prev <-> next
[2008-11-14 06:40:03] - pierce: weren't virginia and georgia named after people in the first place? maybe that's why they sound like good names - aaron
[2008-11-13 21:58:41] - pierce: dakota isn't a state. neither is africa. ~a
[2008-11-13 21:28:09] - I never got the problem there. Virginia is a perfectly acceptable name. Dakota has gained acceptance. I wouldn't do a double-take at "Georgia". If you name your child Arkansas you should go to jail. - pierce
[2008-11-13 18:24:32] - aaron: my name is florida. florida! that's the name of a state. ~a
[2008-11-13 15:06:40] - aaron: not today. I'm going to see M83 with Stephen - vinnie
[2008-11-13 14:44:05] - ddr_people: pump it up? - aaron
[2008-11-13 09:17:47] - a: Sounds good. I'll bring the gel. Make sure you bring the $20 for Pierce if he's there. -Paul
[2008-11-12 16:57:58] - not everybody wears an engagement ring. i'll check next time i get a chance. ~a
[2008-11-12 16:51:26] - a: (because she'd be wearing an engagement ring) - aaron
[2008-11-12 16:51:09] - a: B, because you would already know if she was engaged - aaron
[2008-11-12 16:39:37] - a: D, their brother-in-law is getting having some surgery done. - pierce
[2008-11-12 15:58:54] - hehe, I meant to explain that. I think someone could typically be as close to their fiancee's sibling as their sibling's fiancee, so without more information, C - vinnie
[2008-11-12 15:57:30] - a: C - vinnie
[2008-11-12 15:43:10] - if somebody, off hand, mentions her "soon to be sister in law". pick the best answer A) she is hinting that she's engaged B) her sibling just happens to be engaged C) A and B are likely equal. ~a
[2008-11-12 14:42:55] - paul: how about 5pm on wednesday. ~a
[2008-11-12 14:13:51] - a: I was thinking around 5pm on Tuesday or Wednesday. -Paul
[2008-11-12 13:20:06] - sure. what time? ~a
[2008-11-12 11:13:33] - a: I'll be in Alexandria for class next week from Tuesday to Friday. Were you interested in meeting up for dinner one of those days? -Paul
[2008-11-12 09:48:42] - a: No re-gifting. -- Xpovos
[2008-11-12 09:29:24] - bleh, I'm going to NOT be in VA for some of that time. but I should be there at least part of that time - vinnie
[2008-11-12 09:28:48] - i don't like that prize. you can keep it. ~a
[2008-11-11 22:50:49] - a: a kick in the groin. - pierce
[2008-11-11 21:33:04] - pierce: i've planned for aparna to be in nova from december 21st until the 3rd. what prize do i get for organizing that? ~a
[2008-11-11 21:11:07] - well technically that's true for me too, but I don't get in until the night of the 20th. - pierce
[2008-11-11 20:20:40] - i'll be in VA from december 20th to january 3rd! what a coincidence. - aba
[2008-11-11 19:28:49] - fyi, I'll be in VA from December 21st until the 3rd. people should organize things so that I can come to them! - pierce
[2008-11-11 07:52:51] - http://www.236.com/video/2008/get_your_war_on_new_world_orde_10121.php - pierce
[2008-11-10 15:28:59] - a: I'll take the $20. You take the gel. Paul will take the dealer chip. Everyone wins! - pierce
[2008-11-10 13:11:36] - but paul, we already had an exchange. the gel for the $20. ~a
[2008-11-10 12:46:51] - Slave trade started up again in WA? -- Xpovos
[2008-11-10 12:35:26] - this is the worst black market I've ever been a part of. - pierce
[2008-11-10 09:12:14] - a: You left your gel at my place. We can arrange an exchange sometime. The dealer chip for the gel. -Paul
[2008-11-09 09:18:17] - yaaaawn. i hate it when i wake up in north carolina. it's too early for that dress. ~a
[2008-11-07 16:19:12] - a: while I agree that "yes we can" was meant to mean something more than electing Obama, it was also still his slogan. plus, free sticker
- vinnie[2008-11-07 16:14:17] - "oh no he didn't!"
