Politics

[Chickenman 9]

Since the 2008 thread is pretty much useless now, I figure we need a more general thread for politics.

And to start it off I've heard about some interesting studies...

Your political beliefs may be influenced by your DNA.

Conservatives scare much more easily than Liberals.

Which explains this Cracked.com article

Thoughts?

Edited May 1, 2009 by Chickenman

[Chickenman 9]

Perhaps that post was a bit partisan. ("Reality has a clear liberal bias!") But here's something I think we can all agree on.

Blagojevich is a class A douchenickel.

[Radioactive Isotope 29]

really can't say i'm the least bit surprised by it, though.

[Chickenman 9]

Heheh. Jon Stewart observed that out of Illinois' past 7 governors, 3 have gone to jail, and Blagojevich will make it 4 in the past 8. That's batting .500. That means that you're more likely to go to jail for being the governor of Illinois than if you commit murder. :p

[Ender 8]

Here in New York people are just delighted that another state has a governor more corrupt than our past few. :p

[TheUnknown 39]

Blagojevich looks like Samwise Gamgee.

[Chickenman 9]

I applaud that Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at Bush, even if it was a terrible waste of perfectly good shoes.

[TheUnknown 39]

When Obama and Putin meet, they oughta skip the talking and just do a pose off:

[Chickenman 9]

RNC Chooses First Black Chairman

Notice the Democrats find a woman to rally behind, and the Republicans bring a woman to the forefront immediately after. The Democrats find a black leader to rally behind, the Republicans appoint a black guy leader of the RNC.

Jesus, Republicans are explotive as hell. I mean, we knew that already, but now they're just not even making an attempt to hide it.

[Chickenman 9]

Anyone else think that Press Secretary Gibbs must hear the words "What the Vice President meant to say was..." in his sleep?

[Winters 0]

Honestly, I think Joe Biden should have his own talk show or at least a mouth guard....

[Bad furday 57]

I think Biden should dress like a wild west Sheriff. That'd definately fit his appearance and character :p

[Andy 60]

Why politicians suck, big time:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8039273.stm

[Andy 60]

So, this expenses row is still going on, and now the Speaker of the House of Commons has been forced out by a vote of no confidence. It's apparently the first time a Speaker has been been forced out of office since 1695.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8057203.stm

And then we get some good old fashioned traditionalism:

Whatever day Mr Martin quits - even if it is with immediate effect - his successor will be chosen on the following day.

Following criticism of the procedure used for Mr martin's selection, a new, as yet untested, practice was drawn up in 2001.

As part of the new Exhaustive Ballot system, MPs will vote in secret and the whole process will take place in one day.

Candidates must be nominated by at least 12 MPs, of whom at least three must be of a different party [to] the candidate. Nominations must be handed in between 0930 and 1030 on the day after the Speaker quits.

The candidates would then address the Commons at 1430 - in an order determined by lots being drawn. There would then be a half hour of voting.

An absolute majority - more than 50% of those voting - is necessary before a winner can declare victory.

If no candidate has a majority, the one with the fewest votes is eliminated. MPs will continue to vote, for a number of rounds if necessary, until there is one candidate who has an absolute majority.

Sticking with tradition, the new Speaker is dragged to the Chair, feigning reluctance.

Finally, the Speaker-elect must be approved by the Queen before they may take office.

[Tsl 7]

testing to see if I can post in other threads here...

EDIT: okay....that's just odd..

Edited May 26, 2009 by Tsl

[Andy 60]

Sooo.. EU parliament and county council elections yesterday.

The Labour Party have unsurprisingly not done very well, what with all the latest scandals and stuff.

Not much red on the results map:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/elec...ap/html/map.stm

Can't wait for the General Election, which will most likely be next year now. That should be fun. ;)

Edited June 5, 2009 by Andy

[Andy 60]

All the results are in now, and oh dear... Labour Results are all in now. Oh dear, Labour; that's what you call 'owned'. :p

[Andy 60]

What's with attacking the NHS?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/1...publican-health

Countless amounts of British citizens owe their lives to NHS treatment...

A $1.2m television advertising campaign bankrolled by the conservative Club for Growth displays images of the union flag and Big Ben while intoning a figure of $22,750. A voiceover says: "In England, government health officials have decided that's how much six months of life is worth. If a medical treatment costs more, you're out of luck."

lol, tell that to Stephen Hawking, who wouldn't be alive today if it wasn't for years of NHS treatment. :roll:

[TheUnknown 39]

They like telling lies about socialized healthcare. They talk about "death panels" and "rationing" of medical treatment and "bureaucrats coming between a patient and his or her doctor" under socialized medicine. No, ewoktard, that's private healthcare.

[Andy 60]

'Socialist' seems to be a dirty word over there for some reason. The UK has gone downhill since we privatised almost everything. For a time, I can remember it in 1980s, many things were 'nationalised'.

These were mainly utilities such as fuel, gas and electric boards, transport companies... Most of these have since been sold off to private companies who have been driven by profit.

When British Rail was privatised in the 1990s, it was expected that private franchises would create competition and would force rail operators to provide better service for customers, while reducing costs by streamlining the business to be more efficient.

In reality what happened was the new franchise holders discovered that over the many years British Rail had been running, they had already done everything that could be done to maximise efficiency. The new private companies found running costs escalated and were forced to increase rail fares. The need to maintain a profit caused massive underinvestment throughout the late 90s and since then successive firms have been battling unsuccessfully to reverse the stagnation.

The NHS has it's problems, sure, no large organisation would be capable of running flawlessly. But it's just downright ignorant to insult a medical organisation that exists to provide healthcare to all, regardless of their wealth.

Socialism isn't always a bad thing, and the world would benefit greatly if we could all realise that and apply it sensibly without letting misconceptions of what happened with in some countries. I'm not saying we should all revolt and embrace a new socialist ideology, of course, simply that there are elements we can use to make the world a better place without having to destroy the democratic society we have built.

Edited August 12, 2009 by Andy

[Chickenman 9]

The Republicans have done an excellent job at getting poorer people to vote against their own best interests by appealing to fear. Someone listens to a wackjob like Glenn Beck and take his inane rantings as fact.

Socialism is such a dirty word because of the Cold War and the Red Scares previous to it. It feels un-American to give the government any hand in the economy, rather than people being able to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and struggle to achieve the American dream. (This is of course despite the fact that it's near impossible to do so in today's economic climate, where the little guy is absolutely stomped down underneath Big Business' own boot.) And as I think we all know, America is the perfect country that has never done wrong, so to be un-American is to be EVIL. In fact, to suggest that America has made mistakes in the past is to be un-American.

So the Republicans, who are backed by the pharmaceutical and insurance companies and so on, are appealing to the disenfranchised's sense of patriotism to fight against something that will improve their quality of life. It's really sick.

Edited August 12, 2009 by Chickenman

[Mara 29]

Wow, I'm proud of John Kerry for something, for once.

[Chickenman 9]

If only the Discovery Channel would hold weeks for other endangered animals.

And I'd have to say I'm pretty proud of that whole "Vietnam War" thing. Whether you believe the Swiftboaters or not, the man served his country.

[Andy 60]

from US Investors Business Daily blog:

people such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance in the UK, where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless.

FAIL

[Mara 29]

If only the Discovery Channel would hold weeks for other endangered animals.

And I'd have to say I'm pretty proud of that whole "Vietnam War" thing. Whether you believe the Swiftboaters or not, the man served his country.

I was speaking more about his political life, not his entire life.

Plus, White Rhino Week doesn't quite have the same ring to it.