Re: "Faith-based government," from the June 20th edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.
Michael Ryan unfairly criticizes the concept (supposedly favored by President Obama) that government can help people and solve problems by noting some examples of government inefficiency in its efforts to clean up the oil spill mess in the gulf.
This criticism is asinine. I don't see the free market cleaning up this mess. There's no profit to be made by cleaning up the oil spill, demonstrating a clear example of free market failure.
In fact it was the free market that created this mess. The free market in America which demands lots of cheap energy created the need to drill for oil offshore--a disaster. The cost of the damage from this oil spill probably rivals or surpasses the profits made by all the offshore oil wells in America. Moreover, if it wasn't for the federal government, there would be no clean up effort at all. BP would not face any fines, and they would be doing nothing, other than trying to salvage the operation for their own profits. Even more oil than now would be destroying the environment.
So yes, the federal government may be inefficient, but without it there would be chaotic anarchy, and this kind of situation would be much worse. Without government regulations, the Gulf of Mexico would've become a toxic dead lake decades ago.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Mike Booth Writes in Defense of Greed
Mike Booth wrote a letter to the editor in today's Augusta Chronicle editorial page in rebuttal to the one I wrote that they published on May 30th.
I will respond to his rebuttal point by point.
In the opening paragraph, Mr. Booth wrote, "I think he has missed a couple of critical points."
Mr. Booth apparently missed the entire point of my letter as evidenced by the following paragraph.
"The utility companies have to go begging to government regulators for rate increases. This involves opening their books and operations to government bureaucrats who do not have a clue about how the utility industry works."
Does anybody besides Mr. Booth actually believe a person appointed to be a regulator for a certain industry has no clue as to how that industry works? The point of my letter that Mr. Booth completely missed was that, in most cases, government regulators of the coal and oil industry are now business cronies who formerly worked within the energy industry. Of course, they know how the industry works, and they help write regulations that are, in most cases, too lax.
Mr. Booth then makes an astonishingly stupid claim when he writes, "Few people are aware that they can purchase power from any other provider of the power, not just the local utility. That's called competition."
What world does this guy live in? He obviously flunks Economics 101. All utilities are monopolies. A monopoly means there is no competition. I get my power from Planters Electric. I can't just go and cancel my service from Planters Electric and ask for Georgia Power to be my utility server. On this point Mr. Booth demonstrates absolute and unbelievable ignorance.
Next, Mr. Booth shows that he misses another point of my letter. He writes, "So is Mr. Gelbart going to manufacture his own solar panels, not state-of-the-art ones from a "greedy corporation? I would hope that he would hire a "greedy" contractor to install his panels. I hope he has an engineering study done by a "greedy" corporation to design the system properly."
Here, Mr. Booth seems to be equating profit with greed. I never wrote that profit should be outlawed. Furthermore, I never wrote a word opposed to capitalism. What I wrote was that corporations should not be allowed to maximize profits by cutting corners that endanger consumers, workers, and the environment. I don't understand why this upset him enough to write his letter. Is Mr. Booth in favor of oil spills, coal mining disasters, and nuclear meltdowns? I looked in the Thesaurus: Greed is not a synonym for profit. Synonyms for greed include such words as avarice, selfishness, miserliness, gluttony, stinginess, and meanness. Apparently, Mr. Booth confuses greed and profit. Clearly, they are two different things, and most people would agree that greed is bad.
Mr. Booth writes "Corporations are not all greedy, and if he doesn't like them, he should buy someplace else. I would suggest buying two sticks to rub together to make a fire for his energy needs."
This kind of simplistic analogy reminds me of something Austin Rhodes would say. He's attempting to make his point by using an extreme, unrealistic example that doesn't really have anything to do with what I wrote. This proves that Mike Booth is just a stupid jerk.
*******************************************************************************
It was a slow week--Mr. Ryan didn't really write anything particularly stupid lately. I do disagree with his editorial "Let's go to the replay," from the June 5th edition.
I think instant replay is ruining sports. Half the time the officials uphold bad calls; the other half of the time they reverse good calls. Even with instant replay, they don't always get it right. Instead, they slow the action down, so that now I can hardly stand to watch an NFL game because the refs are constantly interrupting the action with stupid replays that take forever to resolve.
I also disagree with "A lack of book sense," from the June 6th edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.
For 13 years students are forced to go through the formality and rules of school. I think the Glenn Hills 2010 yearbook was hilarious.
Mr. Ryan and all those fuddy duds need to lighten up.
I will respond to his rebuttal point by point.
In the opening paragraph, Mr. Booth wrote, "I think he has missed a couple of critical points."
Mr. Booth apparently missed the entire point of my letter as evidenced by the following paragraph.
"The utility companies have to go begging to government regulators for rate increases. This involves opening their books and operations to government bureaucrats who do not have a clue about how the utility industry works."
