US Politics Mega-thread - Page 5958

On November 07 2016 21:43 NukeD wrote:

Yeah I read it. No ground for any conspiracy. My comment was just a joke.

A strike that paralyzed public transportation in Philadelphia for a week ended Monday when the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) and a union representing almost 5,000 employees announced a deal on the eve of Election Day.

"Tentative agreement reached. We are off strike, " TWU Local 234 announced on its website.

SEPTA workers walked out after midnight Nov. 1 over issues including pension benefits and the amount of time off given to drivers between shifts. The strike idled subways, buses and trolleys that provide almost 1 million rides each weekday.

Septa said on its website that a deal was reached and that "limited bus, trolley, and subway service will resume later today."

The deal was struck hours after the transit agency announced it was seeking a court injunction to force its employees back to work. SEPTA said idled trains, subways and buses would inhibit city residents from voting in Tuesday's elections.

Philadelphia is the nation's fifth-largest city, and many of its 1.5 million residents don't own cars. Any issue that might disrupt voter turnout Tuesday would be problematic for Mayor Jim Kenney and other Democratic leaders of the overwhelmingly Democratic city that is expected to provide big numbers for Hillary Clinton's presidential bid. Pennsylvania is considered a swing state, and Republican hopeful Donald Trump has worked hard to claim its 20 electoral votes.

The U.S. Senate race is also close, and the city's turnout could determine the fate of Democrat Katie McGinty's challenge to GOP Sen. Pat Toomey.

"The City has a legal responsibility to ensure that Philadelphians can exercise their constitutional right to vote,' SEPTA said in a statement announcing the injunction request. "Though there are extensive efforts to minimize the effect of any transit strike on Election Day, unquestionably, such an Election-Day strike will make it practically impossible for many Philadelphians to participate in this election."

Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf spoke out Sunday in favor of the injunction, citing "grave economic consequences for both the city and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania." On Monday, Wolf issued a statement to "commend both sides for bringing this crippling work stoppage to an end."

The deal ends the court battle. SEPTA said service was expected to be fully restored Tuesday. The deal must be ratified by union members and approved by the SEPTA board.

“We believe this agreement is fair to our employees, and to the fare-paying customers and taxpayers who fund SEPTA,” agency Chairman Pat Deon said. “It provides for wage increases, pension improvements, and maintains health care coverage levels while addressing rising costs.”

On November 07 2016 23:08 Simberto wrote:


Do these actually do anything?

I know that the standard result people get when unsolicitedly knocking on my door and wanting to talk to me about politics/religion/whatever is an annoyed "No thanks". Same for unwanted calls. Also, i usually expect that they want to sell something to me, because that has in my experience almost always been the case, no matter how often they say that that is not the case.

On November 07 2016 20:08 Acrofales wrote:
I read both your and kwizach's posts and commend you on your research. However, I think your answer was rather unnecessary. I'd say kwizach's point is well supported by the books, as is your own. You are just arguing past each other, because you both interpret xDaunt's posts in different manners. And that is often the problem with xDaunt, and not kwizach. He posts in a provocative, but explicitly vague manner, and when asked for clarification he acts as if his original point was already clear. The case in point here is that, when I read xDaunt's tacit support of Trump stating that "we should take out terrorists´ families", I see him advocating the uninhibited targeting of civilians for the sake of revenge. Whereas I see you read it as him advocating for violence despite civilians being used as human shields. These are two completely different points.

I am not a political scientist, or a historian, and I indeed do not have time to read the sources you are talking about. However, I will take your word that murdering vast quantities of civilians is an effective way of winning a conflict. My response to that is that you have just become the terrorist yourself. You have rained terror down upon an innocent population until they are cowed into submission. That is a war crime. It is also a defeat if you see your side as the just and correct (and not merely as the powerful, and might makes right): you have become as bad as, if not worse than, your enemy. Rather than, as Michelle Obama says "when they go low, we go high", this would be "when they go low, we go lower".