JOHN STOSSEL: Did Freedom Win?

[BoberFett]

I am looking forward to Republicans saving the country.

Yep, gonna sit back and enjoy the show for next 2 years.

Yep, that's about the only way to take these lemons and turn them into lemonade. The hipocracy quotient will be huge.

Oh, and learn how to spell hypocrisy, half-wit.

 

[IBMer]

You are going to run out of tissues soon. Probably even sooner if you have to use some for your circle jerk.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Not really. We are coming to reality of a low wage service economy which can't support generous social welfare. We don't need new taxes, although some scams need to be addressed like hedge fund mgr exemption, we need a larger tax base. Solves two problems gets more people off social welfare and become payers and deficit which destroys value of savers.

You're right, of course, but I question how much we can really grow the tax base at this point. Sure, once (if?) the economy turns around, unemployment might drop to the normal 4%-5% and that will bring in more tax revenue. If real wages continue shrinking for the middle class, however, I'm not sure that increasing employment alone will be enough.

What else is there?

1. The capital gains tax laws definitely need to be reviewed and adjusted. A billionaire paying an effective rate of 16 or 17% (forgive me if I'm wrong, I'm recalling this from memory) because his income comes from capital gains is ridiculous. They need to pay an effective rate in the 30% range (at a minimum), just like middle class people do. I'm not asking them to pay a higher percentage than I do; I am asking them to pay an equivalent percentage.

2. We need to legalize marijuana and tax it heavily.

3. Spending cuts must be made. Period.

4. See: my earlier list.

You'll note that my earlier list had some things which one poster called "small potatoes." I wanted to address that point before I forget. I realize that, for example, foreign aid is a very small percentage of our expenditures. IIRC, it is something like $50 to $75 billion per year. The problem I have with using the "It is a small drop in the bucket" argument is two fold. For starters, lots of small drops can fill a bucket. Let's turn the faucet off! Secondly, I have a philosophical issue with giving other countries money when we are borrowing money ourselves.

At a minimum, if we must give this money out to countries, it should be a loan with those countries paying interest. You can also argue that in some cases, the foreign aid we give out more than pays itself back by protecting American interests. That's fair enough, but I think we still need to perform a detailed analysis of each case to see if that is still the case or if it is, to what extent it really helps.

 

[Scotteq]

Not to mention - If the difference between Overspending and merely spending is only a matter of one's perspective, then doesn't the "job" at hand become to find new and inventive ways to spend even more while juggling the ball just long enough to hand it off to the next set of assholes??

Yes, that is quite an effective technique if the poplulace accepts the lies the politicians give rather than thinking for themselves.

Agreement with my point...


followed by a half decent transition to a non-sequitur rant about the Tea Party and Fox news.

Americans have taken their hands off the tiller, closed their eyes, and gone to sleep. The ship has strayed, but the people have become too lazy to do anything about it. When a problem arises, all they reach for is the snooze button -- one quick slap to give themselves 9 more minutes of self-indulgent slumber rather than getting up to do a day's labor to grant themselves 8 hours of deserved rest.

And the Tea Party isn't the waking up -- it's more self indulgence. Switching from letting politicians do what they will at a distance to letting Fox News do what they will with your mind is not real engagement, it's self-delusional escapism.
Real engagement takes work, and it begins at home with your own mind. When Sarah Palin yells, "Freedom," you do not indulge in a Pavlovian emotional response -- you dig for truth. What does it mean? Freedom of what? Freedom from what? What does the picture of the social fabric look like, down to the nitty gritty details of going about daily life?
I don't think she has a clue. Same goes for conservative talk -- they seem to have an undefined layer of abstraction between their ideology and reality. They seem to mentally bridge that gap with magical "power," -- "If only we have power then everything will work out." But power isn't magical. You still have to deal with reality to get from point A to point B; and if your point B is retardedly simple-minded and doesn't factor in all the meaningful modifiers, simply being in power isn't going to make it work.

That seems to be the point where we're at now. The Right is beating the mindless drum of, "POWER power power power POWER power power power POWER power power power," and the Left is saying, "WTF is all this noise? We can't work with all this static. Please stop being stupid so we can sum the vectors of your underlying values are and come up with a system that will hit on as many of them as possible in a long-term solution. Goddamnit, I see that's not gonna work; so here, have a sound byte -- maybe it'll placate you long enough for me to slap a band-aid on something."

