October 2015 Low Content Thread - Page 18 - Politics and Economics

Two Plus Two Forums Other Topics Politics

October 2015 Low Content Thread

...

Page 18 of 42

First

8 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 28 38

Last

Page 18 of 42

First

8 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 28 38

Last

10-13-2015 , 07:39 PM

#426

seattlelou

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 31,584

Pretty sure even Columbus could find Australia from China.

10-13-2015 , 07:50 PM

#427

[Phill]

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 52,717

Quote:

Originally Posted by seattlelou

Pretty sure even Columbus could find Australia from China.

Except he'd aim between Russia and Alaska and hope for the best.

10-14-2015 , 09:22 AM

#428

Huehuecoyotl

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 29,320

Racism doesn't have to be hoods and swear words, it can be "common sense" like this app that let shop owners report suspicious people. The overwhelming majority of those reported for being suspicious were black.

Quote:

Now “Operation GroupMe” is stirring controversy in Georgetown. In February of last year, the Georgetown Business Improvement District partnered with District police to launch the effort, which they call a “real-time mobile-based group-messaging app that connects Georgetown businesses, police officers and community members.” Since then, the app has attracted nearly 380 users who surreptitiously report on — and photograph — shoppers in an attempt to deter crime.

The correspondence has provided an unvarnished glimpse into Georgetown retailers’ latest effort to stop their oldest scourge: shoplifting. But while the goal is admirable, the result, critics say, has been less so, laying bare the racial fault lines that still define this cobblestoned enclave of tony boutiques and historic rowhouses that is home to many of Washington’s elite.

Since March of last year, Georgetown retailers have dispatched more than 6,000 messages that discuss suspicious people. A review by the Business Improvement District of all the messages since January — more than 3,000 — revealed that nearly 70 percent of those people were black. The employees often allege shoplifting. But other times, retailers don’t accuse these shoppers of anything beyond seeming suspicious.

Quote:

By 1972, only around 250 black people lived in Georgetown. According to 2010 Census data, 3.7 percent — or roughly 800 — of the 20,464 residents of the Georgetown, Burleigh and Hillandale neighborhoods are African American. Whites account for 81 percent.

Quote:

It’s unclear what effect, if any, such correspondence has had on crime in the area. Some retailers say the community feels safer and more connected. But it has precipitated “relatively few arrests,” said Joe Sternlieb, chief executive of the Georgetown Business Improvement District, which organized the group. He added: “It’s impossible to know what’s working and what’s not to deter crime.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...71444826553817

Last edited by Huehuecoyotl; 10-14-2015 at 09:30 AM.

10-14-2015 , 09:54 AM

#429

Huehuecoyotl

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 29,320

As per the usual

Quote:

Standing before the giant map in his Dallas office, Bill Minick doesn’t seem like anyone’s idea of a bomb thrower. But backed by some of the biggest names in corporate America, this mild-mannered son of an evangelist is plotting a revolution in how companies take care of injured workers.

His idea: Let them opt out of state workers’ compensation laws — and write their own rules.

Many of the nation’s biggest retail, trucking, health care and food companies have already opted out in Texas, where Minick pioneered the concept as a young lawyer. Oklahoma recently passed a law co-written by Minick allowing companies to opt out there. Tennessee and South Carolina are seriously considering similar measures. And with a coalition led by executives from Walmart, Nordstrom and Lowe’s, Minick has launched a campaign to get laws passed in as many as a dozen states within the next decade.
But as Minick’s opt-out movement marches across the country, there has been little scrutiny of what it means for workers.

ProPublica and NPR obtained the injury benefit plans of nearly 120 companies who have opted out in Texas or Oklahoma — many of them written by Minick’s firm — to conduct the first independent analysis of how these plans compare to state workers’ comp.

The investigation found the plans almost universally have lower benefits, more restrictions and virtually no independent oversight.

https://www.propublica.org/article/i...ent=1444826989

10-14-2015 , 10:05 AM

#430

DudeImBetter

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 10,665

Intelligent life to be soon discovered in the universe?

http://www.theatlantic.com/science/a...galaxy/410023/

Quote:

Jason Wright, an astronomer from Penn State University, is set to publish an alternative interpretation of the light pattern. SETI researchers have long suggested that we might be able to detect distant extraterrestrial civilizations, by looking for enormous technological artifacts orbiting other stars. Wright and his co-authors say the unusual star’s light pattern is consistent with a “swarm of megastructures,” perhaps stellar-light collectors, technology designed to catch energy from the star.

