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Oriental bullies pop out of the ally meaning to rob me and they said: "Your money, or your wife!"...so I gave them my wife. ;-}
Your money or your life!!! Can't have both, ya know... not here in America. We've got billionaires to subsidize, after all. - AIW
Holy cow, Elioflight, chemo drugs cost $12,000? And immune system booster shots $5,000 to $7,000? But then again, those are the numbers they put on the papers they let you have to make you so, so grateful that you had their insurance. The real numbers that the insurance company pays the medical people are most likely a lot less than those numbers. I wonder if they don't do this knowing that you will pass that bit of scare story along to make others be frightened into buying their insurance. But, even at a fraction of those amounts would be ridiculous rip offs. No wonder these top Medical/Pharma/Insurance CEOs are multi-multi millionaires or perhaps billionaires.
Palin- Oh, so you DID vote! I eat my words and extend my humblest apology. - AIW
Don't worry, AlW, I definitely intend to vote. However my votes with go for an alternative to the two party farce we have now...unless I find the particular Democrat is worthy of voting for. But like I have said before, even if Congress and the Presidency were 100% Democrats, the 1% will still get what it wants. That's the way it is rigged. The Republicans may be scared that they won't win but they are merely the ruling elite's pawns anyway...and so are many of the Democrats. I'm really tired of being played a sucker by a system that tells you how horrible it would be for a Republican majority...using fear tactics to get people to vote for the lessor of two evils. The Democrats, once in office will still be owned by the ruling elite. And they'll still play silly mind games giving contrived excuses why they could get something that we all hope for passed. It's a contest between two dogs ripping apart the carcass of a fox to the amusement of the dog's owners.
DAnnemarc: I remember something from studying real estate many, many years ago. I don't remember what it was called back then but I found something called "easements claimed by prescription". Back when I studied real estate laws, there was an example given of an uncontested (by the owner) crossing (by non-owners) of the owner's property. It went on for years and the owner never tried to stop them or put up barriers in the early years to prevent them from crossing. He eventually, many years later, decided to put up barriers and the people who were used to crossing the property actually successfully sued the owner preventing him from preventing other people from crossing the property.
You are right, this does belong in a court battle. But what then? If the court decides in favor of the government, will we be back to square one where the armed citizens show up to block the government form enforcing anything?
Kend, many of the largest, most profitable corporations in the U.S. pay no federal taxes at all. So they do not 'pay dearly' for their use of the commons. Walmart even bases its corporate strategy on its employees' access to food stamps and other federal supports for the poor. Do you think that is within your conception of corporate rights regarding adequate pay? Next, you ask whether the U.S. is still a free country. I guess if we recognize a virtually unlimited reign of corporate power, one could say that that inevitably restricts the freedom of the less powerful. Then maybe we're not so free anymore.
Well, chuckle8, I guess you are going to have to search the blogs because I have never, ever said that I have stayed home and not voted. I have always voted. I just didn't vote for Obama the last time. I voted for Jill Stein of the Green Party. The time before that, I voted for Obama. This next time I will probably vote for someone other than Democrat unless they have really suitable candidates. And will definitely not vote for Republicans. I will likely vote mostly Green and Democrats. What I was trying to say in all of those other posts was that it is pretty much an exercise in futility when the people you vote for turn out to be more like the people you really didn't want to win in the first place. But I'll keep voting just for shits and giggles but I really don't believe anything useful will come of it.
If the first thing illegals are told is that " this is a country of laws" than the second thing they should be told is that they are " breaking the law", hence the term illegal imigrants.
That'll teach them to defy our government GODS!!!!!
Kend:
I think you are under the illusion that just because a man has an idea and starts a business that he can do what ever he wants to become successful and rake in as much as possible at the expense of others. He can avoid paying taxes, He can disregard laws and regulations. He's "special" and deserves "special treatment." He can treat his workers however; he can pay his workers whatever, which seem countintuative since his workers, or someone else's workers, are most likely also his consumers, you know the people on whom he depends for profit and without them THERE IS NO PROFIT!
