|
Mr Interweb posted:Ponnuru? You sure you're not confusing him with that other, far crazier Indian right-winger? The one that made that stupid movie about Obama last year? Nope definitely referring to him, not Dinesh D'Souza. Little dude, has a woman's voice, wrote Party of Death. Monkey Fracas posted:Alright general question here- how hosed would the GOP be without their pet media machine constantly spreading propaganda for them? I feel like they would be more or less dead in the water. In this scenario are churches nonexistent as well? Because that's the other half of the propaganda machine, and they predate modern media. Alec Bald Snatch fucked around with this message at 00:39 on Oct 6, 2013 |
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 00:37
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 15, 2024 02:00 |
|
|
comes along bort posted:Nope definitely referring to him, not Dinesh D'Souza. Little dude, has a woman's voice, wrote Party of Death. Huh. Maybe he's mellowed out a bit? I've seen him on dozens of interviews over the past two years and I honestly can't recall him saying anything particularly stupid/crazy.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 02:10
|
|
|
I listen to my local right wing radio clown Jay Weber when I'm bored, and while complaining about Obamacare a minute ago he casually mentioned that we're letting people get too much stuff from programs they didn't pay into, like unemployment and disability. Yes, he said that the disabled are getting too much government aid they don't deserve. I know this isn't even mildly shocking at this point, but I can't help but notice that they don't even realize they're doing it. I guarantee they lay in bed at night racking their brains as to why the disabled won't vote for them, and then casually mention that they deserve to die a slow death of starvation the next day. They just do not get it. They've been digging their own grave for 40 years and now that they're finally seeing the consequences they don't know anything else. Also he called Obama a 'nacrissistic fop' as if this was some kind of  In other news, I think the tea party line is now shifting to complaining about Obamacare putting more people on the evil dole and making them dependent wards of the state. They're touting some story about a 30 year old law school student who qualified for Medicare under the new laws, as if Medicare coverage is an incurable disease that will sap the strength and will of a man and turn him into a sickly, weak dependent. In still other news, Mr. Weber insisted that people were blaming both parties equally for the shutdown, and the polls otherwise were liberal tripe. I have to say this whole thing makes great entertainment, even though it is causing misery for millions of people. Let it all burn 
icantfindaname fucked around with this message at 08:07 on Oct 6, 2013 |
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 03:10
|
|
|
Good Citizen posted:I recently learned that you can get the mark Levin podcast on your phone daily with no commercials. This news hasn't been good for my mental health. I fell asleep listening to it the other night and had the angriest dreams How long is it, like twenty minutes? miscellaneous14 posted:Aw gently caress, now my parents believe that "they moved the WMDs to Syria" nonsense. Sure hope they don't move them again right before we invade, that sure would be inconvenient.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 03:37
|
|
|
icantfindaname posted:They're touting some story about a 30 year old law school student who qualified for Medicare under the new laws, as if Medicare coverage is an incurable disease that will sap the strength and will of a man and turn him into a sickly, weak dependent. Dude currently in law school with the present state of the legal job market is probably going to need that Medicare coverage for at least a decade after he graduates unless he was fortunate enough to get a full ride. I have a friend who graduated from Harvard Law like 3 years ago and she said she has a former classmate who is currently delivering pizzas as his primary source of income.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 04:30
|
|
|
mr. mephistopheles posted:Dude currently in law school with the present state of the legal job market is probably going to need that Medicare coverage for at least a decade after he graduates unless he was fortunate enough to get a full ride. I have a friend who graduated from Harvard Law like 3 years ago and she said she has a former classmate who is currently delivering pizzas as his primary source of income. Yeah they also just handwaved that away saying he'll be raking in the cash any minute now, and complained about taxpayers having to pay his tuition. These people have no idea how anything works, anything at all. icantfindaname fucked around with this message at 04:40 on Oct 6, 2013 |
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 04:36
|
|
|
