Easily. I did before and a LOT of things were a LOT more expensive. Music was, effectively, out of reach. As was a nice TV. Computer what? Internet what? And cars were more expensive to own/maintain. It was nice that butter and milk was subsidized, but lawzy beef was more expensive. Clothes were more expensive too. Plus I'm too old to date, and my wife wouldn't let me anyway. -XC
Sign me up.
My first rule would be to never live in a place Yoda would live. Nor Donald Trump, now that I think about it. _XC
Probably they are still trying to figure how to make you pay to use them....
It is much harder to fix something than to build it in the first place. The website, as is, is probably unfixable and needs to be restarted from scratch. I would take any $ at any odds on that. You already know (or could guess) my opinion of the fascist economic viewpoint that created the law and regulatory enviornment around the website. (Dating from the Truman era through Nixon when it was fully encoded.) -C
Idi Amin DaDa? No, more seriously, lots of great drama (stage) from that philosophy. _C
Huh, sorry, I just followed the link to Salon and read the opening paragraph. I'm glad you now have health care insurance. I would note that you have, right now, better insurance than I do, for less money. When we had an more open market, I chose a lower cost, higher deductible plan that pays for less. So, in essence, I'm flying middle seat coach back by the toilets and helping pay for other people to sit in a premium aisle seat up towards the front. Which, I think, is not a good thing. Next month my current plan will end and I will have to have a slew of government mandated benefits that I don't want, don't use, don't need, and don't want to pay for. But I will have to pay for them in order to subsidize other people's access to these services. Which, I think, is not a good thing. -XC
Pffft. This is not new, and is just how stuff works. Ever wonder why Dingy Harry won't let the R's in the Senate vote on anything? Or how things don't get out of committee? Don't fall for demagoguery - the party in power in each house always runs the rules to suit them. -XC
I have this picture of a moose, drunk, on a pillow.....
yeah, maybe they are more 20/80....
I think certain kinds of gullability decrease as a population ages, if not in the dramatic way we'd like, certainly some. So, if you've paid attention to ONE presidential race you will believe certain things that you won't in your second or third..... -XC
Well, sure, she doesn't want anyone surveilling Bill as he works his way through the gullible and visually impaired <30 year old semi-pro hooker population. That is not imagery we need on the internet. Just saying. -XC
This seems totally insane because (a) there are 8711 regulatory agencies watching every single move they make, (b) there are mobs of hipster enviornazi's and NIMBYs watching every move they make, and (c) most of the people working on fracking projects live near where the fracking is going on and mostly they wouldn't do stuff like this. Anything can happen once or twice (*cough* occupy violence and rape cough) but to have a persistent ongoing pre-meditated set of illegal activities tied to a major corporation is super rare. See also Enron. -XC PS - Fracking is cleaner throughout the lifecycle of the energy than windmillls or solar. Ahem.
that was a great translation- I'd actually read that years before in a less vibrant mode
Nice
Well, at the end of the cold war, the STASI in East Germany employed about 1/3 of the population to spy on the other 2/3, so maybe "shovel ready" was Obama-code for that sort of program? But I agree that it would be cozier if we knew our watchers. -XC
Sure, well, we all know how equitably justice is dispensed in the third world.... More seriously, if we could figure out a way to make elephants taste good, they'd never go extinct. I can't name anything that tastes good that's ever gone away. -XC
The UN. Duh. -XC
Well, yeah, but the definition of conservative/liberal changes a lot over the years as the center shifts. For example, we rarely argue about free silver/gold (William Jennings Bryan call your office), etc. And I read today (somewhere on the internet, so it must be true!) that congress is going to wind down Fannie and Freddie in the next few years. So apparently government sponsored mortgages for people who can't possibly afford them is no longer on the board. (Charlie Rangle, you call your office too, ok?) -XC
I have been reading this guy forever - since Usenet days. Most interesting thought, in many ways: we don't send mail, we copy it. Indeed. -XC PS - The "duplicate URL" feature caught this, nice feature
Yeah, they had some tax experts saying, basically, "fake it." Whotta mess. -XC
President Teh W0n votes .. present. I'm hoping that he loses the vote or they merely decide NOT to vote - because it will continue to hurt his international standing. That's where I am with him these days. In my wildest fantasies he loses the vote and goes ahead and makes the strike - which he says he has the right to do. Then congress impeaches him. That would be delicious. Total Washington gridlock. Plus then his inner circle will document dump on the Hildebeast. Win for everyone, really. -XC
The NSA already knows what you're reading, assuming you bought it from a bookstore with computers. Or are reading out in the open. -XC
Oh, yeah, FWIW, the autobiography that Nikki co-wrote is perhaps the worst of them I've ever read, but there is some great stuff buried in there. -XC
Or maybe nobody much gives a damn anymore. Every listened to Nikki or Bobby? They are from where they lead. -XC
There were three copies at the Durham Library. Whoops, two now. -XC
Sure. Did they cover the multiple racially incited incidences of black-on-white and black-on-hispanic violence? Hahaha. I jest, it's off-narrative. -XC
cough skewering the pretentious who don't get the skewering cough Everyone who has worked at McDonalds raise your hand. Right, thought so. -XC
Certainly a lot of sucking going on. I am watching a Korean movie right now. I think of the Senate as being run like a Korean mafia family. Hai! -XC
You act like 50lbs is no big deal. It's a decade of your life back, plus more fun now. Try replacing your shoes more often, your feet will thank you. A pair of running shoes is only good for about 300 miles, max. I lost 70+ and stopped b/c I was at "my weight" and I promise you that if you keep going you'll continue to get benefits. -XC