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

TheHandle United Earth from Stockholm Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
United Earth
#105951: Dec 5th 2015 at 4:50:52 PM

Essentially, exactly the same answer as "Why go to the moon?"

In short, because it's freaking awesome!

Argh. That accent. I can't stop thinking of Clone High now...

Now, imagine if the US took all the money, attention, and effort they expend on competitive/spectator sports, and directed it towards space exploration.

edited 5th Dec '15 4:53:50 PM by TheHandle

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#105952: Dec 5th 2015 at 4:59:07 PM

Space travel is also awesome for boosting all kinds of scientific research.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
LogoP Party Crasher from the Land of Deep Blue Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: You can be my wingman any time
Party Crasher
#105953: Dec 5th 2015 at 5:01:23 PM

Though, to be honest, there wasn't really any practical, solid reason to sent a man to the Moon. It's not like we could find water, mind gold or anything.

It was just a cool byproduct of the Space Race.

edited 5th Dec '15 5:01:50 PM by LogoP

It is sometimes an appropriate response to reality to go insane.
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#105954: Dec 5th 2015 at 5:05:30 PM

The benefits derived from technologies made for space missions make it well worth it in my opinion. There's also the issue of keeping all our eggs in one basket but that's not an immediate concern just yet.

NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#105955: Dec 5th 2015 at 5:12:08 PM

There are a lot of good, solid argument for public funding of what's generally termed as "basic research" — things that advance our scientific understanding, but don't have an immediately obvious useful (or profitable) purpose. Space exploration definitely falls under that umbrella.

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
pwiegle Cape Malleum Majorem from Nowhere Special Since: Sep, 2015 Relationship Status: Singularity
Cape Malleum Majorem
#105956: Dec 5th 2015 at 5:33:12 PM

When Benjamin Franklin first publicized his experiments with electricity, someone asked him, "What good is your new invention?"

Franklin replied: "What good is a newborn baby?"

It may have no obvious practical or profitable benefits yet, but keep an open mind and give it some time...

This Space Intentionally Left Blank.
TheyCallMeTomu Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
DrunkenNordmann from Exile Since: May, 2015
#105958: Dec 5th 2015 at 9:18:07 PM

Planned Parenthood: Myth Vs. Fact

We learn from history that we do not learn from history
TheWanderer Student of Story from Somewhere in New England (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Student of Story
#105959: Dec 5th 2015 at 9:25:13 PM

Underlying how volatile and unpredictable polls are, Christie is shooting up the ranks in New Hampshire, and has picked up some big local endorsements

After lingering near the bottom of the presidential pack and being relegated to the under card debate last time around, the poll shows Christie in fourth place with 10 percent of the vote in New Hampshire among Republican primary voters.

Donald Trump is still leading the back with 27 percent of the vote. Ted Cruz is in second place with 13 percent of the vote and Rubio is holding on in third with 11 percent.

Christie's rise, however, is significant given that the same poll in October found the governor was in the low single digits with 3 percent of the vote. Christie – who has bet his campaign on success in New Hampshire–won a key endorsement from the New Hampshire Union Leader Sunday. Since the Paris terrorist attacks, he has also worked to contrast his experience as U.S. Attorney who prosecuted terrorists after 9/11 with the death of foreign policy experience coming from Donald Trump and Ben Carson.

Christie's favorability rating now exceeds every other Republican candidate in the race at 61 percent.

Just another reason not to panic over who's in the lead at the moment, especially when we're still almost 2 months away from primaries.

Florida courts rule in favor of non-gerrymandered election map, drastically changing some of the previous (ridiculous) congressional districts

This week, the Florida Supreme Court struck another blow against gerrymandering in the Sunshine State, and approved a congressional map it hopes will finally end years of legal battles over district lines.

In a decision Wednesday — a follow-up to an earlier ruling from July that threw out much of the state's congressional map because it was drawn with partisan intent — the justices gave another victory to the groups that had sued to strike down the old map.

