StrangeSox

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Feb 12, 2009 -> 09:07 AM) The guy who went in front of congress was disgusting, refusing to answer any questions like he did. Whats the point of calling anyone in front of congress anymore, nobody is going to answer to them like we want them to. He has the Constitutional right not to incriminate himself.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 12, 2009 -> 07:42 AM) China did one on purpose a few years back and pissed off a lot people. I don't remember any real accidents. I remember them shooting one with a rocket to prove their capabilities (take down spy satellites, for instance). lost, satellites are spread out vertically over several hundred kilometers. There's just a massive amount of volume they're orbiting in.

Who sets CEO salaries and packages? The board of directors. Who usually sits on the boards? Other CEOs.

QUOTE (Texsox @ Feb 11, 2009 -> 05:09 PM) In some cases yes. Absolutely. But you still have to worry about safety issues. OSHA doesn't care who you are hiring. Plants get discovered when people get hurt. But yes, overall, especially for the migrant farm workers, conditions are shabby, and they are generally taken advantage of my owners and suppliers. I think the idea is that they'll be more likely to get away with safety violations because illegals will be afraid to report it. They may think they'll get deported if they draw attention to themselves.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Feb 11, 2009 -> 05:28 PM) Food manufacturer/producers dont give a s*** about the health of their food as long as it passes through the FDA or USDA. We saw this like a year ago with all those planes that skirted inspection, it's all great free market capitalism until people start dying. If you really prefer that kind of self-regulating market go ahead, but this kind of s*** shouldn't be happening in the United States. It's all profits before people, and the saddest part is so many Americans justify it. Uh....there was regulation in place here. It failed. How was this laizze-faire? What's your solution?

There has to be a way to hold this man criminally and financially liable.

QUOTE (longshot7 @ Feb 11, 2009 -> 12:48 PM) I think you misunderstand me. Lying is not a crime in and of itself. G&T makes a good point though - obstructing justice is a crime. It doesn't seem fair however, especially if you're trying to cover for a friend. That's exactly why its the law. You're not allowed to lie to cover up criminal activities. The reasoning behind that seems pretty self-evident.

Could do me some good, depending on how things play out the rest of the year.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Feb 11, 2009 -> 12:05 PM) It's just an arbitrary number he threw out there to make his point though. It's not really arbitrary, though. It's a recent historical price of oil, not a hypothetical situation. I don't know if its the same sort of obliviousness as Bush not knowing that gas had reached $4. Biden's point was still correct and his incorrect number doesn't indicate a huge detachment from what 99% of Americans are dealing with every day.

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Feb 11, 2009 -> 12:03 PM) I'm sure there are plenty of people living in this country legally that could use that minimum wage job right about now. Plus, they'd actually pay taxes on the money they made from that job. If they're on a payroll (using a fake/ stolen SS), they're paying taxes. They're also paying all sorts of sales tax. How many laid off engineers from Caterpillar or Motorola are going to work minimum wage jobs as dish washers or apple pickers?

QUOTE (Cknolls @ Feb 11, 2009 -> 11:26 AM) I would give them one pension for 38 yrs of service. Not two pensions. And there should be a minimum amount of time you have to serve in a position to receive a pension or a kicker to a pension(aka. BOBBI STEELE and the rape of the Cook County taxpayer). Steele's a great example of problems with the current system. http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2006/no...0611280003nov28

QUOTE (Texsox @ Feb 11, 2009 -> 08:41 AM) I believe it is by product. So they may not overlap. Kind of like, you take beef, I'll take carrots. I think you're right, but why should it be that way?

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Feb 11, 2009 -> 08:29 AM) USDA and FDA are two very different things. Now if you want to combine them only to eliminate duplicity, fine. B ut FDA does many different things then USDA, which is why my initial reaction. But what about them both regulating different portions of our food industry? Shouldn't that fall under one agency?

Money markets were getting hammered that week. IIRC at this time, a few money markets were generating negative returns and it was being reported all over the media. One of the largest banks had just collapsed and no one knew who'd be next. Everyone was in a financial panic. It doesn't take a Machiavellian scheme for a bunch of people to happen to make a run at the same time. Unfortunately, this story stops on the 17th, but you can see tens of billions of dollars being drawn out. http://www.boston.com/business/markets/art..._money_markets/

Most seemed to be from November 2006 and 2007. Nothing when he had a majority and popular support. BTW, this also came up. If Matthews is right, Bush only met with them twice during his whole Presidency. Once in Feb. 2007 on Iraq, and once in Jan. 2008 on an economic stimulus bill. He also had Senate democrats over shortly after the 2006 elections for coffee, but it wasn't to negotiate or discuss specific legislation. So, in a matter of a few weeks, Obama has already matched Bush, and he did it when his party had strong majorities. edit: here's the Bloomberg article on it http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...&refer=home http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4TTrb_raIQ

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 11, 2009 -> 07:08 AM) Bush did the exact same thing for eight years and was ripped for it. I would say that turnabout would be fair play. Maybe I'm not remembering it, but when did Bush meet with Democrat lawmakers (as the minority party) and include at least a few of their proposals?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 10, 2009 -> 04:51 PM) This is quite good. A Fox News report this morning copied almost verbatim from a set of talking points the Republicans sent around this morning. They copied it so exactly that they even matched the typo. What bias?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 10, 2009 -> 06:58 PM) But as whole the bill still was objectionable. Why does compromise only seem to work one way? Because Obama through them a couple of bones, they are still supposed to vote for something that overall they are diametricly opposed to? That makes zero sense. How far did they expect Obama to change his position? If they weren't going to vote for it anyway, they should have said "don't waste your time" instead of wasting his time.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 10, 2009 -> 05:44 PM) On a slightly different topic, here's a Congressman describing something we probably didn't know about before...the entire financial system almost collapsed in a Money market account run last September. On the other hand, here's the Politico asking if that actually happened. If it did happen, then it's perhaps an incredible missed story by the media; a giant bank run that went unreported. If it didn't happen, then given how he described that, as information coming directly from the people proposing the bailout, then it's worth asking who exactly it was who told him that story. That's not the Politico. That's a blog called portfolio. I heard about this story today, but I really can't find any information on this aside from circular blog posts/ links. And, of course, this is all clearly the work of George Soros in order to get Obama elected (thanks Rush Limbaugh!). I really hate how fast unsubstantiated bulls*** spreads through the blogs and gets "substantiated" through circular references. Here's some information on runs on the 18th: http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2...nd-another.html

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 10, 2009 -> 04:00 PM) Again, how many businesses are there in this country? Millions perhaps, or at least hundreds of thousands. Even if the security is tight enough to truly limit to 1 box each, that is still an enormous spam potential. There is an easy way to fix this. It's a little old, but... http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/smallbus.html http://www.entrepreneur.com/stateguide/us.html "The estimated total number of small businesses in the United States in 2003 was 22,659,000. Of the 5,696,600 employer firms in 2003, 99.7 percent or an estimated 5,679,500 were small firms. The estimated number of employer businesses increased by 0.3 percent in 2003. The most recent data available show that non-employer businesses numbered 16,979,498 in 2001. Self-employment increased by 3.7 percent, from 9,926,000 in 2002 to 10,295,000 in 2003."

While those soldiers may be in the wrong, that's not a case of "rancher vigilantism" and so it isn't really relevant to the topic we were discussing.

Tex, "trash trails" left by illegal immigrants are a problem in some areas. Just do a google image search for "illegals trash trail" and you'll get a bunch of examples on the first page. 10" of trash isn't much when you consider how big containers are. http://www.svherald.com/articles/2008/02/1...57685580412.txt

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Feb 10, 2009 -> 02:47 PM) And in his first month has called out Rush and Hannity by name on seperate occasions. Imagine if Bush had called out Randi Rhodes or any other Air America host by name? Petty indeed. People would be scratching their heads because they never heard of them before.

QUOTE (Texsox @ Feb 10, 2009 -> 02:04 PM) Because I live down here. Because I have met hundreds of illegals. Because I have friends that originally came to this country illegally. Because I have seen the vigilantes. And you based who you believe on???? I don't believe either of them. But, really, the fact that you've met hundreds of illegals doesn't matter unless one of them were there to witness it. How good of people they are has no bearing on these 16 individuals. Keep putting words in peoples' mouths and making emotional arguments. From the post above yours: Now, IF IF IF he did kick that woman, he should be charged with the appropriate assault/ battery charges. Maybe some amount of money goes her way. Now please justify $32M for being kicked.

QUOTE (Texsox @ Feb 10, 2009 -> 01:44 PM) This Sheriff was allowing someone to hold a rifle on the group. Then watched as the guy kicked a woman. Perhaps that is acceptable in Chicago, but I doubt it. QUOTE (Texsox @ Feb 10, 2009 -> 01:49 PM) How far is he entitled to go? The Sheriff was there and allowed the man to kick a woman and continue to hold a rifle on them. Allegedly. Think they might be enticed to exaggerate or lie in order to win $32M? You're relying on the words of the illegals over the rancher because ? Please tell me you don't actually think that's a valid comparison. "Kick ass" = patrols his property and turns in illegals. Good for him. Now, IF IF IF he did kick that woman, he should be charged with the appropriate assault/ battery charges. Maybe some amount of money goes her way. $32M? Slippery slope to vigilante mass murders of illegals? Those are both a bit of a stretch. Please be less condescending next time.