Author Topic: The Politics Thread v2 (Read 181245 times)

bhu · « **Reply #760 on:** January 25, 2016, 01:01:44 AM »

http://motorcitymuckraker.com/2016/01/23/gov-snyder-lied-flint-water-switch-was-not-about-money-records-show/

Growing theory being put forth that the Flint fiasco wasn't over saving money, but to deprive the DWSD of revenue so they could break it up and privatize it. Will be interesting if true.

dman11235 · « **Reply #761 on:** January 26, 2016, 12:13:41 AM »

So in a crazy turn of events, the guy/group responsible for editing footage to make it seem like PP is selling human tissue for profit is being charged with purchasing human tissue. And a felony count of tampering with government records.

awaken_D_M_golem · « **Reply #762 on:** January 26, 2016, 05:35:36 PM »

Time to call my ultra-Con Uncle and noodle/needle
him if he'll vote for Trump ... now or later

dman11235 · « **Reply #763 on:** January 26, 2016, 08:21:53 PM »

I am ashamed as a Mainer who can't vote in their elections (due to living in Indiana) for the actions of the governor.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/01/26/governor-who-warned-of-drug-dealers-impregnating-white-girls-now-has-some-thoughts-on-the-guillotine/

Libertad · « **Reply #764 on:** January 27, 2016, 12:38:17 AM »

Ironically the guillotine is one of the least painful forms of execution considering the speed and efficiency which the blade severs the spinal column. Far quicker and less painful than the drug cocktails we use for capital punishment today. Not to defend his remarks, but I'd find it silly for people who favor frying folks in the electric chair would be disgusted by the chopping off of the same guy's head.

oslecamo · « **Reply #765 on:** January 27, 2016, 01:51:19 AM »

The guillotine is also a lot more economical, considering that execution drugs and electrical chairs cost quite a lot in production and maintenance.

bhu · « **Reply #766 on:** January 27, 2016, 03:29:41 AM »

The guillotine also lets a vulgar crowd of people celebrate and get off on the public misfortune of another individual who they believe deserves to die because a corrupt and inept court system found him guilty. Not necessarily because he was guilty. Maybe they just needed someone to hang for it, maybe they just didn't like the guy, maybe they were even just racist. Some bookies put the odds of people serving for stuff they didn't do as high as one in 4, but that hardly matters to a punishment obsessed society who needs public spectacle to feel better about themselves.

oslecamo · « **Reply #767 on:** January 27, 2016, 03:46:45 AM »

That's not really exclusive to the guillotine. People have been lining up to watch executions pretty much since they were invented.

Heck, just look at how popular roman gladiator fights were. "Death by fighting in the arena for the enjoyment of the crowd" wasn't that uncommon of a punishment back then.

ketaro · « **Reply #768 on:** January 27, 2016, 03:56:25 AM »

Yeah, today's modern technology has really made killing people way too boring. It's a wonder people still play war with how mind-numbingly dull the sport has become nowadays

Like watching baseball.

bhu · « **Reply #769 on:** January 27, 2016, 04:21:07 AM »

Quote from: oslecamo on January 27, 2016, 03:46:45 AM

That's not really exclusive to the guillotine. People have been lining up to watch executions pretty much since they were invented.

Heck, just look at how popular roman gladiator fights were. "Death by fighting in the arena for the enjoyment of the crowd" wasn't that uncommon of a punishment back then.

My point being that parts of the US are moving beyond that. Not many people see lethal injections these days as crowds are considered crass. Making executions public is a giant step backwards when we shouldn't have them at all.

oslecamo · « **Reply #770 on:** January 27, 2016, 05:40:57 AM »

What to you call television showing recorded military bombings that kill dozens/hundreds to millions of people then?

Raineh Daze · « **Reply #771 on:** January 27, 2016, 09:58:58 AM »

Having the guillotine doesn't immediately mean it's a public spectacle. The last use of one wasn't open to the public.

phaedrusxy · « **Reply #772 on:** January 27, 2016, 10:11:59 AM »

Quote from: Libertad on January 27, 2016, 12:38:17 AM

Ironically the guillotine is one of the least painful forms of execution considering the speed and efficiency which the blade severs the spinal column. Far quicker and less painful than the drug cocktails we use for capital punishment today. Not to defend his remarks, but I'd find it silly for people who favor frying folks in the electric chair would be disgusted by the chopping off of the same guy's head.

I'm not sure I'd agree to that... The head frequently lives for quite some time after being severed. There were lots of reports of the heads moving their mouths and eyes and responding to taunts and/or questions, and the executioners often picked them up and showed them their bodies. At least with the drugs, you should just get drowsy and fall asleep...

