If I saw that goddamned bear looking through my door I’d be making brownies too.

The Trump brand: sugar-coating shit since always

At least it’s becoming more and more obvious why redneck trash identifies with them - they ARE redneck white trash.

Scientology isn’t a religion. It’s a cult. Pretty much destroys your point.

Well Muslims don’t have to pay thousands or millions of dollars to be come more spiritually enlightened. And Imams don’t make their congregation videotape their darkest secrets to be used should the congregation turn against the faith.

You are so misguided about this issue and need to watch Going Clear and Scientology and the Aftermath and then get back to us.

Scientology is really not comparable to Islam, or any other established faith with centuries of history and millions upon millions of followers.

I like the hypothesis. Personally, I’ve been labelled a conspiracy nut before, but I take each one with the information and then analyze.

Unfortunately the label Conspiracy Theory is also sometimes used to instantly discredit legitimate criticism of society. As soon as something is labeled a Conspiracy Theory, most people shun the idea and intelligent discourse about it is prevented. There are many shades of gray between official accounts and batshit…

Because some believe the whole idea of buying stocks and making money based on speculation is a joke. Stock investing is a joke. Put out a news article. Stock goes up. Money gets made. But did anyone do any fucking work? Banks are a joke. I’m going to give you imaginary money then charge interest on that…

Or......... it may have the opposite effect. For people to find better investments than just throwing money into private companies whose under pressure to maximize profit every quarter... usually to the detriment of their employees as laying off employees is the easiest way to improve the bottom line.

Like air in a tire, gas will expand to fill the space that is given to it. Government, like that, expands to the limit that it’s checked. Left unchecked, government expands limitlessly,” said Ken Ivory, a state representative from Utah.

Why?... How about for the same reason artist paint (despite the odds of fame), singers sing (despite the odds of getting a recording contract), writers write (despite the odds of being published), sporty types play the sport they do (despite the odds of ever being on a pro team)... because we are driven to do certain…

Yeah, that one and the linked Slate one confirm what I feared about the right-leaning plans for basic income (at least the plans from the establishment). Their plans would make people jump through hoops to get the income and then use it in strictly prescribed ways. Of course this would mean that there would be…

You clearly fail at reading comprehension. Everyone is NOT paid the same. Everyone can get a basic living expense (universal basic income) whether you have a job or not, but if you get a job, you can be paid more (there would be no prohibition on people getting paid more).

The thing we need to understand about automation in the future is that at some point, there won’t BE any jobs to shift those people in to - there just won’t be enough need for a human and all its frailties in enough jobs to keep everyone fed, much less in a comfortable middle class lifestyle. The free market…

Right! And moreover, it sets a standard for a minimum wage to compete against. That’s why some conservatives actually favor it, since the need for an arbitrary government standard and allows you to reduce entitlements that would be made redundant by a guaranteed minimum income. Both Nixon and Paul Ryan, of all…

Wrong! There is a conservative argument for a guaranteed minimum income. It sets a standard against which a minimum wage competes rather than having it set arbitrarily by the government. Getting enough money to stay above the poverty line is not the life most people want. A GMI merely provides a safety net to keep…

There is no economic reason why you can’t have a compensation floor for people as well as an economic incentive to innovate and move up in society. Look at some of the Scandanavian countries. Their “social safety net” is much more like a floor than a net.

You have it backwards, Phil.