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Huckleberry

Certifiably Surly
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Posts posted by Huckleberry

  1. 31 minutes ago, bad_teammate said:

    If a state university is not affordable for everyone then it is nothing more than a taxpayer-subsidized club for the children of the wealthy. I am not so radical that I want to advocate eliminating all institutions of private education (though I sympathize with those who do), but the idea of the taxes of the poor going towards a rich kids' country club "public" university absolutely disgusts me.

    I agree with this point, and very strongly in fact. That's why I believe that State university grants should be very heavily based on socioeconomic status of the applicant. I think using family history as an additional criterion is also a good idea, i.e., if you're the first in your family to attend a certain level of higher education then you should receive additional assistance.

    I completely disagree that making 4-year universities free for everyone is going to help the problem long term. Within a few decades there would simply be a massive increase in the number of college graduates to the point where having a degree is a lot less meaningful than it is now (and it's already becoming less and less meaningful every year).

    Upward social mobility is critical to society, so enabling that is a noble goal. But when your plan moves everybody up at the same time then you aren't achieving that goal.

  2. 6 minutes ago, this said:

    Bottom 50% accounts for under 3% of all federal income tax revenue generated. Maybe even less. Poor(to me) would be the bottom 20th percentile, they account for absolutely NOTHING in federal income taxes. 

     

    That seems really relevant for a statement regarding State public universities.

    Oh wait, no it doesn't. Not at all.

    Dammit, too slow.

    • Like 1
  3. 26 minutes ago, bad_teammate said:

    Why would it be $80k/yr?

    And people would just go for fun and put off actually working and making money... why? Why would I go 4+ years to be an HVAC guy when only 2 years gets me the same paycheck? I would want to start earning more quickly.

    And the regulatory government agencies in charge of funding higher ed would not be able to notice obvious money grabs? Accreditation is not a thing anymore? Talk about fucking naive.

    For the exact same reasons you cited in your argument. They are brainwashed into thinking having a 4-year degree is better than not having one regardless of specifics.

    And do you not realize how much money the federal government is handing out in loans and grants to for-profit and online universities right now?

  4. 4 minutes ago, bad_teammate said:

    He shouldn't. He should be able to go, for free, to a 4-year university and explore his broad range of opportunities because maybe he doesn't actually want to be an HVAC guy for his entire life. Maybe there are different things available to him that he would be better at and would make him happier and more successful. Or, if he knows he wants to be an HVAC guy now, he should be able to go, for free, to get a 2-year professional certification to be an HVAC guy and then have the opportunity to do the 4-year route later if he wants something new.

    But we're focusing on the wrong aspect.

    It has been drilled into kids' heads for decades and decades that the only way to be financially secure and comfortable is to get the 4-year. It's the only path they see. Remove the economic anxiety behind living life as an adult and you'll naturally reduce enrollment at 4-year institutions because kids will no longer feel like they have to do it.

    That is breathtakingly naive. You think making 4-year tuition free is going to reduce enrollment at 4-year institutions. Absurd.

    What would really happen is a boatload of 4-year institutions would pop up, including The University of HVAC with their 4-year Bachelor of Science degree in HVAC Technology. Plus, of course, their Master's and Ph.D. programs in advanced HVAC theory.

    • Like 2
  5. b_t and I disagree on a lot, but he's absolutely right that there's no reason for the Democrats to run to the center right now. His strategy of telling independents and centrists to fuck off is foolish, but the part he's right about is that a very large portion of the people leaving the Republican party along with people who are merely voting against Trump and the current GOP will 1) vote against Republicans without knowing shit about the Democrat candidates and 2) vote for the GOP in the future if and when the current iteration gets destroyed.

    • Like 2
  6. 3 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

    For thee, but not for me, is how I read this.

     

    Poster is a doofus but that's a terrible way to read that. Why should an 18-year-old that knows he wants to be an HVAC guy and eventually run his own business run up 4 years of debt at a university? What benefit is there for anyone in that situation?

  7. 6 minutes ago, Greg Focker said:

    It would apply to a lot of the good qbs.  I haven't  heard of a single teammates of his former or current that didn't say he wasn't a great teammate.  You can hate everything about him, its all good, but cant deny he's a good teammate.

    Read this very slowly. Then read the second sentence again even more slowly. Repeat as many times as necessary to realize that you just denied he's a good teammate and then proceeded to claim that it can't be denied.

  8. 16 minutes ago, XR4ticlone said:
    I actually agree that Trump's not a great businessman.  He's a great promoter.  Much like Obama was.
    That said you can't get more economically rahtarded than She Guevara...it's not possible. 

    He. Helped. Drive. Multiple. Casinos. Bankrupt.

    To clarify, I agree that AOC has basically zero economics knowledge. But arguing that someone who has proven not to have even a basic understanding of finances has vastly more knowledge of complex economics systems is absurd. Having a better grasp of economics than AOC is not a high bar to clear. Trump still doesn't even get close.



  9. ^ He's talking about how The Last Jedi sucked balls.
     
    Infinity War was one of the most satisfying movie experiences of my life. Right up there with Return of the King as far as a movie series goes, but obviously there was a lot more build up for this one. IW was the best Marvel movie to date, can't wait to rewatch it later this week. 


    Crazy talk.
  10. She wishes.  Trump takes shits with more economic knowledge than her.  
    To be fair his shits have more economic knowledge than he does, also.

    And sucking at business, knowing you suck at it, paying people off to get the business up and running, paying yourself big salaries, doing that by not paying vendors, driving the business into the ground, then filing for bankruptcy doesn't take any economic knowledge. It takes con man skills, a lack of ethics, and a knowledge of the game.

