Category: politics
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Newshound explains: The Curious Case of the Silent Filibuster
http://newsbound.com/the-silent-filibuster/ This is a really good, really clear, and (mostly) nonpartisan explanation of the rise of the silent filibuster in the US Senate — where it came from, the damage it does, how it might be fixed.
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Noah Smith on the Rise of the Machines
Here’s a worthwhile read from Noah Smith on the future of an economy where most work is done by robots. I’ve actually thought about this for a long while. How can a democracy survive if all the economic oomph lies in the very few owners of capital? As much as he was (justifiably) derided, President…
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Sure, but just imagine how sorry you’ll be if the British invade…
Kellermann found people turned those guns on themselves and others in the house far more often than on intruders. “In other words, a gun kept in the home was 43 times more likely to be involved in the death of a member of the household than to be used in self-defense,” he says. (Source: NPR)
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Stay classy, guys
Well, it only took a month for the NRA to forget that gun massacres are the result of violent videogames. Now they’ve released an app allowing you to take target practice. On coffins. With a Mk11 sniper rifle (but that’ll cost a a buck). Way to stay classy, Mr. LaPierre and company.
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Why they’re called “gun nuts”
So in Arizona, the NRA is mad that guns turned into the police at a buyback are going to be destroyed rather than, say, put back into circulation. Let’s unpack that: For these people, the Union is ephemeral, to be abandoned when the people elect someone the NRA doesn’t like… But the physical guns are…
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Raw Deal
TR had the Square Deal. FDR had the New Deal. Harry S has the Fair Deal. Barack Obama will have the Raw Deal. So a debt-ceiling “deal” has been reached. Going in to this, the President was willing to compromise but had a few lines in the sand: What did he get? None of these. …
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Can seeing a US flag turn you Republican?
And if so, what can be done about it? A study referenced in Discover has the provocative conclusion that seeing a small American flag while completing a political questionnaire can induce the respondents into being more Republican, even up to 8 months later. Is our society doomed by our optic nerves to surrender to the…
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The debt ceiling and the 14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment is more-or-less the Swiss Army knife of the US Constitution. It defines citizenship, extends constitutional protections to state constitutions, and so on. Lately, it’s become popular to posit that it also holds the key to avoiding a default of US credit. Specifically, Section 4 reads 4. The validity of the public debt of…
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National Constitution Center endorses torture
Well, by extension. They’ve invited John Yoo to participate in a forum on “A Conversation on Civility and Democracy in America” — apparently without a blink of irony, too. Yoo, you might recall, is the author of the infamous Torture Memos, that said the United Stated could and would abandon its obligations under the Geneva…
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Currently Reading: First Quater 2011
American Scripture by Pauline Maier Consider Phlebas by Ian Banks Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowel