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…just to give Craig a little support here and excuse me for this modest intervention, but I find him a refreshing change in the Lounge part of this forum and find his views to range across the political spectrum and cannot easily be pigeon holed, which usually annoys the hell out of people. This I admire.
Not afraid to speak his mind and go against the grain, this should be applauded I think.Do keep up the good work, and let us hear more from you on other subjects hopefully. You certainly didn’t need to apologise….
in my view
Craig; have got a copy of a little known tv [don’t think it ever got shown] play called Scarecrow City that my pal Alan wrote; amongst the cast were Gary Russell and Barry Killerby [who went on to make his fortune playing Mr Blobby]. It’s very unfinished with bits missing, but fascinating to watch; not sure where I stand legally about copying it but if I can I could attempt to do you a copy. Yes, I can’t imagine what it would be like to be married to Tom Baker; the word interesting does seem the most suitable!
Interesting about your correspondence with Lalla Ward, Craig. Less so R. Dawkins, Esq! Not the brightest luminary in my firmament, need I say?
Interesting about your correspondence with Lalla Ward, Craig. Less so R. Dawkins, Esq! Not the brightest luminary in my firmament, need I say?
Frankly, going home to Lalla Ward each night, I am surprised he knows what day of the week it is!
Craig
I must confess to not knowing the basic facts that led to this long thread that seems to stem from an apology by Craig, but maybe some kind soul will answer a few of my questions, so that I may get up with the pace and get a grip of the situation here?
Is Craig a young English or Scottish schoolteacher who lives in the States and wants to be a racing commentator?
Did he find it easy to get his Green Card?I must confess to not knowing the basic facts that led to this long thread that seems to stem from an apology by Craig, but maybe some kind soul will answer a few of my questions, so that I may get up with the pace and get a grip of the situation here?
Is Craig a young English or Scottish schoolteacher who lives in the States and wants to be a racing commentator?
Did he find it easy to get his Green Card?Well, you could always ask me, I guess!
I am English. Full time at University and help to instruct some lower level communications classes.
I do want to be a racing commentator and am currently the Interim Announcer at Turfway Park and will be going to Denver, CO. next month to do a summer gig of racecalling and TV presenting at Arapahoe Park.
I also do some radio work locally, a talk show and present various NCAA sports.
How easy was it to get a green card? I had no problems whatsoever, got married, sent in the paperwork, got a permit to work within a month and a Green Card within four months. This was eight years ago however.
Craig.
Hi Craig
Thanks for your message. You (and some other forumites here) might find the article I link below, to the point:
Hi Craig
Thanks for your message. You (and some other forumites here) might find the article I link below, to the point:
I am not so Libertarian that I think every form of tax is stealing. But many of these governmental departments he lists are no good most of the time, amyway. The FDA may approve a food or it may not, but if the maker of the food wants to sell his goods, the market dictates he better make them good and offer better quality and competiveness than his rival. If a batch of food is bad abd it kills people, the FDA are no good if it didnt kill people when they tested it!
Obviously his article was somewhat tongue in cheek but he also made a valid point. If the Goverment could break down for me (they love bureacracy) how each of my dollars are spent and to what, I would willingly pick and choose the services I can take advantage of, but of course that is extremely unlikely to ever happen. And not paying the FDA doesnt mean I cannot buy food as they do not supply me with food!
One truism of American Politics which got us into this mess was when Politicans have power they never give it back unless it makes them look bad. And even then, they will try to spin out of it. Regardless of who is in power.
For example, I would willingly withdraw from paying social security and take responsibility for investing or spending that money as I think I can get a better rate of return than the Government.
Craig
The FDA may approve a food or it may not, but if the maker of the food wants to sell his goods, the market dictates he better make them good and offer better quality and competiveness than his rival.
Spot on, couldn’t disagree.
What I would add, is (at least in this country), your tradional "maker" (in the sense of someone who makes their own goods) is being put out of business by the massive chains. Now this might not be 100 % accurate, but what I beleive is becoming more and more true is people are willing to pay extortionate amounts of money because a chain (usually a large corporation) has a good "reputation". I’m thinking in particular of a cosmetics shop, that people literally salivate at the mouth over. Nothing wrong with having a good reputation, but if a brand becomes so unfathomably popular (like Nike for example) when really there are other outfits producing similar goods at cheaper prices, you have to ask if that is good in the grand scheme of things, and are people becoming deluded with image – i.e whats "supposed to be the best", not what you’ve tryed and subsequently think is the best at the prices.
Personally, and this is where i’m totally in agreement with the Conservatives (a party i’m a member of), lowering taxes (in the U.K) would be great and much needed, but economic mismanagement over the last 10 years or so (and some would say going back to Thatchers time) has been so prevalent that it’s going to be virtually impossible to achieve without a wholescale cut in public sector salaries regarding the fat cats (and needless civil servants for a start). I think David Camerons speech yesterday to the spring conference was pretty much spot on for where we are now, i.e it’s a case of take each day as it comes but always remember your basic principles – lower taxes for the majority of people in the country not higher taxes for a irrelevent handful (the latter is just a deception to achieve the former).
Before anyone says i’m being hypocritical, I would say the needless civil servants and amount of fat cats on public pay in this country is more than just a handful.
Not an attack on the public sector, just a reality check.
