Greetings from England

[Mattsa]

Hi folks

I'm a UK citizen but huge a Ron Paul fan.

I'm here to lend any support I can

This is now a global battle for freedom. We have our own brand of fascism, ohhh sorry....NeoConservatism........ here in the UK and it is killing our country too!

Average house price in the UK now..........£200,000

That's just a fraction under $400,000

We have more consumer debt in the UK than all the other countries in the Eurozone put together

We have over £1 trillion mortgage debt

First time house buyers are borrowwing 6+ times their salary to buy their first home.....ficsal suicide.

The Bank of England, made independent by the B-Liar government is following the same insane lax lending and inflationary policies as the Federal Reserve in the USA

The future prosperity of our country is being raped by the banking system and the super rich.

AND unlike in the USA, the British people don't realize it and we don't have a Libertarian like Ron Paul to spread the message to the people.

I need to spread the Ron Paul message to the people of England

I will visit the USA later this year and I will make sure I am available to support the campaign for Ron Paul while I'm there

Go Ron Go!!!!!!!

All the best to everyone out there

[n664dc]

Welcome!
I've been wondering for a while now how you guys put up with that madness. :)

[Erazmus]

I feel for you Mattsa, I really do. Great to see support from the UK!

[ButchHowdy]

Greetings Mattsa!

UK can have him in 2016 after he serves his 2 terms here. Keep in mind, he'll be 80 years old like the Queen and hopefully as spunky!

[Mattsa]

Greetings Mattsa!

UK can have him in 2016 after he serves his 2 terms here. Keep in mind, he'll be 80 years old like the Queen and hopefully as spunky!

:)

The way things are going here, we'll all be living in tents and eating gruel by 2016!

[interpaul]

Welcome aboard! Ron Paul as President will definitely benefit the whole world. :D Down with the globalists!

[qednick]

Hi Mattsa, I'm a British ex-pat. Moved here in 2000 after meeting my wife. I can't believe how badly things have gotten over there. First they ban gun ownership (who likes armed taxpayers huh?). Then they stick it to the people by taxing everything to the hilt and turning everybody into criminals at every opportunity. There are CCTV cameras everywhere. Talk about George Orwell's 1984!!!

The BBC is a massive anti-Amercian pro-socialist propaganda machine which every TV set owner is literally forced to pay for via the TV license. The only thing worse than being spoonfed lies via the media is being forced to pay for the privilege of being spoonfed lies by the media!

It's gets me really angry just thinking about it. Worse is when I talk to neighbors around here and they falsely believe that Tony Blair is a great guy and can literally do no wrong (US media lies in action). I take great pleasure in setting them straight but Cameron doesn't look much better and has already stated he will not give the UK population a referendum on the EU constitution because he thinks the UK should be part of the EU - how arrogant!! The politicians and government are supposed to be our servants!!

Anyways, the problem is that I can see that the US is heading down the same road. The Brits have been [generally] apathetic. I fear the Americans will too. The media may ridicule Ron Paul and his supporters but in my view he's the last hope for the free world.

I can draw so many parallels between the UK and the US that it's scary. :eek:

[qednick]

Also, just another quick note for the benefit of the many Americans reading these posts:

Britain was a republic long before the US :) But the monarchy was restored after a few years because they couldn't quite handle the concept.

A couple of great things came out of this. One of which was the 1689 Bill of Rights - the precursor to the US Bill of Rights (which was based on the 1689 version as well as the Magna Carta).

One of the first signs (in recent years) that the ever-growing government was sleighting the BoR was of authorities changing parking and speeding "fines" to "fixed penalties". By simply changing the words, the authorities claimed the receipients could no longer claim right to trial by jury as promised under the BoR and Magna Carta. This fact is swept under the rug by the establishment media to keep the masses in the dark about their rights.

