OT: Politics and other stuff that is sure to piss everyone off

[Forty_Sixand2]

I started th thread actually, as it was in another thread, and I moved it to it's own.

 

[rmilia1]

I started th thread actually, as it was in another thread, and I moved it to it's own.

OK, well you know what I meant WTF was up with the Skins taking 2 QBs BTW?? I like Cousins but that seemed strange. You did get 2 Hawkeyes though so thats always a plus!!

 

[VT_Football_Fan]

Strange. A overtly racist and non-sensical thread started by a right winger... That NEVER happens.

 

[ACC_HOKIES]

Apparently I'm going to see El Presidente speak Saturday. Wonder if he'll be available for drinking some cervezas and margs afterward.

 

[Hokie200proof]

I thought you could only play the "race card" when you LOST something. Like an election, job, appointment... I thought it was an excuse as to why you didn't do/get something.

I haven't played Magic The Gathering ever in my life so I'm unclear about its use/purpose.

 

[Forty_Sixand2]

What does it mean for me, if I look upon Hellboy with an evil eye now, simply because Clay Morrow turned out to be such a douche?

BTW, to the unemployed (for now), Hellboy II is on FX.

 

[Hokie200proof]

What does it mean for me, if I look upon Hellboy with an evil eye now, simply because Clay Morrow turned out to be such a douche?

BTW, to the unemployed (for now), Hellboy II is on FX.

It means you need a job.

 

[Forty_Sixand2]

It means you need a job.

I have some interesting information about that actually. I may be headed your way very very soon. For the time being, I have gotten some hourly contract work. I am not starting until Monday though. I want to be unemployed for at least a week. This is fun

 

[Camfantasy]

I have some interesting information about that actually. I may be headed your way very very soon. For the time being, I have gotten some hourly contract work. I am not starting until Monday though. I want to be unemployed for at least a week. This is fun

It gets old very fast. lol

 

[Forty_Sixand2]

It gets old very fast. lol

Yeah, well it will be a grand total of 5 days for me when it is all said and done, but I have fallen asleep on the couch, gone to bed in what I woke up wearing without changing, and read a book cover to cover, so I have enjoyed it.

 

[Camfantasy]

I worked for about 4 years after high school doing commercial electrical work until i finally broke down and went to college. I went from pulling 100's of feet of copper wire with an accumulative diameter of a normal human bicep and digging ditches in the 100+ degree Alabama heat, to sitting my ass on the couch and studying all day and doing medical transcriptions from home. It seems nice at first, but gets boring as shit at about the 2 week mark. lol

 

[Hokie200proof]

While it might be smart to let this thread die a natural death...

I (and I'll admit I'm ashamed I'm extremely late to the party on this one) just found out about private prisons. It's things like this that keep me from being 100% Libertarian (I would consider myself to be a social Libertarian, but there are things - such as the incarceration of dangerous criminals - that I believe the state/federal government should be responsible for).

I read an article of a supposed confession by a former music industry mogul who said they were supported by owners/investors in privately owned prison to promote rap music in order to glamorize crime. I dismissed the article as conspiracy bullshit, but it still made me hop on google to find out more about "privately owned" prisons. There are more than a few it seems... just a simple search gets you stories from many different segments of media (from money.cnn to private bloggers) -

All That is Wrong With Private Prisons | JJIE.org

Michigan lawmakers considering use of private prison contractors to save money | MLive.com

What's costlier than a government run prison? A private one - Aug. 18, 2010

I had no idea this was true and I find this to be absolutely appalling. Why on earth would we ever want to have a privately owned prison? Giving this responsibility to a private, money-making company is inherently dangerous. The point of any company is to make money. How would you do that if your business is a prison? The same as you would in any business - try to increase demand. The basic incentive for this business model would be to promote crime to increase demand for criminal incarceration! Many of these facilities get paid by their state benefactor on the number of criminals they hold... that's a direct incentive to imprison more people. That's fucking outrageous!

Prison and other forms of federal/state correctional facilities should be a place to put violent criminals so they cannot harm the general public (and, hopefully, rehabilitate themselves so they can successfully rejoin society after they've served their sentence). In my mind, this is clearly the responsibility of the state, who would have no incentive to incarcerate more people than would be necessary as a result of the judicial process. This is also a strong argument against the Libertarian ideal of privatizing EVERYTHING. There are just some parts of governance that could be so easily abused if left to the free market.

