Forum for discussing local and world politics and issues. All views are welcomed. Let your opinions be heard on current news and politics.
All standard guidelines apply to this board, No Flaming, No Taunting, No Foul Language,No sexual innuendos,etc..
As politics can be a volatile subject, please consider how you would feel if your comment were directed toward yourself.
Any post deemed to be in violation of guidelines will be deleted or edited without warning or notification. Any continued misbehavior will result in a ban or hidden status, so please play nice!!!
*"Moderators are here for a reason. If a moderator (or Global Moderator or Fencer) requests that a discussion on a certain subject to cease - for whatever reason - please respect these wishes. Failure to do so may result in being hidden, or banned."
anastasia: I dont think any of them are making up for it right now..... maybe walmart, gold was good for awhile, it hit an all time high though and has backed off, but unless you have been short selling.... you are losing the new shirt you bought today
Obama says that the government must sacrifice some worthy priority for which there are no dollars. Fine. But what they say is one thing. Right after that he proposes additional spending (money we don't have) for the cure of Cancer. Double speak. National Health Care reform can't wait? Until we have the money? How many trillions in debt does this guy think we can't make before he ruins the country?
Obama is getting a new fleet of new helicopters. Hmmmm, 11.2 Billion dollars. Yeah, like one isn't enough.
But the topper is when he said he "is proud that we passed a recovery plan that is free of earmarks."
Really? He's either lying or he's stupid. Neither choice is good.
There's language in this "recovery package" that requires the Transportation Security Administration to buy 100,000 uniforms from U.S. apparel makers (more that three million of tax dollars). That's an earmark folks.
Three billion in extra transit money. Another earmark.
Fifty million for habitat restoration in the San Francisco Bay area. Another earmark.
1.2 million for products from these companies: General Electric, L-3 Communications and Reveal Imaging Technologies. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal, which is a GE company.)
Earmarks.
There's the 189 million provision for Filipino World War II vets, most of which don't live in the US. Another earmark.
This is supposed to be emergency legislation.
So what's up with the 2 billion for battery research? Emergency legislation? Maybe Obama is just redefining earmarks. Kinda like Clinton did with "is."
There 800 million for carbon capture projects.
If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck. It's a duck.
That's just a start. It's pork, no matter what. 200 thousand dollars for tattoo removal? Seriously, if that's not an earmark, what is it?
Nothing surprises me anymore. Change we can believe in? All we'll have left is change in our pockets and it won't be that much.
Czuch:Yeah, what could I be thinking. All those tattoo stores will bring in money (yours and mine)to pay for removal of tattoos from people too stupid to realize that tattoos are permanent. Hmmm. That sounds fair.
Houston just tried to pass a bill where they would use tax dollars to help elevate credit card debt for those that have over spent. It was killed but the dems tried to sneak it past the people. The Republicans rallied and killed that stupid bill. I don't have any credit card bills because I always pay it off. Why should I help out some moron who maxed out ten cards?
They beg you to be irresponsible and stupid... then they can give you a hand out from someone who wasnt irresponsible and stupid, and then you will vote for them because they helped you, but they dont tell any one that they were only able to help you because there are actually some people in this world who are responsible, and without these responsible people there would be no money to help you be irresponsible, unless your name is Usurper, and he would tell you that all we have to do if nobody is responsible and productive, is to print more money, so dont worry we can still give you money for being irresposible and stupid anyway.... so dont worry, Bam is on your side
The Usurper: So you must believe then, that Bams plans are working according to plan, since wall st cronies are losing billions every day? If wall st did good under Bush, and evryone hated him, then under Bam, wall st should be doing bad, a good sign that socialism is working?
Czuch: If you don't know what a Wall Street crony is, nothing I can say would enlighten you. Did I say I approve of Obama's plan? I only said it is morally superior to the Bush bailout, if it helps one person in genuine need. And I think, for all of its bad points, it will probably do that. You know me, I think the whole ship is going down. Bush passed the torch to Obama, but the mission remains. Neither Bush nor Obama is really in charge, so in a way it is pointless to blame either of them.
题目: Re:Thats my point, the best advice is to save the money and then make the purchase, not make it on credit.
