What did the romans call terrorists back in the empire days? ah, yes Barbarians...
And what did these barbarians do? ...bring the empire to it's knees!
I quote myself. I told you it's going to come down to this. The people in power do not want to lose that power.
"Terrorist" is a very vague term and they'll just manipulate it to imprison anyone that disagrees with them.
Oh boy, here we go.
Things are getting real now. I guess they couldn't label Martin Luther King's movement as a terrorist activity back in the day. Or they just didn't think about doing this until now.
Even forum threads like this could be labeled as terrorist activities.
I even feel like I shouldn't have my beard growing out because I might be labeled a terrorist.
You're trying to read way too much into my posts so maybe this will be easier:
I have no problem saying fraud is bad. My problem is with your initial statement ("freddie and fannie wouldn't have been a problem if banks didn't make bad loans") is backwards. This is obviously true in a totally Utopian sense but shows a complete disregard for cause and effect.
Let's assume you're right and Fannie and Freddie didn't do anything wrong, they truly had no idea what they were buying: You could still point to literally ANYTHING else and have a logical argument.
- Your amazing new shift away from blaming banks towards blaming rating agencies is a stronger argument (albeit not by much)
- You could blame private label MBS issuers
- You could blame the repeal of the separation of investment/commercial banking and have a better case
In ANY of these scenarios you're identifying a cause and not the end result: The bank making bad loans.
Hmmmm, I don't know much about this guy yet, but his stances and policies sound very agreeable to me. Could he be the breath of fresh air that this race needs?
It's nice, but people will just keep voting for the same 2 parties until this country is run into the ground because it's what they're comfortable with.
Hmmmm, I don't know much about this guy yet, but his stances and policies sound very agreeable to me. Could he be the breath of fresh air that this race needs?
I don't care what any candidate says he/she stands for, I care whether or not they can/will make it happen. So far, the track record is that candidates talk big to win votes and then abandon their promises as soon as they take their oath of office while holding a fistful of lobbyist cash.
The first politician who commits to the ratification of an acceptable bill to remove private money from elections and legislation is the one I vote for. I would carry campaign pamphlets in my pocket everywhere I go and give them to everyone I meet if there was someone whom would do that.
Rocky might be the guy. I hope he is, because we need somebody in government bring down the hammer and make some serious changes.
A third Party of overall is a Dramatically Good thing for this country, the choke hold that these 2 current have is ridiculous. the MSM backs them, before the people. So Thumbs up to Rocky!
seems like the same old noise..completely ignores the fact that most of the 1% make their fortunes from capital gains (taxed @ 15% here in the US)- and the more savvy and sinister pay far less than that.
I found something pretty neat, it's not directly OWS news but it gives a good perspective on why things are as bad as they are and that they need to be changed. I'm sure a lot of you (myself included) can relate to this game.
That guy is being dishonest. He may pay a higher total in taxes, but he has much more left over after taxes than the rest of us. 50%, 60%, or even 80% tax rates for those making 1 million or more would not impact their ability to secure food, shelter, education, and health care. The lowest income earners have to choose between food and shelter when taxes reduce their take home income, but CEO's only have to pass on another Mercedes in their collection. Taxes on the rich don't effect basic needs like it does for the rest of us. 80% of 1 million leaves 200K in net earnings. I'd love to have 200K/yr to take home and gladly give the other 800K if it meant universal health care, affordable housing, and free college/vocational tuition (enrollment based on a assessment of aptitude).
I played spent and I made it with $197, but with rent due the next day.
I found something pretty neat, it's not directly OWS news but it gives a good perspective on why things are as bad as they are and that they need to be changed. I'm sure a lot of you (myself included) can relate to this game.
I found something pretty neat, it's not directly OWS news but it gives a good perspective on why things are as bad as they are and that they need to be changed. I'm sure a lot of you (myself included) can relate to this game.
Wow, that was unsettling. Thx for the share. I'll have to post this game in some other places.
$767.00 yo!
I managed to ignore my kids, back pain, toothaches, utility bills, car loans, clothes, food, gas and my overall happiness just to pay rent the next month, with no job or car to show for it!
$767.00 yo!
