Phi for All

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Welfare is available as a survival option before stealing. Once again you resort to Misleading Vividness. This is a strawman that doesn't even address what we were talking about, which was lowering labor costs and tax strategies. This shows me you're not interested in a discussion. You are on a soapbox and want to shout down detractors with canned arguments. The Consumer Confidence Index is put out by the Conference Board, a not-for-profit organization that assesses trends and conducts research on business and marketplaces worldwide. We weren't talking about a prosperous economy just then, but it's interesting that you don't think the economy is prosperous just now. We were talking about consumer debt as opposed to workers not being able to afford to buy goods, and I was pointing out that buying goods and services is what builds consumer debt. People take advantage of credit for a variety of reasons and many of them are valid. Where do you get your sources? Here is a report put out by The Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy. It is called Corporate Taxes in the Bush Years and is very slanted against the current administration. In a study of 275 companies they found less than 30% that had been able to use loopholes to pay no taxes. What witchhunt did you find to cite 60%? I'm not a huge fan of mega-corporations, but it's not because of their strategies. I don't like the the fact that the bigger they grow the more they tend to stifle entrepreneurialism and I worry that prices will be affected adversely if only three or four monster mega-corps get to decide what's offered to me. That's an example of drilling down to a very specific concern. PLEASE put your shotgun away.

Absolutely. A 2007 Porsche 911 Turbo 997, a 10-year supply of petrol and a set of steak knives. Do I even need to say it?

And there is always a place for religious education, in church. There should also be places for a secular education, in public schools.

Bad, bad, BAD idea. This is exactly what creationists want and why they've repackaged their religious beliefs into ID "science". They have called it science and when science refutes it they now say there is a controversy and that both sides should be taught, IN THE SCIENCE CLASSROOMS. How much time will this detract from teaching, oh say, SCIENCE?!? How much validity will be lent to ID by raising it to the same level? Science is about the observable and testable and religion is about the unobservable and faith. They shouldn't cancel each other out and they should not be used to support or negate one another.

Stalk her, write love poems in your own blood on Post-its and stick them on her locker. Are we back to reality now? Have we had a giggle? A nervous snicker perhaps? Good ('cause I was kidding about the blood part). You've done nothing wrong, but you either shocked her or made her face something she knew but wasn't ready to acknowledge. You shouldn't be afraid to approach her and tell her 1. You're not sorry you told her the truth 2. You respect the fact she doesn't feel the same way 3. You're willing to give her time to recover but you want your friendship back - definitely different, damaged perhaps, but honest and out in the open Friendships change and grow. You can get over being in love with her but you can't NOT love her. She's your best friend and she deserves to know that you value that more than anything else she may be to you. OK, I've done my Dear Abby for the day.

But since the lost tax revenue either means the rest of us have to pick it up or we do without other budget items (where would this administration make the cuts?), then I would like more of a guarantee. How about the tax money they save has to go towards schooling or specialty training, something geared towards getting them away from minimum wage? More money in the economy AND tremendously easier to get out of poverty. From Bill Maher:

I can't believe any of you had the balls to mention your own juggling after watching that. That was truly phenomenal. Now I understand the term "poetry in motion".

EXCELLENT!!! Please keep us posted on what the doctor says. Your information shouldn't be used to diagnose others with similar symptoms, but we want to know the outcome (because we care and we're curious) and your results with the specialist could encourage others to be brave and seek a cure. Well done!

Staying affordable and competitive in a world market means the difference between success and failure. Two examples: Apple computers and Betamax videorecording. Arguably much better products, yet neither claimed the market share they deserved because their competitors kept the prices low through cheap labor, economic arbitrage and taking advantage of lower taxes where available. What you're asking for comes at a very high price: very high prices. So if someone offers you a good deal you're supposed to turn it down? If I give you a 2-for-1 coupon for your favorite burger joint do you throw it away because you don't want to oppress the workers? I don't mean this example as a strawman, but why shouldn't businesses take advantage legally just as consumers do? Check the consumer confidence index. The workers are buying the goods. You are just waving your hands and making generalities. You use buzzwords like "hoarding the wealth" to be misleadingly vivid. False. Absolutely false. I work with architects whose clients borrow billions to build and renovate and their loans are responsible for hundreds of thousands of jobs ranging from construction to retail to civil to education and more, just the kinds of "workers" you've been on about. Mortgages are debt, purchases on credit cards are debt, car loans are debt. Consumer debt means people are buying things, so I guess you're wrong about the workers being denied the dollars to buy the goods they produce. Mike T, again, I think your concern is valid but you're not being specific enough. To be effective in your quest for improvement you need to start pruning branches instead of trying to cut down the whole tree. There is much that is valid and effective about the way our economy works.

This is where marketing steps up to the plate, as it were. Try new OINK*Burgers! Nutritious, Delicious and Vicious! * Obligate Intracellular Non-pathogenic Kreatures

There are efforts underway to study the possible use of nanotechnology to mine the oceans for particulates.

