Free Republic

I believe you’re thinking of Dave Ramsey

http://www.daveramsey.com/home/

be wary of credit counseling agencies; many of them are ripoffs, and using one - so i’m told - has the same impact on your credit report as declaring bankruptcy

get the numbers together, and make arrangements with each creditor individually if possible

most reputable firms are happy to help you work out a plan you can stick to, but note: if you say the magic words “bankruptcy lawyer”, they will not talk to you at all

the first thing that leaps to mind is “how accurate are the CBO’s projections?”

so, i googled, and one of the first results was
http://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/review/12/01/21-40Kliesen.pdf

which is far too long to read right now, but if you skip down to Figure 8 on page 29 you can easily see that CBO projects are less accurate than a random-walk model.

in other words, CBO projections are essentially useless noise

Welcome to FR.

“When it boils down to it, Americans just want to be left alone and allowed to control their own lives.”

You’d think that would be the case, but I have doubts..

Anyway, it’s always good to see another libertarian here. ;)

Give if you want to, don’t give if you don’t want to. How he voted is irrelevant. the fact that he appears to be ungrateful is also irrelevant.

It is admirable that you honor your grandparents in this way. But it’s not a requirement, it’s your choice.

Does sending him a check make you feel good? If so, do it. If it no longer makes you feel good - or has become a financial strain on your own family - then don’t.

Don’t do it out of guilt though - that’s destructive to both of you.

He has to reach across the aisle to reach your wallet.

the trend continues; it will get more blatant

13 years ago, my mother beat extremely aggressive leukemia in a texas research hospital experimental program. medicare specified a follow-up chemotherapy treatment several weeks later...and sent her home about 6-8 hours after wiping out her immune system.

she had a high fever about 6 hours later, and an ambulance ride back to the hospital - where a staph infection caused organ failure, coma, and eventual death.

because these were ‘medicare says...’ rules that doctors seem to follow no matter what, no one asked us or informed us. i’m no doctor, but sending someone home with no immune system seems foolhardy. clear i’m not qualified to work on a death panel.

Congratulations on taking the plunge!

One of the great joys of science fiction - as opposed to fantasy - is that it might actually happen...eventually.

As for your particular question, the short answer is “what do you want to happen?” as in “what events would move your plot along towards the climatic conflict and resolution”?

Also for consideration: some new technology that would make oil nearly worthless would (a) not make it completely worthless, as technology adoption is never 100% and (b) may affect certain uses such as fuel more than others such as plastics, and (c) would take a significant time span to alter world economics, with the time required being related to the adoption curve of the new technologies.

Even something as radical as - for example - practical Tesla-style power broadcasting on a global scale - would take time for the information required to use it to propagate across the globe, for vehicles to be adapted, and so on. And of course there’s always an “old guard” that never adapts (Luddites, in the extreme cases, Amish, gasoline-engine fanatics, etc).

So the upset in the middle east - or Texas - would not happen overnight, but would be gradual. Possibly even decades, or more.

The people in charge would most likely see it coming, and vanish/bail/emigrate et al. The huddled masses would most likely remain huddled masses - they simply don’t have the knowledge or resources to migrate elsewhere. Prime fodder for warlords and opportunists, as demonstrated by the current political climate ;)

That being said, I strongly urge you to consider everything suggested in this thread (the thought about Africa is a good one, for example), and then throw it all out and make happen whatever you want to happen.

good luck, and let us know when it’s done!

I think the point of what Paul said was the behavior should be evaluated, not proclivities.

If I grabbed the wrong quote, perhaps you’d be so kind as to post the right quote.

Clearly, I have offended you somehow. Not my intention.

Have a great weekend!

"You can't be that obtuse"

That's funny, that's exactly what I thought when I read your original commentary

The picture becomes clearer and clearer.

Which you still haven't explained. I'll wait.

The exact quote does not mean what you want it to mean; emphasis mine, to make the point a little clearer:

Ron Paul: “I have received several calls and visits from constituents who, in spite of the heavy investment in their training, have been forced out of the military simply because they were discovered to be homosexual. To me, this seems like an awful waste. Personal behavior that is disruptive should be subject to military discipline regardless of whether the individual is heterosexual or homosexual. But to discharge an otherwise well-trained, professional, and highly skilled member of the military for these reasons is unfortunate and makes no financial sense.”

