America this week, what the hell?

[jeremyc74]

I have no idea about republicans platforms or otherwise.

but, that goes back to schools. something the government is failing with. we both agree then, that they should have less influence on education.

No, it's not that the government is failing, it's that one particular party is pushing an agenda that makes no sense. If the government isn't going to handle education, then who will? Our private university system is more of a mess than the public schools are!

It comes down to personal responsibility. If you aren't in a positions where you can afford to buy condoms. Are you really in a position to be having sex? Could you not buy the pack of smokes and afford them? To put that responsibility on the government is weak. Really they are the ones to make sure we don't have unprotected sex. Men keep it in your pants. Ladies keep you legs closed. Real hard to get pregnant on accident. That's not the governments job in any way shape or form. That's a cop out plain and simple.

And there's that COMPLETELY unrealistic goal of abstinence. IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN, and the sooner people accept that and deal with the problem up front the better off we'll all be for it.


You have two choices. You can help pay for birth control, or you can accept a much higher rate of abortion and welfare. There is no third option. Humans are BUILT to procreate, and nothing anyone says or does is going to stop that. The first option is by far the cheaper of the two.

Oh, and if you think things are expensive now, just wait until we're dealing with 10k Zika babies a year that mothers can't afford to take care of. Another fine position by the Republicans in the House.

"Obama wants money to fight a disease that causes horrific birth defects."

"Lets add riders to it restricting contraception services, protecting the Confederate flag, cutting Obamacare and weakening the Clean Water Act, and then blame it on the Democrats when they won't pass it!"

And that's exactly what they did. Even with a Republican governor screaming at the top of his lungs for the funding, they left it at that and went on a 7 week break. The first Zika baby in the US died last week. We have three dozen homegrown cases in S. FL, and that's just that they know of.

If the Republicans lose the House in this election, it's because they DESERVE to.

 

[ThorInc]

No, it's not that the government is failing, it's that one particular party is pushing an agenda that makes no sense. If the government isn't going to handle education, then who will? Our private university system is more of a mess than the public schools are!



And there's that COMPLETELY unrealistic goal of abstinence. IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN, and the sooner people accept that and deal with the problem up front the better off we'll all be for it.


You have two choices. You can help pay for birth control, or you can accept a much higher rate of abortion and welfare. There is no third option. Humans are BUILT to procreate, and nothing anyone says or does is going to stop that. The first option is by far the cheaper of the two.

Oh, and if you think things are expensive now, just wait until we're dealing with 10k Zika babies a year that mothers can't afford to take care of. Another fine position by the Republicans in the House.

"Obama wants money to fight a disease that causes horrific birth defects."

"Lets add riders to it restricting contraception services, protecting the Confederate flag, cutting Obamacare and weakening the Clean Water Act, and then blame it on the Democrats when they won't pass it!"

And that's exactly what they did. Even with a Republican governor screaming at the top of his lungs for the funding, they left it at that and went on a 7 week break. The first Zika baby in the US died last week. We have three dozen homegrown cases in S. FL, and that's just that they know of.

If the Republicans lose the House in this election, it's because they DESERVE to.

A truly fine example of critical thinking. And, I am not being sarcastic.

 

[Thefishguy77]

No, it's not that the government is failing, it's that one particular party is pushing an agenda that makes no sense. If the government isn't going to handle education, then who will? Our private university system is more of a mess than the public schools are!







And there's that COMPLETELY unrealistic goal of abstinence. IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN, and the sooner people accept that and deal with the problem up front the better off we'll all be for it.





You have two choices. You can help pay for birth control, or you can accept a much higher rate of abortion and welfare. There is no third option. Humans are BUILT to procreate, and nothing anyone says or does is going to stop that. The first option is by far the cheaper of the two.



Oh, and if you think things are expensive now, just wait until we're dealing with 10k Zika babies a year that mothers can't afford to take care of. Another fine position by the Republicans in the House.



"Obama wants money to fight a disease that causes horrific birth defects."



"Lets add riders to it restricting contraception services, protecting the Confederate flag, cutting Obamacare and weakening the Clean Water Act, and then blame it on the Democrats when they won't pass it!"



And that's exactly what they did. Even with a Republican governor screaming at the top of his lungs for the funding, they left it at that and went on a 7 week break. The first Zika baby in the US died last week. We have three dozen homegrown cases in S. FL, and that's just that they know of.



If the Republicans lose the House in this election, it's because they DESERVE to.

So birth control stops mosquitos? You know that's how it primarily spreads correct. Yes it can be transmitted through sex. So I graduated high school in the mid 90's. Not too long ago. Guys still wanted to have sex but didn't expect to have it until you had been dating for around a month. Now it's first date in high school. I'm sorry but to say that's how it is and always had been is stupid. When actions had consequences it was a lot less prevalent. Did it happen yea of course. Was it as common. Hell no!

