Posted on 03/31/2005 7:37:48 PM PST by Congressman Billybob
Then sit back and wait for the handful of opposition to find a single judge to inevitably overturn what everyone else worked so hard for...:-(
O.K. I trust you, we are in agreeance.... :)
Your political analysis is spot on.
Your poker analogy shows why you only break even.
The first rule of poker is to learn to compute pot odds. Going for an inside straight can be a good move if the pot odds warrant it.
Second, you have to calculate the odds of your opponent beating your hand even if you fill the straight. Third you have to figure out how to make your opponent believe you have already filled the straight. Finally, you must have the courage to call what you think is a bluff.
I think number 5 is what separates the good poker player from the average player.
In fact, I think having the courage to make the call is the characteristic which separates many successful people from the rest of the pack.
Heck no, I keep trying to fill an inside straight!
And the nice thing is that it predates the current brouhaha.
You seem to have a rational approach to gambling. The nuts are the ones spending the grocery money on lottery tickets.
I hope you and the Mrs. enjoy your "duplicate honeymoon," poker and all :-).
Good article. However I disagree with the analysis in the last 2 sentences of the above excerpt. I believe that the MSM used the 'guardian/custodial' contest as a diversionary tactic to obscure what I see as the "real" problem - the legal definition of 'LIFE' vs. the actual reality of life.
Scientific advances and breakthroughs are now coming so fast, that the legal definition must be changed. Recent experiments (non-human) have shown that stem cells can become new brain cells or almost any other body part and generate new tissue to repair damaged tissue.
Soon, probably within the next 10 years (my layman's estimate), we may be able to completely heal someone who is in the same condition as Terri Schiavo was, and perhaps completey heal and repair badly damaged hearts and kidneys, etc., as well. If this comes to pass, how will Judge Greer's and Michael Schiavo's actions be judged, hmmm? (Most of us already see them as her executioners, at least I do.)
How will a future world and society view the starving to death of an innocent handicapped person that could have, in just a few short years, been fully restored to a normal life?
Perhaps that might not have occurred; perhaps stem cell therapy is only a pipe dream; but what if ... ?
I believe that congress now MUST pass legislation that makes it a federal felony to remove life support of any kind without the signed written permission of the individual, witnessed by 3 disinterested parties and notarized (i.e. a living will).
Unfortunately, the costs (when insurance runs out) will ultimately be shifted to government entities (cities, state, federal) and thus to the taxpayers. Any such legislation must include ways to prevent fraud, abuse, and corruption (which inevitably take place) with heavy penalties and fines for each. No, I'm not in favor of more taxes, but it's going to happen - watch.
If stem cell therapy (hopefully minor or less invasive surgery) works and becomes widespread, medical costs should decline rapidly, as the cost of treatment vs. other less successful treatments will be much lower. IMO, probable results would be that the black market in transplant organs would dry up overnight and the length of dependence on life sustaining equipment would decline sharply.
Again, the real problem is 'how do legally define life' or should we even try?
Those who, like me, believe in God (not allah) know how to answer that question. The atheists and agnostics will only be confused and befuddled. For example:
In the '60s and '70s, there were books on how to make your houseplants grow larger, stronger, and healthier by playing classical or soft music and talking lovingly to them several times during each day. Experiments showed impressive results, including poor results when playing loud harsh rock music and yelling with anger at them. The question raised at that time was: "Do plants have feelings?"
And, yes, many animals can be taught some amazing tricks and other things. Just ask any PETA member and they will almost surely tell you that animals are more valuable than humans.
I believe that God gave each of us life and a soul, and an obligation to sustain both as long as we possibly can.
JMHO
RT
"Nice post but I disagree about Social Security. I don't want to save it. I want it to end. It's a rip off, a lie, a scheme, and totally against every principle of freedom known to man.
It's my money. I'll do with it as I please. And if I don't prepare for myself when I'm older I'll either have to work until I die or rely on my family or the charity of others. But it's fascism to force compassion upon me with my own money because others don't want to see me begging on the street if I'm dumb enough not to take care of myself when I'm 70 years of age."
AMEN!
They can keep the thousands they have taken from me up to this point(I'm 49)and just stop taking any more and I would SETTLE!
Amen back at ya! I'm willing to let them keep what they've stolen already if they'll just let me out!
Freedom!
Let’s examine that claim. The people whose SS benefits will be paid by those bonds, are already alive. The law that says how much they will get is already written. The position that this is “new” debt means that
Exactly! The claim that the debt is "new" is absurd; the only responsible way of accounting for that debt is for the government to buy private assets to cover it. Anyone can write an IOU for 2 trillion dollars, and put it in a safe somewhere and claim to have the money to cover the Social Security Trust Fund all by themselves.That's what the government has done; the only difference is that when the government does it it has the effect of printing dollars. Notice I didn't say "money" but "dollars;" printing dollars on that scale would have a huge inflationary impact and the dollars printed wouldn't be nearly as much actual money as you would otherwise expect.
The rules of poker never change, nor do the odds.
You're on a roll here, John. I'm really LOL!
I'm sorry I missed this thread - I've been extraordinarily busy of late in my money job. ;^)
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