Does anyone have an argument FOR privately owned and operated correctional facilities? I would love to hear it.

 

[MattB4VT]

prison is tight.
free housing, free healthcare, free clothes and laundry, free food which they cook for you, you can just a fraternity without having to pay fraternity membership dues, and plenty of eligible bachelors all muscular and in good shape.

 

[sparko]

I'm not some off the wall socialist ... But whatever happened to "we the people" ? The problem with privatizing everything is that demand does drive up cost and only the privileged get to enjoy many things. I'm not for free healthcare but what are hospitals to do? Let them bleed out on the doorstep? No doubt that private primary schools are better but admission has little to do with performance ... It's not that simple but I think it's pretty accurate ... And I think that the general me me me attitude contributes more to class warfare than a liberal poltician's rhetoric

 

[sparko]

And fwiw ... Im for privatizing some things and
Letting the government handle other things ... Depending on what it is

 

[ACC_HOKIES]

While it might be smart to let this thread die a natural death...

I (and I'll admit I'm ashamed I'm extremely late to the party on this one) just found out about private prisons. It's things like this that keep me from being 100% Libertarian (I would consider myself to be a social Libertarian, but there are things - such as the incarceration of dangerous criminals - that I believe the state/federal government should be responsible for).

I read an article of a supposed confession by a former music industry mogul who said they were supported by owners/investors in privately owned prison to promote rap music in order to glamorize crime. I dismissed the article as conspiracy bullshit, but it still made me hop on google to find out more about "privately owned" prisons. There are more than a few it seems... just a simple search gets you stories from many different segments of media (from money.cnn to private bloggers) -

All That is Wrong With Private Prisons | JJIE.org

Michigan lawmakers considering use of private prison contractors to save money | MLive.com

What's costlier than a government run prison? A private one - Aug. 18, 2010

I had no idea this was true and I find this to be absolutely appalling. Why on earth would we ever want to have a privately owned prison? Giving this responsibility to a private, money-making company is inherently dangerous. The point of any company is to make money. How would you do that if your business is a prison? The same as you would in any business - try to increase demand. The basic incentive for this business model would be to promote crime to increase demand for criminal incarceration! Many of these facilities get paid by their state benefactor on the number of criminals they hold... that's a direct incentive to imprison more people. That's fucking outrageous!

Prison and other forms of federal/state correctional facilities should be a place to put violent criminals so they cannot harm the general public (and, hopefully, rehabilitate themselves so they can successfully rejoin society after they've served their sentence). In my mind, this is clearly the responsibility of the state, who would have no incentive to incarcerate more people than would be necessary as a result of the judicial process. This is also a strong argument against the Libertarian ideal of privatizing EVERYTHING. There are just some parts of governance that could be so easily abused if left to the free market.

Does anyone have an argument FOR privately owned and operated correctional facilities? I would love to hear it.

First, let me say that I agree that prisons, as part of the justice system, should be the responsibility of the governement, especially FED and state prisons.

I think it could be argued that "the people" are more protected from certain liabilities with a privately operated prison. For instance, perhaps a prisoner has a case for some sort of negligence. The prison corporation would be on the hook and the state could cut ties with little public outcry towards the state. I don't know who likely that is, but I'm sure it's possible. I'd still like the government providing these services though.

I think we could find real positive use for private facilities with the "trustee" side of minimum security. In small towns there are local jails full of relatively minor criminals. The non-violent guys (check fraud, child support and other deadbeats, pot heads) go out and cut the grass, organize recycling centers, and other small jobs, sometimes all alone. Essentially, they just get a ride to their temporary job, maybe get one check up during the day, and get a ride back to the jail house after work. The ultimate answer for me would be house arrest or GPS monitoring. I think a private boarding work house arrangement would work great for the guys that need alittle supervision.

