More HPCA

[Manus Dei]

You've done a man's job, sir!

[Aaron]

Yeah but she won't live. But who does?

[Straha]

[Gands]

Dems preserve US-Mexico food stamp 'partnership,' while USDA prepares for meat inspector furloughs

The Treasonous Criminal Zerobama regime is waging war on the American People. This satisfies the Constitutional definition of Treason.

You serfs will be punished until you comply with the desires of Your Overlords. Get the Message. The Dictator and his Criminal Accomplices will inconvenience, will punish, and will terrorize the American People to enforce compliance. Meanwhile, Zerobama will enjoy his golf outings with celebrities, Empress Moo will dine and travel in fine style, and your Senators and Representatives will live in the lap of luxury. Shut up and eat your cake. The People will comply, or they will suffer.

Unless we Rise Up and put the Criminal Regime on a short leash. Otherwise, shut up and eat your cake.

Μολὼν λαβέ

TREASON! Also, Empress Moo is a new one.

Meanwhile, the USDA continues to press forward with plans to furlough meat inspectors, describing it as a necessity of the sequester -- though the department has eased off a bit on warnings that this could lead to more foodborne illness, since all meat and poultry will still have to be inspected.

No, it just means you'll have less meat to buy. And, no doubt, somebody will suggest banning home raising of animals for meat as un-egalitarian or some such.

Which means an increase on an already expensive staple of the American diet. An increase which the poor can't really mitigate while the rich can. Goddamn sequester means testingstan apparently has me placed as a radical tea partyist .

Isn't home production of food already bound by legal restrictions?

It appears that we have viewers from HPCA. Weird.

[Bakustra]

"Politics and Current Affairs - This board deals with political and other current issues. These are argued passionately and forcefully but the aim is to do so in the style of William F Buckley, with grace, style and respect. If we are to learn from each other we have to let other viewpoints be heard, not necessarily accepted, but heard, listened to with a measure of respect for the individual, however misguided we may feel they are. Demolishing their arguments can and should be done without rancor. We dont want to become an echo chamber."

The Guardianistas (and many others) are really quite funny when calling for the Pope to direct the Church of Rome to follow good, honest social democratic policies. Even if he tried, it's like putting the helm over on a supertanker and expecting it to turn on a sixpence. They seem to forget that the Catholic Church is a Byzantine institution. In this case, almost literally - the Byzantine court was the Eastern Empire, the Church of Rome is an emanation of the Western Empire.

support_for_gay_rights_by_religion.jpg

"The problem with this phenomenon is that it can affect people who are falsely accused or convicted too, especially when it comes to child molestation and sex crimes. In which case you've turned vigilante on an innocent man."

I hear that meme from the left alot, a never refrain in fact. What isn't said is that just as many times, if not more, the guilty party is punished as they deserve, swiftly. And just what difference is there between the mistakes of the criminal justice system as it stands now and the justice of the the victimised public ? Aside that is, of our NOT having to pay for the SOBs for the rest of their lives?

I see 2 major problems with the current health care system in the US.

First, and most important IMNTBHO, is people who abuse the system. Too many people have no family physician, no person they can point to and say "That's my doctor." In years past we had a doc in town who was a member of the community, had a personal relationship with his patients, and they would go to his office if they had a problem. Now people take their kid to the emergency room every time they have a sniffle. The ER, by Federal law, must treat them whether they have insurance or not, and most do not. There is no need to go to the hospital and demand x-rays for a twisted ankle or a strained muscle. The hospital has no legal recourse to collect from these "service cost deadbeats" other than to report them to the credit rating companies and hire a debt collection company to go after them, selling the debt to the collection company for pennies on the dollar. The hospital has to raise prices on those who do pay, either out of pocket or through insurance, to cover those expenses. Hence the infamous $28 aspirin and $300 blood draw. Solution? Collect up front for everything but true emergency visits to the ER. Someone shows up with their kid with a runny nose, get $50 fee before seeing the kid. Better yet, show them the door and tell them to see their family physician in the morning. This would require a change in attitudes by the public in general, from health services as a freebie to health services as a service to be purchased.

