llibja posted:

Not sure why I keep doing this to myself, but I am arguing with idiots yet again on Facebook:

Speechless.

llibja posted:

Speechless.

llibja posted:

Not sure why I keep doing this to myself, but I am arguing with idiots yet again on Facebook:



Speechless.

tek79 posted:

Your buddy Jay's responses alone are a summation of why humanity is destined to fail.

Choadmaster posted:

Yeah, his grasp of evolution is pretty weak too. It doesn't require a benefit to the species and it definitely doesn't require a benefit to the individual; it merely matters that the mutation improves its own chances of reproducing.

Choadmaster posted:

Yeah, his grasp of evolution is pretty weak too. It doesn't require a benefit to the species and it definitely doesn't require a benefit to the individual; it merely matters that the mutation improves its own chances of reproducing.

Cjones posted:

I thought everybody knew Darwin's theory stated that while evolution are simply (in layman's terms) genetic mutations, only the animals of the species that have advantageous mutations survive in the long run. You know, the fittest.

Beowulfs_Ghost posted:

Also, doctors have their own system for choosing who is next in line. If I go into the ER with a broken toe, I could sit there all day if a stream of "chest pain" suffers and car accident victims keep jumping in in front of me. Not to long ago, my wife got her dentist appointment canceled, while she was there, because some one came in with a problem bigger then her filling. A month before that, I had to wait an extra half hour for my appointment at the same dentist because some guy without insurance needed an x-ray. He had no insurance and no cash, and sitting their I could only think to myself that I was pretty much paying for his free $100 x-ray through what they charge my insurance.


The wait time issue is a canard. In the US, only the fabulously wealthy get immediate treatment for any problem. Basketball stars can get knee surgery when ever they want. Truck drivers and dock workers can wait months if their knee surgery is covered at all.

Cjones posted:

I thought everybody knew Darwin's theory stated that while evolution are simply (in layman's terms) genetic mutations, only the animals of the species that have advantageous mutations survive in the long run. You know, the fittest.

quote:

H. R. 4646
I have gone into THOMAS (Library of Congress) and printed out and read all 15 pages of this bill which has been given the "Short Title" of "Debt Free America Act." It is the most socialistic thing I have ever read. Just think, if you deposit $5,000.00 into your checking account or savings account the bank has to take out 1% or $50.00 of that money and send it to Washington . Then, any checks or cash you take out of your bank they will deduct 1% from what is still in the bank and send it to Washington . Total put in the Bank $5,000.00. $100.00 of that you give to Washington .
This bill, spells it out that everyone will pay the Government 1% of their gross income.
Page 9 states the House and Senate shall convene not later than November 23, 2010 and Page 11 states the vote on passage shall occur not later than December 23, 2010.

If you don't know who your Congressman or Senator is, go to Google, type in "(your state) Congressman email address". When it comes up, click on "Complete E-mail address for Congress/House, Senate, Governors and get both e-mail and FAX info.

The bill is HR-4646 introduced by US Rep Peter DeFazio D- Oregon and US Senator Tom Harkin D-Iowa. It is now in committee and will probably not be brought out until after the Nov. elections. Suggest that you pass this along and also to your US Congressman and Senators.

One percent transaction tax is proposed
President Obama's finance team is recommending a transaction tax. His plan is to sneak it in after the November election to keep it under the radar. This is a 1% tax on all transactions at any financial institution i. e. Banks, Credit Unions, etc.. Any deposit you make, or move around within your account, i. e. transfer to, will have a 1% tax charged. If your pay check or your social Security or whatever is direct deposit, 1% tax charged. If you hand carry a check in to deposit, 1% tax charged, If you take cash in to deposit, 1% tax charged. This is from the man who promised that if you make under $250,000 per year, you will not see one penny of new tax. Keep your eyes and ears open, you will be amazed at what you learn.

Some will say, 'aww, it's just 1% ' ... remember - once the tax is there, they can raise it at will.

http://www.standard.net/node/44797

IMHO...

