Support NeoGAF

[Link]

I haven't hung out on the game side for a long, long time.

Same. Lost interest a few years ago.

 

[Oblivion]

Oh by the way, did you guys hear that Rand Paul apologized to a major corporation for the overwhelmingly negative reaction by the public due to the scandalous news uncovered this week?

Spoiler

It was Microsoft.

 

[gcubed]

I do network architecture for a large ISP and currently interviewing to do it for a large social network. I thrive on the hate.

Benghazi has really quieted down after those emails...

 

[oni_saru]

This is the Obamacare argument all over again. Once we pass immigration reform and allow illegal immigrants to become permanent residents without leaving the country, everything will be easier to accomplish, and it'll be very hard to take that back. It's a real, meaningful reform that will have major impacts on the lives of literally millions of (currently illegal) Americans. Is fifteen years a long time to become a citizen? Sure. But it can take ten years to become a citizen as a LEGAL immigrant. Don't throw away progressive victories because they aren't the hypothetical ideal. The whole point of being progressive is that you keep making progress.

I've been on and off about checking up the progress on this immigration bill. As this is a very personal issue for me, i'm afraid to get hopes up.

But today on Univision Jorge Ramos said it be an estimated 15-20 years before someone gets citizenship. While I'm not totally against this wait or any wait for that matter. My question is the bill going to put any emphasis (not sure if that is the correct word) on time already spent here?

For example, will the process be less time for someone who's been here for 15+ years versus someone who's been here 5+ years? or will it just be the same for everyone.

And sorry for just jumping in here. I figured poligaf would better answer my questions here.

 

[pigeon]

I've been on and off about checking up the progress on this immigration bill. As this is a very personal issue for me, i'm afraid to get hopes up.

But today on Univision Jorge Ramos said it be an estimated 15-20 years before someone gets citizenship. While I'm not totally against this wait or any wait for that matter. My question is the bill going to put any emphasis (not sure if that is the correct word) on time already spent here?

For example, will the process be less time for someone who's been here for 15+ years versus someone who's been here 5+ years? or will it just be the same for everyone.

And sorry for just jumping in here. I figured poligaf would better answer my questions here.

Hey, we're always glad to have new posters who don't disagree with us.

As I understand the bill, it was specifically written to say that people who are currently illegal immigrants will only be able to get legal status after all the people currently seeking to immigrate LEGALLY are processed. Since there's a 10 year or more backlog on that already, it's going to take at least 10 years for them to get to process any current residents who originally arrived illegally. It's not an intentional waiting period, per se -- if all the current immigrant applications suddenly got dropped, the current residents would get processed that much quicker -- but the outcome is that the wait will be at least a decade. This is one reason that it's important for the bill to attempt to streamline the normal immigration process as well.

 

[TacticalFox88]

It's not exactly on-topic, but I have been wondering waht NeoGaf does for a living, and in what industries.

I'm a tech manager in the financial industry, for instance.

Occurred to me over lunch in terms of how we intersect with society at large.

US Air Force.

Not allowed to say what I do.

 

[RoninChaos]

Oklahoma's GOP Senators Find Themselves In Tornado Aid Bind

Even as President Obama was declaring that would get "everything it needs right away," the state's most vociferous critic of federal emergency aid vowed that he, too, would push for assistance "without delay."

Yet Republican Sen. Tom Coburn's position on federal aid came under close scrutiny in the hours after the tragedy. The issue is a complicated one for Coburn and his fellow GOP senator, James Inhofe: Both have been consistent critics of FEMA spending and recently voted against aid to victims of Superstorm Sandy, which ravaged swaths of New Jersey and New York last year.

Three of the state's five members of the U.S. House also voted against Sandy aid; Republican Reps. Tom Cole and Frank Lucas supported the $60.2 billion aid package.

Tuesday with NPR, Cole said he was proud of the vote.

But Coburn and, to a lesser extent, Inhofe have become the faces of pushback on federal emergency spending even though their state is one of the biggest recipients of U.S. disaster aid.​

Isn't this something the president should really be taking them to task over? I realize some people would attack him for it, but I really think SOMETHING should be said. What republicans are doing is THE LITERAL DEFINITION of hypocrisy. It's vile and disgusting. And they'll get away with it too.

