He said dickens.


Upvote.

@critical_d is a Grimly Reaping Reaper, creating Dupes-A-Plenty to fix. So all you with these badges? A big huzzah to C_d, right?

Levels 15-17 --@Boise_Lib has been handing out those promotes like the dickens. Love the little girl vid, Boise. Doing good work there.

Level 9 -- @dystopianfuturetoday

Level 3 -- @Lilithia, badging it up, baby!

and....

For the VERY FIRST TIME....

@Issykitty. For the first time? Really? Necromancing hasn't been much of a pull for you, huh? A crown with a First Badge. Don't see that everyday!

I agree with the professor. Voluntarism as a substitute for the welfare state is utopian.

How would it reach everyone, even in the most remote backwater towns, and at that, equally? Who decides who gets what? Do christian and/or white poor get more than others? Who decides what constitutes a poor person? Will drug addicts and drunks get the same help as everyone else? How long until the voluntary philantropists don't want to donate anymore when they see how others who give nothing are getting more prosperous while they themselves 'lose money'?



I've read enough of Gaskell, Disraeli and Dickens to imagine possible outcomes.

Upvote for the professor.

Well, remember how we were talking about taxes? If we're going to play the fashionable game and tack dollar values of benefits onto people's salaries to pad the number for demagogic effect, then my effective tax rate is even smaller, more like 8% if you add the value of my health & retirement benefits to my income. You really need to consider doing your taxes yourself, clearly your CPA is doing something wrong.

So here's the thing, you say firefighters have such a sweet deal because of unions. I have an idea, how about instead of taking away unions from firefighters, why not get unions for everyone?

As for why you get flack from liberals for being a selfish fascist when you bitch about taxes, it's because you never give anyone a reason to think you're somehow being treated unfairly. There's one set of Federal tax laws, and most of us can fill out our 1040 or 1040EZ, grumble, and go on with life. You aren't running your business as a charity to help the unemployed, you're trying to make a buck. There's no blankfist tax, or anti-entrepreneurial tax. On the contrary, there are tax subsidies for small business all over the place, to the point where little middle class worker bees like me get fucking tired of hearing about it.

GE somehow paid zero taxes, and got a 3.2 billion dollar check from Uncle Sam. Instead of bitching about the insanity of that, all you want to do is fuck over all public sector employees all across the nation because you think they might be getting a slightly better deal than you.

Surely by now you've seen this:

A CEO, a tea party member, and a union worker are all sitting at a table when a plate with a dozen cookies arrives. Before anyone else can make a move, the CEO reaches out to rake in eleven of the cookies. When the other two look at him in surprise, the CEO locks eyes with the tea party member. “You better watch him,” the executive says with a nod toward the union worker. “He wants a piece of your cookie.”

That's what you're doing.

Oh, and by the way, student loans are subsidized by tax dollars. As was your K-12 education, I suspect. I bet you've also taken advantage of the services of countless thousands or millions of people who had their education paid for or subsidized by tax dollars. I bet the navy taught you some marketable job skills even (beyond the right way to use a glory hole). You were probably born in a hospital that was subsidized by tax dollars, and delivered by a doctor whose education was subsidized by tax dollars, and received vaccinations for childhood illness that were developed by research subsidized or wholly funded by tax dollars. You might even occasionally use this thing called the Internet, which is based on technology developed at DARPA as part of the defense budget.

Look, I have sympathy for anyone who's struggling to make ends meet, and I know running your own business is tough -- that's why I haven't tried it. But it's your philosophy that says people have to own their failures even if it's not really their fault. If you were working for, say, Blockbuster the last 15 years, did an excellent job, but then got laid off because traditional rentals got destroyed by Netflix, that's your fucking problem, and nobody else should have to help you out with your plight. That includes bailouts in the form of tax cuts.

Me, I want a safety net so that if you seriously fall flat on your face, you won't have to worry about having a place to sleep, and food to eat, and will still be able to go see a doctor for the STD you picked up from fucking farm animals. I think all life is precious, and that the markets are a fickle and harsh mistress, while the nanny state should always welcome you into her large, welcoming bosom.

In reply to this comment by blankfist:
Yes, LA is really fucked up. So is California in general. And so are my apocryphal firefighters and policemen.

The average pay for firefighters you linked me to doesn't account for benefits and pension, does it? That's just base salary. So, if the average pay for firefighters is just under $44k, then that's pretty much their taxable income because I cannot image what possible expenses they'd deduct, because they have zero financial risk being an employee. And I'd imagine his benefits alone would equal around $15k to $20k. And then of course their pension which is available when they retire at 55.

That's a pretty good deal. And they get women fawning over them and the vox populi calling them heros. Then there's the guy in the private sector, who's painted to look selfish and evil. People like me. But we don't have unions to protect us, give us great pensions and benefits, and we actually create jobs. I created two last year myself. That aside, the real problems with LA and CA are the unions. They were one thing when they protected proletariats from the bourgeoisie in Charles Dickens' England, but they're something entirely different today, especially when allowed to collude with government and legislators.

I grew up in a milltown in the South. You can't get more working class than that. I'm almost 40 and I'm still paying off my college loans, so suffice it to say no one helped me out. Being happy? I know what makes me happy. The same things you mentioned: not having to worry about rent, not having to worry about food, etc. But without getting too personal here, I can safely say some of that worries me right now because of what I owe to the taxman. And probably nine to eight years back I was in a really, really bad place, yet the taxman cometh. I tried to cash a honkey check, but apparently those don't exist. I guess being white only goes so far contrary to modern lib rhetoric.

What I find interesting is if someone like me bitches that the tax is too high, which it is, then some of you complain I'm selfish and refusing to pay my fair share. But isn't it you, the statists who believe in stealing my money to give to others, that are actually being selfish by laying the tax burden so heavy on the middle class? Specifically income tax.

Yes, LA is really fucked up. So is California in general. And so are my apocryphal firefighters and policemen.

The average pay for firefighters you linked me to doesn't account for benefits and pension, does it? That's just base salary. So, if the average pay for firefighters is just under $44k, then that's pretty much their taxable income because I cannot image what possible expenses they'd deduct, because they have zero financial risk being an employee. And I'd imagine his benefits alone would equal around $15k to $20k. And then of course their pension which is available when they retire at 55.

That's a pretty good deal. And they get women fawning over them and the vox populi calling them heros. Then there's the guy in the private sector, who's painted to look selfish and evil. People like me. But we don't have unions to protect us, give us great pensions and benefits, and we actually create jobs. I created two last year myself. That aside, the real problems with LA and CA are the unions. They were one thing when they protected proletariats from the bourgeoisie in Charles Dickens' England, but they're something entirely different today, especially when allowed to collude with government and legislators.

I grew up in a milltown in the South. You can't get more working class than that. I'm almost 40 and I'm still paying off my college loans, so suffice it to say no one helped me out. Being happy? I know what makes me happy. The same things you mentioned: not having to worry about rent, not having to worry about food, etc. But without getting too personal here, I can safely say some of that worries me right now because of what I owe to the taxman. And probably nine to eight years back I was in a really, really bad place, yet the taxman cometh. I tried to cash a honkey check, but apparently those don't exist. I guess being white only goes so far contrary to modern lib rhetoric.

What I find interesting is if someone like me bitches that the tax is too high, which it is, then some of you complain I'm selfish and refusing to pay my fair share. But isn't it you, the statists who believe in stealing my money to give to others, that are actually being selfish by laying the tax burden so heavy on the middle class? Specifically income tax.

In reply to this comment by NetRunner:
Okay, so LA has a problem. It's not a nationwide epidemic, the average pay for firefighters simply isn't that high. Members of congress get paid $174,000 a year, the President gets paid $400,000/yr. You probably shouldn't be paying the average firefighter more than a House freshman, and the Fire Chief more than the President.

As for your architect, I'm not surprised by that at all. If you want to tell that as a story about taxes, you're probably going to have to at least provide an example of how the math works out so that you make less owning your own business than working for someone else solely because of taxes. I bet it's mostly due to the fact that there's not really a big market for a mom & pop architect out there even in good times, and especially given the state of the real estate market right now. Running your own business isn't easy, and it's certainly not the way to get yourself a stable source of take home income in a depressed economy.

