Actually, the modern world IE. USA, Canada, Europe, etc have a neutral or declining population growth. The USA has neutral population growth due to imigrants. If it weren't for imigrants we would be a declining population. The countries that are growing are 3rd world countries. However, disease such as AID's will shorten their life expectancy. The current estimates indicate that we will have a negative world population growth by 2050. The BBC ran an article about this about a month ago.
"I'll have to be a global warming agnostic. I've seen credible viewpoints that indicate that in the next decades we will either be swimming like "Water World" or freezing in a new ice age."
The problem is that everyone associates Global Warming with warm weather. The truth is that Global Warming will alter the weather paterns of the earth and make some places colder. For example. The Gulf Stream has shut down 4 or 5 times during the past 20,000 years. The shutting down of the gulf stream is associated with a warmer global temperature. Scientists feel that the current global warming will shut down the gulf stream. Europe relies on the gulf stream to keep it's temperature somewhat moderate. Even though the global temerature is a few degrees higher. The global temperature will not make the up the difference for the lack of warm water and air from the gulf stream in the European region. The result is that Europe will be very cold and countries like England will become a tundra.
The Pentagon has already begun considering the consequences of global warming on future politics and thus warfare.
The Internet Society also mentions Al Gore in their history timeline. You have to give credit to Al Gore for taking the initiative from a political stand point. The creation of the Internet was a huge project that needed the cooperation of Universities, Businesses and Government. Projects of that scale always need a Politician to champion the cause to get funding and grants. Did Al Gore use an unfortunate choice of words? Yes.
You are jumping to conclusions. I personally think Ted Kenedy is a slime ball. Like it or not the current people in the White House have skeletons in their closet. Normally I wouldn't care about DUI's that happened in the past. However, there is bit of a hipocracy in their cases. As far as Laura goes... She ran a stop sign and hit her boyfriends car and killed him. The boyfriend was DOA with a broken neck. The report filed had inelligible writing for the speed of her vehicle. One could logically conclude that she must have been traveling at a pretty good pace to break someone's neck. She also recieved NO citation.
It has nothing to do with "Right-wing conspiracy". Just the fact that you made that statement shows that you are not thinking critically. Just like Ted Kenedy , Laura Bush comes from a wealthy family. The police did not issue any form of traffic citation for this accident. It's simply a matter of being from a wealthy family and being able to get away with things. If you killed some one in an accident would you get away so easily? You would definitely be issued citations and chances are you would be investigated for Vehicular Homicide.
How is my above post rated as flamebait? It's the truth. The comment was geared to show that both parties have their issues. I guess some hard core Bush supporters must have mod points...
You are correct.... However, it is impossible to get your laptop that clean. Your laptop is made of all sorts of minerals that would leach impurities into the water.
Same for the Bush's and Cheney. Cheney has 2 or 3 DUI's. W Bush was arrested for a DUI. Mrs. W Bush killed her best friend when she ran into her car. Yep, most of the "Pillars" of our community suck!
You will have to post some links or recomend some litature to convince me about the middle ages were a time when tech was taken seriously. Perhaps it was due to the fact that they were re-discovering most that was forgotten or destroyed. After all it took almost 2000 years for society to start implementing things like sewage and plumbing systems into major cities.
Mexico has a tradition (if semi-gone, at least in the city) of taking a nap in the middle of the day.
I believe there are many other latin countries that do the same thing. I also remember hearing that this is practiced in some places in the middle east. For example in Saudi Arabia they wake up before dawn to do their prayers and then go to work. Then in the afternoon they have a nap.
I agree. And don't get me started on the same damn catch scene he puts in his movies. You know the one where the good and bad guy both of each others guns pointed at one anothers head. It's been in Face of, Mission Impossible II and WindTalkers.
This will end up like the war on Alcohol (1920's) and the War on Drugs. Miserable failures that do nothing but give more power to organized crime. If they have a problem with porn then they should put a tax on it, Same with drugs. Ashcroft strikes me as the type that would make it illegal to copulate accept for the purpose of procreation.
"Two-thirds of the people in the top tax bracket (500,000 of 750,000) are small business owners. In America, most small businesses are pass-through entities (sole proprietors, partnerships, most LLCs) where the owners pay their business taxes on their personal tax returns. Cutting the top bracket tax rate gave an immediate boost to half a million small businesses which they can then use for hiring and general expansion."
This statement is false. Please research what you are posting. Read this article from the Washington Post pertaining to IRS data.
Most notable is this quote from the Article.
Internal Revenue Service statistics cited by a Democratic senator this month show that the vast majority of small businesses do not earn nearly enough money to fall into the highest income tax bracket. According to IRS data from the 2001 tax year, 3.8 percent of the 18.2 million business tax returns filed that year reported taxable income of $200,000 or more. The top tax bracket last year kicked in at $311,950 of taxable income.
In contrast, 62 percent of business filers reported incomes of less than $50,000, putting them at most in the 15 percent tax bracket, the second lowest. Nearly 88 percent of business filers reported income of less than $100,000, keeping them comfortably below the top two tax brackets of 33 percent and 35 percent,
The Article also sheds some light on where you got the 750,000 figure. Basically, that figure comes from a very broad interpretation of what a Small Business Owner is. IE. A CEO or other wealthy person that is making money from side investments such as realestate.
Another quote from the article:
But under Treasury's definition, both Bush and Vice President Cheney are members of the entrepreneurial class. In his 2002 tax return, the president reported $1,549 from rental real estate, royalties, partnerships, S corporations and trusts, including income from GWB Rangers Corp., a remnant of his days as co-owner of the Texas Rangers. Of the Cheney household's $1.2 million income, $238,682 was from business ventures within the White House's definition of small business.
I am all for assiting small businesses. However, the wealthy do not need this sort of "wellfare" to start new investments.
The term "Politically Correct" (PC) is a satirical epithet applied to liberal doctrine by conservatives. It mocks the presumption that liberal opinions are the "correct" opinions, in an absolute sense, not one perspective among many.
The term "PC" is made more amusing to conservatives by the liberals' conviction of their own political correctness preventing liberals from recognizing the joke that liberals' are unawaredly convinced of their own political correctness. "Of course our beliefs are the correct beliefs, why is that funny ?" ask the liberals.
"PC" is a pretty big tent. And thus can be interpreted and missused in many different ways. For example, PC can also be seen as pandering for votes. Many conservatives say "PC" things to hide a political agenda. What I was trying to convey was that news should be unbiased and impartial. That being said, your retort was also incorect. Conservatives are just as prone to being "PC" and believing that their view is correct.
"Which brings us to your assertion that "News is supposed to be PC" What you are telling us ?
1. That news should be reported from a liberal perspective because..."
The point is that news should be based on the facts from Both sides of the story. The news should not be used as a partisan tool. The true meaning of being PC is to not base opinions on steriotypes and to assist the downtrodden. For example my neighbor said that only blacks and mexicans can afford to be on welfare. That statement is not PC and is based on a steriotype. A news story that gives the downtrodden a voice and thus both sides of the story is PC. I think that you are thus again missuing PC and mistaking it for pandering.
You seem to have something against Liberals. You wrote a very long paragraph ranting about Liberals.
2. Liberals are right and conservatives are wrong.
There you go again. Wow you really do have something against liberals. Man you must hate the founding fathers of the U.S.A. All that talk of equality, seperation of church and state and seperation from the aristocratic policies of 17th century Europe. Hey why do we need the constitution and liberties when we have the magna carta! I think you need to ponder about your political affiliation if you believe in the ideals above. The plank of the conservative republican party is not about equality of races/sexes and not about seperation of church and state.
Besides what type of liberal are you talking about. I guess you are not talking about a financial liberal. Why is it that the Reagan/Bushes era is spending money so liberaly? I guess you must be talking about a social liberal? You know the type that want more civil liberties , etc... Since you went out on a limb and guesed that I am more of a social liberal, I will go out on a limb. I am guessing that you are probably not truly a conservative but a Neo-Conservative Facist .
3. You are blind to the fact that you are promoting your own perspective in absolutist terms.
If I am blind then you must blind and deaf as you are doing the same.
Every one has their own perspective. We don't need a biased TV program telling us what to think. We need to be able to look at the facts and make up our own minds.
"PC" serves to associate with liberals the principle that unqualified indviduals should be promoted if they are members of a particular ethnic group.
Yeah, I used to think like you. Then I lived over seas for a while. I would always over hear ill comments towards American intelligence and way of life. That being said. You are probably also a member of an ethnic group that is the majority. Try living in a country where you are the minority. When you are back tell me how it feels. Then try to be a little intraspective and imagine if your skin was a different color, your ancesters were slaves and your parents remember a time when they had to sit in the back of the bus and weren't allowed to go to good schools. Th
News is supposed to be "PC". We don't need a TV network telling us what to think. After all how many times last year did Fox news anounce that WMD were found in Iraq?
