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Tuesday Open Thread

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 09:56:24 AM EST
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    Tuesday Open Thread | 46 comments (46 topical)
    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#2)
    by kdog on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 11:59:19 AM EST
    What the hell is up with Geico in NJ? Everywhere he turns, the working man is getting royally screwed.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#3)
    by Johnny on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 12:35:28 PM EST
    Interesting kdog... Guilty until gouged, eh?

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#4)
    by desertswine on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 12:49:32 PM EST
    Geico - buncha damn lizards anyway.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#5)
    by kdog on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 12:49:40 PM EST
    The worst part Johnny...it's illegal to drive without insurance. Be gouged or forfeit your plates! Wow the public with funny lizard commercials, then bend the public over and "service the account"...as George Carlin would say. Geico should shrink the advertising budget and stop screwing their customers from lesser means.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#6)
    by desertswine on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 01:25:14 PM EST
    Can you believe this? Bizarre. Well, it's always something.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 01:25:31 PM EST
    Still no mention of the attempted murder of students at UNC by a disgruntled (what else is new?) muslim. Is that not a crime worth commenting about TL? Nobody here has anything to say about this? I bet if a white guy tried to mow down some muslims you'd all be all over that!

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 01:41:43 PM EST
    This is an open thread. This is at least the second time you've mentioned it. I've got CNN going. They're talking about it. I've got VPR going. They're talking about it. I don't see any lack of coverage of this story since it happened. This pathetic attempt of yours to imply that no one cares about white people getting killed at the hands of Muslims is even more ridiculous than the usual nonsense you traffic in. Always a pleasure.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 01:53:45 PM EST
    charlie.. I'm not concerned about CNN... My question is why is it not covered here on TL. "THE POLITICS OF CRIME" The silence if deafening....

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 01:55:43 PM EST
    What the hell is up with Geico in NJ?
    Not to mention State Farm on the Gulf Coast. "Gee, if we just charge high premiums and deny every initial claim whether valid or not because a certain percentage of people will get scared and fold and not file again because they don't want to risk having their premiums go up yet again, think of our potential profitability! Like ya need an MBA from Tuck or Wharton to figure that out. In Jersey, they teach ya that in Cub Scouts. That's like the first part of Webelos. Banking and Insurance is just Loansharking and Protection.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 01:59:07 PM EST
    Which part of open thread is givin' you trouble, BB? You are discussing it. And that's strike three.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#12)
    by roy on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 02:00:12 PM EST
    Is there some evidence that the Geico people are mistaken when they say people in certain jobs are more likely to file claims?

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#13)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 02:11:01 PM EST
    SFW! Some jobs are more dangerous than others. Take, for example, oh, I don't know, cops and firemen. Should a health insurance company not have to insure them because they're more likely to get hurt and file a claim? What's a Yankee Doodle Dandy like yourself have to offer on that sort of dilemna?

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#14)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 02:20:23 PM EST
    Some jobs are more dangerous than others.
    ...and therefore they cost the insurer more, and therefore the insurer charges them more for their insurance. Which just so happens to be what the article is about, and not about:
    Should a health insurance company not have to insure them because they're more likely to get hurt and file a claim?
    Did you read the article?

