The State of the Union address

[Jon]

So folks, how is America doing nowadays?

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Lowest unemployment in 49 years. Trying (not always succeeding) to withdraw troops from certain hot spots. Trying really hard (and often succeeding) in updating trade agreements that aren't so "bend-over-backwards" lopsided against us. Working on reducing prison populations as quickly and carefully as possible. Riling up "back-room" politicians who want to be the "shadow government." Trying to take control of our borders and be a melting pot but NOT a dumping ground for people of other nations.

Racked by internal divisive politics fomented by those who want the status quo because it means they will keep their jobs of being power brokers. Racked by ideological issues. Beset by people who never learned that self-sufficiency is the key to success and now they are upset because their free ride is coming to an end.

Overall, not so bad. At least we have some nice circuses to go with the bread. (Think Imperial Rome, author Juvenal of about CE 100, in his "Satires X" where he originates the phrase panem et circenses as a satirical reference to how the emperor was keeping the masses happy).

 

[vba_php]

Lowest unemployment in 49 years.

more than likely Richard, that's because 1 or 2 things is happening:

=> large corps are hiring like mad because they have the false belief that the reason the stock market is doing so well is because trump is in the white house, he is a businessman, and therefore nothing can possibly fail.
=> small and medium sized business people are creating new companies because large corps don't need non-skilled workers due to AI replacing them.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Larger companies are hiring because some of the regulations that had them in a choke-hold have now been modified or rescinded. Capitalism is all about "return on investment." You don't invest if you don't think you can get a positive return on your money. With heavily restrictive regulations out there, companies were not hiring. Trump got into office and things changed.

Small and medium businesses have ALWAYS been hiring. Just not as fast as before, again because of relaxed regulation. Your viewpoint of closing all big USA businesses would stifle the economy but not collapse it - because MOST of the USA business economy IS small businesses.

Fact: 89% of all businesses have 20 or fewer employees.
Fact: 99.7% of all businesses have 500 or fewer employees.
Fact: Small businesses represent 96% of high-patenting manufacturing (non-farm) business.

Facts & Data on Small Business and Entrepreneurship - Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council

A rundown on key facts, numbers and trends regarding entrepreneurship and small business American Business is Overwhelmingly Small Business Based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 6.1 million employer firms in the United States in 2019 (latest data). ● Firms with fewer than 500...

sbecouncil.org

Sounds like your facts are skewed YET AGAIN, Adam. But thanks for playing.

 

[vba_php]

Sounds like your facts are skewed YET AGAIN, Adam. But thanks for playing.

it was a ''common sense'' look at human behavior, Richard, not your way of ''economic analysis''. may I say for the millionth time that you don't understand that about me? there's a difference in those 2 ways of looking at things you know....

Larger companies are hiring because some of the regulations that had them in a choke-hold have now been modified or rescinded. Capitalism is all about "return on investment." You don't invest if you don't think you can get a positive return on your money. With heavily restrictive regulations out there, companies were not hiring. Trump got into office and things changed.

the elephants, when they're the ruling party, usually get away with stripping off the regs that the donkeys put in place the years before (most of the time, during the prior presidency). Speaking of back-and-forth presidencies in the USA, i believe if you look at the history of presidents from George Washington all the way to our current president, most of that time the it is obvious how the general public behaves in terms of their constant disappointment of their choices. thus, the ruling party changes after every election or 2, a lot of times. thus you have, in say a given ''x'' years time span of 4 presidents--one after the other, something like:

=> donkey president 4 or 8 years
=> elephant president 4 or 8 years
=> donkey president 4 or 8 years
=> elephant president 4 or 8 years

the ones that I remember who made it 8 years, during my lifetime were Reagan, little GWB and Obama.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

But of course the pendulum swings both ways. The genius of the country is that the really objectionable stuff goes away on the reverse swing and we get new stuff. Then it swings back the other way and we lose some of that stuff. The genius is in what stays. Things that are egregiously bad get nipped quickly. Obamacare, for example, has been gutted since there is no longer a penalty. Pretty soon, based on a 5th-Circuit Court ruling, it may be declared unconstitutional (in violation of the commerce clause). The Supreme Court will hear that challenge in its upcoming term. But some of the trade agreements might just stick around. You never know. We TRY things for 4 to 8 years. What we like, we keep. What we hate goes away in the next swing of the pendulum.