There is also another reason why people do this all the time... Theft. My old company lost laptops when trying to ship them. Even inside the EU, the prefered method was to send it with an employee. Sure they are insured. However, sometimes a laptop has a greater company value than it's sticker price.
I believe that pertains to the policy of not allowing computers or encryption software to be exported from the U.S. Remeber in the late 90's when Iraq was accused for buying PS2's to make a supercomputer?
The people in customs aren't nazi's. If they see a laptop they will think nothing of it. Laptops are very common on Airplanes. I have taken many transatlantic flights and except for the pre-flight security check, I have never been questioned about my laptop or my other personal electronics. They have much bigger fish to catch. For example cigarette and exotic animal smugglers. He just needs to keep his mouth shut and walk through. Speaking from experience entry into the UK is very easy compared to the U.S., especally from Gatwick airport.
I used to do business in the UK. Your laptop will work fine. Simply buy a US to UK socket adapter. You don't have to worry about the voltage as the laptop power supply is made to handle 120 and 220. The only problem you might have is with the "|" key and the EURO symbol. The "|" key can be a real pain if you are a unix admin. So you may want to remap the keyboard.
I think the price of a laptop is below the U.S. importation tax fees. I am not sure about the UK. Of course you could just fly right into Britan with your laptop and look like any other business or techi traveler. Customs has better things to look out for than a single laptop being imported.
No, Any type of government that falls in bad favor with the U.S is in for a tough ride. We have the economic power to sanction any country (Including capitalist countries) into the ground. Our economic power should be just as respected as our military power.
The U.S. was the only industrialized nation that was untouched by WWI and WWII. The aftermath of WWII combined with our amazing wealth of natural resources left us in a "Winner takes all Position." We are very fortunate that we have a wealth of natural resources and that we were geographically isolated from those wars. While others were rebuilding their cities from rubble we were able to sieze the oppurtunity to expand.
Don't fall into the mindset that Capatalism is infallable. I enjoy our society and quality of life. However, we must be realistic. All known forms of government can falter. Capatalism is succesful because the environment is favorable. Lets hope we can adapt when the wind changes. Remember, Capatilsm != Democracy and Freedom.
"Of course communism isn't exactly known for a healthy middle class either. Sigh -- What is to become of us?
Every major Communist country has also been subject to US embargo's and sactions. It's pretty hard to prosper when you can't trade. I think Cuba would be doing very well if it wasn't economically sactioned by the U.S.
Communism and Capitalism both share the same flaw. They both under estimate Human imperfection and greed.
Lets look at some statistics...
www.medical-malpractice-lawyers-attorneys.com
The two statistics that caught my eye were:
1. From 1996 through 1999, Florida hospitals reported 19,885 incidents but only 3,177 medical malpractice claims. In other words, for every 6 medical errors only 1 claim is filed.
2. Malpractice insurance costs amount to only 3.2 percent of the average physician's revenues according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC)
or this link:
Citizen.org:
"10.6 percent of the state's doctors have paid two or more malpractice awards to patientsThese repeat offender doctors are responsible for 84 percent of all payments. Even more surprising, only 4.7 percent of Pennsylvania 's doctors (1,838), each of whom has paid three or more malpractice claims, are responsible for 51.4 percent of all payments. "
Frivolis lawsuits really aren't that much of a problem. I am much more concerned about the increasing privitazation and high price of Prescription drugs in this country.
"If that were the choice, I'd rather hate my job for 5 years making $100k/year, put $80k each year in the bank and then quit my job and pay myself $20k each year for the next 25 years out of the saved money to do what I want;)."
How is this insightful? After your 401K at 15% you are left with 85K After taxes that 85K is about 60K/year. Factor in other costs such as food, rent, transportation, entertainment, health insurance and retirement. You will be left with around 35-40K. After 5 years you will have about 200K to do what you please. That ends up being about 8K/year. Even at 20K per year you wouldn't be able to support a family.
Actually, with the exchange rate he only has to make about 55K GBP per year to make over 100K USD. If the plumber is making twice the profesor's salary, he is pretty close. 46KGBP is about 83K USD. Also, Salary figures are generally lower in the UK. For example in the IT field a set of skills and years experience that would net 80K in the US would get about 50K in the UK. However, the British don't have to wory about paying for health insurance, funding a 401K as they recieve pensions, and a high mortgage rate is considered 5%. After you figure in the expense that the US has and the UK doesn't, it almost equals out.
