JohnInCarolina needs help!

Sherryjames · December 2017

pgprescott said:

Does the search work on all the nuked threads you engaged in?.. hmmm.

pgprescott · December 2017

StillH2OEgger said:

pgprescott said:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/02/us/brian-ross-suspended-abc.html

I'm confused, does this strengthen or weaken your case that the liberal media's only goal is biased fake news? I'm happy there are consequences when mistakes are made.

The discerning individual would realize it strengthens it. If this were reversed the conservative would already have been executed by firing squad. They minimize the issue when it’s a liberal in the wrong just watch over the next week or so. Open your eyes man. This has been going on for fifty years. They have to report it.

Let’s have a contest : what would the headline be if they caught a Trump zealot doing stuff like this in reverse? Hmm.

JohnInCarolina · December 2017

Speaking of troll accounts...

StillH2OEgger · December 2017

i think a more discerning individual would want to see Trump's tax returns to find out the extent of his business interests with Russia. But maybe I'm just overly skeptical of anyone who spends $25 million to settle a scheme he orchestrated in Florida. Do you question anything this man and his family have done, or is he just not despicable enough to offset your shared political goals?

JohnInCarolina · December 2017

Not something you see every day. I’m sure many agents are mortified at how the reputation of the Bureau has become politicized. We’ve gone pretty far off the rails with all of this, the way our institutions have been undermined.

lousubcap · December 2017

With all the ebbs and flows regarding the Russian investigations you would think it best to let the investigations run their course. Of course, I am then reminded that "the best defense is a good offense" and that is definitely at play here.
We are captives of the "me first" twitter wars and the 24 hour news cycle. Unfortunately there is no immediate endpoint in sight. The investigations will grind on and hopefully arrive at some conclusions but those will be challenged by those with the opposite view, always have and always will. The only change in the political drama is the speed of the cycle. FWIW-

JohnInCarolina · December 2017

How did this thread survive the weekend? I’m losing a step.

thetrim · December 2017

Yeah I'm surprised it made it. The Buffalos been slacking a bit lately.

nolaegghead · December 2017

Image: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DQKGUeHUEAA7a8n.jpg

Eoin · December 2017

nolaegghead said:

There is a lot of discussion here in the UK about social mobility and how this seems to have stalled in the past 15 - 20 years.

After the war and the move away from manufacturing and into more professional white collar jobs, there was an increase in the number of middle class jobs and so social mobility from working class to middle class was achieved by a large number of people. I think that a lot of people on this forum will have benefited from this - my father was born into a poor, working class family but managed to get a good education and had a successful career as a classical musician. His younger brother went to Cambridge and worked as an engineer for IBM for most of his life.

Now, the expansion in jobs is more service / low quality white collar to replace declining manufacturing jobs, but these replacement jobs have lower pay and poorer prospects than the blue collar jobs they replace. There is no more major expansion of professional white collar jobs, so how do the working class make it into the middle class these days? For this to happen, the children of the middle classes must also be able to go down the ladder, and this is the sticking point in the system. Middle class parents ensure that their children get an education, go to a good school and get a good job. Working class parents do not necessarily do this through lack of ability, lack of contacts or just the inability to move to an area with a good school.

So for the current generation of young people, the Birth Lottery really is a major factor in your life chances on this side of the pond.

As an additional rider, we also have our beloved class system, topped off by the royals. Being born into the right family and going to the right private school is not just a guaranteed good job, it's an almost guaranteed entry onto a career ladder to the top jobs in society.

Eoin · December 2017

I know your benefits system is a lot different to ours, but we are in a situation here now where in work benefits cost £90 billion per year. This is mainly tax credits (note: these are actual positive payments, not just offsets against tax paid, and are based on dependent children more than anything else) and housing benefit (to help pay rent).

The creating of a lot of low paid jobs means that, although unemployment is low, the cost to the taxpayer is still high because the jobs being created are low paid and often part time (because in work benefits taper off as income increases, meaning part time work is 'benefits efficient').

