Got a crazy forwarded political email from your family? Post them here.

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pillsburysoldier: Feb 11, 2008; Yo, peep that shit

I really don't see how someone could miss the point any more

# ? Nov 2, 2011 23:07

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# ? May 11, 2024 14:14

spankmeister: Jun 15, 2008

Sarion posted:

It has nothing to do with the stock market. And it was a problem even when the stock market was at 14000. (And wouldn't a real investment banker say "Dow Jones or DJI" instead of just the generic "stock market"?) The problem started around the 80's, its just taken until now for the pot to boil over.

Reagan did it.

# ? Nov 2, 2011 23:21

Kosmonaut: Mar 9, 2009

pillsburysoldier posted:

I really don't see how someone could miss the point any more

Oh hey, I saw that one on Facebook today. It got pretty soundly trashed actually.

quote:

Uh that kind of makes him part of the 99%

quote:

Hmm. I wonder how he feels about all the patriotic veterans who are proudly marching "with" the protesters instead of standing up for the corporate interests that sent him overseas in the first place.

quote:

I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested. -Major General Smedley Butler-

quote:

Yeah people are acting like this is some kind of movement to increase middle class taxes or implement socialism or something like that when in reality people are just trying to call attention to how the growing gap between the wealthiest 1% of Americans and everyone else is having severely bad effects on the economy

quote:

You know the best part of posting this? . . The reactions

# ? Nov 2, 2011 23:30

pillsburysoldier: Feb 11, 2008; Yo, peep that shit

Kosmonaut posted:

Oh hey, I saw that one on Facebook today. It got pretty soundly trashed actually.

The only responses I've seen were "wow it really puts into perspective how easy we have it and shouldn't complain."

# ? Nov 2, 2011 23:41

The Macaroni: Dec 20, 2002; ...it does nothing.

Ugh, saw this article on homosexuality on a cousin's FB status:

quote:

How Might Homosexuality Develop? (Part 1)
How do genes, environment, and other influences contribute to homosexuality?

by Jeffrey Satinover, M.D.
Excerpted from "The Complex Interaction of Genes and Environment: A Model for Homosexuality" by Jeffrey Satinover,M.D.

It may be difficult to grasp how genes, environment, and other influences interrelate to one another, how a certain factor may "influence" an outcome but not cause it, and how faith enters in. The scenario below is condensed and hypothetical, but is drawn from the lives of actual people, illustrating how many different factors influence behavior.

Note that the following is just one of the many developmental pathways that can lead to homosexuality, but a common one. In reality, every person's "road" to sexual expression is individual, however many common lengths it may share with those of others.

1. Our scenario starts with birth. The boy (for example) who one day may go on to struggle with homosexuality is born with certain features that are somewhat more common among homosexuals than in the population at large. Some of these traits might be inherited (genetic), while others might have been caused by the "intrauterine environment" (hormones). What this means is that a youngster without these traits will be somewhat less likely to become homosexual later than someone with them.

What are these traits? If we could identify them precisely, many of them would turn out to be gifts rather than "problems," for example a "sensitive" disposition, a strong creative drive, a keen aesthetic sense. Some of these, such as greater sensitivity, could be related to - or even the same as - physiological traits that also cause trouble, such as a greater-than-average anxiety response to any given stimulus.

No one knows with certainty just what these heritable characteristics are; at present we only have hints. Were we free to study homosexuality properly (uninfluenced by political agendas) we would certainly soon clarify these factors - just as we are doing in less contentious areas. In any case, there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that the behavior "homosexuality" is itself directly inherited.

2. From a very early age potentially heritable characteristics mark the boy as "different." He finds himself somewhat shy and uncomfortable with the typical "rough and tumble" of his peers. Perhaps he is more interested in art or in reading - simply because he's smart. But when he later thinks about his early life, he will find it difficult to separate out what in these early behavioral differences came from an inherited temperament and what from the next factor, namely:

3. That for whatever reason, he recalls a painful "mismatch" between what he needed and longed for and what his father offered him. Perhaps most people would agree that his father was distinctly distant and ineffective; maybe it was just that his own needs were unique enough that his father, a decent man, could never quite find the right way to relate to him. Or perhaps his father really disliked and rejected his son's sensitivity. In any event, the absence of a happy, warm, and intimate closeness with his father led to the boy's pulling away in disappointment, "defensively detaching" in order to protect himself.

But sadly, this pulling away from his father, and from the "masculine" role model he needed, also left him even less able to relate to his male peers. We may contrast this to the boy whose loving father dies, for instance, but who is less vulnerable to later homosexuality. This is because the commonplace dynamic in the pre-homosexual boy is not merely the absence of a father - literally or psychologically - but the psychological defense of the boy against his repeatedly disappointing father. In fact, a youngster who does not form this defense (perhaps because of early-enough therapy, or because there is another important male figure in his life, or due to temperament) is much less likely to become homosexual.