I can tell you that a CEO is no more a human than any other human. They are NO BETTER. They do not deserve the millions/billions they get. They are doing a job for which they receive a salary. They sure don't deserve millions when they fail at their job--the golden parachute--the rest of us get the boot and a good riddence.
I've been a business textbook editor for many years. I've edited books for Wharton and Fischer school's of business. I have read the crap that goes into the brains of today's business students--and it's not pretty; it's become standard for business here in the US.
The mentality is the "salesman mentality." Most CEOs were former salesmen, with no better educations from no better schools than the ones I attended and graduated from. (You can read their bios online or in annual corporate reports.) They want a salary, then they want an extra pat on the back and some fat for their wallet JUST FOR DOING THE JOB THEY WERE PAID FOR.
I worked at publishing houses where the rest of the staff worked demanding and long hours for very little pay and appreciation, but the sales team were payed a salary plus commision. Paid extra TO DO THEIR JOB. The most strenuous work I saw from the sales staff was feet on the desk reading the sports page followed by a 3 hour lunch. Then harrass the "working people" all afternoon for a project that wasn't due for a week.
Yes, CEOs are special all right--special mean, cruel, greedy, lazy, thoughtless,...
Stop defending them. They don't need your sympathy because they are "special" and you are NOT. How's that working for you? Any billionaires jumped out of the bushes to reward you?
Palindromedary ~ 150 years of precedent is only as good as the law allows. Granted 150 years ago there were different laws on the books. For instance, in order to better steal the land from the Native Americans the feds enacted one law I am familiar with whereas if you developed a land you had claim to it. If this was the case it was the responsibility of the ancestors of this family to secure that land and pass it down.
This is really common sense. Are you going to move into a house and start to invest in developing it without a legal title? Certainly not. That makes no sense whatsoever. There has to be some outstanding legal claim these people have to this land. I don't know if there is, or if the media is stifling it. Nevertheless it seems very nefarious to me that the legal topic isn't even being covered or addressed by either party. This entire story makes the same sense that if a homeless person who had been living under a bridge for several years suddenly thought he owned the bridge. The world doesn't work that way.
This battle belongs in a courtroom and not on a battlefield. These Ranchers--without a legal argument to the use of this land--have lost. Period. Anything done through violence apart from the legal issue is nonsense. Even a victory would only be short lived; and, that is highly unlikely. If you ask me, this entire charade is intended to discredit protesters in general--to open the door for the use of massive deadly force in any demonstration--and really has nothing to do with land rights, gun ownership, or any of the principles of the Bill of Rights.
Great comments yourself, AIW! Nice to make your acquaintance.
Alice and Palin:
I found the avatar on Pintrest. I saw that someone else had used it.
I hope neither you nor your loved ones have to go through that ordeal. I'm going to be okay, but I worry. It's always in the back of my mind. I've made a lot of dietary changes and have learned to deal better with stress. The side effects from the cancer drugs aren't too bad, but they aren't great either--not how I expected to spend my, now, middle-age years.
Each bag of chemo drug was $12,000 and the shot to boost my immune system the day after chemo was $7500 or $5000, I think. Thank goodness we had GREAT insurance. That's what should happen when you pay into the insurance system for 35 years and hardly use it. You pay for someone else when they needed it and they pay for you when you need it.
Still pissed off about cancer and fighting so others don't have to suffer.
chuckle8 ~ National Debt good... I get that theory. In the short run it is absolutely true. Our deficit floats our boat. However, if you consult any reputable economist--and I am referring to Dr. Ravi Batra in this case--this is only a temporary solution to a far bigger problem--lack of manufacturing. You are simply sticking your finger in the dike. If you intend to produce, eventually, running a deficit and debt might work. However, if you want to sustain this approach indefinitely you are only postponing an inevitable catastrophe. You simply cannot have your cake and eat it too; and, you cannot make something out of nothing. In time, the floated boat will sink just like the Titanic did.
Never say forever (Sir!)
