It does explain a lotCoincidently, I ran across this old list of my priorities when I was in college....
View attachment 548949 .......... Made me the tyrannosaurus I am today! .....View attachment 548955
It does explain a lotCoincidently, I ran across this old list of my priorities when I was in college....
View attachment 548949 .......... Made me the tyrannosaurus I am today! .....View attachment 548955
I agree, there is no hard fast rule for success in life. Sometimes the drive and discipline come from the classroom, sometimes it comes from the playing field. Academic success is important but sports can play a roll. I have known several athletes in high school and college that this nerd helped with their classes so they could remain eligible to play the sport(s) they loved. Most teenagers are energy dynamos. They need to be active doing something. Sports are a great outlet to burn that energy. Left to their own devices they often do things that aren't beneficial to themselves. Probably the biggest benefit for the player is the sense of belonging. Children and adolescents are very prone to peer pressure. Teems and their coaches can and do function as a support group of sorts. There are expectations, and generally things that can have a negative impact like ******* use aren't accepted in the team.@syscom3
True, but not every kid can be easily reached through the classroom. Sports and extracurricular activities have helped to bring out some of those qualities in people, and in more than a few cases it has helped to keep a person on the path to a better life.
[QUOTE="MacNfries, post: 668617, member: 11 didn't give up on anything, falcond ... my ******* and I have been at the ACC tournament the past 3 days. Didn't get in until 1 AM this morning. I actually have a family life that many here obviously don't. Regardless, I have no intent on getting back into this political back&forth BS. If you folks want to act like gerbils on a spin wheel, that's your business, I'm here to enjoy b2w, and it doesn't include this crap.
And please, someone tell Torp (since he doesn't seem to know) that he's been on my ignore since before Christmas, and he knows why. I just happen to see his "12 yo comment" before entering my pw; I could care less what the guy has to say, so he can save his ink on me.
Very well saidSyscom says "sports are inconsequential." I strongly disagree with that. True, many leaders in various sports were not athletes growing up. But a disproportionate were and perhaps still are. Even the ones that were not athletes, including Jeff Zuckerberg of Facebook and Bill Gates of Microsoft, admit they learned life lessons playing in Little League and other sports as very young people.
Even if you do not excel and you are second string, you learn the importance of discipline, team work and loyalty playing sports. To paraphrase Alabama's late Bear Bryant, he told his players "ten years from now you are gonna have a job and one day you will not feel like getting up and going to work. But you will, because you, your wife and your ******* need to eat. You may want to stay in bed, but you will get up. I am going to teach you how to do what you do not want to do."
And spare me the examples of the bad folks that have played sports. 100 times more good ******* come out of it.
If you want to see an example of why the U. S. is so competitive, watch an athletic contest where one team seems hopelessly out of it but does not quit fighting. Many of our leaders learn perseverance from sports.
Sports has been a great promoter for integration. Perhaps nowhere else in society do blacks and whites work together so closely, and form great friendships, than in sports.
I said 14 YO not 12, I see you still have a problem with the facts. I know I am on his ignore list but I just wanted to get the facts correct.[/QUOTE]Which team are you a fan of, or did you go just go because you like ACC hoops?
I am not patronizing and I really do like you. I enjoy the debates we have had and the intelligence we have shared. I just don't want people to sell you short. They may disagree with you, as I do on many aspects, but debate with intelligent opposition = learning.Quit patronizing me, falcond ... ok? You, as much as anyone, discouraged me from continuing this pointless conversation on this thread at post 647; if you won't even look at the charts substantiating my points of the discussion, and you question every news media source but Fox News, there's really no point in our having discussions. You're every bit as closed minded as I could ever be about using logic & reason. So please quit jerking my chain, ok?
For one thing, I'm not a diehard liberal as you keep claiming I am. I actually believe in a government that will operate under a "balanced budget", but we have 2 parties with different philosophies as to what a national budget should include, and what it should be, and won't sit down to establish one. Funny, however, as much as Republicans talk about shrinking government, its grown under them as much as under Democrats. It's "trickle down' or nothing with those guys.
I posted that cartoon, above, as a point of humor, but I notice that simply keyed Torp to toss out more insults at me. Then he uses "not knowing his place" racial BS as my reason for putting his sorry ass on ignore ... he knows why I put him on ignore. Not only did I ask him to quit addressing me, personally, with his comments, I even said "please" or I'd have to put him on ignore ... Torp said he didn't care if I put him on ignore; he'd do what he wanted to do ... so, not only is Torp disrespectful, he's a friking liar as well. Go back and look at the comments ...
