I recieved this and found it rather enlightning....
Rant/rave and fume all you like; sorces are cited.
Barack Obama's 32 Month Report Card
by Rich Carroll
"Mr. Hope and Change" wants to create a nation humbled; humiliated, casting-aside capitalism and individual freedoms for one where we the people are government controlled. This would be a system that genuflects mediocrity, steals personal aspiration and opportunity, and punishes those who strive to succeed.
A gallon of regular gasoline the day Obama was inaugurated was $1.79 on average in the U.S. Today that price is $3.59, a 100.6% increase. The number of food stamp recipients has risen since Obama took office from 31,983,716 to 43,200,878, a 35.1% jump. Long term unemployment soared 146.2% during the same 32 month period from 2,600,000 to 6,400,000. Staggering hope and change isn't it?
American citizens living in poverty have risen 9.5% from 39,800,000 to 43,600,000, and the number of unemployed has jumped almost 25% from 11,616,000 to 14,485,000 as of August 31, 2011. The number of unemployed blacks has risen from 12.6% at the end of George Bush's term to 15.8% today, a 25.4% increase, and finally, our national debt is up 34.4% from 10.627 trillion to 14,278 trillion *
Keep these figures in mind as we recount the number of firsts for this presidency:
First President to refuse to show a valid birth certificate.
First President to apply for college aid as a foreign student, then deny he was a foreigner.
First President to have a social security number from a state he has never lived in.
First President to preside over a cut to the credit rating of the United States .
First President to violate the War Powers Act.
First President to be held in contempt of court for illegally obstructing oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico .
First President to defy a Federal Judges court order to cease implementing the Health Care Reform Law.
First President to require all Americans to purchase a product from a third party.
First President to spend a trillion dollars on shovel-ready jobs and later admit there was no such thing as shovel-ready jobs.
First President to abrogate bankruptcy law to turn over control of companies to his union supporters.
First President to by-pass Congress and implement the Dream Act through executive fiat.
First President to order a secret amnesty program that stopped the deportation of illegal immigrants across the U.S. , including those with criminal convictions.
First President to demand a company hand-over $20 billion to one of his political appointees.
First President to terminate Americas ability to put a man in space.
First President to encourage racial discrimination and intimidation at polling places.
First President to have a law signed by an auto-pen without being present.
First President to arbitrarily declare an existing law unconstitutional and refuse to enforce it.
First President to threaten insurance companies if they publicly speak-out on the reasons for their rate increases.
First President to tell a major manufacturing company in which state they are allowed to locate a factory.
First President to file lawsuits against the states he swore an oath to protect (AZ, WI, OH, IN)
First President to withdraw an existing coal permit that had been properly issued years ago.
First President to fire an inspector general of Ameri-corps for catching one of his friends in a corruption case.
First President to appoint 45 Czars to replace elected officials in his office.
First President to golf 73 separate times in his first two and a half years in office.
First President to hide his medical, educational and travel records.
First President to win a Nobel Peace Prize for doing NOTHING to earn it.
First President to coddle American enemies while alienating Americas allies.
First President to publicly bow to Americas enemies while refusing to salute the U.S. Flag.
First President to go on multiple global apology tours.
First President to go on 17 lavish vacations, including date nights and Wednesday evening White House parties for his friends, paid for by the taxpayer.
First President to refuse to wear the U.S. Flag lapel pin.
First President to have 22 personal servants (taxpayer funded) for his wife.
First President to keep a dog trainer on retainer for $102,000.00 a year at taxpayer expense.
First President to repeat the Holy Qur'an tells us, and openly admit the early morning call of the Azan (Islamic call to worship) is the most beautiful sound on earth.
Remember that 32 months of Obama White House we the people have accumulated national debt at a rate more than 27 times as fast as during the rest of our nation's entire history, as the Obama's plan their next extravagant vacation to the Indonesian Island nation of Bali .
Hope and change anyone ?????????
* sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Wall Street Journal, Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Dept of Labor, Standard & Poors/Case-Shiller, Federal Reserve, US Treasury, Heritage Foundation
gregor_xenos wrote:Rant/rave and fume all you like; sorces are cited.
Yeah that's fine but i don't see why the fact that Obama saying a religious sound (Muslim call to prayer) is beautiful/ the most beutiful noise is a significant thing...
I mean it might show he has bad taste in music but that's hardly a massive issue in a political leader...
gregor_xenos wrote:Rant/rave and fume all you like; sorces are cited.
Yeah that's fine but i don't see why the fact that Obama saying a religious sound (Muslim call to prayer) is beautiful/ the most beutiful noise is a significant thing...
I mean it might show he has bad taste in music but that's hardly a massive issue in a political leader...
Have you forgotten the big hoohah about a different religions prayer being said before senate?
gregor_xenos, that's not really citing, or if it is, it's incredibly lazy and useless citing. Links to informations for each stated "fact" is what people would be after for "citing". Also, inb4 you tell us to do it for you.
Chowderhead wrote:[img] That's a birth certificate. For the President. From the White House.
Funny how anyone else would have provided it "on the spot" rather than waiting so long to do so. Notice also, the Communist & Chief also applied for grants for "foreign" students, while NOW *or 4 years ago* is a solid American. Looks like Dakka has it's fair share of "Sheeple".
Also, it was stated I recieved this.... I didnt write it... found it interesting and wanted to see what "intellegent" conversation could come of this.... looks like more of the same so far though.
Chowderhead wrote:[img]
That's a birth certificate. For the President. From the White House.
Funny how anyone else would have provided it "on the spot" rather than waiting so long to do so.
Notice also, the Communist & Chief also applied for grants for "foreign" students, while NOW *or 4 years ago* is a solid American.
Looks like Dakka has it's fair share of "Sheeple".
Find me a non Republican Biased site where it says that.
Chowderhead wrote:I love how two british people and a teenager are debunking these myths.
Goes to show how stupid these myths are.
Also, those aren't sources. Those are names. We need links, specifics, not just "Department of Defence".
Actually, the Vacations/golf/servants-for-his-wife thing, at the expense of the taxpayer, is true. I've heard that from a lot of places, none of the being particularily biased. No comment on the rest.
Funny how anyone else would have provided it "on the spot" rather than waiting so long to do so.
Notice also, the Communist & Chief also applied for grants for "foreign" students, while NOW *or 4 years ago* is a solid American.
Looks like Dakka has it's fair share of "Sheeple".
Notice also, the Communist & Chief also applied for grants for "foreign" students, while NOW *or 4 years ago* is a solid American.
Looks like Dakka has it's fair share of "Sheeple".
fair share of "Sheeple".
"Sheeple".
I think this is like a new Godwin's Law; anyone who seriously uses the word "sheeple" in an argument instantly loses.
Chowderhead wrote:I love how two british people and a teenager are debunking these myths.
Goes to show how stupid these myths are.
Also, those aren't sources. Those are names. We need links, specifics, not just "Department of Defence".
Actually, the Vacations/golf/servants-for-his-wife thing, at the expense of the taxpayer, is true. I've heard that from a lot of places, none of the being particularily biased. No comment on the rest.
Yeah, I figured that was true.
Besides calling them SERVANTS. They're called staffers.
Chowderhead wrote:I love how two british people and a teenager are debunking these myths.
Goes to show how stupid these myths are.
Also, those aren't sources. Those are names. We need links, specifics, not just "Department of Defence".
Actually, the Vacations/golf/servants-for-his-wife thing, at the expense of the taxpayer, is true. I've heard that from a lot of places, none of the being particularily biased. No comment on the rest.
Yeah, I figured that was true.
Besides calling them SERVANTS. They're called staffers.
He's the root of all evil. Of course he has servants. Unless their slaves, further investigation is needed.
A gallon of regular gasoline the day Obama was inaugurated was $1.79 on average in the U.S. Today that price is $3.59, a 100.6% increase.
Bull
It was certainly not $1.79 when he was elected. Maybe in Saudi Arabia, but not here. Gas was just around where it is now, if not higher.
I stopped reading there.
Yep youre right... just looked it up and this is not true. Gas was 3.79 in Aug 2008... it was 1.79 the year he was elected.... to senate.
Kinda misplaced there wasnt it.
I CAN admit I'm wrong.... it just helps if someone shows me WHY instead of yelling "stoopid stoopid stoopid."
However; no matter how many times I get shown that net-pic of a certificate, I will have doubts; due to the withholding of said document.
gregor_xenos wrote:
A gallon of regular gasoline the day Obama was inaugurated was $1.79 on average in the U.S. Today that price is $3.59, a 100.6% increase
gregor_xenos wrote:
First President to refuse to show a valid birth certificate.
As seen above, Birth Certificate
gregor_xenos wrote:
First President to have a social security number from a state he has never lived in.
What? I'm pretty sure SSN's are national.
gregor_xenos wrote:
First President to terminate Americas ability to put a man in space.
So do you also blame Gerald Ford for not allowing us to go to the moon?
gregor_xenos wrote:
First President to coddle American enemies while alienating Americas allies.
...really?
gregor_xenos wrote:
First President to repeat the Holy Qur'an tells us, and openly admit the early morning call of the Azan (Islamic call to worship) is the most beautiful sound on earth.
