Politics

An important part of stock markets exchanges are made by computers. They execute orders based on algorithms in milliseconds, even microseconds, while humans need at least a few seconds to act. Take a look at this Wiki article about algorithm trading. Some excerpts Maybe all this economical crisis we actually live in Europe & U.S. is the result of powerful thinking machines against slow human political power? All quotes from the same Wiki page. And since politics lately are completely submitted to economics. Are the computers taking in charge politics ?

why do so many of the world's developing countries have relatively stricter punishments for people who break the law in comparison to developed countries? Is there a psychological explanation for this or is it all just a coincidence? thanks! also, as we head into the future and developing countries become more developed, will this necessarily mean lighter punishment for crimes committed by people. what does everyone think?

Mass immigration has been the undoing of leftwing political parties across Europe since it erodes the shared values that are an essential prerequisite of a well-funded welfare state. Why should indigenous, working populations support the high levels of taxation necessary to sustain generous welfare payments if the beneficiaries are people unlike themselves? If they can't look at a benefit recipient and think, "There, but for the grace of God, go I", why should they continue to pay such high taxes? This problem was spelt out by David Willetts a few years ago: The basis on which you can extract large sums of money in tax and pay it out in benefits is that most people think…

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/29/senate-votes-to-let-military-detain-americans-indefinitely_n_1119473.html?ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false I'm fairly certain this would require a Constitutional amendment to be legit, since we're granted the right of Habeas Corpus. If Obama has any integrity, he'll veto this. On a side note, what constitutes a terrorist group? North Georgia Militia? The Tea Party? OWS? The Congress that passed this terrible bill?

Because that's worked out so well where? Adjust for inflation and rising costs and I'm still paying 25% more for my utilities since they went private. Here's a study that might help your perspective. Privatize Social Security? Do you have any concept of the disaster we'd be in right now if Bush's plan to privatize SS during his second term had been successful? You'd have a bunch of even richer bankers and a nation full of retired homeless people. And how could any private library be operated at the level I enjoy right now without charging me at least 25% more in order to satisfy their stockholders? As for roads, there are better ways to save taxes than privat…

Leading up from the other thread, we can discuss the social/political/any inequality that women currently suffer in our society. I feel obligated to mention that this inequality isn't as strong as it was to women 50 years ago, but the inequality exists nontheless, so this thread isn't so much about comparing it to any other group, but rather trying to show how it exists (and perhaps how it affects women) in our current western society. Mostly, because some posters seemed to claim that there's no inequality. So.. here's your place to raise your points. I'll be doing a bit of research to find the regulations I want to raise up here, so give me a bit to do that, but …

Years ago when corporations started moving their manufacturing to other countries for cheaper labor, I felt immediate concern for the future of Americans who eventually would be forced out of their job and I wondered why we were not taking steps then to prevent our current economic crisis. The reality is those corporations are not coming back here and if people do not create a brand new market of ideas that will work in a large population and at the same time improve the conditions of our environment that supports us, we are doomed. It is time for science to put all of their years of research and what they have accomplished to the test since they are the experts on o…

We've been hearing this a lot: the wall street protesters lack a clear message. To me, the message is crystal clear: there's too much power at the top and the middle class is getting screwed. What do you think?

A few days after Rick Perry forgot one of his three agencies of govt to be scrapped - and did look a bit of a nitwit, it seems that Herman Cain has been struggling to communicate effectively or even comprehensibly. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/15731843 I am not a fan of the glib soundbite-meister - we've ended up with Tony Cameron and David Blair in the UK. But if you heard either of the recent gaffes/blunders from a friend in the pub when they were holding forth on a subject, wouldn't you be tempted to gaffaw and say something along the lines of "ah now we know that you don't have a clue what you are talking about!" Both struck me as someone who didn't have c…

Both major US political parties seem unwilling to stop bowing to pressure from big business lobbyists. Both are having to contort their own platforms to cater to major protest groups like the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street. It seems like a prime time for an Independent candidate, one who specifically addresses some of the key issues relevant to our current woes, to step up and pledge to stop the nonsense that American politics has become. What would you look for in such a candidate? What platform points would attract you that aren't seriously offered by either the Democrats or the Republicans? What would be a good strategy for overcoming the curse of the Spoiler Eff…

I've been thinking as of late about what it would mean if Americans or simply the lowly educated class with talent were to rise against the US government and officials and simply send them to their graves. I considered this fact because of the silliness of war spending and other spending that goes on. As such, if America wants a war, then how about the angered Americans start war with those who spend massive amounts of money on trivial things. I believe the educated class with talent could definitely start problems for U.S. officials and start a very technological war with them. Afterward, the war money would be put back into America to solve the war in the country…

There is some kerfuffle in Oz at the moment with the Prime Minister wanting to bring in a carbon tax, something she categorically ruled out just 24 hours before the last election. Many people are not happy and there is much name calling and gnashing of teeth. Since the end of the Keating era I have worried that our pollies had become a rather boring bunch with little fair for the dramatic and not really worthy of exposure on the world scene. I now have new hope in Senator Mary Jo Fisher from South Australia. http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2011/03/02/3153400.htm Watch the video and see how political debate is done in the Land Down Under.

