Politics

In a surprise move, Alaskan governor Sarah Palin has announced her resignation, giving her state's citizens three weeks' notice. Palin was elected in 2006, and will have held office for a bit over two and a half years. Her term would have ended in 2010. http://www.freep.com/article/20090704/NEWS07/907040425/Palin+quits++fueling+talk+of+run+in+2012 Some of the articles flying around suggest that this is a move aimed at the presidency, but it seems really odd to me because that's still quite a long ways off. I agree with Newt Gingrich, which is why I linked the article above, who said "This hardly seems like a well thought-out strategy." Still, the drawn-out s…

On Friday Obama signed legislation which both raised the ceiling for the national debt (from $12.4 to $14.3 trillion) and, at Obama's behest, restored pay-as-yo-go legislation which was repealed by Bush and the Republicans in 2002, in preparation for creating the largest entitlement since Medicare. The new paygo legislation requires all new spending bills to be accompanied by legislation which shows how they'll be funded: either through revenue increases, spending decreases, or a combination thereof. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2010/0213/Pay-go-redux-Can-Obama-rein-in-federal-spending Days after presenting a budget that will create a record $1.56 …

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/02/one-gopers-budget-vision-social-security-and-medicare-benefit-cuts.php I'm no fan of Social Security and I'm not exactly eligable for Medicare so I don't really have a vested personal interest in either program. However I do enjoy myself some schadenfreude and this seems like the Republicans reaching out and grabbing on firmly to the proverbial firm rail. This is what they have to offer in lieu of Obama's bipartisan deficit task force? Oh really... I'm sure their base of old people receiving social security and drugs from the government loves it.

Lots of people seem to opposed to government spending (and economic stimulus), these days ... decisions based on ignorance, most likely. So, I'm wondering.. What would have happened if the government took the republican approach? What was John McCain's proposal to fix the weak economy? (I could not find this on Google) If there was no government stimulus (spending) .... Would the economy be worse off than it is now? Would the DOW be the same? How can the growing national debt negatively effect the USA/economy? Will it? Thanks.

Since a quick search reveals that there has not been a thread devoted to this subject for at least a year, I have decided to open this up after reading Severian's claim of advocation for the death penalty in another thread. My argument comes in two parts: first, that the actions of the justice system are meant as a deterrent for crime, not a punishment. I believe this because of the problem of free will. Sociologist Malcolm Gladwell's work tends to get to the core of the issue. In his books, he illustrates through citation of various social phenomena as well as many classic psychological experiments that people's actions are more heavily influenced by outside sources …

This actually seems like it would be good material for a book. Some definitions in game theory: scoring: although we can "play" with an abstract score, it could also be a significant thing, such as money, years in prison, suffering, happiness, honor, chance of dying, or whatever else the players value, so long as it can be quantified. Dummy: a player who's input cannot affect the outcome is a dummy. Dominant Strategy: a strategy that is always equal to or superior to any other strategy. Nash Equilibrium: a set of strategies, one for each player, such that no player has incentive to unilaterally change her action. Pareto Efficiency: an outcome is more Pareto ef…

I posted about this a few months ago and it was rubbished because the article was printed in the Daily Mail - since then it has appeared in pretty much every newspaper. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/7198329/Labours-secret-plan-to-lure-migrants.html The Labour Govenment have been lying to the public regarding their immigration policy. They worked out that foregners that come to the UK vote labour - so they have had a completely open door policy to anyone wishing to come here, without regard for where they came from, who they were or what they had done in the past or where their allegences lie. Any attempt to discuss this has been shouted down…

Before I start linking articles I want to point out that I in no way endorse the Russian conclusions on the whole incident... but I do think that the Russian response should be a clear lesson to Sec. of State Clinton, and to Obama, that cutesy "reset buttons" simply don't work. Part one of this story is a recent story that is gaining notice internationally (yet not domestically) that a group of CIA funded Afghan militia murdered Afghan school children. Whether this is actually true or not I can't say, but the UN and President Karzai seem convinced that it happened. That alone means it should be news worthy. Now enter the second part of this story... driven by…

I congratulte the BBC for allowing the BNP onto the debate program. And while I don't support the BBC, we live in a country that is based on free speech! They have the same right as everyone for their views to be heard! I wonder how many of the protesters campgaining saying that the BNP is against free speech realise that by protesting they are attempting to remove the BNP's right to free speech!

The administration is coming under fire from fellow Democrats over this one, not just Republicans, but Congress may be as much to blame as the administration. Apparently nobody thought to put in language that ensures that the stimulus money that was slated for "green jobs" be spent on American workers (which was, of course, the whole point). Here are some articles on this: http://abcnews.go.com/WN/wind-power-equal-job-power/story?id=9759949 http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/feb/09/foreign-energy-firms-getting-windfall-of-us/ It's not just a matter of big projects needing parts that are only made overseas -- I think people could understand that you might …

We're always being told that government is good and all this, but why should anyone have to accept that? Since no one has an absolute understanding of what morality is, why not just assume everyone is wrong (or right- depending) and have everyone do things their own way? Why should an individual have to do anything anyone else says?

