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Guard Dog

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Posts posted by Guard Dog

    George Michael, RIP at 53

    in Way Off-Topic

    Posted

     

    2017 can't come soon enough.

    Don't think it's gonna get better - a lot of the superstars are from boom generations of the 50s-60s and they're getting older. It's risky to be 50+ especially with a career of late nights, drugs and drinking.

     

    Unless you're Keith Richards

     

    That guy has been dead for years. He is the walking proof that necromancy is real.

    • Like 3

    NFL 2016 Season

    in Way Off-Topic

    Posted

    After that loss to New Orleans I turned off football altogether. I just couldn't watch I was so upset. Which meant I missed the excellent Steelers Ravens game but oh well. 

     

    Tampa can't win their way in and the road is so convoluted it's safe to say they are done. The Cowboys must beat the Lions tonight.  The Bucs need to beat Carolina which is doable. The Lions need to beat Green Bay. A bit of a longshot but not impossible. And the Redskins and Giants game needs to end in a tie. Yep. A tie. But that's the only way the Bucs get all the 9-7 tiebreakers. 

     

    Like I said, that loss to the Saints was very upsetting. 

    New Scientific Discoveries, Part Deux

    in Way Off-Topic

    Posted

    The rover Curiosity has found boron in Martian rocks. Boron is pretty rare here on earth comprising less than .01% of the crust. It's only found on the surface where it's solubility led to deposits by falling water levels.  That is has been found on the Marian surface is yet more evidence that Mars once had liquid water on it's surface. That can only means it's atmosphere was once much more dense and the sun was once much more intense. Since Mars gets 40% less energy from the Sun than the Earth does I wonder is there was any scenario that allowed liquid water to exist on Mars & Earth simultaneously? I'd guess not.

     

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/nasa-curiosity-discovers-boron-mars-053220215.html

    • Like 1

    Politics 2016

    in Way Off-Topic

    Posted

     

    Roger Cohen of the New York Times wrote another 1300 words on how the sky is falling. Perhaps it even is. But it didn't JUST start happening with Brexit as he says without saying. He is lamenting the death of liberalism and the rise or authoritarianism. In the US for people of his ilk that begins with the election of Trump. While I will agree Trump is telegraphing a definite authoritarian bent (remember he has not take office yet so who knows) Cohen absolutely ignores the authoritarian leaving office. Barack Obama has been the most illiberal (in the classic sense of the word) US President since maybe FDR. I can not think of a single instance in nearly eight years where he was a champion of individual rights and liberty over his perception of "public good" (which is Democrat code for government power).   

     

    Can anyone help me out here? Can anyone think of a single instance where Obama came down of the site of the individual over the desires of the State or body politic?

     

    Anyway here is Cohen's latest anxiety attack if you want to read it. http://www.

     

    Roger Cohen of the New York Times wrote another 1300 words on how the sky is falling. Perhaps it even is. But it didn't JUST start happening with Brexit as he says without saying. He is lamenting the death of liberalism and the rise or authoritarianism. In the US for people of his ilk that begins with the election of Trump. While I will agree Trump is telegraphing a definite authoritarian bent (remember he has not take office yet so who knows) Cohen absolutely ignores the authoritarian leaving office. Barack Obama has been the most illiberal (in the classic sense of the word) US President since maybe FDR. I can not think of a single instance in nearly eight years where he was a champion of individual rights and liberty over his perception of "public good" (which is Democrat code for government power).   

     

    Can anyone help me out here? Can anyone think of a single instance where Obama came down of the site of the individual over the desires of the State or body politic?

     

    Anyway here is Cohen's latest anxiety attack if you want to read it. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/opinion/the-rage-of-2016.html?WT.mc_id=2016-KWP-AUD_DEV&WT.mc_ev=click&ad-keywords=AUDDEVREMARK&kwp_0=288852&kwp_4=1109865&kwp_1=513968&_r=0

     

    I still firmly believe that history will remember Obama very positively, he did a lot for the USA but its not his time now. We need to discuss Trump

     

     

    I'm not so sure on this one. It's going to take the passage of time before we get a good feel for Obama's impact on history. Even with George W Bush it's still to early to really say. Although it's not looking good for him. One thing we do know about Obama, he spent a lot of the taxpayers money. He added $7.917 Trillion to the national debt. That isn't how much he spent, that is how much he spent that created unfunded liabilities. A 68% increase over George W Bush. he has added more debt in real dollars that all 43 previous Presidents before him combined. And he did this after cutting defense spending (the largest single category) by 15% per year, every year after 2011. That is a problem. A big problem that will need to be solved. The Affordable Care Act was supposed to be budget neutral and was actually supposed to reduce the debt by $140B or so per year. That didn't happen. Quite the opposite. So economically (at least in terms of things he can control) we are in a worse position. Some things are better. Total tax revenues are up which means the tax base is larger than when he took office. That is definitely a positive. And that is after he cut taxes at least eight times (in different areas). But the net result with unfunded debt is a negative.

     

    His signature achievement is the ACA. It made affordable healthcare available for the 30 million or so Americans who had no health coverage before the law passed. But the down side is by subsidizing their costs he made it unaffordable for four times that many  and indeed cost many hard working Americans their employer provided coverage and even their employment as companies struggled to cover the drastically increased costs. I can speak to that personally. It was one of the conditions that led to me losing my job a few years ago. Whatever else you might say about the ACA, it cannot be denied it is hugely unpopular and the promise to stop and replace it was a big factor in the Republicans electoral success. I think it's safe to say it's days are numbered which will not bode well for his historical legacy.

     

    One other thing that must be considered is this. In 2008 when he was elected President the Democrat Party Controlled 235 of the 433 seats in the House of Representatives. 59 of 100 seats in the Senate (a year later it would be 60, a filibuster proof Supermajority), and 27 of 50 states were entirely controlled by the Democrats (Governor, Secretary, and State Legislatures). The Democrats had majority control (Governor and split legislatures ) in another nine states. The Republicans had total control or split control in just 14 states. Since then the Democrat Party has lost over 900 seats in State Legislatures, The Republican Party has complete control of 33 States and split control of eight more. The Democrats have complete control of California, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Hawaii. That is it. In the south and midwest the Democrat legislative minorities are so small that in some states the party has essentially ceased to exist as a political force. That is a complete and total repudiation of the Democrat brand no matter how you look at it. As the de facto leader of the Democrats and the standard bearer for the Party that has to be lain on Barack Obama's door.

     

    Like I said, it's too early to say how history will actually remember him. But right now it isn't looking good.

    • Like 1

    Politics 2016

    in Way Off-Topic

    Posted

    @ Bruce & Hurlshot

     

    I've changed my mind a little bit about Obgerfell. Not about whether Gay Marriage should be allowed mind you. Consenting adults should be free to live their lives in any way that seems best to them. Rather I've changed my mind on Obgerfell being a judicial overreach and in violation of the 10th Amendment. A marriage, when you get right down to it, is a contract. And the regulation of contracts is the purview of State governments which means the 10th Amendment should prohibit any Federal interference if a State like California lawfully votes not to permit a particular type of contract. So on that note alone the 6th Circuit Court and the SCOTUS would have been wrong to even hear the case once the Ohio (where the main plaintiff originally filed IIRC)  Supreme Court ruled against them.

     

    But here is the thing, a marriage contract is not just between two people. The state is also involved because there are tax and civil benefits provided to the participants by the state. Now there is a clause in Article 4 of the US Constitution called the Full Faith and Credit clause that directs all states to honor the judicial proceeding and public acts of every other state. Well if a marriage is a judicial proceeding (it is) and the State is a participatory of that proceeding (it is) then a gay couple married in Hawaii would have to have their marriage recognized by other States like Ohio. Otherwise it becomes a 14th Amendment issue which is the hook the court hung it's hat on when it ruled in Obgerfell.

     

    That decision was more of a compromise than a "do the right thing" kind of act. You could either have it everywhere or have it nowhere. The court decided it was less disruptive and legally sound to permit it everywhere because that was the way the wind was blowing anyway. In another 10 years it would have been legal everywhere anyway.

     

    But there was another way to go that I wish had been considered. Get the government out of marriage altogether. If the state was not in the business of sanctioning and rewarding marriages none of this would have happened. If a marriage was nothing more than an agreement between to adults of legal age there would have been complete equality not just among married couples but also between married and unmarried individuals. The only reason this was a problem is the governments involvement in it. Extract that one detail and it would always have been legal. Free people should not have to ask the State's permission to enter an agreement. Even if the granting was assured and the process just a formality it rubs me the wrong way.

     

    Just my $.02

    • Like 2

    Politics 2016

    in Way Off-Topic

    Posted

    Roger Cohen of the New York Times wrote another 1300 words on how the sky is falling. Perhaps it even is. But it didn't JUST start happening with Brexit as he says without saying. He is lamenting the death of liberalism and the rise or authoritarianism. In the US for people of his ilk that begins with the election of Trump. While I will agree Trump is telegraphing a definite authoritarian bent (remember he has not take office yet so who knows) Cohen absolutely ignores the authoritarian leaving office. Barack Obama has been the most illiberal (in the classic sense of the word) US President since maybe FDR. I can not think of a single instance in nearly eight years where he was a champion of individual rights and liberty over his perception of "public good" (which is Democrat code for government power).   

     

    Can anyone help me out here? Can anyone think of a single instance where Obama came down of the site of the individual over the desires of the State or body politic?

     

    Anyway here is Cohen's latest anxiety attack if you want to read it. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/opinion/the-rage-of-2016.html?WT.mc_id=2016-KWP-AUD_DEV&WT.mc_ev=click&ad-keywords=AUDDEVREMARK&kwp_0=288852&kwp_4=1109865&kwp_1=513968&_r=0

    Politics 2016

    in Way Off-Topic

    Posted

     

     

    Obama's press conference was interesting. He was mostly reasonable, trying to stabilize a borderline hysterical political situation. Then he dropped a big ol' truth bomb about fake news that I don't think the lefty media liked. He also stated clearly that Russia did not hack the actual voting process, but simply hacked into the DNC. A distinction that had to be made. Once in a while the guy impresses me.

    Kenyans are impressive people.

     

    He is not Kenyan, he was born in the USA...surely you must be aware of this?

     

    4339467.jpg

    Politics 2016

    in Way Off-Topic

    Posted

    Did you even read the article you just linked?

    Yes I did. He is a master of saying it without saying it. Like this little quote:

     

    "It’s somebody not getting called back for an interview, although it’s never explicit. Or it’s, you know, who gets the TV acting job, the actress who doesn’t quite look the part, and what does that mean? And in that environment, where you’re not talking necessarily about cut and dried racist behavior, but rather about the complex ways in which society is working these issues through"

     

    Gotcha. Anytime something goes against a minority the underlying cause was the racism we don't even know we have. And yes... he really does think that. And I think he also truly believes in his heart that the only reason anyone ever opposed one of his policy ideas is because of latent or overt racism. I believe he is arrogant enough to actually think he is so right no one could possibly disagree without some nefarious motive or fatal character flaw. 

     

    For myself I had nothing against him on the day he took office. But by 2009 I despised him. The love of liberty and individual rights and freedom does not abide within that man. I will be happy to see the back of him next month. 

    Politics 2016

    in Way Off-Topic

    Posted

     

     

     

     

    Congress has to shoulder some of that too, if so.

    No because the Congress did exactly what it was elected to do... Stop Obama. Do you really think millions of voters elected a solid Republican majority starting in 2010 to go to Washington and help that man? They were sent there to stop him. And they did for the most part.

     

    And ignore fixing any problems in the process?

     

    He wasn't fixing anything.. He was lurching from one bad idea to the next and openly suggesting anyone who disagreed was a racist. As it happens he did work with the Republican Congress a little bit. He still got his bloated spending resolutions through twice a year. But under him the IRS have become "thought police", the .NSA is spying on Americans, US Veterans are considered terrorists, when your unemployment benefits run out you become an un-person, the ACA has made healthcare affordable for 30 million people by making it unaffordable for 500 million, and don't even get me started on the VA, BLM, executive orders, and the courts. And that is just some of the domestic stuff. How much "fixing" do you think a liberty loving people will tolerate?

     

    Yeah ok chief, but with regards to the problem in Volo's scenario - how is that not Congress' job to guard the electoral process from outside interference.

     

    No it isn't. But it is Congress's job to be a check on the President and the Supreme Court. Just like it's the Supreme Court's job to be a check on Congress and the President. And it's the President's job to be a check on the Court and the Congress. The US Government is actually a beautifully designed system and people complain how it isn't working at all is actually when it is working at it's best. 

    Politics 2016

    in Way Off-Topic

    Posted

     

     

    Congress has to shoulder some of that too, if so.

    No because the Congress did exactly what it was elected to do... Stop Obama. Do you really think millions of voters elected a solid Republican majority starting in 2010 to go to Washington and help that man? They were sent there to stop him. And they did for the most part.

    And ignore fixing any problems in the process?

     

    He wasn't fixing anything.. He was lurching from one bad idea to the next and openly suggesting anyone who disagreed was a racist. As it happens he did work with the Republican Congress a little bit. He still got his bloated spending resolutions through twice a year. But under him the IRS have become "thought police", the .NSA is spying on Americans, US Veterans are considered terrorists, when your unemployment benefits run out you become an un-person, the ACA has made healthcare affordable for 30 million people by making it unaffordable for 500 million, and don't even get me started on the VA, BLM, executive orders, and the courts. And that is just some of the domestic stuff. How much "fixing" do you think a liberty loving people will tolerate?

    • Like 1

    Politics 2016

    in Way Off-Topic

    Posted

    Congress has to shoulder some of that too, if so.

    No because the Congress did exactly what it was elected to do... Stop Obama. Do you really think millions of voters elected a solid Republican majority starting in 2010 to go to Washington and help that man? They were sent there to stop him. And they did for the most part.

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