Artysim

Bailout Schmailout in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Let's do a quick summary of how the 'bailout' situation is unfolding: Back in October Hank Paulson, Ben Bernanke and Greenberg put a gun to congress head and said "give us 700 billion now or the economy dies!!!! Don't think about it, we're only a few days away from the acopalypse, do it, do it now you idiots!!!" (imagine an Arnold Schwarzeneger accent for extra emphasis) We do seem to buy that 'end of the world' bait hook, line and sinker everytime don't we?

Reply to HAW HAW!!! in Current Events Stardock Forums

This just in- candle makers around the country are lobbying congress for an industry bailout, stating that the illumination of the sun for several hours everyday is drastically hurting sales. If congress doesn't bail out the candle makers, we are told, there will be massive unemployment and the whole nation will suffer imeasurably. This is nothing new and will only grow... Yesterday American Express asked for a 3.5 billion dollar bailout.... As if the credit card c

Obama is a gift to the Republicans in Politics JoeUser Forums

Obama winning the presidential election is the greatest thing going for the Republican party right now. In fact, the absolute BEST outcome possible for the Republicans is if they are not in power, or hold any majorities in any branch of government over the next 4 years. If anything, everyone who is wailing and moaning that Obama is going to destroy the country should be thanking him for taking

Reply to News Readers Are So Stupid in Blogging JoeUser Forums

One time I was talking to a fellow who deemed himself expert in all things communications. He was incensed at the delay for his internet connection going over satellite, telling me that a ping taking 500 or more milliseconds was unacceptable and a thing of the stone age. He told me, it was his informed opinion that the problem was due to the fact that we didn't have enough bandwidth on the satellite and needed to launch another one, providing more bandwidth. His face got

Reply to HAW HAW!!! in Current Events Stardock Forums

Good morning fellow Joeusers- The point I was aiming for with this article was to illustrate the double standard we see developing culturally and politically. The government is supposed to equalize things as the public defender, not the advocate of a few large companies. When government stops being the advocate for everyone and gets in bed with big business, this is what you get- 1) Government wins 2) Big business wins 3) You get screwed. Not only do

Reply to Gays revolt! in Current Events JoeUser Forums

[quote] the plain folks are not willing to give up TRADITIONAL marriage just to please a very tiny percentage of the population? Why can't they accept the civil unions and just go away?[/quote] If the law was changed so that YOUR marriage were anulled and deemed illegal by the government, would you just sit down quietly and say "oh, okay. Sorry, guess I was being a whiner there!" LOL!!!! For one moment please try and put yourself in someone elses shoes. <p

HAW HAW!!! in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Let's take a quick look at the day in recap; Circuit City filed for bankruptcy, with guaranteed massive job losses on the way.... HAW HAW!!!! DHL is cutting 9,500 jobs in the U.S.... HAW HAW!!!!! GM is burning through cash and anounced today 5000 more cuts.... HAW HAW!!!! Nortel..... HAW HAW!!!! Sorry, had to get that out of the way first... Nortel is cutting 1200 more jobs Motorola recently anounced 3,000 job cuts... HAW HAW!!!

Reply to The Obama Transition So Far in Politics Stardock Forums

[quote]Ah great. Now our justice system will be full of terrorists with sleazy trial lawyers getting them off because they weren't read their miranda rights on the battlefield.[/quote] Indeed. How dare they get trials with lawyers and stuff like that. I mean, it's not like they're innocent or anything. Oh wait, some of them are, like this guy- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murat_Kurnaz Murat Kurnaz spent 5 years in Gi

Reply to Redistribution in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]First, what gives them the right (note not authority - that is done through the end of a gun) to storm anyone's coffers?[/quote] Good question. The answer depends on your definition of wealth and where it came from. Current popular thinking is that wealth is "created", that it was conjured out of thin air by hard work and determination and therefore is the sole property of the owner. If the above definition is true, then no one has the right to storm t

Reply to Part II: Civil Unions v. Same Sex Marriage in Marriage Stardock Forums

Hi singrdave, Please tell your friend that she's more than welcome here in Canada...no joke/sarcasm/cynicism intended. Gay marriage is legally allowed here -and- to top it off with global warming in a few years the southern parts of Canada will be like Florida and Arizona are today anyway! Can't lose!

Reply to Redistribution in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]The book you refer to as a "source" regarding Chile is an opinion about the economy, NOT a collection of facts. Assuming that by "source" you mean opinions that agree with you (rather than facts which might or might not agree with you), I think I remember you giving a "source" once before. It was also an opinion based on no obvious research. Now, the DATA Naomi Klein based her opinion/book on would be a "source".[/quote] Tee hee! Right on the website that I li

Reply to Redistribution in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]shows that the GDP growth was negative under Allende and very positive after Pinochet took power. It reflects the setback in 1980 and has been positive every year since 1984. Arty, it is obvious that you don't know what you are talking about. Everything you claim (and you never give sources) is so easily found out to be untrue, it's ridiculous. You keep saying things like "if you did some research you would know" and make other arrogant statements like that, despite the fact that

Reply to Redistribution in Politics Stardock Forums

[quote]since global recession in the early 1980s Chile's economy under Pinochet has enjoyed a sustained strong expansion.[/quote] Very good! However, if you knew anything about what I was talking about you would know that I was referring to Chile in 1973 (12 years prior to 1985), when Pinochet killed the democratically elected leader (Allende) and took power. You would know that before Pinochet made these free market changes the standard of living and quality of life for

Reply to Redistribution in Politics Stardock Forums

Currently, yes there are not too many countries running a flat tax, and yes it is mostly eastern europe and Russia. That is today, however, and if you go back and study the IMF and world bank they've agressively pushed the flat tax to most of their client nations in the past. Not all of them adopted it, and many went the 'hybird' approach. Chile did indeed adopt a flat tax under pinochet, and this was disastrous for the country!