 

[RoninChaos]

http://deadspin.com/wolf-blitzer-asks-atheist-tornado-survivor-if-she-than-509150402

Blitzer is so weird.

"You gotta thank the lord for you making that decision. DID you thank the lord?"

"I'm.....an atheist"

"Oh well, you made the right call"

If my ass was out in the middle of Oklahoma, I'd probably ask the same thing. Wolf is an idiot, but not this time. He was just trying to connect with someone I think, under the assumption that most folks from Oklahoma would be religious.

 

[Karakand]

It's not exactly on-topic, but I have been wondering waht NeoGaf does for a living, and in what industries.

I'm a tech manager in the financial industry, for instance.

Occurred to me over lunch in terms of how we intersect with society at large.

Corporate tax accountant (uncertified / unlicensed) who contracts with a variety of industries (which is actually pretty cool).

Unfortunately this is awful work (both in the hours and ethical amnesia it requires) so I also take stuff in related fields that's less............. taxing. At least that's what I thought until I slid into non-profit accounting.

 

[pigeon]

Like 80% of PoliGAF is in management. No wonder people who come in here think we'll yell at them.

 

[The Librarian]

https://twitter.com/SteveKingIA/status/337343141248131072

Like 80% of PoliGAF is in management. No wonder people who come in here think we'll yell at them.

I've been good, boss, promise!

 

[Avon Barksdale]

Like 80% of PoliGAF is in management. No wonder people who come in here think we'll yell at them.

I'm not in management.

 

[RoninChaos]

Thanks, Obama!

Anyone want to help us get back on topic here?

 

[Tamanon]

Like 80% of PoliGAF is in management. No wonder people who come in here think we'll yell at them.

Also explains why DeadHeat Politics never took off. All ideas, no work! Just like real managing.

 

[oni_saru]

Hey, we're always glad to have new posters who don't disagree with us.

As I understand the bill, it was specifically written to say that people who are currently illegal immigrants will only be able to get legal status after all the people currently seeking to immigrate LEGALLY are processed. Since there's a 10 year or more backlog on that already, it's going to take at least 10 years for them to get to process any current residents who originally arrived illegally. It's not an intentional waiting period, per se -- if all the current immigrant applications suddenly got dropped, the current residents would get processed that much quicker -- but the outcome is that the wait will be at least a decade. This is one reason that it's important for the bill to attempt to streamline the normal immigration process as well.

I see. Okay so the time makes sense in terms of getting the backlog done. Afterwards, do you think or have they mentioned if they will prioritize based on time here? I know there were talks about workers first, then students, then etc. But even amongst this group will there be some sort of minimize time for people who have been here longer.

Also during this period (the wait period) people applying under this (I think Jorge said they'll be labeled RPI), will at least get a work permit and license, correct? They won't just be in the same "illegal status". They'll be able to do something, correct?

 

[Hitokage]

Like 80% of PoliGAF is in management. No wonder people who come in here think we'll yell at them.

Not me!

 

[RoninChaos]

It's not exactly on-topic, but I have been wondering waht NeoGaf does for a living, and in what industries.

I'm a tech manager in the financial industry, for instance.

Occurred to me over lunch in terms of how we intersect with society at large.

I work for a HCM software company.

 

[Oblivion]

Also explains why DeadHeat Politics never took off. All ideas, no work! Just like real managing.

Well, that combined with the liberal work ethic (oxymoron?).

 

[platypotamus]

Corporate tax accountant (uncertified / unlicensed) who contracts with a variety of industries (which is actually pretty cool).

Did you just use "tax accountant" and "pretty cool" in the same sentence?

 

[Gotchaye]

If my ass was out in the middle of Oklahoma, I'd probably ask the same thing. Wolf is an idiot, but not this time. He was just trying to connect with someone I think, under the assumption that most folks from Oklahoma would be religious.