[2008-11-07 16:06:20] - i was just thinking that "yes we did" is a little premature. ~a
[2008-11-07 15:20:30] - a: yes? - aba
[2008-11-07 14:07:48] - aaron: Thanks for the link. Interesting. I'd seen bunches of the signs but never got curious to go through these motions to learn more. -- Xpovos
[2008-11-07 13:27:36] - http://themetricsystem.rjmetrics.com/2008/11/06/single-lawn-signs-conquer-the-american-landscape/ I always see this "tysonscornersingles.com" sign that pops up near the 66/123 exit. I guess these are the masterminds behind it - aaron
[2008-11-07 12:50:16] - aba: but the "yes we can" referred to more than just getting obama elected, right? ~a
[2008-11-07 12:41:21] - https://pol.moveon.org/shepstickers/?id=-10778599-8QG6r3x free "yes we did" sticker. - aba
[2008-11-07 11:48:03] - man, printing in linux has gotten SO MUCH BETTER since the last time i tried (which was junior year of college). printing in ubuntu is as easy as printing in windows if not easier. ~a
[2008-11-07 11:46:16] - yeah let me know. ~a
[2008-11-07 11:11:34] - a: I think I'm going to take a class there from the 18th-21st of this month. I'll have to see what the hours are to see if dinner makes sense. -Paul
[2008-11-07 10:55:24] - are you going there some time? i could eat dinner there (or less preferably lunch) some time if you were interested. ~a
[2008-11-06 21:35:58] - a: Sweet, thanks. -Paul
[2008-11-06 18:24:40] - paul: yes they're right fricken next to each other. it's like a .3 mile walk. less if you cut through the buildings. ~a
[2008-11-06 17:56:57] - a: http://www.learningtree.com/htfu/location.aspx?id=uswd74 Do you know if the education center listed there is within walking distance of the metro station also on the map? -Paul
[2008-11-06 16:29:19] - yes i'm going - aaron
[2008-11-06 16:11:42] - ddr? - vinnie
[2008-11-06 15:17:50] - paul: THANK YOU. fyi, flavor is unimportant though vanilla sounds yummy. ~a
[2008-11-06 15:09:53] - a: Will do, if they have it in stock. -Paul
[2008-11-06 14:55:50] - aaron: I was in the same boat. But I haven't bought anything from GNC since; been over two years. -- Xpovos
[2008-11-06 14:39:57] - aaron: well in that case for the first seven days of every month until you have had your membership for a year you should save 20%... Those are the days to go shopping at GNC. ~gurkie
[2008-11-06 11:36:09] - oh i already signed up, it saved me money coz my last purchase was >75$ - aaron
[2008-11-06 10:35:13] - paul: also buy me one of these. ~a
[2008-11-06 10:22:29] - oh right. i forgot he couldn't get to the message board. paul, go here: http://68.55.109.184/msg/ ~a
[2008-11-06 09:47:10] - i misspoke he already signed up so if you want something next month or tomorrow (depending on if he makes it) then its possible... ~gurkie
[2008-11-06 09:46:07] - (this time im not just answering/offering for him but he is telling me to since he cant get on the msg board...) ~gurkie
[2008-11-06 09:44:22] - also... paul is thinking of signing up which means if you guys want him to pick stuff up for you with the 20% discount in the first week of December its doable... Or whenever he signs up... ~gurkie
[2008-11-06 09:34:00] - a: http://library.gnc.com/gncgoldcard/default.asp ~gurkie
[2008-11-06 09:33:37] - apparently if u buy a gold card (15 bucks) you save 20% the first 7 days of the month for a year... plus the day you sign up ~gurkie
[2008-11-06 09:27:17] - paul: do you have a url about the gnc deal? ~a
[2008-11-06 07:09:43] - a: and south park was impressive - aaron
[2008-11-06 06:29:49] - paul: i always just buy stuff expensive-style i guess - aaron
[2008-11-06 06:28:03] - paul: ooo i never heard about that - aaron
[2008-11-05 23:24:13] - Aaron: Is it the first week in a month or the first seven days that you can get stuff for cheaper at GNC? -Paul
[2008-11-05 22:57:00] - god i hope somebody is watching southpark ~a
[2008-11-05 21:41:34] - http://aporter.org/msg/?action=search&search=that+time+in+high+school
[2008-11-05 21:12:02] - this sucks. the device i use to hit keys is broken. it will not let me type the first letter of the written symbols. ~me
[2008-11-05 18:32:41] - aaron: which exact keyboard? the logitec g15, or the microsoft 4000? ~a
[2008-11-05 18:15:24] - I don't use the wristpads. I tend to keep my keyboard on my lap. - pierce
[2008-11-05 18:06:29] - a: one of my coworkers has that exact keyboard, it's comfortable. We never use the hot keys and the wrist-pads get medium gross over time - aaron
[2008-11-05 17:55:57] - a: I don't like the split-style ergonomic keyboards. I have a logitech G15 gaming keyboard, which has a neat LCD panel with some controls at the top and programmable macro keys on the left side. I approve, although you may not get as much use out of the extra features if you don't play a lot of games. Also, I have no idea about the linux support. - pierce