To cut a long story short, when Amercians start seeing their speeding "fines" renamed as "penalties" and, as a result, no right to trial to dispute them, they'll know the end is near and the CCTV cameras will start cropping up in every city in the nation. :mad:

[Mattsa]

Hi Mattsa, I'm a British ex-pat. Moved here in 2000 after meeting my wife. I can't believe how badly things have gotten over there. First they ban gun ownership (who likes armed taxpayers huh?). Then they stick it to the people by taxing everything to the hilt and turning everybody into criminals at every opportunity. There are CCTV cameras everywhere. Talk about George Orwell's 1984!!!

The BBC is a massive anti-Amercian pro-socialist propaganda machine which every TV set owner is literally forced to pay for via the TV license. The only thing worse than being spoonfed lies via the media is being forced to pay for the privilege of being spoonfed lies by the media!

It's gets me really angry just thinking about it. Worse is when I talk to neighbors around here and they falsely believe that Tony Blair is a great guy and can literally do no wrong (US media lies in action). I take great pleasure in setting them straight but Cameron doesn't look much better and has already stated he will not give the UK population a referendum on the EU constitution because he thinks the UK should be part of the EU - how arrogant!! The politicians and government are supposed to be our servants!!

Anyways, the problem is that I can see that the US is heading down the same road. The Brits have been [generally] apathetic. I fear the Americans will too. The media may ridicule Ron Paul and his supporters but in my view he's the last hope for the free world.

I can draw so many parallels between the UK and the US that it's scary. :eek:

Hi Nick

I've written on many forums that the parallels between Orwell's 1984 and Great Britain under B-Liar are terrifying.

We have 20% of all the CCTV cameras in the world in the UK.

It is estimated that on a day trip to central London, you will be filmed by 300 cameras!!!!!!

The BBC is an absolute joke. It has become the propaganda arm of NuLabour. There is no serious debate anymore about important issues. You may remember that we have a programme called Question Time on BBC1. It is supposed to be the BBC's premier political program with input from the audience asking questions to politicians. In the 1980's, the programme used to be hosted by Sir Robin Day and there was some serious political debate. Today, it has been reduced to a charade. I watch it for a good laugh actually because it is so pathetic you would cry if you couldn't maintain a sense of humour about the decline of democracy here. TV license!!!!! What a disgrace. I barely watch TV anymore. It's all dumbed down trash.

In 10 years of NuLabour, there has been NO DEBATE WHATSOEVER in the media about house price inflation for example. Today, the average house price in the UK is £200,000. The boomer generation are sitting on huge piles of equity while their own children cannot afford a 1 bedroom apartment above a crack den. We have witnessed a huge transfer of wealth to the older generation of property owners while young people are completely priced out of the market. This has all been the work of an independent Bank of England allowing private banks to lend recklessly at too low lending rates. The result is, house prices have more than doubled nationally and tripled in London.

If you feel like a good laugh, visit www.housepricecrash.co.uk. There are a lot of very pissed off people on there unable to afford their own home.

As for Cameron.........more of the same I'm afraid. An Eton toff with no policies, no ideas. He seems to think he can save the UK by hugging hoodies and sticking a wind turbine on the roof of his garden shed. What a total twat! They haven't even published a manifesto because they know they will win the next election anyway but it wont be policies that will get them in office, just the sheer disgust with which people view the corruption, spin and nepotism of NuLabour. Same ol' same ol'! The opposition win be default!

Your comments about the Euro is kind of on the mark but I think if our chronically overvalued Sterling should collapse, (Highly likely.....particularly if the dollar falls off its perch), the UK will have to take the Euro because we have nothing left in the coffers to prop up Sterling. Gordon Brown......'The prudent chancellor':D sold 1/3 of our gold reserve in 1997 for $250 per oz!!!!!!!!. If there is a run on Sterling now, we are in deep trouble. I suspect that our entry into the Euro is part of the master plan. They'll crash Sterling to get us in without a referendum. That's democracy in the UK for ya!

[Gee]

The BBC is that bad? Wow, everything I've seen on it (we get it to some extent over here now) indicates its a lot better than anything in the USA. I sort of felt the same way about Blair - didn't know much about him, but figured he had to be better than Bush.

Was the UK opposed to joining the EU? If so, why? I'm not at all familiar with the EU, so I don't know if its trying to hold a disproportionate amount of power over its states. I'm not sure how international treaties and agreements are enforced in Britain, but in the US our constitution has a quirk of giving them power over the people the government would not usually have...

As for housing, a lot of places in the US have had the same problem. Our housing bubble increased property taxes and insurance so high that a lot of people couldn't afford it... Some state governments steped in to help, but a lot of people had to sell their homes. Now the bubble has burst, and a lot of over-extended people are defaulting on loans.

[Mattsa]

The BBC is that bad? Wow, everything I've seen on it (we get it to some extent over here now) indicates its a lot better than anything in the USA. I sort of felt the same way about Blair - didn't know much about him, but figured he had to be better than Bush.

Was the UK opposed to joining the EU? If so, why? I'm not at all familiar with the EU, so I don't know if its trying to hold a disproportionate amount of power over its states. I'm not sure how international treaties and agreements are enforced in Britain, but in the US our constitution has a quirk of giving them power over the people the government would not usually have...

As for housing, a lot of places in the US have had the same problem. Our housing bubble increased property taxes and insurance so high that a lot of people couldn't afford it... Some state governments steped in to help, but a lot of people had to sell their homes. Now the bubble has burst, and a lot of over-extended people are defaulting on loans.

The BBC is OK for mind numbing tosh. There is some good comedy on the BBC and BBC radio is much more interesting than BBC television

B-Liar is bush's poodle. He is a lackey, a lap dog. NuLabour is an exact replication of the NeoCon experiment.....ie, a slow progression to one world government, one world currency and a totalitarian dystopia populated by debt slaves. It's pretty horrendous.

The deal with EU integration is that it some of the founding member states are having a job convincing their people to take it. The new members however, the old eastern block countries, have taken the Euro and think it will be good for them. They would do after being under the heel of the Soviet Union for 60 years wouldn't they? The older democracies are not so naive though! Personally, I don't want my life micromanaged by a bunch of European bureaucrats who can't even speak English. However, the NeoCon experiment (which is a global phenononem)is moving people inexorably away from national democracy and economic independance. So I reckon we will end up taking the Euro whether we like it or not. They will destroy our currency to get us in if they have to.

[qednick]

Mattsa, you're entirely correct. Both the Tories and NuLabour are in the pockets of the same people controlling the main contenders here. This is why they'll keep refusing to hold a referendum on the EU constitution.

Gee, the French and Dutch were allowed referendums and flat out said a BIG "no" to it. It's all BS. It really is. The politicians know that they'll get the exact same result from the Brits so they refuse the population a referendum - so much for democracy!

One minute it'll be the European Union and the American Union (US, Canada and Mexico using the "Amero" currency - don't laugh - it's true) then eventually it'll all merge into one world government. That may be many many years ahead but I think it's clear that that is the underlying agenda.

Unless something is done to stop it, I can only forsee the kind of anarchy depicted in that recent movie "Children of Men". Brits and Americans will only take so much crap before they bite back - you only need to look at history!

[Gee]

Are you guys saying the EU constitution was passed and states joined the EU without any sort of popular vote approving it? :eek:

I've actually seen some pretty in-dept stuff on the BBC compared to American TV. I suppose I should be saddened by that, then. They had a nice discussion of America's financial troubles with our comptroller of the treasury.

The big government stuff is scary, but I think its doomed to failure. The enormous benifits provided by economic and social freedoms mean, in my opinion, free states are simply inevitable by natural selection if nothing else. I recently read a rather good book called "The Collapse of Complex Societies" by Joseph Tainter, and in it he shows (successfully, I think) how the collapse of states often occurs when governments increase in complexity until the point where it is economically advantageous for a revolution to occur. I think we are nearing that point now in the USA, but I don't think Ingsoc could compete with a free society any more than the USSR could compete with America.

[JoshLowry]

they'll know the end is near and the CCTV cameras will start cropping up in every city in the nation.


I've watched as the West side of Houston, TX has grown, new traffic lights are put up constantly. Within the last 2 years, they have slowly but steadily put cameras at all of the intersections.

