Support NeoGAF

[NYCmetsfan]

NSA thread going as expected.

I've really soured on OT. Its just reddit type one liners, misrepresentation of what the articles have released, dismissal of any criticism of the leaks, praise of snowden, constant repetition of the same thoughts (people aren't going to care, nothing will change, nobody will do anything, a mocking of people who don't see it as the greatest threat to human civilization). Its not worth an entry.

 

[NYCmetsfan]

Judge rules against PA voter ID law. Republicans still will never win PA.

HARRISBURG -- A Pennsylvania judge has found the state's voter ID law unconstitutional.

According to the ruling from Commonwealth Court Judge Bernard McGinley, the requirement to present an acceptable form of identification when voting in person "unreasonably burdens the right to vote."

The requirement was challenged in court after Republican legislators passed it and Gov. Tom Corbett signed it into law by in March 2012.

Opponents of the law celebrated the decision. House Democrats noted that their members had uniformly opposed the law.

Witold Walczak, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and one of the lead attorneys for the challengers, wrote in an email: "Once the Commonwealth admitted they couldn't identify any of the fraud supposedly prevented by the voter ID law, the act was plainly revealed to be nothing more than a voter suppression tool."

Corbett administration officials could not be reached for immediate comment.

In his ruling, Judge McGinley wrote that the law poses "a substantial threat" to hundreds of thousands of qualified voters.

"Voting laws are designed to assure a free and fair election; the Voter ID Law does not further this goal," the decision reads.

Pennsylvania had moved to make acceptable identification more easily available, but the law's challengers argued this was not enough.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/news/st...ter-ID-law/stories/201401170131#ixzz2qfVuFj2v

In the future the Supreme Court should overrule their decision in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board. Steven's already says it was an incorrect decision. And its also a stealth poll tax if they're not delivered to every citizen.

 

[Diablos]

Yeah Voter ID is royally fucked here in PA. Corbett's shit-stained tower is crashing, crashing down.

Anyway,

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/17/net-neutrality-gone_n_4611477.html

I really, really hate these kinds of articles. They are probably among the most sensationalist of tech news. Yes, a lack of Net Neutrality is a nightmare. No, it doesn't mean you are going to wake up a year from now and see the Internet split up like a cable TV package offer. The problem is, if they keep spreading the word this way, people may all but completely embrace it and be more complacent if the cable companies ever actually attempted something this drastic. The image in and of itself looks legit. People are probably looking at this and thinking this is just how it is. And you know what? All this -- dare I say it -- Diablosing over the absolute worst-case scenario being peddled around every corner of the web is probably music to Verizon's fucking ears.

 

[NYCmetsfan]

Yeah Voter ID is royally fucked here in PA. Corbett's shit-stained tower is crashing, crashing down.

Anyway,

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/17/net-neutrality-gone_n_4611477.html

I really, really hate these kinds of articles. They are probably among the most sensationalist of tech news. Yes, a lack of Net Neutrality is a nightmare. No, it doesn't mean you are going to wake up a year from now and see the Internet split up like a cable TV package offer. The problem is, if they keep spreading the word this way, people may all but completely embrace it and be more complacent if the cable companies ever actually attempted something this drastic. The image in and of itself looks legit. People are probably looking at this and thinking this is just how it is. And you know what? All this -- dare I say it -- Diablosing over the absolute worst-case scenario being peddled around every corner of the web is probably music to Verizon's fucking ears.

I think there needs to be net neutrality but the fear mongering about it seems to ignore the fact that it makes no economic sense without both vast and widespread collusion. That and there are constantly changing disruptive innovations in delivery, first broadband, wireless, increasing bandwith, google fiber, mobile distribution, etc. This isn't cable.

I do see merit in the argument that there is benefit in finding better ways to effectively distribute high demanded content that could run afoul of overly broadly written rules about net neutrality but there needs to be some kind of guarantee of equal access

‏@wikileaks
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to respond live on CNN to Obama's NSA speech this afternoon.

Hahaha.

 

[Wilsongt]

So the SC Senate passed a bill last night that would allow people to carry concealed weapons into bars and restaurants.