HR4646 is just one of many tax proposals targeted for the "Lame Duck" session right after the November election. Unfortunately that congressional session is a very dangerous time, with reps who lost the election having one last chance to do whatever they want before leaving office, and newly (re-) elected reps having two years for the public to forget and be distracted about whatever they did. Adding to the danger this year is the pending expiration of the Bush tax cuts, for which total inaction will mean a tax increase for nearly everyone. Furthermore, the report of Obama's Deficit Reduction Committee will be released, which will also be an impetus to bring all these bills forward.

Concerning transaction taxes alone, proposals have ranged from .025% (targeting primarily high frequency traders) to HR4646's 1%. Notable about HR4646 (and left out of the email below) is that the amount paid in transaction taxes would be creditable against income tax owed - meaning that unless you do a lot of transactions it is unlikely that the tax as proposed would result in a net increase in your total federal tax liability, BUT if the income tax goes up as well (see below) your total taxes could go up in a stealth manner. History also says that both the percentage of tax and the allowable credit are likely to be "adjusted" in the future, and as all new taxes this one definitely warrants opposition.

The even more worrisome tax proposal to be aware of in the lame duck session is a Value Added Tax (VAT tax). This would be a kind of national sales tax with a nominal range of 5% - 20%. The left wingers are salivating all over this potential revenue source, as they have it in Europe and elsewhere and present it as just bringing America in line with the rest of the world. A VAT tax is onerous, difficult to calculate, and inflationary but otherwise mostly invisible to the average person on the street because merchants would be required to simply roll it into the sales price of whatever they are selling. I am far more concerned about the possibility of a VAT tax than a transaction tax.

All of these proposals are couched as offsetting a reduction, simplification, or elimination of the income tax. I'm all for eliminating the income tax, or short of that at least simplifying and reducing it. However, again looking at history if we allow a new tax without repealing the old tax AT THE SAME TIME IN THE SAME BILL, what we will end up with is both the new tax and the old tax. And often what they have in mind is to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire, thus increasing income taxes at the same time they introduce the new tax and make it creditable against the income tax - so it looks like you're paying the same or less income tax but you're also paying this new tax as well. But they get to claim the new tax does not result in additional total liability, because it is fully creditable against the income tax.
Very slimy (what else would you expect?)

Also bear in mind that the bill that passes will be far more dangerous than any of the bills currently out there you or I could look at, because it's almost certain that none of the bills in their current form will pass. Instead, like Obama Care, lame duck tax reform is likely to be an enormous bill running hundreds of pages, introduced mere hours before it is voted in based on secret back room deals, about which we find the details weeks, months, or years later.

REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER

Blarghalt posted:

We Americans have some of the lowest tax rates in the world, but drat me if we don't bitch about them more than anyone.

Ruckby posted:

Never mind the fact that HR 4646 would end the federal income tax and is only backed by a single congressman. It's Obama I tell you!

crime fighting hog posted:

Ahahaha, really?

Brennanite posted:

llibja posted:

Not sure why I keep doing this to myself, but I am arguing with idiots yet again on Facebook:



Speechless.

Habibi posted:

I like this approach. Ask your FB associates why, if it's a disadvantageous mutation, does it seem that there are more and more homosexual people around every day. According to him, the only way this could be the case is if they (gays) all turned out to be fitter and better equipped to reproduce than he and his straight buddies.

Ruckby posted:

Never mind the fact that HR 4646 would end the federal income tax and is only backed by a single congressman. It's Obama I tell you!

Thenipwax posted:

I never seem to run across any "republicans are bad, here are a bunch of lies about them" emails. Are these forwards strictly a republican ploy?

Thenipwax posted:

I never seem to run across any "republicans are bad, here are a bunch of lies about them" emails. Are these forwards strictly a republican ploy?

crime fighting hog posted:

The closest you ever really get to that is emails denouncing government completely.

ThePeteEffect posted:

Or some mealy-mouthed complaining that "both parties are at fault" or "I'm not biased, I don't trust Republicans either."

Thenipwax posted:

I never seem to run across any "republicans are bad, here are a bunch of lies about them" emails. Are these forwards strictly a republican ploy?