Reply to The (American) Liberal Dictionary in The Media JoeUser Forums

[quote]Also, I would like to know. Is using human shields a war crime if Jews do it? [/quote] Anybody using human shields is a crime. Anyone. However, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the U.N all investigated the allegations that Hezbollah used 'human shields' and came to the conclusion that they didn't. First, you have to define what the term means, which is forcing a non-combatant to stay in between you and your enemy. All of these different groups that loo

Reply to Redistribution in Politics Stardock Forums

[quote]A regressive tax system might do the trick, but then people would be encouraged to work more hours, which cannot be good for their health either. I would leave it up to the individual. A flat income tax or no income tax at all would remove all government encouragement to destroy either one's health or the economy and a balance would result from market forces.[/quote] Leauki, In theory this is good, a flat income tax is one of the main sticking points that Milton Frie

Reply to The (American) Liberal Dictionary in The Media Stardock Forums

[quote]About the ambulance incident:[/quote] oh ho! The ambulance incident, singular? There were several documented cases in which marked ambulances were fired upon. I will provide sources to back that up! Furthermore, I never stated that Hezbollah never went in cities. They themselves have released videos showing their members firing rockets from h

Reply to The (American) Liberal Dictionary in The Media JoeUser Forums

[quote]It was also very apparent that you had no problem with the idea of fighters hiding among civilians, you even made fun of the idea of finding it repulsive. Only after you were told that hiding among civilians is a war crime, you suddenly "knew" that Hizbullah didn't do that. (In your example you had American soldiers do it, you apparently didn't know that hiding in cities is indeed not an accepted strategy in civilised warfare.)[/quote] I never changed my tune. I was trying to i

Reply to The (American) Liberal Dictionary in The Media Stardock Forums

[quote]It was reported from Lebanese Christians that Hizbullah forced them to stay while the terrorists dug in and shot rockets from the Christian homes.[/quote] Hmmm. That's interesting. Because I was told that after most of the Shiite sections of Beirut were levelled, the christian sections of the city (which were not bombed) and fell under the purview of general Ayoun who had signed a treaty with Hezbollah, gladly opened their doors and let the Shia stay there (not Hezbollah, famili

Reply to Redistribution in Politics Stardock Forums

[quote]Arty, you are referring to people trading labour for money and goods for money voluntarily. That is not what we are discussing here.[/quote] I apologize for any confusion. I was using the analogy of a hypothetical Mr. Ford and his factory workers to illustrate that if wealth is distributed between a larger segment of the populace, society benefits more than the "king of the hill" model in which a small number of people sit at the top of a massive hill and "

Reply to Redistribution in Politics Stardock Forums

Hey, I'm all for what is called "redistribution" although, I would simply call it "distribution" But no matter. Whatever you choose to call it really isn't important. A rose by any other name, right? But here's the point behind "distribution", and it's one that was figured out quite well by a capitalist. Henry Ford realized that the ideal situation both for himself and his company would be if his own workers could afford to buy the products they were making. So, on a

Reply to The (American) Liberal Dictionary in The Media Stardock Forums

[quote]I don't see why the Lebanese cannot do the same and I don't see why Israel is to blame for the fact that they didn't.[/quote] Again, this is the hypocrisy I am addressing. As I've said before, I bear no resentment towards Israel, so you have responded by saying I am hostile. I assure you there is no hostility either. What I am getting at is there is a definite double standard- Never mind that it was Israeli bombs dropped by Israeli aircraft, the line of thinking goes that

Reply to The (American) Liberal Dictionary in The Media Stardock Forums

[quote]What exactly is "unnecessary force and brutality" when fighting people who want to kill you, your family, and your entire people?[/quote] Oh, I don't know. Maybe dropping cluster bombs all over the country, many of which didn't explode on initial contact, many of which fell in towns and cities. Funny, quite often they are these little yellow disks that children mistake for toys and decide to play with.... hmmm..... [quote]But nevertheless, I would be curious to learn why

Reply to I've Got the Solution!!!! in Politics Stardock Forums

[quote]it is a bit in bad taste to joke about mass murdering "evil greedy wall street people" when none of them actually were.[/quote] Where exactly did I insinuate that any of these folks were evil and greedy? And where did I state that they were going to be mass murdered? All I did was offer a solution to the unemployment crises affecting many good hardworking folks. In partaking of military service, they will have 1) Job security 2) Good healthcare 3) Be

Reply to The (American) Liberal Dictionary in The Media JoeUser Forums

[quote]Is your point that it is OK to tell lies if exist other stories that might be true?[/quote] [quote]The lies you told are not stories fabricated or honestly reported by AI[/quote] [quote]That's really up to you. I didn't ask you to tell lies.[/quote] The lies, the lies, oh the lies!!!! Oh the humanity, please make the bad man stop with the lying already!!! As I said before, I'm not fabricating or idly passing on what I believe to be lies. What I am doing,