US POLITICS election/post-election edition: your country will improve immediately.

No, the other place.

where?

About 10 years ago, my wife and I were seated next to a well-dressed guy on a connecting flight to Newark. We had a very nice conversation about several things, including education and politics. Near the end of the flight he asked us if Newark was our final destination. We told him no, we were heading on to Amsterdam. He replied, "Oh. Which state is that in?"

I'm sure there's an Amsterdam, New Mexico.

Crossing back into the United States from Vancouver, my dad pulled the rental car up to the border patrol booth. The guard took one look at our California plate and said, "From California, huh?"

My dad said no, we're from Arkansas. The guard just looked at him blankly and said, "Arkansas, California?"

I once met a dude in Santa Barbara that thought Illinois was a city in Chicago. I bet he's not the voting type, though. Or the reading type.

A guy in my high school in North Carolina asked me if Montana used the same kind of money as they used in NC.

http://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/initiatives/people.aspx#1069

If it weren't for sports I bet many if not most Americans wouldn't have much idea where our major cities are.

Like Anaheim, Auburn Hills, Arlington...

lol there were two ballot initiatives in my county dealing with different ways to make further ballot initiatives easier (lower signature count and longer filing period) and i was like, oh hell no

Kinda want to see the artist's rendering of the tapeworm though.

LOL at 1069

I'd vote for it if the tapeworm was also depicted fixing potholes.

what the hell is 1072 about

Clerks and bouncers can't get fined anymore for not checking ID?

ah i see, you buy liquor underage it's all on you, not the bartender or the liquor store clerk.

vote yes!

ahhhhhhhhh, the classy 2010 midterm elections.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bjkf9BshhxE&feature=player_embedded

I don't get 1072, either.

We should send designs to the sponsor of 1069.

so if you are 19 you can buy alcohol, but you aren't allowed to actually pick up the booze and carry it out to your car?

I feel like someone didn't think this through

Sweden is currently undergoing an anti-immigrant/anti-Muslim thing like every other country on the planet. Same story as everywhere. Worldwide recession, loss of jobs, nativists blame it on the immigrants. Been happening for centuries.00

The town I was staying in (usually peaceful Malmo, which recently has some nutbag going around shooting immigrants) has a big immigrant population, and you hear "They're taking our jobs! They're taking our welfare money!", the same kind of stuff you hear about Mexicans in America. Fear tactics don't seem to be part of the national debate here, it's mostly economic. Also for the most part the only ppl in saying that are the anti-immigrant party that was founded by actual Nazis. The day after election day, when that party got seats in the parliament for the first time, there were huge demonstrations of ppl chanting "No racists on our streets!" and "We welcome refugees!".

Thing is, if the US hadn't started all these wars, there'd be far less refugees in Sweden and all over Europe, and far few 'immigrant problems' IMO. And if there wasn't a worldwide recession (thank you Wall Street & American banks) there'd be far less anti-immigrant sentiment the world over.

so if you are 19 you can buy alcohol, but you aren't allowed to actually pick up the booze and carry it out to your car?

I feel like someone didn't think this through

― lol tea partiers and their fat fingers (HI DERE), Tuesday, November 2, 2010 2:41 PM (45 seconds ago) Bookmark

it makes possessing alcohol the illegal act, but not buying it, which lets sellers off the hook. unless they're selling to really young people (under 19). seems designed to make life easier for bar and liquor store owners which is fine by me tbf

most of those didn't make the ballot
for the record 1053, 1082, 1098, 1100, 1105, 1107 made it. no tapeworm this year:(

btw look for marco rubio to be mentioned frequently as a VP possibility in 2012 -- or even a possible GOP nominee.

unless they're selling to really young people (under 19)

does not compute

it makes possessing alcohol the illegal act, but not buying it, which lets sellers off the hook.

right, so... "if you are 19 you can buy alcohol, but you aren't allowed to actually pick up the booze and carry it out to your car"

yup!

it makes possessing alcohol the illegal act, but not buying it, which lets sellers off the hook. unless they're selling to really young people (under 19). seems designed to make life easier for bar and liquor store owners which is fine by me tbf

seems like ridiculous legislation. how hard is it to check ID? i've worked both as a bouncer and a convenience store clerk, and it's generally very easy to tell what's legit and what's not. can see why store and bar owners would want this passed, as it takes the heat off and allows them to sell to underage people, but what does anyone else gain from it?

