Ok, so tell me again why we post diaries? | 57 comments (57 topical, 0 hidden)
because (none / 0)
when you don't, the peasants inevitably storm the castle. Its a small price to pay. Hey, taxes are lowest in Antarctica. No dole, no health care, no democrats (well, not very many in anycase). Put a couple thoughts behind it.

by hazmat on 01/05/2009 02:23:22 AM EST

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Ken's confused again (none / 0)
We already had a revolution, it was the Great Republican Revolution of 94.

I do agree that the image does resemble the country after the Republicans got finished.

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservative." John Stuart Mill

by Hubble on 01/05/2009 11:20:05 AM EST

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that was my point (none / 0)
the whistling sound you heard was my point sailing over your tiny head.

by hazmat on 01/05/2009 11:27:10 AM EST

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Why (none / 0)

does Ken assume he is supporting us all through his taxes? I know I pay my own.

What have you ever done for this country Ken? Making money and paying taxes on it isn't service to our country. It requires no effort on your part and it is entirely self-serving. You'll probably say pumping oil from your property.

by desertpear on 01/05/2009 02:14:50 PM EST

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so (none / 0)

This is nothing?

I'm asking about the contribution of a nitwit in Texas, remember? I asked what YOU did for your country, not what Bill Gates or Steve Jobs did. Would you like to have a second try Pig?

by desertpear on 01/05/2009 08:45:45 PM EST

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Yeah, but... (none / 0)

My dad can beat up your dad.

by Spencer on 01/05/2009 10:43:25 PM EST

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psst (none / 0)

remember this one from city slickers? "I crap bigger than you." May god bless Jack Palance, wherever he is.

 

by hazmat on 01/06/2009 12:13:54 AM EST

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what charity pray tell? (none / 0)

by desertpear on 01/06/2009 05:53:35 PM EST

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I don't live alone (none / 0)

I live with RATS, remember?

Weak sauce Ken, and you are such a copycat insulter!

by desertpear on 01/06/2009 05:58:52 PM EST

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Which is why all of the personal shit (none / 0)

makes for a dumbass discussion.  It's the internet.  None of it can really be proven without giving out too much info, so what's the point of bringing it up and interrogating others about it?

Hence, my dad can beat up your dad.  Also, I'm the King of the Universe.  Believe me because I said it.

by Spencer on 01/06/2009 07:04:55 PM EST

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Oh God we're all in trouble now (none / 0)
Ken has whipped out the Royal proclamation and given us a "Henceforth".

Not counting this post Henceforth has been used in this forum 34 times.

28 times Ken has decreed a Henceforth, 4 times is was a comment quoting Ken. Twice it was Acroso posting the same 1984 Ted Kennedy quote.

Ken uses "Henceforth" like a Bill O'Reilly "On Notice" to let a guilty party know he will track them down and destroy their arguments for all to see. Don't be surprised if the Henceforth security team comes a knocking.


As you can see everyone should start a quacking in their boots because we've been hit with the dreaded "Henceforth".

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservative." John Stuart Mill

by Hubble on 01/06/2009 09:33:32 PM EST

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lol (none / 0)
you are so right Ken!  I live alone, so I am exactly like Ted Kaczynski.  And nobody likes me, not even my family!!  I just sit at home alone in a dark cold house crying.  wah wah.

by desertpear on 01/07/2009 12:32:46 AM EST

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Achievement and Subjectivity (none / 0)
I applaud anyone who realizes their “sense of self” and personal achievements, but I would hesitate to elevate one’s status based on how many jobs they created or how much wealth they have made possible for others.  Material wealth is not the only aspect of society with which to gauge that society’s success.  There is health, education, scientific and technological advancement, and maybe ultimately, too many to list.  While your level of achievement, based on the criteria that you use, makes you a winner, the government employee who works for the Coast Guard, and using different criteria, might feel that s/he is serving America and therefore a “higher good”; the biologist might discover a cure for a disease that would otherwise wipe out half the human population, etc.  If I write an IQ test, big surprise, it might “prove” that I’m brilliant.  Assessing “achievement” and our own selves can be problematic - subjectivity usually gets in the way.

by MsGinger on 01/06/2009 08:53:01 PM EST

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you mean (none / 0)
through one ear and out the other.

by desertpear on 01/05/2009 02:17:20 PM EST

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and through (none / 0)
the right wing echo chamber in between? Yes, I mean that.

by hazmat on 01/05/2009 03:24:16 PM EST

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some logical fallacies (none / 1)

1. "socialist takeover"? Some of us wish Obama was a socialist. Most people who have studied Obama's policy prescriptions would not call him socialist. That was a vapid statement. By the way, it was *your* president who did more to socialize the government than anyone since FDR. And the manner and substance of the socialisation is abhorrent to real socialists. You should focus your energy on the republican party, which deserves to be gutted by true opponents of socialism.

