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[The Librarian]

So, essentially, patients get to choose between paying an arm and a leg vs paying two arms and a finger.

Gotcha ya.

Making hospital prices as transparent as possible is a good thing.

 

[GaimeGuy]

Nah, Tea Partiers hate Bush because he put us trillions into debt, created the Patriot Act, and the No Child Left Behind Act, among other things. He's just a "progressive", just like every other president in the past 100 years that wasn't Reagan or Coolidge.

they CLAIM they hate him now, but these are the people who approved of him while he was in office. These are the people who were trying to label improvements to the economy in late 2009 and in 2010 following passage of the stimulus and various jobs bills as the "bush recovery"

 

[Wilsongt]

Making hospital prices as transparent as possible is a good thing.

I know. We can't have NC looking good now, can we?

 

[Fenderputty]

If the GOP really does shut down the government over an attempt to defund Obamacare I hope the plans blows up in their faces so hard that you'll be finding bits of Boehner's orange, teary-eyed face all the way in Russia.

On another note, I was reading my university's newspaper this morning, only to see an opinion piece about homosexuality being a choice and not genetic...

If I had the time, I would right a response to it and destroy that man.

Rhetorical question and all, but why do people share opinions or read other people's opinions on a subject that has fuck all to do with opinions? I mean, genetics might have nothing to do with it, but the truth of the matter isn't going to come from an opinion piece. It's going to come from a scientific study.

Like I said, I know it's rhetorical, I just get frustrated. Especially since it's a school. I doubt the school would give any student a platform like the university newspaper to spout racist or sexist (well maybe sexist) beliefs.

 

[delirium]

I think the benefits you get from these type of scenario are so marginal that it's really not worth it, I mean, those types of action aren't exactly helping to build trust and good diplomatic relationship, which is what successful UN action are about.

The thing about spying is you never know what information you need in the future. You are crippling yourself if you aren't vacuuming up everyone iota of information you can.

 

[Wilsongt]

Rhetorical question and all, but why do people share opinions or read other people's opinions on a subject that has fuck all to do with opinions? I mean, genetics might have nothing to do with it, but the truth of the matter isn't going to come from an opinion piece. It's going to come from a scientific study.

Like I said, I know it's rhetorical, I just get frustrated. Especially since it's a school. I doubt the school would give any student a platform like the university newspaper to spout racist or sexist (well maybe sexist) beliefs.

The biggest problem was that it wasn't a student who wrote the piece... It was a faculty member... Adjunct English faculty, but faculty none the less.

 

[Fenderputty]

The biggest problem was that it wasn't a student who wrote the piece... It was a faculty member... Adjunct English faculty, but faculty none the less.

The faculty part is just as bad as the student part IMO. The fact that the faculty member specializes in English is really annoying though. I'm sure the years of studying and analyzing literature has given them the grounds to stand on this podium.

 

[JesseEwiak]

they CLAIM they hate him now, but these are the people who approved of him while he was in office. These are the people who were trying to label improvements to the economy in late 2009 and in 2010 following passage of the stimulus and various jobs bills as the "bush recovery"

Yup. Remember, Bush had a ~70% approval rating among Republican's on the day he left office. The truth is, among most Republican's, they only care about the deficit when a Democrat is in office. After all, deficit spending under a GOP Presidency goes to good things like blowing up brown people and giving money to rich people.

 

[Wilsongt]

The faculty part is just as bad as the student part IMO. The fact that the faculty member specializes in English is really annoying though. I'm sure the years of studying and analyzing literature has given them the grounds to stand on this podium.

Not only that, but his support for his argument was that a friend was raped and went to a clergyman for help. The clergymen supposed informed him to choose to live the gay lifestyle after said event.

Here, I'll just link the article.

Letter to the Editor: Being gay is a choice, not a hereditary trait

I’d like to comment on Aaron McDuffie’s article, which ran in the Aug. 22 edition, entitled, “Supreme Court does not ‘invent’ new minorities.”

As I tell my Intensive Reading students, English is an ambiguous language, and vocabulary words must be defined within their context. True, in the general and public sense, he fulfills the definition of a minority as an African-American, homosexual and registered member of GOP.

