1 Boomers really screwed Gen X. But X'ers will have their revenge by screwing the Millennials in turn. The Great Wheel of Boning always turns.

I can't wait 'til the Gen Xers are in the majority and get a clue of what my fellow Boomer fucks have shackled them with.  They'll be dragging hippie codgers out of the nursing homes and using them for target practice or dog food.

2 Secession FTW.

3

But X'ers will have their revenge by screwing the Millennials in turn. The Great Wheel of Boning always turns.

wait until you see us mellenials, youll be begging for the gen x to come back

4

Posted by: Captain Hate at September 28, 2011 08:44 AM (OGZqf)

I can't wait to see black society hit rock bottom and realize how fucked over they've been by the left for the last 50+ years

5 The irony in the situation this country, and to a certain extent the world, finds itself in is that if some evil twist of fate, the economy improves for a couple of months and SCOAMF's popularity improves as a result, we would find ourselves so totally and completely boned by a second term it would make the extinction of the dinosaurs look like the wanton violence associated with an African big game photo safari.

6 Morning Monty, feeling better today?

7 I was stationed in Greece in 89-90. Not surprised they are boned, not much productivity. We used to laugh when they held a national strike - "how can you tell?" But the country will continue to exist, it isn't like the Germans will go and repossess the place. At some point people - in this case CHINESE people - will figure out that the principal will never ever get paid back. Ever. And the financial system and everything that rests on it is going to go to Hell. The goat farmers will be okay.

8

Posted by: Hussein the Plumber at September 28, 2011 08:50 AM (jx2j9)

it'll be Wilson all over again. Wilson was re-elected though the country wasn't fairing too well. He won that election thanks to normaly GOP at the time CA going blue after GOP nom Hughes dissed the Republican GOP Guv. In his 2nd term, Wilson came to be so hated that in 1920 the Republicans won an unprecedented landslide that included winning Dem states and Wilson's own party rejected a 3rd term run he wanted.

9

Urban dictionary makes it official. He's a stuttering clusterfuck of a miserable failure.

http://tinyurl.com/4xzl6qo

10

I doubt the daffy bint meant anything like this, but there are some pretty good reasons to sell gold. It doesn't pay a coupon, you can't eat it and the price is so high you can't really say it's trading as a commodity anymore. At these levels, its function is as a store of wealth and nothing more.

So gold, while it does serve this function as well as it ever did (pretty well,) can be said at this price to lack support.

What kills me is that the ditzy TV slag goes on to elaborate, saying the dollar is actually backed by the Feds ability to print more. She needs to stick with sandwich preparation and other such feminine pursuits.

11 Greeks raising property taxes???

LOL, we can hardly make fun of them. Counties and States all over the country are doing the same damn thing here.

12 Barack Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure.

from Dallas Federal Reserve Bank head Richard Fisher.

Okay, am I the only one who thinks it's cool that the head of the Dallas Fed is using geeky mythological/comic book references?

13 The problem with having an authoritarian Communist Chinese government in charge means that you canÂ’t really trust any of the numbers the Chinese publish.

Reworded for accuracy

The problem with having a Communist Obama government in charge means that you canÂ’t really trust any of the numbers the lying shit-weasels publish.

14 6 Morning Monty, feeling better today?

Bah.

My body is like some jagoff union worker that thinks he can just slack off whenever he feels like it because he can't get fired.

15 Good Morning, Baby DOOMers!

16 Bah.

My body is like some jagoff union worker that thinks he can just slack off whenever he feels like it because he can't get fired.

Posted by: Monty at September 28, 2011 09:01 AM (/0a60)

 

What federal agency do YOU work for?

17

Cities and states should remove pension and health benefits from collective bargaining with union.

No, we should go back to the days pre-JFK when it was illegal for government workers at any level to be unionized period.

18 Maybe the Greek government should just go Galt.  I think it would be an interesting take on the Atlas Shrugged thesis, don't you?  Instead of the producers walking away, the redistributors do.  Then the Greeks will have to re-learn how to fend for themselves before Turkey decides to take advantage.

19 My body is like some jagoff union worker that thinks he can just slack off whenever he feels like it because he can't get fired.

That sounds like the "union flu". Hope you get better soon. Meanwhile it's fall and I am sure a porch rocker with brown liquor and honey will make you feel better.

Especially if you have some good tunes to go with it.

20 They'll be dragging hippie codgers out of the nursing homes and using them for target practice or and then dog food.

Fixed.

I can't wait to see black society hit rock bottom and realize how fucked over they've been by the left for the last 50+ years

Never happen.  They (in general) believe they're victims (of whom, I'm not really sure.  They seem to think white people, though) and that all ills are because of those "typical white persons." 

The only way we'll be able to convince they're not victims is to completely destroy the welfare state- which will have great vacuum-like qualities for a variety of reasons.  And the only reason that would work is that- eventually- they'd either all go feral or they'd realize the only barrier to their own success is them.

21 MWR this has already happened - that's part of the problem. The current PM is George Pappandreou. His father was the PM when I got to Greece. He walked away with $400M and a stewardess. Went to the US. I think he became a professor at Harvard. I'll have to look that part up.

22

Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) is tired beyond tired of the trolls at September 28, 2011 09:05 AM (8y9MW)

the welfare state is collapsing one way or another, they're fucked with the path they've chosen. it's why i'm fighting hard to keep my fellow latinos from going the same way. there's hope now that polls show them to be warming up to the anti-Obama crowd.

23

Well, my personal DOOOOM got a little lighter yesterday. Got somebody to rent the house we can't sell.

Of course, we had to lower the price again and they wanted a 2 year lease and I'm sure the property taxes will go up again each year. Time to check into refinancing terms...

24 Then the Greeks will have to re-learn how to fend for themselves before Turkey decides to take advantage.

Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Hobbit at September 28, 2011 09:04 AM (4df7R)

 

Historically, Turks would rape entire Greek villages while having their victim sit on their lap during galloping horserides.  You do have to give them points for style! 

25 Boomers really screwed Gen X. But X'ers will have their revenge by screwing Gen Y and the Millennials in turn. The Great Wheel of Boning always turns.

AKA, the shit flows (or falls) downhill ...

26 it's why i'm fighting hard to keep my fellow latinos from going the same way. there's hope now that polls show them to be warming up to the anti-Obama crowd.

It's one reason I'm not too hard on the "hispanderer" Republican crowd.  While I detest open borders and believe in a "obey the law and get in line" approach to immigration, I also hear what the "hispanderers" (my... try to say that out loud) are saying- and it's all anti-entitlement-mentality stuff.  Things like "Make a better life for your self."  "Work hard and succeed."  "Land of opportunity, but the opportunity to succeed means a chance to fail."  And so forth.

I'm seeing enough data to make me think it is, however slowly, working, so I'm willing to cut a little slack.