Complementary dynamics involving the boy's mother are also likely to have played an important role. Because people tend to marry partners with "interlocking neuroses," the boy probably found himself in a problematic relationship with both parents.

For all these reasons, when as an adult he looked back on his childhood, the now-homosexual man recalls, "From the beginning I was always different. I never got along well with the boys my age and felt more comfortable around girls." This accurate memory makes his later homosexuality feel convincingly to him as though it was "preprogrammed" from the start.

4. Although he has "defensively detached" from his father, the young boy still carries silently within him a terrible longing for the warmth, love, and encircling arms of the father he never did nor could have. Early on, he develops intense, nonsexual attachments to older boys he admires - but at a distance, repeating with them the same experience of longing and unavailability. When puberty sets in, sexual urges - which can attach themselves to any object, especially in males - rise to the surface and combine with his already intense need for masculine intimacy and warmth. He begins to develop homosexual crushes. Later he recalls, "My first sexual longings were directed not at girls but at boys. I was never interested in girls."

Psychotherapeutic intervention at this point and earlier can be successful in preventing the development of later homosexuality. Such intervention is aimed in part at helping the boy change his developing effeminate patterns (which derive from a "refusal" to identify with the rejected father), but more critically, it is aimed at teaching his father - if only he will learn - how to become appropriately involved with and related to his son.

5. As he matures (especially in our culture where early, extramarital sexual experiences are sanctioned and even encouraged), the youngster, now a teen, begins to experiment with homosexual activity. Or alternatively his needs for same-sex closeness may already have been taken advantage of by an older boy or man, who preyed upon him sexually when he was still a child. (Recall the studies that demonstrate the high incidence of sexual abuse in the childhood histories of homosexual men.) Or oppositely, he may avoid such activities out of fear and shame in spite of his attraction to them. In any event, his now-sexualized longings cannot merely be denied, however much he may struggle against them. It would be cruel for us at this point to imply that these longings are a simple matter of "choice."

Indeed, he remembers having spent agonizing months and years trying to deny their existence altogether or pushing them away, to no avail. One can easily imagine how justifiably angry he will later be when someone casually and thoughtlessly accuses him of "choosing" to be homosexual. When he seeks help, he hears one of two messages, and both terrify him; either, "Homosexuals are bad people and you are a bad person for choosing to be homosexual. There is no place for you here and God is going to see to it that you suffer for being so bad;" or "Homosexuality is inborn and unchangeable. You were born that way. Forget about your fairytale picture of getting married and having children and living in a little house with a white picket fence. God made you who you are and he/she destined you for the gay life. Learn to enjoy it."

6. At some point, he gives in to his deep longings for love and begins to have voluntary homosexual experiences. He finds - possibly to his horror - that these old, deep, painful longings are at least temporarily, and for the first time ever, assuaged.

Although he may also therefore feel intense conflict, he cannot help admit that the relief is immense. This temporary feeling of comfort is so profound - going well beyond the simple sexual pleasure that anyone feels in a less fraught situation - that the experience is powerfully reinforced. However much he may struggle, he finds himself powerfully driven to repeat the experience. And the more he does, the more it is reinforced and the more likely it is he will repeat it yet again, though often with a sense of diminishing returns.

7. He also discovers that, as for anyone, sexual orgasm is a powerful reliever of distress of all sorts. By engaging in homosexual activities he has already crossed one of the most critical and strongly enforced boundaries of sexual taboo. It is now easy for him to cross other taboo boundaries as well, especially the significantly less severe taboo pertaining to promiscuity. Soon homosexual activity becomes the central organizing factor in his life as he slowly acquires the habit of turning to it regularly � not just because of his original need for fatherly warmth of love, but to relieve anxiety of any sort.

8. In time, his life becomes even more distressing than for most. Some of this is, in fact, as activists claim, because all-too-often he experiences from others a cold lack of sympathy or even open hostility. The only people who seem really to accept him are other gays, and so he forms an even stronger bond with them as a �community.� But it is not true, as activists claim, that these are the only, or even the major stresses.

Much distress is caused simply by his way of life � for example, the medical consequences, AIDS being just one of many (if also the worst). He also lives with the guilt and shame that he inevitably feels over his compulsive, promiscuous behavior; and too over the knowledge that he cannot relate effectively to the opposite sex and is less likely to have a family (a psychological loss for which political campaigns for homosexual marriage, adoption, and inheritance rights can never adequately compensate).

However much activists try to normalize for him these patterns of behavior and the losses they cause, and however expedient it may be for political purposes to hide them from the public-at-large, unless he shuts down huge areas of his emotional life he simply cannot honestly look at himself in this situation and feel content.