I imagine he’s a fiscal conservative and social liberal with membership in the Republican Log Cabin group. His citation of statistics support his point … but Associate Justice Scalia’s meaning in context refers to the Court equating gays with minority status as a civil right.

With the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech at the Washington Mall, we must not denigrate the Civil Right Movement by demanding that gay rights be a continuation of this movement. Homosexuality is a choice, while the pigment of one’s skin is not. There is no empirical, scientific evidence for homosexual predisposition.

My good friend from college days made this choice after being molested by a man while selling door-to-door LA Times subscriptions. In his struggle for sexual identity, the college chaplain suggested that he explore the lifestyle. He then chose to become a gay man.

Gay marriage is contrary to thousands of years of cultural and historical precedent, physiology, religious morality/ethics and empirical data. Now I can hear the ad hominem cries of homophobe and intolerant bigot. Provide the evidence that I’m wrong.

Mr. McDuffie’s citing of the “separate but equal” case of Brown v. Board of Education, Miranda v. Arizona and Bush v. Gore having nothing to do with the Justice Scalia’s arguments.

Sadly, he concludes his article with ad hominems that do nothing to further his arguments. As a political science major, he would do well to provide more concrete arguments with evidence to support his contention.

—Mark A. Peter, USC-EPI Adjunct Faculty

 

[CHEEZMO™]

All these Syria threads are doing a number on my sanity. Conspiracies up the wazoo. And no matter how many times I try to explain to people that no, Assad is not winning he is losing, my posts get ignored and people continue repeating it.

The entire premise of their FALSE FLAG conspiracy is it doesn't make sense 'cause Assad's winning. Even if he was so what? Why did Israel use WP in Gaza when they were winning? Or cluster munitions on Lebanon? If Assad's winning then why does he feel the need to launch Scud missiles towards Aleppo? Carry out cluster incendiary bomb attacks on residential areas? Barrage Yarmouk with Grad rockets from Mezzeh? Drop unguided thermobaric bombs on towns he doesnt control?

Fucking idiots. Fucking media spreading that bullshit narrative.

 

[izakq]

Having some internet issues atm but today a third county in New Mexico has started issuing same sex marriage licenses within a week. Good luck to you Martinez on the national level.

Bernalillo County Issues Same Sex Marriage Licenses

 

[B-Dubs]

Not only that, but his support for his argument was that a friend was raped and went to a clergyman for help. The clergymen supposed informed him to choose to live the gay lifestyle after said event.

Here, I'll just link the article.

Letter to the Editor: Being gay is a choice, not a hereditary trait

I have a response to this letter. They'd never print it though. What a...

 

[PhoenixDark]

This second term keeps getting better and better.

Obama source predicts Summers will be named Fed chief soon

A source from Team Obama told CNBC that Larry Summers will likely be named chairman of the Federal Reserve in a few weeks though he is "still being vetted" so it might take a little longer.

It's largely come down to a two-horse race between Summers, a former Treasury secretary, and Fed Vice Chairman Janet Yellen for the next Fed chief.

It is widely expected that the current Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will resign by the end of the year as his term ends in January. President Obama has already said that Bernanke has "already stayed a lot longer" in the role than he expected. Those remarks came in an interview with Charlie Rose on PBS in June.

Who might take the reins from Bernanke has been an undertone in the market and at the Fed's recent meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Summers didn't attend the Jackson Hole meeting but his name was tossed around the sidelines.

Several Fed officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that they did think Summers was Obama's clear favorite, though they had a few doubts.

"Has he devised a strategy to be effective within the institution?" one asked.

Some insiders also expressed concern about Summers' close ties to Wall Street.

The race for the next Fed chief comes amid another big point of discussion for policy makers — when to begin tapering the Fed's $85 billion per month bond-buying program. There has been much speculation that it will begin in September.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100988773

 

[Fenderputty]

Not only that, but his support for his argument was that a friend was raped and went to a clergyman for help. The clergymen supposed informed him to choose to live the gay lifestyle after said event.

Here, I'll just link the article.

Letter to the Editor: Being gay is a choice, not a hereditary trait

That's amazing. He states his opinion as fact and backs it up with anecdotal stories, all while claiming the opposition has no ground to stand on when making their claim. He even asks for evidence.

 

[Wilsongt]

I have a response to this letter. They'd never print it though. What a...

I have half a mind to e-mail the jerk off and tell him off using scientific literature and facts. But, if someone has an idea like that so ingrained in their head that they would welcome ridicule by publishing them in a campus wide newspaper, then facts won't do a bit of good.

 

[zero_suit]

This second term keeps getting better and better.


http://www.cnbc.com/id/100988773

Damn it.

 

[delirium]

All these Syria threads are doing a number on my sanity. Conspiracies up the wazoo. And no matter how many times I try to explain to people that no, Assad is not winning he is losing, my posts get ignored and people continue repeating it.

The entire premise of their FALSE FLAG conspiracy is it doesn't make sense 'cause Assad's winning. Even if he was so what? Why did Israel use WP in Gaza when they were winning? Or cluster munitions on Lebanon? If Assad's winning then why does he feel the need to launch Scud missiles towards Aleppo? Carry out cluster incendiary bomb attacks on residential areas? Barrage Yarmouk with Grad rockets from Mezzeh? Drop unguided thermobaric bombs on towns he doesnt control?

Fucking idiots. Fucking media spreading that bullshit narrative.

I feel that a lot of people in the internet are more similar to Fox News viewers than they like to admit. They visit sites (r/politics, etc) that echo the same opinions they do so it becomes dogma for them.

 

[B-Dubs]

I feel that a lot of people in the internet are more similar to Fox News viewers than they like to admit. They visit sites (r/politics, etc) that echo the same opinions they do so it becomes dogma for them.

It's sort of human nature though, that's why FOX does so well. We like being told we are right. We don't like to be wrong. It takes a brave man to admit he isn't always right and an even braver one to admit it to himself and try to fix it. If staying informed was easy we'd have had universal healthcare since the 90's.

 

[delirium]

It's sort of human nature though, that's why FOX does so well. We like being told we are right. We don't like to be wrong. It takes a brave man to admit he isn't always right and an even braver one to admit it to himself and try to fix it. If staying informed was easy we'd have had universal healthcare since the 90's.

It just seemed to me the internet has made the echo chamber a lot louder and easier. It's much easier nowadays to find a group of like minded individuals than it was before the internet. I also feel that this creates a siege mentality when their views are attacked.

Just look at the birthers or antivax people.

 

[CHEEZMO™]

I feel that a lot of people in the internet are more similar to Fox News viewers than they like to admit. They visit sites (r/politics, etc) that echo the same opinions they do so it becomes dogma for them.

I'm pretty sure RT is to blame. That and Liveleak.

 

[Avon Barksdale]

Politics on Reddit skew libertarian.

 

[delirium]

That's it, I'm done with that Syria thread. I really can't believe some of the opinions people have in there.

I'm pretty sure RT is to blame. That and Liveleak.

It still surprises me how many people who follow RT religiously. Gotta give it to the Russians, their soft power growth using RT is something China could learn from.

 

[Oblivion]

Politics on Reddit skew libertarian.

I keep hearing this, but I just don't see it. I browse there frequently, and it seems to have a heavy progressive/liberal bent than anything.

 

[T'Zariah]

It's sort of human nature though, that's why FOX does so well. We like being told we are right. We don't like to be wrong. It takes a brave man to admit he isn't always right and an even braver one to admit it to himself and try to fix it. If staying informed was easy we'd have had universal healthcare since the 90's.

I'm of the opinion that if being wrong were..."socially acceptable" as in say, you aren't being ridiculed as much (depending on what it is of course), but the emphasis is correcting your knowledge, then I believe a lot of people would admit their faults far more often than nought.

It's all about saving face.

 

[ivysaur12]

Not only that, but his support for his argument was that a friend was raped and went to a clergyman for help. The clergymen supposed informed him to choose to live the gay lifestyle after said event.

Here, I'll just link the article.

Letter to the Editor: Being gay is a choice, not a hereditary trait

Ahahaha. What an awful, deplorable "editorial" that amounts to "here is my anecdotal evidence when the evidence is not on my side."

