Mike Johnson - Speaker of the House

[BobDole]

1 hour ago, Offthemat said:

An 1895 8th Grade Final Exam: I Couldn't Pass It. Could You?

 

https://newrepublic.com/article/79470/1895-8th-grade-final-exam-i-couldnt-pass-it-could-you

Unless you are working in a specific field of needing to know things on this test it is likely even the ones that were taking it would not retain the information for a long time. Do you really think grandma can recite the 9 rules of using a capital letter 40 year later?

Things like this are worthless as most of us have not retained knowledge from our high school days that we aren't using on a regular basis. I'm pretty positive most of us would struggle at world geography if presented with a test without any preparation. I'm sure in my bitchy English teacher asked me about random writing rules right now I would be lucky to get 50%. 

It is funny how some of you fall for this crap all the time without using your brain at all, but just following what your dear leader tells you.

 

[jross]

@BobDole how do you know what @Offthemat meant with this post?  @Offthemat - what are intending to communicate?

[Offthemat]

1 minute ago, jross said:

@BobDole how do you know what @Offthemat meant with this post?  @Offthemat - what are intending to communicate?

I swear, I never intended to show that BobDole couldn’t pass eighth grade. 

[ionel]

40 minutes ago, BobDole said:

your dear leader

Was this on the test?  I missed it.  

[ThreePointTakedown]

3 hours ago, jross said:

There is tremendous support for education to teach finance.  It isn't cake, it's meat and potatoes.

Not sure of your point. I think you should invest in one of those classes because teaching finance to kids, and I may be mistaken, won't alleviate the need for teachers in the future. Correct me if I'm wrong?

[ThreePointTakedown]

2 hours ago, jross said:

It was the men's choice to accept the benefits against the risks; they put in the work and took advantage of the opportunity.  There is much positive to be said and had for joining the military...

Both my mother and MIL worked during the day and went to night school to earn nursing degrees.  I recall my mother bringing me to some of her classes.

My eldest sister was an unhappy SAHM with four children and chose divorce.  She joined another family with her four children to split rent on a house.  While on government assistance, she used grants and loans to put herself through college.  She has a good and stable salary now... 

Granted, my kin had access to education, family, and neighborhoods that helped create access to the opportunity. 

Sure, education, family, and neighborhoods affect social mobility.  There are other 'luck' considerations that impact raising one's social mobility...  but in the US... hard work goes a long way to overcoming hard luck.

Hard work...

The USA doesn't care how hard you work; it pays for performance. When the consumer purchases a car, factors like employee effort and work hours are not considered. Rather, decisions are based on quality, cost, and availability.  So how does the employee generate quality?  They either have the rare skill to work smarter, or they choose to work harder.  The employee who works smarter or harder than his peers will find himself with better luck. Don't have the energy to discuss the edge cases.

But ***duck**.  Hard work's separation isn't enough anymore for those that 'have' let alone those that don't.  Life is expensive.

How is it you laid out all the ways that people can use the community around them as a safety net to ensure they don't slip through the cracks. Which is quite a privileged position. Then in your next breath emphasize hard work as the primary pillar of success. All while being to exhausted to talk about outlying case? We're only talking about outlying cases! You're upset about the outlying cases! If you didn't see the outlying cases you would only have the successful, lifted themselves up by the boot straps that their privilege afforded them, cases. 

It seems as though you're saying, 'be more like the middle part of the bell curve even though you were born on the one not-so-great-end! But do it without the help that most of the middle-curve-people received to get there!'  If that is what you're saying, can you not see how incredibly insensitive that is? And how much like of a jerk it makes you seem? 

It feels like it comes back to a zero-sum mentality. That if someone gets something that wasn't afforded to you, then you are losing. You've won. We get it. Your kids get it. No one is taking anything from you by giving it to someone who might really need it. Will there be WF&A? Of course. But the % of that from the pot being spent on those less fortunate is nothing compared to banks and companies pulling one(s)(many) over on us and leaving us with the tab. But they have the PR firms to convince you and like minded people that the poor are the real enemy and shouldn't be given anything because their too lazy to earn or appreciate it. For fear of the food being taken out of your mouth. Its ridiculous! 