I will never, ever understand the obsession with guns. These people are vile with their 2nd Amendment being oppressed rhetoric.

 

[Sirpopopop]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/17/u...es-debate-and-doubt-on-iran-deal.html?hp&_r=0

Pretty good take by the NY Times on the problems with the bill proposed by the Senate on Iran.

Lays out both arguments.

 

[NYCmetsfan]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/17/u...es-debate-and-doubt-on-iran-deal.html?hp&_r=0

Pretty good take by the NY Times on the problems with the bill proposed by the Senate on Iran.

Lays out both arguments.

On a basic level, of course, the question of whether sanctions would cause Iran to leave the bargaining table cannot be answered in Washington. That decision is up to the Iranians, who have talked tough about sanctions but have plenty of reasons not to walk away.

I love this paragraph because its much more clearly presents what I was trying to argue the other day.

But where the legislation may have an effect, and why it so worries the White House, is that it lays down the contours of an acceptable final nuclear deal. Since administration officials insist that many of those conditions are unrealistic, it basically sets Mr. Obama up for failure.

This is a much bigger problem with the bill.

but its countered with this:

Proponents of the bill deny it would deprive Iran of the right to modest enrichment. They point to the qualifier “illicit” in the reference to nuclear facilities that must be dismantled, and they say the language on enrichment is intentionally vague to mollify both Republicans, who are reluctant to grant Iran the right to operate even a single centrifuge, and Democrats, who balked at signing on to a bill that would rule out all enrichment.

“There’s no language that says a centrifuge is prohibited or allowed,” said David Albright, an expert on Iran’s nuclear program at the Institute for Science and International Security, who helped Republicans and Democrats draft some of the technical wording.

The ambiguity, he said, reflected the fact that the lawmakers who sponsored the bill are “doing it in a bipartisan way, but they have disagreements on what the end state should look like.”

White House officials also shake their heads at a provision that would commit the United States to support Israel, militarily if necessary, if it decided to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities in “legitimate self-defense.” Defenders of the bill say the provision is nonbinding and merely repeats an expression of solidarity with Israel that passed the Senate last year.

That's a complete misrepresentation of the language of the bill. It merely represents the senate's opinion.

There is this though:

Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall be construed as a declaration of war or an authorization of the use of force against Iran.

 

[NYCmetsfan]

This guy is charming

tate Sen. Richard H. "Dick" Black, is running in the Republican primary to replace longtime GOP moderate Rep. Frank Wolf, who is retiring. And he's guaranteed to ignite wedge-issue passion. Exhibit A: As a state legislator, Black opposed making spousal rape a crime, citing the impossibility of convicting a husband accused of raping his wife "when they're living together, sleeping in the same bed, she's in a nightie, and so forth."

And once, to demonstrate why libraries should block pornography on their computers, Black invited a TV reporter to film him using a library terminal to watch violent rape porn.

. He spoke frequently to media outlets about sexual assault in the military, and called military rape "as predictable as human nature." "Think of yourself at 25," Black told a newspaper in 1996. "Wouldn't you love to have a group of 19-year-old girls under your control, day in, day out?"

During that time period, Loudoun librarians say they only ever received one complaint about porn on their computers—against Black, when he pulled his rape pornography stunt.

Last month, after the Weekly Standard highlighted Black's remarks on spousal rape, a member of Black's congressional campaign staff emailed the Loudoun Progress to say, "Black was not taking a position for or against marital rape."

When it became clear the bill would fail, according to a 2005 Washington Post article, he amended it to require adoption agents to investigate whether the prospective parents were "known to engage in current voluntary homosexual activity."

The party will decide between the two on January 23.

 

[The Technomancer]

He spoke frequently to media outlets about sexual assault in the military, and called military rape "as predictable as human nature." "Think of yourself at 25," Black told a newspaper in 1996. "Wouldn't you love to have a group of 19-year-old girls under your control, day in, day out?"

Jesus christ

 

[Diablos]

He gets his talking points from 4chan, clearly.

 

[kulapik]

OOPS, wrong thread, Popgaf and Poligaf look alike. Move along.

 

[Diablos]

MILEY QUEEN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u96UhE7aC0

Am I missing the point here?

Wrong thread maybe?

 

[NYCmetsfan]

MILEY QUEEN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u96UhE7aC0

This is devastating for Hagan.

Am I missing the point here?

Wrong thread maybe?

Poli-pop gaf

 

[WayneMorse]

And to make matters worse, he used to be a military prosecutor, who knows what he didn't go after because of his shitty beliefs.

 

[Wilsongt]

MILEY QUEEN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u96UhE7aC0

PopGAF is that way. Just follow the gifs and the kiis.

 

[Diablos]

MILEY QUEEN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u96UhE7aC0

Dude, I actually like a Miley Cyrus song now, I hate you.

Is this a single?

Why do I like this song?

 

[Fenderputty]

Legalized medicinal pot has new supporter: Harry Reid

More bad news for Obama(care):

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-slow-transition-healthcare-normalcy

- Insurance execs are okay with the law
- Business leaders are okay with the law
- Even pro-business interest groups like the Chamber of Commerce are giving up efforts to dismantle the law.

Basically our job creators are secret soshulists!

Rad day for political news as I wake up and get to work!!! Anyone know details on this NSA notification I got on AP?

Edit ... That main page NSA thread is a cluster

 

[NYCmetsfan]

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?

Burn Obamacare down, burn it all down. I completely understand Ted Cruz now.

This is like a parody of what republicans think about liberals but its real and it 6 HOURS LONG.


Edit:Kill me now, please.

 

[PhoenixDark]

Why do I like this song?

Because once you're a Smashing Pumpkins fan, nothing is too shameful.

 

[Mike M]

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?

Burn Obamacare down, burn it all down. I completely understand Ted Cruz now.

This is like a parody of what republicans think about liberals but its real and it 6 HOURS LONG.


Edit:Kill me now, please.

I'm on mobile and don't have six hours to spare, what is it?

 

[NYCmetsfan]

I'm on mobile and don't have six hours to spare, what is it?

6 hour live obamacare #getcovered youtube event. There are rap songs about obamacare, bad impersonators, cooking demonstrations, hipsters, lots of other really embarrassing things

 

[NYCmetsfan]

In our upcoming cover story (available online Sunday evening), Sean Wilentz takes a deep dive into the histories of the world's most famous "whistle-blowers": Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald, and Julian Assange. What he uncovers—a "crazy-quilt assortment of views, some of them blatantly contradictory"—should make their liberal supporters doubt their calls for clemency.

This is a big issue for me. I don't like things like the bulk data collection or some of the things that have been revealed but I despise the world views of some of these people and can't help but feel like it leaks into their actions.

 

[Sibylus]

If the leaks were facilitated by a pail of drunken oranges, I'm not sure what bearing that would have on the leaks' value (or on the value of recognizing the contribution). You don't have to be on their god-forsaken ideological sports team to begrudgingly allow that maybe, just maybe, they contributed a net good to the world.

If you're waiting for a peach of a human being that you don't disagree with in any significant light, you could be waiting a long time. Maybe forever.

 

[PhoenixDark]

Attacking the messengers, still.

 

[Sibylus]

That too. What good is concern about bulk collection when the firestorm is conserved for the people who filled you in on it?

 

[ClassyPenguin]

I've really soured on OT. Its just reddit type one liners, misrepresentation of what the articles have released, dismissal of any criticism of the leaks, praise of snowden, constant repetition of the same thoughts (people aren't going to care, nothing will change, nobody will do anything, a mocking of people who don't see it as the greatest threat to human civilization). Its not worth an entry.

That sounds like most gaf threads, really.

 

[NYCmetsfan]

If the leaks were facilitated by a pail of drunken oranges, I'm not sure what bearing that would have on the leaks' value (or on the value of recognizing the contribution). You don't have to be on their god-forsaken ideological sports team to begrudgingly allow that maybe, just maybe, they contributed a net good to the world.

If you're waiting for a peach of a human being that you don't disagree with in any significant light, you could be waiting a long time. Maybe forever.