[2008-11-05 17:09:44] - gurkie: i'm looking at the "natural ergonomic keyboard 4000" it has a crazy split keyboard, but then again so did my last keyboard. ~a
[2008-11-05 16:54:05] - a: my old coworker had this crazy split keyboard which had a touch mousepad in the middle... like a laptop mouse pad but it was in the middle and down a bit from the keys... it was WEIRD... ~gurkie
[2008-11-05 14:28:04] - a: my sister/brother in law went to 7 places this am in Herndon... ~gurkie
[2008-11-05 14:27:41] - Pierce: congratulations... on the race change and the election... ~gurkie
[2008-11-05 14:27:13] - a: my brother in law wants the newspaper... he managed to have an employee find the washington post in alexandria, his dad got him the new york times in san fran area, and he is still looking for the chicago tribune... I would assume its for the historic headlines... ~gurkie
[2008-11-05 14:14:17] - anybody have any suggestions for what keyboard i should buy? for some reason, i care a lot about my input devices. ~a
[2008-11-05 14:07:01] - i suppose people are probably more likely to be looking for the "historic headline" in dc than in nova . . . gurkie, you should look for the newspaper close to your home or carpool. ~a
[2008-11-05 13:57:19] - and that needs to be on paper why? just save a copy of http://www.washingtonpost.com/ or something. i don't see why we have to take it out on those poor trees
~a[2008-11-05 13:15:12] - a: historic headline? - pierce
[2008-11-05 12:58:28] - why are you looking for newspapers? ~a
[2008-11-05 12:57:04] - http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/ea_recommends_hilarious_workaround_red_alert_3_cd_key_issue umm sorry we didn't actually give you the full cd key for the game you bought .... but you can try to guess it! - mig
[2008-11-05 12:09:20] - http://www.drawger.com/zinasaunders/?section=comments&article_id=6430 - aba
[2008-11-05 10:52:08] - apparently newspapers are hard to find today... sister went to 7 places all sold out of washington post and new york times. I went somewhere and they told me they are sold out in this area (downtown dc) ~gurkie
[2008-11-04 23:38:09] -
- pierce[2008-11-04 22:16:38] - http://thisfuckingelection.com/ maybe you'll be amused by it too. nsfw. - mig
[2008-11-04 22:09:01] - well, not all of us. - pierce
[2008-11-04 22:08:10] - - pierce
[2008-11-04 22:08:05] - gurkie: maybe a little, but not much considering we all graduated right after the bubble burst
[2008-11-04 22:05:22] - pierce: do you think you started low? (since you were getting 16% raises.) ~gurkie
[2008-11-04 18:17:18] - a: I was given administrative leave to come in late, but even then, voting at 1100 and driving in afterwards would be a bit much. So I waited in line early like most everyone else and got in about 1000. -- Xpovos
[2008-11-04 17:01:12] - aba: and here I am working 8 hours today like a chump...
- vinnie[2008-11-04 15:49:42] - xpovos: employers in virginia are required to give 3 hours of paid time for voting as long as employees request it X days in advance (i think X=2 but i don't recall exactly what it is). - aba
[2008-11-04 15:37:37] - xpovos: also you could go into work late and work extra that night or something. ~a
[2008-11-04 15:15:23] - xpovos: at least letting voters choose a voting location close to work instead of close to home. letting people vote willy-nilly might be a logistical problem. ~a
[2008-11-04 14:54:43] - they mailed me the address of where i needed to vote a few weeks ago, and you can also look it up on the web here. really convenient. - aba
[2008-11-04 14:29:13] - T'would be awesome if we could vote anywhere. Solve a lot of these problems. -- Xpovos
[2008-11-04 14:04:36] - a: 'cause I have to vote where I live, which is about 30 miles away from where I work. Not something I can just 'jot off to do' on a break or during lunch. -- Xpovos
[2008-11-04 13:54:06] - they must have really pushed early voting this year. I didn't have to wait at all, and I went over lunch. (compare to 2004 where I waited 10 minutes). and from all accounts, they're gonna have record turnouts this year too - vinnie
[2008-11-04 13:42:59] - why don't you guys vote at 1100? ~a
[2008-11-04 13:38:14] - aaron: It was my own fault; they did tell me, but I mistook the one elementary school for the other and assumed I was correct instead of double-checking. -- Xpovos
[2008-11-04 13:30:10] - aba: Also in 2004 I did the same thing as xpovos, and waited in line twice. It would be cool if they told you where you were supposed to vote. - aaron
[2008-11-04 13:29:03] - aba: I had to wait 90 minutes, but i had the a similar experience in 2004 - aaron