Does anybody besides Mr. Booth actually believe a person appointed to be a regulator for a certain industry has no clue as to how that industry works? The point of my letter that Mr. Booth completely missed was that, in most cases, government regulators of the coal and oil industry are now business cronies who formerly worked within the energy industry. Of course, they know how the industry works, and they help write regulations that are, in most cases, too lax.
Mr. Booth then makes an astonishingly stupid claim when he writes, "Few people are aware that they can purchase power from any other provider of the power, not just the local utility. That's called competition."
What world does this guy live in? He obviously flunks Economics 101. All utilities are monopolies. A monopoly means there is no competition. I get my power from Planters Electric. I can't just go and cancel my service from Planters Electric and ask for Georgia Power to be my utility server. On this point Mr. Booth demonstrates absolute and unbelievable ignorance.
Next, Mr. Booth shows that he misses another point of my letter. He writes, "So is Mr. Gelbart going to manufacture his own solar panels, not state-of-the-art ones from a "greedy corporation? I would hope that he would hire a "greedy" contractor to install his panels. I hope he has an engineering study done by a "greedy" corporation to design the system properly."
Here, Mr. Booth seems to be equating profit with greed. I never wrote that profit should be outlawed. Furthermore, I never wrote a word opposed to capitalism. What I wrote was that corporations should not be allowed to maximize profits by cutting corners that endanger consumers, workers, and the environment. I don't understand why this upset him enough to write his letter. Is Mr. Booth in favor of oil spills, coal mining disasters, and nuclear meltdowns? I looked in the Thesaurus: Greed is not a synonym for profit. Synonyms for greed include such words as avarice, selfishness, miserliness, gluttony, stinginess, and meanness. Apparently, Mr. Booth confuses greed and profit. Clearly, they are two different things, and most people would agree that greed is bad.
Mr. Booth writes "Corporations are not all greedy, and if he doesn't like them, he should buy someplace else. I would suggest buying two sticks to rub together to make a fire for his energy needs."
This kind of simplistic analogy reminds me of something Austin Rhodes would say. He's attempting to make his point by using an extreme, unrealistic example that doesn't really have anything to do with what I wrote. This proves that Mike Booth is just a stupid jerk.
*******************************************************************************
It was a slow week--Mr. Ryan didn't really write anything particularly stupid lately. I do disagree with his editorial "Let's go to the replay," from the June 5th edition.
I think instant replay is ruining sports. Half the time the officials uphold bad calls; the other half of the time they reverse good calls. Even with instant replay, they don't always get it right. Instead, they slow the action down, so that now I can hardly stand to watch an NFL game because the refs are constantly interrupting the action with stupid replays that take forever to resolve.
I also disagree with "A lack of book sense," from the June 6th edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.
For 13 years students are forced to go through the formality and rules of school. I think the Glenn Hills 2010 yearbook was hilarious.
Mr. Ryan and all those fuddy duds need to lighten up.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Archie Bunker Strikes Again
A couple of Michael Ryan's columns this week are reminiscent of Archie Bunker, that famous bigoted character from the old television series All In the Family.
Re: "Humanitarians? Really?" from the June 2nd edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page, and "Behind the Mosque," from the May 31st edition of this same page.
The latter editorial demonstrates unbelievable bigotry. Conservatives are furious that a mosque will be built near the site of the 9-11 attacks. They make it sound like there's going to be a mosque there and nothing else. Actually, hundreds of other businesses are alreadly located there, including a strip joint. It's not a big deal; it's not a poke in the eye. The controversy just seems like an excuse for conservatives to show how prejudiced they are against the Islamic religion. They are equating all muslims with terrorism and it's disgusting.
In the former editorial I agree that the Israelis are justified in preventing aid from reaching a group of people dedicated to killing them. However, Mr. Ryan not so subtly reminds the reader of Barrack Obama's middle name of Hussein, in an attempt of subterfuge to make us think that the president is some nefarious pro-Islamic radical in favor of destroying Israel. I wonder how many of the Chronicle readers forget or refuse to acknowledge that Obama is a catholic, not a muslim? In any case Mr. Ryan falsely accuses the president of having an "acidic posture" toward Israel and also falsely accuses him of treating Netanyahu rudely. Of this the media is also to blame because that incident has been unfairly portrayed. I read an inside account in Time magazine about what happened. Obama and Netanyahu were busy hammering out an agreement, and they did have a two hour discussion. It's not like Obama ignored him. The bigoted part of this editorial is Mr. Ryan's statment that American Jews should be frightened about Obama's policy toward Israel.
Will the use of scare tactics never end? Mr. Ryan makes it sound as if American Jews are Israelis first, and Americans second. That we shouldn't back a president who favors America's interests over those of Israel. This is evidence once more of Mr. Ryan's bigotry...this time with inadvertent anti-semitism.
In any case I'm Jewish and I'm not worried. When push comes to shove, Obama will always back Israel over the Arabs because he knows where his bread is buttered.
**********************************************************************
Re: "A little more dictatorial, please" also from the May 31st.
