Knicks Morning News (2018.08.07)

  • [NYDN] Activists aligned with Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network plan sleepovers across the city to protest violence
    (Tuesday, August 07, 2018 4:00:00 AM)

    Activists aligned with the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network are staging a 10-night series of sleepover protests to raise awareness of violence on New York’s streets.

    “The community is not going to ignore the plight of violence that our young people are experiencing,” said activist Kirsten…

  • [NYDN] Beyonce’s complicated ancestry and the scars of our past
    (Tuesday, August 07, 2018 3:00:00 AM)

    The past traumas of Beyoncé’s ancestors have taken a major toll on her.

    The pop star told Vogue she had to come to grips after learning she’s the descendant of a slave owner who “fell in love with and married a slave,” and she says her family history is filled with abuses of power and “broken”…

  • [NYDN] Stop nickel-and-diming the poor
    (Tuesday, August 07, 2018 2:00:00 AM)

    Four years ago this week, police officer Darren Wilson killed an unarmed teenager in Ferguson, Mo., named Mike Brown — sparking rage and riots, and a national reckoning about America’s unfinished business when it comes to race, crime and justice.

    Among the most important and overlooked findings…

  • [NYDN] Why I gravitate toward Jordan Peterson: A college student explains his appeal
    (Tuesday, August 07, 2018 2:00:00 AM)

    Jordan Peterson was didactic, composed and self-confident. He met questions with eye contact and responses that were articulate, interdisciplinary, and sometimes hard to follow.

    Although he was addressing the guests at small dinner party at the Aspen Ideas Summit in Colorado in early July — an…

  • [NYDN] Turn on the lights: Getting out of the tunnel of dark money
    (Tuesday, August 07, 2018 1:10:00 AM)

    Without ever invoking the words “Trump” or “National Rifle Association” or “Mueller” or “Russia,” a federal judge just slammed the door on subterfuge that roiled the 2016 election and renders campaigns for Congress a morass of so-called dark money — heaps spent on political ads by anonymous donors.

  • [NYDN] Winging the test: De Blasio’s SHSAT reform ignored key evidence
    (Tuesday, August 07, 2018 1:05:00 AM)

    Even as Mayor de Blasio was pushing a bad plan to scrap the single admission test for New York’s selective high schools, his Department of Education was sitting on a study proving that the test is a strong predictor of academic performance.

    Kids: If you turned in an essay that ignored a key piece…

  • [NYDN] Thanks, enemies: Team Trump’s lies prove need for media and feds to keep digging for truth
    (Tuesday, August 07, 2018 1:00:00 AM)

    We all know the toxic Trump tropes by heart. Reporters who refuse to toe his line are the “enemy of the people.” Federal investigators who implicate him and his associates are “angry Democrats” on a “witch hunt.”

    In the real world, the enemies and the witch hunters have already done the American…

  • [NYDN] Readers sound off on Montefiore, pedestrian safety and the Jumble
    (Tuesday, August 07, 2018 12:00:00 AM)

    Bronx: The article “Montefiore’s nurses cry packed E.R. is ‘like war zone’ ” (Aug. 3) does a disservice to your readers and our patients. The mission of our health system is to provide one standard of excellent care to everyone. Despite New York’s leadership in improving access to comprehensive,…

  • [NYDN] Fight at Queens halfway house leads to arrest after 70-year-old man’s fatal fall down flight of stairs
    (Monday, August 06, 2018 11:05:00 PM)

    A Queens man faces criminally negligent homicide charges after his elderly neighbor took a fatal fall down a flight of stairs during a brawl at a halfway house, cops said Monday.

    Police arrested Michael Hamilton, 64, after he, 70-year-old Walter Podgurski and a third man came to blows in the home…

  • [NYDN] Pink hospitalized with stomach virus, cancels third Sydney show on world tour
    (Monday, August 06, 2018 10:50:00 PM)

    SYDNEY — Pop superstar Pink remained in a hospital on Tuesday with a stomach virus, forcing her to postpone a third Sydney show, her promoter said.

    The singer’s “Beautiful Trauma” world tour’s first concert in Sydney was scheduled for last Friday, but she canceled that show on doctor’s orders.

  • [NYDN] Rudy Giuliani blames Chicago mayor for weekend bloodshed that left 11 dead, nearly 70 wounded
    (Monday, August 06, 2018 10:10:00 PM)

    CHICAGO — At least 11 people were shot to death and about 70 wounded in a weekend burst of violence in Chicago that instantly became a political issue when President Donald Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, blamed the carnage on longtime Democratic rule in the city.

    Police on Monday attributed the…

  • [NYDN] Clint Frazier fires back at Michael Kay, says he’s doing everything he can to get back on the field
    (Monday, August 06, 2018 9:30:00 PM)

    Clint Frazier fired back at Michael Kay Monday night, calling out the broadcaster for making light of the injured Yankee’s concussion symptoms.

    Kay called into the YES Network Monday to weigh in on the Red Sox sweep of the Yankees, bemoaning the fact that role players like Shane Robinson and Luke…

  • [NYDN] New York man admits defrauding 3 victims of $870,000
    (Monday, August 06, 2018 9:15:00 PM)

    BUFFALO, N.Y. — A western New York man has admitted to cheating three would-be investors out of $870,000.

    The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Buffalo says 41-year-old Raymond Clark pleaded guilty Monday to wire fraud and money laundering.

    Investigators say he induced three victims to send money for supposed…

  • [NYDN] Daily Horoscope — August 7, 2018
    (Monday, August 06, 2018 9:00:00 PM)

    Via Tarot Astrologers

    General Horoscope for August 7, 2018

    The curious Gemini Moon prompts us to search for logical explanations, but rationality fails as impossible coincidences remind us that the cosmos is stranger than we think. The Sun’s supernatural alignments with shadowy Pluto and unpredictable…

  • [NYDN] Rosie O’Donnell, Broadway stars, protest outside White House
    (Monday, August 06, 2018 9:00:00 PM)

    WASHINGTON — Rosie O’Donnell and cast members from some of Broadway’s biggest musicals have led a sing-along protest against President Donald Trump outside the White House.

    O’Donnell spoke to protesters, some clutching signs with the word “Treason” spelled out, before the group broke into a rendition…

  • [NYDN] Lance Lynn allows just two hits in first start for Yankees, who bounce back from nightmare Boston series to beat lowly White Sox
    (Monday, August 06, 2018 8:55:00 PM)

    After a humiliating and season-altering four-game sweep at the hands of the Red Sox, the Yankees had to be at least a little relieved to be traveling to the Windy City to take on those other Sox, who have nearly as many losses (71) as Boston (79) has wins.

    In his first start as a Yankee, newcomer…

  • [NYDN] Rookie Jeff McNeil hits first Citi Field homer and Wilmer Flores has birthday blast with three hits as Mets beat Reds
    (Monday, August 06, 2018 8:25:00 PM)

    Led by three-hit outings from Wilmer Flores and rookie Jeff McNeil, the Mets posted enough runs early to outlast the NL Central-worst Cincinnati Reds and win 6-4 on Monday night. The Mets’ six-run outburst to back Noah Syndergaard marked the highest scoring game in their last ten, going 3-7 in…

  • [NYDN] ACS worker with homicide record accused of slamming 6-year-old boy’s head at Manhattan foster care center
    (Monday, August 06, 2018 7:55:00 PM)

    An ACS worker with a murder conviction on his record shoved a 6-year-old boy’s head into a file cabinet at a foster-care center in Manhattan, police said.

    Jacques Edwards, 55, who works at the city-run Nicholas Scoppetta Children’s Center on First Ave. near E. 29th St. in Kips Bay, attacked the…

  • [NYDN] Man charged in Colorado cop shooting was set for deportation
    (Monday, August 06, 2018 7:50:00 PM)

    DENVER — A refugee from Iraq charged with shooting a Colorado police officer last week was set for deportation before a federal appeals court ruled in 2016 that a portion of immigration law defining violent crime was too vague, according to a Department of Homeland Security official.

    The DHS official,…

  • [NYDN] Sen. Rand Paul invites Russian lawmakers to Washington
    (Monday, August 06, 2018 7:25:00 PM)

    MOSCOW — A United States senator who met with Russian lawmakers in Moscow said he invited them to visit Washington and they accepted Monday.

