I'm sorry if I sounded harsh, WG. I think I understand, that some of these people are just seat fillers, taking an income based on nepotism or so they can own a second home in Costa Rica or something. Yes, well I can certainly understand hating that!
I have my own pet peeve about our economy and the way things are now. We have a lot of people in my town who own homes but literally only come here for 2 weeks out of the year. It was especially bad a couple years ago. Our neighborhood became a virtual ghost town because of all the folks getting in on the house flipping market. House prices skyrocketed as investors who didn't even live here flipped the same houses 2 or 3 times over. Now no one but billionaires from the city could afford to buy a house here and no one wants them because they are so overpriced and not custom built.
George Raft
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Western Guy
- Posts: 1702
- Joined: March 26th, 2012, 1:19 pm
- Location: Winnipeg, Canada
Re: George Raft
My gosh, Wendy, you did not sound harsh. Only hope I didn't come across as defensive. Weird, though, how a forum on George Raft took such a different turn.
Anyhoo, my argument is based on a personal bias, including many other elements which it is prudent I not elaborate on. I will say that my dentist who has always come across as a friend of mine has now been needling me for an $80 bill on dental maintenance (which surely should not be my responsibility, based on what other oral practitioners have said), and here is a guy who is a millionaire, living in a virtual mansion - his wife working as his receptionist when he knows darn well I've been struggling financially. A true example of the HAVES and the HAVE NOTS.
Anyhoo, my argument is based on a personal bias, including many other elements which it is prudent I not elaborate on. I will say that my dentist who has always come across as a friend of mine has now been needling me for an $80 bill on dental maintenance (which surely should not be my responsibility, based on what other oral practitioners have said), and here is a guy who is a millionaire, living in a virtual mansion - his wife working as his receptionist when he knows darn well I've been struggling financially. A true example of the HAVES and the HAVE NOTS.
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charliechaplinfan
- Posts: 9040
- Joined: January 15th, 2008, 9:49 am
Re: George Raft
I'll put my two penny worth in too. I think it's unfortunate that it's not possible to survive on one income and simpler lives but even if we could I'm not sure I could happily be a housewife 24/7 which my mother loved being. I find no worth in housework, because I don't work due to ill health I don't feel that it's right that I should spend anything on myself unless I make sure it's ok with Chris, be that a lipstick, book, nail varnish. But that's me, not him, he brings home the bacon and I'm not hard done to at all, I just don't feel like I did when I was working. Those decisions you make together like holidays, home improvements etc it's hard to feel worthy of a full say. Chris is good, a man of the times who has old fashioned views on marriage and partnership so we are fine but my self esteem is not were it was when I was working. I just think it's a shame that those of us who are working to middle class often have to spend so much time working and keeping house. Most of my friends work all week and have to do housework at weekend, they are good parents but find it hard to make the time they want to go for a day out. So my situation has it's distinct advantages, I'm well enough to look after the house and kids, if I pace myself properly.
Here it seems that the person most likely to be ignored, or come at the bottom the pile is the white hetrosexual male. He isn't in a minority group. I'm thinking of your job search Stone and hoping it's not the same for you and that kind of prejudice is just a British thing. It's a liberal way of being that you can't legislate against minorities, which I agree with but somewhere the majority get lost and overlooked.
And I see that type of woman in my minds eye who needs to have a job for status rather than a love of the job or a real wanting to work. she's probably not the model mother.
The obese kids are twofold, sometimes children who are neglected because the parents have to work so long but having to work hard doesn't mean that every child in these circumstances in is obese. And the uneducated about food and nutrition or the parents who claim benefits and use them for their own purposes and pleasure and don't put the kids first. It's difficult but we aren't far behind the US for the unhealthiness of our diet.
George wouldn't mind us speaking about real life on his thread I'm sure, not when we are putting the world to rights.
Here it seems that the person most likely to be ignored, or come at the bottom the pile is the white hetrosexual male. He isn't in a minority group. I'm thinking of your job search Stone and hoping it's not the same for you and that kind of prejudice is just a British thing. It's a liberal way of being that you can't legislate against minorities, which I agree with but somewhere the majority get lost and overlooked.