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Actually, the modern world IE. USA, Canada, Europe, etc have a neutral or declining population growth. The USA has neutral population growth due to imigrants. If it weren't for imigrants we would be a declining population. The countries that are growing are 3rd world countries. However, disease such as AID's will shorten their life expectancy. The current estimates indicate that we will have a negative world population growth by 2050. The BBC ran an article about this about a month ago.
"I'll have to be a global warming agnostic. I've seen credible viewpoints that indicate that in the next decades we will either be swimming like "Water World" or freezing in a new ice age."
The problem is that everyone associates Global Warming with warm weather. The truth is that Global Warming will alter the weather paterns of the earth and make some places colder. For example. The Gulf Stream has shut down 4 or 5 times during the past 20,000 years. The shutting down of the gulf stream is associated with a warmer global temperature. Scientists feel that the current global warming will shut down the gulf stream. Europe relies on the gulf stream to keep it's temperature somewhat moderate. Even though the global temerature is a few degrees higher. The global temperature will not make the up the difference for the lack of warm water and air from the gulf stream in the European region. The result is that Europe will be very cold and countries like England will become a tundra.
The Pentagon has already begun considering the consequences of global warming on future politics and thus warfare.
The Internet Society also mentions Al Gore in their history timeline. You have to give credit to Al Gore for taking the initiative from a political stand point. The creation of the Internet was a huge project that needed the cooperation of Universities, Businesses and Government. Projects of that scale always need a Politician to champion the cause to get funding and grants. Did Al Gore use an unfortunate choice of words? Yes.
You are jumping to conclusions. I personally think Ted Kenedy is a slime ball. Like it or not the current people in the White House have skeletons in their closet. Normally I wouldn't care about DUI's that happened in the past. However, there is bit of a hipocracy in their cases. As far as Laura goes... She ran a stop sign and hit her boyfriends car and killed him. The boyfriend was DOA with a broken neck. The report filed had inelligible writing for the speed of her vehicle. One could logically conclude that she must have been traveling at a pretty good pace to break someone's neck. She also recieved NO citation.
It has nothing to do with "Right-wing conspiracy". Just the fact that you made that statement shows that you are not thinking critically. Just like Ted Kenedy , Laura Bush comes from a wealthy family. The police did not issue any form of traffic citation for this accident. It's simply a matter of being from a wealthy family and being able to get away with things. If you killed some one in an accident would you get away so easily? You would definitely be issued citations and chances are you would be investigated for Vehicular Homicide.
How is my above post rated as flamebait? It's the truth. The comment was geared to show that both parties have their issues. I guess some hard core Bush supporters must have mod points...
You are correct.... However, it is impossible to get your laptop that clean. Your laptop is made of all sorts of minerals that would leach impurities into the water.
Same for the Bush's and Cheney. Cheney has 2 or 3 DUI's. W Bush was arrested for a DUI. Mrs. W Bush killed her best friend when she ran into her car. Yep, most of the "Pillars" of our community suck!
You will have to post some links or recomend some litature to convince me about the middle ages were a time when tech was taken seriously. Perhaps it was due to the fact that they were re-discovering most that was forgotten or destroyed. After all it took almost 2000 years for society to start implementing things like sewage and plumbing systems into major cities.
Mexico has a tradition (if semi-gone, at least in the city) of taking a nap in the middle of the day.
I believe there are many other latin countries that do the same thing. I also remember hearing that this is practiced in some places in the middle east. For example in Saudi Arabia they wake up before dawn to do their prayers and then go to work. Then in the afternoon they have a nap.
I agree. And don't get me started on the same damn catch scene he puts in his movies. You know the one where the good and bad guy both of each others guns pointed at one anothers head. It's been in Face of, Mission Impossible II and WindTalkers.
Pretty funny actually. Ashcroft did lose to a dead guy. How does an incumbent lose to a dead person?
This will end up like the war on Alcohol (1920's) and the War on Drugs. Miserable failures that do nothing but give more power to organized crime. If they have a problem with porn then they should put a tax on it, Same with drugs. Ashcroft strikes me as the type that would make it illegal to copulate accept for the purpose of procreation.