****ing exciting.

10-14-2015 , 10:14 AM

#431

bobman0330

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 24,234

The kinds of evidence of extraterrestrial life that people normally get excited about are universally strong evidence that humanity is totally doomed, but this news might actually be both exciting and good.

10-14-2015 , 10:22 AM

#432

Roonil Wazlib

veteran

Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 3,333

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigPoppa

Isn't China 7400km away?

I always worried you were one of those.

10-14-2015 , 12:21 PM

#433

bobman0330

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 24,234

Man, Vox today is basically like a live-blog of the Democratic debate, except every tweet is 1000 words long. You're missing the point!

10-14-2015 , 02:13 PM

#434

ANONNNN

Guest

Posts: n/a

Speaking of Vox, has anybody been listening to their new podcast? I've listened to the first two episodes, not sure what to think yet. There's some good info sprinkled in, but their presentation is pretty lacking IMO

10-14-2015 , 02:49 PM

#435

goofyballer

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 70,719

The Intercept goes HAM on Hillary's lies about Snowden last night. They don't mention O'Malley but he sucked on that front too (standard "whistleblowers don't run to Russia" BS)

10-14-2015 , 04:01 PM

#436

BigPoppa

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 22,216

Is there any procedure that Snowden could have gone through to blow whistle without getting arrested?

10-14-2015 , 04:07 PM

#437

pvn

Guest

Posts: n/a

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigPoppa

Is there any procedure that Snowden could have gone through to blow whistle without getting arrested?

no. Additionally, the people saying he should come home and "have his day in court" are blowing smoke up your ass, because as they well know, it's legally impossible for Snowden to actually have a day in court due to how the espionage act works.

http://www.politifact.com/punditfact...histleblower-/

10-14-2015 , 07:43 PM

#438

ikestoys

banned

Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 94,424

https://reason.com/blog/2015/10/14/w...i-rape-activis

Not much to do other than laugh at this

10-14-2015 , 07:46 PM

#439

FlyWf

It's the other way

Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 58,090

You know I always wondered how libertarianism could reach out to socially awkward white dudes. Reason becoming an MRA/rape apologist aggregator might finally bring that demographic into the fold.

10-14-2015 , 08:01 PM

#440

ikestoys

banned

Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 94,424

we're all awkward white dudes already fly... including you.

10-14-2015 , 09:23 PM

#441

Paul D

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 14,689

I forgot to pass this message along to Lou.

Kiss my ass. NLDS. Have fun until the spring.

10-14-2015 , 09:41 PM

#442

seattlelou

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 31,584

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul D

I forgot to pass this message along to Lou.

Kiss my ass. NLDS. Have fun until the spring.

Good for you cubbies. I might even see you as a rival in a few years if you have continued success. Right now it is a cute oddity.

10-14-2015 , 09:49 PM

#443

seattlelou

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 31,584

Pulling for the Royals v Cubs series.

10-14-2015 , 10:02 PM

#444

rjoefish

Got Out the Vote

Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 31,086

1-0 vs cards in playoffs.

10-14-2015 , 10:11 PM

#445

goofyballer

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 70,719

FBI is investigating daily fantasy sports websites

I kind of hope this will be, like, the alternate history of what could have been with online poker, where these people actually get prosecuted for the shady **** they're engaging in.

10-14-2015 , 10:17 PM

#446

BigPoppa

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 22,216

I just bought (refundable) tickets to games 1 & 2 of NLDS in LA. 4 tickets for price of 1 in Chicago.

Of course, if Dodgers win I have to buy last second plane ticket.

10-14-2015 , 10:31 PM

#447

seattlelou

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 31,584

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigPoppa

I just bought (refundable) tickets to games 1 & 2 of NLDS in LA. 4 tickets for price of 1 in Chicago.

Of course, if Dodgers win I have to buy last second plane ticket.

That sounds fun!

10-14-2015 , 10:33 PM

#448

ikestoys

banned

Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 94,424

Those complaints sound a lot like the complaints from dumb people about online poker:

Quote:

The allegations have also raised a bevy of issues in the unregulated industry, including whether or not professional players have an unfair advantage over regular players. A recent study in Sports Business Daily found that over the first half of this year’s Major League Baseball season, 91 percent of daily fantasy sports player profits were won by just 1.3 percent of the players. In fact, on average, the top 11 players paid $2 million in entry fees and made profits of $135,000 each while accounting for 17 percent of all entry fees.

Many of those players use automated processes that let them change hundreds, if not thousands, of lineups in seconds, a decided advantage when last-minute changes are made in the real lineups of professional football, basketball or baseball teams.