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Old 2011-03-11, 02:06   Link #12421
Kamui4356
Aria Company
 
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anh_Minh View Post
... So, are you saying a politician should only move on issues where there is a broad consensus? That, when faced with a 50-50 split, he should just... stay home and play video games or something? (Or are you saying he should only act when you happen to agree with him?)

That guy could conceivably argue that killing the unions will be good for the state of Wisconsin as a whole. Argue it well enough to be elected again. Why, then, shouldn't he act?


PS: I'm not saying I agree with anything he's done. Or even that I believe he had anybody's good but his in mind.
Then he should make that argument and not ignore the people out there protesting. Speak to them and try to convince them to support it. If he's trying and it isn't working, he should ask himself why it isn't and consider maybe his position isn't as solid as he thinks it is. Once he does that and still comes to the conclusion it's the right thing to then vote on it. Sometimes a politician needs to make an unpopular decision, but if it's an issue that's generating as much protest as this, he should make damn sure he's on the right side of it.
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Old 2011-03-11, 03:47   Link #12422
Vexx
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Age: 66
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ravenblitz View Post
Its been upgraded to an 8.9 and there was an aftershock of 7.something. There's tsunami alerts, warnings, and watches all over the Pacific Rim. Japan's northern coastal regions got severely trounced by a muddy creeping horror of a 4m wave going miles inland in some cases. Check your local news or web feeds for breaking information.
Hawaii is already in warning status... and I've heard that Australia and points in that region are under alert.

If you live on the coast, it probably isn't a good morning to hunt for clams.
The American California and Oregon coasts are just now being upgraded to *warning* from *watch*. That means evacuations will be starting -- the buoy systems are not giving us happy data.
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Old 2011-03-11, 08:22   Link #12423
MrTerrorist
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US border town officials face gun-running charges

This might not look good for the pro-gun politicians who insist the Mexican drug wars has nothing to do with the Cartels buying guns from the US.
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Old 2011-03-11, 09:52   Link #12424
ganbaru
books-eater youkai
 
 
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Iraq Kurds protest, man tries to set himself ablaze
http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNew...72A3FS20110311
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Old 2011-03-11, 09:52   Link #12425
SaintessHeart
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This woman clearly has not played anything beyond Facebook games.

Social games: Evil to some, boon to makers

Has she ever seen something called long-term market and short-term market? Social games are just a small short-term market bubble : saturate it with minigames enough and it will burst.

Gaming companies should just set a SMALL budget for market segmentation, like how Dragon Age did with their mini Facebook game. Long term investment in the market is clearly a no-no without constant new content even for a simple game like Runescape, sure people won't have as much time to play, but they are more willing to spend that time IRL instead with minigames.

The less depth a game has, the less replayability and continued playability it will generate. And without any replays or anyone playing, it'll just go bust. These things simply come and go - and they are only great for trading, not investing in.
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Old 2011-03-11, 12:42   Link #12426
GundamFan0083
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MrTerrorist View Post
US border town officials face gun-running charges

This might not look good for the pro-gun politicians who insist the Mexican drug wars has nothing to do with the Cartels buying guns from the US.
Actually it does quite the opposite.
That story clearly illustrates the futility of any new gun-control laws considering the people buying the guns and reselling them to the drug cartels were The Chief of Police, The Mayor, and a local politician.
The police chief alone is capable of buying guns (machine guns and submachineguns) that normal US citizens cannot without special license.
The current gun-control laws of the US exempt police departments and government agencies from many of the restrictions that apply to normal citizens.
Therefore, new gun-control measures that would restrict what citizens can purchase or own would do nothing to curb this type of incident.

The Mexican drug war is Mexico's problem, not that of the US.
If the flow of guns to Mexico is really a concern of the Obama administration then they need to shut the border down completely with military force.
That'll stop the flow of guns completely.
They could also use the TSA's new X-ray vans to scan every vehicle going south for guns.
I don't see this administration (or any politician in Washington) calling for the use of this technology on our border with Mexico--Why not?

