Mitt gets back into his normal routine at home: "Oh, Jeeves!Re-hire the illegals!I'm not running for office, for Pete's sake!"

— Bill Harnsberger (@BillinPortland) November 8, 2012

Today I will hear no such talk!

re: #1 darthstar

lol

PAMELA FAIL

Sharia in America: Muhammad Filmmaker now Political Prisoner gets prison sentence: Four more years! How many pol... bit.ly/WCFcj7

— Pamela Geller (@Atlasshrugs) November 8, 2012

All of Pamela is all fail, all the time, but this is a SPECTACULAR Fail. The guy was tossed in the slammer for diverse felonies which had NADA to do with that lame video.

Image: bd0183581.jpg

The real question now is whether the conservative movement will pull back even farther into their ideological foxhole.

— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) November 8, 2012

Mitt Romney's failure gives the GOP a perfect excuse to get even more extreme.

— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) November 8, 2012

re: #6 Charles Johnson

Bernie Goldberg was on O'Reilly just now, advising Republicans to start playing down their socon agenda, so their attitudes don't become an electability problem while they're running. A stealthier war on women.

Eek!

Image: Screen%20Shot%202012-11-07%20at%208.16.28%20PM.png

More here: Romney's Transition Site

By far the best article I've read today
Hope and Change: Part 2
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

The G.O.P. has lost two presidential elections in a row because it forced its candidate to run so far to the loony right to get through the primaries, dominated by its ultraconservative base, that he could not get close enough back to the center to carry the national election. It is not enough for Republicans to tell their Democratic colleagues in private — as some do — “I wish I could help you, but our base is crazy.” They need to have their own reformation. The center-right has got to have it out with the far-right, or it is going to be a minority party for a long time.

Read the whole thing, it's worth it.

What a day, I'm going to give up being caught up. Little sleep, too much coffee, trying to hold the giddiness in while talking to my boss. The President re-elected, keep control of the Senate and rwnj's drowning their tears en masse. Then I come home to this - ninja cat and the day has just been about purrfect.

Nice marriage of CGI? with a home movie.

re: #9 Killgore Trout

It is not enough for Republicans to tell their Democratic colleagues in private — as some do — “I wish I could help you, but our base is crazy.” They need to have their own reformation. The center-right has got to have it out with the far-right, or it is going to be a minority party for a long time.

I'm sure they'll have turned the corner on that in, oh, six months or so...

Hmmm.

After Obama was elected in 2008 we heard the same "GOP has to move to the center" talk. The problem, and the reason why they don't, is that their political ideology puts them way outside the mainstream of America. They simply can't move to the center. It's a gap they cannot cross.

And the gap widens every day.

re: #9 Killgore Trout

The GOP is now receiving threats from the "Patriots":

Tea party bashes Romney, vows comeback

The tea party was in finger-pointing mode Wednesday, and the digits weren’t aimed at President Barack Obama.

Tea partiers placed the blame of the “epic election failure of 2012″ squarely on Mitt Romney and the Republican establishment during a press conference at the National Press Club.

“What we got was a weak, moderate candidate hand-picked by the Beltway elites and country club establishment wing of the Republican Party,” Tea Party Patriots national coordinator Jenny Beth Martin said. ”The presidential loss is unequivocally on them.”

Romney’s flaws? The list went on and on. Martin said that if candidates don’t start playing the game Constitution-style, it won’t be pretty for the GOP.

Martin and representatives from the Susan B. Anthony List, Americans for Tax Reform and The Paul Revere Project, among others, warned future Republican presidential and congressional hopefuls will be doomed if they don’t stick to traditional conservative values and small-government ideals.

[...]

Hmmm.

Drudge's headline is Boehner's "olive branch," which is little more than trying to enact Romney's economic proposals through different means.

deadmaus?
deadlaus?

Coincidence?

On Tuesday, according to exit polls, whites accounted for 72 percent. Obama received 39 percent of that white vote, compared with 43 percent in 2008. That compares with the 42 percent Al Gore captured in 2000 and the 41 percent John F. Kerry took in 2004. In fact, it is the lowest for any Democrat running in a two-way contest since 1984, when Walter Mondale received 35 percent of the white vote.

