[Spridgets] Spridgets Digest, Vol 181, Issue 2

Sun Jun 21 12:58:18 MDT 2026

Silly me. I thought this was a Sprite forum. 
Bill1958 Sprite Iris Blue

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On Sunday, June 21, 2026, 11:34 AM, spridgets-request at autox.team.net <spridgets-request at autox.team.net> wrote:

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Today's Topics:

  1. No LBC - Budapest, NATO (OTAN) Europe, the EU, Islamic
      immigration and healthcare (Weslake1330)

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Message: 1
Date: Sat, 20 Jun 2026 23:20:32 +0100
From: Weslake1330 <weslake1330 at gmail.com>
To: Spridgets <spridgets at autox.team.net>
Subject: [Spridgets] No LBC - Budapest, NATO (OTAN) Europe, the EU,
    Islamic immigration and healthcare
Message-ID:
    <CAMhoh1U086VzL_ZMH428L64qsUw6=fb=BkMtxCZp7zVM+GgdTw at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Hi list, some of you are don?t like it when I post stuff like this but
never challenge any of the points I make or even privately debate them with
me.  Some of you find them interesting and some have deleted this e-mail
already.  Well, I read a lot of stuff on YouTube and regardless of any
opinion or political allegiances it does seem to me that not everyone
understands the basic of some issues and that leads to misunderstandings.
Sure, the list should be to discuss LBC stuff but I think the archive will
confirm other stuff, sometimes contentious (public drafting on the highway
and not in LBCs) topics get discussed.

Firstly, part of the reason countries are helping Ukraine in their fight
against Russian aggression and attacks, lie with The Budapest Memorandum on
Security signed in Budapest, Hungary, on 5 December 1994.  The summary is
that Ukraine gave up their nuclear weapons as part of a defence deal.  The
other obvious reason is that when one country attacks another and seeks to
completely invade it there is choice other countries have to make in
whether to sit back and do nothing or find a way to help. Thirdly you have
to consider a domino effect scenario where Russia defeats Ukraine and then
goes onto rebuild the USSR.  Maybe that sounds like a problem for the
Europeans and I guess it is, or at least first.  But if the dominos carry
on falling then you once again have a USSR that threatens the USA.

NATO is the North Atlantic (not North American) Treaty Organisation (the
French call it OTAN for French grammatical reasons I don?t understand).
It?s not a club of buddies to bully anyone but a club of buddies to defend
each other against a big bully.  It?s not a European idea or club and
Canada is a member.  Despite the rhetoric you might read or hear, NATO
isn?t a way for everyone apart from the USA to get defence on the cheap.
Not everyone in the club might agree that everyone is paying enough.
However, the member paying the most doesn?t say it will pay less but argues
others should pay more.  Why is that?  Well, you might have to do your own
research on that.

Europe isn?t a country it?s a geographic region.  The EU is not the same
thing as Europe because the EU is a kind of club.  Strangely enough the EU
has been viewed by some members and one ex-member as a club where not all
the members pay in enough money or get equal benefits out of it.  The
republic of Ireland is not in NATO but is in Europe and is in the EU.  The
United Kingdom (Great Britain, sort of) is in NATO and is in Europe but is
not in the EU (it left some years ago).

Is Europe being taken over by Islamic (Moslem) immigrants?  Well, I don?t
think so.  I could make a joke and say that in England at least, the Hindus
and Sikhs would never allow that to happen. You also have to understand
there are actually 2 major and one lesser Islamic group ? not sure if this
is quite the same thing as Catholics and Protestants but it?s how I like to
think of it.  Over the years I?ve worked alongside Moslems and they were
great people and not extremists.

I read a lot that the reason Europeans have free healthcare is because they
rely on the US, as part of NATO, to protect them rather than pay for their
own protection.  In the UK free healthcare came into being after WW2 and
existed all the way through the Cold War at a time when the UK spent a lot
more on defence than it does now.  However, it?s not quite as encompassing
as it used to be.  For example, when I was a child, medical prescriptions
were free but for decades since there has been a fee to pay.  Similarly,
all dental care was free when I was a child but now while it is still
subsidised there is 3 tier system of fees and it can still be very
expensive.  I think at least one country in Europe has free healthcare.  A
question to consider then is if the US spent less money on NATO and defense
generally would it be enough for free healthcare?

I think that?s all the stuff I believe I can help others with their
understanding of and I?m confident that listers are generally smarter than
everyone else but may have friends with lesser rides and knowledge
generally!  Also, while I have political opinions, I am not a member of any
political party and haven?t always voted for the same political party.  I
have enlisted military service but not combat experience.  Recently I even
applied for and have been granted a HM Forces Veteran ID card and maybe
when I get my 3rd one it will actually correctly record the initials for my
Christian/Fore names. . . .

I?d like to finish with a quote from Henry Ford: ?Any man who thinks he can
be happy and prosperous by letting the government take care of him better
take a closer look at the American Indian?.  However, it seems to be bunk
and that he never said that but did say a bunch of other stuff.  So, how
about a quote from the bible? Matthew Ch19 v30 (NIV) But many who are first
will be last, and many who are last will be first.

Daniel
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