[jross]

59 minutes ago, ThreePointTakedown said:

Not sure of your point. I think you should invest in one of those classes because teaching finance to kids, and I may be mistaken, won't alleviate the need for teachers in the future. Correct me if I'm wrong?

What?

[jross]

44 minutes ago, ThreePointTakedown said:

...blah

I said luck plays into it... safety net plays into it... hard work plays into it... and life is expensive.

Not enough can be said about character...

The early bird gets the worm.

The harder I work, the luckier I get.

Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them.

[Offthemat]

2 minutes ago, jross said:

I said luck plays into it... safety net plays into it... hard work plays into it... and life is expensive.

Not enough can be said about character...

The early bird gets the worm.

The harder I work, the luckier I get.

Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them.

Thomas Sowell claims he’s found as much disparity among siblings as in society.  

[jross]

1 hour ago, ThreePointTakedown said:

You're upset about the outlying cases! 

What makes you think I'm upset?

For clarity through example of outlier... I don't want to discuss how every employee, regardless of their actual work or contribution, is paid the same salary, whether a high-performing professional or an employee in a deep and uninterrupted coma.  This is draining...

 

 

1 hour ago, ThreePointTakedown said:

45 minutes ago, jross said:

The color blue is peaceful.

Blue, huh? You're such an idiot. Of course, you hate red because you are a jerk and privileged. 

Brilliant TPT.  Always a pleasure. 

[Paul158]

5 hours ago, ThreePointTakedown said:

How is it you laid out all the ways that people can use the community around them as a safety net to ensure they don't slip through the cracks. Which is quite a privileged position. Then in your next breath emphasize hard work as the primary pillar of success. All while being to exhausted to talk about outlying case? We're only talking about outlying cases! You're upset about the outlying cases! If you didn't see the outlying cases you would only have the successful, lifted themselves up by the boot straps that their privilege afforded them, cases. 

It seems as though you're saying, 'be more like the middle part of the bell curve even though you were born on the one not-so-great-end! But do it without the help that most of the middle-curve-people received to get there!'  If that is what you're saying, can you not see how incredibly insensitive that is? And how much like of a jerk it makes you seem? 

It feels like it comes back to a zero-sum mentality. That if someone gets something that wasn't afforded to you, then you are losing. You've won. We get it. Your kids get it. No one is taking anything from you by giving it to someone who might really need it. Will there be WF&A? Of course. But the % of that from the pot being spent on those less fortunate is nothing compared to banks and companies pulling one(s)(many) over on us and leaving us with the tab. But they have the PR firms to convince you and like minded people that the poor are the real enemy and shouldn't be given anything because their too lazy to earn or appreciate it. For fear of the food being taken out of your mouth. Its ridiculous! 

Mr3 point. Hope you are doing well. I've been reading your comments and I'm curious about your background. Maybe your education and what field of work you are presently in. You may take the 5th and that would be ok. Thanks. 

[mspart]

6 hours ago, ThreePointTakedown said:

How is it you laid out all the ways that people can use the community around them as a safety net to ensure they don't slip through the cracks. Which is quite a privileged position. Then in your next breath emphasize hard work as the primary pillar of success. All while being to exhausted to talk about outlying case? We're only talking about outlying cases! You're upset about the outlying cases! If you didn't see the outlying cases you would only have the successful, lifted themselves up by the boot straps that their privilege afforded them, cases. 

It seems as though you're saying, 'be more like the middle part of the bell curve even though you were born on the one not-so-great-end! But do it without the help that most of the middle-curve-people received to get there!'  If that is what you're saying, can you not see how incredibly insensitive that is? And how much like of a jerk it makes you seem? 

It feels like it comes back to a zero-sum mentality. That if someone gets something that wasn't afforded to you, then you are losing. You've won. We get it. Your kids get it. No one is taking anything from you by giving it to someone who might really need it. Will there be WF&A? Of course. But the % of that from the pot being spent on those less fortunate is nothing compared to banks and companies pulling one(s)(many) over on us and leaving us with the tab. But they have the PR firms to convince you and like minded people that the poor are the real enemy and shouldn't be given anything because their too lazy to earn or appreciate it. For fear of the food being taken out of your mouth. Its ridiculous! 

