Gfted1

Yeah, I watched the rerun of the pilot episode last night and at the end when "Lola" took flight my wife looked at me, rolled her eyes and exclaimed "C'mon!".

I did now. Thank you good sir.

Thanks for the heads up Keyrock. Added FotAQ to my library because why not.

That's an excellent point and one I will try to remember.

First Bionic Leg Allows Mind to Control Movement in Study.

Agreed. I was just trying to illustrate that a person with no beginning advantages and a pretty huge disadvantage can carve out a decent middle class life through effort (and some good luck). I think a lot of people do "choose" to be homeless. Notwithstanding the hard luck cases where someone lost their job/died/whatever, I believe most homeless are in that condition due to their own actions, most commonly substance abuse of some kind. We already have programs to help people but at some point personal accountability has to rear its ugly head, imo.

Ive never heard of this company but Bundle Stars is offering four Commando games for $2.25.

I figured it was a mistake to post that.

I agree that being in the right place at the right time is beneficial but to discount individual effort falls flat imo. Ill use myself as an example. I grew up with nothing. NOTHING. My father died when I was 7 and my mother, who had only been a housewife up to this point, took the only job she knew how to do, she became a waitress at local diners. I never even had new clothes until high school. All of my clothes came from resale shops like Goodwill and Salvation Army. We were poor as hell. She died when I was 17 and I was on my own from that time. Apparently defying the odds, I managed to not turn to crime, hard drugs or homelessness. Am I some kind of unique case? Of course not. People do that every day. It would be an interesting counterpoint if being coddled by the state actually perpetuates the problem. Im not so sure JSFOCC would still be chillin at home at 27 if the mechanism wasn't in place to support that lifestyle. He would have been forced into action long before now. Possibly.

For me, reading that post was like looking at an alien world. Ill never understand why the successful should be penalized to take care of the unsuccessful. But on the bright side, as I advance to my twilight years, at least I too will be able to become a burden to my society. *sigh* That's not true, I responsibly have a retirement plan.

@JSFOCC: An informative post but doesn't it come down to the fact that they can no longer afford the "good old days" and now must make adjustments? I totally understand that everyone wants everything for free, but where does it come from? Inb4 someone mentions "the rich". Do you think continuously raising taxes to pay for all your social programs is a sustainable model, even in a country as small as yours?

That's sounds like a pretty good motivation then and you can never go wrong getting an education. Why is Denmark trying to cut the program?

I see, you've moved the goalposts from aircraft carriers to the entire defense budget of the country. Seems legit.

What are you talking about? The total military defense budget was 660 billion.

At least do me the solid of having your facts straight instead of trying to score internet points by bashing the US. The most recent aircraft carrier, the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77), "only" costs 6.2 billion to manufacture. Or about .62% the cost of the TRILLION dollar UHC. We could scrap the entire fleet and still not pay for this.

That and your system, administration, mindset etc is just not geared to a European model.. No matter how much we wanna pimp it True. Im always a bit surprised when people assume that because it works in little countries, it will work in big countries. It takes you guys the highest tax rates in the world just to be able to provide for ~6 million people, and that's only half the population of Illinois alone. As a wise man once said: "We contend that for a nation to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle."

Or maybe 250 million less population?

*sigh* Obamacare only transfers the cost from those that cant pay to those that are being forced to pay for them. It does not change where you go for medical attention. @JFSOCC: Being that you live in a country that offers free university, could you then get in on that once you complete your HS equivalency exam?

Not unless its an AK-47.

I don't know about today, but back in the day there were different physical tests for males and females (Navy), with the female test being less rigorous. Not that you need to be in great shape for the Navy anyway. Probably the same for most branches.

Anyone else watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine? I missed the first episode but the second was on last night and got a few chuckles out of me.

A variant of scenario 2 is already in the game:

Huh, thanks.

Isnt it down to the three of you now (you, mom, dad)? Are your parents really haggling with you over that?

Wait, there is an alternate ending to the movie Scarface? Spoil me. The ending I know is where he introduces everyone to his little friend and winds up floating face down in his fountain. Whats the alternate?