| Author | Message | ||
     Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Grand Master Username: soviet Post Number: 1080 Registered: 2-2013 |
Mate! Give me 10 million USD and we will be able to take over some pretty cool realestate in Caracas! It's essential. I have seen on the internet a stack of Maserati 50-60 stacked in a mile. Plus we can use guns..... | ||
| Omar M. Shams Grand Master Username: omar Post Number: 1643 Registered: 4-2009 |
Hey Vlad - Think of all the fun we can have for a mere $10 million. And all those lovely old cars...... the very hot chicks....... Best we start packing mate.... No wait..... It is dangerous there. We will need more than Patrick and David for protection. I think we need to sound out our mates on the forum to see who wants to form a small army of bodyguards to allow us to hatch our plan of world dominance starting in Venezuela. Brian and Ross- you live in a country that has guns available in every corner store - are you up for this plan? if so you can head the security unit and arm the rest of the team? | ||
| Benoit Leus Grand Master Username: benoitleus Post Number: 365 Registered: 6-2009 |
I’m in ! | ||
| Mark Luft Prolific User Username: bentleyman1993 Post Number: 213 Registered: 10-2016 |
I'm in, if for no other reason than to meet Vlad and Omar! And yes, here in VA/ guns are plentiful. | ||
| Patrick Ryan Grand Master Username: patrick_r Post Number: 2004 Registered: 4-2016 |
Gents, David and I are suited up to be part of the protection team. What do you think?  | ||
| Omar M. Shams Grand Master Username: omar Post Number: 1645 Registered: 4-2009 |
just so everyone knows............. some of the hottest chicks are from Venezuela............ As things are today - perhaps $100 will do the trick - no need for $10 million. Glad we have Mark and Benoit on the wagon for this plan | ||
| Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Grand Master Username: soviet Post Number: 1081 Registered: 2-2013 |
Ha ha jetsetters, what a laugh! A country fantasticly rich with oil and their currency is shot, poor people are without food or medicine, people enmass are walking out while some other South American countries are helping some are slamming the door in their face. Bloody politicians... And Venezuela is a strikely stunning country too. I just cannot get my head around it. | ||
| Omar M. Shams Grand Master Username: omar Post Number: 1649 Registered: 4-2009 |
Dear Vlad, And the proof of what you are saying can be seen in how Singapore became a world class tiny state that is rich and efficient when it started off as a big bit of jungle with hardly any natural resources. The extremes of Singapore and Venezuela prove that management is what makes success. | ||
| Mark Luft Prolific User Username: bentleyman1993 Post Number: 214 Registered: 10-2016 |
The extremes of Singapore and Venezuela prove that management is what makes success. And failure! | ||
| Omar M. Shams Grand Master Username: omar Post Number: 1651 Registered: 4-2009 |
you nailed it Mark. The failure is what a whole nation now needs to live with in the case of Venezuela and look how happy all the Singaporeans are..... It is all to do with management. | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 2632 Registered: 6-2009 |
Having taken my mother on a trip to Venezuela as a present in the 1980s, and having spent time in Caracas, on Margarita Island, and flying out to Canaima in hopes of seeing Angel Falls (we didn't, long story) I am just slack-jawed when I see what has become of the country. And it has a lot more to do with specific public policies (AKA management) than with the specific political system, though there are obviously strong links between the two. Brian | ||
| Patrick Ryan Grand Master Username: patrick_r Post Number: 2005 Registered: 4-2016 |
Wow gents, I was checking out some pics of Venezuela and oh my god!!!! | ||
| Christian S. Hansen Grand Master Username: enquiring_mind Post Number: 870 Registered: 4-2015 |
Results of different economic models. Central planning Socialism and free market Capitalism. | ||
| Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Grand Master Username: soviet Post Number: 1082 Registered: 2-2013 |
Venezuela yes well I totally fail to understand what is going on there. In 1980 I was in Puerto Rico and its beauty totally blew my mind and I just cannot believe that Venezuela could not be as stunning as San Juan. And I do not speak Spanish. Only English and a number of Russian dialects. This situation gentlemen - is it not a tragedy? | ||
| Mark Aldridge Grand Master Username: mark_aldridge Post Number: 566 Registered: 10-2008 |
https://www.spectator.co.uk/2018/08/venezuelas-great-socialist-experiment-has-brought-a-country-to-its-knees/ Worrying for any UK resident ! Mark | ||
| Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Grand Master Username: soviet Post Number: 1083 Registered: 2-2013 |
