Politics

I recently found this bit of prose which provides a lot of perspective, IMO, on the old Pledge controversy. What if instead of adding "Under God" to the Pledge, Congress altered the Pledge to read as follows:

I know I've been kinda ranting about the Florida primary situation, so I apologize in advance for bringing it up once again, but I just thought you guys might appreciate a humorous side note about it. These are the stickers they gave out today to all Florida primary voters:

While the ban passed the Senate (despite an anticipated veto), it received a rather odd nay, from John McCain: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/washington/13cnd-cong.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin McCain was tortured as a POW has been an outspoken critic of torture in the past. He also has a pretty resolute opinion on the matter of whether waterboarding is torture: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/26/us/politics/26giuliani.html?ref=politics What does this make him? A hypocrite? A coward bending to the will of the White House? Or maybe just a flip-flopper...

do you think its right that activists use the first amendment of the constitution to hide behind when presenting their case? Im all for freedom of speech but i think they are abusing the power a little bit! and taking into consideration that im liberal and call me out if it seems that liberals are the ones who mostly use the first amendment to their advantage! So let me know what you think?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23073316/ According to an AP poll, 68% of Americans feel that getting out of Iraq, a war which, for America, has been second only to World War II in total cost, would benefit the US economy, with 48% saying it would fix the country's economic problems "a great deal." This belies a recent decision by the US Congress to pump cash into the hands of low and middle income citizens as a potential band-aid for an ailing economy, however the same poll reveals the majority of Americans think this is an unwise decision. Do you feel that pulling out of Iraq would benefit the US economy? Would there be a human cost to such a pullout, and if so, w…

David Suzuki, one of the most prominent scientists in the western hemisphere evangelizing that humans are responsible for global warming, the recipient of 22 honorary degrees from Canadian, American and Australian universities for his hard work in promoting this cause, the recipient of Canda's most prestigious award, the Order of Canada, recipient of the UN's Kalinga Prize, hailed by the Canadian Broadcast Company as one of the "Top Ten Canadians", author of 43 books including a best-selling series of children's books about science, has proposed that politicians who don't push the ecological agenda forward should be arrested and incarcerated. So much for scient…

This link brought to you by the liberal media conspiracy, a.k.a. FOX News: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,330637,00.html The US House of Representatives is poised to vote as to whether two of Bush's advisers are in contempt of court for failing to testify in accordance with Congressional subpoenas. Joshua B. Bolten, White House chief of staff, and Harriet E. Miers, former White House counsel, were summoned to testify as to whether several United States attorneys were dismissed for political reasons. You may recall this issue as the one which effectively forced former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales from his post, unless you have a memory like Albert…

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=3978231&page=1 The above link goes to an ABC News exclusive interview with former CIA analyst John Kiriakou, who led the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah. The intelligence gathered by waterboarding led directly to the disrupting of numerous attacks against civilians. Kiriakou states clearly that Zubaydah was not made cooperative by any traditional imprisonment means, such as seclusion and normal interrogation. He simply was not going to give any information. Under waterboarding he lasted 35 seconds, after which time he had a vision from Allah telling him to cooperate with authorities (no, really), after which time he pr…

"I didn't major in math, I majored in miracles" So said Mike Huckabee over the weekend. http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1711811,00.html I know it's a bit out of context, but none of their statements are ever truly out of context during an election campaign, and this one was certainly aimed in the direction of a specific political group. (sigh)

I thought it best in the interest of common ground and emotion that I start this thread myself, being a well-known right-of-center member here -- this way at least it doesn't look like the thread was started by a leftie as a "in your face" kind of thing. But of course this has become a major news story now, and it has interesting political implications, so I think it's a valid subject for discussion. The far right is really beside itself over the front-runnership (for lack of a better term) of John McCain. Rush Limbaugh recently said that for the first time in his life he was considering not voting Republican! Ann Coulter reportedly said the other day that she…

Looks like he may have topped Clinton in total delegates after Super Tuesday: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8358.html?reddit Anyone else happy about this? I sure am...

I wasn't sure where to post this, since it is the politics of physics, but I thought the politics forum was more appropriate. The UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council today published their delivery plan for the period 2008 - 2012. The STFC is responsible for particle physics, astronomy, nuclear physics and the funding of large science facilities generally. It was formed recently by a merger of PPARC (the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council) and the CCLRC (Council for the Central Laboratory of the the Research Councils). Strangely, just after its formation, they announced that they were short by about £80M, so that new logo and all the new hea…

The Iowa caucus is today, and the primary 'season' has officially begun. Use this thread to make predictions and final results, as well as any relevant discussion. My prediction for the Republican caucus in Iowa: Huckabee Romney McCain Paul Thompson Guiliani Hunter That's the most likely scenario, though I'd like to see Paul and McCain switch places. Anyone else?

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/76270/ Michael Moore sez: "I'm morally prohibited from voting for Hillary" Why? Her votes, and stance on the Iraq war. Can Hillary gain traction with the anti-war crowd? Is resentment of the Iraq War responsible for her waning popularity?

