Nutjobs Ranting About Politics.

[bilmore]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop Please note that you are now linking to a piece that recounts Kerry's service in and near Cambodia in December, 1968, apparently not because you think it's more accurate but because you'll post anything that puts him in a bad light. What was that about not liking the fucker?

You're really reaching here, for no point. Pull out a map. How much of VN is more than fifty miles from Cambodia?

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by bilmore
You're really reaching here, for no point. Pull out a map. How much of VN is more than fifty miles from Cambodia?

Listen, my friend, earlier this evening you were attacking Kerry for not having been in Cambodia in December, 1968. Now you've offered us a link to a piece attacking him for what he did "along the Cambodian border" at that same time.

So make up your mind about whether you want to attack Kerry for having been there or for not having been there. Doing both doesn't cut it.

And bitch, please -- I invented the map of Cambodia.

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by bilmore
I still feel violated that Bush ran on a platform of "I'm a war hero, a business hero, and a teetotaler all my life."

(Oh, wait, . . . )

Get off it, Sam. It's Kerry's main, and sole, selling point. "What will you do about unemployment?" "If elected, I will . . . Hey! I was in Viet Nam!"

If he would shut up about it, and tell us what he will do as president, we might be able to move on. As it is, complaints like yours are unseemly and transparent.

I thought Kerry's main selling point was that he is Not Bush. Do you think he's lying there? And I want to here what you think, not what Nader says.

[bilmore]

Originally posted by Shape Shifter
I thought Kerry's main selling point was that he is Not Bush. Do you think he's lying there? And I want to here what you think, not what Nader says.

I do have to concede this, to some certain point. I watched as much of the convention as was offered, though, and the "Hey, I ran a Swiftboat" stuff did edge out the "Hey, I'm not George" stuff by some small margin.

I will readily admit - he isn't George Bush. To that extent, he campaigns honestly.

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by bilmore
Those who ignore history are doomed to _________. (Fill this in for extra points.)

the business college, and after a few years are treating lawyers like their bitches. What do I win?

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by bilmore
I do have to concede this, to some certain point. I watched as much of the convention as was offered, though, and the "Hey, I ran a Swiftboat" stuff did edge out the "Hey, I'm not George" stuff by some small margin.

I will readily admit - he isn't George Bush. To that extent, he campaigns honestly.

And you, bilmore, are a uniter, not a divider.

[Not Me]

Originally posted by Shape Shifter
And you, bilmore, are a uniter, not a divider.

Do you think he can work some of his magic on PP and Slave? Not permanently, but just for long enough to reignite the passion for a romp on the kitchen table. For the sake of the FB I mean.

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by Not Me
Do you think he can work some of his magic on PP and Slave? Not permanently, but just for long enough to reignite the passion for a romp on the kitchen table. For the sake of the FB I mean.

What? They had sex? On the kitchen table?!! I am at such a disadvantage as a newber. I may have to stop dating both of them. He told me I was the only one and she said she could cook. No true cook would fuck on the kitchen table. It's just unsanitary.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Club might want to think about this as he sets up his island:

• Daniel Drezner posts an extract from a Wall Street Journal article (subscription only, and I don’t have a subscription), suggesting both that there is a serious shortage of skilled machinists in the US, and that “U.S. apprenticeship programs have dwindled as the large American companies that once provided the bulk of such training have cut back to save money and now outsource some of the work.” As I’ve noted before, there’s a serious case to be made that both these problems reflect underlying weaknesses in the US model of capitalism.
  
  Margarita Estevez-Abe, Torben Iversen and David Soskice have an important piece arguing that countries like the US, which have a minimal welfare state, tend to discourage people from investing in risky specific skills. If the market changes, so that these skills are no longer rewarded on the job market, people who have these skills may find it very difficult to find new jobs, or to retool themselves for a changing economy. In contrast, countries with a well-developed welfare state can provide a buffer, allowing people more time to find new jobs that match their skills, or to learn new skills if necessary. Estevez-Abe, Iversen and Soskice argue that countries like the US tend to produce skill generalists, who can shift easily as market conditions change, whereas countries like Germany, with substantial welfare states, more easily support specialist skills.
  