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#15)
    by swingvote on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 02:23:12 PM EST
    Gilmartin said using occupation and education to determine rates is allowed by law if a company proves they correlate with losses....."They were able to justify it." In other words, it is currently legal in NJ to base insurance rates on actuarial data which shows a higher risk of claims for people in certain jobs or with certain education levels, and Geico is claiming to have amassed such data. All insurance rates are based on an actuarial analysis of the risks involved, the likelihood of a claim, and the average size of the claim paid. Geico is simply doing what it is supposed to do, and allowed to do by law, to ensure that people are paying enough for the insurance coverage they are buying. If you want to make a case against them, you'll need to show that their data is wrong, that people in these groups do not have a higher likelihood of filing claims, or of filing larger claims. Whining about how "unfair" it is is just that, whining. It will accomplish nothing.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#16)
    by kdog on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 03:20:34 PM EST
    Let Geico and other insurers charge what they want, but don't mandate by law that the public has to do business with them. That's what bothers me. I'm not buying that working class people have a greater propensity for car accidents. Lots of people have accidents and pay for the repairs themselves because it's cheaper than the inevitable rate hike. For the working poor, this isn't an option. Maybe that's part of the reason for more claims from poorer people. Bottom Line..if a service is mandated by law than the service provider shouldn't be allowed to discriminate purely by earning power.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#17)
    by kdog on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 03:21:41 PM EST
    And not just Geico..if they're doing it they all are doing it to some degree.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#18)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 03:31:15 PM EST
    If you want to make a case against them, you'll need to show that their data is wrong, that people in these groups do not have a higher likelihood of filing claims, or of filing larger claims. Whining about how "unfair" it is is just that, whining. It will accomplish nothing.
    That's what 'realists' like you have always said about everything from desegregating the army to integrated schools to integrated neighborhoods to blacks playing QB in the NFL. How's that workin' out for ya? That's what I thought. Always a pleasure.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#19)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 04:27:51 PM EST
    ...and therefore they cost the insurer more, and therefore the insurer charges them more for their insurance. Which just so happens to be what the article is about, and not about:
    SUO: You and your fools gold. Yeah, I read your article. I'm no more impressed with this than I was with the loony pizza pope's catholics only virgin village. Again, just what part of I don't give a damn how much money you've got, this is still the USA, is giving you trouble? Those criteria aren't relevant. They're discriminatory. They're illegal. Am I still goin' too fast for ya?

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#20)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 04:31:25 PM EST
    I'm with kdog to a large extent. Something about the gvt essentially creating an industry that takes a bunch of money out of my/our pockets by mandating that we carry auto insurance has always bugged me. That said, if there are enough competitors in the field, and it seems as though there probably are in this case - no one is being forced to get insurance from Geico if they don't want to - I can't fault a co. for trying to make a profit if it can. In a weird way, because the gvt mandates that we get auto ins., the auto insurance industry itself would seem to be a defacto extension of the gvt. At least there is some inherent competition in this quasi governmental entity...

