OT 19: Masks On, Clothes Off, Right Hand Left Titty

[D Griff]

I did another round of COVID Vaccination Clinic volunteering this morning, and I have to say, it made me feel really about my community, country, and world.

There were several dozen volunteers like myself taking time out of their lives every week to cure our country of this There were dozens of nurses, many of whom were previously retired, stay at home parents, you name it, who all took on full time jobs at the clinic to help spread the vaccine further. People of every race, background, age, all came together and everyone getting shots was super gracious and thankful. It's a very powerful place and a really excellent example of folks working hard for the betterment of our community.

There is a lot more of this kind of stuff in the world/USA than many of y'all seem to acknowledge, sometimes there is a lot of doom and gloom around here about how shitty the US is, frankly, it is not. Sure, there are some bad people, some bad things happen, there are many challenges. Most people are caring and kind, IMO

[wap]

Family, job, deep roots, etc. Also, you can't change things if you're not living here.

But, this question me. laid it on me once, too. Though, I'd wager, you don't mean it in the hostile way he did. Actually, I think he said I should leave. What many people don't realize is just because you're with someone/something, doesn't mean you don't still love them/it. I firmly believe Murica can really be the greatest country that we all want it to be. I root for it to be better. I yearn for it to be a more fair, just, healthy, peaceful place. I believe we know how to do it, we know what needs to be done in many cases, we just lack the political will.

Not at all. I mean on a personal level, I think we would still be internet frands no matter where you lived in the world, so where you live. It is to hear your love for the US and desire to make it better. FWIW I am typically pretty aligned with you on the political front and agree with a lot of the sentiments.

I do, however, sometimes get when I get the sense that people are grateful to be here. 90+% of the world was born in a much worse scenario than Americans and we can complain, be in things like , etc. but I think it's key to appreciate all that we have here. There is way more good than bad, IMO.

I'm not trying to call you out or anything like that, just noting that we all should not only work to make our country (and the world) a better place, we should also be grateful that we get to be here.

I figured you weren't being a
We're pretty much in agreement, as you said.

[wap]

I did another round of COVID Vaccination Clinic volunteering this morning, and I have to say, it made me feel really about my community, country, and world.

There were several dozen volunteers like myself taking time out of their lives every week to cure our country of this There were dozens of nurses, many of whom were previously retired, stay at home parents, you name it, who all took on full time jobs at the clinic to help spread the vaccine further. People of every race, background, age, all came together and everyone getting shots was super gracious and thankful. It's a very powerful place and a really excellent example of folks working hard for the betterment of our community.

There is a lot more of this kind of stuff in the world/USA than many of y'all seem to acknowledge, sometimes there is a lot of doom and gloom around here about how shitty the US is, frankly, it is not. Sure, there are some bad people, some bad things happen, there are many challenges. Most people are caring and kind, IMO

That's 5/7 and a great example of the good of Murica. As you say, at the most granular level most people are at least 3.5-4/7.

[max225]

I mean let’s not pretend that Norway is successful in any other way other than being a very small, homogenous country. Hard to emulate what they do in a country like ours.

....................... NORWAY............. ......... USA
Budget >
Revenues...... $285.70 billion.......... $2.45 trillion
Ranked 15th........................................ Ranked 1st. 9 times more than Norway

Budget surplus > +
or deficit >..... -14% of GDP............... -6.8% of GDP
Ranked 5th. ....................................... Ranked 157th.

GDP
per capita.......... $99,557.73...............$49,965.27
Ranked 2nd. ..........................................Ranked 10th
Twice as much as United States

Gross National
Income ...............$161.00 billion.........$9.78 trillion
Ranked 25th. .........................................Ranked 1st. 61 times more than Norway

Inflation rate >
Consumer prices 0.7% .........................2.1%
Ranked 191st......................................... Ranked 160th. 3 times more than Norway

Public debt............29.1% of GDP..........70% of GDP
Ranked 116th.........................................Ranked 37th. 2 times more than Norway

Unemployment rate..3.2%..................8.1%
Ranked 101st.........................................Ranked 47th. 3 times more than Norway

Tourist arrivals >
Per capita
955.98 per 1,000 people......................90.7 per 1,000 people
Ranked 31st. ..........................................Ranked 91st.
5 times more than United States

Inequality >
GINI index.................25.79.....................40.81
Ranked 40th..........................................Ranked 16th. 58% more than Norway

Tax >
Highest marginal tax rate >
Individual rate.........40%.......................35%
Ranked 24th. .........................................Ranked 35th.
14% more than United States

Murder rate....0.6......................................5

Rape rate......19.2.....................................27.3
Ranked 15th.............................................Ranked 9th. 42% more than Norway

Violent crime >
Gun crime >
Guns per
100 residents.....31.3.............................88.8
Ranked 11th...........................................Ranked 1st. 3 times more than Norway

Violent crime >
Murder rate per
million people.....5.93...........................42.01
Ranked 84th.........................................Ranked 43th. 7 times more than Norway


Just some recent stats from https://www.nationmaster.com/country-in ... es/Economy

Not to mention excellent universal health care...
Norway is successful in waaaaaay more than just being a small country.

