Can America be fixed?

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
Ha...ha. Wrong thread! Oooops on me...still dickumentary isn't the kind of dick films I watch
Dick Tracy however, starring Dustin Hoffman? Hell yes!



Even people who are not residents?
Jump on line. USD45 for a year and you get a free gift and magazine subscription. All countries catered for.
 

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
Well that is a bit unexpected. I wouldn't have thought they would branch out so much. Do they offer much advocacy for members outside USA? Or affiliate organisations?
 

Nerf Herder

Wheel size expert

I like this guy ... but his videos get me depressed at times.
How close is Australia to what he is describing ... we follow the US more so than the Uk IMO.

I always thought the US had a lower average hourly rate then Australia ... a quick google has Australia at 18.93 ... and the us at 27.16 ... not clear what years this data is. 27 Jun 18 is the publish date for the AUD. Sep 2018 for the USD.
 

hifiandmtb

Sphincter beanie
From here:

https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/wages

In the United States, wages are benchmarked using average hourly earnings. Data relate to production employees in mining and logging and manufacturing, construction employees in construction, and nonsupervisory employees in the service-providing industries. These groups account for approximately four-fifths of the total employment on private nonfarm payrolls.
Does this mean they exclude wage figures from a fifth of the working population?

That Straya rate is minimum wage.

I'll watch the video tonight.
 

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
Reich's videos are great - accessible, informative, good presentation blend, bright, and impacting messages that stick. He is a well honed communicator. Only reason he isn't getting more views/traction or whatever the phrase is that I can figure is that his hair is the wrong colour...

The national employment standards are a good guideline for working conditions in Australia. They don't cover everybody, but it's a good spot to start understanding how our workplaces are supposed to operate. There's a link to award wages + conditions at the bottom of the page as well.

 

Scotty T

Walks the walk
So I went looking for the gun thread to post a quote from Michael Moore. Some interesting posts here.

Their democracy has decided that they will accept the current consequences of their high rate of gun ownership. Unless their is a major tipping point incident its unlikely to change.
Accurate, and so many tipping points later here we are.

Anyway this sums it up perfectly.

Michael Moore said:
With due respect to those who are asking me to comment on last night's tragic mass shooting at UCSB in Isla Vista, CA -- I no longer have anything to say about what is now part of normal American life. Everything I have to say about this, I said it 12 years ago: We are a people easily manipulated by fear which causes us to arm ourselves with a quarter BILLION guns in our homes that are often easily accessible to young people, burglars, the mentally ill and anyone who momentarily snaps. We are a nation founded in violence, grew our borders through violence, and allow men in power to use violence around the world to further our so-called American (corporate) "interests." The gun, not the eagle, is our true national symbol. While other countries have more violent pasts (Germany, Japan), more guns per capita in their homes (Canada [mostly hunting guns]), and the kids in most other countries watch the same violent movies and play the same violent video games that our kids play, no one even comes close to killing as many of its own citizens on a daily basis as we do -- and yet we don't seem to want to ask ourselves this simple question: "Why us? What is it about US?" Nearly all of our mass shootings are by angry or disturbed white males. None of them are committed by the majority gender, women. Hmmm, why is that? Even when 90% of the American public calls for stronger gun laws, Congress refuses -- and then we the people refuse to remove them from office. So the onus is on us, all of us. We won't pass the necessary laws, but more importantly we won't consider why this happens here all the time. When the NRA says, "Guns don't kill people -- people kill people," they've got it half-right. Except I would amend it to this: "Guns don't kill people -- Americans kill people." Enjoy the rest of your day, and rest assured this will all happen again very soon.
Edit: this quote is from 2014.
 
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Asininedrivel

caviar connoisseur
I always thought it would take someone to shoot up a school of pre-schoolers (aka Dunblaine) for the Americans to act.

Then Sandy Hook happened. Perpetrated by an individual who used a legally purchased AR-15 bought by his mother for home protection(!) to do just that. And nothing eventuated. Ten years later it's not only continuing but increasing.

You do not need an AR-15 (or any other high velocity automatic) for anything except killing the maximum number of people in the shortest timeframe possible. That's its specific design. They should never be in civilian hands.

If Congress reintroduced and passed the Federal Assault Weapons Ban (brought in by Clinton, removed by Dubya) that would be a big step forward imo.
 

Litenbror

Eats Squid
I always thought it would take someone to shoot up a school of pre-schoolers (aka Dunblaine) for the Americans to act.

Then Sandy Hook happened. Perpetrated by an individual who used a legally purchased AR-15 bought by his mother for home protection(!) to do just that. And nothing eventuated. Ten years later it's not only continuing but increasing.

You do not need an AR-15 (or any other high velocity automatic) for anything except killing the maximum number of people in the shortest timeframe possible. That's its specific design. They should never be in civilian hands.

If Congress reintroduced and passed the Federal Assault Weapons Ban (brought in by Clinton, removed by Dubya) that would be a big step forward imo.
It was probably the thing I disliked about the States the most, I felt that I needed to own a gun for protection. I am as centre left non violent as they come but over there is terrifying and I honestly hated the fact that I felt the need to have a gun for protection.

Looking back on this feeling, why was it there? The place is generally safe and I was white, male and reasonable well off so that takes me out of a lot of dangerous situations.

The fear over there is different and you see a bit of it here with the hyperbole about China, African gangs in Melbourne etc. I think a serious issue they have is that fear sells and their media likes to make money (ours is getting there don't you worry). Without strong public safety and honesty regulations for media they will continue to whip up fear in the community for profit. Remember Karl Stephanovic doesn't have to live in the Western suburbs where he is inciting the fear in the community.
 

Asininedrivel

caviar connoisseur
One thing may be worthy of note is apparently the manufacturer of the gun used (Daniel Defence) might be facing a shitstorm of lawsuits over this.

If it's one thing Americans love more than guns, it's litigation. It may result in an element of self-regulation by arms manufacturers keen to avoid the same if this becomes a precedent. Probably do more than Congress while it's still full of ammosexual Republicans anyway.
 

PJO

in me vL comy
One thing may be worthy of note is apparently the manufacturer of the gun used (Daniel Defence) might be facing a shitstorm of lawsuits over this.

If it's one thing Americans love more than guns, it's litigation. It may result in an element of self-regulation by arms manufacturers keen to avoid the same if this becomes a precedent. Probably do more than Congress while it's still full of ammosexual Republicans anyway.
This is the only way America know how to fix itself. Litigation.
It will work if it gets enough backing.
edit: changed my mind. Too much money to be made, even if a few hundred mill gets paid out it won't stop guns.
 
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