Azalin

well, druids do annoy me, mainly because they're like hippies to the 2nd power, so I likely wouldn't live for very long in a town that had enough of them where the pre-meeting prayers would be druidic chants. hari krishnas make me laugh...I thought it was brilliant in 'Up In Smoke' when sgt Stedenko and the boys tried posing as hari krishnas in order to bust Cheech & Chong. sexual rites would violate public decency laws, and weed is still illegal in most places. but...if I was to take your question seriously, I would reply by saying that if the opening ceremonies bothered me, I'd get up and leave. I'm not so pathetic as to sit around in a cloud of indignity and cry about my rights being violated while other people are exercising theirs. can't you come up with a more realistic scenario?

what can I say.....it's been years since I read that book, but the image of an old lady completely covered in ink is still vivid in my memory. that probably sheds an uncomfortable amount of light on one of my not-quite-so subconsious preoccupations.

never trust anyone completely covered in tattoos?

yes, but most are too busy being intellectually inconsistent to notice.

I would even go so far as to say that pretty much any kind of prayer in a similar setting, Christain, Jewish, Muslim, a moment of silence, etc is perfectly fine with me, and I'm really not much of a religious person at all. it's not a threat, it's not an attempt at indoctrination, and my rights aren't being violated, so I couldn't care less. to me, it's not so much a religious issue as it is a freedom of expression issue.

I'm being sincere in asking what the difference is between the two. I'd always assumed they were one in the same. and if people think the ACA is unpopular now, just imagine the unpopularity if all the mandates hadn't been delayed. and if the goal is to provide access to health insurance for those who couldn't afford it, why not simply address that through improving medicaid and working to assist those with pre-existing conditions, and leaving the health plans alone that people were already happy with?

he does a hell of a lot better when someone else writes his lines.

you are useress to me, Arec Barwin!

everyone's being too hard on the Obama administration's handling of the economy. why, the GDP for the first quarter of this year grew by a staggering 0.1%: http://www.forbes.com/sites/samanthasharf/2014/04/30/u-s-gdp-grew-a-glacial-0-1-in-the-first-quarter-2014/

I'll be the first to admit that we don't exactly live in a utopia, but I was struck by this line from the article: 'In fact, the only truly debatable part is on gun crime.' Adam Taylor doesn't seem to appreciate the benefit having a free press. as far as living in hell is concerned, Texas isn't so bad.....except around August & September.

you did it there, too?

from what I've heard, it's expensive to do business in California. that being the case, more companies will move away unless the state makes it more desireable for them to stay. Toyota is by no means the only company to relocate facilities from California to Texas in recent years. back to my point, I don't like Texas using surplus taxes as a fund with which to bribe companies into relocating here. I don't doubt for a second that Perry is doing this simply to claim all the jobs he 'created' in Texas as he takes another run at the presidency.

those that defended Bundy? your own words: 'you and the gang of merry men (who btw apparently feel entitled to rule the board - ie the gatorman thread)' I believe you also used the term 'lily white'. there's no need for you to make race an issue here.

not only is that completely lacking any class whatsoever, I have to laugh at the way you make a sweeping generalization about people making generalizations.

I think that every time I see any press secretary holding their daily briefing, but yeah, Carney's probably got it worse than most others in recent memory.

AKA 'compassion'.

I didn't get it either. I suppose that makes us idiots.

I wasn't aware of that. thanks.

but North Korea probably can.

that's because they're spending all the money on the cutting-edge technology for their domestic spying programs.

from what I understand, Sterling is a democrat, so it takes a jaundiced imagination to make a connection to republicans. besides, in my ever so humble opinion, picking a black guy to run for president because he's a black guy is every bit as racist as not nominating someone because he is black.

to be honest, it's a pretty good name for a punk band.

well, Toyota already has an established footprint here. it's not like Texas is trying to get them to start setting up initial operations. it's a right to work state, and as far as I know the San Antonio plant isn't unionized, but they pay well and have an excellent reputation in the community. Texas has already proven itself worthy. I see no need to sweeten the pot....Toyota already has a good thing going here. in your example, you say that the net effect of using money from the enterprise fund should be the same as lowering the tax rate, but my disagreement with that is that despite a similar effect with regard to making it more attractive for Toyota, it's doing so at an additional cost to the taxpayer. remember that the enterprise fund is just a creation of the governor, and is comprised of surplus taxes. if the taxpayers had the opportunity to vote on whether or not they wish those overpayments to go into the enterprise fund, I'd have no problem with it. the fact that taxpayers have no direct say in how those overpayments are used is a problem for me. to be honest, I'm surprised it's not a problem for more people. from my point of view, it smacks of corporate welfare.