 

[Rocky]

Crime does not pay ... as well as politics.
Alfred E. Newman

Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles.
Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary

I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.
Charles De Gaulle (1890 - 1970)

Politics is made up largely of irrelevancies.
Dalton Camp

Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.
Ernest Benn

Being in politics is like being a football coach. You have to be smart enough to understand the game, and dumb enough to think it's important.
Eugene McCarthy (1916 - 2005)

When the political columnists say 'Every thinking man' they mean themselves, and when candidates appeal to 'Every intelligent voter' they mean everybody who is going to vote for them.
Franklin P. Adams (1881 - 1960), Nods and Becks (1944)

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary. H. L. Mencken (1880 - 1956), Women As Outlaws

Practical politics consists in ignoring facts.
Henry Adams (1838 - 1918), The Education of Henry Adams, 1906

The problem with political jokes is they get elected.
Henry Cate VII

Most people assume the fights are going to be the left versus the right, but it always is the reasonable versus the jerks.
Jimmy Wales, Keynote Speech, SXSW 2006

Nothing is so admirable in politics as a short memory.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908 - 2006)

Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908 - 2006)

The word 'politics' is derived from the word 'poly', meaning 'many', and the word 'ticks', meaning 'blood sucking parasites'.
Larry Hardiman

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Lester B. Pearson (1897 - 1972)

If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read "President Can't Swim".
Lyndon B. Johnson (1908 - 1973)

Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed.
Mao Tse-Tung (1893 - 1976)

Politics has less to do with where you live than where your heart is.
Margaret Cho, weblog, 01-18-04

Nothing can so alienate a voter from the political system as backing a winning candidate.
Mark B. Cohen

Politics is the art of preventing people from taking part in affairs which properly concern them.
Paul Valery (1871 - 1945), Tel Quel 2 (1943)

In politics you must always keep running with the pack. The moment that you falter and they sense that you are injured, the rest will turn on you like wolves.
R. A. Butler (1902 - 1982)


Before we get too depressed about the state of our politics, let's remember our history. The great debates of the past, all stirred great passions. They all made somebody angry, and at least once led to a terrible war. What is amazing, is that despite all the conflict, our experiment in democracy has worked better than any form of government on earth.
Barack Obama (1961 - ), University of Michigan Commencement, 2010

If we choose only to expose ourselves to opinions and viewpoints that are in line to our own, we become more polarized, more set in our own ways. It will only reinforce and deepen the political divides in our country. But if we choose to actively seek out information that challenges our assumptions and beliefs, perhaps we can begin to understand where the people who disagree with us are coming from.
Barack Obama (1961 - ), University of Michigan Commencement, 2010

Politics has never been for the thin-skinned or the faint of heart, and if you enter the arena , you should expect to get roughed up. Moreover, Democracy in a nation of more than 300 million people is inherently difficult.
Barack Obama (1961 - ), University of Michigan Commencement, 2010

 

[Rocky]

PART DEUX

"The Democrats are the party of government activism, the party that says government can make you richer, smarter, taller, and get the chickweed out of your lawn. Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work, and then get elected and prove it." —P.J. O'Rourke, Parliament of Whores

“The enemy isn’t conservatism. The enemy isn’t liberalism. The enemy is bulls**t." —Lars-Erik Nelson, political columnist

"Vote: the instrument and symbol of a freeman's power to make a fool of himself and a wreck of his country." —Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

"Everything is changing. People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke." —Will Rogers

"For seven and a half years I've worked alongside President Reagan. We've had triumphs. Made some mistakes. We've had some sex...uh...setbacks." —George Bush Sr.

"She's a wonderful, wonderful person, and we're looking to a happy and wonderful night — ah, life." —Sen. Ted Kennedy, speaking about his then-fiancee, Victoria Reggie

"Our intent will not be to create gridlock. Oh, except maybe from time to time." —Bob Dole, on working with the Clinton administration

"If ignorance goes to forty dollars a barrel, I want drilling rights to George Bush's head." —Jim Hightower, former Texas Commissioner of Agriculture, referring to the elder Bush

"There they are. See no evil, hear no evil, and...evil." —Bob Dole, watching former presidents Carter, Ford and Nixon standing by each other at a White House event

"Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country." —Marion Barry, former mayor of Washington, D.C.

