Rex Kickass

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Jul 21, 2010 -> 08:01 PM) are you serious? the story is everywhere and FOX news is getting hammered. I caught about an hour of coverage on CNN (I'm currently in the Caribbean on business and have limited TV access) but I saw a lot of coverage about what Vilsack did wrong, a lot of coverage about Obama needing to make a phone call, but nothing about the problem with trusting this particular source who has now twice taken down people and organizations that are left of center with chopped up, out of context and fraudulent video releases. The only place I'm seeing this be about Fox and Breitbart has been on Daily Kos and, to a lesser extent, on Fox News itself.

You know what's probably more sad than the fact that the Obama administration handled this so poorly is that nobody is out there talking about whether or not people like Andrew Breitbart and Fox News who ran with this should be held accountable for running with this video in the first place. It's fraudulent journalism by a biased media with an axe to grind. It's just a shame that we only hear about that part of the story when the slant affects Republicans.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jul 14, 2010 -> 02:11 PM) Are you kidding? Have you bought groceries recently? Produce is incredibly cheap. You can spend 20 bucks and get a weeks full of produce pretty easily. It has nothing to do with the government. They're not forcing people to buy certain products. Lazy people choose to buy the convenient, pre-packaged products. It has nothing to do with the price. That person isn't hypothetical. It's a pretty good chunk of the welfare recipients I've seen and worked with. Got no job (or have a s***ty job), their food and housing is paid for, but they got cell phones and tv's and other "necessities" that get them through life. It's funny how the poorer the area, the more expensive produce becomes.

Reinstating an estate tax would be a great way to help close a deficit gap with minimum pain for the general population in a difficult economy. IIRC, when reinstated it will only apply to inherited estates in excess of 2 million dollars (and I think a house is exempted from that to begin with.) If people want to be serious about balancing budgets, no matter what we do - we have to raise taxes.

New facebook feed: http://www.slate.com/id/2259938/

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Jul 7, 2010 -> 08:16 AM) They'll still have a good shot at winning the team title, but Andy just lost some major help when they get into the mountain stages. But he could ride harder from here on out absolutely. Armstrong's in major trouble from here, because I don't think he's got any chance of keeping up with Contador in the mountain stages (just like last year) and he's already bout a minute behind him. He's going to need a big stage from Radioshack in the team time - trial stage to try and catch back up. I'm sure he'll find some excuse to whine about when he falls out of contention in about a week.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 7, 2010 -> 01:22 PM) So, just after the big drops and some people seeming to be sure a 2nd dip is coming... the market was up a little yesterday, and is up a lot today, despite having basically no news flow. Teh markets are a fickle thing. And now the same "Double Dip" tech ticker on Yahoo Finance which has been all doom and gloom all rally long is now saying that we've hit bottom and blah blah blah. Market spin has got to be some of the most reactionary stuff ever.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Jul 6, 2010 -> 06:09 PM) Good day for Evans today, he moved up to 3rd overall. Quite a few cobblestone sections caused a lot of problems. Armstrong finished up more than 2 mins back, while Contador only lost just over 1 minute. Frank Schleck crashed and is out, big blow for Andy Schleck's chances going forward. Didn't Andy win the stage and he's ahead of Contador? Saxo is a much less potent team without Frank Schleck on board, but the brothers tend to ride harder when one of them is hurt - and with Cancellara on the team too, it should be a fun team to watch. I don't think its Andy's year either, but Saxo could win the team title. And I love Armstrong dropping a minute behind Contador after Bruneel basically boasting that they were gonna eat up Contador for breakfast on the pavee.

I have a 2008 Trek 1.2 and I am in love with it. It's entry level but with racing geometry and super light. I don't really know the difference between entry level and non entry level to be honest. Just find the one that rides right with you. Try a lot of bikes out.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Jul 5, 2010 -> 09:13 PM) Again, bulls***. I know, I know... Thomas Jefferson was an evil bastard. If you go to school in Texas you wouldn't find out. He's been removed from the History standard.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jul 6, 2010 -> 05:15 PM) Howcome nobody cracks Al Gore jokes or makes sarcastic global warming comments when it's 105 degrees in the mid-Atlantic? It's funny that when it's 17 degrees in January or March in a northern city you hear people saying dumb things, but when it sustains triple digits for a while, nobody says anything. That's an inconvenient observation.

Columbia/HTC is going to be a huge force this year I think. I think Contador is gonna roll to another win, I see Lance fading as the tour continues. He hasn't been consistent throughout the whole year, and this race is starting off especially brutally.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Jul 1, 2010 -> 09:40 PM) Okay, then why are companies specifically asking to waive the requirement told "we'll get back to you"... so they can say they haven't been asked? This is an outright lie. There's too many people that's been asking for it to be temporarily waived. Could you provide some examples of requested Jones act waivers in relation to the BP Oil Spill? Because everytime I hear this argument and I ask for them instead of getting an actual answer, I get moved goalposts. But the Jones act talks about shipping cargo and passengers from one US port to another in a wholly domestic voyage. Exactly why couldn't US built ships with US crews move cargo to the gulf?

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Jul 4, 2010 -> 12:18 AM) Because that's SOOOOOOOO successful to any kind of agressive treatment plans. They just let you die, so that helps their stats. You should tell that to my uncle in France who has spent the last 15 years in and out of the hospital with one nearly critical ailment after the other.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 30, 2010 -> 10:00 PM) Its ironic we worry so much about what the rest of the world thinks of us and our history, but we aren't even going to let people learn their own history through the different eyes that it happened to. I think its always disappointing when you're replacing Thomas Jefferson with Phyllis Schafly.... but your mileage may vary.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Jun 26, 2010 -> 07:17 PM) The problem is, these programs have bloated the system so much that it will never recover. I really don't understand what that refers to.

Senator Byrd has passed. RIP.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 03:59 PM) Mitch Daniels is an epic f***up, too. They are both doing EXACTLY the same thing, interestingly enough. Add Chris Christie to that list too. Except he's slashing state funding to the cities to fund state mandated programs, and then trying to cap municipal tax hikes to pay for these programs that they are required to do but have no money to run. I live in Trenton. He's eliminating "Capital City aid." Sounds like entitlement program for a poor city right? No, its the payments they make in lieu of property tax for the 20% of city office space that they own. So they will use Trenton resources, not pay the city for it, blowing a hole up from 12 million dollars to almost 60 million dollars. What does that mean? 50% police force lay off in a city that can't afford to lose a single officer.

Facebook time. http://www.slate.com/id/2258126/

QUOTE (Tex @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 09:48 AM) I'd rather have yours. I'm pretty sure anyone trying to balance a county or municipal budget in Indiana would gladly give him to you.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 24, 2010 -> 02:28 PM) No, they want it out of your ass, thank you very much... Well played sir. Well played indeed. Finally, though I am glad we can get to the important debate on the role of government up your ass. It's time we got to the real issues.

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Jun 24, 2010 -> 02:17 PM) Just upgraded to the iphone 4 from iphone 3g. Sweetness all over. For those of you who are asking whether they should get an iphone or a droid phone, consider this: The line at every apple store and everywhere else that sells the iphone is a mile long today. How many lines have you seen for ANY other phone before? There were long lines to get into "Snakes on a Plane" the night it premiered too..... just sayin....

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 24, 2010 -> 02:02 PM) Texas GOP platform: criminalize gay marriage and ban sodomy, outlaw strip clubs and pornography Religious fundamentalism is bad. I just want to know how the Texas Republican party can say with a straight face that they want limited government, when their platform literally says that they'd like to expand it up your ass.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 24, 2010 -> 11:28 AM) IT DOESN'T MATTER. I deal in the world of reality, and in that world, we're talking about $8.75 an hour, which is plenty. End of debate. As to your second point, again, please sign my petition to sue Henry Ford for ruining my great grandfathers livery stable. That SOB's evil, greedy business model ruined an entire industry. Just like in every other time of history, when businesses close or someone comes out with a better product, those that get left behind have to adapt. As Tex says, big box stores are just better at what they do. There's still room for the mom and pop store. Become more specialized, that's the key. But this is a process that started decades ago. It's not like it just happened. And how you can argue "lack of opportunities" when you yourself are denying them one? I think the disconnect here is that you're coming from the perspective of a middle class neighborhood (like in your study) whereas i'm coming from the 40% unemployed, highest crime rate, highest obesity rate, lack of any meaningful jobs, and a food desert neighborhood. Let's assume that Wal-mart will crush EVERY business in that area. It's STILL better for those neighborhoods' health and economy because there's nothing there to begin with. $8.75 an hour is a gross annual pay of $18,200. You can call that a lot of things, but I wouldn't call that plenty. Especially if I live in Chicago.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 24, 2010 -> 10:51 AM) Yes, and that's by paying people in developing countries very little money and generally not giving a s*** about them or their environment. Also, Jewel is a regional store. Jewel is a regional brand operated by a national company (Albertson's). It's Albertson's on the east coast, Jewel in the midwest, ACME on the east coast. And workers at Jewel are also organized. UFCW I believe.