Trump's Presidency

The amount of energy spent on crowd size is beyond a waste of time. What about the 20 million people in danger of losing thier health coverage? The fact that it just got harder for a ower income middle class family to get a loan and buy a house? The fact that the women who has been nominated to be head of education is clearly unqualified and has dangerous views about striping money way from public schools?

Czvosec said:

Yeah, I'm not even close to well-versed enough in Islam to discuss the intricacies of Sharia law. Going to go out on a limb and guess you aren't either, though I'm open to being proven wrong.

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I am.

There's two statements being made here:

1) Sharia law is misunderstood;
2) Sharia law is reasonable.

My take on these two points:

1) Sharia law is widely misunderstood in the West. It's literally a joke when discussing the concept with 95% of people you'll talk to; they have no idea what Sharia law actually is, what the term means, what it entails.

2) Sharia law is not reasonable. Sharia law is not reasonable because it is not rational. It derives divine authority from scripture. This would be no different than Christian fundamentalists and evangelicals demanding laws be made based on passages and edicts from the Bible. It's the exact same thing; and thus, is not "reasonable."

Going through the Women's March pictures and reading about it. Some absolutely stunning stuff. Felt so inspired after going through them. Props to all those who initiated it and have been involved.

Also, saw this!

Cavatt said:

They copy us. China copies us. Remember when they made an orbit of the earth and they celebrated the fuck out of it. If we go green, you think they won't try to outdo us?

It will be like phone lines in Africa. Nobody is putting up hard lines, they are putting up cell towers because starting at the beginning is pointless.

That is why I don't like conservatism. They want to go back to the old ways of doing things. I want to do things smarter. Oil and gas are on their way out anyway. Let's kick ass and invest in those jobs now

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They won't follow exorbitant spending, unless it has an equally high return. We don't pack our livestock full of waste water, for example (though possibly Skittles, WTF?). They do that out of lack of ethics. That's a systemic issue and those pervade into all policies.

I would rather not drive costs high to produce things in our country for what would be little global return. Climate change, let's not get into all that. Let's just say, clean air is good for everyone. No one should be able to disagree with. Let's continue to research and discover efficient energy sources and migrate to them.

Unfortunately, legislating these things to the extent they have been just hamstrings our ability to run a marathon. There MUST be reasonable limits. I don't know scientifically if fracking is causing earthquakes. I do know pumping chemicals, be it for waste disposal, or for purposeful gains such as fracking, sounds like a really bad idea.

I think most folks agree on the end-game, I think there's just a lot of disagreement on how we get there.

ajz20 said:

The amount of energy spent on crowd size is beyond a waste of time. What about the 20 million people in danger of losing thier health coverage? The fact that it just got harder for a ower income middle class family to get a loan and buy a house? The fact that the women who has been nominated to be head of education is clearly unqualified and has dangerous views about striping money way from public schools?

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They have promised not to exclude those 20 million. My family lost Health insurance temporarily last year when it went up to 1500 a month from 600 before Obamacare and 750 the prior year. Millions of people who had good health insurance before it dealt with the same and also much higher costs.

The rate that was cut was never in effect. It was planned to go into effect soon. So new homeowners aren't missing anything they actually had.

I agree Betsy Devos is a disaster. What most people fail to realize is not all cabinet picks make it and this is well understood. I'm pretty sure she is one that they will dump without a fight. I think she's one of the sacrificial lambs to compromise and get another pick in. Obama had the same thing, not all of the picks make it. We can pray this is true in Devos's case. As a father of kids about to enter school I'm just praying common core is gone.

Kiddo said:

Notorious killing it in here. I thinks it's quite dumb of the Trump administration to be talking about the size of the crowd but it's pretty clear CNN and NYTimes are trying their best to undermine his presidency. CNN literally has been unwatchable since Friday morning. It's embarrassing.

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Just since Friday?

Seriously though, I watched it live on CNN. Actually,the reporters and pundits speaking immediately afterwards weren't that bad. It wasn't until people had time to go mince the words, misrepresent them, change their context, and start the meme machine that it got bad.

ajz20 said:

The amount of energy spent on crowd size is beyond a waste of time. What about the 20 million people in danger of losing thier health coverage? The fact that it just got harder for a ower income middle class family to get a loan and buy a house? The fact that the women who has been nominated to be head of education is clearly unqualified and has dangerous views about striping money way from public schools?

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What about the millions of people who's health insurance has got worse because of Obamacare? Why is the worry only on one group of people. We need to find a solution that does not just benefit one group of people but everyone.

cavsfan1985 said:

What about the millions of people who's health insurance has got worse because of Obamacare? Why is the worry only on one group of people. We need to find a solution that does not just benefit one group of people but everyone.

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I remember reading an article in 2010 that said Obamacare would be a timebomb to force us to single payer. It sure seems that way. Back in 2010 no one would have gone for it. Now the debate is open as to what's next.

I personally think you can't have private companies profiting from healthcare and be giving the best care.

Perhaps it was all a long con.