Which leads me to my second issue - buying health care services. A doctor I know in Phoenix tells be that a full 50% of his costs is paying people to do insurance paperwork. The process has become so complicated and cumbersome that it requires several full-time employees with specialized training to do the paperwork, especially for Medicare and Medicaid. People have no idea what the doctor charges for the services he provides. I think the idea of doing away with what we know as "health insurance" and replacing it with a tax-free savings account that can only be used for such expenses (Health Savings Accounts) coupled with a low-cost policy to cover catastrophic issues like cancer or serious injury has a lot of merit. If Mommy Dearest had to pay for the ER visit for Junior's runny nose with the money she has set aside for purchasing health care services, she'll think twice about abusing the system. Likewise, if you can see that your HSA will pay $50 for going to Dr. Smith but only $35 for Dr. Jones, you will have the option to spend your money in a more efficient manner. This would also introduce an element of competition to the delivery of health care services, and we all know the best way to lower the price of anything is competition. A group of doctors in Phoenix started a practice that did not take insurance. . .an office visit cost $45 instead of the $125 that the doctors across the street charge the insurance companies.

The system is obviously out of control. The answer is not more government intervention to "fix" it. Its just the opposite. . .get government out of the way and let the free market work its magic.

~let the free market work its magic~

I bet everyone down there wishes they could know who the 3 idiots are so they could have a little talk with them...

In the mind of Beastro, everyone is constantly on the verge of snapping violently and murdering people for differences of opinion. ~with grace, style, and respect~

G'nite Hugo, and thanks for playing - say hi to Adolf, Joe, and Saddam for us!

Hugo Chavez, one of the subtler of the latter-day Hitlers.

Lord knows we've peed enough money down those ratholes. The only thing that would work for some of the Turd World countries would be conquest and colonization with the aim of civilizing them and putting them on a sound economic model. The chances of that happening are Zero.

So we'll continue to pee money down ratholes.

Show me on the doll where Fanon touched you.

Which ones and in what sense?

Why was imperialism wrong? Most arguments that claim to be anti imperialist are little more than thinly disguised racism. Why is it wrong for a group of people from a distant land to dominate another group of people if that is just the way business was done in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries? What was done by the British in India was little different from what was done before they showed up - so should David Cameron apologise for the British who went to India because they were good at maritime travel? Because they were good at doing business by the standard of their times? Or just for the fact that they weren't local enough to do business with out suffering the towering moral outrage of liberal idiots?

Are the Afghans going to apologise to India for the Moghul Empire?

Are the Italians going to apologise to Britain for the Roman Conquest? How about the Danes for all those Viking raids? The French for 1066?

How about a great big thank you from India to Britain for language, law, institutions, cricket and driving itself to penury in order to defend India from first Russia and then Japan?

There are definitely a lot of people who have proven themselves unfit to govern themselves. In the US for example Detriot has got itself into such a pickle that Michigan is seriously looking at taking over running the city. In fact the same could be said of large sections of the electorate of the western world who elect politicians that simply punt hard decisions about budget deficits down the road.

I love that it only takes a little while before HPCA degenerates into fascist and reactionary fantasizing. <3

No, cart before horse. Imperialism grew from a need to create stable cohesive societies in which commerce could flourish. It is harder to do business in a society where government and institutions are weak and communications poor, also such societies don't flourish - see this years Reith Lectures given by Niall Fergusson. China on the eve of WW2 for instance had a significantly larger economy than Japan (something like 1/3rd bigger IIRC) but due to the chaos in the country and the lack of an efficient economy it was impossible for China to turn its economic muscle into military might.

Niall Ferguson. Niall Ferguson. Niall Ferguson.

Which means an increase on an already expensive staple of the American diet. An increase which the poor can't really mitigate while the rich can. Goddamn sequester means testingstan apparently has me placed as a radical tea partyist .

