Board 8 > Freedom, Liberty, Ron Paul - The Topic [Tom Woods] [Bob Murphy] [Adam Kokesh]

(+) Yeah! (+)

From: JDTAY | #100

I think IE's problem is that it's a victim of its own success. All the viruses and adware are made for IE because everyone uses it.

That applies to Windows, not IE. IE is just bad.

--
_foolmo_
'nice comma splice' - TomNook7

From: JDTAY | #100

I think IE's problem is that it's a victim of its own success. All the viruses and adware are made for IE because everyone uses it.

Of course, all websites are made to be compatible with IE as well. With IE, you essentially never have to worry about going to a website and some functionality not working properly.

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SmartMuffin - Because anything less would be uncivilized - http://img.imgcake.com/smartmuffin/barkleyjpgde.jpg
http://dudewheresmyfreedom.com/

On another note, I saw a Mitt Romney bumper sticker for the first time in my life today.

Can't wait till this guy gets destroyed and all the libertarians can laugh and say "we ****ing told you so" to the idiots who nominated him.

--
SmartMuffin - Because anything less would be uncivilized - http://img.imgcake.com/smartmuffin/barkleyjpgde.jpg
http://dudewheresmyfreedom.com/

"Mitt Romney 2012: I'm still like one iota better than the other guy!"

My bumper stickers will sell millions.

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PSN: JDTAY87

I hope everybody's done their part for Audit the Fed!

--
Genesis does what Nintendon't
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7nsBoqJ6s8

Audit the Fed? Who are we gonna get to do that? I really don't trust the IRS to be neutral there.

--
PSN: JDTAY87

From: JDTAY | #106

Audit the Fed? Who are we gonna get to do that? I really don't trust the IRS to be neutral there.

I'm sure the mises institute could round up a huge number of economists who would be willing to do it for free.

--
SmartMuffin - Because anything less would be uncivilized - http://img.imgcake.com/smartmuffin/barkleyjpgde.jpg
http://dudewheresmyfreedom.com/

seriously though, contact your people if you haven't already!

http://www.auditthefed.com/?mode=actionpage

Happy to see my Congressman cosponsored it.

--
Genesis does what Nintendon't
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7nsBoqJ6s8

Awww yeah all 3 of my congressmen have cosponsored it.

From: SmartMuffin | #102

Of course, all websites are made to be compatible with IE as well. With IE, you essentially never have to worry about going to a website and some functionality not working properly.

About half of modern websites have limited functionality in IE. Websites nowadays are designed for Firefox and Chrome.

The only websites I've seen that are IE-centric are government websites.

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foolmo
at work

Pretty sure that was sarcasm, but I never know with Smuffin

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oh yeah. i am a dog. i smoke cigarettes and vote democratic because i am classy - the dog
http://i.imgur.com/x4Tma.jpg

Well he would be right 5-10 years ago. Back when there were lots of different browsers and none of them were really standouts in the competition against IE, you had to develop for IE.

Nowadays it's less about compatibility with a browser and more about compatibility with certain add-ons that can break your site.q

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foolmo
at work

Wait, "in church the pastor showed us a video"... I didn't know you were religious, Smartmuffin.

I've always been atheist, and I used to be pretty militant about it, but I stopped being militant when I adopted Libertarianism. I realized freedom of religion is too important. And just about everybody I've converted to Libertarianism in real life has a different religion. I count two Christians, one Catholic, another atheist, and a Jew.

It kinda gets me excited that such a variety of people can work together for a greater good, rather than Republicans who are seemingly mostly religious and Democrats who are seemingly mostly non-religious.

Like Baghdad in AD 800-1100, which was the intellectual center of the world at the time, where everyone was welcome from Jews to Christians to "doubters", and they were all there exchanging ideas. And it was that period where we had all those advances in mathematics and biology and engineering and got stuff like... Arabic numerals.

And then all of a sudden their government forced them to stop being open to other beliefs and everything went downhill and they haven't recovered since.

That's why I'm afraid of people like Rick Santorum who are overbearing with their religions, or the city government of Phoenix, Arizona, who are demeaning to other peoples' religions.

I really don't wanna see our country become like modern day Baghdad, but sometimes it seems like it's inevitable.

