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[gcubed]

never saw that cree commercial, tis awesome

 

[East Lake]

I've bought soft white versions like the one below that are fairly similar to regular bulbs.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002L3T1RC/?tag=neogaf0e-20

You basically just want something with a warm color temp like 2700k because the cooler (higher #) blue/white temps make people look hideous.

Edit: Here's a good wiki example.

 

[FLEABttn]

That being said, those new Cree LED light that Lt. Daniels keep telling me to buy are fucking fantastic, seriously, it's everything I've ever wanted from a energy saver bulb - great light quality, quick, work with a dimmer, looks great, even the packaging is well thought of.
The price need to go down a bit (they're 12$ now), it will pay for itself in a couple of years, so I think it's aimed at the tree hugger crowd more than the penny pinching one, but price should go down, I don't think there's any reason for an LED bulb to be more expensive than an incandescent one outside the economy of scale.

I have one the the 60 watt equivalent Cree bulbs, the 2700k one, and it's the best non-incandescent bulb I've ever used. It puts out great light, feels really well made, and hardly gets warm to the touch. I'm slowly replacing old bulbs that burn out with this one. I'll likely use the 40 watt equivalent for those globe lights that are in the bathrooms.

 

[speculawyer]

Yeah, LEDs are taking over the world. The CFLs were a big energy efficiency improvement over the incandescents but they did have their issues . . . slower to turn on, not-so-great light quality from some, fragile, not working with dimmers, etc. But the LEDs bulbs address all those issues. And are even more robust than incandescents.

And it is just starting. In a few years, you are going to see controlled colored LED lighting everywhere. Anyone with a few bucks can Times Square/Vegas Strip up their area. I'm not sure if that is good or bad. Jevon's paradox will hit us.

 

[Gotchaye]

Today I learned that lights at "cooler" color temperatures produce light at the same color as hotter black body sources. I'm going to be angry for a while.

 

[TheHeretic]

I've got an academic question of sorts. Is it widely understood amongst academia that America's minority populations keep America more conservative through self-segregation? What I mean is, as someone from the deep south, I see it all the time that most white people would never consider being a Democrat or ascribing to liberal beliefs because that's the party and ideology of "Lazy blacks sitting at home collecting checks and getting Obama phones".

Most Southern whites I know would never be open to even considering a liberal argument because they believe it helps lazy minorities who are eager to not work and abuse the system. The level of hatred around here for blacks and minorities is so strong, it feels like anything that minorities are for is something that whites must necessarily be against.

I can see it working in reverse in States like Vermont where black populations are slim and so they're more than open to liberalism because there's few minorities around and hence nothing to fuel the perception that support of liberalism would lead to all the minorities around abusing the safety net at the expense of (in their eyes) hardworking whites with intrinsic American values and work ethic.

Without the white population being open to liberalism and Democrats it's obvious America is tilting left through the sheer overwhelming numbers of left-leaning minorities. I have been wondering lately how open a hypothetical 95%+ white America would be to liberalism, if the negative perception of minorities and their embrace of liberalism wasn't there.

The answer can be found in FDRs new deal coalition, which included northern liberals, labour unions and southern segregationalists. The south only began leaning right after the civil rights act.

 

[Particle Physicist]

Today I learned that lights at "cooler" color temperatures produce light at the same color as hotter black body sources. I'm going to be angry for a while.

Wait... wut?

 

[RustyNails]

You basically just want something with a warm color temp like 2700k because the cooler (higher #) blue/white temps make people look hideous.

Which is why blue/white bulbs shouldn't be used on ceilings. Use them on standing lamps with a dark yellow/red cover, which will transform the white light into yellow which we all like.

 

[worldrunover]

Shame they were already born. If they were still embryos, I'm sure Republicans would have at least tried to pass a law against it.

Caring for life begins at conception!

Spoiler

and ends at birth

 

[GhaleonEB]

GOP governors are running into resistance from their own party on expanding Medicaid under the ACA (shocker).

