Political Point and Counterpoint

[ktchong]

"We need more people from countries such as Norway." - President Trump

 

... but why would anyone from any Scandinavian countries want to come to the U.S.??!?

 

Edited March 28, 2019 by ktchong

[Chilloutman]

I know about few reasons why to get out of Sweden...

[Malcador]

I know about few reasons why to get out of Sweden...

Ikea's not that bad.

[Pidesco]

I know about few reasons why to get out of Sweden...

 

The food and the food?

[Chilloutman]

...and the rape capitol of Europe but mostly food

[Pidesco]

Wait, you believe that?

[Chilloutman]

Wait, you believe that?

 

yeah, why not? what do you think is european country with most sexual assaults, Belgium?

 

edit, well now I am thinking about I guess UK trumped you lately with those grooming gangs uncovered

Edited March 28, 2019 by Chilloutman

[Gfted1]

Especially when you consider that 382% of the assaults go unreported over there.

[213374U]

 

Wait, you believe that?

 

yeah, why not? what do you think is european country with most sexual assaults, Belgium?

 

Close. IIRC it's Denmark.

 

You really should only trust statistics that you've doctored yourself.

Edited March 28, 2019 by 213374U

[Gromnir]

Ballot access and campaign funding. The LP has to fight tooth and nail for ballot access in every state in every election. And they are battling rules the D & R created to ensure no one else gets in their exclusive clubhouse: elected office. That fight costs money. By the time elections roll around whatever money there is to support campaigns is utterly exhausted fighting for ballot access. So campaigns run on donations alone which means you need a face to the party. Which means you need a Presidential ticket because that is the only way the word Libertarian ever gets spoken or printed in the media. So... wasteful as it may be to run a presidential campaign (and God knows it is) it cannot be dispensed with because without it the odds of the down ballot races drop from next to none to totally none. 

 

When you are looking at your ballot no matter what race it is the LP candidate likely has no shot at winning. No matter how vile the other names are. But I've been repeating this over and over trying to drill this point home: the votes cast for that LP candidate will probably not help get him/her elected. But they WILL make things easier for the ones in the next election. Or the one after that if there is enough of them. The D & R have a stranglehold over the politics of this country and it is leading us all to ruin. The only way to break that is NOT VOTE FOR EITHER OF THEM. Yes that will help the one you were voting against. So what? The red bag is just the same as the blue bag when both bags are full of s--t. And they are.

 

Get over this notion of wasting your vote. If you live in a state like CA or TN and vote for a Democrat or a Republican you HAVE wasted your vote. Voting for a 3rd party candidate will not help THAT candidate in all likelihood. But it WILL help the next one, maybe even the ones after that. 

odd syllogism. you create a whole line o' reasoning dependent on big money and then suggest best way to get such money is to put forth a national candidate who is doomed to lose... to generate money?

 

is no different than sandwich shops or auto parts stores.  local guys don't need a national celebrity spokesperson to be successful.  your sandwich guy can't initial afford more than one store much less contemplate national franchise to compete with subway.  sell a product people want.  do better than competitors.  keep costs Down. focus on location... cause we all know as with sales and real estate, three rules is: location, location, location.

 

bass ackwards.  you are trying to sell national franchise before getting local success. don't need big money local.  don't need a national spokesman.  

 

and national face is gonna backfire if you don't get right face. gary johnson were not a great spokesman... just as jared fogle mighta' been a poor choice in retrospect.

 

aside, SCOTUS won't hear bump stock case. ban went into effect a couple days past and multiple attempts to get SCOTUS attention to halt the ban has now failed. am conflicted regarding bump stock ban. on the one hand, am thinking is good bump stocks is illegal.  converse, this ain't the kinda thing we should need rely on executive action to achieve.  the fact Congress wouldn't do anything 'bout bump stocks is an embarrassment. fact Congress does as little as possible is arguable the core problem.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Pidesco]

 

Wait, you believe that?

 

yeah, why not? what do you think is european country with most sexual assaults, Belgium?