Don't look too closely, your religious intolerance is showing.
gregor_xenos wrote:
Remember that 32 months of Obama White House we the people have accumulated national debt at a rate more than 27 times as fast as during the rest of our nation's entire history
Spoiler:
I draw your attention to "Debt as a Fraction of GDP" (the only statistic that matters, not the pure number) and the period between 1940 and 1950.
As for the rest of it, most of it is very specific. You could make a list like this for any President in history and have it just as long.
Teddy Roosevelt:
*launched the White Fleet
*was shot during a speech, and kept going
*conquered the trusts
*conquered the Spanish
*secretly led the war against Adolf Hitler and Red Skull, turning Hitler into zombie Hitler with his trusty Winchester, thus postponing WWII for 40 years
*invented a longer lasting light bulb
*did the nasty with Venus Goddess of Love, ruining her for all other men.
gregor_xenos wrote:
A gallon of regular gasoline the day Obama was inaugurated was $1.79 on average in the U.S. Today that price is $3.59, a 100.6% increase. The number of food stamp recipients has risen since Obama took office from 31,983,716 to 43,200,878, a 35.1% jump. Long term unemployment soared 146.2% during the same 32 month period from 2,600,000 to 6,400,000. Staggering hope and change isn't it?
On the gas hike: This is more or less true. I don't know if the absolute number (1.79) is correct, although the national average did drop below $2 for a 1-2 month period, but the reason is that the Presidential election more or less coincided with the depths of the Recession. The dollar was at its strongest as capital globally fled to safe harbors (which means the dollar, the yen, and the Swiss Franc) and demand for gasoline was at its lowest as household spending generally fell, rationing demand for fuel. Since then the Fed has initiated 2 rounds of QE and the dollar is much weaker. As a result, Obama cannot be 'blamed" for the subsequent gas price hike (unless you want to get specifically into the Libyan incident) any more than he can be credited with the drop in unemployment.
Remember that 32 months of Obama White House we the people have accumulated national debt at a rate more than 27 times as fast as during the rest of our nation's entire history, as the Obama's plan their next extravagant vacation to the Indonesian Island nation of Bali .
Eh, Presidential vacation nonsense aside, the debt is largely the result of Geithner/Bernanke's policies and intentional efforts towards weakening the dollar, bolstering the financial sector, and re-starting the economy. In the depths of recession, this was more or less exactly the right thing to do to keep recession from turning into depression. We could eliminate the deficit in a year. One year. Just put punitive tariffs on all imports, and increase all tax rates by 100%. Deficit gone. The competitiveness of American business would be crushed and we'd be in depression due to the cost of such austerity, but hey, no more deficit.
I'm not a big fan of Obama's 'everybody's fair share = tax the rich and keep spending', but to lay the blame for these things on Obama is wrong. A gerbil could have been in the White House and the exact same things would have occurred.
Frazzled wrote:I find the lack of discussion about the greatness that is T. Roosevelt to be highly disturbing.
It's not. We all know that Teddy shot dinosaurs from his trusty steed and had the Teddy Bear named after him when he famously created the Mounted Bear Brigade, which he lead to battle against the Space Commies.
It's just he's so awesome most people do not speak his name, for if he deems you unworthy, he and Liberty (His bear) will find you and beat you to death with a telephone pole.
gregor_xenos wrote:Rule #1 is be polite. This was not polite. Edited. MT11
Now if we could just get Senate/congress to do the same before they pass a bill. lol
OMFG! I am sooooo sorry I called someone a fairly benign thing. Looking back I can see how it was impolite, and since this is RULE #1, I feel almost 1/3 of the posts in this thread should recieve a warning as well.
gregor_xenos wrote:Rule #1 is be polite. This was not polite. Edited. MT11
Now if we could just get Senate/congress to do the same before they pass a bill. lol
OMFG! I am sooooo sorry I called someone a fairly benign thing. Looking back I can see how it was impolite, and since this is RULE #1, I feel almost 1/3 of the posts in this thread should recieve a warning as well.
Frazzled wrote:I find the lack of discussion about the greatness that is T. Roosevelt to be highly disturbing.
It's not. We all know that Teddy shot dinosaurs from his trusty steed and had the Teddy Bear named after him when he famously created the Mounted Bear Brigade, which he lead to battle against the Space Commies.
It's just he's so awesome most people do not speak his name, for if he deems you unworthy, he and Liberty (His bear) will find you and beat you to death with a telephone pole.
Chowderhead wrote:No, and I apologize if it came out like that.
I was saying you are very far to the right wing, but aren't stupid enough to believe that Obama was born in Kenya.
It's a compliment.
Sorry, was messing with you. Obviously it didn't come across well.
Ouze wrote:On (sorta) topic, I haven't see gas for less than $2 in nearly a decade, regardless of what the charts say.
I keep track every time I fill up (it's become a habit). It was under $2 just before Obama took office.
...but gas prices took a nose-dive from almost $4 per gallon in mid-2008.
Ouze wrote:That being said, I think the president - any president - has very little power to affect the price of gas short of extreme situations.
Yes, but that didn't stop the Democrats from using it as a political football when Bush was in office. Of course, lots of stuff was on the table when Bush was in the White House that's now off the table.
biccat wrote:[Yes, but that didn't stop the Democrats from using it as a political football when Bush was in office. Of course, lots of stuff was on the table when Bush was in the White House that's now off the table.
Sure, they did lots of things that were and are totally hypocritical, but at some point we've gotta stop being jerks just because the other guys acted like jerks previously. At some point, someone has got to be the bigger man.
biccat wrote:[Yes, but that didn't stop the Democrats from using it as a political football when Bush was in office. Of course, lots of stuff was on the table when Bush was in the White House that's now off the table.
Sure, they did lots of things that were and are totally hypocritical, but at some point we've gotta stop being jerks just because the other guys acted like jerks previously. At some point, someone has got to be the bigger man.
And so we run into the biggest problem in politics: "Yeah, this issue is politically unpopular and could result in a loss of political influence, but it's necessary for the long-term good of the country...so you should totally support it."
gregor_xenos wrote:
First President to require all Americans to purchase a product from a third party.
This is true.
gregor_xenos wrote:
First President to abrogate bankruptcy law to turn over control of companies to his union supporters.
I think this is also true.
gregor_xenos wrote:
First President to by-pass Congress and implement the Dream Act through executive fiat.
Definitely not the first President to bypass Congress by Executive fiat.
gregor_xenos wrote:
First President to order a secret amnesty program that stopped the deportation of illegal immigrants across the U.S. , including those with criminal convictions.
Probably not true, but possibly true.
gregor_xenos wrote:
First President to encourage racial discrimination and intimidation at polling places.
Another one that's definitely not true, for a number of reasons.
gregor_xenos wrote:
First President to threaten insurance companies if they publicly speak-out on the reasons for their rate increases.
Definitely not the first President to publicly threaten a company.
A lot of that article was interpretive reading, or outright equivocation, but much of it was just obviously wrong.
gregor_xenos wrote:I recieved this and found it rather enlightning....
Rant/rave and fume all you like; sorces are cited.
Barack Obama's 32 Month Report Card
by Rich Carroll
"Mr. Hope and Change" wants to create a nation humbled; humiliated, casting-aside capitalism and individual freedoms for one where we the people are government controlled. This would be a system that genuflects mediocrity, steals personal aspiration and opportunity, and punishes those who strive to succeed.
A gallon of regular gasoline the day Obama was inaugurated was $1.79 on average in the U.S. Today that price is $3.59, a 100.6% increase. The number of food stamp recipients has risen since Obama took office from 31,983,716 to 43,200,878, a 35.1% jump. Long term unemployment soared 146.2% during the same 32 month period from 2,600,000 to 6,400,000. Staggering hope and change isn't it?
American citizens living in poverty have risen 9.5% from 39,800,000 to 43,600,000, and the number of unemployed has jumped almost 25% from 11,616,000 to 14,485,000 as of August 31, 2011. The number of unemployed blacks has risen from 12.6% at the end of George Bush's term to 15.8% today, a 25.4% increase, and finally, our national debt is up 34.4% from 10.627 trillion to 14,278 trillion *
Keep these figures in mind as we recount the number of firsts for this presidency:
First President to refuse to show a valid birth certificate.
First President to apply for college aid as a foreign student, then deny he was a foreigner.
First President to have a social security number from a state he has never lived in.
First President to preside over a cut to the credit rating of the United States .
First President to violate the War Powers Act.
First President to be held in contempt of court for illegally obstructing oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico .
First President to defy a Federal Judges court order to cease implementing the Health Care Reform Law.
First President to require all Americans to purchase a product from a third party.
First President to spend a trillion dollars on shovel-ready jobs and later admit there was no such thing as shovel-ready jobs.
First President to abrogate bankruptcy law to turn over control of companies to his union supporters.
First President to by-pass Congress and implement the Dream Act through executive fiat.
First President to order a secret amnesty program that stopped the deportation of illegal immigrants across the U.S. , including those with criminal convictions.
First President to demand a company hand-over $20 billion to one of his political appointees.
First President to terminate Americas ability to put a man in space.
First President to encourage racial discrimination and intimidation at polling places.
First President to have a law signed by an auto-pen without being present.
First President to arbitrarily declare an existing law unconstitutional and refuse to enforce it.