 

[Karakand]

It still surprises me how many people who follow RT religiously. Gotta give it to the Russians, their soft power growth using RT is something China could learn from.

I can't speak for anyone who watches it earnestly, but I watch it consistently if I'm in a hotel (don't have a TV at home) because it's the negative inverse of any "news" programming in the U.S. Even AJE has developed a pretense of undeserved respectability over the years.

It's not as consistently anti-establishment as I'd like (see: all the pro-Russia stuff), but that's why I read a Hoxhaist newspaper unironically every day.

 

[Wilsongt]

Oh look. Fox News being tasteless yet again.

'Fox & Friends' Chelsea Manning Segment Introduced With Aerosmith's 'Dude (Looks Like A Lady)' (VIDEO)

The producers over at Fox News' morning show were at it again Tuesday morning when they decided to not-so-tastefully introduce a segment on Chelsea Manning's gender transition.

As co-host Gretchen Carlson teased an upcoming story on the New York Times' decision to refer to Manning by her preferred name, producers played Aerosmith's "Dude (Looks Like A Lady)" as they ran a photograph of Manning dressed in her military uniform alongside a grainy black-and-white photograph of her dressed in a wig and makeup.

"And Bradley Manning wants to live the rest of his life as a lady. How the New York Times -- are they helping him out now?" Carlson asked.

The Times announced on Monday that the publication would use the pronoun "she" along with Manning's preferred name, Chelsea. Additionally, the paper will use the language, "formerly known as Pfc. Bradley Manning." The Associated Press also announced that it would make the change. The AP tweeted on Tuesday:

 

[Black Mamba]

“You know, I’ve talked to a lot of young people like [you],” Miller told the young activists, captured in footage taken by a Democratic tracker. “I mean, I understand the difficulty. Just like I was born in Arkansas. I came here when I was a year old.”

GOP Cali Rep to Dreamers. LMAO.

"I've made it clear that we're not going to increase the debt limit without cuts and reforms that are greater than the increase in the debt limit," he said at a Boise fundraiser for Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), according to the Idaho Statesman. "The president doesn't think this is fair, thinks I'm being difficult to deal with. But I'll say this: It may be unfair but what I'm trying to do here is to leverage the political process to produce more change than what it would produce if left to its own devices. We're going to have a whale of a fight."

Said Boehner, "I wish I could tell you it was going to be pretty and polite, and it would all be finished a month before we'd ever get to the debt ceiling. Sorry, it just doesn't work that way."

Uh Oh. This is going to end badly one or another. Boehner promising a huge fight and then caving will be horrible for the GOP. Them not caving would be disastrous for the world economy and everyone.

Boehner, imo, misplayed his hand here if he's going to rile up the base into thinking a big fight is coming. Obama better fucking just do nothing and let them eat themselves.

 

[ivysaur12]

GOP Cali Rep to Dreamers. LMAO.




Uh Oh. This is going to end badly one or another. Boehner promising a huge fight and then caving will be horrible for the GOP. Them not caving would be disastrous for the world economy and everyone.

Boehner, imo, misplayed his hand here if he's going to rile up the base into thinking a big fight is coming. Obama better fucking just do nothing and let them eat themselves.

I'm so intrigued to see how this plays out in the public eye. I don't foresee any major changes in party dynamics in either chamber, but the next year will be fascinating spin on the Republican party to try to seem like a cohesive group and project their own problems on the Democrats.

I still don't see any of this creating a more compromising House, though. We're beyond the point of coming back.

 

[empty vessel]

I can't speak for anyone who watches it earnestly, but I watch it consistently if I'm in a hotel (don't have a TV at home) because it's the negative inverse of any "news" programming in the U.S.

I agree with this sentiment, although I don't watch RT (or any video news for that matter) at all. It's funny that RT links are banned here, but, e.g., Fox News links are not. Obviously, this is primarily an American (and more generally a Western) forum, so it's not unexpected, but still interesting to observe. In any event, skepticism should be expressed towards all sources, not just Fox News and RT. Nobody should watch anything earnestly.

 

[Neo C.]