I find the western media waffle about socialism being the reason Venezuela is now a complete basket case laughable. If you check the history of Venezuela's past leaders way back to the 1800s you will see each and every leader treated the Treasury as their own private piggy bank to be totally plundered. Seems to me Venezuela's problems stem from corruptionism and theifism and that the socialism involved is nothing more than a comical facade to fool the gullible. | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 2633 Registered: 6-2009 |
Vladimir, Thanks. Sadly, this has been the story of a great many Central and South American nations. Tin-pot dictators of banana republics (and that's an indictment of the said dictators and political classes, not the people of these countries). There are a lot of countries that are, effectively, democratic socialist societies that are doing quite nicely, thank you. One need look no further than Scandinavia to see that writ large, and Europe as a whole is a lot more "democratic socialist" than many in the USA (at a minimum) are willing to acknowledge. Hence my prior comment a few posts back. Brian | ||
| Christian S. Hansen Grand Master Username: enquiring_mind Post Number: 873 Registered: 4-2015 |
I suggest that they are more socialist capitalists rather than centrally planned socialists, the former of which works ok if you don't mind the taxes and nanny government and the later of which typically doesn't work very well at all in the long run. I'll choose free market capitalism any day thank you, but if they're happy, who am I to complain? . | ||
| Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Grand Master Username: soviet Post Number: 1084 Registered: 2-2013 |
So Christian you wouldn't mind living the life of a child labourer during the industrial revolution in England...You know the old down the coal mine hole for 16 hours a day but paid peanuts. Free market capitalism is just as bad as Stalinist Communism unless its kept in check by nanny state humanitarian laws. You know the Danes are not exactly fleeing enmasse to live in a Detroit slum these days. | ||
| Christian S. Hansen Grand Master Username: enquiring_mind Post Number: 874 Registered: 4-2015 |
My family was from the aristocracy, Hansens, Schillings, Burnses, and Shaws, but that is past. I live in the present and am thankful to live in the United States of America, a Constitutional Republic, blessed by God. I have travelled some of the world, the Far East and Europe, including parts of the former USSR and am ALWAYS glad to get home, neurotic as it may seem to be at times. As to foreigners, even those from well to do western economies...they are happy where they are so why would they leave which is all well and good since everyone can't live here, Visit yes, but then go home. As to the Danes, I had co-workers in the past who were only too glad to get away from the taxes and the months long wait to get a government provided apartment. These were construction trades types, not wealthy, but still saw the merits afforded by this country. Return to Denmark? Be serious, they laughed. Only to visit. As to free market capitalism, your comparison to Stalin is insulting. Much as the world loves to trash the USofA I forgive them "for they know not what they do" if I may borrow the apt quote. I am sorry I got involved in this tangent as I would much rather talk about Rolls-Royce, so respond as you may, I will join this thread no further. . | ||
| Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Grand Master Username: soviet Post Number: 1086 Registered: 2-2013 |
So sorry Christian that you find my capitalism/Stalinist Communism comparison insulting but really without the fear of the workers turning enmasse to Communist ideology, the business sector would have never got around to improving the life of the worker. Things like a minimum wage and workers compensation when injured at work were not the invention of big business and the trickle down of wealth concept is a blatant myth. The USA does not lead the world in having a better system for the average worker - far from it. And I would rather live in Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Germany, and a stack of other democracies than the USA. The USA is harsh on its working class, crikey you only get two weeks annual leave, in Australia we get four weeks and three days plus 17% loading. When I lived in the USA I saw lots and lots of beggars in the cities. When I lived in Russia I saw one beggar in Camapa and that was when the Rouble had collapsed with that currency in crisis. Love the USA all you want Christian but please don't try to convince me the USA offers its workers a better life than any other democracy because clearly it doesn't. | ||
| Randy Roberson Grand Master Username: wascator Post Number: 812 Registered: 5-2009 |
