Mik said:By his definition, we Alaskans are ALL socialists because we are recipients of the Alaska Permanent Fund annual dividend. Of course, that is a complete and, I believe deliberate misrepresentation of the true meaning of socialism. As an Alaskan resident who has followed her since she ran for governor, Sarah Palin is DEFINITELY no socialist.TonyWalsham said:Palin is a socialist? For not changing state laws by executive decree? Or not selling off stuff that was property of the the state before she got in office? ... You ARE stretching -- or is that shovelling it deep?
Barack Obama is [b]NOT[/b] a true Socialist either. Not even a pretend Socialist. Unlike Sarah Palin.
Ron Simpson said:The Republicans have been redistributing the wealth since 1980. Real wages for the working class have declined since this time. The wealthy have more money, the middle class has less. In 1977 I started an unskilled job at $7.95 an hour. Today these same jobs start at $8.00 an hour or less. How many billionaires did we have in 1977? ZERO. How many billionaires do we have today? MANY. Hell, there are 75 billionaires living in Moscow alone! A strong and healthy middle class is the back bone of a vibrant society. What we have now is a sick society with the balance of wealth concentrated among few. What we have is one of the wealthiest and successful corporations closing stores rather than pay a "living wage". What we have is greedy CEO's sending our jobs to third world countries. Everyone looking for enormous short term profits and giving no consideration to the long term consequences. If we don't correct the imbalance of wealth today, we will fall just as the Romans fell. RalphMik said:By his definition, we Alaskans are ALL socialists because we are recipients of the Alaska Permanent Fund annual dividend. Of course, that is a complete and, I believe deliberate misrepresentation of the true meaning of socialism. As an Alaskan resident who has followed her since she ran for governor, Sarah Palin is DEFINITELY no socialist.TonyWalsham said:Palin is a socialist? For not changing state laws by executive decree? Or not selling off stuff that was property of the the state before she got in office? ... You ARE stretching -- or is that shovelling it deep?
Barack Obama is [b]NOT[/b] a true Socialist either. Not even a pretend Socialist. Unlike Sarah Palin.
E. Paul Austin said:Chuckle! You got over the biggest hurdle!
Maybe I'll move to OZ! Even had the wife convinced.
Times have changed. In the early 70s, it was pretty easy for an American to gain permanent residency in Australia, followed by citizenship after a qualifying period if that was desired. These days, it’s a lot harder.
That said, if you can drive a Dash-9, there may be hope for you, Of course, you’ll be doing it remotely - the “driver in the cab” paradigm is on the way out here on the big mining RRs.
Who knows? Maybe BHP and Rio Tinto will get Tony to install radio control and battery power into their big diesels!
Tony’s comment about socialism is true. Australia isn’t a socialist state. Rather, it’s an interesting mix of private and public. Our health and education systems take some getting used to for an American, but they work passably well. Unlike Tony, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
One US institution I’d like to see here is an analogue to the first 10 amendments of the American Constitution (i.e., the Bill of Rights). But that’s for a different thread.