Cjones posted:

My parents want to retire somewhere in Brazil (or South America) or Scotland. My mom is still a little iffy because, as she told me "Three words: National Health System"

I would be allowed to move with them to loving fantasy country deluxe but my mom is trying to find Free Enterprise, Latin America. Jesus lady

Elias_Maluco posted:

You better warn you mother that Brazil´s next president very likely will be a MARXIST TERRORIST:
http://www.savethemales.ca/bulgarian_marxist_terrorist_ti.html

Just saw this gem posted on twitter by stupid brazilian right-wing crazies. The site is full of equally shocking revelations like "Freud was a Sabbatean who sold his perverted satanist beliefs to the world".

quote:

Chief Justice Rehnquist: In a dissent on a 1985 ruling against school prayer, “There is simply no historical foundation for the proposition that the framers intended to build the ‘wall of separation’ that was constitutionalized in Everson….” He termed Jefferson’s “wall”, “a metaphor based on bad history, a metaphor which has proved useless as a guide to judging.”

Choadmaster posted:

How's that fit in here? My opinion: Assuming the "gay gene" (it's undoubtedly actually some complex interaction between a bunch of genes) exists, it obviously doesn't manifest in everyone - gay people have straight kids and vice versa. There may be various things that trigger it (hormones in the womb or whatever). Having a "gay uncle" or two in the family (or tribe) who doesn't have his own children to support might become a beneficial extra resource to support the group - a group that will carry and reproduce that "gay gene."

There's no telling if that is how or why homosexuality came about, but in any case what it comes down to is something isn't automatically evolutionarily "bad" simply because it doesn't directly result in reproduction. Though like llibja said, why's it matter anyway?

Play posted:

Actually, scientists have found a gene that most gay men have. The reason it has continued to be passed down through the generations is because the female close relatives (sisters, daughters, etc.) tend to have more children than average females due to hormonal differences caused by the genes. If Jay or Pamela knew jack poo poo about what they were talking about, they might have known this. You should find that study and cite it for them on FB.

quote:

Basically, there is an overwhelming amount of scientific evidence that homosexuality is not a choice and anyone who believes it is, is retarded.

quote:

Only hope we find GOD again before it is too late ! !


The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees... I don't feel threatened.. I don't feel discriminated against.. That's what they are, Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu ... If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Hurricane Katrina).. Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response.. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'

In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc.. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about.. And we said okay..

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit.
If not, then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.
My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,

Ben S

quote:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees... I don't feel threatened.. I don't feel discriminated against.. That's what they are, Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu.. If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

quote:

I am a Christian, and every single one of my ancestors was Christian. It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Happy Holidays' to me. I don't think they are slighting me. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is no manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu..

I think the idea of saying "Happy Holidays" as opposed to "Merry Christmas" has nothing to do with "slighting" Christians, Jews, or anyone. I think, it's moreso to show that we are all "brothers and sisters celebrating a happy time of year." In fact, it's not about oppressing any one kind of religion but having respect for all religions and just being a polite person.

quote:

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him?

quote:

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

quote:

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Hurricane Katrina).. Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response.. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'

quote:

In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc.. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about.. And we said okay..

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

quote:

Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.

quote:

Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.

quote:

Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Factum est posted:

Why is it that email forwards are always "I'm different than you [but still white], but I totally support you and you're right 100% and you should continue to force your xenophobic beliefs on the country because as the non-elected representative of [minority demographic] I totally agree (and because I sent this to you you can now point to this and say [minority demographic] are behind you)!"

XyloJW posted:

You know, I was just wondering about that. Does some Uncle Tom literally sit down and decide "I'm going to write a chain letter explaining how I'm a Muslim, and I support Muslims being tagged with computer chips so that white people can be safe from terrorists." or does someone at a conservative think-tank (they're white) literally sit down and type out a stream-of-consciousness lie?

I mean, we've all seen heaps and heaps of bullshit, trolls, and liars. But I have to think that for the person who actually does it, it's got to be like being the guy who hits the cow with the sledgehammer. [fake edit: I know that's not how they do it anymore.] It's got to crush your soul to be the one to do that, doesn't it?