I managed to ignore my kids, back pain, toothaches, utility bills, car loans, clothes, food, gas and my overall happiness just to pay rent the next month, with no job or car to show for it!
Don't feel bad. It's not your fault you're a single parent who took out a bunch of loans for a college degree you aren't using, bought a house as soon as you got out, tried to use a credit card to keep it, has never heard of prepaid phones, and insists on living in a city with a high cost of living just to work at the local Target warehouse, while somehow managing to own more stuff than can fit in your new apartment.
...wait.
(I get the point of that game and have experienced several of the insurance/health related financial hardships personally, but c'mon...)
Don't feel bad. It's not your fault you're a single parent who took out a bunch of loans for a college degree you aren't using, bought a house as soon as you got out, tried to use a credit card to keep it, has never heard of prepaid phones, and insists on living in a city with a high cost of living just to work at the local Target warehouse, while somehow managing to own more stuff than can fit in your new apartment.
...wait.
(I get the point of that game and have experienced several of the insurance/health related financial hardships personally, but c'mon...)
Don't feel bad. It's not your fault you're a single parent who took out a bunch of loans for a college degree you aren't using, bought a house as soon as you got out, tried to use a credit card to keep it, has never heard of prepaid phones, and insists on living in a city with a high cost of living just to work at the local Target warehouse, while somehow managing to own more stuff than can fit in your new apartment.
...wait.
(I get the point of that game and have experienced several of the insurance/health related financial hardships personally, but c'mon...)
Sure, blame the less fortunate who were lead to believe that a college education was a prerequisite to attain a stable job and income. That it provides the means for home ownership. It's their fault that jobs are hard to find and don't pay enough to live on. It's their fault they live in an economy that was inflated by an out-of-control and predatory system of easy credit and volatile loans. Shame on them for not having the wisdom and foresight you seem to possess.
Have you ever had to shop at a thrift store because you can't even afford the Chinese made crap at Walmart? Have you had to go to the food shelf to get your groceries? Did you ever have to buy your children broken second hand toys because you can barely pay the utility bills? Have you had to buy a car every year because all that you can afford are old junk heaps that are on their last leg? Have you ever been afraid that you or your child might get sick because you don't make enough for health care insurance? Have you had to live in a house that was granted renovation grants because it would otherwise be condemned? I've dealt with that all of my life, as a child and some of it now as a parent.
You can sit there with your smug sense of cynicism and cluck your tongue at people that are struggling, but I doubt you've ever had to go without the simplest things in life. I doubt that many in the game industry have had to apply for food stamps and cash assistance to get by.
You can sit there with your smug sense of cynicism and cluck your tongue at people that are struggling, but I doubt you've ever had to go without the simplest things in life. I doubt that many in the game industry have had to apply for food stamps and cash assistance to get by.
I think you have a lot of assumption going on there. It's not like guys in the game industry are using sitting in mansions, watching a gold plated TV. I've seen many posts on PC alone, with people struggling to survive on an extremely low salary.
Well, the new axis of evil is showing it's fangs. Legal Marshall law... hahahah!
The declaration of Independence states it pretty clearly:
" Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
Sure, blame the less fortunate who were lead to believe that a college education was a prerequisite to attain a stable job and income. That it provides the means for home ownership. It's their fault that jobs are hard to find and don't pay enough to live on. It's their fault they live in an economy that was inflated by an out-of-control and predatory system of easy credit and volatile loans. Shame on them for not having the wisdom and foresight you seem to possess.
Agreed.
I've had to live out of my car at one point and ask others if I could use their shower. It got so bad that I drove to the beach, put on my swim trunks, grabbed a bar of soap and used the outside showers near the boardwalk.
Man, talk about being down on your luck.
Did I or do I own a smartphone? Heck no. Even to this day I won't get one until I can actually start making money off of it. I remember when my first cellphone was around $30 a month, now taxes and higher rates put an end to that.
Long story short, I will continue to live like a cheap ass even if I'm making 100k a year. Which might never happen.
And if when I have a kid, I will sacrifice everything for him/her and tell them not to be an artist. Ha!
SOPA is also getting voted on today. Soon the government will be censoring whatever sites they please, start searches & seizures to take peoples' guns away, and call them terrorists to imprison them for good.
