patrick.net

Bellingham Bill says

Robert Sproul says

Anything in any way alternative is assertively dismissed as "conspiracy" to avoid cognitive discomfort

just because the corporate media is anti-informational doesn't mean the nut contingent have anything interesting to say.

I can tell a nut by the inability to react to this graph:

http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/GINIALLRH

if your world view doesn't think that's bad and/or doesn't have any useful ideas towards reversing that trend, you're a crank/nut etc.

The internet is around 70% nutjob at this point.

Yeah you need to shut down the entity that publishes that graph. In fact if that entity hadn't existed in 2008 you wouldn't have much to worry about now if the convergence towards 1 in that graph is your main concern.

Robert Sproul says

tools of the same corrupt forces

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2012

127M voters voted for continued corruption in 2012.

This was 2 orders of magnitude greater than the purity candidate.

Good luck with your revolution.

Bellingham Bill says

Good luck with your revolution.

I don't foresee any revolutions in America.
I see a bipartisan/corporate totalitarian state. They have all the control mechanisms in place now.
They have control of the media, they have criminalized dissent, they have broad, sweeping laws (with hideous, draconian penalties) on terrorism that have already snatched up Facebook goofballs and meth cook "Terrorists".
And they have created a complacent, desensitized, medicated, civically ignorant population of consumers.
And drones, the drones are coming baby.
Orwell's "boot stamping on a human face-forever".
(And it is a fat man's face, and he is clutching a remote control)

ducky said: I have yet to hear any rational argument how the federal reserve is enriching the top at the expense of the bottom.
Well, we saw, perhaps, the greatest wealth transfer of our time, where almost 4% of the housing stock was transferred into the hands of rent seekers. I know, the rebuttal is -- if Ben allowed deflation nation, it would have been a lot worse. Got yams?

I think Dude flounced already, and the original topic is long forgotten, ironically.

Patrick.net: Come for the real estate, stay for the discussion and banter!

I actually found this place when someone pasted a snippet from here on a different forum. When vetting cut/pastes on this mostly conservative/redneckish industry forum, I often find that the text is making the rounds of the usual roster of right-wing-bubble sites, never repeated by mainstream media and falsehoods, misinformation, and outright lies are never corrected nor acknowleged. Then someone posted something interesting and relevant, and I found it originated at Patnet and had no instances elsewhere on the internet. Wow, an original post by an insightful thinker!
The original discussions on a variety of topics keep me coming to this site. I own my home and a business property, so my day to day interest in real estate matters is incidental to topical news being discussed. There would probably be a transient interest in RE topics if/when I'm buying another property, but for those outside the RE vertical, real estate discussion only has a limited period of interest in a given person's life.
Bottom line, keep discussion of all topics alive and interesting here, and be a little quicker to deep six trolls.

Automan Empire says

When vetting cut/pastes on this mostly conservative/redneckish industry forum, I often find that the text is making the rounds of the usual roster of right-wing-bubble sites, never repeated by mainstream media and falsehoods, misinformation, and outright lies are never corrected nor acknowleged.

I think the right-winger type ramblings on forums is a more recent phenomena. It doesn't seem to matter what forum we're talking about either. Basically all forums I participate in have the same types of posters who don't exactly care about the topic at hand so long as they can in some vague way tie the story again to liberals and whatever weird conspiracy/nutty theories they heard on the radio or whatever. It gets so old too.

The best forums I find are the ones who simply made a rule where no political or religious content is allowed. Everyone gets along better that way. Perhaps the same should be true for this site.

edvard2 says

I think the right-winger type ramblings on forums is a more recent phenomena.

The majority of the posters criticizing the status quo does not view those as partisan issues and therefore doesn't go for the left-wing / right-wing rhetoric. In fact it seems it is more those who defend the status quo who try to make this a partisan issue. There really isn't enough of a difference, no matter how much one would like to blame the other party.

mell says

The majority of the posters criticizing the status quo does not view those as partisan issues and therefore doesn't go for the left-wing / right-wing rhetoric. In fact it seems it is more those who defend the status quo who try to make this a partisan issue. There really isn't enough of a difference, no matter how much one would like to blame the other party.

But there is. It really comes down to the basic definitions of conservatism and liberalism where one side wants things to more or less stay the same, or in some cases even regress to a previous state while one side wants to move forward and in many instances actually does challenges the status-quo, and particularly when it comes to basic principles like civil rights, environmental concerns, and living conditions. I grew up in a fairly conservative family. I can appreciate what some of the beneficial values that conservatives present. I also realize that no party is perfect and that in reality one cannot live without the other. But its also grossly inaccurate to make a statement that they are more or less the same because they aren't. Good or bad they are totally opposite of one another and while neither "side" is without blame for the partisan mud-slinging, its clear that conservatives seem to be trying to fight a battle they are losing and the closer that reality comes to fruition the louder they seem to become.

Politically what is very apparent to me is that neither side really works for the people anymore. Both sides are manipulated like marionettes by various lobbys, industry groups, financial interests and very wealthy private individuals. You want something done? Better have tons of money to get your voice heard. This is why the infrastructure, schools, state and federal financial situations have gone down the toilet. With outside interests controlling elected officials its clear why everyday Americans are more or less getting the shaft: Infrastructure, schools, and other things that directly benefit the middle and lower class aren't super profitable for those who are doing the spending in Washington. It is absolutely no surprise to me that most any or all proposals that includes a new tax, a new social or public service, or a new program that could possibly benefit everday citizens is instantly shot down or criticized and done-in with overwhelming negative PR, the latest being the health care bill which had an enormous amount of corporate dollars opposing it even in the form of fake astroturf movements which ironically got the very people up in a huff in the name of "Freedom!" who would actually benefit them if it were passed but conversely benefit the corporate interests they were unwittingly protesting on behalf for.

Politics are totally messed up at this juncture. My take is that there needs to be a complete and total elimination of ALL corporate interests in Washington. You want to run for president? Fine. Stick up some posters, get everyday people to donate a few bucks, give a speech or two and be done with it. May the best person win. Want to get a law passed? Write to an elected official and tell them what you want. That's the way it should be.

edvard2 says

a new social or public service, or a new program that could possibly benefit everday citizens is instantly shot down or criticized and done-in with overwhelming negative PR, the latest being the health care bill

our currently f-u'd politics basically required the reform bloc to co-opt the insurance industry, get them in the tent vs. the rest of the health sector that's feeding at the trough, so PPACA would have at least some private money defending it. That was the lesson learned from HillaryCare at least.

Since the insurance industry skims only 10% or so, it's not the biggest ox that needs to be gored. Hospitals (i.e. hospitalization) is #1.