***Official Political Discussion Thread***

[rexanglorum]

Wow, so much went on these last 24 hours in politics:

- On Health Care: It is pretty straightforward, single payer. Single payer systems exert monopsonic power and get very good cost savings. As much as I talk up Social Democracy, I generally am a capitalist when it comes to deferring to the price system and consumer choice. However, the Hayekian argument just does not apply to big, politically connected oligopolies. Commercial banking, energy and healthcare should be state run. We need the magic of the price system to do its thing in the more competitive and diffuse sectors of the economy.

- On Education: Miss me with all that BS, DeVos. I went to Catholic school k-6 but after that my education from middle school, to high school, through undergrad and grad school, was entirely public. The University of California is a shining light to proponents of public education and giant middle finger to people like Betsy DeVos.

- On the Arguments at the 9th Circuit: Very cool to watch on live TV. It would be better if the three judge panel was represented by three cats with fake, puppeteered paws.

- On "out of control" California: California has a huge political ace up it's sleeve, we can start to Gerrymander as retaliation for Federal Defunding. We have 53 seats in Congress and 14 of them belong to Republicans. Unlike some other States we draw our districts fairly so that the minority stills gets a voice. However, we have plenty of Democratic votes to spread around and we could easily Gerrymander all 14 of those Republicans out which would make it much, much easier for Dems to flip the House.

 

[gry60]

 

[bluebuffbraves]

Yea, according to them, we produce very little smart people when it comes to technology, hence why they need the ban nixed as well as the H1-B visa program untouched.

Also why our country's focus should be on Tech/education instead of manufacturing in the U.S. IMO.

 

[harlemtothebronx]

UA has been losing ground for months now. They must really want to close the casket on this thing.

 

[gry60]

Rico "Politics is the greatest game ever invented" Hood has been notably absent...

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/republicans-obamacare-protests-safety-234733

House GOP Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers invited Rep. David Reichert, a former county sheriff, to present lawmakers with protective measures they should have in place. Among the suggestions: having a physical exit strategy at town halls, or a backdoor in congressional offices to slip out of, in case demonstrations turn violent; having local police monitor town halls; replacing any glass office-door entrances with heavy doors and deadbolts; and setting up intercoms to ensure those entering congressional offices are there for appointments, not to cause chaos.

And so it starts.

Soon, your multimillion dollar houses inhabited by politicians will come with 13-ft high fences with barbed wire on top, along with security guards and dogs.

 

[johnnyredstorm]

Yea, according to them, we produce very little smart people when it comes to technology, hence why they need the ban nixed as well as the H1-B visa program untouched.

Also why our country's focus should be on Tech/education instead of manufacturing in the U.S. IMO.

The system needs to be modernized. We should be teaching programming as a core subject. And in high schools we really should have electives that prepare people for manual labor jobs. Kids who don't like school should be getting exposure to carpentry, electrical, plumbing, etc.

 

[bluebuffbraves]

The system needs to be modernized. We should be teaching programming as a core subject. And in high schools we really should have electives that prepare people for manual labor jobs. Kids who don't like school should be getting exposure to carpentry, electrical, plumbing, etc.

And nursing/pharmacy tech etc. I know quite a few people who didn't like school but have their pharmacy tech or CNA/LPN Certs or even Insurance (sales License or Claims reqs/license) and are doing just fine.

 

[biggie62]

Yea, according to them, we produce very little smart people when it comes to technology, hence why they need the ban nixed as well as the H1-B visa program untouched.

Also why our country's focus should be on Tech/education instead of manufacturing in the U.S. IMO.

The system needs to be modernized. We should be teaching programming as a core subject. And in high schools we really should have electives that prepare people for manual labor jobs. Kids who don't like school should be getting exposure to carpentry, electrical, plumbing, etc.

Some high schools do do that already. I know mine does. My former teacher told me that by senior year he makes his students register their own LLC and has them developing apps and hiring people. Might sound crazy but it's happening. Granted my HS is a private school with tuition on the pricier end.

It's just that needs to be transferred to other schools. Problem is that this won't work in every school for multiple reasons.

 

[the qbz]

Word is they just told Trump, "Obama would not have given us the green light" and Trump went along with it

We got point a and c locked down dont take point b



Trump takes point b .... Messing up the spawn trap

 

[sonoftony]

Hey, did yall see Cam's new shoes that are about to come out?




I know that certain NTers will be waiting in line to get these. Just hope the pricetag doesn't interfere too much with their hemi savings fund.

He needs the House Dominican Edition.

Just an FYI, the House Dominican shoes needs to be slip ons

 

[gry60]

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/02/07/world/middleeast/yemen-special-operations-missions.html

Angry at the civilian casualties incurred last month in the first commando raid authorized by President Trump, Yemen has withdrawn permission for the United States to run Special Operations ground missions against suspected terrorist groups in the country, according to American officials.

Grisly photographs of children apparently killed in the crossfire of a 50-minute firefight during the raid caused outrage in Yemen. A member of the Navy’s SEAL Team 6, Chief Petty Officer William Owens, was also killed in the operation.

