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Nov 2023 Mod notice:


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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

Midgetsnowman Since: Jan, 2010
#51426: Mar 17th 2013 at 1:07:02 PM

Yeah. Like anyone, the man has flaws. But I think republicans hte him less for currency speculation and more for the fact he throws lots of money behind liberal darling efforts like Occupy Wall Street.

RadicalTaoist scratching at .8, just hopin' from the #GUniverse Since: Jan, 2001
scratching at .8, just hopin'
#51427: Mar 17th 2013 at 1:17:11 PM

Yeah, criticism of Soros smacks of "class traitor" accusations. The wealthy aren't supposed to fund OWS or call for more taxes or inconvenience their fellows in the financial industry. You don't screw other rich people over, you screw poor people over, everyone knows that much!

Share it so that people can get into this conversation, 'cause we're not the only ones who think like this.
Greenmantle V from Greater Wessex, Britannia Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: Hiding
V
#51428: Mar 17th 2013 at 1:33:46 PM

Maybe Soros sees it differently because he's an immigrant — he was born in Budapest, after all.

Keep Rolling On
Midgetsnowman Since: Jan, 2010
#51430: Mar 17th 2013 at 3:24:55 PM

[up]

ironic given the real fiscal jenga is what the republicans will do by deregulating shit

BestOf FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC! from Finland Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: Falling within your bell curve
FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC!
#51431: Mar 17th 2013 at 4:28:56 PM

I think this is the thread where the anti-science education bill in Oklahoma was discussed recently. The bill would have mandated teachers to "help students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories" such as "biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning."

That wording is directly copied from dozens of other Creationist bills like this. Their goal is to force schools to adopt a curriculum that is only served by books that the organisations promoting these laws have published, and they're definitely not objective about the "strengths and weaknesses" of evolution and the chemical origins of life - or global warming. (As for human cloning, what public school teaches that?)

Fortunately, even though the bill, sponsored by two Republican Representatives, passed the Education Committee (with 9 votes for and 8 against,) it failed to meet its "deadline for bills to have their third reading in their house of origin passed." So that bill is dead.

I got this info from the National Center for Science Education. They send out a weekly newsletter about matters of, well, science education. I recently joined the organisation (even though I'm not American and the membership fee is pretty big-ish for a student.) Anti-science organisations in the US are making the whole world stupid so if I can spare any money for the promotion of real science education in the US I'll do my part. You're welcome.

Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.
LastHussar The time is now, from the place is here. Since: Jul, 2009
The time is now,
#51432: Mar 17th 2013 at 4:46:02 PM

What is it with the US and Creationism? In fact why so anti-science at all? Creationism wasn't even on the radar until the early 20th Century.

Do the job in front of you.
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#51433: Mar 17th 2013 at 4:50:17 PM

The US has a very large evangelical population that doesn't travel outside their own sphere often. It makes it very easy for various groups to control some of the more rural areas and treat all opposing ideas as evil and the work of the Devil.

I'm guessing they're anti-science because if you're more educated you start to question things more which threatens Christianity's dominance.

edited 17th Mar '13 4:51:42 PM by Kostya

OhnoaBear I'm back, baby. from Exiting, pursued by a... Since: Jan, 2011
I'm back, baby.
#51434: Mar 17th 2013 at 4:52:10 PM

As I understand it, it's partially an outgrowth of Cold War era anti-communist rhetoric that heavily touted godliness over the more secular Soviets and more largely a result of America simply having a very large, zealously religious population with a great number of folk willingly pandering to their views.

"The marvel is not that the Bear posts well, but that the Bear posts at all."
Ultrayellow Unchanging Avatar. Since: Dec, 2010
Unchanging Avatar.
#51435: Mar 17th 2013 at 4:54:02 PM

The Soviets were not just secular. They were aggressively atheistic and anti-clerical.

Except for 4/1/2011. That day lingers in my memory like...metaphor here...I should go.
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.
#51436: Mar 17th 2013 at 4:55:24 PM

because if you treat religion as fact instead of faith its obviously better and easier to defend against atheistic attacks. Or something like that.