So, Torp, you go right ahead and make your childish, smart ass comments ... but you're no better than I at tossing out insults.
'Nuff said ... View attachment 549631
I said 14 YO not 12, I see you still have a problem with the facts. I know I am on his ignore list but I just wanted to get the facts correct.
I said 14 YO not 12, I see you still have a problem with the facts. I know I am on his ignore list but I just wanted to get the facts correct.
I can go with that. It is a pretty good bet that you aren't inviting me to dinner and you are not on my list of people I will play golf with. It seems that you feel that a conversation you don't agree with is pointless. I tend to see those as a chance to learn. I wonder why you seem to have so much anger. You are far quicker than I to throw profanity. As to mentioning you in a post you are no different than anyone else here. If I feel it is relevant I will mention you, bm_from_southjersey, falcondfw69, or anyone else that I think might be relevant to what I am writing. A couple of things often seem to get over looked in today's society. The world doesn't have to conform to your desires and wishes. And you make yourself happy.Quit patronizing me, falcond ... ok? You, as much as anyone, discouraged me from continuing this pointless conversation on this thread at post 647; if you won't even look at the charts substantiating my points of the discussion, and you question every news media source but Fox News, there's really no point in our having discussions. You're every bit as closed minded as I could ever be about using logic & reason. So please quit jerking my chain, ok?
For one thing, I'm not a diehard liberal as you keep claiming I am. I actually believe in a government that will operate under a "balanced budget", but we have 2 parties with different philosophies as to what a national budget should include, and what it should be, and won't sit down to establish one. Funny, however, as much as Republicans talk about shrinking government, its grown under them as much as under Democrats. It's "trickle down' or nothing with those guys.
I posted that cartoon, above, as a point of humor, but I notice that simply keyed Torp to toss out more insults at me. Then he uses "not knowing his place" racial BS as my reason for putting his sorry ass on ignore ... he knows why I put him on ignore. Not only did I ask him to quit addressing me, personally, with his comments, I even said "please" or I'd have to put him on ignore ... Torp said he didn't care if I put him on ignore; he'd do what he wanted to do ... so, not only is Torp disrespectful, he's a friking liar as well. Go back and look at the comments ...
So, Torp, you go right ahead and make your childish, smart ass comments ... but you're no better than I at tossing out insults.
'Nuff said ... View attachment 549631
I guess I would need to see some type of serious data to back that up. Sports programs probably do more to keep ******* off ******* and out of gangs that any of the antidrug/antigang programs. A lot of ******* now days unfortunately grow up in single parent family's and the parent works, often more than one job. The sports program functions as an anchor that can keep those youth centered and out of trouble. There are some lousy coaches out there but the vast majority are dedicated and work well beyond what they are paid to do.Many ******* learn the same lessons in life while not playing sports. Once you get into junior high, Organized sports do more harm than good.
Well, I understand the sentiment with the last two posts. But, I believe there is more of a difference in the Repubs and the Dems now than any time since the 1920's. The principal reason it seems like there is no difference is for two related reasons. First, we are about a 50-50 split in the electorate on hot button, social issues. Politicians generally reflect the sentiment of their constituents.Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and an Honest politician all need to cross a river. Unfortunately the rickety foot bridge will only support one at a time. Who goes first? Nobody! This is no Santa Claus, this is no Easter Bunny and there are no Honest Politician. (Well there might be a few)
Most of the "Leadership" in both parties are bought off.
Money greases the wheels of both parties, my political party is the constitution.
But you can not let government of private business have a monopoly on media and donations to parties.
They buy the media and buy the leadership
In short politicians are mostly whores and so are most media outlets. If you pay them more they will be loyal to you.
Old Thomas Jefferson was right when he said to the public, "we created a Republic, see if you can keep it"
He was right, it's hard to keep a Republic a Republic.
It's now a Democracy which is moved by the media which is bought of by special interest groups.
Not to mention voting themselves into the poor house, spend spend.
It never ends.
I guess I will wait for the collapse and then rebuild like my for farther did when they built this country.
Hope it happens soon, i want to be young when this all goes down.
The political process has been polarizing since the late 60's to early 70's. There isn't even an effort to hide their support of the special interests. They don't really care what bills they pass as long as special interests are happy. When ACA was in congress Nancy Pelosi made the comment that "We need to pass this bill to find out what is in it" (Quote may not be exact) I figured the next day or so she would come back with some type of retraction, or qualification. But she stood by her statement. The most far reaching, potentially most expensive bill in the history of this country and she didn't feel it was necessary to know what it said. More telling was there wasn't any serious opposition to the statement from either side of the aisle.Well, I understand the sentiment with the last two posts. But, I believe there is more of a difference in the Repubs and the Dems now than any time since the 1920's. The principal reason it seems like there is no difference is for two related reasons. First, we are about a 50-50 split in the electorate on hot button, social issues. Politicians generally reflect the sentiment of their constituents.
