Politics

Since no one seems to be discussing the issue, thought I'd toss it out for conjecture. Were these people, right, wrong or simply stupid? But then, who gives a rats ass? I just want an opinion. Me, without an army onboard for protection, no way would I get involved in those waters off Somalia for anything. It's a dangerous place with a mixed cultural bag. I feel for the deceased and their families, and a shot to the cranium can't be a fun thing. So, if you're going to give out bibles, best you do it on land. These guys are pirates and really don't give a damned about you or your religion. And the thirteen pirates captured? Manacle their hands behind them, and at twenty foo…

What country has the most state of the art health care like advanced technology,stem cell ,cloning ,bioengineering ,robotic,advanced surgery so on. I hear the the biggest problem is cost ,getting specialists ,training for new medical stuff , getting new state of the art technology so on.And the US and Canada is not doing well when comes to this only some private very expensive cancer treatment centers ,surgery so on .in the US .Where one must get on plane to fly to that city. I hear that India and Singapore are very good.When it comes to research and doing studies I think most 98% is still done in the US, What is wrong with China or India ?

That's a very interesting question, imo. And it's somewhat revealing that Rush cut the guy's mic. Why would that question test Rush's ability to be polite? For those on the right side of the political spectrum who also put Reagan on a pedestal, could you answer the question?

A school in Texas decided it was better to cancel all extracurricular clubs than to allow a gay-straight alliance club.

From the Western perspective: a large number of countries have moved from: - a technologically backward part of the world - a colony, exploited for its resources - an independent nation, still largely controlled by the larger powers of this planet - truly independent countries, supporting their own economy Right now, a number of Arab countries seem to be making a move: one step up the ladder of progress. They make the final step towards true independence... Although we must acknowledge that our Western superior power is (relatively) in decline, we have to accept that the world as a whole is making progress! It's good news! We (Western nations) are as powerful as…

I don't get it. Labour created data.gov.uk and the conservatives seem intent to make it better, more stuff, better organised etc..., implementing a lot of the unlikely seeming stuff in the TED talk they did before the election like the crime portal, they even seem embrace open source software, although they are still getting stuff wrong on that front. I can see the political motivations for saving money, but it still seems out of charecter.

It occurred to me a functional approximation of our democracy could be something like electorate is a function of the number of people who vote (and that is a function of what the public believes), electoral_college is a function of electorate, and president is a function of electoral_college PRES(E_C(E(PUB(b))) . It's probably lame because i'm not a mathematician, but the more general question - mathematics can describe so much of nature can it describe government? If so, might we discover new maxima in the equations, or are people so irrational their government must also be psycho?

Thinking independently and choosing potentially unpopular political stances is difficult. Many people may fear criticism, disapproval, or other unpopularity. Thus, when a large crowd mobilizes, could this be pleasurable for people who generally repress their individuality to "fit in" socially? Could this also have something to do with the desire of crowd-conformists to attack individuals who stand out and stand up against the will of "the masses?" Do collective movements really just boil down to the exercise of individual power in concert with others to suppress dissent from what is deemed popular opinion?

The looming budget battle between the White House and the House of Representatives is looking really interesting. The President has attempted to grab some of the moderate mind share by adding huge cuts to his 2012 budget, but Republicans were quick to point out that the proposal doesn't even attempt to balance the budget ten years into the future, at which point the budget would have about the same deficit that it did when Bush left office! Meanwhile another $7.1 trillion would be added to the debt. Of course the real problem is that most of the budget isn't even being looked at. The two sides are arguing over a few hundred billion while the deficit this year will …

Wis. GOP sends state troopers after Democratic senate leader 02-18-2011 10:56 AM EST MADISON, Wis. (Associated Press) -- Republicans in the Wisconsin state Senate have asked the governor to send state troopers after Democratic leader Mark Miller. Senate Democrats are boycotting a Senate vote on a bill that would strip public sector workers of their collective bargaining rights. They have been missing from the Capitol for a day and a half. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald says he has asked Gov. Scott Walker to send two state troopers to Miller's home in Monona. He says he believes the troopers are en route. The Wisconsin Constitution prohibits polic…

Kind of in a hurry at the moment but I thought it might be interesting to ask what you all think of this issue. Is it legitimate protest for doctors to write medical notes to legitimize sick leave for protesting teachers? I'm concerned about the precedent. I kinda understand it, but it seems like a bad idea because it undermines the honor-system nature of sick notes, and puts doctors in a position of lying as a political protest. Do we really want doctors to be lying? If you like the idea, ask yourself if you would approve of their actions if the notes they wrote supported abortion protests. Fair is fair, right? Seems like dangerous ground to me. What…

! Moderator Note Consolidated these from the Spending cuts and flat tax threads How about we cut the crap, Pangloss? Your source was not the Census Bureau. Your source was an ideologically biased site for an organization whose stated purpose is This is a secondhand source which fails to make the distinction between poor and below the poverty line. Does the census bureau define poor as below average or does it define poor as below the poverty line? Your source does not say and it doesn't give a link to the actual report so you can quickly find out yourself. Now, let's take a look at your pretty little list there. Does the average person below the poverty…

