Politics

[Altitude sickness]

@Big-Easy I actually agree with some of your economic arguments.

“the millions to enforce Friedman's shareholder value theory”.

I am generally in agreement with Milton’s theories. But too much of some things isn’t always best.

On average Harvard business professors used to teach the Shareholder theory more than the Stakeholders theory. But now teach a mix of both and discuss pros and cons.

Wharton business school has always pushed more of a Stakeholder theory than Shareholder. But of course discussed both.

It’s obvious to most that we need a mix of both.

Post Script.

What I have personally witnessed is that even when the publicly traded companies subscribe to the Stakeholder theory. I have witnessed that if a decision will lower the stock price for a gain somewhere else. The decision was always to protect that share price.

The reality is if the share price gets too low, the company cannot get low interest lines of capital. Reduced investors. And the company is more susceptible to takeovers.

 

[mdwest]

Considering that very few college athletes graduate with an engineering degree, I don't think it'll be a problem.

Your ignorance abounds…

Between 15-20% of NCAA athletes pursue STEM degrees…

And you avoid the obvious points…

The athletic programs in the SEC are among the best in the world.. doesn’t matter what your sport is.. football, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, gymnastics, swimming, etc… if you’re an athlete you are far more likely to get noticed by the pros, the Olympics committee, etc and you will compete at a much higher level in the SEC than you will at any HBC…

And… generally speaking almost all academic programs within SEC schools are both higher rated and are more nationally known than academic programs at HBC’s… so employers are going to be more inclined to hire SEC grads…

But sure… let’s encourage black kids that are high achievers capable of playing sports and attending universities within the SEC to go to lessor schools with lessor athletic programs and screw themselves out of brighter futures…all in the name of race baiting politicians…

Makes perfect sense..

 

[LivingTheDream]

Whatever one may think of transgender people,
to call incitement to violence “free speech” is a bit of a stretch.

Did you even read the article?

 

[AJ Peacock]

I mean it was in my county.

You make a great point, local policies can work locally. Federal government should be limited because policies set at the national level are prone to many many failures across the country.

Limited federal government is a great idea. Remember, you heard it here first!

AJ

 

[Killingtime]

@Killingtime
"if your Bavarian I assume you are German or Austrian.. some of the things people have been jailed in Germany for saying is appalling and that trend seems to extend to many places in Western Europe now."

I’d like to know more about that. Where I’m from, we tend to let certain people go free rather than lock them up.

And yes, some countries have strange views and laws.
In Texas, for example, I read that dildos were banned, and simply owning one was a criminal offense.
Now there’s Section 43.21, which allows a maximum of six . An important achievement to help out frail older gentlemen.
I’ll refrain from asking our Texans here who was already breaking that rule back then.

Your right Germany does let people go.. the wrong ones.

Judge jails woman, 20, for sending online insults to a gang-rapist

The man was one of nine attackers who were found guilty of brutally raping a 15-year-old girl in a city park in Hamburg. Anger grew online and his phone number was leaked, which people then messaged.

www.dailymail.com

 

[wesheltonj]

@Foxi I saw the below posted. Not too sure about free speech in Germany. And there’s plenty of posts about the UK police arresting folks for Facebook posts. One poor bastard was arrested as he stepped off the airplane at Heathrow and arrested for terrorism for anti-Muslim Facebook posts.

“visegrad.24

A German teenage boy was prosecuted by the police for blaming slow internet on Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Germany's police opened a formal criminal investigation into a teenager who insulted German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on X (formerly known as Twitter) over experiencing slow download speeds for a video game called Fortnite.
The teenager posted a frustrated tweet cursing out Olaf Scholz because a 37.9 GB Fortnite update was crawling at an incredibly slow 173 KB/s, a rate that would take over 60 hours to complete.
Despite garnering only 503 views, the tweet caught the attention of German authorities.
The police eventually dropped the criminal proceedings after the teenager was forced to delete the post.
What happened to freedom of speech in Germany?”

 

[Brent in Az]

But that's my point, the day of reckoning is coming, but since many of these republican baby-boomers wont be here to see it, they don't seem to care. But then they'll claim that they're scared of Iran getting the bomb? Iran didn't pose a treat to us. Israel...yes, USA...no. So they'll go to war over a minimally possible threat to the country, but totally overlook the real threat that they know about, acknowledge, and see coming, but don't care about cuz it doesn't immediately hurt them?

Remind me again, how many counties has North Korea nuked in the past 20 years?

The #1 terrorist state in the world is not a threat?.....LOL
You are either an expert level troll trying to bait people with your ridiculous statements, or you're as smart as a box of rocks.

Which is it?

"Alex..... I'll take box of rocks for $1000"

 

[mdwest]

Biden in his 2022 speech to the UN - clearly states he will not allow Iran to have a nuclear bomb.. .

Obama - Official Whitehouse transcripts, July 2015 - clearly states he will prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon

Hillary - Senate confirmation hearing as SECSTATE in January 2009 - very plainly stated that "we cannot allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon"

Bill Clinton - 1995 signs EO 12957 that explicity targets Irans nuclear ambitions and establishes policy prohibiting Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons

Chuck Schumer - 2015 in opposition to JPOCA states "I do not believe Iran can change, and we must do everything possible to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon".

Nancy Pelosi - as recent as MAY OF 2026 - Democrats remain committed to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.. .

but Big Easy thinks its Republican baby boomers that are afraid of Iran getting the bomb...

Im pretty sure the concern is universal.. no one thinks Iran getting a bomb is a good idea.. quite literally every single senior politician on either side of the aisle agrees that it must be prevented...

that is until its politically advantageous to them to act like they oppose whatever action is being taken to prevent it..

 

[Tundra Tiger]

The fuel barge is about to arrive here in Dillingham. Scuttlebutt at the bank and post office is that our gas is about to go from $6.59 to over $10 per gallon. If it does we will be locked into that until next year.

Alaska is small enough to not really matter but I honestly think Trump better enjoy his little slice of vengeance now because I don't think he's going to be able to after the midterms.

 

[mdwest]

The fuel barge is about to arrive here in Dillingham. Scuttlebutt at the bank and post office is that our gas is about to go from $6.59 to over $10 per gallon. If it does we will be locked into that until next year.

Alaska is small enough to not really matter but I honestly think Trump better enjoy his little slice of vengeance now because I don't think he's going to be able to after the midterms.

Im amazed at how high Alaska's fuel prices are considering that it produces so much oil..

I get that there is incredibly limited refining capacity (Im assuming due to weather), so most AK oil gets sent to west coast refineries.. then you have huge transportation costs to get the fuel to remote areas.. low population density.. and therefore very limited competition... all of which drives prices up..

but you'd think the state politicians would negotiate some sort of deal with the O&G industry to bring some economic relief to their constituents..

or... in both 2024 and 2025 AK ended up with a budget surplus... you'd think some of that might get used to subsidize fuel prices or to do something to benefit the population..

 

[Tundra Tiger]

Im amazed at how high Alaska's fuel prices are considering that it produces so much oil..

I get that there is incredibly limited refining capacity (Im assuming due to weather), so most AK oil gets sent to west coast refineries.. then you have huge transportation costs to get the fuel to remote areas.. low population density.. and therefore very limited competition... all of which drives prices up..

but you'd think the state politicians would negotiate some sort of deal with the O&G industry to bring some economic relief to their constituents..

or... in both 2024 and 2025 AK ended up with a budget surplus... you'd think some of that might get used to subsidize fuel prices or to do something to benefit the population..

Our state legislature is just as f**ked up as the national legislature. They couldn't find their asses with detailed directions and an InReach.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Saw this on LinkedIn this morning:

 

[Rocked and Loaded]

Whatever one may think of transgender people,
to call incitement to violence “free speech” is a bit of a stretch.

I know Germans aren’t famed for their sense of humor but I don’t see how you could interpret a comedian saying something about punching a trans “woman” in the balls as anything other than a joke.

On the other hand, Germany is a country where one can be arrested for insulting a politician so the free speech bar is pretty low.