[2008-11-04 12:59:34] - aba: I had to wait in two lines. Because I moved I went to the wrong polling place first (thought one school was my new polling place, but it was a different school on the other side of town). So I waited in line for an hour at each spot. -- Xpovos
[2008-11-04 12:33:07] - a: i went at about 7:30 so i guess that was a heavy time period for people trying to get to work on time. - aba
[2008-11-04 12:24:36] - i had zero people in front of me to "sign in" and zero people in front of me at the booths. i did go at 1100 though (very few people seem to vote then). ~a
[2008-11-04 12:19:06] - for the first time, it took me over an hour of waiting to vote. anyone else have crazy lines? - aba
[2008-11-04 09:22:59] - aaron: they still could... - vinnie
[2008-11-04 08:37:58] - vinnie: i guess that means they're not going to play "she's an angel"?? - aaron
[2008-11-03 16:21:34] - er, "you" refers to Aaron, i.e. the caster of Gather Specimens - vinnie
[2008-11-03 16:20:42] - aaron: also, we played Gather Specimens correctly yesterday, apparently. you get to choose what creatures of yours you want to devour as it comes into play under your control - vinnie
[2008-11-03 15:17:06] - vinnie: A lot of short tracks helps, and it does fly by. -- Xpovos
[2008-11-03 14:56:28] - xpovos: hehe, alright. I was just listening to it in the car, felt really short
- vinnie[2008-11-03 14:54:29] - vinnie: 43:15 according to the runtimes on wikipedia. I thought 30 minutes too short an estimate. -- Xpovos
[2008-11-03 14:39:48] - I imagine they're playing other stuff too, since Flood is only like 30 minutes long - vinnie
[2008-11-03 14:19:45] - hmm, not sure if you wanted to know that, but it's listed on the 930 website, so it's not a secret or anything - vinnie
[2008-11-03 14:19:02] - aaron: apparently TMBG is performing Flood in its entirety at this upcoming concert
- vinnie[2008-11-03 12:02:41] - a: it worked!! thanks - aaron
[2008-11-03 10:51:55] - aaron: file->exit. ~a
[2008-11-03 10:08:49] - does anybody know how to disable the control-enter shortcut for sending e-mails in outlook? - aaron
[2008-11-02 09:50:40] - yeah, the crowd was pretty pumped too. ~a
[2008-11-02 08:19:45] - aaron: I'm glad to hear that. It's hard for lesser-known foreign bands to make a profit on a tour of the U.S. Sold out, or at least mostly so gives them a better chance. -- Xpovos
[2008-11-02 04:46:22] - a: slightly, but not much. when I left SAG I'd done about about 15-16% per year at the one job. - pierce
[2008-11-02 01:23:09] - xpovos: it was really crowded. maybe they could have fit more people in the room but it's like, yea how many cotton balls can you stuff into a shoe box? - aaron
[2008-11-01 20:09:18] - full? i think they could have smushed a few more people in that little room maybe, but there were like a hundred or two. ~a
[2008-11-01 18:24:55] - Was the Polysics concert full? -- Xpovos
[2008-11-01 18:16:45] - gurkie: from last year to this year, i took a -37% wage hit.
- aba[2008-11-01 17:48:55] - But, I think something between 1.04 and 1.08 annual average is the norm. -- Xpovos
[2008-11-01 17:47:48] - gurkie: It also depends on the field you are in. E.g. if you were government the annual raise would be less, but you're compensated instead with job security. -- Xpovos
[2008-11-01 16:24:38] - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2297869&l=ccc6e&id=6240430 ~dewey
[2008-11-01 16:23:20] - pierce: i assume that your average was skewed by your raise when you moved. is that correct? ~a
[2008-10-31 19:29:21] - for example, without giving specific numbers, my "annual raise" has been closer to 18% from my first real salary. - pierce
[2008-10-31 19:22:09] - gurkie: I think one could also argue that a's "1.04" minimum assumes you're doing the same job. We're still young enough that we theoretically gain a lot of new experience each year as a proportion of our total experience, so a number a lot higher than 4% is warranted. - pierce
[2008-10-31 18:47:17] - gurkie: 1.04 is the absolute minimum because it's the average inflation rate. i prefer something around 1.08. more if i am getting a new title. ~a
[2008-10-31 16:21:52] - what do people think an annual raise percentage should be? ~gurkie
[2008-10-31 15:28:00] - ringing ~a
[2008-10-31 15:26:26] - aba: polysics. ~a
[2008-10-31 15:23:25] - what concert did you guys go to? - aba
[2008-10-31 14:55:17] - dah i'm too slow. ~a
[2008-10-31 14:55:08] - that joke is way too crude for family guy. it must have been a futurama joke. ~a
[2008-10-31 14:54:07] - whoops that was Futurama - vinnie
[2008-10-31 14:48:21] - hmm, mine seemed fine after sleeping. I wonder if it's like that family guy when someone gets shot in the balls twice, and the second time he's like "huh, didn't hurt that time" - vinnie
[2008-10-31 12:18:09] - yes me too! - aaron
[2008-10-31 10:21:46] - ... ears ... still ... ringing ...