Cain's simplified tax plan got me thinking about how the government deals with serious economic times (such as right now). Let's look at the basics of Cain's plan as a super-simplified version of all tax plans. For local, state and federal governments, there are: corporate income taxes, personal income taxes, and sales taxes (as well as real estate taxes and so on). In a healthy economy, money flows and there's enough of the *income* and *sales* taxes to fund the government and it's many programs. In an unhealthy economy, the money flows more slowly, and (for sake of argument) there's not enough of the income and sales taxes to fund the government etc. S…

So I did an analysis of Cain's 999 plan (which basically simplifies the tax code into 9% personal income tax, 9% corporate income tax, and 9% sales tax) to see what kind of effect it would have on personal and corporate taxation, as well other factors, and this is what I came up with, using 2008 numbers. Total personal income equalled about 12 trillion that year, which includes all forms of income, including respective flow-through income from S-Corps and Partnerships, and doesn't factor in things like 401(k) deferrals. Total tax levied that year equalled about 1.25 trillion dollars. Under Cain's plan, that would bump down a bit to 1.08 trillion, not a big change. I…

There is no economic crisis. The news is full of hysteria and dread as to how much of a an economic crisis the world is in. Rome trembles. So to speak. I submit that it is all part of the social manipulation that is at work on us by the media. They only focus on the debtors and ignore the lenders. These lenders are in actual control of the economy. If mankind wants to end the so called economic crisis, all mankind need do is rein in those run away rich lenders. Let us not forget, those nations in debt; Greece comes to mind, should also be made to come to heel on it‘s extravagances. Woe to the rich. The tax man cometh. If there were an actual…

I work quite a bit with federal regulations and under the reg for HAZ-COM labeling it states that labels have to be marked clearly and in english. By having a federal law that mandates the use of english wouldn't that indirectly make english the U.S.'s official language.

Following the thread about homeschooling in Germany I thought it would be good to have a more general discussion on homeschooling and take a look at both sides of the argument. Please add any points or refute any of mine. Pros Child Safety: lots of parents want to keep their impressionable kids away from drugs and knives and peer pressure and keeping them at home is obviously going to help with that in the short term. If you view school as a dangerous place then it's natural to want to keep your kid away from it. Time dedicated to education: one teacher split among thirty children is obviously going to have less time to help an individual child than one parent t…

While some careers gain many benefits from experienced personnel, politics seems to have some extraneous problems with more experienced career members. Campaign financing, partisan politics, corruption and mounting compensation costs all suggest that alternatives might be warranted. A study done at Cornell University suggests that selecting representatives randomly can lead to an improvement in efficiency (links to the study are available within that article). This would eliminate campaigning costs for those representatives entirely, offset by whatever lottery system costs were incurred. It would cut compensation costs as well, since retirement benefits could be reduc…

Are we equal? What is equal to something else, anything? Or is eveything different or of unequal worth, value or importance? Are we endowed with this equality value? If so, what is it?

a person charged with killing and dismembering an eight-year-old ny townboy is confused and apathetic, a "practically blank" personality, in line with a psychiatric assessmentobtained by The Associated Press.The court-ordered assessmentof Levi Aron found him fit to face trial on murder charges within the death of Leiby Kletzky.informationwithin the report from a psychiatrist and psychologist at Kings County Hospital displaythe three5-year-old suspect is deeply troubled, and has given authorities conflicting accounts of his life and his mental and physical history.Aron, 35, has pleaded not guilty to murder and kidnapping within the death of Kletzky, who got lost walking…

Sri Lanka will continue to detain hundreds of terror suspects and outlaw the defeated rebel Tamil Tiger group despite wartime emergency laws being lifted.the los angelesws that experience curbed civil and political liberties for thereforeme of the past 30 years lapsed on Tuesday and the federal government didn't present a motidirectly to resume them, officials said on Thursday.But President Mahinda Rajapaksa approved 4regulations under the facilityful Prevention of Terrorism Act that became effective on Tuesday, Attorney-General Mohan Peiris claimed.Two of the regulations will permitthe federal government to continue to carry rebel suspects and the rehabilitation of the r…

Couldn't help myself. Excellent video by Rachel Maddow

Not really serious here, but was thinking the other day - If most of the US debt is held by Americans, how much is held by the top 10%? I couldn't find any data on that, but would be nice if most of it was indeed held by the top 10%. Then, we could just rip up those IOU's and thank them for their sacrifice. So, maybe the far right was almost correct - maybe the answer would be to default on our debt - but only the portion held by the wealthy. It is only fair, they have benefited the most from the bailout of the financial system. They are winning the monopoly game so readily that many are ready to throw the board and walk away. Maybe this would help?

As a teenager intrested in polotics how does someone get into polotics?

May I first introduce this subject with a comment? When prices go down, people put off purchases because prices will go down and they can get the items cheaper. That reduces manufacturing and workers are laid off. So, there is even less demand. Also, government tax receipts decline as income declines. That makes the national debt more difficult to control. So, the debt grows. When prices are going up, people borrow to buy before prices go higher. The borrowing puts more money in circulation and prices continue to rise. Manufacturing increases to supply the growing demand, workers are hired and the government gets in more tax revenue. Right now, prices are re…