I'm of two minds about your last paragraph. Someday I think I'm going to write some big blog posts about my life, and how it shaped my political outlook. For now, I'll just say I did ultimately have a privileged life compared to most, but not by as much as you seem to assume. I'm no trust fund baby -- and I went to school with enough of those to know the difference. I have a shitload more in common with the poor working class people in the neighborhood I grew up in than I do with the trust fund set I went to school with.

The trust fund set generally felt like accumulation of wealth and status was the primary route to happiness. The more working class people in my neighborhood saw money as more of a means to an end. Happiness for them was being able to not have to worry about whether they could afford groceries, or worry about their car breaking down, or having to borrow to make rent/mortgage payments, or medicine for sick kids. They didn't really care about having the nicest clothes, a nice car, gourmet foods, or who had membership to the more prestigious country club. Those were things my rich friends talked about constantly.

I grew up constantly switching between class experiences. Over time it made me see pretty clearly that money isn't the key to real happiness. I saw lots of unhappy rich people, and lots of happy poor people. Their outlook on life had more to do with things other than money.

Anyways, it sounds like you think you're engaged in a class struggle to try to help the lower classes get a leg up on the rich. If so, great, you and I are on the same side then.

In reply to this comment by blankfist:
Dude, is it so hard to believe a public employee makes $12,000 a month? That's only $144,000 a year, not $1.4 million. It's possible. Especially since so many groups are unionized in this state.

[snip]

My CPA also told me a story of an architect who got tired of struggling as a small business and having to pay so much in taxes, so he quit the private sector to make more money working for the city. You wanna call BS on my apocryphal architect?

And I do care about the taxes I have to pay. I envy you that you don't. You must've had a great life as a lawyer's son. Always having more than you owe. I wish we all could come from there so we could also take the same sanctimonious positions you do. Only people of privilege seem to say things like, "money isn't everything." As if they scowl at the rest of us for wanting better for ourselves. Now excuse me while I go back to that mom of yours I was fucking when I told you this story.

The bad man put his Dickens in my Tolstoy.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Maybe he meant that Dickens has only written 13,000 characters, as in letters. That would equate to a single short story though ... so probably less likely. Carry on.
>> ^spoco2:

Yeah, doing things like comparing yourself to extraordinary people from history tends to be completely self defeating and useless... why not be yourself and highlight your strengths rather than trying to emulate someone else.

Also... the figure quoted for the number of Dickens' characters sounds completely crap to me, and on looking it up I can only find references like "According to John R. Greenfield, in his Dictionary of British Literary Characters, Dickens created 989 named characters during his career." which is a long way off 13 thousand characters... and while he had many other characters that had no names, I'd rather be remembered for ONE great character rather than thousands of ones that are all much alike.
Which is not to say that Dickens created bland characters, AT ALL, his are some of the most memorable of all, to be sure, but trying to match pure volume is a stupid pursuit.
Now, having said that, High Fidelity and About a Boy are two great pieces of fiction to be sure!

Yeah, doing things like comparing yourself to extraordinary people from history tends to be completely self defeating and useless... why not be yourself and highlight your strengths rather than trying to emulate someone else.



Also... the figure quoted for the number of Dickens' characters sounds completely crap to me, and on looking it up I can only find references like "According to John R. Greenfield, in his Dictionary of British Literary Characters, Dickens created 989 named characters during his career." which is a long way off 13 thousand characters... and while he had many other characters that had no names, I'd rather be remembered for ONE great character rather than thousands of ones that are all much alike.

Which is not to say that Dickens created bland characters, AT ALL, his are some of the most memorable of all, to be sure, but trying to match pure volume is a stupid pursuit.

Now, having said that, High Fidelity and About a Boy are two great pieces of fiction to be sure!

Remember at the time everyone actually thought Iraq had WMDs, so what March came a rollin' everything got serious, curfews started, gas masks were issued for essential people and sirens were installed all over the city.

So yeah that play got cancelled.

In reply to this comment by Fletch:
How did the war prevent a play from being performed?

In reply to this comment by Farhad2000:
Reminds me when I acted in a Charles Dickens inspired play and then Gulf War 2 started and it was never performed.

How did the war prevent a play from being performed?

In reply to this comment by Farhad2000:
Reminds me when I acted in a Charles Dickens inspired play and then Gulf War 2 started and it was never performed.

Reminds me when I acted in a Charles Dickens inspired play and then Gulf War 2 started and it was never performed.

Carl Sagan knew; so did Charles Dickens

(from 'A Christmas Carol'):


Suddenly, Scrooge noticed something strange about the ghost. Two children-like figures were at the ghost’s feet – a boy and a girl. But, they looked old and dreadful, like little monsters. Scrooge was shocked.

“Spirit, are they your creatures?” Scrooge asked.

“They are Man’s creatures,” said the spirit “The boy is Ignorance. The girl is Want. Beware them both, but most of all beware this boy” said the spirit.

If EBM was sincerely trying to get his shoes shined then I'd agree with you and call him the victim.
But come on man... you really think anyone outside stereotypical subserviant black men of the 1930s or street urchins from Dickens would solicit a shoe shining on a city bus?

I reread the transcript - EBM said stuff like "Sit your little black ass down"... " and "boy".

Can we agree at least that everyone involved was an idiot?

>> ^RadHazG:
If you read the transcript on ED you can see that it was simply a case of EBM either misinterpreting something the black dude said or the black dude said some shit and EBM thought he was seriously offering a service not being insulted. The transcript pretty much just says exactly how I saw it. EBM was very calm at the start, and seemed genuinely interested in trying to get his shoes shined. Unfortunate coincidence.


EBM wasn't trying to start a fight, he was trying to belittle and dominate the black man. Get on your knees and shine my shoes boy, and kiss my pinky finger while you're at it.... that kind of thing. But when the black man didn't back down he moved to the front of the bus because he knows his temper can get him arrested. But he kept barking stuff back and the black man the whole time. Maybe I'm wrong but I think that's vastly more likely than a simple misunderstanding by a man looking for a shoe shiner. Regardless... everyone involved were idiots.

>> ^rottenseed:
If the white guy was trying to start something, why would he move up front? Especially when he obviously wasn't scared. Dude was poppin' off at the mouth and trying to instigate. He wanted the fight...and he got the fight right in his face.>> >

I dunno...she's cute, and apparently having fun, but...

I'm having a dickens of a time seeing any correlation between her movements and the music. I rather thought that was a requirement for motion to be called "dance". This looks more like a salvia trip, IMO.

I'm a white guy, but I have enough Cherokee in me to be classified as Native American if the tribes would accept me. Which they won't. My girlfriend is mostly Native American, and her tribe won't even recognize her.

But, I look really white. Cracker white. Drywall white. I can tan like the dickens, but then it just turns back to pale honkey white as fast as the day is short.

The life on reservations is no picnic. My gf's nephews and her sister-in-law live on a Canadian reservation, and it's abject poverty. It's not that they don't have money, it's that they tend to value education as a lower priority and alcoholism and drug abuse is rampant. Theft is huge up there, too. None of her nephews can have nice things without them being stolen. Also, with the alcoholism and drug use there's a decent amount of violence. Also, the Canadians around the reservations tend to treat the Native Americans as lesser beings. My gf, who is American and part white and black and East Indian and everything else under the sun (but mostly Native American), experienced the Canadian racism first hand. Most of the local white vendors would be extremely rude to her because they assumed she was from the local tribe.

Now comes the part where I put my Libertarian hat on and sound like a complete racist. I disagree with reparations or any special funding given to the Native Americans by tax dollars. Hey, at least I'm consistent. The reason I believe this is because none of the people paying into the taxes are responsible for running the Natives off their land. It would make as much sense as us holding the entire Democratic party responsible for paying reparations because their party founder signed the Indian Removal Act which lead to the Trail of Tears (fact!). NetRunner had nothing to do with his party's racist founder, so it wouldn't be fair to blame NetRunner, right?

In order to make amends the people directly victimized and the people directly responsible for victimizing them would need to be held accountable. But, they're all dead. Now, let the comment downvotes begin.