27 This article will explain to you everything that is wrong with Greece today: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Papandreou And this guy's son is in charge today. It isn't going to change.

28 Monty, you see my comment yesterday about cute critter photos to pass to you?

29 Never happen.  They (in general) believe they're victims (of whom, I'm not really sure.  They seem to think white people, though) and that all ills are because of those "typical white persons."

I think that's too pessimistic.

Black communities understandably (given their experience under slavery and then Jim Crow) don't view governmental intervention in the culture as a bad thing -- it was that intervention that first freed them from bondage and then provided them entry into many jobs they would never have had otherwise (which is why blacks are overrepresented in the public sector). This belief in the beneficence of government is dying hard, but it is dying -- Herman Cain and Rep. West are vanguards of what many black folks are feeling now.

I think that black folks are well aware that they've been used as handy props by the Democrats for far too long, and their experience under Obama has shown them that even with a liberal black President their problems persist (in fact, they got significantly worse). So there is a growing sense that simply toeing the Democrat line on every issue is not paying any kind of real dividend.

And the collapse of the black family is acutely felt in that community. The causes are complex -- young men increasingly fall into criminality and joblessness; the women generally don't care to marry outside the race and thus must marry "down" (or not marry at all), and thus most marriages fail; and black children increasingly grow up with far worse prospects than their parents enjoyed. But while the sense of victimhood is still pervasive in black communities, the mindset is changing: the only solutions that will work are going to have to come from the communities themselves, not from some benevolent governmental agency.

30 Operation Twist may be a worthless tack in trying to change the economic outlook, but to be honest it isn't a bad plan for the long term. If one hopes to ever make a dent in the national debt in an inflationary period, increasing the duration of your debt portfolio during a period of historically low interest rates is a good start. It is similar to converting an ARM to a fixed rate at the lowest foreseeable interest rate. The only downside is if we enter a deflationary spiral instead of an inflationary one.

31 hmmm, i didn't know about Sulla, he's a moder Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus I guess

32

@25: Let's face it... when the last of the Boomers is gone... not too many tears will be shed outside of their immediate families.  The Boomers pretty much shit all over the values and achievements of their parents, and remained, as a whole, self-centered little snots to the bitter end. 

_{(I caveat all that follows with the acknowledgment that it does not apply to ALL boomers)}

They were for Free Love when THEY were horny teens.  They were Peace Freaks when it was THEIR turn to serve (i.e., the mass anti-Vietnam War movements).  They were Reaganites when THEY didn't want to pay taxes.  They voted Obama when THEY wanted their Bennies. 

Every step of their way, they tailored their "principles" (HA!) to WHATEVER fit their interest at the moment, and the hell with everything and everyone else.  Sad, but true. 

33 Think about it - PASOK has been only been screwing Greece over since the mid-80s. The Democrsts have been doing it to the US since Wilson. Think we are going to turn things around before the DOOM comes? Gold, guns, and seeds.

34 Okay, I know the markets never really make sense, but I was just over at FoxBusiness, and I'm seriously confused.  All the business news (separate from "market news") in the last few days has been meh to bad.  Just today they've got blurbs about falling durable goods orders and Darden Restaurants Q1 profits being revised downward.  And, yet, the Market is set to rise nearly 150 at open.

At what point does the market start tracking actual facts and reality instead of political rhetoric?

35

Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) is tired beyond tired of the trolls at September 28, 2011 09:12 AM (8y9MW)

well we should still battle illegal immigration and not just hand over taxpayer paid tuitions to illegal's kids. that said, we can't have Hispanics voting Dem the way blacks do or we're really fucked. All we need is to get about 40% of the Hispanic vote to stay with us and we'll win.

36 28 Monty, you see my comment yesterday about cute critter photos to pass to you?

bad dot king dot john at gmail dot com. I'm always on the lookout for DOOM-y cat pix.

37 is christi running? FAT CHANCE! obama....the anti Christi!

38 Eat your peas, everyone must have some skin in the game, blah blah

39 32. Yep. I agree totally. And now they are seeing the end of the line. So the "world must end." World's not ending just cos you're old. I also agree with Monty's post at #29 above. Am very hopeful on this score. But it's not my business and I would imagine if I were a black American I would be really sick of people opining on "the problem with." It's another form of condescension. But, having talked to diverse groups here in Philly re: a charter school company I worked with last year, I'm really positive about how things are gonna go. What can't continue, won't. And the "blue state welfare model" can't.

40

@37: Christie cuts a giant figure in the political world, phoenixgirl!

Face it: he would cut a giant figure in ANY world...

 

41 Black communities understandably (given their experience under slavery and then Jim Crow)

Really?  Which ones?  Since even most of the WWI vets are gone, now.

C'mon, Monty.  Most "Black communities" never had any experience with either of those institutions.  The Clarence Thomases, Alan Wests, and Herman Cains are all too few exceptions to the rule.

The death of the black family is, indeed, part of the problem (both symptom and partial diagnosis), but I see no evidence that the culture is changing.  The evidence has been staring them in the face for at least the last 20 years.

42 Black communities understandably (given their experience under slavery and then Jim Crow) don't view governmental intervention in the culture as a bad thing...

What you say there Monty is certainly true. But what it really shows is that the black community needs to read some Thomas Sowell and his analysis of black advances post civil war.

Most black advances occurred BEFORE the mid 60s when all the "civil rights" legislation was passed and the onset of LBJ and his great society.

After the LBJ legislation hit and had time to have an impact it has destroyed the black family life. No other single thing has had as much impact on creating a permanent black poverty culture.

This has been shown over and over and over again. The surest way to create poverty is to get pregnant, drop out of school, and go on the dole. It doesn't matter what your race is, but it seems to have hit blacks the hardest with an illegitimacy rate of near 75%. 

43

l'shana tova, y'all!

Gold isn't backed by anything.  Ooooookay then.  I'm going to back away slowly, no sudden movements, keep hands in view, all that good stuff.

You know, I think we need to change the fascism thing from always falling on Europe to always falling on the Dems.  While I am second to maybe Steyn and Monty in my belief that people are utter cretinous fools who frequently cannot be trusted to remember how to breathe, let alone with the power of voting, I don't recall ever advocating that elections be cancelled.  I may advocate for the repeal of the 19th Amendment from time to time (read: always) but not the cancellation of elections in full.

Hope you're on the mend, Monty.

 

 

44 34, perhaps when they unplug the HFT machines.

45 All the jib-jabbering and maneuvering in and about Europe going on now reminds me of the sketches in The Benny Hill Show where crowds were pursue one another hither and yon at an accelerated rate of speed and accompanied by "Yakety Sax".

46

Monty, I think in that Gold video the lady is refering the GLD, not physical gold.

In which case she's right

47

Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) is tired beyond tired of the trolls at September 28, 2011 09:21 AM (8y9MW)

agreed. they're bitching about how things are getting worse for them as a society and then turning around and blaiming the very people who have told them to do it a diff. way

48

I'll send 'em tonight, Monty.

