Stupid shit in Medellin

[QUOTE=Huacho;2640856]Let me see if I can come up with a statement of comparable stupidity. 'I have never spent any time in Brazil but I imagine it's quite different than Lithuania, where I also have not spent any time.'
[/QUOTE][URL]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuanian_Brazilians[/URL]

A dangerous lot.

Off topic but, you know when we see (saw) a lovely youtube, what kind of folk gave them the thumbs down? I know thumbs down are haram now but there are folk (teens?) who vote down almost everything for the sake of it. Things ike that keep me awake these nights.

[QUOTE=Elvis2008;2640858]Zero because of the dollar. Saddam Hussein held his money in dollars and now the USA hating Venezuela is accepting them. When you have a reserve currency, that alone creates wealth because of demand for your currency. In dollar terms, you have lost half your wealth due to currency devaluation over the last 20 years in Colombia. It is about 70% in Brazil from their peak in 2005, and in Argentina you have lost 99% of it. And that is not even accounting for inflation.

OTOH, in Europe, the Euro has appreciated versus the dollar over that time.

This was actually the work of Alexander Hamilton. He made the dollar a reserve currency and sold debt based upon it. He was able to get a much better rate on dollar based debt than the states could. In fact, people who invested in USA debt made so much Thomas Jefferson got mad. He asked if the USA was going to be a bunch of hard workers or speculators. Eventually, the price of said debt went down and those who invested too much in it got crushed.

You as a state break off and you lose access to the money machine, USA printing press..[/QUOTE]As is usually the case Elvis blathers on and on about a subject he knows nothing about. The US Dollar is the world's reserve currency but it had nothing to do with Alexander Hamilton or Thomas Jefferson. It was the result of World War II and the US was the only country that was basically completely intact. Other countries accepted and used the US Dollar as the international exchange mechanism to settle transactions. In fact the US did not have a central bank like most European countries until the just before World War I when the Federal Reserve Bank was created by another Democratic douche named Woodrow Wilson.

But to answer the question that was asked. No states can not "opt" out of the union. It has nothing to do with the currency. A state could use the US Dollar as its currency. Afterall, Panama, Ecuador and several Caribbean countries do exactly that. The reason a state cannot "opt" out of the union is because it is prohibited. We fought a bloody civil war related to this issue and the Southern States were. How shall we say this. Welcomed back into the union looking down the barrel of a gun.

[QUOTE=Villainy;2640908]As is usually the case Elvis blathers on and on about a subject he knows nothing about. The US Dollar is the world's reserve currency but it had nothing to do with Alexander Hamilton or Thomas Jefferson. It was the result of World War II and the US was the only country that was basically completely intact. Other countries accepted and used the US Dollar as the international exchange mechanism to settle transactions. In fact the US did not have a central bank like most European countries until the just before World War I when the Federal Reserve Bank was created by another Democratic douche named Woodrow Wilson.

But to answer the question that was asked. No states can not "opt" out of the union. It has nothing to do with the currency. A state could use the US Dollar as its currency. Afterall, Panama, Ecuador and several Caribbean countries do exactly that. The reason a state cannot "opt" out of the union is because it is prohibited. We fought a bloody civil war related to this issue and the Southern States were. How shall we say this. Welcomed back into the union looking down the barrel of a gun.[/QUOTE]The Constitution which binds the Union is a "Flexible Document", need I say more? Amendments can be added and eliminated according to the will of the people. So if all the states decided to kick California out, and California wanted its' Independence, they could just add an Amendment to the Constitution, like Women's Voting Rights or the laws on Prohibition. I could never see it happening, but in theory it's possible. But I think what Elvis was referring to was a Civil War in which the laws of the Constitution go straight out the window and all hell breaks loose. I think Elvis is arguing that wouldn't happen because people would come to the conclusion before they rebel that even if they were to successfully fight their way out of the Union, they would have to create a new currency which other nations of the world would not place a very high value on.

[QUOTE=JustTK;2640888]I don't really understand your logoc here Elvis. A state, say Alaska for example. They could keep the US Dollar as its national currency.[/QUOTE]I think El Salvador was until last year was based on the dollar and so is Ecuador. Are you going to say those countries are as secure investment wise as the USA? What is different about investing in those countries versus Alaska?

