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Faceplams: It'll be Bush and Christie as the final two, and Bush will get the primary win. The others are just too fucking nuts and right-wing.Originally Posted by theruiner
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It'll be Bush and Christie as the final two, and Bush will get the primary win. The others are just too fucking nuts and right-wing.
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Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!
People like Rand Paul aren't even that extreme.
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Oh GTFO (eye roll). Maybe you're defending Rand Paul but he won't win the primary and I forgot about him, honestly (and so will everybody else) AND DON'T DRIFT THIS THREAD WITH FAKE LIBERTARIAN CRAP, HE'S A FUCKING REPUBLICAN, TAKE THIS TO THE PRESIDENTIAL THREAD.
MEANWHILE, The Donald called Mexicans prostitutes and drug dealers.
Last edited by allegro; 06-29-2015 at 06:07 PM.
Active Member
oh come on, didn't you like my Barry Goldwater quote?
The rest are seriously insane. I agree.
I'm not sure if you think he is moderate, but his positions on most topics put him pretty far left of most of the Democrats.
Dealing with police militarization, dealing with mass incarceration (which he has pointed out is the new Jim Crow), dealing with the drug war, dealing with NSA domestic spying, ... even his flat tax proposal is attractive to those on the left (flat, but only applies to family income after 50k, yet keeps things like Earned Income Tax Credit and mortgage deductions... all these things very favorable to the poor).
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MOOOOOOOVEDoh come on, didn't you like my Barry Goldwater quote?
Throbbing Member
http://www.theguardian.com/music/201...al-opera-house
I find this extremely idiotic and disrespectful towards the cast
tempus est umbra in mente
I would have to see it to judge really... in general principle, how is this any worse than having a graphic rape scene in a film?
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To be clear, I find the booing idiotic and disrespectful, not the scene. Maybe the theatre audience isn't used to this kind of stuff, but there was a explicit disclaimer about sexual violence in the program, so I don't get why people who mind this kind of stuff would even go to this play.
tempus est umbra in mente
Ah, then I agree... though again I haven't seen the scene. I'm genuinely curious. It had better be something truly awful to warrant disrupting the performance to boo.
Throbbing Member
Then again war rape is something truly awful and it should make you feel uneasy. I guess that those people who booed don't understand that showing something like this doesn't mean that you agree with it or celebrating it (which is something that the comments I read were implying) but in fact, the exact opposite
tempus est umbra in mente
I meant "awful" in an artistically clumsy sense.
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I usually end up falling asleep at the opera (as do a lot of people, you can hear old people snoring all over the place), but I don't think I'd fall asleep at THIS one ...
I think it's odd that nobody heard anything about this in advance, that it was this much of a surprise. Usually, the majority of opera attendees are patrons who get advance programs and information.
Maybe they were trying to rip this off this reaction.
Last edited by allegro; 06-30-2015 at 06:12 PM.
Active Member
This isn't as much about the story as it is about the headline. I watched Ex Machina the other day.
Robot kills autoworker at Volkswagen plant
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/ro...lant-1.3135544
Sounds like the robot isn't getting prosecuted which is weird since it violated Asimov's First Law.
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Chicago to apply a 9% "amusement tax" that would apply to services such as Netflix and Spotify.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2...-up-9-percent/
Chicago hates fun. Chicago also doesn't give a shit about the public's desire for Net Neutrality. I fully look forward to undermining this stupidity (if it stands) for all my Chicago people
"The amusement tax applies to charges paid for the privilege to witness, view or participate in an amusement. This includes not only charges paid for the privilege to witness, view or participate in amusements in person but also charges paid for the privilege to witness, view or participate in amusements that are delivered electronically. Thus:
a) charges paid for the privilege of watching electronically delivered television shows, movies or videos are subject to the amusement tax, if the shows, movies or videos are delivered to a patron (i.e., customer) in the City (see paragraph 13 below);
b) charges paid for the privilege of listening to electronically delivered music are subject to the amusement tax, if the music is delivered to a customer in the City;
c) and charges paid for the privilege of participating in games, on-line or otherwise, are subject to the amusement tax if the games are delivered to a customer in the City."
edit: this also applies to a LOT of shit outside the internet too... but don't you goddamned touch the internet you fucks.
