Proud to be American (semi-rant)

Curmudgeon wrote: Now I see the vast majority of kids sit in front of a game console or TV all day, they can't abide being away from the A/C or Internet too long. So maybe they won't get injured on a (insert deathtrap here) but rather will die of diabetes or other weight/sloth related ailment.

I see it in the Machinist Apprentices we hire. Can't logic their way through a drill press chuck and the chuck key.

Oy.

914Driver wrote:

Curmudgeon wrote: Now I see the vast majority of kids sit in front of a game console or TV all day, they can't abide being away from the A/C or Internet too long. So maybe they won't get injured on a (insert deathtrap here) but rather will die of diabetes or other weight/sloth related ailment.

I see it in the Machinist Apprentices we hire. Can't logic their way through a drill press chuck and the chuck key. Oy.

Timely... I turned the lathe on last night with the key in the chuck. Boy does my chest hurt. It says right n the bottle that it might impair my ability to operate machinery and... holy E36 M3! It's true.

Imagine that taking out front teeth! A whole new avenue of PAIN!

mguar wrote:

N Sperlo wrote:

Curmudgeon wrote:

mad_machine wrote: Gene Kranz said: Three decades ago, in a top story of the century, Americans placed six flags on the Moon. Today we no longer try for new and bold space achievements; instead we celebrate the anniversaries of the past... Thirty years later I feel a sense of frustration that the causes that advanced us so rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s seem to have vanished from the national consciousness. We have become a nation of spectators, unwilling to take risks or act on strong beliefs. That is far too true. I am not sure where to place that blame.. but I do think it was a slow decline. Going to the moon.. hell, going to mars does not incite any interest, NASA has made it all seem so routine. It took the loss of two space shuttles to remind the country that going into space is dangerous work (if you can get it) and now that corporations are getting involved, it will become even more humdrum

That's what's wrong. The soccer moms and safety Nazis have demanded that everything involve NO risk. If something DOES involve risk (such as hot coffee from McDonald's) and someone gets hurt, sue the snot out of them. Gotta have forty eleventeen airbags in every car (along with a hundred cupholders). Get rid of that attitude and maybe, just maybe, we can start to explore again.

We call that the Pussification of America.

OK until your kid is injured, maimed or killed by something defective or poorly designed..

There's a difference between lawsuits for a lethal fault and a spanking. One keeps kids alive, one makes them Bob Costas.

N Sperlo, I know you read the thread Margie created.....

In reply to z31maniac:

If Margie thinks I'm trolling, I invite her to take it up with me privately. I respect her as well as everyone else here. Theres a fine line between an argument and a conversation sometimes.

If this forum becomes a place I can't express my feelings on a subject or joke around a little I'm out. Since I'm suddenly trolling, I will not respond to any responses to this response.

N Sperlo wrote: In reply to z31maniac: If Margie thinks I'm trolling, I invite her to take it up with me privately. I respect her as well as everyone else here. Theres a fine line between an argument and a conversation sometimes. If this forum becomes a place I can't express my feelings on a subject or joke around a little I'm out. Since I'm suddenly trolling, I will not respond to any responses to this response.

You feed trolls by responding to them.

I didn't say YOU were trolling.

In reply to z31maniac:

Well, use a code word or next time. Yeesh.

Good thing I only said I wouldn't respond to a response to my response. Thats a quote.

For the record, you're not who I had in mind, Sperlo. But honestly, calling me out on my own forum to "take it up with you"? Right, that's exactly what I had in mind when I posted a thread asking people to make this a more pleasant place to hang out.

Margie

914Driver wrote: Imagine that taking out front teeth! A whole new avenue of PAIN!

Hey, that's THIS guy's line.

My Dad was part of the space program as an engineer in the '60's through the 2000's so I have a little insight. It truly is a shame what has happened to it. I don't have exact data in front of me, but there are numerous advancements attributed directly to the space program in terms of materials, design, and an education of thousands of engineers and scientists.

I would go as far as to argue one of the reasons we had so many advances in the past 50 years is related directly to NASA. There was a huge spike in engineering and science in general after the moon missions. Without those, who knows where we would be in comparison to to Russia or China. China is now surpassing us in these areas by the way.

Here in Huntsville, we also have the worlds largest reseach area for bio technology, and it is directly related to the space program. I interviewed it's founder, Mr. Hudson, and he was so influenced by it he went into science, only to prefect DNA chaining.

Our own company (mining industry related) was started by 4 ex NASA guys, one from Warner Von Brauns team. And there are stories after stories like that in this town. People would be astounded what all is under development in this country, and most of it was due to NASA involvement. And as a side note, even since it's conception, almost all of the hardware that's flown was built by civilian contractors that had to bid on the job.