The fact is the entire "river of guns to Mexican drug gangs" is the same tired old "guns-drugs, drugs-guns" line of crap the gun-control freaks were whining about in the 1980s.
The problem back then wasn't the guns it was the influx of illegal aliens, and that's the same problem now.
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Old 2011-03-11, 14:20   Link #12427
flying ^
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MrTerrorist View Post
US border town officials face gun-running charges
This might not look good for the pro-gun politicians who insist the Mexican drug wars has nothing to do with the Cartels buying guns from the US.
that link left me wanting more info...

here's a better one
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110311/...sa_mexico_guns

besides him there's a government agency called ATF who are 'letting the guns walk.'

CBS has been better coverage on this
See Project Gunrunner.






Last edited by flying ^; 2011-03-11 at 14:58.
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Old 2011-03-11, 21:19   Link #12428
Roger Rambo
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All the gun laws in the world won't help you if the bloody watchmen willingly sit by as the criminals act brazenly in defiance of the law.
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Old 2011-03-11, 21:41   Link #12429
Vexx
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Roger Rambo View Post
All the gun laws in the world won't help you if the bloody watchmen willingly sit by as the criminals act brazenly in defiance of the law.
Or if they ARE the criminals. Its always amusing to me to watch someone simultaneously hate "cops" while advocating gun bans.
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Old 2011-03-11, 22:48   Link #12430
ganbaru
books-eater youkai
 
 
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Obama rules out Libyan air strikes
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1939521/
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Old 2011-03-12, 08:40   Link #12431
Roger Rambo
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GundamFan0083 View Post
The Mexican drug war is Mexico's problem, not that of the US.
This is quite a silly arguement to make when already we're seeing the after effect of violence spilling over the border.
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Old 2011-03-12, 09:36   Link #12432
ganbaru
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Roger Rambo View Post
This is quite a silly arguement to make when already we're seeing the after effect of violence spilling over the border.
And than the drugs money than is fueling this war is comming mostly from the US.
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Old 2011-03-12, 13:21   Link #12433
GundamFan0083
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Roger Rambo View Post
This is quite a silly arguement to make when already we're seeing the after effect of violence spilling over the border.
That's a fine pro-second amendment argument, and I agree that the spill-over of violence is one of the main reasons US civilians need to arm themselves.
It's also a very good reason to reign in the BATFE's operations "Gunrunner" and "Operation Fast and Furious" since "95%" (more like 35%) of all drug cartel guns are of US origin and many (if not most) can be traced back to these kinds of operations.

However, if we were to assume that Mexico's war with the drug cartels is a problem involving the US civilian gun-market (rather than the BATFE supplying the cartels), then its time for the US to militarize the border with Mexico and stop anyone attempting to cross illegally.
That will stem the flow of weapons to the Cartels in part (though not whatever weapons sold to them via BATFE).

The kind of violence these cartels are committing is terrorism by any other name (like chopping off peoples' heads, and kidnapping children to get to their parents).

Since the US is involved in a "war on Terror" it is clearly time to deal with the Mexican terrorists that are flooding over our southern border with impunity.
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Old 2011-03-12, 13:40   Link #12434
Vexx
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GundamFan0083 View Post
That's a fine pro-second amendment argument, and I agree that the spill-over of violence is one of the main reasons US civilians need to arm themselves.
It's also a very good reason to reign in the BATFE's operations "Gunrunner" and "Operation Fast and Furious" since "95%" (more like 35%) of all drug cartel guns are of US origin and many (if not most) can be traced back to these kinds of operations.

However, if we were to assume that Mexico's war with the drug cartels is a problem involving the US civilian gun-market (rather than the BATFE supplying the cartels), then its time for the US to militarize the border with Mexico and stop anyone attempting to cross illegally.
That will stem the flow of weapons to the Cartels in part (though not whatever weapons sold to them via BATFE).

