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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (87758)	11/22/2004 3:49:45 PM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 793727

Michael Totten - An Assassination Would Have Been Embarrassing Too The pride of the Chilean police and its power elite might have been chafed a tad had Bush been assassinated while visiting, so I'm pleased on their behalf that such a faux pas did not occur: U.S. officials said Chilean police had been chafing for a week about a demand by Secret Service agents that they control the president's space, even when he was on sovereign turf. Now, it was payback time. In the fracas that ensued, amid a flurry of half nelsons, one Secret Service agent wound up jammed against a wall. "You're not stopping me! You're not stopping me! I'm with the president!" an unidentified agent can be heard yelling on videotape of the mayhem. The president, who is rarely alone, even in his own house, turned and walked back to the front door unaccompanied, facing the backs of a sea of dark suits. Bush, with his right hand, reached over the suits and pointed insistently at [Secret Service shadow, Nick] Trotta. At first the officials, with their backs to him and their heads in the rumble, did not realize it was the president intervening. Bush then braced himself against someone and lunged to retrieve the agent, who was still arguing with the Chileans. The shocked Chilean officials then released Trotta. [...] Marcelo Romero, a reporter with Santiago's newspaper La Cuarta, said: "All of us journalists agree that President Bush looked like a cowboy. It was total breach of protocol. I've seen a lot of John Wayne movies, and President Bush was definitely acting like a cowboy." Also: By Saturday night - though it had not been announced - Chile had already begun calling the guests to the dinner planned for Sunday at La Moneda, the presidential palace that was the site of the coup that overthrew Salvador Allende on Sept. 11, 1973. The dispute over the dinner on Sunday centered on the question of whether the Chilean guests would be required to go through metal detectors before dining with Mr. Bush, a standard practice for the Secret Service. The Chileans told Mr. Bush's delegation that the practice was humiliating. "Can you imagine someone like the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court having to submit to an inspection by gringo security agents in order to get into our own seat of government?" asked one of the disinvited Chileans, who spoke on condition that he not be identified. "That's an affront no Chilean was going to tolerate, and Lagos had no choice but to act the way he did." So, no U.S. sponsored coups, no Chilean facilitated U.S. presidential assassinations, but a few bruised egos. All in all I don't know what anyone is complaining about. Plus, they had fried fish which I also had for dinner last night. And if the Crackerbarrel had seen fit to screen me through security, I'd have taken it in stride I think. michaeltotten.com

To: LindyBill who wrote (87758)	11/22/2004 6:48:32 PM
From: Maurice Winn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793727

Lindy, there's more to the NZ situation than market reforms. For a start the labour market is not free. It is highly regulated with employees "owning" jobs. People don't hire others because they then have employment law hassles. Then there's the welfare industry, which is vast. About 30% of children now live on welfare. There are swarms of sickness beneficiaries [includes dope-smoking losers], Accident Compensation Corporation wards of the state [complaining of a sore back], Maori beneficiaries [taxpayer funded via Treaty of Waitangi racist rorts], unemployed [don't want to work for the money they can get at the jobs they can get], Domestic Purposes Beneficiaries [women for whom it's easier to have children and have the taxpayer pay than to get and keep a willing husband and father who will actually PAY for the result of his rooting], old people [I think they are underpaid since it's they who actually built the country - most of them anyway], thousands of criminals with excellent prison conditions [Sky TV and so on]. Then there are legions of government workers [who more or less work, sort of, at things which it would be better they don't do]. Teachers, medical industry, bureaucrats, meddlers, resource management act trouble makers by the thousand, local authority empires galore - layer on layer of them. Over half the money spent in the country is spent by government people. It's about 60% or maybe 70%. Income tax is 33% or 39%. Then there's GST at 12.5%, so immediately, before passing GO, we are up to 50%. Then, there's petrol duty [over half the cost of petrol/gasoline]. Tobacco [80% of so]. Alcohol [a lot]. Then there's local government rates [taxes] $2000 a year on incomes of perhaps $50,000. Permit fees for everything. Passport charges. You name it, if it moves, or doesn't, there's a government fee, inspection charge, impost or duty. The water supply is a government department. So is electricity [more or less]. Telecom is a government established monopoly which charges a fortune for ADSL so there's not much broadband in NZ. I want to buy spectrum but it's all been given to Telecom decades ago and they don't want competition. Reforms were half-baked at best. The government sector and control is huge and suffocating. I support act.org.nz But most people must like it as it is [though they moan they go on voting for more of it, like turkeys voting for an early Xmas] Mqurice