CONSPIRACY THEORIES!

[Dan]

I don't like to start threads. Moving on, these drive me crazy. I mean, they are unlikely and unfounded, and are usually based on rumor and suspicion. I want to hurt the cartoonist that draws Boondocks.

[SheepShank]

http://images.ucomics.com/comics/bo/2004/bo041128.gif

My spider sense tells me your Republican after reading through some of these comics...

[Lacrosstitute]

The Boondocks is a stupid cartoon anyway. And yea, of course people like this Aaron McGryder are going to make things up, he's a sore loser.

[TheKOB]

The Boondocks is a stupid cartoon anyway. And yea, of course people like this Aaron McGryder are going to make things up, he's a sore loser.


Makes more sense than Doonsbury....at least, I understood it. I'd rather people joke about it then just shout things...John Stewart was getting to that point though...

[GeorgiaMiddie2]

ah, i wish the daily show would stay vicious... after all, i just love anyone who is publicly willing to rag on bush...

[Longest]

ah, i wish the daily show would stay vicious... after all, i just love anyone who is publicly willing to rag on bush...

Like most ppl, you want it dished out but you do'nt want to have to take it :-)

Dan

[GeorgiaMiddie2]

hey, i've taken my fair share... try being the uber liberal in a majorly conservative school, in a bible belt state that only has tiny blotches of democrats anymore.

[roughrider]

of comspiracy theorys...who shot kennedy?

[Lax101]

During the election, he (John Stewart) ragged on Bush a lot more than Kerry. Usually the late night shows (letterman, Conan, Leno, etc) would do a joke or two of each. Stewart brought it up in the monologue, interviews, etc. It's a matter of comedy used to be funny, or used to be vicious. They were starting to get towards vicious. Hopefully with the election over, he's moved back to the middle of the road.
don't forget that stewart even had kerry on the daily show. and quoting that guy from crossfire, stewart was kerry's "buttboy".

[roughrider]

The Daily Show is not meant to be the great intellectual political discussion. It is not intended to be Larry King or even Inside the Actors Studio. To expect Jon to harshl intervue somebody on his sow throws off the entire premise of the show.
Final thought: Tucker Carlson sucks. Buy a real tie.

[BTlaxripper]

BACK ON TOPIC! GR!

Conspiracy theories... let's see

who shot kennedy?
did we really land on moon or was it staged?
I remember seeing a video on whether a plane crashed into the pentagon or not?

opinions?

[V-cut]

was there really Hitler, or is it a ploy to keep people from disliking the original Hillary. (todays is a clone)

[zak]

I dont know if we landed on the moon. Either way who really cares. All NASA has brought me is freeze-dried strawberries and stuff. And astrunaut ice cream. mmmmmm

Pentagon did happen. I had a friend whose dad got a concussion when the plane hit. I even drove down there to see it.

Try the Roswell conspiracy. Theres tons of "staged" shots with top Army brass looking at a "faked" weather balloon holding papers in their hands. So people enlarged the pictures and could make out some really ominous messages. Aliens are fo sho.

[GeorgiaMiddie2]

Nasa brought you more than you can imagine... velcro, tang... the list is endless, i just cant think right now or i'd be listing more.

[zak]

And how many billions of dollars did a fake moon landing and tang cost us? I bet astronaut ice cream is some super advanced, expensive, addictivem, personality changing drug that theyre tricking us into taking.

[BTlaxripper]

I love tang. Take a glass, put it in your freezer, take it out, fill with a little water, put it back in, freeze ice, take out, fill with crushed ice, a little water and tang. I call it a tropical freeze. When you blow on it you can sse your breath. Add alcohol as desired.

Anyways, the holocaust definetly happened.

[GeorgiaMiddie2]

billions of dollars won the space race; billions of dollars united and inspired america in the 50's, 60's, and 70's, at a time when we badly need something to inspire and unite us; billions of dollars has given a large portion of america jobs; billions of dollars has created technologies that you use every day and take for granted. NASA is worth every penny we've spent on it.

