Record Stock Market

[_JS]

I will use you.

You could have stayed in Germany and not had to put up with the lousy conditions here.

See, this is where this argument degenerates. I don't believe that conditions in the United States are lousy nor do I believe that conditions in many European nations are lousy either.

For some reason though I hear phrases like "Thank God I live here" or "this is the free-est country on Earth" or "we have the best xxxx in the world" and when one enquires further there is little evidence to support such grandiose notions. I find that happens much less frequently with Europeans than it does with Americans. It is an interesting phenomenon.

I moved to the United States because my father was transferred to Fort Knox and it wasn't like I had a whole lot of choice in the matter.

What I don't understand is why people think we are so damned special. Yes, we do great things here. But so do the British, Germans, French, Africans, Chinese, etc. It isn't blasphemy to admit that things are rather nice in Sweden. Hey, Britain is a decent country in some respects. What is so awful about that?

I don't think it is nationalism. For sure it is with some. But in many cases, I think it is this religious devotion to the free market. It is truly blasphemous that Sweden has more productive workers or that socialized healthcare in these countries is actually costing them less! And amazingly British pharmacueticals as well as French are developing new and amazing drugs and doctors are developing new techniques. I don't think it is Old Glory being hurt in many people's eyes, but their pre-conceived notions about Europe and free-market economics (which Europe practices more than many of you recognise).

In many ways this view repeats itself in other aspects such as the war on terror. People here wonder why other nations hold us in such low esteem. Look at how we awoke after 11 September and then directed other countries in how to respond to terrorism. Hell, many of them have been dealing with it for decades and we acted as if it was new to the world.

I watched a television program on Discovery Times discussing (in part) the flu epidemic of 1914. It revealed that right now a majority of Americans polled believe that an American invented the automobile and an American discovered penicillin. So, I don't find these attitudes surprising - just detrimental.

[Xavier_Onassis]

Americans hear all the time "This is the greatest country on Earth" again and again and again. The same people I hear saying this strangely, prefer Toyotas, Mazdas, Nissans and VWs made in Mexico, and those who don't drive Chevvies made in Canada with Daewoo engines and usually aren't even aware of it. They wear nothing made of American fabric, nothing sewn by Americans. But somehow, the US is still the greatest place on Earth. Most of the Americans I know would only venture abroad on a cruise designed for Americans. Staffed by Norwegian officers, Chinese sailors and Caribbean waiters, with a shopping spree in some island every two days or so. That is an exotic Overseas Adventure for them. There are many, of course that prefer the bogus foreign nations one visits in Disney World.


Like Barnum and Bailey proclaiming itself "The Greatest Show on Earth", Americans like to proclaim "The USA is the Greatest Country on Earth". It is not a logical statement. It is a religion. Just like about half the people I know tell me they expect to see Jesus before they die. So this is not a subject that can be argued logically, just as religion cannot be argued logically with a believer.

The US is better at some things, but certainly not all things. Our plumbing (other than the absence of bidets) second to none. The bread that most Americans eat is second to all.

But we can get good bread for a price. Mostly, I live here because I am from here. I understand the US better than I would anywhere else. This isn't a matter for logic, it's a matter of habit. I do enjoy getting away from time to time, though.

[Amianthus]

I watched a television program on Discovery Times discussing (in part) the flu epidemic of 1914. It revealed that right now a majority of Americans polled believe that an American invented the automobile and an American discovered penicillin. So, I don't find these attitudes surprising - just detrimental.

Most people have a poor knowledge of history. They seem to think that anyone who lived prior to the 20th century were all of lower intelligence, among other idiotic things.

[Xavier_Onassis]

They seem to think that anyone who lived prior to the 20th century were all of lower intelligence, among other idiotic things.

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Pretty much any depiction of people in movies or on TV presents those that lived in previous centuries to be pretty stupid.

The exception is the "Connecticut Yankee" sort of plot (as on Wild, Wild West) where there are a couple of geniuses who have somehow had the future revealed to them, and are just like us: superior and smart.

The "Greatest Country on Earth" syndrome has its counterpart in "This is the Greatest Time to be Alive" . ('It's Morning in America' beats National malaise every day)

Here and now is always better than there and then.

It's sort of like what Granny Yoakum used to say "Good is better than evil, because its NICER!"

It's all a sort of folk religion.

[_JS]

They seem to think that anyone who lived prior to the 20th century were all of lower intelligence, among other idiotic things.

