Politics

Exactly one week from now, George Bush will leave the White House and Obama will take his place. After 8 years, the history's stupidest president will finally take his leave. But, do you really have high hopes for Obama? I'm already having my doubts, especially with the announcement made in this thread over here...

I just happened across this article on PLoS Biology, and figured it could spark some good discussion. It's fairly short, and an easy read:Historical and Genetic Perspectives on Cousin Marriage So, basically, should these bans be in place? IMHO, this has interesting sub-questions: 1) Does the government have the right to forbid pre-natal activities that will result in injury or risk of injury to a child? 2) Does the governmental responsibility depend on the level of risk? What is more appropriate, the relative increase in risk, or the absolute increase in risk? 3) What if one person taking the risk increases the chances of damage for everyone else (inclu…

npts2020; I think you have a sub-point, possibly a waste of resources that could be used for social needs opposed to protection, but that billion dollars worth of bombs, involved a whole list of non military business to create each bomb. Steel Mills, fabrication, mineral mining, administrative and all the transportation involved. It does end with the dropping of those bombs and if protection is not important so does the economic value. Housing is probably the best example of a useful item, Where all that goes into building one home is bought by one family, spending probably up to half their income (for years, then a portion) on all it takes to own the home bought. Thi…

This has come up many times in discussions here at SFN -- the question of whether western nations are politically capable of putting their standard of living at a lower tier of importance than the problem of global warming. I realize this is a complex question that is not easily answered with a simple example like the one I'm giving here, but I think it does form an indication of how far we're willing (or unwilling) to go. Economic crisis to delay other Obama goals The key point here being that even a Democratic president, presiding over a Democratic congress, with no possibility of partisan veto and almost no possibility of partisan filibuster, still believ…

Just wondering what you all think of the situation over there. I am no mindless supporter of Israel, often criticizing their behavior on this forum. But this time it seems to me that they've shown astounding restraint given the way they are being constantly and inexcusably attacked. There is no country on this green earth that would stand for that -- not a single one. For the UN to say that they've not been responding proportionally is insane -- that's putting body counts ahead of justice and fairness. Since when is the number of deaths even relevant in the issue of justice? How does that even enter into the discussion? And frankly it WAS a proportio…

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2009/01/06/obama_wants_journalist_for_sur.html?hpid=topnews Interesting choice. Gupta hosts a health program on CNN and is a frequent guest all over that network. The media is reporting it as the selection of a journalist for the job, which certainly had to be a major influence on the decision, but he certainly has his bona fides as well. Politically speaking, the most interesting aspect of the choice is that it will tick off some on the far left. It was Gupta who attacked Michael Moore over inaccuracies in Sicko, and CNN defended him right down the line, to the complete consternation of sickophantic Moorophites everyw…

http://www.pjtv.com/ Mediocrity seems to be very attractive these days. I had never heard of this "news" site, so I guess it is drawing some attention for them.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1183459207651&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull Israel and British Gas intend to drill for natural gas 36 kilometers off of the Gaza coast, in an area that was designated as Palestinian territory following the Oslo Accords. They intend for 10% of the profits to go to Palestine, however they don't want the profits to go to Hamas. So, they're setting up a bank account to put the money in until a government other than Hamas can claim it. Then they invade Gaza. WTF? Does this smell funny to you? It does to me. Hamas has stated they would support the arrangement however they want changes to the deal, like gett…

i believe the economic recesscion came at the perfect time as it will show how barrack obama handles these situations, i know the crisis is cooling now but it will still require a helluva lot of thinking to get through this without WW3

This is a conservative meme which has been going around for quite some time, but seems to actually gained some traction as of late: http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/01/02/sirota_fdr_depression/ This is one of those "I ignore your reality and substitute my own"-type arguments. How exactly is it these people can spout blatant lies and then follow them up with "historians pretty much agree on that"? I'm reminded of the Fox Noise response to Peter Schiff. The effect on the New Deal on the Great Depression is certainly debatable. What do you think. Did the New Deal actually prolong the Great Depression? After all, most historians agree!

Obama's team has set up a new website asking for questions from the public: http://change.gov/page/content/openforquestions The idea is that questions can be voted on by the public and the popular questions will be answered by Obama and his team. (It's based on Google's Moderator software, which they use in speeches and discussions at Google HQ.) The first few questions are predictable, but there are some great questions in the top set, I think. I had actually been thinking about this sort of thing before. It would do volumes of good (in terms of image and PR) if he'd make good on the idea and honestly answer the top questions. I'd like to know what my pre…

So, in the context of a "redistribution of wealth" discussion in another thread, the idea of socialism came up repeatedly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and the creation of an egalitarian society. Often, it was described as inherently bad (like the woman at the McCain rally who said Obama was an Arab, as if that too were inherently bad). This thread is intended to explore the relative positive and negative aspects of socialism. It is not to throw p…

There's a chance I'll meet both G Bushs and maybe even Obama in 3 weeks. I'll at least see them on the ship. I'll report back with my take on any speeches(unless, of course, I'm on watch during them).

