patrick.net

tts says

I've posted far more links and data to back up what I'm saying and you still haven't even tried to validate what you're saying about Somalia which still wouldn't even refute my point here:

"What is with this fascination with a unsustainable brief period in time in a place that has known almost nothing but war and brutal poverty before and after? If for a second you are happy in a place that is at all other times hell would you call it heaven too? "

You're not even willing to do some simple googleing and cut and pasting to back up what you're saying. Why in the world would anyone take you seriously?

What's there for me to invalidate? Read your own quoted text above, you are agreeing with me that Somalia was better during the period anarchy than the governments it had before or since. What's there for me to invalidate? If you really want a detailed analysis of Somalia from people know the realities on the ground in Somalia, here are three:

http://mises.org/daily/2066

http://mises.org/daily/2701

http://mises.org/daily/5418

Do I think Somalia, even in its anarchy period, was heaven? Not at all. It was however better than itself during the Siad Barr regime that was in power for decades immediately prior to the anarchy period and better than the civil war/invasion/piracy that is the current Somalia after outside powers tried and succeeded in imposing a central government there.

You are the one keep mistakenly assuming that somehow Somalia is still under anarchy now, which it is not.

Hahah nice ad hom again. I'm posting here during the day so I must be slacking off at work you suggest? I couldn't possibly be on an off day after doing my normal 3 12hr weekly shift. Nope, no one anywhere works 12hr shifts, which BTW is normally 3 days a week, sometimes 4 but that leaves 3-4 days off in a row.

Now you are just lying through your teeth to cover your track. What does that kind of hypothetical unusual schedule have to do with you? Absolutely nothing.

Still patiently waiting for your answers to the following:

(1) Please answer how you would restrict the length of candidate list under your public-funding scheme where no one is allowed to make political donations; i.e. any signature list would have to be what the candidate can personally collect (no time from others allowed, which would be just a form of political donation)

(2) You still need to come up with the list of 10,000 government bureaucrats and employees who have volunteered to cut their own salaries and benefits in half to match the private sector income . . . I'm asking for a list of less than 1 out 1000 government bureaucrats and public employees! If you can't even come with that, how can you possibly start making the selfless assumption about the same bureaucrats and public employees? an assumption that is of critical importance to make your bureaucratic regulatory state workable at all.

Crickets. . .

Reality says

What's there for me to invalidate? Read your own quoted text above, you are agreeing with me that Somalia was better during the period anarchy than the governments it had before or since.

Actually I'm not, I disputed that and post links a ways up the page WRT to the multiple back to back civil wars in Somalia in the late 80's and 90's up to the 2000's. But that is totally moot since even if there was brief period in time Somalia was a paradise or whatever it has since then descended into de facto anarchy.

Reality says

You are the one keep mistakenly assuming that somehow Somalia is still under anarchy now, which it is not.

There is a government but its a joke, everyone knows the country is a failed state, even worse off than Afghanistan or North Korea.

Reality says

Now you are just lying through your teeth to cover your track. What does that kind of hypothetical unusual schedule have to do with you? Absolutely nothing.

That is the exact shift I work. There is nothing hypothetical or unusual about it. Plenty of people work 12hr shifts and 3 days is the norm since if you go over that you have to get paid OT unless you're salary which I'm not. Good job calling me a liar without a shred of proof too BTW. Stay classy brosef!!

Reality says

(1) Please answer how you would restrict the length of candidate list under your public-funding scheme where no one is allowed to make political donations

A law would be passed saying no more than 30 candidates, which I've already said several times now IIRC.

Reality says

(2) You still need to come up with the list of 10,000 government bureaucrats and employees who have volunteered to cut their own salaries and benefits in half to match the private sector income

No I don't, you just randomly started saying this for no reason and it makes no sense at all in this discussion. Wages of public employees are a whole other subject. Its a complete non sequitor. Go beat down your own strawmen I'm not doing it for you.

Blah this is a waste of time. You can't even try to argue coherently and your links are a joke too.

TO THE IGNORE LIST WITH YOU *shazaam*

e: omg this thread is like half the length now so rooomy

mdovell says

In all due respects the only real action is when contracts are ironed out. Here's a commission where that is going on right now
http://www.mhcrc.org/content.asp?n=ops&s=ops_publichearing They benefit a bit by that they bought out NBC and regulations are having them give a bit more back (lower high speed internet)

Some boards publish their minutes. This one seems to go back quite a bit
http://www.ci.issaquah.wa.us/Agendas.asp?CCBID=4

Thanks for posting this. The meeting notes seem straight forward to read but there are a ton to read through. Feel like playing some games n' stuff right now but I'll try to slog through them over the next few days. Might be some interesting tid bits.

tts says

Actually I'm not, I disputed that and post links a ways up the page WRT to the multiple back to back civil wars in Somalia in the late 80's and 90's up to the 2000's. But that is totally moot since even if there was brief period in time Somalia was a paradise or whatever it has since then descended into de facto anarchy.