Isn't home production of food already bound by legal restrictions?

[Big Orangutan]

HPCA and SD.Net both seem to sprout out politically unbalanced bullcrap - HPCA's MikeKozlowski condemned the late Hugo Chavez as a latter day Adolf Hitler while you have Elfdart on SD.Net worshipping him as an ascended god. Hugo Chavez was a fascinating character but he had many contradictions (he practically halved Venezula's infant mortality but violent crime had also gone through the roof; him being pugnatious towards the Bush Presidency was a reasonable reaction to an Bush backed coup but then he forged friendships with grotesque international pariahs like Ahmadinejab; Chavez's nationalisation of Venezula's oil reserves was once again the chickens coming home to roost from the West's perspective but grave industrial accidents shot up; Chavez was elected many times by a grateful populace but he erected a omnipresent media propaganda machine that drowned out a free press, etc).

[Infinity Biscuit]

you have Elfdart on SD.Net worshipping him as an ascended god.

Did you actually read that thread or are you going off older material? If you're talking about the thread about his death, Elfdart barely even supports the guy. Hell, I did a quick search for Elfdart's posts with the word "Chavez" and there's nothing even close to fawning.

I mean I know golden mean thought is easy and attractive but this is kinda out of nowhere.

[Flagg]

RAAA SDN bad!

[adr]

"We are going to fill them with love instead of lead."

-- brutal dictator and nazi communist hugo chavez

[Bakustra]

HPCA and SD.Net both seem to sprout out politically unbalanced bullcrap - HPCA's MikeKozlowski condemned the late Hugo Chavez as a latter day Adolf Hitler while you have Elfdart on SD.Net worshipping him as an ascended god. Hugo Chavez was a fascinating character but he had many contradictions (he practically halved Venezula's infant mortality but violent crime had also gone through the roof; him being pugnatious towards the Bush Presidency was a reasonable reaction to an Bush backed coup but then he forged friendships with grotesque international pariahs like Ahmadinejab; Chavez's nationalisation of Venezula's oil reserves was once again the chickens coming home to roost from the West's perspective but grave industrial accidents shot up; Chavez was elected many times by a grateful populace but he erected a omnipresent media propaganda machine that drowned out a free press, etc).

i added together all of the things you said in your post and they came out to exactly nothing

this is probably a minor triumph, as usually people manage to say something, but you managed to say absolutely nothing, writing a post completely free of any content whatsoever

congratulations!!!

[Gands]

Chemical Weapons possibly used in Syria

If it is proven that a chemical attack has taken place then this war has to be stopped. Assad has to be comprehensively crushed in any case, but if the rebels have been stupid enough to use chemical weapons they also need to be stomped on.

Kill them all; God will know His own.

So, how many cars do you think can be fit into Syria? It might be time to turn the place into a parking lot, glass surfacing.

Seriously dude??

I always wished the Air Force had the scrotal fortitude to come up with a weapon system codenamed PAVE PARADISE.

We tried the nation-building thing. Didn't work. Let's try the nation-smiting thing and see if the results are any different.

I believe it's our policy to retaliate to WMD attacks with WMDs. Given that we destroyed our chemical weapons, that leaves only once choice...
As for cars, I'm not sure. but it should be a lot.

As Byron etc. points out, we've tried the 'Hearts and Minds for Democracy' thing in Iraq, and more recently (and perhaps more relevantly) in Libya. And we all know how wonderfully those turned out, don't we? It's long been U.S. policy, since at least the 1980s, that any use of NBC/CBR weaponry that the United States disapproves of will be resolved by our pouring buckets of Instant Sunrise™ onto the heads of the offending parties, repeated as needed until somebody comprehends our irritation with their use of WMDs.

If we're going to chastise Syria (either or both parties therin) for uncorking the chemical genie, it needs to be delivered Air Express from Whiteman AFB. I'd suggest using Trident (it is, after all, the nuclear missile Herrods would sell you), but that might make the Russians look at us funny.

