US Politics Mega-thread - Page 1008

On April 21 2014 22:05 oneofthem wrote:
they are the same dudes cheerleading canadian oil companies running roughshod over american cowboys and their land. gotta build that pipeline

The Boy Scouts of America has revoked the charter of a Seattle troop over its refusal to remove an openly gay troop leader, according to Scouts for Equality.

Geoffrey McGrath, believed to be the first openly gay troop leader, was banned from the Boy Scouts at the beginning of April.

Rainier Beach United Methodist Church's Troop 98 and Pack 98 defended their Scoutmaster, however, and refused to force him out.

"Based on our religious principles, we will continue to act as an autonomous church that does not discriminate," the church's Rev. Monica Corsaro said in a statement to Scouts for Equality. "We will continue to have our Troop meetings here, every Thursday night, with business as usual."

McGrath said he was "disappointed" with the BSA's decision.

“Pastor Corsaro specifically sought out someone with my Scouting background to help get these units off the ground, and her church is now being told to violate their religious convictions. It’s unconscionable and irreverent," he said in a statement to Scouts for Equality.

BSA Communications Director Deron Smith told Time that the Scouts had no choice but to remove the Seattle troop's charter since it violated BSA policy.

Biofuels made from the leftovers of harvested corn plants are worse than gasoline for global warming in the short term, a study shows, challenging the Obama administration's conclusions that they are a much cleaner oil alternative and will help combat climate change.

A $500,000 study paid for by the federal government and released Sunday in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Climate Change concludes that biofuels made with corn residue release 7 percent more greenhouse gases in the early years compared with conventional gasoline.

While biofuels are better in the long run, the study says, they won't meet a standard set in a 2007 energy law to qualify as renewable fuel.

The conclusions deal a blow to what are known as cellulosic biofuels, which have received more than a billion dollars in federal support but have struggled to meet volume targets mandated by law. About half the initial market in cellulosics is expected to be derived from corn residue.

The biofuel industry and administration officials immediately criticized the research as flawed. They said it was too simplistic in its analysis of carbon loss from soil, which can vary over a single field, and vastly overestimated how much residue farmers would remove once the market gets underway.

On April 21 2014 23:16 aksfjh wrote:
\The issue with SWAT breaking down doors for drugs is that, sometimes, the intelligence is incomplete or wrong and they use way more force than is necessary. If, instead, SWAT teams were only used when it was highly likely the suspect was heavily armed after a thorough intelligence gathering operation (which would also mean they wouldn't attack the wrong house...), there wouldn't likely be any real concern.

On April 22 2014 10:55 Livelovedie wrote:


Isn't the issue with SWAT teams that every little rinky-dink town in America now has one so they tend to use them for stupid shit?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/15/texas-swat-team-conducts-_n_3764951.html

(I use to live in Arlington FWIW, but the need for a SWAT team seems questionable even there.)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/06/aclu-police-militarization-swat_n_2813334.html

On April 22 2014 13:16 KwarK wrote:
Ah, it's a British English vs American English thing. In British English turtle refers exclusively to the aquatic reptiles with shells who don't spend much time on land (except for laying eggs) and have flippers rather than legs whereas tortoise refers exclusively to the land dwelling reptiles with shells which can't swim for shit and live predominantly in hot dry places.

Americans still regularly call dolphins 'fish', the tortoise vs turtle question is a bridge too far for many. Especially when you're just repeating what you heard on some right-wing outlet.

On April 22 2014 13:33 DeepElemBlues wrote:
Bundy is a Ron Paultard type. I don't have anything more to say about that the only people I have more contempt for than Ron Paultards are Nazis and commies and not all or even most of the commies.

At the same time, the increasing tendency of the US government to send out heavily-armed robocops to blitzkrieg houses with no-knock warrants and police in the US looking more and more like Berkut or other heavily armed/armored police units with bad reputations is something I do not like at all. It's not just the proliferation of SWAT teams it's the blurring of the line between SWAT teams and regular cops. Almost all patrol / squad cars these days have enough gear in the trunk to turn the 1 or 2 cops in that car into what are basically soldiers. And it's also the way the federal government gives out military equipment to state and local police agencies like its candy anymore. What the fuck do police departments in podunk towns need what are basically modified US military MRAPs and other very heavily armored vehicles that the government keeps giving them.

the fuck does the department of education need with a SWAT team

The situation with no-knock SWAT raids on drug warrants is way worse than people have been portraying it here.

The situation with the increasing use of SWAT teams for shit SWAT teams shouldn't be used for is pretty crappy.

The situation with filming police is slowly getting better but people still get intimidated or arrested for committing absolutely no crime

The situation with cops always justifying everything they do whether it's shoot someone's dog (it's always the owner's fault for whatever dumb reason the cops come up with) or kill a 90 year old grandma in a no-knock raid on the wrong damn house is also still pretty bad.

Contempt of cop or contempt by cop are both still kind of worrisome some of that is just the nature of the beast when dealing with people who have the authority to physically overpower you and confine you behind bars but cops being less aggressive would be a good thing.

so bundy is a crazy but at the same time i'm glad to see that people stood up to the federal government and made it back off.

this our way or you don't even get the highway you get shit coming from the government (at all levels).

sending a SWAT team to raid gibson guitar's offices over some import ban dispute what the fuck.

the government should be fucking scared that if they show up with 200 guys armed to the teeth in military body armor like it's something normal and good to do all the time that a 1000 heavily armed crazy right-wing militia AMURRICURS or a 1000 heavily armed dirty smelly occupy REVOLUTIONARIES are gonna show up.

we shouldn't be scared of the government it should be scared of us and that should be something you believe no matter what else you believe politically. and that includes them being scared we'll overwhelm and overthrow them if they try too much shit.

On April 22 2014 13:33 DeepElemBlues wrote:
Bundy is a Ron Paultard type. I don't have anything more to say about that the only people I have more contempt for than Ron Paultards are Nazis and commies and not all or even most of the commies.

we shouldn't be scared of the government it should be scared of us and that should be something you believe no matter what else you believe politically. and that includes them being scared we'll overwhelm and overthrow them if they try too much shit.

honestly with that "satire" you posted a while back and stuff like this you are an exemplar of what makes people who aren't obsessed with politics think we're all loony. at TL it is one step removed from the worst but the only difference is instead of blatantly calling each other dumb fucks who deserve to be treated like shit we just imply it by making generalizations and mockeries about how everyone else in the world who agrees with the person we're disagreeing with are dumb fucks who deserve to get treated like shit.