There are still a few "republicans" than want to overturn abortion. But not as many as the democrats tell us there are. Most realize that we would go back to back alley abortions and drinking poison to try and handle it discreetly. What most all of those writers that you speak of in the bill are to not federally fund it unless it's an emergency. I am pro choice out of reality. I personally would never encourage anyone to have an abortion. But that being said I think 3rd trimester ones should be banned. Except for medical reasons. You have had 6 months to make your choices. At that point they baby is viable. And after 8 months it's very viable.

Back to the republican argument. Why should the public pay for an individual's abortion because they failed to use protection. I'm sorry but I stand by my statement that if your can't afford to buy condoms then your probably not making good life choices regarding money and responsibility anyways. So you probably shouldn't be having sex. That's not saying you can't still be intimate with your partner. It's hard to get pregnant with foreplay. But if your out having unprotected sex because the government won't give you condoms. Knowing all about std's then are you really going to be using condoms if the government gives them to you? Really?

When I was in my teens it was hard to get a date with a girl if you didn't have a job. If you have a job you should be able to buy birth control. Have young ladies standards been set so low since I was that age that they will have relations with an unemployed deadbeat. I mean that just screams if I get pregnant he will totally turn his life around. Talk about bad logic and decision making.


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[nevada]

A truly fine example of critical thinking. And, I am not being sarcastic.

yes, very critical. of republicans. to which he blames for the problems. but at the same time saying its not the government that is failing.



ive mentioned it several times, and i believe i have asked before, but i will do it again.


what company/business/venture/association etc has the government ran successfully?

 

[Thefishguy77]

He won't answer because there isn't one.


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[nevada]

the government isn't failing, republicans are.

bwahahaha.

 

[Thefishguy77]

It's always one or the others fault. Nothing to do with the fact that they all work together and win together or loose together.


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[Jernik]

Part of the responsibility of deciding to have a family is making sure you can financially provide for them in some way. Sounds harsh but it's the truth. It's just as important and providing good nutrition or education. Failure to plan is planning to fail. I waited to have my first kid till I was in my late 30's. Finances were the main deciding factor in that decision.


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I'm not picking on you fishguy, but part of your post brought something else to mind; eating healthy is becoming an elitist thing too. Go to the store and try to provide a week's worth of healthy, balanced nutrition and compare that to what it costs to purchase cola and chips, or high sodium/corn syrup boxed meals. If you're poor, your diet is basically sugar and salt. It costs money to get nutrients!

 

[Thefishguy77]

Just like when bush took office he had 2 years with all republican majority. They "failed" to act on it. Same with Obama. All dem majority for 2 years and they "failed" to act on it. When is America going to wake up and realize all (most all) federal elected officials see us as sheep and they are the wolves.


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[Victor_inox]

the government isn't failing, republicans are.

bwahahaha.

:naughty:

 

[nevada]

I'm not picking on you fishguy, but part of your post brought something else to mind; eating healthy is becoming an elitist thing too. Go to the store and try to provide a week's worth of healthy, balanced nutrition and compare that to what it costs to purchase cola and chips, or high sodium/corn syrup boxed meals. If you're poor, your diet is basically sugar and salt. It costs money to get nutrients!

yes, it does.

how expensive is a personal vegetable garden? I really don't know. never had one.
though, I do expect it would be less than buying "quality" food from the store. but that's hard work...
that's not an elitist thing, unless of course people who work hard are elitist. then maybe it is...

 

[ThorInc]

Just like when bush took office he had 2 years with all republican majority. They "failed" to act on it. Same with Obama. All dem majority for 2 years and they "failed" to act on it. When is America going to wake up and realize all (most all) federal elected officials see us as sheep and they are the wolves.


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It's how the elected officials are corrupted that is the real issue. Money is the tool and divided populace is the shell game.

The wolves (in sheep's clothing) run the government by corrupting the politicans.

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[Victor_inox]

OUtlaw lobbying.

 

[Hepar]

yes, it does.

how expensive is a personal vegetable garden? I really don't know. never had one.
though, I do expect it would be less than buying "quality" food from the store. but that's hard work...
that's not an elitist thing, unless of course people who work hard are elitist. then maybe it is...

That example may not be a cost thing. Or an elitist thing. But it is definitely a time thing. It takes time. And for many, time is something they have very little of. For example, a single-parent with two small children. Not much spare time to tend to a vegetable garden. And that's assuming you have the space for one. Now, before we get back to the argument of not having children before you can afford them, remember that many single-parent families were once dual-parent ones and successful ones at that. My sister is a prime example. She went from the standard look of a family. Husband and two kids to virtually overnight being a single mom who several years later has yet to see a dime from the father. She was fortunate to have a safety net of helpful family and friends around, but her struggle would have been greatly magnified had she not had it.

