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Fried Chicken posted:Ah yes, which is why Al Gore became president Two words: hanging chad.
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Apr 24, 2015 20:55
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Joementum posted:We can now make hologram Congressmen and the first person they tried it out on was Blake Farenthold Isn't this the ep of Voyager where the Doctor's holo field was collapsing?
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Apr 24, 2015 20:59
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Radbot posted:Let's say I'm a residential customer who is only served by my telco and Comcast. Let's say Comcast buys TWC. How has their new market power influenced the situation of the consumer in this hypothetical? I don't really know why you're basically copy/pasting Comcast's lobbying but the point is that your situation is overly simplistic and ignores the future. It ignores: 1) The harm done in other sectors, where Comcast's market power gives it greater ability to dictate terms to people who need to connect to its internet backbone or sell it channels 2) The harm done by eliminating the possibility of Comcast/TWC competition 3) The harm done by the increased resources that MegaComcast can now bring to bear on attempted inroads on its markets, whether by RCA, another ISP, or a municipal ISP 4) The harm done by the increased concentration of lobbying power in the hands of a single entity: while Comcast and TWC are usually on the same page the increased ability to use it effectively by placing it in a single pair of hands is important. I mean when you're talking about "well sure, it will be a monopoly, but they're already not competing so it's not a problem" you're sort of reaching. Sure, it is technically legal for them to tacitly agree not to compete. But that's because there's a limit to what laws can do, not that it's remotely positive behavior.
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Apr 24, 2015 21:10
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Radbot posted:Let's say I'm a residential customer who is only served by my telco and Comcast. Let's say Comcast buys TWC. How has their new market power influenced the situation of the consumer in this hypothetical? As Comcast gorges on market share the probability of hypothetical telco being the next morsel consumed approaches one. Since TWC and Comcast control such a huge share the line must be drawn here. No further.
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Apr 24, 2015 21:10
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evilweasel posted:I don't really know why you're basically copy/pasting Comcast's lobbying but the point is that your situation is overly simplistic and ignores the future. It ignores: Not to mention all you have to do is look at Comcast's lobbying in Tennessee against EPBs Gigabit Fiber and imagine that across the entire US. Remember: This is the company that said people don't NEED faster than 25 Mbps
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Apr 24, 2015 21:13
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evilweasel posted:I don't really know why you're basically copy/pasting Comcast's lobbying but the point is that your situation is overly simplistic and ignores the future. It ignores: It also ignores how TWC and Comcast do compete to deliver their "customers" back as products. The ability of ISPs to negotiate against content providers is directly related to the marketshare they can lockout. This is as old as cable itself.
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Apr 24, 2015 21:15
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CommieGIR posted:Not to mention all you have to do is look at Comcast's lobbying in Tennessee against EPBs Gigabit Fiber and imagine that across the entire US. Well, until you actually have to buy it from them! Then they say, well, we offer 25, but if you have a computer and a smart phone, you'll need our blazing fast 50mbps for an extra 35 dollars a month!
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Apr 24, 2015 21:20
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Doctor Butts posted:Well, until you actually have to buy it from them! Then they say, well, we offer 25, but if you have a computer and a smart phone, you'll need our blazing fast 50mbps for an extra 35 dollars a month! Or until Google comes to town, in which case prices magically halve and speed doubles overnight.
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Apr 24, 2015 21:26
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haveblue posted:Or until Google comes to town, in which case prices magically halve and speed doubles overnight. Which is basically what Charter did preemptively. Gave everyone a free speed boost to 60Mbps.
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Apr 24, 2015 21:32
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A few months ago out here in West Los Angeles Time Warner did a 6x-8x speed upgrade at no cost for everyone, and I went from 30/5 to 215/20. I still have no idea what prompted it, because as far as I know no new provider has announced intentions to move in here, but I'll definitely take it. The only competing plan available in the building where I live is an incredibly lovely 15/2 Verizon plan.
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Apr 24, 2015 21:55
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A Senate staffer was arrested today after receiving a date-rape drug shipment. Police also found meth. Guess the state.quote:GBL, said to build muscle, enhance love-making abilities and aid sleep, breaks down into the “date rape” party drug gamma hydroxybutyrate, or GHB. Both are controlled substances. The package, addressed to “Longevity Concepts LNC, Fred Pagan,” weighed about 1.1 kilograms and was intercepted at a DHL facility in Cincinnati, Waugh said in an affidavit. He works for Thad Cochran (R-MS)
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Apr 24, 2015 21:56
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Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) reaps what he spent his career sewing. Chemtrailers show up at his event to ask what he's going to do about all the barium and strontium in their blood put their by the Obamajets and he tries to explain "science" to them where you "replicate your findings" and "test your hypotheses", but they're having none of it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dupsc2vbccg Small postscript: Rep. Gosar doesn't believe humans can effect climate change.
