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[Skm1091]

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Speaking of Muskets

[MrBogosity]

Speaking of Muskets

Interesting tidbit: there were two designs of the puckle gun, one which was intended to fire round bullets at Christians, and one which would fire square bullets at Muslims.

If nothing else, it proved quite clearly that square bullets are a really, REALLY bad idea!

[AnCap Dave]

This is exactly how I feel about statism. That shit is far more toxic than religion could ever hope to be.

[evensgrey]

This is exactly how I feel about statism. That shit is far more toxic than religion could ever hope to be.

Not really, since Statism is just another religion (or group of religions, since each State has a different, and often mutually antagonistic, set of worshipers).

[Ibrahim90]

Interesting tidbit: there were two designs of the puckle gun, one which was intended to fire round bullets at Christians, and one which would fire square bullets at Muslims.

If nothing else, it proved quite clearly that square bullets are a really, REALLY bad idea!

yeah, I do not understand the basis for the belief that Muslims require square bullets to be stopped. I mean, the Ottomans shot up lots of Persian (i.e. other Muslims), and they did fine with round balls...So did the Russians and Austrians.

[evensgrey]

yeah, I do not understand the basis for the belief that Muslims require square bullets to be stopped. I mean, the Ottomans shot up lots of Persian (i.e. other Muslims), and they did fine with round balls...So did the Russians and Austrians.

I thought it was just the European Christian tradition of being even nastier to Muslims than they were to each other.  For instance, steel crossbows were banned from use in warfare against Christians for a period, but were considered perfectly acceptable to use on Muslims.

[AnCap Dave]

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[Ibrahim90]

I thought it was just the European Christian tradition of being even nastier to Muslims than they were to each other.  For instance, steel crossbows were banned from use in warfare against Christians for a period, but were considered perfectly acceptable to use on Muslims.

so did they believe we were supermen? 

[evensgrey]

so did they believe we were supermen? 

Not really, just that European Christians have a long tradition of treating those perceived as 'other' badly, and the more 'other' they are perceived as being, the worse they treat them.

Pretty much like most everyone, really.

[Travis Retriever]

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I call bs on the "there's nothing wrong with the minimum wage laws, it's just the inflation of the currency." I understand that might have been rhetoric, but still annoying.  Unemployment increases for the win.  Otherwise, outstanding video.

[R.E.H.W.R.]

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This is golden!

[R.E.H.W.R.]

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[Travis Retriever]

Some background on this.  Both of my parents are baby boomers....wee good fun.  Posted the following on Google Plus.  It is a rant...you have been warned.

So the bit about 1 dollar from 1964 being worth 25 dollars today is one more reason why whenever my mom says, "oh! You'll be making far more money than me or your dad did and have far more opportunities!" is complete bullshit.

While I'm sure my parents mean while, the above quote is simply not true. By every objective standard, baby boomers had (and still have) vastly more in that way than their children and grandchildren ever will or could (well, unless the state goes the way of slavery within the next few years...fat chance).  My mom was making 80 grand a year working as a partner in a law-firm...without a single day of college education in the 1980s (in her 20s) and without the college debt, and despite a lack of support from family plus whatever my dad was making as a union working for the Washington Post as a mailer...while I'm still unemployed (by choice, but still) at the age of 26 after 6 years of bullshit college. After accounting for inflation (and other nonsense) I will NOT be as financially well off as them in real terms unless I win the lottery and/or invest in a company that ends up being the next Standard Oil (good luck with the current economic climate of that and the regulatory burden).

Something similar to be said of doctors in both the USA and Canada who bitch about how they have to work long hours and have little time off, and teachers who bitch about class sizes.  Yes.  Because the former lobbied for the AMA's monopoly thus restricting the supply of doctors to artificially boost their own salaries and the latter for teacher union bullshit to do the same.  You folks get no sympathy from me.  You all made that bed, you can damn well sleep in it.

Something similar could also be said of baby boomer parents who bitch about "EEEEH! My kids had to move back in with me because they can't get jobs and have more debt than we paid for the house!" Again, as the folks who fell for that entitlement crap hook line and sinker who have known that this stuff would not last and who knowingly doomed their children and grandchildren to financial ruin, that is on you, not, "THEM LAZY GOOD FER NOTHIN' MILLENIALS (that I raised and am therefore responsible for...oops)"  Sorry boomers, You get no sympathy from me.  You made that bed, you can damn well sleep it in.

[MrBogosity]

So the bit about 1 dollar from 1964 being worth 25 dollars today is one more reason why whenever my mom says, "oh! You'll be making far more money than me or your dad did and have far more opportunities!" is complete bullshit.

It actually wasn't, until the generation after the Baby Boomers. They're the last ones for whom it was true.

So yeah. I will NOT be as financially well off as them in real terms unless I win the lottery and/or invest in a company that ends up being the next Standard Oil (good luck with the current economic climate of that and the regulatory burden), even worse is that they both seem to support--fully--the policies that enable this shit...just...wtf.

My mother was a child of the Depression whose mother was a single mom who had her at age 16. She did not come from a rich family. She got her cosmetology license (MUCH easier in those days) and became a manicurist in a barber shop, saving up as much money as she could so my mother could have a future. It wasn't much, but fortunately, college was cheap in those days, and the combination of what her mom had saved up for her and how much she got working at starting wages was enough for my mom to get her math degree--WITHOUT having a student loan.

My father was likewise a child of the Depression from a poor family. He only attended 1 or 2 years of college before being drafted into the Army. He took the opportunity there to learn engineering and became a surveyor. He became the first member of his family to not be a farmer. (His brother, my uncle, continued to work the farm.)

In the early '60s, my parents built a 2000-square-foot 3-bedroom ranch-style home on a 2½-acre lot, where my mother still lives. It cost them around $25,000 (one year's pay for my father) and they had it paid off in 10 years. By comparison, I built a similar house (only with 4 bedrooms instead of 3, but it's still just under 2000 square feet) in 2001 on a 1½-acre lot and it cost me $170,000. I have ~17 more years of paying a mortgage which represents half my bills. This in addition to having several more years of a student loan to pay off from getting my 4-year degree (don't listen to their bullshit when they tell you it's paid off in 10 years; it isn't. I'm going on 20 right now).

The years of the Tech Bubble was the only time I was being paid comparable to what my father was making, after adjusting for inflation. I haven't come close since.

Even without considering the hideous state of the current economy, there is just no way I could be said to be as well off as my parents.

[Travis Retriever]

It actually wasn't, until the generation after the Baby Boomers. They're the last ones for whom it was true.

My mother was a child of the Depression whose mother was a single mom who had her at age 16. She did not come from a rich family. She got her cosmetology license (MUCH easier in those days) and became a manicurist in a barber shop, saving up as much money as she could so my mother could have a future. It wasn't much, but fortunately, college was cheap in those days, and the combination of what her mom had saved up for her and how much she got working at starting wages was enough for my mom to get her math degree--WITHOUT having a student loan.

My father was likewise a child of the Depression from a poor family. He only attended 1 or 2 years of college before being drafted into the Army. He took the opportunity there to learn engineering and became a surveyor. He became the first member of his family to not be a farmer. (His brother, my uncle, continued to work the farm.)

In the early '60s, my parents built a 2000-square-foot 3-bedroom ranch-style home on a 2½-acre lot, where my mother still lives. It cost them around $25,000 (one year's pay for my father) and they had it paid off in 10 years. By comparison, I built a similar house (only with 4 bedrooms instead of 3, but it's still just under 2000 square feet) in 2001 on a 1½-acre lot and it cost me $170,000. I have ~17 more years of paying a mortgage which represents half my bills. This in addition to having several more years of a student loan to pay off from getting my 4-year degree (don't listen to their bullshit when they tell you it's paid off in 10 years; it isn't. I'm going on 20 right now).

The years of the Tech Bubble was the only time I was being paid comparable to what my father was making, after adjusting for inflation. I haven't come close since.

Even without considering the hideous state of the current economy, there is just no way I could be said to be as well off as my parents.

Very interesting...As for the this:  "(don't listen to their bullshit when they tell you it's paid off in 10 years; it isn't. I'm going on 20 right now)." makes me glad I only have about $23,000 in debt...they say 10 years and have a payment schedule and plan and everything mapped out online on their website.  My mom seems convinced of it.  I tried to warn her about getting a loan for this...god help us both...she calls me naive and silly/stupid for wanting to just knock all of that debt (if not a mortgage too) all at once...but honestly? Until I get some good reason(s) otherwise, that's probably going to be my plan....I hate being in debt--emotionally, financially,etc.  I always have, even as a young child.  I've ALWAYS been the one who saved his allowance and rarely if ever spent it if he could get away with it.  It's a reason I revile and hate inflation. >.<*