I think the best direction to take is to emphasize in all evolution education that evolution makes no predictions about how the earth was created. Allowing the various religions their own creation story doesn't affect evolution in the least, as long as the stories give evolution the time necessary for the process. It's really only the young earth creationists who are at odds with evolution theory. If the public can realize that science doesn't kick the props out from under their beliefs, they'll be much more accepting. I think the majority view is that science and religion are at odds.

Pangloss is not saying we don't have a poverty problem, he's questioning whether it's what the CB and the media say it is. If the media is guilty of being liberal, it's due to keying on those who are down and out, the so called "bleeding heart" response. Claiming people are living in poverty makes for great news. People have always been drawn to negative stories, partly because it helps reaffirm that, as bad as it is at least we aren't doing as bad as THOSE people. There are people living in poverty in this country, no doubt about it. The media and the politicians highlight the ones that give them the most coverage without turning too many people off. They point to New Orleans, which was only flooded, as the result of hurricane Katrina but forget about Biloxi, Mississippi, which was hit by a forty-foot wall of water, absolutely destroying 5000 homes. What the media and the politicians address is usually convenient for them, not necessarily what needs to be addressed. I think minimum wage needs to be increased to keep pace with the economy, but not so dramatically that it forces employers to look for alternatives. It's unfortunate, but raising wages doesn't insure that the money will be well spent. I'd much rather see employers being required to offer health insurance or learning benefits. Daycare funds would help the poverty problem more than cash handouts. What good are statistics if you can't use them to cover up your worst secrets?

There are definitely some medications they can prescribe that will help. Your family really should have a healthcare provider.

Has the problem been getting worse? If it has, the hospital might be best. I know Canada has socialized medicine, but that just means everybody is covered. I think you still have to pay a minimum amount, and insurance copay or something like that. In the US it's usually between US$10-$40 depending on your coverage. You should inquire locally to see what the costs are, if any. There's probably a number to call on the back of your Health Insurance Card.

Your parents don't want to pay for you to see a doctor? Have you demonized them in the past? This is what happens when you don't do as you're told as a child. Are you in the US or Canada?

As a parent, I know how often you have to raise your voice to be heard, but I promise we will listen even if you're not shouting. You can save bold print and ALL CAPS for extra emphasis.

No, that's the only thing YOU see. My hard work seems to be paying off, and while I probably won't be a billionaire, I can appreciate the needs of businesses to cut costs without cutting corners. Expansion abroad is a good thing. Sour grapes? Changing, our economy is changing. There's a big difference. Again, more change. Foreign countries are also opening factories in the US looking for American expertise. It's just change, Mike T, a restructuring based on market pressures and fluctuations. Businesses do it all the time. First you blame the corps for being greedy, now they're committing suicide? I think the minimum wage should be raised, but I don't see it as being the cure. Prices will go up where minimum wage affects them. And sharing the wealth just sounds like, "I don't make as much as you do, let's split the difference." I've tried to explain in other posts how money that's "hoarded" gets used by banks as loans. The only money that's hoarded is in piggy banks and mattresses.

Right! I remember inheriting a set of Melamine plates and cups when I moved out of my folks house. I gave them to a roommate when I got a new place but they were still like brand new. I've often thought I could get rich manufacturing a few everyday items out of Melamine. You'd have to charge a lot since you'd only be selling one to every interested person, but I think lots of people would like to buy their last spatula and then move on to more important things.

One of my oldest friend's mother has a plastic cheese grater from the 50's. It looks brand new, no scratches, the colors are still vivid. This gadget has been used every week for fifty years and will probably outlive us all. Definitely unobtainium.

You make a great point and I guess sometimes it's not about which is correct but more that you have been exposed to differing POVs. Most stories have more than one side and I still maintain that it's best to have multiple sources. And when you know facts have been skewed then it's a red flag that someone is manipulating the press for their own purposes. To underscore the importance of seeing all sides possible, I always like the story of the Baltimore Needle Exchange program. People who only hear that the city wants to give free needles to junkies are outraged. Then they find out how drastically AIDS and other diseases from shared-needle use are lowered and they think it's a good thing. Then they hear that, instead of all the junkies turning in a few needles for a few fresh ones, opportunistic addicts are collecting hundreds of needles, exchanging them and then selling them to the other junkies for $1 apiece and once again the citizens are outraged. Before the mayor is forced to dismantle the whole program, we then come to find out that the addicts who are selling the needles are a more effective distribution system than the city ever could have mounted on it's own, they know ALL the addicts and where they hang out, and they're being paid by the addicts instead of the city. Once again, everyone is happy, but where would Baltimore's Needle Exchange program be if the whole story hadn't been revealed?

Because one source of news is never good. Walter was king in his day and while he was the litmus test for trust in journalism, I still think it's better to have more input and judge for yourself.