[roughrider]

I love NASA but some things just make me scratch my head and wonder why. Case in point: America developed a pen that could write in space at a cost of 1 million dollars. The Russians used pencil

[zak]

George Bush wants to spend billions of $ going back to the moon. Hes lost billions of dollars in jobs for America. He gave billions of dollars to his big buisiness friends. He wasted billions of dollars in Iraq. He spent millions of dollars winning an election(#1) that he actually lost. He also choked on a pretzel. But thats not important.

George W. Bush: The real conspiracy.

[roughrider]

I love tang. Take a glass, put it in your freezer, take it out, fill with a little water, put it back in, freeze ice, take out, fill with crushed ice, a little water and tang. I call it a tropical freeze. When you blow on it you can sse your breath. Add alcohol as desired.

Anyways, the holocaust definetly happened.

So simple...yet...so wonderful! Have you tried using frozen tang instead of frozen water at the bottom. Or another idea for the alky-hol lovers. Since alcohol cant freeze mix tang and alcohol then freeze. Nice little slushy concoction.

[Frndlefire]

However you stand on the issue, tax cuts to the middle class would do more to stimulate the economy than giving them to the richest. The rich are probably not spending as much of the money they saved while the middle class is much more likely to pour that money right back into the economy.

[TheKOB]

However you stand on the issue, tax cuts to the middle class would do more to stimulate the economy than giving them to the richest. The rich are probably not spending as much of the money they saved while the middle class is much more likely to pour that money right back into the economy.

Unless they're putting it under their mattress, anyone doing anything with the money (from spending it at a mom and pop store to investing it in the market to putting it into the bank) does something for the economy. Also, the rich are more prone to donate it to charities than most people.

[TheKOB]

George Bush wants to spend billions of $ going back to the moon. Hes lost billions of dollars in jobs for America. He gave billions of dollars to his big buisiness friends. He wasted billions of dollars in Iraq. He spent millions of dollars winning an election(#1) that he actually lost. He also choked on a pretzel. But thats not important.

George W. Bush: The real conspiracy.

lost billions of dollars in jobs for America?

gave billions of dollars to friends?

wasted billions of dollars in Iraq?

spent millions of dollars winning an election?

I just think it's funny you play for a team called "Einstein" and can post crap like this...

[TheKOB]

billions of dollars won the space race; billions of dollars united and inspired america in the 50's, 60's, and 70's, at a time when we badly need something to inspire and unite us; billions of dollars has given a large portion of america jobs; billions of dollars has created technologies that you use every day and take for granted. NASA is worth every penny we've spent on it.

I agree...yet some people think it's all a big PR stunt.

[Frndlefire]

Unless they're putting it under their mattress, anyone doing anything with the money (from spending it at a mom and pop store to investing it in the market to putting it into the bank) does something for the economy. Also, the rich are more prone to donate it to charities than most people. banking your money does not stimulate the economy as if you spent it.

[TheKOB]

banking your money does not stimulate the economy as if you spent it.

I disagree. What happens to money when it goes to a bank? It’s reinvested by that bank into a business, property, etc, and it goes back into circulation. It stimulates the economy in different way, but it still stimulates the economy. While it’s true that banks tend to make safer investments, they are in turn making money, which translates into paychecks or output to stockholders, which turns into income…which’ll then get spent.

There might be more stops along the way, but the end result is the same.

[Longest]

I disagree. What happens to money when it goes to a bank? It’s reinvested by that bank into a business, property, etc, and it goes back into circulation. It stimulates the economy in different way, but it still stimulates the economy. While it’s true that banks tend to make safer investments, they are in turn making money, which translates into paychecks or output to stockholders, which turns into income…which’ll then get spent.

There might be more stops along the way, but the end result is the same.

You start off fine and then the way the bank makes money and its output to stockholders and paychecks gets cloudy. A bank has limited employees and most do not pay dividends so I'm lost on that end of things. Let's say more and more people started hoarding money instead of buying varying items, both luxury and non-luxury. Are you suggesting the impact on the economy will be nil? I think not.

