billcoe Posted January 28, 2010 Posted January 28, 2010 We have massive and difficult times periodically, we got through those and I'm sure we'll get through these. Do you think that always seeing the glass as half empty, (or less) is a good thing when complaining about it really won't affect any positive change but may have the opposite effect? I think that the President quoted me in his state of the Union speech last night JB. It won't be easy getting government spending under control, but if the President is committed to it, I believe that it will happen. Quote
j_b Posted January 28, 2010 Posted January 28, 2010 Some of us will make it through these times, and odds are the middle class won't. If you think that people came out somewhat on top of the great depression by thinking positively, you have something coming. how else did FDR keep winning re-election w/o the power of positive thought? wasn't like shit had gotten better by '36 or '40. He had to give to a lot of very pissed off citizens what they wanted before he got reelected: millions were in the street demanding to be heard, the labor movement was in full expansion, .. Very different from today, which is worrisome IMO Believing that one can affect change is always necessary but I wager that 'positive thinkers who relax' are less effective than 'angry types who express their disbelief' until they see real actions in the desired direction. Quote
j_b Posted January 28, 2010 Posted January 28, 2010 I think that the President quoted me in his state of the Union speech last night JB. It won't be easy getting government spending under control, but if the President is committed to it, I believe that it will happen. I think he said that getting the economy going and creating jobs were the first priority, which usually requires spending. Quote
Kimmo Posted January 28, 2010 Posted January 28, 2010 Believing that one can affect change is always necessary but I wager that 'positive thinkers who relax' are less effective than 'angry types who express their disbelief' until they see real actions in the desired direction. i think it was you who brought up gandhi? about how the means are never justified by the ends? so if one's attempts to "change" things are fueled by anger, then the changes are tainted.... btw, i don't think conditions now are comparable to the 30's.... Quote
rob Posted January 28, 2010 Posted January 28, 2010 haven't you guy solved this important issue yet? Quote
KaskadskyjKozak Posted January 28, 2010 Posted January 28, 2010 haven't you guy solved this important issue yet? j_b thinks that endless bitching will eventually solve it. gotta give him an "E" for effort on that one. Quote
Kimmo Posted January 28, 2010 Posted January 28, 2010 haven't you guy solved this important issue yet? we are cuurently working on more important issues. check IB thread. Quote
billcoe Posted January 28, 2010 Posted January 28, 2010 haven't you guy solved this important issue yet? we are currently working on more important issues. check IB thread. ..and how about that claim that Lady Gaga is actually a MAN?!! Quote
j_b Posted January 28, 2010 Posted January 28, 2010 Believing that one can affect change is always necessary but I wager that 'positive thinkers who relax' are less effective than 'angry types who express their disbelief' until they see real actions in the desired direction. i think it was you who brought up gandhi? about how the means are never justified by the ends? so if one's attempts to "change" things are fueled by anger, then the changes are tainted.... btw, i don't think conditions now are comparable to the 30's.... Joseph brought up Gandhi and I don't see how expressing anger (not really my word btw, i prefer 'intensity' myself; I only get angry when fear-mongerers/red-baiters try to curtail freedom of speech) taints changes. Anyway, anger is an emotion and doesn't preclude anything else, including reason and ethics. The world has changed a lot since the 30's but the reforms of the 30's made the middle class possible, and we are currently considering its demise. Most people only see the financial crash without realizing that it is only the last blow that broke the camel's back after 30+ years of upward wealth redistribution. Economic inequalities are back to what they were in the age of the robber barons and we are considering whether it will be the status quo or whether it is an aberration brought about by decades of regressive policies. Quote
KaskadskyjKozak Posted January 28, 2010 Posted January 28, 2010 The world has changed a lot since the 30's but the reforms of the 30's made the middle class possible, and we are currently considering its demise. Most people only see the financial crash without realizing that it is only the last blow that broke the camel's back after 30+ years of upward wealth redistribution. Chicken Little, the sky is falling!!!!!!! Your alarmism is a joke. Quote
j_b Posted January 28, 2010 Posted January 28, 2010 The joke is your dismissive content-empty one-liners. I only share said opinion with the foremost student of the middle class: Elizabeth Warren.If we don't act the game is really over "Elizabeth Warren told Jon Stewart that "this is really the moment" that will determine the future of America's middle class -- the system must be fixed or "the game really is over. Warren, who chairs the Congressional Oversight Panel created to monitor TARP, said: "It is simple. This is America's middle class. We've hacked at it and chipped at it and pulled on it for 30 years now. And now there's no more to do. Either we fix this problem going forward or the game really is over." Quote