And I see that type of woman in my minds eye who needs to have a job for status rather than a love of the job or a real wanting to work. she's probably not the model mother.
The obese kids are twofold, sometimes children who are neglected because the parents have to work so long but having to work hard doesn't mean that every child in these circumstances in is obese. And the uneducated about food and nutrition or the parents who claim benefits and use them for their own purposes and pleasure and don't put the kids first. It's difficult but we aren't far behind the US for the unhealthiness of our diet.
George wouldn't mind us speaking about real life on his thread I'm sure, not when we are putting the world to rights.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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feaito
Re: George Raft
Very interesting points of view. I won't share my views, beacause I don't have the time of writing loooongg posts, but I have faith that at the end Good will triumph over Evil; generosity over selfishness; congeniality over hatred; love over war; etc. Excuse me for being sort of "sentimental", but these last 15 years I've been reading and investigating to make my mind about what life is all about, why we are here?, etc. and I've come to the conclusion that there's a huge manipulation of the world we live in like if it were a stage or a chessboard and I tend to adhere (with a grain of salt although) to some Secret Conspiracy theories.
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JackFavell
- Posts: 11926
- Joined: April 20th, 2009, 9:56 am
Re: George Raft
Fer, I too believe in Good over Evil. I tend to have an optimistic, let's work it out outlook. It's simply frustrating the way the world works sometimes, especially as we age, things become clearer in ways, and less clear in other ways. Having kids makes you kind of like a tiger, you want the world to change NOW so your kids won't have any more difficulties than they can handle. 
WG, I am sorry you've been out of work for so long. It's a real shame, I see this over and over again. It's frustrating, and the pressure for men is so intense. Someone in my own family is facing this same issue, he's 50, a research biologist, and is literally a genius, yet he's effectively shut out of his work, because everyone tells him he's overqualified.
O fcourse you are right, Alison, the obesity situation cuts across cultural stereotypes. It's just that it seems to me that the lower middle class and poor bear the brunt of the problem. Food prices, especially for good meat, veg and fruit have skyrocketed here in the last 2 years, as we kill the earth and ourselves with poisons and ammonias to grow our GM crops. Any farmer who bucks the system gets priced out due to more and more regulations on organically grown food or being sued by big farms. And I'll ask that you all forgive me, because I'm going to rant a bit on this subject. I don't understand why no one in our govt has come up with a systematic plan to fix childhood obesity, besides the first lady.
Is it any wonder that folks without a lot of cash buy the cheapest food available? pastas and snack bars made from the big three: Wheat, corn and soy instead of good healthy food? The big farm system WANTS that, a public hooked on cereals and grains, on junk food, because it's good for the big business farmers. And the medical profession turned a blind eye to these practices, even welcomed this kind of eating for years. This is the problem - when science or medicine or farms or schools or banks or governments are being run like big business, with kickbacks, and threats against them if they use reasonable INDIVIDUAL judgment to make decisions, nothing good can come of it. We've made individuality a crime.
Of course, we suddenly learn now that all that grain fattens you up like a cow for slaughter, that we have to completely rethink our food supply. Our food supply is so locked up with our economy it would be hard to change it, but not impossible. If you look at the ingredients on any processed thing you pick up, you'll find that the majority of foods we eat are loaded with these hidden fillers which are literally running our economy. They are fed to our livestock as well, rampantly. And that's exactly what they do, FILL us until we could lose a whole other body's worth of weight. And yet, our gov't pretty much sponsors these bad foods, grown out of bad farming practices, because they are afraid of change causing a market topple. No wonder our kids are obese! There's too much invested in junk and not enough healthy food on our shelves. The bulk of the grocery store is junk food. Most people will eat what's presented to them. we have few choices, since buying from organic farms is near impossible for most people, due to prices and proximity. And I don't know if it's the same there, but even unhealthy foods are touted as 'healthy' in ads on TV or on boxes of cereal for instance, so how are you to know?
What would be great is if someone came up with a model to produce more good healthy vegetables and fruits on our own soil, slowly changing the grain based economy, just as President Obama has tried to do by sponsoring a switch to clean fuels for our environment.