To me the greatest issue we seem to have is the blaming of anything on one specific issue, be it government, the libs, the GOP, whatever. We need to stop that. It gets us nowhere. It is not that simple.

 

[Gunslinger-13]

I'm not picking on you fishguy, but part of your post brought something else to mind; eating healthy is becoming an elitist thing too. Go to the store and try to provide a week's worth of healthy, balanced nutrition and compare that to what it costs to purchase cola and chips, or high sodium/corn syrup boxed meals. If you're poor, your diet is basically sugar and salt. It costs money to get nutrients!

Yep, it's all the fault of those "elitist" folks. No personal responsibility necessary. It's all everyone else's fault. The government is the only way things will get better...

Dude, right here in this country the poor people have it better than any other poor people in any other country in the world in our known history.

They have TONS of programs to better themselves, tons of money/assistance from the government provided by the folks who produce.

They can go to a church and ask for help. They can go door to do asking to do labor for trade for food or clothing.

There are endless possibilities.

Of course some folks are mentally or physically disabled and have issues with earning a livable wage and fitting into society- but there are tons of programs and churches and assistance out there for them.

It's as if I am supposed to feel bad- I came from a poor ass family. We worked our way out of it. Didn't make anyone deal with our issues but us.

No sob story, just hard work and keeping at it. Never asked for handouts- but always willing to work for an honest living or food or whatever.

If you are upset at the gap in livable wages and prosperity getting harder and harder to attain- look no further than the government for helping to create those conditions. Trade deals, sending jobs overseas, regulating/taxing business out of profitability, illegal alien labor tax credits for big biz, etc, etc, etc.

The lobbying going on in Washington is a big issue. Just look at how easy it is to buy and pay for a politician. Just fund them and then send them emails telling what you need done (Clinton/Soro's anyone?). Poof- it happens. Pork in legislation. The system is corrupt as FVCK. And until we clean house and make some changes, more government is just going to make the problems much much worse.

It's interesting that when we had less government interference people could live off of low incomes, but the more the gov grows, the less they can fend for themselves and the more they have to rely on the .gov. That's called a clue. A Red flag. It's almost as if the .gov wants to control people and make them reliant on the system. Go figure...

There are a lot of problems in this country and all most all of them can be tracked back to the fed.gov in some way, sure there are other players involved, but the fed.gov is holding the game board and dictating the rules.

 

[Jernik]

yes, it does.

how expensive is a personal vegetable garden? I really don't know. never had one.
though, I do expect it would be less than buying "quality" food from the store. but that's hard work...
that's not an elitist thing, unless of course people who work hard are elitist. then maybe it is...

Depends... When we were in Indiana and lived in the country we shared a 30 x 90 plot with a neighbor. For that size, we spent $ on a good sized rear tine tiller, electric fence to keep most varmints out, rake, hoe, shovel, soil tests, and various fertilizers to get/keep the nutrients in the soul where they were needed. The seeds were cheap, but we bought some plants already started (tomatoes and peppers) which cost more. Then there was watering (hoses and sprinklers), and while I tried to avoid it we did have to get some pesticide for the tomato plants. Plenty of time was spent weeding.

Then, when harvest hit we spent money on the tools to preserve what we could. Jars, lids, preservatives (where needed), a vacuum sealer and bags. There are definitely some start up costs with a large garden.

None of this touches on the time spent to prep, plant, weed, harvest, and preserve. It was a big investment, but oh so worth it if you can do it!

Now we're in a subdivision. Our entire lot is only slightly larger than the garden we used to have lol, and the dirt here is garbage. Sand and clay. Any decent topsoil there may have been was mostly stripped away by the developer. I'm trying to get a garden going, currently a little 2' x 8' plot, with plans to expand. It's not been as fruitful (bad soil), so I'm still trying to get that up to speed. Basically, if I had to rely on this garden to feed myself, I'd be starving!

On edit; the 30 x 90 garden did provide enough produce for 3 people for a little over a year. Problem is, it takes about 4-6 months of invested time and money to get the first result. After that, if crops/harvests are good you could sustain yourself in vegetables. Fruit trees/plants generally take longer to be productive. We were lucky to also have mature pear, apple, cherry, and mulberry trees on our property, plus a healthy bunch of wild blackberries that grew in the woods behind the house.

It ruined me. Even "fresh" produce from the stores is nowhere near as good as what we had...

