Aside from the occasional rabbit hole I follow on this issue, I don't pretend to know the answer.
0 Replies
Finn dAbuzz
0
Wed 6 Sep, 2017 03:10 pm
@maporsche,
maporsche wrote:
Looking back on some of the success in my life, I really am grateful that the taxpayers in the 80's and 90's were compassionate enough to provide food stamps, free lunch, welfare, for me and my 5 brothers and sisters. Especially when my father broke his back and couldn't work his blue collar job after he was denied workman's compensation by his employer. He sued them of course, but it took 8 years for the lawsuit to finally be won and by that time, the lawyers took most of the benefits. But he was able to get his first back surgery paid for with that court case. Too bad he never could afford the subsequent surgeries and was hardly able to hold down a job for the rest of his life.
I grew up in poverty. 8 people in a 3 bedroom single wide trailer. Charity clothes on my back, blah blah blah.
Now 4 of us kids have college degrees. 3 of us make over 80k/yr. 2 of us own our own businesses (although mine is just getting started). Only one real F-up in the bunch, and the other 5 of us are assisting him.
That truly is a great American story. Congratulations to you and your family.
I was paying lot's of taxes back then and wouldn't have begrudged your family getting some of what I paid (so you are welcome)
Now read Ben Carson's story and recall he's a conservative so the path to take in the ideological fork in the road is not quite as obvious as you may think.
"Evil" is a tricky word I don't much like because of all the ridiculous religious baggage. But in a practical sense, the term applies to him. He has made America a much worse and more hateful place.
0 Replies
Finn dAbuzz
0
Wed 6 Sep, 2017 04:18 pm
@blatham,
Peter Lorre was a damned handsome man
(I've seen Peter Lorre in film, I've seen a picture of you, and you Comrade Blatham are no Peter Lorre)
At some point we have to develop a different economic model. Perpetual growth worked fine for a long time. But basing future prosperity on the momentum of increasing numbers of people exploiting more and more nonrenewable natural resources is bound to fail, especially with the uncertainties caused by a changing climate.
Yes. It was/is understandable that humans had imagined the earth was an open system with infinite capacity. But population growth, industrialization and the capitalist model we've been operating under has very rapidly demonstrated that the earth is a closed system, at least so far as human well-being and survival is concerned.
And this points to one of the most egregious aspects of some Christian theology which posits that god will take care of things and not permit human activity to cause unnecessary suffering.
0 Replies
blatham
4
Wed 6 Sep, 2017 04:36 pm
@Finn dAbuzz,
Quote:
you Comrade Blatham are no Peter Lorre
True. I come by my appearance through historical events/persons for which I cannot be held accountable. My father was an English homosexual, my mother a Russian Cossack and our family mailman was Woody Allen's uncle Irving.
Kelly trades West Wing neophytes for Washington insiders
President Trump's chief of staff is ushering out top aides who came from Trump Tower and Breitbart News while courting people with Washington experience.
Representatives of Facebook told congressional investigators Wednesday that it has discovered it sold ads during the U.S. presidential election to a shadowy Russian company seeking to target voters, according to several people familiar with the company’s findings.
Facebook officials reported that they traced the ad sales, totaling $100,000, to a Russian “troll farm” with a history of pushing pro-Kremlin propaganda, these people said.
A small portion of the ads, which began in the summer of 2015, directly named Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, the people said. Most of the ads focused on pumping politically divisive issues such as gun rights and immigration fears, as well as gay rights and racial discrimination.
"A senior U.S. commander in Afghanistan apologized Wednesday for propaganda leaflets that superimposed a key Islamic text on a dog's image. The leaflets distributed by U.S. forces in Parwan province, north of Kabul, on Tuesday depicted a lion, representing the U.S.-led coalition, chasing a dog with a section of the Taliban's banner, containing a passage from the Koran in Arabic superimposed on its side."
Claude BrodesserVerified account @ClaudeBrodesser 8h8 hours ago Shocking: Power utility company in Puerto Rico estimates Island will be without electricity for "4 to 6 months."
I'm starting to see videos of Cat 5 winds hitting areas effected. Very scary.
0 Replies
blatham
2
Wed 6 Sep, 2017 05:59 pm
This tweet is from yesterday. Trogdon is a scientist at the National Hurricane Center.
Quote:
Taylor Trogdon
@TTrogdon
I am at a complete and utter loss for words looking at Irma's appearance on satellite imagery.
0 Replies
blatham
3
Wed 6 Sep, 2017 06:18 pm
Quote:
Bryan Hughes @bryanweather 10h10 hours ago
#IRMA WAVE HEIGHTS! The wave action in #HurricaneIrma is insane for the #BritishVirginIslands, #Aguilla and #StMartin. 40+ feet!
0 Replies
blatham
3
Wed 6 Sep, 2017 06:47 pm
Here's the latest installment in Bernie's Utterly Selfless Consumer Product Testing Reports.
Edibles (the modernly available commercial sort) are giving me the best pot highs I've had since maybe the sixties. As easy going as a summer's day (allow for bias on that one), delightful humorosity, and a renewed enthusiasm for, and even surprise at, the quality of arts (music, film, dance, writing, comedy, you name it) available to us in such quantity and so easily. Not to mention the quality of one's friends.
The only thing I've really desired in a drug or a drink is the facilitation of fun.
I can't wait to try this stuff out with a bare-naked lady.
My next Bernie's Utterly Selfless Consumer Product Testing Reports will delve into aspect of these edibles.
