@PC
I agree I feel that as an MF Global customer, my rights were seriously trampled on. Not only that but there seems to be very little progress is bringing any justice on this matter.
Very disappointing event that shows you how sometimes the system is more powerful than individual rights.
Re: A missing word that is "absolutely" essential
Scott Raynovich
3/9/2012 2:12:19 PM
chapAnjou--
great point. Sometimes Democracy is very messy.
Re: A missing word that is "absolutely" essential
chapAnjou
3/9/2012 12:48:51 PM
"I have absolutely no interest in the use of religion to choose a leader for the country and am totally behind religious freedom. However, I would like to elimintate what I see as preferential treatement afforded to some at the exclusion of others. I am not a Catholic, but I see their rights trampled while others are protected."
I think the use of the term "preferential treatment" should be used very carefully in regards to religious rights being trampled on. Just to use an example, you can't say that because abortion is legal that it's trampling on the rights of religious folk who don't believe in that sort of thing. The rights of humans as a species should get preferential treatment over anything else. Some group at some point is going to be ignored eventually because of the contradictions between the beliefs of all the various groups out there.
Re: Made me smile
chapAnjou
3/9/2012 12:43:01 PM
"It also raises some interesting questions about our $50,000 a year educational institutions. Why the hell are they allowing kids to graduate with degrees that do not prepare them to do anything in the real world?"
Agreed, it raises some very interesting questions. The truth is that the focus on making people "well rounded" doesn't help kids get a job when they graduate. Obviously it's important to learn new things and all of that, but there's something seriously wrong with the system when computer science majors are learning about Genghis Khan in their first semester and not about programming (true story, haha).
In fact, in my first year in college as a computer science major, I was unable to take any computer-related courses due to the small number of those classes vs. the number of gen ed class...something's wrong there.
@Fred & @Noreen,
Enjoyed the whole back and forth about how our freedoms are being eroded by politicians who put their own interests at the front of the line.
Another example of this - of freedoms being quietly taken in recent years - relates directly to our interests as investors. For decades, people have been able to count on the terms of a contract to mean what it said. In the US, any adult could expect to be treated the same under the terms of the law. This meant that you could expect to be treated just like the mayor would if you signed a contract to buy a house - no better, but also no worse.
However, in the way that GM and Chrysler were taken through bankrupcy, the bondholders were not given their long-established priority in the line of creditors. They were forced to take more than their share of the losses, because someone decided this would be expedient. It was also wrong.
Another, somewhat different, example is the whole MF Global debacle. Is the customer's money missing or not? If not, why can't they have it back? If so, where are the funds from private insurance that should cover these types of losses. It seems, again, that Corzine, or other insiders are receiving better treatment that the rest of us would had we stolen large sums of money. And insurance agreements that were in place beforehand, don't seem to carry any force.
PC
Re: A missing word that is "absolutely" essential
Noreen Seebacher
3/8/2012 3:38:33 PM
Fred there is really little option in the NYC area. If you are tethered here for a job, then you face this mystery of nebulous laws and unbelievably high tax rates for no apparent reason. I do not know why it costs 10 times as much to provide schools, roads, police and fire services here as it does as in, say, northern Virginia, where the real estate taxes are a fraction of mine.
Corruption plays a big part. Right now we have the federal corruption trial of former Yonkers Republican Chairman Zehy Jereis and former Yonkers City Councilwoman Sandy Annabi, a Democrat. Can't get more bipartisan than that!
The problem legislation is local. The thing is, most residents don't seem to care. They see drying laundry as a blight on the community...cars in the street as distasteful. I'm sure many of them don't like the fact I cut my own grass.
You're right. I need to move.
Re: A missing word that is "absolutely" essential
Fred Goodman
3/8/2012 2:20:57 PM
Well Noreen, I don't know your situation in detail, but from what I do know I would easily solve it by moving.
You need to find the source of the legislation. Is it local to your town or to the city or state in general?
In Los Angeles, which is Democrat-run from the city council to the city to the state, we have pockets of foolish legislation but while the adjacent street to mine has permit parking that causes the same difficulty you mention, my street has 2 hour parking from 8-6 which poses little difficulty. We were able to vote for what we wanted and did so.
That said, why has the arguably worst city, economically, in the country (Detroit) been Democrat-run for 35 years and still in the same or even worse shape? And why is Wisconsin nearly or completely out of debt just a few years into Conservative Scott Walker's run as governor?
Re: A missing word that is "absolutely" essential
Noreen Seebacher
3/8/2012 1:02:10 PM
Understood. Just to clarify: we do not have a homeowner association. We only have an elected mayor and a board of trustees, which regulates the zoning, building, etc. It's a predominately Republican village; the neighboring village is predominately Democrat. It's just as silly.
I've gone to the monthly meetings, and, like you, found it a waste of time. Two years ago, I asked for a copy of all the village laws, simply because it seemed someone -- me, a friend, a neighbor -- was always getting in trouble for some pointless violation of a law we did not know existed.
They village laws are not online. They are not in the library, They seem to be made up as things go along. The Mayor assured me someone would bring me a copy of "the book" of village laws as soon as possible.
I am still waiting.
Re: A missing word that is "absolutely" essential
Fred Goodman
3/8/2012 12:50:17 PM
I feel, just as you do Noreen, that the rules and requirements you describe are infringing on your freedom. However, you are free to move to a private residence nearby where such rules do not apply, but you are not able to move anywhere in the country where Obamacare will not eliminate your freedoms and force you to pay to support people from all over the globe who are living in the US.
Furthermore, you have not provided evidence that the rules about which you complain were established by elected Republicans. Maybe they voted for Republicans, but your local home association is not run by Congresspeople, Democrat or Republican. Perhaps you could attend the meetings and express your opinions and make a difference.
My beef is with the policies being enforced or introduced currently, both locally and nationally that are actively supported by politicians professing to be Democrats and running for election by promising to do more of the same. I have plenty of criticism left over for Republicans, which is why I am registered as an independent. I spend considerable time writing to the elected culprits, but it has had no noticeable effect.
I vote the individual, not the party. I wish there were a third party that I could support but there isn't, and currently there are fewer Republican candidates making me angry.
Re: A missing word that is "absolutely" essential
Noreen Seebacher
3/8/2012 12:22:35 PM
Fred, I don't disagree. However, I don't think the nonsense is party exclusive, nor do I think it's anything new.
Why can't I dry my clothes on a line in my own backyard if I want to save energy? My very Republican village is adamantly opposed to that practice -- and they will fine me if I try to nail a flag pole holder onto a tree (that stands entirely in my own yard) and try to hang an American flag. I can, however, hang the flag from my front porch post.
Why won't these Republicans allow me to install my own dimmer switch or change a broken electrical outlet? Under the village code, I have to hire a licensed electrician -- even for a minor repair that any reasonably intelligent person can perform.
During Sukkot, a Jewish neighbor was cited for building a sukkah without a permit.
And if I leave my car on the street in front of my house after 2 am, I get a ticket -- unless I call and get permission from the police. The Catch 22 is that I can't call after 2 am. So say you and I get home from a night out at 2:30, you're tired and I invite you to stay in the guest room. I can't get permission for you to park in the street because we missed the deadline!
The point is Republican. Democrat. Independent...I see them all as power hungry control freaks who value ego over reason. And in the end, no matter who we elect, we're screwed.
That's my cherry message for the day. And no, I don't want to move to Canada or anyplace else because I don't think idiocity is exclusive to the United States.
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