TomAiello

Well, that proves it then. Lawyers really are better people. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

People who are worried about federally funded groups encouraging felonies, including child prostitution, are somehow engaged in a double standard because they weren't posting on the internet about some other, unrelated, cases? I'm not really following your logic. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Who, specifically, are the "both" sides? Why do you feel you must follow one of them? Do you really only have two choices? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I actually know several US gun enthusiasts who wish they lived in Canada. There are many weapons available in Canada that cannot be found in the US. The Tavor is a particular object of desire for many in the US, which cannot be had here but is readily available in Canada. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Yes We Can! Occupy Afghanistan! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I think the "Obama will outlaw guns" rumor was started by the gun manufacturers. Looks like pretty effective marketing. It was actually started by a statement on the Obama campaign web site that said pretty clearly that he supported re-instating and making permanent the expired AWB. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Mike and I went to high school together. I grew up in a house (where my parents still live) across the street from his grandparents. I kind of wish I'd made it to our 20 year reunion two months ago, but I've got no idea if he was there or not. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Yeah, it just SUCKS to have organizations: •Strengthen the role of community organizations in the economic recovery and poverty reduction. •Reduce unintended pregnancies and support maternal and child health. •Promote responsible fatherhood and healthy families. •Foster interfaith dialogue and collaboration with leaders and scholars around the world, and at home. Well, yes. It does suck that they get my money to do that. I'm very happy to have them do it with their own funds. Why do they need to suck at the trough of taxpayer money that is our government? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Correct. You are agreeing with me. Let me repeat what I said: I don't think they should be getting those billions of dollars in federal funding any more than you do. You may have thought I was being sarcastic. I was not. I am an atheist. I don't think that religious groups should receive government funding. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Absolutely. As soon as we can get those Christian Right Wingers out of the census, the better. I don't think they should be getting those billions of dollars in federal funding any more than you do. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

That was NOT the 43rd Administration. Emphasis added to Rushmc's original post. I see nothing there about the 43rd. Can you point it out, please? Thanks! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Unfortunately, we can ONLY imagine it since the 43rd Administration seems to have almost never held anybody accountable for their actions. Meanwhile, somebody way down the chain of government gets a bit overzealous and does something inappropriate and IS held accountable... If I remember correctly, the US Secretary of Education was called before Congress to defend his agency's conduct, the last time this happened. Source. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

You haven't noticed any increase in the size, scope and commitment of men and material? No increase in lives lost (on all sides)? No? Nothing at all? Dude, face it. Win or lose, Afghanistan is Obushma's war. Let's go, third term! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Right. Which is why we need strict constitutional safeguards against an overgrown government. Oh, wait, we had those. What happened again? Something about a different shuffle...or was it a new deal? I can't recall... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Actually, the final revised version was more or less "how can you achieve your goals?" which is a pretty good way to word it. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'm pretty sure it is President Obushma who pushes wars in which other people will die. "Yes We Can! Kill and Die in Afghanistan!" -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

More interestingly, will one of those kids grow up to be Pope? Uh, oh. You're an NPR listener, aren't you? Heard that interview today with the guy who revealed that his childhood aspiration was to be the Pope? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

The obvious solution is to reduce the power of the government. If there wasn't so much reward for lobbying, people wouldn't spend money on it. Right now, you can spend a buck on lobbying (if you spend it right) and be rewarded by 100 or 1000 dollars worth of competitive advantage. If you reduce that to the point where you only get 10 cents worth of advantage, what will happen? If you want to take money out of politics, take money out of government (and government actions). The only way to do that is to drastically reduce the size of government. Enacting increasingly byzantine regulations on fundamental rights is a poor workaround when the underlying problem is so obvious, and able to be addressed directly. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

In this context, "corporation" includes all political action groups. The ACLU, MoveOn.org, the NRA-ILA, everyone. How exactly is reducing the spending of groups going to disadvantage the "little guys"? If you disallow group spending, the only people doing any spending are going to be wealthy individuals. The "little guys" may only be able to afford 20 bucks a piece. Taken one by one, that's not much. It's only by banding together into those evil "corporations" that the little guys get any voice at all. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

You don't think unions purchase political ads? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

If a single individual has a right to speak, but a group does not, where do we draw the line? When there are 10 people in the group? 100? 1000? Or is it when the group files paperwork with the government declaring themselves something or other? How can a right belonging to every single member of a group somehow not extend to the entire group? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

It very clearly is not. The actual facts of the case do not involve any direct financial support of any specific candidate. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Very true. But amazingly, many states allow high school teachers without any formal math education beyond high school to teach math. Despite never having been required to take a math course beyond high school, my father taught high school mathematics courses in a public high school in California for several years. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

How familiar are you with home schooling, generally? Lots of homeschoolers use outside resources. I know several home schooled kids who took courses at junior colleges in subjects their parents didn't feel comfortable teaching. I also know one group of home schoolers who split courses up between different parents, so that the high school level biology course was taught by a doctor (who was probably at least as qualified to teach it as your average high school biology teacher) and the high school level US government course was taught by a lawyer (again, someone who had probably studied the US government in greater depth than the average high school social studies teacher). The fact that you are not personally capable of teaching a subject doesn't mean that you are going to muddle through it trying to teach your kids. Many people recognize those shortcomings and seek outside help. For what it's worth, I disagree with the common conception that home schoolers must be religious fundamentalists opposed to teaching of evolution. Most of the home schoolers I met in rural Idaho were actually the reverse--reasonably secular professionals (most with post-graduate education) who objected to the religious environment of the local public schools. Home schooling offers an excellent alternative for parents who are not satisfied with their local public school options for any number of reasons--including feeling that the curriculum is too religiously influenced, or too light on math and science. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

The hilarious part is the facebook comments. Just below the tags that tell you "Moran" is their last name (making the sign kind of clever), there are people trying to tell them they've made a spelling error. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com