So, our Social Security program seems to be heading full speed toward disaster. From what I hear, actually fixing that is necessarily going to piss a bunch of people off, so that no politician will dare try. As a young person, I am concerned that I will never get back what I am forced to pay into that system. Is there any way that we could fix Social Security? I mean, some way that has a possibility of actually happening? My idea: pass a law requiring that the financial security of Social Security be ensured, within a certain timeframe. This should be popular, as everyone wants S.S. to be secure. A possible way to put teeth into this would be that if they can't fi…

Do you see any parallels between Obama and Reagan? Both inherited a bad economy from their predecessors. As Obama's first year in office came and went, there were calls that he will be a one term president. This can, to a large extent, be blamed on his social programs, but there are also clamors that unemployment hovers around 10% and the economy is not recovering fast enough. I wonder if these same people clamoring about the unemployment remember that it was also 10% around this time in Reagan's presidency too, despite the recession he inherited being nowhere near as severe as this one. Never mind the Reagan solution was to cut taxes... for the rich, and the e…

So, as I understand it, the don't ask, don't tell policy means that anyone who is openly gay gets discharged from the military. So, anyone who is sick and tired of being stuck in Iraq, simply has to admit to being gay, and can return home. Right? http://www.sldn.org/pages/about-dadt * Since 2001, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" discharges have declined by almost half. * During every major military conflict the number of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" discharges has dropped. I wonder what would happen if a significant portion of the troops in Iraq simultaneously "admit" to being gay?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/23/military-aid-israel-amnesty The white phosphorus used on Gaza by Israel (seen above, accidentally hitting UN vehicles) was provided by the US as part of a military aid package. Sorry, can't accuse me of "spreading rumors" at this point. It's confirmed. This is potentially a war crime, and worse, the US had a part in it. Why are we giving military aid to countries perpetrating war crimes?

I'm curious what some of the folks across the pond (or rather, this side of the pond for the time being as I'm presently in Switzerland) think about the British government's Iraq Inquiry. http://mystateline.com/content/fulltext/?cid=130382 The latest news is that Blair will soon testify. While there are a number of people would like to see something similar in the US, my reaction to the UK in regard to Iraq is that the war was even less popular there and generally agitated the population more. At a time when US citizens were almost evenly polarized on the issue it seems Britons were adamantly opposed. It will be interesting to see how this turns out.

I mean Obama is all over the political spectrum. Than saying this is what I believe in than just sounding good on state of the union. It like Obama wants to spend lots of money every year but trying to sound good like they are doing cut backs not sticking to a political ideology like the the Democratic Party and republican party . Like cutting the money to go to the moon that is not going to ever happen with China space program and now the middle eat now getting into the space program.Not to say they spend money on it and the rocket is almost done. Well Obama not having a political ideology just trying look good:eek: people are not going vote him in again. …

http://cbs2chicago.com/business/obama.deficit.task.2.1449286.html Obama and moderate Democrats tried to get an amendment onto the recent bill expanding the U.S. government's borrowing limit that would establish a bipartisan taskforce to reduce the deficit by curbing spending and tax breaks. It failed. It got 53 votes (36 Democrats, 16 Republicans, and 1 independent), but needed 60. It was killed by AARP lobbyists (the fear being that social security and medicare would be reduced) and "anti-tax" (though apparently not anti-deficit) advocates. This isn't really surprising, as the default instinct of both parties is to increase spending and cut taxes, and attempts to…

How does President Obama react to last year's reports about the hazardous secondary economic effect of ethanol production, the increase of the price at the pump, and the allegations of political influence by the ethanol lobby? By planning to more-than-triple production from 11 million to 36 million gallons per year within 12 years. But there is some evidence that the new government heard the warnings and is at least putting more emphasis on non-edible sources, which would seem to address the lion's share of last year's complaints (e.g. feeding the world's starving poor in stead of American gas tanks): http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/6849995.html …

What do you all think of this? The story "went wide" yesterday with a Washington Post article that actually likened it to the Pentagon Papers, and I counted almost 500 articles in Google News about it today, and there's also a Wikipedia article on it now. I've linked some articles below. The focus seems to be on two areas: 1) Some emails seem to show examples of scientists willing to subvert their scientific principles for a political agenda. Does this mean that the consensus on global warming is artificial and political in nature, rather than wholly scientific? Or is it just an example of individuals getting carried away? (But then what IS a social agenda,…

I don't know if you all remember or not, but a year ago I said that what would be most revealing about this administration would be the fight over its first budget. Well that budget is coming out this week, and it's about to get interesting. IMO this will be a very graphic demonstration of just how far we've gone down the rabbit hole. The Wall Street Journal has already weighed in, focusing on $1 trillion in tax increases and the growth of debt-as-a-percentage-of-GDP from 53% to a whopping 77%. (No, those really aren't the numbers for this sector of the galactic empire, but your local sector official in Rigel thanks you for your inquiry.) BTW, here's a very …

In light of this thread, I was reminded of something I've been curious about for awhile... Where in the Constitution is the federal government granted power to regulate "substances", especially in cases where they aren't crossing state lines? Why aren't drugs a states rights issue?

The Pearson Correlation Coefficient masseurs the strength of the linear relation between two variables. The higher the absolute value of the coefficient the stronger the correlation. A negative number indicates an inverse relation while a positive number indicates a positive relationship. Today I was home sick from school so I calculated a few correlations about crime: Correlation coefficient between high school gradation rates and violent crime rates: [math]-.337[/math] Correlation coefficient between population density and violent crime rates: [math].132[/math] Correlation coefficient between average income and violent crime rates: [math]-.046[/math] (this o…

Haiti doesn't have a lot going for it, but it does have tourism, of a sort. Cruise ships stop at isolated pockets of Haiti that are separated from the rest of the country in order to avoid any security concerns. I've been told by friends who've done these trips that visitors do not even enter the country in the sense of passport processing and so forth, and excursions are very limited. A few news articles, mostly local here in South Florida (but some have been picked up by the wire services today), are asking the question of whether this is appropriate right now. Royal Caribbean, which operates one of these isolated pocket resorts, has apparently decided to conti…

Hey, some of those senators are kind of old... what are the chances that one of them die during a filibuster?