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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

Belian In honor of my 50lb pup from 42 Since: Jan, 2001
In honor of my 50lb pup
#48376: Jan 28th 2013 at 2:58:07 PM

[up][up]From what I heard on NPR, the Senate imigration bill IS "amnesty", but only if they pay all their back taxes. Considering the financal status of most of these people, that is quite the hurddle to overcome. There are other hurdles as well, but I think I'll wait till the whole thing is made public before making any overal opinions.

Yu hav nat sein bod speeling unntil know. (cacke four undersandig tis)the cake is a lie!
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#48377: Jan 28th 2013 at 3:01:00 PM

"Amnesty" is one of these fear-mongering code words, right?

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Midgetsnowman Since: Jan, 2010
#48378: Jan 28th 2013 at 3:32:29 PM

[up]

The Republican party is pretty much nothing but fearmongering code words.

LMage Since: May, 2011
#48379: Jan 28th 2013 at 3:50:10 PM

A huge chunk of what has kept them in power is clever word play and media strategy.

Belian In honor of my 50lb pup from 42 Since: Jan, 2001
In honor of my 50lb pup
#48380: Jan 28th 2013 at 4:51:05 PM

In this case, yes.

WHY ARE WE GRANTING THESE ILEAGAL PEOPLE AMNESTY WHEN THEY HAVENT DONE ANYTHING TO DESERVE IT AND ARE TAKING OUR JOBS?! THEY MUST BE DEPORTED AT THE VERY LEAST!

Never mind that a most of them consider themselves Americans (or, in the case of children, didn't even know that they wern't until they tried to apply for a job) and are doing all the jobs that most people don't want to do for less money than people would normally do them for.

Yu hav nat sein bod speeling unntil know. (cacke four undersandig tis)the cake is a lie!
DeviantBraeburn Wandering Jew from Dysfunctional California Since: Aug, 2012
Wandering Jew
#48381: Jan 28th 2013 at 9:38:05 PM

Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI): We're Living in Atlas Shrugged

Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016
Ultrayellow Unchanging Avatar. Since: Dec, 2010
Unchanging Avatar.
#48382: Jan 28th 2013 at 9:42:40 PM

Then I guess that makes you one of the worthless parasites, right, Senator?

Except for 4/1/2011. That day lingers in my memory like...metaphor here...I should go.
thatguythere47 Since: Jul, 2010
#48383: Jan 29th 2013 at 12:15:30 AM

@last page discussion:

There seems to be some debate (in OTC? Impossible!) about what exactly religion is, or what science is. This could prove to be an interesting discussion but I can't really frame it as anything other then "dictionary wars: religion edition"

@Belian: Paying taxes you owe to become a member of society is actually a pretty fair process. The problem arises when you realize none of these people will owe taxes and if they were born in the US the government would probably owe them.

""Amnesty" is one of these fear-mongering code words, right?"

It depends on how it's used but generally when right-leaning politicians use it they try to conjure a mental image of baby rapists being given a SIN card.

"We're Living in Atlas Shrugged"

An interesting idea. I guess if you're a fan of the book and a total lunatic (there isn't much difference) you could squint and see some similarities.

Is using "Julian Assange is a Hillary butt plug" an acceptable signature quote?
Euodiachloris Since: Oct, 2010
#48384: Jan 29th 2013 at 1:56:14 AM

[up]The guy actually actively identifies with Galt. Says everything you could possibly want to know. tongue

Pykrete NOT THE BEES from Viridian Forest Since: Sep, 2009
NOT THE BEES
#48385: Jan 29th 2013 at 2:31:05 AM

Not quite. Apparently instead of Galt himself, he identifies with the guy who was a wet dream of capitalism, resents supporting his family, and slept around behind his wife's back to affirm the sex-fantasy side of Rand's consummate sociopathy.

See, it's so much better.

edited 29th Jan '13 2:33:33 AM by Pykrete

Achaemenid HGW XX/7 from Ruschestraße 103, Haus 1 Since: Dec, 2011 Relationship Status: Giving love a bad name
HGW XX/7
#48386: Jan 29th 2013 at 2:33:11 AM

Ach, I might as well be the first person to quote it:

"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." - John Rogers

Schild und Schwert der Partei
Bluesqueak Since: Jan, 2010
#48387: Jan 29th 2013 at 2:38:11 AM

[up]Atlas Shrugged has another similarity to Lord of the Rings.

If you think it's the best book in the world at 17, that's okay. If you think it's the best book in the world at 57 - you have problems.

It ain't over 'till the ring hits the lava.
Euodiachloris Since: Oct, 2010
#48388: Jan 29th 2013 at 2:50:25 AM

[up]Hey... at least at 57 you can appreciate the roots of Lord of the Rings and maybe even have dug into such things as The Eddas. It's a handy gateway drug into myths and legends as well as the History, Language and Geography of the people who came up with them.

