deanb Posted November 14, 2012 Report Share Posted November 14, 2012 http://www.dolekemp96.org/main.htm Gaze into 1996 politics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waldorf and Statler Posted November 15, 2012 Report Share Posted November 15, 2012 I forgot Dole existed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted November 15, 2012 Report Share Posted November 15, 2012 I forgot how low res internet pictures were back then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted November 15, 2012 Report Share Posted November 15, 2012 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20336898 BP to be fined $3-5billion over Deepwater Horizon, the largest fine in US history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Jack Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 "Yeah, you stopped campaigning for Romney because a hurricane hit your state and then you said Obama did a good job when he went out of his way to help you during the recovery. You're a real selfish prick." 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mal Posted November 17, 2012 Report Share Posted November 17, 2012 I won't forget for a different reason: He broke character. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post deanb Posted December 1, 2012 Popular Post Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 btw is the poll worth removing, no one would object? 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Jack Posted December 17, 2012 Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/dec/12/hsbc-prosecution-fine-money-laundering Unbe-fucking-lievable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thursday Next Posted December 17, 2012 Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 That is appalling. Though not in the least bit shocking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post TheMightyEthan Posted December 17, 2012 Popular Post Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 It really confuses me how people can't separate the corporation itself from its people. Lets assume that HSBC really is too important in our economy to take out like that. Fine. Throw the fucking executives in jail and let someone else run the company. Why is that so hard? 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mal Posted December 17, 2012 Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 If they do something mundane like punch a kid or look at somebody wrong then maybe they'll get in trouble. If they do something big like this, its okay because they're the Thane of the World. Now go fetch me some scotch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Jack Posted December 17, 2012 Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 It really confuses me how people can't separate the corporation itself from its people. Lets assume that HSBC really is too important in our economy to take out like that. Fine. Throw the fucking executives in jail and let someone else run the company. Why is that so hard? Haven't you heard? Corporations ARE people now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted December 17, 2012 Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 Right, but that doesn't make the people that comprise the corporation suddenly un-people. It's the corporation that is supposedly too important to fuck with, not its employees/executives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Jack Posted December 17, 2012 Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 Apparently it does, because that's what just happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRevanchist Posted December 20, 2012 Report Share Posted December 20, 2012 http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/12/senator-introduces-bill-to-regulate-data-caps/ This is one of those "It's about time!" things. I'm glad that data caps are seriously going to be scrutinized by Congress, but they must also follow through with this, as I'm sure Comcast and the other giants of industry will line the pockets and campaign funds of various people this doesn't happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mal Posted December 20, 2012 Report Share Posted December 20, 2012 Its also about time we do an upgrade on our internet infrastructure (all of our infrastructure in actuality). Without a solid network, how can the US even begin pulling ahead in this century and beyond? ISPs (and other companies) can run away but most of us can't. And if I was a senator, they would have to line my pocket with an exclusive no cap, no throttle internet connection else I'll still suffer from the cap/throttle practices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredEffinChopin Posted December 22, 2012 Report Share Posted December 22, 2012 I know I have a knack for missing things right in front of my face, so pardon me if there is a more appropriate thread for this. I want to shoot off my mouth on gun control, and I'm hoping the fact that I'm punning this early is a good sign for the quality of my post. This will be really long, so the thrust of it, if you don't feel like reading is: gun control = good First-off, I'd like to speak about how gun control fits into my personal life, because no matter how much a discussion that a discussion on this topic should be sterile, anyone who holds a position on it is going to question the motive of another person who attempts to speak persuasively on the topic, especially if that person disagreeing with their basic beliefs. I've live in Queens, and have lived in various areas of it in my whole life. It's a large borough with many neighborhoods, almost all of which (in my opinion and experience, as this all will be) are pretty tame when we're talking about that roughest NY has or had to offer. Despite that, as a child and teenager I saw a pretty good number of guns. Sometimes flashed by someone, usually toward someone else. Sometimes passed around a group of awestruck teenagers. Sometimes flashed or aimed at me in a robbery for the money I had (or didn't have, when the laugh was on them once). I was in the 6th grade the first time I saw a gun, briefly, before it was pressed against my forehead, at which point I promptly handed over the $13 that my mother gave me for my graduation cap & gown. My own fault in part, for forgetting to hand it in at school that day. Not much has changed in that respect. It was a harsh first experience, but it at least served to damper every instance that came after, though in fairness they weren't all threatening. Generally speaking, I haven't had any serious trouble in my adult life involving them. Very