While the White House continues to insist that the attack was a “success” — a characterization it repeated on Tuesday — the suspension of commando operations is a setback for Mr. Trump, who has made it clear he plans to take a far more aggressive approach against Islamic militants.

It also calls into question whether the Pentagon will receive permission from the president for far more autonomy in selecting and executing its counterterrorism missions in Yemen, which it sought, unsuccessfully, from President Barack Obama in the last months of his term.

Mr. Obama deferred the decision to Mr. Trump, who appeared inclined to grant it: His approval of the Jan. 29 raid came over a dinner four nights earlier with his top national security aides, rather than in the kind of rigorous review in the Situation Room that became fairly routine under President George W. Bush and Mr. Obama.


The raid, in which just about everything went wrong, was an early test of Mr. Trump’s national security decision-making — and his willingness to rely on the assurances of his military advisers. His aides say that even though the decision was made over a dinner, it had been fully vetted, and had the requisite legal approvals.

Mr. Trump will soon have to make a decision about the more general request by the Pentagon to allow more of such operations in Yemen without detailed, and often time-consuming, White House review. It is unclear whether Mr. Trump will allow that, or how the series of mishaps that marked his first approval of such an operation may have altered his thinking about the human and political risks of similar operations.

The Pentagon has said that the main objective of the raid was to recover laptop computers, cellphones and other information that could help fill gaps in its understanding of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, whose leaders have tried to carry out at least three attacks on the United States. But it is unclear whether the information the commandos recovered will prove valuable.

The White House continued its defense of the raid on Tuesday, making no reference to the Yemeni reaction.


Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, denied reports that the purpose of the attack was to capture or kill any specific Qaeda leader. “The raid that was conducted in Yemen was an intelligence-gathering raid,” he said. “That’s what it was. It was highly successful. It achieved the purpose it was going to get, save the loss of life that we suffered and the injuries that occurred.”

Neither the White House nor the Yemenis have publicly announced the suspension. Pentagon spokesmen declined to comment, but other military and civilian officials confirmed that Yemen’s reaction had been strong.

It was unclear if Yemen’s decision to halt the ground attacks was also influenced by Mr. Trump’s inclusion of the country on his list of nations from which he wants to temporarily suspend all immigration, an executive order that is now being challenged in the federal courts.

According to American civilian and military officials, the Yemeni ban on operations does not extend to military drone attacks, and does not affect the handful of American military advisers who are providing intelligence support to the Yemenis and forces from the United Arab Emirates.

In 2014, Yemen’s government temporarily halted those drones from flying because of botched operations that also killed civilians. But later they quietly resumed, and in recent years they have been increasing in frequency, a sign of the fact that Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, is considered one of the world’s most dangerous terrorist groups.

The raid stirred immediate outrage among Yemeni government officials, some of whom accused the Trump administration of not fully consulting with them before the mission. Within 24 hours of the assault on a cluster of houses in a tiny village in mountainous central Yemen, the country’s foreign minister, Abdul Malik Al Mekhlafi, condemned the raid in a post on his official Twitter account as “extrajudicial killings.”

In an interview with Al Jazeera this week, Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, Yemen’s ambassador to the United States, said that President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi raised concerns about the raid in a meeting with the American ambassador to Yemen in Riyadh on Feb. 2.


“Yemen’s government is a key partner in the war against terrorism,” Mr. Mubarak said in the interview, adding that Yemen’s cooperation should not come “at the expense of the Yemeni citizens and the country’s sovereignty.”

The Pentagon has acknowledged that the raid killed several civilians, including children, and is investigating. The dead include, by the account of relatives, the 8-year-old daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born Qaeda leader who was killed in a targeted drone strike in 2011.


In a sign of the contentiousness that public disclosures of the raid have caused, Pentagon officials on Tuesday provided lawmakers on Capitol Hill with a classified briefing on the mission. One participant in that meeting said military officials told them “they got what they wanted,” without offering details. But Senator John McCain of Arizona, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said afterward that the raid was a failure.

American counterterrorism officials have expressed growing fears about their lack of understanding of Qaeda operations in Yemen since the United States was forced to withdraw the last 125 Special Operations advisers from the country in March 2015 after Houthi rebels ousted the government of President Hadi, the Americans’ main counterterrorism partner.

The Pentagon has tried to start rebuilding its counterterrorism operations in Yemen since then. Last May, American Special Operations forces helped Yemeni and Emirati troops evict Qaeda fighters from the port city of Al Mukalla.

Al Qaeda had used Al Mukalla as a base as the militants stormed through southern Yemen, capitalizing on the power vacuum caused by the country’s 14-month civil war and seizing territory, weapons and money.

The deadly raid last month, launched from an amphibious assault ship off the Yemeni coast, was the first known American-led ground mission in Yemen since December 2014, when members of SEAL Team 6 stormed a village in southern Yemen in an effort to free an American photojournalist held hostage by Al Qaeda. But the raid ended with the kidnappers killing the journalist and a South African held with him.

The United States conducted 38 drone strikes in Yemen last year, up from 23 in 2014, and has already carried out five strikes so far this year, according to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Long War Journal.

In response to the raid, Al Qaeda’s branch in Yemen urged followers last weekend to attack the United States and its allies in the country.

