Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[hack]

TOTUS

[froot loops]

TOTUS is pretty good, I might want to make some Red Hats with that on it. Thats gold Jerry, Gold!

[hack]

Heh. Like the MAGA hats, should be made in China.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Right or wrong re this Boeing thing, here's an area in which to keep an open mind. Defence contracting is a pretty cozy world in which taxpayer money is handed over to a handful of entities who are not made more efficient through competition.

Had the CEO of Boeing been publicly flattering Trump, do you have any confidence he would STILL be calling into question their government contract?

[hack]

Well the timing is awfully suspicious, no doubt.

[Wild Hoss]

SoftBank Pledges to Invest $50 Billion in U.S. After Meeting With Trump

http://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-t...u-s-1481053732

Details scarce...but needless to say that Sprint/T-Mobile merger is back on, come January.

[The Oracle]

Uh oh, they get Geezer or he still with us??

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-klan-leader-arrest-20161206-story.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[froot loops]

Mike Pence proved that he can lie just as good as Donald Trump. He denied on Morning Joe that Mike Flynn Jr worked for the transition. Then he fired Jr later in the day.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/12/06/pence_claims_michael_flynn_jr_has_no_involvement_in_transition.html

The new normal for the GOP and their supporters.

[Mainevent]

This line was pretty funny (but as always, in a scary way):

Erratic New York real estate heir Donald Trump, who has praised Sandy Hook and 9/11 truther Alex Jones and who once insinuated on national television that private investigators he'd hired had uncovered evidence that Barack Obama was not born in America, is also expected to play a central role in the incoming administration

[hack]

It was!

[Da Geezer]

hack:

Geezer a government-contracted road or bridge or school results in GDP. Do you want to further refine your statement?

I thought we had already settled matters related to "the commons". I favor government spending when it protects or improves that which the citizens hold in common. Infrastructure is one of those items. And printing money clearly increases GDP in a manner that is relatively "cost free" to current taxpayers. I believe that future generations are also included in "the commons", and such deficit spending guaranties a lower quality of life for future citizens.

Obama received much criticism when he said, "....you didn't build that...." but there was some truth in what he was saying. I remember a paper I wrote in college in which I partially blamed the Interstate Highway System as one factor in railroad bankruptcies (which was a big issue at the time). Highways favored trucks as opposed to railroads.

Protecting the commons includes protecting air, water, and wild animals. The issue for me comes when perfection becomes the enemy of the good. For example, in California, the drought has been exacerbated by the government "protecting" the delta smelt. Protecting water has been used as a justification for taking control of land without compensation to the owner using "wetland" determination. Protecting the air has morphed into CO2 elimination by killing whole industries. The costs of these examples far outweigh any possible benefit to the population at large. It seems to me quite evident that we have long past the area of diminishing returns on much of this "protection".

The military is another area of the commons. I think it was good for Trump to call Boeing on the carpet over a project that won't come on line until 2025. Military procurement is one of the places where vast sums are wasted (as evidenced by the $ 125 billion that is unaccounted for). This was a "no downside" shot across the bow by Trump.

Trump sold all his stocks in June. The total take was $ 22 million. As a percentage of net worth that is less than most members of this forum have invested in the stock market.

[hack]

You're saying that the only way government can can build infrastructure is by printing money? It cannot come from revenue?

How do you know Trump sold ALL his stocks?

[entropy]

Broken children story I wanted to share...

Yesterday when I came home from work my wife told me about a story at school. Our children's grade school has a couple new students this year with "behavioral" issues. Most are adjusting but require some unique classes and extra attention. In fact, one young man in first grade went from having a 1 inch file of behavioral problems to becoming a good kid. The first week of school, he told my wife he hated her and wish she would die.. now, that's her special little guy and he hugs her every time they meet. While he's still learning to be potty trained and probably should never have left Kindergarden, his anxiety is diminishing and he's being more social active. He's turned into such a sweet kid my wife tells me more and more support staff and teachers are pulling for him. He has his bad days/weeks (especially after he stays with his father... in fact, the school/teachers/staff send him home with food on Friday's because, as he put it, his dad's apartment doesn't have a cafeteria..) but he's learning.. he can count to 20 now, he can eat with a fork, etc..

For all the success, one student has not improved. After the first week, they moved him to a private classroom with a special teacher and special handler. He's violent. He's in the 4th grade.. and yesterday, the police hauled him out of school in handcuffs. Not sure what he did, but he's attacked numerous staff in the past. This is the first time the police were called. He's broken. I have a bad habit of seeing the best in people (at least for a period of time).. but this kid is lost. I don't think there is hope. For as bad as some of these kids have it, I can't imagine what this child has gone through to get him to this state. Makes you depressed thinking about how many kids in much rougher school districts have no shot..

[hack]

Thanks ent. It's good to keep an eye on these kids. In the past they might have gone on to become tailbacks under Tom Osborne, but in today's world it's not too late to avoid an Urban Meyer recruitment.

Srsly, good luck to your wife. It is sad, when you see an individual kid and understand why he is struggling. My kid's class bully is that kind of kid. Nice but overwhelmed pushover of a mom, and a dad with some serious anger issues. And that kid probably has many fewer challenges than many.

[Wild Hoss]

Thanks ent. It's good to keep an eye on these kids. In the past they might have gone on to become tailbacks under Tom Osborne, but in today's world it's not too late to avoid an Urban Meyer recruitment.

Fullback, asswipe. Fullback!