I live in a country that tortures people.
That is a fact. That is an undisputed fact. What that means is that the United States is no longer exceptional. The United States is just another country now, in the same moral sphere as China, as Russia, as the old Soviet Union, as all the 3rd world tinpot nations led by 3rd world tinpot dictators who torture people. The United States is just like them now. The United States is a country that tortures people.
I don’t know what to think about living in a country that tortures people. Right now righties are saying “well if you don’t like it, go somewhere else!” Yeah right. As if a 50+ year old man can just pick up and go live anywhere in the world he wants. Uhm, there’s these things called borders, y’know. And guess what, they’re protected by people with guns, y’know. You can’t just go anywhere in the world you want to go and live there. You can visit, maybe, but you can’t live and work there, at least not legally. And frankly, I’m not interested in being an illegal immigrant in someone else’s country. I’ve already seen how illegal immigrants are treated here in the United States. I’ve read how they’re treated in Europe. I doubt being an illegal immigrant anywhere is a good experience. People willing to do that have to be damn desperate to do it. Which I’m definitely not.
I guess that means I’m a torture. And you are a torturer. And we are all torturers. But wait, you say. You didn’t torture anybody, did you? I didn’t torture anybody, either. But it doesn’t matter, because one thing that the torture report makes clear is that it was not a decision made by a few “bad apples” to torture people. It was a decision made at the highest echelons of government. Our government. Our elected government. Our government that rules our nation on our behalf. It wasn’t a few bad apples that tortured people, it was our country that tortured people, the United States of America that tortured people. Oh sure, the people giving the orders used silly euphemisms to avoid facing what they were doing, but facts are facts.
I live in a country that tortures people.
Forty years ago, heck, even twenty years ago, saying that would have been ridiculous. Yet today, it is fact.
I live in a country that tortures people.
And for some reason, that does not make me feel good at all.
– Badtux the Queasy Penguin
Just imagine a world without these unashamed, ignorant, most unimaginative and unthinking people who walk among us, who sternly believe they have the exclusive right to make themselves our leaders and all knowing guides; forcing their feeble and infantile destructive beliefs upon us. They have invaded our social structure, our homes, our schools, and our personal lives. They have turned our country into an evil, wicked, deprived imperial empire. Here is a notable quote that hits home, “I never wonder to see men wicked, but I often wonder to see them not ashamed.” — Jonathan Swift
I have been a staunch supporter of this great country for fifty-five years because I believed we were the defenders of truth and justice, but now I’m ashamed to be called an American and resent being associated with these perverted degenerates who falsely claim to be patriots. They have brought nothing but shame.
The main question I asked myself and you should be asking yourself too. Is this country worth saving from the jaws of these lunatics? After careful examination the negatives outweigh the positives. Sadly, the answer is “No.” The uncontrollable corrosive greed that has permeated this society has become intolerable. The two political body’s of this country are foolish over-privileged children, incapable of serving the needs of the hard working middle-class. The corporate masters have bought themselves some useful idiots. We have gone beyond the dysfunctional stage and have now entered the final stage of self-destruction. The damage to the middle-class is to extensive and beyond repair, the impending social and economical disaster is just around the bend.
I’m in the process of selling all my possessions and will be transplanting to Costa Rica. Costa Rican residency grants foreign nationals the legal right to live in Costa Rica. I’m going the (pensionados) retired route which is defined as a person receiving a lifetime pension such as social security, state retirement benefits, military pension. or someone who has purchased or owns a lifetime annuity guaranteeing an income (for life) of no less than $1,000 US per month. They don’t like moochers.
To permanently relocate to Costa Rica, you need to become a legal resident. After seven years of legal residency you can apply for citizenship. You must participate in Costa Rica’s national social security and healthcare insurance system, know as “Caja”. Proof of participation and payments for the entire term of residency are required for renewals.
Looking forward to a new life.. far away from the crazed fuckers who ruined the greatest country in the world.
Bye Amerika……..
