A little advice when coming to America...

[Jesda]

Labor is an economic resource, like trees, technology, infrastructure. Labor comes from people (and robots).

Illegal immigrants, unfortunately, form an essential component of the US economy.

I sometimes wonder if Thomas Malthus was a marijuana addict. His paranoid beliefs and ideas have been debunked so many times (by technology and reality) its silly.

[PalmerWMD]

Labor is an economic resource, like trees, technology, infrastructure. Labor comes from people (and robots).

Illegal immigrants, unfortunately, form an essential component of the US economy.

I sometimes wonder if Thomas Malthus was a marijuana addict. His paranoid beliefs and ideas have been debunked so many times (by technology) its silly.

technology has only bought us time as we are using up non-renewable fossil fuels.

The so-called green revolution is based on non renewable respources being used up. Somday our food production will fall back down to pre- industrial levels, planet feeeding 1 billion) maybe lower as desertification is ravaging many former fertile lands.

A big dying is coming.

There will be enough oil for hi value items like medicines for a long time, as the majority of their production cost is elsewhere.

But oil at $200 a barrel means a lot of PPL cant pay for food and will starve.And oil at $200 a barrel means non-poor PPL will be pressed hard enougjh to not have any money for charity or anythign else to assist.

Life's hard truths.

3 countries on this planet have a future to speak of, USA, Russia, Australia.Brasil would be in that group but it lacks fossil fuels, which is a killer despite its world class, depoists of highet qualty Iron ores, manganese, Bauxite, Copper, Silver, Antimony etc etc etc.

venezuela might be in that club due to oil being paired with great mineral reources (High quality iron Ore, Bauxite aka aluminum ore, copper silver tin) we will have to see.

Thats it.

Fred..

[SeVa-S13]

You mean Pot head, they don't get addicted to the "chron," they just become stupid and lazy(er).

[Jesda]

The end of the world is predicted every decade. And when the end doesnt happen, they just extend the prediction. I think its a plot to sell duct tape and bottled water.

[Jesda]

Oh yeah, LEARN ENGLISH!

[Jesda]

You mean Pot head, they don't get addicted to the "chron," they just become stupid and lazy(er).

I didnt know there was a difference. I have some googling to do!

[navysnail]

fred, both of your posts make the most sence out of any, considering that 5-15 million illegal immigrants come over every year, put it in prespective, thats 1-4X the population of Atlanta....each year

and consider all the people coming over, the population growth is exponential and the earth is already approaching projected carying capacity

[skydragoness]

People need to stop breeding dammit. I think what China did to control their population was very necessary and had the best interest of the people. They recognized that they had more people than their natural resources could support and they did something about it. They obviously realized it very late but hey, we could get started early to avert the issue. I'm getting damn sick and tired of seeing every 5 acres of untainted land get bulldozed for more houses. It makes me sick.

As far as english goes, it is VERY difficult to learn once a person passes puberty. There's something called the 'critical age period' that a language is more easily learned up till 11 yrs old or so.

The very least that guy could've done would be to write an email inquiring about his order.

[JDMaholic]

yes jesda I agree with you the world is not coming to an end like has been predicted time and time again. Yes maybe we will run out of oil, although there is more than people think, but what no one has thought about is the numerous other resources(many renewable) untapped. They may not be econimically viable right now but when oil skyrokets they will be. Wind, solar, and hydro power is virtually completely unused, many dumps like the one by me produce methane in moderate volume, and tidal energy production could be huge but is just to costly right now. Virtually all of the Hydrogen produced right now does not come from converting water by electrolosis as that is too pricey because of the less than 100 percent conversion, most hydrogen is made from methane, new mehtods using sewage are already advancing, and when oil is expensive and they have a potential profit. If people are really worried about an overpopulation then I would think limiting the number of children a person coould(like china does) have would be a better solution. Having 2-3 children instead of 18-22 would probably ensure more attention and the needs of each child to be better met anyway. But regardless I think saying that oil will run out and we won't be able to cope and resort to prehistoric times is absurd. Human beings can adapt that is why we are still around

[s13sr20chris]

If you live in America....learn the Native language.

Im in my 2nd yr or Native American (Indian) at College.

Main Entry: 1na·tivePronunciation: 'nA-tivFunction: adjectiveEtymology: Middle English natif, from Middle French, from Latin nativus, from natus, past participle of nasci to be born -- more at NATIONDate: 14th century1 : INBORN, INNATE <native talents>2 : belonging to a particular place by birth <native to Wisconsin>3 archaic : closely related4 : belonging to or associated with one by birth5 : NATURAL, NORMAL6 a : grown, produced, or originating in a particular place or in the vicinity : LOCAL b : living or growing naturally in a particular region : INDIGENOUS7 : SIMPLE, UNAFFECTED8 a : constituting the original substance or source b : found in nature especially in an unadulterated form <mining native silver>9 chiefly Australian : having a usually superficial resemblance to a specified English plant or animal- na·tive·ly adverb- na·tive·ness nounsynonyms NATIVE, INDIGENOUS, ENDEMIC, ABORIGINAL mean belonging to a locality. NATIVE implies birth or origin in a place or region and may suggest compatibility with it <native tribal customs>. INDIGENOUS applies to species or races and adds to NATIVE the implication of not having been introduced from elsewhere <maize is indigenous to America>. ENDEMIC implies being peculiar to a region <edelweiss is endemic in the Alps>. ABORIGINAL implies having no known race preceding in occupancy of the region <the aboriginal peoples of Australia>.