Five of the state Supreme Court's seven justices essentially told the legislature: If you can't agree on a proper map, we'll pick one for you. They approved a trial judge's ruling accepting the Florida House of Representatives' plan for 19 of Florida's 27 districts — but rejected its proposal for the other eight, which cover South Florida.

...

Back in 2010, Florida voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment banning partisan gerrymandering. The strongly worded amendment, which passed with more than 62 percent support, said that districts "may not be drawn to favor or disfavor an incumbent or political party."

Yet Florida's map-drawing process was still left to the state legislature, then controlled by Republicans. And when the legislature redistricted shortly afterward, the maps it came up with seemed to many to be slanted in favor of the GOP. Indeed, in 2012 Republicans got 51 percent of the US House votes — but they ended up with 63 percent of the seats, 17 out of 27.

There are potentially other factors that could explain a pro-GOP slant in House districts. But the League of Women Voters, several media organizations, and some voters saw partisan motivations at play — arguing that in many instances, the public redistricting process was a sham, with the real decisions being made by partisan Republican operatives behind the scenes. So they filed suit to try to get the map struck down.

In July, they won — a five-vote majority of the Florida Supreme Court ruled against the legislature. The majority included two justices appointed by former Gov. Charlie Crist (who was then a Republican), two appointed by former Gov. Lawton Chiles (a Democrat), and one whose appointment was the result of an agreement from Chiles and Jeb Bush — so things weren't purely partisan. Two justices dissented, both of whom were appointed by Crist.

As the majority put it in this week's ruling, they concluded that "Republican political operatives successfully infiltrated the redistricting process with the coordination and cooperation of the Legislature, resulting in a redistricting plan that was tainted with improper partisan intent."

1,000 American Rabbis write to Congress urging them to shelter Syrian refugees, likening it to how the US turned its back to Jewish refugees in 1939

More than 1,000 rabbis in the United States signed onto a letter urging elected officials in the country to "exercise moral leadership for the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program."

The letter was published on the website of HIAS, a venerable U.S. charity once known as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society that was originally founded in the 19th century to help bring over emigrants from Czarist Russia.

It marks an important intervention in the American conversation at a time when conservative politicians have used the pretext of terrorism — security fears that followed the Paris terror attacks last month — as an excuse to pass legislation that would restrict the flow of Syrian refugees into the U.S. (Never mind that no Paris attacker has yet to be identified as a Syrian refugee or national.)

...

"We are therefore alarmed to see so many politicians declaring their opposition to welcoming refugees.

Last month’s heartbreaking attacks in Paris and Beirut are being cited as reasons to deny entry to people who are themselves victims of terror. And in those comments, we, as Jewish leaders, see one of the darker moments of our history repeating itself.

In 1939, the United States refused to let the S.S. St. Louis dock in our country, sending over 900 Jewish refugees back to Europe, where many died in concentration camps. That moment was a stain on the history of our country – a tragic decision made in a political climate of deep fear, suspicion and antisemitism. The Washington Post released public opinion polling from the early 1940’s, showing that the majority of U.S. citizens did not want to welcome Jewish refugees to this country in those years.

In 1939, our country could not tell the difference between an actual enemy and the victims of an enemy. In 2015, let us not make the same mistake."

A number of prominent Jewish organizations in the U.S. have already taken the lead in condemning some of the rhetoric surrounding Syrian refugees. Last month, the Anti-Defamation League criticized the dozens of U.S. governors who said they would block attempts to resettle Syrians in their states.

| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |
NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#105960: Dec 5th 2015 at 10:14:03 PM

That's fantastic news about the Florida maps — we've been gerrymandered to hell and gone for decades, and it's taken years to deal with this shit after the anti-gerrymandering amendment was passed in 2010.

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
FieldMarshalFry Field Marshal of Cracked from World Internet War 1 Since: Oct, 2015 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Field Marshal of Cracked
#105961: Dec 6th 2015 at 4:10:52 AM

[up][up][up]HOW THE HELL IS THAT STILL AN ARGUMENT!?!?!?!?

advancing the front into TV Tropes
tricksterson Never Trust from Behind you with an icepick Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
Never Trust
#105962: Dec 6th 2015 at 6:03:21 AM

You should note that this is an Onion article and while it's a bit more subtle than most their tongue is firmly planted in cheek.

edited 6th Dec '15 6:03:39 AM by tricksterson

Trump delenda est
LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#105963: Dec 6th 2015 at 6:21:05 AM

[up][up]Because where Republicans are concerned facts and the truth are subjective. Not absolute.

Oh really when?
FieldMarshalFry Field Marshal of Cracked from World Internet War 1 Since: Oct, 2015 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Field Marshal of Cracked
#105964: Dec 6th 2015 at 8:30:37 AM

it's as Stephen Colbert once said "facts have a left wing bias"

edited 6th Dec '15 8:31:03 AM by FieldMarshalFry

advancing the front into TV Tropes
Xopher001 Since: Jul, 2012
#105965: Dec 6th 2015 at 9:37:53 AM

I wonder what politics would be like if conservatives weren't anti intellectual. What would they argue about?

FieldMarshalFry Field Marshal of Cracked from World Internet War 1 Since: Oct, 2015 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Field Marshal of Cracked
#105966: Dec 6th 2015 at 9:48:14 AM

probably more like British politics, with the debate (normally) being about economics, I think it was Jon Stewart who said our conservatives have "the luxury of being sane"

advancing the front into TV Tropes
carbon-mantis Collector Of Fine Oddities from Trumpland Since: Mar, 2010 Relationship Status: Married to my murderer
Collector Of Fine Oddities
#105967: Dec 6th 2015 at 10:26:53 AM

[BBC] Jimmy Carter's cancer therapy seems to have been an unexpected success. If all goes well, the rumors of his impending demise may have been issued a bit prematurely. smile

FieldMarshalFry Field Marshal of Cracked from World Internet War 1 Since: Oct, 2015 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Field Marshal of Cracked
#105968: Dec 6th 2015 at 10:29:14 AM

then our plot to convert you to the metric system has not been in vain! muahahahahaha!

advancing the front into TV Tropes
pwiegle Cape Malleum Majorem from Nowhere Special Since: Sep, 2015 Relationship Status: Singularity
Cape Malleum Majorem
#105969: Dec 6th 2015 at 10:46:25 AM

Fry, you think you're funny, but you're not.

The UK hasn't entirely converted to the metric system. If it had, then BBC's Top Gear wouldn't be reciting stats like "nought to sixty." (Miles per hour, not kilometers per hour.)

This Space Intentionally Left Blank.
LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#105970: Dec 6th 2015 at 10:51:46 AM

Let him go on. He's only doing this to take his mind off the fact that the UK is in an even worse state because it uses and arbitrary mix of both imperial and metric.

It is a sad life he lives, don't take away one of his few escapes.

Oh really when?
majoraoftime (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#105971: Dec 6th 2015 at 10:54:59 AM

it's as Stephen Colbert once said "facts have a left wing bias"

I dislike this aphorism quite a bit. It smacks of smug triumphalism.

edited 6th Dec '15 10:55:34 AM by majoraoftime

LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#105972: Dec 6th 2015 at 10:56:08 AM

Well it's also true. Most right wing positions are just objectively wrong and have decades of empirical evidence disproving them.

Oh really when?
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
#105973: Dec 6th 2015 at 11:05:01 AM

[up][up] If right wing groups stopped denying reality it wouldn't apply, they're welcome to change.

As for the British half and half system, the best example is how a car does X miles to the gallon, and you fill it with litres of fuel.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#105974: Dec 6th 2015 at 11:07:32 AM

While I agree the statement is often true I think it can be a bit dangerous at times. Liberals might not always be right about things.

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
#105975: Dec 6th 2015 at 11:14:41 AM

It's far from always true, the left has its share of reality denying idiots, look at the anti vax, anti GMO, anti drone and anti nuclear movements. But they are nowhere near as prevalent or powerful and the reality denying idiots on the right are.

“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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