It seems that 3pt does not appreciate hard work and what it can do to open doors.   Not surprising viewing the other things he has written.   I've seen this play out.  

I have 5 boys.   One is a hard worker, has various businesses he owns and is successful and makes a lot of money.   Yes, he got some breaks.   But it was his hard work and do not take NO for an answer that made him successful.   He tries to get his brothers to take such entrepreneurial risks but they are unwilling to put in such effort.   So they are not as successful as he is.   All are very smart, but he is really the only one that takes action.   They all started similarly.   I have to say, I am not near as bold as he is, so the other 4 take more after me.  I'm not sure where the one son got his drive at but that is the difference.   He makes more than me. 

Now to be fair, I have another son that got a college degree and got a job at a place.   He quit and got a better job and more pay but not like the one son.   But he's doing ok.   Another has an associates college degree, but has a pretty good job doing maintenance on equipment.    But there is no upward mobility there so he will soon hit a ceiling but it is good for now for him.   He is under 30.   The other two are younger and basically retail workers, min wage type jobs.   Their outlook is not as good.   They have no future education (academic or trade) goals so they are essentially stuck at HS diploma level type jobs, unless they take after the one brother. 

It is the drive to succeed that makes the difference.   What I view as risk, my one son views as opportunity.   If he spends 40k to make 80k, that is money well spent and he makes the difference and then the whole thing the next year.   I don't think that way.   I think, where would I get the 40k, and then how do I get the work to get the 80k?  He is a wonder for sure.  For instance, he decided he was gonna do snow plowing.   The truck and rig cost right around 40k.   He figured he could easily make 120k and had contracts already lined up.   He has been doing that for a few years.   Part of that is spreading salt when it goes under freezing.   He makes a lot of money for little actual work, even here in Seattle area.   He and his wife have two other businesses that bring in enough money to live very well on.    

mspart

[ThreePointTakedown]

On 11/7/2023 at 6:22 PM, Paul158 said:

Mr3 point. Hope you are doing well. I've been reading your comments and I'm curious about your background. Maybe your education and what field of work you are presently in. You may take the 5th and that would be ok. Thanks. 

Not 5th but not interested in going into detail. Sorry. 

[ThreePointTakedown]

On 11/7/2023 at 7:50 PM, mspart said:

It seems that 3pt does not appreciate hard work and what it can do to open doors.   Not surprising viewing the other things he has written.   I've seen this play out.  

I have 5 boys.   One is a hard worker, has various businesses he owns and is successful and makes a lot of money.   Yes, he got some breaks.   But it was his hard work and do not take NO for an answer that made him successful.   He tries to get his brothers to take such entrepreneurial risks but they are unwilling to put in such effort.   So they are not as successful as he is.   All are very smart, but he is really the only one that takes action.   They all started similarly.   I have to say, I am not near as bold as he is, so the other 4 take more after me.  I'm not sure where the one son got his drive at but that is the difference.   He makes more than me. 

Now to be fair, I have another son that got a college degree and got a job at a place.   He quit and got a better job and more pay but not like the one son.   But he's doing ok.   Another has an associates college degree, but has a pretty good job doing maintenance on equipment.    But there is no upward mobility there so he will soon hit a ceiling but it is good for now for him.   He is under 30.   The other two are younger and basically retail workers, min wage type jobs.   Their outlook is not as good.   They have no future education (academic or trade) goals so they are essentially stuck at HS diploma level type jobs, unless they take after the one brother. 

It is the drive to succeed that makes the difference.   What I view as risk, my one son views as opportunity.   If he spends 40k to make 80k, that is money well spent and he makes the difference and then the whole thing the next year.   I don't think that way.   I think, where would I get the 40k, and then how do I get the work to get the 80k?  He is a wonder for sure.  For instance, he decided he was gonna do snow plowing.   The truck and rig cost right around 40k.   He figured he could easily make 120k and had contracts already lined up.   He has been doing that for a few years.   Part of that is spreading salt when it goes under freezing.   He makes a lot of money for little actual work, even here in Seattle area.   He and his wife have two other businesses that bring in enough money to live very well on.    

mspart

I'm curious about your first sentence. What about my comments leads you to believe that I don't appreciate hard work? As much as you might want to think it is an attack on you, personally. Pointing out that you, obviously, lack complete understanding of a situation and should check that first, is not an attack. It might keep you from being able to opine about every topic but those are the breaks. To a hammer everything looks like a nail.

