[AgentR11]

nice little oldie riff. Much preferable to that hippy goop someone posted on here earlier! : -D

So are you telling me it's true that Republicans don't feel feelings of Compassion, Righteousness, and Good?

No, I'm pretty sure I am atypical of any and all significant population groups. So said the High Lord Standardized Testing Deity, so say we all. Sometimes I wonder if they should have made a "WTF" category for the few outlier oddities such as myself.

This is kind of why we get the idea that you're Evil. You don't act in ways that show these things.

I am perfectly content with whatever evaluation you might care to assign to my character.

That said, I have consistently posted in opposition of any violent outcome from OWS; I have consistently called for determined, ethical stewardship of our natural resources, and my position on health care is in favor of a centralized, National Health Service with comprehensive reform of compensation and liability. I have elaborated at length on how SNAP works, how it can be improved, and how important it is to the baseline economy and to the cause of Peace. I have suggested alterations in the tax code code that *would* act rapidly to re-balance the wealth disparity, and generally support including spiritual and ethical education within our school system.

What you imply is that you can not accept that someone would act in accord with justice, honor, and dignity without playing the ridiculous emotional hand-wringing, pity the victim, game. Well, pity I do not have, and will not accommodate, nor feign its affect. Something is just, or it is not. Not all unjust things can be undone or mitigated, but all actions one pursues can be done according to that which is just.

For me, this is sufficient.

[rangerone314]

Probably the most cold-bloodedly logical thing to do right now is to give nothing and stockpile resources for the time when there are much fewer resources, like the ant.

In other words, don't give to charity or spend needlessly on yourself, but stockpile for you and your own for later.

[careinke]

Probably the most cold-bloodedly logical thing to do right now is to give nothing and stockpile resources for the time when there are much fewer resources, like the ant.

In other words, don't give to charity or spend needlessly on yourself, but stockpile for you and your own for later.

And just when you need it, the government declares you a hoarder, confiscates all your stuff, and throws you in jail.

[AgentR11]

If one were to do such a thing, you have to do it in a way that doesn't stick out. eg, in this part of the country, you're the wierdo if you don't have a chest freezer in the garage. Well.. chest freezers can hold ice cream and popsicles; or they can indefinitely store several hundred pounds of rice. It doesn't take much in the way of "side dishes" to make a decent meal out of a bowl of rice, as long as the quantity of rice is adequate; and if you have 300 lbs of rice safely stored, is anyone going to really notice that your average bowl of rice is 250g instead of 150g? Not likely.

You can be comfortably sitting at 2800 Cal/day and not gain any weight that would be a tip off; or if rations cards are issued that really cut folks back, you could drop intake down to 2000 Cal/day dropping a little weight, but just not quite as much as everyone else. Always wear lose fitting clothing, and don't call attention to anything you do. And tada, you can be a hoarder, without anyone knowing you are hoarding.

ps.. always keep the freezer locked. Its good to do so for child safety anyway, if someone asks.

For now though, the government seems to want the opposite; they are busting their chops trying to get people to keep more food in their homes, not less. I suspect this may continue to be the order of the day for a long time; it simplifies so much in the activity of emergency management if you don't have to worry about distributing food to people who are sheltering in place.

[Cog]

I only give around $2500 a year to charities. A pittance by Cid's standards but far more I suspect then the the progressives that haunt this board wanting to get into my wallet.

cog does this for a tax break - nothing more.

Since the tax break only amounts to around 25% of the amount I give, I'd obviously be ahead financially to give nothing. Try again VM.

Smoke a bowl first.

So, why give to those moochers?

While most of the mooch class deserves a kick in the ass, if not a beatdown, there are those rare individuals who deserve a helping hand to get going again. For those, the milk of human kindness flows liberally through my veins.

[AgentR11]

...300 lbs of rice ... bowl of rice is 250g instead of 150g...

Lol at me. I'm such a child of my era. Anything lumpy and big I think of in terms of pounds, gallons, acres, anything small my mind swaps to grams and cm and ml... I measure flour in g for bread, and then buy it in bags thinking pounds. But then speed.. mph, until it becomes m/s for stuff going really fast.

