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Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#289076: Sep 1st 2019 at 9:51:30 AM

Hey, (shoulder shrug), it would have kept Trump out.

No it wouldn’t, it would have kept out Obama. Intelligence tests have been done before, they’re rigged against blacks people and for white people.

Let’s not go back to Jim Crow.

Edited by Silasw on Sep 1st 2019 at 4:53:29 PM

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
Protagonist506 from Oregon Since: Dec, 2013 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#289077: Sep 1st 2019 at 9:52:03 AM

It should be noted that it isn’t hard to rig an IQ test, and it is actually kind of hard to make one that’s fair. In fact, the first IQ tests were deliberately designed to give higher I Qs to the wealthy.

Leviticus 19:34
3of4 Just a harmless giant from a foreign land. from Five Seconds in the Future. Since: Jan, 2010 Relationship Status: GAR for Archer
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
#289078: Sep 1st 2019 at 9:52:26 AM

And IQ tests are reliable instead of a inexact way for people who spell smug as smart to compare the length of their dicks.

[nja]

Edited by 3of4 on Sep 1st 2019 at 6:53:49 PM

"You can reply to this Message!"
TitanJump Since: Sep, 2013 Relationship Status: Singularity
#289079: Sep 1st 2019 at 9:55:14 AM

[up][up][up] (Wait, it has already been tried and failed? Huh...Didn't knew.)

In that case...

Upgrade cyber-security in order to keep electronic intervention from the election system, punish Russia for their constant interfering with the election, (alongside any other country that's trying it) and strip the position that Mitch Mc Connell is currently occupying from all of its power so it can never serve as a "cork in a bottleneck" as he's currently is acting as ever again.

Edited by TitanJump on Sep 1st 2019 at 6:56:29 PM

Protagonist506 from Oregon Since: Dec, 2013 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#289080: Sep 1st 2019 at 10:07:46 AM

Also, I would argue Trump is actually not unintelligent in a sense measurable to science. Believing Alex Jones, for example, does not actually mean you're dumb in an objective sense of the word (people who are smart do believe in things like that at time).

On the flipside, I would argue he's actually a lot smarter than he looks, just not in areas we want him to be. Don't think of him as a stupid politician, but as a very skilled conman.

Leviticus 19:34
Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#289081: Sep 1st 2019 at 10:11:16 AM

He's as smart as he looks as to say he's as dumb as he sounds

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
3of4 Just a harmless giant from a foreign land. from Five Seconds in the Future. Since: Jan, 2010 Relationship Status: GAR for Archer
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
#289082: Sep 1st 2019 at 10:11:33 AM

Gerrymandering is the big issue, as is voter suppression.

"You can reply to this Message!"
Robrecht Your friendly neighbourhood Regent from The Netherlands Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: They can't hide forever. We've got satellites.
Your friendly neighbourhood Regent
#289083: Sep 1st 2019 at 10:18:49 AM

Not only are IQ tests unreliable to begin with and tend to have a significant cultural bias, but even if they were an accurate way to measure intelligence that couldn't be rigged in any way, it would still be a bad idea.

Intelligence doesn't equal wisdom, nor does it guarantee someone has the right knowledge for a given job. And intelligence definitely guarantee one isn't a shitty person.

Trump, for instance, is not dumb. People really need to stop thinking he is.

His actions aren't the result of a lack of intelligence, but from the fact that he's used to 50 years worth of being 'the boss' in US business culture, where anyone in a leadership position is always right and anyone below them tells them what they want to hear or gets fired.

He's a massive buffoon because he's used to being in charge in an environment where his actions never have negative consequences for him and lawyers can make anything bad go away if you pay them enough.

His racism, sexism and general cretinous bigotry are also genuine, not a product of him being 'too dumb to know what he's saying'.

If anything's a good reason to go anarchist, it's the knowledge that what Trump's saying in public is what most prominent businessmen in the US are used to talking like amongst each other.

Edited by Robrecht on Sep 1st 2019 at 7:23:40 PM

Angry gets shit done.
archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#289084: Sep 1st 2019 at 10:22:07 AM

strip the position that Mitch Mc Connell is currently occupying from all of its power so it can never serve as a "cork in a bottleneck" as he's currently is acting as ever again.