You can divorce the two. I can say people like Assange, Snowden and greenwald have leaked things which have lead to positive changes while saying they have in their wider actions harmed other aspects and done things that that I think reveal a contempt for America and 'the west' and represent dangerous ideas. Why are these people above reproach? I'm not asking for a perfect person but I am asking for one who doesn't hold radical anti-american view or radical views about privacy (not every thing they've said is radical but a lot of what I've heard is in my opinion is).

Edit: I'm also asking for one who doesn't dump documents and carry them into foreign countries or give them all to journalists.

It certainly should blunt calls for Snowden to get the Nobel Peace Prize.

This too.

 

[Sirpopopop]

If the leaks were facilitated by a pail of drunken oranges, I'm not sure what bearing that would have on the leaks' value (or on the value of recognizing the contribution). You don't have to be on their god-forsaken ideological sports team to begrudgingly allow that maybe, just maybe, they contributed a net good to the world.

If you're waiting for a peach of a human being that you don't disagree with in any significant light, you could be waiting a long time. Maybe forever.

It certainly should blunt calls for Snowden to get the Nobel Peace Prize.

 

[Sibylus]

You can divorce the two. I can say people like Assange, Snowden and greenwald have leaked things which have lead to positive changes while saying they have in their wider actions harmed other aspects and done things that that I think reveal a contempt for America and 'the west' and represent dangerous ideas. Why are these people above reproach? I'm not asking for a perfect person but I am asking for one who doesn't hold radical anti-american view or radical views about privacy (not every thing they've said is radical but a lot of what I've heard is in my opinion is)

You can divorce the two, but in practice where's the balance when the lion's share of criticism is leveled at the people bringing the problem to light, and not the people/system that entrenches and defends it? They're not above reproach, but when your countrymen at the heart of the issue continually skirt by most of the time without condemnation... it begins to look funny, as though you're not clearing the familial/foreign hurdles you intended to and disproportionately blasting small fish.

Edit: I'm also asking for one who doesn't dump documents and carry them into foreign countries or give them all to journalists.

Also asking for the phasing out of the particular bureau culture that hounds whistle-blowers outside the bounds of the law and perjures itself in front of Congress and the President? Might have something to do with why your whistle-blowers flee the coop these days.

 

[Diablos]

6 hour live obamacare #getcovered youtube event. There are rap songs about obamacare, bad impersonators, cooking demonstrations, hipsters, lots of other really embarrassing things

You want your first time to be ____.

 

[kehs]

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is planning legislation that would create a select committee to examine intelligence issues, including those raised in President Barack Obama’s speech Friday.

“The vital issues at stake here are complex, broad and cut across many areas of jurisdiction of established congressional committees, including national security, intelligence, technology, commerce, foreign affairs and privacy,” McCain said. “That is why we will introduce legislation to establish a Senate Select Committee to examine all of these important issues and questions.”

http://blogs.rollcall.com/wgdb/another-senate-committee-to-review-nsa-programs/

What are the odds that he's already on a committee that does this?

 

[Incognito]

This is a big issue for me. I don't like things like the bulk data collection or some of the things that have been revealed but I despise the world views of some of these people and can't help but feel like it leaks into their actions.

Wait for it...

Even the liberal New Republic casting aspersions on these paragons of characters....

 

[East Lake]

Man this country is fucked. NSA collects all this information but our do nothing slave of a populace lets it happen. I'd do something but I still need to listen to the top albums of 2013 for my top ten list.

 

[NYCmetsfan]

http://blogs.rollcall.com/wgdb/another-senate-committee-to-review-nsa-programs/

What are the odds that he's already on a committee that does this?

New Church (obviously with McCain not being a Frank Church)?

 

[bananas]

Man this country is fucked. NSA collects all this information but our do nothing slave of a populace lets it happen. I'd do something but I still need to listen to the top albums of 2013 for my top ten list.

Priorities.

 

[NYCmetsfan]

Freedom Industries (WV chemical spill) filed for bankruptcy.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/co-blamed-wva-spill-files-bankruptcy

Guess who picks up the tab for their screw up?

