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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
I tought I might post this.
"There's a reason former Senator Russ Feingold is a college professor whereas former Senator Chris Dodd is now a multi-millionaire. There's a reason DOJ officials do not go after bankers who illegally foreclose, and then get jobs as partners in white collar criminal defense. There's a reason no one has been held accountable for decisions leading to the financial crisis, or the war in Iraq.
"This reason is the modern ethic in American society that defines success as climbing up the ladder, consequences be damned. Corrupt self-interest, when it goes systemwide, demands that it protect rentiers from people like Aaron, that it intimidate, co-opt, humiliate, fire, destroy, and/or bankrupt those who stand for justice."
aslo:
Rare Photographs Show Ground Zero of the Drone War
An hour after Behram took this picture, Naeemullah died of his injuries.
edited 16th Jan '13 8:51:45 AM by Baff
I will always cherish the chance of a new beggining.I know this is old but I was looking at the exit polls
for the last election and a few things struck me as unusual.
- Thirty somethings were largely in favor of Obama. While it's not too strange I thought Romney would have a lead in that category. The 40-50 vote was also a bit more split than I thought it would be.
- The percentage of the black vote that went to Obama was much higher in all categories compared to whites (no surprise there) but younger blacks seemed to be more in favor of Mitt Romney than older ones. I'd have thought it would be the reverse.
- The percentage of voters that self identified as liberal is much lower than most demographic studies I've seen. Obama still won but it looks like people need to get out and vote more often.
- Obama seems to have lost the independent vote going by the party ID chart. This makes the above point even stranger.
- Contrary to what the rightwing media would have you believe schools and colleges aren't indoctrinating your children (at the very least they're not doing it well). All but the post graduate and no education groups were very close and Romney even won in the college graduate category.
- Below that you see again that the college graduates and non graduates are still very close. In fact those that didn't attend college were more in favor of Obama than those that did attend.
- Obama didn't win the ardent churchgoers but he still won clear majorities in some of the less passionate. Him winning isn't too odd but the amount by which he won is in my opinion.
- Obama won all religious groups but Protestant, even Catholics. We discussed this before but it still seems odd.
- The number of Republican voters that said abortion should be mostly legal is higher than I expected. The Akin types should probably take a look at these numbers and think twice before shooting off their mouths again.
- Health care was the number one concern among Democrats which makes their support of Obama even more logical. The economy was still the biggest thing overall though.
- It seems as though Obama's most important quality is that he cares about people while Romney's is that he's a strong leader.
- Most voters want Obamacare repealed.
- Only 30% think the economy is getting worse. I'd have thought it would be higher.
- Only 39% say the US economic system is fair to most Americans. I expected higher.
- 7% more people have a good view of Obama than a bad one. What?
- 53% of people say Romney's policies favor the rich. Really, only 53?
- Obama had a much larger strongly favor percentage while Romney had a larger have reservations. Strangely I expected it to be backwards. The dislike opponent category is to be expected.
- There is no real difference in voting patterns whether or not you have children in your home. Odd.
- It seems as though the bounce from the hurricane was real. Obama's response was very important to those that voted for him. The GOP attacking the relief bill could really bite them in the ass.
Sorry for the long post, I just found many of these things strange. Thoughts?
edited 16th Jan '13 8:53:04 AM by Kostya
No. Its just an act of mediocrity that fits into the bigger picture of overall willful incompetence.
But I cant help it but to think that it was omitted on pourpose because it doesnt fit the narrative (Jewish people dont like Obama). But I cant say for sure thats the truth, its just my overall distrust of CNN.
edited 16th Jan '13 9:31:07 AM by Baff
I will always cherish the chance of a new beggining.Obama just signed 23 executive actions on gun control. I'm seeing this on CNN.
http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-74043879/
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/16/politics/gun-laws-battle/index.html
edited 16th Jan '13 9:39:57 AM by chihuahua0
Oh shit. He did something.
edited 16th Jan '13 9:35:56 AM by Baff
I will always cherish the chance of a new beggining.deathpigeon: Okay that is pretty funny. If you look at the popular vote totals it also shows Romney at 47%.
Baff: Is it really that big a deal? There aren't that many Jewish people in this country. They didn't list Muslims, Buddhists, or Hindus either.
![]()
Really?
...
What do they say?
I am too but I sincerely hope it isn't anything stupid. He can't make them entirely legal but if he tries to restrict hunting rifles there will be a (justifiable) outcry.
edited 16th Jan '13 9:42:04 AM by Kostya
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2013/01/obama-executive-actions-gun-list/61075/
Gun Violence Reduction Executive Actions
Today, the President is announcing that he and the Administration will:
1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.
2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.
3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.
4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.
5. Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.
6. Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.
7. Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.
8. Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission).
9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.
10. Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement.
11. Nominate an ATF director.
12. Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations.
13. Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.
14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.
15. Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector to develop innovative technologies.
16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.
17. Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.
18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.
19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.
20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.
21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.
22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.
23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.
Good, none of that sounds too unreasonable although that doesn't mean the other side won't hate it. Let's see what happens over the next few days.
edit: Wait.
12. "Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations."
Does this mean what I think it means?
edited 16th Jan '13 9:52:35 AM by Kostya
So far I'm not seeing anything that would hurt hunting usages of firearms. The focus appears to be on looking closer at high-capacity weapons that can take out lots of targets in short time periods, and on tightening up our routines on both general background checks and psychological care of potentially troubled people.
Of course, that's not going to matter to the NRA, which is going to fight regulation of any sort as a matter of principle. Their behavior is really making me think of Manson's 'Love Song.' It's melodramatic, but then, so is the NRA....
Furthermore, I think Guantanamo must be destroyed.Not necessarily. It might mean to clarify procedures on how to respond to an active shooter. Potentially a fire drill type of plan, where students and faculty have escape routes or the like.
Glove and Boots is good for Blog!When I was in High School, my school did have drills like that. What we'd do was turn off the lights in the classroom, then silently huddle in a corner that was not visible from the door until the principle and the school security checked all the classrooms and called off the drill over the intercom.
I don't think he said it wasn't a good idea.
I like most of this, tho'. Not sure if he'll get through an Alcohol, Tabacco, Firearms and Explosives Director, though. Haven't the Republicans kept that department leaderless for years?
But most of this doesn't feel like overreach to me, just merely having existing departments do their jobs/some side projects, or clean up some clutter and disorganization with regards to existing law enforcement.
Shame the NRA and their ilk are going to go "OBAMA'S AFTER YER GUNZ!!!!!111"

Yea. I usted to say "good luck fightining drones"
But then I remembered Yemen and Afghanistan... and I was like "those guys are holding together pretty well to be fighting a modern military"
So a guerilla style resistence in the U.S its possible even if against a modern military...
also
WOLVERINES!!!!!!!!!
I will always cherish the chance of a new beggining.