Politics

According to Zeitgeist 2011, GDP increases due to inefficiency because efficiency reduces need and peoples need increases GDP. In other words the economy suffers when everything runs smoothly. Zeitgeist has a bad track record with accuracy, exaggeration, seeing links where there are none etc..., but braudly speaking I think it gets things right. Do we think this assertion about GDP by the Zeitgeist is correct?

Popular uprisings are now taking place in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen, and most importantly, these revolts suggest that a kind of domino effect is operative, where the more success the first uprising has the more it inspires the people of other countries to rise up. The U.S. seems to be caught in a difficult situation by these events. On the one hand, the U.S. poses as the champion of democracy, liberal freedoms, and probative government, but on the other hand, it has allied itself with unpopular dictatorships throughout the Arab world in support of its more pragmatic geopolitical interests. Arab regimes which are non-democratic make the best allies of the U.S., since…

I took this thread from another topic, not to plagiarize but to show how things don't differ much in time. Few of us "are not guilty" of making assumptions, accusations and innuendoes when not fully informed of or understanding the embodiment of a particular piece of history. Especially, if those half truths happen to fit our purpose. Tragedy is something we link much more readily to than happiness. Is this video very different than what is happening in today world? If so, will you explain?. This was a tragedy of the 1860s. Kennedy was a more recent tragedy of the 1960s. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIJaxu3w4-U&feature=player_embedded#!

What do you think about a possible national STD registry for incurable STDs? I'm thinking something like: If you go to the doctor and come up positive for an STD that isn't curable, then you're placed on a national list of people with that disease, you are required by law to inform any future sexual partners that you are on the list, and you provide names of recent(time length dependent upon incubation period of disease and its current stage in the patient) sexual partners. The aforementioned names are then checked against the list. If the name is on the list and the current patient was not informed(proper protective measures obviously weren't followed), then …

I watched a rather disturbing movie last night. I didn't cry as much as I normally do, as it was a bit sad, I think this was a side effect of my being so purely and utterly disgusted and disturbed at the idea. The movie was Never Let Me Go and it was alright in terms of movies. I'll avoid the details of the actual movie and get to the point. In the film the idea of organ farming from engineered persons was presented as a feat of medical science made to the general public. We may not presently have the technology to engineer persons in any way, shape or form and this point is rather moot. We currently do have the technology to transplant organs. I know there are …

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosni_Mubarak#President_of_Egypt Mubarak has been "president" for almost 30 years now, and it seems the people are sick of him. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Egyptian_protests Definitely something to keep an eye on in the following weeks.

Considering that so many people are concerned about various forms of religious-rooted oppression occurring in secular life through government, I have begun to wonder why there is not universal liberation among secular people. For example, secular people often criticize sexual prudishness and attribute religious restrictions on sexuality to pre-modern and/or irrational superstitions - but what would then account for relative sexual inhibitions among secular people who seemingly hold no form of religiosity or other anti-sexual superstitions? Why don't such people have casual sex with anyone they come in contact with, for example, if they're reasonably sure they can preven…

It looks like it'll be an interesting week in foreign affairs. Wikileaks, along with its media partners, has begun releasing the first batch of classified diplomatic cables from US embassies and officials. Apparently, releases will be spread out through several months. It'll be fun to watch. So far, among the batch released this afternoon: Saudi Arabia privately urges the US to attack Iran's nuclear facilities Diplomats asked to spy on UN officials and other diplomats China's Politburo organized the large hacking attacks on Google and other companies earlier this year US ponders delivering bunker-busting bombs to Israel while staying out of Iranian attacks ...a…

When will poverty be eradicated? How do you eradicate poverty? Are we in the Western World doing enough in the world to stop it?

In 2005 the national academies followed a bipartisan call provide recommendations to ensure economic growth. One of the key findings was that low quality if science education was endangering the US' innovation potential and thus, economic growth. Link Now, five years later a follow-up report has been published. While some suggestions are at least partially implemented, the once held advantage of the US seems to have continued eroding. Follow up I have not finished the whole report yet, however many of the key points appear to be very important to me (although I may be biased).Despite the importance AFAIK I can see little coverage of this in the media (as opposed to, …

I mentioned in the Giffords Shooting thread that a recent opinion poll showed that most Americans disagreed that inflammatory language was behind the shooting, but felt that it is a problem in general. Well, more polls have been coming out, and what looked initially like bright news for the Sarah Palin camp is turning into something else entirely. In short, the public doesn't approve of her reaction any more than it approves of liberals blaming her. People simply aren't buying what she's selling. I've seen several stories along these lines, which we can basically summarize as a rapidly-falling, lowest-yet approval rating for Palin. http://www.politico.com/ne…

Working as a cashier at a bread-and-eggs Walgreen's near my university, I've often heard from the other cashiers that work there that the government should regulate SNAP (Food Stamps) more than they do. Now that it's been pointed out, I agree with it for the most part. I do not see why being able to buy cases of Red Bull or Monster is necessary nutrition. Or 6 24-packs of Mountain Dew. I'm by no means against a family being able to get some sugary drinks, or being able to give their kids Oreo's or treats, but I think there should be a limit. Something similar to this maybe? I myself can't afford to drink Mountain Dew or Coke regularly anymore. I tend to opt fo…

Things are a bit slow at the moment, so I thought this might be fun. Politico has a piece up about all the long-shots who have already registered with the FEC for the 2012 election. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47936.html Might be fun to track some of the fringies through the cycle.

free trade is damaging the u.s economy and is a failed policy. but why does no one say that?

