Fiscal cliff inconceivable

[rippley408]

Avoiding going over the fiscal cliff has come down to just one individual.  The fate of the nation hangs in the balance.

Read more here: http://blogiverstravels.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/fiscal-cliff-inconceivable/

[stephenc]

Yeah, we're definitely going over this cliff. Democrats want it so they can raise taxes on everyone (isn't that their end game anyways) and blame the Republicans for not compromising and Republicans want it so they can blame the Democrats. Only question is how long till we go over the much bigger one.

[Adam W]

Avoiding going over the fiscal cliff has come down to just one individual.  The fate of the nation hangs in the balance.

Read more here: http://blogiverstravels.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/fiscal-cliff-inconceivable/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/guides/about-netiquette

I think the rule to live by in this case is:

2. Don't spam. That is, don't repeatedly post the same advertisement for products or services. Most sites have strict and specific rules about who is allowed to post ads and what kind of ads they are.

You seem like a nice enough guy. But you've posted 32 times on this forum and almost all of those post were you starting threads directing people to your blog. The other posts were responses when people posted on the threads you started (which directed people to your blog).

It's great that you have a blog. And I'm probably setting myself up for a bit of a virtual ear-bashing from others on Metro Jacksonville by calling you out for this, but it would be nice if you didn't solely use this forum as a way to drive traffic to your blog. At least try to interact a bit and post on some of the topics - then the occasional threads relating to your blog wouldn't seem like spam.

Just a thought. I'm not the blog police and I have no standing to tell you what to do, so you're under no obligation to heed me. But I thought I'd give it a shot.

Cheers 

[buckethead]

No tongue lashing here.... Spot on, Adam.

[ChriswUfGator]

Avoiding going over the fiscal cliff has come down to just one individual.  The fate of the nation hangs in the balance.

Read more here: http://blogiverstravels.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/fiscal-cliff-inconceivable/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/guides/about-netiquette

I think the rule to live by in this case is:

2. Don't spam. That is, don't repeatedly post the same advertisement for products or services. Most sites have strict and specific rules about who is allowed to post ads and what kind of ads they are.

You seem like a nice enough guy. But you've posted 32 times on this forum and almost all of those post were you starting threads directing people to your blog. The other posts were responses when people posted on the threads you started (which directed people to your blog).

It's great that you have a blog. And I'm probably setting myself up for a bit of a virtual ear-bashing from others on Metro Jacksonville by calling you out for this, but it would be nice if you didn't solely use this forum as a way to drive traffic to your blog. At least try to interact a bit and post on some of the topics - then the occasional threads relating to your blog wouldn't seem like spam.

Just a thought. I'm not the blog police and I have no standing to tell you what to do, so you're under no obligation to heed me. But I thought I'd give it a shot.

Cheers 

+1

[Mathew1056]

To anyone falling into the fear mongering going at every level, please watch this TED Talk. It sums it up nicely
http://www.ted.com/talks/adam_davidson_what_we_learned_from_teetering_on_the_fiscal_cliff.html

As far as self-promotion goes, for shame.

[tufsu1]

Yeah, we're definitely going over this cliff. Democrats want it so they can raise taxes on everyone (isn't that their end game anyways)

how else would you suggest that the deficit AND debt be paid down?

[stephenc]

Yeah, we're definitely going over this cliff. Democrats want it so they can raise taxes on everyone (isn't that their end game anyways)

how else would you suggest that the deficit AND debt be paid down?

You cut spending. Most Americans have to live within a certain budget. We understand that if we spend too much we go into debt. We cut our bills to get back within our personal budget. Why shouldnt the government be any different? Once Congress looks at the budgets and make cuts across the board (including defense and social programs) then look at raising taxes, but cuts should always come first. Why doesnt the government look at the billions of dollars of property they own and look to sell that. I read today that the government owns around i believe 25% of the land in our country. Sell some of that. Stop putting pork in different bills they fund. Just today with the Sandy relief bill that was passed, there with funds allocated for a fisheries in Alaska. Thats just one example of the frivolous spending our government continues to do. How bout cutting aid to those countries who sponsor terrorism or are human rights violators. The list could go on and on.

[JeffreyS]

You cut spending you wreck the ecconomy unless their is some new private sector spending to compensate. Where as higher taxes haven't ever hurt the American ecconomy but would help the deficit.

[stephenc]

Yeah, we're definitely going over this cliff. Democrats want it so they can raise taxes on everyone (isn't that their end game anyways)

how else would you suggest that the deficit AND debt be paid down?