    How does someone with even a kindergartener's grasp of economics have to file for bankruptcy with a fucking casino? TWICE!
    • Like 1
  11. 47 minutes ago, pyrohornIII said:

    Synack, a San Francisco security platform, discovered serious flaws with the WinVote machine months ahead of this weekend's convention. The team simply plugged in a mouse and keyboard and bypassed the voting software by clicking "control-alt-delete."

    Jesus.

  12. Maybe learn how the FISA process works and why that is different than your accusation about the IC.
    Do you believe that judges are incapable of violating the Constitution simply because they're judges? There are some judges on various US Courts of Appeals who disagree.
    • Fuck You 1


  13. I can't and won't speak to classified information that comes from other countries. As far as that which is generated from within the United States, if you don't have clearance to access and the specific need-to-know then I dont really give a shit what you want or hope. Its classified to protect National Security and the level at which it's classified is given based upon the danger to the country that the information's disclosure would hold. If you do have a clearance and you've been accessing wikileakes then you, me, and an the FBI need to have a discussion.
    Now, as I'm confident you don't fall into the latter, kindly take your no-clearance having ass along with your hope and fuck all the way off. You and anyone else who accesses that site makes the job of my brothers and sisters who fight to defend this country and swore our allegiance to the Constitution that much harder. Every piece of information, no matter how small or minute, gives our adversaries another piece of the puzzle. This is why we practice OPSEC regarding everything, whether it has a specific classification or is unclassified.


    Maybe if the IC didn't want things being leaked they shouldn't have violated the rights of American citizens so badly that somebody wanted to expose them.
    • Like 4
    • Fuck You 1
  14.  

    22 hours ago, texasstrong12 said:

    This is a good and interesting read on the recent hire Drew Martin. 

    http://collegead.com/drew-martin-fan-engagement/

     

    19 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

    All I got from this is that activation is the new buzzword for engagement. 

    Then you missed some stuff.

    Drew Martin: I think a lot of it really boils down to giving fans permission to have fun.

    Giving fans permission to really get into the games, have a good time. We really want to dial back a lot of the over-the-top corporate sponsorship aspects of it. You score a touchdown and we go to a commercial and the next thing you know, a bank president is on the field with the athletics director getting a game ball, and the fans sit down.

    So what we’re really telling them is, hey, take a breath, take a pause, when we should be telling them let’s celebrate this touchdown. Let’s keep this momentum going. Let’s have some fun with the band. Let’s have some fun with the video boards, and let’s do some things that are engaging to really keep you invested and keep you having fun.

    There are certainly areas, you know, we would be remiss to not find areas to activate with our sponsors. They’re paying quite a bit of money to be a part of the University of Texas brand. But I think there are different ways that you can do that and still keep that fan engaged, ways that are more entertaining than on-field presentation after on-field presentation, weather report after weather report. Those kinds of things really turn the fans off.

    Scott Fisher is sad.

    • Like 1
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  15. 1 hour ago, Aphelion said:

    For those endorsing any particular plan (e.g. bad teammate and fondren road or any others):

    Instead of giving qualitative analysis with a few basic numbers thrown in (e.g. "free college for all to be paid for if we increase taxes, maybe something like 65% for the top 20%; this should work out"), why not give quantification for all claims with summed total projected costs and revenues to see if your comprehensive plan is even feasible?  Of course you can't know all projected costs with full certainty, but reasonable estimates (with your reasoning for the given estimates) can be used where necessary.  We are talking about things that all incur costs and generate revenues; all of these things can be quantified and so there is no need to rely solely on gobs of text on hopes & expectations.  It is either feasible that your plan will work (i.e. the revenue from your taxes will cover the costs of your plan) or it is not.  If you've not even performed a basic analysis using numbers and not presumptions, then there is really no point in talking about the plan.  This is the difference between talking with someone who wants to start a business who has an actual business plan with detailed numbers vs talking with someone with dreams.  

     

     

    4 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

    Numbers are part of the Patriarchy, you Nazi bigot. 

    Here we see the difference between a thoughtful poster making a good post suggesting specific improvements to raise the level of discourse and an idiot.

    • Like 1
  16. I'm not sure that Ms. Rubin knows what unprompted means, but it's nice to see a politician respond in that manner. And Warren also makes a lot of excellent points in her responses with some not so excellent implications thrown in here and there. I'm sure she'll be called a socialist if she starts running for office but her entire response can be summed up as support for true capitalistic competition. The catch is how you define that.

    • Like 1
    • Fuck You 1
  17. 5 minutes ago, Captainant said:

    Outstanding tidy summary for modern attention spans. Unfortunately it's over two tweets long so you're SOL on getting it to catch on.

    • Fuck You 1
  18. The fact that people think that giving more money to the government is a good thing makes me laugh. 
    There's that deep insightful analysis we're looking for.

    Do you think you're paying the right amount to the government now? If not, then how much is the right amount? What do you base that on? Do you value the government provided items and services that allow you to live the life you do?
    • Fuck You 1
  19. Yes, the fact that more regressive taxation is necessary to cover the costs of such programs is a valid talking point. As an aside, currently the top marginal rate is 55.8% from what I can tell, the 60% was several years ago. Also, there is a 51.5% maximum rate on income taxes in Denmark.

    Regardless, it should also be pointed out that after years and years of this tax system Danes still overwhelmingly support it based on the society it has enabled.

    That's not an endorsement of trying it in the USA, though. Cultural differences, not to mention the logistical issues of even attempting something like that in a country of 325 million versus 6 million, mean it would take a lot going right for such a system to last even a decade here. It's a bad idea but let's stick to the real reasons that it's a bad idea.

    • Like 2
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