    Sen. Rand Paul said during a trip to Russia that American and Russian legislators need closer contact, noting that “our biggest problem right now is no dialogue.”

  • [NYDN] SEE IT: Tanker truck crash causes explosion in Bologna, Italy, killing at least two
    (Monday, August 06, 2018 6:35:00 PM)

    At least two people were killed and dozens were injured when a tanker truck carrying flammable material rear-ended a stopped truck in Italy Monday, causing a massive explosion.

    The tanker plowed into the truck on a busy highway in Bologna after failing to break, according to Italian news agency…

  • [NYDN] Bronx slay victim’s mom slams groups raising money from her son’s death
    (Monday, August 06, 2018 6:30:00 PM)

    The mother of a 15-year-old cops say was savagely killed by Bronx gang-bangers charged Monday that at least five sketchy groups seek to make money off her son’s death.

    Leandra Feliz said she has no interest in aligning herself with anyone claiming to collect cash on her family’s behalf in the wake…

  • [NYDN] Council to introduce bills to create help centers for struggling taxi drivers
    (Monday, August 06, 2018 6:05:00 PM)

    Responding to the suicides of six cabbies upset over plunging taxi medallion values, City Council members want to create “driver assistance centers” to provide them with financial counseling and mental health help.

    A bill to establish the centers is one of several to be introduced in the council…

  • [NYDN] Mets take steps to repair relationship with Ed Kranepool, who is still in need of a kidney donor
    (Monday, August 06, 2018 5:40:00 PM)

    The original Mr. Met is ready to put his past issues with the club and owner Jeff Wilpon behind him.

    On the same day that Matt Harvey — another former Met with a checkered relationship with the club — returned, the team invited Ed Kranepool back to Queens to throw out the first pitch before Monday’s…

  • [NYDN] ‘Mighty Ducks’ star Shaun Weiss arrested for public intoxication
    (Monday, August 06, 2018 5:15:00 PM)

    How the mighty have fallen.

    “Mighty Ducks” star Shaun Weiss was arrested just after midnight Saturday in Northern California for public intoxication, according to the Oroville Police Department.

    Weiss, 39, was picked up by officers loitering outside a closed business complex and was “under the…

  • [SNY Knicks] Why Vegas thinks the Knicks will win the same number of games as last year
    (Monday, August 06, 2018 4:45:06 PM)

    Why is it that Vegas believes they will virtually have the same season as last year?

  • [SNY Knicks] Former Knick Charlie Ward says Knox has ‘right mentality’ to be a star
    (Monday, August 06, 2018 2:30:02 PM)

    Former Knicks PG Charlie Ward is confident Knox’s personality and skill on the court can make him a superstar in NYC.

  • 119 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2018.08.07)”

    Not as funny as jowles giving money to the Koch brothers, but still a good laugh for a miserable morning in the city

    re @100
    Z-Man
    Kudos to you for going against the tsunami-like tide of segregation in the NYCDoE. The new chancellor is trying to take that on. Over the past 3 years, I have visited 15 of the top performing (based on impact/performance) elementary schools in the DoE and found another interesting element of segregation. Though my sample size is small and somewhat self-selective, there is an almost direct correlation between the percentile of children of color and teachers of color. I have often been the first white male teacher my students have ever had. (An apropos anecdote- When I went to the orientation at my new school in Harlem, along with my ICT co-teacher, who is also white, the parent coordinator mistook us for parents looking at the school and advised us, ” I don’t think you want your kids going here.”)

    @3 cut him some slack, it’s hard to type when your tin foil hat keeps falling over your eyes.

    When I went to the orientation at my new school in Harlem, along with my ICT co-teacher, who is also white, the parent coordinator

    There’s a major problem with the public schools right there. NYC spends, what, 20k per year per student? We always hear about how underfunded the public schools are, but like most government programs, there is too much bureaucratic waste. Instead of parent coordinators, diversity coordinators, crisis counselors, assistant teachers, teacher auditors, vice principals for every grade, and god knows what else, that money should be going towards the kids.
    When I was in school, there was a principal, one VP, maybe a dean, a nurse, teachers, and a few back-office staff. Now it’s just beyond ridiculous how many non-teachers are employed by public schools.

    @6
    +100
    I come from a private sector background and the waste, mismanagement, and corruption in the NYCDoE is beyond the pale. I am not anti-union, but you can throw the UFT into that mix as well. The charter school movement, which is also subject to the same negative traits, has gained traction because of this. Imo, fixing the DoE is impossible. The only way to do it would be to do what Louis Gerstner did @ IBM in the 1990’s , which is not possible.

    I’m a teacher at a public middle school in Miami that, to my knowledge, does not have a single student who would identify as white. The reality is schools in this country are effectively segregated again, but the political will to do something about it doesn’t exist because white parents who consider themselves nice liberals freak out about any and all efforts to diversify their kids’ schools, and conservatives obviously couldn’t give less of a shit.

    It’s such an enormous problem that ropes in so many other problems (e.g. housing segregation, mass incarceration, etc.) that it’s difficult to even know where to begin addressing it. Personally I’d start by re-instituting busing and by giving high-achieving schools diversity quotas, but even those things won’t come close to solving the problem if they’re not accompanied with drastic reforms in other areas.

    Stratomatic "Porzingis, Ntilikina, Knox & Robinson are going to lead us to the promised landsays:

    Legit question that I’m curious to get your opinion on. In the broadest sense, libertarians are supposed to be economically conservative and socially liberal. Yet almost every libertarian I’ve ever met is a Republican voter. They’re really social moderates (not social liberals) who want low taxes more than anything. Why is that? Shouldn’t libertarians side with Democrats as often as they side with Republicans?

    I’ll explain it to you from my perspective as a libertarian.

    Many libertarians are “personally” fiscally conservative and socially conservative, but they don’t want their own social conservatism imposed on other people via government. They separate what they believe in personally from what what they believe the role of the government should be.

    It’s a kind of balancing act where as long as the republicans don’t overshoot on the “imposition” part of the equation, they are comfortable being among social conservatives and way prefer being among pro business, small government types on fiscal matters.

    Stratomatic "Porzingis, Ntilikina, Knox & Robinson are going to lead us to the promised landsays:

    If you really think that means prejudice never informed their decisions, or that those people don’t harbor biases that negatively effect marginalized people they come into contact with, I simply don’t know what to tell you.

    I know exactly what it means and I stand my my comment.

    The hiring was always based on the merit of the applicant.

    All I know is that all inequality (it does exist) can only be minimized by the self-empowerment of the subjugated masses through education.

    At this point, there is no ‘solution’ to the social ills afflicting poor communities. Blacks, for example, need to understand that the way ‘out’ is education. Nothing else will do. Expecting some kind of ‘restitution’, ‘justice’ or ‘fairness’ is quite naive, because the people in charge of dispensing those things are the ones taking them away from the table.

    So, tighten your belts, keep the family together and work hard for a better future. It’s the only realistic possibility. The rest is just useless complaining that poisons the minds of millions of children in poor communities.

    That’s a good point that maybe needed to be made re: libertarians. We have our opinions; we just don’t want the State to impose them on others. You can be a libertarian who thinks drugs are bad, but still want the State out of the picture. You can be a libertarian who is against racism, homophobia, etc, but doesn’t think it should be illegal to be a racist, homophobe etc. You have a right to be an asshole, as long as you don’t act on your assholishness to infringe on someone’s rights – ie. initiate violence against someone, steal from someone, etc.

    At this point, there is no ‘solution’ to the social ills afflicting poor communities. Blacks, for example, need to understand that the way ‘out’ is education. Nothing else will do. Expecting some kind of ‘restitution’, ‘justice’ or ‘fairness’ is quite naive, because the people in charge of dispensing those things are the ones taking them away from the table.

    So, tighten your belts, keep the family together and work hard for a better future. It’s the only realistic possibility. The rest is just useless complaining that poisons the minds of millions of children in poor communities.

    “Thanks for building this country via uncompensated labor, now would you kindly fuck off?”

    “Thanks for building this country via uncompensated labor, now would you kindly fuck off?”

    Even if that were true, what do you realistically expect at this point? A check? An apology? A free hamburger? Land for ‘everyone’?

    Education in black communities is the only way out. Along with accepting some unpleasant truths, of course. Until then, it’s nothing but complaints that lead nowhere.

    In other words: racism is bad, but we have no obligation to actually do anything about it. It’s an easy position to have when you’re not personally affected and the issues are more theoretical/philosophical than real.

    @10 in public education circles, the word “merit” is incredibly loaded. For example, in my immediate school vicinity, there is a citywide “gifted and talented” K-8 school that accepts students based on a quasi-IQ test that they take when they are 4-5 years old. Lo and behold, the school serves nearly entirely upper middle-class and upper-class white and Asian children. Tell me, what did the children who are a year or two out of diapers accomplish to “merit” being segregated from their less-advantaged peers?

    One of the great things about this forum is that there is no “merit” requirement for engaging in dialogue about the Knicks or anything else. If there were, e.g. if you had to have certain test scores, or had to have attended certain schools, or had to have met a set of criteria that almost guarantees that the result would be a forum for the 1%, would the conversation be nearly as rich?

    @13 and 14 — there is merit to the points that both of you make, but the issue is far more complex/nuanced than either of you are acknowledging. Great book that both of you should read — The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace. It’s about a brilliant kid from Newark who got a scholarship to Yale. I won’t ruin the ending for you but the title kind of gives it away. The bottom line is that “get an education and you’ll be fine” is great in theory but much more difficult in real life.

    Legit question that I’m curious to get your opinion on. In the broadest sense, libertarians are supposed to be economically conservative and socially liberal. Yet almost every libertarian I’ve ever met is a Republican voter.

    This goes with what I said the other day about Libertarians really being Republicans who don’t want to be associated with the word “Republican.” The social liberal stuff is just window dressing for them, they don’t really vote based on those issues. They vote for the one thing they truly care about more than anything else: low taxes.

    I have a number of “Libertarian” friends and every single one of them votes straight ticket Republican in every single election. Well, some of them don’t vote, so there’s that.

    @18 if that school once had Lin Manuel Miranda as an instructor, I too live close by. My daughter took that “quasi-IQ” test” ( much like the ISEE given for private schools). Both tests create structural barriers to entry for the less privileged and are not valid metrics of academic or career promise ( kind of like Pointzzz). Moreover, the admissions process at these elite schools fails to measure grit, which is demonstrably as important as intelligence. Sixteen of my former students have earned scholarships to elite prep schools ( one jumped from my 5th-grade class directly to The Horace Mann school and is now going to Columbia 6 year undergrad / medical school). A pair of twins were recently accepted at Stuyvesant. These kids all share the same trait that many of the KBers, who posted about their backgrounds have- grit. Being academically successful while underprivileged is a greater predictor of future success. The anecdotes on the board evidence that.

    @19
    I read the book and it is indeed great. I agree that the issue is more complex and nuanced. While my sample size is small ( maybe 400 students), the home/family issues are as much a factor in outcomes, as any.

    Brian, what is up with some of my comments being up for moderation? Maybe it’s the use of words like shitty, black or gay?

    Legit question that I’m curious to get your opinion on. In the broadest sense, libertarians are supposed to be economically conservative and socially liberal. Yet almost every libertarian I’ve ever met is a Republican voter.

    Mainstream Libertarianism simultaneously takes a stand and punts on certain social issues, as their tacit support never has to be tested because of the extremeness of their solutions.

    Abortion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evictionism

    1) The woman has the right to “evict” a fetus–
    2) –wait, only if someone else can “homestead” it and bring it to term.

    So “we support abortion, but only if this currently-medically-impossible thing happens.” This may change as artificial wombs become present in the NICU, which is on the horizon.

    So abortion: we support it in principle, but not right now.

    Gay marriage: gay marriage shouldn’t be a political issue because marriage shouldn’t be regulated by the state.

    Again, there’s no chance of the government suddenly withdrawing their interests in regulating relationships, so this is merely a philosophical point with no practical implications.

    That said, I think even taking a glance at the “schools” section of the Wiki entry for libertarianism shows how varied the lines of thought can be. “Libertarian,” a liberal philosophy, has become as much a boogeyman as “liberal” has in common parlance. Liberalism is, for obvious reasons, one of the richest and broadest political philosophies because of its few unchanging axioms — so rich, that many “conservatives” don’t realize how stridently liberal they are on certain positions (the absolute right to gun ownership is a profoundly liberal idea).

    I am not defending the Libertarian Party here. Just noting that libertarianism has many forms, including those that promote a blend of social justice and individual rights.

    The moderation thing seems to happen randomly. Only once (when I compiled that long list of racist policies and events in the US) was I flagged for spam.

    Stratomatic "Porzingis, Ntilikina, Knox & Robinson are going to lead us to the promised landsays:

    @14

    That’s exactly why so many people on both sides misunderstand libertarians. Most people are in favor of the government using it’s power to move the country in whatever they perceive to be the positive direction. The libertarian will put the principles of private property and personal liberty ahead of what they believe is in the nest interests of individuals or the country because so many things are subjective and people have different priorities, values, etc…. Where it gets tricky is when the issue under discussion is so heinous most people are against it. There is no rule for when the libertarian will say “I am opposed to government getting involved in general, but this is so obviously wrong or immoral, we can make a law to make it illegal”.

    Should the standard be 99%, 95%, 90%, lower? Who knows. We just all agree it shouldn’t be 51% or 55% or 60% etc… That’s another reason why libertarians will differ on some issues. The standard they set may be different.

    There aren’t a lot of libertarians happy with Donald Trump and you will see a lot of them voting Democrat this cycle. Your average Economist reader is not cool with the attacks on free trade, immigration, facts, the climate, and the press (to name a few things) and likes the 2017 tax cut but thinks it was done at the worst possible time and likely to eventually lead to an economic disaster.

    Many libertarians are “personally” fiscally conservative and socially conservative, but they don’t want their own social conservatism imposed on other people via government. They separate what they believe in personally from what what they believe the role of the government should be.

    It’s a kind of balancing act where as long as the republicans don’t overshoot on the “imposition” part of the equation, they are comfortable being among social conservatives and way prefer being among pro business, small government types on fiscal matters.

    By aligning almost universally with Republicans, aren’t libertarians effectively abandoning any claims to laissez-faire social policy? The majority of traditional Republicans want to impose conservative social values on everyone. It seems like libertarians are saying: “I don’t think the government should be doing that, but I’m not willing to fight about it, so as long as Republicans demand low taxes I’m willing to consistently vote Republican.” In that case, the GOP has no incentive to moderate its social policy. Libertarians are effectively endorsing conservative social values, whether they hold them personally or not.

    There aren’t a lot of libertarians happy with Donald Trump and you will see a lot of them voting Democrat this cycle. Your average Economist reader is not cool with the attacks on free trade, immigration, facts, the climate, and the press (to name a few things) and likes the 2017 tax cut but thinks it was done at the worst possible time and likely to eventually lead to an economic disaster.

    This may be true, only because Trump is so far outside the mainstream when it comes to free trade, facts, divisiveness, shocking levels of narcissism, etc. But I think the tax cuts and the hollowing out of of federal agencies will carry a lot of weight with them. (If all the family values folks can justify voting for a man like Trump, then anybody can.)

    If a Bernie type were to get the Democratic nomination in 2020, I suspect a majority of libertarians would vote Trump.

    “and likes the 2017 tax cut but thinks it was done at the worst possible time and likely to eventually lead to an economic disaster.”

    This cracks me up, because the left is NEVER in favor of a tax cut, and predicts the end of the world every time there is one.

    The 2017 tax cuts are also an example of the lies told by the media and the Democratic party prior to it’s enactment. Without exception, everybody I talked to believed they were going to get a tax increase, while only the rich would get a tax cut, because they all watched CNN and listened to NPR and this is what they were told. To this day, I still can’t get a progressive to admit they got a tax cut.

    Regarding immigration and libertarians, Jowles’ favorite libertarian web site, Reason, despises Trump and runs several articles a week destroying Trump based on his immigration policies.

    The 2017 tax cuts are also an example of the lies told by the media and the Democratic party prior to it’s enactment. Without exception, everybody I talked to believed they were going to get a tax increase, while only the rich would get a tax cut, because they all watched CNN and listened to NPR and this is what they were told. To this day, I still can’t get a progressive to admit they got a tax cut.