It seems that everyone defaults them to the status of a "hero". Why? I googled "the most dangerous jobs in America", and those two occupations rarely cracked the top 10 on any site I visited. I'm not saying that having a job with a high mortality rate makes you a hero. I'm saying this to counter the inevitable argument of, "They put their lives on the line everyday!". To me, a hero is someone who jumps on a grenade to save their squad, or runs into the open to call in air support, even if it means getting shot repeatedly. Someone who pulls another person out of the way of a speeding vehicle or subway train. Anyone who risks their life to save others. I do not und…

In the military, we were given an option to opt in to the G.I. Bill(pre-9/11 version for purposes here) which would pay for an undergraduate degree. This is the reason a great many of my peers joined the military. Regardless, the overwhelming majority of military members did not in fact use it. By opting into the program, you agreed to pay a $100USD each month for your first 12 months in service. This is the same principle behind how insurance and taxes work and stay low-more people pay than use the service(yes, you pay for interstates in CA even if you live in NY). Now, what if we had something similar for every US citizen(I've also previously suggested extending the…

http://www.senate.mo.gov/11info/BTS_Web/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&BillID=4124271 I have no idea why this is needed. Anyone got the scoop?

Housing foreclosures and health-care funding seem to be two major economic issues at present. Could these two issues be solved simultaneously by insurance companies taking over mortgages of properties in danger of foreclosure? This could allow the buyers to trade their equity for guaranteed health-care. Doctors and others who get paid by health-insurers could receive compensation in the form of gradual equity-transfers of properties they could choose. So, for example, doctors and other health-care providers could pick out one or more properties from the available selection and then build up equity in these in lieu of payment for services. They could then in turn nego…

There's three kinds of jobs. One type produces tangible goods, contributing directly to wealth. One type provides useful services. And one type is overhead or trading (trading of things like stocks and derivatives, I mean) -- it provides nothing of value but is nevertheless necessary. The government, of course, taxes all these jobs. However, production jobs are limited by resources, people, and capital. Service jobs are limited by people. However, overhead jobs don't really have limits. For example, trillions of dollars are traded in the stock market every day. No actual wealth is generated -- money simply trades hands from the losers to the winners -- but I guess thi…

This follows similar recent rejections from Ohio and Wisconsin. The problem is that the plans call for states to pony up most of the money, and state budgets are hurting. The Florida plan would have put the state on the hook for another $3 billion, at a time when it's trying to eliminate $4.5 billion in spending to balance the budget. Couple articles: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/us/17rail.html http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/7430061.html IMO the time for this sort of thing is when we have a surplus to invest, and even then the benefit is questionable. I think there's a place for some HS rail in the US, and intra-city routes are the righ…

The problem with a flat tax is that it disproportionately burdens the poor due to the fact that the cost of basic needs does not go up with your income. Could an overhaul of the tax system fix that? What if by filing your taxes, you not only provide information for correcting last year's taxes, but also provide information to inform the next year's taxes? Could gathering information like city of residence and number of children then using that information to calculate the actual needs of the household reduce the burden on the poor while maintaining a flat tax. If we take that amount of basic needed to live and make it non-taxable income then tax the rest, would th…

Just left the Gifford's shooting post and ran across this. Rarely, but in all honesty, this time I am without words. http://www.komonews.com/news/local/115496449.html

I have been having a major dispute for over two years in regards to the iraqi dinar. Im not a political person but i do know how money works and that theres no magical anything to become an over night millionair. Can someone anyone please let me know what this is all about? EX: some people say the iraqi dinar is going to revalue and their going to become instant millionairs and IMO i call this a complete waste of time and money. Along with all information ive read seems uneasy and non credible. Thanks in advance.

I couldn't think of an antonym for "stimulus," but could debt be the antithesis of fiscal stimulus in terms of encouraging spending? This thought occurred to me when reading recent political articles about republican criticisms of deficit-spending as hurting economic growth, preventing job-creation, etc. At first this just sounded like a reversal of the by now well-known liberal political logic that deficit spending encourages growth and job-creation. However, I have begun to wonder whether debt, both public and private, stimulate people to avoid spending because they're worried about the consequences of debt. Maybe if people were free of debt, they would also be free…

Glenn Beck recently went off about Obama's support of the Egyptian people. He was upset because the People created fundamental change in the Government. But, isn't that the basic idea behind the very existence of the USA? Oh, but Obama used the word 'change' in his campaign slogan, so it has to be evil. Why would someone who claims to love America so much hate her founding principle?

Usually recession is discussed in terms of rates of GDP growth and unemployment. It is common to hear people blame "the recession" for their economic woes, but could this be redundant? Could it be that the economic woes themselves are the recession. Consider an example where GDP growth is very high but unemployment is still high. Wouldn't the high unemployment rate still signal "recession?" Then, if you analyzed what the cause of the high unemployment was, it would be due to economic dissatisfaction on the part of employers, correct? In other words, the assumption is that when employers are satisfied with the growth of their business, they must create more jobs. Th…

The elephant in the room of American politics this week will no doubt be the Giffords shooting in Arizona. As you've probably heard by now, a young man with a semi-automatic pistol with an extended ammunition magazine ran into a supermarket crowd that was gathering to meet Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in a "town hall" setting. Six people are known dead, including a nine year old girl and a Bush-appointed Federal judge, and 19 injured in an event that would have rocketed to the top of the news cycle even without the congresswoman's presence. Some updated background here: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2011/01/09/congresswoman_critical_6_…