It takes a generation or two to expend the accumulated wealth of a country, but the European social welfare states are well on their way. I wouldn't be so sanguine about the condition of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, Belgium, etc...you are talking about dying nations.
Generally speaking, the only people making minimum wage are kids in high school.
If you are out of high school and still making minimum wage, chances are good you are too fucking dumb to ever be anything but a ward of the state.
You know your janitors and cashiers? They typically make about double minimum wage. Waitresses make less, true, but typically way make up for it in tips.
The only thing pushing the minimum wage up does is increase unemployment and raise consumer prices. You can't "mandate" a living wage requirement out of the economy because in the end, you are putting the shackles of slavery on someone else to provide it for the person who doesn't economically merit it. In the end, you get Communist Russia, where the state pretends to pay you, and you pretend to work and things slowly but surely fall apart.
Consider this: from the 40's to the mid 60s, the top income tax rate in the US and most western European countries was above 80%; and yet that was the time when those economies grew the faster.
Uh, yeah, that's because Western Europe was recovering from WW2...relative growth rates look great after your country's infrastructure has been bombed back to 1850's levels and you start rebuilding.
And it's about as relevant as the fact that the stock market usually goes up the year after an NFC team wins the Superbowl. Correlation isn't causation.
In another incident: ROKITA LAUNCHES ACORN PROBE: Indianaâ(TM)s top elections official is calling for an investigation into more than 2,000 invalid voter registrations filed in Lake County by ACORN, a nonprofit group cited for similar problems in other states (Times of Northwest Indiana). Secretary of State Todd Rokita said he has âoesecured credible evidence of fraudâ and sent letters Friday asking the Indiana attorney general and Lake County prosecutor to join him in launching a review. Rokita said he also contacted federal prosecutors. âoeThere looks to be some felonious actions taken here,â Rokita told reporters. âoeI think the message to the voters and taxpayers of this state is that weâ(TM)re watching, and weâ(TM)re not going to tolerate the kind of behavior in the state.â ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, said it has registered more than 1.3 million voters nationwide, including more than 23,000 in Indiana. The group, which supports Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, claims it is being unfairly persecuted. âoeWe ourselves identified approximately 2,100 cards in Lake County that we believe were problematic,â ACORN spokesman Brian Kettenring said Friday. âoeWe are the victim here because we have identified the problem, and now certain interests are turning that information against us.â Kettenring said most states require groups to turn in every voter registration solicited, which is why ACORN separated the suspect registration forms. One form bore the name of a Gary man who died last year while another attempted to register the Jimmy Johnâ(TM)s sandwich shop in Crown Point. Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Dan Parker dismissed the call to action by Rokita, a Republican, as partisan âoefear mongering.â
Yeah, that's real legal and above board. Now I know what you mean by "your democracy". It's where you get to vote many times in the same election you fraudulent piece of shit.
Hey, this is something I'd prefer to be wrong about. But given the giddy anticipation with which Democrats have been vandalizing Republican campaign offices and homes with McCain/Palin signs, executing voting fraud in at least 10 states via their get out the vote wing Acorn, and talking about re-imposing the Fairness Doctrine, I think very soon we are going to see what a Democratic run thugocracy looks like.
Well, since the election looks like it's going your way, we'll see if Democrats follow through. I'm betting though that once they get power they are going to like the trappings of power ala Napolean the pig in Animal Farm. Their justification of course, will be that they are oppressing us in the name of the little people instead of national security.
I understand what you are saying, and what I'm saying is that genes and populations will always optimize to their environment or they will otherwise go extinct, and therefore they are always getting "better", even if that means that comparatively, individuals are not as strong or smart as previous generations.
I've thought for some time that evolution in humans must be stagnating
The problem with this concept is genes don't give a damn what you or I think. They evolve regardless, and "fitness" is simply a measure of how many viable offspring you generate to continue on your genes. So getting bigger, stronger, faster, and smarter is useless unless it helps you have more babies that in turn grow to adulthood and have babies themselves.
No, it's illegal to conduct campaign business on a government account, which is probably why she was using a Yahoo account for that stuff rather than her governor account. Actually shows that Palin has respect for the law, the reverse of what Palin's critics are asserting.
On a side note, I'm a Constitutionalist, and would be voting for Senator Dr. Paul, if I were given that chance on the Republican ticket. As it is, I'm voting Obama. Although he clearly does not share most of my Constitutional values; I believe he may be the most important political figurehead of my lifetime.
By that rational, you would vote for Hitler (or Stalin) then, even though he may not share your views, he was the most important figure of the period? The cognitive dissonance from a supposed Constitutionalist is staggering.
when your political enemies run the media as a propaganda arm of their party, then whistle innocently or cry "tinfoil hat" when anyone points out the obvious.