The point about Nike is well made. But if people are unwise to buy because it has a good reputation when there are other products which are just as good, the makers of the other products have to market in diferent ways than Nike. A lot of small golf manufacturing companies do this against the big boys.
Craig
Thank you, Craig.
I’m still a bit unsure; are you a lecturer at the University?No. But I am a Tutor, Assist to the Teacher in a couple of classes and last minute fill in. All of this is in the field of Communications.
Craig.
To whoever asked Craig if it was easy to get his Green Card.
Im sure he didnt have to have a big hooter and get shacked up with Andie MacDowell……mind you their are worse ways to get one.
Thanks, Neil, though I’m afraid that was wasted on me, as I’ve never even heard of Andie MacDowell.
And thanks to Craig for the clarification.
Now that I have a rough idea about who Craig is, my opinion is that his remarks about "blacks seeing Obama as one of their own" are a bit off-beam.
In my view, Obama is not a true, typical black American, ie, he is not a descendent of slaves brought from Africa to work in the southern states.
When all is said and done, this dude is "half-white".
Now, there’s no way anybody would come out with a silly statement that " whites are glad to have Obama in power because he is one of their own".The whole idea is ludicrous, but, as I think there is a lot of nonsense spouted about so-called race and racism, I ‘ll not be saying any more about the matter, as it’s unproductive. You don’t like the guy and that’s all there is to it. Enough said, imo; no need for spurious reasoning involving things like south Chicago dialect, etc.
When I was at the Breeders Cup, I saw some of the electioneering on TV and, imo, McCain was an even better speaker/orator than Obama.
It’s all acting, anyway, so I rarely take much heed of politicians.
My conclusion remains unchanged from then: supporters of Obama -_whoever he is/ whatever he is – should prepare to be disappointed.
Ain’t nothing much he can do in reality.
I wish there was, but, as I still recall how hopeful we were when Jack Kennedy became the first non-wasp to be President, I can’t help remembering how things didn’t go quite the way we wanted back then.
Those Texan oil-barons had a lot of power.Thanks, Neil, though I’m afraid that was wasted on me, as I’ve never even heard of Andie MacDowell.
And thanks to Craig for the clarification.
Now that I have a rough idea about who Craig is, my opinion is that his remarks about "blacks seeing Obama as one of their own" are a bit off-beam.
In my view, Obama is not a true, typical black American, ie, he is not a descendent of slaves brought from Africa to work in the southern states.
When all is said and done, this dude is "half-white".
Now, there’s no way anybody would come out with a silly statement that " whites are glad to have Obama in power because he is one of their own".The whole idea is ludicrous, but, as I think there is a lot of nonsense spouted about so-called race and racism, I ‘ll not be saying any more about the matter, as it’s unproductive. You don’t like the guy and that’s all there is to it. Enough said, imo; no need for spurious reasoning involving things like south Chicago dialect, etc.
When I was at the Breeders Cup, I saw some of the electioneering on TV and, imo, McCain was an even better speaker/orator than Obama.
It’s all acting, anyway, so I rarely take much heed of politicians.
My conclusion remains unchanged from then: supporters of Obama -_whoever he is/ whatever he is – should prepare to be disappointed.
Ain’t nothing much he can do in reality.
I wish there was, but, as I still recall how hopeful we were when Jack Kennedy became the first non-wasp to be President, I can’t help remembering how things didn’t go quite the way we wanted back then.
Those Texan oil-barons had a lot of power.Hi Sean!
This is just my observation from living around many black people and having spoken too some of my black friends…
It is true no white person would say "When we elected Obama we elected one of our own." Even though he is 50% white. I was actually talking to an elderly Black Doctor at College about this thread today. He was teaching when this College was black only in the mid fifties. So, he is a good man to try and get social perspectives from. I will try to convey what he said:
Many black Americans still feel the prejudice of the past (as they should because in reality it is not entirely in the past) and part of that cultural inheritance goes back to the days when the overwhelming feeling was that one drop of black blood (though in reality that meant a feature, however mild, associated with the black population) tainted you as a negro (his words.)
Now that cultural inheritance is finally changing (although in a patchy way due to social situations and lack of education) and many black people see Obama as one of their own as he is clearly mixed. As, of course, are many American black people, especially those with cultural roots in the south and east of the USA which traditionally were the areas where servitude remained in vogue for the longest time.
They were his thoughts…
My thought: Racial issues are still important to many people of all colors in the USA simply because for most of its history, the USA, either by the law of the land or by social order made certain races (on the whole) second class citizens. And fifty years of Governemnt legislation in vain attempt to level the playing field has only had partial success.
But people of all colors are working together to change the future for ALL Americans regardless of color. And the sooner that happens, the greater our nation will be.
Craig.
Thanks, Craig.
I suppose it’s difficult to generalise about a sub-continent with any degree of accuracy.
In Great Britain – London, to be precise – I’ve witnessed terrible hatred between West Indians and black Africans. And that was just in the bookie’s!Imo, tribalism is one of the strongest forces for both bonding and dividing folk. It’s often called "soccer".
Thanks, Craig.
I suppose it’s difficult to generalise about a sub-continent with any degree of accuracy.
In Great Britain – London, to be precise – I’ve witnessed terrible hatred between West Indians and black Africans. And that was just in the bookie’s!Imo, tribalism is one of the strongest forces for both bonding and dividing folk. It’s often called "soccer".
Very true, indeed.
Craig
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