I don't know much about US politics, but how big is the chance of not getting a compromise for the debt ceiling? Are the stocks going to tank in the next few weeks?

 

[Aaron Strife]

Amazing how even the wealthy is voting against their own best interest by going for the GOP. They don't care if the world burns as long as their taxes are slightly lower (which in an economic collapse wouldn't make a difference anyway since their investments and property would lose significant value).

 

[Black Mamba]

Amazing how even the wealthy is voting against their own best interest by going for the GOP. They don't care if the world burns as long as their taxes are slightly lower (which in an economic collapse wouldn't make a difference anyway since their investments and property would lose significant value).

I think the wealthy believed they could push for lower taxes and social welfare while still being able to weird establishment control to avert major crises.

What they're discovering is they've seemed to lose some of that power and they're going to freak out soon.

Open Pandora's Box and you never know what's coming.

 

[JesseEwiak]

I think the wealthy believed they could push for lower taxes and social welfare while still being able to weird establishment control to avert major crises.

What they're discovering is they've seemed to lose some of that power and they're going to freak out soon.

Open Pandora's Box and you never know what's coming.

To be fair, most of the superwealthy understand the GOP are being nuts (Gates, Buffett, etc.). Even Wall Street in an understanted way has said, "stop doing this crazy shit." It's the moderately wealthy and high upper middle class who have bought into the austerity circus for the most part.

 

[Fenderputty]

I'm so intrigued to see how this plays out in the public eye. I don't foresee any major changes in party dynamics in either chamber, but the next year will be fascinating spin on the Republican party to try to seem like a cohesive group and project their own problems on the Democrats.

I still don't see any of this creating a more compromising House, though. We're beyond the point of coming back.

I don't think this plays out one way or the other in the public eye. Maybe I'm being cynical here, but I don't have enough faith in the average American to understand the concept of a debt ceiling, what it means and why not raising it is bad.

I think the GOP has the same assessment as I do. If they're willing to try the same shit they did last year over the PPACA (which seems to be gaining steam), then they have to feel this way as well.

I hope I'm wrong.

 

[thefit]

I don't know much about US politics, but how big is the chance of not getting a compromise for the debt ceiling? Are the stocks going to tank in the next few weeks?

The US is about to get involved in Syria with missile strikes I don't think the GOP is going to have the stomach to both not fund the government and look weak on national security.

 

[delirium]

I can't speak for anyone who watches it earnestly, but I watch it consistently if I'm in a hotel (don't have a TV at home) because it's the negative inverse of any "news" programming in the U.S. Even AJE has developed a pretense of undeserved respectability over the years.

It's not as consistently anti-establishment as I'd like (see: all the pro-Russia stuff), but that's why I read a Hoxhaist newspaper unironically every day.

To me, that reason just seems kind of lazy.

It's the same argument that creationists use when they want creationism to be taught in school along side evolution. Just because RT is the inverse of American news doesn't mean it has the same level of credence as NYTimes or NBC.

 

[Karakand]

I agree with this sentiment, although I don't watch RT (or any video news for that matter) at all. It's funny that RT links are banned here, but, e.g., Fox News links are not. Obviously, this is primarily an American (and more generally a Western) forum, so it's not unexpected, but still interesting to observe. In any event, skepticism should be expressed towards all sources, not just Fox News and RT. Nobody should watch anything earnestly.

RT can be crackpot, Fox News is just sexist, racist, and populated by bourgeois lickspittles. We have to protect rational and scientifically verifiable discussion at GAF.

Spoiler

At least the Mail is also banned.

Related: Earlier in the year I was staying someplace that had BBC (International?) and Xinhua (or one of the other state controlled channels in the PRC). Every morning I would watch the Beeb's Focus on Africa program while I ate breakfast because hey who talks about Africans as human beings instead of victims and / or monsters on American television. Eventually I discovered that the CPC-directed channel had a competing program and was astonished at how thoroughly neoliberal the Beeb's offering was when viewed back and forth.

 

[Fenderputty]

The US is about to get involved in Syria with missile strikes I don't think the GOP is going to have the stomach to both not fund the government and look weak on national security.

PD was saying this as well. Though I hope we don't get into a conflict even if there's a silver lining.

