Politics

What do you think about possibility to legalize short range cell phone jammers which could be used for security purposes (electronic bug jamming)? Government could certify such devices making sure they work on very short range and unlikely creating threat to other people.

Bruce Springsteen explaining the cancellation of his recent show Bryan Adams in his press release also cancelling a show In which god-forsaken hell hole are these ageing rockstars (who still really rock) cancelling tour shows because of the recent wave of anti LGBT legislation? It's the land of the free - the Good Ole U S of A. Springsteen cancelled in Greensboro North Carolina and Adams cancelled at the Mississippi Colisseum

We all know that Trump has said some strange things about global warming, including it is a Chinese hoax to perturb US industry. His latest on twitter includes 'It's freezing outside, where the hell is "global warming"?' Now, I think that it is not important that our leaders underststand global warming, but it is important that they listen to those experts that clearly do know. Trump of course has gone beyond not understanding and has landed in the crack-pot bin. What are your thoughts in general on our leaders understanding science?

I didn't know whether put it to politics or to "The Official JOKES SECTION", both fit IMHO quite nicely. See this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7sH4zLPBb8 russian parliament members vote for their missing colleagues, every one voted for 4 in the same bench, one even voted for 8... Maybe it's open day in state duma, and they are just visitors?

Given my skills to apply to any and all jobs on a job site I have compiled a list of the main inhibitors to employment here. 1. Availability of housing - Job-seeker's won't come work for you if it costs more than their paycheck to live in your area 2. Driving License - Many governments require driving licenses,tax and insurance before anybody is allowed to drive. It has become this money making scheme for them. However there is no point in forcing job-seeker's to have them because the job-seekers can't afford them but still have to drive to work and logically the government doesn't lose anything in taxes to let them drive. 3. Employers are lazy - The idea that they …

Should all politicians and presadintal runners (before you ask, no, this isn't aimed at Trump) take some form of a psychology* test, to even be considered for taking a job in the government. We have doctors who work in advance fields of health and science, and some of them have to take a test, right? Why not the people who run the country?

Is this info that needs to be available on the internet? Is this knowledge that should be freely available to every dummy on Earth? This kind of knowledge, no matter how simple the bomb, should be banned from the internet, like child porn or how to build a nuclear bomb or bio weapon, and other harmful or deadly subjects. It should be illegal to post this anywhere on the internet. I propose that anyone who posts info on how to build a bomb should be tracked down and arrested, and whatever they post be deleted upon detection.

There is a video clip where Conan O'Brien creates a utopic sandwich, which is meant as a joke. One you tube comment was that you shouldn't play with food, because in African children die cause of starvation. I believe this comment has no meaning, because if you waste your food or not doesn't matter children in Africa still die. Stores and supermarkets have to dump their unsold food(a big amount by the way). In Switzerland and also in America this is the case. But not in France anymore. Last year they changed the law. All French stores have to recycle, compost or donate their unsold food. That's good in my opionion. I wished we also had the law here in Switzerland…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism What does Socialism mean to you? What are it's strengths and weaknesses? In the US, we're being exposed to the Sanders campaign as a liberal socialist candidate, yet elsewhere he's barely on the left side of the scale. Is Sander's brand of socialism a good step in the right direction, or does he go too far for the US, or not far enough for everyone else?

Seems it is when we are silent and waiting when tolerant people will be killed. Do terrorist attacks in Belgium prove that European politics of toleration is mistake?

"Since at least 2004, a significant goal of the group has been the foundation of a Sunni Islamic state. Specifically, ISIL has sought to establish itself as a caliphate, an Islamic state led by a group of religious authorities under a supreme leader—the caliph—who is believed to be the successor to Prophet Muhammad. In June 2014, ISIL published a document in which it claimed to have traced the lineage of its leader al-Baghdadi back to Muhammad, and upon proclaiming a new caliphate on 29 June, the group appointed al-Baghdadi as its caliph. As caliph, he demands the allegiance of all devout Muslims worldwide, according to Islamic jurisprudence. ISIL has detailed its…

I read an interesting article yesterday. Forget about Godwining your discussions by equating Trump with Hitler. The better analogy is George Wallace. Which suddenly spotlights how history is rhyming, not repeating itself, and the 2016 election is rhyming with the 1968 election. Trump is George Wallace, with all his hateful racist rhetoric, and ability to grab free press coverage based solely on sensationalism rather than merit. Clinton is Hubert Humphrey, burdened with the Johnson/Vietnam legacy and party lines he wanted to deviate from, but didn't want to enough to fight the party. Bernie Sanders (white-haired liberal anti-war candidate beloved by college students) …

I am not an American, and I struggle to fully understand the cause of the riots in Ferguson, Missouri (link to theguardian.com). Obviously, the shooting of an unarmed black man living in Ferguson was for many people in at town the final straw. But there is surely a deeper problem than that. Is it that black people feel discriminated? Is it that the police are scared shitless patrolling the poor areas, and shoot much too quickly because of that? Is it because there is no good communication between law enforcement and local inhabitants (no understanding)? Can one even point out a single problem that is the major issue? I'd like to hear some input about this, because I j…

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-35571868 News coming in that Scalia has died http://www.theguardian.com/law/2016/feb/13/supreme-court-justice-antonin-scalia-dead-at-79

Day to day, I watch TV and surf the internet, and I see Americans, embarrassing themselves. Commenting that if the president their voting for, doesn't win, they'll leave the country. They're acting like children, acting butt-hurt. They're making protests, sure it's their right, but it doesn't feel right, the way their doing so. When someone runs for president, they are suppose to run for the benefit for the country, not to run for the job itself, because of greed. The Runners go out of their way, to find dirt on each other, they forgot the fundamentals. This country is splitting. Why, for two centuries, no matter how many new views people develop, we are stuck in traditio…

Is the right to peaceful protest under the First Amendment being violated at Trump rallies? In recent days, there are increasing reports of peaceful protesters being removed for wrongful reasons. It seems T-shirts get under the skin of Trump supporters. In a piece I just read, there were a couple of you girls wearing Bernie and Hillary shirts. They were friendly with those sitting next to them even though they were Trump supporters, often exchanging comments in a civil, respectful manner. However, a group of rabble rousers were not content with these shirts in their midst. After numerous cat calls and threats, the befriended Trump supporters intervened and chastis…

Alrite so. I am 34 year old man and have never been able to fully grasp politics. I get the endgame, (at least in this country) that it does matter who runs the show and how that can affect your everyday life. But what i have had trouble grasping for years, is how do smart people get so passionate about these topics. Am i the idiot for not understanding politics, or have i mentally skipped that step in my brain to move onto bigger and better things (again, in my brain). I only bring this up as ive recently been introduced to a show labeled the young turks who do a youtube podcast about the most relevant and popular political videos. These people aren't dumb, t…

This isn't nearly as exciting as the Iowa caucuses. It's kind of stable with Sanders having ~56% and Clinton having ~40%. Though, at this point, only 9% of votes are in, so it might change. It's fairly static, so I doubt it, but it might.

The best statistic I have found for quick and dirty comparison is not lifespan, which varies by many factors, but length of survival after diagnosis with one of the few dozen major diseases that can kill you. It works for me because it incorporates, summarizes the net effects of, and corrects for, a whole lot of factors difficult to measure individually, including preventive care (early diagnosis), ability to afford therapy (such as drugs, better food, etc), quality of diagnosis and treatment (too early hospital release, home care etc), tendency to impose worthless or more expensive treatments and therapies for whatever reasons, poverty leading to increased disease…

This is where I chuck a hand grenade amongst the SFN milieu and scarper. Past and present, ignoring personal affiliation, who do you consider to have, or had, the intelligence, knowledge, pragmatism and integrity to steer the good ship America through a term or two but aren't or weren't President. I nominate Condaleeza Rice and Colin Powell. They strike me as having all the prior qualities. Bear in mind I'm not American, so I could be way off in assessment but long-distance they looked good. Like I said earlier, political leadership is about steering ones country through ensuing events; political ideology and dreams for ones party very rarely realise... thi…

The UK will be deciding, via referendum, whether to remain an integral part of the European community or to go it alone. What will be the pros and cons of either path? I've always had an 'island' mindset but, in the last few years, have come realise that the UK is probably one of the top four countries that carry the most international weight in the democratic world. I now don't think it would be responsible for us to withdraw back into our collectively island self. The world is, inexorably, becoming a global village and we would be in grave error to ignore this integration.

With the declining middle class, increasing corruption in politics, and a militarized police state, the USA isn't the nation of freedom it claims to be. Over the past couple years, access to clean water has become more of an issue. Poverty levels are high, and health care is not available to everyone. http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/third_world_countries.htm Water issues. Not Flynt this time.

"Good" kill, movie good to watch by americans especially.... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3297330/ Wiki link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Kill ps The all "secrets".. It'll all be revealed sooner or later.. At the time you're all dead.. The sooner you think, the sooner you expect.. Regardless of faith..

This post was inspired by the death of Antonin Scalia and the apparent overt political leanings of his profession in the US which can ultimately decide policy. I'd like to focus on the weight the judiciary carries in political policy via test cases. I found this UK article about the appointment of a then-new UK Supreme Court judge in 2011. He had a lot to say about the importance of the judiciary's influence on government policy. Do you think that this approach that government should make policy and not by judges? Here's the thrust of what I'm on about. It's worth reading the page for more detail: Note the difference (bolded) between the required political i…

A nice summary of the data was published today over at fivethirtyeight.com, the site launched by Nate Silver of freakishly accurate election predicting fame. http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/heres-what-the-gender-pay-gap-looks-like-by-income-level/ A few relevant tidbits: * The average woman would have had to work all last year and into April this year to earn as much as the average man did in 2014 alone. * The gap is largest at the 95th percentile, with women earning only 79 percent of what men earn in the same income level. The narrowing of the wage gap for low-income earners is largely due to the minimum wage, which is the same for men and …