Azalin

Yes, they are government positions. You stated above, where everyone could see, that Podesta wasn't a government employee. That's why I responded. Either accept the fact that you misspoke, or pay closer attention to what you post. With regard to crying about Clinton and crew's corruption, I'm sure I said something stating my mistrust of her. Probably many times, in fact. Were you even on this board back then? I certainly don't remember seeing you around during the months leading up to the election. But going on your own words, we all know that you don't trust her either. So what's your point?

Podesta served as Bill Clinton's chief of staff, and was Counselor to the President for Barak Obama, both of which are official executive branch positions.

There I go obfuscating with details again....

Both linked threads cover FCC regulation/deregulation of the internet previously discussed here. Note also in the linked article that they say that ISPs will be getting the same access to customer data that both Google and Facebook already have. http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/191915-trump-planning-on-turning-internet-into-toll-road/?hl=internet http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/176388-a-regulated-and-taxed-internet/?hl=neutrality

In other threads, you've stated your mistrust of some of Trump's people and their dealings with Russia, even before they were a part of Trump's team. Considering that Podesta was Hillary's campaign manager, might it be possible that if it was indeed the Russians that supposedly hacked his emails, that it was Podesta's link to them that enabled the hack to happen?

I actually have a pretty low opinion of what passes as parenting nowadays, generally speaking. Schools can't possibly be responsible for all the idiocy packed into some of these children.

Not yet, there's not! And yes, absolutely.

What would happen if after receiving budget cuts, the school out performs the others in it's district? What will that tell people who focus on race and on tying tax dollars spent to better education? The attempts at spin would be fascinating.

Low blow, low blow.... A pox upon thee, sir. I am naught but a victim to my own testosterone.

Holy crap! Would I get my hair back?

Are these the bullet points you refer to as "facts"? If so, then there's more than a little supposition in your facts. 1) I remember Manafort was removed because Trump's campaign was stalling at the time. I don't know one way or another about Russian backed Ukranians attempting to blackmail, but that sounds like conjecture at this point, not established fact. I would cite your use of the word "possible" to back my premise. 2) No argument on Flynn, but I believe it's very telling that so few are outraged at the nature of how this information was both gleaned and disclosed to the public. 3) Wasn't Sessions' meeting with Russian diplomats conducted while he was on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee? 4) Stone is under investigation. That's all. Objectivity requires understanding that it's too soon for judgement either way. 5) ".Carter Page seems more than shady imo..." - opinion, not fact. 6) "JD Gordon may have been instrumental in changing the GOP platform in relation to Crimea, also had contacts with Russians." - opinion, not fact. 7) "Russian hackers meddled in our election, and want to destroy western democracies." - A Democrat talking point, still unsubstantiated and under investigation. 8) The only reason Trump has not badmouthed Putin is likely because Putin has never run for office against Trump. Still, not badmouthing someone is not factual evidence of anything. 9) "The FBI has been doing a criminal investigation since July and I don't even think we know everything yet." - This is one thing I agree with completely, except I would point out that you could just as easily substitute the word "anything" for "everything" in your statement.

Thanks

So does that make Magnet Schools the diametric opposition of Parochial Schools?

I'm addressing this to you because you've been the most informative person here on the subject, and I'd be interested in your opinion on something that I have trouble understanding with the ACA, the AHCA, and government involvement in medicine and insurance in general. I do not view healthcare, either the insurance aspect or the medical aspect, as "a system". I realize this may be a somewhat naive point of view given what we have now, but when I look at this so-called system, I see an industry - doctors, nurses, and health care professionals working in conjunction with insurance providers. I remember well when obtaining care was significantly less difficult and much more affordable. I can't begin to identify or enumerate all of the factors that have caused the cost of coverage to skyrocket or make access so much more difficult, but it appears to me that nearly all of it can be laid at the feet of legislators and regulators. I did a search yesterday on current costs, on average across the country, of starting a private practice as an MD. It was ridiculous. Aside from all the normal costs for getting a degree, starting and staffing a business, and maintaining it, there was the cost of equipment ( I was shocked at the cost of things like x-ray machines and examination tables, and I knew they'd be expensive ), and malpractice insurance. I can only imagine what it costs to operate and maintain a fully staffed hospital. These things were already expensive several decades ago when we had less regulatory and legislative involvement, and costs seem to have increased proportional to the increase in government intrusion into the industry. Government has always been there to find an area in the business, or identify a class of under-served people, that requires regulation, and every time they do, coverage becomes more expensive. We now have layers upon layers of regulation and outright control, and the ACA seems to have become a tipping point with ever-increasing premiums and unaffordable deductibles. I realize that I'm only stating my case in extremely simple terms, but for the life of me, I don't understand why we as a nation would turn to the very same entities for help in fixing these problems that cause most of the trouble in the first place.

It would certainly help to explain the evolution of American culture since the mid-70's.

The first thing that came to my mind was "anyone who routinely eats Velveeta".

Okay, that makes sense. Thanks for clarifying - your statement struck me as so outrageous that I missed your intent completely.

Pardon my incredulity, but would you mind expounding on that statement further?

The loss of society's collective sense of humor is directly proportional to it's increased propensity to be offended. But I like how you simply altered the spelling instead of caving to the weenies.

My license plates have always been very routine and ho-hum, but I was forced to change my user ID on my xbox live account a couple years ago because someone objected to it. I logged on and had a message from Microsoft waiting for me, stating that the username brute4skin was no longer acceptable and could I please change it. I was irked - I had been proud of that one. I sat for about a half an hour, trying to come up with a new user ID that was still at least obliquely vulgar while being acceptable. I eventually just added the letter "s" to the end, changing it to brute4skins. Microsoft accepted it.

That Teletubbie butt porn really hit you hard, didn't it?

I get your point, but to be fair that thread did have a tag plainly visible that said "PPP March Madness Debate". All anyone has to do is take a moment to look what the topic is that you're participating in to know what's going on. If you can't be bothered to take a few seconds to review the thread's content - or worse, state that you haven't even bothered to do so - and then launch into a self-serving diatribe, then you're going to get what you deserve.That applies to any thread on PPP, not just one of the "PPP March Madness" debate threads. Unless I'm mistaken, you weren't included as a seed in the debates. That won't prevent you from participating in them though - once each participant has posted their quarterly arguments, you can be one of the judges who decides which one wins that quarter. All you have to do is be one of the first three to post a judgement. You can be as scathing or as funny as you want - that's up to you. This is supposed to be fun, after all. To give you an idea of the possibilities of what these debates have to offer, here's one of the standout exchanges so far: http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/192770-golf-is-a-real-sport/

Okay then, it's denial with a built-in excuse for inaction, AKA "kitty mode". It's nothing new.

Happy birthday! I'm just a few months behind you. Cheers!

I thought this was a thread about these: