F u b p

[Steve-O]

Nuf said....

"Smoke a joint, go to jail. Spill millions of gallons of oil and then spray toxic chemicals in the water, go to a yacht race."

I love this country.

[Unimog Bob]

For the most part, I love the people of this country.
However, I hate (I don't use that word often, but truly mean it here) those in the government right now, especially Obamass.

I understand your hatred of BP, Steve. But (imo) you are overlooking the much larger evil that clearly didn't give a shi.t about even attempting to regulate BP. The MMS is a ****ing joke, as are most of the programs the Fed runs.

Surely you guys have read the "cut and paste" applications filed (and passed by MMS) regarding rigs in the Gulf. If not, read one.
The environmental assessments mention walrus (in the GULF?)
Also, you guys have to have read the gigantic disparities in fines levied against BP vs. the other oil companies in the last decade. BP simply didn't care and paid fines as opposed to changing behavior. I blame the regulators for allowing that to happen.

It blows my mind how much the majority of Americans pay, for the Fed gov't to do nothing (but maybe screw us). It really blows my mind.

The sadder thing is that most (I would guess 95%) don't even know what MMS stands for, let alone have the ability to question authority.
I strongly suspect this is largely due to the primary goal of our current public school system (to keep people ignorant).

Most people are falling for Obama's and Congress' crucifixion of BP.
Obviously BP is a monster. But our gov't made no attempts to tame the monster (MMS takes in billions a year on royalties for oil companies to drill and is therefore conflicted). And now Obama has the balls to point the finger?

It's way too late to blame Bush and BP, Obama. I wish someone would kick YOUR ass.

(I fully understand this rant is pointless)


Scott Fears

[Steve-O]

I never paid too much attention to politics, but it seems the older I get, the more I want to know.

Our gov't is without question screwed up and doesn't represent the majority. It's all about the bottom line, and unfortunately guys like you and me don't seem to affect that part.

I am disgusted by the people in my circle that are collecting unemployment and food stamps that make more money than I do.

Disgusted by our military budget, our lack of education budget, and so many wrongs in the world that the US govt causes.

My dad told me that as bad as a dictatorship may sound, it might be the most effective way to actually make a ****ing decision and actually get something to happen. Case in point, look at the mess we are in.

What mess is next???

[Unimog Bob]

Like you, I ignored politics because I knew it would only piss me off.
I started reading about politics and economics (fairly voraciously) about 2 to 3 years ago when the "shi.t hit the fan", mainly to try to figure out which country provided future options. My reading (not of MSM) provided me with some insight, but it's hard to trust any source of info.
I feel most comfortable with takes from Austrian Economists however.

A cursory understanding of AE is all you need (imo) to easily see the corruption and joke that our government truly is. I feel it's better to try to be educated than in the dark, even if your ability to affect much change is limited. Fact is, the more people that become educated, the better the chance for change.

I am not very optimistic about even 10% of the population taking any time whatsoever to become educated, however. My experience is that the vast majority of people prefer to be clueless and would rather watch "Real housewives of...." or whatever. Because of this, it's fairly easy for the media to get most people to swallow whatever they put out there with sound bytes and for Obamass to distract us with his "kick someone's ass" statements.

I can't relate to collecting a dime from the gov't. I would literally rather die.

If interested, this book (free online here.... http://jim.com/econ/ ) is a great intro to AE. It's written in a wonderful manner, imo. The author doesn't try to impress you with big words, but instead tries to allow you to understand his thought process.

Here is a good site for AE - http://mises.org/

[Kiteboarding Tampa Bay]

This is not BP related but worth sharing, as its Obama's labor secretary using our tax dollars to HELP illegal immigrants get fair wages with this federally funded public service announcement:
(Remember, its free and confidential to report ANYONE who does not pay illegal, undocumented workers their fair share....)
Love that catchy tune too!
"We can help, we'll get you what you do.
We can help, we're always there for you."

[Whitey]

How's the "Change" coming along?

[BigR]

Our gov't is without question screwed up and doesn't represent the majority

Wrong, the problem is that the gov't does represent the majority.

The gov't went real wrong about the time the majority figured out
that they could vote for giving themselves all sorts of huge freebie's
and the politicians figured out they could get relected if they just
kept giving the majority all of these nice freebies.

You see, in the old days of no democracy people would just accept
the pain of a hard economy. But when you can just vote for giving
away free money to make the pain go away, everybody hits the "instant
gratification" button instead of the "fix it" button

[bayflite]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv3Ue...ayer_embedded#!
here is a real nice song to counter the never ending news a rama cycle which is a distraction to the important things IMO
song starts 1 1/2 minutes in.
p.s. god bless america

[Unimog Bob]

There are always ten to twenty ways to see everything, imo. I try to see them all and respect all takes on reality. Imo, the important things are your health and happiness, as Bayflite alludes to.
The thing is though, I also feel we shouldn't wander blindly focusing on just those things. I believe we should be grateful for what we have- but also try to protect those things from being taken from us.

[Danimal8199]

Originally Posted by Unimog Bob

I can't relate to collecting a dime from the gov't. I would literally rather die.

http://mises.org/

I say this jokingly Scott but didn't most of us receive a $600 dollar stimulus compliments of Obama? and for most that work we had a temporary tax decrease to put a little more cash back in our pockets??

I feel everyones pain though... through all of it if you need some relief just go down to the beach and drink a cold beer at sunset, go home, take a hot shower and eat a hot meal, will remind you that no matter how bad it can be, we still have some good things out there!