tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290940558322177176.comments2023-12-23T00:22:39.553-05:00Sun Tzu SaysSun Tzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03435848395263035323noreply@blogger.comBlogger903125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290940558322177176.post-20218171258484717032012-06-04T06:34:02.746-04:002012-06-04T06:34:02.746-04:00Somethings really should be commented on, this is ...Somethings really should be commented on, this is 1 of those things. Thank you so a lotAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290940558322177176.post-9833896103133913982012-05-12T22:09:41.757-04:002012-05-12T22:09:41.757-04:00I'm going to excuse the incoherence of that co...I'm going to excuse the incoherence of that comment because you are probably Polish. But that doesn't mean I have any idea what the point of that was supposed to be. Did I want to be paid? No. (And there are paid blogs of abstract design and content anyway). Are there more than one of me, no. One way to change a world is to convince people to try different ideas or to show that the things being done instead are wrong or harmful.<br /><br /> Anything else to contribute?Sun Tzuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03435848395263035323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290940558322177176.post-75315789833008142782012-05-12T20:00:38.438-04:002012-05-12T20:00:38.438-04:00nobody's gonna pay for abstract blog talking, ...nobody's gonna pay for abstract blog talking, i see u guys r just trying to live 3 person's lives and to satisfy this world with many stupid ideas... go on... u will change it if u try...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290940558322177176.post-80555493364808469822012-04-02T13:19:32.002-04:002012-04-02T13:19:32.002-04:00While I share some of the Hitchens type interpreta...While I share some of the Hitchens type interpretations of the indecency of Mother Teresa's work expressed above, I don't think it necessarily disqualifies her from useless symbolic gesturing by politicians. <br /><br />I do however share the desire to avoid useless symbolic gesturing, which is something I think is more clearly expressed by opposing the tedious desire to ceremonially honor people with expensive medals through Congressional sanction. I make some exception for military service or other conspicious public services by actual public servants in the employ of governments. But I'm still a little confused why we would need to debate something like this and why we need the entire legislative branch to do it. The public could do this just as well to provide assistance and recognition to well-intentioned "do-gooders" of a sort and is just as likely as Congress to miss occasionally and revere public figures who don't deserve our adulation. But it wouldn't force everyone to pay for it that way. Just the people who want to.Sun Tzuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03435848395263035323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290940558322177176.post-76074340280273053732012-03-31T16:52:39.767-04:002012-03-31T16:52:39.767-04:00Mother Teresa didn't help anyone, she ran a fu...Mother Teresa didn't help anyone, she ran a fucking death cult and all the money donated to her went to the vatican instead of things like medical treatment. The forced deathbed conversions are just a extra for free.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290940558322177176.post-24355857546154963212012-02-23T14:46:31.886-05:002012-02-23T14:46:31.886-05:00I think I commented on it largely because it was a...I think I commented on it largely because it was a neat summary of the terrible lack of logic involved in the arguments being made. All the time.Sun Tzuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03435848395263035323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290940558322177176.post-57638419412360602782012-02-23T14:43:39.316-05:002012-02-23T14:43:39.316-05:00Yes. I couldn't muster more than an eyeroll f...Yes. I couldn't muster more than an eyeroll for this. My thoughts surely weren't as detailed an analysis as this, but the word INVALID definitely crossed my mind for several of the images.not undecidedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02058430758679276980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290940558322177176.post-70341266696264528242012-02-08T15:55:26.519-05:002012-02-08T15:55:26.519-05:00There's a George Carlin bit on the colored rib...There's a George Carlin bit on the colored ribbons for everything with the conclusion of "I've got a brown one, you know what it's for? Eat shit motherfucker!". <br /><br />Raising awareness is good when there is a problem people that people lack awareness of. It is less useful when the problem is a more or less common cause issue that lots of people care about already. At that point you should be involved in "I've got an idea, lets solve the problem!" concepts instead of promotional concepts.Sun Tzuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03435848395263035323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290940558322177176.post-44490297040312849462012-02-07T12:06:45.420-05:002012-02-07T12:06:45.420-05:00Overall, yes, silly - if anything, maybe will brin...Overall, yes, silly - if anything, maybe will bring awareness of the fact that, like you said, research and actual screening, testing & treatment are far more useful than awareness