I was kind of surprised at the naïveté on display:

"Florida lawmakers have just an incredible opportunity in the palm of their hands to provide health coverage to a million working Floridians, and it would not cost Florida anything for the first three years," said Leah Barber-Heinz, the advocacy director for the Florida Community Health Access Information Network. "We are surprised there is even still a debate going on."

The problem isn't that there's no cost for three years. The problem for the GOP is in bold. You'd think people would have figured this out by now.

 

[Chichikov]

Today I learned that lights at "cooler" color temperatures produce light at the same color as hotter black body sources. I'm going to be angry for a while.

I think you hacked my brain with that sentence.

 

[PhoenixDark]

GOP governors are running into resistance from their own party on expanding Medicaid under the ACA (shocker).

I was kind of surprised at the naïveté on display:


The problem isn't that there's no cost for three years. The problem for the GOP is in bold. You'd think people would have figured this out by now.

I don't think that's the problem overall. If they reject the money then the state has to pay for Medicaid for the poor; they can slash budgets all they want, but a lot of money will still go to the poor. Accepting the money would therefore help their state budgets, freeing up money previously allocated to healthcare to go other places (maybe a tax cut for the rich!).

It seems like the same mindset discussed earlier on light bulbs. Government, specifically Obama, telling them what to do leads to the opposite being done even if it hurts people or wastes money. Some states have come up with conservative ways to change the Medicaid expansion, which the administration has allowed...but why not Florida. Lots of old people who legit believe the program is meant to kill them, politicians elected in 2010 who are extremists, and the general "do the opposite of what Obama says" rule.

 

[User 406]

Hi PoliGAF. I got linked this and wanted to see what people who actually live in America (i.e. not me) think of it.

http://www.juancole.com/2013/04/legislation-democracy-graeber.html

My chief source of interaction with the US political process is via the Daily Show and threads on here, so I'm not really in a good place to have a worthwhile opinion on it. But I'd be interested to see what you lot make of it.

Sounds about right.

In particular, the point about how the Democratic party has managed to winnow out popular activism in favor of negotiation with special interests is salient. To the American left, activism has largely been reduced to how many microdonations you make in response to the daily fundraising beg emails you get.

It was very sad to see so many staunch progressives buy into this and get loudly upset about Occupy Wall Street because it didn't conform to the new procedural paradigm. Those people aren't helping, they're noisy, they make us look bad, they're all hipsters, we need to focus on realistic bipartisan legislation instead, etc, etc.

But of course, OWS ended up being the reason the national conversation even swung towards discussion of wealth inequality at all. It did far more for the progressive cause than any number of internet armchair technocrats. Just as a bunch of noisy, incoherent, embarrassing teabaggers managed to push the Republican party into a trap of radical ideology even farther right than their usual comfort zone. Loud, massive, angry protesting works. It gets attention, it frightens the powerful, and it's how we've managed to wrest a great many things away from the Money. And if we want the Democratic Party to live up to its name, we need to do a lot more of it.

 

[TacticalFox88]

GOP governors are running into resistance from their own party on expanding Medicaid under the ACA (shocker).

I was kind of surprised at the naïveté on display:


The problem isn't that there's no cost for three years. The problem for the GOP is in bold. You'd think people would have figured this out by now.

You know, as much as I shit on ACA for not going far enough, the medicare loophole forcing the GOPs hand was fucking brilliant.

 

[speculawyer]

It seems like the same mindset discussed earlier on light bulbs. Government, specifically Obama, telling them what to do leads to the opposite being done even if it hurts people or wastes money. Some states have come up with conservative ways to change the Medicaid expansion, which the administration has allowed...but why not Florida. Lots of old people who legit believe the program is meant to kill them, politicians elected in 2010 who are extremists, and the general "do the opposite of what Obama says" rule.

