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dirtbag
climber
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Dec 18, 2015 - 12:31pm PT
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I realize the humor was at my party's expense, but whoever came up with the Agrabah bombing proposal was a genius. It reminds me of the conservatives who go on college campuses collecting signatures to repeal the First Amendment, only funnier, since repealing the First Amendment is not only possible, but in prospect for the extreme left and right.
In fairness, too, some of the respondents probably got the joke and said "yes." And, I suppose it's possible that more republicans saw "Aladdin," and played along.
Still...it's a gud one! I've been chuckling all morning.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Dec 18, 2015 - 12:42pm PT
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Still...it's a gud one! I've been chuckling all morning.
Indeed. Between that poll and Daniel's (limpingcrab's) ski wax trip report, I find myself experiencing great difficulty doing anything but laughing.
John
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Lorenzo
Trad climber
Portland Oregon
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Dec 18, 2015 - 01:21pm PT
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fairness, too, some of the respondents probably got the joke and said "yes." And, I suppose it's possible that more republicans saw "Aladdin," and played along.
Admit it. You made that up.
Funny, though.
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John M
climber
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Dec 19, 2015 - 09:47am PT
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just heard about a poll that says the number one problem facing America right now is terrorism.
Good grief.. either the pollsters are making sh#t up, or the only people who respond to polls are senior citizens stuck in centers watching tv all day.
How about..
national debt
Or Over sized military
Or insanely formed tax code.. Okay.. that ones not number one, but should be higher then terrorists.
then there is aging infrastructure.
anymore that are greater then terrorism?
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John M
climber
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Dec 19, 2015 - 10:15am PT
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you are right Dingus.. I don't get it. I do realize thats what we do. I just don't get it. I watched america go crazy after 9/11. Its what we do. But it still bugs me. We have serious issues facing us, and we will waste energy worrying about terrorists.
America needs leaders that will lead us out of the insanity, rather then further into it.
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survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
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Dec 19, 2015 - 10:20am PT
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John M, +1
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10b4me
Mountain climber
Retired Climber
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Dec 19, 2015 - 11:35am PT
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There's no democracy at all
+1
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John M
climber
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Dec 19, 2015 - 12:09pm PT
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Werner is right. Crankloons like HIllary, a puppet of the oligarchy. We will never get out of this mess with Hillary.. or Cruz, or Bush, or Rubio.
Sanders in my opinion is the most sane, and even he is not that sane.
Cruz insanity.. carpet bomb isis
Bush insanity.. bigger military, more spending
What are Rubio and HIllary's biggest insanities? And while we are at it, Sanders.
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John M
climber
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Dec 19, 2015 - 09:30pm PT
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glad you had a great year crankster.. when do you plan on paying down the national debt? Does Hillary have a plan for that? Or are you just a crankloon?
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10b4me
Mountain climber
Retired Climber
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Dec 19, 2015 - 10:05pm PT
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Sanders problem is he is a one issue candidate.
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TomCochrane
Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
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Dec 19, 2015 - 11:01pm PT
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Werner Braun is one of the most relevant voices here, if you can appreciate the stylistic duck quacks
How a Nation Self-destructs
By Harvey Lothian December 19, 2015
Nations are made up of people. Nations are only as strong as the bonds between the people. Strong social bonds, strong nation; weak social bonds, weak nation. Social bonds have many elements; the most important element is how much people care about each other. If people do not care about each other, if they have a “screw you, I got mine” attitude and are not willing to help others in need, then a nation is ready to topple at the first sign of significant stress. If people have a strong social bond, they will work together during difficult times and solve all problems.
If a nation’s leaders create enormous amounts of national debt that cannot be paid because good paying jobs have been sent overseas, a weakly bonded nation is doomed to failure when an inevitable bankruptcy and economic collapse occurs.
If just before the national bankruptcy and economic collapse the leaders frighten the people with a real or phony enemy, some people will purchase weapons to protect themselves. Should the financial and economic crash occur, a weakly bonded people might resort to using weapons against each other in an every man for himself situation.
Mission accomplished; nation destroyed.
How to Save a Nation
Open the minds of the people to the fact that everyone is in this together, everyone is different and valuable, everyone is entitled to the necessities of life, including meaningful work with reasonable pay, and all differences should be celebrated rather than fought over.