No wonder some poor fool engineer splattered a lander on Mars.

I blame Carter.
Its all his fault.


Still, its interesting how this little aside on this thread grew out of me simply reminding people of one of the most effective ways to participate in charitable works.

Seriously, monthly auto-pay a modest amount, to an appropriate charity in your local community. Do it today.

[rangerone314]

Probably the most cold-bloodedly logical thing to do right now is to give nothing and stockpile resources for the time when there are much fewer resources, like the ant.

In other words, don't give to charity or spend needlessly on yourself, but stockpile for you and your own for later.

And just when you need it, the government declares you a hoarder, confiscates all your stuff, and throws you in jail.

Wish them good luck with that.

[Plantagenet]

The finance industry has now grown to all-time high---now makes up 8.4% of US GDP.

banksters and wall street now take 8.4% of all US GDP

In spite of the 2008 recession---irregardless of the real estate collapse----heedles of protests against the bailouts by the tea party and against the banksters by OWS----the wealth and power of the banksters and wall street continue to grow. They now account of 8.4% of the entire US economy.

Obama created green jobs all right----the fed and the federal goverment spigot spews out jobs for banksters and wall street hedge fund traders who make lots of green.

[vision-master]

Planted - 'no new taxes'

Of course what the Rethugs fail to understand is, those Bush tax breaks were to be only 'temporary'.

1. Extending the tax cuts would be a good way to stimulate the economy.


Why? As the CBO notes, most Bush tax cut dollars go to higher-income households, and these top earners don't spend as much of their income as lower earners. In fact, of 11 potential stimulus policies the CBO recently examined, an extension of all of the Bush tax cuts ties for lowest bang for the buck. (The CBO did not examine the high-income tax cuts separately, but the logic it used suggests that extending those cuts alone would have even less value.) The government could more effectively stimulate the economy by letting the high-income tax cuts expire and using the money for aid to the states, extensions of unemployment insurance benefits and tax credits favoring job creation. Dollar for dollar, each of these measures would have about three times the impact on GDP as continuing the Bush tax cuts.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 02671.html

[Plantagenet]

OWS shuts down Port of Oakland, also blocks workers from their jobs at Ports of Seattle, Portland and other west coast cities.

OWS attacks the working class---tens of thousands of truck drivers, longshoremen, crane operators, etc. thown out of work by OWS

OWS strategy of stopping working class folks from going to work and doing their jobs is wrong-headed. OWS should be supporting working class people, not attacking them.

[IndigoMoon]

[quote="Plantagenet"]OWS shuts down Port of Oakland, also blocks workers from their jobs at Ports of Seattle, Portland and other west coast cities.
OWS attacks the working class---tens of thousands of truck drivers, longshoremen, crane operators, etc. thown out of work by OWS

OWS strategy of stopping working class folks from going to work and doing their jobs is wrong-headed. OWS should be supporting working class people, not attacking them.

Really?

http://cleanandsafeports.org/blog/2011/12/12/an-open-letter-from-america%E2%80%99s-port-truck-drivers-on-occupy-the-ports/

There is always more than one side to the story.

[IndigoMoon]

And this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz3fE-Vhrw8&feature=player_embedded

Trade unionists and community activists held a press conference at the Port of Oakland on the call by the Occupy movement of all west coast ports on December 12, 2011. Speakers included trade unionists from the Oakland Education Association, National Postal Mail Handlers Workers LIUNA local 302 and ILWU Local 10 rank and file leader Clarence Thomas.

[Plantagenet]

"Some longshoremen supported the Occupy Oakland protesters, even though they lost a day's wages. But some of the truck drivers who had to wait in long lines as protesters blocked gates said the demonstrators were harming the very people they were trying to help.
"This is joke. What are they protesting?" said Christian Vega, who sat in his truck carrying a load of recycled paper. He said the delay was costing him $600. "It only hurts me and the other drivers.
"We have jobs and families to support and feed," he said. "Most of them don't."
---USA Today

===================

Mr. Vega is right. OWS attempts to stop truck drivers, teamsters, longshoremen, foodtruck workers, workers on the ships and other members of the working class from going to work at the Ports is foolish.