This system effectively subsidises:

1. Employers who pay the minimum wage, the taxpayer topping up those wages.
2. Landlords whose rents are artificially propped up by the injection of taxpayer money into the private rented sector.

The worst cases for effective employer subsidies are multinationals like Starbucks, Subway or Amazon who pay low wages and then use multi jurisdiction arrangements like the Double Irish with Dutch Sandwich to shift profits to low / no tax locations such as the Cayman Islands. Their employment of lots of people at low wages creates a bigger welfare bill, then they move the profits out of the country and avoid Corporation Tax as well.

pgprescott · December 2017

nolaegghead said:

So the last two Democrat Presidents got rich by the birth lottery?? Hmm. Third grade thinking at best as it pertains to this country.

HeavyG · December 2017

pgprescott said:

nolaegghead said:

So the last two Democrat Presidents got rich by the birth lottery?? Hmm. Third grade thinking at best as it pertains to this country.

Pick outliers and consider them to be the norm. Sounds legit.

Eoin · December 2017

pgprescott said:

nolaegghead said:

So the last two Democrat Presidents got rich by the birth lottery?? Hmm. Third grade thinking at best as it pertains to this country.

The Birth Lottery doesn't stop people from getting on, it just makes it harder because the good schools and good jobs are cluttered up with the not necessarily that bright offspring of the middle classes.

pgprescott · December 2017

HeavyG said:

pgprescott said:

nolaegghead said:

So the last two Democrat Presidents got rich by the birth lottery?? Hmm. Third grade thinking at best as it pertains to this country.

Pick outliers and consider them to be the norm. Sounds legit.

This is precisely what separates the USA from all other countries. It is the norm. Anyone can make it here and that’s why everyone in the world wants to be here. Sure it’s harder for some than others, but in almost all other places it’s impossible. It doesn’t mean you don’t need to apply hard work and excellent decision making coupled with some good fortune, but it’s attainable.

westernbbq · December 2017

The US system of economic freedom isnt flawless, but, after doing business with people from Europe (serbia, croatia, poland, england, germany,)Canada, Asia(mostly China but some from Japan), the Middle East and Mexico, the feedback. I have received is that the US is the greatest country on earth. Freedom to practice religion, access to education, running water and electricity availability (no joke) , and freedom to pursue happiness exists to a greater extent here than anywhere. So!emof these countries have more freedoms than others but the US is the ONLY nation on earth i believe that offers freedom, opportunity, education amd advancement access to angreater extent than any nation.

What right does our government think it has to confiscate what ive busted my arse for?

In some countries, people like kathy griffin would have been executed for holding up a severed trump head. Well, at least her career has been put to death, she was unfunny anyway.

There are countries where you could be the most qualified with the greatest willingness to work the hardest and you still wouldn'tbe given a chance. Not so here.

fishlessman · December 2017

the liberal media doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results
Image result for liberal clowns

JohnInCarolina · December 2017

westernbbq said:

The US system of economic freedom isnt flawless, but, after doing business with people from Europe (serbia, croatia, poland, england, germany,)Canada, Asia(mostly China but some from Japan), the Middle East and Mexico, the feedback. I have received is that the US is the greatest country on earth. Freedom to practice religion, access to education, running water and electricity availability (no joke) , and freedom to pursue happiness exists to a greater extent here than anywhere. So!emof these countries have more freedoms than others but the US is the ONLY nation on earth i believe that offers freedom, opportunity, education amd advancement access to angreater extent than any nation.

I'm really not sure that's the case. There's a lot of this that is subjective, but if you look at measures of upwardly mobility many countries are ahead of us:

I'm pretty sure places like Germany and Australia have running water and electricity, access to education, etc. Many of these countries have far better healthcare outcomes than we do, and even when you include public taxes, the costs of the educational systems are far smaller than ours. Germans attend university without going hundreds of thousands of dollars into debt.

