Friday/Weekend Open Thread
The media continues to perpetuate panic with opinion masquerading as news headlines like Is this the end of American capitalism? or Another Great Depression?
Remember guys, we will be doing site upgrade this coming weekend. It is tentatively scheduled for Saturday night, but if I feel it's not yet ready, then it will happen on Sunday night. No data will be lost so keep on writing! :) Have a great Friday.
Submitted by Ender on Sat, 2008-10-11 17:38
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Ender
If you need help with the site upgrade I'm available.
I don't know what you have in store, but I'm here if you need me:
nathan.stine@gmail.com
I never broke the law; I am the law! --
George W. BushJudge DreddI'm listening to...
Not a good day for this
Not a good day for this bright reporter.
Use for whatever analogies you wish -- the McCain campaign? The "bailout"/"rescue" efforts?
A real fake thing
Pop sold by Nigerians
"Soda good enough to wash..."
In our society, people are rewarded for pretending to be certain about things they're clearly not certain about. -- Sam Harris,
Ya know, it occurred to me
Ya know, it occurred to me that it might be fake (and the "reporter" looked a little unreporterry to me), but I didn't check on it because I decided to just give folks a laugh, and if they wanted to look into whether or not it was real, they could.
I was curious, though, so for me at least, thanks.
Favorite quotes I've heard
Favorite quotes I've heard re: financial crisis:
Optimistic:
"There's only one end of the world, and this ain't it."
Pessimistic:
"There are only two positions to be in in this market: cash and fetal."
Refusing to bring chargers against ACORN
is the reason David Iglesias was fired as New Mexico's state Attorney General. He was asked to investigate Acorn's voter fraud and said there was no there there.
ACORN
has been a GOP target for a long time.
I'm only half stupid
Breaking: Palin abused power
http://www.adn.com/palin/story/552393.html?newsflash
In my expert opinion, you should do what I tell you to do.
Reasonable
Seems like a fairly reasonable decision. What she did was an ethics violation, though not necessarily illegal. I think it does bring to light more potentially illegal acts involving Todd Palin - seems like he had a lot more access to government resources and records than he should have had - and I suspect Sarah Palin's responsibilty for that does stray into the realm of illegal. That probably won't come to light for some time, though.
The McCain campaign is predictably spinning this as a partisan hatchet job, despite the fact that the commission was majority Republican!
CNN reports
this:
without comment. But less than a minute of effort (thanks Google!) turns up the actual law
(pdf), which clearly states:
Nothing about "financial" benefits only. Nice investigative reporting there, CNN! It's not the liberal media, it's the lazy media.
Edit: In fact, in the definitions section of the law, it explicitly states:
So Palin's lawyers are clearly full of crap!
We are the environment. There is no distinction. What we do to the earth we do to ourselves. —David Suzuki
CBS pionts out Palin's BS pretty clearly
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/12/politics/main4516113.shtml
Lead paragraph:
And the partisan aspect:
In my expert opinion, you should do what I tell you to do.
The hubris is breathtaking
I think this is true of both parties.
Whenever a report comes out like this, the person found "guilty" always say "I'm vindicated!" I think this all goes back to the big lie
. The press can't challenge your explanation of why you did something wrong when you don't even admit that you did something wrong:
Press: So the report says that 2+2=4.
Candidate: Well, we believe it says 5.
Press: But the report says...
Candidate: The report clearly states that 2+2=5. We are vindicated! Next question.
I mean, what other evidence do you need to show regarding what a report says other than the report? The fact that people fall for this crap is a sign that our democratic institutions are getting weaker.
I never broke the law; I am the law! --
George W. BushJudge DreddI'm listening to...
And let me add
I feel just like this poster
:
I never broke the law; I am the law! --
George W. BushJudge DreddI'm listening to...
I can never tell if things are getting worse
I guess at any point, some things are getting better and some things are getting worse.
However, when I look back and think "this never would have happened yesterday", I can't tell if I'm just idealizing the past, or perhaps I was just ignorant back then and didn't see when this junk happened.
One thing I'm pretty sure of, is that our society has become less serious over the past several decades, and we've abandoned a lot of our decorum...which may be part of why we aren't willing to draw such bright lines and expect people to act "like adults".
Another thing I worry about is that smart, responsible people have been drawn out of public life by our modern economic institutions. A while ago I read an article by Charles Murray in which he celebrated that modern society has the ability to provide exceptional opportunities its more intelligent/competent members -- who previously would have been stuck being "the smart guy" in a small town...but it got me wondering "what jobs have been abandoned to the less competent members of society?"
In my expert opinion, you should do what I tell you to do.
Not so sure
I think that things are about the same, just magnified by 24/7 info flow.
We have access to so much instant information. It shines a light on all the various aspects of human nature. Humans will always be corruptible and will always abuse power.
Hopefully the future will prove out that our forefathers were wise when they installed checks and balances in our system of government. Things have always tilted back and forth. At this time it is much more glaring because of the digital age.