But these are primates rather than kittehs.

49 Surely the Greek Government has lots of Red Ink they can use...

50 49 Surely the Greek Government has lots of Red Ink they can use...

Posted by: Mr. Bingley at September 28, 2011 09:24 AM (OXWdU)

How the hell would I know?

51

I think Gov. Perdue has a great idea and I think it should be embraced. If we allow them two years to focus solely on improving the economic conditions with no elections, then at the end of that time we review the results.

It would look something like this after the two year period.

Unemployment at 6% or less for your region or state, you get to run for re-election.

Unemployment between 6-8% you are removed from office and are banned from office for your lifetime.

Unemployment between 8-10% you are removed from office and serve a minimum prison sentence of 5 years. Hard time.

Unemployment over 10% you serve 10 years hard time and are executed.

 

52

President Barack ObamaÂ’s $447 billion jobs plan would help avoid a return to recession by maintaining growth and pushing down the unemployment rate next year, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

The same economists who find every uptick in unemployment to be unexpected

 

The plan “prevents a contraction of the economy in the first quarter” of next year, said John Herrmann, a senior fixed-income strategist at State Street Global Markets LLC in Boston, who participated in the survey. “It leads to more retention of workers than net new hires.”

 

And when it doesn't do a damn thing little Johnny will find it unexpected.

53 And when it doesn't do a damn thing little Johnny will find it unexpected.

Or will claim, "Well, it would have been worse without..."

54 Bev Perdue should have her ass impeached like yesterday.

55 Bev Perdue should have her ass impeached like yesterday.

Second that.  Or she should be tarred and feathered (or, my preference, pitch and naphtha'd)

56 I'll go Gov Perdue one better. We cancel elections and give the two years unfettered with all that election silliness to get things done. And if they don't produce a balanced budget in that time - we HANG THEM. All. Repeat as necessary.

57 (of whom, I'm not really sure. They seem to think white people, though)

Average and below-average white people. Random bastards.

Blacks-in-general give the white people who actually have the power to fuck up black people's lives (and the desire to do it, and even a proven track record of it) a total pass, because...

This can't be discussed. It's a near-universal human failing, but when you say black people show it, everyone freaks out.

Hint: Monty is exactly wrong. Precisely.

58 C'mon, Monty.  Most "Black communities" never had any experience with either of those institutions.  The Clarence Thomases, Alan Wests, and Herman Cains are all too few exceptions to the rule.

Cultural memory lasts for a long time. My grandmother (whom I remember quite well) could remember a time before cars, and airplanes, and telephones. My tie to that pre-industrial time is therefore a part of my own life. My grandmother's life isn't ancient history -- it overlaps with my own. As her morals and values were molded by her parents and grandparents, so my morals and values were in part molded by her.

I think you have to live in the South for a period of time before you can really understand the hold that history has on people, particularly the history of slavery and the civil war. I had an old great-aunt who absolutely spit when she spoke W. T. Sherman's name; the hatred for the man was as great in her breast in the 1970's as it had been in her own grandmother's a century before. Memories of that time are sharp, and they linger.

When black folks headed north during World War II to work in the factories, they didn't cleanly cut the cord to the world they left behind. Your family will always be your family, and your birthplace will always be your birthplace, from everlasting to everlasting.

I do think the "eternal victim" mindset is hurtful and counterproductive, but I do understand where it comes from. I've spoken to some older black musicians were active during the Jim Crow years, and the humiliation, anger, and resentment they feel is still as sharp now as it ever was. Hurts like that take a long, long time to heal -- if they ever do.

59 49 Surely the Greek Government has lots of Red Ink they can use...

Posted by: Mr. Bingley at September 28, 2011 09:24 AM (OXWdU)

Considering all their ledgers are probably filled cover to cover with red ink, I'd think they'd have an abundance of black ink available. 

You'll know they've really hit the skids when they start sending out tax bills printed in purple ink that they drained out of every Lisa Frank sparkly fashion pen around the Mediterranean.

60 Posted by: oblig. at September 28, 2011 09:29 AM (xvZW9)

More coherence please.

61 We were taught the names of kin who died fighting the North, "not forgotten" inst just a lyric

62

I'm always on the lookout for DOOM-y cat pix.

We only have pics of Luxury Cat. Sure, she's in a cardboard box, but she's wrapped in a Hannah Montana blanket and the box is on carpeting.

That might be a metaphor for something.

Then there's one where she's lying on a panda skin rug. Some deep meaning about China, I'm sure.

63

Regarding the Coming Collapse of China:

 

I sure as hell HOPE so.  I don't care if it hurts us too; I ESPECIALLY don't care what it does to Europe.

 

It pisses me off that Nixon gets so much "credit" for "Going to China."  What did that asshole accomplish, except figure out how to make Chinese Communism WORK?  It's downright perverse - an American Republican President managed what several rounds of Communist "Five year Plans" crapped out on.

We need Chinese Communist Economic World Hegemonism like we need a whole in the head.  LET the Commie bastards fail.

64 To Sheila Lee, I would say, "Take off your marching shoes and put on your bedroom slippers. Sleep it off. Like a bad hangover, maybe you can sleep some of that ugly away."

65 The new Greek property tax is a total sham. The Tax Collectors (who are on strike) did not want any part of any more taxes, since they are "overworked" already. Therefore the tax is to be added to Electric Bills. WTF! How can this be figured out? How can you add a property tax on a renter's bill? For the cherry on top, the Electric Workers union has now said that they will not do anything to facilitate the collection of the new tax!

66 Hurts like that take a long, long time to heal -- if they ever do.

I still shake with rage when I think of those Visigoth bastards who burned down my ancestor's hut.

67 Cultural memory lasts for a long time.

Of course it does.  As they say, "Europeans think 200 miles is a long way; Americans think 200 years is a long time."  However, that's not germane.  What you're saying is that the black community is so invested in it's cultural memory that it's ignoring part of its own history- that is: the part where they "won" the civil rights movement.

I think you have to live in the South for a period of time

How does all my life and being a 6th generation (maybe more- the family tree gets murky pre-Alamo) Texan sound?  I know all about William T. Sherman (may he rot in hell).  Here's the thing- I hate General Sherman and what he did- including to members of my family.  That does not translate to any hate of Northerners.  I may make fun of yankees (just like I do sooners, and tea-sippers, and several other groups), but that is not a sign of animosity- and it's certainly not a sign I blame them for anything.

I do think the "eternal victim" mindset is hurtful and counterproductive, but I do understand where it comes from.

I don't care where it comes from.  It is the "soft bigotry of low expectations" not to expect them to rise above it.  Southerners could be just as bitter (for many reasons) about the North as the black community is against whites.  By and large, however, we're not.  We're proud of our heritage, we hate Gen. Sherman, and we mourn the passing of our actual liberties (that decline having begun with the War of Northern Aggression).  But we pick up and soldier on.

