USA Politics

I openly admit the intricacies of American politics still baffle me a bit. Free market, indiviual freedom, religion, traditions (so a "conservative"?), guns even... So, a Republican? Why is it so rare a Republican politican actually appeals to me, then? Then again, I'm not a Baptist, Evangelical, Pentecostal, Lutheran, Mormon nor a Seventh Day Adventist, I am for legalisation of drugs (cannabis at least), sexual education and I'm all for supporting families. I'm for at least some restrictions on immigration, however I'm not supporting The Wall. I honestly don't know what to think about Obamacare. And I dislike Hillary ever since her videogames hysteria in the early 00's.

Also, there's like 30 candidates and I keep confusing the names. I mainly remember something like Cruz is the real Antichrist or something like that, but maybe that's wrong too.

I guess that confused is what I am. Well, at least I don't have to vote :D
 
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I think the problem is that there are 2 viable parties in the US. Within each of those parties you have various factions which range (depending on the issue and region) from more conservative to more liberal, more federalist to more centralized, more libertarian to more authoritarian, etc. Add to that a disturbing trend (IMO) where people are treating these parties like football teams where they are more interesting in their party getting some kind of win versus what the actual issue is and the very false proposition that for any complex issue there are really only 2 ways of approaching a solution.

I would imagine if you removed the party labels and ran through a variety of issues with a variety of solutions very very very few people would only pick choices associated with only one party, there would be some kind of mix and maybe a preference one way or the other, but not 100% compliance. But that runs in the face of "purity" tests some people seem most interested in.

Then layer on top of that personal likes or dislikes of the personalities/styles of various candidates which makes it a pretty complicated mix
 
Leave Donald Trump out of your mental calculations when you're looking at what people actually support, that's my big advice. Remember this electoral cycle is really not about where the Republicans are but where they are going to be.

I have to say that a lot of what the Republicans are supposedly for makes me scratch my head. Suffice to say, I, personally, am a pro-abortion, pro-same sex marriage, pro-transgender rights, anti-religion officially endorsed by government, and so on and so forth on social issues. Not only that, these issues of individual freedoms are so significant to me that I would never, ever vote for a person that doesn't carry these same ideals. And that probably makes me guilty of polarization.
 
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Lovely ...
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/04/07/va-wait-time-manipulation-veterans/82726634/[/FONT]
WASHINGTON — Supervisors instructed employees to falsify patient wait times at Veterans Affairs' medical facilities in at least seven states, according to a USA TODAY analysis of more than 70 investigation reports released in recent weeks.
Overall, those reports — released after multiple inquiries and a Freedom of Information Act request — reveal for the first time specifics of widespread scheduling manipulation.
Employees at 40 VA medical facilities in 19 states and Puerto Rico regularly “zeroed out” veteran wait times, the analysis shows. In some cases, investigators found manipulation had been going on for as long as a decade. In others, it had been just a few years.
In many cases, facility leaders told investigators they clamped down the scheduling improprieties after the Phoenix scandal, but in others, investigators found they had continued unabated.The manipulation masked growing demand as new waves of veterans returned from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and as Vietnam veterans aged and needed more health care.
 
A comprehensive review has claimed the Chicago Police Department is systematically racist. I read most of the report last night, and it's incredible. Highlights (for lack of a better term) include a description of Lacquan McDonald's police murder, statistics on how Hispanics and especially blacks are more likely to be stopped or searched despite being half as likely to have drugs as a white person of the same age and gender, and a frightening insight to the way CPD doesn't train their cops. Because they barely do.

https://politicalwire.com/2016/04/13/reports-finds-systematic-racism-in-chicago-police/
 
AFAIR they had an old building or something used for illegal interrogations.
 
Awesome, I needed an article like this for a statistics assignment. Thanks LC! :D
 
Harriet Tubman to replace Andrew Jackson on the $10.

Hillary and Donald had yuuuuuuuuuge victories in NY.

GOP convention sounds like it will be a shitshow. I'm stocking up on popcorn.

Utah thinks porn is a public health crisis.
 
Not sure who is the biggest idiot here, the person who complained or the person who listened to the complaint

Artistic self-censorship — over one complaint
Move over comedy — art may be the new offense on college campuses.
Case in point: A mural of a gun shooting flowers was largely covered over after it was accused by one student of being an “emotionally triggering” image that threatens black students at Pitzer College.
“My Black Mental and Emotional Health Matters. I shouldn’t be reminded every time I leave my dorm room of how easy my life can be taken away, or how many Black lives have been taken away because of police brutality. This is emotionally triggering for very obvious reasons,” student senator Gregory Ochiagha had said in a mass email to students recently.
Original intent for the mural was to comment on peace movements during the Vietnam era with no intention to weigh in on police brutality.
Steven Glick, editor of the Claremont Independent, told The College Fix “it’s nothing short of absurd that a Student Senator thinks a picture of a gun is racist, especially since the gun is part of a recreation of an iconic image used to promote peace during the Vietnam War era.”
A few students quoted in the Independent, which first reported on the situation, also said the mural was pre-approved by an aesthetics committee, it falls under free speech, and its “flower power” thrust shines through.
But student artist Selena Spier agreed to re-conceptualize her masterpiece over the one complaint.
“I spoke with Gregory earlier and we agreed on a modification that preserves the integrity of the original piece while avoiding any potentially triggering content—it’s a change I was absolutely happy to make in the interest of creating a safe and inclusive environment for everyone in my community,” Spier told the Claremont Independent.

Glick said he is “very disappointed that the artist caved in to Mr. Ochiagha’s demands.”
Campus administrators declined to take a side in the matter.
“The students involved have stated that they had a productive dialog about the mural and have settled on a resolution in the best Pitzer tradition,” Anna Chang, a spokeswoman for the college, said in an email to The College Fix.
The mural, as originally envisioned, had been approved by a large group within the campus community.
“All artists must submit a proposal of their art, description and location for review and obtain approval by Pitzer’s aesthetics committee which is comprised of faculty, students and staff representatives,” Chang said.
 
I have no problem with an artist listening to someone's feedback and changing their work. That's a choice. I would have a problem with the school forcing the artist to do so.
 
I have to admit, he's done an impressive job at appealing to America's stupidity.
 
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