 

[vba_php]

What we like, we keep. What we hate goes away in the next swing of the pendulum.

well if that's true, and what I said it true, then we must "hate" the actual leaders or their views because they constantly change. really, since I don't pay attention much to politics, but business instead Richard, the thing I love most about this free country of ours is the fact that you can do almost anything and get anything for free because of the constant "competition" that goes on by the large players. I can't even count the number of times I've "manipulated" the system "legally" to get information I needed for any given large company that I needed to satisfy a client's request. the cleverness I'm talking about and the methods that can be used are endless really, but here's one example of a method I used recently to build a C#.NET/MVC website for someone:

=> call GoDaddy, buy windows hosting
=> explain to them that their reputation is horrible and ask about refund options if the desired process results in errors on their part
=> spend 15 days learning C# and MVC, spend next 15 days building .NET web app on a testing subdomain, compile, run, simulate on IIS server and screenshot within 1 month refund period
=> deploy package to customer
=> get refund from goDaddy after creating error-scenario for refund-issuing agent that knows nothing about software development
=> repeat process at a goDaddy competitor for next .NET web application customer request

the same thing holds true for people like my father...I can't tell you how many times in his life he's *borrowed* products from Wal Mart for the purpose of doing 1-time or 2-time tasks, then returns them. What a clever man. So what do you think, Richard? am I evil, or just a clever man and one who knows how to use corporate services/money to save on my operating expenses?

I can tell you of another scenario too Richard, that I discovered by accident 30 days ago regarding my ms office 365 subscription. and I'm currently running that package for free and have been for a while. as it stands now, it looks like I will probably never have to pay for it due to what seems to be a bug in MS's license-validation checking code. only time will tell though. the current count for free months is now at 3. LOL. I LOVE MS somedays!

 

[The_Doc_Man]

What a thief.

 

[Jon]

Doc, how many people watch The State of the Union? Is it most Americans?

 

[Jon]

I have a friend who "borrows" things from Amazon for one/two time use. He is a Christian too and goes to church every Sunday. I am less moral but don't "borrow."

 

[vba_php]

What a thief.

a lot of small business people do this, Richard. As far as they're concerned, I hear a lot of people and see a lot of people, that do stuff like this because they go through so much work getting things started and bust their asses while the corporate morons of the world are safe-and-sound in their mansions and don't do any work whatsoever after either selling their companies for billions or getting billions i stock options. and are you going to tell me that corporate executives are NOT thieves!? get real, dude. most of them earn millions literally by selling $hit to ignorant consumers and manipulating their emotions so they end up thinking they "need the product". there are VERY FEW products offered by large corporations that legitimate people actually NEED. Unless they're the type of people that live off the government and spend their government payments on iPhones to play games all day long. ever encountered one of those people!? I see them all day long.

I have a friend who "borrows" things from Amazon for one/two time use. He is a Christian too and goes to church every Sunday. I am less moral but don't "borrow."

I didn't do that Jon, because I'm a "thief", but rather to save the website owner some money. I didn't steal anything. this is just another case where the software client doesn't have money, so this is the workaround

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Theft of intellectual property is theft, Adam. Every time you open your mouth (well, tap your keyboard), we learn more and more about your poor planning, lack of foresight, inability to consider the consequences of your action, and your loose treatment of other people's property. You claim to be a Christian but did you forget one of the "big 10"?

THOU SHALT NOT STEAL. (thunder rumbles ominously in background.)

If you were to come to me for employment and I followed up by examining your on-line history, this kind of behavior would not only get you not hired, but if I thought you really attempted to use workarounds to avoid paying for a license, you would be reported to authorities for attempted theft of services. In the state of Louisiana, improper use of software without proper license is a low-grade felony. In the Navy job, we were told that not only would we lose our jobs for such a thing but that neither the contracting company nor the government would stand by me for that behavior. It is reprehensible and qualifies as software piracy. I feel strongly about it. (Can you tell?)

You asked in another thread if we could ever get together. The more I learn about you, the more likely I would be to schedule my exploratory surgery - ANY exploratory surgery - at the time you were planning to go through New Orleans. I might even schedule a root canal to be performed by my proctologist (taking the scenic route to get there).

 

[vba_php]

THOU SHALT NOT STEAL. (thunder rumbles ominously in background.)

