Politics

Credit rating agencies have been hot news since the economic crisis hit. Three agencies in particular seem very influential: Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch, sometimes called the Big Three. Some days, it seems that they practically rule the world. Influencing the short-term political agenda There are plenty of examples where a warning from one of the agencies triggered responses from the highest politicians in EU countries. (Links in Dutch (1, 2), and in English (3, 4)). Each article starts with a warning (not a real downgrade), followed by politicians who say something along the lines of "this shows that we need to take action", or "this shows how urge…

The land of the free. Fact or meaningless rhetoric? Rhetoric is described as language that is not honest,sincere, or meaningful. I am French. French has no word that equates to freedom or freewill as understood by the English. This makes freedom and land of the free purerhetorical statements and basically a dishonest statement. These terms are ideasor a reality that are impossible to have. Freedom and free will then just becomes something that Iwould name as liberty. Liberty is described as permission especially to gofreely within specified limits. That says to me that we are only free to followthe rules of society and those in power. …

i cant believe newt has now dropped out everyone from where i live support him

I, like many people here, believe working conditions should be better, and incomes higher. There are many people who essentially live in poverty, and struggle to afford rent in crowded apartments. Things need to change, so that anyone willing to put work and put serious effort into their work, should be able to live a decent life in decent housing, and be able to afford a few basic extra luxuries, such as a vacation once a year, and to eat out a few times every week. Now I realise there will always be people less motivated, who do not want to work as much, or are more discriminating about where or how they are willing to work. These people should still be able to l…

Is, as this video asserts, legalizing cannabis really a Conservative position?

This is for everyone in every country. I'd like to discuss the best use of government tax revenues. Personally, I think there are some areas where people in a society can get the best benefits for their money by pooling it via taxes. As I've mentioned before, things like medical insurance, prisons and education don't fit the standard business models. Maintaining a growing customer base for prisons is antithetical to what you want prisons for. I think welfare is a great investment in your citizens. Too often, people only look at the smaller percentage of people who abuse welfare systems, and fail to see the greater percentage of people who truly need them, so we …

85% of prison rapes in the USA are comitted by Black men, despite black men only constituting 41% of the prison population. Most prison rapes in the USA are comitted by black men on white men. The phenomena of blacks exclusively raping whites has been substantially documented since the 1960s. Both quantitative and qualitative data show that blacks exclusively raping whites has been constant. sources: Davis 1968; Jones 1976; Nacci 1978; Nacci and Kane 1984; Bowker 1980; Lookwood 1980; Starchild 1990 For every year in an American prison, a prisoner on average has a 6% chance of being raped. If someone is in prison for 15 years, probability is not in their favor. :…

All those cars do not need petrol. There are plenty of wood chips (or other organic material) that can be burned instead! http://www.lowtechma...d-gas-cars.html On a weight basis, wood chips have 40 percent of the energy content of petrol.

Different racial/ethnic groups have different fertility rates, and often these differences can be very significant. Some groups of people have many more babies than other groups of people, and this often contributes to ethnic resentment. Different ethnic groups often have different political interests, and higher fertility rates can alter the balance of power within the time frame of a few decades. Certain ethnic groups may make accusations that it is "not fair", or accuse women from another ethnicity of having too many babies with reckless abandon. This certainly can make a large segment of a society reluctant to provide help to its poor. "Control, or the claim of…

This is a thread on generic "hate" crimes, defined as comments suggestive of unlawful violence. brought this topic to light, and the recent Ted Nugent comments has continued it. What legitimate freedom of speech or constructive purpose exists to wish someone ill, especially by an act of unlawful violence? Against government officials such as Representative Giffords and President Obama, such acts come dangerously close to sedition (the stirring up of discontent, resistance, or rebellion against the government), or perhaps treason (violation of the allegiance owed to one's sovereign or state). But even -- or especially -- among common folk (them being …

http://news.yahoo.com/scientists-warn-emergency-global-scale-185118563.html Perhaps scientists need to develop a way in which all existing humans will be capable of theoretically-surviving forever. At the same time, these scientists need to invent a virus that will infect and kill all human sperm and egg cells. Here would be the results: 1. Any human who is alive will never die of "natural causes" 2. No new human will be conceived Biologically, all humans will forever be 31-years-old.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5aSGgpy7WU Interesting interview. I think the politics of Ayn Rand, which were very unpopular during her day, seem to be picking up popularity at least with the right wing and corporatist thinkers of our nation. What do you think. I personally think her narcissism is just unbearable.