Mr. Ryan tells an outright lie when he claims Hugo Chavez is a dictator. Chavez has been democratically elected multiple times. I wish the U.S. government would seize a few corporations. There's nothing in the constitution that protects the rights of corporations. The constitution protects individual rights, not groups of criminal syndicates which is what most corporations are.
Mr. Ryan's also wrong when he places Chris Matthews on the left. Matthews is a centrist, not a left winger.
***********************************************************************
Re: "Evidence can't be ignored: It's been a disaster," from the May 30th edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.
Mr. Ryan must have written this half page of horse shit because he has run out of new subjects to write and he wants to stay popular with all the stupid wingnuts who read his editorial page. I'm curious as to why he would write something so unfounded, yet hysterically partisan now, when we're not close to an election.
He doesn't bring up a single fact to support his case that Obama's presidency has been a failure.
Just because Obama's policies don't agree with Ryan's twisted right wing view of the world doesn't mean Obama's a failure.
To start off with, let's look at the economy. Childishly, Mr. Ryan gives Obama a C on the economy but an F on jobs. (It's childish in my opinion to give a complex job such as president a letter grade, but I digress.) Obama inherited this atrocious economy. All economists on the right and the left agree that unemployment will lag behind as the rest of the economy recovers. Eventually, the jobs will come back. What will Ryan's excuse be then?
Mr. Ryan attacks the health care reform act by cherry picking a Rasmussen poll (who knows how old this one is) that seems to show people are opposed to it by a large margin (63%-37%). However, a recent USA Today/Gallup poll shows now that it has passed, the public supports it by a 48%-40% margin. Oops!
The rest of the editorial mostly consists of Ryan's ideological differences with Obama. I can hardly see how this adds up to a disastrous presidency.
The biggest weakness with the Obama presidency in my opinion is his cowtowing to the right and his failure to reverse Bush's failed environmental and warmongering policies.
BTW, they did publish my letter in this edition--"Greedy energy industy hasn't changed." Check it out.
*************************************************
RE: "Two Koreas, one big decision," from the June 1st edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.
I take issue with the simplistic dichotomy Mr. Ryan creates in this editorial. He writes North Korea is a failed state because it's communist/socialist. South Korea is a successful state because it's capitalist.
This is entirely false. South Korea has a free market but it does have socialist programs, such as socialized medicine. North Korea is not communist nor socialist. In a true communist state every individual has equal political power. A true communist state has never existed in history. In North Korea all the political power resides in the hands of one man. I'd hardly call that communist.
In fact, the USA is far more communist than North Korea. Thomas Jefferson declared that all men were created equal. Sounds communistic doesn't it?
Re: "Humanitarians? Really?" from the June 2nd edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page, and "Behind the Mosque," from the May 31st edition of this same page.
The latter editorial demonstrates unbelievable bigotry. Conservatives are furious that a mosque will be built near the site of the 9-11 attacks. They make it sound like there's going to be a mosque there and nothing else. Actually, hundreds of other businesses are alreadly located there, including a strip joint. It's not a big deal; it's not a poke in the eye. The controversy just seems like an excuse for conservatives to show how prejudiced they are against the Islamic religion. They are equating all muslims with terrorism and it's disgusting.
In the former editorial I agree that the Israelis are justified in preventing aid from reaching a group of people dedicated to killing them. However, Mr. Ryan not so subtly reminds the reader of Barrack Obama's middle name of Hussein, in an attempt of subterfuge to make us think that the president is some nefarious pro-Islamic radical in favor of destroying Israel. I wonder how many of the Chronicle readers forget or refuse to acknowledge that Obama is a catholic, not a muslim? In any case Mr. Ryan falsely accuses the president of having an "acidic posture" toward Israel and also falsely accuses him of treating Netanyahu rudely. Of this the media is also to blame because that incident has been unfairly portrayed. I read an inside account in Time magazine about what happened. Obama and Netanyahu were busy hammering out an agreement, and they did have a two hour discussion. It's not like Obama ignored him. The bigoted part of this editorial is Mr. Ryan's statment that American Jews should be frightened about Obama's policy toward Israel.
Will the use of scare tactics never end? Mr. Ryan makes it sound as if American Jews are Israelis first, and Americans second. That we shouldn't back a president who favors America's interests over those of Israel. This is evidence once more of Mr. Ryan's bigotry...this time with inadvertent anti-semitism.
In any case I'm Jewish and I'm not worried. When push comes to shove, Obama will always back Israel over the Arabs because he knows where his bread is buttered.
**********************************************************************
Re: "A little more dictatorial, please" also from the May 31st.
Mr. Ryan tells an outright lie when he claims Hugo Chavez is a dictator. Chavez has been democratically elected multiple times. I wish the U.S. government would seize a few corporations. There's nothing in the constitution that protects the rights of corporations. The constitution protects individual rights, not groups of criminal syndicates which is what most corporations are.