 

[FLEABttn]

Bernalillo County Issues Same Sex Marriage Licenses

An update to this story, San Miguel and Valencia county clerks have ordered gender neutral marriage license forms and will start issuing them as soon as they get them. While this only 15% of the counties, this represents 54% of the population of New Mexico.

 

[Black Mamba]

To be fair, most of the superwealthy understand the GOP are being nuts (Gates, Buffett, etc.). Even Wall Street in an understanted way has said, "stop doing this crazy shit." It's the moderately wealthy and high upper middle class who have bought into the austerity circus for the most part.

True of some, not others. See: Koch Bros.

But yeah, gates and buffet both see the long game and aren't assholes.

Wall Street wants certain things but also don't want the gov't to implode, heh.

 

[B-Dubs]

Oh look. Fox News being tasteless yet again.

'Fox & Friends' Chelsea Manning Segment Introduced With Aerosmith's 'Dude (Looks Like A Lady)' (VIDEO)

Holy shit, you cannot make this up. That's absolutely horrible.

 

[thefit]

BTW is the nytimes down for anyone else?

 

[B-Dubs]

BTW is the nytimes down for anyone else?

I was just on there reading a thing about Aron Johannsson.

 

[Gotchaye]

It's not just Fox. A depressing tour of media coverage of Manning: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/08/worst-reactions-trans-chelsea-manning-fox-cnn.html

 

[CHEEZMO™]

BTW is the nytimes down for anyone else?

SEA getting their h4xx0rz on

 

[thefit]

Oh they did get the haxorzz

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/technology/chi-new-york-times-website-20130827,0,3415996.story

 

[PhoenixDark]

It's absolutely stunning to see the parties virtually switch sides with respect to foreign policy. Liberal senators who slammed the Iraq war and chomping at the bit to attack Syria. When you look at what Kerry, the WH spokesman, and others are currently saying there's zero room for Obama not to greenlight an attack.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said Tuesday that failing to respond to a reported chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime in Syria would pose a "significant" threat to U.S. national security, making it clear the administration believes intervening in the state is in the national interest.

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/white-house-responding-to-syrian-gas-attack-in

What the fuck is going on? Meanwhile Ted Cruz is making the argument myself and other liberals made during the Iraq war buildup.

“The focus should be the only justifiable reason for U.S. military forces to be engaged is to protect our national security and sadly, that has been the missing variable from this administration’s approach from the beginning as they allowed Assad to slaughter over 100,000 of his people," he added.

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/ted-cruz-dont-intervene-in-syria

The administration doesn't even have a long term plan on this (sound familiar?). We're going to essentially slap Assad right quick and exit the theater. Well what happens if Assad escalates, or if China and Russia get more directly involved? This is not the Obama anyone voted for.

 

[thefit]

Things are shaping up to follow a plan similar to the one used against Libya with France and others on board and US air power with no boots.

I understand how the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts have completely turned off Americans to military intervention everywhere and rightly such terrible precedents have a lot of people looking at every future conflict in black and white and its not like that at all there is a lot gray and its much more complicated than an Obama and Bush merged face picture.

 

[Fuchsdh]

It's absolutely stunning to see the parties virtually switch sides with respect to foreign policy. Liberal senators who slammed the Iraq war and chomping at the bit to attack Syria. When you look at what Kerry, the WH spokesman, and others are currently saying there's zero room for Obama not to greenlight an attack.


http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/white-house-responding-to-syrian-gas-attack-in

What the fuck is going on? Meanwhile Ted Cruz is making the argument myself and other liberals made during the Iraq war buildup.


http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/ted-cruz-dont-intervene-in-syria

The administration doesn't even have a long term plan on this (sound familiar?). We're going to essentially slap Assad right quick and exit the theater. Well what happens if Assad escalates, or if China and Russia get more directly involved? This is not the Obama anyone voted for.

Well, it's a quagmire either way you look at it. The situation in Syria isn't going to get any better without us and the international community doing something, but it could also get a heck of a lot worse if we jumped in. The smart political decision is of course for us to ignore it. That's of course ignoring the massive humanitarian consequences.