This statement is false. Please research what you are posting. Read this article from the Washington Post pertaining to IRS data.
Most notable is this quote from the Article.
In contrast, 62 percent of business filers reported incomes of less than $50,000, putting them at most in the 15 percent tax bracket, the second lowest. Nearly 88 percent of business filers reported income of less than $100,000, keeping them comfortably below the top two tax brackets of 33 percent and 35 percent,
The Article also sheds some light on where you got the 750,000 figure. Basically, that figure comes from a very broad interpretation of what a Small Business Owner is. IE. A CEO or other wealthy person that is making money from side investments such as realestate.
Another quote from the article:
But under Treasury's definition, both Bush and Vice President Cheney are members of the entrepreneurial class. In his 2002 tax return, the president reported $1,549 from rental real estate, royalties, partnerships, S corporations and trusts, including income from GWB Rangers Corp., a remnant of his days as co-owner of the Texas Rangers. Of the Cheney household's $1.2 million income, $238,682 was from business ventures within the White House's definition of small business.
I am all for assiting small businesses. However, the wealthy do not need this sort of "wellfare" to start new investments.
"Who needs April Fools when you've got capitalism?"
In Capitlist America.... Capitalism has You!
I couldn't resist.
The term "Politically Correct" (PC) is a satirical epithet applied to liberal doctrine by conservatives. It mocks the presumption that liberal opinions are the "correct" opinions, in an absolute sense, not one perspective among many.
The term "PC" is made more amusing to conservatives by the liberals' conviction of their own political correctness preventing liberals from recognizing the joke that liberals' are unawaredly convinced of their own political correctness. "Of course our beliefs are the correct beliefs, why is that funny ?" ask the liberals.
"PC" is a pretty big tent. And thus can be interpreted and missused in many different ways. For example, PC can also be seen as pandering for votes. Many conservatives say "PC" things to hide a political agenda. What I was trying to convey was that news should be unbiased and impartial. That being said, your retort was also incorect. Conservatives are just as prone to being "PC" and believing that their view is correct.
"Which brings us to your assertion that "News is supposed to be PC" What you are telling us ? 1. That news should be reported from a liberal perspective because..."
The point is that news should be based on the facts from Both sides of the story. The news should not be used as a partisan tool. The true meaning of being PC is to not base opinions on steriotypes and to assist the downtrodden. For example my neighbor said that only blacks and mexicans can afford to be on welfare. That statement is not PC and is based on a steriotype. A news story that gives the downtrodden a voice and thus both sides of the story is PC. I think that you are thus again missuing PC and mistaking it for pandering.
You seem to have something against Liberals. You wrote a very long paragraph ranting about Liberals.
2. Liberals are right and conservatives are wrong.
There you go again. Wow you really do have something against liberals. Man you must hate the founding fathers of the U.S.A. All that talk of equality, seperation of church and state and seperation from the aristocratic policies of 17th century Europe. Hey why do we need the constitution and liberties when we have the magna carta! I think you need to ponder about your political affiliation if you believe in the ideals above. The plank of the conservative republican party is not about equality of races/sexes and not about seperation of church and state.
Besides what type of liberal are you talking about. I guess you are not talking about a financial liberal. Why is it that the Reagan/Bushes era is spending money so liberaly? I guess you must be talking about a social liberal? You know the type that want more civil liberties , etc... Since you went out on a limb and guesed that I am more of a social liberal, I will go out on a limb. I am guessing that you are probably not truly a conservative but a Neo-Conservative Facist .
3. You are blind to the fact that you are promoting your own perspective in absolutist terms.
If I am blind then you must blind and deaf as you are doing the same. Every one has their own perspective. We don't need a biased TV program telling us what to think. We need to be able to look at the facts and make up our own minds.
"PC" serves to associate with liberals the principle that unqualified indviduals should be promoted if they are members of a particular ethnic group.
Yeah, I used to think like you. Then I lived over seas for a while. I would always over hear ill comments towards American intelligence and way of life. That being said. You are probably also a member of an ethnic group that is the majority. Try living in a country where you are the minority. When you are back tell me how it feels. Then try to be a little intraspective and imagine if your skin was a different color, your ancesters were slaves and your parents remember a time when they had to sit in the back of the bus and weren't allowed to go to good schools. Th
News is supposed to be "PC". We don't need a TV network telling us what to think. After all how many times last year did Fox news anounce that WMD were found in Iraq?