I wonder how many of them have read Shakespeare, Aquinas, Kant, or for that matter read some newspapers from the Civil War era. Though most papers from that time are very biased, I love reading the articles from them as they use some great vocabulary. I couldn't imagine any of our modern papers, even in an editorial, using the eloquent language used in that day.

Today we get the USA Today 4th grade version of events *sigh*

[sirs]

I haven't had the time to just sit down and do the research.  Takes time Js.  Much more time than just making random responses, observations, and proclaimations.  Perhaps I'll have some tomorrow, if that works for you

I'll be here. Might I suggest not making such random responses and proclamations next time?

No promises

[R.R.]

The Dow had another record close today, its third straight. If Bill Clinton were president, or some other Democrat, the media would be jumping up and down like they were during the 90's. I notice a huge difference in the way the mainstream media is coving the economy now.

[kimba1]

They seem to think that anyone who lived prior to the 20th century were all of lower intelligence, among other idiotic things.

this is soo wrong
ben franklin,thomas jefferson
these guys are far from dumb by TODAYS standards.
also I actually looked up trying to make pennicillian.
that is no simple feat .
to discover it and make it usable without the benefit of prior knowledge like I did is really incredible
P.S. it`s not just made from any old molds.
notice we never hear of people making their own.

[Xavier_Onassis]

If Bill Clinton were president, or some other Democrat, the media would be jumping up and down like they were during the 90's. I notice a huge difference in the way the mainstream media is coving the economy now.
============================
If some Democrat were president, there would be no warin Iraq, perhaps no first giulf war, either. There would be no pissing away of bazillions of dollars on said useless war.

Republicans have mostly served to do one of two things: they screw up miserably, as in the case of the Depression and Iraq, or they take a Democratic screw-up like Vietnam and make it a whole lot worse. Of course, had Dulles refused to shake Ho Chi Minh's hand in the 40's, who knows what might have happened in Vietnam?

The US returning it to the French after the Japanese left was a major bad idea, and mostly due to Dulles, one of the least useful Republicans ever.

[R.R.]

If some Democrat were president, there would be no warin Iraq, perhaps no first giulf war, either. There would be no pissing away of bazillions of dollars on said useless war.

Republicans have mostly served to do one of two things: they screw up miserably, as in the case of the Depression and Iraq, or they take a Democratic screw-up like Vietnam and make it a whole lot worse. Of course, had Dulles refused to shake Ho Chi Minh's hand in the 40's, who knows what might have happened in Vietnam?

The US returning it to the French after the Japanese left was a major bad idea, and mostly due to Dulles, one of the least useful Republicans ever.

OK, OK, I get it. You hate Republicans and you love Democrats. So does the mainstream media. Thus, their biased reporting and downplaying of the booming economy under a Republican president, and exaggerating it and hyping it for a Democrat (Clinton).  The stock market is going nuts. You've had 3 straight closes setting new highs for the Dow. Airline stocks are going nuts. You have a piece of any of those?  I've owned AMR since last year and loving it.

[Plane]

If Bill Clinton were president, or some other Democrat, the media would be jumping up and down like they were during the 90's. I notice a huge difference in the way the mainstream media is coving the economy now.
============================
If some Democrat were president, there would be no warin Iraq, perhaps no first giulf war, either. There would be no pissing away of bazillions of dollars on said useless war.

Republicans have mostly served to do one of two things: they screw up miserably, as in the case of the Depression and Iraq, or they take a Democratic screw-up like Vietnam and make it a whole lot worse. Of course, had Dulles refused to shake Ho Chi Minh's hand in the 40's, who knows what might have happened in Vietnam?

The US returning it to the French after the Japanese left was a major bad idea, and mostly due to Dulles, one of the least useful Republicans ever.

How many Democrat Presidents have not had a warduring their tenure?

Please count the necessacery and unnecssacery wars both , but choose your own cut off date.

[R.R.]

The Dow closed today, Feb. 1, at another record high. The S&P 500 is also at a 6 year high. Plane was right on the money with his recommendation of oil stocks. Pretty much every one of them is surging. I'm going to buy more on a pullback.

[Plane]

The Dow closed today, Feb. 1, at another record high. The S&P 500 is also at a 6 year high. Plane was right on the money with his recommendation of oil stocks. Pretty much every one of them is surging. I'm going to buy more on a pullback.

I wish I could jump that way myself , but I am committed in real estate investment right now.