I have sadly come to the conclusion that the country was not in fact ready for a black president. Yes, enough people were ready and he got elected. But a lot of people rejected it so badly that they've acted irrationally against their own interest. They will do the opposite of what Obama suggests even if it hurts them.

This would happen somewhat under any Democratic president but with Obama it is just more so. If Bill Clinton did the exact same things as Obama, they would have been accepted much more readily by many people. Hopefully things will be easier for a Hillary Clinton, Biden, Coumo or whoever president.

 

[GhaleonEB]

I don't think that's the problem overall. If they reject the money then the state has to pay for Medicaid for the poor; they can slash budgets all they want, but a lot of money will still go to the poor. Accepting the money would therefore help their state budgets, freeing up money previously allocated to healthcare to go other places (maybe a tax cut for the rich!).

It seems like the same mindset discussed earlier on light bulbs. Government, specifically Obama, telling them what to do leads to the opposite being done even if it hurts people or wastes money. Some states have come up with conservative ways to change the Medicaid expansion, which the administration has allowed...but why not Florida. Lots of old people who legit believe the program is meant to kill them, politicians elected in 2010 who are extremists, and the general "do the opposite of what Obama says" rule.

I don't think they necessarily understand this. It's similar to an argument made when Texas was in the process of gutting family planning services. Perry and company were told it would actually cost the state money due to an increase in unplanned pregnancies, especially teen pregnancies, and that would simply transfer costs to other state agencies (and even increase costs). That's exactly what happened; IIRC, Texas eventually reversed the family planning cuts after that played out. They simply didn't get it.

There's an element of that playing out here, people not connecting the dots. (Meanwhile other states have realized it will save them money to implement, as it relieves pressure on other state services.)

I do think there's a mix of what you say about the extremism at play as well, and I don't mean to discount it. But there's also a strong disposition to simply object to government helping the poor at the core.

 

[PhoenixDark]

I have sadly come to the conclusion that the country was not in fact ready for a black president. Yes, enough people were ready and he got elected. But a lot of people rejected it so badly that they've acted irrationally against their own interest. They will do the opposite of what Obama suggests even if it hurts them.

This would happen somewhat under any Democratic president but with Obama it is just more so. If Bill Clinton did the exact same things as Obama, they would have been accepted much more readily by many people. Hopefully things will be easier for a Hillary Clinton, Biden, Coumo or whoever president.

But...Clinton did try to do something similar to Obama, and it was roundly rejected and demonized by the far right (Hillarycare). "Government" healthcare is always going to have detractors on the far right.

 

[The Librarian]

So for my final in my American Legislature class, there were two essay questions worth fifty points each, one of which asked us to explain why Congress is so gridlocked these days and can't compromise. In the text he asked us to not give a partisan response.

...I kind of took the opportunity to maybe, sort-of rant about the Republican Party and how broken it is. Don't know if that counts as a partisan response , but I backed it up as best I could, and it's what I think is happening. I'm sure he'll give me full credit.

I'll be in a daze until the end of this week. Also haven't taken a shower in two days. Lovely! ugh finals

 

[B-Dubs]

So for my final in my American Legislature class, there were two essay questions worth fifty points each, one of which asked us to explain why Congress is so gridlocked these days and can't compromise. In the text he asked us to not give a partisan response.

...I kind of took the opportunity to maybe, sort-of rant about the Republican Party and how broken it is. Don't know if that counts as a partisan response , but I backed it up as best I could, and it's what I think is happening. I'm sure he'll give me full credit.

I'll be in a daze until the end of this week. Also haven't taken a shower in two days. Lovely! ugh finals

Should have just written "Filibuster" and handed it in.

 

[rocketknight]

Today I learned that lights at "cooler" color temperatures produce light at the same color as hotter black body sources. I'm going to be angry for a while.

He means to say, like, hotter fires burn bluer and cooler fires burn redder, but when we say "cool color temperature" we mean bluer and when we say "warm color temperature" we mean redder.

