Politics

While rebutting some ignorant memes about the nature of socialism from friends and family on social media, I suggested that we in the US already offer socialistic programs in parallel with our capitalistic ones. My stance is that the conversation is mostly about where to strike that balance between them, but that we'll always be a hybrid of the two. In support of my position that we already have socialistic elements, I referenced the obvious programs like Medicare and Social Security, but added that our military is also a perfect example of socialistic program. I suggested that the only difference with the military as an example from others like medicare for all…

There have been numerous cases of Joe Biden showing signs of cognitive decline. The compilation video below (courtesy of Walker Bragman) shows recent examples of this. It's a troubling thought considering that Trump has already shown ample evidence of cognitive impairment and early dementia. Having a President of sound mind should not be a question of politics, and considering that Biden is the establishment's choice for the Democratic nominee, there is little chance that the mainstream press will draw attention to it. Fox has already begun their attacks, however, and surely these attacks will intensify if Biden becomes the nominee. https://twitter.com/WalkerBr…

What is this the news I hear they are saying repo or injecting billion dollars into the market? Is the stock market not doing well and the government is injecting billions into the market every day to keep the stock market up. Where is this money going and is profiting from it. Is is stock market not doing well now and could crash and that why feds are popping money into every day.

I have to admit I am no expert when it comes to socialist policies. However from what I can see countries like Holland and Germany. When someone loses their job the state will intervene and ensure that they are paid upto 75% of what they were earning. Does this not put a strain on the economy ?. Having to pay out such large sums of money to millions ?

Is anyone watching/following the Impeachment Hearings ? Seems the 'quid pro quo', or bribery as the rest of us call it, was pretty blatant. But I've been watching sporadically. I'm not familiar with the 'path' from hearings to actual Impeachment. What needs to happen to finally get rid of clown Donald ?

Hi! I'm one of those "Russian disinformation" "conspiracy theory" people you've heard about. I could debate the issues and defend my OWN and honestly derived findings and views as needed, start a general thread on it, etc. In due time. But for now, I have just one question that SHOULD be simple and scientific. But unfortunately it's been politicized so that many people won't even want to touch it. Since the politics affects the science or discussion of it, both might come up and it seems politics section of Science Forums is the place. Syria, Douma, 7 April 2018, deadly chlorine attack, the leaks and whistleblowers of the least year, and OPCW losing some credibility…

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2019/may/24/theresa-may-resignation-uk-prime-minister-politics-brexit-live-news Now we're in the shit... Can anyone see a scenario that doesn't end, badly?

In order to keep the various discussions on specific presidential candidate plans focused I would like to use this thread to allow for a broader and comparative discussion on college tuition. In this thread I would like to discuss the various models in circulation to make higher education more affordable, but also to discuss potential drivers of increasing college cost. For starters I would like to mention that a number of contributors have been identified, but studies are not entirely in agreement with each other. One issue that has been discussed is the so-called Baumol's cost disease. In traditional economics wage growth is related to productivity increase. Howeve…

Recently heard about a gentleman at one of E Warren's campaign stops questioning her about her plan to forgive student loans. A policy which had previously seemed attractive to me. He said that he had made many sacrifices to pay off his daughter's student loan, and could he have his money back ? She of course, said "No". Seems like a kick in the teeth to all the people who have worked hard and made sacrifices to repay their loans, while those who haven't are going to be rewarded with a disappeared obligation. They knew the choices they were making; a big pay-out from a well paying job. Now they complain that debt repayment takes a big chunk out of that well p…

“I’m automatically attracted to beautiful women — I just start kissing them, it’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything, grab 'em by the pussy." Trump was not only boasting of his sexual prowess to Billy Bush, but he was advocating this kind of behavior for "stars." “You [Billy Bush] can do anything when you’re a star.” Implying that Billy Bush could grab women, like Trump does, IF he is a star. “Are you important enough, a real star, to grab women by their private parts?” https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/trump-hot-mic-when-you-re-star-you-can-do-n662116 It is funny how Trum…

According to reports from Iranian officials, it sounds like they recognize a subtle "state of war" exists between Iran and the USA. The Iranians will retaliate somehow because of the US killing of their general Soleimani. They already destroyed a $100M drone, attacked shipping, and attacked Saudi oil production. Here is what Trump tweeted in 2012: "Polls are starting to look really bad for Obama. Looks like he'll have to start a war or major conflict to win. Don't put it past him!" https://heavy.com/news/2017/08/trump-twitter-obama-north-korea-war-poll-approval/ Is this insight into the mind of Trump? DOES HE BELIEVE that starting a war will help hi…

The process that I learned when I took government about a president that was accused of abuse of power is similar to what is happening now. There is supposed to be an article that prevents impeachment if we are in a state of emergency, so the act of impeachment cannot infringe on the protection of the US. The only card the house has against the senate and presidency if they both are seen to be corrupt is to hold the articles until they comply. It can potentially shut down the government if they hold on to them while not allowing any other bills to go through the house. Then the other branches have to comply if they wish to pass anything through the house. (It could b…

What are the current laws in different countries (particularly Canada, US) about remote car steering? Are there any plans to legalize it? It could be helpful to those people who cannot and do not want to drive themselves.

we got Brexit… survive, being the operative word...

