As far as crime and punishment is concerned I'm also a liberal:

- Our drug policy is an abomination, and mandatory minimum sentencing is outrageous. It's the main reason the U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world.
- Three strikes laws should be eliminated
- The death penalty is barbaric
- Our criminal justice system is still racist. Black men and other persons of color are convicted at higher rates, and are more likely to be incarcerated and receive longer sentences than white dudes that commit the same crimes.

HOWEVER, I have NO sympathy for any type of public official who betrays the trust of the people he is supposed to serve. That goes not just for politicians, but judges, prosecutors, and cops too. One of surest ways to to bring about the downfall of a society is to have dirty public officials running the show. And I'm not partisan about this. If DeLay were a Democrat, independent, socialist, Green, or what have you, I'd feel the same way about him.

The only thing I don't want to happen to the guy is for him to get raped or otherwise harmed while he's in prison, but then I feel the same way about everyone in prison. Prison shouldn't automatically mean rape, beatings, and the possibility of homicide, but when you have prison overcrowding because of harsh sentencing laws, it's hard for guards to ensure the safety of all inmates. And let's not forgot that it's mostly Republicans like DeLay who have been the authors of all the tough-on-crime legislation in the first place.

So DeLay got what he deserved. Also Republicans like him (and many Democrats) have never served the interests of the people, but of their corporate masters. These corporate assholes in turn fucked up the economy through fraud and other criminal behavior. Many, many people have lost their jobs or their life savings or both because of this shit. They have created misery on an enormous scale. They are criminals as well who also deserve to go to prison. Madoff is just the tip of the iceberg. Thousands more need to be sent to the clink, because Madoff and other people like him didn't do this shit all by themselves.

Those are the people that Tom DeLay served. I hope he receives the maximum sentence. Not a drop from my bleeding heart will be shed for him.



In reply to this comment by NetRunner:
I did hear about that. I'm one of these seriously bleeding-heart liberal types. Now that he's going to jail, I feel sorry for him.

Still, it's good to see that parts of our justice system still work.

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
You might have seen this story already, but if not, then it should make your Thanksgiving happy.

I'm never here. Which site is this again? Freetalklive.com or something? I don't know.

Yeah, I love this place. Reach arounds for all. As for ad sense, I'm not sure what can be done about that. To find customer service numbers on sites, I typically google "1 800 site:[url of site]" or "1 888 site:[url of site]" but it didn't turn anything up for google.com/adsense.

I wish you the best of luck. I say @Hybrid's idea to create a *violence channel is brilliant, thought it may be difficult to go through the thousands of video pages and tag every video appropriately. Damn you, Google!

A google search for this quote turns a up a whopping six results, with this video being the top result:

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=%22never+take+a+picture+with+a+black+man%22+fdr&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&fp=d571b3712fffe003

So, let's go ahead and put this in *lies and *conspiracy

>> ^PHJF:

Unacceptable, Gundam. Religion is almost ENTIRELY used to explain the inexplicable. Religion's sole purpose is to convince people that a) there is an afterlife and b) the afterlife is infinitely superior to the current life. That's the only reason idiot-morons buy what these preachers are selling.
And as for religion and science not being diametrically opposed? The scientific method tells us that when confronted with something we cannot explain, we are to observe and test until we can explain it. Religion tells us to simply accept things as they are. "Because god says so" is not an acceptable answer for "why does XYZ happen?"


I understand your hostility to religion, but I'm curious which religion you are referring to in your post--because there are many religions in the world and not all of them are concerned with an afterlife. Even those that are concerned with an afterlife such as Christianity and Islam are much MORE concerned with how we live right now than with explaining the cosmos. In fact the Catholic church has gone so far as to state that the Book of Genesis, which ostensibly explains the origins of everything, is to be read metaphorically, not literally (I can't find the link now, sorry, but it's official doctrine--a little more Googling than I have time for right now should turn it up).

I'll quote Stephen Barr, a physicist at the University of Delaware: there is no war between science and religion. There is, however, most certainly a war between atheists and religion--with both sides attempting to use science as both a sword and shield.

The Chemical Brothers has never disappointed me. Every song on every LP, EP and SP are good to great. They still have that same style from the beginning and I hope they keep going until they die of old age. Turn it up LOUD!

As is so often the case with these things there is an assumption of cause and effect, but that's really a stupid assumption.

I would propose that it is highly likely that in many of those countries the levels of religious belief are a product of the violent society and not the other way around. Violence and disruption in places like Somalia mean that education levels are extremely low and as I think most people here know, there is a high correlation between education and atheism.

Which in turn brings up a further question, for those countries where there is a high amount of theism and violence is it the theism or the lack of education that precipitates the problems?

Perhaps education is the solution to both excessive theism and violence. Certainly telling people that religion is bad so they should stop is just a dumb idea as it would merely give more excuses to denounce atheism (they're trying to take your religious rights away! (I'm thinking of Glenn and his cohorts here)).

I HAD TO TURN THAT UP SO FUCKING LOUD. maxed my system.. wtf

You know, I really like Taylor Swift. Not something I listen to a lot, but there are times when she comes on the radio and I turn her up. I have lots of respect for someone who writes their own stuff and has such innate talent.

I also think it's cute that she plays her own rival in this video.

Huge upvote for turning it up to 11.

A she was screaming at him and he stepped away i was literally eating popcorn and thinking "turn it up...comon...turn it up so this bitch can REALLY go crazy!"

headphones on, turn it up...

sounds like?

For those who haven't driven fully-loaded trucks of that size down curvy mountain roads: Brakes are mostly useless on a hill like that. They may affect your speed a little, but they'll catch fire long before they stop you.

Proper use of downshifting is how truckers control their speed, and it is a lot harder than it seems. I'm guessing the problems this trucker had started way before that turn. It was definitely his responsibility to keep his speed under control, but by the time he saw the turn coming up there wouldn't have been anything he could have done about it.

All that is assuming he wasn't under the influence of course. Slowing a truck that heavy while traveling downhill can take miles (or a run-away ramp).

Wow. He turned it up to 11. That takes a huge pair (ironic since it involves wearing ladies underwear).

I've heard "OUT NOW ON DVD" twice this morning. Once almost blew my mind as my @home studio rig was turned way up.

^ btw: I'm gonna eat the hell out of your icon in two days. (sans chapeau)

And this thread is great, I'm so happy I'm an asshole enough to start it. Watching a load of people I don't know, attack eachother, is out-of-this-world awesomezzz!11!!


ps: I was a member of a music forum for about five years, but over time, a large clique emerged from ppl who knew eachother IRL. They invited more and more of their RL friends aboard, who in turn, ganged up on other members who weren't quite as "popular" or "cool" as the big gang. Not only did members end up leaving in droves, but others started getting viciously attacked for mostly no-good-reasons a 'tall.

I was one who was backed into a corner, forced to defend myself, but then ended up unsubscribing entirely.

One has to watch out for that kind of behavior. Group-think and cliques can destroy a community that once had good motives.