Then, follow Lao zi’s advice and do nothing and everything gets done. If the people are solidly united and bonded they do not need leaders or instructions, they will naturally do what needs to be done.
Harvey Lothian is a 78-year-old man living on the Sunshine Coast of B.C., Canada. His passions since a teenager have been history, politics, economics, sociology, social psychology, learning, traveling and reading. In recent years he has come to understand what Plato meant when he said all dogs have the soul of a philosopher. He can be reached platosdog7782@gmail.com.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Dec 20, 2015 - 05:14am PT
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I have no doubt that the poll is real, having seen results of several different polls conducted by competent statisticians, all with similar results.
I also have little (as opposed to no) doubt that the overplay of terrorism stories by the media has much to do with those results. NOAA says that during the 10-year period of 2004-2013, 33 people were killed and 234 were injured by lightning strikes annually. This far exceeds the terrorism deaths and injuries from San Bernardino, yet which receives more ink and air time, lightning deaths or terrorism?
Even so, I suspect that if all the media - of whatever bent - publicized the relative risk, people would still fear terrorism more than lightning strikes. Most people don't simply compare likelihoods alone. Otherwise, more people would be afraid of driving than afraid of flying.
My own theory is that people generally fear what they believe they can't control. They can control their likelihood of being struck by lightning by choosing where and when to place themselves. Terrorism can happen anywhere people congregate, so they feel that they can't control it.
Of course, if the economy tanks, the main issues will change. In any case, I don't see Bernie's one issue, income inequality, likely to be a particularly important issue except for the American left. The American public as a whole has never been all that big about taking other peoples' money. Their concern is about having the ability to make money on their own.
John
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Larry Nelson
Social climber
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Dec 20, 2015 - 07:44am PT
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John M:
Good points on our countries problems.
The national debt, aging infrastructure, tax code, unsustainable public employee pension costs and job creation in the private sector I see as our biggest problems.
John E
Good points about the media overplaying every little story to sell their product.
The republicans seem to be competing with each other on who will bomb the most terrorists.
Don't think democrats are not masters of fear mongering when it suits their purposes.
This seems to be one of the weakest choices of true leadership I have seen in my life.
For me, the problem with a democrat being elected (especially one who might belong to one of the left's cherished victim classes...a woman), is that the late night joke machines will be stagnant for yet another few years after the pathetic comedic desert conditions of the Obama years.
Too much PC nowadays...I doubt you could make the movie "Blazing Saddles" in today's atmosphere.
Our culture has become as thin skinned as our current president.
And about democracy.
It takes a culture of personal responsibility to make a democracy work.
Do you think this country values personal responsibility like it used to?
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Larry Nelson
Social climber
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Dec 20, 2015 - 08:01am PT
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Crankster wrote:
Sorry, but the national debt is not at the top of the list.
I guess the easy way would be to inflate our way out of it.
Just a regressive tax on the poor... but mum's the word, they're too busy watching the Kardashians.
Edit: Are they related to the Agrahbabians?
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Craig Fry
Trad climber
So Cal.
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Dec 20, 2015 - 08:02am PT
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The fiscally non-responsible GOP just added another $700 billion to the debt rather than try and pay it down in the new spending bill, just proving they are a bunch of hypocritical liars about the debt.
Congress' half-trillion-dollar spending binge
Budget austerity takes a back seat as the House passes nearly $700 billion in unpaid-for tax cuts.
By Rachael Bade
| 12/17/15 05:20 AM EST
Rand Paul thinks the national debt is the “greatest threat” to America’s future. Donald Trump warns that the nation is at risk of becoming “a large-scale version of Greece.” And Marco Rubio says the debt will “shackle future generations.”
But on Capitol Hill this week, just hours before they jet away for the holidays, the GOP-led Congress is going on a $680 billion spending spree — none of which will be paid for by budget cuts or other tax offsets. And all of which will be added to the national debt, according to budget watchdogs.
“We are doing damage to the fiscal health of the country by borrowing this mind-boggling amount at a time when the debt is so high,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the bipartisan anti-debt nonprofit Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. “It’s absolutely at odds with the priority Republicans are making — the debt — when they’re campaigning, and with the Republican budget that was passed out of the House.”
For the GOP presidential candidates, the $18 trillion national debt remains a central campaign talking point. But after years of relative fiscal austerity, including enactment of relatively modest spending rollbacks, GOP lawmakers are steaming toward passing a mammoth $680 billion tax package without offsets. It would make permanent a host of temporary tax breaks commonly called “extenders” — and is also chock-full of goodies for specific business interests and constituents.
There’s something from everybody’s wish list: breaks for energy-efficient homes and commercial buildings; deductions for business office furniture, computers and machines; tax savings for the film and TV industries and rum producers in the Caribbean; and even tax perks for owning a racehorse or two-wheeled plug-in electric car.
The cost, combined with the interest the U.S. would pay after borrowing the money to pay for it, would rise to $830 billion and undo much of the savings squeezed from painful automatic spending cuts called the sequester, according to MacGuineas’ group. Republicans have instituted rules that block such measures unless they’re paid for — restrictions they will waive for themselves on this particular occasion.
Speaker Paul Ryan can count on strong support from Republicans to pass the measure, which he negotiated as one of his first acts since taking over the House. On Thursday, the House voted overwhelmingly, 318-108, to pass the measure, with dozens of Democrats joining Republicans to vote 'yes.' The Senate is expected to clear the bill on Friday.
It helps, perhaps, that national security issues have recently taken over the campaign spotlight, diverting some attention away from fiscal issues. But some Democrats are seizing on what they see as a disconnect between the GOP’s national platform and their end-of-year tax bill. And they’re calling the GOP hypocritical for failing to require the new spending to be offset with cuts elsewhere — particularly after spending years battling with President Barack Obama over deficits and spending cuts.
“If you’re concerned about the deficit, why do you write off all this money without an offset?” asked Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.).
Appropriations Committee member Mike Honda (D-Calif.), who often hears Republicans on his panel balk at spending for Democratic priorities, said reading the tax deal was “like being in a candy store.”
“I’m not voting for it,” he said. “There are so many things in there that raise astounding [amounts of] debt.”
Almost every year, Congress passes a series of what were supposed to be “temporary” tax breaks mostly aimed at businesses, including breaks for corporate research and development, wind and solar energy, railroad track maintenance and motor-sports equipment. But tax experts have long maintained that the year-by-year extensions are bad policymaking because they leave businesses guessing whether their provisions will be extended that year, adding uncertainty and making it more difficult to plan for the future.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/congress-spending-binge-tax-cuts-budget-deal-216883#ixzz3usRJR3RJ
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John M
climber
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Dec 20, 2015 - 08:04am PT
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The national debt isn't at the top of the list because of what JohnE said. If you don't see it, hear it, or experience it, then it doesn't exist. Yet it does exist, and if we don't get it into control, then eventually its going to take us down. But hey, while we don't feel anything, lets PARTY !!!!..
And Crankster, if you could get past the crankloon comment, then you would see that I did pick someone I prefer. That is Bernie Sanders. I believe that he is a much more honest person then Hillary. He stands behind what he believes, whereas Hillary simply shifts with the wind. She doesn't appear to have any moral compass. That is of course my opinion and you are free to have whichever that you please.
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Craig Fry
Trad climber
So Cal.
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Dec 20, 2015 - 08:07am PT
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But of course, Bernie Sanders proposals of free education at a cost of $750 billion over 10 years is crazy talk.
It's all about priorities
More tax breaks for the rich, so they can get richer and more powerful
so they can pay more to the politicians
or free education
or fixing our infrastructure
or Medicare for all
or millions of new jobs at middle class wages
or more wars
more wasted money
more dirty oil paying off dirty politicians
http://www.wsj.com/articles/price-tag-of-bernie-sanders-proposals-18-trillion-1442271511
He proposes $1 trillion to repair roads, bridges and airports. His college-affordability program would cost $750 billion over a decade. Smaller programs would provide youth jobs and prevent cuts to private pension plans. He would raise an additional $1.2 trillion in Social Security taxes in order to increase benefits and pay those already promised for 50 years.
Sanders proposals are not really a extra 18 trillion price tag, since any budget over ten years is 18 Trillion, there are no extra costs, just different spending priorities and less tax cuts for the rich and Corps.
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HighDesertDJ
Trad climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 21, 2015 - 12:23pm PT
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Man who expresses interest in hurting Muslims has a bomb at his house, police explode it and nobody cares. No double standard here.
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