I'd definitely opt for the drugs if given the choice...

dman11235 · « **Reply #773 on:** January 27, 2016, 12:58:14 PM »

that's assuming the drugs are administered correctly. And are actually the drugs. But yeah, no more executions. they're all too expensive, too morally wrong, too easy to kill an innocent, and too lacking in punishment. there is no up side to executions.

Libertad · « **Reply #774 on:** January 27, 2016, 02:26:01 PM »

62% of the people Donald Trump retweeted this week follow several white supremacist accounts

Quote

I'm not sure I'd agree to that... The head frequently lives for quite some time after being severed. There were lots of reports of the heads moving their mouths and eyes and responding to taunts and/or questions, and the executioners often picked them up and showed them their bodies. At least with the drugs, you should just get drowsy and fall asleep...

I'd definitely opt for the drugs if given the choice...

These accounts sound more like a sense of crowd hysteria and schaudenfraude. "Didja see that?! The bastard screamed at me as his head flew through the air!"

Quote from: dman11235 on January 27, 2016, 12:58:14 PM

that's assuming the drugs are administered correctly. And are actually the drugs. But yeah, no more executions. they're all too expensive, too morally wrong, too easy to kill an innocent, and too lacking in punishment. there is no up side to executions.

There have been cases of botched executions where the people end up living on in pain for 30 minutes or more. This is due to the fact that most of the chemical compounds necessary for their creation are made in European countries which refuse to sell them to the US out of principle, causing the US to resort to substitutes which aren't as humane effective.

I'm not against capital punishment in principle; I wouldn't complain if a terrorist bomber was sentenced to death, for example, or a guy who kidnapped scores of children over decades to rape and kill them. But there are many cases in the US where capital punishment ends up killing innocent people due to insufficient evidence, or results from biased verdicts (like race, where white people get life imprisonment for the same crime but a minority would get the death penalty), or levied on just about anyone who commits murder like in Texas.

bhu · « **Reply #775 on:** January 27, 2016, 04:30:59 PM »

Quote from: oslecamo on January 27, 2016, 05:40:57 AM

What to you call television showing recorded military bombings that kill dozens/hundreds to millions of people then?

The same thing, but with less effect. They're black and white aerial photos that don't show the gore and mutilation up close the way a public execution would.

awaken_D_M_golem · « **Reply #776 on:** January 27, 2016, 04:31:16 PM »

" Off with his head !! "

**

I haven't checked the very last polls for Iowa, but
538 has tightened their projections considerably.

Hillary/Bernie is closer than the margin of error
and O'Malley is near it (though at the bottom).
Any vote for them is worthwhile.

Repubs, Trump is near 90% certain to win.
All of the other lesser downs are within m.o.e.
so a vote for them is worthwhile, either for
belief or wanting to maximize your vote's value.

Probably too early for write-ins for Bloomberg.
(which I think technically don't count on either D or R)

VOTE mofo's Vote.

bhu · « **Reply #777 on:** January 27, 2016, 04:33:58 PM »

Quote from: Raineh Daze on January 27, 2016, 09:58:58 AM

Having the guillotine doesn't immediately mean it's a public spectacle. The last use of one wasn't open to the public.

Maine's governor specifically said he wants it to be a public spectacle to teach the people a lesson.

Raineh Daze · « **Reply #778 on:** January 27, 2016, 05:19:37 PM »

Quote from: bhu on January 27, 2016, 04:33:58 PM

Quote from: Raineh Daze on January 27, 2016, 09:58:58 AM
Having the guillotine doesn't immediately mean it's a public spectacle. The last use of one wasn't open to the public.

Maine's governor specifically said he wants it to be a public spectacle to teach the people a lesson.

I can see him getting the guillotine back... then totally failing to get the 'public spectacle' bit through.

dman11235 · « **Reply #779 on:** January 27, 2016, 09:08:52 PM »

You do in fact live for a while after the head is chopped off. There's the famous account of the 18th century philosopher who was sentenced to the guillotine during the French Revolution, because you know, rich. He wanted to test it, and told them to count the number of times he blinked after he was killed, and he got 13 out before he stopped. And you know, this makes sense. Just because your heart isn't connected to your brain anymore doesn't mean your brain isn't doing anything. Otherwise, you'd die every time your heart beats, because blood doesn't always move through your body. It moves in pulses every second or so. So your brain isn't getting new oxygen for a large chunk of time. And just because it's all removed from your body doesn't really mean anything, your brain is still fine. The reason you die is actually asphyxiation. On a cellular level, because your brain is no longer getting oxygen. So you can live for quite a long time relatively with no body. There's been a scientist who's removed a dog's head and attached it to another body, and the head survived for a bit (until the whole system failed, essentially).

News:

Author Topic: The Politics Thread v2 (Read 181245 times)