You cut spending. Most Americans have to live within a certain budget. We understand that if we spend too much we go into debt. We cut our bills to get back within our personal budget. Why shouldnt the government be any different? Once Congress looks at the budgets and make cuts across the board (including defense and social programs) then look at raising taxes, but cuts should always come first. Why doesnt the government look at the billions of dollars of property they own and look to sell that. I read today that the government owns around i believe 25% of the land in our country. Sell some of that. Stop putting pork in different bills they fund. Just today with the Sandy relief bill that was passed, there with funds allocated for a fisheries in Alaska. Thats just one example of the frivolous spending our government continues to do. How bout cutting aid to those countries who sponsor terrorism or are human rights violators. The list could go on and on.

because that isnt the function of the government.

The only governments that work that way are the desert theocracies, and without their single export of oil, their economies simply wouldnt have developed in the interdependent modern era.

What is the function of the gorvernment then.

[stephenc]

You cut spending you wreck the ecconomy unless their is some new private sector spending to compensate. Where as higher taxes haven't ever hurt the American ecconomy but would help the deficit.

How would cutting spending wreck the economy?  You cut the garbage we're funding and take that money and either put it back in the hands of the people or you put it in prigram that actually make a difference. I guess thats the biggest difference between Conservatives and Liberals. I feel I can do a better job spending my money than the government can. Liberals think the opposite.

[Adam W]

Yeah, we're definitely going over this cliff. Democrats want it so they can raise taxes on everyone (isn't that their end game anyways)

how else would you suggest that the deficit AND debt be paid down?

I read today that the government owns around i believe 25% of the land in our country. Sell some of that.

I, personally, am not comfortable with the idea of selling off land that is owned by the public to the highest bidder. I don't like the notion of transferring our publicly-held assets to private individuals - we can't privatize everything. If we do, we'll eventually get to the point where there will be no public parks, no public squares, no public museums, etc.

Sometimes people seem to get so hung up on the notion of "the government" that they forget "the government" does also mean "us."

[rippley408]

Avoiding going over the fiscal cliff has come down to just one individual.  The fate of the nation hangs in the balance.

Read more here: http://blogiverstravels.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/fiscal-cliff-inconceivable/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/guides/about-netiquette

Hi, Adam, I appreciate the gentle tone with which you addressed the issue. Granted, the pieces on the blog are satire, which doesn't exactly fit in with the more serious dialogue occurring on Metro Jacksonville's forum. Reading and understanding satire requires some patience and doesn't necessarily lend itself to the quick back-and-forth that usually occurs in this forum. However, calling my postings "spam" is overstating the case.  Here's why I post my blog links in this forum.  My first 11 years in Jacksonville, I didn't know Metro Jacksonville existed.  I only knew about the Florida Times-Union.  For a decade I read the "Letters from readers" section of the T-U and wondered what kind of a weird, behind-the-times town Jax was?  In my frustration, I started the blog to vent some of my anger.  The voice of Lemule Blogiver is intended to mimic the hidebound, backward-looking mentality that is so at home on the T-U's Letters page.  Last year I finally stumbled upon the Metro Jacksonville and found it incredibly refreshing that there were at least some relatively like-minded individuals in this town.  Metro Jacksonville feels like home.  It's existence cheers me up.  I have been posting these blog entries on the M.J. forum now for about eight months.  In my defense I can say that by this point many people on the M.J. forum have an idea what's coming when they see "Rippley408" (as in "Rippley Believe It or Not").  Obviously a number of people don't believe my posts are appropriate here, and I understand why they think so.  Still, a large number DO go ahead and click on the blog link. So, perhaps a compromise is in order.  There should be a place for satire on the Metro Jacksonville site, even if it is anomalous.  From now on I'll only post my links in the Opinion section (unless you have a better suggestion), and I will try to engage more with the others in the forum apart from my blog postings.
.

I think the rule to live by in this case is:

2. Don't spam. That is, don't repeatedly post the same advertisement for products or services. Most sites have strict and specific rules about who is allowed to post ads and what kind of ads they are.

You seem like a nice enough guy. But you've posted 32 times on this forum and almost all of those post were you starting threads directing people to your blog. The other posts were responses when people posted on the threads you started (which directed people to your blog).

It's great that you have a blog. And I'm probably setting myself up for a bit of a virtual ear-bashing from others on Metro Jacksonville by calling you out for this, but it would be nice if you didn't solely use this forum as a way to drive traffic to your blog. At least try to interact a bit and post on some of the topics - then the occasional threads relating to your blog wouldn't seem like spam.

Just a thought. I'm not the blog police and I have no standing to tell you what to do, so you're under no obligation to heed me. But I thought I'd give it a shot.

Cheers 

[Adam W]

Avoiding going over the fiscal cliff has come down to just one individual.  The fate of the nation hangs in the balance.

Read more here: http://blogiverstravels.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/fiscal-cliff-inconceivable/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/guides/about-netiquette

Hi, Adam, I appreciate the gentle tone with which you addressed the issue. Granted, the pieces on the blog are satire, which doesn't exactly fit in with the more serious dialogue occurring on Metro Jacksonville's forum. Reading and understanding satire requires some patience and doesn't necessarily lend itself to the quick back-and-forth that usually occurs in this forum. However, calling my postings "spam" is overstating the case.  Here's why I post my blog links in this forum.  My first 11 years in Jacksonville, I didn't know Metro Jacksonville existed.  I only knew about the Florida Times-Union.  For a decade I read the "Letters from readers" section of the T-U and wondered what kind of a weird, behind-the-times town Jax was?  In my frustration, I started the blog to vent some of my anger.  The voice of Lemule Blogiver is intended to mimic the hidebound, backward-looking mentality that is so at home on the T-U's Letters page.  Last year I finally stumbled upon the Metro Jacksonville and found it incredibly refreshing that there were at least some relatively like-minded individuals in this town.  Metro Jacksonville feels like home.  It's existence cheers me up.  I have been posting these blog entries on the M.J. forum now for about eight months.  In my defense I can say that by this point many people on the M.J. forum have an idea what's coming when they see "Rippley408" (as in "Rippley Believe It or Not").  Obviously a number of people don't believe my posts are appropriate here, and I understand why they think so.  Still, a large number DO go ahead and click on the blog link. So, perhaps a compromise is in order.  There should be a place for satire on the Metro Jacksonville site, even if it is anomalous.  From now on I'll only post my links in the Opinion section (unless you have a better suggestion), and I will try to engage more with the others in the forum apart from my blog postings.
.

I think the rule to live by in this case is:

2. Don't spam. That is, don't repeatedly post the same advertisement for products or services. Most sites have strict and specific rules about who is allowed to post ads and what kind of ads they are.

You seem like a nice enough guy. But you've posted 32 times on this forum and almost all of those post were you starting threads directing people to your blog. The other posts were responses when people posted on the threads you started (which directed people to your blog).

It's great that you have a blog. And I'm probably setting myself up for a bit of a virtual ear-bashing from others on Metro Jacksonville by calling you out for this, but it would be nice if you didn't solely use this forum as a way to drive traffic to your blog. At least try to interact a bit and post on some of the topics - then the occasional threads relating to your blog wouldn't seem like spam.

Just a thought. I'm not the blog police and I have no standing to tell you what to do, so you're under no obligation to heed me. But I thought I'd give it a shot.

Cheers 

Hi Chris

Thanks for your reply. I certainly don't think your posts are inappropriate for Metro Jacksonville - and I don't think you should necessarily stick them in the opinion section (though it may be the best place - that's a personal decision, I suppose...I often find it's hard to know exactly where a new thread should sit anyway).

My main point was that you exclusively use the forum as a vehicle to drive traffic to your blog. I was going to say that maybe the whole situation could've been avoided had you posted an introduction - but then I realised that maybe you actually had! Just because I didn't read one doesn't mean one doesn't exist 

As I said, I'm not the blog police or the forum police. It's not my place to tell you what to do. I see now the 'method to your madness' or whatever the appropriate term is and I understand your motivation a bit more.

And it's not all for naught, either - I thought the blog about your son was quite touching and it gave me a bit of insight into who you are. It melted the heart of this sanctimonious old prick, so you must be doing something right!

[rippley408]

Hi, Adam, thanks for the comment on the hospital piece. You are right about the opinion section--I'll opt for the "Break Room" instead. And you are correct that some of the energy is about driving traffic to the blog, but not entirely.  Some of it also is synergistic. Perhaps MJ needs a section specifically for people writing blogs somewhat like this, not all satire/humor/ridiculousness, but extended opinion pieces, appearing on a semi regular basis. Maybe there already is but I haven't found it yet.  I'm still exploring the site.