Edit:

@nycsouthpaw : ... so the owner of the owner of the lender who's providing DIP financing to Freedom is the listed manager of the Etowah River Terminal.

@nycsouthpaw : ... which, of course, is the location of the chemical spill.

 

[Diablos]

Freedom Industries (WV chemical spill) filed for bankruptcy.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/co-blamed-wva-spill-files-bankruptcy

Guess who picks up the tab for their screw up?

John Boehner, naturally. He can cover it with checks from the NRA! What a guy.

 

[speculawyer]

Freedom Industries (WV chemical spill) filed for bankruptcy.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/co-blamed-wva-spill-files-bankruptcy

Guess who picks up the tab for their screw up?

This reveals a massive logic problem with Libertarian thinking.

Just sue the polluter . . . oh.


And they plan for this. They create little individual corporations for all sorts of different things such that if something goes wrong with one thing, they throw that limited corporation into bankruptcy instead of letting other assets be at risk. For example, there are big corporation that own lots of nuclear power plants . . . but each nuke plant is owned by its own little corporation. If that plant has a melt-down, they can bankrupt that individual plant and not allow victims to go after the profits from the other power plants.

 

[NYCmetsfan]

This reveals a massive logic problem with Libertarian thinking.

Just sue the polluter . . . oh.


And they plan for this. They create little individual corporations for all sorts of different things such that if something goes wrong with one thing, they throw that limited corporation into bankruptcy instead of letting other assets be at risk. For example, there are big corporation that own lots of nuclear power plants . . . but each nuke plant is owned by its own little corporation. If that plant has a melt-down, they can bankrupt that individual plant and not allow victims to go after the profits from the other power plants.

The company financing their bankruptcy and who is first in line for all debts was founded today

 

[Karakand]

Attacking the messengers, still.

That Daniel Ellsberg is a radical who hangs out with draft dodgers.

 

[Oblivion]

Faith in humanity once again at all time lows. So I was watching an Intelligence Squared debate, and the topic was about whether it was economically better to live in a red state as opposed to a blue state. The team arguing for it was WSJ hack, Stephen Moore and radio host, Hugh Hewitt (the latter of whom, I was surprised to see didn't present himself as much of a shithead as I thought he would).

This was done in front of a live audience and they were asked to voice their opinions both before and after the debate. Before the debate, the audience was split 57% to 24% on red states being better places to live. After the debate? It changed to 73% to 23%!

The kicker? The debate was taking place in fucking California! I weep for our future.

 

[NYCmetsfan]

Faith in humanity once again at all time lows. So I was watching an Intelligence Squared debate, and the topic was about whether it was economically better to live in a red state as opposed to a blue state. The team arguing for it was WSJ hack, Stephen Moore and radio host, Hugh Hewitt (the latter of whom, I was surprised to see didn't present himself as much of a shithead as I thought he would).

This was done in front of a live audience and they were asked to voice their opinions both before and after the debate. Before the debate, the audience was split 57% to 24% on red states being better places to live. After the debate? It changed to 73% to 23%!

The kicker? The debate was taking place in fucking California! I weep for our future.

Do I have money or am I poor?

 

[Oblivion]

Do I have money or am I poor?

Either or.

 

[pigeon]

Faith in humanity once again at all time lows. So I was watching an Intelligence Squared debate, and the topic was about whether it was economically better to live in a red state as opposed to a blue state. The team arguing for it was WSJ hack, Stephen Moore and radio host, Hugh Hewitt (the latter of whom, I was surprised to see didn't present himself as much of a shithead as I thought he would).

This was done in front of a live audience and they were asked to voice their opinions both before and after the debate. Before the debate, the audience was split 57% to 24% on red states being better places to live. After the debate? It changed to 73% to 23%!

The kicker? The debate was taking place in fucking California! I weep for our future.

As somebody who lives in California, it's important to recognize that many people are California lifers and have no real context on how terrible it would actually be to live in Louisiana.

