Awww...Schmawy. That touched me. Not only in the naughty bits, but in the heart as well.

Thanks for being so awesome.

In reply to this comment by schmawy:
Wait, Ivy's a girl? Goes to show you never know on the internet. Many consiftulations you are a real piece of sass and a sure boon to Siftlandia!

I had the good fortune to have a night of coctails with Ivy and PeggedBea recently, and I can assure you she's no different in meatspace. I saw her wit slash right through complete stranger and send them away laughing. At themselves.

I like so many others, am delighted you are here.

Wait, Ivy's a girl? Goes to show you never know on the internet. Many consiftulations you are a real piece of sass and a sure boon to Siftlandia!

I had the good fortune to have a night of coctails with Ivy and PeggedBea recently, and I can assure you she's no different in meatspace. I saw her wit slash right through complete stranger and send them away laughing. At themselves.

I like so many others, am delighted you are here.

Don't sass me, boy.

She needs more sass and less male genitalia.

Pure sass.

In reply to this comment by peggedbea:
*election08

Don't give him no sass, or he'll kick your ass!

Priceless!

*vintage

>> ^imstellar28:
Why not create incentives as a consumer? The consumer is infinitely more powerful than the government.

I agree, if I could call a do-over on American energy policy I'd have slowly cranked up gasoline tax over the last 3 decades so that it was something like $8-$9 dollars a gallon in 2000. The marketplace would've slowly adapted to that over the years, and we could have used the extra revenue for public transportation, or incentives for consumers and business to come up with alternatives (though high gas prices probably would've done the trick).

Right now there are incentives (in the form of tax breaks) for consumers to buy hybrid cars, and I'd love to see more things like that encouraging other conservationist behavior. However, the main problem with (positive) consumer incentives like those is that it doesn't help generate new product offerings. Disincentives like a gas tax would help with that, but right now that would only make things harder for regular people -- $4/gal seems to have finally made auto manufacturers change their tune, I just wish we'd gotten there before we'd hit peak oil because it would've saved a lot of environmental damage.

Why are you painting me as a recluse who knows nothing about society?

Because you're acting like one. Your rejoinder to a fairly mild statement of mine about government trying to put useful pressure on the market to solve economic strife caused by high gas prices was to essentially say "it's not a crisis, it's an excuse for more government control", and "figure it out yourself, try using a motorcycle instead of a car".

People don't need our permission to try to solve their own problems. That doesn't mean that rising food & gas prices are going to pose major problems for a lot of people. Making the case that it's somehow a simple fix for everyone is pretty ignorant (perhaps even pridefully ignorant, since you were describing how you solved it).

Besides, it's not as if you've been meticulously polite and respectful yourself.

I am all for free trade and mutual collaboration among people. It is ridiculous to expect everyone to be entirely self-sufficient, to make their own bread, food, clothes, goods, etc.

I'm with you so far...

I am merely renouncing physical violence and slavery--how does that make me out of touch?

Wha?

I understand the argument you make for this, but it seems an awfully long stretch. Have you been beaten for not paying taxes? Have you heard of someone who has? As for slavery, I think if there were someone around who'd been through the real deal, they'd beat you silly for trying to equate taxation with slavery. You don't get whipped for talking sass at your government, for example.

If taxation bothers you so much, think of it like membership dues in the country club called the United States of America. You're free to leave the club grounds anytime you like, renounce your citizenship, and stop paying taxes.

Why not advocate a social philosophy which encourages people to help those who aren't as capable? I never once argued against helping your neighbor, friend, or family member in a time of crisis.

Doesn't have to be an either/or thing, I encourage both a social and governmental philosophy that encourages people to help each other.

You've got sass...I like that