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
@Bat: The TPP isn't going to lead to the take down of Deviantart. Masterful fearmongering on that case, though. Deviantart is more than fanart anyway, so I think you and your friends will be fine. As a practical matter most people don't go after fanworks anyway because one, it'd take up too much damn time, two, suing people for making free works isn't actually going to make them any money. As a practical matter, you and your friends are safe. Under Trump, millions of people's civil rights are under fire.
This is single issue wonking to an extreme degree.
I didn't say that I would vote for Trump, especially since I am a European immigrant. Even in a pinch between him and Hillary, I'd rather take the risk and vote for Hillary. **** Trump, he's the scum of the Earth. Racist, xenophobic, bigoted, and violent, not to mention he hates Japan. He's even expressed his willingness to nuke Syria and/or Iraq (Which would be a really, REALLY bad idea. Even if MAD wouldn't come into effect, Israel and Iran are right next door, and both of them will be irradiated and very pissed off at the US, not to mention Israel also has nukes).
edited 3rd May '16 10:24:30 PM by Bat178
Wonder if he got threatened by party elites to drop the fuck out and let the party consolidate than result in a deadly convention, or else his future political career and post political options would be extremely limited.
Since he basically blew all of his political energy on building up as the Anti-Establishment Establishment True Conservative, and now he's burned most if not all of his bridges.
edited 3rd May '16 10:30:37 PM by PotatoesRock
Frankly, I think Cruz's problem was that he was myopic from the get go. He did not realize how much his narrow appeal would damage his prospects in states which aren't hard-breed Tea Party land. "New York values" may sell to the Tea Party but not in, well, New York state. Nor the other things Trump attacked him over there.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanRemind me why he thought attacking one of the major cities in the United States - one might say the major city - was in any way a good idea.
Oh God! Natural light!Nuking the Middle East might be the one of the least controversial things Trump has said, if only because that's just an old hat by now, and Cruz said something similar. For that matter, it's a perfect indication of how they are juvenile and extremely reactionary, since I admit I thought the same thing after 9/11. But I learned to tone it down over the last decade, while they've kept it up.
Trump's statements about using nukes in Europe is far more noteworthy, even if it was delivered in typical back-and-forth Trump fashion: "I'd never use a nuke in Europe, but we can't take it off the table; of course I'll never nuke Europe, but we just can't rule out that option..." and so on.
edited 3rd May '16 10:46:02 PM by Eschaton
The idea of "New York liberals" being the enemy plays well with some people to the west of that city. Now, he ended up losing big in the state itself because the concept offends just about anyone who lives there. Except for that one section where he went and visited with the Jewish bakery. He won that somehow. *shrug*
Basically, he othered the concept of a city as different and living with values very different from that of his constituency.
In hindsight, he trapped himself in Indiana. That said, I'm also surprised.
edited 3rd May '16 10:59:50 PM by Demonic_Braeburn
Any group who acts like morons ironically will eventually find itself swamped by morons who think themselves to be in good company.![]()
I've always hated that mindset.
Aren't cities usually more racially and ethnically diverse than more rural areas?
edited 3rd May '16 10:46:10 PM by KarkatTheDalek
Oh God! Natural light!Regarding Cruz and New York, the fact that it was Trump's home state also didn't help Cruz but given the results in Pennsylvania I think that it was really not good land for Cruz - too little Tea Party and too much Republican proletariat. Trump's attacks over Sandy and a health bill for folks who participated in the 9/11 after-cleanup probably didn't help Cruz either nor did the strong dislike some New York Republicans had for Cruz ("Any New Yorker who even thinks of voting for Ted Cruz should have their head examined" according to a congressman from there).
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanHoly shit no. That cannot be allowed to happen.
edited 4th May '16 12:31:49 AM by TheHandle
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.Georgia's Republican governor vetoes campus concealed-carry bill.
Citing, among other things, the fact that he tried to get the legislature to agree to ban guns at on-campus daycare facilities and they didn't, so he vetoed the whole thing.
(Independent Thought Alarm embed removed, because Youtube videos on this forum take up way too much space.)
Unsurprising. There's a reason the Eurocrats have tried to keep the negotiations secret, but it's kind of impossible for the treaty itself to be kept secret.
Still, damn it, people are going to take the wrong lesson from this. The proper answer to this kind of bullshit is to strengthen the European Parliament and other representative bodies, not to scrap the EU, but the Eurocrats' stupidity is going to invigorate the anti-EU movements. (And given the Brexit referendum, this leak could not have come at a worse time.)
edited 4th May '16 12:37:56 AM by Ramidel
Speaking of trade, dammit Trump, don't open your attack on Hillary by being right! Even Right for the Wrong Reasons.
My understanding of NAFTA is that Mexico's the one that's drawn the short stick in that deal, while the US has largely benefited. I'd think that Trump would be all for a deal like that. (And it also appears that Bush Senior was the one who did the negotiating for most of it and simply ran out of time to sign the deal himself.) *shrug*
I think it caused a general collapse in Mexico of some major key industries that took a decade or two to reverse, and it's generally associated with a ton of American jobs at the same time being hollowed out in terms of manufacturing, which might of fell through due to other reasons (New Democrats generally being friendly with China, lack of Labor protection, general lack of Anti-Trust enforcement, loosening of regulations, etc.)
Feel free to correct.
But it's pretty much the poster child rolled out to point out "Why should I accept your trade deal and have my job given to a factory worker or middle manager in Vietnam."
edited 4th May '16 1:33:11 AM by PotatoesRock

Actually, that vote was not for the TPP. It was a vote to ensure that TPP could be fast-tracked into law if it is introduced into Congress, which was needed to conclude the TPP negotiations. TPP has yet to actually be voted on via this fast-track yet.
Wizard Needs Food Badly