There is also another reason why people do this all the time... Theft. My old company lost laptops when trying to ship them. Even inside the EU, the prefered method was to send it with an employee. Sure they are insured. However, sometimes a laptop has a greater company value than it's sticker price.
I believe that pertains to the policy of not allowing computers or encryption software to be exported from the U.S. Remeber in the late 90's when Iraq was accused for buying PS2's to make a supercomputer?
The people in customs aren't nazi's. If they see a laptop they will think nothing of it. Laptops are very common on Airplanes. I have taken many transatlantic flights and except for the pre-flight security check, I have never been questioned about my laptop or my other personal electronics. They have much bigger fish to catch. For example cigarette and exotic animal smugglers. He just needs to keep his mouth shut and walk through. Speaking from experience entry into the UK is very easy compared to the U.S., especally from Gatwick airport.
I used to do business in the UK. Your laptop will work fine. Simply buy a US to UK socket adapter. You don't have to worry about the voltage as the laptop power supply is made to handle 120 and 220. The only problem you might have is with the "|" key and the EURO symbol. The "|" key can be a real pain if you are a unix admin. So you may want to remap the keyboard.
I think the price of a laptop is below the U.S. importation tax fees. I am not sure about the UK. Of course you could just fly right into Britan with your laptop and look like any other business or techi traveler. Customs has better things to look out for than a single laptop being imported.
No, Any type of government that falls in bad favor with the U.S is in for a tough ride. We have the economic power to sanction any country (Including capitalist countries) into the ground. Our economic power should be just as respected as our military power.
The U.S. was the only industrialized nation that was untouched by WWI and WWII. The aftermath of WWII combined with our amazing wealth of natural resources left us in a "Winner takes all Position." We are very fortunate that we have a wealth of natural resources and that we were geographically isolated from those wars. While others were rebuilding their cities from rubble we were able to sieze the oppurtunity to expand.
Don't fall into the mindset that Capatalism is infallable. I enjoy our society and quality of life. However, we must be realistic. All known forms of government can falter. Capatalism is succesful because the environment is favorable. Lets hope we can adapt when the wind changes. Remember, Capatilsm != Democracy and Freedom.
"Of course communism isn't exactly known for a healthy middle class either. Sigh -- What is to become of us?
Every major Communist country has also been subject to US embargo's and sactions. It's pretty hard to prosper when you can't trade. I think Cuba would be doing very well if it wasn't economically sactioned by the U.S.
Communism and Capitalism both share the same flaw. They both under estimate Human imperfection and greed.
Lets look at some statistics... www.medical-malpractice-lawyers-attorneys.com The two statistics that caught my eye were:
1. From 1996 through 1999, Florida hospitals reported 19,885 incidents but only 3,177 medical malpractice claims. In other words, for every 6 medical errors only 1 claim is filed.
2. Malpractice insurance costs amount to only 3.2 percent of the average physician's revenues according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC)
or this link: Citizen.org:
"10.6 percent of the state's doctors have paid two or more malpractice awards to patientsThese repeat offender doctors are responsible for 84 percent of all payments. Even more surprising, only 4.7 percent of Pennsylvania 's doctors (1,838), each of whom has paid three or more malpractice claims, are responsible for 51.4 percent of all payments. "
Frivolis lawsuits really aren't that much of a problem. I am much more concerned about the increasing privitazation and high price of Prescription drugs in this country.
"If that were the choice, I'd rather hate my job for 5 years making $100k/year, put $80k each year in the bank and then quit my job and pay myself $20k each year for the next 25 years out of the saved money to do what I want ;)."
How is this insightful? After your 401K at 15% you are left with 85K After taxes that 85K is about 60K/year. Factor in other costs such as food, rent, transportation, entertainment, health insurance and retirement. You will be left with around 35-40K. After 5 years you will have about 200K to do what you please. That ends up being about 8K/year. Even at 20K per year you wouldn't be able to support a family.
Actually, with the exchange rate he only has to make about 55K GBP per year to make over 100K USD. If the plumber is making twice the profesor's salary, he is pretty close. 46KGBP is about 83K USD. Also, Salary figures are generally lower in the UK. For example in the IT field a set of skills and years experience that would net 80K in the US would get about 50K in the UK. However, the British don't have to wory about paying for health insurance, funding a 401K as they recieve pensions, and a high mortgage rate is considered 5%. After you figure in the expense that the US has and the UK doesn't, it almost equals out.