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Fake trees?! Nothin' like the real thing, regardless of whatever fake remedies frankenscience might conjure up. Nope... I'll take "real" any day, thank you Matt! - AIW
According to ChicagoMatt, the Affordable Care Act is antithetical to "liberalness" (or "freedom", in that context?!) as defined by the Oxford Dictionary. Really! Not for me and my husband it ain't, no sir. Thanks to the ACA, we're on medicaid now! Before we had nothing, and could afford nothing. Now healthcare is within our reach. We're signed up at this cool clinic in North Bend, with a nurse practitioner we really like. We're much better off now, no doubt; and what a huge relief! Sorry if you don't like it. (Not...) - AIW
Matt says "Re-reading through the comments on here just reminded me of that. I see a lot of talk about taking down the rich, but not much about bringing up the poor. Is it really about helping some people, or punishing others?"
What a load of crap.
Saving the commons (including public education) is about giving folks a ladder; we've sure talked a lot about that. Universal single-payer healthcare would help lift a lotta boats while keeping the rest afloat, and we've talked at length about that too. Card check would have given workers a voice at the table, which we discussed at some point. We've talked about ending drug prohibition, letting all those nonviolent, victimless drug "offenders" out of jail. We've talked about saving the internet from corporate monopoly and sabotage. We've talked about tax-funded education pre-K thru PhD, about student loan bailouts, about raising the minimum wage; even about a guaranteed minimum income for every American citizen, regardless of employment status!
These are but a few of the many topics we've covered in this forum, all of which concern the wellbeing of millions of working class and poor Americans. What the hell more do ya want?! - AIW
Chi Matt -- Are you measuring the employer/employee (E/E) balance by your own anecdotal evidence? I think the best view of the (E/E) balance is the comparison of the unemployment rate vs the inflation rate. The historical evidence is that when each are in the neighborhood of 4% our economy does well. Economic inequality is low enough to stop social unrest and large enough to make the marketplace system work optimally. One way to know it is optimal is that everyone bitches and moans. As the main note, too much economic inequality has been shown to be the driver of most social ills. You should go to this link (a TED talk) to see the empirical evidence.
http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_wilkinson
This may help anyone who is loosing sleep over global warming feel a little more optimistic about humanity's chances:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/4290084
There are five proposals on that page for geo-engingeering the environment back to pre-industrial temperatures. My personal favorite is the last one - giant fake trees to get carbon back out of the air.
I totally understand what you're saying.
It's been my experience that young people in particular need moral guidance, that "right" and "wrong" are not with us from birth. I've witnessed young people do very immoral things, because they honestly did not realize it was wrong. Of course, I work with young people, so it's only natural I would encounter this in them more than I would in adults.
I converted to Catholicism as an adult, and have never gone to Confession. We do offer it once a year to our students, but it is optional - some choose to sit it out. I've been in dozens of churches around here, and always the confessionals are just used for storage now.
Before I had a personal experience that solidified my faith, I looked at it like this:
There are three possible options:
1. I've picked the correct religion, and exactly what I expect will happen after I die happens. I am reunited with all of my friends and relatives who have gone before me. Good times.
2. I've picked the wrong religion, and it won't be what I expect after I die. In that case, all of my loved ones who preceeded me in death, and billions of other people, will be in the same boat.
3. There is nothing after death, and since I will no longer exist, I won't care that I was wrong in life.
But, like you, I think I'd live the same kind of life with or without the religious aspect of it. If it were somehow proven tomorrow that there was no God, I can't think of anything I'd do differently. I'd even go to church still, just to be with my friends.
That seems antithetical to things like the ACA, forced-union states, anti-gun laws, etc... Those all seem to take away freedoms, not respect them.
Maybe that's why labels don't really work.
Thom usually defines a liberal as someone who gives willingly and happily of their money and time.
That could also be a result of an almost totally interchangable low-skill work force. Don't like something about the job? Leave it. Don't like your pay? Why did you take the job in the first place then? You knew the pay before they hired you. There's a line of people ready to take your spot if you want to leave.
I think there are way more people who are just happy to have a job than there are people who are so fed up with their working conditions that they are ready, willing, and able to protest/unionize/fight for better treatment, etc. Especially if you're living paycheck-to-paycheck, is it worth "rocking the boat"?