Mr. Ryan's also wrong when he places Chris Matthews on the left. Matthews is a centrist, not a left winger.
***********************************************************************
Re: "Evidence can't be ignored: It's been a disaster," from the May 30th edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.
Mr. Ryan must have written this half page of horse shit because he has run out of new subjects to write and he wants to stay popular with all the stupid wingnuts who read his editorial page. I'm curious as to why he would write something so unfounded, yet hysterically partisan now, when we're not close to an election.
He doesn't bring up a single fact to support his case that Obama's presidency has been a failure.
Just because Obama's policies don't agree with Ryan's twisted right wing view of the world doesn't mean Obama's a failure.
To start off with, let's look at the economy. Childishly, Mr. Ryan gives Obama a C on the economy but an F on jobs. (It's childish in my opinion to give a complex job such as president a letter grade, but I digress.) Obama inherited this atrocious economy. All economists on the right and the left agree that unemployment will lag behind as the rest of the economy recovers. Eventually, the jobs will come back. What will Ryan's excuse be then?
Mr. Ryan attacks the health care reform act by cherry picking a Rasmussen poll (who knows how old this one is) that seems to show people are opposed to it by a large margin (63%-37%). However, a recent USA Today/Gallup poll shows now that it has passed, the public supports it by a 48%-40% margin. Oops!
The rest of the editorial mostly consists of Ryan's ideological differences with Obama. I can hardly see how this adds up to a disastrous presidency.
The biggest weakness with the Obama presidency in my opinion is his cowtowing to the right and his failure to reverse Bush's failed environmental and warmongering policies.
BTW, they did publish my letter in this edition--"Greedy energy industy hasn't changed." Check it out.
*************************************************
RE: "Two Koreas, one big decision," from the June 1st edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.
I take issue with the simplistic dichotomy Mr. Ryan creates in this editorial. He writes North Korea is a failed state because it's communist/socialist. South Korea is a successful state because it's capitalist.
This is entirely false. South Korea has a free market but it does have socialist programs, such as socialized medicine. North Korea is not communist nor socialist. In a true communist state every individual has equal political power. A true communist state has never existed in history. In North Korea all the political power resides in the hands of one man. I'd hardly call that communist.
In fact, the USA is far more communist than North Korea. Thomas Jefferson declared that all men were created equal. Sounds communistic doesn't it?
Friday, May 28, 2010
Michael Ryan Makes a Really Stupid Analogy About the War on Drugs
Re: "Casualties of the drug war," from the May 25th edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.
Michael Ryan thinks the argument that laws against drugs cause violence is preposterous because that's like saying laws against rape cause rape.
This is one of the stupidest analogies I've ever read or heard. The illegality of rape doesn't cause rape. Rapists don't commit rape because it's against the law. They commit rape in spite of the law. But it is the illegality of drugs that causes violence. Drug dealers, the people responsible for a large share of the violence caused by the illegality of drugs, wouldn't even exist, if drugs were legalized. If rape was made legal, the incidence of rape would likely increase. If drugs were made legal, violence would greatly decline. Of this there is no doubt.
Like I pointed out last week, Mr. Ryan needs a lesson in common sense.
I still can't get over his editorial last week when he refused to make sense of an opinion opposite his own. He just wrote, "blah, blah, blah." That's like someone starting an argument, and when the other person states their point of view, he puts his fingers in his ears and sings, "la, la, la," so he doesn't have to hear it.
How immature.
*******************************************
Re: "Two disasters, two responses," from the May 24th edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.
Mr. Ryan claims that the oil spill disaster was caused by people not doing their jobs. He wrote, "no amount of regulations would have changed that."
How ridiculous and ignorant to boot?
There were certain safety devices that would have prevented this disaster. The Bush administration allowed oil companies to write the government regulations. They wrote these regulations so that they were allowed to use inferior equipment, thus saving them money. It was the failure of this inferior equipment that caused the disaster.
Better regulations would have prevented this disaster. But we have the fox watching the chicken coop here.
***********************************************************
Re: "Everything, all the time: The era of unlimited government arrives," by Deroy Murdock.
This writer is a fellow of the Hoover Institution--a right wing think tank. Or as I prefer to call it, industry-funded shitheads.
How twisted is this?: He thinks the government spending money to save teacher's jobs is a bad thing.
Why do conservatives hate education? Why do they want poor people to starve to death.
All of the items he mentions as supposedly bad, I think are good.
He whines that regulations forcing an increase in gas mileage will make cars on average $926 more expensive. Yeah, but they will more than make up for that in gas savings. This is a good regulation that will save consumers money and it's good for the environment and the economy.
Sheesh, what a perverse idiot. And so is Mr. Ryan for running this garbage on his editorial page.
Michael Ryan thinks the argument that laws against drugs cause violence is preposterous because that's like saying laws against rape cause rape.
