Lion's Daily Blurb - Mon., Tues., July 16-17

[Lion]

I was catching up on the news today after I got home from work. Man burns girlfriend alive by dousing gasoline on her...ex trained Army sniper and now a National Guard soldier shoots wife in head with a sniper rifle while she is performing with a country band...gunman breaks into the office of the Colorado Governor and declares, "I am the emperor and I'm here to take over state government". Soon thereafter security for the Governor killed the nut. A father stuffed his two young daughters into a car trunk with outside temps hovering in the 90's, nearly killing them. All those events took place in the good ole' USA. Just another day in the land of plenty where moral values and the sanctity of life are tossed in the wind. Is there something in the water that's causing the increase in violent acts over the past several years, or are people just simply bored with life and need a thrill? What alarms me is the fact we are becoming numb to all this violence, and the shock value is no longer there. Even in small town America where I live violent acts are on the increase. It doesn't happen daily, but it is more frequent than in past years. The terrorists don't need to bother coming to the USA. We have plenty of home-grown nuts to keep us entertained.

[Neogumbercules]

I was catching up on the news today after I got home from work. Man burns girlfriend alive by dousing gasoline on her...ex trained Army sniper and now a National Guard soldier shoots wife in head with a sniper rifle while she is performing with a country band...gunman breaks into the office of the Colorado Governor and declares, "I am the emperor and I'm here to take over state government". Soon thereafter security for the Governor killed the nut. A father stuffed his two young daughters into a car trunk with outside temps hovering in the 90's, nearly killing them. All those events took place in the good ole' USA. Just another day in the land of plenty where moral values and the sanctity of life are tossed in the wind. Is there something in the water that's causing the increase in violent acts over the past several years, or are people just simply bored with life and need a thrill? What alarms me is the fact we are becoming numb to all this violence, and the shock value is no longer there. Even in small town America where I live violent acts are on the increase. It doesn't happen daily, but it is more frequent than in past years. The terrorists don't need to bother coming to the USA. We have plenty of home-grown nuts to keep us entertained.

I don't think there's an increase in general violence, but we do hear about it a lot more now with the media being what it is. Today was a crazy week. I mean, you never hear about the hundreds of millions of people in this country that lived a perfectly normal day, without incident.

[IcehawkDT]

We were doing so good to.
http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/data/table_01.html
2005 Saw a slight increase in violent crimes. Hopefully we do better in the coming years and this was just a minor fluctuation.
Got to love the media and their drama.

[SgtRicko]

Neo and IceHawk pretty much said it: it's mostly all media hype. Things like this happen all the time around the globe, and although I will agree that the public has become somewhat less sensitive to this kind of stuff, the whole idea that crime is becoming rampant and/or more violent is really overblown.

[Korona]

I think there is more of an appitite for this kind of stuff. The fact that the media is reporting it more suggests that we are more into taking vicarious pleasure at the ghoulish behaviour of others. I must admit, there is something I find morbidly fascinating about the freaks that exist in our midst. Sometimes I am very greatful for the Atlantic ocean though :P

[General Al Ramsey]

Actually I think it is a deeper issue than that. These acts of violence especially towards ones family are on the rise. These things were all done before, there is nothing new under the sun. However, our purpose for living has been degraded to a point where it seems it does not matter whether you live or die. You see we have become a nation of evolutionists where only the strong survive and life was just an accident anyway. So life has no purpose, there is no so called "gift of life." If all there is life on Earth and all of its sufferings then why not take your own life and anybody else you don't like. So with no actual purpose in life, the question is why live?

But God does give us a purpose for living and he designed us each as individuals, each one unique and different from anybody else. God has a purpose for everyone's life no matter how great or how small. But we have abandoned God in our nation and so He has left us to our own debased minds. We are getting what we asked for!

[Slapper]

The World is a smaller place now, the Media makes sure of that, it seems as though they compete to publish and report sick **** that we really dont need to know to outdo each other. As Al said, theres nothing new about what we see, only that it gets reported with more frequency.

My opinion of all this is a little different. The reason you see more Family crimes is the stress of daily Family life compared to when i was a young man. It was enough to have Dad working, Mom at home taking care of kids and raising them with proper Family values. Able to nurture and spend time with them. There was always crazy's and Family BS back then, but for sure it was less brutal for the most part and didnt make headline news every damn night.