To the rest of your comment. You know what your kids, probably, didn't have to work hard at? Having enough to eat, or having seasonally appropriate clothing, transportation to/from school, help with school work. What you see as lack of hard work may not be that at all. Just having to work to keep their heads barely above the water let alone being able to have a cushion to take risks to spend 40k or whatever. If you can't admit that people struggle in ways you can't imagine, then how can you begin to think you have a solution to their problems? 

The life boat you were born on has offered you great opportunity. Not having to waste energy by swimming. Now it seems as if you are unwilling to toss the life preserver to others in the water. For fear of them, potentially, taking your spot in the boat. Can you see where I am coming from based on your comments?

[ThreePointTakedown]

On 11/7/2023 at 2:51 PM, jross said:

What makes you think I'm upset?

For clarity through example of outlier... I don't want to discuss how every employee, regardless of their actual work or contribution, is paid the same salary, whether a high-performing professional or an employee in a deep and uninterrupted coma.  This is draining...

 

 

Brilliant TPT.  Always a pleasure. 

Can you take a screen grab of when/where I used the word 'idiot'? 

I'd love to see the original post, seeing as it doesn't exist. 

[jross]

13 minutes ago, ThreePointTakedown said:

Can you take a screen grab of when/where I used the word 'idiot'? 

I'd love to see the original post, seeing as it doesn't exist. 

 

The entire quote was made up to make a point like Zuby here.
 

 

[Bigbrog]

1 hour ago, ThreePointTakedown said:

I'm curious about your first sentence. What about my comments leads you to believe that I don't appreciate hard work? As much as you might want to think it is an attack on you, personally. Pointing out that you, obviously, lack complete understanding of a situation and should check that first, is not an attack. It might keep you from being able to opine about every topic but those are the breaks. To a hammer everything looks like a nail.

To the rest of your comment. You know what your kids, probably, didn't have to work hard at? Having enough to eat, or having seasonally appropriate clothing, transportation to/from school, help with school work. What you see as lack of hard work may not be that at all. Just having to work to keep their heads barely above the water let alone being able to have a cushion to take risks to spend 40k or whatever. If you can't admit that people struggle in ways you can't imagine, then how can you begin to think you have a solution to their problems? 

The life boat you were born on has offered you great opportunity. Not having to waste energy by swimming. Now it seems as if you are unwilling to toss the life preserver to others in the water. For fear of them, potentially, taking your spot in the boat. Can you see where I am coming from based on your comments?

Seriously, this is such crazy talk.  First off, you ASSume things about mspart and his family and try and downgrade what he and his kids have accomplished because somehow someone else was born, potentially, into different circumstances.  You want to know what is funny, you listing off a bunch of things that his kids may have not had to deal with you pretty much summed up my upbringing, and it is very offensive that you use it as a way to discourage other people and to somehow make it an excuse for not working hard to better themselves, like I did as well as my brothers and sisters did.  Do you think I sit here and use my upbringing as an excuse when someone else who worked harder than me has more than me??  NO!!!  But you clearly do, and it is laughable.  You try and preach to everyone how you are so inclusive and all-knowing of everything and everyone's situation that you actually offend the people you think you are speaking for.  And then claim the people who did in fact work hard for where they got are somehow scared of people like me who may have come from different life circumstances taking what they earned...dude, you are a joke.  

[Ohio Elite]

3 minutes ago, Bigbrog said:

Seriously, this is such crazy talk.  First off, you ASSume things about mspart and his family and try and downgrade what he and his kids have accomplished because somehow someone else was born, potentially, into different circumstances.  You want to know what is funny, you listing off a bunch of things that his kids may have not had to deal with you pretty much summed up my upbringing, and it is very offensive that you use it as a way to discourage other people and to somehow make it an excuse for not working hard to better themselves, like I did as well as my brothers and sisters did.  Do you think I sit here and use my upbringing as an excuse when someone else who worked harder than me has more than me??  NO!!!  But you clearly do, and it is laughable.  You try and preach to everyone how you are so inclusive and all-knowing of everything and everyone's situation that you actually offend the people you think you are speaking for.  And then claim the people who did in fact work hard for where they got are somehow scared of people like me who may have come from different life circumstances taking what they earned...dude, you are a joke.  