First President to threaten insurance companies if they publicly speak-out on the reasons for their rate increases.
First President to tell a major manufacturing company in which state they are allowed to locate a factory.
First President to file lawsuits against the states he swore an oath to protect (AZ, WI, OH, IN)
First President to withdraw an existing coal permit that had been properly issued years ago.
First President to fire an inspector general of Ameri-corps for catching one of his friends in a corruption case.
First President to appoint 45 Czars to replace elected officials in his office.
First President to golf 73 separate times in his first two and a half years in office.
First President to hide his medical, educational and travel records.
First President to win a Nobel Peace Prize for doing NOTHING to earn it.
First President to coddle American enemies while alienating Americas allies.
First President to publicly bow to Americas enemies while refusing to salute the U.S. Flag.
First President to go on multiple global apology tours.
First President to go on 17 lavish vacations, including date nights and Wednesday evening White House parties for his friends, paid for by the taxpayer.
First President to refuse to wear the U.S. Flag lapel pin.
First President to have 22 personal servants (taxpayer funded) for his wife.
First President to keep a dog trainer on retainer for $102,000.00 a year at taxpayer expense.
First President to repeat the Holy Qur'an tells us, and openly admit the early morning call of the Azan (Islamic call to worship) is the most beautiful sound on earth.
Remember that 32 months of Obama White House we the people have accumulated national debt at a rate more than 27 times as fast as during the rest of our nation's entire history, as the Obama's plan their next extravagant vacation to the Indonesian Island nation of Bali .
Hope and change anyone ?????????
1st, read me Avatar....
2nd, that was the most stupid, most dumbest, thing I've ever read in my whole life, and I mean that, and read some stupid gak before. Your 1st (The Fist President to..) failed, because he did show it, giving fox news, every republican, and Donald trumpcard the biggest chop and shame ever, it was one of the reasons donald t-RUMP decided not to run for office, cause he ended up looking like a clown...
3rd, you show me a republican that can do it better... no, I DID NOT THINK SO.
4th, "Obama is the maide after Led Zepplin finished with the hotel room" IF OBAMA was Jesus himself, you guys still would try and find reasons (most of them gak or waaaaaaaaaaaaay out of praportion) to say he was a bad president
5th, Do you relize most of the "Information" (If anyone can call it that) your getting your (First President to...) is all right wing areas where they will all most say anything to try and make him look bad.
6th, First President to repeat the Holy Qur'an tells us, and openly admit the early morning call of the Azan (Islamic call to worship) is the most beautiful sound on earth. OK... AND? It's his faith and his belief, I think that the trees blowing in the wind is the most beutitful sound in the world? You going to twist that sentance into something bad? And what does religion have to with his presidentsy??? And I'll have you know he is very Baptist so yea, pretty sure he's not Islamic or Muslim...
7th, Do I need to name any more fails in your post, cause I'm up to 6 atm (not counting this one)
First President in history to allow the World Trade Center to be hit by a plane
HA!
Automatically Appended Next Post: And a "Source" is a link, not just something you type. I'm guess you graduated with a 6th degree??? (And no, just for your sakes bud, there is no such thing as a 6th grade degree, I'm being hypothetical. But just incase you dont get me ;D)
HEY GUYS, did you know the New Zealand government only spent $100 on the Christchurch eathquake of Fed 2011 and the rest was all stolen out of swiss banks
Sourse: NZDIF (New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs)
Slarg232 wrote:Actually, the Vacations/golf/servants-for-his-wife thing, at the expense of the taxpayer, is true. I've heard that from a lot of places, none of the being particularily biased. No comment on the rest.
Problem is that a lot of places seem to swallow what they are getting fed "just" because it can be proven - but they don't look behind the scenes to put matters into context, resulting in the distribution of half-truths engineered by powerful and manipulative circles in the shadows with the sole intent of twisting public perception to their liking.
For example, even here in Europe we've read about the controversy about both the number of vacations as well as the cost, with two probably important details:
#1 The biggest cost is actually security and the Air Force One. What a whole load of people seem interested in blocking out is that by far the largest part of these cost would accrue anyways as the Secret Service generally doesn't hire its people for a single day, and the Air Force One and her crew are kept in ready condition 24/7 regardless of whether it's used or not. Lodging and food, which are actually paid by the Obamas themselves, are the smallest post on that bill. And you could make such a calculation for any of the last Presidents.
#2 Obama may have taken more vacations, but he did NOT take more vacation DAYS.
"So far, President Obama has taken 61 vacation days after 31 months in office. At this point in their presidencies, George W. Bush had spent 180 days at his ranch where his staff often joined him for meetings, and Ronald Reagan had taken 112 vacation days at his ranch." - http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/08/17/eveningnews/main20093801.shtml
Man, I really don't envy the guy for the amount of artificially stirred hate he gets. The upcoming election seems to get particularly dirty, and even though the Republicans are doing a pretty good job at destroying each others reputation right now, I'm quite certain that a number of their supporters are behind the myths circulating in that list. Fox News has become an extremely powerful media, and it's sad to see it has such a strong grip on people.
That being said, if you don't want to vote for Obama, maybe you should vote for Vermin Supreme - given the recent interviews and certain rather shameful TV ads I've seen, I'm sure he'd still do a better job than the Republicans.
First President to repeat the Holy Qur'an tells us, and openly admit the early morning call of the Azan (Islamic call to worship) is the most beautiful sound on earth. OK... AND? It's his faith and his belief,
I CAN admit I'm wrong.... it just helps if someone shows me WHY instead of yelling "stoopid stoopid stoopid."
In my opinion you seem to be over-reacting a little bit
To be fair Samus never called you stupid, he/she merely stated that one of the claims that was made in the article you posted was "bull :bleep" (which it was).
Also why should the burden of proof be on me if I tell you that you're wrong?
A better solution (I think) is that you go through the list of "Obama first's" you posted and back each claim with several sources.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
biccat wrote:I started reading that and thought "damn, that's pretty biased." Obama is a bad president, but not everything here is his fault.
Chowderhead wrote:
First President to refuse to show a valid birth certificate.
Birthers are just Racist.
Seriously. Not even Biccat is a birther.
What's that supposed to mean? Are you suggesting I'm racist, but not racist enough to be a birther?
Seriously tho, birthers aren't racist.
I do find it an interesting issue, but from a legal perspective.
I may disagree with you on many political issues.
But you are one classy dakkaite.
Shrike325 wrote:
George Bush, JR:
First President in history to allow the World Trade Center to be hit by a plane
First President to repeat the Holy Qur'an tells us, and openly admit the early morning call of the Azan (Islamic call to worship) is the most beautiful sound on earth. OK... AND? It's his faith and his belief,
But it isn't his faith and belief.
I know, did I not just say that about a sentence later??? I was just trying to make a point
Despite the occasional "Red neck" outbursts of some... like the OP's post, America has an electoral tradition to be proud of and that gives hope. As a nation, America elected as its President a man whose father was black and whose mother was white. A man who has a Muslim name but whose personal religion is Southern Baptist. A man whose physical roots link Hawaii, mainland United States, Indonesia and Kenya. In the rest of the world these are things people admire about you.
Cheers
Simon
Edit: And doesn't the American constitution say something about the right to express religion? I'm not sure, I'm just asking (I've just mentioned this in key with the last comment the OP made about Obama and the Koran (I know he's not Muslim, but if he was (Hypothetical)...he can).
gregor_xenos wrote:I recieved this and found it rather enlightning....
Almost everything in there is straight up lied. Seriously, you’ve been played for a fool, and should be very angry at Rich Carroll. Don’t believe me? Let’s go through it.
"Mr. Hope and Change" wants to create a nation humbled; humiliated, casting-aside capitalism and individual freedoms for one where we the people are government controlled. This would be a system that genuflects mediocrity, steals personal aspiration and opportunity, and punishes those who strive to succeed.
Your first clue should have been right there. Not the silliness about Obama wanted everyone to be controlled by government, that’s stupid, but it’s the kind of stupid you see from people who can otherwise be somewhat sensible. Nah, the first clue should have been from Carroll’s claim that Obama wanted America to be humbled and humiliated. It’d be one thing to claim Obama’s policies would leave the country humbled and humiliated, but to claim he actually wants that result?
It’s claiming Obama sits there at night trying to figure out how to make America a worse place to live. It’s completely stupid.
A gallon of regular gasoline the day Obama was inaugurated was $1.79 on average in the U.S. Today that price is $3.59, a 100.6% increase. The number of food stamp recipients has risen since Obama took office from 31,983,716 to 43,200,878, a 35.1% jump. Long term unemployment soared 146.2% during the same 32 month period from 2,600,000 to 6,400,000. Staggering hope and change isn't it?
As already stated, this is just plain false. A complete lie.
American citizens living in poverty have risen 9.5% from 39,800,000 to 43,600,000, and the number of unemployed has jumped almost 25% from 11,616,000 to 14,485,000 as of August 31, 2011. The number of unemployed blacks has risen from 12.6% at the end of George Bush's term to 15.8% today, a 25.4% increase, and finally, our national debt is up 34.4% from 10.627 trillion to 14,278 trillion *
The housing sector began to decline in 2006, was teetering as early as October 2007, and finally flowed through to a collapse of the greater lending sector in October 2008, which immediately flowed through to the stock market, and in turn to other economic sectors. This led to worldwide economic recession, which the world is yet to recover from. Obama didn’t take office until three months after the GFC began, so unless you want to claim he is a time traveller I’m really not sure how it is his fault.
First President to refuse to show a valid birth certificate.
Except he first published his birth certificate in 2008, so that’s a lie. We should also note he’s the first president to have his citizenship questioned, marking a rather sad ‘first’ for people who so hate the other side being in power that they’ll invent old nonsense to complain about.
First President to apply for college aid as a foreign student, then deny he was a foreigner.
First President to have a social security number from a state he has never lived in.
This is some highly speculative reasoning. Obama has a social security number beginning with 042, indicating it was issued in Connecticut, but there is nothing requiring any individual to live in the state their card was issued – the only reason the sequence number is there is to prevent the double up in issue numbers that happened when each state issued numbers independently.
First President to preside over a cut to the credit rating of the United States .
This is false. In the 1970s an error made by treasury resulted in a couple of hundred million in debt repayments being missed for a week, and for a short time thereafter the subsequent didn’t have a AAA rating. It also needs to be recognised that the rating agency involved in this stated at the time that the cut in rating was due to the political brinkmanship over raising the debt ceiling. In other words, Obama is president at a time when one political party has become so ridiculous, and so much more interested in politics than governance, that they would actually consider not paying debts when owed, just to score political points.
First President to violate the War Powers Act.
Actually, Clinton did the same thing in Kosovo as Obama did in Libya. I’d worry about this guy’s fact checking, but debate over the legality of Clinton’s operation in Kosovo is hardly old news, nor is it obscure, so really we just have to chalk this up to Carroll lying once more.
First President to be held in contempt of court for illegally obstructing oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico .
This might be true, somewhat. The Department of the Interior was found in contempt of court for issuing a moratorium on drilling in the gulf that was pretty much identical to one that already had an injunction placed upon it. But it wasn’t Obama held in contempt, as it was the Department of the Interior, so that was a gross exaggeration, and if we extend the issue to any government agency being held in contempt, I find it very doubtful that that has never happened before.
First President to defy a Federal Judges court order to cease implementing the Health Care Reform Law.
This is a straight up lie. Some courts have found part of the bill to be unconstitutional, and others have not. These issues are slowly working their way up through the courts, exactly as they should. There is no defying going on.
First President to require all Americans to purchase a product from a third party.
This is a lie, until 1798 there was a requirement for all militia men to properly equip themselves for service.
But to think about the real issue here, healthcare reform, we need to look at the primary problem right now – the ability of an insurance company to deny coverage. We all know how it works, you find out you need expensive surgery, and your insurance company goes through your records to see if it can deny you service, thereby saving their shareholders a considerable expense. Individuals are always able to take their insurer to court to make them pay the bills, but at the end of the day they have a team of professionals fighting this stuff for a living, while you’re just some guy who got sick. This is a major reason why, outside of the GFC, medical costs are the number one cause of bankruptcy in the US.
The best and really only way of fully solving this issue is to prevent insurance companies from dropping people for ‘pre-existing conditions’. Unfortunately that means people would be able to simply not take up insurance until they got sick, so they put in place a requirement to get insurance.
It isn’t a great fix, but the Republican alternative is to sound off about your right to not buy insurance and pretend there’s no problem with denial of coverage.
First President to spend a trillion dollars on shovel-ready jobs and later admit there was no such thing as shovel-ready jobs.
This is another lie, Obama never made any comment that there was no such thing as shovel ready jobs.
This is another issue where a little perspective is badly needed. It’s widely accepted among economists that in response to an economic downturn, such as the GFC government needs to spend significant amounts to maintain aggregate demand, and the sooner you can get that money out in the economy in response to falling investment and consumer spending the better. Macroeconomic studies have found the best effects per dollar spent come from infrastructure spending.
The problem is that you can’t just sign a spending bill on Monday, and start building a bridge on Tuesday. You need to determine what bridges are needed, you need to design the bridge, and begin to plan the projected construction, a process that can take a long time. So, basically, for economic stimulus over several years infrastructure is ideal, but you can’t just pretend it should happen over night.
First President to abrogate bankruptcy law to turn over control of companies to his union supporters.
I don’t even know what nonsense this is referring to. There was talk about one bankrupt company being left with it’s employee’s retirement accounts being the major remaining shareholder, but they were bailed out? Is that what Carroll is talking about?
First President to by-pass Congress and implement the Dream Act through executive fiat.
This is a straight up lie. No such executive order exists. The bill remains in the senate, and no-one is acting on its proposals.
First President to order a secret amnesty program that stopped the deportation of illegal immigrants across the U.S. , including those with criminal convictions.
Another lie. There is nothing secret about Obama’s amnesty, which allowed for the temporary release of people in low priority deportation cases. It was announced to the national media, with an ABC story and everything. Either Carroll is completely unaware of the existence of major news networks, or he’s a complete liar, and I’m honestly not sure which makes him a worse source for political information.
First President to demand a company hand-over $20 billion to one of his political appointees.
I don’t even know what he’s referring to here. Anyone got any clues?
First President to terminate Americas ability to put a man in space.
Are right wingers just straight up pretending Nixon never existed, now? Seriously, Nixon cancelled Apollo, and left the US with no ability to put astronauts into space.
First President to encourage racial discrimination and intimidation at polling places.
There was an instance of two guys linked to the black panthers acting in an intimidating manner at a polling booth in 2008. I’m not sure how this relates to Obama, unless we believe Obama controls all black people.
First President to have a law signed by an auto-pen without being present.
This is actually true. Mind you, it’s basically a novel use of technology and a historic curiosity, unless someone was willing to make the claim by autosigning the bill Obama was neglecting his duties to be aware of the content of bill, considering the bill in question was the extension of the Patriot Act, and had already been in force for about eight years?
First President to arbitrarily declare an existing law unconstitutional and refuse to enforce it.
This is a lie. The law in question is the Defence of Marriage Act, which the Department of Justice found after internal investigation to be unlikely to hold up to constitutional review. However, this didn’t cause them to stop enforcing it, but to decline to defend it if it came under constitutional challenge. This can’t stop, and didn’t stop, congress from choosing to defend it if they so decided.
First President to threaten insurance companies if they publicly speak-out on the reasons for their rate increases.
I can’t find anything on this story. Given Carroll’s record he’s probably mangled some story so badly I can’t figure out the original source, though there’s also a chance he’s just made it up entirely.
First President to tell a major manufacturing company in which state they are allowed to locate a factory.
The matter in dispute is between Boeing and the NLRB, an independent government body. Claiming Obama is trying to tell Boeing where it can place it’s factory is just another lie.
First President to file lawsuits against the states he swore an oath to protect (AZ, WI, OH, IN)
Is Carroll honest to God claiming no lawsuit has ever been filed by Federal Government against one or more states? Schoolkids are taught about Civil Rights, for feth’s sake. Is Carroll’s political knowledge simply that bad, or does he just think we’re so stupid that he can tell such obvious lies?
First President to withdraw an existing coal permit that had been properly issued years ago.
The EPA decision to withdraw the permit was in line with the Clean Air act put in place by Bush.
First President to fire an inspector general of Ameri-corps for catching one of his friends in a corruption case.
Except he wasn’t caught in an investigation. When the inspector general of Ameri-Corps, Gerald Walpin, took his case to the Sacramento attorney, a Bush appointee, he declined the case and stated Walpin committed gross misconduct in pursuing the matter. "The Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of California, a career prosecutor who was appointed to his post during the Bush Administration, has referred Mr. Walpin’s conduct for review by the Integrity Committee of the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE),"
In other words, Carroll lied to you.
First President to appoint 45 Czars to replace elected officials in his office.
Except Czar is a completely made up title, simply a way of deferring the powers of a president to an acting officer. Unless you think the president should head every single state department personally, exactly how do you think this is supposed to work?
First President to golf 73 separate times in his first two and a half years in office.
So, in 912 days you resent a person having 73 mornings off work? Is golf the only form of relaxation that’s forbidden? Should we be tracking the amount of time the President spends watching TV before going to bed as well?
First President to hide his medical, educational and travel records.
This is a lie. There is no requirement, nor tradition, to disclose any of the information.
First President to win a Nobel Peace Prize for doing NOTHING to earn it.
The award was pretty dubious. I’m not really sure why people hate Obama for it, though, given the decision was made by people in another country, and was not something Obama had pursued. What was he supposed to do, decline the award?
First President to coddle American enemies while alienating Americas allies.
I’m really puzzled as to which allied have been alienated? Compared to the open attack by Bush officials and the Republican party at large on NATO allies France and Germany when they, quite rightly, pointed out there was no evidence of WMDs in Iraq, I have no idea what Obama is supposed to have done.
First President to publicly bow to Americas enemies while refusing to salute the U.S. Flag.
This is stupid, trivial argument. Obama bowed to the Saudi King, and to the Emperor of Japan. It did not impact his dealings with either country at all. He is also not the first president to bow to a foreign leader. He has never refused to salute the US flag.
Even if it were true, the governance of a nation needs it’s people to focus . I mean seriously, that claim is just stupid nonsense.
First President to go on multiple global apology tours.