"What right does Congress have to go around making laws just because they deem it necessary?" —Marion Barry

"I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself." —Ronald Reagan

"A mere forty years ago, beach volleyball was just beginning. No bureaucrat would have invented it, and that's what freedom is all about." —Newt Gingrich, speaking at the 1996 Republican Convention

"They don't call me Tyrannosaurus Sex for nothing." —Ted Kennedy

"In a recent fire Bob Dole's library burned down. Both books were lost. And he hadn't even finished coloring one of them." —Jack Kemp

"Ozone Man, Ozone. He's crazy, way out, far out, man." —George Bush, Sr., speaking about Al Gore during the 1992 presidential campaign

"Now, like, I'm President. It would be pretty hard for some drug guy to come into the White House and start offering it up, you know?...I bet if they did, I hope I would say, 'Hey, get lost. We don't want any of that.'" —George Bush, Sr., speaking to a group of students about drug abuse

"You cannot be president of the United States if you don't have faith. Remember Lincoln, going to his knees in times of trial and the Civil War and all that stuff. You can't be. And we are blessed. So don't feel sorry for — don't cry for me, Argentina. Message: I care." —George Bush, Sr., speaking to employees of an insurance company during the 1992 New Hampshire primary

"Please don't ask me to do that which I've just said I'm not going to do, because you're burning up time. The meter is running through the sand on you, and I am now filibustering." —George Bush, Sr.

"I am not one who — who flamboyantly believes in throwing a lot of words around." —George Bush, Sr.

"He can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth." —Former Texas Gov. Ann Richards on misstatements made by George Bush, Sr.

"I was recently on a tour of Latin America, and the only regret I have was that I didn't study Latin harder in school so I could converse with those people." —Dan Quayle

"People would say, 'We need a man on the ticket." —Rep. Pat Schroeder, on why George Bush was unlikely to choose a woman as his running mate in 1988

"There are lots more people in the House. I don't know exactly — I've never counted, but at least a couple hundred." —Dan Quayle, on the difference between the House and Senate

"The attractive lady whom I had only recently been introduced to dropped into my lap....I chose not to dump her off." —Former Senator and presidential candidate Gary Hart, on his encounter with Donna Rice

"Well, I learned a lot....I went down to (Latin America) to find out from them and (learn) their views. You'd be surprised. They're all individual countries" —Ronald Reagan

"I've looked on many women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times. God knows I will do this and forgives me." —Jimmy Carter, in an interview with Playboy one month prior to the 1976 election

"All that Hubert needs over there is a gal to answer the phone and a pencil with an eraser on it." —Lyndon Johnson on Hubert Humphrey, his vice president

"If you don't mind smelling like peanut butter for two or three days, peanut butter is darn good shaving cream." —Barry Goldwater

 

[Hokie200proof]

What's wrong with politics/government today? An information illiterate populous.

Study shows Fox News viewers less informed than those who watch no news - National Political Buzz | Examiner.com

I've seen this study in several different places (haven't checked Fox News yet) and yes, the headline certainly drew me in... but after reading the summary of the study, the REAL news is NO ONE IS INFORMED!!! Look at these groups and their results -

Domestic News (average # of correct answers to 5 questions on U.S. political and economic events) -
Fox News - 1.04
Don't watch news - 1.22
MSNBC - 1.26
CNN - 1.26
Daily Show - 1.42
NPR - 1.51 (highest average)

That means every group polled... FAILED. MISERABLY!!! An average of less than TWO correct answers? The best group scored 30%.

Holy shit people.






The Daily Show isn't a fucking NEWS SHOW!!!

 

[Camfantasy]

What's wrong with politics/government today? An information illiterate populous.

Study shows Fox News viewers less informed than those who watch no news - National Political Buzz | Examiner.com

I've seen this study in several different places (haven't checked Fox News yet) and yes, the headline certainly drew me in... but after reading the summary of the study, the REAL news is NO ONE IS INFORMED!!! Look at these groups and their results -

Domestic News (average # of correct answers to 5 questions on U.S. political and economic events) -
Fox News - 1.04
Don't watch news - 1.22
MSNBC - 1.26
CNN - 1.26
Daily Show - 1.42
NPR - 1.51 (highest average)

That means every group polled... FAILED. MISERABLY!!! An average of less than TWO correct answers? The best group scored 30%.

Holy shit people.






The Daily Show isn't a fucking NEWS SHOW!!!

But you probably catch more truth and less bullshit on The Daily Show than you do from any of the others.