He's a great candidate for the ignore feature 

[ThreePointTakedown]

16 minutes ago, jross said:

 

The entire quote was made up to make a point like Zuby here.
 

 

You commented on something that you made up as if it was legit? Classy. 

Makes me feel better that you will no longer be engaging. L8er

[Paul158]

44 minutes ago, jross said:

 

The entire quote was made up to make a point like Zuby here.
 

 

Is it just me but doesn't 3 point tkd sound an awful lot like another poster that used to be on here every single day. His never ending rambling. His very dismissive responses to very well thought out common sense solutions is eerily familiar to you know who.

Edited November 9, 2023 by Paul158
missed a word

[Paul158]

33 minutes ago, Ohio Elite said:

He's a great candidate for the ignore feature 

Doesn't 3 point tkd seem eerily similar to another poster that used to post on here every day?

[ThreePointTakedown]

17 minutes ago, Bigbrog said:

Seriously, this is such crazy talk.  First off, you ASSume things about mspart and his family and try and downgrade what he and his kids have accomplished because somehow someone else was born, potentially, into different circumstances.  You want to know what is funny, you listing off a bunch of things that his kids may have not had to deal with you pretty much summed up my upbringing, and it is very offensive that you use it as a way to discourage other people and to somehow make it an excuse for not working hard to better themselves, like I did as well as my brothers and sisters did.  Do you think I sit here and use my upbringing as an excuse when someone else who worked harder than me has more than me??  NO!!!  But you clearly do, and it is laughable.  You try and preach to everyone how you are so inclusive and all-knowing of everything and everyone's situation that you actually offend the people you think you are speaking for.  And then claim the people who did in fact work hard for where they got are somehow scared of people like me who may have come from different life circumstances taking what they earned...dude, you are a joke.  

I would love to see your breakdown of how and where I did any of this. Please cut and paste my text with inclusions of where you feel this happened? 

Seems as though you're feeling attacked an behalf of someone else. That sounds exhausting. 

Pointing out that they should consider other circumstances when forming an opinion is what I did. Do you disagree? If so, please elaborate. I am open to other perspectives. I'd love to know more about yours. 

Their opinion of what they consider 'hard work' or where it can take you is based on a lot of things. But making a blanket statement like that is ignorant of a lot of things. Or they should say something like, 'if we all started at the same point, then hard work or work ethic would probably play a large part in where a person ends up as far as success(which is a funky metric that we can discuss at another time)' That, you and they, keep coming back to 'hard work' as a defining characteristic to getting success says to me that you take it personal. You may feel that your work ethic was the thing that set you apart from others and played a key role in how you've gotten to where you are. That may be true, but if you take a step back and look critically you might see other things that happened or was offered to you that helped to make the 'hard work' pay off a bit more than you give them credit for. 

We have a difficult time checking our privilege. I sure do. Terribly lucky growing up when and where I did. With friends and family that I had. The more I learn the more I come to understand that my perspective is incredibly narrow and defending the status quo that helped me get to where I am is also defending a status quo that keeps some people, through no fault of their own, from enjoying the simpler things that I take for granted but could otherwise change or improve their lives immensely. 

I hope you can see this not as an attack but as someone trying to offer a perspective that you might not have. In the hopes that it leads to actions that primarily benefitting neither of us.  

Also, they referenced 'success' several times. That each child had a certain amount of success(again not specific to what that could or should mean) but not if any of them were happy, independent of success. Just a thought. 

[ThreePointTakedown]

5 minutes ago, Paul158 said:

Is it just me but doesn't 3 point tkd sound an awful lot like another poster that used to be on here every single day. His every ending rambling. His very dismissive responses to very well thought out common sense solutions is eerily familiar to you know who.

Do tell? Because it matters a great deal who you think I am.

[ThreePointTakedown]

#winning

[ThreePointTakedown]

5 minutes ago, Paul158 said:

Doesn't 3 point tkd seem eerily similar to another poster that used to post on here every day?

Did you forget to change accounts before you repeated this?