Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : THE SLIGHTLY MODERATED BOXING RING -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jttmab who wrote (13903)	6/3/2002 2:14:28 AM
From: Lazarus_Long	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 21057

1. Dn right! 2. Excellent point. 3. No. 4. Dn right! 5. No. 6. Station the US Army at the southern border with orders to shoot to kill. 7. No. I didn't get an A, did I?

To: jttmab who wrote (13903)	6/3/2002 8:53:46 AM
From: jlallen	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21057

1. Absolutely. 2. No. Not without probable cause. 3. No. 4. Absolutely. 5. This is union puke nonsense. Americans need to be competitive. Period. 6. Absolutely. I favor immigration but only the legal kind. A country which can not control its borders is doomed. 7. No. 3 out of 7.....

To: jttmab who wrote (13903)	6/3/2002 12:11:07 PM
From: Original Mad Dog	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21057

Test time ..... How many of these do you agree with? Partial answers/agreements are welcomed. Total score possible: 7 Total score possible 7? Seems like the test givers are assuming that agreement or disagreement with all is a consistent position. I found that to be far from true.....some of the proposals were offensive, others brilliant. Here goes. 1. America First! The very first responsibility of our government is to protect the welfare(jobs, health, future) of AMERICANS - not those in Mexico, Vietnam, Somalia, Haiti, or some other third world country. It is time to take America back. This sort of statement obscures the real issue. Americans and the world are better off in a world in which free and fair trade flourishes, and as many of the world's six billion inhabitants as possible participate in market economies in countries with properly functioning democratic institutions. Many of our sales, and most of our growth, comes from sales outside the U.S. Inflows of non-U.S. capital feed our markets and fund our innovations. Taking the side of the oppressed can improve our stature throughout the world if done carefully and without ulterior motive. I would argue that these things are in our interest, and often mean that we are better off spending our effort and money in places like Mexico, Vietnam, Somalia, Haiti and a bunch of other places to create fairly run democratic market driven states. Too often we haven't done that, but turning our backs on the world is foolish. So I would disagree with this one. 2. Drug testing for Welfare Recipients. Not everyone who is on welfare is taking drugs. We are aware of that,but there are many, especially in housing projects in large urban areas,who are taking drugs. If they have enough money for drugs, they don't need your money. If a welfare recipient is a drug user, their welfare check,food stamps, public housing, and etc. should be cut. I think this is a brilliant idea. I would add that addiction recovery programs should be made available and perhaps mandated for those with children who would otherwise be driven off the rolls. The real problem is curing the addiction and preventing the children from falling prey to the same self-destructive cycle as the parents. It's not just a matter of saving a few public bucks. 3. Protect America's Birthright. Laws would be enacted that would prevent American industry and property from being sold to foreigners. Americas should be owned by Americans - not Japanese, Arabs or Jews. I found this statement to be offensive and bigoted. Disagree. 4. Do away with Affirmative Action Programs. People in America should be hired, promoted or given scholarships based on ability, not because they have the right color of skin or because we feel sorry for them or because we are trying to appease some kind of self-inflicted guilt. Agreed. 5. Protect American Jobs. Americans are loosing jobs to foreign nations because our industry is moving to Mexico to obtain cheap labor which is often only 60 or 70 cents an hour. American industry is also enticed to move to Mexico in order to save millions because of non-existing environmental laws. The criminals in Washington have passed NAFTA and are now selling us out with GATT. Disagree as phrased. I think that whoever makes something in the best and most efficient manner should make it. All people benefit and are spurred on to higher levels of customer satisfaction when that happens. The part of the playing field that needs to be leveled is primarily in the environmental and sweatshop areas. It makes no sense to reward a manufacturer for churning out a better product more cheaply simply by moving his plant to a place that allows pollution. 6. Close our Border. The flood of illegal aliens coming across our borders needs to be stopped.If we can put 43,000 soldiers in South Korea to protect their borders,500,000 soldiers in Saudi Arabia to protect their borders. Why can we not put troops on our borders to protect our country from the invasion of illegal aliens? We must protect the future of our children, not the future of the children of Mexico. We should control immigration so that only those with a legal right to access are allowed in. We should not close our borders or our nation to immigration. Immigration has been and continues to be the distinguishing characteristic that makes this country better than others. 7. Outlaw homo-sexuality and inter-racial marriages. Until 20 or so years ago, nearly all states had 'sodomy' and miscegenation laws and statutes that were strictly enforced. Since that time they have been repealed or are ignored, the results are obvious with the plague of AIDS now ravaging our land. Both of these abominations against God and nature must be stopped if America is ever to return to the great Christian nation it once was. I am not aware of any interracial marriages. Every married member of the human race I have ever known is married to another member of the human race. Every married dog I have ever known has been married to another dog. And so on. So I don't understand that part of it. Homosexual "marriages" aren't really marriages in my view if the purpose of marriage is to raise a family. If the purpose of marriage, however, is to express lifelong commitment and a sharing of benefits and so on (not to mention the right to pay more in taxes like I have to), then by all means let them marry.

To: jttmab who wrote (13903)	6/3/2002 12:52:26 PM
From: TimF	Respond to of 21057

1 - Agree. Our government is the government of America not of the world. Its primary responsibility is to the citizens of America. Of course acting in ways that help or are liked by other countries governments or citizens may be in the interest of our citizens and if we can greatly alleviate suffering of non Americans with relatively little cost or risk I would support doing so even if it doesn't directly help Americans. I don't like the title of this part though as "America First" is often presented as an idea that includes protectionism and I am against protectionism. 2 - Uncertain. I don't think a drug testing requirement to receive welfare is a violation of people's rights, you are not compelling them by force to get tested, just not giving them a handout if they don't get tested. Still I don't like the idea of massive government pushed medical tests. 3 - Disagree - At least with the policies usually pushed by people who talk like that. I wouldn't want the US to be mostly owned by foreigners but I don't think there is much danger of that happening, and I don't think we should forbid foreign ownership of American property or restrict international trade other then trade in things like nukes, and chemical weapons. 4 - Agree - People should be treated primarily as individuals. They should not get special favors because of their skin color or religion or ethnic background or sex. There are some cases where one of these things may be a legitimate job qualification but in 999 out of 1000 cases they are not. 5 - Disagree. Protectionism hurts everyone except a few special interests. It doesn't protect American jobs. It might protect certain specific jobs, but at a high cost to consumers, and at the expense of some other jobs both in America and abroad. 6 - Uncertain - I don't want a massively militarized border, but I think perhaps we need to increase our border patrol and ability to check out immigrants. "Close our border" however is different then "control our border". My uncertainty is about what is meant here. 7 - Disagree. This is really two issues so it should have been broken down in to 7 and 8 but I do not want to outlaw either homosexuality (or consensual adult homosexual sex) or inter-racial marriages. Tim