Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear (aka TLDNR thread)

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aliasmask
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Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear (aka TLDNR thread)

Post by aliasmask »

I'm browsing through the 100 Best Signs and found some programming humor:

Image
Last edited by aliasmask on Tue Nov 09, 2010 1:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Scubba
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Re: Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

Post by Scubba »

Wow. Just think, he left the comparative safety of his desk, and then he used something besides a computer to make a sign. It was a red letter day for him!

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Re: Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

Post by Azhrei »

I watched the last two-thirds of the rally online. It was pretty funny, but not nearly as "biting" as their half-hour daily shows. But then, JS was trying to promote "sanity" and "reasonableness" so I suppose "biting" would not have been a good match. :roll:

If you saw the Chris Wallace interview this past week it sounds like Jon wants to visit him on his Sunday morning show. Wallace made comments about how Jon's "minions" kept saying "no" when invited and Jon played dumb about it. The wife and I think that JS probably told "his people" to use a blanket "no" answer to all of "those people" and that gave him plausible deniability. ;)




Now I can't get that stupid ditty out of my head...

"We are the greatest, strongest country in the world..." 8)

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Re: Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

Post by plothos »

Was there. Great experience but couldn't hear anything for about half the show.
There were some really great signs. :)
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Re: Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

Post by aliasmask »

Wish I was there, well, before the show started. Really, I wasn't sure what kind of show it would be, but a lot of the jokes (and points) fell flat for the first half of the show. But they brought it home in the end. I'd give them and A for effort, but about a C for execution. They tried to make it non-partisan as possible blaming both sides of the isle for our troubles and the media (Fox and MSNBC) for exacerbating it. They even more had a great montage. But MSNBC mention yeah, maybe, but both sides are not equal nor polar opposites and I tend to agree. Fox has an agenda and is very partisan, while MSNBC tries to stick to the facts and questions both sides and treats everyone fairly (for the most part), more like an actual news agency. I think this video emphasizes the glaring difference in the two. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND everyone to watch the full 18 minutes of this. It may open your eyes to stuff you didn't know was going on in politics and how Fox News distorts the people's perceptions of reality. Plus, it's funny in some parts.

Yeah, I saw the Daily Show and Jon is invited to the Sunday program. Looks like he begrudgingly accepted, looking more tired from the previous week and wanting to have the weekend off than to not really go.

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Re: Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

Post by aku »

aliasmask wrote:Wish I was there, well, before the show started. Really, I wasn't sure what kind of show it would be, but a lot of the jokes (and points) fell flat for the first half of the show. But they brought it home in the end. I'd give them and A for effort, but about a C for execution. They tried to make it non-partisan as possible blaming both sides of the isle for our troubles and the media (Fox and MSNBC) for exacerbating it. They even more had a great montage. But MSNBC mention yeah, maybe, but both sides are not equal nor polar opposites and I tend to agree. Fox has an agenda and is very partisan, while MSNBC tries to stick to the facts and questions both sides and treats everyone fairly (for the most part), more like an actual news agency. I think this video emphasizes the glaring difference in the two. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND everyone to watch the full 18 minutes of this. It may open your eyes to stuff you didn't know was going on in politics and how Fox News distorts the people's perceptions of reality. Plus, it's funny in some parts.

Yeah, I saw the Daily Show and Jon is invited to the Sunday program. Looks like he begrudgingly accepted, looking more tired from the previous week and wanting to have the weekend off than to not really go.

Unless of course you're my parents, who seem to think FOX is the ONLY news outlet that gets it right :\

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Re: Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

Post by aliasmask »

I gave up on Fox being a news agency when I watched them report a viral (faked) video as actual fact. I said, "Oh my God" out loud and my jaw remained open for about 10 or so seconds. And this was during the "news" portion, not just commentary which is about 99% of their programming. At first, I was just disappointed at their lazy reporting where they report and retract if enough people complain rather than investigate, verify and report.

But for the last 2+ years, I see them as a republican disinformation system and it actually makes me angry watching it sometimes. And I'm pretty mild mannered and tolerant of most views, but when they just insinuate or all out lie about something I know is untrue it really gets my ire up.

But I know about parents. My mom is pretty political since working for a supreme court judge. Fiorina I believe was my mom's bosses daughter and she has some insight on what she's really like. Good thing she didn't win. My mom knows a lot of dirt about various officials and can't stand Bush. I have a more moderate view, but "Oh my God, I can't believe they said that" really describes Fox for me.

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Re: Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

Post by Azhrei »

aku wrote:Unless of course you're my parents, who seem to think FOX is the ONLY news outlet that gets it right :\
I tend to consider myself mostly libertarian (in the U.S. way, for those in Sweden who may be reading this ;) I understand your definition is different than ours!).

In general I agree with the point of the Rally: both of the major parties have moved to the extreme edges and their leading proponents tend towards fanaticism ("A fanatic is someone who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." [Winston Churchill]).

Sigh.