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#21)
    by roy on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 04:53:39 PM EST
    There are factors that make people more likely to crash or to file a claim. If you're known to be in a high-risk group, you'll pay more and you'll feel shafted. Whether the insurance salesman is being truthful and statistically literate when he tells you you're in such a group is another question. I have some sympathy for the Geico folks, but they may be misleading people even if their data is accurate. Let's say truckers tend to file a lot of claims, but some other factor (polydactyly, just for an example) is really the cause. Geico can truthfully say "truckers file more claims" and they can charge all truckers more without catching much flack. But by grouping truckers who have extra fingers in with those who don't, they're screwing over some drivers who aren't really at a higher risk. As far as whether they're allowed to discriminate -- even honestly -- based on job, I'm torn. Libertarian dogma says they should be able to do what they want, since insurance is based upon mutual consent. But the insurance companies of yore copped a sweet deal by getting insurance mandatory for driving on public roads. They leveraged the Coercive Power of Government, maybe they should be coerced into serving our ideals over their own, consent be d*mned.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#22)
    by Sailor on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 05:43:24 PM EST
    I've always thought that there are some services that should not be subject to making a profit: Justice Health Education All of those things are investments we make in our humanity. And they pay off in dividends that are not necessarily financial, and when they are they don't connect to the original source.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#23)
    by swingvote on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 06:04:22 PM EST
    Kdog, I'm with you all the way on insurance being required by law. Insurance is a great idea, but we should be able to buy it for ourselves, if we want. Problem is, as soon as too many people decide no, and then cause accidents they cannot or will not pay restitution for, we are right back to where we are now, because people like Charlie will then whine about how unfair it is to expect people to suffer loss for accidents someone else caused. You may well have a point about white collar people not filing claims that blue collar people file because they can't afford to fix the car themselves. That's certainly one worth looking into, but at the end of the day all you will have done is prove the validity of the actuarial data Geico is relying on. It's a Catch-22. Charliedontthink, What a classic liberal piece of garbage. You can't refute an argument, so you switch from whining about "unfair" auto insurance rates to idiotic claims about how other people feel about segregation, because, naturally, anyone who doesn't agree with you is a racist, right? (Shades of Paul in LA?) That you would even try to equate high insurance rates with segregation and black NFL quarterbacks says a great deal about your true position. You reached for the race card without even hesitating, because it's all you've got. Typical. ' And for the record, Chuckles, I love black quarterbacks in the NFL. Donovan McNabb all the way. You're dismissed now Charlie.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#24)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 08:13:58 PM EST
    As if. I've got this original pair of Air Jordans. Those ugly red and black things that came out in 1985 that my son just had to have. I was gonna show ya a picture of these scuffed up old ankle-high things to make a point, when I figured, why bother, they'd be over your head, too. You can't discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, economic circumstance or pseudo-scientific, quasi-academic aryan-nations, anti-semitic, racist, country club flat earth horsebrithume nonsense that's got nothin' to do with safe driving records and everything to do with illegal bigotry and discrimination under another name that still smells just as bad. Not every republican is a bigoted, anti-semitic, knuckle-draggin' racist but racists invariably tend to be bigoted, anti-semitic, knuckle-draggin'republicans. Why do you suppose that is? Always a pleasure.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#25)
    by Che's Lounge on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 08:31:19 PM EST
    Libertarian dogma says they should be able to do what they want, since insurance is based upon mutual consent. No it's not. In the case of Personal Liability (malpractice) Insurance, I have only one group of insurers that will cover my profession. The insurance is even offered by my national association, because they know we can't get it anywhere, and they negotiated as a professionl representative. there is no "shopping around". My premium went up 90% this year. Yes, nine-zero. Mutual consent my A**. IMHO every attorney should start each and every day on their knees thanking God they don't have to buy MP insurance. By my estimates it saves you anywhere from 20-80k/year. BTW, I have had Geico in CA for many years and they have always treated me well (2 accidents - no fault of mine. Maybe that's why). Very reasonable rates. The body shops - now that's a different story. Those places are staffed with some real home grown mother *%@&$%^.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#26)
