georgeob1 wrote:gav wrote:I think that these contributions should be worked out proportional to the countrys wealth. I think that you'd probably find that America would slip down the list of generosity.( obviously beaten to it by that snazzy graph above! - Ireland is missing though!! as of 2002 .41% of GNP was going to aid))
What was the latest I heard? $15 billion spent on aid for other countries - which is, in anyones book, a huge amount of money AND admirable. However when you look at that amount and what they spent on the military in the same period - well, lets just say it could've been so much more!!
"Worked out" by whom? The United Nations? Sorry, we are a sovereign nation and make our own choices.
Oh for pete's sake, stop being so paranoid - worked out means tabulated for the purposes of making fair comparisons!! Nobody's gonna try and make you give more.
georgeob1 wrote:"Worked out" by whom? The United Nations? Sorry, we are a sovereign nation and make our own choices.
Until about a decade ago Ireland was the recipient of substantial EU aid. In those days lots of money was sent by Irish Americans in my family to family back in Dungarvan, Ennis and Kenmare. Same goes for thousands of others. No one counts that in the statistics.
Do you believe the world would be a better place without the American military?
Georgie Porgie bake a pie - ok your familys contribution to
your family back in Ireland will raise Americas foreign aid contribution to no end - f%4k but your family must be rich!!!
And by the way I and friends have sent money to friends here in a America - ye know for birthdays and ****, does that mean that we can say America gets financial aid from Ireland? Muppet
If you were smart you would realise that the EU is STILL pumping alot of money into Ireland and better again you would realise that if America pulled out its companies based in Ireland our economy would probably collapse!!!
With regards to your question - the American militarys actions have no bearing on my life what so ever - but maybe you should pose that question to someone from the MiddleEast.
Oh and another thing, Georgie Porgie bake a bun how ironic is it that you have family in county Cork? Like I mean Cork - otherwise known as the REBEL County. Maybe when they become known as the "YES MEN" county you can go visit the family that depends so much on American aid
You seem to be a bit less willing to consider discussion of your country than of others. Why is that?
Last time I visited Dungarvan was in Waterford and Ennis in Clare.
Cute rhymes - is that a specialty?
On a side issue on foreign aid - in many cases it doesn't even pay the interest on foreign loans, so in effect the developed world makes a profit from the developing world (as well squeezing it out of the market with tariffs and subsidies).
Sorry, I made a presumption. You pretty much have the province of Munster stitched up I took the liberty of taking it for granted you had family in Cork
. Oh dear, what a pity, never mind. But Kerry is as close to Cork as you'll ever come - I've always had alot of respect for the Kingdom County.
hingehead wrote:On a side issue on foreign aid - in many cases it doesn't even pay the interest on foreign loans, so in effect the developed world makes a profit from the developing world (as well squeezing it out of the market with tariffs and subsidies).
How much of "foreign aid" is delivered in the form of loans, and not pure subsidies? Einherjar, you seem to be on top of this issue.
gav wrote:Sorry, I made a presumption. You pretty much have the province of Munster stitched up I took the liberty of taking it for granted you had family in Cork
. Oh dear, what a pity, never mind. But Kerry is as close to Cork as you'll ever come - I've always had alot of respect for the Kingdom County.
I've come to the conclusion that Irish Americans are a bit less hot headed than their cousins back home. Perhaps that isn't saying much. I meant no offense (but I was about to tell you to piss off).
You shouldn't poor mouth the Irish economy so much. GDP per capita in Ireland is about 12% higher than that in the UK, and the gap is rising. How do you get the EU to keep on paying?
In fact Old Parish, west of Dungarvan (near Ardmore) is not too far from Cork.
George I would never bad mouth my country, I love my country dearly and I miss it even more - but circumstance dictates that I can't be there (ie. an American wife and a baby on the way - who, thank God, will have Irish citizenship :wink: )
How do we keep getting hand outs from the EU? I dunno, but they aren't as big as the used to be but they have payed for some mighty roads recently!!
