>> ^bmacs27:

I've been thinking about this more, and the Roberts court kind of had a point. If corporations don't have the right to speech, then what, can the government tell the NYT what to print? How many free ads they can offer? I don't get it. It kind of had to be this way.
Really, the main issue is that individual contributions are capped, but for those of us on the side of the working man that wouldn't really help us.


It's not really one of those things where you can say "Logic follows this...therefore this." It's about the result, and if you're getting a result that's fucking the public, than your democracy is broken and it needs to be fixed.

I've been thinking about this more, and the Roberts court kind of had a point. If corporations don't have the right to speech, then what, can the government tell the NYT what to print? How many free ads they can offer? I don't get it. It kind of had to be this way.

Really, the main issue is that individual contributions are capped, but for those of us on the side of the working man that wouldn't really help us.

>> ^HaricotVert:

"Taken literally, the top 1 percent of American households had a minimum income of $516,633 in 2010 — a figure that includes wages, government transfers and money from capital gains, dividends and other investment income."


..Well then this 1% thing is bullshit.

The difference between $500k and $250m (romney) is more than 400 times bigger than between a working man's $40k and this so-called 'millionare'.

And of course Romney is small fry begging for the gaudiness of public office compared to the big boys. (And I dont mean Gates & Buffet and 'new money').

Guess it's more like 0.1%. or 0.01% or 0.001%.. Hey we're talking about 30 guys here! We need a list of names!!

>> ^spoco2:
Wow, seriously, you don't get the issue here? You really are going to suck if you never see the larger picture.
"Garry, we've done it! This pill makes people be able to speak for a couple of hours at a time!"
"Awesome, what are the side effects?"
"Pffft, like I give a shit, it works man."
"Um, you aren't concerned at all about long term effects?"
"Nope, I made someone talk... I'm a fucking GOD man"
"Ok, good luck with that."


No, I don't think you get the issue. The guy is downright lucky an existing drug "solves" his problem. It isn't as though he's part of a large group of post tooth pull TMD sufferers. This isn't the sort of thing you can convince anyone to spend any money to research. Simply saying something like "look ambien works" doesn't really mean somebody can just run to their garage and whip up a new drug that only targets the specific parts he wanted it to target, or some stem cell therapy that could repair damage.

Part of my snarky undercurrent, and I hesitate to say this, is that I think this might be fake. If it is fake, it isn't funny because people do suffer from these sorts of disorders. If it isn't fake, the diagnosis is probably wrong because it is likely a central not peripheral nervous issue. I was just watching the video with a professional speech therapist. She pointed out that not only does he have the temporomandibular joint issue, but he also seems to be having tongue and mouth shape ataxia. His facial symmetry is good, which suggests it isn't lateralized nerve damage (like you might expect from a tooth pull). Further, it is difficult to conceive of a mechanism by which pharmacology could have that sort of effect on "damaged wires" so to speak. It's possible he's simply the victim of a misdiagnosis, in which case I feel bad him. However, given that he is a voice actor, I fear this might be a publicity stunt in horribly poor taste. That's not even mentioning the fact that he looks remarkably cogent for a guy on ambien (you know, all those side effects you were talking about).

>> ^bmacs27:

You guys don't seem to understand where I'm coming from. I'm in basic research, so I don't really worry about my bedside manner. At our current stage of understanding, being able to do something as relatively benign as taking an ambien and having results that profound is about the best you could hope for. Substances like that effect incredibly complicated systems that aren't well understood. I suppose it's possible there might be some direct electrical stimulation that might work, but if I were that guy, I'd rather take a pill. I mean, seriously, what more do you want than a pill that solves your problem? A better pill? We'll get right on that. The kids at Dana Farber will just have to wait.


Wow, seriously, you don't get the issue here? You really are going to suck if you never see the larger picture.

"Garry, we've done it! This pill makes people be able to speak for a couple of hours at a time!"
"Awesome, what are the side effects?"
"Pffft, like I give a shit, it works man."
"Um, you aren't concerned at all about long term effects?"
"Nope, I made someone talk... I'm a fucking GOD man"
"Ok, good luck with that."

Alright. Weekend it is. How does the 14th sound?

Are they still checking papers at the border? If not, just drive down and screw immigration...

>> ^gwiz665:

Could be fun, but I'm a working man now, so it would have to be a weekend, plus I'm not sure @Lann is allowed to leave the country because of ongoing immigration stuff.

Could be fun, but I'm a working man now, so it would have to be a weekend, plus I'm not sure @Lann is allowed to leave the country because of ongoing immigration stuff.

this was brilliant and totally worth the time.
complex issues take some time and dr wolff lays it out nicely the history to how we got here.

the ending is almost chilling when he speaks about board directors pushing the working man even further because there have been no reprisals of anger and rage.
seems this was done before the occupy movement started.
seems americans are not just angry...but pissed off.

ah..to watch occupy oakland and how those thousands of people shut down the highway.
or the new occupyyourhome movement.
or how they are going to occupy k street.
now that really warms my cockles (having no idea what a cockle is..but its warm i tell ya).

and i really hope our political and financial elite ignore frank luntz's suggestions to tone down the aggression.
please please please ignore that man.
that is the only thing i want for christmas.

ah fuck it.
here is my christmas list:
1.i want those who have corrupted our democracy to keep pushing back and with authoritarian vigor.to use the police force as their own gestopo to crush those people who dare question their dominance and right to fleece an entire country.i want them to totally overstep their power and in doing so enrage an entire people out of apathy.

2.i wish for the CEO of <fill in corporate thief> to wake up from his home and look outside his window to be greeted by an ocean of angry faces and to have somebody filming him as he pisses himself.

3.i wish for every politician be forced to choose between getting ass-fucked with a razor blade dildo OR confess to every back door deal that fucked over,not only our democracy,but every citizen in this country.
both to be televised of course.
im betting there will be a shortage of dildos and proctologists.

4.i wish to see more people on the streets.i want to see so many that even the GODS will notice.i want so many people on the street that traffic comes to a halt and businesses shut down.

and i want to see the people who KNEW they were fucking us in the ass to be hauled out by their testicles and put on public display,their family stripped of all ill-gotten wealth and influence and for them to know the true meaning of SHAME.

so../claps
when we doin this thing?
christmas is only a few weeks away.
ill bring the weed!

You can look at it any way you want. I'm considered "middle-class" by all terms. I have super cheap rent in one of the most expensive places in the US, that is of my own accord. But I sure as hell can't afford anything. I take public transit, ride my bike, I still eat the best organics in the nation and have the best friends I could have ever met.

I've had many jobs where I've done the work of the higher-ups and seen what they do while making 5X the amount of money I do. I know they know they're lucky, but, I've also seen how they choose to make financial decisions for their own gain - one of those being getting others to do their work for them. Corrupt fucks.

One of my main influences for being more "socially" inclined was my father. A CEO, he wasn't a scumbag or anything - at least not to my knowledge (he did help build prisons) but just the thought of people putting profit before their own lives & family is sickening.

To his credit, he grew up in Philly with a mother who lost her husband (an olympic athelete) early on. She grew up during the depression and only had a 4th grade education. She was one of those cuties that saved huge tin foil balls. I know my father worked hard and felt obligated to but I think and will always think he cared too much about making profit.

He still touts that. Now that I am nearly an old man he admitted while we sipped on some bourbon and smoked a cigar that, "All I ever wanted was to make money." My reply was "yeah." I looked him in his empty eyes and saw a robot. Sure he has a super nice house on a lake system, an amazing wife, nice cars, a speed boat, a golf course... hardly any friends, kids that don't appreciate him... but he has shitloads of money. Good for him! That's amazing. Money really informs people what life is truly about, keeps people focused on what is really important. Paying your taxes, keeping your yard and hair well groomed, going to stiff social events and working. Man, that is just not a life worth living in my opinion.

On the opposite side of the spectrum their are jobs where everyone is paid nearly the same, they buy into their businesses and co-own their businesses and everyone comes out a winner with 30k+ bonuses at the end of the year. The only people that may not think they're winners are people that are greedy fucks that require too much. But, at the same time these people are able to live regular lives that promote interaction, activity & family. Not that I believe in having a family, but when you do not have to take your bullshit job home with you or work many many extra hours the better it is for everyone.

>> ^quantumushroom:

You fellows are buying into something you don't seem to have thought all the way through. If you spread all wealth equally across the board, in a month things would look about the same as they do now, as foolhardy choices were made and the inexperienced gambled their "profits" away.
Communism attempted to eliminate the profit motive. It's been a disaster everywhere it's been tried.
Socialist countries are not only less competitive than capitalist ones, many of them across Europe are now in serious trouble.
You do know most of the American "poor" are well fed, own their own homes, have two vehicles, 3 TVs, cable, computers, appliances, etc?
One other thing. I do not believe for one second that if any of you "revolutionaries" won the lottery, you wouldn't immediately put together a legal team to rival Mr. Burns' on The Simpsons and proceed to exploit every tax shelter and loophole possible.

Asian innovation, taking jobs away from the working man, one step at a time.

This really gives a new meaning to "Mechanically separated" meat.

Thanks!>> ^kulpims:

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Links to the other parts in the series/film

"Heroes"

"Lions"

"Brothers"

"Ghosts"

Links to the other parts in the series/film

"Heroes"

"Lions"

"Brothers"

"Ghosts"

Links to the other parts in the series/film

"Heroes"

"Lions"

"Brothers"

"Ghosts"

Links to the other parts in the series/film

"Heroes"

"Lions"

"Brothers"

"Ghosts"