    by Che's Lounge on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 08:33:17 PM EST
    Addendum: If you don't have it, you don't work.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#27)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 08:34:01 PM EST
    Gee, Sorry fellas, but just because you think single black female librarians who've been driving for 15 years with clean driving records should be subject to higher rates because she may or may not have a niece or nephew playing basketball giving them a higher probability of blowing out their knee does not make it so. It's discrimination pure and simple. It's got nothing to do with her driving ability and it's illegal. The bigoted nonsense required to sustain that philosophy is illegal and gone with the wind. Fortunately, We've evolved as a Society to the point where, clearly, people who think that way are thought of as dinosaurs and promptly told they need to find themselves a tar pit and go fall in it.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#28)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 08:44:38 PM EST
    Malpractice is 1-2 percent of the budget. It's just insurance companies rippin' people off. That's the bedrock of our economy. It's not like we make anything anymore. Bogus medical malpractice claims are what happen to someone else. Feel free to prove me wrong shrub shills. You lot are really on a roll. You're just ridin' the crest of a slump. Always a pleasure.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#29)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 09:27:20 PM EST
    Posted by BB March 7, 2006 02:53 PM charlie..
    I'm not concerned about CNN... My question is why is it not covered here on TL. "THE POLITICS OF CRIME" The silence if deafening....
    Gee, that's gotta be rough. Nobody knows the trouble you've seen. You have my deepest apologies. Spelling is the least of your worries.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#30)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 05:38:56 AM EST
    I've got this original pair of Air Jordans. Those ugly red and black things that came out in 1985 that my son just had to have. I was gonna show ya a picture of these scuffed up old ankle-high things to make a point, when I figured, why bother, they'd be over your head, too. Okay, now you've gone from idiotic to incomprehensibile, Chuckie. What an old pair of sneakers has to do with insurance rates being too high for blue collar workers is unimaginable, but I'm sure you'll have some lame explanation with six degrees of separation. You can't discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, economic circumstance or pseudo-scientific, quasi-academic aryan-nations, anti-semitic, racist, country club flat earth horsebrithume nonsense that's got nothin' to do with safe driving records and everything to do with illegal bigotry and discrimination under another name that still smells just as bad. Nobody said you could, Charlie, although whether it's legal to do so may still be an open question. If you have proof that Geico, or any other insurance company, is "discriminating" on the basis of anything other than past claims histories, please provide it. (Typical deafening silence ensues when Charlie is asked to back up his wild claims). Yeah, I didn't think so. Not every republican is a bigoted, anti-semitic, knuckle-draggin' racist but racists invariably tend to be bigoted, anti-semitic, knuckle-draggin'republicans. Really? Robert Byrd is a Republican? Al Sharpton is a Republican? Jesse Jackson is a Republican? Can I come watch while you tell all of them this? ...just because you think single black female librarians who've been driving for 15 years with clean driving records should be subject to higher rates because she may or may not have a niece or nephew playing basketball giving them a higher probability of blowing out their knee does not make it so. Please provide a link to anyone who said such a thing, Charlie (deafening silence once again). Please also note that we are talking about auto insurance here, not health insurance. And please provide any evidence that the sports aspirations of someone's niece or nephew is taken into account, in any way, shape, or form, in determining applicable auto insurance rates (there's that deafening silence again). I also note that you once again went with the race card. Why is that? Does it not matter to you if the single female librarian is white? Or asian? Or hispanic? Does your pseudo concern for the downtrodden only apply to black people? Could it be you are showing your true colors here, and, as with so many liberals, believe that black people will always need your personal protection? Typical. Nice try, Charlie, but not even close. You can make all of the claims you want about "strike three" but for a guy who has never even made it into the batters box, you sure do talk a bad game.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#31)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 06:12:44 AM EST