Should have just written "Filibuster" and handed it in.

A) Fillibuster!
B) Harry Reid!!111
C) Boehner can't control his caucus!
D) Obama isn't reaching out enough!

Two D complaints, two R complaints, fair and balanced, drop the mic, A+.

 

[B-Dubs]

Looks like Obama's going to try and close Guantanamo again. Congress won't let it happen, but at least he hasn't given up.

 

[The Librarian]

Should have just written "Filibuster" and handed it in.

Oh, I did talk about the filibuster! Then I launched into my rant.

 

[Half and half]

Looks like Obama's going to try and close Guantanamo again. Congress won't let it happen, but at least he hasn't given up.

Got a good source for this? I need to catch up on this issue.

 

[Tamanon]

Got a good source for this? I need to catch up on this issue.

Press conference.

Maybe Congress would be okay with it if it was framed as "budget savings" and could count as a base closure, lol.

 

[B-Dubs]

Got a good source for this? I need to catch up on this issue.

BBC just reported it. I'd post it but I'm on my phone. Basically he wants to give them all a civilian trial and shut down the facility as a part of ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Even money says Congress tries to block it again.

 

[speculawyer]

But...Clinton did try to do something similar to Obama, and it was roundly rejected and demonized by the far right (Hillarycare). "Government" healthcare is always going to have detractors on the far right.

I did say that they would fight against any Dem. They just fight against Obama more. The only way he did it is because the Dems had both houses of Legislature AND squeaked it through with reconciliation.

They fought Bill Clinton like crazy and manufactured endless scandals. But they had an easier time accepting some stuff because it was a from a good ole boy white guy with a bit of a Southern drawl. Obama is a Kenyan Muslim Socialist that wants to put you in a FEMA concentration camp.

 

[TacticalFox88]

Chris Christie has done it again. He gave President Obama a big verbal bear hug on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program on Monday. The governor was asked whether, six months later, he had any regrets about working with Obama after Superstorm Sandy, given that he has since been described as a “pariah” by members of the GOP. First, the governor simply said “No”, repeating it twice. Then he added:

“Listen, the President’s kept every promise that he made. And the fact is, that’s what I was saying at the time… I was asked how is the President doing and I said, He’s doing a good job… We saw suffering together and when you see that, you are going to either step up and be responsible, or you’re not, and we stepped up and were responsible together.”

Christie is pretty much done for 2016.

I bet a lot of the GOP is pissed off.

 

[PhoenixDark]

I did say that they would fight against any Dem. They just fight against Obama more. The only way he did it is because the Dems had both houses of Legislature AND squeaked it through with reconciliation.

They fought Bill Clinton like crazy and manufactured endless scandals. But they had an easier time accepting some stuff because it was a from a good ole boy white guy with a bit of a Southern drawl. Obama is a Kenyan Muslim Socialist that wants to put you in a FEMA concentration camp.

I'd also argue Clinton had a more conservative legislation agenda due to triangulation/Dick Morris, but overall the biggest difference was that the economy was booming in the 90s whereas it's still shitty 5 years later; republicans have no incentive to work with Obama.

 

[Link]

Christie is pretty much done for 2016.

I bet a lot of the GOP is pissed off.

Knowing Christie, he probably already knows he'll never get the nomination and now he's just trolling.

 

[Mike M]

Knowing Christie, he probably already knows he'll never get the nomination and now he's just trolling.

Angling to run in 2024!

 

[B-Dubs]

Knowing Christie, he probably already knows he'll never get the nomination and now he's just trolling.

That and he's angling for reelection.

 

[Link]

That and he's angling for reelection.

That goes without saying, though he's already very popular in his state.

 

[gcubed]

Meanwhile in PA... the state ranked 49th in job growth... Gov Corbett speaks out...

“There are many employers who say, look, we’re looking for people but we can’t find anybody that has passed a drug test, a lot of them," Corbett said. "And that’s a concern for me because we’re having a serious problem with that.”

Corbett didn't cite any sources or name any employers passing along this troubling information. And that had a familiar ring to it. Corbett, as the Republican nominee for governor, said three times in July 2010 that employers had complained to him about potential hires who preferred staying on unemployment to taking new jobs.

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/...job-growth-on-failed-employee-drug-tests.html

Governor Corbett will be the first governor of PA to not win a 2nd term in quite a long time

 

[Rocket Scientist]

In the text he asked us to not give a partisan response.

The good ol' both sides are equally to blame bullshit. Can't believe a professor would put that in an exam. He better judge the arguments and not their supposed partisanship. I was once convinced that I didn't get a better grade on an essay about Cuba because I made it so anti American, but knowing me it was probably just not worth more than I got.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Press conference.

Maybe Congress would be okay with it if it was framed as "budget savings" and could count as a base closure, lol.

For those who missed it, a replay of the press conference this morning is here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2013/04/30/president-obama-holds-news-conference

Obama spoke about his efforts to close Guantanamo, how Congress blocked it, and said he was going to re-engage them on the issue this year.

Meanwhile in PA... the state ranked 49th in job growth... Gov Corbett speaks out...

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/...job-growth-on-failed-employee-drug-tests.html

Governor Corbett will be the first governor of PA to not win a 2nd term in quite a long time

So the reason unemployment is too high is because everyone is on drugs? That's...um. Yeah. That's something all right. :lol

 

[PhoenixDark]

Knowing Christie, he probably already knows he'll never get the nomination and now he's just trolling.

He's banking on the party being less extreme in 2015/2016. Polls still show him in second or third place for the 2016 primary, so he's still popular. And if he can rebuild NJ and not raise taxes he'll have quite an impressive resume (to republicans and perhaps even the nation).

I think if anyone could serve as a GOP Bill Clinton type who makes his party more appealing to regular voters, it's him.

 

[gcubed]

So the reason unemployment is too high is because everyone is on drugs? That's...um. Yeah. That's something all right. :lol

Well earlier it was because no one wanted to come off unemployment benefits. This is going backwards. Also the last sentence in that article... Everything is getting better but it's not getting better!

 

[Hitokage]

He means to say, like, hotter fires burn bluer and cooler fires burn redder, but when we say "cool color temperature" we mean bluer and when we say "warm color temperature" we mean redder.

Not quite.

The concept of "warm/cool" for colors is a matter of color theory in art(red, orange, yellow = warm. blue, green = cool). When you refer to "color temperature", you're talking spectrum distribution emitted in blackbody fashion where hotter temperature of the emitter means higher intensities in shorter wavelengths (blue = short wavelength, red = long wavelength). These concepts run opposite of each other with the same vocabulary.

Also, fire color isn't strictly related to burning temperature.

 

[Aaron Strife]

He's banking on the party being less extreme in 2015/2016. Polls still show him in second or third place for the 2016 primary, so he's still popular. And if he can rebuild NJ and not raise taxes he'll have quite an impressive resume (to republicans and perhaps even the nation).

I think if anyone could serve as a GOP Bill Clinton type who makes his party more appealing to regular voters, it's him.

The problem is, I don't think the GOP has learned its lesson. Christie might end up scrounging 12-15% of the primary vote but he's still trailing Rand Paul and Marco Rubio by a fair margin. Obviously polls this far out don't necessarily bear out, but it's clear for now what kind of candidate the GOP base wants in 2016.

Meanwhile in PA... the state ranked 49th in job growth... Gov Corbett speaks out...

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/...job-growth-on-failed-employee-drug-tests.html

Governor Corbett will be the first governor of PA to not win a 2nd term in quite a long time

Hey man. They're only so far behind in job growth because their economy was already doing well! When your unemployment rate is as low as 7.9%, there's nowhere to go but up!