The position of Majority Leader isn’t the issue here, it’s the existence of a massive Republican majority.

They should have sent a poet.
TitanJump Since: Sep, 2013 Relationship Status: Singularity
#289085: Sep 1st 2019 at 10:28:42 AM

[up] But isn't it him alone who's deciding to block everything anyone tries to send to the president's office right now?

archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#289086: Sep 1st 2019 at 10:32:16 AM

[up] He’s not blocking them by himself. For a bill to be ”blocked” Republican senators have to vote as a group.

They should have sent a poet.
3of4 Just a harmless giant from a foreign land. from Five Seconds in the Future. Since: Jan, 2010 Relationship Status: GAR for Archer
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
#289087: Sep 1st 2019 at 10:37:52 AM

He's only blocking certain bills from bring voted on to spare the GOP Senators from bring on record as voting against "Anti Puppy Kicking Law 2019"

"You can reply to this Message!"
CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#289088: Sep 1st 2019 at 10:42:28 AM

Ben Carson is living proof that a brilliant man can still be a total buffoon. Whether Trump is stupid is debatable — he's certainly not intelligent, but he has a certain low cunning , and he has a good understanding, in spite of all the damage he's done, of his own image politics. But he has nowhere near the intellect necessary to steer this country, let alone his own companies, which he routinely drives to bankruptcy. Above all else, though, he's purely a thug, so guiding his behavior through a concentration of pure Id is going to make him look stupid, stupider than he may even be, because he's attempting a task of such innate complexity.

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#289089: Sep 1st 2019 at 10:55:25 AM

Edit: On the actual question, it will be difficult since the Democrats are unlikely to get a filibuster proof majority in the Senate, and probably aren't willing to simply throw the filibuster away.

I don't think this can be said with any kind of certainty.

We aren't going to get a filibuster-proof majority, as such the options will to either abolish the filibuster or not and do absolutely nothing to reform the US and fight climate change.

Enough people are intelligent and courageous enough to see the absolute travesty of #2 and thus there is most certainly going to be a serious debate about it, so I don't think assumptions about what "probablly" will or won't happen is wise.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Sep 1st 2019 at 10:56:56 AM

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#289090: Sep 1st 2019 at 11:10:48 AM

This video by Wendover Productions about the Charlottesville massacre caught my eye, and having watched it, I would like some feedback about the accuracy of the claims within it, which I summarize below (I may have missed some things, so it may be better to watch the video anyway).

  1. US riot police's legal job is not to stop riots or even suppress their violence, but to prevent said violence from going out of control. To be more specific, they aren't supposed to arrest every single person that is being violent, for two reasons: most often it's too dangerous for the police officers to attempt doing so (the video illustrates how a riot police unit is supposed to conduct its arrests), and most importantly it would re-focus the rioters' anger and thus violence upon the police.

  2. The Charlottesville riot police's actions during the event were constrained by the following factors:
    1. Charlottesville is a tiny town, and thus its native police force is appropriately small and has little to no experience in dealing with riots.
    2. The numbers of the Unite the Right protesters and the opposing counter-protesters were huge compared to the size of Charlottesville (which, as noted earlier, is quite small). Of note is that the Charlottesville authorities tried to persuade the alt-right protestors to hold their rally in a considerably bigger space within the town, but that ultimately failed.
    3. While the rally (and by proxy, the counter-protest) were supposed to be held at around noon, the designated area was already packed to the limit by early morning and far more protestors from both sides were still converging, crowding practically all the streets surrounding the rally's intended location.

  3. Despite all the odds and the criticism they received afterwards, the Charlottesville riot police actually did their job the best they could with what little they had, with only 3 deaths and a little over 30 injuries (consider that the protestors and counterprotestors together numbered over 1500 people by official estimates). Had the police not been there or had they attempted to violently crack down on the protestors like many wanted them to, there most probably would've been far more deaths and injuries.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#289091: Sep 1st 2019 at 11:18:05 AM

The obvious question however becomes, if the local police was so obviously going to be outmatched, why were extra help from neighbouring forces (or if need be state level forces) bought in to help with riot control?

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#289092: Sep 1st 2019 at 11:20:59 AM

Because they did''nt have systems in place to support things like that

translation:the police force is overstretched and can't afford outside help

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
TitanJump Since: Sep, 2013 Relationship Status: Singularity
#289093: Sep 1st 2019 at 11:27:37 AM

[up][up][up] Wow...1500+?

I'll give the riot police there a standing ovation of appreciation for their efforts...

Things could have gone a lot worse.

Edited by TitanJump on Sep 1st 2019 at 8:27:53 PM

archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#289094: Sep 1st 2019 at 11:47:19 AM

I’ll also add that for small departments like Charlottesville, which has a little over 100 officers, “riot police” is a bit of a misnomer. Only large police department said have dedicated riot/tactical squads, small departments will just call up regular patrol officers if the need arises.

They should have sent a poet.
MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#289095: Sep 1st 2019 at 11:55:27 AM

So... The description of how riot police typically work note  is true?

[up] IIRC that's pretty much how Wendover described Charlottesville PD's "riot police": They're not really dedicated riot police, even if they do have the typical gear.

Edited by MarqFJA on Sep 1st 2019 at 9:55:53 PM

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#289096: Sep 1st 2019 at 11:57:20 AM

[up]X4 To support calling up a neighbouring force and going “dude we’re gonna get trashed next week, can you sent some guys over to help?” or even calling the governor and going “Governor we don’t have enough men to contain groups this large, you need to send the national guard in or you’re gonna have a massive riot on your hands”?

All they need is a phone to call for help.

Edited by Silasw on Sep 1st 2019 at 9:33:29 AM

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#289097: Sep 1st 2019 at 12:30:32 PM

[up][up] More or less. The goal of crowd control is to keep violence and disruption to a minimum while still respecting people’s right to protest, and arresting literally every person in the crowd is counterproductive to that, not to mention most of them probably couldn’t be charged with anything.

And that’s pretty much how “riot police” are in most of the country. Outside of major metro areas and the like, dedicated tactical squads are very uncommon.

[up] Yeah, they made that phone call. That’s why they had state troopers on scene. Two of the three deaths at the event were state troopers who were killed in a helicopter crash while on the way to provide tactical support.

State Police are who you call for situations like this if you’re a small local PD. They’re more militarized than regular police and maintain specialized capabilities and units to loan out.

Edited by archonspeaks on Sep 1st 2019 at 12:36:56 PM

They should have sent a poet.
HailMuffins Since: May, 2016 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
#289098: Sep 1st 2019 at 12:31:16 PM

[up]x2 I find it hard to believe the logistics of that are as simple as what you are suggesting.

Edited by HailMuffins on Sep 1st 2019 at 4:32:23 PM

Imca (Veteran)
#289099: Sep 1st 2019 at 2:14:34 PM

Upgrade cyber-security in order to keep electronic intervention from the election system, punish Russia for their constant interfering with the election, (alongside any other country that's trying it)

This first part won't actualy help that much and is part of a myth that needs to die.... Russia didn't hack into any thing and change the votes, that isn't what the "election interference" was, it was acquiring the voter roles... and then delivering ultra-targeted adds and fake news storied.

Things that would push some one on the edge to the candidate they wanted, or would encourage the ones supporting Trump to actually put there money where there mouth is and vote.

People like to claim the Russia thing is hacking, which while true gives people the wrong impression due to how Hollywood depicts hacking, and allows them to absolve the US of guilt for its own actions... The reality is that it was just poking what was already there, and that a key part of hacking is Social Manipulation.

The later part is spot on though, they actually need to face consequences for doing shit like that.

Edited by Imca on Sep 1st 2019 at 2:15:15 AM

Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#289100: Sep 1st 2019 at 2:36:08 PM

[up]X3 So did State PD not have enough manpower to properly cover things or was it either the numbers not being truly know at the planning stage or this sadly being the outcome you get even with enough police on the ground?

[up] You’re right, but there remains a real risk of direct cyber-action, if it turns out Russia are the ones behind the rigged voting machines in Mississippi I’m not gonna be surprised.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran

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