--
Genesis does what Nintendon't
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7nsBoqJ6s8

From: DeepsPraw | #111

Pretty sure that was sarcasm, but I never know with Smuffin

Actually it was just plain ignorance. I just assumed, incorrectly, that IE was still dominant in that regard. I don't really keep up with these things.

I didn't know you were religious, Smartmuffin.

Trying it out. Seeing if it'll take. Some of our best libertarians are religious, including 2/3 in the topic title!

--
SmartMuffin - Because anything less would be uncivilized - http://img.imgcake.com/smartmuffin/barkleyjpgde.jpg
http://dudewheresmyfreedom.com/

From: TomNook7 | #113

It kinda gets me excited that such a variety of people can work together for a greater good, rather than Republicans who are seemingly mostly religious and Democrats who are seemingly mostly non-religious.

It's because the ideas highlight individual freedoms. You can unite in the fact that you are all completely different.

--
_foolmo_
'Illegal activities is a slight misnomer, most of it is not related to material that is actually illegal.' - nintendogrl1

--
SmartMuffin - Because anything less would be uncivilized - http://img.imgcake.com/smartmuffin/barkleyjpgde.jpg
http://dudewheresmyfreedom.com/

http://www.dailypaul.com/243921/rachel-maddow-massachusetts-delegate-scandal

I love how maddow is basically an RP supporter now, but she knows how to cater to her establishment media bosses by framing her stories as a typical anti-republican thing. Pretty good playing of the game.

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_foolmo_
'but that statement is something only an Aspergers patient would say' - UltimaterializerX

Don't be fooled. She's no RP fan, she's just trying to take shots at the Republicans.

Like how the MSM absolutely LOVED John McCain in 2008... right up until the second he had the nomination secured.

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SmartMuffin - Because anything less would be uncivilized - http://img.imgcake.com/smartmuffin/barkleyjpgde.jpg
http://dudewheresmyfreedom.com/

The MSM never loved or hated McCain. They were pretty consistent in holding Obama >>>> McCain >>>> rest of the GOP field.

--
Congratulations to SuperNiceDog, Guru Winner, who was smart enough to pick
your 7 time champion, Link.

They loved McCain during the republican primaries.

--
SmartMuffin - Because anything less would be uncivilized - http://img.imgcake.com/smartmuffin/barkleyjpgde.jpg
http://dudewheresmyfreedom.com/

No, they hated the rest of the Republican field. McCain was only better by comparison. It was obvious at that point that they favored Obama above all.

--
Congratulations to SuperNiceDog, Guru Winner, who was smart enough to pick
your 7 time champion, Link.

Yes, and Rachel Maddow only likes Ron Paul by comparison to Romney and is only paying attention to these stories in order to take shots at Romney in general and republicans in specific. She doesn't care about Ron Paul delegates being treated unfairly...

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SmartMuffin - Because anything less would be uncivilized - http://img.imgcake.com/smartmuffin/barkleyjpgde.jpg
http://dudewheresmyfreedom.com/

That's what I'm saying, though. She needs to keep up her anti-republican rhetoric because that is what they pay her for, but she is still putting out some great information to a large audience that never would have heard of this stuff before. Her stories have a positive effects on the RP campaign (and a negative on Romney's, of course, but there are many ways to do that without boosting RP), and I think she's smart enough to know what she is doing.

--
foolmo
at work

So I was talking to my friend, and he brought up the very simple question about why low interest rates are so bad, and what they do to businesses. I was able to offer a few answers but it made me realize I don't know exactly how interest rates affect a national economy, especially interest rates set by the Fed. Can anyone help me get a solid understanding of this?

My basic understanding of it is that it encourages malinvestment which leads to bubbles and the market cycle of booms and depressions.

Further, I think that the fed keeping interest rates low causes inflation and the devaluation of the currency because it's only possible to keep interest rates that low by printing more money, but I'm not sure about that one.

--
_foolmo_
'Illegal activities is a slight misnomer, most of it is not related to material that is actually illegal.' - nintendogrl1

Interest is the price of money. The more interest you have to pay to get money now, the more valuable the money is. So with low interest rates, money isn't very valuable because you don't have to give up very much to get it. So, you're more likely to borrow and then spend or invest it.

--
Congratulations to SuperNiceDog, Guru Winner, who was smart enough to pick
your 7 time champion, Link.