<=====native white boy

[Sircnay]

People need to stop breeding dammit. I think what China did to control their population was very necessary and had the best interest of the people. They recognized that they had more people than their natural resources could support and they did something about it. They obviously realized it very late but hey, we could get started early to avert the issue. I'm getting damn sick and tired of seeing every 5 acres of untainted land get bulldozed for more houses. It makes me sick.

As far as english goes, it is VERY difficult to learn once a person passes puberty. There's something called the 'critical age period' that a language is more easily learned up till 11 yrs old or so.

The very least that guy could've done would be to write an email inquiring about his order.

I'm sorry. I'm going to have to raise the BULLS**T Flag on that one. My parents came here when they were 16 and by 18 had learned the English language well enough to go to college and hold jobs that involved working with people. By 22 my dad owned a printing press.

Yeah... you only need one example to prove theories wrong.

[Mr1der]

I gotta say, I'm flattered others wanna live in my country so bad.

really, the only logical answer is colonization.

[Sircnay]

I gotta say, I'm flattered others wanna live in my country so bad.

really, the only logical answer is colonization.

Another reason why you should run for '08

[D1SR240]

I would disagree with you on that. I think that the english language is alot easier to pick up then any other foreign language that I had come to contact with. I picked up the language quite fast and I was fluent within 2 years. Ofcourse I was only 10 and realize that kids pick up languages like crack addicts blaze the pipes. I have retained my native language and opted to learn a 3rd one. It's alot harder then I thought once you get older but still not possible. And one more fact about the engish language is that the english language is backwards of almost every other language.

the reason it was so easy for you to learn is because you were 10, you spoke, read, and wrote english at school, heard it on tv, had friends who spoke english so you were around the language a lot more than say your parents so you easily picked it up. Now say like adult imigrants, when they come over they aren't exposed to english as much so its a lot harder for them to learn the language.

[MaineExport]

Quiet, dont say the L word. The thread might get locked

Sorry... I was all fired up today! (long story)

I understand whats happening. But illegal immigrants arent taking these jobs, we're giving them these jobs. As you said, our education system is too superior for us to do them. I agree we are born into privilege. But ask yourself why. We are only privileged because someone else is disadvantaged.

That's where I disagree. We are privileged because our ancestors worked HARD and had the forsight to build one of the greatest nations to ever exist on this planet. Now, a lot of our success has come at the expense of others... and that may not be fair... but again... it's reality. Is it cool? Not totally... but it worked and we are ALL better off for it... including those who are coming here illegally. The only other alternative would be to boil us all down the the lowest common denominator and we'd probably all be poor and starving.

We NEED people to work these jobs. Nobody wants to scrub toilets or pick cabbage for $5/day. Illegal immigrants dont want to either. They do it so their children can be born into the same 'privileged' atmosphere we were born in. And because they cant walk into a corporate job and find employment.

Agreed... and I agree that is sucks to be in their spot. But I applaud them for doing SOMETHING to make their KIDS life better than theirs. It's hard to find that kind of selfless devotion in our society because too many of us take our freedom and privilege for granted. I think they do WANT to work for crap wages but they'd obvioulsy PREFER something better. They want it because they know that's what they have to do to better their future.

And your education doesnt make you above anything. You simply have the means to earn more money to support your family and ensure they have more privileges than you had. If we all got our MBA from Harvard, there would be too many dirty toilets.

LOL.... good stuff... and point well made. This is all proof of my point though. There has ALWAYS got to be "haves" and "have nots"... it's just the way it is. It's not "fair" but it's NATURE. If we were all toilet scrubbers... there'd be nobody to scrub toilets FOR. It's a balance.

All good points, bro... I admire your idealism and your concern for the well being and plight of the less advantaged. If we could all keep that a little closer in our hearts I think we could have a more advantageous balance for all of us. Until then... appreciate what we've got!

[Jesda]

If we moved the border south, we could end illegal immigration! WHEEE!

<- Nuts.

[Nathan]

We should TOTALLY re-start (or have we allready?) a policy of imperialism. I think we need to colonize the english speaking countries first...Britain is sooooo going down! London Fog here I come baby! Then, Australia...

[Jesda]

I'm not sure I want Rover to become a 'domestic' brand.

[MaineExport]

I'm not sure I want Rover to become a 'domestic' brand.

It already is. Now owned by Ford..... and the new Discovery is based very much on the Explorer. They are not identical, but share a lot of the same parts and technology. The unbeatable off-road performance of the Rover line is something of the past now. With Ford at the helm the Rover Suv's will be nothing more than the big useless 4X4 wagons like Ford and all the others put out now. It sucks... even Jeep has "wuss-ified" their off-road capabilities with the introduction of the Liberty.

