cactoblasta

Reply to Democrats don't understand the effect of income taxes in Democrat JoeUser Forums

Great summary, Leauki. Draginol - you make a good point, but you're also forgetting an important factor. Reducing taxes will raise inflation, which lowers the relative value of your wealth. Increasing taxes can work as a limit on inflation, which after all is one of the two great threats to any economy (the other being unemployment). If raising those taxes decreases inflation, then your wealth will rise in relation to that of other Americans, simply because no tax is l

Reply to Boredom in Misc JoeUser Forums

It'd be worthwhile doing some extra study to get those field surveying skills or to shift into the engineering side in a bigger way. It seems pretty obvious to me that the computer side of it - what Emp does - isn't in much demand at the moment, so diversifying the skill base is a necessity. Can you afford to pay for the vocational college training courses while Emp is working?

Reply to Boredom in Misc JoeUser Forums

Have you ever considered consulting for the government? If the situation in the US is anything like that over here, government consultants can pretty much ask for whatever they like and get it, whether that's software to run or a fat paycheck. Truly valuable skills will get much better money consulting for government than actually working for government. You just need to find the right recruitment firm for your skills - the national surveyor's (I'm assuming that's what you are - if I'm wrong

Reply to Which Bathroom Do I Dare Use Today? in Current Events JoeUser Forums

He also ordered public schools to allow boys to use girls restrooms and locker rooms, and vice versa, if they so choose. . What's the big deal? When they hit the real world it's going to happen all the time. I've never been to a public toilet at a major event where there hasn't been a girl using one of the cubicles. It's a much shorter line and it's not like they're scoping anyone out. Anyone who does act inappropriately can be disciplined. But

Reply to What Liberals Fear in Democrat JoeUser Forums

Yay for artysim! I've never understood quite how Christians reconcile Jesus' example with warlike ways and genocide either, particularly nowadays when they can actually read. If anything Jesus' example seems to demand a kind of primitive communalism instead of capitalist nation-states.

Reply to She's dead, I'm drunk, and I miss her in Blogging JoeUser Forums

Thanks everyone. I appreciate it. She was about 30 - she was never really sure, they're not exactly sticklers for good record-keeping over there. I'm better today than I was last night. I was out drinking with my mates and someone suggested tequila slammers and I pretty much just went home. I did tequila slammers all over the island with her and I couldn't face it. But yeah, it hadn't really actually struck me til then, if you know what I mean. Apologies to anyone who was offen

She's dead, I'm drunk, and I miss her in Blogging JoeUser Forums

One of my best friends died yesterday and I couldn't even go to her funeral. She'd been sick for weeks with a combination of TB, pneumonia and a chest infection, all of which she refused to get treated in time because she was afraid of what the doctors would say. I met her in Jogjakarta, and we got along really well right from the start. She was one of those people who you feel instantly comfortable around. Within days of meeting her I was telling her things I'd never told

Reply to Homework: What Do YOU Think is Appropriate? in Parenting JoeUser Forums

From what I've heard/read homework doesn't really do much good for primary school-aged kids. The very best thing a child can do at that age is read at home, but that's about the only thing that will have any lasting effect.

Reply to Why don't liberals start more charities? in Democrat JoeUser Forums

The fundamental flaw in the argument for universal health care is the claim that there isn't enough money to go around, which is a false premise. Okay, you're obviously not getting it. We need more organs. It's that simple. More organs, we can fix more people. Fewer organs, some will miss out. You can't just buy organs. They have to be donated. They have to come from someone who's dies in hospital and is on the register. We need more organs to f

Reply to Why don't liberals start more charities? in Democrat JoeUser Forums

In fact, cacto all but admitted they allow the elderly to die because it's not cost efficient to treat them. No I didn't. But organ transplants are prioritised for those who will get the most use out of them. The elderly will go on the waiting list, but they'll go at the back. Children who have fifty or sixty years of life ahead of them with a transplant shouldn't miss out because some 85-year-old, with 10 years ahead of them, wants it.

Reply to The magic pill and universal health care in Politics JoeUser Forums

That is, should the government, and therefore the taxpayer pay to make sure everyone has free access to such a pill? To answer your question - they should, cos it would save them a lot of money, but they don't really need to.

Reply to The magic pill and universal health care in Politics JoeUser Forums

If someone invented a pill that would add 25 years of robust, perfect health life to anyone who took it but cost $10,000 per month to produce the pill, is society entitled to this pill? Most people would be able to afford it anyway. You only need one to get that 25 years of robust, perfect health, so I'm sure you'd be able to get a loan for it if you were really broke, and everyone else could probably cough up 10 grand without too much issue, considering

Reply to Life Without Welfare? in Politics JoeUser Forums

It's called 'charity.' I give, and I give with no strings attached. Some comedian a few years back made a pretty insightful comment about this. I don't remember his exact words, but the basic thrust was "I used to not give to bums because they would just spend it on booze and drugs. But when I think about it that's exactly what I'm going to spend it on."

Reply to Life Without Welfare? in Politics JoeUser Forums

Having the government tell me if I can have a procedure or not based on their determination of whether I deserve it or not is an anethema to me. Well if you're not a monumental cheapskate you can always use the private system and pay through your teeth/buy private insurance, get your medicare discount and hope it covers it. Do you think private health insurance in the US doesn't make decisions about who gets treatment and who doesn't? <div class

Reply to Why don't liberals start more charities? in Democrat JoeUser Forums

Gosh, Cacto - I had no idea you were that clueless, not to mention heartless. No offense, mind you. If there's one thing in life I strive to be, it's full of surprises.

Reply to Why don't liberals start more charities? in Democrat JoeUser Forums

You just proved Draginol's point in his article 'Why don't liberals start more charities?' Since there are 'social programs' in place to help these people, you don't feel obligated, or even motivated (by human kindness) to personally reach out a hand. You keep on walking, assuming that it's someone else's responsibility, namely, the taxpayer-at-large. No, you walk by knowing that they have a choice of a good life and they reject it utterly. They want to

Reply to Life Without Welfare? in Politics JoeUser Forums

so your advocating strip tease. Wow, that says a lot about your favourite entertainments! No, I'm not advocating strip tease, although I don't see much wrong with it from the woman's point of view. She could go into TV hosting, radio, arts journalism, marketing, advertising - basically anywhere where charisma, personality and contacts are more important than mere academic brilliance. And as a society, we have

Reply to Life Without Welfare? in Politics JoeUser Forums

LW: I've never liked that story. It may seem very clever-clever, but all it really illustrates is that the daughter has the common sense of your average cabbage. What she really should have answered was that Mary would be a patently incompetent worker but an ornament to any party, so by giving her extra points the world would be disadvantaged by putting her to the wrong purpose. Better to leave her with a 2.0 and let her get into entertainment, where her talents

Reply to Australia's new citizenship test in Politics JoeUser Forums

What worries me though is that most Australians would not go to the trouble you have to realise that Today Tonight is sprouting shit out of its ears. Don't get me wrong - I wasn't convinced by Today Tonight. It's a great way of getting informed about what views are perceived to be mainstream, but it's not something you go round putting faith in even if it's taking an unusually rational line. I'd just been hearing some rather persuasive little ar

Reply to JoeUser: What's Your Most-Wanted Feature in Blogging JoeUser Forums

They already have this, LH. Click on 'my replies' from the main forum page. It's right there under the welcome bar, next to 'my account, watchlist, and my posts.' If you haven't posted though it won't come up there. Occasionally there's articles I'd like to comment on but not right now; usually I never find them again when I come back to write something. I'd like to see this feature as well, although I can't think of a practical way to implement

Reply to Why don't liberals start more charities? in Democrat JoeUser Forums

Excuse me? Wow, what a low opinion you have of those who devote themselves to others. You and I are practical people. While of course I agree that anyone who calls a spade a spade should be compelled to use one, I don't see any harm in acknowledging that religious fervour can replace a decent paycheck and tolerable working hours, and that religious fervour is much more common among conservatives than liberals. It ends up much more expensive when

Reply to Why don't liberals start more charities? in Democrat JoeUser Forums

It is a pity conservatives aren't more inclined to step up and ask "Why not start a charity?" when an advocate of a socialist policy starts railing for some new government welfare program. Charities are more inefficient as they have greater bureaucracy, but it's not a bad idea on the small scale. The biggest problem would be paying for doctors, nurses and insurance, but if a 'liberal' charity could get them cheap it would be worthwhile. Religi

Reply to Australia's new citizenship test in Politics JoeUser Forums

I'd like to say that my previous post was largely said on the basis that I am 100% full of shit on this issue. I just had a look at the figures, spoke to a few peeps and have now come to the conclusion that I was totally misguided on the 'Sudanese haven't been fitting in' argument. So yeah, consider this my retraction on everything except the citizenship test - I still think it's retarded, and I still think the evidence suggests it is pretty easy to pass. <div class="A

Reply to Does a Welfare State Encourage Poor Customer Service? in Misc JoeUser Forums

I just want my fekkin' cheeseburger. Sometime TODAY would be nice. It's always 'I want I want I want and I want it NOW' with you old people. You've got no patience.

Reply to Does a Welfare State Encourage Poor Customer Service? in Misc JoeUser Forums

Careful - he thinks he is a genius. Only relative to you Dr Guy..... much like the way an ordinary girl finds herself an ugly friend. FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! On topic: A welfare state doesn't encourage poor customer service. Do you think outsourced call centres are a symptom of the welfare state? So far as I'm aware CEOs and other big decision makers don't tend to consider their entitlement to foo