 

edit, well now I am thinking about I guess UK trumped you lately with those grooming gangs uncovered

 

 

I actually investigated the topic before moving to Sweden, out of necessity. If I recall correctly, the reasons Swedish rape statistics are higher in Sweden are mainly two: first, sexual assault within a relationship is filed by the justice system/police as multiple individual instances (back in 2016 I believe this was unique to Sweden), instead of just one that encompasses all the individual events; secondly, and more importantly, rape is massively under-reported all over the world. Generally, more rape reports is a sign of more victims reporting rapes, not of there being necessarily more rapes.

 

If I had to wager, I'd say Saudi Arabia is the rape capital of the world, although statistics certainly don't show that.

[Malcador]

So apparently they record a sexual assault in the tally when its reported and that doesn't change regardless of what happens later - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_in_Sweden#Swedish_rape_statistics

[ShadySands]

 

I know about few reasons why to get out of Sweden...

 

The food and the food?

 

The weather and the food?

[Maedhros]

...and the rape capitol of Europe but mostly food

Sweden is the most feminist country in the world. They have a much looser definition of the word "rape" than most countries, and victims are more likely to report it. The police there also handle rape statistics differently.

Edited March 28, 2019 by Thingolfin

[213374U]

If I had to wager, I'd say Saudi Arabia is the rape capital of the world, although statistics certainly don't show that.

Either that or Somalia. In any case, it doesn't help that victims reporting a crime are as likely to be punished as the aggressor, and the fact Islamic law doesn't seem to contemplate the concept of rape within wedlock.

 

It's bad optics that we're propping up the rape capital of the world, that also just happens to be a huge sponsor of terrorism, and is currently engaged in genocide, though. So, something something Sweden.

[Chilloutman]

 

 

Wait, you believe that?

 

yeah, why not? what do you think is european country with most sexual assaults, Belgium?

 

edit, well now I am thinking about I guess UK trumped you lately with those grooming gangs uncovered

 

 

I actually investigated the topic before moving to Sweden, out of necessity. If I recall correctly, the reasons Swedish rape statistics are higher in Sweden are mainly two: first, sexual assault within a relationship is filed by the justice system/police as multiple individual instances (back in 2016 I believe this was unique to Sweden), instead of just one that encompasses all the individual events; secondly, and more importantly, rape is massively under-reported all over the world. Generally, more rape reports is a sign of more victims reporting rapes, not of there being necessarily more rapes.

 

If I had to wager, I'd say Saudi Arabia is the rape capital of the world, although statistics certainly don't show that.

 

 

I wrone of Europe, but i guess SA might as well soon be part of EU

[Zoraptor]

Going by recent news Vatican City is probably the rape capital of Europe.

[ShadySands]

^ It did look like the homeless capital of Italy

Edited March 28, 2019 by ShadySands

[Maedhros]

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/436293-rand-paul-blocks-resolution-calling-for-mueller-report-release

 

Rand Paul doesn't want the Mueller report released. No surprises there considering his own ties to Russia.

[Guard Dog]

 

Ballot access and campaign funding. The LP has to fight tooth and nail for ballot access in every state in every election. And they are battling rules the D & R created to ensure no one else gets in their exclusive clubhouse: elected office. That fight costs money. By the time elections roll around whatever money there is to support campaigns is utterly exhausted fighting for ballot access. So campaigns run on donations alone which means you need a face to the party. Which means you need a Presidential ticket because that is the only way the word Libertarian ever gets spoken or printed in the media. So... wasteful as it may be to run a presidential campaign (and God knows it is) it cannot be dispensed with because without it the odds of the down ballot races drop from next to none to totally none. 

 

When you are looking at your ballot no matter what race it is the LP candidate likely has no shot at winning. No matter how vile the other names are. But I've been repeating this over and over trying to drill this point home: the votes cast for that LP candidate will probably not help get him/her elected. But they WILL make things easier for the ones in the next election. Or the one after that if there is enough of them. The D & R have a stranglehold over the politics of this country and it is leading us all to ruin. The only way to break that is NOT VOTE FOR EITHER OF THEM. Yes that will help the one you were voting against. So what? The red bag is just the same as the blue bag when both bags are full of s--t. And they are.