Quite the mess.

Quite the mess, indeed.

 

[BoberFett]

You are going to run out of tissues soon. Probably even sooner if you have to use some for your circle jerk.

Don't worry, the Chinese can always make more. In fact, here's some for you too, now wipe away those tears.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Agreement with my point...

followed by a half decent transition to a non-sequitur rant about the Tea Party and Fox news.

Quite the mess, indeed.

There was no disagreement that a world with A allowed for B, and I recognize that the fact of "possibly B" says nothing about the truth value of A, so I rested things on the unstated logical fact that it just doesn't lead back to the premise. It's over and done with at that point, and there's no reason to pursue that path further unless you're foolish enough to claim that you've said anything pertinent. At that point you will be pwnzored.
I'm not going to stick my neck out and try to corral you before you've fully committed yourself. It's too much work for too little gain.

Did you think you were in control of anything here?

 

[Scotteq]

Translation: Smoke and mirrors so you can declare victory and leave...

So: Goodbye

 

[DominionSeraph]

Translation: Smoke and mirrors so you can declare victory and leave...

Hahahahaha!
It is tragically funny that you have no idea what's going on here. You have no concept of just what level I'm operating on, and just how far beyond you I am.

You're stumbling about within the limits of your puny imaginative creativity. It's hilarious that you think that my existence is limited to those bounds.
Here's a hint: It is not. I am not limited to traversing the pathways that you can think of. I am not limited to your silly little level of emotional processing. Your level has been fully analyzed, categorized, and filed away. I am not stuck using it -- I have much better tools.

Again, you are not in control here. You are nowhere near a position where any change you try to effect over me will be anything other than commentary on the stupidity of your underlying worldview. You are just not bright enough to understand the context in which you work, and it is by that context I judge you.

 

[Scotteq]

First generation
Butyrophenones
Main article: Butyrophenones
Haloperidol (Haldol, Serenace)
Droperidol (Droleptan)

Phenothiazines
Chlorpromazine (Thorazine, Largactil)
Fluphenazine (Prolixin) - Available in decanoate (long-acting) form
Perphenazine (Trilafon)
Prochlorperazine (Compazine)
Thioridazine (Mellaril, Melleril)
Trifluoperazine (Stelazine)
Mesoridazine
Periciazine
Promazine
Triflupromazine (Vesprin)
Levomepromazine (Nozinan)
Promethazine (Phenergan)
Pimozide (Orap)

Thioxanthenes
Chlorprothixene (Cloxan, Taractan, Truxal)
Clopenthixol (Sordinol)
Flupenthixol (Depixol, Fluanxol)
Thiothixene (Navane)
Zuclopenthixol (Cisordinol, Clopixol, Acuphase)

Second generation
Clozapine (Clozaril)
Olanzapine (Zyprexa)
Risperidone (Risperdal)
Quetiapine (Seroquel)
Ziprasidone (Geodon)
Amisulpride (Solian)
Asenapine (Saphris)
Paliperidone (Invega)
Iloperidone (Fanapt)
Zotepine (Nipolept, Losizopilon, Lodopin, Setous)
Sertindole (Serdolect, and Serlect in Mexico)

Third generation
• Aripiprazole (Abilify)
• Partial agonists of dopamine.

 

[DominionSeraph]

First generation
Butyrophenones
Main article: Butyrophenones
Haloperidol (Haldol, Serenace)
Droperidol (Droleptan)

Phenothiazines
Chlorpromazine (Thorazine, Largactil)
Fluphenazine (Prolixin) - Available in decanoate (long-acting) form
Perphenazine (Trilafon)
Prochlorperazine (Compazine)
Thioridazine (Mellaril, Melleril)
Trifluoperazine (Stelazine)
Mesoridazine
Periciazine
Promazine
Triflupromazine (Vesprin)
Levomepromazine (Nozinan)
Promethazine (Phenergan)
Pimozide (Orap)

Thioxanthenes
Chlorprothixene (Cloxan, Taractan, Truxal)
Clopenthixol (Sordinol)
Flupenthixol (Depixol, Fluanxol)
Thiothixene (Navane)
Zuclopenthixol (Cisordinol, Clopixol, Acuphase)

Second generation
Clozapine (Clozaril)
Olanzapine (Zyprexa)
Risperidone (Risperdal)
Quetiapine (Seroquel)
Ziprasidone (Geodon)
Amisulpride (Solian)
Asenapine (Saphris)
Paliperidone (Invega)
Iloperidone (Fanapt)
Zotepine (Nipolept, Losizopilon, Lodopin, Setous)
Sertindole (Serdolect, and Serlect in Mexico)

Third generation
• Aripiprazole (Abilify)
• Partial agonists of dopamine.