Now some intersections have 8+ cameras... I don't know what for and I don't know who watches them, but I don't like it.

Just realized I am putting on a bit of a tinfoil hat. I'll try to stay on topic with Dr. Paul. :)

[qednick]

Gee, the BBC has produced some good stuff in the past - especially comedy stuff such as Fawlty Towers and the like. However, the BBC itself has become increasingly political and progressively liberal in nature. See this book:

Can We Trust the BBC by Robin Aitken (http://www.amazon.com/Can-Trust-BBC-Robin-Aitken/dp/0826494277/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-0628102-3093629?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1179253524&sr=8-1)

The EU was originally meant to be just a trade thing to make trade easier between the european nations. However, it's moved into a monolithic megastate juggernaut. Effectively, what they want is a federalized "United States of Europe" with the member countries being the "states" and all sharing a single currency. The state laws "trump" the local laws and the federal laws "trump" the state laws - just like in the US.

The thing is, the British people have never really felt like a part of Europe like all the other Europeans have. For example, it was common for a Brit to say something like "I'm going to Europe for my holidays this year". To put that into perspective, it would be like someone in Hawaii saying "I'm going to the United States for my holidays this year". So, if the real Europeans such as the Dutch and French reject the EU constitution then I'd say they'd have a snowball in hell's chance of getting the Brits to vote "yes". So, because they know they'll never accept it, they just undermine their constituents and move forward with it anyway - because the money folks in the background want them to.

As for Bliar... well what can I say? Most Americans only know that he supported the US with the war and that's all they see - therefore he's a good guy right? Wrong! He and his cronies have systematically ruined the country. They've taken the "Great" out of Britain and the "United" out of the kingom. Criminals and thugs are literally running many of the urban/suburban areas. You have to nail everything down otherwise it'll get stolen. Self-help and self-defence has literally been "bred" out of the British psyche in the last couple of decades. Instead, everyone has been led to believe they need the state for everything. I recently read somewhere that a third of the population rely on some form of welfare to make up their living. Some say the US is broke. If the US is broke, the UK is way way beyond that. Like Mattsa said, they have already sold off a ton of the country's gold reserves. They are letting in tons and tons of immirgants from former eastern block countries just to try and prop up the welfare payments and retirees.

Josh, those cameras in Houston are likely for traffic monitoring. The ones in the UK are in the streets watching the people. They are even adding microphones and speakers to them now so they can monitor conversations and hail thugs to move on, etc.

[Mattsa]

Mattsa, you're entirely correct. Both the Tories and NuLabour are in the pockets of the same people controlling the main contenders here. This is why they'll keep refusing to hold a referendum on the EU constitution.

Gee, the French and Dutch were allowed referendums and flat out said a BIG "no" to it. It's all BS. It really is. The politicians know that they'll get the exact same result from the Brits so they refuse the population a referendum - so much for democracy!

One minute it'll be the European Union and the American Union (US, Canada and Mexico using the "Amero" currency - don't laugh - it's true) then eventually it'll all merge into one world government. That may be many many years ahead but I think it's clear that that is the underlying agenda.

Unless something is done to stop it, I can only forsee the kind of anarchy depicted in that recent movie "Children of Men". Brits and Americans will only take so much crap before they bite back - you only need to look at history!

Yep! I know all about the Amero and NAFTA Nick.......NAFF-TA more like!

(For the benefit of our US cousins, NAFF is a slang word in England meaning CRAP)

I'm very encouraged by the response to Ron Paul because it shows the American people are considerably more economically and politically aware than we are. That is excellent news!

I have to laugh at the grandiose, self righteous attitude of the Bristish who these days seem to assume that all Americans are all dumb morons! The fact that Ron Paul has caught the imagination of so many people is absolute proof that the American public are more than skin deep after all.

This ought to be a lesson for us Brits! And if Ron's campaign is successful, it will open a few eyes here, and by God! It's about time the British woke up and realised what a joke our political and monetary system is.