Notorious said:

They have promised not exclude those 20 million. My family lost Health insurance temporarily last year when it went up to 1500 a month from 600 before Obamacare. Millions of people who had it dealt with the same and also much higher costs.

The rate that was cut was never in effect. It was planned to go into effect soon. So new homeowners aren't missing anything they actually had.

I agree Betsy Devos is a disaster. What most people fail to realize is not all cabinet picks make it and this is well understood. I'm pretty sure she is one that they will dump without a fight. I think she's one of the sacrificial lambs to compromise and get another pick in. Obama had the same thing, not all of the picks make it. We can pray this is true in Devos's case. As a father of kids about to enter school I'm just praying common core is gone.

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Common core is a mixed bag. I used to be really irritated w/ common core math as it's confusing af how they do it. However, ask me how to do large number math problems in my head, it's largely how common core math is explaining it.

800-457? In my head I go from 457 to 500 (43) then 500 to 800 (300) and add the two (43+300=343) and get my answer. They break up the leaps I made into smaller leaps that annoy me but the logic behind it is the same and can help offer another perspective to learning.

With that said, my oldest is 13 and came on in the middle of this. He was HOT that he had to show another way to do math that made no sense to him and how he processes after he'd already learned the legacy methods that resonated with him. He's also gifted in Math so its already tough to challenge him with advanced concepts let alone to bore him w/ alternative ones.

I think teaching has suffered since my high school era w/ the advent of damn proficiency tests. Teaching shifted from teaching to satisfying metrics. In fact, I swear the biggest evil in all of our society is metrics. They take out the human element and lead to awful choices due to that missing context.

Notorious said:

No one is saying to do a bad job. What conservatives want is for a little toning down of the rules or at least competency in them. Some of which are completely ridiculous. One of the processes we do for my work in a totally different process is really bad to be around. The gasses this process gives off are some of the worst in existence. Our process negates these gasses and is clean. However the EPA says they have determined this process is bad, citing evidence of the other way it is done and make us jump through hoops. That adds 20% cost for our customers. The EPA even came out and tested our process. 0.0% of the gas was detected the way we do it. They still haven't cleared us. All because they don't understand. The old way is bad, ours is not, but we still take 15% longer and 20% more cost to do it the new way because the EPA says so. Many conservatives own business and have these same problems. Which is why they want someone who understands what is actually being done in charge of the EPA vs. lawmakers with no clue and 0 common sense.

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See we are exactly on the same side on this one. Do you think that new process that is less damaging is illegal because it has been tested? I think that it's probably the company that is responsible for the nasty method has made it the standard and won't let that change. You don't get rid of all environmental regulations because of a couple that are bad you fix the ones that are bad. I want to count ability and transparency. I want common sense solutions. Blanket statements and doing away with important departments that regulate the environment isn't the way to do it.

People don't seem to get that the EPA is why things are better now. Just like fighting for civil rights is an ongoing struggle. It didn't end when everyone got the vote

Wrathe said:

They won't follow exorbitant spending, unless it has an equally high return. We don't pack our livestock full of waste water, for example (though possibly Skittles, WTF?). They do that out of lack of ethics. That's a systemic issue and those pervade into all policies.

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China would absolutely embrace green technology if we moved forward on a solar world-economy with those cells being manufactured in a free market system that China was a full participant in.

China simply wants to be included, as a full partner, in any move towards a green economy.

And this isn't an ethics issue; culturally, for the Chinese, that's not how they look at it. Instead, they see themselves as wrapping up 300 years of developmental progress in only 3 generations. They still feel they are playing catch-up, but, throughout the population, there is a "trickle-down" of wealth from the wealthiest into the hands of a new, burgeoning middle-class.

It's not an ethics issue, it's one of inclusion for the Chinese.

Wrathe said:

I would rather not drive costs high to produce things in our country for what would be little global return.

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There would be massive global return.

If the United States moved away from fossil fuels, Europe would applaud us and follow suit; they've been asking the U.S. to lead the way on this front for two decades.

A united West can absolutely dictate policy to China and India through economic treaties that mandate specific clean energy conditions.

We already do this today with 1990s clean air regulations.

So the notion that we cannot influence China and India makes no sense; these nation's economies are based upon building products that we use.

Oil and gas won't go away overnight, but both China and India are nuclear nations - they do not need oil if the world were to subsidize (through loan guarantees, direct funding) a larger shift towards nuclear power in those countries.

Space-based solar power is a technology that could stop climate change in it's tracks. The Japanese and Chinese are developing competing implementations as we speak. The United States has the capability of rolling out an SBSP system with in a decade -- we simply don't do it, because we're locked in an ideological battle with people who demand government behave as it did in the 18th century.

So what's going to happen, as has happened over the past 8 years with the Obama Administration, is that the United States is going to get left behind technologically.

Don't think that's possible? Look at our national space program. Oh yea, that's right... What national space program.

Wrathe said:

Climate change, let's not get into all that. Let's just say, clean air is good for everyone.

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Why not get into it? Why is climate change even remotely controversial?