Some states have it where you can't have a minor with you when you buy alcohol. I worked with a guy who tried to buy a six-pack at the grocery store with his 20-year-old wife, and they wouldn't sell it to him.

P.S. She was eight months pregnant at the time.

can see why store and bar owners would want this passed, as it takes the heat off and allows them to sell to underage people, but what does anyone else gain from it?

a bunch of frustrated 19-year-olds begging older ppl to carry their 12-packs for them?

more to the point you don't have these stupid cop sting operations where they dress up like college kids, get served without showing a license, and then nail the bouncer, server and owner for a bunch of huge fines.

every year in every college town there's a stupid story about some kid drinking himself to death or falling in a river drunk or something, and lawmakers have responded. throw in some genuine concern for girls getting wasted and then attacked, there you go.

i want to start wearing a t-shirt that just says 'decriminalize everything'

Most acts are characterized as crimes because they represent revenue for law enforcement and fed, state, and local governments.

anyway, according to avinha, 1072 didn't get approved (i guess there's steps to these things in OR) so we don't really need to beat this into the ground

Yes underage drinking busts have shut down many nice clubs around Atlanta. I'm in favor of this law. Fine the kid, fine the kid's parents, fine the alcohol companies instead!

(i think it was a "you have to gather _____ signatures" and that one didn't) xp

Is the Roberts Court responsible for Russ Feingold’s troubles?

To a degree, yes, writes Barnes. According to the story, Johnson has invested more than $8 million of his money in the race, and although the two campaigns are competitive with each other financially, outside groups have spent nearly $3 million on Johnson’s behalf.

A WaPo analysis shows 92 percent of the outside spending has supported the Republican. The impact has been obvious: The Wesleyan Media Project said there have been more commercials about the Senate race in Wisconsin than in any state outside Nevada.

“I’ve always been a target in this stuff,” Feingold said during a recent campaign stop. “And this year, I’m getting the full dose: over $2 million in these ads [criticizing him] that used to not be legal.”

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2010/11/02/one-man-feeling-the-effects-of-citizens-united-russ-feingold/

Via Twitter, former Letters to Cleo singer Kay Hanley:

kayhanley
Regular Studio City polling place moved w/o warning from easily accessible loc at Laurel+Ventura to prohibitive Mulholland Dr. Outrage.

kayhanley
Nothing says "Let them eat cake" quite like moving the election to the top of a mountain accessible only by car. With no parking.

218 bus up laurel canyon blvd (from laurel/ventura), get off at mulholland. costs $1.50.

my polling place was at the community center in the park, about three blocks away. no problems here.

A few years ago I voted in someone's garage. That was weird.

Yes underage drinking busts have shut down many nice clubs around Atlanta. I'm in favor of this law. Fine the kid, fine the kid's parents, fine the alcohol companies instead!

i dunno. in my experience, it's really, really easy to keep kids out of your club if you honestly don't want them there, don't want their money. but if you DO kind of want their money, then hell yes it should be your responsibility if they get fucked up and hurt themselves, hurt one another. personally, i think it should be legal for 18-year-olds to drink - but so long as it remains illegal, it seems appropriate to insist that club and bar owners refuse service to the underage, and to punish them when they're lax about this.

^ OTM

anyway, according to avinha, 1072 didn't get approved (i guess there's steps to these things in OR) so we don't really need to beat this into the ground

― goole, Tuesday, November 2, 2010 3:05 PM (36 minutes ago) Bookmark

lol I am trying to think of when asking people on this board not to beat something into the ground didn't encourage 50+ more posts on the subject just to be irritating

It's better than arguing about whether to vote D or 'punish them' again!

18-yo's should not DRIVE

but I'm glad you're all concerned about the last principled senator getting bounced by a flood of newly unleashed corporate cash

all kinds of people have been concerned, on these threads, about the end of feingold's career, for weeks now.

and talking about citizens united too

Sorry I am not rending my garments enough for you, Morbs.