Former Bush appointee Karl Rove dubbed Obama’s first international trip an apology tour. He relied on people being lazy enough to just believe that’s what Obama was doing, and not listen to the content of the speaches. While Obama did not America had made errors in the past, he always made sure to tie this to significant American achievements, and how relations with the US had benefitted the country he was talking in. This is an effective way to move past previous disputes, and forge closer ties with countries. It’s how you effectively govern.
That Republicans are so outraged at the use of such a simple diplomatic tool just shows how incapable they are at present of producing an effective President.
First President to go on 17 lavish vacations, including date nights and Wednesday evening White House parties for his friends, paid for by the taxpayer.
Technically true, in that Presidents Reagan, Bush Sr and Bush Jr all spent more days on holiday than Obama, so they couldn’t have been said to go on 17 holidays, but each on 18 or more. Note that compared to Obama’s 26 days on holiday in his first year, Bush Jr took 78.
First President to refuse to wear the U.S. Flag lapel pin.
Also the first President to be asked to wear one by the opposition. Which is a sign of how fixated on trivial, nonsensical rubbish the current Republican party is.
Also note Obama has worn the pin multiple times while President.
First President to have 22 personal servants (taxpayer funded) for his wife.
They’re called staffers, and in the modern era the First Lady is, for good or bad, a part of the administration, administering all kinds of charities and the like. And it’s a straight up lie that no First Lady has had such a staff before, both Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton had larger staffs.
First President to keep a dog trainer on retainer for $102,000.00 a year at taxpayer expense.
There is no source for the salary of the dog trainer available anywhere in the public domain, and so given Carroll’s track record the most likely conclusion is that he made it up.
First President to repeat the Holy Qur'an tells us, and openly admit the early morning call of the Azan (Islamic call to worship) is the most beautiful sound on earth.
That’s a lie. Obama said it was ‘one of the prettiest sounds on earth at sunset’. Have we become so narrow minded that it is unacceptable to find something pretty in another religion.
In my own travels, I’ve found the call to prayer to be at times incredibly annoying (a prerecorded call played out of a scratchy speaker system at 5.00 in the morning), and other times incredibly beautiful (on a desert sunset in Rajasthan by a truly gifted singer). So what does that make me?
Remember that 32 months of Obama White House we the people have accumulated national debt at a rate more than 27 times as fast as during the rest of our nation's entire history, as the Obama's plan their next extravagant vacation to the Indonesian Island nation of Bali .
That’s simply a lie. Look at debt spending during WWII.
Hope and change anyone ?????????
I would like change toward an honest political dialogue based on substance. I have little hope of achieving it. Perhaps if you were to turn around to whoever sent you this piece of nonsense and point out to them the many lies presented, that’d give me just a little hope that things might get better.
A gallon of regular gasoline the day Obama was inaugurated was $1.79 on average in the U.S. Today that price is $3.59, a 100.6% increase. The number of food stamp recipients has risen since Obama took office from 31,983,716 to 43,200,878, a 35.1% jump. Long term unemployment soared 146.2% during the same 32 month period from 2,600,000 to 6,400,000. Staggering hope and change isn't it?
As already stated, this is just plain false. A complete lie.
Well, not a complete lie, just selective with information. Still bs though.
sebster wrote:
...so unless you want to claim he is a time traveller I’m really not sure how it is his fault.
I believe some people claimed that he was a magical being of dark skin tone.
sebster wrote:
This is some highly speculative reasoning. Obama has a social security number beginning with 042, indicating it was issued in Connecticut, but there is nothing requiring any individual to live in the state their card was issued – the only reason the sequence number is there is to prevent the double up in issue numbers that happened when each state issued numbers independently.
Also, SSNs weren't generally issued at birth until 1986, and Obama isn't 25-26.
sebster wrote:
This is another lie, Obama never made any comment that there was no such thing as shovel ready jobs.
dogma wrote:Well, not a complete lie, just selective with information. Still bs though.
Except in that instance he fail to use the weasel words that could have made it truthful but misleading. Instead he claimed the price on the day of his inauguration, which makes it a straight up lie.
I believe some people claimed that he was a magical being of dark skin tone.
There was a slightly famous radio personality saying something like that, yes. So maybe he really did travel back in time to crash the economy.
Also, SSNs weren't generally issued at birth until 1986, and Obama isn't 25-26.
Basically what it means is that he was in Connecticut when he need one, or whatever state he was in when he applied sent their excess demand to Connecticut to get published. Which is, well, really boring.
Fair enough, I remember lots of people making noise about it, and thinking they kind of had a point though it was being really overstated, I just didn’t remember Obama later taking it back.
Still, it’s a lot of noise to be made over what was, basically, a piece of loose campaign rhetoric.
But then I would lose my job!
Well then we can’t have that. Guess we better instead keep telling lies for dogma’s sake… or should that be Mr Carroll.
gregor_xenos wrote:I recieved this and found it rather enlightning....
Almost everything in there is straight up lied. Seriously, you’ve been played for a fool, and should be very angry at Rich Carroll. Don’t believe me? Let’s go through it.
The fact-checking work you did here is remarkable. I tip my hat to you.
Call em crazy, but Im pretty damn sure gas was a LOT more then $1.79 when Obama became President. I dont want to sound like a supporter of his as Im not, but just saying, it was around 3 bucks a gallon when he became President, not that fething low. It was around that low when I was 18ish if I remember correctly
KingCracker wrote:Call em crazy, but Im pretty damn sure gas was a LOT more then $1.79 when Obama became President. I dont want to sound like a supporter of his as Im not, but just saying, it was around 3 bucks a gallon when he became President, not that fething low. It was around that low when I was 18ish if I remember correctly
There was an explanation for this earlier in the thread, but this was indeed the case (briefly). Click on the 6 year scale to see, and remember he was sworn in Jan 20th 2009.
As with you, I don't think I ever saw those prices. On the other hand, I may be overestimating my ability to remember historic gas prices. That site shows the average gas price at $3.50, which is near-exactly what it was when I filled up this morning.
Yea, sometimes I dont want to read an entire thread to see if my post even matters anymore
But yea, I think I paid about 8-10 cents more a gallon the other day......but a month ago it was a good 10-15 cents cheaper lol. Depends on the day really
The same graph (6 year running average of gas prices) overlaid with the same from Canada. Just to show how ridiculous it is to assume that it's just the US's gas prices.
The US and Canada are trading partners, if you looked at mexico's or australia's as well it would show a similarity. They are all major trading partners so they all take dives at the same time. US history class ftw.
"First President to order a secret amnesty program that stopped the deportation of illegal immigrants across the U.S. , including those with criminal convictions. "
Jeez wounder what else in that "article" isn't based on facts. As apathetic as I am towards Obama most of what the OP posted is either true or forgets the fact that the financial crisis started before Obama came to office. In January 200 we were losing 500,000 plus jobs a month, now we are slowly adding them. A Republican winning in 2012 will not make any difference.
Ouze wrote:The fact-checking work you did here is remarkable. I tip my hat to you.
Cheers, something to do on a slow day I guess Helped that I could remember most of those nonsense issues, so kind of knew where to go to check my corrections.
gregor_xenos wrote:I recieved this and found it rather enlightning....
Rant/rave and fume all you like; sorces are cited.
**snipped highly partisan bs and tinfoil hat wearing allusion**
Thank you for bringing yourself to our attention and giving us all a very clear window into what you consider newsworthy and who you are as a poster here, welcome to ignore.
I guess the 1.2 million who dropped out of the workforce in January 2012 don't mean anything?
With extended unemployment running out and open, decent-paying jobs still scarce, the unemployment might be an artificial 6%-7% by November. The people will buy it and re-elect one of the most inept Presidents in US history.
The OP used some facts and did an awful job extrapolating upon them.
Stormrider wrote:I guess the 1.2 million who dropped out of the workforce in January 2012 don't mean anything?
With extended unemployment running out and open, decent-paying jobs still scarce, the unemployment might be an artificial 6%-7% by November. The people will buy it and re-elect one of the most inept Presidents in US history.
The OP used some facts and did an awful job extrapolating upon them.
Please extrapolate the facts for me Stormrider? I must of missed it?
Stormrider wrote:I guess the 1.2 million who dropped out of the workforce in January 2012 don't mean anything?
With extended unemployment running out and open, decent-paying jobs still scarce, the unemployment might be an artificial 6%-7% by November. The people will buy it and re-elect one of the most inept Presidents in US history.
The OP used some facts and did an awful job extrapolating upon them.
Implying the GOP offers any better alternatives. You guys had a shot with Huntsman but he was just too reasonable for you guys. I guess man on dog,I hate contraception, proud of my earmarks Santorum
is what you guys consider "Presidential".
Stormrider wrote:The people will buy it and re-elect one of the most inept Presidents in US history.
God I love the US political debate. Everyone is either inept, or great, there is no gradation. It started with Bush II, and its continued with Obama.
Whatever, makes my job easier.
Bleak_Fantasy wrote:You guys had a shot with Huntsman but he was just too reasonable for you guys.
Huntsman didn't have the personal charisma for a Presidential run. GHW Bush was about as wooden as it gets when it comes to modern Presidents, and he had Reagan's legacy to run on. Without that, he never would have even gotten funding.
Gore was similar, and lost largely because Clinton simply wasn't as popular as Reagan. Well, that, and GWB was actually a pretty solid candidate (Whereas Dukakis was Dukakis.) and even turned out to be a middling President.
sebster wrote:I wonder if gregor_xenos will be impressed?
I don't know this guy, and it's sort of a crappy thing to make sweeping denouncements upon the motivations of people I don't know and have never met. Now that I have denounced that sort of thing, I will immediately engage in just that sort of reprehensible behavior, and posit:
No. I suspect the sort of person who posts things like this actually believe them on faith, not on evidence. I have some co-workers who I foolishly friended on facebook (that's 2 mistakes in 3 words) who have started posting stuff much like this near-daily. They just know he's an unamerican, secret-muslim who wants to destroy the US and no amount of "facts" will convince them otherwise. It's like Fox Mulder's office, only the "I Want To Believe" poster has a photoshopped Kenyan birth certificate on it instead of a UFO.
In other words, I imagine this is exactly how the right felt about all that "evidence" and "reporting" that W had not actually finished his National Guard service. But that's a whole other thread.
Stormrider wrote:The OP used some facts and did an awful job extrapolating upon them.
A couple of factual claims were presented faithfully, a few other claims were presented in a dishonest fashion, while most points were straight up lies. Items fitting in the second category are bad enough, and there is simply no place for things fitting in the third.
You can find this list all over the internet, by the way. Lots of people seem to believe it, and presumably use it as part of their thinking on politics, and that should piss people off.
Ouze wrote:
No. I suspect the sort of person who posts things like this actually believe them on faith, not on evidence. I have some co-workers who I foolishly friended on facebook (that's 2 mistakes in 3 words) who have started posting stuff much like this near-daily. They just know he's an unamerican, secret-muslim who wants to destroy the US and no amount of "facts" will convince them otherwise. It's like Fox Mulder's office, only the "I Want To Believe" poster has a photoshopped Kenyan birth certificate on it instead of a UFO.
Conversely, I have a number of co-workers (My other job is at an NPO that works in permaculture, google it to feel the progressiveness.) and college buddies that post things about soldiers being murderers, Republicans all being racist red necks, the evils of capitalism, and how breeders are all awful people.
There's some magical quality of political, social, religious, and philosophical issues that makes people think their random dabbling makes them qualified to discuss them.
Ouze wrote:I don't know this guy, and it's sort of a crappy thing to make sweeping denouncements upon the motivations of people I don't know and have never met. Now that I have denounced that sort of thing, I will immediately engage in just that sort of reprehensible behavior, and posit:
No. I suspect the sort of person who posts things like this actually believe them on faith, not on evidence. I have some co-workers who I foolishly friended on facebook (that's 2 mistakes in 3 words) who have started posting stuff much like this near-daily. They just know he's an unamerican, secret-muslim who wants to destroy the US and no amount of "facts" will convince them otherwise. It's like Fox Mulder's office, only the "I Want To Believe" poster has a photoshopped Kenyan birth certificate on it instead of a UFO.
In other words, I imagine this is exactly how the right felt about all that "evidence" and "reporting" that W had not actually finished his National Guard service. But that's a whole other thread.
Yeah, the trick is that there’s a great big middle ground between ‘what we know’ and actual facts and information, and everyone has at least a few things they believe really intensely, despite it not lining up with reality, and most have quite a few. And we can end up like that through no fault of our own, we can hear arguments that seem very convincing, but they might not be the whole truth, or might contain out-dated information, or have their information given in a misleading fashion, or just be a straight up lie.
I think a lot of people could read that list in the opening post, and be convinced that Obama was a uniquely terrible president, if they’d never heard anything to the contrary. There’s no shame in getting duped. It’s only when you’re informed that you were lied to, and continue to believe lies that there’s anything to be ashamed about.
It's up to Gregor_Xenos at this point.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
dogma wrote:Conversely, I have a number of co-workers (My other job is at an NPO that works in permaculture, google it to feel the progressiveness.) and college buddies that post things about soldiers being murderers, Republicans all being racist red necks, the evils of capitalism, and how breeders are all awful people.
There's some magical quality of political, social, religious, and philosophical issues that makes people think their random dabbling makes them qualified to discuss them.
It's not restricted to any one category, though. I was watching cricket with a mate the other day, and he commented on an older player being brought back into the national team, after he'd retired some years ago. He said it was just novelty call up because Australia doesn't take that particular format of the game seriously. I pointed out that the player in question was the most successful bowler in the recent domestic tournament, coming third in wickets taken, and having a better economy rate than any other bowler. He said it didn't matter, because the guy is 41 so what future does he have, and I pointed out he'd been selected with the World Cup in mind, and that was only 8 months away, and that an article explaining that came out immediately after his selection.
I wondered how, given he knew none of that, and really very little about cricket in general, he could possibly have formed an opinion at all.
gregor_xenos wrote:
First President to have a social security number from a state he has never lived in.
What? I'm pretty sure SSN's are national.
The first 3 numbers of an SSN refer to the state in which the SSN was obtained, for most people born since 1980 or so this will be the state they are born in. For those born earlier, numbers may vary as it was not the norm to have a SSN assigned at birth.
My SSN for instance was obtained while living in NH (001-003), despite being born in MI (503-504).
Apprently President Obamas SSN was assigned in Connecticut in 1977.
For the Presidents defense, the SSN back then did not have to be applied for by the person the number was to be assigned, it could be and often was done by a relative (mainly the parents). So who knows.
To the OP, it helps to cite sources on things. I agree about the shape of the economy, it certainly has not gotten better over the last 3 years, and there have been a lot of administrative oddities and procedural errors. But sources, really, not that difficult, it helps keep people from just jumping in with insults, though some still will.
ParatrooperSimon wrote:
4th, "Obama is the maide after Led Zepplin finished with the hotel room" IF OBAMA was Jesus himself, you guys still would try and find reasons (most of them gak or waaaaaaaaaaaaay out of praportion) to say he was a bad president
I am not an american citizen so it's not really my place to comment on the State of the Union but this quote really speaks my mind on how it looks from a direct outside perspective. Remember I may live in a different country but In 45 minutes I can drive to Duluth and visit
I'm actually very proud of Obama for being able to keep a country afloat in the sinking ship it was handed to him on.
You can't expect a 20+ year mutli-billion dollar millitary campaign that brought no spoils of war to be good for the economic development of a country!
I'm not trying to argue about weather or not the war was justified. I'm just stating that war costs money, lots of money.. and that's what tax payers are suffering for!
And even though Osama is dead, he is still winning, I realize this every time I go to the border and see 12 foot fences, concrete barricades and dozens of cameras where there used to be a gate house and an open road.
KingCracker wrote:Those graphs are nearly identical. Thats kindda odd
Not really, most of the difference worldwide in gas prices can be fully accounted for by different tax rates.
For example, Europeans could be paying less than 1 euro/liter right now if they had fuel taxes like we have in the U.S.
Thats not accurate actually.
*Taxes.
*Transport costs and bottlenecks.
*Supply to a region.
*Refining capacity in a region, and complexity of that capacity.
Frazzled wrote:Thats not accurate actually. *Taxes. *Transport costs and bottlenecks. *Supply to a region. *Refining capacity in a region, and complexity of that capacity.
Figure out what the prices for gas are in various areas, then subtract out taxes. You'll find that prices are much closer to one another. Although (IIRC from the last time I did this), Australia has slightly higher prices. Probably due to transport costs.
Example: Average UK price per liter (petrolprices.com) 135.19p = 135.19p/l US ppg (gasbuddy.com) $3.479 = 58.59p/l CA price per liter (gasbuddy.com) 123.896 = 79.41p/l
The UK charges £0.5795/liter in taxes, +20% VAT. Canada is $0.245/litre (average) and the US average is $0.47/gallon. Subtracting these out:
Gasoline is fungible. The variation in price difference at the wholesale level should be almost entirely attributed to proximity to refineries and transportation cost.
I haven't/won't double check biccat's math, but I have no trouble believing that it's correct.
sourclams wrote:Gasoline is fungible. The variation in price difference at the wholesale level should be almost entirely attributed to proximity to refineries and transportation cost.
I haven't/won't double check biccat's math, but I have no trouble believing that it's correct.
sourclams wrote:Gasoline is fungible. The variation in price difference at the wholesale level should be almost entirely attributed to proximity to refineries and transportation cost.
By "supply and demand" issues, I meant everything else. The US has a better distribution system because we have a higher consumption; we have more refineries because it makes sense to process oil to gasoline here.
But most of the price difference (80%) is taxes.
FWIW: Australia comes in at 71p/liter, quite high.
Frazzled wrote:And bottlenecks. Its still a physical commodity.
True, but that shouldn't result in much variation in price spreads, only in absolute price levels. And bottleneck issues tend to be temporal rather than enduring; eventually the market adjusts. The Libyan impact on WTI:Brent spreads would be a good example.
Frazzled wrote:And bottlenecks. Its still a physical commodity.
True, but that shouldn't result in much variation in price spreads, only in absolute price levels. And bottleneck issues tend to be temporal rather than enduring; eventually the market adjusts. The Libyan impact on WTI:Brent spreads would be a good example.
It does. Look at the WTI/Brent differential.
And no, they're not temporary.
Eventually the makrte adjusts. Of course. And eventually we all die.
gregor_xenos wrote:I recieved this and found it rather enlightning....
Rant/rave and fume all you like; sorces are cited.
**snipped highly partisan bs and tinfoil hat wearing allusion**
Thank you for bringing yourself to our attention and giving us all a very clear window into what you consider newsworthy and who you are as a poster here, welcome to ignore.
tata!
Ooooooo.... now you've gone an done it.
Yep I believe in alot of this stuff. Some of the posters have given good arguments (via sorces) that have made me change my mind on a few things. But I still hate what is going on in our country right now. Granted when you get the option between Giant Douche and Turd Sandwich, you're screwed either way. I dont believe that changing the US economy toward more of a global system (euro) is going to help much, seeing how much of europe is in as bad or worse shape than us fiscally.
We borrow money FROM China, then give money TO China for foreign aid? Dont seem right.
I had thought at one time maybe old Japan had a good idea, keeping their borders closed. But looking on that, duiring WWII, if we had that policy @ 3/4 of the globe would be speaking German/Japanese right now.
Oh, and it's REDNECK..... one word. Yes I am one... admittidly. I have pictures of dead animals to prove it.
gregor_xenos wrote:I recieved this and found it rather enlightning....
Rant/rave and fume all you like; sorces are cited.
**snipped highly partisan bs and tinfoil hat wearing allusion**
Thank you for bringing yourself to our attention and giving us all a very clear window into what you consider newsworthy and who you are as a poster here, welcome to ignore.
tata!
Ooooooo.... now you've gone an done it.
Yep I believe in alot of this stuff. Some of the posters have given good arguments (via sorces) that have made me change my mind on a few things. But I still hate what is going on in our country right now. Granted when you get the option between Giant Douche and Turd Sandwich, you're screwed either way. I dont believe that changing the US economy toward more of a global system (euro) is going to help much, seeing how much of europe is in as bad or worse shape than us fiscally.
We borrow money FROM China, then give money TO China for foreign aid? Dont seem right.
I had thought at one time maybe old Japan had a good idea, keeping their borders closed. But looking on that, duiring WWII, if we had that policy @ 3/4 of the globe would be speaking German/Japanese right now.
Oh, and it's REDNECK..... one word. Yes I am one... admittidly. I have pictures of dead animals to prove it.
Still waiting for you to provide the sources for all the gak in that OP...
CT GAMER wrote:Still waiting for you to provide the sources for all the gak in that OP...
As previously stated: This was an e-mail I recieved with "sources" cited at the end of the mail.
And as others and myself previously stated: anyone can list a bunch of gak and then list a bunch of people/places that are supposedly sources without giving any actual links to data/info.
But then I guess people who write that kind of gak are banking on sheeples believing it without question...
gregor_xenos wrote:"Mr. Hope and Change" wants to create a nation humbled; humiliated, casting-aside capitalism and individual freedoms for one where we the people are government controlled.
I stopped reading right there.
gregor_xenos wrote:Funny how anyone else would have provided it "on the spot" rather than waiting so long to do so.
I'd tell you to kiss my pasty white ass.
I ain't givin' my damned birth certificate to anyone I don't legally have to
biccat wrote:Figure out what the prices for gas are in various areas, then subtract out taxes. You'll find that prices are much closer to one another. Although (IIRC from the last time I did this), Australia has slightly higher prices. Probably due to transport costs.
Yeah, it's transport, and also a non-competitive retail market.
As far as birth certificates go: Give me six months and a coupla million dollars and I can provide one saying I was born in the "7th ring of Dante's Inferno".
gregor_xenos wrote:Yep I believe in alot of this stuff. Some of the posters have given good arguments (via sorces) that have made me change my mind on a few things.
Well it's good that you've stopped believing a few things, but really you need to stop believing almost everything on that list. As I pointed out in my earlier post, the stuff isn't true.
I dont believe that changing the US economy toward more of a global system (euro) is going to help much, seeing how much of europe is in as bad or worse shape than us fiscally.
There's no meaningful move to put the US on a common currency. If there was, it would be other countries adopting the US dollar.
We borrow money FROM China, then give money TO China for foreign aid? Dont seem right.
The thing to remember is that you're not giving money to China, just to generally help them out. What you're actually doing is setting up specific programs to help develop ideas in China that the US thinks are important, particularly conservation. So you pay $4 million dollars, and you get $4 million worth of increased environmental awareness in China.
I had thought at one time maybe old Japan had a good idea, keeping their borders closed. But looking on that, duiring WWII, if we had that policy @ 3/4 of the globe would be speaking German/Japanese right now.
More to the point, the US is rich because of it's international trade. It allows you to specialise in things you're very good at that pay a high wage (like high level manufacturing, and high end services) and trade with countries, who in turn specialise in low skilled, poor wage goods. You can't just benefit from all that trade without being willing to send troops overseas to ensure the system remains stable.
corpsesarefun wrote:Drag is more than just cross dressing, it's about being sensational and over the top
If you can dress in an over the top hyper-masucline but still tacky and somehow attractive style you are welcome to enter
Wife beater and boxers it is.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
gregor_xenos wrote:
As far as birth certificates go: Give me six months and a coupla million dollars and I can provide one saying I was born in the "7th ring of Dante's Inferno".
As far as birth certificates go: Give me six months and a coupla million dollars and I can provide one saying I was born in the "7th ring of Dante's Inferno".
And will the governor of the state it was generated in, who is of the opposing party and who is actively campaigning for your opponent; also vouch that it is accurate?
After years of puzzlement and curiosity observing modern day Democrats, I think I have finally figured them out.
I'm constantly amazed that modern Democrats have evolved beyond living in caves. I mean what other animal on this planet can disregard all common sense and logic and survive? Scientists have recently discovered that even giant sea slugs that do not possess a brain as such can learn from past experiences. That puts them a leg up over the current crop of liberals in this country. I used to subscribe to the adage that liberalism was a mental disorder, but even Rainman would have a hard time buying into the standard mantra of the present day Democratic Party. In order to believe that Democrats have the answer today, you would have to believe:
That you can grow the entitlement class beyond the taxpayer class and never hit critical mass where there is no money left.
That using the military to oust a murderous thug dictator in 2003 was criminal, and using the military to oust a murderous thug dictator in 2011 was noble.
That the best way to grow the wealth of the private sector is to take all the money out of it.
That the best way to make us energy independent is to block any effort to produce more petrocarbons in this country.
That the best way to create jobs is to increase taxes and regulations on the job creators.
That the best way to stop arms from this country from getting into the hands of the drug cartels in Mexico is to provide arms to the drug cartels in Mexico.
That all the ills of the economy are due to the fat cat banks and other corporations, and the best way to deal with that is to provide billions in bailouts to the fat cat banks and other corporations.
That more unemployment checks create more jobs.
That investigating the background of George W Bush to the point that you have color photographs of his colon is proper vetting of the Chief Executive, but asking for Barack Hussein Obama's college records or for information on his association with a known terrorist is racist.
That somehow making firearms illegal will prevent criminals from using them.
That the life of a murderer on death row is sacred, but an unborn baby's is not.
That the best way to overcome our racist past is to enforce racist affirmative action policies.
That people who are too ignorant to get a free state issued I.D. card are smart enough to vote.
That the best way to overcome our current spending crisis is to spend more money.
That the federal government with no competition can provide a better health care product than the private sector with competition can.
That a grandma in a wheelchair is a bigger potential threat on an airplane than a guy with a name that takes phlegm to pronounce.
That we need to be sensitive to the feelings of people that subscribe to a religion that teaches that we all should submit to their version of righteousness or face beheading, but should demean and diminish those that believe in the religion that teaches we should love and embrace our neighbors no matter what religion they belong to.
That poll watchers who want to ensure that election laws are observed and the vote is without fraud are intimidating voters, and black radicals with clubs in front of a polling place are not.
That ice ages and the warming periods in between were not caused by man's influence on the earth but a half degree rise in average temperatures over 30 years is.
That using the equivalent of two gallons of fossil fuel to produce one gallon of ethanol makes sense because it is "renewable."
That a picture of a female guard in Abu Ghraib pointing at the genitals of a terrorist and laughing is deplorable but those same goofballs setting off an IED and killing our troops are just freedom fighters.
That a 70 year old woman with a Gadsden flag is a radical but an OWS protestor that defecates on a police car and breaks windows of businesses is a frustrated citizen.
That in spite of the fact that one third of the world is hungry it makes more sense to use food for fuel than drilling for a fuel source that nobody can eat.
The simple fact is that Democrats are the Dodo birds of the human race. The Dodo was discovered by Portuguese explorers in the late 1500's. The name comes from the Portuguese word "Doudo" which means simpleton. They called this bird a simpleton because in their minds it lacked any common sense whatsoever. That lack of common sense or survival instinct eventually led to its demise as a species.
Wait a minute, that's not really fair of me, I shouldn't equate Democrats to a simple minded flightless bird that was too stupid to run from predators. The Dodo had a job foraging for food.
Similar agenda and focus on listing tired talking points that are high on vitriol and low on honest analysis.
gregor_xenos wrote:As previously stated: This was an e-mail I recieved with "sources" cited at the end of the mail.
So, just to be clear, despite having been shown how most of the things in that email are outright lies, and the remainder are blatant half-truths and exaggerations mixed in with 2-3 truthful statements (albeit heavily biased ones), you still maintain a belief that those lies are true?
You know, I could be short sighted, and blame everything on the current president, not thinking about what happened in the past (presidencies) and how those actions have affected the future,
or I could just sit back and watch, disgusted, in both the processes that are going on in the US government and the pre-school bickering that goes on between the parties, all the while just waiting for the inevitable revolution.
Personnally I am sick of hearing how everything that Obama has to deal with is due to GW Bush. I think 3 years into his presidency, some of the problems are of his own making. (Unless he is subliminally telling us he has done and continues to do nothing so that he cannot be guilty.)
OTOH, I don't hold out much hope that a Republican nominee is going to change things all that much. My one hope with a Republican is they will at least slow down the accumulation of national debt. I don't have exact numbers but a few weeks ago I was hearing the national press touting that we would only go about a trillion in the hole each year for the next 5 years or so.
So 230 years to accumulate 10 trillion in debt and 3 to accumulate about 5 trillion more and the good news is that we are "only" going to go another 5 trillion in the hole over the next 5 years.
To sound sexist, this sounds like the wife who comes home and tells her husband she saved them $500 by buying the mink coat that was on sale for only $2000.
As far as birth certificates go: Give me six months and a coupla million dollars and I can provide one saying I was born in the "7th ring of Dante's Inferno".
Preach it!
Besides even if the "The Law"* is willing to accept a HAWAIIAN certificate of whatever, doesn't make someone a real AMERICAN. Hell it doesn't even make them a real NORTH AMERICAN (that's something that at least a Mexican could claim!). Just because something is "Legal" doesn't make it right.
*as twisted and "Interpreted" by a bunch of new England soft-touches who have never even been to the real heart of america.
Chongara wrote:
a bunch of new England soft-touches who have never even been to the real heart of america.
We HAVE been there, but the lack of teeth and inbreeding made most of us uncomfortable...
Hey Yankee.... your doodle's showing.
The uncomfortable thing IS puposeful. There's allready enough of you down here, building your crackerboxes on what was once beautiful forests and meadows. Youve junked your's up, so now you're moving south. Then talk trash about southerners? Funny... dont think I know any southerners that have moved north. (except for duty stations in the military)
Chongara wrote:
a bunch of new England soft-touches who have never even been to the real heart of america.
We HAVE been there, but the lack of teeth and inbreeding made most of us uncomfortable...
I'd just like to formally say "I'm not a part of the 'redneck agenda'" for the record.
gregor_xenos wrote:
CT GAMER wrote:
Chongara wrote:
a bunch of new England soft-touches who have never even been to the real heart of america.
We HAVE been there, but the lack of teeth and inbreeding made most of us uncomfortable...
Hey Yankee.... your doodle's showing.
The uncomfortable thing IS puposeful. There's allready enough of you down here, building your crackerboxes on what was once beautiful forests and meadows. Youve junked your's up, so now you're moving south. Then talk trash about southerners? Funny... dont think I know any southerners that have moved north. (except for duty stations in the military)
Hey Red....your neck is showing
Learn to spell. You're giving rednecks a bad name. And that's just one.
I see, it appears that this thread is exactly what I thought it was. Well then, when in Rome...
gregor_xenos wrote:Hey Red....your neck is showing? I certainly hope so. Spelling? Sorry, I was told the spelling Gestapo was disbanded.
I don't know where you come from son, but this here is America, and English is our national language. If you can't be bothered to learn it, maybe you should go back across the border to where you came from.
Alternatively, <insert Sam Jackson's famous line from Pulp Fiction>.
Chongara wrote:
a bunch of new England soft-touches who have never even been to the real heart of america.
We HAVE been there, but the lack of teeth and inbreeding made most of us uncomfortable...
Never feel uncomfortable just because you're inbred and have bad teeth. Most of the folks in the heartland will feel sorry for you but be quite accomodating of that, just don't tell them you're from NE.
Chongara wrote:Besides even if the "The Law"* is willing to accept a HAWAIIAN certificate
If you want to claim Hawaii isn't a state, I'm gonna go on record saying that only Texan birth certificates count.
Oh it might be a "State" but it certainly isn't part of America. Show me on a map exactly how that works. Again just cause the "Law" says it's ok, doesn't mean it's right for America.
Chongara wrote:Besides even if the "The Law"* is willing to accept a HAWAIIAN certificate
If you want to claim Hawaii isn't a state, I'm gonna go on record saying that only Texan birth certificates count.
Oh it might be a "State" but it certainly isn't part of America. Show me on a map exactly how that works. Again just cause the "Law" says it's ok, doesn't mean it's right for America.
So the people born in Hawaii aren't American Citizens?
gregor_xenos wrote:It must be sad to think that America ends two miles from one's own front porch....
It's doubly sad to think that because you're from a "blue" state that you own America.
As for compasses: Who needs one when you can follow the smell of "SMUG".
Hey Boss, I live in Ok (that's Oklahoma). Not sure how you get this as a Blue state.
And as Red as it is, I can definitely tell you conservatives are smug.
gregor_xenos wrote:Although this "Slam-break" has been entertaining, we should probably get back to the topic.
Cool! Do you have sources for the dung you cited?
Edit:
Kk, enough with the being MoD and showing the pretty ladies. I see the Pic and totally forget
what it was not to do!
Chongara wrote:Besides even if the "The Law"* is willing to accept a HAWAIIAN certificate
If you want to claim Hawaii isn't a state, I'm gonna go on record saying that only Texan birth certificates count.
Oh it might be a "State" but it certainly isn't part of America. Show me on a map exactly how that works. Again just cause the "Law" says it's ok, doesn't mean it's right for America.
So the people born in Hawaii aren't American Citizens?
gregor_xenos wrote:
I should probably get back to finding sources for all the lies I posted...
Agreed.
Unlike you I understand that America belongs to all of us.
See that is the problem for a group of people that spends so much time talking about the spirit of America, and patriotism and waving the flag many of you really have no fething idea what the spirit of America or that flag really symbolize.
As much as you all want it to mean "kill Haji" and "get rid of the mexicans and queers" it actually symbolizes the concept of the melting pot and accepting the differences of others.
Go back and read your posts over the past 24 hours: in which you want to claim Hawaii isn't really America" , or that the president is actually an outsider, or that New England isn't a part of "real America". You are the only one preaching division on this level.
As much as your type tries to talk about Patriotism and being "real Americans", you symbolize by your words and actions a a toal ignorance of the constiturion, the intent of the founding fathers, or what the flag you are so fond of waving represents.
Chongara wrote:Besides even if the "The Law"* is willing to accept a HAWAIIAN certificate
If you want to claim Hawaii isn't a state, I'm gonna go on record saying that only Texan birth certificates count.
Oh it might be a "State" but it certainly isn't part of America. Show me on a map exactly how that works. Again just cause the "Law" says it's ok, doesn't mean it's right for America.
So the people born in Hawaii aren't American Citizens?
So why do they have Senators?
Or Congressmen?
Or a god damn star on Old Glory?
They aren't America. Look! THIS IS AMERICA:
Welcome to ignore.
You might be insane. If you feel like Hi IS NOT a part of the Union, even though they don't touch,
I don't see how we can communicate.
Ta!
Chongara wrote:Besides even if the "The Law"* is willing to accept a HAWAIIAN certificate
If you want to claim Hawaii isn't a state, I'm gonna go on record saying that only Texan birth certificates count.
Oh it might be a "State" but it certainly isn't part of America. Show me on a map exactly how that works. Again just cause the "Law" says it's ok, doesn't mean it's right for America.
So the people born in Hawaii aren't American Citizens?
So why do they have Senators?
Or Congressmen?
Or a god damn star on Old Glory?
They aren't America. Look! THIS IS AMERICA:
'
Hey Chongara. That isn't just the United states. You are missing Hawaii and Alaska. Alaska being half the size of the United states. Now Obama may not be a mainland American. But it still makes him an american. Of course John Mccain was born in Panama. Yes He was born in Panama.
Stop talking about his birth certificate. It is legit and people that keep saying no it isn't. Clearly have never tried to get an identity change.
For goodness sakes. He is trying his best. Considering how much corruption is within the government it makes the 50's look good!
alarmingrick wrote:Well, in all fairness, gregor_xenos is still not providing sources. But I see your point.
Of course not, he's just posting random spam from the internet taht agrees with his worldviews and then dodging any time anyone says anything to the contrary.
You know, like those random trolls commenting on news articles. Except they usually get paid for it.
alarmingrick wrote:Well, in all fairness, gregor_xenos is still not providing sources. But I see your point.
Of course not, he's just posting random spam from the internet taht agrees with his worldviews and then dodging any time anyone says anything to the contrary.
You know, like those random trolls commenting on news articles. Except they usually get paid for it.
I'm pretty sure this thread has run its course. Some stuff that was false was posted. Some stuff that was true was posted. Everyone flipped out because someone said something about America and holding different views. Side 1 hates taxes and loves puppies, Side 2 loves puppies and hates taxes. Enough.
(just kidding)
Helped that I could remember most of those nonsense issues, so kind of knew where to go to check my corrections.