 

[Armoured Priest]

Faith in humanity once again at all time lows. So I was watching an Intelligence Squared debate, and the topic was about whether it was economically better to live in a red state as opposed to a blue state. The team arguing for it was WSJ hack, Stephen Moore and radio host, Hugh Hewitt (the latter of whom, I was surprised to see didn't present himself as much of a shithead as I thought he would).

This was done in front of a live audience and they were asked to voice their opinions both before and after the debate. Before the debate, the audience was split 57% to 24% on red states being better places to live. After the debate? It changed to 73% to 23%!

The kicker? The debate was taking place in fucking California! I weep for our future.

Of course its better...look at all the hand-outs Red State bitch about and then get compared to blue states, considering many red states get more back in taxes vs blue states that tend to pay out more in taxes.

Spoiler

only being partially sarcastic

 

[RustyNails]

Faith in humanity once again at all time lows. So I was watching an Intelligence Squared debate, and the topic was about whether it was economically better to live in a red state as opposed to a blue state. The team arguing for it was WSJ hack, Stephen Moore and radio host, Hugh Hewitt (the latter of whom, I was surprised to see didn't present himself as much of a shithead as I thought he would).

This was done in front of a live audience and they were asked to voice their opinions both before and after the debate. Before the debate, the audience was split 57% to 24% on red states being better places to live. After the debate? It changed to 73% to 23%!

The kicker? The debate was taking place in fucking California! I weep for our future.

To be honest libertopia appeals to the layman much more than say a state with good many government regulations. It appeals to people who have no idea about what a government is, hence its attraction to youth and idiots.

 

[TacticalFox88]

TULSA, Okla. — Oklahoma lawmaker Sally Kern, who once called homosexuality “the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam,” decried a federal judge’s ruling striking down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.

KOTVSally Kern
KOTV
Sally Kern
“Homosexuality is not a civil right, it’s a human wrong,” Kern told KOTV on Wednesday.

“Homosexuals are saying, ‘This is who we are. This is how we’re born.’ You tell a lie long enough, people start to believe it,” she said.

In his ruling Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Terence Kern (no relation to Sally Kern) described Oklahoma’s ban on same-sex marriage as “an arbitrary, irrational exclusion of just one class of Oklahoma citizens from a governmental benefit.”

Rep. Sally Kern was joined by members of Oklahoma’s congressional delegation, who blasted the ruling as overreaching and disappointing.

U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin, a Republican, said Oklahoma’s constitution “protects the sovereignty of states, and with today’s ruling, that right has clearly been violated.”
U.S. Rep. James Lankford, another Republican, said the ruling is an example of “why the American people are so frustrated with government and government officials; the people speak clearly but elected officials and judges ignore them.”

Also weighing in was The Most Reverend Paul Coakley, the archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, who said he was “profoundly disappointed” in the ruling, and said it “thwarts the common good.”

I...Just can't get angry anymore. Shit is so draining.

 

[GhaleonEB]

I...Just can't get angry anymore. Shit is so draining.

I used to get upset about that kind of stuff. These days I read it with a big grin on my face. We're talking about Oklahoma having their gay marriage ban struck down. Oklahoma! I expect nothing short of aneurysms and civil war talk coming from there. On that front they've delivered even more than Utah did.

 

[pigeon]

I used to get upset about that kind of stuff. These days I read it with a big grin on my face. We're talking about Oklahoma having their gay marriage ban struck down. Oklahoma! I expect nothing short of aneurysms and civil war talk coming from there. On that front they've delivered even more than Utah did.

Yeah, that stuff should be fun times now. Without diminishing the importance of abortion rights and transgender rights, the culture war of the 90s is over and we won. Gay marriage will be the law of the land by 2020. Even money it'll be the law of the land by 2016.

 

[Fenderputty]

I used to get upset about that kind of stuff. These days I read it with a big grin on my face. We're talking about Oklahoma having their gay marriage ban struck down. Oklahoma! I expect nothing short of aneurysms and civil war talk coming from there. On that front they've delivered even more than Utah did.

Agreed. At this point it's just sipping on sd salty tears. Other red states are probably freaking as the dominoes fall and force the SC's hand.