Hmmm...

re: #14 Charles Johnson

After Obama was elected we heard the same "GOP has to move to the center" talk. The problem, and the reason why they don't, is that their political ideology puts them way outside the mainstream of America. They simply can't move to the center. It's a gap they cannot cross.

And the gap widens every day.

Exactly. Everyone keeps talking about it like the issues that push the GOP out to the right are peripheral ones, and if they could just shed those and get back to their core beliefs they could appeal to more of the electorate. But it is the CORE BELIEFS of a major chunk of the GOP that voters do not like. You can't fix that quickly or easily, and you certainly can't fix it by going for cosmetic "tone" and "message" changes. The problems here are fundamental.

Hmmm.

re: #14 Charles Johnson

There is nothing wrong with conservatism. The problem lies with messaging. Period.

— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) November 7, 2012

Today I've seen a lot of talk from conservatives about changing the message, hiding the message, or doubling down on their principles.

re: #19 freetoken

Hmmm...

The white vote was a much bigger chunk in 1984.

re: #18 Vicious Babushka

deadmaus?
deadlaus?

Coincidence?

Vicious thing to say.

re: #14 Charles Johnson

After Obama was elected we heard the same "GOP has to move to the center" talk. The problem, and the reason why they don't, is that their political ideology puts them way outside the mainstream of America. They simply can't move to the center. It's a gap they cannot cross.

And the gap widens every day.

Nah, the one that's amusing me is talk about how Obama winning reelection and Senate Democrats holding the line means that they're now the ones who have to "reach across the aisle." That they're now obligated to work with Republicans, instead of the other way around.

re: #9 Killgore Trout

By far the best article I've read today
Hope and Change: Part 2
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Read the whole thing, it's worth it.

Recommendation seconded. Friedman touches on the effect of globalization on the labor market, which is one of the numerous important issues not addressed in the campaign.

I don't agree with the violent protesters at WTO events, but labor outsourcing is a real problem. The only developed nation that does not appear to have a problem with this is Germany, but Germany is a special case. The Euro is a weaker currency than Germany would have on its own, helping its exports be competitive.

re: #22 jaunte

[Embedded content]

Today I've seen a lot of talk from conservatives about changing the message, hiding the message, or doubling down on their principles.

Conservatism cannot fail, it can only be failed!

re: #26 EPR-radar

Germany is like Mini-China.

Hmmm.

re: #27 Targetpractice

@dloesch @rbpundit the problem also lies with the people. too many have chosen the quick and easy path of government

— Charles(@repub9989) November 7, 2012

"The people are weak, and have failed me!"

re: #22 jaunte

[Embedded content]

Today I've seen a lot of talk from conservatives about changing the message, hiding the message, or doubling down on their principles.

And that is why they will continue to fail. They are selling a shit sandwich, and they think the reason sales are low is that the ad campaign isn't "hip" enough.

re: #28 ProGunLiberal

Germany is like Mini-China.

Nein doch!

Gah!

From my email:

Who voted for Obama:

1. The Young ( the oblivious, dope smokers, the naive ) .
2. The single women ( need govt. assistance ) .
3. Blacks ( they like high unemployment) .
4. Latinos ( looking for Amnesty for Illegals) .
5. Gays ( looking for marriage equality ).
6. Jews ( they secretly must hate Israel ).
7. Atheists ( Govt. is God )
8. Liberal ( mental disorder )

The subtext, which is obvious to everyone except probably the author, is that there's something TERRIBLY WRONG with everyone who isn't a geriatric white (nominally) heterosexual Christian male. This mentality, which is fueled by RWNJ radio, Fox News Channel, and feedback-loop idiocy on the intertubes, is why the GOP will (and should) remain a minority party from now on. The world moved into the 21st century, and Republicans are going the way of every organism that can't or won't adapt to its changing environment.

re: #15 freetoken

The GOP is now receiving threats from the "Patriots":

Tea party bashes Romney, vows comeback

It ain't gonna happen. Sure the FreedomWorks, Americans for Prosperity (or whatever) are still out there but the Tea Party, as a populist movement, died quite some time ago. It was a fluke. American conservatism and populist protest movements was an awkward combination. The money behind it still exists and has influence but the Tea Party is long dead. Hopefully the Republican party is getting tired of throwing its money away on unelectable candidates. It's the free market at work; Republicans need something in return for their investment. Gas, grass or ass, nobody rides for free.

re: #29 goddamnedfrank

Hmmm.

Image: conspiracy.jpg

re: #32 deadmaus

Economically that is. Though they tend to be nasty to refugees and the Turko-Germans are not accepted much, if at all.

re: #33 Our Precious Bodily Fluids

Gah!

From my email:

The subtext, which is obvious to everyone except probably the author, is that there's something TERRIBLY WRONG with everyone who isn't a geriatric white (nominally) heterosexual male. This mentality, which is fueled by RWNJ radio, Fox News Channel, and feedback-loop idiocy on the intertubes, is why the GOP will (and should) remain a minority party from now on. The world moved into the 21st century, and Republicans are going the way of every organism that can't or won't adapt to its changing environment.

They also like white women, provided they're married and thus "know their place."

re: #36 ProGunLiberal

Economically that is. Though they tend to be nasty to refugees and the Turko-Germans are not accepted much, if at all.

Ah I see, agreed.

re: #26 EPR-radar

Recommendation seconded. Friedman touches on the effect of globalization on the labor market, which is one of the numerous important issues not addressed in the campaign.

Agreed. The most troubling thing about this campaign for me was how many important issue weren't discussed. Although I'm happy with the results it was a side show distraction from the very serious problems we face.

re: #38 deadmaus

My Imam discussed with me the fact that there seems to be a problem with my learning languages. Told me to learn the prayers and read the Quran in English until we figure out what the malfunction is.

I want to learn 2nd+ languages. :'(

re: #9 Killgore Trout

Confessing - I really don't like Friedman, and it's because of things like this:

The next generation is going to need immigration of high-I.Q. risk-takers from India, China and Latin America if the U.S. is going to remain at the cutting edge of the Information Technology revolution ...

Oh, why? Note he doesn't give an argument for that assertion, he just throws it out there as some self-evident truth.

But it's quite likely not to be true. Innovation comes in spurts, has been strongly linked to either "free markets" or to necessity (e.g., war or starvation), and isn't predictable reliably enough for anyone to state with confidence from where the next shiny new savior ("technology") will come.

Rachel showing the Fox real-time meltdown from last night. Fucking hilarious.

re: #40 ProGunLiberal

Does the Quran even translate well into english?

re: #43 deadmaus

Just doing as he said on that.

re: #5 darthstar

Image: bd0183581.jpg

Gus needs to do his version of that.

re: #7 jaunte

Bernie Goldberg was on O'Reilly just now, advising Republicans to start playing down their socon agenda, so their attitudes don't become an electability problem while they're running. A stealthier war on women.

In other words, lie about their intentions for this country.

Too late, shitheads...

This desire for a savior-tech, which Friedman has expressed before, I find to be quite disheartening.

I contend it's just a fancy way of avoiding difficult decisions.

President Obama has this same fetish, but then again so do most of the insider elite, at least when the express their beliefs in a public forum (and who knows what they say in private.)

re: #22 jaunte

[Embedded content]

Today I've seen a lot of talk from conservatives about changing the message, hiding the message, or doubling down on their principles.

If you are having trouble messaging after spending a billion dollars doing so, I would suggest that the problem isn't the messaging but the ideas themselves.

re: #44 ProGunLiberal

Just doing as he said on that.

Is it the vocabulary and grammar, or learning to read in Arabic, that you're finding hard? Or both?

From fivethirtyeight:

The FiveThirtyEight team is still recuperating, but the election provided a fresh supply of data points that we’ll be connecting in the coming days. How did the FiveThirtyEight model perform? How did the polls do? What are Gov. Chris Christie’s odds of winning the White House in 2016? (Just kidding about that last one.)

Thank you for staying with us throughout the campaign, and please, stay tuned.

re: #41 freetoken

Confessing - I really don't like Friedman, and it's because of things like this:

Oh, why? Note he doesn't give an argument for that assertion, he just throws it out there as some self-evident truth.

But it's quite likely not to be true. Innovation comes in spurts, has been strongly linked to either "free markets" or to necessity (e.g., war or starvation), and isn't predictable reliably enough for anyone to state with confidence from where the next shiny new savior ("technology") will come.

Friedman has his issues but that's a very true statement. We do need high IQ immigrants to compete.

re: #49 SanFranciscoZionist

Is it the vocabulary and grammar, or learning to read in Arabic, that you're finding hard? Or both?

beat me to it. was just about to ask that.

re: #49 SanFranciscoZionist

All of the above. And not just Arabic.

I only passed Italian by the squeakiest of margins. The Teacher was sad to see me trying so hard and making little progress. So there is something else going on.

re: #51 recusancy

Friedman has his issues but that's a very true statement. We do need high IQ immigrants to compete.

What does that mean?

re: #54 freetoken

What does that mean?

That we need the best and brightest from around the world.

re: #53 ProGunLiberal

All of the above. And not just Arabic.

I only passed Italian by the squeakiest of margins. The Teacher was sad to see me trying so hard and making little progress. So there is something else going on.

It's just that a new alphabet can add fiendish new problems to language acquisition.

Good luck!

re: #56 SanFranciscoZionist

Any ideas what the issue could be? Italian has the same alphabet, so there must be something else moving around.

re: #55 recusancy

That we need the best and brightest from around the world.

If they want to come, I'm happy to see them, but how come we can't grow 'em at home?

And the big political news out here in California?

Sex workers decry passage of ‘paternalistic’ Measure B

Los Angeles’ burgeoning adult entertainment industry was reeling on Wednesday after more than one million residents voted Yes on Measure B, which requires porn performers to wear condoms and mandates random inspections of porn shoots.

[...]

Porn will never be the same.

Also, I didn't realize the LA porn business was burgeoning. I was under the impression that home videos and piracy had cut deeply into the biz.

re: #57 ProGunLiberal

Any ideas what the issue could be? Italian has the same alphabet, so there must be something else moving around.

Honestly, not my field. Some people have more of a knack for languages than others. What was your experience learning to read and write English like?

re: #55 recusancy

That we need the best and brightest from around the world.

Because?

re: #58 SanFranciscoZionist

If they want to come, I'm happy to see them, but how come we can't grow 'em at home?

We can but shouldn't limit ourselves to just home cooked meals.

re: #58 SanFranciscoZionist

If they want to come, I'm happy to see them, but how come we can't grow 'em at home?

Other questions also come up --- in a globalized economy, why does it matter where the innovators live?

Dun dun dun!

Allen West filing lawsuit demanding a full hand recount.

re: #51 recusancy

Friedman has his issues but that's a very true statement. We do need high IQ immigrants to compete.

We need American kids to be well educated and that requires a significant investment in schools, teachers, and university grants. High IQ immigrants are welcome but no replacement for throwing away our own resources for RW ideological bullshit.

re: #61 freetoken

Because?

Umm... Because I'd rather have the best and brightest in America than somewhere else. I didn't know that this was such a controversial opinion. Seems kind of obvious.

re: #60 SanFranciscoZionist

No real huge difficulties. I don't like writing papers, but I think that is just normal. The paper thing is a result of a "wall" between my brain and mouth/fingers.

I have trouble expressing my thoughts.

Looking for work?

House Democrats announce resume bank

People seeking jobs with Democrats in the U.S. House can submit resumes to an online job bank, Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland said Wednesday.

[...]

re: #64 goddamnedfrank

Dun dun dun!

Allen West filing lawsuit demanding a full hand recount.

*deadpan* Color me shocked.

re: #8 Gus

Eek!

Image: Screen%20Shot%202012-11-07%20at%208.16.28%20PM.png

More here: Romney's Transition Site

The lead comment on Politicalwire.com suggested some Green Day to go with that one:

re: #40 ProGunLiberal

My Imam discussed with me the fact that there seems to be a problem with my learning languages. Told me to learn the prayers and read the Quran in English until we figure out what the malfunction is.

I want to learn 2nd+ languages. :'(

Open in new tab / window because this graphic is huge.

I'm assuming you're trying to learn Arabic. According the State Department's Foreign Service institute, that's one of the 5 most difficult languages for native English speakers to learn. Think 88 weeks, 2200 classroom hours to achieve basic proficiency. Unless you're very gifted with language, you're not going to be able to teach yourself, like you probably could most of the common European languages like German, French, Italian, Spanish, etc. Don't beat yourself up over having a hard time learning a very difficult language.

See also this PDF:
[Link: fsitraining.state.gov...]

Hmmm.

BTW, my "Post It" button tends to stop working after a while and I need to reload the page.

Using Chrome.

re: #56 SanFranciscoZionist

It's just that a new alphabet can add fiendish new problems to language acquisition.

Good luck!

Yep, I had the same issue with Russian in college. Then add in reading and writing in the wrong direction like Arabic and Hebrew and out comes the HULK RAGE!

re: #48 Petero1818

If you are having trouble messaging after spending a billion dollars doing so, I would suggest that the problem isn't the messaging but the ideas themselves.

David Brooks (amazingly) made almost exactly this point on NPR today. The gist of it was that the GOP spent tons of money on marketing and probably next to nothing on thinktank-style development of policy and ideas that would actually appeal to people. They still think they can run on ideas from 1980.

Matching ties, and matching skin tones???

Boehner, GOP leaders take on new tone, pledging compromise

re: #66 recusancy

Umm... Because I'd rather have the best and brightest in America than somewhere else. I didn't know that this was such a controversial opinion. Seems kind of obvious.

It's rough on a developing country losing its educated future to US corporations. Doesn't really serve to drain their brains then send them CARE packages.

re: #7 jaunte

Bernie Goldberg was on O'Reilly just now, advising Republicans to start playing down their socon agenda, so their attitudes don't become an electability problem while they're running. A stealthier war on women.

With their base? Good luck with that. You can hear it on the air 24/7 every day.

re: #71 Our Precious Bodily Fluids

Thing is, I tried to learn Arabic in my Sophomore Year. Had to drop it because of struggling in class.

re: #41 freetoken

Confessing - I really don't like Friedman, and it's because of things like this:

Oh, why? Note he doesn't give an argument for that assertion, he just throws it out there as some self-evident truth.

But it's quite likely not to be true. Innovation comes in spurts, has been strongly linked to either "free markets" or to necessity (e.g., war or starvation), and isn't predictable reliably enough for anyone to state with confidence from where the next shiny new savior ("technology") will come.

He wrote a book about it. The World is Flat. He makes a very strong case for the fact that globalization is inevitable, unstoppable and ultimately not really all that terrible for those who adapt. It's really worth reading even if you're not convinced by the end.

re: #75 Our Precious Bodily Fluids

David Brooks (amazingly) made almost exactly this point on NPR today. The gist of it was that the GOP spent tons of money on marketing and probably next to nothing on thinktank-style development of policy and ideas that would actually appeal to people. They still think they can run on ideas from 1980.

The problem is that Obama implemented their GOP think tank idea in Obamacare so they had to run against it.

Flipped it over to Fox, after one minute, Hannity shifts from whatever his guest was talking about (sequestration, I believe) into.........BENGHAZI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

re: #80 Killgore Trout

Not listening to the man behind the "Friedman Unit"

Frank Levy performs Liszt's "Vallee d'Obermann"

re: #66 recusancy

Umm... Because I'd rather have the best and brightest in America than somewhere else. I didn't know that this was such a controversial opinion. Seems kind of obvious.

Well, everything is political to me these days. I interpret stuff like this as trying to depress the labor market in the US for engineering and other skilled occupations (e.g., H1B visa abuse by employers).

re: #76 freetoken

Matching ties, and matching skin tones???

Boehner, GOP leaders take on new tone, pledging compromise

Has to be done and its best to do it now. The base is tired and while they may be angry, they won't erupt in rage for a few weeks. If Boehner can reach a deal with a moderate amount of dispatch then he can make it stick, because it'll be two years before the House has to face the voters again.

re: #79 ProGunLiberal

I find languages to be very challenging.

At least the spoken languages. For me to listen to a foreign language spoken is perhaps my biggest learning challenge. Japanese was and still is very difficult for me.