of...pink?not undecidedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02058430758679276980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290940558322177176.post-52307925403208657722012-01-18T14:35:16.556-05:002012-01-18T14:35:16.556-05:00http://reason.com/archives/2012/01/18/republican-s...http://reason.com/archives/2012/01/18/republican-science-candidates<br /><br />More there. You can suppose that a veto of an emergency contraception access law is fairly to the right (based on the kerfuffle on the issue earlier this winter when it came up in the health care regulations concerning birth control access that were eventually shot down by Obama's administration itself because of the furor that somehow 12 year old girls would be buying plan-b and having sex freely). Romney vetoed this back in 2005. (it was overturned). So it's not a very recent shift in views.<br /><br />More or less it is only pro-life folks who think of plan b type contraception as abortifacients, though there are lots of people with parental consent concerns aside from that. The difference with Romney is that every other remaining candidate has a more extreme view of introducing a personhood amendment nationwide. Including Paul. So he's squishy to them, but far to the right to me.Sun Tzuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03435848395263035323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290940558322177176.post-13616535394676553082012-01-17T20:31:54.695-05:002012-01-17T20:31:54.695-05:00I'm pretty sure his statement on sexual harass...I'm pretty sure his statement on sexual harassment amounted to "quit your job", so yes. Fail. <br /><br />Romney in my view is basically a right-ish person on abortion. He's more or less against it and shifted that way over the last decade. But he's not like Santorum or Gingrich on the issue so right-wingers view him as squishy on the issue. <br /><br />Not following the GOP nomination process is probably a good idea. It doesn't appear to be meaning much (Romney still looks like the nominee, which was what any observer could have told you months ago, or even years ago) and all you missed out then on was the repeated process of meteoric rises and falls of various ultra-conservative but inferior political figures (Bachmann, Cain, Gingrich, Santorum, Perry), and the Tea Party types thus lost any creditability they had for their imagined interest in budgets and shrinking governments. This was fodder for much good sport in mockery and derision by liberals and people like me. But not much else.Sun Tzuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03435848395263035323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290940558322177176.post-86958762566285991602012-01-17T17:26:50.077-05:002012-01-17T17:26:50.077-05:00Agreed - his views most issues are pretty impressi...Agreed - his views most issues are pretty impressive, so I was bummed to see that page. I didn't even get to immigration, and I honestly have no idea what he said about sexual harassment (that women should just quit if they get harassed? *headdesk*)...truly haven't been following the Republican candidacies at all. But he is interesting and hopefully will get people thinking about a lot of these issues outside of their usual frameworks.<br /><br />(On Romney - wasn't he pro-choice in a former life/candidacy/office/something? I though that was one of the things he was getting hammered for flip-flopping on, but again...not really following.)not undecidedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02058430758679276980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290940558322177176.post-86084872029156690642012-01-17T16:36:37.395-05:002012-01-17T16:36:37.395-05:00I haven't brought it up myself however more pr...I haven't brought it up myself however more prominently. First because I'm not sure that it matters very much. Paul was never going to be a nominee anyway, so divining his positions on sexual equality didn't make as much sense when he has precious few published remarks or statements on it. He has spent a lot of ink on race issues and I would suspect it relates to his less than charitable views on immigration. It's also been tied much more firmly by some in the media to the views of libertarians more broadly with the implication being that "we" don't care about things like racial inequalities and criminal justice issues and just want our taxes lowered. I don't like it when my philosophical conceptions of society, liberty and equality, that were formed largely because of issues of race and crime in the first place are told off as though they don't concern themselves with these issues when there's plenty of evidence that many libertarians do care, including myself. <br /><br />And second because it is better, for now, that people try to highlight interesting good things that he and others care about (war on terror/drugs/general warfare/executive power) and not to worry too much about shooting the messenger. We can always get a better looking messenger later for those ideas. I'm impressed there's anyone in major American politics talking about racial inequality in crime and human empathy as a basis for not starting needless wars for a change. If some younger less established figure takes up these claims in politics with a relative passion and gusto for respecting basic human liberty (since Paul is retiring soon), then the argument over their contorted position on abortion could have more currency