While 94% of Oklahomans are absolutely or fairly certain that God exists, 82% of people from Massachusetts are absolutely or fairly certain God exists. http://religions.pewforum.org/maps#

Oklahoma's more conservative, but liberals are religious too. I think "Do you thank the Lord?" is an inappropriate question in basically every context, but I can't really make sense of saying that it's appropriate in Oklahoma but not in the northeast.

Also, Moore isn't in the middle of nowhere. It's really close to Oklahoma City and a lot of people commute (nobody lives in downtown OKC). It has about half as many people over 65 as you'd expect given the state's demographics. It's not particularly nice, but it isn't smalltown Oklahoma.


Edit:

I research space volcanoes.

 

[pigeon]

I see. Okay so the time makes sense in terms of getting the backlog done. Afterwards, do you think or have they mentioned if they will prioritize based on time here? I know there were talks about workers first, then students, then etc. But even amongst this group will there be some sort of minimize time for people who have been here longer.

Also during this period (the wait period) people applying under this (I think Jorge said they'll be labeled RPI), will at least get a work permit and license, correct? They won't just be in the same "illegal status". They'll be able to do something, correct?

Unfortunately I haven't been following the details as closely as I'd like, but I'd assume there would be a prioritization system based on various issues. I am not sure that time lived here will be one of them. I would probably recommend Googling through Wonkblog for the details of the bill. I might have time to look it up tonight and figure out what the write-up actually says.

The Registered Provisional Immigrants will indeed be able to work legally, remain legally in the United States, and even travel across the border and return openly. They will not have the other benefits of permanent residency and won't be eligible for subsidies or Obamacare, etc. After ten years, they will be allowed to apply for permanent residency and go to the back of the line (so I was wrong, actually, there is an explicit waiting period for RPI).

 

[Hitokage]

If my ass was out in the middle of Oklahoma, I'd probably ask the same thing. Wolf is an idiot, but not this time. He was just trying to connect with someone I think, under the assumption that most folks from Oklahoma would be religious.

If Wolf wasn't an idiot he would give the person he's talking to room to say such things without directly asking that it happen, because even without people who are atheists not everyone is equally open about such things or thinks about them in the same way.

 

[The Librarian]

Most folks from anywhere are religious

 

[Piecake]

I loved this exchange during Talk of the Nation today

CONAN: And I think you may have misspoken earlier, Kellyanne Conway, about the IRS and its role in health care. It is responsible for collecting the fine if somebody does not get health care. It's not responsible for whether somebody gets health care or not.

CONWAY: Well, that's only partly true, everybody should look at The Washington Post chart that was in there last week. It was an excellent article, and the charts and the information in there should scare everyone. Let me tell you something. Just as three years ago, the average American had no idea that health care - 2,000 pages of health care reform had no exclusion for taxpayers paying for abortion, which people don't like. They had no idea, because when they think health care reform, they don't think pay for abortion.

The same thing is happening here. When they think of implementing Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act, they're not thinking about the IRS having much to do with that. People forget why Obamacare was upheld by the Supreme Court last year. It was not upheld under the Commerce Clause. It was upheld under the taxing power for Congress. And so naturally, the same IRS that is playing politics with people's lives and their application will also have some kind of, you know, some kind of authority over what happens with health care.

CONAN: No, it won't.

It was pretty hilarious live since you could hear her grumbling after Conan put the smack down. Too bad more journalists don't call out BS on air

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=186048336

 

[Karakand]

Did you just use "tax accountant" and "pretty cool" in the same sentence?

As a cool guy who has done lots of cool things in his cool life I can tell you that nothing is cooler than preparing business unsecured property tax filings.

Spoiler

There's a "cool" accounting news website and really it's just not cool still. I love that.

 

[Oblivion]

I work for a post production-ish company. We take T.V. shows and movies and we pretty them up so that they can be uploaded to streaming services. So all your little Breaking Bads and Mad Mens on Netflix, you can thank me for that.

My job is probably one step above QA, but I will still take credit nonetheless.

When things are slow, I work as an assistant producer for a local radio station that does progressive programming.