  Machining skills are highly specific - those who invest in the lengthy process of learning how to be “Swiss machinists” will find it extremely difficult to find new jobs if the demand for Swiss machinists falls. Therefore, one may reasonably expect that in countries such as the US (where there isn’t a safety net), many people will be reluctant to become Swiss machinists, instead preferring more generalized skills, that can more easily be transported from job to job. In contrast, in countries like Germany, one may reasonably expect that there will be no systematic problems of undersupply of machining skills (although there may of course be conjunctural ones).
  
  Furthermore, as sociologist Wolfgang Streeck has noted, German-style capitalism is better in specific aspects of training. It produces “beneficial constraints” that help ensure that certain collective goods are produced. Apprenticeship training is a key example - in a free economy, every firm has an incentive to underinvest in training, because it does not realize the full benefits (the individual may leave and bring the benefits of her expensive training to a new firm). In Germany, firms are obliged to participate in collective schemes organized by local Chambers of Commerce, thus mitigating the collective problem of underprovision.
  
  German capitalism is, of course, going through some rather serious problems at the moment. Still, in certain sectors of the economy, it does seem to do a better job than the US. This gives Germany a real comparative advantage in specialized machinery production - it exports more machinery than any other country. In the 1980’s, the popular wisdom was that US firms were being ground into in the dust by the Germans and Japanese; now it’s that the US economic system is inherently superior to its peers. It will be interesting to see whether this wisdom changes any over the next ten years.

Crooked Timber

[Not Me]

Originally posted by Shape Shifter
What? They had sex? On the kitchen table?!! I am at such a disadvantage as a newber. I may have to stop dating both of them. He told me I was the only one and she said she could cook. No true cook would fuck on the kitchen table. It's just unsanitary.

Admittedly, it has been so long since I heard the details of their love affair that I cannot remember if it was on the kitchen table or in the back of a taxi cab or elsewhere.

[Not Me]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
Club might want to think about this as he sets up his island:

[really long copy and paste that no one reads]

Umm, do you really think anyone reads your copy and paste posts? Just curious as to how delusional you are.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by bilmore
RT, my best advice to you is, from now on, act in no way that is imperfect. It's your only hope.

Wonk, I hope you'll return. I think your politics are childish and indefensible, your argumentative style churlish, your attitude selfish and intolerant, and your sense of proportion lacking. Those things aside, you are intelligent, well spoken, entertaining, and I've always enjoyed your posts, this past week being no exception. I'd have several beers with you (and I'd likely have to drink yours, too, I suspect.) I know you disagree, but what you ascribe to political chill, I chalk up to personal misunderstanding amongst friends, and, while one is unforgivable, the other is a passing fart. Please put all of this behind us. Only you can do that.

Bilmore, I think your attitude is superior and arrogant, you engage in conclusion-jumping of brobdignagian proportions, and your politics reflect the self-satisfied attitude of one who has managed to gain success through a combination of hard work and some measure of good luck.

You are famous for making value judgments based upon less than complete information, and frequently, you champion posters in a manner that makes whatever disagreement that the poster might be having with another seem far worse than in fact it is.

All that being said, I frequently enjoy reading what you have to offer and often consider my opinions in light of your posts, sort of as a sanity check. I would have a few beers with you, as well, preferably over an old John Prine record.

As far as I'm concerned, this was all behind RT and I long before it got enmeshed with other conflicts and turned into a major spectacle. Therefore, you old fart, I am happy to consider the matter at an end.

[Not Me]

Originally posted by taxwonk
fart

Hehehe. He said fart.

[Not Me]

That is all.

[baltassoc]

Originally posted by bilmore
Just a comment on Minnesota and Minnesotans:

Big crowds tonight. Rather huge crowds. Lots of yelling and chanting on one side, big numbers and an amused and loud undercurrent on the other. Hostility, and high emotions. Had the two groups mingled, it would have been ugly.

The cops lightly taped their yellow Police Line tape across trees, parking meters, cars, and pedestrians who were too slow.

And NO ONE TRIED TO CROSS THEM.

Damn, we're a polite people.

I find this to be America's single greatest redeeming quality.

My perception is that this is the most invective campaign in my lifetime, and likely since at least the Vietnam war, and yet people don't cross the lines. A few people have gotten arrested here and there, but nobody's been beaten to a pulp, no mobs have stampled their opponents, and no one's died.

Contrast that with even modern democracies like Italy, where it just isn't an election unless someone's head gets blown off with a high-power rifle.