[2008-10-30 14:15:05] - vinnie: yes. i might be late to ddr, but that's still cool. ~a
[2008-10-30 13:21:22] - a: Aaron and I were thinking after DDR tonight, we would eat dinner, and then drive together to the concert. does that sound good to you too? - vinnie
[2008-10-30 10:28:31] - i know this isn't breaking news or anything, but this argument is not one that i had thought of. ~a
[2008-10-30 05:33:47] - haha, great line from fivethirtyeight.com: "...it's not a Cubs' World Championship, but most Illinoisans will take it; what kind of odds could you have gotten in 1908 that a black dude would get elected president before the Cubs won the Series again?" - pierce
[2008-10-29 17:04:45] - i went to the blog to see if anybody had noticed this . . . what i found was "I am currently at the tail end of the Debate Drinking Game, wherein you take a drink every time McCain says “my friends” and Obama starts a response with “Look,”. Since both candidates had their verbal tics under control, I just took a drink every time someone said a pronoun." ~a
[2008-10-29 17:01:23] - oh my. ~a
[2008-10-29 16:56:05] - a: no, historic is a lot more points than ostrich. 42 points instead of 10 points. - aaron
[2008-10-29 16:52:19] - vinnie: Shit? I don't know if that counts as a 'naughty' word. -- Xpovos
[2008-10-29 16:41:55] - a: oh. I thought you meant whether I found the other naughty word. which I did. did you? (there may be several) - vinnie
[2008-10-29 15:45:15] - well i guess it would be the same number of points though. ~a
[2008-10-29 15:44:36] - aaron: you actually did better than the word in the comic
~a[2008-10-29 15:43:45] - ostrich was the word. ~a
[2008-10-29 15:43:04] - yeah the word that the "title" attribute listed was not a bingo either. ~a
[2008-10-29 15:42:32] - a: yeah I found "this" - vinnie
[2008-10-29 15:40:13] - a: historic is a pretty good play but it's not a bingo - aaron
[2008-10-29 12:00:19] - vinnie: did you find the other possible word? ~a
[2008-10-29 11:54:58] - a: haha amy showed me that - vinnie
[2008-10-29 11:50:03] - vinnie/aaron: scrabble ~a
[2008-10-29 10:13:02] - a: I think that's the root of it. Within two sigmas, all of politics is semantics. -- Xpovos
[2008-10-29 09:43:56] - pierce: "you can earn more than you spend and still end up further in debt" . . . depending on your definition of "spent". interest is an expense. but it's mostly a semantic argument at that point. ~a
[2008-10-29 09:13:03] - pierce: and even taking the possibility of interest eating away the surplus, the clinton horn tooters were talking about the surplus as if there was this extra reserve of money the government had available, essentially implying that the government had turned a profit. Best case here you had some shady accounting worthy of an Arthur Anderson type prosecution. - mig
[2008-10-29 05:02:38] - mig: that's why I wasn't saying that was it. just saying it's not inherently impossible. - pierce
[2008-10-28 21:38:21] - pierce: http://www.cedarcomm.com/~stevelm1/usdebt.htm during the clinton years it rose from about $4.5-5 trillion to almost $6. I find it hard to believe that just interest would account for all that.- mig
[2008-10-28 18:57:35] - mig: I'm not saying this is it, but you can earn more than you spend and still end up further in debt, if the difference is less than the interest you have to pay. - pierce
[2008-10-28 18:31:26] - errr correction i meant to say the increase was less under clinton vs. the bush before and bush after. - mig
[2008-10-28 18:30:41] - now granted, it increased much less than it did under the Clinton administration than the ones before and after, but the point still stands that the "surplus" never existed in the first place. - mig
[2008-10-28 18:28:09] - gurkie: the surplus was nothing more than a fabrication created by fuzzy accounting (you know the type that the CEO of enron went to jail for). Every single year Clinton was in office the national debt increased. Now, I'm no economist, but if a surplus means you earned more money than you spent, how does your debt increase? - mig
[2008-10-28 17:52:05] - a: http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2008/10/codemonkey-like.html codeweavers gets a thumbs up from ww.
- aba[2008-10-28 16:31:07] - The 2000 election is dead. Long live the 2008 election.
