US Politics Mega-thread - Page 4901

On September 05 2016 09:16 LegalLord wrote:

Similar in some ways, different in a lot of ways that matter. She is nominally socially progressive but also pro-trade and pro-war, two major differences that people care about and that are the hardest to change without running into severe opposition from the status quo.

On September 05 2016 09:14 Stratos_speAr wrote:


Her platform is incredibly similar to Bernie's.

The objections to Clinton aren't based on her platform, they're based off of 1) her controversies (and how controversial one thinks they are) and 2) how trustworthy people view her to be.

Oklahoma officials have ordered 37 wastewater disposal wells shut down after a 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck the state on Saturday, equal to the strongest in the state’s history.

Governor Mary Fallin declared a state of emergency after the earthquake, which caused damage to buildings around north-central Oklahoma and could be felt as far away as Dallas and Chicago.

“We’re just trying to determine just how widespread” the damage is, emergency management director Mark Randell said. He described it as minor to moderate, with some collapsed chimneys and fallen sandstone facing off buildings; no buildings collapsed.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission ordered the shutdown of wastewater wells in a radius of about 500 square miles around the epicenter of the earthquake. “We estimate that at any one time, there are about 3,200 active disposal wells,” commission spokesman Matt Skinner said.

Five months ago, US officials warned Oklahoma that the wastewater wells used for natural gas drilling were linked to an increase in earthquakes in the state, parts of which are now as likely to suffer tremors as northern California. There are about 4,200 total wells across the state and about 700 in a 15,000-square-mile “area of interest” in the area that includes the epicenter of Saturday’s temblor, near Pawnee.

The United States Geological Survey said it would have to investigate hydraulic fracking activity in the area of the earthquake before drawing any conclusions about its cause.

“Without studying the specifics of the wastewater injection and oil and gas production in this area, the USGS cannot currently conclude whether or not this particular earthquake was caused by industrial-related, human activities,” the agency said in a statement.

On September 05 2016 09:33 a_flayer wrote:
I would have supported Sanders simply on the basis that he didn't take corporate money. Don't really need to know anything else. The details of his supposed flawed policies could/should be refined by congress and whatnot, no? I mean thats what they're there for right? Or are they just there for obstructionism?

On September 05 2016 09:33 a_flayer wrote:
I would have supported Sanders simply on the basis that he didn't take corporate money. Don't really need to know anything else. The details of his supposed flawed policies could/should be refined by congress and whatnot, no? I mean thats what they're there for right? Or are they just there for obstructionism?

On September 05 2016 09:33 kwizach wrote:

Yep, exactly.

On September 05 2016 09:25 LegalLord wrote:

She will say anything she thinks will get her elected. I look at her history instead.

On September 05 2016 14:03 Thieving Magpie wrote:


So you hate her even if she's willing to be swayed by your argument? In your world, humans don't take new data and adapt how their world view to that new data? In your world, its impossible for people to be complex?

What a sad way to treat people. Hopefully you don't treat your friends and family like that.

On September 05 2016 09:14 Stratos_speAr wrote:


Her platform is incredibly similar to Bernie's.

The objections to Clinton aren't based on her platform, they're based off of 1) her controversies (and how controversial one thinks they are) and 2) how trustworthy people view her to be.

On September 05 2016 16:48 GreenHorizons wrote:


Holy hell, you all really are that disconnected aren't y'all

Did you not see me mentioning she's seeking the endorsement of Kissinger? Not a sole among Bernie supporters said to themselves "I mean if only he could secure the Kissinger endorsement".

WASHINGTON — When a handful of liberal advocacy organizations convened a series of focus groups with young black voters last month, the assessments of Donald J. Trump were predictably unsparing.

But when the participants were asked about Hillary Clinton, their appraisals were just as blunt and nearly as biting.

“What am I supposed to do if I don’t like him and I don’t trust her?” a millennial black woman in Ohio asked. “Choose between being stabbed and being shot? No way!”

“She was part of the whole problem that started sending blacks to jail,” a young black man, also from Ohio, observed about Mrs. Clinton.

“He’s a racist, and she is a liar, so really what’s the difference in choosing both or choosing neither?” another young black woman from Ohio said.

Young African-Americans, like all voters their age, are typically far harder to drive to the polls than middle-aged and older Americans. Yet with just over two months until Election Day, many Democrats are expressing alarm at the lack of enthusiasm, and in some cases outright resistance, some black millennials feel toward Mrs. Clinton.

Their skepticism is rooted in a deep discomfort with the political establishment that they believe the 68-year-old former first lady and secretary of state represents. They share a lingering mistrust of Mrs. Clinton and her husband over criminal justice issues. They are demanding more from politicians as part of a new, confrontational wave of black activism that has arisen in response to police killings of unarmed African-Americans.

....

Mrs. Clinton’s difficulties with young African-Americans were laid bare in four focus groups conducted in Cleveland and Jacksonville, Fla., for a handful of progressive organizations spending millions on the election: the service employees union, a joint “super PAC” between organized labor and the billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer, and a progressive group called Project New America. The results were outlined in a 25-page presentation by Cornell Belcher, a Democratic pollster, and shared with The New York Times by another party strategist who wanted to draw attention to Mrs. Clinton’s difficulties in hopes that the campaign would move more aggressively to address the matter.

Word of the report has spread in the constellation of liberal operatives and advocacy groups in recent weeks, concerning officials who saw diminished black turnout hurt Democratic candidates in the last two midterm elections.

Adding to the worries is a separate poll of African-Americans that Mr. Belcher conducted earlier in the summer indicating that Mrs. Clinton is lagging well behind Mr. Obama’s performance among young blacks in a handful of crucial states.

In Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia, 70 percent of African-Americans under 35 said they were backing Mrs. Clinton, 8 percent indicated support for Mr. Trump and 18 percent said they were backing another candidate or did not know whom they would support. In 2012, Mr. Obama won 92 percent of black voters under 45 nationally, according to exit polling.

Over 25 percent of African-Americans are between 18 and 34, and 44 percent are older than 35, according to 2013 census data.

“There is no Democratic majority without these voters,” Mr. Belcher said. “The danger is that if you don’t get these voters out, you’ve got the 2004 John Kerry electorate again.”

In Ohio, for example, blacks were 10 percent of the electorate in the 2004 presidential race. But when Mr. Obama ran for re-election in 2012, that number jumped to 15 percent.

What frustrates many blacks under 40 is Mrs. Clinton’s overriding focus on Mr. Trump.

“We already know what the deal is with Trump,” said Nathan Baskerville, a 35-year-old North Carolina state representative. “Tell us what your plan is to make our life better.”

What frustrates many blacks under 40 is Mrs. Clinton’s overriding focus on Mr. Trump.

“We already know what the deal is with Trump,” said Nathan Baskerville, a 35-year-old North Carolina state representative. “Tell us what your plan is to make our life better.”

Hundreds of clinics around the country are offering to treat a long list of health problems with stem cells.

The clinics claim that stem cells found in fat tissue, blood, bone marrow and even placentas can help people suffering from arthritic joints and torn tendons to more serious medical problems, including spinal cord injuries, Parkinson's disease and strokes. Some even claim the cells can help children with autism.

But leading stem cell researchers say there's not enough evidence to support the clinics' claims.

Doctors have long used stem cells from bone marrow and blood to treat some types of cancer, such as leukemia and lymphoma. And stem cells are being widely studied as potential treatments for other health problems. Researchers hope stem cells may someday make it possible to repair or replace damaged cells, tissues and even entire organs — but there are very few treatments currently available that have been proven safe and effective.

"There's a lot of sketchy stuff going on," says George Daley, a Harvard stem cell researcher.

"You've got clinics springing up, taking a patient's own cells and then injecting these cells into arthritic joints, into spinal cords, into the brain. And there's really no evidence this is going to work," says Daley. "In fact, there are major concerns about safety."

The treatments could cause life-threatening infections, create tumors or trigger dangerous reactions by a patient's immune system, says Daley and other stem cell researchers.

So far the Food and Drug Administration has not aggressively regulated stem cell clinics. The reason is the stem cells being used typically come from the patient's own body — an autologous transplant. And the clinics don't process the cells much before injecting them.

But now that the treatments are being offered so much more widely, the FDA is considering more aggressive regulation. As part of that process, the agency will hold a workshop this Thursday, followed by a two-day hearing next week.

Another issue is cost. Patients are paying thousands of dollars for these treatments, which are not covered by insurance.