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i must have the selectric as my word processor. im thinking everything went downhill for me once i got a computer in the late 80s.

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[quote=flu]impound account… 2% return by CA law….Better than than a CD![/quote]

That plus lower interest rate. I thought the impound acct. Was a nobrainer…

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Also my 286 monochrome monitor computer with word perfect 5.1 will do

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[quote=FlyerInHi]I think it’s better to get rid of feelings. Humans have intellect.

Just be rational and professorial. Do what works.[/quote]

Our emotions are so entwined with our being that your Vulcan proposal is unworkable.

Indeed what works is tied to our emotions. If something works it makes us happy. That is it elicits an emotional response.

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[quote=Hobie]Like I suggested to Brian, some of you need to spend an evening in a ‘ride a long’ with local cops. It’s free, and will open your eyes. Enough of the knee jerk reaction to cops techniques. Go ahead, try yourself to negotiate with a crazy person. Live and learn. We live with lots of crazy.[/quote]

it’s the price we pay for the 2nd am. And shit loads of guns in a culture of violence where cops reasonably believed people who hate them are armed. It seems unfair though when they jump the gun more on black citizens. If they do.

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[quote=svelte][quote=svelte]

Also I just ordered the Toohey book based on your comment. Let’s just hope I find the time to read it. :)[/quote]

I’ve tried reading the “Boredom” book three times now…can’t get past the 1/4 mark. It’s just too, well, boring.[/quote]

ah. sorry about that. not everything captures the imagination. maybe at the right time.

for some reason CITIZEN CANINE has me enraptured. i feel a need to understand why people are so into dogs and cats. this book explains a lot…

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I once tried to go to church barefoot but the usher said no way dude. He wouldn’t engage with me on the issue. Fortunately I had a pair of paper thin pedicure sandals in the car.

I used to go to church on father’s day back when we did the Catholic Church thing. Was reading recently about a popes edict in the 1300s about killing all cats out of witchcraft concerns that led to the plague.

Hilarious! In a way.

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[quote=Blogstar]People seem to be having to balance living to survive, living to live an enjoyable satisfying life, and pressure to live to be seen, as in ” keeping up appearances” . Maybe some people deal with all three pretty well but it’s impossible to tell who they are or realistically keep score. Impossible.

I am starting to immediately recognize “score keeping” attitudes and behavior. It is not a sign of superiority or correctness.[/quote]

malcolm forbes said he who dies with the most toys wins.

Just reading a bit about him. Appears he was a deeply closeted gay dude who liked faerie eggs.

probably he would’ve been a bigger winner if he could a just been himself

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[quote=flyer]It’s definitely true that “stuff” can own you, if you allow it to. Perhaps, as human beings, we tend to cling to “things” in order to validate our existence, and to give ourselves a greater sense of self worth.

Realizing that everything on earth is temporary–great to have while you’re here, and then pass it on–really puts the value of “stuff” into perspective for me.[/quote]

Most of the things I have aren’t even satisfying to have

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[quote=FlyerInHi][quote=scaredyclassic]
I feel for that guy. I think it’s never a losing proposition to care or feel for others. Just my perspective.[/quote]

Yes, but it seems unfair that conservatives who are business-like and matter-of-fact are surrounded by empathetic people. They get the best of both worlds.

OTH, people who are empathetic are seen as weak bleeding heart.

In other words, conservatives get to be assholes but never get the same attitude back.[/quote]

being empathetic brings benefits regardless of whether you receive empathy in return.

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pigpen in charlie brown was a nice dude

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[quote=FlyerInHi][quote=CA renter]
Conservatives are more likely to take personal credit for their success rather than acknowledging the role of luck (and other people, among other things) in their lives, IMHO, while a more liberal person is probably more likely to acknowledge the fact that they are not individually responsible for the successes (or failures) in their lives — giving more credit to coworkers, good timing, intellectual or physical gifts, the role of public infrastructure, etc…luck. [/quote]

CAr, that assumes that conservatives are “successful.”