than it does at present. I don't think arguing with a 76 year old man who delivers babies is likely to be very productive or insightful in a way that arguing with conservative anti-choicers has been to date to start with, abortion debates aren't going anywhere and mainstream opinion is already bitterly divided. I do think someone agitating over our absurd, bipartisan mainstream positions on drugs, security theater, and endless imperial policies of warfare might be able to shift the debate however in a meaningful way. Discrediting the messenger is useful in removing from the debate topics like that, and charges of racism will do that a lot faster than arguments over abortion. Acknowledging the flaws of the messenger is more honest, but it requires that one also acknowledge that politics is usually a choice between the lesser of two weevils. I don't think most people are willing to do that, or pay attention enough to politics to do so effectively (Some Romney supporters in NH were under the belief that he was definitely pro-choice for example). <br /><br />It was enough for me to say that I won't support Paul personally and explain why. I didn't do it here, but it's happened in previous and subsequent posts (and in online debates with Paul supporters). I probably should have been a little more affirmative on the why nots.Sun Tzuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03435848395263035323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290940558322177176.post-3451224589323063962012-01-17T16:35:15.461-05:002012-01-17T16:35:15.461-05:00Between his position on sexual harassment (just qu...Between his position on sexual harassment (just quit?) and his position on abortion, there are very good reasons not to back him on progressive or feminist grounds or to at least have high levels of reservation before considering his other views. <br /><br />I am aware of those complaints and I found them very troubling myself. I've repeatedly noted his stance on abortion and immigration as among my highest reservations against backing him for instance, and in both cases, they're very good reasons why I'm far more comfortable with Gary Johnson (who is pro-choice and pro-immigration, but still has some of the Austrian economics, strong currency misconceptions that also seriously bothers me about Paul). But these issues weren't particularly controversial in the news. Being anti-choice, however strange it is as a "logical" position, is pretty standard fare for a right-wing paleoconservative/constitutionalist/states righter, which is more or less what Paul is. Especially one running for a GOP nomination. It hasn't registered for years that it is a particularly anti-freedom position in a party that prides itself talking about freedom as much as it does, whether it was Paul doing it or Bush. So nobody really cared about that relative to his strange views on the Civil Rights Act, MLK holiday, and race baiting newsletters by which he profited from and associated himself in the past. These are views that would have had more currency in any potential general election and for which he has had much less polished responses when asked about them. <br /><br />Abortion is easy to recite talking points on for any anti-choicer and get the media to get off your back. And most people are pretty misinformed and vague about abortion rights anyway. Those few who really care have already made up their minds about it one way or the other. Race as a result posed stronger problems for him in need of denouncing instead of women, as a source of prejudice. <br /><br />In other words, abortion is an issue, but most people don't actually care and for the most part know their political views won't matter much toward it. Racism people do actually care about politically, because it's almost entirely about a signaling effect (that you are intolerant toward intolerance). As dumb as that is, that's the world of politics. <br /><br />The statement he made on sexual harassment and the level of misogyny that demonstrated in conjunction with his views on abortion is more suggestive of a running problem toward values relating to women and women's issues. But for whatever reason, it hasn't come up in the media. Probably because his associates in the GOP have been making a series of racially charged statements (Gingrich, Santorum especially) or statements of religious intolerance concerning Muslims (all of them except Huntsman and Paul and to a lesser extent Romney) and gays (ditto) and it would thus get drowned out by the next Rick Perry abomination.Sun Tzuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03435848395263035323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290940558322177176.post-80171652823954800652012-01-17T15:25:17.625-05:002012-01-17T15:25:17.625-05:00He may not be racist, but isn't he kind of mis...He may not be racist, but isn't he kind of misogynist? Maybe I need further enlightenment about how his ideas re: abortion would look in practice, but I'm afraid I have a really hard time understanding how anti-choice is at all pro-liberty. This page kinda makes me ill - http://www.ronpaul2012.com/the-issues/abortion/.not undecidedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02058430758679276980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290940558322177176.post-43863499331434551182011-10-28T13:45:19.715-04:002011-10-28T13:45:19.715-04:00I haven't watched it much either on the idea t...I haven't watched