"You can reply to this Message!"
Achaemenid HGW XX/7 from Ruschestraße 103, Haus 1 Since: Dec, 2011 Relationship Status: Giving love a bad name
HGW XX/7
#51437: Mar 17th 2013 at 4:55:54 PM

[up][up]

Which isn't secularism at all.

edited 17th Mar '13 4:56:02 PM by Achaemenid

Schild und Schwert der Partei
Enkufka Wandering Student ಠ_ಠ from Bay of White fish Since: Dec, 2009
Wandering Student ಠ_ಠ
#51438: Mar 17th 2013 at 7:32:49 PM

So, two of the Steubenville rapists were convicted today.

CNN decided it would be fine and fucking dandy to portray said rapists in a sympathetic light.

And I really wish I was joking.

As a sidenote, these two people got a shorter sentence (for kidnapping, drugging, and raping over the course of several days a young woman) than the mother who sent her child to the wrong school. (1 year vs 5 years.)

Very big Daydream Believer. "That's not knowledge, that's a crapshoot!" -Al Murray "Welcome to QI" -Stephen Fry
DeviantBraeburn Wandering Jew from Dysfunctional California Since: Aug, 2012
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#51440: Mar 17th 2013 at 7:44:57 PM

Wow, normally CNN is better when it comes to things like that. And Candy Crowley is usually one of the better talking heads...

edited 17th Mar '13 7:47:16 PM by Rationalinsanity

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Midgetsnowman Since: Jan, 2010
#51441: Mar 17th 2013 at 9:29:37 PM

10 million? thats it?

man, theyre sure breaking their backs to convince latinos like me.

NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#51442: Mar 18th 2013 at 10:25:44 AM

Officially yes, but a good portion of their base will be fearful of a new Democratic constitutency and of immigration
Puerto Rico is already US territory; Puerto Ricans are US citizens. There's no immigration issue between Puerto Rico and the mainland US any more than there is between one state and another. (Which is good, because there's a lot of Puerto Ricans living and working on the east coast.)

Of course, I wouldn't put it past politicians to not understand that.

edited 18th Mar '13 10:26:05 AM by NativeJovian

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
Achaemenid HGW XX/7 from Ruschestraße 103, Haus 1 Since: Dec, 2011 Relationship Status: Giving love a bad name
HGW XX/7
#51443: Mar 18th 2013 at 10:32:29 AM

[up]

I meant that they apparently fear Puerto Rico will become a springboard for immigration into the contiguous US, because they fear that people can land on the island from the Carribean states and then on to the USA.

God knows why, as it can't be that much worse than the Mexican border, but there you have it.

Schild und Schwert der Partei
deathpigeon Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: One True Dodecahedron
#51444: Mar 18th 2013 at 10:33:59 AM

...Plus, can't people already do that in Puerto Rico? And in Florida?

Achaemenid HGW XX/7 from Ruschestraße 103, Haus 1 Since: Dec, 2011 Relationship Status: Giving love a bad name
HGW XX/7
#51445: Mar 18th 2013 at 10:36:43 AM

[up]

Yes. But the stupidity of the right knows no bounds. I've seen plenty of scare statistics and rumblings on facebook about how its an immigration risk, or an asylum risk, or how it will unleash a tide of the brown foreign hordes upon pure Columbia's bosom, or some other such tortured ratiocination. A lot of it is rooted in local politics as well, as in "these PRs will come and nick our jobs and our women!"-style anti-immigration classic arguments.

In essence: Puerto Rico = probably democrat. Thus, Puerto Rico = bad.

edited 18th Mar '13 10:46:26 AM by Achaemenid

Schild und Schwert der Partei
deathpigeon Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: One True Dodecahedron
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#51448: Mar 18th 2013 at 4:16:55 PM

It's valid introspection, at least. They could do these things and hope to win future elections. Some will, but some won't. And thus we have our schism.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Midgetsnowman Since: Jan, 2010
#51449: Mar 18th 2013 at 4:20:36 PM

Thats pretty much the crux of the problem. Some of the RNC does realize the problem. The rest however, would rather ignore those people as heretics and not true believers.

IE, the very problem 5 identified in the report.

edited 18th Mar '13 4:23:45 PM by Midgetsnowman

Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#51450: Mar 18th 2013 at 4:24:21 PM

They probably won't do those things. Even if they do they risk losing a significant portion of their base.


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