    Dude, if your takeaway from the tax cuts is that the Democratic Party lied, you are fucking delusional.

    i once tried teaching…it was one of the biggest failures i’ve experienced in life…

    i was in a transitional stage of employment (i had quit a previous job due to a rough patch of health, which unfortunately went mis-diagnosed for almost a decade)…i had moved from california back to florida to stay with a good buddy of mine…i was still years away from finally being correctly diagnosed – which is to say, i wasn’t exactly at my best – but, i really don’t think it would have made a difference even if i was at my best…

    my buddy was a teacher at the time…although i’ve never had children – after being in the military for so many years i figured my background in training would help me be successful in that environment…

    i got certified, and, found a position at a middle school in a lower income section of orlando…

    i only lasted about a month…six classes a day with about 25 students per class…i just wasn’t emotionally equipped for it…i lost my cool more in a month than i did the entire time in the military…

    after pulling a child out of the classroom and “bracing” him (his back against the wall with myself leaning in trying “intimidate”) for eating chips in the class – i realized i was way over my head, and, not emotionally equipped for the job…

    i still remember the principal telling me that she knew she had made a mistake hiring me…i still remember some of the kids dejected faces when i told them i was leaving…

    those memories will never go away…

    i really appreciate all the stories and input those of you whom are (or have) worked so hard to try to do one of the most important jobs in the whole world…i have a great deal of respect for the work you do…

    “By aligning almost universally with Republicans, aren’t libertarians effectively abandoning any claims to laissez-faire social policy? The majority of traditional Republicans want to impose conservative social values on everyone. It seems like libertarians are saying: “I don’t think the government should be doing that, but I’m not willing to fight about it, so as long as Republicans demand low taxes I’m willing to consistently vote Republican.” In that case, the GOP has no incentive to moderate its social policy. Libertarians are effectively endorsing conservative social values, whether they hold them personally or not.”

    This is pretty spot on. In terms of people who feel they have to vote for one of the 2 major parties, libertarians will usually go with Republicans because there is at least some common ground (lower taxes, less regulation, pro 1st and 2nd Amendment, federal judicial nominations). There is zero common ground with today’s Democratic party, however.

    “Dude, if your takeaway from the tax cuts is that the Democratic Party lied, you are fucking delusional.”

    But they did lie. Shamelessly and constantly. Am I wrong? Should I link you to all of the lies Nancy Pelosi alone said?

    And my main takeaway is that I like tax cuts, so I liked the tax cut.

    And my main takeaway is that I like tax cuts, so I liked the tax cut.

    To quote everyone piling onto libertarians: “I got mine, now fuck off.”

    The deficit – the amount that Washington’s spending exceeds its revenues – will expand to $804 billion in fiscal 2018, which ends on Sept. 30, up from $665 billion in fiscal 2017, CBO said.

    The national debt is on track to approach 100 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2028, said the nonpartisan CBO, which analyzes legislation for Congress.

    “That amount is far greater than the debt in any year since just after World War II,” CBO said, adding that the debt is now about 77 percent of GDP, a measure of the size of the economy. The Republican tax legislation, passed by Congress without Democratic support, along with a recent bipartisan $1.3 trillion spending package, are expected to drive economic growth faster than initially expected, CBO said.

    Real GDP will grow by 3.3 percent in 2018; 2.4 percent in 2019; and 1.8 percent in 2020, it said.

    But those growth rates will not offset the deficits, which will “increase rapidly this year and over the next few years,” then stabilize, resulting in a projected cumulative deficit of $11.7 trillion for 2018-2027, CBO forecast.

    The analysis “confirms that major damage was done” by the new tax law and the spending bill, said Michael Peterson, head of the nonpartisan Peter G. Peterson Foundation.

    “This high and rising debt matters because it harms our economy,” said Peterson, whose group backs fiscal conservatism.

    “During a time of low unemployment and economic expansion, we should be taking reasonable steps to put our debt on a sustainable path – but instead we are piling up trillions of bills,” he said.

    “If a Bernie type were to get the Democratic nomination in 2020…”

    I think this is a lock. I think the party will go full socialist with either Kmele Haris or Liz Warren. Either that or go with a celebrity death match vs Trump – somebody like Oprah or Alec Baldwin, with maybe a 3rd party run by a zillionaire like Bloomberg or Mark Cuban.

    @32
    Geo, sorry that teaching did not work out for you. I go back in mid September until, probably, mid January to fill in for a friend going on maternity leave. I look forward to working with teenagers, working again near some good friends, and teaching literature.

    I do NOT look forward to paper grading (but I’ll have to) and the occasional helicopter/enabling parent, but mostly to the ridiculous test taking culture than has pretty much hijacked public education, at least here in Tennessee.

    @35

    1) paying taxes does not equal generosity. I don’t have much, and prefer to choose to spend what I do have in the ways I want. You seem to have the mindset that paying taxes is altruistic. If that’s the case, I’ll provide you with the address to the US Treasury and you can cut them a check as large as you can afford.

    2a. Your quote doesn’t dispute my true claim that the Dem party and the media lied their asses off about the tax cut
    2b. The deficit and the debt are spending problems, not tax revenue problems. The Fed took in about 3 TRILLION in revenue last year. How much freakin more do you want people to pay?

    The problem with our tax code is that it caps out at a certain income level and doesn’t keep going up. It used to do that but then Reagan changed all that.

    So if you make 50K a year and suddenly get a promotion or new job and jump up to 100K a year, your taxes go WAY up. But once you start getting into making millions a year, your tax rate isn’t much higher than someone making 200 or 300K a year. Someone brought up the comparison of Bezos to Lebron and how Bezos is worth 300 Lebrons yet they pay the same in taxes. Bezos might even pay less since he can hide his earnings in all sorts of stuff…charitable trusts, putting family members on his payroll, overseas accounts, etc.

    So its now very hard for a middle class person to become upper middle class or upper class but its super easy for an upper class rich person to become wealthier and wealthier.

    I don’t think a Doctor makes 200K a year but spent lots of money on medical school and provides a real benefit to society should pay the same tax rate as a millionaire athlete or a billionaire. I don’t want the “barely rich” to pay more. I want the megarich to pay more.

    focusing on discussion & feelings on what & how a group of people were put in a systemicslly difficult & disadvantaged situation is valuable, if the discussion ends on what do we do about it now?

    Just like Knicks, have to built systematically via draft to have a strong foundation & culture of excellence. Poor communities must be rebuilt the same way. Culture is key. It will eat any political strategy for breakfast.

    Look at Cubans & Haitians as Hispanic & Black communities as models of excellence. As a percentage of whole, Haitians attend Ivy League schools at higher percentage that whites; Indian as an ethnicity is the highest income group in America today. They even out earn the Jewish community now. Why? – family cultural environment conducive to excellence with foundation pillars of integrity, honor, pride, hard work & grit coupled by education & entrepreneurship. Or maybe it’s because they have good hair.

    Stratomatic "Porzingis, Ntilikina, Knox & Robinson are going to lead us to the promised landsays:

    By aligning almost universally with Republicans, aren’t libertarians effectively abandoning any claims to laissez-faire social policy? The majority of traditional Republicans want to impose conservative social values on everyone. ”

    I think it’s more like “I don’t think the republicans are actually going to impose anything beyond what I am totally comfortable with. The rest is mostly wishful thinking from the religious right and fear mongering by democrats about what the republicans are going to do’.

    For example, I’m on the fence about abortion. I’m constantly changing my mind about what I think the government’s role should theoretically be. The libertarian part of me thinks this is a no brainer. There is no strong consensus on this so therefore I am pro choice. However, in the deepest parts of my soul, I am very uncomfortable with people aborting babies because the pregnancy was unintended and is inconvenient (the later it occurs the worse I feel). What to do? I’m not smart enough for this one. I’m just NOT. However, I think the chances of the republicans actually rolling back Roe vs. Wade any time soon are close to 0%. What they might do is throw more power to the states to regulate it. As a libertarian I can live with that. When issues are still controversial, I’m fine with throwing it down to the states. When a broader consensus forms, then I’m OK with rules at the federal level overriding the rogues.

    Your quote doesn’t dispute my true claim that the Dem party and the media lied their asses off about the tax cut

    Too many lies to even name one, it sounds like?

    @17

    In other words: racism is bad, but we have no obligation to actually do anything about it. It’s an easy position to have when you’re not personally affected and the issues are more theoretical/philosophical than real.