This is part of the problem.. Dealing with this notion of "alternative facts" over objective reality.

Climate change is a massive problem that can very likely kill off the majority of the human population if not put in check. You will not find many in the scientific community who would disagree.

Wrathe said:

Let's continue to research and discover efficient energy sources and migrate to them.

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Agreed, but the point is that we have to have a national effort, that requires national funding. Oil and gas companies aren't going to put themselves out of business.

Wrathe said:

Unfortunately, legislating these things to the extent they have been just hamstrings our ability to run a marathon. There MUST be reasonable limits. I don't know scientifically if fracking is causing earthquakes. I do know pumping chemicals, be it for waste disposal, or for purposeful gains such as fracking, sounds like a really bad idea.

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I'm not sure what you mean? I'm against fracking for the reasons you just stated; but 'legislating these things to the extent they have been' is where I'm getting lost. We've been behind the curve on these technologies for decades. It would be great if government could be more proactive in these areas.

Wrathe said:

I think most folks agree on the end-game, I think there's just a lot of disagreement on how we get there.

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I don't think most folks agree on the end-game; that's the problem.

If people understood the full-on danger of climate change, there would be more calls to action to stop it. You wouldn't have the GOP denying it's very existence solely to support the profits of their corporate paymasters.

This is a very dangerous game we're playing, and the way it's being played means duping the American people; shielding them from empirical facts, data, and the realities that await their children and grandchildren.

Wrathe said:

Common core is a mixed bag. I used to be really irritated w/ common core math as it's confusing af how they do it. However, ask me how to do large number math problems in my head, it's largely how common core math is explaining it.

800-457? In my head I go from 457 to 500 (43) then 500 to 800 (300) and add the two (43+300=343) and get my answer. They break up the leaps I made into smaller leaps that annoy me but the logic behind it is the same and can help offer another perspective to learning.

With that said, my oldest is 13 and came on in the middle of this. He was HOT that he had to show another way to do math that made no sense to him and how he processes after he'd already learned the legacy methods that resonated with him. He's also gifted in Math so its already tough to challenge him with advanced concepts let alone to bore him w/ alternative ones.

I think teaching has suffered since my high school era w/ the advent of damn proficiency tests. Teaching shifted from teaching to satisfying metrics. In fact, I swear the biggest evil in all of our society is metrics. They take out the human element and lead to awful choices due to that missing context.

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I know exactly what you mean on the counting in your head. In trying to understand common core to teach my young ones I went through the same experience. What I found fascinating was that I was taught to do it in my head the way they want to teach kids to do it in their heads.

I started thinking back to teachers I had and remembered 2 that taught us to do it in our heads without all of the craziness used in common core. Where I really think there is an issue is when these kids get out of school. If they have STEM jobs there will be this huge difference between pre common core and post common core. I really think it is overthought to the point it's ridiculous and confusing kids for no reason. Just as parents struggle to help their kids with math homework, superiors at work will struggle to double check young employees work. This could really hurt some of these kids job prospects.

I agree as well on the proficiency tests.

Cavatt said:

See we are exactly on the same side on this one. Do you think that new process that is less damaging is illegal because it has been tested? I think that it's probably the company that is responsible for the nasty method has made it the standard and won't let that change. You don't get rid of all environmental regulations because of a couple that are bad you fix the ones that are bad. I want to count ability and transparency. I want common sense solutions. Blanket statements and doing away with important departments that regulate the environment isn't the way to do it.

People don't seem to get that the EPA is why things are better now. Just like fighting for civil rights is an ongoing struggle. It didn't end when everyone got the vote

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I don't think any other company still does it the old way. What seems to be the problem is common sense has been replaced with 0 tolerance. You'll see 0 tolerance all over large companies. It's really a cop out for someone being in charge without enough understanding of what they are actually in charge of. 0 tolerance allows people with no clue an easy set of rules to follow with no judgement calls to be made.

In this case they get to say yes we tested it, yes it is safe, however we have a zero tolerance policy on this process and any like it. This is what happens when lawyers make the rules on industry instead of scientists and engineers who can understand these things and make judegment calls.

The current cover your ass culture also doesn't help. No one wants to be the one to approve something that looks good in case it turns out to be bad.

Yes the EPA and regulations are why we are here. Unfortunately industry is outpacing their understanding and in many cases they are now the holdup to allowing more efficient, cleaner and cost effective ways.

gourimoko said:

I am.

There's two statements being made here:

1) Sharia law is misunderstood;
2) Sharia law is reasonable.

My take on these two points:

1) Sharia law is widely misunderstood in the West. It's literally a joke when discussing the concept with 95% of people you'll talk to; they have no idea what Sharia law actually is, what the term means, what it entails.

2) Sharia law is not reasonable. Sharia law is not reasonable because it is not rational. It derives divine authority from scripture. This would be no different than Christian fundamentalists and evangelicals demanding laws be made based on passages and edicts from the Bible. It's the exact same thing; and thus, is not "reasonable."

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I almost tagged you in that post too...