dagblog - Comments for "May employment number"

self indulgent Worse, it's

Aunt Sam — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 15:32:28 +0000

In reply to Agree. I'll back off the

~~self indulgent~~

Worse, it's self defeating. It only makes most .

Agree. I'll back off the

Flavius — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 15:21:08 +0000

In reply to Your predictions as to

Agree. I'll back off the pessimistic predictions.

They're self indulgent

Your predictions as to

Aunt Sam — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 14:58:05 +0000

In reply to Just to clarify. I don't

Your predictions as to expenditures of CU $ are, no doubt, on target.

My point is that, IMO, statements such as:

Obama's toast. I'm sorry to say.

are not calls to be proactive, but one more instance of piling on the doom and gloom scenario.

Again, IMO, there's too much of the 'glass half empty' sentiments which is neither helpful or productive (except for the GOP). How about instead we come together for the purpose of proposing positive ideas and processes that will counter:

Not just to sell Romney but to unsell Obama.

Just to clarify. I don't

Flavius — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 14:02:39 +0000

In reply to I believe we too quickly fall

Just to clarify. I don't think the May employment number per se will impact his chances. It's the absence of the reality of a higher number.

200K increase per month from May to Sept would have resulted in a million voters somewhat more likely to vote for him than if they were still unemployed.

Given my profound pessimism that he could have prevailed against the tsunami of advertising that Citizens United will have released maybe that million potential voters would have been irrelevant anyway.

Those CU $s aren't just going to be spent on more of the same. They'll be spent in part to hire really talented people who will have really clever and persuasive ideas. Not just to sell Romney but to unsell Obama. For example by broadcasting the anti Obama comments which appear here (in all good faith) but which don't reach susceptible disappointed liberals in the rest of the non-Dagblog population.

They'll be reached this summer by Karl Rove. Perhaps even with quotes from here.

This is not a disguised attempt to stifle criticism here. Just a discouraged prediction of what's to come

I love finding out word

MrSmith1 — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 05:06:46 +0000

In reply to Your comment gave me a reason

I love finding out word origins. But I admit, I also sometimes like to make words up. I'm not sure what made me write dye instead of die in this instance. It seemed to fit. Oh well. Sorry about that. Mea Culpa, Mea Maxima Culpa.

Your comment gave me a reason

artappraiser — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 04:35:04 +0000

In reply to Please excuse a diversion

Your comment gave me a reason to stop and take a moment to look it up, as I too always wondered whether it might either or both refer to dice/a cast mold. Lo and behold , it's got a very exact history:

Alea iacta est

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"The die is cast" redirects here [....]

Alea iacta est (Latin: "The die has been cast") is a Latin phrase attributed by Suetonius (as iacta alea est [ˈjakta ˈaːlea est]) to Julius Caesar on January 10, 49 BC as he led his army across the River Rubicon in Northern Italy. With this step, he entered Italy at the head of his army in defiance and began his long civil war against Pompey and the Optimates. The phrase is still used today to mean that events have passed a point of no return, that something inevitably will happen [....]

and if you read on further in that entry you will find the main reason it was picked up in the English language and we still use it: Shakespeare popularizing it after picking it up from the original! The entry also says a little bit about it definitely referring to a dice game of chance, not the other kind of casting.

Now on to the meaning: if it were the other kind of casting, that would make it similar to saying something has been "set in stone," you can't change it now. The exact original use of the "dice" meaning, on the other hand, is a teeny bit different, it's more about the point in time when the dice are still in the air, even though there is sure to be only one result, there's more the sense of anticipation and not knowing.

Exactly. I like that kind of

MrSmith1 — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 00:34:19 +0000

In reply to Please excuse a diversion

Exactly. I like that kind of flexibility in a phrase ... Of course, I could have used the "rye is crust", but ... well, that's gotten kind of stale, and I'd feel as if I was loafing.

I believe we too quickly fall

Aunt Sam — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 15:22:32 +0000

In reply to May employment number

I believe we too quickly fall into the destructive pattern of chicken little in predicting doom and gloom scenarios. If only we put forth the same energy in touting the positives.

Again I propose we give equal time and effort to changing negative reaction to positive action.

It's a concept that, IMO, will deliver better results.

Please excuse a diversion

LULU — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 14:02:49 +0000

In reply to Sorry to disagree. I don't

Please excuse a diversion here from the topic. I noticed a long time ago [like many others, it turns out] the oddity that the phrase, ‘The die is cast’, can be said with completely different meanings for the word ‘die’ as well as for ‘cast’ and the meaning of the phrase remains substantially the same, or at least applicable for a very similar statement.. I’m thinking of when the phrase is used as it is here.

In one case die means a single numbered gambling cube that has been thrown so the decision has been made. Most seem to think that because the die has been cast the decision has not only been made but is known. I like to think of it meaning that events have been set in motion that are irrevocable but what that conclusion is has not yet been revealed, the die is still rolling. But that is another diversion within my diversion. In the other case, die means the formed machine part or mold that imparts the shape of everything made from it.

I was struck by the phrase here, ‘dye is cast’ and how using a homonym of die could still impart a meaning along somewhat similar lines, with an ironic twist when applied to politics. Paraphrasing from a google entry: "Cast" is an archaic term for dying material. "The dye is cast." can mean that once the dye is cast, you can never recover the original color of the material. You can only cast a color darker than the current color.

Yeah what the hell is

Richard Day — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 10:40:54 +0000

In reply to In Seattle, there are a

Yeah what the hell is happening over there?

Is everyone going 'postal'?

Are there more gangs?

From what I read these homicidal maniacs come out of the wood work and act as individuals.

compared to car accidents or heart disease the deaths in your parts are not even measurable except in cable news.

I was just wondering.