 

[Jooney]

I loved this exchange during Talk of the Nation today



It was pretty hilarious live since you could hear her grumbling after Conan put the smack down. Too bad more journalists don't call out BS on air

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=186048336

How did the IRS "play politics with people lives"? The criticism at what the IRS did is so far removed from what actually happened. This is not the first time I have read that line of criticism.

Also, I love Neal Conan, he is a great talk show moderator. Too bad Talk of the Nation is ending.

 

[Piecake]

How did the IRS "play politics with people lives"? The criticism at what the IRS did is so far removed from what actually happened. This is not the first time I have read that line of criticism.

Also, I love Neal Conan, he is a great talk show moderator. Too bad Talk of the Nation is ending.

Well, I looked up Kellyanne Conway and she is some Republican strategist/pollster. Usually, NPR is good about not inviting on those hacks, but I am glad he called out her most egregious shit

 

[empty vessel]

Well, I looked up Kellyanne Conway and she is some Republican strategist/pollster. Usually, NPR is good about not inviting on those hacks

I disagree. I find NPR to be littered with them.

 

[oni_saru]

Unfortunately I haven't been following the details as closely as I'd like, but I'd assume there would be a prioritization system based on various issues. I am not sure that time lived here will be one of them. I would probably recommend Googling through Wonkblog for the details of the bill. I might have time to look it up tonight and figure out what the write-up actually says.

The Registered Provisional Immigrants will indeed be able to work legally, remain legally in the United States, and even travel across the border and return openly. They will not have the other benefits of permanent residency and won't be eligible for subsidies or Obamacare, etc. After ten years, they will be allowed to apply for permanent residency and go to the back of the line (so I was wrong, actually, there is an explicit waiting period for RPI).

I looked it up and yep seems like there will be a prioritization system. That's very good.

This here had a good summary of highlights & lowlights for this bill: http://americasvoiceonline.org/rese...ts-of-the-bipartisan-senate-immigration-bill/

Not sure if all of that ended in the final bill that's going to go to vote, but if so, it looks okay. The amendment for same sex couples did not go through which is a shame.

Thanks for answering my questions pigeon

 

[ClassyPenguin]

I do some freelance legal clerk work. Like transcriptions, research and stuff. It's something to do while I look for something permanent and or grad school (taking the GRE in the fall and applying in Jan).

 

[adamsappel]

Well, I looked up Kellyanne Conway and she is some Republican strategist/pollster. Usually, NPR is good about not inviting on those hacks, but I am glad he called out her most egregious shit

I disagree. I find NPR to be littered with them.

Seriously. When I want to know what the folks at the Heritage Foundation, American Enterprise Intstitute, CATO, Brookings Institution, et al are thinking about the news of the day, I tune in to NPR. Maybe it's just the nature of the shows I listen to most (Morning Edition and Marketplace), but much of their reaction sources are from conservative think tanks.

Oh, I'm a stay-at-home dad and sometime-writer.

 

[Piecake]

Seriously. When I want to know what the folks at the Heritage Foundation, American Enterprise Intstitute, CATO, Brookings Institution, et al are thinking about the news of the day, I tune in to NPR. Maybe it's just the nature of the shows I listen to most (Morning Edition and Marketplace), but much of their reaction sources are from conservative think tanks.

Oh, I'm a stay-at-home dad and sometime-writer.

Can't say I listen to those two. Im more of a daily circuit, All Things Considered, and talk of the Nation kinda guy.

Ooo, MPR News Presents is also excellent.

 

[Frank the Great]

Run for office, I will vote for you.

read my lips: plenty of new taxes!

 

[ClassyPenguin]

Seriously. When I want to know what the folks at the Heritage Foundation, American Enterprise Intstitute, CATO, Brookings Institution, et al are thinking about the news of the day, I tune in to NPR. Maybe it's just the nature of the shows I listen to most (Morning Edition and Marketplace), but much of their reaction sources are from conservative think tanks.

Oh, I'm a stay-at-home dad and sometime-writer.