KaskadskyjKozak Posted January 28, 2010 Posted January 28, 2010 *yawn* You're a kook. Nothing more. BTW, do you do/think about ANYTHING besides politics and how "shitty" life is in the US? Quote
j_b Posted January 28, 2010 Posted January 28, 2010 (edited) spoken like a true neanderthal who spent the last 9 years cheering on Bush and his cronies. FYI I don't think life is shitty, although I think politics suck in the US as well as most everywhere else. I have a full time job and I get out now and then when I don't work weekends. Just think of it as if the time you spend making fart jokes, I spend it doing something else more enlightening. Edited January 28, 2010 by j_b Quote
KaskadskyjKozak Posted January 28, 2010 Posted January 28, 2010 spent the last 9 years cheering on Bush and his cronies. Bullshit. FYI I don't think life is shitty, although I think politics suck in the US as well as most everywhere else. Big difference. I have a full time job and I get out now and then when I don't work weekends. Maybe if you spent a little less time on your self-delusional think-tank analyses of politics and endless tirades you could climb on the weekends instead of working them. Quote
prole Posted January 28, 2010 Posted January 28, 2010 Moving on... White House doles out $8 billion for fast trains Associated Press Writer 1/28/10 WASHINGTON – High-speed rail projects in California, Florida and Illinois are among the big winners of $8 billion in grants announced Thursday by the White House — the start of what some Democrats tout as a national rail-building program that could rival the interstate highways begun in the Eisenhower era. President Barack Obama announced the awards during a town hall meeting in Tampa, Fla. — a follow-up to Wednesday's State of the Union address that focused on getting Americans back to work. Thirteen passenger rail corridors in 31 states will receive grants, which are funded by the economic recovery act enacted last year. Obama said focusing on building 21st century infrastructure projects is an important element of the country's economic recovery. "It creates jobs immediately and it lays the foundation for a vibrant economy in the future," Obama said. Though the administration bills the program as "high-speed rail," most U.S. projects won't reach the speeds seen in Europe and Asia. California's trains would be by far the fastest, exceeding the 200 mph achieved by some trains overseas. Some of the money will go toward trains with top speeds of 110 mph, while other funds — such as the $400 million allotted to Ohio to connect Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati — will be for trains traveling no faster than 79 mph. A half-dozen Cabinet members and other senior administration officials were fanning out across the country for rail events Thursday and Friday. The White House said rail projects will create or save thousands of jobs in areas including track laying, manufacturing, planning, engineering and rail maintenance and operations. Obama told the crowd at Thursday's town hall that when the high-speed rail line connecting Tampa and Orlando is finished, "I'm going to come back down here and ride it." Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and members of Congress have acknowledged they expect much of the expertise and equipment to be supplied by foreign companies. Except for Amtrak's Acela line between Boston and Washington, there are no high-speed trains in the U.S. and no domestic high-speed rail industry. The $8 billion investment is just a start. Last year, Obama asked Congress in his budget request for an additional $1 billion a year for five years. Congress for this year approved another $2.5 billion that remains to be awarded. And Obama is expected to ask for yet more rail funds when his budget is presented next week. Also, LaHood has hinted that some of the $1.5 billion allotted in the stimulus plan for discretionary transportation projects may go toward high-speed rail. Japan launched the first high-speed trains in 1964, and France and other European countries followed in the 1980s and 1990s. China has announced plans to expand its high-speed rail system to a network of more than 16,000 miles by the year 2020 at an estimated cost of $300 billion. In the U.S., only the projects in California and Florida are planned to reach maximum speeds of 150 mph or more, what most transportation experts consider high-speed rail. Projects awarded the largest grants include: • California: $2.3 billion to begin work on an 800-mile-long, high-speed rail line tying Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay area to Los Angeles and San Diego. • Florida: $1.25 billion to build a rail line connecting Tampa on the West Coast with Orlando in the middle of the state, eventually going south to Miami. • Illinois-Missouri: $1.1 billion to improve a rail line between Chicago and St. Louis so that trains travel up to 110 mph. • Wisconsin: $810 million to upgrade and refurbish train stations and