>> ^jwray:
^ Downvoted for inability to put a coherent sentence together.
Income has diminishing returns. The difference between making 2 million a year and making 1 million a year is a very small amount of happiness compared to the difference between making $15K a year and making $30K a year. The poor have a lot to gain from socialism, and 60% income taxes in the top bracket would hardly affect the lifestyles of the super-rich. Market fundamentalists need to take a real economics course that deals with externalities. Not being able to afford healthy food, education, or doctors causes loss of productivity.


Not being able to afford those things is the result of inflation debasing wages, and price fixing of interest rates by the Federal Reserve. Not to mention utter irresponsibility of citizens to stop parroting for their party for a second to go do some real research to learn about this nonsense. Both of these are socialist policies embraced by most politicians of either camp calling themselves whatever and far from free market ideals. This borrow and spend economy full of business/government collusion simply would not have been possible in an environment with gold-backed money and no Federal Reserve. Some crooked old CEO somewhere driving his company into bankruptcy only benefits the companies who didn't going forward, and it pales in comparison to trillions of dollars being created at no labor or material cost, and repeatedly spiking the punchbowl with artificial interest rates as our communist central bank has done for decades now. This time, there's no Volcker or creditor base to get them out of their mistake. As the market has become less and less free, we've gone from the world's largest creditor nation with savings and the highest rate of individual charity to a nation with the most debt, unfunded liabilities, a negative savings rate, and a 70 billion a month trade deficit. If foreigners finally bail out of our bonds, they will sell products to themselves and reduce us to squalor. Socialist enablements like price fixing and monopolization of money and industry have turned this country's money in confetti and driven companies overseas to avoid the taxrates and anti-competitive redistribution of those taxes through subsidies and tax credits. This economy IS your government "directed, regulated" economy. And like the USSR before it, it has come tumbling down. The whole risk/reward system has been perverted. We reward bad behavior and punish savers, incentivize risk by backstopping it with the unlimited promises of inflation via the FDIC, the whole damn thing just distorts normal self-regulatory thinking. There's no fear of bankruptcy anymore, you may as well just load up with toxic debt for short term profits.

Do yourself a favor and listen to these clips of Ron Paul's brilliant economics advisor from years ago. Stop listening to the people who didn't see it coming in any way, shape, or form. Because as John Loeffler says, "if they didn't see it coming, they won't know what to do when it gets here."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhJaVEWAG24

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucDkoqwflF4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G3Qefbt0n4

I believe the existence of uniformed armed forces is a terrible necessity that we must endure. I am not particularly glad about this but am realistic in the need for it's existence, humanity will never sing kubaya, hold hands and hit the peace pipe. It's simple psychology that each and every one of you can see in normal life, when you are treating someone with equality and fairness, open your lives to them they often take a great big shit on you. Only in our geopolitical world this usually comes in the form of tanks rolling across borders. This was an example of this, it's sheer expression of arrogance and projection of raw military power.

But its been put into motion by politicians sitting comfortably behind closed doors, in nice comfortable office chairs pushing divisions and plans that start with words like "Operation Iraqi Freedom" and filter down to some young kids on the battlefield, coming from places that sometimes don't have any opportunities, sometimes from a real belief that they are there to do good even though they are told so by their government, sometimes just to see the world, sometimes to earn citizenship, sometimes because they have no direction, sometimes just to see someone die.

Actions shown in this video is a basic reaction to being put into a environment where your friend died yesterday in an IED explosion, you watched a whole humvee torn apart, its engine block landing 50 yards from the wreck, pieces of your troop lying around like debris of blood red confetti, being shot at day by day by an enemy you never see. Command never being able to give you proper operable intelligence. Your training meaning little because basic covers fighting a uniformed aggressor not asymmetrically warfare against a guerrilla force in urban combat environs. Frustrated that what you are doing day by day means little, your people die and it gets worse and not better. Wondering if all the lives lost are essentially wasted on a mission that was idiotic to begin with.

This is why I find it hard to hold the troops accountable. Because it's not their fault they are there, its not their fault that they are not trained as a UN peace keeping force, a police force, a counter insurgency force. Its not their fault they were never given or taught proper cultural sensitivity training.

It's the fault of the people in power, not just the president, but the Generals, the Joint Chiefs, The Pentagon, and essentially the whole intelligentsia of America that simply let this catastrophe happen. There hundreds of thousands of educated professional Americans that willingly kept silent. Unable to criticize their own governments action. Its the fault of all who pushed this war through the most basic emotion humanity has. Fear.

What is really sad it that it's not the first time and it wouldn't be the last I believe.

*orders hors-doovers and more drinks-

I want it long, straight, curly, fuzzy
Snaggy, shaggy, ratty, matty
Oily, greasy, fleecy
Shining, gleaming, streaming
Flaxen, waxen
Knotted, polka-dotted
Twisted, beaded, braided
Powdered, flowered, and confettied
Bangled, tangled, spangled, and spaghettied!

yay! fried stuff!

oh wait....

err
grats fissionchips!
*throws confetti*

The medal he's awarded at the end reminds me of those crappy 'top site' animated gifs that used to clutter people's websites. That, or the stupid flickr awards that litter the site like confetti.

Great so some kid is going to think when he shoots people in RL that they are going to explode into confetti...

It's a server setting. Instead of chunks of gibs and blood, confetti and party balloons burst out when you get killed! I'm not too sure but I think it's also used for the Parental Controls as a more kid-friendly alternative for discerning parents.

loaded with explosives?? smokeless explosives I see... balsa? Recognize the wood type by the sound of the crack from a crappy camcorder eh?

I would give this guy the benefit of the doubt, folks. First of all, he's doing an airborne 540. Second, he is wearing a black belt. Now, you dont even see a lot of black belts doing airborne 540 triple kicks, so, you can think, hey - he is probably pretty damn good. Third, you will notice he is pretty fast. I bet that leg coming full circle at that speed has more than enough power to break a board and throw some confetti (the confetti flies in the direction of the kick mind you...) or do you think they aim the "explosive" charges to shoot the confetti in the direction ofthe kick?

The boards were extremely weak / loaded with explosives. They sounded like balsa wood. Normal boards don't shoot confetti.

Deathcow, I saw a TKD show when I got the opportunity to visit South Korea. The boards were always held with one side to the audience but as they got prepared and into position, you'd occasionally glimpse the other side and the were little explosive charges attached to ensure a nice break with confetti effects.

This is undoubtedly a hell of an achievement, but I have to wonder - how hard is he hitting the boards? How useful is this stuff in an actual fight? I know martial arts shows have little to do with actual fighting, but I think the moves must still be genuine, otherwise it's basically just ballet.

my only question... are the boards filled with confetti sphaghetti what the hell is flying all over... boards break into two

*ballons
*confetti
*cake

*throws confetti & covers farvester with silly string*

<fireworks,confetti,a marching band and some canned crowd cheering>

well done MLX!!!

<fireworks,confetti,a marching band and some canned crowd cheering>

well done MLX!!!