    Why am I not surprised that you can't see what clean 15 year driving records have to do with auto insurance or that Anti-Semitism is discrimination against Jews, not Blacks, and no matter what they taught you at klan kamp, Jews are White, not Black. Furthermore, that you can't grasp that ankle high is over your head and that 40 year-old Civil Rights Laws still apply to you no matter how much money you have and you find them inconvenient. It's been fun.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#32)
    by swingvote on Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 06:45:07 AM EST
    Why am I not surprised that you can't see what clean 15 year driving records have to do with auto insurance or that Anti-Semitism is discrimination against Jews, not Blacks, and no matter what they taught you at klan kamp, Jews are White, not Black. Furthermore, that you can't grasp that ankle high is over your head and that 40 year-old Civil Rights Laws still apply to you no matter how much money you have and you find them inconvenient. Typical gibberish from the little fuhrer. You're flailing Charlie. You're flailing so badly you can't even keep your head above water. So you just move along. More of the same. Nonsense claims, insults, and pure, unadulterated BS. You can't even play the race card well, Charlie. Maybe you should go back to liberal bootcamp and relearn the basics. But then logic was never your strong suit, was it. End of the day, Geico isn't breaking the law, and that just pisses you off to no end, doesn't it. So, since you can't argue directly against what they are doing, you claim they are doing other things and argue against them. Ye old liberal bait-and-switch, kind of like Hillary badmouthing the port deal while her hubby promotes it. You're dismissed now Charlie.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#33)
    by jondee on Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 07:20:30 AM EST
    jp - You forgot to mention how deafening the silence is.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#34)
    by jondee on Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 07:54:26 AM EST
    "End of the day Geico isnt breaking the law." Unless you've studied the stats - which I doubt - that pronouncement is nothing but a "free market" humping leap-of-faith. Oh well, at least youre not a liberal.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#35)
    by Che's Lounge on Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 07:57:25 AM EST
    Hey JP, Let me attempt to to translate Charlie so that even you can understand him: The more you got, the less you pay. Stop wasting bandwidth.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#36)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 08:04:18 AM EST
    So, I've failed to demonstrate what clean driving records have to do with auto insurance, eh? Five times. Look, I don't give a damn if ya make her a 35 year-old single mother of Swedish Heritage named Gretchen Carlson, sport. If she's got a clean driving record, she's got a clean driving record and she shouldn't get ripped off by Geico or their bigoted bonehead apologists because they don't like Civil Rights Laws and they try to get around them under some bogus business bs. Always a pleasure.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#37)
    by swingvote on Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 08:13:33 AM EST
    You're still flailing, Charlie, and now you're lying too. What you have failed to do is show how the sports aspirations of someone's niece or nephew has anything to do with how their insurance rates are figured. You remember, as in "just because you think single black female librarians who've been driving for 15 years with clean driving records should be subject to higher rates because she may or may not have a niece or nephew playing basketball giving them a higher probability of blowing out their knee does not make it so." Got any link to back up that assertion, Charlie? I didn't think so. Or how about "You can't discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, economic circumstance or pseudo-scientific, quasi-academic aryan-nations, anti-semitic, racist, country club flat earth horsebrithume nonsense that's got nothin' to do with safe driving records and everything to do with illegal bigotry and discrimination under another name that still smells just as bad." Got any evidence to back up that claim, Charlie? Which insurance company is discriminating in their auto insruance rates on the basis of "race, creed, color, [or] national origin"? Please be specific with regard to the company and provide evidence of their doing so. You haven't prven anything five times, Charlie. You haven't even tried. You simply skipped from one assinine lie to another, sliming everyone you can long the way and showing yourself to be just the sort of close-minded, stereotyping, probably racist individual you so love to accuse other people of being. Until you actually mak an argument, rather than an accusation, you are permanently dismissed.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#38)
    by Lww on Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 08:30:02 AM EST
    Ah, the annual AIPAC dinner: When politicians from both sides forget their differences and grovel together for cash and good press. Tripping over themselves to out sabre-rattle each other when it comes to Iran. Fawnibg like puppy dogs in front of the AIPACians. Boehner promising any "anti-Israeli" legislation will never see a vote in congress. This country is in deep doodoo....