I know it was posted a few pages back, but wanted to re-post it for anyone who might have missed it or haven't watched it yet. Hopefully, this post isn't reason enough to throw me in jail for terrorism
edit* - Forgot to mention this, but this video sheds a new light on Warren Buffett. You get the impression that he is not the person he appears to be today (progressive, decent, and in-touch with middle class woes).
$767.00 yo!
I managed to ignore my kids, back pain, toothaches, utility bills, car loans, clothes, food, gas and my overall happiness just to pay rent the next month, with no job or car to show for it!
Ha I had the exact same results and thought "Chumps can't make it! This was easy its stuff I've had to do earlier in life, the game is self defeating if its that easy". Then I played it 2 more times and it must have known because it piled on a bunch of extras I didn't have to deal with the first time.
Stuff like: A neighbor kid breaks your window, your landlord tells you to fix it. Do you: "fix the window yourself, get legal help or just patch it with plastic".
Since when do I need a lawyer to stand up to a slumlord? If you're working poor you can't be a pussy push over who eats whatever people dish out. Grow a spine.
Sure, blame the less fortunate who were lead to believe that a college education was a prerequisite to attain a stable job and income...etc...etc
Greevar, as notman realized, you're making a lot of assumptions about my position that I neither implied or expressed. I make ~$1,200 a month, have not had insurance for years (nor has my wife), and I've had to pay thousands of dollars worth of dental bills and other expenses out of my own pocket this past year alone. In the past 4 years I've been a high school janitor, a dishwasher, and low end tech support. I have two brothers, one older who's monthly paychecks are lower than mine, and another younger who's been on food stamps. I can fit everything I own in one room. I know because I have lived in one room, with my wife, multiple times over the past few years. Things may very well get worse over the next couple years as I take some risks in continuing to pursue art as a career. (Note that in spite of this, I do still consider myself very lucky in life.)
My point was not "I think anyone who went to college and was unable to use it afterwords is an idiot for even trying". My point was that the game literally takes just about every bad decision or unfortunate position in life, and assumes it all happened to you prior to the game's start. Which is simply unrealistic. And while no, I don't blame people for believing what they were taught by society's stupidity growing up - in matters such as college degrees, I do think people should be responsible for their own decisions. And things like deciding not to use birth control as a poor college student, or not using a prepaid phone when you're obviously hurting for money, or racking up a mountain of credit card bills? Yeah, those are things you can prevent by just listening to your middle school health teacher.
SOPA is also getting voted on today. Soon the government will be censoring whatever sites they please, start searches & seizures to take peoples' guns away, and call them terrorists to imprison them for good.
United States of What the Fuck
haha, it makes me uneasy to laugh about these things.
"In order to ensure our security and continuing stability, the Republic will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire, for a safe and secure society which I assure you will last for ten thousand years."
"So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause."
Fannie and Freddie had nothing to do with Merrill Lynch selling $16.5 billion worth of crap mortgage-backed securities to the Connecticut Carpenters Annuity Fund, the Mississippi Public Employees' Retirement System, the Connecticut Carpenters Pension Fund, and the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association. Citigroup and Deutsche Bank did not need to be pushed by Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi to sell hundreds of millions of dollars in crappy MBS to Allstate.
And Goldman, Sachs did not need Franklin Raines to urge it to sell $1.2 billion in designed-to-fail mortgage-backed instruments to two of the countrys largest corporate credit unions, which subsequently went bust and had to be swallowed up by the National Credit Union Administration.
Replies
http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2011/12/06/begins-occupywallstreet-labeled-terrorist-group-alqaeda-81051/
I quote myself. I told you it's going to come down to this. The people in power do not want to lose that power.
"Terrorist" is a very vague term and they'll just manipulate it to imprison anyone that disagrees with them.
And what did these barbarians do? ...bring the empire to it's knees!
This.
So peaceful protesters = domestic terrorists?! The hell?!
Things are getting real now. I guess they couldn't label Martin Luther King's movement as a terrorist activity back in the day. Or they just didn't think about doing this until now.
Even forum threads like this could be labeled as terrorist activities.