Dan

[TheKOB]

You start off fine and then the way the bank makes money and its output to stockholders and paychecks gets cloudy. A bank has limited employees and most do not pay dividends so I'm lost on that end of things. Let's say more and more people started hoarding money instead of buying varying items, both luxury and non-luxury. Are you suggesting the impact on the economy will be nil? I think not.

Dan

It effects the company to a lesser extent. A bank finances businesses through morgages, financing, etc.

If by hoarding money you mean putting it in a bank, the effect is bad, no businesses would be built, growth would stagnate. What if instead the bank just hoarded it's money and didn't use it to make money? If any link is broken, the economy faulters. It's almost a chicken and egg argument. The economy can adapt to anything gradually.

That's why a good or bad economy isn't based so much on most economic measures, it depends more on the general population's attitude. If the general feeling is that everything is going fine, then the economy will continue to chug along. If people start predicting an economic downturn, then people will start hoarding. If the TV networks start saying how the economy is going into the toilet, then it becomes a self-fulfilled prophesy. In the stock market crash, it wasn't the initial problems, it was the run on the banks produced by a lack of confidence.

[Longest]

It effects the company to a lesser extent. A bank finances businesses through morgages, financing, etc.

If by hoarding money you mean putting it in a bank, the effect is bad, no businesses would be built, growth would stagnate. What if instead the bank just hoarded it's money and didn't use it to make money? If any link is broken, the economy faulters. It's almost a chicken and egg argument. The economy can adapt to anything gradually.

That's why a good or bad economy isn't based so much on most economic measures, it depends more on the general population's attitude. If the general feeling is that everything is going fine, then the economy will continue to chug along. If people start predicting an economic downturn, then people will start hoarding. If the TV networks start saying how the economy is going into the toilet, then it becomes a self-fulfilled prophesy. In the stock market crash, it wasn't the initial problems, it was the run on the banks produced by a lack of confidence.

You and I agree on all of that. My real question is if you belive capitalism is driven by businesses or banks. There are ways to fund businesses without banks.

Dan

[TheKOB]

You and I agree on all of that. My real question is if you belive capitalism is driven by businesses or banks. There are ways to fund businesses without banks.

Dan

It's definitely driven by businesses, but with banks around, it's driven faster and farther. How many people now could front the money necessary to open their own business, buying (or leasing) the land, building (or just fixing up/outfitting) a store, etc? Banks just make it possible for a person of limited means to seize what they see as an opportunity. Entrepenuarship (spelled pretty wrong, by the way) is what grows an economy. If we wanted our economy to stay the same, banks wouldn't be needed...but "stagnent" isn't a word you want associated with an economy. Economies either move up or are left behind.

[Longest]

It's definitely driven by businesses, but with banks around, it's driven faster and farther. How many people now could front the money necessary to open their own business, buying (or leasing) the land, building (or just fixing up/outfitting) a store, etc? Banks just make it possible for a person of limited means to seize what they see as an opportunity. Entrepenuarship (spelled pretty wrong, by the way) is what grows an economy. If we wanted our economy to stay the same, banks wouldn't be needed...but "stagnent" isn't a word you want associated with an economy. Economies either move up or are left behind.

What you ignored was that banks are not the only means of investment in businesses, they are the means of businesses that are as assured of success as anyone can be at that stage but risky business ideas, or models, or those with limited business experience will have a hard time accessing the capital available at the bank. So it's not as black and white as we need banks to drive the economy. I'm not saying we don't need banks but they are not funding all new businesses. I doubt that is what you are saying but that's what it reads like, to me.

Dan

[TheKOB]

What you ignored was that banks are not the only means of investment in businesses, they are the means of businesses that are as assured of success as anyone can be at that stage but risky business ideas, or models, or those with limited business experience will have a hard time accessing the capital available at the bank. So it's not as black and white as we need banks to drive the economy. I'm not saying we don't need banks but they are not funding all new businesses. I doubt that is what you are saying but that's what it reads like, to me.

Dan

True, they're probably the best way for most people to get financing though. Credit cards, etc charge higher rates, investors are flighty and hard to come by and will then own a stake in the business if it succeeds, etc. There's lots of ways to raise capital, banks and credit unions are just the chosen way for most people.