jjamie12

I can't believe that this thread is 15 pages long. This is the bottom line, independent of he-said, she-said. A man was arrested for acting like a douche-nozzle IN HIS OWN HOME. It's hard for me to believe it, but some of you actually seem like you're defending this course of action; that it was somehow appropriate or justified. The cops effed up. It isn't necessarily because of racism, but they still effed up. Big time. Racism, not racism black, orange, yellow, can't we all agree that this shouldn't happen?

For those seeking a better understanding of the issue, here is an article (an opinion piece, to be sure, but good nonetheless) Journal Opinion Piece

If all of this is true (and I don't have any real reason to believe that it isn't), how in the world can you possibly come into this thread and argue that some people shouldn't be allowed to be married? Logic, indeed.

"People with Red hair should not be allowed to extend their health insurance to their spouses. This would help to unburden the system." "Left-handed people should not be allowed to extend their health insurance to their spouses. They are sinister, and this would help to unburden the system." How is what you're saying any different, practically speaking, than the two above? Since when did "because it's the right thing to do" become a problem for you? When two dudes like to kiss each other?

No, it's not a BS argument. Many of the banks were FORCED to take TARP funds. Ask yourself why that would be, and then apply that same logic to 'giving the money back'.

Secretary Geithner lays out his new plan Is this plan any different than what TARP I was supposed to be? I guess I just don't see how this will work any better than the old plan. There are people out there willing to buy this stuff already, the Banks just don't like the price (and the corresponding hit to their financial statements). How will this make the price 'better'? Thoughts?

I'm not sure if I should be getting frustrated here... SS is NOT a tax. Do you understand what SS is? It is forced savings. The more you pay into it, the more you get out of it.

Maybe, just *maybe*, if you'd talk about THIS stuff, how it applies to today's financial mess, and how you would implement or change the current economic situation you'd get more of the discussion that you're looking for. (FYI: Linking to a book isn't the same as having ideas and writing about them.)

That is exactly right!!! I'll never understand how you guys miss the relationship between governmental 'power' and government doing things you don't 'like'. Ceding power and authority (government job creation, bailouts, burdensome regulation, etc...) to government over time only makes it more likely that things like the Iraq war happen... you get that, right?

I have NO problem with YOU supporting / not supporting this bill without having read everything. I have a very big problem with elected officials spending any amount of money without knowing where every single dollar is going. Isn't that their job? You wouldn't have a problem with your lawyer if your contract was messed up and forced you to lose your house? It would be OK because he 'ballparked' it, and, for the most part, it looked pretty decent?

Seriously? Seriously!?!? You don't see any difference between you (potentially) screwing YOURSELF, and our elected officials (potentially) screwing millions of OTHERS who had no say in this? Really? It's really OK for you that there was NOT A CHANCE that our elected officials read this thing and are spending $800 billion? Your reaction is: "Ahh, whatever... I didn't read my contract, so why the hell should Congressmen do it?"

You have to remember how Lost is 'defining' time-space (or whatever you want to call it) vs. how many of us 'understand' it. If you remember back to the first or second episode of this season, Faraday tells Sawyer that it's like being on a one-way street... There is only one way to go, 'if it happened, it happened, and if it didn't, it can't happen'. This 'theory' leads you down a path that makes 'time' something different than how we understand it. We understand time as moving along constantly in small increments. This version of 'time' just 'is'. Contrast this to the sort of 'mainstream' view of how time travel works (I'll call this the Back to the Future version)... In BTTF, Dr. Brown describes creating 'alternate future realities' by coming back into the past and interacting with people, leading them down a 'side street', if you will (relating this to Faraday's one-way street analogy), that becomes the 'one-way' street (in other words: another, alternate reality). Lost would say that whatever happened always happened and always will happen. Time just 'is'. Back to the Future 'says' that you can literally change future events, because 'time' is fluid and changing. Of course this is complicated by the fact that Desmond is 'special' (whatever that means) and HE has these 'real-time' memory gains. Maybe if you have a 'constant', you become 'special' in this way?