[an A3 Skywarrior was painted black, fired a Raytheon Thiokol-fueled bunkerbuster missile at that wall of the pentagon, creating the 16' entrance wound, and then exploded against the newly reinforced wall & blast-proof windows. A photograph exists of several paunchy white-shirted men (with ties, no coats) carrying an object about the size of an end-wing segment (wrapped in blue tarps) of the fold-up wing of the 76' wingspan A3 Skywarrior, carrying it away from the scene. Raytheon was using a small fleet of the A3s for testing new missile systems. They also had developed a remote control system for the A3. As you might imagine. ]
Just sayin'
Alright. I just filled myself in on this story and here is my opinion. The Ranchers are nuts. They have been using public lands for free for three decades and have refused to pay any taxes or follow any federal regulations regarding the use of this land. If any Corporation ever did this you guys would be screaming bloody murder. Furthermore, they have no business continuing to violate the law. They need to invest in a good lawyer and not guns. As much as a legitimate confrontation with the feds would interest me, if this turns into a massacre I simply have to say, "Oh, Well!"
Although my heart goes out to any underdog there is a certain sphere of reality that it takes to get my sympathy. For instance, the story about my hero, Mayor John L. Davie was quite similar to this. He too organized a small army that battled and defeated both the city government and the railroad. However, you have to remember, he never did anything that wasn't perfectly legal and within his rights. He was after all--amongst many, many, many other things--a trained lawyer. When he confronted the city and the railroad with a mob of armed citizens he knew that he had legal rights to his land according to current law. When he sunk the railroad ferry and destroyed the Oakland-Alameda bridges he conferred first with the best maritime lawyer he could find and knew that it was within his legal rights to do so.
I have no idea what is going through the mind of these reich wing extremist; however, the story seems like they are so blatantly wrong that I wouldn't be surprised if some Corporate puppet masters are putting them up to this for some nefarious political reason. I have yet to figure out what that might be.
Daily News: Federal Rangers Clash With Protesters in Dispute Over Public Land
Kend says "It's none of my business what a company pays its CEOs unless I have shares in it." Sorry Kend; wrong again. The hell it's not our business, when it's helping to wreck our economy while shoving more and more of us into the poor house. All the opportunity in the world, for what?! To work your butt off for ten cents a day?!!
Companies pay "dearly" for the use of those commons, you say. Really? Awhile back, Palindromedary posted a long list of corporations that pay zero taxes; some while receiving $$ from the IRS! As always, you don't know what you're talking about. If you're going to make such a claim, pal, you'd better be prepared to prove it.
Most corporations pay "very well"? By what measure? Ever heard of unpaid apprenticeships? That's a new trend here in the Land of Opportunity: working for nothing. Try living on that.
You are so out of touch, Kend, I feel sorry for you. - Aliceinwonderland
"Worldchangeguy"- Beautiful analogy. Thank you. In all my months of participation here, I've not read a lovelier post. - AIW
"Shouldn't a private company be able to pay its employees anything it wants?" says Kend. Sure! How about ten cents a day? That'll fix our economy. Two weeks' pay to buy a loaf of bread! Brilliant. Step aside, Ravi Batra... - AIW
AIW -- Thanks for the tip and I agree. I just need to find the energy to dig through the blog for a fitting quote.
By a free country, I assume you mean the 1% are still free to rape and pillage the 47%. Money was created for only one reason, and that reason was to collect taxes to pay for the commons. It is very much my business how much a company pays a CEO.
Palin, I'm with you on your assessment of our current president. But let me remind you, Thom Hartmann and the esteemed Bernie Sanders are both strong advocates for Move To Amend and campaign finance reform. What's good enough for them is good enough for me! The end of the Obama Administration can't come soon enough, especially if we manage to replace them with something better.
If our votes had no impact, the fascists wouldn't be so scared of them as to go to such lengths to suppress them. And if these efforts don't inspire more of us to get off our butts and participate, in the midterms as well as presidential races, we'll be in even deeper do-do. So please don't play hooky in the midterms come November, or I will personally hunt you down and kick your ass. - Aliceinwonderland
I second that, Chuck.
Palin -- I couldn't stand making the 1% even richer. The gun manufacturers must love you.