And now I'll step off my soapbox, since this is so completely off OFF topic.
WG, I am sorry you've been out of work for so long. It's a real shame, I see this over and over again. It's frustrating, and the pressure for men is so intense. Someone in my own family is facing this same issue, he's 50, a research biologist, and is literally a genius, yet he's effectively shut out of his work, because everyone tells him he's overqualified.
O fcourse you are right, Alison, the obesity situation cuts across cultural stereotypes. It's just that it seems to me that the lower middle class and poor bear the brunt of the problem. Food prices, especially for good meat, veg and fruit have skyrocketed here in the last 2 years, as we kill the earth and ourselves with poisons and ammonias to grow our GM crops. Any farmer who bucks the system gets priced out due to more and more regulations on organically grown food or being sued by big farms. And I'll ask that you all forgive me, because I'm going to rant a bit on this subject. I don't understand why no one in our govt has come up with a systematic plan to fix childhood obesity, besides the first lady.
Is it any wonder that folks without a lot of cash buy the cheapest food available? pastas and snack bars made from the big three: Wheat, corn and soy instead of good healthy food? The big farm system WANTS that, a public hooked on cereals and grains, on junk food, because it's good for the big business farmers. And the medical profession turned a blind eye to these practices, even welcomed this kind of eating for years. This is the problem - when science or medicine or farms or schools or banks or governments are being run like big business, with kickbacks, and threats against them if they use reasonable INDIVIDUAL judgment to make decisions, nothing good can come of it. We've made individuality a crime.
Of course, we suddenly learn now that all that grain fattens you up like a cow for slaughter, that we have to completely rethink our food supply. Our food supply is so locked up with our economy it would be hard to change it, but not impossible. If you look at the ingredients on any processed thing you pick up, you'll find that the majority of foods we eat are loaded with these hidden fillers which are literally running our economy. They are fed to our livestock as well, rampantly. And that's exactly what they do, FILL us until we could lose a whole other body's worth of weight. And yet, our gov't pretty much sponsors these bad foods, grown out of bad farming practices, because they are afraid of change causing a market topple. No wonder our kids are obese! There's too much invested in junk and not enough healthy food on our shelves. The bulk of the grocery store is junk food. Most people will eat what's presented to them. we have few choices, since buying from organic farms is near impossible for most people, due to prices and proximity. And I don't know if it's the same there, but even unhealthy foods are touted as 'healthy' in ads on TV or on boxes of cereal for instance, so how are you to know?
What would be great is if someone came up with a model to produce more good healthy vegetables and fruits on our own soil, slowly changing the grain based economy, just as President Obama has tried to do by sponsoring a switch to clean fuels for our environment.
And now I'll step off my soapbox, since this is so completely off OFF topic.
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feaito
Re: George Raft
Agree completely with you WEN. Very well put. And George Raft would agree with you too 
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JackFavell
- Posts: 11926
- Joined: April 20th, 2009, 9:56 am
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Western Guy
- Posts: 1702
- Joined: March 26th, 2012, 1:19 pm
- Location: Winnipeg, Canada
Re: George Raft
Wonderfully perceptive points of view, Wendy, Alison and Fernando. Really enjoy a lively discussion, and as Fernando says, I don't think Georgie would mind us having such an exchange of views on his forum.
Absolutely, Good must triumph over Evil, or, really, what's the point of our existence. It's like what (namedropping alert) Peter Cushing told me regarding his belief in an afterlife: There has to come a point where everything balances out. I so do believe that, too. It just makes sense.
But presently, I agree with you, Fernando, about there being a manipuation of the world. Both my wife and I have become serious students on the subject.
Absolutely, Good must triumph over Evil, or, really, what's the point of our existence. It's like what (namedropping alert) Peter Cushing told me regarding his belief in an afterlife: There has to come a point where everything balances out. I so do believe that, too. It just makes sense.
But presently, I agree with you, Fernando, about there being a manipuation of the world. Both my wife and I have become serious students on the subject.
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feaito
Re: George Raft
That is very interesting indeed and there's so much out there.Western Guy wrote:But presently, I agree with you, Fernando, about there being a manipuation of the world. Both my wife and I have become serious students on the subject.