Qasim al-Raymi, the leader of the Qaeda offshoot, likened his fighters to extremists battling American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a speech translated by SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks extremist activities and messaging.

Specialists in Yemeni culture and politics have cautioned that Al Qaeda would seize on the raid to whip up anti-American feelings and attract more followers.

“The use of U.S. soldiers, high civilian casualties and disregard for local tribal and political dynamics,” the Brussels-based International Crisis Group said in a report released last Thursday, “plays into AQAP’s narrative of defending Muslims against the West and could increase anti-U.S. sentiment and with it AQAP’s pool of recruits.”

 

[gry60]

https://thinkprogress.org/elizabeth...ng-coretta-scott-king-d000a470c6b4#.wwojnsluf

 

[dathbgboy]

The system needs to be modernized. We should be teaching programming as a core subject. And in high schools we really should have electives that prepare people for manual labor jobs. Kids who don't like school should be getting exposure to carpentry, electrical, plumbing, etc.

And nursing/pharmacy tech etc. I know quite a few people who didn't like school but have their pharmacy tech or CNA/LPN Certs or even Insurance (sales License or Claims reqs/license) and are doing just fine.

I feel like after the 3rd yr of HS, the 4th should be spent taking the entry level college courses at a local CC so those credits will transfer. Also, start teaching financial literacy as early as 3rd grade or even earlier. Our system needs to be changed.

 

[jape]

Cam and steph are right at home over there

i wonder what they have to say about this...

now would be a good time for them to say something and take a stance...and by them i mean steph because cam is a ***** 

 

[dreamer23]

https://impeachdonaldtrumpnow.org/

 

[dathbgboy]

Cam and steph are right at home over there

i wonder what they have to say about this...
now would be a good time for them to say something and take a stance...and by them i mean steph because cam is a ***** 

Steph: "Can't we all just get along?"

Cam: "We have to acknowledge our differences rise above them. Because a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, so rock it out baby bubba."

 

[gry60]

Cam and steph are right at home over there

i wonder what they have to say about this...
now would be a good time for them to say something and take a stance...and by them i mean steph because cam is a ***** 

Steph: "Can't we all just get along?"

Cam: "We have to acknowledge our differences rise above them. Because a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, so rock it out baby bubba."

I wouldn't be surprised to see Steph drop UA or tape their logo before games. It's not like he needs the money.

Beyond that, these brands really need to realize that any association with the Trump name is highly corrosive, especially if things continue to decline like this. This is not a ship they want (or should) board.

 

[wavycrocket]

First it was new balance. No more 990s
Now It's UA

Get your **** together Baltimore brands

The UA sweatsuits are slick too

 

[whywesteppin]

I will continue my lifelong boycott of UA. Nike for life. Until they endorse trump.

https://thinkprogress.org/elizabeth...ng-coretta-scott-king-d000a470c6b4#.wwojnsluf

She was warned.

She was given an explanation.

Nevertheless, she persisted.

 

[cards93]

First it was new balance. No more 990s
Now It's UA

Get your **** together Baltimore brands

The UA sweatsuits are slick too

isn't NB Boston based?

 

[Mr.Guy]

If you can't admit you're wrong, or even admit that you MIGHT be wrong, then you close the door on education and growth. Trump supporters are this way. It is so bad it's to the point that any civil discussion with them stands a snowballs chance in hell.

I have an uncle who is a doctor and Trump supporter. Dude used to be progressive but now since he has a white wife hes an uncle tom. Ive stopped talking to him.

 

[everysingletime]

Word is they just told Trump, "Obama would not have given us the green light" and Trump went along with it

We got point a and c locked down dont take point b



Trump takes point b .... Messing up the spawn trap

Trump would be stealing kills, camping all game, with aim down sight on one spot, and trade racist insults with a 9 year old all night.

I don't think he would rush a spawn point, not his style. He don't have da balls.

 

[Belgium]

UA is overrated and their shoes are trash and curry is a **** boy for signing with them and the dad shoes they made him are the biggest joke this country has seen since trump. and **** trump and anyone supporting him.
damn liberals trying to take more of my money!

good looks though. i may have to re-up my prime.

You can bypass the WaPo paywall pretty easily.

Notice how you can see the website or article for a brief second before the paywall pops up. Simply press the stop page load button (the refresh button on chrome will turn to an X while loading a page) as soon as you can see the article and it'll block the paywall from loading if timed correctly.

The same principle works on other browsers, on mobile, ...

So if you don't want to pay for a WaPo subscription, simply use the stop page load feature to block the paywall.

 

[wavycrocket]

Steph is far from a Cam Newton type brother when it comes to social issues.

isn't NB Boston based?

It is. But one of it's biggest markets is urban Bmore & DMV.

990s, 991s, 993's are a staple here. Pretty much what Chuck Taylors or Cortez are to LA.

 

[cards93]

Steph is far from a Cam Newton type brother when it comes to social issues.
It is. But one of it's biggest markets is urban Bmore & DMV.

990s, 991s, 993's are a staple here. Pretty much what Chuck Taylors or Cortez are to LA.

ahh, gotcha.