Category: politics
11/13/08 09:08 - ID#46681
call me crazy
The government will hem and haw long enough to make it look like they don't want to do it, but eventually they will have pity on all these people who will be out of jobs and give billions of dollars to their employers.
The auto manufacturers will say thanks for the cash but we're still a little bit fucked, so ... we're still going to have to lay these people off.
At which point we'll look at all these people who are now out of jobs and say: was this really worth it?
When the government's done hemming and hawing I think it would be better if they said you know what? The auto industry has been opposed to the government meddling in their affairs for years and maybe now is not the time to start. So this multibillion dollar bailout package goes to the employees caught in the middle when you go out of business.
Could somebody tell me why that's crazy?
- Z
Permalink: call_me_crazy.html
Words: 218
Category: politics
11/08/08 09:34 - ID#46602
morning in america
Permalink: morning_in_america.html
Words: 18
Category: politics
11/05/08 09:23 - ID#46545
california goddam
Update from my west-coast correspondent:
fuck, man.... if the entire rest of the insane country (read:midwest) hadn't gotten involved and funded the shit out of "Yes on 8", no would've passed.... don't get me started.
- Z
Permalink: california_goddam.html
Words: 66
Category: politics
11/04/08 11:21 - ID#46510
vote note
All candidates for government employment need to pass the Civil Service Exam. Veterans who were disabled in the line of duty are eligible to get extra points on the exam, but only if they are currently receiving disability benefits from the VA. Vote 'yes' if you approve of eliminating the second restriction; vote 'no' if you'd rather it be retained.
- Z
Permalink: vote_note.html
Words: 93
Category: politics
11/02/08 10:05 - ID#46480
don't vote stupid
There will be one proposal on the ballot. In addition, the following offices are also up for election. If you don't know which districts you live in, follow the links to find out.
United States President
United States Representative in Congress (districts 26-28)
New York State Supreme Court, (district 8 - all WNY)
New York State Senate (districts 58-62)
New York State Assembly (districts 142-146, 148)
Erie County Court Judge
Erie County Family Court Judge
Erie County District Attorney
Niagara County Sheriff
The League of Women Voters puts together an informative voters' guide for every election and makes it available for free Read it to find out more information about the offices and candidates' experience, endorsements, and opinions.
You may be wondering what it means if a candidate is listed under more than one party. Suffice it to say that a vote for a candidate counts just as much on the Democrat line as it does on the Liberal or Working Families line. However if your beliefs are more aligned with a minor party, voting on their line will give them leverage with the candidate's platform. In close elections, endorsements by minor parties do make differences [in the opposite way of the Nader Effect] so most politicians are loathe to put third-party endorsements at risk. Here's kind of a long explanation
- Z
Permalink: don_t_vote_stupid.html
Words: 330
Category: politics
09/26/08 08:51 - ID#45798
everybody loves politics!
I try to steer away from political stuff since there are already too many commentators on the Internet. But I can't resist now that McCain/Palin has jumped the shark and half a dozen schoolbuses on a motorcycle while wearing a wookiee suit and singing Blaze of Glory.
First we got John McCain over here calling his second time-out of the game. No man, you can't stop the roller coaster when you want to get off. If he's trying to grab headlines, the liberal press just keeps giving him the wrong ones. Yesterday a Google News junkie such as myself would have seen 'agreement in principle' in the afternooon, 'John McCain arrives' in the evening, and 'partisan chaos' by nightfall.
And then there's the debate tonight. Seeing as how you can't have a debate without two people and a moderator, I'm totally geared up tonight to see Barack Obama, Jim Lehrer, and King Friday XIII.
Then we got Sarah Palin over here. She's been a VP nominee for a month and they still won't let her talk to the press. Now we know why. She finally gives an interview and manages to make Joe Biden look like William Jennings Bryan. The VP debate is going to be a train wreck with tankers full of vinegar and boxcars full of baking soda.
- Z
Permalink: everybody_loves_politics_.html
Words: 246
Category: politics
02/05/08 01:15 - ID#43192
move bitch!! get out the way!
They're saying that since I'm not registered as a Democrat or Republican that I can't vote in the primary today. Fuck that shit, I say.
Everybody enjoy a good protest? Says something weird about our generation that we're protesting against Tom Cruise harder than we're protesting against the war, but I can't disagree that he's a total asshat. It's close enough to RPCI, you guys should stop by and hang out. If we covered their protest, do you think they'd stop hanging out in our office?
From: buffalo anon <buffaloanon@gmail.com>
Subject: Demonstration against Scientology in Buffalo
I am writing to request that you cover an upcoming demonstration against of the Church of Scientology in Buffalo. The demonstration will be held on February 10th at 11AM at their Main St location in coordination with with similar protests outside of every church of Scientology around the world.
More information regarding this day of protest can be found in recent media coverage in the Guardian and the Economist.
I feel that the protest is especially relevant to Western New York since it is here in 2003 that the Perkins tragedy occurred.
The Church of Scientology is a dangerous cult that destroys lives, tears apart families, and can be harmful to its members mental and physical health. Church members are not allowed to remain in personal contact with anyone who speaks against their church or their founder or who seeks medical care they do not permit, a rule which has destroyed families as people end contact with their parents, children, and siblings in order to remain in the cult.
Again, I ask that you consider covering both the global movement against Scientology as well as the local protest on Sunday.
Regards,
Anonymous
- Z
Permalink: move_bitch_get_out_the_way_.html
Words: 452
Category: politics
11/30/07 09:38 - ID#42339
'gay bowel syndrome?'
- Z
Permalink: _gay_bowel_syndrome_.html
Words: 39
Category: politics
08/27/07 02:45 - ID#40757
flip flop
2: Usually I stay away from politics, but here's something to chew on.
