Quote - > Quote - That's why one side thinks that brutal dictators can be negotiated with and talked out of their innate brutality and their driven lust for conquest & power -- while the other side realizes that such thinking is nothing more than a dangerous pipe dream:

More nonsense. Both right and left have always negotiated with brutal dictators. Even Dubya, who insists he will not, has done, and is doing, so.

Show me any modern administration that has not negotiated with brutal dictators, and I will show you an administration that never was.

If I'd said that conservative (leaning) administrations didn't negotiate with brutal dictators, then you might have a point.  But as I didn't say that -- you have no point whatsoever.  I was referring to underlying philosophies & world views: not to outwardly pragmatic political necessities.

I did however, indicate that this isn't a perfect world -- and that politics is the "Art of the Possible".  I also said a few things about having to deal with political power structures as you find them.  So -- the realities are what they are.  Keeping your powder dry is a great idea.  But thinking that you can talk Ahmadinejad into turning over a new leaf & becoming a peace-lover by merely talking to him is not only stupid: it's downright dangerous.

Let Freedom Ring! 

And, no -- it hasn't been the right that's "been running the show for decades now".  It's been the philosophies and the directives of the left, with occasional tepid forays into conservative thinking timidly tried here and there.  The Clintons weren't exactly a couple of right-wing fanatics.  And the Republicans, even when they were technically in charge, haven't been all that.....uh....."Republican" in their behavior.  Which goes back to my earlier statements about political cowardice.

But then again: I'd better go check in with my Regional Director prior to posting anything else in here.  The High Council of Thirteen needs to approve my statements first.  It's dangerous to go against them, you know.  :ohmy:

BTW - FDR did nothing to get us out of the Depression.  In fact, his policies likely prolonged it and made it worse than it otherwise would have been.  WWII got us out.  But that's another debate for another time, and I don't have the personal time to deal with it at the moment.

I'm a small "r" Republican, and a capital "C" Conservative.  I'm a Conservative first, and a Republican second -- with some Libertarianism mixed in for good measure.

Like it or not, the two-party system is what we've got.  Barring a political revolution (which requires far more more energy than most people have nowadays) -- we are stuck with the two parties as the major players & power brokers in America's political power structure.

By no means whatsoever do I agree with everything that the Republican party does......in fact, they often disappoint me greatly.  But the beast is what it is.  Outside of the pre-existing two-party structure: one will find oneself extremely limited to fringe status, in political terms.  So the choice -- if one actually wants to matter politically, and not just be making some sort of self-serving "statement" based upon political purism -- is to work within the two-party system as it exists.

It's not an ideal world that we live in.  As it's been said: "politics is the Art of the Possible".  Much as some of us might wish that it were true -- politics is not the "Art of the Perfect"; because Man himself is not perfectible.  And that's another point over which "right-wingers" and "left-wingers" tend to part company, philosophically.  That's why one side thinks that brutal dictators can be negotiated with and talked out of their innate brutality and their driven lust for conquest & power -- while the other side realizes that such thinking is nothing more than a dangerous pipe dream: and that this is a dangerous world......so that you need to keep your powder dry and the edge of your sword always sharp.  If you want to remain free, that is.

Quote - Xenophonz, I'm agreeing with you more than a bit.  Keep up the posting, it's saving me work.

  ;)

Thanks. 

People can say what they like about this situation.  Unless if one attempts to totally re-write recent history (which the Dem pols in Congress are now desperately attempting to do) -- the fact remains that the folks who pushed for; threatened lending institutions over; defended against attempted regulatory actions; and received huge political contributions from the whole sub-prime mortgage industry are all sittin' solidly on the left side of the  isle.

As that Saturday Night Live skit so kindly mentions -- it was the hated GWB himself who made an attempt to reign in the abuses going on at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  And furthermore,  as that Youtube video of old C-SPAN footage shows: it was a series of big-name Dems who loudly insisted to everyone that there "weren't any problems here".......while their opponents (including one man named McCain) made dire predictions of a potential economic disaster in the making.

Tell me -- who was 100% right about the dangers of the sub-prime mortgage situation back during the regulatory debates of 2003 / 2004?  And who was greedy and self-serving at the time?  And who is it that now wants to tar their political opponents with the blame for what THEY, themselves did?

Furthermore -- who are the people like the Sandlers -- whom many people had never even heard of prior to that Saturday Night Live skit?  The Sandlers are a couple of gigantic crooks, who made billions selling worthless sub-prime mortgage accounts as securities to Wachovia Bank -- which has since then brought Wachovia Bank crashing down.  The Sandlers also happen to be gigantic leftist contributors, in the mould of Geroge Soros.  They've given millions to organzations such as Moveon.org, Air America, and other radical left-wing groups and causes.  Heh -- they live in San Francisco -- (appropriate).