 

[gcubed]

The problem is, I don't think the GOP has learned its lesson. Christie might end up scrounging 12-15% of the primary vote but he's still trailing Rand Paul and Marco Rubio by a fair margin. Obviously polls this far out don't necessarily bear out, but it's clear for now what kind of candidate the GOP base wants in 2016.


Hey man. They're only so far behind in job growth because their economy was already doing well! When your unemployment rate is as low as 7.9%, there's nowhere to go but up!

You aren't PD!

 

[The Technomancer]

Not quite.

The concept of "warm/cool" for colors is a matter of color theory in art(red, orange, yellow = warm. blue, green = cool). When you refer to "color temperature", you're talking spectrum distribution emitted in blackbody fashion where hotter temperature of the emitter means higher intensities in shorter wavelengths (blue = short wavelength, red = long wavelength). These concepts run opposite of each other with the same vocabulary.

Also, fire color isn't strictly related to burning temperature.

Yeah, this was confusing me for a while as well when some of my product design classes began discussing photography and we got into "hot" and "cool" lights

 

[East Lake]

Not quite.

The concept of "warm/cool" for colors is a matter of color theory in art(red, orange, yellow = warm. blue, green = cool). When you refer to "color temperature", you're talking spectrum distribution emitted in blackbody fashion where hotter temperature of the emitter means higher intensities in shorter wavelengths (blue = short wavelength, red = long wavelength). These concepts run opposite of each other with the same vocabulary.

Also, fire color isn't strictly related to burning temperature.

Eh, I think he summed it up. 5600K is a cool temp in bastardized visual terms.

 

[Meus Renaissance]

(video debate) The GOP Must Seize the Center or Die

 

[cooljeanius]

These are the review questions for my Judicial Politics final coming up:

1. You are an attorney for a party who has lost a case before the U.S. Court of Appeals and
your client wants to appeal to the Supreme Court. Having taken a judicial politics class in
college, you want to do everything possible to enhance the likelihood that the Court will
grant certiorari. Based on your knowledge of the cert process and the factors that affect the
Court's decision, what tactics can you use in your appeal? In other words, given the factors
that guide the Court’s cert decision, what can you accentuate to make cert more likely? Are
there factors that you cannot manipulate to strengthen your case? Finally, briefly summarize
the best-case scenario for getting your appeal granted in the Supreme Court.

2. Some have said that the chief justice is first among equals. In what ways might the chief
justice lead the Court? In which of these ways is the chief able to move the Court toward his
favored policy objective? Does the chief justice have unfettered ability to influence the
Court or does the chief operate within constraints? Please explain using material from the
readings and class discussion.

3. Two major explanations of judicial decision making are the legal and the attitudinal model.
Please discuss what is meant by these two explanations. That is, describe the theoretical and
empirical basis for these explanations. Some scholars see these explanations as mutually
exclusive. Is there merit to this argument? Please explain your answer.

4. Some political scientists have argued that justices are single-minded seekers of public policy.
This suggests that their decisions are always in keeping with the sincere preferences. Others,
including [authors whose book we read], argue that justices are constrained decision makers. To what
extent are justices constrained in their pursuit of policy objectives? In what ways are they
constrained? What evidence is there to support this view?

5. It has been said that the Supreme Court follows the election results (that is, public opinion
influences the Court’s decisions). While this has been hotly debated, consider the opposite
causal conclusion: the public is influence by the Supreme Court’s decisions (that is, the
public’s view of legal policy is influenced by the Court). What explanations have been
offered to support this proposition (and are they supported by evidence)? Please discuss
whether you would expect each Supreme Court decision to have the same effect on the
public?

6. Suppose you worked for an interest group dedicated to obtaining increased legal protection
for the disabled. You remember that the Court issued a major decision in school
desegregation in the 1950s when political branches were unwilling to pass civil rights
legislation. Assuming that the Court is inclined to rule in your favor, is the Supreme Court
likely to produce the significant social change you are seeking? Why or why not? In your
answer, be sure to discuss the role of different populations involved in implementing the
Court’s decision.