The problem with all institutions...... they are created by humans. There is no such thing as perfection in any given system, only consequences.
Of course I feel that the consequences of Republican trickle down philosophy has been ruinous rein of deception and whorishly selfish greed and generally a pox upon our country! The Democratic philosophy of putting people first is much closer to perfection. :)
I'm only half stupid
Obama may just have bigger problems than John McCain...
Underlying all arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. ~M. Friedman
I will take conspiracy theories and secret
societies for dummies for $500.
Or how the illuminati infiltrated the John Birch Society a separatist secessionist movement in Texas and Alaska. They believe in guns, family values and freedom from the law. See standoff at Waco. Also see Timothy McVeigh
How to avoid paying taxes by living off America while renouncing my citizenship
said Timmy McV, as he shared his anti-government views with his pals. Why do you think I own so many guns. He looked sharp as he drove around in his truck in his paramilitary gear.
I'm only half stupid
You won that category long ago!
Why fight the issue, why not make the guy look like a joker?
Ya, thats what I thought.
Underlying all arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. ~M. Friedman
I demand McCain
produce evidence that he isn't a Manchurian Candidate!!!
1: Obama's birth mother is an American citizen, so Obama is an American citizen.
!!
2: Oh no, Barry's step dad forged a document to get him into a Catholic school
4: Brady Quinn posed him in a Browns uniform when he was a little kid, therefore Brady always loved the Browns.
5a: Only if Barry voluntarily gave up his citizenship, is he then not a US citizen.
5b: Barry never voluntarily gave up his US citizenship, therefore he still has his natural born citizen , end of discussion.
In our society, people are rewarded for pretending to be certain about things they're clearly not certain about. -- Sam Harris,
Wrong.
.
Underlying all arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. ~M. Friedman
"Allow me to retort"
Would you mind extrapolating on your ever so eloquently written, yet concise rebuttal?
In our society, people are rewarded for pretending to be certain about things they're clearly not certain about. -- Sam Harris,
If you had watched the entire video, you would understand.
.Quite the loquacious response though... ;-) LOL!
Underlying all arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. ~M. Friedman
I watched it.
The video said:
If Obama produced a document that helps out his side of the story, then its forged.
If there are documents that support "our" civil suit to get back at Obama for beating HRC, then the document is authentic and 100% accurate.
Indonesia didn't provide for dual citizen, but we'll leave out that the US allows dual citizenship and the State Department is the one that can revoke citizenship and has some rules of thumb to follow, but nothing is set in stone.
Even José Luis de Jesús Miranda finds that video to be untruthful.
In our society, people are rewarded for pretending to be certain about things they're clearly not certain about. -- Sam Harris,
.
.
Underlying all arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. ~M. Friedman
Complete and total....
.... load of crap.
A politician is an arse upon which everyone has sat except a man -- e e cummings
Ok then prove it? I'm waiting?
.
Underlying all arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. ~M. Friedman
*Yawn*
...
skymutt: accept no substitutes!
the president of illuminati pictures...
...is not a conspiracy theorist.
He just thought it would be a hoot to name his company after the mother of all conspiracy theories.
In my expert opinion, you should do what I tell you to do.
"No, ma'am," McCain responded. "He's a decent family man,
citizen; I just happen to have disagreements with (him) on fundamental issues."
John McCain said that yesterday in response to a supporter in his rally:
"one woman who said she didn't trust Obama because "he's an Arab."
I was happy to see it. Granted others in his campaign went on to slander Obama throughout the day, but still. The vitriol has me worried. Last thing I want to see here in the US is people getting killed in political upheavals. That's politicians as well as citizens. Sad thing is I have some friends here who have insinuated just such stuff, and mind you, these aren't my liberal friends, these are folks that aren't ashamed about their Militia sympathies. Yea, I associate with all kinds of different levels out here....welcome to my part of California.
The new tact, or should I say the old tact
is the culture wars, or that old line that Democrats are the party of death.
Mrs. P is speaking truth to power by stating that Obama kills babies after they are born alive.
At least they are going back to old lines of the compassionate conservative traditions. Only communists and democrats kill babies.
I know this rhetoric sounds over the top, but that is what they are saying and they mean it.
I'm only half stupid
Although I'm glad to see
Although I'm glad to see McCain making such statements in general, it seems rather odd -- and would be disturbing to me if I didn't attribute it to McCain just awkwardly using his canned, rehearsed line rather than actually thinking on his feet -- that a response to someone saying she doesn't trust Obama because "he's an Arab" would be "No, ma'am. He's a decent family man, citizen" as if those were mutually exclusive categories.
The obvious implication
through viral e-mails and all the rest is that Obama is in 'cahoot's with the terrorists, if he is an arab, or 'other'. There has been a long concerted effort to paint this picture of Obama as the spawn of Islamofascist/Socialist/Anti-Israeli loins out to destroy our country from within. (You saw the cheering crowds in Hitler's Berlin. Didn't you make the 'obvious' connection?)
