Gyroscopic Investing

lololololol, scary picture!

http://www.wnd.com/2013/04/1-in-4-belie ... AvtFU2R.99

From http://www.journalism.org/2013/10/11/ho ... s-at-home/: "About one- quarter of American adults, (24%) watch only Fox News"

Coincidence?

Can you spare me the suspense and just tell me? Is he or isn't he?

Wait! His tour of duty is just gathering steam!

As much looniness as gets ascribed to liberals, are there polls out there that indicate it to the degree that this anti-Christ nonsense makes conservatives look?


I'm looking for something like:

25% of respondents think the government should solve most of their problems.

20% of respondents think that 70% tax rates are appropriate.

30% of respondents want to submit US authority to the United Nations.

Yes, but it's the Obama's who allow those who are worse to thrive.

moda0306 wrote: As much looniness as gets ascribed to liberals, are there polls out there that indicate it to the degree that this anti-Christ nonsense makes conservatives look?


I'm looking for something like:

25% of respondents think the government should solve most of their problems.

20% of respondents think that 70% tax rates are appropriate.

30% of respondents want to submit US authority to the United Nations.

More than 5 years into the Obama presidency, 50% of people still blame George Bush for the poor economy.

TennPaGa wrote: There are some, err... interesting views expressed in the
Four percent believe shape-shifting reptilian alien people control the world,

*gasp*  I'm so petrified solid in a scream!!!

Tyler wrote:

moda0306 wrote: As much looniness as gets ascribed to liberals, are there polls out there that indicate it to the degree that this anti-Christ nonsense makes conservatives look?


I'm looking for something like:

25% of respondents think the government should solve most of their problems.

20% of respondents think that 70% tax rates are appropriate.

30% of respondents want to submit US authority to the United Nations.

More than 5 years into the Obama presidency, 50% of people still blame George Bush for the poor economy.

Well this is a goofy one. I wouldn't have ever really blamed bush for the bad economy. Sure he trumpeted home ownership and deregulation, but the fundamentals really aren't there to blame him for it, but for he didn't do anything to stop the madness of unrestricted lending...

But assume you DID blame him for the financial crisis... Then I surely would blame him for the bad economy today, which is a result of 1) the financial crisis, and 2) (IMO) the lack of proper fiscal stimulus (keep in mind, I probably would have just done sweeping payroll tax (relatively regressive tax) cuts, rather than a bunch of make-work spending. The financial crisis CAUSED the recession, and these types of recessions are usually particularly harsh.

So to me it was more unreasonable to blame Bush for the financial crisis to begin with than to connect hypothetically valid blame to our bad economy today.

But in the end, you raise a decent point, but this is a problem I see of the citizenry in general, not just liberals. Blaming presidents for economies of today is as American as apple pie. It's one area I find people to be uniquely stupid (sorry if this sounds elitist... It probably is).  Poll Americans on economics and you are BOUND to get some stupid answers.

Some of these are only a 51% hunch


global warming is a hoax YES
Osama bin Laden remains alive NO
UFO crashed at Roswell NO
secretive power elite is conspiring to eventually rule the world YES,
Saddam Hussein was involved in the 2001 terror attacks NO
a link between childhood vaccines and autism YES
the moon landing was faked YES
believe in aliens YES
the reason the government adds fluoride to drinking water is sinister YES
Obama is the Antichrist NO
shape-shifting reptilian alien people control the world NO
Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in killing Kennedy NO
Bigfoot NO
the media or the government adds mind-control technology to TV signals NO but the propaganda is thicknew diseases are invented by the pharmaceutical and medical industries NO
the U.S. gov't/military allowed the 9/11 terror attacks More like it aided them
Paul McCartney died in 1966 and was replaced by a lookalike YES holy crap the circumstantial evidence is incredible to me

K,

Regarding fluoride... Would you not agree that:

- As you've said before, "the government" doesn't really exist. It's only individuals acting.

- Most water systems are maintained at the local/county level.

Are you saying that thousands of different city/county "water managers" (for lack of knowing their actual title) have sinister intents with fluoride?  What do you mean by that?

I have little doubt that it is likely not good for us, but I have trouble believing a conspiracy about ill-intent in this area.

Just curious. I'm very uneducated on this topic.

moda0306 wrote: "the government" doesn't really exist. It's only individuals acting.

But individuals act VERY different when working for gov't vs working for private industry.

moda0306 wrote: K,

Regarding fluoride... Would you not agree that:

- As you've said before, "the government" doesn't really exist. It's only individuals acting.

- Most water systems are maintained at the local/county level.

Are you saying that thousands of different city/county "water managers" (for lack of knowing their actual title) have sinister intents with fluoride?  What do you mean by that?

I have little doubt that it is likely not good for us, but I have trouble believing a conspiracy about ill-intent in this area.

Just curious. I'm very uneducated on this topic.

So am I. My GF is a dental hygenist and all her friends are and they defend flouride like crazy.

I don't know anything about city/county "water managers". I imagine this is set at the state level and pressure is applied at the federal level.

I don't know much about it. This is a 51% hunch. maybe 50.1%

moda0306 wrote: Are you saying that thousands of different city/county "water managers" (for lack of knowing their actual title) have sinister intents with fluoride?  What do you mean by that?

Is finding a way to get rid of a toxic industrial waste byproduct and then hitting on the idea to put it in the country's drinking water at low levels and convincing the ADA to go along with it and propagandize it, a sinister intent, cronyism or "the road to hell is paved with good intentions"?  BTW, the flouride that is the toxic waste byproduct is completely different than the topical flouride dentists wax agape over.

The problem with humans is... they go along with [color of] authority, especially scientific[-sounding] authority.  And most times they don't have a choice if they want to keep their jobs to support their family and all that jazz.  So... we all sell out in one way or another.  You have to personally decide what the lesser of the evils are.

moda0306 wrote: K,

Regarding fluoride... Would you not agree that:

- As you've said before, "the government" doesn't really exist. It's only individuals acting.

- Most water systems are maintained at the local/county level.

Are you saying that thousands of different city/county "water managers" (for lack of knowing their actual title) have sinister intents with fluoride?  What do you mean by that?

I have little doubt that it is likely not good for us, but I have trouble believing a conspiracy about ill-intent in this area.

Just curious. I'm very uneducated on this topic.

This is completely anecdotal and not scientific, but when I lived in Texas I knew several people who had grown up in west Texas where the local drinking water had naturally occuring very high levels of fluoride.  Seems those folks had no more or no fewer health issues than the general population.  The only downside to the high fluoride level seemed to be they all had very brown teeth.  I remember them saying the fluoride levels were many times what the rest of us took in from city water and toothpaste.  It was the heavy brown color that caused me to ask about "why the brown teeth".  Oh, and I forgot to mention, they all had zero cavities or dental issues even though several were in their 60s and 70s when I knew them 

... Mountaineer

Mountaineer wrote: Oh, and I forgot to mention, they all had zero cavities or dental issues even though several were in their 60s and 70s when I knew them 

... Mountaineer

if it's killing bacteria or coating your teeth with some kind of protectant, should we be drinking it?!?!?!

Really guys, flouride? No one cares about Paul (Faul) McCartney aka Billy Shears of Sgt. Pepper fame?

I borrowed from Kshartle.  This looked so fun I could not resist.

global warming is a hoax NO (but man-caused significant GW is)
Osama bin Laden remains alive NO (if bodily alive, YES if eternally in Hell counts)
UFO crashed at Roswell NO (it made a safe controlled landing - JK)
secretive power elite is conspiring to eventually rule the world NO (if referring to current temporal world, YES if referring to Jesus when He returns)
Saddam Hussein was involved in the 2001 terror attacks YES (if indirect involvement counts)
a link between childhood vaccines and autism NO (other than being stuck by a needle)
the moon landing was faked NO
believe in aliens NO (other than dear leader who is alien to US tradition of obeying the law)
the reason the government adds fluoride to drinking water is sinister NO
Obama is the AntiChrist YES (but only in the sense that anyone who is against Christ is the AntiChrist - not that he is the final Antichrist discussed in Revelation)
shape-shifting reptilian alien people control the world NO
Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in killing Kennedy NO
Bigfoot NO
the media or the government adds mind-control technology to TV signals NO
new diseases are invented by the pharmaceutical and medical industries NO
the U.S. gov't/military allowed the 9/11 terror attacks NO
Paul McCartney died in 1966 and was replaced by a lookalike NO

... Mountaineer

Benko wrote:

moda0306 wrote: "the government" doesn't really exist. It's only individuals acting.

But individuals act VERY different when working for gov't vs working for private industry.

Nah. Not really.  Politicians and CEOs of Fortune 500 companies have a lot more in common to their character do those CEOs have with my uncle who runs a small wood floor business.

Police officers have a lot more in common with private security providers than they do with a city parks department manager (Leslie Knope comes to mind).

A city engineer has a lot more in common with an engineer designing an apartment complex than he does the politician who signed the bill to fund the infrastructure.

A teacher in a public school is much more like a teacher in a private school than a police officer.

The whole idea that government is just a giant ass-hole magnet is way over-exaggerated by conservatives, IMO.

moda0306 wrote: ... government is just a giant ass-hole magnet...

Yep! 

(This is what happens when one pulls things out of context ... like those who cherry-pick Scripture to prove their point).

... Mountaineer

Mountaineer wrote:

moda0306 wrote: ... government is just a giant ass-hole magnet...

Yep! 

(This is what happens when one pulls things out of context ... like those who cherry-pick Scripture to prove their point).

... Mountaineer

I've heard several say here that government simply attracts power-hungry people and therefore is a make-up of the worst of us.

If "ass-hold magnet" is pulling stuff out of context I certainly didn't mean it to be. It's a bit hyperbolic, but not inappropriately-so for the ease of banter, IMO.

Most of the people within government are decent human beings. The problem is the institutional structure they work under that protects and encourages the bad behaviors of those who are not decent human beings, and which cannot be practically held accountable due to its monopoly position in society.

moda0306 wrote:

Mountaineer wrote:

moda0306 wrote: ... government is just a giant ass-hole magnet...

Yep! 

(This is what happens when one pulls things out of context ... like those who cherry-pick Scripture to prove their point).

... Mountaineer

I've heard several say here that government simply attracts power-hungry people and therefore is a make-up of the worst of us.

If "ass-hold magnet" is pulling stuff out of context I certainly didn't mean it to be. It's a bit hyperbolic, but not inappropriately-so for the ease of banter, IMO.

Did I misunderstand that your main point was conservatives way over exaggerate?  I was trying to be funny by changing the intent of your comment ... oh well ..............  Hard to communicate via electrons in the written format.

... Mountaineer

Pointedstick wrote: Most of the people within government are decent human beings. The problem is the institutional structure they work under that protects and encourages the bad behaviors of those who are not decent human beings, and which cannot be practically held accountable due to its monopoly position in society.

And, some of the decent humans get lazy because the system almost encourages people to work slowly and non-productively ... i.e. thus need more workers.  Eight people to patch a pot-hole?  Right.  One to work, the rest to hold flags to warn idiot drivers not to drive over the freshly patched pot-hole. 

... Mountaineer

Pointedstick wrote: Most of the people within government are decent human beings. The problem is the institutional structure they work under that protects and encourages the bad behaviors of those who are not decent human beings, and which cannot be practically held accountable due to its monopoly position in society.

I can't disagree much with this.  The question is how to weigh this disadvantage against the disadvantages of bad incentives in the private-sector alternative, and I think this is where we get lost in a muddy debate of incentives, morality, preferences and human behavior that we never really get anywhere.