Even if after all of this you disagree and insist we're still the best in some kind of all-around measure that's intangible, surely no matter what you'll agree that we're not perfect. We can do better, and we should try to do so.

The usual retort to this kind of thing is: well, if these places are so great, why don't you move there? And the answer is simple. It comes down to roots. Most of us have strong roots in the US, and would prefer to stay here and try to make the country we love (shocker, I know) better for everyone.

pgprescott · December 2017

JohnInCarolina said:

westernbbq said:

The US system of economic freedom isnt flawless, but, after doing business with people from Europe (serbia, croatia, poland, england, germany,)Canada, Asia(mostly China but some from Japan), the Middle East and Mexico, the feedback. I have received is that the US is the greatest country on earth. Freedom to practice religion, access to education, running water and electricity availability (no joke) , and freedom to pursue happiness exists to a greater extent here than anywhere. So!emof these countries have more freedoms than others but the US is the ONLY nation on earth i believe that offers freedom, opportunity, education amd advancement access to angreater extent than any nation.

I'm really not sure that's the case. There's a lot of this that is subjective, but if you look at measures of upwardly mobility many countries are ahead of us:

I'm pretty sure places like Germany and Australia have running water and electricity, access to education, etc. Many of these countries have far better healthcare outcomes than we do, and even when you include public taxes, the costs of the educational systems are far smaller than ours. Germans attend university without going hundreds of thousands of dollars into debt.

Even if after all of this you disagree and insist we're still the best in some kind of all-around measure that's intangible, surely no matter what you'll agree that we're not perfect. We can do better, and we should try to do so.

The usual retort to this kind of thing is: well, if these places are so great, why don't you move there? And the answer is simple. It comes down to roots. Most of us have strong roots in the US, and would prefer to stay here and try to make the country we love (shocker, I know) better for everyone.

Or, it could be that if you moved to Germany, you would NEVER be considered a German.

Eoin · December 2017

westernbbq said:

The US system of economic freedom isnt flawless, but, after doing business with people from Europe (serbia, croatia, poland, england, germany,)Canada, Asia(mostly China but some from Japan), the Middle East and Mexico, the feedback. I have received is that the US is the greatest country on earth. Freedom to practice religion, access to education, running water and electricity availability (no joke) , and freedom to pursue happiness exists to a greater extent here than anywhere. So!emof these countries have more freedoms than others but the US is the ONLY nation on earth i believe that offers freedom, opportunity, education amd advancement access to angreater extent than any nation.

What right does our government think it has to confiscate what ive busted my arse for?

In some countries, people like kathy griffin would have been executed for holding up a severed trump head. Well, at least her career has been put to death, she was unfunny anyway.

There are countries where you could be the most qualified with the greatest willingness to work the hardest and you still wouldn'tbe given a chance. Not so here.

Social mobility isn't about confiscating your hard earned, it's about allowing everyone the same opportunity to do well in life.

The cause of the current social unrest in many 'rich' countries is the thought that those pathways to advancement are blocked by those already at the top, that the American Dream is dead.

thetrim · December 2017

Democrats politicians gets rich by becoming democrat politicians. Go figure, Bill and Hillary spent a lifetime in "public service" and are now multi millionaires. As is Barack and Michelle. Go figure.
Say what you want about The Donald, but at least he earned it on his own (albeit with $1M of Daddy's seed money).

nolaegghead · December 2017

Omfg. Seriously, people.

Eoin · December 2017

thetrim said:

Democrats politicians gets rich by becoming democrat politicians. Go figure, Bill and Hillary spent a lifetime in "public service" and are now multi millionaires. As is Barack and Michelle. Go figure.
Say what you want about The Donald, but at least he earned it on his own (albeit with $1M of Daddy's seed money).

Here too, Tony & Cherie Blair, the multi millionaire Socialist couple.

LOL at Donald making his own money though.

