| Author | Message | ||
     Ft_bstrd |
Nothing like exchanging one totalitarian regime for another. This will end badly. | ||
| Moxnix |
The adage-- Be careful what you wish for -- comes to mind. | ||
| Sifo |
http://fuzislippers.blogspot.com/2011/10/open-lett er-to-ows-revolutionaries.html Open Letter To #OWS "Revolutionaries" Dear "Occupy" People, This may come as a surprise to you, but when most people hear you, all we hear is a strange, alien shriek that starts with "No Fair!" and ends with "Gimme!" We hear: "I made bad choices, didn't think things through, never even imagined that everything wouldn't go exactly as I wanted it to. So now that I have student loans I signed for and can't pay back (because I can't find a job I think worthy of my awesomeness), I want someone else to pay." Some of your basic premises are simply faulty, some fantastically so. From what I can gather, and I admit, it's difficult to take you seriously, you think that there is "x" amount of money, and that when one group has that "x" amount of money, there is no more money. It's as if you think that rich people bury their money in their backyards, but we all know they don't. They spend, invest, donate, build hospitals, museums, art galleries, universities; they build non-profits that help the homeless, help the hungry, bring medicinal and educational supplies to the poorest regions on earth. When there is a natural disaster anywhere in the world, American corporations are the first to step up and donate millions, often (as with Haiti, Japan, and countless other incidents) billions. One (that's as in one) American corporation donated more to Haiti after the earthquake than the entire Chinese government. Two other, with their combined donations, also donated more than China. China, embarrassed, doubled their donation, but it was still dwarfed by what American corporations donated. Did you know that? Does it matter? So back to this "there is only 'x' amount of money, and anyone who has it is somehow evil" premise. We'd be remiss, wouldn't we, if we didn't consider the millionaires and billionaires who work in Hollywood, fashion, music, sports, television, and other corporations (because, yes, newsflash: MGM is a corporation, as is almost every other "big Hollywood, big Fashion, big Television, big Music, and big Sports" industry). Television, in particular, tends to film in Vancouver and not in California, where the studios are located (what is your favorite television show that actually has a plot, a script, and is worth watching? Where is it filmed?). Do you see a relationship between high taxes and unreasonable union demands and the decision to film in another country? Why do these corporations escape your notice? If there's only "x" amount of money, and they have a good chunk of it, aren't they greedy, too? Aren't they "stealing" from you because they have a bigger piece of the pie than you'll ever get sleeping under a tarp in a park? My guess is that they don't fit in your narrative, so you simply ignore them. This is a mistake, however, because we who love America not only see the inconsistency but can quite clearly see the political, not social or cultural or even economic, motivation behind the targets you choose for your ill-considered "rage." It's a turn off, just so you know. On one thing, you might have gotten some support from normal people (I use this term to describe the majority of Americans who have no desire to destroy our country, our free market capitalism--well, any more than it's already been destroyed), and that one thing is on the bailouts. Granted, those were three (that's 3) years ago (funny you're only now outraged, is that a reflection of your slowness on the uptake or . . . what?), but we didn't like them, either. However, where you lose us is in insisting that you want a government "bailout," as well, or maybe that you want the bailout instead. This seems to be largely because you blame the banks for taking the government bailouts (using our tax money), but did you know that some banks were forced to take a "bailout" that they neither wanted nor needed? That these banks paid them back with record speed (having not wanted or needed them)? Did you know that the banks that "needed" the bailout were determined by the government? That the government determined how much to give them and even how they spent it? Does this matter at all? My guess is that, like most leftists, you supported the bailouts--if for no other reason than by the time BO was in office, they sort of became his, and we all have seen how you have no problem--in principle--with anything that he does . . . even if he does all President Bush did, and more besides, to undermine our Constitution, your rights, and our nation. If I recall correctly, the argument was that the economy would