The kind of violence these cartels are committing is terrorism by any other name (like chopping off peoples' heads, and kidnapping children to get to their parents).

Since the US is involved in a "war on Terror" it is clearly time to deal with the Mexican terrorists that are flooding over our southern border with impunity.
As pro-immigration reform as I am... I'd be on board for militarizing the southern border in regard to these thugs and bandits. Its a much better use of troops for a real problem next door. Too bad we sent most of our available troops off on manufactured escapades elsewhere.
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Old 2011-03-12, 15:44   Link #12435
Nosauz
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Decriminalize drugs, create ways for addicts to get their fix without creating the elicit market forces that make drug running so lucrative, when you bring in crack and cocaine into the US you see a 650% jump in profits, it's clearly the illegality of these substances and much like opiates that we already control for medical procedures these substances could easily be "legalized" destroying a lot of value of smuggling, etc. You can point to prescription pill mills and gangsters selling pain meds, but that trade in itself is much less dangerous. In the end, it's going to take more than arming the citizenry or militarizing the border.
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Old 2011-03-12, 16:36   Link #12436
Xellos-_^
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nosauz View Post
Decriminalize drugs, create ways for addicts to get their fix without creating the elicit market forces that make drug running so lucrative, when you bring in crack and cocaine into the US you see a 650% jump in profits, it's clearly the illegality of these substances and much like opiates that we already control for medical procedures these substances could easily be "legalized" destroying a lot of value of smuggling, etc. You can point to prescription pill mills and gangsters selling pain meds, but that trade in itself is much less dangerous. In the end, it's going to take more than arming the citizenry or militarizing the border.
Several counties in California that grow marijuana basically out in the open voted against the legalizing marijuana prop last year. the reasoning was the growers were afraid legalizing marijuana would bring down the price for their crop.

i wouldn't be surprise if the biggest supporter of the current laws keeping marijuana illegal are the drug lords in Mexico.
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Old 2011-03-12, 17:05   Link #12437
Ithekro
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All the identifiable firearms would be from the United States because those are the only ones to be registered type. All the rest of the arms would be from other countries that would not have any form of registration. Thus the news of US arms is easy to exaggerate because of this idea. The unidentified arms would not e reported since they wouldn't have been newsworthy.
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Old 2011-03-12, 19:43   Link #12438
Nosauz
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ithekro View Post
All the identifiable firearms would be from the United States because those are the only ones to be registered type. All the rest of the arms would be from other countries that would not have any form of registration. Thus the news of US arms is easy to exaggerate because of this idea. The unidentified arms would not e reported since they wouldn't have been newsworthy.
Weapons manufacture is not that simple, most guns can be traced to the manufacture so just from locating the manufacturer you would have a better idea about what was being sold. There really isn't an unidentifiable arm, from all the Ak's out there each was stylized to the fitting of that country that produced them, unless you go out to the middle east where they pick and choose parts and repair guns due to the life style then you might have issues but for large importation of weapons its harder to say that weapons are unidentifiable.
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Old 2011-03-12, 23:52   Link #12439
ganbaru
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Join Date: Dec 2007
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Arab states back Libya no-fly zone against Gaddafi
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...7270JP20110312
It's probably too late for being helpfull for the rebels's cause.
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Old 2011-03-13, 04:05   Link #12440
SaintessHeart
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From Madison to DC, capitalists tighten grip

Quote:
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — This country is a mess: Twenty million people can’t find a decent job. Twenty million live in a home that’s worth less than what they owe on it. Forty-three million can’t afford to eat without handouts from the government. Health care is increasingly expensive and humiliating. Retirement is out of reach. Our bridges and roads are crumbling. Our children aren’t learning.

But there’s one group that’s doing just fine: the capitalists, you know, the people who own just about everything, the people we work for, shop for, die for.

Things look pretty good from where they sit, which is on a mountain of cash. The stock market is way up. Profits are soaring. Their incomes and wealth took a hit from the Great Recession, but they’ve weathered the storm pretty well.