There's no question you're taking a chance... but in this hypothetical example, wouldn't you ALSO be taking a chance by sticking around Hamburg hoping to land a job?

You see, KD... People are hoarding their wealth by buying assets that are worth half their value 5 years later... don't you get it? Don't you see all the wealth hoarding going on around you? Those rich millionaires with their worthless Citi stock. It's all part of their diabolical plan to lose millions (billions in the case of Dick Fuld and Jimmy Cayne), so that...they... can... 'hoard' their wealth in assets that lose their value?

I don't know what IBM's 'true' intentions are any more than you do... Just a quick scan of the jobs showed many, many jobs in Prague or Budapest (so I'll assume that at least some of those Eastern European job offers would be there). You DO realize people voluntarily leave this country to go work in places like that for many reasons, all the time, right? All I know is this: If I had the choice of staying here in Hamburg with no job, or moving to Prague for a few years? It would be a tough choice... I'd probably end up in Prague. You've got to go where the jobs are, don't you?

That's really not a bad idea at all.... I mean, there have to be at least a few of those people that were laid off that would want to live abroad for a few years, right? If I were given the option, right now, of staying here and being laid off versus moving to India or an Eastern European country, I would certainly have to think very long and hard about it. The advancement opportunities in a company like IBM after a move like that can (and most likely would) be tremendous as soon as the global economy turns around. I would bet that you'd set yourself up pretty nicely with that move. It's certainly not for everyone, but a very good opportunity for some nonetheless.

edited my last post to fully describe how funny these parody posts are!

Now I'm SURE that you're just being a parody... Very funny, and well done! I mean, it's totally obvious now... like the whole 'choosing' whether or not you want to be taxed with increasing sales tax substantially vs. owning a home! Ha Ha! Very nice play! AND, how, on the one hand, we should be / shouldn't be giving tax breaks on companies that are, at the same time, rich AND broke!!! You played this parody post very well... Kudos to you. Another thing... I love how you tried to keep this 'parody' at least somewhat in the real of possibility... I mean, $10.00 an hour? Very nice choice... You could have said $15 / hr or $20 / hr and it would all make the same logical sense, right? If that extra $2 goes back to Wal-Mart anyway, why wouldn't they pay their employees $15 / hr and get $7 back!!!!! Very good job of just keeping your theories believable enough to be taken seriously... Wow. That was a really funny post. Your parodies are fantastic. Again, I apologize for taking you too seriously before...

You, officially, have lost the ability to be taken seriously on any subject that is related, even loosely, to economics and / or business. The above is so wrong, just SO wrong, that it's almost like you're making a parody post... Are you making a parody post here? If so, I apologize and well done. If not... wow. I mean, it's not worth even starting to try to explain to you... 'Hoarding wealth is what got us into this mess.' Amazing. Do you live in China?

He claims at the end: "I want my dignity back." Unreal. Here's an important note: No one can give you 'dignity'. It is yours. You either have it or you don't, and it is up to you to decide whether you have it or not. Not your boss. Not the State. You.

Since there really is no example of "Free-market capitalism" out in the world... would you care to explain how this statement is true?

Ya know, OC... I don't ever really *totally* agree with what you say (I think you take it a little too far most of the time ie: The next paragraph ), but this quote is so dead on I just had to reply with a 'me too' post. I feel like there are many, many well intentioned people running aroun trying to 'equalize' everything they possibly can, but not ever understanding that it won't work because of the above. You can't have 'equal' without that dignity that you speak of. Well done.

Hmm... Just thinking out loud... I wonder if there is any reason that the mayor of a large potential terrorist target city like New York would go to Israel to learn something about terrorism response? Hmm... No? Okay. Never mind.

Furthermore, Channel 2 essentially leads every night with local political 'stuff'. Their 'You Paid For It' and 'Holding People in Power Accountable' series are (while certainly dumbed down quite a bit) must watch for anyone interested in local politics in Erie County. I can't speak to Mike Igoe, Lori but losing out on any of these segments would be a huge loss, in my opinion.