occasionally I hear of someone I know-of getting shot, and sometimes I'll even come across a scene, such as last week when my block was closed off on one end where a shooting had occurred, and a (pretty cool-looking) investigation was taking place. On even rarer occasions the acquaintance has been the shooter. Most notably this guy, who I wasn't friends with, but was friendly with, and who I saw on a regular basis. A couple of my friends and I used to jokingly call him Luca Brasi, as he was strongly reminiscent of the character as portrayed in The Godfather. If you're seen the wedding scene at the beginning of the movie, you know all you need to know. Also like Luca, he was/is a hulk of a human, and we also used to joke about how we pitied the guy who ever tried to do something wrong to his girlfriend. Part of the joke too, was that he was really nice, at least to everyone I knew. Hell, he used to bring his snowblower down after storms, and take care of all the sidewalks in front of the local stores, no charge. Anyway, I'm rambling, and I'm only at the beginning of this, so let me corral it into a fucking point already. When people talk about "the criminals with guns" that honest citizens need to defend themselves against, we're talking about people who I feel that I am closer to than most of the country is, especially the portion of it that fights the hardest against there being any kind of regulation on the way guns are sold, and which guns are sold in this country. If those guys are worried about me, I'd appreciate it if someone got this message to them ASAP: I'm ok, really. I don't want a gun. I don't have a fantasy of someone pulling a gun on me, and me pulling one on them and saying "So what's it gonna be, chump?" Maybe since the reality of it might be me pulling out my gun and getting a hot one through the eye. I also don't have fantasies of me (or the teachers of this country, as some of the most extreme gun supporters have suggested) turning into a soldier when someone randomly starts firing, and jump-sliding over a desk while headshotting the fiend before his swinging arm manages to aim at me. Maybe because the reality of it might be me fumbling the gun, or missing the guy and hitting the person (it really doesn't have to be a child for us to be concerned about them getting killed, either) behind him. Trained officers in NY have been known to pump an outstanding number of bullets into a single unarmed suspect (with just handguns), so I don't know what the average gun owner's reaction is expected to be when they're simultaneously shocked and frightened, let alone the previously uninterested people who some are suggesting we should arm for safety now. Potentially (though I wouldn't suggest consistently, and it could swing the other way in certain scenarios), that mentality would see a lot of scenes become bloodbaths that would not have been otherwise, and leave a lot more people with the overwhelming burden of guilt that comes from taking an innocent life. Or even a guilty life. Situations that might have been fist fights. A person who hates me or/for what I'm saying but has still read to this point might be fuming about the examples I just gave, because they're not only extreme, but they are using situations that are suggested by the most extreme end of the gun support spectrum. Unfortunately though, that is the problem; that the moderate isn't even represented much anymore. The membership be damned, the leadership will say what the leadership says, and if there was any doubt about it, the NRA proved today that nothing, and this is nothing, will be discussed if it involves even a slight change to the way gun sales and ownership are treated in this country. They will deflect, point fingers, dodge, and incite, but they will not entertain even the slightest possibility that there just might be a connection between the fact of gun violence as a national issue that needs addressing, and the fact that we're armed to the teeth over here. They are an extremely powerful group, and it seems like their leadership currently only has one general goal, which amounts to "hands off my guns." The bottom line is that just about everyone believes in gun control. Unless you're reading this and you think it would be ok for me to buy nuclear weapons (and stuff to shoot them with....), you believe in gun control. Lord knows that this country and the UN are known to police it on a global scale without hesitation, but that's beside the point... kind of. It's arguable (as it's being argued all over the internet right now) that the 2nd Amendment does not intend the right to bear arms to be guaranteed to any particular extent, or in any situation. When it was written, it's pretty safe to say nobody saw this coming. Times have changed, and the same way that horse troughs have become gas stations, muskets have become assault rifles. I can't offer a specific suggestion of where I think our gun laws should end up, but when discussing the 2nd Amendment and why it is so defended, perhaps it's time we reestablished our collective idea of what an armed militia is, or at least what its intended purpose is. I hate to sound like I'm just trying to moot the entire thing in one fell swoop, but every scenario I come up with in which the people might take up arms against the government ends in the people that choose to do so being slaughtered. If there is any kind of coup or defiance or anything like that, it's going to be accomplished with bodies and voices; we have a lot of both. If the military gets involved, we won't be in any gun fights. Unless you have something out of Mordecai's stash, and think you can hit a drone at however-many thousand feet it's flying, the military will kill us with remote controls that might as well have thumbsticks and a start button. I don't like that reality, and if we could be a people that could successfully overthrow the government should the need ever arise, I would have a slightly different stance on this topic. Unfortunately, that ship has sailed, and in the meantime the right to bear arms continues to become increasingly abused over time as we find ourselves in the awkward position of being the only one of the world's most prosperous nations that just can't stop shooting each other. One thing I do know is that the 2nd Amendment doesn't say a word about the NRA. I honestly apologize to any members who might be reading that are offended. I don't lump all gun owners into a group of crazies, and have (admittedly few) relatives and friends who own firearms. The NRA has a face though, and today was clear as air. For the sake of industry (and let's face it, that's all that this, and what the vast majority of our corrupt politics comes down to), the NRA has been using the right to bear arms as a reason to find more ways to sell deadlier weapons to more people. There is a gun culture in this country that I feel they have played a much larger role in facilitating than any video games or lack of supervision that they frantically point at whenever everyone is staring at them. Never mind the fact that a crazy person who doesn't have access to a weapon can't pound more than sand. And then when lax gun laws see illegal guns turning up all over the place, that's more reason to get more guns, to be safe from the criminals that the circulation of guns allowed in the first place. Then when a responsible owner has her gun taken from her before she and many others are murdered by it, they come on TV and take a tough tone on everything but guns, while encouraging... you guessed it. Don't get me wrong, I don't think having police around schools is a bad idea (though armed guards at elementary schools is too much and will never fly), but I think that that should be going on anyway, and the police don't need the NRA's assistance in figuring out how to allocate their force. That's not what the public wants to discuss with the NRA though. I know that many, if not most legal gun owners are responsible people, and it sucks for them to have (arguably, what they feel like) their rights being violated, but that just doesn't hold water anymore; enough bad apples will ruin the bunch. Pardon my saying so, but it didn't take a bunch of children being killed for it to not-hold water, but now there is absolutely no ignoring it for more people than ever. The fact of the matter is that whether we're talking about the NRA, the gun industry at every level, or to some extent gun owners, the gun population have proven that collectively, they are exactly not responsible enough. Do I think the assault weapon ban will change much as far as overall gun violence? Outside of (potentially) mass-killings, probably not, and especially not quickly. But it's excessive, and it's time some kind of measures are taken to regulate it. What I can't understand is why there are so many ways of accessing guns legally through gun shows, or why other loopholes and dishonest business transactions aren't being tracked more closely. I understand that guns are smuggled, but there is no denying that many of these illegal guns that the NRA seem to imply just materialize out of thin air are coming from legal sources. I'm sick of hearing "out of my cold dead hands". That translates to me as "No, you don't have a solution, because WE WON'T FUCKING LET YOU HAVE ONE!" I'm also sick of hearing "Where does it stop, my knife?" Stop it. If it ever gets to the point of an all-out weapon ban in the US, it will be in a long time, and it will be because society has worked itself towards that, not because of overnight legislation. Every time I hear silly arguments though, it highlights the length to which the gun culture is aware of it's role in this problem. Just some fucking acknowledgment. Some regulation. Some concern for something other than your fucking right to own a gun, even if it infringes on freedoms of speech by demonizing the media and the artistic community. While a world without guns in the street is a fantasy in my mind, I wouldn't propose that we just start yanking everyone's guns from them. I do think it's time that gun enthusiasts start examining the cost of their "freedom" on society though, and estimate its value against it, instead of angrily denying that there might be a problem. I have enough reason to fear gun violence, and feel I have a better chance of getting hit by a bullet that a good deal of the country. Still though, I walk pretty much anywhere. If my destination is a rough area at 3am, I walk right on in, and it's not that I'm tough or brave, or any of that. I get scared, but I'm not going to let fear push me to do something that I could well wind up regretting. I keep a baseball bat at home, and sometimes think of how futile it would be if someone were to break in with a gun, but I'd rather take the risk than live life with a pistol under my bed. Perhaps I'll buy a stun gun one day, or some shit. Progress! hehe. Ok, I think I'm done. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Jack Posted December 22, 2012 Report Share Posted December 22, 2012 (edited) Edited December 22, 2012 by Mister Jack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted January 2, 2013 Report Share Posted January 2, 2013 So, Fiscal Cliff for a brit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted January 2, 2013 Report Share Posted January 2, 2013 Basically a couple years ago to get a budget agreement congress passed a temporary budget and then built in to it that if they didn't have a more permanent agreement by 2013 then all these huge spending cuts would go into effect, some stuff that Republicans would hate and other stuff that Democrats would hate. The idea was to force them to come to an agreement that worked for both sides, because if they didn't then something would happen that everyone hated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted January 2, 2013 Report Share Posted January 2, 2013 What kinda cuts? And why are some folks seeing it as like major crippling to US economy (and by extension the worlds) and others treating it as a lot of hot air and nothing to be concerned about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted January 2, 2013 Report Share Posted January 2, 2013 The big ones that the Republicans didn't like were military cuts, and the big ones for the Dems were Social Security, Medicare, etc. A lot of people thought it would cripple the economy because the US government is such a big spender that the loss of all that money would cause contraction of the economy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pirate Posted January 6, 2013 Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 (edited) http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AsI2xc_FYX0 Edited January 6, 2013 by LittlePirate 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Jack Posted January 8, 2013 Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2013/01/congress-somewhere-below-cockroaches-traffic-jams-and-nickleback-in-americans-esteem.html Congress is now more unpopular than roaches, head lice, NFL replacement refs, traffic jams, and NICKELBACK 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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