Can we say that conservatives voters in Mississippi, the lowest per capita GDP state in the nation, are successful?

With regard to empathy, I think it’s easier to dismiss problems out of hand than to try to understand them.

I have a friend who’s conservative. Former military. So his attitude is always “pull your head of your ass, and do something about it.” Everything is a one-liner. He would send me links to news articles with remarks like “because of Obama and fucking liberals like you.”

One day, I was sick of being circumspect and let him have some of his own medicine. Needless to say, we’re not talking much anymore. He has alcohol, obesity and pain issues and is living in a clusterfuck man-cave.

Can we say that “unsuccessful” conservatives are f’ing losers and deserve it? Would they agree?

I’m thinking that it’s a weakness to be empathetic towards people who lack empathy. You’re giving something and getting nothing in return. That’s a raw deal that a shrewd business person would never accept.[/quote]

I feel for that guy. I think it’s never a losing proposition to care or feel for others. Just my perspective.

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[quote=CA renter][quote=njtosd][quote=CA renter]

While jealousy and the desire to attain a dominant position and to remain on top are perfectly natural human emotions (and probably necessary for survival, especially in more primitive times), the extent of this empathy/lack of empathy for others is likely at the root of our political/sociological differences.

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Wait – you can’t really be making the sweeping generalization that conservatives are less empathetic (are you? maybe I am misunderstanding). In fact, the heightened sensitivity among conservatives identified in one of the studies above would probably suggest the opposite. I have voted for presidents of both political parties and consider myself an independent. I don’t think there is a difference in ultimate goodness between members of the two parties. I do think there is a difference in terms of perspective. I also think that each party has its share of bad eggs, and when it comes time to criticize, those bad eggs make good targets.[/quote]

Yes, I am saying that, but I am not associating empathy with “goodness.”

A person can lack empathy but still have a strong drive to “do the right thing.” A person can be empathetic, but still commit horrible crimes (probably more likely to feel justified if they are crimes of passion).

IMO, conservatives tend to think in more binary terms: good/bad, right/wrong, deserving/undeserving, lazy/hard-working, bound for heaven/bound for hell, etc. Liberals tend to focus more on the grey in between: the background and conditions that might have led this person (or this group of people) to think or act in this particular way; the historical, geographical, cultural, or genetic causes of these behaviors and beliefs; etc., etc.

IMO, a more conservative person will look at a situation within the context of that more binary world, not really trying to feel and fully understand the background of others in an attempt to better understand why things have turned out they way they have. They are more inclined to assess things based on a very superficial cause-and-effect relationship like, “being lazy makes you unsuccessful,” instead of trying to determine if there are other reasons for that person’s difficulty in completing tasks or achieving some other metric of success — might he/she be suffering from emotional/mental/physical disabilities, or do they have other factors in their lives that might play a more important role than just “laziness.”

Conservatives are more likely to take personal credit for their success rather than acknowledging the role of luck (and other people, among other things) in their lives, IMHO, while a more liberal person is probably more likely to acknowledge the fact that they are not individually responsible for the successes (or failures) in their lives — giving more credit to coworkers, good timing, intellectual or physical gifts, the role of public infrastructure, etc…luck.

Bringing this back around to why Jewish people are more likely to vote for democrats, I think it has a lot to do with siding with the underdog (as they’ve been the underdog for so long) and having a more philosophical, as opposed to a dogmatic, approach to life.[/quote]

some data..

http://m.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/09/liberals-care-more-about-empathy-than-conservatives/380404/

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here’s an interesting case…

http://news.yahoo.com/nyc-sues-roll-own-cigarette-shops-over-taxes-073231566.html

lawsuit over roll your own cigs shop.

it is about the taxes. thats why they had to strangle him. lost tax money.

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bad things happen when the community doesnt trust the police to do the right thing.. see for instance, this page from a new children’s book…

http://www.mandatory.com/2014/04/04/todays-funniest-photos/15

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