j_b

I already gave you examples but you want them to have a "basis in our legal system" as if the purpose of corporate personhood was anything other than to legally prevent us from holding corporations accountable for denying people's right to a clean environment, stable communities, etc .. In other words, corporate lawyers fix the law to suit your purpose, then you claim that the right to grow up without 24-7 commercial propaganda on public airwaves "has no basis in our legal system". And, to boot, you have the gall to pretend that legal fiction denying us the possibility to control our lives is to protect us from "big government".

As the barbarians are showing us once again there are no rights without social contract.

if every example has to fit the definitions used by Bush's corporatist supreme court, I am afraid we will not get very far.

There are thousands of examples of corporate personhood being used to trump civil rights and it is testimony to your tone deafness that you need an example. Of course, since we were mentioning it, corporations being allowed to buy their favorite politician is a full frontal assault on voting rights. But, for an additional example, what about the right to grow up without commercialism and the constant infringement of its marketeering in the lives of children. Come on JayB, what about the right to grow up without commercial propaganda?

Guiding as a career is for the few. The sciences most likely offer much better stable prospects, but you knew this already. That said, sciences and guiding do occasionally mix.

the highest rated comment on Bagger 288 got 89 thumbs up in the last 3 hours. The video was posted on 03/09. What was Porter reading?

The ACLU needs to take position on corporate personhood insofar it is used by corporatists to deny civil rights to Americans. what about the ACLU getting busy with voting rights for Americans? is that core enough to make the human right grade?

The Wikileaks dude is a foreign journalist doing his job of publishing information he came across, Libby was a US vice presidential adviser doing the leaking. Can you tell the wee-bit difference perhaps? and NO, a presumed breach of protocol in addressing the supreme court isn't equivalent to corporatist judges opening the floodgates to corporate money in elections, thereby violating the civil rights of all American voters.

The ACLU is certainly not busy tackling Citizens United and the supreme court sanctioned flooding of our elections by corporate dollars toward corrupt politicians. Right wing corporate shills don't say anything about these kinds of civil right violations because their favorite candidates benefit heavily from attending feeding at the trough.

Totally "shrill", dude.

[video:youtube]1lLm0HYVrlg

Welzenbach's climbs, David Roberts Moments of Doubt, David Roberts The Ascent of Nanda Devi, Bill Tillman Upon that mountain, Eric Shipton Scrambles Among the alps, Edward Whymper Sacred Summits, Peter Boardman Beyond the Vertical, Layton Kor

All hell breaks loose inside and outside Italy's parliament: Riots break out in Rome after Silvio Berlusconi survives confidence votes

Why America’s Two Economies Continue to Drift Apart, and What Washington Isn’t Doing About It by Robert Reich Tuesday, December 14, 2010 America’s two economies are getting wider apart. The Big Money economy is booming. According to a new Commerce Department report, third-quarter profits of American businesses rose at an annual record-breaking $1.659 trillion – besting even the boom year of 2006 (in nominal dollars). Profits have soared for seven consecutive quarters now, matching or beating their fastest pace in history. Executive pay is linked to profits, so top pay is soaring as well. Higher profits are also translating into the nice gains in the stock market, which is a boon to everyone with lots of financial assets. And Wall Street is back. Bonuses on the Street are expected to rise about 5 percent this year, according to a survey by compensation consultants Johnson Associates Inc. But nothing is trickling down to the Average Worker economy. Job growth is still anemic. At October’s rate of only 50,000 new private-sector jobs, unemployment won’t get down to pre-recession levels for twenty years. And almost half of October’s new jobs were in temporary help. Meanwhile, the median wage is barely rising, adjusted for inflation. And the value of the major asset of most Americans – their homes – continues to drop. Why are America’s two economies going in opposite directions? Two reasons. First, big profits are coming from overseas sales of goods and services made abroad, not here. The world’s fastest-growing markets are China and India, whose inhabitants are eager to buy “American” products, and just as eager to work for the American companies that sell them. The U.S. market is barely moving. Increasingly, American corporations are able to extract healthy gains from their global operations without adding much in the United States except executive talent. Second, American businesses are boosting productivity by having U.S. employees do more work for less pay. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, between the third quarter of 2009 and the third quarter of 2010, productivity rose 2.5 percent, output increased 4.1 percent, the number of hours worked was up 1.6 percent, and unit labor costs dropped by 1.9 percent. In other words, American workers are losing even more bargaining power as a sizeable chunk of corporate profit goes into software and digital equipment that can do what people used to do – but more cheaply. So what is Washington doing about all this? Making the tax code more progressive so more Americans reap the benefits enjoyed by those at the top? Increasing the bargaining power of American workers? Forcing Wall Street banks to reorganize under bankruptcy mortgage loans that are dragging down the housing market? Expanding early childhood education, hiring more teachers, putting fewer kids into each classroom, and making higher education more affordable – so more working and middle-class kids can become tomorrow’s high-priced “talent”? No. None of this. In fact, Washington is busily separating the two economies even further. It’s extending the Bush tax cuts – the lion’s share of which go to the very wealthy; reducing the reach and rate of the estate tax; and giving corporations additional tax breaks for investing in software and equipment. Meanwhile, the states are cutting back on pre-schools, firing teachers, and yanking up tuitions and fees at public universities. Oh, and yes, Washington is also extending unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless. Which is the least it can do, given that their ranks continue to swell. http://robertreich.org/post/2310443401

you want to eliminate basic services? what not a surprise! in other words, nobody is assured of having anything for retirement Didn't you support 'starving the beast' to force defunding public services?

I want to hear more about this state of anarchy that includes legislatures, courts, law enforcement, contract law, etc that you've been talking about. Connect the dots between ending prohibition, tarriffs, and subsidies and a Hobbesian free-for-all. Take your time. spare us the drivel JayB. You believe in contracts when it is opportunistically convenient, ready to jettison them when you want to renege on agreement made with employees, for example.

Well, yes, I am no Dickens but we knew it already so the rhetorical effect of your answer isn't what it could be. But, it isn't what you were complaining about. You were complaining about my supposed "hyperbolas", and when I point out to you that they aren't hyperbolas because we are indeed living in the age of hooverism, your concern suddenly becomes about form. So which is it: do you agree that we are living in dire times, with people dying in the streets or not?

Besides the drugs wearing off explanation, the other possibility would be he thinks that a homeowner who cashed in on the real estate bubble is as guilty as the wall street crooks. It's the same desperate brand of logic that makes you as culpable as BP for the gulf disaster because you drive a car.

We don't need to start a new discussion to know what you stand for JayB. We all know that you are for unfettered capitalism. We also know that when people tell you that models other than unregulated free for all are quite successful, you only manage to shake the gulag rattle.

you aren't just arguing for market economies, you are arguing for capitalist anarchy and claiming the only alternatives are gulags. Don't move the goal post. crickets ...

Are PP's drugs wearing off, perhaps?

You have been polishing your crystal ball? because playing footsie with social Darwinists shaking the gulag rattle is going to change anything?

Huh? Do you know what Hooverism is? Ever read a Dickens' novel? How fucking "shrill" are they?

does it explain the moustache you are sporting?

i think it speaks more to their myopic vision and spirituality and, as such, might elicit pity and empathy more than agitation. I'll settle for empiricism. that's rich coming from a "free market" fundamentalist like you. you aren't just arguing for market economies, you are arguing for capitalist anarchy and claiming the only alternatives are gulags. Don't move the goal post.