Jump to content

Political Discussion Thread (With Rules)


Simon

Recommended Posts

3 hours ago, Ranxerox said:

 

Well, hopefully they will survive and fully recover.  

 

I remember from my time working graveyard shift in the transfusion department that people can get a surprising number of stab wounds and live.   I remember on guy who came in with over 40 stab wounds and pulled through.  Crazy right?  

 

I can see it, if many of the stab wounds are to half-BODY locations and started out with an above average BODY score, and got some lucky Bleeding rolls.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Ranxerox said:

 

Apparently, people who actually know Ms Taylor-Greene, say that she is intelligent and a savvy media manipulator.  I'm strongly inclined to believe this.

 

She is known to be one of the GOP's top fund raisers.  Her base feels enormous resentment towards the democrats and the "costal elites" who they believe look down on them and mock them. So when people dogpile and ridicule MTG over a mispronunciation or an incorrect word choice, they identify with and love her more.  That Gestapo/gazpacho mix-up and the resulting field day that that liberal twitter and media had with it probably brought millions in donations to Ms Taylor-Greene's coffers... and if there was a way to know the truth of it I would be willing to wager real money and offer 2 to 1 odds that the mix-up was entirely deliberate. 

 

And the fact that this is the type of person and that is the kind of rhetoric that gets people to fork over their money is both pathetic and profoundly disturbing. I could care less about her actual intelligence. Her moral and social values are repugnant.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Dr. MID-Nite said:

 

And the fact that this is the type of person and that is the kind of rhetoric that gets people to fork over their money is both pathetic and profoundly disturbing. I could care less about her actual intelligence. Her moral and social values are repugnant.

 

Yes, she is a horrible person who is undermining democracy and fomenting rebellion in her own country just to get ahead in the world.  However, it is good to understand your opponents and the games that they play lest you find yourself playing along.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On the topic of policing, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editorials/article-why-is-it-so-much-easier-to-become-a-cop-in-canada-than-an-electrician/ caught my eye.  Finland requires 5,400 hours of training to be a police officer.  Germany and the Netherlands, around 4,000.  UK, over 2,000.

 

Canada?  Just over 1,000.  Basic RCMP (national force) is cited at 820 hours.

 

US? An average of 650 hours.

 

How much training should be required before someone is issued a gun and a badge?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So just for grins, what does it take in New Mexico?

 

https://golawenforcement.com/police-officer-requirements/new-mexico-police-officer-requirements/

 

The last:  complete a basic LEA course.  What's that?  Well, the state's only recently set up a Law Enforcement Academy.  

 

https://www.cnm.edu/programs-of-study/programs-a-z/cnm-law-enforcement-academy

 

Also note that this is a rather new program...the 8th class starts in a month or so.  So even this hasn't been in place for long.

 

By contrast, if you want a full paramedic certification...it's 72 academic credit hours.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And for another reference point...culinary training.  Found this a while back, it's full-time training program.  800 class/practicum hours.  The entire program is 30 weeks *with* a 6 week internship, so I'm thinking those class hours are in 24 weeks.

 

https://azculinary.edu/about/diploma-culinary-arts-baking-restaurant-management/

 

So you can get solid, but entry-level, chef's training in the same time as you can complete police training.......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What I would be interested in knowing (but, you know, not actually interested enough to look it up) is what continuing education is necessary as a police officer. Is relicensure or recertification required? And if so, how often? Is there a certain amount of mandatory training one has to complete each year to retain one's job? Honestly, I've never really thought about any of this before.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/4/2022 at 6:21 AM, Lord Liaden said:

I think the academics who wonder why so many Russians back the invasion are overthinking. For millennia, it was perfectly normal for a stronger group to attack, conquer and pillage weaker neighbors. Successful conquering despots got labeled "the Great." Putin is just playing by the old rules, and the Russian people respond -- not b ecause they've suffered some special historical trauma, but because they *haven't* been raised in historically unusual safety, comfort, and Enlightenment ideology.

 

So for instance, of course Russian officers aren't trying to stop Russian soldiers from (as the article notes) sending stuff looted from Ukrainians home to their wives, who are grateful to receive them. Pillaging is traditionally part of why you go to war, no matter what international law says. It's a compensation leaders offer for soldiers' risking their lives.

 

Russians aren't strange for embracing Putin's war. We're strange for finding it strange that they do so. And I dare say that many Americans, Canadians, Australians, and other folk would act exactly the same way under similar circumstances. Condemning it is, arguably, intellectually elitist. But I'm okay with that. I consider the fundamental work of civilization to be making people treat each other better than comes naturally.

 

Dean Shomshak

Link to comment
Share on other sites

37 minutes ago, DShomshak said:

... Russians aren't strange for embracing Putin's war. We're strange for finding it strange that they do so. ...

 

Totalitarian states don't have much visible dissent, even under appallingly adverse circumstances.

 

Effects of Strategic Bombing on German Morale in WW2  (142-page image PDF)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From the above:

 

Quote

Germany was scoured for its war records which were found sometimes, but rarely, in places where they ought to have been; sometimes in safe-deposit vaults, often in private houses, in barns, in caves; on one occasion, in alien house and, on two occasions, in coffins.

 

I love those kinds of details.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Regarding the Ukraine invasion, we've heard a bit about the "Wagner Group" of mercenaries. All Things Considered just had a story about what it is and how it works.

 

https://www.npr.org/2022/06/06/1102603897/wagner-group-mercenary-russia-ukraine-war

 

Dean Shomshak

A brief history on how a few radical misogynists pushed the 19c campaign to ban abortion and birth control.

 

https://www.npr.org/2022/06/06/1103372543/abortion-was-once-common-practice-in-america-a-small-group-of-doctors-changed-th

 

Dean Shomshak

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Shut up, you entitled little pr*ck.

 

Kyle Rittenhouse claims he’s going to Texas A&M. The university begs to differ.

 

Turns out he's actually going to a nearby open-enrollment college that sends a lot of students to TAMU. His explanation:

 

Quote

"Unfortunately, the end of my high school career was robbed from me. I didn’t have the time other students get to properly prepare for the future," he wrote. "I look forward to attending Blinn College District this year, a feeder school for Texas A&M. I’m excited to join Texas A&M in 2023!"

 

You weren't robbed, you POS. You were dealing with the consequences of shooting three people, two of them fatally. Just shut up already. You are not in any way, shape, or form the victim here. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How about some politics from this side of the Atlantic ?

They waited until after the Jubilee but there was a confidence vote in Boris's leadership from his own party. He won but

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-61714645

 

The confidence vote needed 15% of the MPs in the Conservative Party to inform the 1922 committee that they wanted the vote. That target was reached in part because of disgust at the lockdown parties he attended when he was telling the country no gatherings above 6 people and in part because of the reaction by constituents to the PM.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...