tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post2416559862091900200..comments2023-10-24T09:06:30.200-04:00Comments on No More Mister Nice Blog: Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11963290427258439242noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-13262575344363411332012-01-12T18:06:07.890-05:002012-01-12T18:06:07.890-05:00I did too -- when I could comment at all, which wa...I did too -- when I could comment at all, which wasn't always. (Plus, this doesn't cost ten bucks a month.)Steve M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11963290427258439242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-75484189838889481232012-01-12T15:47:34.144-05:002012-01-12T15:47:34.144-05:00i liked being able to respond directly to other co...i liked being able to respond directly to other comments and "liking" them.teadousthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03426356680135077754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-13004866932843517612012-01-12T15:12:41.075-05:002012-01-12T15:12:41.075-05:00I thought everyone thought my old comment system s...I thought everyone thought my old comment system sucked.Steve M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11963290427258439242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-69510704260791875232012-01-12T15:05:18.411-05:002012-01-12T15:05:18.411-05:00it's me, dammit! and i don't much care for...it's me, dammit! and i don't much care for your new commenting system either. dammit!teadousthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03426356680135077754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-42924672915353197872012-01-12T15:03:57.507-05:002012-01-12T15:03:57.507-05:00hey! i go away for a few months and now nobody'...hey! i go away for a few months and now nobody's using caps? what the hell?jazz loverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18068458708795337844noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-23459760647310207422012-01-12T12:33:57.228-05:002012-01-12T12:33:57.228-05:00@ gracchus: spot on with the definitions, if only ...@ gracchus: spot on with the definitions, if only the options were framed that way by our media or the politicans themselves. and try that with a conservative, when discussing, say, denmark. 'they pay 50% in taxes' is all they hear, and not 'they have universal healthcare, universal university, a healthy economy, everyone owns a home, and they are consistently at the top of the charts when it comes to upward mobility and the happiness index.' people can't get past the taxes.proverbialleadballoonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11592049897382920314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-23743439488014650452012-01-12T12:22:56.865-05:002012-01-12T12:22:56.865-05:00i'm in agreement with the last paragraph of th...i'm in agreement with the last paragraph of the post. the real problem (one of them, anyway) is that no real honest discussion can be had, when the 'two choices' are framed liberal and conservative, when in reality the two choices are center-right and far-right. we've allowed the right to dictate the terms and play the game on their home turf. until the frame is pulled back to the left, we're screwed.<br /><br />of course, i don't have any ideas how to do this. the media is complicit in the game-rigging. president obama can't have an honest talk about what socialism really is or why certain european economies are doing fine while the rest of europe looks like it will tank sometime this year. his critics could easily say, see we were right all along. so the point needs to be made somewhere lower, but does anyone have faith that it will happen in congress, or at the state level? i don't.<br /><br />when i identify myself as a socialist (social democrat, really, but that entails more explanation), it is usually effective. the conservative with whom i am speaking actually has to process 'wait, he doesn't want to destroy america'. but that is on a personal level. so maybe we need to take this sh!t personal, fight the good fight person to person. but that could take years and cost millions of lives...i think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part, and we're just the guys to do it.<br /><br />really though, i think this is where occupy comes in. playing the game outside of the lines and not co-opted by the big money boys. person to person, one at a time, change minds. it'll take years, maybe a generation, but then, as gulag points out, this has been forty years in the making, so one can't expect it to be fixed overnight. the demographics are in our favor, it's just going to take a long time. so, as long as we don't destroy ourselves between now and 2028, everything should be cool. :)proverbialleadballoonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11592049897382920314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-32588784876790412292012-01-12T12:11:30.487-05:002012-01-12T12:11:30.487-05:00Actually, capitalism is an intrinsically evil syst...Actually, capitalism is an intrinsically evil system.<br /><br />It selects a few to be owners and the rest to be proles and then empowers the few to organize the entire economy in such a way as to maximally exploit the proles, the measure being profit to the owners.<br /><br />Democratic socialism, on the other hand, seeks to organize production in such as way as to maximally satisfy the needs and desires of the ordinary people of the nation.<br /><br />Progressivism seeks to regulate capitalism in such a way as to bring the economy closer to those aimed at by democratic socialism.<br /><br />Conservatism seeks to resist or nullify any such effort, maximizing the ability of the few propertied (the capitalist class) to exploit the many (the propertyless, proletarian class) to their own profit.<br /><br />Go ahead.<br /><br />Choose.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-21607938977614123092012-01-12T11:49:23.574-05:002012-01-12T11:49:23.574-05:00If I were Obama, I would take MITT 3.0 at his word...If I were Obama, I would take MITT 3.0 at his word when he says he And Bain Capitol created 100,000′s of jobs.<br />I’m sure he did:<br />In Mexico.<br />Central and South America.<br />China.<br />India.<br />Thailand.<br />Vietnam.<br />Pakistan.<br />The Philippines.<br />Etc.<br /><br />After all, MITT 3.0 has never specified that he helped create “American” jobs. Just – jobs.<br /><br />Back to your original point - Bain is a highly secretive company which will not, like Mitt, disclose its finances. So, reporters who aren't lazy, stupid, ignorant, compliant, or complicit, will have a tough time finding out the "NET" jobs that Mitt and Bain may have created. Plus, or minus. <br />And, since they won't be able to provide alternative numbers, this is likely to work to Mitt's advantage.<br /><br />In reality, if you really think about it, it's amazing that this country has survived as long as it has with an uninterested voter base full of stupid/ignorant voters, corrupt voting laws, procedures and restrictions, the amount of money in politics, and how, except for about 40+ years, everything has been gamed for the rich to get richer, and the poor and the middle to fight for table scraps from the tables of the rich.<br /><br />The glory of this nation was from a few years right after The Great Depression and WWII up until Reagan was put in to dismantle that glory with a charming smile and a sunny disposition, all the better help him and the people behind him mask the murderous instincts of the professional assassins and sociopathic country-killers who were behind him.<br /><br />And the great unraveling continues...c u n d gulaghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00875369227763250574noreply@blogger.com