This is one of the stupidest analogies I've ever read or heard. The illegality of rape doesn't cause rape. Rapists don't commit rape because it's against the law. They commit rape in spite of the law. But it is the illegality of drugs that causes violence. Drug dealers, the people responsible for a large share of the violence caused by the illegality of drugs, wouldn't even exist, if drugs were legalized. If rape was made legal, the incidence of rape would likely increase. If drugs were made legal, violence would greatly decline. Of this there is no doubt.
Like I pointed out last week, Mr. Ryan needs a lesson in common sense.
I still can't get over his editorial last week when he refused to make sense of an opinion opposite his own. He just wrote, "blah, blah, blah." That's like someone starting an argument, and when the other person states their point of view, he puts his fingers in his ears and sings, "la, la, la," so he doesn't have to hear it.
How immature.
*******************************************
Re: "Two disasters, two responses," from the May 24th edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.
Mr. Ryan claims that the oil spill disaster was caused by people not doing their jobs. He wrote, "no amount of regulations would have changed that."
How ridiculous and ignorant to boot?
There were certain safety devices that would have prevented this disaster. The Bush administration allowed oil companies to write the government regulations. They wrote these regulations so that they were allowed to use inferior equipment, thus saving them money. It was the failure of this inferior equipment that caused the disaster.
Better regulations would have prevented this disaster. But we have the fox watching the chicken coop here.
***********************************************************
Re: "Everything, all the time: The era of unlimited government arrives," by Deroy Murdock.
This writer is a fellow of the Hoover Institution--a right wing think tank. Or as I prefer to call it, industry-funded shitheads.
How twisted is this?: He thinks the government spending money to save teacher's jobs is a bad thing.
Why do conservatives hate education? Why do they want poor people to starve to death.
All of the items he mentions as supposedly bad, I think are good.
He whines that regulations forcing an increase in gas mileage will make cars on average $926 more expensive. Yeah, but they will more than make up for that in gas savings. This is a good regulation that will save consumers money and it's good for the environment and the economy.
Sheesh, what a perverse idiot. And so is Mr. Ryan for running this garbage on his editorial page.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Michael Ryan writes "Blah, blah, blah."
Re: "On the tip of his tongue," from the May 22nd edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.
Mr. Ryan laments the supposed inability of the U.S. attorney general from saying the words, radical Islam.
To make his point, Mr. Ryan starts quoting what Holder said during one interview, then finishes it with substituting the words, "blah, blah, blah." He also refers to what Holder was saying as "gobbeledygook."
This is an admission that someone with a different point of view is too nuanced for him to understand. To put it bluntly, this is an example of Mr. Ryan's close-mindedness. He admits he doesn't bother to understand the other side's position. That kind of makes for an easy cheap rebuttal. By using this strategy, Mr. Ryan doesn't have to strain his brain to figure out what the other position is. He can just write, "blah, blah, blah."
BTW, his call for the resignation of Eric Holder is completely unfounded and ridiculous.
***************************************************************************
Re: "Vote 'no' on school bond issue-for the kids" from the May 23rd edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.
Mr. Ryan expresses a Neanderthal attitude here. Somehow in his twisted mind he thinks we can't afford to spend money on kids' education. That somehow spending money on education is bad for the kids.
The taxes are tiny, but some greedy businessmen are complaining, and the Chronicle, as usual, sides with greed.
I really don't see how people can be opposed to funding education with such low levels of taxation.
One other note about this column. Mr. Ryan makes the unfair claim that European social democracies are failing. This is untrue. It's only Greece that's in trouble. Countries like Germany, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, and most others are doing well.
**********************************************************************
Re: The bottom line from the above mentioned edition. Mr. Ryan falsely claims that Arizona's law expressly forbids racial profiling. I have read the law. What the law says is that race can't be the only criteria police use when they choose to harass somebody. But it can be a factor. Anyway, what other factor would they use? Mr. Ryan needs a lesson in common sense.
************************************************************
The idiotic southern lost causers are writing daily letters to the editor condemning Eugene Robinson as a racist, simply because he correctly interpets Civil War history. These guys need to get over it. The facts are clear: The Civil War was strictly about slavery. (In a previous blog entry I've already explained how all other reasons for the war related directly to slavery .) And the South lost. It's not racist to point these FACTS out.
*******************************************************************
Retarded letter of the week award goes to Helen Skinner. Here's the retarded part. She writes, "With only a small percentage of Americans paying taxes..."
What? Every working American pays social security taxes. The employment rate is over 90%. That means over 90% of workers are paying payroll taxes. Plus, all home-owners pay property taxes. And everytime we buy something at the store, we pay sales taxes.
Helen Skinner--what a shithead.
****************************************************************
Mr. Ryan laments the supposed inability of the U.S. attorney general from saying the words, radical Islam.
To make his point, Mr. Ryan starts quoting what Holder said during one interview, then finishes it with substituting the words, "blah, blah, blah." He also refers to what Holder was saying as "gobbeledygook."