Wish I could say the same of Atlas Shrugged. <_< It's not a good gateway into a rounded appreciation of Economics. Or Sociology, for that matter. tongue

edited 29th Jan '13 2:58:23 AM by Euodiachloris

Achaemenid HGW XX/7 from Ruschestraße 103, Haus 1 Since: Dec, 2011 Relationship Status: Giving love a bad name
HGW XX/7
#48389: Jan 29th 2013 at 2:54:49 AM

[up]

Or philosophy, or indeed anything resembling a coherent morality or weltanschauung.

edited 29th Jan '13 2:54:56 AM by Achaemenid

Schild und Schwert der Partei
Bluesqueak Since: Jan, 2010
#48390: Jan 29th 2013 at 3:02:31 AM

[up][up]Oh, LOTR's a superb book. Just starting the whole modern fantasy genre is a huge achievement; and the success of the films shows how strong the story structure and characterisation is.

It's just not the best book in the world. smile

Atlas Shrugged, otoh, has a view of economics and sociology that's likely to appeal to the 17 year old struggling to become an independent adult.

But once you've done that, you should move on. Rand, it seems, never did. grin

edited 29th Jan '13 3:03:01 AM by Bluesqueak

It ain't over 'till the ring hits the lava.
thatguythere47 Since: Jul, 2010
#48391: Jan 29th 2013 at 3:15:56 AM

If you actually read atlas shrugged at 17 you'd be two things:

1: eighteen by the time you're done.

2: in need of better reading materials.

Is using "Julian Assange is a Hillary butt plug" an acceptable signature quote?
Bluesqueak Since: Jan, 2010
#48392: Jan 29th 2013 at 3:45:46 AM

[up]Only eighteen? Okay, I suppose if you started on your seventeenth birthday...

'Better reading materials' kind of relies on your school library being allowed to stock subversive material like 'Huckleberry Finn', 'Harry Potter', 'To kill a mockingbird' and 'I know why the caged bird sings'.

It ain't over 'till the ring hits the lava.
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#48393: Jan 29th 2013 at 4:17:08 AM

Some girl in my facebook feed is complaining that Obamacare cost her mother and sister eight hours of work so now they only work 30 a week. Does anyone know how this is possible? She's also whining about the gun "ban".

PotatoesRock Since: Oct, 2012
#48394: Jan 29th 2013 at 4:21:01 AM

Some girl in my facebook feed is complaining that Obamacare cost her mother and sister eight hours of work so now they only work 30 a week.
Cheapskate employer would be my assumption, who is trying to dodge medical coverage laws.

Bluesqueak Since: Jan, 2010
#48395: Jan 29th 2013 at 4:33:15 AM

Sounds like. They're trying to shunt their employees onto insurance exchanges.

Small employer?

It ain't over 'till the ring hits the lava.
Medinoc from France (Before Recorded History)
#48396: Jan 29th 2013 at 5:27:12 AM

Re Atlas, quoth the news:

In the 1957 novel, society’s most productive and wealthy citizens go on strike to protest increased government taxes and regulation.
Emphasis mine. It tells everything one has to know about the book: In reality, the most productive are not the most wealthy. From what I've seen where I live, only the former go on strike and only the latter protest increased government [economic] regulation.

And in French, we know a lot about going on striketongue

"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."
Lawyerdude Citizen from my secret moon base Since: Jan, 2001
Citizen
#48397: Jan 29th 2013 at 5:31:00 AM

Also, the point of a strike is to publicly protest and demand changes. Rand's "heroes" don't go on strike; they quit and disappear.

And sorry, but I have little sympathy when the richest and most powerful people are whining about how "the government is taking my stuff" while at the same time relying on the government to maintain their lifestyle in the first place.

At least Paul Ryan finally realized that Rand was an atheist. I don't see how you can be a Republican and a Randroid at the same time. Maybe it's even scarier how these people combine religious fundamentalism with an utter distaste for any sort of government interference in big business.

edited 29th Jan '13 5:32:48 AM by Lawyerdude

What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly.
Midgetsnowman Since: Jan, 2010
#48398: Jan 29th 2013 at 5:58:48 AM

[up]

Rand is much like Reagan. The true details of their life and beliefs has been buried deep under years upon years of deification and twisting them into whatever the Republicans want to believe they were.

Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#48399: Jan 29th 2013 at 6:11:15 AM

[up][up]Doesn't surprise me. I still run into people that say I'm an idiot for calling Jesus Christ a socialist.

Achaemenid HGW XX/7 from Ruschestraße 103, Haus 1 Since: Dec, 2011 Relationship Status: Giving love a bad name
HGW XX/7
#48400: Jan 29th 2013 at 6:13:33 AM

[up][up]

In fairness, the left is often equally myopic as to people like FDR and JFK.

Schild und Schwert der Partei

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