flacon's Comments (118)

“You might want to re-think the "hard earned" part of that statement.”

“Let me get this straight. If a dollar is minted, it can only be taxed the one time? So when my husband earns that money and pays income tax, and then I spend some of the dollars left over on my maid I don't expect her to pay tax on her earnings because we already paid tax on that money?

No wait. It's totally different. Your father 'earned' a million dollars, and then gave you that money. But you don't have to pay taxes on it because he already paid taxes on it once and his transfer of those funds to you is not like our transfer to our maid because in her case she has earned that money, and in your case you are divinely entitled to it. So our maid should pay taxes on her $19,000 a year but that million you should get scot free by virtue of...

This must just be over my head. After all. I'm just a chick.”

“Personal hard-earned my posterior. Why don't you go to the moon alone and see how you would do with that "hard earned wealth" you are so proud of. Did you really earn anything on your own, without support and infrastructure from the country? Did you read Mr Gates article? There are too many people running around with all that weird stuff they picked up from John Birch Society and Ayn Rand.

These are the same privileged people who do not send their kids into the military but are ready to support ANY wars nilly-willy. A permanent aristocracy is a dangerous thing, and even Thomas Jefferson railed against it.”

“Sorry, "flacon", you're wrong.

America was not meant to be an aristocracy where a handful of very, very wealthy people are a Permanent Ruling Class because of vast wealth passed on to them from their ancestors.

The current bills will allow families to pass on the first SEVEN MILLION without any of it being subject to the Estate Tax. Most people can live on seven million...

And after that first seven million, any inheritance beyond that is still very modestly taxed. Get real.

As Mr. Gates said, if we let these billions and billions slip away, how will we average working people make it up? Do YOU want to pay more taxes? Or would you rather we just run up the National Credit Card some more?

So choose: Do the billionaires pay a fraction more or do YOU want to pay or go further into the red?”

“The point of the inheritance tax is that the recipients did not EARN that wealth.”

“Boy are you ever out in the woods - or do you happen to be in that elite 1% ?”

“Ummm...I hate to break it to you, but American health care ranks # 37. We are ranked lower than Iceland, Malt and Saudi Arabia. We have lower life expectancy and higher infant mortality. Oh, yeah, I'm just SO proud!!!.....NOT!”

“RIGHT. her husband can't retire until she is eligible for Medicare. I can sort of see what's going on here. I put my first husband through medical school. We are only 6 months apart in age.
His second wife is 10 years younger.
That's why I think a whole lot has been left out of this story. While most husbands would be willing to work an extra year or two to keep a wife's insurance coverage going, what about 10 years?
This is clearly a wealthy couple with only one income. This issue of health insurance should have been worked into their long-range retirement plans. Nobody PLANS on having a brain tumor, but they should have seen this day coming: when he would retire and go on Medicare, and she would be without insurance. At $38,000/year, she is probably better off not getting insurance, and just paying for whatever treatment she might need with cash.
Or, perhaps it's time for her to look for a job.”

“Once she and her husband go bankrupt, her "neighbors" will most certainly be paying for her care because the hospital won't deny her treatment. And expensive care it no doubt will be.
Should we each have to pay our own costs to have the fire department come to our homes, the police to patrol past our front yards, the teachers run our schools? Where is your sense of community that you would deny this to your neighbor?”

“Flacon, how can you possibly garner that from the statements made here???? Did you take English as a foreign subject in High School???? Where do you get this completely off the wall BIZZARE idea that is what is being said here? GEEZ - who beat you as a child because you obviously have some loose things buzzing around in your brain. That was a really stupid question.”

“flacon needs to understand what an HONEST LIVING means. This Lieberman curse must be ended.”

“that's not a living...that's a killing!”

“WE are saying the people who try to kill healthcare should be called out for their obstruction!”

“I think she's saying we shouldn't give money to people who will divert it to industries that have caused the health care crisis to begin with. But that's just my take. ...”

“no, just that they shouldn't be two faced about it.”

“The Nation is radicalizing Domestic disturbance? Well I for one am glad to hear about Tiger's business dealings....”