I dunno about law school, but from my experience in grad school, often your tuition is covered. But on the flip side you are an adult living in abject poverty working 60 hour weeks for which you are paid a stipend that is barely over the poverty line and leaving you unable to work another job. In addition to rent, food, and other essentials, meeting minimum expectations in your program probably requires hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars annually in ridiculous expenses like overpriced textbooks, conference fees (good luck getting your program to cover more than half your travel expenses), membership dues to self-important national societies, and other bullshit. You are almost definitely going into debt just to support yourself and meet minimum expectations. It's not like you're some cushioned booksmart elitist suckling unjustly at a government teat; yes you are fortunate, but you still need healthcare and cannot afford it. To say those people shouldn't get help paying for healthcare is basically saying any degree beyond a bachelor's should only be accessible to the independently wealthy or to those with rich parents. Tender Bender fucked around with this message at 07:55 on Oct 6, 2013 |
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 07:47
|
|
|
Tender Bender posted:I dunno about law school, but from my experience in grad school, often your tuition is covered. But on the flip side you are an adult living in abject poverty working 60 hour weeks for which you are paid a stipend that is barely over the poverty line and leaving you unable to work another job. In addition to rent, food, and other essentials, meeting minimum expectations in your program probably requires hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars annually in ridiculous expenses like overpriced textbooks, conference fees (good luck getting your program to cover more than half your travel expenses), membership dues to self-important national societies, and other bullshit. Grad school tuition and stipends are the norm only for the sciences, most humanities programs don't have that kind of deal. Law, medical and dental schools definitely don't have that as the norm.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 07:57
|
|
|
Tender Bender posted:I dunno about law school, but from my experience in grad school, often your tuition is covered. This is not the case in law school. Tender Bender posted:But on the flip side you are an adult living in abject poverty working 60 hour weeks . . . In addition to rent, food, and other essentials, meeting minimum expectations in your program probably requires hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars annually in ridiculous expenses like overpriced textbooks, conference fees (good luck getting your program to cover more than half your travel expenses), membership dues to self-important national societies, and other bullshit. But this is! 
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 07:58
|
|
|
Listerine posted:Grad school tuition and stipends are the norm only for the sciences, most humanities programs don't have that kind of deal. Law, medical and dental schools definitely don't have that as the norm. And once ConocoPhillips and Lockheed figure out a way to extract massive profit from 300 page tomes on post-Butlerian views of gender as a performative construct in mid-15th century community plays in the upper Languedoc-Roussillon region of France, then humanities departments will be overflowing with green.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 08:09
|
|
|
Tender Bender posted:I dunno about law school, but from my experience in grad school, often your tuition is covered. The reason the law job market is so oversaturated is because every college in the country now has a law school because they're ludicrously profitable. Or at least they were before the popular conception of "lawyers make hella money" eroded over the last couple years and application numbers went down.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 08:52
|
|
|
comes along bort posted:And once ConocoPhillips and Lockheed figure out a way to extract massive profit from 300 page tomes on post-Butlerian views of gender as a performative construct in mid-15th century community plays in the upper Languedoc-Roussillon region of France, then humanities departments will be overflowing with green. Eh, even for non-engineering, non-marketable science work you'll still get some kind of stipend. I think it's more a difference in the history and culture of each respective field than any sort of economic reason.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 10:26
|
|
|
Tender Bender posted:I dunno about law school, but from my experience in grad school, often your tuition is covered. But on the flip side you are an adult living in abject poverty working 60 hour weeks for which you are paid a stipend that is barely over the poverty line and leaving you unable to work another job. In addition to rent, food, and other essentials, meeting minimum expectations in your program probably requires hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars annually in ridiculous expenses like overpriced textbooks, conference fees (good luck getting your program to cover more than half your travel expenses), membership dues to self-important national societies, and other bullshit. Grad school stipends vary considerably by program and field. My brother and I are both PhD students; he's in the bio-sciences and literally made twice the stipend I was getting in anthropology. And books... let's just say that I'm lucky that my advisor was always free with the PDFs, and the only books I bought were the ones I needed for my research. And those aren't part of the vampiric textbook industry, so they're not ridiculously expensive. quote:You are almost definitely going into debt just to support yourself and meet minimum expectations. It's not like you're some cushioned booksmart elitist suckling unjustly at a government teat; yes you are fortunate, but you still need healthcare and cannot afford it. To say those people shouldn't get help paying for healthcare is basically saying any degree beyond a bachelor's should only be accessible to the independently wealthy or to those with rich parents. When I went to school for my master's, I managed to stay debt free (had help from my folks with rent, using money my grandfather left when he died). But I'm a little over $40K in the hole now, because there've been zero jobs for me to work to supplement my income. I'll be done with my PhD in the spring, but still... I've been lucky, my university does health insurance (really stripped down, but it exists) for graduate assistants. I should add that I most definitely qualify for foodstamps and seriously considered it at one point. I decided against it when I was in a local grocery store one day and a person in the self-checkout next to me used her EBT card. The loving automated voice announced to the world that she was using EBT. I decided that what pride I have left after being a grad student for several years couldn't take another hit if that happened randomly someplace when I was checking out. And frankly, there are people who need it more than I do, so I decided not to enroll. Sometimes - particularly when I'm coaxing my 22 year old Jeep to campus in the morning - I still wonder if that was the right choice. Walter fucked around with this message at 14:36 on Oct 6, 2013 |
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 14:33
|
|
|
You made the decision to be a student rather than work a job. If you need food, get food. edit: I really love that you both simultaneously abhor the thought of people finding out you use EBT cards, but post publicly about how goddamn tough your life is because of how poor you are. I'm sorry for continuing the derail. Big Beef City fucked around with this message at 16:10 on Oct 6, 2013 |
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 14:44
|
|
|
Big Beef City posted:You made the decision to be a student rather than work a job. First off, why the hostility? Second, I was doing both - student / job - before the latter dried up. And yes, where I live (and among many of the people I have to associate with) there's a stigma attached to EBT. I live in a conservative area, and I tend not to "look like" what the stereotype of an EBT user is. Given the range of people on EBT now, that stereotype is even less accurate now than it was previously. But the point is that people around here tend to be pretty hostile to the idea of EBT in general, and particularly the idea of students "abusing" EBT. So I choose not to open myself up to uninvited rants from strangers. I have seen that happen before. So no, I wouldn't relish the idea of that being announced when I used it. Further, I'm not sure if you're intentionally being obtuse and pretending that there's no difference between an anonymous post on the internet about not having much money on one hand, and standing at the grocery store as it's announced that you're using EBT. I think it's abhorrent, people don't deserve to have that sort of thing publicly announced. It's symptomatic, I suspect, of a perception that people who use EBT should be shamed for doing so. The surprising thing is that the company who owns the stores isn't known for conservative views, and actually apparently does a lot for local charity, etc. So I'm not sure why they have that thing announcing the use of EBT. The other local store does not, so far as I know. Last, I don't see a lot of "oh, poor me, how hard is my life" in that post, so I'm not sure where that's coming from. Frankly, I think you're being kind of an rear end and looking for something to be a prick about. If that was your goal... well, good work. Walter fucked around with this message at 15:53 on Oct 6, 2013 |
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 15:47
|
|
|
I think that they're just saying that it wasn't the right choice and you should probably take the assistance you're entitled to because you're 40k in debt and so seem to actually need it.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 16:06
|
|
|
It all goes to the idea of what conservatives consider to be deserving/undeserving poor and how wasteful government entitlements don't distinguish between the two. God help you if you pull out an EBT card ahead of them in the checkout line if you aren't dressed like a Somali refuge and buying some meager amount of generic brand beans and rice.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 16:38
|
|
|
So what? Empower them by buying into their bullshit and not taking benefits you're entitled to?
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 16:45
|
|
|
Big Beef City posted:So what? Empower them by buying into their bullshit and not taking benefits you're entitled to? If you're working class poor and refuse to take any form of government assistance no matter how badly you need it you can get an over-the-phone blowjob from any talk radio show you choose to call. Now that's people helping people, friend. 
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 16:50
|
|
|
Walter posted:
One would assume that if you qualify for it, you need it. Contrary to conservative opinion, the Dems aren't handing EBT cards to everybody to make you a dependant so you keep voting for them. In the unlikely event anyone gives enough of a poo poo to complain, tell them the truth, "You don't know my life, so gently caress off."
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 16:51
|
|
|
I was a grad student in the sciences too. Luckily my wife worked and we were able to get by ok. The majority of my peers were on some form of assistance and they drat sure needed it. I know its embarasing to admit that you can't provide for yourself. But it isn't your fault. The other side hopes you feel embarrassed. Dont give them the satisfaction. Also, take pleasure in the fact 90% of them are too dumb to ever understand what you work on.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 17:54
|
|
|
Acelerion posted:Also, take pleasure in the fact 90% of them are too dumb to ever understand what you work on. Actually don't ever do that because it validates their 'ivory tower' crap. What if you just acted like a normal human being, instead? vvv You wanna stop getting mad at me? - sorry. I'm out, I just don't think raging against morons is best battled by claiming smug intellectual superiority. It just feeds the stupidity. Big Beef City fucked around with this message at 18:09 on Oct 6, 2013 |
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 17:57
|
|
|
/\/\/\ EDIT: When you stop being a dick, I'll consider it. Big Beef City posted:Actually don't ever do that because it validates their 'ivory tower' crap. What if you got down off your high horse? In principle, your ideas are fine. In practice... well, let's put it this way, in the spirit of this and other conservative-focused threads: people are not rational actors. Sometimes perception and peoples' reactions (because we're social creatures and take our cues from social interaction) can be a powerful negative motivator. Yes, I'm eligible for EBT. No, I will not apply or use it. I don't want - every single time I was to swipe the card - to feel that moment of worry that the machine is going to tell everyone around me that I'm using EBT, inviting stares and disapproving / accusatory glances. I choose not to subject myself to that, knowing full well that it would nevertheless probably help me. I can get by without it, and goddammit, I will. Is that rational? Maybe not. Do I look down on other people who use EBT? gently caress no, the fact that I'm eligible makes it crystal clear that people who are eligible for EBT are not the conservative-pimped stereotypes (as if I didn't know that already). No one deserves to be treated the way EBT users are treated by a lot of people. There should be no stigma attached at all, but "should be" and "is" are different. The stereotype is a manufactured thing by people who actively support the removal of EBT and other social programs, and it's blatantly false. But that doesn't mean that I don't still feel like I wouldn't want to have someone know that I needed assistance like that. My friends - all of whom are either also graduate students or faculty members - are well aware of the situation we're all collectively in. And even then, I wouldn't be comfortable with them knowing that was something I was using. Yes, it's stupid pride. No, it doesn't mean I consider people who use / require EBT any less than me or anyone else. But ripping me a new one for commenting on these things is just lovely, and shows a general lack of sympathy. Ironically enough, given the thread we're posting in is focused explicitly on sociopaths who seem to lack sympathy as a general behavioral attribute. Walter fucked around with this message at 18:21 on Oct 6, 2013 |
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 18:05
|
|
|
Big Beef City posted:Actually don't ever do that because it validates their 'ivory tower' crap. I think you're posting in the wrong thread. This isn't the "defeat American anti-intellectualism" thread, it's the "Dittoheads, Great Americans, Fairness and Balance" thread, where we mock kneejerk anti-intellectualism among many other Republican foibles. It's not his job to single-handedly combat the entire right-wing propaganda machine. American culture is strongly anti-intellectual and the simple fact is that many people will blindly hate you for what you are. And you're seriously going to poo poo on him for his brain finding a defense mechanism to try and make light of it?
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 18:07
|
|
|
This is for everyone. If you need EBT just loving take it. Suck it up, and accept it. My girlfriend and I were on EBT for a year, it's not fun, it's a little embarrassing, and you don't get that much, but when you need gas, and rent is due in a week there is no feeling better than knowing at the very least you can eat. It takes off such a big chunk of stress. I was sleeping better. I just felt better. If someone gives you poo poo for using EBT? gently caress them tell them to mind their own business and get your food. I was living in a conservative town at the time and never got any attitude from anyone. If you need EBT just take it. It doesn't make you less of a man it doesn't make you a loser. It makes you a human being who needs food to live.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 18:34
|
|
|
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/06/cruz-use-debt-ceiling-debate-for-leverage/ Nothing special about the article, but this might be the first united comments section in internet history. Just about everyone in there hates Ted Cruz.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 18:53
|
|
|
Acelerion posted:
You're being generous, 90 percent of people in my department don't understand what I work on.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 18:57
|
|
|
Walter posted:Lots o' words. I uh, I understand that you're upset man, and that's reasonable for all the reasons you've outline regarding the unjustified social stigma around EBT, but, in all honesty I don't think he was trying to actively insult you or anything. It's perfectly understandable that it's a touchy subject for you, but, I think you might be overreacting a little. Calm down, we're all friends here. 
Locomotive breath fucked around with this message at 19:41 on Oct 6, 2013 |
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 19:36
|
|
|
 Everyone look at the picture of Gingrich feeding a tiger and chill out.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 19:41
|
|
|
The idea that people who are liberally minded and completely okay with the existence of government programs will still refuse to utilize them when they are entirely deserving because god forbid some stranger thinks they might be a dirty poor is the saddest thing. This is why the conservative messaging machine is so effective, because the things they say play off of subconscious biases that we all have to some degree, so even if we don't think poor people are lazy scum of the earth, we still don't want to actually acknowledge when we are those poor people because we still cling to the idea that we are too good for it. This is how you get people who can barely keep a roof over their heads voting for lower corporate taxes and the reduction of government programs. I'm going to go be depressed now.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 20:11
|
|
|
mr. mephistopheles posted:The idea that people who are liberally minded and completely okay with the existence of government programs will still refuse to utilize them when they are entirely deserving because god forbid some stranger thinks they might be a dirty poor is the saddest thing. It's not all bad. This thread has convinced me to get over myself and apply for some much needed SNAP benefits. I just finished the form, and will be visiting the office tomorrow.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 20:40
|
|
|
That makes me genuinely happy. 
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 20:45
|
|
|
Damonic posted:It's not all bad. This thread has convinced me to get over myself and apply for some much needed SNAP benefits. I just finished the form, and will be visiting the office tomorrow. Hey man, as everyone else has said, you already paid for/will pay for those benefits as a taxpayer of the USA. They're yours, that's what they're there for.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 20:47
|
|
|
Damonic posted:It's not all bad. This thread has convinced me to get over myself and apply for some much needed SNAP benefits. I just finished the form, and will be visiting the office tomorrow. Good on you, man. Always good to have one more well-nutritioned goon to argue about video games or whatever your passion is.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 20:57
|
|
|
Damonic posted:It's not all bad. This thread has convinced me to get over myself and apply for some much needed SNAP benefits. I just finished the form, and will be visiting the office tomorrow.  I guess it's just my personal mindset, but I can't imagine not taking food stamps if I needed them. To me, "gently caress you, I'm hungry and I need to eat" would overwrite pretty much everything else I cared about, especially other assholes in the supermarket I'll probably never see again.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 21:08
|
|
|
The thing is you always think that things could be worse for you, or you imagine that you're at least much more well-off than someone else, because you do have that imagined idea that there is a level of poverty that is the one that deserves SNAP (the rag refugee people that the GOP thinks are the "deserving" poors); the right talking points have subconsciously influenced you and your idea of reality. You hear all these stories about people being poor and buying an onion and a bag of rice and eating for a week and a half and think, "Man, I have so many more options that that!" The idea that just because you're in coach class and not steerage means you aren't deserving of benefits when you're barely scraping by on your budget is ridiculous.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 21:16
|
|
|
The key word in SNAP is Supplemental. It's supposed to help you get back on your feet (or get there in the first place). The longer you refuse to take benefits, the longer you will be (theoretically) stuck at the bottom, therefore you'll be contributing less to the economy, generating less government revenue, and therefore supporting fewer benefits for fewer people. SNAP benefits are an incredibly stimulative form of gov't spending, adding ~$1.73 to the local economy for every dollar spent. If you use them, you're not only helping yourself in both the short and long term, you're helping everyone else. If you don't taking them, you're just remaining the weakest link in the chain. So think of it more as an obligation to take SNAP benefits when you're eligible. There's a reason you're eligible.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 21:28
|
|
|
Walter posted:But ripping me a new one for commenting on these things is just lovely, and shows a general lack of sympathy. No one is doing this. I'm honestly asking - are you ok? Big Beef City fucked around with this message at 22:34 on Oct 6, 2013 |
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 22:15
|
|
|
Big Beef City posted:No one is doing this. No, you are absolutely being a horse's rear end here. I got laid off on Wednesday. Turns out there is a distinct downside to working for a company that sells things to the government when it shuts down. I was a new hire who just spend his nest egg to move up here and now I have nothing. It isn't even clear if they are going to fully compensate for the expenses incurred getting here - even if they pay for the old lease I had to break, I really doubt they will pay for breaking the new one I signed. So I had to apply for benefits. Applying for help is one of the hardest things I have had to do. I fully understand what Walter is going through. And you are being a complete poo poo about it.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 23:03
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 15, 2024 02:00 |
|
|
I'm being a horses rear end by saying you should take the benefits you deserve? I am honestly sorry that you're in a position to need to take benefits, but I do want you take them as you need to. I never meant to state otherwise, and haven't. All of my comments are in favor of you or anyone else taking these benefits as needed. I chaffed at Walter saying that he needed benefits but didn't take them as a point of pride. He then extrapolated that as me "ripping on him" and compared me to a sociopath for lacking sympathy. Nothing of this is true and I really don't want to drag this thread down further, so please IM me if you want to continue the conversation. Big Beef City fucked around with this message at 23:46 on Oct 6, 2013 |
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2013 23:43
|
|