Spiffster posted:

EDIT: Oh crap, they really said that we shouldn't punish businesses for loving things up (In response to Duke Energy dumping that toxic ash in the river systems)

Phone posted:

Oh, I forgot one thing that tickles me a bit: Middle schoolers, who are abhorrent human beings, ask GOP candidates, who are abhorrent human beings, about real issues. The middle schoolers have an excuse such as hormones and still developing, but they come off looking so much better and thoughtful than the GOP candidates.

I guess this means that education is going to get another cut because the previous cuts still haven't killed critical thinking.

Shifty Pony posted:

Or you take the SC approach and ban lawsuits which might hold the company accountable because that would make them sad.

A Winner is Jew posted:

I miss the days when Green Day made good music. That would be before 96 for you youngins.

Fried Chicken posted:

I forget, did that bill ever pass? I mean it would fly through to McCrory's desk today and get signed in the blink of an eye, but I don't remember if it got laughed down in the previous session

BiggerBoat posted:

Thanks for this. Why would the developers want to suppress the science in order to build poo poo that's going to be washed out as sea levels rise though? Or is it just some sort a short-sighted money grab where they fleece people to buy beachfront condos that...

Oh.

poo poo. My wife and I are moving to the beach soon and I studied sea level rise before we made the decision. Now I need ot go back and figure out who made the studies we looked at.

Thanks again though. I hadn't heard about all that poo poo in NC. You'd think they'd know better. Ever mother loving hurricane everywhere seems to hit NC.

Spiffster posted:

How strong is the Tea Party in North Carolina? Is there any chance of them shifting the politics so far to the right that independents start shifting Democrat?

Chantilly Say posted:

HBO's new prestige drama is really stretching the history this time.

Corrupt Politician posted:

I've been thinking about the possible consequences of this year's elections, and I'm wondering if it wouldn't be a net good in the long run for the GOP to take the senate in 2014 by a slim margin. If the Dems manage to narrowly hold their majority, the next two years will basically go the same as the last two, with both parties falling in public opinion. Worst of all, as the party not in power, Republicans can continue to criticize without having to actually govern or vote on workable solutions.

On the other hand, a GOP house and senate would be an even bigger shitshow, with the possibility of more shutdowns, debt ceiling fights, maybe an impeachment hearing, perhaps an extremely visible supreme court nomination fight. The focus for 2016 would shift from the stalemated "do-nothing congress" to how terribly the Republicans have overreached with their thin majority, and how incapable they are of actually governing and working with the president. And in 2016 the Dems will almost certainly take back the senate.

Madmarker posted:

Ugh, I am so tired of my state being in the news for being a regressive hellhole. There is so much to love about my home, but our Gerrymandered to hell and back again Districts and Art Pope really make me question my decision to stay here.

edit-I mean seriously look at this poo poo:

hobbesmaster posted:

But your next door neighbor has a newer maybach, a larger yacht and a faster jet. If you don't one up him maybe people won't give you as much money or your wife will leave you or... I don't know.

The only people I know that had that level or money were burning it up on startups they were running so that's an entirely different category from the previous. (Ie, yay I have money now I can do what I want to do!)

Justus posted:

Conversely, I know some people who make over $300,000 a year, and still live paycheck to paycheck! All because they blow their money on ridiculous poo poo and carry ridiculous amounts of debt.

Joementum posted:

Barack Obama does not want Jack Kingston in the Senate and called to tell him as much.

Iunnrais posted:

At this point, the only way to get rid of salary secrecy would be a law mandating that your coworkers' salary information be posted on the same wall as the other mandated employment posters in the breakroom.

Spatula City posted:

Wow, every single goddamn teacher should leave Kansas as soon as they can. That's outright horrible, and the people responsible are actively working against education. How can people even wonder why public education might be failing when the evidence is right here, that it's being murdered deliberately by Republicans so their corporate buddies can take over the system?

Parallel Paraplegic posted:

Aren't private schools allowed to basically kick out any coloreds under-performing students they don't like though?

