Danny,
Bayer's research headquarters are in the US. That's where the money is at. They charge us so your healthcare in can be cheaper. See? We are paying for all the research. And that's one company. Not the 100's of other biotechs here in the US, which was my point in the first place. The bulk of research isn't done in a socialist or communist setting, it's done in a capatalistic country for money.
Your second link does more to prove my point than anything I could have wrote.
Cuba was the US 5th largest trading partner. the Us was their largest. how would YOU fair if suddenly your biggest trading partner (could that be CHINA by the way?) decided they didnt like you anymore?
- We could probably get all of our jobs back making those cheap stuffed animals and McDonald land funmeal toys. What a loss.
As far as Cuba, keyword there: was the US 5th. Now they can't even afford good boats to escape Castro. When you look at pictures of Cuba, see any new cars from in there? Does that point seem to escape from this discussion? There are people escaping cuba on rafts because it's so bad. They are trying to get to the USA on anything they can. Why is that?
How about this one :
to deny a country its revenue and THEN say 'look, their system doesn't work' is extremely childish.
We call that foreign policy. You should look at your countrie's foreign policy and see just how similar they are. It's how the world works.
I have to say about Gun Control: No. We have enough. We have enough laws now, no more. Now I know you will correct me if I'm wrong, but in the UK, did they not continue regulation of guns until now the government went in and confiscated all the guns? Now they can't have any?
Personally, I'd like to see a law that says we can't pass anymore laws unless we get rid of one, maybe two.
I didn't see bowling for columbine, and probably won't. I don't see where we all should have fully auto weapons. I did see 'red dawn'. That's more in the sprit of what I am talking about. That's what the founding fathers had in mind. They thought that if the new government became too oppressive, at least people could form militia and take care of it. Some people have tried that. We know who they are (were).
There is only two things we ever really talk about. Time and Money. Who's time and / or who's money is all we really discuss.
I'm kinda swaying on the national healthcare thing myself to be truthful. There's a lot of old guys at my work who can't retire for fear something will get them between the years Social security and Medicare start. I can be swayed if the plan is right and the costs are offset.
And I'm not attacking Canada or the Canadians. I'm just saying that their system isn't our system. They have decided their way and we have decided ours. We have a traditional system setup that works. It has flaws, but so do the other systems. We are used to the flaws and we try and fix them.
How do I know this? Well, I have had cancer and chemotherapy, my wife has a nurological disorder that has almost taken her life, we had a child and paid all the bills there, and I had my appendix blow up one night. Plus numerous car wrecks and stiches, etc. My family's total lifetime medical bills are probably hitting close to $700,000 dollars American. So I know a little about it.
I pay a lot of money personally for medical costs / insurance. Between my work's insurance and medicade taxes it comes out to well over $550 a month. (That's like $675 Canadian or $620 euros isn't it?). I'll quote the Beatles on this one - "so you say you want a revolution, well, we'd all love to see the plan"
Either way, it's the US that votes for the President of the United States. It's our business, and that was my basic point. We decide who's best for us, and we argue about it. You decide who's best for wherever you are at. We don't talk about your politics and you don't talk about ours. I think that's very fair.
Some people think that the President went too far. Some say he didn't do the right thing. I've heard it in every adminstration I've been living under.
The last (and I mean last) thing I will comment on in these threads is the cheap shot -
this sort of attitude is why people like to fly planes into your buildings.
There were over 3000 people who died that day Danny. They weren't soldiers, they weren't politicians, they weren't evil. They were people like you and I who were at work making the money to get buy. A group of very commited fanatics who hate everything the west, and that means Austrailia too, stand for kill them. They cut the throat of women on planes with knives and killed innocent children. They didn't like our helping Israel and how we don't bend down before them.
Unlike some of you, I never forget that. It's the whole reason we are in this mess. If you all the Americans here want to take the chance that Kerry will continue the war on terror or do something Bush cannot, then by all means, vote your heart.
But I remember the President's speech on 9/18/01. It was the best speech I have ever heard from any president. I believe that he is not acting out of any personal gratification or any vendetta. I don't get the same vibe from Kerry. I personally feel like he's a very political animal that is running for Kerry, not the people like GW is.
That's my last word.