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#39)
    by Che's Lounge on Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 08:39:33 AM EST
    LWW, Puppydogs they aren't.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#40)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 08:43:03 AM EST
    Until you actually mak an argument, rather than an accusation, you are permanently dismissed. Oh, yeah, that oughta do it.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#41)
    by roy on Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 08:49:08 AM EST
    The insurance discussion was fixing to be interesting, but now it's an invective fest. Great. Sorry for ignoring the good points raised, but I'm staying out of the mud. Random aside, two people have been arrested for those recent church arsons in Alabama.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#42)
    by Lww on Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 08:58:36 AM EST
    MC Hammer sang a tune about my last post. Take a guess....

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#43)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 09:44:25 AM EST
    I've always been amazed and amused by the likes of kristol and condi and shrub and the their profound cluelessness and amazement that they don't get more support from the Black and Jewish Communities respectively. Kristol and the neo-cons claim any criticism of them is Anti-Semitism. Never mind the fact that much of it comes from Jews embarrassed by these nitwits. Never mind the fact that shrub got 23 percent of the Jewish Vote. Never mind the fact that years of being told God doesn't hear your prayers by the likes of Billy Graham and the rest of these so-called Christian Leaders takes it's toll and the Christ Killer Crapolla of the Passion of the Christ makes it perfectly plain that while these guys may hate Muslims and support Israel, they also hate Jews as much as they ever did. As for Blacks supporting shrub at a rate of 2 percent, Katrina response, condi shoe shopping, spamalot, armstrong williams lyin' on the payroll, lack of response from republican congressional black caucus, lack of congressional black caucus to respond. It's a wonder they got 2 percent. One was sick and the other didn't wanna march alone.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#44)
    by Lww on Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 10:14:55 AM EST
    Charlie, until the last part of your first sentence it looked like you were gonna touch it. Then you put Jews and blacks into the same category. I don't see a valid comparison, not in this country anyway. EVERYBODY is exploited and abused when they come into this country. Only blacks were enslaved. My granparents on my mothers side(Irish) were married in Superior Wisc in 1905 as indentured servants. They returned to Ireland because their lives sucked here. My fathers mother was an indentured servant in NO, she went back also. Everybody gets screwed when they get off that boat. Blacks and Jews make strange bedfellows, Jews got ahead through education yet you see alot of Jewish influence against vouchers or any experiments to help inner city schools.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#45)
    by Lww on Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 10:47:39 AM EST
    It's either a long lunch hour or I'm being hammered or MC'd.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#46)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 01:29:55 AM EST
    Gee, thanks for clearin' up the Jewish Experience for me. Where would I be without a smart fella like you to show me the ropes? Since, Historically Speaking, as any good Conservative, well-schooled in his King James Bible knows, not much had happened to the Jews before coming to these shores. Yes, they led quiet, sheltered lives, free from conflict and strife and, much like today, easily assimilated with their neighboring tribes and fellow merchants, often joining freely in power sharing arrangements and governments with neighboring tribes with no record of conflict. Historians look upon this epoch in astonishment and amazement, finding it almost too good to be true. People, actually familiar with the History of this Planet, have little or no trouble seeing the common bond and "shared experience" between Blacks and Jews throughout the ages. And while it is unquestionably true that Jews, as a people, have traditionally placed a high premium on education, one of the major benefits of that policy is to sharpen their senses and their resolve to the bogus trojan horsebrit nonsense of Conservatives who come bearing gifts of school choice and academic horowitz hogwash freedom when it's painfully obvious that all they wanna do is bust the Teachers Union and pretend that we'll all live happily ever after again if we just reinstate school prayer and salute the flag 10 times per day. They don't give a damn about inner city education. They never have. I stand corrected. You're absolutely right. Nobodies had the bed of roses we Jews have. What the hell was I thinkin'!was I Gee, sorry to disappoint you. Thanks for clearin' that up. I'm well aware of the the fact that Blacks were the only ones who were brought to this Country in chains as slaves. And though not brought over as slaves, some had to tremendous sacrifices along the way to get to where they are. Others still, played their parts in sacrificing to make this Country what it is today - the pre-eminent economic, military superpower it is today. Long hours. Poor, often dangerous working conditions. Tense, often openly-hostile relations between labor and management were the price of admission yet they were paid. Often stoically, and without complaint. What's that? By them! Heavens, no! They have People for that sort of thing!That's what Domestic staff is for!

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#47)
    by Edger on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 05:35:59 PM EST
    What's going on in Florida? Shades of Watergate? Thieves hit Democrats' office By Betty Parker The News-Press, Fort Myers March 09, 2006
    Lee County's Democratic headquarters had its second break-in in almost as many years this week. Thieves ignored computer equipment and other valuables, and took the party's financial records and voter data, said Lyndia Bradley, Lee County's Democratic chairwoman. "This was a very targeted, purposeful break-in," she said Wednesday. "They were obviously interested in certain things, not things you sell on the street for money." Computers were vandalized, but there was no sign of forced entry. ... The party's headquarters had a similar break-in shortly before the 2004 elections when the office was in a different location
    Tuesday Open Thread | 46 comments (46 topical)