it much either on the idea that it's much easier to watch on season 6 discs. But the question has come up in some ways before. After he killed his brother at the beginning of season 2 for example. And he resolved that by getting rid of the idol he had from his brother, the barbie head on his keys, essentially actively rejecting faith-based attachments. Also the soul discussion with Miguel in season 3 ("Makes you a cynic." No it makes me a scientist). So I wouldn't be too worried about it because he's been pretty explicit. <br /><br />Just makes for a very direct confrontation, and we don't get those very often.Sun Tzuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03435848395263035323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290940558322177176.post-33165824450188895682011-10-28T13:18:47.306-04:002011-10-28T13:18:47.306-04:00I won't see any of this until it's out on ...I won't see any of this until it's out on DVD, most likely, but...I have faith (ha) that he won't get converted to faith. At least in the end...I'm sure there will be questioning...which is quite the point!not undecidedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02058430758679276980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290940558322177176.post-52791684934376027692011-10-03T23:16:21.328-04:002011-10-03T23:16:21.328-04:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Thomas Huynhhttp://www.sonshi.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290940558322177176.post-844440551718068872011-09-26T10:04:02.399-04:002011-09-26T10:04:02.399-04:00It's true philosophically and economically tha...It's true philosophically and economically that he benefits from public goods that are provided through taxation. That is the (proper) essential function of a government. That means of course that he did not get rich by himself, there was a social input.<br /><br />And it's true economically that he has a diminished marginal utility from the additional wealth that he extracts from those social goods and thus that he could be taxed at a higher rate and not really notice (up to a Laffer curve at least). This is effectively why I don't oppose taxing his income at a higher rate than that of his workers. <br /><br />But those are two separate arguments. And you're right to point out that she attempted to make them seem like the same one. I personally felt the much broader debate over the proper amount of interventions was more important than the simple debate that she proposed over marginal taxation rates. <br /><br />That is: that there are probably less taxes required to fund the "proper" amount of interventions as described in the first place. If there are larger interventions required than she has described there or larger funding of those interventions required, then she should have said so.Sun Tzuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03435848395263035323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290940558322177176.post-80375132515354739192011-09-26T09:29:03.554-04:002011-09-26T09:29:03.554-04:00The main thing that caught my attention in the vid...The main thing that caught my attention in the video was where she was talking about how the factory owner owed so much to us and "didn't get rich by himself."<br /><br />We may have paid for the police forces and roads, but we get just as much benefit out of those services as he does, and he pays just as much for them as well through local tax levies. The two--our output and his--match each other, and thus cancel each other out, so that nobody "owes" anybody anything.Kyla Denaehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04079377672682346142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290940558322177176.post-33330536828102240012011-09-12T08:32:35.921-04:002011-09-12T08:32:35.921-04:00Well said.Well said.Kyla Denaehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04079377672682346142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290940558322177176.post-42407000982680467032011-08-09T14:50:55.410-04:002011-08-09T14:50:55.410-04:00Came up during one of the podcasts I listen to as ...Came up during one of the podcasts I listen to as an experiment one of them had tried. His birthday was in January and he "had" three birthdays in July this year in addition. <br /><br />It is certainly amusing as social experiments go.Sun Tzuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03435848395263035323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290940558322177176.post-51064490926036119522011-08-09T14:44:32.675-04:002011-08-09T14:44:32.675-04:00I now want to try this, just to see who will catch...I now want to try this, just to see who will catch on. XD Sadly, my birthday *is* next month, but I might keep birthday wishes coming until next January... :DKyla Denaehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04079377672682346142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290940558322177176.post-44173381142372156352011-08-08T18:23:47.408-04:002011-08-08T18:23:47.408-04:00Just keep making good posts.Just keep making good posts.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290940558322177176.post-18125849860833623272011-06-27T11:09:51.369-04:002011-06-27T11:09:51.369-04:00Sleepytyme. Yes, monsters eating people in the flo...Sleepytyme. Yes, monsters eating people in the floor is best left for dreams.Phoenixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14719490484881467036noreply@blogger.com