Any SUV or truck with IFS (or even worse, the dreaded IRS) is not a truck at all. Solid axle or bust..... literally!

[s13sr20chris]

maybe we could explain to the people who want to immigrate here that we are spending ourselves into a big mess and that they could do the same thing in their own country. our huge natural resources be darned, the only resource we really need is credit and thats a bipartisan mentality.

i am not entirely serious at this point in time but i am not entirely joking either.

[s13sr20chris]

jesda,i want to thank you over the internet for all of your valuable inputs. i sometimes skip through all the seriousness to read your witty replies. then i realize there is some seriousness to most of them. i think you add a lot to the general chat forum.

[Jesda]

Thanks Chris!!

MaineExport: I should have been more clear. I was referring to the MG Rover brand of disposable British automobiles, not Land Rover the maker of crazy-cool trucks.http://rover.co.uk/static/index.html

[Mr1der]

the Discovery is actually in it's last year if I remember right...and going on an ep of Extreme Trucking, they still look very capable.

Ford does know how to build a fierce 4x4 for the record though. Check out the EX concept. And don't forget about the first Bronco....now, if they can manage to just not screw something up...(I don't think they will though, it looks like they're making an attempt and making good stuff, well, not the 500 though...it's been reviewed as "meh")

[MaineExport]

the Discovery is actually in it's last year if I remember right...and going on an ep of Extreme Trucking, they still look very capable.

Ford does know how to build a fierce 4x4 for the record though. Check out the EX concept. And don't forget about the first Bronco....now, if they can manage to just not screw something up...(I don't think they will though, it looks like they're making an attempt and making good stuff, well, not the 500 though...it's been reviewed as "meh")

The '66 to '77 Bronco was one of the best off-roaders ever. But... they dumped it after 77 and had a couple future lousy attempts at taking advantage of the name. The fullsize Bronco was worthless, and the pathetic Bronco II was a worse rollover disaster than the CJ-7 and CJ-5. And... at least the CJ's had some capabilities off pavement. Ever since Ford ditched the original Bronco it has not made a good off-highway use vehicle. The Ford built Disco is only slated for one year of production as far as I know. It isn't terrible, but it has absolutely NO potential to get better. The original Disco is a solid-axle rig with limitless room to improve with very little expense.

Ford makes decently tough "trucks". The F-250 and 350 are AWESOME. They are powerful and built like a brick shat house. BUT... they'd be belly hung of the first dimple in the trail should you venture into the woods with it.

[gibbo80]

i cant stand the people that dont know the language either if they LIVE here. Being a tourist is different. Something does need to be done about the borders also

[Mr1der]

what about guys overseas on military bases?

how many of them know German, Japanese, Spanish or Korean or Thai....

I do hope they make an honest effort at learning the langauge, ****, I remember enough from taking spanish in high school that a second langauge doesn't come very easy...

[underground57]

About the whole English thing, I absolutely agree with having to learn it. I learned it by the time I started school, so I had it relatively easy. My mom was fortunate to have studied a little English when she was going to school back in Vietnam (but learning it and speaking it are totally different things). My Grandma on the other hand didn't know a lick of it. She came here when she was well into her fifties and one of the first things she did was go take English language classes. And guess what, she communicates just fine.

My mom is going back to school for her degree now, because her last job was sent over to India (gg capitalism). She took a speech class last semester and guess what one of the speech topics she chose was... Why people that come to America should learn the English language. Honestly if you've been here for more than a year and haven't learned the language yet, you're just lazy. If you're will to look and ask around, there are a lot of resource for learning English (many of them are even free). Heck, many of them are offered at night so that you can still have a job and take care of a family.

Sure the language itself has no solid structure to it with a million exceptions to the rules and so much of it has been derived from so many other languages, but as long as you get a good bit of the vocabulary, you'll be fine. I took Spanish for three years and the hardest part of that was all the conjugations and sentence structure. Back when I was studying it though, I was able to speak it relatively well and with a decent accent at that. I also took a year of Chinese and that wasn't as hard as I though it would be. If you think about it, there are so many people that are natively English speaking that still can't put together a sentence correctly, much less spell (not that I do either particularly well).

[[Zero-S]]

Ian, you know what Chris meant when he said "damn near perfect"

Nobody speaks "perfect" english, we all have our slang.

[skydragoness]

I'm sorry. I'm going to have to raise the BULLS**T Flag on that one. My parents came here when they were 16 and by 18 had learned the English language well enough to go to college and hold jobs that involved working with people. By 22 my dad owned a printing press.

Yeah... you only need one example to prove theories wrong.

Of course there's a exception to every rule. But you tell me that they would've had an easier time learning when they were teenagers than if they were children. I guess linguists don't know ****.

[Mr1der]

it's easier for a child to learn for the most part because we were so eager to...as we got older, it just became lazier...teenagers universally think we know everything.

seems we have to work harder at learning new things as we age...

take computers for example.