 

Get over this notion of wasting your vote. If you live in a state like CA or TN and vote for a Democrat or a Republican you HAVE wasted your vote. Voting for a 3rd party candidate will not help THAT candidate in all likelihood. But it WILL help the next one, maybe even the ones after that. 

odd syllogism. you create a whole line o' reasoning dependent on big money and then suggest best way to get such money is to put forth a national candidate who is doomed to lose... to generate money?

 

is no different than sandwich shops or auto parts stores.  local guys don't need a national celebrity spokesperson to be successful.  your sandwich guy can't initial afford more than one store much less contemplate national franchise to compete with subway.  sell a product people want.  do better than competitors.  keep costs Down. focus on location... cause we all know as with sales and real estate, three rules is: location, location, location.

 

bass ackwards.  you are trying to sell national franchise before getting local success. don't need big money local.  don't need a national spokesman.  

 

 

 

HA! Good Fun!

 

t comes back to ballot access. To use your sandwich shop example Subway & Panera don't have a legal means to keep Jersey Mike's from opening in their strip mall. Imagine if they did. D & R do not have to fight to get their candidates on the ballot or even have their parties certified as actual political parties in every state in every election. The LP has to fight for what they get for free. It is that way because the D & R made it that way. They figure that is their tree house and they are cutting the rope to keep anyone else from climbing into it. That effort to get on the ballots, hell just to get recognized AS a political party, costs money. The only way to get it for free to get people to vote for you. The only way people can vote for you is to be on the ballot AS a LP candidate. In TN & OH Johnson/Weld were independents not Libertarians because rules in those states for ballot access as anything other than D & R are draconian. So to get the votes you need to advertise but when damn near every nickel is spent just getting on that ballot and there is no matching money from the state or federal governments you have quite a hill to climb. A presidential ticket gets a little bit of free advertising from the media and you just have to hope they don't f--k it up. 

 

Johnson wasn't the best candidate. I preferred Austin Peterson but since the LP does not officially exist in TN (there is one but they are not allowed to participate in elections. Feel free to eat the s--t in the red or blue bag however) Since there is no LP there was no primary in my state so I didn't get a say in who our candidate was. Nice to live n a free country ain't it?

[Katphood]

Did someone say...

...Sweden?!

[Gromnir]

 

 

Ballot access and campaign funding. The LP has to fight tooth and nail for ballot access in every state in every election. And they are battling rules the D & R created to ensure no one else gets in their exclusive clubhouse: elected office. That fight costs money. By the time elections roll around whatever money there is to support campaigns is utterly exhausted fighting for ballot access. So campaigns run on donations alone which means you need a face to the party. Which means you need a Presidential ticket because that is the only way the word Libertarian ever gets spoken or printed in the media. So... wasteful as it may be to run a presidential campaign (and God knows it is) it cannot be dispensed with because without it the odds of the down ballot races drop from next to none to totally none. 

 

When you are looking at your ballot no matter what race it is the LP candidate likely has no shot at winning. No matter how vile the other names are. But I've been repeating this over and over trying to drill this point home: the votes cast for that LP candidate will probably not help get him/her elected. But they WILL make things easier for the ones in the next election. Or the one after that if there is enough of them. The D & R have a stranglehold over the politics of this country and it is leading us all to ruin. The only way to break that is NOT VOTE FOR EITHER OF THEM. Yes that will help the one you were voting against. So what? The red bag is just the same as the blue bag when both bags are full of s--t. And they are.

 

Get over this notion of wasting your vote. If you live in a state like CA or TN and vote for a Democrat or a Republican you HAVE wasted your vote. Voting for a 3rd party candidate will not help THAT candidate in all likelihood. But it WILL help the next one, maybe even the ones after that. 

odd syllogism. you create a whole line o' reasoning dependent on big money and then suggest best way to get such money is to put forth a national candidate who is doomed to lose... to generate money?

