There has been a lot of discussion since Athens about foreign swimmers training in the United States. Most of them attend U.S. Universities, receive athletic scholarships, and compete at NCAA's. Some notable examples include Duje Draganja (Cal), Fred Bousquet and Kirsty Coventry (Auburn), Markus Rogan (Stanford), and the South African sprinters (Arizona). Some train in the U.S., but don't compete for a university (Inge de Bruijn). All of these athletes benefit from U.S. coaching, from training with U.S. swimmers, and in some cases, from financial support provided by U.S. entities (athletic scholarships). They all turn around and then win medals for other countries.
A couple questions: 1) What do you think about this arrangement generally? 2) Is it of benefit or detriment to U.S. swimming to have these foreign athletes training and competing here? 3) Should we be giving athletic scholarships, which are a scarce resource in swimming, to foreign athletes who will represent their own countries internationally instead of U.S.-born swimmers who will represent us internationally?
I'm sure there are other issues, but these come directly to mind.
Yeah, Blue, pointing out that the founders weren't right about everything clearly makes me a Constitution-hating commie. Thanks for your nuanced argument.
Geek and Gull, have you been to a hospital that serves only poor communities, say the one that serves Bed-Stuy, Williamsburg, and parts of Bushwick, Brooklyn (all poor neighborhoods, though the second is gentrifying quickly)? People who go there would be freaking thrilled to go to a VA hospital. (As the kids in the neighborhood put it, you go in there with a scratch and come out in a box.) Not to mention, VA hospitals would be a lot better if the government wasn't cutting their funding like nobody's business. And to answer you, I was totally pleased the last time I went to a government office. I got my expedited passport from a wonderful lady who not only did her job well, but had awesome benefits and a decent salary. When my friend dropped her keys down the sewer grate, she called 311 (the city's public line), and the next day a bunch of city workers showed up with a machine to remove the grate and find the keys.
Do you know what a nation with low taxes and less government looks like? Read some books on the Gilded Age, then check out some Jacob Riis and Walker Evans photos and get back to me. When was America great? The fifties? Do you know what tax rates were in the fifties? I'll give you a hint, it isn't lower. But if you really think your vision is compelling, argue for it, give positive examples of how it would help the least fortunate among us. Tell me how low taxes are going to make people too poor to pay taxes afford healthcare.
Why then are other nations moving away from socialism? Two main reasons: (a) globalization is a race to the bottom and they are trying to compete with nations where it's okay to force eight year olds to work for pennies a day, and (b) European nations have a combination of againg populations and antipathy to immigration that makes it difficult to sustain themselves.
Anyway, yeah, this is long and off topic. Sorry. I'll be happy to leave it here if you are.
Yeah, Blue, pointing out that the founders weren't right about everything clearly makes me a Constitution-hating commie. Thanks for your nuanced argument.
Geek and Gull, have you been to a hospital that serves only poor communities, say the one that serves Bed-Stuy, Williamsburg, and parts of Bushwick, Brooklyn (all poor neighborhoods, though the second is gentrifying quickly)? People who go there would be freaking thrilled to go to a VA hospital. (As the kids in the neighborhood put it, you go in there with a scratch and come out in a box.) Not to mention, VA hospitals would be a lot better if the government wasn't cutting their funding like nobody's business. And to answer you, I was totally pleased the last time I went to a government office. I got my expedited passport from a wonderful lady who not only did her job well, but had awesome benefits and a decent salary. When my friend dropped her keys down the sewer grate, she called 311 (the city's public line), and the next day a bunch of city workers showed up with a machine to remove the grate and find the keys.
Do you know what a nation with low taxes and less government looks like? Read some books on the Gilded Age, then check out some Jacob Riis and Walker Evans photos and get back to me. When was America great? The fifties? Do you know what tax rates were in the fifties? I'll give you a hint, it isn't lower. But if you really think your vision is compelling, argue for it, give positive examples of how it would help the least fortunate among us. Tell me how low taxes are going to make people too poor to pay taxes afford healthcare.
Why then are other nations moving away from socialism? Two main reasons: (a) globalization is a race to the bottom and they are trying to compete with nations where it's okay to force eight year olds to work for pennies a day, and (b) European nations have a combination of againg populations and antipathy to immigration that makes it difficult to sustain themselves.
Anyway, yeah, this is long and off topic. Sorry. I'll be happy to leave it here if you are.
