Political Discussion Thread (With Rules)

[archer]

2 hours ago, Lord Liaden said:

 

Many women would agree with that assertion, but it doesn't really work as an excuse any more.

 

 

I think it's possible for something to be a "universal truth" without being "an excuse".

 

YMMV

 

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/excuse

 

to regard or judge with forgiveness or indulgence; pardon or forgive; overlook 

to offer an apology for; seek to remove the blame of

to serve as an apology or justification for; justify

to release from an obligation or duty

 

"Are stupid" is a state of being. "Acting stupid" is a choice of whether you're acting on your underlying instincts or whether you're engaging your brain functions and behaving in a different manner.

[Lord Liaden]

Fair enough. For my part I do not consider the statement, "men are stupid," to be a universal truth. YMM also V.

[archer]

36 minutes ago, Lord Liaden said:

For my part I do not consider the statement, "men are stupid," to be a universal truth. YMM also V.

 

Are you familiar with the Sword of Shannara?  

[Lord Liaden]

EDIT: I think I need a break from this thread. I'm starting to sound a little pissy even to myself. 😣

[Starlord]

Man, it is rare that I agree with this idiot, but on this one I'm with him.  The federal minimum wage should absolutely not be on the Covid bill, nor should it more than double immediately.

 

 

 

[csyphrett]

The Nevada governor wants to privatize parts of his state, and hand over control to companies. It's always former businessmen who go into politics that think this will work out. It's like don't you remember the other disasters that happened when government decided to let businesses do whatever they want

CES 

[Pariah]

15 hours ago, archer said:

Are you familiar with the Sword of Shannara?  

 

I am. I read the first book and remember thinking at the end, "Wow, this was a total rip-off of Tolkien." And then I read the second book and remember thinking at the end, "Wow, this was a total rip-off of the first book." I stopped reading after that.  

[Ternaugh]

41 minutes ago, Pariah said:

 

I am. I read the first book and remember thinking at the end, "Wow, this was a total rip-off of Tolkien." And then I read the second book and remember thinking at the end, "Wow, this was a total rip-off of the first book." I stopped reading after that.  

 

I had picked up the first book some years ago, and a good friend essentially performed an intervention and took the book from my hands before I could start reading it. He said that it was for my own good.

[Starlord]

I still enjoyed Sword of Shannara and Elfstones of Shannara (even moreso) myself.  The quality went downhill after that IMO.  If you removed the 'fellowship goes on a quest' story and general Tolkien imitation from fantasy literature then pickings would get a little thin.  For example, I would never have gotten to read the brilliance that is the Belgariad and the Malloreon. 

 

PS:  Also, Keltset - the mute troll from Sword of Shannara - is one of my favorite all-time fantasy characters.

[BarretWallace]

1 hour ago, Pariah said:

 

I am. I read the first book and remember thinking at the end, "Wow, this was a total rip-off of Tolkien." And then I read the second book and remember thinking at the end, "Wow, this was a total rip-off of the first book." I stopped reading after that.  

 

The Tolkien rip-off didn't hit me when I read Sword of Shannara, because I wouldn't read "Lord of the Rings" until many years later.  I also stopped after the second book because it felt like too much of a retread, plus I just lost interest in the Shannara setting after that.

[Iuz the Evil]

1 hour ago, Starlord said:

I still enjoyed Sword of Shannara and Elfstones of Shannara (even moreso) myself.  The quality went downhill after that IMO.  If you removed the 'fellowship goes on a quest' story and general Tolkien imitation from fantasy literature then pickings would get a little thin.  For example, I would never have gotten to read the brilliance that is the Belgariad and the Malloreon. 

 

PS:  Also, Keltset - the mute troll from Sword of Shannara - is one of my favorite all-time fantasy characters.

I’m rereading the Belgariad right now, one of my favorite series. So good.

[Lord Liaden]

IMO the thing that set The Belgariad apart from other fiction which treads the same ground is its self-awareness. The characters themselves understand that they're essentially in a story, with roles that have to be followed and conventions allowed to play out. They know who they're believed to be by people outside their story, but that that's not the same as who they really are.

 

To bring this back to the topic of the thread, most politicians today understand the conventions of the story they're part of, but have forgotten or don't care about their roles in it. They want to maintain that image to outsiders, but don't want to have to back it with action. Some of them seem to have mistaken their image for who they really are, and don't aspire to be anything more than image.

[Lord Liaden]

10 hours ago, Starlord said:

Man, it is rare that I agree with this idiot, but on this one I'm with him.  The federal minimum wage should absolutely not be on the Covid bill, nor should it more than double immediately.

 

 

 

 

The wind of projection from Graham onto the Democrats would blow my windows out. "They want to take over everything so they can promote their agenda."

 

One, the Democrats' proposal is to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025, not all at once. Second, the Republicans routinely included partisan extra items in their bills, insisting on everything or nothing being passed. Sometimes that's the only way to get legislation through a recalcitrant opposition. You can't expect the GOP to ever support raising the minimum wage by more than the most token amount if in a bill by itself, because that will impact the bottom line of their corporate donors. Third, people making minimum wage have been the hardest hit by COVID's economic impact, and are the most in need of assistance. Fourth, giving people in the lowest income bracket more money will mean they'll have more money to spend, and unlike the 1% they will spend it, because they need to. That puts money back into the economy.

[Old Man]

11 minutes ago, Lord Liaden said:

 

One, the Democrats' proposal is to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025, not all at once. Second, the Republicans routinely included partisan extra items in their bills, insisting on everything or nothing being passed. Sometimes that's the only way to get legislation through a recalcitrant opposition. You can't expect the GOP to ever support raising the minimum wage by more than the most token amount if in a bill by itself, because that will impact the bottom line of their corporate donors. Third, people making minimum wage have been the hardest hit by COVID's economic impact, and are the most in need of assistance. Fourth, giving people in the lowest income bracket more money will mean they'll have more money to spend, and unlike the 1% they will spend it, because they need to. That puts money back into the economy.

 

There is no evidence that even an abrupt minimum wage increase would cost a significant amount of jobs.  History suggests that it may cause prices to increase 1-2% without increasing overall inflation.  If there is any evidence to the contrary, I'd love to see it.

 

Such an increase would also go directly to the expendable essential factory workers, grocery store cashiers, fast food employees, and delivery drivers that have been most affected by the pandemic both medically and economically.

[archer]

I've done my rant on "how the lack of earmarks has increased the level of partisanship" several times over the last year.

 

Apparently the Democrats have been listening and are seriously considering restoring the ability to earmark in order to help get bipartisan legislation passed into law.  

 

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/24/house-freedom-caucus-opposes-earmarks-471344

[Lord Liaden]

1 hour ago, Old Man said:

 

There is no evidence that even an abrupt minimum wage increase would cost a significant amount of jobs.  History suggests that it may cause prices to increase 1-2% without increasing overall inflation.  If there is any evidence to the contrary, I'd love to see it.

 

Such an increase would also go directly to the expendable essential factory workers, grocery store cashiers, fast food employees, and delivery drivers that have been most affected by the pandemic both medically and economically.

 

The numbers I've seen quoted assert that labor costs are actually one of the smaller expenses for most small businesses. Rent, utilities, taxes, material/inventory costs, shipping and transportation, add up to the lion's share. Assistance or relief in a few of those areas would offset increased wages.

[wcw43921]

Capitol Hill Officer Details Racist Abuse During Mob Attack

[Cygnia]

Not a joke, not a prank nor satire

 

[TrickstaPriest]

29 minutes ago, Cygnia said:

Not a joke, not a prank nor satire

 

 

Literally why I've been posting the most doomer-y comments for the last four years.

[Pariah]

1 hour ago, Cygnia said:

Not a joke, not a prank nor satire

 

 

It seems pretty clear that the Evangelical Christians in attendance need a refresher on the topic of idolatry. The statue appears to have golden calves.

[archer]

46 minutes ago, Pariah said:

 

It seems pretty clear that the Evangelical Christians in attendance need a refresher on the topic of idolatry. The statue appears to have golden calves.

 

Yeah I saw that picture earlier today. A LOT of references to golden calves out there on social media.

 

And rightfully so.

[archer]

20 hours ago, Old Man said:

 

There is no evidence that even an abrupt minimum wage increase would cost a significant amount of jobs.  History suggests that it may cause prices to increase 1-2% without increasing overall inflation.  If there is any evidence to the contrary, I'd love to see it.

 

 

Are we currently living in normal historical times?

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/the-wave-of-covid-bankruptcies-has-begun/ar-BB1e2NdQ

[Dr. MID-Nite]

I'm so sick of the fallacy of "raising the minimum wage will hurt the economy". The evidence doesn't support this. Putting more money in the hands of more people has never been a negative.

[aylwin13]

2 minutes ago, Dr. MID-Nite said:

I'm so sick of the fallacy of "raising the minimum wage will hurt the economy". The evidence doesn't support this. Putting more money in the hands of more people has never been a negative.

Unless you're one of the "Haves". They want it all.

 

But I totally agree with you.

[csyphrett]

44 minutes ago, Dr. MID-Nite said:

I'm so sick of the fallacy of "raising the minimum wage will hurt the economy". The evidence doesn't support this. Putting more money in the hands of more people has never been a negative.

There is a lot of reasons for the belief, but mostly people don't realize wages have nothing to do with the price going up. They just think that's part of it when wages almost never go up unless it's for the executive staff at the head of the company.

 

CES