And no one � not even a genuine, dyed-in-the-wool, sexually insecure �homophobe� � is nearly so hard on him as he is on himself. Furthermore, the self-condemning messages that he struggles with on a daily basis are in fact only reinforced by the bitter self-derogating wit of the very gay culture he has embraced. The activists around him keep saying that it is all caused by the �internalized homophobia� of the surrounding culture, but he knows that it is not.

The stresses of �being gay� lead to more, not less, homosexual behavior. This principle, perhaps surprising to the layman (at least to the layman who has not himself gotten caught up in some pattern, of whatever type) is typical of the compulsive or addictive cycle of self-destructive behavior; wracking guilt, shame, and self-condemnation only causes it to increase. It is not surprising that people therefore turn to denial to rid themselves of these feelings, and he does too. He tells himself, �It is not a problem. Therefore there is no reason for me to feel so bad about it.�

9. After wrestling with such guilt and shame for so many years, the boy, now an adult, comes to believe, quite understandably � and because of his denial, needs to believe � �I can�t change anyway because the condition is unchangeable.� If even for a moment he considers otherwise, immediately arises the painful query, �Then why haven�t I...?� and with it returns all the shame and guilt.

Thus, by the time the boy becomes a man, he has pieced together this point of view: �I was always different, always an outsider. I developed crushes on boys from as long as I can remember and the first time I fell in love it was with a boy, not a girl. I had no real interest in members of the opposite sex. Oh, I tried all right � desperately. But my sexual experiences with girls were nothing special. But the first time I had homosexual sex it just �felt right.� So it makes perfect sense to me that homosexuality is genetic. I�ve tried to change � God knows how long I struggled � and I just can�t. That�s because it�s not changeable. Finally, I stopped struggling and just accepted myself the way I am.�

10. Social attitudes toward homosexuality will play a role in making it more or less likely that the man will adopt an �inborn and unchangeable� perspective, and at what point in his development. It is obvious that a widely shared and propagated worldview that normalizes homosexuality will increase the likelihood of his adopting such beliefs, and at an earlier age. But it is perhaps less obvious � it follows from what we have discussed above � that ridicule, rejection, and harshly punitive condemnation of him as a person will be just as likely (if not more likely) to drive him into the same position.

11. If he maintains his desire for a traditional family life, the man may continue to struggle against his �second nature.� Depending on whom he meets, he may remain trapped between straight condemnation and gay activism, both in secular institutions and in religious ones. The most important message he needs to hear is that �healing is possible.�

12. If he enters the path to healing, he will find that the road is long and difficult � but extraordinarily fulfilling. The course to full restoration of heterosexuality typically lasts longer than the average American marriage � which should be understood as an index of how broken all relationships are today.

From the secular therapies he will come to understand what the true nature of his longings are, that they are not really about sex, and that he is not defined by his sexual appetites. In such a setting, he will very possibly learn how to turn aright to other men to gain from them a genuine, non-sexualized masculine comradeship and intimacy; and how to relate aright to woman, as friend, lover, life�s companion, and, God willing, mother of his children.

Of course the old wounds will not simply disappear, and later in times of great distress the old paths of escape will beckon. But the claim that this means he is therefore �really� a homosexual and unchanged is a lie. For as he lives a new life of ever-growing honesty, and cultivates genuine intimacy with the woman of his heart, the new patterns will grow ever stronger and the old ones engraved in the synapses of his brain ever weaker.

In time, knowing that they really have little to do with sex, he will even come to respect and put to good use what faint stirrings remain of the old urges. They will be for him a kind of storm-warning, a signal that something is out of order in his house, that some old pattern of longing and rejection and defense is being activated. And he will find that no sooner does he set his house in order that indeed the old urges once again abate. In his relations to others � as friend, husband, professional � he will now have a special gift. What was once a curse will have become a blessing, to himself and to others.

Copyright � NARTH. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission.

About the author
Jeffrey B. Satinover, M.D. has practiced psychoanalysis for more than nineteen years, and psychiatry for more than ten. He is a former Fellow in Psychiatry and Child Psychiatry at Yale University, a past president of the C.G. Jung Foundation, and a former William James Lecturer in Psychology and Religion at Harvard University. He holds degrees from MIT, the University of Texas, and Harvard University. He is the author of Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth (Baker Books, 1996).

So according to this article, nobody with a healthy attachment to both parents will "become" gay. Also, according to this article I am as gay as a tree full of hummingbirds, because I was not close to my father, was bookish, and did not relate to boys my own age. :doh:

But I'm most creeped out by this sentence: "Were we free to study homosexuality properly (uninfluenced by political agendas) we would certainly soon clarify these factors..." Holy poo poo.

# ? Nov 3, 2011 14:11

Z-Magic: Feb 19, 2011; They talk about the people and the proletariat, I talk about the suckers and the mugs - it's the same thing. They have their five-year plans, so have I.

The Macaroni posted:

Ugh, saw this article on homosexuality on a cousin's FB status:
So according to this article, nobody with a healthy attachment to both parents will "become" gay. Also, according to this article I am as gay as a tree full of hummingbirds, because I was not close to my father, was bookish, and did not relate to boys my own age.

But I'm most creeped out by this sentence: "Were we free to study homosexuality properly (uninfluenced by political agendas) we would certainly soon clarify these factors..." Holy poo poo.

Does he say why he thinks homosexuality is a problem, other that 'homosexuals aren't happy, I mean how could they be? They're homosexuals!'

# ? Nov 3, 2011 14:17

ContinuityNewTimes: Dec 30, 2010; Я выдуман напрочь

Z-Magic posted:

Does he say why he thinks homosexuality is a problem, other that 'homosexuals aren't happy, I mean how could they be? They're homosexuals!'

Buttholes are full of poop. QED.

# ? Nov 3, 2011 14:22

The Macaroni: Dec 20, 2002; ...it does nothing.

It's funny--this guys psychoanalytic theories are pure Freud, but in googling Freud's views on homosexuality, I found that he'd written this in a letter to a woman with a gay son (seeking a "cure"):

quote:

Homosexuality is assuredly no advantage, but it is nothing to be ashamed of, no vice, no degradation; it cannot be classified as an illness; we consider it to be a variation of the sexual function, produced by a certain arrest of sexual development. Many highly respectable individuals of ancient and modern times have been homosexuals, several of the greatest men among them. (Plato, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, etc). It is a great injustice to persecute homosexuality as a crime �and a cruelty, too. If you do not believe me, read the books of Havelock Ellis.

By asking me if I can help [your son], you mean, I suppose, if I can abolish homosexuality and make normal heterosexuality take its place. The answer is, in a general way we cannot promise to achieve it. In a certain number of cases we succeed in developing the blighted germs of heterosexual tendencies, which are present in every homosexual; in the majority of cases it is no more possible. It is a question of the quality and the age of the individual. The result of treatment cannot be predicted.

What analysis can do for your son runs in a different line. If he is unhappy, neurotic, torn by conflicts, inhibited in his social life, analysis may bring him harmony, peace of mind, full efficiency, whether he remains homosexual or gets changed.

# ? Nov 3, 2011 14:38

tigersklaw: May 8, 2008

that terrible article posted:

2. From a very early age potentially heritable characteristics mark the boy as "different." He finds himself somewhat shy and uncomfortable with the typical "rough and tumble" of his peers. Perhaps he is more interested in art or in reading - simply because he's smart. But when he later thinks about his early life, he will find it difficult to separate out what in these early behavioral differences came from an inherited temperament and what from the next factor, namely:

man, "straight acting" gay men must be like the loch ness monster in these people's world, just some fancy made up nonsense to obscure GODS TRUTH that all gay men are just limp wristed queens who get whats coming to them

# ? Nov 3, 2011 15:02

Vivian Darkbloom: Jul 14, 2004

craigslist posted:

Well said.

We Are All Iranian Prisoners Now

By Craig Andresen on September 22, 2011 at 11:01 am

Having been bombarded, for more than two years, with countless stories of the hikers held prisoner in Iran, and having had quite enough

of Having the political correctness so invasive in our daily lexicon, I have decided that somebody needs to say SOMETHING which is politically

DIRECT about this whole situation. So, here we go. . .An open letter to the "hikers."

Dear. . .'Hikers,'

What the hell is wrong with you people? Do you come by your stupidity genetically or is it a byproduct of your ideology?

Perhaps both.

The Iranians said you were spies but that can't possibly be true. . .you're far to brain dead to be spies.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and take a wild shot at it. . .You're all liberals aren't you?

You went HIKING. Hiking is good. Hiking doesn't leave a carbon footprint regardless of the amount of fossil fuel you burned to

GET to your starting point. You shouldn't be allowed to walk around the block without supervision. You could have gone for a walk

in the park, or hiked on a trail in the mountains -- but NOOOOOOOOO.

YOU MORONS!! You decided to go hiking along the border between Iran and Iraq. What exactly did you THINK was going to happen?

Did you think you were going to meet a bunch of Iraqi or Iranian hippy freaks and exchange wildflowers and maybe share some weed??

You didn't go over there for some noble purpose like building a school or to provide medical services or even to help rebuild a road or a bridge.

You went 'hiking' in a war zone next to a country that hates us.

Seriously. . .what the hell???

You managed to wander from the Iraqi side of the border over to the Iranian side. What? No map? No GPS? No common sense. . .what?

Did the Iranians not know the words to Kum ba yah??

You went to Iranian jail didn't you? All three of you -- but one of you got to go home early because of your delicate constitution, didn't you?

Did you enjoy your two years in Iranian jail? Did you??

The Omanis bailed your sorry butts out of stir -- but had they asked ME, I would have told them to save their money and let you rot. As far as I'm

concerned, the Iranians could have kept you but as it is now. . .WE'RE stuck with you again and, frankly, it's a waste of our effort to watch over you numb nuts.

Oh happy, happy joy, joy. . .you're on your way home.

When you get here, no doubt you'll be treated like celebrities and the media will be knocking at your collective doors. I'm sure you'll either sell your story to

People magazine or, maybe first, you'll grace the pages of Newsweek with a cover stating. . .'We're All Iranian Prisoners Now!'

You'll tell us you were 'well treated,' and you'll thank everybody who arranged for your release.

I wouldn't be surprised if you thanked Ahmadinejad.

Do you three have ANY idea what REALLY happened? ANY IDEA???

You weren't 'arrested' for being 'spies' you were KIDNAPPED for being AMERICANS. You weren't 'released' after a 'court' hearing; you were

PUT ON DISPLAY and RANSOMED. Now, because of YOU, dictators and other criminals around the world KNOW they can kidnap

Americans and get paid to let them go.

YOU slackers have made the world MORE dangerous for Americans. Think about that while you give your interviews and sell your 'story.'

For future reference, here are some things you need to learn. Don't lay on railroad track. Bad things will happen if you do.

Don't play in traffic. Bad things will happen if you do. Don't run with scissors. Bad things will happen if you do.

Don't try to pretend you and grizzly bears are friends. Bad things will happen if you do.

DON'T GO HIKING IN A WAR ZONE NEAR IRANIANS WITH GUNS. BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN IF YOU DO.

One more thing. . .

Never. . .I repeat NEVER. . .seek employment as a hiking guide. Bad things will happen to others if you do."

YOU BASTARDS, TRYING TO TAKE A HIKE THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT

# ? Nov 3, 2011 15:20

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

Ooh! I get to contribute!

A facebook post titled "Jew: The source of all decadence and evil in the world; descendent of apes and pigs." linked to this piece of excrement

Honest Reporting (no really) posted:

I have come to realize just how difficult it may be to decipher news about the Middle East, Islam, Israel, the Arab World, and all these powerful and explosive issues of our times for those who rely on such media stalwarts as The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the major television networks, cable news, etc. for their information. For example, how is a person to ascertain whether the slayer of a family is a terrorist or a militant or a gunman or an assailant or an activist or a freedom-fighter?

So, purely as a public service, I have organized the following glossary of the most pertinent terms and expressions, as typically used in the above-mentioned news sources. I hope, insha�allah, the reader will find it helpful to unravel the Gordian Knot of language that is today�s (and yesterday�s and tomorrow�s) Middle East!

Dr. Yasser Dasmabebi holds the Edward Said-Noam Chomsky Linguistics Chair at Abdul Abulbul Amir University in Cairo.

************************************

Aggression: Killing people who are trying to kill you.

Al Qaeda: the terrorist group that, according to American security sources, embodies the world-wide Islamist movement, and that is either �significantly degraded� or is still �extremely dangerous,� depending on which government official is doing the talking.

Apartheid: The political/social system of the one and only country in the Middle East that integrates Jews, Beduins, Arabs, whites, blacks, Muslems, Ethiopians, Russians, Christians, Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Bahai, et al.

�Apes & Pigs�: See �Jew� below.

Arab Emir: Military dictator.

Arab King: Military dictator.

Arab President: Military dictator.

Arab Prime Minister: Military dictator.

Arab Spring: Replacement of one dictatorship with another, with the help of Western money and media cheerleading.

Arab Street: Enraged mobs chanting and screaming their hatred, determined to annihilate Israel and the Jews. They can often be seen burning American and Israeli flags, passing out candies and firing guns into the air in response to successful murders of Westerners (closely related to):

Arab Humiliation: The pervasive feeling on the Arab street generated by their failure to annihilate Israel and the Jews in several wars. Many opinion-makers, Middle East experts and op-ed writers argue that Arab humiliation is at the root of the Middle East conflict; i.e., �If only the Jews would let themselves be destroyed, the Arab street would feel better about themselves, and then there would be peace.�

Ayatola: Persian dictator. Spiritual leader of that faith that desires to ignite nuclear holocaust in order to bring about the arrival of the Mahdi. (See �Mahdi� below.)

Bias: An expression of support for the existence of Israel.
...

It just goes on like this. So funny.

Note the bolded part, though. Abdul Abulbul Amir University in Cairo? Abdul Abulbul Amir? I knew that from somewhere: it is in fact the name of this old song.

I imagine whoever invented this character (searching for him online has only produced him as an author of both this piece and another piece defending the first) thought no-one would notice this act of deception - obviously, there is no Abdul Abulbul Amir University in Cairo.

# ? Nov 3, 2011 15:27

Merrill Grinch: May 21, 2001; infuriated by investments

Absurd Alhazred posted:

Note the bolded part, though. Abdul Abulbul Amir University in Cairo? Abdul Abulbul Amir? I knew that from somewhere: it is in fact the name of this old song.

I imagine whoever invented this character (searching for him online has only produced him as an author of both this piece and another piece defending the first) thought no-one would notice this act of deception - obviously, there is no Abdul Abulbul Amir University in Cairo.

So wait, it was the name of some obscure song from the 1920's was the big tip-off for you and not the name "Dr. Yasser Dasmabebi"?

# ? Nov 3, 2011 15:59

phazer: May 14, 2003; chirp chirp i'm a buffalo

Dirty Job posted:

Here are a few recent gems from my Facebook wall, following the posts of my ultra-conservative lab partner, Sally. I'm John.

[Facebook comment stream]

This girl writes exactly like my cousin-in-law who is Polish. Is English her second language? Just curious.

And she would definitely claim the exact same stuff. ACORN, Liberal media, George Soros, and this "people have been planning to transform the country for decades" stuff.

Oh, and she ALSO back up her beliefs with quotes instead of links to factual studies.

# ? Nov 3, 2011 16:11

Sarion: Dec 24, 2003

pillsburysoldier posted:

The only responses I've seen were "wow it really puts into perspective how easy we have it and shouldn't complain."

Yeah, it's so much worse in Africa, so why should we be bothered to make America a better place to live? It makes total sense.

# ? Nov 3, 2011 17:00

the: Jul 18, 2004; by Cowcaster

I'm the guy with the h-bar avatar.

# ? Nov 3, 2011 21:06

Coelacanthian: Dec 23, 2008

What bothers me the most is the inference that those that aren't poor necessarily got there and stay there through hard work and not, oh I dunno, inheritance and/or outright theft (major banking institutions). They're just so masochistic about their 80-hour workweeks to pay their way through college, one wonders how much that attitude will stick once they get out and realize they wasted their time and money to get that non-existent college-degree-required job.

Staying in poverty is a choice? So gross.

# ? Nov 3, 2011 21:50

Countblanc: Apr 20, 2005; _{Help a hero out!}

I guess I just struggle to get why people want to fight stuff like that. Like, even if you aren't altruistic in the slightest, there's a very, very good chance that the government would be giving you money and healthcare and all that good poo poo that you don't have now. Why do you want to work three jobs to get by? Why is that a desirable option compared to working one and having more free time? Even if you literally believe that everyone who works less than two jobs and who hasn't bootstrapped themselves out of depression and poverty is a worthless leech, why can't you examine your own life and realize, "wait a second, I don't like working three jobs and never seeing my friends and family. This stinks, please change this."

I'm not even sure if that's rhetorical or not. Like, I'm a lazy, lazy person; I'm probably a perfect example of a would-be welfare queen if that was a viable option or even A Thing. I hate working and I like nothing more than reading all day and talking with friends, both of which are (fortunately) very low-cost hobbies. But, like, if most people's posts here are to believed, most people aren't like me and would just get really bored and antsy not working for a living, not to mention want nicer things than I care about having. But even those people would probably like a 40 hour work week (or even a 32 hour one!) compared to a 60+ one, so why not just say that instead of acting like you love the lack of ability to enjoy anything you work so hard for because your jobs pay like poo poo and leave you with no time for a personal life.

# ? Nov 3, 2011 23:00

JoshTheStampede: Sep 8, 2004; come at me bro

Countblanc posted:

I guess I just struggle to get why people want to fight stuff like that. Like, even if you aren't altruistic in the slightest, there's a very, very good chance that the government would be giving you money and healthcare and all that good poo poo that you don't have now. Why do you want to work three jobs to get by? Why is that a desirable option compared to working one and having more free time? Even if you literally believe that everyone who works less than two jobs and who hasn't bootstrapped themselves out of depression and poverty is a worthless leech, why can't you examine your own life and realize, "wait a second, I don't like working three jobs and never seeing my friends and family. This stinks, please change this."

I'm not even sure if that's rhetorical or not. Like, I'm a lazy, lazy person; I'm probably a perfect example of a would-be welfare queen if that was a viable option or even A Thing. I hate working and I like nothing more than reading all day and talking with friends, both of which are (fortunately) very low-cost hobbies. But, like, if most people's posts here are to believed, most people aren't like me and would just get really bored and antsy not working for a living, not to mention want nicer things than I care about having. But even those people would probably like a 40 hour work week (or even a 32 hour one!) compared to a 60+ one, so why not just say that instead of acting like you love the lack of ability to enjoy anything you work so hard for because your jobs pay like poo poo and leave you with no time for a personal life.

Part of the American Dream framework that says the harder you work the better you will do, is the corollary that the harder you work and the less you complain the better a person (or at least the better an American) you are. They're defending their 80 hour a work week because they have been taught that working 80 hours a week makes you better than someone who isn't "willing" to work more than 60, or 40, or however much. And since they have bought fully into the idea that it's all a personal choice, they defend their 80 hour week as them choosing to be a better person than you.

# ? Nov 3, 2011 23:12

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

Merrill Grinch posted:

So wait, it was the name of some obscure song from the 1920's was the big tip-off for you and not the name "Dr. Yasser Dasmabebi"?

In my defense, the article is really annoying, so perhaps that's why my pun-sensors didn't pick up on that.

# ? Nov 3, 2011 23:42

Kosmonaut: Mar 9, 2009

Dominion posted:

Part of the American Dream framework that says the harder you work the better you will do, is the corollary that the harder you work and the less you complain the better a person (or at least the better an American) you are. They're defending their 80 hour a work week because they have been taught that working 80 hours a week makes you better than someone who isn't "willing" to work more than 60, or 40, or however much. And since they have bought fully into the idea that it's all a personal choice, they defend their 80 hour week as them choosing to be a better person than you.

There's also the old canard about how treating workers like people will make the economy shrivel and die that gets trotted out every time that gets debated and yet it never comes true

# ? Nov 4, 2011 04:16

illcendiary: Dec 4, 2005; Damn, this is good coffee.

Can someone please link to this fabled, awesome LF thread?

# ? Nov 4, 2011 05:04

Thenipwax: Jun 20, 2001; by Ozmaugh

It's so loving irritating that so many conservatives think they have a monopoly on working hard. According to many, once liberals work in the "real world"*, they'll become conservatives.

*The real world is whatever world they work in

# ? Nov 4, 2011 15:51

Amused to Death: Aug 10, 2009; google "The Night Witches", and prepare for

the posted:

I'm the guy with the h-bar avatar.

Tell her she's free to work 3 jobs if she wants but sane people don't want to live in a world where in one of the richest nation's in the history of everything people need to work 3 jobs to not be living in poverty.

# ? Nov 4, 2011 16:49

Gus Hobbleton: Dec 30, 2003; Can't post for 3 years!

Tell her that people FOUGHT AND DIED so that she could have a 40 hour work week.

# ? Nov 4, 2011 17:06

TerminalSaint: Apr 21, 2007; Where must we go...

we who wander this Wasteland in search of our better selves?

Gus Hobbleton posted:

Tell her that people FOUGHT AND DIED so that she could have a 40 hour work week.

When I made a Labor Day facebook post about how the day was about more than getting in one last BBQ for the year, one of the responses was "If Labor day is about all that stuff, then why am I working day 6 of 7 in a row today, which was suppose to be day 6 of 10?"

Oh, you've got a lovely job, guess the labor movement was useless. Pack it up, boys.

# ? Nov 4, 2011 17:34

redmercer: Sep 15, 2011; by Fistgrrl

pillsburysoldier posted:

I really don't see how someone could miss the point any more

He doesn't even know how much money he makes :allears:

# ? Nov 4, 2011 17:35

Sarion: Dec 24, 2003

redmercer posted:

He doesn't even know how much money he makes

Could you elaborate? Is it because of all the other benefits, like Tricare?

# ? Nov 4, 2011 17:39

Nth Doctor: Sep 7, 2010; Darkrai used Dream Eater!
It's super effective!

Sarion posted:

Could you elaborate? Is it because of all the other benefits, like Tricare?

I'm betting it's because we can look up military pay with publicly available information. Since he's in uniform, we can see his rank is Staff Sergeant or E-6. Pulling up the Army's pay chart, his max monthly base pay is $3,533.40 each month (with 40 years of service).
That puts him well short of the $4166.67 necessary to hit $50,000/year.

# ? Nov 4, 2011 19:02

XyloJW: Jul 23, 2007

Nth Doctor posted:

I'm betting it's because we can look up military pay with publicly available information. Since he's in uniform, we can see his rank is Staff Sergeant or E-6. Pulling up the Army's pay chart, his max monthly base pay is $3,533.40 each month (with 40 years of service).
That puts him well short of the $4166.67 necessary to hit $50,000/year.

If he's deployed in combat zones, there're multipliers. There's no telling what bonuses he could be getting, unless someone knew more specifics from his uniform.

the posted:

I'm the guy with the h-bar avatar.

Also, to the girl working 3 days: theoretically, if it is possible to survive, does that mean the situation is okay? If I went to, say, Somalia, and found a person who owned a well and lived a middle-class (for Somalia) life selling water, does that mean that Somalia has no problems? Would a poor Somalian be justified in protesting their government? Is the correct response to a starving Somalian "That guy over there is doing fine, therefore the problem must be with you."?