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Apr 24, 2015 22:27
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Quote of the day, “I urge the House to bring this bill to the floor. If passed, my bill would preserve the right of millions of voters in all 50 states who would prefer that Steve King refrain from legislating a role for himself in their marriage decisions.” ~ Jared Polis (D-CO), on his proposed Restrain Steve King from Legislating Act.
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Apr 24, 2015 22:33
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Oh there are sooo many people that could use a restraining act these days. 
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Apr 24, 2015 22:39
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Joementum posted:Quote of the day, “I urge the House to bring this bill to the floor. If passed, my bill would preserve the right of millions of voters in all 50 states who would prefer that Steve King refrain from legislating a role for himself in their marriage decisions.” ~ Jared Polis (D-CO), on his proposed Restrain Steve King from Legislating Act.
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Apr 24, 2015 22:42
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Radbot posted:Let's say I'm a residential customer who is only served by my telco and Comcast. Let's say Comcast buys TWC. How has their new market power influenced the situation of the consumer in this hypothetical? Doesn't really matter - the standard is harm to competition, not harm to consumers or competitors. The reason why you block the merger is because antitrust law has a lot more power and a far easier time proving its case during mergers, where you can speculate as to future harm due to market power and only need to prove market power post merger, than during operation where you have to prove not just market power but that the market power is actually being used to prevent competitor entry and harm consumers. As a rule of thumb, all 3->2 mergers get challenged and a lot of 4->3 mergers get challenged based on an assumption of market concentration. This was effectively a 3->2 merger (treating the tiny companies as an aggregated single company).
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Apr 24, 2015 22:42
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site posted:Man it must be one slow day on the Hill, huh? I don't imagine there's a lot for a democrat to do.
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Apr 24, 2015 23:11
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Joementum posted:Quote of the day, “I urge the House to bring this bill to the floor. If passed, my bill would preserve the right of millions of voters in all 50 states who would prefer that Steve King refrain from legislating a role for himself in their marriage decisions.” ~ Jared Polis (D-CO), on his proposed Restrain Steve King from Legislating Act. Modern Democracy
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Apr 24, 2015 23:59
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Scrub-Niggurath posted:Modern Democracy Polis owns.
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Apr 25, 2015 00:00
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Jared Polis is great and he probably makes so many people mad on the hill because hes gay as gently caress and its awesome
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Apr 25, 2015 00:03
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like polis adopted a kid and is probably 10000x a better parent then all those catholic fucks
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Apr 25, 2015 00:03
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Vahakyla posted:Are law enforcement agents from local and state level disarmed before getting close to the Prez? What about federal, non SS, agents? Aren't those just park rangers? They don't usually carry guns in that setting. haveblue posted:Or until Google comes to town, in which case prices magically halve and speed doubles overnight. Comcast is going to start offering 1-2 gigabit internet in Atlanta. Coincidentally this decision came after Atlanta was picked as one of the next Google Fiber locations. It's completely a coincidence that Comcast, the company that was charging me 69.99 a month for something like 40/15 internet a year ago, will offer speeds of more than 10 times that for a fractional cost increase. I mean it's certainly a thing they decided on their own and not because if Google Fiber could destroy their hold on a city as large as Atlanta then their days are numbered. Right? 
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Apr 25, 2015 00:20
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icantfindaname posted:The louder and more tone-deaf the screeching, the more people they will drive away by revealing their insanity. Bring it on, I say
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Apr 25, 2015 00:33
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Trabisnikof posted:That's more of the Clinton Cash "reporting." Also as that article points out, there's not any evidence linking the donation to the Clinton Foundation to the nuclear deal. Here is a dissection of the BS: http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/04/24/fox-news-baselessly-blames-hillary-clinton-for/203404 9 separate agencies approved the deal, including the Department of Defense, the Treasury, and the Department of Energy. Furthermore, there is no evidence that Hillary was personally involved in that issue as all documentation of it shows mid level beaurocrats handling it. Outside of the 9 agencies it also had to be approved by the nuclear regulatory commission at the federal level and an equivalent commission at the state level in Utah. And central banks have ties with everyone in a country who has money. So if a Russian central bank pays Bill to come speak you now have one degree of separation between the Clintons and a significant chunk of the Russian population. That's like a conspiracy theory wildcard speaking event. Weapons grade tinfoil there. And lastly, you'll note that while complaining that the Clinton foundation didn't disclose donations to the public our huckster --- um author --- also fails to disclose his source of information about the alleged donations. So while the speaking engagement is verifiable the claims of direct donations aren't. And that's where things stop making sense. If you are paying through direct deposit why hold a farcical speaking event to launder the money? And if you are paying through deniable intermediaries why not pay it all that way? To split the payments between two methods incurs all the downsides of both. It's just dumb. Right, I forgot, through a constant shifting of rhetorical focus Clinton is both a mastermind and an idiot.
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Apr 25, 2015 00:38
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That Peter Schweizer dude used to be a fellow at the Hoover Foundation in Stanford; how reliable is it, since I have to do research on people involved in postwar aid in their archives.
