• Announcements

    • Robin

      Welcome!   03/05/2016

      Welcome, everyone, to the new 910CMX Community Forums. I'm still working on getting them running, so things may change.  If you're a 910 Comic creator and need your forum recreated, let me know and I'll get on it right away.  I'll do my best to make this new place as fun as the last one!
The Old Hack

Political Discussion Thread (READ FIRST POST)

Recommended Posts

Rat nails it. This is true even when actual bribery is frowned on and illegal. In the US, lobbyists contribute to the reelection campaigns of the legislators.

"Corporations are people" is a C or D law school student's statement (I may be being overly generous.) (To be fair, his family may have paid for better grades; his level of comprehension is still down there.) Corporations are a legal fictitious person; they can be treated as a person for many purposes, as granted by lawmakers. (So, yes, in a self fulfilling sense, he had a point, because he changed the rules to allow them to be a person for contribution purposes.) But none of that is automatic, and granting rights with no regard to accountability is irresponsible legislation.

The extreme capitalism of the Reagan Era onward is a modern form of feudalism. Power is removed from the people, wealth makes the rules. The next step is an authoritarian banana republic, which Mr. Mango Mayhem gave us a taste of.

So, what I find puzzling is, at least the powers that be and the wealthy are acting in their own self interests. Why the hell does he have a base? The peasants are not going to benefit. I've talked to one Trump supporter, and he was grateful for support of farm prices. That's pretty short sighted. When he tanks the economy, you're not going to be doing well with your cabbages and eggs. I can see why the coal miners are enamored, except, it's deadly work, they are vastly exploited by their industry, underpaid, die young, no hope, and their product is killing the planet (not alone, just a significant contributor). If we kill the planet there's no plan B.

This seems to be the season for it. Did our electing The Dump give permission to the rest of the world to be stupid along with us?

Special mention needs to be given to the religious right, who are having a heyday, and demonstrating how stupid and thoughtless they can be. Do we start with book burnings, denial of racism, womens' rights, gender equality, . . . Doctors in several states, not abortionists per se, face bullshit lawsuits for treating numerous conditions. NPR had an interview, an OB Gyn dealt with several failed pregnancies, all different, all of which carried this threat from any ignorant or gold digging relative. "A uterus filled with blood, the fetus is already dead, but if I get involved, the burden of proof is on me." (She records much evidence now.) A pair of twins, one of which has a condition that will kill the sibling, kill the mother, and will either kill the carrier (93%), or on the chance is survives to be born, will die within ten days. But removing the one that will die anyway to save the sibling and the mother is 'abortion'. No F###ing common sense, no regard for the life of the mother, and no regard for a woman to have control of her own body and health.

My conclusion is that abortion is a good thing; we need to have abortions well into the low hundreds of trimesters, and we should start with these legislators.

 

Edited by Darth Fluffy
Fixed spelling error

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

COVID redux

I kind of get skepticism about vaccines, but good God, the track record exists, and it's been enormously beneficial. Why, all of a sudden, when we face one of the deadliest viral threats ever (so far) are there so many resisting? Again, long history, this push back is disproportionate. And, although the deniers have the good grace to drop dead, it overwhelms the medical system waiting for them to do so, and many others with less elective maladies are put at risk.

Of course, once again, the Orange Idiot leads the charge.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
21 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

COVID redux

I kind of get skepticism about vaccines, but good God, the track record exists, and it's been enormously beneficial. Why, all of a sudden, when we face one of the deadliest viral threats ever (so far) are there so many resisting? Again, long history, this push back is disproportionate. And, although the deniers have the good grace to drop dead, it overwhelms the medical system waiting for them to do so, and many others with less elective maladies are put at risk.

Of course, once again, the Orange Idiot leads the charge.

Serve up the vaccines and I shall partake, as long as they pass reasonable testing first. (Emergencies notwithstanding.) I wish they'd had a chicken pox vaccine back when I was a kid - that crap makes you miserable.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Sadly, a huge chunk of people have made it a part of their ideological identity to be against anything that their opponents are for—if anything is “woke” or “socialist”, then they will oppose it, no matter how much it might otherwise benefit them personally to support it. This is where we get people who are on Social Security and Medicare who vote to reduce their own benefits.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

Serve up the vaccines and I shall partake, as long as they pass reasonable testing first. (Emergencies notwithstanding.) I wish they'd had a chicken pox vaccine back when I was a kid - that crap makes you miserable.

So far, the vaccine testing seems to be up to snuff, although for COVID, the CDC did sign off on short tracking some level of testing to get it out, for a damn good reason. I can foresee an era when government mandated testing is 'too intrusive'; of course the ones who will scream that are the ones who don't want to vax.

We had a chicken pox 'vaccine' back in the day. When one kid got sick, the rest were exposed to them. They did measles and mumps the same way. It mostly worked; although the outcome for some is more severe. I get all three that way, none were too severe. But having chicken pox opens the door for shingles in later life. If you had chicken pox, get a shingles vaccine (or sequence).

 

26 minutes ago, ijuin said:

Sadly, a huge chunk of people have made it a part of their ideological identity to be against anything that their opponents are for—if anything is “woke” or “socialist”, then they will oppose it, no matter how much it might otherwise benefit them personally to support it. This is where we get people who are on Social Security and Medicare who vote to reduce their own benefits.

That's funny because congress never votes to reduce their own benefits. You'd think the sheeple would at least follow their leaders.

The biggest beneficiaries of federal handouts are red states. Oddly self destructive.