Unfortunately, there just isn't a credible alternative here at the moment. UKIP are a shambles and I'm still not satisfied that the leadership of the British National Party aren't just a bunch of rascist thugs masquerading as a serious political alternative.

So! If anyone can clone Ron Paul and send his doppleganger over here, I for one will jump with joy!

[qednick]

I have to laugh at the grandiose, self righteous attitude of the Bristish who these days seem to assume that all Americans are all dumb morons! The fact that Ron Paul has caught the imagination of so many people is absolute proof that the American public are more than skin deep after all.

In my experience, after living in both countries now, Brits and Americans are very very similar and have similar values. Hardly surprising considering that both countries share so much heritage including common law principles, etc.

Anyways, there is a popular notion that Americans are generally just skin deep. This is one of those myths perpetuated by the anti-American media (eg. the BBC) but is also fueled by Hollywood flicks that paint all American's as paranoid gun-toting nutters or superficial spoilt brats living in mansions and driving BMWs bought and paid for by their parents. On the flip side, a lot of Americans think that Brits are smug, pompus people with sticks up their bottoms (again fueled by media). Have you noticed a lot of "bad guys" in Hollywood movies have British accents. :eek:

In fact, what I've found is that average everyday hard-working Americans are just as open and friendly and down-to-earth as their British counterparts and vice versa. The real differences I've noticed is that where Brits are obsessed with sensationalistic tabloid news and papparazi, the Americans are obsessed with celebrities and their lifestyles. The Anna Nicole thing dominated the news here for weeks! :confused:

[Gee]

The EU was originally meant to be just a trade thing to make trade easier between the european nations. However, it's moved into a monolithic megastate juggernaut. Effectively, what they want is a federalized "United States of Europe" with the member countries being the "states" and all sharing a single currency. The state laws "trump" the local laws and the federal laws "trump" the state laws - just like in the US.
In theory at least, US states do not have the same powers as the federal government, and the powers of the federal government are fixed, barring constitutional amendments. So state laws and federal laws cannot overlap. However, in practice the powers of the federal government expand, through more and more liberal interpretations of the constitution, slowly but surely. Its mostly done by well-meaning persons, but its expansion nonetheless.


As for Bliar... well what can I say? Most Americans only know that he supported the US with the war and that's all they see - therefore he's a good guy right?
Hah! Most Americans, especially younger ones, think Bush is an absolutely horrible president. I'm not sure how much of our media you guys get over there, but our President is probably one of (if not the) most ridiculed person in America. He's treated like a complete idiot by our most of our media (and a lot of it does seem to have a liberal bias, at least to me).


Josh, those cameras in Houston are likely for traffic monitoring. The ones in the UK are in the streets watching the people. They are even adding microphones and speakers to them now so they can monitor conversations and hail thugs to move on, etc.
:eek:
It is kind of odd, given the amount of anti-statist media which has come from Britain (1984, that Vendetta movie, etc) how Orwellean it sounds.

Did gun control help you guys at all in terms of violent crimes? I think if we actually had effective gun control here (as in something which actually made it very hard for a criminal to get a gun, not just law-abiding citizens) it could work to reduce killings. However, I still wouldn't want gun control for the same reason the drafters of our Bill of Rights didn't - it protects against the government.

[Mattsa]

In my experience, after living in both countries now, Brits and Americans are very very similar and have similar values. Hardly surprising considering that both countries share so much heritage including common law principles, etc.

Anyways, there is a popular notion that Americans are generally just skin deep. This is one of those myths perpetuated by the anti-American media (eg. the BBC) but is also fueled by Hollywood flicks that paint all American's as paranoid gun-toting nutters or superficial spoilt brats living in mansions and driving BMWs bought and paid for by their parents. On the flip side, a lot of Americans think that Brits are smug, pompus people with sticks up their bottoms (again fueled by media). Have you noticed a lot of "bad guys" in Hollywood movies have British accents. :eek:

In fact, what I've found is that average everyday hard-working Americans are just as open and friendly and down-to-earth as their British counterparts and vice versa. The real differences I've noticed is that where Brits are obsessed with sensationalistic tabloid news and papparazi, the Americans are obsessed with celebrities and their lifestyles. The Anna Nicole thing dominated the news here for weeks! :confused:

Yep! I totally agree

The British people who slag off America generally don't live in some crime ridden sink estate.