Both major political parties have diverse, complex, and often contradictory platforms that go far beyond the simplistic conservative/liberal split. What is interesting is how they take sides when an issue is not addressed by the traditional party platform.
To whit: the electoral college. Republicans typically support it, and Democrats typically oppose it. Both sides can come up with long lists of lofty ideals that support/oppose it, but what it comes down to for both sides is that the electoral college elected a Republican twice in a row.
In the electoral college, most states use the Winner Takes All method but two states [Maine (D x4) and Nebraska (R x5)] use an alternate approach that arguably gives better direct representation. The Democratic Party proposed switching Colorado (R x9) to the new system in 2004, and failed.
Now it seems Republicans are all about more direct representation in the electoral college, but only in California (D x55). And who is defending the status quo? Yeah, the Democrats.
Conclusion: Only losers want election reform, but only the winners have the power to do it.
- Z
Permalink: flip_flop.html
Words: 216
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- Z
:::link:::
(e:libertad): The answer is Satyagraha. :::link:::
(I know, you might call me biased, but it actually has worked more times than guerilla warfare or other crazy coups have.)
One more point that I made in there and is worth mentioning again: The first solar cell was made in 1883. Do you see ANY American made hybrids or alternative fuel vehicles ANYWHERE on the roads?? Where is this aggressive R&D you speak of?
People are talking about tying the auto bailout to requiring the companies to develop clean fuel technologies. Look guys: they can't even make payroll. They're not going to be leading the world in anything except blame and excuses.
I don't buy this shit about American fuel innovation either. The Toyota Prius has been available to the general public for eleven years; the Honda Insight was introduced nine years ago. What do we have from GM? E85? You might even be able to find that at a gas station if you live in Iowa. Hybrid SUVs? They were so behind the ball on hybrids that they had to negotiate with Toyota because their independent R&D ended up infringing patents that Toyota had held for years.
- Z
I don't believe the bailout with work either. It also seems ridiculous to reward the auto industry for such bad business practices.
Thus, this proposed bailout is not going to serve its purpose of helping the auto employees keep their jobs but might instead help the government keep its job.
Either way you look at it, its a selfish irrational move. Bailing out the employees is not a very reasonable thing to do - it reminds me of that pithy saying “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish ; and you have fed him for a lifetime". Bailing out employees or the industry with money now is equivalent to giving them fishes for a day.
(e:libertad) made a suggestion on my blog which sounds like a good alternative to this madness. He said that these workers should be re-employed in alternative employment - rebuilding and expanding our public transport infrastructure and working towards production of alternative fuel powered vehicles.
I think its an excellent suggestion and the government should put aside its selfishness and consider it seriously.
Also, I would like to point out that, though American automakers may have been pursuing hybrid technologies for a few years now, the first solar cell was built back in ~1883. These have been used for powering space shuttles for many decades now. Solar cells are not some Star-Trek atomizing technology, they are very similar to the microchips we use in our laptops and other computerized circuits. When the computer industry can explode into innovation like it has been doing for the past two decades, why couldn't the solar panel research keep up? You might find the answer lies in vested interests. Going back to the fish saying, giving people solar panel powered things, is like giving them fish that feeds them forever. But of course, the industry can't have this because its goal to keep making people buy cars they can't afford and buy oil for those oil-guzzling contraptions.
The most efficient hybrids on the streets are *all* made with foreign R&D. We can either choose to look at the extremely recent efforts of this country's automakers to jump on the hybrid bandwagon as a glorious herald of things to come or look at it for what it really might be - an ostrich taking its head out of the sand and realizing that the industry is going out of business and thus launching this do-gooding late-aggressive scheme.
I would say the the industry's lack of innovation might be one of the reasons it has been failing. Look at (e:jenk)'s comment. I am sure not many Americans look kindly on oil guzzling inefficient monsters.
In fact, how many of you own 100% American cars nowadays? Would you have bought that foreign Honda or Hyundai or whatever, if American cars had been solar powered/hybrids/fuel-efficient? Taking it a step further, would we be criticizing the bailout to the industry so much today, had it been producing nifty little efficient alternative fuel cars - that people actually loved to buy and drive?
It isn't the industry owners who the government would be keeping afloat. The industry "owners" are actually the shareholders, whose stock is semi-officially worthless. The idea is to prop the industry to prevent it from failing and causing 3 million layoffs, which is an incredibly compelling rationale. Forget executive compensation or the perceived morality of the auto industry - those are tangential and are subject to opinion anyway. The auto industry's lack of innovation is not its undoing. Actually, few automakers have pursued hybrid technology more aggressively than American automakers over the past few years.
Businesses succeed and fail... there is no guarantee of perpetual success and comfort. I think auto workers are going to lose their jobs en masse regardless of the bailout, because I don't think the businesses are viable any longer. If it's meant to happen, so be it, but trust me - the government *will* attempt to prop the industry up because doing nothing while millions lose their jobs would be political suicide. I'm so sure the government will not throw that idea away and give the money to the unemployed instead, that I'll promise you I'll vote all liberal in 2010 if I'm wrong.
;)
The auto company owners and executives have enough money to buy personal islands anyway. And honestly, I think they are squarely responsible for suppressing the research and development of alternative fuel vehicles because of their evil links with the oil industry.
If the auto industry gets bailed out like Pelosi and Reid suggest, then REALLY, all those who made this decision should be shot and the money given to the truly in trouble Americans who are in debt, out of jobs and being chucked out of their foreclosed homes.
The government (dems/repubs) both are nasty little money sequestering bastards. Why doesn't all of the American population wake up and realize this??? Can't people FORCE the government to put that 700bn to better uses??
Are they YOUR representatives?? WHY AREN'T THEY SERVING YOU??? Why are they serving the filthy rich executives instead?