collapse. But that was before you knew (somehow, just how did you learn it?) that's what you wanted. (If that's what you want at all.) Have you thought about what it would mean if capitalism, in particular American capitalism, collapses? As I mentioned above, American capitalists--both corporations and taxpayers through our government--pay for so very much in the world. Not only do we have the highest standard of living in the world, but we have the money to fund the majority of the UN, we send aid to a host of foreign countries, and a host of other things around the globe. We use money earned by capitalism to fund all sorts of things that you supposedly want funded (somehow, magically maybe): everything from education to social security to MediCare and welfare and foodstamps and unemployment benefits. Where do you imagine that money will come from if there is no capitalism? Do you really believe that people will be as productive and that earning power will be as great under any other system? If so, on what do you base this belief? If we are the "richest country in the world" (or we were, anyway), then wouldn't that suggest that our system produces . . . wealth. And that it does so better than any other system in the world? It's easy and convenient to blame "Wall Street" for all of the nation's ills, but is that even reasonable? Do you know where the mandates to provide unsafe home loans came from? Do you know why the banks gave loans to people, in some case, who didn't even have a job? Now, I know and readily admit that some investment bankers and particularly hedge fund creeps "bet" on these loans going into default. I also think this is unethical, but it's not as if it wasn't completely obvious--to everyone except the commies in Congress who forced this--that these loans would all be defaulted, that there would be mass foreclosures when people who either didn't have jobs or were getting loans that the jobs they did have would never be able cover. The housing crisis was a government-conceived, government-mandated crisis, made to make you stand around years later crying because people, for some unknown reason (and yes, they are culpable, too), are being foreclosed on for not being able to repay loans they should never have received in the first place. Again, that's not to excuse the excesses of Wall Street, but you know what is the most insidious, most dangerous aspect of Wall Street? Its relationship with government. You seem incensed that no one on Wall Street has been indicted for wrong-doing. Okay, let's look at that. What did BO say? That they didn't do anything illegal, right? That they can't indict for non-criminal, totally legal activity. And that's true. But who makes banking laws? Who writes them? Who pays for them? That's right, my unthinking friends, Wall Street. There are these things called lobbies, and they spend all the billions that you think, and I think, they should be paying in taxes, to ensure that there are "free zones" for unethical activity and numerous tax shelters that enable gigantic corporations like GE to avoid paying so much as one penny in taxes. Legally. Wall Street doesn't need reform, the government does. With the government reformed properly, there will be no Wall Street excesses. This is something we refer to as "critical thinking" and an understanding of a thing called "cause and effect"; you'll note that "unintended consequences" tend to manifest most often and to most onerous effect from leftist policies. Things don't happen in a vacuum, and when you do one thing (pass a regulation, for instance, or ban shallow water drilling), it has a ripple effect (the costs of the regulation are passed on to the consumer (BoA), or deep-water drilling--much less easy to manage, maintain, and clean up than that done in shallow water--results in serious environmental damage). In short, something that "sounds good" needs to be considered beyond the moment. The "public-private" partnerships you seem to support undermine the benefits of capitalism and highlight the destruction socialism always causes. And that goes well beyond Wall Street--indeed, it's a large part of the reason that healthcare costs are what they are, that they are going up as they do. Between Big Pharma and lawyer lobbies and other factors that influence government policy, this will not change even if--no, especially if--you get your much-dreamed of, but little-considered government healthcare. Do you think it's an accident that everything the government is involved with costs far more than everything that government is not involved with? That does include oil and ethanol subsidies, oh yes, but it also includes the existing government healthcare programs. You know how you think that the government has unlimited resources to pay for everything under the sun, every whim of your commie little heart? Well, that's just what every business who works with / for the government thinks, too. So we have the government operating outdated, inefficient, and wasteful programs that are fraught with waste, fraud, and abuse (not even gong into the fact that in most things, excepting the military, roads, etc., the private sector would do much better, for less money, and to greater benefit to all). There is no incentive for government to be cost-effective, for it to work within a budget. So it doesn't. And because it doesn't, the budget gets bigger and bigger each year--expanding far beyond our ability to pay (this is called "deficit"; it differs from "debt"), tax dollars are wasted and spent irresponsibly across the board (and yes, that definitely includes subsidies to big oil and military spending). And here's the thing, you are raging against the machine of Wall Street, but the "real" culprits are in DC. Whom do you think passes the laws that are written by wealthy and influential lobbyists? Whom do you think panders to your commie fantasies by enacting all sorts of programs (and usually multiple programs that all do the same thing, as inefficiently as possible)? This all plays out only one way. At some (near) point, we are going to have to have austerity measures unless you lot stop and think. You want to have a social security program, right? You want to have MediCare, right? Every single serious projection says that both are unsustainable. We have a choice: we can make changes now, changes that won't affect current and near-term recipients, or we can go on as we are and be forced to make cuts to people who are dependent, in that moment, on government programs. According to projections, that's likely to be you. And that's what's happened in Greece. They knew decades ago they were heading here, that they would have to make cuts, but they kicked the can down the road, they ignored the problem. Now government, there, is the "bad guy," not the banking system, not the greedy war for oil people, not a single one of your straw men. The government. Do you not think this significant? Do you not think we can learn from that in some way? But then we get back to your basic premise, as I understand it. Government is the answer. The destruction of the free market is the answer. Taking from the rich to give to the poor is the answer. Except that never works. Once the rich are bled dry, then what? Where will the money come from then? Are you going to make it? Are you going to work hard and excel for a pittance of your "fair share" as determined by the government based on the needs of the many? Are you going to work 80, 90, or 100 hours a week so that you can get a subsistence living, one that will drag down the standard of living for every American? We know this will happen because that's what always happens when too much socialism is injected into any society: the middle class disappears, the poverty class expands, and the upper- and privileged-class shrinks. Even communist China has finally clued into this and is using more and more free market principles, and as a result, they have an emerging and growing middle class. Communism is regressive, not capitalism. Communism destroys the individual in the name of the collective, and it destroys along with the individual any concept of individuality. You become a number. A workhorse. A slave. Where do you think you'll fit in this new order you seek? From what I can tell, the talents, skills, and abilities of the "occupiers" are shockingly limited. You can chant, you can repeat what someone says, you have the minimal intellect required to learn hand twinkles, and you can beat bongos and smoke pot. Do you know what Mao and Stalin and Hitler did to the "revolutionaries" who cleared their path to power? You may want to look into that because if you survive at all (highly unlikely), you'll be, effectively, enemies of the state's stability. While the bongo-beaters may find a role in the new "collective" as musicians, take a look at what Mao, Che, Hitler, and the Soviets did to music, to creativity. Hint: it was controlled, music had to be benign, limited to supporting the government, never ever inspiring the unwashed masses to anything that might lead to free-thought or rebellion. So guess who's going to be the farmers, miners, and factory workers in the new non-capitalist collective. Not me. You. Guess who's going to be assigned to the least-fulfilling, least-intellectually demanding "dirty" jobs that society needs done. Not me. You. Guess who's going to be living in tiny, government-provided cubicles on the property of their workplace. Not me. You. That's if you're permitted to live at all. History shows that the tyrants who take power after a "revolution" eliminate, quickly and brutally, all who are likely to "revolt" against the new order. That's you. And very much me. | ||
| Reindog |
Agenda for the next OWS GA: * Moment of solidarity with brother Jose Pimentel who stands shoulder to shoulder with us in smashing capitalism. * Day of Rage to protest the NYPD for spying and railroading victim Pimentel into building bombs. * By Any Means Necessary! | ||
| Sifo |
So taking a look at the "model" for OWS I see the government has resigned. No worries though. The military is still in charge. http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2011/11 /21/nr-watson-egypt-cabinet.cnn Any guesses on where it goes from here? I really have no idea. Has the world ever seen a country controlled by it's military before? It's just so hard to predict what the next turn might be. I'm sure it will turn out well though. Twinkles! | ||
| Pkforbes87 |
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| Strokizator |
Billionaire Warren Buffett knows how to separate his social activism from his business management. Over the past several months, as advisor to President Obama, Buffett has been calling for additional taxes on the rich, and telling Americans he also would like to pay more to the government. However, on November 19th, the true side of Warren Buffett, that of the business mogul, came to light as he is now suing the IRS to avoid paying more than $600 million in taxes levied upon Berkshire subsidiary NetJets. Continue reading on Examiner.com Buffet calls for taxing the rich while he sues IRS to avoid paying taxes - National Finance Examiner | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/finance-examiner-in-nation al/buffet-calls-for-taxing-the-rich-while-he-sues- irs-to-avoid-paying-taxes#ixzz1eSJP5MMf It appears that as a consultant to congress he is also wrapped up in the insider trading chargers being levied against certain congressmen. | ||
| Two_seasons |
This pretty much sums up the occupy crowd... http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedd ed&v=oA3-InoYsWQ MSNBC Morning Joe yesterday inspired this video (courtesy of Michelle Malkin). The blonde chick was railing about Newt saying "take a bath, then go get a job" the other day. Is there any take away yet with this crowd besides wanting a socialist take over? If they think that will fix what is wrong with our country, they don't know world history. But little surpise there! After reading my daughter's 6th grade world history textbook, it's obvious they aren't teaching much in the public schools these days. | ||
| Cityxslicker |
I didnt hear about the purges and murders in the Soviet Union until college - it certainly wasnt taught during the cold war - if the information was spoken against the state during that time... you simply disappeared, or were disavowed OUT of the party - and since you needed party membership to do anything... it was an excommunication that was lethal. Hell - many of the atrocities of the 20-30's were not even 'admitted' officially until well into the mid 90's. in ten years, the school books will be all full of a politically correct rhetoric cultural diversity that leans toward a 'history' that is so far from reality - it ought to be printed as a comic book . | ||
| Mtjm2 |
+1 City | ||
| Court |
>>>it ought to be printed as a comic book . I see you've yet to see some of the new text books where many things have disappeared. Or . . the new math books . . . "if you don't understand this, it doesn't mean you are a bad person or that other students are better than you". | ||
| Chauly |
heck, when we were kids, Court, the "New Math" was Set Theory, Venn Diagrams, and Cuisinaire Rods... If you didn't understand it, that was OK then as well, but only because the teacher didn't understand it either! "SMSG" | ||
| Cityxslicker |
In the words of my high school math and economics teacher (the reason I got into econ) "Its math folks,you don't get to make it up. There is no partial credit, its like being kinda pregnant" .... I don't think he ever thought the day would come with the GAO stopped being the Government ACCOUNTING office and became the Government ACCOUNTABILITY office..... and it is funny how flagrant disregard they have to real math, accuracy, honesty, or responsibility. hell a chimp and a calculator are better. | ||
| Court |
I was a victim of the SMSG Program from Yale. Special Mathematics Study Group. Started in 6th Grade. Today . . . I am using all those wonderful things folks were saying "I'll bet you never see this again". I asked my grad students last night if they recalled their Boolean Postulates. Nothing but dazed looks.  | ||
| Two_seasons |
Did somebody say boolean. Started using that in the '70's baby. Made good money using it too  A lost generation (or maybe more) for sure! | ||
| Moxnix |
And how will it all turn out? In the end, the future will come...whether we like it or not. | ||
| Kenm123t |
Court you must be the crazy scary old Prof that tells them about the real world. They must lie to each other and say he's just nutty Why would any one have to WORK thats attended Columbia ? Talking about Geometry Guess what they are using for examples of areas? Not a Duct conversion from square to round a common use every HVAC service tech uses that formula serveral times a week They used CHEESE Provolone vs American as examples of area differences. | ||
| Danger_dave |
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| Cityxslicker |
Had a teacher in English 1985 big vocabulary test of greek and latin roots. Can I use my notes ? No Can I use my book ? No Can I use my neighbor? No Can I use my calculator ? .... If you can find a way to use your calculator on this test, you can use that. ....Texas Ti programmable  took all weekend to load ! it would be so easy today -.... if they still taught greek and latin roots the math teacher was against the calculator - but would allow a slide rule .... never fail to shop both sides of the technology spectrum ! | ||
| Cowboy |
City I think the know how to use a slide rule has almost vanished.( IS IT STILL TAUGHT ANY MORE ?) | ||
| Slaughter |
Slide rules are still taught... to those of us who fly. The speed/time/distance and fuel consumption calculations are all done on a circular slide rule. (though that too is dying) | ||
| Kenm123t |
Love the E6B too bad Froggy cant use one. You dont need a pocket full of batteries to use it! Ductulators are still used every day | ||
| Cityxslicker |
The slide and weims will get a set of ordinance, on target, on time, every time, and if you have done the intel right - it will get them home too. The year after I went to OPS Planning, the Navy quit teaching it.... relying on computers.... ... So come the next TEAM exercise where our 'Red' side looked like we are going to 'loose' ... I suggested we Attack the computer, not the troops - blinded them and shut them down .... Nobody had ever done that before - the next time they did that exercise - they briefed that was 'not an option'.... meh. The reasons I know the RED side so well, is that it was my job to play with in the parameters of what the Soviets/Russians would do, know their history, culture, military tactics, and tendencies... I NEVER thought I would see those tactics on domestic soil. (slide rules werent taught in our school, I picked it up from my Uncle, A pilot from the Vietnam era) | ||
| Pwnzor |
Somewhere around here, I have my grandfather's sextant. I might even remember how to use it. How many of us know the difference between the Gregorian calendar and the Julian calendar? | ||
| Cityxslicker |
Christmas aint in January by an arbitrary accident... it is also how the 'Oktober' Red Revolution - actually occurred on 11/7 oddly enough though.... they (Russians, Slavs, Ukrainians) celebrate new years about 50/50 the same as we do. | ||
| Road_thing |
Boolean Postulates I think Penicillin will clear that up... rt | ||
| Reindog |
So the Leftist media crammed it down our throats that Krugman's Army (aka Occupy Wall Street) was as significant a political movement as the Tea Party. So what has happened with these little snowflakes? They were last seen trying to shut down Black Friday. Smart move for Obama's little minions but it looks like this smelly movement has ended. Meanwhile, the Tea Party continues to organize to force this out of control Federal Government to return to its Constitutionally mandated, enumerated powers. Common cause indeed and Make Mine Tea. | ||
| Reindog |
At the risk of preaching to the choir, this first in the series of "What We Believe" by Bill Whittle sums up what rings Conservative's chimes. Being a former Liberal myself, this video is helpful to anyone who has that tingly feeling that their long held core liberal world view is not working and are open to other possibilities. "Man is not perfect nor perfectible" is the basis of why the United States Constitution is perhaps the most seminal secular document in the history of the world. | ||
| Mtjm2 |
Had two good conversations over the weekend . One with my older sister, one with a libtard whos views I think very highly of . Sis left home in the early 70s and attended the school of visual arts in NYC.Has lived there since . My Libtard friend , I met a couple years back .He was an English major . WE ARE IN TROUBLE FOLKS !! O will get 4 more . | ||
| Reindog |
I hear you. Benjamin Franklin warned us about losing our Republic. If enough Americans forget who we are, then we will slide into an America where a happy faced State controls everything and liberty is chipped away into extinction. And your Libtard friends will welcome this with open arms. Curious and curiouser. |