I'm not sure if I follow your argument Marc. Jesus spends a lot of time talking about taking care of the sick/needy/widows, etc... I'm sure you're familiar with the "corporal and spiritual works of mercy" of the Catholic church. I'm just guessing that's the basis for both Catholic-run hospitals and universities.
At any rate, the state did it, and the only people who suffered were the children who got pushed into the public system.
There's a saying I've heard before, but I can't remember where. You've all probably heard it before to. It goes:
"If you see someone riding in a limo, and you say to yourself, 'what can I do to get myself into one of those,' then you're a Republican. If you say to yourself, 'what can I do to get that person out of that limo', then you are a Democrat.
Re-reading through the comments on here just reminded me of that. I see a lot of talk about taking down the rich, but not much about bringing up the poor. Is it really about helping some people, or punishing others?
Assuming you could take a billion dollars from someone who had it, which you can't because they don't actually have that money, just that worth, which is different. But assuming they actually had one billion dollar bills, and you took it all from them, you could give every American about $3 a piece. They could buy a McChicken, small fry, and sweet tea with that. I suppose that's something, right?
I think the Tea Party has seen it's better days. Grabbing a patriotic name like that will get you some attention for a while untill people realize that you're full of it. They're good at name dropping. They will come back as something else. All polished and shiny, but still shallow.
"Despite the fact that the Pentagon's own report warned that extreme weather and rising temperatures bring “conditions that can enable terrorist activity and other forms of violence,” - the DOD won't be able to do anything to address those threats."
This meets my definition of treason.
Willie, the Republicans are a crazy bunch of psychopaths, along with that so-called "Tea Party". Today's Republicans have no regard for anything or anybody and they are dangerous. We need to remove them from office before they do more harm than they already have!
What we now know as the "Tea Party" is actually an insult to the original Tea Party, whose legitimacy, let alone their intent, were polar opposite to the Koch brothers' astro-turf creation known as todays "Tea Party", all about corporate tyranny!! The tea-dumping antics of the originals were in direct defiance to corporate power, and prefaced the American Revolution! They must be rolling in their graves, the poor souls... - AIW
Marc, I hear you make the same assertions over and over about labels, how you hate labels, what dumb ditto heads those who use them are, how they can't think for themselves and blah-blah-blah. But aren't "neoliberal", "neocon" and "oligarch" all labels?
So here's the point, my friend. Labels have their place. Like anything, they can be overused and misused. But from my perspective, labels are simply a communication tool, long as they're not overdone or of malicious intent.
I happen to despise the "neoliberal" label, myselfl; have never been quite sure what it meant, altho it has such a negative ring to it. However one thing I am sure of; iI don't like how people are using the word "liberal" these days. I prefer the Oxford Dictionary version, myself: (1) "open to new behavior or opinions and willing to discard traditional values: they have more liberal views toward marriage and divorce than some people"; (2) "favorable to or respectful of individual rights and freedoms: liberal citizenship laws"; " (in a political context) favoring maximum individual liberty in political and social reform: a liberal democratic state"... Hey, works for me! Sounds great. But somehow I doubt "neoliberal" means or refers to anything remotely related to any of that. - AIW
Not to worry about global warming. The Republicans have a few aces up their sleeves. They know they can save the day and shoot down climate change with a nuclear winter.... :)
MontanaMuleGal ~ I agree with almost everything you said except "neoliberal"? Granted labels just don't apply anymore and certainly 'conservatives' and 'liberals' just aren't what they used to be. However, how do you justify labeling the current Cabal as 'neoliberal'? To me, if anything, it is a fascist oligarchy--neocon in nature. Do you have the link to that Chris Hedges article?
Loren Bliss ~ Truer words were never spoken. Well said! I agree!
ChicagoMatt ~ I can't speak for Palindromedary; and he is the best person to address that question. However, for myself I keep my beliefs locked up inside. I don't need a public spectacle to convince me of my beliefs like so many other "believers" do.
That being said, I remember quite clearly the time in my life when I was an atheist. I really wasn't that much different. I still had the same ambitions, the same personal morals, the same sense of right versus wrong. If you know how to live you never need fear death. Personally I think the need to know what happens after death comes from the lack of knowing how to live. The lack of morals. The lack of a defined sense of right versus wrong. Certainly every religion claims to be the source of these ideals; and, for the most part, every member of these cults claim to be guided by the principles offered. I'm sure that to some degree they are; however, I'm also sure that we all come into the world with an innate sense of what is right and what is wrong.