And do you realise how close your family live to some of this planets most breathtaking scenery? Even when its pissing the rain (pretty much everyday) its absolutely stunning. I'd shoot my own left bollick off to be sittin in a wee bar with a big fire and a pint of the stout looking out the window over Durres in west county Cork!!
gav,
And I feel the same way about my country. This despite the fact that it has become a favorite subject for critical examination by Europeans with too much time in their hands and too little memory of their own awful histories.
Truth is I prefer the lager beers, but Durres is fine. I am partial to Kenmare and Ardmore. Ennis is... well, better than Limerick.
Best wishes to you, your wife and child to come.
Ticomaya wrote:hingehead wrote:On a side issue on foreign aid - in many cases it doesn't even pay the interest on foreign loans, so in effect the developed world makes a profit from the developing world (as well squeezing it out of the market with tariffs and subsidies).
How much of "foreign aid" is delivered in the form of loans, and not pure subsidies? Einherjar, you seem to be on top of this issue.
Actually I'm just a big fan of google. The who pays more bit has come up on several occations before, but this hasn't been discussed. I'll try to dig something up tomorow, today I'm going to bed.
I notice you have taken to asking my opinion, I'll take that as a compliment.
Ticomaya wrote:msolga wrote:You live in Oz, Ticomaya?
Kansas, my friend. Kansas.
Wow. Arnold in red slippers.
Dorothy got them from the Wicked witch of the (?) South - when thehouse, or whatever, dropped on her.
She wore them through Oz - they were ruby slippers.
At the end she clicked them together - and said "There's no Place Like Home" to get back to Kansas.
Yeah, Kansas and the REAL Oz.
The ones Judy Garland wore in the film are in the Smithsonian in washington....
Tico made a funny! Here they are...
HofT wrote:I agree with Cycl also.
The Roman empire didn't last for a thousand years because of any foolish wish to export "aid" to Carthage. We're no more likely to export aid in the form of democracy to the Tigris-Euphrates delta than we were to the Mekong delta, so generally I support dropping all that cheap talk and saying up front we do what we do because we think it's in our interest.
bravo! This is also the understanding of the citizens of Canada, the greatest nation (most humble and cuddly) the world has ever known.
"Close your eyes and click your heels together three times..."
Is it a longing for home, the idea of magical transportation, or the beauty of Dorothy's ruby slippers that charms us still?
Interestingly enough, their existence is a bit of movie ingenuity. In the early 1900s, when author L. Frank Baum conceived of Dorothy's magical shoes in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz , they were silver. But when the film version was being written in 1939, screenwriter Noel Langley decided silver wouldn't stand out on screen. With the stroke of his pen, the ruby slippers were created.
At least six pairs of the ruby slippers were made for the film, four of which survive today. One pair is on display at the Smithsonian and another at Disney MGM studios. Another pair sold at a Christie's auction for $165,000, a testament to their collectable value.
As with any cultural icon, there is also controversy and mystery surrounding the shoes. In his book The Ruby Slippers of Oz, author Rhys Thomas theorizes that the Smithsonian pair may not be a matched set, suggesting that there is another mystery pair somewhere ? over the rainbow? The ruby slippers are a Holy Grail for any Wizard of Oz collector, yet they are almost impossible for most to ever catch more than a short, glass-enclosed glimpse.
georgeob1 wrote:Yeah, Kansas and the REAL Oz.
Nah! We know where the real Oz is! :wink:
HofT wrote:Take a break, Blatham. A long break. Otherwise the politically correct among us will pile on you for your.....
"...America isn't alone at my prisoner's dock and it's no easy task to point to the particular swarthy cut-throat more guilty than those he, shoulders bowed now, stands with."
.....on the same grounds they piled on Walt Disney for The Lion King depiction of jackals as having black faces. The fact jackals DO have black faces makes no difference - but, hey, who you callin' "swarthy"?! <G>
Break completed.
I've been piled-on before, it's withstandable, so long as nobody does the indian rope-burn thing.
From rooftops, let it be sung that you, personally, are not swarthy.