My point is this: the "black community" is too invested in its own victimhood.  It will not give that up until it has no other choice.  Right now, denial is a viable (if doomed, in the long run) choice.

68 Yes our definition of poor is absolutely way off of where it should be. Whoever it is that makes that definition for the US should go make an extended visit to some third world countries, where the poor will build their homes out of scrap wood and metal underneath bridge overpasses.

When I worked as a missionary in Brazil for a couple of years, I once made a visit to a guy in small home he made out of bricks that was about the size of my daughter's bedroom, maybe 75 sq. ft. if that. He could fit a bed in there, a small stove and a radio, he was almost skin and bones. Outside was dirt but there wasn't much space between the other shacks. He would collect used cardboard boxes in the street to recycle and make a little bit of cash. He'd have died of a heart attack if he had a chance to visit the home of what we call "poor".

69 Posted by: Monty at September 28, 2011 09:30 AM (/0a60)

Your point about history is interesting, but Black culture in America has become totally detached from its history. Rather, the race baiters and Democrats vying for their support use buzz-words and dim cultural memory to fire up the base. Black churches have become breeding grounds for radical redistributionist rhetoric, rather than bastions of solid family life and respect for self.

I see music as a perfect example of the downfall of Black culture in America.

Work songs --> Blues --> Jazz --> Soul --> Rap & Hip-Hop.

Think of the messages imbedded in these styles of music, and you will see a progression right into cultural failure.

70 WARNING: curious lurking, already posted in previous thread

71 Because of Lincoln and Reconstruction, blacks were very reliable Republicans for 60 years. Obama level support - 95%. Until Herbert Hoover. He was the government man in the New Orleans flood of 1927. He caused the levees to be dynamited and the black neighborhoods to be flooded. Then he ran for President in 1928 and made helping blacks, specifically those who had been damaged by the flooding, a big part of his campaign. He had blacks campaigning for him. Then he got elected and tuned his back on them. It wasn't FDR and his freebies that attracted blacks, because blacks were discriminated against in the first rounds of Social Security etc. That's why the Bush dynamited the levees thing was so powerful, and the perception of poor government response to Katrina. It wasn't true, but it reminded the people of that cultural memory - Republicans flooded our homes then turned their backs. Johnson was the one who made the government the touchstone of African American existence.

72

Posted by: blaster at September 28, 2011 09:43 AM (Fw2Gg)

dont forget Hoover danced w/ a black woman and denied it up and down during the 1928 election

73

Work songs --> Blues --> Jazz --> Soul --> Rap & Hip-Hop.

You  forgot Motown. Remember when black music was optimistic, cheerful(even in bad situations), and about love?

74

Also, can we stop bad mouthing W.T. Sherman? He was a great American military commander.

 

75 Posted by: AuthorLMendez (Ban Curious) at September 28, 2011 09:42 AM (yAor6)

The chicks around here will rip curious. Just stand back and watch the bloodbath.

76 WARNING: curious lurking, already posted in previous thread

That's nice.  What's for breakfast?

77

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at September 28, 2011 09:48 AM (xFdca)

i'm just getting folks prepared. her constant name changing has confused some to mistake her for someone new.

78 Posted by: Ben at September 28, 2011 09:47 AM (wuv1c)

Good point.

It was also good music. Something that Rap and Hip-Hop most assuredly isn't.

79 I thought it was established curious is really a He.

80

 Boomers really screwed Gen X. But X'ers will have their revenge

Yes Precious, we will.  When all the nursing homes get outsourced and re-located to CowShitHutz, Botswana.

81 That's the little freak's new thing. It goes on old threads and posts it's divisive stuff. I suppose so it has a record to prove to its "friends" (cats) that it disrupted conservative blogs.

82

In one remote Japanese village, Taft had to take a ricksha from the railroad station to his hotel, no other transportation being available. When Taft got in, "the unfortunate coolie to whom it belonged began to utter strange sounds. He rolled his eyes and gesticulated frantically until he prevailed upon a second man to help him in propelling his unaccustomed burden. But even then his excitement did not abate. As they approached the first rise in the road some of the villagers along the way, attracted, no doubt, by the coolie's weird cries, came out to stare and, as usual, remained to laugh. The little 'ricksha man began chattering and grimacing at all of them and kept it up until he had enlisted the services of at least half the population of the village to help him in attaining the crest of the hill."

---

We need to bring that back, just for its amusement value.

Christie in 2012

83 79 I thought it was established curious is really a He.

Posted by: Shirley at September 28, 2011 09:50 AM (Iaxlk)

It was a "she" and then a Guardisil shot turned it into a "he" along with all of its friends who were turned into cats with bladder problems.

84 Posted by: dagny at September 28, 2011 09:51 AM (C4/NG)

Hopefully it will eventually realize that we poke it for fun and amusement.
And then it will leave.

85 Also, can we stop bad mouthing W.T. Sherman? He was a great American military commander.

No, we can't.  He destroyed the lives and livelihoods of people who had committed no other "crime" than living in territory he felt was contested, and he actively sought to sew famine and pestilence.  His desire was not for any military victory- it was to destroy a civilian population: something which before, and since, was considered barbaric and evil.

Some civilian casualties in pursuit of true military goals is unavoidable, but he specifically targeted civilians.

86

Back in the day, the end of a love affair like this one would have been immortalized in poetry.   The Bard would have written a play.  The Four Dappers would have written a song.

87 i'm just getting folks prepared. her constant name changing has confused some to mistake her for someone new.

Always check the hash. Curiously it remains the same.

88 I've spoken to some older black musicians were active during the Jim Crow years, and the humiliation, anger, and resentment they feel is still as sharp now as it ever was. Hurts like that take a long, long time to heal -- if they ever do.

Posted by: Monty at September 28, 2011 09:30 AM (/0a60)

And having our current president sow the seeds of divisiveness, given that this anger is still hot and smoldering is beyond reckless.  Yeah, Barky, just throw out the reminder of dogs and firehoses to rip open the old wounds.  What was that all about, you creep?

89 @85: OK, let's not have a Civil War Rehash Thread, folks!  It's the same old arguments, that never convince anyone.  Besides... if the pro-North people had been form the South, instead, they would eagerly embrace the Southern arguments, and Vice Versa.

90

Posted by: dagny at September 28, 2011 09:51 AM (C4/NG)

I think it likes abuse. she's clearly not wanted on this blog by anybody and yet it returns shouting cries of how everyone is a meanie

91 The chicks around here will rip curious. Just stand back and watch the bloodbath.

Yes, but that is partially what it wants.  Some people, as bizarre as this may seem, just stir crap up to get attention, even negative attention.  And its thread-jacking is getting tedious and boring. 