Douglas Schoen is a pollster who has written a couple of books recently about angry and motivated voters. He invented the term "RAM" that you hear talked about a lot lately, which stands for "restless, anxious moderates". I think he suffers from some of the same perspective weirdness that a lot of pollsters have, but he does raise some interesting points. His new book, Declaring Independence: The Beginning of the End of the Two-Party System, went on sale last week, and looks fairly interesting. His previous book, The Power of the Vote: Electing Presidents, Overthrowing Dictators, and Promoting Democracy Around the World, went to paperback last month and was a bes…

I just loved the writing in this story, so I thought it might make a nice opening to a broader discussion about the looming economic downturn/recession. (And wouldn't that subject line make a great name for a punk rock band? The PINK SLIP BLIZZARDS, everone!) http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080202/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/economy_162 A shower of pink slips! My my! The analysis is accurate, though -- it seems clear that the economy is heading for low ebb of some kind. I suggest our focus should be -- is this the fault of politicians? I don't think you can really escape blame -- the president has forced us to spend a veritable fortune on Iraq, for examp…

There's an interesting story going around about voters, especially in California where they've been voting since January, suddenly finding that the candidates they voted for are no longer even on the ballot. Some of the news stories spin things even further by declaring that the voters HAD to vote early because they were confused and uncertain about electronic voting machines. Here are a couple of amusing articles on the subject: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/breakingnews/story/267654.html http://www.kansascity.com/445/story/475084.html All I can say is, welcome to voting irrelevency! The oranges over in the corner were donated by the state of Florida --…

This is an odd story at first blush, but it may be that both sides have a valid point here. The problem apparently arises not so much from the fact that they don't want people with HIV giving blood (which is obviously something nobody wants), but rather from the fact that people who have a higher risk of having HIV are not allowed to donate. Specifically, gay men are denied. And therein, of course, lies the rub, because that's discrimination, or at least it appears to be. The article below talks about one university in California that has banned blood donation from campus because of its anti-discrimination policy. But I'm somewhat confused by this, because I've b…

Some of you may recall a story I've mentioned here a couple of times about convicted sex offenders forced by the state to live under a bridge here in South Florida. I thought you might appreciate an update. To summarize, because of the new restrictions on where sex offenders are allowed to live, 2500 (?) feet from the nearest park or school, and the fact that they've been under terms of probation that denied them the right to leave the area, they were effectively trapped by a bizarre catch-22. A judge "resolved" the situation by having police transport the offenders to a site undernearth the Julia Tuttle causeway, and a government official actually comes by each day to…

This is a minor and vague rant, apropos of nothing in particular. Is anyone else tired of talk of political "spectrums" and/or the use of that ubiquitous 2-axis political chart with "economic" and "social" variables ranging from "libertarian" to "authoritarian?" Does anyone else really not fit anywhere? Problems: Positions on different issues are not always "consistent" on a right-left scale, nor need they be in order to be logically consistent. If regarding one social issue I have radical ideas identified (by who?) as "liberal," and on another I have radical ideas identified as "conservative," I'd end up squarely in the middle of the graph, despite having no even…

The Iraqi national congress has finally passed the law related to debaathification which allows former members of the Baath party to reapply for government jobs. This is important because they're mostly Sunnis, and the fact that they weren't allowed in government was seen as giving Shiites an advantage. This step was viewed with skepticism in some quarters because it doesn't guarantee those positions will go to Sunnis, but it is the first major benchmark that everyone's been looking for in the "political progress" front. The head of the largest Sunni contingent said today that it might be enough for them to come on board with the unity government. I expect that m…

A place to get away from reality and take out your aggression on presidential front-runners ... if only it would let you get past the first stage. http://www.miniclip.com/games/presidential-paintball/en/

What do you think about this conflict that has been going on since the re-establishment of the State of Israel? Who is responsible for this conflict to start in the first place? Why did all the Arab countries sign an undercover peace treaty with Israel, while Syria and Lebanon hasn't? Noting that Syria is already in failing peace talks with Israel and in Lebanon, Hizballah is the main opposer for a peace treaty between the two neighboring countries as it is under Syrian control and Iranian direct support. Palestine; legitimate to be a state or not? What is your reasoning? I have a small story that I'd like to tell you as we go through. Who is right and who is wrong? W…

Only on the Internet... SFN's candidates for President of the United States are Representative Ron Paul of the Republican Party and Senator Barack Obama of the Democratic Party. Call CNN, let's rock Iowa. So! It now falls to you to select which of the two you would rather see elected as President. You may post your choice and argue vociferously why it is superior if you so desire as well.

I thought about putting this in biomedical ethics, but I'd figured that it would be better over here. It's about vaccinations and the people who are against them. Just found it this morning while browsing, let me know what you think: EDIT: forgot the link: http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2008/01/04/woo-shot/