The Refuge from Political Correctness mk II

[The Yosemite Bear]

Q: Why are Fox News Vans always in the slow lane on the Freeway?
A: Because they can only turn right.

[Count Chocula]

Catholics would say you have to work hard to get heaven. Calvinists would say that you can't, because its predetermined whether or not you'll get there.

Catholics know the value of a good bribe to the parish/diocese. We work hard in the secular world and buy our way into Heaven, like it's supposed to be. Calvinists are just a bunch of fatalistic late-comers who don't have the balls to be Amish. And they'll never be as badly good as Martin Luther, their spiritual grandfather.

[The Yosemite Bear]

AFter being bombarded by Rightwinger jokes about "Cash For Clunkers", My brain started going to one that they would never make.

So I hear that Rightwing Media personalities are being paid not incite violence, and militias and minutemen groups are being paid to tone things down. It's called cash for Kluxers.

[His Divine Shadow]

I'll let this speak for itself shall I?

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/7676 ... eisbad.jpg

[Mayabird]

It's probably because I'm working for Toyota...sorta...that I still hear Cash for Clunkers stuff, but seriously, if you're going to make an argument about what a bad idea it was, do it correctly, ya idiots. Here's a valid freebie argument you can steal from me: Americans are already eyebrows-deep in debt, and this was an encouragement for them to get rid of cars that, while crappy, were paid off and weren't costing much in property taxes and so on, and getting them to get new financing to get new vehicles that'll cost a lot more in property taxes and have to get registered and everything else. $4500 does not cover the costs of a new vehicle, but a lot of people were thinking "Yay free money!" instead of "this will slightly offset the usual $20-ish-k price of a new vehicle." Or perhaps, if you're thinking more long term, we shouldn't even be thinking about encouraging the personal automobile society to continue, even if it's more fuel efficient, because it's ultimately unsustainable. The second would be a deeper, more difficult argument to make that wouldn't be as easily compressible into sound bites, so the first is still available.

Things that are not valid arguments:
1) OMG someone ditched a Bentley! That was one vehicle out of 700,000.
2) OMG the price of used cars will go up! The price of used cars was already been going up. It's called "people don't have magic credit lines to get new vehicles anymore so they have to get something more affordable, and used cars generally are." I've been seeing a lot of bubble-time credit applications that are blank except for the signature at the bottom, and then oh shock and horror they stopped paying for the car and ran off with it. Who could've possibly seen that one coming? Presumably there is less of this happening now. And also with over two hundred million registered motor vehicles in the country, less than a million is a drop in the bucket.
3) OMG what are the kids going to drive when they turn 16 if they can't get a badly maintained Ford Explorer their age than leaks oil and drinks gas like a wino and his cheap booze? See #2.

I could go on, but you get the idea.

[The Yosemite Bear]

just remembering an incident from my construction days.

We are setting up sewer line for a future "Community" our Foreman is black.
OC Sheriff's come cruising up barely avoid our trench work, and hit a water main (that's fortunatly not really connected to anything yet.

and in a scene out of some bad cop show, they demand to know what us "boys" are up too.

Well our resident willie nelson loving redneck stoner puts his head up to a full sized sewer pipe held up by a crane, which is partialy fitted against an inspection box, and says "We're building the world's largest Bong man!" and proceeds to take an imaginary hit off an 8' wide section of sewer pipe.

it's just the absurdity of the moment combine that yes the sewer pipe against the inspection box section did look like a bong, if you squinted. I guess you could have lighted it where the manhole would go....

The other fun part was that they couldn't get there police car off the water main that wasn't ready for show yet.

[Guardsman Bass]

After seeing Glenn Beck's new book cover, he shall now be known as "Penguin Stalin". I mean, seriously, his face looks weirdly penguin-ish in the picture.

[The Yosemite Bear]

Redneck at the Gas Station: That damn Raghead in Texas screamed "Allah Akbar!" just before gunning down them soldiers like all Terrorists do.
Me: funny, I thought Baader Meinhoff or the Anarchists would say something about death to tyranny, The Panthers would say "Protecting our People by ANY means Nessesarry", The Weathermen would quote either Dylan or Mao, The Klan would shout "White Power", and The IRA would probably say "Top of the morning to ya" before killing a bunch of kids just to kill two cops.

[Instant Sunrise]

Calling it now, by the end of the year, Fox News will pull a "Joseph Cao (D-LA)" mistake.

[Razorgeist]

A Friend of mine sent me an email with these "5 best sentances you'll ever read" and I was hoping someone would help me tear them apart.

These are possibly the 5 best sentences you'll ever read:

You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity
by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.

What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for.

That my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation.
You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.

[Questor]

A Friend of mine sent me an email with these "5 best sentances you'll ever read" and I was hoping someone would help me tear them apart.

You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.

Sure I can, I just divide by a number smaller than one.

On a more legitimate note, has this person never heard of "progressive taxation"?

[Wyrm]

A Friend of mine sent me an email with these "5 best sentances you'll ever read" and I was hoping someone would help me tear them apart.

I think this would be better in the Debate Forum. Just sayin'.

To the point, the force of these statements depend on you accepting the liberetarian false premise that the wealthy owe their wealth completely to their own blood, sweat, tears and toil, without help from anyone else. This is patently untrue. The wealthy owe a great deal of their wealth to the society that they live in.

Look at primitive societies and note that a man considered wealthy in those primitive societies would be dirt poor in ours. It is the society that allows the exhorbitant wealth of the wealthy, so the wealthy owe society a great deal of their wealth. Therefore, you can turn these statements against their users: it is the wealthy that are receiving things without working for them.

[Instant Sunrise]

A Friend of mine sent me an email with these "5 best sentances you'll ever read" and I was hoping someone would help me tear them apart.

I think this would be better in the Debate Forum. Just sayin'.

To the point, the force of these statements depend on you accepting the liberetarian false premise that the wealthy owe their wealth completely to their own blood, sweat, tears and toil, without help from anyone else. This is patently untrue. The wealthy owe a great deal of their wealth to the society that they live in.

Look at primitive societies and note that a man considered wealthy in those primitive societies would be dirt poor in ours. It is the society that allows the exhorbitant wealth of the wealthy, so the wealthy owe society a great deal of their wealth. Therefore, you can turn these statements against their users: it is the wealthy that are receiving things without working for them.

It is also built on the assumption that a nation's wealth is a zero-sum game. A platitude that 'feels right' but does not actually hold up to reality.

[Samuel]

You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity
by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.

Technically we can. It just isn't feasible, but you could raise the tax rates (or go into debt) while at the same time raise wages for the lower classes with infrasturture projects- as the unemployment rate drops the wages that have to be payed rises. There are other ways, but this is the simplest and most obvious.

What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

Public goods are an exception to that rule. Even the social safety net counts in part as it reduces the amount of anxiety people have to deal with from the prospect of failure.

The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

This only counts for strictly redistributive actions.

When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for.

This is a slope (and not a slippery one) that depends on how much people are given and how much is being taken. As long as the safety net is such that luxeries are out of reach most people will try to get out because they have become accustomed to such things.

That my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation.

You can follow the Soviet approach and make working mandatory with harsh punishments and strict enforcement against slacking. It is significantly less efficient than the current system (unless you already have the machinary in place and are using it for a different purpose) but it can be done.

You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.

Redistribution does not increase wealth... unless the people you are giving the money to are more likely to invest in capital than the people you are taking it from.

[Razorgeist]

I think this would be better in the Debate Forum. Just sayin'.

Yeah it didn't occur to me until after I posted it though. Thanks for the refutations though.

[Coyote]

Redistributing ill-gotten wealth may not create more wealth, but it'll keep your greedy ass from being torn apart by pissed off mobs of people who are fed the fuck up with greedy corporate bullshit, howboutthat?

[Razorgeist]

^^^Best response I can think of

[Dominus Atheos]

The Catholic Church and Bill Donohue are throwing a hissy fit over this (NSFW) PETA ad. All I have to say is wow, PETA carries the "no fur" thing pretty far.

[Spoonist]

The Catholic Church and Bill Donohue are throwing a hissy fit over this (NSFW) PETA ad. All I have to say is wow, PETA carries the "no fur" thing pretty far.

Bah, compare that to the music festival in Arvika, Sweden. (NSFW)

[Spoonist]

Disregard the comment above, the ad was removed from the site.

[Razorgeist]

The Catholic Church and Bill Donohue are throwing a hissy fit over this (NSFW) PETA ad. All I have to say is wow, PETA carries the "no fur" thing pretty far.

An ad with a naked Joanna Krupa...God help us all.

[CarsonPalmer]

An ad with a naked Joanna Krupa...God help us all.

I'm not familiar with her in any other context, but she's pretty hot in that shot. Why is this something that God should help us all with?

[Razorgeist]

^^^My poor attempt at sarcasm in regards to the catholic church and Bill Donohue.

[Khoryos]

I never, EVER thought I'd vocally agree with Jack Chick... but Catholics really AREN'T christians.
They're idolaters!
Why not go back to your roots? Forget the Virgin Mary, dig up your old golden calves!

[The Yosemite Bear]

now if you really want to piss them off, remind them that Christianity and Islam are both Jewish Sects.

wait on it for a minute.