I say completely deprive this fire of its oxygen and it will soon extinguish itself.  Just my 2 cents (0.000000000002 cents when accounting for inflation).  That's all I'll say. 

92

Obama's remarks were "arrogant" and "absurd," German commentators say on Wednesday.

Fuckers. You don't like him now? I'd like to send him to you eurotrash asswipes permanently. Stupid assholes--your "love" for the JEF helped

93

MONTY,

When in your considered opinion should we start to see the collapse of the Chinese Economy?

It's a total mystery to me how an economy that is growing based on exports can possibly continue to "boom" during a worldwide recession.  It's an even bigger mystery how all the "analysts" out there can't see that.

(Oh, and I hope you feel better soon)

94 And its thread-jacking is getting tedious and boring. 

An ironic statement at the very least...

95 It's "That old black magic has me in ..... " OH, wait.

That's RAAAAACIST!

I denounce myself.

96 93

"Obama's remarks were "arrogant" and "absurd," German commentators say on Wednesday."

Fuckers. You don't like him now? I'd like to send him to you eurotrash asswipes permanently. Stupid assholes--your "love" for the JEF helped

Posted by: dagny at September 28, 2011 09:58 AM (C4/NG)

Not to mention all the Illegal Foreign Donations that flowed into Obama's coffers.  Something for the next administration to investigate and prosecute ad nauseum, until the sickening clusterfuck of a miserable failture currently in the White House rues the day he ever made a Presidential bid.

97 Ya'll hear what Beck just said. 

It is legal for Congress to buy/sell stocks based solely on bills, info they learn about while doing their Congressional duties.

Insider trading baby!  No wonder all those fuckers are rich.

98 Oh, off surely sock!

99 Posted by: Biz Markie at September 28, 2011 09:57 AM (agf+P)

Self-aware spam. I love it!

100 '
"Not to mention all the Illegal Foreign Donations that flowed into Obama's coffers. "

Those were mostly from the practitioners of Islam and anti semites. BIRM

101 Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) is tired beyond tired of the trolls at September 28, 2011 09:53 AM (8y9MW)

The South needed to be beaten -- unequivocally and overwhelmingly. Sherman did just that.

102

Posted by: me at September 28, 2011 10:00 AM (nWikJ)

what?! i'm listening to sports talk so I missed that

103 Some local wonks were just saying that the SS/Medicare problems are being overstated by 40% by the 'Pubs -- because the 'Pubs aren't anticipating a "reasonable" inflation rate. Something to keep in mind if you are planning on burying a lot of cash in your spooker. Also, stopped to buy more silver last night, no war nickles or mixed dimes to be had....

104 Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) is tired beyond tired of the trolls at September 28, 2011 09:53 AM (8y9MW)

The South needed to be beaten -- unequivocally and overwhelmingly. Sherman did just that.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at September 28, 2011 10:03 AM (xFdca)

I like AllenG but i'm w/ Charlie on this one

105 An ironic statement at the very least...

Touche'.

By the way, were you all aware that Goldman Sachs rules the world, according to a UK trader?

And about the Chinese?  Let them build their "ghost cities" - they only are slightly staving off the inevitable. 

106 I say completely deprive this fire of its oxygen and it will soon extinguish itself.  Just my 2 cents (0.000000000002 cents when accounting for inflation).  That's all I'll say. 

Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at September 28, 2011 09:57 AM (9hSKh)

I'm anaerobic, you selfish bitches!

107 I think it likes abuse. she's clearly not wanted on this blog by anybody and yet it returns shouting cries of how everyone is a meanie

Seduced by the attractions of victimhood.

---

We're all about DOOM here so pardon the ray of sunshine in this news: Amazon is unveiling its tablet this morning with a dog and pony show, in, of all places, NYC. Price will be $199, rather than the rumor of $250 we'd been hearing.

108

Your quintessential good news, bad news scenario: Unemployment 4%;  Violence at ‘Civil WarÂ’ levels.

Like DOOM with whipped cream and a cherry.

109 Put it this way AllenG, if Sherman had done it to a foreign enemy you would have a completely different view.

110

What is up with Obama and the creepy, sweepstakes-style, spammy emails? 

Another Creepy Email from Obama: He Will Call me if I Give Him $3 (link to Weasel Zippers)

In case the SCOAMF hasn't noticed, the economy is a shambles thanks to him.  The DOOM prevents many of his previous supporters from sending him cash, and even if they could afford it, why would they want to talk to him?  They can hear his blabbering, stammering, clusterfuckering voice any day of the week at any of his million campaign speeches.

111 And about the Chinese?  Let them build their "ghost cities" - they only are slightly staving off the inevitable. 

Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at September 28, 2011 10:05 AM (9hSKh)

Kinda takes the wind out of the sails of the whole 'infrastructure bank' model, imo.

112 The South needed to be beaten

Why?  What evil had they committed that the north hadn't/wasn't?  You think there weren't slave owners in the Northern States?  The only "crime" the South committed was exercising their well established right to secede.

Several of the states, during the Ratification of the Constitution, asserted that right.  Several other times specific states had made the threat- and had never been challenged.

I'm not a fan of slavery (note: understatement), but you can't tell me "The South needed to be beaten," and just expect me to accept it.

113

Princeton's Minxin Pei provides a jaw-dropping analysis, China's Ticking Debt Bomb, disclosing how and why the Chicoms are afflicted with the same spending and borrowing disease as the US and the EU.
 
China's claim that it has a debt to GDP ratio of under 20% is a typical Chicom lie.  Pei explains:
 
"Once local government debts, costs of re-capitalizing state-owned banks, bonds issued by state-owned banks, and railway bonds are included, China's total debt amounts to 70 to 80 percent of GDP, roughly the level of public debt in the United States and the United Kingdom. Since most of China's debt has been borrowed in the last decade, China is on an unsustainable trajectory at the current rate of debt accumulation."
 
At some time in the near future, the Chicoms will be forced to service their debt by eating up their foreign reserves - meaning they'll have to cash in their US Treasurys.  And meaning they'll have a lot less dough to invest in growing their economy. 

Now try this on.  A recent study - Why Prices in China Are Higher Than the US - discloses that prices for things people buy are 50% higher in China than the US - while per capita income is 34 times lower in China than the US.  Inflation is rocketing up for the Chinese. They are in beaucoup deep kimchee worse than we are.
 
The common denominator in all of this global conflagration of debt is monopoly money pretending to be real, governments printing up endless oodles of fiat currencies that have no actual value.

114 113 (link to Weasel Zippers)
________

Speaking of Weasel Zippers, their top story at the moment is quoting Orszag as saying we need less democracy.

115

Amazon is unveiling its tablet this morning with a dog and pony show, in, of all places, NYC. Price will be $199, rather than the rumor of $250 we'd been hearing.

My precccciiioooouuussss.  I may abandon my never buy first gen rule for this. 

