Politics

On Tuesday on the Jimmy Fallon show presidential candidate Jeb Bush spoke about the first meeting between himself and his future foreign bride, Columba. " It was love at first sight. I spoke little Spanish and she spoke little English, but when you are in love you can overcome those barriers pretty quick. There's another language that matters the most." John Ellis "Jeb" Bush is an American businessman and politician who served as the 43rd Governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. He is the second son of former President George H. W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush, and the younger brother of former President George W. Bush. Bush met his w…

Why is it that most of the countries in the world are in debt?

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html

I read a great article about space policy I wanted to discuss. Here's the link to the article by Dave Baiocchi and William Welser IV: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/space/2015-04-20/democratization-space In overview, space exploration has, in the past, been the domain of major states. As technology continues to find ways to make sending satellites and other vehicles more affordable, private companies are laying plans to increase the number of launches and vehicles dramatically. But right now, space policy is still largely non-existent, and certainly isn't geared up for the massive efforts private enterprise has in mind. Right now, the Outer Space Treaty loo…

There are many conspiracy theories that surround this idea, and they talk about the formation of the New World Order, or a one-world government. However, nobody seems the question what the problem with a one-world government would be. So, is there any reason to not have one?

I said nothing about how Hitler or Stalin were deposed or not. And I certainly wouldn't encourage thinking that what they did was anything but criminal. However the Weimar republic in Germany in the 20s had runaway inflation. I'm sure you've seen the pictures of the weelbarrows full of Marks needed to buy a loaf of bread. In ten years Hitler had rebuilt the economy ( through military spending among other things ) such that Germany could challenge the major powers of the world militarily again. Stalin had his 5 yr plans in the late 20s with the express purpose of modernizing the Russian economy. And they succeded. The fact that 8 million Ukranians died of starvat…

I was thinking about how, in the future, there will be cloud-homes or cloud cities, maybe. However, the question is it illegal to have one at the moment? If one were to be built(theoretically), would it be against the law? Is there any law against limits on how high it can go, legally?

The red dotted line is China's claimed territory. http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-32941829

So, I was watching this documentary about the obesity of a truck driver: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTAEvlKvRv8 Summary: A truck driver(the focus of the discussion) is obese because he is forced to unhealthy foods due to the requirements of his job. I think a way to solve a part of the obesity problem is to automate the movement of products geographically. The problem is the American economy relies on transportation of goods in order to keep the system moving as it is. I think the broad solution is to automate jobs that relate to this movement of goods. This would mean that people would have the ability to spend more time on their health rather than on …

Why did the UK opt out of the Schengen agreement?

I find this revolting: http://www.foxsanantonio.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/graphic-video-fort-bliss-soldier-moments-before-his-death-while-custody-12884.shtml#.VVsmaUZGSd5 When is the system going to change? I don't know if there were racial implications or simply police officers being jealous of this guy's position, or them being impatient. It has got to stop. People talk about passing laws. Why can't we just enforce the laws that we already have?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsSipotuQAI Factory Diesel Storage Tank Explodes Footage recorded footage in Jeddah, Makkah Province, Saudi Arabia Occurred On: Apr-24-2015 Talk about overreacting. That explosion is like a mile away or more.

I think the argument is, correct me if i'm wrong, most world powers don't want Iran to have a nuclear bomb. Iran argues they don't want a bomb, they just want nuclear-electric power. However, most Iranians believe that Iran has just as much right to a nuclear bomb as any other world power, for self defense. But the Supreme Leader has stated that they don't want a nuke bomb and they believe nuclear weapons are bad inherently. (Maybe not considered Islamic?) But his religion says it is ok to lie to infidels about such matters. So all Iranians understand that the outside world should not trust the ayatolla's word. If they say they don't want a nuke bomb, they…

In the interest of fairness, just seems like a reasonable question to ask.

From all video evidence, there seems no reason to shoot a fleeing man in the back. When officer went to his car to run info, there were no warrants. However, man ran away. Police apparently overreacted. Here's my idea. Put a small number of homeless people to work carrying around video cameras. There job is to film anything like this. They should be trained to hold the camera steady, unlike the video we have.

With all the not-a-candidate(yet) fund raising going on right now, I was wondering what people think of the Federal Election Comission? Is it possible to find somebody who most people will agree enforces fair rules equally, or will the current deadlock allow the candidates to play the rules instead of the game?

Didn't know wether to call this 'Stupid government responses to a problem' or 'Insane social engineering'... The desire to switch from fossil fuels to electric as a means of powering cars is a commendable one ( although it makes no sense in some parts of the US where most of their electricity is generated by burning coal ). Governments, in a rush to "be seen to do something', are therefore offering rebates on electric vehicles to force the take-up of the new technology. The most popular electric vehicle that I know of is the Tesla, a very nice electric vehicle, but it costs roughly $100,000 in the states and $150,000 in Canada. Obviously a little above the afforda…

AS in topic title - is the political world order deterministic enough so that at some point in the future we'll be able to predict what course world politics will take? Like you know, predicting with >90% certainity that 5 years from now country X will go to war with country Y and win after Z months of combat or that country U will have such and such foreign policy vis a vis country V etc Is that even possible? Political "scientists" often make predictions about future events but these predictions are not based at mathematical modelling. So they may "predict" that by 2030 US will still be majority white and world's most powerful country or that China will face pro…

Institutions that represent the weak are subject to the same nepotistic influences they defend against, and so constant reform, if not disintegration and rebirth, of these institutions is essential. This is what the trend toward coalition in European political parties represents - a regrouping in part triggered by the collapse of aggressive Communism, but probably timely anyway. The American system doesn't seem to be following this trend, so, is this a problem? Icebreaker.

Much has been said about the Germanwings co-pilot who coaxed the pilot out of the cockpit, so he could lock the door and crash the plane. What about his mental state? How often does a pilot, or bus driver, intentionally kill themselves AND their passengers? It seems like a severe hatred of other people, including himself. News report stated Andreas told his girl friend (or x girl friend?) that he was going to do something that will be remembered that will "change the system". What can this possibly mean? What change to the "system"? http://www.nytimes.c...ubitz.html?_r=0

In my understanding any democracy and freedom could exist until majority of people could protect them with weapons in their hands. Will technological changes (especially development of weapons and all-pervasive spying systems) ultimately make free society impossible? Then we have to admit that technological progress slows down social progress? Isn't it paradoxical? I mean what regular people in some modern civilized country (who are armed with non-automatic guns at best) could do against stealth bombers, nuclear bombs, submarines etc. In the nearest future there will be robotic military and police systems and spying cameras at every corner. Is there some way to reverse th…

Greetings! I was interested to know what this forum's community thinks of Socialism, so I made this topic to discuss Socialism. As you may (or may not) have noticed from my signature, I am a (Market) Socialist. I simply prefer it to Capitalism, but (unlike many socialists) I am not anti-capitalist. I simply have no reason to be against it. If I had the power I would encourage people to form cooperatives, but I would still allow private enterprise to exist. What is your opinion on socialism? I'm going to make a few points in an attempt to prevent arguments and confusion about certain things...though I doubt that people on this forum will need this. I. T…

Are we moving from political differentiation to ever increasing political integration ? Is there a movement from a Type 0 to a Type 1 civilization ? I subscribe to this view. Do you agree ? PS. Subtract variables like terrorism, genocide, pestilence and the like and we'll get there....

I have copied my question and endy's and iNow's replies off to new thread t avoid disrupting iNow's determinedly focussed thread. The current system clearly does not accord each US voter the same weight - if it did then Presidents could not be elected without a plurality of vote and they are (4 so far). I assume that if the preceeding is accepted then there must be a very good reason for sticking with the current system. Endy and iNow have both responded with the idea that this halts the tyranny of the majority - mob-rule, ochlocracy (that is just too nice a word not to drop it in) but I am not sure that this isn't a rationalisation of tradition r…

Inow, In the failed front two, you state that "we see the exact opposite", and while I can think of a few examples of airhead children, not possessing the skills and abilities of their parents (my plumber's son for instance,) I can think of many many more examples, of managers, leaders, store owners, craftsmen, scientists, movie producers, business leaders, thought leaders, military commanders, and politicians, who actually have the credentials and abilities and the ethics to be capable and trustworthy leaders. And where we see brilliance in disenfrancised individuals, we might get gang leaders, or revolutionary figures and such, but they are still the "leaders" of s…