The Wow I Can't Believe That News Story Thread

[Zhanteimi]

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[OccultHawk]

Two months after a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., turned violent, 200 employees of the American Civil Liberties Union have signed a letter saying that the organization’s “rigid stance” on the First Amendment undermines a broader mission that includes commitment to racial justice.

NYTimes

That's really sad.

[Lisnaholic]

I hope Trump's tweets about Corker and NFL won't distract from what is, as I understand it, a more important news story coming up this week: the supreme court looking at the practice of partisan gerrymandering.

This issue caught my attention when I watched a segment of the A.M. Joy tv programme yesterday, which showed this election result, for Wisconsin 2012:-

..................% of votes....Number of seats

Republican........47................60
Democrats........53................39

Pretty clear that democracy isn't working out too well in Wisconsin, and to hear the language used on the prog, the abuse of the system to produce undemocratic results is at a serious level:-

"voters permanently locked out......voter suppression......locking in minority rule.....inordinate power......we functionally become a country that has minority rule........nearly permanent party control by a single party....."

None of these are expressions you want to hear about any country that has reached that precious but fragile political goal; democracy.

[Wpnfire]

Wow, two of the trauma surgeons who operated on victims at Sunrise Hospital in Vegas right near the shooting were in their first year on the job. They were certified to perform surgery in Nevada for only a few months. Talk about a trial by fire. They were so green they didn't have clearance to perform surgeries on victims without approval from their supervisor.

[Janszoon]

Originally Posted by Lisnaholic

I hope Trump's tweets about Corker and NFL won't distract from what is, as I understand it, a more important news story coming up this week: the supreme court looking at the practice of partisan gerrymandering.

This issue caught my attention when I watched a segment of the A.M. Joy tv programme yesterday, which showed this election result, for Wisconsin 2012:-

..................% of votes....Number of seats

Republican........47................60
Democrats........53................39

Pretty clear that democracy isn't working out too well in Wisconsin, and to hear the language used on the prog, the abuse of the system to produce undemocratic results is at a serious level:-

"voters permanently locked out......voter suppression......locking in minority rule.....inordinate power......we functionally become a country that has minority rule........nearly permanent party control by a single party....."

None of these are expressions you want to hear about any country that has reached that precious but fragile political goal; democracy.

Gerrymandering is a huge problem that not enough people even think about because it's complicated and thinking is hard. Unfortunately, gerrymandering also isn't the only thing making the US a country that's not ruled by the people. Our whole political structure, from the electoral college to Congress—has always been set up to give a lot of additional weight to the votes of people in states with low populations. Put those two issues together and you have a system that is far removed from representing the will of the people.

[OccultHawk]

Gerrymandering has become a case of politicians choosing the people instead of vice versa.

But another problem is no matter how you slice America up it's still America.

[Lisnaholic]

^ Very neat aphorisms, OH. If you came up with those yourself, you are clearly a clever guy!

Originally Posted by Janszoon

Gerrymandering is a huge problem that not enough people even think about because it's complicated and thinking is hard. Unfortunately, gerrymandering also isn't the only thing making the US a country that's not ruled by the people. Our whole political structure, from the electoral college to Congress—has always been set up to give a lot of additional weight to the votes of people in states with low populations. Put those two issues together and you have a system that is far removed from representing the will of the people.

^ Haha, yes. It's much more comfortable to talk about Trump's latest tweet!
As I see it, the big stumbling block about dealing with gerrymandering is the difficulty of defining what a fair division of constituencies is. Until you have that yardstick fixed and agreed, it's gonna be impossible to decide what are fair and unfair divisions. (If I have the time or patience, I might look at what they do in Europe, where it is not a problem afaik, though don't hold your breath on that one.)

And on that issue of the weighting to low-population states, I read that the equivalency is about 3 urban coastal votes = 1 agricultural hinterland vote. Not the intention behind "One man, one vote" I'm sure!

[Trollheart]

Originally Posted by Lisnaholic

None of these are expressions you want to hear about any country that has reached that precious but fragile political goal; democracy.

And which country would this be, I wonder?

Whenever I hear the word gerrymander I always imagine a salamander called Gerry.
(which is strangely apt, is it not, Lisna?)

[Trollheart]

Given that this is a quote from a report that contends that more "children" (ie, under-18s) are committing sex offences on other "children", I feel this is something of an unfortunate choice of words:

"We are dealing unequivocally with the tip of the iceberg," said Simon Bailey, the National Police Chief lead for child protection.

[Chula Vista]

VP Pence was scheduled to fly from Las Vegas to Los Angeles for a conference. Total cost to the taxpayers for the flight: $45,000

Instead, him and Trump cooked up a PR stunt. Yesterday's Colts game in Indiannapolis was a big deal because they honored Peyton Manning by retiring his number at halftime. Lots of eyes were on the game.

Pence flew to the game so him and his wife could stand during the National Anthem. They immediately left after to 'protest' against the players who knelt.
Total cost to the taxpayers for the flight: $242,500 (LV > Indy > LA)

This doesn't include the cost of having the stadium swept by security, additional security being hired for the game, and a special trauma team being on standby at the nearest hospital.

Pence's tweet afterwards: "I left today's Colts game because @POTUS and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem."

Trump's tweet afterwards: "I asked VP Pence to leave stadium if any players kneeled, disrespecting our country. I am proud of him and SecondLady Karen."

Like both of them didn't know that players were definitely going to kneel. How stupid do they really think we are?