Look, I love me and think I should have nice things. 

116

Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) is tired beyond tired of the trolls at September 28, 2011 10:11 AM (8y9MW)

well slavery is pretty damn evil if you ask me

117 14 6 Morning Monty, feeling better today?

Bah.

My body is like some jagoff union worker that thinks he can just slack off whenever he feels like it because he can't get fired.

Posted by: Monty at September 28, 2011 09:01 AM (/0a60)

Monty, my late mom's tried and true cure for feeling like crap just got me through a bout of allergies/cold/crappiness:

Heat a coffee cup of water mixed with as much cider vinegar as you can stand.  Sweeten with honey.  Sip.  It'll make a sore throat feel better, and just give you a bit more energy. 

Try it.

118 Posted by: Biz Markie at September 28, 2011 10:07 AM (agf+P)

Self-aware but stupid spam.

119

The Germans have said that Obama’s ‘Euro-crisis lecture’ was ‘pitiful and sad’ and that his remarks were ‘overbearing, arrogant and absurd.’

 

And also: 'The presidentÂ’s scolding is a pathetic attempt to distract attention from his own failures. How embarrassing.'

 

But theyÂ’ll still tell us to vote for him.

120 Hmmm, price on Amazon for the kindle dx is 359.

121

@115: if the South won, there would be no "America" as a nation today.  I think that would be bad for ALL of us.

If the South had won, God only knows how much longer slavery would have continued there.  Another two decades, maybe?  I like to think it would have been before the 20th century, but who knows.

When would effective apartheid had ended in the South, if it was left to its own devices?  I like to think, before the 21st century?  But who knows.

  People that defend "the South" today and bemoan its defeat should bear in mind that 1 in 3 Southeners in 1860 were enslaved.  In 1866, none were.  I'd call that a "win" for 1 in 3 Southeners.

122 Put it this way AllenG, if Sherman had done it to a foreign enemy you would have a completely different view.

Ummm... no?  I don't support the bombing of Dresden because it "broke Germany's will," I support the bombing of Dresden because Dresden was a major industrial hub for the German war machine.  I don't support the nuking of Hiroshima and Nagasaki because of the devastation and the sap to the Japanese will (though I'll admit, in that case, it was necessary): those were legitimate military targets as well.

Family farms and farming communities are not legitimate military targets.

And don't misunderstand- I know exactly how effective Sherman's March to the Sea was, and I understand exactly what it did.  You can argue that it was Sherman, and not Grant, who won the war for the North.  That makes what he did no less evil.

123

Posted by: CoolCzech at September 28, 2011 10:16 AM (Iaxlk)

THIS, explained it better then I could. I find the recent bashing of Lincoln and the north's role in the civil war among liberterians and GOPers disturbing

124 '
Allen G:

Manifest Destiny.

Many even then perceived that the country could only exist safely as a geographic unity. Sea to shining Sea as it were.

The south seceding would've opened the door to having a competitor and enemy right next door. Similar to France/Germany. (and see what those old enmities engendered.)

125 I'm not a fan of slavery (note: understatement), but you can't tell me "The South needed to be beaten," and just expect me to accept it.

Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) is tired beyond tired of the trolls at September 28, 2011 10:11 AM (8y9MW)

I have read enough of what you have written on this blog to know that you are not a fan of slavery.

Lincoln's overarching goal was the preservation of the union. If the South had been gently reasoned with, then there would have been some portion of the Confederacy that desired to fight on. Perhaps not in 1865, but eventually.

Sherman showed the South that they could never win; that surrender was the only option; that the union was supreme, and would always be supreme.

126

AllenG,

Sherman helped free 1 in 3 of all Southeners from slavery.  You should respect him for that.

127

Germany isn't nutty about Timmah's plan to save Europe. In fact, they said some quite cutting things about it. I believe the word "stupid" was used. Several times.

For some reason, that line that General Burkhalter used to savage Col. Klink on Hogan's Heroes comes to mind.

"Very interesting, Klink, but stupid!"

128 I don't know of anyone that is a fan of slavery, btw.  I'm not accusing anyone of being such: all I'm saying is, people that by accident of birth are Southern should look at the issues of that time dispassionately.  You could as easily have been born Northern.

129 My precccciiioooouuussss.  I may abandon my never buy first gen rule for this.

I'm right there with you. In a feeble attempt to resist...will it have a version of Angry Birds?

130 '
132

Or a slave.

131 well slavery is pretty damn evil if you ask me

Granted, but it wasn't slavery (except, perhaps, by scale) that differentiated the North from the South.

@115: if the South won, there would be no "America" as a nation today.  I think that would be bad for ALL of us.

If the South had won, God only knows how much longer slavery would have continued there.  Another two decades, maybe?  I like to think it would have been before the 20th century, but who knows

Perhaps, but you cannot justify the acts of the past based on hindsight.  And I don't concede that a United States of America and a Confederated States of America would have been so much worse for the world.  We have no way to know.  Too much would have changed- including our involvement in WWI- which would cause changes through the rest of our history.

As for slavery continuing: it was already (albeit slowly) ending- and without any particular "apartheid."  There were already black share-croppers in the South before the Civil war, and that was a slowly growing trend.

There is a pretty solid argument that says the Civil War (and especially the Emancipation Proclamation) actually did more damage to race relations in the south than allowing slavery to die its natural death would have.

I'm not saying the world would be better today with a divided United States (and everyone should realize I'm not defending Slavery), but I am saying you can't know, either: and to claim that "The South needed to be defeated" and to use that reasoning to justify the evil acts of General William T. Sherman is to claim that you do know that the world would be worse off- something you cannot know.

132 When in your considered opinion should we start to see the collapse of the Chinese Economy?

I think "collapse" is too strong -- the Chinese economy will do fine once they throw the Communist bums out. But it's slowing down, and it has lots of internal problems its going to have to solve before it's going to be a true engine of global growth. China is still one of the poorest nations, per capita; they have about 300 million people living in poverty, or about the same number as the total population of the United States. They tend to oversave and underconsume (which is why their economy is sputtering -- they are export-driven, and their markets are drying up). And they have a "Boomer bulge" problem that makes ours look puny in comparison: their demographic problems are acute and will become far more so by 2040-2050.

China won't maintain the crazy 10% growth rates they've seen over the past decade; I expect that 2012-2013 may see an essentially flat growth-curve and a spike in inflation (inflation is already way up in China). And given China's social unrest, that may drive a lot of riots and political upheaval. But the Communist leaders have shown in the past that they're willing to crack down on unrest with brutal force, so...who knows?

133

Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) is tired beyond tired of the trolls at September 28, 2011 10:11 AM (8y9MW)

He's a big pro New York anti south guy. Loves those dems (they're good people despite their voting patterns, etc.) loves to hate the south and say nasty things.

134 @126
 
   And one of my relatives whose Civil War history includes a stint at Andersonville might argue with you about evil,etc. No moral equivalence suggested, just an observation.
    I see the net result of that war in the country we know today--inarguably the best the planet has produced. Helps if you see it in that context.

135 Some civilian casualties in pursuit of true military goals is unavoidable, but he specifically targeted civilians.

Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) is tired beyond tired of the trolls at September 28, 2011 09:53 AM (8y9MW)

Except for Savannah, and the only thing the civil war proved was that 5 men could whip 3 men over an extended period of time.

136 Being "against" the Solyndra scandal and everything and everyone that allowed it to occur is warranted, but there is no reason to be totally down if you are a supporter/believer in the future of solar. Maybe we can still be in the big game and compete with China. There are hopeful signs.

http://tinyurl.com/3jw4xsh

137 *Sigh*.

Note to self: don't mention the war! I might have mentioned it once or twice, but I think I got away with it.

138

Anachronda: Thanks for pointing out the Orzag story at WZ to me.  Good Lord, the assploding idiocy...

(Safe link to WZ)

Too Much of a Good Thing

(TNR/Peter Orszag) In an 1814 letter to John Taylor, John Adams wrote that “there never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” That may read today like an overstatement, but it is certainly true that our democracy finds itself facing a deep challenge: During my recent stint in the Obama administration as director of the Office of Management and Budget, it was clear to me that the country’s political polarization was growing worse—harming Washington’s ability to do the basic, necessary work of governing. If you need confirmation of this, look no further than the recent debt-limit debacle, which clearly showed that we are becoming two nations governed by a single Congress—and that paralyzing gridlock is the result.

So what to do? To solve the serious problems facing our country, we need to minimize the harm from legislative inertia by relying more on automatic policies and depoliticized commissions for certain policy decisions. In other words, radical as it sounds, we need to counter the gridlock of our political institutions by making them a bit less democratic...

As WZ says, for anyone keeping count at home, that's two Dems in two days making the call for dictatorial government.

139 Being "against" the Solyndra scandal and everything and everyone that allowed it to occur is warranted, but there is no reason to be totally down if you are a supporter/believer in the future of solar. Maybe we can still be in the big game and compete with China. There are hopeful signs.

http://tinyurl.com/3jw4xsh

Posted by: Errol at September 28, 2011 10:27 AM (vewos)

Fuck Solar

140

@137: I tend to agree, though I think it's their middle class that numbers in the area of 200 or 300 million (and by "middle," it's nothing like the American version of standard of living).  I've read more than once that the rest of the nation - something like a billion plus people - is living in squalor not much different than 200 years ago.

Factor in their brewing demographic disaster, environmental nightmare, and lack of true rule of law and reliable institutions... China will never be what people like Thomas Friedman keep saying it is, not until it gets rid of the Commies.

But there's the rub: we in the West have been telling ourselves that it's only a matter of time before capitalism turns China democratic... but I see absolutely NO sign of that, AT ALL.  I don't even see signs of them being a "responsible world power."  They are ramping up military spending for no readily discernible threat-based reason, and increasigly beliggerent with Taiwan and even Japan.

 

 

141 Many even then perceived that the country could only exist safely as a geographic unity. Sea to shining Sea as it were.

Yes.  Canada and Mexico are such threats.  Or is it only East to West that matters?

Lincoln's overarching goal was the preservation of the union. If the South had been gently reasoned with, then there would have been some portion of the Confederacy that desired to fight on. Perhaps not in 1865, but eventually.

The problems pre-dated Lincoln, but he exacerbated the problem.  I can see a line of logic that says there would have been peaceful reconciliation between North and South if John Brown had been captured by the North and handed over- wrapped in a bow- to the Confederacy.  But between John Brown and Lincoln's insistence on re-fortifying Fort Sumpter, he forced the Confederacy's hand. 

Sherman helped free 1 in 3 of all Southeners from slavery.  You should respect him for that.

That presumes a) that the North would have lost without him (not unreasonable, but not confirmed) and b) slavery would not have ended in the South. 

The thing was, slavery was already ending in the south- economically, no less.  It was an unsustainable business model, and the South was already slipping behind, economically.  Agriculture was good in the early days of the Colonies and the Republic, but once the industrial revolution really hit, the South was getting left behind.  Simply catching up would have required an end to Slavery.  And that was all pre-Civil War.

142 Heat a coffee cup of water mixed with as much cider vinegar as you can stand.  Sweeten with honey.  Sip.  It'll make a sore throat feel better, and just give you a bit more energy.

I do this too.  It's amazingly effective.  Especially for coughing.

143
  Meh. Solar, and wind work ok as an adjunct. They don't scale well, and imho are particularly suited to  individual usage. Don't see how you can effectively use them otherwise.

144 My precccciiioooouuussss.  I may abandon my never buy first gen rule for this.

You and me both, alexthechick. It shall be mine. Oh yes. It shall be mine.

145 I can't wait to see black society hit rock bottom and realize how fucked over they've been by the left for the last 50+ years

You're already seeing it in Philly and the flash mobs. And you know who fucked them over? A million Jeremiah Wright's for 50 years have told them how the white man is fucking them over. The liberal delusion is only exceeded by the delusion of the militant blacks.  No, they'll never turn on the left; they'll turn on the whites first.

This shit (the flash mobs, in Philly, WI, Denver and a hundred others not reported, all over the nation, all by one race): Something very, very bad is happening. And we are being lied to about it. This is not random; something is driving it and people are going to be killed because liberal racism makes reporting on it akin to illegal. They are communicating, how? They are planning, why? They have reasons, what? They have goals, what? Somebody is saying something to someone somewhere.

The underclass has already fired the first shots, already engaged in the initial skirmishes of the coming civil war.

146

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at September 28, 2011 09:49 AM (xFdca)

Does anyone know why the 'C' in Crap Music is silent?

147 Except for Savannah, and the only thing the civil war proved was that 5 men could whip 3 men over an extended period of time.

You're forgetting what little fighting there was in Texas.  Which proved (once again) "Don't mess with Texas."  If you want to learn about a spanking of the Northern fleet, look up the battles of 1st and 2nd Sabine Pass.

148

Fuck Solar

Our little town is having a meeting to air the issues around a proposed plant that will produce natural gas fuel cells. The cells will receive some sort of green credit which the electric company will use to meet green energy mandates. The production of the cells is projected to add a dollar a month to all the local customers elec bills.

This is all to point out that fossil fuels are the most cost effecient fuels. The prices that are used to try to show"renewables "to be even remotely competetive all ignore the schemes and grants and the spreading of cost.     

We are shackling the future to high cost energy which will reduce our standard of living. 

 

149

Does anyone know why the 'C' in Crap Music is silent?

It's a styling way to pronounce it. IMHO, CRap music is this generation's Disco. Seemed like it was staying around forever then *poof* - gone, baby, gone.

150 wrapped in a bow- to the Confederacy.  But between John Brown and Lincoln's insistence on re-fortifying Fort Sumpter, he forced the Confederacy's hand. 

WTF? They hung Brown. After R E Lee captured him. What more could the south want? Drawing and quartering?

151

@146: yeah, but Allen, people in 1776 were arguing that Southern slavery was ending of its own economic inefficiency, and everyone expected it to disappear... until the invention of the cotton gin early in the next century.  Then slavery suddenly boomed.

Yeah, I take it as a given that the South would have been shamed into abandoning slavery eventually - but remember that the huge struggle that was the run up to the War was question of the expansion of slavery to places like "Bleeding Kansas," that was bleeding because violence was already breaking out far and wide there.  Let's not lose sight of the fact that Slavery was THE central issue that caused the war.  Yeah, there were differences in opinion regarding economic policy: but in the end, they all traced back to Slavery.

Finally - my last word, really - an enslaved black Southerner pregnant in child when Sherman burned down Atlanta probably didn't shed too many tears of its inhabitants.  And I doubt an argument that her child might, possibly, be freed by the time he was 30 years old would have swayed her opinion of the war much.

  

152 144  and the horse it rode in on! http://tinyurl.com/3lk5bvc

153

This is all to point out that fossil fuels are the most cost efficient fuels. The prices that are used to try to show"renewable "to be even remotely competitive all ignore the schemes and grants and the spreading of cost.    

Nuclear is the most efficient fuel. Maybe the Morlocks will fully develop it...

154 Robot Devil- I stand corrected. The point is we are choosing poverty.

155 160 Robot Devil- I stand corrected. The point is we are choosing poverty.

Government sanctioned choice for poverty.

156 I'm mostly a Fender player, but I too have pined for an ES-335. I did however have a Firebird for a few years. Ah, humbuckers.

157 And as the Sun is the nearest and self-operating fusion reactor available, tapping that resource should be our primary goal.

The devil is in the details and the production costs.

Meanwhile we have 200 years of stored sunlight (or more) ready now to be converted by into energy.

There's only one obstacle; the Democrat party and their witting accomplices.

158 That's "back into energy."

159 162 I'm mostly a Fender player, but I too have pined for an ES-335. I did however have a Firebird for a few years. Ah, humbuckers.

I play bass, my guitar play just brought a 335. Real different sounding and nice axe.

160 I have found solar to be useful for trickle charging batteries, outdoor accent lighting, a water controller for garden, and a watch - not much else. Wind has been useless, had one on a pump - too much maintenance.

161 Besides the inefficiencies of the conversion process now used, the main problem with solar is the blocking by weather and 10-16 hour lack.

162 WTF? They hung Brown. After R E Lee captured him. What more could the south want? Drawing and quartering?

It would be nice.

But John Brown "hid out" in the North a while before he was captured.  And remember that the act for which he got hanged (Harper's Ferry) was the second time he'd done something similar. 

The point being that there were things the North could have done to calm down the south- things they chose not to do- which might have lead to a peaceful resolution.

Of course, to suggest that there were those in the North who were positively salivating for war is uncouth.

Yeah, there were differences in opinion regarding economic policy: but in the end, they all traced back to Slavery.

That's just plain false.  High Tariff vs. Low Tariff trade policy had little (if anything) to do with Slavery.  Much of the economic fight between the North and the South was much more about economic protectionism vs. free trade than anything to do with slavery. 

Slaves would have been virtually useless in the mills and factories of the north- they couldn't be supervised enough (when you've literally deprived someone of freedom, you can't really trust their work- or work ethic), and they needed a much higher level of education than the slaves of the plantations were getting (usually- exceptions existed).  And the mills and factories were where economic growth was happening.

163

fuck Lincoln - destroyed the 10th Amend.

f*** him with a pineapple sideways!

it wasn't nescessary to turn us into an Empire to end slavery, the abolishionists wanted war, they wanted not just to end slavery, but to punish and exact revenge and that destroyed us, we have never recovered from it.

164

I just watched that video of that chick talking about gold.  Kinda silly.

But when Monty started talking about the definitions of a comodity, I then thought about Tulips and the Dutch about 500 years ago.

So yeah, the statement that gold isn't "backed by anything, unlike our Federal Dollar" is silly.

But commodities can have their prices swing wildly too.

If the markets were perfectly efficient, we wouldn't have bubbles.  But we do have bubbles, so how can markets be perfectly efficient?

I mean, the idea of perfectly efficient markets is a simple model that is very good at explaining an aweful lot of how markets work.

But I don't think it correctly explains all situations.

165 Folks, polite Southern women refer to the war as "The Late Unpleasantness" for a reason. It's an emotional subject and not one that creates unity. Let's concentrate our fire on Bambi, not each other. (Bona fides: Both parents born in NC, I was raised and educated in VA.)

166 "Orszag: In other words, radical as it sounds, we need to counter the gridlock of our political institutions by making them a bit less democratic..." "As WZ says, for anyone keeping count at home, that's two Dems in two days making the call for dictatorial government." Oh, don't be so stiff. Can't you see Orszag is just making a hyperbolic, hilarious joke? He just drips with potent wit and good humor.

167 Sigh. Nothing like a sock fail to defeat your point.

168 Beefy- what class? Beat Navy...please?

169 "In total control of the city and its affairs, Sulla instituted a program of executing those whom he perceived to be enemies of the state.... The State confiscated the wealth of the outlawed and then auctioned it off, making Sulla and his supporters vastly rich. The sons and grandsons of the proscribed were banned from future political office, a restriction not removed for over 30 years." By Jove, I like the cut of this fellow's jib!

170

171 What I *meant* to say:

Jane D'oh,

Your recipe is similar to what an opera singer recommended to me:  equal measures of honey, lemon juice and apple cider vinegar.  Add hot water and drink until your voice clears up (adding cayenne pepper speeds the process).

Trying to decide if I'm sick enough to resort to this.  It tastes nasty.

172 Thanks for the OP's Sheila Jackson Lee paragraph. Needed a laugh. That throat remedy seems a lot like a fasting drink entertainers used to drink several times a day instead of eating. Gross.

173 On post slavery living, my ancestors (who were freed before the war) went into agriculture and blacksmithing. One of them became well known for his decorative ironwork in the west.

174 The underclass has already fired the first shots, already engaged in the initial skirmishes of the coming civil war.

Posted by: anon at September 28, 2011 10:37 AM (ibeMV)

I've done some research into the flash-mobbing phenomenon, and I don't see it as coordinated explicitly.  There's an underlying cultural philosophy driving it, which is more dangerous still, because it doesn't depend on orders from on high, and is self-sustaining.

Read up a bit about Champaign, Illinois.

175

That is useful information and its quite easy to come a croper if you are not vigilant.