Best of all, the capitalists — and the corporations they own and run — have captured our governments, and are bending our public institutions to their will.

You see it everywhere, from Washington to Madison, where so-called fiscal conservatives are mounting a highly visible attack on government spending. I say “so-called fiscal conservatives” because it’s increasingly clear that their attacks have little to do with balancing budgets and a whole lot to do with weakening federal, state and local governments and turning them into wholly-controlled subsidiaries of the corporations.

We know they aren’t serious about balancing budgets, because every time they have a chance to vote for lower taxes, they take it, regardless of the impact on the budget.

It’s blindingly obvious in Wisconsin, where Republican Gov. Scott Walker and the Republicans in the Legislature have dropped the sham argument that busting public unions is necessary to save money. By pulling the union-busting provisions out of the budget fix bill and passing a stand-alone bill, Walker and his allies have admitted that destroying the unions isn’t a budget issue, but a political one.

Unions are some of the few institutions left that can counter the power of corporations in the workplace or in the political sphere. Therefore, they must be eliminated. Stamping out unions is just one more skirmish in the class war that the capitalists, the corporations and their allies in both parties have been waging for 30 years.

It’s not just Madison. Here in Washington, corporations have been getting their way for years. They haven’t won every battle, but they’ve come out on top more often than not.

For example, the financial companies lobbied hard to get Congress to deregulate their industry. And then, when that deregulation helped cause the greatest financial crisis in 100 years, the banks and shadow banks lobbied hard to get Congress to bail them out. They made sure that the public paid for the crisis, and that the banks, their top executives and their owners suffered as little discomfort as possible.

And when it came time to re-regulate Wall Street, those same industries made sure the Dodd-Frank Act was as weak as possible. The big banks could have been broken up and made safe. But they weren’t. They are still too big to fail, and when they inevitably pull the same stupid stunts again that will imperil the global economy, they’ll be bailed out again.

The few provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act that could cause the banks some pain — such as the Volcker rule on derivative trading, or the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — are going to be impotent by the time the lobbyists write the rules.

Which brings me back to the faux budget cuts being championed by the Republicans in Congress. Sprinkled in among the cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Planned Parenthood are deep reductions in agencies that watch over corporations and make sure they don’t get away with murder.

The Republicans’ bill hacks away at funding for the Environmental Protection Agency, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the National Labor Relations Board, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the USDA’s food inspection unit, and the Food and Drug Administration.

Does anyone honestly believe that we spend too much money preventing fraud on Wall Street or keeping contaminated food off the grocery shelves?

The amount of money being saved by gutting these programs is a pittance when viewed in the context of a $3 trillion budget, but it’s a huge present to the corporations for whom maximizing profits is the only thing that matters.

Corporations don’t just want to be free from regulations; they also want to profit by taking over the provision of public services.

Republican governors are pushing to sell as much of the government apparatus as they can to their corporate friends. Public roads, prisons, parks, schools, welfare agencies, water systems, and power plants are being privatized to raise cash, regardless of the long-term costs to the public.

In Washington, capitalists run Congress, the Fed, the independent agencies, and much of the executive branch. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has more to say at the Supreme Court than Justice Clarence Thomas does. And corporate control of our national government will only expand after the Citizens United decision that allows almost unlimited corporate money to dominate our elections.

Don’t get me wrong: I think capitalists and corporations have a vital role to play in our economy, I just don’t think they should have complete control over all aspects of our lives. Without the countervailing power of unions or democratically-elected governments, corporations will be able to keep us docile, powerless and divided.

Then the corporations will have achieved their goal of the perfect banana republic, where everyone’s duty is to the corporate bottom line. And if that bottom line says you must lose your job, or burden yourself with debt, or choke on toxic air? In the immortal words of John Boehner, “so be it.”
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Most of all, you have to be disciplined and you have to save, even if you hate our current financial system. Because if you don't save, then you're guaranteed to end up with nothing.
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