I lived in New jersey for 3 months a few years ago. I used to walk everywhere. The Americans I talked to thought I was mad and was dicing with death! LOL!

I felt safer than I would walking in a lot of places over here in the UK. The media are to blame for a lot of this paranoia.

The British have the same celebrity addiction though we have a special 'Media hysteria bonus!' THE ROYAL FAMILY!!!!!! :D

I have to say, i am a total anti-royalist! I'd chuck them all out of their palaces and put them in council accomodation in Scunthorpe to give them a taste of what it's like to 'live' in the UK

[qednick]

I have to say, i am a total anti-royalist! I'd chuck them all out of their palaces and put them in council accomodation in Scunthorpe to give them a taste of what it's like to 'live' in the UK

Heh he, I would do the same with the politicians!!

Gee, gun control hasn't done a thing to help crime. Crime has gotten worse (though I'm not going to be so bold as to blame it all on gun control). The UK gun ban was a total con. Politicians are always looking for excuses to disarm their taxpayers. The first gun laws in the UK were in 1903. The politicians that got it introduced later admitted it had nothing to do with crime and everything to do with them fearing armed uprisings. Then, more legislation passed in 1920 - again, this was due to the government fearing a revolt like what happened in Russia 3 years earlier. If you want to know more about this subject I suggest you read this book:

Guns and Violence - the English Experience by Joyce Lee Malcolm (http://www.amazon.com/Guns-Violence-Joyce-Lee-Malcolm/dp/0674016084/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-0628102-3093629?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1179262439&sr=8-1)

It's crazy to think that it was the Brits that gave the Americans the concept of their 2nd amendment (via the 1689 BoR). Yet today, the concept of having a gun for self-defence is absolutely and utterly absurd to 99% of Britons!! Thanks to the self-serving and spineless polticians and their media of course!! Thank God the American 2nd amendment is written more solidly than it's British precursor.

I could write a book on this subject. Instead, I'll cut it short and just say never trust a politician who doesn't trust you with a gun! :cool:

[Mattsa]

Heh he, I would do the same with the politicians!!

Gee, gun control hasn't done a thing to help crime. Crime has gotten worse (though I'm not going to be so bold as to blame it all on gun control). The UK gun ban was a total con. Politicians are always looking for excuses to disarm their taxpayers. The first gun laws in the UK were in 1903. The politicians that got it introduced later admitted it had nothing to do with crime and everything to do with them fearing armed uprisings. Then, more legislation passed in 1920 - again, this was due to the government fearing a revolt like what happened in Russia 3 years earlier. If you want to know more about this subject I suggest you read this book:

Guns and Violence - the English Experience by Joyce Lee Malcolm (http://www.amazon.com/Guns-Violence-Joyce-Lee-Malcolm/dp/0674016084/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-0628102-3093629?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1179262439&sr=8-1)

It's crazy to think that it was the Brits that gave the Americans the concept of their 2nd amendment (via the 1689 BoR). Yet today, the concept of having a gun for self-defence is absolutely and utterly absurd to 99% of Britons!! Thanks to the self-serving and spineless polticians and their media of course!! Thank God the American 2nd amendment is written more solidly than it's British precursor.

I could write a book on this subject. Instead, I'll cut it short and just say never trust a politician who doesn't trust you with a gun! :cool:

I have to say, I'm not an advocate of gun ownership..........

But, I take your point about governments having to temper their enthusiasm for ripping us off if the people are armed!!!!!