 

is no different than sandwich shops or auto parts stores.  local guys don't need a national celebrity spokesperson to be successful.  your sandwich guy can't initial afford more than one store much less contemplate national franchise to compete with subway.  sell a product people want.  do better than competitors.  keep costs Down. focus on location... cause we all know as with sales and real estate, three rules is: location, location, location.

 

bass ackwards.  you are trying to sell national franchise before getting local success. don't need big money local.  don't need a national spokesman.  

 

 

 

HA! Good Fun!

 

t comes back to ballot access. To use your sandwich shop example Subway & Panera don't have a legal means to keep Jersey Mike's from opening in their strip mall. Imagine if they did. D & R do not have to fight to get their candidates on the ballot or even have their parties certified as actual political parties in every state in every election. The LP has to fight for what they get for free. It is that way because the D & R made it that way. They figure that is their tree house and they are cutting the rope to keep anyone else from climbing into it. That effort to get on the ballots, hell just to get recognized AS a political party, costs money. The only way to get it for free to get people to vote for you. The only way people can vote for you is to be on the ballot AS a LP candidate. In TN & OH Johnson/Weld were independents not Libertarians because rules in those states for ballot access as anything other than D & R are draconian. So to get the votes you need to advertise but when damn near every nickel is spent just getting on that ballot and there is no matching money from the state or federal governments you have quite a hill to climb. A presidential ticket gets a little bit of free advertising from the media and you just have to hope they don't f--k it up. 

 

Johnson wasn't the best candidate. I preferred Austin Peterson but since the LP does not officially exist in TN (there is one but they are not allowed to participate in elections. Feel free to eat the s--t in the red or blue bag however) Since there is no LP there was no primary in my state so I didn't get a say in who our candidate was. Nice to live n a free country ain't it?

 

am not certain if you are indulging in hyperbole or are being serious.

 

if you wanna open a subway in smalltown ca, subway is gonna do all the heavy lifting insofar as zoning and construction and whatnot.  if you open a subway, you are gonna need pay subway in perpetuity for the right to not only use their name, but to benefit from subway's national muscle. heck, chances are subway is your landlord too.

 

open as a sole proprietor and you gotta get permits and deal state and local authorities and inspectors.  is a whole lotta work and is no safety net. is more difficult.  

 

get on ca state assembly ballot as 3rd party candidate?  fill out forms and get 1000 relevant signatures by a specific date. 'nuff signatories is gonna result in waiving o' filing fee.  similar in tn, but you need a whopping 25 signatures. 

 

what you probable is referencing is how many states adopt a top-2 primary system.  you wanna advance to november elections, then you gotta be one o' top-2 vote receivers during primaries.  libertarians were part o' a court action fighting against the alternative blanket primary system which ca voters approved during a 1996 ballot initiative.  blanket were declared unconstitutional (7-2) in 2000 with stevens and ginsburg dissenting. 

 

regardless, during 2018, six libertarians advanced to november, and no offense, but these guys were hardly fantastic candidates. 

 

honor mimi robson  and autumn brown were the most successful o' ca's libertarian candidates in 2018.

 

is not the system.  as we noted, libertarians fought to keep the system.  get a few realistic candidates to run in ripe districts and libertarians could make real gains.  instead, every 4 years money is dumped on a pointless presidential candidate with no chance o victory.

 

libertarians is doing this all bass akwards.

 

HA! Good Fun!

Edited March 29, 2019 by Gromnir

[injurai]

Where do I place a bet on the UK crashing out of the EU?

[Katphood]

These kids think/talk better than most adults I have seen in my life:

https://youtu.be/qUo16UkIF0Q

 

 

Where do I place a bet on the UK crashing out of the EU?

Here:

 

 

 

Edited March 30, 2019 by Katphood

[Elerond]

Where do I place a bet on the UK crashing out of the EU?

 

Do betting places even take bets for certain things?