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Re: Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

Post by aliasmask »

Poor Keith Oberman. Before he got suspended, he actually took heed of Jon Stuart and stopped doing his worse, worser, worst bit acknowledging in tended towards the extremist point of view (although I liked it and usually made a valid point). Now he's in the doghouse for making personal political contributions against NBC policy (you need to ask for permission first if you're in the news department).
rant
I don't think Democrats have ANY extreme views, whereas Republican doctrine and the new fringe scare me. I'm all for making a buck and saving a buck, but Republicans lead by 31 Billion Dollar "small" businesses, who are now considered "people", are coming in to a whole new level of greed. What they say, is not what they do. Taking aim at eliminating Social Security, Unemployment Insurance and Public Schools so the top 2% can keep 4% more of their money. The Republican's in office, most of whom don't fall in to that 2% will get kickbacks in various forms, so they go along with it. As long as it isn't them in the unemployment line, the state of the rest of America doesn't matter to them. It reminds me of the beginning of terminator as the tank rolls over all the human skulls, so are the big businesses rolling over the rest of America crushing all those beneath them. The real sad part is people are asking for this future lead by the pied piper that is Fox News, owned and operated by someone who IS in that top 2%.

I'm not saying Democratic politicians aren't guilty of the same influences of big businesses or the vastly smaller labor unions, but when I look at the agenda's of both sides, the Democrats are far nobler and reasonable than the Republicans. That's why everytime the Democrats are in power, the economy improves, fact (I'll provide a chart if you want), and when the Republican's are in power the disparity in income levels of America grows. That means, more poor people and richer rich people. The Republicans tout that cutting taxes for the rich give them more money to trickle down and create jobs. That is a myth. The more money they make, the less active their money becomes being tied up in luxury items and longterm savings and the less they need to change their structure (ie no new jobs). Recent history has proven this so. In fact, now one real way to improve their bottom line above the previous year is to reduce costs, meaning taxes and payroll. Their multi-billion dollar profits goes to PACs to influence government officials hoping the 100k spent will net them 100mil in returns and that labor cost is reduced from 10/hr to .20/hr in India by exporting jobs. Though that isn't their real cost after import fees and transportation, but if it .01 cheaper, they're going to do it. Republican's always raise a fist about social issues rallying the sheep behind them while the other hand empties their pockets.

If that doesn't p*** you off, I don't know what would. I can rattle on all day, but at this point, I feel I'm screaming in to the wind. So I'm just waiting for the cold embrace of reality to hit everyone else and by that time, it'll be too late.

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Re: Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

Post by aku »

i would LOVE that chart. Just so i can fwd it on to la famila

What i dont think my parents get, is that political policy doesnt trickle down, until 2-4 years AFTER it's enacted, therefore, (most) of the tanking we've seen during Obama's term, has been from the tail end of Bush's....

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Re: Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

Post by aliasmask »

Here is the first video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2HpdgEsQBg

and there was a follow up graph to verify using more detailed data: http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2 ... ons-matter

Personally, I believe in the trickle up theory, where the more the bottom income people make, the more the upper incomes make. As opposed to the trickle down theory, which doesn't work. Markets are driven by demand and if all the consumers are poor or not spending money to maintain their income bracket, then everyone hurts. Plus, the mega corps, aka 50% of small businesses (no idea how they pulled that one off - well, actually I do) are so big, they have to rule by policy rather than the lay of the land. People become numbers and are valued as gains and losses. One policy of big business that thoroughly disgusts me is corporations will take out life insurance on all their employees, so if they die while employed there, they get paid. These policies are usually in the 100k - 1 mil area. This is done without the employee knowledge and apparently they don't need permission. Wal-mart is one of those companies that does this, and makes a profit from this policy.

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Re: Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

Post by Azhrei »

aliasmask wrote:Wal-mart is one of those companies that does this, and makes a profit from this policy.
Then the insurance companies haven't accounted for this phenomenon yet. It's impossible to make a profit (long-term) from insurance. Or at least, the theory behind insurance should prevent it. :)

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Re: Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

Post by aliasmask »

The profit isn't necessarily only from the insurance, but the tax breaks for such practices. Then the money they get from the payout is tax free.

I think it's a loophole, where the intent was to reward the companies for providing life insurance for employee, except they decided to keep the payouts instead.

This article touches on it a little:
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/ins ... p64954.asp

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Re: Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

Post by LeopoldVonRanke »

Man, this makes me happy: people who actually have a sane political opinion. Goes to show MapTool is the right tool for me ;-)
As a German who's migrated to the US (lived on the West coast in the golden age, aka the Clinton Years), and now living in Maine (which is still a pretty darn liberal place for a poor rural state), I am just constantly disgusted by the political discourse in this country. I really consider it a positive sign when politics gets discussed with even the slightest hint of intelligent analysis and facts mentioned, as above. What is left to listen and read to for an intelligent human being in the US media today, other than NPR and the NYT? Everything else just seems to have become angry b*ll; and to be honest, as much as I liked his show, Olbermann always struck me as angry (and just so we're clear: I don't even want to think the word Fox news, it makes me howling mad).
Jon Stewart is the only relief. One day he will be no more. I hope the media of this country has recovered from the Murdoch onslaught by then...

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Re: Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

Post by Azhrei »

Heh. You might like searching the forum for the 30+ page "American Politics" thread we had going a couple years ago around election time. Blasted amazing that it remained about 99.4% civil the entire time! (Blew me away, actually. :))

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