Czuch: Ahhh but some companies are offering 0% credit for two years or more on certain items like furniture over here. If one was clever, one would pay off the item in under those two years or so.
"Maybe it is a bit different with business.... but my advice is if you cant pay cash fro it, you cant afford it or it is more than you really need."
Have you really been following what has gone on re the banks? They've been lending and borrowing from each other, making very dodgy unthought investments all on the hope that the boom period would not end. Well it does, always.
They've been making bad loans to people, knowing that if the boom failed it would be the people that would suffer, bad mortgages.. no-one should ever get a 100% mortgage, people over here have always been advised (or as was in the past) to save a percentage first before buying a house, and most banks then insisted that had a deposit.
The Usurper: So you must believe then, that Bams plans are working according to plan, since wall st cronies are losing billions every day? If wall st did good under Bush, and evryone hated him, then under Bam, wall st should be doing bad, a good sign that socialism is working?
Artful Dodger: And Bush did what to the national debt? Spending billions and billions on a war that shouldn't have taken place.. at least maybe not in the form taken... If had thought, they could have done a sneaky war, which would have cost less in money and lives.
And what about some of those people who got contracts to rebuild Iraq, hasn't there been investigations into some over basically ripping off the American Government aka The USA population?
You don't reward those who fought along side you in WWII... that's disgraceful.
(V):I know they can be removed. Why should the government pay for it? Just another example of rewarding irresponsible people when they do stupid things.
题目: Re: You don't reward those who fought along side you in WWII... that's disgraceful.
Artful Dodger: Perhaps your Pres is just doing the right thing now for those vets after them being ignored all this time.
.. That's moronic??
As for the removal of tattoos.. Maybe it'll put some people in a better situation to get a good job, rather then being victimised for being 'kids'. Kids do do stupid things ya know, you must remember that. It's part of growing up.
Czuch: i never bitched about it when bush was in office....I'm in it for the long haul,Chuckie...I'm 36 right now...I don't plan on touching any of my investments untill I'm in my 60's
"Political Ponerology is a study of the founders and supporters of oppressive political regimes. Lobaczewski’s approach analyzes the common factors that lead to the propagation of man’s inhumanity to man. Morality and humanism cannot long withstand the predations of this evil. Knowledge of its nature – and its insidious effect on both individuals and groups - is the only antidote."
The Usurper: Very interesting indeed, great speculation, but far from proving any reality.... now you have to show me the evidence of where the real plane went to???
okay, so... they got these arabs to commit suicide to help the US government start a war in the middle east?
They faked a few planes being hijacked, put a missile in the pentagon , demolished 3 buildings with explosives after flying planes into two of them (btw why did they have to actually demolish the buildings with explosives after they flew planes into them?) anyway, the fbi the cia the president congress and others including obama know all about this, but because its for some greater world domination plan, everyone in the loop is keeping it hush hush??? Sound about right?
Czuch: Why do I have to show you such evidence? It is obvious no Boeing 757 hit the Pentagon. That is enough Reality to disprove the official theory, and to prove that official theory is disinformation, a cover-up of real events.
If we all agree that "Sam" is missing, and I point to a spot and say, "Look, Sam's not there!" it doesn't mean I have to know where Sam IS to know he isn't THERE. But if somebody insists on telling me he is there where I'm pointing, I know it is a lie.
Czuch: Yes, that's about right. They needed explosives because the planes & resulting fire weren't enough in themselves to bring the buildings down. And it is probable that no Arabs committed suicide. No Arabs appeared on the flight manifests released. Some planted information like a passport here or there served to identify them. Some of those indentified are still alive, according to news reports. They were patsies.
Artful Dodger: Good question. But we're speaking of "flight" here, not "flights," in the plural. See my post below....to know what happened to the plane and its passengers is a different question than knowing what did NOT happen to them.
The Usurper: I'm not sure you have proven flight 77 didn't crash into the Pentagon. Perhaps you have raised doubts, but proven? I wouldn't go that far.
Artful Dodger: Proof, as ever, is in the eye of the beholder. Some will be persuaded, others not. But even if evidence merely raises doubts, that is a good start because it leads people to question things more critically. That in itself is a closer step towards discovering & understanding truth, i.e., reality, or how things are, or what really happened.