[qednick]

Mattsa, it's not surprising you feel that way for exactly the reasons I stated. If you had been born in Britain 100 years ago you would have likely found it absurd that you couldn't shoot a burglar and, if you actually did, to get sued and/or jailed for it. :rolleyes:

When you disarm the taxpayers, you really do have the fox guarding the hen house. :eek:

[giskard]

One of the first signs (in recent years) that the ever-growing government was sleighting the BoR was of authorities changing parking and speeding "fines" to "fixed penalties". By simply changing the words, the authorities claimed the receipients could no longer claim right to trial by jury as promised under the BoR and Magna Carta. This fact is swept under the rug by the establishment media to keep the masses in the dark about their rights.

To cut a long story short, when Amercians start seeing their speeding "fines" renamed as "penalties" and, as a result, no right to trial to dispute them, they'll know the end is near and the CCTV cameras will start cropping up in every city in the nation. :mad:
Traffic enforcement is one of my pet peeves. Over here in 1969 traffic violations were classified as a new offense, the "infraction". That way you lose your right to a trial by jury, instead you get a trial with one judge in a kangaroo court.

http://www.ticketassassin.com/kangaroo.html

The insurance industry have kept speed limits artificially low and have kept spewing the "speed kills" propaganda; the real experts who design the roads, the traffic engineers, are not consulted. For those interested here are some links:

http://www.motorists.org/issues/speed/speedfaq.html

The result today is that the US has higher road death and crash rates per vehicle mile, than Germany and France, despite their higher speeds and higher speed limits.

Here is a very convincing study on the causes of crashes, using in-car cameras in over 2 million vehicle miles of driving:

http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/story.php?itemno=833

80% of crashes (and 93% of rear enders) are caused by INATTENTION, defined as NOT looking at the road within 3 seconds of the crash. Nowhere is speed mentioned. What do the highway patrols continue to do? Singlemindedly ticket "speeders" while blithely ignoring tailgaters, drivers who put on makeup or read while driving, etc.

How many people do you know get nervous when a patrol car is behind you while you are driving, even though you aren't doing anything wrong? I know a lot of my friends do! That is a sign of a police state! Driving is one area where the government gets the populace used to heavy-handed regulation in our daily lives.

[furface]

Mattsa, 400k for a house in England isn't surprising. It's a great place to live. In the SF Bay Area where I live, it's 650k per house.

What's surprising about England is that 400k "house" usually seems to be some sort of converted closet with a kitchen that consists of a hotplate and ice cooler, single bathroom that's a garden hose coming in through the window and a drain. OK, it's not that bad, but the housing there is very substandard by American standards.

What would 200,000 pounds get you in a good part of London, BTW? Maybe a year's rent on a parking space?

[Gee]

Yeah, traffic tickets are mostly extortion schemes. They need the fined money to pay for courts and traffic cops. Yay.

[furface]

>>>How many people do you know get nervous when a patrol car is behind you while you are driving, even though you aren't doing anything wrong?<<<

Here's perhaps the difference between you and me. I get pulled over quite a bit (for no reason) when that happens. I'm brown, and I look Mexican. The other day I was riding my bike minding my own business and a cop pulled me over. I'm serious. I couldn't stop laughing and asked him to either arrest me or quite wasting my time. He eventually told me he thought I might be running meth. LOL.

[giskard]

In the SF Bay Area where I live, it's 650k per house.
And that's about 10 years of median income. It used to be 3-4 years, just 10 years ago. It's a direct result of the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates very low, ostensibly trying to prevent a bubble burst by creating a new one.

[giskard]

Yeah, traffic tickets are mostly extortion schemes. They need the fined money to pay for courts and traffic cops. Yay.
Don't forget that the insurance cos lobbied for, and love, the license points scheme.

[Gee]

Don't forget that the insurance cos lobbied for, and love, the license points scheme.
Yeah... Capitalism is great, republican governments are great, but when they collide, not so much. Damn lobbiests.

[SelkiesTheEn]

The entire western world needs people like Ron Paul or we're screwed. It's not getting any cheaper to maintain our governments with the insane spending they all require. The U.S. for one has massive debts that need paying off, but are not even remotely being addressed by any other candidate other than Ron Paul.

[Brandybuck]

Wasn't it Hayek that said [paraphrased] the best defense against capitalism was the free market? :cool: If you have to impose capitalism, you're doing it wrong.