I had a libertarian leaning quasi-relative state that we should privatize roads and charge tolls because public roads are socialism. <eye roll> He's not exactly wrong, is he? But we ALL benefit from public roads, it's difficult to frame an argument that posits any real benefits from not having public roads. Imagine how long your trips would take if you stopped regularly for tolls. (Maybe you don't have to imagine; several turnpikes used to have regular stops within many of our lifetimes.) Imagine how much more goods would cost. How much more your food would cost. Maybe the message is that not all social progress is bad. Imagine that!

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

If you had chicken pox, get a shingles vaccine (or sequence).

 

They keep telling me I should get one, but they still can't give me a price on one, with or with out insurance.  

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
44 minutes ago, mlooney said:

They keep telling me I should get one, but they still can't give me a price on one, with or with out insurance.  

I got a two shot Shingrex sequence, both shots fully covered by insurance. I did have a change in insurance in the middle, and the pharmacy portion would no longer cover the cost, but a doctor giving it was covered, so I found a CVS with a PA on duty.

I have a friend who got shingles, and he sold me on the idea, "Get the shot, you don't want this."

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
13 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

Imagine how long your trips would take if you stopped regularly for tolls. (Maybe you don't have to imagine; several turnpikes used to have regular stops within many of our lifetimes.) Imagine how much more goods would cost. How much more your food would cost.

You don't have to imagine. Taxes are already built into the system ("use" taxes, gasoline taxes, etc.) so that a virtual system of tolls can be thought of as currently existing. You just aren't making stops.

Anyway, even if lawmakers *did* want to call a spade a spade and implement the kind of comprehensive toll system you mentioned, you wouldn't have to stop. With current toll tag technology, you'd just breeze through toll stations as your tag was read via RFID pulses. Works all the time down here in Texas.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
50 minutes ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

You don't have to imagine. Taxes are already built into the system ("use" taxes, gasoline taxes, etc.) so that a virtual system of tolls can be thought of as currently existing. You just aren't making stops.

Anyway, even if lawmakers *did* want to call a spade a spade and implement the kind of comprehensive toll system you mentioned, you wouldn't have to stop. With current toll tag technology, you'd just breeze through toll stations as your tag was read via RFID pulses. Works all the time down here in Texas.

We have that here, on  few toll roads. I imagine it is ubiquitous now. So the stops are more or less solved. It will still complicate you life; you'll need to verify charges, dick around with various customer service organizations, perhaps install a transponder or a sticker, etc. Now imagine you are a tractor trailer driver, and each stakeholder wants to weigh you. Hmm, you are still stopping. You are on the clock for each of those stops; someones got to pay. (Ultimately, the consumer)

People with marginal jobs that don't pay cost of living now have to pay to commute. That will work well.

More hands to pay should raise the overall cost; I don't think that's a given, just a likely outcome.

One owner won't or can't fix his segment; people and goods have to reroute. Everybody owner needs their own snow equipment; some of that also does not get done. (This will not work well in the northern tier at all. Currently counties plow roads, and they are good at it.)

As you point out, there are enough use taxes built into the system to keep people from generally being wasteful, but sharing the load gets things done.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

A good comparison would be the “Robber Barons” on the Rhine River in centuries past, who would place barricades across the river to block any traffic until each vessel paid tolls. And there were dozens of such petty nobles doing this, each with their separate barricade. It eventually got so bad that the Rhine stopped being a viable route for shipping. That is what happens when there are too many unregulated fingers in a single pie.

In short, we don’t want lots of small road-owners each placing their own fees such that we have to pay a hundred charges in order to cross the country. Instead, we would want nation-spanning “Road Corporations”, akin to rail or air travel, where you could cross the continent on a single company’s system, while having the choice between a few competing systems for reaching most major destinations. Of course, that brings on the same sort of regulatory issues that apply to railroads.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My mom had shingles years before i was born.  A rash on her stomach spreading left & right.  My dad told her when the rash met in back she would be cut in half.  He continued to be just as helpful throughout his life.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
8 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

I admit that I am impressed they even have a vaccine against shingles. I'd like one. I once almost got hit by a falling roofing tile during a storm and it scared the hell out of me.

And you don't have the more or less soft aspalt shingles that we here in the states do.  Getting hit by a roofing tile is serious business.  Make sure you get your shot!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
4 hours ago, mlooney said:

And you don't have the more or less soft asphalt shingles that we here in the states do.  Getting hit by a roofing tile is serious business.  Make sure you get your shot!

What? No underscores nor stars? Did you run out of them?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
8 hours ago, mlooney said:

/me Sorry brain fart.

I am familiar with the cranio-flatus effect. Sometime, I evern observe it in others.

Then again, they always blame it on the dog . . .

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
11 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

We do not have a dog, we have cats, and we do not lay blame, we applaud. 

That's probably why they jump so far. Booster jet.

Have you tried lighting it to give them more footage?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Not my favorite Mitch.

I will say, he's hardly the worst Republican, but he bears much of the responsibility for carrying them to a dark, cynical place.

Kudos for the centrists who have stood up to their establishment an called them on it. Probably won't help their careers (but you never know), still, it had to be done.

One of the most profound things I've seen online in recent years is Barrack Obama and Joe Biden delivering John McCain's eulogy, Both were earnest, heart felt, and moving.

I look around the world, and I see that the light is dimming on civilization. The Internet held the promise of rapid access to information. It has done that, but it also opened the floodgates of stupidity.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Trump 2024

The shame is this is about a relatively minor offense, kind of like how they got Al Capone. No mention of inciting insurrection, years of malfeasance, nor grossly violating national security. I do hope there is more coming. But, effectively, any sentence is close to a life sentence at this point.

Just to be clear though, if indicted, or subsequently convicted, he could still run for office. It would be a mockery of our system, but he has near absolute zero shame; it wouldn't stop him.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now