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

ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#108976: Jan 17th 2016 at 8:27:08 AM

RE: Iran Sanctions lifted

Good to see that the plan's moving forward, but I can only imagine how various conservative pundits are going to respond. The local shock jocks I've mentioned before were in disbelief at the fact that we thanked Iran for "making our soldiers get on their knees with guns pointed at them" - apparently not realizing that, just 3 years ago, we might have to argue for years to get them back, and make concessions to boot for an honest mistake.

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
shimaspawn from Here and Now Since: May, 2010 Relationship Status: In your bunk
#108977: Jan 17th 2016 at 8:33:29 AM

And now they need to replace all the pipes in the city before the water is safe to drink.

Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#108978: Jan 17th 2016 at 8:43:45 AM

We as a country need to stop doing things as cheaply as possible.

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
#108979: Jan 17th 2016 at 8:53:55 AM

but Capitalism! you're supposed to hire whoever will do it for the least!

advancing the front into TV Tropes
nervmeister Since: Oct, 2010
#108980: Jan 17th 2016 at 9:00:50 AM

[up]And there's stockholders to answer to. If they don't like what they're getting back, then they ditch you and go elsewhere.

edited 17th Jan '16 9:02:10 AM by nervmeister

Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#108981: Jan 17th 2016 at 9:01:52 AM

[up]The US doesn't have stockholders.

[up][up]Those types annoy the hell out of me. Countries are not businesses you idiots.

edited 17th Jan '16 9:02:43 AM by Kostya

nervmeister Since: Oct, 2010
#108982: Jan 17th 2016 at 9:03:29 AM

[up]Well then, there's really no excuse besides greed in general.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#108983: Jan 17th 2016 at 9:20:41 AM

There's no way to read Snyder's mind, nor the minds of the cronies he appointed to run the various cities in Michigan that have had democracy suspended (what?!), but in general it's not just about cutting costs but rather the philosophy that government is fundamentally the obstacle to accomplishing things. Regulations hold back business, the private market is always better, and government isn't in the job of protecting people from the consequences of their bad choices, unless you're someone that gives them lots of money.

In this case, of course, the "bad choices" made by the people of Flint are their choice to "be poor" and, slightly below that, to "be black", or liberal, or whatever. In Snyder's world, the state is not going to lift a finger to do anything for anyone who would dare vote Democrat.

edited 17th Jan '16 9:22:40 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
TheHandle United Earth from Stockholm Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
United Earth
#108984: Jan 17th 2016 at 9:26:00 AM

doesn't go so far as to call it a disaster

It merely rates being called a "fiasco", yes?

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#108985: Jan 17th 2016 at 9:32:58 AM

"We as a country need to stop doing things as cheaply as possible."

The United States isn't exactly a penny-pinching country, though. There's plenty of waste in our budget. Conservatives just like to use the never-ending quest for greater frugality as an excuse to cut social services and discourage investment in the future.

edited 17th Jan '16 9:33:49 AM by CrimsonZephyr

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
pwiegle Cape Malleum Majorem from Nowhere Special Since: Sep, 2015 Relationship Status: Singularity
Cape Malleum Majorem
#108986: Jan 17th 2016 at 9:34:08 AM

[up]...while voting themselves a pay raise.

This Space Intentionally Left Blank.
nervmeister Since: Oct, 2010
#108987: Jan 17th 2016 at 9:36:37 AM

@Fighteer

Well yeah, that philosophy does require a few mental backflips to make complete sense. But then again, it could just be a case of greedy-as-fuck politicians. Money can be a rationalization all on its own.

EDIT: just looked at some of Gov Snyder's stances on some issues, and I noticed a few things that do look iffy, like his earlier decisions concerning abortion and affirmative action. So take it how you will.

edited 17th Jan '16 10:48:32 AM by nervmeister

Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#108988: Jan 17th 2016 at 10:21:57 AM

[up][up][up]It is when it comes to things that really matter like infrastructure, education, social services, and scientific research.

edited 17th Jan '16 10:22:25 AM by Kostya

Ogodei Fuck you, Fascist sympathizers from The front lines Since: Jan, 2011
Fuck you, Fascist sympathizers
#108989: Jan 17th 2016 at 10:49:13 AM

Replacing the pipes honestly, probably isn't going to happen, since it would cost somewhere around $1 billion or more, and we can see already how little they care for this city. It could well cost less to just relocate everyone to Detroit.

LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#108991: Jan 17th 2016 at 10:55:24 AM

It's downright dystopian. An entire generation has already been permanently damaged by lead poisoning.

Oh really when?
nightwyrm_zero Since: Apr, 2010
#108992: Jan 17th 2016 at 10:57:54 AM

[up][up][up]Well, it's not like people could really continue living there during the time it would take to dig up and replace the entire pipe system of the city. What a fucking mess.

edited 17th Jan '16 10:58:03 AM by nightwyrm_zero

nervmeister Since: Oct, 2010
#108993: Jan 17th 2016 at 10:59:12 AM

[up][up]Well shit. Then they absolutely NEED to leave. In fact, it practically should be mandated with a program put in place to help facilitate relocation.

edited 17th Jan '16 11:00:52 AM by nervmeister

AngelusNox Warder of the damned from The guard of the gates of oblivion Since: Dec, 2014 Relationship Status: Married to the job
Warder of the damned
#108994: Jan 17th 2016 at 10:59:52 AM

[up][up][up]Hey look at the bright side, natural resistance to radiation and if they do move to Detroit, +10 resistance to bullets.

edited 17th Jan '16 11:00:13 AM by AngelusNox

Inter arma enim silent leges
LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#108995: Jan 17th 2016 at 11:00:45 AM

[up][up]Local government isn't gonna pay for that and the federal government has little legal power to help.

This is what happens when you elect a Republican who says they'll run government like a business.

edited 17th Jan '16 11:00:58 AM by LeGarcon

Oh really when?
nightwyrm_zero Since: Apr, 2010
#108996: Jan 17th 2016 at 11:04:29 AM

In more Oregan Trail news (is it bad if I wish they'd all die of dysentary? tongue), one of the occupiers has his foster children removed from his ranch in Arizona.

http://gawker.com/oregon-milita-spokesman-says-foster-children-were-remov-1753460681

Which I think it's pretty justified when he starts referring to them as "main sources of income". sad

nervmeister Since: Oct, 2010
#108997: Jan 17th 2016 at 11:09:49 AM

[up]As someone who's died of dysentery multiple times playing that fucking game, I say yes, you are a bad person. tongue

edited 17th Jan '16 11:12:33 AM by nervmeister

TheHandle United Earth from Stockholm Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
United Earth
#108998: Jan 17th 2016 at 11:19:42 AM

Couldn't the pilgrims boil their water or something?

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
pwiegle Cape Malleum Majorem from Nowhere Special Since: Sep, 2015 Relationship Status: Singularity
Cape Malleum Majorem
#108999: Jan 17th 2016 at 11:31:18 AM

Back then, they didn't know that contaminated water caused cholera and dysentery. This was before Louis Pasteur and the germ theory of disease. Until the last decades of the 19th century, the medical profession still taught quackery, and believed in nonsense like "miasma" and "bilious humors" and old-fashioned techniques like blood-letting.

So the only way to avoid it was by not drinking water at all; Westerners drank beer, Orientals drank tea. They didn't know it was the boiling part of the brewing process that killed bacteria, so it was only by happenstance. And if you didn't have beer or tea, you drank water — and got sick.

edited 17th Jan '16 11:39:58 AM by pwiegle

This Space Intentionally Left Blank.
TheHandle United Earth from Stockholm Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
United Earth
#109000: Jan 17th 2016 at 11:53:13 AM

John Snow figured that out in 1854. Pasteur was barely starting up on the other side of the Channel. As for the Oregon trail...

From the early to mid-1830s (and particularly through the epoch years, 1846–1869) the Oregon Trail and its many offshoots were used by about 400,000 settlers, ranchers, farmers, miners, and businessmen and their families. The eastern half of the trail was also used by travelers on the California Trail (from 1843), Bozeman Trail (from 1863), and Mormon Trail (from 1847) before turning off to their separate destinations. Use of the trail declined as the first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, making the trip west substantially faster, cheaper, and safer. Today, modern highways such as Interstate 80 and Interstate 84 follow parts of the same course westward and pass through towns originally established to serve those using the Oregon Trail.

So, basically, these new ideas didn't make it to the Trail in time. And they kept getting distracted by other concerns...

(starts in 1:41)

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

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