In addition, with one party controlling the Presidency, and the other controlling even one, between the Senate and House, nothing gets done. Which may be a good thing. Secondly, so many Congressional districts have been gerrymandered that there are few up for grabs, subject to be determined by independent, swing voters. The main challenge comes in the Primary. This makes the Reps shift to the right and the Dems shift to the left, especially in the House Races. So, we wind up with a Congress that has no incentive to cut deals and compromise with the other side.
But if you do not think there is not a philosophical difference, think what an unfettered President Obama, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi would do, versus a conservative President, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner. And that is not even considering foreign affairs.
Sure, there still are and always be dishonest politicians. But in the age of social media, when we know when a politician farts before nightfall, I cannot believe the graft and corruption is anywhere close to what it used to be. For most of our history, you had to be dishonest to get rich in public office. Now, you stay there awhile, you'll have so many legal opportunities, you couldn't leave office poor if you tried.
Term limits. A great idea that will never happen. The problem, in my opinion, more than corruption, is that politicians, as well as the rest of us, have difficulty doing what they think is the right thing without regard to whether they might be voted out of office, lose a leadership position, etc. When a lobbyist will contribute big bucks to your campaign, politicians convince themselves that the lobbyist is right. It is not always corruption. More often, it is a lot of self deception, or at least the inability to remove one's personal welfare and make an informed independent decision.
Judges read the Constitution and the law, and then interpret it often through their own bias-we cannot get away from it. It always irritates me when a judge says he or she can be impartial, and refuses to recuse him or herself, when based on appearances they should.
The political process has been polarizing since the late 60's to early 70's. There isn't even an effort to hide their support of the special interests. They don't really care what bills they pass as long as special interests are happy. When ACA was in congress Nancy Pelosi made the comment that "We need to pass this bill to find out what is in it" (Quote may not be exact) I figured the next day or so she would come back with some type of retraction, or qualification. But she stood by her statement. The most far reaching, potentially most expensive bill in the history of this country and she didn't feel it was necessary to know what it said. More telling was there wasn't any serious opposition to the statement from either side of the aisle.
There was the Office of Technical Assessment that existed from 1972 to 1995. The department was non partisan or at least was supposed to be. There was some criticism of it around 1980. The purpose of the department was to inform Congress of what the implication of laws they created would have on technology. The idea was to help congress make intelligent, informed decisions. The department was eliminated 1995 because it was determined to be a waste of tax payer dollars. At the time of the elimination they had an annual budget 22 million (that is with an "m" not a "b" or a"tr") and employed around 143 people. So now Congress simply passes legislation to accommodate who has the biggest checkbook.
I spent most of my life working in the corporate environment. I was treated well and I made a lot of money. The CEO saw only one color, and it was green. I really think he would have sent his mom to whore house if it would have improved the bottom line. The one per centers don't think or act like most people. Their religion is green and they worship fervently. Warren Buffet stills lives in a little house he bought many years ago for I believe around 30 to 35K. Money and power go hand in hand. Houses or cars are just things. The real power is with the checkbook
Next election I am voting for anyone that isn't Democrat or Republican. Both parties are sold out to the big dollar people. The Republicans have a bit more resources but the Democrats are better organized so as far as I am concerned it is a wash. I think a third party would have a decent chance if they came out of left field and caught the Republicans and Democrats by surprise AND if that had an articulate charismatic leader. There is certainly more than enough ammunition for a third party run
The political process has been polarizing since the late 60's to early 70's. There isn't even an effort to hide their support of the special interests. They don't really care what bills they pass as long as special interests are happy. When ACA was in congress Nancy Pelosi made the comment that "We need to pass this bill to find out what is in it" (Quote may not be exact) I figured the next day or so she would come back with some type of retraction, or qualification. But she stood by her statement. The most far reaching, potentially most expensive bill in the history of this country and she didn't feel it was necessary to know what it said. More telling was there wasn't any serious opposition to the statement from either side of the aisle.
There was the Office of Technical Assessment that existed from 1972 to 1995. The department was non partisan or at least was supposed to be. There was some criticism of it around 1980. The purpose of the department was to inform Congress of what the implication of laws they created would have on technology. The idea was to help congress make intelligent, informed decisions. The department was eliminated 1995 because it was determined to be a waste of tax payer dollars. At the time of the elimination they had an annual budget 22 million (that is with an "m" not a "b" or a"tr") and employed around 143 people. So now Congress simply passes legislation to accommodate who has the biggest checkbook.