"Aspire to be like Mt. Fuji, with such a broad and solid foundation that the strongest earthquake cannot move you, and so tall that the greatest enterprises of common men seem insignificant from your lofty perspective. With your mind as high as Mt. Fuji you can see all things clearly. And you can see all the forces that shape events; not just the things happening near to you."
The Usurper: Proof is what proof is. Not what you want it to be. Evidence can be bad or good. Proof shows something to be true. Evidence can be proof but only if that evidence is actually true. If bad evidence, it's isn't also bad proof; it's not any proof at all. So proof is not in the eye of the beholder. If the "proof" isn't true, then it's not really proof. The evidence must be sufficient to establish that a thing is true. Evidence is just an indication or a sigh. Proof establishes the truth of a thing. I won't get into word games. You have not proven a thing. You have raised some doubts, certainly some questions, and have made legitimate points.
The Usurper: That said, I think there are legitimate questions that haven't been answered properly. Lots of questions. It's enough to make a person want to say forget it. Not worth it. So many points of disagreement and seeming inconsistencies. It's not a slam dunk for either side and that's the problem. It's all subject to interpretations as we don't have indisputable proof. We have interpretative evidence and as we know from history, that can go in many directions. Makes ya wanna go
Artful Dodger: I agree it can be confusing. If it weren't, CoIntelPro wouldn't be doing its job. :o)
I personally think it's a slam dunk. But in any case, sometimes it is best to back off a subject, let things assimilate, approach it later. I do this all the time, maybe we all do.
At the same time, things stick in our minds and don't go away. Eventually we must return to them, because they nag at us.
I personally feel some stress when I make posts about 9/11 or any other subject deemed controversial. I am human, and I like to be liked. Sometimes I imagine how my posts are read, and it is depressing. I also prefer making people happy, not miserable or stressed.
But I push on, because stressful facts, whether about ourselves or about the world around us, cannot be avoided without doing damage to ourselves and/or others. More importantly, avoidance makes us easy prey.
The Usurper:If I witness a murder, it's not a slam dunk in a court of law. It's solid evidence and will be enough to convict. But it's not a slam dunk. The opposition will try to discredit me, discredit what I say I say, and any number of other possible defense tactics.
But if I witness a murder, and get it all on tape - crisp and clear - then it's a slam dunk. It's indisputable. The accused can say, "I was defending myself" but the video shows the victim with his hands up etc. The jury doesn't have to sort out the he said she saids, it's there on the video. In most cases, where a video is involved, the defense seeks a plea because they recognize the case is lost.
If the case you make is beyond a reasonable doubt, then you could claim a slam dunk. But reasonable doubt is all over the place. Neither side has a slam dunk. Both sides have questions to answer.
Even full knowledge of events such as Pearl Harbor are not a slam dunk. True it's a slam dunk that the Japanese attacks us, but many situations surrounding that attack are not fully know, even today. Anytime you have reasonable doubt about an event, you don't have a slam dunk. At best, you have a lay up shot with many obstacles in the way. In a slam dunk, there's no opposition. It's much like being alone on the court.
Artful Dodger: Good post with solid reasoning. I will re-phrase to say: I have seen enough evidence that, although I don't know all details of the plot, I am convinced that 9/11 was orchestrated & carried out by elements within the U.S. Government. And I believe that, were this evidence presented in a court of law, an impartial jury would arrive at the same conclusion.
Still, as you correctly say, many questions still do need to be answered, and many mysteries remain. An independent official investigative committee with subpoena power is needed, but unlikely to develop. Because of this lack, our best-case scenario for understanding 9/11, at the moment, seems to be more-or-less private investigation, piecing together of facts through newspaper reports, etc., and the general spreading of knowledge & information through unofficial sources.
Any investigation, official or unofficial, also needs to be scrutinized, both its results & its methods of arriving at them. No easy task, to be sure.
man....come on with the conspiracy.....havent we kicked that horse to death yet??? I'm wondering what our British friends think about our "chosen one" sending back that bust of Churchill??