One of the reasons I want to work for Marketplace is showing the light to them. They're hiring for hosts, so if anyone on poligaf wants to fill the airwaves with their dulcet tones go apply.

 

[Piecake]

Minnesota, Rochester and the Mayo team up to invest a butt-load of money into the city and hospital

The state funds, wrapped into a $2.1 billion tax bill that passed in the final hours of the legislative session Monday night, will steer $585 million to Rochester to support infrastructure improvements around the new downtown development. The state will chip in $372 million over the next 27 years, but only after Mayo, the city of Rochester and Olmsted County make substantial investments of their own.

Mayo has pledged billions to the project — $3.5 billion of its own money and another $2 billion in private investments.

The to-do list includes expanding the campus to upgrading downtown Rochester into a destination in its own right, complete with new hotels, restaurants and cultural attractions. The idea is to make the city more appealing to patients and to the people Mayo and other businesses hope to draw there to live.

“I’m really excited about it,” said Brent Buchan, a businessman who has lived in Rochester most of his life.

He has tried to picture what his hometown will look like, several billion dollars from now. “I envision it being a very small Minneapolis-St. Paul or Chicago,” said Buchan, a fireplace general contractor who owns Energy Products and Design. “The culture, the diversity of things to do, the arts, the food venues, the infrastructure — we just have a fantastic opportunity with the capital Mayo wants to invest and what the state has committed to supporting us with. This is not going to feel like a small town.”

The funding plan hammered out by the House and Senate tax committees call on Rochester and Olmsted County to use local sales taxes, local property tax abatements and other tax capture provisions to steer up to $128 million to the project. The county will also fund a $116 million transit line to make it easier for patients and Mayo visitors to move around the community.

Mayo has estimated that the project could create 35,00 to 45,000 jobs, including thousands of construction jobs and up to 16,000 jobs at Mayo itself.

http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/208594531.html?page=1&c=y
Kinda cool. It'll be interesting to see how this changes Rochester in the future. I do wish this was another business besides a hospital, but whatever, it looks like it'll be some well-spent money.

Now they just need to add some high-speed rail

 

[ElectricThunder]

Woefully unemployed long-term here! The time allows for much learning, less ignorance, and paying far closer attention than most, alongside the crippling stress and such~

Alas, governance is about all I feel a knack for naturally that I'm aware of, but I see no legit path before me here in the US at the very least...for the time being.

I always figured PoliGAF had quite a mix going though----good stuff.

 

[Jackben]

Part-time student and full time at call center for technical support. I really hate it a lot.

I loved this exchange during Talk of the Nation today

It was pretty hilarious live since you could hear her grumbling after Conan put the smack down. Too bad more journalists don't call out BS on air

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=186048336

Omg thank you for linking this. She hangs up the phone on Conan at the end of the segment. Hilarious.

Talk of the nation is ending? WTF?!

 

[sc0la]

Seriously. When I want to know what the folks at the Heritage Foundation, American Enterprise Intstitute, CATO, Brookings Institution, et al are thinking about the news of the day, I tune in to NPR.

This. I love NPR to death but can't stand how many conservative think tanks they get to comment on everything. It's why I literally laugh out load when people tell me NPR is super liberal (or even communist lol).

Oh, I'm a stay-at-home dad and sometime-writer.

Staying home with my son until he was 16 months old was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. Wish I could have kept doing it.

I am a reformed public servant (urban planner) who got forced out in budget cutbacks during the recession (though I have considered going back), long term unemployed, then I did a stint as stay at home dad for over a year, and now I am a computer forensic analyst for an anti malware software and consultancy company.

I got into grad school for architecture (I love design most of all) but I am having a hard time justifying racking up a huge amount if debt in out if state tuition for a field that has a starting salary of between 35-45k :/

 

[Hitokage]

This. I love NPR to death but can't stand how many conservative think tanks they get to comment on everything. It's why I literally laugh out load when people tell me NPR is super liberal (or even communist lol).

I personally think it's one part cowardice and one part cluelessness. They've taken flack recently for daring to speak ill of conservatives, so they've been a bit gunshy lately. Furthermore, too many buy the "present both sides" line uncritically even though the rest of their work is good.