Its strange that rather than targeting the wealthy or the banks, OWS is now targeting truck drivers and other members of the working class. Its almost like OWS has been infiltrated and taken over, with provocateurs directing OWS away from their original anger at the banks, and diverting them into useless and even harmful attacks on the working class.

OWS needs to be smarter. They should attacking the bosses---not the workers!

[Cog]

The OWS basically hates anyone that is making a living by the sweat of their brow.

[Serial_Worrier]

Probably the most cold-bloodedly logical thing to do right now is to give nothing and stockpile resources for the time when there are much fewer resources, like the ant.

In other words, don't give to charity or spend needlessly on yourself, but stockpile for you and your own for later.

And just when you need it, the government declares you a hoarder, confiscates all your stuff, and throws you in jail.

Ruby Ridge all over again.

[Keith_McClary]

Princeton Brews Trouble for Us 1 Percenters: Michael Lewis

Across the Ivy League the young people whom our Wall Street division once subjugated with ease are becoming troublesome. Our good friends at Goldman Sachs, to cite one example, have been forced to cancel their recruiting trips to Harvard and Brown. At Princeton, 30 students masquerading as job applicants entered a pair of Wall Street informational sessions, asked many obnoxious questions (“How do I get a job lobbying the U.S. government to protect Wall Street interests?”), rose and chanted a list of charges at bankers from JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, and, finally, posted videos of their outrageous behavior on YouTube.
...
Happily, many Princeton students, hiding behind aliases, have already taken up this cry on campus websites. Encourage those who still want to work for big Wall Street banks to blog and post our new defense. Don’t offer jobs to these students who agree to help, however. They are better suited to being Wall Street customers than Wall Street bankers.
No. 3. Focus on what actually angers these angry young people, rather than what they say angers them. The character of Princeton students didn’t change overnight; what changed is their circumstances. They think they are pissed off at us because of what we did. They are actually pissed off at us because we can no longer afford to hire them all. To that end ...
No. 4. Engage, quietly, with the ringleaders. Of course, all variations of the Occupy movement claim to be leaderless. We on the committee aren’t buying this. With the possible exception of Bank of America, there is no such thing as a leaderless organization, only organizations in which the leaders operate in the shadows.

[Pretorian]

I only give around $2500 a year to charities. A pittance by Cid's standards but far more I suspect then the the progressives that haunt this board wanting to get into my wallet.

I am shocked. Cog?! $ 2500 per year? What kind of charities are those? is it something your preacher is cowing about all the time? Also, mind me asking if you are tithing?

[Cog]

You do err not knowing the Scripture.

I find no reference to tithing in the New Testament. Rather, an individual is directed to give out of a sense of charity and not of compulsion.

2 Corinthians 9:7

Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

[bratticus]

In German the word for "possession" (as in "daemon possession") is "besetzungen".

"besetzungen" is commonly translated as "occupation".

[Keith_McClary]

Rising Share of Americans See Conflict Between Rich and Poor

The Occupy Wall Street movement no longer occupies Wall Street, but the issue of class conflict has captured a growing share of the national consciousness. A new Pew Research Center survey of 2,048 adults finds that about two-thirds of the public (66%) believes there are “very strong” or “strong” conflicts between the rich and the poor—an increase of 19 percentage points since 2009.

Not only have perceptions of class conflict grown more prevalent; so, too, has the belief that these disputes are intense. According to the new survey, three-in-ten Americans (30%) say there are “very strong conflicts” between poor people and rich people. That is double the proportion that offered a similar view in July 2009 and the largest share expressing this opinion since the question was first asked in 1987.

As a result, in the public’s evaluations of divisions within American society, conflicts between rich and poor now rank ahead of three other potential sources of group tension—between immigrants and the native born; between blacks and whites; and between young and old. Back in 2009, more survey respondents said there were strong conflicts between immigrants and the native born than said the same about the rich and the poor.