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

Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#102326: Sep 30th 2015 at 4:26:31 PM

came from someone who identified the Second Amendment with the Civil Rights movement and said that we could stop violence against African-Americans by arming the black man. While that has a few problems of its own (the "good guy with a gun" is unfortunately not panning out in the places that have given him a chance), you're never going to see the Republican Party's "libertarians" advocate something like that - they'd piss off the Dixiecrats if they did.

Ironically, groups like the Black Panthers carrying guns around to "police the police" in order to keep them from discriminating against African-Americans led to California Governor Ronald Reagan passing stricter gun control laws for the state.

NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#102327: Sep 30th 2015 at 4:57:15 PM

Libertarianism in the sense of "government shouldn't be doing anything more than it's necessary for government to do" I'm perfectly alright with. The problem is that when you start looking at all the things that it's necessary for government to do in terms of regulating the market, you end up with socialism. (In my opinion of what constitutes "necessary", anyway.)

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
AngelicBraeburn from Eccentric California Since: Jan, 2015
#102328: Sep 30th 2015 at 5:41:23 PM

EPA Announces New Rules To Protect Farmworkers From Pesticides.

The new rules require farms to make a host of changes. Employers will have to train workers on the risks of pesticides every year, rather than every five years. Workers will have to stay farther away from contaminated fields. Farmers will have to keep more records on exactly when and where they used specific pesticides. And no children under the age of 18 will be allowed to handle the chemicals.

There's very little solid data on exactly how many workers are exposed to hazardous levels of pesticides, though the EPA estimates that 10,000 to 20,000 workers may be poisoned by pesticides each year. Many others are exposed to hazardous chemicals but experience less severe symptoms.

The artist formally known as Deviant Braeburn
Artificius from about a foot and a half away from a monitor. Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Norwegian Wood
#102329: Sep 30th 2015 at 7:41:19 PM

[up][up]Libertarianism as an ideal, not an ideology?

"I have no fear, for fear is the little death that kills me over and over. Without fear, I die but once."
probablyinsane Since: Oct, 2011 Relationship Status: I LOVE THIS DOCTOR!
#102330: Sep 30th 2015 at 8:56:42 PM

Oddschecker Rankings

Clinton
Bush
Biden
Rubio
Sanders
Trump
Fiorina

Trump's gone down, finally.

Plants are aliens, and fungi are nanomachines.
TheyCallMeTomu Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#102331: Sep 30th 2015 at 9:57:55 PM

Oh, is he falling in the polls?

I assumed he'd hang on until people actually started voting.

Or maybe people are just disappointed in his tax plan.

edited 30th Sep '15 9:59:04 PM by TheyCallMeTomu

AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#102332: Sep 30th 2015 at 10:41:22 PM

I think he'll hang on as long as his money and ego will let him. And then he'll have to deal with... well I assume at least some companies are still doing business with him.

BlueNinja0 The Mod with the Migraine from Taking a left at Albuquerque Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
The Mod with the Migraine
#102333: Oct 1st 2015 at 12:30:52 AM

Given that Fiorina's 2010 bid for Senator collapsed, many are expecting her presidential campaign to fold just as swiftly.

Carly Fiorina is surprising many Republicans with her meteoric rise to the top tier of the 2016 GOP race. But here in California, her sparkling performances on the campaign trail look more like a case of déjà vu. Before plummeting to a 10-percentage-point loss during a wave year for Republicans in 2010, the former chief executive mounted a fierce challenge to U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer with all of the same assets she is displaying now.

She dazzled voters, particularly women, with her secretary-to-CEO life narrative. She impressed them with her toughness — from her well-placed jabs at Boxer to her own gutsy story as a breast cancer survivor. She demonstrated a brilliant ability to synthesize complex issues into sound bites, even if critics often took issue with the way she framed the facts.

But the 2010 race offered a window into something else: the ease of constructing a brutal and relentless takedown of the one-time Hewlett-Packard chief executive that could well be repeated in the presidential cycle. The anti-Fiorina playbook in California packed a powerful one-two punch: pairing the stories of dismissed H-P workers with details of her compensation package and luxurious CEO "perks" — from private jets to yachts — defining her as the face of corporate greed. The attacks were particularly potent, because opponents used Fiorina's own words against her, plucking damaging quotes from the vast trove of video that comprises her business career.

"Early on, we were very concerned," said Boxer's lead strategist, Rose Kapolczynski, recalling her alarm when she first experienced Fiorina's powerful appeal to moderate women of all political parties in early focus groups. "Some voters found her so appealing that when we told them about her laying off workers, they didn't believe us. They'd say 'She wouldn't do that.' " Facing that disbelief in an election climate favoring Republicans, the Boxer team set out on an intensive scrub of Fiorina's business record, sifting through her countless interviews, speeches and public statements.