[QUOTE=JustTK;2640888]I don't thinkk the loss of value in a currency vs another currency is as important to financial worth as you make it. It only impacts some sectors of the economy.[/QUOTE]No, the soundness of currency affects every business. Debt and currency go hand in hand. No one wants debt backed by Venezuelan Bolivars.

I will give you one example. The amount that you can borrow to buy a home in the USA is for the most part set by the federal government. Banks will lend people money because if someone does not pay on their mortgage, the feds will take the hit not the bank. Before 2007, that was implied but after that it is known as fact.

If Alaska breaks off, they are out of that program. Now no one can borrow money or borrow as cheaply so you cannot sell a home easily, and housing prices fall. Falling housing prices would affect the tax base of many states reliant on property tax, and you would destroy the wealth of homeowners in that state.

The cost to borrow for a car goes up or people cannot get credit to buy cars so car sales go down. So sales tax revenue for the state goes down as well. Whatever currency Alaska adopts is going to have higher interest rates because their currency will not be as sound.

If you want to start a hedge fund and borrow money, now you have access to the Fed dollars. Your state breaks off and you do not. You can borrow from the State Bank of Alaska or Texas but they do not exist yet. So you can kiss the financial industry goodbye as they will pack up and leave and go to a state that is in the union. Those are three huge industries destroyed, and I could go on but I think you get the point.

And in my state of Texas, 40 cents of every dollar in the state budget comes from the Feds. Texas does not have an income tax, but if we were to break off from the Feds, the first thing Texas would do is start an income tax. They would have to, and they would likely put it at a higher rate to make up for the loss of property tax and sales tax revenues.

The commodity world is dominated by dollars. If you put your COP in a box, you would be able to buy half as much commodity wise now as you could 20 years ago before you even looked at the change in pricing. To compensate for that, if you were to put money in the bank, you would demand a high interest rate to keep up. The higher the interest rate given to savers, the higher the bank has to charge people to borrow which devastates the economy. It is very hard to have an economy grow with high interest rates. Remember people in Colombia do not have to invest in Colombian debt. They can buy bonds that pay in dollars.

One of the things that did surprise me about Colombia JustTK is that they have a bit of a credit market. I talked to women who borrowed money to pay for school. On a personal level, I did not hear of anyone having taken out a loan in Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, or Brazil. I think that is because they could not get them.

That is not a good thing by the way. Yes, it is not good to be in debt, but not having a healthy credit market is very, very bad.

[QUOTE=Elvis2008;2640367]LOL. Are you kidding me? We are about to see the stupidest shit of all time. As MDS said, Sweden (Sweden!) is going to start putting chips in people to show they are vaxxed just like was feared. That is a headline right out of the Onion.

Now 10 of the 15 Brooklyn Nets have Covid. New York, the second bluest state there is, is at an all time high with Covid because of those damned unvaxxed Republicans. But all the Brooklyn Nets are vaccinated. Who cares? Wear your masks, stay safe, stay home, social distance, quit your job, half of some NFL teams are infected, those damned unvaxxed Republicans are going to kill us all! Get your damned vaccine you pussies!

Except no one is sick. Yeah, almost all the athletes testing + are not symptomatic.

So Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner and as big a Democratic douche sponsored by Pfizer as there is, just stopped testing for vaccinated players. Yes, after half the players on some teams that were up to 98% vaxxed are testing +, he stopped testing them.

Goodell went on to say, "I do not want to confuse people about the vaccine. I am stopping testing on vaccinated players because I do not want to be the one who is blamed for saying the vaccine does not work to prevent transmission. The more players who test +, the more we look like lying Democratic douches. " Okay he did not say that but he may as well have.

And finally, the NFL players have had enough. Players were polled, and a majority have been bitching to the union to stop all the damned testing. It is one thing to see your fellow players sick and near death, but another when you have worked all year, and half your team mates who are feeling fine have tested + and cannot play.