[2008-10-28 16:16:33] - no lock box
[2008-10-28 16:11:54] - gurkie: Clinton actually ran a surpluss according to some versions of the accounting, but largely that was a result of increased tax revenues due to a relatively strong boom economy. Also factoring in were Social Security deposits into the general fund greater than Social Security outlays. -- Xpovos
[2008-10-28 15:51:52] - gurkie: I feel like we're never gonna close the deficit. the public just has no interest in paying it off. the benefit is too abstract and removed from people's lives, I think. just think about how many people in this country go into bankruptcy rather than paying their OWN debts, rather than some nebulous shared debts
- vinnie[2008-10-28 15:51:27] - a: okay im sure people will chime in if im wrong but I thought Clinton had started to decrease the deficit when he was in term, or maybe it was that he wasnt increasing it... But it seems possible... ~gurkie
[2008-10-28 15:40:26] - gurkie: such a candidate would surely lose. it would be a slaughtering because that candidate would have to disclose the programs he/she was going to cut. people will never vote for a cut in things they care about. sure, candidates propose cuts in "wasteful" spending (but it is all talk). ~a
[2008-10-28 15:32:13] - xpovos: I guess what I am wondering is do the proposed changes include increasing the deficit? Based on what all has been said I would assume it does. It seems like at some point someone would run for president and propose trying to lower the deficit to put the US in a stronger financial position rather than talking about tax cuts... ~gurkie
[2008-10-28 15:03:16] - pierce: Ignoring temporarily your dissection of my statement, I'm not surprised you don't know how either candidate's plan will affect tax revenues. I doubt very much anyone knows. However, there are some economists making blind-dart-throw attempts at it. -- Xpovos
[2008-10-28 15:00:25] - aba: from their website: "The CrossOver products make it possible to run Windows programs on Mac OS X and Linux without needing a copy or license for Windows itself." i think this means that they provide some of the libraries (.dll) that wine has trouble replicating. they also claim to be giving back to wine which i think is cool. ~a
[2008-10-28 14:43:33] - a: i don't actually know anything about codeweavers..... just thought some people here might find the give-away interesting. - aba
[2008-10-28 14:40:21] - pierce: yeah vinnie's graph is cool and all, but it doesn't include a column for "total" or "average". tsk tsk. ~a
[2008-10-28 14:38:55] - mig: oh yes, I know he is shifting the burden, my question is whether he's just shifting the burden? how much more or less actual tax revenue will there be under his plan? I can't believe I don't know this despite considering myself reasonably well-informed about this election. /blush - pierce
[2008-10-28 14:32:44] - pierce: well given his "no new taxes for those making under $250k" platform, i'd assume he'd be shifting it those making more than $250k. - mig
[2008-10-28 14:24:31] - (shifting the burden among the different present-day tax brackets, that is) - pierce
[2008-10-28 14:17:55] - In any event, I don't think we're spending our deficit wisely enough to justify it, and promoting a tax cut across-the-board at this time seems ludicrous to me. I wonder how Obama's proposal would impact actual tax revenue. Is he actually decreasing the deficit, or just shifting the burden? - pierce
[2008-10-28 14:12:51] - I guess that depends on what you meant (or what miguel meant by proxy) by "improper tax structure" or "excessive spending". "Short-term spending" would be a better way to describe it. - pierce
[2008-10-28 14:04:56] - xpovos: that's not intrinsically true unless you're oversimplifying. if you run a deficit to invest in infrastructure, you may increase future earnings enough that people see a lower tax rate, or a higher tax rate but more real income after taxes. that's why most people "run a deficit" with their personal finances during college, for example. - pierce
[2008-10-28 13:49:16] - wow, that's an interesting graph. ~a
[2008-10-28 13:26:16] - a: yes, from what I've seen and read everyone gets a tax cut under McCain's plan: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/blogphotos/Blog_TPC_Obama_McCain_Tax_Plans.gif - vinnie
[2008-10-28 13:13:11] - gurkie: What miguel was saying is that any budget deficit as a result of improper tax structure and/or excessive spending is inherently a tax increase later, unless the U.S. government intends to default on its financial obligations. -- Xpovos
[2008-10-28 13:08:52] - then again you probably know a lot more about this stuff than I do since I dont pay much attention to it ~gurkie
[2008-10-28 13:08:37] - mig: Im not sure I follow shifting the burden to a later time... If tax changes make it so that the people making over 250K a year are covering more of the cost its not shifting it to a later time unless you are planning on making 250K per person in your family eventually. For many people I think this would just eliminate the burdon on their families. ~gurkie
[2008-10-28 13:02:52] - mig: more so than previous presidential elections i've followed, this election dialog has focused on government spending. ~a
[2008-10-28 12:30:47] - The "burden" on us is not lessened unless the direct cause of that burden (i.e. government spending) is lessened. All tax cuts do without lowering spending is shift the burden to a later time. - mig