It is important to accept that human learning comes in different types, works in various parts of the brain, and that the spoken word uses different skills than the written language.

Accepting my limitations (as well as my strengths) has been part of what it means to be an adult. Took me a long time to simply not fret too much over the things that seem really big or too difficult for me.

Hannity - "The media failed the American people by not asking enough questions about BENGHAZI!!!!! and FAST AND FURIOUS!!!!!!!"

And coming up after the commercial.....that one SCARY BLACK PANTHER GUY!!!!!!

LOL at Hannity talking about anyone "failing the American people" after he and Fox News misled their audience into thinking it was going to be a Romney landslide.

re: #77 Decatur Deb

It's rough on a developing country losing its educated future to US corporations. Doesn't really serve to drain their brains then send them CARE packages.

It may be rough. But what you are starting to see around the world is the best and brightest leaving the so called developed nations to work in places like India and China for large multinationals and regional growth companies. For an economy to grow it needs skilled labor and typically in the developed world that growth comes in part from skilled immigration. This is a big growth driver in Canada. I suspect in the US it is as well.

re: #86 Dark_Falcon

Has to be done and its best to do it now. The base is tired and while they may be angry, they won't erupt in rage for a few weeks. If Boehner can reach a deal with a moderate amount of dispatch then he can make it stick, because it'll be two years before the House has to face the voters again.

If his proposal for "compromise" today is any indication, the GOP seems to at least agree with the wingnuts in their base that this election means nothing and that they can continue to act as though nothing happened of any significance yesterday.

re: #45 Ben G. Hazi

Gus needs to do his version of that.

#Romney #ROFLMAO logo. #p2 #tlot #Obama #Forward twitter.com/Gus_802/status...

— Gus (@Gus_802) November 8, 2012

re: #89 Petero1818

It may be rough. But what you are starting to see around the world is the best and brightest leaving the so called developed nations to work in places like India and China for large multinationals and regional growth companies. For an economy to grow it needs skilled labor and typically in the developed world that growth comes in part from skilled immigration. This is a big growth driver in Canada. I suspect in the US it is as well.

I've worked as an American in Korea, Italy, (Greece and Turkey a bit) and Israel. To maintain one of us in those economies took horrendous costs to the employer (US DoD). It was also common for us to recreate a closed colonial culture. Suspect the commercial world is much the same.

re: #80 Killgore Trout

He wrote a book about it. The World is Flat. He makes a very strong case for the fact that globalization is inevitable, unstoppable and ultimately not really all that terrible for those who adapt. It's really worth reading even if you're not convinced by the end.

From what I have read of his writings elsewhere, Friedman is a technocopian, believing in some magic technology that will somehow overcome depleting energy resources, overpopulation, climate change, and the like.

Globalization is totally dependent upon affordable global transportation, which in turn is dependent upon continuous and (if economies "grow") increasing energy supplies and other resources.

I question if by the last half of the 21st century the "global economy" will have successfully switched to non-carbon energy sources. Additionally, the deforestation of the rest of the large tropical and even (eventually) boreal forests will be large scale eco-system changes the affects of which will make for one of the great extinction events on this planet.

Call me a dystopian if you like, but I do not buy Friedman's belief system.

re: #90 Targetpractice

If his proposal for "compromise" today is any indication, the GOP seems to at least agree with the wingnuts in their base that this election means nothing and that they can continue to act as though nothing happened of any significance yesterday.

My hope is that Obama and the Democrats take a hard line in negotiations. (e.g., blowing off any future debt ceiling vote nonsense with a 1 line executive order referring to the 16th amendment)

Previous O/Dem proposals have often been grossly tilted in favor of the Republicans, but were rejected anyway. Such proposals should not happen again, because they might be accepted.

re: #94 EPR-radar

My hope is that Obama and the Democrats take a hard line in negotiations. (e.g., blowing off any future debt ceiling vote nonsense with a 1 line executive order referring to the 16th amendment)

Previous O/Dem proposals have often been grossly tilted in favor of the Republicans, but were rejected anyway. Such proposals should not happen again, because they might be accepted.