I mean, they brought on a guy from the fucking Family Research Council on a gay rights story(I forget which). That made me pissed off. NPR as an organization just doesn't get that what they're doing is like bringing on the KKK to talk about race.

 

[Link]

I personally think it's one part cowardice and one part cluelessness. They've taken flack recently for daring to speak ill of conservatives, so they've been a bit gunshy lately. Furthermore, too many buy the "present both sides" line uncritically even though the rest of their work is good.

This problem extends far beyond NPR within the media. It's like conservatives have figured out if you feign outrage and just scream about everything, people don't want to bother messing with you at all. Like a crazy homeless guy.

 

[Hitokage]

This problem extends far beyond NPR within the media. It's like conservatives have figured out if you feign outrage and just scream about everything, people don't want to bother messing with you at all. Like a crazy homeless guy.

Oh, it's far worse elsewhere in the media, but with NPR you'd think they'd know better. Unfortunately from their broadcasts, it doesn't show that they do.

 

[empty vessel]

Oh, it's far worse elsewhere in the media, but with NPR you'd think they'd know better. Unfortunately from their broadcasts, it doesn't show that they do.

Is it worse elsewhere? I don't know that I see right-wing think tanks and pundits represented anywhere nearly as well as they are on NPR, with the possible exception of Fox News. Admittedly I don't watch/listen to a lot of media.

 

[Thagomizer]

I got into grad school for architecture (I love design most of all) but I am having a hard time justifying racking up a huge amount if debt in out if state tuition for a field that has a starting salary of between 35-45k :/

I feel the same way, being a Biology major, which is one of those fields that you get paid in table scraps unless you have a Master's at least and my grades aren't anywhere near good enough to get into grad school.

(I have no idea how the fuck people manage to pull 3.7 GPAs, work 15 hours a week, and have a decent social life when I struggle like fuck in the same program despite not working last semester and having no social life whatsoever)

 

[Piecake]

Man, your guy's NPRs must suck. On MPR, from 9am to 1pm is the The Daily Circuit and MPR News presents, which is all sorts of awesome, and then it goes into Talk of the Nation, BBC news hour, and All Things considered. I listen to it all the time at work and I rarely hear political hacks or strategists on.

 

[rocketknight]

Bachman inanity:

“I think the President will ultimately be forced to repudiate his own signature piece of legislation because the American people will demand it,” she told an evangelical radio host Tuesday. “And I think before his second term is over, we’re going to see a miracle before our eyes, I believe God is going to answer our prayers and we’ll be freed from the yoke of Obamacare.”

She added, “I believe that’s going to happen and we saw step one last week with the repeal of Obamacare in the House. We have two more steps. We serve a mighty God and I believe it can happen.”

No point in setting up those exchanges, shrug off your yokes and go home everybody.

 

[Oblivion]

“I believe that’s going to happen and we saw step one last week with the repeal of Obamacare in the House."

Step one? Doesn't she mean step 37?

 

[ClassyPenguin]

Man, your guy's NPRs must suck. On MPR, from 9am to 1pm is the The Daily Circuit and MPR News presents, which is all sorts of awesome, and then it goes into Talk of the Nation, BBC news hour, and All Things considered. I listen to it all the time at work and I rarely hear political hacks or strategists on.

Well, in LA, KCRW has an amazing morning music show.

 

[Piecake]

Well, in LA, KCRW has an amazing morning music show.

Minnesota has its own public radio music station, The Current. Beat that

 

[speculawyer]

Bachman inanity:

No point in setting up those exchanges, shrug off your yokes and go home everybody.

You know . . . the fucking Jesus freaks that fight health care reform really fucking piss me off. Jesus! Jesus was a fucking healer! And he talked all about helping the poor and the sick. Try being a fucking CHRISTian and emulate him by helping provide healthcare to the poor you stupid cunt.

Atheists are better Christians than Christians.

I just really don't get it. I mean things like that seem like proof that religion is bogus. What kind of real religion would have its followers doing the exact opposite of the religion's prophet? FFS.