JohnInCarolina · December 2017

thetrim said:

Democrats politicians gets rich by becoming democrat politicians. Go figure, Bill and Hillary spent a lifetime in "public service" and are now multi millionaires. As is Barack and Michelle. Go figure.
Say what you want about The Donald, but at least he earned it on his own (albeit with $1M of Daddy's seed money).

Yeah. Who among us doesn’t have a million dollars to start off with, amirite?!?!?

HeavyG · December 2017

westernbbq said:

The US system of economic freedom isnt flawless, but, after doing business with people from Europe (serbia, croatia, poland, england, germany,)Canada, Asia(mostly China but some from Japan), the Middle East and Mexico, the feedback. I have received is that the US is the greatest country on earth. Freedom to practice religion, access to education, running water and electricity availability (no joke) , and freedom to pursue happiness exists to a greater extent here than anywhere. So!emof these countries have more freedoms than others but the US is the ONLY nation on earth i believe that offers freedom, opportunity, education amd advancement access to angreater extent than any nation.

What right does our government think it has to confiscate what ive busted my arse for?

In some countries, people like kathy griffin would have been executed for holding up a severed trump head. Well, at least her career has been put to death, she was unfunny anyway.

There are countries where you could be the most qualified with the greatest willingness to work the hardest and you still wouldn'tbe given a chance. Not so here.

"What right does our government think it has to confiscate what ive busted my arse for?"

It always makes me chuckle when, on one hand, an American touts how great the US is because we tend to have an orderly and civil society, decent infrastructure available throughout most of the nation, decent education freely available to almost everyone, freedom of religion (sometimes), etc., etc., American Exceptionalism, etc., etc.…and then whines that the taxes that are necessary to create/support/maintain those things are considered intolerable acts of "confiscation".

thetrim · December 2017

Life's not fair. Get over it!

JohnInCarolina · December 2017

HeavyG said:

westernbbq said:

The US system of economic freedom isnt flawless, but, after doing business with people from Europe (serbia, croatia, poland, england, germany,)Canada, Asia(mostly China but some from Japan), the Middle East and Mexico, the feedback. I have received is that the US is the greatest country on earth. Freedom to practice religion, access to education, running water and electricity availability (no joke) , and freedom to pursue happiness exists to a greater extent here than anywhere. So!emof these countries have more freedoms than others but the US is the ONLY nation on earth i believe that offers freedom, opportunity, education amd advancement access to angreater extent than any nation.

What right does our government think it has to confiscate what ive busted my arse for?

In some countries, people like kathy griffin would have been executed for holding up a severed trump head. Well, at least her career has been put to death, she was unfunny anyway.

There are countries where you could be the most qualified with the greatest willingness to work the hardest and you still wouldn'tbe given a chance. Not so here.

"What right does our government think it has to confiscate what ive busted my arse for?"

It always makes me chuckle when, on one hand, an American touts how great the US is because we tend to have an orderly and civil society, decent infrastructure available throughout most of the nation, decent education freely available to almost everyone, freedom of religion (sometimes), etc., etc., American Exceptionalism, etc., etc.…and then whines that the taxes that are necessary to create/support/maintain those things are considered intolerable acts of "confiscation".

Cognitive dissonance for the win!

nolaegghead · December 2017

But, why does Pete hate Americans?

thetrim · December 2017

I'll just leave this here for you @JohnInCarolina

http://www.bizpacreview.com/2017/12/04/fla-dem-corrine-brown-sentenced-prison-shock-corruption-conviction-571665?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

I guess she won't be making it to Butt Blast this year.

nolaegghead · December 2017

thetrim said:

I'll just leave this here for you @JohnInCarolina

http://www.bizpacreview.com/2017/12/04/fla-dem-corrine-brown-sentenced-prison-shock-corruption-conviction-571665?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

I guess she won't be making it to Butt Blast this year.

Hahaha.... start off with: "Need further proof that the Democrats are the party of corruption?" Not that she isn't guilty, but you need to find better news sources.

JohnInCarolina needs help!

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