I spent most of my life working in the corporate environment. I was treated well and I made a lot of money. The CEO saw only one color, and it was green. I really think he would have sent his mom to whore house if it would have improved the bottom line. The one per centers don't think or act like most people. Their religion is green and they worship fervently. Warren Buffet stills lives in a little house he bought many years ago for I believe around 30 to 35K. Money and power go hand in hand. Houses or cars are just things. The real power is with the checkbook
Next election I am voting for anyone that isn't Democrat or Republican. Both parties are sold out to the big dollar people. The Republicans have a bit more resources but the Democrats are better organized so as far as I am concerned it is a wash. I think a third party would have a decent chance if they came out of left field and caught the Republicans and Democrats by surprise AND if that had an articulate charismatic leader. There is certainly more than enough ammunition for a third party run
You gotta have some laughter in life. I would hope there is more to me than just being a fuck service.Lol @ this thread. Lol @ anyone who thinks there's a difference between Democrats and Republicans. Lol @ Mac. Lol olds. Hearty lols all around.
2016 should be interesting. If the Republicans were a cohesive ******* they would likely be a shoo in. But as you mention the party is split 4 ways and it is unlikely that they will patch things up in a year, they will try but the polarization that has been worsening for 50 years will prevent it.
Obama came to office prepared to be king not president. Some of his unilateral decisions will show him to be a great president if they work.
They started putting bandaids on ACA as soon as it went into effect. One thing I am very curious about is to what degree individual medical records were compromised by the ACA website. The first step to hacking a system is to break it and the website went online broken. However it may take years to accurately assess the damage.
What happens in Iran is going to be interesting. If the treaty holds and Iran doesn't get nuclear weapons then President Obama is a genius and his foreign policy approach is vindicated. However one of the intelligence services I subscribe to feels they will have a nuclear weapon within a year. Building a pure fission device up to about 1 megaton is really pretty simple. The big problem is acquiring the fissionable material to make the bomb. Apparently the treaty allows them to possess Plutonium. That is very bad. The Hiroshima bomb was around 15 kilotons and the Nagasaki bomb was around 20 kilotons. So being able to build a low tech bomb up to just under a kiloton is a very bad thing.
There were a number of things that you mentioned that are issues such as prosecutions he didn't order, the Bergdahl affair and a host of other things. Deficits are projected to start rising next year and are projected to continue to increase until around 2020 and then things are going to hit critical mass. Doesn't make any difference who is sitting in the big chair. ACA relied heavily on subsidized premiums to fly and in the next few years the money simply isn't going to be there to do it. ACA was never all that comprehensive in the first place. President Obama hung out a big carrot in the form of subsidizing the state programs. The states were expected to clean any mess left by ACA and the financial carrot that was initially offered was/is substantial. However as I have said earlier deficits are expected to start to rise next year and in very short order there isn't going to be the money to continue subsidizing at current levels.
One of the biggest disappointment for me was the state of race relations and plight of many black Americans. Racial tensions in this country are the worst I have seen in 30 or more years. Black unemployment still runs twice the rate it does for white Americans.
Ross Perot really had a decent shot at the White House. At least he did until he started with the conspiracy stuff which might or might not have been true, but he came off as a flake.
A good part of our Federal debt is rather interesting because it doesn't come from the Federal Government per se. A lot of out debt is from the money borrowed by the Federal Reserve for the QE program. Initially the the Fed just ran the printing presses and printed more money. The problem with that is you can have serious increases in inflation or even run away inflation by flooding the economy with cash. However borrowing too much money can dry up the supply and interest rates go up. High inflation in a recessionary economy can cause a lot of problems. The other thing is if the money supply dries up interest rates go up which can stifle a recovery. The balancing act is a pretty fine line. Personally I think they shouldn't have gotten involved. I have done well with QE, it has pushed the stock marker well above where it would be expected in today's economy. The problem is when QE ends the market will likely suffer a major correction. I expect to have my retirement else where by then. Of course people that were relying or savings got screwed because inflation, even at the current low rate exceeds the interest rate paid often by a factor of two or more.
As to a third party. In many ways the mood of the country is a lot like it was in the 1960's with Black Americans. When MLK came along Black Americans had reached a boiling point. He was at the right time and place. If he had arrived in 1900 or even 1930 or 1940 I doubt he would have been anymore than a minor footnote in history. I really think that a majority of people have come to see the Federal Government for what it is. So with a good leader I think a third party is viable.
You gotta have some laughter in life. I would hope there is more to me than just being a fuck service.