[2008-10-28 12:29:19] - the whole blathering on about who gets what tax cuts is rather irritating. if neither candidate is willing to actually decrease the amount of money the government spends, what difference does it make if who gets tax cuts? they are going to filch the money from us one way or another later. - mig
[2008-10-28 12:10:51] - dee: so if you want outback gift certificates be sure to reverse racially profile... Only pull over white males! you will get to eat lots of steak! ~gurkie
[2008-10-28 12:09:53] - a: actually it sounds like the opposite... if you pull over less minorities than the other officers you win a gift certificate...~gurkie
[2008-10-28 12:09:36] - hehe~dee
[2008-10-28 12:00:46] - dee: you are asking how they will enforce this? i'm guessing they're going to try to enforce it at a higher level than you're suggesting. i.e. not saying that we eliminate all social profiling, but instead eliminate policies that encourage social profiling. removing a "policy" for free outback gift certificates for officers who stop the MOST amount of minorities. ~a
[2008-10-28 11:52:14] - "Obama and Biden will ban racial profiling by federal law enforcement agencies and provide federal incentives to state and local police departments to prohibit the practice." Free outback gift certificates for officers who stop the least amount of minorities?? I don't get 'it'. ~Dee
[2008-10-28 11:45:12] - vinnie: do 100% of americans get a tax cut with mccain? ~a
[2008-10-28 11:43:18] - hrmm im a little surprised that Fairfax County has donated more to McCain then to Obama... I would consider it one of the more liberal counties in the state...~gurkie
[2008-10-28 11:41:43] - Hence she thinks people are likely to end up with Palin if they vote for McCain... ~gurkie
[2008-10-28 11:41:35] - vinnie: also painting himself as anything probably wouldnt do much good. His medical history makes it sound as though he could kick it easily. My sister was saying he has twice been diagnosed with a very malignant hard to cure cancer (and beat it) but that could easily come back and cause his death very quickly. ~gurkie
[2008-10-28 11:40:06] - Vinnie: I think that Obama's pressed the 95% to counter the across the board tax cuts... rather than just being like look how great my plan is... ~gurkie
[2008-10-28 11:22:08] - here's another thing I don't understand. Obama has constantly pressed this "95% of Americans get a tax cut" point. mccain's plan offers tax cuts to 100% of Americans! how come no one ever countered with this? - vinnie
[2008-10-28 11:20:07] - a: good ol' Stevens. sticking it through to the end
- vinnie[2008-10-28 11:19:24] - to paint himself as a moderate, in case that wasn't clear - vinnie
[2008-10-28 11:18:58] - a: I think that should have been McCain's approach from the get-go, to paint him as a moderate. from all accounts, he was a moderate anyway, until recently when he switched some of his positions. he has palin to attract the religious right anyway - vinnie
[2008-10-28 10:59:31] - those alaskan politicians are such mavericks. ~a
[2008-10-28 10:56:11] - "In the entire course of the Senate's history, only four members have been convicted of crimes. They were: Joseph R. Burton (1905), John Hipple Mitchell (1905), Truman H. Newberry (1920), and Harrison Williams (1981). Newberry's conviction was later overturned. Mitchell died. Burton, Newberry, and Williams resigned before the Senate could act on their expulsion."
~a[2008-10-28 10:50:59] - mig: yeah that's what i'm saying . . . mccain is more moderate. gurkie has a good response (palin removed the moderate qualifier), but still, mcain being more moderate is an easy argument to make even now. ~a
[2008-10-28 10:21:40] - I guess he realized it probably was not a good idea to tout how much you go against your own party when you're trying to get votes from people who really really hate it when you do that. - mig
[2008-10-28 10:20:23] - gurkie: which is a little ironic since the first month or so of his campaign he was criticizing obama for not criticizing the democratic party enough. - mig
[2008-10-28 10:00:20] - a: any moderation mccain could have claimed went out the window with Palin. I think he chose a very non-moderate running mate to appease the stauch right... ~gurkie
[2008-10-27 22:46:37] - paul: Yes, I think I'll be able to pick it up Wednesday. I'll give you a call when it's a sure thing. (probably mid-day on wednesday) - aaron
[2008-10-27 22:09:28] - Aaron: Do you know if you're going to be able to pick up the TV before this Friday (halloween)? Just wondering if I have to find some place to put it. -Paul
[2008-10-27 20:16:42] - aba: is codeweavers open source? if not, aren't they violating the lgpl? but what i'm more interested in knowing is the difference between codeweavers and wine. ~a
[2008-10-27 20:10:08] - here's another argument that i have not been hearing on fox-news: "mccain is more moderate than obama". this proposition is up for disagreement, but it seems like it's something that could be logically argued and it isn't being said. ~a
[2008-10-27 18:57:13] - http://www.codeweavers.com/about/general/press/20081027/ cross platform software for free download tomorrow (tuesday the 28th) only. - aba
[2008-10-27 16:53:01] - i gave up on expecting a nuanced discussion weeks ago. both sides are slinging it. ~a
