Gas Bandit's Political Thread V: The Vampire Likes Bats

GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
SpecialKO said:
My favorite thing about this thread is watching GB and Krisken interact even though one can't read the other's posts. I'm trying to decide whether GB counter-blocking Krisken would lead to much less discussion or much much more as both of them try to suss out what the other person is saying without "giving in" and just unblocking them.
Click to expand...
I don't block people. Well, I blocked one person once, but I was forced to do it in the name of domestic tranquility.
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
My view on the nuclear option:

  • I see why they used it. It was the only thing they could do to get around the obstructionists.
  • I can see why nobody has done it before. This will come back and bite them in the ass when the pendulum swings the other way in the Senate.
  • I think it looked like a desperate move, which plays directly into the hands of the very obstructionists and their ilk.
  • I firmly believe if the democrats used the filibuster as the republicans have been, the nuclear option would have been used previously. This minority has used the filibuster to historic levels, not because it's good for the country but because it's anti-Obama.
So while I understand it, I certainly don't think it was the smart thing to do. And Gas is right, the cat's out of the bag and this won't be the only thing the rule is changed for.
 
Krisken

Krisken

SpecialKO said:
My favorite thing about this thread is watching GB and Krisken interact even though one can't read the other's posts. I'm trying to decide whether GB counter-blocking Krisken would lead to much less discussion or much much more as both of them try to suss out what the other person is saying without "giving in" and just unblocking them.
Click to expand...
The nice thing about it is I can get the gist without the rude, nonsensical b.s. which goes along with it.
 
Chad Sexington

Chad Sexington

MindDetective said:
A little misleading. The women show little variability in their preferences beyond "don't respond" (not shown in the graph). Men appear to be a little more preferential, as the ranges are wider from least to most. It is still too difficult to tell how closely they might prefer a second or third choice, since they leave that data out entirely.
Click to expand...
Beyond misleading... Not only is your point one of the (many) problems of science reporting, in this case the data... comes from a Facebook hookup app? There's no study? Yeah, okay then.

Also.

"There are three kinds of untruths: lies, damned lies, and statistics."[DOUBLEPOST=1385144374,1385144324][/DOUBLEPOST]
Krisken said:
Amazing.
Click to expand...
It's an Onion-like thing, don't worry.
 
Krisken

Krisken

Ah, now it makes sense. I guess I sorta hoped it was fake, but you know I can't discount somewhere there is a couple like this.
 
Tiger Tsang

Tiger Tsang

Dave said:
My view on the nuclear option:

  • I see why they used it. It was the only thing they could do to get around the obstructionists.
  • I can see why nobody has done it before. This will come back and bite them in the ass when the pendulum swings the other way in the Senate.
  • I think it looked like a desperate move, which plays directly into the hands of the very obstructionists and their ilk.
  • I firmly believe if the democrats used the filibuster as the republicans have been, the nuclear option would have been used previously. This minority has used the filibuster to historic levels, not because it's good for the country but because it's anti-Obama.
So while I understand it, I certainly don't think it was the smart thing to do. And Gas is right, the cat's out of the bag and this won't be the only thing the rule is changed for.
Click to expand...
One of the nice things about the Senate, their election can't be gerrymandered. And until the Republican party can put the evil genie of the Tea Party types back in the bottle or at least at the back of the bus instead of in the driver seat, their going to have really, Really, REALLY up their election rigging shenanigans to have a shot at taking the Senate.
 
AshburnerX

AshburnerX

Not really news or anything, but I've been reading Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick. It's basically about what life is like in North Korea, as told by people who have fled the country. It's been pretty interesting, but the most interesting thing I've read so far is how free markets basically opened up all on their own once it became apparent that the government could no longer provide food to the population. Most men were stuck doing government jobs they weren't getting paid for, so the women of country basically run the economy by making and selling stuff on the market in order to buy the meager amount of food they can get because it was the ONLY way they could survive. Ironically, once the government started paying the men again, the price of food had gone up so much because of the markets that no one could afford it working a government job ANYWAY. You'd be lucky to afford 2-3 days of food with an entire month's salary.

It literally became such a big deal that the government had to okay these markets because to not do so would have triggered revolution.

I just thought it was interesting that the free markets are what enabled some people to survive the famine, but that those same markets have basically condemned many more to death because they can't afford the prices. North Korea has gone through a sped up economic timeline compared to our own and it's basically shown that the end game of both communism and capitalism is the same: a few rich people on top, no middle class, a multitude of poor working from dawn to dusk just to live and everyone else dead from hunger.

I'd highly recommend this book if you've ever wanted first hand accounts of life in North Korea. It's pretty awesome.
 
Timmus

Timmus

AshburnerX said:
Not really news or anything, but I've been reading Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick. It's basically about what life is like in North Korea, as told by people who have fled the country. It's been pretty interesting, but the most interesting thing I've read so far is how free markets basically opened up all on their own once it became apparent that the government could no longer provide food to the population. Most men were stuck doing government jobs they weren't getting paid for, so the women of country basically run the economy by making and selling stuff on the market in order to buy the meager amount of food they can get because it was the ONLY way they could survive. Ironically, once the government started paying the men again, the price of food had gone up so much because of the markets that no one could afford it working a government job ANYWAY. You'd be lucky to afford 2-3 days of food with an entire month's salary.

It literally became such a big deal that the government had to okay these markets because to not do so would have triggered revolution.

I just thought it was interesting that the free markets are what enabled some people to survive the famine, but that those same markets have basically condemned many more to death because they can't afford the prices. North Korea has gone through a sped up economic timeline compared to our own and it's basically shown that the end game of both communism and capitalism is the same: a few rich people on top, no middle class, a multitude of poor working from dawn to dusk just to live and everyone else dead from hunger.

I'd highly recommend this book if you've ever wanted first hand accounts of life in North Korea. It's pretty awesome.
Click to expand...
I really enjoyed that book and your analysis.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top