Frankly, I don't think gays belong in the military, and I don't think that women belong in the military - for completely different reasons that don't matter, because I don't run the military.

The problem I have with people's condemnation of Paul - and I'm not singling anyone out in particular here, as FReepers tend to be fairly rational creatures - is that they get upset at what other people said he said, instead of what he actually said.

The other day there were hundreds of oh-my-god-he's-an-evil-bastard-that-wants-you-to-die-in-a-tornado articles, none of which actually quoted what the man said ("There's no such thing as Federal money").

Now, before you dismiss all of this as the ravings of a Paulite, you should know that (a) I've always been a libertarian, and (b) I've only started to like Paul as a choice recently because [1] I stopped listening to what others said he said, and started reading what he actually said, and [2] the other GOP choices all look like more-of-the-same to me. Even Newt (sorry Newt, you'd make a great cabinet member though).

But I didn't intend to hijack the thread, I just thought the initial smearing by association was ridiculous. Have a great week!

Excellent points 2DV - these are also the same people that say that Ron Paul is "not electable"... and in nationwide polls, Paul is the only GOP candidate that would appear to have a chance of beating Obama.
So logically, the GOP should rally behind Paul, as the only candidate with a statistical chance of beating Obama.
[Bwahahahahaha!]

Interesting links, so you're saying that gay donors make the candidates gay also? Perhaps some virus transmitted via money? :D

Hedge fund chiefs lead donors group backing Romney
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/articles/2012/02/02/hedge_fund_moguls_top_list_of_donors_to_super_pac_supporting_mitt_romney/

One of the most prominent of its donors was Paul Singer, founder of the hedge fund Elliott Management Corp. and chairman of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. He gave $1 million to the PAC. Singer, who is a fund-raiser and adviser to Romney, has given hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years to the National Republican Senatorial Committee and contributed to numerous Republican politicians. He is also known for supporting gay marriage. Singer’s son is gay, and Singer was one of three wealthy Republicans who helped bankroll New York’s campaign to legalize gay marriage, donating $425,000 and marshaling other Republican donors, the New York Times reported.

Michigan, Arizona: Gay GOPs still backing Romney
http://www.pridesource.com/article.html?article=51868

Super PAC top donors
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/super-pac-donors-revealed-who-are-the-power-players-in-the-gop-primary/2012/02/21/gIQAPU3BSR_story.html

Some of these guys are supporting candidates they believe in (to quote Ron Paul, "There are no group rights, there are only individual rights" - which he probably lifted from Ayn Rand "The smallest group is the individual"), others are probably just hedging their bets.

perspective:
- a billionaire donating $2.3M to a cause is the same ratio as the average middle class American donating $200 to a cause
- only 25% of all super PAC donations come from billionaires
- this guy’s donation to Paul’s PAC is no more significant than casino billionaire Adelson’s $10M donation to Newt’s PAC

Frankly, I don’t like anyone that’s running. But I like weak logic and guilt-by-association even less. ;)

perhaps I misinterpreted what you meant by

The picture becomes clearer and clearer.

Care to elaborate?

character assassination is a liberal tactic, useful when the facts don’t favor one’s position

unworthy of FR.

Billions raised from carbon taxes should be used to lift millions of households out of fuel poverty...

1. "fuel poverty" = made-up hysteria for an issue that has existed for millennia. By this definition, I live in "fuel poverty" during the hottest and coldest parts of the year, and chances are so do you. Unless you're having to choose between eating and heating, this is B.S.
2. a "billion" to fix a "million"? So $1000 each? Why does this math not jive with the numbers in the rest of the article? And, as always, who gets to decide and how large and inefficient will be the dispensing agency?
3. carbon tax = global warming hoax tax. 'nuff said.

   It's not the ridiculousness of the attempts to repackage and sell global warming over and over, that's what hucksters do - "same old sh!t in a brand-new package!" - what's irksome is that no one seems to even notice it any more.

Snoop and Wille already did a duet, titled "My Medicine" (Dedicated to Johnny Cash) on youtube

Silly typo, here let me fix that -

Can I Vote for a Mormon Moron?

The answer is: yes, you can. But please don't. We've got enough of 'em in DC already.

it’s a piece of junk, good riddance

runs great for about 6 months, then...odd noises. that the mechanics can’t find. then more odd noises. then recall notices on various parts, 2 or 3 a year

traded it and a big wad of cash for a mercedes; happy now