12 countries are more developed than the U.S. Are their governments more liberal or conservative?
As other users have answered most of those countries are left-leaning and have smaller more homogeneous populations. I really just wanted to comment on consrgreat's knee-jerk response to the idea that another country might be just as great a place to live, if not better, than the US. And to point out that not many people from those countries want to come here. The one's that do come here from those countries are usually sent by the companies they work for.
Is Donald Trump the most disgusting president in the history of the United States?
I’ve met and flown six of them, including Trump—Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and Bush 41 are the others.And I can unequivocally say that Trump is by far the most disgusting of those six.And it’s not like a close call. Four of the others, all except Nixon, were charismatic and gracious in person. Very friendly and kind. I felt honored and enjoyed meeting and flying them.Nixon wasn’t bad or rude to me, but I happened to fly him on one of his bad days in the history books and so he was neutral. He had a lot on his mind that day and just didn’t want to be bothered by the pilot who was flying him.SECOND-HAND NEWSNIXON: I flew with several pilots who had flown Nixon in better days and he was easy-going toward them, so he was not disgusting at all. He made some big mistakes, but in the end he threw himself under the bus for the good of our country, and I met and flew him after that. His admission of guilt and resignation seemed honorable to me and not disgusting.LBJ: I also have second-hand knowledge of Johnson because I also flew with pilots who had flown him. They told me some disgusting private stories about him, but he did many very decent public things, especially his push on civil rights. So, based on that hearsay evidence I put Trump far more disgusting than Johnson. Also, let’s remember that in 1968 he had the decency to admit he couldn’t solve the Vietnam problem and chose not to run for re-election.BUSH 43: I have a close friend who is good friends with Bush 43. They played tennis a couple of times a month during 43’s time at the White House. And even today my friend visits 43 in Crawford and continues to play tennis with him. Bush 43 is about as far from disgusting as one can get. He’s a lot of fun.JFK: I have another close friend who socialized with JFK in private settings. JFK’s cheating on his lovely wife Jackie was pretty disgusting and my friend has witnessed that. But Trump has likely had at least as many affairs, as well as three wives versus just one, and JFK was one of the world’s all-time champion charmers in public, so I don’t consider him even remotely disgusting.
Is it too easy for pedophiles and child abusers to hide behind religion?
I think it is, but am interested in your opinions. We know now that the FLDS excuses their own pedophilia under the guise of religious beliefs and practices. We have heard of JW's covering up child abuse within their church. Then there is the Catholic priests. Christianity condones beating a child in the name of discipline and many "good christians" feel justified and even believe they are being more loving as they hit their kids. So what do you think? Child abuse and molestation is an epidemic. I understand that it occurs in all walks of life. The problem with religion and child abuse is that people tend to be more vulnerable and trusting with church people as well as controlled by the leaders to do "what is right for the church community". It's promising that victims have come forward about the abuse and some justice has occured. Do you ever wonder about the cases that are silenced? What should be done about this?
Was 1950s America the greatest country to ever exist in the history of the world?
Minus the racism, sexism and homophobia which was largely centered in the South, The USA was like an different world compared to anything now or since. America was truly the top dog. The US had no economic/market competition, just a military one in the USSR. The Space Race between the two brought us technological advancement and eventually led to the Moon Landings the following decade. There were no drugs. Things were affordable, and girls were safe on the streets at night. There were no gangs flooding our cities. Elvis Presley was king and Marilyn Monroe the biggest sex symbol of the 20th century. In sports, kids looked up to larger than life Baseball icons like Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays..There were no hippies or potheads or rap music. People had respect. The cars looked better, the suburbs looked better, the houses looked better, everything looked better. What do you think?