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Michael32bc

Listed below are comments made by Michael32bc between Monday, 25th August 2008 and Monday, 27th July 2009.

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How long will China finance America? 6:59pm on 27 Jul 2009 I am amazed at the complete lack of understanding people seem to have towards the health of the American economy. I see a lot of posts that wrongly think EVERYTHING is made in China. America is by far the largest manufacturing base in the world. And America is by far the largest consuming base in the world. Not only do we produce the most we consume the most as well.

The amazing thing is that 300 million Americans fat and lazy as we are produce over 100x our competing 1.3 billion Chinese friends do. When ever you hear about Americans being the most productive people in the world this is what is being referred to. Per population we produce or manufacture more than any other people in the world. And 2nd and 3rd are not China they are Japan and Germany.
Restless America 01:03am on 11 Jan 2009 @pokealong
You must be from a Spanish or Latin country. And are under the impression that there is only one continent. There are two continents North America and South America. There is only one country known as America and that is the United States of America.

People from the USA are American(country) and North American(continent.) People from Brazil are Brazilian and South American. etc.
The North and South parts of the continental names are not cardinal directions they are actually parts of the name.
Restless America 8:57pm on 10 Jan 2009 We are all hyphenated Americans. Most just choose not to label themselves. There is a point where it becomes cumbersome to continue using it. Especially if you are a few generations removed and mixed.

English-American, German-American, French-American, Welsh-American, Irish-American, Italian-American, African-American (of which are all the various regions you can tell the difference from west, east, south Africans)

My fathers side of the family comes from southern Germany near the French border in the early 1700's, they are a mix of French and German families. My mothers side is a mix from Scotland, and Wales.

I ended up with black hair and blue eyes. And would have a hard time using any of the labels German-Welsh-Scot-French-American. Not to mention a dab of Native-American (Waccamaw of SC who were pretty much wiped out in the late 1700s) on my fathers side.
Health care heartbreak 12:38pm on 05 Jan 2009 There seems to be this fallacy going around that an ill person in America wont get treatment unless they have insurance. That is a lie. You will get treated but if you don't have insurance you will go into debt. And on this point I agree, it shouldn't be like that.

The solution isn't as simple as it may seem though. There are drugs available here in the U.S. that you just will not be able to get from a government run health system because they have rules regarding what they will spend. Among the many examples there is a kidney cancer fighting drug available here (very expensive) that is not available in the UK NHS.

I believe we need a balance between government run help for the poor and what we have currently for those with the means. And I think that is what Obama is shooting for. At least I hope he is.
The durable American brand 1:02pm on 13 Dec 2008 Just thought I would chime in. Brands are all well and good but they don't tell the whole story on a products origins. Obviously the Made in "" tags will let you know who manufactured the product. But it doesn't tell who designed it.

You can look at both Toyota and BMW who have design centres with tens of thousands of American engineers working right here in the USA. Not to mention the fact that the Toyota Tundra is 80% made in America as are quite a few other foreign brand products.

There are many examples of this that you will most likely never hear about. Assembly and manufacturing is a base that is good to keep at least a little of for national security interest. But it is a job that is easily outsourced. People need to work on getting better educated and getting jobs of the future.
'A wonderful man' 2:51pm on 23 Oct 2008 The far-right has destroyed the sense a great man once had.
Determined to vote 2:21pm on 23 Oct 2008 America nor Canada would ever support that and I doubt Mexico would either.
End of the road 08:32am on 18 Oct 2008 Just have to chime in and say how much I've enjoyed following this blog about your travels through America. One of the most difficult things to do is convey exactly how diverse and different all the different parts of this country is to foreigners.

I am myself from a family of German, French, English, Welsh, and Irish background with a hint of Native American(Cherokee not enough to claim benefits.) :P My family has lived here since the early 1700s so we are quite removed from our European roots. But I've enjoyed learning about our family origins. And I appreciate outsiders views of our great nation.

Wish you could have made it through some of the South-Eastern states. We have some diverse views on things down here as well. :)

Charleston, SC
Oud awakening 02:37am on 21 Sep 2008 A lot of nonsense in these comments. Having traveled to many far off countries as an American I do not get this hatred that some of you are talking about. I've been to Kazakhstan where the only other foreigners besides myself that I met there were other Americans. My travels in China I bumped into many other Americans and Aussies. I've been to Sweden and Norway and found nothing but love.

The only 'hatred' I've seen of Americans abroad is on message boards like these from people who probably don't do foreign travel themselves.

One reason a good bit of Americans don't travel abroad is that you can get every type of environment right here in the States. I'm based out of Charleston, SC yet have been to Seattle, WA and all along the west coast which is over 3000 miles (4800 kilometers) away by vehicle.

I think people believe Americans should be more sophisticated being the wealthiest nation but there are over 300 million of us living here from dirt poor to the richest in the world. You are as free here to make of yourself whatever you want, more so than anywhere else in the world IMO.
Rock star risk 04:54am on 25 Aug 2008 I just have to say that America is vast and conditions vary greatly for our infrastructure. It is not uniformly underfunded or uniformly superb. Each state controls their infrastructure and can sometimes get matching federal money, so it is up to them individually to keep maintenance up. That's why when traveling along an interstate crossing from one state to the next you will see huge differences in the quality.

The appliances argument is a bit ridiculous. I don't even want to get into that.

And I think Biden is a great choice for Obama's VP!

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