The correct spending estimate according to the defense department is $4.5 billion per a month for the Iraq war. I apologize for the incorrect estimate.
When your elections are a smear ridden popularity contest, what do you expect! The idea of paying up front for medical care or having health insurance if you aren't going on holiday is pretty alien to us. As for the Middle East, its apparent that your troops, especially the reservists were not properly prepared. The British Army has fought a similar war for years in Northern Ireland, and won eventually, but it took 60 years to bring the IRA to its knees and the negotiating table (largely thanks to the USA funding they got....Axis of Evil indeed). As for Beckham, he is quite active in politics, I think he is on speaking terms with Tony Blair so I imagine he votes Labour, as everyone should. Our conservatives are almost as bad for Britain as the Reps have been for the States (but without the religious nuts influencing everything). He supported a government project along with Rio Ferdinand and others to get inner-city kids playing sport rather than joining gangs. It has worked, every time a gang member is shot dead its national headlines, whereas I imagine its a fairly local issue in the States. I still can't believe that America doesn't have a state health service. Might smack of the dreaded C-word but it works well here, despite being one of the bigger budgets for the government.
I think a mod needs to shut this thread. Oh, its for the benefit of the children? So I have to listen to your political rant, including a sentence of ALL-CAPS because your political view is so important that you get to hijack this thread and make all of us listen to it? Thank God you stepped onto this board to save the children.
You do know that this thread would have self buried into oblivion if you didnt post to it. You just bumped it back to the top. Or could have continued where it left off. My original complaint was that the media here is a farce... a circus sideshow, government controlled all pushing the same garbage. Why do you think soccer gets no media coverage? Probably like someone else said, its sorta "unamerican" since it didnt come from here. Nothing is perfect here, like nothing is perfect elsewhere. Im not jumping in saying America sucks (although some parts REALLY do suck), but im just saying America is not the end all be all. As Leeds pointed out, the elections have become a farce here, and the health care system is screwed up royally. Luckily I have health care, but a doctors visit for my wife, nothing serious, just a check up, costs $3500? Thats not right. A friend of mine and his wife recently both moved, had just gotten new jobs, but both uninsured their first 6 months on their new jobs. She had a situation with her heart, they of course rushed to the hospital and the bills to help her were like $22,000. Seems high considering there was no surgery involved and only an overnight stay. With no insurance they had to put that all on credit card debt. Ouch. Since this is a Beckham thread, what we really need here is a "What Would Beckham Do" t-shirt
You know we have to ask Mrs. FlapJack. Lets just hope she doesn't prefer the plug in model.... anyway... about those critics! I still don't care.
Holy hell.. how did I miss this? Waaaaaayyyyy off topic. We all know where political discussions belong. At least it didn't devolve to horribly. Cerrado.