[2008-10-27 16:31:36] - ...and this was obama saying something that was valid if you want to have a nuanced discussion, but an easy target if you don't. - pierce
[2008-10-27 16:30:50] - mig: arguably, it follows from my other point that obama talking about "spreading the wealth around" in those terms makes him the only honest candidate in the race. mostly, though, I think the mccain campaign is looking for a message, any message at all, regardless of whether it makes sense... - pierce
[2008-10-27 16:25:36] - mig: it's not that it isn't true, it's that it's not meaningful. if you expand the definition of socialist to include anyone who favors any law taking money from one group and giving it to another, then every person in the u.s. government is a socialist. - pierce
[2008-10-27 16:23:53] - and when you do have your name attached to comments about "spreading the wealth around" it does kind of invite that criticism. - mig
[2008-10-27 16:20:12] - pierce: I totally agree. it's one thing to criticize socialism, I can understand that, but it's not like both parties aren't "spreading the wealth around". it's just questions of how much. I don't think Obama's tax plan is drastic enough that you could qualify his plan one way and McCain's plan another - vinnie
[2008-10-27 16:17:25] - pierce: the republicans are certainly being hypocritical about it considering the bush policies of the last 8 years and considering a lot of the policies mcain has supported in the past, but that doesn't mean it isn't true. - mig
[2008-10-27 16:07:09] - ugh... this whole "Obama = socialism" thing is driving me batshit. republicans: if Obama is a socialist, then you are too for most of the same reasons. just because you don't understand a complex issue doesn't make it simple. - pierce
[2008-10-27 15:19:00] - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/27/AR2008102700767.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2008102700856&s_pos= I think this is super annoying!~gurkie
[2008-10-27 14:33:44] - a: I'd suspect "people think obama is going to win" isn't a message fox news wants to devote a lot of time to. - pierce
[2008-10-27 09:56:47] - a: I'd actually been hearing it months back (long before the crisis became obvious). That is, that if Obama was elected there would be a massive sell-off on Wall Street. The reason was because Obama has pledged to raise the capital gains taxes, so everyone would sell to take their gains now at the 15% and stay away as long as it was 25%+ -- Xpovos
[2008-10-27 09:53:22] - in other words, all of the news networks (including the anti-obama ones) are looking at logical reasons to the market downturn instead of resorting to what seems to becoming normal irrationality. ~a
[2008-10-27 09:50:43] - one argument i haven't been hearing coming out of any of the conservative faux-pundits on fox-news . . . the economy is having problems because the market fears obama is going to be president (which is looking more and more likely) and hypothetically obama will hurt the economy and that's why everybody is selling off their shares in droves. ~a
[2008-10-24 16:56:17] - aarrrrghhh seriously? I mean how stupid do you have to be to call 911 and complain about traffic when your brother is running for President of the United States? I mean seriously he is obviously using it for himself "busy working on an imporant political project" or whatever... I mean even if you are that much of an idiot dont make it tracable... ~gurkie
[2008-10-24 16:12:48] - HAHA people call 911 for everything! Haven't you guys been listening to me and David complaining about the calls we've taken...
I went to Taco Bell yesterday because a customer was mad that her service was "not very nice". Seriously.Tax dollars hard at work! ~Dee[2008-10-24 14:43:49] - vinnie: I thought that added to the hilarity. Clearly John got all the brains in that family. And I can say that without implying John's got all that many. -- Xpovos
[2008-10-24 13:47:04] - pierce: yeah I don't think this story will hurt anyone except Joe McCain. there's enough bigger things going on in the election - vinnie
[2008-10-24 13:45:29] - xpovos: yeah infuriating that someone would waste a 911 operator's time with something like that. but it only got infuriating to me when he called them back to complain about them leaving the voicemail! - vinnie
[2008-10-24 13:36:02] - not that that excuses it at all, but I will say I'd rather he pester an emergency operator than take action in real life that could lead to people needing to call 911. - pierce
[2008-10-24 13:35:18] - based on how brief the phone call was, I suspect he was just road raging and police = government = to blame for traffic so he called the only number he knew. - pierce
[2008-10-24 12:31:03] - xpovos: i think the infuriating part of someone being such an idiot that they'd call 911 to complain about traffic. - mig
[2008-10-24 12:14:32] - vinnie: I get the hilarious bit... what's infuriating? I think it'd be infuriating if nothing was done because he's a candidate's relative; but I fully expect him to get punished for this. Man... haha! The Wilson Bridge? -- Xpovos
[2008-10-24 11:59:23] - "could prove controversial for the McCain camp" do they really believe this? it might get some traction for a day or two just for the "wtf" factor but I doubt anyone's going to seriously care as far as the election is concerned. - pierce
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