This is an admission that someone with a different point of view is too nuanced for him to understand. To put it bluntly, this is an example of Mr. Ryan's close-mindedness. He admits he doesn't bother to understand the other side's position. That kind of makes for an easy cheap rebuttal. By using this strategy, Mr. Ryan doesn't have to strain his brain to figure out what the other position is. He can just write, "blah, blah, blah."
BTW, his call for the resignation of Eric Holder is completely unfounded and ridiculous.
***************************************************************************
Re: "Vote 'no' on school bond issue-for the kids" from the May 23rd edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.
Mr. Ryan expresses a Neanderthal attitude here. Somehow in his twisted mind he thinks we can't afford to spend money on kids' education. That somehow spending money on education is bad for the kids.
The taxes are tiny, but some greedy businessmen are complaining, and the Chronicle, as usual, sides with greed.
I really don't see how people can be opposed to funding education with such low levels of taxation.
One other note about this column. Mr. Ryan makes the unfair claim that European social democracies are failing. This is untrue. It's only Greece that's in trouble. Countries like Germany, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, and most others are doing well.
**********************************************************************
Re: The bottom line from the above mentioned edition. Mr. Ryan falsely claims that Arizona's law expressly forbids racial profiling. I have read the law. What the law says is that race can't be the only criteria police use when they choose to harass somebody. But it can be a factor. Anyway, what other factor would they use? Mr. Ryan needs a lesson in common sense.
************************************************************
The idiotic southern lost causers are writing daily letters to the editor condemning Eugene Robinson as a racist, simply because he correctly interpets Civil War history. These guys need to get over it. The facts are clear: The Civil War was strictly about slavery. (In a previous blog entry I've already explained how all other reasons for the war related directly to slavery .) And the South lost. It's not racist to point these FACTS out.
*******************************************************************
Retarded letter of the week award goes to Helen Skinner. Here's the retarded part. She writes, "With only a small percentage of Americans paying taxes..."
What? Every working American pays social security taxes. The employment rate is over 90%. That means over 90% of workers are paying payroll taxes. Plus, all home-owners pay property taxes. And everytime we buy something at the store, we pay sales taxes.
Helen Skinner--what a shithead.
****************************************************************
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Michael Ryan Allows Personal Attacks on His Editorial Page
Re: "Rap against conservatives was dishonest," by Ron Kazen from the May 10th edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.
Not only did Mr. Ryan allow this letter on his editorial page, but it was the featured letter of the day.
Ron Kazen wrote a rebuttal to a letter published in the Chronicle about a week earlier that had been written by Kevin Palmer. Here is the quote that is nothing other than a personal attack.
"He (Kevin Palmer) needs to reflect on his diatribe and consider retaining friends of a higher social caliber than with whom he apparently associates."
What an outrage! Because he has a different political philosophy than Mr. Kazen, supposedly he associates with low lifes?
The rest of Kazen's letter falsely accuses Mr. Palmer of racism, Marxism, and promoting racial divisiveness.
It should not have been published, let alone featured.
**********************************************************************************
This was actually a slow week. Last week, I didn't comment on an editorial from that week in which Mr. Ryan accused those of opposing the new discriminatory anti-immigrant law of being emotional while those in favor of it being rational.
Oh yeah, that's right. If you disagree with me, you're being emotional.
I did actually read the law and it's pretty stupid. Obviously, it was written to oppress hispanics. But besides that, it's just a bad law. Arizona orders local law enforcement agents not to refrain from enforcing existing federal law. So the police are ordered to enforce an unenforceable law. If it's proven to be already unenforceable, how are they going to enforce it? Will passing a state law repeating a federal law make it more enforceable? I doubt it.
But that's not even the stupidest part of this law. Arizona invited private parties to sue government parties for not enforcing the unenforceable law. Considering how state's are already strapped for money, this sets an incredibly bad precedent that will lead to mountains of frivolous lawsuits. Plus the constitutionality of the law will be challenged in courts. Can anyone say bankruptcy caused by legal fees.
*******************************************************************************
Rick Mckee drew a couple of stupid cartoons this week.
On Friday May 14th a cartoon compared Obama's health care reform with the oil spill.
McKee has given the health care reform bill a whole month before calling it a disaster. What a race to judgement.
In today's (May 15th) cartoon he shows the media blaming Bush for the oil spill, as if that's some kind of joke.
A week of testimony at capital hill clearly illustrates that Halliburton cut corners, thus contributing to the oil spill disaster. In secret meetings with Dick Cheney the oil companies wrote rules later put in by the Bush administration so that standards were relaxed and shortcuts were allowed. Bush is at fault. Rational people don't need the media to inform us of this fact.
BTW, Obama is also at fault. It is his administration that is continuing the bad environmental policies of the Bush administration, and they're the ones who approved the permit for this ill-fated oil rig.
********************************************************************************
Re: "First Grade? No, first rate!" from the May 15th edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.
