Aerik

Government officials do occasionally skim off the top-- and when we catch them, we put them in prison. For-profit companies are designed for the explicit purpose of skimming off the top. That's fine if we're talking about non-essential things like running shoes or blue jeans, but that's not something I'm willing to accept with my healthcare, or that of my family.

Except it assumes that anyone who isn't succeeding is automatically lazy and useless, and takes the (commonly right-wing) view that, in order for anyone to gain anything, it has to be taken directly from someone else. Would they be so smug if that girl was drinking and partying so much because we didn't properly diagnose/ treat her PTSD after she came back from Iraq? That certainly happens-- actually, it's pretty much what happened to a good friend of mine. He was lucky enough to have friends like us to help him get his shit together, but maybe Mary doesn't. Real life doesn't fit on a t-shirt.

Welcome!

Good job!

Same age, same boat here, Likwid. I'd say our generation is the most worthless ever, except-- Since I've returned to school, I've been surrounded by these 18-year-olds. They are convinced I'm some kind of alien genius from the future because I have a 4.0 GPA, when in fact it's just because I show up to class, pay attention, and actually do the work. These same kids spend the entire lecture (when they even show up) playing around on their laptops, never turn in an assignment on time, and are the picture of righteous indignation when they get crappy grades. So far, I've managed to convince all of two people to try doing things my way, and now they're magic geniuses from the future, too. But they're still outnumbered by assholes in rugby shirts and flip-flops waiting for their 'participation trophies'. If our generation doesn't manage to implode the planet (provided the boomers don't have a nuclear war first), the generation immediately after ours will be absolutely epic to watch in their failure. They should make kids watch the movie 'Idiocracy' in school, every day, from kindergarten through college. And then rub their noses on the screen and beat them mercilessly.

Awesome. Those impound companies are about three steps below the crust on a homeless man's scrotum. Epic justice.

Doesn't matter to me- I happen to think they're very nice-looking bikes, but I could still get a Honda set up to look as good or better for less money, and not have to lug a full toolkit with me everywhere. If I ever spend more than 10 grand on a bike, it'll be a Triumph Rocket III.

Exactly. I'm not a liberal because I like people (I most certainly do not). I'm a liberal because I have to live here, and I'd rather it not be a place where I have to gun down starving poor folks trying to rob me on my way to my car. I'd rather it not be a place where the guy making my burger is snotting all over my food because he can't afford antibiotics, and I'd rather it not be a place where everyone works at WallyWorld because we can't afford to go to college. Seriously, if you don't want a government, don't want taxes, don't want public health, or any of that other 'intrusive big-government liberal nonsense', move to Somalia. Go ahead, I'll wait. And when you get back, you'll do like I do-- you'll vote for the most liberal thing running, and then yell at it constantly because it's not liberal enough. Oh, saying that reminded me of this, so here: Although, in the interest of full disclosure, I happen to be a pro-gun liberal.

It does happen, from time to time. (puts his extremely serious mask back on.) (growls at nothing in particular)

LMAO, ok yours was funnier than mine.

That is fuggin awesome. If I'm ever blinded in a horrible ninja attack, I'm totally making the wife drive me around with the bike in the back of the truck.

I'm confused. So you mean the motor's out right now? I see two wheels and a frame, but it doesn't have an engine... I'm so lost.

Fixed it fer ya! Quiverfull movement is terrifying.

I can certainly agree about the Republican party being unrecognizable- I could have a debate with a Goldwater, or even a Buckley, even though I may disagree with what they're saying. I could even agree that there's a need for at least some balance of conservatism (old-style), if for nothing else than to keep the debate moving and remind us not to go hog-wild with the money. The kind of cartoons they've been putting out lately, though, it's pretty much impossible to have any kind of civil debate with. Neocon ideologues, religious zealots, or corporatists, none of which are truly conservative in the classical sense. Even though I can certainly find plenty to disagree with the Democrats on (particularly where my guns are concerned, but they're still too corp-friendly for my tastes), I still find them wholly less terrifying than the idea of Sarah Palin in charge of my nuclear arsenal. Such is life in the two-party system. Until we get instant runoff voting, or enough people get involved to take both parties back to something sane, nothing is going to change.

Curious, IP-- who would you have preferred to vote for? My room-mate was all about Giuliani, until he realized that all he ever said was "When I (91191119111911) and then I (911911911911911)!"

People are stupid...

I'm pretty sure that's from tshirthell.com. They have lots of funny stuff.

Pretty bike. When the price gets down around $(pocket lint) or so, lemme know, I'll be all over it!

... Weird. I can't see the engine in those pics, what's the displacement?

I'm fairly certain it's been shown that preventive care is cheaper than catastrophic care, but I'm too lazy to go looking it up right now. And, since I was laid off, I haven't had a payroll to deduct from, not that I had the extra money to put in an account anyway. Last, you're quite right that my school does offer the option to buy health coverage through them- as the admissions councilor told me when they were getting me all set up, "It's really pretty crappy." I'll not spend money I can't spare to be told that nothing I need is covered, when I can essentially accomplish the same thing for free.

I think the idea of our system in this country is that if the government does a crappy job we're supposed to make a big stink and advocate and argue and march, and at least vote, until we get our way. It's not government's fault if we (collectively) would rather pay attention to and vote on American Idol- it's ours. We get the government we allow to exist. If we're too lazy to force it to work for us, it'll work for whoever puts up the effort.

Protip: You're also paying for my police/ fire dept coverage, drinking water, roads, the soldiers who fight on my behalf, and the first 12 years of my education. You have the choice whether to use these same provided services or not, but the whole reason people get together and form a country is because they are able to do things as a group that wouldn't be feasible as a bunch of Daniel Boones living in the wilderness. Incidentally, since I don't have insurance (because I'm a full-time student and my wife's job doesn't offer it), if I had a heart attack tonight and had to go to the ED, you'd still end up paying for it (because I can't, so the cost just gets passed back up to people with insurance and sometimes the government, while I pay 10 bucks a month to the bill collectors, anyway). Although it might be worth stating that I've been working full-time and paying my taxes unfailingly since I was 16- this business of being a full-time student began just a year ago, I haven't just been leaching off of public resources for the last ten years. I've paid my fair share toward the services I use, and will continue to do so again after I graduate. /me is not a welfare-king!