patrick.net

Honest Abe says

What you don't need are a bunch of busy body liberals micro managing every aspect of everyones personal and business life from cradle to grave).

Fiscal liberals only want to micro-manage corporation's businesses from cradle to grave. Social conservatives are the ones who want to manage people's personal business from cradle to grave.

Those who are social liberals and financial conservatives want neither.

If social conservatives are the one's who want to manage peoples personal lives, why are the sponsors of most of the bills and legislation democrats???

Honest Abe says

If social conservatives are the one's who want to manage peoples personal lives, why are the sponsors of most of the bills and legislation democrats???

OK, but I need more specifics before I am convinced. If I am understanding you post correctly you are implying that every bill manages peoples personal lives with equal weight. So, whoever is introducing more bills is managing our personal lives more. That correct?

OK, to finish off your very convincing argument, please:
1. Demonstrate that Democrats actually do sponsor more legislation.

2. Demonstrate that either:
a. All legislation equally managers peoples personal lives; or
b. Legislation sponsored by Democrats is more heavily weighted to manager peoples personal lives.

NOTE: One off examples do not count, we need to view the entire data set objectively to come to a conclusion.

Thanks.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2012/may/8/house-vote-trayvon-amendment/

Democrats don't want anyone to be able to defend themselves. Call 9-11 (dial-a-prayer) and let someone else defend you. When seconds matter, they'll be there in just a few minutes, if they get the address correct.

Selling homemade baked goods banned in MA (D)

Winter sledding banned in NY (D)

Tossing football at beach in CA illegal (D)

Lemonaid stand violates law in GA (D)

Flying American Flag by vet banned in MI (D)

Saying prayer at football game ruled illegal in NE (D)

Try paying attention. This kinda crap by Dumb-o-crats isn't that hard to notice.

Bullshit on you. It says that footballs and frisbees are allowed "UNDER CERTAIN CONDITONS". Yea, its ok to toss them on Tuesdays and Thurdays, between 7:45 am to 11:00 am, if and only if the weather is clear and sunny, and the tide is at a low-low condition. Under all other conditions its illegal.

If the law is violated, you get a $1,000 fine, 10 days in county jail, 30 days community service, and a real probation officer.

Zev Yara-sloth-ski is a (D) isn't he?

Honest Abe says

If social conservatives are the one's who want to manage peoples personal lives, why are the sponsors of most of the bills and legislation democrats???

I don't know what you are referring to here. Are you saying that most legislation is sponsored and passed by Democrats? If so, I'd be more concerned about what the legislation is rather than how many bills there are. Some legislation like the USA Patriot Act and NDAA are extremely intrusive and oppressive. Other bills are innocuous.

Now both Democrats and Republicans have voted for both evil acts, but Republicans have overwhelmingly given greater support for both acts as shown by the following.

NDAA Votes
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/112-2011/h375

The Tea Party and the Patriot Act Vote

http://www.themonkeycage.org/assets_c/2011/02/teapartypatriotact2-305.html

Roll Call: How Tea Party in House voted on Patriot Act, May 2011

Yep, the Republicans, especially the self-proclaimed Tea Party voted overwhelmingly to undermine the Constitution and manage people's personal lives. Now, if the Tea Party actually believed in any of the crap they claim to, you know like small government, they would have rejected everything about the Patriot Act and NDAA, and I would be singing their praises. However, the didn't. The small government party that fears the overwhelming executive power that the negro Obama has usurped in an unprecedented power grab, is a-okay with the government kidnapping, torturing, and raping people they claim might be terrorists, but have no accountability if they're wrong.

And that's why I can't take Republicans or the Tea Party serious when they claim to want small government. Every chance they get, they make government bigger and scarier. I actually do want small government. I want the government to have less money, less power, less leeway, more transparency, more accountability, and more oversight by us citizens. I want the government to fear the people because the only alternative is for the people to fear the government. I say the government shouldn't have any power that we the people don't explicitly give it. But that's not what the Republicans and the Tea Party want. It's clearly not what they want.