Ah gotta love cherry picking stats like this. America world police is helping places like Norway stay safe, and a huge issue for us is our 700bill a year military spending.

Norway is a tiny ass country, it is 1/2 the size of NEW york city (population wise). and it has a huge budget surplus due to Oil production/sale. You can't compare that with the melting pot of the world.

Norway is about 86% homogenous, so it make things quite different from the US and the variety of cultures/people that call this place home. It is a very different place to live for sure, but idealizing it makes little sense to me. Some things are better, and some things are worse. But by no means would I call it heaven on earth.

[wap]

....................... NORWAY............. ......... USA
Budget >
Revenues...... $285.70 billion.......... $2.45 trillion
Ranked 15th........................................ Ranked 1st. 9 times more than Norway

Budget surplus > +
or deficit >..... -14% of GDP............... -6.8% of GDP
Ranked 5th. ....................................... Ranked 157th.

GDP
per capita.......... $99,557.73...............$49,965.27
Ranked 2nd. ..........................................Ranked 10th
Twice as much as United States

Gross National
Income ...............$161.00 billion.........$9.78 trillion
Ranked 25th. .........................................Ranked 1st. 61 times more than Norway

Inflation rate >
Consumer prices 0.7% .........................2.1%
Ranked 191st......................................... Ranked 160th. 3 times more than Norway

Public debt............29.1% of GDP..........70% of GDP
Ranked 116th.........................................Ranked 37th. 2 times more than Norway

Unemployment rate..3.2%..................8.1%
Ranked 101st.........................................Ranked 47th. 3 times more than Norway

Tourist arrivals >
Per capita
955.98 per 1,000 people......................90.7 per 1,000 people
Ranked 31st. ..........................................Ranked 91st.
5 times more than United States

Inequality >
GINI index.................25.79.....................40.81
Ranked 40th..........................................Ranked 16th. 58% more than Norway

Tax >
Highest marginal tax rate >
Individual rate.........40%.......................35%
Ranked 24th. .........................................Ranked 35th.
14% more than United States

Murder rate....0.6......................................5

Rape rate......19.2.....................................27.3
Ranked 15th.............................................Ranked 9th. 42% more than Norway

Violent crime >
Gun crime >
Guns per
100 residents.....31.3.............................88.8
Ranked 11th...........................................Ranked 1st. 3 times more than Norway

Violent crime >
Murder rate per
million people.....5.93...........................42.01
Ranked 84th.........................................Ranked 43th. 7 times more than Norway


Just some recent stats from https://www.nationmaster.com/country-in ... es/Economy

Not to mention excellent universal health care...
Norway is successful in waaaaaay more than just being a small country.

Ah gotta love cherry picking stats like this. America world police is helping places like Norway stay safe, and a huge issue for us is our 700bill a year military spending.

Norway is a tiny ass country, it is 1/2 the size of NEW york city (population wise). and it has a huge budget surplus due to Oil production/sale. You can't compare that with the melting pot of the world.

Norway is about 86% homogenous, so it make things quite different from the US and the variety of cultures/people that call this place home. It is a very different place to live for sure, but idealizing it makes little sense to me. Some things are better, and some things are worse. But by no means would I call it heaven on earth.

Only compared it because iTrudy brought it up.

Agree with the bolded. It's got to change.

[Apex]

Ah gotta love cherry picking stats like this. America world police is helping places like Norway stay safe, and a huge issue for us is our 700bill a year military spending.

Norway is a tiny ass country, it is 1/2 the size of NEW york city (population wise). and it has a huge budget surplus due to Oil production/sale. You can't compare that with the melting pot of the world.

Norway is about 86% homogenous, so it make things quite different from the US and the variety of cultures/people that call this place home. It is a very different place to live for sure, but idealizing it makes little sense to me. Some things are better, and some things are worse. But by no means would I call it heaven on earth.

Only compared it because iTrudy brought it up.

Agree with the bolded. It's got to change.

Shut down the borders and stop being the world police.

[wap]

Only compared it because iTrudy brought it up.

Agree with the bolded. It's got to change.

Shut down the borders and stop being the world police.

Yeah, we shouldn't have to go it alone on policing the world any more.

[razr390]

Shut down the borders and stop being the world police.

Yeah, we shouldn't have to go it alone on policing the world any more.

We really don’t... literally all of Western Europe and UK are allied with us in many of our “world policing efforts”. Joint task forces, etc.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

Yeah, we shouldn't have to go it alone on policing the world any more.

We really don’t... literally all of Western Europe and UK are allied with us in many of our “world policing efforts”. Joint task forces, etc.

Way too much spent IMO.

[razr390]

We really don’t... literally all of Western Europe and UK are allied with us in many of our “world policing efforts”. Joint task forces, etc.

Way too much spent IMO.

Of course. But just wanted to point out that we aren’t the only “world police” we are just the punching bag for it. So many other countries’ armed forces are in the Middle East and elsewhere alongside us

[razr390]

McDonald’s fries are still god-tier. That is all

[SAWCE]

McDonald’s fries are still god-tier. That is all

Agreed.

[max225]

Shut down the borders and stop being the world police.

Yeah, we shouldn't have to go it alone on policing the world any more.

Others have significantly smaller budgets for the military so they are not really on our page. That won’t change unless they tax their heavily taxed populations even more. And their people don’t want it

[D Griff]

McDonald’s fries are still god-tier. That is all

Sometimes keeping it simple is the answer, they are fantastic.

[MexicanYarisTK]

McDonald’s fries are still god-tier. That is all

mcd's > Sweet potato fries from upscale joint > bk fries :yuck:

[SAWCE]

I could go for some McD’s fries, a couple quarter pounders with cheese, and I’ve head the new spicy chicken sandwiches are good, so let’s throw two of them in as well.

[Apex]

I could go for some McD’s fries, a couple quarter pounders with cheese, and I’ve head the new spicy chicken sandwiches are good, so let’s throw two of them in as well.

Maybe you’ll finally get big.

[wap]

We really don’t... literally all of Western Europe and UK are allied with us in many of our “world policing efforts”. Joint task forces, etc.

Way too much spent IMO.

Having just one less carrier battle group frees up 12 figures of $ for any number of domestic uses.

[wap]

Yeah, we shouldn't have to go it alone on policing the world any more.

Others have significantly smaller budgets for the military so they are not really on our page. That won’t change unless they tax their heavily taxed populations even more. And their people don’t want it

I'm well aware. do we have to spend more than the next 10 counties COMBINED?



Madness.

[SAWCE]

I could go for some McD’s fries, a couple quarter pounders with cheese, and I’ve head the new spicy chicken sandwiches are good, so let’s throw two of them in as well.

Maybe you’ll finally get big.

One day

[fledonfoot]

The cast came off this morning. Scar is gnarly looking and stitches stay in for another couple of weeks.

The elbow feels pretty strong, and swelling is pretty well controlled. I’ve already gained another 10 degrees or so of motion now the hardware is out of there, and I’m feeling a stretch in muscles that I haven’t used for almost a year now. It’s only going to improve from here.

I start PT in earnest tomorrow, but things feel good. I sat on my bike this afternoon and was able to get my wrist almost flat on the handlebars, which I wasn’t able to do last week.

Pumped.

[wap]

The cast came off this morning. Scar is gnarly looking and stitches stay in for another couple of weeks.

The elbow feels pretty strong, and swelling is pretty well controlled. I’ve already gained another 10 degrees or so of motion now the hardware is out of there, and I’m feeling a stretch in muscles that I haven’t used for almost a year now. It’s only going to improve from here.

I start PT in earnest tomorrow, but things feel good. I sat on my bike this afternoon and was able to get my wrist almost flat on the handlebars, which I wasn’t able to do last week.

Pumped.

Good stuff!

[Tar]

The cast came off this morning. Scar is gnarly looking and stitches stay in for another couple of weeks.

The elbow feels pretty strong, and swelling is pretty well controlled. I’ve already gained another 10 degrees or so of motion now the hardware is out of there, and I’m feeling a stretch in muscles that I haven’t used for almost a year now. It’s only going to improve from here.

I start PT in earnest tomorrow, but things feel good. I sat on my bike this afternoon and was able to get my wrist almost flat on the handlebars, which I wasn’t able to do last week.

Pumped.

I'm really impressed with the caliber of care you received.

[Apex]

Maybe you’ll finally get big.

One day

[razr390]

Glad to hear you’re doing well, Fled!