    Ok. So, what do you say should be done about it? Do you expect financial compensation? Free college degree for victims? A simple “sorry!”? Jail time for millions of people with racist feelings?

    Once again, I hear blacks complain a lot. Their grievances are real. There *is* racism (not only toward them, though). There is a clear negative impact of slavery felt on black communities several generations after the fact. So, the question is a legitimate one:

    What do blacks expect?

    Monetary compensation? Apologies? Preferential treatment?

    I have yet to see a clear answer to the question. Because the answer is “tighten your belt, go out, get an education and earn your rightful place in society. It will be harder for you than it is for other people, but that’s the only way.”

    Black people’s real enemy is not the white man, but their own leadership that, to this day, refuses to address the very difficult topic of what role blacks want to play in their own destiny.

    @40

    focusing on discussion & feelings on what & how a group of people were put in a systemicslly difficult & disadvantaged situation is valuable, if the discussion ends on what do we do about it now?

    That’s the crux of this problem: what do the victims want *today*?

    However, I think the chances of the republicans actually rolling back Roe vs. Wade any time soon are close to 0%. What they might do is throw more power to the states to regulate it. As a libertarian I can live with that.

    What you don’t seem to understand is that for the privileged, this policy change means nothing, as they will always have the means to get a safe, legal abortion. It is the poor, disadvantaged person who will either have to go to back-alley providers or have to endure an unwanted pregnancy to bring an unwanted child into their life.

    Whatever the policy is, it should fall equally hard on the rich and the poor, the advantaged and disadvantaged. It should be equally unfair to everybody. And the only way to do that is to make abortion legal, safe and available. If you want to cut down on the number of abortions, figure out another way to accomplish that (education, advocacy, etc.)

    “Too many lies to even name one, it sounds like?”

    Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), Vice Chair Of The DCCC, Stated That The House GOP Bill Would Raise Taxes. “‘It’s incredible,’ said Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), a vice chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee who has helped the party recruit candidates in suburban west coast districts. ‘I don’t understand why they think raising taxes on the middle class to benefit the rich would be better for them electorally than doing nothing at all.'”

    Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) Called The GOP Tax Plan “A Devastating Tax Hike.” “Every Republican who votes to preserve the utter cruelty of this legislation will be forced to answer why they chose to inflict a devastating tax hike on their own constituents.”

    Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) Claimed The GOP Tax Bill Would “Raise Taxes.” “‘My Republican friends must know that ‘we needed to notch a political win’ isn’t a good enough excuse for a constituent who asks why you voted to raise their taxes but slash them for big corporations,’ Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Friday.”

    —————-
    I could literally do this all day.

    Ok, I’ll try it again because this conversation is taking a big turn to the worse.

    @47
    The last sentence you wrote basically explains every problem I have with your argument. You assume minorities are monolithic groups that are homogenous or all share the same experiences, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. There is no leadership because it’s a gigantic group of people, all with their own experiences and world views and traumas and there’s no possible way to unite those people no matter how much they suffer from the same systemic issues.

    There are transphobic people within the LGBT community, there’s racism, there’s fatphobia , ageism, self-hatred, hatred for femme performances, misogyny, classicism, well, everything you can possibly think of. Sharing similar experiences of homophobia leads to a recognition process that is faster and more effective, but in no means leads to a unity or possible leadership situation. There are specific leadership roles assumed by some people / organizations that are localized.

    So no, there’s no magical plan. We all fight for what we believe in, and I know a lot of my peers are against my way of fighting.

    On another note, Zhaire Smith has a Jones fracture. Knowing what we know now, how many folks here would trade Knox for Smith plus Miami’s unprotected #1 first? (I’m assuming that if we drafted Mikal, everyone here would have made that trade…)

    Two assets for one is hard to turn down, but Knox’s strong showing (potential-wise) in summer league and Smith’s bad foot have to narrow the gap a little bit at least, no?

    @37…awwwwww, good for you Clash…i have no doubt it’ll be challenging, but, that you’ll really enjoy yourself…

    these days i do logistics stuff for my company, part of my job is corresponding with folks to share information…one of the internal teams i support conduct software training around the country…

    the passion nearly all these instructors have for their job is amazing…i’m coming towards the end of my work life, maybe another 10 years or so…i’m looking forward to it…

    there’s no doubt in my mind – most of the instructors whom i correspond with would teach until they physically could no longer do the job…i’m not sure i’ve felt that way about any job i’ve ever had…

    keep doing right, and, helping others sir 🙂

    Asymmetry of bullshit is in full effect today.

    Jowles those are actual quotes. I didn’t make them up and I remember when all this was going on.
    So typical to attack the source.
    I was asked to provide quotes so I did.

    Come on man, can’t we even agree about the existence of quotes and those quotes were lies? If we can’t even do that then there’s no hope.
    Give me some libertarian politician quotes that are lies and I’ll be happy to agree they’re lies. Stop being such a partisan hack for a second.

    Stratomatic "Porzingis, Ntilikina, Knox & Robinson are going to lead us to the promised landsays:

    What you don’t seem to understand is that for the privileged, this policy change means nothing, as they will always have the means to get a safe, legal abortion. It is the poor, disadvantaged person who will either have to go to back-alley providers or have to endure an unwanted pregnancy to bring an unwanted child into their life.

    I understand it and I’d be very concerned about it.

    On the flip side, close to 50% of the people think abortion is murder.

    Within that, you have to find compromises. If some day that compromise is to allow states to find solutions to these problems that reflect the values of the people at the local level, it may not be my preferred solution, but I can live with that and hope the worst case scenario is very rare. To some, allowing these abortions at all is already their worst case scenario. That’s what makes this so tough.

    Whatever the policy is, it should fall equally hard on the rich and the poor, the advantaged and disadvantaged. It should be equally unfair to everybody. And the only way to do that is to make abortion legal, safe and available. If you want to cut down on the number of abortions, figure out another way to accomplish that (education, advocacy, etc.)

    I’m all for the second part.

    There are always winners and losers. That’s partly why I want government out of my business as much as possible. Smart people USE government and its institutions to advance their own self interest and agendas at the expense of others. It’s all dressed up as doing good all while the smartest dirt bags among us are raping and pillaging society. I’m way more in favor of what guys like Gates and Buffett are doing leaving their enormous wealth to society and using in efficient ways that reflect their values and the needs of society. Unfortunately, there’s just not enough wealth even at the top to address all we need. So we have to set priorities.

    On the flip side, close to 50% of the people think abortion is murder.

    This is simply not true, it’s rhetoric spread to add emotion to the argument.

    If a sane, rational person were to go into a maternity ward and willfully stab a newborn child to death, that person would have committed a capital crime and would be subject to the most harsh sentence the law has to offer; in many states, the death penalty. Suppose it was a doctor who did the stabbing because he was paid by the mother of the child. Then both would have been complicit in committing a first-degree murder. Nearly everyone would agree on that.

    If what you say is true, then not only would those 50% of people want to make abortion a capital crime, they would advocate rounding up everyone who has been complicit in performing an abortion and holding them accountable via the equivalent of a war crimes tribunal.

    My guess is that most people who are pro-life have friends and relatives who have either had an abortion or have been complicit in arranging or performing one. Do 50% of people believe that those people should be held accountable for murdering a child?

    To my knowledge, only a tiny radical fringe feels that way. And if that’s the case, then the rhetoric is false. More correctly, a large minority of people (but a minority just the same) believe that abortion is immoral or unethical, and even that opinion is nuanced (ok but shouldn’t be funded by taxpayer money, or not after 12 weeks, or not without a 3-day waiting period, or that businesses should not be forced to cover it, only in cases of rape or incest, etc.)

    “The 2017 tax cuts are also an example of the lies told by the media and the Democratic party prior to it’s enactment. Without exception, everybody I talked to believed they were going to get a tax increase, while only the rich would get a tax cut, because they all watched CNN and listened to NPR and this is what they were told. To this day, I still can’t get a progressive to admit they got a tax cut.”

    I am a CPA and we prepare over 400 personal tax returns per year so I know a little about how the tax cuts are shaking out. My software calculates a schedule comparing each tax return for 2018 under the new law assuming the same income and deductions as 2017. Almost every client is projected to get a reduction from 6 – 15%, more in some cases, on their overall tax based on this comparison. The Only clients I’ve seen an increase on are those making more than 1,000,000, principally because they lose so much in their state tax and property tax deductions (limited to a max of 10k in 2018) which far outweighs the incremental decrease in the top tax rate (37% down from 39.6%) .

    So it really amuses me when I hear that the tax cut is a “give away to the rich” and “only the rich are making out under the new law”- this is flat out incorrect and is spouted by news casters, friends, and associates who don’t really know what they are talking about.

    It is true that big corporations will see a huge benefit from the reduction in the max corporate rate from 34% down to 21%, and the majority owners of those corporations are likely to be very wealthy. However, the theory is that the reduced rate will encourage these corporations to repatriate their profits back to the US and pay tax that they weren’t paying before. The effect of this remains to be seen.

    The worst part by far though is the projected gigantic increase in the deficit. Again, we’ll have to see. The high probability is there will be a new tax law enacted based on future elections so this this law…

    There are always winners and losers. That’s partly why I want government out of my business as much as possible. Smart people USE government and its institutions to advance their own self interest and agendas at the expense of others. It’s all dressed up as doing good all while the smartest dirt bags among us are raping and pillaging society. I’m way more in favor of what guys like Gates and Buffett are doing leaving their enormous wealth to society and using in efficient ways that reflect their values and the needs of society. Unfortunately, there’s just not enough wealth even at the top to address all we need. So we have to set priorities.

    But so much of what protects us from the (often lethal) side effects of unmitigated corporate (and personal) greed is due to government regulation. From OSHA the Clean Water Act to Smoke-Free laws to Nuisance laws to Drug Safety laws, etc., the quality of life we enjoy is largely contingent on holding both corporations and private citizens accountable for actions that work to their benefit but harm others or the environment.

    Sure, things go overboard at times and the Republican vs. Democratic debate is often self-serving and shallow, but painting government and regulations with a broad brush, e.g. your use of the phrase “as much as possible” is woefully simplistic. Go back to the pre-The Jungle days, and tell me if you really want government out of the business of making your breakfast sausage (it’s certainly possible!) or to do away with the regulations that were put into place after the Triangle Shirtwaist fire (it’s certainly possible!)

    On another note, Zhaire Smith has a Jones fracture. Knowing what we know now, how many folks here would trade Knox for Smith plus Miami’s unprotected #1 first? (I’m assuming that if we drafted Mikal, everyone here would have made that trade…)

    Two assets for one is hard to turn down, but Knox’s strong showing (potential-wise) in summer league and Smith’s bad foot have to narrow the gap a little bit at least, no?

    This is a really good question.

    I’m bullish on Kevin Knox, while admitting that it may be irrational to be so. I think there was a dropoff in the draft after him, SGA, and the Bridges. I would take being able to select from a higher tier of players now over the payoff of an extra pick down the road.

    I think it’s more like “I don’t think the republicans are actually going to impose anything beyond what I am totally comfortable with. The rest is mostly wishful thinking from the religious right and fear mongering by democrats about what the republicans are going to do’.

    Just off the top of my head, the War on Drugs is a decades-long policy led by Republicans that should be anathema to libertarians. It’s cost taxpayers more than $1 trillion, put millions of people in jail for non-violent offenses, and resulted in the deaths of many people in gang fights over the now-lucrative drug trade. It’s the ultimate government boondoggle and an infringement on Americans’ right to control their own bodies.

    Democratic administrations have been complicit to some degree as well, but much less so. AG Holder asked law enforcement to de-prioritize drug enforcement, while AG Sessions want to lock up anyone caught with a pot brownie.

    @65
    I’ve said numerous times that I’m against the war on drugs.

    Both parties are equally complicit. Obama did nothing to stem the tide. In fact, police militarization increased under his watch. Additionally, as President, with his pen and his phone, he had the power to deschedule marijuana, to basically legalize it, and he didn’t.
    Here’s an article about what a scumbag everybody’s hero Obama was re: the Republican war on drugs, from the alt right, Nazi site, NPR:

    http://www.npr.org/2016/08/10/489509471/dea-rejects-attempt-to-loosen-federal-restrictions-on-marijuana

    So it really amuses me when I hear that the tax cut is a “give away to the rich” and “only the rich are making out under the new law”- this is flat out incorrect and is spouted by news casters, friends, and associates who don’t really know what they are talking about.

    https://www.cbo.gov/publication/53651

    K

    @66 you like? He can’t shoot now but I almost don’t care.

    Both parties are bought and paid for. No really one cares. No one.

    People who accept this reality, tend to be better at life because they focus on what they can achieve and things they control.

    @46
    Hi. African-American here.

    @47
    The last sentence you wrote basically explains every problem I have with your argument. You assume minorities are monolithic groups that are homogenous or all share the same experiences, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. There is no leadership because it’s a gigantic group of people, all with their own experiences and world views and traumas and there’s no possible way to unite those people no matter how much they suffer from the same systemic issues.

    Think about this: in the height of the civil rights movement for Africans Americans, we still had at least 2 different factions with different core beliefs on how Blacks can overcome the injustices of racism. You all should know who the two leaders were.

    So no, we are not a monolithic group, or as monolithic as in the civil rights’ years or Jim Crow years or during slavery (and even then, not all Blacks wanted to be free b/c you had those that were brainwashed by their masters).

    I could give you a one-word answer on what I want: equality. But we all know that’s extremely loaded. It’s a concept, an ideal, a goal. So just because I give you one word, doesn’t mean the answer is simple, ya feel me?

    Jowles why do you keep talking about the debt and deficit when the topic is lying about tax cuts. If you’re rightfully worried about the debt and deficit, then we need to cut spending. Which will never happen, so we’re all gomna be fucked eventually. No amount of tax increases will put a dent in the debt.
    Again, the Feds took in over 3 trillion dollars last year.

    two assets for one is hard to turn down, but Knox’s strong showing (potential-wise) in summer league and Smith’s bad foot have to narrow the gap a little bit at least, no?

    I still would have picked SGA. With Mikal a close second. But Knox did give reason to hope there is an upside in several years…

    This whole $20T debt conversation is just another misdirection play by both left and right, because they both have to keep their masters happy and they only care about spending when the other is in the white house because they are spending on things they don’t care for.

    Think of a family who has $269 is assets. Owes $20 on credit card. Earns $3.2 and year but spends a little over $3.8; not really broke when you can just sell one asset and you wipe out your $20 dollars worth of debt which has been accumulated over 200 years in 5 minutes.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_position_of_the_United_States

    owles why do you keep talking about the debt and deficit when the topic is lying about tax cuts.

    And this is where I end my “argument” with the brilliant minds in this thread.

    Because — I know this may come as a shock to you — but the deficit has to do with revenue vs. expenditure. The GOP slashed revenue so expenditure cuts would appear “responsible.” Do you not get that? Or do you think that the moral imperative to cut spending is so strong that we’ll just ignore the fact that corporations saw their tax rate decrease by mother fucking THIRTY THREE percent?

    Was reading Bol Bol’s profile. 7 ft 3. 9 ft 8 standing reach. Shot 40% from 3 and 80% FTs. Sounds like an alien. His write up is very KP like, warts and all, but with better rebounding.
    Cam Reddish and Nazir Little look outstanding. In addition to Zion and RJ being there, we have to get a top 5 pick please.

    Yeah if the tax cut ultimately “forces” Republicans (and democrats) to cut benefits to social security, medicaid, etc…then the little bump we’re getting on our paychecks now won’t matter much in a few decades when people are retiring and getting a fraction back in SS than what they paid in for.

    Also, those middle class tax cuts are set to expire after a few years. The corporate tax cuts do not expire.

    @76 again, my point re: this topic is that there aren’t enough potential taxes available to have a real effect unless spending is cut. You can take everything all of “the rich” have, apply it to the debt, and we’d still be fucked unless you do something about entitlements, which no one will touch. The chickens are coming home to roost due to the short sightedness of decades of kicking the can down the road (more and more $ going out, less and less coming in, due to an aging population and declining birthrates – this is why Germany has opened its borders, to pay for its aging welfare state)

    @79 You mean Republicans lie too??
    Finally something we can agree on. Why are you twisting yourself into a pretzel denying Democrat lies?

    I am a CPA and we prepare over 400 personal tax returns per year so I know a little about how the tax cuts are shaking out. My software calculates a schedule comparing each tax return for 2018 under the new law assuming the same income and deductions as 2017. Almost every client is projected to get a reduction from 6 – 15%, more in some cases, on their overall tax based on this comparison. The Only clients I’ve seen an increase on are those making more than 1,000,000, principally because they lose so much in their state tax and property tax deductions (limited to a max of 10k in 2018) which far outweighs the incremental decrease in the top tax rate (37% down from 39.6%) .

    JB,

    Could you read this and see if it jibes with your “eye test” experience…. I read it from a fairly impartial (they try to present both sides) news aggregator Real Clear Politics:

    https://www.heritage.org/taxes/report/tax-cuts-every-congressional-district-every-state

    Why are you twisting yourself into a pretzel denying Democrat lies?

    Because the tax bill is law, serves the interest of corporations above all others, and the Democrats had nothing to do with its failures, because they weren’t even allowed to read it until, what, the day of the vote?

    This “both sides bad” shit is like saying “the flu and lung cancer are both bad, okay?”

    Speaking as someone who is not libertarian, I can see why Libertarians typically vote Republican. The overall image of Democrats is basically as anti-libertarian as it could be, which leaves little choice. Personally, I am in favor of smart government instead of as little government or as much government as possible, but neither of the major parties cares about that. I’m so disgusted with both parties, that I actually looked for other ones. Out of all the many really minor parties in the US, only the Whigs seemed sort of reasonable, but then they changed their platform to avoid any mentions of principle or vision, and just talk about obviously nice to haves. So I am stumped.

    @GianaDani

    I’m going to push back on your argument that cultural values are the most important difference between the different outcomes between African American kids and the children of immigrant diaspora communities.

    I’m a second generation Chinese-American. My parents are from Taiwan. They met in grad school in Cleveland.

    The most important factor in their flourishing, and my materially comfortable existence that followed, is that they were not brought to this country in chains. They were not sold like chattel. They had scholarships. They chose to come here.

    Through no merit of my own, I was born into a family with at least three generations of university education going back on each side. My parents came to this country with a clear path to success ahead of them.

    If I’d been born after three generations of slavery, lynching, and Jim Crow, all the traditional Chinese emphasis on education would not have made any meaningful difference.

    And speaking of smart government, it is perfectly possible for any type of party with any type of philosophy to have either smart or stupid government. Consider China, where I live at this time. On the business and trade side, they have smart government. On the regulatory side, they have lots of regulations, but regularly have scandals of the sort the regulations are supposed to prevent. For example, just recently it was found that major producers of children’s vaccines had been producing and selling completely ineffective vaccines that were used for many children. Now Chinese parents are trying to get imported vaccines for their children, just like many of them already want imported baby formula.

    @83 I am literally lol that you, who thinks you’re the smartest, most woke person in the room, is so blindly beholden to the Democratic party. You’re a hack who hasn’t had an original thought since I’ve been on here.

    @92

    That’s a very good point.

    Maybe it affects more a country outside the center like Brazil, but we had the same thing for 14 years here with PT and Lula / Dilma. Fantastic social ideas, fantastic execution of them, pretty good on the economics side, but they failed to recognize the changes needed to keep the improvements they made permanent and everything is quickly being torn apart to go back to the same old 90s philosophy.

    It is really mindblowing to me how much the parties polarize debate in the US since parties have little to no role in terms of executive power around here. I generally just stick with the idea that I gravitate towards the least fascist side, which I guess would make me a Democrat in the end of the day.

    There is nothing impartial about a Heritage Foundation analysis, no matter which aggregator you found it on. They’re a trickle-down, supply-side think tank that will sing the praises of cutting corporate tax.

    I asked a tax professional for his opinion, not the musings of an etatist. But this is what passes a erudition today….if I wanted the opinion of the Greek Chorus I know many places to waste my time.

    @94

    There’s definitely correlation but I would say no causation, primarily because we can’t forget geography is a political matter.

    Quick example from my reality: Brasil is about the same, you’re inherently behind if you’re born in the northeast or north of the country. However, ever since the country got invaded by the Portuguese, since the north part is the richest in the primitive resources they were looking after (and just hot as hell itself must feel), the region was colonized for the purposes of raw materials like wood and sugar, where the southern part, closest to Portugal climate, was colonized with the idea of creating the “center” of the country with the most developed cities, much less slaves (as they were mostly assigned to the plantations in the northeast) and a much more diverse range of economic activities.

    So while the statement that geography matters is certainly true, the why it matters is a historical and political reason. I won’t say I understand the intricacies of spatial development in the US but I’m pretty sure the same applies.

    Over the past 3 days I’ve agreed with Jowles AND I’ve agreed with 2for18. I’ve been moved by Bruno’s story AND can feel where strat is coming from. There’s a spot somewhere where the philosophies of all rational thinking, decent human beings converge and I’m pretty sure you won’t find it in any party’s platform

    If you have 2 pairs of shoes and somebody else has no pairs of shoes, you should give him a friggin’ pair of your shoes. You should do it no matter how hard you worked to buy that 2nd pair of shoes and regardless of whether or not you think he deserves a pair of your shoes. Most of us would agree with that but few of us live that way. Most of us only make token attempts to live up our “philosophies”

    If a well dressed white kid comes to my door for some kind of fundraiser, I usually give him 10 bucks. If a black kid comes trying to raise money to go on a camping trip with his church, I give him him $20. Not a big deal, but it makes me feel good when I do it
    I hate paying taxes as much as any libertarian but, I’d be happy to do it if I could, at least, feel good about where the money’s going. If government agencies operated with the same fiscal responsibility and efficiency as your local supermarket, there’d be plenty of money for the rich to stay rich while we address some of the issues discussed here for the past 3 days!

    @85,

    Someone has to be the first one to build the foundation; it was your grandpa; your parents built the first floor and you’re now working towards penthouse…

    No one is saying that you started at the same place that an inner city black American kid. I reject the narrative of equality, with respect to equal starting point. Bet your Dad and grandparents lived the right way; no children out of wedlock; multiple marriages; no prisons; no gambling; no drugs; etc…mom cooked at home; was financially responsible if not thrift; definitively lived below their means so that you and your siblings have every advantage and minimized the risk of you being a failure. Their success and happiness was tied to your success and happiness. You should be PROUD of that and try to do the same for your kids; you should love your parents and grandparents for it; they have foregone luxurious consumption derived from their own hard labor to pass it down to you; this is why you should never feel guilty that other parents CHOSE not to do that for their kids;

    While you should never feel bad about your success because it was paid with generational hard work and good decisions, you should have empathy and try to teach others about how it’s done. There are no shortcuts; someone has to be the first one to dig deep and built a foundation for their kids. Every first generation immigrant did this so that 2nd generation lives better.

    Giving a poor person $5M without changing their culture and teaching them how to make better decisions, only ensures that they will be broke again in just a few years.

    @66 you like? He can’t shoot now but I almost don’t care.

    His athleticism at that size is mind-boggling. But yeah, if he can’t shoot, that’s problematic. This draft might be deeper than people think. I like Reddish a lot. Not a fan of Bol Bol.

    This year is the test case for Williamson. Last year’s highlights show that he is a total bully against everyone he played. He had a .780 TS% without a jumper!

    If he can put up .600+ TS% on decent usage during ACC play, he’s a future star. In terms of raw athleticism, I don’t think there’s been a better prospect since AD. And you know how I feel about “raw athleticism.”

    @82 Yes what I’ve seen so far is consistent with that analysis. Almost every return shows a decrease in tax under the new law. Admittedly my sample size is much smaller and mostly in California but the results are very similar.

    I’m a bit on the fence with Williamson since what he does best is what shows up in highlights a lot, but he undeniably looks amazing.

    I always find it hard to evaluate prospects on major programs like Duke and Kentucky and this year will be extra hard with Duke having Reddish, Williamson and Barrett. They’re gonna be super entertaining to watch at the very least.

    “Enjoy your crumbs, peons! Us rich fucks got most of that tax cut money.”

    -Rich Fucks

    @68 If you bothered to read to the end of my post I said that the worst part of new bill was the forecast of gigantic deficits. That is a different point than the fact that everyone’s taxes are reduced not just the wealthy as the talking heads seem to repeat over and over. The link you posted discusses the deficit increase under the new law which I already agreed with.

    But as usual you have to cherry pick some piece and argue just to argue as has been suggested previously by other posters.

    K

    @94: See, this is why many raised an eyebrow when Denzel Washington said “it starts at home”. Not because it’s wrong at face value, but because that answer ignores a lot of socio-economic and historical context, context that includes evidence of the disenfranchisement of many African-American families. It’s harder to have a clean line of sight to success and wealth (as Doug Chew spoke of) when you’re part of an ethnic group that has been historically targeted.

    That said, my family is kind of a tale of two different arching dynamics. My father’s side has had a decent deal of economic foundation, while my mom’s family had little.

    If I were Williamson getting ready for today’s NBA, I’d model my game after Draymond Green. He seems like he has the quickness to defend smaller guys on switches, and the strength and athleticism to bully big guys out of their spots. Looks more like an NFL DE or TE!

    @71

    Hi. African-American here.[…]
    I could give you a one-word answer on what I want: equality. But we all know that’s extremely loaded. It’s a concept, an ideal, a goal. So just because I give you one word, doesn’t mean the answer is simple, ya feel me?

    Unfortunately, generic concepts like ‘I want equality’, do not clarify what it is blacks want today. Do blacks really think they will get ‘equality’ without an effort on their part? Do black people really think the people they denounce every day are going to hand them their ‘equality’?

    Hoe does an incarcerated black young man get his ‘equality’?

    To me, it seems like all the cries of ‘injustice’, ‘inequality’, etc., are just excuses to postpone the inevitable: only hard work coupled with education will empower blacks. The common cycle of ignorance -> poverty -> crime -> drugs -> incarceration -> broken families -> ignorance….will not have an end for those who take a passive role in their own destiny.

    Education, not public demonstrations, is the answer.

    The funny thing about Barrett, Reddish, and Williamson is that they’re all best suited as wings at the NBA level. Williamson plays a game like Miles Bridges except he’s an elite athlete with a great handle for the position and Bridges is a great athlete with average handle for the position. If Bridges had Williamson’s first step, agility, and handle nobody would have pegged him as a small ball power forward and he would have been a Sacramento King. It’s going to be very hard for teams to look past Williamson’s 285 pounds, but he’s skilled enough to play and defend 2-4. Cam Reddish is a Paul George type but doesn’t bring the same level of intensity on defense. RJ Barrett is a two way stud wing player with a reliable if not good 3 point jumper. If Reddish has PG13 potential, RJ Barrett’s best case scenario is Kawhi Leonard.

    Of all three players, I’d probably want RJ Barrett, Zion Williamson, and Cam Reddish on the Knicks in that order. If the Knicks draft Zion Williamson and sign Kyrie Irving we would lead the NBA in nationally televised games.

    @101

    See, this is why many raised an eyebrow when Denzel Washington said “it starts at home”. Not because it’s wrong at face value, but because that answer ignores a lot of socio-economic and historical context, context that includes evidence of the disenfranchisement of many African-American families. It’s harder to have a clean line of sight to success and wealth (as Doug Chew spoke of) when you’re part of an ethnic group that has been historically targeted.

    So, once again, can you offer a concrete solution to this problem? Don’t you think that Denzel Washington himself is a good model to follow?

    I’m pretty sure the ‘raised eyebrows’ were all black. It does begin at home. Where else?

    @101

    It’s harder to have a clean line of sight to success and wealth when you’re part of an ethnic group that has been historically targeted.

    It think that’s the truth many in the black community do not want to face: it is harder for blacks, immigrants and all other disadvantaged groups. So, tighten your belt, go out and get yourself some power (and money!) through education.

    There is no other way.

    If I were a black leader, my motto would be ‘Education leads to lives that matter’, instead of the utterly pointless and passive ‘Black Lives Matter”.

    It begins at home for everybody, sure. But marginalized and minority communities don’t have higher rates of drug use or the various bugaboos like divorce so called values voters claim they do. Even educated black people (and other minorities and marginalized groups) have lower rates of social mobility than white people do. And the cherry on top is that social mobility is dropping for everyone in the US. Unregulated markets concentrate wealth in small groups of people based more on structural factors than on merit, and we’re seeing that happen right now in real time. Throwing your hands up and saying “welp, nothing we can do about. Just have to bootstrap ourselves better” works less and less well. Maybe it was fine for white boomers, who could assume a starting salary out of college that’d let them pay off their student debt in a few years, but now it’s closer to twenty years. It’s becoming harder and harder to succeed in the US. There are solutions to this that are fair for everyone (and that don’t involve a command economy). But it’s not easy to get there, because there’s a whole lot of money and power who want to see the bad old days of the gilded age come back.

    All of these systems are artificial. They’re all created by people. We can change them to work better for everyone.

    ProjectKnicks, I will try to say this as respectfully as I possibly can:

    Please fuck off trying to speak for what blacks or any other minority wants or should want. Blacks, LGBTQ people, women, whatever group you’re talking about is not a homogenous mass. As many blacks agreed with Denzel, I can assure you many others have completely different perspectives. Every minority movement is filled with subgroups, historical struggles and discussions and they are all trying to figure out ways to make stuff better.

    If you want to know what can be pragmatically done? Let those people speak, and actually make an effort to listen to them. Stop laying down every part of the onus and of the blame on them to solve everything in this world. If this matters in anyway to you, listen to what is being said with open ears and for once put yourself in a position of listening instead of speaking. I’m sure from every bit of my extensive personal experience with these groups that you will hear very, very interesting ideas.

    i’m not quite sure exactly what the fixation is with black folks here…there just people 🙂

    as far as poverty statistics – hispanics are right up there…

    demographics are definitely more interesting than sports stats…

    @99 Did you ever consider that the “rich fucks” would get a bigger amount of that tax cut money because they pay most of the fucking taxes?

    Conversely when the taxes go up the rich fucks pay a lot more while the “peons” increase is only crumbs.

    Not saying it’s right or wrong but that is the simple math of the equation.

    Yeah I’m sorry, ProjectKnicks, but Bruno’s right. Your posts today have been tough to read.

    Thank you, Bruno.
    ProjectKnicks, your comments highlight a lot of why those who “claim to not be racist but…” don’t get it. Believe you me, many of us have been raised to believe that we must be 2x, 3x, 4x better than our white counterparts just to obtain same success they enjoy. Telling many of us to “work harder” is an insult. Telling us “well that’s the way it is” is an insult. So never strive for change or improvement??? Forget Rosa, forget Martin, forget Malcolm, forget Jackie, et al. I might as well go back to being three-fifths a citizen then. Damn.

    ProjectKnicks is probably a graduate of Trump University. Bruno, Hubert, The Infamous Cdiggy I admire your restraint in dealing with his posts today. I really do.

    Haha this discussion went from kumbaya to off the rails pretty quickly.

    2for18, you are so willfully naive about the deficit that I won’t try and change your mind, but it is primarily from 1. Bush tax cuts. Then 2. “entitlements” as you call them aka Medicare/Medicaid, particularly for the aging Boomer generation. Both parties added to that, but are you actually against basic healtcare for the very poor and aged??? 3. Obama’s 2008 economic bailout plan that kept Great Depression 2 at bay. Was it the greatest plan ever? Who freaking knows but it stopped the bleeding.

    2 and 3 are generally considered worthwhile spending while 1 is the rich taking for themselves and now it’s happening again. And yes, tax cuts are for everyone but give me a fucking break. A $1000 tax cut rebate is not the same as a tax cut you can go and drop on actual fucking real estate (not to mention the tax loopholes that have been added for the wealthy and their corporations.)

    I’m sorry, but Jowles said it best. The flu and lung cancer are not the same thing,

    We’re playing against Phily on Christmas

    As with other points you made on this thread, this is not accurate. We play the Bucks.

    @116 I was talking about lies told about tax cuts and jowles changed the argument to the deficit and debt. I know perfectly well that we are fucked and wouldn’t mind talking about my ideas about the deficit or debt.
    You called me naive, yet your whole childish post boils down to its the republicans fault and rich people suck. You dont want to discuss solutions; you want signal to the crowd that you’re a Democrat in good standing.

    it’s the republicans fault and rich people suck

    That does seem the essence of the democratic party’s platform. Of course,

    It’s the democrats fault and rich people are all that matter

    Seems the essence of the republican party’s platform.

    This is why I don’t like either party.

    But I do think that both partys are right in a sense. Talking about rich people gets them elected. Tslking about good government wouldn’t do them any good in an election.

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