Nov 2023 Mod notice:
There may be other, more specific, threads about some aspects of US politics, but this one tends to act as a hub for all sorts of related news and information, so it's usually one of the busiest OTC threads.
If you're new to OTC, it's worth reading the Introduction to On-Topic Conversations and the On-Topic Conversations debate guidelines before posting here.
Rumor-based, fear-mongering and/or inflammatory statements that damage the quality of the thread will be thumped. Off-topic posts will also be thumped. Repeat offenders may be suspended.
If time spent moderating this thread remains a distraction from moderation of the wiki itself, the thread will need to be locked. We want to avoid that, so please follow the forum rules when posting here.
In line with the general forum rules, 'gravedancing' is prohibited here. If you're celebrating someone's death or hoping that they die, your post will get thumped. This rule applies regardless of what the person you're discussing has said or done.
Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
I'll have to make note of that Alt Text; it's brilliant.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Though odd thought - does Mexico have Freedom of Speech? At least to the same level the US does? Because he has no legal ground to argue with here (except maybe breach-of-contract), but it might be even more laughable depending on Mexican laws regarding it.
As for the guns/religion thing - Ace, look up "God, Guns, & some third thing" online. There's a TON of that in the US.
Also, I managed to pin down precisely what bugged me about various media reactions to the inmates being re-captured and one killed - I recently started watching Deadman Wonderland, and it was disturbing how similar the reactions in Real Life were to how the audience responded to seeing inmates die during the "Dog Race" in episode 2. When you resemble a work of Dystopian fiction, that's not a good sign.
"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"Mexican law has nothing to do with it. Univision is an American network.
"What a century this week has been." - Seung Min Kim(Basically for those unaware, the current Governor of New York is a Democrat, who basically backstabs other Democrats regularly to align with Republicans in hopes of being the "Centrist" Democrat President in the next few election cycles.)
edited 1st Jul '15 1:55:02 PM by PotatoesRock
Many were increasingly of the opinion that they'd all made a big mistake in coming down from the trees in the first place. - Douglas AdamsBriefly read an article about Democrats being glad that Trump is rising in the polls among Republicans, since it gives them an opportunity to make the party look like he represents it.
I'm up for joining Discord servers! PM me if you know any good ones!Yeah, Cuomo is a major league douchebag.
Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.Fuck Cuomo, de Blasio is the shit. Would love it if he were Sanders' VP.
"Free speech shall be restricted neither judicially nor administratively, but when it represent an attack to public morality or individual rights as well as when it produces a criminal offence or disturbs the public order; the right to information shall be enforced by the State."
And Article 7 also has some important bits:
"The freedom to write and publish writings on any subjects is inviolable. Neither laws, nor authorities shall execute any kind of previous censorship. [...] Neither laws, nor authorities shall restrict the freedom of speech executed through publishing printed materials. [...]"
In theory this means the government can only restrict freedom of speech in special cases, like terrorism. In practice... eh... let's not talk about that.
To be fair, I think that's technically true of the United States, as well (if I understand what you mean when you say that). For example, one cannot shout "fire" in a crowded theater or discuss that they're planning to kill the president.
"Any campaign world where an orc samurai can leap off a landcruiser to fight a herd of Bulbasaurs will always have my vote of confidence"Getting caught discussing plans to kill the president would probably get the authorities on you in any country really.
Fun fact, in the manga Gamble Fish (starring a charcter named Tomu) there's an Obama expy.
The principle antagonist of the series shoots him in the head!
Don't worry, he ends up being just fine.
edited 2nd Jul '15 6:11:31 AM by AngelicBraeburn
The artist formally known as Deviant Braeburnedited 2nd Jul '15 6:11:15 AM by AngelicBraeburn
The artist formally known as Deviant BraeburnMy god, is the entire Republican party running for president?!?
You'd think already having 20+ candidates would discourage people from throwing their hat into the ring.
edited 2nd Jul '15 6:33:43 AM by nightwyrm_zero
At this rate we're going to have Donald Trump being the Republican runner, if only because the enormous number of candidates will dilute the votes in the primary.
Not Three Laws compliant.But one of the even more shocking areas of inequality had to do with what happens after arrest — who's released and who ends up behind bars. The Reentry Council concluded that black adults are less likely to be released, although they're more likely than white adults to meet the conditions for release. And this happens at every single step of the process:
Black adults are less likely to be released at all process steps: Black adults are less likely to receive an "other" release (i.e., cited, bailed, and dismissed); less likely than White adults to be released by the duty commissioner; and less likely to be granted pretrial release at arraignment.