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I have a friend leaving for Costa Rica in just over a month. Along with your comments about the country she adds, with a bit of pain and fire in her eyes, “No military”. I plan on visiting to see how things look down there but as long as my 93-year-old mother is around I’m stuck with our 3rd world tinpot “elected” “leaders”.
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I looked at relocation to Costa Rica some time ago. There’s good things and bad things to think about.
1. If you’re using your Social Security to move to Costa Rica, be aware that Medicare does not cover medical care outside the US. While the Costa Rican health care system is very good for a third world country, you won’t have access to advanced medical care there. There’s things where you’d just get them fixed if you were on Medicare here in the US, where in Costa Rica you just have to stay sick and feeling bad for the rest of your (probably shorter) life. Either that, or medically evacuate to the United States, which can be very expensive and depending on the condition, problematic.
2. Crime is a *major* problem in Costa Rica. This is largely because of US trade policies that have resulted in economic difficulties, and rampant inflation that proceeds at over 10% per year. Desperate people do desperate things.
3. You are in a foreign culture that natively speaks a foreign tongue, and you will never fully understand that culture because you were not born and raised in it. There are aspects of that culture that you will likely find disagreeable. You’ll need to become good at keeping your mouth shut and listening, because if you open your mouth you’re likely to step off the deep end and getting hurt. Remember the Latin American concept of “machismo”. While Costa Ricans are more mild mannered than many in Latin America, they’re still a Latin American country with some of those same cultural traits.
In any event I don’t have the money to become a pensionado prior to reaching retirement age so it’s irrelevant. The 50’s are sort of an awkward age in that regard…
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I have thought about moving to Canada occasionally, as I am technically a dual citizen with both Canada and the US, despite being born here as I was able to legally claim it through birthright through my mother as she was born in Canada and lived there until she was 14.
I know that Badtux had a post awhile back about the possibility of moving to another country while enjoying the same standards of living that we had grown used to here in the US. (Until recently, anyway) The problem is that I am currently unemployed, and I have heard that the job market in Canada is not that much better than it is here, as well as the fact that if you want to live in a place that is somewhat decent, weather-wise, the housing costs are ridiculous.
There could be other factors as well, but I am not sure what they are off of the top of my head
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This country has never been as great as we’ve managed to convince ourselves it is or was. But then neither is any other country. Where the U.S. has probably been the most “exceptional” has been in its degree of self-delusion and hypocrisy.
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It occurred to me the best way to punish the torturers, and indeed destroy what’s left of the country, would be a simple thing; something that isn’t illegal and doesn’t involve stockpiling guns and fertilizer. It’s not illegal, and would in fact gain you millions of supporters.
Just this: Vote Republican. (Or even just fail to vote.)
This is the worst thing you could possibly do to the largest number of your enemies. Yes, some of the worst are going to live fabulous lives sucking the last of the marrow from the bones, but you couldn’t stop that, anyway. As for the rest… the ones spending more on weapons than food for their children, the ones dialing in to AM radio stations to vent their bigotry, the ones who loudly repeat bumper sticker slogans at family gatherings, and boast of their ignorance… They will suffer magnificently if you give them their political wishes.
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I don’t think that’s necessary. The Democrats have proven sufficiently spineless that at this point there’s nothing stopping the downward slide into 3rd world status, it happens slower under the Democrats than under the Republicans, but it happens nonetheless.
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Curious. Has anyone here seen a Penguin in its’ natural habitat ?
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Saw this tweet today: http://t.co/rsNp2q1DIB
Now who else ‘experimented’ with torture? How well did it turn out?
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It’s fascinating, how many people who think they’re defending the CIA use that phrase “bad apples.” Is it a Freudian slip, or are they just too dumb to remember what one bad apple does?
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Torture, the republican legacy.
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“Torture, the republican legacy.”
Letting the bastard walk.
The democratic party legacy.
Nader’s “…not a dimes worth of difference…” is down to maybe 2 cents worth.
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Curious. Has anyone here seen a Penguin in its’ natural habitat ?
Yes.
http://travel.cnn.com/wild-wellington-best-city-wildlife-337846
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