USPOL Nov: I would've preferred Huckabee have said nothing at all

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > USPOL Nov: I would've preferred Huckabee have said nothing at all

Unless: Jul 24, 2005; I art

gullah jack posted:

Rand Paul went as the national debt.

Because of course he did.

What a loving lame-rear end.

pathetic little tramp posted:

How to go as Jeb Bush for halloween, hmmmm, how to go as Jeb Bush for Halloween?

This is great. Not conducive to a night of adult Halloween'ing. But still great.

================

Interesting piece of news came through my feed this morning: If domestic production of oil continues, Saudi Arabia's cash reserves will be completely depleted in five years.

I still find it staggering how much the USA has reduced its dependence on foreign oil since 9/11.

# ¿ Nov 1, 2015 21:21

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# ¿ May 14, 2024 21:55

Unless: Jul 24, 2005; I art

happyhippy posted:

I heard Romney went to France during Vietnam doing Mormon Missonary work instead of dying in a rice field. And this is why France is a major Mormon stronghold today.
oh wait

In the history of the Left, I always found that echo in him fascinating:

Washington Post posted:

A hotbed of communism, atheism, anarchism and socialism, 1968 France represents the opposite of 2012�s Mitt Romney. And yet Romney walked the streets of Paris in 1968 during the revolts. He debated the Vietnam War with the French and had countless doors slammed in his face because of his conservative beliefs. He engaged in long conversations in caf�s and bars with people who not only hated America, but hated God and everything else Romney had come over to sell. It certainly would have made him aware of a larger, wilder world. We should not underestimate the effect of this time on him, even if it may have served to galvanize Romney permanently against such views. Picture a well-coiffed (if somewhat stiff) kid in a suit handing out flyers about Joseph Smith, as Gauloise-smoking crowds fling paving stones and cry out, �M�me si Dieu existait, il faudrait le supprimer!� (�Even if God existed, we�d have to get rid of him!�).

Kobayashi posted:

This is something I haven't paid much attention to and don't know much about. What happened? Are we producing that much more domestically? Is demand down dramatically? All of the above? Something else?

NYTimes posted:

United States domestic production has nearly doubled over the last six years, pushing out oil imports that need to find another home. Saudi, Nigerian and Algerian oil that once was sold in the United States is suddenly competing for Asian markets, and the producers are forced to drop prices. Canadian and Iraqi oil production and exports are rising year after year. Even the Russians, with all their economic problems, manage to keep pumping.

There are signs, however, that production is beginning to fall in the United States and some other oil producing countries because of the drop in exploration investments.

On the demand side, the economies of Europe and developing countries are weakening and vehicles are becoming more energy-efficient. So demand for fuel is lagging a bit. China's recent devaluation of its currency suggests the economy of the world's biggest oil importer may be worse off than expected.

In short: more efficient use (SUVs were terrible), advancements in extraction leading to 2nd boom in U.S.

The peak oil stuff seems super remote right now, and that's an odd feeling.

# ¿ Nov 1, 2015 23:55

Unless: Jul 24, 2005; I art

Absurd Alhazred posted:

Problem is "the family" is a significant portion of the population.

And they're already looking for new sources of income.

quote:

In a 2014 report, the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime says the amphetamine market is on the rise in the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria accounting for more than 55% of amphetamines seized worldwide.

# ¿ Nov 2, 2015 00:04

Unless: Jul 24, 2005; I art

Tom Morello's op-ed for Rolling Stone should be in this thread every month Paul Ryan is Speaker of the House.

quote:

Paul Ryan's love of Rage Against the Machine is amusing, because he is the embodiment of the machine that our music has been raging against for two decades. Charles Manson loved the Beatles but didn't understand them. Governor Chris Christie loves Bruce Springsteen but doesn't understand him. And Paul Ryan is clueless about his favorite band, Rage Against the Machine.

Ryan claims that he likes Rage's sound, but not the lyrics. Well, I don't care for Paul Ryan's sound or his lyrics. He can like whatever bands he wants, but his guiding vision of shifting revenue more radically to the one percent is antithetical to the message of Rage.

I wonder what Ryan's favorite Rage song is? Is it the one where we condemn the genocide of Native Americans? The one lambasting American imperialism? Our cover of "gently caress the Police"? Or is it the one where we call on the people to seize the means of production? So many excellent choices to jam out to at Young Republican meetings!

Don't mistake me, I clearly see that Ryan has a whole lotta "rage" in him: A rage against women, a rage against immigrants, a rage against workers, a rage against gays, a rage against the poor, a rage against the environment. Basically the only thing he's not raging against is the privileged elite he's groveling in front of for campaign contributions.

You see, the super rich must rationalize having more than they could ever spend while millions of children in the U.S. go to bed hungry every night. So, when they look themselves in the mirror, they convince themselves that "Those people are undeserving. They're . . . lesser." Some of these guys on the extreme right are more cynical than Paul Ryan, but he seems to really believe in this stuff. This unbridled rage against those who have the least is a cornerstone of the Romney-Ryan ticket.

But Rage's music affects people in different ways. Some tune out what the band stands for and concentrate on the moshing and throwing elbows in the pit. For others, Rage has changed their minds and their lives. Many activists around the world, including organizers of the global occupy movement, were radicalized by Rage Against the Machine and work tirelessly for a more humane and just planet. Perhaps Paul Ryan was moshing when he should have been listening.

My hope is that maybe Paul Ryan is a mole. Maybe Rage did plant some sensible ideas in this extreme fringe right wing nut job. Maybe if elected, he'll pardon Leonard Peltier. Maybe he'll throw U.S. military support behind the Zapatistas. Maybe he'll fill Guantanamo Bay with the corporate criminals that are funding his campaign � and then torture them with Rage music 24/7. That's one possibility. But I'm not betting on it.

# ¿ Nov 2, 2015 00:07

Unless: Jul 24, 2005; I art

Am loving The Atlantic giving it to the Times this week:

quote:

The New York Times is often accused of having an unacknowledged liberal bias. Leftists sometimes insist that it has a conservative bias. I don�t think any newspaper in the world does better than the Times. I subscribe to it, often marvel at its scope and excellence, and believe that, like everything, it is biased in all sorts of ways, perhaps none more than this: It is an establishment paper. It overvalues the voices, perspectives, assumptions, and observations of powerful establishment insiders, whom it treats with far more credulousness and deference than they deserve.

# ¿ Nov 2, 2015 23:54

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > USPOL Nov: I would've preferred Huckabee have said nothing at all