Another Dem. stunt or real threat?

[cupojoe]

.... and spend your great granchildren's income.

I hear you troutfan but like I tell my buds its all about the money. You gotta follow the trail. Who is getting rich off of the food stamp program? It sure aint the people using them. Where is the money going? When the government pulled back on the program who started complaining? Walmart investors did  because Walmart said their quarterly earnings were down because of the pull back in the program. The meat industry doesnt like the pull back either. Why has meat prices gone thru the roof? They say the herd is at a 61 yr low because of a "bad winter" and its all supply and demand. OK whatever. Somebody down the line is getting rich off government programs and they have alot of pull in Washington. We the people have the power in the vote but who the hell do you vote for anymore?

[flatlander]

I hear you troutfan but like I tell my buds its all about the money. You gotta follow the trail. Who is getting rich off of the food stamp program? It sure aint the people using them. Where is the money going? When the government pulled back on the program who started complaining? Walmart investors did  because Walmart said their quarterly earnings were down because of the pull back in the program. The meat industry doesnt like the pull back either. Why has meat prices gone thru the roof? They say the herd is at a 61 yr low because of a "bad winter" and its all supply and demand. OK whatever. Somebody down the line is getting rich off government programs and they have alot of pull in Washington. We the people have the power in the vote but who the hell do you vote for anymore?

Why does everything have to be a conspiracy?  Record drought in cattle country topped off by a severe winter.  Ranchers selling off herds because they can't feed or water.  Why is that such a stretch of the imagination?  Occam's razor and all that.

[Dougfish]

You're up to a six pack. Maybe more.  0:0

[cupojoe]

I hear you troutfan but like I tell my buds its all about the money. You gotta follow the trail. Who is getting rich off of the food stamp program? It sure aint the people using them. Where is the money going? When the government pulled back on the program who started complaining? Walmart investors did  because Walmart said their quarterly earnings were down because of the pull back in the program. The meat industry doesnt like the pull back either. Why has meat prices gone thru the roof? They say the herd is at a 61 yr low because of a "bad winter" and its all supply and demand. OK whatever. Somebody down the line is getting rich off government programs and they have alot of pull in Washington. We the people have the power in the vote but who the hell do you vote for anymore?

Why does everything have to be a conspiracy?  Record drought in cattle country topped off by a severe winter.  Ranchers selling off herds because they can't feed or water.  Why is that such a stretch of the imagination?  Occam's razor and all that.

I'm not saying its a conspiracy but why have beef prices continued to rise even as demand has dropped?  They gotta keep the $$ rolling in even though demand has dropped. And since the pull back in the food stamp program you had better believe the meat industry has their lobbyists in Washington pushing for it to go back to where it was. Lots of T-bones being purchased with SNAP cards. Not a conspiracy-just the way it is.

[Al]

One reason most meat products have increased is farmers are selling their corn to ethanol producers which use it in gasoline as mandaded by the EPA

Now if you want a conspiracy theory I think there is a conspiracy between the ethanol producers or maybe the EPA who mandate 10 % ethanol in gasoline and small engine manufacturer and maybe small engine repair shops.  Worse thing ever happened to small engines was ethanol.

I'm betting just about everyone on this board has had at least one of their outboards, lawnmowers, hedgers, or chainsaws in the shop or in the junk pile during the last couple years because the engine gummed up due to ethanol.

[flatlander]

I'm not saying its a conspiracy but why have beef prices continued to rise even as demand has dropped? 

I'm no futures trader, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest to you that the supply of cattle going to market has dropped more than demand for them has.

[Mudwall Gatewood 3.0]

I'm not saying its a conspiracy but why have beef prices continued to rise even as demand has dropped? 

I'm no futures trader, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest to you that the supply of cattle going to market has dropped more than demand for them has.

This is why some have stopped eating beef.  Smoking, chewing, and drinking will likely get me.  I ain't worried about tainted meat.  Bring on that bloody prime rib.

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/12/we-feed-cows-chicken-poop 

[flatlander]

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/collideascape/2014/03/21/judging-merits-media-hyped-collapse-study/#.UzHTktzEiMN

[Al]

Yep, we are all up in arms about "the voters are too stupid" to figure out how we hood winked them about health care and the up coming immigration executive action. We lose track of the fact that the world is still turning and Russia is one the march, ISIL is growing and Iran is getting closer to a nuclear threshold.

Dangerous times we are living in and the country is being run by a community organizer who does not have our best interest at heart.

[Big J]

I'm still not sure that a nuclear Iran would be a bad thing in the long term.  The pretty clear historical pattern is that atomic arms end up being a force for stability, and I see no particular reason why they wouldn't be in this case.

[Big J]

I'm sorry, but you are dealing with fairly sane countries that leaders do not really want to die.  Iran on the other hand could care less.  I do not understand how you can rationalize more nuclear weapons in countries like Iran make the world safer?  Countries like that do not play by the same rules that Russia, the US and Europe play by.  Your point is irrelevant. 

[Big J]

Fairly sane comment is referring to current countries who hold nuclear weapons.

Also you are falsely contributing lack of world wars to nuclear weapons. This is a new era that is a globalize market and is no longer a game of who owns more land for resources.

[benben reincarnated]

Who's Jake?

[Big J]

1) I understand there are some nice people in Iran.  But unfortunately Iran is not lead by a stable group and they have expressed their interest in wiping out certain countries off the map.  Why would you want to give nuclear weapons to a country that wants to destroy other countries?  World Peace?  Iran does not play by the same rules as the US, Russia, and etc.  They do not keep other countries in check by having nuclear weapons. 

2) You two are wrongly thinking about why there has been any major wars. While yes, nuclear weapons play a minute role in the situation, there is also several other more important factors that come into play.  This below is a good video explaining this.

Iran is not a country that cares about what the world thinks, Iran's leaders have extreme religious views, and they are not a stable country.  Troutfanatic talks about a possible change in power.  Why would you want nuclear weapons floating around in a country that is unstable and power could change?  You think the hardline radicals will not fight to keep power and something could happen to the nuclear weapon in the process?

3) What is one benefit that America has from Iran having nuclear weapons?

P.S. I do not even know why I'm addressing this with you two, but it's a slow morning.  You two are the only nut jobs that I've heard nuclear weapons in the hands of Iran will bring peace.

[Al]

As Big J pointed out, the religious leaders of Iran do not think in what the rest of the world would call "rational" terms.  They have said in private conversations that if they could come up with the means (think small bomb) capable of destroying Israeli they would do it even though they know it would invite massive retaliation. 

Their calculus is even if they themselves would be destroyed they would go down in Islamic history as the ones who wiped Israeli from the face of the earth.  If their action threw the rest of the world into a massive nuclear exchange so much the better. That's a big incentive if you buy into all the teachings of Islam.

Just found this which has me thinking it is not only the religious fanatics we have to be worried about. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/db21a852-6e4a-11e4-afe5-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3JQf9OGNk

One miscalculation and the world is going bye bye - I guess one consultation is most of us will go with it.  Living right outside of Ft Bragg I figure TF and I would be collateral damage when they take out 18th Abn Corps and Spec Ops.