 

[Thefishguy77]

We have had so much of this organic crap shoved down our gullets lately that everybody seems to over look canned veggies and fruits. Do they taste as good? No but they are not bad. Are they as fresh? No but they still have a lot of nutrition. Can they be found on sale for $0.99 a can? Yup. Chicken whole friers are cheap as well. $0.99-$1.10 per pound. Average frier up here is about 5 pounds. That's 8 bucks for a family dinner. Call it $10 if you factor in a glass of milk and spices to cook the chicken in. A chicken and 2 cans of veggies should feed a family of 3-4 a day. It's not awesome. But it's healthy.

I grow a veggie garden. Always have, I was raised to be able to provide for myself and my family. Both sets of my grandparents went through the depression. Farming your own food is what saved their lives. It doesn't take a lot of space. Sqft gardening (gridded container) and pots will provide you with a substantial amount of veggies and fruits. I have 4 tomato plants growing in 5 gallon buckets with a hole drilled in the bottom for drainage. I get tons of tomatoes every year. They can be grown in the back yard or on a small deck. Is it easy no, is it hard, not really. It's just prioritizing you time. Sure tv, video games, working on our 4runners is all good and fun. But it's a hobby. Not growing and providing food for you family. That's a responsibility. There have been many studies done where it shows time and again the people will forgo good for themselves and family to be able to afford smokes and drink. It's personal responsibility people. It's so simple it seems impossible. But very rarely if you completely fail at something do you bear zero responsibility. Most of the time it's probably of 50% your fault. Late to work? Is it traffic or did you shave every extra minute off so you could get that extra 10 min of sleep. So when something goes wrong it's traffics fault? Partly sure but also if you factored in 10-15 minutes of extra traffic a day you would arrive on time most every time. And have time to sit and enjoy your cup of coffee before work.


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[Thefishguy77]

That example may not be a cost thing. Or an elitist thing. But it is definitely a time thing. It takes time. And for many, time is something they have very little of. For example, a single-parent with two small children. Not much spare time to tend to a vegetable garden. And that's assuming you have the space for one. Now, before we get back to the argument of not having children before you can afford them, remember that many single-parent families were once dual-parent ones and successful ones at that. My sister is a prime example. She went from the standard look of a family. Husband and two kids to virtually overnight being a single mom who several years later has yet to see a dime from the father. She was fortunate to have a safety net of helpful family and friends around, but her struggle would have been greatly magnified had she not had it.

To me the greatest issue we seem to have is the blaming of anything on one specific issue, be it government, the libs, the GOP, whatever. We need to stop that. It gets us nowhere. It is not that simple.

Agreed. We also need to shoulder some of the blame ourselves. I am sorry for your sisters situation. Sometime there is no fault to be had by one party. But many times there is warning signs. It's hard to fight for a relationship. Very hard but usually marital problems are a dual party thing. Very rarely one sided. Well he went out and cheated on me. Well you quit being sexual with him 3 months before that. Both parties usually have blame.


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[Hepar]

Agreed. We also need to shoulder some of the blame ourselves. I am sorry for your sisters situation. Sometime there is no fault to be had by one party. But many times there is warning signs. It's hard to fight for a relationship. Very hard but usually marital problems are a dual party thing. Very rarely one sided. Well he went out and cheated on me. Well you quit being sexual with him 3 months before that. Both parties usually have blame.


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100% agree. No idea what the breaking point was, but I whole-heartedly know it was not all his or her fault. Personally, having known my sister my whole life, I find it shocking anyone could deal with her BS. But that doesn't change the end result, which was her by herself with two kids. ZERO support financially or physically from him. I don't care how bad things get. Separate, but you damn sure better step up for your kids.

 

[Hepar]

If you are upset at the gap in livable wages and prosperity getting harder and harder to attain- look no further than the government for helping to create those conditions. Trade deals, sending jobs overseas, regulating/taxing business out of profitability, illegal alien labor tax credits for big biz, etc, etc, etc.

You honestly believe that if big businesses went unregulated, that it would decrease the almost 400x pay gap between top and bottom earners?

If you want to blame one thing, blame detachment. Why was it harder to see such gaps in the past? Imagine if you have a small town who's economy runs around a small mill. Obviously you'd have a gap between the owner of the mill and the lowest person on the totem pole. But would it be such a huge divide? If the everyday things the owner needed involved personal interactions with his employees and all it effects, most likely not. It is very hard to have if you interact with those who have not and you are in control of it. It would be a very cold and callous person who could stock his shopping cart with food, see Bill who's family he knows and who he interacts with daily at work, struggle to fill his because he is trying to have the maximum possible production out of his mill. But we live in a detached world. Corporate offices are nowhere near their factories or their employees. They are no more to them as the chickens are who lay eggs for an egg farmer.

A prime example is that show Undercover Boss. I know, so much of it is BS, but it still often has the same result. An owner or CEO who doesn't seem to care about anything until it is in his or her face. It is so easy to not care if you take all of the humanity out of an employee. And that is NOT the governments doing.