Could it be that black people aren't being released because of other factors that weigh against release, like prior felonies or prior misdemeanors? Did education make a difference? No.
The study controlled for these things and found that, no matter how you slice it, black people are more likely to remain in custody while white people are more likely to walk free.
Out of all adults who meet the criteria for pretrial release (the entirety of the SFPDP database):
39 percent of Black adults had prior felony(ies) compared to 26 percent of White adults, however, White adults with a prior felony were almost always more likely to be released at arraignment than Black adults with a prior felony
44 percent of Black adults had prior misdemeanor(s) compared to 45 percent of White adults, however, White adults with a prior misdemeanor were almost always more likely to be released at arraignment than Black adults with a prior misdemeanor; and 62 percent of Black adults had a high school diploma or GED compared to 66 percent of White adults, however, White adults with a HSD/GED were almost always more likely to be released at arraignment than Black adults with a HSD/GED.
Public Defender Jeff Adachi told SF Weekly that the way black San Franciscans are treated — especially when it comes to pretrial release — puts an enormous burden not just on the people who are arrested, but their families and their entire communities.
"There is a direct correlation between being denied pretrial release and being convicted," he said. "People in jail are more likely to plead guilty just to get out, even if they're innocent. Being allowed pretrial release means being able to hold onto your job, your housing—even your children."
"All ni**ers must fucking hang": the text messages
While organizations like the San Francisco Reentry Council are scrutinizing available data to uncover evidence of bias in the city's criminal justice system, San Francisco prosecutors are investigating 3,000 specific criminal cases that may have been compromised by 14 police officers whose biases were revealed by the racist, sexist, and homophobic text messages.
The text messages that sparked the probe were originally uncovered in a court document. In March, prosecutors filed a motion opposing bail for former police officer Ian Furminger, who'd been sentenced on corruption-related charges. The motion listed his text messages — which included racial slurs and stereotypes about African Americans. They argued that the content of the text messages indicated he was not worthy of bail.
The text messages Furminger exchanged with people, including other San Francisco police officers, use racist statements to describe people whom we can assume to be San Francisco residents the officers were charged with serving (in response to a message saying "all ni**ers should be spayed," Furminger replied, "I just saw one an hour ago with 4 kids"), as well as other police officers ("fuckin ni**er" was his response to a colleague's promotion to sergeant).
Gee, I hope my hometown of NYC will be learning its lessons and doing better... oh wait, this week NY Police Commissioner Bill Bratton shot down all 9 reforms proposed by the City Council
...
The commissioner labeled nine bills that would outlaw police chokeholds, put restrictions on street stops and require greater disclosure of police records as largely unnecessary, prompting City Councilwoman Vanessa Gibson to comment, “I see we’re batting 0 for 9.”
Much of the proposed legislation came in response to the police chokehold death of Eric Garner and to the NYPD’s widespread use of street stops to fight crime. Critics say the measures are needed in part to repair relations in communities of color where the department is viewed as overaggressive.
The bill that would make using chokeholds a misdemeanor isn’t needed because the department already bans the maneuver, Bratton said.
“We firmly believe that this prohibition should remain a matter of policy rather than become, on its face, a crime,” he said.
Bratton also challenged bills that would require officers to identify themselves to people they stop and inform them they can refuse to be searched, saying the NYPD has already answered concerns by drastically cutting back on the stops and implementing better training.
I particularly like the part about not needing to have any penalties for chokeholds because it's already banned... just like it was banned last year when using a chokehold for the horrific crime of selling loose cigarettes resulted in a needless death and the officer wasn't indicted, despite the ban on using chokes.
Bill Bratton, fuck you.
| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |I'd cross post that into the Racism Thread. I'm sure everyone there would enjoy it.
Oh really when?I kind of made up my mind regarding Christie as soon as he claimed that "we need strength in the Oval Office" - this coming from the same party that has made repeated claims that "Obama's acting like a dictator!"
I can't exactly think of a dictator that could be described as "hand-wringing" or "wishy-washy".
"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"I really do love that bit. Is Obama spineless and incapable of doing anything or is he an iron fisted dictator? He can't be both,
Oh really when?Done, along with some extra content not posted here.
And yeah, rightwingers trying to sort out their mutually exclusive claims about Obama is always hilarious.
| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |Well, you'd start to notice that "Obama is a tyrant" gets applied mostly to domestic stuff while "Obama is weak" gets applied to foreign stuff.
It's like they want a president who lets you do whatever you want while making US number one by beating up the world.
He is also a muslim and an atheist and a jew.
XKCD's mouse-hover captions never disappoint.
Furthermore, I think Guantanamo must be destroyed.