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Apr 25, 2015 00:39
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Man, POLITICO's starting to get a little desperate in finding ways to sneer at Hillary: Come on, guys. You gotta pace yourselves.
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Apr 25, 2015 00:39
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I just want you guys to know this thread has actually changed my mind a lot about Hillary and I'm a lot more positive about her now. So thanks!
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Apr 25, 2015 00:44
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GlyphGryph posted:I just want you guys to know this thread has actually changed my mind a lot about Hillary and I'm a lot more positive about her now. So thanks! Me, too. I'm less nervous thanks to some of the information posts.
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Apr 25, 2015 00:48
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DaveWoo posted:Man, POLITICO's starting to get a little desperate in finding ways to sneer at Hillary: Wait, I'm confused, is she a big spending liberal or a penny pinching conservative? I can't keep track when the accusations change so fast.
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Apr 25, 2015 00:54
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DaveWoo posted:Man, POLITICO's starting to get a little desperate in finding ways to sneer at Hillary: Remember, it's not a good campaign unless you spend a bunch of money. Doesn't matter if it's still a year and a half away from the election.
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Apr 25, 2015 00:56
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NoEyedSquareGuy posted:Remember, it's not a good campaign unless you spend a bunch of money. Doesn't matter if it's still a year and a half away from the election. She sounds shrewd and deliberate, in this framing. Which she is. Let the early attack ads go and air your own message closer to the election, when the general American might be paying attention.
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Apr 25, 2015 01:16
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Evil Fluffy posted:Comcast is going to start offering 1-2 gigabit internet in Atlanta. Coincidentally this decision came after Atlanta was picked as one of the next Google Fiber locations. It's completely a coincidence that Comcast, the company that was charging me 69.99 a month for something like 40/15 internet a year ago, will offer speeds of more than 10 times that for a fractional cost increase. Yup, and I doubt even that will save them, because they didn't remove the bandwidth caps with that jump. I'm in Atlanta as well and have Charter, Comcast's service is awful, my parents have it and its constantly having issues.
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Apr 25, 2015 01:48
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joeburz posted:Jared Polis is great and he probably makes so many people mad on the hill because hes gay as gently caress and its awesome Isn't Polis a wall street democrat?
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Apr 25, 2015 01:53
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Badger of Basra posted:Isn't Polis a wall street democrat? uh hes from colorado and is just filthy rich from tech bubble crap so maybe thats where your confused, but everything he comes up for in the house is usually Good Things
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Apr 25, 2015 02:05
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Accretionist posted:Me, too. I'm less nervous thanks to some of the information posts.
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Apr 25, 2015 02:07
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I'm still proud of the fact I got to vote for Polis in an election. Totally worth it.
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Apr 25, 2015 02:07
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Just Republicans and cops barring a duly elected mayor for assuming office, nbd WRT the allegations of voter fraud, County Republican Election Director Gary Fuhr said that in response to the city’s complaints, the election board sent four canvassers to Kinloch on Tuesday to verify that voters were registered to correct addresses. He declined to say what canvassers found. (gosh, if he had found evidence of fraud you'd think he would be trumpeting it)
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Apr 25, 2015 02:34
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joeburz posted:Jared Polis is great and he probably makes so many people mad on the hill because hes gay as gently caress and its awesome how gay is he though
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Apr 25, 2015 02:37
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Fried Chicken posted:Just Republicans and cops barring a duly elected mayor for assuming office, nbd How did you find out the political association of the last administration? I looked but it didn't mention anything about Republicans and Democrats. That said, I worry this is the kind of crap we have to look forward to in the future with how politically polarized this country is becoming. People are living in completely different realities.
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Apr 25, 2015 02:45
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Accretionist posted:Me, too. I'm less nervous thanks to some of the information posts. You should still be a little nervous if you are a foreign policy dove. But just remember these basic principles before you get excited / despair: 1) Hillary, and all presidential candidates, don't tend to deviate far from the center of the party. She will probably represent the center-left of the 2016 Democratic party, which will be well to the left of the general public, but not exactly as far as most activists are going to want her to go. 2) She is going to be constrained by Obama-era foreign policy decisions and the party, but she is still fairly interventionist for a Democrat. 3) The progressive machinery, think tanks, and activist groups are a lot stronger than they were in the 90's. Also the 2016 Dem party is going to be more liberal than the Dem party of the 90's to early 2000's. You can expect 99% of Hillary's executive and Judicial appointments to be solid progressive choices. 4) Solidifying partisan politics and ideologies have changed the field a lot. 5) 2016 campaign Hillary and potential President Hillary will campaign on and pursue different issues than 2000 Hillary. Conclusion: Hillary is likely going to be a lot better on domestic issues than some people are worried about. There is still room for concern on security state and foreign affairs though. There is absolutely nothing to worry about for her appointments. Badger of Basra posted:Isn't Polis a wall street democrat? No, he's been pretty anti-wall street and is from Colorado. He founded a tech company and became a millionaire from it. He's generally one of the more progressive congressman.
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Apr 25, 2015 02:49
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