Gas Bandit's Political Thread V: The Vampire Likes Bats
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When I first heard her quote, the instinctive reaction was to scream, "CAN YOU BLAME HER?!?" [emoji1]
Federal Judge in Texas (surprise!) shut down Obama's immigration amnesty.
Regardless of whether or not the amnesty was a good call, I notice Republicans cheering this as a win for the Constitution they pretend to cherish, but I know Bush Jr wanted to do a similar thing during his presidency. Does anyone remember if Republicans were against him as well, or did he get praised on it because he was one of their party?
Regardless of whether or not the amnesty was a good call, I notice Republicans cheering this as a win for the Constitution they pretend to cherish, but I know Bush Jr wanted to do a similar thing during his presidency. Does anyone remember if Republicans were against him as well, or did he get praised on it because he was one of their party?
To Republicans, the heart and soul of Latino voters is kind of on the line... they are afraid that an influx of a poor minority will completely usurp their power base (and it will) but they also see that a large block of Latino voters are also highly religious people who don't give two shits about immigration (why would they? They are already here), which tends to make a good portion of them vote conservative. So the Republicans are scrambling to find a way to make THEM the saviors of the working class minority community they need to win over, while at the same keeping their credibility with the racist hicks that populate states like Texas and Arizona.
So yes... they are against it because it's not theirs, but also because they need to figure out how to get the people they want (the conservative, religious latinos) while keeping out the ones they don't want (the liberal, reformist ones).
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GasBandit
Staff member
One of the dumbest things I've ever heard said in front of a camera.
State Department spokesdingbat Marie Harf says we can't "kill our way out of this war," and that instead we need to work on giving jobs to ISIS terrorists.
These are the people who just burned 45 more people to death, we're talking about. Something tells me they're not exactly calling for western capitalism.
State Department spokesdingbat Marie Harf says we can't "kill our way out of this war," and that instead we need to work on giving jobs to ISIS terrorists.
These are the people who just burned 45 more people to death, we're talking about. Something tells me they're not exactly calling for western capitalism.
The problem isn't that you can't find work in the Middle East. The problem is that the powers that be have spent the last 70 years turning what used to be one of the greatest centers of scholarship in all of it's forms into a backwards theocracy where armed men walk the streets with automatic weapons, killing each other in the name of god and country instead of trying to find a peaceful solution to their societal and theological differences.
Oh, and it's Britain's fault because they cut up the middle east without ever considering the actual demographics of the region when they divided things up. And for giving the Jewish people a state built on top of lands that someone was already living on. But America can share some of the blame for propping up awful governments in the name of fighting the Soviets. All three of these actions are somewhat responsible for allowing the fundamentalist movements to fester into the powerhouses they've become.
Regardless, the answers are the same as they ever were and they will never happen because pride is on the line. Israel needs a two state solution, to throw the illegal settlers to the wolves, and to guarantee the rights of it's religious minorities. Iraq needs to break into three countries. India and Pakistan need to work out a joint ownership over Kashmir. Iran needs to grow the fuck up and stop acting like getting a nuke will solve any of it's problems, especially when Israel is probably the only country in the world willing to use it's nukes.
Oh, and it's Britain's fault because they cut up the middle east without ever considering the actual demographics of the region when they divided things up. And for giving the Jewish people a state built on top of lands that someone was already living on. But America can share some of the blame for propping up awful governments in the name of fighting the Soviets. All three of these actions are somewhat responsible for allowing the fundamentalist movements to fester into the powerhouses they've become.
Regardless, the answers are the same as they ever were and they will never happen because pride is on the line. Israel needs a two state solution, to throw the illegal settlers to the wolves, and to guarantee the rights of it's religious minorities. Iraq needs to break into three countries. India and Pakistan need to work out a joint ownership over Kashmir. Iran needs to grow the fuck up and stop acting like getting a nuke will solve any of it's problems, especially when Israel is probably the only country in the world willing to use it's nukes.
Yeah, that's some magical revisionist history, for sure.
I'm waiting to see if he expounds on the "He had 2 years of a Democratic controlled House and Senate." schtick.
GasBandit
Staff member
What's to be done about creepy uncle Joe?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...-we-going-to-do-about-creepy-uncle-joe-biden/
"That's high enough, Mr. Vice President."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...-we-going-to-do-about-creepy-uncle-joe-biden/
"That's high enough, Mr. Vice President."
"Hail Hydra"
Just because I feel the need to back up the idea that schooling is based on socioeconomic status and not on the public school system in general... (even though @GasBandit will never conceed that private schools aren't the greatest thing ever)
Public schools aren’t failing
Of course, I'm posting this more to spark discussion than anything.
The second report they are referencing is here.
Really what it comes down to is that our problem isn't the education system in and of itself, it is that we have way too many poor children in the US. What a shocker.
Public schools aren’t failing
Of course, I'm posting this more to spark discussion than anything.
The second report they are referencing is here.
Really what it comes down to is that our problem isn't the education system in and of itself, it is that we have way too many poor children in the US. What a shocker.
GasBandit
Staff member
I'm not going to dismiss it out of hand, but the former article was very poorly sourced, and the second uses, for reasons I can't fathom, an unnecessarily convoluted display method which makes the study hard to read and impossible to copy/paste from. But even if we assume for the moment the assertions are true, and if the correlation is also causation, then what's the solution? Just deposit money into their parents accounts until the children aren't poor any more? Not only can we not afford it, but within a few months I guarantee you 90% of those families will be right back where they started, same as how poor lottery winners generally end up poor again.
If the schools are not the problem, then increasing school funding would be, at best, spending in the wrong place - we already spend more per student than other developed nations who test better than us and have school choice, yet pay our teachers much lower. So where is the money going? My guess is bureaucracy and administration. But good luck trimming that. Government bureaucracies and programs never get smaller, and howl if they think each year's increase in funding isn't big enough.