“Rush not to judgment, Flacon; according to Webster's, it's an intransitive verb, used correctly in a statement like, "I would not golf with Woods if he were the last golf pro on earth", for example.

Here you go, check for yourself: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/golf”

“He did a very good job sparing us the facts. I saw none in his description of Palin.”

“He compared Sarah Palin to Ronald Regan. I don't think that's going to bring out the backlash you are expecting.”

“Already in mensa. We've just about got all those complexities of life, culture, and politics figured out. Stay tuned.”

“Uh, she campaigned for months to be one heartbeat away from a 72 year old president and you don't know what her ultimate capablities are? Wow, have you been on the moon?”

“Why don't you just read 'Going Rogue' ?
Then read "Audacity of Hope' by Obama.
We will await your comparative book review.”

“Kind of like the raw hatred directed at our black President by the wing nuts?”

“The "raw hatred" is that she thinks educated people are "elitist" and that "Real Amerika are a bunch of rednecks eating pork rinds.”

“Her "ultimate capabilities"????? To stand as a pretty backdrop to an ugly 72 year old presidential hopeful who's campaign miscalculated the Hillary effect. That was it. OH....and liberals hate her because she doesn't do the one thing that we hold in the highest esteem......THINK!”

“Palin "drives people to irrationality" not so much with her charm, good looks and whatever success she has achieved, but with her, well, dimness and selfishness. She is shallow and uninformed -- and very much OK with it. She champions ignorance and elevates it to the level of virtue. That's why she is so popular among the teabagging crowds -- she comes across as "one of us." For better (from a teabagger POV) and for worse (from everyone else's POV). She is the proverbial self-made woman -- but the stuff she made herself of is not exactly admirable: good looks, charm, strong ambition, and glamorized ignorance. Her ascent to power is a triumph of ignorance (a la G.W.B's journey) and provincialism, and, in this respect, it embodies many of American myths and ideals. But it's not exactly clear whether she uses her ambition to help America, or uses America to help her ambition. I'm afraid it's the latter -- and so are many others who react so strongly, and negatively, toward her. That's where the "irrationality" you mention comes from, at least in part: people sense that she is not genuine, that she is in it (= politics) for herself only, contrary to her own pronouncements. If she really were interested in helping the country, she would make some effort to learn something about it, and not just skim the surface on most issues and recycle embarrassing platitudes. But then she would not be Sarah.”

“People are just too polite to say straight out that she's a dip s h i t.”

“Yeah, nothin says success better than quittin. You betcha”

“They won't go bad. There's no way Holder would have made this decision if there was a shred of possibility that they wouldn't be convicted. I also believe that Obama let him make the decision on his own, knowing that the media would skewer him no matter what the decision turned out to be. This way he at least can say he's returning the Justice Department to independence and accountability.”

“As aMariner's fan I'll take this one.

He can't actually FLY (yet)..even though he often appears to.

Otherwise, he's perfect.

Regards
tm”

“too bad his mother had him ripped away upon his birth. They have the same hormones humans have, that bind them to their young. Nature ensures that. I guarantee you she cried for him, and looked for him, possibly for 6 months.”

“Israel had the opportunity to have peace with and recognition by it's Arab neighbors. It refused.

The Arab Peace Initiative [2] was floated by then acting Saudi regent Crown Prince Abdullah as a potential solution to both the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Arab-Israeli conflict. It was published on March 28, 2002, during the meeting of the Arab League at the Beirut Summit, and achieved the unanimous consent of all members of the Arab League.

Considered a progressive proposal , it calls for the state of Israel to withdraw its forces from all the Occupied Territories, including the Golan Heights, to recognize "an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital" in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as a "just solution" for the Palestinian refugees. In exchange the Arab states affirmed that they would recognize the state of Israel, consider the Arab-Israeli conflict over and establish "normal relations" with Israel.
(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Arab_League_summit)”

“Great way to switch the argument - no one is asking Israel to disarm - just stop the blockade of Gaza and stop killing Palestinian civilians would be a nice start on the road to real peace. When the body count is 1,400 dead Palestinians and 13 dead Israelis - then the Israeli claims about concerns for its welfare and that of its citizens seems to be pretty one sided. Not to mention the knee-jerk vote of the members of Congress which continues to see a vote for Israel as a potential vote and campaign contribution.”

“remarkable restraint?

Why yes if I stole someones property, then beat them, as long as Im jewish - Im showing "remarkable restraint"”

“There is minimal conflict in the West Bank, yet the israeli settlers and government are taking their land and homes every day. Their lives are made miserable every day. A peaceful Gaza would do no good.”

“flacon? Flack, more like.”

“How's that gig as a member of megaphone working out?”

“While I try to sympathize with Israels position, using white phosphorous is hardly showing remarkable restraint.”

“Before the Gaza conflict Hamas offered to extend a truce. Isreal did not respond.

The Arab League offered a peace treaty that would include every Arab country if Isreal returned to the 1967 borders and allowed the creation of a Palestinian state. Israel did not bother to respond. Why? The bottom line is that Israel wants land not peace. This has been Israel's long-term policy.

Israel has shown as much restraint as its former close ally, Apartheid South Africa.”

“Bush could not get enough gratuitous slaps, IMO.”

“No, according to some of the families, he would greet them with a laugh and "who' we honoring here today....chuckle"”

“The family of the fallen soldier authorized it being photgraphed”

“Bush had dignity? No offense to chimps, but a chimp m.asturbating at a zoo in front of passersby has more dignity in his w.eenie than Bush will ever have in his entire body.”

“Bush had dignity? No offense to chimps, but a chimp masturbating at a zoo in front of passersby has more dignity in his weenie than Bush will ever have in his entire body.”

“Really, no cameras no photos. Then how may I ask do you know he did?”

“one might infer racism. but i certainly hear an almost constant use of resentment over affirmative action and anything close to it. there was a strong backlash against affirmative action and busing that fueled the rise of conservatism over the last 30 years. Mr. Limbaugh uses that theme almost every time i have heard him speak. just take the McNabb comment. he was canned over that because he was clearly using his position announcing football to put a political anti-affirmative action spin on whatever he can get his mouth around. using the bus incident as some parable about how unfairly white kids are treated- the same thing. if you dittoheads really cant see that it is pathetic. I suspect you can but are simply being dishonest as a tactic. never admit to it . never.”

“If you can honestly say that you do not see the racism in his remarks then you have to be honestly missing a lot of other things. It's to the point where unless abuse or violence is involved it can't be called what it is. What would you consider racism? He has referred to NFL players as opposing gang members, told a black person to "take a bone out of his nose", remarked that in in "Obama's America" that white kids are freely beaten by black children due to race. You do not see "racism" here? Are you kidding? This is what you call "irreverence"? What always gets me is that supporters of Limbaugh use the same canned response that he is just a satirist. Right, and the Klan was just a social club.”

“"I think people see racism in his criticism. I don't."

I respect that position. I respect Mr. Limbaugh's right to make money spewing hate into the American stream of discourse, thereby turning it into a sewer of selective love, selective patrotism, selective democracy, selective people being included in the statement supposedly defining and bnding us "all" -- "We the people". Mr. Limbaugh has every right to be who he is, and others have every right to find that offensive.”

“Then you should listen to his rants then try to figure out the reason he is saying them. Rush is trying to stir up the racists for they are the true base of conservatism. Telling a hate filled mob that someone deserves to die is not calling for their death but is instilling the thought in their head. Rush's rants are instilling racist thoughts which will destroy any sanity, morals and just thoughts in those afflicted by them. If I run into a movie theater and yell fire, it makes no difference if there is a fire or not, it is not the proper way to get the message across for it causes panic which prevents rational thought from controlling a person's actions.”

“How many homeless children in this country has the Bishop housed?

How many starving children in this country has the Bishop fed?

Perhaps the Bishop feels that there are not enough homeless and starving children. He wants more. Lovely.”

“I want to help the oppressed, not the oppressors.”

“Tell that to those children in Africa that Christian pastors so lovingly declare to death because they are witches. Oh I forgot your ideology is for the fetus and only in America .”

“That's not morality, that is pontification.”

“If your idea of morality is to harrass and shame women and force them to pursue unwanted pregnancies, you can keep it.”