Mr. Ryan needs to stick to English, not Yiddish. He misused the Yiddish word, chutzpah, in the subtitle, "Hephzibah teacher Kristi Davis shows chutzpah in protecting kids."
Chutzpah is not a synonym for courage. Chutzpah means gall. As in someone offering $250 for a car worth $10,000. Nobody would call that brave. The car dealer might say, "that guy has a lot of gall," but he would never call him courageous.
Misusing a foreign language shows embarrassing ignorance.
Not only did Mr. Ryan allow this letter on his editorial page, but it was the featured letter of the day.
Ron Kazen wrote a rebuttal to a letter published in the Chronicle about a week earlier that had been written by Kevin Palmer. Here is the quote that is nothing other than a personal attack.
"He (Kevin Palmer) needs to reflect on his diatribe and consider retaining friends of a higher social caliber than with whom he apparently associates."
What an outrage! Because he has a different political philosophy than Mr. Kazen, supposedly he associates with low lifes?
The rest of Kazen's letter falsely accuses Mr. Palmer of racism, Marxism, and promoting racial divisiveness.
It should not have been published, let alone featured.
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This was actually a slow week. Last week, I didn't comment on an editorial from that week in which Mr. Ryan accused those of opposing the new discriminatory anti-immigrant law of being emotional while those in favor of it being rational.
Oh yeah, that's right. If you disagree with me, you're being emotional.
I did actually read the law and it's pretty stupid. Obviously, it was written to oppress hispanics. But besides that, it's just a bad law. Arizona orders local law enforcement agents not to refrain from enforcing existing federal law. So the police are ordered to enforce an unenforceable law. If it's proven to be already unenforceable, how are they going to enforce it? Will passing a state law repeating a federal law make it more enforceable? I doubt it.
But that's not even the stupidest part of this law. Arizona invited private parties to sue government parties for not enforcing the unenforceable law. Considering how state's are already strapped for money, this sets an incredibly bad precedent that will lead to mountains of frivolous lawsuits. Plus the constitutionality of the law will be challenged in courts. Can anyone say bankruptcy caused by legal fees.
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Rick Mckee drew a couple of stupid cartoons this week.
On Friday May 14th a cartoon compared Obama's health care reform with the oil spill.
McKee has given the health care reform bill a whole month before calling it a disaster. What a race to judgement.
In today's (May 15th) cartoon he shows the media blaming Bush for the oil spill, as if that's some kind of joke.
A week of testimony at capital hill clearly illustrates that Halliburton cut corners, thus contributing to the oil spill disaster. In secret meetings with Dick Cheney the oil companies wrote rules later put in by the Bush administration so that standards were relaxed and shortcuts were allowed. Bush is at fault. Rational people don't need the media to inform us of this fact.
BTW, Obama is also at fault. It is his administration that is continuing the bad environmental policies of the Bush administration, and they're the ones who approved the permit for this ill-fated oil rig.
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Re: "First Grade? No, first rate!" from the May 15th edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.
Mr. Ryan needs to stick to English, not Yiddish. He misused the Yiddish word, chutzpah, in the subtitle, "Hephzibah teacher Kristi Davis shows chutzpah in protecting kids."
Chutzpah is not a synonym for courage. Chutzpah means gall. As in someone offering $250 for a car worth $10,000. Nobody would call that brave. The car dealer might say, "that guy has a lot of gall," but he would never call him courageous.
Misusing a foreign language shows embarrassing ignorance.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Michael Ryan's Xenophic Confusion
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This blog is becoming more of a weekly one than a near daily. If you follow this blog, check back on most Saturdays for a new entry. I'm just getting too busy promoting my book at http://markgelbart.wordpress.com/
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Re: "V-A-T spells disaster," from the Friday May 7th edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.
Mr. Ryan must have realized his opposition to a VAT was contradictory to his long-time support for the National Consumption Tax. He spells out the differences but is completely unconvincing. He points out that the European VATs tax items at every level of distribution. For this reason the National Sales Tax he supports is supposedly superior because it only taxes at the point of purchase. But what Mr. Ryan doesn't realize is that at least 21 western countries, including those in Europe, already tried taxing just at the point of purchase and every system failed because there were too many loopholes creating black markets. Taxing at just the point of purchase is a proven failed method of taxation. That's why European countries switched to the VAT.
He also points out another difference--that the National Sales Tax would supposedly replace income taxes, corporate taxes, and social security taxes. As I've demonstrated on previous posts, this is not at all realistic. A National Sales Tax is so regressive that even conservatives admit universal rebates would be needed to prevent mass starvation. Here's my simple chart debunking this stupid idea:
Income from National Sales Tax minus Universal Tax Rebates to make up for paying sales taxes=Zero revenue.
To make matters worse, Mr. Ryan adds a xenophobic criticism equating the VAT with "European" socialism. I think this is evidence of simple-minded bigotry.
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Re: "We've had enough--of this," from the May 2nd edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.
Mr. Ryan asks what income ceiling should there be as if it's so unfair for government to put limits on how obscenely wealthy a person can get in one year.
How about $300,000? I see no reason why any one individual needs to make more than $300 K a year. I can't imagine why any one individual needs to make more than that. If they are, they are hogging money.
Mr. Ryan's defense of the freedom to make obscene amounts of money is that to take the right away would ruin people's dreams. Oh wow! So we explode someone's ridiculous fantasies in order to eliminate poverty? The horrors!
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I didn't save this edition but in one of Mr. Ryan's recent columns he was whining about how the liberal media hopes terrorists are right wing rather than Arab. And he goes on to attack Muslims the same way Archie Bunker would. He asks when there is going to be a Timothy McVeigh II.
How about Jim Adkisson who in 2008 shot up a church in Tennessee, killing 2 and wounding 6, because they were two liberal. Or how about the Hutaree militia in Michigan whose plot was thwarted just in time.
Does Mr. Ryan actually read his own newspaper?
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Lee Herron wrote another idiotic defense of the Confederacy on May 3rd.
He brings up the those two old standbys that supposedly disprove slavery caused the Civil War: tariffs and states rights. Either he wears a lead helmet to prevent logic from entering his brain or he is just stupid because both issues were directly related to slavery. The south was taxed because they made their profits off the backs of slave. And the only states rights southerners cared about was the right to own slaves.
Mr. Herron tries to justify the Confederacy by pointing out the miniscule number of African-Americans who fought on the side of the Confederacy, and the even smaller number who owned slaves themselves. I don't see how that justifies such a holocaust.
To make himself even more ridiculous, he accuses people of criticizing the Confederacy of racism.
Man, he makes Augusta look so backwards.
This blog is becoming more of a weekly one than a near daily. If you follow this blog, check back on most Saturdays for a new entry. I'm just getting too busy promoting my book at http://markgelbart.wordpress.com/
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Re: "V-A-T spells disaster," from the Friday May 7th edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.
Mr. Ryan must have realized his opposition to a VAT was contradictory to his long-time support for the National Consumption Tax. He spells out the differences but is completely unconvincing. He points out that the European VATs tax items at every level of distribution. For this reason the National Sales Tax he supports is supposedly superior because it only taxes at the point of purchase. But what Mr. Ryan doesn't realize is that at least 21 western countries, including those in Europe, already tried taxing just at the point of purchase and every system failed because there were too many loopholes creating black markets. Taxing at just the point of purchase is a proven failed method of taxation. That's why European countries switched to the VAT.
He also points out another difference--that the National Sales Tax would supposedly replace income taxes, corporate taxes, and social security taxes. As I've demonstrated on previous posts, this is not at all realistic. A National Sales Tax is so regressive that even conservatives admit universal rebates would be needed to prevent mass starvation. Here's my simple chart debunking this stupid idea:
Income from National Sales Tax minus Universal Tax Rebates to make up for paying sales taxes=Zero revenue.
To make matters worse, Mr. Ryan adds a xenophobic criticism equating the VAT with "European" socialism. I think this is evidence of simple-minded bigotry.
***********************************************************************************
Re: "We've had enough--of this," from the May 2nd edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.
Mr. Ryan asks what income ceiling should there be as if it's so unfair for government to put limits on how obscenely wealthy a person can get in one year.
How about $300,000? I see no reason why any one individual needs to make more than $300 K a year. I can't imagine why any one individual needs to make more than that. If they are, they are hogging money.
Mr. Ryan's defense of the freedom to make obscene amounts of money is that to take the right away would ruin people's dreams. Oh wow! So we explode someone's ridiculous fantasies in order to eliminate poverty? The horrors!
******************************************************************************
I didn't save this edition but in one of Mr. Ryan's recent columns he was whining about how the liberal media hopes terrorists are right wing rather than Arab. And he goes on to attack Muslims the same way Archie Bunker would. He asks when there is going to be a Timothy McVeigh II.
How about Jim Adkisson who in 2008 shot up a church in Tennessee, killing 2 and wounding 6, because they were two liberal. Or how about the Hutaree militia in Michigan whose plot was thwarted just in time.
Does Mr. Ryan actually read his own newspaper?
**********************************************************************************
Lee Herron wrote another idiotic defense of the Confederacy on May 3rd.
He brings up the those two old standbys that supposedly disprove slavery caused the Civil War: tariffs and states rights. Either he wears a lead helmet to prevent logic from entering his brain or he is just stupid because both issues were directly related to slavery. The south was taxed because they made their profits off the backs of slave. And the only states rights southerners cared about was the right to own slaves.
Mr. Herron tries to justify the Confederacy by pointing out the miniscule number of African-Americans who fought on the side of the Confederacy, and the even smaller number who owned slaves themselves. I don't see how that justifies such a holocaust.
To make himself even more ridiculous, he accuses people of criticizing the Confederacy of racism.
Man, he makes Augusta look so backwards.
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