Even though all the data now has shown this brand of Covid is so mild that it may be less powerful than the flu, all the "science" douches are flipping out. When you got NFL players saying we have had enough of this shit, and their living is their bodies to me, that is a sign that this fucking thing may finally be over.[/QUOTE][URL]https://amgreatness.com/2021/12/20/in-email-to-fauci-nih-dir-collins-asked-for-media-hit-piece-to-smear-fringe-harvard-stanford-oxford-epidemiologists/[/URL]

[QUOTE=Villainy;2640908]As is usually the case Elvis blathers on and on about a subject he knows nothing about. The US Dollar is the world's reserve currency but it had nothing to do with Alexander Hamilton or Thomas Jefferson. It was the result of World War II and the US was the only country that was basically completely intact. Other countries accepted and used the US Dollar as the international exchange mechanism to settle transactions. In fact the US did not have a central bank like most European countries until the just before World War I when the Federal Reserve Bank was created by another Democratic douche named Woodrow Wilson.[/QUOTE]Villainy has a version I agree with.

This version was taught to me when I got my Degree in Economics nearly 40 years ago.

[QUOTE=JustTK;2640880]That is a good simile. [/QUOTE]There is no simile in Mr. E's post. You don't know what a simile is.

[QUOTE=JustTK;2640880]But I meant to point that the country is already split, if not divided. Not just on politics, but on important ideology. Vast area of the nation are enveloped in conservatism / racism / religion. And other parts are more liberal. Or do you think that is just an ignoramus looking in?[/QUOTE]It is just TV trying to convince people they are split and divided. At the end of the day people around the world just want to work and feed their families.

When I was out at a few stores a minute ago I did not see any conservatism, any liberalism, any religions or racism. I just saw people out buying shit that they needed.

Of course I had a gun on me the same as I have most days for the last 30 years and still managed to get home safely. According to TV, being a Black man I should have been shot and killed by police a long time ago, but I have not even had so much as traffic ticket in the last 21 years. Go figure.

[QUOTE=RamDavidson84;2640924]The Constitution which binds the Union is a "Flexible Document", need I say more? Amendments can be added and eliminated according to the will of the people. So if all the states decided to kick California out, and California wanted its' Independence, they could just add an Amendment to the Constitution, like Women's Voting Rights or the laws on Prohibition. I could never see it happening, but in theory it's possible. But I think what Elvis was referring to was a Civil War in which the laws of the Constitution go straight out the window and all hell breaks loose. I think Elvis is arguing that wouldn't happen because people would come to the conclusion before they rebel that even if they were to successfully fight their way out of the Union, they would have to create a new currency which other nations of the world would not place a very high value on.[/QUOTE]You're partially correct. Except there's no provision to remove anything from the Constitution, which is why another Amendment was needed to repeal prohibition.

For a state to secede would require a 2/3 majority in both houses and ratification by 75% of the states.

Secession probably see many other problems, besides currency. For one, the state wishing to secede would require international trade agreements to trade with any other state.

Regarding your other post, you really need to turn off your TV. So much of your reply was fundamentally flawed, I don't know where to start. I'll touch on a few points.

Canada is more diverse than the US. You should visit Toronto.

From 2019-2020 the US debt increased by $5 T. Where was your and Fox News's outrage then?

Wealthy white men don't fight wars. Those 600,000 deaths were not of wealthy men.

There is nobody talking about free healthcare. The proposal is to remove, or greatly reduce, the approximately $3 trillion in annual corporate profit from the cost of healthcare. I'll happily explain in greater detail when I have more time.

That wide open border, it's the same border we've had for a very long time. If it's such a huge risk to national security, how has the US survived?

That's enough for 1 day.

[QUOTE=Huacho;2640964]There is no simile in Mr. E's post. You don't know what a simile is.[/QUOTE]Of course, this is the simile.

"Just like me and you hanging together. I go eat some meat then I go with you to try to find vegetarian. ".

Do you have to take exception to everything I write? And pretty much always you're wrong. It just makes you a completely iritating bore to exchange with.