I'm pretty sure the Lord understands that as part of business. That's exactly why I'm considering working for a church or exploring the monks' lives. because the technological non-sense is getting to the point where *everyone* is stealing. what I simply did was a very mild method of what foreigners in unsustainable countries do every day.

 

[AccessBlaster]

I can tell you of another scenario too Richard, that I discovered by accident 30 days ago regarding my ms office 365 subscription. and I'm currently running that package for free and have been for a while. as it stands now, it looks like I will probably never have to pay for it due to what seems to be a bug in MS's license-validation checking code. only time will tell though. the current count for free months is now at 3. LOL. I LOVE MS somedays!

Wow, I love the hypocrisy in your Christianity. You learned this behavior from your parents?

Again driving people away from the faith will not bring you closer to God. In fact just the opposite is waiting for you.

 

[vba_php]

Wow, I love the hypocrisy in your Christianity. You learned this behavior from your parents?

the only people that claim to be driven away by my words are the people on this forum. I've *never* gotten that in real life, and I tell stories like this all the time to people every day. matter of fact, small business people specifically get a kick out of it and want to know the method by which to do so. and this instance, AB, it wasn't my fault! like I said, I notice the x-y-z process by going through it accidentally. so if I know it exists, why in the world would I pay a greedy corporation when I don't have to!? they've got 5 billion in income on their financial statements...do they really need another measly 99 bucks from me for 1 year's subscription to office, which they don't care about anyway?

 

[The_Doc_Man]

so if I know it exists, why in the world would I pay a greedy corporation when I don't have to!?

HYPOCRITE! If you want to live the life of the Bible, then live it. You are not only a "parlor pink" - you are also a "parlor proselytizer" - who speaks a good game but doesn't live the game he speaks. Only now you speak TWO flavors of hypocrisy. You preach a sermon but don't live the life associated with Christianity because you think nothing of stealing services from one of the big guys. And you want to tear down the big guys because they exploit their workers. The Bible condoned slavery and that is pretty much a form of exploitation. Is THAT where you get this crap from?

 

[AccessBlaster]

I get the feeling this all staged, he winds people up in multiple directions. It reminds me of another actor on here who has a similar M.O.

 

[vba_php]

I get the feeling this all staged, he winds people up in multiple directions. It reminds me of another actor on here who has a similar M.O.

I think I've caused enough controversy you guys. you won't hear much more from me this topic. AB, based on what you've said, I get that literally ALL the time from my boss at work too, who, if I show him my high level of intelligence, starts thinking that I'm playing tricks on him and deceiving him. that is a *classic* example of what the world will start to suffer from.....thinking WAY too much and overanlyzing the shit out of everything. I dearly hope you guys don't get into that, because that is exactly how the enemy (speaking of Satan here) acts and how he can bring confusion to any given scenario. Per the bible (I believe):

the devil always brings conflict and disorder

and that's exactly what's going to happen in the corporate world in the future, and to other people in the general public as well, more than likely, because most of them will be totally in the dark about how the world operates and will start become angry that they do, in fact, NOT know, which will ultimately lead to the people of the world going to war with each other because everyone will be blaming everyone else for the world and what is has become. so I offer you guys this statement, as a last phrase regarding this subject:

don't fall for it, because if you do, more than likely *you* will be part of the group of people that will engage in massive conflict and war, while the true christians who know what's coming to them, await their death at the hands of greed and hatred, but only to await the eventual victory of the son over all material non-sense on earth and will reign forever from that point on.

good luck to you guys. (I will still post around here, but I can't say much more on this subject because it's become obvious that my discussions are bringing about too much controversy and confusion, and by no means am I on the enemy's side nor am I working for him. so if you want to explore the faith or talk about it, you shouldn't discuss it with me anymore).

not to belabor my intelligence, but I literally talk to many people every day that will eventually say to me, multiple times during a single discussion, this:

RIGHT?

How in the world did that come about? I can tell you how....it's the devil at work, and no one is at fault for it. It's simply an issue of human beings' fear manifesting into some other form as time goes on and satan controls all of it. it won't be long I'm sure when society will move on to the next "culture kick", which is the same thing over and over again.

 

[Darrell]

Dude, I seriously think you have a mental illness...

 

[pbaldy]

Doc, how many people watch The State of the Union? Is it most Americans?

Not this one. Politicians tend to drone on for long periods of time without actually saying anything. I'll get the Cliff Notes version later.