Then why the heck did you keep bringing up Somalia? The current chaos in Somalia is the result of outside powers trying to impose a government. The Somali experience actually showed that chaos is the result of overly interventionist government not anarchy per se, just like the gangs running some the streets of America (and entire cities in Mexico) due to drug wars and Prohibition. "De facto anarchy" is a nonsense description. There are de jure governments in all those cases, and their stupid policies and actions are the reasons for the chaos. Chaos and anarchy are two different concepts altogether.

There is a government but its a joke, everyone knows the country is a failed state, even worse off than Afghanistan or North Korea.

There was no state after the fall of Siad Barr regime until the UN/US tried to impose one. The population saw drastic improvement in standards of living after the fall of Siad Barre regime and before the re-imposition of central government.

That is the exact shift I work. There is nothing hypothetical or unusual about it. Plenty of people work 12hr shifts and 3 days is the norm since if you go over that you have to get paid OT unless you're salary which I'm not. Good job calling me a liar without a shred of proof too BTW. Stay classy brosef!!

Let's see you stop posting tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and the day after that. LOL.

A law would be passed saying no more than 30 candidates, which I've already said several times now IIRC.

What kind of BS sense does that make? How do you decide which 30 make the cut and the remaining thousands getting cut off? Just pull 30 names out of your rear end? or should the names flow from the barrel of your gun?

No I don't, you just randomly started saying this for no reason and it makes no sense at all in this discussion. Wages of public employees are a whole other subject.

No it is not a whole other subject. If the bureaucrats feel that they are entitled to the out-sized pay despite their own wages and benefits being more than double that of the average worker in the private sector, they'd most likely feel entitled to use that "public" creditcard for their own lunches and shopping/vacation trips, which most social workers and government officials with "public" creditcards do! The next is only a small step to sell whatever other power they have for their own benefits.

If you can not even find 1 out of 1000 willing to stand up and acknowledge that themselves are overpaid and willing to give the money back, you don't have the millions of saints/gods that you need to run your idealistic bureaucratic system.

Its a complete non sequitor. Go beat down your own strawmen I'm not doing it for you.

You are simply incapable of making a counter argument.

Blah this is a waste of time. You can't even try to argue coherently and your links are a joke too.

These links are not only detailed studies but also provide links to even more first-hand accounts. Your whimsical response shows that your earlier demand for reference was simply in bad faith. You never considered examining any evidence contrary to your fantasy dreamland.

TO THE IGNORE LIST WITH YOU *shazaam*

Yes, close your eyes, and keep dreaming. . . such is the sad state of wannabe fascist regressives nowadays. I should have known just by looking at that atavistic avatar of yours.

I am surprised it hasn't been brought up but some of the post office is already outsourced. Stamps.com allows people to print stamps from home for packages and letters etc.

Even with just stamps you can buy stamps in supermarkets and drug stores..so the outright demand for post offices (not the whole service..just post offices) is being drained from all around.

Yes there are some things that legally must be sent in the mail (census, certified letters, court orders, jury duty notices). But for everything else it is a hard argument either with technology or competition.

Yesterday Apple's announcement was kinda minor..but they announced that iphone users will be able to send cards to one another.
Card company american greetings dropped 6% on that news
www.dailyjournal.net/view/story/6358c6009bd240b28fc07d1137e32c11/US-TEC--Apple-Greeting-Cards/

If people really want to "save" the post office the answer is really simple. Send more mail..much more mail. If you want a cheap hobby by all means take up shortwave. When you receive signal you can request what is called a QSL. It is normally a card but varies dramatically. Even countries we don't have relationships often times will send materials back.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QSL

Just read an interesting piece about USPS being in the red only because it has been bailing out the Federal Government:

http://redtape.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/07/8191425-twisted-government-accounting-behind-postal-service-woes

So using the USPS more won't help it from going broke. It's the Federal Gov't and stupid accounting practices (if the article above has any credence) that is the root of the Post Office's problems.

our government at it's finest moment.

Bear Stern was near the bottom of the list, so far as the large investment banks go. They were 'allowed' to go under by the PTB. Coincidence?

I had a CD at Wells Fargo but hated them so much that I moved it to a small bank when it came due.

Then Wells bought that small bank, so my CD was back at Wells again.

So when it came due again, I moved it to another small bank, and again Wells bought the bank and it was back at Wells again.

So I've moved my money out of Wells yet again.

I give you an A+ for your efforts!

You know, I think this is an accurate if over-simplified summary of the political opinions in the US:

* The right thinks that the free market should handle everything.

* The left wants to protect labor rights.

* Corporations hate both the free market and labor rights. They both cut into monopoly profits.

So if corporations can just get the right and left to destroy each other, corporations will rule America! Or has it already happened?

Nailed it.

Lazy and stupid people just don't get it and waste their lives and then complain about other people's success which is their failure ! It's very simple ! Live within your means and work hard and smart ! Fruits will come to you. Just try it ! Make immediate sacrifices for long term benefits.

EInvestor says

Make immediate sacrifices for long term benefits.