I have no idea if this guy, Roy Beck; is a real economist or not. I liked his presentation and analysis of world conditions, so I ask; Is he on the level, or just 'eye candy" for us dummies? Some of you take a look. http://numbersusa.org/ Well, you've seen it. What do you think? And do any of you have a soluble solution to this problem?

Taking an informed and objective stance, why is there hatred in the Islamic world towards the US and the West? Also, when it comes to the Israeli/Palistinean conflicts, who exactly are the "bad guys"? I've heard conflicting reports from everywhere and just wanted to know what everyone here thinks. I've also heard from other sources saying that by certain actions taken by the US in past they have in effect supported global terror, but I don't really know what this means exactly or what war crimes (if any) the US and the West has done in order to make this happen. Anyway, I've recently gained a bit of interest in the matter and just wanted to get a better understanding of g…

When national governments maintain or intensify exclusionary policies for migrants lacking national citizenship, people can be deported or leave voluntarily to avoid persecution. The question is whether such people should then participate in economic activities that benefit the economies they have been excluded from. Consider, for example, anti-immigrant campaigns against North and South Americans without US citizenship. Is it reasonable for migrants pushed out of the US to seek work in industries that supplies US consumers with food and other products? If people don't want you in "their country," why would you (want to) serve them from outside it?

i just read a blog about the tsa scanners and says that the public conflict with the tsa is Representative of a larger conflict between the government of the us and its people. which has made me wonder are the people of any modern democracy capable of facing there government in actual conflict? the people have the pen to protect there freedom but don't we need the sword in case that the pen fails as it would if the government just decided to bring in the tanks every time the people gave the government trouble? is the statement " no government has any authority to take any action without the consent of the governed." really effective? i'm not saying that there needs…

have the tables turned to the republicans? and is it Obama's fault?

Note: for questions/comments or anything other than your entry for contest, post in the other thread ("king of the world"). If you do post a question/comment here, I'll ask a mod to move it. The game... Choose one: (in an alternate world much like ours) you're either a political group, corporation, or any leader of a nation today. And the strategy you must lay out is, how do you take over the world? Say also...you've prepared for twenty years. The rules are simple. <> Each contestant's granted the following (your alternate world's self had acquired these during various instances of preparations and villain's networking)..... 5 thin…

should the length of a presidency be longer?

This is one of those mixed-up cases that, it seems to me, will likely be difficult for a jury to sort out. A man is being charged with "hacking" and faces up to five years in prison after he read his wife's email and apparently (it's not real clear) discovered she was cheating on him. She filed for divorce, which according to the link below was finalized, but she still lives with him. She also gave him her password on previous occasions. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2010/12/michigan-man-faces-felony-charges-5-years-in-prison-for-reading-wifes-e-mail.html In terms of this specific case, to me this crosses the line into that gray zone of marital d…

Says Tea Party whack job Rand Paul: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/rand-paul-gop-military-spending-cuts/ Wow, imagine that. Sensible things can come out of his mouth! The DoD remains the only federal department which is exempt from auditing. There's endless waste that can't be accounted for, massive overlap, and that's not to mention that our military budget is larger than that of every other country on earth combined. Will the GOP do it and actually cut spending in the single most obvious place we could massively do it? Judging from past history, probably not, even while whining that spending is too high. For whatever reason incomprehensibly massive milit…

I've copied the relevant parts of this over from the "A new Pledge" thread ———— That's not quite true. AFAICT, the prediction of a return of the great depression was contingent on doing nothing to safeguard the economy, and that didn't happen. In 1944 congress passed the GI Bill, and many of the soldiers went back to school rather than look for work. It also paid an unemployment benefit for up to a year, and the loan guarantees helped stimulate construction. ———— I did a little checking on this, and the Cato institute is spinning the truth a bit. Real GDP contracted by almost 11% from 1945 to 1946, and contracted further still in 1…

Since reading that Obama is urging congress to help get jobless people to work, I was wondering whether volunteer labor could be sufficient to sustain people until the economy is generating the kind of revenues/incomes they seek. My general impression is that volunteer labor is plentiful but that it's not typically used very efficiently or productively. I have the impression that it's more of a social affair to participate in hobby-, beautification-, or charity- type projects. If you would design a volunteer-labor driven company, what would you produce?