EvilMonkey

QUOTE (Tex @ Jan 18, 2013 -> 08:09 AM) Alpha, when you write "one of" what does that mean? You trying to channel your inner Clinton on me? That depends on what the meaning of IS is....

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 10:37 AM) I have no objection to outreach and educational programs being offered. I don't object to voluntary work programs being available, and completely agree about the self-image part. I spent the last 15 minutes digging through the CTU strike thread to find this from a friend of mine: http://liveandknot.wordpress.com/2012/09/1...hers-narrative/ what I don't agree with is making these things mandatory. I don't believe that the people who truly are lazy, irresponsible and don't give a f*** deserve to starve to death. You just criticized Duke for using his personal observation as an example: Yes base your point on a single post you read. Very nice.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 09:03 AM) Carter isn't "full of America hate" and I'd be interested in his various humanitarian efforts. I should say American policy hate, to be a bit more accurate. He has actively subverts the policies of his own government and lends the credibility of an ex-president to Hamas when he encourages the EU to break away from the US led blockade. Calls the blockade one of the greatest human rights crimes on earth. i guess Germany killing a bunch of jews was just a speed bump in history. He also kept telling people that Israel had over 150 nukes, something which, if true, he found out while in his capacity as president and should have had an obligation to keep such secret information to himself. Loves Castro, Chavez and thinks that every rigged election in those third world hell holes is more clean and fair than any here in America (although he may be right about THAT, you still don't go down there and then start criticizing your home from abroad). He met with Castro and went on Cuban TV criticizing the American embargo. He told Chavez that America had a hand in the attempted coup in the early 2000's. Yeah, that isn't right. If you like him, fine. I just don't get it. While I admire the general work of Habitat for Humanity, I have known several people who volunteer at the local levels for that group and they all left very fast, saying that it was like being in high school again with the cliques and 'office politics' that went on. not his fault, just sayin'. I also don't like that he gave away our canal. And his Carter Center does good work on the surface, but with funding coming from Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, it's no wonder why he now sells out Israel every chance he gets.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 08:51 PM) What happens when it's mostly cleaned in areas where poverty is endemic? Are you serious? Do you think places STAY clean?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 06:48 PM) Then why didn't the Republicans elect Rick Perry if he could single-handedly solve all the Federal budget problems much more easily than Mr. Romney? Wow, way to over-reach, infer and create a strawman that didn't exist.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 05:23 PM) Making them temporary means eliminating them for those who haven't been able to miraculously escape poverty. Requiring public works employment eliminates jobs that would otherwise be paid positions if you're not talking about a massive jobs program expansion. Which I would be down with. BTW this is the problem with prison labor, too, the prisons can seriously underbid private competitors. Requiring public works employment would make them paid positions, just not paid UNION positions.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 04:47 PM) The real problem is...a legitimate safety net will do exactly that for some people. It may be only temporary, but that's sort of how even the metaphorical safety net works. When everything falls, it is strong enough to keep you from dying. But...when you're building a bridge, you don't refuse to install a safety net because you realize some jerk might jump off of the bridge since the net is there. That big bolded word up there is the key. Sadly it isn't true in most cases, hence the problem.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 04:40 PM) Poverty is generational and nearly impossible to escape when you struggle to even put food on the table and a roof over your head on a daily basis. The answer isn't to make the life of the poor even more difficult. And it isn't to feed and care for them like pets.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 04:32 PM) Texas provides very few services for those in poverty as well. They also ran a budget surplus in 2012, unlike Illinois, and most other states.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 04:25 PM) I say we need a stronger social safety net and better education because I believe those are the correct policies. I'm not surprised that our current systems are inadequate. A safety net would be fine. What you have is social dependency.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 04:12 PM) Why don't you "vote with your feet" and move to one of those glorious, poverty-free, self-sufficient conservative-run states? Also plenty of people question poverty, the efficacy of existing programs and the possible need for new or different ones all the time. What a lot of people don't do is say "welp, we tried! oh well, let's cut taxes and give up." I would be in Texas right now if my wife would let us go. But she doesn't want to be that far from the rest of her family. Happy wife, happy life.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 02:57 PM) one person is $11,300, family of four is $22,133. But what I am asking is was that number raised, resulting in the increase, or is it the same (plus inflation, or whatever).

What is the poverty line at? I had heard that they made the amount you need to make to be over the line higher, but I can't find verification of that. Like it went from $10k to $12k or something like that.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 08:59 AM) But owning any gun you want isn't a right. Very few people will argue with you that normal people should have access to military weapons. but limiting clips from 17 to 10 ot 7 really does nothing except make it LOOK like you are trying to do something. Banning a gun because it is 'scary looking' doesn't do anything either. Just like speech and voting, you can have legal limitations on the exercising of your right, but when the restrictions become overbearing, they are unconstitutional. And I have no issues with a proficiency test for concealed carry.

I have met Clinton before, albeit for just a few seconds and a "Hi Mr. President", but I can see where people like him and would want to have a beer and hang with him. Very personable. But you guys with Carter? Really? Partisanship aside, he was uninteresting back then, and now is just a bitter old man full of America hate. Unless you wanted him to crack open some of that Billy Beer that is probably sitting in his basement........If he would talk candidly, I would like to have a beer with Bush Sr., and ask about his WW II days and working for the CIA.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 08:50 AM) 1) speed limits = semi-auto ban/mag limits 2) sure man, have whatever gun you want inside your house. the moment you step outside and that gun could affect the public, you gotta play by our rules. 1) driving isn't a right 2) owning guns is a right

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 15, 2013 -> 11:57 AM) Ok, so how do we stop or lessen illegal gun ownership? National registry and tracking to crack down on straw purchases? I'll agree with the second part, but there is no need for the first. A registration just makes them easier to confiscate. How about automatic long jail times for felons, who can't own guns, who are even caught possessing a gun? This way some judge can't make the jail time go away for the gun crime.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 15, 2013 -> 07:41 AM) This is really a stellar metaphor for this nation's gun culture. A guy who actually has to deal with the consequences of irresponsible gun owners and telling them they're going to get themselves killed, being lectured about how important it is that they have their guns everywhere. I would say he deals with the consequences of ILLEGAL gun owners more than anything.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 15, 2013 -> 05:49 AM) Remember when you told that story about you hiding in your basement until the cops came No, wife and kids hid in the basement, I was upstairs with my shotgun in case they decided to come up to my house. And they guys left before the cops arrived. Also, I lived in a small town where even the farthest point is less than a 5 minute drive to the other side, especially with cop lights going. Remember the post earlier about the woman who shot the home invader in the face? The criminal even managed to crawl to his car and drive away before police arrived. Maybe she should have just waited. Or yelled out that her house was a Gun Free Zone and that he should just leave now.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 14, 2013 -> 06:51 PM) It's fun watching so-called responsible gun owners angry at the people who actually have to deal with the results of their so-called responsibility. More fun than watching the same people deal with the aftermath of cops that cannot and/or will not protect them. More angry at the closed minded elite than think only they can responsibly wield guns, or that only they need armed protection. Maybe they can just make the whole city a Gun Free Zone, that might keep people safe.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Jan 14, 2013 -> 04:23 PM) http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/01/ch...ians-with-guns/ “You put more guns on the street expect more shootings,” McCarthy said. “I don’t care if they’re licensed legal firearms, people who are not highly trained… putting guns in their hands is a recipe for disaster. So I’ll train our officers that there is a concealed carry law, but when somebody turns with a firearm in their hand the officer does not have an obligation to wait to get shot to return fire and we’re going to have tragedies as a result of that. I’m telling you right up front.” -------- f*** this city. By the time the cops get there the situation will have been resolved one way or another, so I don't think the cop is going to sneak up and surprise anyone.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 14, 2013 -> 02:56 PM) Both of the times I went through Vegas I caught a cover band playing at a place on the strip, outdoors, right next to Jimmy Buffett's margaritaville. After Google-mapping it, the place was called "Carnival Court". Yeah, i know the place, but was looking for something not casino-related, a little less touristy.

Will get money back because I always over pay now. In 1987 I won $3k in the Lotto, and being a young college kid didn't realize that I needed to pay taxes on that, thought they were already taken out like the state taxes were. So several years later when the IRS came knocking, I got hosed. Then they said I didn't submit that payment in time, even though I sent it 3 or 4 days later, so I had more penalties and fines. I sent that one next day, AGAIN got a notice that I was late, so hired a tax lawyer next day and we sent certified with a letter from him, return receipt, etc all within the time frame. The next year I got audited, however it turned out that they owed ME money (about $100). Next year was sent a notice in the mail that they were going to be auditing my account, then got something a few months later saying they found no discrepancies. Now I don't screw with them.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Jan 14, 2013 -> 01:30 PM) Balta, they took away his permit. everyone is safe. Need to establish Gun Free Zones around his intended targets as well, just in case......

QUOTE (SOXOBAMA @ Jan 14, 2013 -> 12:24 PM) I'm so thrilled to hear this news I truly hope all Sox players do +1 Stay healthy and save your stuff for your paycheck!