 

[spike.t]

 

[Big_Easy]

Your ignorance abounds…

Between 15-20% of NCAA athletes pursue STEM degrees…

And you avoid the obvious points…

The athletic programs in the SEC are among the best in the world.. doesn’t matter what your sport is.. football, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, gymnastics, swimming, etc… if you’re an athlete you are far more likely to get noticed by the pros, the Olympics committee, etc and you will compete at a much higher level in the SEC than you will at any HBC…

And… generally speaking almost all academic programs within SEC schools are both higher rated and are more nationally known than academic programs at HBC’s… so employers are going to be more inclined to hire SEC grads…

But sure… let’s encourage black kids that are high achievers capable of playing sports and attending universities within the SEC to go to lessor schools with lessor athletic programs and screw themselves out of brighter futures…all in the name of race baiting politicians…

Makes perfect sense..

Well let’s review your ignorance. STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. In your prior post you said Engineering degrees, not STEM degrees. They are two different things. Talk about moving the goalposts. Between 3-7% of college athletes pursue Engineering degrees. Internet says less actually graduate with a degree. One study revealed it was 5 per 800, that’s less than 1%.

Go take your fake outrage somewhere else.

 

[AJ Peacock]

Im amazed at how high Alaska's fuel prices are considering that it produces so much oil..

I get that there is incredibly limited refining capacity (Im assuming due to weather), so most AK oil gets sent to west coast refineries.. then you have huge transportation costs to get the fuel to remote areas.. low population density.. and therefore very limited competition... all of which drives prices up..

but you'd think the state politicians would negotiate some sort of deal with the O&G industry to bring some economic relief to their constituents..

or... in both 2024 and 2025 AK ended up with a budget surplus... you'd think some of that might get used to subsidize fuel prices or to do something to benefit the population..

Don't forget about the Permanent Fund Dividend that EVERY permanent Alaskan citizen recieves every year. A family of 4 gets between $5,500 and $12,000 per year. Consider this PFD as part of the total cost of living in Alaska.

AJ

 

[Foxi]

I know Germans aren’t famed for their sense of humor but I don’t see how you could interpret a comedian saying something about punching a trans “woman” in the balls as anything other than a joke.

On the other hand, Germany is a country where one can be arrested for insulting a politician so the free speech bar is pretty low.

when i kick you in your good things you lay on the ground for two days.
Call it what you will -its an assault.

American humor is definitely a more delicate flower
Insults are a criminal offense here, whether they're directed at a politician or just at me.
Whatever.
But you definitely won't go to jail for it. No idea what kind of stories are going around where you are.

 

[tinktink12]

 

[Tundra Tiger]

Don't forget about the Permanent Fund Dividend that EVERY permanent Alaskan citizen recieves every year. A family of 4 gets between $5,500 and $12,000 per year. Consider this PFD as part of the total cost of living in Alaska.

AJ

Negative. That's not completely true anymore. There is a constitutional formula for determining payouts but our legislature kicked it to the curb a few years back. This year's dividend will be +/- $1000, with a $200 energy rebate. That 200 will just about buy a tank of gas for me. The formula for this year dividend would have provided $3800 per person.

A colleague this morning today me she heard we are going to go north of $12 per gallon when the barge arrives.

 

[Hunt anything]

Well let’s review your ignorance. STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. In your prior post you said Engineering degrees, not STEM degrees. They are two different things. Talk about moving the goalposts. Between 3-7% of college athletes pursue Engineering degrees. Internet says less actually graduate with a degree. One study revealed it was 5 per 800, that’s less than 1%.

Go take your fake outrage somewhere else.

I didn’t go back and read all of the posts on this subject so I’m not sure about the hang up on an engineering degree is.
This is totally anecdotal but on my SEC baseball team 100% of us graduated. Some of us went on to play professionally for a while but all came back and finished our degrees. We had a wide variety of degrees ranging from Physical Education, Business Administration, Environmental Science/ Wildlife (mine) and Criminal Justice among others.
Sure back in the day I would say most probably didn’t get their degrees but it changed in the early ‘80s or there about when every quarter we had to show progress towards a degree.