FilthyImp posted:

The broader issue of vouchers and Michele Rhee-like "student choice" just moves the poo poo around. It's a stopgap fix for a systematic failing of students in the public school system. I mean, somewhere along the way you realize that some kid can't read because they didn't receive foundational support and hit a wall in high school.

Hieronymous Alloy posted:

Eh, Christie's just one of about twenty or thirty up-and-coming Republican pseudostars who have managed to poo poo their own beds one way or another, ranging from Sanford to Rubio to Cruz to Cain.

Hasters posted:

That's just a non-starter, modern America won't vote for a general election loser and any campaign will just seem desperate.

The Warszawa posted:

I'm Hendrixposting so brevity but I concur. It's a really, really funny show. Less partisan than The Thick of It, which wasn't explicitly partisan except that you could clearly categorize the cast, whereas with Veep all the policy topics are milquetoast center-center-left uncontroversial things. It's got a different sensibility than Alpha House, which is way more rooted in actual political context rather than a "politics" atmosphere.

Joementum posted:

Eric Holder is casting aspersions on Louie Gohmert's asparagus again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay9eThmzp1Q

quote:

Joy Behar, the former co-host of “The View,” was even more pointed. “When I first heard that he was accused of blocking off three lanes on the bridge, I said, ‘What the hell is he doing, standing in the middle of the bridge?” After another barb, Christie interrupted her. “This is a Byrne roast,” he said. He stood up and tried to grab her notes. The audience laughed awkwardly. “Stop bullying me,” Behar said as he sat down. Christie said something out of earshot and Behar responded, “Why don’t you get up here at the microphone instead of being such a coward?” Christie stood up again and moved in front of the lectern as Behar retreated.  “At least I don’t get paid for this,” he said.

Christie sat down and Behar continued, though she was noticeably rattled. “I really don’t know about the Presidency,” she said. “Let me put it to you this way, in a way that you’d appreciate: You’re toast.”

zoux posted:

It's important to keep in mind that Gohmert is a loving retard.

loquacius posted:

I have no idea how much a weapon rental / ammunition from a firing range usually costs -- are those really outlandish prices for those plus food/drink? I probably would have guessed about fifty bucks for the pistol one, but I've never held a loaded gun in my life.

quote:

State Rep. Chuck Gatschenberger (R) explained to his colleagues on the Missouri House's Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities committee that when he goes to buy a new vehicle, he doesn't just make a snap decision.

"I have to look at it, get information about it, maybe drive it, you know, a lot of different things. Check prices," he said, according to video recorded by Progress Missouri. "There's lots of things that I do putting into a decision. Whether that's a car, whether that's a house, whether that's any major decision that I put in my life. Even carpeting."

"I was faced with a decision that I didn't have very much information that I knew about," he added. "So I wanted to be as informed as possible, and that's what this bill is. Giving them as much information as possible."

State Rep. Stacey Newman (D) called Gatschenberger out on the car comparison in a testy exchange.

"Are you equating that with a medical decision?" she asked Gatschenberger.

"No--" Gatschenberger said.

"That was your analogy, and that was extremely offense to every single woman in this hearing, representative," Newman said. "Your comments were extremely offensive to every single woman sitting in here, whether they're pregnant or whether they're not. I want to point that out, because that kind of attitude is demeaning to women, regardless of what they decide to do."

"That was not the intention. I apologize for that," Gatschenberger responded.

But Gatschenberger was pressing Newman to reconsider the bill seconds later.

"I'm just saying this is a life-ending decision," he said. "You should think about it."

quote:

Delegate Robert G. Marshall has said that disabled children can be God’s vengeance against women who have had abortions. He has described incest as sometimes voluntary, and he has questioned the sexuality of a Supreme Court justice who has favored marriage equality.

But unlike W. Todd Akin, whose offhanded reference to “legitimate rape” cost the GOP a winnable Senate seat from Missouri in 2012, Mr. Marshall is unbowed over his history of controversial rhetoric as he seeks a seat in Congress representing Northern Virginia.