I even feel like I shouldn't have my beard growing out because I might be labeled a terrorist.
There goes the first amendment
http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-ndaa-section-1031-citizen-imprisonment-law-before-dec-13
I have no problem saying fraud is bad. My problem is with your initial statement ("freddie and fannie wouldn't have been a problem if banks didn't make bad loans") is backwards. This is obviously true in a totally Utopian sense but shows a complete disregard for cause and effect.
Let's assume you're right and Fannie and Freddie didn't do anything wrong, they truly had no idea what they were buying: You could still point to literally ANYTHING else and have a logical argument.
- Your amazing new shift away from blaming banks towards blaming rating agencies is a stronger argument (albeit not by much)
- You could blame private label MBS issuers
- You could blame the repeal of the separation of investment/commercial banking and have a better case
In ANY of these scenarios you're identifying a cause and not the end result: The bank making bad loans.
edit: simplified
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2011/12/occupy-protesters-have-blocked-access-three-west-coast-ports/46064/
Also:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/11/occupy-our-homes-brooklyn_n_1140324.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/12/rocky-anderson-radical-third-way?newsfeed=true
Hmmmm, I don't know much about this guy yet, but his stances and policies sound very agreeable to me. Could he be the breath of fresh air that this race needs?
I don't care what any candidate says he/she stands for, I care whether or not they can/will make it happen. So far, the track record is that candidates talk big to win votes and then abandon their promises as soon as they take their oath of office while holding a fistful of lobbyist cash.
The first politician who commits to the ratification of an acceptable bill to remove private money from elections and legislation is the one I vote for. I would carry campaign pamphlets in my pocket everywhere I go and give them to everyone I meet if there was someone whom would do that.
Rocky might be the guy. I hope he is, because we need somebody in government bring down the hammer and make some serious changes.
also did u guys see this... pretty entertaining.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gallery/2011/dec/13/2011-lego-year-news-pictures
This is interesting.
I found something pretty neat, it's not directly OWS news but it gives a good perspective on why things are as bad as they are and that they need to be changed. I'm sure a lot of you (myself included) can relate to this game.
I played spent and I made it with $197, but with rent due the next day.
this game is depressing.
Wow, that was unsettling. Thx for the share. I'll have to post this game in some other places.
http://www.politicususa.com/en/bernie-sanders-citizens-united-petition
Bernie Sanders' allegedly has collected 140,000 signatures for his amendment to overturn Citizens United in just 5 days so far!
Bahh humbug!
Played that game too. Made it to the end of the month with 308$
$767.00 yo!
I managed to ignore my kids, back pain, toothaches, utility bills, car loans, clothes, food, gas and my overall happiness just to pay rent the next month, with no job or car to show for it!
[ame="
Don't feel bad. It's not your fault you're a single parent who took out a bunch of loans for a college degree you aren't using, bought a house as soon as you got out, tried to use a credit card to keep it, has never heard of prepaid phones, and insists on living in a city with a high cost of living just to work at the local Target warehouse, while somehow managing to own more stuff than can fit in your new apartment.
...wait.
(I get the point of that game and have experienced several of the insurance/health related financial hardships personally, but c'mon...)
Sure, blame the less fortunate who were lead to believe that a college education was a prerequisite to attain a stable job and income. That it provides the means for home ownership. It's their fault that jobs are hard to find and don't pay enough to live on. It's their fault they live in an economy that was inflated by an out-of-control and predatory system of easy credit and volatile loans. Shame on them for not having the wisdom and foresight you seem to possess.
Have you ever had to shop at a thrift store because you can't even afford the Chinese made crap at Walmart? Have you had to go to the food shelf to get your groceries? Did you ever have to buy your children broken second hand toys because you can barely pay the utility bills? Have you had to buy a car every year because all that you can afford are old junk heaps that are on their last leg? Have you ever been afraid that you or your child might get sick because you don't make enough for health care insurance? Have you had to live in a house that was granted renovation grants because it would otherwise be condemned? I've dealt with that all of my life, as a child and some of it now as a parent.
You can sit there with your smug sense of cynicism and cluck your tongue at people that are struggling, but I doubt you've ever had to go without the simplest things in life. I doubt that many in the game industry have had to apply for food stamps and cash assistance to get by.