Today, you need 2 incomes to survive, the kids grow up with babysitters, even sometimes strangers, daycare. Mom and Dad have less patience with each other, less control over the kids, thanks to inflation and out of control pricing and Corporations driving the price of everything up, just plain old greed. We all work minimum 44 to 50 hours plus a week, that makes people tired and less patient...Can even blame Unions for the loss of jobs in North America, adding to the cost of products, adding to stress to provide for your Family. Thats why so many jobs go overseas, Unionized workers demand big paychecks, thus driving up the cost of products.... no wonder those Corps move overseas, they dont have Union Reps crawling up their ass every 3 minutes....

Also, we can thank our respective Governments for taking the power away from parents and handing it to the kids, you cannot even discipline your kids without fear of CAS or CPS taking them away. The kids know this and even say so...They are protected from any consequences for actions...The ones that abuse their parental power have ruined it for the normal everyday folk. That adds stress in a home, trust me, i have 3 teens at home now, somedays i feel like losing it, but fortunately, im sane and able to control my temper.

Family values have went downhill from when i was a kid. The reasons are many, this is just some of them. Take into consideration as well, the sanctity of Marriage and what it represents has taken to the crapper too. Our lives are too fast, require too much time and money, and from those things come what we see today. Stress, stress, stress......

Makes people go postal......

[BehindEnemyRhymes]

But God does give us a purpose for living and he designed us each as individuals, each one unique and different from anybody else. God has a purpose for everyone's life no matter how great or how small. But we have abandoned God in our nation and so He has left us to our own debased minds. We are getting what we asked for!

I agree. I don't think God have left us (Hebrews 13:5), but society (any and every country) have definitely shallowed and dropped values over the years.

[Statalyzer]

It is not just media hype. This nation is much more amoral and violent than it used to be.

Today, you need 2 incomes to survive

In general, no you don't. People want 2 incomes, but they don't need 2 incomes.

Also, we can thank our respective Governments for taking the power away from parents and handing it to the kids, you cannot even discipline your kids without fear of CAS or CPS taking them away.

There are plenty of parents out there all over the country disciplining their kids without such fear - they are the parents whose kids aren't all over the news. But a lot parents LET their kids run the house because they are just plain and simple bad parents. You can, however, definitely thank the governments for policies that encourage lower class families NOT to stay together, resulting in more kids, especially minority kids, growing up without a father, which is a HUGE factor in rising crime and lack of education/dropping out of school, maybe the #1 factor.

The other problem is that we are nation of irresponsible whiners who blame everyone else for our trouble. We aren't Republicans or Democrats, we're a bunch of Victimcrats.

Finally, the popular pervading ideology is that we're supposed to be tolerant of everything, and everyone can find their own truth. Well, when you spend so much energy telling people they can find their own truth, then you punish them because your truth "it's bad to commit violent crimes" is different than theirs, it's a bit of hypocrisy. We spread subjective morality and relativism, then get upset when people take that message to heart.

[nolnoc2000]

i believe this problem is caused by hightened media coverage of every little thing we do.& the depleting ozone layer since the 1960's.example film day of the animals,:nuts:

[General Al Ramsey]

I agree. I don't think God have left us (Hebrews 13:5), but society (any and every country) have definitely shallowed and dropped values over the years.

Rom 1:22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
Rom 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
Rom 1:24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.
Rom 1:25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
Rom 1:26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural,
Rom 1:27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
Rom 1:28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,
Rom 1:29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,
Rom 1:30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
Rom 1:31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful;
Rom 1:32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

I think that about sums it up!

[ccaddictplayer]

hehhehhh..!

[CO Valle]

...taking care of kids and raising them with proper Family values....

You said it all...

@ Slapper: I didn't had the time to reply in the last thread, and I won't do it here. But I had to tell you this: Of course, you can not forget about politics, but that doesn't mean to become a polititian (IMO). And something else, to underestimate someone is as bad as to overestimate. I just had to said so, take it or leave it, just my opinion man:wave:.

[Slapper]

In general, no you don't. People want 2 incomes, but they don't need 2 incomes.

LOL!, sorry to tell you but your sadly mistaken there. Coming from someone who is there, if i wanted my kids to:

A. Have no clothes, or bicycles or at least 1 computer for all 3 left at home

B. Rent an apartment instead of owning a home and paying for nothing

C. Fall into debt paying a Mortage, Cable TV, Telephone, Land Taxes, Gas Bills, Hydro Bills, Car payments, House and Car Insurance,Food, Haircuts, Dentists...etc, etc, etc...Medical Bills, ....well, dude i could go on and on and on with what you got to pay as parents.