I'm posting them here because they make good discussion questions, too, and I'd be interested to hear what sort of arguments PoliGaf would make for the questions that ask for arguments.

 

[rocketknight]

Eh, I think he summed it up. 5600K is a cool temp in bastardized visual terms.

She. Anyway, basically I think we've all sufficiently demonstrated our nerdery and can safely return to the totally cool and hip talk of politics.

So:

The Associated Press reported in a tweet that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved over-the-counter sales of the morning after pill, also known as “Plan B”, for teens aged fifteen and up.​

Woo!

(Reuters) - Arizona Governor Jan Brewer on Monday signed legislation forcing municipalities to resell firearms from gun buy-back programs rather than destroy them.​

Boo!

And last not but least, an enjoyable drubbing of David Brooks by Jonathan Chait:

Brooks likes to veer frequently from the beaten path of topicality. He wants us to associate this habit with intellectual honesty. But why should we? One could just as easily think of it as an evasive tactic designed to spare him from confronting the uncomfortable pathologies of his own side.

Brooks goes further, smuggling into his schema notions not merely unrelated to but actually at odds with intellectual honesty. The detached writer, he argues, “sees politics as a competition between partial truths.” Well, yes, sometimes it is. On the other hand, sometimes politics is not a competition between partial truths. If you’re committed a priori to always seeing politics as a competition between partial truths, you will render yourself unable to accurately describe the times when it’s not and find yourself writing things that are provably untrue. Writing things that are provably untrue — rather than, say, being irritating — ought to be the central thing to avoid.

 

[Mike M]

]The Associated Press reported in a tweet that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved over-the-counter sales of the morning after pill, also known as “Plan B”, for teens aged fifteen and up.

Good. It's revolting that it ever got sidelined in the first place.

 

[besada]

If you guys haven't read this -- http://www.propublica.org/article/what-went-wrong-in-west-texas-and-where-were-the-regulators -- you should. It does a nice job summing up info on the political problems behind the West explosion.

 

[B-Dubs]

If you guys haven't read this -- http://www.propublica.org/article/what-went-wrong-in-west-texas-and-where-were-the-regulators -- you should. It does a nice job summing up info on the political problems behind the West explosion.

Ed Sykora, who owns a Ford dealership in West and spent a dozen years on the school board and the city council, told the Huffington Post he couldn’t recall the town discussing whether it was a good idea to build houses and the school so close to the plant, which has been there since 1962. "The land was available out there that way; they could get sewer and other stuff that way without building a bunch of new lines," Sykora said. "There never was any thought about it. Maybe that was wrong."

See, it's shit like this that really annoys me. It's like no one bothered to think about the future. No shit it was wrong, all you looked at was the price tag and nothing else. Did no one realize that fertilizer plants have exploded before?

 

[PhoenixDark]

btw expect this to come up during hearings to confirm Foxx. Be prepared for lols
http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/wa...-day-of-reason-instead-of-prayer-in-charlotte

The problem is, I don't think the GOP has learned its lesson. Christie might end up scrounging 12-15% of the primary vote but he's still trailing Rand Paul and Marco Rubio by a fair margin. Obviously polls this far out don't necessarily bear out, but it's clear for now what kind of candidate the GOP base wants in 2016.

You're probably right; it's hard to imagine the base being less extreme in a couple years, especially if immigration reform passes. But he's probably the most talented politician in the country outside of Obama, and he'll have plenty of money. Might as well bet money now on him losing South Carolina, and probably Iowa too, but his campaign will focus on Florida and the bigger states.

 

[Chichikov]

btw expect this to come up during hearings to confirm Foxx. Be prepared for lols
http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/wa...-day-of-reason-instead-of-prayer-in-charlotte

Why would you make an empty gesture that would piss a large part of the electorate?
What purpose does it serve?

If he wants to promote reason, he should do it through policy.