There are other scientific breakthroughs also related to space, such as missions flown on the shuttle that could not be duplicated here, or performed at the space station, that we are giving up vast resouces by not pursuing it.

In many ways we are flushing our future down the toilet to save a few bucks or as a political ploy. Many nations now are looking towards there own program while we are abandoning ours. It's beyond a shame.

As for the miliary, our defense is our government's number one priority, all others pale in comparison. I believe in keeping their budget high, but like many others said, there needs to be accountability in their spenditures.

Has anyone noticed the post about this post has more posts?

The military gave us the Interstate highway system (the idea was originally Hitler's, BTW), the GPS system, many of the trauma techniques and supplies we now take for granted, etc.

The space program gave us pacemakers, many of the wireless and digital gizmos we use every day, carbon fiber composites, led to a quantum leap in computer technology, etc.

So both have had direct benefits for we taxpayers who foot the bill. The difference is the military as a side benefit have kept us speaking English. Like the bumper sticker says, 'if you can read this, thank a teacher. If you are reading this in English, thank the US Marines.'

I can read French too, who do I thank for that?

Keith wrote: I can read French too, who do I thank for that?

The people of Quebec?

Keith wrote: I can read French too, who do I thank for that?

Oh my god, please stop.

Margie

Back to the original point of this whole topic...

I'm proud to be an American. Proud to be from the South. Proud to be in Texas. Somewhat proud to be from Alabama. LOL

I agree that our politicians have completely destroyed what our grandfathers were proud to defend and die for in WW2. I understand how the Germans can be quite squeamish about discussing WW2. The pure evil of the actions performed by the Nazi regime echo throughout time. Today's Germans want to get past that and I can understand it. Our politicians and our current President are not too far from repeating that type of takeover. As mentioned before, the economy sucks and he's such a great speaker. Today the individuals in power in Washington DC are looking only for their own interest and not doing the jobs they were hired to do. I agree that both houses need to be completely gutted and new elections need to take place. Term limits need to be established, and the feeling of honor and duty need to be reimplimented in that job. You're hired to represent your area, your people, and act on their behalf. Unfortunately they only vote for raises for themselves, put earmarks on bills to help the lobbiests who dump millions into their "campaign funds", and gather their time for their pension. Don't get me started on that...

All that being said, there is still no place I'd rather live. We enjoy freedoms other people will literally kill for. We can walk around outside in whatever we want, drive whatever we want, have the opportunity to amass incredible wealth, can buy and own our own homes, start our own businesses, and marry who we want (unless you're gay, which is a whole 'nother discussion, but I'm for gay marriage for the record).

Anyway, everyone's gonna bitch and whine about the USA and how we're a bunch of gun crazy rednecks who only care about NASCAR and beer. I'm American and I hate NASCAR, but I love me some beer...

On the original topic, I think my feelings are sort of like having someone else pick on your family. They may piss you off and you may be very critical of them, but if someone else tries to pick on them, you're going to stick up for your own. Other people don't get the right to speak as critically of your family or your country as you do.

I'm not even trying to bring up what the Germans did in the war. I'm more thinking about how we treated them afterwards, especially compared to the Soviets. Not too many people around Berlin speaking Russian.

Conquest351 wrote: Anyway, everyone's gonna bitch and whine about the USA and how we're a bunch of gun crazy rednecks who only care about NASCAR and beer. I'm American and I hate NASCAR, but I love me some beer...

Actually, the Germans would complain that we don't care enough about beer, that all we drink is Bud. I've been trying to educate people otherwise. My flatmate has laughed at me for being a stereotypical American when I mention my family's gun collection. I've got no problem with that.

insert George Carlin

Mass produced beer in the USA is pisswater.

In reply to Conquest351:

Wait, did you just compare Obama to Hitler?

Otto Maddox wrote: In reply to Conquest351: Wait, did you just compare Obama to Hitler?

Yeah, in a round about way. LOL Not saying he's going to be the most evil person in the world, but just noting that when we're down and out, words sound great but mean little. I've seen the trend of people looking to him as the great savior of our country when he clearly is not. One person can't fix all of our problems no matter what they say. Don't try to read too much into it.

z31maniac wrote: *insert George Carlin*

Conquest351 wrote:

Otto Maddox wrote: In reply to Conquest351: Wait, did you just compare Obama to Hitler?

Yeah, in a round about way. LOL Not saying he's going to be the most evil person in the world, but just noting that when we're down and out, words sound great but mean little. I've seen the trend of people looking to him as the great savior of our country when he clearly is not. One person can't fix all of our problems no matter what they say. Don't try to read too much into it.

I invoke Godwin's law.