“I don’t care. I mean, if I say something in public, I say it in public,” Mr. Marshall said Thursday.

quote:

Speaking before a pro-life group last year, Mr. Marshall offered a long and detailed argument that Justice Anthony M. Kennedy’s majority opinion in the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage was unsympathetic to social conservatives.

But it was the statement with which he capped his remarks that stood out.

“For all I know, Kennedy’s a homosexual,” he said. “You can’t be doing some of these things without this kind of conclusion.”

Like many of his other comments, Mr. Marshall stands by it.

“Clearly, some of the people who are making these decisions must be rationalizing their own bad behavior,” he said Thursday.

quote:

The author of a 1989 Boston Globe column asked him about his opposition to all abortion — even in cases of rape, incest, and to save the life of the mother. Mr. Marshall, then the research director for the American Life League, posed a baffling question of his own in response.

“What if incest is voluntary?” Mr. Marshall said. “Sometimes it is.”

Mr. Marshall confirmed the stance Thursday, but he said the author was missing the point and that the position is based on what is written in law.

“It doesn’t make it right or legal,” he said. “It just gives the facts.”

Wolfman Nards posted:

LF aka Lasseiz's Faire was a FYAD lite about politics and a sub forum of D&D. It was closed because prominent LF poster and Chilean self-proclaimed "Anime Marxist" Maggot Master made a post entitled "Goon Project: Let's Kill the President of the United States Barack Obama" as a joke. The Secret Service found out and got Lowtax in trouble. LF was closed and its best posters were permabanned. I have been trying to find a new forum to whitenoise in ever since.

Phone posted:

Wolfsheim posted:

Forgive my ignorance, but as long as this thread is on a nostalgia kick (I didn't really start reading D&D until like late 2011 so I missed all the LF stuff) what does this gif mean? I've always wondered if I was missing an obvious reference or there was some in-joke behind it.

Warcabbit posted:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/73-year-custody-fatal-jewish-center-shooting/story?id=23310932

Speaking of the Clansman, the spree shooter at the Jewish Center was a former Grand Dragon of the KKK.

SedanChair posted:

That freeper who shot people at the holocaust museum was in his eighties. I suppose we can expect more of them to go out like that. They get to act out their Turner Diaries fantasies, and as a bonus they don't end up spending all their assets on elder care so their children actually receive an inheritance. Then their kids can use that inheritance to finance a trailer to sell SS patches at gun shows! Everybody wins! Except society!

Relentlessboredomm posted:

I figured the State Democrats would realize that Scott is utterly reviled by most of the state and if they ran a semi competent moderate Dem they would win.

Joementum posted:

Wisconsin Republicans are going to address an important question at their upcoming convention.


Look, sometimes the Federal government is just tyrannical and you kind of have to secede, so Wisconsin Republicans need to make clear that option is totally on the table. An example of that tyranny? How about the recent budget agreement between the House and the Senate, which they have also drafted a resolution to condemn? The resolution does not mention the House member who was a party to that agreement, because his name is Paul Ryan (R-WI).

joeburz posted:

I can't wait to see the rationalization of this by States' Rights proponents.

1stGear posted:

Income tax is an unknown unknown clearly.

Hasters posted:

Or you can do what me and my husband do and pay your fair share, but whatevs.

ReidRansom posted:

Nothing on these last two pages makes any sense at all to me.

SedanChair posted:

Congratulations kid, you're a second-generation nobody.

Joementum posted:

Here's a very interesting study on how demographic shifts affect party identification and the (possible) bad news for the Democratic party:


But you should read the whole article.

quote:

It is easy to see how that sort of implicit association in the minds of Asian Americans could bolster their Democratic loyalties. However, such experiences of social exclusion based on ethnicity will probably be less common in 20 years, when there are likely to be 50 percent more Asian Americans and 50 percent more Hispanic Americans than there are now. In that respect, the very fact of increasing ethnic diversity may blunt the political force of minority identities.