Yes, because wiping out people in order to save them makes perfect sense .

Now you're catching on. I'm sorry about any innocents who might be caught in the destruction, but maybe next time, the idiots in charge won't use chemical weapons in the first place.

Ahh, the mark of true moral bankruptcy.

What? We get rid of the current idiots that used chemical weapons, and hope that some other idiots will think before they do something similar. I wasn't suggesting nuking some random bit of Syria.

The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.

I know that nothing will happen, but we can dream. It's rather depressing that the US hasn't set off a nuke in my lifetime.

Nice and concise posts. Still icky.

[weemadando]

I know that nothing will happen, but we can dream. It's rather depressing that the US hasn't set off a nuke in my lifetime.

Just when I think that HPCA can't get any more

[Oxymoron]

Bloodthirsty asshole.

[Crazedwraith]

wow. That's some pretty ironic quoting of Yes Prime Minister there. Considering that show basically came down against nucelar weapons and nuclear deterrence.

[Big Orangutan]

you have Elfdart on SD.Net worshipping him as an ascended god.

Did you actually read that thread or are you going off older material? If you're talking about the thread about his death, Elfdart barely even supports the guy. Hell, I did a quick search for Elfdart's posts with the word "Chavez" and there's nothing even close to fawning.

I mean I know golden mean thought is easy and attractive but this is kinda out of nowhere.

OK I have looked too much into Elfdart's comments, but I think he mildly criticised another poster who was thankful the controversial Venezuelan leader died. I can't elaborate further since I'm posting from a Nokia Lumia.

[Zablorg]

gands

north korea did a thing again

report

[Gands]

Not a lot has been said, but this gem stood out.

Full war declaration statement from DPRK (via KCNA):

*snip article*

http://live.reuters.com/Event/North_Korea/70001409

유리 주차장

Guess what this Korean script says:

Acc to Google translate, it's "glass parking lot"

That's the most interesting. The few other posts are just the usual handwringing.

[Sandman]

OK I have looked too much into Elfdart's comments, but I think he mildly criticised another poster who was thankful the controversial Venezuelan leader died. I can't elaborate further since I'm posting from a Nokia Lumia.

Playing Devil's Advocate for a minute, it is cause for dismay to be happy at the death of another human being without significant cause to be happy about it; I don't actually know the surrounding circumstances in this case so it may well be justified, but it's still probably something of a dick move.

[adr]

A lot of people hate what the propaganda told them President Chavez was and never bothered to look for the truth.

[Darksi4190]

He probably wasn't the RAR EVIL HITLER CLONE he was portrayed as in U.S. media, but if that letter someone posted from an actual Venezuelan is even remotely correct he was kind of an asshole and at least some aspect of their population is better off with him gone.

[Shroom Man 777]

if those letters from actual hydrocephalic platypus cuckolding americans are remotely correct then obama was kind of a kenyan and at least the patriotic god-fearing true american aspects of their population is better off with him deported to indochina

[RyanThunder]

Oh yes, Chavez was clearly a saint and the people who are complaining about him are just HPCA types we shouldn't listen to anyway.

[Flagg]

Chavez did more for the people of Venezuela than any US politicians has done for the US in like 70 years, so while not a saint, he was better than most. His civil rights abuses shouldn't be overlooked of course.

[Oxymoron]

What he's saying is that if your threshold for considering someone "probably a bad man" is other people saying bad things about them, then every prominent public figure is Adolf Hitler.

Doesn't mean that this was what Darksi was meaning to say, simply that the ones better off with Chavez dead might not be saints either.

[Darksi4190]

What I meant was, If he actually did do some of the things the comments were accusing him of, I.E. the political suppression, kicking American corporations out just so he could turn the operations over to China for more money in his own pocket, suppression of artists and news media, IIRC, then he was hardly a Saint, and maybe the next Venezuelan leader will be better.

Or worse. You never know with politicians.