[QUOTE=Elvis2008;2640925]I think El Salvador was until last year was based on the dollar and so is Ecuador. Are you going to say those countries are as secure investment wise as the USA? What is different about investing in those countries versus Alaska?
No, the soundness of currency affects every business. Debt and currency go hand in hand. No one wants debt backed by Venezuelan Bolivars.
I will give you one example. The amount that you can borrow to buy a home in the USA is for the most part set by the federal government. Banks will lend people money because if someone does not pay on their mortgage, the feds will take the hit not the bank. Before 2007, that was implied but after that it is known as fact.
One of the things that did surprise me about Colombia JustTK is that they have a bit of a credit market. I talked to women who borrowed money to pay for school. On a personal level, I did not hear of anyone having taken out a loan in Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, or Brazil. I think that is because they could not get them. That is not a good thing by the way. Yes, it is not good to be in debt, but not having a healthy credit market is very, very bad.[/QUOTE]I can't talk for those countries in South America. But with most of them being left leaning, I find it hard to beleive that they do not have effective small business loan schemes. In Africa it is a very established system of "micro financing". Indeed one of the major goals of the BRICS is to secure easier access to loans that are not tied in to business wins for the West.

You gave Venezuelan Bolivars as an example of a useless currency. Agreed its useless. But I don't agree its a very relevant example. Alaska could use the USD, or create a currency that is tied to the dollar. Panama does this, so does Belize. Malaysia was also doing it for a while (not sure if they still do). But Alaska would need to create its own banking system. It is rich in resources, I am sure it could easily be financially independent. All taxes raised (private and corporate) would be channelled back in to the state instead of "head office". I don't follow why they would not be able to maintain a property market with their own banking system. Catalonia expects to be able to do the same with Spain, Scotland could do the same with UK, I don't follow why a rich state like Alaska could not do it with the USA.

I did a quick search on micro financing in South America, and there is loads of it:

[URL]https://borgenproject.org/microfinance-in-bolivia/[/URL]

[URL]https://www.poverty-action.org/study/trust-and-microfinance-poor-communities-peru[/URL]

[URL]https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/news_ext_content/ifc_external_corporate_site/news[/URL]+and+events / ifc+promotes+microfinance+for+favelas+in+Brazil.

[URL]https://www.lmdf.lu/en/what-is-microfinance/our-microfinance-institutions-mfis/[/URL]

[URL]http://www.fundacionparaguaya.org.py/v2/?proyecto=microfinance&lang=en[/URL]

[QUOTE=Elvis2008;2640925]No, the soundness of currency affects every business. Debt and currency go hand in hand.
[/QUOTE]Apologies, I missed this point. No it doesn't. Not everything is internationalised. Think about Colombia. To the vast majority of the people, they don't give a shlt what the USD-COP exch rate. Sure, if they want to buy electronic goods, or a car imported from the USA. But most products they buy are locally produced.

Now I know you will counter that the USD-COP rate will mean more tourists, plus cause upward pressure on property prices. Again, this impacts only a tiny fraction of the total domestic market. Very few foriegners are buying property outside of the big 3 or 4 cities, and even there they are in different price sectors to the majority.

[QUOTE=JustTK;2641121]Of course, this is the simile.

"Just like me and you hanging together. I go eat some meat then I go with you to try to find vegetarian. ".

Do you have to take exception to everything I write? And pretty much always you're wrong. It just makes you a completely iritating bore to exchange with.[/QUOTE]Sim·I·LE /712;siməlē noun; a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid (e. G. , as brave as a lion, crazy like a fox).

Also, "me and you" don't hang together. [B]You[/B] and [B]I[/B] hang together. And you aren't from a developing country.

[QUOTE=JustTK;2641152]Apologies, I missed this point. No it doesn't. Not everything is internationalised. Think about Colombia. To the vast majority of the people, they don't give a shlt what the USD-COP exch rate. Sure, if they want to buy electronic goods, or a car imported from the USA. But most products they buy are locally produced.

Now I know you will counter that the USD-COP rate will mean more tourists, plus cause upward pressure on property prices. Again, this impacts only a tiny fraction of the total domestic market. Very few foriegners are buying property outside of the big 3 or 4 cities, and even there they are in different price sectors to the majority.[/QUOTE]Do you think currency depreciation, inflation, interest rate are related?

[QUOTE=JustTK;2641125]...It is rich in resources, I am sure it could [b]easily[/b] be financially independent....[/QUOTE]Isn't the same apply to Venezuela?