"We worked hard to find video of her talking about layoffs and shipping jobs overseas," Kapolczynski said, "because that was the proof point — that we aren't making this up; it isn't a political attack; it is her in her own words." "We barely scratched the surface," said Kapolczynki said, looking back at the campaign where Boxer spent nearly $28 million to Fiorina's $22 million.

Fiorina's record at H-P is already a major issue in the 2016 Republican campaign. Donald Trump, the GOP front-runner, slammed her tenure at CNN's Republican presidential debate earlier this month. "The company is a disaster and continues to be a disaster," Trump said.

Asked about the criticism of Fiorina's corporate record in 2010 and how the campaign would handle H-P related attacks this cycle, a Fiorina spokeswoman referred calls to former Iowa House Speaker Christopher Rants, a senior adviser to the campaign, who noted that an increasing number of Fiorina's colleagues were coming forward to tell the positive side of her H-P legacy. "There's a compelling story to tell," he said.

On Wednesday, a Fiorina spokeswoman also emailed a compilation of quotes from Fiorina's co-workers at H-P and AT&T praising her vision, insights and compassion, which the campaign assembled into a post on Medium. Five years after her failed Senate bid, Fiorina is trying to transform her presidential campaign from upstart to that of a party standard bearer. In an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll of the GOP race released this week, Fiorina tied for third place with Marco Rubio at 11%. She didn't register at all in the same poll in July.

As she rises, Fiorina is facing a critical test: offering a more compelling defense of her H-P record to prove to donors and GOP voters that she is the strongest contender to face off against Hillary Clinton. Largely through the help of an allied super PAC, the CARLY For America committee, there are signs of a more proactive effort to take control of the H-P narrative than in 2010, when Fiorina's campaign manager, Martin Wilson, often told reporters that you couldn't win a campaign "on defense."

In recent weeks, former employees supportive of Fiorina have come forward in carefully placed op-eds to praise her achievements and her effort to shake up what they described as a slumbering culture at H-P (unfortunately for Fiorina, those efforts coincided with a fresh round of layoffs at the tech giant). The super PAC website dedicated to describing her journey — fromsecretarytoceo.com — is also soliciting personal stories under the banner "Have you worked with Carly? Tell your story."

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw
Medinoc from France (Before Recorded History)
#102334: Oct 1st 2015 at 1:05:26 AM

Plus, her virulence against Planned Parenthood makes me think of a Boomerang Bigot...

Edit: Oh wait, we actually have a Female Misogynist trope...

edited 1st Oct '15 1:13:55 AM by Medinoc

"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."
FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#102335: Oct 1st 2015 at 3:46:47 AM

The Fiorina-Boxer campaign is useful to foresee how things will go.

...but let's also remember that this took place in the rather blue state of California. I'll be very interested to see how she fares in more purple states. If its the same sort of effect as in California, then wave buh bye.

Of course, hitching her bandwagon so closely to this Planned Parenthood thing might sink her by itself, regardless of anything else.

@Tomu - On average, he's been falling (or at least not gaining) for the last couple of weeks, mostly in favor of the likes of Carson and Fiorina.

edited 1st Oct '15 3:48:01 AM by FFShinra

BlueNinja0 The Mod with the Migraine from Taking a left at Albuquerque Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
The Mod with the Migraine
#102336: Oct 1st 2015 at 4:15:11 AM

[up] California isn't all that blue - one of Bohner's most likely successors is from there.

And while Trump's numbers have been holding steady, he also has the highest percentage of voters who dislike him. Every person who drops out of the Republican field is giving their support to someone who's not Trump.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw
Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#102337: Oct 1st 2015 at 5:43:25 AM

California's red districts are pretty darn red - hence the passage of Proposition 8.

FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#102338: Oct 1st 2015 at 5:57:06 AM

Yeah but that wasn't a house election, where that'd be more relevant. Twas a fight for a Senate seat, which means the whole of California had to vote and on balance (especially for a relatively popular senator like Boxer), Fiorina had her work cut out for her.

Not saying she'd win a general (she's far too dour, the HP thing hasn't been put to bed, and I think her debating skills have yet to be truely tested, given her current competition), but one should look at the 2010 Senate race with perspective that it won't be a perfect guide, even if its useful broadly.

NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#102339: Oct 1st 2015 at 6:55:12 AM

[up][up]Actually, that was more likely due to the religious left. The black and latino demographic that traditionally vote Democrat, but are still highly religious and as such tend to oppose things like same-sex marriage and abortion.

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#102340: Oct 1st 2015 at 6:58:57 AM

I'm not sure if it's been brought up yet, but Rachel Maddow has been keeping an eye on Congressman Kevin McCarthy, the heir apparent to John Boehner in the Speaker role, making him second in line to succeed the President.