Most people begging in the USA are mental defectives or addicts. Laws prevent their being held against their will (though their will is obviously defective) so they are allowed to freeze to death on the sidewalks. To see anyone begging in rural areas is very rare. Surprisingly some of these folks end up having some resources, including ongoing welfare assistance, so lack of resources is not always the issue. I know some only have two weeks of vacation. At many employers only the young people have two weeks, and there is more added periodically during the career. I began years ago with two weeks but now am 60 and have six weeks plus 10 other paid holidays per year. | ||
| Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Grand Master Username: soviet Post Number: 1090 Registered: 2-2013 |
Randy old bud, surely mental defectives should be cared for in a mental home and helped and not left on the cold bitter streets of USA to perish. As for addicts, Randy I am an addict. I am definitely addicted to nicotine and caffeine and porn. I am also a heavy drinker and I smoke weed too now and again. Fortunately for me when I was wilder I also consumed an amazing array of Hunter S. Thompson type illegal drugs but never got addicted to any of them. But my real addiction is for cars especially Rolls Royce and Cadillac and that addiction is definitely incurable. My view is that if a person gets addicted to drugs to such an extent that they can't hold down a job sweeping a floor then they need medical help not a jail cell. All drugs should be immediately legalised, not decriminalized- LEGALISED. In fact they should be given out free of charge to whoever wants to take them. Its simple - if prohibition worked, Al Capone would have never existed to the extent he did. If illicit drugs were legalised in the USA, the Mexican drug barons would greatly reduce the beheading rate in Mexico because criminals are only interested in drugs because of the huge profits to be made. The War on Drugs is a huge multi billion failure. I spent a decade in the criminal justice system here and it was blatantly clear that sending drug addicts to jail (read University of Crime) made them worse, much worse and far, far more cunning. I also believe that our present methamphetamine crisis here and in the USA and else where is the direct result of the prohibition of cannabis and other less harmful drugs. Obviously, if you get hooked on meth you need medical help and counselling asap and not jail. Meth is too cheap to make but prohibition will not help the problem but it will increase the problem vastly. And Randy, you really need to rein in your military. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were a disaster. Stay out of Afghanistan because if the Soviet Union could not croak the Taliban then US military force has zero hope. But by all means Randy, increase assassination of political swine like Kim and Maduro and others - just whack them and then build sustainable industries in those countries because you have the technology to do that and then you won't need that silly wall. But most of all Randy vote for PussNasty as President, because she is a natural assassin and far more attractive that the present Ferret you have in the White House. Very disappointing that the CIA could not get that flea Castro - good grief is the CIA staff recruited from some airy fairy namby pamby cotton wool closet somewhere? You should have swapped the lot of them for Mossad straight after 9/11. By goodness Randy I have given you some good advice here and all you have do is send me Rachael Welsh, Jane Fonda, Grace Slick and Janis Joplin along with several gallons of ether and we're even mate. | ||
| Randy Roberson Grand Master Username: wascator Post Number: 814 Registered: 5-2009 |
Agree about the care of people unable to care for themselves; this used to be the norm but my point is the laws in the US are strongly against this when the people are unwilling to go. No matter that they are messed up and incapable of caring for themselves. Violates their rights, you know... There are lots of drug rehabs, but the failure rate, esp. for meth is high. A relative cares for foster children (many are babies) whose parents are so messed up they are not able to care for their children. And some of the new prescription drugs are the worst of all. | ||
| Mark Luft Prolific User Username: bentleyman1993 Post Number: 228 Registered: 10-2016 |
No politics on Idle Chatter?? Does this mean we are NOT taking over Venezuela?? | ||
| Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Grand Master Username: soviet Post Number: 1212 Registered: 2-2013 |
Ooowaahh! Sir sir Lufty said something p ! Throw him to the ground! | ||
| David Gore Moderator Username: david_gore Post Number: 3055 Registered: 4-2003 |
Sir says "sit down, calm down and think!" This thread was last active used prior to our Administrator's edict coming into force. I suggest we leave it that way.................. |