2. Voters and productive people are not mutually exclusive categories. However in your case I think the argument could be made.

3. No one is being asked to "provide health care" for someone else. Businesses and individuals are alike pushing the government to provide basic services so that they don't need to be met by the same businesses and individuals. If this doesn't happen, our businesses will remain uncompetitive with their counterparts in countries that do provide these services. In fact, all that has been proposed is for the government to offer affordable, high quality health insurance. You are for the free market, aren't you?

I can tell you without reservation, that I do not like what the free market has given me in health insurance. It is not responsive at all to consumer demand. I intend to sign up for the government insurance as soon as it becomes available. Maybe it will suck, but it can't be much worse than Aetna if its good enough for Congress.

4. Providing basic services is not equivalent to a "defeat" for capitalism any more than is building roads, maintaining a police force and a military. Nor is it a "defeat" for capitalism to regulate commerce. Even Adam Smith understood this.

5. 60 million affluent people. Really? Obama campaigned on a promise of cutting taxes for 95% of taxpayers. By my calculation that leaves 15 million (of 300)  who are not receiving a tax cut or may indeed have their taxes raised. Will you find 60 million people who hate the idea of the government offering insurance? Good luck with that, my friend.

6. "we have money to invest". This is a laughable statement. I didn't realize rich people were holding back!

7. Retirement needs. The government doesn't serve anyone's retirement needs. We decided collectively in the great depression  that we no longer would stand for elderly people going hungry. That ship has sailed, dude. Bush came the closest anyone is going to come to destroying social security in a long time. It is one of the main reasons his popularity dropped precipitously after 2004. There are two solutions for the problem of feeding old people. You can euthenise them or give them a little pocket money. We chose the latter. Grow up and get over it.

 

by hazmat on 01/05/2009 07:52:41 PM EST

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Not true (none / 0)

"...socialism is the ultimate goal."   

I've not heard that anywhere on this site in the many years I've been posting. There are some - repeat, SOME programs which ought to be covered by the "general welfare" desire in our Constitution. I go much further than Obama (single payer, dude!) on some of his issues but that doesn't mean I want a socialist country. I want a Fair Trade policy - nothing wrong with trade or profit, just obscene profits and grossly unjust trade.

I like businesses so much, I'd like to see corporations go back to being businesses and lose their "personhood" status. It would make it sooo much easier to hold these bastards accountable. How is that a Socialist view?

I could be wrong; there might be some full-fledged Socialists hangin' around, I'm just saying that my impression is that posters are for a responsible capitalism instead of the "Grab It All!" form we've been seeing since Reagan.

Bush, the Banks, the Financial giants of this country did Al Qaeda's bidding - drove our economy straight into the ground. That course needs to change.

"...being forwarded to people who didn’t work hard..."

Wanna try that one again? You mean like waitresses, cooks, dishwashers, janitors, retail employees, etc., etc.? You think those people haven't worked hard? Simply outrageous. You think them bums? There is NO direct correlation between how hard a person works and what they are paid. If that were so, diswashers would be getting executive salaries and executives would be getting janitor wages.

And you're trying to pull a fast one with that "$3000 a month S.S. check" nonsense. That is only if you've averaged $7685 per month income and don't retire until 70. Most people get much, MUCH less. You might call it "subsitance" level - if the recipient is lucky. (of course, what ought be considered "subsistance" in 2009 is a whole 'nother thread...)

Oh, and as a low income person, I do want you to know that I don't drink malt liquor and I've been rolling my own cigarettes for a decade so my monthly bill for those combined items is roughly $35 per month - and the tobacco taxes goes to the state health insurance program which I don't qualify for because my $950 income per month is too much.

Guess that's what I get for being a bum...

by MedfordTim on 01/06/2009 02:14:10 AM EST

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I tried... (none / 0)

I tried to email the author asking him to break that down because I don't believe him, but you have to be a subscriber to WSJ to contact their writers. That figure is smellier than a Salmon sitting in the back seat for a week. I am kept at an income level which barely qualifies for Food Stamps. $10 per month is the MAX I qualify for. He would need to explain to me how he arrived at that figure - it just doesn't fit the real world.

But I DID notice that the rest of the article pretty much sums up the point I was trying to make. Unscrupulous loan agents signing up anyone they can so they can sell the mortgages. Greedy profiteers cold calling people with loan offers and bending the truth in order to get the loan through.

by MedfordTim on 01/06/2009 11:25:05 AM EST

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pleaze hazzie (none / 0)
Have some consideration for the penguins.

by desertpear on 01/05/2009 02:16:46 PM EST

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maybe (none / 0)
the penguins are republican? Why else would they go to such lengths to avoid the crushing burden of the American top marginal rate? If instead they are merely god's creatures following their instincts then I beg your pardon.

by hazmat on 01/05/2009 03:27:18 PM EST

[ Parent ]

Ok, so tell me again why we post diaries? | 57 comments (57 topical, 0 hidden)