Yes, and say your prayers. You won't be rewarded in this life, but there is a heaven waiting for you in the next.

marcus says

EInvestor says

Make immediate sacrifices for long term benefits.

Yes, and say your prayers. You won't be rewarded in this life, but there is a heaven waiting for you in the next.

I feel this market really does punish the hardworking dual income family who saves and sacrifices.

marcus says

WAit. Aren't you the same moron who wants to see public worker unions ended

Yes. Because we shouldn't go from one set of masters to another. Whats the difference if instead of being enslaved by corporate masters, people are enslaved by union masters. Same shit, different name.

You'd see it better if you were outside the box.

EastCoastBubbleBoy says

Bear Stern was near the bottom of the list, so far as the large investment banks go. They were 'allowed' to go under by the PTB. Coincidence?

Bear's 500m call triggered LTCM's collapse, which cost a lot of people money.
When their turn came they were kicked off the cliff with naked shorts.
It is and amazing story (of predatory criminality):
“On Tuesday, March 11th, 2008, somebody – nobody knows who – made one of the craziest bets Wall Street has ever seen. The mystery figure spent $1.7 million on a series of options, gambling that shares in the venerable investment bank Bear Stearns would lose more than half of their value in nine days or less. It was madness – “like buying 1.7 million lottery tickets,” according to one financial analyst.”
Bear’s stock would have to drop by more than half in a matter of days for the mystery figure to make a profit. And that is what happened.
As Taibbi explains, “the very next day, March 12, Bear went into a free fall…Whoever bought those options on March 11th woke up on the morning of March 17th having made 159 times his money, or roughly $270 million. This trader was either the luckiest guy in the world, the smartest son of a bitch ever or…Or what?”
http://www.deepcapture.com/rolling-stone-reports-that-naked-short-selling-killed-bear-stearns-and-lehman-brothers/

FortWayne says

You'd see it better if you were outside the box.

If you saw something real, you would be able to explain it without resorting to weird hyperbolic phrases about "union thugs" or the "union bosses" only interested in themselves. Whenever you share your view it's more than a little obvious that you know nothing about unions other than the most cliche negative aspects, which are all things that can be dealt with and reformed.

The ultimate fact is that without collective bargaining, public workers get screwed and it lends itself to workers in general being exploited worse. Because public sector jobs are simply part of a bigger market of jobs.

What you are arguing for for is all jobs paying less, and this trend towards what you call a form of slavery, getting worse. You're just too thick to realize it.

FortWayne says

Yes. Because we shouldn't go from one set of masters to another. Whats the
difference if instead of being enslaved by corporate masters, people are
enslaved by union masters. Same shit, different name.

There are men who sincerely believe that "ALL women are either bitches or whores, or both!" Imagine the women they interact with longer than 10 seconds, with that self-fulfilling prophecy at play.

Seriously, though- comparing corporate interests (in the interest of the corporation and its management only at the expense of the workers) and union interests (working in favor of workers) is ridiculous on the face of it, even given that there are many corrupt self-serving unions out there, and also some genuinely caring, giving corporations.

There was a time when I was quite anti-union for the usual reasons as a competent earner in my own right. Given the concentration of wealth and ascent of American oligarchy, I think unions are very much needed again today. This presupposes unions genuinely concerned with workers not themselves, of course.

Automan Empire says

and also some genuinely caring, giving corporations.

I don't agree with this point. They "care" or "give" as part of a marketing, or tax advantaging gambit. They are Green, or philanthropic, or whatever, to position in the public's perception. Catch a C suite executive breaching his fiduciary duty by "caring" without an explanation of the financial benefit and he has pulled the rip-cord on his Golden Parachute.

Automan Empire says

Seriously, though- comparing corporate interests (in the interest of the corporation and its management only at the expense of the workers) and union interests (working in favor of workers) is ridiculous on the face of it, even given that there are many corrupt self-serving unions out there, and also some genuinely caring, giving corporations.

Unions are also corporations. Union members are clients of a corporate entity called "the union." It's just like warehouse memberships like Costco membership, except the unions makes you pay the membership due even if you do not wish to be a member.

by eliminating your low-cost option for mail.

you cant be serious, given the much wider cheaper alternatives available ?

i mean really ? but a used durable Laptop for under $100 or cheap tablet and use public wifi to send and receive emails..

put the old dying horse to rest for gods sake... poor think is in pain !

The US Post Office is self-funding and does not use tax money.

Oh ! say it aint so Joe.. LOL! and where does the cash to cover deficit spending come from .. or will come from ?

"which mandated $5.5 billion per year to be paid into an account to pre-fund retiree health-care, 75 years into the future, a requirement unique among organizations and businesses in the U.S"

" The USPS lost US$ 15.9 billion in 2012, and its revenue was US$ 65.2 billion."

And it's why your cellphone bills are among the highest in the world for worse service than in other countries. Look at numbers 3 and 37.

did you consider foreign telecoms are govt owned and thus subsided by tax dollars.

seriously, are their telecom equipment cheaper than ours ? operators paid less ?