For whatever reasons, many people have the idea that Wall Street is a hotbed of political Republicanism and conservatism.  I hate to spoil people's comfortable delusions (actually I don't ) -- but it ain't.  Wall Street happens to be filled with all sorts of political types -- and solid, radicalized left-wingers roost like crows in the Halls Of Power and in the board rooms on Wall Street every bit as much as they do in Washington, D.C..  They aren't all a bunch of conservatives on Wall Street, folks.  The Wall Street Journal is a conservative-leaning newspaper, sure.  But Warren Buffet and others like him aren't exactly political conservatives..........and many of them are solid Democrat operatives & contributors.  So don't define "greedy Wall Street" types as a bunch of Republican conservatives.  They aren't.

Try to blame Ronald Reagan's policies all that you like  - this thing is a Democrat mess from start-to-finish, from top-to-bottom.

My main criticism directed at the Republicans -- as always -- is that too many of them are political wimps: without the courage to stand up for their convictions.  For that, many of them deserve the shame of cowards.  But they were right back in 2003 / 2004.  Too bad they didn't have the spine that they needed at the time to make it stick.

For whatever it's worth, they can now take morbid satisfaction in having been proven right.  Although the mainstream press isn't reporting those facts too well............and it's the type of subject that it's not all that fun to have been proven right about..............like predicting that the Titanic was going to sink.

The hope (sigh) which one can derive from this current state of affairs being that perhaps -- just maybe -- the American public will see enough of the truth of this situation as it stands to.....uh......vote for the people that were right about it this time around..........?

It could happen.  But with the way that things are going now: people might be interested in nothing but continuing to dig this hole ever deeper.  If they are: then they'll vote accordingly.

Who was it that defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result each time? :glare:

I just hope and pray that the right people get some spine this time around.  Being right about something is always a good start:  but it's utterly meaningless unless if you are willing to fight for it.  And that calls for a type of toughness that's largely gone out of today's world.

Otherwise, we face a future where the government owns and runs everything.

Quote - I'm sorry Peelo, I didn't mean to upset you, I wasn't very serious. A lot of people in Holland lost their savings on an iceland bank called Icesave, and although the dutch government has promised to pay their lost ( till €100,000.00) there is nothing funny about it. 
So I have to apologise, because it was in fact a funny tagline.

Bopper.

Yep.  This thing has roots which go all over the world.  And now we'll all get to 'enjoy' the fruits of it.

Actually, the entire thing started with Jimmy Carter.  And the rest is history.  A sordid history of regulating businesses by the yardstick of Political Correctness, as opposed to sound business judgments:

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/09/the_financial_mess_how_we_got.html

I have to admit that I find the "right wing conspiracy" theories in regards to the current economic mess to be quite amusing.  But, unfortunately, the situation that we currently find ourselves in -- world-wide -- isn't amusing at all.

People need to understand that the genesis of this entire mess lies with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at its rotten core.  Along with do-gooder enforced government policies aimed at FORCING banks to make loans which made no business sense whatsoever.  The banks and the lending institutions were told that if they didn't loan mortgage money to people who had no realistic way of repaying those loans: then those same banks and lending institutions faced possible criminal investigations from the Justice Department, along with having their executives hauled up before Congressional committees in front of TV cameras.  Lefty pols absolutely love that kind of thing -- it makes for a great show, and it provides fabulous scapegoats for them to publicly attack.  Thus deflecting the attention, along with the well-deserved heat -- away from where it squarely belongs -- on the lefty pols themselves.

They created this entire mess right from the get-go.  Barney Frank, Chis Dodd, et al.  Review that Youtube video again, please.  And can it with the cough cough.....uh......."oblique" conspiracy theories.  There is no "great right wing plan" to funnel money to religious institutions so as to take over the world -- or whatever the nebulous thinking of perinnial conspriacy buffs can come up with this time.

There was; however, a clear plan of attack in place to buy voting support by giving away free houses to people who couldn't afford them -- and to obtain a personal piggy bank to dip into for the purpose of lining the pockets of certain politicians of a particular political persuasion.

Hint: they weren't "right-wingers".

@JOELGLAINE --

You might want to check with your local pharmacist about the possibility of receiving your medications for free.  The pharmacutical companies have programs in place for people who can't afford necessary medications.  Your pharmacist should be able to give you the information as to forms to fill out, contact phone #'s, etc..  I personally know people who have been able to receive their medications for free for extended periods of time, directly from the pharmacutical manufacturers.  It's certainly worth a try.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-_HlpZ8azA

Wear any badges that you like.  The facts of the situation -- as in that Youtube video -- speak for themselves.

There's a simple operative principle in such cases:  Follow The Money.  Look to see who benefited from this situation.  Look to see who the top recipients of the sub-prime mortgage money piggy-banks known as "Freddie Mac" and "Fannie Mae" were.  No need to dig for deep, dark motives held by a hidden right-wing cabal.

Sure: let people come to their own conclusions.  If they are intellectually honest: the Money points the way for them.  There's not much of a mystery here.

Better watch out -- because Big Conspiracy is watchin' you:

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/

It's a great link to visit, if you are obsessed with space aliens, conspiracy theories, etc., etc.......

Quote - I cashed out most of my 401k last year when the housing bubble burst and I lost my job due to having a stroke. It was about worth $15,000 which a tidy sum went to taxes and I had to pay IRS the rest leaving me with $10000 after taxes. My workplace didn't offer insurance of any kind, So I'm one of those 45 million uninsured Americans that you always hear about.

I got turned down for SSI today. I'm at a negative 64 dollars at the bank and my electrical bill is unpaid. My money is gone and my gas tank is virtually empty. I can't afford my co-pay for insulin. I had a second stroke (a little one last month) that messed up my right side this time. I can't hand write for spit and I'm clumsy on that side.

If I turn up missing next month, it will because I didn't survive what life is throwing at me.

I hate to sound so bleak, but I have to be realistic about my survival chances. I'll fight to the bitter end. However--I never it so close before me.

The last of my money disappeared out of my 401k when the stock market tumbled down, so my dire emergency reserve is gone before I even had a chance to cash it out!

Without even resources (like blood--Diabetics aren't allow to give) to sell, I don't have a clue what to do. I still have food stamps, but after next week...with out insulin, I cannot eat food without dying.

I'm screwed like never before. At least I have a phone, and will make lots of calls tomorrow, to see if I can get some kind of help. America is broken and needs fixing,IMO.  I may not survive to see if it ever gets fixed

Joel G Lane

Yes -- I am very sorry to hear this.  Do you have anyone to help?  Family?  Friends?  There are also private charities that will help.

It's not just America that needs fixing.  It's the entire earth.

Here's a link -- clearly illustrating the genesis of this grand "right-wing conspiracy". :rolleyes:

Yep -- it's all goin' according to The Plan.  The folks that broke it, are now gonna fix it for us........and grab even more power in the process:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL36nwCSYUM

If you prefer your news delivered in a more humorous vein, then here's the Saturday Night Live version of events (edited by NBC to remove some of the original references -- which is a story in and of itself).  It's also quite shocking that SNL, of all parties, put this skit on the air in the first place:

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/c-span-bailout/727521/

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laland/2008/10/the-mortgage-me.html

Yep -- it's those dirty, filthy -- not to mention conspiratorial -- right-wingers at it again.

IMHO, Poser's render engine has always been the program's greatest weakness.  Sure, Poser has various & sundry other issues, too -- but the render engine is the A #1 "needs improvement" area.

Of course, the potential downside of a major upgrade to Poser's rendering engine could be the cost factor.  But they might be able to get away with additional expense when it comes to Pro.

With effort (and time to kill), you can get some fairly impressive results out of Firefly now.  But it could be done better -- possibly much better..........so I'm inclined to agree with the OP on this point.

I saw a few dozen of them perched on & around a trash dumpster.  They were lined up with their feathers fluffed out, resting.  I was in my car at the time -- otherwise I wouldn't have gotten as close to such a large group of them as I did.  I pulled up alongside the dumpster and stopped to take a good look at them.  They didn't appear to be disturbed in the least by my presence, merely gazing back at me with their beady black eyes from approx. five feet away.  Nasty-looking things.  Good-sized birds, too.  No doubt they'd be happy to make a meal out of you, given the opportunity.

I'll add that it's also possible for the police, security guards, et al to go too far.  And that's where training and judgment come into play.  Sometimes they get it wrong.  Do occasional high school bullies "graduate" to become police officers?  Sure they do.  And if they mess up in the line of duty, then they can run the risk of getting caught out.  It happens.

Police officers tend to die young.  Even when it's from natural causes.  They have a job loaded with the type of daily stress that most of us can't even imagine, or wouldn't care to imagine.  Police work is a dirty, unpleasant job in many ways.  But somebody's gotta do it.  We owe them far more thanks than they typically get from us.