install safety equipment on the Madison-to-Milwaukee leg of a line that stretches from Minneapolis to Chicago. • Washington-Oregon: $590 million to upgrade a rail line from Seattle to Portland, Ore. • North Carolina: $520 million for projects that will increase top speeds to 90 mph on trains between Raleigh and Charlotte and double the number of round trips. By spreading the $8 billion among so many states, Obama is ignoring the advice of transportation experts and high-speed rail advocates who said the best way to build continuing political support for the program would be to concentrate on two or three grants large enough to get a high-speed line up and running. Once that happens, they reasoned, other parts of the country would lobby for more money to build their own lines. Rep. John Mica of Florida, the senior Republican on the House transportation committee, complained that the Midwest lines awarded grants will achieve top speeds of only 110 mph and were "selected more for political reasons than for high-speed service." Quote
j_b Posted January 28, 2010 Posted January 28, 2010 is it really necessary to point out that you have 3.5 times as many posts as I do in 2/3 the time since our respective registrations on this site? or is it that obvious facts never get in the way of whatever would-be put down you dream of? Quote
KaskadskyjKozak Posted January 28, 2010 Posted January 28, 2010 is it really necessary to point out that you have 3.5 times as many posts as I do in 2/3 the time since our respective registrations on this site? or is it that obvious facts never get in the way of whatever would-be put down you dream of? And how many TRs do you have? Or posts discussing anything other than how shitty the US is? Quote
KaskadskyjKozak Posted January 28, 2010 Posted January 28, 2010 And how many TRs do you have? dude, where the fuck do you get shit like that? Quote
Doug Posted January 28, 2010 Posted January 28, 2010 gawd if you guys weren't so fucking entertaining, you'd be fucking pathetic. Quote
KaskadskyjKozak Posted January 28, 2010 Posted January 28, 2010 gawd if you guys weren't so fucking entertaining, you'd be fucking pathetic. EXACTLY Quote
StevenSeagal Posted January 28, 2010 Posted January 28, 2010 spent the last 9 years cheering on Bush and his cronies. Bullshit. FYI I don't think life is shitty, although I think politics suck in the US as well as most everywhere else. Big difference. I have a full time job and I get out now and then when I don't work weekends. Maybe if you spent a little less time on your self-delusional think-tank analyses of politics and endless tirades you could climb on the weekends instead of working them. I propose that you two go climbing, together. Preferably to some place likely to involve lots of tent time, like southeast Alaska. Your combined energies will result in some huge sends and you'll solve the worlds problems at the same time! While we're at it, how about some other therapeutic partnerships: -Prole/Fairweather -Choada Boy/Raindawg who else? Quote
j_b Posted January 28, 2010 Posted January 28, 2010 can't you ever discuss anything without shifting the goal posts in the middle of an argument? whether you spend your time here posting TR is irrelevant to how much time you spend on line versus working as you pretended was the issue. can't you ever discuss anything without trying to smear your opponent or somehow label him as unAmerican? you are a goon through and through, dude. I should have stuck with the standard neanderthal crossing picture for it is all that your interventions warrant. Quote
KaskadskyjKozak Posted January 28, 2010 Posted January 28, 2010 spent the last 9 years cheering on Bush and his cronies. Bullshit. FYI I don't think life is shitty, although I think politics suck in the US as well as most everywhere else. Big difference. I have a full time job and I get out now and then when I don't work weekends. Maybe if you spent a little less time on your self-delusional think-tank analyses of politics and endless tirades you could climb on the weekends instead of working them. I propose that you two go climbing, together. Preferably to some place likely to involve lots of tent time, like southeast Alaska. Your combined energies will result in some huge sends and you'll solve the worlds problems at the same time! While we're at it, how about some other therapeutic partnerships: -Prole/Fairweather -Choada Boy/Raindawg who else? I was reserving my next nemesis outing with you SS Quote
KaskadskyjKozak Posted January 28, 2010 Posted January 28, 2010 can't you ever discuss anything without shifting the goal posts in the middle of an argument? whether you spend your time here posting TR is irrelevant to how much time you spend on line versus working as you pretended was the issue. can't you ever discuss anything without trying to smear your opponent or somehow label him as unAmerican? you are a goon through and through, dude. I should have stuck with the standard neanderthal crossing picture for it is all that your interventions warrant. The point of the site is climbing. I don't understand anyone who is pure spray in general, but all the more so when their posts are mono-dimensional. There are plenty of internet sites to discuss US politics. Quote
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