276

(5 replies, posted in Politics)

To keep social conservatives out of power, all is permitted.

Problem:

Politicians reward their donors with regulations, which actually function as barriers to entry in the market place. Examples include:

1. Consumer protection laws that small businesses can not afford.
2. Licensing. Therefore, you can not drive home drunk drivers for free (taxi companies will complain to the city council), or set up a lemonade stand. Additionally, licenses can be made to be cost prohibitive for prospective businesses (alcohol licenses), thus also creating a bottleneck and raising prices.
3. Zoning laws.

There is no equality of opportunity. Get over it, Flint! The only solution is to end a system where:

1. Business donor donates money to politician.
2. Politician gets elected and rewards business donor with barriers to entry.

278

(26 replies, posted in Politics)

1. It's called the intercession of saints. The saint functions as the medium between the faithful and God. They have access to God, which allows them to obtain graces on behalf of the faithful. An intercessory prayer to a saint(e.g., to Mary) is not the same as worship, it's more like getting the attention of one of God's officials responsible for listening to the needs of his faithful.

2. The Pope is the legitimate successor of St.Peter, and being Bishop of Rome is the highest authority, because, well, it's Rome.

3. There are still excommunications. For example, Catholics who are involved in an abortion are automatically excommunicated without need for formal decree (latae sententiae).

4. Catholics have varying beliefs about hell. Two common beliefs among Catholics is that hell is a state of being separated from God, and others believe it's a place.

279

(26 replies, posted in Politics)

So everything a person does is a duty? WTF?

280

(26 replies, posted in Politics)

Yell,

I do not have any "higher" "duties," not even to myself.

281

(26 replies, posted in Politics)

East,

Nope. Legalization is stupid. Only NZ and New South Wales have it right. They decriminalize it. The difference is that decriminalization is minimally regulated, and the women are treated like independent contractors.

282

(26 replies, posted in Politics)

Yell,

Ummm. Actually, nothing is held sacred, and nothing is blasphemy. Nor is deceit, guile and treachery praised as a mark of superior intellect.

283

(13 replies, posted in Politics)

Then he's a president who says "enforce the law if you can." Still doesn't make HIM the sovereign.

284

(26 replies, posted in Politics)

Civilized world? Tell that to Sweden, their government has been hijacked by radical feminists.

Frankly, New Zealand and Australia are the only Western countries that can be considered sane and civilized.

285

(13 replies, posted in Politics)

Obama has powers he can choose to act on or not as leverage.

286

(13 replies, posted in Politics)

Except Obama is not the sovereign. Sovereignty is held by the people, so your example doesn't work.

287

(26 replies, posted in Politics)

No kidding. Christians need to learn that knowledge is discovered from experience, not revealed from their primitive book.

288

(17 replies, posted in General)

Hmmm... a revision is necessary...
____

I have not accomplished anything.

Therefore, there are at least 3 different types of people.
1. People who accomplish things.
2. People who claim to have accomplished things.
3. People who are honest about having accomplished nothing.

289

(17 replies, posted in General)

I have not accomplished anything.

Therefore, I prove Loth's theory false!

290

(4 replies, posted in Politics)

Hey, at least they are being consistent with what they preach.

291

(3 replies, posted in Politics)

The solution is to hire the mafia to take care of the union. lol.

On serious note, I can believe it. I know of people whose family members were harassed by unions, and only because they were management and above. They pulled crap like spiking their car tires and busting their windows with bricks.

However, I see no reason to believe the chamber of commerce produced this study, and it doesn't do a very good job telling you where the statutes are etc.

Flint,

The blacks are voting for Obama, lol. The same for Hispanics. The demographics that are up for grabs are going to be alienated.

Flint,

Umm no. Polls state otherwise. The main demographic that likes social conservatism is white people over 50ish. While Hispanics are more conservative, they don't like the anti-immigration rhetoric, nor do they particularly care about imposing it on the rest of the country.

Actually, Romney can not win and the Republicans are going to lose big time. It doesn't matter how much money they have, they are alienating the majority of the electorate with their social conservatism and anti-immigration talk. By promising to enforce the laws against pornography (effectively making it illegal) and outlawing abortion etc, the Republican party has guaranteed its own pwnage.

295

(26 replies, posted in Politics)

...

There are plenty of other reasons sheriffs might refuse to grant them. For example, they may think that no screening process is sufficiently reliable to root out the bad or irresponsible people. Or maybe they do it because they believe guns ought to be illegal, so they effectively make it impossible to conceal/carry a gun.

Not saying you're wrong. But I'm suspicious that that is the reason commonly given for outlawing guns. It's a bizarre, absolutist reason that is easily proven false.

296

(26 replies, posted in Politics)

If allowing gun ownership always harmed, then there wouldn't be permits.

297

(26 replies, posted in Politics)

Well, yeah. But I don't think many Democrats are making the argument that it never helps.

298

(26 replies, posted in Politics)

Yes, a male political researcher has collected data by approaching 100 women he considers attractive at a voting station. But because the researcher committed a statistical bias, his data is useless for drawing conclusions.

In the case of gun control, Flint is merely mining for examples that support his view. These examples are not necessarily typical. It could be that while civilian use of guns have occasionally saved lives, an unnecessary death results in the majority of such cases. I'm not saying it is true, but Flint is wasting everyone's time by producing thread after thread of such examples.

299

(26 replies, posted in Politics)

> Einstein wrote:

> Statistics do not require controlled studies.

I noticed that error. Fixed.

It still requires sound research, and your anecdotes don't count.

300

(26 replies, posted in Politics)

A lot of anecdotes still don't count. What you need is representative data, produced by sound research. That is the only data that counts, so Flint is wasting his time finding examples of guns saving lives.