Giving the president the power to borrow as much he wants just by executive order? No, thanks. I'd sooner send the government over the fiscal cliff than do that. Better Congress vote to disband brigades and mothball ships than to yield its power in such a fashion. Yea, better a crippled government than an executive so permanently empowered.

re: #95 Dark_Falcon

Giving the president the power to borrow as much he wants just by executive order? No, thanks. I'd sooner send the government over the fiscal cliff than do that. Better Congress vote to disband brigades and mothball ships than to yield its power in such a fashion. Yea, better a crippled government than an executive so permanently empowered.

I won't go that far, but I'll agree, it's a bit excessive.

re: #92 Decatur Deb

I've worked as an American in Korea, Italy, (Greece and Turkey a bit) and Israel. To maintain one of us in those economies took horrendous costs to the employer (US DoD). It was also common for us to recreate a closed colonial culture. Suspect the commercial world is much the same.

I can't speak to how you lived as an expat, but in many cases the one's going to India and China are very talented Americans and Canadians of Indo or Chinese descent. They often do not create closed expat communities. But integrate well. In other cases expat communities are separate for sure. But it is the cost of business for many of these companies. I used to work in Beijing 15 years ago, was paid very well for it. Started a company there any paid other Westerners to do so. And they were for the most part worth it. If you can't find the skill you need locally you bring it. There is a cost for sure. But if the skill is at a premium there is a premium to gain for having it there.

re: #95 Dark_Falcon

Giving the president the power to borrow as much he wants just by executive order? No, thanks. I'd sooner send the government over the fiscal cliff than do that. Better Congress vote to disband brigades and mothball ships than to yield its power in such a fashion. Yea, better a crippled government than an executive so permanently empowered.

The debt ceiling vote is a joke, and should be treated as such. This is money that Congress has already spent. Congress's power of the purse was already exercised when the original appropriations were made.

re: #96 Targetpractice

I won't go that far, but I'll agree, it's a bit excessive.

I'm not a loon, but such an idea would be somewhat suspect constitutionally, and even if it could somehow pass literal muster, it would be a serious change of power in favor of the executive. Congress is the branch intended to have the Power of the Purse, and for that to remain true it is important that Congress retain power over borrowing.

While what I said was over-the-top in some ways, I really do feel that Congress retaining its power in borrowing is ultimately worth the inefficiencies it sometimes inflicts on government, and I'd believe that even if I was still selling to the government. It's that important.

re: #99 Dark_Falcon

I'm not a loon, but such an idea would be somewhat suspect constitutionally, and even if it could somehow pass literal muster, it would be a serious change of power in favor of the executive. Congress is the branch intended to have the Power of the Purse, and for that to remain true it is important that Congress retain power over borrowing.

While what I said was over-the-top in some ways, I really do feel that Congress retaining its power in borrowing is ultimately worth the inefficiencies it sometimes inflicts on government, and I'd believe that even if I was still selling to the government. It's that important.

Congress makes the Appropriations and sets the tax rates. If there is a disconnect here such that the deficit goes out of control, then Congress needs to spend less and/or tax more. Making a circus out of some arbitrary debt limit is just stupid. BTW, this stupidity directly led to a credit agency downgrade of US debt.

re: #93 freetoken

Globalization is totally dependent upon affordable global transportation, which in turn is dependent upon continuous and (if economies "grow") increasing energy supplies and other resources.

That's why you should read his book. It's not about transportation, you're thinking of a production economy. The economy of the future present is based on information and communication. As cheap as chips! Some dude living in Mumbai in a flat with 7 family members will do the same job as a 20 something college graduate living in Atlanta in a $700 a month apartment, widescreen cable tv/cellular phone contract and a fetish for vintage star wars figures. The dude in Munbai will work harder for less money with minimal added cost to his employer. No transportation of good involved. Nothing more than an internet connection.

Charles Johnson,

LOL! I don't want to mess with that baby!

re: #4 Vicious Babushka

Why should we be surprised? She's probably never going to stop, no matter what. Hopefully people who support her cause will keep losing enough time that they won't be able to effectively do anything. People like her ironically are far more of threat to our freedom than even the few genuine Muslim extremists living in the west. People like her have a lot of support, and they don't.