Evidence..seems to be a talking point of yours. Well, let me share something with you as a student of the social sciences; when it comes to the study of all of man's social mechanisms there are no absolutes, no 'proofs'. All one can do is cite what we hold to be accurate dates and events of history or facts/extracts from texts- like the Constitution for example. Everything else is subjective, fleeting and subject to change based on change-like how public opinion can be readily changed by events, especially in the days of the 24 hour news cycle. As a American Government professor of mine liked to joke "the professor over there in the (hard) sciences…

We’re pretty off topic, and this could be interesting to pursue elsewhere as a separate thread, but I’m less concerned with apathy/lack of passion among the populace and far more concerned with passions rooted in misconceptions, falsehoods, and/or nationalism and cult-like mindsets. This is at odds with what the data shows. It’s the passionate margins that drive the action AND the discussion. Those temperate moderates just get carried along by the currents and waves generated by those margins. Again though... the topic here is impeachment. Please let’s focus on that and split other topics into their own threads.

Just waiting around on the results of our election. I assume you've already voted and got results for your area, JC, and if you haven't gotten out yet Rangerx, make sure you go vote. I may have a preference of our 5 main parties ( depending on criteria for 'party' ) but I sure am glad none of ours sink to the level of some American parties ( and even some of the Brits' ). "Get over it" you Americans. ( to quote your President's Chief of Staff )

We commonly hear that eyewitness testimony is not reliable, in fact it is often portrayed as the worst type of evidence. But you or I can be sent to death by eyewitness testimony. In the courtroom eyewitness testimony is often touted as fundamental in many if not most criminal cases, yet when we judge something outside the courtroom such assertions are poo pooed as not to be believed and cannot be used to judge any aspect of the natural world. Is this bias against eyewitness testimony only applicable if there is only one eyewitness? Does Two make it better? Does multiple independent eyewitnesses lend more credence to the testimony? Should we consider eyewitness test…

This was a sad case and it's just got sadder. A UK cop has been charged with murder for the death of a former professional footballer, Dalian Atkinson, after police were called to the home of his father. Atkinson died of a heart attack on the way to hospital. I can't shed any light on the actual sequence of incidents that led to him being tasered. It's a very odd situation where a cop is charged with murder. A second cop, a woman pc, is charged with causing Actual Bodily Harm. Wikipedia says this about his death "Police had responded to a call as Atkinson threatened to kill his father, Ernest. Atkinson's older brother Kenroy said "My brother had lost it. He was in a …

https://www.theverge.com/2018/8/21/17764480/facebook-ad-targeting-options-removal-housing-racial-discrimination https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/08/17/facebook-could-be-responsible-how-advertisers-use-its-platform-justice-department-says/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.aa51c1a63918 So I was arguing with a friend of mine Sunday about the tools FB has that let an advertiser discriminate regarding who sees their ads. My friend is a hairdresser who specializes in hard-to-treat black women's hair. I told him the same tools he uses to target his clientele is being used to discriminate against people some advertisers don't want to do business with. FB allows…

Northern Ireland. List what you think Unionist and Republican leaders have each most feared in trying to negotiate a compromise. What do you think the feared most from their own side? People say it's more political question, than historical

Apparently while we were sleeping, Ohio has passed a bill that students can't be penalized for mathematically or scientifically incorrect answers for reasons based on their beliefs. ( my religion teaches the Trinity; three goes into one evenly !!! ) https://local12.com/news/local/ohio-house-passes-bill-allowing-student-answers-to-be-scientifically-wrong-due-to-religion Can't offend their vulnerable sensitivities with facts and evidence now, can we ? When you combine this with right-wing hate groups, anti-vaxxers, and your politics, the once great America is spiralling the toilet bowl. Please come back to sanity; the world needs you

This title is in quotation marks because I don't agree with it. I am only acknowledging the new motto of the GOP/Trump party. Trump's "ends" is stated as "Make America Great Again." That sounds good, but his real ends is constant attention he is getting for outrageous behavior. He loves the power and attention more than life itself. I learned about Trump in 2006 when he engaged in a twitter war with Rosie O'Donnell. She criticized his treatment of beauty pageant contestants, and he got down and dirty criticizing her as a loser, stupid, ugly, fat, etc. He sounded like a spoiled 8-year-old. How could such a person become a billionaire? I later found out h…

Watching Al Jazeera will introduce you to plenty of third-world problems: vaccination and antiboiotic resistance, contaminated water and landfill landslides, collapsed buildings and dams, tsunamis and earthquakes, sand mining and The Great Green Wall, air quality in Bangkok and New Delhi, and smuggled firearms and the direct sale of firearms, armoured vehicles, and fighter jets. Yet some of them still find time to invent, like Sounthirajan Kumarasamy and his team did, and I want to see more of it. Our planet is accelerating toward a mass extinction, and India by itself has three times more heads than the United States. Although foreign leaders favoring the status q…

US special forces staged a raid near the Syria/Turkey border and flushed out Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who then blew himself up with explosives when trapped. Apparently DNA confirmation of his identity is now possible 'in the field' and much quicker than the usual couple of weeks it takes for criminal cases. Obviously there is a need to be sure, as he has been 'reportedly' killed several times before. D Trump is either trying to draw attention from his escalating problems, or still trying to take wind from B Obama's sails ( the Osama bin-Laden takedown ), as apparently he posted a ( staged ) picture in the Situation Room from the wrong time; he was playing golf during th…