"'Amusement' means: (1) any exhibition, performance, presentation or show for entertainment purposes, including, but not limited to, any theatrical, dramatic, musical or spectacular performance, promotional show, motion picture show, flower, poultry or animal show, animal act, circus, rodeo, athletic contest, sport, game or similar exhibition such as boxing, wrestling, skating, dancing, swimming, racing, or riding on animals or vehicles, baseball, basketball, softball, football, tennis, golf, hockey, track and field games, bowling or billiard or pool games; (2) any entertainment or recreational activity offered for public participation or on a membership or other basis including, but not limited to, carnivals, amusement park rides and games, bowling, billiards and pool games, dancing, tennis, racquetball, swimming, weightlifting, bodybuilding or similar activities; or (3) any paid television programming, whether transmitted by wire, cable, fiber optics, laser, microwave, radio, satellite or similar means."
Last edited by DigitalChaos; 07-02-2015 at 07:48 PM.
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Dude, CHICAGO IS BROKE. The State government is going to shut down. The Chicago Teacher's Union is being forced to cut a SHITLOAD of money, and the mayor is laying off 1,050 people at Chicago Public Schools as of today. Chicago is trying not to raise property taxes AGAIN. Illinois already has the highest property taxes in the COUNTRY (second to New Jersey).
The new Netflix tax is expected to bring an additional $12 million in revenue per year. This isn't new in Chicago; they tax the living fuck out of everything; every "amusement" is taxed, it's surprising this has gone this long without being taxed.
Chicago is the next Detroit.
Last edited by allegro; 07-02-2015 at 06:52 PM.
Active Member
Sounds like a complete failure of a government. They should have been cutting operational costs ages ago. Drastic cuts under a last minute panic is failure. Continually jacking up taxes is failure.
And still, this doesn't justify this ridiculous amusement tax.
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they have been charging "amusement taxes" for, like, 50 years.
And this whole mess of finances is mostly caused by pensions in the State and City. The fucking teacher's and state worker's pensions should have been converted to 401K programs 20 years ago, like Federal workers' pensions, but the current state Constitution won't allow it (and has to be changed). The unions have been contributing campaign funds to the idiots who've been camped out in Congress for 30 years. Chicago and the state is a sinking financial ship.
See this. Meanwhile, Chicago has been borrowing and getting money from the state for years. The new governor says nope, no more getting money from the state, you're on your own, fuck off. The people in the rest of Illinois, downstate farmers and such, are tired of Chicago's waste, bad school system, back room deals with the Police and Fire unions, teacher's unions, etc.
Last edited by allegro; 07-02-2015 at 06:57 PM.
Active Member
yeah, but those internet amusement taxes! That seems pretty new. And what do you think about the idea that "there are strong arguments that both rulings run afoul of provisions in the Federal Telecommunications Act, the Internet Tax Freedom Act, and federal and Illinois constitutional limits on taxation." I hope it gets challenged. It sets a worrisome example for other areas of the country to follow.
As for Chicago collapsing in on their own failure, it sounds like a good thing. Much like an addict finally getting clean. They are finally going to have to find a way to sustain their own government instead of being so damn wasteful. The rest of the state just let them keep going and it never prompted chicago to fix itself. I also can't imagine these kinds of taxes doing anything productive for the public having sympathy.
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Chicago is the 3rd biggest city in the country, and it's been paying taxes and fees on pretty much everything since forever. I'm surprised it took this long to figure out that Netflix was an amusement. Chicago has been charging a 9% amusement tax since forever. Chicagoans pay 8.25% sales tax to buy a car. Chicagoans pay $85.97 per year for a sticker per car ("City Sticker"). The daily parking tax is 22%. Chicagoans can't DO anything about it, except move. Which they did, for a long time, in droves. But then they started moving back again. Go figure. (Mostly 20-somethings bringing in a lot of money.) The one good thing is that we have Lake Michigan water and our water rates are dirt cheap and plentiful. Most City of Chicago house are unmetered, meaning that the cost of water is split evenly among houses so you could have a friggin' POOL and pay the same as your neighbor; the City is trying to convert all houses to metered accounts but that is gonna take forever since that costs money. The "waste" is mostly the pension system and the school system. I'm all for shooting the kids out into outer space so we don't need teachers anymore, but nobody listens to me.