Please don't pretend to be so naive that you don't understand this political strategy.
I'm only half stupid
Please try to make sense if
Please try to make sense if you feel the need to reply to my comments. I really don't want to spend time deconstructing nonsensical comments of yours, pointing out and explaining where your thought process (using that term loosely) went wrong, and trying (most likely in vain) to guide you back to relevancy and logic.
Just a quick tip for starters: If you're going to reply to a comment, reply in some way that is relevant to some actual point made in the comment; don't just spew some talking points that you feel like throwing out just because you see some related keyword that provides a pretext for doing so.
Sorry Dad, I am voting for Obama
A Delightful Read
Christopher Buckley, son of the late great conservative thinker William writes a spritely piece, of heartfelt sadness at the demise of John McCain into campaign madness, where it is difficult 'to separate the right from the kooks", and praise for Obama's temperment and intellect which he sees as left leaning yet pragmatic enough to navigate the twists and turns our country will face without raising taxes (too much).
I'm only half stupid
Of interest to Ohioans
A few of you, perhaps GR the most, may want to know that Bob Barr will be at Oberlin College this Thursday (10/16).
I have more info if anyone is interested.
I never broke the law; I am the law! --
George W. BushJudge DreddI'm listening to...
here is a good article
The Coming Obama Thugocracy
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
Except it seems to have its facts outright wrong.
This
was pretty easy to debunk, and that wasn't even my intent: it was the first article by an actually local paper discussing the issue.
(Also, given the history of the word "thug", that title could have been in much better taste.)
That being said, I agree that partisans of any stripe do have an unhealthy tendency to try shouting the opposition into submission.
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
An interesting idea
in the way of prevention for the future re: credit crises, is to have the lenders who underwrite the loans hold some sort of ownership stake, so that if they repackage and sell these loans, they have a vested interested in the integrity of their work. In other words the lenders couldn't just sell and run.
I'm only half stupid
Accountability
That's not too much different than holding manufacturereres of goods being accountable for meeting safety standards.
If I had money, I might be willing to pay more for buying up loans if the seller had a short term and long term vested interest in accurately portraying the risk of the repackaged loan.
In our society, people are rewarded for pretending to be certain about things they're clearly not certain about. -- Sam Harris,
Bank slogans: what a pile of s**t
The economist has a telling (and funny) review of the slogans used by banks
:
In my expert opinion, you should do what I tell you to do.
Boy my Minnesota Vikings are
Boy my Minnesota Vikings are smart! Brilliant to conserve their energy, just barely beating the winless Lions in the last minute. I didn't watch the game, but I'm just sure they just decided to rest up rather than blowing them out. That's why they are taking the Super Bowl this year!
Um, yeah, that's it. (Let me live with that self-delusion for a week, ok?)
Turnaround in the markets at hand?
Stock market futures are up around 4%
.
skymutt: accept no substitutes!
too early to tell
I sure hope so...
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
I hope so
If it goes down a bunch tomorrow I fear it will be a trend for the near future and a bad sign for our economy after all the GSummits efforts to bolster confidence, so I hope it stabilizes at the very least.
Tonight I prey to the money gods! :-l
I'm only half stupid
Wouldn't it of been nice...
...to have a trillion bucks in the bank and let the markets work it out?
We spent a trillion bucks to prop up Paulsons and bush's pals!
Underlying all arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. ~M. Friedman
The Democrats hate voter fraud....
...unless it's in their favor
!
Underlying all arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. ~M. Friedman
They need to hire more workers
The article states that they don't have enough workers to properly check the qualifications of all the new registrants as well as remove felons from the rolls as is required under Florida law.
I would suggest that the legislature appropriate more money to be sure that the law is being properly followed.
I never broke the law; I am the law! --
George W. BushJudge DreddI'm listening to...
Help America Vote Act
Other wise know as the
a federally mandated program to remove newly registered voters from swing states from the rolls.
Surpress the Vote Act
Make sure you verify that you are registered or else vote early. That way if there are problems you can take care of it before Nov. 4th.
I'm only half stupid
The coming liberal thugocracy!
Here is the rest of the story
...
Underlying all arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. ~M. Friedman
That's the definition of libel
In September, St. Louis County Circuit Attorney Bob McCulloch and St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce warned citizens that they would bring criminal libel prosecutions against anyone who made statements against Mr. Obama that were "false."
Libel is defined as defamatory and false statements made by word of mouth. However, public figures usually don't get libel or slander protections.
Why these attorneys would cheerfully remind people of the law, I have no idea. Perhaps it was in repsonse to something in context. Otherwise, that would be cause for alarm.
I never broke the law; I am the law! --
George W. BushJudge DreddI'm listening to...
It's also not true.
Ender posted a link to the article above (sorry, RW, you're late to the punch!), and I was curious that such an inflammatory gesture by state officials hadn't made the news cycle, liberal bias or no. Turns out they didn't
threaten anyone with prosecution, or anything remotely close to that. Go figure.
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce