the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

You're changing domains mid-argument. The waiter cannot afford the ambiance, and that is the service that they are providing, not the food. The facilitate for other people the experience of being catered to, of privilege, or whatever it is that fancy restaurants are selling, and they themselves cannot afford that. The specific example notwithstanding, your original implication that poverty and privilege are the result of socialism falls completely flat as soon as you recognize that those things exist under all governments and all economic models.

Bhassler wrote:You're changing domains mid-argument. The waiter cannot afford the ambiance, and that is the service that they are providing, not the food. The facilitate for other people the experience of being catered to, of privilege, or whatever it is that fancy restaurants are selling, and they themselves cannot afford that. The specific example notwithstanding, your original implication that poverty and privilege are the result of socialism falls completely flat as soon as you recognize that those things exist under all governments and all economic models.

All I really said is Cubans can't afford Cuban cigars. Cuba, wind blessed and beautiful, has thugs in charge. Never mind cigars, the people are short sometimes on beans, rice and rum, things anyone would agree are essential.

Funny, everywhere I went in Cuba people were trying to sell me cigars...if they have them on hand, why can't they afford to smoke them?

Apologies for not being random enough for this thread.

Chips and salsa. Mmmmmm.....

David Boxen wrote:Funny, everywhere I went in Cuba people were trying to sell me cigars...if they have them on hand, why can't they afford to smoke them?

Apologies for not being random enough for this thread.

The article I cited explains: http://bit.ly/JHy7oF And, yeah, let's now return to our regularly scheduled randomness.

Formation, movement, continual seemingly-random transformation, and eventual dissipation of a cloud in the sky resembles human life a lot -- I mean, in just about EVERY respect, from metabolic cycles to personal relationships, from division of cells after conception to aging of body and mind to decomposition, from...

When an adequate solution is achieved, there is no need for one that is 'more adequate.' The context of this realization was that I was trying to explain to someone why I still like revolvers.
The principle, though, is a general one. Replicas of the Piper Cub are popular light sport airplanes, 1930's technology, and still being built today. The Cub's reputation is that it will get you there every time, but you'd better not be in a hurry.


In martial arts terms, the same principle can be applied to deciding what you need to practice harder and what you can forget about, based on whether you are adequately armed, so to speak, with a set of skills you can apply reliably. If you have that you don't need twenty more kinds of skill and seeking all of them assures you will achieve none of them. Don't give up the near to seek the far, in other words.

klonk wrote:All I really said is Cubans can't afford Cuban cigars. Cuba, wind blessed and beautiful, has thugs in charge. Never mind cigars, the people are short sometimes on beans, rice and rum, things anyone would agree are essential.

No, what you said was:

klonk wrote:Cubans can't afford Cuban cigars. http://bit.ly/JHy7oF There is a lesson in that about the nature and consequences of socialism.

Thugs being in charge in Cuba has very little to do with Socialism as a political and economic model. I don't advocate socialism, nor do I particularly care about other people's politics, but I do like accuracy.

You guys are gonna kill this thread...

I sometimes dream that I still smoke cigars even though I haven't since 1973....

Bhassler wrote:

klonk wrote:All I really said is Cubans can't afford Cuban cigars. Cuba, wind blessed and beautiful, has thugs in charge. Never mind cigars, the people are short sometimes on beans, rice and rum, things anyone would agree are essential.

No, what you said was:

klonk wrote:Cubans can't afford Cuban cigars. http://bit.ly/JHy7oF There is a lesson in that about the nature and consequences of socialism.

Thugs being in charge in Cuba has very little to do with Socialism as a political and economic model. I don't advocate socialism, nor do I particularly care about other people's politics, but I do like accuracy.

And the officials' self-justifications are...?

Dmitri's right. Get random, or start another thread. Actually another thread would be a good idea, for there is an elephant in the room of world history. Socialism is an easy sell but impossible in implementation. While, obviously, not all thugs are socialists, socialism always ends in thuggery, or in some other negative outcome. Why? When we say that what is mine is yours and what is yours is mine, we are already in an adversarial relationship, rather like a divorce in a community property state.

Obama is going to press European leaders to get off their austerity kick and pursue growth, which, to him, means stimulus and more government. Story here: http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/wrapup ... 36878.html (From Reuters, via Yahoo.)

This may be the time for conservatives to fold their arms and keep quiet. If they have been right all along, that will shortly be proven.

If there is no discussion of a topic, it's not really a topic, it's just a random declarative statement. So, either klonk's and my discussion is appropriate, or this should be changed to RADS (Random Ass Declarative Statements).

Just sayin'...

klonk wrote:And the officials' self-justifications are...?

If an idea is inappropriately used as justification for poor behavior that does not change the original idea, nor is it fair to suggest that the abuse of a thing makes the thing in and of itself wrong. Ideas have feelings, too, you know.

What the hell happened to recent American films? G.D. awful these days- compared to past efforts.
Why?