75%, MINIMUM, of my annual property taxes here in Lake County go toward my school system. The average salary of the teachers, here, is $160,000. And they get 70% of their salary for their pension. I don't have any kids. Talk about "waste" for me.
Last edited by allegro; 07-02-2015 at 11:35 PM.
Hierba Gatera
Does that mean cool, cheap buildings for sale? I'M IN!
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Not yet. Actually, Chicago doesn't have any cool buildings like my home town.Does that mean cool, cheap buildings for sale? I'M IN!
Last edited by allegro; 07-02-2015 at 11:39 PM.
Active Member
Holy FUCK
And the schools are still shit. Even more proof that throwing money at schools isn't a magical fix for most schooling problems.
and that is a pretty amazing house in the picture
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Welcome to Detroit.
Well, I live in the NORTH SHORE. The highest-rated school district in the state. BILLY CORGAN lives a mile up the street in a $2 million dollar Adler house.
The average CPS teacher makes $76,000.
Last edited by allegro; 07-02-2015 at 11:53 PM.
Active Member
Speaking of water.... Back to the California drought... Sarah Palin has SOLVED the CA drought!
http://video.dailycaller.com/Sarah-P...ought-29087048
Yes, we just need more reservoirs! "build it and they will come" applies to water too.
And yes, we arent doing desalination because of the the evul libruls who don't want to use power to run the plants or allow extra salt to be created... it has NOTHING to do with that process being extremely expensive and being nowhere near the current pricing of water.
Active Member
I'm now realizing that I used to frequently be near you on the WI side. Bristol Renaissance Faire. Promised Land Paintball.Welcome to Detroit.
Well, I live in the NORTH SHORE. The highest-rated school district in the state. BILLY CORGAN lives a mile up the street in a $2 million dollar Adler house.
The average CPS teacher makes $76,000.
I still don't understand how teachers make that much in the midwest, let alone in a failing school system.
Hierba Gatera
That building is gorgeous but c'mon... Oak Park, dude.
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That's not CHICAGO. That's OAK PARK. Two different cities, dude. Like THIS is in HIGHLAND PARK, not Chicago (Willits House):
Last edited by allegro; 07-03-2015 at 10:23 AM.
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This school system isn't "failing." But the City of Chicago's teacher's union's pension system is failing. And yeah, their school system, overall, ain't so good. Some of their magnet schools are highly-rated, though.
Ren Faire, never been there, bleh, heh, not into it. That's way north of us, we're in the North Shore where a lot of "Risky Business" was filmed. The scene where Tom Cruise is being chased by Guido the killer pimp? That's in downtown Highland Park, circa 1983. That movie theater is STILL THERE. Tom Cruise drives down Lake Shore Drive, then Sheridan Rd through Evanston then past the Bahá’í Temple in Wilmette, then ends up in downtown HP at the viaduct where he says "Miles, I think I can take him."
It's where Ferris Bueller's friend's house is: https://www.redfin.com/IL/Highland-P.../home/17625146
Last edited by allegro; 07-03-2015 at 10:46 AM.
Hierba Gatera
Yeah, I realized that this morning. Y'all aren't a stupidly laid-out mega city like Los Angeles.
The building I lived in when I was in Chicago was pretty fucking amazing. Over 100 years old. Outside wasn't that exciting but inside... High ceilings, original wood trim, transom (I love those), marble fireplace, stained glass windows. Corner unit w/three bedrooms, kitchen, pantry, dining room, living room all for the ridiculous price of $650/month. Oooof. Those were the days.
Last edited by Baphomette; 07-03-2015 at 04:20 PM.
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LOL, THOSE days are over. :-)
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