I see you've decided to list what the contents of your medicine cabinet should look like if you disagree that superior minds exist.
Might help you deal with those underlying feelings of inferiority such a delusion is compensating for.

 

[BoberFett]

Hahahahaha!
It is tragically funny that you have no idea what's going on here. You have no concept of just what level I'm operating on, and just how far beyond you I am.

You're stumbling about within the limits of your puny imaginative creativity. It's hilarious that you think that my existence is limited to those bounds.
Here's a hint: It is not. I am not limited to traversing the pathways that you can think of. I am not limited to your silly little level of emotional processing. Your level has been fully analyzed, categorized, and filed away. I am not stuck using it -- I have much better tools.

Again, you are not in control here. You are nowhere near a position where any change you try to effect over me will be anything other than commentary on the stupidity of your underlying worldview. You are just not bright enough to understand the context in which you work, and it is by that context I judge you.

And yet for all your self-estimated intelligence, you have yet to post anything here that hints at said intelligence. All you do is brag about how intelligent you believe yourself to be. As is generally the case, the more intelligent one believes ones self to be, the less it is actually so.

 

[Scotteq]

And yet for all your self-estimated intelligence, you have yet to post anything here that hints at said intelligence. All you do is brag about how intelligent you believe yourself to be. As is generally the case, the more intelligent one believes ones self to be, the less it is actually so.

I've come to the conclusion he sleeps with Moonbeam. D:

 

[Amused]

Hahahahaha!
It is tragically funny that you have no idea what's going on here. You have no concept of just what level I'm operating on, and just how far beyond you I am.

You're stumbling about within the limits of your puny imaginative creativity. It's hilarious that you think that my existence is limited to those bounds.
Here's a hint: It is not. I am not limited to traversing the pathways that you can think of. I am not limited to your silly little level of emotional processing. Your level has been fully analyzed, categorized, and filed away. I am not stuck using it -- I have much better tools.

Again, you are not in control here. You are nowhere near a position where any change you try to effect over me will be anything other than commentary on the stupidity of your underlying worldview. You are just not bright enough to understand the context in which you work, and it is by that context I judge you.

 

[DominionSeraph]

And yet for all your self-estimated intelligence, you have yet to post anything here that hints at said intelligence.

No argument there. But none of you have presented me with anything approaching a gnarly problem; and I am far, far, far beyond the point where I'd need to prove to myself that I can do the elementary work you n00bs are wrestling with. So I am in a holding pattern. When nature calls, is it any surprise your showers turn out golden?

 

[Howard]

i eat da poo poo

Doesn't really matter what you say, you're going to be ridiculed regardless.

 

[BoberFett]

No argument there. But none of you have presented me with anything approaching a gnarly problem; and I am far, far, far beyond the point where I'd need to prove to myself that I can do the elementary work you n00bs are wrestling with. So I am in a holding pattern. When nature calls, is it any surprise your showers turn out golden?

Whatever you say Captain Anime.

 

[MotF Bane]

Hahahahaha!
It is tragically funny that you have no idea what's going on here. You have no concept of just what level I'm operating on, and just how far beyond you I am.

You're stumbling about within the limits of your puny imaginative creativity. It's hilarious that you think that my existence is limited to those bounds.
Here's a hint: It is not. I am not limited to traversing the pathways that you can think of. I am not limited to your silly little level of emotional processing. Your level has been fully analyzed, categorized, and filed away. I am not stuck using it -- I have much better tools.

Again, you are not in control here. You are nowhere near a position where any change you try to effect over me will be anything other than commentary on the stupidity of your underlying worldview. You are just not bright enough to understand the context in which you work, and it is by that context I judge you.

Haha, you're funny.