# ? Nov 4, 2011 19:35

Sarion: Dec 24, 2003

XyloJW posted:

Is the correct response to a starving Somalian "That guy over there is doing fine, therefore the problem must be with you."?

Yes, yes it is. If the guy with the well can do alright, everyone in Somalia can, they just need to be like the guy with the well: control a limited resource and exploit it for profit. Anyone can do it!

# ? Nov 4, 2011 19:45

redmercer: Sep 15, 2011; by Fistgrrl

XyloJW posted:

If he's deployed in combat zones, there're multipliers. There's no telling what bonuses he could be getting, unless someone knew more specifics from his uniform.

"Multipliers"? It's war, not pinball.

Realistically speaking, there are a few things that just might boost him to fifty thou. There's no "combat zone multiplier". However, you are tax-exempt while on deployment. Also, there's hazardous duty pay, which is a whopping $150 a month unless you're a HALO jumper; in which case they bump it up to $225. Holla holla get dolla!

Add in BAS and BAH, and possibly COLA (if you're stationed somewhere expensive to live, an average of $300/mo) and you miiight get close to fifty grand a year. Except, of course, the Army isn't quite crazy enough to keep someone deployed all year every year.

# ? Nov 4, 2011 20:03

Kosmonaut: Mar 9, 2009

XyloJW posted:

Is the correct response to a starving Somalian "That guy over there is doing fine, therefore the problem must be with you."?

You mean in the eyes of a conservative?

# ? Nov 4, 2011 20:05

AlternateNu: May 5, 2005; ドーナツダメ！

redmercer posted:

"Multipliers"? It's war, not pinball.

Realistically speaking, there are a few things that just might boost him to fifty thou. There's no "combat zone multiplier". However, you are tax-exempt while on deployment. Also, there's hazardous duty pay, which is a whopping $150 a month unless you're a HALO jumper; in which case they bump it up to $225. Holla holla get dolla!

Add in BAS and BAH, and possibly COLA (if you're stationed somewhere expensive to live, an average of $300/mo) and you miiight get close to fifty grand a year. Except, of course, the Army isn't quite crazy enough to keep someone deployed all year every year.

A married E-6 at 10 years with dependents living somewhere cushy like Germany who is deployed 6 months out of the year can easily hit $50k. If he has something extra like Foreign Language Proficiency Pay...that can hit $250 a month, hazardous duty and tax free combat zone...yeah, its doable.

# ? Nov 4, 2011 20:10

redmercer: Sep 15, 2011; by Fistgrrl

AlternateNu posted:

A married E-6 at 10 years with dependents living somewhere cushy like Germany who is deployed 6 months out of the year can easily hit $50k. If he has something extra like Foreign Language Proficiency Pay...that can hit $250 a month, hazardous duty and tax free combat zone...yeah, its doable.

Naturally, the only one that has anything to do with individual ability is the FLPP. Getting stationed in a nice place is just luck, really, unless you have connections.

# ? Nov 4, 2011 20:40

Countblanc: Apr 20, 2005; _{Help a hero out!}

redmercer posted:

Naturally, the only one that has anything to do with individual ability is the FLPP. Getting stationed in a nice place is just luck, really, unless you have connections.

Perfect! It is now a complete parallel to other jobs in America.

# ? Nov 4, 2011 20:42

KillerBean: May 5, 2004; by Y Kant Ozma Post

pillsburysoldier posted:

I really don't see how someone could miss the point any more

CouNtries is what got me more than the milquetoast political message

# ? Nov 4, 2011 21:16

redmercer: Sep 15, 2011; by Fistgrrl

Countblanc posted:

Perfect! It is now a complete parallel to other jobs in America.

Except you can't be fired "for no reason". In exchange, they get to stare at your pissing genitalia.

# ? Nov 4, 2011 22:02

Landsknecht: Oct 27, 2009; I hope this person is trolling, nobody can be so unfunny and dumb

pillsburysoldier posted:

I really don't see how someone could miss the point any more

this guy really is right, the military industrial complex only asks for your life and in return you get 50k a year

# ? Nov 4, 2011 22:26

ClearAirTurbulence: Apr 20, 2010; The earth has music for those who listen.

Funny thing is that army guy who exaggerates how much he gets paid still takes more money from the government than a couple of families on welfare combined.

# ? Nov 5, 2011 00:43

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# ? May 11, 2024 14:14

Sarion: Dec 24, 2003

Frankly, he shouldn't be upset at the protesters, he should be pissed the government thinks so poorly of his life. 50k + benefits should be like the starting pay for soldiers.

# ? Nov 5, 2011 02:59

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