I think you have a lot of assumption going on there. It's not like guys in the game industry are using sitting in mansions, watching a gold plated TV. I've seen many posts on PC alone, with people struggling to survive on an extremely low salary.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2011/12/defense-bill-passes-house-107550.html
The declaration of Independence states it pretty clearly:
" Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
Agreed.
I've had to live out of my car at one point and ask others if I could use their shower. It got so bad that I drove to the beach, put on my swim trunks, grabbed a bar of soap and used the outside showers near the boardwalk.
Man, talk about being down on your luck.
Did I or do I own a smartphone? Heck no. Even to this day I won't get one until I can actually start making money off of it. I remember when my first cellphone was around $30 a month, now taxes and higher rates put an end to that.
Long story short, I will continue to live like a cheap ass even if I'm making 100k a year. Which might never happen.
And if when I have a kid, I will sacrifice everything for him/her and tell them not to be an artist. Ha!
United States of What the Fuck
[ame="
I know it was posted a few pages back, but wanted to re-post it for anyone who might have missed it or haven't watched it yet. Hopefully, this post isn't reason enough to throw me in jail for terrorism
edit* - Forgot to mention this, but this video sheds a new light on Warren Buffett. You get the impression that he is not the person he appears to be today (progressive, decent, and in-touch with middle class woes).
Also, I'm losing confidence in the credibility of both RT and Anonymous, but...
http://rt.com/usa/news/anonymous-ndaa-portman-torture-913/
Stuff like: A neighbor kid breaks your window, your landlord tells you to fix it. Do you: "fix the window yourself, get legal help or just patch it with plastic".
Since when do I need a lawyer to stand up to a slumlord? If you're working poor you can't be a pussy push over who eats whatever people dish out. Grow a spine.
"you can't jog without a jogging buddy!"
Still, pretty good at communicating it's point.
Greevar, as notman realized, you're making a lot of assumptions about my position that I neither implied or expressed. I make ~$1,200 a month, have not had insurance for years (nor has my wife), and I've had to pay thousands of dollars worth of dental bills and other expenses out of my own pocket this past year alone. In the past 4 years I've been a high school janitor, a dishwasher, and low end tech support. I have two brothers, one older who's monthly paychecks are lower than mine, and another younger who's been on food stamps. I can fit everything I own in one room. I know because I have lived in one room, with my wife, multiple times over the past few years. Things may very well get worse over the next couple years as I take some risks in continuing to pursue art as a career. (Note that in spite of this, I do still consider myself very lucky in life.)
My point was not "I think anyone who went to college and was unable to use it afterwords is an idiot for even trying". My point was that the game literally takes just about every bad decision or unfortunate position in life, and assumes it all happened to you prior to the game's start. Which is simply unrealistic. And while no, I don't blame people for believing what they were taught by society's stupidity growing up - in matters such as college degrees, I do think people should be responsible for their own decisions. And things like deciding not to use birth control as a poor college student, or not using a prepaid phone when you're obviously hurting for money, or racking up a mountain of credit card bills? Yeah, those are things you can prevent by just listening to your middle school health teacher.
No need to get all preachy.
haha, it makes me uneasy to laugh about these things.
80% of everything they make. If they gross one million in a year, they take home 200K. That's more than enough money for anyone to live on.
[ame="
people already "demonstrated" their rights..when do they take them back?
Maybe that should be the new occupy. Dance wall street. Sudden mods dance for a few minutes in public places, then disappear into the crowd. Or.....
[ame="
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/15/americans-face-guantanamo-detention-obama?newsfeed=true
i wonder with this if they will now be able to just arrest any protesters and call them low lvl domestic terrorist like London is doing.scary shit.
yep. USA.
"So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause."
Mike Bloomberg's Marie Antoinette Moment: [ame="
Why Isn't Wall Street in Jail?
Occupy Wall Street: The 'Squidding' of Goldman, Sachs
Indefinite Detention of American Citizens: Coming Soon to Battlefield U.S.A.
Woman Gets Jail For Food-Stamp Fraud; Wall Street Fraudsters Get Bailouts