Random Thoughts (Political Edition)

phuckingduck said:
I can honestly say that I care less about the Governor of Delaware than I do about the Governor of Alaska.
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Why does delaware get a governer, i thought it was just a county in maryland!
 
If it hasn't got a coast, it isn't anything.

:p
 
My friend in Shanghai just told me that the Chinese government blocked Facebook in response to the Western China protests.

Those fuckers. Those goddamn motherfucking fucking motherfuckers who fuck their mothers. I hope somebody assassinates the people in charge of the Firewall already. :censored:
 
Just? I heard of that 16 hours ago... Also google seems to have been inaccessible or slow at times.
 
Hugo 'Crackers from Caracas' Chavez news!

BBC News
New regulations in Venezuela will require cable and satellite TV channels to carry speeches by President Hugo Chavez on a regular basis.

The measures will apply to those stations that produce more than 70% of their content within Venezuela.

The BBC correspondent in Caracas says this will apply to dozens of international broadcasters, which will be considered national stations.
Government opponents said it was an attack on freedom of speech.
The BBC's Will Grant in Caracas says when Mr Chavez deems it necessary, all national broadcasters in Venezuela must carry the president's speeches.

'Democratising' the airwaves

The broadcasts, known as "cadenas", are part of Venezuelan life under Mr Chavez and can last up to five hours.

For those who do not want to watch the socialist leader, cable television has been a refuge whenever a cadena interrupts their favourite soap opera or a baseball match, our correspondent says.

But not any more, he adds.

The Venezuelan government defended the new regulations.
The minister overseeing broadcast licensing, Diosdado Cabello, said it was all part of bringing greater democracy to Venezuela's media landscape.
He told the National Assembly that the new rules affecting cable TV would take effect on Friday.

But opposition MP Ismael Garcia said: "This law seeks to persecute, increase control and intimidate.

"Those radio stations that have so far not come under state control will now have to cease operations or practise self-censorship, like some have already done."

Some analysts believe the measures are aimed at a private broadcaster, RCTV. It re-launched content on subscription television after being denied a licence to broadcast on a public channel in 2007.

The government refused to renew RCTV's licence as it accused the channel of having supported a failed coup against Mr Chavez five years earlier.
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On the one hand I can see how this is bringing greater democracy to the people by forcing them to watch Hugo's weekly bout of America bashing, political news and killer stand up material, thus making them more interested in how the government works and more importantly, how they can vote said government out in order to get their uninterrupted baseball back.

What I mainly shocked about from this article however was that these show's can last for 5 hours! 5 hours of one man talking, say what you want about the guy but he clearly knows which end of a microphone to hold! If only talking was an Olympic event, he'd at very least win a silver!
 
He also knows which end of a _____ to hold too! BAM!

I'll allow everyone to fill in their own sexual object on that one
 
US Govt to try and phase out smoking in the military.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8145665.stm

First reaction: Eh? You what? I'm as anti smoking as the next guy, but this seems a bit OTT.

Second reaction: Er.. well, decent economic and practical arguments there.

Third reaction: But come on... we're sending people into stressful situations that they might die in. If they wanna smoke, let 'em.
 
Plissken said:
First reaction: Eh? You what? I'm as anti smoking as the next guy, but this seems a bit OTT.

Second reaction: Er.. well, decent economic and practical arguments there.

Third reaction: But come on... we're sending people into stressful situations that they might die in. If they wanna smoke, let 'em.
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But as you said, the argument they make is pretty sound. Not only is it expensive to treat all the various fun maladies smoking causes, but it reduces a soldier's overall effectiveness. They're trained to be at their peak physical condition and to handle stress effectively on their own; neither of which is helped by smoking.
 
Let soldiers smoke. As a nicotine addict, I know how I get without nicotine, and I suppose it wouldn't be a good idea giving me a gun when I'm craving the chew.

Though, I think it would be a very good idea to offer soldiers free nicotine gum and patches, if they want to try getting rid of it.

That would be very intelligent and constructive.
 
Iceland is joining EU... hopefully on the paying side.
 
stiggles said:
It's weird though, Iceland is very independently-minded, and if they join the EU they lose control of their fishing grounds. Remember the Cod Wars?
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Yep. The fishers aren't happy, but the really want euros.
 