This guy is some kind of joke, possibly the second least qualified member of Congress to become Speaker in all of history, should he win the vote. His career has essentially been as a internal GOP cheerleader, nudging people to run for office; he's never engaged in any significant public speaking, never attempted to pass any significant legislation, and now that the GOP is parading him in front of the nation, he can't seem to speak coherently to save his life. He's like Dan Quayle redux: a never-ending font of malapropisms and mangled metaphors.

One thing he can do, it seems, when interviewed on Fox News, is spill the beans — accidentally leak insider GOP secrets. In this case, it's the motivation of the never-ending Benghazi investigation committee in the House that has spent almost 4 million dollars to accomplish literally nothing in the way of revealing any facts or useful information. Rather, he publicly admitted that the purpose is to drive down Hillary Clinton's approval ratings by casting doubt on her integrity.

So, what everyone has long suspected, and the Democratic members of the committee have long tried to tell us, is confirmed: Benghazi is, precisely and entirely, a smear campaign against the prospective Democratic nominee for President, conducted by Congress with taxpayers' money.

And the person who just told everyone is poised to become the second most powerful person in the U.S. government. Be very scared.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#102341: Oct 1st 2015 at 7:01:31 AM

It continues to piss me off that stuff like this isn't considered treason.

JackOLantern1337 Shameful Display from The Most Miserable Province in the Russian Empir Since: Aug, 2014 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
Shameful Display
#102342: Oct 1st 2015 at 7:04:00 AM

[up][up] Obama didn't exactly do much before he became President, besides give speeches.

I Bring Doom,and a bit of gloom, but mostly gloom.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#102343: Oct 1st 2015 at 7:06:04 AM

[up] Obama was a community activist long before he was a senator, and he was at least able to give speeches in coherent English. You know, stringing words together that have meaning. Since public speaking is most of the job of most politicians, I'll go out on a limb and say that we can't exactly hold that against him.

I'll see if I can get some of McCarthy's quotes. The one that set Maddow off was this:

[On Iran]: "It defies belief that the President would allow the ban on Iranian oil exports to be lifted and also stand by a Russia blackmails an entire continent — all the while keeping the place of the band on America."

Keep in mind that he's reading from a prepared speech, not going off the cuff.

edited 1st Oct '15 7:13:03 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Euodiachloris Since: Oct, 2010
#102344: Oct 1st 2015 at 7:15:22 AM

[up]...Did he skip a paragraph or two in a couple of places? <narrows eyes trying to parse that>

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#102345: Oct 1st 2015 at 7:17:23 AM

[On veterans issues] "Those who return home are being disrespected by the VA that can't keep the simple promise to all of our heroes to the need when they need it most."

[On radical Islam] "We must engage this war of radical Islam if our life depended on it. Because it does."

[On refugees] "This 'safe zone' would create a stem a flow of refugees."

"Unlike during the surge in Iraq when Petraeus and Crocker had an effective politically strategy to match the military strategy."

"We have isolated Israel, while bolding places like Iran."

"The absence of leadership over the past six years has had a horrific consequences all across the globe."

"In the past few years alone, I have visited Poland, Hungria, Estonia, Russia, and Georgia."

"It had to be hundreds of thousands of grandchildren to make that decision. We don't have the same as difficult decision, but this White House is managing the decline in putting us in tough decisions for the future."

edited 1st Oct '15 7:18:50 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
shimaspawn from Here and Now Since: May, 2010 Relationship Status: In your bunk
#102346: Oct 1st 2015 at 7:22:52 AM

Oh dear. He sounds like someone we would ban from the wiki for grammar issues. I can parse what he's trying to say. Half the time it seems like it's internally contradictory.

Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#102347: Oct 1st 2015 at 7:28:01 AM

I can't wait to see his photos from his trip to "Hungria". He reminds me of the kid everybody knew in school that passed English with a D- because the teacher gave up after trying to explain subject-verb agreement for the fiftieth time and decided to make him someone else's problem.

edited 1st Oct '15 7:32:04 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#102348: Oct 1st 2015 at 7:46:21 AM

He has a law degree right? How the hell did he graduate if he talks like that?

edited 1st Oct '15 7:46:33 AM by Kostya

BlueNinja0 The Mod with the Migraine from Taking a left at Albuquerque Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
The Mod with the Migraine
#102349: Oct 1st 2015 at 7:57:48 AM

[On veterans issues]
Anytime I hear someone from the GOP start talking about veterans, I want to put on a dress uniform and punch them right in their lying fucking mouths. If we're getting screwed over, it's because for the last six years the GOP has fought tooth and nail to strip us of our benefits we deserve after they put us in harm's way.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw
ILoveDogs Since: May, 2010

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