So on a macro economic scale, if the cost of borrowing money is low, artificially low as in the case of the Fed keeping interest at or near 0, this causes unnatural borrowing?

Where does all the money borrowed come from? It seems like a scarcity of borrowable money would result, especially considering how much money the government borrows.

Also, what does unnaturally low interest rates do to investors and big businesses?

So on a macro economic scale, if the cost of borrowing money is low, artificially low as in the case of the Fed keeping interest at or near 0, this causes unnatural borrowing?

Yes, but I dunno about the word unnatural. A low interest rate can't be any more unnatural than a high interest rate or any interest rate the Fed might set. You could say the fact that the Fed is setting an interest rate at all is unnatural, of course.

Where does all the money borrowed come from? It seems like a scarcity of borrowable money would result, especially considering how much money the government borrows.

Thin air. Or rather, money is debt. Money is someone else's promise to pay......in this case, in the future, with low interest. Practically, the Fed is doing all the lending these days.

It should be noted that the reason we have not experienced massive inflation yet, despite what the Fed has been doing, is that there has been a massive reduction in private sector lending, so that the total lending hasn't changed too much. A major reason the Fed has pursued its policy of expanding the money supply is to prevent the deflation that would occur with sudden, sharp, deleveraging in the private sector.

Also, what does unnaturally low interest rates do to investors and big businesses?

It makes them more willing to borrow money. Thus, they are more willing to invest it, creating jobs.

--
Congratulations to SuperNiceDog, Guru Winner, who was smart enough to pick
your 7 time champion, Link.

--
SmartMuffin - Because anything less would be uncivilized - http://img.imgcake.com/smartmuffin/barkleyjpgde.jpg
http://dudewheresmyfreedom.com/

Nothing today. Been busy!

--
SmartMuffin - Because anything less would be uncivilized - http://img.imgcake.com/smartmuffin/barkleyjpgde.jpg
http://dudewheresmyfreedom.com/

Seriously, if you're not a part of Audit the Fed yet, then wtf have you been doing with your life?

http://www.auditthefed.com/

Sign the petition, contact your Congressman and Senators, and freaking donate, even if it's only $5:

http://www.chooseliberty.org/audit_mb.aspx?pid=mbc42

--
Genesis does what Nintendon't
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7nsBoqJ6s8

Whoa. Somebody donated $2,200.



--
Genesis does what Nintendon't
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7nsBoqJ6s8

make me

--
foolmo
at work

foolm0ron posted...

make me

no i dont want to limit your personal choices

--
Genesis does what Nintendon't
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7nsBoqJ6s8

In June, we added $60 billion in debt. That's $200 for every man, woman, and child in the country. If you are in (or, realistically, if you expect to spend most of your life in) the 50% that pays taxes, that's $400 for you. If you're in the top 10% (which pays 70% of taxes), that's $1400 for you. If you're in the top 1% (33% of taxes), that's about $7000 for you.

--
Congratulations to SuperNiceDog, Guru Winner, who was smart enough to pick
your 7 time champion, Link.

So, I saw another Romney bumper sticker today. I was ready to get excited, then I realized it was the same car I saw before.

--
SmartMuffin - Because anything less would be uncivilized - http://img.imgcake.com/smartmuffin/barkleyjpgde.jpg
http://dudewheresmyfreedom.com/

SmartMuffin posted...

So, I saw another Romney bumper sticker today. I was ready to get excited, then I realized it was the same car I saw before.

XD

--
Genesis does what Nintendon't
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7nsBoqJ6s8

Parts of Oregon are that liberal, eh?

--
Congratulations to SuperNiceDog, Guru Winner, who was smart enough to pick
your 7 time champion, Link.

From: red sox 777 | #138

Parts of Oregon are that liberal, eh?

I see more Kerry/Edwards stickers on a regular basis than anything for Romney! Although Ron Paul has a pretty decent presence down here. It's like, the commie-brainwashing is effective enough that no disillusioned leftist would turn to being a REPUBLICAN (because they are just the devil and absolutely everyone knows that).

But you can call yourself a libertarian, keep your hipster cred around campus, and like Ron Paul ironically. That's perfectly OK.

--
SmartMuffin - Because anything less would be uncivilized - http://img.imgcake.com/smartmuffin/barkleyjpgde.jpg
http://dudewheresmyfreedom.com/

red sox 777 posted...

Parts of Oregon are that liberal, eh?

Portland is a strong contender for most liberal city in the nation.

--
From his looks Magus is Macho Man Randy Savage as an anime zombie. The black wind howls, and one of you will snap into a Slim Jim ooh yeeeah! -sonicblastpunch

Peter Schiff destroys some stupid ho:



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SmartMuffin - Because anything less would be uncivilized - http://img.imgcake.com/smartmuffin/barkleyjpgde.jpg
http://dudewheresmyfreedom.com/

In VA (northern and central) I have seen many Obama (more 08 than 12 though, strangely enough) stickers and many Romney (some McCain/Palin too) stickers, but when it comes to signs on lawns and on the side of the road and in medians, I've only seen RP.

--
_foolmo_
'Oh please, if foolmo made that analogy you'd think it was picture perfect' - Biolizard28

And if Romney loses, he needs to have this carved on his f***ing gravestone, "Literally failed to beat Obama."

--
From his looks Magus is Macho Man Randy Savage as an anime zombie. The black wind howls, and one of you will snap into a Slim Jim ooh yeeeah! -sonicblastpunch

There can't be a bailout/bubble in student loans because there are no buyers. Government originates, holds, and guarantees all the loans. To create a bubble, you need to find buyers to whom you can sell garbage. Perhaps there could be such a bubble in student loans in the future, but not now.

It might be more accurate to say that college tuition is a bubble.

--
Congratulations to SuperNiceDog, Guru Winner, who was smart enough to pick
your 7 time champion, Link.

Ultimately, the government is ending up with the garbage, even if they aren't officially "buying" it. But I'm sure there are plenty of banks serving as middlemen who will go down along the way. Remember, all the way down the sub-prime hole the big banks were insisting that THEY weren't buying any of the subprime crap, that they were just making the market and selling it to other people.

And yet somehow, when it all came down to it, they all faced billions of dollars of losses in subprime loans that they supposedly weren't even holding.

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SmartMuffin - Because anything less would be uncivilized - http://img.imgcake.com/smartmuffin/barkleyjpgde.jpg
http://dudewheresmyfreedom.com/

Not anymore, a couple years ago government took over the business of student loans entirely. If you want to borrow money for school now, in 90% of cases, you borrow directly from the government. No bank ever gets involved.

--
Congratulations to SuperNiceDog, Guru Winner, who was smart enough to pick
your 7 time champion, Link.

OK. So they are the sucker who is buying the garbage.

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SmartMuffin - Because anything less would be uncivilized - http://img.imgcake.com/smartmuffin/barkleyjpgde.jpg
http://dudewheresmyfreedom.com/

Yeah, but they're the originator. To activate the magic of bubbles, you have to resell the thing several times over. The magic of bubbles is based on buying an asset in the belief that you can sell it to someone else for more, even if you think the asset isn't worth very much. The person you sell it to need not believe the asset is worth anything either, as long as he also believes he can find another buyer for it.

Right now, the government is originating these loans, and there's no market for resale because people neither think the loans are worth a lot nor think they can find another buyer. The government may run a small loss- but there's no speculation, no leverage, here.

--
Congratulations to SuperNiceDog, Guru Winner, who was smart enough to pick
your 7 time champion, Link.

And the biggest telltale sign that this isn't a bubble is.......that people are talking about it! With real bubbles, you see people talking about how wonderful the asset is and how it will keep rising and rising. Not so here.

--
Congratulations to SuperNiceDog, Guru Winner, who was smart enough to pick
your 7 time champion, Link.

foolm0ron posted...

In VA (northern and central) I have seen many Obama (more 08 than 12 though, strangely enough) stickers and many Romney (some McCain/Palin too) stickers, but when it comes to signs on lawns and on the side of the road and in medians, I've only seen RP.

I'm in VA too, and this is all pretty much true, except for instead of Romney it's usually those "NObama" stickers or whatever. Haven't seen hardly any Romney stickers. But yeah, there's like three houses in my neighborhood now that have Ron Paul signs in their yards. I've visited all of them and thanked them for their help... they were all nice people.

I put a Libertarian sticker on my truck.

--
Genesis does what Nintendon't
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7nsBoqJ6s8