Though it doesn't sound pleasant, this is one of the reasons I favor school choice - if you force competition in an industry (and education IS an industry), then the competitors either must trim fat themselves, provide enough value to justify the fat, or fail. And the bureaucracy is so entrenched, it's unlikely it can be excised. So we need new schools, formed around the concept of minimal administrative overhead and competent, well-compensated teachers. As parents move their kids from the bureaucracy-strangled schools to the new ones, the old ones shut down and can be replaced by even more new ones.
Obviously it's not a process without pain, but what worthwhile exercise is? We've been trying the "painless" route for as long as I've been cognizant... and it's gotten us poorer teachers, worse grades, ever-increasing administrative bureaucracy, increasing costs, and oh yeah, ridiculous suspensions for things like biting food into the shape of a gun - or even making pew-pew noises with your fingers. But at least everybody's self esteem is intact!
If the schools are not the problem, then increasing school funding would be, at best, spending in the wrong place - we already spend more per student than other developed nations who test better than us and have school choice, yet pay our teachers much lower. So where is the money going? My guess is bureaucracy and administration. But good luck trimming that. Government bureaucracies and programs never get smaller, and howl if they think each year's increase in funding isn't big enough.
Though it doesn't sound pleasant, this is one of the reasons I favor school choice - if you force competition in an industry (and education IS an industry), then the competitors either must trim fat themselves, provide enough value to justify the fat, or fail. And the bureaucracy is so entrenched, it's unlikely it can be excised. So we need new schools, formed around the concept of minimal administrative overhead and competent, well-compensated teachers. As parents move their kids from the bureaucracy-strangled schools to the new ones, the old ones shut down and can be replaced by even more new ones.
Obviously it's not a process without pain, but what worthwhile exercise is? We've been trying the "painless" route for as long as I've been cognizant... and it's gotten us poorer teachers, worse grades, ever-increasing administrative bureaucracy, increasing costs, and oh yeah, ridiculous suspensions for things like biting food into the shape of a gun - or even making pew-pew noises with your fingers. But at least everybody's self esteem is intact!
The issue isn't just money, but also time: poorer families tend to have to work more hours to make ends meet, which means less time to get involved in the academic lives of their children. You need to remember, Americans (on average ) work more hours for less pay and compensation than virtually every first world nation outside of Japan. As such, it's much easier for kids in other countries to get the help they need at home, which relieves the burden of the teacher, who can instead focus on teaching. This is why public schools in other countries can score so high on tests while our kids are struggling.
That said, most of what you said about the bureaucracy is correct. We need to start slashing the salaries of administration.
GasBandit
Staff member
/facepalm
Yes, Kristi, "Jigaboo" is a word, and you probably shouldn't use it. Especially not on the air.
Ohio news anchor Kristi Capel was trying to compliment Lady Gaga here, but she somehow was unable to get through her brief thought without saying something racist.”It’s hard to hear her voice with all the jigaboo music…that she…whatever you want to call it…jigaboo, haha!” When she was called out for using a derogatory term for black people to describe Lady Gaga’s music, she apologized on Twitter, explaining, “I had no idea it was a word or what it meant.”
Here’s the video. What do you think? Was this an innocent slip up or intentional racism? You be the judge…
….and her Tweet apologizing for it
Yes, Kristi, "Jigaboo" is a word, and you probably shouldn't use it. Especially not on the air.
Ohio news anchor Kristi Capel was trying to compliment Lady Gaga here, but she somehow was unable to get through her brief thought without saying something racist.”It’s hard to hear her voice with all the jigaboo music…that she…whatever you want to call it…jigaboo, haha!” When she was called out for using a derogatory term for black people to describe Lady Gaga’s music, she apologized on Twitter, explaining, “I had no idea it was a word or what it meant.”
Here’s the video. What do you think? Was this an innocent slip up or intentional racism? You be the judge…
….and her Tweet apologizing for it
More than time plays a part there. There's also the entitlement parents seem to have about their child doing well in school. Ancedotally it always seemed like the parents of my mom's students had plenty of time to come in and complain about how she was failing their child who wasn't doing any work.
Really? They came in to complain for at least an hour every week? The same parent over and over?
Dafuq is a jigaboo? I live in the racist south, and that's a new one to me. She must have learned that one from her great grandfather./facepalm
Yes, Kristi, "Jigaboo" is a word, and you probably shouldn't use it. Especially not on the air.
Ohio news anchor Kristi Capel was trying to compliment Lady Gaga here, but she somehow was unable to get through her brief thought without saying something racist.”It’s hard to hear her voice with all the jigaboo music…that she…whatever you want to call it…jigaboo, haha!” When she was called out for using a derogatory term for black people to describe Lady Gaga’s music, she apologized on Twitter, explaining, “I had no idea it was a word or what it meant.”
Here’s the video. What do you think? Was this an innocent slip up or intentional racism? You be the judge…
….and her Tweet apologizing for it
GasBandit
Staff member
It does hail from the days when Eenie Meenie Miney Moe was catching niggers by the toe instead of tigers, but still, a broadcaster should know such things.
Hopefully this might actually get the mindless skulls of mush up here in the Great North Woods to realize their emperor has no clothes:
Walker to make huge cuts to DNR, State Park funding
Walker to make huge cuts to DNR, State Park funding
GasBandit
Staff member
... you really think people, after all the other things he's done that you find objectionable, are going to FINALLY see the light and oust him over a $3 increase in camping fees at state parks?
/headdesk /headdesk /headdesk
Idaho lawmaker asks if woman can swallow camera for gynecological exam before medical abortion
Idaho lawmaker asks if woman can swallow camera for gynecological exam before medical abortion