Then either me and my wife could stay home


Stat dude your 22....Your from the U.S. I mean really man, what do you know about what it costs to raise a Family? Of 4?. Last i checked, you dont pay 30 per cent there in the U.S, but i cant remember what degree your paychecks get raped by. But in Canada, you pay 30% Tax on your paycheck bud, meaning i take home 70 per cent after im raped by the Government, that does not cover even half of those bills, my income. 28 Years in the Military and i make decent cash, we could not even begin to pay our bills if my wife didnt work. She makes more than i do. Where you come up with the idea 1 income is enough to raise 4 kids( 3 at home now} is beyond me. That is not reality from where i sit as a parent of 4. Im living what i said right now. We would be living in a 2 Bedroom apt with nothing basically at todays costs of living. I do know its cheaper in the States to live, because everything is cheaper than here. but that does not take away from the fact.

[Statalyzer]

Your from the U.S Stat, last i checked, you dont pay 30 per cent there. , But in Canada, you pay 30% Tax on your paycheck bud, meaning i take home 70 per cent after im raped by the Government

It depends on your income. $7k-$30k is taxed at 15%. $30k-$64k is taxed at 25%. $64k-$97k is taxed at 28%. (US dollars of course, I'm not sure how close the Canadian currency is to the US).

Of course that's only income tax. One-quarter of my paycheck simply disappears for bull**** reasons - my Social "Security" and Medicare. Then after that I'll get taxed at 15 to 25 percent, and the really stupid crock of theivery is the income I get taxed on includes the money that was taken away for Social and Medicare. I'm paying taxes on my taxes, basically.

Wouldn't be surprised if Canada is about the same way with taxing the taxes redundantly, since it's more socialist than the USA is. But the original Lion post was about the USA, and unless you are very very poor, you can raise a family on one income here.

Where you come up with the idea 1 income is enough to raise 4 kids( 3 at home now} is beyond me. Your dreaming.

My life must be a dream then, since my parents raised 3 kids on one income, and up until about 5 years ago, it wasn't even a big income. I wonder when I'll wake up.

My best friend is one of four brothers, and his parents on one income not only provided for them all, but have money saved up, take a big vacations together every year, and live in a big house. There are downsides to it. They don't have a TV, they have one used vehicle and that's it (their dad bikes to work), only dial-up internet, they always eat at home and not at restaurants, just the home phone and dad's work cell phone instead of one for each kid, etc.

[Slapper]

Fair enough, lets agree that its cheaper to live in the U.S. then.

We live in a modest 4 bedroom home with a Garage, it is only worth about 215,000, we have 2 vehicles, i have a Harley {which i bought through an Insurance cheque for injuries caused by another driver} and dont really have nice stuff nor do we vacation. My extra cash is spent on my Computer and Internet basically. We do know this, Kids clothing is the biggest expense of all, hands down. Our monthly budget says so. Teens grow like wildfires, got to replace their stuff every year until they stop growing, thats a tough time for our wallets. Groceries is next, try feeding boys who eat more than i do..lol...I do know that a ton of things are cheaper in your Country, Clothing, Liquor, Cigs, Gas, Insurance....We have family in NY and we go shopping there all the time, we buy double what we could buy here for the same amount of money, in fact we do all our Xmas shopping when we visit on the Sept. Long Weekend. Our dollar has risen closer to yours in this past year though, we will see how much difference that makes in 2 months.

So suffice to say, its cheaper to raise kids in the States. It would have to be because there is no way on God's green earth we could do this without both of us working. We are lucky, we have Gramma and Grampa to take care of them when they were younger, so Family values were instilled in them, i thank my parents everyday for what they did in our long absences, especially me, i was half way around the world for 20 years, i was not home much because of my work. Between both our parents, we were able to have good solid values given to my children.

We looked into my wife staying home years ago and figured out we would be about 2 grand in the hole every month or more.

[berlin88]

Stat, you can raise a family on a single income, but only if that one income pays enough. In Slappers case, the Canadian government takes 30%, and the other 70% is not enough to pay the bills and raise a family.

Sure your family managed to do it, but there are plenty of families who could not do so. Could a family survive on a single income if the parent worked at McDonalds? no.

If you want to see if living on a single income is possible, then simply make a financial statement as if your family were a business.

Salaray/ wage for the year
- variable expenses
= Contribution Margin
- Fixed expenses
= Total Net Operating Income

If the end result is a positive number, then you can raise a family on a single income. (though you must also consider the possiblity unforseen expenses). If the number is negative, then you obviously need either a better paying job or a 2nd income.