Disney and Universal score waivers to offer limited health plans for part-timers

Lord Gonchar said:
But since I fail the test because I think there will be death panels, I can't vote because I don't know enough about the issues that you feel are important.

No, you'd fail the test because there are no death panels. That's a fact, and if you're convinced there are death panels, you're a woefully uninformed citizen.

GoBucks89 said:
I think that in most cases, folks who support some type of voting test to vote are really just seeking to have more folks who vote/think like they do.

I was trying not to go there, but yeah, I think you're right.

I don't care whether or not someone agrees with my beliefs. In fact, I quite enjoy hearing well-referenced opposition to my beliefs, as it helps me become a more well-rounded, more informed citizen. What frightens me is knowing that people who think Obama is Hitler/not born in the US/feasts on the organs of baby unicorns have the same voting power as someone who does even a modicum of research (where they'd learn that none of the aforementioned absurd claims about Obama are true).

Well of course he's not Hitler. We killed...I mean, he killed himself.

Tekwardo said:
I see where you're coming from, I just don't think it's the best practice.

To be clear, I'm not convinced it's the best practice - there are always gray, murky areas and situations where this concept falls completely apart. I get that.

But with the current state of affairs in the US when it comes to the voting public, I'd say damn near any change would be an improvement.

none of the aforementioned absurd claims about Obama are true

Nobody has made those claims on here. Those are either in your mind or you got them somewhere else. The claims made here are...

• Is it good practice to allow minority rule if they assume they know better than the majority?
• Obama and the democrats have done just that!

Before you go arguing stuff you heard somewhere else...there it is boiled down for you. Nobody argues that Obama and the democrats did not have the right to do what they did. Elections have consequences... Some of us just opine that governing against the will of the people is not only stupid politics, it spits in the face of what democracy is supposed to achieve.

Now, we could debate how/why the people voted politicians that they do not really agree with into office. Was this all Bush's unpopularity? Was it Obama pretending to be something he is not? Etc... Many interesting topics that I'm certain you and I would see very differently. Should I have the right to vote by your test standards? ;)

Wait a second....I'm hearing that counseling sessions between terminally-ill patients and their physicians (as happens now) doesn't equate with being gunned down in front of a firing squad on your 80th birthday? Wow, I really do need to do more research...or something.

Yawn...

Are we going to talk at all about Disney and Universal Studios in this thread?

Out of the 118 posts you've made here on "CoasterBuzz", Aamilj (How does one pronounce that name , by the way?) How many of them have been about coasters or amusement parks?

Aamilj said:
Nobody has made those claims on here. Those are either in your mind or you got them somewhere else. The claims made here are...

Try reading my post next time. It may just help you comprehend it.

If that's too much trouble for you, I'll spell it out...

I never claimed anyone here made those claims about Obama.

But Travis! His posts are in the most popular threads (LOL, that's hard to type with a straight face)! Don't you get it! Everyone wants to argue with him!

Thank God that Aamilj has come to save us all from talking about coasters. Thank God.

Lets elect him president.

(BTW, that was all meant to be insulting, in case you didn't get that)

LostKause said:
Yawn...

Are we going to talk at all about Disney and Universal Studios in this thread?

Out of the 118 posts you've made here on "CoasterBuzz", Aamilj (How does one pronounce that name , by the way?) How many of them have been about coasters or amusement parks?

Either way Jeff might be getting some click through ad revenue and the conversation is slightly civil.....

djDaemon said:
What frightens me is knowing that people who think Obama is Hitler/not born in the US/feasts on the organs of baby unicorns have the same voting power as someone who does even a modicum of research (where they'd learn that none of the aforementioned absurd claims about Obama are true).

Doesn't give me the warm and fuzzies either. Though a lot of the stuff that folks on the other side of the aisle believe is pretty frightening as well. In general, I have found that folks tend to gloss over the garbage that cuts against candidates/positions that they favor and focus in on the garbage that cuts against the candidates/positions that they oppose. I suspect that LG would say whose to say what is "garbage" which is true to a large degree. But there is a lot of simply untrue things that folks in both parties spew because they know it will resonate with their base (particularly on the economy). I gave up watching any of the mainstream news outlets long ago because I always found myself wanting to throw stuff at the TV screen all the time. And I know folks who listen to those same outlets and totally agree with some and believe others are spreading nothing but lies. All part of the varied fabric of the American electorate I suppose.

True, Jerry. True. Carry on...

Milk come out my nose, Tek, and I spit chewed up cookies onto my Imac screen. lol

I'll keep reading, mostly skipping over whatever that guys name is's posts. :)

Jerry said:
Either way Jeff might be getting some click through ad revenue and the conversation is slightly civil.....

Well you don't see me intervening. :)

Maybe on that test you guys propose to allow people to vote, we can have a question or two about Dr. Donald Berwick. We could link it to knowledge about recess appointments. And if we wanted, we could ask about England's National Institute for Clinical Effectiveness (NICE).

All of the above form a nice weave of topics discussed this far.

Kause you are a little late with this thread's "coaster enough" post. You must have missed the earlier poster who tried to play gotcha with Arrow coasters. I've been studying my trim brakes versus skid breaks, etc...waiting for an interesting thread to drop that knowledge. I'll know my day has arrived when I get to drop an Immelman or two in a post. But you can rest assured that I've done my homework.

As a coaster lover I thank those on this site who have helped my development as an enthusiast. Just because I do not post, does not mean I don't read.

Now if somebody could start a thread as interesting as health care debate at Disney/Universal that involves double dips or how good The Beast was before they trimmed the crap out of it... I am game.

Maybe we can even have a test like that one they want to let us dummies vote. We could do a little multiple choice to see who is and is not coaster enough to participate in the forum. You know, just a little multiple choice! ;)

P.S. You are also a bit late to the "I don't read his posts" parade. I like you dude. I really do. I was once a broke traveler myself. But if you are going to skip the entire health-care debate and instead go straight to the personal insult play...at least come up with something that has not been tried or said multiple times before.

I didn't read that. ;)

I find it interesting that someone on the left would propose a test for voting--usually I see those proposals from the right. And like someone above mentioned, I think some on the right think a test that knocks off 10-20% of the electorate(who can't pass the test) would favor them.

I think it would also favor the right, but since the majority of my posts on this coaster board are not coaster related, discount that opinion as you must. (Full disclosure: I discount 100% anyone who uses the term "tea bagger!")

Who is this "you guys" that want a test? The only person I saw say that was DJ. The rest of us were opposed. I swear, we say we don't read but we do, he says he does read but I don't think he does.

djDaemon said:

And in case it wasn't already obvious, I'm a liberal (in most regards). And yes, with each passing day, I loathe this POTUS more and more. If he keeps this pace, by 2012 I may even be willing to vote for Palin! ;)

It might make both of us happy if you decided to vote for Kim Il Jong in 2012.

The problem with intelligence testing -- or any other kind of filter designed to winnow out the idiots -- is that it runs directly contrary to the concept of democracy. By definition, half of the potential voters out there (or perhaps slightly less than half, if you allow for excluded felons) are below average intelligence. And the average American is pretty stupid, which means that half of all Americans are basically as ignorant as basalt.

(And in case anyone thinks I'm being unpatriotic, you could just as easily substitute"Frenchman" or "Japanese" or "Icelander" and it would be pretty much the same thing.)

The answer ought to be educating people out of their ignorance. Except nobody wants to be re-educated -- and doesn't that word have a frightfully chilling air to it? -- since they don't know that they're ignorant.

It's amazing to this day how many people think that Obama wasn't born an American, or that he's secretly a Muslim. Reference the previously mentioned death panels. People don't believe the planet is warming disastrously, and that the human species is the main culprit for this transformation. Conversely, many of them are convinced that the Earth is 6,000 years old and that angels personally watch over their every move.

People believe this sh*t because they're ignorant, and they're easily swayed into believing things they want to believe, and disbelieving things they don't.

The problem is made all the worse by a cynical right wing leadership that understands the true nature of people and exploits, massages and manipulates this innate ignorance at every useful turn. Vast right-wing conspiracy? You betcha, Miss Palin**. You betcha.

**Bad example. She's even more ignorant than basalt.

I don't know how to fix this problem. The trouble is that pointing out to idiots how others are taking advantage of their idiocy only makes them angry.

Winston Churchill was right. Democracy really is the worst form of government, except for all the others that have been tried.

Cue: vitriolic reactions.

djDaemon said:

I don't care whether or not someone agrees with my beliefs. In fact, I quite enjoy hearing well-referenced opposition to my beliefs, as it helps me become a more well-rounded, more informed citizen.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who enjoys this. I have nothing but the utmost respect for anyone who can support their opposing opinions with real facts. In fact, I've even been known to be persuaded by them on occasion. It's called keeping an open mind.

Willful ignorance (which seems to be a growing trend in this country) will be our downfall if it continues. Like it or not, some issues (not all, but some) do have real, factual answers. Dismissing it as liberal garbage from the "intellectuals" because you think it's wrong doesn't do anybody any good.

For anyone who's interested, there's a great book called "Idiot America" that chronicles how the political and religious right in particular have perfected the exploitation of "willful ignorance" for their own gain.