Quick update on this from this morning's news:

wooflepoof said:
I'd be for stricter gun regulations in Texas if it would help quell the drug based violence coming from Mexico. That kinda stuff really upsets me
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Spectre said:
The majority of guns leaking into Mexico aren't coming in from the US, they're coming from the world arms markets and from the Mexican army.

For example, we don't even *get* the civvie version of the H&K G36 rifle, but hey, there's TONS of them running around in Mexico in the hands of the gangs. US-market AK-pattern rifles aren't easy to convert to full-auto, but there's lots of AKs running around down there... what the media *doesn't* notice is that they're clearly full-auto *and left the factory that way* instead of being converted US models.

I mean, if you're already smuggling in boxcarloads of cocaine, a few guns isn't going to be hard.

If you want to keep the drug violence out of Texas and prevent the "US guns in Mexico problem", build a REAL border wall and protect it like Mexico protects their southern border. That will instantly cut down on a lot of the idiocy.
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From mysanantonio.com and the Houston Chronicle:

Most cartel guns not from licensed dealers
By Stewart M. Powell - Houston Chronicle

WASHINGTON ? Barely 8 percent of the estimated 100,000 firearms seized in Mexico's drug wars over the past three years have been traced to U.S. sales by licensed gun dealers, Congress was told Thursday.

The finding could suggest many firearms with U.S. origins in the hands of Mexican drug cartels have been stolen or purchased at gun shows without federal record keeping. (Note: There isn't supposed to be a Federal register of guns, period.... and dealers selling at gun shows still have to keep their own usual records and go through the same procedures and restrictions as they do in their own stores. Since dealers are the vast majority of sellers at shows, well, guess what - they're probably not getting them at gun shows. - Spectre)

Bill McMahon, deputy assistant director of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said Mexican authorities claim to have seized an estimated 100,000 firearms from drug cartels during the offensive launched by Mexican President Felipe Calder?n.

Mexican authorities submitted 20,000 of those firearms to the ATF to trace their origins, enabling the U.S. agency to determine that 90 percent of the referred weapons ? or 18,000 firearms ? were manufactured, imported or sold in the U.S., McMahon said.

But only 44 percent of those U.S.-origin firearms ? or about 7,900 weapons ? were traced back to sales by federally licensed gun dealers in the United States, McMahon told the House Committee on Homeland Security.

Tracing firearms remains ?an essential component? of curtailing firearms trafficking along the Southwest border, enabling the ATF to ?establish the identity of the first retail purchaser of the firearm and then investigate how the gun came to be used in a crime or how it came to be located in Mexico,? McMahon said.

More than 6,600 federally licensed firearms dealers operate along the Southwest border.

But McMahon conceded the ATF can't to trace the ownership of weapons purchased at gun shows.

Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., chairwoman of the House subcommittee that oversees border issues, said she hoped to find a way to honor constitutional protections for gun ownership while halting sales at gun shows without the paperwork and background checks required at licensed gun dealers.

McMahon's testimony sparked partisan divisions.

Democrats such as Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., claimed ?almost all guns? in Mexico's drug wars were coming from the United States, requiring stepped-up U.S. efforts to ?do something about the river of guns going into Mexico.?

But Republicans including Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, and Michael Rogers, R-Ala., emphasized that few guns seized in Mexico actually have been traced back to the United States.

McCaul noted that some military-style weapons reaching Mexican cartels via Central America were manufactured in Russia or China.

Rogers said it was ?really misleading? to claim that 90 percent of guns seized in Mexico had come from the United States when ?just a fraction of the weapons? can be traced back to U.S. gun dealers.

McMahon and Anthony Placido, assistant administrator for intelligence at the Drug Enforcement Administration, emphasized in response to questioning by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, that her city remains a hub for gunrunning.
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Sheila Jackson-Lee, as you may recall, is the same idiot rep who asked NASA to drive the Mars Pathfinder over to the flag Neil Armstrong left to take a picture of it. She also demanded that NOAA use more traditionally black names for hurricanes as the current names are too "lily white."
 
The American soldier that was captured a few weeks ago appeared in a video released by the Taliban.

At one point he says, "Please bring us home. It is America and American people who have that power."

I pray the beheading video isn't going to follow.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D99H5N9O0&show_article=1
 
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