All those environmental regulations in the EU and USA will not mean anything if the developed countries continue to allow their manufacturing to be outsourced to China, where there are no pollution laws (the few laws that do exist are rarely enforced). Air pollution in one the main cities: http://cargocycling....pollution-china It is so bad that most of the people wear face masks: China emitts more carbon dioxide than any other country on earth: China's rivers are being heavily polluted: http://www.flickr.co...euk/5932903239/ http://latestchina.c...icle/?rid=21475 Why is free trade being allowed with China when it refuses curb pollution or enf…

So five years ago Michigan passed Proposition 2, 58% to 42%, which was an iniative that amended Michigan's constitution to include among other things, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_Civil_Rights_Initiative Recently, however, a federal appeals court found Proposition 2 unconstitutional believing that it violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jul/01/nation/la-na-michigan-ban-20110702 So this raises two questions in my mind: Should race, gender, ethnicity, etc be used in college admissions? Is Proposition 2 constitutional, and should a state be able to outlaw "affirmative action" po…

I've been reading a really excellent article in Yes! magazine about ways to relax the stranglehold corporations have on our economy, our politics and our lives. Being in business my whole life, I fully recognize the need for corporate charters, but I feel they have become far too influential in the legislative process that's designed to regulate them and assure proper checks and balances. My biggest concern is that when profit is the single motivating drive for corporate existence, all the other reasons for loving a capitalist economy are jeopardized. Job security, stability, compensation, environmental concerns, efficiency, quality, long-term goals, emotional and pe…

When dealing with a cold-hearted non-disabled adult human being of society, I am determined: 1. To stoop down to his/her level 2. *Not* to be the bigger/better person I also feel like cancelling his/her cold-heartedness with my hot-heartedness I believe in fairness -- and hate with a passion -- N E cold-hearted non-disabled adult human who knowingly/willingly perpetrates unfairness. A cold-heart gains pleasure, humor, and happiness from misusing his/her power. A hot-heart [like me] wishes for such injustices -- perpetrated by cold-hearts -- to disappear and wishes for the angels to descend from heaven and punish these cold-hearts by causing these cold…

Some minor discussion of healthcare in other topics has forced me to do some reading on the subject. Since it wasn't the the origional subject in those threads, I thought I had better opportunity to discuss it at length if I created a new topic. So let's see if I can break down what the critics of the US's healthcare system say. Some people say that America spends more money on healthcare for a lower quality. While it's true we spend more money, I will have to beg to differ on the lower quality. It seems that most of the areas that are chosen to judge quality are chosen on results that they wish to recieve rather than taking into account the reasons for those numbers …

O say can you see, the U. S. Oligarchy? The U. S. is on sale. Buy it while it’s hot. O say can you see, by the dawn's early light, what so proudly we hailed we now proudly renounce. democracy http://blog.ted.com/2008/09/17/the_real_differ/ Plato theorized that democracies, as they matured, evolvedinto oligarchies or plutocracies. We are witnessing exactly that. When the new political election funding laws came intoeffect, the U. S. democratic system became an oligarchy or plutocracy. Billionairesare now buying political candidates and are in fact buying the leadership ofthe nation. They…

The president will deliver the final annual state of the union address of his first term (and potentially ever if he is not reelected) in about 30 minutes. Watch live online the enhanced stream with charts, graphs, and citations: http://www.whitehouse.gov/state-of-the-union-2012 Discuss below. What will be the future of the US? Is the vision laid out by the president right or wrong in your view, and why?

Sad, but true. Join the party? Sorry... I value my integrity and reason too much for that.

Does this Sort of thing indicate our political/economic system is corrupt/broken beyond repair?

Okay, this isn't big on the grand scale of International politics, but my home State Queensland had an election last weekend. For roughly the last 20 years we have had government from the Labor Party, who are from out "left" with all the union affilliations and green tendencies that this implies. We have 89 seats in the State House (The Upper House was abolished by the ALP back in 1922) of which, until Saturday the ALP held 51. 51 out of 89 being a reasonable and comfortable majority. As of Sunday morning, they hold 7 after losing a stunning 44 seats, the largest loss ever in any Australian election. The incoming conservative government holds 78 out of 89 sea…

I was reading an article at Huff Post on the Arizona Birth Control Act (here) prompted by Moontanman's excellent thread. This bill (now on its way to Senate for a vote) allows to Employers to withhold contraception on religious grounds (not only if the organisation is a religious foundation - but any body can opt out) - and women who seek reimbursement for contraception will be able to be interrogated on the reasons they, in consultation with their doctor, decided contraception was necessary; they will also be required to prove it was for medical reasons. I was shocked that this would be seriously considered - but I suppose after the vitriolic rants of Rush Limbaugh on …

All this in the news lately about the Middle East has me wondering what Israel is to the United States. A liability or an asset, or some of both? I ask that you consider both categories before answering.