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
And the GOP primary for Texas governor is heating up; Tom Paulken
has thrown his hat into the ring.
*
Three people have been injured at a shooting at the Denver 4/20 celebrations over the decriminalization of marijuana.
To quote HP: "A grim mood has gripped the country!"
edited 21st Apr '13 1:00:38 PM by Achaemenid
Schild und Schwert der ParteiJoe Biden to Michigan Dems: 'Labor Must Have a Seat At The Table'
Oh hey, you remember that Texas fertilizer plant which blew up last Tuesday? Well it turns out they had 270 TONS of undisclosed ammonium nitrate.
According to the article, the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Act (CFATS)
requires companies/people who have over 400 lbs of the stuff to report it to the DHS in order to make sure terrorists aren't trying to get it/sabotage something.
On another note, now we know why the blast was so damn powerful.
"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."Wow, I was more right than I though when I called it "The american AZF
"...
edited 22nd Apr '13 12:34:05 AM by Medinoc
"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."@Ace: Ironically, they did it that way because the Natives needed to be able to "participate in the capitalist system" if the villages were going to keep above water. But yes, it's worked out very well; the oil pipeline went through, the people living in the region got a share of the wealth, everyone's happy.
Homeland Security wants new fees imposed at Canada-U.S. crossings
@Ramidel: That was slight sarcasm on my part, and I can totally understand that it was a way for them to actually participate in economic activity in an effective way. But somehow I think most Republicans today would go up in a fit of rage if anyone mentioned this sort of thing was working effectively to the wider audience of the rest of the US.
@tc: Yeah. Our regulations apparently suck here.
That's actually a crap thing to do to all the people who regularly cross the border to do work and visit family. The article mentions pedestrians cross, for Christ's sake. And I think there are actual towns right on the border, where walking down the street could cause you to have to pay a fee!
The United States has been a nation of immigrants since Day One, but each new wave of immigrants has, without fail, been reviled and treated like crap until they fully integrated, at which point they proceed to join in the tradition of treating new waves of immigrants like crap.
So much for, "Send us your poor, your tired, your hungry, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." Or maybe that's still true, but with the addendum, "so we can exploit them for all they're worth."
edited 22nd Apr '13 1:34:18 PM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"A lot of the Native Americans were assholes towards settlers, actually. You won't read it in most textbooks, which are all about how Anglo-Saxons abused their power, but back when the tribes were more powerful than the colonists things were no flower child fairyland.
Except for 4/1/2011. That day lingers in my memory like...metaphor here...I should go.Senate votes 74-20 to move forward with online sales tax bill
EPA balks at State Department's 'insufficient' review of Keystone XL route
Senator Cornyn: Gang of Eight immigration bill undermines border security
edited 22nd Apr '13 3:45:25 PM by DeviantBraeburn
Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016To be fair there was a lot of "free unoccupied land" around. Kind of due to the mass deaths caused by smallpox and such. Case in point Tisquantum (AKA "Squanto") was sold as a slave and when he returned to his hope everyone had already succumbed to smallpox. When the Pilgrims came by he went "take it. At least it's better than squatting in an empty villages."
How are natives doing in states that are not Alaska? I am more aware of the First Nations situation up in Canada than of the American Native situation.
Share it so that people can get into this conversation, 'cause we're not the only ones who think like this.I post that image in response to every discussion of Native American history.
New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez earns a "fucking REALLY?" from everyone.
Stealth vetoing a bill on a holiday? Classy.
Hilariously ironic is that I was listening to "Power In A Union
" by Street Dogs when I read.
"Who'll defend the workers, Who cannot organize, When the bosses send their lackeys out to cheat us?"
edited 23rd Apr '13 6:10:42 AM by Achaemenid
Schild und Schwert der ParteiAnd another one is out, Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) has decided to retire.

Corporations established by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. When Alaska became a state, there was a huge dispute over land rights because the state had been claiming, as vacant land, a lot of land that the regional Native associations claimed belonged to them, and there was some back-and-forth over how to settle the matter. Eventually, in 1971 and with the agreement of the Alaska Federation of Natives, Congress passed an Act that granted about $1 billion in cash and a package of about 40 million acres of land (total, counting direct control and mineral rights) to the Alaska Natives, in the form of thirteen regional corporations (12 in Alaska and one for expatriate Natives), plus about 200 separate village corporations, with every enrolled Native receiving shares in his regional company.
So essentially, instead of setting up reservations, we capitalized out our aboriginal land claims.