Re: George Raft
Much food for thought here. 
Gulp! I thought I'd say it before Red River.
Economics drives everything. Look at a prize football team knowingly allowing a pedophile on staff. As long as the team keeps winning then...I envision writing a story about a man who plays for a team ( basketball baseball football soccer...no matter ) who is a serial killer, and his coaches know it. But killing makes him invincible on the playing field and they're up for the World Series, NCAA Championship, Superbowl, World Cup. Can't stop him now...
I keep meaning to read Orwell's "1984." We may not be able to break out of the cycle...but at least we can be cognizant of what's being done to us. We probably can fight it in our own small way...for our own immediate family. Trying to change the world may be too big a task. Like eating an elephant ( how many calories are in that, anyway? )
Raise your girl and boy children to be as fully actualized a human being as they can. That they both have worth. That they both should strive to reach their potential. I don't believe life is an either or situation. I think you can have it all, especially with a partner who is on the same page. Ohhh, it's so easy to fall back into roles. Where's our old Pal...Ollie, when you need him. He could straighten this all out.
Gulp! I thought I'd say it before Red River.
Economics drives everything. Look at a prize football team knowingly allowing a pedophile on staff. As long as the team keeps winning then...I envision writing a story about a man who plays for a team ( basketball baseball football soccer...no matter ) who is a serial killer, and his coaches know it. But killing makes him invincible on the playing field and they're up for the World Series, NCAA Championship, Superbowl, World Cup. Can't stop him now...
I keep meaning to read Orwell's "1984." We may not be able to break out of the cycle...but at least we can be cognizant of what's being done to us. We probably can fight it in our own small way...for our own immediate family. Trying to change the world may be too big a task. Like eating an elephant ( how many calories are in that, anyway? )
Raise your girl and boy children to be as fully actualized a human being as they can. That they both have worth. That they both should strive to reach their potential. I don't believe life is an either or situation. I think you can have it all, especially with a partner who is on the same page. Ohhh, it's so easy to fall back into roles. Where's our old Pal...Ollie, when you need him. He could straighten this all out.
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intothenitrate
- Posts: 397
- Joined: January 11th, 2010, 3:12 pm
- Location: Cincinnati
Re: George Raft
Mahatma Gandhi said, "Good travels at a snail's pace." Let's be confident that our heartfelt conversations in this little corner of the world are moving things forward in the right direction.
"Immorality may be fun, but it isn't fun enough to take the place of one hundred percent virtue and three square meals a day."
Goodnight Basington
Goodnight Basington
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Western Guy
- Posts: 1702
- Joined: March 26th, 2012, 1:19 pm
- Location: Winnipeg, Canada
Re: George Raft
Fernando, I'm just curious: Do you listen to "Coast to Coast AM" or follow Jesse Ventura?
CineMave, IMO George Orwell truly was a visionary, though he was off by some decades. Much of 1984 is a reality if one keeps vigilant and alert as to what is happening in today's world. What truly frightens me is that the caution behind Bradbury's classic Farenheit 451 may not be too far behind.
Dear intothenitrate, I share what you say. It's just so damn sad that such purveyors of peace as Gandhi and my personal hero John Lennon had their lives cut short. I could add others to the list but don't think it prudent to turn this forum into a political discussion. Suffice to say, one of the saddest days in my life - and I was a young'un, was when Bobby Kennedy was assasinated. Remember every second of what I was doing, where I was, when I heard the news. Ditto JFK. And I'm a darn bloody Canadian!
CineMave, IMO George Orwell truly was a visionary, though he was off by some decades. Much of 1984 is a reality if one keeps vigilant and alert as to what is happening in today's world. What truly frightens me is that the caution behind Bradbury's classic Farenheit 451 may not be too far behind.
Dear intothenitrate, I share what you say. It's just so damn sad that such purveyors of peace as Gandhi and my personal hero John Lennon had their lives cut short. I could add others to the list but don't think it prudent to turn this forum into a political discussion. Suffice to say, one of the saddest days in my life - and I was a young'un, was when Bobby Kennedy was assasinated. Remember every second of what I was doing, where I was, when I heard the news. Ditto JFK. And I'm a darn bloody Canadian!
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feaito
Re: George Raft
Amen to that Tess.CineMaven wrote:Economics drives everything. Look at a prize football team knowingly allowing a pedophile on staff. As long as the team keeps winning then...I envision writing a story about a man who plays for a team ( basketball baseball football soccer...no matter ) who is a serial killer, and his coaches know it. But killing makes him invincible on the playing field and they're up for the World Series, NCAA Championship, Superbowl, World Cup. Can't stop him now...
I keep meaning to read Orwell's "1984." We may not be able to break out of the cycle...but at least we can be cognizant of what's being done to us. We probably can fight it in our own small way...for our own immediate family. Trying to change the world may be too big a task. Like eating an elephant ( how many calories are in that, anyway? )
Raise your girl and boy children to be as fully actualized a human being as they can. That they both have worth. That they both should strive to reach their potential.
No Stone, but I'll look it up. I have read stuff by many authors: Zecharia Sitchin, Alan Alford, Graham Hancock, David Icke, Erich Von Daniken, the Pleyadians' Library, Bruno Cardeñosa, Drunvalo Melchidesek, Paul Von Ward, Fresia Castro, Tolle, Urantia's Book, etc. etc. and watched things done by Project Camelot, Project Avalon, etc...I believe one can only make one's own "purpoted" version of things through much reading and discarding; takin some things of this and that...No single author will offer a full solution to the picture.Western Guy wrote:Fernando, I'm just curious: Do you listen to "Coast to Coast AM" or follow Jesse Ventura?
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Western Guy
- Posts: 1702
- Joined: March 26th, 2012, 1:19 pm
- Location: Winnipeg, Canada
Re: George Raft
Okay Fernando, by mentioning those names you have just told me that we are definitely on the same wavelength. But please: If you can check out "Coast to Coast" -- I think you'll find much of what is discussed on the program of interest.
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charliechaplinfan
- Posts: 9040
- Joined: January 15th, 2008, 9:49 am
Re: George Raft
David Icke is seen as a wacko over here, well that was years ago. I didn't even know he was still around preaching. I don't even know what he preaches so I'm not saying he is wacko, just that he was portrayed as such in our media and hounded out of Britain by the way he was portrayed, he didn't help his own cause though. I could believe in conspiracies but I fall into the group of people who is better off being unaware as my imagination is a fertile place and they're the kind of things that could give me nightmares. I can believe we are sold down the river by are various governments and that there are many things still outside the public domain many years later. I don't believe the western governments are doing what's right for the populace but once a party gets into government there are many allegiences, people and businesses to be paid off, security issues etc that get in the way.
I subscribe to some of the murder conspiracies but not the Diana one, there was no reason to want her out of the way.
Food, where America goes we follow and I understand so much your anger about food. Why on earth don't we tax bad foods and subsidise fruit and veg, healthy snacks. I love my chocolate and I wouldn't stop buying it and I woludn't be annoyed. The cheapest food is the worst for us. One thing we do have over here is quite a few consumer programmes that discuss food and the fillers that are put in them and the tricks the supermarkets play to get us buying more than we should.
I wasn't old enough to appreciate John Lennon when he was alive but I sure do feel his loss. Gandhi was a real hero of mine. If only the world churned out more people like them and less money minded and power driven people.
I subscribe to some of the murder conspiracies but not the Diana one, there was no reason to want her out of the way.
Food, where America goes we follow and I understand so much your anger about food. Why on earth don't we tax bad foods and subsidise fruit and veg, healthy snacks. I love my chocolate and I wouldn't stop buying it and I woludn't be annoyed. The cheapest food is the worst for us. One thing we do have over here is quite a few consumer programmes that discuss food and the fillers that are put in them and the tricks the supermarkets play to get us buying more than we should.
I wasn't old enough to appreciate John Lennon when he was alive but I sure do feel his loss. Gandhi was a real hero of mine. If only the world churned out more people like them and less money minded and power driven people.
Last edited by charliechaplinfan on January 23rd, 2013, 1:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin