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Indy/Re: Pat/Saaay Education in America.
I always love your perspective on things!!!
mikkj/Corporations be GUUUD! Listen to this one guys!
These activities by George Mason university are funded by corporations, and by conservative action groups, including Mellon-Scaife's foundation.
Richard Mellon Scaife is one of the most conservative people in the world. He lives here in Pittsburgh and owns one of the local papers, which I refuse to read or buy. I even call them and yell at them when they deliver a free paper to my house. I would never patronize anything of that man.
If they're that stupid, they shouldn't be judges
You're absolutely right, however, I cannot fault George Mason University. They have every right to try to change people's minds on issues - if the judges are that easily swayed, then who knows who else swayed them.
I did not see the broadcast, but would be curious to know if anyone does consider this some type of bribery, or collusion. If they judges go to one of these seminars during the trial, I would think he should recuse himself, although I don't pretend to know the law.
pat/: Mikkj - Education in America.
Nothing was anti-gay in my post, only against using public schools to tell children that homosexuality is normal, when it is not.
In your mind, it may be abnormal, but many feel otherwise. If you are teaching sexuality in the school, it would be unfair not to discuss homosexuality. No teacher should say it is normal or abnormal, just like heterosexuality. But you can't ignore it.
Why not just make people attend parenthood classes and get a license to have children? That would make sure that future parents know what they should do ahead of time.
I like this idea. It may cut down on the number of asshole parents.
pat/Liberal Media Bias
For those who think that media bias is not real, answer this: How often have you heard the term 'spy plane' in the last week? Until Bush's presidency, this propeller-driven plane would have been called a reconnaissance aircraft.
LOL. It took you 5 days to come up with that lame example? Puh-leeze.
spalz/Re: Sassy - Socialism Crumbling
Your right. Education in America is doing just fine. Just keep on believing that.
OK - I am guessing that the answer to my question is "No" - you don't believe anything unless Neal Boortz tells you. That's fine - I'll keep that information for future reference.
Can you not comprehend the difference between voluntarily helping others and being forced to do so?[i/]
And can't you comprehend that it is not by "force" that I pay taxes to support these programs?
spalz/Re: Sassy - Socialism Crumbling
You waste your money by supporting a failing system. You don't care about education.
As opposed to quoting right-winged conservative organizations, I gave you a real life experience - something you obviously know nothing about.
I cited the example of my own school district and how they excel, both at the state and national level (that included private schools, by the way) in SAT scores and National Merit Scholars. What kind of waste of money is that?
Or don't you pay any attention to this because it did not come from your private stock of propaganda? I guess you only believe it if Neal Boortz tells you its true.
Since when did you establish that Libertarians do not support voluntary charity? I have already established that you support government force. Stealing is wrong. Didn't your mommy ever teach you that?
I support helping those who need help - those who feel it is "forced support" are calloused individuals. OK - Time to put your money where you mouth is. You want to compare charitable contributions I have made versus what you have made? Prove it. That's what my mother taught me.
spalz/Re: Sassy - Socialism Crumbling
The American people may not care about their children's education, but at least they care about their health.
You're so right, Americans just don't care about education. That is why I willingly pay so much in taxes - to support children I don't have.
And about the health care, you don't have to worry about it if you are lucky enough to afford it. But that's the Liberatarian way, isn't it - only if you can afford it yourself. God knows, no one else will lift a finger to help you.
spalz/Re: Sassy - Socialism Crumbling
The American people may not care about their children's education, but at least they care about their health.
You're so right, Americans just don't care about education. That is why I willingly pay so much in taxes - to support children I don't have.
And about the health care, you don't have to worry about it if you are lucky enough to afford it. But that's the Liberatarian way, isn't it - only if you can afford it yourself. God knows, no one else will lift a finger to help you.
Spalz - Socialism Crumbling???
I will post every example I find of Socialism crumbling.
If you think we live in a Socialist society, then you are not as smart as I thought.
Re: Sassy - Education in America
You can believe whatever you want to believe
You believe your facts, I'll believe mine and never the two shall meet. And that's the problem - we all have our own "facts" - as I said before - you can make the numbers look however you want.
Taken any finance classes lately ????
spalz/Fraud at the Department of Education
This is what really pisses me off about this asshole.
This is truly sad.
It is really sad that you believe this guy at face value.
A department audit found 21 cases where grant payments totaling $250 million were issued TWICE to the same state school boards and districts. The duplicate payments were recovered.
The money was recovered - so what. This stuff happens all the time in business. When I ran the billing office at a few hospitals, insurance companies were always paying us twice for the same claim. (Oh my god - big business can make mistakes - let's publish a report and slam them.) No, it is never good, but certainly not the first time it has happened in either gov't or business.
$200 million was lost in unauthorized purchases and fraud cases. Some of the money was recovered through court orders of restitution to people outside the department.
While I do not like any fraud - and I would really watch how he uses this word - what per cent of the overall budget is this? Is this $200 million over 3 years? How much was recovered? And, if it is truely fraud, were charges placed on the accused? I would need more information than this to publish a national report and accuse workers of fraud.
There were 21 employees with the power to write checks of up to $10,000 without supervision. And they wrote 19,000 checks totaling $23 million from May 1998 to September 2000.
What were the check for? They could be for perfectly legitimate causes, but our friend Neal would never tell us.
About 230 department employees charged millions to their government credit cards. The audit found that 141 credit card statements, with purchases valued at nearly $1 million, were not signed by a supervisor. And several of the purchases included items that could be used for personal purposes, including computers, software, cell phones, and Internet service.
"Could be used for personal purposes"? What's wrong Neal? There was no evidence that there was personal use of these funds, so you used the word "could" to cover your tracks?
This has got to be the biggest pile of shit that has ever been published. Spalz, you are such a smart guy, why do you take this stuff at face value? Hell, if I can tear it apart, I'd hate to see what meme, dennis or indy do with it.
spalz/Re: Sassy - Education in America
Do you think they are blatently lying?
Yes. I have been in finance for 25 years and I know that you can make numbers look however you want. You want them to look bad? I can spin that. You want them to look good? I can spin that, too. And the Cato Institute is rarely, if ever, going to publish anything that makes it appear that our tax dollars are doing any good.
This country is pouring billions into a failing school system and all you can say is we need more money?
No - that is not all I said. Go back and read my original post to meg. I cited several other reasons as to why some schools are failing. I only mentioned money when it came to colleges and universities. The ones with the most money and heaviest endowed are the best. That is what I said and it is the truth.
OK - so your excerpt gave one example - Hey, in my post I gave one, too. And not from any politically funded organization, but by real life experience. I talked about my own school district - I pay a lot in taxes and the school district gets excellent results. Oh gee, I guess money has nothing to do with that.
Is money the only answer? Hell no. But, mananged properly, it goes a long, long way in hiring qualified teachers, equiping the school with modern technology and building schools that aren't going to fall apart. Yes, accountability has much to do with it, as does parental involvement. I mentioned them in my original post to meg, in case you don't want to go back and read it. It is rarely one thing that will make or break a problem.
spalz/Re: Sassy - Education in America
Did you even bother to read the two articles I posted?
No. The Cato Institute? You expect me to believe anything they write?
dennis/An idea about education
Not a bad idea, but I see one flaw.
At the end of each year, these fees would be rebated based on each student's academic rating for the year, on a 10-point scale. For an 'A' level rating (9.5-10.0), the rebate would be 50% to parent, 35% to teacher, 15% to the school itself.
Competition for grades is one thing - and that is healthy. But when you get parents involved fighting over what a grade should be, then problems can erupt. "My kid deserved an A - give it to him so I can get my rebate." Heck, this would be worse than the the parental sideline umpires at baseball games.
Also, for those kids who try, and just can't get it should not be punished.
For instance, parents might get monthly refunds of their fees if the student(s) presented no disciplinary problems during the month and scored at a certain level on exams.
Great idea - maybe more parents would get involved to ensure their kid is good and not a trouble maker.
meg/I had an idea reguarding elections
Ok, so instead of placing the candidates name on the ballot, let the candidate put a small summary of why they want the job and what they'll do with it, then voters can be just a little informed in their decision.
The ballots are difficult now for many people to understand (uh, remember Florida?) - putting more information on them would only make it worse.
I know some say a voter should be informed of the issues before stepping into the bootth but the fact is most don't. So, why not let the voters actually vote on the issues rather than the name they saw the most times on the side of the road or the party their parents or spouse vote for? I mean what do we have to loose?
Don't clutter up my ballot because you did not do your homework. It is not my fault these voters are uninformed. Lord, by the time the election has been held they have received a boatload of information. If they did not read it then, why would they read it now?
And do you really want people to vote on an issue based on a few lines on a ballot?
spalz/Re: Sassy - Education in America
Money is not the issue. Even publicly funded colleges, which have considerably less money at their disposal than private colleges, are some of the best in the world.
Wrong - it is about money. The best public universities are very heavily endowed. They can hire the best of the best and admit the best of the best.
meg/Education in America
What is wrong with our nations education system?
No teacher accountability, no parental involvement, lack of discipline of our students, lack of funding, to name a few.
The biggest problem is the disparity between the inner city and suburban schools. Generally, it is the city schools that are having the problems, primarily because the wealthier are moving out of the city and leaving no tax base to fund education.
My sister told me a very interesting statistic this past weekend. She used to live in Cleveland and 60% of the people using the Cleveland School District did not own property and, therefore, did not pay tax towards the funding of the school. Now, having been to the city many times, I know that most of those are poorer children whose family only rents. But, there are some high priced apartments in the city - why don't they pay something?
I think that the way in which we support our schools need to change. I have no children, but live in a school district that is heavily taxed. The school district consistently is above the state and national averages for SAT Scores, as well as producing a high number of National Merit Scholars - something that I am proud of. I have no problem supporting something that does not directly effect me (a concept that I know is foreign to some of you reading this). It is the choice that I made when I decided to purchase a house in this district (so there goes your theory about "forcing" me to pay the taxes). Yet, I do feel that, for those who rent in the district, they should be required to pay something for their child's education. Even a nominal fee should suffice.
Pat, you said the Federal Gov't should not educate our children. Guess what? They don't. Yes, some money is funneled to the school district, about 7% if my memory serves me, but they are not involved in the education of our students.
Why do we fail in comparison to other countries public schools and yet have some of the world's best universities?
In one word, money. Those best universities are funded well, either through tuition or endowments. They are able to recruit the best professors and only admit the elite students. Yes, there are some exceptions to this rule, but for the most part, it is about the money.
pat/Of Governments and Cows
Capitalism: You have two cows. You take care of them and sell the extra milk.
Captitalism: You have two cows. You take care of them and sell the extra milk. You then ensure that no one else can buy a cow, allowing you to charge whatever you want for the milk. <g>
Indy - go.com cancellation
Hey go.com is so p!ssed at me they even canceled my mail. But in the event that the mutant squirrel needs phsyco-therapy you can reach me at indy7082001@yahoo.com
Now, don't be too, too paranoid. I believe that go.com cancels you out if there is no activity in 90 days (or something like that). You have not been on the boards of late, so that is probably what happened.
Now that I have your e-mail address, the possibilities are endless..... <VBG>
meg/I thought the codes didn't work on this board?
Read posts 1664, 1669 and 1670. That should answer it for you.
Now, what I need to know is do you nest all vowels, or just the first one - for example a$$hole.
Is it [/a]asshole, or [/a]assh[/o]ole? Let us see....
meme/Spall-Did you see my message on P.I.
I see now - at this board you need to use the brackets [ ]. Does that mean at PIMB you need to use the other brackets < >?
meme/Spall-Did you see my message on P.I.
Boy, I am not around for a couple of days and spalz get banned from PIMB. Tsk, tsk.
Meme, sorry I did not get back to you - I was going to call last night, but it was a hellish 3 days. I was exhausted. Besides, I think that I gave you enough to laugh about on Tuesday <g>
So, now, about this swearing stuff. You just nest the vowel, huh? I looks like it worked for you the second time, but not the first. What was the link you gave to spalz over at PIMB? I did not see one. OK, let me try - shit or shit. Cant wait to see if that worked.
patlee/RE: Mikkj - mental health insurance benefits.
Which insurance company do you think would not want to write policies for thousands or tens of thousands of people? Collective bargaining always works in business.
Insurance companies are only willing to provide policies for those individuals they hope do not get sick.
The reason why so many insurances are getting out of the Medicare HMO business is due to the way they are paid by the gov't. When they first started to flourish, they rec'd a capitated payment from the gov't for each person they insured, based on sex, age, etc. However, the insurance companies only marketed to the healthy population, so they made a huge profit. They actually prohibited certain people from joining - those on dialysis, for example. When the gov't was left with the "sick" Medicare population - they (ie, "we") paid more to treat the elderly. When the gov't changed the way they reimburse the insurance companies, they cried foul, and left the market, which left the seniors scurrying to go back to traditional Medicare, or some other health plan.
Pat - you asked me in another post, if I meant gov't intervention on a healthcare plan. I really don't care, but something needs to be done. You have millions of uninsured and even more underinsured individuals. Individual policies are cost prohibitive, so there will need to be some type of group health plan. There is a federal program that is run by the private insurers for Children with no health insurance - it is called the CHIP's program. That seems to work, but it is subsidized by the gov't.
It is unfair that our legislators have a "Cadillac" plan - that we as taxpayers pay for, and many of us are stuck with the "Yugo" plan. We need a universal plan that covers all. If the gov't has to intervene, so be it.
indy/Meme-blushing
My dear, good woman. Whenever yourself, or Sassy is on line I always undress. I don't blush though.
Well, I guess it is my turn to blush - or take my clothes off - or both <VEG>
Mental Health Insurance Benefits
Something that has not been mentioned relative to the treatment of mental illness is the way in which most health insurance companies pay for it. For those lucky enough to have insurance, "mental" condition benefits are much lower than "medical" condition benefits.
While a good number of us have unlimited days and a cap of about $1 million for medical conditions, most mental health benefits only cover about 30 days inpatient care per year and 30-50 outpatient visits per year. (Why do you think that the "magic" number for days in rehab is 28? It is because those who developed the treatment wanted insurances to pay.) I have seen caps on mental health to be as low as $25,000 - having worked in patient billing for a hospital with 250 psych beds, let me tell you - that is nothing.
So, lets look at the picture. We have those with no insurance out on the streets and no place to go. We have those with insurance who cannot get the treatment that they need because of insurance restrictions. If they continue treatment - they will end up on the streets from their bankruptcy. You've got a crisis and someone needs to look at it.
Anyone want to talk about some type of National Health Plan?
think/Re: Invitations to the Board
The more the merrier, but if the Bored Raiders of the Lost Bark are still just going around insulting everyone with the same old tired repeated until all shock value is lost posts, I'd just as soon leave them to waller in the Go.com world of religious extremism and silliness.
Agreed. The raiders do nothing but spam the board with their insults and private jokes. I would prefer to leave the insults and private jokes to us <g>
I have to admit that I feel sorry for the guy after reading his life story a few weeks ago. It kind of explains where he is coming from, I guess. I just hope that his fanaticism never leads to anything more than posting...on the PI board only please.
Agreed, again. Although I missed his life story, it is apprarent that something went terribly awry in his life. At times I, too, feel sorry for him and really wish that he would seek help. But, I am sure people have said the same about me.
Illuminator sent me an E-mail a while back after the Delphi site was closed, but I haven't gotten back to replying to him or her, just thought about it actually, is he or she still at PI?
I have not been at PIMB a whole lot lately, but have not seen his posts. I sent him an e-mail with this address. I would hope that he visits - I like to read his stuff.
I haven't been spending too much time on the boards recently, it is just too damn beautiful outside to stay indoors. 80 degrees and sunny tomorrow, I might go to the beach.
Bas_tard. <G> Why don't you rub it in??? We had snow flurries here this AM. I can't wait for summer.
Indy - Oil Companies
If these guys were allowed to operate in an unbridled free market economy without regulation, we'd be paying a lot more at the pump.
Yeah, but with all of the profits they would be making, they would see that the poor and downtrodden were taken care of. (Sorry, LP's - could not resist (g>)
spalz/Sassy/Re:invitations to the board.
That comment was highly uncalled for. Wasn't I the one that was supposed to be defending the South? <g>
LMAO. However, I have been giving you guys from the South a hard time of late, so I thought I would pitch in to help!!!
spalz/Re: Straight 'n Sassy
smartass !!! <VBG>
spalz/Sassy/Re:invitations to the board.
How true. I wouldn't mess with that Fearck gal unless I wanted a serious verbal ass-whoopin'. {Meme - insert spanking comment here}
I as away from PIMB for a while - I really don't know about this lady at all - she sure sounds like fun!!!
BTW, spalz, I agree that the board is a bit incestious, and does need a bit of new life. However, incest can be fun with the right family member !!! <g>
Indy - Hummingbird's Ass????
OK, we knew your name is Francis, we know about your field days and we all know about your alligator mouth and sense of humor. The redhead part was new for me. But....
What the hell does a hummingbird ass look like on a human? When I hear "humming" and "ass" used in the same sentence, I think I form a different picture than you are talking about here !!! <g>
spalz/Re: Straight n' Sassy
The wonders of Viagra... <g>
You little sh!thead <g> LOL. First off, the effects of Viagra on women are still not proven. Secondly, I would not know because I (nor my partner) does not need it.
Out of curiosity - how old is "old" to you???? When I was in my 20's, I thought 60 was old. Now, I really no longer have an age. I think the older my mom gets, the older "old" becomes to me. She is going to be 77 on Sunday and looks 60. I hope I can say the same when I am her age.
Indy/RE: Invitations to the board.
There are some very scary images passing through my mind right now.<G>
Anything you would care to share with us???? <VBG>
meme/Invitations to the Board
Personally, I have no specific criteria, as long as they are not the raiders. While, at times, they can be funny, for the most part, I find them either very rude or very immature.
meme/Re: Sassy-Meme - my next visit
It's time to talk some trash, again, no? <G>
Sister, it is always time to talk trash !!! <g>
I will e-mail you the info.
spalz/Re: Straight_Sassy
I liked the subject line - LOL
Actually, I did call her babe. Check post #1476.
I stand corrected. I guess the point I was trying to make is that those of us over the age of..., well, let's just say older than you, can still be "babes" and sexually attractive to those of any age.
You'd be surprised what you could learn from us !!! And vice versa, I hope !!! <VEG>
Meme - my next visit
I am going to be back up next week, but they have shortened our schedule from 5 days to 3, which means I will be working very long hours (the amount of work has not been shortened, of course). Not sure I am able to get away for dinner. However, I will be staying in the same hotel, so if you are up for a phone conversation, give me a holler.
Re: Spall - Meme - Congrats
Yes Maam. I think we should start calling you "Maam" instead of "Meme." It's more fitting of your age, dontcha think?
Let me tell you this. I have seen meme, you have not. If I were you, I'd call her "babe" <VBG> (And this is coming from a woman who is very comfortable with her heterosexuality!)
meme/mikkj/Sassy RE: "Down In The Dumps" MeMe.
No offense, Sassy, but big boobs don't have the same effect on me as they do men. LOL
None taken. Actually, I am a bit relieved. LOL
mikkj/RE: "Down In The Dumps" MeMe.
So it's business? I just thought you were going through "Sassy Withdrawl".
Although it is not my intent with women, I have caused worse to happen with men <VEG>