I take it you mean ABC News (Gibson, Stepehanopolis), MSNBC (Matthews, Olberman), CBS (Couric and Dan Rather and the whole 60 minutes Crew), or CNN (run by the noted evil conservative Republican Ted Turner).
When your political enemies create "free speech zones", and their partisan court appointees uphold the obvious constitutional breach
You mean like at the DNC convention (http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2004/07/64349)?
When your political enemies engage in domestic surveillance which makes watergate look like piss in the ocean.
Like the surveillance committed by those evil right wing Republicans Franklin Delano Roosevelt (http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=9790) and Lyndon Baines Johnson (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,912799,00.html)
When your political enemies give rise to a multi-billion dollar industry of astroturfing campaign firms trying to "manufacture" "public support" for their intolerant, totalitarian positions.
You mean like the rise of the 527's like MoveOn.Org?
The problem with this, and I see it a lot in technical people (since I used to have the same bias), is the assumption that a manager has to know technology as well as the developers in order to be an effective manager. No, to be an effective manager you have to know how to manage things (people, risk, schedules, resources, budgets). You don't need to know how to properly dereference a pointer to be an effective technology manager, especially once you get to the VP and CEO level. And the VP of BMW doesn't need to know how to fix a carburetor. It's not an essential skill of his job responsibilities.
This is Slashkos, I mean Slashdot. Any time you reference a Republican in a post and are not viciously attacking them, ipso facto it's because you are an evil neo-con yourself. Therefore, people feel compelled to post qualifiers* if they do not consider themselves evil neo-cons.
Slashdot Mirror
Obama is not a normal Dem, he is a moderate in many ways
Many ways? I challenge you to name one.
You should take that money and put it in the market.
It takes a generation or two to expend the accumulated wealth of a country, but the European social welfare states are well on their way. I wouldn't be so sanguine about the condition of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, Belgium, etc...you are talking about dying nations.
Generally speaking, the only people making minimum wage are kids in high school.
If you are out of high school and still making minimum wage, chances are good you are too fucking dumb to ever be anything but a ward of the state.
You know your janitors and cashiers? They typically make about double minimum wage. Waitresses make less, true, but typically way make up for it in tips.
The only thing pushing the minimum wage up does is increase unemployment and raise consumer prices. You can't "mandate" a living wage requirement out of the economy because in the end, you are putting the shackles of slavery on someone else to provide it for the person who doesn't economically merit it. In the end, you get Communist Russia, where the state pretends to pay you, and you pretend to work and things slowly but surely fall apart.
Nice analysis. Now tell me why the Euro and the British Pound are tanking against the US dollar?
Consider this: from the 40's to the mid 60s, the top income tax rate in the US and most western European countries was above 80%; and yet that was the time when those economies grew the faster.
Uh, yeah, that's because Western Europe was recovering from WW2...relative growth rates look great after your country's infrastructure has been bombed back to 1850's levels and you start rebuilding.
And it's about as relevant as the fact that the stock market usually goes up the year after an NFC team wins the Superbowl. Correlation isn't causation.
Yeah, ACORN's registration procedures are so rigorous and legal they paid a teenager to register 73 times
In another incident:
ROKITA LAUNCHES ACORN PROBE: Indianaâ(TM)s top elections official is calling for an investigation into more than 2,000 invalid voter registrations filed in Lake County by ACORN, a nonprofit group cited for similar problems in other states (Times of Northwest Indiana). Secretary of State Todd Rokita said he has âoesecured credible evidence of fraudâ and sent letters Friday asking the Indiana attorney general and Lake County prosecutor to join him in launching a review. Rokita said he also contacted federal prosecutors. âoeThere looks to be some felonious actions taken here,â Rokita told reporters. âoeI think the message to the voters and taxpayers of this state is that weâ(TM)re watching, and weâ(TM)re not going to tolerate the kind of behavior in the state.â ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, said it has registered more than 1.3 million voters nationwide, including more than 23,000 in Indiana. The group, which supports Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, claims it is being unfairly persecuted. âoeWe ourselves identified approximately 2,100 cards in Lake County that we believe were problematic,â ACORN spokesman Brian Kettenring said Friday. âoeWe are the victim here because we have identified the problem, and now certain interests are turning that information against us.â Kettenring said most states require groups to turn in every voter registration solicited, which is why ACORN separated the suspect registration forms. One form bore the name of a Gary man who died last year while another attempted to register the Jimmy Johnâ(TM)s sandwich shop in Crown Point. Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Dan Parker dismissed the call to action by Rokita, a Republican, as partisan âoefear mongering.â
Yeah, that's real legal and above board. Now I know what you mean by "your democracy". It's where you get to vote many times in the same election you fraudulent piece of shit.
Hey, this is something I'd prefer to be wrong about. But given the giddy anticipation with which Democrats have been vandalizing Republican campaign offices and homes with McCain/Palin signs, executing voting fraud in at least 10 states via their get out the vote wing Acorn, and talking about re-imposing the Fairness Doctrine, I think very soon we are going to see what a Democratic run thugocracy looks like.
Well, since the election looks like it's going your way, we'll see if Democrats follow through. I'm betting though that once they get power they are going to like the trappings of power ala Napolean the pig in Animal Farm. Their justification of course, will be that they are oppressing us in the name of the little people instead of national security.
Well, it should make you happy then that all that fascist infrastructure the Republicans built will soon be in the hands of Democrats.
The Inventor(s) of Mortgage Backed Securities Should be found and put on trial immediately.
What legal offense are you going to try them with? Or is this to be a Stalin-esque show trial where the verdict and sentence is known beforehand?
I understand what you are saying, and what I'm saying is that genes and populations will always optimize to their environment or they will otherwise go extinct, and therefore they are always getting "better", even if that means that comparatively, individuals are not as strong or smart as previous generations.
I've thought for some time that evolution in humans must be stagnating
The problem with this concept is genes don't give a damn what you or I think. They evolve regardless, and "fitness" is simply a measure of how many viable offspring you generate to continue on your genes. So getting bigger, stronger, faster, and smarter is useless unless it helps you have more babies that in turn grow to adulthood and have babies themselves.
And you reply might be appropriate if you had any proof whatsoever that she used a yahoo account for government work.
Evolution of a species only stops with extinction. Period.
No, it's illegal to conduct campaign business on a government account, which is probably why she was using a Yahoo account for that stuff rather than her governor account. Actually shows that Palin has respect for the law, the reverse of what Palin's critics are asserting.
We don't call it Slashkos for no reason.
You can arrest a police officer even the president if you want to
Good luck with that.
Don't try and confuse a liberal with facts.
On a side note, I'm a Constitutionalist, and would be voting for Senator Dr. Paul, if I were given that chance on the Republican ticket. As it is, I'm voting Obama. Although he clearly does not share most of my Constitutional values; I believe he may be the most important political figurehead of my lifetime.
By that rational, you would vote for Hitler (or Stalin) then, even though he may not share your views, he was the most important figure of the period? The cognitive dissonance from a supposed Constitutionalist is staggering.
She's already in trouble with troopergate.
No she isn't. Alaskan Attorney General has said the current investigation by the Democratic run Alaskan assembly is illegal.
She fired an employee that works at the pleasure of the Governor.
The employee never filed suit for wrongful termination.
The trooper in question has never filed suit for wrongful termination.
The only people alleging wrongful termination are the Democrats in Alaska who want to pull an October surprise for Obama.
when your political enemies run the media as a propaganda arm of their party, then whistle innocently or cry "tinfoil hat" when anyone points out the obvious.
I take it you mean ABC News (Gibson, Stepehanopolis), MSNBC (Matthews, Olberman), CBS (Couric and Dan Rather and the whole 60 minutes Crew), or CNN (run by the noted evil conservative Republican Ted Turner).
When your political enemies create "free speech zones", and their partisan court appointees uphold the obvious constitutional breach
You mean like at the DNC convention (http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2004/07/64349)?
When your political enemies engage in domestic surveillance which makes watergate look like piss in the ocean.
Like the surveillance committed by those evil right wing Republicans Franklin Delano Roosevelt (http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=9790) and Lyndon Baines Johnson (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,912799,00.html)
When your political enemies give rise to a multi-billion dollar industry of astroturfing campaign firms trying to "manufacture" "public support" for their intolerant, totalitarian positions.
You mean like the rise of the 527's like MoveOn.Org?
The problem with this, and I see it a lot in technical people (since I used to have the same bias), is the assumption that a manager has to know technology as well as the developers in order to be an effective manager. No, to be an effective manager you have to know how to manage things (people, risk, schedules, resources, budgets). You don't need to know how to properly dereference a pointer to be an effective technology manager, especially once you get to the VP and CEO level. And the VP of BMW doesn't need to know how to fix a carburetor. It's not an essential skill of his job responsibilities.
This is Slashkos, I mean Slashdot. Any time you reference a Republican in a post and are not viciously attacking them, ipso facto it's because you are an evil neo-con yourself. Therefore, people feel compelled to post qualifiers* if they do not consider themselves evil neo-cons.
* I am an evil neo-con.