The thing is, if the Republicans actually believed the things they claim to believe, they would be an entirely different party. And I would support them. But they don't. It's all lies and hypocrisy and has been since Reagan.

The Republicans believe in only one thing: keeping the poor and middle class in place so that the uber-rich can live dedicate lifestyles. Republican politicians don't believe in rugged individualism, hard-work, earning your income and keeping it, free markets, or competition. All of those things would hurt the uber-rich who have nothing to gain from entrepreneurship and everything to lose if someone makes their monopolies obsolete.

Now that doesn't mean I like the Democrats at all. I think they are absolutely full of shit, corrupt, and greedy. But their corruption and greed is of the normal political type. The level of bat-shit crazy, insatiable greed and corruption and sheer evilness of the Republicans over the past 30 years makes the Democrats look like My Little Ponies in contrast. As bad as the Democrats are, they aren't nearly as vile and despicable as the pro-torture, pro-tyranny Republican Party.

Things have gotten so bad over the past 30 years with the Republican Party that it is now irredeemable. The only chance for fiscal responsibility is for the Republican Party to utterly die and a new party to be formed that has nothing to do with the people who were in the Republican Party. I mean none of the racists, none of the Jesus-freaks, none of the war-mongerers, and none of the fiscal parasites that have no problem destroying the economy to make a quick buck.

A true small government, low tax, low spending party would have to be made of people with a strong ethical backbone and fiscal responsibility. If such a party were formed, many "fiscally conservative Democrats" would leave that party for the new one. In fact, I think the only thing holding the Democratic Party together is opposition of the bat-shit crazy Republican Party. Democrats are basically everyone who isn't an extremist nutcase hell-bent on turning America into a mix of lawless corporations and a theocracy. Without the Republicans, the Democratic Party would shatter from its differences and internal disputes. We could end up with three or four parties.

Honest Abe says

Selling homemade baked goods banned in MA (D)

Winter sledding banned in NY (D)

Tossing football at beach in CA illegal (D)

Lemonaid stand violates law in GA (D)

Flying American Flag by vet banned in MI (D)

Saying prayer at football game ruled illegal in NE (D)

Try paying attention. This kinda crap by Dumb-o-crats isn't that hard to notice.

Assuming those things aren't out of context, I would disagree with all of those policies and I would call their proponents idiots and sleezebags. Do you have links about each of those so I can read the whole issue and provide meaningful feedback?

In any case, none of these things even approaches the level of having electrodes attached to your genitals, being sexually molested by the TSA, having nude pictures of yourself taken without your consent, having your phone, email, and bank account tapped without warrant, and a host of other violations that Republicans love.

Top success factor to becoming a millionaire:
1. Save your dough after age 25. Most before that age don't give a shit.
2. Resist trying to impress the chicks with your dough. Pick up tabs at "interesting"=cheap Chinese, Vietnamese, etc. restaurants. Any restaurant where the waiters are caucasian and wear actual suits is OUT.
3. Resist taking on debt to get a nice car. California has awesome used cars. In New England they rust away. Buy used here.
4. Resist fancy vacations with your girlfriend. We know screwing in a new location is more fun, but it's not truly worth the expense. Don't bring sand to the beach.
5. Invest the dough you save agressively. Don't bother with too esoteric funds like Emerging Markets however. Even "domestic" funds have foreign stocks in there for total exposure, e.g. Fidelity Contrafund.
6. Don't chicken out and sell when the market dips. This is what the stock market does. Buy when the market dips or don't do anything and wait.
7. Don't buy fancy clothes unless you are paid to wear them. You can find some high quality brand name shit at thrift stores. My brother started this hobby and got the rest of us interested. You would be surprised the fancy shit that is donated in small affluent towns. A rich guy dies and his blue blazer goes there eventually
8. Buy AAPL if you still can before it's $900+ per share.
9. Don't waste time wondering what other people think of your financial situation.
10. Don't waste too much time helping out people who are going to drag you down in every sense of the word. They can be girls with some problems who also happen to be hot looking. Hit and run.
11. Don't buy expensive toys you will never use. Go out fishing on your friend's boat. He bought it and now needs a first mate/cabin boy. Don't get suckered into buying a luxury you won't use.
12. Don't get unhealty. Stay active and not a couch potato. You need energy and health to go out and make money.
13. Don't go to the mall to stroll around with your girlfriend. You may end up seeing something she must have and you may feel obligated to buy it.
14. Don't feel sorry for those who are broke. They can make it if they are not handicapped or blind. Don't get suckered by their sob stories, it's bullshit. I have heard 1000 of them here in Santa Cruz.
15. Buy stuff used on Craigslist or new at Walmart.com
16. Accelerate slowly. F=MA. This will increase gas mileage.
17. Don't waste too much time on these blogs. I just broke that rule.
Enjoy your million dollars. It will take you about 20 years or so.

clambo says

12. Don't get unhealty.

Ah, ha ha best advice yet on getting rich in the US.

clambo says

12. Don't get unhealty. Stay active and not a couch potato. You need energy and health to go out and make money.

Uh, my Aunt was a big wig at Patagonia, the clothing company. She was extremely active, and basically her entire free time was spent climbing walls or climbing mountains. She had next to no body fat and in fantastic shape.

She died several years ago, in her early 40s, from a second bout of breast cancer. Never smoked, never did drugs, had no kids.

clambo says

Enjoy your million dollars. It will take you about 20 years or so.

Riiight.

Most of your other points either blame women for spending a guy's money or fail to acknowledge youthful stupidity.

Remember, Jobs died in his 50s. He didn't make it to 65. He was also a health nut by most accounts. Many others, who are far less well off, don't make it either.

thunderlips11 says

had no kids.

Doesn't not having kids present extra health risks later in life for women? I vaguely recall something about that.

It's interesting how different male & female biology is in small things. Like bone mass on women is added from inside outward, whereas in men it's the reverse. Then once menopause hits that stops, and they start losing bone much faster than men.

Jobs real problem was he tried to pretend he would magically get better and didn't do anything about his diagnosis for too long.

Vicente says

Doesn't not having kids present extra health risks later in life for women? I vaguely recall something about that.

Could be, now that you mention it, I do recall hearing something about that. Like Jobs, my aunt also delayed kemo by a few weeks, but she had already been through it before. Even had she run right in for it, the prognosis wasn't good given that the cancer returned so quickly and they didn't have much left to remove.

I don't want to give the impression that taking care of one's self is useless, just that shit happens sometimes even when you do.

clambo,

I like your list. There is probably some "tongue in cheek" humor there...but there's also a lot of truth to what you say.

Save $$$
Don't overspend
Resist debt
Don't buy things you don't need
Stay healthy
Buy used.

Now if we could just teach congress-critters the first four items on my list above. Oh well, so much for wishful thinking.

clambo says

Top success factor to becoming a millionaire:

Damn, I've been doing 14 of the 17 things on your list since I was 22, and I'm not proud of it. Well maybe 15 since Apple is in the S&P500.

http://www.f150online.coms/general-discussion/267069-now-illegal-go-sledding.html

sledding banned in Omaha.

http://www.debatepolitics.com/general-political-discussion/125509-bake-sales-illegal-massachusetts.html

Bake sales banned in MA.

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/story?id=100640&page=1

Football prayer illegal in TX

http://www.zimbio.com/Flag+Etiquette/articles/11/Homeowners+Association+Bans+American+Flag

HOA bans american flag in AZ

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tom-blumer/2011/07/15/young-girls-lemonade-stand-shut-down-midway-ga

Lemonade stand shut down in GA.

You liberal dummies are either not paying attention to the deterioration of America...or are actively supporting it.

Its the latter, isn't it?

Honest Abe says

not paying attention to the deterioration of America...or are actively supporting it.

Yawn. Others have pointed out that we would agree.

The thing is, in my view the single biggest problem is that we don't respect real debate or have enough intelligent conversations about what is going on.

You Abe are basically a poster boy for the dumbing down of political discourse and the right wing's penchant for boiling things down to stupid and evil little sound bytes to be consumed by the likes of CS, Bap and you, and many others who are even less perceptive.