My experience with church goers is not so much people guided by heavenly principles as much as people seeking to skirt those principles. For instance, the entire idea of 'confession' never rested well with me. As a child I found myself having to make things up when I was forced to go into 'confession'. It has always seemed to me that the entire ritual of 'confession' was set up just so that people could sin without a care in the world. To me, it is nothing more than a vehicle by which sin is not only permitted, but encouraged. What better way to get around our innate sense of what is right and what is wrong than the public spectacle of 'confession'. It is a shame that our economic system doesn't have a similar ritual for forgiving student loans.
No my friend, I can not say that I feel any different as a believer than I did as an atheist. Right is still right and wrong is still wrong. Perhaps the only difference to me is that now when I do something for myself, I am also doing it for God. I have always had a higher sense of myself. A super ego if you will. A greater good if you will. My invisible friend who follows me everywhere. The only difference concerning that aspect of myself between now and when I was an atheist is that now that higher aspect of myself has a name other than just my conscience.
As far as heaven is concerned I have never feared death. To me death is the ultimate inconvenience. It always has been. The one thing I would like when I die is for people to miss me. To remember me--fondly that is. No one really knows what happens after death. Surely you can 'say' "I know because I believe." However, that is nonsense. What you really should say is, "I hope I'm right." No one knows. That is a fact. Fixation on the afterlife is a distraction from this life. That is a fact. What I've always done is concentrated and fixated on the now. The now is all there really is. What is history is gone. The future may never happen. You can plan for it; but, you cannot live in it. All you can do is put all your energy in the now and let the rest take care of itself. Like Jesus said, the kingdom of heaven is already poured out everywhere around you. If you're looking for it, you've already missed it.
Although Shinseki was the captain of the ship when it went down, this ship has been leaking for a long time. Many veterans are quite happy with the treatment they have received from the Veterans' Administration. In that sense, the VA is working well. The biggest challenge with healthcare at the VA is the lack of doctors and other medical staff to handle the overwhelming workload. Medical schools are not supplying the number of General Practitioners required for the system to work smoothly. Med school students have taken on so much debt in student loans that they can no longer afford to hang shingles as General Practitioners. They must specialize to do well in medicine. The VA cannot make appointments for veterans with Primary Care Physicians (GPs) because there are not enough of them. It is the GPs who diagnose health conditions and refer their patients to specialists for further care. If there is a reason for Shinseki to resign, it is the bonus system in play at the Veterans' Administration.
"Politically fair", the Democrats get it right maybe ten or twenty percent of the time. The Republicans? Never. So much for "both sides"! Have a lovely weekend. - AIW
You know I read these articles from time to time and really very unfair. It is not only the republicans its also the dems. Just look at Harry Reid... He sickens me. You speak about Policy currently we have had time after time failed policy with this administration, scandle after scandles that hurt the American people, Lies, deciet and and 4 dead Americans in Bengazi and still responsible party. Everything is a lies.. Remember these words 6 years ago. We will be the most transparent administration. Haha... There is not a smigen of corruption in the IRS Ha Ha... OMG thes list goes on and on and one. Our ecomony is a mess embarassing growth report the other day of 0.1 percent that is not a recovery. So lets face it the Dems should not be alway protected too. They also have made a mess of this Country. Try to be fair is all I am asking. NO MORE BLAME GAME Geez when will the Repulicans and Democrats take responsiblity for their actions, their words and stop playing such childlish games. Consider thinking out of the box... look at both sides. Now that would be refreshing.
It will not fix the problem. They need to increase more services and more hospitals so that they can handle the to wars that bush started and didn't pay for.
I really can't piece together the logic of the final paragraph. The military itself is irrelevant beyond working to protect America's unquenchable thirst for oil. The US is far more likely to end as a result of social/economic collapse during our lifetimes. Current military spending is unsustainable. The military knows it, and the government knows it. The collapse of the middle class will, at least, dramatically reduce this country's consumption of fossil fuels and zeal for war. We've remained engaged in wars almost constantly for the past century, since WWl, usually by choice. Corporations have expanded internationally, establishing headquarters outside of the US, in such a way to ensure their continued survival when the US collapses. As we phased out manufacturing (working class jobs) and are phasing out the middle class, oil consumption -- and therefore America's contribution to global warming -- continues shrinking.
Palindromedary ~ Oh, how I know how that goes. Take your time my friend. No rush. Personally, I'm going through similar times myself. The best of luck. See you on the other side; and, hopefully, a happier side! DAM