The story today that the deficit will top $1.2 trillion was bad enough, but the accompanying story from the Obama camp that this will likely be the case for years to come was a tough pill to swallow. The budget is only (only?) $3 trillion, so we're talking about spending another 50% on top of that. Yowsa. But aside from a couple hundred million in Defense spending (if you're lucky), what can really be cut? Most of the programs in place are either employing people (at a time when layoffs are ill advised) or help the economy in some indirect way. I think we're on the right track, scary as the numbers are. The hard part's actually going to be trimming the bud…

Could we see marijuana decriminalized during the Obama administration? Equire magazine certainly thinks it's possible, and the issue of marijuana decriminalization topped Obama's poll on change.gov for the most pressing issues citizens are concerned about. What do you think? Is this just a bunch of hippies making noise, or do we actually stand a chance of seeing marijuana decriminalized in the next 4-8 years. I would certainly like to see it happen, and it seems more and more like there actually stands a decent chance of it actually happening.

So today the beleaguered governor of Illinois appointed Obama's successor to the US Senate. Immediately thereafter, all heck broke loose. Quite interesting to follow. Here's an article for background: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gB85LurXB_6l62s2jbh5OhLWkMGAD95DBMD81 Since the governor hasn't been convicted of anything yet, he has the authority to do this, and it sets up an interesting conundrum at the federal level that doesn't appear to be fully addressed by law, mainly because it's never happened quite this way before. The Senate can try say "we won't seat him", but there is a constitutional question of whether they have that authority …

Participating in a related conversation, someone brought this up and I found it fascinating. Turns out, yet again, I'm a hypocrite. And so are some of you, maybe. For a brief recap...the Confederate States of America were established after secession, which was not unconsitutional since there was no language forbidding secession. They had their own government, currency, military - they were as legitimate as the United States. The "attack" on Ft Sumter, then, was the ejection of an illegal occupation following a diplomatic effort to claim their infrastructure. The CSA had even sent delegates to make some sort of restitution for the federal property gained by seces…

Discussion broken off from this thread: http://www.scienceforums.net/forum/showthread.php?t=37029 That appears to be a "yes" rather than a "no". You appear to be saying that coal is a technology that should not be explored further. I don't really understand that. Why not? The argument seems to be "clean coal isn't really clean, so it shouldn't be used". Why can't it become more clean? Are we saying that there is no way to make it more clean, or that it's too expensive to make it clean? If it's the latter, how do we know it won't become less expensive with further development and research?

Been wondering how President Obama will be able to appeal to religious conservatives while keeping gays in his corner? This is a good example of it right here. He's appointed Rick Warren of the Saddleback Church to deliver the invocation prayer at his inauguration. Politics forum members may recall Warren as hosting one of the early debates (actually two separate interviews with Obama and McCain). Warren is considered a more moderate and modern christian conservative, supporting issues such as the fight against global warming. But he is opposed to gay marriage and supported California's Proposition 8. The move also angered some on the right who feel Warren is making…

A new report from the House Oversight Committee shows the Bush administration was warned repeatedly by the CIA not to include information about Saddam attempting to purchase Nigerian yellowcake in the State of the Union address. It also goes on to state that Alberto Gonzales mislead Congress when he claimed the CIA approved the incorporation of that information into Bush's address: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ_CIA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT Is it clear at this point that Bush lied to the American people and the world as the basis for invading Iraq? I think so. I just wonder if we can ever untangle this web of lies to the point …

Hey, look what I found! As you know, the federal government approved of a 700 billion dollar bailout just recently. And, well, it turns out that the bailout money isn't being used to bailing the economy out: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/CompanyFocus/10-worst-bailout-boondoggles.aspx So, what do you think awaits the future of the global economy now?

For those short on time the following will be pretty long-winded. I have seen many ideas about what is happening to the economy (particularly the American) and only a few have made any real sense to my non-economist mind. Even fewer of the proposed "solutions" have made any sense to me. The following is a description of how I see the economic problem and view the the solution. I don't expect anyone to agree with the analysis or conclusions but any respectful feedback will be greatly appreciated. Premises of discussion 1)We are on the brink of the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930's and maybe ever. 2)Random spending of vast quantit…

We should honor President G. Bush for calling the American auto makers "failed companies". This is one of the only intelligent things I've ever heard the man say.

As most of you probably know, I am NOT a huge fan of the mainstream media. I think they've earned their status amongst the dregs of society's disrespected professions, alongside used car salesmen and divorce attorneys. But I don't think it's right to blame them for the political choices that a country makes. And I think that tendency derives from several very flawed and detrimental notions: 1) That people are stupid, and tend to do what they're told. 2) That there is always a correct position, and that the job of the media is to get on the right side of the issue. 3) That the press is qualified to determine the truth in all cases. (e.g. "We can put a man o…

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081216/pl_afp/financeeconomyusbush;_ylt=AsjFc097dv7q8V.O0_MWVs3v5rEF This bizarre sort of doublethink does not seem exclusive to Bush. It belies the notion that we really don't have a free market and haven't had one for quite sometime. Was all the lip service paid to the "free market" during the Bush years actually destructive? I believe so.