. He tells me I am repaying him by working and contributing to society in a postive way.
Kudos to you too Mr. Jingles, for your dedication and hard work.
I did not apply for any financial aid. I wouldn't have qualified for it due to my Dad's income. I am glad for that too bc like you stated, the interest rates are horrible. I ask my dad all the time how I can ever repay him. He tells me I am repaying him by working and contributing to society in a postive way.
Kudos to you too Mr. Jingles, for your dedication and hard work.
Seriously Lisser, compared to some people I've met I had it quite easy. Although I can't deny that putting with it was hard at times, but meeting people who had it worse than me made me feel lucky and ashamed of whinning about my very own situation.
I once met this Mexican girl at school who had a full time (weekdays) and a part time (weekends) job while being a full time student. She eventually had to drop out a couple of classes because she was dealing with too much, and she was getting at the most 5 hours of sleep everyday. I seriously don't know how can people handle so many things at once.
Thanks for the kudos, Lisser. More Kudos for you for still working waiting tables while being financially supported by your parents. Most people in your situation would most likely become spoiled kids who take things for granted becuase their parents give them everything. Your attitude was very mature indeed, so congratulations!
I however think that we shouldn't forget about all those less fortunate people who deserve a lot more kudos than anyone like you and I.
I once met this Mexican girl at school who had a full time (weekdays) and a part time (weekends) job while being a full time student. She eventually had to drop out a couple of classes because she was dealing with too much, and she was getting at the most 5 hours of sleep everyday. I seriously don't know how can people handle so many things at once.
Thanks for the kudos, Lisser. More Kudos for you for still working waiting tables while being financially supported by your parents. Most people in your situation would most likely become spoiled kids who take things for granted becuase their parents give them everything. Your attitude was very mature indeed, so congratulations!
I however think that we shouldn't forget about all those less fortunate people who deserve a lot more kudos than anyone like you and I.
"I agree. I am getting bored with it. Can you refresh my memory, you are in college now right? How are the studies going?
:)"
- Same here with the boredom. And yes, I am in college now, my second year actually. This next semester I'll be transfering to another college.
The studies are going well, thanks. :) I gave a pretty good speech in my Public Speaking class the other day on how to bake sugar cookies. Oh yeah! ;^)
:)"
- Same here with the boredom. And yes, I am in college now, my second year actually. This next semester I'll be transfering to another college.
The studies are going well, thanks. :) I gave a pretty good speech in my Public Speaking class the other day on how to bake sugar cookies. Oh yeah! ;^)
My situation is slightly different in that I get paid to go to school. I have a fellowship which means that in addition to my own school work, I have a job assisting/teaching other courses. I am a paid employee of my University. Many graduate programs, regardless of discipline,* have assistantships/fellowships to help promising students finish their degree, but these can be hard to come by. If I didn't have that, there's no way I could afford grad school as grad tuition is generally 3 times that of undergrad.
One thing I have noticed when talking with various academics is the difference between US and European colleges/universities. The US, overall, has one of the best higher education programs in the world (which becomes more evident by the large number of Asians that come to the US to study). But the program is very different than those in Europe. This can be very specific, such as the different grading systems, or large and more of an institutional difference, such as the role of higher education. Also, the US economy has moved in such a direction that trying to get a decent job without a college degree is nearly impossible.
*Law Schools and Medical Schools are the biggest exceptions. I guess they figure those folks will be making a ton of money anyways that a few student loans won't kill them.
One thing I have noticed when talking with various academics is the difference between US and European colleges/universities. The US, overall, has one of the best higher education programs in the world (which becomes more evident by the large number of Asians that come to the US to study). But the program is very different than those in Europe. This can be very specific, such as the different grading systems, or large and more of an institutional difference, such as the role of higher education. Also, the US economy has moved in such a direction that trying to get a decent job without a college degree is nearly impossible.
*Law Schools and Medical Schools are the biggest exceptions. I guess they figure those folks will be making a ton of money anyways that a few student loans won't kill them.